Rev. David Holwick I
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
March 5, 1995
John 3:1-8,16
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I. The Miracle of birth.
A. Filming birth of children.
1) Very gross experience.
2) Uncomfortable, nervous, hungry. -->> Hard for wife, too.
B. We must go through it not once in a lifetime, but twice.
II. The man Nicodemus.
A. Rigidly spiritual - a Pharisee. 3:1
1) Firmly committed to the Law of Moses.
2) Bound by legalism.
3) Tried to force views on society. "Religious Right."
B. Powerful and respected - ruling council (Sanhedrin)
1) Seventy most powerful Jews.
2) Rich man. In 19:39, brings 75 pounds of spices for burial.
C. Chicken? 3:2
1) Comes by night. (Could be fear, or convenience)
2) Beats around bush with flowery language.
3) Jesus drives straight to the heart of the matter.
III. A painful proposition.
A. Jesus - you must be born again. 3:3
1) Nicodemus - a second delivery?
a) WOMEN, can you imagine delivering a 200 pound male?
b) Probably a deliberate misunderstanding. He may have
been put off by resemblance to pagan cleansing.
2) He may have been discouraged by life.
a) Can we really start over?
b) We can't do the lesser (physical rebirth), so how can
we do the greater (spiritual rebirth)?
B. Water and spirit. 3:5
1) Cleansing ceremony.
2) Christian Baptism.
3) *Natural vs. spiritual birth.
C. Kingdom of God. 3:5
1) We think in terms of going to heaven.
2) Jesus emphasized the Kingdom.
a) The Kingdom is a place - where God is.
b) The Kingdom is a mindset - where God rules. [Here!]
3) To be saved is to be in the Kingdom.
a) We enter it the moment we believe.
b) God is in charge of our life.
IV. Christians are different creatures.
A. Starting over has its attractions.
1) (Being in federal witness protection program.)
a) Many in the program end up getting in trouble again.
2) We need an overhaul, not a fine-tuning.
a) Many think being a Christian is cleaning up some
bad habits, adding a few good ones.
b) (Member's friend: ugly drunk, stopped drinking,
yet dropped dead of a heart attack at age 47.)
B. God has to do it.
1) Nicodemus knew he couldn't do it on his own.
a) Impossible for us to change the past.
b) But this is exactly what God does: our past is forgotten.
2) Only through the Spirit can we be reborn.
a) We don't need religious rules, but the power of God
within us to remake us completely.
V. Is real change possible?
A. Being a "born againer."
1) Baptists seem to have a monopoly on the term.
2) Yet all Christians believe in the concept.
a) Some stress infant baptism, others stress conversion.
b) Key thoughts are that God does it, and it is crucial.
B. Can God really change people?
1) Many claim to be Christians, yet are racist, greedy, arrogant.
a) Biblical pessimism: Can a leopard change his spots?
b) Psychosomatic? Superficial and temporary?
2) The challenge to evangelist Luis Palau:
Recently, a woman and her husband, professing Christians,
asked Luis Palau why he was an evangelist.
"I long to see people changed by Jesus Christ," he replied.
"That's my source of satisfaction."
She responded, "In my whole life, I've never seen a person
actually changed by Jesus Christ."
Her comment touched his conscience.
How changed was he by Christ?
How different was he than his unchurched, unconverted
neighbors?
Palau has seen thousands of lives dramatically changed, even
in his own family when his 29-year-old son converted.
For change, most of us look to politics.
In the Bible, it is the proclamation of the gospel that
confronts and changes a pagan society.
The power to live by biblical values comes only through
conversion to Jesus Christ.
Of course, conversion is only the beginning.
Believers must live in obedience to their Lord in His
revealed principles.
These are the Christians whom Jesus Christ called the salt
of the earth and the light of the world.
#3076
C. Bible is clear that God can change us, and we must change.
1) Basic requirement of heaven.
2) Part of change is instant, other takes a lifetime.
3) YOU must be reborn. 3:7
a) We all know people who need conversion.
b) But what about YOU?
"I used to be angry most of the time," writes Kathleen A. Barrett
in the March 1992 Upper Room magazine.
"Store clerks were often rude to me, but I attributed it to the
notion that they weren't getting paid enough."
After Kathleen accepted Jesus Christ into her life, it seemed that
the whole world changed.
"Store clerks became nicer," she wrote, "the sun shone brighter;
birds chirped more cheerily; flowers bloomed more beautifully."
"Of course, I thought the world had changed," she recalled.
"I didn't realize until a few years later that it was I who had
been changing.
I was different; I had softened.
It wasn't the store clerks who had become friendlier; I had."
"The sun didn't shine any brighter," Kathleen reflected.
"I was just more aware of it.
Birds had chirped when I had been in a grumpy mood, but more likely,
they had only annoyed me.
And, of course, the flowers had always bloomed, but I hadn't noticed
their sweet fragrance."
"I changed when Jesus came into my life.
And he continues to change me and to delight me today," she claims.
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