[This was from a sermon series I preached based on the sermons of the founder of Methodism, John Wesley. While the illustrations and language are updated, many of the concepts and ideas, as well as the general structure and message of the sermon, are taken directly from Wesley’s sermon entitled "The Marks of the New Birth" which was first preached in the 1750’s.]
“The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8) What does that mean? What, exactly, does it mean to be born again, to be born of God, to be born of the Spirit? After they have been born again, people will often say, “I am a child of God,” but what do they mean by that?
We usually connect being born again with baptism, especially since baptism is called being “born of the water and of the Spirit” in the Bible. And we figure that baptism and being born again go hand in hand, with baptism meaning born of the water and being born again meaning born of the Spirit.
But let’s take a closer look at what these things are, and what the benefits are of being born again. What, exactly, is the new birth? What does it mean to be born again?
Maybe we don’t have to give a definition of this experience, since scripture itself does not give one to us. However, the question is of the greatest importance to every human being, because, after all, “no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again.” No one, without being born again, can get to heaven.
So, since it is so important, I will, as clearly as possible, point out to you what the new birth is. I will explain how you may know when a person has been given this new birth, by showing the signs of it. And I will show you the signs of this new birth as I find them stated in the Bible.
The first sign of the new birth is faith. In Galatians 3:26, Paul tells us that faith is essential, saying “In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.” And John 1:12 says, “To all who received Christ, and who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.” He continues that those with faith are “born, not by blood nor by flesh, but of God." Elsewhere , the Gospel of John says, "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God."
However, the Bible isn’t talking about the kind of faith that stays in the head but doesn’t touch the heart. It is not merely an intellectual belief, although it includes that. True and living faith is not simply an agreement with the *idea* that Jesus is the Christ. True and living faith is not simply the intellectual belief that says, “I believe in the Bible” or “Jesus is Lord.” True and living faith doesn’t just affirms that the Apostles’ Creed is true.
If that kind of intellectual belief were true and living faith, then even the demons would be considered “born again,” because even demons have that kind of intellectual faith. Even the demons heard the words of Jesus and knew he was the Son of God, for they saw his mighty deeds. But that’s obviously not living or true faith. That’s merely an intellectual faith that fills the head but leaves the heart empty.
True and living Christian faith is more than just mentally agreeing to a set of doctrines or creeds. Truly being born again doesn’t just mean our brains agree with a set of beliefs. True and living faith is something that God forms in our heart. True faith means having a trust and confidence that through Christ our sins are forgiven. Living faith means knowing that even though we’ve been separated from God, God has reconciled us and we have been brought close once more.
When we talk about faith being the sign that we’re truly born again, this is the faith we’re talking about. A faith that indicates a deep and profound trust in God, not a trust in our own good works. A faith that knows we have been reconciled to God, and the broken relationship with God has been made whole again. A faith that says loud and clear that our confidence isn’t in ourselves. Our confidence is in God alone.
This kind of heartfelt faith can be found in this story.
You may have heard about the man named Blundon who around the turn of the century attempted to cross the Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Ten thousand onlookers watched as he inched his way across the Falls. When he got across, the spectators were just delighted and started to chant his name in celebration of this great achievement.
After the crowd had quieted, Blundon asked: “do you believe in me now?” And the people went “we believe, we believe!” Then he asked: “do you believe I can do it again?” And the crowd chanted: ‘we believe, we believe!”
Encouraged by the affirmation, he asked: “do you believe I can do it with a person on my back?” At this proposition, the crowd went into a frenzy: “we believe, we believe!”
But then he asked:” Do I have a volunteer?” and the crowd went silent. Could have heard a pin drop. Finally after a few minutes, there was one man of short stature who volunteered. And Blundon crossed successfully with this man on his back.
Can you imagine what kind of ride that was? Wow.
You can see the kind of faith required to fully place your trust in the hands of another. When we are born again, we are placing our full faith in the salvation that comes only from Jesus Christ. First, we realize we can’t place our faith in ourselves. Then we trust completely in Christ instead. As a result, we grow to have a true and living faith in Christ who has forgiven our sins and reconciled us to himself. As you can see, this faith is in the power of Christ, not just a belief in creeds and doctrines.
This kind of faith gives us a deep and abiding peace. When our hearts and minds together trust fully in Christ’s power in our lives, nothing in life can steal the peace we have from trusting Christ Jesus. We simply do not need to worry about the little things of life, because we know the Christ will take care of us in the big things.
The second sign of being born again is hope. In the Bible, First Peter 1:3 says, “by God’s great mercy, he has given us a new birth into a living hope.” Peter is clear to say “a living hope” because there is also such thing as a dead hope, and this dead hope doesn’t come from God. A dead hope means putting all our hope in our own achievements and our own accomplishments. Our own success may keep us going for a while, but eventually we need to place our hope in something greater than ourselves. When we are born again, the sign is that we place our hope in God alone.
This living hope reminds us that we are children of God. And as children of God, we know that we are heirs of God. We know that one day we will receive a great inheritance that has been promised to us.
When Forbes released it’s richest Americans list last year, the top three spots were Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Paul Allen – three men who made their money from scratch. But numbers 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 were Alice, Helen, Jim, John, and Robson. And they all shared the same last name, Walton. Each of them is currently worth $18 billion, the result of the inheritance they received from their father, Sam Walton, who died in 1992. And of course, Sam Walton was made his money through the chain of stores he founded, Wal-Mart. Alice, Helen, Jim, John, and Robson all lived most of their adult lives knowing that one day they would receive an immense financial inheritance. I’m sure that made life very comfortable for the Walton children. But there’s even better news for us today. The good news is that every Christian who has received the new birth will one day be given an inheritance even greater than the Walton’s money. For the inheritance God has promised us is eternal life.
So if we say that a sign of being born again is hope, then this is where we place our hope. Since we have been adopted as children of God, our hope is that one day we will be given eternal life as an inheritance from God.
In the short term, we may have to suffer hardships and difficulties in life. But since our hope isn’t in the short term, God helps us look beyond current challenges and toward the true and living hope of God’s ultimate plan. We don’t need to be afraid of anything, because we know that God has adopted us as children, so that we are able to call out to God, saying “Abba! Father!” in the same way that a child cries out for their parent.
When Jesus says, “blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted,” he’s talking about this kind of living hope. Our mourning is for our current challenges and hardships, but our hope is in the time when our sorrow will be turned into joy because we are the children of God. Before being born again, we might feel that we have no hope because we don’t know God’s presence in our lives. But after being born again, we can say that we have received God’s love in abundance and that our hope is in “sharing the glory of God.”
Earlier we read the words of the book of First Peter, where he wrote:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith-being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire-may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Although you have not seen him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy.” (1 Peter 1:3-8)
Indescribable and glorious joy indeed! We don’t even have words in the English language to describe this kind of joy. Only those who have received this joy can even understand it. It’s a joy that not only stays with us, but it overflows and pours out from us. Even in the toughest times, we can hold onto this joy, for we have hope in an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.
When the things of this world don’t seem to make us comfortable or satisfied, does that mean God doesn’t provide for us? Not a chance! In fact, when we suffer the most, that’s when God comes most strongly to comfort us. Through the hope that comes when we are born again, the children of God can look to the time when God has thrown death into the pit. Christian hope hears God saying loud and clear these words from the book of Revelation:
God will dwell with people as their God;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away. (Rev. 21:3, 4)
The final and greatest sign of the new birth is *love*. Romans 5:5 tells us that the new birth is “God’s love poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” And Galatians 4:6 tells us that “because we are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ’Abba! Father!’”
God’s Spirit works in our hearts so that we experience God’s love for us and become united to God in our love for him. This love for God comes as we realize how God’s love has been given to us without our earning or deserving it. It is God’s love that provides for us, God’s love that protects us, God’s love that forgives our sins, God’s love that feeds our own souls and gives us our faith and our hope. Our spirits cannot help but overflow with love for God when the Spirit shows us this amazing love God so freely gives us.
For this reason, our love for God pours out of our hearts. It gives us joy and contentment in every way to love God and depend upon God for everything. This love causes us to desire nothing but God, to praise and worship Jesus Christ, and always want whatever God wants. God is, for people who have been born again, like a good parent, a personal friend, and gracious teacher. This love unites their hearts and spirits with God so that their own hearts desire everything that God wants.
When my sister got married a few years ago, she married a man who, at that time, had a 10 year old son. Because of her love for Tom, she was willing to take his son into her home as a child she also would love and care for. Her love for Robert was such that she wanted to love his son as well. She loves Tom’s son because she wants to love who Tom loves. This is how it is with people who are born again. Our love for God leads us to love who God loves.
You can tell when a person has the love of new birth like this when they treat every person they know with care and tenderness. They love even their enemies and people who harass and abuse them. People who have been born again love everyone as much as God loves everyone, because God loves them that way too. People who are born again love the way Jesus said, “Love one another, just as I have loved you.”
The book of First John tells us that the test of this love is if we are willing to lay down our lives for others the way Jesus himself laid down his life for us. We will know if God’s Spirit is within us, if we are truly born again, if we love others the same way Jesus Christ has loved us.
We have now clearly spelled out the signs of the new birth. We have asked what it means to be born again, or born of the Spirit, and God gives us the answer. “What does it mean to be born again?” These are the three signs
1) First, whoever is born again has a true and living *faith*. A faith that is a deep and profound trust in God that, through Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven and our relationship with God is made whole through him.
2) Second, whoever is born again has a deep hope. A hope that knows that God has adopted us as children and is preparing an inheritance that will last for all eternity.
3) Third, whoever is born again knows and experiences God’s love. We have been loved by God in a way beyond what we can even imagine. And this great love inspires us to love all people the same way God loves us. This love constantly burns in our hearts, and it then blazes out of us for all to see.
So, who among us this morning are born again in this way? If you are truly born again, then you already know in your hearts that you are God’s children, and you can be confident in that knowledge and trust.
I doubt there is one person among us this morning who has heard this message who doesn’t know for sure whether you are, at this very moment, a child of God or not. If you have these signs of faith, hope, and love in your life right now, you can rejoice that you are born again. But do not answer the question because you think that’s what the pastor wants to hear. Do not answer this question because you think your friends and neighbors are paying attention. Answer only to God. The question is not whether you have been a child of God, in the past. And this is not a question of whether you have been baptized or not. Don’t avoid the question! The question is before you, are you born again now?
In your heart of hearts, are you a child of God now? Search yourself. I am not asking whether you ever were born again. No. I am asking if, today, the Holy Spirit truly lives and breathes within you. I realize that when you were baptized, you were made a child of God and adopted as God’s own sons and daughters. But I am asking whether God’s Spirit rests upon you right here and right now. If not, your baptism isn’t doing you much good. In a practical sense, it’s almost worthless to you.
Some people say, “I was once baptized, so therefore, I am always a child of God.” Just because God did something incredible for you in your baptism doesn’t mean that you can coast through the rest of your life on it. The work God does at baptism doesn’t automatically continue forever. Consider for a moment marriage vows that are made on a wedding day. The couple can’t say to each other, “We already made those vows, so it’s already taken care of. We don’t need to make them again.” Instead, the couple needs to live out those marriage vows every day of their lives. If they don’t remind themselves of their promises, they will probably be neglected over time. Monica and Brian have a copy of our wedding vows printed and framed on our bedroom wall, and from time to time, we read them to each other, reminding us of the promises made our wedding day.
In the same way, if we don’t allow God to renew the work done at our baptism, it becomes a distant memory of something God did for us long ago. When we look around the world, we see this far too often. How many people were baptized at one time, and are now gossips, liars, adulterers, thieves, or abusers? Can they honestly say that they are now experiencing God’s new birth?
Too many people are still in a state of living death in their sins. Now maybe our temptation would be to say, “Yes! God should destroy these sinners for they are enemies of God! They deserve no less.” But if we are perfectly honest, we need to realize that we deserve it just as much as anybody else. It’s only because of God’s incredible mercy that we don’t all receive the same fate.
So we come back to the question again: are you born again today?
You have heard the signs that the children of God have. You either have these signs of faith, hope, and love, or you don’t. The good news is that each of us here may yet again receive that “power to become children of God.” Each of us may receive again what we have lost – the Holy Spirit in our hearts, crying out to God, “Abba! Father!”
Let us pray:
Yes, Lord Jesus! May everyone who wishes today to turn their heart back to you and seek your face receive again your Holy Spirit and cry out to you, “Abba, Father!” May they receive that power again to believe in your name and to become your own children. May they know and feel that they have the forgiveness of all their sins and redemption through the blood of Jesus. Let them now receive that “new birth into a living hope.” And, because they are your children, let the Spirit of love rest upon them. Cleanse them from every sinful thought and desire in their hearts, their bodies, and their spirits, and help them grow in their love toward you. Amen.
