1997-01A

SERMON NOTES

TITLE: A NEW BEGINNING - A REBIRTH, a Restoration, a Renewal, and a Refilling.

INTRODUCTION: This is the first Sunday in the new year of 1997. New Year's Day symbolizes a new beginning - a chance to change, to begin all over again with a new slate for the New Year. There are no wrong deeds listed for 1997 on January 1, no wrong attitudes, no wrong motives, no sins. The page is clean. There are also no good deeds recorded, no attitudes or motives corrected.

Now in Christ, we do not have to wait for another New Year's Day, or for any other particular day to begin anew. We can do so at any time; the Holy Spirit convicts us of our need to change, and that is then the time to begin over. You might say, "Well, I have already messed up my page for this year." The good news is that anytime we come to the Lord in repentance, He will forgive the past, wipe our record clean, and allow us to begin again.

In Christ, we can begin over in 4 areas which I want to mention to you this morning. We can be reborn, we can be restored, we can be renewed, and we can be refilled. We will take them one at a time and see what we can learn. This began as one sermon, but each point has so much that needs to be said on it that I will preach this as 4 sermons.

PART I. In Christ, we can be reborn. (John 3:1-8)

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.

2 He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."

3 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

4 "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'

8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." (NIV)

This is the familiar story of Nicodemus, the ruler who came to the Lord by night. Let's first make some general observations that we can learn from this story. He was a religious man, but needed salvation. Now not all are as good as he was, but Christ died not only for the good, but for the bad as well. He longs to bring rebirth to all.

Who needs salvation the worse, a good man or a bad one. If you had seen Arthur when he stepped off the bus in Kingston, Ontario, you would never have been able to guess his past. He would blend into the background and be just like any traveling salesman, or perhaps a grandfather coming to visit his family. However, Arthur's vital statistics were anything but average. He was released from prison at the age of 53, yet incredibly had spent 42 years behind bars. He began his prison career at the age of 11. No prison seemed capable of holding him; no prison system seemed capable of breaking his spirit or reforming his behavior. He served 24 of those years in solitary confinement. Seventeen months he sat on death row. He participated in prison riots, broke a guard's arm, another guard's collar bone, and brought about the death of one sheriff. In one prison in Indiana, he stole 40 pounds of cyanide while working in the prison with the idea of poisoning the entire prison staff. He spent 31 months in Devil's Island Prison confined in a 5 x 7 foot cell, chained by his neck. Society had no hope for him, they just tried their best to confine him. But something happened in Arthur's life to dramatically change all of that. It began one day in Leavenworth, Kansas, while in prison. A preacher came to visit in the prison and brought along his 14-year-old son, Timmy. As Timmy followed his dad down the row of cells, he for some reason paused by Arthur's cell, and smiled and winked. That's all it took. Arthur responded, called him back to the cell and began to verbally abuse him; to curse, to swear, to call him everything he could think of. The boy broke down in tears, but he stood his ground. Finally he simply said these words to Arthur, "I love you." Arthur said later, "That was the first time in all of my life anyone had ever told me that." Arthur began to receive letters from Timmy. Timmy would write to him and share his concern. Timmy prayed for him. For seven years those letters kept coming, and correspondence began to be exchanged between them; until Arthur finally broke down and he said, "Every letter was stained with his tears. I couldn't take it anymore. I got on my knees and came to the Lord." God did two miracles in the life of Arthur. The first was to transform a hate- filled, violent man into a man of love and grace with the ability to care for others. Then God did a double miracle, because He saw fit to have him released from prison in spite of that kind of a background and record. Though he had cancer, he set about proclaiming Christ with the years that he had left.

The truth is that both had an equal need for Jesus as Savior.

First, note that the end of the last chapter shows that few people were brought to the Lord in Jerusalem. There are some places here it is hard to get people to come to the Lord, but even in those places some will come. Here, one of the few was Nicodemus.

1 Corinthians 1:26 tells us, "Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth." (NIV) However, we can see that some who are wise, educated, influential, and possibly of noble birth are called, with this man being one of them. Not all of Christ's followers are ignorant or unlearned. Thank the Lord for that. We need people who have the ability to fully understand the Scripture, and can explain the complete meaning to others.

Nicodemus was a man of dedication; he was a man of authority, a member of the Sanhedrin, a man who knew how to give and to obey orders. Men of this caliber are still needed in God's work today. Even in a group of men who are opposed to Christ, there are those want to follow Him, but are prevented from doing so to the extent they desire by the influence of others. The majority rules, and the wishes of others are bound by the action of the group. Yet Nicodemus continued at this time in the place where he was, and did what he could.

Nicodemus had heard Christ speak in public; he had heard the invitation of Christ to follow Him. But he did not get all the information he wanted in these public sessions, so he made the effort to see Jesus at night, when the Lord would have time to talk with him privately. He knew what Mal 2:7 says: "For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction-- because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty." (NIV) So he came to see the Lord. Now he used common sense in seeking Christ. Knowing that he could not gain the Lord's attention during the day when Christ was busy with other matters of possibly more importance, he found out when Christ would have more time, and approached Him then. Nicodemus himself was also likely busy during the day, so a night visit also was more profitable for him. He did not come at night just to avoid detection, but had these other good reasons for doing so. In his time off, when others were likely sleeping, resting, or having a time of recreation, Nicodemus was seeking the Lord, a good pattern for us to follow also.

Note that Christ received him with welcome, though he did come at night. When we come to God, seeking Him with our whole hearts, we will find him. Note also that Paul, like the Lord, also taught at private, for we find in Gal 2:2 that "I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders..." (NIV) Sometimes a private conversation is more appropriate. Also note that though he first came at night, later when the situation changed, Nicodemus became a public follower of the Lord, as we are told in the following passages.

John 7:50-52 says, "Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 'Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?' They replied, 'Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.'" And John 19:39-42 says, "He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. (NIV) A strong, stalwart giant of the faith may grow from a small mustard seed of faith.

Nicodemus does not beat around the bush when he begins to talk with Jesus. He first states what he knows about Jesus.

1. He says he knows Jesus is a teacher. He recognizes the authority with which Jesus teaches.

2. He knows Jesus is a teacher sent from God; Nicodemus recognizes the divine nature of the call Christ had. It was not just a call or ordination from man, but from God.

3. He knows this because the works he had seen Jesus do could not be done without the aid of God. Nicodemus knows much, and can see the mess that the rabbis have made of the Scriptures. It is now time for the Lord to work with divine authority. This man, full of reason, integrity, and an inquiring mind recognized that the miracles of Christ were genuine, and done with the power of God. The great works were not counterfeit. They were indeed his credentials, recognized by Nicodemus. By his coming, he shows his desire to learn from Christ, and to be a part of the kingdom of heaven. He is ready to learn and receive, so Christ begins to lay the truth on him.

Now Jesus goes to the heart of the matter, right to its center. Note what He tells Nicodemus.

1. Nicodemus, you must be born again. The KJV says it this way, "

Verily, verily, I say unto thee." This means that "I the Amen, the Amen, say it; so it may be read: "I the faithful and true witness." The matter is settled irreversibly that except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.

2. You cannot enter the kingdom of heaven without being born again.

"I say it to thee, though a Pharisee, though a master in Israel." Observe, no one, not even one as good as Nicodemus, could come any other way.

Nicodemus makes his response by asking the Lord a seemingly simple question. "How can a man be born again when he is old?"

Christ again tells him that he must be born again, but He adds to it. He must:

1. Be born from above.

2. Be born of the Spirit.

By our first birth we are corrupt, shaped in sin and iniquity; we must therefore undergo a second birth; our souls must be fashioned and given life anew.

So, we must live a new life. Birth is the beginning of life; to be born again is to begin anew, as those that have before lived either much amiss or to little purpose. We must not think to patch up the old building, but begin from the foundation.

Secondly, we must have a new nature, new principles, new affections, new aims. We must be born anothen, which signifies both denuo-- again, and desuper-- from above.

3. We must be born again - it is an absolute necessity. We do this by believing on the Lord. John 1:12-13 says, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." (NIV)

Nicodemus, though learned, and of good intelligence, does not understand that Christ is not talking of a rebirth of this natural body. Perhaps Nicodemus was of such lineage that it would be impossible for him to be reborn with better natural circumstances or family connections. More than this physical family was involved. Though he was a Jew by birth, more was required.

Jesus tells him what He is talking about in more detail. He says that:

1. Flesh gives birth to flesh, to a human being, a natural man.

2. The Spirit gives birth to a new spirit man, which is what we need to enter the kingdom of heaven.

A new-framing of this old physical body will not do. More is needed. A new spirit man must be created.

Though Nicodemus did not understand the mystery of regeneration, yet Christ asserts the necessity of it as positively as before. Note, It is folly to think of evading the obligation of evangelical precepts, by pleading that they are unintelligible, that they cannot be understood.

The author of this regeneration is the Spirit of God; it is not the spirit of man. God alone has the power to bring about this new birth. 1 Peter tells us this work in accomplished by the sanctification of Holy Sprit. Titus 3:5 says "he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit," (NIV) Our souls have regained authority over the body; the soul now seeks the things of God rather than the things of this world. We are new beings.

Until rebirth, the soul, though still a spiritual substance, is so wedded to the flesh, so captivated by the will of the flesh, so in love with the delights of the flesh, so employed in making provision for the flesh, that it is aptly called flesh; it is carnal. And what communion can there be between God, who is a spirit, and a soul in this condition?

How we came to be so? By being born of the flesh. It is a corruption that is bred in the bone with us, and therefore we cannot have a new nature, but we must be born again. The corrupt nature, which is flesh, takes rise from our first birth; and therefore the new nature, which is spirit, must take rise from a second birth. Nicodemus spoke of entering again into his mother's womb, and being born; but, if he could do so, to what purpose? If he were born of his mother a hundred times, that would not mend the matter, for still that which is born of the flesh is flesh; a clean thing cannot be brought out of an unclean. He must seek for another original, must be born of the Spirit, or he cannot become spiritual. Corruption and sin are woven into our nature; we are formed in iniquity, which makes it necessary that the nature be changed. It is not enough to put on a new coat or a new face, but we must put on the new man, we must be new creatures.

Note the source of this teaching. Christ has said it, and as He himself never did, nor ever will, unsay it, so all the world cannot change it, that we must be born again. He who is the great Lawgiver, whose will is a law,-- he who is the great Mediator of the new covenant, and has full power to settle the terms of our reconciliation to God and happiness in Him,-- He who is the Great Physician of souls, knows their case, and what is necessary to their cure,--He has said, "You must be born again."

We are not to marvel at it; for when we consider the holiness of the God with whom we have to do, the great design of our redemption, the depravity of our nature, and the conditions of the happiness set before us, we shall not think it strange that so much stress is laid upon this as the one thing needful, that we must be born again.

Now this work is accomplished in us by the Holy Spirit. We must note that:

1. The Spirit, in sanctifying a soul, cleanses and purifies it as water, takes away its filth, by which it was unfit for the kingdom of God. It is the washing of regeneration, as we are told in Titus 3:5 which I read earlier. You are washed, as 1 Cor 6:11 says, ". . . But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (NIV) Ezekiel 36:25-27 reads, "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (NIV)

The Spirit cools and refreshes the soul, as water does the hunted deer or the weary traveler. The Spirit is compared to water in John 7:38-39 and Isa 44:3, which say respectively, "'Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.'" By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified." and "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.

(NIV)

2. He is compared to wind: The wind blows where it wants to go, so is every one that is born of the Spirit, v. 8. The same word pneuma) signifies both the wind and the Spirit. The Spirit came upon the apostles in a rushing mighty wind , and his strong influences on the hearts of sinners are compared to the breathing of the wind .

3. The Spirit, in regeneration, works arbitrarily, and as a free agent. The wind blows where it wants for us, and does not attend our order, nor is subject to our command. God directs it; it fulfills His word, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do His bidding,(NIV)>. The Spirit dispenses his influences where, and when, on whom, and in what measure and degree, He pleases, dividing to every man severally as He will, <1 Cor. 12:11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. (NIV)>.