Let's go to Psalm 87. This is
a portion of scripture we've been looking at, kind of verse
by verse, a little here and a little there. Psalm 87, and the theme
of this psalm is Zion, the city of God, the habitation of God. We read Psalm 87, this is a psalm
inspired by the Holy Spirit for the sons of Korah to sing. It says, his foundation is in
the holy mountains. He loveth the gates of Zion more
than all the dwellings of Jacob. And then they sang glorious things
of thee are spoken of thee, O city of God, Selah. I will make mention of Rahab
and Babylon to them that know me. Behold Philistia and Tyre
with Ethiopian. This man was born there. And of Zion it shall be said,
this and that man was born in her. And the highest himself,
that is the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall establish
her. The Lord shall count when he
writeth up the people that this man, every man, was Born there,
every man in Zion was born there. And once again, the word Selah.
As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there. All my springs are in thee. The glories of Zion are vast
because it is the city of God. All of the people of God constitute
Zion. All of those from the very beginning,
from the first one who was saved by the free grace of God, through
the dying of our Lord Jesus Christ, his obedience unto death, all the way to the end. Zion
consists of all who are in heaven and all who are in earth. All
those perfected in everlasting glory, those who are with Christ
in heaven, and those who are still making their pilgrimage
through this world, those who are the people of God, all of
us together are Zion, the city of God. Many, many years ago, Jerusalem
was referred to as Zion. In fact, it is in the Old Testament
sometimes. But the blessings of Jerusalem,
the blessings of that earthly Zion have long since ceased. She turned her back upon the
things of God. Their religion became one filled
with self-righteousness, arrogance, ritualism, and ceremonialism. But they were empty of the presence
and the power of God. And when the Lord Jesus made
his way into Jerusalem, the people of Jerusalem, the
people of that city called Zion, turned their backs on him because
they had no interest in the real things of God. Oh, they still
had their rituals and ceremonies that they went through, but they
didn't know God. And they didn't recognize the
son of God when he entered into their city. When he went into
their temple, they didn't listen to him. They hated him. They
despised him. They conspired against him to
kill him and put him out of business. They went to the governor, Pilate,
said, this man speaks against Rome. He speaks against Caesar. And he blasphemes the name of
God by saying he's the son of God. Well, what would you have me
to do? Pilate said, what shall I do
with Jesus who is called the Christ? And they said crucify
him. Crucify him. This was of old the city of God. These were the people, their
ancestors were people who worshiped the Lord. Who honored him first in the
tabernacle and then in the temple. There was a time when their forefathers
loved God, believed God, looked for Christ, anticipated His coming. They longed for His appearance
in this world. But as the world crept in, the
gospel crept out. And before long, the city was
given over almost totally to false religion. And our Lord one day went into
their temple and he said, your temple is left desolate. That's where God was supposed
to be worshiped. That's where the sacrifices were
to be offered. And after Solomon built the temple,
sacrifices were offered to the Lord, all of them pointing to
our Lord Jesus Christ, pointing to His blood atonement. All the
lambs, all the rams, all the turtle doves, all the bullocks
that died on Jewish altars, they all pointed to the Son of God,
the Lamb of God, the Messiah who would come. And for many
years, Israel looked to Him, looked for Him, believing that
He would come. But when He came, they said,
we will not have this man to rule over us. And so our Lord
Jesus went into their temple and he said, your temple is become
desolate. Do you know what the word desolate
means? Uninhabited. You say, but there were lots
of people in there. Yes, there were. That's where
the high priest was. Yes, he was. That's where the
rest of the priesthood were. Yes, they were. And yet the Lord
said, your temple, your temple has become desolate, empty, uninhabited. What did he mean by that? The
Lord is not there. You've got all your ceremonies.
You've got all your law obedience. You've got all of the things
that you have arranged, but there's one missing. And sadly, you don't
even know that he's missing. God is missing. And this is the
problem with religion today. Religion today, by and large,
except for the gospel of God's free grace to sinners through
the death of Christ is proclaimed, religion today is desolate. It's uninhabited. They have lots
of people. They have lots of ceremonies.
They have lots of activities. They have lots of entertainment,
but they don't have God and don't even recognize it. And in most so-called churches
today, the Lord is not there and they don't miss Him because
He never was there. He never was welcome there. To
preach of His free grace, His sovereign mercy is foreign to
them. to speak of the Lord Jesus, that
great sacrifice for sins, that one mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus, to preach Him in His powerful, sin-atoning
death, they know nothing about. And consequently, the Spirit
of God is not there. They're uninhabited, though they
have many people, there's one who's missing. The one whose presence we must
have, the presence of the Lord himself. Oh, those people in
the temple, those people in Jerusalem, they used the name of God, they
professed to believe the scriptures, but Zion of old, they left the
truth many, many years before the Savior became incarnate,
and they proved their departure from the truth by denying the identity of the
only Savior of sinners, Christ himself, notwithstanding all
the proofs and evidences of his deity, notwithstanding him fulfilling
all the prophecies concerning Messiah who would come. They
even knew where He'd be born. When the wise men came from the
East, they said, where is He that's born, King of the Jews? And Pilate called for some of
the religious leaders to come in and say, And he said to them,
where's Messiah to be born? They said, Bethlehem. They knew,
they knew be born in Bethlehem. They knew a lot of facts, but
they didn't know God. You can know a lot of things
about the Bible and still not know the author of the Bible
and the subject of the Bible which is the Lord Jesus Christ
and his substitutionary sacrifice upon the cross of Calvary. Well,
if our Lord did not inhabit the temple on earth, where does he dwell? Where does
he dwell? Well, he dwells in Zion. He dwells
in the city of God, where glorious truths are preached and those
glorious truths are believed. I'll come back to Psalm 87 in
a little bit. Go over to Ezekiel, if you would,
Ezekiel chapter 48. In fact, the last verse of the
book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel 48. And in this chapter, the Holy
Spirit leads Ezekiel to give the dimensions of the true Zion,
the city of God, numbers which are not to be taken literally,
but to show that it is a perfect city. That's what Zion is. It's an absolutely perfect city
because she has no sin in her. because Christ put sin away.
She is absolutely righteous because she's made the righteousness
of God through him. It is Zion, the city of God. This is where God dwells. And
so Ezekiel is led to say, to close out his prophecy in chapter
48 and verse 35 by making this statement. concerning the city. It was round
about 18,000 measures. And the name, the name of the
city from that day shall be, the Lord is there. And if you have a center column,
as my Bible does, that expression, the Lord is there, is an interpretation
or a translation of Jehovah Shema Jehovah Shema The Lord is there
Where is the Lord now? I know the Lord is everywhere
by his power because he's on my present and I know that God
is everywhere by his great providence and He is directing all things
that happen in all people, in all things, throughout all of
His universe. So God is, He is everywhere by
His power and by His providence. He is even in hell by His power
and by His providence. Who keeps, who keeps the flames
of hell burning? Who keeps the wrath of God being
poured out upon rebels? The Lord does. He's there. He's
there. That's what David said in the
Psalms. If I ascend to heaven, thou art there. He said, and
if I ascend into the deep, if I descend into the deep, if I
descend to hell, he uses this word, behold, because that's
what's amazing. God's even there. But he doesn't
inhabit the people there. And he doesn't dwell with them
in sweet fellowship and in communion. He dwells with his people. His
name is Jehovah Shema. The Lord is there. He's with
his people. He visits with his people like
he visits nobody else. He blesses his people like he
blesses nobody else. And he speaks to his people like
he speaks to nobody else. God speaks to the wicked and
says, now it's time for you to die and meet me at the judgment.
God speaks to the wicked in that way. When our Lord Jesus was here,
he spoke to the wind and the waves and said, peace be still,
but he didn't dwell in fellowship with the winds and the waves, but he dwells with his people,
not only in power and not only in providence, but in person,
in person. He dwells with his people. The
Lord is there. It's the very presence of the
Lord with Zion that is her blessedness. It's her happiness. It's her
security. It's Zion's glory. It's Zion's
glory for the saints of God in heaven because the Lord is there. And this is the happiness and
the glory of the saints of God on earth because of the Lord
is here. And even if it's just one person
of Zion by themselves, still the Lord is there. The Lord is
with you. And in your time of trial or
difficulty or trouble or sickness or disease or loneliness or whatever
it might be, remember this, Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is there, the
Lord is with you. He said, I'll never leave you,
I'll never forsake you. He's always with Zion in heaven
and with Zion on earth to exercise his grace, and His mercy, and
to make Himself known to us and to encourage us, to manifest
sweet tokens of His loving kindness to us. The psalmist sang, God
shall help her, that is Zion, and that right early. The heathen
raged, the kingdoms were moved, He uttered his voice and the
earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob. That's our
refuge. Psalm 46, five through seven. The prophet Zephaniah said in
chapter three in verse 17, Zephaniah speaking of the Lord says, the
Lord thy God in the midst of thee, in the midst of thee is
mighty. Don't ever forget that. The Lord
thy God is in the midst of thee. He's in the midst of us tonight. Those of you who are watching,
maybe one or two and maybe several people together. The Lord in
the midst of thee, children of God, those who have been brought
to believe the Lord Jesus Christ, he's mighty, he's with thee.
Don't be discouraged, don't be downtrodden, the Lord is with
thee. When you're preaching, the Lord
is with thee. When you're teaching, the Lord
is with thee. When you're at home doing your
housework or cooking or at your job, whatever it may be, to those
of you who are the people of God, the beloved of God, the
redeemed of the Lord, those regenerated by the power of the Spirit, rejoice
Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is with thee. He's always
with Zion, Zion which has been perfected above and Zion which
still Endures the weaknesses of sin here on the earth The Lord says in Zechariah chapter
2 in verse 5 I Will be under her. I will be under Zion a wall
of fire about And I will be the glory the glory in the midst
of her What's the glory of? this group here The Lord is in
our midst. That's the glory of it. That's
our glory. Zion. The Lord is there. The Lord is there. Wherever you
are, whatever your circumstances, the Lord is there. Well, what
kind of people is the Lord with? Go back to
Psalm 87. Let me show you something. Go
back to Psalm 87. I'm sure you're careful readers
of the Word of God. Did you notice the word born? Born in verse 4. It says, this man was born there. Verse 5. and of Zion it shall
be said, this and that man was born in her. And then in verse
six, the Lord shall count when he writeth up the people that
this man was born there. Born, born, born. What is this
birth? It's the new birth. It's the
new birth. Born by the power of God. We
who are in Zion, and we're in Zion by electing grace and by
adopting grace, we can say we have been born again. We have been born again. So the
title of this message is Born into Zion. And everyone who's
in Zion experience a live birth, a live birth. No one in Zion, no one in the
city of God, no one in the city of peace is there except people who have
experienced the powerful regenerating birth by the Spirit of God. Turn to John chapter one. Look
at John chapter one. People are born there. Why does
it say they're born in Zion? Because that's where the gospel
is set forth, see? That's where the message of redemption
is declared. That's where people join together
to sing the praises of our God and King and to have rehearsed
every time they meet concerning the substitutionary death of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And wherever Christ is bragged
on, wherever Christ is preached, wherever he is set forth in his
glory, and his work of redemption is set forth as the successful
work that he accomplished upon the cross of Calvary, that's
where the Lord's gonna be. And where Christ isn't honored,
where Christ isn't preached, where Christ is not exalted,
that's not Zion. That's not Zion. That's just
a religious edifice. That's just a bunch of people
meeting together for religious purposes. The people who are
part of Zion have experienced a birth. We've been birthed in
the kingdom of God. Our Lord uses John to write this
in John chapter one in verse 12, but as many as received him,
received him as prophet, priest, king, received him as the Lord
Jesus Christ, but as many as received him, to them gave he
power, literally authority, the privilege, to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born. Not of blood. You don't inherit
grace from your mom and dad or grandparents. It's not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh. It's not of your will. The will
of the flesh only loves things of the flesh. Remember what the
Lord said to Nicodemus, that which is born of the flesh is,
what'd he say? Flesh, that's all it'll ever
be. It ain't gonna get any better.
It's flesh. And he that is born of the spirit
is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
ye must be born again. So our Lord says of those who
receive him, they do so because they've been
born not of blood, not of their own free will, which has been
elevated to be an altar, a little God today, nor of the will of
man. As much as you want somebody
to be converted and you pray for them and you seek God's favor
on their behalf, your will in the matter is not
what's under consideration. We want our loved ones to know
the gospel and believe Christ. We want them to be born from
above. But we really have nothing to
do with it. People who receive Christ have
been born of God. Of God. That's the source of
life. He's the source of life. The religious world in its apostate
rejection of the need of the power of the spirit in regeneration,
they talk about being born again, but they'll say things like,
receive Jesus and get born again. Well, this passage of scripture
talks about as many as received him, but it doesn't say that they
received him and therefore were born again. They received Him, and this is
the reason they have been born again. They received Him because
He's been revealed to them by the Holy Spirit from the Scriptures. But as I say, the religious world
and their apostate rejection of the truth
of God They speak of being born again, but they make it really
no more than just making a decision to be saved. That's all it is
to them. It's walking an aisle. It's saying
a prayer. Believe and get born again, is
what that preacher out of Houston, Texas says at the end of every
one of his broadcasts. You see, the whole religious
world, except for those who believe the truth of God, they put the
cart before the horse. You don't believe and then become
born again. You're born again, and as a result,
you believe. You gotta have life before you
can believe. That's the new birth. The whole religious world begins
at the wrong end. Like I say, we put the cart before
the horse. In fact, somebody made that statement to me after
the service this morning. The world, the religious world,
puts the cart before the horse. You know, a baby, a newborn baby, He doesn't cry to have life. The baby cries because he's alive. He doesn't breathe to get life. He breathes because he is alive. And we come to the Lord Jesus
Christ not in order to be born of God,
but we come to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith, embracing Him
as our all in all because we have been born of God. We have
been given life and life is expressed. By breathing, we breathe in prayer
to Him. By eating, We feast on his word
by believing him. We believe him. We cry out to
him, not to get life, but because we have life. We have life. And because apostate religion
has made great errors pertaining to the new birth, and being born
again, there are some even who believe grace are kind of hesitant
to use the expression born again. Are you born again? Well, there's
nothing wrong with the expression. Lots of people are fearful that
if we talk about being born again, well, are we joining forces with
those who are the enemies of the gospel? No, we're not. You
see, this is what the religious world does. They use biblical
language in a wrong way. They talk about Jesus, but their
Jesus is another Jesus. They talk about grace, but every
time they talk about grace, somehow or another, it comes out as works. I'm not ashamed to say, Like
our Lord said to Nicodemus, turn a page or two over to chapter
three. I'm not ashamed to say what he
said in verse seven. To this man who was a religious
expert, but he was as dumb as a box of rocks when it came to
spiritual things. He just didn't know anything.
When our Lord talked about being born again, This is an educated
man now. Here's a teacher of the teachers.
He said, are you saying we've got to enter into our mother's
womb and be born again? He said, you're such a fool. You're a professor. You're teaching
the preachers. You're teaching the rabbis. And
we know that he was a, he was a big wheel because it says in
verse nine, and I'll get back to that other verse in a minute.
Our Lord said, art thou a master of Israel? Are you a doctor? Are you a professor? And you
don't know these things. He's saying to him, you're ignorant. And he was. Anybody who would
say in response to, except you'd be born again, you can't see
the kingdom of God. A man is ignorant when he says,
are you saying we've got to enter into our mother's womb to be
born? He just didn't get it. And he never would get it unless
the Lord revealed the truth to him. But look at verse seven.
Here's what our Lord said to him. Marvel not that I said unto
thee, Ye must be born again." And we ask God to give our friends
and neighbors and relatives the gift of life, the gift of life. You know, when it says up here,
In verse three, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. It's really
born from above. Got to be born from above. And
you remember what James says? Every good gift and every perfect
gift, where does it come from? From above, from above. And the only way that new life
can come to us, spiritual life can come to us is if it comes
from above. It doesn't come from the pulpit.
It doesn't come from your efforts. It doesn't come from you walking
the aisle or joining the church or submitting to baptism. It
doesn't come that way. New life has got to come from
the source of life and the source of life is from above, from the
Lord. So our Lord says to Nicodemus,
you must be born again. I'll give you this real quick.
I'm not gonna be able to finish this tonight. I'll finish it
the Lord willing next Sunday night, but here are five things.
On that one verse, you must be born again. Here's a personal
word, ye, ye. It's a personal word. This message
is for you. You must be born again. I know
you're moral, you're religious, you're instructed in doctrinal
truth. So is Nicodemus. He was a man of the highest rank
in Jerusalem. He's a member of the Sanhedrin.
He taught the preachers, he taught the teachers. but he was spiritually dead. And it is no new thing that a
great leader of religion is unregenerate. That's the way most of them are. Most preachers in religion, they
know nothing of the new birth. They know nothing of being born
of God. We say, you can't read anybody's
heart. No, I can't read anybody's heart,
but I can listen to the words that they say. And by their preaching,
they give clear evidence. They don't know anything about
the grace of God. They don't know anything about
the person and work of Christ. They don't know anything about
the sovereign will of God in salvation. I was listening to a funeral
the other day, and the words were said concerning the person
who had passed away. She loved Jesus. And I told somebody
the other night, said, well, she loved Jesus. My question,
which Jesus? About everybody loves Jesus,
and I even made this statement. I never met anybody that didn't
love Jesus. Their idea of Jesus. But they don't know anything
about the Lord Jesus Christ. Nicodemus, he was somebody in
religion. If there was a who's who in religion
back then, you'd probably see his name right at the head of
the page. But he was ignorant. And I've used the Savior's words
again. Knowest thou not these things?
You don't know these things. That's a personal word. Ye, ye. Ye must be born again. And here's
a pressing word, must. Ye is a personal word and must
is a pressing word. Ye must. This is absolutely required. And yet thirdly, here's a passive
word, be. You see, ye must be born again,
but there's nothing you can do to bring it about. There's one life giver and he
gives life to whom he will. If you've ever read the diary
of David Brainerd, and if you haven't, you'd do well to read
it. He said, he said, I found that
the Bible required repentance, but I couldn't produce it. He
said that aggravated me. He said, I found that the Bible
required faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but I couldn't produce
it. He said that further aggravated
me. Then he said, and the Bible says
you must be born again. And then I found out that the
new birth is something I have no contribution whatsoever in
it. He said that further aggravated
me. The Bible required things of
me and things to be done in me over which I had no power. And that's the way it is. You
see, the Bible backs us up in a corner and leaves us to the
sovereign mercy of God. And that's really a good thing
when you say, I can't produce anything. I can't repent. I can't believe. I can't give
myself life. You're backed in a corner by
the Lord, the God of all grace. And then that's when you become
a mercy beggar. When you see, you can't do anything. It's not of you. And then you'll
understand what James meant after saying every good gift comes
from above. You'll understand why he said,
of his own will begat he us with the word of truth. That's what
it says in it, Ron, with the word of truth, with the gospel. I'm telling you, we're shut up
to the mercy of God. There's no question about that.
Fall at his feet. Oh God, oh God, do something
for me that I can't do for myself. And if you go to the Lord with
that kind of attitude, he's already doing something. Here's a personal word, ye, a
pressing word, must, a passive word, be, and here's a powerful
word, born. Born. What he's saying is that you
must be the recipient of the power and grace of God. God's got to create life where
there was only death. That's a powerful word. And those
of us who have been brought to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
as our Savior, as our Redeemer, as our substitute, as God's sacrifice
for sin, the evidence that we believe is proof positive of the necessity
of the power of God. It's a powerful word. You've
been born again. You've been born from above. From above. You must be born again. And here's
the fifth one. Here's a profound word. You got
the outlines. A personal word, ye. It's a pressing
word, must. It's a passive word, be. Somebody's
got to operate on you. Tell you what, if I had to have
surgery, I wouldn't want to operate on myself, would you? I want
somebody with skill. The skilled surgeon has to operate
on you spiritually. That's a passive word. And then here's a powerful word,
born. And then there's a profound word, again. Again. He was born wrong the first time.
He has to be born again. Well, who alone can do that?
The Spirit of God. The Spirit of God. So over there
in Psalm 87, three times it talks about being born. And the reference
is to people from Ethiopia, people from Philistia, people from Egypt,
What he's talking about is this Zion consists of people from
all nations, kindred, tribes, and tongues. That's what that's
a reference to. And they'll all be born of God,
which means they're all gonna be exposed to the true gospel
of grace. I was talking to somebody the
other day about understanding that passage that says that the
gospel will go around the world and then the end will come? There
was a time we just kind of didn't understand that, but now there's
the internet and the gospel is going around
the world. I hear from people in other countries
that I will never meet and would never have the opportunity to
preach the gospel. And other sovereign grace preachers
do as well, preach the gospel to them. The Lord's calling out
his people from all over. And they're born, they're born
as they hear the truth of the Lord. Well, let's wind the day
up by singing 184, a glory