#5 in the Book of James Series
God’s Good and Perfect Gift of Regeneration
By Pastor Jim May
James 1:17-21
There was a man that played piano in a bar. He was a good piano player and a lot of people came out just to hear him play. But one night, a patron told him he didn’t want to hear him just play anymore. He wanted him to sing a song.
The man said, “I don’t sing.” But the customer was persistent. He told the owner of the barr, “I’m tired of listening to the piano. I want that guy to sing!”
The bartender shouted across the room, “Hey buddy! If you want to get paid, sing a song. The patrons are asking you to sing!” So he did. He sang a song. A piano player who had never sung in public did so for the very first time. And nobody had ever heard the song, “Mona Lisa” sung the way it was sung that night by Nat King Cole!
The ability to sing or play a musical instrument is a great gift, and these gifts are given to us by our Creator. Of course, through practice and hard work these gifts are enhanced to become even better.
But some people were not born with those gifts, and sometimes you might wonder if you have any gifts at all. What talents or abilities did God give to you? How can you use what God gave you? There’s a ministry waiting for every one of us when we put our gifts to work for the Lord.
As we begin tonight’s message in our continuing study of the Book of James, I want you to look back at the verse that we ended with last week.
James 1:17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
Can we all agree that all of the gifts that the Father in Heaven gives to us are very good gifts indeed? God is a Good God and a Loving Father to those who will allow Him to be. Those who do not know God in a personal way often have the wrong impression of God’s nature and how He relates to mankind.
There is nothing about God’s nature that we need fear if we serve him and truly know him. To those of us who know the Lord, He is a great God, a loving God, a wonderful Lord and Savior. He is our best and closest friend, and we know that we can trust him with our very life because he is the source of all life.
Such a good God can only give good things. James now begins to focus on just one of those good and perfect gifts that our Father in Heaven has given to us.
James 1:18, "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."
The very first gift that God gave to man is the opportunity to be Born Again. This gift is given freely to whosoever will. God’s gift is not limited in its scope, but reaches out to every man who was ever born into this world of sin.
The gift of regeneration, or the New Birth, is not a gift that we receive in stages, like sanctification. Sanctification is given to every one of us when we fall on our face and repent at the foot of the Cross. We are sanctified, made holy and pure, by the Blood of the Lamb. Our corrupted, dirty robes of sin that clung to us like glue are removed and God clothes us in righteousness. One day soon, we shall see Jesus again. On that day we will put aside, once and for all, these robes of flesh and be clothed in a glorious, spiritual body that will be perfect, but for now we still live in corrupted bodies of flesh.
Sanctification isn’t just accomplished at the Cross though. Every day that we live we must become more sanctified. At the time of the New Birth, we are sanctified spiritually. But in our daily walk with the Lord, we must sanctify the flesh and learn to be more like Jesus. Thus Sanctification is a gift that we get in stages.
But it is not so with Regeneration, or the New Birth, or being Born Again by the Spirit of God. This Born Again experience comes all at once. You aren’t partially born today, then more tomorrow and then the process finishes next week. No, you are born again all at once. You are made a new creation in Christ Jesus by the Spirit of God in an instant of time, and then you never need to be born again, as long as you continue to walk with the Lord.
Being Born Again is a spiritual event. It’s something that remains in effect as long as we live by the Spirit and continually sanctify the flesh. But when we reject the voice of the Holy Spirit that convicts us of sin, and we continue to walk in the flesh, living a life of sin, then we also give up that gift of the New Birth, reverting back to our dead self.
In effect, we take that Old Man that was crucified in Christ and buried, and then we dig him up, dress him up, prop him up and then start living according to the old ways, laying aside that New Man that we became. It’s no wonder then that when Christians begin to backslide that they have a rotten, sticking spirit and attitude most of the time. They have resurrected a dead man and chose to live in him, giving up eternal life in the process.
We wouldn’t consider digging up someone out there in the cemetery and dragging that corpse around with us, but how often do we see that happening in the spiritual realms!
Now some people might think and act like there are degrees of salvation. How do I know this? Well there are people who say, “Old Bill over there sure got a good dose of religion. Why he won’t miss church at all and he’s always talking about Jesus to somebody. I wish that I had that much salvation.” Or, I have heard it this way, “All Joe wants to talk about is Jesus. I’m saved but he’s too radical for me.” Could it be that they think that Joe has too much salvation.
Let me tell you that we all have the same salvation, if we are truly saved. The New Birth is the same for every one of us. The question is, “What will we do with the salvation that God has given to us?” Will we sit our Born Again experience on a shelf so that we can pass by and admire it? “Look, check it out, there’s my salvation. Can you see it? Doesn’t it look good? It sure is good to be saved.” Or, will we allow our salvation to shine in the dark world of sin by daring to be radical for Christ. God didn’t save us to be Trophy Case Christians. He saved us to be all about the Father’s business.
God could not allow sinful man to come to him, so he built the bridge that we needed. He gave us the gift of being Born Again into a new life, bestowing upon us robes of righteousness through the Blood of Jesus.
John 3:3, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
1 Peter 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"
John 1:13, "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
Regeneration is absolutely the gift of God. He gave us the New Birth because He wanted to. We didn’t deserve it. We didn’t ask for it. We were dead in sin and could do nothing about it at all. So God, in His infinite Love did what we could not do and made a way.
Just What happens at the time we are Born Again? At that very moment God puts into us the new principles of light and life, grace and holiness. He quickens us, gives our soul life by His Spirit, giving us life when we were dead. And then He begins to change us, little by little, into the image of Christ. He makes us part of His family and gives us a part of that divine nature. God does it all. All we have to do is accept the gift.
How does this Born Again, or regeneration, come to us?
Ephesians 1:13 says, "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,"
It is the Gospel, the Word of Truth, that turns souls back to God. That’s why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:21, "… by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe."
James says that God gave us this good and perfect gift of regeneration for a very special reason. God wanted Born Again Christians to be cream of the crop of this race of human beings that he had created in his own image. We are the “firstfruits”; those who are separated from all others. We come forth from the seas of lost humanity where we were just like everyone else, lost and bound in chains of sin and darkness. But now we are lifted up above the shadows, we are plucked out of the miry clay, and we are given the Light to shine forth for Jesus. We are the “tithe” if you will, of all humanity, that is sanctified unto the Lord’s service. What a special place in God! We are Born Again to give Him praise and glory, and to shine in the darkness.
That’s why Jesus commanded us in Mark 16:15, "… Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." As firstfruits, that’s our duty and privilege, to speak out for God.
Because we the firstfruits, the chosen people separated unto the Lord, James then says that we should act like who we really are.
James 1:19, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:"
Since the Gospel, the word of truth, is the means and instrument which God makes use of in regeneration, and to turn people back to himself, then we must be careful of how we speak, what we say and how say it, and we must learn to control our reactions to others.
As God’s spokesman, we do have time for a lot of idle and unprofitable talk.
Everywhere you look there are talking heads. It seems that everybody around you, on the TV or the radio, is vying for your attention as though their message was the most important thing that you will ever hear.
Have you ever noticed how commercials are so much louder than anything else? You can have the sound turned as low as you want, but when a commercial comes on advertising new cars or anything else, it just about blasts you out of the house.
Then the news channels keep putting on new faces with persuasive voices, trying to shape your thinking and reasoning to meet their agenda.
Right now we are really seeing and hearing a lot of politicians who are trying to outdo one another to gain your vote.
How much is your life influenced by all these talking heads? Research has proven that everything you hear affects you one way or another. Often times, the influence is subtle, almost unnoticeable, but it’s still there.
If you were not influenced by all the talking heads, then advertisers wouldn’t be spending billions of dollars to get your attention, and I doubt that many of the TV and radio stations would even exist.
Our conversation and interests should be above most of that. It’s all just idle talk that doesn’t really amount to much, no matter how much they scream it in your ear. Christians should be informed. It’s not a bad thing to see, hear or read the news, but don’t let it occupy all your time, because much of it, in the end, won’t make much of a difference in your life at all.
What will make a big difference is for us to learn to give and take good instruction, or teaching in the Word of God. We should listen to the good reports of all that God is doing in the lives of the saints.
I’ve heard it said that man is born with two eyes, two ears and one mouth, and God wants us to use them proportionately.
In effect, that’s what James is saying here. Be quick to listen, especially for good reports and things that build us up, and always listening for the voice of the Lord.
Now most of don’t have much trouble with listening. In fact, sometimes I think that we listen too much because we love to hear the latest gossip.
But with this next part, a lot of us have trouble. James says to be quick to listen, but then he says, “Be slow to speak”!
What he means is that we should never speak too quickly but that we should carefully consider what is said and how we should answer, or whether we should answer at all. Quite often we will find out that it is easier to never say anything than to open our mouth and then wish we had.
I think that it would be really good if God would include a sticker on the forehead of every one of us, like a warning label on a medicine bottle or something that says, “Be sure Brain is in gear, before putting mouth into motion.”
There’s another old Chinese Proverb that goes like this: “It is better to keep mouth shut and let others think you are ignorant, than to open mouth and prove them right.”
Then James says to be “Slow to Wrath”. When the Word of God goes forth, it will accomplish something in your life. If you are living right, most of the time the Word will just build you up and make you glad that you are doing what is right.
But sometimes, the Word can stomp your toes really hard. When the message starts invading your territory and pointing out your faults and sins, it sometimes triggers wrath.
When people get angry over a sermon, if that sermon was in line with the Word of God, then it just shows how far they are from where they need to be. But people quit churches because the Word steps on their toes. They get mad when you preach against their favorite little secret sin, because it exposes that sin for what it is. Instead of getting mad, we should repent and be glad that God cares enough to try to stop us from losing our eternal soul.
This isn’t anything new though. Way back in the time of Christ people were getting mad at what Jesus had to say. Listen to this short sermon that he preached in Luke Chapter 4.
Luke 4:18-27, "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. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son? And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian."
Jesus was telling them that he was the answer to all their prayers. He was the Messiah and he had come to set them free. He was warning them that many before them had missed out on God’s blessings because of unbelief, so don’t be one of them. And how did they react to the very Son of God’s preaching?
In Luke 4:28, "And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,"
James then says in James 1:20, "For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." Anger at the preacher, or at the message, is the same as being angry with God. We can’t get closer to God when we are mad at him. We can’t have victory over sin when we won’t obey the Word. Our righteousness is fading quickly and we better get back to God soon.
Even anger at the things of the world that we find unjust can be dangerous if we allow it to be shown without thought or considering the will of God in all things.
Several years ago there were some bombings of Abortion Clinics. Now none of us who believes in the sanctity of life want to see abortions taking place. It’s alright to be angry about the sin in the world. But the Bible says in, Ephesians 4:26, "Be ye angry, and sin not…” Anger over the sin does not justify bombings. One sin is as bad as another. Murdering the abortion doctors and nurses is just as bad as the abortions they perform. Stealing from the government, or from the job isn’t right, even if you think that both have robbed you and been unfair in the way they treat you. Two wrongs never equal a right. Both are acts of sin. There are other means of resistance and the primary means is by staying on your face before God in prayer.
James 1:21, "Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls."
As the Spirit of God burns in us it is like a boiling pot where all of the scum and filth comes to the top and must be skimmed off and cast aside. As the Word comes to us, and the Holy Spirit moves upon us, when anger arises it causes all of the pride, vanity, wrath, malice, and evil speaking to come to the surface. That’s when we have to cast it off at the Cross and ask God to wash those things away.
As the Word goes forth, the regenerated heart of man should receive that Word with meekness, knowing that it is meant for our good, to make us stronger in the Lord and to help us live a more sanctified life. Don’t get mad or upset; embrace it and thank God for it, because it proves that He loves you.
Jesus didn’t come, and the Gospel isn’t preached, to harm you or make you angry, but to help you. I read the mission statement of Christ and the Gospel a few minutes ago, but let me read it again as found 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;"
God’s good and perfect gift of being Born Again gives us life. When the heart is regenerated and we become a New Man in Christ, then we should desire to hear all the truth, even when it hurts, because we know its all for our good.
The Born Again experience is a good and perfect gift, and so is the preaching of the Word that washes us continually.
