Receiving Christ, new birth

John chapter 1 please, John's gospel in chapter 1, reading from verse 10. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, John chapter 1 in verse 10. He was in the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him not.

He came into his own and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but born of God. Then please into chapter number 2 at the end, right to the end of the chapter, verse 24.

John 2 and verse 24. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, ruler of the Jews.

The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles which 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. Verse number 14 please.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. We look to God to bless these words read in the gospel that they might strike a note in some heart by the Holy Spirit using it to speak to each one of us here this evening. Two events determined my life in time and eternity.

As a young person at the age of 12 and 16. At the age of 12 I was in the chemistry class and answered a difficult question. And the chemistry teacher Mrs. Reagan said in front of all the class, that boy is going to be a scientist.

Well that boy ended up as a scientist. 38 years earning my living as a scientist. For 33 years in a large industrial laboratory, eventually becoming principal scientist.

And then for five years in the university as a research professor in the Department of Maths and Physics. That's not the important thing. The important thing is what happened at 16.

But at 16 I trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. I'd not been brought up in what we would call a Christian home, but nevertheless it wasn't a home where Christianity was denied. I was always encouraged to go to a Sunday school and as it turned out it was always an evangelical Sunday school.

First of all at a very young age went to a little Sunday school led by two old people at the end of the road where we lived. And these two people, they were indeed part originally of the Apostolic Church so called. And they preached the gospel.

And in the Sunday school I heard for a few years there. But soon they died and then went along eventually to the Baptist Mission. And there again heard the gospel.

Well eventually that just ran out and I ended up in the Salvation Army Sunday school. The third Sunday school I'd ever been to. The Salvation Army in the little village, the coal mining village in South Wales where I lived, it was only Mrs. Baker.

She was the young people's sergeant major. The little effort had dwindled down just to her and her Sunday school. So again another Sunday school.

Went there maybe till the age of 13 and then Mrs. Baker died. Ended up in the Gospel Hall Sunday school. There till the age of 14 in the Sunday school there.

Then got an interest in cycling, cycle racing. Now cycle racing took part mainly on Sunday so dropped off from the Gospel Hall Sunday school and that was me for a couple of years. And eventually in high school a friend came along and said, Howard why don't you come back to the Gospel Hall? So dear friend Michael encouraged me to go back.

Well I went back and eventually after a year or so well along came a Sunday night in the gospel meeting. Went along to the gospel meeting, knew the gospel well, had heard it since a little child. And then after the gospel meeting a dear fellow, Mr. Davis, said now you're coming up with the young people to our house for some meal so we're walking up the hill.

And on the way up Mr. Davis said to me, Howard isn't it wonderful to be a Christian? Now what do you say? Well quite honestly I said well of course it is wonderful to be a Christian. I believe that. But I wasn't.

Well eventually went home that evening, that night by now, and went up to bed and just kneeled down on my bed and realizing it's true what I said but I'm not a Christian. I've never received the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. So knelt down simply there and received the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior.

You know nobody was there so I said to myself what do I say? Nobody was there. We've had encouragement here many times in the gospel of people sitting down beside you. Nobody beside me.

No one there to give me the word. What do you say? And all that came into my mind was this, a little chorus we learned in Sunday school. Into my heart.

Come into my heart Lord Jesus. Come in today. Come in to stay.

Come into my heart Lord Jesus. In all simplicity and sincerity just kneel down there and receive the Lord Jesus Christ 16 well over 50 years ago. Well these two events determined everything for me as we said in time but also in eternity.

For these are the important things. Now as time has gone on I'm just thinking verse 10. He was in the world.

In those years I was able to travel a lot and able to go along to assemblies like this and meetings and conferences. Had the privilege of speaking on the Word of God in 27 different countries. And you know the great thing is so often it was the gospel.

And in every habitable continent of the world speaking to all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds. And yet the gospel, everybody's different in so many ways. Culturally, color wise, whatever else.

But you know we're all the same. We're all the same. And able to learn very simply and able to pass it on.

A simple gospel message. And to see people saying in different places in different ways. So you know it's wonderful just this little word world here.

Anyway here's the important thing. Here's the gospel according to the Word of God. He was in the world.

What a wonderful statement. The Lord Jesus Christ whom we learned from the beginning of the chapter was the very creator of this world. Without him was not anything made that was made.

The Lord Jesus Christ who made the world came into it. He was in the world. God manifest in the flesh.

And more than that you know the amazing thing is this. It says he came unto his own. It says my margin in my Bible he came into his own things.

The very things he'd created. And the Bible says elsewhere he made the ages. Not only did he come into the physical world in which he made.

He also put the world together age-wise. So the geography not only the geology but the geography and the history was all determined by him. And yet amazingly he stepped into history.

He stepped into the world. He came unto his own things. But wait a moment in that history he put together.

There was the history of Israel. And the Bible says they were his own people. And this is the amazing thing.

It says my Bible in the margin he came into his own things and his own people received him not. And later on it's going to say the world knew him not. Verse 10 that he came into.

And his own received him not. That's so sad isn't it? Anyway that's sad in itself but you know there's a wonderful ray of light in verse 12. But what a contrast.

What a contrast to the rejection it says. But as many as received him. Now when he wrote these words John was an old man.

He preached the gospel many times. And he'd seen individuals saved. And he says about those individuals now.

But as many as received him. We heard before in the gospel. Gospel is receiving the Lord Jesus Christ.

You know so many people they say well now give your heart to Jesus. Now that can be very misleading as if we've got something to give. The Bible says it's not a matter of giving.

It's a matter of receiving. So it is indeed as many individuals as received him. He came into his own people the Jews.

The people indeed who had a prayer claim on God. Who had they felt some relationship with God. But listen they rejected him.

But the individuals that John is speaking about here. Many of them are like us Gentile people. No special people at all.

We had no special place or privilege in the things of God. So the many here who received him. Indeed here they were just like you and me.

Individuals. Have you received the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you realized you need to receive him as your Savior.

Well says John looking back over indeed now so many years. He says as many as received him. Later on Paul the Apostle Paul is going to write to the Colossian believers.

The group believers there at the town of Colossae. And he says now as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord. Every one of them individually had received him.

And that was an event in their lives that determined their life and their eternity. They had received him. There was a time and indeed a place when they received him.

Well now having received him. He does something wonderful. To them gave he.

So the Lord Jesus for those who received him. Every individual who received him. He gave them the authority to do something.

He gave them the might and the right to do what. To become literally children of God. Children of God.

In a moment we'll see children of God by new birth. Children of God by new birth. Are you a child of God.

So we've got a number of questions. Have you received the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. Are you a child of God.

Well now the next thing and he received. He gave to every individual the right and the might to become children of God. And everyone who's received him has become a child of God.

And then if we not quite sure what that means. Or we've heard other words in the gospel as we did this evening. It says even to them that believe on his name.

So now yes here's another way of looking at it. The same event. The same thing as receiving is actually believing.

So believing is receiving and receiving is believing. That's what it means. To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is to receive him as Savior.

To receive him as Savior is to believe on his name. All that he is. All that he's done.

We put our faith from self or system or anything at all. We put faith into him. Where's your faith tonight.

Where is it. Is it in Christ. Have you put your faith into him as the word literally means here.

It's not in me it's in him. I transferred my trust in me and anything else. I transferred my trust into him.

I committed myself to him. As says the Apostle Paul. Now then.

It says now these people as well. They've received Christ. Thereby they become children of God.

They have believed on his name. And now John steps back and he comments on these people and he says which were born. Well of course they're born because they're children.

They're children of God. By authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well they were born.

They were born. They weren't born of blood. What does that mean.

Well simply this. Look they weren't born because they came into a good family. They came of a good family.

Many people feel well that's my family. And it's a good family I was born into. So thereby I can become a Christian.

No it's not. Next well it says nor of the will of the flesh. So not only is it not good family it's not good intentions.

I didn't get born again because of my good intentions. There are plenty of people in the world. They've got good intentions.

Not that they'd ever live up to them. We're not finished yet. It says nor of the will of man.

But one of the things then you could say well I'm born again because I've got good friends. Good friends. The will of man.

Other people wanted to be saved and because they did therefore that's enough. Well it's not enough. I'm sure plenty of people have prayed for you.

That's good. And I'm sure many people want you to be saved. That's good.

But you're not saved until you receive Christ as your Savior. So that's the way not to be born of God. So it says which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but born of God.

This means God is the origin of that new life that you get. The source where it came from. That's where the birth came from.

It came from God. Born of God. Have you been born of God? You had that life eternal life from God.

So that you become a child of God. Born of God. That's good.

Anyway let me give you an example. You know I always loved geometry and used to have the theorems. All the theorems were given.

I loved going through this and then the end after that the worked examples. If you weren't quite sure what it meant you had all these worked examples. There's nothing like a good example is there.

We've had them this evening. Nothing like a good testimony. Different kinds of testimonies.

We've heard different kinds of testimonies from the older brother, from the younger brother, from others and so that's a testimony. Nothing like a good example. Well what about Nicodemus? He's a good example.

Now it says at the end of chapter 2 the kind of thing the Lord Jesus knew. He knew all. That's what it literally means.

He knew all. His knowledge is infinite. Says of God in the Psalms well the Lord Jesus is God.

So he knows all. Not just all people. He knows all.

Next it says and therefore because he knows all needed not that any should testify of man. What does that mean? Well if the Lord Jesus met someone he didn't need that person's best friend to come up and tell him all about him because he knew already. He knew.

But more than that you see it's all very well to know about a person from the outside. If I collected all the information known about you from the outside I maybe would know a lot. But I wouldn't know everything.

But of the Lord Jesus it says he, nobody else mind, he knew what was in man. He knows all about us. He knew Zacchaeus's name.

He didn't need anybody to tell him. That's right. He knew later in chapter 4 this woman of Samaria.

He knew her life. And as far as she knew never met him before. But he knew.

And all the others. He knows people's and we find in a moment he knows people's motives. He knows everything about us.

Not only outside but inside as well. So when we read in chapter 3 verse 1 it says there was a man. We immediately know the Lord Jesus knows what's in that man.

Now lots of people knew about this man because of his reputation. It says there was a man of the Pharisees. Well first of all now we know therefore he's serious about religion.

He really is. And there were no more serious people about the religion than the Pharisees. That's number one.

A religious man. Number two namely Nicodemus. Now the Lord Jesus maybe knew his name you might have thought.

Maybe he didn't. It doesn't matter because he knew. He knew anyway.

Next he was a ruler of the Jews. So that's meaning he was a man of some reputation. He was in a position of authority.

He'd earned it or been born into it but he got it. Well known in society. But you didn't have to tell the Lord Jesus he knew anyway.

That's all fine. That's all excellent. That's all on the outside.

But you see it goes on. The same came to Jesus by night. Said unto him, Rabbi, teacher, very respectfully, we know thou art a teacher come from God.

For no man does these miracles which thou doest except God be with him. Okay? That's very respectful. An introduction.

You can almost hear him now drawing breath for his next sentence. And it says in verse three, Jesus answered. And you say to yourself, but there's no question.

He didn't ask a question. He made a statement. And a very respectful statement about the Lord Jesus.

But Nicodemus didn't ask a question. But the Lord Jesus who knew what was in man answered a question. What was the question? Well here's the answer.

Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, truly, truly. Look, I'm telling you something and I can't tell you anything truer. Truly, truly, I say unto thee, that's him personally, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

That's an answer. What was the question? I suppose in our day to day, what Nicodemus, why he came to the Lord Jesus, he wasn't just curious. There was a question in his heart.

The Lord Jesus knew what it was. It was the question that this man dare not ask anybody else. Why not? The Lord Jesus later on it says, of Nicodemus, art thou the teacher of Israel? That's his reputation.

The Lord acknowledged that. So here's a man who should have known all the answers. But there was one question he didn't know the answer to.

What was that? As we would say to him, how can I be sure of heaven? How can I be sure of heaven? And the Lord Jesus said, now to be sure of heaven, young person, you need to be born again. Or, read on, in fact it says later on, it says, born of water and of the Spirit. There's another way of looking at the same thing.

Born of water and of the Spirit. And I take it here in the context, born of water means, and if you look right through the rest of the Bible, it's fairly pictured to me, that the water is the Word of God. And the Word of God as applied by the Spirit of God.

The Spirit of God brings the truth of the Word of God to my heart. And I see the truth of it. And I believe the truth of it.

And thereby, I'm born of God. I'm born of God. A number of times later we'll say, born of the Spirit.

Born of the Spirit. Three times over in the chapter. So it's born of the Spirit.

It's an important thing. Well, that works its way through because it's chapter one, being born of God. And here's God, the Holy Spirit, is the source of that new life because He's brought the truth to me through the Word of God.

And that Word of God, I suddenly realize it's true. Later in chapter 16 of this same gospel, the Lord Jesus promised the Spirit of truth will come. Holy Spirit.

And He'll convince the world. He'll give the Word the necessary evidence they need to know that sin and righteousness and judgment are important and they're true. That's what it means to be born of God.

Born of God. A new birth. You see, Nicodemus, as far as the first birth was concerned, he had a very privileged birth.

Brought him into a good family. Into a good position. He had a good name.

But he wasn't born again. He didn't have the certainty of knowing he was going to heaven. That's so important.

Well, you know, you read through the rest and he can't understand and he's so slow to understand. He can't take it in. He doesn't appreciate it.

So the Lord Jesus gives him one lesson. Just one. How amazing.

You see, Nicodemus being a Pharisee and occupying the position he did, probably he was able to recite the Old Testament word for word. That's very often true in that day of those kind of people. They could say from end to end.

So you start a verse, he'd finish it. So when the Lord Jesus, who had the whole Bible, Old Testament to give him illustrations from, he chooses one. Only one.

And it's this. And it's so clear. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life.

The story you know as well as I do, I'm sure. Here in the Old Testament, Israel in the wilderness, they displease God. God sent these fiery serpents, these snakes, and they were biting people and there was no cure and they were dying.

And in death, in this dying state, they came to Moses and said, now pray to God. We want a way of escaping this. God provided a way.

And it was this pole. It was a pole. Now not a little stick.

This pole was the same as that standard pole, the same word, as was there affixed over every camp of Israel. Millions of people. How do you know where your home is? How do you know where your group is? There's a big pole.

And right at the top of it is a flag. You know it's your flag, so you know where you are. And everybody could see these poles.

So God gave another one. And on the top of this large pole was, as it says here, a snake. Representation of a snake, the very thing that was here.

And what did the people have to do? Well, they had to look expectantly at that snake. That was God's command. And they should look believing.

And when they looked, they were cured. And they did and they were cured. So dying people who were perishing, going on to certain death, God provided a way of escape and it was by the way of a serpent lifted up.

And in exactly the same way, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, the Son of Man had to be lifted up on the cross. He died on the cross so that if you and I look in faith, we'll be saved. We won't end up in hell, we'll end up in heaven.

Now that's the illustration, the one and only illustration the Lord Jesus chose to give to Nicodemus. And it's good enough for him, it's good enough for you. It's simple, simple enough for a little child in Sunday school to understand.

And listen, it's comprehensive enough to know that it puts the whole story of the gospel together. Look and live. Can't do anything, you're dying.

And it's God's cure you're looking for. God provides it. God sent his Son.

God so loved the world, says the next verse in the explanation and the reason why it's all true. Because God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. That's what it is.

Born of God, believing, receiving. Have you received the Lord Jesus Christ tonight as your Savior? Have you been born of God? Now shall we pray? Father, we thank thee for thy word, we thank thee thy spirit is able to make it real in the hearts of young and old this evening. We pray that there might be true conviction of sin, righteousness and judgment.

When people having heard the testimonies might know, just like Nicodemus heard of old, there's a way for man to rise. There's a way back to God from the dark paths of sin. There's a door that is open that all may go in.

At Calvary's cross is where we begin when we come as a sinner to Jesus. We thank thee for this and pray that there might be someone here tonight who will receive the Savior for themselves and start off on their journey to heaven and for them it's heaven for sure. So we pray this is so for thy glory and in his name the Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen. Sing please number 267. The gospel of thy grace my stubborn heart has won.

For God so loved the world he gave his only Son that whosoever will believe shall everlasting life receive. The serpent lifted up could life and healing give. So Jesus on the cross bids me to look and live.

The soul that sinneth dies my awful dome I heard. I was forever lost but for thy gracious word not to condemn the world the Son man of sorrows came but that the world might have salvation through his name. Lord help my unbelief.

Give me the peace of faith to rest with childlike trust on what thy gospel says.