(The audio recording of this sermon will be uploaded here after the Sunday service.)
Today, I’m going to talk about being born again. Let me begin by asking a question. Do you know how many times we must be born to enter the kingdom of God? How many times? Once? No! We must be born twice. We must be born twice to see the kingdom of God. We must be born twice to be part of the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God refers to the reign of God in human hearts now that will one day be over all the earth. Entering the kingdom of God means becoming a citizen of the kingdom of God. It means being ruled by God.
In today’s passage, Jesus said that we must be born twice. The first birth is the natural birth of the body. This happens by means of our parents. In other words, we are born of the flesh. The second birth is a spiritual birth. This happens by means of the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can make this happen. In other words, we are born of the Holy Spirit.
So, we can say that real Christians are born-again Christians. God wants all of us to be born of the Spirit. I pray that you will be born again. I pray that you will be born of the Holy Spirit sooner or later.
Anyone born in the United States becomes a citizen of the United States. A citizen of the United States is subject to the laws of the United States. Same thing… Anyone born again of the Holy Spirit becomes a citizen of the kingdom of God. A citizen of the kingdom of God is subject to the laws of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is a kingdom ruled by God.
If you go to church or if your parents are Christians, but you have not been born of the Holy Spirit, you are not a citizen of the kingdom of God yet. Once again, you must be born again. You must be born of the Holy Spirit.
Since you are not a citizen of the kingdom of God, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. You cannot see it. You cannot experience it. The kingdom of God is not a country that has borders. The kingdom of God is not a specific place. So where is the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is where God reigns. So, the kingdom of God is not only in heaven, but also on this earth.
If you have the Word of God in your hearts, if you have the Spirit of God in your hearts, the kingdom of God is in your hearts. Your families are the kingdom of God if the Holy Spirit and the Word of God are in your families. Your churches are the kingdom of God if the Holy Spirit and the Word of God are in your churches. Those who are in the kingdom of God obey the Word of God. Those who are in the kingdom of God are controlled by the Spirit of God.
When our spirits are born by means of the Holy Spirit, we can see and experience the kingdom of God from that moment on. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, the Holy Spirit enters us. He comes into our hearts. At that moment, our spirits are born. Our spirits become alive. Our spirits have fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
A Christian can be said to be a person who lives with the Spirit of God in his heart. Well, at this point, I have a question. Is there the Holy Spirit in the hearts of those who do not believe in Jesus? Yes or No? The answer is… No! If the Holy Spirit is not there, are their own spirits in their hearts or not? No! It is because only the Holy Spirit can give birth to our own spirits.
Those who do not believe in Jesus do not have their own spirits, but they do have their own souls. The soul refers to reason. With their souls, they think rationally. With their souls, they judge rationally. With their souls, they criticize rationally. With their souls, they condemn rationally. Since they do not have the Holy Spirit and their own spirits, they do not have spiritual eyes or spiritual ears. So, they cannot see the spiritual world. They cannot experience it.
I experienced being born again by the Holy Spirit during a summer retreat in my first year of middle school. The Holy Spirit came upon me while I was worshipping at the retreat. I shed tears and snot for an hour. I began to repent. I felt very sorry for my sins. At that time, I felt like my heart became very very soft like a sponge. At that time, I was very shy. I was a shy boy. But amazingly, I changed into a different person. Actually, I became bold enough to share the gospel of Jesus with the people around me. And I shared the gospel with my parents, my older brother and my older sister.
Let’s take a look at today’s passage. There is a man named Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. The Sanhedrin was a group of 70 Jewish leaders, plus the High Priest. At that time, the Romans ruled the Jews. Nevertheless, the Romans allowed the Jews to make decisions about their own legal and religious issues. These 70 members of the Sanhedrin were wealthy and came from good families. And Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He was very religious. He was well educated and had political and religious influence. He came to Jesus. And he came to Jesus at night. The reason he came to Jesus at night was probably… Nicodemus didn’t want the other Jewish leaders to know that he had come to Jesus.
Jesus said to Nicodemus, “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.” Here, water means “the Word.” Water represents the Word of God, as we are washed by the water of the Word.(Ephesians 5:26)
And water refers to the Holy Spirit, too. Born of water means to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit, the living water. In John 7:38-39, Jesus says, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” Jesus says that the Holy Spirit is the living water. We can see that the living water, the Holy Spirit cleanses us from sin.
So how can we be born again of the Holy Spirit? When we gather together in the name of Jesus and listen to the Word, the Holy Spirit comes upon us. When we gather together in the name of Jesus and sing praises to God, the Holy Spirit comes upon us. When we gather together in the name of Jesus and pray to God, the Holy Spirit comes upon us. In fact, when we gather together in the name of Jesus and worship God, the Holy Spirit comes upon us!
So, we need summer retreats and winter retreats so that people can have wonderful opportunities to be born of the Spirit.
In Matthew 18:20, Jesus says, “Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
When we take a look at the book of Acts chapter 1 and chapter 2, we see that when 120 of Jesus’ disciples gathered together in the upper room of Mark’s house and devoted themselves to prayer, the Holy Spirit came upon them.
I pray that those who have been born of the Holy Spirit will always be filled with the Holy Spirit. I pray that those who have not yet been born of the Holy Spirit will be born again by means of the Holy Spirit sooner or later. Let us pray.