PRABHUPÄ€DA Well, good morning.
It's good to be here, and I'm thankful too, thankful for the
Lord for the time that he enabled me to be back in the work in
Papua New Guinea. And being on my own, as you can
understand, is not quite the same as being there with my family,
but I have to say I'm grateful to the Lord because he undertook
in ways that I just didn't even imagine. Naturally, being in a remote
area and on your own, be lonely and discouraged, and
yet this six months, as I was telling Angus coming down yesterday,
has actually been one of the most profitable time, six month
periods that I believe I've spent in the work, and the Lord is
just, is gracious and is really brought forth fruit that is new. There's been growth, evident
growth, spiritual growth, and it was an encouragement to me.
So naturally that made it a whole lot easier, a whole lot better.
But I'm thankful that He's brought me down here to be with you,
and I trust that the Lord will be with us today. And that's
what we hope for, isn't it? So turn with me to John chapter
3. John chapter 3. You know, Paul, in writing to
the church there at Philippi, said to them, to write the same
thing to you is not tedious. but for you it is safe. And as
the years go by in the ministry on the field of working with
the churches, with the leadership of the churches up there, I'm
beginning to appreciate more and more what Paul meant. And
by that I mean that There are things that we need to be reminded
of over and over again. That's just the reality, and
I think it's a consequence of the fact that we are fallen sinners. Yes, saved by grace, but nevertheless,
we forget the glorious truths that the Lord has revealed to
us. And in addition to that, we tend
to drift from truths. Not all truths simultaneously. The Lord always preserves His
people, doesn't He? But we do tend to drift at times,
and sometimes we lose sight of the ... Angus mentioned earlier these
exceedingly great and glorious riches which are found in Christ. So I think that's what Paul means,
because in the work in New Guinea, I listen carefully to the pastors
as they preach, and I listen carefully to the time I spend
with people. Why? Because that's the way I
pick up. when there is maybe a tendency
to drift from an understanding of the truth. And this is one
of the primary works of a missionary, as churches are established,
to establish the churches. and to keep pointing the churches
back to these foundational truths of the gospel. This is what the
Lord has given to us to keep us and preserve us and keep us
until that final day. And so this is why I want to
look at something today which is not new. I hope it's not new.
In fact, I hope I don't ever preach anything that's new. We're
going to look at the new birth. We're going to look at the new
birth today. And, you know, we heard just
now, too, in that song that was just read, that salvation is
of God. We need to be reminded of that
every day. I know that. I'm just learning
a little more of what that means, that salvation is of God. The
more we know that, the more we know that simple truth, salvation
is of the Lord, the more we'll understand the gospel of God's
grace. And we know that salvation is accomplished accomplished
completely outside of us. It is. It is. And I was reading
before, not long before I came down, Banyan, on imputation of
righteousness. And he makes this statement,
and it's an excellent statement. He says, one of the greatest
mysteries in the world is that a righteousness which resigns
with the person in heaven should justify me as sinner on the earth. And that's, think about that
a moment. is quite a profound statement, isn't it? And the
reason is, is because it's an accurate reflection of the teaching
of the Word of God with respect to justification. We're justified
entirely outside of ourselves. You may have heard this expression
also, we're justified by an alien righteousness. That sounds a
little strange, doesn't it? But I like it. I like it because
it's true. An alien means that it's something
that is foreign naturally to us. Isn't that right? And that's
the truth. We're justified by an alien righteousness. A righteousness which is not
natural to us, which is not found in us, but as Bunyan puts, is
found and resides with a person in heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the great hope of every believer is that truth, isn't it? If our
justification was predicated upon righteousness, which in
any respect has to do with ourselves, then we are a sorry group of
individuals if there ever was one. Now, I say that because
nevertheless, nevertheless, the fact is that salvation is accomplished
entirely outside of us. The Word of God reveals there
comes a time When the Lord bestows upon his people the richness
of this salvation, all the riches of Christ are bestowed upon us
as a gift. And this is what we find Christ
speaking to Nicodemus about in this passage. Here in this third chapter of
the Gospel of John, we have a wonderful account, a wonderful account
of the personal interaction of Jesus with this man named Nicodemus. And the richness of the revelation
that we find in this passage is truly remarkable. I can't
tell you how many times I've preached from this passage in
the years that I've been on the field. There are innumerable
truths that are found in this passage. It's truly remarkable. It's a passage full and brimming
over with rich truth, powerful truth. wondrous truth. It's not too much to say that
this is one of the most important passages in the Word of God. And the truth today in this passage
that I'd like to direct your attention to is found in verse
7. Let me just read that and then
we'll go back and read through the whole passage. But this is
what the Lord Jesus says to this man Nicodemus. He says, do not
marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. This is what I want us to consider
today. simple yet profound truth of the new birth as it's revealed
to us in the Word of God. But just to remind ourselves
again of this account, let's just read through the entire
passage down to verse 21. So let's begin there in verse
1. We're not in any hurry, right? So let's begin there. There was
a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know
you are a teacher come from God, for no man can do these signs
that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said
to him, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, how
can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time
into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, most assuredly
I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot
enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not
marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind
blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot
tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone
who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus answered and said to him, how
can these things be? Jesus answered and said to him,
are you a teacher of Israel and you do not know these things?
Most assuredly, I say to you, we speak what we know, and we
testify what we have seen, and you do not receive our witness.
If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will
you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to
heaven but he who came down from heaven, that is, the son of man
who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal
life. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him
should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His
Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world
through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not
condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already,
because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God. And this is the condemnation,
that the light has come into the world, and men love darkness
rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone
practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light,
lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes
to the light that his deeds may be clearly seen that they have
been done in God." Now, I also don't hesitate to say that this
is one of the most well-known passages in the Word of God,
isn't it? At the same time, I don't hesitate
to say this is one of the least understood passages in the Word
of God. This is one of the most wonderful proclamations
there in verse 16 that fell from the lips of our Lord, isn't it?
What wonderful Gospel truth. How perverted it's been, isn't
that true? But it doesn't matter. To us,
who the Lord has been pleased to reveal these glories, it's
wonderful Gospel truth, and we should proclaim it. But here too we see Nicodemus,
like every man of the world, is confused, he's perplexed,
he's confounded by these truths that the Lord brings before him. He marvels. He marvels, but as
Christ says, do not marvel. He marvels not in comprehending
amazement, right? But in confusion. To see, this
is what Christ says, to see the kingdom of God, you must be born
again. To enter into the kingdom of
God, you must be born again. Now, why is it of such vital
consequence that a man be born again? And what does it mean
to be born again? Well, we see that in verse 16. This is what it rests upon. For
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish. That's why it's of
consequence, isn't it? But have eternal life. This is something which is of
eternal consequence. But here's the question. Here's
the question. How can a person who is dead
in trespasses and sins believe? That's the question, isn't it? Faith, as we're told elsewhere
in scripture, faith is a response to the call of God. Isn't that
true? God calls. God calls. In 1 Corinthians 1.9, we're told
that God calls us into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our
Lord. Now, fellowship, if we're called
into fellowship with Christ, well, fellowship is something
which is mutual, isn't it? For you and I to have fellowship,
fellowship can't be just on my part, can it? It has to be a
mutual thing. There has to be a mutual fellowship. By its very nature, it's something
which is mutual. It's never one-sided. So fellowship
with Christ on our part must mean an embracing of Christ in
love. An embracing of Christ in faith
and in love. And this is what scriptures refer
to as coming to Christ. Isn't that the case? When a person
comes to Christ in faith, embracing him in love, this is coming to
Christ. But how is it that a person who
hates the light can come to the light? Farther down in this passage,
we're told that natural man hates the light and will not come to
the light. But how can a person whose mind
is in enmity to God, hating God, embrace the very
person who is the epitome of life, who is light himself. The answer to this, as we know,
is on the part of man it's an impossibility. It's an impossibility. To embrace Christ in faith and
love is a moral and spiritual impossibility on the part of
a person who's dead in trespasses and sins. In Romans 8, verse
8, we read, those that are in the flesh cannot please God. Cannot please God. We see Christ use that negative
expression over and over again in this wonderful passage. It's
something that's repeated throughout scripture on the part of man. If you want to think of man with
respect to his salvation, this is a word we should think of.
Cannot. Cannot. On the part of man, it
cannot do anything which is good or right. And this is the reason
that we have in the Word of God all these physical analogies
that we're all so familiar with. Sometimes we forget what the
implication of them is. But here, the spiritual condition
of man in the Word of God is described in what way? Deafness. Can't hear. Blindness. Can't
see. Paralyzed. Limbs that are paralyzed
and can't walk. Arms that are deformed and can't
raise themselves. But above all, deadness. Isn't that the case? Dead! Dead! There's not one twitch of a finger. There is not one flicker of movement
in the soul of man which is right and good. That's what deadness
means. And this is why we have all of
these pictures and these analogies given to us in the Word of God
to describe to us the reality, the spiritual reality of who
man is. and what he's like. Now, the
Lord Jesus, as I said, declares this impossibility over and over
and over again in his ministry, and of course we find it throughout
the Word of God, but in John 6 we know, you'll be familiar,
Christ says very definitely, no one, no one can come unto
me. No one can come unto me. How
contrary that is to most of the messages that we hear today,
isn't it? No one can come unto me. No one can come unto me except
the Father who sent me draw him. It's a spiritual impossibility
on the part of man to come to Christ. It is. It is. can do many things, and he does.
He can come down an aisle of a church. He can, as he believes,
give his heart to Jesus, or whatever the current terminology is today. But he cannot come to Christ. A man can join himself to this
church, for example. He can sit under the gospel of
grace. He can give assent to it. He
can say, I believe that. But he cannot come to Christ. A man can give himself to religious
practice all his life. He can be baptized. But he cannot
come to Christ. This is what Jesus is telling
Nicodemus. that this is the glory of the
gospel of grace. Everything, everything necessary
for salvation is provided by God. Isn't that wonderful? You
know, we look at ourselves and if we see ourselves as we are,
there's no hope, isn't there? We know that. That this is the
gospel of grace that God provides. He provides richly and He provides
abundantly in His Son. He provides salvation. He's the rock of our salvation,
as we heard earlier this morning in the Psalms. He's my salvation. His grace reaches down into the
lowest depths of our darkness, and our depravity, and our enmity,
and provides everything that's needed. We hear His effectual
call. Do we not? We look to His Son
in faith, and we come to Him and embrace Him in faith and
loving obedience. Turn for a minute to Ephesians
chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. Again, these are all passages
that we're, I'm certain, we're all very familiar with. Ephesians
chapter 2, rather. Ephesians chapter 2. Just look
there. In verse 1, he says, in you he
made a lie. who were dead in trespasses and
sins. You, he made alive, who were
dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of
disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves
in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the
others. But God, who is rich in mercy,
because of His great love in which He loved us, even when
we were dead in trespasses and sins, that was our state, wasn't
it? Even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, what did
God do? He made us alive. together with
Christ. And that's, that's the key statement
there, isn't it? He made us alive in what way? Together with Christ. There's
no life apart from Christ. He made us alive together with
Christ, and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the
heavenly places in Christ. And as we know, to show forth
the exceeding riches of his grace. And this is what we're speaking
about today. This is what Christ was speaking
about to Nicodemus, this great work that God accomplishes in
taking his people in his appointed time and place and making them
alive together with Christ and bestowing upon them all the riches
of the blessings which are found in Christ. So let's consider
that today. What does Christ refer to this
as in this passage? This work in which God makes
one alive again. He refers to it as being born
again. And that's how we should think of being born again. We
should think of it as this work of God to take a person who's
dead and to make them alive again. This is what it is to be born
again. This is what it's speaking about. And elsewhere, in fact,
further down in that chapter of Ephesians, it speaks about
a new creation of God. Passages of the New Testament
we find this is spoken of as a new creation. This is what
the Lord is referring to when he speaks about the new birth.
Again, again, it's a term that's been abused and twisted and distorted
and perverted, but it's the truth of the Word of God. It's a wonderful
truth, and we need to be reminded of it. So look there, let's begin
then in verse 1 and just go through this passage partway down and
see some of these truths that the Lord is seeking to bring
before Nicodemus. And we read there, there was
a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know
that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these
signs that you do unless God is with him. Now, we find here that there is this man, we're
told he's a man of the Pharisees, he's named Nicodemus, and that
he comes to Jesus by night. Now, it's interesting how much detail
goes into this account. Have you thought about that?
This is it. Considerable detail is given
to us about Christ's interaction with this man. It tells us who
he is, what he does. It tells us things that Nicodemus
says to Jesus. There's an interaction and discussion
that goes on between the two. Now, it's obvious something has
stirred the interest of Nicodemus. was no idle curiosity. We see lots of people interacting
with Christ in the course of his ministry. Many just throwing
out statements, even in their attacks upon him. But Nicodemus
purposes to come to Christ, and we're told here he purposes to
come to Christ in the evening, at night. Why is this? This is only speculation, but
we could speculate that it was so he would be free of the demands
of the day, both on his part and on Christ's part. Perhaps
thought that during this time I'll be able to speak at length
with this man, Jesus, and try and understand who he is and
what he's teaching, unrestricted by time. But two, it seems more
is implied with him coming to Jesus by night. It seems that Nicodemus, as many
of the Jews were, were concerned about what other Jews might think,
particularly the leadership of the Jews. And just before this,
you might remember the dramatic incident in the temple that had
occurred, where Jesus made a whip of cords, he'd come into the
temple, he'd driven out the marketeers, the money changers, poured out
the money, overturned the tables. You know, let me just say as
an aside, how different Jesus is from what's portrayed out
there in religion in the world today. Jesus was a man of power. He was a man of courage. He was
a man who had authority, didn't he? Can you imagine the picture
of Christ coming into the temple? Great number of people and doing
what He did, and yet, did anyone oppose Him? No, no. Christ was
a, Jesus was a man wholly different from what we see presented to
us today. He was a man with authority.
He was a powerful figure. But what was the response after
he did this? Immediately the Jews criticized
him, didn't they? Immediately the Jews criticized
him. Immediately their animosity revealed
itself. And immediately they began to
challenge Jesus at that time. The first thing they said to
him was, what sign do you show us? Who are you? What sign do
you show us? No doubt, this was in Nicodemus'
mind. Here, all his peers had great animosity to Christ. And he, no doubt, was concerned
how it would reflect upon him to come to Jesus. And so he comes
to him at night. He comes to him at night, and
it's Consider, he comes in spite of all this. He comes in spite
of all this. It appears that Nicodemus has
concern. He does have concern. He wants
to know more about Jesus. Who is this man that he does
all these things? And what does he say? And think
too, as Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, what an incredible
opportunity. An evening with Jesus. An evening to sit down and speak
to who? To the God-man. the eternal son
of God, the one in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. This is who Nicodemus came to
speak to, to have a conversation with, the one in whom are hidden
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Consider that. Wouldn't that be wonderful? But
did Nicodemus know this? No. No, he didn't. No, he didn't. And Nicodemus asked this question. Rabbi, we know you are a teacher
come from God, for no man can do these signs except God be
with him. Well, what does Jesus say? Verse
three. Jesus answered and said to him,
most assuredly, I say unto you, unless a man is born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, Nicodemus, we're told, was
what? A Pharisee. He was a Pharisee,
the most strict and religious sect of the Jews. Not only that,
he was a ruler of the Jews. He was a man of prominence. He
was a man in leadership. He was, as Christ says to him
later, he was a teacher of Israel. Nicodemus was a man. In this place, a man who strove
to follow the law in every point, he would have been a man of high
moral standards. His life was governed by religion. It's representative so much of
professing Christianity today, isn't it? Here is Nicodemus,
a leader, a leader of the accepted religion of the day. He was a
man of sincere theological conviction. He believed these things. And
in some respects, rightfully so. This was the word of God
delivered to Israel. He searched the scriptures. He
spent a lifetime of religious devotion. And he faithfully,
continually performed the sacrifices of worship, kept the Sabbath. Now Nicodemus, the reason I say
this is Nicodemus knew a lot, and he did a lot, but he did
not know what it was to be born again. This is the first thing
that Jesus says to him. Think of that. He comes to Jesus,
and the very first thing Jesus says to him, most assuredly I
say unto you, he stresses it, most assuredly I say unto you,
unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, Nicodemus knew more than
some. He knew that Jesus was a teacher
come from God. He knew that God was with him.
As he says, he could see that no man could do these things
that Jesus did unless God was with him. But beyond this, Nicodemus
knew nothing. Nothing. Why? Because he wasn't born again. Notice too that Jesus answers
Nicodemus before he ever asks a question. Nicodemus just makes
a statement and it says, and Jesus answered him and immediately
tells him most assuredly, I say to you, you must be born again.
Now why does Jesus do that? Because the natural man will
never ask the right questions. Natural man does not know the
questions to ask. And we always need to keep that
in mind. When we're speaking to people about the gospel of
grace, you must recognize that that man is dead, dead in trespasses
and sins. His understanding is darkened.
He doesn't even know the questions to ask. Don't let him lead the
conversation. Look at what Christ does. Nicodemus
begins, and Christ immediately goes to this. powerful statement,
this powerful statement to it, you must be born again. More
than that, you cannot see the kingdom of God unless you're
born again. This is the only question Nicodemus
should be concerned with. I think I mentioned this before.
In the ministry, you find that as you're dealing with people,
they want to take the conversation in all sorts of extraneous directions,
away from the Gospel. One of the biggest challenges
in any ministry, and in speaking to individuals, is to keep the
conversation upon the truths of the grace of God, upon the
gospel of salvation. Why? Because we know that the
gospel is the power of God unto salvation. So we want to keep
it there, but natural man will be all over the place. And so
we see Christ immediately direct his attention to the thing that
he's in need of, Nicodemus himself, that Nicodemus is in need of
himself. This is what Nicodemus should
be concerned with. How can I see? How can I understand? How can I enter into the kingdom
of God? And this is what Christ is directing
his thoughts to. What a shock this statement must
have been for Nicodemus that Jesus says to him. He'd never heard this before. I can guarantee you Nicodemus
had never heard this before. He thought he knew all that was
needed to know to enter into the kingdom of God, didn't he?
He did. He thought he performed everything
that was necessary to enter into the kingdom of God. More than
that, he was born into the nation of Israel, a chosen people of
God, a son of Abraham. He was already in the kingdom
of God as far as he was concerned. And for Jesus to tell him that
you must be born again if you're ever to enter into the kingdom
of God must have been shocking to him. What is he talking about? But that's no different today.
That's no different today, honestly. If you take the word of God and
speak to someone truly about what it is to be born again,
they'll be as confused and confounded as Nicodemus was. Man, unless
God has come to him, a man in himself doesn't know what it
means to be born again. He has no understanding, no knowledge,
no insight. Now Jesus swept away all that
Nicodemus looked to, all that Nicodemus trusted in. all that
he believed, none of these things were of any consequence. Think
of it. Nicodemus is this prominent religious
leader, and Christ essentially tells him, none of what you do,
nothing that you know, nothing of who you are, matters one bit. One bit. You must be born again
if you're ever to enter into the kingdom of God. Now listen
to the zeal and the intensity of the Lord Jesus Christ in communicating
this truth of the gospel to this man. Jesus knows, like I said,
exactly what he needs to know. Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,
he says a second time. First, he says, you cannot enter
the kingdom of God. Then he says, you cannot see
the kingdom of God unless you're born again. No idle chatter,
no pleasant treats. No. Why? Because this is no small
thing. This is something which is an
absolute necessity. This is a truth which Christ
knows is of utmost urgency. for Nicodemus and every man to
know, unless you're born again, you cannot enter the kingdom
of God. You cannot see the kingdom of God. And three times, three
times, Jesus presses this truth on Nicodemus in one form or another.
And there truly is nothing more important for us to understand,
to press upon, ourselves to press upon those we speak to that you
must be born again. You must be born again. Life, eternal life, hangs in
the balance. But can Nicodemus understand
these things? No, no. Look at verse 4. Nicodemus said to him, how can
a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into
his mother's womb and be born? You see, Nicodemus is what? He's a natural man. He's in that
realm. And so when Christ speaks to
him about spiritual things, what does he understand? things of
the natural realm. What's he talking about? How
can a man be born when he is old? What are you talking about? How can he enter a second time
into his mother's womb and be born? What is this? You see, a natural man, a man
born of the flesh, as Nicodemus is, cannot understand. cannot
understand. He's completely lost. In 1 Corinthians,
as you know, we read that the natural man does not receive
the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness to him.
So often we read these statements of the Word of God, and they're
familiar, and we just You brush over them. Yes, we
know that. But the reality is, unless a man is born again, the
word of God is not comprehensible to him. He cannot understand
them. Why? Because they're spiritually
discerned. They're spiritually discerned.
And so Nicodemus cannot receive these things. His understanding
is darkened. All he can know, all Nicodemus
can receive is from the realm of the flesh. all that he can
understand are things of the natural realm. How is it that
a man can be born when he is old? And so Jesus, verse 5, continues
to teach him. He says, most assuredly, I say
unto you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot
enter the kingdom of God. And the birth, of course, that
Jesus is speaking about, and he wants to impress upon Nicodemus,
is that this birth is not a natural birth. This birth is a spiritual
birth. It's a spiritual birth, and he
describes it here, a birth which is of water and the Spirit. Now,
what would water signify? What would water signify to a
devout Jew like Nicodemus? a man who is steeped in Old Testament
teaching and the sacrificial observance that God had given
to the nation of Israel, to all the religious practice. That's
how we need to understand it, don't we? And I'm talking to
Angus, I was thrilled to hear that that you had looked at these
things and have a clear understanding. I'm amazed to see how many, many
commentators and preachers, too, men that I respect, believe this
is referring to baptism. It's astounding to me. But what
is Christ is communicating to? And what would Christ have expected
Nicodemus to understand? with reference to water. When Christ speaks to Nicodemus
in this context, the idea that would be immediately conveyed
to the mind of Nicodemus would be the use of water in what?
In religious practice. And in the tradition that was
given to Israel by God. Turn over to Titus chapter 3. Water, in the religious worship
of the Jews, symbolically represented the indispensable necessity of
cleansing and purification. Indispensable necessity of cleansing
and purification for entrance into the presence of a holy God. And so conveyed to the mind of
Nicodemus would be all these ritual cleansings that we see
revealed to us, most notably on the Day of Atonement, don't
we? Where the High Priest comes and he has all these cleansings
that he goes through and puts on these clean raiment. Why? Why? Because this High Priest
is going to enter into the presence of a holy God. And this is what
would be conveyed to the mind of Nicodemus when he hears of
water in reference to a religious context. And the passages that
would come to his mind would be what we heard this morning
from Ezekiel. To his mind would come this great
and glorious promise of God, where he says, then I will sprinkle
clean water on you, and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you
from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will put
a new heart within you and a new spirit within you. I will take
the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of
flesh. And more than that, I will put my spirit within you and
cause you to walk in my statutes and you will keep my judgments
and do them. I too believe there's no question
this is the Old Testament parallel to what Jesus is teaching Nicodemus
here. To enter into the kingdom of
God there must be a spiritual purification from the defilement
of sin and there must be a regeneration of the heart. All accomplished
through the work of Christ. And this purification and recreating and
righteousness is something which is only brought about by the
singular action of God, the Holy Spirit. And this is what the
passage there in Ezekiel is speaking about. Now here, too, we see
that there's two aspects which are essential to the new birth.
The new birth Christ is revealing cleanses from the defilement
of our hearts. How? How? Through the blood of
Christ. It cleanses from the defilement
of our hearts and also recreates a newness of life. Once again,
how? How does it recreate a newness
of life? Because in this new birth we're
united to Christ, united to Him in His death, in His burial,
in His resurrection. And we're raised again, as we
read there in Romans, to walk in newness of life. It creates
a newness of life. We're raised from death to life. And both are, this is what Christ
is telling Nicodemus, both these things are indispensably necessary
for entrance into the kingdom of God. Entrance into the very
presence of God himself. And we find that here in Titus,
look here. Look here in Titus chapter three,
beginning there in verse three, we read, For we ourselves, Paul speaking
to the believers, for we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient,
deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice
and envy, hateful and hating one another. So many people think,
no, no, no, no, that wasn't me. No, it is. That's everyone. That's you and me, apart from
the grace of God. That's everyone. What a commentary. But when,
in God's own perfect time, in His appointed place, when the
kindness and the love of God our Savior towards man appeared,
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy, He saved us. through the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Spirit. That's what is being spoken of
here when it speaks about born of water and the Spirit. It's
this washing of regeneration, this spiritual regeneration brought
about by the Holy Spirit in our union with our Savior and all
that He's accomplished on our behalf, standing us perfect before
the bar of justice. washed, cleansed in the blood
of Christ, this renewing of the Holy Spirit. This is the new birth that Christ
is speaking about. Now, born of water and the Spirit
is the work of the Holy Spirit. It's the renewing of the Holy
Spirit. And so this birth, what is Christ
saying? This birth that he's speaking
of is not as Nicodemus is thinking. natural aspect. No, it's a spiritual
birth. It's a birth which is brought
about by the Spirit of God. And in this spiritual birth there's
a new life brought forth. Just as new life is brought forth
on a natural level, and Christ is going to go on and use illustrations
to help Nicodemus in these things, but turn for a moment to John
chapter 1, 1st John, rather. Turn to 1st John for a moment.
And what I want to do is just not expound, but just look at
seven specific elements which John tells us are elements of
this new life that the Spirit brings forth of those who have
been born of God. Because just as new life is brought
forth in the natural realm when a child is born, so new life
is brought forth in the spiritual realm when the Holy Spirit, a
man or a woman, is born again of the Holy Spirit. Look there. So turn first. And like I said,
I don't want to expound on these things. I just want us to see
how, as part of this exposition, John is pointing out there are
certain elements that are found only in those
who are born again. And this is what I want us to
see. Look in chapter 2 and verse 29. And this is the first one. He
says, if you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone
practicing righteousness is what? Born of him. If you know that He is righteous,
you know that everyone practicing righteousness is born of Him. Chapter 3 in verse 9 tells us
something else about this one who has been born of God. And
again, that's the key phrase, isn't it? Born of God. 3.9, whoever
has been born of God does not sin. Now, like I said, it's not my
purpose to expound these passages. I just want us to see that there's
very definitive things which are said about this person who's
been born of God. The person who has been born
of God does not sin, for his seed remains in him, and he cannot
sin because he has been born of God. Look over to chapter
4 and verse 7. Beloved, let us love one another
for love is of God and everyone who loves is born of God and
knows God. So these are two aspects of a
person who's been born of God which are not found in those
who are not born of God. This is the point. The person
born of God loves God. That's not true of anyone else
except one who's been born of God. The person who has been
born of God knows God. That's not true of anyone except
those who have been born of God. This is what John is communicating
here. Go to verse 1 of chapter 5. Whoever believes that Jesus is
the Christ is born of God. Once again, the only one who
believes in Jesus as Christ, truly believes in Jesus as Christ,
is born of God. The man who is not born of God,
it doesn't matter what he says, what he thinks, He is not born
of God. He does not believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ. In verse four, rather. And these are wonderful
truths in and of themselves. Listen. For whatever is born
of God overcomes the world. overcomes the world. Here's another
element of those who have been born of God, verse 18. We know
that whoever is born of God does not sin, he repeats that, but
he who has been born of God keeps himself and the wicked one does
not touch him. Now that's a great truth also,
isn't it? For those who have been born of God, the wicked
one cannot touch him. And I point these out, as I said,
just to hold up before us that there are these profound aspects
only true to those who have been born of God. Only those who have
been born of God. And those who have not been born
of God, none of these things are true of them. None of these
things are true of them. Now, ask yourself, can natural
man bring forth any of these things? That's a simple question,
isn't it? Can natural man bring forth any
of these things? No. All of these things, and
this is the emphasis that the Apostle John has, is he's communicating
that all of these things are things which are brought forth
by the Spirit. The one who is born of God practices
righteousness. He does not sin, loves the brethren,
loves God, and knows God, believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, overcomes
the world, keeps himself, and the wicked one touches him not. This is the new life brought
forth by the Holy Spirit. This is only true of the one
who has been born of God. And what this tells us is regeneration,
the new birth, is just the beginning of all these graces, isn't it?
Faith doesn't come forth of its own. A man must be born again
to bring forth faith. A man must be born again to bring
forth all of these spiritual graces. And this is what Christ
is speaking of to Nicodemus. Look at verse 6 now as he continues.
He says, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that
which is born of the spirit is spirit. A man who is a sinner
by nature can bring forth what? What's he saying? A man who is
a sinner by nature can bring forth only things which are in
accordance with his nature. This is what Christ is saying.
Let me give you an illustration. I'm sure you've heard lots of
illustrations with respect to this, but let me give you an
illustration. Like any illustration given by
man, it's not perfect. Only Christ gives perfect illustrations,
which is why we, typically, we're safest to just use scriptural
illustrations. But nevertheless, let me give
you an illustration. Just consider a dog. Just consider
a dog. And I have two plates. And on
one plate, I put a nice, juicy steak. And on the other plate,
I put a salad. And I set them down on the ground
and whistle for my dog, or call the dog, and the dog comes charging
up, as we see our dogs do, looks at the two plates, sniffs them,
and what will he do? What plate will he eat from?
He'll eat from that plate with the steak. Every time, won't
you? Every time. And this is what
people fail to recognize. He won't eat from the steak nine
times out of ten and then sometimes choose to eat that plate of salad. He'll eat from
that steak, that plate of steak, every single time. Not 999 times
out of a thousand. Every time, every time, he will
eat from that plate with the steak. And why is that? Why is
that? Because that's his nature, isn't
it? That's the nature of the dog. The dog will not eat that
salad, because his nature is to eat that steak. Now, let me
bring it a little closer to home, to what we're discussing. figuratively
speaking, before man, before us, before man are set two plates. On the one plate, if I can put
it this way, is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life. On this plate is the guilt of
sin, the depravity of sin, the pollution of sin. On this plate
is enmity to God. envy and hatred of our fellow
man. On this plate, as Christ says,
are evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, murder,
covetousness, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. On this plate, to
sum it all up, is Condemnation and death. Condemnation and death
on this plate. Now set before us also is a gospel
feast, is a plate of gospel feasts. On this plate is forgiveness
of sin. Forgiveness of sins. On this
plate is reconciliation. Peace with God. Justification. the very righteousness of God,
love, joy, holiness, the love of God, light, life, wisdom, truth. Or, we could sum it up
on this plate, is everlasting life and righteousness. Well,
which plate will natural man eat from? He'll eat from this plate of
condemnation and death every single time. That will be his
choice every single time. He will never make the choice
to weep from this gospel feast, naturally speaking. Never. Why? Why? Well, for the same reason
as a dog, because this is our nature. This is the depths of
the fallen nature of man. In his sin, in his misery, he
will never choose that gospel feast. Never. Never. He'll never make that decision. Only that, John is telling us,
only that which is born of the Spirit can bring forth spiritual
things. Only the man born of the Spirit
can bring forth faith. Why? Because it's of the Spirit.
Only a man born of the Spirit can bring forth repentance. Why? Because it's of the Spirit. Only a man born again can bring
forth love for Christ, because he's been born again. He's been
born again, and the life of God has been put into him. Well,
as we know, Nicodemus has never heard this before. He has never
heard this before. He's come, I have no doubt, expecting
a theological discussion. Isn't that true? And that's what
we face today also. When we speak with men like Nicodemus,
they come expecting a theological discussion. What should we do?
Exactly what Christ did. Hold out before them the profound
and powerful truths of the Gospel. It doesn't matter what they think.
Their whole thoughts, their whole understanding is in the natural
realm. They cannot understand the things
of God. Hold before them the very things
that God says are His power unto salvation to everyone who believes.
This is what Christ is doing with Nicodemus. Nicodemus has
never heard this before. And as we see, he's amazed. He's confounded. He's confused.
But two, it appears that he senses that this is truth, he just can't
understand it. He can't even comprehend the
spiritual nature of what Christ is telling him. You must be born
again. Look there in verse 7, and Christ
continues. Christ continues. Do not marvel
that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows
where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell
where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is
born of the Spirit." So what is Christ again emphasizing here?
Entrance into the Kingdom of God is entirely dependent upon
the action of the Holy Spirit. helps Nicodemus here. He uses
a natural illustration to compare the natural birth that we experience
in this world to the spiritual birth that he's speaking about.
So let's consider that. We didn't decide to be born,
did we? It's that simple. We didn't decide
to be born, but rather we were begotten, as it were, by our
father and mother, naturally speaking. Just consider the moment
of our own birth. Again, like I said, none of this
is new, but how important it is to be continually reminded
of these truths. Consider the moment of your own
birth. Were you consulted? Were you
asked for input in terms of this momentous event that was about
to occur in your life? Were you involved in the scheduling
of your birth? Were you born at the time of
your choosing? Were you born at the place of
your choosing? Was your birth in accordance
with your preference? Did you have a say in your birth?
Was your will involved in your birth? Now, of course, we know
how ludicrous these questions are. But see, the point is that
Christ makes this comparison. He says that there is a similarity
of the natural birth with the spiritual birth. And this is
the point. This is the point. What does he say? So is everyone
who is born of the Spirit. In just this way, it's the same.
So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. A man does not will
his spiritual birth. A man cannot see the Kingdom
of God because he wills it. A man cannot enter into the Kingdom
of God because he decides to do so. A man, as Christ is saying
here, a man must be born of the Spirit according to the will
of the Spirit, according to the action of the Spirit, and according
to the decision of the Spirit, not the decision of the man.
is what Christ is saying. And he compares this work of
the Spirit in this new birth to the wind. The wind blows,
he says. And we're closing up here. He says, the wind blows. The
wind blows. He uses this illustration that's
common to all men. The wind blows. The wind blows,
but you can't see the wind, can you? You can't see the wind.
But there's an effectual action to the wind, isn't there? Sometimes
it's very gentle, but sometimes it's powerful. Sometimes it's
powerful and destructive. The wind blows at times and in
some instances the Spirit of God blows with gentle breezes
upon the soul and brings conviction of sin, unsettles the heart. You know, and there's bamboo
outside our house up in New Guinea and it can just be hardly even a breath of wind,
which you wouldn't even feel on your skin, but those bamboo
leaves will move if there's any, even the slightest, slightest
breeze. those bamboo leaves and move.
Why? Because there's an effectual operation of the wind on them.
And they move. You can see that. And this is
what Christ is saying. And at times, the spirit moves. And he gently and patiently brings
spiritual understanding. He opens the eyes of the blind. He opens the heart as he pours
in that glorious light of the gospel. And a man sees salvation
in Christ. But in other instances, just
this last few weeks ago, again where we are in New Guinea, we
had this tremendous wind for days on end. And it happens frequently
in January. And it's really a strange wind. because it's not a prevailing
wind but it comes down our valley and you can hear it coming, literally,
minutes before it arrives. And often you can see it coming
down and flattening the trees and grass and everything else
on the other side of the valley and there's hardly a breath of
wind on your side. But at other times it comes and
you hear it coming and you hear the roar in the forest and then
it hits the house and the house shakes. And at times the operation
of the spirit is that way also, isn't it? Where he comes and
he pounds upon the strongholds of the heart until our foundations
crumble. And the person cries out from
the pit, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Well, the wind
blows where it wills. That's what Christ says, the
wind blows where it wills. How ludicrous that man could
ever think that the spirit will blow according to his will, or
his decision. The wind blows where it wills. You can think of the insanity
if I went out and tried to command that wind to blow where I will. the wind blows where it wills. Anyway, even that soft gentle
breeze, don't wait for a hurricane to see if you can command the
wind, just go out and see if you can command this small gentle
breeze. See, these are illustrations,
they're simple illustrations, but they're powerful illustrations,
aren't they? The wind blows where it wills.
The Holy Spirit blows where it wills. The Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit is sovereign. The wind blows where it wills,
and the Holy Spirit blows where it wills. But you hear the sound of it,
as I was just describing you. You hear the sound of it. If it's there, if it's there,
it's going to be Evident. If the wind is there, you're
going to see it in some way, even if it's a gentle movement.
If the wind is there, you're going to hear it. You hear the
sound of it. That's what Christ says. You
hear the sound of it. What's he saying? You don't see it,
but you see the effects of it and how true that is and how
important that truth is. If the spirit of a man has been
born again, you will see the operation of the Holy Spirit
in his life. You know it's real. You know
it's real because the effects are there. Well, that's what
Christ says, so too is the Holy Spirit. You cannot tell where
it comes from or where it goes. Now, that too, isn't that true? You cannot tell where it comes
from or where it goes. It's a mystery. It's a mystery,
we could say in another way, couldn't we? And isn't that how
the work of the Holy Spirit is? How He works. What He uses is
often not clear, even to the person that the Lord is working
on at that time. We sing that in a hymn, don't
we? I've preached messages to large groups of people at times.
They've all heard the same message. They all hear the same words.
And yet, out of that big group of people, one person sits there
and they testify. I'm sure you've heard of this.
Perhaps it's happened to you. And they testify that it was
as if the Word of God was speaking right to me. Often they'll say, that you were
speaking to me. But it wasn't me speaking, was
it? No. It was the Spirit. Now how the
spirit works, what exactly the spirit does in the heart to bring
this understanding and to work this great work of faith and
bring a person out of darkness into light. Think of the powerful
pictures were given, translated out of the power of darkness
into his marvelous light. From the power of Satan unto
God. These are the pictures we're
given. Well, how does the Spirit work? We don't know, but He does
it, doesn't He? He does it. We can't tell how
He does it. We can't tell where He comes
from, where He goes, the work of the Spirit, but boy, we know
the results of it, don't we? Yes, we do. He works, and when
the Spirit works in this new birth, something miraculous,
and supernatural occurs, something entirely outside the realm of
human experience and understanding and ability, the Spirit works. And there's, let me close with
this, there's no more striking example of this than the Apostle
Paul is there. And the Word of God tells us,
Paul tells us specifically, that he's held up as an example as
an example for all those who believe. Here's Saul. Let me hold it up
before you in this way. Think of two men. Here's Saul,
Saul of Tarsus, man born of man. Think of him as that. Man born
of the flesh, Saul of Tarsus. And here is Paul, the Apostle
Paul, man born of the Spirit. Now you say, well, no, these
are the same man. Yeah, yes, they are. They are
the same man, but they're not the same man. And this is what
Christ is communicating to Nicodemus. Here, let's consider, what's
he speaking about? Here is Saul. Here is Saul, dead. Isn't that right? Dead. Here is the Apostle Paul. Is
he dead? No. There's life. There's life. Dead light. Here's soul. Darkness. Moral and spiritual. Here's the
Apostle Paul. Light. That's what we read in
Ephesians, don't we? You were once light, once darkness. Now you are light in the Lord.
So here's soul. He's in darkness. Here's Paul. He's in light. Here is soul without
understanding. Foolish! We read these things
just this morning, didn't we? Foolish! That's natural man. That's man born of man. But here
is Paul with understanding, in the light. Why? Why? Because Christ is made unto us
wisdom from God. Here is soul. an enemy of God,
wasn't he? I mean, if there ever is one
picture to us as an enemy of God, this is the Apostle Paul.
He hated, and he absolutely hated the truth, didn't he? He hated
Christ. He hated this man Jesus that
people were following, and he was doing everything he could
to Bring that to an end. Here is an enmity to God. Here is Paul. And he loves God,
doesn't he? Oh, he loves God with all his
heart and soul and mind. Here's Paul again. Who else is
he an enmity to? He's an enmity to the children
of God. Does he love the children? No. He's breathing out threatenings. He's imprisoning them. He's killing
them. And here's the Apostle Paul. And he loves the children of
God, doesn't he? He does all things for the sake
of the elect. He's willing to bear suffering
and nakedness and peril and sword and all these things because
he loves the church. He loves the elect. Here's Saul. No repentance. No repentance. Well, what does he have to repent
of? He's blameless before the law,
isn't he? What does he have to repent? He's a Pharisee who is
perfect in all that he does. Full up. What does he have to
repent of? No. No repentance. And here is
Paul. We look at his life. We look
at him in tears speaking about his state before Christ met him
on that road. Here is Paul, repentant. Here is Saul. Let me go through
these quickly. These are just some of the things
that distinguish a man born of the flesh and a man born of the
spirit. Here is Saul, unbelief. Here is Christ, But Paul just cannot see that
he is the Savior. He is the rock of my salvation. He is the Lord of glory. He is Jehovah God. Paul, he just
can't believe it. It can't be. It's foolishness
to him, but here is Paul believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. What
does he want to do? As he says to the Philippians,
that I may know him. This is his great desire and
the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings.
Here is Paul, putting aside everything, because he has faith in this
man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is Paul in bondage to sin,
as he describes to us in Romans 7, a slave of sin. And here is
Paul, as he goes on later in Romans, saying that we've been
delivered from sin. We're no longer under the dominion
of sin. We're free from sin. We're slaves
rather of what? of righteousness. So here he
is, a slave of sin. Here is Paul, a slave of righteousness. Here is Saul. I touched on this earlier. Does
he see his sin? Have you thought of the irony
of this? The unbeliever, regardless of
the fact all people admit that they have sinned. I think that's
fair. Now, I've never met a person that doesn't admit that they
have sinned. But they don't see their sin. The only person, the
only person that sees their sin is the person who's been born
again. Think of the irony of that. The only person who sees
their sin is the only person that's justified before God,
that has the righteousness of God. Why? Because we see ourselves. We know we're sinners. We know
that nothing commends us to God, that our only hope is a righteousness
outside of ourselves found in Christ. That's why Paul says,
and be found in what way? In Him. In Him. That's what his
desire is. But here is Saul. He doesn't
see his sin. But here is Paul. He does, doesn't
he? He does. He sees his sin. And as he goes
on, also in Romans, he says, here's Saul walking according
to the course, or rather in Ephesians, walking according to the course
of this world. But here is this work of the Spirit and being
born again. And Paul is a man, the apostle
Paul is a man, who walks in the Spirit. What does Christ say? To sum it all up, so is everyone
who is born of the Spirit. And these are, to me, comforting
truths. These are truths that Strengthen our faith. These are
truths that bring glory to God. These are truths that, and this
is particularly why I brought it to you today, these are truths
that buttress the foundational truths of the
Gospel. When, it doesn't matter whether
it has to do with the new birth or other foundational teachings
of justification or anything else, when we drift away from
a sound understanding, it's inevitable that our understanding of other
Gospel truths will be affected. And so I found, as the Lord has
called me into the ministry, that I have to again and again
return to these things which Two, again, as we look at them,
they are truths that strengthen our faith, increase our understanding.
The Lord reveals more to us as we look at them. And we see that
they support and buttress the very core of the gospel. So I trust that the Lord might
use this and bless it to our hearts today.