Welcome to the Princess Chapel Church in Ashland, Kentucky. Pastor, Brother Douglas Sellier, we would like to thank you today for joining us, and we hope you receive a blessing from these messages and lessons. We would like to invite you to join us for praise and worship service in our sanctuary in Ashland, Kentucky. Our prayers are with you as we request your prayers be with us as well as we do the work of the ministry Exalt the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ We thank you once again for joining us and may God richly bless you and your family This morning's Sunday School lesson was on the Holy Spirit. Adam's devotion and memory verse had to do with the Holy Spirit. This sermon today has to do with the Holy Spirit. I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt there is a misconception within many of our churches today. People think that you can just come up here and say a little prayer Romans wrote, and everything's going to be A-OK. And we learned this morning in Sunday school, we see that those 120 men, as the cloven tongues, or those 11 apostles that was with those 120, part of that 120 in the upper room, as the cloven tongues of fire fell upon them, and they began to preach, and the Bible said there were devout Jews from every nation under the earth, heard the gospel preached in his own language wherein he was born. Now, friends, the Holy Spirit has the ability to do that. We don't. And what I want to show you this morning is I'm going to propose a question which is also going to serve as the title of my sermon. Are you born again? Or are you just born? You see, there's a big difference between being born again and being just born. The misconception is this. We think As your typical Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, we're not the Presbyterians, but we think that we get saved, and because we're saved, we're born again. That's what we think, right? That's what we've been taught over the years. But that's not what Jesus told Nicodemus. That's not what He told him. I want to propose a question this morning that will serve as the title of my message dealing with the Holy Spirit. Are you born again? Or just born? John chapter 3, verse 1. The Bible said 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." How did he know that? All right, let's keep reading. 4. No man can do these miracles that thou does it, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, which means truly now, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Unless I'm born again, I can't even see it. That means I can't see the spiritual truths of the gospel. Unless I'm born again. Let's keep reading. Verse 4. Nicodemus said unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot now enter the kingdom of God. In other words, you can't be a part of it. You see, we're in the kingdom of God right now. Did you all know that? If you're a blood-bought, born-again, regenerated believer in Christ Jesus, you're part of the kingdom of God right here, right now, upon earth, because you belong to the church, and the church is part of the kingdom of God. But one day, He will set up His physical kingdom. But we're part of His spiritual kingdom. And unless you be born again, you can't enter the kingdom. And unless you're born again, you can't even see it to receive it. Let's keep reading. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I say unto thee, ye must be born again. That's our scripture reading for this morning. It was recorded by Brother George Whitefield. He was a Reformed preacher of the early 1800s. It's recorded that he preached over 3,000 messages titled, You Must Be Born Again. That's the bottom line. You must be born again. Jesus told us here in the Scripture, that which is born of flesh is flesh. That's speaking of the natural birth. When man is born of a woman, the Bible said he's born into sin. It said, in sin and iniquity was I conceived. When you was in your mother's womb, you were born into sin. And Job said, man born of woman is few days yet in full of trouble. But Jesus said, that which is born of flesh is flesh. But that which is born of Spirit is Spirit. Now, we've got two different kinds of births here that the Scripture is teaching, talking about. And I propose to you the question this morning. Are you born again? Or have you just been born? We think that we're born again because we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. We think that we're born again because we have repented of our sins. But I beg to differ. That's not what Jesus is teaching here. And we're going to go over this this morning in detail using the fundamental doctrines that Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul taught. Because let me tell you something, friends. Some people might come here on Sunday, and they might hear this, and they might totally disagree with me. If you be here on Sunday night, and you be here on Wednesday night, I've been building this road, and I've been building up to this point to help the Holy Spirit, or to let the Holy Spirit be able to teach you, because I can't do the teaching. I can't reveal this spiritual truth unto you because I am not the teacher. The Holy Spirit is the teacher. The Holy Spirit is the one who has to reveal this spiritual truth unto you, not the pastor. It's Him. Alright, it's Him. It's kind of like when we go to Walmart and we buy a piece of furniture and here comes me, Okay? This is what happens if you don't get the full picture. Here's the instructions to put the furniture together. And this is what my wife does to me. Here, page one. And here, page five. And she keeps this. Okay? She keeps this and puts it over here. And I don't ever see it. I've got the start page and the end page. Now how am I going to put that furniture together with the front page and the back page? That's what you get on Sunday morning. But you come Sunday night and Wednesday night, you'll get page 2, 3 and 4. Amen? All right, you coming on Sunday morning and Sunday night, all you're getting is the front page and the back page. You'll be here on Wednesday night and Sunday night. Instead of just Sunday morning, you're going to get page 2, 3, and 4 too. And you're going to know how to put every bit of this together because the Holy Spirit is going to teach you and not me. It don't matter who's up. from behind this pulpit, as long as they're preaching and teaching in power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit, and not with enticing words of men's wisdom, but they're saying in that book, God will use it for His glory and His honor. Not for the preacher's glory. Not for the preacher's honor. But I propose a question to you this morning. Are you born again? Or are you just born? Jesus said right here, That which is born of flesh is flesh. Now, what is that? That's a natural man. That's a natural man. That which is born of spirit is spirit. What's that, Brother Doug? That's the regenerated man. Re-generated! Yeah, boy! He said in John 6, 65, and he said, therefore I say unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my Father. That means you can't wait until you get ready to be saved and then walk up the aisle, take the preacher's hand, say the little prayer, and glory to God, I'm in. It don't work like that. That's just being born. You're still in the flesh. You're still natural. John 1, 12. But as many as received Him, to them He gave, what Brother Paul taught on this morning in Sunday school, He gave them power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. Now he said if you believe on His name and you've received Him, He gave you power to become the sons of God. But what makes you believe? What makes you receive Him? Right there is faith. Those that received Him, those that believed Him, but who was able to do it? Who was able to do that? Alright? Let's read the next verse of John. Well, I'm over in John chapter 1 right now. I've just read verse 12. But as many as received Him, to them He gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. But let's read the next verse in John 1, verse 13. He said, "...which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." In order to believe, in order to receive, you must be first born again. Not by the will of man, not by the will of flesh, but by the will of God. That's what Jesus is trying to tell Nicodemus here. He said, that which is born of flesh is flesh, he's natural, but that which is born of spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I say unto you, you must be born again. And you know from John 1.12 and John 1.13, as many as received him and believeth on his name, he gave them the power to become the sons of God, Now, what is which? It's a conjunction, isn't it? It's a conjunction, joining these two verses together. You see, verse 13 had to happen before verse 12 could happen. It is a past tense conjunctive verb that joins those two verses together, because verse 13 had to happen before you could believe and receive. Because it wasn't by the will of man, it wasn't by the will of the flesh, but it was by the will of God. It was more than just walking down the aisle and taking the preacher's hand and saying a little prayer and saying, I believe. Because let me tell you what, the Bible said the demons and the devils in hell believe. Alright, they believe. There's a lot of people that believe because they've been patting on their back their whole life. And they think this thing, well, if it's good enough for mommy and daddy, it'll be good enough for me. They believe it. The man believes it. But the spirit has not been regenerated to believe it. And we've taken this doctrine and we've polluted it over the years. And we take and we look at a couple people's lives that walk down the aisle. shake the preacher's hand and say the prayer and then they walk out the church house door and they live like the devil and we want to build a whole church doctrine around their mistakes. And we take away from the Word of God. We want to build a brand new church doctrine around their mistakes. Let me tell you something. You walk down this aisle, you take my hand, you say a little sinner's prayer, and you walk out the door, and there's no evidence of change. There's no sanctification being brought forth. There's no good works. There's no fruit. You ain't got no root. And like I say, no root, no fruit. You have not been born again. It was by the will of man. It was by the will of the flesh. It was not by the will of God. Because that's real generation. Regeneration. Regeneration. Because there's a big difference in those two words. You see, I was generated when I was born. I was dead in my sins and trespasses. And when I come to the age where I knew right and wrong, You say, well, Brother Doug, what age is that? I don't know. I can't tell you. Let me tell you one thing. It's going to be younger for these little ones than it will be for somebody who never comes to church and never hears the preaching, who only gets pages one and five and don't get page two, three and four. All right? It's going to be younger. But the scary part about that is they're going to be held to a higher standard in the eyes of God because they've received more knowledge. So they will be required more. Where little is given, little is required. Where much is given, much is required. Alright? John 1.12 and 1.13, cut and dried, which were born. An eros, passive tense verb in John 1.13 that tells us that verse 13 had to happen before verse 12 could happen. Not by the will of the flesh, not by the will of man, but glory to God, by the will of God. Being born again by the will of God gives you the ability to believe. Being born again by the will of God gives you the ability to receive. And being born again by the will of God gives you the ability to see. But let me tell you something, dead men can't believe. And a dead man can't see. And a dead man can't repent. And the Bible tells us that we were dead in trespasses and sin. And we're going to go over, I don't have any points this morning, I apologize, all I've got is three questions. Very quickly, I'm going to go through these questions. But before I do, I want to tell you this, Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, let me do a little illustration here so maybe you can get the point. I tried this over at the building the other night, and it didn't work. It backfired on me. It backfired on me. What was it? Kathy, I tried it on. It was Kathy I tried it on, and it backfired on me. But I'm going to show you a little illustration right here. Alright? Right here, behind this handkerchief, or underneath this handkerchief, underneath this handkerchief, okay? I have a $20 bill. No, I'm not a magician. I'm not trying to do no magic trick. I just want to try to get you to understand something to where you can understand this concept of being born again. Everybody see this $20 bill? That's genuine. Alright? That's a genuine $20 bill and I'm going to hold on to it as long as I possibly can. Amen? Alright, I'm going to put this $20 bill underneath this handkerchief right here. You can see that $20 bill, right? Because it's natural. It's physical. You can see it. You can touch it. You can feel it. And all you women can spend it. Amen? Come on. You all can liven up a little bit. Now, I'm going to give you a choice this morning. I'm going to let you come up here this morning, and I'm going to let you pick what's underneath that handkerchief right there. And you've already saw what I put under there. Or you can have what's out there. Which one would you pick? You can have what's out there. What would you pick? That's all you. That's all the information you have. Because if I gave you any more, you wouldn't be able to understand it anyway. You could have what's underneath that handkerchief or you can have what's out there. That's all I can tell you. The unknown. And even if I did tell you what it was, you wouldn't be able to understand it. What are you going to pick? What are you going to pick, young man? What's out there? Well, You pick that. What gives you the ability to pick that? Can you see what's out there? Can you see what's out there? Can you touch what's out there? I know you women can't stand what's out there. But you can pick that $20 bill. Why? Because you've seen it. It's natural. It's physical. You can touch it. You can rub it. You can feel it. It's the things of man. And you can pick it. But you won't pick what's out there in your natural state. Why? Because you can't see it. You can't hear it. You can't touch it. You can't feel it. You don't even know what it is. And you don't understand it, even if somebody would tell it to you. Because he said, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. for their foolishness unto Him. Neither can He know them, for they are spiritually discerned." Without the Holy Spirit coming in and doing a work in your life, first, you will not pick Jesus. You'll pick that $20 bill. Hello! There's a big difference in being born again and being just born. Alright? Jesus said, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot what? The kingdom of God? He can't see it first. Why? Because I've got to see something before I can pick it. I've got to see something before I can choose it. I have to be able to see the two objects to make my selection. But one of them I can't even see. Why? Because I'm dead. I'm dead spiritually in the eyes of God. And I can't even see what man Preaches his heart out through the foolishness of preaching. It pleases God to save those that would believe. But when the Holy Spirit does the work on you and regenerates you, He gives you the ability to see. He gives you the ability to believe. He gives you the ability to receive. And then you repent. And you repent every day of your life if you've been regenerated. Because repentance is a constant process of turning to God from sin. And you better be doing that every day of your life if you're not. And you've just been born and you have not been born again. Three questions this morning. That's the difference being born again and being born. That's the difference. That's what separates the possessors from the professors. I didn't say that you must be born again, and I don't want you to feel that way just because I said it. Or just because George Whitefield preached it 3,000 times. But Jesus Christ said, ye must be born again. And we see here in the Bible that it's not by the will of the flesh, it's not by the will of man, but it's by whose will? The will of God. And Jesus said in John 3.8, The very last verse of our seven-verse passage that I want to read. John chapter 3, verse 8. I read verses 1 through 7. And where Jesus said, you must be born again in order to even see the kingdom of God. You must be born again. Marvel not that I say unto you, ye must be born again. And then in verse 8, He says, the wind bloweth where it listeneth. But thou hearest the sound thereof, but cannot tell whence it cometh, and whether it goeth." In other words, it come in, it blew everything up, it got everything mixed up, and it went right out. I could feel it. I could hear it. I knew which direction it was coming from. And I knew which direction it was going. But I don't know where it came from. I don't know how it happened. So is every man that is born of the Spirit. I don't know how it happened. Why? Because it wasn't by the will of flesh. It wasn't by the will of man. It was by the will of God. God said, alright, it's time now, big boy. I'm going to lift the scales off of your eyes. And I'm going to make you believe. Amen! I'm going to make you believe. We see in verse 7, later talks about believing. And the dead man can't believe. The dead man can't repent. The dead man can't see. Oh, so we're going to get to our questions now. I want to ask you three questions very quickly this morning. I want to ask you these three questions, and please do not answer them honorably. Don't answer them aloud. The three questions will serve as my three points. I want you to just think these over in your mind. And I'm going to have a scripture with every question that I ask. I want to ask you this morning, first of all, the title of my message, as you already know. Are you born again? Or are you just born? Have you been regenerated, born again, of God by His will? Or have you just been born? Question number one. Have you been quickened? Now, how many have seen that movie, The Highlander, with the McLeods? I've seen it, the TV show, you know, where he gets up there with the sword and he says, there can be only one. Well, let me tell you this morning, there is only one. It's the great I Am. It's Jesus Christ. I want to ask you this morning, have you been quickened? Now, how many women in here have had a baby? Raise your hand. Okay. I'm not going to ask you men, but if you go to any medical doctor, Or go home and look it up in the dictionary. Go home and look it up in the encyclopedia. Or go home and look it up on Google or the internet. Do any of you pregnant women know what, in the terms of pregnancy, what is meant by the medical term, the quickening in the life of a pregnant woman? Anybody? Well, we got these old country doctors around here. They might not use all those medical terms. Let me tell you what the term quickening means in the life of a pregnant woman. It's the first sign of life in the womb. That's the first time you felt something. That's the first time you felt that little baby twitch. Or that's the first time you felt that little kick. That's the first time Okay? There was any sign of life. Now, I want to ask you this morning, have you been quickened? That's my first question. Turn with me, if you would, to the book of Ephesians. We're going to run through these questions quickly, because there's a lot of meat in this. There's a lot of meat and a couple of taters and some green beans, but it's good. I'm telling you what, it might be bitter right now in your mouth because you're hearing it from me, but I guarantee you, you get home and you get into His Word and you get into this book and you let the Holy Spirit teach you the further spiritual truths about this, and by the time it gets down there in your belly, boy, it's going to be good and sweet and you're going to thank glory to God, I'm good and full now. Hey man, it ain't the pasture, it's the Holy Ghost. And you won't be able to understand it unless you've been quickened. But, we see here what the Apostle Paul says about the quickening. In Ephesians chapter 2, we're going to read verses 1-5. And you, now who's he talking to? Who's the you here? Well, the you is born again, blood-bought, regenerated believers that belong to the church at Ephesus. He's not writing to the world. He's not writing to the lost man. He's writing to the saints of God. That's who these letters went to that make up our Bible. And you hath he quickened who were dead. in trespasses and sins. wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh," notice, worketh, that's an active verb, not past tense, not future tense, but active. That means it's being done right now and it will continue to be done. Worketh. in the children of disobedience, okay, because that's what we was before he was able to quicken us. The Spirit was working in us. Now what spirit was that? That was the spirit of the Prince and the power of the air. Because before you was able to believe, before you was able to receive, before He quickens you, He was not your Lord. He was not your Master. But you was serving another spirit, the Prince and the power of the air in everything you've done. was His work, for His honor, and for His glory. That's why He left you alone. That's why He didn't bother you. But the moment the Holy Ghost got a hold of you, and the moment you became a child of God, the devil raised up his big ugly head, and he let you know. He let you know just exactly who He was. And that's when the trouble came. but before you was dead in your trespasses and sin, but you had to be quickened. Among whom also we had our conversation in times past with the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, But God. That's a heavenly conjunction right there. You see, we was doing all this because we was following the Prince and the power of the air. We was working for another spirit. But God. Amen. But Him. It wasn't me. It wasn't you. It wasn't a preacher. It wasn't a singer. But God. That's who done it. who is rich in mercy for His great love, wherein He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace are you saved. What is the quickening, Brother Doug? It's that first little kick, that first little jump, that first little heartbeat, that first little gasp, or that first little spasm. That first sign of life, that came not by the will of man, that came not by the will of the flesh, but God! Glory! But God! Amen! Shout recess, or call recess right there, and shout the house down for the rest of the day to know that it's not anything of us. For therefore, if it was, we'd have therefore to glory. But God, He gets the glory, He gets the honor, He gets the praise. It was His plan, it's His book, it was His Son, but it was our cross. But God, but God, I love him. I love him this morning. Not the will of flesh. Not the will of man. But the will of God. The quickening. That first feeling. That first sign of life. Not by flesh. Not by our will. But the grace of God. Born again? Or just born? Second question. Are you still natural? Well, yeah, I'm natural. I told him the other night at the building. I said, you know what? I just ain't right. And Brother Paul said, well, we've known that for a long time. I said, I just ain't right. And what I meant was Brother Ted gave me the new key to the garage. And I took the key home and I laid it right down on by the Ark of the Covenant. The new key to the garage. And I said, well, next time I go out to the church, I'll put the key in my pocket and bring it out to the church. Well, I came out Monday to mow. And I didn't have my key. So what did I have to do? I had to go into the office and get a spare key. And so when I got home that night, I had two keys by the Ark of the Covenant. And I came down here Thursday to mow again. And guess what? I had two keys sitting by the Ark of the Covenant, but I had no keys in my pocket. So I had to come in the office and get the last key to the garage. That's what I meant by not being right. Because my mind just wasn't thinking. But glory to God, at one time in my life, I was natural. But right now I ain't natural. Yeah, that's right. Right now I'm peculiar. I'm part of a royal priesthood. Yeah, boy, I'm part of a peculiar people. And I ain't natural. Why? Because I've been regenerated, I've been quickened, I've been born again. I believed and I received because I saw by revelation of the Holy Spirit. Let me ask you this morning's second question. Are you still natural? 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9 this morning. Are we still natural? If you have not been quickened, you're still natural. Yeah. Let's see what Puzzle Paul said about that. He said in verse 9 of chapter 2, But as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have it entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." There's that, but God, I love it, that lets me know not by the will of man, not by the will of flesh, but God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. The truth of the gospel, the truth of the death, the truth of the burial, the truth of the resurrection was revealed unto you by God, by His Holy Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of man, save the spirit of man, but is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man." The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now, what does he say in verse 12? But we have received, yeah, we have received, not the Spirit of the world, But the Spirit which is of God. And why did we have to receive it? So that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Before he done that, you could only see what was under the handkerchief. You could only see it because it was physical. It was natural. You could touch it. You could put it in your pocket. And you could spend it. You couldn't see what was out there. And even if you could, you wouldn't be able to understand it. Let's keep reading. Verse 13. Which things also we speak not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth. but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual." Verse 14, "...but the natural man..." Now, who's the natural man? The unsaved, lost, unregenerated man. "...receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them." He can't even know them. Why? Because they are spiritually discerned. You can't understand it. You can't judge it. You can't receive it. You can't know it. You can't even see it. Why? Because it's the Holy Ghost that reveals it to you. Born again? Or just born? Have you been quickened? Are you still natural? Let's move to our next question. The last and final question this morning. Are you being made a new creature? And notice, I don't say been made a new creature. Are you being made a new creature? Because you know what? I can come down here. I can kneel. I can say a little prayer. I can get up, shake the preacher's hand, and I can walk out. And I could live a good life for about three and a half years. And then I could just totally let the whole world know whose side I was really on. Y'all see where I'm going with this? Was that man regenerated? Was that man quickened? Was that man born again? Was he natural? Yeah, buddy, he was natural. He chose the 30 pieces of silver wrapped up in the bag instead of choosing what was out there. Because he didn't know what was out there. Because he couldn't understand it and he didn't see it. That's the difference between the professor and the possessor. But let me ask you this, the last final question. Are you being made a new creature? Now if you would, turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And when we get done with that, we're going to jump back over to Ephesians chapter 2, and this is going to be closing right here. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, we have one verse I want to read. And we didn't even need to turn there, I could have just quoted it. For if any man be in Christ, he is a what? What does a new creature mean? That means he's been recreated, ain't he? That means he's been regenerated, ain't he? That means he's not the same old creature that he used to be. He's a different creature. He's recreated, in other words. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things are passed away. Now, that's a sermon just in itself right there. that I'm working on right there. Old things passed away. Well, what got passed away, Brother Doug? Well, let me tell you what. The penalty of sin got passed away. The pleasure of sin got passed away. The power of sin got passed away. There's a lot of stuff that got passed away. Because I don't pleasure in sin anymore. I used to go out and boy, it didn't bother me one bit when I was lost and unregenerated and didn't belong to God. But once I was made a new creature and the Holy Spirit moved in and He took all ownership. He took up possession. He gave me the ability to have power over sin. Now, do I still sin? Yeah, boy. Why? Because yea, I am yet carnal, meaning I am still in the flesh. But, behold, a new creature, old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. Are become. Present tense, active verb. That don't mean it happened in the past. That means it happened, and it's continually being happened. That's why I said, are you being made a new creature? Because there's more to salvation, like I said, than just saying the prayer, reciting a little Romans road, and then walking out the door and saying, I'm born again. No. You can't even say that prayer and believe and receive and accept and repent until you first get born again. Not by the will of man, not by the will of flesh, but by the will of God. But we see here, to become new. A verb phrase used in the perfect active tense. That means it happened and it's continuing to happen. Continuing to happen. And that's what separates the professor from the possessor. Because anybody can make a profession. Judas Iscariot made a profession for three and a half years. Where is his profession leading? I'll tell you where it led him. It led him to an old tree outside of Jerusalem where he hung his own self because he said, I'm guilty in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And the Bible said he repented unto himself. Notice, unto himself he repented. Why? He was sorry he got messed up in it. He wasn't sorry with the godly sorrow. It wasn't the Holy Spirit. spirit-causing repentance, it was his conscience, his own guilt, his own shame, because he had not been born again. He had not been regenerated. He was tap dancing and playing the game for three and a half years. He felt sorry about himself, went out, hung himself, and the book of Acts says he went to his own place. I'm guilty in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. That's why I ask you, are you being made a new creature? Romans 12, 1 and 2. You don't have to turn there. I'm going to say this right quick. He said, I beseech you therefore, brethren, through the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, unacceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed. I looked that word last night up in the Greek. That word transformed. That is a present tense, passive imperative, meaning an ongoing process. That means once it starts, it don't stop. You come here tonight, you're going to get a message tonight called the Trinity of Salvation. The three tenses of salvation. Past tense, future tense. Past tense, present tense, future tense. Because friends, a lot of times in the Bible when it speaks of salvation, it's not speaking of the whole process. It's speaking of one of the tenses. What we've been saved from, what we've been saved for, and what we've been saved to. Glory to God. But we see here that this is an active, ongoing process of transformation. And that word, we get our English word transformed from the Greek word. Boy, this about blew my whiskers off. We get that word transformed from the Greek word metamorph. That's the Greek word there in the original Greek text. Be not conformed, but be metamorphed. That's what, what are they called? Caterpillars? That's what a caterpillar does, isn't it? It rolls itself up and makes its cocoon and then it crawls up in there and it metamorphs. It transforms into something that it was not. Do you know what, when it starts rolling that cocoon up, do you know what that is? That's justification. Do you know what it is when he's in that cocoon changing? That's sanctification. Do you know what it is when he busts out of that cocoon and he starts flying away on the wings of eagles with the Lord Jesus? That's glorification! Amen! And I don't want to be conformed. I want to be metamorphed. I want to be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. Now we can call recess. Glory! I want to be like the little butterfly. I want to fly away with wings of eagles. I want to be able to fly away with the Lord of Glory. Now, Ephesians 2. This is what I wanted to read, the last one I wanted to read in closing. Ephesians chapter 2. And I believe that God is able to preserve and protect that which I have committed unto Him. Because that's what the Apostle Paul says. But let me tell you something, friends. There's more in Ephesians 2.8 than just 2.8. Okay? There's also verse 9. And there's also, especially for the regenerated blood-bought believer, for us, there's verse 10. And that's what I want to show you. That's part of our metamorphosis. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8. It says, for my grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves... What? What did he say? Not by the will of man. Not by the will of the flesh, but the will of God. But, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. Now, regardless of my theology, on the doctrine of preservation, I believe in progressive sanctification. Because you're not going to jump in that cocoon and turn into a butterfly overnight. That's an ongoing process. But let's see what he says here in verse 10. For we, who's he talking to? The church at Ephesus, are His. workmanship. Why? Because he's the potter. We're the clay. Created in. Notice, not on, but in Christ Jesus. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him. A lot of people believe on Him. A lot of them are in hell right now. But I guarantee you, if you believe in Him, you are in Him. And you can't believe in Him unless you've first been born again to be able to see this gift that God gives us freely, to be able to pick it and choose it. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. You see, God didn't save you for you to sit back on your blessed assurance and come to church and sing, I shall not be moved, but He saved you for good works. He didn't save you because of your good works, or He's not continuing to save you because of your good works, but He saved you for good works, so that He might get the honor and the glory. Why? Why? which God hath aforeordained, that we should walk in them." He already planned it, Adam. He already wrote it down in heaven before he even said, let there be light. He said, boys, this is the way it's going to be. Let it be said, let it be written, let it be done, which He hath before ordained. And this, my friends, is the purpose of the new birth. This, my friends, is the purpose of being born again, so that He might get the honor, so that He might get the glory. If you're not producing forth good works, if you're not living to the best of your ability now, because you remember what I say, that caterpillar don't turn into a butterfly overnight. It takes a while. It takes a little longer than others. Psalm 116, 6. But the Lord preserveth the simple. I thank God. Ever what He wants to do with me, it's His will. I'm here for Him. He wants to mold me and shape me and make me so that He can get the honor and the glory, then well, glory be His name. I'm here for Him. Why? Because know ye not that you're not your own, for you are bought with a price. But let me tell you something this morning. Are you born again? Or have you just been born? Because if you've been born again, regenerated, quickened, passed from death unto life, let me tell you something, there's going to be evidence in your life of salvation. You're going to be able to bring forth some good fruit. You're going to be able to be noticed and seen, and people are going to be able to look at you and say, you know what? Now, they're not perfect, but glory to God, they're living for the Lord. I can tell something And if you ain't doing that, I'm going to tell you right now, you're not being made a new creature. And if you're not being made a new creature, that means you haven't been quickened. And if you haven't been quickened, you have not been born again. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. And He sent His Holy Spirit to do the work, to do the calling, the drawing, the wooing. And why is that, Brother Doug? How does He... Did I get that 20? I better make sure I got that 20. Me, He'll kill me. Why? He saved us. For His glory, right? For His honor. But we get these preachers that come up here and they want to stomp their chest and they want to throw out everything and say, look what I've done and look, it's all about me and look, glory to God, it ain't about me, friends. And I'm going to tell you what this morning, it ain't about you. Not by the will of man, not by the will of flesh. But God, every time the old devil rares his old ugly pitchforked face and old crooked charbroiled finger at you, and his old horns on his head and looks at you, now we all know that that's just a figurative typology of the devil. You all know that the devil really don't look like that, right? Some of you little kids need to understand that the devil is real! He's real! He's just as real as God is because God made him! And he said, all right, big boy, I'm going to take the collar off of you for a little while, and I'm going to let you bark, and I'm going to tell you what you can do, and just how long you can do it, and who you can do it to. But you better stay in line, big boy. But I'm glad that my God has saved me from the penalty of all that. And I'm glad that my God is safe to find me from the power of all that. And one day, He's going to save me from the presence of all that. That's the three points for tonight, by the way. And that don't give you an excuse not to come. Now, I know Brother Joe and Brother Paul won't be at the funeral home tonight, so you're all excused. But that's the trinity of salvation. But there's more to this thing than just saying a prayer. More of a lot that I say unto you. Ye must, ye must, ye must be born again." And then what did he say down there? First he said, you must be born again to see it. And then he said, you must be born again to enter. Well, let me tell you something this morning. If you have been born again, and you've been quickened and regenerated in Christ, in Christ, You have entered the kingdom because you are part of the kingdom of God. You are part of the body of Christ. You ought not notice this. You are part of the body of Christ. And Jesus is not going to inflict self-injury upon himself by cutting any part, any member of his body off. Let's bow our heads this morning.