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BORN OR BORN AGAIN
INTRODUCTION
We open this message with a quiz.
Please answer true or false.
Everyone is a child of God. TRUE OR FALSE????
It would be nice if everyone were a child of God. Whether they believe it or not, everyone is created by God.
This is in reference to the first birth or natural birth. But God’s word teaches us that not all are God’s children.
The Bible records Jesus addressing some of the Jewish leaders.
If anyone was God’s Children, these should have been.
Some of Jesus most severe words were spoken to these men.
Who were teachers of the law and the Pharisees.
Jesus called them:
BLIND GUIDES….Matt.23:16;…. unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
BLIND FOOLS….MATT. 23:17;….. fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
HYPOCRITES….Matt. 23:25;….Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
WHITEWASHED TOMBS…MATT. 23:27;… Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
` SNAKES…BROOD OF VIPERS…. MATT 23:33…Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
These verses do not record anything to indicate these are God’s people.
Jesus even asked these leaders, “how can ye escape the damnation of Hell”.
NEW TESTAMENT TEACHING
No one is born Christian.
To be a Christian one must become a Christian.
We are saved by grace..not our works.
When someone BECOMES a Christian many things happen.
A CHRISTIAN IS SOMEONE WHO HAS:
Moved from darkness into light..1 Peter 2:9;… But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Moved from death into life…John 5:24;…. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Received the gift of eternal life… Rom 6:23;…. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
A CHRISTIAN IS SOMEONE WHO IS:
A BROTHER OR SISTER of Jesus…Matt 12:50;…For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
A FOLLOWER of Jesus… Luke 14:27;… And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
A FRIEND of Jesus… John 15:15;…. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
A BELIEVER in Jesus…John 4:41…And many more believed because of his own word;
ACCORDING TO JESUS SOME ARE THE DEVIL’S CHILDREN:
Although God blesses all people to some degree not all are His.
Matthew 5:45;….. That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust
The sun shines on the EVIL and the GOOD.
The rain falls on the JUST and the UNJUST.
THE TRUE FATHER OF THE UNSAVED
THE DEVIL… JOHN 8:44….44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
If our natural or physical birth made us a child of God there would be no need for Heaven and Hell.
There would only be Heaven. Everyone would go to Heaven.
Yet Jesus spoke a great deal about Hell.
JESUS SPOKE OF HELL FIRE…MATT 5:22 …. AND OF THE WHOLE BODY BEING CAST INTO HELL.. MAT 5:29
JESUS SAID THE SOUL AND BODY CAN GO TO HELL MT…10:28.
Jesus spoke of the hell fire that never shall be quenched Mark 9:45;
Jesus talked about the torments of hell.Luke 16:23;
The time has now come to talk to yourself.
Ask yourself: WHO IS MY FATHER?
Prayer
Invitation