I believe that every one of us
are familiar with the term, born again Christian. It's a term
I've heard pretty much all my life. But that terminology is
very much like the terms that we use like sovereign God and
sovereign grace. You see, God cannot be God if
He's not sovereign. And grace cannot be grace unless
it too is sovereign. We put those adjectives before
those words of God and grace to distinguish what we determine
to be God and grace. But really, they're synonymous.
There is no God but a sovereign God. There is no grace but sovereign
grace. And it's the same with the term
born-again Christian. There's no Christian, no true
Christian, no true believer that is not born again. Being born
again is what enables sinful men and women to believe. For
without this new birth, no man can see and no man can enter
into the kingdom of God. Unless God gives sinners life,
they cannot believe. No man or woman can trust in
Christ as their all-sufficient Savior unless God first gives
them life. True believers will tell you
straight up that they were dead in trespasses and sin. They had to be given a new life.
They had to be given a new heart. They had to have a heart transplant. They had to have a new creation
performed before there was ever spiritual life in them. God told Adam that if he ate
of the forbidden tree, that he would die. But He did not mean
physically. He said, in the day you eat thereof,
you shall die. But Genesis 5 tells us that all
the days of Adam were 930 years. And he died. after 930 years. So God was speaking
of a spiritual death. And each of us, being the descendants
of Adam, we've inherited that awful death. Now the Apostle
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5-7, he said, if any man be in Christ,
he is what? He says he's a new creation.
He's a new creature. Old things are passed away, and
behold, all things are become new. He's born again. He's a new creation in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we have to go back to what
Paul said in Ephesians chapter 2. He said, "...and you hath
he quickened..." That word means made alive. "...who were dead
in trespasses and sins." Dead. Wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, that being Satan. the Spirit that
now worketh in the children of disobedience." And we all, every
single one of us, had our conversation in times past, fulfilling the
desires of the flesh and of the mind, and we were by nature. And if we're without Christ,
we are still by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But
then comes those blessed two words that I absolutely love
out of the Scriptures. But God, but God, who is rich
in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in trespasses and sin, quickened us, made us alive together with
Christ. And He adds, by grace. By grace
you are saved. That's the only way this new
birth can take place. God in mercy and grace bestows
it upon those that He chose before the foundation of the world.
And He hath raised us up and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. Now a new birth is much more
than just change. It's a creation. That's very
important. It's not just to reform, improve,
to make better, to refine, to alter. It's not just to make
adjustments. It's not to amend, revise, reshape,
revamp, all these words that we use. It's not to redesign. It's not to rebuild, reconstruct,
or remodel in order for sinners to be reconciled. and put back
in good standing with a thrice holy God, they must be born again."
A new life must be received. And no improving of this present
life will be adequate or sufficient in its place. I pray from our
study before us this morning, we'll see that great truth from
the Scriptures. So with that said, turn with
me to the Gospel of John chapter 3. Most everyone in the world
is familiar with John chapter 3, especially verse 16. For God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And
I love that passage. Men have taken it and made a
whole gospel out of it, saying that God loved the whole world
and every man in the world. If that was the case, there'd
be no need for hell. Hell would be empty. If God died
for the whole world, there'd be none in hell. All would be
saved. But we know that's not so. He
said in John 17, 9, I pray not for the world, but for those
which thou hast given me. But we're not going to argue
that point this morning. I want to show you something
that I hope will be a blessing to you and an encouragement to
you. So in John chapter 3, let's begin in verse 1. There was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. And 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." Now the first thing
I want to call your attention to here is the fact to know about
God, to know about Christ and the Scriptures will profit you
nothing. What? That's what I said. To know about God. That's the
key. To know facts about Christ and
salvation will not save you. To profess that Jesus Christ
was even God's beloved Son and the sinner's blessed Savior will
profit you nothing unless you know Him to be your Lord and
your Savior. Thomas. Oh, doubting Thomas we
call him. Well, not be so hard on Thomas.
I doubt every day. But Thomas, the disciple, did
not believe the others when they told him that Christ had resurrected
from the grave. He was absent the day that Christ
appeared unto them. And I tell you what, he didn't
make any bones about it. He said very deliberately and
plainly, he said, except I see. except I see in his hands the
print of the nails, and I put my finger into the print of the
nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe."
That's exactly what he said. Then eight days later, when the
doors were shut and locked in fear for their lives, the Lord
appeared again unto them, and this time Thomas was present.
And our Lord said unto him, first thing, he said, Thomas, reach
hither thy finger, and behold my hands. And reach hither by
hand, and thrust it into my side. And be not faithless, but believe. But believe. And do you remember
what Thomas answered? Oh, I tell you, his answer was
a personal one. He said, My Lord and my God. My Lord, my God. Oh, friends,
you can know about the Word of God and not know the God of the
Word. Let me say that again. You can know about the Word of
God and not know the God of the Word. That's right. Nicodemus
was a ruler. Nicodemus was an intelligent
man, naturally speaking. He knew the Old Testament Scriptures.
He was a rabbi. He knew the Old Testament scriptures.
And he knew they foretold of the coming of the Messiah. Very
well he knew that. But he did not know the Messiah
who was standing right before him. He knew some things, but
he didn't know Him. Yes, he knew some things. Look
at verse 2. Again, Nicodemus said, We know.
Do you see that? We know, speaking of the educated
and religious youths, we know that thou art a teacher. They
knew and acknowledged that Christ was a teacher. Even a teacher
that came from God. Thou art a teacher that came
from God. They knew that no man could do the miracles that Christ
did except God be with him. But for God to be with him and
the fact that he was God in the flesh are two completely different
things. Do you see that? To know about
and to know Him. Two different things. Matter
of life and death difference. matter of life and death difference.
He said, we know you're a teacher. We know that the things that
you do that no man could do except God be with him. But what he
didn't know, that he was God. Jesus Christ is God. That's what
we must believe. That's what we bow to. It was
God who gave himself for sinners. Don't ever miss that beautiful
truth. Oh, I tell you, how great was
our sin. It was so great that God Himself
had to die in our place. Oh, don't miss the beauty in
that. He knew God sent Him, but He didn't know Him. And in verse
3, 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. Now, our Lord here is saying
that verily, verily, that strong language. He said, I'm telling
you the truth, Nicodemus, you better listen to me. You better
ask God to give you eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to
believe what I'm fixing to tell you. Verily, verily, I say unto
you, oh, listen to me. This is a matter of utmost importance. unless a man or a woman be born
again, He cannot see. He cannot. You notice those words? He cannot. Is that what your
Bible says? He cannot see. The Lord basically
said the same thing in John 6.44 when He said, No man can come
to Me except the Father which sent Me draw him. It's the work of God in giving
a new creation, friends, a new life, a new heart to sinners
that they can see and that they can come. Accept. They can come. Accept God. That word to me screams
sovereignty. That word screams to me that
God is in control of all things, especially salvation, especially
the new birth. There's only one way. Christ
is the Way, Christ is the Truth, Christ is the Light, and no man
cometh to the Father, but by Me. Except a man be born again,
he cannot see. Except God draw a man, he cannot
come." Do you see that? It's so plain, isn't it? Redemption
is the doing and the work of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must see Christ as a sinner
substitute, His surety, and His one mediator between God and
man. The only way that I, a sinner, will ever be reconciled to a
thrice holy God is if the Lord Jesus Christ stands in the gap.
For Him to say, Father of heaven and earth, I died for this sinner. I shed my blood for him. And
God says, well then he's perfect. He's perfect. Enter in, thy good
and faithful servant." We must come to Christ and trust in Christ
alone as the all-sufficient Savior, who alone is that one mediator
between God and man. Christ is the Kingdom of God.
If we're going to see the Kingdom of God, we've got to see Christ.
Unless you're born again, born of God, you cannot see Christ
in whom the Kingdom of God exists. He is the Kingdom of God. But
Nicodemus couldn't see and he did not understand. And that's
very obvious by the preceding verses. Notice the first two
words out of his mouth in verse 4. How can? How can? How can a man be born
when he's old? How can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? How can? How can? How can? Oh, what faithless words. Have you ever heard a Christless
man or woman ask you those two words, how can? Not long ago
I had a man say, how can you believe the Bible while it was
written by man? So he said, how can you? How
can you believe the Bible? My answer was by grace through
faith. I believe that in the beginning
was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. I believe it by faith. I believe
it because God took out this old heart of stone and put in
a heart of flesh. And now I'm a new creature and
I walk by faith and not by sight. It's by divine revelation that
I believe. It's by divine revelation that
you believe. It's by a new birth that God
gave me in Christ that I see. And it's the same with you. How
can you believe that salvation is by grace alone? I've been
asked that question. How can, how can, how can you
believe that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone,
in Christ alone, as you often admit, when the Bible plainly
says to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling? That
is a scriptural statement. It's found in Philippians 2.12.
The men will stop right there. If they went on to read the very
next verse in verse 13, they'd see the answer. For it is God
which worketh in you to will and to do of his good pleasure."
That's how I work out salvation with fear and trembling, because
it's God that worketh in me. You and I cannot work out what
God has not worked in. You see that? Romans 4 verses
4 and 5, Now to him that worketh is a reward not reckoned of grace,
but of debt. You can't work yourself into
salvation, but to him that worketh not, now listen to this, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. And that's what you and I do.
We believe God by His grace and mercy and by His new birth. It's
being without understanding that men have such ridiculous questions. And so it was with Nicodemus.
Now remember, naturally speaking, he wasn't any dummy. He was an
educated man. And I'm telling you today, there
are a lot of educated men and women, much, much brighter and
smarter than I am, that believe such foolish things concerning
God. They don't see from the Scriptures.
They're not taught from the Scriptures. Concerning the Law, the Prophets,
and the Psalms, Nicodemus had great knowledge, but concerning
spiritual things, he had no knowledge at all. He didn't see that the
Law, and the Prophets, and the Psalms were concerning Christ.
How can a man that's old be born again? He said. Well, he can't.
Physically speaking. He said, how can he enter the
second time into his mother's womb and be born? Well, I'm not
very smart, but I know that he can't. Physically speaking. Oh,
how patient our Lord is with ignorant men and women. How do
you know that, Brother David? By experience. By experience. I was so ignorant of God's way
and God's word. Oh, how I wish, and I know you
feel the same, how I wish I could undo all the stupid things that
I said and did in religion. I'd give anything if I could,
but I can't. My point is God was patient and
merciful with me. He would not be sidetracked either
by Nicodemus' foolish questions. He just kept preaching that one
thing needful. That one thing needful. Which
was a new birth. Look at verse 5. Though Nicodemus
did not understand the mystery of regeneration, yet Christ proclaims
the necessity of it as positively as before. And I believe that
Nicodemus was willing to learn. I know this much. He must have
had an interest or he wouldn't have come to Christ, even though
he came at night, hoping no one would see him, but he still came.
And he surely wouldn't have stayed with all the hard sayings from
our Lord. So our Lord simply states the
truth once again. That's what we've got to do.
We just keep stating the truth. We plant, we water. God has to
give the increase. I can't save anyone. If I could,
you'd all be saved. God's got to do the same. "...Except
a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot see or
enter into God's kingdom of rest and hope." To be born again is
to be born of the Spirit. The change is not wrought by
any wisdom or power of our own, but it's by the power of God.
How did God speak the worlds into existence? He said, let
there be light, and there was light. And the Spirit of God
moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, and it was. And God said, and it was. And God said, and it was. It's
the same with the new birth. We know from 1 Corinthians 2
that the natural man, the natural woman, all of us by birth, receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto us, neither can we know them. Why? He tells us. You know
why? They're spiritually discerned. They're spiritually discerned.
And that's exactly what our Lord tells Nicodemus in verse 6. He says, "...that which is born
of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit." That's exactly what our Lord says. They're spiritually
discerned. You have to be born of the Spirit
to understand these things. The natural man doesn't receive
them. He can't understand them. He can't believe them. But the
spiritual man can. The spiritual woman can. And
that takes a new birth. That takes the work of God in
the hearts of sinners in order for them to be able to understand. Fleshly folks mind fleshly things. Spiritual folks mind spiritual
things. God must give spiritual light a new birth in order for
that to be accomplished. So again, our Lord says what
He said before. Look at verse 7. Man, He is not
changing His message, and neither should we. This is what we must
preach. Marvel not, He said, that I said
unto thee, Ye must be born again. This is the answer to every lost
man or woman. All men and women by nature,
birth, and practice have the need, the desperate need, of
being born again by the Spirit. Now let's just for a moment or
two consider some things concerning this statement by our Lord. First,
I'd have you notice that it's very personal. Very personal. You, you, you must be born again. In order for you to be reconciled
to God, you have to be born again of God. Now it doesn't say that
you must work. Does it say that? It doesn't
say that you must do. It doesn't say that either. Matter
of fact, it says and commands that you do something that you
cannot do. You cannot do it in and of yourselves. So we conclude that it must be
done for us. You must be born again. Only God can make you a new creation. Do you see that? Notice, secondly,
the great necessity. Oh, it's imperative. It's essential. And in order to be redeemed,
it's a requirement. You must. You must. be born again. That's what that
word must mean. Necessity. Absolute essentialness. A total requirement. The text
doesn't say you must change your opinions. You must adopt new
notions. You must come around to our way
of thinking. You've got to have a new nature. You've got to be born again of
God. Notions be altered again and
again and again. Man, I've changed my opinion
about so many things so many times that how could I put any
trust in that being salvation? And yet men and women may come
no nearer to being a child of God by altering their notions
over and over again. But if the nature be changed
by the Holy Spirit, then the matter is accomplished. I hear
all the times of things like, so-and-so got saved. Well, how
do you know that? Well, he quit drinking and started
going to church. People can quit drinking, they
can quit gambling, they can quit smoking, they can quit chewing,
they can quit cursing, but if they hadn't been given a new
nature, then at best they may be a little healthier and a little
more pleasant to be around, but unsaved. And beloved, it doesn't
matter if you were baptized in infancy or baptized in adult
and baptized and rebaptized and baptized again. If you don't
have a true interest in the gospel, Christ and God's people, you
can say you saved all you want and you deceive yourselves. You
deceive yourself if you think this way. Listen, to be born
again will cause a man or a woman to desire to hear the gospel
every time they possibly can without exception. I must hear
it. Tell me that story again and
again of how Christ died for no good wretched sinners like
me. That's what we want to hear.
It's all we care to hear. Being born again, a cause a man
or woman to desire to be with the people of God at every opportunity
they're afforded. Okay, verse 8. The Lord tells
Nicodemus, He said, Nicodemus, the wind blows where it listeth. Where it wants to. That's what
that means. And thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst
not tell whence it came, or whence it cometh, and whither it goeth.
So is every one that is born of the Spirit." You see, friends,
the wind blows this way, and that is God directs it. You hear
it rustling through the trees, but you don't have any idea where
it came from. You don't have any idea where
it's headed next. God has mercy on whom He'll have
mercy. But I know that God saves sinners
by the foolishness of preaching. Because that's what he says in
his word. You must hear the gospel through
a messenger of God. And with that said, I proclaim
to you without any reservation, if you really, I mean really,
want to be born again, if you really desire mercy and forgiveness
for your sins, if you really pray and beg God to send His
Spirit to you and give you rest, He will. But I thought it said,
I'll have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. That's exactly what
it says. But I can't find anywhere in
Scripture, you hear me say this all the time, and I intend to
be redundant, God has not once do I find in Scripture where
He turned down a pleading and begging sinner who was asking
for mercy. I have no reason to believe that
He's changed. If you want to be saved, you
can be saved. If God has shown you what you
are, and shown you your need of Christ, and you desire Christ,
I have no doubt whatsoever in my mind that He'll give Him to
you. Do you believe that then? You do, don't you? You hadn't
always believed it, neither did I, but you believe it now. Because
it's been your experience. You've experienced it. You've
seen. You wanted mercy and God gave it to you. You desired to
be born again and God granted your desire. Why? Because His
mercy endures forever. Oh, Blind Bartimaeus, man, I
love him. I talk about him quite often
too. Well, he yelled at the top of his lung. Jesus, our son of
David, have mercy on me. And everybody around him said,
you old good-for-nothing blind beggar, shut your mouth. And
you know what he did? He cried that much louder. You
know why he cried that much louder? He needed mercy. He knew that
mercy was only in the one that passed by him that day. And he
cried that much louder. And the Scripture said, and Jesus
stood still. Oh, do you want the attention
of the Savior? Cry from your heart, Lord, have
mercy on me. Lord, have mercy on me. Make
that your one desire in all of life, that the Lord might show
mercy on you. And He will. He will. Oh, how
God hears the pitiful cries of the poor and needy. That's who
He came to save, sinners. And many of you, like Nicodemus,
say in verse 9, look at it, he said, how can these things be? How can God save a wretch like
me? The answer is by grace. The answer
is by mercy. God's mercy endures forever. And verse 10, Jesus answered
and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel? And knowest not these
things? Now this is the problem. And
I'll hurry. Men and women know too much to
be taught anything. You know what I'm saying? Men
and women know too much to be taught anything. I love it when
a sinner comes and says, I don't know nothing except I'm a sinner. I'm in a mess and I need help.
But men that have been proselyted their whole life and taught in
religion, they've got to unlearn everything to learn the truth. That takes a new birth. Aren't
you a master of Israel and don't know these things? Oh, they have
their carnal ideas of salvation which are of the flesh. No man
or woman will ever give up their preconceived notions unless they're
completely reborn into the kingdom of God's beloved Son. That's
the only thing that will do it. And they will say with John the
Baptist, when that has been accomplished, Christ must increase and I must
decrease. We've got to get ourselves out
of it. Not by works of righteousness that we have done. We have done,
strike it from your vocabulary. In the things of God we have
done means nothing. Christ has done. Christ will
do. Salvations of the Lord. Oh, you
must be born again or you'll never see the Kingdom of God
unless God showers you with water which represents His grace, which
will cause you to never thirst again and give you His Spirit.
You'll never enter into His blessed Kingdom. Marvel not! Don't marvel. The Lord said, marvel not that
I said unto you, ye must be born again. Now I could go on for
hours. This chapter is just full, but
I'm not going to. But look at verse 14. Let me
just read a few verses in closing. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting,
eternal life. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. And God sent not his Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through
him might be saved. God sent Christ into the world
to save folks, to save sinners, not to condemn them. He that
believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation.
This is why men are condemned. The light is coming to the world.
And men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil. For everyone that doeth evil
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved. But now notice verse 21. But
he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may
be made manifest. And look at that last phrase,
that they are wrought. in God. You know what that word
rot means? Created. Created. I say to those
of you that are yet without Christ, you, that's a personal one, you
must, it's imperative, it's essential, be born again. You must be.