I'd like to welcome you to our gospel service tonight, and if you're visiting with us, you're very especially welcome, and may the Lord be pleased to bless us as we gather to worship him in his house tonight. Just for the incoming week, remember on Wednesday night is the Bible study and the prayer meeting, and that will just start at a slightly later time because of the Bible club, so please bear that in mind, and also exercise caution when you come into the car park, just in case there are any children running around. They keep everyone safe, so do bear that in mind, too. And then next Lord's Day, the service is at 11.30 a.m. and 7 p.m., both preceded by the half hours of prayer. And then remember the Bible Club this week. It starts tomorrow from half six until 8 p.m., and it continues right through until Friday. And for those helping on the bus, the bus will be meeting us each night at Crawford's Bridge at 6 p.m., so do remember that, and remember to pray for the Holiday Bible Club. Pray for the Ballygolly Mission. It's coming around fast as well. And of course, also remember the sick and the bereaved in our congregation and associate it with our congregation. That's all of the announcements subject to the will of God. We'll turn to our first hymn. It's hymn 498 on the page 377 of the hymn book. O love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee. And we'll stand as we sing this hymn together, please. ♪ Love will not let me go ♪ ♪ I rest my weary soul in Thee ♪ ♪ I give me heart to bind my own ♪ I've been brave, that in thy sunshine's blazes may we brighter ever be. O joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to thee. I trace the rainbow through the rain and feel ♪ And more shall he cherish me ♪ ♪ O cross, and if it's not my day ♪ ♪ My day, the last you find from me ♪ ♪ My day, in thus life's glory day ♪ Thy touch shall endless be. Faith hath break'n me in death, I owe my inward life to Thee. By Thee, the sun is thine indeed, And hast survived my every need. Amen. We'll seek the Lord together in prayer and we'll ask him for his hand of blessing to be upon us as we gather here tonight. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we come before thee again in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, And we bow before Thee tonight on the basis of the merits of His blood and His righteousness. Lord, we realize that we have no merits in and of ourselves. The only merits we have are the merits of our sin or the non-merits of our sin, which condemn us for all eternity. But we thank Thee for the righteousness of Christ, which is imputed to us who are saved and in Christ. We thank Thee, O Heavenly Father, for the blood of Christ, that cleanseth us from all sin. We thank Thee, O Heavenly Father, for that great exchange which was spoken of by the great theologians of old. We rejoice, O God, that His righteousness is impure to us in such a way that it's as if we lived His life. That's how secure we are for eternity. And we rejoice in it, O God. We rejoice in that great truth. And Lord, we thank thee for what our Savior has done. And we realize, Lord, that while we have his righteousness imputed to us, we realize, Lord, that our sin was imputed to him on the cross at Calvary, where he bore the wrath of God on our behalf and paid our debt. And Lord, we come to Thee tonight and thank Thee for that great sacrifice. We thank Thee for that great love for sinners. A love not just in time, but a love in eternity. A love from eternity that was manifested in time. And Lord, we bow before Thee tonight and pray for this service that's before us. We thank Thee, O Heavenly Father, for all who have gathered. We thank Thee, Lord, for the faithfulness of the people of God. We rejoice, O Heavenly Father, in the witness here in this place and in the open door week by week. We thank Thee, Father, for preserving us. for giving us health, for giving us strength, for even giving us life, Lord, to come and to serve Thee as Thy servants in this place. And Lord, we pray tonight as we gather together, Lord, be one of our number. We thank Thee, O Heavenly Father, as we often say, that where the word of God is opened and expounded faithfully, therein is Christ's presence. And Lord, we have that assurance that when we preach the word of God, Christ is there. And Lord, we come tonight and pray that we would know a manifestation of his presence, that his spirit would come and work in every single heart, that his spirit would come and speak to hearts, that his spirit would come and show the truths of God's word to people. We realize, Lord, that people by nature are in darkness and ignorant to the things of God. We pray for thy spirit to work and thy spirit to move. If there be any among us tonight, Lord, who are not saved, we pray, Father, that they would see tonight through thy power, that they would say that they are sinners, that they're on their way to a lost eternity and the Lord, they would flee to Christ, the only saviour of the soul. Lord, remember the gospel as it's preached up and down our land. We pray, Father, that there will be an outpouring of thy spirit. We pray, Father, that there will be souls graciously saved by thy grace and by thy power. And Father, we do pray for our brothers and sisters around the world. We are conscious, Lord, of our sister in Kenya, Elizabeth, as she continues to settle in. And we pray, Father, be with her whatever she does today or tonight. Lord be with her and whatever she puts her hand to. Bless the Reverend and Mrs. Hamilton there as well. We pray, Father, that they would know thy blessing and grace as they continue to settle in Kenya as well. Father, use them mightily in that land. Remember, Father, the brethren and sisters there in Uganda. Use them mightily as well, Lord. We're thankful for the progress that's been made in recent days and weeks with evangelism and outreach in that land. We pray for the work in Liberia, Lord, we're thankful for. the recommencement of the radio ministry and for let the Bible speak who have aided them in such a way. Lord, continue to bless that work and we pray Lord that I would send servants out there to serve the Lord and to take up the work and to evangelise that church in Paynesville and that whole area. Lord, undertake and do remember, Lord, our brethren on the mainland and our sisters who serve so faithfully. Remember our brother there in London. Lord, in that area of London with such a high Muslim population, we pray, Father, that the gospel will shine bright and that the gospel will have preeminence and that, Father, he will know the joy of pointing many souls to Christ. And, Lord, for the work in Liverpool, remember it. Father, we pray Send someone out there to preach the gospel and evangelize that great city. Remember in Bristol as thy servant prepares to go over. Encourage the flock there. Encourage the flock in Rutherglen, Lord. We pray, Father, bless the Reverend Irwin and may he know great power and great encouragement in the days to come. And in Gardenstown and in Tavistock as well, Father, we pray. Encourage these works. And we're thankful, Lord, for the faithfulness of thy servants. Lord, who attend week by week, who preach week by week. Lord, we're thankful for their stickability and their hunger and thirst to see the work of God go on. Father, we pray pour out thy spirit upon them and grant the increase in such a mighty way. We remember tonight especially the work on Merthyr Tydfil as thy servant, Mr. Smith, suffers with this illness. Lord, we pray keep thy hand upon that flock there. We're thankful for the work that's been done for the evangelism that's been done over the years and for the increase that there has been in that place. Lord, we pray, encourage them, raise up Reverend Smith to a full measure of health and strength and send them back to that flock. Send the shepherd back to his sheep, O Father, we pray. And do remember, Lord, the work in County Meath. What an opportunity, Father, we pray that thou would make that a fruitful and Lord we pray bless every man who preaches there and use that to draw many precious souls to Christ Lord. Continue to advance the work of God on these islands and further afield. Continue Heavenly Father to burden us to pray for these works Continue, Lord, to give us the grace, as we considered this morning, to outwork and to live out Christ's vision for His kingdom. Lord, use us mightily in the advancement of His kingdom. Lord, give us the power of the Spirit. Make us witnesses for Him. And Lord, we pray that we will preach nothing but Christ and Him crucified. We leave it before thee. But Lord, we're always mindful of this little flock here on this corner of thy vineyard. And we pray, Lord, pour out a blessing upon us. Not for our sakes, not because we are mighty or because there's anything special. But Lord, we appeal to thy mercy and thy grace. Pour out a blessing. Pour out of thy spirit. Give us the joy of pointing souls to Christ even this week. at the Holiday Bible Club, Lord. Give us opportunities to speak a word in season for Christ and to even get the truth into their hearts. And we know, Lord, that when it's in the hearts, the Lord can open the heart. The Lord can grant the increase. The Lord can cause there to be growth. The Lord can use it to bring about life and the life of even a little child. Heavenly Father, do bless and do undertake. Continue with us now, we pray in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Amen. We'll sing our second hymn. It's hymn 104 on the page 218 of the hymn book. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. And we'll stand to sing this hymn together, please. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is that flow that makes me white No other find I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my cleansing this I seek, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my pardon this I plead, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the fruit, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing can force it at all, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. God of good that I have come, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, gracious is the flow that makes me wise, No other find I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace, nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing but the blood Glory, glory, thus I sing, nothing but the blood of Jesus. All my praise for this I bring, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me Amen. We'll turn on God's Word to John's Gospel, Chapter 3. John's Gospel, Chapter 3. I've preached in this passage before the necessity of the new birth. I preached that a while ago. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to preach two sermons on this passage again, on the new birth, the evidence of the new birth. So I'll preach that this week and next week. So a little mini series, but it's been broken up and split up by a few months. So, just conscious that I have preached it before, but we'll bring something new out of it tonight in the will of the Lord. John chapter three, and we'll read verse one down to the end of verse 16 together. And the word of God says, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God. For no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except the man be born again, 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 the man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whether it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you of earthly things, or told you earthly things and you believe not, how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Amen. And may the Lord speak to us even now already through the reading of his holy and precious word. We'll turn to your offering hymn. It's hymn 267. On the page 284 of the hymn book, I will sing the wondrous story of the Christ who died for me. We'll remain seated while the offering is left in place. O the Christ may I for me. Hardly left this room in glory, far across the Calvary. ♪ Like a sheep that went astray ♪ ♪ Through His loving arms around me ♪ ♪ Threw me back into His way ♪ ♪ Yes, I'd sing the praises of Him ♪ Now for the rest of the hymn, please. of the Christ who died for me. Sing it with the saints in glory, gathered by the crystal sea. O'er those mountains my orphaned tread, But their Savior still is with me, By His hand I safely lead. The saints in glory, gathered by the crystal sea, ♪ At my feet ♪ ♪ Lead me where you take me over ♪ ♪ Where your love once I shall be ♪ ♪ Yes, I'll sing the wondrous story ♪ ♪ Of the Christ who died for me ♪ Amen, we'll open again to John's gospel, chapter three. And with God's word open before us, we'll bow in prayer, and we'll seek the Lord's face once again for his blessing. Heavenly Father, we bow before thee again in Jesus' precious name. And we ask now, Lord, that thou will bless this time around thy word Heavenly Father, help us to understand what the Word of God says. Help us, O Heavenly Father, to see these spiritual things. Give us that spiritual sight, Lord. Even come now in the power of thy Spirit and bless the preaching of thy Word. May it be done to the honor and glory of thy name. Lord, we pray that thou would bless this time and bless all who hear thy precious truth. for we ask it in Jesus' holy and precious name. Amen. Amen. I'm sure you've heard expressions such as, like father, like son, or a chip off the old block. And these really are references to the fact that children can inherit character traits or even physical traits of their parents. It can be seen, it can be witnessed, You can sometimes see in children the personality or the looks of their parents. And Christ is saying something like that when he said to Nicodemus in John three and the verse six, start, which is born of the flesh as flesh and not which is born of the spirit as spirit. So whatever the flesh does, it will always bear the marks and the characteristics of fleshiness, worldliness, of life without God. The flesh only makes more flesh. And of course, the opposite is also true. What the spirit does in his mighty work and spiritually dead hearts causes men and women to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. As Peter has said, when we are raised from that tomb of our natural condition to new spiritual life, the new thing that is created in us, and what does it do? It bears the marks of the family characteristics of a child of God. That which is born of the spirit is spirit. So just like you can sometimes identify members of the same family, sometimes especially without being introduced to them, by simply noticing. You know, someone might have their mother's eyes or might have their father's nose and so on. You can see that they are their father's child. And it's the same way with the children of God. They have certain distinguishing marks that makes them different from the world. A Christian, remember, is not the same as anyone else. They are strangers and aliens in this world. A Christian, you Christian, are a citizen of another world. And what should flow out of you is the accents of heaven. And when you have the marks, or you have the marks of belonging in another place, in your character, your behavior, your speech, your habits, You demonstrate by these things that you belong to another world, and people can see it. Just like they can see the traits of people's parents and them, they can see the traits of Christ or being a child of God and you. It is observable. Now what I want to do tonight, I consider before, as I've said, the necessity of the new birth. and why it's necessary with a focus on humanity and the sin of humanity. But what I want to do this week and possibly next week is consider some of the distinguishing marks of someone who has been born again of the Spirit of God. And there's much you can learn tonight whether you're saved or whether you're not saved. Tonight, I want you to listen to these marks of someone who is born again, and I want you to ask yourself, do these apply to me? Has this been my experience? Therefore, tonight, I want you to consider this topic with me, of the evidence of the new birth. The evidence of the new birth. I want you to see, firstly, that there is a new person, because the first mark of the new birth that Christ highlights is that when you are born again, you become a new person altogether. And that's clear. In this metaphor he uses of birth in verse 3 and verse 7, it's absolutely clear that you become a new person when you are born again. And birth, as birth signifies new life into the world, the new birth signifies something similar. But the new birth is not merely a change of allegiance. The new birth is not a fresh resolution to live a moral and an upright life. It is not a commitment to a particular theological position or tradition in the church. It is not a mechanical result of the waters of baptism or even simply praying a prayer after an altar call in church one Sunday for that matter. That is not the new birth. The new birth is the beginning of a new person, a new nature within that person. And that new person, the New Testament teaches us, is defined by at least three things. First, people that experience the new birth exist in a new environment. A well-known verse is 2 Corinthians 5 and 17. It says, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he has a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things become new. So somebody who is in Christ, somebody who is born again, is new. And notice the language of that verse. They are new because they are in Christ. Christ is the new sphere of that person's existence. They have been united to Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 2 and 5 it says, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. In Christ, with Christ, when God brings about the new birth, He joins you with Jesus Christ by His grace through the power of the Holy Spirit. And He unites you with Him in His death and resurrection. And then His life flows in you. So if you're saved tonight, you are in Christ. You're in Jesus Christ. and God has raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenlies. Jesus Christ is your life if you are born again. He is the environment in which you live. He is your natural habitat if you want to put it that way. He is the one who has given you this spiritual life And he's given you more than that. We'll see that in our second point and possibly next week. I love those wildlife documentaries that you see on TV. I watched one recently and the photography is extraordinary. It takes a real professional, someone with a real good eye, and someone with a lot of patience to sit around for hours and wait for a butterfly to land on a branch and get a picture, and then it fly off again. But it's truly extraordinary. And it featured all kinds of animals, such as a tree frog, a jaguar, and then, as I mentioned, a butterfly all on the Amazon basin. And it really is a truly wonderful display of God's creation, but sadly, the commentator David Attenborough, as good as he is, does not give God any credit for it. He is one of these who is a fool and doesn't believe in God. But he did comment about how one of these animals, I forget what animal it was, but one of these animals has adapted perfectly to live in that environment on the Amazon basin and that that specific strand of animal can only be found there and can only survive in that environment. In any other environment it would die or it would become prey for a predator. It was made to live in that part of the world in those conditions. Now, as I thought about how the new birth creates a new person, I thought about that. When the new birth happens, the same can be said of a person who is born again. Being in Christ as your natural habitat, you are made to live and to belong only to him, like that animal on the Amazon basin. Outside of him, or outside of him or away from him, you're no use, you're not fit for purpose. You're not fit for survival. The person born again of the Spirit of God can live nowhere else and no place else but in Christ and for Christ. Christ becomes your life. And that means in the second place, this new person must also have a new nature that corresponds with this new environment in which they live. And that was Paul's point in 2 Corinthians 5 and 17. The new birth, as I've said, it is not just a new attitude. It is not just a new outlook in life or of life. The new birth is the implanting of a new nature inside an individual. And listen to the extraordinary language that Peter uses, for example, in 2 Peter 1 and the verses 3 to 4. He says, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things, that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." Now that's stunning language. People who are born again, he says, are partakers of the divine nature. Absolutely amazing. Now Christians, if you are saved, you are a partaker of the divine nature having escaped the corruption of the world. Now Peter doesn't mean that we somehow become divine. Some sort of, or that some of God himself becomes part of who we are. That's not his point. He is saying that we are given a new nature that is sourced only from the Lord himself. partakers of the divine nature, life from heaven, a new heart from heaven, a new desire from heaven, a new savior who came from heaven. living in him who came from heaven. Born again, you have the life of God in your very soul. You are a partaker of the divine nature. So with the new birth, you become a new person in a new environment with a new nature, a new creature. perfectly adapted to live in union with Christ. And in consequence of that then, the third thing to say about becoming a new person is that it brings with it a new identity. A new identity. The implication of being in Christ, of being a new creature, is that you ought not to think of yourself as you once did. You can no longer define yourself by your old life, by the life that you used to live, by your old priorities, by your old sins. That is not how you are identified. In 1 Corinthians 6 and the verses 9 to 11, it says, know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God." And then what does he say of the church or the believers in Corinth? And such were some of you. Some of you were adulterers and blasphemers. Some of you engaged in sodomy. Some of you were liars and cheats and thieves. He says, and such were some of you. But ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. That's a wonderful passage of scripture. A glorious passage, an assuring passage. The apostle says, such were some of you, but not any more. Not any more, praise God. Child of God, though you are not what you wish to be in your Christian life, by the grace of God, you are not what you once were. When God the Holy Spirit performs that renovating, regenerating work within your heart, Paul says that you cease to be identified by your sinful past. by sins like those mentioned in those verses. That's not who you are anymore. And sometimes in the Christian life, you can feel the sting of sin. Your conscience troubles you. your conscience accuses you, you become ashamed of your sin and you grieve and you say to yourself, should I still struggle with sin like this after all this time as a believer in Christ? And then you start to begin to believe that this is who you still are. I still struggle with this particular sin. But listen, It's one thing to fall into sin as a child of God. It's one thing to commit a sin and to be grieved over it, but it's quite another thing to embrace that sin as a mark of your basic identity in this world. Oh, you might fall into a sin, but you don't embrace and hug that sin as if to say, this is who I am. That's not what you do. Christian, that's no longer who you are. Now, you are a new creature in Christ. The old has gone, the new has come, and that's who you are now. You are a Christian. You are one who belongs to Christ. That is your new identity, not your sinful past. not even your sinful present. Read 1 Corinthians 6 and verses 9 to 11 as often as you can. Get this idea of having a new identity into your head. Don't let your sinful failures define you because they no longer do. If you do, then you disregard the power of Christ's grace in your life. If you say to yourself, I can't overcome the bad temper, I always lose the rag. I'm a bad tempered man, I'm a bad tempered woman. That's wrong. No, you say I'm a Christian. I'm a Christian and I struggle with that sin. Yes, you sin. Yes, you're tempted. But you must say, even though you sin and even though you are tempted, you must say to yourself, it is true. I was such a thing before. I still struggle with such a thing. But I wait until Christ comes to take me home. But I am a Christian. I'm a child of God. And Christ has paid the price of my sin, my identity as in Christ. and not with my sinful past. Christian, you are a child of God, born of God, born from above, made alive together with Christ, raised up with Him, a partaker of the divine nature. The life of God beats in your new heart. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. And He dwells in you. and he's making you more like Christ as you go on and you need to remind yourself of that truth on a daily basis. As we often said where I grew up, it will put steel in your spine and it will enable you to say no to sin. Because If you keep saying to yourself, oh, I'm this and that, or I fall into this sin or that sin, and you allow yourself to be identified with that sin and not identified with your new identity in Christ, when you face temptation to sin, it will almost be as if you're already beaten. When the temptation to commit that sin rears its ugly head again, and it will, it will rear its ugly head. If you have that defeatist attitude, you're beaten already. And you say, no, that sin doesn't define me anymore. I am a new creature and in Christ and by his grace I can overcome. So the first thing to mark about the new birth is that you become a new person. A new person in your new environment a new creature with a new identity. You are united to Christ, you have a new nature, you were once defined by your sin, but now you are defined by your sin no longer. You are defined by your union with Jesus Christ and your faith in him. Now you have been washed and sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. And I want to ask at this stage of the meeting, as the evidence of the new birth, Is it clear in your life by the fact that you are a new person? Was there ever a point in your life where you became a totally new person, united to Christ, a new nature with new desires, a desire to walk with God, a desire to live for God, a desire to overcome sin? Was the measure of your life once your drunkenness, your temper, your language, your adultery, or whatever else it might have been, but now the measure of your life is the fact that you are a Christian living a new life and leaving the old life behind. Have you ever experienced becoming a new person because of the new birth? Are you saved? Remember what Christ said, Without the new birth, you will never see heaven. Never. You must be born again. You must be saved. You must be a new person. See, secondly, with me concerning the evidence of the new birth is that there is a new perception Because Christ told Nicodemus in verse 3 that unless he was born again, as I said, he wouldn't be able to see the kingdom of God. Now the absence of the new birth means the inability to even perceive the kingdom. That's what it means as well. It means you will never see the kingdom, but you will never perceive the kingdom. You can't see it. You can't comprehend it. You can't understand it. You can't fathom it. If you're not born again, you are blind to spiritual things. That was really the essence of what Christ said to Nicodemus, and Paul makes the same point in 1 Corinthians 2 and 14. It says, but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. So the natural person, the person that Christ in John 3 calls someone who is in the flesh, is naturally incapable of understanding the Gospel, because the Gospel is spiritually discerned. It is a spiritual message. So how can the gospel be understood? And how can it be discerned? It can be perceived, it can be seen, it can be discerned only by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Unless you're born again, you will never be able to perceive the things of God. That's such a sad existence, to never be able to really perceive the things of God as the child of God can perceive them. To miss out on so much blessing, to miss out on so much knowledge, to open the Bible, and for the Bible, because of your spiritual blindness, to be a dead book to you, to read verses like John 3, 16, and have no discernment, or for a verse like that to have no meaning. A sad existence. Morton Lloyd-Jones tells the story of William Wilberforce, the great evangelical and the anti-slavery campaigner in England. And one of his close friends was William Pitt the Younger, the Prime Minister at the time of England. And Wilberforce was very burdened for Pitt's soul, and he prayed anxiously for him, he prayed earnestly for him, and he was actually very keen for Pitt to go with him to hear the famous evangelical preacher Richard Cecil. So Wilberforce worked on Pitt for months and months and prayed for him and invited him to come in and at last Pitt promised, I'll go with you to church the next Sunday morning to listen to the preacher. And so, Wilberforce was praying and he was full of anticipation and they went to the service and sat together and Richard Cecil preached and expounded on the glories of the kingdom of God and the relationship of the Christian with God the Father. And Wilberforce, as Lloyd-Jones tells it was, in ecstasy he was rejoicing. He was reveling in this glorious truth. Yet, during the whole service, he wondered, what does my friend William Pitt think of the preaching? Now, Pitt says, according to Lloyd-Jones, was a far more academic man than William Wilberforce, a lot more intelligent, a lot smarter. He was the prime minister after all. And at the end of the service, they walked out and Wellbefore said to Pitt, that was a wonderful service. I've never heard preaching like that. That was powerful. My heart and soul are rejoicing. And just as they got outside the porch, Pitt said to Wellbefore, I didn't understand the word of what that man was talking about. What did it mean? What was he saying? I didn't understand it. I've never heard things like that before. I just can't see what all the fuss is about. You see, the things of God aren't understood by the natural man. They're not understood by the natural man. And that's what Christ was referring to. And that's what Paul was referring to. Well, when you are born again, spiritual things that were once dark and mysterious and uninteresting and dull and incomprehensible, now suddenly become alive with beauty and with truth and with goodness. So what has happened to you, Christian, in your life? Well, the message hasn't changed. The problem is, or it's not a problem at all, actually, to be born again, but you have changed. God has given you eyes to see and ears to hear, now you embrace the truth gladly. And the spirit sheds light on that truth to your soul and you revel in it, you rejoice in it, you drink it in and you've begun to see the kingdom and the truth of the kingdom because in the new birth you have been made a new person. And being a new person has given you a new perception of spiritual things. You are no longer dead to the things of God. Do you remember when you first got saved? I remember. Do you remember when you first got saved and you sat down to read the Bible for the first time as a new believer? And it was totally different. It meant something. I was told when I first got saved, read through John's gospel, learn as much about the Lord Jesus as you can. And I remember reading verses that I had learned as a child, verses that had maybe been hung up on the wall, on pictures. I walked past them for so many years of my life. I'm sure you're the same. Do you remember the time you got saved and you opened your Bible and it meant something? It resonated with you, it spoke to you. It came to life. It brought you comfort, it gave you guidance. You can understand these things better. Why was that? It was because the Spirit of God gave you life, made you a new creature, made you a new person, and gave you a new perception of the things of God. so that you were able to understand. That's just a minor example I want to use to point that out to you. And friends, that's why people can sit under the sound of the word of God. That's why people can sit under the sound of gospel preaching and not understand. That's why people can sit under gospel preaching and not be affected in their heart or soul by it at all. You've heard the sayings before, I don't know how somebody walked out of that meeting tonight and not got saved. Well, that's why they can do it. That's why they can sit, years ago, in powerful gospel meetings, where the blessing of God was evident, yet they remained unmoved, and left the meeting the same as they would end, without getting saved. That's why people can sit and listen to the warnings of hell, and sin, and the wrath of God, yet still sit comfortable in the pew in their sin, and still be comfortable with Christ's rejection, without a care in the world. That's why people will happily sit with the truth of God in their head and allow themselves to sink into a Christless eternity when they die. It's because the gospel message is a spiritual message. The message of the Bible is a spiritual message. The gospel warnings are spiritual in nature. They pertain to the very depths of the soul. And the Bible says that people who are not born again are dead spiritually, therefore they cannot discern these truths. That is why many rest on church tradition, on religious routine, on looking the part and talking the talk. That's why people don't pursue Christ and His salvation and a full spiritual sight of Him. It's because they are not born again. They don't have this new perception. They don't understand the Bible fully or the gospel, otherwise they would take heed. That's why the new birth is essential. because it's when people are made alive in Christ by the Spirit of God that they perceive these truths and they are enabled by God's grace to lay hold upon Christ by faith and to turn from the sin that is taking them to hell. That is why the new birth is essential. The night someone gets saved, it's like something just clicks. Something clicks. That's the new birth. That's the Spirit of God giving life. That's what we need. That's what lost souls need. They need to be born again. And they will never know or understand spiritual things. They will never know and understand the truths of the gospel unless the Holy Spirit works in their hearts in such this unique and marvelous way. You must be born again. Pray for souls to be born again. Pray for your family and friends. Pray that the Holy Spirit will work in their hearts. I'm sure you're faithful in telling them they need to be saved. I'm sure you're faithful in telling them if you're not saved, you're going to be lost for all eternity. They probably know. They've been reared in the gospel, but the problem is they're dead in their sin. And they need that regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. That's the work only God can do. And that's why the prophet said, salvation is of the Lord. Only God can do it. And I pray tonight that if you're not saved, I pray that God's spirit will move in your heart. I pray that you won't walk out of this meeting in your blindness, in your spiritual deadness, with no real perception of spiritual things. I pray that you will be born again, and that you will see yourself tonight for what you are before a holy God, and that you will have a clear view of who Christ is, and what he has done on the cross for sinners, and what he can do for you tonight. Save your soul. I pray that you will experience the new birth and come to faith in Jesus Christ. So these are the first two marks of the new birth, a new person and a new perception. May the Lord be gracious. May the Lord give us clarity so that we may all know, we may all appreciate that Christ is an all-sufficient savior. and that we are His by His saving grace. May God bless His word to all of our hearts tonight for His glory. Amen. Amen. We'll bow in prayer as we bring our service to a close. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the Word of God, which tells us everything we need to know concerning our salvation. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for a Savior who has provided a perfect salvation. We thank Thee, Lord, for what God is able to do in the life of a dead sinner. Lord, a sinner dead, as one great theologian pictured it, at the very bottom of the sea, not merely floating and struggling on the surface, but dead at the very bottom of the sea. We're thankful, O Heavenly Father, for thy Spirit, which breathes life into a dead sinner, for thy Spirit which pulls a dead sinner from the bottom of the sea and unites to Jesus Christ in faith and repentance. We're thankful, Lord, for that simple truth, that Christ can give life to sinners, that Christ can save sinners in all of their sin, in all of their weakness, and that he can give them eternal life. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What a blessed and simple truth to your souls tonight. Lord, bless every person who has gathered. Encourage the hearts of thy people. Lord, if there be any not saved among us, I pray that they would know that regenerating power of the spirit in their hearts, and that they would know tonight what it is to become a new creature in Christ. Part us now in thy fear and with thy blessing. We pray in Jesus' precious name. Amen.