I'm reading from the book of
1 John. Now, that's not the gospel of
John, that's the epistle of John. 1 John, chapter 5, I'm reading
verse 1 and verse 4, which will serve as a text. My subject today
is this, what is it to be born of God? What is it to be born
of God? John writes in 1 John 5, 1, whosoever
believe it, that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God. And then he says in verse 4,
whosoever is born of God overcometh the world. What is it to be born
of God? Well, every life is begun by
birth. Every life. It's so naturally.
You and I are born the first time. We don't begin to live
on this earth until we are born. We begin life when we're born,
and it's so spiritually. We're born again. Birth is the
way that we enter into physical life, and according to the word
of God, the new birth is the way that we enter into the kingdom
of God. The scripture says in John, the
gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 11, he came to his own, and his
own received him not, but as many as received him, to them
gave he the privilege or the right to become children of God,
sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were
born, not of blood, that is, not of family inheritance, nor
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but born
of God. So I have three sons, and all
of them were born into my family. They one day became my sons when
they were born into our family. And we become sons of God when
we're born of God. We enter into the family of God
when we're born into the family of God. You see what I'm saying?
Every life, every life is begun by a birth. We begin natural
life by being born. And we begin spiritual life by
being born again. Now, there are many ways in which
the natural birth and the spiritual birth are similar. I can't explain
the new birth to you. I'm not going to try to do that,
but I'm going to identify it. I'm going to declare it and pray
that the Holy Spirit will bring you into this relationship with
God, into the new birth, into the family of God. And after
you're born again, you'll understand something of the new birth. Now,
there are many ways in which the natural birth and the spiritual
birth are similar. Let me give you some. Both are
mysterious. Both are mysterious. Now, I'm
not going to try to play the part of a physician, but I'm
awed and amazed at the conception and the birth of a child. I'm
awed and amazed, and I can't explain it, and neither can you,
how the smallest seed that has to be seen through a microscope
can, over a period of time, become a full-grown adult person. I don't understand that. And
all of these things that we are, are in that seed. David was amazed
by the way he was made. He said in Psalm 139, 15, Lord,
thou hast possessed my reins, thou hast covered me in my mother's
womb. I will praise thee for I am fearfully
and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works And that
my soul knoweth right well." So the natural birth is amazing. It's a mystery. I can't explain
it. And the more you think about
it, the more you'll be awed and amazed at the possibility of
natural birth, of having a child of your own, being presented
with a life in this world. I said they're similar. The spiritual
birth is mysterious. You know, John wrote, the wind
bloweth where it will. And you hear the sound, but you
cannot tell from whence it cometh or whether it goeth. So are they,
or everyone, that is born of the Spirit. It's mysterious.
God quickeneth whom he will. We're awed and amazed that that
which is dead now lives. Those who are strangers to God
become friends of God. Those who are children of wrath
become children of promise and children of the kingdom. It's
a mystery. A man becomes the opposite of
what he was. That which he hated, now he loves,
and that which he loved, now he hates. He becomes a new creature
in Christ Jesus. So these, in this way, the natural
birth and the spiritual birth, they are similar in that both
are mysterious. Both are a mighty miracle of
God. And then secondly, both the natural
birth and the spiritual birth, in both, life is created. Life is created. Now, when an
infant, you're standing outside the delivery room, and the mother's
gone into the delivery room with the doctor, and after a few moments
you hear a cry, and you know that that child is born, that
that child lives, that another mortal, who's never lived before,
who's never been known before, who's never even been imagined
before, who's never had a name before, who's never had existence
before. Another mortal breathes, has
come to this earth to live and to breathe and to die. Life is
there where it never was there before. That's the natural birth. Now you understand that, don't
you? That when an infant is born into the world, it didn't exist
prior to this moment. A new life begins. Well, so in
the new birth. When a man is born again, when
a man is born of God, when the Spirit of God gives life to a
dead sinner, there's a citizen, a new citizen of the kingdom
of God who never lived before. There's life where there was
no life before. A living person comes into the
family of God who was not there before. We have passed, John
said, from death to life. We've been born of God. We've
been translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of
God's dear son. There's joy in the presence of
the angels over one sinner that repented. A new life lives that
never lived before. Where there was death, there's
now life. Where there was darkness, there's now light. You see that? In that way, the spiritual births
like the natural birth. It's a new life. It's a new life.
It's not the old life remodeled or renewed or reformed. Brand new life. It's the life
of God. All right, thirdly, both in the
natural birth and in the spiritual birth, a like life is created. L-I-K-E dash L-I-F-E. A like life. Now, my friends,
every child has a father. Every child has a father. And
every child has the same life as the father who begat it. Now
we can take that down to the flowers. Every flower comes from
a seed. And every animal comes from an
animal seed. And every human being comes from
a human seed. If you read Genesis 1, 24, several
times the Lord says this, everything will bring forth after his kind,
after his kind, after his kind. You can have Shetland ponies
and thoroughbred racers and and all types of horses, Tennessee
walking horses, but a horse is a horse. And a cow is a cow,
and no cow ever gave birth to a horse. And you can have sheep
dogs, and you can have St. Bernard dogs, and poodle dogs,
and Airedale dogs, and all different kinds of dogs, but a dog's a
dog, and no cat ever gave birth to a dog. You see, like life,
like life, It comes forth in the natural birth. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh. You see that? So I'm born like
my father. So my father gave me his likeness
in the natural birth. I'm a human being because I came
from a human father. So in the new birth, so in the
new birth, a regeneration. The father lives in the child.
We're born of God. We have the nature of God. We
have the likeness of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. That which is born of the spirit
is spirit. In Adam, we die. In Christ, we're
made alive. As we have born the image of
the earthy, Adam, so we bear the image of the heavenly, the
Lord Jesus Christ. There's a like life. In the natural
birth, there's a like life brought forth. In the spiritual birth,
if you're born of God, Now, if some false prophet gave you what
you have religiously, you'll be like him. If some church gave
you your religious position, you'll be like that church. But
if God, if you were born of God, if you were born of the Spirit
of God, you have a spiritual nature and a spiritual life,
you're like your Father. Dead men bring forth dead children,
spiritually dead. The living Father brings forth
living sons. God is a spirit. And so are they
who are born of God. They're born spiritually. Now,
fourthly, in the natural birth and in the spiritual birth, there's
character communicated. Character. In other words, Psalm
51.5 says this. Now watch it carefully. Behold,
and this is the amplified version. Behold, I was brought forth in
a state of iniquity. Because my mother who conceived
me was sinful, then I too and sinful. Now listen to Psalm 58,
3. The ungodly are perverse from
the womb. They go astray as soon as they're
born, speaking lies, like father, like son. You can't get sweet
water from a saltwater fountain. You can't get clean water from
a corrupt fountain. We are born of our natural fathers
with a natural life and a tendency to sin because our fathers are
sinners. We are born with an evil nature
just like our father Adam. We are all sons of Adam. So it
is in the new birth. Now watch this carefully. When
a man is born of God, he is given in that new birth a holy nature,
a divine nature, that will believe God, that will love God, that
will trust God, and that will not sin. The nature of flesh
can do no good. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. In the flesh, no man can please God. Paul said, in
my flesh dwelleth no good thing. The fleshly nature retains the
potential to sin, and the passion to sin, and the desire to sin. But that new nature, born of
the Spirit of God, and born of the Word of God, and born by
the power of God, is a divine, holy nature, and whosoever is
born of God does not practice sin. For God's nature abides
in him." This is 1 John 3, 9 in the Amplified Version. Listen
to it. Whosoever is born of God does not habitually practice
sin, for God's nature abides in him. He cannot practice sin
because he's born of God. In every believer there's a divine,
holy nature. It's a character. Now in the
natural birth, in the natural... I know it's mysterious. And I
know in the natural birth, we have a father who begat us. And a like-life was begotten. And a character was begotten.
And that character was the character of sin. You don't have to teach
your children to do evil. They're born knowing how to do
evil. They're born experts at lying. They're born experts at
selfishness and self-righteousness and pride and all these things.
That's born in us. When we're born of God, in this
mysterious, supernatural miracle from heaven, when a man's born
of God, a like life is created. He's like his Father. That which
is born of the Spirit is Spirit. It's not flesh, it's Spirit.
And it's a character communicated. Positionally, in Christ, we have
a righteousness imputed. But practically, in Christ, we
have a holiness imputed. And in that believer, there's
a nature that's holy and that cannot sin. And that nature believes
that Jesus is the Christ. Whosoever is born of God believes
that Jesus is the Christ. And whosoever believes Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. And that new nature overcomes
the world. Yes, it does. Yes, it does. It
overcomes the world. It says, whosoever is born of
God, overcometh the world. That new nature loves those that
are begotten of God. He that loveth the one that begat
loveth those that are begotten. That's what it says in 1 John
5. And he loved the begatter. It's a nature. It can't do anything
else but love God, because it is God itself. God himself. That nature is God himself. A
like life, and it's a character communicating. And then fifthly,
in both the natural birth and the spiritual birth, this is
ways in which they are similar, A life is brought forth that
is complete in all its parts. Now, when that baby is born,
they bring the baby to the mother. It has every part of a human
being that it'll ever have. That baby will never grow another
finger. If it has ten, eight fingers and two thumbs, or ten
fingers on its hand, that's all it'll ever have. If it only has
one arm, it'll never grow another one. It has two arms, it'll never
grow a third, it'll never grow another leg, another foot, another
toe, it'll never grow anything else, as far as this body's concerned. It's got ears and nose, and that's
exactly what it'll have. Now, it has these faculties and
these organs in the infant state. They're all there, but they're
in the infant state, and they'll grow and they'll mature to a
full-grown man. Now listen to me. When a child
of God is born in the kingdom of God, that child of God has
every faculty, spiritual faculty, he'll ever have. He's got faith,
he's got love, he's got joy, he's got hope, he's got kindness,
he's got meekness, gentleness, he's got humility, tenderness,
all this grace and fruit of the Holy Spirit is already there.
Because the life of God is there, and it's the fruit of the Spirit,
and the Spirit's there. If any man hath not the Spirit
of God, he's none of His. That's what it says. And if I
have the Spirit of God, then I have the fruit of the Spirit.
I have the life of the Spirit, and I have the character of the
Spirit. Now, it's there in infancy, as newborn babes. We're babes
in Christ. We're born babes in Christ. They're
babes in Christ, they're young men in Christ, and they're elders
in Christ. And these babes in Christ must grow. But when we're
born again, we are sufficient. He has made us meet or sufficient
to inherit all that the saints in glory shall ever enjoy. The
same love that you have in your heart right now is the love you'll
share with the redeemed in glory. Oh, it'll be increased. It'll be glorified. We're going
to be like Christ, but you have the same love right now. There's
a remarkable likeness. between the natural birth and
the new birth. In other words, you would not be here right now
if you had not been born, would you? Well, you'll not be in the
kingdom of God if you're not born again. Christ said that,
except the man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of
God. You wouldn't be able to hear or to see or to think if
you hadn't been born, would you? And you won't be able to hear
his voice or see his face or think on his glory if you're
not born again. You wouldn't be able to enjoy
the things of this world, and there's some good things here
that God has made, if you were not born, would you? And you'll
never enjoy the things of God's kingdom if you're not born again. So in that way, the natural birth
and the spiritual birth are similar, but there are several ways in
which they're not alike at all. In fact, they're opposite. Would
you bear with me while I point out some of these, three or four
of these ways in which The natural birth and the spiritual life
birth are nothing alike. They're totally opposite. First
of all, these two births are different in this respect. 1
Peter 1.23. Listen to this. 1 Peter 1.23.
This is the Amplified Version. You follow in your King James,
but I want to read the Amplified Version. It'll help you here,
I think, to understand what the Apostle is saying. You have been
born again. not from mortal or corruptible
seed or sperm, but you've been born again from a seed or sperm
that is incorruptible, the word of God. See the difference in
the natural birth and the new birth? In the natural birth,
we were born of corruptible sperm or seed, our father's corruptible
seed. In sin, my mother conceived me. I was shapen in iniquity. It
was a sinful seed. But we were born the second time,
and you know what the seed was in the second birth? The Holy
Spirit was the agent. The Holy Spirit is the one who
effected the birth, who begat us. You know, Mary, the angel
said Mary would have a child, and she said, how can that be?
I don't know a man. And the angel said, the Spirit
of God shall come upon you. The power of the highest shall
overshadow thee, and that which shall be born in thee shall be
called the Son of God. And that's what happens. When
God brings forth a child into his kingdom, the new birth, the
Holy Spirit is the agent. But you know the seed? The word
of God. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. Men must and will hear the gospel
if they live, for Christ is the gospel. Whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, but how shall they
call on him in whom they cannot believe? And how shall they believe
in him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? It's the Word of God that convicts
a man of sin. It's the Word of God that reveals
Christ as the Savior. It's the Word of God that reveals
to us the blood that maketh atonement for the soul. It's the Word of
God that reveals to us the promise of God, of life to all who believe. It's the Word of God that reveals
to us the beauty and glory of our Redeemer. It's the Word of
God that reveals to us the hope of eternal life. We're born of
the Spirit and of the Word. Please don't separate the hat.
It's a dreadful mistake and a dreadful error, and it's not glorifying
to the Holy Spirit. to deprive the Holy Spirit of
the very Word, the very seed, the very sperm by which the new
life is created, the incorruptible seed, the Word of God. Faith
cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. And without
faith, no man can please God. He that cometh to God must believe.
And the Holy Spirit doesn't believe for you, you believe. That's
right. He says with your mouth you confess
and with your heart you believe. Now, here's another way in which
those two births are different. Job, chapter 3, verse 1. Now,
listen to this. After this, Job opened his mouth,
and he cursed the day that he was born. He cursed the day that
he was born. And he said, let the day perish
wherein I was born. My friend, a man may live to
see the day when he'll curse the day he was born. That's right. He may do it. He may do it. He
may, unfortunately, I think many will. They'll live to curse the
day that they announce that a child is born to your mother and father.
But I'll tell you this, not so in the new birth. That great
day grows sweeter day by day, sweeter as the years go by. I'm
so glad that the Lord Jesus came one day and gave me life. I'm
so glad that he came one day and revealed himself to my heart.
I'm so glad he came one day and said, let there be light. I never
regret the day I was born spiritually. And nobody ever has. And I'll
tell you parents, and this is unfortunate, but I know some
parents who regret the day some of their children were born.
But the Heavenly Father never regrets the day that his children
came into his family. They'll always be trophies of
his grace. He'll always exalt the riches
of the glory of His grace in every one of His children, because
they're all going to do Him proud. They're all going to eternally
glorify His name, every one of them. Now, here's another way
in which they're not alike. In Hebrews chapter 9, verse 27,
it's appointed unto men, wants to die, wants to die. In other words, when that baby
comes into the world, the first time its heart beats, It's one
heartbeat nearer to the grave than it was. Somebody said that
the beat of our hearts, the beats of our hearts are like funeral
marches taking us to the cemetery. Every heartbeat, every breath,
every year. We're going to die. You're going
to die. Everybody born into this world is going to die. It's appointed
unto men who wants to die. And men have always died and
always will till Christ comes. But not so in the new birth. We'll never die. Now, we're asleep,
but it's not death for the believer to die. Christ said, because
I live, ye shall live. For me to live is Christ, and
for me to die is gain. It's graduation day. It's coronation
day. It's the day when I leave the
land of the dead and go to the land of the living. That's what
somebody said to an old dying saint of God one time. They stood
by his bed and watched him, and just before he died, somebody
said, well, You're about to leave the land of the living." And
he looked up and smiled and he said, oh no, he said, I'm about
to leave the land of the dead. I'm going to the land of the
living. You see, that's the difference. We're born, this flesh is withering
and wrinkled and dying and decaying, but not my spirit. Why not? Well, there's several reasons
why this new nature born of God shall never die. One, it's from
its nature. We're born of God. The reason
my flesh is dying is because I was born of a dying father.
My father's dead. His father's dead. Henry Mahan
was my grandfather. He's dead. And my father's dead,
and soon I'll be dead. But my heavenly father eternally
lived. And I'm born of him the second
time, and therefore I can never die. Over me, the second death
hath no power. I cannot die. because I'm born
of God. A living God produces a living
Son. And then secondly, this nature,
born of the Spirit of God, can never die because of its union
with Christ. My friends, we're not only born
of God, but we're one with Christ. We're married to Christ. The
two have become one. Where He is, I am. What He is,
I am. What He has, I have. I can't
die because Christ lives, I live. When He dies, I'll die. But he
can never die. He's eternal. Then I can never
die. I'm eternal. And nearer so near
to God, nearer I cannot be, for in the person of his Son, I'm
as near as he. This nature can never die because
of the pledge of the Lord. Listen to what he says. My sheep
hear my voice, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life,
and they shall never perish. The word has gone forth from
the throne of our God. They shall never perish. and
he cannot lie. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand. They shall never die. Now here's
the last way in which this new birth and the fleshly birth are
not alike, and that is the glory of the fleshly birth. Wherein
does the glory of the fleshly birth lie? Well, in strength. A lot of people brag about their
strength. They can lift so much weight
or run so many miles in so many minutes. They're proud of their
strength. Some people are proud of their beauty, their glory,
life, and their beauty. Some men have got a lot of money,
and they're proud of that. Some men got a lot of brains,
and they're proud of that. The glory of the flesh is in
the flesh. And all of this is like the grass
of the field. It withereth, and the flower,
it fadeth away. Beauty, you're going to be ugly
someday. Strong man, you're going to be
weak. Rich man, you're going to be poor. Wise man, You're
going to be a fool. But the glory of God endures
forever. And the glory of the new birth
is the glory of God.