Alright, turn with me now again
to the book of John. John chapter 3. And I want to try to cover as
much as I can. I know I'm not going to get through
this lesson. And maybe we'll take it in a part 1 and a part
2. But this is the verses where
our Lord discourses, teaches, whatever you want to call it. Nicodemus comes to him, this
religious leader, and our Lord begins to talk to him about the
new birth. And this is probably one of the
clearest places that I know of in the New Testament as far as
the declaration of what this new birth is and what this new
birth is all about. So let's just take this a few
verses at a time. It begins this way in verse 1,
there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the
Jews. Now he wasn't a king or a prince
or anything like that, but he was a rabbi, he was a teacher,
he was a ruler of the synagogue, he was a man of high esteem,
he was a religious man. But before we get to that, in
order to enter into any kind of understanding of these next
several verses, before you can appreciate what the Lord is teaching
in these next several verses, you must consider this man and
who he was and what he was. And to do that, if you'll just
back up and take this a line at a time, it'll begin to make
some sense to you. To understand who this man was,
we must be brought to receive God's testimony of who man is. You see how he's identified right
away in that verse number 1? There was a man. A man. Now see, we ten, somebody comes
in here and somebody introduces me to him, Maybe this is a rough and rowdy
friend from your past somewhere that you've invited to come in
and nobody's going to talk about that. They're just going to give
me his name and he'll come over and sit down. But now if this
man's a deacon at a church somewhere, then they're going to tell me
about him, ain't they? But he's still just a man. And that's
where our minds lose track of what's going on. You can tack
all the DDs and all that you want, all the letters, you just
tack every letter and alphabet after your name, but the truth
of it is stated right here in these first few words, there
was a man. I don't care if you're a religious
leader. I don't care if you're a ruler of the Jews. I don't
care who you are. You're just a man. And that's
the foundation of which the Lord is going to deal with you. Now
men will deal with you differently. If you're a religious man, they'll
treat you differently than if you're not. But when you come
to God, those differences evaporate. And this is what our Lord does
with this great ruler of the Jews, is He just stops him. He just cuts him off. He just
stops him right in mid-level, and He starts to deal with this
thing of him as a man. As a man. And man is said in
Romans chapter 5 to be dead. This was a dead man standing
before the Lord. Not dead physically, but he was
dead spiritually, John. Dead. Graveyard dead. There wasn't anything spiritual
alive in him. He has no spiritual abilities
whatsoever. Now, natural abilities he has. Natural things he has attained.
But spiritually, he's dead. He's as dead as any corpse down
here in the cemetery. He's dead. You can't begin to
build on something in him because he's dead. Nobody around the
tomb of Lazarus bothered to roll the stone back because they understood
he was dead. Spiritually, when I preach to
men, I want to keep telling myself, these men are dead. Can these
bones live? That's the prerequisite to preaching
the gospel. I'm preaching to dead, dry bones.
Can they live? Oh, Lord God, thou knowest. I
don't know. Nothing I can do to make them
live. Nothing I can do. They're dead. Man is dead in
Romans 5 by one man. We're talking about man right
now. By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. You go through this fifth chapter
of Romans and it says the judgment was by one to condemnation. By
one man's offense, death reigned by one. By the offense of one
judgment came upon all men to condemnation, and by one man's
disobedience many were made sinners. Man's dead, not physically, but
spiritually. And you can deny it, and most
men do. And you can reason it away, and
most men do. Or you can just totally ignore
it. But this is God's testimony toward men. And if you deal with
God, this is the first thing you're going to deal with. You're
dead. You're dead. Listen to this,
in Psalm 39, verse 5, he said, Man at his best state, that's
where Nicodemus was, at his best state, is altogether vanity. Ain't that what it says? Vanity. He's dying physically, but he's
dead legally in trespasses and sins, and he's dead spiritually
which is the very core of his problem. Man has a nature, and
in that nature he can move around and he can do things within the
confines of that nature. That's what makes him religious,
is his nature. God's left a witness in him,
he's left a conscience in him, and his conscience tells him
he's guilty. You're guilty, you're guilty. But he's dead spiritually
and he don't know how to reconcile himself to God. He don't know
how to put away that guilt and so he begins to do this and do
that and reason this and reason that and he's easily deceived. And so Satan deceives him. The
world deceives him. His own heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. And so he becomes a religious
man by nature. How do I know that so? Because
there's not a civilization ever recorded in the history of man
who was not religious. That's how I know it. And most
of them never had anything to do with the Word of God or anything
to do with anything. Go to deepest, darkest Africa
where there's no Bible, no missionaries, no nothing, and they're in there
worshiping some kind of a God. He's religious by nature. And there's nothing in his nature
to enable him to perceive spiritual things. Here was Nicodemus. I guess in our day the equal
to his title would be a Master of Theology. We had one of them
up in Ashland, Kentucky. Graduated from Temple University
with a Master's Degree in Theology. That's what Nicodemus was. He
learned all kinds of things. You could pick out any book in
the Bible and he could sit there and you could have a conversation
about it and he'd know all the names you mentioned and he'd
know all the doctrines that you were talking about. He had a
good knowledge of the book, mechanically. But he had no spiritual perception,
no spiritual perception whatsoever. Because there's nothing in his
nature to enable him to perceive these spiritual things. All of
his ideas, all of his concepts, they're all carnal. He can move
around and do things within the confines of that nature. He can
design things. He can solve problems. He can
invent things. He can build things. He can raise
a family. But he cannot go beyond the bounds
of that nature. He can't do it. Paul told Daddy
Fee's in church, that they were exactly as other men before God
saved them. And he began to describe to them
what they were and talked about them walking according to the
course of this world and according to the prince of the power of
the air. And he said, you were by nature, he said. Ain't that
what he said? You were by nature the children
of wrath. And man can't change his nature.
Ain't that what he said over in Jeremiah? He said, can a leopard
change his spots? Can an Ethiopian change the color
of his skin? Neither can you that are accustomed
to do evil do good. You can't do it. Why? Because
your nature won't let you. Your nature won't let you. And
then watch this. He was of the Pharisees, it says. Of the Pharisees. The Pharisees
were the best of the best that natural Israel could produce.
You're talking about as good as a man could get. Paul said
he was a Pharisee and he said, as touching the law I was blameless.
That's a pretty good feller there, blameless, before the law got. He kept the law in every detail
to the best of his ability. He performed and honored the
ceremonies, the holy days. He attended the synagogues of
worship. He read the scriptures. He prayed
three times a day. He paid tithes of everything
that he had. And he would destroy any man
who tried to compromise or tear down what he believed. He'd destroy
them. He was a righteous man. Now let
me read you something from over here in 2 Timothy. He said, he begins to talk to them, and
I'm going to use this scripture in my message this morning, so
I don't want to use too much of it, but I want you to hear
this particular part of it. He said, men shall be lovers
of them own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection,
truth breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers
of those that are good, traitors, heady, High-minded, lovers of
pleasures more than lovers of God. Now, that's a pretty good
description of a pretty rowdy bunch of men, isn't it? Sounds to me like he's describing
some outlaw motorcycle gang or something to me. One of these
gangs out here in Los Angeles that do these drive-by shootings
and stuff like that. Sounds like something like that
to me. Listen to this next verse. I just read to you all these
things how he describes them. Now listen to this next verse.
Having a form of godliness. Those people I just described
to you, those are religious folks. having a form of godliness but
denying the power thereof, verse 7, ever learning but never able
to come to the knowledge of the truth. That's man. And when he
dresses up in his religious garb, he's still a man. He's still
a traitor. He's still ungodly. He's still
a murderer. He's still an adulterer. He's
still an idolater. Just because he dresses up in
his religious garb doesn't bring him one iota closer to God. If
anything, he's going the other direction. And I know that makes
folks mad, but that's the truth. Our Lord looked at those Jews
who heard him speak and resisted him and who rejected his message,
and he said, it will be better for the folks in Sodom and Gomorrah
than it's going to be on you. Isn't that what he said? That's
exactly what he said. Nicodemus was a religious man,
but he was dead. And man can be religious, but
he can't produce faith. He can't do it. Man can be religious,
but he can't produce true love. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. Over and over, John tells you,
that's how you can recognize a man that's passed from death
unto life. He loves a brethren. He loves them. He don't hate
them. He don't despise them. He's not going to fight with
them. They may get into an occasional argument, but the sun ain't going
to go down on his wrath. That just ain't going to happen.
It ain't going to happen. He loves the brethren. He loves
them for Christ's sake. He's had the love of God demonstrated
in his heart, shed abroad in his heart. He loves. He loves. And a man can be religious, but
he can't produce obedience. He can't do it. He's a rebel
by nature and he can't obey anything. He just can't do it. He'll make a decision and call
it obedience, but he can't obey. He can't obey. Obedience, true obedience is
submission to the sovereign rule of Christ and to the Word of
God. He said, They are of the world, therefore the world heareth
them. He said, We are of God. He that
knoweth God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth
not us. Hereby know ye the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error. He had been brought down to obedience. Sin reigns unto death by a fallen
nature and by the deceptive influence of Satan and of this world and
by natural reason and logic. That sin reigns. It reigns. And if you stop the creek here,
it just goes over the bank and cuts a new channel over here.
And if you stop it over there, it goes over the bank and cuts
a new channel over here. You can't stop it. It just reigns
and reigns and reigns unto death. Unto death. And I tell you, all
religion does is stick its finger in the dike. That's all it does.
That's all it does. But as that sin reigns over man,
even so the righteousness of Christ reigns, and it results
in God's favor and brings to the believer such things of His
grace that he needs to be reconciled to God. Listen to this. In Romans chapter
5, he said, for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to
God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled, we
shall be saved by His life. That is, before you even knew
Him, before you even had any concept of what was going on,
before you were ever even born, Christ came and died on a cross. and was buried, and God raised
him from the dead for your justification. Raised him from the dead to reconcile
you to God. He did that before you was ever
born. But now, being raised and accepted
of God and honored and crowned and seated on the throne in glory,
Having manifested these things, having accomplished redemption,
how much more, he said, is he able to give these things unto
you, provide these things unto you? And the first of which is
the new birth. The new birth. The beginning of death was a
fall in nature. The beginning of life is the
receiving of a new one. The new birth is not an option,
it's a necessity. A necessity. In John 3, verse
3, look at that. He said, "...except a man be
born again, he cannot see or perceive the kingdom of God."
Verse 5, "...except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." It's a necessity. It's not an option. Not an option. This new birth is not only a
necessity, but it is and must come to men as the gift of God
because men can't produce it. It's got to be sent of God. You
can't drum it up. You can't obligate God to do
it. It has to be given to you. It has to be given to you, John. Not based on what you do. Not
based on any of those things. Actually, it's based on what
you are in your inability. The one thing that qualifies
a man for the grace of God is the one thing he will not confess,
and that's that he's a sinner. He's a sinner. Salvation is for
sinners. Christ said, think not that I
have come to call the righteous, I have not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. It is your sinful condition,
it is the absolute inability of the flesh that qualifies you
for the grace of God. And I'll show you this morning
in the message how that's God's eternal design. That's His eternal
design. You see your calling, brethren. Just look at your own calling.
That's all you have to do. Turn with me to John chapter
16. In John chapter 3 verse 8, just
turn over there where I had, I'm going to read you one more
thing here in John chapter 3. The Lord told Nicodemus, He said,
The wind bloweth where it listeth. I looked that word up. It means
where it's inclined to go, where it's sent by He who rules over
providence. That's where that wind blows.
It blows where it listeth. And He said, and you hear the sound
thereof, but you can't tell whence it cometh or where it goeth.
You can't tell where it's going or where it came from. It's when? So is everyone born of my Spirit.
Alright, listen to this. And this is one of the most little
known facts, I believe, of all the means of God concerning salvation. The new birth. It has to be one
of the most misunderstood things. Declarations in Scripture. Because
this is not something you can learn out of a book. This is
something you have to experience yourself. Then you can talk about
it. Then you can begin to try to
teach it. The Sovereign Spirit of God is not on standby. He's not up there on standby. He's not over here at the side
waiting on somebody to make a decision or waiting on somebody to do
this or do that. The Sovereign Spirit of God is
sent to a specific people. Now I want you to see that over
here. Look at this in John chapter 16. I don't want to read too
much because I've got a lot of notes here, He said, nevertheless,
verse 7, I tell you the truth, it is expedient, it is necessary,
absolutely necessary for you that I go away. For if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart,
I'll send him unto you. He sent John. Huh? He sent. He said, you don't call
him down. You can't call him down. Now
I'm telling you, if you ever experience true Holy Spirit conviction,
you're going to understand what I'm talking about. You can't
call the Holy Spirit of God down. He won't come. He won't come. You can pray till you're blue
in the face. You can sit in there and tremble and cry and whine
and it's not all night and He ain't coming. He comes because
He's sent. He's sent. I'm telling you, this
whole thing is of God. It's of God. And He said, if
I go not away, He said, I know you're sad, and I know you're
sorry, and I'm not leaving you because I don't love you, I'm
leaving you because I do love you. But if I don't go, If I
don't go to this cross and go to my death and ascend up to
my Father, if I go not away, the Comforter will not come. He ain't coming. But if I go,
I'll send Him unto you. I will. There's a word of comfort. I will send Him unto you. representative of Israel must
take his seat on the throne before his people can reap the benefits
of his rule. And I say the same thing as to
the faith of God's elect that comes through the new birth.
I cannot have any hope as to this new birth or of any kind
of assurance of faith until the King of glory ascends and sits
on the throne of my heart, because regeneration and his ascension
and right to rule and his sacrifice is inseparably joined together. Now, you can't have the new birth
and somewhere down the line come to a knowledge of the doctrines
of grace and of the sacrifice of Christ. They're joined together
permanently, inseparably joined. And this is what happened with
Nicodemus. He come down here and approached
Christ as a teacher. The first business of regeneration
is not approaching Christ as a teacher, but it's approaching
Christ as your Savior. As your Savior. If I go not away,
He's not coming. I'm going to approach Him as
myself. You can't teach an unregenerate man. He just stopped him. He said, well, Nicodemus, well,
except you be born again. You can't perceive. We don't
need to go any further. There's no need for me to begin
to explain and expound and teach and do all these things. Except
you be born again, you can't perceive the Kingdom of God.
I'm wasting my time. I'm wasting my time. And that's
why I tell you, don't get engaged with arguments with natural men. Just don't do it. Just declare
the truth and walk away. Walk away. If God doesn't accompany
that truth, nothing's going to happen. You might as well just
sit here and talk to that wall. It's foolishness. Just don't
do it. If He gives you an opportunity
to witness to somebody, declare the truth to them. Don't argue
with them. Declare the truth to them and then walk away. Just
walk away. He who rules sits on the throne
and the reason for the new birth is the redemptive work of Christ
whom God has accepted and seated and crowned and given a name
above every name. Listen to this, being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith. There can be no faith apart from
the new birth. There can be no faith apart from
the new birth, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in His blood to declare. Now we're talking about the new
birth. To declare. It's a declaration. It's not an argument. It's not
a teaching. It's a declaration. And it comes
by the power of God's Spirit and by revelation. And this revelation,
here's what it is. It's this propitiation through
faith in His blood to declare His righteousness for the remission
of sins. And that's what it's all about.
That's what it was all about in the Old Testament, which this
scripture I just quoted you tells you. for the remission of sins
that are passed through the forbearance of God. God set him forth in
the tabernacle. He set him forth in the old sacrifices. He set him forth in all those
things in the Old Testament. And those of true faith look
forward to the coming of Christ through those sacrifices. They
saw that priest, but they saw that priest that God was going
to send. Not that fellow dressed in the
linen. When they looked at him, they saw him as a type. And they
preached about it and talked about it. Well, he told those
Jews, he said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and
was glad. Moses sustained the reproach
of Christ, greater riches, and that's why he forsook Egypt.
These Old Testament saints weren't dumb as you think they are. They
didn't go in there and revel around a bunch of animal blood.
They saw Christ through those things because God set him forth. for the remission of those sins
that are passed in the Old Testament. And he said, I say to you, verse
26, to declare at this time his righteousness, having set him
forth in the person of Christ, that he might be just and justifier
of him that believeth in Jesus. This new birth is the declaration
of the Holy Spirit of God in the hearts of chosen sinners
that God and man have been reconciled. That's what it's about. Not about
speaking in tongues. It's not about giving you some
power to live on some higher level of sanctity before God. This thing is about a declaration
of reconciliation between man and God. That's what it is. And
I'll tell you this, anything less than that is another spirit. It's another spirit. And it's
another gospel. Listen to this in Galatians 3. In verse 13, he said, "...Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse
for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a
tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith." Same way he did. same way.