Mat. 11:25-27, John 3:1-11, 1:12-13, Ja. 1:17-18

Introduction: Approaching the Sovereignty of God in Grace

0:01 Some weeks has been the sovereignty of God in approaching this profound area of biblical revelation. We are seeking to come with a threefold attitude, one in which we are willing to go wherever the Bible leads us, willing to walk down any path that is marked out by divine revelation. Secondly, we're seeking to study this subject in a climate of faith. And I repeat the quaint saying of old Watson, faith may swim where reason and understanding may only wade.

0:43 We may trust where we cannot fathom. We may believe where we cannot understand. And then thirdly, we must come with the posture of little children, willing to be taught, not sitting ourselves, setting ourselves, up as judges of the divine word, but taking the place of students of that word, willing to be taught of God. Now, when we say the sovereignty of God, what do we mean?

1:13 Well, we mean everything, everything that comes into the picture of God as Lord and King in his world, the one who rules all things after the counsel of his own will, ordering every event for the fulfilling, of his own eternal plan. This is the great scope of our study. Thus far, we have covered several of the areas in which God's sovereignty is clearly asserted.

1:43 He is sovereign in the realm of creation. We have seen that he's sovereign in the realm of providence. And we are presently studying the wonderful truth of the scripture that he is sovereign in the realm of grace. As we try to think our way through the scriptural teachings, of the sovereignty of God in the realm of grace, we are doing so by considering the key passages, the key words which teach this doctrine, and then, secondly, the key passages or sections of the scripture which are rich in their teaching concerning the sovereignty of God in the realm of grace.

Review of Key Terms: Election, Foreknowledge, Predestination, Calling

2:23 Now, so far, we have considered the key words,

2:29 excuse me,

2:32 and those words, of course, four of them, the word elect, election, chosen, about 50 times used in the New Testament, and the word, as we saw in our study, can mean nothing else than there has been a selection made, and that the selection is based not upon anything in the ones selected or chosen. And so the concept that God, in dealing with a lost, condemned, doomed humanity, has reached into that, that humanity, and taken out of it a people for himself, for no other revealed reason than that it pleased him, this doctrine is clearly taught by the word that the Holy Spirit has chosen to use in describing God's people as the elect, those who are chosen in Christ. And then we look to the second place at the word foreknowledge, used several times in connection with God's saving purpose in Romans 8 and in 1 Peter 1. It says, It says, It says, It says, It says, It says, It says, It says, It says, It says, It says, In Romans 11 and verse 2, that God's people are foreknown, and we saw that the meaning of this word is something more than simply to know beforehand. It's not the thought that God saw who would believe and therefore chose, but the word foreknowledge has bound up in it the whole concept that God knows

3:55 with a peculiar affection which results in a particular design for the one whom he foreknows. And then last week we studied the, last, two words that are the key words in teaching the doctrine of the sovereignty of God in grace. The word predestinate used but six times in the New Testament and particularly in Romans chapter 8 and in Ephesians chapter 1 where it refers the saving work of God to his predestinated purpose, that predetermined plan by which God makes his people his own. And then the last word, was the word call or called or calling used in two senses, the general call of God that goes out to all men in the gospel, and then that peculiar call which is the blessed experience of those whom God purposes in grace to bring to himself. The word called then becomes a descriptive word of a Christian. Moreover, whom he called, he justified, not only invited, not all men, who are invited to the gospel feast, partake of that feast, but here calling is the peculiar experience of those who are truly the people of God.

Learning from Christ: The Authority of His Words on Sovereignty

5:15 Now tonight we come to begin to study the key passages and we can only be selective in this. We cannot be exhaustive or this study would carry us on ad infinitum. I don't know when we would be done. Perhaps we'd need a millennium then to get finished.

5:36 But we're going to look at the key passages, those which in a peculiar way set forth this wonderful teaching of God's sovereignty in the realm of grace. Now to follow through on these key passages, tonight we shall first of all look at some passages from our Lord's words himself. Not that in any way we are placing more stock in the words of Christ than in the words of Paul, for we believe that, all that Paul spoke by inspiration is just as authoritative as what Christ spoke, for Christ himself promised that there would be given to his apostles the privilege of unfolding the full body of truth. You remember he said in the 14th chapter of John and the 16th, concerning the coming of the Spirit who would lead his people into all the truth, that he would take the things of Christ and reveal them unto us. But it is, our Lord Jesus, who calls us to learn of him in Matthew 11. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

6:43 Take my yoke upon you, learn of me. Now what are we to learn of him? Well, we're to learn many things of him. And one of the things we are to learn of him is what he says concerning this question, if I stand in a state of grace, my sins forgiven, my name written in the Lamb's book of life, why do I thus stand forgiven?

7:04 Why was my name written? And our Lord has an answer. And we will see that that answer traces us back to the sovereign purpose of God to give us to his Son in the councils of eternity in the covenant of his grace. And so we want to learn of him, even when he speaks of this area of truth.

7:25 He said that his sheep hear his voice in John 10. In 1 Timothy 6, 3, we read, If any man consent not to wholesome words, even to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, he is proud knowing nothing. So if any man consents not to the words of Christ, he's a proud man. Anyone who would set himself up above the one who is God's last word to men who said, I am the truth as well as the way and the life, that man, the scripture says, is a proud man knowing nothing.

Matthew 11:25-27: Christ's Rejoicing in God's Sovereign Revelation

7:59 Now, what did our Lord say relative to this teaching of the sovereignty of God? In the realm of grace? Well, let's look at some of these key passages. The first one is found in Matthew chapter 11 verses 25 to 27.

8:17 Matthew chapter 11 verses 25 to 27. Now, as we come to study these passages, may we just pause for a moment of prayer and ask the Holy Spirit himself to be our teacher, to take the things of Christ and reveal them unto us. Let us pray for just a moment. O Lord, we would not be so presumptuous as to take your word into our hands and not consciously acknowledge that without you we can do nothing.

8:54 We confess that there lies over our minds a veil, unless you're pleased to take that veil away. So we cry with the psalmist, open thou our eyes that we may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Speak to us, O Lord, by the Spirit, and give us understanding in your truth, and then give us wisdom to know how to apply that truth to our own lives and to our witness. We ask for your glory and for our good.

9:29 Amen. Now, Matthew chapter 11 verses 25 to 27. At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.

9:58 All things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Now, what is the context of this passage? In other words, what is the setting of the passage? We read in verse 25 that at that time, well, what time?

10:24 Well, as we read the verses preceding, we see that our Lord has announced judgment, or pronounced judgment upon several cities. Verse 20, Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida!

10:45 And then he pronounces a woe upon Capernaum, in verse 23, and says that in the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah than for these cities. And at that time, Jesus exults in his spirit. Luke tells us he rejoiced in spirit, and he says, I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth. So the setting of the passage is one of judgment.

11:14 And also one of the peculiar blessing that rests upon his own. For if you'll turn to the parallel passage in the gospel according to Luke chapter 10, you'll notice the connection with what follows. Luke chapter 10 and verse 21. That hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.

11:43 We have the same truth mentioned here. And then notice verse 23. And he turned unto his disciples and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

12:08 So this passage in which our Lord rejoices that certain spiritual truths have been hid from the prudent and revealed to babes, and in which he announces his absolute right to reveal himself to men, is a passage couched between cursing and blessing. Between the pronouncement of judgment and the pronouncement of benediction and blessing. And it would seem that the setting of the passage is significant. What makes the difference between the terrible announcements of judgment that fall upon the heads of some and the pronouncement of blessing which fall upon the heads of others?

12:48 It would seem that our Lord is telling us in this passage that the difference lies hidden and locked in the heart of God. If men are judged, it's because of their own impenitence. That's why our Lord could say, Woe unto you! For if the works that were done in you had been done elsewhere, they would have repented, perfectly accountable for their sin and their rebellion.

13:09 So their judgment is laid at their own feet. And yet when our Lord is about to turn in blessing upon the disciples, he tells them that, the reason why they are blessed with spiritual sight does not lie in them. He said, Blessed are your eyes. Your eyes have been passive.

13:26 Blessing has come upon them. The Son has revealed himself to you. And so he says to those who stand under his favor and under his smile, that just as surely as the whole reason for the judgment of those cities lies at their own footstool because of their impenitence, so the reason why you see lies at the footstool of a sovereign God who's been pleased. To reveal himself to you.

13:52 Now look at the passage itself. We've looked at the setting of the passage. Now having looked at its context, what is its content? What does it say?

Content of Matthew 11:25-27: God's Hiding and Revealing

14:03 What does our Lord teach us in this passage? First of all, we find him rejoicing as he addresses God as absolute sovereign. At that time, Jesus answered and said, and this is a prayer, a prayer of praise. I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth.

14:24 And so as he addresses his father, he recognizes that he is an absolute sovereign. Now, the next thing he does is to acknowledge an area in which that sovereignty has been exerted. As the Lord of heaven and earth, he is thanking him that he has done two things. Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, hast revealed them unto babes.

14:49 The hiding and the revealing are expressions of the sovereignty of this God. I thank thee, Lord of heaven and earth. Thou hast hidden, thou hast revealed. So that the hiding and the revealing, our Lord acknowledges to be the work of his father.

15:10 Now, after addressing him as an absolute sovereign and mentioning the area in which his sovereignty has been exerted, he then moves on, and takes us to the source of the exercise of this sovereignty. Even so, Father, verse 26, for so it seemed good in thy sight. What reason can we give, does our Lord give, for the fact that he has chosen to hide the revelation of his truth from the wise and the prudent, and to reveal himself to babes, to the simple, to those spoken of in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, which is a very good parallel passage, and an excellent commentary on this. For we read in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 26, Ye see your calling, brethren, that's that special call, that effectual call of God, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world, to confound the things that are mighty, and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things that are not, to bring to naught the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence.

16:36 You see, some of you have been rather disturbed that you weren't blessed with an overabundance of this world's possessions, of its wisdom, of its influence, of its might, of its power, of its prestige, you ought to stop that, for not many mighty, not many noble, and from God's perspective, he chooses to call out most of his people from the likes of us, so that no flesh should glory in his presence. Now, why did he choose this way? Well, that's his business. Why did he make you and me the small of the earth, that we might be among the chosen of his people? Why were not we made amongst the mighty whom he bypasses? Now he bypasses them consistently, with their own sin, their pride, and their rebellion, but there's no lack of power in God to break down the wise, proud man. Look at Saul of Tarsus.

17:36 He wasn't seeking the Lord. He had the bit in his mouth, the reins loose on his neck, running on to Damascus, determined to kill the Christians, and God says, time to save him, speaks out of heaven, sends him on the ground, he cries out, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? If I didn't believe in the sovereignty of God in grace, I'd have to tear Acts 9 out of my Bible. Beautiful picture of the sovereignty of God in grace.

18:00 He said, it's time to save Paul, and so he chose a mighty one, a man with a profound mind, a man with all kinds of gifts and abilities, yes, but not many. Not because God cannot humble the proud, not because God cannot bring low the mighty and the haughty. He's able to do this. Some are called.

18:21 But in choosing most of his elect from the poor of the earth, from the lowly of the earth, God has ordained to magnify all the more his grace, so that no flesh should glory in his presence. But the reason he's chosen to act this way, our Lord attributes in this passage to the good pleasure of the Father. Even so, Father, for it seemed good in thy sight. So we have in this passage, in its content, our Lord addressing his Father as an absolute sovereign, recognizing the area in which that sovereignty was exerted, hidden and revealed, the reason for it, the good pleasure of God.

Matthew 11:27-28: Sovereignty and the Free Offer of the Gospel

19:05 And now he turns from a prayer, in verse 27, to make an assertion based upon that prayer, all things are delivered unto me of my Father. He's no longer praying, now he's teaching. And he says, just as surely as the Father is Lord of heaven and earth, all things have been delivered unto me of my Father, all authority and power and right, and no man knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. And our Lord is saying that he has in himself the right to reveal himself or to withhold that revelation. You cannot know God. I cannot know God. Unless the Lord Jesus reveals him.

20:00 And the Lord Jesus is under no obligation to reveal him. This is one of the most forceful passages in all the scripture concerning the sovereignty of God in the realm of grace. But wonder of wonders, will you look on to the next verse. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden.

20:26 You see, he's not reluctant to reveal the Father. It's not as though he's niggardly and stingy. With this great work of revealing the Father. It's his delightful work.

20:37 He said, I've come to manifest the Father. No man hath seen God at any time. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. And so following this awesome statement of the sovereignty of God in grace, we have one of the most rich, free offers and invitations of the gospel in all of the scripture.

20:58 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

21:15 Now that's a strange combination, isn't it? No man can know the Father unless the Son wills to reveal him. Very similar to John 17. Thou hast given him power over all flesh to give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

21:30 And this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God. From that place of absolute authority, he reveals himself according to his own good pleasure. And yet following that statement, this gracious invitation, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. What's the connection?

21:48 Could it be this? The strong basis for hope that coming to Christ, I come to one who's able to save, able to take away the blindness, able to bring me from the death of my sin to life. If he has the authority, if he has the power, if he has the power, if he has the authority invested in the Father and that has been delivered to him, the sovereign right to show mercy where he will, then there's a strong basis for the sinner to come and plead mercy. He comes not to a weak, impotent Christ whose hands are tied by the capricious will of man, but we come to a Christ who can exercise his power in a free omnipotence and in an absolute sovereignty.

22:31 That's the kind of Savior I need. One who can break, the power of Satan in my life. One who can overcome the power of spiritual death and blindness and darkness of soul. So our Lord gives this strong statement of his absolute sovereignty and follows it with this free offer of mercy in order that those who see the offer of mercy and feel their need of the one offered will have confidence that he's able to do what he promises.

23:05 And then perhaps the second reason, our Lord offers it is that there might be holy despair that will cause us to cast ourselves upon him. We look at despair in our day as the next thing to the height of spiritual depravity or natural depravity. Whenever you see someone despairing of hope, we get afraid and we say, poor fellow, let's comfort him. The best thing that could happen to the church today is that a terrible baptism of awful despair would come upon us.

23:36 That we'd see people, who were throwing their hands up and saying, it's impossible that a sinner like me can ever find grace or mercy. Those people would be ready for mercy. There's despair where men say, I've got a heart so hard it can't be broken. I've got a will so perverse and headstrong it can't be governed and disciplined.

24:00 I've got a mind so defiled it can't be purified. I've got a mountain of iniquity that rises so high, it cannot be swept away. Well, you see, when a person is cut down with that despair, he's ready for an omnipotent sovereign Christ to save him. And so our Lord joins these two together.

24:23 There might be a strong basis of hope and that there might be that despair that will cast ourselves upon him. As we seek to communicate the gospel to others. I want to ask you a question tonight. Do we have any right to quote?

24:40 Matthew 1128 and be forever silent on Matthew 1127. Is that being honest? Is that being honest? Apparently he said the same words to the same people.

24:58 And yet I want to ask you a question tonight. How many of you have heard for years Matthew 1128? Come unto me all you that labor and heavy laden. I want you to raise your hand.

25:05 How many of you heard that verse for years? How many heard anybody preach on Matthew 1127? And that's not honest, is it? Is that honest?

25:18 That's not honest. Now it be just as wrong to only preach Matthew 1127. So that men did nothing but despair and say, well if the Son does not will to reveal the Father, I'll die in my darkness and blindness. You see all preaching the verse 27 without 28 would create a despair that would be unto death.

25:45 Beloved all preaching the verse 28 without verse 27 has created a presumption that's leading to death. Just as surely as despair.

John 3:8: The Wind of the Spirit and the New Birth

25:57 May God help us to receive all the words of our Lord Jesus. Well, that's one of the marks of his sheep. Well, we hurry now to a second passage which our Lord asserts the sovereignty of God in the realm of salvation and grace. And this is the very familiar passage John chapter 3.

26:17 John chapter 3. Key text that we want to look at is verse 8. But as we did with the preceding passage, let's look at the context the setting of the passage then the content of the passage. The context most of us are quite familiar with it.

26:45 Our Lord is speaking to Nicodemus this Pharisee this religious leader of the Jews who has come to him at night. Our Lord is going to the heart of this man's spiritual problem and speaking to him about the necessity of a spiritual birth. The fact that there is no entrance to his kingdom without this radical spiritual experience called the new birth. The theologians call it, excuse me, regeneration.

27:15 And so our Lord is discussing with Nicodemus both the necessity and the nature of the new birth in order that he might enter the kingdom of heaven. Now in that context notice the content of verse 8. The wind bloweth where it listeth. That's an old English word.

27:35 We don't use it now, but simply means the wind blows where it wills. And the basic word, therefore willing, in the original is used here. So we could translate it accurately. The wind blows where it wills.

27:50 And thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit. In other words, what is true of the wind, certain factors, is an analogy of what is true of this spiritual birth without which no one can enter the kingdom of heaven. Now in what areas is the operation of the wind, or the operations of the wind, similar to the operation of spiritual birth?

28:24 In what ways? Well, we don't need to use our imagination and press the analogy unduly, but our Lord tells us that in three precise ways the activity of the wind is like the activity of the Spirit, or perhaps we could say the activity of the Spirit, is like the activity of the wind. First of all, the wind bloweth. The wind bloweth.

28:51 The wind bloweth. That does something. You only know wind by its presence. You don't say, now isn't that a nice wind that isn't winding?

29:02 No, you only know the wind when it blows. So there is an efficacy. There's something that works, that accomplishes. When the wind blows, it blows.

29:10 And without it, there just ain't no wind. There's a calm. That's all. So in this, we see something of what we might call the efficacy of the activity of the Holy Spirit.

29:22 When the Spirit of God operates in a man's life, He does something. Paul's terminology would be, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. When the breath of God breathes over the dead soul of a man to quicken it to life, something happens. There is a spiritual resurrection.

29:41 Ephesians 2 and verse 1. Secondly, the wind bloweth where it wills. Not only is there an efficacy in the action of the Spirit, there is a sovereignty in the activity of the Spirit. The wind bloweth where it listeth.

30:01 Did you ever hear of anyone taming a typhoon? Or culturing a hurricane? Or capturing a tornado? No, you don't do that.

30:12 No, you don't do that. There is a sense of divine sovereignty in the blowing of the wind. I think I, again, I don't think I use the illustration here. I've got to keep a little book.

30:21 When I go out in meetings elsewhere, I use illustrations there. So you forgive me. I don't think I'm getting senile. If I repeat myself, it's because I don't keep that little book to know what I said where.

30:31 When I was at this conference down in Pennsylvania, did I tell you that? Well, if I did, you ought to learn it again anyway, because you probably forget it. You probably forgot it. It was very hot.

30:42 It was during the Labor Day. Weekend. Terribly hot. As the English would say, beastly hot.

30:47 It was terrible. Just plain hot. Some of you remember. And I was up on the fourth floor in a brick building.

30:54 The side of the building where I was staying was exposed to the hot sun all afternoon. So those bricks just got warmer and warmer and warmer. And they retained the heat. So after the sun went down, I just sat up there and roasted.

31:09 And one night, I woke up in the wee hours of the morning, two or three o'clock, just almost gasping for air. The window wide open. Up on the fourth floor, you'd think there'd have been a ripple. And I sat over on the edge of the bed.

31:21 And there was sort of a large windowsill there, sort of an institutional-type building like a hospital. And I rested my elbows on that ledge. And I just sat there and sort of panted, waiting just to feel a little bit of twitch of air coming through. And I just would have had a very ecstatic experience, I think, just feeling a little bit of wind on my cheek.

31:39 Well, you know, I sat there and I waited. And I waited. And I waited. I said, oh, well, might as well be in bed.

31:48 You see, the wind blows where it wills. I couldn't snap my finger and say, blow, wind, blow. The wind wasn't at my beck and call. Now, I desired it to come, but it didn't.

32:01 And that text flashed into my mind in the middle of the night. And I'll never forget it. The wind bloweth where it listeth. The wind blows where it wills.

32:08 There's an element of divine sovereignty and unpredictableness about the wind. Jesus said, so is everyone born. So is everyone born of the Spirit. So is everyone born of the Spirit.

32:20 That activity of the Spirit which brings men out of spiritual death into spiritual life. There's an unpredictableness. There's an element of divine sovereignty. It cannot be boxed up into our little plan of salvation.

Critique of Modern Evangelism and the Mystery of Regeneration

32:35 You see, this is the curse of the whole modern evangelistic methodology, dear ones, that says, if you do this, do this, pray this, do this, it's a fact of being your saint. What they're saying is, we've got the breath of the Spirit in the little box of our formula. Isn't that what it's saying? Sure it is.

32:55 It's exactly what it's saying. And that's why our studies in this doctrine are not mere abstractions. They touch the very practical issues of how you're going to deal with your own children. How are you going to deal with those young people in your class and in your Sunday school room?

33:11 How are you going to deal with that neighbor? Do I really believe that God is sovereign in grace, and the wind of the Spirit blows where it wills? If so, I will never be found guilty of saying to people, if you do this, bing, bing, bing, now that you've done it, you've got it, God must save you, because that's our formula, and God is limited to our formula. Beloved, this is the curse that is swept across modern evangelism and has absolutely blighted the church today, because we have failed to recognize the teaching of our Lord that the wind bloweth where it listeth.

33:47 There is an efficacy. Where the wind has been, something has happened, and the wind blows where it will. And then our Lord says there is an element of mystery. Thou canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth.

34:01 You see, there's something inscrutable, mysterious. Where is the wind? I can't find it, and yet it's born and it comes. Where is the burial place of the wind? I don't know, but it goes.

34:14 No womb, no burial place, and yet it comes and it goes. The Lord says, so is everyone. Born of the Spirit. An element of mystery.

34:22 And that's what we don't like. See, we don't like the element of mystery. We want to have everything predictable. We want to be able to say we've got this thing.

34:30 Not that way. Oh, how amazed sometimes we servants of God are. We pray, we preach, and our hearts are drawn out for a certain individual, and we think we see some signs of God doing something, and our hopes are raised. And then over here, there's someone that we've never shared an honest concern for, never shed a tear over them, and never even had them in our hearts.

34:52 And we've preached, and lo and behold, we see them come to spiritual life, and testify that God has raised them from death to life. And we stand back amazed. Canst not tell whence it comes, whither it goes. Two other verses that deal with the new birth emphasize this very issue of the sovereignty of God in giving spiritual life.

John 1:12-13 and James 1:17-18: God as the Sole Source of New Birth

35:14 Will you look at them with me briefly? John chapter 1. John chapter 1.

35:23 Verses 12 and 13. But as many as received him, to them gave he the power and the right to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood, it's no natural thing, nor of the will of the flesh, it doesn't rise from the mere exercise of human desire, nor of the will of man, but of God. These who have received him, are those who have been born of God. Their birth is attributed to God.

36:00 Period. And man is excluded. How could God be more specific than to tell us as he does? Not of blood, not a matter of natural generation, nor of the will of the flesh.

36:11 That birth is not due to something that rises out of us, nor of the will of man, but of God. It's a birth of God. Life imparted sovereignly and powerfully by him. And then James chapter 1.

36:24 We find a similar reference referring to the new birth. James chapter 1, verse 17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. James says, now any gift you've got, trace it back to its source.

36:49 It comes from above. It cometh down. Not a little bit rising up and a little coming down and meeting in the middle, so you can share the glory, no. Every good gift and every perfect gift, is from above.

37:03 It cometh down from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. And what's the greatest of all gifts? Why, you know, it's spiritual life, isn't it? Now where'd that come from?

37:15 Verse 18. Of his own will begat he us with or by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Am I a sharer in the life of God? Have I been born from above?

37:32 Do I have the marks of a true born one of God as set forth in 1 John? Then I trace it back to its source and here it is. Of his own will begat he us. It was by the exercise of his own sovereign purpose that I have been brought out of death into spiritual life.

The Purpose of Sovereign Grace: Holy Despair and Supplication

37:56 Now why did our Lord teach this to Nicodemus? Well again, it brings a man to absolute despair. I need to be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven. Without it, he says, I cannot enter.

38:12 And yet that birth is like the wind, blows where it will. You mean I can't just say if I snap my fingers God will save me and give me life? No, that's exactly what our Lord is saying. You can't.

38:28 And he cuts the very nerve of the pride of a man like Nicodemus and brings him to that place of spiritual despair where he must cast himself upon the mercy of God, and cry, O breath of God, give life to this dead soul. You find this in the Old Testament reference to the new birth in Ezekiel chapter 36, where God says, I will take out the heart of stone, and I will give you an heart of flesh, and I will write my laws upon your heart, and I will cause you to keep my statutes. And then he says in verse 37, Moreover, I will be required of by the house of Israel to do it for them. In other words, God says that spiritual activity, which must occur in order for you to be fit for the kingdom, you cannot work it in yourself, but you can take the place of a humble suppliant and plead with me that I will do that which you cannot do. And so it's that holy despair that drives men back and casts them upon God and cuts the nerve of pride and causes us to see our desperate need of his work of grace in us. Well, I have more passages here tonight. Maybe I ought to just tell you what they are, study them.

Practical Application: Evangelism, Prayer, and Humility

39:39 Our time is gone. We can look at them, the Lord willing, next Lord's Day evening. John chapter 6, verses 37 to 40. John chapter 6, verses 60 to 65.

39:55 Those will be the key passages, the Lord willing, that we'll look at next week. But as we close tonight, I want to bring this to a final word of practical application. Some of you may be wondering, Pastor, if this is true, and it seems that what I've read, and what you've shared with us is true to the mind of the Spirit, what does this do to our preaching the gospel to people? Doesn't that completely cut the nerve of our preaching, take away all hope, and bring us to a place where we say, well, if only God can give them life, then we're helpless.

40:33 That's right, we are. It's about time we realized. Isn't that what Paul said? Who's efficient for these things?

40:39 Wasn't that his cry? Though we're helpless, we're not to be. Indifferent. And sit back and think that God is going to accomplish His work apart from means, because He begets us by the word of His truth.

40:53 He begets us by that word that we're privileged to proclaim and minister to others. But ministering that word with this understanding, it's not a matter of my wits and my mind and my arguments battering down His wits and His mind and His arguments to coerce Him into making a decision so that God will respond to His will. Respond to His decision and give Him life. No, no.

41:17 It's preaching that word and the realization, as I do, that I might as well be talking in Chinese unless God performs that miracle of opening the blinded sinner's eyes and giving him sight and giving him ears and quickening him to life, that he might embrace that word in repentance and faith and flee to Christ. And if I really believe that, and I have compassion for the souls of men, it will have that two-fold effect. It will take away all self-confidence. And as you stand and witness to that neighbor, and as you seek to witness to your children and stand in that Sunday school class, there'll be an inner sense of absolute helplessness at times that will crush you.

41:56 But coupled with it will be a heart that goes out in deep earnest supplication to God that He might quicken to life those dead bones. When Ezekiel stood over that valley and saw those dead bones, God said, Can they live? Do you remember His answer? O Lord, Thou knowest.

42:13 And God said, Preach to those bones. That's stupid. Why preach to bones? But he obeyed God in wonder of wonders.

42:20 Bone came to bone and flesh upon the bone and life came into that new creation. And it stood and walked and became a great army. Remember the Scripture tells us? And that's what happens when God's servants, with a deep sense of their own inadequacy, that there's no little gimmick, no little gadget, no little formula, that can box up God and cage up the Holy Spirit, that there's that element of divine sovereignty and unpredictableness in the work of the Spirit.

42:48 So the heart is weaned from self-confidence, thrown back upon God, that He would be pleased in sovereign power to take His word and make it effectual. And then the heart goes out to God in fervent prayer on behalf of those to whom we minister that word. And then when life comes, we don't talk about our converts. See?

43:08 Keeps you on your face, saying, Oh God, to think that you'd take an instrument like me and use your word through a poor vessel like me to bring some sinner to life. It's the most humbling thing in the world. It'll break you down in the dust. It won't send you around counting your numbers.

43:26 It'll send you down in your face, saying like Peter when that great draft of fish came in, Oh Lord, depart from me, I'm an unclean man. And that'll keep you and your witness from the methods and the tricks and the gimmicks that have become the vogue in the church today. It'll keep you from that because you know that they're a denial of what you believe. Our methodology is the loudest witness to our theology.

43:52 Men can talk all they want about honoring the Spirit and honoring the Holy Ghost and all the rest, but I watch them when they work. And I want to see if they honor Him in their minds. That's the test. And then woe be unto us who say we believe this if we're not a praying people.

44:10 If we say with our lips we believe only God can give men life, then we ought to be often and long upon our knees crying to the God who can give men life and who's promised to answer the prayers of His people in order to give men life. That's why Paul said, My little children of whom I travail again in birth till Christ be formed in you. If anybody ought to be a praying people, we ought to be. Those who believe that the power of converting men is in their hands, they're not to be blamed if they don't pray.

Application for Parents and Ministers: Trusting God's Sovereign Work

44:41 Beloved, we are if we're not a praying people. And so may God help us to see the practical application of this truth of the sovereignty of God in the realm of grace as taught by our Lord in this passage in Matthew 11, again in John chapter 8, that we may be both in our witness to loved ones, our concern for our children, and in all of the outworking of these things in the local assembly of people who honor the Lord by method as well as by the confession of our lips concerning that which we believe. You see what this will do for you parents? It will make you feel helpless when your children want it, huh?

45:23 You realize that you can give them all the training you want and you better give it to them. You ought to. You can take them to the best Sunday school. We think we got one of the best here as far as qualified teachers.

45:32 You ought to. But you know that unless God is pleased to give life, they'll perish in their sins and that'll drive you to cry to God. There's nothing again as a parent more humbling to me to go in and look at my children. And it brings me to tears at times.

45:48 And I realize, God, all I can do, unless you intervene, is raise a brood of little Pharisees. It's all likes full of facts and head up from gross immorality and sin and produce a perfect little Pharisee. Unless, oh God, you're pleased to break in from heaven and bring life to their death. May God find us in that posture of prayerfulness, concern, fearful concern, and then confident proclamation of the word because he blows where he wills.

46:27 And in the least unexpected time, hallelujah, you're preaching the word of God, you feel as dry and barren as a... I don't know what.

46:35 But you feel that way and lo and behold, someone comes and says, Hey, you remember that sermon you preached such and such a place? God pierced my heart. And I marked that as the night I began to see you. And you say, wonder of wonders.

46:48 Here are the times when you feel like the glory of God is bursting over your soul and you're one step out of heaven and God doesn't own your sermon to bless anybody, not even bless the pews. And other times you feel so barren and bereft of life you want to quit and God touches a heart. Isn't that wonderful? If it weren't for that, I'd quit, folks.

47:10 I wouldn't have preached to you this morning. I'd have walked out on you. But the confidence that God, like the wind, blows where he wills. That's your only hope, you fellows going into the ministry.

47:21 Don't you forget that. That's your only hope. That God can sovereignly breathe upon the hearts of men. Well, I was supposed to stop applying ten minutes ago.

Closing Prayer: Forgiveness, Quickening, and Witness

47:33 May the Lord help us to meditate, to pray. Let's ask him to seal the word to our hearts. How awesome are these high and holy truths of your word. Oh, forgive us.

48:01 We know so little of that holy distrust of ourselves which should mark the people of God. Forgive us where we've had confidence in our methods, in our abilities, in our message, in our well-planned lessons and sermons. Oh, Lord, forgive us where our prayerlessness is a loud witness to our self-confidence. Have mercy upon us.

48:31 Have mercy. Where there are those here tonight yet dead in sins, oh, Lord, send a word that will quicken them to life. Use your truth. In the honor of your name, we plead.

48:49 And as it would please you, take us from this place in safety to our several homes. Be with those who must drive back to Philadelphia tonight. Bless them. Strengthen them, Lord, for the labors they have invested in your name and in this assembly today.

49:05 Make up to them, we pray, the loss of rest and the expenditure of energy. Be with them, we pray, in the coming week. For those who go back to difficult circumstances in homes and in places of employment, oh, may our hearts feed. May our hearts feed upon the word that we have received from your hand today.

49:25 Grant, oh, God, that we may be a witnessing people, realizing that we have no power to bring sinners to life, but that you can, through the word, speak that word of life. Oh, Lord, make us a people who sow in that hope and in that expectation and in that confidence that you are the sovereign God who can bring sinners to life. Use us this week in our witness to others, in our witness in our homes, in our teaching and instruction and prayer over our children. Oh, God, grant that in many ways your word will find us and instruct us in those areas.

50:04 Hear us in our hearts cry and dismiss us with your blessing, we pray, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.