When you hear the words radical change, what do you think about? Maybe your mind goes to that TV show on HGTV, the Chip and Joanna Gaines show. And they would take these older homes and they would rehabilitate them. They would do this makeover. And then there would be this unveiling for the new buyer. And you would see the old home pictures. And then they'd have this beautiful new home. And they might move some walls, change some countertops, some flooring. And they'd taken the home here and turned it into something beautiful over here. So maybe when I say radical change, you might think about something like that. Or maybe someone else, they hear the words radical change, and they think about, again, another TV show that I actually never watched, The Biggest Loser. The biggest loser, as I recall, it was this reality TV show where people would lose weight, lots of weight, really quick. And so they would, at the end of this competition, what before they'd have a picture of maybe it was a guy probably wearing far too few of clothes and he was overweight, et cetera. And then after the competition, they'd show another picture and a picture of a guy probably still wearing far too clothes and he's muscular and fit. Wow! Radical change. But as we try to hone in and think really about the radical change that we're going to be considering this morning, there's probably a different picture that's even more becoming to what we want to be thinking about. And this picture, you have to come with me into the birthing center. And this radical change, is the miracle of a new birth. And as we might enter that birthing center together, maybe we can enter this room, and there's a first-time mother on the bed. She's nine months pregnant. And we look at the monitor there, and those contractions, they're becoming more intense, more frequent, closer together. The time is quickly coming. And the doctor says she's fully dilated. And there we see the baby's head, and then its shoulders, and its whole body is here. And there's a new life. And if you're a father, you know that that is an absolutely overwhelmingly miraculous experience and I can only speak about this from the father's perspective. The mother's perspective I'm sure is no less miraculous but perhaps a little different and I don't want to speak for them, but the miracle of new birth and I've seen that seven times now in my own experience with my wife and each time it is no less, my heart is beating and palpitating and there's this anticipation of this baby appearing and you're praying and hoping your wife's okay and the baby's okay. It's an incredible radical change. Well, this morning, we're talking about radical change and we're talking about regeneration. It's a second birth. It's a new beginning of life. And we want to just consider this in three points. First, we want to look at the Bible and really understand the biblical basis for regeneration. And then secondly, and quite briefly, we're going to talk about our need for regeneration. And finally, we'll talk about the signs of life. How do I know if I've been regenerated? So first, let's take a peek at the biblical basis for regeneration. So here's what we want to do. First, the term regeneration specifically, that noun, is actually only used twice in the Bible. And we're going to look at those two times. And then we're going to look at, though, the idea of regeneration, the concept, which is frequently used. We're going to take a look at it in the Old Testament, in the New Testament. And then B.B. Warfield's gonna give us some helpful perspective and analysis of regeneration. And then finally, we're gonna end with, in terms of the biblical base of regeneration, with the Apostle John, who probably discusses this concept more than anyone else. But let's start with the two specific uses of regeneration where that word is actually mentioned in the Bible. And the first is in Matthew chapter 19, verse 28. Matthew 19 verse 28, we find this word, regeneration. Jesus said to them, truly I say to you, in the new world, or actually you could say, in the regeneration, when the son of man will sit on his glorious throne, you will have followed me you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. So he's talking about the new world, he's talking about heaven and we find our word here in the new world or in the regeneration. And so what do we learn about regeneration from this passage? Well, this is a new world, it's not a rehabbed world, it's not a modified world, it's brand new, regeneration. The second time this term is used is in Titus 3.5. Titus 3.5. It says that he saved us. not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior. So he's saying he saved us, and it's not our works, but it was by two things, regeneration, the washing of regeneration, and the renewal of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ. So there we see the word regeneration used. But now let's talk about this idea of regeneration that's used throughout the scriptures. And let's start in the Old Testament. And we can find regeneration in the book of Ezekiel, chapter 36. Ezekiel 36, verse 26. It says here, and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. So here we hear about a new heart, a new spirit. Regeneration is, the idea is discussed here, right? There was a heart of stone and now there's a new heart. And who does this? Well, it's pretty clear, it's not us, right? It's God that is the one who is regenerating. Well, B.B. Warfield gives us a helpful kind of overview of regeneration. And he describes it, kind of breaks it up into pieces, and describes regeneration as comprised of kind of the following components. First, it's a radical and complete transformation. It's a radical change. And regeneration is done by God, the Holy Spirit. and regeneration causes us to become new. Still even to younger people and our children, God wants industrious Christians, go-getters. Zealous is the word that's used here. And it's interesting, my wife over the years has been reading these Christian biographies to our kids. great Christian missionaries, people who really, some newer biographies, some old. And one of the common threads that I saw with these missionaries, great men of the faith, was they moved, right? They were, had a bias towards action for the Lord. And that is a sign that we have new life when we move as Christians. And then finally, a sign of new life is resting. I know it sounds maybe at odds with what I just said, but let's explain. Babies sleep. And when they're first born, they sleep a lot. And their sleep, generally speaking, can be at times unlike some of our sleep. I'm sure we've all been through this one. There's weighty things in our minds. We're worried. We're anxious. And what's your sleep like then? You're tossing. You're turning. You get up. You look at the clock. And there's stuff still churning through your mind. And you're dreaming about it. It's not deep, peaceful sleep. But that's not how babies sleep. Right? When they sleep perfectly at peace. Have you ever, like, quietly creeped over and looked in the crib there, and the baby's sleeping there, and their face is just perfectly serene and peaceful? That's how babies sleep. And this is to characterize the Christian. Look with me in Psalm 131. Once again, the Bible's talking about children here. Psalm 131, verse 2. But I've calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. A child is calmed and quieted with its mother because it feels totally secure. and cared for, right? And there's this deep sense of peace about that child that's with its mother. And so, too, the child of God, when we truly recognize and believe and understand, I am with my father. My father's arms are encircling me. Whatever is going on around me, he has me. He has this all under control. He's perfectly wise. He's perfectly sovereign. He's perfectly loving and powerful. I have nothing to fear. I can rest like a baby. I can be content. I can leave the outcomes to God. And I can rest apart from and distinct from my circumstances, because my circumstances may be really tumultuous. I can rest because God is my Father. And so, four signs of life. Am I a Christian? How do I know if I've been reborn, if I've been recharited? Well, do you cry? Do you feed? Do you move? Do we rest? Matthew 18, verse 3. And along this theme of us, this anecdote of children, Matthew 18 verse 3 says, Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So we're called to be childlike toward God, to have simple Radical change. What do you think about? Is it the HGTV show, The Biggest Loser? Well, I hope when we think about radical change, we think about children, about a new birth. Because Christians, we have been reborn. We're brand new creatures. And I pray that you and I will, that our lives will Lord, we thank you for this biblical concept of regeneration. We know that this is your work, Lord, that you initiate you by your Holy Spirit, awaken us. We pray that you would awaken all those in this place who do not know you, who have not been born again. And then, Lord, we pray that your Holy Spirit would be at work, and that there would be these signs of life that we would cry and feed and move and rest.