Turn back with me over to Titus chapter 3. Titus 3. This Word of God teaches us some foundational truths about our state before God. some very foundational truths. We find those in this Word of God. One of them is this. Every single soul on this earth was ruined by the fall of Adam in the garden. That's one of them. Another one is this. All of the souls that God chose to have mercy on were redeemed by the blood of Christ on the cross of Calvary. That's the second one. Man was ruined by that fall, but he was redeemed by that blood. Man, how grateful we are and will be one day for that blood. Now this foundational truth is the one that I want us to look at tonight. This one in particular. Every soul that God the Father chose and God the Son redeemed is regenerated by God the Spirit. Every single one is regenerated by God the Spirit. I've titled this message in the form of a question. Does God regenerate sinners? That's the title. Ruined by the fall, redeemed by the blood, regenerated by the Spirit. Does God regenerate sinners? Titus chapter 3, look at verse 5. It says, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, But according to His mercy, He saved us. How? By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. He saved us. Now we believe that, don't we? We believe that it's not by works of righteousness which we have done. It's not by our works, is it? We believe that. The reason is because God said it. Right? It's right there in the Word. But He saved us according to His mercy. We believe that. And He did it by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Now what is regeneration? What does that word mean? We have a Greek dictionary and it says that it means spiritual rebirth. That's the definition. Spiritual rebirth. Spiritual renovation. Restoration. That's what it means. Okay? Spiritual rebirth. The World Book Dictionary, just a regular old dictionary, says it means to put new life into. New life. It means to replace what is lost. And it means to cause a substance to return to its original state or condition. I'm going to tell you that last one one more time. To cause a substance to return to its original state or condition. All right? God made man and God said it's good, right? And then man died, fell, lost it, right? Well, regeneration means to replace what was lost. It means to cause a substance to return to its original state or condition. You know what that is? That's salvation. That's what that is. I want to make that point really clear right off the bat. Regeneration is the bringing back to what it once was. It's the rebirth. And that's salvation. That's salvation. God gave man life in the garden, but man died in the garden. And as long as I'm dead, I am not saved. Right? I'm wanting to come from death to life. As long as I'm dead, I am not saved. So new life, rebirth, is salvation. And where is this life? It's in Christ. It's in Christ. Man was ruined by that fall. He incurred a debt of sin that he couldn't pay. But he was redeemed by that blood. Redeemed means pay the price. That's what it means. We do that at Wal-Mart. Put the groceries on there and they say it's this much money and then you redeem the groceries. You pay the price. And that price was paid by the blood of Jesus Christ, redeemed. And a sinner who's redeemed is then regenerated, given new life, reborn, reinstated by God's Holy Spirit. Let's read this one more time. It says, Not by works of righteousness, which we have done But according to His mercy, He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Now I want to ask us two questions about regeneration. Regeneration of God's Spirit. Number one, is it necessary? Is it necessary for salvation? That's the first question. And if it is, The second one is, how does it come? How does God regenerate sinners? Alright, is it necessary? Go with me to John chapter 3. John chapter 3. Look at verse 3. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be regenerated. The word means reborn. rebirthed, born again. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 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 Regeneration. Do you have a margin in your Bible by the Spirit? One of my two references is Titus 3 verse 5. That's where we just were. The washing of regeneration. 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, you must be regenerated." Born again, you must be. Could salvation be complete without the blood of Jesus Christ paying all the debt for sin? Could salvation be complete without the blood of Christ? You know, well I'm going to quicken you, but you still have the sin on your account. Is that salvation? Could salvation be complete without God's Holy Spirit giving new life to a sinner? Well, I'm going to pay your debt, but I'm not going to reinstate the life you had. Your debt is paid, but I'm going to leave you dead. Is that a complete salvation? No. This is absolutely necessary. It is necessary. Go with me to Matthew 11. Verse 2 says, Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which you do hear and see. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. That's regeneration. That's what it is. The commandment is come to Christ. Come to Christ. Not come to the church. Not come to the place where the gospel is preached. Just because a person comes to church, that doesn't mean he's come to Christ. Right? Just because a person comes to church, it does not mean the person has come to Christ. Just because they've walked in the door and sat down and listened to the preacher, it does not mean they've come to Christ. The commandment is, come to Christ, but we can't. That's the commandment, but we can't. We have to be made able to come. Right? He said, all that the Father giveth me shall come. We have to be made able to come. The commandment is, come to Christ, but we won't. We have to be made willing to come. The commandment is, love the Lord thy God and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But we can't. We just can't. We're all born with a heart of stone. Isn't that what the word says? A heart of stone. And we can't love and we cannot believe. We can walk into a church building, but we cannot believe God. We cannot believe His word. The commandment is, confess with thy mouth. But we can't. We're dumb. Look and live. We can't. We're blind. Right? So God, in mercy, sends His Spirit. He sends His Spirit to His own, and the Spirit of God gives eyes to see and ears to hear. and a tongue to confess, and legs to walk, and a will to come, and a heart to believe, and love. God's Spirit brings life. It brings life. We're all born dead, dead in our trespasses and sins, but God's Spirit brings life and is vital. It's absolutely vital. It's necessary. Now here's our second question. How does this regeneration come? How does the Spirit bring it? How does the Spirit deliver it? How does the Spirit quicken? How does that happen? This ability to believe, this ability to come, this renewed life, this rebirth, faith, how does it come? Go with me over to Mark 16. Mark 16 verse 15 says, And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. But he that believeth not, what? That gospel that's preached. shall be damned. He did not say, he that believes and is baptized, you go preach the gospel to him. He said, you go out and preach the gospel. You declare this word. He that hears it, believes it, confesses it, is going to be saved. But he that will not hear it, will not believe it, will not confess it, is going to be damned. That's pretty clear, isn't it? That's pretty clear. Go to Luke 8. Verse 11. Now this is God speaking, this is Christ speaking. Luke 8, verse 11. Now the parable is this. The seed is the Word of God. Okay, the parable of the sower, right? And the seed is the Word of God. Those by the wayside, are they that hear the Word of God? Then cometh the devil, and taketh away the Word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved." The Word goes forth and if they would believe the Word, they would be saved. Is that not what our Lord just said? Is that not what He just said? This salvation, this renewed life comes by this Word. By this Word. Go to John 5 with me. John 5 verse 33 says, and this is our Lord speaking, He said, You sent unto John and he bear witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from man, but these things I say, that you might be saved. God himself said, I'm giving you my words, I'm saying these things, and I'm giving you my words, so that you might be saved. It comes through my word. It comes through my word. Go over to Acts 11. And I'll just tell you, we're going to go through a few more scriptures here, okay? We're going to see what the word has to say about this. Acts 11. Verse 13. And he showed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter, who shall tell thee words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. You go get Peter, Peter's going to come to your house and he's going to say some words. Peter always preached the Word. And he said, when you hear those words, that's going to be the means that saves you and your house. You're going to hear the Word of God preached. Go to Romans 1. Romans 1 verse 15 says, So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. I'm ready to preach the gospel. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. How are men saved? How are men born again, regenerated? Through the preaching of the gospel of Christ. Now go to Romans 10. Romans 10 verse 13, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Salvation is there and the thing before that is calling on the Lord. Whoever calls is going to be saved. Verse 14 says, How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How are you going to call on somebody you don't even know exists? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? How are you going to believe if nobody tells you who they are? And how shall they hear without a preacher? Verse 17 says, so then faith, this ability to believe, this work of God's Spirit that comes and quickens and does something, it's called faith, cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. It comes by hearing the Word of God declared. Now go with me to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 21 says, For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. That's what it pleased God to do. Save them by the foolishness of preaching. Well, you know what they're saying down there at Kingsport Sovereign Grace? Everybody know what they're saying? They're saying that you have to hear the gospel preached to be regenerated. You have to hear the gospel preached, the Word of God preached to be regenerated, to be saved. That's what they're saying down there. We're not saying that. God is. God is. I'm just reading what God said. I have on purpose filled this plum full of scripture. Go to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 1. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you. Unless you have believed in Bane. God has ordered means. He has ordered means of salvation. A way in which His people are saved. And I didn't make it up. I didn't make it up. I'm just declaring to you His way. Go to Ephesians 1. I promise we just have a few more and we'll be done. Ephesians 1. Verse 13. In whom you also trusted. And if you trust, then that's the ability to do something. That's not dead. That's a quickening. That's a work in you. Okay? Verse 13. In whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth. heard it, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Now this regeneration, this belief, and this trust is a work, but it's not a work that we get credit for. It is a work. It is a happening. It is something that is done. I just didn't do it. Look at Ephesians 2 verse 8. It says, For by grace are you saved through a means. Faith. This belief. And that not of yourself. It's the gift of God. God does it. God sent His Spirit. And His Spirit did all the work, but it is a work that's wrought in us. And God's Spirit produces results. If He does a work, it's going to have a result. Go to 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 8. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish." They're going to perish. And here's why. Verse 10 goes on to say, because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. They received not the love of God's word. His word alone. New birth and light and life is given by God's Holy Spirit through the hearing of the word of God. Look at verse 13 right here. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. You know what that's called? Chosen from the beginning, chosen you to salvation. That's called election. Election. From the beginning, chosen you to salvation. Election is not salvation. That's important to know. Election is not salvation. Election is choosing a sinner unto salvation. Let's say we're all in a boat. We're all in a boat. And four people go over. One there, there, there, and here. And they are drowning. swimming for their life. We all have one life jacket and we all quickly say, who do we give it to? For whatever reason, that guy. So we lean over and say, hey buddy, we chose you to receive the life jacket. He would say, great, throw me the life jacket. Election is unto salvation. Election was before the foundation of the world. That lamb was slain before the foundation of the world. The purpose of God stood sure from the foundation of the world. What was his purpose? That in time the lamb would come and be slain, right? Salvation was secure and purposed that in time his people would be saved. 2nd Timothy 3, verse 13 says, But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of." Not just everything we've learned, the things we've been assured of by the Word. Knowing of whom thou hast learned them. And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. God saves sinners. He gives life to sinners. He regenerates sinners through the hearing of the gospel preached. Don't let any man tell you that the hearing of the gospel is not necessary. Don't let any man tell you that. Don't let any man tell you that all the gospel can do for you is make life go a little easier. It can just increase your comfort level along the way. It can give you some rest along the way. It's not vital. It helps, but it's not vital. If a man tells you that, he is lying to you. And the only reason I know that is the Word of God. I haven't found that yet. And how many scriptures have we read? And what do they say? Go with me to the book of Jude. Jude 5 says, I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. The work of God's Holy Spirit, faith, is not a luxury. It's life. It's life. And that life is in Christ. And a soul that's dead wants to talk about anything but Jesus Christ. But a soul that's alive just wants Christ. That's all I want is Christ. A soul that's alive has no problem with believing Christ because I just want Christ. I believe Him. Help my unbelief, Lord. Cause me to believe more. The Apostle said increase our faith. A soul that's alive has no problem with hearing God's Word. No problem. Lord, tell me more. Tell me more of the truth. It's life to me. I'll die without it. I'll just die without it. I'm going to close with this one. 1 Thessalonians 2. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. 1 Thessalonians 2 verse 13 says, For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God, which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, We have so many buildings in this town. There are so many buildings across this land. Why are there so many religions? Why? Why do so many people have a different take on the Word of God? I'll tell you the answer. It's because they have a take on the Word of God. It's not solely the Word of God. He said, when you heard this Word of God, you received it not as the Word of men. This is not the Word of men. But as it is in truth, the Word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. We were all ruined by that fall. Thanks be to God we were redeemed by that blood. And thanks be to God, we were regenerated by that spirit. All right, let's stand together.