SPEAKER_01: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_00: John three is our passage this morning.
SPEAKER_00: And if you open your Bibles to John chapter three.
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna go right through to verse twelve.
SPEAKER_00: Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast, many believed in his name.
SPEAKER_00: Take note there, many believed in his name, observing his signs which he was doing.
SPEAKER_00: Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, verse one, a ruler of the Jews.
SPEAKER_00: This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these things that you do unless God is with him.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus answered him and said, Truly, truly I say to you, unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born again when he is old?
SPEAKER_00: He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born, can he?
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus answered, verse 5, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Do not be amazed that I say to you, you must be born again.
SPEAKER_00: The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it.
SPEAKER_00: But do not know where it comes from and where it is going.
SPEAKER_00: So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Nicodemus said to him, How can these things be?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus answered and said to him, Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?
SPEAKER_00: Truly, truly I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony?
SPEAKER_00: If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
SPEAKER_00: An emphasis there on verse twelve.
SPEAKER_00: If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
SPEAKER_00: I'm always fascinated by those guys who climb Mount Everest.
SPEAKER_00: I learned the other day that at around 8,000 meters, that is about 29,000 feet, climbers enter into this physiological barrier known as the death zone.
SPEAKER_00: You see, at the death zone, there's about a third of the oxygen available to the climbers that we have here at sea level.
SPEAKER_00: So there's a physiological barrier.
SPEAKER_00: And it's equated to the following picture.
SPEAKER_00: Think of a 30-story building, and you have to run up it as fast as you can.
SPEAKER_00: But when you reach the 20th floor, you are allowed to take a breath only every third floor.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think many will make it to the 30th floor without collapsing, and that is exactly what happens with many of these climbers who enter the death zone.
SPEAKER_00: They tend to become disoriented and then they become delusional and they wander around aimlessly in a stupor of hallucinations, only to succumb to the elements.
SPEAKER_00: Some come so close to that peak of Everest.
SPEAKER_00: They come so close, but without oxygen cylinders on their backs, they will succumb.
SPEAKER_00: It is true that every person who is born will have to grapple with this thing that I call the spiritual death zone.
SPEAKER_00: There's a spiritual death zone between us and faith in God.
SPEAKER_00: You see, before anyone is granted entrance into the kingdom of God, they must believe the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: But between that and the kingdom of God is a spiritual death zone of human depravity.
SPEAKER_00: For all for short of the glory of God, there are none who are righteous, not even one.
SPEAKER_00: For all who are born of a woman, they are not spiritually alive, but dead in their transgressions and sins.
SPEAKER_00: They are in the death zone.
SPEAKER_00: Sadly, there are all too many who die in the death zones.
SPEAKER_00: They are blind, they are confused, they hallucinate about their spiritual well-being, but they are dead in their transgressions and sins, unable to grasp the full extent of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You see, there are many, as our story shows here, who come within steps of entering the kingdom of God, only to miss it with a few steps, just like many who die on Mount Everest, only steps away from glory.
SPEAKER_00: It seems at least to be the case that many here in the Gospel of John believed, but they did not enter the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: If you look there at verse 23, it says that many believed in his name, observing his signs, which he was doing.
SPEAKER_00: But look at this now, a peculiar thing is happening.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them, for he knew all men.
SPEAKER_00: It is generally thought that if someone believes in the name of Jesus, they shall be saved.
SPEAKER_00: But something is peculiar here.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not entrusting himself to them because he knows what is inside them.
SPEAKER_00: It is clear that something is off, and this type of belief in Jesus is not pleasing to him.
SPEAKER_00: And it fails to grant them entrance into the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: What is happening here?
SPEAKER_00: Here is an intellectual type of belief that is based on one's senses and what someone observed.
SPEAKER_00: It is what I would term a natural faith year.
SPEAKER_00: Many believed in Jesus because they saw him doing great things.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 23.
SPEAKER_00: Now enters the scene one of Israel's most prominent Jewish scholars who becomes prototypical of this intellectual natural type of faith.
SPEAKER_00: He exhibits the type of faith that is based on the senses, based on what someone observes.
SPEAKER_00: He says there in verse two.
SPEAKER_00: Rabbi, we know.
SPEAKER_00: We know what we know because of what we observe, what we see.
SPEAKER_00: But Nicodemus, what he sees is natural to man, and that type of believing must be transformed supernaturally to a supernatural type of belief.
SPEAKER_00: Or else he will be rejected, and the deeper things of the kingdom of God will be obfuscated.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 5 is the heart throb of the encounter with the notable Nicodemus.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 5, Jesus says to him, Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Entrance into the kingdom of God is, yes, based on believing in the work of the Son of God, so that whoever believes upon him will inherit eternal life, John 3.15.
SPEAKER_00: But unless one is born again, there will be no believing in the Son of God, and thus no entrance into the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: And this is the title of my message, born to believe.
SPEAKER_00: You see, we are naturally born with unbelief.
SPEAKER_00: We are naturally born with distrust.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the concluding words of this passage there in verse 11.
SPEAKER_00: Truly I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony.
SPEAKER_00: Here is the summary of Jesus' interaction with the notable Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Professor Nicodemus, verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
SPEAKER_00: And the question is, how do you and I believe?
SPEAKER_00: How do we believe?
SPEAKER_00: Well, the purpose of this passage is clearly teaching.
SPEAKER_00: Before we believe the rebirth is prime and essential.
SPEAKER_00: Before exhibiting the type of faith that saves us, we must be born again.
SPEAKER_00: You see, in the Gospel of John, there is two types of believing.
SPEAKER_00: The word believe, or believing, rather, is seen over 85 times.
SPEAKER_00: You must believe in order to be saved.
SPEAKER_00: But here seems to be a type of believing that is natural to man, just as we believe that the brakes of our car is working.
SPEAKER_00: It's a natural faith, not a supernatural faith.
SPEAKER_00: And the difference between a natural faith and a supernatural faith is the death zone.
SPEAKER_00: We must first cross the death zone of human depravity and be regenerated by the Spirit of God and come alive, or else we will hit that ceiling of human depravity and we will not understand a few things.
SPEAKER_00: And so this passage gives us three essential reasons why the rebirth must precede saving faith.
SPEAKER_00: Because of the following reasons.
SPEAKER_00: Three reasons.
SPEAKER_00: The rebirth is necessitated to properly believe.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, we have distorted vision.
SPEAKER_00: Nicodemus has distorted vision.
SPEAKER_00: I will show you that.
SPEAKER_00: We have dull minds and we cannot understand, and we have doubting hearts and we cannot believe.
SPEAKER_00: Those are the three things that we must know as part of the death zone of human depravity.
SPEAKER_00: Distorted vision, so we cannot see the things of God.
SPEAKER_00: Dull minds, so we can understand heavenly things and doubting hearts, and we cannot believe the deeper truths of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Now here's a curious case about the notable Professor Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Nicodemus.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm saying this not sarcastically, but he was a very skilled and notable scholar, a notable theologian.
SPEAKER_00: But he is wandering around in the death zone and he has no supplemental oxygen to help his depravity.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Nicodemus, like many of us believe today, is that God brings us to this point where he has done, let's say, 99.9% of things.
SPEAKER_00: And then God says, you know, that 0.1%, that is your work.
SPEAKER_00: All you need to do is make a choice.
SPEAKER_00: Choose me and choose life.
SPEAKER_00: We reduce saving faith as something of merely making a choice.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure if I ask for hands, many will put up their hands and say, Yeah, somebody in the past told me I just need to make a choice for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Well, you will not make that choice unless you are born again.
SPEAKER_00: John 3, 2 reads, Rabbi, he speaks to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: One teacher to another teacher.
SPEAKER_00: We know we have that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs, these signs that you do unless God is with him.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Nicodemus goes about seeing is believing.
SPEAKER_00: What he sees creates belief in him.
SPEAKER_00: But his belief in Jesus is intermixed with unbelief.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because he is dead in his trespasses and sin, and he does not have the 2020 vision to see the kingdom of God in proper perspection.
SPEAKER_00: So let's look at point number one: distorted vision.
SPEAKER_00: Nicodemus, yourself and me, we all naturally are born, somewhat blind.
SPEAKER_00: We cannot see the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 3.
SPEAKER_00: Nicodemus is confident.
SPEAKER_00: He says to Jesus, we confidently know for sure, because what we have observed with our very eyes gives us confirmation that we know what we know.
SPEAKER_00: So he's super confident in his assertions.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus does not even interact with him on that.
SPEAKER_00: He says to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot what?
SPEAKER_00: See the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Every person on this planet come to somewhat of a belief in the historical person named Jesus Christ who died on the cross some 2,000 years ago.
SPEAKER_00: They can even believe in some of his miracles and even recite some of his sayings.
SPEAKER_00: But that is a naturally produced faith which falls short of seeing the door of the kingdom of God in proper perspective.
SPEAKER_00: As a naturally born person, we are blinded to the entrance of the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: We grapple like blind bats to enter into a narrow opening.
SPEAKER_00: In whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving.
SPEAKER_00: They are unbelieving because they are blind.
SPEAKER_00: They cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
SPEAKER_00: We all need glasses, dear brothers and sisters.
SPEAKER_00: Now think of the story of three blind men who went to a zoo to observe what is an elephant.
SPEAKER_00: I'm an expert at elephants.
SPEAKER_00: I'm from Africa.
SPEAKER_00: So I will claim to be the authority in the room on elephants.
SPEAKER_00: But let me tell you this.
SPEAKER_00: The first blind man was eager to find out what is an elephant, and he was touching the legs of an elephant, and he said, This is a tree trunk.
SPEAKER_00: And the other man said, You are absolutely wrong.
SPEAKER_00: Touching the trunk, he says, No, this is a hairy snake.
SPEAKER_00: And the other guy says, Yo, you both fools.
SPEAKER_00: Holding on to the tail, no, this is a rope, you nincum poops.
SPEAKER_00: You see, each man had his own perception of what is an elephant, but they were blind, they could not see.
SPEAKER_00: And unless one is born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: You can have a vague picture of what it is, but every natural born person lacks 2020 vision, and they will miss the narrow entrance to the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: You need proper eyes to see the kingdom and enter it because the gate, oh brother and sister, is so very narrow.
SPEAKER_00: We not only need proper sight, we need proper understanding to enter the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: You see, we all have a dullness of mind.
SPEAKER_00: Nicodemus has a dullness of mind and doesn't understand the deeper things of the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Yet Nicodemus, like many of us, have this confidence that whatever we observe and whatever deductions we make by our sure senses must be right.
SPEAKER_00: Like Nicodemus is saying here in verse 2, we know.
SPEAKER_00: We know for sure.
SPEAKER_00: We confidently know for sure that we are right about the things we are seeing, but Jesus says to Nicodemus, look, you don't understand.
SPEAKER_00: You know a lot, but you understand nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 4.
SPEAKER_00: How can a man be born when he's old?
SPEAKER_00: He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?
SPEAKER_00: He's either stupid or he's stubborn, but he doesn't understand what Jesus is saying to him, verse 5.
SPEAKER_00: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: And he should know this verse if he read his Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Ezekiel 36, 25.
SPEAKER_00: But Nicodemus response to Jesus, how can these things be?
SPEAKER_00: An absolute impossibility, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You're talking through your nose.
SPEAKER_00: You don't know what you're talking about.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus answered to him.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Are you the teacher of Israel?
SPEAKER_00: And you do not understand these things?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I wonder how Nicodemus responded.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Nothing after this.
SPEAKER_00: He's quiet.
SPEAKER_00: Verse eleven.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says to him, Truly, truly I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and what has Jesus seen?
SPEAKER_00: God.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus speaks of what he has seen and who he is.
SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
SPEAKER_00: Nicodemus does not understand a thing.
SPEAKER_00: You see, he believes, but he also doesn't believe.
SPEAKER_00: You see, his belief comes to a point and goes no further.
SPEAKER_00: It is like those climbers who come up to the summit of Everest, but they cannot reach the peak because they've reached the death zone.
SPEAKER_00: If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
SPEAKER_00: You see, I want to teach you algebra, but you don't know one plus one.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not teaching you algebra, I'll teach you the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Nicodemus, educated, bright, knows a lot, but in his responses with the belief, there is unbelief and opposition and rejection intermixed.
SPEAKER_00: His questions are not benign, they are challenging, they are opposing what Jesus is saying in a nice way.
SPEAKER_00: He's nice.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, Jesus, I can't buy this.
SPEAKER_00: He negates all three of Jesus' statement by asking closed-ended questions.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm trying to think of a close-ended question.
SPEAKER_00: What would be a good closed-ended question where you're like, okay, the only answer to this is no.
SPEAKER_00: Can I borrow you a car?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that.
SPEAKER_00: Let's move on.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Jesus teaches, the teacher of teacher teaches the teacher.
SPEAKER_00: And the teacher lowercase shows a dullness.
SPEAKER_00: His conclusions and deductions are distorted because his mind is still unregenerate.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians 4 18 speaks about that.
SPEAKER_00: They speak of those whose minds are darkened in their understanding and they are separated from life and God's because of the ignorance that is in them.
SPEAKER_00: Minds are darkened, they cannot understand a thing, because there's an ignorance in them, and then Paul says it is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the unregenerate mind, the unsaved mind is dull and dark, resistant to the deeper things of the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: So how can Nicodemus understand these deep heavenly things, these spiritual things that Jesus is teaching him?
SPEAKER_00: Well, it will be a hit one, miss one.
SPEAKER_00: He would understand something, but it will be canceled out with something that he doesn't believe.
SPEAKER_00: First Corinthians 2 13 is a powerful passage that speaks of human depravity in a sense of not understanding spiritual things because the unbeliever has no tools to comprehend spiritual things.
SPEAKER_00: Let me read this for you.
SPEAKER_00: Which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, capital S, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: But then verse 14 says, but a natural man, i.e., like Nicodemus, does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised.
SPEAKER_00: They are to be spiritually discerned, evaluated.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Nicodemus is being taught here.
SPEAKER_00: The scholar of scholars is teaching him, but he cannot understand these basic truths.
SPEAKER_00: Because they are spiritual words, spiritual wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: It is the things taught by the Spirit of God, not human wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: But he cannot comprehend it because they are to be appraised spiritually and not naturally.
SPEAKER_00: For flesh is flesh, and that which is spirit is spirit, Jesus says.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Nicodemus is still in his unregenerate flesh.
SPEAKER_00: He is like the blind man who argues with the zoologists, saying an elephant is not a four-legged packy derm from Africa's savannah, but rather is a big reptile that is hairy.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Nicodemus, his understanding of spiritual things are very distorted.
SPEAKER_00: How he interprets is at an intellectual level, maybe at a natural level, but it lacks supernatural belief.
SPEAKER_00: It's not intermixed with faith.
SPEAKER_00: There is a type of faith, but there's also a type of faith that is not there.
SPEAKER_00: And because he's a naturally once-born man, he does not accept the things of the Spirit of God.
SPEAKER_00: They are foolishness to him.
SPEAKER_00: How can it be?
SPEAKER_00: How can I go back in my mother's womb, Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Come on, that's just silly.
SPEAKER_00: You should be you should know better.
SPEAKER_00: But he cannot understand it because it should be spiritually interpreted.
SPEAKER_00: It should be spiritually appraised.
SPEAKER_00: And only a spiritual mind can comprehend these things.
SPEAKER_00: But the kingdom of God, its gates are wide open.
SPEAKER_00: But Nicodemus' mind is closed shut.
SPEAKER_00: For this once-born man must transition from the death zone of human depravity to the life zone of saving faith.
SPEAKER_00: But it is impossible, just as it's impossible for a person to go back into his mother's womb.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus says, Do not be amazed that I say to you, you must be born again, verse 7.
SPEAKER_00: And this is probably one of the most misinterpreted verses in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: People even write books on it.
SPEAKER_00: You must be born again, brother.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, you amen.
SPEAKER_00: You must be born again.
SPEAKER_00: What must I do to be born again?
SPEAKER_00: You must be born again.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: I want to put a few things straight about that verse.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 7, you must be born again.
SPEAKER_00: We must come to a proper understanding of what spiritual rebirth means.
SPEAKER_00: And we must keep in pace with our understanding of the analogy of human birth.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna be quick.
SPEAKER_00: What is the role of an unborn infant in the act of conception and birth?
SPEAKER_00: You think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Sure, there are some nurses and medical professionals among us.
SPEAKER_00: What choice does the unborn in the womb make before they go down the birth canal?
SPEAKER_00: Question.
SPEAKER_00: Another question.
SPEAKER_00: Does the unborn make the call to the mother, the nurse, or the doctor say, deliver me now, I'm ready for the world?
SPEAKER_00: Though I think some mothers feel like some of their kids came out of the wound demanding and conquering.
SPEAKER_00: You see, dear brothers and sisters, if I just do a very simple analysis there of the Greek, you must be born again, it is not a command.
SPEAKER_00: It's a mere statement of fact.
SPEAKER_00: He's just saying you must be born again.
SPEAKER_00: He's not saying you're responsible for it.
SPEAKER_00: He's just merely stating that you must be born again.
SPEAKER_00: Unless you are born again, guess what, Nicodemus?
SPEAKER_00: Your vision will be dull and distorted, your mind will be dull and foggy, you'll run around like a climber at 29,000 feet in the death zone of human depravity.
SPEAKER_00: But here's another analogy here that we must keep in pace with, and that is the analogy of wind.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you work for this company that make these blades for the uh wind turbines.
SPEAKER_00: Is that the word?
SPEAKER_00: Is that the right word, Nick?
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Nick.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna read verse 8 for you, and I'll explain to you what I concluded about wind turbines.
SPEAKER_00: Uh the wind blows where it wishes.
SPEAKER_00: And you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from or where it's going, so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so what Jesus is doing is he's using analogy here to explain the rebirth.
SPEAKER_00: And the rebirth is like the wind.
SPEAKER_00: We have lots of it around here, I've learned.
SPEAKER_00: Um you know where it comes from.
SPEAKER_00: You know where it's going.
SPEAKER_00: But can you do anything to manipulate or redirect that wind?
SPEAKER_00: You see, Jesus says you're the wind blows.
SPEAKER_00: Speaking of the Holy Spirit, it goes where it wishes, not where you wish it goes.
SPEAKER_00: It goes where it wishes.
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit is acting on divine initiative.
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit is sovereign in the act of the new birth.
SPEAKER_00: It is undeniably mysterious, but unmistakably clear and tangible.
SPEAKER_00: Like the wind turbines on the wind farms.
SPEAKER_00: Around Cooperstown, there are some.
SPEAKER_00: I don't see those wing turbines directing the wind.
SPEAKER_00: They cannot control the wind.
SPEAKER_00: They merely can respond to the wind.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: The wind blows on the blades and the turbine turns and generates power for us.
SPEAKER_00: Clean energy.
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit's work is unmistakably clear and tangible for you hear the sound of it.
SPEAKER_00: And you hear the sound of it.
SPEAKER_00: What is the sound of the rebirth?
SPEAKER_00: Well, let me try and explain this further.
SPEAKER_00: You see, it's like the wind blowing on the blades of the winged turbine.
SPEAKER_00: It starts spinning the turbine, and then electricity is generated.
SPEAKER_00: And the electricity makes the light bulb glow.
SPEAKER_00: And likewise, the Holy Spirit is what enlightens the mind and brightens the eyes.
SPEAKER_00: And the light goes on, and darkened unbelief is displaced from the human heart and mind, and it produces a glowing faith in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The rebirth, unmistakably, is a sovereign and supernatural work in which we as human beings have no control over.
SPEAKER_00: It is a mysterious surgical work that cannot be imitated or reproduced or replicated by human hands because it replaces the heart of stone with the heart of flesh.
SPEAKER_00: Once that happens, the results are measurable and meaningful because it cuts out and excises unbelief from the human heart.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, the rebirth is essential because naturally in your heart and my heart is unbelief, not belief.
SPEAKER_00: We will believe some things, but not everything.
SPEAKER_00: Let me summarize for you what we should have learned this far.
SPEAKER_00: Firstly, we have distorted eyes.
SPEAKER_00: Our eyes are distorted and we fail to see the kingdom properly.
SPEAKER_00: We have dull minds and we fail to understand the kingdom properly.
SPEAKER_00: But then Jesus thirdly teaches you that we have unbelieving or doubt in our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: But the rebirth through the Holy Spirit displaces unbelief from the heart.
SPEAKER_00: And that's my third point.
SPEAKER_00: Doubt is in the heart and it necessitates the rebirth.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Nicodemus at this point has been taken along by Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He's being taught, but he is standing here at the summit of Mount Everest.
SPEAKER_00: All he needs to do is walk a few paces to glory.
SPEAKER_00: The peak is in sight, but he cannot break through the death zone of unbelief.
SPEAKER_00: He has reached his limits, and his natural mind is willing to go no further.
SPEAKER_00: You see, he he recognizes who Jesus is, but that's about it.
SPEAKER_00: God is with you.
SPEAKER_00: You've been sent from God.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, let me tell you more.
SPEAKER_00: And he goes, not going any further.
SPEAKER_00: Is he stubborn?
SPEAKER_00: No, he's unable.
SPEAKER_00: He cannot accept the testimony of Jesus Christ because there's unbelief in the heart.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 11.
SPEAKER_00: I say to you, we speak of what we know and then testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept my testimony or our testimony.
SPEAKER_00: He's speaking of John the Baptist and the other disciples.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 12, if I told you earthly things, you do not believe.
SPEAKER_00: How will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
SPEAKER_00: You see, the work of the Holy Spirit and the work of regeneration is like WD 40 or like the rinse aid you put into your dishwasher.
SPEAKER_00: It displaces water.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the the Holy Spirit displaces unbelief, resistance, and opposition in the human heart.
SPEAKER_00: Let me have Dr.
SPEAKER_00: R.C.
SPEAKER_00: Sproul, the late Dr.
SPEAKER_00: R.C.
SPEAKER_00: Sproul, explain this.
SPEAKER_00: He says, we do not believe in order to be born again.
SPEAKER_00: We must be born again in order that we might believe the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Can you see the order here?
SPEAKER_00: Regeneration precedes faith in the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because you are dead and your sins and transgressions.
SPEAKER_00: You are blind.
SPEAKER_00: Your understanding is darkened.
SPEAKER_00: And just to make it clear here, dear brothers and sisters, I'm not advocating that the rebirth is what saves us.
SPEAKER_00: Rather, it is our faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ that saves us.
SPEAKER_00: But to say belief in that gospel is surely based on our free will or our choice is to hopelessly distort John chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: If the rebirth does not precede, precede saving faith, it does not make it a gift of God.
SPEAKER_00: And if it's not a gift of God, we will boast about it.
SPEAKER_00: Even if God has brought us up to this point, Nicodemus, 99% of the way, and Jesus says to him, you know, Nicodemus, there's 0.1% left for you to do.
SPEAKER_00: Just make the choice out of your own free will.
SPEAKER_00: Nicodemus will do it, but they spend the whole of eternity bragging about his 0.1% effort.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: And this too is a little distorted at times.
SPEAKER_00: That which is born of flesh is flesh.
SPEAKER_00: If you're in the flesh, you're in the dead zone.
SPEAKER_00: Flesh can only produce a fleshly faith.
SPEAKER_00: But that which is born of the spirit is spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Go back to verse 5.
SPEAKER_00: Truly I say to you, unless you one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Now often we think that water and the spirit is about water, like the water that accompanies the water breaking our natural birth.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think so.
SPEAKER_00: The water in the spirit speaks of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, and because of time's sake.
SPEAKER_00: Did I get a look from you, Webb?
unknown: No.
SPEAKER_00: Am I good on time here?
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: He saved us.
SPEAKER_00: Not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Titus 3.5.
SPEAKER_00: Ezekiel 36 25, and I will just read that for you.
SPEAKER_00: Ezekiel 36 25.
SPEAKER_00: That is what Jesus is referring to when he speaks of the water and the spirit.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean.
SPEAKER_00: And I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
SPEAKER_00: What is this?
SPEAKER_00: How does he cleanse?
SPEAKER_00: What is this sprinkling of clean water?
SPEAKER_00: More of a I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.
SPEAKER_00: And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 27, I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statues, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances.
SPEAKER_00: It's all God.
SPEAKER_00: We cannot even claim 0.1% created and now faith in God.
SPEAKER_00: Deuteronomy 36 says, I will circumcise your heart.
SPEAKER_00: I will circumcise the unbelief from your heart.
SPEAKER_00: I will cut it away.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot do it.
SPEAKER_00: We can think of the rebirth in this way, and I really hope my analogy here works.
SPEAKER_00: It's like the person going to vote in an election.
SPEAKER_00: Election.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe an election for the president.
SPEAKER_00: And person A says, What must I do to vote?
SPEAKER_00: Answer?
SPEAKER_00: It's simple.
SPEAKER_00: Just make a choice.
SPEAKER_00: Vote for whoever you want.
SPEAKER_00: That easy?
SPEAKER_00: Yes, it's that easy.
SPEAKER_00: Just exercise a choice.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Show me how.
SPEAKER_00: Well, do you have proof that you are a citizen of this country?
SPEAKER_00: No, I'm not a citizen of this country.
SPEAKER_00: Well, then you can't vote.
SPEAKER_00: It's that simple.
SPEAKER_00: But that is unfair.
SPEAKER_00: How can I become a citizen of this country?
SPEAKER_00: You must be born one.
SPEAKER_00: That's simple.
SPEAKER_00: That simple?
SPEAKER_00: I cannot be born again in this country to be a citizen here.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I guess then it's not that simple to make a choice.
SPEAKER_00: I hope my analogy doesn't break down, but dear brothers and sisters, you do not have the ability to make a choice for Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: As a natural-born person, you are a citizen of the kingdom of darkness, and you think you have the freedom to vote for Jesus Christ as your president.
SPEAKER_00: It will not work.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what Dr.
SPEAKER_00: R.
SPEAKER_00: C.
SPEAKER_00: Sprawl says about the rebirth.
SPEAKER_00: He says to speak of God merely reviving, refreshing, and recharging us is a hopeless understatement.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, God dove to the bottom of the sea and took a drowned corpse and breathed into it the breath of his life and raised it from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: We are dead in our sins and transgressions.
SPEAKER_00: We are sons of disobedience.
SPEAKER_00: Our minds are darkened.
SPEAKER_00: Our eyes are blind.
SPEAKER_00: I better land this plane because we want to go eat, right?
SPEAKER_00: Let me just try and wrap this up for you.
SPEAKER_00: I promise you I've just scratched the surface here.
SPEAKER_00: This passage is so chalk full of theological truths, but here's a few things about regeneration.
SPEAKER_00: We think if God regenerates a person prior to that person exercising their faith, we think it cancels out all evangelism.
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's a poor deduction.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry to say that.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, it should make us confident because when you and I do a lousy job of describing the gospel to somebody, the Holy Spirit does the work and he makes them understand whatever you couldn't convey.
SPEAKER_00: It should make us confident for gospel work and missions work.
SPEAKER_00: The teaching on the rebirth, I think, should make us more thankful and appreciative about our own salvation.
SPEAKER_00: You see, my dear brothers and sisters, without the Spirit of God coming into our hearts and transforming that heart of stone and displacing unbelief, you and I will be wandering around in the death zone just like Nicodemus.
SPEAKER_00: We will listen to the testimony of Jesus Christ, but we will meet it with unbelief.
SPEAKER_00: The doctrine of regeneration is essentially a teaching of enlightenment.
SPEAKER_00: You see, it assures that the gospel message will always be met with belief and faith.
SPEAKER_00: And so we can evangelize with confidence, knowing that every person who the Spirit regenerates will believe the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Results 100%.
SPEAKER_00: Is that true?
SPEAKER_00: I want to make sure I'm not talking nonsense here.
SPEAKER_00: Every person that the Holy Spirit regenerates, when you give them the gospel, you will have 100% success.
SPEAKER_00: Because it's God doing the work.
SPEAKER_00: The only way we can break through the death zone of human depravity is to be born again.
SPEAKER_00: And my dear brothers and sisters, that is a matter of divine intervention, not human invention.
SPEAKER_00: Nevertheless, evangelistic efforts should be going forth.
SPEAKER_00: And it should, in fact, be going forth free from coercion and manipulation.
SPEAKER_00: You don't need a coerce, you do not need a pressure, you do not need to manipulate, you just need to use the language of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: What is the hair language of the Holy Spirit?
SPEAKER_00: It is the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: You speak spiritual words to them, and the Spirit of God will meet that and bring that to mind and bring light to a darkened mind.
SPEAKER_00: Lastly, the gospel should go forth.
SPEAKER_00: Because the rebirth is God's initiative, not ours.
SPEAKER_00: But we should pray more.
SPEAKER_00: We should pray more and more and fuss less and less.
SPEAKER_00: Because God will bless and God will regenerate whoever He chooses.
SPEAKER_00: So, in summary, dear brothers and sisters, pray more, evangelize more, appreciate your own salvation more, because after all, it is God who opens the eyes of distortion, who enlightens dull mind, and after all, it is God who displaces unbelief from the heart.
SPEAKER_00: Let us pray and thank God for his wonderful word.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, we thank you for your tremendous work, your sovereign work.
SPEAKER_00: I cannot even properly comprehend that out of no effort or doing of myself, you chose to born me twice.
SPEAKER_00: And that you took that heart of unbelief and you gave me a heart of flesh, a heart that throbs for you.
SPEAKER_00: Oh Lord, let us not be lazy or fearful to work the work that we have been commanded.
SPEAKER_00: Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and to teach them to obey all things I have taught you.
SPEAKER_00: And lo, I am with you to the end of days.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, we have this guarantee that your spirit is there where the word is proclaimed, and lo, people are born again.
SPEAKER_00: And when the babies are birthed, they cry out, O Father, save me from my wretchedness.
SPEAKER_00: I trust the Lord Jesus Christ for his work on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, may we hear many cries of the new birth here at Faith evree.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name, Amen.
SPEAKER_01: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_01: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.