All right, if you'll take your
Bibles with me and turn to John, John chapter three. John chapter
three, the speaker's on? Okay, just making sure, I thought
I heard it. Was that my hearing aid? Oh,
I don't have one yet. Check my hearing aid. John chapter three. And the title of the message
this evening is simply the outline of my message. The necessity,
cause, means, and result of the new birth. The necessity, the
cause, the means, and the result of the new birth. Here in this chapter, this man
Nicodemus, this ruler of the Jews, you know, he comes to Lord
Jesus by night and tries to display his intellect, what he understands,
what he knows, and the Lord tells him, except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. And this is my first point,
is the supreme necessity the supreme necessity of the new
birth. Now this man Nicodemus was a
ruler of the Jews. Read that in verse 1. There was
a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night
and said unto him, Rabbi, we know thou art a teacher come
from God. For no man can do these miracles
except God be with him. This man was, like in Scripture
said, a ruler of the Jews. He was a top religious expert
of his day. He was a member of what the top
group called the Sanhedrin. He was a master, and matter of
fact, Jesus said, art thou a master of Israel. He was a master of
the Scripture, of the highest order of Pharisee. This religious
ruler, being a child of Abraham according to the flesh, and because
of his high level of morality and religious zeal, He believed
that he had a right by blood and by obedience to the promises
of God. That's what the Pharisees, when
you read the Pharisees, these men, these men expected to go
to heaven. They were confident in their
acceptance with God. They were very confident. They
were really sure of their salvation. He was sure to inherit the kingdom
of God. And like most religious, self-righteous
folks, he came to Jesus, how? By night. By night. Why? Because he would not ruin
his reputation. He knew he had to come to Jesus. Jesus was somebody because nobody
could do the miracles that he did. So he came to Jesus by night
because he was ashamed to come by day. This reminds me of men
who are ashamed of the gospel. They know a lot about the election
and the predestination, and they know that salvation's of the
Lord, but man, they're just so afraid to say it. You know, if
a man has to say it under the cover of night, he truly don't
believe it. Nicodemus, at this point, was
a lost man. He was a lost man. And therefore,
he shows his shame of coming to Jesus by not coming during
the day. He comes at night. And notice
what he says to Christ. He says, Rabbi. He gives him
the highest term of honor. Rabbi. Rabbi, we know thou art
a teacher come from God. For no man can do these miracles
that thou doest, except God be with him. I'm sure like most
religious, self-righteous men, he expected Jesus to be proud
of his knowledge. He expected Christ to say, well,
that's good, Nicodemus. I'm so glad you've come to realize
that I'm a teacher come from God. Nicodemus, you're so good
at this. I'm telling you what, I just
want to praise you for all the hard work you put into this.
No. Notice, there was no question
for Christ. There was no question for Christ.
There was no pleading for grace. There was no confession of sin.
There was no need of forgiveness. But rather there was an outpouring
of His academic understanding. He came as all men by nature
come, boasting in themselves. He called Jesus Rabbi. He knew
that He'd come from God, and I'm sure He expected Jesus to
praise His knowledge, but Christ did no such thing. He did not commend Him for His
religious success. You know this, that Jesus tells
us this, "...not everyone that saith to Me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter the kingdom of heaven." but he that doeth the will of
my Father which is in heaven." But Jesus did no such thing.
He did not commend him even because there was nothing to commend.
This knowledge was common. This was a common knowledge that
any child could come up with. Anyone that saw his miracles
heard His voice and His Word, knew that He came from God. So this was nothing outstanding. And I want you to see Jesus,
what His response was to this. It was not accolades, it was
not good job, it was not that a boy. Listen. Jesus answered
and said unto him, Verily, verily... Now you know that means truly,
truly. I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God." Now behold the manner of our Lord
Jesus Christ's witness. He cuts right to the root of
the problem. He cuts right to the quick of
the problem. He goes straight to the heart
of the problem. He cuts right to the issue of
Adam's fallen race. He goes right to the root of
man's issue. Now man's greatest issue is not
race, money, power, knowledge, or religion. Because none of
these can make a man acceptable with God. Isn't that right? This man Nicodemus, he had all
those. He had the right race, didn't
he? He was a Jew. He was of the tribe of Levi. This man was a Jew, a ruler. He was rich. And he was very
knowledgeable and religious, but none of these things together
could make him acceptable with God. Listen, none of all the
things that you can consider good about ourselves, none of
that put together can make us acceptable with God. The issue
of man is sin. That's the issue. The issue of
man is that by birth and by nature we are totally, absolutely, completely
and utterly depraved. That's what it is by nature.
There's the root of the problem. The root of the problem is you're
dead. The root of the problem of man is he's dead. He's corrupt
and ruined by the fall. Scripture says we all like sheep
have gone astray and turned everyone to his own way. Haven't you experienced
that when you witness to somebody? They say, well, that's how you
think you should go. This is how I think it should
be. That's how Joe thinks it should be. That's how Bob thinks
it should be. We all have gone our own way.
And you know what? None of them are right. None
of them are right. We all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Nicodemus, though well-versed
in Scripture, a very pious and moral man, a zealous man, a sincere
man. How many people think religion
is all about sincerity? If you're just sincere, true
religion has nothing to do with your sincerity. That's not a
necessity. Your sincerity is not a necessity. Nicodemus was all of these things. He was powerful, rich, and yet
none of these things helped him to see Jesus is the Christ. Notice he called Him Rabbi, but
he did not call Him Master, Lord. He did not yield to Him as the
Son of God, God manifest in the flesh. You know what would happen
if he did see that? He would be like Peter in that
ship. He fell down at his knees and said, please go away from
me for I am a sinful man. You see, Peter recognized deity
in his presence. Nicodemus recognized only an
equal. That's what he recognized. Isn't
that what people think about Jesus? He's an equal. Buddy. My buddy Jesus. My pal Jesus. They come to Him without any
reverence, without any respect, because they don't see Him for
who He is. Adam's fallen race. We by nature
are dead and trespasses and sins. And listen, because we are spiritually
discerned, Paul said, none of us receive the things of God. I'll read this to you, but I'll
tell you, you will not receive it. except God give you the new
birth. This is what Christ is saying.
Nicodemus, what you need is not just carnal knowledge, you need
a resurrection. You need a new birth. A new birth. In verse 17, The Scripture says, Jesus says,
for God sent not His Son into the world, condemn the world. Isn't that surprising? Isn't man worthy of condemnation? You bet he is. These people were
about to crucify Him in the next few years. They were about to
nail Him to a tree. Many times they desired to kill
Him. Was that not condemnable? Yet
this is the Word of God, He came not to condemn them. Why? They
were already condemned. He says that in the next verse.
He said He came not to condemn the world, but that the world
through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned. When? Already. He's already condemned. And the evidence of our condemnation
is this, you will not believe on the Son of God. And so because man's state of
depravity, because man loves sin rather than light, he's condemned. I'll tell you this, we who are
preachers of the gospel, we surely do beseech men We beseech you,
in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God. Be you reconciled to
God. Why? For God hath made Him to
be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we should be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Because God sent His Son to die
in the stead of sinners, you should believe on Him. Because
God raised Him from the dead, you should believe on Him. We
beseech you. But I know this, I'm sure. I
am sure of this. I beseech you to believe, but
I know this, except God give you faith, you won't believe. Except a man be born again, he
cannot see the Kingdom of God. Behold then the necessity of
Jesus' declaration. Except a man be born again, he
cannot see. Now notice this. I want you to
see the difference. Look at your text. He said in
this verse, he said you cannot see the kingdom, but look down
in verse, and we'll get to this in just a minute, in verse 5,
he says he cannot enter into the kingdom. These are two different
things. Two different things. You cannot see the kingdom of
God. In other words, unless God gives
you a new birth, you cannot see the king of the kingdom. You cannot see that Jesus is
the Christ, except you be born again. Except you be born again. You'll never see it. Nicodemus
looked him square in the eye and did not see this was the
king of the kingdom. And he said, except you be born
again, Nicodemus, you'll never see that I am the king of this
kingdom. They were waiting, they called
this, the Jews used to call this the kingdom of the Messiah. And
I'll tell you this, the Messiah was right there and he never
saw him. And I'll tell you, I'll present Christ to you as best
I can, but I'll tell you this, you'll never see Him except the
Father draw you, except the Father show you. No one, Jew, Gentile, bond-free,
male, female, rich, poor, young or old, it is a universal proclamation
that without the new birth, you will not believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. will not believe on him, you
will not see him. In order to see the kingdom of
God, you must be born again. Behold, then the first cause
of salvation is not faith, but the new birth. The new birth. The new birth is the cause of
our faith. Now then, then comes the question,
what does a man, what does he mean by being born again? What does it mean then to be
born again? If that's the first cause, if I cannot see Christ,
if I cannot know Christ except to be born again, what is it
to be born again? What does it mean? If new birth is of the supreme
necessity, like Christ said it was, you must accept a man. You
won't see it unless you're born again. If it's of supreme necessity,
then what is it? It is nothing less than being
raised from the dead. It's what is called regeneration. It is what God calls a new creation. It is a new man that God must
create in you that was not there before. This is the new birth.
This is the new birth. In Galatians it says, circumcision,
neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth anything but a new creature. That's it. Except God making
you a new heart, a new nature, you will never believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. So then secondly, if it's necessary,
it is supremely necessary then. Because without faith, you can't
please God, the Scripture tells us. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. And not just any faithful do,
but it is faith in Christ. And except you be born again,
you'll never have faith in Christ. So we see the necessity of the
new birth. So what's then the cause of it? Verse 4, Nicodemus,
he comes back and he says, oh man, Nicodemus saith unto him,
How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second
time into his mother's womb and be born? Nicodemus, like all men by nature,
reasoned that salvation, regeneration, and acceptance with God to be
a carnal or natural event. Isn't that what he's saying?
He said, well, you're talking about being born again. Well,
do I need to go back and be in my mother's womb again and be
born again? So he's taking a spiritual thing. Christ is talking about a spiritual
thing. And what does natural man do? He tries to bring it
down to a carnal work, to something. He can do something that can
be done. Now, this Jewish man, was already
born of Jewish stock, he was already a noble birth, a ruler,
a pious man. And so in essence, what Nicodemus
is asking is, do I need to be born of a higher rank? Am I not
born of the right stock? I need to be higher than what
I am? I need to be born again? How
can this be? Jesus' words by no means had
anything to do with a man's carnal birth. But the words that He
spoke were spiritual words. Man by nature, because of the
fall of Adam, always tries to make salvation and acceptance
with God based on an outward act of the flesh. Isn't that
the way it's been from the beginning? Isn't that the way it was at
the beginning? When Adam sinned, they did what? They sowed fig leaves to cover
their nakedness, an outward act to cover a spiritual depravity. It's always been that way. And
Nicodemus, Nicodemus thought that salvation must be by another
physical birth. And even so, men today, they
feel and think the same way. They conclude that the new birth
comes by carnal means. Some men believe that it comes
by birth, by Christian family. I know when I was thinking about
this, you know, Nicodemus thought that way. He said, you know,
because I'm a Jew, I have a right to the kingdom of God. Do not
mistake that because I tell you, some people believe that now.
Well, because I'm a Methodist. I'm assured. I mean, I was sprinkled.
They put that water on my head, they went through the ritual,
and I am sure of the promises of God. What are they doing? They're taking a carnal, outward
ritual and applying it to a spiritual thing. They think that the outward
ritual affects the spiritual nature. Others say, well, man
must be baptized. in order to be saved, plunged
into physical water to wash away spiritual sins. By carnal water,
the cause, they come out a spiritual birth. Some say that you have
to speak in tongues, others eat the bread and drink the wine
of the Lord's table. Some say you need to make a decision. Well, listen, free will Free
will is so deadly because they say that the carnal will creates
the spiritual birth. To make a decision creates a
spiritual birth. That's not what the Lord is saying
at all. That is not the cause. I was reading about the... I believe
a man named Finney came up with that, you need to come down to
the altar, come down to the front in the 1800s. He started that
where you just come down to the altar and when you come down,
then the Baptist preacher becomes a priest and tells him he's saved. Because of some carnal action,
they believe they get a spiritual result. Well, Jesus Christ makes
it very clear that this new birth is not caused by any carnal action. But rather, the cause of the
new birth is the sovereign Spirit of God. That is the cause of
the new birth. The necessity is you must be
born again or you cannot believe on Christ, you cannot see the
Kingdom of God. And so what is the new birth?
It is a resurrection. And what's the cause of the resurrection?
It is the Spirit of God. That's the cause. Look at what Jesus said. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which
is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of Spirit
is Spirit. Marvel not, I said unto you,
you must be born again. Now, read that text. Here come the the baptismal regeneration,
folks, and they see water and they jump up and down and have
a hissy fit. They say, ah, see, well, you
got to have water. You got to have water and the Spirit. You
got to have both. You got to have baptism of physical
water and the Spirit. Friends, this is so easily seen
that any child could do it. If you just would look up the
words and read it carefully. Except a man be born of water.
And that word and could be easily translated and is even. Even. Except a man be born of
water. Even the Spirit of God. Christ
is not saying physical water. You can read this text and from
this point forward, Christ mentions water no more. He is saying, He says this in
verse 12, He said, If I told you earthly things. What Jesus
is doing is He's likening the Spirit of God unto water. As He does in the Old Testament.
I'll show you a couple of places. Go to Ezekiel. Chapter 36. Like I said, this is so plain. Ezekiel 36, you know this is
the covenant of grace. Look at verse 25, and I will
sprinkle you. I will sprinkle clean water upon
you. And you shall be clean from all
your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you."
And look, he just says it again in the next verse. A new heart
will I give you. And a new spirit will I put within
you. What is that? That's the new
birth. It's a new birth. And I will take away the stony
heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh, and I will
put My Spirit within you." You see that it's the same thing.
The Spirit comes and gives life and faith and cleansing. In Titus chapter 3 and verse
5, it says, "...not by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to His mercy." He saved us by the washing of
regeneration. What did I tell you new birth
is? It's regeneration. By the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Spirit. You don't see what the Lord's
doing then in our text. He's likening the Spirit to water
because water, water, cleanses and refreshes. Isn't that what water does? You know of any plant ever on
the face of the earth that grows without any water at all? You
say a cactus? Well, a cactus is full of water,
isn't it? It's got water in it. No. It needs water to have life. There's got to be water. And
this is the point. The Spirit of God is the cause
of life. He is the cause of cleansing. He is the cause. of renewing,
of refreshing. And Jesus, see that from here
on out again, I told you He doesn't mention water at all, because
He just likened the Spirit to water. And so then, except a
man be born again of the Holy Spirit, he cannot, listen, enter
the Kingdom of God. Now we're talking about the state
of man in this time state. Accept the Spirit of God, come
and give you the new birth. Listen to me, when you die, you
will never enter or set foot in the Kingdom of God. That's
just as plain as he can make it. And you know what he says? That which is born of flesh is
flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit. In other
words, never the twain shall meet. Never the two shall cross
over into the other. The earthly shall never affect
the spiritual. It'll never cross over. We know that only those who believe
on Christ shall enter the kingdom, and only those who are born again
will believe, and only one that does it is the Spirit of God.
Is that clear? It's only by the grace of God. The Spirit of God,
Jesus testifies, that it is no means by the flesh. So then all
the acts of the flesh cannot have any power to regenerate
the spirit, for all the flesh can do is sin. You got that? Do you know that?
Only a person who has been born again understands that. Depravity
is not a doctrine, it's an experience. If it's only a doctrine, you'll
run around telling other people they're depraved. If it's an
experience, you'll walk around lamenting your own. That's just
it. That's the difference between
life and death. That's the difference between somebody who knows the
truth and someone who experienced only an outward carnal knowledge
of it. Paul says, in me, that is in
my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. You see, I understand that. I
know that by my own experience of grace. By the grace of God
that came and gave me life. That's my experience. Experience
of everyone who has life. Job asked this, who can bring
a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. Friends, all who are
born of Adam's fallen race, All who are born in sin and uncleanness,
therefore we do, no matter how religious or how pious, all we
do is fleshly and sinful. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law shall no flesh be justified in this sight. But all who are
born of the Spirit know this, it's not of the flesh. There was nothing I did to earn
it. There was nothing I did to merit it. It came to me by the
sovereign, free grace of God. And that's what the Lord Jesus
Christ says next in verse 8. The wind. Now he likens the Spirit
not just to water, he likens it to wind. The wind bloweth
where it listeth. You can hear the sound thereof,
but you can't tell whether it's coming or whether it's going.
So is everyone that is born of the Spirit. This new birth comes by the Spirit. All men, in order to believe
on Christ and be accepted of God, must be born again. They
must be quickened from the dead spiritual state and given life.
No work of the flesh, no determination of the will or obedience or merit
of the carnal man could quicken the Spirit. Only the Spirit of
God can do it. Only the Spirit of God can give
the new birth, but what determines who He gives it to? He's the cause, right? He's the
cause of the new birth, and He's like the wind. I thought of the
meteorologist, and I said, well, you know, they've got a pretty
good idea of wind. And I said, no, they don't. They don't. All
they're doing is seeing the effects of wind and reporting it. That's
it. They can't, if there's no wind,
they can't see where the wind's coming from next. They don't
know. How many times they get it wrong? Most all the time. So we can only do what with wind. We can only see the effects. You can only hear it howling
in the distance, but you can't tell where it's coming and where
it's going. And so is the spirit of God. The Spirit of God is
sovereign. The Spirit of God gives life
to whomsoever He will. He's invisible as the wind and
cannot be controlled, manipulated. He blows where He will and He
gives life to whomsoever He will. You see, our awful condition
that we cannot save ourselves, does this not put man in the
dust? Any doctrine that doesn't put
man in the dust is not the doctrine of God. He always does it. Except He puts you in the dust,
there would be no mercy. There would be no hope for you.
That's what He does. He sets man in a position where
he knows he has no ability whatsoever. That salvation is completely
and absolutely of God alone. You cannot manipulate Him. You
cannot force Him. You cannot make Him. He does
whatsoever He wills. If He'll save you, He'll save
you. If He won't, He won't. Salvation is not a man, it's
of God. He's a sovereign Spirit. And whomsoever the Spirit blows,
listen, just like the wind. How do you know the wind's blowing? Because you can either hear it
or see it. The effects. You can't see the
wind, but you can definitely see the effects of the wind. And so is everyone that is born
of the Spirit of God. When the wind blows into our
hearts, He gives life and He gives faith. You see the effects
of it. It's not just a doctrine to be
learned, it is a doctrine to be experienced by the grace of
God. And the only ones who know anything
of the new birth are the ones who have experienced it. We know,
we know we are sinners. We know the depravity of our
own souls, our own flesh. We know this, we would have never
come to God had He not come to us. I know that. I'd have never believed on Christ
had He not given me grace to believe. We know that Jesus is
the Christ of God. We know that by His condescension
He became a man and merited the righteousness of God. We know
that by His one offering He hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified. We know that God raised Him from
the dead and sat Him on the throne. We know this because the Spirit
of God gave us the new birth. And as a result of the wind blowing,
you remember those dead bodies that Ezekiel was commanded to
preach to? He said, you go prophesy to the
wind. And he did. And you know what happened? The
bones began to shake. What was that? That's an effect.
That's an effect of the wind. That's an effect of God's Spirit
working on man. He begins to shake and quake
because of his sin. And then God puts sinew on him.
And God breathes a breath of life in him. This is the new
birth. It's spiritual. God does it. And we know that Christ came
into the world to die for His people that the Father gave Him.
And we know this. We know this, that the Spirit
of God will give life to every one of the elect. We know that. Every one of them will be born
again. Why? They must be born again. They
must. They must. Have you been born again? Have you been born again? What's the means of this new
birth? The Lord Jesus Christ goes on, Nicodemus says, how
can these things be? Jesus said, aren't you a master
of Israel? Don't you know these things? He said, verily, verily,
I say unto you, we speak that we do know, and testify what
we have seen, and you receive not our testimony. What Jesus
is saying here when He says, we, I had several things to show
you, but I'll just shorten it up. It says, He's either talking
about the Trinity of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We speak
that we do know. Or He's talking about the prophets.
He's talking about Christ says, we, me and the prophets, we speak
what we do know. I say it's both. It's both. We know the prophets only spoke
what God spoke. So it's the same. We speak what
we do know. I just spoke to you what I know.
But you know what? You receive not our testimony. By nature, no man receives our
testimony. But what is our testimony? Our
testimony is the means by which the Holy Spirit uses to give
the new birth. Preaching this gospel. Preaching. That's the means.
What the world calls foolishness, we who believe know it is the
power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. We know
this is the means because it's the same means our Lord is using
on Nicodemus. He says the gospel in verse 14
and 15. If you ever want a gospel in clearer terms, verse 14 and
15 of John 3 is the clearest gospel you'll ever read. As Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up. Is that not the gospel of Jesus
Christ? Just as much as you must be born again, I tell you, without
this, you could not be born again. The Son of Man must be lifted
up on the cross. You remember in Israel when they
were bitten by that serpent. And God commanded Moses, put
a brass serpent on a pole and lift it up. And you command the
people, look, if you've been bitten, look and live. And everyone
that was bitten and looked, what happened? They lived. Isn't this
a simple message? Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world. Isn't that the message of John
the Baptist? It's my message. We speak what we do know and
testify what we have heard, what we have seen. I know, I see this
by faith. I know this by the experience
of grace that Jesus is the Christ, that He has died for our sins.
God made Him to be sin and justice is satisfied. Justice is satisfied. Believe on Christ. And that's
what he says next. He says, that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Here's my last point, the result. Necessity, you must be born again,
you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but how can you
except you be born again? What's the cause? The Holy Spirit
is the cause of the new birth, not any fleshly thing we've done.
What is the means by which the Spirit uses? Preaching the gospel
of Jesus Christ. And what's the result? Whosoever
believeth. What's the result? Faith is the
result, isn't it? Faith is the result. Faith. Go to John 19. John 19. I'll show you the result
of the Lord's preaching. John chapter 19. after our Lord
was crucified and died. Verse 38, after this, Joseph
of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear
of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body
of Jesus. And Pilate gave him leave. And he came, therefore,
and took the body of Jesus. And listen, and there came also
who? Nicodemus. Just in case you thought
it was somebody else, which at first came to Jesus by night. This time, He came to Jesus by
day. See the result? He came by day. And what did He do? He brought
a mixture of mirth and aloes, a hundred pound weight. This man was changed. See what the Spirit of new birth
does? The result is always the same. Faith in Jesus Christ. Do you believe on the Son of
God? Are you in Christ? Then you are born again of the
Spirit of God. not by any carnal works, not
by any works which we have done or shall hereafter do. Only by the grace of God are
we in Christ. And not one of them will God
lose. Not one. This is the will of
them that sent me, that of all He hath given me, I should lose
nothing. Nothing. Are you born again?
God will never leave you or forsake you. Matter of fact, He loves you. There's not one detail of your
life that is not, that is unimportant to Him. How do I know that? Did He not
give His Son? How shall then He not freely
give us all things in Christ? How shall He withhold anything
from you, seeing He's given you the best? And I know this because I am
born again of the Spirit of God. And nothing can take that away. Nothing can hinder that. Not my flesh, not this world,
and not all the demons of hell could hinder it. Because they
had nothing to do with it to begin with. It's all of God. It's all of grace. May God even
give us comfort and assurance because of the new birth. Pray God bless this to your hearts.
Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer.