Apr 21
25
I wish the Gospel were always called by its right name, “GLAD TIDINGS”, then we should know better what we are about. Now the OFFER of glad tidings is simply absurd, it is nonsense! GLAD TIDINGS ARE NOT OFFERED! Glad tidings are proclaimed, made known, published. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth” (Isaiah 52:7). This is the “GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD”, the glad tidings of the grace of God, that salvation is all of grace; and this is the Gospel to be preached to every creature. ~Thomas Boston, 1700 AD
You must be born again!
(Don Fortner)
“You must be born again!” John 3:7
In order for God to save a sinner two things must be done:
God must do something FOR you, and God must do something IN you.
Redemption is the work of God FOR sinners.
Regeneration is the work of God IN sinners.
Both are the works of God. Man has nothing more to do with regeneration, than he has to do with redemption.
“You must be born again” because by nature we are fallen, sinful, depraved children of human flesh. All flesh is defiled. All flesh is corrupt. All flesh is sinful. All flesh is condemned. All flesh must die. Unless we are born of the Spirit, we will die in our sins, and our flesh shall be justly damned.
“You must be born again!”
You can reform your life without the new birth.
You can be baptized without the new birth.
You can join the church, be zealous in religion, teach a Bible class, serve as a deacon or elder; you can even preach with great success without being born again.
“You must be born again” for without the new birth . . .
you will never enter the kingdom of God,
you will never be a part of the family of God,
you will never have eternal life,
you will never be admitted into the presence of God’s glory in the bliss of Heaven.
Only new creatures will enter the New Jerusalem.
Only holy men will walk into the Holy City.
Only Heaven born citizens will possess the bliss of Heaven.
Regeneration is the sovereign, irresistible work of God the Holy Spirit. At the time appointed by God, the Holy Spirit comes to the sinner, who was chosen by grace in eternal election and redeemed by Christ at Calvary–and creates spiritual life in that sinner by His sovereign, irresistible, effectual grace.
To be born again is to be made new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
In the new birth, God the Holy Spirit gives chosen, redeemed sinners . . .
a new heart to love God,
a new will to bow to the rule of Christ,
a new mind to understand the things of God,
a new spiritual nature to know, enjoy, and live upon spiritual things,
new eyes, eyes of faith, with which to see Christ,
new ears with which to hear His voice,
new hands, hands of faith, with which to lay hold of Christ and do His will,
new feet, with which to flee to Christ and walk with Him in the newness of life.
John 3:3, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again!”
Crush this fearful, powerful foe!
(adapted from Octavius Winslow’s, “The Soul after Conversion”)
“For everyone born of God overcomes the world.
This is the victory that has overcome the world,
even our faith.” 1 John 5:4
Faith then is the conquering grace!
Faith gives the victory!
Faith crushes this tremendous foe!
And how does faith overcome the world?
By leading the believer to the cross of Jesus!
True faith deals with its great object, Jesus.
It goes to Him in the conflict.
It goes to Him when hard pressed.
It goes to Him in its weakness.
It goes to Him in deep distress.
On Him it leans, and through Him it always obtains the victory.
Of the martyrs it is recorded that they
“overcame through the blood of the Lamb!”
Paul employs similar language in describing his victory:
“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me,
and I to the world.” Galatians 6:14
It is faith in Christ that gives us the victory!
How could a feeble saint, with no strength or wisdom
in himself, overcome so powerful and subtle an enemy
as the world without supernatural aid?
He never could!
Look at the world!
There are its ten thousand temptations….
its temptations of pleasure,
its temptations of ambition,
its temptations of wealth,
its false religion,
its temporizing policy,
its hollow friendship,
its empty show,
its gay deceptions,
its ten thousand arts to ensnare, beguile, allure and charm.
Oh, how could one poor weak believer ever crush
this fearful, powerful foe but as he is “strong in
the grace that is in Christ Jesus”?
The cross of Christ gives him he victory!
Christ has already conquered the world, and faith
in His blood will enable the feeblest soul to exclaim,
while the enemy lies subdued at his feet, “Thanks be
unto God, who always causes me to triumph in Christ.”
Reader! have you obtained the victory over the world,
or has the world obtained the victory over you? One
of the two is certain; either you are warring against it,
or you are its passive and resistless victim; either you
are “born of God,” and “have overcome the world,” or
you are yet unregenerate, and the world has overcome you.
On whose side is the victory?
Perhaps you profess faith in the Lord Jesus,
yet love the world, and conform to….
its maxims,
its policy,
its principles,
its fashions,
its dress,
its amusements,
even its very religion- for the world has its hollow forms of religion.
Is it so?
Then hear what the Word of the Lord says to you.
“Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you,
for when you love the world, you show that you do
not have the love of the Father in you.” 1 John 2:15.
A solemn declaration for you, you who profess faith
in Christ, and who are still lovers of the world!
You cannot love God, and love the world at the same time!
Do not be deceived!
The outward garb of religion will not save you!
The mere name, the empty lamp; these will
avail you nothing when you come to die.
If the world has never been ejected from your heart,
if you have never been crucified to it, then the love
of God is not there; if the love of God is absent,
then you are a stranger to the new birth.
The compass-needle!
(Charles Spurgeon, “Flowers from a Puritan’s Garden” 1883)
“The compass-needle may be shaken and agitated, but it never rests until it turns toward the pole!”
Thus our heart’s affections, when once magnetized by the love of Christ, find no rest unless we turn to Him. The cares and labors of the day may carry our thoughts to other objects, even as a finger may turn the compass-needle to the east or west. But no sooner is the pressure removed, than our thoughts fly to the Well-beloved, just as the needle moves to its place.
We are unable to rest anywhere but in Jesus. The new birth has disqualified us for contentment with the world — and hence we have no choice but to find our all in Christ. Blessed necessity!
We are driven to Jesus, by an unrest which finds no remedy elsewhere!
We are drawn to Jesus, by an impulse which we have no desire to resist!
We mourn that we are subject to many deflections and disturbances; but you know, O Lord, that our inmost soul seeks after Yourself!
“As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, O God. I thirst for God, the living God!” Psalm 42:1-2
“O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You. My soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water!” Psalm 63:1
Reader! marvel not that you must be born again!
(From Octavius Winslow’s, “The Restored Sheep”)
Alas! the life of an unconverted person is
one entire, unbroken, departure from God!
What hue sufficiently dark can portray the
life of an unrenewed man? He may be….
upright and honorable as a man of the world;
faithful in all the relations of life;
admired for his private rectitude, and
honored for his public character and career.
His morality, stainless;
his virtue, unquestioned;
his liberality, generous;
his philanthropy, distinguished;
his religion, admired.
And yet, destitute of the converting grace of God;
a stranger to the great change of the new birth;
an unbeliever in the Lord Jesus Christ, his life is
but a blank; and dying in this condition, he can
in no way enter into the kingdom of heaven!
Reader! marvel not that you must be born again!
The devil’s holiday dress to deceive men’s souls
(William Gadsby, “The Feeble Christian’s Support”)
“You must be born again.” John 3:7
We have a whole host of ‘professors’ in our day,
who talk about their being ‘religious’ ever since
they were born. They had a ‘religious’ education,
entered into a ‘religious’ society, were ‘religiously’
instructed from an infant, and when they got to
years of maturity, they became ‘decidedly religious’.
And their minister tells them have no need to
experience any particular convictions, or to have
any particular alarm, like ‘notorious sinners’.
If that minister had made up his mind to carry
them to hell comfortably, he could not have set
about doing it in a better way!
All this beginning to be ‘religious’, and becoming
‘decidedly religious’, is the devil’s holiday dress to
deceive men’s souls, and to blind their minds as to
their real state and condition before a just a holy God.
“You must be born again.” John 3:7
Can the Ethiopian change his skin?
J.C.Philpot
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the
leopard its spots? Neither can you do good
who are accustomed to doing evil.”
Jeremiah 13:23
Before the soul can know anything about salvation,
it must learn deeply and experimentally the nature of
sin—and of itself, as stained and polluted by sin.
The soul is proud—and needs to be humbled.
The soul is careless—and needs to be awakened.
The soul is alive—and needs to be killed.
The soul is full—and requires to be emptied.
The soul is whole—and needs to be wounded.
The soul is clothed—and requires to be stripped.
The soul is, by nature . . .
self-righteous,
self-seeking,
buried deep in worldliness and carnality,
utterly blind and ignorant,
filled with . . .
presumption,
arrogance,
conceit,
and enmity.
It hates all that is heavenly and spiritual.
Sin, in all its various forms, is its natural element.
To make man the direct opposite of what he originally is . . .
to make him love God—instead of hating Him;
to make him fear God—instead of mocking Him;
to make him obey God—instead of rebelling against Him;
to make him to tremble at His dreadful majesty—
instead of defiantly charging against Him;
to do this mighty work, and to effect this wonderful
change—requires the implantation of a new nature by
the immediate hand of God Himself!
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the
leopard its spots? Neither can you do good
who are accustomed to doing evil.”
Jeremiah 13:23
Aqueous Fluid to an Infant’s Brow
The following is from Spurgeon’s sermon,
“UNPURCHASABLE LOVE”
The most unpopular truth in the world is this sentence which
fell from the lips of Christ– “You must be born again.”
Consequently, there are all sorts of inventions to remove the
truth out of those words. “Oh, yes!” say some, “you must be born
again, but that means the application of aqueous fluid to an
infant’s brow.”
As God is true, that teaching is a lie; there is no grain or
shade of truth within it. No operation that can be performed
by man can ever regenerate the soul. It is the work alone of
God the Holy Spirit, who creates us anew in Christ Jesus.
Men do not like that truth.
Spiritual Truth Still Displeases the Natural Man.