Born of Water and the Spirit 01 John 3: — J. Henry Brown

The Promise of Cleansing and the Spirit in Ezekiel

Now this morning I read to you a portion of scripture, 2nd Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, and then we reminded ourselves of that very familiar chapter, chapter 3 in the Gospel of John. Now this evening I want to read two portions of scripture in the Old Testament, and then we're going to turn our attention again to that third chapter of the Gospel of John.

So, if you have a Bible with you, will you turn to the book of Ezekiel, the book of Ezekiel, and we'll read in chapter 36, Ezekiel chapter 36, reading from verse 21. Ezekiel 36 verse 21. But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.

Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.

And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them. And the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean. From all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you, a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them, and ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

The Valley of Dry Bones and Israel's New Life

Now look at chapter 37. The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, and caused me to pass by them round about.

And behold, there were very many in the open valley, and lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live, and I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

So I prophesied as I was commanded, and as I prophesied there was a noise, and behold, a shaking, and the bones came together, bowed to his bow, and when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above, but there was no breath in them.

Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, Son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God, come from the four winds, or breath, and breathe upon these flames, that they may live.

So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet an exceeding great army. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.

Nicodemus and the Necessity of the New Birth

Now we can leave our reading there, and once again turn our attention to that third chapter of the Gospel According to John, very well known chapter. We reminded ourselves this morning that this man Nicodemus came into the presence of the Lord, and evidently he wanted to speak to Jesus about the Kingdom of God.

He probably had questions to ask, and when he came into the presence of the Lord he admitted a fact. He said, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, and then we saw that the Lord Jesus as much as said, well, we don't need to waste any time.

You know that I am a teacher sent from God. Now, I am the teacher, you are the student, and the subject is the Kingdom of God. Now, the first thing I want to tell you about that Kingdom is this, that except a man be born again, he cannot see that Kingdom, he cannot understand it, he cannot comprehend it.

It's just beyond him. And when the man Nicodemus said, but how can a man be born again when he is old? Then the teacher began to explain this a little further, and he said to him, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.

In the first word, he could not see the Kingdom of God. In the second word, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. And then we went on to see how the teacher added a little more as he went on talking of this man Nicodemus.

Went on to say, you know, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. And having said that, as much as said, well now, you needn't marvel when I say to you, you must be born again.

And yet this man still would say, but how can these things be? And then Jesus looked at him, and he said, aren't thou a master in Israel? Aren't thou a teacher in Israel, and knowest not these things?

I'm surprised at you. You ought to know what I'm talking about. Why say, how can these things be? You ought to know. And then went on a little further, and said, you see, the wind bloweth where it listeth.

Thou hearest the sound thereof, cannot tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit. Now then, this morning I got you thinking about that particular verse where the Lord said, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and we tried to understand that.

It would take a long time really to go into the matter thoroughly, but we did glean a few things this morning as to what the flesh really meant. We had to go back to the book of Genesis in order to see something of man's constitution, and of what happened to the man when he sinned, how he became other than he was, how that now, instead of thinking God's thoughts, and desiring God's desires, and willing God's will, that man has become entirely different.

He is now thinking his own thoughts, and desiring his own desires, and willing his own will. He is quite different. Before he was a spiritual man, and now he's a natural man. That is the flesh. When that man took of that tree, he became other than he was.

He became a natural man. He became a soulish man. He became a self-thinking, self-desiring, self-willing, self-centered, selfish, sensual. That's what he became. Now, that's the flesh. So, this morning we were thinking of that, and trying to lay hold of the fact, and we began to see that God never intended to mend it, or repair it, or make it any different.

When that took place, God had finished with it, and he was going to put it away. And we saw God showing us clearly enough that his intention was to put that flesh away once and for all, and he did it in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ on that cross.

When that one dies for all, well, that was it finished. In that way, God pronounced ascendance upon the whole world, and he saw them dead. We know that the Lord Jesus Christ rose again from among the dead, but he didn't rise with what he took to the cross.

That was finished with. But he rose at the head of a new creation. If there's any man, he's in Christ. He's a new creature. Now, these things we laid hold of this morning. Now, I'm centering your thoughts in this other verse, when the Lord said to this man Nicodemus, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Water, Spirit, and Entry into God's Kingdom

Now, let us pay a little attention to this verse. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Now, I looked at the verse very closely, and I noticed this, that in the original, the definite article is not there, so that if we leave the definite article out, then the verse would read, except a man be born of water and Spirit, not the Spirit.

Except a man be born of water and Spirit, not the Spirit. Now then, as we think of it in this way, it may help us a little bit to get this clear. That word Spirit comes before us again a little down in the chapter.

You say, where? Well, where the Lord said, the wind bloweth where it lifteth. Now, that word is the same, see? Except a man be born of water and Spirit. Now, he says, the wind bloweth. Now, we could change those two words, so we could say, except a man be born of water and wind.

And then, the Spirit bloweth where it lifteth. You see? It's the same word, but because those who translate were thinking, well it must mean this, and it must mean that, then they said, all right, we translate it, and it says, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit.

And then, well, now it says, the wind, the wind bloweth. Well now, this is going to help us. Except a man be born of water and wind. Now, we can take it as that, water, wind, you see? And a little lower down, we could say, the Spirit bloweth or breatheth.

The Spirit breatheth where it lifteth. Now, here's the sound thereof. Cannot tell whence it cometh, nor whether it goeth. We'll come back on that. But now, let's do that in this way. First of all, he said, except a man be born of water.

Now, what did the Lord mean when he said that? Oh, say some people, he meant baptism, did he? Oh no, oh no, he didn't mean baptism. Except a man be born of water, except a man be baptized, except a man be christened.

No, no, no, no, he's not talking about that. Except a man be born of water. What did he mean by that? Remember, when Nicodemus said, how can these things be? The Lord said, art thou a teacher in Israel, and knowest not these things?

Nicodemus, I'm surprised at you. When you heard me say, except a man be born of water and wind, your mind should have taken you to the writings that you know so well. Your mind should have taken you away back to the book of Ezekiel.

You should have remembered straight away when I said, water and wind. You should remember. I'm surprised at you that you don't remember that. So, we went back to that book of Ezekiel, and what did we read?

Now, this has to do with the children of Israel. It has to do with the new birth of a nation, and that nation is Israel. You notice, again and again, it referred to Israel. And so, there we have the new birth of a nation.

How is it going to be brought to pass? God said, I will gather you out of all nations, bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle you with clean water, and you shall be clean. From all your filthiness, from all your idols will I cleanse you, and I'll give you a new heart, and I'll give you a new spirit, and I'll put my spirit within you, and you'll be my people, and I'll be your God.

You see that? Now, there are the evidences of new birth. You see, the new birth of the nation. I'll cleanse you from all your filthiness, from all your idols. How? By sprinkling upon you clean water. You shall be clean.

Then, what follows? Well, here's the new birth. A new heart I'll give you, a new spirit I'll give you, I'll put my spirit within you, you'll be my people, I'll be your God. That's it. That's new birth.

You see, the new birth of a nation. But a picture of new birth in the individual, and God is using it with this man Nicodemus. Nicodemus, you ought to know what I'm talking about when I say, except a man be born of water.

See? So, I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean. Now, to these people, to Nicodemus and others who knew the Old Testament Scriptures so well, when they heard this sprinkling with clean water, there was something else at the back of it.

Oh, they wouldn't just think, oh yes, that's right, just water, clean water, and that thought would be sprinkled. No, there was something back of it, you see. Now, let me tell you this. You know, in the book of Leviticus, you have brought before you the law for the cleansing of a leper, and this is a very remarkable law.

Levitical Cleansing as a Picture of Christ's Work

It says that the priest should examine the man who was the leper, and then he would command that two birds, alive and clean, be taken. And one of these birds was to be killed in an earthen vessel over running water, and then the living bird was to be taken, and it was to be dipped in the blood of this dead bird, and then lifted out, and it was to be let go, and it would fly away back into the heavens from whence it came.

And then he that was to be cleansed would be sprinkled seven times. How? With that blood of the bird that was killed in the earthen vessel. Now then, this is a very simple little picture for the cleansing of a leper, but back of it, there's a tremendous lot that is of great interest to us.

So, first of all, let us think of this. Two birds were to be taken, alive and clean. Not one bird, two. And in the margin of your Bible, it may say two sparrows, or it may say two pigeons, or two turtledoves.

Well, I don't take any notice of that. What I do look at is that in the original, in the Hebrew language, it says two fowls of the heavens, or two birds of the heavens. Not pigeons, turtledoves, nothing, you see.

Only birds or fowls of the heavens. The thing is, they didn't belong down here. So, these two birds, alive and clean, are bringing before us the deity of Christ. He belonged up there, you see, but he came down here.

So then, first of all, two birds alive and clean, the deity of Christ. Then, the earthen vessel. That's the perfect humanity of Christ. When he came into the world, he said, in burnt offerings and sacrifices and sin, thou hast no pleasure.

Then said I, lo, I come in the volume of the book, it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O God, a body hast thou prepared me. So, he took the body that God had prepared for him, that he might acquire the capacity to suffer, to shed his blood, and to die.

So, there you have the earthen vessel, the perfect humanity of Christ. Now, the bird was slain in the earthen vessel. There you have the death of Christ. Why two birds? Because if you had only one, then you could only bring out the death of Christ.

But God wants us to have more than that. So, he said, now you take the living bird, you see, and you dip it in the blood of the dead bird, so it is identified with the dead, and then it's lifted out. That is resurrection.

It's alive. Well, it's been into death, yes, but it's alive. Now, he said, you let it go, and away it goes back into the heavens, and that's the ascension of Christ. Isn't it wonderful that in a little picture like that, that has to do with the cleansing of the leper, you have the deity, the humanity of Christ, and then you have these other truths, his death, his resurrection, and even more, his ascension, even more, that through the eternal spirit he offered himself without spot to God.

All of it comes out that little picture. Now, notice, I used to picture this and say to myself, now what did take... I'm always doing this, when I read my Bible, I try to picture what took place. So, I said, now just what did he do?

So, I can see the priest, you know, and he's got these two birds, and then it says, now he shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water. Hmm, why not? So, there's the little stream of water, the water is running, you see, and he holds the earthen vessel over this running water, and he kills it.

Okay? And then I thought, well that's right, that's what took place, you see. And then it says that you take the living bird, and you dip, you immerse, you immerse the living bird in the blood of the dead bird.

And I said, he could not do it. You could not get sufficient blood out of one bird to be able to immerse another bird in it, so I had to think back. When he held the earthen vessel over water that was running, and then he was to dip the living bird in, he couldn't do it.

So, wait a minute, oh, now I look at the margin, and it says, living water, living water. Not just running water, but living water, and living water is a type, in the Word of God, of the spirit. So, I said, ah, now then, that living water, it's not running water, it's living water.

Where was it? It was in the earthen vessel. So, now, I've got that water, that living water, in that earthen vessel, and he kills the bird, and its blood drips into that living water. Now, he that is to be cleansed is to be sprinkled with that blood, but by means of that living water.

It was the water that conveyed the blood to the leper for his cleansing. Have you got that? So, that the moment a Jew, or man like Nicodemus, heard this, I will sprinkle you with clean water, he knew that back of that clean water there was something else.

There was the blood. Then again, you remember, if a person in Israel touched a dead body, or a bone, they became defiled, and God said they must be cleansed. How were they to be cleansed? Well, they took a red heifer, and they burned it all, burned all of it to ashes, and then they kept the ashes in a clean place.

And when a person became defiled by contact with the dead, they took some of those ashes, and they mixed them with clean water, living water, you see? And then the person to be cleansed was sprinkled, what with?

With the ashes, by means of the clean water. So that now, as we're thinking of type, we realize this, that as we see the priest sprinkling this leper with that blood by means of that clean water, it is a picture of what takes place in new birth, when we are born again, that there is applied to us in the power of the Spirit, the living water, all the value of the precious blood of Christ having in view our cleansing, our being cleansed from all sin.

Well, now, when the Lord said to Nicodemus, accept a man be born of water, come on Nicodemus now, you're a teacher in Israel, what do you make of this? He should have said, ah, I remember Ezekiel, then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean.

I said, I remember too, that behind that sprinkle of clean water was something else, there was blood, there was ashes, ashes the evidence of a completed work, the evidence of the finished work of Christ, all applied in the power of the Spirit, having in view our cleansing, being cleansed from all sin.

You got that? All right, so now then, now we know something about, accept a man be born of water, but he goes on to say, and Spirit, no wind. All right, let's keep to wind. Now, we turn again to chapter 37 of the book of Ezekiel.

The Spirit's Wind and the Quickening of the Dead

Oh, now Ezekiel is brought into a valley, and that valley is full of dead bones, scattered all over the valley there were these dead bones, and he was looking at them, not a very nice place to be in, and he was told that these dead bones, they were Israel.

Now God says to Ezekiel, have a good look at these bones, and he said to him, now do you think that these dry bones could live? I reckon he looked at them and he said to himself, no I don't, but he didn't, he didn't say so, he said, well you know whether they can or not.

He put it back, you know whether they can or not, all right son of man. Now you prophesy unto these dry bones, and he prophesied, and then to his amazement, when he prophesied unto these dry bones, there was a shaking, there was a noise, and bone began to come to his bones, until at last, now scattered all over the valley, there were completed skeletons, not just bones, but skeletons that were complete, bone had come to his bones, and he's watching this, and as he looked at it, he could see now the sinews and the flesh coming up upon those bony frameworks, and then he saw the skin beginning to cover them, and there they were.

Nowadays the valley was full of body, no breath in them, there was no life in them. Son of man, prophesy unto the wind, except a man be born of water and wind. Son of man, prophesy unto the wind, come all winds, breathe upon these flames, that they may live.

So he prophesied as he was commanded, and he saw all this taking place, but there was no breath in them, and then prophesied unto the wind, and he prophesied, and there is the action of the wind, the breath, the breathing, the spirit.

You see, that's it, the same thing, the spirit, the wind, the breath, the breathing, all of it has to do with the spirit, and this was a quickening. There was no life in them, but now they are made alive, they're quickened, they stand upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

So said the Lord, except a man be born of water, that's cleansing, and of wind, that's quickening. He cannot see the kingdom of God, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. All this is absolutely necessary.

Seven. Here, if we read into it, the wind bloweth where it lifteth. Thou hearest the sound thereof, cannot tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. Well, I say I do, and so I'm not happy at all to accept that as being wind.

I know from whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. I'll tell you why. Out in Africa, doing missionary work, we went well away from any township. Twenty days' journey, walking to get to a town. We had lots of people who would travel 15 -20 days to get some relief from some disease, and we had to feed these people when they came in.

They didn't come in alone, they brought the families with them, and we had to feed them, and that feeding was quite a problem. We could get plenty of flour, or mealy meal as we called it, things like that, but you couldn't get meat or fish to feed them.

So very often I had to go off into the bush, and do a bit of hunting, and I took with me an African, an elderly man, very good man, and I noticed that whenever I said to him, all right, we'd better get out in the bush there, and try and kill off a few antelope, you know, to feed all these sick people, he said yes, and he used to come out, as he came out, fastening a catskin to his hip, and at first, you know, I wondered, what's he doing that for?

But we went off, and we walked through the bush here and there, a few miles, you know, and he was looking for tracks that he could follow, and at last he said, right, we've got some here, and let's go.

So he would lead on, and I would follow, and after a while he would slow down a bit, and I would tread softly, because there's somewhere in front, just there, you see, and you know, if they hear us, they'll be away, and we'll have another two or three miles to go before we get up with them.

So gently, gently, so all right, all right, I don't want to go another three or four miles, so gently, gently. So we're stepping carefully, you see, and then he stops, and he says, they're very close, but you know, they've got noses, and they stick the noses up, and they sniff, and if they get wind of us, they'll be away.

So I say, what do we do? He says, wait a minute. So I see him plucking off some of the hairs off that catskin. He pulls a few pinches of hair, and holds them up like that, and then he sprinkles them, and he watches them coming down.

He wants to know which way the wind is blowing, or which way the breeze is coming, or even which way the atmosphere might be moving, because if it's moving in the direction of those antelope, they'll be away, they'll smell us.

So he sprinkles a few of these hairs, and then down they come, and he watches them come down. He says, ah yes, the wind's coming from there, and it's going there. We know from whence it comes, and we know whence it comes, and whence it goes.

We know. So he said, now, we'd better make circular two around there a bit, you see, so we've got the wind blowing to us, instead of to them. Then one day, I was walking, I was in England, I'm walking along a country lane, I saw an old lady in front of me, she had a walking stick, she was going along, so I watched her, and every now and again she stopped, and she looked up.

Well, I looked up. I couldn't see anything. I thought to myself, well, if she can see an aeroplane up there, she's got better eyesight than I've got. I can't see a thing. So she walked on a little bit, and then, so I thought, well, maybe she's listening.

So I thought, well, if she can hear anything up there, she's got better hearing than I've got. I can't hear a thing. So she walked on, and then she stopped again, and she looked up. Now I don't know what this is.

So I went along by her side, and she turned, and she saw me. Oh, she said, excuse me, sir. She says, the wind is blowing from the north-west, isn't it? Oh, there was the old weathercock on top of the church people, you see.

She was looking up there. She says, it is blowing from the north-west, isn't it? I said, yes, mother, that's right. It's blowing. We do know from whence it cometh and whither it goeth, you see. So I think, the wind blows where it lifteth.

Now, hearest the sound thereof? Cannot tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth? Yes, we do. Well, listen. Instead of the wind, the Spirit. The Spirit breatheth where it lifteth. Do you hear the sound thereof?

It cannot tell from whence it cometh and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit. Oh, I can understand that. That's clear enough to me. I'm quite satisfied with that. Yes, the Spirit breatheth where it lifteth.

Do you hear the sound? That's the gospel, of course, and the gospel is heard, and the Spirit is there. There's the breathing. You hear the sound, and if there's any response, if a person responds to that appeal being made by the Spirit, to that breathing of the Spirit, then there will be cleansing.

There will be the application to that person of all the value of the blood of Christ in the power of the Spirit. There will be applied to that person all the value of the finished work of Christ in the power of the Spirit.

First of all, for the cleansing, and then for the quickening that they may be truly born again. Now then, I want you to understand this. We have looked at it, and we've had this before us, and we still might find that it's not too easy to follow, not too easy to understand.

Repentance, Faith, and Human Response

Well, as to whether you are born again or not doesn't depend upon you understanding it all. It depends on this, that as you listen to the gospel, as your condition is brought before you, as the Spirit of God takes up the Word of God and works in your heart and conscience to convict you of sin, of righteousness, of judgment, then it will lead you to repentance and to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you are willing to cooperate.

You see, you, I mean, for instance, if the Lord had been speaking to me, and he'd said to me what he said to Nicodemus, if he'd said, you must be born again, you know, I would have been inclined to say, well, just a moment, what do you expect me to do about that?

When you said to me, you must be born again, well, now, will you tell me just how I can accomplish that? Can I be born myself? Well, now, you say you must be born again, you're telling me I've got to be born again, but why do I do it?

I can't. You can't be born yourself. When a child is born, it's passive. It doesn't, the child isn't born itself, neither can I be born myself, you see. So, the Lord said, he must be born again, but I can't do anything about it.

But listen, whilst I cannot accomplish this, I cannot born myself, nevertheless, as to whether I am born again or not depends on me. It doesn't depend upon God. God has made this gloriously possible. In the personal work of the Lord Jesus Christ on that cross, in the precious blood of Christ, in the finished work of Christ, there is that which will meet my needs.

If I repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, I shall be cleansed from all sin, I shall be quickened and be brought into a relationship with God in sex. That depends on me. God has made that gloriously possible, but as to whether it takes place or not depends on me.

God is not willing that any should perish, and wherever the gospel is preached, God will be there in the power of spirit to convict of sin and righteousness and judgment, and he will seek to lead people to repentance and to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Niagara Falls Illustration and Cooperating with the Spirit

So, it depends on you as to whether you're born again or not. What I mean is this. I was given to understand that way up on the Niagara Falls, on the Niagara River there, there is a piece of land jutting out that was called Past Redemption Point, and we were told that any ship or any person, any boat that was in that river, and it went past Past Redemption Point, it would never come back again.

It would be lost. And many years ago, there was a sailing ship on the river, and they wanted to get it across to the other side, so they brought along a tug, and they made fast a big rope, and the little tug began to chug-chug its way across the river, drawing the sailing ship behind it.

When it got into the middle of the river, the current was very strong, and there was a tremendous strain put on the rope, and the rope parted, and the sailing ship began to go along with the current down to the Niagara Falls.

So, the little tug fussed around past the line, made fast another rope, and tried to hold that ship, but she got some way on her now, and as the strain came on the rope, it parted again, and the sailing ship went down a little further towards the Niagara Falls.

The little tug fussed again through another line, made fast, but now it was even more impossible to stop that sailing ship. So, the strain came on the rope, and it parted, and that was it finished. And so, the sailing ship was going right away down, nothing to prevent it from going over the Niagara Falls.

Well, a lot of people were standing around, and they were watching it, and they were groaning and saying, oh my, all those sailors, all on board, they're going over there, this is death. The ship will be destroyed, the people will be lost.

Nothing could be done. If anybody once jumped overboard, they would never have got out of it. Over the falls, they would have gone. And so, the people were groaning, and they watched it, and as it went past, past redemption point, they said, she's lost.

That's it, she's gone. But there was a man standing there, and he said, you can see the top of the mast. They said, yeah, she's going. He said, no, I reckon she's stopped, she's pulling up. No, she'll never pull up.