In the sermon 'Born from Above' by Scott Brown, the central theme revolves around Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus in John 3:1-13. The sermon emphasizes the necessity of being 'born again' or 'born from above' to see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus, a Pharisee, approaches Jesus seeking knowledge, but Jesus redirects him to the need for spiritual rebirth. The sermon explains that being born again is not a result of human will or decision but a supernatural act of God, symbolized by the wind that blows where it wishes. The importance of the Holy Spirit in this transformation is highlighted. The sermon warns against 'decisional regeneration,' a belief that praying a prayer alone results in salvation, emphasizing that true rebirth is marked by a profound, Spirit-led transformation in one's life. The sermon also mentions historical figures like George Whitfield who stressed the message of being born again. It concludes by urging both non-believers and believers to feel the 'wind' of the Spirit and embrace genuine transformation.

The sermon text for today is John chapter 3 verses 1 through 13. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born who is old?

Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, most assuredly, I say unto you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.

So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said to him, how can these things be? Jesus answered and said to him, Are you the teacher of Israel and do not know these things? Most assuredly I say to you, we speak what we know and testify what we have seen and you do not receive our witness. If I had told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

No one has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is the Son of man who is in heaven." Let us pray. Oh, Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. Dear God, we praise you. We magnify your name today, dear God. Lord, we come humbly before you.

We have nothing to offer. As the song said, dear God, we are naked and empty-handed when we come before you we plead only the blood of Christ dear God we just pray that you will meet with your people today dear God we desire your mercy dear God more than anything Lord We just pray that you will meet with your people today, dear God. We desire your mercy, dear God, more than anything, Lord. We just pray that you will give a special blessing to Scott Brown today, dear God. May his words be your words, dear God.

Speak to our hearts, Lord, in a way that we've never encountered before, Lord. Change us forever, dear God. Help us to be more like Christ in all that we do and say, Lord. For in Christ's name we pray. Amen.

As we find ourselves in John chapter 3, we've entered into the central truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the necessity of the new birth where we read that Jesus says truly, truly, or amen, and amen. You must be born again. The hymn says it in all of its simplicity that we've sung, a ruler once came to Jesus by night to ask him the way of salvation and light. The Master made answer in words true and plain, You must be born again. You must be born again.

You must be born again. I Verily verily Say unto thee You must Be born again Now this word born is repeated eight times in eight verses. I'll be covering the first eight verses of this chapter. This is the heart of the message of this section of John. The word spirit occurs four times and the message is summed up in Jesus' statement, you must be born again in it.

And it's clarified in John 3.16, which is where we're headed, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life. Why? To see the kingdom of heaven. The word kingdom occurs twice in verses 3 and verse 5. George Whitfield preached on this text over 300 times.

And one time a woman came to him who had heard him a few times, and she said to him, why are you always preaching on John chapter 3? And he said, because you must be born again. And we have such a privilege of being in this passage of Scripture, and it fits within the context that we've already experienced in John. John is writing everything here for a very specific reason, that you might believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that in believing in Him you might have life in His name. And everything in John is written for that very purpose.

And so that's why in chapter 2 when Jesus turns water into wine, he comes across a bland nation with no wine. And at the end of chapter 2, he cleanses the temple. He's coming to a people that have empty worship. There's really nothing there except words and lifestyles. And then in chapter 3 he comes to Nicodemus and he comes to a spiritually dead religious man who knew everything and could teach it all.

And Jesus says you must be born again and he's speaking of a miracle in the heart that transforms everything. And you also encounter the word wind in this passage because Jesus is saying that the Spirit of God is like wind and it blows, and it blows wherever it wishes. You know, whenever God's people gather together, there's always a wind blowing. And you always pray that it'll blow everywhere. And you know that some people need it to blow hard and some people experience sort of a gentle breeze of the Holy Spirit.

But my prayer is that every person would feel the wind on his face today. That you would know that wind and feel it. Now as you can see, I've divided this passage into two major parts, and the first really is a focus on Nicodemus, and Nicodemus was a particular kind of man and I'd like to speak about that and then next you encounter the necessity and the meaning of the new birth and first of all you must be born from above that's verses 3 and 4 And secondly, you must be born of the Spirit. That's verses five and six. And then thirdly, you will be born unexpectedly by the force of a wind that blows upon you.

So that's what I'd like to cover. Let's begin with Nicodemus. And this is very important that we understand Nicodemus. Nicodemus is a particular kind of man. Jesus speaks to different kinds of people, and Nicodemus is a particular kind.

And so we read in verse one, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Now you could learn a lot about Nicodemus. He was a particular kind of man. He believed that Jesus was a teacher come from God.

He was that kind of man. He was not a skeptic. He believed in God and he had respect for Jesus and he addresses him as teacher. He wanted a teacher. But there's a very great difference in a person who wants a teacher and one who wants a king.

One who wants an instructor and one who wants a savior. But he was that kind of man. He wanted an instructor. And you go to a teacher to give you helpful ideas, but you go to a king to rule your life. Now there are other kinds of people that do not believe that Jesus is from God.

That's a different kind of person. Nicodemus sees the gripping reality and the integrity of the signs that Jesus is performing. You see those lines? For no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. So he saw the signs and he was touched by them.

They moved him. And he actually believed that these were signs from God. He believed and followed the laws of God. He was a Pharisee. He'd probably memorize the Pentateuch.

And he was not a person who is trying to skirt around truth. He wasn't that kind of person. He wasn't running away from the church. He wasn't running away from the church. He wasn't running away from the people of God.

He was part of the people of God and the worship of God. And he was a staunch advocate of the careful worship of God. He upheld the law code of Moses. He studied the law and he supported the worship of God and he was a religious man. He wasn't a secular man.

He was not a worldly man. He wasn't a law breaker in the strict sense of the word. But he was that kind of man. You know what, he was a little bit like our friend, Puyon Mershahi. You know, when he tells about his conversion, He tells about, he grows up in this loving home in Iran.

And his parents are Zoroastrians. And he says this, he says, I was a religious man. I believed in following the rules and the rituals and all those things that were taught. The motto was good words, good works, and good thoughts. And that was the thing that we hoped for.

Nicodemus was that kind of man. He was a good man looking for good words and good thoughts. And we also read that he was the ruler of the Jews here. He was a powerful and a religious man. He was educated.

The Pharisees were the most conservative of the conservatives, and he had given his life to strictly study and obey the Scriptures. You know, the Jews, the Jewish leaders in that day were categorized as Sadducees and Herodians and Pharisees. The Sadducees were very secular. The Herodians really loved Greeks. And the Pharisees were law keepers.

And of course the Apostle Paul was a Pharisee. There were about 6, 000 of them. And Jesus addresses the Pharisees in Matthew 23 and he pronounces eight woes on the Pharisees. The religious good people who are always looking for more good, he says, woe to you, woe to you scribes and Pharisees, because they knew everything, but they had nothing. He was that kind of man.

And so now this man, this particular kind of man, not an atheist, not a person that's disconnected from religion or the church or anything like that, he's not a person who has an empty head regarding theology. His head is full of theology. But he experienced a really pivotal moment in his life, right? Recorded right here and his his interest in Jesus got the best of him and he couldn't stay away so He goes to him under the cover of night, and he might not have known it at the time, but God was putting him at the crossroads of his life. And if you read the gospel of John, you can see this is not the last time we hear about him.

In chapter seven, it seems like he's actually defending Jesus. And in chapter 16, he's going and getting the body of Jesus with his friend, another rich man, Joseph of Arimathea. And they go put him in a tomb. He finally understood, I think, you must be born again. But he wasn't the kind of man that was rejecting.

You know, John 3 shows us the snapshot in a man's life, and he's good by all measures, and he's religious, and he's accomplished, and he's educated. He's that kind of man. But Nicodemus is like many men and women who know so much, and that is that they find themselves caught between the pull of their religion and their social standing and their exemplary lifestyle and the pull of the wind that's blowing on him. He's caught there at that moment with Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of God, and he cannot deny it. He feels the wind at his face.

You know, there are testimonies in church history that say that he was very rich, and of course he did have rich friends. Joseph of Arimathea was one of his rich friends. But as a result of his embracing the gospel, he lost his wealth because of the gospel, and he lost his position, and he lost his social standing, and he lost the respectful greetings in the marketplaces that he once enjoyed. Notice his timidity. I guess it's timidity.

We don't know exactly what it is. He came under the cover of night. There are probably five things you could say about this. You could speculate about why he came at night. But John doesn't explain to us that.

But here's what we know without question. He came because the wind was blowing in his face and he felt it. That's why he came. Was he afraid? Maybe.

Was he reluctant to be exposed, to be a follower of Jesus? That was becoming less and less popular among the Pharisees. So we don't know, but we know that the grace of God was on the move. God was moving. The wind was beginning to blow on his face.

And that's the question that every religious, very nice person that wants good words, good works and a good life, better and better. They need to ask, but is there wind, the wind of the Spirit blowing on my face now? Is there something more? Have I missed life in my quest to be good and to do everything right and to achieve? Have I missed life?

Because you can be like Nicodemus, You can sit in church your whole life long. And you can know everything and you can play a big role in a church. And then Jesus at the end when you meet Him, and everyone will meet Him. Everyone has an appointment with Jesus Christ at their death. Everyone will meet him.

You must know that you will meet him. And you might say to him, Lord, did I not prophesy in your name? Did I not cast out demons in your name? Did I not do wonders in your name? And then Jesus will say, I never knew you.

Depart from me, You who practice lawlessness. So you can actually do wonders. You can be a preacher, you can be a deacon, you can be a mighty man in a church or a woman. You can be a Titus II woman and not be born again. And so here we are.

The signs were disturbing Nicodemus. You know, one of the things we've been asking, you know, as we've been going through John, is what sign do you need? What would it take for you to believe in Jesus? Turning the water into wine? Or healing a blind man?

Would that be enough of a sign? For you or for me? But Nicodemus was seeing the signs and it was grabbing his attention. What signs would be enough? What more would you need to know in order to run to Jesus Christ for salvation and to have him be your king.

Do you feel the wind? Is there any wind blowing in your face now? Well, We meet this particular kind of man, Nicodemus, a good man, a dead man at the same time. Are you alive? Are you dead?

And then there are these elements of the new birth, and I've broken them down into three elements and I know that it's deeper and wider than that, but I wanted to focus on these three elements. And the first is you must be born from above. And here what Jesus does is he reveals to this man what is his greatest need. And so in verse three, Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old?

Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? So here Jesus reveals that there are two different kinds of birth. And Nicodemus is trying to connect this with physical birth alone, because he doesn't understand. Now, these words, born again, are very critical and they're central. The Greek word, again, is actually two words.

Means born from above. There is a word, again, that's used and it can mean repetition in the sense that you do something over and over again, like I'm going to fill up my gas tank again, or I'm going to go to the store again. There's that kind of again. That's not what this terminology is referring to. He's not referring necessarily to repetition.

Rather, he says, from above. And he uses two Greek words put together that literally mean born from above, unless one is born from above. And so the new birth is a supernatural birth. It's from above. It doesn't originate with you.

Now the same word is used again in verse 31. He who comes from above is above all. And he uses that same word again for above. So a person is not born again by force of the will of man. A person is not born again by the decision of man.

A person is not born again by the decision of man. A person is not born again because of earthly motivations. A person is born again by the power of God working from above. From above there's a wind blowing. And you know this this speaks to the issue of what some theologians have called decisional regeneration.

What is decisional regeneration? Decisional regeneration puts the work of regeneration into the hands of men. You must make a decision. You must pray a prayer. You must be sincere.

You must be sorry for your sins. And you're often told in large evangelistic campaigns to make a decision and pray a prayer. And if you pray that prayer, then you are born again. All you have to do is pray that prayer. And there are millions of people who prayed that prayer and you have to make a decision to pray that prayer now and the appeal is you know do you admit you're a sinner Do you want to go to heaven?

Do you want to have peace? Decide today, accept Jesus into your heart. And if you are sincere when you ask Jesus into your heart, you are saved. Now millions of people have heard that message and they've taken it to heart and and they have claimed to be born again. I believe something like 70 percent of Americans say that they're born again.

It's partly due to that reality that we have in Christian culture. And so then, so then you, you know, you do this when you're a child and you turn 18 and you don't really have any love for God and you're... And they say you're backsliding, is what they say, and then... But then your life isn't changed and then you're told, well, you're a carnal Christian. You're a carnal Christian.

What is that? Does the Bible ever appeal to anybody to ask Jesus into their heart? No. Does the Bible actually speak of a carnal Christian? Actually not.

These are inventions of a modern age. And so to a person like that, you would say, well, you need to, you need to get off the dime. I mean, you need to get into discipleship. You know, the failure was follow-up. You need to get back into church.

So you have people say I'm gonna get back into church. I gotta get back into church Well, that's a good thing, you know, we always want that for people for sure But then you know, you know the years pass and you're you know then that you're in your 20s and and you know it's really bothering you you know you don't really have you don't really love God and so you come back and you Rededicate your life. That's what you do. You rededicate your life, but then that doesn't you doesn't work for very long sometimes And you end up maybe you might rededicate your life Ten times Maybe a hundred Yeah, it happens. I've known people doing that.

Absolutely and But regeneration is a work of God. It's a work from heaven. It's not based on your decision it's based on God's Superintending your will and reaching down to you and causing you to be born again. And you know, our friend Paul Washer, he says, the sinner's prayer has sent more people to hell than anything on the face of this earth. Because people thought they were saved by praying a prayer rather than being regenerated and reborn actually changed transformed from heaven because God did it you know He says infant baptism was the golden calf of the Reformation, and the sinner's prayer is the golden calf of the Baptists and the Evangelicals.

And so, you have people who trust that one time in their life, they got so sincere and they prayed a prayer and they were saved. And they were saved. I like the way that J. Adams speaks of this actually in a little book he wrote on decisional salvation. He says, regeneration of the new birth is God's work by the Holy Spirit and changing a sinner's heart and bringing him to faith in Jesus Christ.

It's not something that man does or can do, it's something that God does. You know and you see this all over the Bible you know we've are in the prologue of John in the first 18 verses of John we've actually already encountered this very same thing and we learn that the new birth isn't the result of the will of man and and and So we read but as many as received him To them he gave the power to become sons of God. Even to them that believe on his name, who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of man but of God. That's the exact same condition of being born from above. Being born again is to be born of the will of God.

In James chapter 1 verse 18, he speaks of the fact that to be born again is a work of God. He says, of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. And he's saying it's the word of truth that causes people to be born again. They hear a word from scripture and it pierces them to the heart and they are changed forever. In 1st Peter 1 verse 3 we we learned that God God is the one who causes us to be born again Peter says blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ According to his great mercy he has caused us to be born again.

It was his mercy. It wasn't our decision, it was his mercy. In Ephesians chapter two, we learn that it was God's power. In verse two, chapter two, verse one, and you, he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins. And then in verse 4, but God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

By grace you have been saved and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places. By grace you have been saved, verse eight, through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Now, it's possible that a person can be saved when they pray a prayer, but praying a prayer, praying the sinner's prayer, doesn't make you a Christian. It doesn't save you. What saves you is that God causes you to be born from above, not of the will of the flesh, not of blood, not of the will of man, but of God.

He reaches into your soul and He changes you, He regenerates you, He makes you born from above. And that's the new birth. And then there's something that happens that causes a person to see the kingdom of God. And he says that you cannot see the kingdom of God without being born again. And so what happens to a person who's born again is they see things, And they have things that they never saw and they never had before.

And they see with new eyes. But they see the kingdom of God. What does that mean? What does it mean to see the kingdom of God? It means that you see that Jesus is reigning in your life.

He's your King. You see His Kingdom. You see that you are in His Kingdom, that the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God has come near. You see it. And Seeing and experiencing are very this the same thing That's why Jesus said in Luke 17 the kingdom of God is within you or among you You know Jesus Was speaking of the kingdom he said what what shall I compare the kingdom with?

And if you go to Matthew chapter 13, you'll read about it. He gives all these parables. It's like a pearl of great price. It's like a field. And you sell everything you have.

You want that kingdom. You want to be in that kingdom you want that field you want that pearl in your pocket you want it that's what it means to see the kingdom of God. And so this matter of being born again is a spiritual birth that brings about a spiritual transformation so powerful that you see what you could not see before because you cannot see, you cannot experience the kingdom of God unless you're born again. You know, I love that hymn, I am His and He is mine, because you know it explains what happens when you see the kingdom of God. Not only do you want Him to be your ruler, because you are so sick and tired of ruling your own life you've seen what that does I remember that vividly I was so tired of me ruling my life I realized I needed another ruler I I was not the best ruler of my life, and I'm still not.

But the hymn explains that your perception about everything changes. You know, I used to go into the Pacific Ocean a lot when I was young, and I'll never forget when I was first converted, the blue in the ocean, the waves were so much more beautiful, the sky, the kelp, everything, the rocks, everything was more beautiful than it ever was before I Actually, I loved it more but in a different way and So the hymn writer says heaven above is softer blue earth around is sweeter green Something lives in every hue Christless eyes have never seen birds with gladder songs overflow flowers with deeper beauties shine since I know as now I know I am his and he is mine and then the hymn goes on things that once were wild alarms cannot now disturb my rest, clothed in, closed in everlasting arms, pillowed on the loving breast. You know, when I was converted, I remember having these dreams, these remarkable, amazing dreams of these colors that I'd never experienced before. And I think it was because of what God was doing in my heart. I don't place a lot of stock in dreams, by the way, but I really liked those dreams.

But every person who is born again sees things differently forever and that is a mark of salvation. Your view of sin is different. Your view of people is different. Your view of money and work is different and everything becomes different. But I mean it is so different every person who's born again has an everlasting father Every boy who never had a father has a father Every daughter who who never had a friend has Jesus Christ as her friend forever.

And every person who's born again, you know, has something that they have help that they never had. They have comfort that they never had because they've been born from above. And I'm certainly not saying that you have perfect comfort and perfect anything because we're, You know, we're sinners and God is still moving on us, you know. But there's a dramatic change that takes place because you're born from above. And so you're not the same.

What a blessing it is to have a counselor and a father and a friend. But we're born into this world, you know, as hopeless sinners, helpless sinners, and God sends his son so that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life and that they would be born from above not because of how good they are not because they were sincere enough not because their prayer was clear enough not because they were sick and tired of themselves enough, but because God actually changed them. How sincere do you have to be? How sick and tired do you have to be? You could never be sincere or sick and tired enough, but God causes you to be born again in spite of your weakness, even in your repentance and in your belief.

That's why the man said, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. And what happens to these people? Well, they overcome the world. That's what John, 1 John 5, 4 says, whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.

Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? And then toward the end of 1 John chapter 5, he says, and this is the testimony that God has given us Eternal life and this life is in his son He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. So you have this power to overcome the world, the power of sin has been broken and your struggle against sin changes dramatically.

You still struggle against sin, but it's different. And in a year and two years, you're a different person and you keep changing. God keeps sweetening you and you have eternal life. Those two things, you're overcoming the world and you have eternal life. So the evidence of the new birth, the evidence of being born from above, is to have a new life with new eyes and a new experience.

And it's a God who does it. That's why Jesus said, no one can come to me unless the Father who has sent me draws him and I will raise him up on the last day. You can only come if he has drawing you and that's the wind, the drawing wind of God, the wind blowing in your face. Maybe it's hard, maybe it's light, but is the wind blowing in your face? Is God putting his finger into the wound of your soul and saying, here is my son Jesus Christ.

Believe in him. And if he gives you the power to believe, and if you see the kingdom of heaven the way that I've spoken about it then it's most likely you've been born again now so of these three elements in the new birth first you must be born from above we just covered that that's verses three and four and then you must be born of the Spirit that's verses five and six and Jesus answered and Assuredly I say to you unless one is born of water and spirit He cannot enter the kingdom of God That which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. So now the Lord Jesus changes the language and he's speaking of spirit and flesh and we're still talking about being born again and he's clarifying what born again is. It is of the water and the Spirit. And some have suggested that the water is the first birth symbolizing the breaking of water in natural childbirth.

Others have suggested that it's the water of baptism. I don't embrace either one of those but the third alternative is that the water and the spirit of the same thing water symbolizes the work of the Holy Spirit in the gospel of John and in other places as well and you find this language you know your your cleanse through the washing of water by the word water is a is a cleansing agent and The Word of God is a cleansing agent But John is making a distinction between the flesh and the spirit and our great problem is our flesh. And I may say it a different way. We've been born that way. You're born that way.

You're born in the flesh. That's sort of a technical term in Jesus' usage here. The flesh and the Spirit, He's setting those two things aside, one another. When He says, born of the flesh, he's talking about the nature of man and he's disclosing what's wrong with every man and every woman and you know you might sin and you might say, I was born that way. Well that's true, you were born that way.

You were born in the flesh. And what the Bible says is that a sin nature is passed on through childbirth and that every newborn baby receives a fallen nature and a propensity to sin. And every parent has given the poison of a fallen nature to their children, which is why God commands fathers and mothers to preach the gospel to their children when they sit in the house when they walk by the way when they lie Down and when they rise up because they have a poison a killer poison in their soul But that's what it means to be born in the flesh you're born all of us were born in the flesh and It's our fallen human nature and the flesh symbolizes the natural man separated from God and and hopelessly Following the desires of the flesh and the Apostle Paul spoke about in first Corinthians 2 He said but the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. And that's why Jesus says, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

You have the natural man who can't, he can't even understand what God is saying. He can't even understand what this means because he hasn't been born again. You know, Galatians chapter five speaks of this, the works of the flesh and the works of the Spirit and He says the works of the flesh are evident which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. In other words, that's not a comprehensive list. And then he says, those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

In other words, if the compelling power of sin has not been broken, you will not inherit the kingdom of God unless you've been born from above. The power of sin is broken. Not that you're perfect, but that it's broken and it's different. And everybody is born that way. You know, there are people today are speaking, you know, about how they are genetically predisposed and born to want to be a different gender or something like that.

Well, this is nothing more than a description of the fall and passing on a human nature because whatever willful sinful nature cultivates and grows and becomes part of it and if you cultivate a spirit of transgenderism or homosexuality it's going to grow and you're gonna say that's me and that's like that with anger that's like that with everything You'll become that person if you cultivate it. And the flesh is at war with the Spirit as we read about in Romans 8-7, and Paul speaks of it. He says, the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God. Nor can it, nor indeed can it be. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God, But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit.

If the Spirit of God dwells in you, now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. And so here, Jesus is teaching this man, he's a particular kind of man, he's a religious man, he's a good man, He wants good words and good ways and good thoughts and improvement. He wants everything that's good and he's been good his whole life. And Jesus says, you know, that kind of goodness doesn't save you because you've not been born from above. You've not been born again.

You're good, but you're not born again. And then the third element, the first element is that you're born from above. You must be born from above. Not by your decision, not by your prayer, not by your walking in Isle, not because somebody told you you were sincere. You're not born again because you were sincere.

You're born again by a supernatural power of God that changes your life. And then secondly, you're born of the Spirit. It's something real that changes in your soul. It's in the deepest part of your soul and you begin to incline Toward the things of God over especially over time and then thirdly You're born unexpectedly by the wind Because Jesus says the wind blows wherever it wishes and you never know where it's going to blow I know some of you are actual students of wind and He says to Jesus in verse 7 do not marvel that I said to you you must be born again The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

So the wind blows but you can't see it. Everybody knows that. Wow, we had a whopper wind over the last few days, didn't we? I mean, you know, I was down at work, you know, in my office and I came home and I saw branches and trees all over the place and it was still really windy. I couldn't see the wind at all.

But I could see those branches. I could see what had gone flying through the air and a shelter that got blown over. But nobody could see the wind. You could just see the effects of the wind, but it was blowing. And you can feel it.

Wind is powerful. You know, Charles Spurgeon talked about the wind like this. He said, He speaks to one heart, but others cannot hear his voice. He is not recognized by the unrefined senses of the unregenerate. The spiritual man discerns him, feels him, hears him, and delights in him, but neither can learning or wit lead a man to salvation.

But the wind is very powerful. It can lift a house, it can move it. The wind can come like a tornado in your soul. Some people are converted that way, like a mighty rushing wind. And others, it's a gentle breeze.

The wind blows in different directions. You know, it blows in one church and then it blows in another. It can blow over a whole country and miss a country. You know, I was just reflecting on the revival in Southern California when I was growing up. That revival actually seemed to pass over San Diego for some reason.

I remember when Billy Graham went there in the mid 80s, they were shocked at the lack of response in San Diego. If he had gone to Orange County, it would have been really different. Because the wind blows where it wishes. Spurgeon said, it blows down the streets of your life and it blows away the rubbish, it blows dead branches down, it blows away vain imaginations, it blows away pride, it blows away the things that are clogging up your love and your joy and your peace and your patience and your kindness, the wind blows, it's the wind of the Spirit of God and it transforms the heart of stone to a heart of flesh. So all of this really is to say that it's God who saves.

You are born again from heaven by the Spirit and because there is an external force outside of yourself called wind that represents the Holy Spirit that causes you to be born again. And that's how you're born again. I want to return to the whole idea that I really began with, that Nicodemus was a particular kind of man. And Nicodemus approached Jesus as a teacher and not a savior and he was like so many people in the world. Lloyd-Jones says they're the people who are pursuing sanctification, You know exactly what I'm gonna say don't you they're pursuing sanctification without justification Nicodemus wanted to make himself better Without being born again.

He saw something that he needed. He was taken by the signs. He was looking for an add-on. But he didn't have what he needed and what he wanted and he saw it. And so he wanted to do something about it.

And somebody described it as the danger of trying to go on before you started. And what happens, you know, to many people, maybe they grow up in a church or maybe they don't, but they're good people. You know, if you know what I mean by the good people, you know, we know that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. When I say good people, I'm talking about good people like Nicodemus, who had it all together. And they go through their lives and they come across a particular kind of living and they want it.

And they see defects in their life and they see defects in their upbringing and they want to cure those defects. And they, you know, maybe they had a really disconnected father and they say, I'm not doing that. I'm going to be a connected father with a capital C or maybe maybe their parents you know were winebibbers and drunkards of some kind and they say not Me I saw that been there done that I am not touching one drop of alcohol for the rest of my life I'm fixing this problem forever and they do and they you can do that actually people do that And You can go to classes and learn how to do that. And they want to be better mothers. They want to be better employees.

They want to be have greater success. They want to have better relationships. So they read, so they go to conferences and they learn all these marvelous things that are true actually. And You know, we live in this world of so many self-help opportunities that people think if you just get with the program, you know, you can have a program. And that's how people think today.

And they're leaving out the most important thing. They're leaving out the vital thing. You know, I've seen young men do this. They want, you know, they're in their teens and they want to be dynamic young men. You know, you've seen that?

It's awesome actually. They want manhood. They don't want to go with the flow with this dumbed down, stupid young generation. They don't want that. They realize that.

They want to be significant. They don't want to waste their lives. And they're trying to boom before they're born, and they haven't been born again. But they haven't changed the most fundamental thing. You know, people want to break away from the patterns of their parents but they've not been born again.

It's a laudable thing to want to break away from the bad patterns. It's a good thing. You know, people should do that. But it's often people have this idea of salvation through sanctification, rather than salvation through justification. And people often put their sanctification before their justification, their self-improvement before their salvation.

And they're really just being born from below, not from above. And there's no heart in it, and there's no love in it, and there's no power in it, and there's no joy in it. And you get religion, and you might get some success and respectability but you don't get Jesus Christ and Him crucified and you don't get the joy of the Spirit but you do get a life of some kind and and you know many important figures in church history were like this. Martin Luther worked tirelessly to be holy. He fasted, he buffeted his body.

Two of the greatest preachers of the English revivals and the revivals here in America, John Wesley and George Whitfield, when they were in their 20s they formed the Holy Club. I mean they were like these young men who wanted to be awesome before God and they prayed, they fasted, they mortified their flesh, they assumed a new lifestyle, They were walking differently and While they were at Oxford they fasted twice a week. They took the Lord's Supper They studied Greek and they studied the classics and they visited the sick and they held each other accountable and they weren't born again until almost a decade later. And they made the mistake of thinking that Christianity was about ideas and lifestyles rather than a person and a supernatural relationship with Jesus Christ to know him, to love him, to follow him, to be under his authority, to care for what he cares for because you have been born from above. They were cranking it out, but not filled from heaven.

They wanted the tools and the lifestyles that work, you know. You know, the cults operate this way. They offer you discipline, they offer you relief from your troubles. And you know, Christian theology can offer you prosperity in your family and your business It might let you know what it might even reduce your blood pressure If you cast all your cares on him, you're at least if you think you have it might reduce your chance of a heart attack or it might reduce your stress or something like that but that is not what Jesus is talking about. There's a great danger in putting a decision before regeneration where you end up believing it intellectually, but it's not in your heart.

And the result is there's no real life and there's no real affection. Now, the world is filled maybe with millions of people who prayed prayers and made decisions and somebody told them if you pray that prayer you're going to be a Christian. You have to have help from heaven. You have to have a force working from outside of you. It's the work of the Holy Spirit, and it's characterized by wind that blows on your face, and you feel it, and you know you're not born again, but you know you want to be born again and you do believe and you do receive Him not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, or the will of man, but of God.

And so God has this scene where a man is at a crossroads in his life, and he's with Jesus under the cover of night, and it's the most pivotal moment of his entire life. And this is like our lives too. He takes us through various seasons. We have motivations, we go through experiences, we have desires. Most of us really desperately want to be somebody.

And sometimes our Christianity is just a reflection of wanting to be somebody. But there are also times, and a particular time, of transformation, ordained by God Himself. The Bible says that there is a time and a season for everything under heaven. And Solomon said there is a time to be born and there's a time to die. But this time to be born again is the most important time.

And so John writes all these things that you might believe and that in believing you might have life in His name. And you can have life in His name if you experience and love the reality that Jesus Christ, born sinless, kept the law, and died on a cross, and your sins are transferred to him. And the worst of you was laid on him, and the best of him was laid on you because God does love sinners And he does provide his son as a substitute so that they would be born from heaven, born from above by the power of God. So do you feel the wind? I mean I prayed like crazy that there would be two things that would happen here today.

That really good people would feel the wind in their face, and if they're not born again, they would know, and they would run to Jesus, and they would forget their social acceptability, and they would finally break, and they would finally say, you know, everybody around here thought I was a Christian, but I'm really not. And they wouldn't let their pride stand in the way any longer. It's pride that always stands between us and God. And I also prayed that all those who had been born again would be so thankful for that refreshing wind and you'd feel it on your face right now and you say oh thank you Lord Jesus Christ for saving me where would I be without you what would have happened to me if you had not caused me to be born from above. Would you pray with me?

Lord, we thank you for your kindness towards sinners that you reached down from heaven. You reached down and you pluck sinners out of mighty waters that they could not overcome. And you raise them up to new life, and you implant within their hearts a desire to love you, and to be under your authority no longer their own. That you would be king, such a kind king, such a loving Savior, such a comforting Spirit for sinners. Lord, we praise you for that.

Amen.