I invite you to take the Word of God and let us do turn to the Gospel according to John. The Gospel according to John, chapter 3, There are many reasons why we are turning to this passage rather than back to Matthew chapter 5. Lord willing, my plans and prayers are to take us back to Matthew chapter 5 and just In just a few weeks, next Sunday, we will of course be celebrating the Lord's Supper. The Sunday following that, Steve Martin will be here preaching to us God's Word. And then the Sunday after that will be the first Sunday in May. And Lord willing, we will be back in Matthew 5, actually finishing up the fifth chapter of Matthew as we look at Jesus' command on love your enemies. But of the many reasons that have brought me here, providentially, one of them is just the simple fact that even when we are working our way through a series, whether a book series or a thematic series through the Scriptures, especially with what we're doing now in the Sermon on the Mount, I feel it is very important for us as a church to return through such a course of teachings back to those basic gospel truths. We need to always be refreshed in hearing the gospel. The straightforward, plain preaching of the gospel. And this morning will be such preaching. John chapter 3. I'm going to begin reading in verse 1 through verse 8. Now, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, We know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." Jesus answered him, "'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' Nicodemus said to him, "'How can a man be born when he is old?' Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. This is the Word of God to the people of God on God's holy day. There's an old story told about a young farmer who was proceeding one day down the road on a donkey when he came upon a small bird, a sparrow, lying upon his back in the middle of the road. There he was, a small, scrawny creature with two thin legs pointed skyward. At first the farmer thought the sparrow was dead. When he found that the bird was alive, however, he got down from his donkey and went forward to speak to him. Are you alright? he asked. Yes, the sparrow answered. Then what are you doing lying on your back with your legs pointed straight up at the sky? Haven't you heard the rumor?" the sparrow asked in return. They say that the heavens are going to fall. If it does, said the farmer, surely you don't think you're going to hold it up with those two scrawny legs. The bird looked at him with a solemn face for a moment and then retorted in great determination, one does the best one can. Now, though we might snicker, and I think rightly so, at the folly of the sparrow, yet his foolishness illustrates to us the all too real folly of every man or woman who thinks they can hold off the impending judgment of God by the scrawny legs of human achievement. Think about this. How many people are there in the world who are doing the best they can and counting on their best to be enough to win the favor of God? This question reminds me of an interview I saw with the late John Wayne. It was one of the very last interviews he ever did before his death. The question was posed to him, do you fear death? He answered in the first place that he certainly didn't look forward to it. But from that initial comment, he went on to say that he was confident that the Supreme Being, which is how he referred to God, would be pleased with all that He had done. John Wayne was literally counting on his own human achievements to ultimately win the favor of God. But 2,000 years ago, There was a man who had the same mindset as John Wayne. His name was Nicodemus. And he sincerely believed that all of his human accomplishments were good enough for God's acceptance. Even like our foolish sparrow, Nicodemus was doing the best he could. But as he would soon find out, his best came up painfully short in winning God's favor and escaping God's wrath. But from a human standpoint, Nicodemus would be applauded by the world. Yet before God in His holy standard, this man needed to be changed. And the change he needed was so radical that the only way to describe it were in the terms of being born again. Now, when I say that Nicodemus needed to be born again, I wonder how many people in the church, yes, in the church, even know what that means. Or how many people have even heard of the term before? I'm convinced that if there is any one doctrine of the Gospel which has faded far away from preaching and teaching in today's church, it is this doctrine of being born again, or what we might call the new birth. You see, for most people who populate the visible church, and certainly everyone outside of the church, they do not even have a category in their thinking for the meaning, much less the necessity, of being born again. Rather, what is so typically heard in so-called gospel preaching is the call to make moral resolutions. Like stop drinking, stop smoking. Or even religious resolutions like join the church and have more faith. Now there is of course nothing wrong in these resolutions. That is to say, these resolutions are not sinful resolutions. But beloved, without the proper context of true salvation in Jesus Christ, such resolutions only produce proud religious churchgoers who think they are right with God because they look better than their neighbors who drink, swear, smoke, and don't go to church. The problem is such people have no understanding of what it means to be born again. Salvation for most people in the visible church is nothing more than an intellectual decision they made to be saved while their true spiritual and moral nature has not been changed at all. They know nothing of the necessity to be born again. And this is also the case with Nicodemus. In John 3, verses 1-21, we are given the historical account of a conversation Nicodemus initiated with the Lord Jesus in secret on one fateful night. Nicodemus, as the Apostle John tells us in his passage, was a Pharisee, and he was a ruler of the Jews. These titles signify that Nicodemus was a man who was held in very high esteem and clout among his fellow Jews, both in politics and religion. In fact, Jesus even recognized Nicodemus as THE teacher of Israel. He was not just a teacher, no, he was THE teacher of Israel. Thus he was a man who held a great position of influence throughout his nation, and the most important aspect of his influence was being a great teacher of God's Word. Therefore, when Nicodemus came to Jesus, And we have to understand this to appreciate what we're reading here. When Nicodemus came to Jesus, he was not coming to inquire, but to presume that he knew who Jesus was and what Jesus was about. However, Jesus knew Nicodemus' heart. And hence, he knew what this man truly needed. And that need, our Lord spelled out in these astounding words. In John chapter 3 and verse 3, Jesus said to Nicodemus, truly, truly, I say to you, to you, Mr. Pharisee, to you, great ruler of the Jews, unless one is born again, he cannot see. the kingdom of God. In spite of all his achievements as a religious and political leader, in spite of how much the nation of Israel looked up to him as a beacon of light to lead the people in the right way, Nicodemus was at the core of his soul a spiritually dead, bankrupt, impoverished sinner. Think about this. Here was a man who would fit quite comfortably in most churches today, serving in some leadership capacity, to be sure, and admired by everyone as even a great Christian. Yet to this very man, his greatest need, the shock of his own hearing, was that he needed to be born again. Well, this morning, I want to turn your attention to this passage in John chapter 3, where our Lord Jesus Christ declared as a matter of absolute necessity, not only to Nicodemus, but to all people everywhere, that if we are either to see or enter the Kingdom of God, then we must be born again. Now, the reason why This is an undeniable necessity. It's because sin in our original birth has ruined us completely from ever being right with God. Let me say this to you very plainly. No one is born basically good. No one is born basically good. We are all born basically bad. Our natural human nature is to do that which is in rebellion to God, hence we are sinners by nature. In fact, God's Word declares that our hearts, which represents the seed and center of all that we are, is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things. Therefore, if we are to be accepted by God, a new life must be born that God accepts as righteous, since our old life in sin He has rejected and justly condemned. This is essentially why we must be born again. But even with the necessity of the new birth stated, we are left with a larger question. What does it mean to be born again? What does it mean to be born again? When Jesus said to Nicodemus that unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God, what did Christ mean by this? But for the rest of our study this morning, I want us to answer this question as we seek to unpack it here in John 3, verses 5-8. But before we answer this question positively, we must first answer it negatively. So, to begin with, let's underscore first What being born again does not mean. What being born again does not mean. I will clarify three things in particular that do not validate the new birth. First, it is not an outward reformation. It is not an outward reformation. In other words, it does not mean that we must conform ourselves to a new set of rules and regulations for our life, or that we must make some kind of new resolutions to live by. It is not an outward reformation. Second, it is not being admitted into a church. It is not being admitted into a church. Someone decides that they want to turn over a so-called new leaf, so they decide to take up religion and go join a church. That has nothing to do with being born again. There are plenty of people who have gained church membership, but have never been born again. Much of this misconception, though, can certainly be blamed on the superficial and shallow way people are invited to join the church today. For many churches, there is no call for the prospective church member to give proof or evidence that they are indeed saved. As long as it is someone's desire to join a church, then all they have to do is walk a church aisle at the end of a worship service and express they wish to join and they're in. Yeah, true church membership. That is, church membership which is conformed to the Bible should only follow after someone has given credible evidence that they have indeed been born again. Because the true church is made up of only those who have experienced the new birth. Biblical church membership is regenerate church membership. Third, it is not a course of human achievement whatsoever. It is not a course of human achievement whatsoever. Man can achieve many things by his intelligence and strength, but he cannot be born again of any natural resources. This was, in fact, Nicodemus' misunderstanding here in John chapter 3 and verse 4. Nicodemus' first response to Jesus' declaration for the necessity of being born again was, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? By this inquiry, Nicodemus was only looking at what he could do. Both of his questions centered on his ability by using that little word, can. Can expresses power or ability. Therefore, Nicodemus was trusting only in what he could do rather than what God alone can do. Moreover, it should be a real tragedy to us that This man who is considered the great spiritual teacher of Israel was so blind and so ignorant of something so fundamental to being right with God. Yet at the same time, we must recognize that Nicodemus' blindness was really a willful blindness. It was willful. Nicodemus had built his entire understanding of being right with God on a works-based religion of self-righteousness, and he was not going to easily give that up. But when he heard Jesus say, you must be born again, the power of those words were saying in effect to this self-righteous Pharisee, you've got to start all over again, Nicodemus. You've got to throw away everything you've been taught and are teaching others as the means of salvation, for the only way into God's kingdom is having a new birth, something you cannot even achieve in your own power. So being born again, and thus entering the kingdom of God, or being saved, to put it in more vernacular terms, cannot be achieved through human efforts of any kind. No matter how sincere someone may be in those efforts. It is not a work of man. Man cannot reform himself, join a church, or try to perform noble things which may win, yes, may win the applause of the world, and then expect that this will bring about what Jesus calls being born again. No. The new birth does not mean any of these things. And saying this brings us to answering our leading question in the positive. What being born again does mean. What it does mean. Now look with me again at John chapter 3, verse 3 and then verses 5 through 8. Jesus answered him, truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. And that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes. And you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone. who is born of the Spirit." From this tremendous passage, we glean at least three answers to our question, what does it mean to be born again? And the first answer is spelled out in this way, it is a rebirth by God's power. It is a rebirth by God's power. To understand this first point, we must take into consideration the actual terminology Jesus uses by the words, born again. This term is the translation of two Greek words, ginao, which translates into the word born, and hanophen, which translates into the word again. Now, regarding the first word, ginao, born, The most important matter for us to understand about this term is that it is used here in what's called the passive voice. Therefore, this birth is not something we do, but it is something done to us. This is, of course, no different than our natural birth, right? We are all born into this world passively. It wasn't by our decision or power that we came into being and proceeded out of our mother's womb. No, but it was by God's power. It was an action done to us. No one decides to be born. You are simply born into this world. It is not an action of your own free will. It is something that is brought to pass without any personal contribution made on our part. We are totally passive in our natural birth. Therefore, in the same way, This is true of the new birth needed to enter God's kingdom. Hence this verb translated born, ganao, is used in the passive voice. This birth is brought about entirely by the sovereign power of God. God does this. We take no part in it. We are passive. So then, when Jesus says here, to Nicodemus that he must be born again, he does not lay out a five-step program on how Nicodemus can bring this about. In other words, there is no how-to method taught by Christ concerning the new birth. Rather, Jesus simply declares that unless one is born again, He cannot enter the kingdom. He cannot see the kingdom of God. It's just like saying, unless someone is born, they cannot enter this world. No one is going to argue with that. No one is going to argue with that. It is a matter of fact and reality. If anyone will be a part of this world, they must be born into this world, born over this natural birth, is not something they decide to do. It is something by the creative and sovereign power of God that happens to them. The point is, again, we are passive. We are passive. We are passive in our natural birth. And therefore it is no different with the new birth that brings us into the Kingdom of God. Hence, the important point to be made about this word, born, is that it is a passive verb. But now we must also consider the second term Jesus uses, and that is the word translated, again. Again. Now, what is the meaning of this term? Well, we've already identified it as the translation of the Greek word, hanophon. The definition of this word is literally, from above. from above. In this context, its reference is pointing directly to God. This is a birth which originates not on earth, but in heaven. It is a birth which cannot be secured or even made possible by any human involvement. It is a birth from above. In short, God alone must bring this to pass. He can give the life necessary to become a part of His kingdom. This will therefore not be manufactured by man's cleverness or intelligence. This can only be brought to pass by God's action, by God's doing. So being born again is literally a rebirth by God's power. It is by His sovereign and free power because we cannot bring this about by our own will or efforts. In fact, in our sinfulness, the Bible teaches us that in our sinfulness we are in complete rebellion against God and want nothing to do with those things which would bring about our salvation. This is why Paul writes in Romans 3 and verse 11, there is None who seeks after God. That is our state in sin. That is our state under the dominion and under the power of sin. We have no movement toward God on our own, in our own inclination. None. There is none who seeks after God. But in addition to this, our sin has rendered us helpless and morally unable to even desire Christ and be a part of His kingdom. So then, something as radical as a new birth must take place if we are to see and enter the kingdom of God. And again, this can only be accomplished by God's power alone. A supernatural power must do this. But this is not all that being born again means. There's another truth which emerges from John 3, verses 3-8. In the second place, notice, it is a transformation by the Spirit of God. What does it mean to be born again? It is a transformation by the Spirit of God. The new birth is essentially the work of God the Holy Spirit. Jesus makes this very plain in verse 5. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. To counter Nicodemus' misunderstanding in verse 4, and to add more clarification to his own statement in verse 3, Jesus identifies the act of being born again as something done indeed by a real person, but just not a human. person. The new birth comes into being by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. And what the Holy Spirit affects is a radical change of heart and character. A new creation is literally born. This is the reason why Christ uses the term water. There was a common metaphor used to describe the transforming work of the Spirit of God. If you were to read the sentence in the original Greek, this is how it reads, unless one is born out of water, that is, the Spirit, he has no power to enter the kingdom of God. So the word water is actually a metaphor for the Holy Spirit and his cleansing work. But Jesus further confirms the new birth as the work of the Spirit by showing us in verse 6 that the only thing man's flesh can produce is more of the same flesh. Remember what Nicodemus was suggesting. Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? How does our Lord respond to this? Jesus responds by saying, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. No matter how many times we could re-enter our mother's womb and be born, we would still retain the sinful nature of our parents. Every single time. However, Jesus says, that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. In other words, In order to enter God's kingdom and be a part of God's family, there must be a change of heart that takes place within us by a power that is outside of us. So that which is born of the Spirit becomes truly spiritual and therefore acceptable to God. Commenting on this very same point, consider the observations made by J.C. Ryle. Human nature is so utterly fallen, corrupt, and carnal that nothing can come from it by natural generation but a fallen, corrupt, and carnal offspring. There is no self-curative power in man. He will always go on reproducing himself. to become spiritual and fit for communion with God, nothing less is required than the entrance of the Spirit of God into our hearts. In other words, we must have that new birth of the Spirit which our Lord twice described to Nicodemus. So then to be born again is to be born of the Spirit. It is a divine work of the Holy Spirit, recreating within a sinner a new principle of life, a new nature, a new heart. We become what the Bible calls a new man. A change so radical takes place within us by the Holy Spirit's power that God's Word can only describe it in terms that should leave us in no doubt that what happens is the transformation of a life, because a new life is born. Furthermore, because this kind of birth is absolutely necessary for entrance into God's Kingdom, Notice that Jesus says in verse 7, do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The sense of these words can be understood in this way. Do not be surprised when I say to you that you must be born again. Since fallen human nature can only reproduce more of the same, then a new birth must take place if you will be accepted into God's kingdom and become a part of God's family. But this new birth can only be rendered by the Spirit of God. So what then does it mean to be born again? How do we answer that question biblically? How have we answered it so far? It is a rebirth by God's power and it is a transformation by the Spirit of God. In the third and final place, in answering this great question, we spell it out in this way. It is an invisible work of the Spirit made visible by the fruit of the Spirit. What does it mean to be born again? It is an invisible work of the Spirit, made visible by the fruit of the Spirit. Look with me at verse 8. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. If the new birth is not something that man can conjure up or produce by his own power, but instead this is something that the Holy Spirit works by His own sovereign power, then how do we know if and when the Holy Spirit is bringing about the new birth? That's a fair question. Well, this is what Jesus answers in verse 8. by using a very familiar illustration drawn from the wind. We all know, as our Lord tells us, that the wind blows where it wishes. That is, from our human standpoint, we have no power or control over the wind. We have no power to control the wind. Furthermore, We cannot even see the wind to know where it comes from or where it goes. Hence, there is a great mystery as to the motions of the wind. Or to say it another way, the wind is unpredictable and uncontrollable no matter how much man attempts to forecast its movements and motions. However, Though we cannot see the wind, though we cannot control the wind, Jesus says we do hear its sound and thus see the fruit of its workings. Like the rustling of leaves, the waving of trees, a funnel of dirt and dust. In other words, when we hear the sound of the wind and see the fruit of its works, we do not question for a moment that the wind is in fact blowing. Now tying this illustration into the new birth, Jesus says, so it is. In the same way, so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. Let's put this all together. We cannot predict or control or even know when, where, or to what extent the Holy Spirit will work to bring about the new birth in lost sinners. But when we see fruit brought forth in a manifest change of heart and life, we do not question the reality of the Spirit's work in us all. Therefore, when we see repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, love for God and love for neighbor, a hunger for the Word of God, and a life of obedience and prayer to God, then we know that God the Holy Spirit has already been at work in that soul bringing about the new birth. We cannot physically see a soul being born again, but we will see the fruit of that birth in the conduct and course of that life. Commenting once on this matter, Charles Spurgeon observed, every regeneration is really instantaneous. Its evidences, its outward manifestations may be gradual, but there must be a time when the man begins to live. There must be a period when the first ray of light darts on the opened eye. There must be a time when the man is condemned and a period when he is not condemned. And there must be an instant when the change takes place. The point is this, beloved. If God the Holy Spirit works in you the new birth, There will be nothing in you or in anyone else who will hinder or spoil the fruit of that change taking place and the manifestations thereof, period. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control will, listen, They will! Not maybe, not might, but they will manifest their existence in that sinner whom God has caused to be born again. No, we can't see when the sinner is reborn by God. But we will see the results. We will see the results. That is promised By God Himself, hence the words of our Lord, so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. So, going back to our original question, what does it mean to be born again? It is a rebirth by God's power. It is a transformation by the Spirit of God. And it is an invisible work of the Spirit made visible by the fruit of the Spirit. In light of all this, though, there is only one pending question. Have you been born again? This is where we have to conclude, right? We have the explanation. We see, we hear, we know what it means. But I would not be a faithful proclaimer of the Word of God to merely give you a cerebral explanation of the new birth and let you walk out of here with cold data in your brain. No, my friend, we need some application. We need to make this very personal. Have you been born again? Let me help you out with several questions. Is there repentance in your life from sin? Is there repentance in your life from sin? In other words, are you weakening, subduing, and killing sin in your life by the power of the Holy Spirit? I have known people through the years who have proclaimed loudly that they are in fact Christians. But there is no evidence of repentance in their life. None. They never speak of personal sin in their life. There is never any confession of personal sin. When it is very obvious and very clear, glaringly so to everybody else around them, that they're sinning to high heaven. But they don't see it. And because they don't see their sin, there is no godly sorrow over their sin. And as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 12, it is godly sorrow that leads to repentance unto salvation. But there is no evidence of repentance at all in their life. None. Oh, but they made a decision. Oh, but they've been baptized. They're a member at such and such church. So what? That's just more layers of guilt that they will have on their head when they face God and the judgment with what they will have to answer for. Have you been born again? Have you been born again? Is there repentance of sin in your life? You know repentance of sin in your life. A true, broken, contrite heart over your wickedness and your evil. And not just, listen, not just feeling sorry because you've done some bad things. No. A godly sorrow that says with King David, I have sinned against you, God, and you only have I sinned against. A godly sorrow that leads to repentance. Is there evidence of that in your life? If not, then I can't really say, based upon the Word of God, not my opinion, but upon the Scriptures, you don't really have any assurance of being saved. Have you been born again? Let me ask you this, is there an active, present, growing trust in Jesus Christ alone as your only hope, confidence, and redemption? Is there an active, present, growing trust in Jesus Christ alone as your only hope, confidence, and redemption? Now notice how I describe faith in Jesus Christ there. Active, present, growing trust in Jesus. I'm not asking if you made some cold, calculated, clinical, mechanical decision that you wrote on a card thirty years ago. That's not the question. There have been thousands of people who've made that kind of decision that I fear will wake up in hell one day. I'm asking Are you right now at this very moment, at this very hour, at the sound of my voice, are you actively trusting in Jesus Christ alone as your only hope, your only confidence for true redemption, for true salvation of being right with God right now? Do you have active, growing faith in Christ alone for your salvation? If I were to put the question to you another way, my favorite question I like to ask, what confidence do you have that God accepts you? What's the basis of your confidence that God accepts you? How would you answer that question? I hope you understand there's only one answer that's right. There's only one answer that's right. I'll go ahead and tell you what it is. What confidence do I have that God accepts me? Jesus Christ and Him alone. That's it. That's it. And my friend, if that's not your first response, if that is not where your heart immediately goes to in answer to such a question, then you have a lot more things to question. hunger and thirst for righteousness, for holiness, for godliness in your life. Do these things matter to you? Are you serious about being a righteous person, a godly person, a holy person? Are you serious about those things? Do you give real, serious thought to your actions, to your words? to the direction of your affections, with such questions as, is this really holy? Is this really righteous? Is this really godly? To put it to you another way, 1 Corinthians 10.31, whether you eat or drink or in whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Do you give serious thought to that? Does such a passage of Scripture ever surface in your mind and your thinking? Is this glorifying God today? Now, I do recognize that as Christians, we don't think in those terms 24-7. We don't. And you want to know why? Just read Romans chapter 7 and you'll know why. Because we, as Christians, have the fight, we have the ongoing struggle within dwelling sin. And so we are distracted. We are pulled this way and that way by the love of this world, by the works of the flesh, by the wiles of the devil at all times. And many of those times, sadly, we give in. We yield. But my friend, I know people Who, I dare say, never have one single thought in this category. Not one single thought about, does this glorify God? Not one single thought. What does it mean to live a godly life? To live a holy life? To live a righteous life? A life glorifying to God? There's no such hunger. There's no such thirst. They have no taste for that. Oh, they got taste for religion. They've got taste for plenty of that. Their own version of it. But they have no taste for true religion. A life hungering and thirsting after God. A life to be conformed to His will. A life to be conformed to the very character of Christ. A life that is holy and righteous and godly. So you have to ask yourself, do I have these desires? Do I have this passion? Is this drive working in me? It may be weak. One day it may be weak. The next day it may be strong. But my question is, is it there? Is it there? Is there love for God's Word? And a growing desire to obey His Word, no matter what the cost? Is there? Do you have a real love for the Holy Scriptures of God? Do you love the Word? Or like so many people who populate church pews across this country, the Word of God is a closed and dead book. And that even goes for people who I've seen who proudly carry it to worship with Him. Do you love the Word? And has that love manifested? What did Jesus say? If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. Is there a growing desire to obey the Word? And I hope you understand, I'm not asking if you're perfect. I'm not asking if you're without sin. Because in none of these questions have I asked, have you arrived yet? What I'm asking is this, is there evidence of hunger and thirst and growth Is there evidence of obedience? Is there evidence of repentance? It's there. It may not be as strong as it is in other Christians, but if you're a true believer, it's there. It's present. That's the point. Can you say that? Can you look at your life, honestly, honestly look at your life and say, I do love God's Word. And you know, I want to be in His Word every day. I really do. I don't live up to that every day. I want to be in His Word every day. And I want to obey all that He has commanded me to do. No matter how many times I fail, no matter how many times I will fall short of that, my desire is to obey Him in full. Whatever He commands. And lastly, is there a love for God and a love for your neighbor? We all know in this congregation that love for God, love for neighbor are the two great summation commandments that make up the moral law, the ten commandments. The first four commandments of the moral law summarize our love for God. The last six summarize our love for our neighbor. So when I'm asking, do you love God? What am I asking? I'm asking, do you have other gods that you put before the true God? Do you worship God according to what He's commanded and what He's regulated? Do you strive to represent Him and not misrepresent Him, thus taking His name in vain? Do you keep the Sabbath holy? That's not just in the top ten, that's in the top four. Do you keep the Sabbath holy? You say, I love God, but I break the Sabbath every week. Well, that's not a great big love for God if there is any there. What about your neighbor? What about your neighbor who's your employer or your parents? Those people in authority over you. Are you submissive to the people God has providentially placed over you in authority? Do you yield to their authority? That's what the fifth commandment is summarily about. Honor father and mother. What about murder, adultery? stealing, slander, covening. What our Lord will tell us is we'll learn whenever we get to Matthew chapter 7. Treat others the way you want them to treat you. Do you love your neighbor? All I have to ask is this, are you treating others the way you want them to treat you? And however you answer that question honestly, will prove how much love is there or not. I hope you can see, brothers and sisters, that there's a lot to this question, have you been born again? This is one of the greatest and most important questions that you can ask yourself or that you can ask anyone else. during the First Great Awakening and the American colonies. The great thematic message of those great preachers of that era, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Gilbert Tennant, and then across the Atlantic too, even with the Wesleys. The great thematic message that those men kept proclaiming over and over was, you must be born again. The story is told of George Whitefield preaching in Philadelphia. And for seven days straight, he preached to this one local church the same message all seven consecutive days. You must be born again. After a whole week of preaching the same thing, the deacons of that church approached Whitefield and they complained. And they wanted to know, Brother Whitfield, why do you keep telling us that we must be born again? And Whitfield, looking as if he was very thoughtful, very pensive, said to them, because you must be born again. Why is the new birth so important? Because this is how we enter the kingdom of God. This is how we see the kingdom, how we enter the kingdom, how we become a part of God's family. So it is vitally important that today, as we close this message, that we ask ourselves, and we also take the time with great boldness to ask others, Have you been born again? Amen? Amen. Let's pray.