Assurance of salvation is directly linked to regeneration, or being born of God, as explained in John 3. Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus highlights the necessity of this spiritual rebirth, emphasizing that one cannot see or enter the kingdom of God without it. The sermon connects this new birth to the objective work of Christ on the cross, likening it to Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness, where looking to the brass serpent brought healing. True salvation, therefore, is not subjective feelings but an impartation of new life from God through the Spirit and the Word, resulting in righteousness, peace, and joy.
Restored with Diffio
Audio restored with Diffio. Diffio processed the original archive recording to reduce noise and produce a cleaner listening version; the original stays available.
Speech quality score (model-estimated, SCOREQ): before 2.18 → restored 4.47
We shall begin our reading at verse one, a portion of the Word of God that we are all very acquainted with, I am sure. And yet we have some of the deepest truth that is to be found anywhere in Holy Scripture in John chapter three. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again.
He cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except the man be born of water and of the Spirit. He cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 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 again. The wind bloweth where it willeth. And thou hearest the sound thereof.
Well, canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Are thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen, and ye received not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, who is in heaven.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Now let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you. for the love of God revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. We thank you for that great redemption that has been secured to the Son of Man being lifted up, our Lord Jesus Christ, his willingness to go to the cross and there bear our sins in his own body on the tree.
We thank thee for the Spirit of God who applies that great redemption to the people of God in that which we are studying the new birth. We thank thee, O God, for the workings of each member of the Holy Trinity. Thou art God, and we marvel that you have been pleased to reveal yourself to us. Thou art the transcendent God. Yet thou hast been pleased to be imminent. in thy creation and we bow in worship as we consider that which is ours in Christ Jesus now we ask you for special help help us to speak and to speak as of the oracles of God and we'll thank you in Jesus name amen I asked the question last week are you sure you're here And then I asked this second question, are you as sure you're saved as you are that you're here?
Now God intends His people to be sure that they're saved. God wants us to have and to enjoy the assurance of salvation. There is one thing better than being saved. It is knowing that you are. But in order to have that assurance of salvation, assurance of salvation is linked with this matter of regeneration or as our Lord put it to Nicodemus, being born from above, being born of God. In the first epistle of John, chapter five, verse thirteen, we read these things, have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that you are born of God.
And you have this great truth in the first epistle of John, and you have the expression born of God, born of God. I think it appears five times. But also, in the first epistle of John, you have the other expression, which means the same thing, begotten of God. To be begotten of God means that we have been born of God. Now here in John chapter three, Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, approaches Christ at night. and the new birth becomes the subject that our Lord engages Nicodemus in.
I'm not going into the introduction as to what Nicodemus says to the Lord, but I'm going into the teaching of our Lord on the subject of the new birth. But whenever we talk about John three, we usually are unbalanced. There is one group of people who only see John three, sixteen, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. There's another group of people on the other side who only see John chapter three in verse three.
That's all they can think of when they come to John chapter three, except the man be born again. He cannot see. the kingdom of God. And they deal with man's depravity and the fact of man's inability to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Now, we need both. We need to understand man's depravity. And I'm going to preach man's depravity this morning. But before I preach man's depravity, I want to take you to the place where you can get the answer to it. our Lord in John chapter three verse fourteen he answers Nicodemus question Nicodemus is totally baffled by the statements of our Lord he's totally baffled and I'm convinced there are a lot of people today that are baffled by what this business of being born of God is all about and hence there are a lot of people who sing blessed assurance who don't have it.
And therefore, before we go into the man's total depravity as manifested in verse three and again in verse five, except a man be born again he cannot see. And except a man be born from above, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Nicodemus cries out to the Lord, and this is what we do when we have a heart hunger for God. We cry out to God, how can these things be? How can a sinner like me ever be justified, ever be saved by a God who is absolutely holy? How does God save sinners?
Well, in answer to that question, our Lord reveals who He is. First of all, about two weeks ago we dealt with a subject, Son of David, Son of Man. Now our Lord Jesus is the Son of Man. and he speaks of himself as the one who came down from heaven. He's the one who ascends to heaven, even the Son of Man who is in heaven. And he speaks of himself as the Son of Man. That Son of Man is the heavenly personage of Daniel chapter seven and verse thirteen, whom comes from God and goes to God and receives from God a kingdom.
that shall never pass away and a kingdom that shall never be destroyed. Daniel chapter seven verse thirteen. Therefore that heavenly personage is none other than the Son of God, the Son of man, our Lord Jesus Christ. So in verse fourteen our Lord Jesus tells us and he lays the foundation for John three sixteen. John three sixteen begins with a conjunction did you ever notice that it doesn't begin with a word God it begins with a word for and that word for connects us with the two verses that go before it says as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so much here's the divine imperative just as it is a divine imperative to Nicodemus you must be born from above if you're going to see the kingdom of God.
It's a divine imperative for the Son of God, the Son of Man, to be lifted up. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. For, here's the key, for God so loved the world. that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Never forget to link the new verse with the work of Calvary.
For it is through the work of Calvary the smiting of the rock, my friends, that the waters have flowed out to poor sinners in order that they may drink. And we can say with bonar of old, I heard the voice of Jesus say, Behold, I freely give the living water, thirsty one, stoop down and drink and live. And then he answered, I came to Jesus and I drank of that life-giving stream. My soul, my thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in him. Our Lord in John seven, he cries out, If any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink.
He that believeth on me, as the scripture has said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. Never forget to link the new birth with the work of the cross. Now, let's quickly look at John three, fourteen. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. The children of Israel in Numbers chapter twenty-one were coming through the wilderness on their way from Egypt to Canaan.
And they were complaining to the Lord that they had to go round about the land of Edom. And they complained to the Lord about the food that he gave them. They were tired of the manna. that they ate every day. Two things they didn't like, the way God led them and the food with which God fed them. And you know we have that same condition in the church today. There's a mixed multitude in the church today. They complain about the way and they complain about the food. These two things, there are always complaints by the mixed multitude. Never forget that. God sent fiery serpents among the people and when they bit the Israelites many of the Israelites died and Moses cried unto the Lord for the people and God told Moses to make a serpent of brass to put it on a pole and whoever is bit or bitten by a serpent the English scholar is on the front row you know and he just looked at me whenever a person is bitten by the serpent and he looks to the serpent of breath on the pole, he's
healed, he lives. God says, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him in that blessed one who was lifted up on Calvary's cross. Lifted up was he to die. It is finished was his cry. Now in heaven exalted high. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Whosoever looks to him lifted up on the cross, whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but shall have eternal life.
When they looked, They lived. Now, you've got to keep in mind one or two things. God never told the children of Israel to make an ointment for snakebite. And the church today is in the manufacturing business, trying to make ointment for snakebite. And there'll be no cure. The only cure for the snakebite of sin is the cross on Calvary's Hill. and the lifting up of the Son of Man and Jesus Christ's death on behalf of poor sinners. It's the only remedy there is. Now I'd like to explain something.
This is one of the greatest texts for explaining the subjective and the objective activity in salvation. It's the greatest text I know. You know, You ask a person today, if I came to you today and said to you after the meeting, if I go to the door, I don't always do it. But if I go to the door and when you are not and say to you, are you assured that you're saved? What would you say? Well, I feel that way. Well, that's awfully subjective, you know. That's very subjective. There are some days I don't feel good. And there are other days I don't feel well.
You see? And there are days that you don't feel well. Are you saved on those days? Are you saved on days when things don't go well? Are you saved on days when God doesn't do what you think he should do because of who you think you are? Are you still saved? You see, we get some real high thoughts about ourselves. And a lot of times we have painted the picture in our own minds about God that if God doesn't do exactly the way I think He should because this is what I think God is and how He should act.
We get disappointed with God. Are you still saved? You see, we need to examine that which is subjective and that which is objective. And what God did when he told Moses to put a serpent of grass on a pole. He did something that is most important in salvation. Notice he put the remedy totally outside a man. That's objective. They had to look away from themselves totally. They could never be saved by looking on the inside.
They had to get saved from something that took place outside of themselves. Totally. Now, they had the venom of the sin on the inside. You see, the fiery serpent's venom is on the inside. And that's where the venom of sin is. And you and I can't see sin in somebody else. We know it's there. Because as face answereth the face in water, so the heart of man to the heart of man. It's there. It's on the inside. And those who have the venom of sin are surely going to die.
But God told them to look away from themselves. To what? A serpent of breath on the pole. And when they looked, they lived. God tells us to look to the person who died on the cross in Calvary Hill. You see, the new birth in John chapter three is linked with the work of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God, except the man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. The water and the Spirit. In the natural we have two parents.
In the spiritual we have two parents. Every one of us have two parents. a father and a mother. That's the way it is. And if we're born from above, there are two parents. There is the Word of God and there is the Spirit of God and they work together. They never work apart. They always work together. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. And that's why Peter in first Peter one twenty three says, except of being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God that liveth and abideth forever.
In James one verse eighteen it says, of his own will be gat, and there's that word be gat, begatty us with the word of truth. There's a word of God. How are we begotten with a word of truth? Who's to be gather the Spirit of God? And the work of the Spirit of God is always to draw attention to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. When we look away from ourselves, and we look to the Son of Man who was lifted up on the cross.
You see, we look to that which is outside of ourselves and something takes place within ourselves. When the Israelites look to the serpent of breath, they tell me snake bites are very painful, exceeding painful. When they look to the serpent of breath, they look to something outside of themselves, totally. And then they experience something inside themselves. Healing. And you know, it's like Bunyan and Pilgrim's Progress. As a pilgrim was going with a load on his back, you remember? As he was trying to go from the city of destruction to the city of God, the celestial city.
And he gets to that hill where there are three crosses. And he looks at that third, that middle cross. And as he gazed upon that middle cross, the load fell off his back. And it rolled down the hill into a sepulcher. And it was gone forever. And that's what takes place when we're saved. The load of sin is removed. The load of guilt is removed. It's taken away forever. That's what we're talking about in salvation. Oh, the new birth. Now God says it's absolutely necessary for us to have the new birth. He says, except a man be born again, he cannot see. Now, in order to see the sun today, I have to have something.
I have to have eyes. A blind man, the sun doesn't help the blind man. He's just as blind in daytime as he is in nighttime. What does he need? He needs eyes to see. The Bible says in the book of Proverbs, the seeing eye and the hearing ear, the Lord is the maker of them both. Do you have eyes to see this morning? Do you have ears to hear this morning? Our Lord throughout his ministry, and in the book of the Revelation as well, as he addresses every one of the seven churches, he says, He that has ears to hear, let him hear.
He that has ears to hear, let him hear. Do you have ears to hear this morning? Do you have eyes to see? Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now the question is, what is the kingdom of God? What is the kingdom of God? That's a good question for the door when you go off this morning. I'll ask you when you go off. Well, no, you know I wouldn't do that. I don't believe in embarrassing people, any way at all. But I'd love to make you think. If someone asks you what is the kingdom of God, what would you say? We see it's defined in Romans chapter fourteen verse seventeen.
It tells you what it is. It says, Now the kingdom of God is not meat and drink. It is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. How do I get into the kingdom of God? By the work of the Spirit of God in regeneration. What is the kingdom of God? It is that moral sphere, friends. It is not meat and drink. A person isn't saved because of what they do. You see, I don't eat meat. I only eat vegetables. And I don't drink this and I don't drink that. You know, I don't drink coffee with cream in it. That's why I usually say to people, would you like cream in your coffee?
No, I'm a Christian. I usually say to them, and I have a little fun with it, you see. the kingdom of God is not meat and drink. Do we get that? Whether you drink your coffee black or whether you drink a bit clean or even if you put some sugar in it. My wife just sticks her finger in for me. You see, the kingdom of God is not meat and drink. Do you realize that? You see, when I was brought up, I thought if a person smoked a cigarette, they couldn't be saved.
And then I came up with my Sunday school superintendent one day, and he was smoking a cigar. And I tell you, that just about took everything out of me that I had. The kingdom of God is not me to drink. I thought if a person went to a movie when I was a boy, they couldn't be saved. It's something we didn't do. We weren't allowed. And I could go down the list, friends. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but the kingdom of God is this. It is righteousness. It is righteousness.
And if Talking about being saved, if being saved, then you does not mean that you live a godly life, a righteous life following conversion. I don't believe that you're saved. It is righteousness, friends. I have been brought into a relationship of righteousness with Jesus Christ. In Genesis fifteen, Abraham is declared righteous by God. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. years later James takes up a place out of the life of Abraham and he talks and he uses the same verse Abraham believed God but he's talking about what took place in Genesis twenty two you claim to be saved are you a friend of mine who is pastoral first got this church in New York City Peter Hogan down Dr.
Peter Good friend of mine. When he got saved in Virginia under the ministry of Sam McEwen, he said it was a New Year's Eve service. I went to Sam and I said to him, I got saved tonight. He said, you'll have your whole life to prove it. Did your life prove that you're saved? You see, the new birth is just what it is. It is a new birth. And whenever a baby enters into a home, you know it. You know when you have a baby in the home. They have a way of announcing their needs at times when it doesn't always suit.
Anyone of you who have babies in your home, you know this. And when a person is born of God, They're in a sphere of righteousness, and they have a hunger and thirst for it, and they announce their need. It is peace. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God. It is joy in the Holy Spirit. A child of God is not a person who walks around and looks as though they're a cheerleader for an accident. You see, a person who is born of God has joy, the joy of the Lord within.
Do you have it? You see, that clock is my biggest enemy this morning. Have you looked to that which is outside of yourself, to the one who's lifted up in the cross? For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. I'm going to quickly say five things in closing. Number one, the natural man does not possess spiritual life. The natural man is a person who has never been born of God. And every one of us was at one time a natural man in that biblical sense of the term.
And we did not possess spiritual life. There is a time when spiritual life enters the child of God. You must be born from above. The second thing is this. The natural man, the man who isn't saved, he's not ignorant, he's not feeble, he isn't sickly, he's dead. He's dead toward God, he's dead in trespasses and in sins, and that's you. If you're here without Christ, that's you. You're not ignorant. You're not feeble.
You're not sickly. You're dead. You couldn't be worse off than you are. You have eyes, but you don't see. And you need spiritual sight in order that you can behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The third thing is this. Man's problem is on the inside. The new birth is not becoming religious, friends. It is not becoming religious. The problem is only inside. We need spiritual life. The fourth thing is this. The new birth is not the removal of anything from the sinner.
It is not the changing of anything in the sinner. The new birth is a communication of something to the center. What do we need? We need life from God. And unless God communicates that life to me, I'll never have it. And the nice part about it, in John chapter three, our Lord in John three sixteen says, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have what eternal life everlasting life the communication of something to the sinner my question is do you have it do you have it you know you can have everything else if you don't have that it doesn't mean anything This is what it's all about.
You see, the new birth is the impartation of a new nature. Second Peter, chapter one, verse four says that we are partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through us. All friends, our Lord, when he talks to Nicodemus, he explains truth that is so important. Man is blind. man is dead man is lost and the only way to have life is through God's dear son for the Holy Spirit's work in salvation is always the point men to the person of God's son do you have it let's pray together oh God our Father We stand amazed at thy matchless grace.
We thank you for that great work of the Savior. There are any here this morning who are outside of Christ. We realize their spiritual deadness. We trust that they do. And we ask you, O God, to draw them sweetly to yourself. We ask you, our Father, that as your word declares, no man can come unto me except the Father who sent me draw them, do your drawing work to the gospel. And enable those who may not know thee.
They may know all about you, but yet not know you. Oh, that they may come. and find the answer to their need and have leave with joy and righteousness and peace for this is what the kingdom of God is. It's that moral sphere. So we commend this company to thee and to thy grace in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.