The New Birth | Billy Graham Classic Sermon

from our archives the Billy Graham

classics now I want you to turn with me

tonight to the third chapter of John’s

gospel this man Nicodemus came to Jesus

by night probably afraid of criticism or

he had a desire for a private

conversation or maybe he wanted to give

some more thought before committing

himself to Jesus Christ in any event he

came and he asked Jesus some questions

about spiritual life and Jesus looked

him up and down and Jesus said Nicodemus

you need to be born again in fact he

said verily verily and anytime that

Jesus uses that expression that means

that what is going to follow is very

important he said verily

verily I say unto you you must you have

to be born again if you to enter the

Kingdom of

Heaven two years ago when we were

touring

Poland while we were there we met a

priest a Mania who is head of one of the

largest theological seminaries in the

world and he said I want to tell you a

story he said I got my PhD degree at the

University of Chicago and one day I was

riding in a bus and sitting behind me

was a black woman and she punched me on

the shoulder and she said sir I beg your

pardon but have you ever been born again

and he said well I suppose I have he

said I’m a I’m a priest she said that’s

not the question I asked you sir I ask

you had you been born again and he said

well I’m she said have you been born

again and he said he went back to his

rooms at the at the University and got

his Bible down and turned to the third

chapter of John and reread this

passage and this passage spoke to him

and he said he got on his knees and he

had an experience with Christ that he’s

never been able to get away from now he

said my theology you would tell me that

I was probably born again at a different

period but he said something happened

you can call it anything you want to

Commitment recommitment conversion

whatever something happened to me now

the question I want to ask you tonight

is has that ever happened to you give it

some other title some other name if you

want call it conversion call it

commitment call it repentance call it

Faith Call It Whatever has it ever

happened to you many of you have thought

a long time about religion and

Christianity are you committed are you

committed to Jesus

Christ Jesus said you must be born again

start with your

hearts be born from above you can be

changed the world could be changed the

country can be changed a state can be

changed a family can be changed a person

can be changed you can be

changed now Nicodemus must have been

stuck stunned when Jesus said that to

him because if Christ had said that to

zakus who’s a tax collector and they

didn’t like Tax Collectors then much

more than they do now but to say it to

Nicodemus one of the great religious

leaders of his time Nicodemus it says

was a ruler that meant that he was rich

he was religious and yet he was

searching for reality how many of you go

to church but you’re still searching

there’s still an empty place in your

heart and something tells you inside

that you’re not really right with

God you see Nicodemus fasted two days a

week do you know anybody in your church

that does

that he spent two hours every day in

prayer how many people do you know that

spend two hours every day in prayer he

tithed all his income not many people

even do that these days he was a

professor at the theological School of

Theology and he worked hard at religion

but Jesus said Nicodemus that’s not

enough you must be born

again born from above now why did Jesus

say that to Nicodemus because he could

read the heart of Nicodemus he saw what

was in him he saw that he had covered

himself with

religion but he had not yet found the

real thing fellowship with

God what causes all of our troubles in

the world lying and Che proing and hate

and Prejudice and social inequality and

ultimately War Jesus said these things

which proceed out of the mouth come

forth from the heart and they defiled

the man he said it’s in our heart he

said our hearts need to be changed

psychologist and sociologist and

psychiatrist all recognize there’s

something wrong with man there are many

words in scripture to describe

it there I’ll take only three words

one is called a transgression sin is a

transgression of the law 1 John

3:4 sin is a transgression of the law

what law the law of Moses the Ten

Commandments have you ever broken one of

those Commandments then you’re guilty of

all it’s also the breaking of the law of

conscience have you ever gone against

your conscience at any time sure you

have and if you go against your

conscience very long your conscience

becomes dull and duller and duller until

after a while it’s a seared conscience

and a dead conscience and your

conscience is no longer a safe guide to

go

by it lead you

astray because you’ve gone against it so

much and then there’s

another one a commandment law Thou shalt

love the Lord thy God with all thy heart

and soul and strength and mind and thy

neighbor as thyself have you always done

that

no then you’re a

sinner in need of forgiveness in need of

being born

again and then another word carries with

it the idea of missing the Mark or

coming short of your duty and a failure

to do what you ought to do the Bible

says all unrighteousness is sin all

unrighteousness is sin and yet before

you can get to heaven you must you must

have

righteousness God says Be perfect as I’m

perfect holy as I’m holy where are you

going to get that Perfection you don’t

have it now where are you going to get

that Holiness you don’t have it now but

you can’t get to heaven if you don’t

that’s why Christ died on the cross he

died on the cross and shed his blood to

provide the righteousness for you so

that he provides you with the right kind

of clothing to go to

heaven and the clothes that you must

have are called the clothes of

righteousness and that was provided for

you by Christ and then there’s another

word iniquity a turning aside from the

straight path Isaiah said we are like

sheep we’ve gone astray we’ve turned

everyone to his own

way now here in Idaho I know that I

think this is a sheep State maybe the

Sheep state in the United States I

haven’t seen any goats around yet and

maybe you have goats too in New Zealand

they cross the sheep and the goats and

they call them Jeeps that’s that’s a

fact and uh when we were in New Zealand

I couldn’t get over the fact of of what

they were doing I don’t know whether

that improves them or destroys them I

don’t

know but some of you don’t know whether

you’re a sheep or a

goat now you see Jesus said at the

Judgment there’s going to be the goats

on this side and the sheep on this

side and the Sheep are going to enter

into the kingdom of God of course there

he’s talking about the Judgment of the

Nations but it could be applied to

individuals

or it could be that you’re a

goat and the goats are going to be cast

into outer Darkness the Bible says but

one thing you’re not spiritually you’re

not a Jeep you can’t be both you have to

choose which one and if you would like

to make that choice watching by

television pick up that telephone and

call that number that you see on the

screen right now and a counselor

standing by to talk to you and to help

you find Christ as your Lord and Master

I help you with your spiritual problems

they’re all over the country so call

right now and if it’s busy call again

they’ll be there all evening if the

lines are tied up keep calling don’t

give up the Bible says wherefore as by

one man sin entered into the world and

death by sin and so death passed upon

all men for all have sinned thus a

radical change is needed by every

person we need those sins forgiven given

we need to be clothed in the

righteousness of

God for the purpose of finding

fulfillment in this life finding

something to commit yourself to what are

you committed to are you a committed

person do you really believe in a

cause do you really believe in a person

that symbolizes that

cause why don’t you make your cause

Christ and follow him he’ll never let

you you down and then not only to find

complete fulfillment in this life but

also to be acceptable with God to be

acceptable by God now some of you would

ask the question what is the new birth

Nicodemus asked that question he said

how can a man be born when he’s old you

see Nicodemus like you and me he wanted

to understand it he wanted to understand

it now I used an illustration years ago

that I couldn’t understand because I was

born and rid on a dairy farm and I still

wake up at night with nightmares doing

this

way because I had to get up every

morning during high school at 3:00 and

milk 20

cows and then when I came home from

school I had to milk those same 20 in

the afternoon my father had a small

Dairy had about 60 cows that we milked

and then we would sell the milk door too

have a little Dairy truck that took the

milk early in the morning and that’s all

I remember almost as I was a boy because

we worked hard on that dairy

farm but how can a black cow eat green

grass and produce white milk and yellow

butter I don’t understand

that well I’ll tell you what because I

don’t understand it I’m never going to

drink milk

again I’ve got to understand that before

I can drink

milk I almost quit milk when the cow

stepped in the bucket and it just kept

on

milking I don’t understand color

television do you know that I am so old

that I can remember when there was no

television I tell that to one of my

grandchildren they look at me as though

I came out of the

Ark I can remember when there were we

didn’t have any radio in fact I remember

the first station that came on there it

was KDKA in Pittsburgh and my dad had an

old Crystal scet set and he said I think

we’ve got it got earphones and we to all

stand around to try to listen the only

station on there in the United

States that’s how old I

am well you can’t imagine a world

without paved highways you ought have

seen the two ruts in front of our house

that went clear to town they were only

the two paved streets in our whole

town

well suppose I would say because I don’t

understand television how somebody can

be in Rome or New York or Jerusalem or

someplace like that and I can see him

instantaneously on my set I don’t

understand it I’m not going to watch it

and I push the button to turn it off

I’ve got to understand it

first well you’d say you’re crazy well

of course I don’t understand these

computers I don’t understand all these

things that they’re developing this

whole scientific age has passed me by we

didn’t study that in the school I went

to but I accepted by faith you see

Nicodemus could see only the physical

and the materialistic and Jesus was

talking about the spiritual Jesus said

you must be born again now when he said

that he did not mean that you can

inherit it you cannot inherit it which

were born not of blood nor of the will

of the flesh nor of the will of man but

of God your father and mother can be the

greatest Born Again Christians in the

world but that doesn’t make you a born

again CHR Christian I can be born in a

garage but that doesn’t make me a motor

car and there are many people that have

the idea that because they’re born in a

Christian home that they’re

automatically Christians well you’re

not and you cannot work your way

alone not by works of righteousness

which we’ve done but according to his

Mercy he saved us by the washing of

regeneration and the renewing of the

Holy

Spirit

and then Reformation is not enough you

can reform and say I’m going to turn

over a new leaf and I’m going to have

New Year’s resolutions and all the rest

of it Isaiah said all our righteousness

is filthy rags rags in the sight of

God if you take a

pig and take him into your living room

into the bathroom give him a good bath

wash him down with some Chanel Number

Five put a ribbon around his neck bring

him in the living room you say now I’ve

got a new

Pig he’s he’s turned into a perfect

gentleman look at him sitting over there

you open the door let the pig out and

see where he

goes his heart hasn’t been changed only

the outside had been changed and that’s

the way with some of us we’ve been

changed some on the outside to conform

to certain social standards or certain

things that are expected of us in our

churches and yet down inside we’ve never

been changed now that’s what Jesus was

talking to Nicodemus about he said

Nicodemus you need changing

inside and only the Holy Spirit can do

that you must be born from above that’s

a supernatural act of God the Holy

Spirit convicts you of your sin disturbs

you about the fact that you’ve sinned

against God and then secondly the Holy

Spirit regenerate you that’s when you

are born again and then the Holy Spirit

comes to live in your heart to help you

in your daily life you don’t leave here

alone without any help the spirit of God

goes with you from now on to give you

Assurance to give you Joy and to produce

fruit in your life and to teach you the

scriptures you can’t reform that’s not

enough and you can’t

imitate you try to imitate Christ they

used to have a there was a book Sheldon

wrote called in his steps and people

thought that all you had to do is try to

follow Jesus and try to do the things he

did and you’d get to heaven you can’t do

it we can’t live up to The Sermon on the

Mount you try living up to The Sermon on

the Mount literally you can’t do it you

don’t have that kind of spiritual

strength I told a story that happened

many years ago from a couple in

Oklahoma and they had read about this

play in New York called My Fair

Lady and and they told everybody they

were going to New York and they were

going to see My Fair Lady what they

didn’t know is that it was sold out four

or five months in advance when they got

there they couldn’t buy any

tickets so they said what are we going

to

do our friends all back home will think

we saw my fair lady we’re going to be

embarrassed so they hit up on a good

idea they went over and they bought one

of the books that you could buy for a

dollar that told all about the

play and then they saw people they

waited till people started coming out of

the theater and they saw some of them

throwing their tickets aside that had

been cut in

half and so they went over and picked up

some

tickets then they began to hum and sing

I could have danced all night or on the

street where she lives or one of those

Tunes in my fair lady and when they got

home they were humming the tune they had

the book that told about it and they had

the tickets

and everybody thought they’d been to see

My Fair Lady and that’s the way you are

you know the religious

language you can sing the

songs you can even pray the

prayers the only thing is you haven’t

been to the foot of the cross and been

born again that’s the message Jesus was

trying to get over to this religious

leader now to be born again means in

Ezekiel 36 a new heart also will I give

you and a new spirit will I put within

you in Romans Paul speaks of it as being

alive from the dead in second

Corinthians he calls it being a new

creation old things have passed away

behold All Things become new in Peter

Peter says partakers of a divine nature

John calls it passing from Death un life

the new birth brings about a change in

the whole philosophy and manner of

living now how is it accomplished what

happens well there’s a mystery Jesus

said the wind blows where it listeth and

you cannot tell from whence it cometh or

where it goeth you can see the result

now the other day I did not see when we

had that terrible storm a couple days

ago I did not see the wind did

you I saw the effects of it I saw limbs

flying by parts of a roof torn off

flying by the dust going

by the willow trees B ending over I saw

the results of the wind but I never

actually saw the

wind and neither did

you you see the wind blows where it

listeth Jesus said there’s a mystery to

it and the analogy of natural birth I

think applies here you see natural birth

is the moment of

conception then there’s the nine months

of

gestation and then there’s actual birth

now you may be in one of those stages

tonight this may be the moment of

conception for you it may be another

stage of gestation or it may be actual

birth only the Holy Spirit could answer

that question that’s the mystery of it

there is a mystery that I cannot explain

to you and Jesus did not attempt to

explain it to Nicodemus you see that’s

why we are to come by faith to Christ we

can never understand it our little

finite Minds cannot understand the

infinite our finite Minds cannot

understand the mighty

God we come by simple childlike faith

and put our faith in Jesus Christ and

when you

do you are born again but it happens

this way first there has to be the

reception of the word of God and I

believe that is conception 1 Peter 1:23

being born again not of corruptible seed

but of Incorruptible by the word of God

which liveth and abideth

forever and then in Romans 10 Faith

cometh by hearing and hearing by the

word of God now tonight you are hearing

and you’re hearing the word of God and

that’s the first step it pleased God by

the foolishness of preaching or

Declaration or proclamation to save them

that believe it sounds foolish that men

can stand up and use words out of a

Bible and that has

power to penetrate your heart and change

your life but it does because it’s God’s

holy word this is not an ordinary book

this is a living book a Living

Word and then there’s the work of the

Holy Spirit as I’ve already explained he

convicts and when he has come he will

reprove the world of sin and

righteousness and judgment and then he

indwells he changes us he changes our

Wills our affections our objectives for

living our disposition position he gives

us a new purpose and new goals all

things pass away and everything becomes

new and then he

indwells know you not that you’re are

the temple of God and that the spirit of

God dwelleth in

you does God the Holy Spirit live in you

if there’s a doubt about it pick up that

telephone if you’re watching by

television and call that number and a

counselor will be there to help you to

make sure that you have been born again

you remember the story in the Bible of

naamon naamon was the General

commander-in chief of all the armies of

Syria and Syria is much in the news

these days he was commander-in chief he

had everything the king had honored

him but he was a leper and he knew that

in a short time he was going to be

thrown out of the military and he was

going to be just a a person going around

with a little bell

saying keep away keep away keep away I’m

a leper I’m a leper I’m a

leper and he heard a little slave girl

from

Israel tell about a wonderful man that

could heal him over in

Israel and he went to his king and the

King said if anybody in Israel can heal

you please go and he

went and when he finally came to this

man after a number of

experiences the prophet

said go to the Jordan and dip seven

times

and on the seventh time you will be

healed told the servant to tell him that

in fact the prophet didn’t even come out

to see the general the general was there

and all of his uniform and all of his

men and the prophet just stayed back in

the kitchen somewhere didn’t even come

out and gried just sent word to him and

the general turned away in

disgust but one of his captains said to

him or one of his Aid said sir if he had

told you a hard thing You’ have done it

he said go to the Jordan he said yeah

but the Jordan River is Muddy and our

rivers are clear that Jordan River can’t

do anything he said but why don’t you

try sir you’re a leper you’ve got to do

something so the

general went to the Jordan River and he

dipped himself four or five times and he

said see the lepos is still there it

doesn’t do any good but sir he said

seven

times so namon went down for the seventh

time and when he came

up his skin was clean and whole

the thing that had saved him was the

fact that he did what the prophet had

told

him the greatest prophet of them all is

Jesus Christ and he says You must be

born again how do you become Born Again

repenting of sin that means you’re

willing to change your way of living and

you’ll say to God I’m a sinner and I’m

sorry simple childlike and then by faith

receive him as your Lord and Master and

savior

and then be willing to follow him in a

new life of obedience in which the Holy

Spirit helps you as you read the Bible

and pray and

witness if there’s a doubt in your mind

that you have been born

again I hope you’ll settle it before you

leave here tonight because the Bible

says now is the accepted time today is

the day of salvation the Bible says he

that hardeneth his heart being often

reproved shall suddenly be cut off and

that without remedy you just can’t come

to God anytime you want to you can only

come when the Holy Spirit is drawing and

he’s speaking to you tonight in answer

to the prayers of thousands of people in

Idaho and throughout the

country come to Christ tonight why do I

ask people to come publicly we’ve seen

several thousand people do what I’m

going to ask you to do I ask you to come

publicly because Jesus said if you don’t

acknowledge me before men I’ll not

acknowledge you before my Father which

is in

heaven he hung publicly for you on the

cross certainly you can come and front

of this audience in this beautiful

stadium and receive him into your

heart I’m going to ask you to do that

right now if you’re with friends or

relatives they’ll wait on you but I’m

going to ask you to come and stand here

in front of the platform and this is a

symbolic Act of an inward decision that

you’re

making and after you’ve all come I’m

going to say a word to you and have a

prayer with you and give you some

literature then you can go back and join

your friends God bless

you

it’s wonderful to know that tonight can

be a night of new beginning for you you

say well how take a moment to call that

number on your screen or to write to

Billy Graham tonight or this week and

let him know about your desire and we’ll

send you some helps through the mails

that will encourage you and help you

make your decision for Jesus Christ if

you just prayed that prayer with my

father or if you have any questions

about a relationship with Jesus Christ I

just call that number that is on the

screen there’ll be someone there to talk

with you pray with you and answer those

questions and

remember God loves

you if you would like to commit your

life to Jesus Christ please call us

right now toll-free at

877772

4559 that’s

877772

4559 or you can write to us at Billy

Graham 1 Billy Graham Parkway Department

C Charlotte North Carolina

28201 or you can contact us on the web

247 at peacewithgod.net

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