chapter 3, going through the
book of John. We're going to look, Lord willing,
at the first three verses of John chapter 3. But before we
begin, let's ask the Lord's blessing. Our Father, how thankful we are
that we can call upon You in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
and know that it is by Him, through Him, for His honor that we are
able to call You our Father. Lord, thank You for Your mercies,
continued mercies. Thank You for showing mercy upon
all that are not only in our assembly, here but, Lord, in
other places. Continue to pray for Tommy, for
the folks down in Sylacauga, Charlie Pennington, Lord, different
ones that are hurting. We ask You now, speak to our
hearts. According to Your mercy and grace,
teach us. For Christ's sake, amen. Our Lord, in John 3, and I'll
tell you much of the third chapter, better part of the first half
for sure. The Spirit of God has been pleased
to set forth in the Holy Scriptures the discourse between the Lord
Jesus Christ and Nicodemus. And it's concerning the necessity
of the new birth, regeneration. Now, in this discourse, this
is a great, great mystery. To the carnal man, it's impossible
to know. But it's so spoken of. It's so the word regeneration,
reborn, the new birth. Well, our Lord later in this
discourse, He tells Nicodemus, if I've told you earthly things
and you don't understand, how are you going to understand if
I tell you heavenly things? When we get to that, I'll deal
with that. Just to tell you, just a second
here. We're talking about something that happens on the earth. Earthly. That's what he was talking
about. If I tell you earthly things, you must be born again.
Men, women called out of darkness are actually born while they're
on this earth. Born again. Now here's the thing. The first thing, the first miracle
that I behold in this discourse of the miracle of God's grace
is that the Lord Jesus Christ is actually going to speak to
a man. Now, that's a miracle that God
would not be silent. There was a man, verse 1, of
the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Now, as
a general rule, no group was more opposed to
our Lord than the Pharisees. They possessed such a high opinion
of themselves and their own self-righteousness because of their natural descent
from Abraham. They thought that because they
were of natural descent, sons of Abraham, they were sons of
God. Abraham is our father. But don't
ever presume on God. The Pharisees, by and large,
were absolutely held at arm's length, let me
say this. The Lord was very, very distinct
in their attitudes. He told them, He said, you're
just white and sepulchers, full of dead men's bones. Or you clean
up the outside. But you're just snakes. That's
all you are. But here was a man that was a
Pharisee. It makes me think of Saul of
Tarsus. That was another one. Don't ever
presume on God. Boy, there's times that we look
at folks and we say, I tell you what, I don't see how in the
world God could show mercy. You know what that guy's been
all of his life. You know what a rebel he's been. You know this,
you know. Oh, that God would show mercy to anybody. No, you see, the thing is, when
we look at somebody else and we talk about how bad they are,
we're just not honest. We're just nothing but just self-righteous. That's all we are. There's not
a person sitting in this congregation this morning that in themselves
is worth killing. where all is an unclean thing.
There's none righteous, no, not one. Crown of our head, sole
of our foot, putrefying source. It's by the grace of God that
God ever brings man to see that. It causes him to admit it. You
know, I've said before, I said, you know a believer talks like
a believer. You've heard me say that before? That's how a believer
talks. That's how he'll say it. There's
nothing good in me. That's how a believer talks. Everybody that I know that knows
anything about God's grace, that God's shown mercy to them, that's
how they talk. Oh, that God would have mercy
on me. Oh, that the Lord would teach me. Oh, that God would
open to me the Scriptures. Lord, increase my faith. Well,
verse 2, 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. Well, I've heard a lot of speculation. People will say, well, it's,
you know, He came to Jesus by night, most writers say, and
I'm sure that this is probably so. The Scripture is very explicit
when He came. In fact, it mentions it numerous
times. They're talking about Nicodemus,
he who came to the Lord by night. And I don't doubt for one second
that the fear of man brings a snare. We want to always be approved
of everybody, you know, naturally speaking. We don't want anybody
to question us. Came to the Lord by night fearful of what the Sanhedrin
would say. This man's a Pharisee. The ruler. But you consider the prevenient
grace of God. You know, we've looked at that.
Grace before grace. I was amazed. I told you this
one time. I looked it up. I've got a real
good dictionary. I think most dictionaries now,
you know, prevenient grace. Larry, it's not even in there.
Old, old dictionary. Prevenient grace. I looked it
up. It talked about grace before grace. I thought, that's good. Consider the provenient grace
of God. This man came to Jesus, the Scripture
says, by night and spoke to Him. Why was he there? Well, I know
he was there because he wanted to talk to the Lord. He wanted
to be there. But let's talk about the first
cause of all things. Let's talk about Him who works
all things after the counsel of His own will. You think about
the mercy of God that would cause anybody to ever have their path
crossed with the Lord Jesus Christ. How many folks in this world come into this world and absolutely
never hear anything. What's the difference in you
and anybody else? The grace of God. Who maketh
thee to differ? Here is this man, this Pharisee, absolutely ignorant, came up
Hearing the Scriptures, reading the Scriptures, studying the
Scriptures. He's a Pharisee. A student of
Scriptures. Studies them, studies them. The
Lord told him, He said, you search the Scriptures. Not here, but
He told some other Pharisees. And in them you think you have
life. I'm a student of the Scriptures. Isn't it amazing how before Almighty
God opens a man's eyes to see. You've read Scriptures before.
You've read them, and you've read them, and you've read them.
And then one day, Almighty God is pleased to open your eyes
and you see something. And what you'll always see in
Scriptures, you'll always see the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. You'll always see, if God opens
your eyes, Beginning, almost two on the
road to Emmaus, beginning with Moses in all the Scriptures.
He expounded them in all the prophets. He expounded unto them
in all the Scriptures those things concerning Himself. I've thought
before, oh, what those two men heard, what they heard. We look and we see something
in Scripture and say, I think I see Christ in that.
Here was a man that came in all of his ignorance. This is what
he said. We know. Obviously, he's representing
a group. We know that thou art a teacher come from God. No, this is God Himself. the Word. This is not just a teacher. This is Him. This is Him. I tell you, that's the sweetest
two believers talking. And you know, they can speak
of the Lord like that, and they know just exactly, this is He.
This is Him. We know that Thou art a teacher
come from God." No man could do these miracles that you do
except God be with him. Nobody could do that. He based
everything he knew on what he saw as miracles. We know that you must be from
God because nobody could do miracles if they weren't from God. Boy, I'll tell you what, there
were some magicians in Egypt when Moses went in. And they
did some miracles, obviously, under the power of Satan. They were able to actually mimic. Mimic. Not all. of those miracles. Oh, you've got to be from God.
Nobody could do the miracles. 1 John 4 says, Beloved, believe
not every spirit, not every preacher. But try the spirits, whether
they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into
the world. What do you judge them by? How do you know? How do you know?
How do you know that somebody is or is not from God? Isaiah 8.20, to the law and to
the testimonies, if they speak not according to this Word, it's
because there's no light in them. Let me tell you something. Every
man sent of God. preaches Christ, the glory of
God in the Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty, sovereign, God's
purpose, God's will, God's mind, Almighty God Himself, and no
quaintness, no confidence, nothing toward men. This is how you know. Salvation is all of grace. Salvation
is of the Lord. How do you know? Listen. If they
don't speak according to this Word, what should I do whenever
I hear somebody speak? Take the Scriptures and check
them out like those in Berea. They were more noble than those
in Thessalonica. Man by nature will take something
hook, line and sinker just because somebody said it. Well, he's
a preacher, so what? Man, I tell you what, I know
this is supposed to be a, we live in a, this is a republic,
you know. And we always say that, you know,
a man's innocent until he's proven guilty. When it comes to preachers,
to me, they're guilty until they're proven innocent. Man, I'm telling
you, there is so many false prophets. Check them out. if they don't
preach according to the Scriptures. It's because there's no light
in them. Our Lord revealed who He was by the Word. Those miracles
confirmed. Acts 2.22, Jesus of Nazareth,
a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs
which God did by Him in the midst of you as you yourselves also
know. Here he is, a Pharisee. He comes
to the Lord by night. He's going to praise the Lord.
He's going to give Him, you know. We know. We know. You must be
a teacher come from God. No man can do the miracles that
thou doest except God be with him. Verse 3, Jesus answered
and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born again, born from above, He cannot see the kingdom of
God. The miracle that God Almighty
would tell a man something of his need. Accept a man, be born
again. The Lord here answers a question
that Nicodemus didn't even ask. That's what He does for all His
people. No man that Almighty God calls out of darkness was
ever seeking Him. He wasn't seeking Him. No man
seeks after God. Almighty God, in spite of our
ignorance, in spite of what we are, according to His everlasting
and eternal purpose to show mercy to whomsoever He will, calls them out of darkness, reveals
their need. Here is His need. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, all the importance of what the
Lord Jesus Christ expresses, except a man be born again. Obviously, these words from the
Lord reveals that there is a birth that is common to all men that
does absolutely nothing, and nothing from that first birth
ever, ever does anything. Men come forth from their mother's
womb speaking lies. Man by nature, he's a rebel against
God, born the first time dead in trespasses and sins, and absolutely
can do nothing for himself. Do you really mean nothing? He
said, without Me, you can do nothing. Nothing. Can I believe? Not of yourself. Dead. Dead. The answer of our Lord The answer that he gave Nicodemus
sums up the necessity of regeneration. Reborn. Born from above. Born again. What does that mean? Everybody is talking about that.
What is it? Well, in our first birth, being
born in Adam, being involved in that fall by imputation, natural
generation. Everybody comes from Adam born
dead, spiritually dead. We're in a state of absolute
spiritual pollution, dead. What does it mean to be spiritually
dead? Now you've heard that, I've heard
that all my life. They're spiritually dead. What
does that mean? What's the heart of that means?
It is the absence of the life of Christ. That's what it means. There's no life in them. That's
what the Lord said. There's no life in them. I am
the way. I am the truth. And I am the
life. If there's no spiritual life
in a man, he's spiritually dead because the life of Christ is
not there. It's not there. To be born again is the actual
impartation, putting in. of the life of Christ. It's a
new birth. Born again. We're born the first
time in a carnal state. We must be born again. We must be born from above. The Lord said, I will give them
a new heart. Not this piece of muscle, new
nature, a nature alive, alive in Christ,
the life of Christ, quickened, made alive. Colossians 3, 9 and
10 sets forth the new birth to be the putting off of the old
man with his deeds and having put on the new man, which is
renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him.
It's the impartation of the life of Christ. That's the only mystery,
great mystery. Men, women born from above, there is a new nature that is
put within a sinner, and now A man or woman born again has
two natures. Two natures. Not one nature that's
kind of cleaned up. That which is flesh is flesh.
That which is spirit is spirit. There's two natures in a believer. As I've said before, they don't
jihad. They strive one against the other.
This new birth is the result of the glorious covenant of God's
grace. David said, this is all my hope.
This is all my salvation. He made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. Without this saving,
quickening, changing life, imparted to a sinner. And I'm telling
you, it is not because that sinner decided that one day, I think
I would like to have God impart life to me. Let me tell you something. He regenerates. The wind bloweth where it will. We just looked at that. Or we'll
look at it. I'm sorry. We will look at it.
I've looked at it. I'll look at it for a few weeks
in advance. The Lord will explain it. He
said, just like the wind blows. You don't know where it's coming
from. You don't know where it's going. You can't stop it. You
can't direct it. That's how man's born again. God Almighty, Sovereign in all
things. He calls whom He will, when He
will. He is God Almighty. He births All that he's everlastingly
loved and chosen in Christ, in time he's going to call them
out. Nine things. I'll tell you, I'm
just going to make nine quick statements and read a couple
of Scriptures on each one, and I'll be done. Nine things about this new birth,
because as we go into these Scriptures, we'll continue in the study of
the new birth. The Lord will speak to him and
teach him, but I want to tell you nine things about the new
birth, born again. Number one, before it occurs,
men are absolutely ignorant and unconcerned to its nature and
its necessity. Before it concerns, men are not
concerned. Now, you would think this life is This life is fleeting. This life is so frail. I mean, there's some of us here
that... I know that in our mind we can say, well,
you know, read this Scripture. Well, this life is but a vapor.
And we say, well, you know, yeah, I guess that's so, you know. I'll tell you what, there's some
of us I know a little bit more maybe experientially than others
how quickly it can be gone. One minute you're sitting here
and the next minute you're thinking, man, that happened before I even
knew it. I just didn't realize. And you think, but for the grace
of God, We wouldn't even be here. But you know the thing that's
amazing? I know it's so. But man by nature doesn't care. He just doesn't
care. Before the new birth, men are ignorant. The Lord told
that in verse 4. We'll study here a little bit.
Nicodemus said unto him, How can a man be born when he's old?
Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be
born? What do you mean born again? Here's the second thing. Not
only is a man unconcerned, the second thing is it's not within
the power of man to instigate it. to accomplish it. John 1.13 says, which were born,
not of blood. That means, as I've said before,
because your mom and dad is a believer and you're born from natural
generation, you're their child, not of blood, not of lineage,
nor of the will of the flesh, I don't have the ability in myself. Somebody say, well, we're going
to play 15, 16 verses just as I am. Could we dim the lights
a little bit? Could we get somebody to play
the organ a little bit? Let's create the mood. Let's
just get it that we set some stained glass windows in here
and put little emblems and symbols. Let's really make it look churchy. We'll burn a few candles. And
I tell you, we'll have this place looking and smelling great. It
smells like church. And we'll get people in here
and we'll sing softly and tenderly. And maybe their heart will somehow
be dead. They're dead. They're dead. They're dead. Not by the will
of the flesh. nor of the will of man. I've said before, I've got some
folks, I've got some people in my family. I want the Lord to
save them. I've got kids and grandkids. I've got aunts and uncles and
stuff. I pray God have mercy. I pray
for them. And I do. And I would tell you
this, you would be remiss by not praying and asking. But I'm
telling you, I don't have the ability. And you don't either.
I pray God have mercy. But if He's pleased to pass one
by, He's God. And He has the right to pass
a man by and to allow man to do just exactly what He wants
to do. I know this. Men are ignorant. and they don't
have any ability to change it. Here's the third thing. I know
that the means of the new birth, blessed by the Holy Spirit, is
the Gospel of Christ. I know that. Paul said in Romans
1.16, I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. It is the power
of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Does it matter
what we preach? Yes. Yes. Does it matter that
we preach the gospel of Christ? Yes. Paul says, I'm not ashamed
of this. If Almighty God is going to show
mercy, He's going to show mercy through the preaching of Christ. Of His own will begat He us. of His own will. This is James
1.18. Of His own will begat He us with
the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of
His creatures. Here's the fourth thing. The
evidence of the new birth. The evidence of the new birth.
Not the source of, but the evidence of. The result of. The evidence
of the new birth is faith in Christ according to the Father's
record of Him as the sinner's substitute. Which comes first? Life or faith? Life. Let me answer it. Almighty God must quicken a man
by His Spirit to make him alive. And He gives him faith to believe
it. But faith is the gift of God. It's given unto you to believe.
But nobody believes until God Almighty gives them a new heart. Here's the fifth thing. The new
birth is for a particular people, and it is of irresistible grace. John 6.37, all that the Father
giveth me shall. Shall. Come to me. That is, by faith they'll come.
And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Oh, the beauty of that word shall. Psalm 110.3, "...thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power." Men that set forth that God Almighty
can be resisted. Oh, I've heard that all my life. I almost came, but let me tell
you something. When He calls, His people come. How do I know that? He said they
do. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And they come willingly.
It gives them a new heart. They come. They want to come.
Here's number six. The new birth is instantaneous. Defectual according to God's
timing. I will tell you this. I know
this. Scripture bears this. We grow in grace and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior. But when God quickens a man,
He quickens him right now. I know that there's a lot of
folks and they're able to tell me the date and the hour and
the minute and stuff like that. I said before, there's a whole
lot of things that I'm not perceptive of. I don't technically remember
when I was actually conceived, but I'm here. You know how I can prove that
I'm alive? I'm here. Ezekiel 16, 6, And when I passed
by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine
own blood, I said unto thee, When thou wast in thy blood, Now let me ask you something.
When He says live, when He says live, when do you
think life is imparted? Right there. I said unto thee when thou wast
in thy blood, live. Listen to this in Acts 16. A
certain woman named Lydia, seller of purple of the city of Thyatira,
which worshiped God, obviously in the way she knew how. She heard us. Whose heart the
Lord opened that she attended unto the things which were spoken
of Paul. Do you know when a man or a woman will attend when God
opens their heart? Oh, the mystery. of the new birth,
the mystery of regeneration, instantaneous, unsought, uncared
for, evidenced by faith to believe God. Number seven, the new birth
is a complete work. Colossians 2, 9 and 10, For in
Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you
are complete. in Him which is the head of all
principality and power." Oh, how far could we go in each of
these Scriptures? But I can tell you this. I see through a glass darkly.
I know in part. We preach in part. That's what
Paul said. We prophesy in part. I don't know everything. I don't
know the fullness of anything. But I tell you this, I know according
to that Scripture right there, I believe God that we are complete
in Him. Now how much do I have to know?
I know Him. I trust Him. I think about that
thief on the cross. How much do you think He knew?
Really, how much? I'll tell you what He knew. He
knew that hanging on the cross next to Him was all of His hope. Lord, when You enter into Your
Kingdom, will You remember me? Complete in Him. God's people
trust Him. Number 8. The new birth is to
the glory of God. Ephesians 2. Let me just turn
to this. I'll read this to you. Ephesians 2. 4-7. But God, who is rich in
mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace
you are saved, and hath raised us up together and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages
to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus." The new birth is to the glory
of God. We are the recipients of His
mercy and grace. But Lord, unto You, all glory,
all honor, all praise. And lastly, the new birth. It's an eternal work. John 10,
27, 28, My sheep, hear My voice. and I know them, and they follow
Me, and I give unto them eternal life, eternal life, and they
shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My
hand." Nicodemus, except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven. May God Almighty Be pleased to show mercy to helpless,
needy, ignorant sinners. For Christ's sake, Amen.