This morning I read to you a portion
of scripture, 2nd epistle of Paul to the
Corinthians, and then we reminded ourselves of that
very familiar chapter, chapter 3 in the Gospel
of John.
Now this evening I want to read 2
portions of scripture in the Old Testament, and
then we're going to turn our attention again
to that 3rd chapter of the Gospel of
John.
So if you have a Bible with you,
will you turn to the book of Ezekiel?
The book of Ezekiel, and we'll read in
chapter 36.
Ezekiel chapter 36, reading from verse 21.
Ezekiel 36 verse 21.
But I had pity for mine holy name,
which the house of Israel had profaned among
the heathen, whither they went.
Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus
saith the Lord God.
I do not this for your sake, O
house of Israel, but for mine holy name's
sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen,
whither ye went.
And I will sanctify my great name, which
was profaned among the heathen, which ye have
profaned in the midst of them.
And the heathen shall know that I am
the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I
shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
For I will take you from among the
heathen, and gather you out of all countries,
and will bring you into your own land.
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you,
and ye shall be clean.
From all your filthiness and from all your
idols will I cleanse you.
A new heart also will I give you,
and a new spirit will I put within
you, and I will take away the stony
heart out of your flesh, and I will
give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put my spirit within you,
and cause you to walk in my statutes,
and ye shall keep my judgments and do
them.
And ye shall dwell in the land that
I gave to your fathers, and ye shall
be my people, and I will be your
God.
Now look at chapter thirty-seven.
The hand of the Lord was upon me,
and carried me out in the spirit of
the Lord, and set me down in the
midst of the valley which was full of
bones, and caused me to pass by them
round about.
And, behold, there were very many in the
open valley, and, lo, they were very dry.
And he said unto me, Son of man,
can these bones live?
And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.
Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these
bones, and say unto them, O ye dry
bones, hear the word of the Lord.
Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones,
Behold, I will cause breath to enter into
you, and ye shall live.
And I will lay sinews upon you, and
will bring up flesh upon you, and cover
you with skin, and put breath in you,
and ye shall live, and ye shall know
that I am the Lord.
So I prophesied as I was commanded, and
as I prophesied there was a noise, and,
behold, a shaking, and the bones came together,
bone to his bone.
And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and
the flesh came up upon them, and the
skin covered them above, but there was no
breath in them.
Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the
wind.
Prophesy, Son of man, and say to the
wind, Thus saith the Lord God, Come from
the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon
these flames, that they may live.
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and
the breath came into them, and they lived,
and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding
great army.
Then he said unto me, Son of man,
these bones are the whole house of Israel.
Now we can leave our reading there, and
once again turn our attention to that third
chapter of the Gospel according to John.
Very well known chapter.
We reminded ourselves this morning that this man
Nicodemus came into the presence of the Lord,
and evidently he wanted to speak to Jesus
about the kingdom of God.
He probably had questions to ask.
And when he came into the presence of
the Lord, he admitted a fact.
He said, We know that thou art a
teacher come from God.
And then we saw that the Lord Jesus
as much as said, Well we don't need
to waste any time.
You know that I am a teacher sent
from God.
Now I am the teacher, you are the
student, and the subject is the kingdom of
God.
Now the first thing I want to tell
you about that kingdom is this, that except
a man be born again, he cannot see
that kingdom.
He cannot understand it.
He cannot comprehend it.
It is just beyond him.
And when the man Nicodemus said, But how
can a man be born again when he
is old?
Then the teacher began to explain this a
little further.
And he said to him, Except a man
be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
In the first word, he could not see
the kingdom of God.
In the second word, he cannot enter the
kingdom of God.
And then we went on to see how
the teacher added a little more as he
went on talking of this man Nicodemus.
Went on to say, You know that which
is born of the flesh is flesh, and
that which is born of the Spirit is
Spirit.
And having said that, as much as said,
Well now you needn't marvel when I say
to you, you must be born again.
And yet this man still would say, But
how can these things be?
And then Jesus looked at him and he
said, Art thou a master in Israel?
Art thou a teacher in Israel?
And was not these things?
I'm surprised at you.
You ought to know what I'm talking about.
Why say, How can these things be?
You ought to know.
And then went on a little further and
said, You see the wind bloweth where it
listeth, thou hearest the sound thereof, cannot tell
whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth.
So is everyone that is born of the
Spirit.
Now then, this morning I got you thinking
about that particular verse where the Lord said,
That which is born of the flesh is
flesh.
And we tried to understand that.
It would take a long time really to
go into the matter thoroughly, but we did
glean a few things this morning as to
what the flesh really meant.
We had to go back to the book
of Genesis in order to see something of
man's constitution and of what happened to the
man when he sinned, how he became other
than he was, how that now instead of
thinking God's thoughts and desiring God's desires and
willing God's will, that man has become entirely
different.
He is now thinking his own thoughts and
desiring his own desires and willing his own
will.
He is quite different.
Before he was a spiritual man and now
he's a natural man.
That is the flesh.
When that man took of that tree he
became other than he was.
He became a natural man.
He became a soulish man.
He became a self-thinking, self-desiring, self
-willing, self-centred, selfish, sensual.
That's what he became.
Now that's the flesh.
So this morning we were thinking of that
and trying to lay hold of the facts
and we began to see that God never
intended to mend it or repair it or
make it any different.
When that took place God had finished with
it and he was going to put it
away.
And we saw God showing us clearly enough
that his intention was to put that flesh
away once and for all and he did
it in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ on that cross.
When that one died for all, well that
was it finished.
In that way God pronounced ascendance upon the
whole world and he saw them as dead.
Now we know that the Lord Jesus Christ
rose again from among the dead but he
didn't rise with what he took to the
cross.
That was finished with.
But he rose as the head of a
new creation.
If any man is in Christ he's a
new creature.
Now these things we laid hold of this
morning.
Now I'm centering your thoughts on this other
verse.
When the Lord said to this man Nicodemus,
except a man be born of water and
of the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom
of God.
Now let us pay a little attention to
this verse.
Except a man be born of water and
of the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom
of God.
Now I looked at the verse very closely
and I noticed this, that in the original
the definite article is not there.
So that if we leave the definite article
out then the verse would read, except a
man be born of water and Spirit.
Not the Spirit.
Except a man be born of water and
Spirit.
Not the Spirit.
Now then, as we think of it in
this way it may help us a little
bit to get this clear.
That word Spirit comes before us again a
little lower down in the chapter.
You say where?
Well where the Lord said the wind bloweth
where it lifteth.
Now that word is the same.
See?
Except a man be born of water and
Spirit.
Now he said the wind bloweth.
Now we could change those two words so
we could say except a man be born
of water and wind.
And then the Spirit bloweth where it lifteth.
You see?
It's the same word but because those who
translate were thinking well it must mean this
and it must mean that, then they said
alright we translate it and it says except
a man be born of water and of
the Spirit.
And then, well now it says the wind,
the wind bloweth.
Well now, this is going to help us.
Except a man be born of water and
wind.
Now we can take it as that.
Water, wind.
You see?
And a little lower down we can say
the Spirit bloweth or breatheth.
The Spirit breatheth where it lifteth.
Now here is the sound thereof.
Cannot tell whence it cometh nor whither it
goeth.
We come back on that.
But now let's look at it this way.
First of all he said except a man
be born of water.
Now what did the Lord mean when he
said that?
Oh, say some people, he meant baptism.
Did he?
Oh no.
Oh no, he didn't mean baptism.
Except a man be born of water.
Except a man be baptised.
Except a man be christened.
No, no, no, he's not talking about that.
Except a man be born of water.
What did he mean by that?
Remember when Nicodemus said how can these things
be?
The Lord said, art thou a teacher in
Israel and knowest not these things?
Nicodemus, I'm surprised at you.
When you heard me say, except a man
be born of water and wind, your mind
should have taken you to the writings that
you know so well.
Your mind should have taken you away back
to the book of Ezekiel.
You should have remembered straight away when I
said water and wind.
You should remember.
I'm surprised at you that you don't remember
that.
So we went back to that book of
Ezekiel.
And what did we read?
Now this had to do with the children
of Israel.
It has to do with the new birth
of a nation and that nation is Israel.
You notice again and again it referred to
Israel.
And so there we have the new birth
of a nation.
How is it going to be brought to
pass?
God said I will gather you out of
all nations, bring you into your own land.
Then will I sprinkle you with clean water
and ye shall be clean.
From all your filthiness, from all your idols
will I cleanse you.
And I'll give you a new heart and
I'll give you a new spirit and I'll
put my spirit within you and you'll be
my people and I'll be your God.
You see that?
Now there are the evidences of new birth.
You see?
The new birth of a nation.
I'll cleanse you from all your filthiness, from
all your idols.
How?
By sprinkling upon you clean water.
Ye shall be clean.
Then what follows?
Well here's the new birth.
A new heart I'll give you.
A new spirit I'll give you.
I'll put my spirit within you.
You'll be my people.
I'll be your God.
That is, that's new birth.
You see?
The new birth of a nation.
But a picture of new birth in the
individual.
And God is using it with this man
Nicodemus.
Nicodemus, you ought to know what I'm talking
about when I say except a man be
born of water.
See?
So I will sprinkle clean water upon you
and ye shall be clean.
Now, to these people, to Nicodemus and others
who knew the Old Testament Scriptures so well,
when they heard this sprinkling with clean water,
there was something else at the back of
it.
Oh, they wouldn't just think, oh yes, that's
right, just water, clean water and that's all
would be sprinkled.
No, there was something back of it, you
see.
Now let me tell you this.
You know, in the book of Leviticus, you
have brought before you the law for the
cleansing of a leper.
And this is a very remarkable law.
It says that the priest should examine the
man who was the leper, and then he
would command that two birds, alive and clean,
be taken.
And one of these birds was to be
killed in an earthen vessel over running water.
And then the living bird was to be
taken and it was to be dipped in
the blood of this dead bird.
And then lifted out and it was to
be let go and it would fly away
back into the heavens from whence it came.
And then he that was to be cleansed
would be sprinkled seven times, how?
With that blood of the bird that was
killed in the earthen vessel.
Now then, this is a very simple little
picture for the cleansing of a leper.
But back of it there's a tremendous lot
that is of great interest to us.
So first of all, let us think of
this.
Two birds were to be taken, alive and
clean.
Not one bird, two.
And in the margin of your Bible it
may say two sparrows, or it may say
two pigeons, or two turtledoves.
Well I don't take any notice of that.
What I do look at is that in
the original, in the Hebrew language, it says
two fowls of the heavens, or two birds
of the heavens.
Not pigeons, turtledoves, nothing you see.
Only birds or fowls of the heavens.
The thing is they didn't belong down here.
So these two birds, alive and clean, are
bringing before us the deity of Christ.
He belonged up there, you see, but he
came down here.
So then, first of all, two birds, alive
and clean, the deity of Christ.
Then the earthen vessel, that's the perfect humanity
of Christ.
When he came into the world, he said,
in burnt offerings and sacrifices and sins, thou
hadst no pleasure.
Then said I, lo, I come, in the
volume of the book, it is written of
me, I delight to do thy will, O
God, a body hast thou prepared me.
So he took the body that God had
prepared for him, that he might acquire the
capacity to suffer, to shed his blood, and
to die.
So there you have the earthen vessel, the
perfect humanity of Christ.
Now the bird was slain in the earthen
vessel.
There you have the death of Christ.
Why two birds?
Because if you had only one, then you
could only bring out the death of Christ.
But God wants us to have more than
that.
So he said, now you take the living
bird, you see, and you dip it in
the blood of the dead bird.
So it is identified with the dead, and
then it's lifted out.
That is resurrection, it's alive.
Oh, it's been into death, yes, but it's
alive.
Now he said, you let it go, and
away it goes back into the heavens, and
that's the ascension of Christ.
Isn't it wonderful that in a little picture
like that, that has to do with the
cleansing of a leper, you have the deity,
the humanity of Christ, and then you have
these other truths, his death, his resurrection, and
even more, his ascension, even more.
That through the eternal spirit he offered himself
without spot to God.
All of it comes out in that little
picture.
Now notice, I used to picture this and
say to myself, now what did take, I'm
always doing this, when I read my Bible
I try to picture what took place.
So I said, now just what did he
do?
So I can see the priest, and he's
got these two birds, and then it says,
now he shall kill one of the birds
in an earthen vessel over running water.
Hmm, I know.
So there's the little stream of water, the
water is running, you see, and he holds
the earthen vessel over this running water, and
he kills it.
And then I thought, well that's right, that's
what took place.
And then it says, now you take the
living bird and you dip, you immerse, you
immerse the living bird in the blood of
the dead bird.
And I said, he could not do it.
You could not get sufficient blood out of
one bird to be able to immerse another
bird in it.
Oh, so I had to think back, when
he held the earthen vessel over water that
was running, then he was to dip the
living bird in, he couldn't do it.
Now wait a minute, oh, now I look
at the margin and it says, living water,
living water.
Not just running water, but living water.
And living water is a type, in the
word of God, of the spirit.
So I said, ah, now then, that living
water is not running water, it's living water.
Where was it?
It was in the earthen vessel.
Ah, so now I've got that water, that
living water in that earthen vessel, and he
kills the bird and its blood drips into
that living water.
Now he that is to be cleansed is
to be sprinkled with that blood, but by
means of that living water.
It was the water that conveyed the blood
to the leper for his cleansing.
Have you got that?
So that the moment a Jew, or man
like Nicodemus, heard this, I will sprinkle you
with clean water, he knew that back of
that clean water there was something else.
There was the blood.
Then again you remember, if a person in
Israel touched a dead body or a bone,
they became defiled, and God said they must
be cleansed.
How were they to be cleansed?
Well they took a red heifer and they
burned it all, burned all of it to
ashes, and then they kept the ashes in
a clean place.
And when a person became defiled by contact
with the dead, they took some of those
ashes and they mixed them with clean water,
living water, you see.
And then the person to be cleansed was
sprinkled, what with?
With the ashes by means of the clean
water.
So that now as we're thinking of type,
we realise this, that as we see the
priest sprinkling this leper with that blood by
means of that clean water, it is a
picture of what takes place in new birth,
when we are born again.
That there is applied to us, in the
power of the Spirit, the living water, all
the value of the precious blood of Christ,
having in view our cleansing, our being cleansed
from all sin.
When the Lord said that Nicodemus, except a
man be born of water, come on Nicodemus
now, you're a teacher in Israel, what do
you make of this?
He should have said, ah, I remember Ezekiel,
then will I sprinkle clean water upon you
and ye shall be clean.
That's it.
I remember too that behind that sprinkle of
clean water, there was something else.
There was blood, there was ashes, ashes the
evidence of a completed work, the evidence of
the finished work of Christ, all applied in
the power of the Spirit, having in view
our cleansing, being cleansed from all sin.
You get that?
All right, so now we know something about,
except a man be born of water.
But, he goes on to say, and Spirit,
no wind.
All right, let's keep to wind.
Now, we turn again to chapter thirty-seven
of the book of Ezekiel.
Oh, now Ezekiel is brought into a valley,
and that valley is full of dead bones,
scattered all over the valley there were these
dead bones.
And he was looking at them, not a
very nice place to be in.
And he was told that these dead bones,
they were Israel.
Now, God says to Ezekiel, have a good
look at these bones.
And he says to him, now, do you
think that these dry bones could live?
I reckon he looked at them and he
said to himself, no, I don't.
But he didn't say so, he said, well,
you know whether they can or not.
He put it back, you know whether they
can or not, all right, son of man.
Now, you prophesy unto these dry bones.
And he prophesied.
And then to his amazement, when he prophesied
unto these dry bones, there was a shaking,
there was a noise, and bone began to
come to his bones.
Until at last, now scattered all over the
valley, there were completed skeletons.
Not just bones, but skeletons that were complete.
Bone had come to his bones.
And he's watching this.
And as he looked at it, he could
see now the sinews and the flesh coming
up upon those bony frameworks.
And then he saw the skin beginning to
cover them.
And there they were.
Now the valley was full of bodies.
No breath in them.
There was no life in them.
Son of man, prophesy unto the wind.
Except a man be born of water and
wind.
Son of man, prophesy unto the wind.
Come, O wind, breathe upon these slaves, that
they may live.
So he prophesied as he was commanded.
And he saw all this taking place.
But there was no breath in them.
And then, prophesy unto the wind.
And he prophesied.
And there is the action of the wind.
The breath, the breathing, the spirit.
You see?
That's it.
The same thing, the spirit, the wind, the
breath, the breathing, all of it has to
do with the spirit.
And this was a quickening.
There was no life in them.
But now they are made alive.
They are quickened.
They sit upon their feet.
An exceeding great army.
So said the Lord, except a man be
born of water, that's cleansing, and of wind,
that's quickening.
He cannot see the kingdom of God.
He cannot enter the kingdom of God.
All this is absolutely necessary.
Now listen.
Here if we read into it, the wind
bloweth where it lifteth.
Thou hearest the sound thereof, cannot tell whence
it cometh and whither it goeth.
Well I say I do.
And so I'm not happy at all to
accept that as being wind.
I know from whence it cometh and whither
it goeth.
I'll tell you why.
Out in Africa doing missionary work, we were
well away from any township.
Twenty days journey, walking to get to a
town.
We had lots of people who would travel
fifteen, twenty days to get some relief from
some disease.
And we had to feed these people when
they came in.
They didn't come in alone, they brought their
families with them.
And we had to feed them.
And that feeding was quite a problem.
We could get plenty of flour, or mealy
meal as we called it, things like that.
But you couldn't get meat or fish to
feed them.
So very often I had to go off
into the bush and do a bit of
hunting.
And I took with me an African, an
elderly man, very good man.
And I noticed that whenever I said to
him, alright you better get out into the
bush there and try and kill off a
few antelope, you know, to feed all these
sick people, he said yes.
And he used to come out, as he
came out, fastening a cat skin to his
hip.
And at first, you know, I wondered, what's
he doing that for?
But we went off and we walked through
the bush here and there, a few miles,
you know.
And he was looking for tracks that he
could follow.
And at last he said, right we've got
some here and let's go.
So he would lead on and I would
follow.
And after a while he would slow down
a bit and I would tread softly because
they were somewhere in front, just there, you
see.
And, you know, if they hear us, they'll
be away and we'll have another two or
three miles to go before we get up
with them.
So, gently, gently.
So, alright, alright, I don't want to go
another three or four miles.
So, gently, gently.
So we're stepping carefully, you see.
And then he stops and he says, they're
very close but, you know, they've got noses.
And they stick their noses up and they
sniff and if they get wind of us,
they'll be away.
So I say, what do we do?
He says, wait a minute.
So I see him plucking off some of
the hairs off that cat skin.
He pulls a few pinches of hair and
holds them up like that and then he
springs for some and he watches them coming
down.
He wants to know which way the wind
is blowing or which way the breeze is
coming or even which way the atmosphere might
be moving because if it's moving in the
direction of those antelopes, they'll be away.
They'll smell us.
So he sprinkles a few of these hairs
and down they come and he watches them
coming down and he says, ah yes, the
wind's coming from there and it's going there.
We know from whence it cometh and we
know whither it goes.
From whence it cometh and whither it goes,
you see.
We know.
So he said, now, we'd better make a
circular tour round there a bit, you see,
so we've got the wind blowing to us
instead of to them.
Then one day I was walking, I was
in England, and walking along Country Lane, I
saw an old lady in front of me
and she had a walking stick and she
was going along.
So I watched her and every now and
again she stopped and she looked up.
Well, I looked up.
I couldn't see anything.
I thought to myself, well, if she can
see an aeroplane up there, she's got better
eyesight than I've got.
I can't see a thing.
So she walked on a little bit and
then, so I thought, well, maybe she's listening.
So I thought, well, if she can hear
anything up there, she's got better hearing than
I've got.
I can't hear a thing.
So she walked on and then she stopped
again and she looked up.
Well, I don't know what this is.
So I went along by her side and
she turned and she saw me.
Oh, she said, excuse me, sir.
She said, the wind is blowing from the
north-west, isn't it?
There was the old weathercock on top of
the church steeple, you see.
She was looking up there.
She said, it is blowing from the north
-west, isn't it?
I said, yes, mother, that's right.
It's blowing.
We do know from whence it cometh and
whither it goeth, you see.
So I said, the wind blows where it
listeth.
Now, hearest the sound thereof?
Cannot tell whence it cometh and whither it
goeth?
Yes, we do.
Well, listen.
Instead of the wind, the spirit.
The spirit breatheth where it listeth.
You hear the sound thereof?
You cannot tell from whence it cometh and
whither it goeth?
So is everyone that is born of the
spirit.
Oh, I can understand that.
That's clear enough to me.
I'm quite satisfied with that.
Yes.
The spirit breatheth where it listeth.
You hear the sound.
That's the gospel, of course.
And the gospel is heard.
And the spirit is there.
There's the breathing.
You hear the sound.
And if there's any response, if a person
responds to that appeal being made by the
spirit, to that breathing of the spirit, then
there will be cleansing.
There will be the application to that person
of all the value of the blood of
Christ in the power of the spirit.
There will be applied to that person all
the value of the finished work of Christ
in the power of the spirit.
First of all for the cleansing, and then
for the quickening, that they may be truly
born again.
Now then, I want you to understand this.
We have looked at it and we've had
this before us, and we still might find
that it's not too easy to follow, not
too easy to understand.
Well, as to whether you are born again
or not doesn't depend upon you understanding it
all.
It depends on this, that as you listen
to the gospel, as your condition is brought
before you, as the spirit of God takes
up the word of God and works in
your heart and conscience to convict you of
sin, of righteousness, of judgment, then it will
lead you to repentance and to faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ, if you are willing
to cooperate.
You see, you, I mean, for instance, if
the Lord had been speaking to me and
he'd said to me what he said to
Nicodemus, if he'd said, you must be born
again, you know, I would have been inclined
to say, well, just a moment, what do
you expect me to do about that?
Well, you say to me, you must be
born again, well now, will you tell me
just how I can accomplish that?
Can I be born myself?
Well, now, you say you must be born
again, you're telling me I've got to be
born again, but how do I do it?
Well, I can't.
You can't born yourself.
When a child is born, it's passive.
The child doesn't born itself, neither can I
born myself, you see.
So the Lord said to him, you must
be born again, but I can't do anything
about it.
But listen, whilst I cannot accomplish this, I
cannot born myself, nevertheless, as to whether I
am born again or not depends on me.
It doesn't depend upon God.
God has made this gloriously possible.
In the personal work of the Lord Jesus
Christ on that cross, in the precious blood
of Christ, in the finished work of Christ,
there is that which will meet my need.
If I repent and believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, I shall be cleansed from all
sin.
I shall be quickened and be brought into
a relationship with God himself.
That depends on me.
God has made that gloriously possible, but as
to whether it takes place or not depends
on me.
God is not willing that any should perish,
and whenever the gospel is preached, God will
be there in the power of the Spirit
to convict of sin and righteousness and judgment,
and he will seek to lead people to
repentance and to faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ.
So it depends on you, as to whether
you are born again or not.
What I mean is this.
I was given to understand that way up
on the Niagara Falls, on the Niagara River
there, there is a piece of land jutting
out that was called Past Redemption Point.
And we were told that any ship or
any person, any boat that was in that
river and it went past Past Redemption Point,
it would never come back again.
It would be lost.
And many years ago there was a sailing
ship on the river and they wanted to
get it across to the other side.
So they brought along a tug and they
made fast a big rope.
And the little tug began to chug-chug
its way across the river, drawing the sailing
ship behind it.
When it got into the middle of the
river, the current was very strong and there
was a tremendous strain put on the rope
and the rope parted.
And the sailing ship began to go along
with the current down to the Niagara Falls.
So the little tug fussed around past the
line, made fast another rope and tried to
hold that ship.
But she got some way on her now,
and as the strain came on the rope
it parted again.
And the sailing ship went down a little
further towards the Niagara Falls.
The little tug fussed around again through another
line, made fast, but now it was even
more impossible to stop that sailing ship.
So the strain came on the rope and
it parted, and that was it finished.
And so the sailing ship was going right
away down, nothing to prevent it from going
over the Niagara Falls.
Well a lot of people were standing around
and they were watching it and they were
groaning and saying, oh my, all those sailors,
all on board, they're going over there, this
is death.
The ship will be destroyed, the people will
be lost.
Nothing could be done.
If anybody had jumped overboard they would never
have got out of it.
Over the falls they would have gone.
And so the people were groaning and they
watched it and as it went past, past
redemption point, they said, she's lost.
That's it, she's gone.
But there was a man standing there and
he said, you can see the top of
the mast.
They said, yeah, she's going.
He said, no, I reckon she's stopped, she's
pulling up.
No, she'll never pull up, she'll go over.
You look, he said, those masts are coming
slower and slower.
And they watched and they said, yes, that's
right.
And then he said, she's stopped.
No, she'll never stop, she'll go.
He said, look, she's stopped.
And they said, yes.
He said, and she's coming back.
Never.
You look, yes, she's coming back.
And after a little while, sure enough, here
was the sailing ship coming back, past past
redemption point.
And as she came past, they saw that
the sailors were set.
And the sailors were still busy setting other
sails.
And she rounded the point and everybody cheered
and they said, she's saved.
How was she saved?
Because when that ship, that sailing ship rounded
that point, past redemption point, the captain felt
a breeze blowing on his cheek and straight
away said, all sails set.
And it didn't take those sailors long to
get some of those sails set.
And she steadied up and then she stopped
and then more sails and she began to
come back.
She was saved.
How?
Because the captain cooperated with the wind that
was blowing.
After whether you were born again or not
depends upon you cooperating with the wind that's
blowing.
Cooperating with the Spirit of God.
If he's working in your heart to convict
of sin and righteousness and judgment, seeking to
lead you to that repentance and faith in
Christ, it's for you to cooperate.
It depends on you.
If you fail to cooperate, then you're lost.
There's no hope for you.
But if you cooperate, the Lord is there.
He's not willing for any ship to perish.
And the moment you hear that sound of
the Spirit, the Gospel, and you repent and
exercise that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
then God himself, in the power of the
Spirit, will apply to you all the value
of that precious blood of Christ.
All the value of that finished work of
Christ.
For your cleansing, for your quickening, for your
being brought into that relationship with himself.
Born of the Spirit.
That which is born of the flesh is
flesh.
That which is born of the Spirit is
Spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye
must be born again.
If only born of the flesh, no hope
for you.
If born of the Spirit, yes, quickened and
brought into that relationship with God.
I hope this has been clear.
The Word of God is a very wonderful
book, and as we look into it very
often we find some wonderful things there, and
if we are willing to be exercised before
God with them, God can do something for
us.
He can accomplish that which he longs to
accomplish.
To cleanse us, to quicken us, to bring
us into that relationship with himself.
But let us remember, it depends upon us
as to whether we are born again or
not.
When the people gathered in a little place,
heard the gospel, were coming outside, there was
a young fellow walked alongside an elderly man
and he said, Bill, did you hear what
that preacher said?
Well, he said he said a lot of
things.
Yeah, but he said, you know, at the
end he said, could anybody tell him who
would be next one to die in this
village?
Yeah, he said, I heard him say that.
Well, he said, Bill, I could have told
him.
Oh, he said, who?
Well, he said, oh, George, you know, he
said, oh, he said, you know, George, he
said, he got one foot in the grave
now, he said, you're hobbling round the village,
he said, he won't last much longer, you
mark my words, he will be the next
one to die in this village.
Oh, he said, you think so?
He said, yeah, oh, he'll be the next.
And about three days later, news went round
the village, oh, somebody dead.
Oh, that's old George.
No, it isn't.
Not old George?
No, he's still over there, look, hobbling, still
there with one foot in the grave.
Well, who's dead?
Oh, the young man.
The young man who said, oh, I could
have told him who would be the next.
He didn't know.
He was the next.
Who will be the next?
He didn't know.
Why procrastinate?
Why put off?
Why not, when God speaks to you, why
not be willing and ready to cooperate?
You know, if you're sick, not feeling too
good, the doctor.
You can't live twenty-four hours without you
go to the doctor and have something.
But when it's a question of your own
precious soul that's going on throughout eternity, well,
you can play about.
You can procrastinate.
You can afford to sit back and take
no notice.
No, no.
Let's be sure of this.
This is a very solemn consideration.
God has made provision, made possible.
He waits for you.
He won't force the issue.
He won't make you.
He will help you.
He'll make it clear to you.
And He'll wait for you to cooperate.
May the Lord help you to cooperate tonight,
if you've never done this before, that you
may be brought into this wonderful relationship.
Shall we pray?
O God, our Father, we give our thanks
to Thee for Thy help.
We have been asking Thee for Thy help.
Much has come before us in Thy precious
word.
We have been looking into these things.
We have been helped of Thee.
And Thou knowest each one.
Our hearts are open to Thy gaze.
Thou knowest us each one through and through.
And we do pray that if there's anyone
here tonight who has yet has not cooperated
with Thy Spirit, to be brought to repentance
and to faith in Thy beloved Son, that
they may no longer procrastinate, but that they
may be only too ready and too willing
to cooperate, that they might indeed be cleansed
and quickened and brought into this relationship with
Thyself.
That they may have a new heart and
a new spirit and Thy Spirit within.
That they shall be Thy people and Thou
wilt be their God.
So we ask Thee for Thy blessing upon
Thy word.
In the name of our Lord and Saviour,
Jesus Christ.