Good afternoon, everyone. It is good to be together today. And to open up God's Word, I'd invite you to turn to John chapter 3. I imagine some of you are pretty impressed with the speed of which we're going through the Gospel of John. Sometimes we can, you know, take one verse at a time, but we're taking some good-sized chunks. I do anticipate parts of John where we will go slow down, such as John 17, probably even 14 to 17, but for now we're taking 1 through 8. Title of the message is, You Must Be Born Again. We come to a very familiar passage. Next time we'll be even more familiar, for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. We're not covering that today. But the fact that you must be born again is a very familiar passage. And that terminology is something that You know, when there's been famous people that make a profession of faith and they become born again. I remember when, I'm old enough to remember when Jimmy Carter came out and said that he's born again. Some of us know well-known actors and Charlie Sheen, Tom Hanks, they claim to be born again. Musicians like Alice Cooper, Johnny Cash, Bono, even some out of some death metal bands become born again. And many of their lives are changed, but some they're not, right? And we will know them by their fruits. Furthermore, in our day, if you listen to Christian radio or even TV, we're told that there's many different ways that you can become born again, or that you can be acceptable to God. Whether it's you give a little bit more, you spend money, you go forward, you sign a card, you do this and you'll be saved, you go and knock on doors, you'll be accepted into heaven. What's the problem with that? It's something you do. It's human effort. That's the problem with that, and furthermore, it's not biblical, right? But the new birth, being born again, is something that the Holy Spirit does. It's an inward regeneration by the power of the Holy Spirit. It's not the efforts of man. It's not you pulling out a checkbook. It's not you knocking on doors. It comes by the Holy Spirit. So the answer for you, if you're not born again today, is not to become more religious, but to be born again. So let's read the passage. I'm going to read 1 through 10, just to get a little fuller context for us. John 3. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with them. Jesus answered and said to him, "'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' Nicodemus said to him, "'How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?' And Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, that which is born of Spirit is Spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, you must be born again. For the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus said to him, How can these things be? Jesus answered him, Are you the teacher of Israel, and you do not understand these things? Father, we thank you for such a clear passage before us even this very day, and one that maybe has elements of familiarity to many in here. But Lord, we pray that you would make us students of your Word, that we would come to learn from you. We ask that you'd pour out the Holy Spirit upon this place. converting the lost, even assisting those who are believers to have greater understanding, Lord, that you might be glorified. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, you remember chapter 2. We covered in two sermons, which is amazing. We studied the wedding at Cana. You'll remember that in verse 11, this was the first sign when he turned 180 gallons of water into quality wine, in which he manifested his glory. And then Jesus comes to Jerusalem. It's Passover time. And what happens? He sees buying and selling in the outer court of the temple, where that stuff should have been taking place outside of the temple. And what does he do? Well, he overturns tables, he makes a whip, and he drives all the cattle, all the ox, all the sheep out of the temple. He cleanses the temple. And then of course the Jews react to him and says, what sign do you do to show your authority? And what does he say? Destroy this temple and in three days I'll raise it up again. Of course they're like, it took us 46 years to build this. How in the world are you, what are you talking about? But of course he was talking about the resurrection. So today we, it's, I'm gonna, unpack a little bit that this chapter break is a little unfortunate, because it is connected to that verses 23 to 25. It's a vivid showing of what regeneration is like in our text today. Jesus explains it as the new birth, or being born again, or being born from above. It's a new creation. It's new life. It's being regenerated. It's a divine act that instantaneously happens to us when it happens to us. It's instantaneous. It's not a long process. It happens in a millisecond. There is nothing more glorious than a desperate sinner being given new life in Christ. It's a glorious thing. So we're going to unpack this under four points. First of all, religious people like Nicodemus need the new birth. Religious people need the new birth. You may think, well, isn't it enough? I'm religious, I go and I light candles, and I go to Mass, and all that. No, it's not enough. Secondly, the necessity of the new birth, we'll look at in verses 2 and 3. We'll notice that the new birth is a supernatural act of God, verses 4 through 7. And then finally, the new birth is invisible like the wind, verse 8. Religious people need the new birth. Here we have a God-fearing man. He comes. He comes to Jesus. He's heard some of the hubbub of what Jesus has already done. It's still very early in his earthly ministry. And he comes to Jesus and he makes a bold declaration. We know that you have come from God. He makes a bold declaration. Now there's a close connection, as I said, in verses 23 to 25. Just look up there at those verses. Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name, observing the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them, for he knew all men." In other words, it was a superficial faith because of the signs. Jesus knows man. Then it goes on, "...and because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for he himself knew what was in man." And then verse 1 of our text here, now there was a man. There was a man coming. And then this man in verse 2. So I think there's a connection here. There's a superficial belief. He knows what's in the hearts of men because he knew all men, and then now here comes a man. Here comes a man at night. Nicodemus was no second-rate Jew. He was devoted to the law of God. He was a Pharisee, right? Pharisees were very devoted. They were the conservatives of the day, as it were, ultra-conservative. You might say that they were pretty far right, but the Pharisees were right of right, if you know what I mean. They were ultra-conservative. I think we mentioned in a recent sermon that there was about, Josephus says there was about 5,000 Pharisees around this time, the time of Christ. But Nicodemus wasn't just a Pharisee. It says here that he was a ruler of the Jews. Do you know what that means? He was part of the Sanhedrin, that elite group of 70 men out of all of the Pharisees. He was one of them. It's like the Supreme Court, as it were, of Jerusalem. He was one of them. He was a ruler of the Jews, that special ruling council, that 70 men of both lay and clerical backgrounds who had a jurisdiction over every Jew on earth. Kent Hughes says this in his commentary, Nicodemus was nobody's fool. He was an educated man. He was an aristocrat. These things, his earnestness, his position, his education, makes his life a perfect case study for learning the essentials of salvation. Isn't that beautiful? This isn't just some, you know, like a thief on the cross, right, that has no background whatsoever. It's just God's incredible mercy. This is an educated man. He knows the law of God, and yet he's lost. That's essentially what Jesus is going to say. In the Gospels, Jesus often speaks out against the Pharisees and their external religion, but inwardly unchanged. Look at Matthew 23, how many of those, woe to you Pharisees and hypocrites, woe to you! Seven, I think, in that passage. So he speaks boldly against them. Nicodemus would have held to the Jewish Mishnah, that's where I think it was 712 extra laws that the Pharisees would come up with. I think there was 30 or so, Charlie can probably tell me later, but several on the Sabbath. I'm just trying to remember a couple of these, but if a chicken laid an egg, You could eat it as long as you killed the chicken the next day and ate the chicken. Anyway, just weird stuff about igniting fires and all of this. All of these things that they added to the law of God. Nicodemus was an expert even on those. Now why does he come at night? that he didn't want to get a suntan or what? Why did he come at night? Now some say he was afraid, right? And there was probably an element of that, but also this is a time when Jesus' earthly ministry is hustling and bustling, right? It's a time when there's not much time in the middle of the day. Had he tried to corner him in the middle of the day, he probably wouldn't have that much time, but he wants to have quality time with Jesus. F.F. Bruce in his commentary says, the darkness without, the darkness of the night, reflected the darkness of Nicodemus's understanding, which required to be illumined. That's consistent with the Gospel of John, right? Light, darkness, John's a master of these contrasts. Nicodemus would indeed prove to be a true follower of Christ. This isn't the only occasion that he shows up in the Gospel of John. In chapter 7, We see Nicodemus defending the work of Jesus. At the very end of the chapter, Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, who was one of them, said to them, Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning of what he does? And the other Pharisees, they replied, Are you from Galilee? To search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee. Furthermore, after the crucifixion, he shows up again, John wants to remind us, when all the disciples had fled, right? They were fearful, they fled, and Joseph of Arimathea comes and gets the body of Jesus and to lay him in a tomb of which no one had ever been laid there, and it says in 19.39 of John, and Nicodemus came also who had first come to him by night. bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds in weight." So John wants to keep reminding us, as the Gospel of John goes on, he's setting our minds back to this occasion. Who came to him by night? So, religious people need the new birth. Secondly, the utter necessity of the new birth is here in verses 2 and 3. Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these things unless God is with them. And Jesus answered and said, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus addresses Jesus with this observation. He calls him a rabbi. That's interesting, isn't it? He's got no formal training whatsoever, he's a carpenter, and yet Nicodemus calls him rabbi, and it's an expression of dignity towards Jesus. Not that he's superior, but a peer, basically. A teacher from God. J.C. Ryle says one of the most important passages of the Bible is this text. Nowhere else do we find stronger statements about those two weighty subjects, the new birth and salvation by faith in the Son of God. Well Jesus makes this bold declaration in verse 3. Why does it say Jesus answered and said to him? What was Nicodemus's question? He didn't have a question. He made an observation. But Jesus answers him as though it was a question. He does not affirm his profession, that he just said, we know that you've come from God. He didn't say, Nicodemus, I'm glad you recognize that. I am the Son of God. He didn't say that. He hit him right where he needed to be hit. Jesus went right to the heart of the issue. Transformation of the heart is what is necessary. And listen, every word we have recorded in the Word of God from Jesus is vitally important. But when it's prefaced by a truly, truly, or an amen, amen, you better really listen. And that's what he's saying here. Truly, truly, Nicodemus, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." That word for see is the idea of even perceive the kingdom of God, because he would profess to know all about the kingdom of God, Nicodemus would, right? Being well-educated. Kingdom of God is equated to eternal life. That's the way the Jew would think about it. The Jew would think about a future resurrection of which the kingdom would come. No matter how religious you are, no one can enter the kingdom of God without the new birth. without being born from above. You cannot enter the kingdom of God. Listen to Leon Morris. He says this classic statement. In one sentence, Jesus sweeps away all that Nicodemus stood for and demands that he be remade by the power of God. Isn't that amazing? Supreme Court, Sanhedrin, right? A Pharisee of the Pharisees, you know? And in one sentence, He throws it all away. The statement disintegrates all hope of attainment of heaven by the merit of good works. Think of how Nicodemus must have felt. Lenski, the German commentator, says Jesus tells him that he is not yet in the kingdom, all of which he had built his hopes on throughout his long, arduous life, here sank into ruin and became a little worthless heap of ashes. It's glorious. All that he stood for. We don't know how old he was. I imagine he was probably an older, distinguished man, a Pharisee for decades, right? And here it is. All that he stood for and built his hopes on sank into ruin and became a little worthless heap of ashes. Well, Jesus doesn't just say this once, we'll get to it, but in verse 5 he says it again, unless you're born of the water and the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. Verses C, the kingdom of God, cannot enter the kingdom of God. And even in verse 7, don't be amazed that I said to you, you must be born again. Turn over to chapter 6 with me for a moment. Chapter 6, the end of the chapter here. John 6 is an amazing study, by the way, by itself. All five points of the doctrines of grace can be found just in that one chapter, and it really shows us who Jesus is. But notice the end. All this teaching, I don't have time to really go over it all, but Jesus walks on water. He feeds the 5,000. He says, I'm the bread of life, and no one can come to me unless the Father draws him. And then all of this, eat the flesh of the Son of God. And then here at the end, he says in verse 63, see it? Thank you. It is the Spirit that gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there were some of you who do not believe, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it would that would betray him. And he was saying, for this reason I said that no one can come to me unless it's been granted to him by the Father. Now notice verse 66. As a result of this, this what? This teaching, many of his disciples withdrew and were not walking with him anymore. Now, not as true disciples, but he had gathered a following because he was a human bread machine, as it were, right? To fill the bellies, and he even clearly says that. You've come because you ate of the loaves, right? But this radical teaching, many did not follow him anymore. Paul would write a similar truth where he says that we need a circumcision of the heart. The Jew was big on circumcision, right? He says, no, no, you need a circumcision of the heart to be transformed. And Nicodemus would learn this. You see what's missing in this text here? Human effort. Good works. It's not there. It's not there. You can't find it. It's not there. It's not anywhere. This whole idea is the way God has made us is that we feel like we have to do something, right? We feel like we have to do something to get Y. I've got to do X. You see, it's not enough to begin participating in religious services, taking to the sacraments, maybe some external reformation where you're no longer lusting, looking at porn, smoking, partying, whatever it is. But no, what a person needs is a complete transformation. Minor modifications are not enough to be acceptable to a holy God. A thorough change of heart is what is needed, and we can't do that. You can't do that. We read the Ezekiel passage, right? Takes out the heart of stone, gives a heart of flesh. We can't do that on our own. Stephen Charnock, the Puritan, says, regeneration is a universal change of the whole man. It is as large and renewing as sin was in defacing. This is marvelous news for our broken society, our culture that is decaying. This is good news, the good news of the gospel. that you can go to heaven regardless of your social, your financial standing, your race, the color of your skin, it's all of grace, but you must seek God and beg for that new birth. Secondly, another thing we see from here, and I've already alluded to it, is that we must acknowledge the doctrine of total depravity. We just read in John 6, this is why I said, no one can come to me unless the Father draws him. So too here, you can't make yourself born again. Man is fallen in sin. We're sinners by nature, we're sinners by practice, we have a darkened understanding, We're totally blind to spiritual things in and of ourselves. We're slaves to sin. We're like a corpse. In Ezekiel, we were just in Ezekiel 36, but in Ezekiel 37, there's a valley of dry bones. Remember that? It says here, the Son of Man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord, you know. And again He said to me, prophesy over these bones and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. And thus says the Lord God to these bones, behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you. I will make flesh to grow back upon you and cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive. and you will know that I am the Lord." It's a supernatural work. I think I already told you in my study I have this picture of this very scene right here where it shows bones pushing the gravestones up and how some are beginning to have skin and sinews. It's the dead coming to life! And that's the way regeneration is. You go to a funeral, person's dead, right? No vital signs whatsoever. You can scream and yell. You can tilt the corpse head and scream into the ear. You can bang a cymbal. You can do all of that. It's dead. You can pull him out, drag him out, and kick him. He's not going to come to life. That's the very picture that the Bible paints of what we are by nature. We're dead. We're dead, apart from a supernatural work of being born again from above. That's the very thing that Jesus is illustrating. You even see it with Lazarus, right? Four days in the tomb, Lazarus, come forth! That's the way regeneration is. When the Holy Spirit quickens us, it happens in an instant. You see, the natural man and the natural mind, Paul summarizes in Romans 8, because the mindset on the flesh is hostile towards God. For it does not subject itself to the law of God, yea, it is not even able to do so." See, the natural man, even if he tried, he cannot. He cannot do it on his own. Those who are not renewed by the Holy Spirit are unable to turn to God in their own strength. It's just against your nature. Your nature, you're a slave to sin, right? It's a supernatural work of the Spirit. When regeneration happens, your eyes are open, you're not blind anymore, and then you can respond to the gospel message, and we're praying that that would even happen, even this very day. You see, your nature is that which you can only do is sin. And, you know, I mean, even Mormons that are lost, they're sinning, right? But they live very upright lives. So what I'm saying is not that you're given to prostitution and all of that vile stuff, but you're lost apart from God, just as a dog cannot fly, right? A fish cannot fly. It's against your nature if you're outside of Christ. Jeremiah 13, 23, can an Ethiopian change his skin? Can a leopard change his spots? Unable to, right? Regeneration precedes faith. Saving faith when you respond to the gospel message that day that you were saved, you were already regenerated. You were already born again by the Holy Spirit. That is what enabled you. You don't say, huh, I think I'll have faith today, and then God says, oh look, little Johnny has faith. I'm going to regenerate him now. That's not how it works. You are regenerated then so that you are able to respond to the gospel message, and that's when God justifies you in the court of heaven. Regeneration happens before justification. It's the Spirit that gives life. This is such an encouragement in evangelism. It's not how persuasive we can be. It's not how we can talk people into the kingdom. It's in holy dependence upon the Holy Spirit and a sovereign God. That fuels missions. That fuels our evangelism. Even David Livingston, the great missionary in Africa, hard days. Read some of his memoirs. Even there's remnants of his journal. He writes a letter that he wrote during one of his darker moments, and he said, we have a difficult, difficult field to cultivate here, but for a belief that the Holy Spirit works and will work for us, I should give up and despair. See, that fuels missions too. Well, we've seen the necessity of the new birth, even religious people. Now we need to notice that it's a supernatural act of God. We've already been alluding to that. In verse 4, Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he's old? He can't enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he? And Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. See, you're unable to bring about the new birth. Nicodemus is still thinking according to the flesh. He's confused, and as a Jew he understood the future kingdom that was coming, but his thinking was limited to temporal and fleshly things rather than eternal and spiritual things. If he really understood the Old Testament Scriptures, he would know that it speaks of the utter necessity of a transformation of the heart, such as our Old Testament reading today. Being born again is not something that you just add to your life, right? It's revolutionary. It's a complete renovation. It's completely starting over again. Regeneration is the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. What does he mean by born of water and the Spirit? It's actually a difficult passage, even in the original, as to what is being meant here, but I believe he's simply restating what he said in verse 3. He's saying it a different way. And the reason I believe that, there's only one preposition in the original Greek for water and the spirit, and so those aren't two different things. Now, some will take this passage and actually teach baptismal regeneration. What is that? That's a big, long, fancy word. It's when your infant is baptized that they're regenerated. The Roman Catholic Church believes that, that there are Sealed as it were even some Lutherans actually believes that What's the problem with that? Jesus is talking about something supernatural. You see, if that were the case, a mere man or priest is the one causing one to be born again, where it's really a supernatural act of God. In that case, it's man being in charge of the power of the Holy Spirit. A mere man telling the Spirit when and where to act. That's why we abhor that teaching. The text is clear. This is speaking of spiritual things, right? It's spiritual things, not what is humanly done to the flesh. You see, the water and the wind and the Spirit all come from above. Water points to the purifying work of the Holy Spirit we have in Zechariah 13. In that day, a fountain will be opened for the house of David, for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and impurity. A fountain for sin and impurity. A cleansing, Jesus would speak in John 7 as well, of water being symbolic of the Holy Spirit. And that best fits this context. It's a comprehensive transformation of the Holy Spirit, and it's supernatural. It's something man can't do. You can't buy it on eBay or Amazon or get it from overseas. It is something that is supernatural that comes from above. See, the heart needs renewal, like we read in Ezekiel 36. In fact, even in Mark 7, Jesus says, talking about the heart of man. He says, from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, fornication, thefts, murders, adultery, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man. I remember that context. It was about the Pharisees and the washing and all of that, and it's all, you know, are you cleansed, or did you wash your hands, I believe is what it is. And so this is Jesus's answer. It's like, you're so concerned for that. It's from within. It's the heart that is wicked. Who can know it? Earlier in Ezekiel, chapter 11, it says, I will give them one heart, I will put a new spirit within them, and I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh. Who does that? It says, I will do that. So, human gimmicks do not produce the new birth. Some of you probably have been to churches where the lights are dimmed, the music comes on, and there's maybe some wooing, emotional appeal, mood music, mood lighting, maybe a few little candles, some persuasive words. No, that doesn't produce the new birth. In fact, you know what those do produce? It produces something. Many false converts, because they've been told that they've walked forward or whatever and said a prayer that, don't you ever question your salvation! Your salvation is secure for all of life, don't ever question it! They do away with the whole idea of examining yourself. And so you've got people, it's done so much damage to the church. People that think they're Christians, but there hasn't been any change, and That's why we don't resort to those gimmicks. It's the Word of God. It's the Spirit of God. We're just depending on the Spirit to work in the hearts of our people. So glad that one of our young people believe that they've just been saved, and that's exciting. We may have another baptism coming up, just as Evelyn did a couple months ago, and they're away at a recital. But anyway, so we're excited. It's the Spirit's work, right? So what's born of flesh is flesh, and what's born of spirit is spirit. It's like to be born into a spiritual family, you have to be born again. It's an antithesis. Nicodemus didn't get it. He's thinking of flesh. Just like the birth of a baby, is totally helpless. The baby does not make himself to be made. He's passive. The baby doesn't determine when and where to be born. It's completely passive. So too with being born again. And so in verse 7, "...do not be amazed that I said to you..." Do not marvel is what that word means. Don't marvel, Nicodemus, that I said to you. And when it says that I said to you, that's actually a plural, so it's applying to beyond Nicodemus. Do not be amazed. The great evangelist George Whitefield, who traveled something like 50,000 miles on horseback in England and around the East Coast back in the 1700s, times the Revival, A woman went up and asked him, why do you always say you must be born again? You're always saying you must be born again. You know what his answer was? It's because you must be born again. That's going to be great to see Whitfield in heaven. If you see an accurate picture of him, he was cross-eyed and, you know, kind of, you know, just this man that could preach and preach so much. Do not marvel at what Jesus said. It's a marvel when you think that God saved us, those of us that are Christians. It's like the hymn to Isaac Watts, why was I made to hear your voice when thousands make a wretched choice? We should never cease to be amazed of God's amazing grace. If you ever get to that place, you have become dull and carnal, don't ever cease to be amazed. If anyone be in Christ, he's what? A new creation! That's good news. Well, the new birth is necessary, it's supernatural, and lastly today, verse 8, the regeneration is invisible like the wind. Look at verse 8. For the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it's going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. You see, what Jesus is saying here is, it's mysterious. We know it's supernatural, but it's also mysterious. And He uses just a basic illustration of the wind, right? We're going to go out there and enjoy some snacks, God willing, after the service, and there's typically a breeze that comes up from Mission Bay, and up, and it runs across our faces, and we don't know exactly where it's coming from, and we don't know exactly where it's going, right? It's mysterious. Can you see the wind, kids? Can you see the wind? No, you can't see it, but we see the effects of it. Like when we were having outdoor services during COVID and Joshua's guitar, I think, blew off the guitar stand and crashed onto the ground and papers were flying as we were, you know, because the wind was so strong there. We see the effects of the wind. The wind blows. Everyone who is born of the Spirit. It's a beautiful picture. The next section really kind of continues this thought. We'll save that for next time. But the Spirit's work cannot be predicted. Salvation is a complete, sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. Just as wind and weather. It is one thing for a meteorologist to predict the directions of the winds a few days out, and they're only right a percentage of the time, right? But here, no man commands the wind. No man can order a tornado. No man can put a new direction to a devastating hurricane. No president, no world leader can control the wind and cause a hurricane to dissipate or to weaken. It blows where it will, and the Holy Spirit regenerates whom He will. How does it happen? How does the Holy Spirit make one alive? We must first confess that the Bible does not give a detailed explanation, right? But 3-8 is an illustration. Jesus gives us a very appropriate illustration. You hear the wind, you see the bushes and the tree moving, you feel it on your face, but where it comes from and where it's going, we do not know. We do know this. Regeneration happens in an instant. It is not some gradual process of attending 10 weeks of regeneration classes. It happens in an instant. A man is either regenerated or he's not. He's either a Christian or he's not. There's no in-between, there's no process there. It is instantaneous. A baby is conceived in a millisecond, right? When the sperm reaches the egg, there is conception, and there's life. There wasn't life just a moment before. Now there's life. That's the way regeneration is. It's instantaneous. It's a transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit, and it happens in a millisecond. So too, when dead men in the Great Resurrection in a split second, in the twinkling of an eye, 1 Corinthians 15, right? In the great resurrection, when Jesus comes back again and we resurrect, it's in an instant, right? And I already mentioned regeneration precedes faith. It's absolutely necessary that you're regenerated to have a positive response to the gospel. The Holy Spirit is 100% active in that. The work of the Holy Spirit is invisible, but the results can be clearly seen. John Calvin observes, as the soul does not live idly in the body, but gives motion and vigor to every member and every part, so the Spirit of God cannot dwell in us without manifesting Himself by the outward effects. In other words, there's going to be fruit, there's going to be evidences, there's going to be a changed life. Every one of us here are breathing, right? But if you held your breath, how long could you hold your breath? Not very long, right? And so, every analogy breaks down, but okay. So, if you're not a Christian, all you can do is disobedience, okay? That's all you can do is sin. You can't please God if you're not a believer. And so, breathing is natural. When you do do a good act, it doesn't earn you salvation. It's like holding your breath, it's very brief. However, when we come to Christ, Breathing and walking in obedience is natural. Does that mean we'll never sin? No, we will fall into sin at times, but it's unnatural. It's like holding your breath. It's unnatural. You're going to quickly repent, the Spirit will convict you, and then you will be breathing again. 1 John 5, 4, 4, whatever is born of God overcomes the world, this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Our desires, our affections are all changed with regeneration. 2 Corinthians 3 verse 3, "...being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for and written by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of the human heart." You think of the radical conversion of Paul. Pastor Steve's meditation before prayer meeting had to do with the book of Acts and how they were laying the garments at his feet. But had we not skipped to chapter 11, we'd see chapter 9 and the radical conversion of the apostle Paul. How about just thinking about your own conversion? It's supernatural. It's amazing. Your affections change. The things you used to love and chase after, you now hate and have a disdain for. The things you used to hate, now you love, and you want to go after those things. That's transformation. What a delight it is to love God's Word, God's people, and His worship. Well, a couple concluding applications today. You should be humbled under these profound truths. This is amazing. It's a supernatural work of God, and those of us that are in Christ, it's an amazing thing. But also, we see the plight of sinful man all around us, those that are unconverted. The need is so great. Remember, just as we don't know where the wind comes and where it is going, some of you have been praying for family members for a long time, and they're still unconverted. Some of you have unbelieving spouses, and you're praying, and they're yet unconverted. We pray, and we pray earnestly, but remember, God's timing is not our timing. that He will hear our cries. It's great news. If you're in Christ, God has breathed new life into you. It's an amazing thing. And we have the hope of heaven, as it says, it's a promise to the covenant people of God, all the promises are ours, they're yes and amen, and Christ, 1 Corinthians 2.9, it says, what eye has not seen, what ear has not heard, nor what has not entered the heart of man, God has prepared for all those who love Him. What an amazing thing. The hope of having no more defects, no more suffering, no more tears, no more sadness. Pure joy and sinless worship. Secondly, if you're here today and you're not a follower of Jesus, you must be born again, right? It's right from the text. You have to be born again. Today is the day of salvation. Beg God to save you if you are not yet in Christ. 2 Peter 3.8 says, But do not let this fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. One day, the door of mercy will be shut, and it will be too late. So don't take these things lightly. Children, don't trust in your AWANA program, your scripture memorization, your on the coattails of mommy and daddy going back and forth to church. Don't trust in those things. You need to be born again yourself. It's not something that your parents can do for you. May the Lord open the hearts of those who need to be saved. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's pray. Father, please hear our cry. Hear our cry, Lord, first of all, that we believers would not be dull, that we would never cease to be amazed and marvel at your amazing grace towards us as unworthy sinners. And Lord, we beg that you would work powerfully, supernaturally, even invisibly by the power of your Holy Spirit to save those who are not saved. Have mercy, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.