Every life begins with a birth. It's so naturally we're born. Every life begins with a birth.
There are a lot of folks here this morning, but every one of
you were born. Your life began when you were
born. It's so spiritually. We're born
again. Our Lord said, except a man be
born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. He cannot
begin spiritual life. Birth is the way that we enter
physical life, and birth is the way that we enter into the kingdom
of God. Every life begins with a birth. Natural life begins with a birth. We're born. Spiritual life begins
with a birth, we're born again. Are you with me? Now there are
many ways in which these two births are similar. There are
many ways in which they're opposite. And I think I can help you this
morning with the question, what is it to be born of God, by pointing
out how these two births are similar and how they are opposite.
Now, remembering this is the introduction and this is the
foundation. Every life begins with a birth.
Natural life begins with a birth. We're born. We live because we're
born. You'll never live on this earth
unless you're born. And you'll never live in the
kingdom of God unless you're born again. Except a man be born
again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. He cannot see the kingdom
of God. There are five ways in which these two births are similar,
in which they are alike. If you want to jot this down,
please do so. I want you to study it. You know,
I said to a congregation last week, if men took the Bible and
went home, these people in Berea, after hearing the Apostle Paul,
and searched the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was so,
How much more you ought to take a Bible and go home and search
the scriptures and see if what this fellow is saying is so.
I want you to do that. I encourage you to do that. Because
as Paul said to the Ephesian elders, he said, I commend you
to the Word of God that is able to build you up and establish
you and sustain you. The Word of God. Faith cometh
by hearing, not the words of men, but the Word of God. You
don't argue people into the kingdom of God. They're born into the
kingdom of God. The seed is the word of God.
Now, here are the ways in which these births are similar. Number
one, both of them are great mysteries. Both of them are great mysteries.
Now, I don't want to try and play the part of a physician.
I know nothing about medicine. I know nothing about what they
call the science of medicine. But I'm awed and I'm amazed at
the conception and birth of a child. And I get more amazed the older
I get at this mystery of birth. From an, as old brother Mews
used to say, infinitesimal seed, the tiniest microscopic beginning. Here's a six foot, 210 pound
man. It's the most amazing thing.
Here, from just the barriers c there is uh... human being
with a with a tremendous mind and and eyes and ears and a voice
to speak and a body and uh... it's just fantastic it and david
was amazed it turned to some one thirty nine listen what david
said this it's a mystery i can explain how that a seed is planted
in a mother's womb and develops and matures over a period of
several months. And then comes forth the tiniest
little helpless, dependent, six or seven pound baby. And then as the years go by,
food and growth, and here stands a full grown man. David says
in verse 13 of Psalm 139, 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. My substance was not hid
from Thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought,
curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. It's amazing
and it's a mystery. No man can explain it. And I'm
telling you this, but greater is the mystery of the new birth.
How that where there's no life, God gives life. Where there's
no spiritual interest, suddenly there becomes an interest in
the gospel, an interest in Christ. Where there's no grieving and
conviction and remorse over sin, suddenly the person becomes sin
conscious and conscious of the holiness of God and the existence
of God and the power and grace of God. And suddenly there's
a new man, there's a new creature, there's a new life. It's not,
it can't be explained. Now you can explain a man getting
religion to better himself, either here or in the future. You can
explain a man joining a church in order to have the acceptance
of the community, or people in his home, or perhaps trying to
attain a life beyond the grave. But for a man to become a new
person in spirit, in attitude, in love, in direction, For him
to think differently and speak differently and walk differently
and conduct himself differently. For him to be like Christ. Now
that's a mystery. It's a mystery. Something that
can't be explained. Someone not devoted to a cause
but to Christ. Someone devoted not to a way
of life but to a person. Totally new. Totally different.
It's unexplainable. It's mysterious. The wind bloweth
where it listeth, and you hear the sound, but you can't tell
from whence it cometh or whither it goeth, even so are they that
are born of God. It's a mystery. And then secondly,
these two births are alike, similar, in that in both births a life
is created, a new life is created. Now, when the mother goes into
the delivery room and the doctor's waiting and the nurse is and
that baby's born, right then there's a cry lifted to heaven
or to somewhere and a new person, a new mortal inhabits this earth,
one who's never been here before. Brand new, a new life, a new
person, a new body, a new mortal comes into this world to live
and to breathe and to walk and to talk and to take his part
and then to die. But in that delivery room, when
you hear that first sound, a new person. He'd never lived before.
He'd never breathed before. He's never spoken, never existed. And there he is. And I say this,
so in the new birth. The new birth, you see, is not
a decision, it's a life born. It's not a person who already
existed, changes his way of living. It's a new life. That's what
Scripture says. It's a new life. So, if any man
be in Christ, he's a new creature. A new creature. Now, he's got
an old man that lived before, but there's a new man who never
lived. There's an old life, a life of sin and lust and passions
and lies and evil. But there's a new life, a new
man, a new person, a new creature who never lived before, who never
breathed before, who never spoke before, who never heard before,
who never saw before, who never thought before. There's a new
life. Brand new. Brand new. When God gives life,
there's a new citizen in the kingdom of God. When that baby's
born in the delivery room as a new citizen in the United States,
he's never been on the road, never been heard of, spoken of,
thought of. But when that new person's born
into the kingdom of God, he's brand new, brand new. Child of
God, a living person who inhabits the family of God. Spiritual
life, like natural life, is a new life. All right? The third way in which these
two births are locked. In both births, now listen to
me, this is important. They're similar in that they're
mystery. Both of them are mystery. Both
of them are brand new life created, brought forth, never existed
before. And thirdly, there is a like,
L-I-K-E, like life communicated. Now, every child has a father.
I hear the most silly, asinine statements. I hear folks say,
say, well, this child is an illegitimate child or a bastard. They say,
what do you mean? Say, he hasn't got a father. I beg your pardon.
Everybody's got a father. That's stupid, isn't it? He's
got a father. He's got a father and a mother.
And I don't know why that in our in our society that a child
is brought to suffering because of what they call illegitimacy. I don't understand this sort
of attitude, this sort of spirit. I know a child's born into a
home, bless its heart. He's saying, child, your child
is. because his father may be a drunk,
or his father may be a gambler, or his father may be an indifferent,
careless person. That doesn't mean he hasn't got
a father, Cecil. He's got a father and a mother, and they're different
situations, and we need to show more compassion to that child
than we do to the one who's got a happy home. We need to be kind
to that child from a divided home or a broken home or what
they call illegitimacy or anything. He needs our concern and compassion
more than this child does who's got everything going for him.
And our hearts need to reach out and embrace and love and
understand. This child was conceived before
marriage. That doesn't have any effect
on that child. That child's just as lovable and precious as any
child you have in your home. and need your kind affection
and tender heart. But in every birth, every birth,
there's a father. Even the flowers of the field
come from a seed. We're not self-created. We don't come from our own loins.
We come from a father. Turn to Genesis 1.24. Now, here's
what I'm saying. Genesis 1.24. Now, in other words, when a father
begets a son, that son's going to be like him. That is flesh. The only kind of son I can beget
is a son like me, a fleshly son. And a bear or a monkey or a horse
or a giraffe or a flower or oak tree, oak trees come from oak
trees. And it says in Genesis 1, 24, And God said, Let the
earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle,
creeping things, beasts of the field, after his kind. And it was so. And God made the
beast of the earth after his kind, and the cattle after their
kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind. That does away with this evolution. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. Now then, well how do you compare that to the new
birth? So in the new birth, so in regeneration, the father,
when we're born of God, a living father begets a living child.
A spiritual father begets a spiritual child. You see what I'm saying? That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. In other
words, when a child comes from my loins, that child's going
to be flesh. He's going to be a son of Adam.
He's going to be a fallen son of Adam. And when one is born
of God, he receives spiritual life, eternal life, divine life,
the life of God. Now, fourthly, in both births,
there is a character communicated. as a character, not only a like
life. In other words, flesh is flesh,
and flesh gives birth to flesh. God is a spirit, and God gives
birth to spiritual children. Man is a dying man, he brings
forth a dying son. I bring forth a son who's subject
to disease, and subject to infirmities, and subject to sin. God brings
forth children that have no sin. A character is communicated.
Turn to Romans chapter 5. Romans the 5th chapter. And this
is what Romans the 5th chapter is saying all the way. In verse
12, by one man's sin entered the world and death by sin. Down
here in verse 17, by one man's offense death reigned. Verse
18, by the offense of one judgment came. Verse 19, by one man's
disobedience we were made sinners. David said, in sin my mother
conceived me. David didn't mean by that that
the act of conceiving children is a sin. We get some strange and funny
notions. I guess it comes from tradition
or word of mouth, old wives' tales and fables that have passed
down through the years. They get the idea that The sin
of Adam and Eve was something to do with sex, that's not so,
not a word of truth in it. God created male and female in
the perfect garden, both without sin, both were naked and both
were gloriously arrayed in holiness, and God gave them instructions
to multiply and replenish the earth. In other words, there
was to be a relationship between a man and a woman, and for this
cause shall a man leave his mother and father and cleave to his
wife, and the two shall be one flesh, and the same thing to
the wife. And they were to bring forth children. The sin in the
Garden of Eden wasn't a sexual sin, it was a sin of spirit,
attitude, heart, Man turned from God, he turned to his own way,
and that's when he corrupted and contaminated everything. Sex hasn't ruined men, men ruined
sex. Alcohol hasn't ruined men, men
ruined alcohol. Drugs haven't ruined this generation,
this generation ruined drugs. There's a profitable use for
drugs and herbs and other things that God's made. But our sin
is a heart sin, it's rebellion. And this is the thing about when
Adam and Eve brought forth a child, and when they fell and died in
sin, the only kind of son Adam could have was a son like Cain,
who had hate in his heart, who had evil in his heart. And unfortunately,
that's the only kind of son you can bring forth. Born in sin. And when David said, in sin my
mother conceived me, he didn't have any reference whatsoever
to the fact his mother or father sinned by bringing forth children
or by having a relationship that brought forth children. He was
saying that the seed that was put in his mother's womb was
a sinful seed. He was conceived, shaped, formed
in iniquity and brought forth speaking lies. He was a sinner
from birth. The nature. So we communicate
character to our children. You see what I'm saying? Character. And that character is all bad. All bad. But when God, now watch this,
when God begets a child, look down here at verse 18. Whosoever
is born of God, sin is not. I may shock you a little bit
here, but that's all right. We need to be shocked. My fleshly
nature can do no good. There's no good in it. My spiritual
nature can do no evil. There's no evil in it. It's divine
and holy as God himself. That which is born of God has
no sin. I don't have a sinful spiritual
nature. The righteousness of Christ,
the holiness of Christ, the life of Christ that's begotten in
a child of God is as perfect and holy as God. Turn to the book of Galatians. Let me show you something here.
Galatians. Galatians chapter 5. We turn to Galatians chapter
5. And let's look here at verse
16, Galatians 5, 16. Now I know there are those who
will make war on what I'm preaching right now, but what I'm preaching,
you take the word, it's the scripture. Whosoever is born of God sinneth
not. Now there's a scripture over
here, whosoever is born of God does not commit sin, does not
practice, the word there is practicing, whosoever is born of God. But
that which is born of God, in the life of God, the nature of
God, can't have any sin in it, it came from God. And all I've
got when I die, I lay aside this human flesh, and I go to be with
Christ. And I take that nature that's
perfect love, perfect faith, perfect holiness, perfect godliness,
into the presence of our Lord. And the flesh goes back to the
earth from whence it came. There's no purity in it. It all
dies. I don't take some of my divine
nature to heaven and some of my human nature. All that's human
dies and rots. That which is flesh, flesh and
blood can't inherit the kingdom of God. And the flesh goes, the
body goes back to the dust from whence it came and the spirit
to God who gave it. Holy spiritual. Now look at Galatians
5. Verse 16, this I say then, walk in the Spirit and you'll
not fulfill the lust of the flesh. It's written to believers, they
still got a fleshly nature, they still got a human nature, we're
still human, we're still flesh, we're still people. But if you
walk in the Spirit, if you cultivate the spiritual man, if you feed
the spiritual man, if you live in the Spirit, if you encourage
the spiritual man, if you take advantage of the opportunities
that God gives you as a spiritual man, if you'll read the Word
and pray and seek His face, then these things of the flesh will
not gain the upper hand. For he said, verse 17, the flesh,
that is, that old nature, that old man, lusteth, warreth against
the spirit. It hates the spiritual man. And
the spirit warreth against the flesh. It's declared war on the
flesh. And these are contrary one to
the other. What's he talking about? Something
going on out yonder in Israel or something going on out yonder
in heaven or hell? No, something going on right
in here. That's what he's talking about. Something going on right
in here. The contrary one to the other,
so you cannot do the things you would. What would you do? Now, what
would you do? Well, I'll tell you, that spiritual
man, that man that God's made, that man that God created, that
new nature, that man that was created in the new birth, that
woman, you know what that nature would do? It would do perfect. It would never think an evil
thought or say an evil word or do an evil thing. It would be
like Christ. It's that nature that craves,
oh, to be with Christ, which is far better. Oh, to die, which
is gain. Oh, to live eternally in the
presence of God. Oh, never to sin again. Wouldn't
you do that? Now, you would, wouldn't you?
What does that man that's born of your daddy want to do? Or
that woman born of your daddy want to do? He gets mad, loses
his temper, selfish, wants comfort and luxury and pampering and
sin. So you who would do perfect,
you can't do that because you've got this nature, this human nature
that discourages you and defeats you. And you who would want to
sin, you can't do that either because you've got this holy
nature that says that ain't right. And you don't want to do that.
You may want to, but you don't want to. You may think you'd
like to, but you wouldn't like to. It wouldn't bring God any
glory and do you any good. That's what that new nature says
to you. And that's what that scripture's
saying. Now I turn back to 1 John 5. There's a character communicated. In the fleshly birth, there's
a character communicated. That character is a lying character. It's a lustful character. It's
a loose character. It's a fleshly character. And
that character that's communicated in that new birth, it's a holy
character. It's a godly character. It's
a perfect character. Because God gave it. All right,
the fifth thing quickly. These births are like in that
when a person's born, both the first time and the second time,
a life is brought forth that's complete in all its parts. What
am I saying? In the hospital, when a baby's
born, that's what it's going to be. It'll never grow another
finger. If it's got four, it'll live
with four. If it's got one, it'll live with one. If it's got one ear, that's all
it'll ever have. It'll never grow another. Do
you know that? But most babies, by God's grace,
are born fully equipped. We can give thanks for that.
And now then, but that baby will mature. That baby's little brain,
it can't even see, can't think, can't hear, can't do anything. But the potential's there, the
possibility's there, the faculties are there. But you got to feed
him, feed him, feed him. And he grows. Pretty soon he
gets to where he can see his fist. And he's real taken up
with it, you know. He's real taken up with both
of them. He discovers he's got two. That's
when he becomes real intelligent. He finds out he's got two fists.
Then he finds out he's got a thumb. And then he discovers you. And then he discovers the room.
And he discovers that he lives in a town, and there's four or
five other people in that town. And he discovers one day, when
he's about 80, that he lives in a world, and there's a whole
lot of people, and there's a God. And that's the way the spiritual
life is. I'm born, when God saves me, I'm born with ever grace
I'll ever have, ever fruit of the Spirit. I'm born with love,
not much of it, but some. It's there. The degree, the faculties
of faith, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, kindness, meekness,
temperance. Every child of God is born a
complete, sufficient meat to inherit the kingdom of glory. But like that little baby in
that cradle, he can't see nothing but himself. They're selfish
Christians. He's surrounded by his own. He
discovers himself. You see, we've got to grow. How
do we grow? We grow by the Word. Desire the
sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby, that your
love might develop and mature, that you'll be able to see beyond
right here on out there. Clear to Mexico, Charlie. Clear
to Spain and France. Clear to heaven! I can see the
Son. I see the Son. I can hear His
voice. So in the new birth, it's all
there. So there's a remarkable likeness between these two births.
And my friend, you'd do well, let me tell you this, if anybody
here has just got a little religion, just enough to make you miserable,
you'd do well to consider the reality of the new birth. just
as surely as the first birth is a reality. You would not be
here if you had not been born. And I'll tell you this, you will
not be in glory unless you're born again. And you would not be able to
hear or to see or to think to whatever degree you hear, see,
and think if you had not been born. And you'll not be able
to hear his voice or see his face or think on things above
unless you're born again. That's so. It's real. It's absolutely real. The enjoyments
of this world. I drink this glass of water and
somebody told me when you're up there drinking water and it's
hot in this auditorium you make everybody thirsty. I wish I could
make everybody thirsty for this word right here. I wish I could. Because that's real too. This
is real, but this is too. Do you look upon the new birth
as sort of a cliché? Well, it's not. It's a reality.
Do you look upon the new birth as sort of a fancy or a fiction
or something religious people talk about? Was your first birth a fancy
or fiction? No, it was real, wasn't it? Well,
that second one is too. That second one is real. Now,
what about the difference? Well, I'll give it to you in
just a few minutes. Turn to 1 Peter 1. There's a difference. There
are ways in which these two births are not alike. The first one
is this. The first one is this. In 1 Peter
1, verse 23, being born again, being born again, not of corruptible seed. When
the first child, and the word here, quite frankly, is semen,
not of corruptible semen, but of incorruptible seed, by the
word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. The child born
the first time to you was born of corruptible seed, and therefore
a corruptible person. But children of God are born
of incorruptible seed. Totally the opposite. And the
seed is the word of God. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. This is the word. It's a mystery. I can't explain it, but I do
know this. That which causes life to begin
in the mother is a seed from man. And that which causes life
to begin in the sinner is seed from God, which is this word.
As the Holy Spirit makes it live and gives it life. That's so,
the Word of God. So that's how they're opposite.
All right, secondly, turn to Job 3. Job chapter 3. And this way they're opposite
too. A man may live to curse the day he was born. And parents may live to curse
the day that they had a son or daughter. Job chapter 3, look
at it, verse 1. After this opened Job his mouth
and cursed his day, and Job spake and said, Let the day perish
when I was born. And the night in which it was
said, Does a man child conceive? Cursed be the day I was born.
There'll come a day when men will curse the day they were
born. But I'll tell you not so in the
new birth. That time grows sweeter with every passing day. I'm so
glad the Lord Jesus gave me life. I'm so glad I praise His name. I thank God He made me live spiritually. He gave me a life that I enjoy,
in which I rejoice. Parents may curse the day that
they brought forth a certain child, but not the Heavenly Father.
His children will all bring Him glory. He's proud of them all. He's grateful for them all. And
then Hebrews 9. What's this now? And you know
this already, and some of you thought about this when I said
I was going to talk about the difference. Hebrews 9, verse
27. This life, born in the flesh,
is going to die. It says in Hebrews 9, verse 27,
it's appointed unto men, wants to die. He that's born of woman
shall die. He that's born of God shall never
die. Christ said, he that liveth and
believeth in me shall never die. My old nature, my fleshly nature
is dying. My spiritual nature is living. It's living. It'll never die.
Never die. Why shall it never die? Well,
here's the reason. First of all, it's nature. It's
born of God. Dying men produce dying men. The living God produces living
servants. It'll never die because of its
union with Christ. Christ said, because I live,
you live. When He dies, I die. Until He dies, I live eternally.
From the pledge of God, my Lord said, my sheep shall never perish.
And because the Holy Spirit perpetually supplies them with life. All
right, one other scripture, 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. How are they different?
How are they different? Well, the glory of that first
birth. And there's some glory. There's
some glory. The glory of the flesh is physical
strength. We've got some beautiful babies
here. They're beautiful. But one day they won't be. That's
right. One day there'll be a A mass
of rotten, putrid, decaying. Roll the stone back, he stinketh. That's right. We've got some
beautiful ladies here. Beautiful, but one day they won't
be. They'll be ugly as ugly. That's right. We've got some
men here that are intelligent. And one day, if they live long
enough, it's just so, it's just so, they're going to be foolish. Somebody's going to have to wait
on them. Somebody's going to have to sign their checks for
them. Somebody's going to have to take care of their bills.
Can you imagine yourself like that? Somebody will have to write
your letters for you and sign your checks. You don't have enough
intelligence to put things together. That's right. We've got some
folks here that are known all over this part of the country.
Famous. Some known all over the United
States. There will come a day when they won't remember your
name. That's right now. I'm telling you the truth. Because
it says here in 1 Peter 1, 24, all flesh is as grass, and all
the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
and the flower fadeth. It falleth away. It's going to
perish. All the glory of man. What is
the glory of man? Strength, beauty, wisdom, intelligence,
recognition, fame, popularity. It's just like a flower. Darcy's roses are all gone. Boy,
a month ago they were pretty. Looked like they were going to
live forever. But they're gone. And one day you'll all be gone.
But I'm telling you this, that life of Christ will live eternally. That which is corruptible shall
put on incorruption, and that which is mortal shall put on
immortality, and that which is flesh shall one day be just like
Christ. Oh, I tell you, there's a difference,
isn't there? The life of God. The hymn writer put it this way,
Lord, what a feeble piece is my mortal frame. My life, how
poor a trifle it is, it scarcely deserves the name life. Ah, the
brittle clay. that built my body first. Every
month and every day is moldering back to dust. My moments fly
apace, nor will my minutes stay. Just like a flood, my hasty days
are sweeping me away. Lord, teach me how frail is man,
till I thy face shall see. Annoint me with grace through
my earthly span, Fit me to live, fit me to die, fit me to dwell
with Thee. May I be born again. It's real. Just real that first birth, and
it's similar in many ways, but it's so different. Because all
my children shall die, all of them. I may bury them all before
I leave here. But my Lord never buries His.
They live eternally. They live eternally. Huh? And
all the glory of this, for keep on. Just give all you've got
to attain all you can get. And someday, every one of us
will watch it. Wood, hay, and stubble, we'll
watch it burn. Burn. And perish. But we'll watch the gold and
silver and precious stone of The life of Christ grows stronger
and more beautiful. Shine with a greater luster.
Give myself to the things of Christ. Our Father, we praise
Thee for Thy Word. Every promise in this book is
divine and blessed. You've spoken to us today through
Thy Word. You've taught us. We praise Thee.
Lord, teach our friends and teach our loved ones, so teach us to
number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. My days
on this earth may be so brief. How brief, I don't know. Lord,
you know. It's appointed unto me and wants
to die. Man's days are determined. The
number of his months are with thee. Thou hast set his bounds,
he cannot pass. But let this day and tomorrow,
the days you've given me, all my tomorrows, be lived in dedication
and consecration in that spiritual life which you've given. Create a thirst in the hearts
of men and women here to know thee, to walk with thee. O Lord, do that work of grace
that only you can perform. Give that life to our friends.
For Christ's sake we pray, Amen.