Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I invite you to turn with me
this morning to the Gospel of John, Chapter 3. We're going
to be looking at the first eight verses of John, Chapter 3. At
the top of each page in our Bibles, there's a heading that summarizes
what's on that page. Mine says, Christ teacheth Nicodemus
the necessity of regeneration. The necessity of regeneration. Not the necessity of doctrine,
not the necessity of getting it all straightened out in my
mind. The Lord is going to tell Nicodemus, you must be born again. The title of this message is
what does it mean to be born again? Well, let's begin by looking
at chapter two, verse 23. It says, Now when he was in Jerusalem
at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name
when they saw the miracles which he did. They were amazed by the
miracles he did. Verse 24 says, But Jesus did
not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men. and needed not that any should
testify of man, for he knew what was in man. He didn't need anybody
to reveal their heart to him, for he knew what was in man,
all men. Chapter 3, verse 1 says, there
was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Now here's the key to this whole
message. There was a man of the Pharisees. Pharisees. As we look through
this whole story, keep in mind Nicodemus was a Pharisee. Now here's what the dictionary
in my Bible says a Pharisee is. It says Pharisees were a religious
party among the Jews. The name denotes separatist. They prided themselves on their
strict observance of the law and on the care with which they
avoided contact with things Gentile. The tendency of their teaching
was to reduce religion to the observance of a multiplicity
of ceremonial rules, and to encourage self-sufficiency and spiritual
pride. That was a Pharisee. One man
said, the modern Pharisee of the present hour is he that prides
himself upon the honesty of his own heart." Think about that.
The modern Pharisee of the present hour is he that prides himself
upon the honesty of his own heart and ventures his everlasting
welfare, eternity, upon the merit of his good works before God. or in a less degree, takes to
himself the consolation of being part his own Savior and hoping
that Christ will make up the deficiency. That's a Pharisee. That's a Pharisee. What he's
saying is, I can pretty much get to heaven on my own, but
if there's anything I missed, Christ will pick it up for me.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee. Now turn with me over to Matthew
chapter 23. Matthew 23 verse 1 says this,
Then spake Jesus to the multitude and to his disciples, saying,
The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. Now Moses
was the lawgiver, and he said, the scribes and the Pharisees
sit in Moses' seat. And therefore whatsoever they
bid you observe, that observe and do, but do not ye after their
works, for they say and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and
grievous to be born. and lay them on men's shoulders,
but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
But all their works they do for to be seen of men. They make
broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their
garments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief
seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and
to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi, But be not ye called rabbi, for
one is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. And
call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your father
which is in heaven." Now he's not talking about dad. He's saying
don't use the term father in a religious sense. Any man who wants to be called
father is a Pharisee. All right now, some go to college. They go for four years, and college
is a wonderful thing. Some of them, they get a bachelor's
degree in divinity, and then they decide they're going to
go back to school and get a master's degree. A master in divinity. Verse 10 right here in Matthew
23 says, neither be ye called masters, for one is your master,
even Christ. But he that is greatest among
you shall be your servant. Your servant. There's only one great physician. And you think of a doctor, when
you go to the doctor, he comes in and the patient is there and
he looks at the patient and he treats the patient and he brings
things to the patient and he operates on the patient and he
is a servant. That's what he is. God's preachers, they prepare
the message that God sends and they study and they work and
they labor. And God's people come to worship
and they sit down and they feed on spiritual things as God's
servant delivers the message. Servant. Well, the Lord spends
the rest of chapter 23 exposing these Pharisees for who they
are. He said in verse 13, but woe
unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you shut up the
kingdom of heaven against men. For you neither go in yourselves,
neither suffer you them that are entering to go in. Now turn
with me over to Mark chapter seven. We're gonna look at Mark
chapter seven, verses five through seven. It says this, then the Pharisees
and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to
the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashing
hands?" He answered and said unto them, Well hath Isaiah prophesied
of you hypocrites? As it is written, This people
honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men. The Lord answered them, it is
written. It is written. All the things that I have said
are written. But he said, how be it in vain
do they worship me, teaching for doctrines his word? Although
he didn't say it. The commandments of men. They're
telling people, you gotta do this and you better not do that. The Lord says, when I didn't
say that, They're putting people under bondage, forcing people
to their own opinions. They're Pharisees. Well, our
text back in John 3, verse 1 says, there was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus
by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher
come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest
except God be with him. He said unto him, Rabbi, that
means master, teacher. We know that thou art a teacher
come from God, so we called him Rabbi. But he wasn't honoring
God for who he is. Nicodemus was just giving lip
service. He called every teacher Rabbi.
The Lord said, not everyone that saith to me, Lord, Lord shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven. Well, verse two also says that
he came to Jesus by night. He came by night because he didn't
want to be seen by anybody coming to him. He was a ruler of the
Jews. He was one of their top preachers.
He was ashamed. He was afraid. He was afraid
of losing his position and his power and he came by night, but
he came. He came on purpose. The Lord
caused this Pharisee to come. Our Lord was a very busy man
while he was on this earth. There's no doubt he'd already
put in a full day. The scriptures are full of the
things that our Lord did. And this Pharisee comes to him
late at night. But our Lord didn't refuse him.
There is no wrong time to come to Christ. Isn't that wonderful?
There is no unacceptable time for a sinner to seek his Savior. Well, Nicodemus comes to him
and he's wanting to talk about teachings and he's wanting to
talk about miracles. In verse three says, Jesus answered
and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Verily, verily. Our Lord in one sentence told
him, everything you're doing is in vain. Everything you're doing is in
vain. Dear sinner, dear Pharisee, listen
to our Lord. Everything you are, everything
you believe, everything you live, everything you do is the wrong
thing. Our Lord said, I know you. I
know all men. I know what you think. You're
trying to do the best you can, but it's worthless. He said,
except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
And then after that, there's a period. Period. He immediately set him straight.
He clearly told him the truth. It's not a teacher you need.
We don't come to the Lord Jesus Christ seeking a teacher. What
we need is life. Life. We need to be born again. A man whom God has made alive
is fit for teaching. But what a dead man needs is
life. Well, verse three, Jesus answered
and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 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
says, that didn't make sense. I don't understand. I just can't
see it. I can't see what you're talking
about. I know that man plays a role in this. I've been taught
that all my life. Where's man's part in this? How does man get involved? Can
he enter the second time into his mother's womb? Listen to
1 Corinthians 2, verse 14. It says, but the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him. Neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. Verse five in our text, John
chapter three, Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. Except a man, unless a man is
given new life and a new spirit, he cannot enter in. Unless he becomes a brand new
creature. Because the old man is not going
in. The old man is not going to enter in. Well, how do I become
a brand new man? How do I become a brand new creature? Well, let's ask this question.
What part of everything we do is wrong and worthless and in
vain, don't we understand? This is not a problem I can fix. Regeneration. Being born again
is not reform. It's not reform. It's not reform. It's not turning over a new leaf.
It's not a change of heart. There's a saying that we all
need to get a hold of, and here it is. Wrong on the fall, Wrong
on it all. Wrong on the fall of man, Adam
in the garden. Wrong on what happened right
there. We're wrong on everything else
that this Word has to say. Wrong on the fall. Wrong on it
all. Man had life. Man became a living
soul. God breathed into his nostrils.
Man lost life. That means man became dead. Dead. Not worse, dead. Tell a man in a casket, go to
the funeral home and tell a man in a casket, if you'll just reform, turn over a new leaf, you'll
be born again. No, he won't. He's dead. He's a dead man. A brand new
life must be given to him. A brand new life must be put
in him. God put a soul in him and gave
him life the first time. If he's gonna be born again,
God must put a brand new spirit in him and give him life the
second time. Turn with me over to John chapter
one. John one verse 12 says this,
but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. which
were born, not of blood, and that's not talking about
the blood of Jesus Christ, that's talking about a family tree,
that's talking about kinfolk, not of the family you're born
into, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh. Nobody can pray you into heaven,
nobody can will anything for you, nor of the will of man."
I can't do it for myself. I cannot decide to give my heart
to Jesus. I'm dead. I'm dead. It says, which were born not
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God. If we ever get a hold of that,
we'll start to learn something about the gospel. Ephesians 2
says, but God. Oh, in spite of what we were,
but God. John 1 says, but of God. It has to be of God. It has to
start with Him. It has to end with Him. Everything
in the middle is of God. Well, what does the Lord God
use to regenerate a person? Our text back in John chapter
three, verse five says, Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say
unto thee, except a man be born of water, water, his water, not
man's water, Not the water of this world, not baptism. He's talking about living water. In the next chapter, he's about
to tell a woman from Samaria about this living water, the
water of the word. Psalm 119 verse 50 says, thy
word hath quickened me. 1 Corinthians 4.15, Paul says,
I have begotten you through the gospel, the preaching of the
word. James 1.18 says, of his own will, begat he us with what? Baptism? No, with the word of
truth. Peter said, being born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word
of God, which liveth and abideth forever. Our Lord says, quit
trying to reform this old flesh. Quit trying to fix this old flesh,
because it's a useless task. It's all in vain. Verse six in
our text says, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and
that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I
said unto thee, ye must be born again. Now many people think
to be born again is to become religious. Well, before he didn't
go to church, and now he does go to church. He's been born
again. You tell the average church goer,
except you be born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.
And he's gonna have no problem with that. He's gonna agree with
that statement. He's confident in the fact that
he's been born again. In his eyes, he's always been
a Christian. He goes to church every week.
He gives his money to support the gospel. He feels happy inside. He prays every day. In his eyes,
he's got to be born again. There's no way he couldn't be
born again. Well, let's remember something.
The Lord said this to a Pharisee. A Pharisee. We've got nothing on
a Pharisee. Listen to Matthew 5 verse 20.
It says, for I say unto you that except your righteousness shall
exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall
in no case enter into the kingdom of God. The Pharisees aren't
gonna get in. It's not good enough. And we have nothing on a Pharisee.
We want to believe what we say and hold to as true. A Pharisee
could say, all things have I kept from my youth up. Nicodemus was
not just a religious man. He wasn't just a good church-going
man. He was a preacher. He was a Pharisee. He'd given his life to this. And the Lord said to him, it's
all worthless. It's all worthless. In chapter
3, verse 7, our Lord said, Marvel not that I said unto thee, you
must be born again. Yes, you. What? Me? All these good deeds I've
done? All these good thoughts I've
had, all the evil I've stayed away from, are you telling me
that doesn't count for anything? In verse eight, our Lord said, the
wind bloweth where it listeth. and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth,
so is every one that is born of the Spirit. The wind is invisible. You can't see it, but you can
feel it, and you can see the results of it. The wind is sovereign. Man can't control it. So is the
Spirit of our God. It blows when it pleases, where
it pleases, as it pleases, and the wind is irresistible. When
it blows with all its power and force, it knocks everything down
in its path. So it is with the Spirit of our
God. When he comes in the fullness
of his power, he breaks men and he brings them down. David wrote,
thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Jonah said, salvation is of the
Lord. Regeneration is of the Lord. What is a good evidence that
the Lord has regenerated a person? Turn with me over to Luke chapter
18. Luke 18 verse 10 says this, Two
men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and
the other a publican, a sinner. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus within himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men
are. Now let me ask you a question.
Do you ever find yourself thinking that in your heart? Be honest. You don't have to say it out
loud. Be honest. Ask yourself that question in your heart.
God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in
the week, I give tithes of all that I possess, and the publican
standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner."
Our Lord says in verse 14, I tell you, this man, this publican,
went down to his house justified, rather than the other, For every
one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted." What is a good evidence that a person
has been born again? This new spirit that has come
to them. The Holy Spirit has knocked all
the wind out of their sails. And they've got nowhere to look
but up. They have no pride left, and
all they can cry is, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. May our God be merciful to us
and put life into us. Until next Sunday morning, may
the Lord bless His Word. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can write
to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin Street, Kingsport,
Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website at kingsportsovereigngracechurch.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m., and 6 o'clock
p.m. Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next Sunday morning
at 8.30 for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.