Why... be Born Again? 14-04-02
Chris Jordan
Reading: Isaiah 5:18-25
18 Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,
19 to those who say, "Let God hurry, let him hasten his work so we may see it. Let it approach, let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come, so we may know it."
20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks,
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent.
24 Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore the Lord’s anger burns against his people; his hand is raised and he strikes them down. The mountains shake, and the dead bodies are like refuse in the streets. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.
We don’t hear that passage read very often in church. We usually stick to more uplifting passages of Scripture when we preach.
Isaiah is actually my favorite OT prophet But in this passage…
Isaiah sounds like a real fun guy.
But there’s a reason I selected this particular passage to be read today. I’ll tell you what the reason is in a few moments.
Today we look at the question – ‘why do we need to be born again?’
Born again
That’s what people say every time Lew Born comes out of retirement.
Born again
Billy Graham tells the story about a time when he arrived early for a crusade meeting so that he could finish a letter to a friend. When the letter was finished, he asked a young boy where the post office was located.
The boy gave him the directions and Billy Graham thanked him and said, ‘If you come to the meeting tonight, I’ll tell you all about being born again and how to get to heaven.
The boy said, ‘I won’t be coming then.’
The evangelist looked surprised and asked the boy why he wouldn’t be coming.
The boy looked the great man right in the eye and said, ‘you don’t even know how to get to the post office. What makes you think you know how to get to heaven?’
1. Why… be Born Again? (Baby Picture)
Why do we need to be born again?
When we ask the question this way it’s almost like we’re saying.
‘What’s in it for me?’ And that’s a very legitimate question.
I could answer that by saying that when you are born again, your sins are forgiven – but you might say, ‘I don’t have any sins.’
I could tell you that if you are born again, you have a fresh start. The old is passed away and all things become new.
You may answer, ‘But I like things the way they are, thanks all the same.’
So I reply, if you are born again, your relationship with God will be restored and you will go straight to heaven when you die. To which you could reply, ‘but how do I know God and heaven exist?’
And we can go round and round and not get very far at all.
Sometimes, as a preacher, I feel like (to put it in crude terms),
a salesman trying to sell something, trying to honestly answer the question, ‘Why do I need to be born again?’
‘What’s in it for me?’
So indulge me for a moment and let me pretend to be a salesman.
Now, I don’t have a product that I can place in your hands called ‘a born again experience’ to help convince you that you need it.
So what do I do?
2. The Life Insurance Pitch (coffin picture)
Story – Maybe I could try doing what a Life insurance salesman once told me – coffin on table.
Maybe I could use that routine on you – we’re all mortal and some day we’re all going to die.
Are you going to risk meeting your maker unprepared?
Story - It’s a bit like Clint Eastwood in one of his Dirty Harry movies.
Harry Callahan is involved in a big gun battle with some criminals. Finally Harry brings down the bad guy who’s lying in a doorway.
His hand slowly reaches for his gun.
Harry stands over him, gun in hand and say’s to him, ‘I Know what you’re thinking - did he fire 5 shots or 6?
This is a 44 magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world. It could blow your head clean off.
So you have to ask yourself, “Do I feel lucky?”
Well… Do ya punk?’
In the same way, we gamble with the word of God.
Jesus said in the 3rd chapter of the gospel of John, ‘Unless a person is born again, they can never enter the kingdom of God.’
And we have to ask ourselves, ‘Do we feel lucky?’ What if the Bible is true? Am I willing to gamble eternity. MY ETERNITY?????
But you might still say to me, ‘Beat it salesman! I do feel lucky. I’m not going to die for a long time yet, so leave me alone.’
OK that didn’t work.
And anyway, being born again is not simply life insurance. Something you can cash in when you die. It’s for the here and now.
It’s not pie in the sky when you die. It’s steak on the plate while you wait.
What else can I do?
How else can I convince you that you need this thing called a born again experience?
I know! Maybe I could try a different approach.
3. The Soapbox Approach (Preacher Picture)
Maybe I could try and get you to focus on all the evils in the world – tell you how bad things are and hope that you arrive at the conclusion that God is the answer.
We see this approach in all the old movies where the wild-eyed preacher, Bible in hand, calls down hell and damnation on the wicked people around him.
We even see it today. I remember seeing on a couple of occasions, a person standing on a street corner, shouting at the passers by.
Trying to convince them that they were all going to hell.
One American preacher was heard to say on national television that the terrorist bombing of Sept 11th last year was God’s judgment on the wickedness of the USA.
The problem with this kind of sales pitch is that most people think you’re a fruit loop and either laugh at you or ignore you… either way, NO SALE
Maybe I could narrow the focus and try and convince you that your own life is a mess and if you let Jesus in He can fix it all up.
Sort of a ‘Quick Fix Savior.’
A ‘Handyman for the Soul.’
Some people do buy this model and try it for a while. But pretty soon they find that their life isn’t miraculously turned around. They still have to battle with the old familiar sins. The hurts of the past and the fears of the future are all still there. They start to wonder if they were really born again at all.
‘Hey! This Jesus didn’t work. You sold me a dud. Take whatever you’re selling and get lost!’
Well I’m not doing too well am I?
So now what?
4. The Isaiah Approach
The truth is there’s no way in the world that someone can sell a Born Again experience.
And anyway, it’s not for sale.
It’s a free gift flowing from the grace of God.
I could try all sorts of intellectual arguments and philosophical propositions; I could try and appeal to your emotions but unless someone has a personal revelation of the Risen Lord Jesus, they will never see the need to be born again.
Paul writes in his second letter to the Corinthians …
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.
For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
…so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
You can’t rationalize, intellectualize or emotionalize it.
You can only come to God in faith and ask Him to reveal Himself to you.
Let’s return to our passage in Isaiah.
In Isaiah chapter 5, the young prophet is calling down all sorts of Woes on the people of Israel because of their sin.
In the sixth chapter, something happens to Isaiah that changes his life forever.
He has a startling revelation of the living God, sitting on His throne.
Let me read it…
6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.
2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
It’s like God is everywhere, wall to wall, floor to ceiling. God fills the entire scene.
Angels surround God and they call out in thunderous voices, Holy Holy Holy is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is full of His glory.
At the sound of their voices, the temple walls begin to shake and the room becomes filled with smoke.
You think Isaiah saw all this as just another day at the office?
I don’t think so.
What happens next is very interesting.
Instead of calling down woes on everyone else, Isaiah now turns his finger of judgment on himself.
He stands there naked before the glory of God
He cries out, ‘Woe is me. I am finished for I am a sinful man and my eyes have seen the living God.
He fully expected God’s swift and terrible punishment but instead he received God’s mercy, His love and His grace.
Isaiah goes on to record some of the most beautiful prophecies about the Messiah who was to come.
Only when we come face to face with the Living God can we fully understand our own brokenness and our need to let God, through Jesus wash us clean from the inside out – or in other words…
Become Born Again.
Now it may be that God will never reveal Himself to you in such a dramatic fashion as He did to Isaiah.
Maybe you won’t get the handwriting on the wall.
Maybe God won’t skywrite your name across the sky.
But He will reveal Himself in other ways:
Through worship, through His word, or through prayer.
The God who loves us all so much He sent His one and only Son to die in our place longs to make Himself known to you and me.
Jer 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
And when you do find Him, I promise you, your life will never be the same.
(Insert own story of coming to faith)
Altar Call
In a moment we will be singing a hymn…but before we do.
I would be doing you a terrible disservice if I didn’t give you an opportunity to get to know the Creator and savior of the world.
So this morning if you’ve never invited Jesus to come into your heart.
If you’ve never known the feeling of having the burden of your sin lifted from your shoulders, forever.
If you’ve never been born again
Now is the time. No sales pitch. No pressure.
Just a gentle invitation to come – be Born Again for the Very First Time
Take the step of faith and allow God to reveal Himself to you
Allow Him to fill your heart with His love and forgiveness and grace
