Participants: Pastor Kenneth Cox
Series Code: TOTE
Program Code: TOTE000008
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00:02 Can you believe it?
00:05 Can you build your faith on it? 00:08 The promises of God's Word are sure. 00:12 They do not fail. 00:17 This book has stood the test of time. 00:30 Father up in heaven, 00:32 we come to You this evening 00:36 opening our hearts and our minds 00:41 as we take a look at the provisions You have made 00:48 that each of us might have life eternal. 00:52 We pray that You will give to us 00:55 understanding. We pray that we each 01:00 might surrender all to Jesus Christ. 01:06 That we might have the privilege of being in Your kingdom 01:12 because we have accepted You as our Savior. 01:15 For this we pray in Christ's name, Amen. 01:27 In John the 3rd chapter 01:31 a man by the name of Nicodemus 01:34 who was a member of the Sanhedrin, 01:40 a teacher in Israel, 01:44 came to Jesus by night. 01:46 Said to Him: "Master, we know that You are a teacher 01:51 from God. " And Jesus kind of cut through all the periphery 01:57 and went right to the heart. And He said to Nicodemus: 02:13 Said: "Nicodemus, unless a person is born again 02:18 he cannot see the kingdom of God. " 02:21 And Nicodemus said: "What do You mean? 02:26 I'm an old man. " 02:40 Said: "What are you talking about? I'm an old man... 02:44 how can I be born a second time? 02:47 What are you talking about? What do You mean? " 02:51 And Jesus went on... Jesus answered: 03:05 Said: "Nicodemus, unless you are born of water 03:10 and of the Spirit you cannot enter the kingdom of God. 03:14 Impossible. " 03:15 And Nicodemus is having a hard time 03:20 understanding that, putting that together. 03:23 Jesus said to him: 03:39 Said: "Nicodemus, that which is born of flesh 03:44 is flesh. 03:46 That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. " 03:54 And Nicodemus... trying to understand. 03:58 Trying to figure out what Christ is talking about 04:00 that he might be able to put it together... 04:04 And Jesus went on and said: 04:12 Now dear friends, Christ's words are clear. 04:16 I mean, they're as clear as they can be. 04:20 He's telling you: "You've got to be born again 04:24 or you won't enter into the kingdom of heaven. " 04:27 It just won't happen 04:31 unless you are born again. 04:34 He's made that crystal clear to Nicodemus. 04:37 There's no question about it. 04:40 You see when God 04:45 made a decision way back in the beginning 04:47 to create... When you have the power 04:52 as God does to create, 04:54 then you have to make a decision. 04:57 And the decision you have to make is 05:00 how are you going to create? 05:02 How... how are you going to do this? 05:06 Now, why did God create man? 05:11 I used to believe when I was first struggling 05:15 and trying to put things together 05:17 I thought God created man because God was selfish. 05:21 Did you ever think about that? 05:23 I thought well God created man where man could worship Him 05:28 and so that man could obey Him 05:31 and man could love Him 05:33 and he could do all those things. 05:35 And I felt well you know God did that because God's selfish. 05:39 But when we had children 05:44 I changed my understanding. 05:47 See... why do you have children? 05:50 Huh? Do you have children so they can love you? 05:53 That the reason you have children? 05:56 No, you have children so you can love them. 05:59 You see, you are a social being, 06:02 So is God. He is a social being. 06:05 So when God created man, 06:07 He created man so that He could love him. 06:10 But in order to be able to communicate with man, 06:14 to visit with man, God had to do something, folks. 06:17 Listen to what it says here: 06:30 So the scripture says very clear 06:32 that "God is Spirit 06:35 and they that worship Him 06:37 must worship him in Spirit and in truth. " 06:41 Therefore, when God decided to create man 06:45 God had to make a definite decision as to how He 06:49 was going to create him. 06:51 Was He going to create him so he could communicate with God? 06:56 Is that... Was that the way He was going to create him? 06:59 Yes. He wanted to be able to communicate with Adam and Eve. 07:04 Therefore, in order to make him so God could create... 07:08 could communicate with him 07:10 He had to give him a spiritual nature. 07:14 Had to give Adam and Eve a spiritual nature. 07:17 So when God created them, He made them - in a sense - 07:21 like Him... because the scripture says: 07:37 So it says that He created man in His own image. 07:42 Therefore, when He created man He gave to man 07:46 a spiritual nature 07:50 and He gave him a body of flesh. 07:54 OK... Had a spiritual nature and a fleshly body 08:00 or a fleshly nature. He gave them both to him. 08:03 And God could come down, as the scripture says here, 08:06 that God could come down in the cool of the evening 08:10 and visit with Adam and Eve. 08:12 And since God was Spirit and they had a spiritual nature 08:15 God could communicate with them. 08:18 That's the way He made... gave them a spiritual nature. 08:25 But God placed in the Garden of Eden a tree 08:30 referred to in the scripture 08:31 as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. 08:34 And it says in Genesis 2 and verse 17: 08:52 Now God told Adam and Eve: "Listen, you can eat 08:55 of anything you want to here in the garden. 08:58 Anything. It's all made for you 09:01 except that one tree. Don't eat of it, 09:04 because in the day that you eat of it 09:07 you shall... " What? "Surely die. " 09:10 Said: "The day you eat of it you shall surely die. " 09:14 And you remember the story. 09:15 You remember how the devil in the form of the serpent 09:19 tempted Eve... and she ate of it. 09:22 And she gave it to Adam, and he ate of it. 09:25 I want to ask you a question this evening: 09:28 did they die that day? 09:33 Did they die that day? 09:35 Yes they did. 09:39 The very moment that Adam and Eve ate of that tree 09:46 that spiritual nature... spiritual nature that God 09:51 had given Adam and Eve so that He could communicate with them 09:55 and talk with them... that spiritual nature died 09:59 and all that was left of Adam and Eve was only flesh. 10:04 That spiritual nature died right there, and all 10:09 that was left was just flesh. 10:13 So that when God came down Adam and Eve were off hiding. 10:21 They were afraid. 10:22 That spiritual nature had departed from them. 10:26 It died right there. 10:29 And so, when Adam and Eve had children 10:37 all they could pass on to their children was only flesh. 10:43 And all that you and I have is flesh. 10:48 That's what Paul was talking about when he cried out 10:52 there in Romans 7:24 and he said: 11:01 Because all that was left was just a body of flesh. 11:06 Nothing else. So Adam and Eve could pass on to Cain and Abel 11:12 only flesh. 11:14 And all that Cain and Abel could pass on to their children 11:18 was only flesh. 11:22 And all your parents could pass on to you 11:28 was only flesh. 11:31 And all you could pass on to your children was just flesh. 11:36 Nothing more. Sorry... 11:40 that's all you can pass on to them. 11:42 And I run onto dear Christian people 11:46 who have never understood this 11:48 because they get in their mind 11:50 that this can be solved some other way. 11:54 They'll say: "Well, I'm going to send my child off here 11:57 to some good Christian school 12:00 and maybe they'll... they'll be all right. " 12:04 Sorry, sorry. That's isn't the way it works, folks, 12:09 because all you can pass on to that child is flesh. 12:13 What that child's got to be is born again. 12:19 I even hear parents say: 12:22 "Well, I'm going to send my son down here to this Christian 12:25 school and maybe he'll find a good Christian girl. " 12:29 Sorry. It doesn't work that way. 12:33 Just doesn't work that way. 12:35 It takes more than that... you have to be born again. 12:40 That spiritual nature died right there, 12:44 and it won't work any other way unless you are born again. 12:48 That's why Jesus said: 12:58 You see, what I'm trying to tell you tonight 13:01 if you're not catching on 13:02 is you're born... you're born half dead. 13:09 See, you're born only flesh. 13:11 That's the way you're born. 13:14 You're born half dead, dear friends. 13:17 And you cannot have eternal life 13:22 unless you receive a spiritual nature. 13:25 Sorry. And that doesn't come by education. 13:31 Now don't misunderstand me. 13:33 I believe in education 13:35 and I think it's very, very important. 13:38 But I can tell you... all that education will do for you 13:42 is make you a smart sinner. 13:44 That's all. 13:47 You see, you have to be born again. 13:52 And so the question that you and I need to ask ourselves 13:55 tonight is: How... how can I be born again? 14:00 If I come into this world only flesh, 14:03 how can I be born again? 14:04 I'm going to share with you several ways 14:07 that the scripture says you're born again. 14:09 And dear friend, let me tell you 14:11 they work! 14:12 They're absolutely... proof, sure... 14:16 they will absolutely work if you'll do them. 14:19 So how are the ways that we are born again? 14:22 To begin with, you're born again by the Word of God. 14:26 This book I have told you night after night is divine. 14:30 This book is more than just a history book. 14:33 It's more than a book of morals. 14:35 It's more than a good book of poetry. 14:37 This book is divine. 14:40 If you don't... think it isn't, 14:41 you listen to what I'm fixing to read to you. 14:44 This is what the scripture says: 14:52 What does that mean... 14:54 not of corruptible seed? 14:56 That's flesh! 14:58 "Not of corruptible seed" - that's flesh - 15:01 "but of incorruptible seed. " 15:04 OK. Having been born again. 15:07 "Not of corruptible seed but incorruptible. " 15:12 Listen, folks. 15:14 Through the what? 15:21 Right here. You want to be born again? 15:24 Here it is. Many, many individuals 15:29 off by themselves, sometimes in a foxhole, 15:35 sometimes out in the middle of a desert, 15:38 sometimes lost, 15:42 have picked up the Word of God and have been born again 15:46 as they read it. 15:50 Born again through the Word of God. 15:53 So tonight if you want eternal life, 15:59 if you want more than this old world, 16:04 if you want eternal life, let me tell you... it's here, 16:08 right in this book you'll find it. 16:11 Watch. Let me share some other scriptures with you: 16:25 Been given to us in this book: exceeding great 16:29 and precious promises... 16:31 What will those exceeding great and precious promises 16:35 do for you and me? 16:49 There's the spiritual nature. 16:51 Through this book... through the promises of God's Word 16:55 you may be a partaker of the divine nature. 17:01 Want to be born again? 17:03 Right there it is. Let me tell you a little secret: 17:06 don't leave it laying on the coffee table. 17:12 Don't leave it in the bookshelf. 17:16 Don't leave it in the closet. 17:19 Get it out; spend time with it. 17:23 Marvelous is what you'll learn in the Word of God. 17:29 These are the words of Jesus: 17:31 "Having escaped the corruption 17:34 that is in the world through lust. " 17:55 This is one of my favorite texts... 17:58 Did you... he who accepts the Word of God - 18:03 picks it up, reads it - 18:05 believes in the Lord Jesus Christ 18:08 that He sent Him, has everlasting life. 18:12 Listen folks: 18:24 Those are promises that are given to you. 18:27 That if you pick it up and you read it 18:29 and you believe in Him you'll not come into judgment. 18:33 I don't know about you, 18:35 but I don't care about going into judgment! 18:39 "When I come into judgment. " 18:40 You have passed from death unto life. 18:46 That God offers to you. 18:48 So if you want eternal life, if you want to be born again, 18:52 get out the good old book. 18:55 Spend some time with it. 18:57 Secondly, you'll find that you and I 19:01 are born again by believing in Jesus Christ. 19:05 That's what the scripture says. 19:07 I pick up the book; I read it. 19:09 I read about Jesus Christ 19:11 and it says that if I believe in Him 19:15 I will receive eternal life. 19:25 Paul, Silas 19:28 up in Philippi. They've been beaten. 19:34 They've been put in jail. 19:38 It's about midnight. 19:40 They're chained. 19:43 You know what they're doing? Huh? 19:49 They're singing. 19:51 They're singing. 19:52 I mean, they've been beaten. They're singing! 19:54 While they're singing, all of a sudden there's an earthquake. 20:00 And the earthquake knocks the windows open 20:03 and knocks the doors open, 20:05 and the chains fall off the prisoners. 20:07 And the guard thinks he's lost all of his prisoners. 20:12 Is about to take his own life. 20:14 And they said: "Don't do yourself any harm. 20:16 We're all here. " 20:17 And he came in and fell down before them and said... 20:20 This is... this is a pagan, folks... 20:23 this is a man who was a Roman soldier. This is a pagan 20:27 and he has seen the power of God. 20:29 And he said: "What must I do to be saved? " 20:32 Listen: 20:47 Believe... believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. 20:51 Oh dear friends, it's one thing for it to be in the book 20:54 but you've got to believe. 20:57 You've got to put your belief in what it says. 21:02 If you don't believe, it won't do you any good. 21:06 So believe in the Lord Jesus Christ 21:09 and you shall be saved. 21:13 I'm telling you things that the scripture says 21:17 that you use to be born again. 21:20 The Word of God. 21:22 I believe in Jesus Christ. 21:26 And I accept that by... what? Faith! 21:35 There was a Pharisee 21:38 invited Jesus to his home for a meal. 21:44 While they were there at the home and Jesus was eating, 21:48 this woman came into the Pharisee's home - 21:53 Simon's home - 21:55 trying to not be noticed. 21:59 But she went over to where Jesus was and she knelt down 22:03 by Him, and she had an alabaster box full of perfume. 22:09 And she took that alabaster box and opened it up and began to 22:13 pour perfume on His feet. 22:16 And she was crying, and she was taking her hair 22:20 and wiping His feet with it. 22:22 While she was doing all that, 22:24 Simon was sitting there thinking 22:26 because this woman was a great, great sinner, folks. 22:33 And he was saying to himself: 22:37 "If Jesus knew who this was 22:39 He wouldn't be permitting her to do this... 22:42 wouldn't be letting her do this. " 22:47 And Jesus, perceiving what Simon was thinking, 22:50 said: "Simon, let me tell you a story. 22:54 There was a man who had two servants. 23:01 One owed him $60... 23:03 the other owed him $100. 23:06 And neither one of them could pay him back. 23:10 And he forgave both of them. 23:13 Which loved him most? " 23:20 And Simon said: "Well, 23:22 probably the one that he forgave most. " 23:25 And Jesus said: "You have perceived right. " 23:28 He said: "Simon, I came here - 23:33 this is a great sinner... her sins are many - 23:37 but you didn't give me a gift, Simon. 23:40 She did. 23:43 You didn't give me water to wash My feet, Simon, 23:48 but she hasn't stopped washing My feet with her tears. 23:53 You didn't give Me a towel to dry My feet, 23:58 but she has dried them with her hair. 24:01 Because she has been forgiven much 24:06 therefore she has loved much. " 24:09 Now listen carefully or you'll miss something. 24:24 Folks, that text did not say 24:28 "your faith WILL save you. " 24:31 It doesn't say that. 24:33 It says your faith "HAS saved you. " 24:37 You see, we use the word faith. 24:41 But if you look at it in English, it takes two words 24:46 to make faith. 24:48 We use the word faith several ways. 24:50 Sometimes we say: "That's his faith. " 24:53 And we mean, that's his belief. 24:56 Belief, as we found, is part of faith. 25:00 But belief by itself is not enough. 25:02 Sometimes we say: "Well, I've got faith in Him. " 25:06 What do we mean? 25:07 Well we mean we trust Him. 25:10 You see, belief and trust is what makes faith. 25:15 And when a person has faith in Jesus Christ, 25:21 they are born again. 25:25 OK? That is what takes place. 25:28 It's simply by my reaching out and accepting Jesus Christ. 25:34 And by my accepting Him 25:36 means that I believe in Him 25:39 and I have trust in Him. 25:42 And because I believe in Him and I trust Him, 25:45 He gives to me eternal life. 25:50 I'm going to share with you one of the great scriptures. 25:53 This is one of those scriptures that I would tell you 25:57 if you don't have highlighted in your Bible, 25:59 if you don't have it underlined, 26:01 you shouldn't go to sleep tonight without doing it. 26:04 It's found over in I John. 26:08 I John the 5th chapter starting with verse 11 it says: 26:25 Oh, dear friend, let me tell you something. 26:27 Don't go looking for it any other place. 26:31 Don't go looking for it tonight among the philosophers. 26:36 Don't go looking for it in your ability in what you can do. 26:42 It's found in Jesus Christ. 26:46 Listen as it continues: 27:00 Oh, dear friend, let me tell you 27:03 if you've got Jesus Christ tonight, 27:06 you have everything. 27:08 If you don't have Jesus Christ, you don't have anything. 27:12 It's that simple. 27:15 He is everything because He is life. 27:20 OK? 27:22 And I have Jesus Christ 27:24 by believing in Him and by having faith in Him. 27:49 So it says tonight that if you by faith 27:52 reach out, take hold of Jesus Christ, 27:58 you can be born again. 28:01 Unfortunately, there's a lot of people 28:07 who by faith have reached out 28:10 accepting Jesus Christ 28:12 but they didn't understand what takes place. 28:18 So tonight I want to share with you what takes place 28:22 because I don't want you in any doubt 28:25 as to what happens when you accept Jesus Christ... 28:29 because all of a sudden you now find yourself 28:33 with two natures. You have been given a spiritual nature. 28:38 OK? You've been born again. 28:42 You've been given a spiritual nature and you have 28:45 what the scripture says "a carnal nature. " 28:48 OK. You understand the word carnal, don't you? 28:52 Huh? 28:55 You understand that word carnal? 28:56 Ah, come on, folks. Don't act like... 28:58 You've eaten chili con carne. 29:01 OK. That just means flesh. 29:04 That's what it is. 29:06 So you've got two natures. You've got a nature of flesh 29:09 and you've got a spiritual nature. 29:11 And those two natures are not the same. 29:13 Listen to what it says about them: 29:15 II Corinthians 5:17: 29:32 I have received a new nature in Christ Jesus. 29:35 And let me tell you something: that nature is so sweet. 29:39 So sweet! I can tell you, the sky is bluer 29:45 and the birds sing sweeter 29:47 in that new nature than any other place in the world. 29:51 And when you find it, dear friends, it is like the 29:56 pearl of great price. Go sell all that you have 30:01 and buy it 30:03 because it makes all the difference in the world... 30:06 a new nature. You become a new person in Christ Jesus. 30:11 Now, you've still got an old nature. 30:26 You see, that's the old nature. 30:29 "The old man which grows" what? 30:33 "Corrupt. " 30:35 I mean he gets worse every day. 30:56 So you've got two natures. You've got an old nature - 30:59 that's the fleshly nature - and you've got a new nature 31:03 which is the spiritual nature that God has given you. 31:07 OK. So once we have those, 31:11 let's see what we can find out about the new nature. 31:14 The Bible tells us that the new nature doesn't sin. 31:18 Did you know that? 31:21 The new nature does not sin. 31:24 It's a spiritual nature. 31:44 That new nature cannot sin. It is a spiritual nature. 31:49 OK? It does not sin. 32:06 That spiritual nature, given to that person by God 32:10 when you're born again, that spiritual nature cannot sin. 32:17 The Bible refers to it now, folks, as a babe. 32:23 The spiritual nature is given to you as a baby. 32:27 It's not given to you full grown. 32:30 That's what new Christians many times don't understand. 32:34 It's given to you just as a babe. 32:48 So to you here tonight... 32:49 those of you all across this country and around the world 32:53 if tonight you are reaching out in faith 32:55 and accepting Jesus Christ in your heart, 32:58 He's going to give you a new nature 33:00 but it's going to be given to you only as a babe. 33:05 OK. Therefore, the old man of sin, 33:11 the old fleshly nature, 33:13 he is full grown. 33:18 The Bible talks about him as the old man. 33:23 Let me tell you something: 33:24 the old man doesn't like the baby. 33:28 OK? Watch: 33:36 Nothing wrong with God's law. 33:39 The law is spiritual, all right? 33:41 "But I am carnal" - I am flesh. 34:05 That's the old man of sin. 34:19 That's the old man of sin. 34:21 OK. What you've got to consider tonight 34:26 is how does that new nature grow? 34:32 You see, dear friend, if you accept Jesus Christ 34:35 and He gives you a new nature and it's given to you as a baby 34:38 it's got to grow. 34:41 So, how you gonna make it grow? 34:45 Well, this is the way it grows. 34:52 That's the old man of sin, the old fleshly nature... 34:55 was what? 34:57 "Crucified with Him. " 34:59 Let me just tell you right now: 35:00 if you don't take the old man and crucify him 35:05 every day, I can tell you he's going to stomp on the baby. 35:11 Do you understand me? 35:13 If you don't do that, the old man is much stronger 35:19 than the baby. 35:21 And so if you don't get up, as Paul said, 35:25 "I am crucified with Christ. 35:29 Nevertheless I live... Yet, not I but Christ 35:32 liveth in me. " 35:34 Paul said: "I die daily. " 35:38 Got to take that old man of sin 35:40 and I've got to crucify him on the cross. 35:43 Then... the baby stands a chance. 35:48 OK? 36:02 I know individuals that reach out and accept Jesus Christ 36:06 as their personal Savior. They see their need of Him, 36:08 but they don't crucify the old man of sin... 36:12 so the old man of sin just runs over the new nature 36:15 all the time. And they never grow because they don't 36:19 crucify the old man of sin. 36:21 Once I am willing to crucify the old man of sin 36:27 then... I must feed the baby. 36:51 You see, this is food. 36:55 This is food for the spiritual nature. 37:00 "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word 37:06 that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. " 37:09 And I have people come to me and they say: 37:10 "Oh, Brother Cox, I just... I'm so busy 37:14 and I don't know what's wrong with my Christian experience. 37:17 I just... I just don't seem to be growing 37:21 and nothing seems to be happening. " 37:24 And I say to them: "Well, are you spending time in the Word? " 37:27 And they say: Oh, Brother Cox, I'm so busy. 37:28 I don't have time to do that. " 37:32 And I say: "Yeah, you're starving the baby to death, 37:36 aren't you? " That's what you're doing. 37:38 You're starving the baby to death 37:40 and you wonder what's wrong. 37:41 You see, I learned... I learned a long time ago 37:47 that I found time every day to eat. 37:53 I don't seem to have any trouble finding time every day to eat. 37:59 And I decided, well, boy, if you can eat 38:03 and you can feed this old fleshly body of yours 38:06 you can certainly find time to feed the spiritual nature. 38:10 And I made a decision. I said: 38:12 "No food goes in here unless I feed this one too. " 38:17 And you know, since I did that 38:19 I never seem to have any trouble finding time. 38:21 You know? Learn to spend time in the Word of God 38:27 because it is the food for the spiritual nature. 38:31 That's what makes it grow. 38:39 Spiritual nature can't grow 38:42 unless you spend time in the Word of God. 38:45 And dear friend, you don't have to do anything special. 38:51 You don't have to have a degree. 38:53 You don't have to have a degree in theology 38:56 or from the Seminary. 38:57 Just pick it up and read it 39:00 and open up your heart. 39:02 Open up your heart, friend. 39:04 Just, you know, don't... 39:08 don't try to find in the Word of God 39:11 what you want it to say. 39:15 You know? Don't be like the woman where the preacher was 39:20 preaching. And he was preaching away and she was agreeing 39:24 with everything he had to say. 39:26 And she was saying "Amen! " 39:27 You know? And he would hit something that just warmed 39:31 her heart, and she said: "Amen! " 39:33 And as the preacher was preaching, all of a sudden 39:36 he hit something that cut and went the opposite way 39:40 and she said: "Whooee, he's stopped preaching 39:42 and started meddling. " You know, and so... 39:45 you know, open up your heart. 39:47 Keep it soft. 39:49 Let the Holy Spirit speak to you. 39:52 And as you do that, you'll grow. 39:55 That's what it takes. 39:56 Secondly, prayer. 40:08 You see, you've got to not only feed the baby 40:11 you've got to let the baby breathe. 40:14 And prayer is how you let it breathe. 40:18 And I can tell you a number of secrets about prayer. 40:21 One of them is: five minutes of prayer in the morning 40:26 will save 1/2 hour of confession at night. 40:31 Any day. When you wake up in the morning 40:35 it says in the 4th Psalm... 40:37 What it says - the 4th Psalm verses 4 and 5- 40:40 when you wake up in the morning, it says, 40:43 lay there and talk to God. You don't have to crawl out of bed. 40:47 Your first thoughts can be of Him, and just 40:51 talk to the Lord as you lay there in your bed. 40:54 And then it says in the 4th Psalm 40:57 that after you talk to the Lord be still. 41:00 That's what it says. 41:01 Most of us pray and jump up. 41:03 God says: "Be still. " 41:05 Listen... listen to what God has to say. 41:08 It'll touch your heart. But dear friend, 41:11 take time to pray. 41:13 Spend time in prayer; it's the breath of the soul. 41:18 You know... if you're not going to pray, 41:22 you know what you're doing? 41:24 You're killing the baby. 41:26 That's what you're doing. 41:27 If you don't pray, you're killing the baby 41:30 because it cannot exist if it can't breathe. 41:33 OK. I'm telling you things to make that spiritual nature 41:38 grow. Now don't misunderstand me here tonight, dear friends. 41:42 If by faith you don't reach out and accept Jesus Christ 41:46 as your personal Savior and receive the new birth, 41:50 that is something that is given by God. 41:52 That is a work of grace. 41:53 That is given by God; 41:55 that has nothing to do with your ability. 41:58 Do you understand me? 41:59 Reading the Word of God, praying: 42:04 all these things will not do you any good 42:09 unless you've been born again. 42:11 Are you with me? 42:13 So you've got to reach out in faith and accept Jesus Christ. 42:18 But once you've done that and the baby's been born, 42:22 then folks, please, give it some TLC! 42:28 You know? Feed it! 42:31 Let it breathe. 42:33 Unfortunately, I find there are a lot of Christians 42:40 that eat spiritually 42:44 and breathe spiritually 42:46 and that's all they do. 42:48 And you know what happens? 42:51 They get fat. 42:55 You know. They don't exercise! 42:58 And you know what happens to you when you don't exercise? 43:03 They become invalids. 43:06 They're Christian invalids 43:09 because they do not exercise. 43:12 And you know, dear friend, if you're an invalid 43:16 you're not worth much spiritually. 43:19 OK? God says that you and I must exercise. 43:25 This is what it says: 43:43 If you confess with your what? 43:46 Your mouth. 43:48 You've got to witness. 43:51 You've got to confess. 43:53 God calls you to be a witness. 43:55 There is no such thing, listen to me... 43:59 There is no such thing 44:01 as being born into the kingdom of God 44:05 and not being a missionary. 44:06 There's no such thing. 44:09 Everybody that's born into the kingdom of God 44:13 is born into the kingdom of God as a witness. 44:16 And I must witness in my life 44:21 and I must witness by my mouth. 44:25 I must tell other people about Jesus Christ. 44:31 Let me tell you a little secret. 44:33 If this is bothering you, 44:36 let me tell you how to take care of it. 44:39 You say, "Oh Brother Cox, I really have trouble talking 44:42 to people about... about Jesus. " 44:44 Well if you have trouble, let me tell you how to take care of it. 44:49 The Bible says that you and I are to go to the fountain 44:55 and drink. OK? 44:59 So get in the Word and spend time in the Word. 45:03 And drink, and drink, and drink 45:06 until your cup runs over. 45:09 And when your cup runs over 45:11 you won't be able to help yourself. 45:13 See? Because if your cup is only half full 45:19 you don't have anything to share with anybody. 45:22 But when your cup runs over 45:25 you can't do anything about it. 45:27 So spend time in the Word. 45:29 That makes all the difference. 45:41 OK? 45:48 So dear friend, if you want that spiritual nature to grow, 45:53 you've got to let it exercise. 45:56 It'll get strong and get stronger. 45:59 If you don't let it exercise, 46:01 you might read the Word of God, 46:03 you might pray, 46:05 but the old man of sin if you're an invalid 46:08 then you can't do anything to him. 46:10 But I'll guarantee you, if you exercise 46:13 it becomes stronger all the time. 46:18 One other point. And, folks, 46:22 as far as I'm concerned 46:23 this is the most important of all of them. 46:26 And this is, again, one of these texts that 46:28 if you haven't underlined it, 46:30 haven't highlighted it in your Bible, 46:32 don't go to sleep until you do! 46:35 OK. II Corinthians 3 verse 18: 47:07 That text simply tells you that by beholding 47:11 you and I become changed. 47:14 You understand that? 47:16 That's what changes you 47:18 is by beholding the Lord Jesus Christ 47:21 that you and I are changed - are transformed - 47:25 into the same image. 47:28 By beholding Jesus Christ. 47:32 I read a story the other day. 47:35 These people had a little dog. 47:37 She was pregnant. 47:40 She was about four weeks from delivering. 47:45 And she was running, I guess, out on the lawn 47:51 while they were mowing it. 47:53 And she ran under the lawnmower, 47:55 and it cut off her two back legs. 47:57 And they rushed her to the vet. 48:00 And the vet examined her and he said: 48:03 "Well, we have two choices. " 48:05 He said: "The pups, as far as I can tell, are OK. " 48:09 So your choices, " he said, "I can give her a shot 48:12 and put her to sleep or I can sew up the stubs 48:16 that are left there and let her go ahead and have the pups. " 48:19 Well the children were pleading not to put her to sleep. 48:24 And so the parents decided to have her legs sewed up 48:27 and they took her home. 48:29 And surprisingly, in the matter of a week, 48:34 she had learned to walk. 48:35 She took two steps with her front feet 48:39 and then she would pull those stubs up behind her. 48:41 Then she would take two more steps 48:42 and pull those stubs up behind her. 48:44 And that's the way she learned to walk. 48:45 And she gave birth to the pups. 48:49 They were all healthy, fine. She nursed them, 48:53 and they were just as normal as any other pups 48:56 except when they learned to walk, 48:59 they walked just like their mother. 49:02 See, by beholding we become changed. 49:08 See that's what God does for you and for me. 49:12 So dear friend, spend time... spend time with the Word of God. 49:18 Don't, I plead with you, 49:21 don't... don't permit pre-conceived ideas, 49:25 don't permit things that you may have thought that you understood 49:30 to stand in your way. 49:32 Open up your heart. 49:34 Look at God's Word and say: "Yes, " and follow it. 49:37 Let the Holy Spirit lead you. 49:39 It makes a great, great difference in your life. 49:43 OK. That's how you feed the new nature. 49:49 Now let me tell you something: 49:52 as I told you, the old nature doesn't like the baby. 49:56 You have to understand that. 50:19 You see the old nature persecutes the new nature. 50:25 And dear friend, if sometimes - 50:29 if sometimes it seems hard - 50:33 it seems so hard and the old nature 50:39 is shouting and demanding... 50:43 Dear friend, understand... 50:46 Crucify that old man. 50:49 Crucify him 50:50 because it won't work any other way. 50:53 Because he's going to persecute the baby. 51:01 You and I must learn to live in the Spirit. 51:18 They're not together; they never will be. 51:20 They war against one another. 51:22 It will always be that way. 51:24 And until you make a decided decision in your Christian life 51:29 to war against the flesh, to crucify the old man, 51:33 then the Spirit is always going to have trouble. 51:36 Takes that. 51:38 "And these are contrary to one another 51:44 so that you do not do the things that you wish. " 51:48 See? That's when the old, carnal nature 51:53 is crying out. That's when the temptation is there 51:58 and the old carnal nature has raised its ugly head 52:02 and its crying out for all that it can, 52:05 then you do not do what you wish 52:09 because that's the old carnal nature. 52:14 I must crucify it. 52:25 That's the old man of sin... he's perishing. 52:32 He's growing stronger every day. 52:35 You see... let me tell you a little secret. 52:40 Self - the old man of sin - 52:45 he would rather be thought of badly 52:49 than not to be thought of at all. 52:51 Any day self would. 52:54 So let me tell you a story 52:58 about overcoming. 53:00 Because until you understand 53:03 this, you can't really overcome. 53:07 There was a man who walked into an Indian village. 53:12 Told all the villagers that he could make gold. 53:17 Everybody gathered around. 53:20 And the man took out a pot. 53:23 Poured some water in the pot. 53:25 Took out a little bag of chemicals 53:28 and poured some chemicals into the pot of water. 53:31 And then he took out a stick and he began to stir the pot 53:34 and just repeat meaningless words. 53:38 As he stirred the pot, 53:41 something happened out in the audience with the people 53:45 and their attention was distracted 53:47 and he dropped into the pot two nuggets of gold. 53:51 Continued to stir the pot, 53:54 and after a bit he stopped. 53:58 Poured off the water, and lo and behold in the pot 54:02 were two nuggets of gold. 54:04 All the villagers... they ooh-ed and they ah-ed. 54:08 And the businessmen offered him 500 rupees if he would 54:13 tell them the formula for making gold. 54:15 And after some consideration 54:19 he decided that he would. 54:21 He gave them the pot. 54:24 He gave them the sack of chemicals. 54:26 He gave them the stick. 54:28 He told them how much water to put in the pot. 54:30 He told them how long to stir the pot 54:32 and he told them what words to say. 54:34 They gave him the 500 rupees 54:38 and he walked away. 54:40 But when he got out on the edge of the crowd 54:43 he stopped. 54:45 And he turned back and he said to them: 54:47 "One other thing... 54:49 when you stir the pot 54:51 you must not think of the red-faced monkey. " 54:56 But lo and behold, every time they stirred the pot 55:00 on the edge of their mind sat the red-faced monkey. 55:04 Now dear friends, that's the same thing in overcoming. 55:09 You see, if I put my attention on my sins, 55:14 you know what's going to happen? 55:15 I'm going to do them more. 55:18 If you focus on your faults, 55:22 if you focus on your sins, 55:25 you will do them more. 55:26 You take your focus off of your sins 55:30 and you put them on Jesus Christ. 55:32 You see, it's by beholding we become changed. 55:38 It's by looking at Him. 55:39 That's how that whole process takes place. 55:43 And He will do marvelous things in your life and mine. 55:58 You see, this is what happens to a person. 56:02 So how do I do that? 56:05 I do it by the good fight of faith... 56:09 my faith in Jesus Christ, what He can do. 56:26 Lay hold of it. 56:35 So it simply tells you and I 56:37 that we're to have faith in Him, hang on. 56:39 If I'm willing to do that, 56:44 then, dear friend, I've been born again. 56:47 Not only have I been born again 56:49 but that spiritual nature will grow 56:52 And it will become stronger and stronger and stronger 56:54 each day. For whatever is born of what? 56:59 God overcomes the world. 57:03 That person who has been born again 57:06 that new nature cannot sin. 57:09 He overcomes the world... 57:21 That's what overcomes the world. 57:24 That's what gives you victory in the Christian life. 57:26 And so tonight if you have been struggling, 57:32 maybe there are some of you here tonight 57:35 that have been going to church for years 57:38 but you've never been victorious. 57:42 There may be some of you here that your Christian experience 57:47 has never really been what it should have been 57:50 and tonight you understand that really 57:55 you probably never have been born again, 57:59 tonight you'd like to just accept that new nature 58:02 in Christ Jesus. 58:04 He's inviting you to do that. 58:07 And if you by faith will just look up to Him 58:11 He'll give you a new nature. 58:18 To obtain a copy of this program or for more information, 58:21 please write to: |
Revised 2014-12-17