The Mystery of the New Birth part 2

Thanks, Keith. That is a wonderfully powerful song. Think about that verse from the Spirit of Jesus bore witness to me. There are two types of witnesses in the lives of mankind. When a man is lost and without Christ, there is the witness of their condition, witness of the righteousness of God, and man's need of forgiveness. They're in bondage, no liberty, no peace. There is the witness of the Spirit convicting the lost of their great need of Christ.

And then on the other side of conversion, there is the witness that the Spirit gives to mankind when He has converted them, the peace of God, the liberty of God, the fellowship that man has with God. My question for you this morning would be what witness are you experiencing? And that is what we saw in the life of Nicodemus, was it not? As he came to the living Lord Jesus, he needed the witness of the Spirit to reveal to him his great and wonderful need of a Savior. Isn't that right? Well, take your Bible this morning and turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 3.

And we will continue in our study in the Gospel of John, Christ the Son of God, believe and live, and we are picking up in our study through verses 1 through 10, and when I mention verses 1 through 10, I mean that they are really one message meant to be understood together, but we are breaking them down for the sake of time and our ability to understand and receive what God wants us to receive. Now last week we really stayed in verses 1 through 2, and we learned, now this word is important, who this person Nicodemus was. And in understanding who Nicodemus was, that sets us up for another important word, and that word, what.

What Jesus is going to teach Nicodemus. I purposefully took a little time in verses 1 through 2 so that we would have the proper understanding of who Nicodemus is, and that helps us understand what Jesus taught Nicodemus. Now, we know that the subject at hand is the most important subject that any man or any people can understand. Now what is the subject? The new birth. The new birth are how man is made right with God. Now as your pastor, I want to give you a life lesson here as it pertains to the church and ministry, and I want you to listen close.

Countless churches and ministry endeavors which had good beginnings have ultimately derailed because they have moved away from biblical conversion. Moving away from biblical conversion lets the enemy into the church, and it destroys the church, and now listen, from the inside out. And that's why this is the most important subject that we could ever deal with. Man becoming right with God, and God having set apart for himself a church of redeemed people. Now Nicodemus came to investigate who this Jesus was. That was the first main truth that we looked at, which was last week the investigation.

Nicodemus having observed the signs or the miracles that Jesus performed previously at the Passover, he went to investigate and he was trying to determine who this Jesus truly was. But we are going to see a unique approach by Jesus. I don't know if you've noticed this. Jesus just unloads the wagon on Nicodemus. There is no soft touch. There is no just building up to the subject. Jesus unloads on Nicodemus. Now the title of the message this morning is "The Mystery of the New Birth" and this is part two. I gave for you last week the three main truths that we will explore out of verses 1 through 10.

The investigation, the exchange, and the indictment. We looked at the investigation last week out of verses 1 through 2 and this morning we will be in truth number two and we will look at the exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus. Like I say repeatedly, I hope and pray you're taking good notes. I would encourage you to take notes for your own study. I would encourage you to study our messages weekly, all through the week. Go back in your personal time. Listen to the messages. Study your notes so that the truths of the Word of God would sink deeply into your heart and affect our thinking and enable us to be rightly aligned with the Word of God.

So this morning we're picking up in our three truths and we're looking at truth number two, the exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus and that is found in verses 3 through 9. Let's pick up in these verses. Verse 7. Verse 7. Verse 7. Verse 7. Verse 7. Verse 7. Verse 9. Verse 9. How can these things be? So we're looking at truth number two in our outline, the exchange. But in this exchange, first we must start with Jesus teaching approach with Nicodemus. Jesus immediately went right into the subject that needed to be discussed. Remember in this investigation, Nicodemus is coming to investigate and to try to discover who this Jesus is.

If he is the promised Messiah, the Son of God. And Jesus was not interested in declaring to Nicodemus, "Yes, I am the Son of God." He was concerned with addressing immediately Nicodemus' spiritual problem. So with that in mind, let's look at this exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus. First, I want us to see that Nicodemus, he needed a work of God. Nicodemus needed a work of God. We see this in verses 3 through 4. Go back to the Scripture with me. Jesus answered and he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." And then we see this question from Nicodemus.

Nicodemus said, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into a mother's womb and be born, can he?" What do we see? Jesus shows Nicodemus that he needed a work of God. Now I want us to take the time and to break down verse 3. And it is so rich. Notice this is truthful teaching. This is truthful teaching. Go to the beginning of the verse. He says, "Truly, truly, I say to you." Now the King James reads verily, verily. All of the modern translations that we use, the New American, the English Standard, use the word "truly," "truly." There is a modern translation called the Holman Christian Standard.

It reads, "I assure you." Now in our language, this can be translated "amen" and "amen." Now let me explain what Jesus is doing. This is simply Jesus affirming in a serious manner the truthfulness of what he is about to teach. He is prefacing his teaching with this language. Now all that Jesus ever taught was true and definitely necessary, but in this case, he is communicating the serious nature of the subject at hand. You get that? Everything Jesus ever taught was true and definitely necessary and serious, but it is almost like Jesus is raising the bar. And I think that is an accurate way that we can describe it.

Jesus is raising the bar and he is saying this is truthful, and not only truthful, extremely important. Notice this is a necessary work. This is a necessary work. The New American in the English Standard reads, "unless one is." And what are we looking at? He says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again." Notice that "unless one." What Jesus is doing, he is saying this is a necessary work. This is not a take it or leave it. This is a statement of exclusion. Notice also, this is from God. This is from God. Notice this word "born again." Go back to the verse.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless," there is that exclusion, "unless one is born again." Born again. Now, this has been translated "born from above." Now, the verb "born" right here in verse 3 can refer to the action of a father or a mother meaning to beget a child. Now, in this case, this is speaking of God birthing or begetting new creatures. This word again can mean "from above" or again. Different Bible commentators come on different sides of the interpretation. And some have even said, "Could this be a double meaning?" And I don't have a problem with that. But what are we seeing here?

This is being born of God, being gotten of God, which would indicate a being born from above. Jesus is teaching Nicodemus that he needed a birth from above, which would mean that he would need to experience a second birth. And this is, and I notice close, a needed work of God. And Nicodemus needed this work of God. Now, I want you to notice something else about this before we move on. Notice the magnitude of this work that is needed. Because the verse says that he could not even see the kingdom of God without this work. Go back to the verse.

Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Now, this would have flown straight into the face of Nicodemus because Nicodemus thought that he was in the middle of the kingdom of God. Remember what we saw last week? He was a Jew of Jews. He was one of the high-ranking Pharisees. He was a member of the ruling council, the Sanhedrin. And then on in verse 10 we see that he was the teacher of Israel. So Nicodemus would have assumed and thought that he was right in the middle of the kingdom of God.

But what Jesus is saying is, unless you have this work from God, work from above, you cannot even see the kingdom. Second, I want you to see that he needed a cleansing from God. He needed a cleansing from God. Go to verse 5 with me. Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Notice this is truthful teaching as well. Again, we see this language, "Truly, truly." Or the King James, "Verily, verily." What do we see? Jesus is elevating what he's teaching.

He is saying, "Now look guys, everything I teach you is serious, but this is very serious." He is communicating that this is a very important subject. But notice this is a cleansing by God. This is a cleansing by God. Go back to the verse, "Truly, truly, verse 5, I say to you unless one is born of water." Now there is a good debate as to what this "born of water" means right here in verse 5. Some say this refers to physical birth. In other words, unless you're born of a woman physically, and born of the Spirit spiritually. Some see this as a reference to water baptism.

As a matter of fact, there are some denominations or systems of belief that take this to mean baptism, and some even equate baptism as being part of salvation. But in this, now listen close, in this context Nicodemus would never have understood Christian baptism. You've got to understand this verse in the context. Who is Jesus talking to? He is talking to Nicodemus, the Jew of Jews. And context means everything. And since Jesus expected Nicodemus to understand what he is teaching in light of the Old Testament learning that he must have had, we must see that this "born of water" must be interpreted in light of what the Old Testament teaches.

Context means everything. For Jesus to expect Nicodemus to understand water baptism in light of conversion, that would have been out of context. Jesus expected Nicodemus to understand everything he was teaching in light of what he knew. That's why over in verse 10, what does he say? You are Israel's teacher and you do not understand these things? Context. He should have understood this in light of what he knew. Now what do we see? In the Old Testament teaching, we see that being born of water speaks of a symbolic cleansing or renewal or a spiritual cleansing in the Scripture.

There are many references in the Old Testament that speak of a cleansing, a spiritual cleansing, and water is used as a symbolic agent. Let me give you some examples. Numbers, chapter 19, verse 17 through 19. Isaiah 4, verse 4, chapter 32, verse 15. Chapter 44, verse 3. Chapter 55, verse 1. Joel, chapter 2, verse 28 and 29. Zechariah, chapter 13, verse 1. Ezekiel, chapter 36, verse 24 through 27. Now why do I zoom through those passages? Those are all Old Testament passages that speak of water in a symbolic manner of man being cleansed or renewed by God. Notice also that this is a cleansing by the Spirit. Go back to the verse.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Again, context helps us understand what Jesus is teaching. Jesus was teaching that the Spirit, capital S, could bring spiritual cleansing. Let me read you one of these verses I refer to. Ezekiel 36, verse 24 through 27. Notice what the prophet Ezekiel says. "I will take you from the nations and gather you from all of the countries and bring you into your own land." Speaking of Israel. "I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all of your uncleanliness. And from all of your idols I will cleanse you.

And I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." What are we seeing here? "A teaching that man could be cleansed by the Spirit, and water is being used symbolically to speak of being cleansed by the Spirit." Jesus is teaching Nicodemus that he needed a cleansing which could only come from God. And this is different from the work of God that we saw in verse 3. He needed a cleansing of his sin from God.

Now notice the magnitude again of this work that is needed. Because the verse, verse 5 says that Nicodemus could not even enter the kingdom of God without this work. Jesus is raising the bar and again this would have flown right into the face of Nicodemus. Because he was the teacher of Israel. He was the Jew of Jews. He would have assumed based on what he knew and what he did that he was in the middle of the kingdom of God. But what does Jesus say? Nicodemus, unless you have a work from God and a cleansing from God, you can't see the kingdom and you can't enter the kingdom. The third thing is he needed a work of the Spirit.

He needed a work of the Spirit. Pick up in verse 6. We will read on down to verse 8. Jesus says, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is everyone who is born of the Spirit." Now all of the translations read the same thing. But we must notice some truths out of these verses, verses 6 through 8. Notice that this is a sovereign work of God. Go back to verse 6. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh.

That which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Jesus uses an illustration to teach his point. What is he saying? "Flash gives birth to flesh." The word "flash" here is referring to humanity or human nature. Not necessarily in a sinful sense, but Jesus is saying human nature and the human flesh gives birth to human nature and to human flesh. What's the point? Jesus is saying humanity gives birth to humanity. But what is Jesus' point in this illustration? He is saying that the Spirit, capital S, can only produce spiritual birth. This is a work of regeneration which is a work of God.

And I want you to notice in your translation that capital S in the first word Spirit is denoting that this is an act of God, an act of deity. And it is accurate in capitalizing this word in this verse. What does it say? "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit," capital S, deity, God, is spirit. So what do we see? This is a sovereign work of God. Notice this is a necessary work. Go back to verse 7. "Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again." Now Jesus is repeating this teaching out of verse 3. But he is adding something Nicodemus must have truly needed.

Because there is another word here I want you to see. "Do not marvel that I said to you, you must." He adds that word must. And in the original this is a very strong word. He again is repeating what he said in verse 3 because Nicodemus needed to see the utter necessity of this word. But as we move on down to verse 8, notice this is a mysterious work. Look at verse 8. "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going." This is speaking of the mystery of the new birth. Jesus again, he's using wind to illustrate his point.

Jesus is using an analogy between wind and the spirit. And notice that there is a mysterious aspect to the work of the spirit. The sovereign work of the spirit can't be seen nor can it be predicted. This is a mysterious work. Then notice out of verse 8, this is a powerful work. This is a powerful work. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. "So it is with everyone born of the spirit." Now, you might say, where do you see the word power in verse 8? At the end of verse 8, what does he say?

"So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit." This is the power of the new birth. Because man is dead in his sin, dead in his trespasses, and he is brought new life by what? The power of the spirit. So what do we see? Jesus is teaching Nicodemus that although he knew the Old Testament Scriptures, he had not experienced a genuine work of the spirit, and he needed this work of the spirit. Now, notice the magnitude in this teaching. Jesus is illustrating, and he is emphasizing by using this word "must." And he's using examples to teach Nicodemus what this means. He's saying you need a work of the spirit.

Now, we started off by looking at how Jesus taught Nicodemus. So we need to back up, and we need to see, second, Nicodemus' approach to Jesus. And this is more simplistic because there is a lot more teaching from Jesus than there were words and questions from Nicodemus. Go back to the verses in the text. Look at verse 4. Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he's old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born canny." Then on down to verse 9, Nicodemus answered, and he said to him, "How can these things be?" Two questions.

And Nicodemus, he came to investigate, now listen, but he seemed to get, he already said this, a whole lot more than he bargained for. And all he could do is pose two questions. Let's notice these questions. Notice he saw things physically and not spiritually. Look at verse 4. Nicodemus said, "How can a man be born when he's old? He cannot enter into the second time into the mother's womb and be born canny." What do we see? He saw things physically and not spiritually. Even though he is following Jesus' teaching, he saw them purely on a physical level. Then also notice, he simply did not understand these things.

Verse 9 tells us that, "How can these things be?" Even though Jesus had taught him thoroughly using illustrations and clear teaching, Nicodemus had understood very little since Jesus had started. He saw things physically and he simply did not understand these things. He was blind to the truth. Now Nicodemus did not seem to reject Jesus' teaching, although he did not understand this teaching. It is important to see that there was no outward rejection of the teaching of Jesus. Now, I want to move away from the text. I want to move to the conclusion of the message by making application. You know my habit.

If we're going to divide the Word of God and look at the principles and the examples in the teaching, we must apply it to us today in our everyday lives and in our walk with God. In application, in beginning to conclude the message, I'm going to ask you three questions. I'm going to give you a warning and then I'm going to give you some encouragement. I'm going to ask you three questions, give you a warning, and I'm going to give you some encouragement. So let's ask these three questions. First question, "Has your Christianity been a work of God?" Let me repeat that. Has your Christianity been a work from God?

Did we not learn that out of verses 3-4? What do we see? Nicodemus needed a work from God. Now this is serious. This is necessary. This is from God. All through the teaching, Jesus is raising the bar. Truly, truly, you need to listen. This is very important. You must. He uses very exclusive language. And so this is serious. This is necessary. Because like I said earlier, you and I are either on one, we're on one side of the witness of the Spirit. So I want to ask you, has God, now listen close, has God begotten you? That birth language. Have you been born of God? Have you been born again? Has it been a work of God in you?

Because if it has not been a work of God, then what you have is a system of works exactly like Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Jew. He would have acclaimed a great heritage from Abraham. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He would have claimed that he lived the law in an impeccable manner. But all he could claim was heredity and works. And he did not have a work of God. And see, that goes on in the life of the church today. Many people have taught Sunday school. Many people have been deacons. Many people have served the life of the church. They have a church membership. They have a baptismal certificate.

But really all they can bank on is their own personal works. They've never received or experienced a work of God. Have you experienced a work of God? When you go back in time and you retrace your steps and you go back to that moment in time when you claim that you became a Christian, do you look back and see a work of God? Or has it been nothing but works and efforts on your part? You know there are a lot of people. You know what they'll do? They will commit their lives to Christ. And even that can be a work from man. The only time a man can commit his life to God is when it has first been a part of a work of God.

The second question is, has your Christianity been a cleansing from God? Remember verse 5? Nicodemus needed a cleansing from God. My question is, has God cleansed you? Has God cleansed you from your sin? Has God cleansed you from your rebellion? Has God cleansed you from your uncleanliness? When you get past the surface, is it still that same old rotten glass pool of sin that has never been cleansed? Because listen, if you have not been cleansed from God, you are still in your sin even though you might do things outwardly that seem to make you right with God. But have you been cleansed?

And see, we saw that in verse 5 that there was a cleansing almost like water. But there is this cleansing which comes from the Spirit. And this teaching is even found in the Old Testament. Isn't that beautiful? See, there are so many people, they have their Christianity of works and they have their Christianity where they clean up. But yet they are only cleaning up on the outside because listen, man can never clean his own heart. Has your Christianity been as a result of being cleansed from God and by God? The third question is, has your Christianity been a work of the Spirit? Has your Christianity been a work of the Spirit?

Didn't we learn that in verses 6 through 8? Jesus uses that great example. He just basically says, look Nicodemus, it is like the wind. Man, when the wind comes through, we have massive results. And when the Spirit blows through your life, massive results. Things change. It is experiential. It is mysterious, but oh Nicodemus, it is powerful. And I want to ask you, has your Christianity been a work of the Spirit? Or has it been a work of your flesh? You know a lot of times people will get in a jam. They will have problems in life.

They will come to a crisis in their life and they will try to clean up their life and they will make strides to clean up their life. But see, it is only the Spirit of God, capital S, deity, that can mysteriously and powerfully and experientially move into someone's life and look, cleanse them and give them new birth. Has your Christianity been a work of the Spirit? I ran across in my study this week one simple quote by John MacArthur. Although I read so much information concerning the new birth and these scriptures at hand, but there was one thing I really wanted to hold on to and listen to this.

He says the new birth, or regeneration, is the act of God by which He, God, imparts eternal life to those who are dead in trespasses and sins, thus making them His children. What is John MacArthur saying? He understands truly the condition of man. And we took four weeks, eight lessons, to explore the condition of man and what MacArthur is saying is, man who is dead in their sin, when they are Bible born again, they experience new birth, regeneration, that comes from God. Has your Christianity been a work of God? Has your Christianity cleansed you by God? And has your Christianity been a work of the Spirit? Let me move on to the warning.

And I want to give you a warning I want you to really perk up to. And that is this. There are those who minimize this teaching. Years ago, I can remember being around people who were under conviction and God was moving. And there was this young girl in the life of the church who was under conviction and wrestling with her condition and wrestling much like Nicodemus, she seemed to have a soft heart and a desirous heart to be made right with God. And she was sifting through the Scripture and she was pondering over these very verses about being born again.

And some unschooled, untrained, unspiritual person came alongside and minimized this teaching and said, look, don't fret, it's only one place in the Scripture where this is mentioned. There are many other places that speak of regeneration in the new birth. Ephesians 2, 1, 2 Corinthians 5, 17, Titus 3, 5, James 1, 18, 1 Peter 1, 3, and verse 23, 1 John 2, 29, 1 John 3, 9, 1 John 4, 7, 1 John 5, 1, 5, 4, and 5, 18. All speak of what? The new birth in regeneration. And not only is it listed multiple times, Jesus says, truly, truly, this is serious. Please take note Nicodemus because you desperately need to hear what I'm telling you.

And my warning for you is this, do not get this wrong. Do not minimize this because if you are wrong in this, you will not see and you will not enter the kingdom of God. The last thing I want to leave you with is an encouragement. Jesus was patient with Nicodemus. Was he not? There are many people who have misrepresented Nicodemus and Jesus, but Jesus was patient. Even though he was patient, he still unloaded the wagon and gave him everything he needed. He didn't placate him for one minute. Nicodemus seemed to have a soft heart and a noble heart, but Jesus was patient with Nicodemus.

And I want to remind you of what we looked at Wednesday night in our Bible study. Nicodemus had several crossroads. He had several moments of decision. And he could have chosen the road of grace and the road of Jesus and the way of God, or he could have chosen to harden his heart and reject what God was doing around him. And what do we see? Chapter 2, verse 23, at the Passover, they were the great signs that were performed. And scriptural evidence tells us that Nicodemus had to be there in the audience. And so he saw the signs of Jesus and how did he react? He took one step towards Jesus because he made an appointment at night.

So what do we see in chapter 3, verses 1 through 10? This wonderful private meeting that Nicodemus had with Jesus. He responded at the Passover positively because he didn't reject him. And then here in this one night meeting, this private meeting, it seems that he received the teaching even though he might not have understood all that was taught. He did not reject Jesus because we move on in his life. And in John chapter 7, verse 43-53, there was this great meeting of the Sanhedrin because the crowds were debating as to who Jesus really was. And they began to bring about judgment upon Jesus.

And Nicodemus, in being obedient to the Word, said, "We cannot judge him. I cannot judge him. We must judge him according to the Word." He was standing up for Jesus. That tells us that he has been responding positively. He has not rejected Christ. And then in John 19, verse 39, we see that Nicodemus is with Joseph of Arimathea to take care of the body of Jesus. Most Bible theologians and commentators and pastors believe that Nicodemus was converted by then. Identified with the people of God, crucifixion, and the person of Christ. And what do we see?

I want to encourage you because we can take a step back and see this wonderful journey of this man named Nicodemus having come in contact with Jesus at the Passover and then we see all the way to the cross and the crucifixion of Christ. And through that process, we can determine that he was born of God. And my encouragement for you is this. There are people here. You are on a similar journey. And if I can say one thing to you is this. Do not reject the teaching of the Word. Do like Nicodemus. He sought out Christ and he sought out a private meeting with Christ. And I would say to you, you seek out Christ. Get in the Word.

Seek to know your condition in light of the Word of God. Seek to listen to the voice of God and be willing to humble yourself no matter what. Because think of all that Nicodemus had to lay down. Position, power, reputation, opportunity. Listen, he had a place in the kingdom. But he had to die to it all. So I want to encourage you, if you are here and you are on the wrong side of the witness of the Spirit, you are at a crossroad right now. You can stiffen your heart, stiffen your neck and harden your heart and you will reject what God is doing. But if you will do justice, Nicodemus, and respond to what God is doing.

I said this Wednesday night, studying this journey of Nicodemus, it only illustrates John 644. Jesus said, "No man comes to the Father unless the Father draws him." And in Nicodemus life, it's all about the Father drawing Nicodemus. The Father drawing Nicodemus. And so I want to say to you, if you are here and you are on the wrong side of the witness of the Spirit, the Father himself is drawing you by bringing you to be under the teaching, the influence, and the Word of God. Isn't that good? So what do we see? The mysterious, the mystery of the new birth. This mysterious, wonderful, powerful new birth.

And we see it clearly taught by Jesus and illustrated in the life of Nicodemus. Let's pray as we close out our message. This morning. Lord, I pray that you will help us bind this message to our own hearts by being receptive, by being open.