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Over 100 years ago, when he was speaking upon the subject of regeneration, being born again, the famous English bishop from Liverpool, John Charles Ryle, made this comment. The subject is one which is doubly important in the present day. Things have happened which have drawn special attention to it. Man's minds are full of it and man's eyes are fixed on it. Regeneration is discussed in newspapers. Regeneration is argued about in courts of law. To say the very least, This is not the situation that faces us today. Today, as we look around us, there is precious little interest in the subject of regeneration. Never mind an abundance of public debate and discussion about the subject that Ryle was able to talk about in his day and generation. Why is this? There's a simple explanation for it. The devil has come along, the devil and all of his minions and emissaries, and they have decided here is one thing that we want to bury. Something that we don't want men and women to be thinking about, to be discussing among each other, to be overly concerned about, or to be serious concerning. And they have taken this wonderful teaching from the gospel of grace, and they have buried it as far down in the earth as they possibly can. They have poured the soil of scorn upon it, insisting that a man or woman does not need to be born again of the Holy Spirit of God, that good works, they are enough, you know, to gain the favor of God and to enter into His heaven. They have come along and shoveled the soil of deception into it, and they have claimed that a man is born again whenever the waters from that baptismal font are sprinkled upon his head. They have thrown the soil of skepticism over it. pointing to some so-called Christians out there bearing the name of Jesus who have slipped into sin and they're saying with their nose brushing the clouds, ah, that's what it is to be born again. I want nothing to do with it. Basic question. What makes man a Christian? What rescues him? from plummeting downwards and down and further down into the endless agonies of hell. What fits that man or that woman for heaven? One thing and one thing only, the work of Almighty God upon a soul in regeneration. And what is regeneration? Regeneration is the Holy Spirit of God operating down in the depths of that man or woman's soul, taking out the old heart that was saturated with sin and putting in there a new principle of life, something entirely new, so that when you look in there, there is the new man. It is that great radical change of heart and of nature, a thorough alteration and transformation of the whole of the inner man. Ezekiel talked about it in his Old Testament prophesying. He called it the taking away of the stony heart and the giving of a heart of flesh, the pleasing of a new spirit within a man. Ezekiel 11, 19, Ezekiel 36, 26. Over in the New Testament, The Apostle John called it being born of God, being born again, or being born of the Spirit. John 1, 13. John 3, the verse 3 through 6. And again in 1 John 3 and 14, John again says, do you know what also it is? It is passing from death unto life. Peter in the book of Acts Describes it in Acts 3 and 19 as repenting and being converted. In 1 Peter 2 and 9 he talks about it as being called out of darkness into God's marvelous light. In 2 Peter 1 and 4 it is being made a partaker of the divine nature. Paul describes it as being, in Romans 6.13, alive from the dead. 2 Corinthians 5.17, a new creature, where all things have passed away, behold, all things are become new. He talks about it as well as being a resurrection together with Christ. Ephesians 2 and 1, you hath he quickened. who were dead in trespasses and in sins. Paul also describes it as a putting off of the old man which is corrupt and being renewed in the spirit of your minds, a putting on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. You can check it out in Ephesians 4, 22 and 24, in Colossians 3, the verses 9 and 10. So many expressions Many pictures, many descriptions, but each of them expressing exactly the same truth. All of them add up to one thing, regeneration. And because this doctrine is as needful and vital today as ever, Because the basic rule of Jesus that he laid way back before Nicodemus, except the man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God, John 3 and 3, because that rule stands unaltered, stands undiluted today. Then I must come and proclaim, emphasize, and reemphasize the need for regeneration. And that's my intention tonight. My first thought centers on regeneration and its illustrations. Its illustrations. The kind of change we are speaking about here is not small scale. It cannot be dismissed lightly. It's of a most massive, momentous order. And some word pictures will help us to see how dramatic this change really is. In the Bible, regeneration is described as a birth. As soon as an infant leaves a womb, It may be described, really, as a new creature, although it is essentially the same. It has entered, though, a new sphere of life. How different from that dark dwelling where it lay imprisoned, didn't see, didn't breathe, didn't love, didn't speak, didn't fear, took no more interest in all that was happening around it than a dead corpse does in a grave. Alive, it certainly was, but its state seemed to be the next door to death. To use the description of the sinner's idols in Psalm 115 verse 5 to 7, they have mouths, but they speak not, eyes of they, but they see not, they have ears, but they hear not, noses of they, but they smell not, they have hands, but they handle not, feet of they, but they walk not, neither speak they through their throat. So for that child in the womb, its condition is a curious mixture. of elements of life and death. Yet what a difference when it emerges into life, when the windows of its senses are thrown open, when its eyes follow the light. when its restless hands familiarize themselves with objects around it, when sounds flood into its ears, when streams of knowledge and time come gushing into its mind, marvelous transformation. It is because God's salvation is also a great change, introducing the soul into a new and delightful life, that it is described in the Bible as being the second birth, the new birth. And that's what Jesus impressed. Upon the mind and heart of Nicodemus, John 3 and 3, Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3 and 5, Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. John 3 and verse 7, again He's pushing the same thing, Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again." I go back to J.C. Ryle. He has put it like this, doubtless. It is no outward bodily alteration, but undoubtedly it is an alteration of the entire inner man. It adds no new faculties to a man's mind. But it certainly gives an entirely new bent and bias to all of his old ones. His will is so new. His tastes so new, his opinions so new, his views of sin, the world, the Bible, and Christ so new that he is to all intents and purposes a new man. The change seems to bring a new being into existence. It may well be called being born again. Do you know anything about it? Is this a story? of your life? Know anything more other than what you have heard from this pulpit about it? Other than what you have heard maybe other people speak and discuss and debate this issue? More than what you have read in any book? Do you have a personal experience of the new birth? Can you identify with the hymn writer when he said, born of the spirit, with life from above into God's family divine, justified fully through Calvary love. Oh, what a standing is mine, and it's because of that wonderful day when at the cross I believed, which is eternal blessing supernal from his blessed hand I received, heaven came down. and glory filled my soul when at the cross the Savior made me whole. In the Bible, salvation, regeneration, it's described clearly as a birth. Also, described as a resurrection. That's quite wonderfully illustrated in Ezekiel, The chapter 37, there's a lot of gospel. Even in the Old Testament, Prophet Ezekiel, predominantly in chapter 36, but in chapter 37, seized by the hand of the Spirit. Prophet Ezekiel is set down in a lonely valley. Now, a mighty battle had been enacted on that valley floor on some former occasion. No doubt, if they could picture it then, the surrounding air had been filled with the savage roar of war, the clash of weapons, the shrieks of the wounded, the wild shouts of those victors as crowns were staked and crowns were won. It is all silence now when Ezekiel comes in. The war is over. The tempest of battle that had swept through this valley, well, it's left it strewn with wreckage. The dead are lying there unburied. They decayed where they fell. The skull rattled still in the metal helmet. The sword of the warrior lay rusting alongside the skeleton, the handle still in the relaxed grip of bony fingers. The rain had washed. The sun had bleached. Those bones that had been picked bare by the ravens, and they were white and dry. Death, a dreadful, The picture of death was the scene that faced the prophet of God on this occasion. There was not a breath for many of those grim and ghastly creatures, not the sound or sight of life. To bite the police, the only sign would have been the crook of a raven somewhere nearby, the howl of some famished wolf, the occasional flapping of an eagle's wing. But Ezekiel stands lonely there among the eerie dead. Then a voice comes. shakes him to the core of his being from the skies, thunders the voice of God Almighty, Son of Man, can these bones live? Did they? Yes, they did. Once Ezekiel, rather bizarrely, had preached to these dry bones and prayed to the Lord who is the resurrection and the life. God answers prayer in dramatic and dynamic fashion and down the valley comes a life-giving breath of God, kisses the icy lips of those corpses, puts hair on them, stirs the hair, puts flesh on them, fans their cheek. Man after man springs to his feet until the field that Ezekiel had been brought to, covered with ghastly skeletons, is crowded now with an awesome arming, all armed for battle, the living host of the living God. Imagine the prophet's astonishment. Picture yourself at the scene. How he must have stood with his eyes virtually popping out of his head, his mouth agape as those swords glinted and the spears gleamed and the plumes danced and the trumpets echoed through the valley as this formidable force began to march again. What an amazing transformation. The work of God's grace in the conversion of a sinner is no less great, no less marvelous, no less amazing. For what is this dried-up army, lying strewn across the valley floor, helpless and hopeless, without breath, without movement? What is it but a striking picture of all sinners by nature? Paul, speaking about man in his natural, unsaved state, In the opening verses of Ephesians chapter 2 he describes him as dead in trespasses and sins, walking according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, by the dictates of the devil in other words, the children of disobedience, having a conversation in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, by nature the children of wrath. And it's only the operation of the mercy and might of God that lifts us up out of this dreadful and depraved condition. Therefore the words of Ephesians 2, 4 to 7, But God, who was rich in mercy, for his great love were with he loved us even when We were dead, and sins hath quickened us. Together with Christ by grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up together. And may we sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. Glorious change! Wonderful resurrection! Being born again, Peter's words, what is it about? Well, it's best illustrated by a birth, by a resurrection, because the change is so dramatic. But then secondly, regeneration and its indicators. And its indicators, what are the features, the leading marks of a regenerated person, what are the signs, the evidences of the new birth that will tell us whether we are born again or not, whether we have been changed by the Holy Ghost yet, or whether this change is still to happen. If you want to see the ways, the habits, the manner of life, the faith, the experience of a regenerated soul, study the first epistle of John. I'll mention just six features quickly as we fly through that epistle. 1 John 3 and 9. 1 John 5, 18. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. Be known that whosoever is born of God sinneth not. A regenerate man or woman does not sin as the habit of their lives. That's what the Bible is teaching there. I don't claim that a sea of man or a sea of woman will never slip and sin again. To do so would be foolish. To claim that would be run contrary to all that the Bible teaches on the subject. What I do emphasize is this. No longer Does that regenerate man or regenerate woman sin with their whole heart and their whole will and their whole inclination as they used to do before the grace of God reached down and changed them? There was a time when there was no argument between them and sin. They were the best of friends. They loved each other dearly, but now he hates sin, he flees from it, he fights against it, he looks upon it as the greatest plague, he groans under the burden of its pressure, he mourns when he falls under its influence, and he longs to be delivered from it altogether. Is this the story of your life? It's the mark of a regenerate life. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. not doing it as the habit of his experience like once he did 1st John 5 and 1. Another feature, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. A man who has been regenerated believes that Jesus Christ is the only saviour of man. That he is the divine person appointed and anointed by God the Father for the express purpose of saving sinners. No one else can. And so none but Christ is his cry. That's why the reformers in listing out their solas, talked about sola Christus, Christ alone. Our campion may well go under the title Jesus, only Savior, today and forever. Christ, the regenerate heart, clings to Him for everything. He loves Him. He has found satisfaction in Him. A third feature is found in 1 John 2, 29. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone to do with righteousness is born of Him. The regenerate man is a holy man. He strives to live according to the will and to the Word of God, to do those things that please God, to avoid those things that God hates. And in spite of all of his shortcomings, in his calmer, more spiritual moments, he will be able to join with John Newton, who said, though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be, I can truly say, I am not what I once was, a slave to sin and Satan. I can heartily join with the Apostle and acknowledge by the grace of God I am what I am. God is working upon me, making me righteous. A fourth feature. Of that regenerate man or woman, 1 John 3, 14, we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. A regenerate person has a special love for all of those who were the true disciples of Christ, like his Father. He loves all men with a general love. But he has a special love for those who are at one in mind and heart and purpose with himself. Like us, Lord and Savior, he loves the worst of sinners. And he cries over them for their salvation. But he has a peculiar love for those who are his spiritual brethren and spiritual sisters. He is never more happy than when he is in their company. those who have the most grace, who reflect Jesus Christ the best. Well, He likes to be in their company the most. There is, you know, as Ryle put it, a kind of spiritual Freemasonry among them. The brotherhood of believers. 1 John 5 and 4 brings us to a fifth feature. of the regenerated soul, for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. The regenerate man or woman stands up and refuses to buy into the world's opinions. by into the world's view, and to use that as a rule of what is right and what is wrong. He doesn't mind going against the tide of the world's ways, notions, and customs, and patterns of behavior, and standards. He's willing to swim against the tide. He battles to overcome his love of the world. And as for the fear of the world, the ridicule, their scoffing of him, or indeed, on the other hand, their praise, He sets no store by these things. And the sixth feature in 1 John 5, 18, we know that whatsoever is born of God sinneth not, but he that is begotten of God, born of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. The man who is born again will be very cautious. He will do as utmost not only to stay away from open sin, but steer himself away from every appearance of evil. He is careful about the company he keeps, about the use of his time, about the books and the magazines that he reads, the television programs he watches, the DVDs he goes to see or he hires, the relationships that he forms, the daily habits that he has. He is careful The cry that echoes through the depths of a soul is the cry that Jabez gave vent to a way back in 1 Chronicles 4 and 10. And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, O that thou wouldest bless me indeed and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me. And God granted him that which he requested. I leave those marks before you. I press them for your consideration, six great indicators of the man or woman who is regenerate. Study them, pray over them, examine your heart today in the light of them. Have you got them? If you have, strive each week and day to make them more pronounced and more strong. If they're not present in your life, I counsel you awake to your danger. Realize that the imminent perils of damnation and hell and eternal misery stare you in the face. Hell is but a heartbeat away. Regeneration, its illustrations, its indicators, Finally, it's imperativeness. It's imperativeness when, through the poster or otherwise, you get information about a new car. The basic price of the model may be there, clear to see. But marked with an asterisk or some other symbol is a host of optional extras. And if you think, ah, I need this, I need that, I need the whole lot, everything you can get I want. They will cause the original cost of that basic model to skyrocket. Optional extras, by the very nature of them, are not essential. You don't need to take them. The car will still move and go reasonably fast without them. Many think this about being born again. They dismiss it as an optional extra. It is not. It is absolutely essential. Dr. Thomas Guthrie, famous Edinburgh preacher, had a very interesting experience, though it was way back around the 1850s. I want to relate his experience simply because it is not outdated, because it's the same type of thing that we see no matter where we turn today. Once, he said, we wandered into a church in the city. It was the Socinian Chapel. The preacher chose these words for his text. Except a man be born again, he cannot see. The kingdom of God, the preacher read his text, and then, as it were, sat down by the cradle, where his charge lay asleep to rock them over into a deeper slumber. The text, according to him, was an oriental figure, a hyperbole pointing to an outward change. No more, he said, was needed in the highly figurative language which Eastern nations are accustomed to employ. It described the change undergone by a man who was abandoned a wild and wicked life. for habits of decency, honesty, and temperance. According to the preacher, Thomas Guthrie said, our Lord's strong and vivid language meant nothing more than a change of habits without any gracious change of heart. Did a drunkard become sober? He was born again. Libertine, pure? Or a thief, honest? Or a liar, true? He was born again. In short, Guthrie says, such was the style and character of the sermon that if a poor soul had gone there for bread to satisfy his hunger, he got nothing, carried away nothing, but a stone. Now if that wonderful change that Jesus speaks of in texts like John 3 and 3 and John 3 and 7, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God if that is only by turning over a good leaf, rising onto a plane of moral living, doing a lot of good works, being a decent and an upright citizen, giving yourself over with a little determination to some really acceptable, profitable behavior, being religious. If that's all it is, why then does Nicodemus fit in? He already was, if anybody ever was, a man of the top-notch morality. He had climbed the ladder in the sect of the Pharisees. He was a ruler of the Jews, an intensely religious man, knew his Old Testament back to front in every other which way. Few could lay claim to greater uprightness or morality of life than Nicodemus had. Yet it was to him, to him, that our Savior spoke the words, except a man be born again. He cannot see the kingdom of God, nigh of Nicodemus, needed to be saved. I need it, and you need it. He must be born again. Reverend Chalmers Lyons, described as a forthright preacher of the gospel, used to tell a story about one of his trips to Germany. He was accompanied by the rather famous Bishop Taylor Smith. Taylor Smith just shot from the hip. And they were traveling from place to place when one Saturday evening the Bishop looked at them and he said, Lions, I'll give you a sermon for tomorrow. Yes, Bishop, he said, what is the text? Lord, by this time he stinketh. John 11, 39. Bishop Pike and Hardy speak from that text. Why not? The bishop said. I used it in an English cathedral only a few months ago. I had a great time with it. Chalmers Lyons stared at the bishop. It seemed to him to be an utter impossibility that that kind of text would be ample material for a sermon that would be preached in such a dignified cathedral. But he knew the bishop wasn't pulling his leg, and he continued, Bishop, you preached from that text. What did you say about it? Well, I had three points. One, a dead body cannot save itself. Two, a dead body only deteriorates. It gets worse and worse. Three, Christ alone can do anything in the matter. Then the bishop went on to say, Lions, after the service had ended, I went to the vestry to disrobe and was surprised when the dean of the cathedral followed me in, knocked the door. Bishop, said the dean, your text upset me greatly. I'll respond to Bishop Taylor Smith. It was true, was it not? Yes, that is what I mean. You stressed the fact that men dead in sins cannot save themselves. They grow worse and worse. You said that even the finest body ultimately dies, that the coming of Christ in resurrection power is essential. All men need to be born again. Bishop, it is true, but I never knew it. Until tonight, I need that new life. There behind that door, they knelt to pray. And the scholarly man who was the dean entered into newness of life. Bishop Taylor Smith concluded the story by saying, I heard from him a little while ago. He is rejoicing, but some of his colleagues cannot understand what has happened to him. He is so different. So there you are, Lyons. The text is an excellent one. Use it tomorrow. Smiling broadly, the bishop went his way. Sinners, this solemn truth regard. Hear, all ye sons of men. For Christ, the Saviour, hath declared ye must be born again. Our nature, totally deprived. The heart, a sink of sin. Without change, we can't be saved. Ye must be born again. Regeneration and its imperativeness. I close with a note of caution. Because I agree with Dr. Thomas Guthrie when he says, there are seasons more favorable and full of grace than others. And then he went on to encourage every soul listening to him and reading his work to improve to the utmost every season of heavenly visitation. That's good advice. The sea is not always full. Twice a day she retreats from the shore. leaves the vessels high and dry on the beach or in the mud, those who want to sail must wait, watch, and take the tide when it comes. And the larger ships will only get afloat and out of the harbor once the ocean swells sufficiently to lift them up and over the bar. The only opportunity you were guaranteed in which to respond to the gospel is now. Today, if you will hear His voice. Now, while the voice of God is calling you. Now, while your senses are intact. Now, while you feel the tug of the Holy Ghost within you. Do not resist Him. Do not refuse Him. Do not postpone the issue. Do not swamp and suffocate Christ's pleadings with your sin. Grasp the opportunity with both hands, with your head and with your heart. Come to Christ. Be born again tonight.
Being Born Again
What does it mean to be "Regenerate" – and why does man naturally reject this doctrine?
Sermon ID | 41009202560 |
Duration | 38:41 |
Date | |
Category | Sunday - PM |
Bible Text | 1 Peter 1:23; John 3:3; John 3:7 |
Language | English |
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