New Birth Experience

The New Birth Experience
O praise be to the name of Jesus Christ who loves us and gave Himself for us. I am so blessed to talk to you from the subject, the new birth experience. Not many people are teaching on the new birth experience these days, but you cannot effective live for Christ without the new birth experience. Jesus has much to say about the new birth experience. Let us go into the word of God and allow Jesus to speak. In John 3:1-9 it is written; There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

Have you ever wondered why, out of all the people that Jesus talked to in the bible He chose Nicodemus to talk about the new birth? Nicodemus did not bring up the subject, Jesus did, He chose Nicodemus because if there were any person on earth that could have gone into heaven without the new birth experience, it would have been Nicodemus, who was a very religious person, but like everyone else, he was born a sinner, we all inherited Adam and Eve’s sin nature. So Jesus tells him; , Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus response was; How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Because Nicodemus was not born again he could not understand spiritual things. Jesus goes on to say; Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God…the phrase born of the Spirit tells us that the new birth experience is the work of the Holy Ghost, water baptism is a sign that we are born of the Spirit… in the book of Acts they did not baptize anyone that was not born of the Spirit. Today, if you will join a particular congregation, they will baptize you, but that is not biblical. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward work, the new birth is the inward work that baptism should be pointing too. Jesus goes on to tell Nicodemus; That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, Jesus is saying that there is a physical birth, and a spiritual birth, the flesh produces the physical birth, and the Holy Spirit produces the spiritual birth…After Jesus tells him for the third time that he must be born again, Jesus says, 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 every one that is born of the Spirit…the wind here is a picture of the Holy Spirit, like the wind, He cannot be seen or controlled, also like the wind, wherever He blows, though you cannot see Him, you can witness His effect on whatever He blows on. If you are born again, there will be a great change in your life, people will see the change. Let us examine another powerful passage of scripture that deals with the new birth experience. John 1:12,13 says He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the 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 of God…the bible says that as many as receive Him, Jesus Christ was give the privilege to become sons of God. Now this does not mean just to believe that Jesus existed and was sent by God, for Nicodemus believed this and more, yet he was not born again…so how do we receive Him? By inviting Him into our lives as Lord of our lives, when we do this we will receive His Spirit, thus receiving Him, if you have not received His Spirit, you have not received Him…

In John 17:22,23 Jesus was praying to the Father and He said; And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me…how am I in Jesus? I am a part of the body of Christ, how is Jesus in me? By His Spirit. We have to ask the question, when did the apostles of Jesus receive the new birth experience? In John 20:20-23 it says; And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the LORD. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained…it is amazing that after Jesus resurrection, the first thing that He did was to make sure the Apostles were born again. In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit came upon individuals to anoint them for service, He did not live within individuals, because Jesus was not yet glorified, or raised from the dead. In John 14:16,17 Jesus said; And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you…As many as receive Him, Jesus Christ He gave them the right, the privilege to become the sons of God, when you receive the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, you receive Jesus. Continuing in John 1:12,13 it says; But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the 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 of God. First I want to point out that we have to become the sons of God, we are not born into this world a son of God, we were born into this world a sinner needing salvation. Adam was created a son of God , but because of Adam’s sin you and I were born sinners, therefore in order to become a son of God we have to be born of God as Adam was…Verse 13 says; Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. My new birth experience is not the result my heritage, not the result of any act by my parents, nor any act on my part. My new birth experience is the work of God alone, it cannot be manufactured by any act of man. It is the new birth experience that places me into the family of God. Listen to what Peter said in 1 Peter 1:22,23, he says Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever…When I was born into this world I was born of a corruptible seed that can be traced all the way back to Adam after he sinned, but my new birth came from an incorruptible seed, the seed of God. Listen to the word of God from 2 Cor.5:16,17 it says; Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new... My new birth experience has made me a new creation, my old way of life has passed away and a new life has emerged, one that can live for God victoriously, apart from sin. If you cannot live for God victoriously away from sin, you are not born again. With the new birth comes the ability and the desire to please God… If you were into drugs before the experience, you will have no desire for drugs, drugs are still on every corner, but you don’t have any desire to use drugs. The world has not changed, but you have…The apostle Paul who wrote this knows first hand about the new birth experience, he was Saul of Tarsus who madly persecuted the church and wasted it, but after his new birth experience he gave his life Christ and the church. The New birth experience produces a total turn around in your life. If you can do the sinful things that did before your salvation, you are not born again, you might belong to a particular congregation, but you are not born again, remember Nicodemus, good deeds does not produce the new birth experience. Consider Rom. 6:5,6 which says; For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death,(this is a reference to water baptism) we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin… By faith my old man, or that person that lived a sinner died when I went down in the water to be baptized. When I came up out of the water I was resurrected to newness of life with the ability to live for God victoriously apart from sin…Paul goes on to say in Romans 8:7,8 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God…You will never have the desire nor the ability to live for or please God in your own strength… With the new birth comes the desire to please God… verse 9 says; But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his…It is the Holy Spirit working in me that gives me the desire and the ability to please God, the same Holy Spirit is my guarantee that I am a child of God, born of God, if I were not a child of God the Holy Spirit would not be there, He is called the earnest of the Spirit, He keeps me until Jesus Christ returns for His bride….I know that what I say is true because Romans 8:15,16 says; For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: here He is called the Spirit of adoption, He has taken me out of the family of Adam and placed me in the family of God… All of this comes about as a result of my new birth experience, but that’s not all. Listen; Eph. 2:4,5 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) God did all of this for a sinner, by grace am I saved, it is purely the work of God…God has done this great work in the lives of sinful humanity…why we are not teaching sinful humanity about the new birth experience is beyond me, it has to be the hand of the enemy…Titus tells us; Titus 3:4-6 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;…this washing and regeneration is the work of the Holy Ghost in the lives of sinful humanity bringing the new birth to pass in their lives. It is all the work of God the hand of God because of the love of God for humanity. I cannot close out this teaching before examining 1 John 3,verse 2 says Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is…one of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to transform us into the image of Christ, He is called our Paraclete, one that is called alongside to help, Jesus sent the Holy Ghost to help us live the Christian life…verse 9 says; He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God…first the bible tells me that the seed of God is within me…this verse reminds me that I have the seed of God, the Spirit of God to help me, then it reminds me that anyone that is really born of God cannot continue to live a life of sin. Now the King James version says that he cannot sin, but a better translation says that anyone that is born of God cannot continue to live a life of sin. The new birth experience enables us to live for God victoriously apart from sin, you actually want to please God more than anything that sin could produce. The whoremonger would rather please God, the prostitute would rather please God, the drunkard would rather please God… There is a huge void in the body of Christ because more than half of the professing Christians today are not born again…

they are not born again because we are not teaching about the new birth. Consider Acts 1:8, Jesus said; But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. There are 3 questions that I would like to ask. (1) What is the purpose of this power?(answer) It is threefold, to change and evangelize the world, to authenticate that we were sent by Jesus, and to edify the body of Christ. (2) who was this power promised too,(answer) the born again believer. Jesus said that we would receive power after the Holy Ghost comes upon us, well the Holy Ghost will not come upon anyone except a born again believer. (3) why isn’t this power in the body of Christ today? Because over half of the professing Christians are not born again, you have to be born again in order to qualify to receive this power… Jesus knew 2 thousand years ago that this would be a problem in the last days, so He wrote in Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me…here Jesus is speaking to individuals in the body of Christ, the church. He is knocking on indivuals hearts, He wants to bring the New birth experience into every heart that will respond to His invitation. Remember; as many as receive Him, Jesus Christ, to them He gave the power or the right to become the sons of God. I believe revival is on the way, but don’t wait for revival, receive Him today. Your life will never be the same. Amen

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