1129. You Must Be Born Again, Part 1

Welcome to The Daily Platform, sponsored by Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Today's speaker is the president of Bob Jones University, Dr. Steve Pettit.

For over 29 years, Steve was an evangelist, traveling across the country, preaching and teaching in evangelistic services and camp ministries. I want to ask you to take your Bibles this morning and turn with me please to the book of John, John chapter 3. This morning I'd like us to read the third chapter of John beginning in verse 1 and we are going to read down to verse 9. And I would like to take this morning and tomorrow morning to speak to you on one of the most important and fundamental basic themes in the Bible. And that is that in order for any of us to enter into God's kingdom, we have to be born again.

And I'd really like to take the time to talk through what it means to be born again. And what does the Bible say about that? Let's look beginning in verse 1 this morning where Jesus says, where the scripture says, 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 the miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

Jesus then answered, said unto him, verily, verily, literally means, Amen. 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. That which is born of the spirit is spirit. Verse 7, marvel not that I said unto thee, you must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the spirit.

Nicodemus answered and said unto him, how can these things be? In verse 7, Jesus said, marvel not that I said unto thee, you must be born again. Now I don't know about you, but in my normal conversation with people, I don't really use the word must very often. I don't come up to someone and say you must.

I might use a word like let me suggest or let me encourage you or let me recommend or maybe I would ask questions like have you ever considered or what do you think about or help me understand what you're thinking. But for me to say to someone you must reveals or gives a completely different feel. Somebody asked the famous evangelist George Whitfield, why do you always preach on the subject you must be born again? And he responded because you must be born again. The word must implies necessity. Something has to take place or there's going to be a consequence. You must or else. And what Jesus is saying to us is that the message of the new birth is not a message to mess with. You don't trifle with this. He says if you're not born again, you will not see the kingdom of God.

Now that should cause all of us to be concerned. The reason why I'm preaching this message to you today and tomorrow morning is because I'm actually very fearful and concerned that many of you are not really born again. Maybe you're religious, but you haven't been born again.

Some of you are knowledgeable of the Bible. You've grown up in a Christian home, but you haven't really been born again. Some of you have gone through maybe a religious profession of faith at some point in time in your life that you remember or you vaguely remember looking back, but you've really not been born again.

Some of you have some form of religious standards or you've conformed to some external standards that would be representative of Christian living, but in reality, you've not been born again. It's very interesting to me that over the last year and a half that I've been here at Bob Jones University, I've met many graduates, many actually, who came here to Bob Jones University. They went four years in school. They lived in the dorms.

They sat in the classes. They attended chapels and services. They prayed in prayer groups, and then they told me it was years after graduation that they were actually born again.

I've known graduates who have gone out of here, and they've thrown away their faith, which in reality is a misnomer because you can't throw away something you don't have. And yet they've turned to a sinful lifestyle, and they've denied the reality of the life of someone who has been born again. So what I'd like us to do this morning is look very carefully at verse 7 of John 3, and this is our text verse. And notice what Jesus said. He said, Marvel not that I said unto thee, you must be born again. This morning we're going to look at the first half of that verse where it says marvel not, and then tomorrow we'll look at the second half of the verse when he says you must be born again. And so today we're going to look at why is it that when we talk about being born again, people are somewhat surprised by it.

They're somewhat marveled by it. And then tomorrow morning we'll talk about actually how it is that you're born again. So let's look at this verse 7, this first half this morning, as he says, Marvel not that I said unto thee, you must be born again.

Why is it that people are so surprised by that statement, you must be born again? A number of years ago I was on a missions trip in New York City with some of our teenagers from our church. We got on a New York City subway, and if you've ever been on the subway in New York City, you notice nobody ever talks to each other. So if people are talking to each other, it means that they must be visitors. And so we were visitors, and everybody around us figured out that we were from some other place.

And so I started talking to a man on the subway, and I thought, you know, I'm never going to see this man again. I'm just going to step out here and ask him the question. I looked at him, I said, sir, let me ask you a question. Have you ever been born again?

And his response was interesting. He said, born again, born again, born again, that's all I hear today is born again. And then he looked at me and said, what does it mean to be born again?

I thought, that's like saying sickum to a bulldog. And from one stop to the next stop on the subway in New York City, I expressed to this man as clearly as I could in just a few statements, what it means to be born again. When Jesus said, don't marvel, what does the word marvel mean? It means to be surprised, somewhat amazed. But it's not confusion as much as it is admiration or awe. It's something that maybe I didn't know, I didn't realize, but I'm very interested in.

R. Kent Hughes described it as wishful yearning. It's a statement that I hear and I begin to sense to recognize it's something that I need. Why would this man Nicodemus marvel at Jesus' statement? Well, let's look more carefully at the man Nicodemus because this is a conversation between Jesus and this man who came to see him.

And notice what the Bible says in verse one where Jesus is interacting with Nicodemus and what do we discover about him? Well, it says, first of all, that he was a man of the Pharisees. That means he was extremely religious. In Jesus' day, the Pharisees were the chief exponents of an ethical and moral way of life. They were the most religious people in all of Israel. They were a small, tight-knit group. They were extremely conservative.

Their name means separated ones. They codified the laws of Moses into 613 laws and then they sought to apply the law literally and to keep the law diligently. So the man that came to Jesus was an extremely religious man. But then notice secondly, he not only was religious, but he was very intellectual. He was a very smart man. He was a scholar. Nicodemus is actually a Greek name.

It means one who conquers the people. Now most people that are Jewish have Hebrew names, but those that are wealthy are exposed to Greek culture. And so consequently, oftentimes parents gave their children, wealthy families, a Hebrew name and a Greek name. And since Nicodemus preferred his Greek name, he was probably a Hellenistic Jew that is very influenced by Greek culture. He probably read the Old Testament in Greek and he was educated in Greek philosophy. There's some evidence that Nicodemus may have come from a very aristocratic family. So he was an aristocratic scholar.

He was a part of the educated elite. It's interesting that in verse 9, Jesus said to Nicodemus, you're a master of Israel. And that takes him to a whole other level because it meant that he was considered to be one of the greatest teachers in all of Jerusalem.

So think about it. Religious, smart, intellectual, but something else about him. It says he was a ruler of the Jews. That is, he was a politician. This meant that he was a member of the Sanhedrin. These are a group of 70 men who were the rulers of the nation. They were the highest court of justice.

You could almost say it was like combining today the Supreme Court and the US Congress. So he was a member of the exclusive ruling body of the land of Israel. So who is this man Nicodemus?

A very unique individual. In other words, there's probably not another one like him in all of Israel. Let me also say that Nicodemus was probably the best, if you want to say it that way. Or you could say he's just about everything a person would ever want to be in life.

Ethical, educated, elite, in the highest social orders, religious, moral, recognized, known. That is, there are very few people that are like Nicodemus. But when Jesus spoke to him in verse 3, he actually did not speak to him as a unique individual, but he spoke to him as a representative of all individuals. For look at verse 3, he says, Jesus answered and said, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. The word except a man refers to anyone. It refers to everyone. And what Jesus is saying is that Nicodemus, though he may be considered the best of men, in spite of his achievements, in spite of his status, in spite of his character, in spite of his wisdom, in spite of his prominence, he still was not going to go into the kingdom of God unless he's born again.

And I want to say to every one of you, if you are not born again, you cannot, you will not see the kingdom of God. So why did Nicodemus marvel at this? Why was he so surprised?

Should he not have known this? Why is it that so people are surprised, why people are so surprised when you ask them that question? You know, I find, if I ask you, are you a Christian? Are you a believer? Are you saved?

You know, that's one thing. But to ask a person, are you born again, I have seen the same surprised look on the faces of many people, I believe, just like the surprised look Jesus saw on the face of Nicodemus. Why are we so surprised by this?

I think there are a couple of reasons. On the one hand, I think Nicodemus was surprised because he did not see his need of a new birth. He didn't really understand it. And the reason he didn't understand it is that he couldn't understand it. Do you understand, folks, that nobody naturally understands that they need a new birth? Nobody understands that they need to actually have a change take place in their life that is similar to what it meant for you to be born and to come into this world. Paul said the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God.

It's not in your spiritual wheelhouse. How can someone describe a blue sky if they're blind? How can somebody listen to a beautiful song if they're deaf? How can somebody run in a race if they're crippled? The natural man, like you are, you are inadequate to comprehend your personal need of regeneration.

You don't even think that way. Now, it wasn't that Nicodemus was ignorant of the Bible. He was a scholar of the Bible. He understood the Old Testament.

He knew the story. He memorized the Torah. He would have understood Adam's fall. He would have understood the promise of a coming Messiah. He would have understood that man failed in keeping the law.

He would have understood that there are sacrifices because people need their sins forgiven. However, he did not have the ability to perceive the answer to his true sinful condition because man's answer to his sinful condition naturally is to always try to get better. Be good. Do good. Work harder. Improve yourself.

Work your way up. But he did not see, he did not comprehend that he was so alienated from God that his nature was so predisposed towards evil. He did not understand or comprehend that he was by his very nature a child of wrath. And why could he not understand this? Because he was blinded. He couldn't see it. Do you realize that this morning about yourself?

You know what I'm really concerned about? That some of you really are spiritually blind. You really don't see it. You got religion, but you don't have the new birth. And that's why Jesus said that the work of the Holy Spirit is to come into the world and to convince people, to show people their sin, to show people their need of righteousness, to show people that they're going to be judged by God. Folks, if the Spirit does not come and work in your heart, you cannot see the kingdom of God. If he doesn't give you ears, you will not hear. If he doesn't give you eyes, you will not see.

If he doesn't raise you up, you will not live. No man, Jesus said, can come to me except the Father which sent me draw him. A number of years ago, I was actually holding a two-week revival meeting at Morningside Baptist Church here in Greenville, South Carolina. In the first week of that meeting on a Monday night, a lady turned to my wife and said, can I talk to you right now?

It was during the song service. So my wife and our school teacher that was traveling with us on our team went out into the lobby of the church. And she said, Terry, I need to talk to you.

I don't think that I'm saved. And my wife said, I think you need to talk to Steve after the service. So after the service, I got my Bible and I was going to talk to this young lady thinking that she needed the assurance of salvation. So I began to ask her some very basic questions like, tell me when you were saved. And her response to me was very interesting. She said, I've always believed that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead. I've always believed that. She said, but I guess I never really realized why I really needed Jesus because I didn't really see myself as being all that bad.

Now I thought, well, had you told me, I would have told you how bad you are. And what is amazing to me is here's a young lady who grew up in a Christian home, who had graduated from a Bible college, who had taught two years in a Christian school and was traveling on our team. And for the first time in her life, she really saw herself and began to recognize what she needed.

May I ask you a question this morning? Do you recognize the need of the new birth? Do you realize in your own heart that you need Jesus? It's interesting here, we see the blindness of Nicodemus. When what he confessed about Jesus in verse 2 is very interesting, look at what it says. It says, the same came to Jesus by night and said in 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 them.

Now when you read this, you think, well, maybe he's a believer. But I want you to know that what Nicodemus confessed is really not much different than what a Muslim or a Mormon believes about Jesus. Because he said that Jesus did miracles, he said that Jesus was a teacher come from God, and he also said that God was with Jesus.

But none of those things are sufficient to get you into heaven. Because what did he not say about Jesus? He did not say that Jesus was divine. He did not say that Jesus was God himself. And fact is, nobody really believes Jesus is God, just intellectually.

To really believe Jesus is God, God's got to open up your eyes. Do you remember what Jesus asked his disciples? Who do men say that I am? And who answered? Peter.

And what did he say? You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. You're the Messiah, and you are God in the flesh. And what did Jesus say to Peter? Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, Peter, but my Father which is in heaven.

What is he saying? Peter, you are able to make this confession because you have had a revelation, an apocalypse. Your eyes have been opened. You do see who I am. You know, I think if the disciples didn't clearly see who Jesus was, I wonder how many of you really haven't seen who Jesus is.

I mean, where you've really come to see him for who he is, he is God in human flesh, and you love him, and you serve him, and you worship him. Nicodemus clearly did not see it. He was blind.

But we also see his blindness in the way he reacted to Jesus' words. What did Nicodemus say to Jesus? Does a man enter back into his mother's womb and be born?

Nicodemus, what are you talking about? Jesus is not talking about obstetrics. He's not talking about a physical birth. He's talking about the demand of a new heart, a new nature, a new life.

You are thinking about here, but this birth is one that is from up here. It's a spiritual birth. Flesh is flesh. The Spirit is the Spirit. They're not one and the same. So on the one hand, Nicodemus was blinded because he didn't see the need of the new birth. But let me say that on the other hand, Nicodemus sensed in his own heart that what Jesus was saying was true. That's what the word marvel means.

It means to be like awed. To say, I didn't really understand that and I'm not sure if I understand that, but I have a sense that this is true and I need this. Let me ask you a question. Do you sense in your own heart that you need a change? Have you ever wanted to change and be a different person? Have you ever gotten sick and tired of being you?

Have you ever wanted to start over? The first time I heard the gospel, I was 17 years old. I was a public high school teenager. When the gospel was presented to me, there were two things I knew. Number one, I knew that I was a sinner and number two, I knew I was going to hell. I knew that.

But you know what? I didn't want to get saved. You know why? Because in my heart, I really didn't want to have a change in my life. I wanted heaven. I wanted eternal life. I didn't want to go to hell. But in my heart, I still wanted me. Two years went by, God worked in my life through a lot of different circumstances and through the faithful witness of godly Christians. And after two years, my freshman year of college, second semester, I began to realize that I needed a change in my heart. I started to hate my sins, myself, and yet I came to realize I was powerless to change.

And the only one that could change me was the Lord himself. Jesus said you have to be born again. By the way, if you're not born again, you would never want to go to heaven anyway. Because heaven is a place where people are there, have a different nature. They love God, they worship God, they walk in righteousness. They spend eternity praising God.

If you don't like doing that down here, you're definitely going to hate it up there. And that's why you need to have a change of heart so that you can actually live in glory with God. So I ask you this morning, have you been born again? Would you bow your head with me and close your eyes as we pray this morning? I'd like to ask two very simple questions, if I may, and I would like you to respond to the question as you're able.

Question number one is this. How many of you would say, Dr. Pettit, I think that I at least understand this. That if you're going to go to heaven, you have to be born again.

How many of you believe that that is true? Would you raise your hand, hold it up? You may put your hands down. Question number two.

Very simple question. In a moment, I'm going to have a word of prayer. That's all I'm going to do.

But I'd like to ask you this. How many of you would say, Please pray for me because in my heart, I don't know if I've been born again or I'm not really sure. And I would like you to please pray for me. I'm going to pray for you. We've been praying for you for some time.

Not by name individually, but as a group. But I would like to pray. Would you please pray for me? Would you lift your hand?

Just slip it up all over the room this morning. Okay. I see a number of hands. Number of hands. All right.

Number of hands. Thank you. In a moment, as I pray, if you need to talk to someone, I would encourage you to go to a dorm mentor, a dorm supervisor.

You can come to my office and see me. But God is working in your heart. And we will pray for you that you will be born again. Lord, we realize that this is a work of your grace and hearts. And I pray for these that are here as students that this word will penetrate deeply. Lord, we are confident that you will accomplish and fulfill your will and the matter of our salvation. But we also pray for each one that you are speaking to that they will be saved. We pray for your mercy and your grace here on our student body that we would all be born again.

And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for joining us today. These daily programs are made possible by the many friends of Bob Jones University and this radio ministry. We'd love to hear from you, so don't hesitate to send us your feedback by going to the website thedailyplatform.com. Thanks again for listening and we look forward to having you tomorrow as we study God's Word together on The Daily Platform.