Augustus Toplady, the author of the great hymn, Rock of Ages, wrote in 1774 a hymn entitled, Grace Claims the Glory. Grace claims the glory. And it fully states what I desire to preach today, so I'm calling this message, Grace Claims the Glory. The words of some of the verses of that hymn are these, not for the works which we have done or shall hereafter do. hath God decreed on sinful worms salvation to bestow. The glory, Lord, from first to last is due to Thee alone. Ought to ourselves we dare not take or rob Thee of Thy throne. This is the will that in Thy love we ever should abide. And lo, we earth and hell defy to make that counsel void. Not one of all thy chosen race, but shall to heaven attain, partake on earth of sovereign grace, and eternally with Jesus reign." I want you to open your Bibles to John chapter 3. Now, this is one of the most familiar passages of scripture in all the Bible, John chapter 3, verses 1 through 10. And perhaps some of you will say, well, I'm very familiar with these scriptures, but I wonder if you'd look at it again with me, and perhaps after all these years, we can enter into something that is new and rich and a blessing. Let's look at it. John 3, verse 1. There was a man of the Pharisees. Who are the Pharisees? There was a man of the Pharisees. Who were and who are the Pharisees? Well, the Pharisees were men who prided themselves on being righteous before God. And they felt they were righteous before God because of their religious works and because of their morality. In fact, one of them stood one day in the temple, a Pharisee, and these were his words. Let me read them to you. He stood in the temple and he prayed, and these were his words. This is a Pharisee. God, I thank you that I'm not like other men. I'm not an extortioner, I'm not unjust, I'm not an adulterer. Or even as this publican, I fast twice in the week and I give tithes of all I possess. Here was a man who bragged on his morality before God. He not only justified himself before men, he justified himself before God. These Pharisees could not apply to themselves one word. Sinner. Sinner. They could not apply that to themselves. They did not feel that they were sinners. Do we have Pharisees living today? Yes, we do. Pharisees today live where good works and where religious rituals and ceremonies and self-righteousness where these things are promoted and where they reign instead of the grace of God in Christ Jesus. The Pharisees, they hope to find acceptance with God by what they do, and by the kind of people they are. This is a Pharisee. Let's read on. There was a man of the Pharisees. His name was Nicodemus. I looked up the meaning of the word, of the name Nicodemus. Back then, they named children by special names that had definite meanings. And in Smith's Bible Dictionary, if you have one, you can look it up. The name Nicodemus has a meaning. His mother and father knew what it meant. That's why they named him that. You know what it means? Innocent. Innocent blood. I know what happened. No doubt when Nicodemus' mother and father saw this little boy, He was a goodly child. He was a handsome little rascal. When he came forth from the womb, they saw this fine son and they said to themselves, ah, there's no corrupt blood here. This is innocent blood. This is a fine young boy and corrupt blood does not flow through his veins. There's no pagan Gentile blood here. We'll give him a name corresponding to his nature, innocent. Innocent. How many times have you said that? Oh, such a sweet little innocent thing, as you held it in your arms. That's what his mother and father said. And that was what he took with him all his life, and that's why he was a Pharisee. Innocent. Without guilt, without sin. Of course, that wasn't his true nature. God gives his true nature through David. He said, in sin my mother conceived me. I was shapen in iniquity and brought forth speaking lies. That's my true nature. Not innocent, but what? Guilty. Is there a name for guilty? Well, that ought to have been his name, but they named him innocent. Innocent. Innocent blood. All right, let's read on about him. His name was Nicodemus, and he was a ruler of the Jews. Now, the Jews here, that's religion. He was a ruler in religion. He was a what? He was a ruler. This man, Nicodemus, had been through the required training, through the recognized schools, had given his years to service, and now, you know where he was? He was a member of one of the highest-ranking religious ecclesiastical organizations among the Jews. He was a member of the Sanhedrin. There were 70 men composing a great council of the Jewish nation. They literally ruled the Jewish nation. Their name, the Sanhedrin. That's what Nicodemus was. You know, it's amazing. It's amazing to me how successful a man can be and can become in religion, how high up he can get. climb and how successful he can be. And I see it not only in Nicodemus, I see it in religion today. How high a man can climb, how successful he can be in religion without any knowledge of God at all. That's stunning. That's amazing. That is amazing. I told one of the men, we were talking about it Friday, I read a book about the different popes. And one of the popes made this statement. I don't know which one it was, I don't remember. I remember what he said because it carried such an impact. He said, when I was a young priest studying religion, I thought I had some chance, that's the word he used, of being saved, of going to heaven. of seeing God in glory. When I was a young priest, I had some hope. He said when I became a cardinal, most of that hope vanished away. And when I became Pope, as high as I could go in religion, I lost all hope of ever knowing God. That's something to think about. Amazing, this man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus was a ruler, a ruler of the Jews. Alright, notice the next thing it says about him. Verse 2, the same, I'm talking about the same man here now, the same came to Jesus by night. Now here's where most preachers light in on Nicodemus, and I've done it. But I don't know whether we ought to do that or not. I've given it fresh thought. I know why he came to Jesus by night. I know why he came under the cover of darkness. In fact, about every time his name is mentioned in the Bible, it says, the one who came to Jesus by night. He came by night because he feared the Jews. This man was a member of the Sanhedrin. This man was as high up as you could go in religion without being a high priest. And because he feared the Jews and because he would be put out of the synagogue if they saw him, and out of office if they found out, he came to Jesus by night. But I understand that. He didn't know Jesus. Here was a normal man with a following of rip-rap, really. The disciples were rip-rap, weren't they? Shepherds and fishermen and Folks, our Lord called nothing, and he wanted to talk to this man. He wanted to investigate what he'd heard and what he'd seen and what had come to his attention, and so naturally he came by night. I don't blame him. I would have to. I would have to. But the thing I'm saying is this, I'm glad he came. It doesn't matter. See, so when he came at night or in the daytime, he came to the right place, didn't he? He came to Jesus. And I'll tell you, if you ever consider this in an understanding light, it doesn't matter when he came, it doesn't matter how he came, it doesn't matter the situation under which he came, at least he came. He came to talk. He came to listen. He came to inquire. And I'm telling you this, I'm getting to the place and the age when I'm just glad when somebody comes to hear me preach about these things. I know what I'm preaching is foolishness to this world, it's foolishness to the preachers around here. That God's sovereign, almighty, omnipotent does what he will, when he will, with whom he will, that he's God. That man is depraved and dead and guilty and in the helplessness and hopelessness, dead in trespasses, etc. God elected a people. He chose a people. God's not defeated, He's not frustrated. God, everything's on schedule. Everything. He chose a people in Christ, He gave them to Christ, Christ died for them, and He'll call them. He will. And that's foolishness to the average person. It's what the Bible teaches. And if somebody'll just come and listen, if somebody'll just come and inquire, if somebody'll just come to talk, if they'll just come to, like Nicodemus did, he came and listened to the next line. And I'll tell you, he came respectfully. Now this, this was no religious fool. This was no, this man Nicodemus, listen, Rabbi? Now that, that's a, that's a word of respect. Master, that's what he called him. Master? I tell you, Nicodemus addressed the Lord Jesus according to his station. Master. He is master. And he addressed him according to Nicodemus' profession, with respect. Master? This man had learned some etiquette. He had learned some respect. He didn't, he's not a ranter and a raver and a rabble rouser. He came in respect and admiration. Master, I know that your teacher come from God. No man could do these miracles that you do except God be with him. He was no religious fool. He didn't know Christ. He didn't understand who Christ was. He didn't understand Christ's mission. But he knew one thing. This man came from God. This man spoke the words of God, did the works of God, had the Spirit of God. And Nicodemus, though he didn't know who Christ was, though he was going an entirely different direction, at least he knew up here that this was no ordinary man. He recognized that. And I tell you, people will give me that break. If they'll just come and listen, and say it, and recognize this, that what I'm teaching is the Word of God. A person may not understand it, may not know it, may not believe it, but this is what it says. I'm preaching what it says. I know that. I've gone through it. I've studied it. I've written, like I tell people. I didn't come into Ashton on the back of a pickup truck. I know what this says, just like you know your business. You know what you're doing. I know what this says. I know. I've read the old writers. I've read all the old preachers. I've read the men who have meant anything throughout history, the preachers who have left anything of any consequence. I've gone verse by verse, read all the commentaries, weighed it, looked into it. My soul's at stake. The soul of my children are at stake. My grandchildren, the soul of my friends here is at stake. If I don't give heed to my life and to my doctrine, I'm going to perish and everybody listening to me is going to perish. I've got to be right. I don't have to be successful. I don't have to be rich. I have to be right. I don't have to be recognized. I don't have to be popular. A year after I'm dead, nobody's going to miss it anyhow. That's just so of all of us. Henry who? What difference does it make? But I tell you, what I preach is going to live. It's going to live in those who live. It's going to live in these children. And I'm telling the truth. And most of these religious fellows today are lying now. They're lying on God and they're lying on the Bible. And this is the truth. And Nicodemus recognized that. He came to Christ. He said no man could do what you do except God be with him. This was an honest man. It was contrary to what he taught and what he believed, but he was honest enough to know it was God's Word. Isn't that right? That's all I ask as a fellow of just You know the man who wrote the book, Ben Hur. He started out, what gave birth to that book was this man started out to prove that religion and the gospel was wrong. I believe that's correct. And he sat down and studied the gospel and the life of Christ and wrote that book. I think he's the one who wrote that book. So that's what I'm saying. Nicodemus, he came to Jesus. Where else would you go? He came to Jesus. He came to find out. He said, I know you've come from God. Well, now notice our Lord's answer, verse 3. Jesus answered him. And he said to him, Verily, verily, I say unto you. What's this? Truly, truly, truly, truly, I say unto you. This is the equivalent of thus saith the Lord in the Old Testament. That's what the equivalent is. Christ is speaking with that authority given him of the Father. He says, the words that I speak are not my words, they're words of him that sent me. Truly, truly, I say this to you. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Except a man be born again, he cannot see, he cannot understand. Nicodemus, unless a man is born again, he cannot understand the kingdom of God. He cannot see, comprehend the kingdom of God, the mistress of the kingdom of God. Now, the word born again, I know it's sailed through some rough seas. It's been handled by some ignorant people and made fun of. on every hand. But if you look in your margin here of your Bible, born again, most Bibles have the word born from above. And that word says, except a man be born from above. Except a man be born from above, he cannot see. And that word is when you're explaining something to a child. while you're doing something, he says, I want to understand what you're doing. Well, now you see, this is the way it is. You see, you see, that's what you keep saying. You see, do you understand, do you comprehend? Well, a man, what Christ is saying to this educated, respectful gentleman of the cloth, is that even with your training and even with your research, can a man by searching find God? Even with your knowledge and so-called wisdom, you've got to be born from above in order to enter into, comprehend, understand the kingdom of God. Born from above. You see, the whole religious world is going at this from the wrong end. I listened to a local pastor last night. He was trying to get people to do something for themselves. That's the wrong end. Christ didn't say to Nicodemus, now you make a decision, and you do this and you do that, and you'll enter into this thing. No, he says something's got to happen from the other end to you. You've got to be born from above. It starts with God. That's what he's declaring. That's what he says, turn to John 1, the first chapter of John, verse 11. John 1, verse 10. He, that is, God in Christ, was in this world, and the world was made by him, and the world didn't know him. He came unto his own, the Jews, the tabernacle, the temple. And his own received him not, but as many as received him. Oh, there's some folks that did, yes. To them gave he the right to become sons of God. Even in them that believed on his name, colon, that's not the end of the sentence, which, which were born, not of blood, that is, not of fleshly inheritance, not from your parents, nor the will of man, or the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but they were born of God. That's why they received him. That's why they believed on him. That's why they saw what others didn't see. That's why they understood his words, which others didn't understand. They were born of God. And that's what our Lord said to Nicodemus here. Here he stands. And our Lord said to him, I say this truly, sincerely, this is so, except a man be born from above. He cannot see the kingdom of God. If we're not made alive and born from above, we cannot understand, enter into, or see the kingdom of God. You see, let me show you something about the kingdom of God. Turn to Luke chapter 17. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, it's not the kingdom of God. Luke 17 verse 20. The kingdom of God is not religious organizations, it's not certain rules of behavior and organization and certain regimented behavior and all this, that's not the kingdom of God. Listen to our Lord in Luke 17, verse 20. And when he was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation, that is, with outward show, neither shall they say, Lo, here, or Lo, there, for behold, the kingdom of God is within you. The kingdom of God is not outward show. You know, you see, especially if we're coming up to Christmas and New Year's, and you're going to see the mass. and the Episcopalians, and the Baptists, and the Catholics, and all of them with their uniforms, and the huge choirs, and the cantatas, and the Mormon choir, and all these different uniforms, and crosses, and all this processionals. And our Lord said that that's not the kingdom of God. It's not without which show. We keep building bigger buildings and higher steeples and churches of glass and monuments to our flesh is what it is. The kingdom of God is within you. Let me show you another scripture, over in Romans 14. Oh, that we might learn. Except a man be born from above, he cannot enter into this. Look at Romans 14, verse 17. Romans 14, 17. You need to look right at this with me. Romans 14, 17. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, outward show, but righteousness. peace, joy in the Holy Ghost. He that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, ought to be approved of men. That's what we ought to be interested in, judgment, righteousness, peace, mercy, heart, faith. The kingdom of God is spiritual. The kingdom of God is heavenly. The kingdom of God is grace and spirit, not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord. All right, look back at the text, John 3. Nicodemus, oh, he's so identifiable with us. Our Lord said in verse 3, Nicodemus, I'm telling you the truth, except a man be born from above, he can't enter into or understand or comprehend the kingdom of God. And Nicodemus said to him, and listen to Nicodemus, he speaks naturally, he takes the word born naturally and again naturally and he comes up with this. Look at it. How can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? That sounds like religious arguments doesn't it? Talking about something so grand and glorious and wonderful as God quickening and giving life to a sinner, and somebody has to take it to this extreme. Well, our Lord was patient with him. God, give me some patience. Oh, to learn the compassion and patience of the Master. Our Lord answered, verily, verily, I say unto you again, thus saith the Lord. I speak the words of him that sent me. I am telling you the truth. Nicodemus, accept. a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God, cannot be a part of it, he cannot understand it nor be a part of it, unless he's born of water and of the Spirit. Now, Nicodemus, verse 6, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. You're talking about being born of your mother But if you could enter her womb and be born again, you'd go through the same experience. You'd be born of the flesh, and that's all you'd be. But that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. This is anew. This is a new birth. Now go back to verse 5, that water. What is the water? Let the man be born of water. Well, let me take this. It's not the sprinkling of an infant. And that was pretty important back in the Middle Ages. And even the Reformation, they had a terrible fight over that. In fact, the Church of England brought it with them when they came out. When the Reformation came out of Catholicism, they brought that with them. Baptismal regeneration. In other words, they sprinkled the infant at a certain age and include him in the covenant. That's right. Include him in God's covenant. He has a special place before God because of what his parents do for him. The parents and the priest or the parents and the preacher sprinkle him with water as an infant. But the tragedy of that is that 90% of the Italian and Greek mafia has been sprinkled as an infant. And that's a good illustration, really. They're all sprinkled. Down in Mexico, a joke down there among the people is that people, the men only come to church three times. Their mom and daddy brings them when they're born to sprinkle them. They come when they're married. The priest has to perform the marriage or it's not recognized, and they come to be buried. And they say they hatch them, they match them, and they dispatch them. That's the three things they do for her. But it's no joke. It's not funny. It's sad. The water, when he says a man's got to be born of water, he's not talking about this at all. Not at all. What is he talking about? The Word. Now, I can show you that. First of all, turn to 1 Peter 1. This is the Word of God. A man is born again of the Word of God. 1 Peter 1, the Word of God. 1 Peter 1, verse 22. Now listen to this, 1 Peter 1, verse 22. Seeing then that you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, the truth and the Spirit, the water and the word, the water and the spirit. Through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart, fervently, being born again, being born from above, not of flesh, not of corruptible seed. The word there is semen. It's a natural birth. That's not how we're born again. But we're born of incorruptible seed by the word of God. which liveth and abideth forever." That's the seed of the new birth, the Word of God, preaching of the gospel. That's what we sit here this morning, and that's what our Lord said to Nicodemus. Nicodemus has got to be born from above to understand and comprehend the kingdom of God. And he's got to be born of the water, the Word of God, and the Spirit of God. You see, of his own will begat he us with the word of truth. The word is the seed. That's what he said there in that scripture. And now back to the text. Born of the water, that's the word, and of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. You see, the word of God preached or read is just words. Now some of you grew up in this church. You grew up listening to the word. You've read it, you've studied it, you've listened to it for years. And then one day, it became alive. One day, you understood, oh, where have I been? You say, well, here's where you've been. You've been in the grave. You've been in darkness. You've been unborn. Because you can read even the word of God and it won't, it doesn't mean, it's just words, these are just words. There was a man. Well, let's fairytale start that way, in a foreign country there was a man that was a king. And you were just reading, just read. But wait a minute, when the spirit of God is in your heart and gives life and understanding by the orders from God. Saul of Tarsus was forty-five years old. He was a brilliant, educated, wise leader of religion. Forty-five years old, on his road to Damascus to kill some Christians, because he despised them, when God said, Whoa! Spirit of God, open his heart. Reveal the word to him. And that's what he's saying here, the Spirit The Spirit of God comes and that word which to you has been really just words, old words of respect and words of knowledge and old words preserved and words, you know, of proverbs and beautiful and these things. But then one day these words become life. That's the difference. Become life. The living word. That's the word that pierces. It's sharper than a two-edged sword. You teachers know what I'm talking about. Pupils sit and look at you, you know, with a dull, and then one day they open their eyes. I see what you're saying. That happened to you, didn't it? I see. I see. Where have I been? After lunch, I don't know. But I see. But the Spirit of God has to make it. That's right. All right? Verse 7, look at verse 7. Nicodemus, marvel not, don't be amazed if I say unto you, even you, Nicodemus. I know this is contrary to everything you've been taught, it's contrary to everything you've thought, it's contrary to everything the religious natural man understands, but you see, Nicodemus, life is the gift of God. Life is the gift of God. And spiritual life is necessary to understanding spiritual things. Now watch this next verse. You see Nicodemus, verse 8? The wind bloweth where it listeth. What's that saying? The wind blows where it pleases. The wind blows where it will. Verse 8, let's look at it together. The wind blows where it will. That's just ordinary wind out there. And you hear the sound thereof. You can't tell where it came from. And you can't tell where it's going. So is everyone born of the Spirit. Now listen to me. Take hold of your seat now. The amplified version says the wind blows where it will, and though you hear the sound, and though you see the results, you really don't know where it comes from, and you don't know where it'll go. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit of God. Well, I ask this question. Who commands the wind? Who does know where it comes from? Who does know where it will go? Who does know where it will go? Who does know the intensity of it and the power of it? The one who commands the wind. And you know who that is? My Lord. He says that over and over again in His Word. One time the disciples said, who is this man that even the winds obey his voice? Turn to Psalm 147. This is interesting. Psalm 147. Listen to this. Psalm 147, verse 18 and 19. Listen to this. Psalm 147, verse 18, "...he sendeth out his word, and melteth them." Who sends it? He does. What does it do? It melts the hard heart, it melts the bitter spirit. He causes the wind to blow and the waters to flow. He shows his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation. As for his judgments, they've not known them. Who does know them? His people. Because he sends his word. He sends the wind, Bob. He's the one. And that's what my Lord said in Nicodemus. He said, Nicodemus, God sends the wind. And you don't know where it's coming from, and you don't know where to go. But I know who sends it. Even so, the Spirit of God is sovereign in this new birth. The man who's born again, you're not going to find him bragging about it. You're going to find him thankful, but very humble, because he didn't contribute anything to it. These preachers run around bragging about, I'm born again, you're not. Oh, maybe it's the other way around. That's right. What hast thou that thou didst not receive? Oh, just like the wind is his grace, all sovereign and all free. Great God, how unsearchable are thy ways, how deep thy judgments be. The sovereign will of God alone creates us heirs of grace. Born in the image of his Son, a new peculiar race, the Spirit of God, like a heavenly wind, blows on the sons of flesh and creates a new heavenly mind and forms a life afresh. He said to Moses, I'll be merciful to whom I will. I'll be gracious to whom I will. So then it's not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, it's of God that shalt Verse 9, I can't leave you without this, And Nicodemus answered and said to him, How can these things be? Well, that's a good question, isn't it? With me, it's impossible. With God, all things are possible. How can these things be? Well, it depends on who your God is, if that's how these things can be. You have to have a sovereign Lord, the Almighty God.