Good morning and welcome to the Berean Break.  My name is George Sinkie and I am so glad that we can be together this morning.  Today we are going to be talking about being born and dieing.  Every day there are people born, and there are those who die, in this world, but we are going to look beyond this happening just in the physical way and see that this also happens in the spiritual sense.  Before we go on let’s go to God in prayer,

Great God in heaven.  We thank You for this day in our lives and for the many blessings that we have received each day.  We thank You for the snow and the moisture that it brings to this earth.  We also want to ask You for safety as we are out in this colder and snowy weather.  Help us today to see that there are births that we want to take part in and deaths we want to avoid.  We pray in Jesus’ name!  AMEN !!

     Let’s start out by looking at a passage of Scripture out of the Revelation that John received at Patmos.  In Revelation 20:11-15, John writes,

  11 And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.
  12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
  13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.
  14 And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.  This is the second death, the lake of fire.
  15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

     These are some very sobering thoughts given concerning the final judgment.  Several things are seen in this passage; (1) the end of the present universe; (2) all are to be judged; (3) judgment is according to the deeds that a person has done; (4) those whose names are not found in the book of life are thrown into the lake of fire; (5) this is the “second death.”

     I read an interesting point concerning this passage.  It was at this passage that, after his death, they found two short phrases handwritten in the margin of Martin Luther’s Bible.  These two phrases he had written certainly do express the truth as taught in the Scriptures concerning judgment and eternity.  The phrases were:  “Born once – die twice; Born twice – die once.”  We’ll take a closer look at that phrase in light of the Scriptures of God, but before we do, I’d like to refer you to another of Luther’s writings.  Now if you are a regular listener to this program, you have heard me say that we should not follow man-made creeds and catechisms.  Now I also have on occasion said that these man-made writings will sometimes present the truth.  I want to look at this because it shows that baptism in water is necessary to produce salvation from sin.  This is from a writing given the title “The Smaller Catechism” written in 1529 AD.  Luther writes:

Q.  What is Baptism?
     A.  Baptism is not just plain water, but it is water contained within God’s command and united with God’s Word

Q.  What does Baptism give?  What good is it?
     A.  It gives the forgiveness of sins, redeems from death and the Devil, gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, just as God’s words and promises declare.  

Q.  How can water do such great things?
     A.  Water doesn’t make these things happen, of course.  It is God’s Word, which is with and in the water.  Because, without God’s Word, the water is plain water and not baptism.  But with God’s Word it is a Baptism, a grace-filled water of life, a bath of new birth in the Holy Spirit...

     Again, this was written by Martin Luther – almost 500 years ago.  It is truth, not because Martin Luther said so, but because the Bible confirms these teachings.  It is biblically accurate.

     Let’s go on now to look at these phrases, “Born once – die twice; Born twice – die once.”  In Romans 6:23, it says,

  23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

     There are several states referred to as “death” in the Bible.  There is a “physical death”.  This is the one we usually mean by the term.  The Bible points out that the physical body is dead when the spirit separates from it in James 2:26

  26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

     There is also “spiritual death.”  This is the state that describes sinners who are separated from God by their sins, as Paul write of in Ephesians 2:1

  1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

     Ephesians 2:12

  12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

     It was in this sense that Adam and Eve died on the very day they disobeyed God.  They died spiritually, and also become subject to physical death.

     Finally, there is the “second death”.  This is the eternal state of alienation from God described in Revelation 20 – the “lake of fire.”   There is much we do not know about this last state mentioned, but we do know enough to understand that it would be the worst tragedy to suffer such a plight.  There are many passages which describe the “second death,” such as, Revelation 21:8; 20:10; 14:9-11; Mk. 9:42-48; Mt. 25:30, 41, 46; 22:13.

     Someone asks, “How could a God of love allow such a thing to happen?”  We look at the universe through the eyes of sinful men.  We do not perceive sin the way the perfect righteousness God does.  When we say it does not seem fair to condemn sinners to such, we are doing so from tainted perspectives.  If the Lord does a thing, then that thing is just.  However, God did love us enough to send a rescuer our way.  Jesus died for our sins that we might live.  If we turn our backs on Him, then how can we plead “unfair!” when we are condemned in our sins?

     John 3:3-5 says:

  3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
  4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old?  He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”
  5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

     The way to avoid the second death is to be a partaker in the second birth!  Jesus said there were two necessary parts in being “born again.”  He referred to it as “being born of the water and the spirit.”

     Later, follow His resurrection, He will send out the apostles to “preach the gospel” so they can “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”  Check out the Great Commission as it is often called.  Matthew 28:18-20

  18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
  19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
  20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

     And also Mark 16:15-16

  15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
  16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”

     Obeying His commands, the apostles taught the believers on the day of Pentecost to “repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:37-38)  When the Ethiopian nobleman heard the gospel and then saw some water, he expressed the desire to be baptized in the water, and subsequently was. (Acts 8:35-39).  Saul of Tarsus was told, “Arise, and be baptized, washing away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” (Acts 22:16).  This is how “baptism also now saves us.” (1 Peter 3:21).

     But not only water is necessary.  As Luther correctly pointed out, the water must be connected to the Lord’s word.  As Jesus said, “born of water and the Spirit,” Jesus promised to send the Spirit to guide the apostles unto all truth John 16:12- 14

  12 I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
  13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
  14 He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you.

     When the apostles received and taught that truth, and people obeyed it, they were purified.  Check out how Peter says this in 1 Peter 1:22-23

  22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,
  23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.

     So, Luther was correct in his statements about baptism which we considered.  He was right because what he said is what the Scriptures say.  It is a shame that people who wear his name today (which by the way is something he specifically requested men NOT to do) — it is a shame that they would deny the very things he taught.  The bottom line, briefly put, is “Born once – die twice; born twice – die once.”