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Brainstorming the New Birth · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: If you had the opportunity to give one message for
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Speaker 1: one time to a group of Christians, what would that
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Speaker 1: one message be? Now think about it for a moment.
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Speaker 1: You have one opportunity to speak to one group of
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Speaker 1: believers one time. What would you speak on? I can
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Speaker 1: think of many possible subjects. One might be the assurance
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Speaker 1: of salvation. Many Christians need to hear about that. Another
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Speaker 1: subject might be our future. Someday Christ will return and
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Speaker 1: will gather his own to be with him forever. Now
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Speaker 1: that's a powerful message to bring. Or you might speak
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Speaker 1: on forgiveness or the need for mutual encouragement. And I
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Speaker 1: can even think of a half a dozen others.
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Speaker 2: All those are important.
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Speaker 1: But none of them would be the message I would
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Speaker 1: bring if I had one time to speak to a
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Speaker 1: group of God's people. I thought about this for a while,
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Speaker 1: and this would be my message. How to be a
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Speaker 1: Christian without becoming religious. You see, we often equate those
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Speaker 1: two terms, Christian and religious, but they're not to be equated.
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Speaker 1: When I think of a religious person, I imagine someone
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Speaker 1: striving to win God's approval. The image that comes to
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Speaker 1: mind is a person on a treadmill, running faster and
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Speaker 1: faster on that treadmill of religious activities, working and striving
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Speaker 1: and hoping and praying that somehow he or she might
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Speaker 1: please God. People on the religious treadmill assume that there
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Speaker 1: is so much between what they're doing and what God
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Speaker 1: requires of them that they just have to stay at
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Speaker 1: it day and night, work at it and strive and labor,
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Speaker 1: hoping somehow to find God in the middle of it
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Speaker 1: and to know that they please God in order to
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Speaker 1: gain His favor and earn His love and approval.
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Speaker 2: But that's not only wrong. That's heresy.
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Speaker 1: In fact, I would consider it the greatest heresy on
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Speaker 1: this earth. A works-based religion says this, if I work
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Speaker 1: hard enough and long enough, I might somehow please God.
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Speaker 1: But the truth is, you can't. No, you cannot. No
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Speaker 1: one can run fast enough on the religious treadmill to
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Speaker 1: to reach the level of God's holiness and God's righteousness. Now,
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Speaker 1: why is that? Well, because we're sinful, and none of
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Speaker 1: that effort will cancel out our sinfulness and enable us
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Speaker 1: to earn God's righteousness. So, the one message I would
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Speaker 1: declare to Christians, or to anyone for that matter, would
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Speaker 1: be to stop working so hard to be religious. Instead,
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Speaker 1: Live your life from a mindset of grace. Now let
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Speaker 1: me explain that. Grace is what God does for us
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Speaker 1: that we cannot earn, that we don't deserve, and we
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Speaker 1: can never repay. Only by His grace can we gain
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Speaker 1: a right standing before God. His acceptance of us is unmerited.
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Speaker 1: As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, In chapter 2, verse 8,
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Speaker 1: by grace you have been saved. All we must do
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Speaker 1: is believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior.
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Speaker 2: That's it. That's all.
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Speaker 1: The passage that I'm going to read today from the
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Speaker 1: book of John expresses this truth in the simplest terms.
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Speaker 1: For this is how much God loved the world. He
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Speaker 1: gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who
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Speaker 1: believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.
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Speaker 1: We read that in John 3.16. It's the single most
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Speaker 1: recognizable and most familiar verse in all the Bible. Did
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Speaker 1: you know Jesus spoke those words of grace to a
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Speaker 1: very religious person? He said them to Nicodemus, a high-ranking Pharisee.
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Speaker 1: And Pharisees, according to Jesus, were people who had great
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Speaker 1: confidence in their own righteousness. Check that out in Luke 18,
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Speaker 1: verse 9. And that describes Nicodemus to a T, confident
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Speaker 1: in his own righteousness. At least, that's how he appeared
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Speaker 1: on the outside. Perhaps down deep on the inside, like
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Speaker 1: most religious people, he worried that he was not doing
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Speaker 1: enough and must have often wondered whether there was something
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Speaker 1: else that he should be doing to please God. He
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Speaker 1: heard about this new rabbi, Jesus, and so he came
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Speaker 1: to him at night for a private conversation about what
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Speaker 1: he would call religion. Religion, however, was the last thing
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Speaker 1: Jesus would want to talk about. Let's find out exactly
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Speaker 1: what Jesus said to Nicodemus. as I read for you
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Speaker 1: John chapter 3, verses 1 through 21. Please open your Bibles,
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Speaker 1: find the passage, and listen carefully as I read from
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Speaker 1: the New Living Translation. Our passage, once again, is John
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Speaker 1: chapter 3, verses 1 to 21. There was a man
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Speaker 1: named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader named who was a Pharisee.
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Speaker 1: After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. Rabbi,
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Speaker 1: he said, we all know that God has sent you
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Speaker 1: to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God
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Speaker 1: is with you. Jesus replied, I tell you the truth,
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Speaker 1: unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom
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Speaker 1: of God. What do you mean? exclaimed Nicodemus. How can
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Speaker 1: an old man go back into his mother's womb and
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Speaker 1: be born again? Jesus replied, I assure you no one
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Speaker 1: can enter the kingdom of God without being born of
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Speaker 1: water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life,
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Speaker 1: but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So
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Speaker 1: don't be surprised when I say you must be born again.
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Speaker 1: The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can
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Speaker 1: hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from
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Speaker 1: or where it is going, so you can't explain how
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Speaker 1: people are born of the Spirit. How are these things possible?
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Speaker 1: Nicodemus asked.
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Speaker 2: Jesus replied, you.
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Speaker 1: Are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don't understand
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Speaker 1: these things? I assure you, we tell you what we
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Speaker 1: know and have seen, and yet you won't believe our testimony.
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Speaker 1: But if you don't believe me when I tell you
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Speaker 1: about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I
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Speaker 1: tell you about heavenly things? No one has ever gone
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Speaker 1: to heaven and returned, but the Son of Man has
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Speaker 1: come down from heaven. And as Moses lifted up the
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Speaker 1: bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the
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Speaker 1: Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone
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Speaker 1: who believes in him will have eternal life. For this
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Speaker 1: is how God loved the world. He gave his one
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Speaker 1: and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him
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Speaker 1: will not perish, but have eternal life. God sent his
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Speaker 1: Son into the world not to judge the world, but
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Speaker 1: to save the world through him. There is no judgment
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Speaker 1: against anyone who believes in him, but anyone who does
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Speaker 1: not believe in him has already been judged for not
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Speaker 1: believing in God's one and only Son. And the judgment
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Speaker 1: is based on this fact. God's light came into the world,
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Speaker 1: but people loved the darkness more than the light, for
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Speaker 1: their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the
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Speaker 1: light and refuse to go near it, for fear their
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Speaker 1: sins will be exposed.
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Speaker 2: But those who do what.
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Speaker 1: Is right Come to the light so others can see
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Speaker 1: that they are doing what God wants.
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Speaker 2: I have a close personal friend who was born again
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Speaker 2: when he was 27 years old. It all started back
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Speaker 2: when he was 10 and wanted to know God. Two
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Speaker 2: years later, he found out that the way to know
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Speaker 2: God was to join a church, he thought, and so
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Speaker 2: he did. He joined a church, was baptized, but nothing changed.
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Speaker 2: Three years later, he began to develop as a young
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Speaker 2: man and He had drives and pressures and interests that
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Speaker 2: obviously were not godly. So he tried another approach, that is,
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Speaker 2: the same approach through another church. He went to a church,
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Speaker 2: walked down an aisle, joined the church, was baptized the
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Speaker 2: second time. Except in this church, they taught that in
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Speaker 2: order to really know God, you have to give up.
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Speaker 2: So he did. He gave up the habit of drinking,
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Speaker 2: which he had already begun to pick up. He gave
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Speaker 2: up smoking. He gave up playing cards. He gave up dancing.
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Speaker 2: He even stopped dating, which was a strange thing for
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Speaker 2: a 15-year-old boy to do, he thought. But to know God,
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Speaker 2: it's worth it. But he still didn't know God. And
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Speaker 2: he wondered, isn't God available? Two years later, he realized
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Speaker 2: he couldn't keep all of those regiments and rules that
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Speaker 2: he had spelled out or the church had so he
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Speaker 2: found another church and you guessed it walked down front
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Speaker 2: joined the church and that night was baptized the third
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Speaker 2: time but only a few months passed before he realized
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Speaker 2: he was no different no power no change and so
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Speaker 2: in his own words he kissed it all off and
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Speaker 2: he ran wild He went to a university and he
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Speaker 2: parted himself out of the school. He joined the military
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Speaker 2: and he became virtually an alcoholic in a period of years.
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Speaker 2: He finally was discharged and found a woman and married
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Speaker 2: her and before long that marriage was on the rocks.
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Speaker 2: He got a job in the deep south, tried his
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Speaker 2: best to live before God and discovered finally it isn't
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Speaker 2: worth it. So he devoted himself to one motto, and
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Speaker 2: I quote, live fast, play hard, die young, leave a
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Speaker 2: good-looking corpse. So he tried it. Before long, he was
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Speaker 2: a moral degenerate, and after a very fresh brush with death,
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Speaker 2: he raced to his sea bag and began to look
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Speaker 2: through his belongings from his days in the military, and
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Speaker 2: he pulled out a little testament, a Gideon New Testament.
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Speaker 2: started reading in Matthew 1. He got to chapter 5, 6,
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Speaker 2: and 7, and he knew he couldn't keep those rules
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Speaker 2: that Jesus mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount. So
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Speaker 2: he rushed over to Mark to see if there was
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Speaker 2: some hope there, and Luke, and the more commandments he
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Speaker 2: read from Jesus, the more he realized he couldn't do it.
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Speaker 2: He was so frustrated and so miserable, he turned to John.
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Speaker 2: And he found an interesting conversation in the third chapter
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Speaker 2: between Jesus and a man whose name he couldn't pronounce.
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Speaker 2: And he began to read about a new birth. And
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Speaker 2: he thought, that's what I need. I was born wrong
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Speaker 2: the first time. If I could be born new and
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Speaker 2: different the second time, it'll all be better. So like
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Speaker 2: a little child, he got on his knees. And he said, Lord,
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Speaker 2: if you accept me like I am, I'll accept you
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Speaker 2: like you are, and I'll expect from you that new birth.
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Speaker 2: I take Jesus Christ by faith. That night, Hal was
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Speaker 2: born again. Not because he tried to do things that
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Speaker 2: were good and right, but because he realized his inability
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Speaker 2: to do what was right. And so he trusted Jesus,
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Speaker 2: the righteous one, who by a new birth could bring
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Speaker 2: new changes, new results in his life. That true account
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Speaker 2: points out to me the simple contrast between religion and regeneration.
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Speaker 2: Don't you think for a minute there is any similarity
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Speaker 2: between the two? There is a world of difference. Correction,
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Speaker 2: there is an eternity's difference. Religion says this, by an
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Speaker 2: external system of works, you gain God's favor. Regeneration says, no,
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Speaker 2: by an internal gift, God gives you his life through
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Speaker 2: Jesus Christ. Religion says by something that I do or
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Speaker 2: something that I am, I can earn God's favor. I
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Speaker 2: can achieve it. And when eternity comes, God will weigh
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Speaker 2: my good with my evil and he will see that
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Speaker 2: the good outweighs the evil and then he will say,
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Speaker 2: come into heaven. But regeneration says all our righteousnesses are
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Speaker 2: as filthy rags. You have no help in yourselves. I
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Speaker 2: offer you the death of my son, says God, his
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Speaker 2: resurrection on your behalf, and I give you all the
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Speaker 2: power you need to give up those habits that plague
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Speaker 2: you and ruin your physical life. I will make it
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Speaker 2: possible for you to really know what it is to
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Speaker 2: live and to move in this world with purpose and
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Speaker 2: meaning and definition. Religion is... working hard to be someone
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Speaker 2: before God. Regeneration is giving up my works and accepting
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Speaker 2: Jesus' work at Calvary and the new life that he promises.
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Speaker 2: There's a difference, you see. I'm convinced in this congregation
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Speaker 2: today there are some of you that are extremely religious
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Speaker 2: people but you've never been regenerated. And it's especially for
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Speaker 2: you that this sermon is dedicated this morning. Because it's
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Speaker 2: based on a conversation indeed that Jesus had with a
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Speaker 2: man who was the religionist of his day. Look at
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Speaker 2: this third chapter with me, please. Notice in the third
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Speaker 2: chapter of John, it's a rather simple presentation of and
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Speaker 2: encounter Jesus' head with Nicodemus, the man of the hour
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Speaker 2: in his day, humanly speaking. I say that because of
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Speaker 2: the credentials that are given to us in these verses.
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Speaker 2: There are three. Look in your Bible with me. Verse
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Speaker 2: 1 describes Nicodemus as a man of the Pharisees. It
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Speaker 2: concludes with the fact that he was a ruler of
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Speaker 2: the Jews Thirdly, verse 10 tells us he was the
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Speaker 2: teacher of Israel. Don't miss that. He was a Pharisee
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Speaker 2: to begin with. Now, we don't have Pharisees today. Well,
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Speaker 2: we don't have. We do have Pharisees, but we don't
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Speaker 2: have the brotherhood named Pharisees today. The word Pharisee comes
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Speaker 2: from an original term that means to be separated. They
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Speaker 2: were the separatists. They were the religious, rigid men of
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Speaker 2: the day. There was never more than 6,000 of them
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Speaker 2: in Palestine at any one time. It was a brotherhood
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Speaker 2: made up of men who split theological hairs and lived
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Speaker 2: up not to the system of God's law, but to
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Speaker 2: their own law, which they legalistically enforced upon the people
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Speaker 2: of Jewry. A Pharisee in that day was noted for
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Speaker 2: his religious hair splitting. Let me give you an example.
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Speaker 2: In the Old Testament, Moses, under God's direction, wrote out
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Speaker 2: the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy. That means... Don't
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Speaker 2: work on the Sabbath. When Saturday comes, the Jew is
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Speaker 2: to stop working, said Moses, and he is not to
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Speaker 2: start working until what we would call the dawn or
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Speaker 2: the beginning of Sunday, the first day of the week.
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Speaker 2: But on that last day of the week, there is
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Speaker 2: to be no work. It's a rather simple plan, but
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Speaker 2: the Pharisees weren't satisfied with that. Would you believe for generations, literally,
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Speaker 2: they worked over that commandment. So much so that in
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Speaker 2: their manual called the Mishnah, they wrote 24 chapters on
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Speaker 2: what it means to work and not work on the Sabbath.
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Speaker 2: Not satisfied with the simple plan, they spelled out what
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Speaker 2: was involved in working and not working. Certain commandments of
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Speaker 2: knots involved working, but tying another kind of knot did not. Oh,
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Speaker 2: that's interesting. One knot did, one did not. Something as
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Speaker 2: simple as walking over grass means you break the blade
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Speaker 2: of the grass and that's working. whereas you can walk
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Speaker 2: a path without grass and it's not working. See how
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Speaker 2: ridiculous it became? The Talmud, another one of their bylaws,
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Speaker 2: as it were, devotes 64 1⁄2 columns to the Sabbath requirements.
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Speaker 2: A Pharisee was noted for his external do's and don'ts.
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Speaker 2: He not only embraced them, he forced those under his
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Speaker 2: teaching to embrace them or to be terribly criticised. It
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Speaker 2: says in verse 1, he was a ruler of the Jews.
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Speaker 2: This narrows it from 6,000 to 70. Just like in
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Speaker 2: our own land, we have a supreme court. The people
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Speaker 2: of Israel had a supreme court in their day. It
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Speaker 2: was called the Sanhedrin. He was one of the members
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Speaker 2: of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin had religious jurisdiction over every
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Speaker 2: Jew in the world. So he carried a great deal
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Speaker 2: of swat. He was a very responsible person. But I
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Speaker 2: think more than these two is the fact that Jesus
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Speaker 2: calls him the teacher of Israel. That's the most impressive.
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Speaker 2: Maybe you didn't realize it in your years of the
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Speaker 2: studying and reading about Nicodemus and Jesus that Nicodemus was
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Speaker 2: without question the voice of the Jews. He was the
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Speaker 2: spokesman when it came to rabbinic teachings. Bill Counts, in
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Speaker 2: his book, Once a Carpenter, says this, So far as
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Speaker 2: we know, Jesus never encountered a more prestigious, knowledgeable, refined
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Speaker 2: representative of Judaism than Nicodemus. He was the man of
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Speaker 2: the day. That explains in verse 2 why he came
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Speaker 2: at night. He was no dummy. Nicodemus knew in his
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Speaker 2: heart that for him to go in the day would
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Speaker 2: surely be seen by people around the city. Any well-known
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Speaker 2: personage knows that wherever he goes, he's going to be spotted,
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Speaker 2: especially when you're the teacher of Israel. So he went
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Speaker 2: at night. Furthermore, it was a time for privacy. They
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Speaker 2: would have an uninterrupted occasion for conversation and interaction regarding
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Speaker 2: this crucial decision that Nicodemus was wrestling with. So he came,
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Speaker 2: I believe, and I give him full credit, he came
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Speaker 2: in all sincerity as a religious man, not knowing that
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Speaker 2: the conversation would be turned from religion to regeneration. Look
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Speaker 2: at his approach, verse two. Rabbi, that was a courteous
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Speaker 2: and kind title he gave to one who was not
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Speaker 2: a graduate of the rabbinic schools. But he knew he
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Speaker 2: was a teacher and he said, Rabbi, we know, including himself,
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Speaker 2: he had watched the things go on in Jesus' early ministry.
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Speaker 2: We know that you have come from God as a teacher.
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Speaker 2: He didn't say, we know that you are God in
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Speaker 2: the flesh, but he said, we know that you have
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Speaker 2: been obviously a God-gifted teacher. For no one can do
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Speaker 2: these signs that you do unless God is with him.
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Speaker 2: All due respect for this courteous approach, I have to
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Speaker 2: add that religious people often rely on flattery. Religious people
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Speaker 2: are very enamored with human achievement. They're very impressed with
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Speaker 2: the importance of people and so when around people they
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Speaker 2: frequently go to the realm of flattery when not knowing
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Speaker 2: what else to talk about. And Nicodemus came in this
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Speaker 2: rather awkward situation and he stood with Jesus perhaps in
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Speaker 2: the alley in an appointed place, maybe he had made
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Speaker 2: an appointment some other time and they had met in
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Speaker 2: an inn or a room of a house Where they
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Speaker 2: met is not given us, but he came at night,
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Speaker 2: and he said, We know you're a teacher from God.
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Speaker 2: Now what did Jesus think of that approach? Verse 3.
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Speaker 2: He went right for the juggler vein. Jesus answered and
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Speaker 2: said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless
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Speaker 2: one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
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Speaker 2: What does that have to do with what Nicodemus just said? Zero. Zero.
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Speaker 2: He was not embroiled, he was not impressed with the
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Speaker 2: embellished beginning that Nicodemus brought to the conversation. Jesus saw
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Speaker 2: in him what he saw in every man. Look at
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Speaker 2: verse 25 of the preceding chapter. Just look up to
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Speaker 2: the last verse of chapter 2. This describes why Jesus
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Speaker 2: answered like he did. Because he, that's Jesus, did not
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Speaker 2: need anyone to bear witness concerning man, for he himself
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Speaker 2: knew what was in man. He had that spiritual x-ray vision.
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Speaker 2: Don't you wish you had that ability sometime? Other times,
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Speaker 2: I guess we're glad we don't. Don't you wish you
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Speaker 2: really knew if your boss meant what he said to
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Speaker 2: you when he told you what a good job you're doing?
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Speaker 2: Then again, maybe it would be best that you didn't
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Speaker 2: know the truth of that. Don't you wish you really
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Speaker 2: knew what that person thought of you when you're conversing
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Speaker 2: with him at the church or in your home? Then again,
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Speaker 2: maybe it wouldn't be wise for us to really know
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Speaker 2: the truth because we lack omniscience in knowing how to
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Speaker 2: put it all together. Not Jesus. Blended with the x-ray
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Speaker 2: ability to penetrate the heart of man, he had full
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Speaker 2: knowledge of man from beginning to ending. He saw right
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Speaker 2: through Nicodemus. It has been said of one great spiritual
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Speaker 2: leader of our era, when I talk with him, he
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Speaker 2: looks right into my soul. That's what it was with Nicodemus.
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Speaker 2: He was exposed, unzipped, shown forth, manifested right before the
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Speaker 2: Son of God when Jesus said, Nicodemus, you've got to
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Speaker 2: be born again. Look carefully at that third verse. I
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Speaker 2: think it has a great deal we might have missed. First,
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Speaker 2: it's the first time in all the scriptures the words
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Speaker 2: born again are connected. It's the first place where you
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Speaker 2: will find in detail the spelling out of regeneration. It's
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Speaker 2: not the first time the thought of being born into
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Speaker 2: God's family appears. Go back a couple of chapters to
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Speaker 2: verse 12 in chapter 1. Let me show you something
27:28
Speaker 2: you read a few days ago, but maybe never connected
27:32
Speaker 2: with chapter 3. John 1, verse 12, describes those that
27:40
Speaker 2: believe in Jesus, those that receive him. But as many
27:45
Speaker 2: as received him, to them he gave the right to
27:51
Speaker 2: become children of God. Notice the terms, children of God.
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Speaker 2: even to those who believe in his name. Don't stop reading.
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Speaker 2: These are the ones who were born, not of blood,
28:08
Speaker 2: nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
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Speaker 2: will of man, but of God. Those that receive Jesus Christ,
28:16
Speaker 2: those that accept Him as personal Savior, are born, and
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Speaker 2: if you take away all of the subordinates in verse 13,
28:25
Speaker 2: they are born of God. Underline that. Who were born
28:30
Speaker 2: of God. What does it mean to experience Christianity? What
28:37
Speaker 2: does it mean to be in the family of God?
28:40
Speaker 2: It means that you begin with a new beginning. Birth.
28:46
Speaker 2: Your old birth won't satisfy. I was born wrong the
28:51
Speaker 2: first time. I need a righteous birth. The best I
28:56
Speaker 2: can say I got from my first birth is physical life.
29:00
Speaker 2: But with it I got the same disease my parents had.
29:04
Speaker 2: And they got the same their parents had. The disease
29:07
Speaker 2: of sin. And I can never find the counteracting power
29:11
Speaker 2: against sin again. apart from a new birth through Christ.
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Speaker 2: Now back to chapter 3, one more thought on verse 3.
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Speaker 2: I think because the words born again are so significant,
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Speaker 2: we have missed the importance of another word, cannot. I
29:32
Speaker 2: want you to meditate on that, will you? Jesus said
29:38
Speaker 2: to him, unless one is born, again, he cannot see
29:47
Speaker 2: the kingdom of God. Merrill Tenney, in his fine work,
29:53
Speaker 2: The Gospel of Belief, does a good job with the
29:56
Speaker 2: word cannot. Cannot. Listen to what he says. The natural
30:02
Speaker 2: man cannot enter the spiritual kingdom. Cannot implies incapability rather
30:12
Speaker 2: than prohibition. The natural man is not arbitrarily debarred from
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Speaker 2: the kingdom. He is inherently incapable of apprehending it. Seeing it,
30:32
Speaker 2: just as a blind man cannot enjoy a sunset. It's
30:41
Speaker 2: not that a lost man can look and see the
30:45
Speaker 2: kingdom and say, boy, that would be great. But I
30:49
Speaker 2: don't buy the plan, believing in Jesus. He can't even
30:52
Speaker 2: apprehend it in himself. Not only is it true dead
31:00
Speaker 2: men tell no tales, dead men see no kingdom. The
31:05
Speaker 2: dead man, apart from the work of grace in his
31:09
Speaker 2: life through the power of the Holy Spirit, lives his
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Speaker 2: life blinded to the kingdom of God. All he sees
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Speaker 2: is the results. He can't get the plan together. That's
31:23
Speaker 2: why the Spirit of God comes to our rescue and
31:27
Speaker 2: meets us where we are. Now that's why Nicodemus says,
31:33
Speaker 2: how can a man be born when he is old? Now,
31:39
Speaker 2: before you are critical, and I've heard it taught almost
31:43
Speaker 2: to a point of making Nicodemus look like an imbecile.
31:49
Speaker 2: He was a brilliant man. But he was frustrated. He said, look,
31:55
Speaker 2: wait a minute. You're talking about a new birth. I'm old.
31:59
Speaker 2: Maybe he was twice the age of Jesus. Now how
32:03
Speaker 2: can a man old like I am come to this
32:07
Speaker 2: new birth? I can't go back to my mother's womb,
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Speaker 2: can I? I like the way the new ASV renders this.
32:14
Speaker 2: It's asked it with a negative answer implied. That's precisely
32:18
Speaker 2: the way the Greek does it. I can't do that,
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Speaker 2: can I? Meaning, I want to. That seems to be
32:25
Speaker 2: the thought. I'd like to know it, but I'm old.
32:30
Speaker 2: How many people feel that because they are older, they
32:33
Speaker 2: cannot enter into the kingdom of God? You know, there's
32:36
Speaker 2: no age limit on salvation. That's what makes it so marvelous.
32:42
Speaker 2: Not only is it not a salvation by works, it's
32:46
Speaker 2: not a salvation by age. A little child that comes
32:52
Speaker 2: to God through faith in Jesus can be born again
32:56
Speaker 2: just like one in his 80s and 90s. Nicodemus didn't
33:02
Speaker 2: understand that. Another point I want to make is you
33:05
Speaker 2: can go through the schools of the day. You can
33:09
Speaker 2: begin to approach life from this academic standpoint and be
33:15
Speaker 2: so terribly wanting spiritually. That's the way Nicodemus was. Such
33:20
Speaker 2: a maverick thought is this new birth through him. And
33:25
Speaker 2: Jesus is so gracious. His approach to him is clear
33:30
Speaker 2: and deliberate. He used two illustrations. Verses 5 through 8,
33:39
Speaker 2: you find two simple illustrations that even an intellectual could understand.
33:45
Speaker 2: Look at this, verse 5. Truly, Truly, I say to you,
33:51
Speaker 2: unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot
33:56
Speaker 2: enter into the kingdom of God. Nicodemus, that which is
34:00
Speaker 2: born of flesh is flesh. That which is born of
34:04
Speaker 2: spirit is spirit. What is the illustration? Physical birth. Before
34:13
Speaker 2: you can have the human life, you've got to be
34:16
Speaker 2: born Before you can have the divine life, you've got
34:22
Speaker 2: to be born. Before we go to the next illustration,
34:27
Speaker 2: which is the wind, verse 8, let's go back to
34:30
Speaker 2: this matter of water in verse 5. Some teach that
34:35
Speaker 2: it means baptism. Unless one is born by baptism, meaning
34:41
Speaker 2: water baptism, he cannot be born again. I do not
34:46
Speaker 2: accept that, first because I believe baptism would be an
34:52
Speaker 2: act of one's own work, something you do. And what
34:57
Speaker 2: of the many who were never baptized? What of the
35:03
Speaker 2: thief on the cross? What did Philip say to the
35:08
Speaker 2: eunuch as he was riding along? The eunuch said, look,
35:11
Speaker 2: can I be baptized? Philip said, sure. so long as
35:14
Speaker 2: you believe that Jesus Christ is your Savior. Why did
35:18
Speaker 2: he put that preface on the answer? Because he did
35:23
Speaker 2: not want to teach baptismal regeneration. Not by water of baptism.
35:28
Speaker 2: That's not what it's saying. For a long time, I
35:32
Speaker 2: have thought that it means physical birth, water birth. In
35:38
Speaker 2: other words, if a person wants to be in God's family,
35:41
Speaker 2: he has to be born physically, by water, from his mother,
35:45
Speaker 2: and then he must be born spiritually by God. But
35:51
Speaker 2: you know, the more I think about that, the more
35:52
Speaker 2: I believe that's too elementary for a man like Nicodemus.
35:56
Speaker 2: It's obvious to anyone that if you want to experience
35:59
Speaker 2: something in life, you've got to be born, you've got
36:04
Speaker 2: to be living. I think it's elementary. I take it
36:09
Speaker 2: to mean the cleansing process of the Holy Spirit. Unless
36:16
Speaker 2: one is born through the cleansing work of the Spirit
36:23
Speaker 2: of God within, namely water and spirit, he cannot enter
36:29
Speaker 2: God's kingdom. I've got three reasons for holding to that position,
36:34
Speaker 2: which is a rather recent one for me. I've always
36:36
Speaker 2: held to the second. First of all, to a Pharisee,
36:40
Speaker 2: it communicates. Those 6,000 Pharisees that walked up and down
36:46
Speaker 2: the streets of Jewry connected water with cleansing all the time.
36:50
Speaker 2: They had rites and rituals in which they would cleanse
36:54
Speaker 2: their hands with water a certain way. And cleanse the
36:57
Speaker 2: heart was commonly a term used by them. It was
37:00
Speaker 2: a symbol of cleansing, water was. So as a Pharisee,
37:05
Speaker 2: he'd understand that. Jesus often couched his terms so that
37:09
Speaker 2: those listening understood clearly. But there's a better reason than that. Linguistically,
37:16
Speaker 2: the text reads with a preposition and no definite article,
37:24
Speaker 2: simply two objects together. In other words, verse 5, unless
37:28
Speaker 2: one is born of, there's the preposition, water and spirit.
37:35
Speaker 2: Perhaps we could render it water, even spirit. The thought
37:40
Speaker 2: is the Spirit and the water are connected in a
37:43
Speaker 2: rather simple fashion in the original text. Perhaps it would
37:48
Speaker 2: be clearer for you to see the third reason, not
37:51
Speaker 2: from John 3, but from Titus chapter 3. Turn there,
37:55
Speaker 2: will you? Over to the right, if you're not familiar
37:58
Speaker 2: with your Bible, that is into the latter part of
38:03
Speaker 2: the letters of Paul, beyond Timothy to Titus. Look at
38:09
Speaker 2: verse 4 of chapter 3. Titus 3, verses 4 and 5.
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Speaker 2: The third reason I hold to this position is because
38:21
Speaker 2: of this clear and other parallel passages. It's describing salvation
38:28
Speaker 2: to the believer. When the kindness of God, our Savior...
38:35
Speaker 2: and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us. Notice,
38:41
Speaker 2: by the way, regeneration is something God prompts, not man.
38:48
Speaker 2: Religion is something man prompts, not God. So God, out
38:54
Speaker 2: of kindness, appears and saves us. First, the negative, not
39:02
Speaker 2: on the basis of deeds, which we have done in righteousness,
39:10
Speaker 2: but the positive, according to his mercy, by the washing
39:16
Speaker 2: of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. You notice
39:22
Speaker 2: how regeneration is described as the washing, the the washing
39:29
Speaker 2: work of the Spirit of God now back to John
39:33
Speaker 2: 3 and let's put it this way Jesus said to
39:38
Speaker 2: Nicodemus this new birth Nicodemus is not that complicated There
39:45
Speaker 2: must be an inward cleansing that God will make possible
39:50
Speaker 2: through His Spirit. You're accepting me as your personal Savior.
40:00
Speaker 2: What a marvelous inward change takes over. And no longer
40:05
Speaker 2: will you be guided by the ladders of your own
40:08
Speaker 2: building to climb to heaven. You will immediately have a
40:12
Speaker 2: God-sent bridge that will take you to me and bring
40:19
Speaker 2: me to you. It will bridge the gap. Now so
40:22
Speaker 2: much for the first illustration, physical birth. The second, the wind.
40:31
Speaker 2: Maybe when he was speaking there came a gust of
40:34
Speaker 2: wind down the alley and blew up the dust. Maybe
40:37
Speaker 2: there were some clothes on the line blowing. He said,
40:41
Speaker 2: you see there Nicodemus, You see the results of the wind.
40:45
Speaker 2: That's what he says in verse 8. The wind here,
40:49
Speaker 2: it blows where it wishes. You can hear it, but
40:54
Speaker 2: you don't know where it comes from or where it
40:56
Speaker 2: is going. So is everyone born of the Spirit. Nicodemus,
41:02
Speaker 2: we see the results of the wind, but we can't
41:06
Speaker 2: control it. We know neither its origin nor its destiny.
41:10
Speaker 2: Given enough power, it can sweep a city. under dirt.
41:16
Speaker 2: Put it in the water and it can cause an
41:18
Speaker 2: immense whirlpool. Bring wind to this earth and it causes
41:24
Speaker 2: all sorts of changes and you cannot direct it, you
41:27
Speaker 2: cannot control it. The Spirit of God is like that.
41:32
Speaker 2: The only thing you know is the result of it.
41:36
Speaker 2: In other words, Nicodemus, there is a mysterious unseen work
41:44
Speaker 2: God does in the hearts of men and women. Daniel
41:52
Speaker 2: Whittle has left as a legacy of his life several
41:56
Speaker 2: songs that we love to sing. There shall be showers
42:00
Speaker 2: of blessing, moment by moment, the banner of the cross.
42:09
Speaker 2: But my favorite is the third stanza of his best hymn,
42:15
Speaker 2: I know not how the Spirit moves, convincing men of sin.
42:24
Speaker 2: Revealing Jesus through the Word, creating faith in Him. But
42:32
Speaker 2: I know whom I have believed. What's he saying? What's
42:36
Speaker 2: Whittle capturing for us in that familiar hymn, I know
42:40
Speaker 2: whom I have believed? He's saying, I don't know how
42:43
Speaker 2: to explain the beginning of it. I don't know how
42:46
Speaker 2: to explain the work of it. All I can tell
42:48
Speaker 2: you is the result. I know that I've believed, and
42:54
Speaker 2: I praise God I'm kept in Him. Why is it
42:59
Speaker 2: that the Spirit of God would move up and down
43:02
Speaker 2: the pews of this church, in a television room, over
43:05
Speaker 2: a cassette recording of the message, and touch one heart
43:09
Speaker 2: and miss another, touch a third and miss the fourth?
43:12
Speaker 2: touch a whole row and miss the next five. I
43:15
Speaker 2: don't know how to explain it. But I know that
43:18
Speaker 2: in his sovereign plan, he's picked several of us, and
43:23
Speaker 2: praise God, the majority of us, and he said, you're mine.
43:28
Speaker 2: He created that faith in him, responding in such a
43:33
Speaker 2: marvelous act of faith. That's what Jesus is saying, and
43:39
Speaker 2: Nicodemus said to him, how? How? can these things be?
43:43
Speaker 2: Let's give Nicodemus credit. He wrestled with the issue and
43:47
Speaker 2: he kept his head on his neck and he said,
43:49
Speaker 2: all through my life, I've been able to put it
43:52
Speaker 2: together in my own logical fashion, but I have to confess,
43:56
Speaker 2: I'm at a loss. No longer able to build my
44:00
Speaker 2: own structure, I'm out in the cold. You know, I've
44:05
Speaker 2: been born wrong and I can't get it together. Jesus
44:10
Speaker 2: tells him why. Maybe you've missed it. Underline three statements
44:14
Speaker 2: in the next three verses. You do not understand, verse 10.
44:19
Speaker 2: You do not receive, verse 11. You do not believe,
44:25
Speaker 2: verse 12. That's the reason, Nicodemus. That's why it's such
44:30
Speaker 2: a struggle. You, literally, you there, You are the teacher
44:40
Speaker 2: of Israel and you don't understand. You don't receive. You
44:47
Speaker 2: don't believe. On the one hand, I see that sovereign
44:52
Speaker 2: act of God and I cannot remove from the other
44:55
Speaker 2: hand the response in the heart of Nicodemus. You're not believing.
45:01
Speaker 2: You're not receiving. It revolves around me, verse 13, the
45:07
Speaker 2: son of man. not a system of works. Now, perhaps
45:14
Speaker 2: seeing a great perplexity on the face of Nicodemus, Jesus
45:18
Speaker 2: gave him an illustration. Spurgeon has put it perhaps better
45:22
Speaker 2: than any other preacher. Illustrations are like windows of light
45:26
Speaker 2: that open truth in a sermon. And he threw open
45:31
Speaker 2: the drapes in a window of history that pricked the
45:36
Speaker 2: conscience of Nicodemus. Remember a story he asked him back
45:41
Speaker 2: in the days of the Old Testament? Moses was with
45:44
Speaker 2: those thousands of Jews and they were being snake-bitten in
45:48
Speaker 2: the desert. God raised up fiery snakes, that apparently means red,
45:55
Speaker 2: snakes that had a red epidermis, and they moved among
45:59
Speaker 2: the Israelite camp and they bit people and the venom spread,
46:03
Speaker 2: creating a disease and death. Remember that? Remember Nicodemus, God
46:08
Speaker 2: said to Moses, now Moses, here's the plan. Out of bronze,
46:15
Speaker 2: fashion a serpent. Put it on a pole and hold
46:20
Speaker 2: it up high. By the way, the same symbol is
46:23
Speaker 2: used today with regard to the medical profession. You still
46:27
Speaker 2: see it on hospitals and on small lapels and little
46:31
Speaker 2: symbols on lapels and even on some license plates. You
46:34
Speaker 2: see that serpent. It all goes back to the days
46:37
Speaker 2: in Israel. And he held the snake up high and
46:41
Speaker 2: all of those in the tents from round about, all
46:43
Speaker 2: they had to do was look and they'd be healed.
46:51
Speaker 2: Now for a thinking man with a problem of snake bite,
46:55
Speaker 2: that created a problem. Don't kid me. You know, you
47:00
Speaker 2: got to do more than look. They were never told
47:04
Speaker 2: to kill the snakes. They were never told to send
47:07
Speaker 2: a substitute. They were told simply to look at that
47:12
Speaker 2: snake and they'd be healed. Remember that, Nicodemus? Yes. Verse 14.
47:23
Speaker 2: As Moses lifted up the serpent, even so must the
47:28
Speaker 2: Son of Man be lifted up. That's the cross. And
47:34
Speaker 2: here's the plan, Nicodemus, that whoever believes in him may
47:40
Speaker 2: have eternal life. Now for an intellectual, for a thinking person,
47:48
Speaker 2: it doesn't make good logic. How can simply a belief
47:53
Speaker 2: in the heart create such a new birth and change?
47:58
Speaker 2: I'm at a loss to tell you. The only thing
48:00
Speaker 2: I can say is it makes it universal. The little
48:05
Speaker 2: child who runs around hungry in the streets of Watts
48:09
Speaker 2: has as much a chance as the one who lives
48:14
Speaker 2: in the lovely homes of the suburbs. The person in
48:18
Speaker 2: the bush today in Africa who hears it for the
48:22
Speaker 2: first time can understand it just like the professor at
48:25
Speaker 2: New York University at the same moment can receive it.
48:29
Speaker 2: It's the same basic plan. It makes it available. Don't
48:35
Speaker 2: wrestle with it. Don't even try to explain it. Believe it.
48:41
Speaker 2: That's why John adds in verse 16, God so loved
48:45
Speaker 2: the world. You could read that in the original text.
48:48
Speaker 2: You'd see the word so first. So much. I can
48:52
Speaker 2: still hear my Greek teacher teach it. It's so interesting
48:56
Speaker 2: the way he emphasized. He would put his voice up
48:58
Speaker 2: about four pitches. And then come back down. So God
49:03
Speaker 2: loved the world. My, that's it, you know. That's the
49:07
Speaker 2: way it's emphasized. So much that he gave his son.
49:13
Speaker 2: That includes you. Thank God that includes me. He loved everybody.
49:20
Speaker 2: us so much he gave his son so that whoever
49:24
Speaker 2: earns his way, now that's religion, whoever believes in him
49:29
Speaker 2: might never perish. You hear that? Whoever believes would no
49:35
Speaker 2: longer suffer the death brought about by that disease but
49:40
Speaker 2: have eternal life. There are two basic responses. Belief and unbelief.
49:52
Speaker 2: Two basic results or destinies. Eternity with God and eternity
50:00
Speaker 2: in hell called perishing in this verse. Now Jesus Christ
50:08
Speaker 2: taught this John captures it in simple commentary form, and
50:14
Speaker 2: we're left with the result. If you were to take
50:18
Speaker 2: the time to read 18 through 21, you would see
50:22
Speaker 2: a discourse that simply presents contrast. Light, dark. The truth,
50:30
Speaker 2: the lie. Hating, loving. Running for the truth or practicing
50:38
Speaker 2: the truth and running in darkness and practicing evil. I
50:43
Speaker 2: think the Lord is saying simply this.
50:48
Speaker 1: The plan.
50:51
Speaker 2: Is that you accept my son as the solution for
50:56
Speaker 2: your sin problem. And if you reject that plan, there
51:03
Speaker 2: is no other option. Being religious people Mankind has always
51:15
Speaker 2: worked out a plan to twist what God arranged. I
51:23
Speaker 2: want to take a moment to show you why I
51:25
Speaker 2: say that. Turn to 2 Kings chapter 18. Now don't
51:33
Speaker 2: just pass this up because it's a couple or three
51:36
Speaker 2: minutes before the end of the sermon. I want you
51:39
Speaker 2: to see this. You know, I had been many years
51:42
Speaker 2: in the ministry before I knew this that I'm going
51:45
Speaker 2: to share with you. And more and more, it's coming
51:49
Speaker 2: across to me as being one of the most significant
51:53
Speaker 2: observations in all the Bible regarding religion. 2 Kings 18,
52:02
Speaker 2: verse 1. Now it came about in the third year
52:08
Speaker 2: of Hosea. the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah,
52:15
Speaker 2: the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, became king. He
52:21
Speaker 2: was 25 years old when he became king. Verse 3.
52:26
Speaker 2: He did right in the sight of the Lord according
52:30
Speaker 2: to all that his father David had done. Now the verse.
52:34
Speaker 2: He removed the high places. and broke down the sacred pillars,
52:40
Speaker 2: and cut down the Asherah. That's an idol altar, the Asherah.
52:45
Speaker 2: He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses
52:53
Speaker 2: had made, for until those days the sons of Israel
53:00
Speaker 2: burned incense to it, and it was called Nehushtan. a
53:07
Speaker 2: piece of brass. Look, 700 years plus later, they'd been
53:15
Speaker 2: dragging that snake all over the desert, through the water,
53:21
Speaker 2: from one experience to another, worshipping, burning stinking candles to it,
53:26
Speaker 2: going through all the stuff. They made a thing out
53:30
Speaker 2: of the serpent. Why? Because by nature they're religious. It
53:37
Speaker 2: had served its purpose. They didn't leave it at that.
53:41
Speaker 2: They dragged it and turned it into an idol and
53:44
Speaker 2: finally Hezekiah said, it's Nahushtan, a piece of brass. What
53:50
Speaker 2: am I saying? I'm saying that you can carry with
53:53
Speaker 2: your life for years, decades, your own little idols, worshiping
54:02
Speaker 2: the idols, church membership, christening, baptism, faithfulness, even Bible classes,
54:14
Speaker 2: but you are hard-pressed to go back and say, at
54:17
Speaker 2: that point in my life, I gave my heart to
54:20
Speaker 2: Jesus Christ. Right now, I make that decision for Him.
54:26
Speaker 2: I no longer trust in the Nehushtans. I trust in Jesus. Now,
54:34
Speaker 2: the end of the story isn't over. You know that
54:40
Speaker 2: just about a year later Hal was with his father
54:43
Speaker 2: and mother in Houston and my family and what a
54:46
Speaker 2: delightful experience of working and loving being with them. Hal
54:52
Speaker 2: was in his home and his his father saw it.
54:58
Speaker 2: He was carrying a bible around and quoting verses and
55:01
Speaker 2: studying with a strange couple that lived not far away
55:06
Speaker 2: and spending a lot of time together. He said to
55:08
Speaker 2: his boy, Al, you know, you're weird, man. A year ago,
55:14
Speaker 2: I was with you in New Orleans, and you were
55:17
Speaker 2: running wild. It shocked me. And here you are, quoting
55:22
Speaker 2: Bible verses and talking about seminary, of all things. You
55:27
Speaker 2: haven't got any money? Huh. You haven't got any background.
55:31
Speaker 2: You're a failure from the year one, as it were,
55:34
Speaker 2: and now you're changed. I want to know the difference.
55:40
Speaker 2: So Hal sat down with his 52-year-old father. And they
55:46
Speaker 2: bridged the gap together. With tears in the father's eyes,
55:50
Speaker 2: he gave his heart to Jesus Christ. He led his
55:56
Speaker 2: own dad to the Savior. It may very well be
56:01
Speaker 2: that some parents are here whose children have gotten turned on,
56:07
Speaker 2: and you've become a part of the action, but you've
56:11
Speaker 2: never been born again. And I close that message with
56:19
Speaker 2: that wonderful invitation to you. May we bow our heads.
56:33
Speaker 2: Without a lot of falderoy or special ritual or even
56:37
Speaker 2: singing or pleading, I offer you as an intelligent, practical,
56:43
Speaker 2: logical thinking person, the person of Jesus Christ. If you
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Speaker 2: in all honesty can never look back to a point
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Speaker 2: in your time in life when you gave your heart
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Speaker 2: to Jesus Christ, clear up the matter right now. God
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Speaker 2: invites 52-year-olds, 82-year-olds, and 12-year-olds, and younger and older to
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Speaker 2: give their hearts to him. Oh, what a great moment
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Speaker 2: for you. Tell the Father you accept the gift of
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Speaker 2: Jesus Christ. You believe at this point in your life
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Speaker 2: that he died for you. He was raised for you.
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Speaker 2: He took your place. and that he's got your heart.
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Speaker 2: I promise you, he will come in. Our loving and
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Speaker 2: our gracious, merciful Father, thank you for the reminder from
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Speaker 2: John's gospel of eternal life sourced in Christ. Thank you
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Speaker 2: for the simple black and white promise that comes with
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Speaker 2: no strings attached. And so I pray for those today
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Speaker 2: who have not yet received the Lord Jesus, that they
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Speaker 2: might remove from their heads the nehushtans with which they
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Speaker 2: have been walking and to which they have been clinging,
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Speaker 2: that they might give themselves to your son and him only.
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Speaker 2: We commit to you, our Father, the truth that we
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Speaker 2: have heard and the message and ministry through Jesus Christ,
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Speaker 2: our Lord. Amen.
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Speaker 3: The preceding message, Brainstorming the New Birth, was copyrighted in 1975, 1987, 2000,
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Speaker 3: and 2018. And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2018
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Speaker 3: by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.
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Speaker 3: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.