Peter's been very kind to give me latitude in the length of my comments to account for my poor planning. But I know, I know that he can't extend beyond the lunchtime. That's not doable. So we have to get moving here. This third session is entitled, The Holy Spirit's Great Work. So if we want to think about how the morning's been structured, we started with some overarching themes and then some of the realities of the natural state of man. The heart of man, the root of sinfulness in our heart since the fall, depravity, and our corruption by sin. Then we move from that to the great promise that the Lord makes in the Old Testament, and then we see this in the New Testament as well, these regeneration, new creation realities that are part of what it means to be in Christ. And I want to look a little more narrowly at that and discuss the Spirit's great work in regeneration. I want to begin by just very briefly looking at a passage of Scripture from the Old Testament. I've quoted from Ezekiel 36 and Ezekiel 37 to show that this is not something that Nicodemus should have been unaware of. But I want to just read a brief passage from Ezekiel 37 to see a further point. Ezekiel 37, I'll begin in verse 1. The hand of the Lord was upon me. He brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, set me down in the middle of a valley. It was full of bones. And He led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, you know. Then he said to me, prophesy over these bones and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones. Behold, I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you and will cause flesh to come upon you and cover you with skin and put breath in you and you shall live and you shall know that I am the Lord. So, I prophesied as I was commanded, and as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone, and I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, thus says the Lord God, come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me and the breath came into them and they lived and stood on their feet an exceedingly great army. Now, the reason why I want to begin with that passage is because it draws together a number of themes that are important for us to understand. You probably noticed in that little account of Ezekiel going to the Valley of Dry Bones, you probably noticed some of the same terms that we've been using quite a bit. Moving from death to life. The spirit. And the word. And it's that last connection that I want to draw out a little bit more. When we look at all the New Testament texts that deal with regeneration, with the new birth, with this new creation, spiritual resurrection, what we see is that there is an emphasis placed on the role of God's Word in being used by the Spirit of God to do the work of the Spirit of God. In other words, God does His work by His Spirit through His Word. And that's why this is such a remarkable illustration of that. Because what is God doing? He's taking dead bones, which, humanly speaking, have no hope of life. He's bringing them to new life. But how? He's bringing them to new life by his spirit, through the proclamation of his word. It's a strange command that the Lord gives to Ezekiel. Ezekiel, you see those dead bones? Prophesy to them. You see these bones? You need to command them to live. And you command them to live and then my spirit works and brings them to new life. And that's the dynamic that we see in the New Testament. And it really does pertain to some of the questions that we talked about in our last Q&A. The Bible is clear about this. The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to do the work of God, including the work of regeneration. So, let me introduce you, remind you of a couple of passages. I mentioned in the first session, 1 Peter, because Peter over and over again talks about the new birth. But listen to how he says it, 1 Peter 1.23. Since you have been born again, not from perishable seed, but from imperishable. And then here's the instrumentality of it. Through the living and abiding word of God. Or go to James 1. He uses that term, brought us forth. Of His own will, He brought us forth. By what was the instrument? How did He do it? By the Word of Truth. So that we would be a kind of first fruits of His creatures. The way the Holy Spirit affects or brings about the new birth, ordinarily, is through the regular proclamation of Christ and through the exposition of the Word of God. And I've mentioned this already, but when we preach the Word of God ordinarily, What God uses by His Spirit to convict men and women of sin and to bring them to new life in Christ, ordinarily what He uses first is a proclamation of their lost state, a proclamation of their condemnation, a proclamation of their corruption in sin. I have a quote here from David Dixon. that says this well, the first operation of the Spirit of God, the only circumciser of the heart, in other words the Spirit's the only one who can do this, is the humbling of the man in the sense of his sin, cutting off all his confidence of his own worth and strength to help himself so that he has no confidence in the flesh. The question that, again, was raised in the last session that I think is a really good question is, well, can we do that? Can we proclaim to people their sinfulness, their lostness, and proclaim to them, you must come to Christ, you must be born again? And how does that interface with the reality that we know it's God's work? And we see, again, an example of that in Ezekiel 37, because if you were to think about what Ezekiel is doing, he's doing something that he's preaching, prophesying to these dry bones. He knows that, naturally speaking, there's nothing they can do to respond or even hear the words that he's saying. And yet He does it, and it's the way in which God's Spirit works to bring them to new life. The Bible is called the Sword of the Spirit, because He uses it to do His work in our hearts. Now the question then becomes, what are the results when this happens? So, the instrument is, it's God the Holy Spirit who does it, and the instrument is the Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit, which he wields, and what are the results? Well, I want to read you a quote and then talk about four results. Although I think tomorrow night, Lord willing, when we look at, briefly at John 1, we'll expand some of these a little bit more. But I'll give four right now. Quote first from Charles Hodge. This new life, therefore, manifests itself in new views of God, of Christ, of sin, of holiness, of the world, of the gospel, of the life to come. In short, he says, of all those truths which God has revealed as necessary to salvation. That's a good encapsulation. I'm going to read a quote later from J.C. Ryle that is a little fuller encapsulation. And as I said, we're not going to deal with all of this here in this time because I want to apply it a little bit more in this session than I have in previous sessions. But we're asking the question, what are the results of the new birth? What happens when God takes his word by his spirit and does his work of new creation? Four categories I'll give you here. First, he moves us, according to the scriptures, from slavery to sonship. Now, the word slavery is used for those who are in Christ as well. So I'm not saying slavery as an absolute is dispensed with when we're in Christ. Paul frequently calls himself a slave of Christ. But what I'm talking about here is what Paul speaks about in Romans 8, or what the writer of Hebrews speaks of in Hebrews 2, or what Paul speaks about in Romans 6, or Galatians 4. And in those places, what they talk about are Slavery to sin. Slavery to what Paul says in Galatians 4 is the elemental principles of this world. Or what Hebrews 2 says is slavery, enslavement to the fear of death. It's that kind of enslavement that the Bible says we are in, apart from Jesus Christ, and one of the blessings of the new creation, one of the blessings of the new birth, is we are moved experientially from that slavery to sonship in Jesus Christ. Now, Again, there's a lot that could be said here, but I'll say this just as a kind of teaser. That reality of moving from slavery to those things to sonship is for the Apostle Paul and is for the New Testament the fountainhead of his doctrine of sanctification. In other words, you will not find Paul teaching about growth and grace, or about becoming more holy, or about any of the things we associate with sanctification. You will not find Paul teaching that apart from referring to the new birth. It is the fountainhead of sanctification. And if I might have a parenthesis here, I would say this is one of the deep problems with much of the teaching on sanctification that we have within the Evangelical and Reformed Church today, in my opinion. That sanctification is taught apart from regeneration. that this reality of the new birth is divorced from the benefits of the new birth. So for instance, as a for instance, because we're talking about slavery to sonship, we'll talk about sanctification simply in terms of understanding our adoption as sons. And that language has some superficial biblical credibility, except when you realize that whenever Paul talks about us being sons, it's by virtue of this new birth, this transformation from the inside. So to understand the biblical doctrine of sanctification, You have to go back to the fountainhead, which is the biblical doctrine of regeneration, the Holy Spirit's work in giving us new life. And think just as a case study about Paul's teaching in Romans chapter six. Paul's teaching in Romans chapter six, where he's very specific about applying the doctrine of God's holiness to our lives and our fight against sin. But what does he root it in? Well, he roots it very clearly in the fact that there has been a move from death to life. In fact, he actually uses this exact language, since you have been brought to life, since something has been put to death. It's what the Apostle Paul describes when he gives his own account of his conversion. I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives within me and the life I live in the body. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. And that radical supernatural change then for Paul is the beginning of his account of how it is that we're to respond to God's commands. and be able to say with the psalmist, I love your law. Slavery to sonship, second thing I'll mention. In the New Testament, this doctrine of the new birth, perhaps surprisingly, is connected directly with our understanding of suffering. 1 Peter 1 is the best example of this, where it connects it most explicitly. I think it's connected everywhere, The Bible talks about suffering, but 1 Peter absolutely connects it. So here's what he says. 1 Peter 1, beginning in verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again. to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for our salvation, ready to be revealed in the last day. Listen to this. In this, you've been born again, so you have all these benefits of being born again, but it comes from being born again. You've been born again, and so in this, verse six, you rejoice, Though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now what Peter's doing, and I said earlier, I think this is the case for all the suffering instructions were given in the New Testament, but this one is just so explicit. What Peter's doing is he's saying, you rejoice in the fact that you've been brought from death to life. And that rejoicing in those realities, those new creation realities, enables you to endure this little while of suffering that you're facing. And the result of all of it is, as you endure and rejoice in your new birth, you rejoice in the new birth and you endure suffering, and then that tested genuineness of your faith results in praise and glory to God. See, it changes the entire perspective on suffering. because suffering is something that not only can be endured because there's new life, but it can be rejoiced in because that new life speaks of great and glorious things to come. So it changes suffering. Stay in 1 Peter 1, because it also has a result with respect to growth in holiness. Remember, it's the Holy Spirit who wields his sword to do his work. 1 Peter 1, 15. But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Since it is written, you should be holy for I am holy. And if you call on Him as Father, who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you are ransomed from the feudal ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in these last times for the sake of you. who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God, having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for its sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart. Why? Give me the reason, Peter. Because, verse 23, you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable. through the living and abiding word of God. So Peter does what I'm suggesting every New Testament passage does, which is it puts the new birth at the fountainhead of sanctification. It puts it as the kind of source because of which all of these commands can make sense and can be carried out. And that leads me to the fourth one, which is fruitfulness. We don't have to turn to this passage, but if you'd like to, it's in Galatians 5. And in Galatians 5, you see a list of wonderful things that Christians are supposed to exemplify and strive for, and they are called the fruit of the Spirit. And I would just simply say that the fact that the Spirit of God indwells us is at the basis, is at the root of what the Apostle Paul is saying in Galatians 5, that leads to our striving after this great fruit. I wanna read a couple of quotes that solidify some of these things. We're talking about the results, how it happens, and what the results are. So let me read this excerpt from the Canons of Dort. By the efficacy of the regenerating spirit. He pervaded the inmost recesses of man. He opens the closed and softens the hardened heart and circumcises that which was uncircumcised. infuses new qualities into the will, which though heretofore dead he quickens, from being evil, disobedient, and refractory, he renders it good, obedient, and pliable, actuates and strengthens it, that like a good tree, it may bring forth the fruits of good actions. J.C. Ryle puts it this way. To be born again is, as it were, to enter upon a new existence, to have a new mind, a new heart, new views, new principles, new tastes, new affections, new likings, new dislikings, new fears, new joys, new sorrows, new love to things once hated, new hatred to things once loved, new thoughts of God and ourselves and the world and the life to come and salvation. Now, I want to talk just for a few minutes about how this plays out. That's the basic overview. The basic overview is how does it happen? The spirit of God uses the word of God to change people. How significant is it? It's pervasive. What effect does it have on us? Well, we could have listed more things, but slavery to sonship, suffering, holiness, fruitfulness, all of those things are wrapped into it. But I want to give some examples of this, of what J.C. Ryle's talking about, of what the canons of Dort are talking about. I'll just give a couple. I want to read a quote from John Layton Wilson, who talks about what regeneration does for us with respect to our desire to serve the Lord. Quote, what is the spontaneous feeling of every regenerate heart, especially when that heart feels the freshness of atoning blood applied to it? Is it not, he says, Lord, What wilt thou have me do? And what is the answer that comes down from heaven? Is it not, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature? If from some providential hindrance anyone cannot go himself, then to the extent of his ability, let him help those who can go. We don't have time to survey all the examples I have here. I'll try to hit one or two. But when this doctrine is rediscovered in individuals' lives, when it really happens, and when it really is preached, and when it really pervades, one of the things that takes place, apart from suffering, holiness, sonship, all those things, is an earnest, heartfelt question, which is, okay, Lord, what do we do? I've got a new life now. It's yours. You gave it to me. What do I do? And what John Layton Wilson does in reasoning this through is he says, if we ask that question, actually, and you open your Bibles, well, the Bible tells you. And then you are all in on that. I had a quote I came across about the great awakening. And this historian said, if you really want to understand it, what you need to understand is this, the most important practical idea, which then received increased prominence and power, that is during that time, the most important idea that was preached and believed, was, he says, the idea of the new birth. Because what that did is it changed how they understood the nature of conversion, but then it also changed the nature of how they understood their lives and what they were to be doing and what they were to be contributing to and what they were to be all in on. He actually goes on to say that it had fallen into comparative neglect within the church. prior to that time. If you were to look at the great ministers of the past, men who poured out their lives in particularly the most difficult circumstances and the most difficult places, It's unusual the number of times you'll find, if you have any record at all of their thoughts, and we don't always, but if we do, it's remarkable how often they will come back to just this exact doctrine, the doctrine of the new birth. Thomas Chalmers, for instance, he was actually a pastor and kind of a public intellectual, but checked off all the boxes, nominal Christian, but knew nothing of the new birth. And he says this, I am now of the opinion founded on experience, he says this after the Lord converted him, that on the system of do this and live, there is no peace and even no trust and worthy obedience can ever be attained. It is, instead, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. When this belief enters the heart, joy and confidence enter along with it. We look to God in a new light. We see Him as a reconciled Father. That love to Him which terror scares away re-enters the heart, and with a new principle and a new power, we become new creatures in Jesus Christ, our Lord. And what he is describing, again, just to give an example, like John Layton Wilson, everything changed. His preaching changed. His study changed. He reapplied himself to study Hebrew and Greek. His entire trajectory as a teacher, a preacher of the gospel, changed radically. And we could go on and on. I have way too many examples. But the bottom line is this, the rediscovery and appreciation of the new birth radically changes individuals and radically changes churches and communities. All right, so what implications? I'll just give three. The first is, I mentioned this in the Q&A, Examine yourself. I don't want to promote morbid introspection, but I'm not sure I would say morbid introspection is the besetting sin of our day. I would say that look at what the Bible connects the new birth to and look at yourself. J.C. Ryle lists, he goes through 1 John and the study of 1 John and he lists six features of being born again. It's very convicting. And there's, of course, a vast difference in depth and distinctness of these marks in different people, but we need to reflect on these things. And we need to reflect on these things too in our examination of others. Part of the question in the first session had to do with presumption and assuming. And the Bible gives us some clear criteria by which we can do our best, not perfectly, do our best to examine for credible professions of real saving faith, a living and abiding relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Second implication, any teaching on sanctification within the church must be tethered to teaching on the new birth. If it's not, it will be at best what Chalmers describes as do this and live. At worst, it will be superficial and it will lead us away from the law of God. It has to be tethered to the new birth, it always is in the New Testament. Third implication, prayer has to be central in all our ministry endeavors. When I go back to my initial premise, which is Christianity from beginning to end is a supernatural religion. And if that's true, and if conversion is a supernatural thing, then who can do that? You can't do that. You can't do that. God does it. And so we use the means that God's provided, which is his word, and we also plead with him to do it. because there's nobody else we can turn to to get them to do it. We can do our best to subject ourselves and others whom we care about to the clear preaching of the word. We know that's the means the spirit uses, and we should do that. But it's God who does it, or else it doesn't get done. And so we pray to the Lord of the harvest that he might bless the ministry of his word in sinners' hearts. All right, let's go to the Q&A, which I think I've left a few minutes for. Yes, sir. The best book, I think the book where he connects these dots, Holiness, is the book, oh, the question was about J.C. Ryle, and I referred to him a few times. What's the book? Yeah, the book that connects these dots,