BORN OF THE WILL OF GOD
(Transcribed Message)

Sunday Morning:  December 31, 2000

Text: John 1:12-13  "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

 

I want to pick up our thoughts that we started a couple of Sundays ago on being born of God. I want to read from John 1:6-13  "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

 

I want to direct or thought on the last part of verse 12 and verse 13 where it says ‘to them that believe, present tense, faithfulness, steadfastness ‘on his name: which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,  nor of the will of man, but of God.’ The words ‘were born’ really comes last in that verse in the Greek text. Which not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God were born.’ One thing that I think that we need to help us appreciate is that God does not treat all of his kids alike. He does not treat all of children the same. And the primary example of that is when he hired labors to go into the vineyard to work (Matthew 20:1-16).  Some started early in the morning and worked all day long. Some started an hour before quitting time and when it was time to be paid, they were all paid the same. Those who worked all day long got ticked, I guess that is a good word. They were a bit upset because he paid those who worked one hour a whole days pay. They had worked eight hours or all day, maybe we will get eight days pay. No. They got a days pay. The Lord said don’t I have the right to do with my own what I want to? Am I evil because I am good to some because I paid some a whole days wages for one hour’s work. So God doesn’t treat all of his kids the same. We need to understand. Otherwise it will be hard for you to grasp the doctrine of election. The doctrine of election has to do with God choosing some of his kids for special privilege in his coming kingdom. We are trying to make since of those passages of scripture to help us to understand is doing in our own lives but in the live of others as well.

COMMON SALVATION

John 1:12-13  "But as many as received [aorist] him, to them gave he power to become the sons [teknon, mature children] of God, . . .”

 

Here in John 1:12 it says “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the children of God’ That is mature children. The King James Bible has the word sons, and that is a different Greek word entirely. This has to mature children. What he is saying here is this, If you receive or believe on the Lord Jesus as your personal saviour, God has given you the authority and tools and the ability to mature. You do not have to stay a baby. Nothing more disgusting than seeing an adult acting like a baby. How would you feel you came into the service and saw me with my thumb in my mouth. Disgusting! Now, the word ‘received’ is in the aorist tense as the word ‘believe’ is in the aorist tense in Acts 16:31.

 

It is important to know that God has made it possible for man to seek him.

 

MAN CAN SEEK THE LORD

Acts 17:27  "That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:"

 

God has given man a heart to seek him and when I am moved in heart to seek the Lord I can be saved. God man made it easy for man to be saved. The way he did that, by the way, is not a very popular thing to day, that is he created cultures. Differences of people. When every body is one, when every body speaks the same language it will become just like it was in the days of Noah. Did you know that there was only one language in the days of Noah? I assume it was Hebrew. At the tower of Babel God spread man all over the world, changed their language, changed their culture, for what reason, why did God that? He sure did mess up the missions program didn’t He? If we all knew how to speak the same language, then it would not be hard to go from here to Timbuktu Africa to present the gospel, right? He did that because cultural differences created an environment that encourages man to seek the Lord. Did you know that to day we are living in a time when everyone is speaking more of the same language and cultural differences are be broken down and what is happened to our culture and to our land and not only to our land but other lands. We are becoming just like it was in the days of Noah. Corruption, violence, evil, wickedness.

 

DECIDES TO BE SAVED

Acts 16:30-31  "And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31. And they said, Believe [aorist active, the will of the individual] on the Lord Jesus Christ (not his name, but his finished work on Calvary), and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."

 

That is not what I wanted to dwell on this morning, but the point to make here is this: When the Philippian jailor in Acts 16:30 and 31 asked Paul what he should do to be saved, Paul said believe aorist tense on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved. You make the decision to receive Jesus Christ. God does not make that decision for you. If God makes the decision for you all you have to roll out of bed on a certain day, of a certain month, of a certain year, and you know you are saved. That is not the case. The Philippian jailor said ‘what must I do to be saved’ and Paul said ‘believe.’ Did that make the Philippian jailor saved? No! The Philippian jailor had to believe for himself. In fact the word ‘believe’ in Acts 16:31 is a command. It is in the imperative mod. There is no indication of the completion of the action of that verb. It was dependent upon the Philippian jailor. He had to believe, he had to decide to be saved. Each one of us has to do that for ourselves. I can’t will it for you, you parents can not will it for you and God doesn’t will for you. OK?

 

I have already alluded to the fact that if you are saved you can grow. In 1 Corinthians 3:1-3  Paul says:

 

BABES START TO GROW

1 Corinthians 3:1-3  "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?"

 

This is a description of a child. A child envies another kid’s toys. It is not long before they are fighting over who gets to play with who’s toys. And there is division. Paul says ‘you are babes,’ and I could only feed you milk and you know what milk is, milk is predigested food. Meat is food that you have to digest. Milk has been predigested by a cow or a mother. One of the two. That what milk is .

 

TO GROW THEREBY

1 Peter 2:2  "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:"

 

If you do not feed on the Word of God you will not grow, you will not mature. In fact Hebrews chapter 5 verse 13 and 14 tells us:

 

AUTHORITY TO MATURE

Hebrews 5:13-14  "For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age (the mature, a man), even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

 

So, what I am trying to emphasis is the fact that salvation is available to all of man kind. We just got through reading in John 1:7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. Aorist tense. God has not chosen some to be saved and some to be damned.  There are those who do teach that. God made away for everyone to be saved, in fact he give light to everyone who comes into the world. Whether he is blind or he can see. He doesn’t give light to infants who have no concept of words or reasoning. The point is this, when you come to the place where you know that you need a savior, He has provided the light for you to respond to where ever you are and if you respond to it positively and in the proper manor, if a missionary never reaches you, the Lord will take care of his responsibility. I believe that. He is not giving light to people who can not respond so that he can punish them more, because to whom much is given much will be require, and God is not the God of torment on purpose or for his delight.

 

ONES BELIEVING AFTER SALVATION

John 1:12  ". . . to them [the ones] that believe [present active participle, a subset of the saved] on his name:"

 

We do not believe on the name to get saved. We believe on the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary. Believing on the name is something different and the word believe in the later part of verse 12 is in the present tense. And it says the ones believing are begotten of God and this birth from God is not on the bases of the will of the flesh, the will of man, or bloods which is plural meaning family or nations or heritage. This birth is different from the birth from above in John 3:3.

Now lets pick up on this thought of one believing after salvation. In 1 John 3:23

 

HIS COMMANDMENT

1 John 3:23  "And this is his [the] commandment [singular], That we should believe [present active subjunctive] on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment."

 

This is his commandment singular in number. This is a specific commandment and it has the definite article ‘the’ before it and you would read it ‘this is the commandment of him.’ That we should believe, present active on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.’ What is the name the name that we are to believing in the present tense? We are to believing the name of His son Jesus Christ. What does a name mean? If I walked up to the White and knocked on the door and said I want to see the President, they would bring a straight jacket and tell me the place to go, but if I had a name or someone’s authority to have access to the President, that is the same idea here. Believing on the name of the Son of God, he is the one who has the authority. Where is his authority? Just here on the earth? No! His authority is in heaven and on earth. Did you know that his name is above every name that is named not only here on the earth but in heaven. If I am believing in his name, I have the right authority for my life.

 

PURPOSE OF JOHN

John 20:31  "But these are written, that ye might believe [present active] that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing [present active] ye might have life (millennial life) through his name."

 

Believing in His name will provide us with life for the coming age. Believing in his name will provide us with millennial life of ruling and reigning with Christ. That is what believing in the present tense provides. That was the purpose of the writing of the book of John that we might believe in the present tense.

 

There is an interesting passage scripture about those who believe not in the present tense.

 

KNOWN FROM THE BEGINNING

John 6:64-68  "But there are some of you that believe [present active] not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed [present active]  not [ouj, emphatic not], and who should betray him. 65. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. 66. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68. Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal [millennial, agelasting] life."

 

Believing on the name is to acknowledge who has the key of the knowledge of life for the coming age. Believing on his name means we won’t quit following him. He knew from the beginning who would believe in the present tense. He also knew from the beginning who would believe in the aorist tense. If he did not know who was going to believe in the aorist tense, how could he gather together a special group that would believe in the present tense. And there were some disciples that were following him that when the doctrine got too tough they left.  It did not fit tradition, therefore they left. Believing in the present tense has to do with a select group of children of God who have believed or received Jesus Christ as their personal savior. They are the ones who appreciate the word of life for the age.

 

BEGOTTEN AGAIN

John 17:6  "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou (the Father) gavest me out of the world: thine they were (begotten, in the family), and thou gavest them me (new beginning, begotten again); and they have kept thy word."

 

God the Father has all the family. When you are born into the family of God you are an heir of God. You are an heir of God the Father. Then out of that group of believers of those who are saved, the Father has given a select group to the Son. That is what is says here. ‘I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me. That was only twelve he is talking about here. I assure you there were more saved than twelve when Jesus ministry was done. He is not talking about all those who are saved. Personally I think that Jesus Christ came to minister to saved Israel who was hearing impaired and sight impaired. The Lord just did not give them ability to see and to hear, because you know why? He was kind in not doing that. Because when you know something significant from the Word of God and you don’t obey it, your consequences are going to be more sever. It is better for you not to hear and to know certain things, than to know and to hear certain thing and see certain things and not do any thing about it. And what we are doing here at Grace Bible church is ministering things are very serious and very profitable to those who will respond to it. Because eye hath not see nor ear heard neither has entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for them that love Him. That obey him. The Father has them and he gives them unto the Son. 

 

THEM ALSO

John 17:20  "Neither [ouj, emphatic not] pray [present active] I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe [present active] on me through their word;"

 

‘Neither pray I for these alone.’ Jesus is praying in John 17 not for the world, he is not praying for the lost world. He is praying for the eleven apostles and he is not only praying for the eleven apostles but for them also which believe in the present tense. Isn’t that encouraging? I tell you that encourages me to believe in the present tense. You know why, because I know that Jesus is praying for me. He is praying for me! And it says also which shall believe in the present tense on me through their word. Did the Apostle write the Word? They sure did. Not all that were written in the New Testament were apostles, but most of it was written by apostles. James was not an apostle, but the brother of the Lord. The point is this that He is praying for the apostle and those who would write the Word of God and believe in the present tense.

 

In 1 John 5:13

 

TO CONTINUE TO BELIEVE

1 John 5:13  "These things have I written unto you that believe [present active participle] on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal [agelasting, millennial age] life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."

 

Did you get the word? The name of the Son of God. That the believing is on. That ye may know that ye have millennial life. He says, you guys, if you are believing in the present tense you can count on life for the coming age. And if you are not believing in the present tense, He says that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. If you are not doing I want you to start doing it. That is what 1 John is written about. I have written unto you that believe, present active, on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life and that ye may start believing in the name of the Son of God, so you too can have life for the coming age.

 

THE BELIEVING ARE BORN OF GOD

John 1:13 "Which were born, not of blood [bloods, parents, a special people], nor of the will of the flesh [the individual], nor of the will of man [another person], but of God [were begotten, aorist passive, comes here in the Greek text]." The ones believing are the one who are begotten of God.

 

I have taken the liberty to draw a line though the words ‘were born’ because they actually come at the end of the verse in the Greek text. In here we have ‘which,’  the ones believing or the ‘which’ or the ‘whom’ not of bloods plural parents or special people, in other words your heritage, who your parent are, or who your linage is that has not got any thing to do with God giving you a new beginning. It is not the will of the flesh. I used the will of the flesh to be saved, to receive Jesus Christ.  I believed on the Lord Jesus. But when it comes to this birth, I can’t make that choice. This choice comes only from God. It goes on to say not the will of man. I can not will this for you. I would, I would will this for everyone. Another man can not will this for you. This birth from God or new beginning … I guess I need to get to that point of using the term. The birth that he is talking about here is a new beginning.  When you receive Jesus Christ as your savior, that is the first beginning. This birth has to do with a new beginning, a fresh beginning. Now it says, not of the will of man, but of God, and the ones believing are begotten of God. That is who is begotten of God, the ones believing in the present tense. This is confirmed in James 1:18.

 

THE WILL OF THE FATHER

James 1:18  "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."

 

Of his own will … Who’s will? This is God the Father’s will.  The context in verse 17 confirms that the word ‘his’ in this verse is God the Father. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth. How do we get this? How do we come into this? By his will and the word of truth. We need to have a love for the truth. For us to begotten by the word of truth he had to have given us eyes to see and ears to hear. We have to respond to this word. Because if we don’t have eyes to see and ears to hear we can’t. But it says ‘of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.’ Firstborn, firstfruits.

 

THE WILL OF THE FATHER

John 6:39  “And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”

 

The last day in this verse is the millennium. It is the Father’s will that all that are given to him he will lose none of them. The only one that was lost was the son of perdition, Judas. And Jesus acknowledges that. This was according to the will of God that happened. We are not getting into that this morning.

 

THINE THEY WERE

John 17:6  "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word."

 

Notice, they have kept thy word. They have been faithful to the word. Thine they were, then, it says in John 6:64, 65

 

ONLY THE BELIEVING COME

John 6:64-65  "But there are some of you that believe [present active] not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed [present active] not, and who should betray him. 65. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."

 

‘But there are some of you which believe not, in the present tense, and they left. Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who would betray him. Then Jesus said, ‘Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.’ I included this verse the second time to emphasis the later part of verse 65. No man can come to me except it were given unto him of my Father.’ These that believe in the present tense belong to the Father and he was the one who gave them to the Son. Special beginning.

 

THE WILL OF THE SON

John 17:24  "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world."

 

Do you know who is going to be with the Lord and beholding the glory? The ones believing. You can’t be haughty about this. God can give you the heart to believe in the present tense, but did you know you can stop in the believing in the present tense. There were some disciples who were believing in the present tense and stopped. God knew who they were and all the ramifications, but the point is this if you are living by faith you can stop. If you are believing in the present tense you can stop. You can believe for a while.  When persecution arises you can be offended and quit. Just don’t do that, because if you don’t, you will get to behold the glory of the Lord.  You will get to be where he is. Close in. Everybody will see the Lord. Did you know that during the tribulation period some tremendous thing is going to happen. We could walk outside and look up and all we see is blue skies and clouds, but there is going to come a day when God is going to roll back the heavens like a scroll, and every human being is going to be able to see into heaven and they will see the lamb sitting upon the throne. He is real and those on the earth will see him. One day we will see him and we will be close to him and beholding his glory.

 

BEGOTTEN AGAIN BY THE FATHER

1 Peter 1:3-5  "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (who begot us from above), which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4. To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5. Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

Notice in verse 3 it is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who begot us again unto a living hope. For him to have begotten us again, the Father had to have begotten us before and that was from above in John 3:3. Again, there are two beginnings in this verse. One from above and the other is unto a living hope.  And what is that new beginning? Why is the believing in the present tense to be active? It is for an inheritance. It is believing on the Son of God who is at the right hand of God the Father. And that inheritance is incorruptible and is undefiled and can not fade away as long as you are believing in the present tense and you are living by faith. People to day want to tell you that you are saved by faith and because you are saved by faith you have all that believing in the present tense will have. That is not true. We are not saved by faith. We live by faith, we saved by the verb believe in the aorist tense. Your inheritance can become corrupt and defiled and fade away, if you do not continue to please God. It is by faith that we please God.

 

EVIDENCE

1 John 5:4-5  "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh [present active] the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5  Who is he that overcometh [present active] the world, but he that believeth [present active] that Jesus is the Son of God?”

 

With this we will close. What is the evidence of being begotten of God, or born of God. 1 John 5:4, 5. ‘For whatsoever is born of God overcometh.” The word ‘overcometh’ is the word ‘nike’ like Nike shoes. Only those who are winners were the check marks. Only the winners wear Nike’s, but word ‘overcometh’ comes from word ‘nike’ in the Greek. ‘Whatsoever is born of God overcometh’ once? No, keeps on overcoming, present tense. ‘This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.’ As long as we are in the faith, we will be overcomers. We make shipwreck of the faith,  we are not going to be victorious anything. We become loosers.  Who is he that overcometh, present active, the world, but he that believeth, present active, that Jesus is the Son of God. He has the authority. And we need to be believing on that authority. He will give us the victory who remain stedfast and faithful to Him. I hope you will now begin to appreciate a little bit more what it means to be born of God. I can not will that. I can be born from above on my will when I receive Jesus Christ as my savior. When it comes to being born of God that is only referred to in 1 John and in John 1:13. That birth has to do with the will of God and it is for those whom he has chosen to believe in the present tense.