JOH 3:5 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.

>>It has been said that everyone wants to go to heaven, but who wants to die to self to come into the kingdom of heaven?

>>The new birth spoken of in our text is entering the kingdom of heaven.

>>Entering the kingdom of heaven must begin in this life or it will never happen after death.

>>Our text says JOH 3:5 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.

>>We cannot serve two masters

MAT 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

>>Therefore "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, [i.e., regenerated by the Holy Spirit.] he cannot enter into the kingdom [or service under the Lordship] of God.

>>To live in heaven we must have the life of heaven, i.e., that our will is totally dissolved into the will of God in this life.

MAL 3:18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

ROM 2:6-8 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,

Unless we learn through the work of sanctification to serve Jesus as Lord in this life, we will never serve Him in the life to come.

PSA 112:1 Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.

>>The new birth is the work of regeneration, i.e., the quickening of God's life in man. It is the Spirit of Christ, who is life being formed in you.

JOH 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

>>This new birth breaks the rebellion and the power of sin in our hearts against God's will bringing us into the service, i.e., the kingdom of Christ, that,

2PE 1:4 "...ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

>>The fruits of being partakers of this new nature are found in

2PE 1:5-8 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

>>Lacking these things is evidence of spiritual darkness and/or blindness

2PE 1:9-10 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

>>Walking in these things is entering the everlasting kingdom.

2PE 1:11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

>>Before there can be any entrance into this kingdom, there must be a delivery from the fallen old man by the cross, i.e., through death to our present old nature.

>>Of this new nature, Christ is the author, and the object of our faith,

COL 1:27-28 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

>>The new birth is a change of heart from a state of carelessness about God, or a slavish fear of Him, to a Godly fear, i.e., a filial reverence for Him and His will.

>>The new birth is a two-fold operation of the Spirit, i.e., regeneration and conversion.

Regeneration is the Spirit's quickening of a new nature in the heart.

>>Regeneration is a quickening of the image of God, i.e., of the heart from a state of spiritual death and hatred for God.

>>The natural mind has no place for God.

ROM 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

>>Through the regeneration of the Spirit the heart's desires are changed

TIT 3:3-6 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,

5 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;

6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

>>As generation produces natural life, so regeneration produces conversion, i.e., a new life which is spiritual.

EPH 4:22-25 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

>>The kingdom of God is simply the reign of God; and to enter into it is to come into subjection to Him in the Spirit of Christ.

>>A man is changed the moment his purposes are changed. When Paul was arrested his whole purpose of life changed in a moment.

>>ACT 9:6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?

>>The world will never become Christian until the cradle becomes the sanctuary and the parents become the ministers.

>>Day in and day out children must be brought up into manhood in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

It is far better that a child should never know a time that he served the world, but that they should be brought up to fear the Lord from their youth

1TI 4:12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

>>Repentance, i.e., a true remorse over, and a turning from sin is one of the first and most positive signs of the new birth in the soul,

1JO 3:9-10 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.

10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

>>Being born of the Spirit humbles the sinner with a revelation of God's wrath upon sin through a revelation of their bleeding, dying Savior appeasing that wrath by the blood of His cross,

1JO 4:10-11 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

>>Such a faith's view of Christ leads to true gratitude and a holy reverence for God's revealed will.

ROM 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?"

>>Regeneration is more than a reformation of life, it is a new creation

EPH 4:22-25 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

>>This renewing of the Spirit of the mind is a change from hatred of those who are created in the image of God, to the mind of Christ.

PHI 2:1-5 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,

2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

>>This is more than an outward conversion. A man may be reformed in his habits and yet not be transformed in his heart.

Regeneration is not a remolding of the old house, but it is a tearing down of the old man, and putting on the new man on a new foundation.

>>To begin a Christian life by an in-depth study of theology is like a man taken with a very infectious disease making a study of that disease without consulting a physician while it was working in his vitals.

>>The first step in a Christian life must begin where Jesus began His gospel.

MAT 4:17 Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

>>Theologies are well in their place, but repentance and self-sacrificial love must come into first place.

>>Sin and rebellion against God's Holy Will are compared to the plague of leprosy, and turning from it is the first step that should be taken to begin a Christian life.

EZE 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

>>The apostle Paul was arrested by the Lord Jesus Christ at the climax of his persecution of the church of Christ. What was his first step towards a Christian life?

ACT 9:6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"

>>Immediately the power of sin, and his enmity against Jesus Christ and His church were broken. From his heart Paul's first desire was to know and do the will of God.

>>This entering the kingdom of God i.e., turning from sin to serve the living God comes only from a renewed heart through the new birth.

>>Our text says, JOH 3:5 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.

>>This is synonymous to what Jesus said in JOH 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

A man may make many resolutions to change his ways only to find that the root of the matter is the corruption of his heart.

>>Paul said in ROM 7:22-24, For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."