I've been going over with you
this week what I call the history of redemption. Actually, another
way of putting that is his story of redemption, because that's
what it's about, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Redeemer. And Monday
we looked at the history of redemption from the perspective of eternity,
what God has purposed to do in the salvation of sinners. through
his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then Tuesday, we looked at
the history of redemption from creation to the cross. I just
touched on some examples there in the Old Testament of how God
was praised to save sinners in the Old Testament. We saw that
the blood of bulls and goats did not take away sin. That was
a covering. That's what that word atonement
means. It was a covering. That's why
when you come to the New Testament, you don't see the word atonement.
Christ's death was not an atonement, notwithstanding what all the
old writers, how they described it. It was a satisfaction. He
put away sin. He established righteousness.
That righteousness was imputed to the account of all of his
elect. at the cross. You know, in the
last chapter in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews 11 says that they without
us should not be made perfect. We were all saved at one time
by the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Adam,
Abraham, David, right on up. You realize even the disciples
were under the Old Testament economy. If you want to be strict
about it, because Christ had not yet died. they Peter was
saved by that blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
then yesterday we spent some time looking at the history of
redemption from the perspective of the cross at the cross and
looked at exactly what took place there at the cross of Calvary. Now today I want to talk with
you about the history of redemption in regeneration, because as this
history unfolds, as his story unfolds, there's a revelation.
What would be a book where the cover is never open and nothing's
ever revealed? Have you ever done that? Had
a book on your shelf for years? You've always looked at it. The
title looks pretty good and you think someday I'm going to get
around to reading it. One day you happen to walk by and open
it up and begin to read, and you can't put it down. You read
from beginning to end, and all of a sudden you're interested
in the author. And you sit there and think, why hadn't I read
this before? I believe that that's a good example of what it's like
when the Spirit of God is pleased to take this book and open it
to our hearts and minds and teach us what its true content is.
Its true subject is Christ. in him crucified. This whole
book has to do with how God can be just and justify sinners such
as we are. And that's why it's so vital
that we understand what God says about these things. Now, when
we get talking here about regeneration, I want to remind us of that.
We need to stick with scriptural terms. We've been discussing
among ourselves already. How when we don't, when we get
away from what the Bible says, using Bible language, it gets
confusing. It's just like those that are
teaching that Christ was made a sinner. Now, last time I checked
in this Bible, I have not seen that phrase used. In 2 Corinthians
5, 21, what does it say? He was made sin, but it doesn't
even put a period there, comma. Who knew no sin? We better state everything. See,
that's the mystery. That's the mystery of redemption,
how he being just, it doesn't say he died the sinner for the
unjust. He died the just for the unjust. That's what the scripture states.
And when we get away from scriptural language, we get in trouble.
And then, all of a sudden, we have to be defending men's definitions
rather than just pointing sinners to the Word. That's a great danger. I had a friend who recently sent
me these thoughts, and I put it in a bulletin not too long
ago, but I often refer back to it. If you look at what the Scriptures
are saying with regard to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ,
you might want to note this. Sin was imputed to him. it was not imparted to him. Or,
as the language is being used now, imbued. You'll see people
talking about, our sin was imbued. No, it was imputed. That's the
only way that he could have been just in bearing our sin and God
killing him. And yet, himself never being
a sinner. When it says, who knew no sin,
you know that word knew? has to do with the most intimate
way a person could ever have a relationship with his wife
and vice versa. It says he knew no sin. Christ
never experientially entered into our sin in any kind of relationship
with that sin. It was put on him. He bore our
sin. Isaiah says it was laid on him. What's being preached is transfusion. My sin put in him, and now his
holy nature put in me. That's transfusion. Substitution
is my sin imputed to him, and his righteousness imputed to
me. Is there a sinless perfection? Absolutely. But it's in Christ. My righteousness is seated on
the throne of glory right now, and the Spirit of God given to
me causes me to look outside myself to him. That's my righteousness. That's my righteousness. He became
my surety. He did not become my sinner. I don't need a sinner. I need
a savior. He was made the substitute. He was not made sinful. No way. all those types and pictures.
We saw that in Noah, didn't we? Why was it specifically stated
that it be seven clean animals or extra clean animals to be
taken on that ark? It didn't matter. You know, I've heard recently
too now, some are going back and reevaluating whether it ought
to even be leavened bread that we offer at the Lord's table.
Maybe we can just go down and grab a loaf of bread, any loaf.
Because he was made a sinner, and so we can identify with that
now. Just let's bring in the leaven. But you know what the
scriptures say, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. He bore our condemnation. He did not become our character.
That's an important difference, because I thought about these
things. You know, he spent all our time in school and math and
science defining, defining, defining. Why? Because there's a right
and there's a wrong. He bore our condemnation, not
our character. He received what we deserve,
but not our depravity. He was not made depraved. If
that were the case, if that's what was required for him to
be my savior, should have started all the way back there in that
womb. all the way. But was it this holy thing? And
when he hung on that cross, it was still this holy one, the
holy one of Israel, bearing the sin of his people. God's wrath
fell on him, but he was not wicked. He was affected by our sin. He was not infected by it. But that's what being great,
he was infected by our sin. No, he was affected, no question.
He suffered unto death, but not for his own sin, but that of
his people. If you look over in Hebrews chapter
7, and I'll move on here, but in Hebrews chapter 7, again,
let's stick with scriptural language. And this is what I would This is what I want us to do,
even in this matter of regeneration, because this is this question
has been raised. Well, what you know, what takes place when the
spirits work in the heart? That's what we're going to look
at. But whatever we think we know, let's lay it aside and
by God's grace, just open this word and look at what the scripture
uses as terms. Because that's so, so vital here. But in Hebrews chapter seven,
if you look in verses twenty two, It says, By so much was Jesus
made a surety of a better covenant. And I like the definition that
Brother Richard gave for this word made, because that's what
it is. He was legally constituted the surety of his people, just
like in a court of law. Here's your representative. That's
what it means there. And they truly were many priests.
because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death.
In other words, they were imperfect. That's why that priesthood was
put away. If it required Christ to come
and be made imperfect again, even for a moment, then he would
have suffered the same sort of consequences. All those Old Testament
priests died to death that he deserved. But this man, you notice,
Buck, There's a contrast here, there's a distinction. This man,
because he continueth forever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Christ did not have to first
redeem himself just because Aaron was the type, first redeem himself
and then die for the sins of his people. Why? He was brought from another order
than that of Aaron. His is an unchangeable priesthood.
He was after the order of Melchizedek, who had no beginning, no end.
And there's a reason why that's stated in scripture, because
that was just the time. That's why it had to fall away.
But he was the just one. Faithful high priest. It says,
wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that
come unto God by him. How am I going to come unto God
by him? By his spirit revealing him. teaching me of him, showing
me of him, drawing me, giving me life, giving me life. These
are things that the Spirit of God does. As we've heard already,
justification demands life. When Christ satisfied that debt
and sin was put away and righteousness imputed, it demanded and it demands
that everyone for whom Christ died be brought to life. enter into that fellowship with
the Lord Jesus Christ who died for them. That's what it's talking
about here, but and it says seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for them. His very presence in heaven there seated. If he's
seated, that means the work is done. Those Old Testament priests
never sat down. There wasn't a chair in the tabernacle
for them to sit. But it says when he had finished
the work, he sat down. There's proof that he's finished
the work. But now look at here. Verse 26. Again, what does the
Scripture say? It says, For such an high priest
became us. That's what some are saying.
Well, he had to become just like us, but that's not what it's
saying. He became us. In other words, he was fitted
to our every need before God's justice as a man. As a man, he represented sinners.
As God, he represented his Father. And in him, mercy and truth have
met together. He became us. But look at here. Who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. Now,
let's talk about made higher than the heavens. Let's talk
about his ascension. Or that whole thing. He came, lived,
died, rose again. Never once did sin ever taint
his character, corrupt his nature, at any time, at any moment. Just like Brother Richard said,
that old ark could have fallen in that mud, and that mud would
not have tainted that ark one way. It was made of gold. It
was made of gold. And it says, Who needeth not
daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice, first for
his own sins, to say that Christ had to redeem himself? That flies
in the face of scripture. What does it say? Who needeth
not as those priests. There's a distinction made to
offer up sacrifice first for his own sins and then for the
people's. For this he did once when he offered up himself. There's
that once for all sacrifice that God might be just and justify.
For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity. Why is
this stated? Well, to make a distinction.
Our Lord became a man, but he did not have infirmity. It says here, but the word of
the yoke, which was since the law, maketh the son who is consecrated
forevermore. Well, I don't know how to state
it any more plainly than that. I'm just reading you what God
to a record that God has given of his Son. Now, the question
is, coming now to regeneration, does believing that Christ finished
the work of forgiveness of sins and justifying his people at
the cross negate the need for being born again? Some are saying
that's what I'm saying, but I'm not. Scripture doesn't say that.
You know, that's a misrepresentation being leveled at those of us
who do believe and proclaim what the Bible teaches concerning
our Lord. What does it say in Daniel 4, 24? He came to what? Finish the transgression and
to make an end of sins, that he did, and to make reconciliation
for iniquity, that he did, and to bring in everlasting righteousness. When it's brought in, it's brought
in. That means it was established there at the cross, it was accepted
of God there at the cross on behalf of all of his people at
one time, and it was imputed there at the cross. All right, so that's the gospel. But to say then that the work
was finished at the cross means then that I'm saying then that
we don't need to be born again is the furthest thing from the
truth. Because again, as I said, justification
demands life. You know, I'll give an illustration.
You remember Barabbas, that old thief and murderer there that
was to die the death on the day that our Lord Jesus Christ died.
And he was in holding. And don't you know, if you were
to go there that day, you could see that these places where these
guys were held, it was within earshot of where they would be
executed. And don't you know he heard those
crowds crying, crucify him, crucify him. And for all he knew, that
was for him. That was for him. That's all
he knew. He was about ready to die to death. And can you imagine
when they came and opened those doors? The pilot said, who would
you have me to deliver unto you? Well, this man, they said, Barabbas,
let him go. A thief, a murderer, let him
go. Let this one die in his place.
There's a beautiful picture of substitution. It wasn't dependent
upon Barabbas believing it. His deliverance wasn't dependent
upon him knowing about it first and then it being made effectual. It was settled as soon as Christ
stood in his place. But he sure found out about it
afterward, didn't he? When they came and opened that
door and he thought it was to lead him on up to that place
of execution, said, You're going home. What? Another stood in
your place. I'll tell you, any sinner that
the Lord has taught of Christ in the gospel, that's exactly
the way it is, because we understand we're sinners. By God's Spirit,
we're made to know that we deserve nothing but condemnation. And
yet, when the Spirit of God opens our heart to what's revealed
here in the Word, what do we learn? Christ stood in our place,
paid the debt. I wasn't even born yet, and this
matter was settled in the court of heaven. God was justified,
pleased, satisfied with the death of His Son. And I'll tell you,
you don't know all things when you first learn this. You continue
to learn. You continue to study. There's
a hunger and a thirsting after righteousness. but not righteousness
in here, that righteousness that was established by God himself
and imputed to our account. Oh, I tell you, that's what I
know to be the story. But what is regeneration? Let
me just try to work my way down through this. And I know I've
told you tomorrow is going to be my last day, and we're going
to talk about redemption from the standpoint of our final glorification. I intend to get there. If we
have some left over here today that I don't get done, we'll
pick it up tomorrow, Lord willing, and try to wrap it all up. But
what is regeneration? Well, re means again, generation
means to be born. So that's where we get this term
born again. If you look over in John chapter
3, and I pray the Lord will teach
us. To me, as I go back to the Scripture, this is such a simple
thing. I'm amazed that I'm even having to stand here and clarify
some of these things, because the Word is simple. But you know,
with men, there's always going to be something added, always
some new thing, some new spin put on it. And the next thing
you know, you're over here dealing with a spin rather than dealing
with the Word. So come back to the Word. Let's
just take this Little by little, I don't want anybody walking
out of here confused about what the word has to say concerning
this matter of new birth. Actually, you know the word born
again, in the original, it means literally to be born from above. That's the literal sense of it,
that this is not of myself. Just like in our redemption,
we say, well, it's something outside of ourselves. It's a
righteousness outside of ourselves. Well, so is the new birth. It's
to be born from above. It's not just sitting down intellectually
in a natural mind reasoning with these things. Men do it all the
time and come up with what's called philosophies. But that's
not revelation. That's not salvation. Scripture states plainly that
we must be born from above. You notice Christ here is talking
to Nicodemus in John 3. He said, There was a man of the
Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. And 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. Now, everything he
stated there was true, wasn't it? It's like a lot of us, we
knew a lot of true things concerning Christ, concerning God. I was raised to believe that
this is the word of God. I was raised to know that Christ
is the son of God. I was taught from my youth that
he died and was buried and rose again and ascended on high. Those
are fundamental things that we could repeat because we've been
taught them and we know them and we can stand up to anybody
who would say otherwise. But that's still not being born
again, is it? That's not being born again. That's why Christ said here in
verse 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. Cannot see the kingdom of God.
Except a man be born again. Now, when when Christ told Nicodemus,
you must be born again, was he giving him something to do? We
know better. Go back and look at your own
birth. What did you do to be born? It was all done for you,
all determined for you, all all accomplished for you. Now, he
wasn't giving him something to do, and especially in order to
forgiveness for sins or justification for God. I think Brother Richard
has brought this out very plainly over and over again. What most
people seek is their goal. We have as our starting point.
Men are seeking forgiveness today. We start with that because it's
already been accomplished in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Most people today in religion are seeking to be right with
God. We start with that. already righteous,
already justified in the blood and righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. So the new birth is not designed
to give us forgiveness of sins or to be made righteous before
God. What does it say here? To see
these things. That's the word that's used.
You know what that word means? You ever studied something for
a long time, kept going over and over again, and all of a
sudden it's like the light came on? And you say, OK, now I see
it. Now I see it. That's this word. You've perceived it. And Christ
is saying here to Nicodemus, you must be born again in order
to perceive, or that word can also be translated to know, these
things that pertain to Christ. You know, apart from this revelation,
because that's what it is, I would encourage you to take your concordance
and look up the word revealed. Reveal. You're going to find
that when the Spirit of God comes to the heart of a redeemed sinner,
one that has been justified already in the blood and righteousness
of Christ, when that spirit is given to that sinner, his eyes
are open, there's been a revelation. Remember when Christ addressed
Peter? Who do men say that I am? Who
do you say that I am? He said, Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. And what did Christ say? Blessed art thou,
Simon Barjonas, for flesh and blood have not revealed this
unto you, but my Father which is in heaven hath revealed it
unto you. That's that word, Christ said
that this thing has not been revealed to the wise and the
prudent, but to babes. Look that word up, revealed.
If you want a simple definition of what it is for the spirit
to regenerate the heart, he takes the things of Christ that pertain
to that particular sinner that are already to his account and
reveals it to them. and continues to reveal it and
continue to draw that heart again and again and again to who Christ
is and what he's accomplished. And what says justified by faith? It's justification revealed by
faith, revealed according to the gospel, according to what
Christ has accomplished and established. That's what it is. And I don't
I will go one step further here in John three and verse three.
You notice it says, Jesus answered and said unto him. At this time,
Nicodemus was not yet born again. Because that's what Christ said,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. But look at verse five. Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and spirit,
he cannot enter. The kingdom of God, you know,
the word water there. is used elsewhere in John of
his Word. That's what it is. Accept a man
be born of the Word of God and of the Spirit. What does the
Spirit do in the heart of a sinner? Takes this Word which pertains
to Christ and reveals it to the heart of a sinner. People say,
well, you know, we shouldn't put so much emphasis on knowledge.
How else are we going to know, see, perceive the things of Christ
except for what's revealed right here? That's what the Spirit
uses, but the point here is, except a man
be born again. He's speaking to Nicodemus, who,
as you read on a little later through the Gospels, you find
out he was one of the Lords. And the Lord did call him to
himself. But at this point, he didn't
know anything about that. He had to be taught. He had to
be taught. So when it's saying here, you
must be born again, this isn't just something that we just say
to anybody. And just it almost leaves the idea, if you'll just
do something, then you could be you could also be forgiven
of your sins. That's how it's being preached.
That's not the sins here. You say, how can I know whether
I am the Lord and whether God has chosen me unto salvation?
A lot of people struggle with that. Some of our congregation
have addressed this with me over the years. How do I know Christ
died for me? That's a good question. You must be born again. You must
be born again. There's a biblical answer. We
don't enter into relationship with God in our experience just
through natural reasoning. This is something that the Spirit
of God teaches us, how? By revealing Christ, by his Word,
and by his Gospel. That's why every time we sit
down, we open this book. Because if the Spirit is going
to teach you anything of Christ, it's going to be through this
Word right here. It's not some mystical thing out here, or some
mystical thing in here that we're supposed to look to. He's given
us something objective, his Word, the Gospel. You see that? If
you look over in Ephesians chapter 1, I believe this helps explain
it as well. Up until the time of regeneration,
in other words, of the Spirit giving you life and light to
know the things that pertain to your soul that Christ has
already accomplished for you, until that time, Even those who
are the elect of God and redeemed and justified by Christ's blood,
they're said to be lost. They're said to be lost. I was lost and did not know it. We think that I was lost in what
Jesus found me. I didn't find him. He found me.
He's going to find everyone for whom he's died. He's going to
find everyone for whom that righteousness has been established and imputed
already. Everyone. How does he do it? By his spirit.
He said, My sheep hear my voice. Is that an audible voice I'm
listening for? No. His word. His word. And any one of us here can testify
the day when God opened his heart, he opened it to this word. When
you think of Christ, are you thinking of an image? Are you
thinking of this word? Do you realize everything I know
about Christ, and I'm telling you right now, I've learned from
this Word? Who authored this Word? The Spirit of God. Why would He set this aside and
start dealing with sinners in any other way? It's through this
Word.