Bro. Jono's Testimony of Conversion to Christ

Thank you, brother. It's a very, very special and emotional time for me, as you can imagine being here today. And years ago, my wife taped in the back of my Bible a picture of her and our five kids. And it's a prayer that I've prayed since the Lord saved me. Your wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of your house and your children like olive plants round about your table. That's just always appealed to me. I always loved that. That's what I always wanted. That's what I always longed for. And we believe and have personally experienced that the fruit of the womb is God's reward.

And children are like arrows in the hands of a mighty warrior. Blessed is the man that has his quiver full of them. And in an age and a day that devalues children and in a country that aborts children, I rise up today to say that children are a blessing from the Lord Jesus Christ. And there is nothing like having a lot of olive branches round about your table. And my heart is flooding with joy today at the birth of my fifth grandchild. I don't know his name yet because the Emilys kept it real secret. And I guess I'll find out soon. But what a joy it is to have birth and to have life. Amen? Christians are all about life.

And we're all about eternal life. What more fitting illustration could God and all his sovereignty give me this very Lord's Day than to say this to you, having just had another grandbaby brought into this world? Jesus used that as an illustration of what it means to be saved. Twice in John chapter 3, Jesus told, as the pastor referenced Nicodemus this morning, Jesus told Nicodemus, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. I prayed all this week and last week and the week before that and the weeks before that for this very moment, for this very hour. Because I know it was me for so long.

There are people in this room today that just can't see what God's kingdom is all about. They just can't see what this matter of eternal life is all about. And I say boldly to you, John 3, 3, that unless and until you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. Jesus went on. And he said a little bit later to Nicodemus repeating it, but adding a little bit to it, Jesus said in John 3, 5, marvel not that I say unto you, you must be born again. And he said if a man is not born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. And just like my new grandson had absolutely nothing to do with his birth, he didn't plan it.

He didn't choose his parents. He didn't choose his gender. He didn't choose Murfreesboro, Tennessee as the place that he would be born, but sovereign, good, and holy God did. And just like that, there is nothing you can do in and of yourself to make yourself born again. I always get amused when I see books by evangelical leaders that say something like how to be born again as if it's a series of steps. That would be as ridiculous this morning as me walking into the OR and handing out a book that says how to be born. It'd be utterly absurd. How to be born-- wait a minute. There's no steps to be born.

And I want to say to you today, there's no steps that you can instigate to make yourself born again. It is a gift from Almighty God and how I pray today that you experience the new birth. It's really frightening to me when I consider the fact that a person can be so close to the kingdom and yet not in the kingdom. Let me say that again. It's frightening to me at how close people can be to the kingdom and not yet be in the kingdom. And here's another verse that goes along with that. As your pastor asked me if I would share my testimony today, and all of this has to do with the way the Lord saved me and gave me the new birth.

Here's another scripture that frightens me when I dovetail it with the fact that you can be close to the kingdom but not in it. And it's this. Knowledge puffeth up. Paul said that to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 8.1. And that was me for 25 years of my life. I had a lot of Bible knowledge because I was raised in a Christian home and carried to a Baptist church. And I have learned through the years how to coach myself, if you will, how to counsel myself, and how to reason away that I was, in fact, not born of the spirit, that I was, in fact, a lost church member. I could not see the kingdom. I was blind to this truth.

I was blind to Jesus Christ. I was blind to salvation. And for years, I was in the church. I was around the church. I was around the Bible. I was around saved people, but I wasn't one of them. All the while, I could speak the language. All the while, I knew about the Bible. And I knew about the Lord, but I didn't know the Lord. And I was remembering this past week how convincing I could be to myself and to others. I remember it like it was yesterday that God was dealing with my soul and dealing with my heart and my mind in conviction.

He was convincing me of sin and of righteousness and of judgment and how I would quote scripture to myself and reason and counsel myself with pre-recorded sound bites, if you will, in my head until the conviction would wane. I also remember when I was being interviewed to be the youth director at this time of First Baptist Church Center Star Alabama. And I shared my testimony with that committee eloquently enough to convince every person in that room that I was saved. It seems that I had convinced everyone, including myself, that I was saved except for one, God. Funny thing about it, it's hard to convince God you're saved when you're not.

Very, very difficult. And by the way, if that's what you're doing, you've got it backwards. You should never be trying to convince God of why you're saved. That's the job of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Romans 8, verse 16. And looking back now, I can see so clearly how the Spirit of God tirelessly pursued me until he finally broke me and birthed me into the kingdom. Just a few couple of hours ago, Kayla texted me and said they broke Emily's water. So we knew that there was a birth coming. And I remember when God broke me. And I remember when that birth took place.

I realized what Romans 8 teaches, that God had a purpose for me. And He foreknew me. And He predestined me. And He justified me. And I know that He will glorify me. But when I was in the birth canal of God, when I was in labor pains, if you will, waiting to be born again, God simply wouldn't leave me alone. His Holy Spirit was relentless. The Holy Spirit of God constantly convicted me of my sin, John 16.8, until the day that I broke. Until the day that, if you will, the water broke. And I came out of the womb of God. And I surrendered to Jesus Christ as my Lord and my Savior. Please listen to me this morning. I have a question for you.

Have you ever been broken? Let me ask it again. Have you ever been broken by God? And if you're not sure, you haven't. Because it's traumatic. I'm telling you, every bit as much as the labor pains and the delivery of a child, so is the birth, the second birth of one who is born of the Spirit. Literally, God transforms you into a new creature. Old things pass away. And behold, all things, 2 Corinthians 5, 17, become new. Has God Himself ever pursued you? Has God convicted you and proved you guilty by His word until He finally breaks you and you come to Him in surrender and repentance and faith? Again, I ask you, have you ever been broken?

Your flesh will create and accept a thousand substitutes rather than come to this point of brokenness and surrender before God. But brokenness and repentance and turning to Christ in complete surrender is the goal of the Holy Spirit and He will settle for nothing less. This week, God's Spirit prompted me to share with you how the Holy Spirit pursued me and finally broke me and drew me to Jesus Christ and affected regeneration in my life, the new birth. Let me say it again. I'm speaking to someone today, I have no doubt. Verily, verily, I say unto you, accept a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

And I know that there's people in here just like I was for 25 years, blind. Maybe you're a church member, but you've self-medicated yourself with your own poisonous pride and Bible knowledge. That's why Paul says knowledge puffs up. May God deliver you today as He did me and I pray how I have prayed that a birth takes place here today. Let me tell you my testimony. I made two false professions of faith in the church as I was raised in and I want to say this right up front. Nowhere in the Bible is a profession of faith given as evidence of genuine conversion.

Now let me say that all that the spirit births will make a profession of faith, but millions upon millions of whom I was one have made a profession of faith that they do not possess in truth. My first profession of faith came when I was about eight or nine years old. Our local association in northwest Alabama, where I'm from, some of you may remember Bob Harrington. He was kind of a protege of Billy Graham. And our association had one of Bob Harrington's crusades in Florence, Alabama.

My elementary school buddy Todd Cochran and I were sitting on the stadium bleachers there in that coliseum and we were playing with like little boys, playing with our hot wheel cars. Didn't listen to a word of the sermon. And after the sermon was over, they gave a very moving evangelistic-- they called it walk forward invitation. And Todd nudged me and said, hey, let's go down there and see what's going on. Just a couple of boys, you know? And so we got up out of our seats and walked down there to see-- they may be giving some more hot wheels cars away or something. And we walked down there.

And I'm telling you before I knew what happened, a man shook my hand and said, congratulations, son. You've been saved. And my home church didn't counsel with me. No one asked me about repentance. No one asked me about faith in Christ. And that next Sunday, they baptized me. Well, you know as well as I do, my life never changed. Brother, and I know y'all do, but what a word for us as a local church that we need to be very careful in counseling with children, or anybody for that matter, before we present them for believers baptism. We need to do our best job. Now, I know even when we do, we're going to miss some.

But we got to do a better job than that. Amen, church. My second profession of faith came when I was about 15 years old. My same church that I was in, same home church, had an evangelist in a week much like this dedicated to renewal and seeking God. And the preacher-- and thank God-- the preacher preached a message on hell. And preachers ought to preach on hell. Christ was the preeminent preacher that preached on hell. And so I have no problems with that brother doing what he did. But the truth is, I was just scared of hell. I didn't fear God. I just didn't want to go to hell. So once again, got up out of my seat, walked down the aisle.

I made a profession of faith. And the next Sunday, again, they baptized me. But I'm telling you, my life never changed. As a matter of fact, I would say this. My life consistently from 15 till age 25 when I was converted-- that's about a 10-year span there-- my life for that 10-year period consistently-- listen-- produced what the Bible reveals as evil fruit for 10 years. My life consistently and regularly bore evil fruit. Here's the problem. Jesus Christ-- this is not John O'Seehms-- Jesus Christ said these words, powerful. Jesus said, by their fruits, you will know them. Matthew 7, 16 through 20.

Jesus revealed that thorn bushes don't bring forth grapes. And thistle bushes don't bring forth figs. And likewise, a lost person cannot produce love joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith, and self-control. It's not possible for a person without the Holy Spirit to produce those fruits. Every one of us come into this world born lost and depraved. And here's the fruit that my life bore. If you back up just a couple of verses in Ephesians chapter 5, that described me-- sexual immorality. I want to speak to anybody here that's living in sexual immorality, that no fornicator will inherit the kingdom of God.

That's the words of the word of God. No homosexual will inherit the kingdom of God. That is scripture. And that sexual immorality described me-- impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies. And all these I warn you, as I've warned you before, that those who do these things-- listen to these words-- will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5, 19 through 21. And that's me. When I would open up my Bible and read a text like Galatians 5, the Spirit of God would say to me, that's you. That's you. Jesus said it this way.

Jesus Christ said, no good tree bears bad fruit. Nor, again, does a bad tree bear good fruit. But each tree is known by its own fruit. Luke 6, 43, and 44. James, the half brother of our Lord, says, does a spring pour out sweet water and bitter water from the same opening? He goes on to say, no, it doesn't. A spring is either bitter or sweet. May God's Holy Spirit help me today, because I don't have the power to apply this to your heart. But he does. Here's the truth. Don't be deceived. If you want to know whether or not you're saved, don't look to the prayer you prayed on your mama's lap when you were eight years old.

Don't look to the time you walked the aisle and prayed the prayer. Don't look to the time that you had tingling go up your spine and your hair break out into goose pimples. Don't think of, well, I made this decision, or I remember where I was, or I drove a stake down in the ground for heaven's sakes. All you need to do today-- if you want to know, if you really want to know the truth, am I saved or am I not-- is look no further than the fruit. The fruit will tell you the story. How do we know an orange tree? Well, doggone, it's got oranges on it. How do we know a grapevine? Because grape clusters are hanging from it.

How do we know a Christian? Love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith, self-control, and how do we know a person who's not born of the spirit? Because their lives bear evil fruit. But I'll tell you the book God used to save me. When Kayla and I got married, I was 20. She was 19. We were young and in college and loved each other. And thank God God brought Kayla into my life. But Kayla would come to me, and she was more honest than me.

She was raised in a United Methodist Church, kind of an Armenian church that doesn't believe in eternal security, doesn't believe that you can know for sure that you're saved, that you can lose your salvation, forfeit your salvation. And so she was as confused as a tumbleweed in a windstorm. And Kayla would come to me, and she would ask me questions. But I couldn't help her because I was doubting my own salvation. And I wasn't willing to be honest with her and tell her that. And I remember one day going to my pastor, who is a dear friend of mine till this day. But I was a deacon. I was a Sunday school teacher. I was an outreach leader.

I sung in our choir. And we were best friends, and we were about the same age. And Brother Chris, I think it was hard for him to wrap his mind around that John-O might be lost. And so I would go to this brother, and I said to him, brother, I'm doubting my salvation. I'm struggling. Can you help me? And I'll never forget. He said to me, yes, brother, read the book of 1 John. And this is what he said. He said, it's a great book of comfort. OK, let me give you a disclaimer on that. It is if you're saved. But if you're not, it'll take you apart. And that's exactly what it did to me. Let me tell you what I'm talking about.

Are you all listening to me? These are present tense verbs meant to denote a state, to describe the actual situation of a person, which is why the Holy Spirit used the present tense form. Everyone. How many is everyone? You don't even have to look it up in the Greek. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning is also practicing lawlessness. You know that Jesus appeared to take away sin, and in him there is no sin. No one-- how many is no one? No one. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. It's like God's pleading with us. Little children, don't let anyone deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous.

But whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. Because the devil has been sinning from the very beginning. This is the reason the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Listen to this. No one who is born of God-- there it is. No one who is born of God makes a practice of sinning because God's seed abides in him. And he can't keep on practicing sin because he's been born of God. This is evidence of how we know a child of God and a child of the devil. How much clearer could God be? Now that doesn't mean when you get saved you'll never sin. We don't believe in the false heresy of sinless perfectionism.

But it does mean that when you get saved, your life is no longer characterized by an ongoing habitual practice and attitude of consistent ongoing sin. When we get saved, that's the end of that. Jesus becomes our Lord. And while we may sin and often fall short of the glory of God, the Spirit of God won't let us live there. He won't let us reside there. We're not any longer involved in a practice and a habitual attitude toward sin. And I got to tell you, when I read 1 John, when I read this text, 1 John 3, 4 through 10, that's all I needed to see. That's when God broke me. That's when God broke me.

The Holy Spirit and Chris and Christy and I had such a great time last night around-- I'm going to make you covet-- cornbread. Pop-all Peck used to call those John-O peas, because purple-holed peas were the only ones I'd eat growing up. Butter beans, I've branched out a bit since then. And barbecued chicken and salad and chocolate cake and coffee. Amen? Sitting around the table last night, joying in the ever-present work and ministry of our God, the Holy Spirit. Thank God he's still at work. Thank God he's here right now. And the Holy Spirit's presence and conviction of my sin became so heavy that he finally broke me.

I never had peace with God. My life was one of constantly making excuses and giving reasons and telling myself all the reasons why I must already be saved, something I never, ever, ever do now. I never prop myself up anymore. I never convince myself I'm saved anymore. I never have conversations with myself anymore about my conversion. The hand of God was against me. It was oppressive. God was my enemy. The enemy of my heart, the enemy of my mind. He was consistently and constantly proving to me my sin and my lost condition, something I ran from for years.

Every time I'd come into a church like this-- I remember sitting under Donny Singleton-- every time I'd come under biblical preaching, it would devastate me. Fear would grip my mind and grip my heart over my lost condition. And there was seasons when waves of hopelessness and lossless would overwhelm me. And the Spirit of God was doing his job of convicting me of sin and righteousness and coming judgment, John 16.8. And let me just say that if the Spirit of God is convinced that you're lost, you'll never convince him that you're not lost. Never. You might as well give up.

You might as well surrender right here and right now because the Holy Spirit intends to break you. And until you agree with him, he will not stop. And I remember the point of surrender for me. I'm not one of these guys that say, you have to remember the exact date. But because I was 25, I'm old enough to remember. For me, it was February the 16th, 1990. I had been under, as I said, heavy, heavy, deep conviction. And how I pray that's taking place here. I was deeply troubled in my heart. I was deeply troubled in my soul. And Kayla's mom and dad had given us an old Ford Winstar van. I was actually at a Bible conference.

And I asked for the keys to the van. And I went out. And I was under such conviction. I thought, I'm just going to go to the van. I'm going to lay down. I'm going to sleep. And hopefully, I'll wake up. And this will be diminished. This will be gone. And I never will forget, sort of like Jacob, in that Winstar van. I rolled. And I tossed. And I surrendered. And I fought. And I gave all the reasons why I had to be saved. I'm a deacon. I'm a Sunday school teacher. At this time, I was a paid youth director on the staff of First Baptist Church Center Star. And I was embarrassed. What will it look like? I've taught these students.

I've stood in front of them and said, you can be saved and know it. And God said, yeah, but you don't know it. I've stood in front of these students and say, Lord, once you're saved, no one can ever take you away from the love of God and Jesus Christ. And God would say, that's true, but you've never been once saved. And then it just occurred to me. It's just like you flipped a light switch. Brother, why am I fighting this? Why don't I just surrender? Why don't I just yield? Why don't I just turn to Christ? And in that moment, all I know to tell you is that in my heart, surrender took place. And I remember looking up to heaven.

And I just cried out to God. And I said, Jesus, if you'll take me, you can have me. All of me. Here I am. I'm yours, Lord. I'm telling you, in that minute, that confusion, that strife, that war, that conviction, that oppressive hand of God, turned to peace, joy, love, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith, self-control. And I want to tell you unapologetically that the joy that flooded my heart in that Windstar van February the 16th, 1990, at about 9 PM, is still here. It has never gone. I love Christ. Romans chapter 5 says, "The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that has been given unto us." And I know this.

I know my Redeemer. I know Christ. He's my Lord. He walks with me. He talks with me. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known. It is a joy and an honor to follow Jesus Christ. I want to just say, when I came to that point of surrender, life took on completely new meaning. I had a clear sense of direction. I was a disciple. I was now following Jesus. I was taking up a cross. And I was following Him. The word of God came alive to me. And Chris, I won't even take the time to tell you how my call to preach was almost simultaneous with my call to salvation. The love of the church, something I had avoided.

I wanted to be in church. I wanted to be with God's people. I love my preacher. I wanted to hear Him preach. I love my small group leader. I love people in general. God put a love in my heart and a care and a concern for people. And all of a sudden, I wondered, does He know Jesus? Does He know Christ? I've got to tell them what's happened to me. And I began to tell people exactly what I'm telling you now, how Jesus Christ saved me and became the Lord of my life. What happened from there was and is and continues to be miraculous. That night, we left that Bible conference February 16, 1990.

And we drove through Atlanta back to my father's house where Kayla was there with a little bitty girl named Emily and a little bitty baby named Amy. Now, Joshua's wife. And Kayla, I wish she was here to tell her side of the story. She really wanted to be here. We're kind of bummed out that she didn't get to come. But Kayla's side of the story is when John O walked through the door, I saw his face. She said, I knew something radical had happened. When I walked through the door, Kayla said, what's happened? I said, well, I need to talk to you. We went back to the bedroom at my parents' house where we were staying. And I said, I've been saved.

And she said, I want to be saved. And I said, I want you to be saved. And we got down on our knees and she cried out to God. And the first person I ever got to see saved was my wife. Couldn't wait till Sunday where I was the youth director. And we went to First Baptist Church Center Star. And after Brother Billy preached, I turned and faced the congregation. And he said, John O has something to tell y'all. And that morning, the best I knew how, with the vocabulary God's given me, which is not real great, I told them all I know to tell y'all is I've been saved. I don't know. I'm not God. I'm not the Holy Spirit.

But that morning, 17 church members came to the pastor and said, pastor, I'm him. That's me. I need to be saved. From February of 1990 till January of '91-- and again, I'm not going to tell this part of the story. When God saved me and called me to go to Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, there were about 50 people in our church that, as best we could tell, came to saving faith. Kayla and I were praying about what seminary to go to. And all of my friends went to Mid-America over in Memphis, Tennessee. Jeff Noblett went there. Kayla's uncle, William Brewer, that married us went there. Her cousin, Lee Brewer, was there.

All of the pastors I knew went to Mid-America. And so they were having Founders Day. And so Kayla and I loaded up, went over to Memphis, stayed with my pastor, Roger, and Michelle Martis in their home, and went to Founders Day and met all these people. And after the service that night, we went back to their apartment. And Roger said-- he was my pastor that told me to read the book of 1st John. He said, brother, I'm thankful, but I'm amazed that you've been saved. He said, I thought you were already saved. He said, what happened? Just describe to me what happened. How did God show you you needed to be saved?

And again, the best I knew to tell with the vocabulary I had at that time, I just explained the new birth and how I'd been born again. Didn't think a lot about it. We went to bed that night. And excuse me, I know I've got a microphone on, and this is going to be kind of loud, so I'm warning you in advance. About 3 o'clock in the morning, this is what I heard. Woo! Me and Kayla sit straight up in the bed, and Roger said, y'all got to come in here. Pastor's wife, Michelle, he said, Michelle has been saved. He said, brother John, oh, she has struggled for years. She's never had assurance of her salvation.

And when you shared her testimony, we went to bed, and we've wrestled for hours, and I believe she's been converted. My secretary at church got saved. My new secretary at Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church got saved. I shared this testimony recently, and Josh Mulder got saved. Harry Cantor got saved. My worship leader, Brian C's wife, Hope got saved. Amy, my daughter was saved. Joshua, her husband was saved. And Ethan Bramlett, who now is a married young man, was all converted. So what about you? What about you? What does the fruit of your life say if you were honest? And hey, we can't fool God. Sovereign God knows.

That's why he put this in the Bible. Which list of fruit describes you? Do you practice righteousness, which is a fruit of the Spirit? Or do you practice unrighteousness, which is a fruit of the flesh and the fruit of sin? Is the Holy Spirit convicting you like he convicted me? Could the Holy Spirit of God be drawing you today as he drew me? Say, Brother John, what do I do? If God took every word away from me, and I had but only one word in English, or one word period, to describe salvation, here would be the word I would choose. Are you listening? Surrender. Surrender. What do I need to do, brother? Surrender. What do I do? Yield.

The Spirit is calling. The Spirit is wooing. The Spirit is pleading. Stop fighting. Yield. Surrender. Old things will pass away. Behold, all things will become new. Marvel not that I said unto you, you must. You must be born again.