Message 10 - By Leroy Surface
“sons
of God”
Introduction
We are not gods. We are not becoming gods, and we will never
be gods. Jesus Christ is the only Son of
God, begotten by birth into a human body.
For all time before Christ, and for all time after the birth of Christ
there has never been, nor will there ever be another child born from his
mother’s womb, a Son of God. We who are “born again,” are “sons of God,” but we
will never be “Sons of God.” Does that sound like a contradiction? It is
not! Both are pronounced in exactly the same way. Both sound
identically the same to the ear, but they are not the same. The only way we
have to express the difference between these two words in writing (at least in
the English language) is through capitalization. The Bible does the same thing with the word “spirit.” Anytime this same word is used
to identify the Holy Spirit, it is
always spelled with a capital (uppercase); while anytime it is used to identify
the spirit of man, it is always
lowercase.
(There are two exceptions to this rule in
the KJV that I am aware of [both are translator errors]. The first
is found in II Thessalonians 2:13, “But
we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth [the truth,
which is the true gospel of Jesus, the Christ].” In this verse, spirit should not have
been capitalized, because here, the apostle Paul is speaking of our spirit [the spirit of man; the
soul]. We can know that this is a
translation error, because the Holy Spirit
of God, being absolutely pure and holy, has no need for sanctification; while
the spirit of man, which does have
need of sanctification, is brought about through faith in the shed blood of
Jesus, the Christ; the Lamb of God. It
is an error to believe that we need the baptism of the Holy Ghost [the Holy Spirit] to sanctify us. Although our sanctification is not something
we can do for ourselves; neither is it the work of the Holy Spirit.
Those who seek the Holy Spirit for sanctification, will never receive
the Holy Spirit nor sanctification,
until their spirit has first been
sanctified, through faith in the shed blood of Jesus, the Christ.
The second
exception I am aware of, is found in Romans
8:10. “And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of
righteousness.” It is our spirit
that is alive because of [the] righteousness of Christ, which we have in
Him. Other than these two cases, only
capitalization [uppercase], or non capitalization [lowercase], differentiates
between the two words; Spirit and spirit, Son and son.)
The Son
of God was in the beginning “with God,”
and “was God.” As the “Word”
of God, He was the creator of all things.
We who are truly born again Christians, though born of God spiritually,
will never be that. Jesus Christ is both
Lord and Christ; all power in heaven and in earth is His. We, though sons of God, will never be, nor ever possess that. Yet, we who are “born of God” spiritually ARE
“sons
of God.” God is our Father, for
which we do not apologize; neither are we ashamed that we are the….
“sons of God”
Beloved, now are we the sons of God,
and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
I John 3:2
The text I have chosen for this message speaks of two conditions of
a child of God. They are, “what we
are,” and “what we shall be.” The
fact that we are, in the first condition, “sons
of God” is based on the truth found in the previous verse, I John 3:1. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we
should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because
it knew him not.” That “manner of
love the Father hath bestowed upon us” is the death of His only begotten
Son on the cross at Calvary. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in
that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). We were “redeemed”
by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our “old man” is crucified in His death, and
“put off” in His burial. A “new man” is “born” in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We are made to be the “sons of God” through our “death,
burial, and resurrection with (in union with) Christ.” Man’s part in this is to “repent, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Jesus did His part at Calvary. It is a “finished
work,” and not a “process” which
we must believe. The Apostle John said
it is due to that “manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us,” and “not”
by a “process” that we are called
the “sons of God.”
“sons of God” Now!
John speaks in our text, “Now are we the sons of God.” The
arrangement of the words is somewhat different, but John made a positive
statement, better stated as “Now we are the sons of God and it is
not yet apparent what we shall be ...” The first condition of every child
of God is that they are “born again” of
the Spirit of God. They are “sons
of God.” Far too many people see this first condition as the “goal” to
strive for in their lifetime; in fact, an unobtainable goal, and such it is if
you see it as merely a “goal.” The apostle
said “Now are we the sons of God ...” The emphasis is on the “now,”
and is contrasted with “what we shall be” which
follows. We are not in a process of becoming sons of God. We are
not in a process of “being born again.” When
Peter spoke of “being born again” he
spoke nothing about a process. Hear his
words; “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the
Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a
pure heart fervently: Being (due to the fact that you are) born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which
liveth and abideth for ever” (I Peter 1:22-23).
A child of God is not in a process of sanctification. It is
just as much a contradiction to consider the possibility of an “unholy” son of God as it is to consider
an “unregenerate” son of God. Both are total contradictions. If we
were in the “process” of being either
“born again,” or, being “sanctified,” the apostle could never
have made the positive statement, “Now
are we the sons of God,” while also speaking of “what we shall be.” We know that at the second coming of Jesus
Christ we (our bodies) shall be changed.
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall
be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (I Corinthians 15:51-52). Paul also tells us we are “...waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption
of our body?” (Romans 8:23-24).
This verse speaks of that “change.” It speaks of the day this “corruptible (body)” puts on “incorruption,”
and this “mortal (body)” puts on “immortality;” the day that “Death
is swallowed up in victory” (I
Corinthians 15:53-54). True, our
bodies have not been “born of God.”
They “wait” for “adoption” or, “redemption” from decay
(corruption). Our bodies, however, have been “purchased” by God. “What?
know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in
you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought
with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are
God’s” (I Corinthians 6:19-20). Your body in not your own. It is the temple of God. He purchased it with the blood of His own
Son. Both your “spirit (by new
birth)” and your “body (by purchase price)” belong
to God and He is to be glorified in them.
“Now are we the sons of God…” The words are powerful. It sounds
like an unreachable goal, and it is for those who “strive” for it. These powerful words of John are the reason
for the words of Jesus to Nicodemus, “Marvel
not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again.” A son of God is holy and
just by nature, and not because of a religious law. His “lifestyle” issues from “life,” not from “principles.” His “work” issues from “rest,” not from activities and programs. His praise issues
from what he is more than what he says. His very existence is a
contradiction to everything of this present world, whether it is “religious,” or “secular.” A son of God is not of
this world, even though he is in
this world. His name is written in
heaven; he is a citizen of that world. His life is in Christ, and Christ
is his life in this world. Far better would it be to a son of God to die
for Christ than to ever deny Him who is his life. There are no methods,
no step programs, no principles to obey that could ever bring a person to this
wonderful state of being. “Ye must be
born again.” Everything Jesus did when He died for us, was buried for us,
and raised again the third day for us, is summed up in this purpose revealed in
Ephesians 1:12, “That we should be to the praise of his
glory, who first trusted in Christ.”
“…and it doth not yet appear what we shall be:” Literally translated into English, the verse
says “it is not yet apparent what we
shall be.” The “second condition”
of the child of God is “what we shall
be.” Though it may not be apparent what we shall be, it is certain that we
will never be anything God approves unless it is first settled for eternity, “now are we the sons of God.” Everything
must be built upon a proper foundation.
What we are, the “sons of God” is
built upon that one foundation of which Paul said there is no other, which is “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” Seek
to come to God through any other means than “Christ
crucified,” and you seek in vain. No one who bypasses the cross can
even be saved, for it is your death with Christ, your burial with Christ, and
your being raised again a new creature in Christ that constitutes “born again.” Dead religion seeks to “change” the old man into something God
will accept, but God will never accept the old man, but nailed him to the cross with Christ.
The old man “being dead with
Christ,” Peter said we are “begotten
again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (I Peter 1:3). “Being born again” by the resurrection of Jesus Christ we are,
right now, “sons of God,” and as such
we can learn very much from a study of the virgin birth of Jesus into this
world.
When the angel Gabriel first visited Mary, He told her who it was
that would be born to her without a human father: “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also
that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). When the angel appeared to Joseph before Jesus was born, he told
him what Jesus would do: “And she shall
bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). When Jesus was born in that manger in Bethlehem, the angels of
God told us who He was. “For unto you is born this day in the city of
David a Saviour, which is Christ the
Lord” (Luke 2:11). This little “Son of God,” wrapped in swaddling clothes, was God's salvation for the
world, but He was not yet manifested to be so.
For his first twelve years the scriptures says that Jesus “grew, and
waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him”
(Luke 2:40). For the next eighteen years, the scripture says, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature,
and in favour (grace) with God and
man” (Luke 2:52). These years constitute thirty of His
less than thirty-four years. During all
these years of spiritual and physical “growth,”
Jesus was “pure in heart,” and
holy in both spirit and body. It is worthy of note that Jesus did not
grow into Sonship; He was the Son of God while yet in Mary’s womb. He was not, as David confessed of himself, “conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity” (Psalms 51:5). This simply means that Jesus Christ was neither conceived nor
born with a “sin nature.” Sin was as
alien to Him as righteousness was to the serpent. His growth in “wisdom, stature, and in favour” was not a continual struggle
against sin that was in Him. He did not have a “dual nature,” one sinful, and one righteous. Instead, He
had a “divine nature.” He had the
nature of His Father.
Could Jesus Have Sinned?
Jesus said, “And ye shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Read the
complete text in John 8:31-36 and
you will see that Jesus was speaking of being made “free from Sin.” The matter of whether Jesus could have sinned is
of vital importance for you to understand if you are to ever be free. Many, perhaps most teachers today erroneously
teach that Jesus could have sinned. Their reasoning is flawed and their
conclusions are wrong. They reason first of all, that if Jesus could not
have sinned, why was he tempted? Their “error” comes out of a misunderstanding
of the scriptural meaning of the word “tempted.”
In modern usage, to be tempted is to have a strong desire to do a sinful
thing. The definition of the Greek word “peirazo
(pi-rad'-zo),” is “to test (objectively).” Jesus was never “tempted” in the modern usage of the word, but in the scriptural
usage of the word He “was in all points
tempted (tested) like as we are, yet
without sin.” Most people who believe Jesus could have sinned, also believe
that being “tempted” meant he had an
“overwhelming inward desire” to do so.
But could they really believe that Jesus had an “overwhelming desire” to fall down and worship the devil? The scripture says he was tempted by the devil
to do so (Matthew 4:8-9).
Jesus was “tested” by the devil, but
it was God, His Father that caused it to be so. Note Matthew 4:1: “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted of the
devil.”
Suppose a car manufacturer decides to build a car that will last a
lifetime in perfect condition with minimal maintenance. They produce the car and advertise it to be a
once in a lifetime purchase; your car buying days are over. What a
wonderful thought, and what a huge demand there would be for such a car.
In a very short period of time, however, the car proves to be flawed. The transmission slips, the brakes fail, the
engine guzzles gas and burns oil, the a/c doesn't work and the windows leak.
Repeated repairs prove that the car is simply a “lemon” that cannot be successfully improved in any way. Huge industries are built around the flawed
car, promising the people they can fix the problems, but every “fix” proves to be short lived. In time, the car manufacturer scraps the
original version of the car and comes out with a “new model.” They have pre-tested every minute detail of the car in
every way. This “new model” is
tested in every area that the original failed in, yet the new model passes
every test without the slightest hint of weakness or flaw. The manufacturer gives the test model into
the hands of people that abuse cars, and even they cannot cause it to fail in
any way. Now the “new model” is ready to be presented to the people. It has
been “in every point tested as the original
model, yet without weakness or failure.”
Adam was the “test model” of
the original creation. He was made in the image and likeness of God. He was crowned with the glory and honour of
God. He had complete fellowship with
God. God gave all the works of His hands
to be under Adam's dominion. Adam was
tested in only one point, and in that point he failed miserably. He was tested in the matter of the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.”
He was commanded not to eat of that one tree. Adam’s “flaw” was that he “disobeyed
God.” Paul tells us “through one
man’s (Adam’s) disobedience, many
were made sinners (Romans 5:19.” In fact, all of Adam’s
descendants, every living soul on earth are sinners. They “fail”
in every point of testing. From the time that Adam disobeyed God, it was
determined there would be a “New
Creation.” Jesus Christ is that new creation. He introduces Himself in Revelation 3:14 as “the
beginning of the (new) creation of
God.” He was given as a baby “in the likeness
of sinful flesh” (Romans 8:3). He
looked just like those around Him but that was the end of the likeness, because
He was not like them. In Him was no sin nature. He was tested by the world for thirty
years. They never knew who He was, but they knew He was different. The scripture says He “increased in wisdom, and stature, and in favour with God and man.”
When Jesus was about thirty years old, the Holy Ghost came upon
Him. God spoke from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
Jesus had passed every test with no flaws and no failures. Now He
would be sent to the abusers for further testing. The very next verse
after His Father publicly expressed His approval of Jesus says, “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil” (Matthew 4:1). He was
tested in every point that you and I have ever, or could ever be tested in, “yet without sin.” There were no flaws,
no weaknesses, and no failures!
From the womb of Mary until His death and resurrection, He was the
only begotten Son of God. In the instant
of His resurrection, He became the “firstborn
among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). Jesus had been tested by death itself,
and death could not hold Him. Now there
would be “many brethren,” each one of
them “predestined to be conformed (jointly
formed with Christ in death and resurrection) to the image of His Son.” To be “conformed to the image of Christ” is not the unreachable goal of a
son of God, it is the manner of our new birth.
Imitations
I hear preachers say, “But we
all make mistakes!” They are making excuses for sinful lives, calling
them “mistakes.” Misspelling a word
may be a mistake, but it is not a sin. A wrong answer on a math test
could be a mistake, but it is not a sin.
Paying too much for a car is a mistake, but not a sin. Yes, everyone makes mistakes, maybe every day
that we live, but not everyone is a sinner. I do not know whether Jesus
ever misspelled a word, miscalculated a math problem, or paid too much for an
article. I do not know! This I do know;
He never sinned, He could not sin, because there was no sin in Him.
The modern “faith teacher” teaches
that Jesus Christ was in this world as a “natural
man”: as an “example” of what a natural
man can do through faith, prayer, and fasting.
If this were true, Jesus’ death at Calvary was all in vain. Any
child of Adam from Cain forward could have done the same things. Our
holiness, our righteousness would all be the result of our determination and
will power. Those who “attained”
would have reason for boasting. I have
heard them boast throughout my lifetime, “We
really paid a price for the ministry we have. If you paid the price we
paid, you could have what we have.” Yes, a man or woman of God will
pray and fast, but that is not the purchase price for anything of God. The holiness and righteousness of the “boaster” is not from God, but of
themselves. Their “holiness” is
a “smoke in God’s nose (Isaiah 65:5),” and their “righteousnesses” are as “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).
The “pursuit” of holiness
and righteousness sounds to the human ear to be a noble thing. It is also a vain thing. The sons of
God are holy and righteousness. No one
has ever been truly “born again” of
the Spirit of God and continued unholy and unrighteous. In death and
burial with Jesus Christ at Calvary, we have “put off the old man (Ephesians
4:22),” and in His resurrection
(our new birth) we have “put on the new
man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” These
verses do not define a goal to be obtained by a child of God. Instead, they lay out the gospel truth that
makes those who believe it free. Notice
that the “new man” was created “after God.” The new man is in the
image and likeness of the Son of God. Notice that the new man is created
in “righteousness and true
holiness.” Are you “born again?” Are you a “new man in Christ Jesus?” Then believe
the truth that will make you free. In
your new birth (being born again) you were “created
in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:8-10),
“conformed to the image of the Son of
God” (Romans 8:29), and “created in righteousness and true
holiness.” No boasting here! It is the work and result of the Son of
God when He died for us. It is the
purpose of Calvary. It is that “first
condition” of the children of God. “Now are we the sons of God.”
The example set before us in Jesus Christ is not “what a natural man can do,” but “what a son of God is.” This “error” in the so-called “faith doctrine” has filled the land and
the churches with many pretenders.
Pretense has become part of the doctrine of many. I first noticed
it early in this generation; teachings such as “imitate” the life of Jesus. I first heard a “faith teacher” speak on “imitating Christ” in 1972. It
sounded good, but that night I received a dream from the Lord. I saw a beautiful diamond ring. There
was a great controversy about the ring; was it an “imitation,” or was it a “duplication.”
The untrained eye could not tell the difference, but if it was an imitation, it
had almost no value; if it was a duplication, it was of great value, though
less than the original. At the end of
the dream I heard these simple words, the wisdom of which cannot be denied; “An imitation is always false.”
A son of God is not THE Son of God, but neither is he an
imitation. A son of God partakes of the same life and nature as the Son
of God. We are not the “original,” the “first born,” but we are the “many brethren” of the first born, who
are “conformed to His image” (Romans 8:29). We do not even “conform
ourselves” to the image of Christ. The word from the Greek text means
“jointly formed (with Christ).” It is in His death and resurrection
that we are “jointly formed” in the
image of the Son of God. The man or woman who has Christ does not have to
imitate Christ. If you have “life”
you do not imitate “life.” Today,
the “faith teacher” has come through
many evolutions from the original imitation.
Today, their “wisdom” is
expressed in such clichés as “fake it
until you make it,” and millions of people continue on in the bondage of
pretense.
Born Again
Are you “born again?” Just
over thirty years ago the term “born
again” was robbed of all meaning by the election campaign of Jimmy Carter
for president. Whether Jimmy Carter was “born again” or not is not the issue. He ran for President openly declaring that he
was a “born again Christian.” Major
news magazines picked up the term. Advertising firms loved it. Almost every product that was formerly promoted
as “new and improved” was now
advertised as “born again.” Even “Hustler Magazine,” a piece of
pornographic trash, produced a “Born
Again” issue. Larry Flint, the publisher of “Hustler” got baptized and declared himself to be born again. Millions of people today who claim to be “born again” are also addicted to
nicotine, alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography, immorality, and even
perversions. Churches have become “counseling
centers” for all these problems, but that is not what this wonderful salvation
is about. I heard a lady minister on the
radio whose daughter had committed suicide several years before. Certainly our hearts go out to any mother or
dad who has suffered such heartbreak, but no one but the Lord can give peace
and comfort in such cases. This ladies mind was tormented for some time
because she believed her daughter was in hell.
She said it was only when she came to understand the truth of the “security” of those who are “born again” that she received peace,
and could now rejoice that her daughter is “with
the Lord.” She explained that her daughter had been born again at an early
age, but had never been able to quit sinning. She found it extremely hard to
live for God and was continually drawn to sinful things. Through some
series of events her life ended in suicide. Now, this lady minister felt
it was her commission from God to tell people everywhere that sin could not
possibly keep them out of heaven if they had ever been “born again.”
What is the criteria for believing you are born again? For all too many it is to, as they say, “walk the roman road.” All too often
that ends up in “repeating a prayer with
a preacher, being baptized in water, and joining the church.” Did you know
that this can be a perfect example of “legalism?”
The form of legalism which most people know about is found in those who
believe they will be saved by their good works and their perfect obedience to
commandments and ordinances. The other form, far more deceptive, is found
in those who believe God accepts them because they have obeyed certain “legal” steps. In other words, “do these things, and God must receive you.”
Jesus said, “Repent ye, and
believe the gospel.” Repeating a sinners prayer without “godly sorrow” is not repentance. Water baptism is an “ordinance” that does not hold the power of salvation. Joining the church for such people has no
more spiritual value than going to a Walmart
store. Therefore, they enter into a life
of believing that if you are “born again”
sin doesn’t matter to God, or, a life of continually trying and failing to
cease from sin through the application of “principles.”
But neither of these will ever take care of their sin problem and put them
in right standing with God.
The apostle Paul gave us the proper criteria for recognizing the
new birth in Galatians 6:15.
He wrote his epistle to the Galatians because of certain men from Jerusalem who
told the people, “Except ye be
circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1). They were teaching a “legalistic” salvation. If the
people were circumcised and kept the law of Moses, they would be saved. If not, they could not be saved. Paul acted swiftly and spoke clearly against
this error. He made it clear to those
who trusted in circumcision, “Christ shall
profit you nothing” (Galatians 5:2). To those who trusted in the law of
Moses for justification, “Christ is
become of no effect unto you...ye are fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4). Trusting in anything other than “Christ-crucified” is a vanity. It isn’t a matter of whether
a man is circumcised or not circumcised; it is a matter of what He trusts in
for salvation. Salvation never comes from anything or anyone but Jesus
Christ, and Him crucified. Christ
alone! God is not waiting for or looking for your circumcision, baptism,
church membership, or the keeping of any religious ordinance. It is your godly sorrow for sin and your
faith in Jesus Christ who was crucified for you, that God awaits. Christ
alone is our savior. The Apostle Paul
gave us the criteria by which we can know that salvation has come. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.” We can know
there has been a “new birth” when
there is a “new creature,” and that “new creature” is a “son of God,” right now.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he
is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new.
II Corinthians 5:17
In this verse Paul gives us another “criteria.” How do you know a “new creature?” “Old things
are passed away.” The Greek word for “old things” means “the
original.” It speaks of the “old
man.” He isn’t at home in the body any longer. What happened to Him? He “passed away.” It is the language of
death. The old man is dead, and every
man in Christ is a “new man,” hence, “All things are become new.” In
the Greek text, there is no word for
“things” in this scripture, thus every man and woman in Christ Jesus are
become new, and all are of God. The term “of God” in this place means “from
God, originating in God.” They are “sons
of God.” Have you been “born
again?" Were you “born of God?” I’m
not asking if you are perfect. I’m not asking you anything about your
present experience with the Lord. Even
if there is sin in your heart today, that is not the way God birthed you. You were clean and holy. You were justified and sanctified. I have seen those throughout the years who I
believed were truly “born again.” All
of them were radically changed from the moment of conversion. Some of them, as Jesus did, “...grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled
with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him” (Luke 2:40). They “...increased in wisdom and stature, and in
favour with God and man” (Luke 2:52). Others seemed to lose the joy and
peace of salvation. Maybe they continued in the church, maybe even became
workers in some capacity, but five, ten, maybe twenty or forty years later they
never manifest even as much of the fruit of the spirit as they did the first
day they were saved. Why would this
be? Peter wrote to the children of God
in his day, “Grace and peace be
multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord” (II Peter 1:2). Grace and peace, along with every fruit of the spirit is to
multiply in the child of God. Peter said that it is “through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord” that we have
this “increase.” He continues
in the next verse to tell us that God has given us everything that pertains to
life and godliness, “through the
knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (II Peter 1:3). Finally, Peter closes his letter with these words, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (II
Peter 3:18). As Jesus “grew” in “stature and favour with God and man,” so are we to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” It is not our “efforts” to love or to manifest any of the other fruit that avails
anything. Studying all the “principles” of life and godliness is a
mechanical thing. It produces “robots”
that can make all the right movements, yet are incapable of love, joy, or
peace. Even if every action is correct,
they are incapable of “righteousness.”
Child of God, this “salvation” is
more than that. If you have been born of
God, I know that you hunger and thirst for more than mechanical obedience to “carnal ordinances” (Hebrews 9:10). You yearn for the reality of “life”
that comes only through the knowledge of Him.
What We Shall Be
Our text for this message is I
John 3:2: “Beloved, now are we the
sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be... .” To this
point I have spoken about “Now are we the
sons of God,” which is the first condition of everyone who is “born of
God.” Everything we have dealt with so far in this message was manifest in the
childhood of Jesus. They will also be manifest in the spiritual childhood
of everyone that is truly born again. Religion makes it our goal, but the
reality is, it is our beginning. From
this point on in the message, I hope to speak of “what we shall be,” based upon the second condition of Jesus’ life
on earth. I will NOT be speaking of WHAT WE WILL BE after the return of
Jesus because there will be NO spiritual change in us, either at or after His
coming. If you are unholy now, you will be unholy then. If you are a sinner now, you will be a sinner
then.
Jesus’ life on earth had three manifestations. The first is that which was manifest from His
birth until about thirty years of age.
The second, that which was manifest in His ministry, which lasted about
three and a half years. The third is what He was manifest to be at
Calvary. I could go on to speak of what
He was manifest to be in His resurrection, etc, but that would have to be
another message. From the birth of Jesus
until He was about thirty years old He was the “only begotten Son of God.” John said, “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew
him not” (John 1:10). It was not manifest that He was the
creator of all things. It was not even manifest
what He would be in this present world. He was righteous and holy.
He had no sin nature. There was not
another child like this child on the face of the earth, and there never had
been, yet all who lived around Him thought Him to be the son of Joseph the
carpenter. He was a “special
child,” in a common surrounding. Contrary to what some teach, Jesus
was never taught by the great teachers of Israel (John 7:15). There was nothing special about His human
education, but His spirit, wisdom and grace were extraordinary because they
were from His Father. Yet in spite of these things, it was not apparent
who He was, or what He would be. Someone wrote the song titled, “Mary, did you know?” Did the world
around Him know? For thirty years He
never worked a miracle or healed a sick body. He never cast out devils or
healed a broken heart in all those years.
How could they know? For all He
was, it was never apparent what He would be, or what He would do until after
the Holy Ghost came upon Him. It was then
that He entered the second "phase"
of His life on earth.
The second “phase,” of Jesus’ life on earth began the day He
received the Holy Ghost when He was about thirty years of age. Very shortly, after the “testing” in the wilderness, Jesus “returned in the power of the Spirit” into Galilee and began to
preach the kingdom of God, heal the sick, cast out devils, and do
miracles. He “went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the
devil; for God was with Him” (Acts
10:38). There is no reason to
spend time in this message telling about the wonderful works of Jesus, beyond
to say that what He was all the time began to be manifest to men, but it was by
the Holy Ghost that every work was
performed. Jesus tried to explain this
to His disciples in John 14:10, “Believest
thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak
unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth
the works.” Again, He taught them in John 5:19, “Verily, verily, I
say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father
do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”
Not even Jesus could do anything beyond the natural except by the Holy Spirit
of His Father that was in Him. Jesus was not the originator or instigator
of a single supernatural event during His earthly ministry. The first
message He brought after the Holy Ghost came upon Him was from the text
beginning in Isaiah 61:1, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because
the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me
to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the
opening of the prison to them that are bound.” The Holy Ghost had come to
Jesus to do the work of His Father who sent Him.
The vast majority of those today who are truly “born again” are spending their time on earth in the “childhood” of Jesus, and sadly, the
greatest number of these have never grown in either grace or knowledge of the
truth beyond those “baby days.” The
world knows them as really “good people”
if they are truly born of God, but the world cannot possible know them as “sons of God” unless and until they are “filled with the Holy Ghost.”
It is Expedient
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you
that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but
if I depart, I will send him unto you.
John 16:7
Jesus spoke to His disciples about the “expediency” of His “going
away.” It was “best” for them
that Jesus would go away, because if He did not, “the Comforter (the Holy Ghost)”
would not come unto them. In examining these words, it is easy to see
that the “expediency” was that the
Holy Ghost came unto these disciples just as it had to Jesus over three years
before. Yet, the Holy Ghost could not
come until Jesus went away, therefore the immediate expediency was that Jesus “go away.” He must go to the cross, to
His own death, to the grave, and to the “lower
parts of the earth” (Ephesians 4:9). He must rise again the third day, and
go to the right hand of God in Heaven. All this was necessary before the
Holy Ghost would come unto the disciples. Jesus then gave a promise to
them, “But if I depart, I will send Him
unto you.” Notice the words “unto you”
that Jesus used two times in this one verse. The Holy Ghost was in Jesus, but He was not
in Jesus' disciples. Jesus must go away,
pay the redemptive price with His own blood, ascend to the Father, and send the
Holy Ghost “unto” His
disciples. Jesus continues His promise in the next verse, “And when he is come (unto you), he will reprove the world of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment” (John
16:8).
The disciples could not imagine any scenario where it would be
better for Jesus to “go away” than
for the Holy Ghost not to “come unto
them,” yet that is exactly what Jesus was telling them. It is only by
the Holy Ghost that the sons of God begin to be manifest as “what we shall be.” Without the Holy
Ghost, even the sons of God are powerless to do the work the Father has given
us to do. The day Jesus ascended to the Father, He spoke to all His
disciples on the Mount of Olives. The scripture says He commanded them
that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but “wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of
me. For John truly baptized with water;
but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” The “baptism with the Holy Ghost” is the “promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4-5).
John the Baptist spoke of the coming spiritual baptism even as he
baptized the people in the Jordan river.
“I indeed baptize you with water
unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I
am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost...” (Matthew 3:11). Notice the two baptisms; the first with water, and the second
with the Holy Ghost. The first was the ministry of John the Baptist, and
the second is the ministry of Jesus, the Son of God. This was John’s testimony of the two
baptisms. Three and a half years later, Jesus has suffered, died for our
sin, raised again the third day, and is about to ascend to His Father. He has not baptized a single person with the
Holy Ghost, but He is about to enter into that final ministry. He tells those who witness His ascension, “John indeed baptized you with water; but ye
shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many day hence.” No more than ten
days later they were all “filled with the
Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them
utterance” (Acts 2:4). Peter explained this heavenly ministry of
Jesus this way in Acts 2:32-33, “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we
all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.” Jesus,
true to His promise, had sent the Comforter to His disciples. He had baptized them with the Holy Ghost.
The Purpose
In the beginning, God created the
heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void; and
darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters. And God said, let there be light: and there was
light.
Genesis 1:1-3
When God will do a thing, He always moves by His Spirit and speaks
His Word. In Genesis 1:2, the “earth was
without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” The
Hebrew says the earth was an empty wasteland.
It was a worthless thing, an indistinguishable ruin, and covered with
darkness. It would have remained in that
condition for eternity but for one thing.
“God said...” and “the Spirit of God moved.” This sets the
pattern for the working of God that has never failed. God does nothing except
by the Holy Ghost. He does nothing but according to His Word. How
long the earth was a worthless void we do not know. What we do know is that when God began to
speak and the Spirit of God began to move, in six days time earth became a
fruitful paradise. When God poured His
Spirit upon His sons and daughters on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God
began to move upon the sinful hearts of the multitude around them. God began to speak, but this time it was
through a man, and the light began to shine. Before the day was over,
three thousand souls that had been a worthless wasteland filled with darkness
were saved, born again, the sons of God.
Remember the “expediency” Jesus spoke of that the Holy Ghost come to
us. God’s answer for everything this
side of Calvary is for the Holy Ghost to come to us. We are exhorted as
the sons of God to be “filled with the
Holy Ghost.” Not just a one time “baptism,”
but a present admonition, “be filled with
the Spirit.” The world around us is “without
form and void.” Our nation has become a worthless wasteland, filled with
darkness. Isaiah prophesied of these
days; “Darkness shall cover the earth,
and gross darkness the people.” We are there... we have arrived. The
people live in fear. Consider the terror that was created in Boston just
yesterday as I write this, by a simple advertising gimmick. The extended
definition from the Hebrew word for the darkness that covers the earth is
figuratively, “misery, destruction,
death, ignorance, sorrow, and wickedness.” What could better describe that
which covers the earth today.
Isaiah did not stop with foretelling the darkness that would cover
the earth and the people. He continued, “but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and His
glory shall be seen upon thee.” God’s answer to everything is to send the
Holy Ghost upon His people. Our “programs”
will change nothing and our “Christian
philosophy” will change nothing, but God chooses to move by His
Spirit. Our text for this message is “Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doeth not yet appear what we shall be...”
God has prepared His sons for this hour of darkness. This is the day of our destiny, but it will
never be seen what God would do, or what He has prepared us to be until we, His
people, are surrendered on the altar and full of the Holy Ghost. Oh “sons
of God,” hear the plea of God’s Spirit, and “...present your body(s), a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service (Romans
12:1)” and we will once more see
what great things God will do. For once
more He will utter His voice. Once more He will move by His Spirit across
the worthless wastelands. Once more He will call for light and we will
see a great harvest of the earth before, He once more speaks in His anger against
the nations.
Who the Holy Ghost is For
History repeats itself. Just as the Holy Ghost had come upon
the “Son of God” at the river Jordan,
on the Day of Pentecost the Holy Ghost came upon the “sons of God.” Jesus said the world cannot receive the Holy Ghost (John 14:16-17). Many have the
misconception that the Holy Ghost was somehow shut up in heaven until Jesus
sent it into the world. Believe me, the Holy Ghost had been around from
the creation of the heavens and earth.
The only thing that changed on the day of Pentecost was that the blood
of redemption was received in the Holy place of Heaven, the sacrifice was
accepted, and men were redeemed.
Everything Jesus accomplished in His death, burial, and resurrection was
now effectual to everyone who would believe. The hundred and twenty was
the body of believers that day. The moment the blood of Christ was
accepted in the heavens, they were the redeemed. They were the justified,
and they were the sanctified. God does not send the Holy Ghost into the
heart that is unclean. And only the
blood of Jesus can cleanse the unclean.
The Holy Ghost is for those who are clean, washed in the blood of the
Lamb.
Redemption, justification, sanctification, and the baptism of the
Holy Ghost were all given to the hundred and twenty on the same day.
Several years later it was the same for the household of Cornelius. They were told that Peter would give them “words, whereby they might be saved.”
Peter was in total amazement to find that God would send him to speak to a
gentile. He had scarcely began to speak to them when, as it is recorded, “the
Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed
were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was
poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with
tongues, and magnify God” (Acts
10:44-46). God did not give His Spirit to sinners. Instead, as Peter
testified of this event in Acts 15:7-9,
“And when there had been much disputing,
Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good
while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear
the word of the gospel, and believe. And
God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them
witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and
them, purifying their hearts by faith.”
The Holy Ghost is for those whose hearts have been made pure by faith in the
shed blood of Jesus.
What the Holy Ghost is For
The Holy Ghost is given to “sons
of God” for the work of the ministry.
A common error which has greatly hindered the work of God is that the
Holy Ghost is given for our sanctification.
It is an error that is hard to root out because it is so predominate in
the writings of the sanctified movement previous to the outpouring of the Holy
Ghost at the turn of the twentieth century.
Those who first received the Holy Ghost in the latter outpouring of the
Spirit just over a hundred years ago, knew they were “sanctified” by grace, through faith in the sanctifying blood of
Jesus. Those who labored through their own means for sanctification never
received the Spirit. Those who did receive the Holy Ghost were sanctified
already.
I remember when preachers first began to tell those with sin
problems that all they needed was the Holy Ghost. The truth was, what
they needed for their sin problem was to be “born
again.” It was to “repent, and
believe the gospel.” The emphasis soon changed from “be filled with the Spirit,” to “receive your tongue,” and later,
“receive your prayer language.” Soon the churches began to fill up with
religious sinners who “babbled,” and felt spiritual in doing so.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;
he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the
captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are
bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Luke 4:18-19
These are the words from the text Jesus read in His first synagogue
service after receiving the Holy Ghost.
They clearly tell why the Holy Ghost was given to Jesus, and why He will
be given to us who are born of God. It
is to preach the gospel, to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance, to
restore the sight of the blind (both physically and spiritually), to set the
captives free, and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. These are the work of the ministry.
Message 10 - By Leroy Surface - “sons of God”
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