TRIED AND TRUE (7): WHY IT’S POSSIBLE

(James 1:18)
March 17, 2019
John 6; Ezek 37;
Read James 1:18 – We’ve learned trials are the one constant in the believer’s
life. The issue is not escape. There is no escape. The issue is to be tried and
true – not tried and failed. And Jas reminds us why we can win. One simple
reason. In Christ we are not who we used to be. We are a new creation with
freedom not to fail. The issues is to live like who we are, not who we were.

Who were we? People who couldn’t please God bc, we didn’t want to. People
outside Christ may do good for some reward, but their heart is selfish. Like
the boy who prayed, “Lord, if you can’t make me a better boy, don’t worry.
I’m having a real good time just like I am!” He’s spiritually dead. He doesn’t
want to change, and if he tries, he can’t. Jas knows that. So Jas reminds us
only someone who has been regenerated – born again – by the power of the
HS can be tried and true. Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good; He
came to make dead people alive. Only those alive to God want what’s right!
So this closing verse is wonderful. It’s all about regeneration. Who Does it?
What is It? How Does It Happen? Why is It Done? It’s all here.

I. Regeneration -- Who Does It?

“Of his own will” – of whose own will? God’s, of course. Most of us feel we
came to faith in Christ of our own volition. I have news. We’d never have
come to faith on our own. The Bible is emphatic on this point. Rom 3:11) no
one understands; no one seeks for God.” Those who do are either prompted
by God or merely seeking a god of their own definition to self-justify.

Jesus spoke to this: John 6:35: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me
shall not hunger.” Great. But who will come? Jn 6:37: “All that the Father
gives me will come to me.” Those the Father gives “of his own will.” Those
He has quickened, made alive, regenerated, by His will. It is all of Him.

Jesus goes on. Jn 6:47: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has
eternal life.” But back up to v. 44: “No one can come to me unless the Father
who sent me draws him.” Our will is so corrupted by the Fall we would never
want to come to Christ – unless the Father drew us. It all begins with Him.
Look how Jesus ends this sermon: Jn 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the
flesh [us on our own] is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you
are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe… 65 And he
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said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted
him by the Father.” If you have given your life to Christ, it is for one reason
only. God drew you. Even the faith you exercised came from Him. Eph 2:8-9:
“For by grace you have been saved thru faith. And this [faith] is not your own
doing; it is the gift of God.” All of us who are Xns owe it all to God – all of it.

Those outside Christ have a problem: Eph 2:1: “And you were dead in the
trespasses and sins.” Not physically dead – spiritually dead. What reveals a
physically dead person? No response, right? Poke them. No response. Talk to
them. No talking back. I heard of one epitaph that read: “Here lies as silent
clay Miss Arabella Young / who on 21 May began to hold her tongue.” Dead
people don’t respond. Prick them with a pin – nothing. And so spiritually dead
do not respond to God. They are unable and unwilling to come.

What is needed? New spiritual life. From where does it come? From God.
Certainly not us. We’re dead. That was God’s point when He set Ezekiel
down in a field of dry bones. Ezek 37:3: “And he said to me, “Son of man,
can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he
said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear
the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will
cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon
you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put
breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” It
took the breath (Spirit) of God to bring those bones to life.

Lazarus is a physical example of spiritual reality. Dead 4 days. Stinking dead!

What was required of him to come to life? Nothing! Absolutely nothing. Jesus
called; he came forth. Robert Capon says, “In the midst of all our life we
have been in death. And in the midst of that abiding death we have been in
Nothing. Knee-deep in it, waist-deep in it, up to our noses, and in over our
heads in Not-a-Thing.” So there I was, capable of nothing, until Jesus said,
“Dave, come forth,” and forth I came, believing in Him, drawn by the Father.

You say, “But what if I haven’t been drawn? What do I do?” Throw yourself
on His mercy like the tax-collector in Lu 18:1, “God be merciful to me, the
sinner.” Ask mercy and He’ll give it showing you were called after all. But it
is all of Him. Nothing of us. “Nothing in my hands I bring, Simply to thy
cross I cling.” Spiritual life is beyond our wildest dream; but it’s all of Him.

II. Regeneration -- What is It?

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18
Of his own will he brought us forth.” What does brought us forth mean?
ἀποκυέω literally means “to give birth.” Same word as v. 15 where sin births
death. Here, God births us. This is nothing short of the new birth. Being born
again. Spiritual regeneration. Of His own volition, God births us. We’re made
new by God. This is II Cor 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is
from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.” Our old self could
never have been reconciled to God. Outside Christ, we hate God. Rom 8:4,
“7 For the mind that is set on the flesh (self) is hostile to God, for it does not
submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.” The natural mind is not just apathetic
toward God, it is at war with God. So God’s solution = a whole new person!

Paul says in Titus 3:5, “he saved us, not because of works done by us in
righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of
regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” Peter teaches the same: I Pet
1:3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his
great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” This new birth is a spiritual
reality. You can’t see, hear, taste, touch or smell it, but just as surely as Jesus
rose from the dead, believers have been made spiritually alive in Christ. The
dead bones have come to life. Jesus calls this eternal life. Jn 5:24, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has
eternal life.” Has it. Right now. A new you has been brought forth by God that
will last forever. Before we were spiritually dead – unwilling and unable to
respond to God. Now, this new me wants nothing more than do His bidding.

But the old me (flesh) is still there. The old self. And while I no longer have to
do what the old me wants, I can if I so choose. So now the battle rages inside.
Anyone tells you it’s easy to be a Xn isn’t telling the truth. Gal 5:17: “For the
desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are
against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing
the things you want to do.” These two natures fight for control of our will.

But even this struggle is an indication of God’s goodness. A queen bee lays
each of her eggs in a six-sided cell filled with pollen and honey to nourish the
unborn offspring, sealing the top with wax. Twenty-one days later, with its
internal nourishment gone, the newborn squirms and strains to break the wax
seal and emerge from the cell. The struggle is critical. The exit is so narrow it
rubs the membrane covering the wings of the newborn enabling it to fly. If the
wax seal were opened prematurely, the bee would emerge without a struggle,
but would be unable to fly. It would soon be stung to death by other bees.
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So we emerge as newborn babes in Christ to a life of struggle. But that’s how
the Father grows and perfects us in ways we could never imagine. John
Bunyan said of these struggles, “The obstacles to faith can appear as the lion
to Samson: roaring and gnashing; but, when subdued, full of honey.” We
can only meet these trials because of the new life that God has given. He has,
of His own will, birthed us. What a privileged people we are.

III. Regeneration -- How Does It Happen?

God does it, but look what He uses! 18) Of his own will he brought us forth by
the word of truth.” It’s like the Word of God is the attending physician at
every new birth. To a society steeped in the idea that there is no absolute truth
– that all is relative – God insists, “No, there is a word of truth.” And it is by
this word of truth that people are re-born. The Word tells us about the gift of
God’s Son who took our punishment on the cross so that we could become
new creations – in Him. It is the Word that bring this truth home to a broken
race. What quickened Ezek’s dry bones? Hearing the word of the Lord!

Paul never trusted anything else. I Cor 2:1, “And I, when I came to you,
brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty
speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus
Christ and him crucified.” He preached the Word. Period! That’s where the
power is. Rom 10:17: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the
word of Christ.” The best thing we can do for someone we love who is an
unbeliever is encourage them to read the Word. Start in Mark or John or Luke.
Point them to Jesus. Get them to read Romans or Ephesians. Discussion and
apologetics are good, but nothing compares to the Word of truth.

John Piper’s son, Abe, got so deep into sin that he was kicked out of his
father’s church. He spent 4 years trying to make it as a guitarist and singer,
living a party lifestyle. “When I was 19, I decided I’d be honest and stop
pretending I was a Christian. I pretended my reasoning was high-minded
and philosophical. But really I just wanted to drink gallons of cheap sangria
and sleep around. After 4 years, I was strung out, stupefied and pretty low.
Especially when I was sober or alone. My parents, who raised their kids as
well as any parents I’ve ever seen, were brokenhearted and baffled.”

What changed? “One Tuesday morning I went to the library to check my e-

mail. I had a message from a girl I’d met a few weeks before, and her e-mail
mentioned a verse in Romans. I was sure she misquoted it. I determined to
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check it out. I bought a 40-ounce can of Miller High Life for $1.29. Then I
went home, rolled a few cigarettes, cracked open my drink, and started
reading Romans. I couldn’t remember where the email verse was found, so I
started at the beginning of the book. By the time I got to chapter 10, the beer
was gone, the ashtray needed emptying -- and I was a Christian.”

So everyone who gets in the Word gets saved? No. It is those whom God
draws, but He uses the Word to do that. The Word shows us God’s perfect
holiness; the Word shows us how far short of His glory we fall; the Word
shows us the Savior; the Word draws us to God; the Word cleanses us. The
HS regenerates us as our hearts respond to the truth of the Word.

That’s why Paul asked, “14 How then will they call on him in whom they have
not believed?” Then he answers his own question with two more: “And how
are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they
to hear without someone preaching?” Regeneration happens when someone
brings the Word – and we are the preachers, Beloved. All of us. Bringing the
Word of God so that others may be regenerated as well.

IV. Regeneration -- Why is It Done?

Why regeneration? James answers: “that we should be a kind of firstfruits of

his creatures.” We’re a farming community; we know firstfruits, right? The
first ears of corn at harvest time; giving evidence of more to come.

So, these dispersed, persecuted Jewish believers who’ve been given new life
thru the Word of truth are firstfruits. They are the first of much more to come.
They’re the first generation of believers after the death and resurrection of
Christ. We coming along 2,000 years later, could hardly be among the
firstfruits, but we are part of that greater harvest that their regeneration
predicted. So “of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth” as a
continuation of the harvest that started way back there in James’ time.

Notice, they were firstfruits of “his creatures.” Who are his creatures? New
borns (II Cor 5:17). We see them again in Rev 5:13) And I heard every creature
in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in
them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and
honor and glory and might forever and ever!” John sees heaven at the end of
time, and he sees the harvest! He sees the regenerated from all time glorifying
God the Father on the throne and God the Son – the Lamb.

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What a wonderful picture! Shows 2 things. The regenerated are in heaven.
That’s good. That’s why, humanly speaking most of us came to Christ in the
first place, right? We wanted heaven. And we’ll get heaven.

But regeneration is not primarily about us; it is about God. It is to the praise
of His glory He birthed us. Eph 1:11) In him we have obtained an inheritance,
having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things
according to the counsel of his will, 12) so that we who were the first to hope in
Christ might be to the praise of his glory.” What is the primary purpose for
which He brought us forth – to the praise of His glory. In the end it’s all about
the glory of God. Saved for heaven, yes. But far more for God’s glory.

Jonathan Edwards said: “God is the highest good; the enjoyment of Him is
the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven
fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant
accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, children,
earthly friends, are but shadows. But the enjoyment of God is the substance.
These are scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are streams, but God is
the fountain. These are but drops; God is the ocean." The Westminster
shorter catechism had it right when it asked and answered: Q. 1. What is the
chief end of man? A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him
forever. Want to know why God saved you? For His glory -- that’s why!

Conc – So, what does it mean to be regenerated? It means Col 3:3: “For you
have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” I’m not mine anymore.
I’m His. It means Gal 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer
I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” It means Phil 1:21: “For to me to live
is Christ.” It is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer meant when he said, “When Christ
calls a man, he bids him come and die.” It is what Augustine reflected, when
he was hailed in the street one day by a woman he had lived with in his
dissolute pre-Christ days. He did not answer her, so the woman ran after him
saying, “Augustine, it is I.” To which he replied, “I know, but it is no longer
I.” He knew the truth of Col 1:27: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” So let’s
live like who we are, not who we were. Let’s pray.