|
Ye Must Be Born Again
By: M. S. Shiflett
This message was preached at Calvary Independent Baptist Church of Bloemfontein South Africa in January of 2004.
We're going to look in John, chapter number three, at the first few verses, and see what God has to say. D.L. Moody used to preach a message entitled, "Ye Must Be Born Again." He preached the message everywhere he went. This one man went up to him after the service and said, "I have heard you preach no less than a dozen times, and every time I come to hear you preach, you preach the message, ‘Ye Must Be Born Again.' Why do you always preach ye must be born again?" D.L. Moody said, "Because, ye must be born again!" I said, "Well that's a pretty good explanation. That's a pretty good reason!" I don't think I've preached this message but two other times. This morning will make it a third time, but I believe I can easily preach it every week and still be in the will of God. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. This morning I want to look at this matter of the new birth and ye must be born again.
John 3:1-7, "There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."
I want to notice at least three things in these verses this morning. I want to notice the Man, the Master and the Must.
I. The Man
Let's start out with the man, Nicodemus. The Bible tells us a little bit about this man. I'd like to mention four things about the man that we can deduct from just reading these verses.
A. His Position
First of all we see his position. He was a very high man. He was a man of high position and stature in the community. The Bible tells us that he was a man of the Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews. So we see that he was a ruler, number one, and second of all we see that he was a religious man. Now, it's my personal experience that religious people are without a doubt the most difficult people to talk to. I would rather talk to somebody about the Lord that doesn't know anything at all about Him, than to have to talk to somebody about the Lord that think they know about Him, and everything they know about Him is backwards or upside down or wrong! This was the situation with Nicodemus! He was a man of the Pharisees, and if you know anything at all about the Pharisees, these guys knew the Law like the back of their hands.
These men were very strict, they were very rigid, and they were very serious about their religion. They wore their clothes. They wore their little head-things here. As they were walking through town, you knew that these guys were Pharisees. Kind of like the witchdoctors you see downtown. You see one and you know that that is a witchdoctor They have all the beads in their hair, they have their stick, and they have their little cape around their shoulders. You know who they are when you see them. The Pharisees were the same way. They dressed in a particular way; they wore an obvious style of clothing. They were men of position, men of high respect and high regard. The regular Jewish people looked at these Pharisees as being a notch higher than they were. The Bible even says that he was a ruler of the Jews. This is the man Nicodemus. We see his position.
B. His Pride
Secondly we see his pride. In verse number two the Bible says, "The same came to Jesus by night." Now why do you suppose that he came to Jesus by night? Was it because he was so busy during the day that he just didn't have the time to sort this thing out, so after work he went and found Jesus? I don't think that is the case. Seeing how Jesus spent much of His time in the temple anyway! I think it would be safe to say that Nicodemus was a very proud man. He went to Jesus under the cover of darkness so that nobody else could see him going to Jesus. See, everybody looked up to Nicodemus. It really wouldn't be acceptable for them to see Nicodemus approaching Jesus, and asking Jesus questions, and talking to Him about His opinion and His opinion on things. See; he was supposed to know it all. That's the problem with a lot of people today. They've got too much pride for their own good. They've simply too much pride! I mean, here's a man that's obviously concerned about his spiritual being, his spiritual welfare, but he doesn't want anybody else to know it!
Let me ask you a question. I use this analogy in that tract that we pass out, "Where Are You Going When You Die." If your house were on fire this morning, and you were inside, and you were unable to get yourself out, or you were unable to put out the fire, would you cry out for help? Or would you say, "No, I don't want anybody to know that I'm having a bad day. I don't want anybody to know that I'm having a hard time. I don't want anybody to know that I was so careless that I allowed my house to catch on fire." No! You'd be screaming at the top of your lungs! You'd be pleading for anybody, somebody, to help you. "Get me out of here!" But you know, when it comes to a person's spiritual condition, there are a lot of people that have too much pride to admit it. If I was standing here this morning, and I had even the smallest idea that I was going to go to Hell when I died, I would be asking everybody I met, "Could you tell me what I need to know? Could you help me please?"
When I'm driving somewhere, sometimes I get lost, especially if I'm driving in Johannesburg. I get lost up there. Whoever was in charge of planning those highways must have been upset at somebody! Those roads up there; I'm telling you what, they're crazy! Even if you've got a map, you still can't figure out where you're at! I have to pull over to a petrol station and say, "Listen, I'm trying to get to such-and-such a place. Would you please tell me how to get there?" Amazingly enough, when it comes to people being saved, when it comes to people wanting to know God and having a relationship with God, they're always so secretive about it.
I remember one time when a dear lady asked her elderly mother, "Mama, if you died right now, are you a 100% sure that you would go to Heaven?" The grandmother replied, "I don't see how that's any of your concern! That's my business." That's the wrong attitude to have. So we see that Nicodemus had pride. He came to Jesus by night.
C. His Pretence
Thirdly we see his pretence. He said in verse number two, "Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." Do you honestly believe that Nicodemus believed what he was saying? I have a hard time believing that Nicodemus really meant what he was saying because if he really thought Jesus came from God, why didn't he talk to him in public? Why didn't he talk to Him down at the temple? Why didn't he talk to Him when there were some of his other friends around? Surely they needed to hear from God!
I'll tell you something else I see about his pretence. He professed to know the truth from the error. "Lord, we know that thou art a teacher come from God. Now everybody else might not know it, but we know it, because see, we're Pharisees. We know the truth. We know what's right and wrong." Oh really? No, he didn't! That's another problem with pride. That's another problem with many lost people. They can't admit what they don't know! They can't admit that they don't know how to be saved. They can't admit that they don't have a personal relationship with Jesus. They can't admit that what everybody else is talking about makes no sense to them. No, I understand. I'm a Christian, see. I was born in South Africa, so I'm Christian. I was born in America. I'm a Christian. That means nothing. That means absolutely nothing! It's pretence to know the truth.
D. His Problem
Fourthly, we see his problem. Nicodemus is a big man, a powerful man, an important man, but he's got a problem. What is his problem? He's not saved! You say, "Well, that's not right of you to judge! You don't know whether or not he was saved!" Well, Jesus said he wasn't, because in verse number seven He said, "Ye must be born again!" Who was he talking to? The only person there was Nicodemus! Jesus knew Nicodemus was not saved. How do you think Jesus knew that? Because of chapter 2 verse number 25. Jesus knew what was in man. When Nicodemus came walking up to Him that night, Jesus knew his problem. You know, it's amazing to me how that a lot of times church members and church-goers try to impress the preacher. They try to impress him by who they are and what they are. They put money in the offering plate. They make sure they use a big envelope with their name on it so that everybody will know who it came from. Or on their way out to the door, they pat the preacher on the back and say "That was the greatest message. That was the greatest sermon! Oh we couldn't live without you Pastor!" Nicodemus came to Jesus. "Oh we know that thou art a teacher come from God." Jesus looked right at him and said, "Ye must be born again." Don't come to Jesus with all that hypocrisy, with all that show. He's not interested, because He knows what's in there. You might fool the church members, and you might fool the neighbours, and you might fool the pastor, but you won't fool God. He knows whether or not you have ever been born again. He knows whether or not you have ever been saved. Nicodemus had a serious problem.
II. The Master
Secondly I want you to see not only the man, I want you to see the Master. Jesus said in verse number three, "Verily, verily," that means truly, truly, "I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Now for those of us who read this, this was just one very small sentence. To Nicodemus, Jesus just made a powerful statement, because what Jesus was saying in essence is this. "Nicodemus, it doesn't matter that you are a Pharisee. It doesn't matter that you are a ruler of the Jews. It doesn't matter that you know the Old Testament like the back of your hand. It doesn't matter that everybody looks up to you like some great religious leader. Except ye be born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God." That's what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus. Maybe that is why Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. He was afraid that's what Jesus was going to say. Maybe he didn't want to hear that in front of all his friends. Maybe he didn't want to hear that down at the temple. So he went to Jesus by night, and Jesus told him, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
A. His Conditions
So we see the conditions for salvation. Ye must be born again. There's no negotiations here, folks. There's no negotiating with God about how to get to Heaven. He said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man (or woman or boy or girl) cometh unto the Father, but by me." He's standing here looking Nicodemus straight in his eyeballs and he says, "Except you be born again, you shall not see the kingdom of God." You see his conditions. People today, when you preach this message, accuse you of being intolerant. They accuse you of being politically incorrect. The World Council of Churches will have a big meeting, and all these religions and all these false doctrines will come in, and all the different leaders will be on the platform, and they'll even get the witchdoctors in there. (Because you see, we're all worshipping the same god!) Jesus didn't say that. Jesus said, "I am the way. I'm the truth. I'm the life." I don't care who you are, where you come from, or what you believe. If it doesn't line up with His plan of salvation, you will not see the kingdom of God. The conditions for salvation are very clear. Ye must be born again.
Well, Nicodemus being the very intelligent man that he was, in verse number four says, "How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" This guy's a ruler? Everybody looks up to this guy? Here's a man who's trying to understand the things of God with a natural mind. Here's a man who is trying to understand the plan of salvation with an unsaved mind. You can't do it! That's why salvation requires faith. If you can understand it, if you could see it, if it made sense, it wouldn't require faith. Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace are ye saved through faith." What is faith? Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith means taking God at His word. Faith means believing that what God said about it is what he meant. Faith is required for salvation. Nicodemus is trying to understand this concept of being born again with a natural mind. He didn't understand it.
Verse number five, Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." There are many people that will take this verse and say that it means water baptism. They say you have to be baptized in water, and then you get saved, and now you're going to heaven. Now that's not what the Bible says. It says, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." He explains verse number five in verse number six. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." He's drawing a comparison between the natural birth and the spiritual birth. Anybody that knows anything at all about natural birth knows that there is water involved. That baby, as it is inside the womb of its mother, is surrounded by water. It's called amniotic fluid. That baby has to be born: of the water, and of the Spirit. In other words, He told Nicodemus that you have to be born one time, and then you have to be born again, the second time.
Have you been born again? Have you ever been born again? That's the question I'm going to ask you this morning. I know you've been born the first time, because I'm looking at you. You're here. We're not going to argue about that. But have you been born again? Have you been born of the Spirit? Jesus said, "Except ye be born again, you shall not see the kingdom of God."
III. The Must
Next, I want you to notice the 'must' in verse number seven. He said, "Marvel not." Don't be amazed. Don't be surprised because I come to you and say that "Ye must be born again." Don't get all excited. Don't get embarrassed. Don't be ashamed." It's a legitimate question. Have you ever been born again? I see at least three things about this must.
A. It is Personal
Number one, it's personal. Nobody can be born for you. I have a twin sister. We were born seven minutes apart. She was right there beside me all the way, but even she couldn't be born for me! She was born for herself, and of course, being the perfect gentlemen, I let ladies go first, and seven minutes later I said, "Here I come!" It's a personal thing. You know, there are people today who think they are saved because their parents are saved! It doesn't work that way. Your mom and dad could be the best Christians in the world, and you can still die and go to Hell without God, because it's a personal birth. I think a lot of times we tend to want to hang onto somebody's coat tail when it comes to our spiritual welfare; when it comes to spiritual things. "Oh, I come from a good family, you know. I'm a fourth generation, I'm a fifth generation, I'm a sixth generation..." Well, That's great. I'm a fourth generation Baptist preacher, but I still had to get saved! My daddy, my granddaddy, nor his daddy could get saved for me.
When you stand before God, He's not going to ask you about your heritage. He's not going to want to see your family tree. He's going to look in the Lamb's Book of Life and He's going to see whether or not your name has been written down. It's a personal matter. There are even people who think that because they go to such and such a church that they're saved. He's not going to ask for the church clerk when you get to heaven and see if your name's on the roll of the church! Just because your name is on the roll of some church, doesn't mean that you're going to Heaven anymore than sitting in a garage makes you a car, or climbing into a tree makes you a bird, or swimming in the ocean makes you a fish. Sitting in a church or joining a church doesn't make you saved! It doesn't make you a child of God.
We read last week where one famous evangelist said that he believed that at least 75% of all church members are lost! Now that is a pretty sad statement to make. The majority of people in churches have their names on the roll, they've even been baptized, they've been through all the motions, but they will die and go to Hell because they've never been born again. How sad! How tragic. Nicodemus was a church-goer, but he was lost in his sins.
Not only do we see that it is personal, but we see that it is priority. It's priority with God! It ought to be a priority with you. In 1 Timothy 2:4-6, the Bible says, "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all." When Jesus was dying on a cross, He was dying for you! There's a song we used to sing, "When He was on the cross, I was on His mind." He looked ahead in time, 2000 years, and he saw me. As a little four-year-old boy in 1976, He saw me sitting on the pew of that church. He saw the preacher preaching, and He wanted me to be saved. It is important to God. He gave His only Son, something that I couldn't do; something that I wouldn't do. I wouldn't give one of my children to die so that you might be saved. Now if I knew that my child's death would definitely save you, that would be another story. But God gave His only Son Jesus Christ to die on that cross, knowing that the majority of the people he was dying for, would not accept it. That is love. It is a priority. He said, "Ye MUST be born again." No ifs or buts about it. You need to get saved. That's what Jesus told Nicodemus. "Ye MUST."
The Bible plainly teaches that salvation is for every man. 2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." It's not God's will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. I was reading an article yesterday that broke my heart. The message said that God has chosen some to go to Hell for His own glory. As I read that, I thought, "How could anybody in his or her right mind possibly believe that?" That man does not have a choice. That God is glorifying Himself by saying, "Sir, Ma'am, you must go to Hell. You can't get saved. That glorifies me." That's a messed up, goofed up theology. Jesus died for every man. John 3:16 says that He loved the world, the whole world. That's including you. It's a priority to Him. Is it a priority to you? If it's not, it will be one day. Mark my words.
1. In its Forgiveness
This new birth is powerful. More powerful than we can even understand! It is powerful in it's forgiveness. Imagine every sin you've ever committed, every evil thought, every wicked deed, every ugly word being wiped away and your record being cleaned. You say, "Man, I would love that to happen." It can happen! It will happen when you get saved! The Bible says that He takes your sins and cast it into the depths of the sea. Your sins are separated from God as far as the east is from the west! You say, "How far is the east from the west?" We'll never know. You can start at the South and go North and you can get there. You can start from the North and go South and you can get there. But you head East, and you just keep going! You never get there.
Are you understanding what I'm saying? That's how far your sins will be from God! It is powerful in its forgiveness. He says that He doesn't even remember them anymore. That's something we can't do. I can forgive you, but I can't forget. He forgives you and forgets. The new birth is powerful in it's forgiveness. You say, "Bro. Stacey, I've done some terrible things. If you just knew some of the things I've been involved in." Guess what. He still died for you. His blood is still strong enough to wash all that sin away. Even that thief that was dying on that cross had his sin's forgiven! He said, "Father, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom!" That other thief said, "Hey we're getting what we deserve." Jesus said, "Today thou shalt be with me in Paradise." If He could save that old thief on the cross, he could save anybody. I think about what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6. If you doubt whether or not Jesus can forgive you some of the things you have done, I want you to look at this verse. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters," (That word 'fornicators', that's pre-marital sex for those of you that don't know what that word "fornicators" means) "nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind," That's your Sodomite crowd. That's your homosexuals. "Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." You say, "Oh my goodness. See there? I was right! I am too sinful to be saved!" Well hold on a second. Take a good look at verse number eleven. "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." He said, "Some of you were in that crowd. Some of you were in that category, but He saved you. He washed you. He sanctified you. He justified you." Justification simply means just-as-if-I'd never sinned! AMEN!! He washes it away. He wipes it away. He makes a new creature out of you with a new beginning. It's powerful in its forgiveness. That is wonderful news. That is amazing news. Praise the Lord!
2. In it's Furnishing
Second of all it is powerful in it's furnishing. Once you get saved, He gives you the Holy Spirit to live on the inside of you, to lead you and to guide you into all truth. To help you live the Christian life. To teach you what the Bible has to say. John chapter 14 says that the Comforter will be with you forever. He'll never leave you. That's something the lost people don't have: the Holy Spirit to help them and empower them to live the Christian life. The unbelievers have to live their lives all alone; but not the believer! He's with us!
3. In it's Future
Lastly, being born again is powerful in its future. It changes your destination from Hell to Heaven. He has done it for you. Just the simple act of being born again changes your eternal destiny. I don't think that the human mind is capable of comprehending eternity. I don't think our mind is capable of understanding just how long eternity really is. We were sitting yesterday evening outside and Grace, my wife said, "This has been one long day." I saw a comic strip once that shows this old man and old woman sitting outside and she said, "It's been a long, long day." He said, "It's been a long week!" She said, "It's been a long month." He said, "It's been a long 78 years!" We don't understand how long eternity is.
A preacher once gave this illustration of how long eternity is. He said that if a sparrow flew all the way around the world, and brushed it's wing against the top of Mt. Everest one time. And that bird flew around the world and brushed it's wing on the top of the world's tallest mountain again and again. When that mountain is level with the ground, eternity is only just begun. Eternity is a very, very long time. I can't comprehend spending eternity in Hell. But people are there. Why? Because they didn't get born again, because they didn't get saved. It breaks my heart to think about people dying and going to Hell that have never heard the Gospel. But I'm going to tell you what really breaks my heart is people who heard the Gospel and still died and went to hell. How sad!
If you're not a 100% sure you've ever been saved, I wouldn't wait another minute if I were you. I wouldn't eat, or sleep or leave to go anywhere until I got this matter sorted out. You might say "But Brother Stacey. Somebody might think something." Nobody will think anything. Somebody's going to think you're concerned about your soul. That's what they're going to think! Somebody's going to think that you're concerned about what Jesus did for you on the cross. But really, who cares about what people think? I'm not going to die and go to Hell for anybody! That's like a man being inside his house and it is burning up, and him saying, "No. I'm going to be tough. If I run out they're going to think that I'm a chicken. I'm going to be tough. I can take this. I can do this." I've just preached the Gospel to you and you realize that if you do not get saved you're going to fry in Hell for the rest of eternity with the Devil and all his demons.
What are you going to do about it? Have you ever been born again? There is nothing on the face of this planet more important than your eternal destiny. God has loved you enough that He not only made a way, but He let you hear about it. He has made a way. Some people might say to me, "I don't know why you preach salvation all the time." It is without a doubt the most important thing that we can preach about! Did you know that Jesus preached on Hell more than He preached about Heaven? He ought to know. He created the place. He knows what it is like, and He doesn't want us to go there. He doesn't want you to go there. I don't want you to go there. Verily, verily I say unto you dear friend, "Ye must be born again." You're not guaranteed another day. You must be born again. Don't depend on your works, your heritage, the church you're a member of, or the church you go to. That's not going to be good enough. Ye must be born again.
Dear friend, you have just read the most important message ever written. It is a message of salvation, love and hope. If you realize that you have never been saved, why don't you do so now? Why don't you get on your knees right now and humbly admit to God that you are a sinner and that you need to be saved. Ask him to come into your life and make you a child of God. Let Him know that you are not trusting in your works, but instead you are trusting in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus for your salvation. Repent of your sins and ask him to save you, and He will. Don't put it off. Ask Him today! He wants to save you. Trust Him.
If you have received Jesus as your personal Saviour, please let us know! We'd love to rejoice with you for His forgiveness and His work in your life. We would also like to send you some follow up study material to help you in your Christian walk. Please contact us and we'll be delighted to send it to you right away. Write to us or call us. If you live in the Bloemfontein area, come see us! As a new Christian, you need to be baptized and to get involved in a New Testament, Bible believing church. Don't wait!
|
