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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/alan-davidson/the-new-birth/
Our reading is in John's gospel in chapter three. John's gospel on chapter three. John chapter three verse one, 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 a 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 listeth, thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the spirit.
Verse 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. Now that is the word that we will read in the gospel and ask God's blessing upon it.
The subject of the verses that we have read together, so well known, is that of the new birth, the new birth. In the verses, I want to think about the man, the must, the moment, and the means of the new birth.
The man, who is this man? The must. The Savior said ye must be born again. And the moment, that moment of the new birth, that vital transaction, that must of life, that most important thing in life, and the means of how this has been brought about.
Very simple language. And we preach just now with those before us. We have sympathy for the boys and girls. We look back and are thankful that God had mercy upon us as a schoolboy on his way to hell. And we're deeply thankful, for I once used to go to conferences with my parents, and I would look at the people of God.
I kind of learned separation before I could see it. But I looked at the people of God, and I longed that there would be a day that I'd be numbered amongst them. I looked upon them, and I longed for that day when I'd be in amongst those people, just to know their joy, and their happiness, and this possession of eternal life, and be ready when the Lord would come, and to escape their wrath of God, and never, never be in hell.
But there was a problem. The problem was the great barrier of my sin. And you know, whether it's the boys and girls, or those that are older just now, if you're not saved, there is a fearful barrier between you and the things that we've been enjoying over this conference period, as the people of God.
The man, who is this man? This man that sought out the Lord Jesus Christ by night. I judge he went to the place where the Lord was oft and accustomed to go, perhaps on the slopes of Mount Olivet, as they stood that night, and they listened.
And they listened to the wind blowing through the trees and the slopes of Olivet. And the Lord said, Nicodemus, hear that wind. Hear the rustle of those leaves as the wind blows. The wind bloweth where it listeth.
Thou hearest the sound thereof. Canst not tell whence it cometh, or whether it goeth. So with every one that is born of the Spirit. Born of the Spirit. Nicodemus, man, what you need is the new birth. Nicodemus, he heard of love beyond national boundaries.
It must have been fairly humiliating for a leader of the Jews. Here's a man, he believed in God, but as yet he never had trusted God's Son. Here's a man that saw miracles, but he's not going to see the kingdom.
Here's a man that knew about Jesus, but he hadn't got eternal life. Here's a man that knew the Bible, but he didn't know that he needed to be born again. I would judge the boys and girls, you're listening well.
You know the Scriptures. You've heard it at Sunday school. Maybe you repeated it earlier on in the children's meeting. Older one in the gathering, I judge that those that are here have a knowledge and a scent to the truth of the Word of God.
What about this new birth? You see, he discovered his religion and his ordinances were not enough. This is the best example in Jerusalem. Exemplary in his doings, doubtless. A man who was a member of the Sanhedrin who could, well you repeat verses from the Bible.
Nicodemus could have repeated the five books of Moses. Maybe that's some remembering. The law, Genesis, Acts, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Well acquainted with it all. But here is a lonely man that dark night and he's perishing in his sins.
The Savior said now, the burden is this, you'd not perish. You ever discover you're lost? Ever discover in all your loneliness? Yes. There's a danger. You know, I've been referring to going to conferences with my father and mother.
I remember on one occasion, one of my earliest memories, I was a little boy during the break outside the tent that we had back in Ireland. Maybe four or five hundred people at a conference. But I remember in the break going around the side of the tent and I met one of those old preachers.
Mind you, they had a way with them. He says to me, what's your name sonny? I told him what my name was. He says, you're a nice little boy, but if you're not born again you'll be in hell. I remember those words.
Mind you, that was the problem. There was a barrier between me and these people in that tent and I needed to be born again. You see, you learn these verses, the love of God, but it's awful to be exposed to the wrath of God.
John 3 talks about the love of God. It talks about the kingdom of God. It talks about the wrath of God. Condemned already. The man, the must, the must, you must be born again. That word, a teacher come from God, but he didn't need instruction from a teacher.
He didn't need experience from a, for he was an old man. This is not a progress of a thing, for he was a member of the Sanhedrin. This is not more knowledge, for he knew about the books of Moses. This is not the flesh, but he has, that which is born of the flesh is flesh.
You see, it might be decent flesh, devoted flesh, diligent flesh. This man, in fact, was a preacher, sort of a way as. Macadamus, it's not the renewal of the old. You see, a vegetable is a vegetable, an animal is an animal.
Flesh is flesh. It might be, you're here, dear girl. Might be beautiful flesh, but you need to be born again. You might be here, dear boy, intelligent flesh. No more of the subjects in your, in your school than maybe your parents, but it's not intelligent flesh.
You see, you and I have a problem. The Bible says born in sin. All are sinned. We're born in sin. When we're young, we're faithful with our sin. We hate our sin. We don't want daddy to know about it. It was a mercy last thing that happened and we didn't know about it.
But then we get to like our sin. And then we get settled in our sin. And then we get seared in our sin. The Savior said, ye shall die in your sin. And where I am, sither, ye cannot come. You know, there's a girl in our assembly years ago preached to her.
Now she's a married woman. You know, I remember she would come to meetings like this. You would have seen her on the Lord's day. She would have a head covering, respect to her parents and come with a Bible.
I'm always thankful by the look on her that she got saved. I was all right for a Sunday. But when she got onto the school bus on Monday, they tell me she could have cursed like the boys. She could have, she would tell you, behaved in such a way as to try and convince the other girls and even the boys that well, those things don't really matter.
I'm just as bad or maybe nearly as worse. Worse. Except the man be born again. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must. You see, the alternative is too awful. Too awful. The man, the must. What about the moment?
The moment. This is regeneration. The new birth and the simplicity of these words. A beginning of God, of his own will, begotten us with the word of truth. The will of God, who will of all men to be saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth.
This is the new birth, the birth of the spirit. This is the new creation. This is Nicodemus, the past, in spite of religion, in spite of all that is martyr. The past is so bad. Nicodemus, the past is rotten.
Nicodemus, the past is sin. You need to stop and start again. Tell me, friend, when has this happened to you? Hmm? Time when? The place where? Matter how? I would ask you a fourth question. Was there a change?
Was there a change? For me, it was a little schoolboy. I don't know whether even these Irish people here would even know what I'm talking about. Number three, Castle Dawson Road, MacDuffeld, as a little schoolboy, about quarter to nine on the Wednesday morning, 24th of July, 1957.
What happens to somebody passed from death unto life? That is, that is from this matter of the moment of salvation. Now, let me clear apart. It's not a process. It's not a thing that we develop. It's not a giving of our heart or making a decision or making a commitment.
It's a passing from death unto life. A passing from the darkness into the light. You can't be in light and darkness at the same time. You can't be in the mixture with him. One minute dead, the next life.
Life, eternal life in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, you and I have this problem. There's something wrong within. It's not dressing up the outward or making a reformation of the thing. You know, at home, I have a very nice clock I inherited from my father.
There's a beautiful face on it. There's ivory ingrained and there's a surround, there's brass, a nice brass pendulum and brass widths, but there got to be a stage when it started to strike all wrong. And it wasn't keeping, keeping tame.
What did it do with it? Polish up the face of it. Well, it was nice. It polished up well. But there was something wrong with it. Something wrong inside. There used to be a place in London called Hyde Park.
People would go down and preach politics. And people would go down and get a soup box and stand up and preach philosophy. And there's still those who go and preach the gospel. Years ago, there was a man preaching socialism.
And he announced to all that would listen to him, socialism will put a new coat on a man. Matter of circumstances, new coat on a man. There was a little gospel preacher down the way and he said, salvation will put a new man in the coat.
That's it. Salvation is the new birth. How's the means? How is this be brought about? How's this? You see, it's not a work that I do. It's a work done in me. It's a work done for me. It's clear to me through the scriptures, but well, maybe there's some and they're listening well.
The boys at the front here are listening well. Maybe you're here today. You've learned the Bible. We refuse to believe that everybody's curious. But trust me, get down to your level. Maybe there's a boy and you have a real desire for God's salvation.
There's a girl here, I would believe, and she's turned aside from the duties of school and all those things. And here you are with a desire for it. Just be numbered amongst those people. I remember a time when I would be happy to look through the keyhole to see them.
Just to be numbered amongst those people that my sins be forgiven. Ready for the Lord's calling. You know, I mourned a good sea and my sins were gone. My fears were over. It was only in the afternoon when it dawned upon me that I was ready for the Lord's calling.
A numberless people would meet in the air. The Lord redeemed them and I would be there. Is that what you want? I think it is. What's the means? For God so loved the world, God's supreme love. That he gave God sublime gift.
Gave us only but God and son. That, you'll notice in the verse, there's two that's. God gave us only, God so loved the world, that he gave us only but God and son. That's God's part. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
God's supreme love. God's sublime gift. God's saving purpose. Yes, God so loved the world. The Bible says the whole world lies in the wickedness. Mate, we visit America and there's much nice about it.
A lot of nice things about America. To tell you the truth, I don't like the big cities in America. I like to get out and see the country, see the things that God made. There's cities out there, the great cities of America and even the cities around these parts.
Go out there, you'll find the thief and the drunkard and the drugs and the degraded and the gambler and all. There is not one that you'll find in America. There's not a man that exists in the United States like this.
You will not find one in this world that God doesn't love. Now, you search wherever you go, you'll not find one. I mean, yeah, my travels have come across some strange characters. I came across a man one night and he got a Bible that we gave him.
I can remember the Bible yet. It is a blue cover. He was a gangster and a druggist, sold drugs, and had fled from a gang where there was a gunfight and three were dead. Do you know what he got saved? There was a Bible there out of a loaded revolver there beside it.
God saved him. God saved him. God's unmeasurable supreme love. You know, you and I love but it's largely, well, for our own selfish interests and to promote our own happiness. Oh, yes, but the love of God, it's like a flower in the thicket of this sword of sin, of sin, of sin.
It flows down from the eternal throne and down into this world and out through the tree of Calvary's cross. It spans the infinite. It reaches out. It's a victory over death and the grave. God's supreme love surmounts every difficulty, reaches out to the perishing.
Yes, that which is manifested in a sublime gift. Oh, a begotten son. Hmm? Manifest. You see, you and I express love but, well, we got a gift and, well, we ponder the thought that was put into the gift.
Is it really something that we appreciate? Maybe it was, well, somebody with some self-denial made an effort and knew what would please us and give us a gift for birthday or whatever it is. It's my privilege just now in this meeting to preach God's.
God's sublime gift. Heaven's best. And God gave him. God gave him to horned animals. He gave him to live amongst liars. He gave him to slander. He gave him to hunger. He gave him to thirst. We've heard just now he gave him up to spitting.
He gave him up to crucifixion. He gave him up to the death of the cross. God gave him. Hmm? Doesn't that melt your heart? You know, no living creature will readily give up its offspring. My son-in-law's some sheep.
You go down the field. They'll maybe come around if he's there but if I go, stranger, they'll flee. But I notice if you go down in the spring, there'll be an old sheep and she'll not flee. She'll turn and she'll face you as you approach and she'll stamp her feet away.
She's got a lamb. She'll put her body in between you and the lamb. Even animals will not readily give up their offspring. God gave his son. You still in your sins? Are you going to land in hell? Are you going to plunge out into the eternal burnings?
God loves you. I'm authorized in this Bible. Not everybody will say it but Christ ate for you. The throne of heaven behind us whosoever believeth shall have everlasting life. Oh friend, I tell you, take now thy son, my son.
God spared not his own son. Delivered him up for his law. I feel like saying all other love can measure it be. But not his dying love to me. God's saving purpose. He still loved that he gave. Second resultant that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Your problem is sin. Sin has filled the battlefields with the dead. Sin has filled the asylums with the demanded. Sin fills the hospitals with the disease. Sin fills the grave with the decayed. Sin fills hell and the lake of fire with the damned.
God's love reaches out to you, dear friend. And heaven is filled with those that are born again. What's the answer to this sin? The courts of law they prosecute. They put them in prison to punish. The government legislates.
The doctor prescribes. God loves. God gives. And friend, God saves. And he'll save you born again. Is it a time? It can be said. When? Where? Spot on earth. You were there when it happened. How did it happen?
You know, men, we've listened last night to those who tell how they could see it. Nice to hear the experiences. Nice to follow how God dealt with the soul that way and all that. But you know what we're really listening to?
We're listening for that moment where there's a vital link by faith in Christ. Faith in Christ alone. As we heard last night, not mental assent to what we do. No. But that stepping out in faith upon Christ.
We sing with the boys and girls back home. I don't know whether you have it here or not. Twenty-five words. John 3, 16. Twelve about God. Twelve about me. Son in the center. Verse 16. John 3. Ah yes, there's a response to the meeting.
I can almost discern those with that link on with Christ. That's the one counted a privilege to preach the gospel this evening. It's a few years since we've been here. Might never be back. Friend, our path might never again cross on earth.
But it's my responsibility just now, back to front, right to left, to leave face to face with Christ. The son of God. He has answered to the claims of God and God gave him. And God gave him up to the equivalent debt of my sin.
In the center of the verse. In the center of the purposes of God. Lifted up between heaven and earth as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness as the passage. So must the son of man be lifted up.
And just now we uplift Christ as the only savior of sinners. My dear girl, my dear boy, older one in the meeting for us all indeed if we go back over the foundation and the fundamental of the new birth.
What you do with the son of God determines heaven or hell for eternity. Shall we pray?