You Must Be Born Again!

John chapter three We are going to read verses one through 21. Very familiar passage to some of you this morning. Start a series about a month ago on salvation, on the scriptures description. Of our relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, his son. How does God define salvation?

Well, uses different terms in his word. Terms that sometimes in Christian circles, some people don't understand all that well. We we throw them around a lot but sometimes we don't really have a full appreciation of what those terms mean. The first one is salvation. We talk about being saved.

We ask people, are you saved? We need to make sure we ask them if they say yes, what they're saved from Because there are a lot of people who think they're saved but they think they're maybe saved from poverty or saved from poor health or they're they're saved from a a particular bad habit or addiction or they think they're they're saved from they can get saved from poor relationships but Jesus Christ came to save us or to deliver us from sin and hell. Christ came to save, deliver us from sin and hell. That's what salvation is in scripture. God loves us so much that he sent his only begotten son that he suffered our price on Calvary's Cross that we might be delivered from the chains of sin and hell.

Praise the Lord. Then, there's the word we looked at redemption. Redemption is another word that God uses to describe our salvation and our relationship with him. The word redemption, the word redeemed means to be purchased back, to be bought. You see, the Bible says, we are bought with a price.

Therefore, glorify God in your body and your spirit which are his. What price did God pay to purchase us from the slavery of sin, from the task master of sin, to buy us back, to once again become the servants of the king, the children of the Lord, the subjects of the kingdom. What did God do? Well, Christ died on the cross once again and he paid the price. He paid the payment, the payment that was not his, the payment that was ours.

He paid the price we could not pay to redeem us, to buy us back from Satan and from sin, who had held us captive. And then there's the word justification. You'll notice these terms overlap and all of these terms point us back to the act. The sacrifice of Christ on Calvary's Cross. You see, because without that, we would all forever be lost.

The last week, we we made a little makeshift court courtroom up here and we had the judge and we had we had the prosecution. And we had the defendant. And we are the defendants in God's courtroom and the Bible says, we are already condemned. When we read about the great white throne judgment in Revelation chapter 20, that is not a judgment to determine if those that are there will be cast in the lake of fire. That is a judgment where that sentence that has already been determined is being what?

Carried out. Carried out. Based upon their works. And if we're to be judged based upon our works, we would all be found what? Guilty before God.

But there is one Jesus Christ, the righteous, who also happens to be the judge. Who came and died on the cross and he paid our penalty. He took our penalty. He suffered our punishment on Calvary's Cross that we might be declared before the God for for the throne of God in heaven that we might be declared guiltless, pardoned, justified. Christ Jesus didn't die for just the sins of yesterday or the sins of today.

He died for the sins of our lifetime. He died for sinners. And in Jesus Christ, we have been justified before God. We have been declared righteous. Not because of our righteousness because the righteousness of the one who took our place on Calvary's Cross, who took our punishment, who paid our penalty for us.

For God hath made him, that is Jesus to be sent for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made in turn the righteousness of God in him. Praise the Lord and we finish last week with if God is for us, who can be against us? If God who is the judge is also the one who paid the price and who has declared us guiltless before his throne, Who can lay charge to us anymore? The judge has finalized the transaction. Our sins have been what?

All washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. And our name has been written in the lamb's book of life. And therefore, we will not stand at that judgment one day. This morning, we want to look at a term that is kind of looked down on by by much of the religious world today. You know, if you grew up in the sticks somewhere, they might call you a hick or or redneck or something like that.

And look look down upon you because hey, you're just a country bumpkin, okay? As Christians, as believing evangelical, here's the term born again Christians. The term born again is sometimes used by the world and even yes, the religious world to look down upon us because we believe that you must be born again. We believe that the means to salvation is not within us. That we are not able, that we are not capable, that we are not worthy, but Jesus Christ, the righteous, son of God, he was worthy.

Jesus Christ, the son of God, has the power to save and to do for us that which we cannot do for ourselves. That we might be born again into God's family. We want to look at that this morning. What does it mean to be born again and yes, you must be born again. Look at me what in John chapter three.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, verily verily I say unto thee, except a man be. Born. Born again.

He cannot see the kingdom of God. 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, or truly, truly I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter the into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh.

That which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, you must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou heard hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh or whether it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, how can these things be?

Jesus answered and said unto him, art thou a master of Israel? And knowest not? These things? Verily, verily I say unto thee, we speak that we do know and testify that we have seen and you receive not our witness. I have told you earthly things and you believe not.

How shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven but he that cometh down from heaven, even the son of man which is in heaven. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up. That whoso believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoso believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world that the world to him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned, and he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. And this is the condemnation, The light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Let's go to prayer once more. Lord, thank you for your word. I pray Lord that you would drive home what it means today to be born again and Lord, we pray if there's one here today that's never put their faith and trust in you. They've never repented and come to you for salvation. Lord, I pray that today they would do so.

I pray that you would make it clear to them what is necessary that they might be saved and escape the penalty of hell. And become indeed a child of the living God. In Jesus name, we do pray. Amen. We start in our passage.

We start our passage this morning with Nicodemus. Who is Nicodemus? He is an interesting character in scripture. He's not one that we see a whole lot but he's mentioned here and in another place. Jesus told his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

The self righteous, the arrogant, the wealthy, for they need him also. We are defined time to speak to all who listen to the gospel from all walks of life that is just what Jesus from the poorest woman to the treasonous tax collector to the most hypocritical Pharisee did. Jesus did not pass up opportunities to teach and preach the gospel. He did not pass up the opportunity here to speak to a man who came to him with a need. Even though he was a Pharisee.

Now, who were the Pharisees? Well, they were the strictest and most religious that is devout, pious sect of the major groups of Jews. If you want to know what group of Jews was the most strict, was the most pious in their life, it was the Pharisees. They they dotted the Is and crossed the Ts. They they did everything just so.

They they were the most zealous. They weren't playing games with this. They really meant it, and their lives seemed to indicate that. Very religious people. They believed in strict adherence to the law along with the tradition of the elders.

Now, this these were laws added by the rabbis. These were the laws of men that had taken the place of the commandments of who? Of God that Jesus spoke of in the gospels concerning the Pharisees and they had added to the law these traditions which they kept also. They put all their emphasis on behavior and outward observance but not upon repentance of the heart. They put all of their focus on actions.

All of their focus on appearance. All of their focus on behavior and none of their focus on the heart condition of man. In Matthew twenty three twenty seven, Jesus said, woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like unto whited sepulchres which indeed appear beautiful outward but are within full of dead man's bones and of all uncleanness. He said, on the outside, you're painted up real nice and pretty. That everybody can see how nice and clean you are.

But inside Jesus said, you're full of decay, full of corruption, full of detestable things. Bible says man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the what? Heart. You can fool everybody else around you. You can clean up the outside.

You can clean up your habits and addictions and your and your this and your that. But God still sees your what? God still sees your heart And he knows. He knows. They had come to believe that they were superior to all others and reveled in the honor bestowed upon them by many of their fellow Jews.

In Luke twenty forty six, Jesus said, beware of the scribes which desire to walk in long robes and love greetings in the markets and the highest seats in the synagogues and the chief rooms and feast. Jesus went on to say, listen to what they have to say but don't follow them in their ways and then the example that they have set. Because they're proud, self righteous, and do not see the need to clean up the inside. Only the outside. They waited for the Messiah.

They looked for a little fulfillment of the kingdom which they felt themselves worthy to occupy. Because they were Jews. And because they were religious. But not because they had been or would be born again. Right.

These were the Pharisees. Nicodemus was one of them. They were not Jesus supporters. They were not his cheering section. They very quickly became his enemies.

His opponents and even sought his death. And indeed were the movers behind what led to his rest and his crucifixion. Nicodemus was one of these. He was also here called a ruler. This very likely indicated that he sat on a ruling council in Jerusalem called the Sanhedrin.

There were 70 men including the high priest that ruled in religious affairs in Israel. They were called the Sanhedrin. Nicodemus was likely one of these. As such, he was very powerful, wealthy, likely, and well respected man among his brother. Christ told his disciples that it was nearly impossible for the wealthy to be saved.

Yet, it would appear that both Nicodemus and a man by the name of Joseph of Arimathea were rare exceptions. For it indicates later on in the gospels that Nicodemus and this man named Joseph were the ones who took Jesus Christ body off the cross and buried him in Joseph's borrowed tomb. For with God, Jesus pointed out, all things are possible. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. Well, why did he do that?

Why did he come to Jesus during the day? Well, it could be for fear of his fellow Pharisees. He may have not wanted them to know what he was doing because they were not again the cheering section for Jesus. They had already determined that they did not believe him to be the Messiah who he claimed to be. It's also likely that he wanted to speak with Christ alone to have his full attention and so he came to Jesus by night.

During the day, Jesus, even by this point of his ministry, was often surrounded by crowds of people. Crowds of people who wanted to hear his teaching or wanted his healing. But often there were crowds thronging Jesus. So, it was hard to to get a moment, a one on one and so, Nicodemus came by night. I think that is most likely the case.

At the beginning, he uses the word we but he's attitude of his fellow Pharisees and of the Sanhedrin members were not really I don't believe similar to his own. Jesus refers later verses nineteen and twenty to the darkness that surrounded them, that is this very religious crowd. In verse 19, he said this, and this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. It would seem that one of the reasons the Pharisees and the sadducees and other of the religious crowd detested Jesus so much is because he, the light of the world, exposed them for who they really were.

Hypocrites and that only angered them. You see, when the gospel, the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ is brought to the ears of people. They either soften or they get harder and most of these chose the latter and they became very hard towards the light because they didn't want to recognize their sinful condition. That's often the case in the world today. In the case with the world, whether they be the religious crowd or whether they breathe the the world out there that's partying, The world does not want to hear the gospel.

Why is that? Why would they not want to hear the good news that they could be saved? Because they do not want to repent. They do not want to be faced with their sinful condition. They want to be left alone.

And so therefore, the world often responds negatively. To the gospel. As the Pharisees as a group did to Jesus. With the exception, at least of one, Nicodemus. Jesus didn't care when he came.

He just cared that he came. So often we who do not know men's hearts misjudge them. Misjudge their motives. Treat them differently or even with contempt. Again, we must remember, we look on the what?

The outward appearance but God looks on the heart and sometimes when you judge the book by its cover, you can judge. Erroneously. Sometimes we do. Sometimes, we let that affect our witness for Christ and we should not do so. Peter said, but sanctify the Lord in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

What a privilege we have and what a great responsibility. That Jesus has given to us to be the ambassadors of Jesus Christ, to be the messengers of the gospel. And we always need to be, we need to be always ready to testify of the grace of God. The love of Jesus Christ and the need of lost humanity to be saved. Nicodemus came to Jesus by night and Jesus gave him his full attention and gave him the gospel.

He addressed Jesus as rabbi, meaning master, teacher, as a term of great respect especially coming from Nicodemus who was a rabbi himself, trained, and acknowledged by others as such. He called him a teacher from God. That would imply one who speaks the truth and has something to deliver from God. There were many of these in the Old Testament. We call them what?

We call them prophets. They were people appointed by God and given a message of direct revelation to proclaim to a certain particular group or to the whole world. Oftentimes in the Old Testament, the message is for the nation of Israel. These prophets were teachers having a message from who? From God.

Nicodemus recognized Jesus to be one of these men, a prophet, a teacher, with a message from God. The reason for his belief he gives here, he says the end of verse two, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. He says, I know that you must be a prophet, a teacher from God, come from God because look, I know that I see the miracles you're doing. The Old Testament clearly prophesied that the Messiah would do many miracles like as prophets from the Old Testament but even more so, that would identify him as the Messiah and though Nicodemus doesn't seem to quite be there yet, he is moving in that direction and sees him as a prophet and the miracles that he did as evidence that he was doing the work of who? The work of God.

Now, his fellow Pharisees didn't agree with him on that point. But being a prophet is not enough. What is lacking in Nicodemus' admission is this, that Jesus Christ, that Jesus is Christ, that is the Messiah. The word Christ and Messiah, same thing. Means the anointed or appointed king of Israel, the savior of the world.

Jesus is the Christ. That wasn't Nicodemus' profession here, not yet. And that Jesus is Lord, that he is who? That he is God. That he is Lord of this universe that he created.

Clearly in John one one, we're told the word was with God, the word what? Was God and that all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made and we're told in Romans ten nine that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, that is that Jesus is. Lord. Lord, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead. As a demonstration of who he really was.

Thou shalt be what? Thou shalt be saved. It's not enough to believe that he is a prophet. It's not enough to believe that he was a good teacher. It's not enough to believe that he was a good man.

It's not enough to believe that he left a good example. He is either the Messiah, the son of God, and God in human flesh or he has no power to save lost souls. He is one or he is the other. He is either the Messiah or he is not And if he was not the Messiah and if he was not the son of God and he was not God in human flesh, then he was a liar because he clearly declared himself to be so. All throughout the gospel.

We must make a choice. Nicodemus was not yet quite there. He was a prophet. He was doing the work of God but he wasn't yet it seemed at this point yet convinced that he was the Messiah and the Lord. So, we look at Jesus's response in verse three.

Jesus then answered and said unto him, verily verily I say unto thee except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Remember the Pharisees thought that they were worthy, that they would see, would be in the kingdom of God. The sadducees which was another religious group in Jesus day didn't believe in the resurrection. So, the sadducees were looking for the kingdom right then because if they died before the kingdom came, well, they were out of luck because they didn't believe in the resurrection but the Pharisees believe in the resurrection. So, they were looking for a literal kingdom but they thought if they didn't live to make it this time, then, they would be resurrected later to be in that kingdom but they believe that based upon their own self righteousness upon the works of the law that they strive to keep.

They believe themselves to be worthy but they did look to that kingdom. That kingdom is here today. In the subjects of the kingdom. The children of God, those who have been born again by faith. We are part of God's what?

We are part of God's One day, Christ will come again and he will set up his kingdom on this Earth where we will rule and reign with him for how long? A thousand years and then into what? All eternity. There is a kingdom. However, we don't get into that kingdom by our own good works or our own self righteousness.

We must be what? You must be born again. The point that Nicodemus was missing is this, there must be a change of heart. There must be a conversion. There must be a new birth.

In Matthew five twenty, Jesus said in his sermon on the mount, he says, for I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees, you shall no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. He took the most religious, the most pious group in Israel, and he looked to his disciples and he said, unless your righteousness exceeds theirs, there is no chance for you. And as they looked at the Pharisees, they probably thought in themselves, I'm in trouble because the Pharisees were it. They were the most self righteous. But Jesus is speaking not of their outward behavior so much as he is speaking of their heart condition and that is where the Pharisees greatly lacked And where humanity, particularly the religious crowd of today lacks.

They go to church, they sit in a pew, they may even read some of the scriptures. They go through the motions, they get baptized, they do sacraments, they they do all of these things believing that if they will just do it well enough, if they will just strive hard enough, that God will allow them to heaven based upon their attendance to church or their keeping of the law or of the sacraments or whatever it is. They think that they can do to earn God's favor. We can do nothing to earn God's favor. The Bible says in Isaiah sixty four six, our righteousness or good works are as what?

Filthy. Filthy rags before God. He doesn't look at us and go as sinners and go, oh, well, look, that that person is that, they really deserve heaven. No. We are all tainted by sin.

And the only way we can be made acceptable to God for heaven is by being washed in the blood of the lamb. By being born again. Nicodemus self righteousness was not sufficient to enter the kingdom but only this new birth that Jesus spoke of in John three three. Only by this new birth would he or any man have any hope of seeing the kingdom of God which God has promised to his children. Nicodemus in verse four didn't know what to think of this.

He said, well, wait, what are you talking about? Can I can old man go in back into his mother's womb and be born again? Nicodemus said, that doesn't make any sense. What are you talking about? You're sick and Nicodemus had a carnal mindset.

He didn't understand spiritual things. He only understood physical things. It says in first Corinthians that the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit for they are what? Foolishness unto him. Nicodemus didn't have the spirit.

Nicodemus wasn't born again at this point. Nicodemus didn't understand the things of the spiritual world, his spiritual needs. He only understood the physical. He was looking only for a physical kingdom. He was only looking at his works.

They recognized there was something amiss. And that Jesus had something and so he came to him. Jesus said to him, you must be born again. He said, how can that be? You see, the Pharisees came to John's baptism and John said to them in Matthew three nine, and think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father.

For I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Said, you're not getting there because you're the descendants of Abraham. You're only fooling yourselves. You must be born a second time. You must be born again.

You must be born of the spirit. Look if you would in verse five. We see that this new birth is a spiritual birth, a spiritual birth performed only by the holy spirit. Jesus answered, verily, verily I say unto thee, except the man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom, that which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit, marvel not that I said unto you, you must be born again. Jesus said unto him, not only must you be born of water but you must also be born of the spirit or you'll never enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Now, some would have you to believe that born of water there means baptism. That's not what it's talking about. There's no evidence of that anywhere else in the rest of this gospel. That anyone is saved by what? By baptism.

We're not saved by baptism. We're saved by faith, by grace, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, what is he talking about when he says born of water? Well, when we're born physically, we're born out of what? Out of water, okay?

And based upon the next verse where he said that which is flesh is flesh and that which is spirit is spirit, okay? We see that the born of water is speaking of our physical birth but our physical birth in itself alone is not enough. You can be born a Gentile, a Jew, you can be born American, or you can be born on the from the other side of the world. That is not how one is found worthy to enter the kingdom. You must also be born of the what?

You must also be born of the spirit. This means the new birth, a rebirth birth of the spirit of man. In Ephesians two one, it says, and you hath he quickened or made alive who were dead in trespasses and in sins. The Bible tells us, that we are dead spiritually before God. You see, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden and they were cast out of the Garden of Eden and they began to die physically that day, something else also happened.

Yeah. They died spiritually. They were separated from God not only by distance. They were separated from God by sin and in their spirit that day, they die and we are born dead in trespasses and in sins, born physically that way. We are born on the broad way that leads to what?

Destruction. He that believeth on Jesus is not condemned but he that believeth not is what? Condemned already. We must be born again of the spirit. We must be made alive in the spirit in our relationship with who?

With God. You see, if you walk up to a dead body and you tell it to do things and you converse with it, you can even kick it or physically manipulate. That body is not going to respond. Why? It's dead.

It cannot hear you. It cannot respond to you. No matter what you say or do to it, it's dead. You see, we are spiritually dead before God. And we until we're saved, until we're born again we're unresponsive in our what?

In our spirit. We don't have a relationship with him. That relationship was severed. But it can be restored. If we're born again.

Through faith in Jesus Christ. And by his spirit. This is not something that can be performed by the will of man but only by the will of God and through the spirit of God. Turn back a couple pages in your Bible to John one. Look if you would in verses twelve and thirteen.

There it speaks of becoming the sons of God which would imply a second birth. In verse 12, it says, but as many as received him, that's Jesus, to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of what? God. But of God. God offers us the opportunity to be born into a new family, to be born again spiritually, to be revived.

Spiritually and restored in our relationship with him. To be born again into God's family and become the children of God. This is performed by the spirit within us, by the holy spirit. Zechariah four six says, then he answered and spake unto me saying, this is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel saying, not by might, not by power, but by my. Spirit.

Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. You're not going to do this in your own mind. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God not of works, lest any man should boast. Titus three five, not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the holy ghost. The holy spirit.

This is something only the holy spirit can do within the heart of man to change one's heart not just to change one's behavior or one's appearance. Nicodemus had worked very hard on his behavior. He had worked very hard on his appearance. Now, Jesus was telling him, you need to let me change your what? Your heart.

You need to be born again. Nicodemus had no understanding of the defilement and deadness of his spirit nor of the power and person of the Holy Spirit which he should have understood, which shouldn't have been completely foreign to him. He said unto Nicodemus, are you a teacher of the Jews and this is foreign to you? Does the Old Testament not speak of the Holy Spirit? Yes, it does.

Over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. Often referred to there as the spirit of the Lord. So, it is something that is done. This new birth is a spiritual birth that is performed in us by the what? The Holy Spirit.

And it is based secondly on our response to a person who is that person. That person is Jesus Christ. Look if you would in verse 13. Jesus said, and no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man which is in heaven. Who is Jesus referring to?

Himself. That you want to hear the true message? Well, hear it from the lips of the one who is with God, was with God, and will again be with God and is one with God. The one who came down from heaven. You see, the prophets of the Old Testament, they didn't come down from heaven.

That there is one who has. That's Jesus Christ, okay? He was with God and he was God and in verse 14 of John one, he became flesh and dwelt among us. He left heaven. Philippians two and he became a man.

To die on the cross for our sins. He has a unique perspective. He's not a prophet who's receiving messages from heaven that he does not have first hand knowledge of. He was in heaven and he is God and he, his message was not second hand. It was first.

So, he said, listen to what I have to say. Verse 14, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up. He refers to an Old Testament passage Numbers 21. There, we read this. Therefore, the people came to Moses and said, we have sinned.

Well, why did they come to Moses and say they had sinned? Well, this, they had murmured and complained and griped to Moses and God about the water and the food and so God sent fiery serpents among them to bite them that is venomous serpents and they began to die and so, in desperation and in confession, they came to Moses and they said, Moses, we have what? We've sinned. For we have spoken against the Lord and against thee, pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us and Moses prayed for the people and the people said unto Moses and the Lord said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent and set it on a pole and it shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten when he looketh on it shall live and Moses made a serpent of brass and he put it upon a pole and it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. Now, that's what Jesus referring to here in verse 14 as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

The Israelites were dying how? Physically. They were being punished because of their sin and so, Moses was told to put a bronze serpent on a pole that he did and the people looked at that in faith that God would heal them they would be healed and they were. We have a bigger problem than venomous serpents, folks. We have a problem called sin and the punishment isn't just physical, the punishment is also what?

Spiritual. Spiritual and eternal. In a place called hell and the lake of fire. To which we are already condemned, but we can be, we can be justified. We can be redeemed from it.

We can be saved and delivered from its punishment if we will be born again. And the only way to be born again is not to look at a snake on a pole. It is to look in faith to Jesus Christ who died on a what? On a cross. To pay the price and penalty for all our sins.

To believe that he is not only the son of God but he is the savior of the world through his sacrifice he made for you and me. As he took upon himself our sins on the cross. That we through faith in him might be saved. Might be born again. You know the passage to follow for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that who who so believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

When we're born again, we're born into what kind of life? Everlasting life, eternal life. When you're born the first time, you're born into a life that is temporal, into a body that will die. But when you're born again by the spirit, through faith in Jesus Christ, you are born into an eternal life, a spiritual life that will never end but will continue the right hand of Jesus Christ in heaven. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. Jesus was lifted up on that cross and there suffered for the sins of the world. That we might come to him in faith and the Bible says that he that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. If you will believe in him, not just believe that he is a prophet, not just believe that he existed but if you will believe in him, believe that he is the son of God who came and died for your sins and if you will place your soul in his hand then you will receive what kind of life? Everlasting eternal life in him.

You will be born again by his spirit into his family. You will be reserved a place in heaven, incorruptible, and undefiled that faded not away. But you must be born again. You must come in confession of your sin. You must come in faith to Jesus Christ.

For he is the only way. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the father but by me. And if you do, what are the results? You'll be saved from sin and hell.

You'll be regenerated. You will be born again into a new life. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new.

You will receive eternal life rather than eternal death. My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me. I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life. You will be justified through Jesus Christ for there's therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh.

But after the spirit. Have you been born again? There are many preachers out there today that are preaching. That if you will follow these promises of God's word, if you'll live this way, that you'll have all this great stuff and everything will go great and and you won't have to worry about eternity and and all of that but they leave out one very important thing. You must recommence and faith to Jesus.

You must be born again. For without it, you will not see the kingdom of God. What is your choice? What have you chosen? If you're here today and you've never trusted Christ, you've never come to him.

The Bible says, for whosoever calleth the name of the Lord shall be saved. You've never called on him in faith to be your Lord and savior. You can today and if you're here today and you have, thank the Lord and go out and tell others. For they need him too just like Nicodemus. Let's pray.

Dear God, thank you Lord for your word. Thank you Lord for the clear depiction and description we have here concerning our need to be born again into God's family, and born into a new life in Jesus Christ by your spirit that only you can do. Lord, we pray for others we know who don't know you. We pray Lord that you would do a work in their life and by your word that you would reach into their heart and show them, reveal to them their need of a savior. And Lord, we pray if there's one here today that's never trusted you that as we sing this hymn of invitation, they would come today and be saved.

In Jesus' precious name we do pray. Amen.