Thomas Watson said, For the righteous,
eternity is a day in which the sun never sets. For the wicked,
eternity is a night that never ends. How true that is. A day is coming when there will
be no more night for God's people. Now if you will, let's open our
Bibles back to John chapter 3. I understand that these 21 verses,
which we read just a few minutes ago, relate to us a visit that
Nicodemus, who was a master, a teacher in Israel, had with
the Lord Jesus Christ. And we could spend several services,
several messages from this passage, but I'm not going to do that.
I'm going to bring this one message. And my message tonight is divided
into six divisions. I pray that God will bless His
word to all of us. Six divisions. First, the Lord
Jesus declared that all men need regeneration for them to see
the kingdom of God. In verse 3, he said, Verily,
or truly, truly, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. The Lord Jesus declared that
all men, all men, no exceptions, must be regenerated, born again,
in order to see the kingdom of God. We know this is so because
we all bring with us when we come into this world a nature
that is corrupt and a nature that is beyond repair. We need
more than a moral reformation. There must be. There must be
a second birth. A quickening, if you please.
which will enable a person to see or to perceive the things
of God. In 1st Corinthians 2 and verse
14, Paul said it like this, the natural man. That is, all of
us as we come into this world, without this new birth, the natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. For they
are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. By nature, we are all dead in
trespasses and sins. And we must be quickened. That's
what our Lord is saying. We must be quickened. We must
be born again. We must be regenerated in order
to see the kingdom of God. When a person is born again,
He's not only able to see, but able to discern and to know the
things of God. And not only that, but it's translated
into a state of grace, a state of grace, and made sure for glory. Men, as our Lord said here, verily,
verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God. What is the kingdom of God? Well,
the apostle tells us the kingdom of God is righteousness. Until a person is born again,
he cannot understand, he cannot perceive how it is that God requires
a righteousness of all men that no man can produce. And that's
just so. A righteousness that God demands
for us to come into his presence, a righteousness that the law
of God, the justice of God demands of all men, and yet none of us,
no man, since Adam, since the fall, none of us are able to
produce that righteousness. The kingdom of God is righteousness,
and we come to understand that Christ is our righteousness. He's made unto us wisdom and
righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Christ is all. A person doesn't see that, doesn't
understand that until he's born of the Spirit of God. When God
commands the light as he commanded the light in the beginning to
shine out of darkness shines in our hearts. to give us the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The kingdom of God is righteousness and it's joy. It's joy. A person will never know true
joy. It's peace before joy. Peace.
And there is no peace, God said to the wicked. Therefore, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God. and joy, the joy of
the Lord, joy in the Holy Ghost. The joy of the Lord is our strength.
We find in Nehemiah, the joy of the Lord. That's the reason
David in that prayer, when he was repenting after his sin with
Bathsheba and Uriah, he said, restore unto me the joy of thy
spirit. Our Lord said, it's not an option. It's not an option. Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God. And you can try your best, and
we all should, to give someone an interest and understanding
in the things of God, but only God can do that. The second thing that we see
here, the Lord Jesus repeats the need of regeneration while
the ignorance of this religious leader, Nicodemus, is brought
out. Verses 4 through 8. Nicodemus
saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he
enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus
answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born
of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel
not that I said unto thee, you must be born again. The wind
bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth.
So is every one that is born of the Spirit. The Lord Jesus
repeated the need, the absolute necessity of regeneration while
the ignorance of this religious leader is brought out. Nicodemus,
like so many people, take the words of the Lord Jesus Christ
Literally, as though he was speaking of a person being born again,
entering into the womb a second time and being born again like
he was born the first time. If a person could do that, we
know that's not possible, but if a person could be born again
in that natural way, the results would be the same. The result
would be the same, because as the scripture says, who can bring
a clean thing out of an unclean? The Lord is clearly speaking
of a spiritual birth, not a physical birth. But do you see the ignorance
of this religious leader? He's understanding these words
literally, as though the Lord was saying, you've got to go
back and be born again like you were born the first time. Three times. I want you to notice
that three times in these verses, 4 through 8, the Lord Jesus Christ
declares that the new birth is to be born of the Spirit. Verse 5. Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit. And then again in verse 6, that
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born
of the Spirit is Spirit. And once again in verse 8, the
wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof.
But canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth,
so is every one that is born of the Spirit. People sometimes
wonder, well what did he mean there by water, water and the
Spirit? I believe that water here refers
to the Spirit, and it is the Spirit, even the Spirit. We could read that verse like
this, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of
the Spirit, even of the Spirit. Now, every commentator that I've ever
read, all are in agreement, it does not refer to Even those
who believe in baptismal regeneration and teach baptismal regeneration,
like the Campbellites, even they recognize that this verse is
not saying, by water, baptism. But most commentators bring out
the fact that water represents cleansing. And in the new birth,
there is a cleansing. There's a washing of regeneration. And something else about water.
There's no life without water. Every once in a while, you see
on the news or read in the paper, the scientists are so excited
because they think they found some evidence of water on Mars
or one of the other planets. And they would just love to be
convinced that there's life on those other planets. Why? To
deny the truth about the Creator, about God. Water. But the Lord is especially speaking
of this birth as a birth of the Spirit. And He uses the analogy
of the wind. The wind, and this tells us three
things about this spiritual birth. It tells us, first of all, it's
a sovereign work. The wind bloweth where it listeth. It is a sovereign work. You cannot
command the new birth. God is sovereign in giving the
birth, the spiritual birth. And not only does it speak of
the sovereignty of this birth, it speaks of the powerfulness
of this birth by wind. Wind is a very powerful, very
powerful thing. And certainly the Spirit of God,
He's all-powerful. Not only that, not only does
it remind us that this new birth is a sovereign work, it's a powerful
work, it's a mysterious work. It's a mysterious work. But our Lord also tells us by
using the analogy of the wind, that while the work itself, the
new birth itself, cannot be seen, You cannot see. The Lord could
be birthing someone right now in this auditorium, and we could
all be looking at that person, but we could not see the new
birth. We could not see. But we could
see the effects. We will see the effects. Therefore,
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. All things are
passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. A person who is born of the Spirit
of God begins to love what before he really had no interest in.
Begins to love the Word of God, the house of God, the people
of God, the fellowship of other saints. It's a birth from above,
the new birth. The third thing from this passage
is, the Lord Jesus rebuked the ignorance and the unbelief of
Nicodemus along with the other religious leaders. Verses 9 through
12. Nicodemus answered and said unto
him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto
him, Art thou master of Israel? And knowest not these things?
In other words, Nicodemus, do you stand in the synagogue and
do you teach eternity-bound men and women, and you don't understand
these things? You don't understand this is
essential? You don't understand these things?
It's a solemn responsibility to preach the gospel, isn't it?
And every man that God calls feels that responsibility. I
told someone one time, they were talking about God calling a woman
to preach, and I said, God doesn't call women to preach. He said,
what'd you say? I said, God doesn't call women
to preach. And he said, well, who does he
call? I said, he burdens some men to
preach. And that's the sovereign work
of God also. And usually when children are
young and in the home and family, the one you would never expect
to be a pastor, be a preacher. That's the one God saves and
puts into the ministry. The most unlikely person. And when God does that, then
the burden, the responsibility is placed upon a person. It's
a serious matter. And God rebuked, the Lord Jesus
rebuked the ignorance and unbelief of Nicodemus. Art thou master
of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, we speak that we do know, and testify that we have
seen, and you receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly
things, and you believe not, how shall you believe if I tell
you of heavenly things? Nicodemus, along with the others,
were teachers in Israel, but they didn't understand this fundamental
truth. And it is fundamental. A person
must be born again. It's not just joining the church.
It's not just being baptized. It's not just going through catechism
class. A person, a man or woman, boy
or girl, must be born of the Spirit to see the kingdom of
God. Men are fallen creatures. Nicodemus
was no exception, and those that he taught were no exceptions
to that rule. Men are fallen creatures. And
while they had the law as a Jew, while they were given the law
of Moses, that was not enough. It commanded, the law commanded,
but it gave no power, no ability to obey. Yet God had told them in that
law, the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart. They were very careful
about the outward right of circumcision and very proud that that marked
them off as a nation of God's peculiar people. But the circumcision
of the heart, the new birth, they overlooked that completely. The Lord thy God will circumcise
thine heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy
God with all thine heart and with all thy soul that thou mayest
live. They overlooked David's prayer
when he said, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right
spirit within me. They overlooked Jeremiah and
Ezekiel, both of those prophets speaking of a new covenant which
promised a spiritual renewal. This is the covenant that I will
make with the house of Israel. I will put my law in their inward
parts and in their hearts and will be their God and they shall
be my people. A new heart also will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you. I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of
flesh." They had all the Word of God, the Old Testament that
we have, and yet these religious instructors like Nicodemus, a
master, a rabbi, was ignorant of this fundamental thing. And
the Lord Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about earthly things, things
like the wind, something that he could understand. But then
our Lord said, and you believe not. Notice that in verse 12. If I have told you earthly things,
that was an earthly thing, wind, right? know a little bit about
the wind and what he said, the example he gave. But you believe
not. How shall you believe if I tell
you of heavenly things? Do you remember what Abraham
told that rich man in hell? He desired that Lazarus, that
he would send Lazarus with just a drop of water to put on his
tongue. And, of course, that was not
going to happen. And then he prayed that he would
send Lazarus to his brothers. I believe he said, I have five
brothers. I want you to send Lazarus, if you will, and warn
them that they not come to this place. And Abraham said unto
him, they have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. If they believe not, Moses and
the prophets, neither will they believe if one goes to them from
the dead. Nicodemus was rebuked by the
Lord because he was a teacher in Israel and did not know this
fundamental truth. Here's the fourth thing, the
Lord Jesus leads Nicodemus to the knowledge of himself. In
verses 13 through 15, no man hath ascended up to heaven, but
he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, which is
in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. Paul tells us in 1st Timothy,
this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. It's
worthy of all acceptation that all of us here tonight accept
this, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. You know, other blessings like
the rain and the sunshine and the fruitful seasons God could
and did send down to men from heaven. But the blessing of all
blessings, salvation, pardon, forgiveness of sins, reconciliation,
in order for that, he must come down. Not send down like He does
these other blessings, but the Son of God must come down. The Son of God came down from
heaven. The Word was made flesh. He that
spoke to Nicodemus this evening was the Son of God who became
the Son of Man. He became flesh of our flesh
and bone of our bones. He identified with us that He
might be our kinsman, Redeemer. It was necessary that He be lifted
up. Our Lord said, as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. He was lifted up first on the
cross as a sacrifice that atoned for the sins of His people. And
just as that serpent Remember that's given to us in the book
of Numbers. Just as that serpent was made of brass, it had no
venom. The snakes that were biting the
people had venom, poison, and everyone who was bit would die. But that serpent, the serpent
of brass, it had no venom in itself. The Lord Jesus Christ,
He was made in the image of sinful flesh. But He Himself had no
sin, did no sin, knew no sin. But He must be lifted up. He
must be lifted up on the cross bearing the sins of God's people. That verse in Isaiah, I believe
it's 53, 6, which tells us the Lord, that is God, hath laid
on him the iniquity of us all. God laid the sins of his people
upon Christ and punished Christ in our stead. Paul wrote in 2
Corinthians, now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though
God did beseech you by us. We beseech you, we beseech you,
all men. We pray you in Christ's stead
be ye reconciled unto God. As Brother Barnard used to say,
stack your arms. Stack your arms and run up that
white flag of surrender. Be ye reconciled. Quit fighting
against God. He must be lifted up. And secondly,
he was lifted up to the right hand of God. In Acts chapter
5, the apostle Peter said this, him, that is Christ, him hath
God exalted with his right hand. Now listen, to be a prince and
a savior for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of
sins. Repentance, faith, forgiveness,
eternal life are all gifts. gifts that he gives freely, sovereignly. And just as all of those, it
doesn't matter if they were way off in the camp or if they were
near the center of the camp, but everyone who was bitten by
one of those poisonous snakes, everyone, when they looked to
that serpent, that pole, they were healed. Even so, whosoever,
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. I'm thankful for that word whosoever,
aren't you? One preacher of old said one
time, I'd rather see the word whosoever than Charles Haddon
Spurgeon written there. Because he said, I know in my
unbelief, I would think there must be another Charles Haddon
Spurgeon in this world. But no, whosoever. Whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Fifth,
the Lord Jesus speaks of the love of God and faith in Him,
verses 16 through 18. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through
Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not
condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. All of God's work of salvation
springs from His love, for God so loved. It is the moving cause
of God sending His Son into this world to save us. I remembered when I was preparing
these notes, a message I read a number of years ago, and I
think I've given this illustration before, but John Flavel, in one
of his sermons, the Puritan, he told about a family, he said
a German family, and they had four children, and they were
so poor. They were so poor, they were
starving. And it came into their mind they
could sell one of their children. And so they looked at their four
children. The first one was a boy, a spitting image of his father.
We can't sell him. The next one, I think if I remember right,
had some deformity, some physical problem. And we sure can't sell
her. The next one looked just like
her mother. We can't sell her. And the last
one was the baby. There's no way we're going to
sell her. Yet God had one only begotten Son. And out of His
great love for you, for me, for His chosen people, He gave Him. He gave Him. And gave Him to
die such an ignominious death as the death of the cross, stripped
of everything. hung between heaven and earth
as though he was rejected by earth and heaven. And even his
father somehow mysteriously deserted him when he was made to be sin
for us. And the last thing, the sixth
thing, the Lord Jesus states why men do not come to him, verses
19 through 21, This is the condemnation, that
light is coming to the world, and men love darkness rather
than light, because their deeds are evil. For everyone that doeth
evil hateth the light. Neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they
are wrought in God. You notice the Lord Jesus Christ
states why it is that men do not come to Him. Men have many
excuses. They love to have excuses, don't
they? And so did we, and so would we,
but by the grace of God. But they have their excuses. There's hypocrites in the church,
or this, that, or the other. You know, my dad made me go to
church when I was a boy, and I just vowed if I ever got out
from under his control, I'd never go to church again. They've got
all kinds of excuses, but the Lord Jesus Christ tells us the
reason is their deeds are evil. They hate the light. They love sin. They refuse to
bow to the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that the Lord would bless
these words tonight. All of us will sing a hymn and
then we'll be dismissed.