In verse seven, the Lord said
to Nicodemus, marvel not, don't be surprised, don't be amazed
by this statement. When I say to you, you must be
born again. In verse three, the Lord prefaces
what he says with a verily, verily. He says, verily, verily, truly,
truly. I say unto you, except a man
be born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And then
he says in verse five, once again, verily, verily. Now, when the
Lord says this. He's giving us some idea of the
importance and the weight and the solemnity of what he's saying. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
you must be born again. Now look in verse one of John
chapter three. There was a man of the Pharisees,
and the chapter division here is actually not that great. You've got to have him somewhere,
but look in verse But Jesus did not commit himself unto them,
because he knew all men, and he needed not that any should
testify of man, for he knew what was in man. Well, what was in
man? Nothing but sin. That's it. Man in his best state
is altogether vanity. He knew what was in man, and
there was a man of the Pharisees. Now, this man, there was nothing
but sin. He was a man of the Pharisees. The word Pharisee means a separated
one. He practiced human religion,
the religion we all have by nature, that religion that makes us believe
that there's something that we do that separates us from other
men, a man of the Pharisees. The example is the Pharisee in
the temple. Remember, the Pharisee went into
the temple and stood and prayed thus with himself, Lord, I thank
Thee. He gave God the credit. This
man was a Calvinist. He gave God the credit. I thank
Thee that I'm not as other men. And he went on to talk about
the things that he did and did not do. He thought what he did,
although he was giving God the praise, he said, I'm thanking
You. He thought what he did or did not do is what separated
him from everybody else. I thank thee that I'm not as
other men are. I fast, I pray, I tithe. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not
unjust. I'm not like this publican. That's a human religion. Thinking
there's something that you do that separates you from others.
And his name was Nicodemus. He was a ruler of the Jews, a
member of the Jewish Sanhedrin. This man was a nothing. as all men are, who thought himself
to be something. He was a ruler of the Jews. Verse two, the same came to Jesus
by night. Now, why did he come by night?
Well, I dare say all of us knows that has something to do with
the fact that he was ashamed to be identified with Christ.
He was embarrassed. He didn't want any of his buddies
to know he was coming to Christ, so he picked out a time at night.
to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. But it really means more than
that. This man was coming to Christ
in the night, in the absolute dark. He had no spiritual life. He was blind as a bat. He was
in the dark. He came to Jesus by night with
no spiritual understanding. And what did he say? The same
came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, teacher, we
know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can
do these things that thou doest, except God be with him. Rabbi,
teacher. Now, he came to Christ the wrong
way. You see, if I come to Christ
simply to get the right information, I need to be taught. And I do
need to be taught. I'm not taking away from that.
But I don't come to Christ as a teacher needing the right information.
If I come to Christ, I come to Him because I need a Savior.
Not so much a teacher, but a Savior. I need to be saved from my sins.
I need somebody to deliver me. If I just come to get the right
information, I show that I had the wrong attitude about myself.
He came to Him to be taught. Rabbi, we know that you're a
teacher come from God. And the evidence points to it.
Nobody can do these miracles that you do except God be with
him. He knew about the Lord changing the water into wine. He knew
this was no mere man. He said, we know. I guess he
had a high opinion of Christ, so he thought. Rabbi, we know
that God sent you. Nobody can do these things you're
doing except God did with him. The evidence points to it. He
had the same faith that those fellows had in verse 23 of chapter
2. Now, when he was in Jerusalem
at the Passover and the feast day, many believed in his name
when they saw the miracles which he did. They were convinced.
The evidence points to it. But Jesus did not commit himself
unto them, because he knew all men, and he needed not that any
should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. Now, look
at the way our Lord answered him. Nicodemus comes, I think,
with flattery, and I think he was sincere. He was impressed
with the Lord. He knew there was something special about it.
He didn't know what it was, but he comes at night in darkness,
and look what the Lord says to him. Jesus answered and said
unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Now, I love how abrupt
our Lord's answer is to his flattery. Now, notice the word, see, in
verse 3. Except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. That word see is the same word
that's translated in verse two. We know that thou art the teacher
come from God. Now. Nicodemus says we know this
and what our Lord says is Nicodemus, you know nothing. You know nothing. You're coming to me in darkness
and ignorance, except you're born from above. You cannot know
anything. You're unable to know. You're
unable to understand. You're unable to see. You're
unable to perceive the kingdom of God. The only way a man can
know anything, true knowledge. I'm talking about saving knowledge.
I'm not just talking about having some correct data. I'm talking
about saving knowledge. The only way a man can know anything
is if he is birthed from above, if he is born again. Now, what the Lord His teaching
is what is known as total depravity. That's what he's teaching this
man, except you're born from above. Your state is such, your
nature is such, your case is such that you can't know anything. You think you know something,
but you know nothing. You're totally depraved. You
must be birthed. You must be given life from above
because you're dead in sins. You must be given life. You must
be birthed. You must be born again. Total
depravity. Now, what is meant by total depravity?
Well, we all know it has something to do with human simpleness,
but what it means is the totality of man was destroyed in the fall. The totality of man. Every faculty
is controlled by sin. The mind, the understanding,
the affections, the will. It was all destroyed in the fall. Now, when I'm talking about total
depravity, I'm not necessarily talking about every man being
a murderer or a molester or something like that, although all of us
are capable of that. Now, understand, if the Lord
took his restraints off you and I, every one of us would be absolute
monsters. There's no question in my mind
about that. All God's got to do is take away
the restraints and you'll find out how bad you really are. None
of us have any idea how bad we really are. But when we're talking
about total depravity, it's not so much referring to the fact
of what we could be apart from the restraints of God's grace.
It's just saying the totality of man, every faculty of man,
is fallen so that he is unable to understand. He's unable to
see. He's unable to perceive the things
of the kingdom of God, the things of the gospel. He's totally depraved. He's dead in sins. No power works. Let me show you what I'm talking
about. Turn to Romans 3. I refer to this scripture very often,
and it's a very important scripture. Verse 10. As it's written, Romans
3, verse 10, as it's written, there is none righteous, no,
not one, there's none that understands. Now, do you hear that? You can't even understand, I
can't even understand the things of the kingdom of God. I don't
have the ability to understand them. I must be birthed from
above. That's the only way I can understand
is if God gives me that understanding. I can't figure it out. I'm totally
dependent upon him to do something for me. There's none that understands.
There's none that seeks after God. There's not one. There's
never been a man left to himself that ever sought the living God.
Oh, he might have been religious. He might have sought his conception
of God. But I'm talking about the true and living God. Not
one man has ever even as much as sought the Lord. There's none
that understands. There's none that seeketh after
God. They're all gone out of the way. They are together become
unprofitable. There's none that doeth good.
No, not one. Now, that is why if I'm to know
or understand the things of God, if I'm to understand the kingdom
of God, I must be birthed from above, given life by God. Now, listen to what I'm getting
ready to say real carefully. This is very important. The new birth being born again. It's not a change. It's not a
reformation. It's not the removal of something.
It's putting something there that was not there before. That's
what the new birth is. It's not being changed. You can
change all you want, but it's not going to change your heart.
You can clean up the outside, but it's not going to do anything
about the inside. The new birth is God placing something in you
that was not there before, a new nature, a divine nature. God said a new heart will I give
you. Now, when I was born the first
time, I received my parents nature and they received their parents
nature and on and on. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. When I was born the first time,
I got the nature of Charles Nybert. He got the nature of Charles
Nybert before him. And I don't know what my great-great-grandfather
said, but it goes just like that. But when we're born from above,
when we're born again, we're given our father's nature, our
new thought. Let me show you this. Turn to
2 Peter chapter 1. I want you to look at this verse with me. Partakers of the divine nature
is what I'm referring to. Second Peter, chapter one, verse
four. Whereby are given unto us, Second
Peter, chapter one, verse four, whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises that by these ye might be partakers
of the divine nature. There it is. Actually, if I'm
born from above, remember that which is born of the Spirit is
what? Spirit, not spiritual. I've heard people say, well,
I'm a spiritual person. You missed it. It's not becoming spiritual
and thinking more spiritual. It's being born of the Spirit,
being given a new nature, a holy nature, partakers of the divine
nature. Now, light can only produce light.
Look back in our text in verse six. That which is born of the
flesh is flesh. When someone's born by the Spirit,
they're given a new nature, and that new nature is what understands. Nicodemus, you must be born again
before you know anything. You talk about what you know,
but in reality, you know nothing. You know absolutely nothing.
You must be born from above. to have any true spiritual understanding. It's the new birth that sees
the kingdom of God. For me to see the kingdom of
God, I must be given life from the dead. Now, I was thinking
about this. You know, a natural man can understand
religion. I can understand Arminianism.
I understand the logic of it. I can understand Calvinism. I
understand the logic of it. A natural man can understand
religion, but a natural man can't understand grace. That's above
his ability. A natural man can't really have
any understanding of the gospel. That is above his ability. Nicodemus, you must be born again,
birthed from above. Education is not going to do
it. You can be given all the right information and that won't
do you a bit of good unless God gives you life. Reformation won't
do it. You can reform all you want,
and that won't do you a bit of good. Nicodemus, you must be
birthed from above. You must be born again. Now, birth. Birth. There was a time when there was
no Todd Nyberg. Now, I'm not aware of that time.
All I know is the time I've been around, but there was a time
when nobody knew who I was. I was not even thought of, as
a matter of fact. I didn't exist. But I was conceived. I was birthed. Life came to be
that was not there before. Nicodemus, unless you're birthed
from above, You cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, what's he
talking about when he talks about the kingdom of God? He says,
Nicodemus, you have no understanding what I'm talking about. You must
be first to see the kingdom of God. We'll turn to Matthew, Chapter
six. Here's what the kingdom of God is all about. Matthew, Chapter six. Verse thirty three. These are the words of the Lord
Jesus, and he says, but seek ye first the kingdom of God. And what are the next three words? And his righteousness. Now, this is what the kingdom
of God is all about. His righteousness. If you want to understand the
key to the kingdom of God, here it is. Seek ye first the kingdom
of God and whose righteousness? His. Righteousness. I know exactly
what that means. The kingdom of God, Paul said
in Romans chapter 14, verse 17, is not meat and drink. It's not
do's and don'ts. It's not man-made regulations.
The kingdom of God is not meat and drink. It's righteousness. Whose righteousness? And peace. That peace that comes
from simply trusting Him. and joy, the joy that comes from
that. The kingdom of God is about His
righteousness. And I know so much what Paul
meant when he said, oh, that I may win Christ and be found
in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith. That's what the kingdom of God
is about. And you know, until you're given spiritual life and
life. And that life you have comes
from life. When you have life, you'll have
life. When you have true life, you'll have life. When someone
is given this life that comes from this new nature, this holy
nature, what has happened to that person is All of a sudden,
they understand their need of a righteousness better than they
can produce. And they ask to have Christ's righteousness charged
to them. And they ask to have this new holy nature. They know
they can't come up with the faith. They can't come up with the repentance.
They can't come up with them. They can't come up with anything.
We ask Christ for all of these things. That's what happens when
somebody's born from above. They're given this new nature.
Now, Nicodemus didn't know what he was talking about. Look in
verse 4. Now, the Lord said, Nicodemus, except a man be born
from above, born again, born from above, he cannot see the
kingdom of God. Verse 4, Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man
be born when he is old? How do you get to be birthed
again? How do you get to be born again? And I don't think he was
being a smart aleck when he asked this. I think he just didn't
understand. He didn't know what the Lord
was talking about. How can a man be born when he's old? Can he
enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Nicodemus
was still in the dark. And so look how the Lord answers,
verse 5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except
a man be born, birthed of water and of the Spirit, he cannot,
he lacks the ability to enter the kingdom of God. Now here,
In verse 3, the Lord was talking about total depravity, except
a man to be born again, he can't see, he can't understand, you
lack the ability. You just don't have what it takes.
But here, there's another emphasis, and it's part of human symbolism.
He's showing Nicodemus' condition. He says, except you be born of
water and of the Spirit, you lack the ability to enter the
kingdom of heaven. Now, here he's talking about
total inability. You lack the ability to enter
the kingdom of heaven. Look at John chapter 6, verse
44. Look what our Lord says. He doesn't say no man may come
to me. You know, you may. The Lord's
not going to keep you from it. If you want to come to Christ,
He's not going to say no. He doesn't say no man may come.
Whosoever will, let him come and take the water of life freely.
He doesn't say you're going to be forbidden to come. He doesn't
say no man may come. He says no man what? Can come. He lacks the ability. He lacks
the power to come. And that's why he must be birthed
from above. He's completely unable to enter
the kingdom of heaven. He must be birthed born of water
and of the Spirit. Until I'm born of water and of
the Spirit, I lack the ability to come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, what in the world does that mean? To be born of water and
of the Spirit? You know, there's a lot of folks
that take this passage of Scripture and say, well, this shows that
you have to be baptized in order to be regenerated or born again.
You need to go under the water, and when you come back up, you're
born again. Now, that's foolishness. You know that. Will dumping down
the water make you have new life? Of course not. Water is used
figuratively, it's an emblem, it's a figure, it's a type, it's
a metaphor. Let me show you this in the scripture in John chapter
four, just a couple of verses here in John, and this will demonstrate
this. Look in verse 14 in John chapter
four. The Lord says to the woman at
the well, but whoso drinketh of the water that I shall give
him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall
be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life. Now,
is the Lord talking about H2O there? Literal water? Well, of course he's not. He's
talking about spiritual water. Look in John chapter 7, verse
37. In the last day, that great day
of the feast, Jesus stood and cried and said, if any man thirst,
let him come unto me and drink. Now, is he talking about physical
thirst and drinking H2O? Of course he's not. He that believeth
on me, verse 38, as the scripture says, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water, but this spake he of the spirit,
which they that believe on him should receive. So he's not talking
about literal water, he's talking about spiritual water. So water
refers to the word of God. It's a metaphor the scripture
uses that always refers to the word of God. For instance, Ephesians
5, 26, we read of the washing of water by the word. James 1, 18 says of his own will
begat he us through the word of truth. 1 Peter 123 says, being
born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by
the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever, we will
not be birthed without the word of God, without the gospel message,
without the message of the scriptures. Now, here's what happens. God takes his word. There's no
faith without hearing, is there? Faith cometh by hearing, hearing
by the Word of God. I can't believe what I never
hear. God takes His Word, the Gospel
message, and with the Spirit, born of water and of the Spirit,
He takes the Spirit of God and causes it to Live. He creates life. That's the new
birth, the water and the spirit. You will not be born above without
the word of God, without the gospel, but you will not be born
without the spirit. It's the spirit of God that takes
the word of God and produces life. Look in John 1. Verse 12. But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name, which were born. Here's this.
We're introduced to this concept of being born or birth, which
were born, not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not
of the will of man. You know, there's never been
a bigger lie told than the thought of free will. It's ridiculous. It's not in the scriptures. There's
no such thing as free will. Your will is controlled by your
nature. Now, you do what you want to, but The problem is with
your want to. What do you want to do by nature?
And there's no such thing as free will. We are not born of
the will of the flesh or the will of man, but of God, born
of the spirit. Turn to John chapter six. Verse 63. It is the spirit that quickeneth,
that gives life. The flesh profits what? Nothing. How much does your flesh
have to do with this Lord again? Not a thing. It's the spirit
that quickens. The flesh profits nothing. Now
look what he says next. The words that I speak to you. The word of God. The word of
the gospel. They are spirit and they are Except a man be born of water
and of the Spirit, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. Now,
there's somebody that has no idea what I'm talking about.
You listen, it doesn't make any sense to me. Well, there's a
reason. You haven't been born from above. If you're born from
above, you'll know what I'm talking about. It really is that simple. It takes spiritual life to understand.
Well, what am I supposed to do? Cry for mercy. Ask God to do something for you.
Ask him to give you a new heart. Back to our text, John chapter
three. Verse six. The Lord says to Nicodemus,
that which is born of the flesh. Is flesh, it can't rise above
its nature, it can't. All this can be. Whatever begins
with you is going to end with you. Nothing but flesh. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh. But that which is born
of the spirit is spirit. And marvel not, verse 7, marvel
not that I say unto you, you must be born again. Don't marvel
at this. You shouldn't be surprised. You
see, our Lord is saying this is no new doctrine. Doesn't the
Scripture teach in the Old Testament, for example, Ezekiel 36, God
said, a new heart also will I give you. This has always been the
teaching of Scripture, don't be surprised by this nicotine,
don't be amazed by this. Really, it's the only thing that
makes sense. If you're dead, you must be given life. Isn't
that so? If you're dead, you must be given life. And only
God can do that. It takes spiritual life to perform
the functions of spiritual life. You have to have life before
you can breathe, don't you? You have to have life before
you can smell. Take spiritual life. Marvel not at this. And here's an example of what
I'm trying to talk about. Let's say you get the best art
teacher in the world. To teach a person. How to produce
beautiful paintings that was not born with that gift. How
are they going to do? No matter how good the education
is, that person is still not going to be a gifted artist unless
they're born with that gift. Same way with music. You can
teach somebody to play the notes, but they're not going to be a
genius musically unless they're born with that gift. There's
a gift you're born with. You can't understand unless you're
birthed into the kingdom of heaven. So he says, marvel not that I
say unto you, you must be born again. And then he says in verse
eight. The wind blows where it listeth,
and you hear the sound thereof, but you can't tell whence it
cometh or whether it goeth. So is everyone that's born of
the Spirit. Now, regarding this thing of
being born. I want you to think about this. How much did you
have to do with your first birth? You didn't have a thing to do
with it, did you? Not a thing. You know, it's the exact same
way in the second birth. This is the work of the sovereign
God giving you life. You didn't cooperate in this
thing. It's not something you did. You didn't do anything to
become born. You were birthed. You were given life by an act,
by a miracle of God. Same way in the new birth. This
is a miracle of God. And he uses the wind to illustrate
this. The wind blows where it wills. He uses the wind to illustrate
the birth. You think of wind, wind can blow
so softly and it can be so pleasant, it can be so enjoyable, or it
can be like Katrina, be a hurricane and just blow everything in its
path away. The wind can have devastating
effects. Now, two things are pointed out about the new birth
and the wind here. When our Lord says the wind blows
where it wills, you hear the sound thereof and you cannot
tell whence it comes or whence it goes. Even so, it's everyone
that's born of the Spirit. First thing that I see in this
passage of scripture is the wind is sovereign. It blows where
it wills. And you can't control it, can
you? Can you change the direction
of the wind? Of course you can't. You can't be controlled. It can't
be regulated. It blows where it wills, and
God is absolutely sovereign in giving the new birth. He gives
it to whoever He's pleased to give it to. He doeth, Daniel
said, according to His will in the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth, us down here, and none can stay
His hand or say unto Him, what doest thou? Give an account for
your actions. We can't do it. God does what he wants to do.
God is absolutely sovereign and he gives the new birth to whoever
he is pleased to give it to. I say again, the notion of free
will is a lie. There's no truth to it. Which
were born not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of
the will of man, but of God. Romans 9,16 says it's not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth. But of God that
show with mercy, the new birth is the sovereign gift of God.
He gives it to whomever he's pleased to give it to. And I
know who he's pleased to give it to. He's pleased to give it
to the elect. He's pleased to give it to those for whom Christ
died. That's who he gives the new birth to. Everybody Christ
died for. God's going to give him life. He's going to give
him grace to look to him. He's going to give him a heart
that believes, that repents, that loves him. It's the sovereign
gift of God. And also know this about the
new birth, it's mysterious. You can't tell whence it comes
or where it's going. It's a mystery. It's a mystery,
just like everything else in the Bible is. It's a mystery
that we wouldn't know anything about unless God was pleased
to make it known. It's a mystery. Do I understand all this? Of
course not. Do I believe it? Every bit of
it. Every bit of it. What do I say to all this? I
must be born again. There's nothing I can do to make
myself born again. There's nothing I can do. I can't believe. I
can't repent. I can't do any of this unless
God gives me a heart to do it. Well, what do I do then? Give me some direction. Well,
if I were you, and this is what I must do right now, I'd do exactly
what that leper did. He came to the Lord and worshiped. And he said, Lord, if you will. You can make me clean. It's up
to you, but Lord, if you will. He didn't just say, well, nothing
I can do, therefore, I'll just not worry about it. No, he came and
fell before his feet and worshiped. What's the evidence of the new
birth? I want to close with this thought. What's the evidence
of the new birth? Well, what's the evidence of life? Well, your
heart beats and you breathe. That's the two things you look
for. What's the evidence of spiritual
life? Faith and repentance. Faith and repentance. It's always
accompanied with the new birth. You don't believe and repent
and become born. You're birthed, you're given
life, and the evidence of it is you believe and you repent. Which comes first, life or faith?
Now, this is amazing, I know this. Logically, life's got to
come before faith, doesn't it? Logically, life must come first.
You can't believe until you're given life. But chronologically,
as they actually happen, they come at the exact same time.
Do I understand that? No. Do I believe it? Yes. Yes. Now, let's close by looking at
John chapter one, and this is how you can know if you've been
born again. Have I been born again? Have I been given this
spiritual life that we're reading of? Has God birthed me? Well,
look what verse 12 says. John chapter one, verse 12. But
as many as received him. Now, when God saves somebody,
you know what they do? They receive the Lord Jesus Christ. They receive him. What's it mean to receive him?
Go on reading. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name. What does it mean to receive
Christ? Well, I can tell you exactly what it means. It means to believe
on His name. It means to rely upon His name
as your only grounds of acceptance before God. You plead nothing
But he know when we pray in his name, you know, we it's not an
African African. I'm asking these things in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not some kind of magic formula.
What I'm saying is here, this prayer as Christ is presented,
not in my name, but I come in his name. I rely on his name,
his name. I'm going to enter heaven on
the coattails of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have no other way of
coming. Now, that's what it is to believe
on his name. Well, what about these people
who believe on his name? It says in verse 13, they were
born. They were birthed. The only people who believe on
his name are people who were birthed, not of blood, not because
her mom and dad were Christians, not of the will of the flesh,
not because a bunch of people got together and started praying
for him, not of the will of man. It didn't come as an act of their
own free will. They were born of God. That's the person who's
born of God, the person who believes the gospel. Let's pray.