Welcome to a firm foundation presented by Princeton ministries with Dr. Ken Smith. This is Carol Smith, Ken’s wife. Please enjoy.

Who is a Christian? This question has been around for ages. There are some who answer odly and some who answer narrowly. But I think it’s more important to understand what did Jesus have to say about those who would say they are Christians? Except a man be born again, said Jesus. He cannot see the kingdom of God. And later in that passage, Jesus says, except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. For some, those words have been a stumbling block, and they ask, are you a Born-again Christian? As though that were a variety of Christian. Why, there are Baptist Christians and Episcopal Christians and Presbyterian Christians and Born-again Christians. But I would remind you that the denominator between all of those denominations for anyone who would bear the name Christian, is to be a born-again Christian.

Now, we live in a time where the words born again have simply become flag words, and people think they know everything about you if you are that kind of Christian. But if were to look at a survey across the church, we would find that, according to George Gallup, 50 million people several years ago claimed to be born again Christians. And that fact staggered the Gallup research team, and they thought, how in the world could there be 50 million of these people? And so they began to think and research a little more, and they decided to qualify the question. They said, by Born again Christian, what we mean is, have you, one, put your faith in Jesus Christ alone? Number two, do you read the Bible and receive information from the Bible that helps you to live your life?

Number three, do you pray through the name of Jesus Christ? Number four, are you involved with a church where Christ is taught? And number five, have you ever tried to tell someone else about Jesus Christ? Now, with those five questions, of the 50 million people who said they were born again Christians, only 12% of that 50 million said, oh, yes, I’m that kind of born again Christian. Well, there’s a great deal of confusion, and the confusion over the term has been around for many centuries. As a matter of fact, Martin Luther was an ordained clergyman for over a decade. He was performing public worship, administering the sacraments. He had received his doctorate in religious study. He was teaching at a seminary, students who would go into the ministry. And yet, he says, I did not know God.

You mean for a decade you could be involved in all of that religious activity? And that is exactly the case of Martin Luther. It was not until he read the words, it is by grace you are saved through faith that Luther saw a revolution in his life as he put his faith in Jesus Christ. John Knox, who is considered to be the founder of the Presbyterian church. John Knox was an ordained clergyman for 14 years before he came to a knowledge of trust in Jesus Christ. And he says in his diary, I was born again by the spirit of God. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church, was ordained and sent to Georgia to convert the Indians. He went there. It was a dismal failure.

And on his return from Georgia, in his diary, he writes, I went to convert the Indians, but, oh, God, who will convert me? And it was a little chapel, Alders Gate, that Wesley was born again. And Wesley says, I was born again at a quarter to nine. George Whitfield was one of the greatest evangelists and responsible single handily for much of the great awakening that occurred not only in Europe, but also in America. He crossed the Atlantic some 13 times, a very dangerous trip. Whitfield had a friend, Benjamin Franklin. Franklin, to whom he wrote this letter. As I find you growing more and more famous in the learned world, I would recommend to your diligent and unprejudiced study the mystery of the new birth. It is the most important study, and when mastered, will richly answer all your pains.

I bid you, my friend, remember that one at whose bar we shall all stand and presently appear, hath solemnly declared that without it you shall in no wise enter his kingdom. There is no hint that Benjamin Franklin ever put his faith in Jesus Christ. But it is the words of Jesus that has lingered over the pages of history, has confronted men and women through the ages. It is the word that he spoke to Nicodemus. Nicodemus who came by night. Nicodemus who himself was Religious, a leader of the Pharisees, learned in the Old Testament, who knew that the Messiah was going to come. It was this Nicodemus who came to Jesus. One starry evening, a knock at the door.

He says, we know that you are sent by God, because no one can do the things that you have done except God is with him and Jesus, as though not even hearing the introduction of Nicodemus, says, Nicodemus, I say to you must be born again. And from the pronouncement, from the lips of Jesus, those words have divided the church. Those words have separated the sheep from the goats. And I would ask you this morning to reflect, as though Jesus himself were asking this question of you, have you been born again? Do you know Jesus Christ? Do you know his forgiveness? Do you know that if you were to die this moment, that you would be with him in heaven. It is the very centrepiece of the christian faith. And without that new birth, no man, no woman shall enter her.

No man, no woman shall even see the kingdom of God. Many say, well, that’s a very narrow interpretation of the words, and perhaps it sounds that way. It did to my ears. For many years, I was of the belief that all religions were basically the same, that there really was no difference, and that they probably shared some 95% of truths in common, with only a few incidental differences. And if you have heard that, let me assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. The similarities between the religions of this world and the message of Jesus Christ is so dissimilar that they are not even to be compared. For how would you compare animism? Animism, which is found throughout the world, the belief that objects have spirits in them, good spirits, bad spirits.

And so for the animist, he lives in a world that brings fear, for he never knows what spirit will come into his life. And anyone who has traveled in the world of animism knows it is a world full of fear. Or what Shall we find as a point of comparison, as we look at Hinduism. Hinduism, which began by a group of people coming from Persia into northern India. They established what we are all familiar with, the word caste. The word caste is related to the word color. And so in the beginning days of Hinduism, it was simply a color category of people. And the castes were refined over a period of years until there were four castes, the brahma at the top, the sudra at the bottom, the untouchable.

And in that scheme, you live your life in one of those castes, your responsibility to serve those in the next caste. And if you serve them well, you will return in the next life reincarnated to that next level. And so there is a great deal of benefit for those who are at the top of the pile, as the Brahmin is worshipped by all below him. And there was a time when it was declared that no sudra should be within 64ft of a brahmin. How shall we find a point of similarity between that beginning and Christianity? Or if were to take the message of BUDDHA? Buddhism, the message that began with a man by the name of Gatama, who, until the age of 29 years old, was isolated from all pain.

Gatama, whose father was a rich nobleman, decided that his boy would never be touched by Any of the pain and the affliction of this Life. And so he kept him inside the walls of his home and when he was 29 years old for the first time, Gatama goes out of that house, and what does he see? He sees a man who is crippled. He sees a dead body. He sees a mendicant priest. And so disturbed was this 29 year old boy that for six years he fell into an emotional pit, trying to understand where did evil come from. And so one day, sitting under a bow tree, he is enlightened. And he concludes that evil is simply in the mind. It does not exist.

And so the foundation of that religion is to say that all of the evil that is around us is not real, it is not tangible. And the answer, according to that approach, is that we must free our minds of evil, that we might be enlightened. And so Gautama stood from that bow tree as the enlightened one, the Buddha. How shall we compare that beginning to the message of Jesus Christ, who declared, you must be born again? Or if were to take the message of Confucius and were to hear him who died, an atheist who had no interest in religious things. And Confucius, who on his deathbed, when asked, tell us about the next life, said, how can I tell you about the next life when I can hardly explain this life?

And so the writings of Confucius are merely a list of ways to live life. How your family can better, how your responsibility to the king can better. At what point shall we compare these trite sayings to the declaration of Jesus, who said, you must be born again. Someone has compared the message of the religions of the world to say, imagine that you were in a pit and in this pit were all manner of venomous snake. And you are full of fear and dread. And you look all around you and there is a mass of snakes and one is coiled back, ready to bite you and to take your life. And in fear you sit waiting for the bite of that asp.

And then animist passes by and he looks into the pit and his eyes become filled and enlarged with fear lest the spirit of the snake fill him. And off he runs into the wood. And then comes the Hindu, who looks into that pit and says, my friend, there is no evil. The snake does not exist. It is in your mind. And then the confucianist walks by and he says, he who is wise does not fall into pit. He who is a fool falls. Thou art a fool. And he walks on. And then passing the pit comes the shadow of one whose figure man has never seen. He looks to be the son of God. It is Jesus Christ. He looks into that pit and instantly sees what is needed. And Christ himself leaps into the pit and grabs you in all of your fear.

And he lifts you out of that pit. And as he is lifting you to life, the snake bites at his thigh, another at his leg, another at his arm. And he, who knew no evil, has taken into himself the poison, and he dies. To compare the religions of the world and to say that there are points of similarity is to do great disservice to the religions of this world. For Jesus said, unless you are born again, you shall not see the kingdom of God. I remember several years ago when my son Nathan was three or four years old, and I was sitting in the living room, and I had my street shoes on and reading the newspaper, and Nathan came over and he bit my shoe. And I said, Nathan, don’t do that. Why not? Why? My shoe is dirty.

He said, doesn’t look dirty. I said, but you can’t see the germs that are on the bottom of that shoe. And because he could not see them did not mean that they did not exist. Jesus said, except a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. How many are there who say there is no kingdom of God? There is no heaven. There is no eternity. And simply because their eyes are filled with smoke and they’re not able to see does not mean that it does not exist. There were pilots, I am told, during World War II, who flew for the Japanese air force, who had the unusual ability of being able to look up in the daytime and to see the stars in the daytime.

Now, you and I look in the daytime and we see no stars, but they had special eyes. Jesus said, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And there have been many today who have so maligned this teaching of Jesus and so misunderstood it, that they have presented to those who sit within the pew of the church the message that, yes, you are a Christian. You’re a Christian. Why? Simply because you’re here. The church of Jesus Christ knows of no such truth, for it is possible to be here and yet to be outside of Christ. You mean to say that I could come and sing hymns, read the Bible, be with other people who love Christ, and that I am outside of the fold? Jesus said, except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

There are others who believe that. It is just simply knowing enough. Why? I study the Bible. I go to Bible studies. I’m a member of the church. I talk about Jesus. Why, by all manner of external observation, I am no different than anyone else who professes to be a Christian. For them, there is a surface appearance of being a Christian. And it is very easy to sneak in and out of the church disguised in our costume of Christianity, to speak the words, to know the doctrines, and yet to have a heart that has never been affected by the love of Jesus Christ. To be uncertain where you will spend eternity. There are others who say, well, I’m a Christian because I am following the ten Commandments. I am being kind to my neighbor and certainly I’m a Christian.

But I would warn you, except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Have you experienced that new life in Christ? You say, well, I hope so. Do you know that you are his? It is not important that you know the precise time as John Wesley. But what is important is that you know that God has been at work in your life, bringing you to a point where you have come to understand Jesus Christ. And he works differently in every life, but he works in the life of men and women as they would come to a knowledge of Christ. The bottom line, if you were to die, do you know that you would be in heaven not because of anything that you have done, but because of what Jesus Christ has done for you?

And when you stand before God, will you be able to stand before him without any work, without anything in your hand and simply be able to say nothing in my hand? I bring simply to thy cross. I cling that I stand before you, God, and know that I ought to be sent to that place where the goats will be, that place where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. And the only reason that I would hope to come into your presence is because of your son, Jesus Christ. And I put my faith in him. George Whitfield, who spoke over 3000 times from the text that we are looking at. Whitfield towards the end of his life was asked by a friend, why is it, George, that you spoke over 3000 times on the text, you must be born again?

And Whitfield turned to his friend and he said, the reason that I have preached so many times on that text is because you must be born again.

Thank you for listening to a firm foundation presented by Princeton ministries. This programming is supported by you, the listener. You may go to our website princetonministries.org or send your donation to Princeton Ministries Post office Box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 8543. That’s Princeton Ministries Post Office Box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 8543. The Lord bless you and Dr. Smith looks forward to hearing from you. We would like to thank Rones web development company for making this webcast possible. You can find their link at the bottom of our website, princetonministries.org.