João 1:13

DISCOURSE: 1597
CHRISTIANS BORN OF GOD

João 1:13. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

IT is obvious, that there is at this day, even as there was in the days of Christ himself, a most essential difference between persons enjoying the same privileges and making the same professions. All the Jews professed themselves to be the people of the Lord; and Christ came to them, as bearing that relation to him. But they did not all receive him. The great majority of the Jewish nation rejected him: as it is said, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not: but to as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on his name.” Now, whence arose the difference between those widely-different persons? or from whence arises a similar difference amongst ourselves? The answer is given us in the words of my text: from whence I shall take occasion to shew,

I. To whom Believers are indebted for all that they possess—

This is marked with very peculiar precision:
It is not from any creature whatever that they receive one spiritual blessing—
[It is “not from blood,” or from natural descent, that they obtain any thing. Ishmael was as much the child of Abraham as Isaac was; and Esau was the son of Isaac as much as Jacob: but their descent from holy parents was of no avail to transmit to them the grace of God. So, in after-ages, we are told, that “all were not Israel who were of Israel; neither because all were the seed of Abraham were they all children; that is, they who were the children of the flesh were not therefore the children of God; the children of promise alone being counted for the seed [Note: Romanos 9:7.].” So neither at this day does holiness flow in the blood of any person; nor can we become the Lord’s people by virtue of our descent from the holiest of men.

“Nor is it of the will of the flesh,” or by virtue of any power inherent in us, that we are made the Lord’s people. All are equally “dead in trespasses and sins;” “nor can any man quicken his own soul.”
“Nor is it of the will of man,” or by any efforts of our friends, that we are made holy. We may adopt any person, whom we will, into our own family; but we cannot bring him into the family of God. Samuel, David, Hezekiah, would never have left their own children to perish, if they could, by any efforts of their own, have saved them: nor would Paul, who “had continual heaviness and sorrow in his heart for his brethren’s sake,” have failed to communicate to them effectual aid, if he had had it at his own disposal.]
It is “of God alone” that any true Believer “is born”—
[“From God alone comes every good and perfect gift [Note: Tiago 1:17.].” If saving grace be imparted to any of us, it is owing to the exercise of his sovereign will, and the operation of his effectual grace. To this the whole Scriptures bear witness. “Of his own will begets he us with the word of truth [Note: Tiago 1:18.].” From all eternity did he select the objects of his choice, predestinating them to the adoption of children; that to all eternity they may be “to the praise of the glory of his grace [Note: Efésios 1:4.].” All this is altogether irrespective of any works of theirs, past, present, or future [Note: 2 Timóteo 1:9; Tito 3:3.]. In a word, that is true which the Apostle so strongly states in the Epistle to the Romans, and in such perfect conformity with the words of my text: “God hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and hath compassion on whom he will have compassion. So, then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy [Note: Romanos 9:15.].”]

This being, for the most part, an unpalatable truth, I will not leave it till I have established it beyond the possibility of doubt—
[Behold the persecuting Saul; and trace, in all its steps, the conversion of his soul. Read the account of it in the ninth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. “Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the Disciples of the Lord, went unto the high-priest, and desired of him (he was altogether a volunteer in this matter) letters to Damascus (a foreign country, not under the government of Judah), to the synagogues; that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, (such was his humanity!) he might bring them bound to Jerusalem [Note: Atos 9:1.].” I ask, Could any one of his party be further off from conversion than he? “But, as he journeyed, he came near to Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man [Note: Atos 9:3.].” To him a man named Ananias was then sent by God himself, in these memorable words: “Go thy way to him; for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel [Note: Atos 9:8.].” Thus was he converted; the only one of all the party, as far as we know;—he, the most embittered of them all, the ringleader of them all, the most unlikely of all. What a comment was this on the words of my text! and what an example of the truth contained in them! The Apostle, speaking of it to the Galatians, puts this very construction upon it all: “It pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen [Note: Gálatas 1:15.].” Now precisely thus it is with every one that is brought to the faith of Christ: he is born, “not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Nor is there one upon the face of the whole earth who must not say, “By the grace of God I am what I am [Note: 1 Coríntios 15:10.].”]

Trusting that the point we have been endeavouring to establish is fully conceded to us, we will proceed to shew,

II.

What encouragement we derive from that all-important consideration—

Unspeakably encouraging are these two thoughts connected with it:

1. All Believers have the same God to go unto for all that they can stand in need of—

[Had their divine life originated from man, either from themselves or others, they must have looked to man to carry it forward. But who that knows the weakness and mutability of man must not have trembled for them? The friend, by whose kind attentions they had been converted, is absent on a journey, or is dead, and his help can no more be obtained. Or the good dispositions which they themselves put forth, and by virtue of which they were brought to God, have been over-powered by temptation, and are no longer at their command. They feel a hardness of heart which they cannot remove, and a distraction of mind which they cannot fix. What then is to be done? The water has failed them, not in the channel merely, but at the fountain-head. But let them reflect on God as the alone source of all that they have possessed, and then they will have this rich consolation in the midst of all their trouble and perplexity: ‘Who is it that has brought me hitherto? and what did He find in me as an inducement to him to magnify his grace in me? He saw nothing in me but sin: he loved me only because he would love me: he consulted nothing but his own sovereign will: he chose me, and not I him: and apprehended me, before he was apprehended by me. Then to him will I look: in him will I hope: to him will I apply. If “he was found of me when I sought him not, and made known to me when I inquired not after him,” I may hope he will not turn his back upon me when I seek him; nor turn a deaf ear to me when I call upon him. My only ground of fear is, either that he is not able, or that he is not willing, to afford me the succour which I stand in need of. But of his ability how can I doubt, when I reflect on what he has already done for me, in quickening me when dead, and bringing me thus far on my journey heaven-ward? Nor can I doubt of his willingness to help me, since the very first motions of my heart towards him were the gift of his sovereign grace, who “gave me both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” ’ Surely these thoughts must afford unspeakable encouragement to the believer, under all the trials to which he can ever be exposed; whilst, on the contrary, if he had only a created power whereon to rely, he must on many occasions sink into utter despondency.]

2. The mercies they have received are to them a pledge of future blessings—

[This necessarily arises from the thought of God’s electing love. For, why did he ever choose us? Was it to abandon us again? Why did he ever quicken us? Was it to give us over to death again? Why did he ever translate us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son? Was it that we might ultimately perish with an accumulated weight of condemnation? He has told us, that the gift of “his Holy Spirit is an earnest of our heavenly inheritance.” Now, an earnest is a part of a payment, and a pledge that the remainder shall in due time be paid: and, consequently, the work of grace already wrought in the hearts of his people is a pledge that he will carry on and perfect it within them. For “he is a God that changeth not; and therefore we neither are, nor shall be, consumed.” “His gifts and calling are without repentance or change of mind, on his part.” “Whom he loveth, he loveth to the end.” And the consideration of this is a rich consolation to his believing people; as he has said: God, “willing more abundantly to shew unto his people the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it with an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge, to lay hold on the hope set before us.” Hence the believer may be confident that “God will not cast him off;” but that, whatever he may have to contend with, “nothing shall ever be permitted to separate him from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”]

But that this subject may not be made an occasion of any undue confidence,

1. Let us inquire whether we have ever experienced this great change—

[It is evident there is a change to be experienced, which no created power can effect. Now then, I ask, Has any such change taken place in you? Think again: It is a change that depends not on your descent from Christian parents; a change which no endeavours of friends can ever accomplish, and which no efforts of your own can ever merit or effect: it is a new creation; and a work of God alone, as much as the creation of the universe itself. Perhaps you will say, ‘Tell me more distinctly wherein this change consists.’ I will do so. It is “a receiving of the Lord Jesus Christ” as the gift of God to your souls; and “a believing in him” as your “all in all.” To these is “the privilege of becoming the sons of God” assigned; and to these alone. If, then, you are “born of God,” these marks must, of necessity, be found in you. You have felt your need of a Saviour; you have cried to God for mercy with your whole hearts: and you have embraced the Lord Jesus Christ as “all your salvation and all your desire.” Examine into this matter, my beloved brethren. Here is the precise point of difference between the children of God and the children of the wicked one. Those who are born of the flesh only, may be moral and externally religious: but the child of God lives altogether by faith on the Son of God, receiving all blessings out of his fulness, and improving them all for his glory. This is a new birth: and were you as moral as Nicodemus himself, you must experience it, at the peril of your souls; and, except ye be thus born from above, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of God. I pray you, brethren, settle this well in your minds: for to those only who stand in this relation to their God is there “any inheritance among the saints in light.”]

2. Let us endeavour to manifest it, by a suitable life and conversation—

[God had one only dear Son, whom he sent down from heaven to sojourn upon earth. And the Scripture fully informs us what dispositions he exercised, and what conduct he pursued. And every one who is born of God will follow his steps, and “walk as he walked.” He will “no longer walk 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.” He will be no longer of the world, any more than Jesus Christ was of the world. He will rise above it. He will be crucified unto it; and regard it as a crucified object, that has no longer any charms for him, or any power over him. His tempers, too, will be mortified and subdued. He will have the meekness and gentleness of Christ in his whole deportment: and, if he be not able perfectly to attain the measure that was in Christ Jesus, he will aspire after it, and be satisfied with nothing less. In a word, he will not live unto himself, but unto God, making it “his meat and his drink to do the will of his Saviour and Redeemer.” Now, then, brethren, this is the way in which you will live, if you are sons of God. “You will shine as lights in a dark world;” and “your light will shine brighter and brighter to the perfect day.” Once attain this conformity to your Saviour’s image, and you will need no one to tell you whence it came, or by whose power it has been wrought. You will readily give all the glory to your God; and ascribe on earth, as you will to all eternity ascribe in heaven, salvation to Him who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.]