Are you born again? You must
be born again. Except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. He or she cannot enter the kingdom
of God. Born Again, that is the subject
this morning, found in John Chapter 3, the Gospel of John Chapter
3, and it was the Lord Jesus Christ who first spoke this term,
Born Again. Born Again, many claim it, it
is one of the most used and abused terms in religion today, so much
so that the world makes a mockery of it. Any kind of transformation
or reformation or any kind of change of the ways or some kind
of religious experience is called being born again. But nevertheless,
the Lord Jesus Christ said, ye must be born again. Let me read
it to you in John chapter 3, the first eight verses. 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. 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? 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. 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. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh. and wither it goeth. So is everyone
that is born of the Spirit." End of reading. You must be born
again, and the word again is above, born of God. It doesn't say you must get born,
but you must be born. In verse 3 he said, except a
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Unless
someone gives you life, you cannot see, until given Spiritual life,
you cannot even see the kingdom of God, don't even know there's
a kingdom of God, and have no desire to be in that kingdom.
You must be born. Someone must travail in birth
to bring you into this world, into the world to come, the next
world, bring you to God. That's what he said in verse
5. Except a man be born of water and of spirit, he cannot enter. the kingdom of God. Now, like
most people, this religious man, Nicodemus, he was not born again. He wasn't born of God because
he didn't know this truth. He argued. He tried to reason.
All who are born of God know that God did it, that Christ
did it, that the Spirit of God gave them life. They had nothing
to do with it. If born again, you will quit
arguing about it. You will quit arguing who is
responsible for your spiritual life and how. Scripture describes
man in this way. He's blind, he's deaf, he's lame,
he's a leper, he's dead in trespass and sin. No blind person has
ever given themselves eyes. No deaf person has ever given
themselves hearing. No lame person has ever made
themselves walk. No leper has ever cleansed themselves. And no dead man has ever raised
himself from the grave. This is all of God, and so is
salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
not of the flesh, but is of God. Now, spiritual birth is much
like natural birth in many ways. I will describe it in a little
bit. But what if I said to you, I got born years ago. My parents
were there, and they offered me life. And I accepted it. I accepted them as my personal
parents. I let my father plant his seed
in my mother. I let go and let my mother give
birth to me. I decided to have life. Yes, if I hadn't been willing,
I wouldn't be here today. It was my choice. It was my decision. And here I am, born. I am alive. That is absurd, isn't it? You
would call me an utter idiot, wouldn't you? It would be an
insult to my father. who sired me, it would be an
insult to my mother who travailed in birth to give me life." And
so it is with spiritual birth. Our Lord said, that which is
born of the flesh is flesh. It comes forth that way. And
that which is born of the Spirit, capital S, the Holy Spirit, is
Spirit. You must be born from above. And He goes on to say, marvel
not. He marveled at this, that I said
unto thee, Ye must be born again, or from above, or of God. He
said, The wind bloweth where it listeth, and ye hear the sound
thereof, and can't tell whence it cometh. The wind blows. It's a mystery, isn't it? And
you cannot tell where it's coming from, or upon whom it may blow. And so it is, the Scripture says,
Christ said, is everyone that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus argued. How can these
things be? Do you argue this? As said before,
you'll quit arguing when the Lord gives new life to you, gives
birth to you. Someone argues this. What about
repentance? What about faith? What about
Scripture says, whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved? Scripture says we must come to
Christ, come to Me. None of this is of man either. It's all of God. It's all of
God. You see, faith is not the cause
of life. It's the result. Our Lord said,
He that believeth on the Son hath life. not shall have it,
but hath life. Faith is the result of life,
God-given life, not the cause of it. Repentance is not the
cause of life, it's the result of it. Repentance means to turn,
to change. That's not of man. Scripture
says it's the goodness of God that leadeth us to repentance. David wrote it, Turn us, O God,
and we'll be turned. Not until then. What about the
call? Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord, Romans 10.13, shall be saved. Well, that is taken
from Joel 2.32, which says, The remnant whom the Lord shall call. That's who will call. They won't
call until given life. They won't call until the Spirit
of God plants spiritual light, new life in them that causes
them to call on the name of the Lord. You will not come. You
don't have the feet. You don't have the legs. You
don't have the will to come unless the Father draws you. That's the way it is of being
born again, born from above, born of God. Everyone who has
been born of God knows it. They know they had nothing to
do with it. They know they were dead and
Christ came to give them life. They know they were blind and
God opened their blind eyes. Death, and God gave them ears
to hear. They know they were lame, and
now they walk by faith. They know they were dead and
trespassed in sin, but now they've been quickened by the grace and
the power of God. They give God all the glory for
their salvation. See, salvation is the Father
purposing it. It was the purpose of God, the
will, the mind, the purpose, the covenant plan, if you will,
of God that cannot fail. ordered in all things and sure.
It was the Son of God who came to purchase, to pay for, the
salvation of all of God's people whom He chose. It is the Spirit
of God who comes to give life, regenerate to apply that blood
to the soul of those whom Christ died for, to give them repentance,
to give them faith, to give them fruits, to give them life. Just
like in natural birth, the father's seed is planted in the womb of
the mother, And so it is that we're born, not of our own will,
but of the will of God. Scripture says, of His own will
beget He us with the Word of truth. If you are born again,
God gave you birth through the preaching of His Word applied
by the Spirit of God. The Father's seed is implanted
in the mother's womb. The mother travails in birth.
And pain and water and blood comes out of her. When Christ
was hanging on Calvary's tree, water and blood came out of His
side. He gave birth to His people.
Water, that's sanctification. Blood, that's justification. And the physician brings forth
that child into this world, and so it is the Holy Spirit gives
life, repentance, and faith, and all these things. You must
be born again, born from above. Physical birth is the will of
the parents, the seed of the Father. Life is given at conception. Life is given, their given birth,
and so it is in spiritual birth. It is the will of God. Not of
the will of man, not of the will of the flesh, but they're born
of God, John 1, 12 and 13. It is the seed, the Word of God,
not corruptible seed, not man's will or decision. Life is given
at conception and you never know when that happens. It's the will
of God, the time of God, the fullness of His time, His purpose.
Life is given, not offered, given. And birth. You're brought forth
from death to life. You're brought forth from darkness
to light into the kingdom of God, the kingdom of His dear
Son. And then there are signs of life. When a person is born
of God, there are signs like physical birth. When our first
child was born, There was pain involved. When that child was
born, the physician flicked the bottom of her feet to cause pain,
to cause her to start crying, to fill her lungs with air. There's
proof of life. She called. She cried. So it
is with God's people. They hear the Word of God which
convicts them of their sin. Life is there, but it comes forth. It's shown by them calling, them
crying on the Lord. My little child, when she was
born, she cried, and I began to speak to her, began to soothe
her. She heard my voice, and so it
is. Christ said, My sheep hear my
voice. She was naked. I had to clothe
her. We are naked. We have to be clothed in the
righteousness of Christ. My daughter needed comfort, and
I comforted her. And all of God's people are comforted
by the gospel. My daughter came forth from the
womb hungry and thirsty. She needed the mother's milk.
And so it is with God's people. They desire the sincere milk
of the Word. They may grow thereby. Life is
given. Growth begins. Maturity begins. That is describing spiritual
life as well. We grow in grace and the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We grow up to be like the Lord
Jesus Christ. Have you been born again? If you have been, God gets all
the glory, and you know it. May the Lord use His word, may
the Lord use His word, the incorruptible sea, to give new birth, spiritual
birth to someone this day. Amen.