The New Birth: Results

Introduction: Review of the Necessity, Source, and Character of the New Birth

0:03 Someone has very cryptically said that all men must either be born twice and die once, or, having only been born once, they must die twice. And it is precisely that truth which our Lord Himself underscores in this discourse between Himself and Nicodemus. And I shall read the first eight verses of the third chapter of the Gospel of John. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

0:46 The same came unto him by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that thou doest except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, Verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said unto 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?

1:22 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That is, That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born anew. The wind blows where it wills, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh and whither it goeth.

1:55 So is every one that is born of the Spirit. In this portion of Holy Scripture, our Lord gives what is the most thorough treatment in all of Scripture,

2:14 a discourse on the subject of the new birth.

2:18 And in our two previous studies in this passage, last Lord's Day morning and evening, we saw in the first place what our Lord says about the necessity of the new birth. John's record indicates that these words were spoken in a direct one-to-one, a conversation between the Lord Jesus and an unusual man, a man of great position and influence, Nicodemus, a ruler, a teacher among the people of God, a member of the ruling body in Israel at that time, the Sanhedrin. And yet our Lord speaks to Nicodemus in such a way as to underscore the fact that what he says to Nicodemus about the necessity of the new birth applies not only to the Lord, but only to Nicodemus. He uses general terminology. Verse 3, Except one be born anew. He does not say, Except you, Nicodemus, are born anew, but he uses the general term, Except one, anyone, you, Nicodemus, your cousin Sue and your uncle John and your second cousin twice removed, except one be born anew, he cannot see, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

3:39 And so the necessity of the new birth, in the words of our Lord, as we studied them in some detail last week, is an unchangeable, a universal, and a consequential necessity. And then we began to study, in the second place, the essential elements or the nature of the new birth. What is this second birth, this being born anew without which no one, no one, past, present, future, will ever see or enter? Enter the kingdom of God.

4:11 That is, enjoy the blessings of fellowship with God now and the privileges and blessings of communion with God in the world to come. Well, we saw that the first thing that our Lord emphasizes is the source of this birth. From whence does it come? And our Lord makes it clear that it comes from God himself in the person of the Holy Spirit, that which is born of the Spirit, and the Spirit is Spirit.

4:40 Except one be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Therefore, we are not to look to the church, to the ministry, to the sacraments, to our bloodlines, or to anything else to effect this spiritual birth. God himself, in the person of the Spirit, must effect it if it is to be wrought at all. And then we concluded our study, the study this past Lord's Day, by looking at the character of this spiritual rebirth.

5:15 Our Lord calls it in verse 5, a birth of water and the Spirit. And by comparing Scripture with Scripture, I trust that I demonstrated conclusively that this spiritual birth is a birth of spiritual cleansing, symbolized in the water, and a birth of spiritual renewal, and a birth of spiritual renewal. There must be the purging of our pollution. There must be the impartation of new life.

5:47 There must be the taking away of the defilement of the flesh. There must be the impartation of the new life in the Spirit. And therefore, if you personally, inwardly, powerfully, by a direct ministry of the Spirit, do not experience that, inward spiritual cleansing, and that spiritual renewal that Jesus calls the new birth, that birth from above, you cannot see, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. Now today, having concluded that brief review, we come to consider the third aspect of the essential elements of the new birth. Having seen the source, God Himself, the character, a spiritual birth of cleansing and renewal, now consider with me the results of the new birth. What happens when a man, a woman, a boy or girl is born of water and of the Spirit? Well, there are in the passage two results, or two categories of results.

The Implied Results of the New Birth: Seeing and Entering the Kingdom

7:04 The first, the implied results, and then the explicitly stated, the stated results of the new birth. How can you tell if you've been born anew? Oh, you say, I know, I've got the day written down in the flyleaf of my Bible. Very well, if you've got a date written in the flyleaf of your Bible.

7:22 But that may prove only one thing, that you've got a Bible with a flyleaf and that you know the difference between dates and can write. It may prove nothing more than that. Oh, well, I know I must be born again because I had such a feeling. My friend, that only proves that you have a memory and that you have feelings.

7:39 It proves nothing more. Oh, yes, but there are twenty people who...

7:43 That proves nothing else but that there are some people that would be willing to say. But that's not the basis upon which you have true ground to assess whether or not you've been born of water and of the Spirit. This passage, which teaches the doctrine of the new birth as to its source and character, also tells us how we may know if we have been born of the Spirit because it sets forth the results of that spiritual birth, results that inevitably follow whenever that birth has occurred. First of all, then, the implied results of the new birth.

8:22 And the implied results are, of course, seeing the Kingdom of God and entering. Jesus said in verse 3, "'Except one be born anew, he cannot see the Kingdom of God''. The implication is, if you are born anew, you shall see the Kingdom of God. You shall see the Kingdom of God." God. You will perceive, as we saw last week, you will savvy the nature of that kingdom. And if he says in verse 5, except one be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter, the implication is, if we are born of water and of the Spirit, we shall indeed enter the kingdom and know its present blessings and have confidence of its future prospects. So then the implied results of the new birth are perceiving the nature of the kingdom of God and entering upon a possession of the blessings of that kingdom. Now let's look

9:23 at those briefly and in that order. Jesus said, except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom. Implication 1, if you have been born anew, you will see the kingdom. Now then, what does it mean to see the kingdom? Well, it means many things. But certainly the irreducible minimum would be comprised of these two or three factors. Number one, you will understand something of your native detachment from that kingdom. The first thing the Spirit of God does when he begins to impart life is to show us how dead we are by nature. When we would lead us into the kingdom of grace and blessing, he shows us what a frightening thing it is not to be in the kingdom of grace and of blessing. For when he, the Spirit of truth,

10:28 is come, our Lord says he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. In other words, there is brought home to the inner citadel of our being the painful, crushing awareness of our native sin. Sinfulness of our estrangement from the kingdom of light and of grace, and our desperate need of the grace of the King if we are ever to enter the kingdom. You begin to savvy the kingdom when you understand that by nature you are in the kingdom of darkness, as we read in Colossians 1 this morning. He hath delivered us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son. And the reality of being in the kingdom of darkness, being a slave of the devil, being a serf of our own lusts and passions, is brought home to our hearts in some degree by the Spirit. And then to savvy the kingdom means not only that we perceive our detachment by nature from that kingdom, but we begin to behold something of the glory of the King of that kingdom. The Apostle Paul states it in these words in 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 6,

11:51 God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to do what? To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Go back to Nicodemus. He said, Now I am convinced of one thing, Rabbi. You are a teacher sent from God. You're a fellow human being. I'm a teacher. You're a teacher. But you have this distinction from me. You have a peculiar commission from God, and involved in that commission is special power from God to perform miracles. If you didn't have that, you couldn't do the miracles. In other words, Nicodemus is dealing as a creature with a fellow creature. Elevated?

12:41 Yes. More exalted? More privileged? Yes. But Nicodemus still sees nothing.

12:47 More than a fellow creature. That's all he sees. Great teacher come from God. He even believes in the miraculous. No man can do these signs, these wonders. But my friend, he doesn't see the King. And until you see who the King is, you don't savvy the kingdom.

13:08 And it takes this re-creative power of God to give an inward spiritual perception of who the King is. That's why when Jesus turned to his disciples, as recorded in Matthew 16, and said, Who do men say that I am? Oh, you're this. Yes, you're that. All creatures, you see. One of the prophets, Elijah. One of the prophets.

13:27 Who do you say that I am? And Peter answers and says, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. You are the Messiah who shares in the very nature of the Godhead. Son of God does not mean derived essence. It means shared essence. Son of God means one who is God. And Peter says, In our estimation, you are the Christ, the anointed Messiah, who is God incarnate. Thou art the Son of the living God. And Jesus said, Blessed art thou, Simon, son of Jonah. Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. It took an act of the Father to reveal who Jesus of Nazareth was. Nicodemus, unless you're born again, you'll never savvy the kingdom. Because you'll never know who I am. You'll never know who I am. And the implied result

14:31 of the new birth is that when God imparts spiritual life, we see the kingdom. That is, we see how desperately we need entrance into that realm of grace and forgiveness and the government of King Jesus. We see in the second place who He is. That's why everyone who's truly born of the Spirit embraces Christ.

14:54 Christ as His God, as well as His Savior, His Sovereign, as well as His Deliverer. Because when you see who He is, you can do nothing other than... You can't see who Christ is and bicker with Him. And did anyone have a revelation of God recorded in the Scriptures and bicker with God? The manifestation of God recorded in Holy Scripture left the person to whom the manifestation came broken at the feet of that God in worship. Humility and in utter obedience. Whether it's Thomas in the post-resurrection manifestation, falling at His feet, my Lord and my God. Whether it's an Isaiah, woe is me, I'm undone, here am I, send me. You see the implied result of the new birth? You see the kingdom. That

16:01 involves the recognition of your estrangement by nature from the kingdom. A revelation of the glory of the kingdom. Something by whose person and work alone we enter that kingdom. Then the second aspect of the applied result. We actually do enter in this birth of cleansing and renewal. And the first manifestations of that, may I say the left leg and the right by which a man enters the kingdom is the left leg of repentance and the right leg of faith. And no one ever goes in one-legged. No, no.

16:40 NO PIRATE CAPIATE senhor이! He is the Lord below! movie. Actions with one leg, hobbling into the kingdom just with repentance.

16:46 Just grieving over their sins, but not looking to the Savior. And no hobbling in on one leg saying, I believe, I believe, while sin is not repudiated.

16:58 You enter two-legged. Repentance and faith. That's the first effect of the new birth. You enter the kingdom.

17:07 Sermon of three weeks ago, you get through that narrow gate. You get through that narrow gate of true repentance and living faith in the Son of God. That's the implied result. If without the new birth you can't see, you can't enter, with it you will see and you will enter.

17:25 My friend, have you seen?

17:28 Have you entered?

17:31 Have you seen?

17:34 Have you entered? Has spiritual light been brought home to your heart, showing you how bad you are by nature? And if God...

17:45 If God dealt with you justly, He could cast you off from His presence and that for eternity.

17:53 Have you seen the glory of the King? The King incarnate, the King crucified, the King buried, the King risen, the King exalted. Have you seen in Christ crucified anything glorious?

18:07 It has captured your heart, subdued your rebel will, cemented your affections to Him. Have you seen the kingdom? Have you entered?

18:23 Repentance. Turning from faith, turning to...

18:28 Don't treat this issue lightly, my friend, for without such a birth, with these results, you'll die twice. The physical death will lead ultimately to that often second death, when the King Himself will say, Depart from me, I never knew you. But we have not only the implied results of the new birth, but if you look carefully in the passage, there is in the words of our Lord to be found an explicit, result, or explicit results. Verse 6.

The Explicit Result: That Which is Born of the Spirit is Spirit

19:05 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.

19:17 Now, get the parallel that our Lord is setting before Nicodemus and before us. Whatever is born of the flesh partakes of the nature of flesh. That is, unrenewed human nature, controlled and dominated by sin. And that's a long synonym for the biblical term flesh in such context as these.

19:41 Human nature controlled and dominated by sin. Unrenewed human nature in that condition can only produce unrenewed human nature dominated by sin. That which is born of the flesh partakes of the character of that which gave it birth. One of the laws of procreation.

20:02 It is stated very clearly in Genesis chapter 1. And it brought forth after his kind, after his genus. Therefore the flesh will bring forth naught but flesh. That's why David could say, Behold, I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

20:27 Not referring to the conjugal union between a man and a woman which is holy and pure. Even a woman who is holy and pure, even amongst unconverted people when it is carried out within the fidelity of one man with one woman. Marriage is honorable among all in the bed undefiled. But he's saying that which was conceived was a sinner.

20:50 Job says, Can any man bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Job 14 and verse 4. And the answer is obvious, of course not.

21:03 Now notice the parallel in verse 6. Just as surely as that which is born of flesh manifests itself in producing that which is fleshy in its total character, nature, and expression, so our Lord says that which is born of the Spirit partakes of the nature of the begetting Spirit and will produce human nature controlled and dominated by the Spirit. Flesh produces human nature controlled by sin. The Spirit produces a human nature in the one who has been regenerate that is now controlled and dominated by the Spirit. As every man in Adam is a constant monument of the first part of the verse, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, so every man in Christ is a constant monument of the truth of the second part of the verse. That which is born of the Spirit is flesh. Now how far do we need to go for the evidence of the first?

22:17 That which is born of the flesh is flesh. The apostle says the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, witchcraft, hatred, variance, enmity, strife, seditions, and such like Galatians 5, 19 to 21. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. And my friend, you could have 20, 80 visions and only have half an eye operating and you can see enough to believe the first part of verse 6.

22:51 That which is born of the flesh is flesh. And on every hand we see the gross outcroppings of what? Of depraved human nature.

23:05 Outcroppings of the tensions of sociological problems. There's only one. There's only one. There's only one word for that.

23:13 Hogwash.

23:16 Hogwash.

23:20 Man lives what he is. That which is born of the flesh is flesh.

23:29 I had an opportunity to speak with my neighbor this past week about spiritual things. He asked me the question. He says, Al, why is it? Why can't people just live by nice standards of morality and ethics and we wouldn't have Watergate and all the rest?

23:43 And I had to say to him, Doc, to me the only rational answer is the answer of the Bible. Man lives like he lives because he is what he is. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. And it will manifest its fleshiness.

23:59 Now we're all agreed, I trust, on that. But now are we equally agreed on the second part of the verse? Whatever is born of the spirit has a spirit. The spirit will reflect and manifest the character of the begetting spirit.

24:20 Yet you see what people say? It's possible that the flesh will effectually influence those who are born of the flesh, but the spirit will not. The spirit can't effectually influence those who are born of him. So you've got all these people supposedly born again who live like the devil, who still have their hearts wedded to the world and to sin, and they're called carnal Christians.

24:42 You know what a carnal Christian is according to that definition? It's saying there is something born of the spirit.

24:51 And that's the contradictory statement of our Blessed Mother.

24:58 It's exactly what it says. To say there is a Christian who nothing can be seen but flesh and carnality is to change the words of Jesus. To mean that which is born of the spirit is still flesh. Now you say, aren't you pressing a little bit too much into the text?

25:16 Well, if all I had was this, I might think I was getting close to the border. But you turn to Romans 8 for God's own commentary and you'll see that I have not gone beyond the warrant of Holy Scripture in making these assertions. Romans chapter 8, verses 5 to 9.

25:40 For they that are after the flesh, that is, they've been born of flesh, they've never known this spiritual rebirth, therefore being born of flesh, they have an affinity for the flesh. They that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit, for the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the spirit is life and peace, because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law, God neither indeed can it be, and they that are in the flesh cannot please God, but ye are not in the flesh. That is, flesh is not the dominant sphere of your existence. It is not the pervasive characteristic of your spiritual tap roots. Ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you. Now tie this together.

26:45 He says, if the spirit dwells in you, if you've been regenerate by the spirit, you are not in the flesh. That means you are in the spirit. And he says, previously, if you're in the spirit, you'll mind the things of the spirit just as much as those in the flesh mind the things of the flesh. And there's no middle ground.

27:07 Now there are degrees within those two circles. Degrees to which men who are in the realm of the flesh give themselves, over to the flesh. Romans chapter 1. They give themselves over, God gives them over.

27:23 In turn, they give themselves over some more, and God gives them up and gives them over. There are degrees in that circle to which men and women give themselves to the flesh. And there are degrees to which men and women in the spirit give themselves over to the gracious influences of the spirit. Some walk in the spirit more consistently than others.

27:47 Some are more full of the spirit than others. Some grieve the spirit less than others. Some quench the spirit less than others. These are biblical terms.

28:00 I'm just quoting scripture to you. There are degrees to which those who are in the spirit manifest the life of the spirit. There are degrees to which those in the realm of the flesh manifest the reality of their existence in that realm, But there is no overlapping. There is no third round, my friend.

28:21 That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. And therefore, the explicitly stated result of the new birth according to our Lord is this. If you are born of the Spirit, your life will characterize or will be characterized by those things which only the Spirit can produce, but which He infallibly produces whenever He comes to indwell a fallen son of Adam.

Birthmark 1: The Practice of Righteousness

28:58 You got it? The result will be that your life will be characterized by those things which only the Spirit can produce, but which He always produces wherever and whenever He comes to indwell a fallen son of Adam. Well, what are those things? Jesus doesn't tell us in this passage, does He?

29:23 Well, He gives us some hints. And if we had time, and if it was my intention to give a more careful, detailed exegesis of the whole passage, we could go into verses 9 through 11, which treat it. But John, the great apostle of love, is also the great apostle of the new birth, the apostle of regeneration. And there are six times in his first epistle where John says, where John says, where John says, if a man has been begotten of God, certain things will be true of him.

29:56 And I want you to turn to the book of 1 John to expound John 3, 6. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. It will manifest that which only the Spirit can produce, but will always infallibly manifest it.

30:15 Now, it's interesting that in these six passages, John uses two self-phrases in every single one of these passages. One of them is the phrase, begotten of God, and it occurs in all six of the passages I'm going to read. And the other is the word which means all or every.

30:43 All or every.

30:47 In other words, John is bringing together some of the universal, universal effects of the new birth. Wherever the divine begetting has occurred, in every instance, these results will follow. And Mr. Clark's sitting there with his Greek testin' to check me out, to see that the pan and the perfect participle generally of genao to beget are found in every one of these passages.

31:21 They're there. And I don't say that as an aside, I just say that as an affectionate remark to one of my friends, to one of my fellow elders. All right, what is the first? Chapter 2 and verse 29.

31:33 If we know that he is righteous, 1 John 2, ye know also, ye know that every one also that doeth righteousness is begotten of him. Now notice the emphasis. He's talking about people who've been begotten of God. They've done something more than make a decision.

32:02 They've done something more than make a profession. Something more has happened. They have been begotten of God. The source of this birth is God, working powerfully, sovereignly, graciously.

32:16 Now he says, wherever the divine begetting has occurred, ye know that every one begotten. No exceptions now. Don't you try to wiggle out, my professing Christian friend. Don't you try to find a loophole.

32:29 Every one begotten. And what does he say is the characteristic? He practices righteousness. That is, the divine begetting will infallibly produce a commitment to the practice of holiness.

32:45 Righteousness in this context is practice that is conformed to the law and will of God. It means that in thought and attitude and action there is this commitment of entire conformity to the revealed will of God. So that as a boy, a girl, a man, a woman, a grandfather, a grandmother, in the shop, in the home, on the playground, in the marketplace, in the office, there is this commitment to a life of holiness. And wherever the divine begetting occurs, this infallibly follows. Look at the text. If ye know that he is righteous, and every professing Christian believes, every professing Christian will acknowledge that. I don't know a professing Christian that says he was saved by an unrighteous God.

33:46 Do you? He says, well, if we know that the God who saves us is righteous, and he has begotten, he gets less children who still hug their darling idols to their boots. If you know that he is righteous, everyone who has his life within him is committed to the practice of righteousness. Not perfectly.

34:24 John says, if you ever meet one who says he's a liar and the truth isn't in him either. So he says in the first chapter, if we say we have no sin, verse 8 of chapter 1, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. So someone may sit here this morning and say, hey man, I believe that. I believe it so much.

34:42 I no longer sin. My friend, you're as much deceived as the person who says he's born of God and doesn't practice any righteousness. It's not sinless perfection. But it is the honest, genuine, hearty commitment to a life of holiness.

34:57 My friend, is that true of you? Are you committed where it counts to a life of holiness? That is, are you deliberately seeking to conform every aspect of life to the revealed will of God by the power of the Spirit out of love to Jesus Christ? That's biblical holiness.

35:21 If you leave out those last two qualifying clauses, it's not biblical holiness, it's Pharisee. It's mere externalism. You now want to be like him. Is that true of you?

35:42 Come on now, you answer. Not verbally, but in your conscience, in the presence of God, you better answer. If not, my friend, you can say, I'm a born-again Christian. My friend, you're no more born of God than of God.

Birthmark 2: The Non-Practice of Sin

35:55 You know, everyone that doeth righteousness is begotten of God. All right? Take the second passage where the word all and the begotten of God occur again. Chapter 3 and verse 9.

36:14 This is the negative statement of chapter 2, 29. Chapter 2, 29 is the positive statement. The practice of righteousness is the inevitable result of the new birth. Chapter 3, verse 9 gives the negative side, the non-practice of sin.

36:32 Whosoever... Oh, boy, there we come again, you see.

36:36 We say, oh, I love the whosoevers of the Bible. Whosoever believeth...

36:40 That leaves no one out, my friend. This verse doesn't leave you out either. Whosoever...

36:49 Whosoever is begotten of God. Oh, well, he's had poor teaching, you see, and that's why he's a carnal Christian. Whosoever...

37:01 Oh, yes, but you see, he was saved in very adverse circumstances and didn't have much encouragement from his friends and his relatives. Whosoever...

37:11 My friend, it's your word against God's word. Whosoever is begotten of God does not make a practice of sin. He uses a present verb. He is not making a practice of sin.

37:27 Why? Because his seed, the principle of divine life, abideth in him, and he cannot practice sin because he is begotten of God. Are you begotten of God? Then John says birthmark number two will be the non-practice of sin.

37:47 Now, that doesn't mean just white-beating, bank-stealing, and picking pockets. It means any deflection from God's holy standard. It means smart-mouthing your mom and your dad. It means verbal abuse of your wife in sarcasm and self-defense and self-justification.

38:09 It means heckling your husband and nagging the kids. Those things are sin. And if you're born of God, you'll call them sin and you'll be grieved when you commit them. It means pride.

38:26 It means mumbling under your breath words that you'd never speak. When somebody cuts you off, trying to turn in from Bloomfield Avenue to Westville, it's sin. And this text says whoever is born of God does not make a practice of sin. That's the negative side of holiness.

38:46 Commitment to a life of conformity to the will of God. Commitment to a course that avoids sin. Jesus said, even to the cutting off of right hands and the plucking out of right eyes. My friends, if it's true that only those who are seeking to avoid sin are born of God, an awful lot of born-again Christians who ain't born again.

39:11 Are you one of them? Say, I'll never come back to this place again. My friend, look, you may never come back to this place again. Will that change what John has said?

39:24 Well, you say, I won't read that. I'll just read the promises. My friend, you'll rest the Scriptures to your own destruction. I'll just go somewhere where I'm told otherwise.

39:35 Go ahead. There are a million panderers to the flesh to comfort you in your sins. Tend you to hell with a promise in your hands. But we love you too much in Christ to do that.

39:53 What are the results of the new birth? The practice of righteousness. Secondly, the non-practice of sin. Turn over to chapter 4.

Birthmark 3: Love for the Brethren

40:02 Another passage where you have the begotten of God praise, and then that nasty little all in whosoever and everyone. It's translated variously, but it's the same word in the original. 1 John 4, verse 7. Beloved, let us love you.

40:21 Let us love one another. For love is of God, and everyone. Oh, there we are again. Everyone that loveth is begotten of God.

40:39 John says the inevitable result of the new birth is this. When God puts his life in a sinner, he causes that life in that quickened sinner to respond in selfless affection to everyone else in whom the same life resides. Now, he doesn't say, Beloved, let us love one another if we come from the same cultural background, if we happen to share the same racial identity, if we happen to have the same natural interest. My friend, Jesus spoke to that issue and he says, if you merely love those who love you, what do ye more than others?

41:22 Do not even the Gentiles the same? And we should have joined the local country cub and admire one another and take each other's picture and put it in the section under parties and social entertainment in the Newark Evening News or in the Star Ledger and that's their circle! They love each other! Sure they do!

41:44 Because they feed each other's ego, feed each other's pride, all the way down to the little group of guys that huddle off in the ghetto somewhere and say the world is a guinness. They love each other. had it. No different. No different. But John says, everyone who is begotten of God loves, and in the context of John's teaching, he's speaking of love for the brethren, and he's talking of love not primarily as a conscious emotion. He's talking about it as a principle of selfless commitment that seeks the good of others, even at personal cost. Let us not love in word, but in deed and in truth. And what's the standard by which we learn how love's sold to love? He says, we know the love of God. How? Because that He sent His

42:43 Son to die for us. Herein is love! Not that we loved Him, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. My friend, do you love the brethren? The ones whose personality comes at right angles to the earth?

43:03 Every time you're around them, they're just like sandpaper. Do you love them? Do you choose their well-being, even though it hurts and costs you something? Do you love the weak brethren, the strong brethren, the stumbling brethren, as well as the stable brethren?

43:22 Beloved, let us love one another. Why? For love is of God, and everyone that loves is begotten of God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love.

43:36 Now, how incongruous, you see, says in chapter 2, if a righteous God is begetting children, they're going to be like their father. He is righteous, everyone born of Him will practice righteousness. He is love, everyone born of Him will manifest love. Not a gooey, gushy feeling, but the principle that says, for Jesus Christ's sake, I'll seek your well-being no matter what it costs me. I'll seek your well-being no matter what it costs me. So that means in a congregation. Instead of tensions and differences being the occasion of schism and division and reproach to Christ, they become the occasion for love to manifest. You see? Love has its opportunity to show that it suffers long, that it beareth all things. How can love bear all things unless

44:34 there's something to be born with? Some of you, and I think, I fear, know very little of what this love is. I'm born of God, are you? That's the result of the new birth. I must hurry on. Look at chapter 5, verse 1.

Birthmark 4: Living Faith in Christ

44:57 Whosoever believeth, and that's a present tense verse. It doesn't say whosoever believed. Somebody back in the dim, murky past went into the inquiry room, prayed his little prayer, said, I believe on Jesus. Now I'm all fixed up. No, no. Whosoever believeth, present tense, Jesus is the Christ that is the anointed prophet, priest. As king, as prophet, believing him to be such, I receive his words as the words of God. Believing him to be priest, I continually seek him and him alone for pardon and acceptance. Believing him to be king, I submit to him as my only master. That's what it means to believe

45:46 that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ of God, and any lesser interpretation does not do justice to the Joannine man. The mentality which was steeped in the Jewish concepts of Messiah, Messiah, the New Testament parallel, Christ, the anointed one. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, whoso acknowledges him to be prophet, priest, and king in himself, whosoever in that acknowledgement gives himself to Christ to be his prophet, priest, and king, is begotten of God. Do you see the fourth mark?

46:27 The divine begetting, the result of the new birth. It is a living, present attachment to the person of Jesus Christ in faith. A living, present attachment to Jesus Christ in faith. Are you born of God? That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. And just as certainly as when a holy God begets children, they should be committed to holiness, when a loving God begets children, they should be committed to love. Listen, when the Spirit of God, whose great ministry is to testify of Jesus, imparts his life to a sinner's heart, that life instinctively reaches out and embraces and continues to embrace the Son of God. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of the testimony of Jesus. And whenever he comes, he turns the floodlights all on Jesus. Not in some sentimental way,

47:36 so we want to run for the nearest guitar. I want to pluck a little ditty about the man from Galilee. That's not the work of the Holy Ghost, to shed some dim little three-watt light on some vague figure who paddled along the shores of Galilee. He turns the spotlight on the Lord of glory, who wonder of wonders became enfleshed as a man humbled himself, went into the abyss in the agony and the abandonment of death, swallowed up in the hell of my sins.

48:17 He was raised in triumph and power and went back to heaven, bringing all the spoils of his suffering with him. And he sits in power and in glory. And I believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. And believing that, I give myself to him. And if I compose hymns about him, and if I use my guitar and there's nothing to say, I can't praise him with my guitar. My friend, my hymn of praise will reflect. But I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed Messiah, in all the glory and the majesty of his person, not a cheap, tawdry, dim, indistinct figure who paddles the shores of Galilee. You see, my controversy is not with the guitar, nor is it with a tambourine.

49:16 Those things weren't born in hell. God's made us rhythmic creatures. Psalm 150 says, get everything you need. You get your hands on it and praise God with it. That's a paraphrase, but that's what it says. Oh, my friend, don't anybody want to, who do you believe? No, no, no, no, no. Here's the issue. If the Holy Ghost is moving you to jangle your tambourine and plunge your guitar and speak words to the living Christ, there'll be words that reflect the glory and the majesty of who he is. Don't you tell me the Holy Ghost moves people to pen words that are cheap and tawdry. I wouldn't even use with reference to my own earthly father. Whosoever is born of God believes that Jesus is the Christ. Do you get it? I intended just to sit there and preach

50:13 for another hour, but I won't. Do you see it? The Holy Spirit in the divine beginning enables the sinner to perceive the King and then to believe in him for what he is. Now may I press the question in your conscience? Do you believe right now in the present actings of faith that Jesus is the King? Do you believe right now in the present actings of faith that Jesus is the King? Do you believe right now in the present actings of faith that Jesus us is the Christ. Does your heart run out to him as I've mentioned his offices, prophet, priest, and king? Does your heart run out to him and say, Lord Jesus, you are my prophet.

50:48 I do love you as the one who's taken me in hand to teach me who I am, what the world is all about, what life is all about, what heaven's about, what hell's about, the way from hell to heaven, and how to walk down here until I get there. Lord Jesus, you're my prophet. Has your heart been able to run out to him and say, Lord Jesus, you're my priest. I look to no other to forgive me. I look to no other to plead with the Father on my behalf. I do not look to preacher, to priest, to rabbi, to saints. I look to you alone. Has your heart run out to him? Has it run out to him, Lord Jesus, you are my king. I own no other master. My heart shall be thy throne. My friend, if you can't say that, you're not born of God, or you're not rightly reading your heart. Now, if you're

Birthmark 5: Overcoming the World

51:40 born of God, there's the possibility some may be born of God who can't read rightly their state. And we want to give due allowance. But my friend, if you're getting any kind of an accurate readout, and it's not true that you believe that Jesus is the Christ, you're not born of God. Then I hurry on to the last two and shall only touch upon them briefly. Chapter 5, verse 4. And here we come again to that broad word. For whatsoever is begotten of God is begotten of God. He is overcoming the world, and this is the victory that hath overcome the world. Even our faith, the divine begetting, will always produce a creature who is overcoming the world. He's overcoming the world. That means that this world system, with its anti-God, anti-Christ

52:42 mentality, standing in defiance to the Son of God in all its glory, is overcoming the world. All those who are enrolled in his army, it's a military concept. It doesn't picture the saint as one who cowers before the world's frowns, who fawns upon the world's smiles, who jumps when the world barks. It pictures the one begotten of God as that one who tramples the world under his feet. And he does so because of his attachment to Jesus Christ. This is the victory that overcomes even our faith. My friend, are you overcoming the world, or is the world overcoming you? Is the world squeezing you into its mold, its fashions, its ambitions, its standards of right and wrong, of what's important, its approval? There's a religious world. Many a person has sold his soul because he could

Birthmark 6: Keeping Oneself from the Evil One

53:36 not overcome the religious world. My friend, if you're Christ, Jesus, bond-slave, one thing matters, the approval of your blessed one. And then the final one, verse 18, we know that, oh, here we go. So again, whosoever, there it is, we can't escape it. We know that whosoever is begotten of God does not make a practice of sin, there's that present verb again, but he that was begotten of God keepeth himself, and the evil one toucheth him not. Here's a statement that divine begetting will produce in you both the desire and the ability to keep yourself from being abandoned to Satan. And the Lord had to keep. Ah, yes, but his keeping is manifested in your keeping yourself. And when you find grace

54:34 to keep yourself from giving yourself over to Satan and his machinations, you have reason to believe the only reason you have that power is because you've been begotten of God. And here, then, are six explicit statements concerning the results of the new birth. Whoever is begotten of God practices righteousness, does not practice sin. He loves the brethren, he has a living faith in Christ, he overcomes the world, he keeps himself particularly from the evil one. Now, my friend, that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Is this a description of you? If not, oh, my dear friend, what grounds do you have to say you're born of God? Jesus not only teaches us the necessity of the new birth, he not only teaches us the source of the new birth, the character of the new birth, but he teaches us the inevitable results. The implied results you'll see and enter the kingdom. The explicitly stated

Conclusion: Call to Self-Examination and Repentance

55:39 results, that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. And John expounds it for us beautifully and in detail, and in words that only deliberate desire to deceive ourselves can misconstrue. Oh, my friend, are you born of the Spirit? Except you are born of the Spirit, you'll never see it. You'll never enter the kingdom.

56:03 May God grant the peace. The Word will come home to your heart with power and closeness, and you'll give yourself no rest until you know that you are born of God. The Lord willing, tonight we shall deal with the pattern of the new birth. Verse 8, the wind blows where it wills, and then the instrumental means of the new birth. Verses 14 and 15, as Moses lifted up the serpent.

56:30 But, oh, my friend, you need not wait till this evening. Here in this place, today, Almighty God bids you to call upon Him. Paul tells us in Titus 3, 5, that the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost are poured out abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Look to Christ to give you a new heart. Cry to Him, the mediator of the new covenant, to cleanse you from your sins in His own precious blood. Cry to Him to renew you, to implant new life within you. And give yourself and give Him no rest until you can come to those six statements of John and say, Lord, though they aren't there as they ought, and though some are barely, barely discernible, Lord, I thank you. I bear the birthmarks of one who's been born of your Spirit. Let us pray.