John chapter 3. I want to talk about regeneration.
I want to talk about the new birth. The new birth. There was a man, a Pharisee. They even told him his name. And it says he was a ruler of
the Jews. A ruler. He was of the Sanhedrin. He's the one that made the laws
and ruled over the common people. The same came to Jesus by night. Said, Rabbi, didn't call him
Savior, didn't call him Master, didn't call him Lord, didn't
call him Redeemer, didn't call him the Messiah, didn't call
him the Christ. Just said, Rabbi. You know how many Rabbis there
are in this world today? A lot of Rabbis. New York City, ain't no telling
how many Rabbis in New York City alone. I call a lot of fellas Rabbis.
And then he said unto him, we know that our teacher come from
God. For no man, no man can do these
miracles except that thou doest accept God be with thee. Well,
you know, he was really flattered in the Lord Jesus Christ. Flattered
him. Thought he was. Thought he was. And our Lord interrupted him. What he was going to say. And
when you see that barely, barely, that means truly, truly. Truly,
truly. To emphasize, he says truly,
truly or barely, barely. I say unto thee, except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. That's the
first thing our Lord told him. He said, I'll just be a rabbi
to you until God gives you life, until you're regenerated, until
you're born again. All I'll ever be to you is rabbi,
teacher sent from God. That's all I'll ever be to you.
That's all, I'll never be nothing more than that to you. And so
our Lord told him, he says, you must be born again, except a
man be born again. And old Nicodemus, that's the
natural question. So you see, he just, it shows
why he must be regenerated. Look what he says. He says, how can a man be born
when he's old? I'm old. I don't know if he's
50, 60, 70. He was an older fellow. Can he
enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? He
thinks it's absolutely ridiculous that our Lord said you must be
born again. He's saying that's an impossibility. That's just impossible. It can't
happen. Look what our Lord said. 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. Now, there's lots and lots of
verses in the Bible that teach a new birth, that teach regeneration.
You know, let me show you, let's look over in 1 John 1, chapter
12 with me, just to give you one. But there's so many in the
Scriptures. You know, we're created in Christ
Jesus. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creation. By His own mercy, He begat us
again. Not by works of righteousness
which He done, but according to His own mercy, He saved us. James 1.18 says, being born
again, God, by his own will, begat he us with the word of
truth. Look what he said here in verse
12, 1 John chapter 1 verse 12. But as many as received him. Now Nicodemus, did he receive
him as a rabbi, as a teacher? Did I say tell y'all 1 John?
Well, I meant John chapter 1 is what I meant. I'm so sorry. So
sorry. John chapter 1. That's why I
said you should go back a couple of pages. John's gospel 1. But as many as received him,
Nicodemus received him as a rabbi, a teacher come from God. But
you receive him as he is, as God's taught him to be. To them,
those that received him, to them gave he the privilege, the power,
the right to become the sons of God. To them that believe
on his name. Now listen to this. How do you
believe on his name? How do you receive him? How do
you become a son of God? Which were born, not of blood,
nor the will of flesh, nor the will of man, but of God." That
excludes everything that has to do with human beings. That's
why Nicodemus was astonished. And all the scriptures tells
us, you know, in 1 John, it tells us three different times of the
new birth. He says, He that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh is born of God. He that believeth, born of God,
he overcometh the world. That man that is born of God,
he sinneth not. So there are so many scriptures
being born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible. That's
just the New Testament alone. If you go to the Old Testament,
the Old Testament is full of illustrations and messages concerning
the new birth. When God told Ezekiel to go down
to the Valley of Dry Bones, he said there are very many very
dry in that Valley of Dry Bones. And he looked at them and he
said, Son of man, can these bones live again? You know what he
said? God thou knowest. You're the only one who knows
who can live again and who can't. You're the only one who knows.
And then he said, start preaching to them. How would you like God
to tell you to start preaching to a valley of dry bones? I do
it all the time. Every other preacher does it. And God said preach and he began
to preach and then those bones started coming together. And
then a little while he said keep on preaching and flesh come up
on them bones. And then a little while he says
now you saw the air, the breath that come into them and they
became alive. And that's an illustration of the new birth. God taking
dead men with no ability whatsoever and preaching to them and speaking
to them and using the Holy Spirit to bring life to them and setting
them on their feet and standing before God with life that they
never had before and you go all the way like God said you know
you take out the stony heart stony heart hard heart And He
would take and put in a heart of flesh, a flesh can feel, can
be touched, can feel the Spirit of God, can feel the Word of
God, can feel the Lord Jesus Christ, can feel the Spirit of
God, be affected by the Word of God. Look, keep John here
now, John 3, go with me to Ezekiel 36, just a minute. I'll show
you just another one here. You know, Jacob, When the Lord
got a hold of him in Genesis 32, while you're turning, let
me tell you this. God gave him a new name, gave him a new walk,
and that's what God does. When He lays hold of a man, He
lays hold of him, and what He does is He changes him, and God's
got a lay hold of him. And he changes him, and he changes
his nature, he changes his name, and he has that covenant with
him, and that person walks different from that day on. But look what
he said here in Ezekiel 36 in verse 24. God says, I'll take you from
among the heathen. Well, he took me out of a family
of a bunch of heathens. Oh yeah, you say, what do you
mean your family's heathens was, are, and always will be if God
don't do something for them. And watch this, and gather you
out of all countries, out of every kindred, tribe, church,
and people in this world, and we'll bring you into your own
land. Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, except a man
be born of water. What's the water? What's this
water? It's the Word of God. And then
look what else he says here. And you shall be clean. Clean from what? All your filthiness. From all
your idols will I cleanse you. And a new heart also will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of
flesh. And I'll put my spirit within you, and listen to this,
and cause you to walk in my statues, and you shall keep my judgments
and do them. Now that's, God, don't say anything
there about what you had to do. Never said anything about your
will? Didn't say anything about your
power? Didn't say anything about your ability? Didn't say anything
about your choice? Did it not say there, God said,
I will, I will, I will, I will? And that infant cast out, so
many, so many Oh, God passed by that infinite,
polluted in His own blood, and said, I say unto thee, yea, I
say unto thee, live. Not only did He say, I live,
but He said, I'll clothe you, and I'll put earrings on you,
I'll make you beautiful, I'll cause you to grow, I'll make
everything about you beautiful and perfect in my perfection. So let me go back here now to
John chapter 3. Let's talk about regeneration.
Let's talk about the new birth. What is regeneration? When we
talk about regeneration, what does it mean? It means to recreate
or make new. Make new. And in the scriptures,
when we talk about regeneration or something being made new,
it is called, first of all, it's called life from the dead. Ain't
that right? Life from the dead. You were
dead in trespasses and sins. How many dead people did our
Lord give life to? Everybody He gave life to was
dead. There was a time you were dead and He gave you life. And
you're no longer dead. You're no longer in sin. He gave
you life from the dead. He hath translated you from the
power of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son. That's the second
thing, being delivered from darkness. If you love darkness, and when
you're in darkness, the only people who need light is people
that's in darkness. And so Christ comes and gives
us light while we sit in our darkness. Men love darkness,
but Christ came and He gives light to them who sit in darkness.
And the third thing about it is, He said it's called unquickening. You have to be quickened. That
means giving life. Quickened you you who were dead
in trespasses sin has been quickened. You've been quickened together
with Christ and The fourth thing says and it tells about the regeneration
is being born of God Except the man be born again And when it
talks about being born again here with John our Lord told
Nicodemus that in the margin is just born from above Then
God from above, born from above, born from another world, born
from someplace outside yourself. God who is above, Christ who
is above, Holy Spirit who is above. He has to come and He
has to give you life and that's what He means. Born from above. And then there's regeneration.
Now let me tell you the difference between regeneration and conversion.
People say, well, I was converted here and I was converted. Well,
a conversion, regeneration is God giving you life. You're passive
in that. You're as passive in the new
birth as you was in your original birth. And what happens when
God gives you life and He quickens you and regenerates you, what
happens was when that life is manifested, man, when God gives
that man life, He, conversion is, is when that man turns consciously. Consciously towards God in repentance
and faith. A man can't be converted until
he has life. And he will not turn to God in
the evidence of him having life. He turns to God in repentance
and faith. And repentance and faith, once
it starts, it never stops. Is that not right? That's what
conversion is. And oh beloved, after being in
life, he constantly turns to God. And it's called a great
change. And what a great change it is.
Let me tell you what it isn't. You interested in what it's not?
People say this and I've said this before, you know that's
the thing people say, I'm a born again Christian. Let me tell
you something, there's no way in ever believer, every Christian,
everybody who's come to Christ is born again. There's no difference
in God's people that's brought to Christ. There's no way you
can come to God until you have life. There's no way you can
know God until you have life. There's no way you can see God
until you have life. There's no way you can call on
God until you have life. So this idea that there's a class
of people who are born again and the rest of us are just passing
time, that every believer, wherever he's at, whether he's in China,
or Mexico, or Canada, or Crossville, Tennessee, if you are one of
God's people, and you've come to Christ, and believe on Christ,
you've done it because you've been born again, God's give you
life from the dead. Ain't that right? And I tell you, we know when
we was dead, and we know when life comes, But let me tell you
what it isn't. It's not a natural birth. Look
what our Lord said here. It's not a natural birth. Look
what He said in verse 6 and 7. Our Lord said, marvel not. Marvel not. Don't just marvel
at it. Don't stand in wonder that I said unto thee, ye must
be born again. And that's why He says that was
born of the flesh, and verse 6 is flesh. You know what I began,
I have two children. Both of them just like me. Flesh. Born of my seed. And that's why
a man has to be born again, not a corruptible seed. That's all
we got. Is corruptible seed. We produce like. And that's what
our Lord says, you must be born again. If you're born of the
flesh, that's all you'll ever be. And He says, but that is
born of the Spirit. The Spirit of God comes and gives
life. He becomes a spiritual being. And I'll tell you must
but that which is flesh and nothing that our Lord says the flesh
profits nothing. Our flesh and anything we do
in religion, anything we do in salvation, anything we do when
we're sitting here this morning, our flesh profits God nothing,
profits us nothing, adds nothing to our salvation. Is that right? Do you know what your flesh does? It hinders you. It troubles you. It keeps you from paying attention.
It keeps you from listening to the Word of God. It keeps you
where your mind goes here, yonder, and ever. The flesh can surely
hinder you, but it can't do nothing for you, but that's all it can
do. And except God gives you life. Let me tell you something
else. It's not a system of doctrine. A lot of people think, boy, if
I've got my doctrine right, I've got all my ducks in a row. If
I believe A, B, C, D, E, F, I'm alright. But that's not true. Nicodemus, look what he said
here. He in verse 1 said, first of all, he's the ruler of the
Jews. And down there in verse, what
does he say in verse 10? Our Lord says, you're a master
of Israel? You went to the latest theological
seminary, and you got your master's degree, and you're teaching everybody
else, and you're a master of Israel. And you don't know nothing. Don't know anything. Nicodemus
knew that our Lord was a teacher from God and knew much about
his teaching, but our Lord says, Nicodemus, I don't care what
you know, I don't care how long you've been teaching, I don't
care how long you've been in church, I don't care how many
Bible verses you've read and carry around with you, you must
be born again. A lot of these doctored sounding
brasses and doorbells that's in these churches, they need
to be born again. God needs to save them. Do you realize what
would happen in this country if God was to save a hundred
preachers? Save a hundred preachers in America,
that's up in the pulpits preaching right now. Do you realize what
would happen if God saved a hundred and taught them the gospel? And
revealed Christ to them? We'd have a revival in the United
States of America that would not quit. It'd be wonderful. And a natural man, he can learn
a logical system of doctrine. I mean, it's, you know, doctrine's
logical if you follow it. If a man's dead and trespasses
and sins, that automatically, that tells you right then and
there that something has to be done for him. You don't have
no ability. And if they don't have no ability, then God's got
to choose whoever He's going to save. And if He chooses whom
He saves, then, beloved, He's got to die for them and pay for
their sins. And then He's got to call them
to Himself. And if He calls them, He's got to say, keep them and
save them. You just logically go through that. That's the way
religion is. You know, they... And let me tell you something.
Free will is natural to every human being except a boy. That
free willism is natural to a human being. He automatically thinks
he's got this innate power, this innate ability to go to church
when he wants to, accept Christ when he wants to, live for God
if he wants to, learn the Bible if he wants to. That's as natural
to a man and to self-righteousness and braggadociousness, as natural
as drawing your breath. And it's easy for a man to believe
in fatalism. Everything, anything happens
in this world, it's just fate. There's no wisdom behind it.
There's no rhyme or reason behind it. God's not behind it. But
I'll tell you what, he can have a logical system of doctrine,
free willism, which is natural fatalism, but he can't know God
except he's born from above. Our Lord said to Nicodemus, you
can't see the glory of God. You can't see me. And I'll tell
you something else, beloved, that it's not. It's not outward
reformation. Look with me over in Luke. It's
not outward reformation. People do this all the time.
Look in Luke with me just a minute. Luke chapter 11, verse 24. You know, this outward reformation
that people have. You know, they... I've done this myself. Mary's
making, trying to get these, what's that, scrapbooking? Getting
these, what? Yeah, she's getting these picture
albums together, going from years. And boy, we got lots of pictures
when we first got religion. Boy, you could see a radical
change in the way we looked, the way we dressed. And we wouldn't
have known God from a goat. I made a profession on an altar
in Marine City, Ohio with a woman preacher. And everybody in that
place spoke in tongues. You think I could have got converted
there? I got a dose of religion then. I got garnished. I got swept
and garnished. Let me show you what I'm talking
about. Look here in Luke 11.24. When the unclean spirit is gone
out of a man, He walks through dry places, seeking rest and
finding none. Let me tell you what that means.
That means, boy, when them unclean spirits go out, you start going
to church, you start going here, yonder, and you start reading
your Bible, and you just go through dry places, go through dry religion,
go through legalism, go through fundamentalism, go through Pentecostalism,
go through every denominationalism, independentism, everything you
can think of, you'll go through it. Seeking rest, and you'll
never find rest in religion. Never find it. And look what
he said. He said, I'll just go where I
got out at. And he still stays religious.
He's just meaner than a snake. Everybody knows what that's like
to have a mean preacher. And then when he cometh, he finds
it is swept and garnished. Oh boy. This ain't nothing about
being cleansed like we read in Ezekiel 16. A new heart, a new
flesh, a new spirit. It didn't say anything about
that. Swept and garnished. Well, how do you garnish it?
Well, you get your little cross, you put it on your pail. Put
your Bible up on your dashboard so everybody can see you're a
Christian. When you go in a restaurant, bow your heads and say, Oh Lord,
we thank you for this French fried hamburger. Then he goes and he gets him
seven other spirits. He gets Mr. Legal Eye, Mr. Morality, Mr. Legality, Mr. Civility, Moses. He takes Moses, he takes seven
other spirits. He can thank God. And he gets
me. And he is worse than he was when he started. And the last day that man's worse
than the first. He'd been better off. And that's why, God, that's
why you must be born again. Now look down here in verse 37,
just a minute. Oh, now we're cleaning up the
outside. Won't do you any good. Clean
it up all you want to. That's all it is, swept and garnished.
Look what he said here now in verse 37. And as he spake, a
certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him. And he went
in and sat down to meet. And when the Pharisees saw it,
he marveled that he had not first washed before dinner. There's
a pan of water sitting there. There's water sitting there.
Why didn't he go over there and wash himself before he sat down here
to eat? And our Lord said unto him, Now,
now do you Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the
platter He's talking about the outward appearance, but your
inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. You fools! Did not He that made that which
is without make that which is within also? You're worried about
the outward. And God says it's the inward
that has to be taken care of. Oh my! So do you know cleaning
up the outside ain't gonna help you. Ain't gonna do any good
for you. And then making a profession. Make it a profession. Call it
a dog, a sheep, don't make it a sheep. And there's lots of folks, you
know, they make a profession. They make a profession, they
claim it, and we live in this age where they say claim it,
name it and claim it. But just because you say it and
claim it, don't make it so. Don't make it so. I tell you
what, Nicodemus was a ruler. He had a profession. And made
a good living at his profession. Paid him lots of money for being
a ruler over Israel. Wonderful man. Everybody talked
about how good he was. He was a master in Israel. But
he was still dead in his sins. He had a profession. Saul of
Tarsus had a profession. A profession to confessing something
does not make it so. You can call a pig a child if
you want to, but it don't change it from being a pig. You can
do all kinds of things and change it, but it don't make it so.
And that's why the Lord says, Why call ye me Lord, Lord? Confessing that I'm Lord and
you don't do what I tell you. He said, there'll be many say
unto me in that day, you know, that we've done all these things. And our Lord said, I never knew
you'd depart from me. And there's our Lord was inside
a house preaching one day and teaching and his mother and his
brothers comes outside and they said, go in there and tell him
to come out. His mother wants to see him out
here. Go in there and tell him, you know, the Catholics made
so much out of Mary. Our Lord just called her a woman.
The only time he ever called her mother, when he was standing
on the cross and she was standing in front of him, he never called
her mother, just called her a woman. And I tell you what, she said,
go in there and tell my son that his mother is out here and we'll
speak to him. You know what he said? Never
moved. Never made a move. Never started
out the door. You know what he said? He said,
who is my mother? Who is my brother? And he looked around and he says,
he that doeth the will of my father, that's my mother, that's
my brother, that's my sister. That's who it is. I got mothers
in this place. There's my grandmother sitting
right there. There's some of my sisters. There's
some back here that's my mother's, spiritual mothers. God's fathers, spiritual fathers.
God give them to me. And that's what I'm talking about.
A man can claim to be anything he wants to be, don't make it
so. And I'll give you an illustration of that. My dad came to visit
me one time, it was Christmas, I think he was back in, oh it
was, late 70s and I've been 80, 81, 82, somewhere in that neck
of the woods. And he had my brother Elsie Morton was with him. And
he come and he says, boy said, we're on our way to Florida.
Fossproof Florida. Gonna go down there and gonna
look at a motel down there. Said they only want $500,000
for it. We're gonna go down and look at that. Well, he hung around
for a day or two and then he got ready to leave and he said,
Hey BB, you ain't got a little money for gas, do you? You ain't
gonna buy a $500,000 hotel. And look at a $500,000 hotel. You see what I mean? People can
claim anything. And they can put it on the show. But when it's all said and done,
you are what you are. And only God can change that.
So, Floyd used to say, I am what I am and I can't be no yammer. Oh, me. Well, what is it then? I told
you what it ain't. What is regeneration? It's a
change. Look what our Lord said here.
He said, except a man be, down there in verse 5, say unto thee,
except a man be born of water and the Spirit. Oh, what regeneration
is. It's a change. It's a change
that God makes. It's the Spirit. Our Lord said
it's the Spirit that quickens it. What it is, is God creating
a new creature in the same power that raised up the Lord Jesus
Christ from the dead. You look over with me in Ephesians
chapter 1 just a moment. Let me show you something. In
Ephesians chapter 1. Oh, it's God making and creating. It's a creation. It's God creating
a new creature. The same power. He's taking,
He brings into existence a person who never existed before. It's
a new creature. And it's the same power that
raised up Christ is what God uses to quicken us. Look what
He says here in verse 19 of Ephesians 1. Paul said, I want you to know
what the exceeding greatness of his power to us were who believed. He said, God, I want you to know
the exceeding greatness of God's power toward us who are believers
right now and how it came to be according to the working of
his mighty power. which he wrought in Christ when
he raised him from the dead and set him over his own right hand
in the heavenly places. Now he says the same power that
raised Christ from the dead and resurrected him and took him
all the way to glory and then set him at his right hand, he
said, Paul said, that's the same power that God uses and exercises
in us to quicken us. The same power. And that's what
it is. It's a resurrection from the
dead. It's a resurrection from the dead. And that's why, beloved,
we're created in Christ Jesus unto good works. And all is to
be born of God. He says being born again. God
gave us being born again unto a living hope. And let me tell
you something. It's a complete change. It's
a complete change. It's from death to life. We know
we have passed from death unto life. How do we know that? Because
we love the brethren. Do you love the brethren? Do
you love one another? Do you enjoy one another? Do
you delight in one another? Do you like to be with one another?
Do you love to hear the gospel preach? Do you love to be with
the Lord's people? Do you like to be with them in
their home? Do you like to eat with them? Do you like to sit
at their table? Do you like to wait on them and serve them and
do for them? Do you know why that is? Because you passed from death
over here to life and you know how you know you passed because
you have this love that you never experienced before. Saul of Tarsus,
he had a hatred, you're talking about change. Here's a man who
had warrants in his pocket, had warrants in both of his pockets.
For arrest warrants. And he was on his way to Damascus,
he had done put lots of women, done put lots of men, put lots
of children already in jail, and had some of them even put
to death. Because they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. He
had his pockets full of orange and he was on his way to Damascus
to find a nest full of believers over there and he said, I'll
put them out of business when I get there. I'll destroy them,
I'll put them out of business. If they believe on Christ, I'm
going to put them out of business. Well, he was on his way and all
of a sudden there was a light above the brightness of the sun.
Came down on him, it is so bright, caused him to lose his sight,
just like that. He went blind as a bat, just like that. And a power come, and a power
come down on him, and down he went, and he was down on his
knees, he was down in his face, he was down in the dust. And a voice spoke unto him, Saul,
Saul, why are you persecuting me? Who art thou, Lord? I am Jesus. Whom thou persecutest. Oh, you mean this one I've been
fighting against? Yeah. You've been fighting me. And you can't win fighting me.
And he said, Lord, what do you want me to do? And you know a
fellow had to lead him by the hand. From there on God will
show you how helpless you are. I can put you in the dust like
that. I can take your eyesight from
you like that. I can make somebody lead you by the hand. And he
was led by the hand and he stayed like that for three days until
God sent somebody with the gospel. Now wouldn't you call that a
change? You know what I call it? A miracle. That's what the
regeneration is. That's what the new birth is.
It's an absolute miracle. It's a supernatural act of God. And not only that, beloved, but
it's a conscious change. It's a conscious change. Look
with me over in Psalm 40. You reckon a person could be
changed and not know it? Look at Psalm 40. You reckon Lazarus knew that
he had been raised from the dead? Lazarus knew that he was dead,
now he was alive? You know that man that was born
blind, they just kept tormenting him and tormenting him. Who gave
you sight? Who gave you sight? And they
said, we know that, talking about Christ, we know that this man
is a sinner. He said, whether he's a sinner
or not I don't know, but all I know is I was blind, now I
see. And nobody can dispute that,
I was blind, I never saw in my life, 38 years I was blind. And I was blind. Now I see. I see my mother. I see my daddy.
I see my sisters. I see my neighbors I've never
laid eyes on before. I see the sermon I've never seen.
I see colors I've never seen. And you go outside and tell y'all
you're worried about who's done it. She said, oh, why ain't you
rejoicing with me? I got my sight. If God gave you
sight, stand up and say, I see, I see, I see. And let us rejoice
with you. Look what he said here in Psalm
40. I tell you, this is a conscious change. When God regenerates
a man, he knows something's happened. I waited patiently for the Lord,
and He inclined unto me and heard my crying. Now listen to me now.
Listen to what he says here. He brought me up. He didn't say like preachers
say today. He said, you know, all you got to do is just come
up here in the front. All you got to do is say, it's just as
simple as accepting Jesus. I'm going to give you this watch.
That's the way it is getting Jesus. If I offered to give you
this watch, would you come up here and get it? All you got
to do is come up here and get Jesus. Now that's alright, until you
realize you're in a horrible pit. Our Lord didn't look down
and say, climb up that way if you can. That would be like putting a
ladder down there and you know just putting it out of reach
and you can't even reach up and get a hold of it and pull yourself
up. That's awful what people tell, but listen to what he said.
He brought me up also out of a horrible pit. He brought me
up out of the miry clay. Didn't you tell me your last
winter, winter 4 last that you was sitting mud so deep and pulled
the shoes off, the boots off your feet? That's my reclaim
whenever you're walking and he pulls the boots off your feet.
Well that's what our Lord said here. He had to pick me up out
of my reclaim. And look what else he said when
he done that. Then he set my feet upon a rock. I don't know
what rock it was. And listen to this. Not only
that but he established my goals. Then he put a new song in my
mouth. To God be the glory, great things He hath done. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. Down at the cross where I
first saw the light. That's power, power, a wonder-working
power in the blood. Oh, listen. Put a new song in
my mouth. And this is the first thing you
start doing. Praise unto our God. You start
saying things about God that you acknowledge everything about
Him. And look what He said. And many
shall see it in fear. And they'll say, Boy, look what
God done for him. I don't know if God would do
that for me. Oh my, I mean it's a radical change. And it's obeying.
It's a conscious change. It's a complete change. And it's
obeying the voice of Christ. Oh, and let me quickly tell you,
let me quickly go through a few things here. Why is the new birth
necessary? Why is the new birth necessary?
We'll go back to John 3 with me and I'll show you. Then try
to get through this thing. This is so necessary. This is
so necessary. People assume that they believe. People assume that I'm alright. People assume that because I
come and hear this and I hear that, that everything's okay.
But listen, beloved, God must give you life. And if you got
it, you know it. And if you ain't got it, you
know it. You know it. But let me tell
you, why is regeneration necessary? Because man and his state, his
character demands it. And tell you what he said here
in verse 3, except a man be born again, he can't see the kingdom
of God. He just can't do it. Look down
at verse 19, John 3. Character of man demands it.
This is the condemnation, this is the judgment that light has
come into the world. Christ is that light. The Bible
is that light. The word of God is that light.
The light is on this morning. The light is on. And light has
come into the world and men love darkness rather than light. Why?
Because their deeds are evil. I've got to stay in the darkness.
Nobody sees my evil deeds if I'm in the dark. For everyone
that doeth evil, he hates the light. He won't come to light,
lest his deeds be made manifest what they are. Now I'll tell
you what man's way is to do. Man's way is to educate. Man's
way is to legislate. But God's way is to regenerate. Gotta give you life. And then
the character of God demands it. God demands it. How in the world can a sinner,
how can a man who is, God is holy, God is righteous, God dwells
in the light that no man can approach unto, God is light and
in him is no darkness at all. And how can two walk together
except they be agreed? That's why I can't walk with
Arminians and Arminians can't walk with me. We don't agree.
Now we can walk together because we agree. And so what happens
is, he said, God is holy and righteous and God can only commute
and have fellowship with people that's holy, can only have fellowship
with people that's righteous. And that's why in the new birth,
he gives us a new nature. We're made partakers of the divine
nature. And then he declares us righteous
in Christ. And so we're holy by divine nature
and then we're righteous in the sight of God so we can walk with
God and commune with God and fellowship with God because we're
new creatures. Huh? He desires truth in the
inward part. And then let me show you John
3 again. I know I'm taking too long, but
I can't help it. But look here what it says. The
work of our Lord Jesus Christ demands that a man be born again,
be regenerated. And he said in verse 14, as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. Why did he lift him
up for? Because man sinned. Man was a
rebel against God. And God sent those five serpents
and they bit him. And God put a serpent upon a
pole and He said, everybody looks at that serpent on that pole
and be healed. Just like that. And he said, just like Moses,
I've got to be hung up on a tree too. I've got to be hung up on
a tree. But I'm not in the likeness of
sin. You know, I'm in the likeness
and I'm going to be there on that tree. Just like Moses with
that serpent. And he says, look what he goes
on to say. And I whosoever bleeds on him, bleeds on what I accomplished
on that cross, bleeds on me bearing sin on my own body, bleeds that
I bore the sins of those people who believe on me. If you whosoever
believeth on me, believes what I did, what I accomplished, by
my salvation, by my blood, should not perish, but you know what
you'll have? Eternal life. Our Lord Jesus Christ said this,
He said, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,
it just bites by itself. But if it dies, you know what
it does? It brings forth a whole bunch
of fruit. And our Lord said, I die, and
everybody believes on me. He's fruit, the facts of my death. And His blood cries out for man
to be made new. And the work of the Spirit demands
it. Our Lord says the flesh profits nothing. So the Holy Spirit must
regenerate a man. And the word demands it. God
said, except a man be born again, he can't see the kingdom of God.
Look what our Lord said in John 6.63, and I'll wind this thing
up. I hope you understand this. I
hope I didn't muddy the water anyway. I hope I didn't start
out with a clean glass of water and put mud in it. But this is
so necessary. So necessary. People need to
understand that regeneration is what God does for you. You're dead and Christ's got
to give you life. You can raise your hand, you
can sign every card, join every church, get on every altar. But
until God gives you life, that's all you've done. It's just spin
your wheels. Spin your wheels. And you know what we do, we tell
what we know. You get around folks and whatever
they believe, that's what they're going to talk about. If they
believe they, they got saved. They went to the front. They made a decision. I, I, I. But when you find that word I,
It always stands like a great big thing like this here and
the eye never bows. Eye can't be bent. Eye stands up for strong and
proud and powerful. But when God regenerates a man,
He said, I know I'll pass from death unto life. Therefore we should believe He's
precious. God called us out of darkness
into His marvelous light that we should show forth the praises
of Him that done it. And oh, look what our Lord said
in John 6, 63. It is the Spirit that quickens,
gives life. The flesh prophet is nothing.
Listen to what He says now. The words, words that I speak
unto you, they're Spirit. Come from the Spirit, goes to
the Spirit. And they're alive. They give
life. Oh my. You know what he said? He that believeth on me, shall
not perish. How long you gonna have life?
As long as Christ lives, you live. It's the life of Christ,
isn't it? Oh, my. I'd love to. Well, God's will
be done. Our Father, oh, our Father, blessed
be Your name. Oh God, thank you for giving
us life from the dead. Thank you for giving us life
that feels, and is touched, and reacts, and sees, and hears,
and embraces, and walks, and talks, and loves the light, and
loves the Word, loves the gospel, loves the word, and understands
that our flesh contributes nothing to our salvation. Oh God, how
blessed we are, how thankful we are. And Lord, life is in
your hands to give. You've got the power. You're
the only one who does. And I pray that power be manifested
mightily, mightily, mightily in hearts, minds, and wills. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Let's say 236, and then
you'll be at liberty to go. 236. Let's stand and say amen. Everybody knows this. This is
the believers. enter the barrack of unbelievers.
So. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound, Oh, it's not a small thing to
say to a person like you. Oh, now I see. Oh, now I see. Oh, now I see. Oh, how precious. Oh, yes. Oh, blessed Saint, blessed
Saint. All we have, that's all we got
there. Take it all the way, all the
way. He knows best to keep the Lamb
and to keep the Word of God.