Peter Brandon preaches on the necessity of the new birth, using the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3 to illustrate that being born again is essential for entering the Kingdom of God. He emphasizes that this new birth is not merely an emotional experience but a profound spiritual transformation that grants believers a new nature and eternal life. Brandon explains that the Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in this process, enabling individuals to overcome the world's challenges and sin. He warns against relying on religious rituals or moral behavior alone, urging listeners to seek a genuine relationship with Christ for true salvation. Ultimately, he calls for a heartfelt response to the message of being born again, encouraging all to embrace this life-changing experience.

The subject is the new verb, emotional or real. Now shall we turn to that familiar portion of God's word, John's gospel chapter three, read it carefully with me please, and we'll start from verse one. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, or born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, he must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation that light has come into the world. And men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deed should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. And the Lord will bless to us the reading of that portion of his word. The little expression born again is mentioned roughly 16 times in the Bible. And mainly John is the one that uses that expression. If you look at another translation you will find the word is changed a little and it means born anew or better born from above. Now why? If you were born again physically and you had your life all over again, you would do exactly again what you did in this life. But when you are born anew it means that you have a completely new life so that you can be entirely different. As we shall see in a few moments when you were born physically you were given physical life, when you are born again spiritually you are given spiritual life and it's a new quality of life altogether. Now some people will ask the question and rightly so, don't you think that this born anew or born again is just an emotional experience? Now thank God for emotions. Quite frankly if you live the life without emotions you would be a very very depleted person. Love is an emotion, joy is an emotion, peace is an emotion. So we are not saying that there are no emotions connected with Christianity. If there were no emotions it would be a very sullen religion. But if it's just an emotional experience it will not last. And therefore the way to test any spiritual experience is its durability or if you like something that's more simple its duration. And what lasts is real, what doesn't last is unreal. Therefore you will notice that we never claim how many people have been converted during a mission. We'll tell you in two years time if we come back. It's the lasting results that are genuine. And so we want to say as clearly as we can, time is the great tester of everything. Now when we look at this born again experience we must first of all get a background and have a look at the man that came to the Lord Jesus and heard these remarkable words. Now we are told in the scripture three very interesting things about him. First of all we are told that he was a Pharisee. Now in the time of our Lord there were two kinds of divisions among the Jewish people religiously. There were the Pharisees and there were the Sadducees. Now the Pharisees were the conservative people and they believed in all the Old Testament scriptures. They believed in all the supernatural stories. They believed in angels. They believed in life after death. And therefore these people were those that were really fundamental. So we're told by brilliant Hebrew scholars like Edersheim some of the Pharisees knew the first five books of Moses off by memory in Hebrew. Now you think of that. And sometimes you could go up to an ordinary Pharisee and you could say to him I want you to give me a resume of all the attributes of God and he could do it from the top of his head without even conferring to a note. Therefore this man was thoroughly biblical. Secondly we are told that he was a ruler of the Jews. Now you mustn't miss this. When we read of a man being a ruler of the Jews it means he was a member of the Sanhedrin. Now if you were a member of the Sanhedrin you would be a member of the Jewish religious government. And there were 71 people in the Sanhedrin. And if you were a member you would be a VIP. Now I know there might be some MPs in Sydney but quite frankly they wouldn't have the same status as someone that was a member of the Sanhedrin, a ruler of the Jews. And therefore this man would have tremendous religious authority. And then thirdly we are told he was a master in Israel. That means he was head of one of the faculties in the University of Jerusalem. And some believe that he was in charge of the law faculty and therefore he must have been an outstanding intellectual. Now have you got a picture of this man? Number one very very religious a Pharisee. Number two exceedingly moral because all Pharisees were moral. Number three a man of great authority a member of the Sanhedrin. And number four a real intellectual giant a man who was a master in Israel. Now this man is coming to the Lord Jesus. Now we would imagine wouldn't we? If ever a man was right with God it would be a man like Nicodemus. Born in religion when he was just a little boy eight days old he would be circumcised. When he reached the age of 12 he would have his Bar Mitzvah like so many people have their confirmation. Then he would become a member of the particular church that he belonged to or the particular synagogue. And then he would become a member of the great Sanhedrin. And then he became a great teacher of the law. Now you would imagine that man to be right with God. But he realized that there was something wrong in his life. And he comes to the Lord Jesus by night and he has this conversation with him and he says, Master we know that you are a teacher come from God. I'm a teacher but I'm an acquired teacher. I've been through the religious schools. I've been through university and through struggling and striving in the realm of intellectualism. I have reached a point where I am a master in this. But you are a teacher come from God. I can see that by the miracles that you do. Now can you explain to me what's missing in my life? And the Lord Jesus looked right into that man's life and he said this. Truly truly I say unto thee Nicodemus except a man be born from above he can't see the kingdom of God. Except a man be born of water and of the spirit he can't enter the kingdom. What did he mean? Well he summed it all up in one little verse in verse six and this is what he said. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Now can I paraphrase that? That which is born physical is physical and that which is born spiritual is spiritual. In other words there are two different births. So then what is wrong with this physical birth? Well I must now read the scripture and this is what the word says in Romans 8. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. Now doesn't that sound dogmatic? Can I read it again? Romans 8 verse 8 says this. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. Now let me explain by illustration and then let's get right to the point. You might see a house that you really like and you might say I'm going to buy that house. It's really lovely and then before you purchase the house you will get a good surveyor and he goes all over the house carefully. He looks at the brickwork. He looks at the roof and then he looks at the foundation and he says it may please you madam but it certainly doesn't please me. What's wrong? The foundation's gone. Now can you see that illustration? The house pleases you but not the surveyor. Some children might be playing in Africa and a leopard comes along and it seems quite tame and all the children love the leopard but out comes mother. Now the leopard pleases the children but it doesn't please the mother. Why? She knows that that leopard has the instinct to kill. Here is a patient that goes to a doctor and the patient might have just a small lump on the arm and she says I don't suppose it's anything. I've got wonderful health and when the doctor looks at it carefully and takes a little sample he sees in that something that's malignant and therefore what seems perfectly innocent to the woman is a sign of death to the doctor. Now when we pick up a little baby quite frankly it looks lovely and beautiful. I do not think there is anything more beautiful than a wholesome baby but when God looks at that little child he sees in that child something that we can't see. You see there's not a mother in the world that will be able to train that child so it won't sin. When that baby gets six months old and every mother has proved this point that baby will cry to express hunger pain, that baby will cry to express a physical pain and that baby will cry to express itself. Where did it get its temper from? And therefore sometimes in a six months old baby there are streaks of temper coming out of it. When that child gets 18 months old you will see sometimes when the mother calls that child it will straighten itself and say dogmatically and rebelliously no. Where did it get that rebellious nature? You see when babies are born according to the teaching of God's word they are born with the potential to sin and because the whole of the human race has been born like that it cannot please God. God is the one that knows the potential of evil that's in us all. It doesn't matter if the child is born in a religious or moral family nor does it matter if the child is born in an aristocratic family like a royal family. Every single baby is born with the potential to sin. Why? Because Jesus said that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that's the world's number one problem. The world's number one problem is not directly war it's the evil nature with which we were all born and that's our problem. Secondly human nature is so weak and insolent that it even hasn't the power to keep God's ten commandments and therefore God is absolutely right when he says they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Now we can do all kinds of things with the flesh. We can put it in religious garments and it looks very very holy but it's still the flesh. Or we can take the flesh and put it in beautiful white moral garments but it's still the flesh. And then we can take the flesh and we can send it through university and we can give it a cap and gown but it's still the flesh. And would you believe it we can take the flesh and we can glamorize it with all kinds of people. But that which is born of the flesh is flesh it's corrupt and it's basically evil. But secondly and we must see this that which is born of the flesh is spiritually dead. There's no spiritual life in it. That's why many people in London in particular we give them a bible and they will say something like this. I've read it can't understand it. I've tried to pray but very difficult to speak to someone you can't see. I've tried to imagine that God's by my side but very difficult. You need a great imagination. Now why? God is there but they're completely dead to God. Just like you might take a young man out and you might show him some lovely rolling hills and beautiful countryside but to him it's boring. The beauty is dead to him. Or you might show another person a beautiful Reuben painting and as you look at that lovely artistic masterpiece the tears might be flowing down your cheek because of its intrinsic beauty but his board's stiff. Why? He sees no beauty in it. Or you might hear a lovely piece of Handel's music and when you hear it it stirs your innermost soul but someone says I can't see what they see in it. Now it doesn't mean to say there's no beauty in the countryside. It doesn't mean to say there's no beauty in that piece of painting. It doesn't mean to say there's no beauty in that lovely piece of music by Handel but these people are dead to it. Now God is there in all his glorious reality but that which is born of the flesh is dead to God. We say that a car is dead when it's run out of petrol. Now it doesn't mean to say the car's disintegrated but there's no life in it. We say an electrical circuit is dead when there's no diffusion of electricity going through it. It doesn't mean to say the circuit's not there but it's dead. And you see man is spiritually dead. Now why? Because he is separated from God. And therefore here was a man that was in the height of religion. Here was a man that had more morality than most but he was spiritually dead and the Lord said that that man needed to be born again. Now what happens when a person is born anew? Well my dear friends first of all the Holy Spirit comes into his life. Now who is the Holy Spirit? We mustn't imagine that the Holy Spirit is an influence. We mustn't imagine he's like electricity, a kind of a force or a power that can go through a circuit. The Holy Spirit is a divine person and he is as divine as the Lord Jesus. In fact he's called in the Bible the Spirit of God and in every single detail he is as divine and co-equal as God himself. Now when a person is born of God the Holy Spirit of God comes into his life and makes his home in his dead spirit, makes that spirit alive and that man then begins to enter into the Kingdom of God. And John tells us three wonderful things about this newborn life. I must share it with you. It's some of the greatest truth that we have in the Bible and this is what John says. Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin for his seed remains in him and he cannot sin for he is born of God. Do you say are you saying then Mr Brandon that when a person is born of God he will never sin again? No. No. But he will not go on sinning. Now why? Because the Holy Spirit cannot sin. Divine persons cannot sin. Now can I repeat that? Divine persons cannot sin. Therefore when the Holy Spirit comes into your life he brings into your life a nature that cannot sin. Therefore a Christian has two natures. He has the flesh nature that he received from his first birth that we have seen is perpetually sinful and there's nothing that we can do to improve it. Then there is this completely new nature that God gives us when the Holy Spirit comes in that is constantly holy. And therefore when a person becomes a Christian invariably they find that there's a conflict. Paul put it like this. The flesh lusts against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary one to another. But that new life that comes into you when you're born again is as holy as the Holy Spirit, as holy as the Lord Jesus and as holy as God himself. Now if I stop there it would be a wonderful thing to be born a God. Just imagine God placing in someone's life tonight a nature that is totally sinless. But then John tells us something more. In the fifth chapter he says whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world and this is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith. Now what does that mean? The world there is the word cosmos and it means the system of this world. And the system of this world is controlled by Satan. He is the God of this world. He is the prince and the power of the air and therefore the system of this present world is controlled by Satan himself. Now when you are born of God a life comes into you through the activity of the Holy Spirit that can give you complete power over the system of this world and that's wonderful. If you look carefully ladies and gentlemen at the system of this world you will find that people are being overcome by it. I do not know about Australia but in many parts of Europe 25 percent of the people are on their pills and tranquilizers and so on. Why? Because the system of this world is overcoming them. Did you know in Europe in some parts 15 percent of the people are seriously on drugs and they can't get off. In some parts of Scotland and I say this with a sense of shame 20 percent of the people are alcoholics. What's happening? The system of this world is overcoming them. Now when a person is born of God and this is tremendous there is a power within him that can overcome totally and completely the whole system of this world. Now you say how do you know that? When the Lord Jesus was on the cross he said with a mighty voice finished and he overcame sin death and Satan and when he went back to heaven he went back to heaven as the great victor and when he sent the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit came to bring into your life the whole victory of the cross and that is why when a person is born of God and it's the genuine work of God there is a power within his life that can overcome the system of this world. But now the last point really is mind-boggling. In fact it will take Christians some time to lay hold on this fact. When a person is born of God he will never never die. Can I repeat that? He will never never die. You will say live forever? Yes. Forever and ever? Yes for eternity. What in this body? Oh no. My dear friends everyone I've met over a hundred doesn't want to live another 10 years and it would be agonizing to live in that body for 200 years. In the old days in the antediluvian days they lived much older than what we do now. But there was a man called Methuselah and he nearly lived a thousand years but he couldn't stick it and die. You see my dear friends it would be terrible to live in your life in your body for 150 years and God does a wonderful thing. He puts the Holy Spirit within your life. He makes his home within your spirit that was dead before you were born again and that spirit is made alive unto God and then the Holy Spirit wants to invade the whole of your inner personality and when you have to do your dying if the Lord Jesus doesn't come all God does is to take the person that lives in your body out of your body which is your soul and spirit and you go to be with the Lord Jesus which is far better. Whilst the physical part of you the body goes into the ground and it goes into dust. And when the Lord Jesus comes the second time now note this he will give you a completely new body called the body of glory to go round your soul and spirit so that you can live in heaven and in the eternal state forever. Now my dear friends this is not an exaggeration this is not hyperbole this is a tremendous fact when you are born again of the Holy Spirit in 20 trillion years you will be shaking hands with your fellow Christians that's why being born again is the most vital thing in life. But you know what the devil does? He comes along and he dangles before us the brick box in which we live. He dangles before us the big tin can highly painted on four wheels and we get all taken up with that. Instead of taken up with this eternal home and this eternal glory. Now my dear friends can I ask a very emphatic question as the Lord's servant have you been really born again? You see basic Christianity if I may say this to you from my heart it's not just coming out at the front it's not just seeing a preacher it's not just making a good profession basic Christianity is supernatural. It's when a person is genuinely born again. It's a completely new life that comes into him and that is why I believe when the Lord comes there will be many people badly shaken because they just had this nodding acquaintance they were never never born again of the Holy Spirit and beloved friends make sure that you get the real thing and not a second hand imitation. Make sure when God meets you you have been born from above. Now let's look at the must of the new birth. Now the Lord Jesus put it very emphatically and this is what he said to Nicodemus and I'm quite sure he would say this to us except a man be born from above he cannot see the kingdom. Now if you talk to the average person in Europe they don't see the kingdom. Quite frankly over there they see universal pollution. We have just been told by leading members of the ecology ranks that if we do not purify our water and our air within 15 years a good part of Europe could be polluted and that also includes Australia. We little realize the way in which our seas and our water supplies are being polluted. In fact it's almost unbelievable when you're up in an airplane to see the death haze over our cities even Sydney. You see the world is in a horrendous state and things are beginning to seize up and we can all see today especially if you have any understanding of nuclear science that if there was a world war a good part of the world could be destroyed and therefore today people don't see the kingdom they see disaster. But when you're born again you don't see disaster you see the kingdom. First of all you see the kingdom within you. You say Christ in me the hope of glory that's the kingdom it's when Christ comes into your life and your little life is controlled by the Holy Spirit and that's the kingdom. You see the kingdom is within you and then you meet other born anew Christians and it doesn't matter what label they have whether it's Church of England Baptist or Methodist but if they have been genuinely born again you can give them the right of fellowship. A lovely unity. I found that in the Navy. There were so few Christians in the Navy that when you found a born again Christian you didn't ask his denomination you were just glad that he was born again of the Holy Spirit. Those dear brothers and sisters who are suffering in China when they meet a born again man they hug them and kiss them. Why? Because persecution has broken all the labels and it's that lovely oneness in Christ that matters. You see the kingdom. I know some people find this hard to understand but have you ever imagined a tadpole? I love looking at nature and I've often imagined a tadpole and a frog and the tadpole says to the mother frog isn't this a beautiful pond? Isn't it vast and glorious? Look at all the pink hands aren't they lovely at the bottom of our pond and look at some of these weeds aren't they delightful mother? A mother would say but there's something higher my dear. There's something much better. Oh there can be nothing better than this. Mother you're living in the sky. Ah my dear she would say when you go through some pain and through a process of death you won't have the kind of body you've got now. You'll have a different body and then you'll move out of the little pond and you'll move into another world so vast and glorious this will be just like shall I say it one of those ugly pig styes that we all hate and the little tadpole would laugh and say mother you're talking sheer nonsense. This pond is just lovely. Now what's wrong? The little tadpole has never entered into a different sphere of life. Friends can I say this to you lovingly? If you have never been born again I feel so sad for you. You're living in a little pond of this world full of pollution, full of sin but when you're born anew forgive my excitement you see you see the kingdom and you see the kingdom coming. You begin to enter into the joy of it and you begin to see it coming and all Christians should be excited for very shortly the Lord is going to come and we're going to move into that realm with a new body. You see a Christian sees the kingdom. Someone said to me Christians are small-minded now forgive me letting down my hair what sheer nonsense. To be small-minded is to be trapped in this little world called terra firma the pond. When you are born of God yes you enjoy the world in which you live but you see it's very small but then you enjoy the world that's immeasurable the kingdom of God. Oh I trust that you'll get in tonight and you'll see the kingdom. But then he said except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Being born of water doesn't refer to baptism because that water can never give you the new birth but the water there speaks of the word of God we are born again of an incorruptible seed. And then you find born of water and of the spirit simply means that the spirit applies the word of God therefore the word that you're hearing tonight the spirit wants to apply it so that you enter the kingdom. Now this is so emphatic it was spoken by our Lord and I do want to make it real to you. Most people have been christened but that's not being born again. Many people have been confirmed but that's not being born again. Some people have been baptized by immersion that's not being born again. Some people break the bread every Sunday and drink the wine in communion that's not being born again. Some people have been to the minister or to the church elders and they've received the right hand of fellowship that's not being born again. Now friends can I say something that's jagged but truthful. You can be christened, confirmed, baptized by immersion, you can break bread every Sunday, you can have a letter of commendation, you can have the right hand of fellowship and be lost. What a shock I had about 10 years ago I was in Belfast and an elderly sister said I would like you to come and speak to my brother. He's an elder in the Presbyterian church and he's dying and he knows it and I would like you to speak to him about his soul. So I went to see this dear man and I must say that he was moral you could see that he was upright he was religious and then I gripped him by the hand and said would you mind if I read the scriptures to you and I read him these words that the Lord read to Nicodemus except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God and then I said to the dear man have you been born again and this is what he said Mr. Brandon I've been christened as a child yes I've been confirmed I've been a church elder for 40 years I've ministered the sacrament for 30 years I've tried to live a good life but I've never been born again I said could you tell me your age he said I'm 85 isn't that pathetic 85 christened confirmed a church elder never born again and I love the man I gripped his hand and I said that will never take you to heaven you must be born again he said how can I be born again and I told him as I'm going to tell you I said let me pray for you I could see he was very weak and I just prayed and I said to his sister you know he's not born again oh she says I know that I'm worried go on praying for him and that night he prayed he asked the Lord to forgive him to come into his life and he was born again and he lived two days and the Lord took him now friends would you mind if I raise my voice you can be christened confirmed baptized by immersion member of the gospel hall even an elf and not be born again now when Nicodemus heard this his reactions could have been threefold he could have said with a sense of anger just imagine a man coming from Galilee a carpenter telling me a man of authority that I must be born again and I'll never see the kingdom unless I am and he could have walked away in a rage but he didn't or listening to the Lord Jesus he could have used the whole of his argument in such a way as to turn it and become cynical and laugh at the idea of a grown-up man being born from about but he didn't he swallowed all his pride and he said to the Lord in utter sincerity how can these things be I want this to happen to me and my dear friends you will never be born again until you get there this Lord I've never really been born again and I can see it's absolutely essential if I'm going to heaven therefore I want to know how this can happen and immediately he got there the Lord explained away he said Nicodemus do you remember when the children of Israel were going through the wilderness of sin yes do you remember when God kept away all the snakes and serpents and wild animals and really protected them yes do you remember that time when God fed them day by day with the manna and the quails and with that running water that followed them I do but can you recall that moment when they got bored with the food and they called Moses and God murderers I do and because of that awful accusation the wall of this fence was taken down and they were bitten by serpents I do remember that Nicodemus you haven't been bitten by serpents but you were bitten by sin the moment you were born and it's in your nature and you cannot go to heaven unless you're born anew I see that and I want to be born anew do you remember the way of escape yes he said Moses made a serpent of copper and lifted it up upon a pole and they had to look and live have you ever considered that the serpent was the creature that was doing all the damage and the very thing that was doing all the damage was the very thing a serpent of brass that was going to bring the remedy yes he said I've never understood that well he said would you mind if I gave you the explanation I haven't come into this world to live I've come to die and I'm going to be lifted up on a cross and sin and all its judgment is going to be placed on me and your sins will be there and the sins of the whole world and on that cross I'm going to cry out the language of a sinner my God my God why hast thou forsaken me and when I have exhausted God's judgment I'm going to cry with a mighty voice finished and through that act your sins can be forgiven but more God is going to lift me up you see man's going to lift me up on a cross but God's going to lift me out from death and he's going to take me back to glory and when I have been back in glory then I shall send the Holy Spirit just as the wind blows and you hear it so the Holy Spirit will come and all those that receive Christ as their Savior and Lord they will be born anew and then he said this for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes on him should not perish but have everlasting life and dear friends that Holy Spirit's here tonight that Holy Spirit is here now and he's waiting to come into your life right now in this room just where we're seated the Holy Spirit is operating and there are only two things stopping the Holy Spirit from coming into your life one is sin and that can be cleansed by the blood of Christ and the other is your will and when he comes into your life it's not like receiving a gift like that Bible it's not like receiving a gift like this pen oh no it's a gift of eternal life and when he comes into your life he will change the whole of your life and you will be born anew but you've got to receive we were having some meetings in a place called the will and with this our class and then there was a particular lady in one local church that was friendly with a lot of people connected with the Congregational and the Methodists and she invited about 40 of these ladies with two gentlemen to come into a home for a morning coffee and when we got into this lovely home there were these 40 people and so I took up the narrative that I've taken up with you tonight you must be born again halfway through the discourse one lady got up and she took a child from a mother's lap and walked out in anger and I could see her walking backwards and forwards and by her face I could see that she was infuriated when we had time for questions she came back and put the baby on the seat and this is what she said Mr. Brandon did I hear you say we might be christened confirmed church members moral upright could even be an elder but we still needed to be born again I said yes I did say that well she said I totally disagree with that dogmatism well I said no then madam we mustn't lose our temper we must speak on a friendly basis would you tell me what the Lord Jesus meant when he said to Nicodemus except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God except a man be born of water and the spirit he cannot enter why was the Lord Jesus so dogmatic but she said this is the point Mr. Brandon I don't like the dogmatism but I said the Lord Jesus was dogmatic and then another lady interrupted and said this Mabel I'm a deaconess in the church and so are you I've heard Mr. Brandon and I realize there's something missing in my spiritual and moral life I've never been born again and I would like to be born again why are you so much against it these are the words of Jesus and then another lady said Mabel I've never been born again I've never heard this message before but I would like to know that experience well to cut a long story short three people in that room trusted Christ and were born again and all the difference and everyone left except Mabel and I can see her now she looked at me and she said this I know my trouble I said what's that Mabel I'm stuffed up with pride I've been depending upon my good works and my religion to get me to heaven but I can see that's not sufficient I said that's exactly right and you know what she did she got down by a little chair and she wept her heart out and then she prayed this prayer just as I am without one plea but that thy blood was shed for me and that thou bidst me come to thee O Lamb of God I come and she came and that woman was born of God and she lived an outstanding Christian life and became a remarkable soul winner would you mind if I pointed is there someone here that would like now to be born in you right now then come to the Lord just like Nicodemus did and Mabel and you'll find that he'll give you that new life