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John chapter 3. I'll read verses 1 to 21, and 
then our focus this morning will be on verses 1 to 10, Jesus meeting 
with Nicodemus. So beginning in John 3 at verse 
1, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the 
Jews. This man came to Jesus by night 
and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from 
God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God 
is with him. Jesus answered and said to him, 
Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he 
cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, How can 
a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into 
his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, most assuredly 
I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot 
enter the kingdom of God. 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 cannot 
tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone 
who is born of the spirit. Nicodemus answered and said to 
him, how can these things be? Jesus answered and said to him, 
are you the teacher of Israel and do not know these things? 
Most assuredly I say to you, we speak what we know and testify 
what we have seen and you do not receive our witness. If I 
have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will 
you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to 
heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is the son 
of man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent 
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal 
life. For God so loved the world that 
He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him 
should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His 
Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world 
through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not 
condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, 
because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten 
Son of God. And this is the condemnation, 
that the light has come into the world. And men love darkness 
rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone 
practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, 
lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes 
to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they 
have been done in God. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, thank you again for the written word of the living and 
true God. Give us grace now to receive 
with thankful hearts your word. As well, give us the Holy Spirit 
to make it alive to us. to bring it home with power. 
And God, help us to grow in our understanding of your wonderful 
salvation. And when we see it, may we respond 
with worship and with praise and with adoration for such a 
great and a glorious and a worthy God. We pray that you'd open 
dead hearts and give them a light of the knowledge of the Son of 
God. We pray that you would give the graces of faith and repentance, 
that you would cause sinners to be born again. to cause them 
to be born from above, that they would know the nearness of God 
as their good, and they would be blessed all their days. Forgive 
us again for all sin and corruption and everything that darkens our 
minds. And we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, 
we have seen the lengthy prologue by the Apostle in John 1, 1-18, 
where he goes behind the scenes of the economy of salvation to 
show us the relations between the Son and the Father. The public 
ministry of Christ begins properly in chapter 1 at verse 19, the 
testimony of John the Baptist, where he declares that Jesus 
truly is the Son of God. And then we see early disciples 
come to our Lord at the end of, or in the middle of, and at the 
end of chapter 1. And then his ministry goes to Cana of Galilee, 
where he makes the water into wine, changes that existing material 
into not just wine, but excellent, good wine, which shows the beauty 
of the New Covenant in all its fullness and its arrival. And 
then Jesus goes to the temple and there he cleanses it. He 
drives out the money changers. He drives out the animals. He 
rebukes them. And the disciples consciously 
reflect upon the Psalms. Psalm 69 in particular, zeal 
for your house has consumed me. And then Jesus goes against the 
religious leaders there in the temple. He says, destroy this 
temple and in three days I will raise it up. Of course, they 
don't understand this. John comments for us that he's 
speaking about the temple of his body. So already at the outset 
of his public ministry, John is telling us about his death 
and his resurrection. Now Jesus has a private meeting. He meets with one of those temple 
authorities, but in a private setting. And when we looked at 
this particular passage, it underscores how chapter two ends. Notice 
chapter 2, verse 25, and he had no need that anyone should testify 
of man, for he knew what was in man. He addresses Nicodemus' 
question without Nicodemus even having asked the question. He 
will do the same thing in John 4, where he will tell the woman, 
that Samaritan woman, certain things concerning her ethical 
situation. In fact, she'll go to her village 
and say, come and see a man who told me all the things that I 
ever did. So what John is doing is he's 
moving from this public ministry of Jesus in the temple to these 
private meetings now to underscore the reality that he knew what 
was in man and that he would speak specifically concerning 
their issues. As well, when we go back to the 
prologue, John chapter 1, we see commentary now in John 3 
concerning what was written in John 1. Notice in John 1 at verse 
8, he says, He was not that light, John the Baptist, but was sent 
to bear witness of that light. That was the true light which 
gives light to every man coming into the world. Remember what 
Jesus says there in the last part of our reading in John 3? 
The darkness hates the light. The darkness doesn't want to 
come to the light because the light exposes it. We've already 
been prepared for that. Notice in verse 10, he was in 
the world and the world was made through him and the world did 
not know him. He came to his own and his own 
did not receive him. But as many as received him, 
to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those 
who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of 
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." 
So here with Nicodemus, he is teaching him, he is telling him, 
He's describing to him what we call regeneration, or the doctrine 
of the new birth. He is talking about what has 
to happen to a man, and by man I include women and boys and 
girls, what has to happen before they can enter the kingdom of 
God. In other words, man is dead in his trespasses and sins. Man 
does not have it in himself to just choose for Jesus. He can't 
just make a decision. He can't just wake up one cloudy 
morning and say, you know, my life's a mess. I'm going to go 
ahead and follow Jesus, my Lord. He is dead in his trespasses 
and sins. He must be made alive by the 
power of God Most High, and that God must supply to him the graces 
of faith and repentance so that he may close with Jesus Christ 
as Lord and Savior. That's the emphasis. So we'll 
first look at the question posed by Nicodemus in verses 1 and 
2, secondly the response given by the Lord Jesus in verses 3 
to 8, and then finally the confusion of Nicodemus in verses 9 and 
10. But notice in the first place 
the identification of the man. It says, there was a man of the 
Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He is mentioned 
again in chapter seven at verse 50, where we surmise that he 
was part of the Sanhedrin. He's mentioned again later in 
a favorable sense in John 19 at verse 39. He accompanies Joseph 
of Arimathea in burying the body of the Lord Jesus. So he comes 
out on the proper end. But initially, there's more going 
on in this particular interchange than just a curious desire for 
information. He is a spokesman. He is a ruler 
of the Jews. History tells us he was quite 
a notable figure from a very wealthy 
family. He is described here as a ruler 
of the Jews, and he is a spokesman. He says, we know that you come 
from God. And then in verse eight, when 
Jesus says, you must be born again, it's not singular, it's 
plural. Jesus recognizes. that Nicodemus 
is a spokesman for the religious leadership in Jerusalem, who've 
no doubt dispatched Nicodemus to find out what this man is 
all about. Remember, he's made a ruckus 
in the temple. He actually irrigated to himself the prerogative of 
cleansing the house of his father. We wanna know what this man is 
made of, and so Nicodemus is the errand boy on this particular 
activity. Notice that he comes at night. 
This is negative in John's gospel. It is always a negative connotation 
when night is mentioned, not because night is bad or night 
is evil, but it's the way that John structures the narrative 
thematically. So already we see that this isn't 
just some guy wandering around Jerusalem who meets Jesus and 
says, boy, I have these real legitimate questions for you, 
and I really want to pick your brain. and I really wanna understand 
what you are all about. No, it's a little bit more than 
that. He's a proud, arrogant man, thankfully does get humbled, 
and thankfully is one at the end of the gospel who does turn 
out well by God's grace. Notice he ascribes a term of 
respect to our Lord. Verse two, rabbi, that's a good 
title, teacher, rabbi, one who has some degree of authority. 
How does he know, or rather, what does he then say concerning 
this rabbi? He says, we know that you are 
a teacher come from God. We know that your origin is from 
God. Again, brethren, I'm not convinced he's altogether honest 
at this point. Remember, Jesus has just gone 
into their temple and Jesus has just caused a ruckus in their 
temple. I'm not convinced that the Sanhedrin 
collectively is saying or concluding at this level or at this point 
in Jesus' ministry, oh yeah, we know he's from God. We know 
that he's legit. We know that he's upright. We 
know that he's righteous. No, he says, we know this. And 
then he invokes the signs that Jesus had done. We've seen up 
to this point only one sign, the changing of the water into 
the wine. But we know from the end of John's gospel, specifically 
in John chapter 21, that Jesus did many other signs that are 
not written in this book. But insofar as it goes, Nicodemus 
and the Sanhedrin were conscious of a plurality of signs that 
Jesus had done up to this point. Now notice the response given 
by the Lord Jesus in verses three to eight. In the first place, 
the issue is addressed by Jesus. Verse three, Jesus answered and 
said to him, most assuredly, I say to you, literally, amen, 
amen, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see 
the kingdom of God. No question asked. But as we 
follow the dialogue, we know that is precisely what Nicodemus 
had in his mind and in his heart. Jesus knows all men. Jesus knows 
the particular issue at stake. Jesus addresses this for sure. And Nicodemus doesn't say, well, 
that wasn't in my mind. I wondered about the latter-day 
glory. I wondered about the eschatol, you know, eschaton, when it comes 
again. No, that's not what he's concerned about. How does a man 
enter the kingdom of God? And to his credit, brethren, 
in terms of Nicodemus, and even in terms of the Sanhedrin, of 
whom Nicodemus is representing, at least they asked the question. There's a lot of people today 
that have zero concern with entry into the kingdom of God. They 
deny its existence. They ridicule its existence. 
They don't even think about its existence, but at least these 
men were conscious of the fact that there is a God, that this 
God has a kingdom, and that there is either entrance into it or 
exclusion from it. I suspect there are many today 
that don't even get to this level. If you've ever gone door-to-door, 
if you've ever gone downtown, if you've ever confronted people 
with their sin, and their need for the Savior. So many of them 
look at you blankly. What are you talking about? What 
is it that you are saying? It's almost like you're reciting 
a page out of a Japanese phone book. They look at you in the 
same way. There is no concern in our society 
on the part of a great multitude for the things of God. That is 
a great concern. We are a materialistic age. We 
only think that the things that we can see and touch and feel 
and hear are true or real. We only think about the next 
80 years. What happens after that? Who 
cares? I can't be bothered with it. 
So at least this man, and we see later for his benefit, this 
man thought in terms of a kingdom that was of God and that could 
be entered or that could be excluded from. And so Jesus goes right 
to the issue and notice the way that Jesus describes this. Jesus 
answered and said to him, Amen, Amen. I say to you, unless one 
is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Have you 
ever met professing Christians who deny much of the Bible? Or professing Christians who 
are okay, say, with abortion? Or professing Christians who 
are okay with, say, euthanasia? Or professing Christians that 
have sort of no moral backbone whatsoever, and you wonder, what's 
their problem? Most likely, they're not born 
again. Most likely, they're not saved. Most likely, they have not been 
born from above. Most likely, they've been caught 
up in the moment, or they identify as a Christian because they're 
not a Muslim, or they're not a Buddhist, or they're not an 
atheist. They know something must exist. And because we live 
in a Christian nation, I'll go ahead and adopt Christianity. 
In fact, you'll hear at times people refer to people like us 
as, oh, well, they're born-again Christians. You've got your normal 
sort of garden variety Christian that looks just like everybody 
else in the world and then there's the nutjob Conspiracy weirdos 
like us that are born-again Christians. There's no such thing as a non 
born-again Christian there's no such thing as an unregenerate 
Christian there's no such thing as just oh, well, I'm with people 
that are Christians. So therefore I'm a Christian 
and It may be okay in our society to identify as a cat, but with 
reference to the kingdom of God, you cannot simply identify as 
a participant without faith in the Savior, without repentance 
unto life, without fruit. And by fruit, I don't mean unto 
salvation, but that is a lively evidence of the presence of faith, 
which faith itself is an evidence that one has been born again, 
one has been regenerated by the power of God most high. So Jesus 
goes right to the heart of the issue. Amen, amen, I say to you, 
unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 
Now let's just tease this out a little bit. Notice in verse 
three, he speaks of seeing the kingdom of God. And then verse 
five, he speaks of entering the kingdom of God. I think those 
terms are used synonymously, interchangeably, and what I think 
it means is to be a participant in the Kingdom of God. To be 
a participant in that blessed realm wherein God has sway over 
the hearts of His people, and they serve Him, and they love 
Him, and they honor Him. Now when Jesus says you must 
be born again, or unless one is born again, the word that 
is used here can be defined as either again or from above. I honestly think that this particular 
term is utilized by Jesus with both senses. Now Nicodemus interprets 
it as being born again a second time when he asks, what's a man 
to do? Should a grown man go back into 
his mother's womb in order that he can be born again? So born 
from above is certainly correct, but born again is certainly correct 
as well. We are born in Adam, we need 
to be born again in our Lord Jesus Christ. So it is a term 
that can do double duty. And Cyril of Alexandria made 
this very perceptive observation. He says, and when he says that 
the rebirth by the Holy Spirit is from above, he shows clearly 
that the Spirit is of the substance of God the Father. Just as, of 
course, Jesus says about himself, I am from above. So Cyril, the 
commentator, understands that this idea of from-above-ness 
underscores the reality that the Holy Spirit is of the same 
substance as the Father. And if you think back to the 
prologue, what happens to those who, by God's grace, are born? 
They are born of God, according to chapter 1 at verse 13. Well, we see that they're born 
of the Spirit. Again, the doctrine that we studied 
last hour of inseparable operations. Everything that God does, God 
does. The Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Spirit have one will, one power. They create the world, 
they govern the world, and they redeem the elect out of the world. 
But at times in the Bible, Scripture appropriates to one of the persons 
of the Godhead a unique aspect of work. And here we see that 
to be born of the Spirit is to be born of God. So Nicodemus 
understands it as a second time. But the specific point, again, 
is that one must be born again. Can't miss that. Everybody get 
that? You have to be born again. You 
have to be reborn, born from above or again, in terms of moving 
from one place, one state into another. The apostle Peter uses 
the language that God calls us out of darkness into marvelous 
light so that we may proclaim his praises. And when we look 
at this particular terminology that the Lord Jesus is using, 
he is not saying or is not giving a command. He's not saying, okay, 
Nicodemus, I give you a command, go be born again. That's how 
persons understand this passage, and it's false. It's incorrect. 
It's wrong. The idea that a man can be born 
again by his own power, by his own agency, by his own resources, 
is a denial of the doctrine of total depravity. It's a denial 
of the doctrine of total inability. John 6, 44, no one, Jesus says, 
can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. Know what? That's inclusive of every single 
human being. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 
7, or 8, 7 and 8, he talks about the carnal mind as enmity of 
God. It cannot please God. We are dead in our trespasses 
and sins. We cannot make ourselves alive. 
This is not a command given by Jesus for the sinner to obey. It is rather a statement of reality 
that must happen before a sinner believes the gospel. In other 
words, he is highlighting that regeneration, verse three, precedes 
saving faith. Verse 16, for God so loved the 
world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth 
in him. Well, how does a person get to 
the point where they believe the gospel of our Lord Jesus? 
It's because God has caused them to be born again. It's because 
God has caused them to be born from above. You perhaps are new 
to this church and you've heard the word reform, or you've heard 
the word Calvinism. The opposite of Calvinism, well, 
the gross opposite is something called Pelagianism. But the more 
common opposite is what's called Arminianism. And Arminians teach 
that this is in fact a command to be obeyed. Armenians say that 
you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and then God will make 
you to be born again. But that's not what the text 
says. Calvin or Calvinism and the reformed tradition is right. 
You must be born again. You must be made alive. in order 
to believe the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Last week, 
our brother read Philippians 1. What does Philippians 1.29 
tell us about faith? It's a gift given by God. What 
does Paul say in Ephesians 2.8-10? That faith is a gift given by 
God. Who does He give it to? He gives 
it to those He makes alive in regeneration, whether we want 
to call it being born again or born from above. That doesn't 
happen that on a Tuesday, you're born again, and then, you know, 
next September, you get faith to close with Christ. No, it's 
more of a logical distinction than chronological in nature. 
And when we come to scripture, we see the emphasis right here 
in John 3, the same emphasis underscored by the apostle Paul 
in Romans chapter 9, and the same emphasis that we find with 
reference to the saints glorified in heaven that is common with 
what the prophet Jonah confessed in Jonah 2.9. What does the prophet 
there say? Salvation is of the Lord. It's not of Nicodemus. It does 
not depend upon him who wills or upon him who runs, but on 
God who shows mercy. That's Romans 9 16. The saints 
in heaven praise God and the Lamb who sits on the throne. 
What's the subject matter of their praise? Salvation belongs 
to our God and to the Lamb who sits upon the throne. This idea 
that man, dead in his trespasses and sins, can make himself alive 
by believing in the Lord Jesus, gets this passage exactly backwards. Jesus stresses to Nicodemus that 
unless this sovereign act of God Most High comes upon you, 
such that now you look unto the Lord Jesus Christ in faith, you 
will never enter the kingdom of God. You will never enter 
into bliss, to paradise, to heaven, to blessedness. Now, when persons 
hear this, they say, well, that doesn't seem very kind, that 
doesn't seem very fair, that doesn't seem very good. Well, 
understand this, brethren, God delights to do this. Understand 
that in the book of Revelation, it's not a handful, it's not 
the frozen chosen before the throne of grace, it is rather 
a great multitude that no man can number. To say, well, you're 
going to strip away from the sinner any hope. No, to strip 
the hope from a sinner is to say that the sinner has the power 
to save himself. That is hopelessness. But there 
is hope in God. There is mercy to be had in our 
Lord. There is blessedness in Yahweh. 
The whole Bible expresses and declares to us the saving purposes 
of our God, such that the apostle can celebrate it in 2 Corinthians 
5, by saying that God is in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. Notice the language in John 3, 
16. World there doesn't mean every single human being without 
exception. It means men without distinction, 
whether you're a Jew, whether you're a Gentile, whether you're 
an American or a Canadian, Whether you're from China or Japan, whether 
you're from the continent of Africa, it doesn't matter. It 
is without distinction, not without exception, but it is curious, 
the language that is employed. God so loved the world. See, this idea that there's going 
to be a handful that fall into heaven at the final day is wrong. This idea that Christ didn't 
actually atone for the sins of many is wrong. Christ came to 
save a great multitude that no man can number. He's in the business. So before you say, well that 
strips hope from the sinner, understand what you're saying. 
The sinner is dead in his trespasses and sins. The sinner doesn't 
have the wherewithal to choose for Jesus. God has the ability 
to make him alive, to grant him the graces of faith and repentance, 
to give him the ability by grace to close with Jesus in faith. 
And God delights to do that. That's why we pray God send the 
Spirit on Sunday preaching. God send the Spirit, not only 
on the preacher, but on the hearer. Open the heart. You see that 
convention used at the Riverside in Philippi in Acts 16. Those 
ladies are there studying the Bible and the apostle Paul comes 
to declare to them the way as it is in Jesus. And it says, 
the Lord opened Lydia's heart. This isn't confined to John 3. 
It is a most hope-filled doctrine, the reality of which is that 
God Most High saves to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto Him through 
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that by His grace, that by 
His power, and that ultimately for His honor and praise. Notice 
several passages. Turn to Acts, the book of Acts. Acts 13. Acts 13. I already mentioned 1614, where 
God opens Lydia's heart. But notice Acts 16. I'm sorry, 
Acts 13. 1348. Now, when the Gentiles 
heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. 
And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. There 
was an appointment to eternal life by God in eternity past. 
And in time, under gospel preaching, those who had been appointed 
now believe that gospel. What happened? What changed things? What was the new dynamic or the 
new element introduced into those who believed? They were born 
again. They were born from above. They 
were made anew. They were called out of darkness 
into marvelous light to confess the glory of God Almighty. Turn 
over to 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 5, several passages, 
again, to illustrate this idea of the new birth or regeneration. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, 
he is what? He's a new creation. Did we create 
ourselves anew? Did we wake up one day and say, 
man, I'm such a miserable wretch, I'm gonna go ahead and make myself 
new. No, he's a new creation by the power of God Almighty. Behold, all things have become 
new. Behold, all things have become, I'm sorry, old things 
have passed away. Behold, all things have become 
new. Turn over to Galatians chapter six. Galatians chapter six. The big issue in Galatia was 
circumcision. Judaizer said, good to believe 
in Jesus, but you must also be circumcised. So faith plus works 
in order for salvation. Look at what Paul says concerning 
circumcision in Galatians 6.15. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision 
nor uncircumcision avails anything, but what? A new creation. They must be born again. They 
must be born from above. Look at Ephesians chapter 2. 
Look at verses 1 and following. And you he made alive, who were 
dead in trespasses and sins. See, the Arminian and the Pelagian 
can't answer the question. How does a dead man make himself 
believe? How does a dead man exercise faith? I mean, brethren, 
think about it. Paul doesn't say, you were crippled, 
you were maimed, you had a bit of a limp, you were a little 
bit hindered. No! What metaphor does he use? 
When he comes to deal with the spiritual man, he deals in the 
language of death. and you being dead in trespasses 
and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this 
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the 
spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also 
we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling 
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature 
children of wrath, just as the others. Do you see who Paul's 
including in there? Do you think Paul just had an 
epiphany on the road to Damascus? Paul was breathing threats and 
hatred and murder against the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Does Paul in Acts 9 say, you 
know, I'm not gonna go to Damascus. I'm not gonna go round up those 
believers. I'm not gonna bring them back to Jerusalem and there 
I'm not gonna see them further persecuted because I've just 
decided to make myself new. I'm a new man today. No, Christ 
comes to him. Christ humbles him. Christ changes 
him. Christ makes him a new man in 
Christ Jesus. So Paul includes himself in that 
mass of humanity. And basically he says all men 
everywhere before Christ in terms of salvation are lifeless, helpless, 
and hopeless. Now verse four, but God, but 
God. That's a beautiful two words, 
but God. Martin Lloyd-Jones has a whole 
sermon on those two words, but God. It's sort of like the nevertheless 
in Ezekiel 16. God rehearsing how he comes upon 
the nation. When I came to you, you were 
in your blood. You were writhing around, you were filthy and disgusting. 
But I said, live, live. And then I took you and I decked 
you out. I put jewels on you. I gave you everything. I conferred 
benefit. I conferred blessing. And then 
you went out a whoring from me. You went and engaged in all manner 
of harlotry. In fact, what the prophet says 
in Ezekiel 16, 25 is offensive to most hearers today. The prophet 
goes on or God through the prophet says, you're not like other harlots. 
Harlots do what they do in order to make money. You're the kind 
of a harlot that pays the man to do what he's doing to her. 
But then as God continues through the prophet Ezekiel, there's 
a nevertheless. Nevertheless, I will regather 
you to myself. Nevertheless, I will include 
you in the covenant blessings of God. Nevertheless, I will 
not cut you off completely. That's how this but God functions 
in verse 4. But God who is rich in mercy, 
because of his great love with which he loved us, even when 
we were dead in trespasses, notice the language, made us alive together 
with Christ. Does a man make himself alive 
together with Christ? Not according to Paul. It is 
God Most High who makes a man alive together with Christ. The new birth, regeneration, 
to be born again, to be born from above is crucial with reference 
to entry into the kingdom of God. Turn to Titus, Titus chapter 
three, where the actual language of regeneration is used by the 
apostle Paul. Notice in Titus chapter one, 
I'm sorry, Titus chapter three, at verse four, but when the kindness 
and the love of God, our savior, toward man appeared, not by works 
of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, 
notice the emphasis in the next three words, he saved us. Brethren, 
that's the simple sentence. All the other stuff surrounding 
it just fleshes that out. It's window decoration to show 
us how great God's salvation is. But if you ask the question, 
what's the simple sentence in verse five? The simple sentence 
is, He saved us. Now, attendant to His saving 
us, notice at the beginning of verse five, not by works of righteousness, 
which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us. Through the washing of regeneration 
and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly 
through Jesus Christ, our Savior, that having been justified by 
His grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal 
life. Turn over to 1 Peter. 1 Peter, again, just to show 
you that the apostles understood what Jesus was talking about 
in terms of regeneration, the new birth, being born again or 
born from above. Notice in chapter 1 at verse 
3, blessed be the God and Father. So just like Paul in Ephesians 
1.3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul 
and Peter understood and knew the Old Testament. This was a 
formula in order to praise God. It was called berakah from the 
Hebrew blessing. You see it all throughout the 
Psalms. You see it in Solomon blessing God at the temple dedication. 
It was a convention utilized by the men of God to give vent 
to their praise. to give vent to their glorifying 
God. So he says, blessed be the God 
and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his 
abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through 
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Notice in verse 
23, well, verse 22, since you have purified your souls and 
obeying the truth through the spirit, insincere love of the 
brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been 
born again. In other words, you're doing 
this not because you're great guys and girls. You're doing 
this because you're in the state of having been born again. Because when we're not born again, 
what is typical of us? When we're not born again, what 
is true of us? We don't care about others. We 
look out only for our own interests. We're narcissists. We're like 
narcissists who looks in the water and can't look away because 
he's gazing at how beautiful he is. That's us in Adam. That's not fantasy. That's not 
fiction. That's Bible and yet now Because 
we've been born again. We have this ability to love 
the brethren to love one another with a pure heart having been 
born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, through 
the Word of God, which lives and abides forever." You see, 
the instrumentality of the Word. We're born of the Spirit, but 
the Spirit works in, by, through, and with the Word. This is why 
in Romans 10, the Apostle says, faith comes by hearing, and hearing 
by what? By the Word of God. We don't 
just say, wow, look at Mount Shem. Doesn't it look beautiful 
today? And wow, we're born again. No, it's the truth of the gospel. 
It's the glory of Christ. It's His life. It's His death. 
It's His resurrection. When sinners hear that and the 
Spirit attends, God the Spirit causes them to be born again, 
to be born anew, not in every instance, obviously, but according 
to His sovereign purpose and plan. Turn over to 1 John. 1 
John. While you're turning there, the 
Apostle Paul refers to the new birth. He refers to it as life-giving 
resurrection with Christ. We've seen that. And as the divine 
work of new creation. We've seen that. Raymond makes 
this observation. It is particularly John, following 
the teaching of Jesus himself, however, who is, in a unique 
sense, the theologian of the birth from above. We have that 
dialogue with Nicodemus that we're looking at in John 3. And 
just so you're satisfied or just so you know, We're not going 
to finish John 3, 1 to 10 today. So I don't think we're going 
till 3. We're not going till 3. I think it's important that 
we get sort of this understanding of what's in view with reference 
to John 3, 3 when Jesus says, a man must be born again if he 
is to enter the kingdom of God. But notice in 1 John 2 at verse 
29. 1 John 2 at verse 29. If you know that he is righteous, 
you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of him. 
Notice the emphasis, brethren. It's not practice righteousness 
and then you'll be born of him. You practice righteousness because 
you've been born of him. Does everybody see that? Everybody 
get that? Brethren, we are not Arminians. 
We are not Pelagians. We are Reformed Christians who 
understand basic grammar. That's what we're finding in 
passages like these. If you know that He is righteous, 
you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. Now, there's others in John, 
but look at 1 John 5.1. 1 John 5.1. For those who think, well, we 
gotta believe and then we'll be born again. That not only 
gets the dialogue with Nicodemus exactly backwards, but it gets 
1 John 5, 1 exactly backwards as well. And the grammar is the 
same that you have in 229. So we practice righteousness, 
why? Because we have been born of 
God. Now notice in 1 John 5, 1. Whoever believes that Jesus 
is the Christ is born of God. And everyone who loves him, who 
begot, also loves him who is begotten of him. Notice the emphasis 
in the first part. Whoever believes that Jesus is 
the Christ is born of God. Not whoever believes that Jesus 
is the Christ, that is the key by which now he is born again. No, the fact is, is that we believe 
that Jesus is the Christ because we have been born of God. And that reflects the pattern 
in John chapter 3, verses 1 to 10 are the dialogue with Nicodemus. Verses 11 to 21 is Jesus' discourse 
on salvation. Notice that the new birth comes 
first and then comes faith in John 3.16. Brethren, when we 
appreciate this, it gives us great cause to return praise 
and honor and glory to our God. because we, like Israel, were 
writhing in our blood. We, like Israel, were dead in 
our trespasses and sins. We were lifeless, helpless, and 
hopeless. But God, who is rich in mercy, 
with the great love wherewith he loved us, made us alive together 
with Christ Jesus. It is a most blessed emphasis 
that underscores the reality that salvation is of the Lord. If you want to look at the other 
references in terms of being born of God in 1 John, also note 
for 3.9, 4.7, 5.4, and 5.18. So I think Raymond's right. It is John following the pattern 
of the Savior in John chapter 3, who is the theologian of the 
birth from above. Typically the Apostle, not that 
he doesn't deal with regeneration, because we just, the Apostle 
Paul, we just saw that he does, but Paul oftentimes looks at 
our relationship to God through Christ in terms of adoption. 
Not that one is better than the other, it's two facets of the 
same jewel. Paul looks at it in terms of 
adopted sons and daughters of our Lord Jesus Christ. And when 
John comes to deal, he looks at it as we have been born of 
God most high. But the emphasis in both facets 
is on God. He is the power, His is the sovereignty, 
His is the glory, and it is His will that makes us alive together 
with Christ Jesus. Calvin says, the sum of Christ's 
discourse is that in order that we may be His true disciples, 
we must become new men. We must be born again. And I 
would suggest this is a good time for us to examine our hearts. Again, I started the sermon. 
Have you met those people who say, well, I'm a Christian, and 
they don't live like it. They don't sound like it. Now, 
brethren, that can be said of every Christian. The Apostle 
Paul faces, you know, really the doctrine of remaining corruption 
in Romans 7. He tells us, the good that I 
want to do, I don't do it. And the evil I don't want to 
do, I find myself doing. Galatians 5.17, he says, the 
flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit lusts against 
the flesh. And these two are contrary to one another, so that 
you don't do the things that you want. So Paul understands 
remaining corruption. It was not without a fact that 
the hymn writer wrote, we are prone to wander and prone to 
leave the God that we love. I'm not talking about that. I'm 
not talking about remaining corruption. I'm not talking about the day 
in, day out struggles that the people of God face on a regular 
basis and will until that final day. Brethren, do you understand 
that? If you're not in this for the 
long haul, then it's arguable that you've never been born again. 
The people of God understand that until that day, when I either 
die and have translated into the presence of my blessed Savior, 
or He returns in glory to judge the living and the dead, and 
then welcomes me in, until that day, I'm going to struggle. Until 
that day, I'm going to battle. Until that day, I have to put 
to death the deeds of the body. Until that day, I have to put 
on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh 
to fulfill its lust. That's what we signed up for. 
We're justified freely by His grace. Our sins are forgiven 
us. We have His righteousness by which we will be accepted 
in the Beloved on that great day. But in terms of the Christian 
life of the here and now, it is not for the faint-hearted. It is not for the coward. It 
is not for the weakling. It is for those who understand 
that God's grace is sufficient, that he gives us what we need 
each and every day to fight manfully onward. So having made that qualification, 
again, we return to that class of people that are Christians 
because they're not Buddhists. They're Christians because they're 
not Muslims. They're Christians who make a 
separation between, well, I'm not like one of those born-againers. Brethren, are we born again? Have we, by the grace of God, 
become new men and new women in Christ Jesus? The reflex of 
that is faith in Christ. For God so loved the world that 
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 
In other words, when one is born again, just like when one comes 
out of the womb, what happens? Or at least it used to happen. 
Today the baby can sue the doctor. But the doctor used to slap them 
on the behind so that they would breathe. That was the reflex. You come out of the safety of 
the womb, you get a smack on the bottom so that it shows that 
you can breathe by crying. It's a beautiful sound to every 
new parent. It's the same with regeneration. What do we do after we're born 
again? We breathe, we believe, we look 
unto the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have not faith, you're 
not born again. Now, when secondly, by God's 
grace, we're born again and we believe the gospel, John tells 
us that there will be features of our lives that are consistent 
with that. You can turn back to 1 John. 
John in his gospel tells us that I write these things so that 
you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living 
God, and that believing in his name, you may have everlasting 
life. So John 20, 30 and 31, John the 
apostle tells us why he writes the gospel. But John the apostle 
tells us why he writes his first epistle. Notice in 1 John 5 at 
verse 13. These things I have written to 
you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may 
know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to 
believe in the name of the Son of God. So he writes the gospel 
so that you'll look unto Jesus, believe on him and have everlasting 
life. He writes the first epistle so 
that you may have comfort, that you may have assurance, that 
you may have that stability, that you may have that security 
that goes part and parcel with faith. It's not an essential 
element, but most often it is part and parcel of saving faith. Now, back into his epistle, he 
tells us what it will look like for those who are born of God. We've already seen 1 John 5, 
1. They'll believe that Jesus is the Christ. How do you know 
a man is born again? Because he believes the gospel. 
How do you know a man is born again? Because he's heard and 
he's believed that the life, the death, and the resurrection 
of our Lord Jesus Christ is what is needful to believe unto everlasting 
life. In other words, it's not our 
good works, it's the good works of the Savior. It's not our ability 
to atone for sin, it's the Savior's ability to atone for sin. So 
Christ is everything. In the language of the Bridegroom, 
in the Song of Solomon, Christ is altogether lovely. Christ 
is chief among ten thousand. That's the reflex for those who 
have been born again. Faith in Jesus. But then notice 
as well what John tells us. There will be a practice of righteousness. We see that in 1 John 2, 29. 
1 John 2, 29. Remember all of the qualifications 
made earlier about remaining sin. Remember all of the qualifications 
earlier about Romans 7 and Galatians 5, and the reality that there 
is remaining sin in our hearts until that day when we enter 
into Emmanuel's land. Nevertheless, in terms of the 
Christian, not perfectly, not spotlessly, not without blemish, 
but he will hate those things that are sinful, and he will 
love those things that are righteous, right? The fear of the Lord is 
to hate evil. Christ speaking his wisdom in 
the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter eight. We'll notice in 
1 John 2, 29. If you know that he is righteous, 
you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of him. 
So I want you, John says, to know that you have eternal life. What's an indicator? What's a 
mark? What's a way that we can know? We practice righteousness. Again, not unto salvation. We can't practice that level 
or degree of righteousness. But because we've been saved, 
we practice righteousness. Notice, secondly, there is a 
love for the brethren. 1 John chapter 4, there's a beloved 
brother I know who said, this is one of the ways I know that 
I am born again, because at one time I didn't love the people 
of God, and now I do. It's just that simple, brethren. 
Notice in 1 John 4, 7. Beloved, let us love one another, 
for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and 
knows God. That doesn't mean you're everybody's 
bestest friend. That doesn't mean you spend 24-7 
with one another. That doesn't mean we become hippies 
and live in communes. That's not what it means. But 
it does mean that the people of God, get this, they love the 
people of God. They really do. They take seriously 
Ephesians 4. They endeavor to keep the unity 
of the Spirit, endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the 
bond of peace. They take seriously the emphasis in Philippians 2, 
1 to 4, in terms of looking out for the interests of others. 
Not esteeming themselves as the best and the greatest, but esteeming 
others as better than themselves. Love for the brethren is a mark, 
an indicator, a help. that one has been born of God. And then notice as well, overcoming 
the world and the wicked one. 1 John 5, 4. For whatever is 
born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that 
has overcome the world, our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world? 
But he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. What an encouraging 
statement, isn't it? You overcome the world because 
you're eight foot tall and bulletproof? No, because you serve the Savior. You overcome the world because 
you're more wiser than everybody else who has gone before you? 
No, you serve the one in whom all the treasures of wisdom and 
knowledge are hid. You serve Christ. You believe 
Christ. You've been born of God. You 
believe the Savior. And by that grace, you overcome 
the world. You fight onward. You may be 
depressed. You may be melancholic. You may 
not feel like getting up. But you do so not because you're 
strong, but because He is, and you march on, you go forward, 
you fear Him, and you love Him, and you adore Him. Again, not 
because you're great, but because He's great, and He's caused you 
to be born again, to look unto His Son in faith, and He is promised. Yes, He's promised an overcoming 
of the world by His people. Now the only reason I don't have 
that the one who does or has been born of God believes truth 
or values truth rather, because I don't think there is a statement 
in there. Whoever loves the truth has been born of God. But I think 
it can be inferred. I'd like to think it can be implied. 
Those born of God love God. Those born of God love God's 
people. Those born of God love His truth. In other words, the Word of God 
is valuable to them. It is precious to them. You want 
to see a born-again man celebrate the Word of God? Read Psalm 119. 
All 176 verses. David celebrates the Word of 
God, the truthfulness of it, the veracity of it. He says, 
your word, I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against 
you. He says, I value your word more 
than rubies, more than gold. He says that the law of Yahweh 
makes wise the simple. He says that the law of God has 
made me more wise than all of my counselors and teachers. Those 
born of God do not take a limp-wristed hold of the truth, but rather 
they grab it, they hold onto it, and they never let it go. 
There is too much wishy-washy-ness in the church today relative 
to God's Word. Brethren, it is the inspired, 
infallible, inerrant Word of the living and true God. I suggest 
we hold on to it. I suggest we fight for it and 
I suggest we die for it if called upon to do so. When we look back 
at the history of the confessors and the history of the martyrs, 
they didn't take that kind of limp-wristed approach to truth. 
They died for it. They went to the stake for it. One of the men, was it Kramer 
or the one that denied and then came back, when it came time 
for him to die, he put his hand first in the fire because that 
was the offending agent. He recanted and he went into 
heresy with that hand. So when he comes back to his 
senses by grace and he's burned in the fire, first the hand goes 
because that's what betrayed me initially. Where's that kind 
of faith today? Where's that kind of born of 
godness? Where is it when we're face down 
with these kinds of people that are telling us that you could 
just identify as another sex? You could just identify as another 
being? You could just... No one says 
anything to this? Brethren, we are living in odd 
days, to say the least. The Church shouldn't ape the 
world. We have the true Word of the 
Living God. We have a sure guide. We have 
a blessed map. We have encouragement from on 
high. We have everything at our disposal. Let's fight. And by fight, I 
don't mean physically. Go get your guns, brethren. I 
am talking about the spiritual battle we face. When the apostle 
says the weapons of our warfare, they're not carnal. But they're 
mighty for the pulling down of strongholds. But when we sacrifice 
that primary weapon, the offensive element of the armor, which is 
the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, it's like 
we're showing up to a gunfight with a peashooter. We're trying 
to charge hell with a squirt gun. We have put down our weaponry 
to try and engage the enemy. Well, they'll always best us. 
Remember Stephen last week on Sunday night? What does Stephen 
do when he's disputing with the Hellenists? He bests them. He wins them. Not so he could 
pat himself on the back, because how did that go? He ended up 
being stoned to death by those who didn't want him. But he didn't 
do what he did lazily. He did it earnestly. He stood 
up, and he disputed with those men, and he reasoned in such 
a way, from Scripture and theology, that they knew, we can't beat 
this guy, so we have to give false charges, turn him over 
to Sanhedrin, so they can do the dirty work of putting him 
to death. Where's the Stephens today? Where's the Pauls? Where's 
the Peters? We read of these men. We love 
these men. We celebrate these men. Brethren, 
by grace, we can hopefully imitate these men in our generation. Are we born again? If we are, 
the reflex will be faith in Christ. We will, by grace, practice righteousness. We will love brethren. We will 
overcome the world. And we will love, not just, eh, 
it's okay. Love the truth of God's holy 
word. Well, let us pray. Father, thank 
you for your word and thank you for its clarity at the level 
of how a man has made a new man. We know it's not our ability, 
it's not our power, it's not our resources. So much of scripture 
tells us that is not the case, but it is the power of God Almighty. And we give praise to you for 
that power. We confess, Lord God, we were 
dead in our trespasses and sins. We were lifeless and helpless 
and hopeless. We had no thought of God, no 
desire for the Lord Jesus Christ. nothing in terms of righteousness, 
nothing in terms of a love for the truth, but those things that 
are there now are there by your grace, owing to your power and 
regeneration. And God, help us to walk according 
to this truth that we see in Scripture, and help us to love 
that truth that we see in Scripture, and help us to defend it and 
to fight for it. And we ask through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. We'll close with a brief 
time of meditation and then be dismissed.