Today, Dr. Byrd speaks on the
topic "You Must Have True
Religion." And now, here he is,
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speaker/director of Breath of
Life Ministries, Dr. Carlton
Byrd. speaker/director of Breath
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of Life Ministries, Dr. Carlton
Byrd. PB:  John chapter 3, verse
number 1. "There was a man of
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the Pharisees, named Nicodemus,
a ruler of the Jews: The same
came to Jesus by night, and said
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unto him, Rabbi, we know that
thou art a teacher come from
God: for no man can do these
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miracles that thou doest, except
God be with him. Jesus answered
and said unto him, Verily,
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verily, I say unto thee, Except
a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God.
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Nicodemus saith unto him, How
can a man be born when he is
old? Can he enter the second
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time into his mother's womb, and
be born? Jesus answered, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except
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a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God. That which
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is born of the flesh is flesh;
and that which is born of the
Spirit is" what, everybody? Aud:
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Spirit.    PB:  "Marvel not that
I said unto thee, Ye must be
born again." Now, this text can
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be preached a number of ways,
but this way we preach this
today, you must have that true
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religion. Father God, bless us
now as we preach Your Word. But
even as we preach, Lord go to
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Huntsville Hospital right now,
touch Michael Monet's body, and
Lord be with his wife right now,
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ease her worry. Because God,
You've not given her, You've not
given him, You've not given us a
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spirit of fear. But God, we pray
Your power on him right now.
Lord we ask that you would even
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bring comfort to Sister Benny
Armstrong's family in this their
time of loss. But Lord, right
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now, we need You in the
sanctuary of the Oakwood Church.
We need You over the airways
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right now. By the power of Your
Holy Spirit, speak to Your
people. Forgive us of our sins,
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hide us behind Your cross, and
Lord when we leave this place
we'll be able to say it was good
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to have been here. So with that,
move during the appeal. In
Jesus' name we pray, amen. You
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must have that true religion.
The world in which we live has
different meanings,
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understandings and connotations
of religion. The four largest
religious groups in the world
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are Christianity, Islam,
Hinduism and Buddhism, and if
you ask the followers of any of
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these four different religious
groups to tell you what religion
is, they will all tell you
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something different. The sermon
today declares you must have
that true religion. So without
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turning this into a comparative
religions class, let me tell you
by way of illustration why I'm a
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Christian. In the villages of
northern India, a missionary was
preaching. After he had finished
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preaching and was getting ready
to leave that village, a Muslim
gentleman came up to him and
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said, "You must admit, we have
as Muslims one thing you don't
have. And it's better than
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anything you do have." The
missionary smiled and said,
"Well, if it's so good tell me
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what it is." The Muslim said,
"You know, when we go to Mecca,
we at least find a coffin. But
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when you Christians go to
Jerusalem, which is your Mecca,
you find nothing but an empty
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grave." And the missionary
smiled. He said, "I got him now.
That's just the difference," he
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said. "Mohammed is dead.
Mohammed is in a coffin. And in
other systems of religion and
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philosophy, their powers, their
deities are dead in their
coffins, too." He said, "Buddha
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is dead. Buddha is in a coffin.
Confucius is dead. Confucius is
in a coffin. Oh, but my Jesus,"
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[Aud. reaction] PB:  "He's not
dead. He's not in a coffin. I
wish I had a witness in this
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place. "He's not here. He is
risen. He's alive. I serve a
risen Savior, and because I
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serve a risen Savior, because I
serve Jesus, because I follow
Jesus, there's no other way to
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salvation but by Jesus, I'm a
Christian." Do I have a witness
in this place? [Aud. reaction]  
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PB:  But even within the
Christian ranks we have
different meanings of what
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religion is. A Danish theologian
identified two kinds of
religion. Let's call them
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religion A and religion B. He
said the first, religion A, is
faith in the name of religion
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only. These are people who Paul
says in 2 Timothy 3:5, "have a
form of godliness but deny the
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power thereof. " They act as if
they are religious, but they
reject the power that can make
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them godly. It's the practice of
attending church without genuine
faith in the living God.
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Religion B, on the other hand,
is a life-transforming,
destiny-changing experience.
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It's a definite commitment to
the crucified and risen Savior,
which establishes an ongoing
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personal relationship between a
forgiving Savior and a gracious
God. It's the kind of religion
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where Paul says, in Galatians
2:20, "I am crucified with
Christ: nevertheless I live; yet
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not I, but Christ liveth in me:
and the life which I now live in
the flesh I live by the faith of
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the Son of God, who loved me,
and gave himself for me."
Hallelujah, somebody [Aud.
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reaction]    PB:  That's true
religion. Let me be clear today.
Religion alone does not mean you
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believe in Jesus. There are a
lot of religions in the world,
but there are a lot of religions
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in the world that have nothing
to do with Jesus. But not only
that, religion alone cannot get
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you salvation. There's only one
name under heaven whereby we can
be saved, and that's the name of
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Jesus. Everybody talking about
heaven ain't going. Everybody
talking about Jesus isn't
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serving Jesus. Being religious
does not automatically make you
righteous. That's why you must
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have that true religion. In the
text, quickly, we're reminded of
a man named Nicodemus. Everybody
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say "Nicodemus." Aud.: 
Nicodemus.    PB: Nicodemus was
a man of great prominence who
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was also very religious. How do
we know he was religious?
Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and
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Pharisees were religious people
who prided themselves in
external acts of religious
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service. But not only was
Nicodemus a righteous man, he
was a good man. So somebody's
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sitting here and saying, "Well,
Pastor Byrd, you already said he
was righteous. And so if he's
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religious, he's automatically
must have been good." No, no,
no, no. Everybody that's
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religious is not good. I wish I
had a witness in this place.
[Aud. reaction]    PB:  It's
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possible for a person to be
caught up in religious
ceremonialism and ritualism and
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still be no good. I know some
church folk--not in Oakwood.
Come on, say amen. [Aud.
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reaction] PB:  Who are very
religious. They know when to say
amen. They know when to say
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Hallelujah. They know when to
say thank You, Jesus. They know
when to stomp their feet. They
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know when to stand and sing the
hymns. They know when to recite
the fourth Commandment. They
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know the Communion table is for
bread and wine. They know you
eat bread first, drink wine
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second. Religion is your
rituals, your customs, your
habitual activities, but being
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outwardly religious does not
necessarily make one good. [Aud.
reaction]    PB:  Even the devil
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was religious.    [Aud.
reaction] PB:  The devil knows
religious language, religious
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rituals, religious customs. The
devil can out-religion you. Too
many religious people have been
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pretty packaging, have pretty
packaging on the outside but
have downsized the amount of
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spirituality on the inside.
Ritualistic religiosity can lead
to shrinking spirituality. We
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can be strongly and staunchly
religious to the detriment of
our spiritual sensitivity and
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life and fellowship with God.
Let's be real today. When was
the last time you were moved by
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the message of an old familiar
hymn? When was the last time you
wept over Amazing grace, how
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sweet the sound that saved a
wretch like me. When was the
last time you were overwhelmed
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by the power of the 23rd Psalm.
When was the last time you got
excited when you prayed the
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Lord's Prayer. When was the last
time you felt the joy of God,
just because you were able to
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get up on Sabbath morning, put
on your clothes, come into the
house of God and step into the
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sanctuary and walk up before
Christ. When was the last time
you rejoined in the depths of
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your heart, not because you
heard a great sermon, not
because you heard great singing,
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not because you came to this
great church, but because you
serve a great Savior. And a
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mighty great God. According to
Matthew 26, there were some
religious folk in Jerusalem.
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Chief priests, scribes and
Pharisees who devised a plan,
church folk, to kill Jesus.
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Pharisees were church folk, and
remember, you couldn't beat them
at being religious. They sang
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the right songs, they prayed the
right prayers, they preached the
right sermons, they adhered to
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the right rituals, they observed
the Sabbath, they went by the
book but it was all sounding
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brass and tinkling cymbal.
Remember, it was Jesus who said,
"Not every one that saith unto
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me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven; but he
that doeth the will of my Father
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which is in heaven. Many will
say to me in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in
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thy name? and in thy name have
cast out devils? and in thy name
done many wonderful works?" I
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will then, He said, "profess
unto them, I knew you not:
depart from me, ye that work
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iniquity." Modern-day
translation, Relevant Word, the
Byrd Bible. It's possible to go
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straight to hell right through
the doors of the church.   
[Aud. reaction] PB:  You can be
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religious, but that doesn't make
you good. Intelligence does not
guarantee integrity. Education
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does not always guarantee truth.
Democracy does not guarantee
justice and religion does not
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guarantee God. Sometimes,
religion becomes an enemy to God
and an oppressor of humanity,
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and that can easily happen when
religion takes at its center
anything but God. The Pharisees
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had biblical religion, but they
rejected the very One that their
religion was centered around,
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Jesus. We can know so much about
the Bible, but really, do we
know Jesus? We can know the 23rd
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Psalm, but do we know the
Shepherd?  We can know the
Lord's Prayer, but really, do we
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know the Lord? Nicodemus flunked
the test because he was too
familiar with the material, but
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he never got into the real
meaning of it all. Religion
alone focuses on the things
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others can see and forgets that
God can see everything about
them. Religion alone worries
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about what others may think and
wants to be perfect. Religion
alone seeks to find loopholes in
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the Word of God in order to
avoid obeying the Word of God.
Religion alone hones heroes of
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the past but rejects God's work
in the present. Religion alone
seeks a deeper message in the
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Bible in order to be in control.
Religion alone prevents people
from becoming genuine
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Christians. But today, you must
have that true religion. There's
a whole bunch of dangerous, bad,
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false religions in the world.
Bad, false religion can make you
hard, cold and mean. A bitter
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world cannot be sweetened by a
sour religion. Bad religion will
make you snap at the ushers,
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will make you act demanding
toward volunteers as if they
were your hired servants. Bad
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religion will make you tighten
your fists when the deacons come
by to collect the tithe and
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offering. Bad religion will make
you sit up and hear, refuse to
sing, refuse to smile, refuse to
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speak, refuse to shake hands,
refuse to pray, refuse to praise
God, refuse to thank God, as if
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God hasn't blessed You, God
hasn't kept you, God hasn't
delivered you, God hasn't raised
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you, God hasn't redeemed you,
God hasn't brought you out of
the miry clay and placed your
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feet on solid ground and safe.
In fact, bad religion is worse
than no religion at all, because
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no witness is better than a bad
witness. [Aud. reaction]    PB: 
Bad religion took apartheid to
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South Africa. Bad religion
brought slavery to America. It
organized the Ku Klux Klan,
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destroyed Iran, devastated Iraq,
killed Martin Luther King. Bad
religion crucified Jesus. When
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you practice bad, false
religion, the continuity of the
Bible is denied, the voice of
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God is ignored, the vision of
the kingdom is blurred, the
agenda of the Holy Ghost is
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disturbed, and the salvation of
Christ is rejected. You must
have that true religion. True
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religion means you're sold out
to Jesus. True religion means
you're in a relationship with
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Jesus, that you fall in love
with Jesus, that you're getting
ready for the Second Coming of
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Jesus. And so, Jesus says, "If
you want to practice true
religion, if you want to live
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true religion, if you want to
model true religion, you must be
born again. That's true religion
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today. Being born again.
Nicodemus, you must be born
again. But Nicodemus said, How
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can a man be born when a man is
old? How can a man enter a
second time into his mother's
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womb? How can a man go back.
Jesus says, "You're
misunderstanding what I'm trying
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to say. You don't understand
what I'm talking about. I'm not
talking about going backward, he
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says, I'm talking about going
forward. You must be born again.
If you look at the Greek root
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word here, you see the double
meaning of the word. Here,
referring to the second birth,
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you must be born again, is a no
saying. Which means two things:
a no saying, You must be born
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again, means two things: Number
1, it's being born a second
time, and then number 2, it's
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being born from above. You're
born a second time, and you're
born from above. You must have
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that true religion. You've got
to be born a second time, and
you've got to be born from
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above. Nicodemus, you're a
religious man. You are a good
man, but have you been born a
00:21:19.24\00:21:27.85
second time. Have you been born
from above. You see, the first
time I was born, I was born in
00:21:27.88\00:22:55.44
Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Our Lady
of the Lake Hospital. But the
second time I was born, I was
00:22:55.47\00:23:09.68
born into the life of Christ,
the hope of the church and
fellowship of the faith. The
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first time I was born, I became
a citizen of the United States.
But the second time I was born,
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I became a citizen of God's
kingdom. The first time I was
born, I became eligible for
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Social Security, but the second
time I was born, I became a
recipient of God's eternal
00:23:37.48\00:23:44.45
security.    [Aud. reaction] PB:
 The first time I was born, they
brought me home from the
00:23:44.49\00:23:50.16
hospital to be cared for, but
the second time I was born, I
brought my whole family to the
00:23:50.19\00:23:54.30
Elam Seventh Day Adventist
Church in St. Petersburg,
Florida, on August the 8th,
00:23:54.36\00:24:05.34
1980; 8016 Avenue South, to see
me get baptized! The first time
I was born, they wrote my name
00:24:05.37\00:24:18.05
in the United States Census, but
the second time I was born,
angels in heaven wrote my name
00:24:18.09\00:24:22.56
in the Lamb's Book of Life. The
first time I was born, I was
born in the flesh; the second
00:24:22.59\00:24:28.90
time I was born, I was born in
the Spirit. The first time I was
born, I became a human being,
00:24:28.93\00:24:34.20
but the second time I was born,
I became a living soul. The
first time I was born, I became
00:24:34.24\00:24:41.21
a pilgrim of time, but the
second time I was born, I became
an heir of salvation, purchased
00:24:41.24\00:25:02.60
of God, born of His Spirit and
lost in His love. You must be
born again, and that, my
00:25:02.63\00:25:09.87
friends, is true religion.   
You practiced religion before,
but now God is calling you to
00:25:09.90\00:25:19.21
true religion. Not going through
the motions but going through
Jesus, because if you don't
00:25:19.25\00:25:27.36
practice true religion, if
you're not born again, your
faith will become faulty, your
00:25:27.39\00:25:41.04
praise will become passive, your
witness will become weak and
your testimony will become
00:25:41.07\00:25:49.78
tired. If we would enter heaven,
we must be born again. Salvation
is a gift, my friends, from God
00:25:49.81\00:26:08.93
that is not based on being
religious or our good works.
There is nothing that you and I,
00:26:08.96\00:26:25.55
there is nothing we can do to
deserve or earn salvation. Our
righteousness in the sight of
00:26:25.58\00:26:38.49
God is but as filthy rags. As
wonderful as it is to visit the
sick, that won't get you in. As
00:26:38.53\00:26:52.67
good as it is to gins in a
choir, that won't get you in.
Even though you're on the elder
00:26:52.71\00:27:10.73
board, the deacon board, the
deaconess board, that won't get
you in. So, let me give you some
00:27:10.76\00:27:26.94
advice. Before you get on the
elder board, before you get on
the deacon, deaconess or usher
00:27:26.98\00:27:38.99
board, make sure you've been
born again. Don't put on a choir
robe or stand and sing in the
00:27:39.02\00:27:51.73
praise team unless you've been
born again. You can't sing your
way into heaven, you can't usher
00:27:51.77\00:28:06.72
your way into heaven, you can't
give the call to worship on your
way into heaven. You cannot
00:28:06.75\00:28:08.32
greet your way into heaven, you
cannot elder your way into
heaven, I can't pastor my way
00:28:08.35\00:28:11.05
into heaven. [Aud. reaction]   
PB:  You might be genuinely a
good person. We've got a whole
00:28:11.09\00:28:16.96
lot of good folk. You might have
a good heart, but you can't make
it to heaven with just a good
00:28:16.99\00:28:31.97