God Begat Us!

John 1:10 - 13 "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

God told us in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” With everything that happened in the fall of Adam and Eve God elected to love a remnant of the world out of love, mercy, and grace, therefore He sent that only acceptable sacrifice (His Beloved Son) to this world as a sacrificial Lamb in the person of Jesus Christ. However, God said, "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” And today over 2000 years the people in this world still do not know Jesus Christ. The world will never know who Jesus Christ is because the world hates Jesus Christ, His Father, His people, His word, and His churches. Even as long as man lives on this earth the world will always hate and reject Jesus Christ, this hatred of Jesus is even extended His chosen Nation Israel. Jesus Christ came to this world to save sinners, all those saved sinners rejected Him until the power of God. Oh, how blessed we are to be called God’s children. God went on to say, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” His own would be the nation of Israel, Jesus Christ who was born in the likeness of sinful flesh, came in flesh, without sin, to His very own chosen Israel only to be rejected by them. The very Messiah they were waiting on, the very Saviour they were told was coming, came to only be rejected by the very people who should have recognized Him and accepted Him. So, what is this rejection? They called Him a Devil, they mocked and crucified Him for being God’s Son, they rejected Him as the Messiah and the God sent redeemer God promised in Isiah 53. Are the Gentiles any better, no they are not. People today reject Him as Saviour, reject Him as God’s Son, they reject His abilities to save the sinner, just as they reject God’s ability to save. People believe it is in this rejection that they believe God nor Jesus cannot save the sinner, and believe they can do it themselves, because they have a free will to do so. But do they, does the lost sinner have the power and ability to repent and save themselves? If the lost sinner has the ability to do so, then why must God give us the power? “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God,” To those who do believe it is by God’s power and not ours, remember we rejected Jesus Christ, we refused to accept Him as Saviour, God gave us the power and the faith to believe in Him as Saviour. God gave it because it was not within us. Now, God gives us the reasons the power came from Him. “Which were born, not of blood” Listen closely to the language in 1 John 5:1 “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.” These two words are almost exactly the same in the Greek, so why did God use both words? Because they are a slight but important difference in them, “begat” means – those of us who are saved are “born of God” meaning God gave us the birthing or birth us just like our mother did. – The word “begotten” means the same thing but has an addition to it, Listen to Albert Barns as he defined it, “The general idea is, that as all Christians are the children of the same Father; as they constitute one family; as they all bear the same image; as they share his favor alike; as they are under the same obligation of gratitude to him, and are bound to promote the same common cause, and are to dwell together in the same home forever, they should therefore love one another. As all the children in a family love their common father, so it should be in the great family of which God is the Head.” When Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 “Except a man be born again” Jesus was telling Nicodemus you must be born from above, by the power of God because no child of anything has been born of themselves. So just as your mother gave birth to you, God likewise caused you to be born again in the second birth from above. That is God “begetting” us by His power from above. God said, “nor of the will of the flesh” You were not born of God because you chose too, it was God’s gift to you not your gift to God. God also said, “nor of the will of man” I personally would like to see the worlds population saved, but I can not make that happen. We cannot cause people to be saved no matter what we do. Salvation is not in man’s hands, Isaac and Rebekah could not cause Esau to be saved no more than they could cause Jacob to be saved, just as we cannot cause our children to be saved. The reason for this salvation is not in our hands, “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." God saved us, begat us, delivered us, put it any way you want, but if God did not bring it about by His power through the Holy Spirit, it is a failure. These verses explain it all, “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 3:5 – 6

This World and God’s Ordained, Predetermined Will.

“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” Romans 13:1 

I was told while I was an incredibly young preacher by one of my mentors Pastor Charles Hammond of Huntsville, Alabama some words that have stuck with me, “you cannot preach to much of God’s Sovereign Grace”. My concern as a young preacher was becoming a “Hard-shell Baptist” and reaching the point that I no longer cared about people, salvation, and things in this life. As I have grown in God’s word and have now spent more than 30 years in the ministry and 16 years as a Pastor, that you can be as Sovereign Grace as God makes you as still care about people, salvation and things in my life. Over the past few months, I have written much on God’s Sovereignty and I will continue too because in our time we need it. We now live in a time of hate; we live in a time where the true hearts of people are no longer disguised in fake love and caring, but rather the hate that God said it would be. This world is not our friend, they do not care about us, they truly would love to see us dead. Luke 6:22 “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.” This very hateful world we live in today is exactly the world that God warned us about. I do not know when Jesus is going to return, but we must be living in the last days. And as times get harder our Nation and our world continues to collapse right before our eyes, let us not worry because all is done by God’s Ordained, Predetermined hand of Power. As a Pastor I no longer worry that I preach to much of God’s Sovereign Grace because in this time we need it. We need to be reminded daily that God is in complete control and for us it will work out for the good. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 This is because everything is working according to His power and glory. We as Christians can be assured that in the end, our good will be the results, because God works all things after the counsel of His own will. “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:” Ephesians 1:11 Therefore, always keep in your heart and mind, I will fear no evil I will never fear Satan and nor will I ever fear the happenings of this world, for it is all of Satan but God is continually in control. Preachers and Christians since creation have tried to figure out God’s workings, prediction after prediction we have all failed because only God know what He has Ordained, Predetermined. “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” Acts 15:18 We only know what God has graciously manifested to us. It is true that some preachers have had true predictions over the years, but only because the Holy Spirit reveled it to them and then to us. As Christians, we are best served remembering that no matter what happens in this world or to us as Christians “…For there is no power but of God…” therefore we have no reason to worry or be of concern, God is over all. Job is the greatest of example to us, although the Bible and your life as a Christian are full of examples, Job’s account shows us how God works. Satan could only do what God allowed and no more, Satan wanted to kill Job, but God would not allow it, but the misery and pain Job suffered at the hand of Satan and power of God was unbearable for anyone without grace. Job needed much grace to overcome the hurt in his heart and all the sufferings Satan brought to him. Satan was controlled by God then and he is still controlled today, only doing what God would allow him to do. While Job suffered much he was rewarded much, as we also will be. Folks, in our time we may suffer much but God has promised “…that all things work together for good to them that love God…” either in this life or our life with Him in glory, we will be rewarded for our faithfulness and sufferings. While Job lived, millions have died at the hand of Satan and his workers, but God is still in control. Our life and our bounds in life has been set by God, and we cannot pass them.

Last, let us understand “…the powers that be are ordained of God.” Just as Satan is, so are the evil powers of this world, all God’s Ordained, Predetermined Will. Who will be President on January 20, 2021, whomever God has ordained! We must understand that God has predesignated everything in creation and therefore while we vote, God sets the winner in office as He ordained. Everyone in creation is a servant of God, not all are righteous servants as we are, but servants to do God’s will in setting the world up for tribulation and destruction. Paul said “…for they are God's ministers…” Romans 13:6 because just as God created Satan to do evil, God created these people like Presidents to accomplish His will, even though they are evil, they are doing God’s will and purpose. Folks, fight for good, fight for God’s word, fight for godliness, but remember the Tribulation Period is in this world’s future. God never promised our victory in this world, but promised that no matter what happens “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5 Therefore, fear not the world, the happenings of the world, nor who is elected President, “…the powers that be are ordained of God.” Jeremiah 27:5 “I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.”        

What is a church and when did it start?

Matthew 16:18 “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”


On this earth there are somethings we better not get wrong, (1) is salvation and (2) is the church. Both carries eternal weight in glory, first, you will not be in heaven if you miss on salvation, and second, the church carries significant meaning as the Bride of Christ. However, for today, and for the sake of time we are just going to look at the church, what it is and when did it start. A lot of people like to play with words,  however at the same time they do not have a basic understanding of defining Greek. I am not scholar, but I do have a bible and a Greek lexicon, and I do know how to look-up the Greek numbers and see the definition of the words. Every number in the Greek has a meaning, and that meaning might only have a slight difference but have a very major difference in meaning. Let us look at the Greek number for the name Peter which is G4074 which is “Petros” defined - a (piece of) rock.  But the word “Rock” which the church was built on is G4073 which is “petra” defined - a (mass of) rock. Therefore, to conclude that Peter was the rock the church was built on is mind bottling in the least. Why would God build His church which today is massive on a piece rock when He said it was built on a massive rock. God said without question that Jesus Christ is the foundation of the church and not Peter. Jesus Christ is that massive rock which the church was built on. 1 Corinthians 3:11 “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” God would have never built the church on anyone but Jesus Christ who is also her head.

Second, what is a church? The Greek word for church is “ekklēsia” Greek number G1577 which means - a calling out, of an assembly. God said in 1 Corinthians 12:18 “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” Now some will say this is talking about a human body and not the church, but Paul went in verses 27 & 28 “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.” There is no question that the body here mentioned is the Lord’s church. The church is the body of Christ. With this fact of what is a churchis, now proven, in order to find the beginning of the first church we must look in the New Testament and find a calling out and an assembling together. In Matthew chapter 4:12 you will find Jesus beginning His ministry which was a “CALLING OUT” of people and then in chapter 5 we see these people assembled together and the very first church service when Jesus taught them on top of the mountain. This is the only place in the New Testament where the definition of a church is seen, and we see this very church in Jerusalem. Acts 8:1 “And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.” We must conclude, without question that this is the church Jesus started in Matthew 4 & 5.


To believe as most do that the church is a Universal Invisible Body is to believe a myth. Please let me explain, first, nowhere in Acts 2 did the church start, you simply cannot find one single verse that shows a church started in this chapter. But let me ask this question, who are the people in Acts 1 that voted for Matthias to replace Judas as an Apostle, and what authority were they doing this? Acts 2 says these saved were ADDED to the church and we all know that you cannot add to something that has not been started already. Next, the Universal Invisible Church theory cannot contain officers in the church because there is no assembling together. Who is the Pastor, treasure, who is the clerk, who are the deacons, who sets the bylaws, and how do we all vote on something? Believing in the Universal Invisible Church is like believing in evolution which cannot prove where “life” comes from, the Universal Invisible Church has no proof of a beginning. Both are a must to believe either.  

Next the theory that the church which is a Universal Invisible Church has Catholicism as the Mother church. This one completely throws me for a loop, because Catholicism did not even start until around 311a.d. But for the sake of argument let us look at this theory. First, why would the Lord make such a damnable organization the Mother Church? Have you ever studied the history of Catholicism? Have you ever seen where this so-called Mother Church teamed with the government through history and murdered Christians that refused to join them? 1 John 4:20 “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” Have you studied about “Reformation” where people left them because they would not allow the people have a copy of the bible? What sort of Mother church is this where its own membership cannot have God’s word? Also, there is no mention of anything like a Catholic church in the entire New Testament until Revelations when God destroys them and their land, He makes eternally useless. Revelation 17:1 - 2 “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” When studied carefully there is no question whom God is talking about in Revelations as the Great Whore. She sold her soul for power and glory on this earth, and she will continue in the Tribulation Period. I have heard the arguments about a Universal church and the whole theory makes no sense, it does not connect the dots to completion. It does not even resemble a church as described in the bible. How does this church observe the ordinances as God ordained for the New Testament churches? What meaning is Baptism, what meaning is the Lords Supper? The Universal Invisible Church has never observed the Lord’s supper, ever! As a Baptist I have never been a part of Catholicism the Pope is nothing to me, in fact I have never read about a Pope I have ever agreed with, oh he can quote a scripture, but listen closely to his words. Where in the bible is the Pope named “The Victor of Christ” or an "earthly representative of Christ"? Christ Jesus would never have committed the atrocities that these Popes have. Jesus Christ is nothing like this current Pope, he has said some very unbiblical things, he contradicts Jesus Christ. We have no earthly Jesus Christ, Jesus is on the Right hand of God, and still working, Jesus was our substitute on the cross, He does not need one and neither do we as Christians. The Lords churches are sovereign independent bodies of local assemblies. We are just like the church at Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus, Philippi, and on and on. These churches were independent, sovereign bodies and were in no way adherent to the Catholicism or a Pope.     

Remembering the Potter

 “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” Romans 9:20 – 21



There is an old saying “don’t forget from where you come”, but I say, “don’t forget how you got here”. The Lord said, “who art thou that repliest against God” This means – Do not contradict or dispute, answer again, or reply against God. Paul goes on to explain what he meant in verse 21, “Hath not the potter power over the clay”. The thinking here is, God has the right to do with His creation as He pleases. God, the creator of all things, molded and made everything and everyone as it pleased Him, to best bring glory to Him. We as human beings are whatever we are by the will and grace of God. From our gender, to our race, to our nationality, to our accomplishments in life are by the grace, power, and ordination of God. We read in Acts 15:18 “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” This means without question that anything God had as a thought or in accomplishing, it was settled with God before He ever created the world. While some will have you to believe that God works on chance or that certain things will happen, that certain things will not happen, or that totally depraved humans will choose Him for salvation, God says different. Things are not “know unto God” if He does not know and control them in eternity past. While people fight the Sovereignty of God, they should understand it controls everything. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every purpose under heaven God has appointed or ordained it not only it to be, but the accomplishment of it. The truth is, nothing happens or is accomplished outside of God ordaining it and bringing it to past. Therefore, we are to be content with what we are in life, my life is what God has made it. I chose nothing, nor have I personally accomplished anything on my own. We all know and have quoted Hebrews 13:5 “…for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Without question one of the most glorious promises of God, but the first part of the scriptures is why God made this promise, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have…” We are to live in contentment with what we have in life, because it is what we have by God’s grace. Everything, even that happenings of the world, even the leaders of the world are in the hand and the willful doings of the Sovereign God.

Now if you will, I would like to turn our attention to Christians. As Christians we must still recognize God as the Potter and we are the clay, created as God has chosen. I for one understand the pride of Christians, it is the depraved pride we were born with, called selfishness. Thinking to highly of ourselves, wanting to believe that we have worked hard and accomplished much for the Lord. But we all would be wise to remember these words, "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." Romans 12:3 It is in this area that we as Christians, Ministers, and churches can and sometimes do fail God. Our selfish pride can cause us to forget the workings of the Potter; Oh Lord please do not allow us to forget You and Your works in our life! Our greatest show of faith is in our contentment, understanding that God has made us as He has chosen, and we have had nothing of our own to do with our accomplishments, outside of God’s grace. The Apostle Paul blessed my heart with these words, "But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." 1 Corinthians 15:10 If one single person had reason to glory it was Paul, his life was glorious indeed. Paul was not bragging when he said, “but I laboured more abundantly than they all:” because he said right after that “yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” Paul recognized his hard labor but still did not take any credit, NONE, because he humbly credit it all to God. No matter how hard we work in advancing in God’s word personally or as a church, it is all the Potters grace and creation in us. "Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:9 – 10 This is exactly what Paul was talking about in his own humility in 1 Corinthians 15:10. Paul said it is not me, it is not my labor, it is God’s glorious grace that made me what I am! However, if pride steps in, we will begin to think more highly than we ought of ourselves, allowing us to believe that we are somehow better that others of God’s grace. No one is perfectly aligned with God’s word, NO ONE! I have asked our church many time, “if we have one bible, one doctrine, one teacher in the Holy Spirit, then why do we all differ in our belief? Why does one church differ from another and why do true Believers in Jesus Christ differ and argue about the meaning of the scriptures? Paul answers this in 1 Corinthians 12:4 - 7 "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." God does not allow us to understand the complete truth, if He did there would be no difference in our belief, absolutely none. True humility for Christians, churches, and Ministers is to mirror ourselves after Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:10. Understanding “we are what we are by God’s grace, not just believing it but also acting upon it and thinking with grace. It is only by grace that I am a Christian, or any worker in the Lord’s church, or Pastor or Minister of any sort”. Understanding that God’s grace had made me what I am and that I cannot advance beyond that grace. And not allowing our differences in understanding of the doctrine to affect our love for one another. Christian love is in Jesus Christ and nothing else, we should never allow our understanding of the scriptures separate our love one for another. I am not talking about in the Lords churches, but personally The Lord’s churches must be protected from heresy. And while we may not sometimes admit it, sometimes our pride gets in our way. Let us not bring shame to God’s wonderful grace and His gracious workings in our life as Christians. And always understanding and continuously reminding ourselves of these words, “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain…”. When talking to other Christians that you disagree doctrinally, find that common ground in Jesus Christ. All Christians believe alike that Jesus Christ is Saviour.  

“Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of the Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else.” - Charles Spurgeon