Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. Good morning and welcome to this
morning's broadcast. My text this morning will be
from John chapter three. If you wish to read along, if
you have a Bible handy, right close by, go ahead and get that.
But first, before I read my text for this morning, I want to ask
a couple questions. Have you ever heard someone say,
I'm a born again Christian? Or maybe someone says, I've been
born again. Maybe you've even said. Maybe
someone has encouraged you to walk down some church aisle and
make some profession of faith. And maybe after that, they've
told you, well, now you're born again. Maybe you even said about
yourself, I'm born again. But I wonder how many people
have really a true scriptural understanding of what born again
means. I know what some people think,
but that's not what I'm here to try to deal with this morning.
It's not what people think about it. But what did the Master say?
What did Jesus Christ the Lord say about being born again? What did God manifest in the
flesh? And those are all the same. The
Master, Jesus Christ the Lord, God manifest in the flesh. What
did he say about being born again? So here's my text, John chapter
three. And I want to read just the first
12 verses that will suffice for our study this morning. In John
chapter three, John writes these words and he's recording an encounter
between Nicodemus and the master himself. And it reads this way,
there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the
Jews. The same came to Jesus by night
and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher
come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest
except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except the man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto
him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second
time into his mother's womb and be born? 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. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto
him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto
him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know, and
testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. If
I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall
ye believe if I tell you heavenly things? Now, these are the very
words of the master himself on the subject of being born again. This is not some radical denominational
preacher. This is not my take. on what
it means to be born again. These are the Master's words
themselves. Let me just try to give you seven
quick things for this morning's message. Some observations from
what the Master himself said about being born again. Clearly,
the master was indicating that even Nicodemus, notice that,
even Nicodemus must be born again. And of course, we read again.
Look at it, verse seven, what he said unto him. Marvel not
that I said unto thee, unto Nicodemus, this man who came to him, this
ruler of the Jews, this man that came to him at nighttime. He said, marvel not that I say
unto thee, ye must be born again. And then, of course, he refers
directly to Nicodemus' need again. When he says again in verse 9,
Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto
him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knoweth not these things?
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know, and
testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. If
I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not. See, he's
telling even this Nicodemus, this master, this ruler of the
Jews, and ye believe not. How shall ye believe if I tell
you heavenly things? So clearly, clearly without question,
when it comes to the subject of being born again, In this
encounter between Nicodemus and the master himself, it's clear
that the master indicated, clearly spoke to Nicodemus, that even
he must be born again. But here's a second thought from
the text. Nicodemus, a religious man, no
doubt a religious man, a leader of the Jews' religion, a man
who even spoke well and respectful of Jesus. Do you see that? Look
again at it. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus,
a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night
and said unto him, Rabbi, he called him great teacher, great
teacher, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from
God. Do you see that? Here's Nicodemus
that's speaking to the master himself in great respectful words. For no man, Nicodemus went on
to say, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except
God be with him. And then, of course, in verse
10, Jesus answered and said unto him, art thou a master of Israel? And he was. But he's putting
this as a question to Nicodemus for Nicodemus to consider these
things sincerely and deeply. Art thou a master of Israel and
knowest not these things? So clearly, when it comes to
the subject of the new birth, of being born again, or as some
have said that the Greek actually would say being born from above,
and that's certainly true from the Greek. But we'll stick with
the phrase being born again. It's clear that our master told
Nicodemus that even he must be born again. And Nicodemus, secondly,
was a religious man, a moral man, an upright man. He was a
leader in the Jews' religion. A man who spoke well of Jesus
Christ to Jesus Christ, even gave him praise, said, we know
you're a man sent from God. But even, think about it, think
about this, the new birth now, even Nicodemus must be born again. Now here's a third thought from
our text. Remember, from the master's own
words about the new birth, about being born again. Think about
this. Religious or not? This includes
me, this includes you. Anyone out there who sees this
on the TV broadcast or sees it in some other venue later. Religious
or not? Moral or immoral? Remember, Nicodemus was a moral
man. Religious or not, moral or immoral,
whether you're a somebody or whether you're a nobody, the
master declares the new birth to be an absolute. Now listen
to it, think about it. The master declares the new birth
to be an absolute necessity, a necessity. Look at it again,
chapter three and verse three. Jesus answered and said unto
him, truly, truly, that is, barely, barely, I say unto thee, except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Do you see that? And then again,
of course, in verse five, Jesus answered, verily, verily, or
that is truly, truly, I say unto thee, except the man be born
of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. So we see that Clearly, when
it comes to the new birth, that even Nicodemus must be born again. We see that when it comes to
the new birth that Nicodemus, a religious man, a leader of
the Jews, a man who spoke well and respectful of Jesus Christ,
even Nicodemus must be born again. And we can gather from that,
as I've said in this third point, religious or not, moral or immoral,
whether we're a somebody or whether we're just a nobody, The master
declares the new birth to be an absolute necessity. Now, these three things are absolutely
true from this text. And if you're listening to my
words, if you're reading along in your Bible, these words, you
see that what I'm telling you are the facts concerning this
text. But let's look at this fourth point. This fourth point
that the master himself, the redeemer, the savior of sinners,
look at what he says about the new birth. The necessity, we've
already seen the new birth's a necessity for anyone. Anyone's
to ever see the kingdom of God and then enter the kingdom of
God. He must first be born again. So fourthly, the necessity of
the new birth Twofold now, I'll read some just the same verses.
I've read a moment ago, but look at look at it in chapter 3 verse
3 Jesus answered and said unto him and and note that Nicodemus
gave the master these high praises, these praises of rabbi, these
praises, we know you're a teacher come from God. And we know that
no man can do these miracles that you do except God be with
you. And he gave him these great praises. Christ never even dealt
with that. He immediately goes to this grand
and glorious subject. Verse three, and remember what
I've said, this fourth thing. The necessity of the new birth
is twofold. Jesus answered and said unto
him, he's saying Nicodemus, listen to me now, truly, truly, you
see that? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born
again, he cannot see. the kingdom of God. So what's
he talking about? Not our Lord, the Master, the
Savior himself, God manifest in the flesh is not talking simply
about seeing the kingdom of God with these physical eyes, but
the word can mean to comprehend, to understand, to lay hold of. And it's to lay hold of what?
The kingdom of God, the reign of God. the rule of God, both
in heaven and earth, where the scripture declares that he rules
amongst the armies of heaven and amongst the inhabitants of
the earth. And one of the necessities of this new birth, this two-fold
necessity, one is that he has to be born again to even see
it. You see that? to even see it. That's the first part of it.
But here's the second part of it. Look at verse five. Jesus
answered, truly, truly, I say unto thee, except a man be born
of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter. Do you see it? He cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. So the new birth, according to
the master, not my opinion, Not some denominational opinion,
not some radical preacher's opinion, but this is the master's word
on the new birth itself. You have to be born again to
see it, and you have to be born again to enter it. at the specific
words of verse five, except a man be born of water, and, and notice,
if you have your Bible, notice the of thee is in italics. The
translators put it there to help the English flow a little better,
but it's not necessary to the context. And the translators,
thank God for the KJV, were honest enough to let us know they had
added this in. So listen to what our Lord said. except a man be
born of water and spirit. He cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. What's he talking about? He's
talking about first what is done for a man and what must first
be done for a man and who it is that does it. It is a cleansing
act. The new birth is to be what?
Born of water. Not born in water. Not born by
the water. but born of water. This is the
cleansing act. And then we have the agent who
does it. Accept a man be born of water and spirit. One thing,
one thing, what's taking place and who it is that's doing it.
Accept a man be born of water and spirit. He cannot, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. So we see him clearly. that according
to the master's words himself, that even Nicodemus must be born
again. And Nicodemus was a religious
man, a leader of the Jews' religion. He wasn't a drunk or an adulterer
or a thief. This man was, like it is said
of the scripture, like our Lord said in the scripture of another
Pharisee, I fast twice a week. I'm not an adulterer. I don't
steal. I don't cheat. I don't lie. I
don't do any of these things. So we see that the master said
even Nicodemus must be born again to see the kingdom of God and
to enter the kingdom of God. And Nicodemus, this religious
man, this leader, the one that even even spoke well of the master
himself. Even Nicodemus must be born again. So that lets us know without
question, religious or not, moral or immoral, a somebody or a nobody. The master declares the new birth
to be an absolute necessity. And then as I said, fourthly,
that's where we're at now. The fourth thing, the necessity
of the new birth is twofold. You've got to be born from above,
born of God or born again to see, to see not with these eyes,
but to see in here, in the mind and in the heart. A man must
be born again to see it. And a man must be born of water
and spirit to enter the kingdom of God. But here's the fifth
thing. And we can draw this clearly
from the text. This is the master's own words,
the words of God himself, the words of God manifest in the
flesh. Here's the fifth thing we can
draw from this concerning the master's teaching on the new
birth. We see here that the necessity of the new birth reveals man's
inability. Do you hear me? Our Lord, the
master, the king, the sovereign of all heaven and earth, revealed
in this discourse with Nicodemus the absolute necessity of the
new birth. Yes, he did that, but the necessity
of the new birth reveals man's inability. And again, it's inability
to what? To see in here, in the mind.
Not just with these eyes, but in here. in the mind and in the
heart. The necessity of the new birth
is, look at it. Jesus answered and said unto
him, truly, truly, Nicodemus. You see that? Nicodemus, listen
to me. Truly, truly, I say unto thee,
except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Our Lord is clear, you don't
see it and then are born again. You must be born again to even
see it. Do you see that there? This is
the master's tape. This is the master's words. This is what the Lord of glory
himself says about it. That the necessity of the new
birth reveals man's inability to see, but it also reveals his
inability to enter the kingdom of God. See it again? Verse five,
Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say unto thee, except a man
be born of water and spirit, he, you see the word, cannot,
C-A-N-N-O-D, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. I can
sum it up this way. It is to be born again, you see
it? to be born again. Look at verse
6. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. In other words, as we came into
this world, as we were conceived and grew in our mother's womb,
as we were born into this world, we're born flesh. And according
to the scripture, all flesh is as grass. It's nothing. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. That which is born of the spirit,
the spirit of God. And notice, rightfully so, the
first word spirit in this verse, in verse six, is capitalized.
That which is born of God, God himself, God the spirit. That
which is born of flesh is flesh. That which is born of spirit
is spirit. Do you see that? Again, he goes
on and says, marvel not that I said unto thee. Don't marvel
at this, Nicodemus. Don't take this as some amazing
thing. It's not an amazing thing. It's an absolutely true thing.
This is not something that cannot be understood at all. Not at all. It's not something
that cannot be comprehended at all, but you've got to be born
again first to see it, to comprehend it, to understand it, to lay
hold of it. You've got to be born of water
and spirit so that you can enter the kingdom of God. Marvel not,
verse 7, that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. Now listen
to the Master's words on it. Remember, we're talking about
the necessity of the new birth reveals man's inability to see
and to enter the kingdom of God. The new birth is God's work. The new birth must come before
you ever see, see, before you ever enter. Do you see it? Before
you ever enter. But then look how our Lord explains
this. Look at the illustration he gives.
The wind bloweth where it listeth. Now, I realize that's an old
English word, and it's not used much, I don't suppose, anymore
nowadays, but that word could mean this, and you check me on
this. You get you a Strong's or a Corden's Concordance, and
you look this up. The wind bloweth where it pleaseth. He's illustrating now, and we'll
see this. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whither it goeth." Then look at it. This is the
master's take on it. This is the master. So is everyone
that is born of the Spirit. So again, remember, even Nicodemus
had to be born again. Nicodemus, a religious man, a
leader. a knowledgeable man, a moral man, a man who had great
respect for Jesus, even Nicodemus must be born again. And it doesn't
matter. This lets us know that if here's
a man that needs to be born again, this ruler of the Jews, this
leader, this master in Israel, if this is one, one like this
must be born again, then clearly, clearly religious or not, moral
or immoral. Whether you're somebody or nobody,
you must be born again. And remember that necessity is
twofold. You got to be born again to see it. You gotta be born
again to actually enter into it. So this lets us know, these
words from the Master itself, lets us know the necessity of
the new birth. It reveals mine and your total
inability in the flesh as we are born, totally unable to see
and to enter the kingdom of God, unless we're born of God, born
again, born from above. Now here's the sixth thing. The
same John, the same John, John the Apostle, the same John who
recorded the Master's words in our text declares that even faith
to be the result of. Can you hear me now? Now listen
to me. The same John who recorded this discourse between Nicodemus
and Jesus. The same John who recorded the
master's own words about the new birth. This same John declares
that faith is the result. It is the effect of the new birth. Now if you are following along,
I got one verse to read to you. And you take John and his words. Take what the book of God says
at its word, how it says it, and listen how the apostle John
puts it in 1 John chapter five. Just the one verse here. Now
look at it. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is. Do you see that? Not gets, not
becomes, not then receives, You see it? Whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Remember, the wind blows
where it listeth. The wind blows where it pleaseth.
You hear the sound thereof. What's the sound thereof? I believe.
I believe. But if they believe, if they
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, it's because the wind's already
blown. It's because the Spirit of God's
already said, Life. Life. Spiritual life. True life. That life that comes from God
Himself as an act of God through the person and work of Jesus
Christ. So again, that same John, who recorded the Master's words
in our text about the new birth, declares that even faith to be
the result, the effect of the new birth. Faith does not cause
you to be born again. God does not use faith so you
can be born again. It says whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God and everyone that loveth
him that beget loveth him also that is begotten of him. That
is God's people love one another. All who are breathed upon, blown
upon by the spirit of free, sovereign, reigning grace, and come to believe
in Jesus Christ, they love one another. Here's my last thought
this morning from our text. Here's a seventh observation,
if you will, about the new birth. The Apostle Peter, now, before
I make the statement, turn there, if you're following along, turn
to 1 Peter chapter one. and then I'll make the statement.
Let me get there as well. 1 Peter 1, now think about this. The apostle Peter gives us some
insight on the new birth, and I want us to listen to his words.
1 Peter 1, verse 18. for as much as ye know, that
ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you. Who by him do believe in God?
Do you see it? Who by him do believe in God
that raised him from the dead and gave him glory that your
faith and hope might be in God? Seeing you have purified your
souls and obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfain love of
the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart
fervently. Isn't that almost exactly what John was talking
about? But look, being born again. Do you see that? being born again,
no, not by corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the
Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh
is grass. Why? Because that which is born
of the flesh is flesh. A man going to see, a man going
to enter, a woman going to see, a woman going to enter, young
or old going to see, You want to enter the kingdom of God,
they must be born of the Spirit of God first. The flesh, what
we are by nature, profits nothing. For all flesh is grass, and all
the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord
endureth forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel, do you see it? Which by the gospel is preached
unto you. Everyone needs to go again if
they're to see and if they are to enter the kingdom of heaven
So let me kind of wrap this up a man or a woman Young or old,
any person who has not had the spirit of God blow upon them
with spiritual life and birthed them by the preaching of the
gospel is not born again. And even James concurs with that
when James writes in James chapter one, verse 18, of his own will,
speaking of God, of his own will beget he us with the word of
truth. that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren,
let every man be swift to hear." You see it? Swift to hear. Hear what? The
word of God. And slow to speak. Anything other
than this about the new birth is bearing false witness about
the new birth. My question is this. Has the
message of Jesus Christ, has the gospel arrested you?