The long, long night is past, the morning breaks at last, and hush the dreadful wail and fury
of the blast. As are the golden hills, the day advances fast, the com-
And the tidings frown, wherever man is found,
The comforter has come!
Though the great king of kings, with healing in his wings,
To every captive soul a full-delivered brings,
And through the vacant cells the song
All right, great scene.
Welcome to First Works Baptist Church.
Just a few announcements here.
Before we sing our next song, which will be 364,
standing on the promises song number 364.
If you want to get that ready in your song books,
if you did not get a bulletin,
go ahead and raise your hand.
One of the ushers can get one for you.
Some important information on there.
Of course, we welcome you to come back
to our Sunday evening service tonight at 5 p.m.
As you know, we are a family integrated church
and so infants and children
stay with their parents in the service.
But for your convenience, we do have mother baby rooms located throughout the building.
If you need the location of those rooms, you can talk to one of our ushers that can also
provide you with a pamphlet of our church that kind of gives you a map of everything
in our building. And of course, there are changing tables available in those rooms as well as
speakers and screens so you can still tune into the preaching. You see the so many times in teams
listed there in the middle, the list of expecting mothers, please continue to keep them in prayer.
And then the stats for Salvation and Baptisms for the month of May on the right hand side is
Of course, today is the most important day of the year.
Happy Father's Day, man.
And so I want to say happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.
Of course we're thankful for our fathers and so we want to do, we want to give you a little something,
something as for being a dad and that is who, what dad doesn't like a four by four in and out burger,
amen. And so ushers if we can go ahead and grab those gift cards there. Thank you very much.
If you raise your hand if you're a father, we, literally a father, we know a lot of you are
spiritual fathers but we're just talking about literal dads here.
Have it in and out burger on us. It's just a way of saying happy Father's Day. I want to show our gratitude to you
Nice and high nice and high
Have a meal on us, let me get two of those please
All right for the Nick needs one back there the moray for the Marcos for the Adam
Nice and high, nice and high.
All right. Happy Father's Day to you all. If you didn't get one, you can see the ushers.
They'll get you one after the service. We do have a Father's Day photo booth here in the corner
for anybody who wants to take a picture there. Just keep that in mind. And then this coming
Friday, we're going to be having our fellowship at Pastor's House. And of course,
every team is going to be coming on different weeks. And so please see your team leader.
To find out the date when you're going to be scheduled to come to my house. We're going to have a good time
And so that's this Friday, June 20th
I do want to mention to make sure you keep this calendar here
This is our summer calendar highlighting everything that we're going to be doing throughout the summer
Different events that we have and we're starting with our family nights next Sunday
And it starts off with the nacho fellowship on Sunday, June 22nd after the p.m. Service and I do want to say this if you are
typically custom to coming on a Sunday morning only.
I want to encourage you to start coming on Sunday nights during the summer,
especially for family nights.
This is kind of a motivation and incentive to get you to come here.
Bring your family, bring your kids,
join the fellowship on Sundays,
get some preaching and some good singing
and some good nachos as well.
And so that'll be this coming Sunday on June 22nd.
I want to make it a habit.
to come to all the services on Sunday, man.
Not just Sunday morning, but Sunday night as well.
And so we're gonna start that this coming Sunday.
We have the TJ missions trip on Saturday, June 28th,
leaving the building at 9.15 a.m.
Just make sure you bring your passport
so as to not be a permanent missionary there and TJ.
We have jumpers and hot dogs on Sunday, June 29th,
in light of our family nights as well.
And then we have a 4th of July picnic coming up on Friday, July 4th.
You have the address there.
And I'm sure there's a sign up sheet on the guest center.
So you can sign up there to bring something if you'd like.
And then at the bottom there, we have the Pacific Baptist Church Youth Conference that we're going to be going to.
The deadline to register will be June 15th.
So let me address a couple things regarding this.
I mentioned this on Sunday, or not on Sunday, on Thursday, but I want to talk about it today.
Because of the fact that people are like, whoa, whoa, hold on a second.
Isn't this an old IFB church that's inviting or the youth conference that you're going to?
And the answer is yes.
but here's the thing they invited us to go okay and they invited well first of all one of the
speakers actually invited me to go
to go and hear him preach and so I was gonna go with my family but then they
caught wind that I'm coming and they said well why don't you just have your
whole church come and to which I responded with well I don't know if you
guys can handle a new IP church go are you are you cool with that you know you
know are you good with first works Baptist church and they're like yeah
of course you know bring the whole church and so I said well you still know
that I'm friends with pastor Stephen Anderson I believe these doctrines and
And we're good with that, you know?
And so I was pretty excited about that.
And so, and this is coming from the mouth
of one of the leaders there,
because they asked him to like,
hey, you still talk to Pastor Mejia?
You know, what's going on with that?
And he's like, yeah, I still talked to him.
And this is what he said, you know,
he said, let me just be real frank with you.
He said, Pastor Mejia in First Works Baptist Church
is more like our church than any of the churches
who come for the youth conference.
And so he goes, the only thing we differ on
is end times, the sodomites,
and I can't remember what else he said,
but he said basically those are like the two main things
that we differ on, and quite frankly,
some of the stuff they say about sodomites,
I wish we did say too, that's what he said.
And so, they're inviting us to go to the youth conference, and yes, it is an old IFB church,
it's not new IFB at all.
So before we go to the conference, we're going to be having a little meeting just to kind
of give you a crash course on what to expect when you go there so you don't have a seizure
or something on the first night.
But let me just mention a couple things. It's a three-day conference, and of course everyone's welcome to go to all three days
I'm pushing for our church to go on the first day, which is the Monday night to go and hear the preaching
But it is a youth conference and though the sermons are going to be geared towards the youth
It's very much applicable to all adults. Okay first and foremost secondly
You know, I would like for the teenagers and the young people in our church to participate in the activities that they'd like to do so
All right, so from sixth grade and up,
you're welcome to go to the activities.
And when I say up, I would say like in your 20s or so,
you can go to the activities and we're gonna pay for it.
Okay, so the activities are Tuesday and Wednesday.
They have different things that they're gonna be doing.
And so we'd like for you,
if you'd like to participate in that,
to register by today.
Okay. And so there's a registration sheet at the guest center that you can sign and that way we can get a head count and get that paid for ahead of time so you can go to that.
Sign up at the guest center. I will say this modesty is required. Okay. And so, you know, this is a fundamental Baptist church.
And so don't let this shock you, but no women wearing pants at the at the conference.
Okay modesty is required and then again, it's sixth grade and up so just keep that in mind if you have any questions about the youth conference
You can see me after the service
And that's pretty much it if you want to know what's going on throughout the summer
By the way, just keep this calendar and as all the events that we're gonna be doing leading up to our church anniversary on
Sunday September 14th and then lastly, you know with with the Israeli attacks on Iran
People just kind of worry around this time.
They're always concerned.
They're like, what's gonna happen?
How should we view this as Christians?
And sometimes people can get a little too conspiracy oriented
and think that this is the end of the world.
You know, because that's taking place.
So tonight I'm gonna preach a sermon
on End Times Bible Prophecy that's gonna address that.
And so I want to encourage you to be here in person.
I know a lot of people are going to be watching online, but just, I challenge you to be here in person, to handle it in person.
And so I'm going to be going over that tonight if you're interested in that particular topic.
And that is it for our announcements. Let's go ahead and sing our next song, 364 Standing on the Promises of God.
song number 364 standing on the promises all together nice and strong on that
first verse standing on the promises of Christ my King through eternal ages let
His praises bring glory in the highest I will shout and sing standing on the
Standing on the promises of God, I say, you're standing, standing.
I'm standing on the promises of God, standing on the promises that cannot fail.
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail
By the living word of God I shall prevail
Standing on the promises of God
Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God
My Savior, stand!
Standing on the promises of God.
Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord.
Overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword.
Standing on the promises of God.
of God. Standing on the promises I cannot fall. Listening every moment to the
Spirit's call. Resting in my Savior as my all-in-all. Standing on the promises of
God. Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God. My Savior.
Amen. Wonderful singing. At this time the auditors will come forward to receive the offering and you
can turn your bibles to Acts chapter number 17. Acts chapter 17.
Acts chapter 17, the Bible reads.
Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia,
they came to Thessalonica where was a synagogue of the Jews.
And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them
and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered
and risen again from the dead and that this Jesus whom I preach unto
you is Christ.
And some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas, and with about Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
But the Jews which believed not, moved with them envy, took under them certain lewd fellows of the baser store and gathered a company,
and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city crying.
These that have turned the world upside down, or come hither also.
Whom Jason hath received and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar saying that there is another king one Jesus
And they traveled the people in the rulers of the city when they heard these things
And when they had taken security of Jason and of the other they let them go and the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by
Night unto Berea who coming there there went into the synagogue of the Jews
These are more noble than those in Thessalonica and that they received the word with all readiness of mind and search the scriptures daily
whether those things were so
Therefore, many of them believed, also of honorable women, which were Greeks and of men, not a few.
But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea,
they came to their also and stirred up the people.
And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go, as a word to the sea, but Silas and Tzimothius abode there still.
And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens, and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Tzimothius, for to come to him with all speed they departed.
Now, while Paul waited for the menathens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the
city wholly given to idolatry, therefore disputed he and the synagogue with the Jews and with
the devout persons and in the market daily with them that met with him.
Then, certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him, and some
said, what will this babbler say?
Other some, he seems to be a setter forth of strange gods, because he preached unto
them Jesus and the resurrection.
And they took him and brought him unto Ariopagus, saying,
may we know what this new doctrine whereof thou speakest is,
for thou bring a certain strange things to our ears.
We would know therefore what these things mean.
For all the Athenians and strangers which were there,
spent their time in nothing else but to either to tell
or to hear some new thing.
Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said,
Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
For as I passed by and beheld your devotions,
I found an altar with this inscription, to the unknown God,
whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
God that made the world in all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth,
drove us not in temples made with hands.
Now there is worship with men's hands, as though He needed anything,
seeing He give us to all life and breath and all things.
and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth,
and hath determined the times before appointed in the bounds of their habitation,
that they should seek the Lord, if happily they might feel after him and find him,
though he be not far from every one of us.
For in him we live and move and have our being, as certain also of your own poets have said,
for we are also his offspring.
For as much then as we are the offspring of God,
we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone,
And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent,
because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness,
by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men,
and that he hath raised him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead,
some mocked, and others said, we will hear thee again of this matter.
So Paul departed from among them, albeit certain men clave unto him and believed,
among them which was Dionysius, the Areopagate, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Let's pray to the Lord God. Thank you for everything you bless us with, and just
thank you for this opportunity to be in your house. Just ask that you would meet with us here
now this morning. Please bless, pass from here with your Holy Spirit, and in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Amen.
Okay, we're in Acts chapter 17 this morning
and look down at verse 28.
It says, for in him we live and move and have our being
as certain also of your own poets have said,
for we are also his offspring.
It goes on to say in verse 29,
for as much then as we are the
offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is likened to gold or silver or stone,
graven by art and man's device. And the time of my sermon this morning is the offspring of God.
The offspring of God, of course, today is Father's Day.
I want to preach this sermon somewhat geared towards God being our Father and what that means according to the Bible.
The title of the sermon is The Offspring of God. There's a mistaken belief out there that we are all the children of God, right?
And when I say we all, I'm referring to the fact that people believe that all human beings, every single person on the face of the planet,
can be labeled as a child of God.
And this is scripturally inaccurate, right?
Why? Well, because of the fact that the correct assessment regarding mankind in relation to
God is that we are actually the offspring of God. You may think to yourself, well, you're
basically saying the same thing though. An offspring or a child of God, they're synonymous
one with another, but not according to the Bible though.
Offspring of God refers to the fact that mankind in general comes from God.
It's referring to the fact that we are God's creation, but not necessarily everyone of His creation are His children.
And we're going to address that this morning.
We are God's creation, but not everyone of God's creation is a child of God.
Let me read to you from Genesis chapter 1. Stay there in Acts chapter 17.
in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him,
male and female created he them. What is this talking about?
Well it's explicitly teaching the fact that as Acts chapter 17 says that we mankind
Because we're made in the image of God, we are his offspring.
It's not referring to the fact that we're his children.
It's just simply saying that God is the one who made us.
He's the one who created us.
Just as he created the beast of the field,
the beast of the sea.
All of creation, in like manner, we are also as created beings.
The difference is, is that we could be labeled as his offspring because of the fact that
we are mankind, we're human, and we have the potential to be saved and become the children
of God.
Look at Acts 17.
Let's get some context here from Acts chapter 17.
This is a story of the Apostle Paul.
Of course, he's evangelizing, he's preaching the Gospel,
and he comes to an area called Mars Hill.
And of course, Mars Hill is filled with people
who are essentially pagan worshipers.
They have various beliefs,
and he's challenging them and some other beliefs.
He views them, he sees them worshiping and alter
with the inscription, the unknown God, right?
So, to a certain degree, even though obviously we know they're committing idolatry, the Apostle Paul is kind of utilizing this as an opportunity to say,
hey, the unknown God that you're worshiping, I know that God, and I'm going to make a known unto you.
That's essentially what he's talking about.
Look at verse 23.
him declare I unto you.
So he's essentially using this as an icebreaker, right?
He's using this as an opportunity
to preach the gospel unto them.
What we're seeing here is that the Apostle Paul
is finding common ground.
with the person he's speaking to.
Now those of you who go so many on a consistent basis,
you know that this is a valuable tool in your toolbox, right?
When you talk to people and you know maybe they're not saved
but they come from a certain Christian background,
you try to find common ground with them
to kind of let their guard down
so they're willing to listen to the truth, right?
This is what the Apostle Paul is doing in verse 24 says,
God that made the world and all things are in,
seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth,
dwelleth not in temples made with hands,
neither is worship with men's hands,
as though he needed anything,
seeing he giveth life to all and breath and all things.
And I want you to notice verse 26,
and hath made of one blood all nations of men.
For to dwell on the face of the earth
So it sounds to me is that the only race that God is really concerned about that God loves is what the human race?
Because he says there that he made of one blood all nations of
Men for to dwell on the face of the earth and you know what God is not willing that any should perish
But that all should come to repentance
We need to realize that regardless of the shade of color of a person regardless of their background God wants them to be saved
Why? Because they're of one blood and God has created them as such it says here
He made of made of all one blood of all nations of men for to dwell in the face of the earth and
It says and have determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation
Now I love that particular verse there
Because of the fact that what this is implying is that you know, no one really is in control of where they're born, right?
You can't really control if you're born in Mexico, in Brazil, in South America, in Africa.
You can't control if you're born in India, in China.
God is actually the one who determines times before appointed and the bounds of people's
habitation.
That's why we can't really hold it against people if they're from a particular country,
right?
Can't really hold it against someone if they're a part of a specific geographical location.
Why?
Because at the end of the day God appointed for that person and the bounds of their habitation.
Now it's up to that person regardless of where they're born to seek after God though, right?
And it specifically says here that he determined the times before appointed, the bounds of
And it says in verse 27, that they should seek the Lord,
if happily they might feel after him and find him,
though he be not far from every one of us.
This is powerful.
He's saying regardless of where a person is born,
regardless of where a person is raised,
God expects that person to seek after him.
And you may think to yourself, well, that's not fair though.
You know because there's parts of this world that have never heard the name of Jesus, but let me just give you a reality check here
We're in 2025 where someone in Southeast Asia who lives in a hut has Wi-Fi
Let's just be real honest
There's people who are in Africa who dwell in in tents and in huts who are making
TikTok reels, you know, whatever
Getting millions of views
You say, well, what's your point?
My point is, is that Jesus Christ is on the internet.
And there's enough Christian content circulating
around the world where people are exposed to the gospel,
regardless of what geographical location
they're actually founded.
And so yeah, are there parts of this world that are more heavily saturated with the gospel, with churches, with Christianity?
Absolutely, but hold on a second, the Bible tells us in Romans chapter 3 that they are still without excuse.
Because according to the Bible, God has left himself with the witness, the witness of creation.
They have the law of God that's written in their hearts, they have the Word of God, and now even they even have the Internet.
Where they can just Google...
You know the God of the Bible and they'll get you know, obviously it's a it could be a jungle out there
But let's just be honest the gospel is out there
And so God appointed for that person to be born in that particular country
Not to be hindered from the gospel, but that in spite of their geographical location, they would seek after God
He says that they should seek the Lord if happily they may find him
Though he be not far from every one of us. So you may think well, you know someone who is in Antarctica
They're born there or you have these Eskimos in Alaska or these people in Africa and the Congo. They're far from God
Well, not really because if they seek after the Lord he will make himself found of them
And the Bible says that the Word has nigh them even in nigh mouth and in nigh heart.
That is the Word of faith which we preach unto you.
That it thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus.
Believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
This is what he means when he says,
Though he be not far from every one of us God is as close as calling upon him for salvation.
So even though he dwells in the vastness of eternity, even though he's in heaven,
he's right there with the person who wants to be saved and call upon the name of the Lord.
He says in verse 28,
for in him we live and move and have our being
as certain also of your own poets have said,
for we are also hives offspring.
So because we are God's creation,
because God created mankind,
because he determined the bounds of their habitation,
the country that they would live in,
God wants them to be saved because of that.
And obviously, there's certain people that are born in more heavily saturated areas of the Gospel,
and God expects more of that person than the person who is born in the Congo, right?
Now, the person who's born in the Congo who's exposed to the Gospel but dies and goes to hell,
and by the way, yes, he does die and go to hell.
Let me just let you know that, absolutely, because they are without excuse still.
So let's say, okay, his Wi-Fi doesn't work.
Let's just say that's true, okay?
The Bible says that God has left the the glory of heaven to be a witness unto him that there is a God and
Furthermore, we had they the Bible tells us that he has the law of God written in his heart
Right, and it says that they are without law shall also perish without law
Essentially saying that God still holds that person accountable because at the end of the day folks
Everyone knows that there is a God
Everyone knows that God exists and in fact everyone knows that there is an eternal condemnation
For their sin everyone knows that every culture has that teaching because it comes from God
it's innately within the person to know those things and in light of that God wants them to respond to the light that God gives them and
When they respond to the light it situates them it positions them so that they can hear the gospel and be saved
Right and in fact Jesus Christ said that he lighted every man that comes into the world
So regardless of where you're born, regardless of where you grew up,
the Bible says that God has given that person light.
What is light? It's truth.
It's a measure of truth that you have that he wants you to respond to in order to be saved.
Now here's the thing is that some people get that light and what do they do?
They dim the light.
This is what the Bible means when it says that their foolish heart is darkened, right?
But the more you respond to the light that God gives you, the more light you get.
And the more light you get the more likely it is that God will end up sending an evangelist
He'll send a soul winner. He'll send a gospel preacher to come and give you the gospel
But that's a sermon for a different day point that I'm making here is that God created mankind
So that they would seek after him
Okay, and it says here that we are also his officer go to John chapter one if you would John chapter one
John chapter 1, this morning I want to explain the different children in the Bible, okay?
What the Bible talks about and really we could break it up into three categories.
You have the children of God, you have the children of disobedience and then you have
the children of the devil.
These are three specific categories that the Bible highlights, and all three of these follow
under the category of being the offspring of God.
Being the offspring of God doesn't get you saved.
It doesn't mean that you're a child of God, but it opens up these doors to being any one
of these, okay?
Now let's first and foremost talk about the children of God.
Let's define what it is to be a child of God.
We want to be doctrinally sound as a church
and use the right terminology and not just say,
well, you know, are we all just children of God?
No, we're not all just children of God.
If someone is a Muslim, guess what?
They're not a child of God.
If someone is a Christ rejecting Jew,
they're not a child of God.
If they're a Mormon, they're not a child of God.
If they're an atheist, they're not a child of God.
They are the offspring of God, but they are not children of the living God according to the Bible
This is the Bible believe in church. We believe what the Bible says
So you should expect to hear what God says on this particular issue. He's the one that coined this phrase
So let's listen to the one who wrote it, right?
So let's talk about the children of God children of God refers to Christians
And specifically refers to saved people because obviously when we say Christians that can be a very broad term today, right?
I mean, everyone calls themselves a Christian nowadays.
Even people who just disagree, criticize Jesus Christ,
they just say, I'm a Christian.
But a Christian is someone who is actually saved.
Someone who has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And let me just be more specific.
A Christian is someone who actually believes
in the right gospel.
Because even within the canopy of Christianity,
you have various gospels,
even though there's only one gospel that can save.
The Bible talks about another gospel.
There are these fraudulent gospels, fraudulent gospel messages that are made to deceive people
into thinking that they are saved.
But they're fraudulent gospels, they're not true gospels, it's not what the manner of
salvation that the Bible refers to.
Hearing is the proof that we are not all children of God, okay?
And what's the proof?
You actually have to be made a child of God.
So as the offspring of God you have to be made into a child of God and let me just clarify
This is not a process
It's not like alright. I'm starting my journey into becoming a child of God
You know, I'm starting this process of becoming a child of God and I'm almost there
You know, I think I could find calm dad now and you know
No, no the process happens in a moment in an instant one event
that transforms you into being a child of God.
Look at John chapter one and verse number 12.
It says, but as many as received him
to them gave him power to become the sons of God.
Even unto them that what believe on his name not repent of their sins
Not keep his commandments
Not get baptized
Not go to church. It says those who believe on his name are given the authority and the power to become a child of God
So if the Bible is telling us here you have to become a child of God that would imply that you're previously not a child of God
You can't you can't say well, we're all children of God. Well, then why is it saying here that you have to become one?
The implication is that you were not a child of God to begin with you were not a child of God in the first place
Look at verse 13. It says which were born not of blood
Meaning you can't you know you could be born into a Christian home, but that doesn't automatically make you a Christian
Right
You could be born to Christian parents. It doesn't mean that you're saved
Why because it's not of blood
And you know what, this is an answer that people give.
You know, are you 100% sure that if you die today,
you go to heaven?
Yeah, well, my parents are Christians.
I was born a Christian.
I've always been a Christian.
What are they saying?
That there's salvation being a child of God is of blood.
But the Bible says here that the Christians,
children of God, sons of God are born not of blood.
It's not hereditary.
Salvation is not a hereditary thing.
And let me just say this, is that God has no grandchildren.
So our children, they have to make a decision to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to become
children of God.
It's not like I get saved and my children become the grandchildren of God or something
like that.
It's not the way it works.
You know, they need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
They need to make the decision
to trust in Jesus Christ for salvation.
Why?
Because salvation is not hereditary.
It's not physically in our genes.
We have to decide to believe on the Lord.
Why?
Because it's not a blood.
It says which were born not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh.
What does that mean?
You cannot will yourself to be a child of God.
by keeping his commandments, by living the Christian life.
Well, I'm saved and I'm a Christian
because I do this particular list.
All these have I kept from my youth up.
Right. I've kept God's commandments. I don't smoke. I don't drink. I don't run with those that do I go to church
I was baptized. I've been in the nursery since I was a baby
You know and I just do everything that the Bible says I'm supposed to do
Sorry being born of God does not come by the will of the flesh
And I'll explain further more into that point on my second point regarding the flesh
He says they were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man
Meaning no one can make you a child of God
It says here that salvation being a son of God comes of God. He says but of
God okay, go to John chapter 3 where we get more of an explicit teaching on this particular
doctrine
The first point is we're addressing the children of God.
This is referring to those who have believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And this is what Christians, we would commonly say,
is being born again.
You know, salvation has various terms,
various ways of explaining it.
We would say someone is justified, someone is saved,
someone has made a child of God.
But here's another great way, you're born again, right?
And even that term has been like abused a lot, right?
I'm a born again Christian.
Oh, what do you do to be saved?
I got baptized.
Look at John chapter three, verse one.
Where does that phrase come from?
It comes from this particular chapter.
It says, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
The same came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher
come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him.
So let me explain a couple things here.
Nicodemus is an esteemed leader, ruler of the religious sect of Judaism, right?
He is well known.
But, you know, he obviously understands that Jesus Christ has knowledge that he does not possess.
And the reason for that is because Nicodemus is not saved.
And, but, you know, he wants to ask Jesus this, and a lot of people read this and are like, wow, that's very noble of him, you know?
He's humbling himself to go to Jesus to ask him about this stuff.
Yeah, but I want you to notice that he comes by night.
What does that mean? It means he has a little shame. He's a little embarrassed.
He doesn't want his followers to see him.
You know coming to Jesus so what does he do?
He comes under the cloak of darkness at night because he doesn't want anybody viewing him asking
Jesus Christ who's not of the religious sect of the Pharisees
Questions of regarding spiritual matters, so he tells them for no man can do these miracles that thou do is accept
God be with him verse 3 Jesus answered and sent him barely barely I say unto thee
Accept the man be born again. He cannot see the kingdom of God
So, you know the Lord just kind of cuts through all the nonsense
Because, you know, Nicodemus is kind of being
a little flattering, right?
He's like, we know that your teacher come from God
because you're not saved, you gotta be born again.
You know, and sometimes you gotta be straightforward
with people, right?
You know, sometimes you're talking to someone
and just like, all right, cut the introduction out.
Let's skip the credits here.
Let's skip the introduction, let's just get to the point,
right, which is what Jesus is doing.
He says, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Now what is this referring to?
Well obviously he's referring to salvation because the end result of being born again
is seeing the kingdom of God, heaven, eternal life, right?
Verse 4 says Nicodemus says to him, how can a man be born when he is old?
Referring to himself obviously.
Can he enter the second time into his mother's room and be born?
Jesus answered,
Verily, Verily I say unto thee,
Accept the man be born of water,
and of the spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Now, let me just veer off
and just talk about this particular passage
that's often abused and twisted,
to teach baptismal regeneration.
What is baptismal regeneration?
It's the belief that
physically getting baptized in water is what saves you.
They think that if you get physically baptized,
the water itself will wash away all your sins.
But let me just give you a reality check.
It barely can wash off the dirt from your skin, if that.
Okay, cause you gotta scrub.
But they have this twisted belief that if you're fully dunked in the water somehow that water
Possesses some sort of supernatural element some supernatural
Ability to just wash away your spiritual sins. It's nonsense
And they twist other portions of scriptures to try to teach this but this is this is one of the main ones that they'll use
Because they'll say, well, Jesus said,
except a man be born of water and of the spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
They would twist this to say,
well, yeah, of course you have to believe in Jesus,
but you also have to be baptized to be saved,
because Jesus said, you have to be born of water
and of the spirit.
But look, folks, this is why it's important
to study things in what?
Context.
Because the chapter itself, in fact,
the previous verse explains to us
Let's read verse four again
He says Nicodemus Nicodemus sayeth unto him how can a man be born when he is old?
Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?
So what does Nicodemus talking about he thinks that Jesus literally means to be physically born again?
because he's addressing the womb,
he's addressing the fact that a child exits
the matrix of his mother's womb,
and that's how you're born again.
So Jesus takes what he just said,
and he says, well, you have to be born of water
and of the spirit.
What is he addressing?
He's addressing the fact that in order for a person
to be saved, they have to be born physically first.
Right?
You have to be born of water
because I don't know if you know this,
but a child, when he or she is in their mother's womb,
is surrounded by what?
Water.
When they exit that water, they are physically born.
The water breaks, I'm not trying to be graphic here,
the water breaks and they are physically born.
So when Jesus said, except a man be born of water,
he's referring to the fact that a man has to be born
physically and then be born spiritually.
And here's a great way to explain this.
Someone once said, born once, die twice.
Born twice, die once.
And that's a awesome way to explain it, right?
If you're born once by the water,
physically born of your mother,
but you're only born that way,
then you're not only gonna experience the wages
of sin which is death,
but you're also gonna experience the what?
The second death as well, which is the lake of fire.
So born once you die twice however if you're born of water and of the spirit
Which means you're born twice you only die once because everyone physically dies
It is it appointed for a man that wants to die but after this the judgment everyone's gonna physically die
But guess what you don't die in a place called hell because you're given eternal life
Now when we read this you know you you come to the conclusion like makes sense Lord
Make sense look at verse 5 though Jesus answered verily verily a saying to the accept a man be born of water and of the spirit
He cannot enter into the kingdom of God that which is born of the flesh is flesh again
addressing the physical birth
That which is born of the spirit is spirit. So if we're to read verse 6 and 5 in its context
Being born of water is being born of the flesh
Pretty simple to see that
Marvel not that I say unto thee, ye must be born again.
And we're not going to read the whole story,
but Nicodemus is just like, is not getting it.
And what does Jesus say to them?
Art thou a master of Israel, and knoweth not these things.
And you kind of wonder like, what does he mean by that?
Well, it's like when you see these scholars online,
like Wes Hoff and them.
They're so scholarly. They don't understand so much of the Bible. They have so many degrees yet. They can't understand a simple plan of salvation
Why is that well because at the end of the day the natural man received it not the things of the Spirit of God
For they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned
You know Nicodemus was a master of Israel meaning that he was a man who was a man of letters
He was a man who was a scribe. He was a lawyer of the word of God
He knows what the Old Testament says yet in spite of all this knowledge. He doesn't even know how to get saved and
He doesn't even know when salvation is clearly illustrated to them in this manner of being born again, right?
And so what's the point that we can get there? You know, don't worry about getting a degree in the Bible. Just read the Bible
Don't worry about getting your master's in theology and your master in Israel
degree and your bachelor's whatever and your doctorates in
Divinity because quite frankly
The person who just reads the Bible over and over and over again
Memorizes the scriptures submits himself to the ministry of the Holy Spirit will know more
Than the master of Israel as proven by John chapter 3
But the main point of this particular chapter I wanted to show here is the fact that Jesus Christ is specifically saying that a person in order to see the Kingdom of God, in order to be saved, they have to be born again to be the child of God.
Go to Titus chapter 3 and then we're going to go to 1 Corinthians chapter 4. I'm going to read to you from 1 John chapter 3 in verse number 1. It says,
that we should be called the sons of God therefore the world knoweth us not because it knew not him
not so keep in mind folks if you're safe today god has bestowed abundant love upon you right
he loves you he commended his love towards us and that while we were he had sinners christ
died for us and behold the manner of love that god has given to us that he would be willing to call
Look at Titus chapter 3, verse number 5.
This is another verse that we commonly use
when we're all preaching the gospel.
I quote this very often.
It says in verse 5, not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy,
he saved us, pretty self-explanatory, right?
Now, why is that important to know?
Well, because again, a lot of people
think that in order to be saved,
you have to do a work of righteousness.
How are you gonna say you're trying to tell me you could just believe and just live however you want?
You could just do all these things you have to be able to do the right works
You got faith without works is dead being alone
But hold on a second not by works of righteousness, which we have done
But according to his mercy he saved us
And I want you to notice the second part here.
It says, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.
So the Bible says that God saves us by grace through faith.
Titus 3.5 tells us that he saves us by his mercy.
Why? Because grace is getting what we don't deserve.
Mercy is not getting what we do deserve, right?
Grace is essentially the aspect of eternal life where it's like,
we get heaven which we don't deserve.
Mercy is the fact that we're saved from hell.
Which is something we don't deserve right or excuse me. We do deserve so we deserve hell
But God saves us from that expressing his mercy towards us, but it specifically says here that he washes us
Though excuse me by the washing of regeneration and what does regeneration mean? Well think about this to be regained
right
You know when we're born physically we have these genetics about ourselves, which is why we look like our parents
We have the strength of our parents. We have the weaknesses of our parents
We have a certain eye color hair color all these things
Don't those are our genetics well in order to be born again into becoming a child of God
We have to be regained spiritually
in other words, we have to be given a
new nature
So even though we have this old man and this old nature once we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
We are spiritually given a new nature new spiritual genes
Which is referred to as what the new man, okay, and it happens by the renewing of the Holy Ghost
So this is the role that the Holy Ghost plays in our salvation, right?
We often think well the Holy Ghost that you know the proof that we're saved is that the Holy Ghost comes to dwell within us eternally
And there's some truth to that, but that's not necessarily the part where he the role that he plays in salvation
Because people in the Old Testament
Were not in dwell by the Holy Spirit, but they were saved. Why is that well? It's because he came in and regained them
He regenerated them. He brought their spirit back to life. That's exactly what he did
Now what's crazy is that people will read this and say oh, yeah, this is teaching baptismal regeneration
You have to be baptized because you're saved by the washing of regeneration
But they forget the part that says renewing of the Holy Ghost because the Holy Ghost comes he washes you and he gives you a new
Nature he regains you and let me just explain something that no illustration in the Bible
has to match its real-life example perfectly.
And this is the mistake that people make,
you know, they try to scoff at the Bible.
Oh man, if you're born of God, then who's the mom?
There is no mom, because it's just an illustration.
And by the way, it's not Mary either.
I'm not born of Mary or something.
And if you really want to get technical about it,
Eve is the mother of all living.
How about that?
But when it comes to being born again to be a child of God according to the Bible all we need is God the Father
Right the Holy Ghost re-gening us and the in God the Son
To give us eternal life because he is the perpetuation for our sins. So don't take any illustration too far
You know extrapolate the part that God wants you to get from that particular illustration and stop right there
Don't go beyond the boundaries of that particular illustration that may get you to heresy or something
Well, that's true, you know, when you're born,
you do have an umbilical cord,
and we got an umbil...
No, we don't.
It doesn't exist, that's not in the Bible, okay?
The church is like the umbilical cord that feeds...
No, no, that's weird, bro, like, stop.
That's it, just born again, that's it, okay?
We don't have to get all cute with these illustrations.
Take from the illustration what needs to be taken.
Take the exact principle that God said and and just go from there and just stick with the Bible there after and this is the
problem with a lot of churches is that they only want to share illustrations
They only want to give stories and illustrations and negate what the word of God says
But you know illustrations give strength to a biblical doctrine, but after it's made its point
We just need to stick with the Bible and see what the Bible says
Okay, go to 1st Corinthians chapter 4
So, the illustration of being physically born is a great illustration to map out, to show
us, to teach us what the Bible means about being a child of God, because we do have to
be born again.
Okay?
Now, a great principle that we can learn from that illustration is that once you're born
again, you cannot be unborn.
Okay?
physically born every single year to stay alive,
you're just born ones you can live thereafter.
When like Manor, when you get saved,
you're saved eternally,
one saved, you're always saved.
You're born again once and you don't have to keep
getting born again and again and again and again and again
because that washing was not just a washing of past sins
according to the Bible's past, present and future.
It cleanses you completely look at 1 Corinthians chapter 4 if you wouldn't so we're born again of God
But we're also born again of believers. Why look at 1st Corinthians 4 14
I write not these things to shame you but as my beloved sons. I warn you for though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ
Yet have you not many fathers for in Christ Jesus? I have begotten you through the gospel
So what is the Apostle Paul saying here?
He's like, I'm kind of like a spiritual father unto you
because I'm the one who got you saved.
So when you're out there preaching the gospel,
getting people saved, it's like you're giving birth
to these newborn believers, okay?
And again, you can't take the illustration too far.
The apostle Paul did not take it too far, right?
He's trying to illustrate the fact that you know, he's the one responsible for getting them saved
He begat them to the gospel now
Let me address something else that people will use this chapter to teach some false doctrine and that is to often say well
You know, here's the justification for calling a priest father
Okay
The apostle Paul was called father up. No, actually. No, he wasn't he says yeah
Have you not many fathers for in Christ Jesus? I've begun you to the gospel. There's absolutely no example in the Bible
of anybody calling a spiritual leader father.
And let me tell you why that is,
because Jesus said call no man father.
Case closed.
You know, and this is not an example
because you won't find anybody
calling the apostle Paul father.
She's not there. He's utilizing the illustration between the relationship of a father and a newborn son
To illustrate the fact that he got them safe. He begat them through the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what that means
Okay, but Catholics will always say oh, no, no, here it is right here. That here's the illustration. No, there's no father Paul
There's no father Peter
There's no father John. It doesn't exist in the Bible. Okay?
because again Jesus Christ said call no man father and you know here's one
question here's one passage that Catholics cannot answer and that is why
did Jesus say call no man father because they'll tell you you know they'll hear
that that passage and they'll show you all these other verses where it says
father and then it's just like okay so what did he mean by that then just have
nothing to say
Because at the end of the day who are they trying to contradict us or Jesus because he's the one who said it
He says call no man rabbi
Call no man master and call no man father now is he saying that we you know because people say oh, yeah
What do you call your dad?
Right Johnny else mark. Well, if you really want to get technical I call him dad. I don't call him father
I'm not that like appropriate father, you know, I'm like I call him dad
But let's just say I wanted to get all aristocratic about it and just call him father
It would actually be a hundred percent biblical to do so because what Jesus is prohibiting is from calling a religious leader a father
Okay, and he's forbidding a religious leader from being called a master
Even though we have examples in the Bible of people being called master in a place of employment
Which means he's sanctioning that he's referring to
religious institutions
Religious leaders should never take the label or title of rabbi father or master
What the Bible says, okay?
But you know, I belabor the point here. I digress, you know
He's talking about the fact that a believer begets others through the gospel of Jesus Christ when you're out there preaching the gospel
That's what you're doing. You're giving birth
to other believers and this is why the Apostle Paul said to the Galatians, you know the heat prevails listen to this till Christ be formed in you
Right because the Galatians there are some some of the Galatians that he thought maybe we're not saved because they were trusting in their
Works, so he's trying to explain to them salvation
He's trying to explain to him what the gospel says and he's
Travelling he's like trying hard to help him to understand because he wants Christ to be formed in them
He wants them to be saved. Okay, and you know what a woman travails to make a baby. I
Know this
I'm on my sixth one
And my wife, she's trivailing right now to make the baby.
You know, they're tired, you know,
because they're making the eyeball and the elbow
and the ear and all that, takes a lot of work.
I trivail too, you know?
It's very hard to see her go through that.
But this simply illustrating the fact that, you know,
we are the ones who are essentially forming Christ in them
by giving them the gospel.
This is why it's biblical to say that we save them too.
Obviously God saves them obviously Jesus Christ saves them, but guess what no one can be saved without us
Yes, you heard right
You know the Apostle Paul said that I might save some the Bible also says in Jude 22 and some have compassion making a difference
Other save with fear pulling them out of the fire
God requires you to go out there and save them to to pull them out of the fire
Okay, and if that was not the case then why would there be a command for us to go out there and preach the gospel?
If we didn't do it, no one else would okay
Go with me if you want to first Peter chapter one first Peter chapter one. So we are begotten
You have to be born again. You're begotten of God. You are begotten by a believer
That means someone has to come to you and give you the gospel to be saved. You cannot be saved on your own
Someone has to assist you in helping you to understand the word of God. Oh
Give me proof of that. Okay the Ethiopian eunuch
Ethiopian eunuch went to Israel. He was there. He bought himself a copy of the book of Isaiah.
He's reading it. He's reading about the prophecies of Jesus Christ and the man still doesn't know how to be saved.
And what happened? You have the evangelist Philip coming to him and giving him the gospel,
helping him to call upon the name of the Lord and baptizing him thereafter.
Why? Because believers are needed to get other people saved.
But not only that you're also be gotten through the word of God. So when a person comes to another individual to give them the gospel
They're not sharing illustrations and they're definitely not supposed to be sharing their testimony
Let me tell you what God did in my life. I
Was a heroin addict, but what what what are you gonna do if that person wasn't though?
What if this person that you're talking to just lived a normal clean life?
You know because a lot of times people will share I'm not down on illustrations like that
And I'm not down on someone who actually overcomes those types of devices what I am down on is
Trying to use that to get people saved
Because the Bible says that the gospel is the power of God into salvation to everyone that believe it meaning
It's not your testimony that saves an individual
It's gotta be the word of God.
The word of God is what has power, right?
That is the seed that enters into the heart
that germinates and creates faith in us.
Faith coming by hearing, hearing by the word of God.
That's what the Bible says.
And I know it doesn't sound as fancy
with all the bells and whistles of your testimony.
Oh man, let me tell you what God did in my life.
You know, I grew up and I hated God
and I ran from God and it's just like, get to the point.
What must I do to be saved?
You see the Bible says that when we preach the gospel we should be talking about the testimony of God
Not our testimony, right? I was a stripper. I was a prostitute
I sold drugs. That's not what saves. Can you please keep that to yourself?
We don't need to know all that and look social media is filled with nonsense like that
We have people giving some of the most vulgar
Disgusting testimonies out there and let's just be honest. It's to elevate themselves. Not the Lord Jesus Christ
We'd be lucky if we even hear the name of Jesus in that gospel presentation if that's what you want to call it
The Bible says that we should give witness of the testimony of God
And what is the testimony of God that Jesus Christ came to save sinners?
They came to die on the cross that he resurrected and that he can give eternal life that you should call upon the name of the Lord to be saved
That is the testimony of God and
So the point that I'm making here is that salvation being a child of God requires a believer
But it also requires the actual word of God to be preached
And you know what?
That takes a little work.
Does it not?
To learn the Word of God, to memorize the verses, to actually carry a Bible, open it up and
show people from the Word of God what it says?
That's not as glamorous though as giving your testimony.
But you know what it's more effective though because it actually gets people saved now look at 1st Peter 1 22 says seen
You have purified your souls and obeying the truth through the spirit into unfaithful love of the brethren
See the love one another with a pure heart fervently being born again
not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of God
Which liveth and abideth forever James chapter 1 verse 17 says every good gift and every perfect gift coming from above
It's from above and coming down from the Father of lights and whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning of his own will begat he us with the word of truth that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
So in order for you to become a child of God, you have to be born again of another believer because unsay people can't get people saved.
Now can they sow seeds? Of course.
They can actually give the word of God,
but they can't get anybody saved.
You say, well, how do you know?
Because they can't even get themselves saved.
How does someone get someone to save
that they themselves are not taking?
Are you gonna take your own advice?
They can't get themselves saved
because they don't have the actual Holy Spirit.
They don't have the power of God dwelling within them.
The Bible requires for a believer to do so.
And let me give you another example of this.
As you know, the Bible talks about everything
bringing forth after its own kind.
A dog can only produce a dog.
A cat can only produce a cat.
A banana tree produces bananas.
Apple tree apples.
Christians, Christians.
Okay, and this is the consistent pattern of begetting throughout the scriptures leading up to the message of salvation
Okay, go to Galatians chapter 4 if you would Galatians chapter 4. We're talking about being a child of God
That's not a title designated for all of mankind. We are the offspring of God
But as the offspring of God, you are now given the opportunity to become a child of God, meaning you have to be born again,
you have to become a son of God through another believer, through the word of God.
Now here's another way that the Bible illustrates this particular point here, and that is that we are adopted by God.
So we're not only born again,
we're made children of God, but to a certain degree the Bible also illustrates this as being adopted into the family of God.
Look at Galatians 4 verse 1
Now I say that the heir as long as he is a child
Differs nothing from a servant though he be Lord of all but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father
Even so we when we were children were in bondage under the elements of the world
But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law,
to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive, listen to this, the adoption of sons.
And because you're sons, God had sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts crying, Abba Father.
What is this saying? It's saying that salvation can also be illustrated as God bringing us into his family.
Okay, being adopted and let me just say this is that again, no illustration should be taken too far
You know because sometimes people are like well, you know, I want to adopt children and here's my scriptural justification for that and
But this scripture is not given as a justification for physical adoption
You can extrapolate that principle from it, but this is not an instructional guide on how to adopt children
This is simply explaining the fact that salvation can be illustrated as God adopting us into
his family.
Because prior to being sons of God, we were, what my second point is, children of disobedience.
We're children of this world, right?
And so therefore God adopts us into his family when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now this is all great.
Being a child of God is great.
We have salvation the forgiveness of sins, but let me just tell you something and that is that it doesn't come without you know
some hardships
Go to Romans 8 if you would Romans 8
You said what do you mean? Well, here's the thing folks is that you know my mom
I'm her son. She's my mother
Which gives her a hundred percent parental rights to whoop me
Not right now. I mean that's over with mom, you know
But when I was under her roof though
When I was under her roof she she was as my mother who begat me
She had full rights to give me a whooping when I misbehaved and disobeyed her or just for any reason because she's just my mom
She makes up the rules
Okay, for not obeying her rules and what she told me to do. She had every right to whoop me white because she's my mother
Well, when we're born into the family of God, you know, it's great. Oh, Abba father. Yeah, but Abba father is going to whoop you though
If you miss me if you get involved in sin now, okay?
Abba father is going to chastise you and what does chastise mean? It means to castigate
You know, those of you who know Spanish are more familiar with the word castigate. That's where it comes from
to chase him means the fact that God actually punishes his children well
that doesn't sound very loving yeah it does if he knows that what you're doing
is gonna give you an early grave and he chastises you to prevent you from
making bad decisions yeah that that's actually good okay a loving God
chasens his children absolutely you know what loving parents chasens their
children too hey dad's chase father's day man
You know a great way to express love to your children is not just verbally it's not just providing for them
It's not just affection and spending time with them. You also have to discipline your children as well
Less you should raise a spoiled little brat
Who disrespects all of society?
Who doesn't take responsibility for their actions?
Who doesn't like authority?
Who's protesting right now?
Or whenever that protest was you think my mom would ever let me go to something like that
I'm gonna protest my mom was like take that bandana off
Doing you're not going anywhere. You got throughout the trash. You got chores to do
No, I'm gonna stand for what I believe you you're not gonna be standing long if you don't do as I tell you to do
And you know if you're offended at that that's probably because you weren't spanked as a child
Okay, I grew up in a generation where spankings were necessary and they are necessary now, but they were actually instituted by parents
You know what parents need to reinstate that once again, and you like what if it what if it's against the law?
It's a it's according to God's law
So it's always sanctioned and you know what you'll deliver your child from hell
You'll deliver your child from being a spoiled little brat who can't take any affliction doesn't take any responsibility and disrespects anyone and everyone
because they didn't realize that actions have consequences.
Gave me the biblical justification.
Well, aside from all the verses that actually talk about
parents actually spanking their children,
the Bible illustrates here that God spanks us
as our heavenly father.
And you know, one thing I didn't,
Hebrews doesn't talk about it as a time out.
You know, one thing that God doesn't do is like,
no, no, no, don't do that.
No, no, no, okay, fine, do it.
God's like, pshh.
And then we're just like,
you know, I don't think I'm gonna do that anymore.
You say, well, you know,
I'm a Christian, I've never been spanked by God before.
Look at verse 5.
It says, And ye have forgotten the exhortation, which speaketh unto you, as unto children.
My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked
of him, for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeeth every son whom he receiveth.
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons.
For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?
We're of all our partakers.
Then are you bastards and not sons?
So let me explain to you what that means in the Greek.
It means if God's not whooping you and you're a Christian
and you're a Christian, it's an indicator
you're not really a Christian.
You're not actually saved.
Because God only chases, you know, my mom's not all spanked.
She would like to spank some of the kids she sees
in the store and stuff like that,
but she's not out there spanking other kids,
other parents' kids, right?
You know, I grew up where my mom saw some kid
throwing a finish, just like, man, just five minutes.
You know what I'm talking about?
Just give me like two minutes with that kid.
She was like, ooh, and she would tell me, she was like,
if you ever do something like that, ho-ho, you know?
How many know what I'm talking about?
Yeah, all right, I see that in hand.
Can I get a witness?
But you know the Lord's the same way. He's not going to just chase in children who are who don't belong to him
Now obviously he brings judgment upon this world, right?
But the intent for what she
For why he brings judgment upon this world is to bring them to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ
He brings judgment upon our lives as his children to yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness
Amongst other things point that I'm making here is the Bible saying is that if you're a Christian
Which means that you're a son of God
According to the Bible you should be chasing every once in a while
And if you're not chasing it's an indicator that you're not a son of God and he uses dirty little word
It says you're a bastard
It's not a dirty word. It's biblical
It means that you're not begotten of God, okay, and so we're happy to Romans 8
Let me go over this last scripture because I'm almost out of time look at Romans 8 verse 14
It says for as many as are led by the spirit. They are the sons of God
For we have not received the spirit of bondage against a fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba father
The spirit itself bearers witness with our spirit that we are the children of God the Bible says
So one thing that Christians have that confirms that they're saved is the fact that the Holy Spirit dwells within them
right? It bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.
That's not the same that Christians can't doubt their salvation because there's
times when they do because they're involved in sin but every Christian that
I've ever dealt with who doubted their salvation but they're actually saved
eventually came to the conclusion no I know that I'm saved I'm just really
backslidden right now okay
Let me read you from 2nd Corinthians 6 17. It says wherefore come out from among them and be separate
Sayeth the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you. I
Want you to notice this and I will be a father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daughters
Sayeth the Lord now that can be confusing to people right because we just read a lot of scriptures
It says that we become children of God by believing on him, but here it says that you have to be separated
Then what's the result? God will be a father unto you and you will be his sons and daughters
So it almost sounds like God is saying you have to do works or something
You have to live a separated life in order for God to be your father and for us to be his children
But let me explain to you what this is actually saying
You see obviously the Bible does not contradict itself
We know that being born of God requires for us to be saved to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
What this is referring to the fact what this is referring to is the fact that in order for you to be blessed of God as
Your father in order for God to treat you with the blessings of a daughter and of a son
You have to live a separated life
You see if there is a child out there who grows up
and doesn't get along with his parents
and moves across the country,
it doesn't take away the fact
that his parents are still his parents.
But you know what it does remove
is all of the benefits that you get
from being the child of those parents.
Because they may just cut you off of the inheritance.
They may not help you in the time of need.
They may not provide for you
because you're living a life of disobedience, right?
And so this is what that's referring to the point that I'm making here is the fact that the offspring of God
Includes being a child of God. Let me just briefly cover these points go to
Ephesians chapter 2 if you would Ephesians chapter 2
And I'm just gonna briefly cover these next two points
Regarding the offspring of God. We're gonna talk about the children of disobedience and what are the children of disobedience?
What's synonymous with being the children of wrath?
And, prior to being saved, every single one of us were children of disobedience.
We were children of wrath.
Why is that?
Why did God call us children of disobedience and children of wrath?
Well, it's because of the fact that we are physically from Adam, who's the original child
of disobedience.
Don't touch the tree. Don't eat of the tree. They both eat of the tree. We're begotten of physically
Adam and Eve who are children of disobedience. Therefore, we inherit that sin nature
because of that. Does that make sense to everyone?
It says in Romans 5 verse 14,
nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses,
even over them that had not sinned
after the similitude of Adam's transgression,
who was the figure of him that was to come.
Verse 19 says,
For as by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners,
so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
So don't come to me and tell me,
like, oh, one man can make a difference.
Oh, one man can do a lot.
In fact, one man damned us all, okay?
So, it's saying here that by his disobedience,
many were made sinners.
Look at Ephesians 2 verse one,
it says,
Wearing in time past he walked according to the course of this world
According to the prince of the power of the air the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience
Among whom also we all had our conversation in time past in the lust of our flesh
Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature the children of wrath even as others
So we were children of disobedience and that's synonymous with walking
According to the course of this world, you're just kind of doing your own thing
Obeying the lust of the flesh
The Bible says that the carnal mind is at enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of God
Neither indeed can be why because all it knows is disobedience
That's why you know people can call themselves a Christian, but if they're not saved. They're just simply children of disobedience
Because they can't even they can't even live out what the word of God says and be pleasing unto the Lord because they're not saved
You know the guy who said Lord have not I
prophesied in thy name and in my name have done many wonderful works and cast out devils. These are great things
But God didn't even recognize them. Why because he's a child of disobedience
This is why the Bible also says listen to this that the plowing you everyone know what plowing is the agriculture act of plowing
It says the plowing of the wicked is sin a
Child of disobedience can do anything everything is working against him
Because he's a child of wrath. He's a child of disobedience. Okay, and so
go to go to
Here's the last scripture go to Matthew 23 Matthew 23 because I am out of time
What is the child of disobedience it's simply someone who's not saved they're unregenerated
This is not someone who's beyond the hope of salvation though
Because we all started off as children of disobedience children of wrath
on our way to hell you know having the condemnation looming over us because we were not saved okay
and so the offspring of God includes the children of God those who are saved it includes the children of disobedience
Those who are not saved but still can be saved
But then you have the children of the devil okay, and let me just say this is that sometimes Christians can often
Talk about unsafe people as just being children of the devil and that's inaccurate
Okay, and I've seen I've heard this in churches. We're like oh before you were a child of God
You're a child of the devil and we even have hymns that kind of allude to that and you know
Whatever, but it's it's inaccurate. Okay your child of disobedience children of wrath
But you're not a child of the devil a child of the devil is someone who's actually beyond the hope of salvation
They are you see the child of disobedience is only begotten of Adam
the child of God is begotten of God the child of the devil is begotten of Satan
himself okay and look at Matthew 23 verse 15 says woe unto you scribes and
Pharisees hypocrites for you can pass sea and land to make one proselyte
referring to a convert and when that convert when he is made
He make him referring to that comfort that convert to fold more the child of hell
Than yourselves, and he's talking to people who in John 844 he referred to as what the children of the devil
Okay, this is not referring to you know
The blind guy the death
the lame
The prostitute the public in those people were children of disobedience
Who's he talking to?
He's talking to the scribes and Pharisees.
He said, you are of your father, the devil,
and obviously specifically in this context
is referring to these Jews who hate the Lord Jesus Christ,
who are these false prophet religious leaders,
and he's saying that when they go out and make proselytes,
when they go out and make converts,
they're actually making them children of God.
No, they're actually making them children of hell
way worse than what they are.
Okay?
He goes on to say, let me reach you from Matthew 12 or 34,
oh, generation of vipers, what's a viper?
It's a snake.
What is Satan illustrated as?
A serpent or a viper?
You generation of vipers,
how can you be an evil, speak good things
for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh?
Now, let me just say this last point that I'm done,
and that is that the child of the devil cannot be saved.
Why? Because they're children of hell.
They are not just bound for hell. They're actually just sealed with that eternal damnation and
it's the it's essentially the
Antithesis of being a child of God
Because a child of God has begun of God and can a child of God no longer be a child of God
No, can a child can you take away the salvation of a child of God? Absolutely not
Will God the Father ever cease being their father?
Absolutely not.
So, the antithesis to that is the child of the devil that once he's eternally damned,
this side of eternity, he remains the child of the devil from here on out.
He is what the Bible refers to as a reprobate, meaning they are eternally damned, they are
beyond the hope of salvation, and this is not referring to all of the offspring of
It's a small percentage of the population, right?
But it does exist, and the children of disobedience can become the children of the devil.
You say, well, how do we prevent that?
Well, by becoming a child of God.
And so here's the message, if you're visiting with us today, be a child of the Lord.
Be a child of God.
Inherit all the promises that God has for you come into be adopted into the family of God
Adopted because right now you're a child of disobedience your child of wrath and God wants to adopt you into his family
through Jesus Christ
Because if not you do run the risk of
Not just remaining a child of disobedience
But actually becoming a child of the devil
And so, let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word and thank you for the great teachings of the Bible regarding being children of God, and we're thankful, Lord, for the fact that once we believe on Jesus Christ, you now view us not just as your offspring, but now as the children of the living God.
And truly, what manner of love the Father had bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God.
And I pray, Lord, that if there's someone in here who's not saved, and maybe they don't know for sure that they have eternal life, that they would get saved today,
and that the label of being a child of disobedience will be removed, and they would eternally become a child of God.
And Lord, may you bless this as we go on our way, bless our evening service, and all there is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Please turn your song books to song number three hundred and eighty nine
Song number three hundred and eighty nine
Bring them in song number three hundred and eighty nine all together nice and strong on that first verse
Art is the third bird's voice I hear, Found in the desert dark and drear,
Calling the sheep who've gone astray, Far from the shepherds fold away.
Bring them in, bring them in, Bring them in from the fields of sin.
Bring them in. Bring the wandering ones to Jesus.
Go go to help his shepherd kind. Help him the wandering ones to find.
Go bring the lost ones to the fold, where they'll be sheltered from the cold.
Bring them in. Bring them in.
Out in the desert hear their cry, Out on the mountains wild and high,
Artist the master speaks to thee, Go find my sheep where'er they came,
Bring them in, bring them in, Bring them in from the fields of sin.
Jesus.
Amen.
Wonderful singing you are dismissed.