The holy spirit's free will

THE HOLY SPIRIT'S FREE WILL
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
John 3:8 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You
hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes
from or where it is going. So it is with everyoneborn
of the Spirit."
The Free Will of the Wind
Resource by John Piper
Scripture: John 3:1–10 Topic:Calvinism
I am going to focus on one verse, namely, verse 8, and talk about the free will
of the wind — or the free will of the Holy Spirit in the wayhe brings about the
new birth. The reasonfor this narrow focus, when we have ten verses, is that I
preachedtwo sermons on these verses seventeenmonths ago during our series
on the new birth. But I did not linger long over verse 8 with its huge
implications for how we understand free will, and why God’s free will in our
conversionis such goodnews and makes sucha great difference in how we
live.
In verse 8, Jesus says, “The wind blows where it wishes [that is the free will of
the wind], and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from
or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” That’s what
we are going to focus on. But we should see it in context, and so I’m going to
give six summary statements basedon those two other sermons to help us get
our bearings in this passage. Youcan find the arguments for these summary
statements in those sermons, or in the book Finally Alive.

Six Summaries About New Birth
First, verses 1–3:Nicodemus was a religious man but not born again. So you
can be religious and not born again. Even though Nicodemus says in verse 2,
“Rabbi, we know that you are a teachercome from God,” Jesus says in verse
7, “You must be born again.” So it is possible that you see Godat work in
Jesus without God being at work in you. You can be religiously impressed
without being born again.
Second, verses 3, 5, and 7: We must be born again in order to see and enter
the kingdom of God, that is, in order to be rescuedfrom God’s judgment
(John 3:36) and brought to eternal life. Verse 3: “Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” It is not an
optional religious experience. It is absolutelynecessaryif we would be saved.
“We know we have been born of God, if we are now believing.”
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Third, verse 5: When Jesus says, “Unless one is born of waterand the Spirit,
he cannot enter the kingdom of God,” (verse 5) he’s not referring to baptism,
as many take it. Rather, it’s an allusionto Ezekiel36:24–28, andthe point is
that we need both new spiritual life (workedby the Spirit) and cleansing
(signified by water). (See especiallythe messageonthis verse.)
Fourth, verse 6: When Jesus says in verse 6, “That which is born of the flesh is
flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit,” he means that we are
merely flesh, that is, merely human and spiritually dead at our first birth, but
are made spiritually alive by our secondbirth.
Fifth, verses 7 and 10: When Jesus says, “Are you the teacherof Israeland yet
you do not understand these things?” (verse 10), he shows that his teaching is

not completelynew but that someone who knows the Old Testamentwell
should understand what Jesus is saying better than Nicodemus does.
Sixth, when we were working on this passageseventeenmonths ago, we went
to John’s first letter to see very clearlyhow the new birth relatedto Jesus
himself and to faith. In 1 John 5:11, John says, “Godgave us eternallife, and
this life is in his Son.” So the life we getin the new birth from the Spirit, we
get because the Spirit unites us to the Son of God who is life. And in 1 John
5:1, he says, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of
God.” In other words, we know we have been born of God — born again by
the Spirit in union with Jesus — if we are now believing. When the Holy Spirit
creates new spiritual life in us, the simultaneous effect is seeing Jesus as
beautiful, receiving him for who he is, and believing on him for his promises.
To confirm this in John’s Gospel, look back at John 1:12–13:“But to all who
did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God, who were born [this is the new birth], not of blood nor of the
will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” In other words, God
causes us to be born again with new spiritual life, and the simultaneous effect
is that we see and receive Jesus forwho he is and trust him with our lives.
The Wind of the Spirit
That’s the context. And now we come to verse 8. Jesus is comparing the work
of the Spirit of God in the new birth to the way the wind moves, and the way
the wind causes effects in the world without being seenand without being
controlled by us. In verse 6, Jesus has just said, “That which is born of the
Spirit is spirit.” So he is making clearthat the new birth is the work of Holy
Spirit. When you are born again, you are born by the Spirit. The new spiritual
life that comes in the new birth comes through the Holy Spirit. This is really
clearin John 6:63. “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all.”
So the new birth — and the new life that comes with it — is the work of the
Holy Spirit.

Now, having made that plain, Jesus teachesin verse 8 how the Holy Spirit
does this work of regeneration. “The wind blows where it wishes, and you
hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So
it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” There is a play on words here
because in Greek the word for wind and the word for Spirit are the same. So
the wind is being treated as a picture of the Spirit.
The Work of the Wind
He says four things about the work of the wind which is a picture of the work
of the Spirit. (1) “The wind blows where it wishes” — where it wills. So the
wind — the Spirit — is free. He — I will use the masculine pronoun because
the Spirit is a person, not just a force, and because Johnuses the masculine
pronoun in John 14:26;15:26;16:13 — he is not constrainedby us. The
emphasis falls on the will of the Spirit, not ours.
Then Jesus says, (2)“and you hear its sound. . . .” This means that there are
perceptible effects of the invisible wind. You can’t see the wind, but you know
there is wind because there is sound, or pressure againstyour skin, or
branches and leaves and dust flying in the air. So it is with the Spirit in the
work of regeneration:you can’t see him, but you can see his effects.
(3) Jesus says, “but you do not know where it comes from. . . .” This
emphasizes that you did not do not originate the movement of the Spirit, and
you do not controlthe movement of the Spirit. “You do not know.” These
words mean there is a mystery here. The Spirit works in ways we do not fully
understand.
This is like what Jesus saidin Mark 4:26–27:“The kingdom of God is as if a
man should scatterseedonthe ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and
the seedsprouts and grows;he knows not how.” The kingdom of God is like
that. And Jesus says in John 3:5 that you can’t enter the kingdom of God
unless you are born again. That’s why Jesus says:we scatterthe seedof the
word, and God causesnew birth, we know not how.

Then (4) Jesus says atthe end of that first sentence in verse 8, “[you do not
know]where it goes.”You can’t determine its origin, and you can’t determine
his destination. The Spirit is free. He goes where he wills.
So the point so far is that the wind is mysterious. It has a will of its own, so to
speak. It comes and it goes by its own laws. We don’t control it. We didn’t
then. And we don’t now, 2,000 years later. The wind is free. We do not decide
what the wind does. The wind does what the wind does.
The Decisive Act — The Wind’s, Not Ours
Then Jesus makes the comparison with the Spirit’s work explicit. Verse 8:
You have heard how the wind works . . . “so it is with everyone who is born of
the Spirit.” Literally: “In this way is everyone who is born for the Spirit.” You
have heard how the wind works, “in this way everyone who is born of the
Spirit comes into being.” The point of emphasizing the freedom of the wind in
producing its effects is to make plain the freedom of the Spirit in producing
people who are born again.
“When you are born again, you are born by the Spirit.”
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So what verse 8 is teaching is this: We don’t cause the Spirit to bring about
the new birth any more than we make the wind blow. Or to be more specific,
the decisive actof will in the new birth is not ours. The Spirit’s will is decisive.
To be sure, our will moves in the moment of the new birth. Change happens in
us. There are perceptible effects of the wind — “ you hear its sound.”
The main effectof the wind — the Spirit — is that we are made alive
spiritually — born again— and now our wills move. They move to receive
Christ and believe on Christ. But our wills move because the wind is blowing,

not the other way around. We don’t move first. Our wills are awakenedand
moved towardChrist because the Spirit blows where he wills and gives life to
whom he wills.
Sovereign, Irresistible Grace
This is what we mean when we use terms like sovereigngrace orirresistible
grace. We mean that the Holy Spirit is God’s Spirit, and therefore he is
omnipotent and sovereign. And therefore, he is irresistible and infallibly
effective in his regenerating work. Which doesn’tmean that we don’t resist
him. We do. The Bible is plain about that (Acts 7:51). What the sovereigntyof
grace and the sovereigntyof the Spirit mean is that when God chooses, he can
overcome the rebellion and resistance ofour wills. He canmake Christ look so
compelling that our resistance is broken and we freely come to him and
receive him and believe him.
And when he does that, the Spirit of God is gracious and sovereign. Here’s the
way other parts of the Bible say it:
Jesus says in John 6:44 and 65, “No one cancome to me unless the Father who
sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. . . . No one can
come to me unless it is grantedhim by the Father.”
In Acts 13:48, Luke says, “As many as were appointed to eternal life
believed.”
In Romans 9:15–16, Paulquotes God, “‘I will have mercy on whom I have
mercy, and I will have compassiononwhom I have compassion.’So then it
depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” In other
words, the wind blows where it wills in the work of regeneration.
In Philippians 2:12–13, Paulsays, “Work out your own salvationwith fear
and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his
goodpleasure.” In other words, our indispensable willing is owing to God’s
decisive working.

Or the very familiar Ephesians 2:8–9:“By grace you have been savedthrough
faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” The wind blows
where it wills and gives life and faith.
So John 3:8 is teaching, along many other parts of Scripture, that being born
againis decisively, ultimately, the work of the Spirit’s will, and secondarily
and dependently the acting of our will.
How Will You Respond?
Let’s close by asking:How will you respond to this? Nicodemus in verse 9
responded by saying, “How canthese things be?” He could not grasp it. It was
mystifying. But by the end of the GospelofJohn, Nicodemus (John 19:39)
risks his life and spends his money to show his love for Jesus. I pray that is
what happens to you as well.
Today there are two basic responses to what Jesus says in John 3:8. One is
threatened by it. And the other is thrilled by it. To some, it feels threatening
because it takes the new birth out of our control and makes us feelhelpless.
But to others, this is thrilling, because theyhave already discoveredthey are
helpless.
Threatened
One group says, “Don’ttake away from me the powerof my will to make the
wind blow. Don’t tell me that I am utterly dependent on God’s free and
sovereigngrace to see Christ as my supreme treasure and receive him for all
that he is.” The person who feels he must have the decisive powerof will, the
final say, to move the Spirit — to make the wind blow — that person will be
threatened by John 3:8. Forthat person, it is bad news. What they would
prefer to hear is a messageconfirming their own ultimate self-determination.
That would be the good news they want.
Thrilled

But there is another group of people. These are the desperate ones who know
that they are utterly helpless. They know they are dead in trespasses andsins.
They are hard and rebellious and resistant. They know that if God leaves
them to themselves and their own willpower, or if God only nudges them
instead of giving them new life, they will not see Christ or believe on him. It
does no goodto nudge a corpse. You might getit to church, but that doesn’t
make it live.
“The decisive act of will in the new birth is not ours. The Spirit’s will is
decisive.”
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For this group, John 3:8 is very goodnews: “The wind blows where it wishes,
and you hearits sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it
goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” This group hears John
3:8 and says:“There’s hope for me. It’s not threatening to me that I have no
powerin myself to constrain the Spirit to bring about the new birth. I knew
that already. I have lived in this helplessness formany years. But it is thrilling
to me to be told that God is free and sovereignin his grace. Becauseit means
that all my helplessness, andall my deadness, and all my rebellion, and all my
spiritual hardness, and all my moral inability, and all the years of my sin are
no hindrance to God’s omnipotent Spirit when he wills to give me life through
his crucified and risen Son. He blows where he wills, not where we deserve his
blowing, and not where we constrainhis blowing. His grace is free and
sovereign. He does not depend on me in this work.”
Jesus Shifts Our Focus

And just at this point where we feelutterly helpless, Jesus stops describing the
sovereignwork of the Spirit in the new birth inside Nicodemus (and us) and
shifts our focus off of our inner selves and onto the Son of Man. Verses 13–15:
No one has ascendedinto heaven excepthe who descendedfrom heaven, the
Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpentin the wilderness, so must the
Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
When, in your helplessness anddeadness, you say, “What shall I do?” Jesus
says, “Look awayfrom yourself to the Son of Man, lifted up on a cross to die
for your sins.” The work of the Spirit in the new birth is to make us alive so
that we see the glory of Christ crucified and risen. So look to him. Look to the
Son of Man.
And when you hear Jesus say, “The Spirit blows where it wills,” don’t hear
him taking from you the will that you treasure, but hear him giving to you
eyes to see Christ as your treasure.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The Wind And The Spirit
John 3:8
J.R. Thomson
Things natural are the emblems of things spiritual. It is no accidentthat in
this very verse the same word is used to designate the wind that blows upon
the surface of the earth, and the Spirit that breathes over the souls of men. In
many languages the breeze or the breath is the symbol of the unseenvital
principle that distinguishes living beings from the material universe, and even
of the higher and properly spiritual nature. Our Lord in this passageofhis
conversationwith Nicodemus extends the symbolism from the principle to its

agency, and illustrates the working of the Spirit of God by a reference to the
mysterious movement of the wind. The parallelism appears in -
I. THE ORIGIN. Man is powerless to cause the wind to blow from one
quarter or from another, for the wind is one of the greatforces ofnature, i.e.
of the operationof God, the Makerand Lord of all. In like manner, the Spirit
of truth and holiness is the Spirit of God. No man can claim credit for his
influences; they belong to the superhuman system which is independent of
human wisdom or skill. If the Church of Christ is the creationof the Spirit
(ubi Spiritus, ibi Ecclesia), it is not an institution of human origin and device,
but an organisminto which God himself has breathed the breath of life.
II. THE CHARACTERISTICS.
1. The wind is invisible, and the same is the case withthe Spirit of God, who is
perceivedby no one of the senses. Invisibility is no proof of the unreality of the
breeze or the gale. The influence of the Spirit of God is upon human souls, and
cannot be tracedby the action of the senses;but that influence is as real as is
that of any force, whether material or psychical.
2. The Spirit of God resembles the wind in the secretand inscrutable
characterof his operations. That there are meteorologicallaws is not
questioned; but the forces that accountfor the wind are so many and so
complicated, that they are even now only very partially understood. At all
events, the variations of the atmosphere were altogetherunknown to
Nicodemus, and the argument was obviously effective for him. In like manner,
the operations ofGod's Spirit are mysterious; they take place in the recesses
of the soul; their method is often incomprehensible by us. Yet there is nothing
arbitrary or capricious in these operations;they are all the manifestations of
Divine wisdomand goodness. The workings ofthe Holy Ghost are present
where we, perhaps, should little have expectedthem. Notonly can we not
prescribe to Godhow he should work; we cannot always tell how he has
worked. He evidently has many direct channels by which his Spirit
approaches the souls of men.
III. THE RESULTS. If we cannot see the wind or trace its modes of action, we
are at no loss to understand and appreciate its effects. We hear its sound, we

feel its force, we perceive its presence by its works. The Spirit makes his
efficacyapparent by his fruits.
1. How powerful is the Spirit of God! The wind, by its steadyblowing, turns
the sails of the mill, propels the ship across the ocean;by its vehemence, in the
form of a hurricane or a whirlwind, destroys greatworks, uproots trees,
unroofs houses. But what is this, as evidence of power, compared with the
effects wrought by the Holy Spirit in human hearts - in human society? Here
we see the mightiest works of the Supreme.
2. How various are the tokens ofthe Spirit's working!The wind may be
Boreas orZephyr; may sink into a sighor wax into a roar; may pile the clouds
in masses, ordrive the mists like sheep before it, or fling the hail abroad. And
the Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth, of conviction, of holiness, of
consolation. The same Spirit distributes varied gifts to men "severallyas he
will." None can limit, none can even trace out, the diversity of spiritual
operations.
3. How beneficentis the Spirit of Godin his working! The wind does harm;
yet its action, on the whole, is advantageous. Butthe Holy Ghostnot only
works good;he works nothing but good. He who is "born of the Spirit" is
born to a new, a holy, a Divine life. A spiritual dispensation is the occasionof
hope to this humanity, imparts to it a prospect which otherwise the most
sanguine would not venture to dream of. A ransomed humanity thus becomes
a renewedhumanity, and renewalis the pledge of glorification. From the four
winds the breath comes and breathes upon the slain; and the dead. live, and
"stand upon their feet, an exceeding greatarmy." - T.
The wind bloweth where it listeth
The Spirit of God
H. W. Beecher.

Nicodemus was a member of the JewishChurch, and had participated in its
rites. He had probably been a listener to John and possibly had been baptized
by him. He came to Christ in the spirit of a man who should say, "What lack I
yet?" In reply Christ puts no stress onbaptism, because this was the ground
on which Nicodemus stood, viz., that he was initiated and had observedthe
required ordinances of religion. So He said in effect, "Excepta man baptized
with waterbe likewise baptized with the Spirit," etc. The truth of the Divine
influence enforcedby Christ —
I. IS NOT UNSCIENTIFIC. Among modern discoveries nothing is more
striking than the fact that there is a spiritual as well as a physical unity.
Nothing is better attestedthan that upon the minds of men there are
influences which spring from invisible sources.Noris there anything which
men more need, or aught so much to desire to be true and acceptso willingly
as this doctrine that there is a Divine powerwhich wakesup the better part of
man's nature. Then, again, we are conscious ofits inspiring yearnings and
longings which we know not how to locate or proportion.
II. IS UNIVERSAL. The fact that the universal tendency of the human mind
has been awayfrom the physical and toward the spiritual has to be accounted
for. It is not to suffer doubt because fantastic notions have prevailed
respecting it. Men sought chemistry through alchemy and astronomy through
astrology. But the fact is that as far back as we have records there has been
the conceptionof a free spirit. Where did it come from?
III. DOES NOT SUPERSEDE THE NATURAL FACULTIES. It is not an
attempt of the Divine mind to put its actionin the place of our action; but lifts
our mind into a sphere of activity it has not knownbefore, so changing its
feelings and experiences thatit is calleda new birth. Societyministers to our
socialwants — but only the Spirit can lift our spirits toward the greatrealm
of truth in which it is to develop and live. The physical globe makes provision
for the body, but to rise to the invisible and infinite, we need the Spirit who
gives vitality and force to all those elements which go with the moral
sentiment.

IV. REQUIRES PREPARATIONAND CO-OPERATION. Manmay prepare
himself for friendship and societyaccording to the nature of the relations into
which he is going. So may a man prepare his soulto be actedon by the Divine
Spirit. There would be summer if there were no farmer; but the farmer knows
how to make summer work to advantage for him as otherwise it would not
have done. So there would be the universal influence of the Spirit of God if
every human being were swept from the earth; but by meeting the Divine
Spirit, by opening the soul to and co-operating with Him, men have made
themselves the recipients of blessings they would not otherwise have known.
V. MAY BE RESISTEDas wellas co-operatedwith. It is not irresistible;
where men set their wills againstit, put themselves under antagonistic
feelings, resistthe tendencies it would have developed, they certainly canset it
aside. The strivings of God's Spirit have proved futile in thousands of
instances. How many have yearnings for something better, and sweepthem
awayby socialjollity!
VI. IS INSCRUTABLE. Every man is more or less the subject of it, but may
not recognize it, and cannotanalyse it. If you ask the flower, "How can you
tell that which the sun does in you?" the flower cannottell. The sun wakes it
up, that is all.
VII. IS THE GREATEST BOON, AND ITS LOSS THE GREATEST
MISFORTUNE.
VIII. WORKS CHIEFLY THROUGH GOD'S WORD.
(H. W. Beecher.)
The freedom of the Spirit
Wm. Austin., Dr. Mark Frank.
This wind blows where it lists, as it lists, when it lists, as much as it lists, in
what manner it lists, and on whom it lists. This Spirit is a gift, and gifts are
free (1 Corinthians 41:1-11).

(Wm. Austin.)If the Spirit bloweth where it listeth, we are not certainly to
exclude any place or nation from these blessedgales, orto the Church or
congregationwe are of; as if He could blow nowhere else. Learn charity.
1. If the Spirit bloweth how He listeth, we do but show our folly to prescribe to
Him His way. He knows whatbest He has to do, how best to manage us to
salvation. Learn discretion.
2. If it be as much too only as He lists, it is not sure our merit or desert, if we
have more of Him than others, nor perhaps their demerit always, who have
less. Whateverit is, it is more than we deserve, both they and we. Learn
humility.
3. If it be only upon whom He pleases, it is certainly sometimes upon some we
know not. So we have no reasonto pass a censure upon any man's soul. Learn
to think well of all And so much the rather, in that —
4. He bloweth when He will. If He has not already, He may hereafterbreathe
upon him or her thou doubtest most. If thou, perhaps thyself, feelestHim not
within thee now, thou mayest ere long. Learn hence to despair, neither of
thyself nor any one else (Psalm139:6-8;1 Corinthians 12:5; Romans 11:33;
Romans 9:18).
(Dr. Mark Frank.)
The mysteriousness
J. OswaldDykes, D. D.
— While Christ spoke, I imagine the spring night breeze, it might be the first
air of dawn, came sighing up the Kedron glen below the city. It sighedamong
the young fig leaves;it made the olive branches toss and moan; it shook the
casement, and the lamp-light flickered. Whence comes it? In what far-off land
of the Eastdid it first awake to run before the sunrise? Where will it die away
in the West, over the hills, beyond the sea? Whence, ohviewless winds, and
whither? Christ lets the emblem speak:what does it say? Like an atmosphere
the Spirit of Divine life is everywhere. He envelopes the globes. He touches

every man. He penetrates us. Why should not that living Spirit begetus,
creating a Divine life within these ribs of carnaldeath? The manner of His
working may be as untraceable as the path of free winds that blow about the
mountain tops, and chase eachotherover the plain; but what of that? His
results may be as unmistakable as theirs. The movements of a spiritual power
among men, again, vary as the airs of heaven do. Alone in her closet, e.g.,a
girl is bending over her open Bible; and as she reads, her young face grows
solemn, the full eyes gather, till the page is blurred with tears that are not
wholly sad;and on her knees she weeps out her godly sorrow for little daily
faults which the world would count trifles, till with sweetthankfulness in her
purified spirit and all the peace ofheaven within her bosom, she rises to go
forth to her lowly day of toil and uncomplaining service. This is not the way of
the flesh. It was the breath of God that stole into her heart, just as outside the
summer air was stirring among the leaves of the garden. But also I have seen
a strong man, hardened through thirty years of open reckless sin, kneelin
another inner room by night crushed by the agonyof an awakenedconscience,
and gasping forth unwonted confessions in a voice hoarse with suppressed
emotion. This, too, is not the way of the flesh. There I saw the same breath of
God, but strong this time, and loud as when on wintry Appenines the great
north blast makes the pine trees writhe and creak before it tears them from
the rock. clefts. Suchthings are, and they show that there is a Holy Ghost.
(J. OswaldDykes, D. D.)
Diversity of the Spirit's operation
Dr. Donne.
God hath divers ways into divers men. Into some He comes atnoon, in the
sunshine of prosperity; to some in the dark and heavy clouds of adversity.
Some He affects with the music of the Church; some, with some particular
collector prayer; some, with some passage in a sermon, which takes no hold
of him that stands next to him. Watch the way of the Spirit of God into thee;
that way, which He makes His path, in which Be comes oftenestto thee, and
by which thou findest thyself most affectedand best disposedtowards Him;

and pervert not that path, foul not that way. "Make straightHis paths;" that
is, keepthem straight; and when thou observestwhich is His path in thee (by
what means especiallyHe works upon thee), meet Him in that path; embrace
Him in those means, and always bring a facile, a fusile, a ductile, a tractable
soul to the offers of His grace in His way (Hebrews 1:1; Psalm85:8).
(Dr. Donne.)
Spiritual movement an effectof the Spirit's working
G. J. Brown, M. A.
— Just as when we see the leaves of a woodmoved to and fro, we know the
wind is there; so when we see a man moved out of the carelessroutine of a
natural life and leading a new life, we may say the Spirit of God, the Spirit of
life, is there.
(G. J. Brown, M. A.)
Spiritual life a Divine inspiration
E. L. Hull, B. A.
Here we have that aspectof regenerationwhich is so incomprehensible to the
world. Men can understand reformation through fear of perdition and hope
of immortality; but the greatrevolution of a new life inspired by God appears
mystical and impossible. We speak ofthe age of inspiration being over. That
of inspired writing is, but that of inspired living is not.
I. SPIRITUAL LIFE IS A DIRECT INSPIRATION FROMGOD.
1. That life is impossible without this inspiration. Spiritual life is an elevation
above the natural will, inclination, tendency. Men have tried to reachthis
without the Spirit, by asceticism, but after all they have been still in the sphere
of self. All they have done has been merely a self.culture which does not rise
above the natural life. Try to change a man's character. Take a man worldly

and selfish, and try to convince him by reasoning that his course is a wrong
one. Perhaps he admits it: your logic has carried the outworks ofintellect, but
left the deeper nature untouched. Point out his degradation. He may admit
that too, and hate you. Appeal to his interestwith warnings of hell and
promises of heaven. Suppose you have convincedhim you have not elevated
him — he is selfishstill. Try another illustration. Men feelthat they can do no
greatand noble deeds until raisedabove the natural level of life by a
possessing Spirit. This is the greatfeature of all genius, poetic, artistic,
political. So is Christian life. God's Spirit must enter us, or our endeavours
will never raise us. We have instances ofthis in all ages,e.g., Jacob, Paul.
2. This inspiration enters man in mystery.(1) We cannot tell whence it cometh.
We may trace the early signs of the Spirit's power, but cannotpenetrate the
mystery of its origin. Justas the spring is a revelation of the secretenergies
which have been working in darkness through the cold winter gloom, until
under the influences of sun and air the hidden powerbursts into leafand
flower; so is spiritual life.(2) Whither it goeth we cannot tell; its impulse ever
advances amidst all impediments through the long, cold, dark watchings of
life, waiting for the adoption.
II. THE RESULTS OF REALIZING THIS TRUST. It would work a mighty
change.
1. In our faith.
2. In our prayers.
3. In the ease andjoy it gives to the discharge ofduty.
4. In the strength it imparts to manhood.
(E. L. Hull, B. A.)
Nature, evidences, and necessityof regeneration
B. Beddome, M. A.
I. INQUIRE WHAT IT IS TO BE BORN AGAIN.

1. It is a Divine and supernatural change, effectedby the agencyof the Holy
Spirit.
2. It is an instantaneous change;and herein it differs from sanctification,
which is a progressive work.
3. It is an internal and invisible change, yet may be known by its effects.
4. The change is universal, extending to the heart and life. Universal beauty
spread over the whole man.
5. It is an abiding change.
II. NOTICE SOME OF THE EVIDENCES OF THE NEW BIRTH. These we
shall chiefly selectfrom the First Epistle of John.
1. Those who are born of God "do not commit sin; yea, they cannot sin,
because they are born of God" (John 3:9; John 5:18). The principle of grace
will be always rising up againstsin, and at length will triumph over it
(Romans 7:14-25).
2. They have "overcome the world" — its frowns and smiles, hopes and fears
(1 John 5:4).
3. They have a sincere love to all the saints;for "everyone that loveth is born
of God" (1 John 4:7).
4. All their hope of salvationis founded on the meditation of Christ (1 John
5:1).
5. Their walk and conversationis holy and exemplary. "Every one that doeth
righteousness is born of God" (1 John 2:29).
III. CONSIDER THE REASONABLENESSAND IMPORTANCEOF THIS
CHANGE: "Marvelnot that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."
1. Do not marvel at it as if the doctrine were new and strange.
2. Marvelnot as if the doctrine were unintelligible.

3. Do not considerthis new birth to be impossible. With men, and with angels
it may be so; but not with God.
4. Marvelnot at this change as if it were unnecessary.
(B. Beddome, M. A.)
The new birth
F. L. Norton, D. D.
Christ taught Nicodemus that this new birth is not "a developing of some
latent power;" it is not "bringing out the constitutional tendency," and
guiding it. It is a new nature, a new level, a new plane, a new sphere, into
which human nature is to be exalted by the power of God. It is a birth, with all
which that implies. Just considerfor a moment, in the light of this principle
which Christ laid down, the much debated question of morality. A man says,
"Are we to understand that a man is to substitute this," if I may so say,
"secondnature," which is born in him, or rather out of which he is born by
the operationof the Holy Ghost, for morality? I answerthat the point is here:
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; a man is amiable from gooddigestion;
a kind and generous friend from an active circulation and because he is
successfulin life. He is a temperate man because wine is distasteful to him; he
is a chaste man because he has a phlegmatic, a cold nature. These things are
matters of temperament, good, excellent, much to be desired. But often they
are granted to people like their complexions and the shape of their hands and
feet, while to others they are vouchsafedby the grace ofGod after the labour
of the new birth. These moralities in either case bearthe same relation to the
after life which the lowerleaves ofa plant bear to its blossoming. "Whatis my
morality worth, then?" you ask. The Indian in his wigwamknows a great
many things, but he is not a civilized man. Suppose he should put this
question, "Whatis all I do know worth, if this is not civilization? If I am
brought out of this state, am I to leave all these things and count them as
nothing?" Certainly he is not. Relativelyto his condition, they are
unspeakablyimportant, but as comparedwith a higher development, they are

of very little value. That is to say, if he should become noble and refined in
civilized life, he would look back with pity upon the condition that he was in
when wigwamand wampum were home and means. Notbecause they were in,
and of themselves, bad, but because he was so far from having attained by
growth and development that which was possible to him. When we began to
learn to write, our letters were crookedenough, our sentences allwent up-hill
— the writing was a hideous scrawl. But would we say to our children, "It is
goodfor nothing, your cramped and crude beginnings?" Not at all. They are
goodto commence with — and goodto end with so soonas you can go on to
perfection, making the lines of beauty and a fair page. Moralities are the
embryo children — the ground leaves — the cramped writing — the wigwam
and the wampum; but they must not be confounded with the higher
developments of the new manhood which has its birth out of the waterand the
Spirit. When, therefore, our Lord says, that morality is not sufficient — and
that is what He says, substantially, to Nicodemus — He is the truest friend of
man; and among men, he is the most generous and kind who maintains that
ideal and shows his fellow-men, not that the things which belong to the body
are worthless, but that true manhood is far higher than the body can reach,
and far higher than ordinary reasoncanattain — so high that it can only be
groped after, like the newly-born infant stretches out its untried hands toward
the first glimmering of the shaded light — only reachedby the power of God
developing the nascentnature of the new-born soul — a mystery no more
profound than that which surrounds the entrance into the natural life which
every one must concede. It is not that we have developedvery much. It is not
that we have a point of development establishedin us that determines our
safety. It is that the Spirit of God has gaineda lodgment in the soul; that the
leavenis there; that the root is thrown down, and the germ is pointed up, that
gives us ground for hope. That being secured, there is an infinite space, called
"Eternity" for men to develop in. God has promised to give His Holy Spirit to
them that simply ask for it. He has chosen, and that is enoughfor us; He has
chosento couple the gift with the baptism of water in the Triune name. The
seedis sownthen. How? I do not know, for Godis silent there.
(F. L. Norton, D. D.)

Spiritual influence
J. Caird, D. D.
The difficulties connectedwith the regenerating operationof the Spirit of God
are —
I. ITS SUPERNATURALNESS.There is a certainshrinking from the
supernatural, which renders such doctrines as this peculiarly distasteful.
1. If, for the ignorant and superstitious, the invisible world possess a strange
attraction, there is an opposite class ofminds in which the tendency is equally
strong to explain everything by natural causes. It is the tendency of the
religion of an unenlightened age to translate every unexplained fact or
phenomenon into the immediate interposition of the Deity. But as society
advances in knowledge,and as many of those events, formerly attributed to
supernatural agency, are discoveredto be the result of natural causes, it too
often happens that, with the superstitious recognition, all practical
acknowledgmentof the Divine presence and agencyis lost. The voice of God is
no longer heard in the thunder when the laws of electricitybegin to be known.
The old gods of heathenism have long vanished from the woods and meadows
and fountains; but it is not that the one living and true God, but only
gravitation, light, heat, magnetism, may be recognizedas reigning in their
forsakenhaunts.
2. And we carry the same tendency into the moral world. To the powerof
motives, the influence of education, etc., we are apt to trace changes of
character, h child grows up gentle, amiable, pious; and when we saythat he
had the benefit of a careful and religious education, we seemto ourselves to
have given the whole accountof the matter. An irreligious man becomes
devout, and the severe affliction, or the influence of a Christian friend, has
made him a wiserand a better man. Seldom does the mind naturally turn to
the thought — "the finger of God is here." The idea of a mysterious Holy
Spirit working in the man's mind is too often regardedas a strange mystical
notion, having nothing in common with the plain realities of every-day life.

3. It is to this habit of mind that the text suggestsa most striking corrective.
For it brings before us the considerationthat the supernatural is not confined
to religion; it bids us see in the most familiar processes ofnature the proofs of
a Divine agencyas inexplicable as any to which religion appeals. Science,with
all its triumphs, is compelledto admit the immediate presence of a
supernatural power in the most ordinary movements of nature. Gravitation,
light, heat, chemicalaffinity, are only abstractions;they are nothing without a
living agent, whose mode of working they express. Deadmatter, however
arranged, can never actof itself. A human machinist may leave his machine to
work alone, because whenhe leaves it God's laws take it up, and by their aid
the materials retain their characteristics, the vapour keeps its expansive
power. But when God has constructedHis machine of the universe, He cannot
so leave it; for, if He retire, there is no secondGod to take care of it. The signs
of an all pervading supernatural energy meets us wherever we turn. If every
echoing wind bespeak a-presentDeity, shall it seemstrange to appeal to His
powerin the regenerationof a soul? Eachtime the sailof the vesselexpands
the breeze, we call in the aid of a mysterious agency, without which human
efforts were vain. Can it be a matter of surprise that the same mysterious
agencymust be invoked to communicate to the dull and moveless spirit an
impulse towards a nobler than earthly destiny?
II. ITS SOVEREIGNTY.
1. How very much, to the human eye, have the relations of God with man, as a
religious being, been characterizedby an aspectof strange uncertainty!
Religionhas not been communicated indiscriminately. While a few favoured
regions have felt its reviving presence, others, unvisited by its quickening
power, remain from age to age moral wastes.Norcanhuman research
discoverany law by which this inequality is ordered. And as little in the case
of individuals as of nations can we explain on what principle it is that the
gracious influences of the Spirit are vouchsafed. In equal possessionofthe
outward means of improvement some are benefited whilst others continue
unaffected. A word, a mere look, will fly straight to the core of some human
spirit; whilst, on others, all the strength of reasonand the power of eloquence
may be spent, only to recoil ineffective as arrows from proof-mail. From the
furnace of affliction one heart will come forth softened, whilst others cool

down into hardness and insensibility. Is the hand of Jehovahever shortened
that it cannot save? Orcan we ascribe to Infinite Love the waywardfitfulness
of earthly beneficence — to Infinite Wisdom the unreasoning favouritism of
erring men? If grace be necessaryto conversion, why — are we not tempted to
ask — is not the Spirit of God poured forth without measure wherever
unconverted souls are to be found? To all such questions we must reply in the
words of the text.
2. The force of this illustration it will need little reflection to perceive.(1)For
what so fitful, wayward, incalculable, as the operations of the wind? Who can
for a single hour foresee whatits course will be? And the argument is — If
even this simple agentso baffle man's highest wisdom, shall it he thought
strange that the ways of the unsearchable Spirit of God are governedby no
rules which finite minds can discern?(2)But the illustration may suggestthat
the arbitrariness which characterizes the Spirit's work is, after all, only
apparent, and that, beneath seeming irregularity, there is real and unvarying
law. It is so with the material agent. The wind never does really actat
random. Its unaccountable changes are the result of material laws as fixed
and stable as that by which the planets revolve. Science has made hut slight
progress in the attempt to trace out the laws of winds; but it is only because of
the limits of our faculties. So, too, it is with that of which the wind is set forth
as the type. In His most mysterious dealings with the souls of men God never
acts without a reason. Where, to us, there seems inconstancy, to Him all is
order. A time was when the firmament presented only the aspectof a maze of
luminous points, scatteredhap-hazard; but at length the greatthought was
struck out which evolvedfrom all this seeming confusionthe most perfect
order and harmony. And so, perhaps, a time may come when light shall be
thrown on many things that seemmysterious in the dispensation of grace. But
meanwhile, in presence ofthe inscrutable order of God's government, it is the
befitting attitude of a creature so weak and ignorant as man not to criticize,
but to submit and to adore.
III. ITS SECRECY.
1. Momentous though the change be in regeneration, it is one of which we
have no immediate evidence. We are accustomedto associate greatevents in

man's history with outward stir and show, and we canscarcelydivest
ourselves of the notion that external significance is inseparable from real
importance. When the heir to earthly wealth or grandeur is born, the earliest
cry is the signal for loud and universal gratulation. How strange to be told
that an event, infinitely more momentous than these in man's history, that a
Child of the living God — the heir of an inheritance, before which earthly
splendours pale — has been born, and yet the event been unnoticed and
unknown!
2. But let us turn to the simple argument of the text; for here we are taught
that the associationon which all such incredulity is based is an altogether
fallacious one. Forthe proof that visibility and greatness are farfrom
inseparable we are pointed to one out of many similar phenomena which daily
meet our observation. In nature greatestpowers are invisible. When the
magnet draws the iron, who sees the strange influence by which the attraction
is effected? What keenestoptics cansee gravitation? So, too, the wind, visible
in its manifold influences, it is in its essenceandoperation imperceptible. So it
is with every one that is born of the Spirit. You cannotsee this mysterious
agentany more than those natural agents. But, as in the one case, so in the
other, though the agentis invisible, the effects of his operationare manifest.
You do not see the gale from heaven, wafted over any sinner's soul, but ever
and anon, if you watch carefully the moral history of your fellow-men, you
may perceive the visible witness of a hidden and invisible work. Conclusion:
This is a doctrine fraught with many obvious practicallessons.
1. If the agencyof the Spirit be supernatural, how urgent the necessityfor
securing the Spirit's intervention! What an arrestwould be laid upon many of
the works ofman if that natural agentwere suspended! If the wind of heaven
ceasedto blow, conceive how abortive, in many cases, wouldbe all human
industry and skill. But equally fatal, in the spiritual world, to the successofall
human endeavours, would be the withholding of the supernatural grace of the
Spirit of God. Pray, then, for the Spirit. Despairof success apartfrom it; rest
not till you have obtained it. The wind comes not at the sailor's or the
husbandman's call; but the believer is possessedof a spell that cansummon
the gracious aidof the Spirit in every time of need. And if the doctrine of the
text furnishes us with a motive to prayer, not less suggestive is it of

encouragementto effort. For whilst our natural powers soonreachtheir limit,
to the supernatural aid on which we are encouraged to depend there is none.
Self-reformationsoonproves a vain attempt; but the effort to repent and turn
to God cannot fail, when the very Powerthat fashioned our mysterious being
prompts and aids in the work of restoration.
2. If the agencyof the Spirit is sovereign, too, the subject is replete with
practicalsignificance, nor does not the very uncertainty of nature's influences
act as a stimulus to the exertions of man? The fair wind that has long been
waited for, and may speedily die away. And so if there is any similar
variableness in the times and seasonsofreligious influence, how urgent the
motive thus presentedto Christian vigilance in waiting for every favourable
opportunity, and to diligence in improving it!
3. If the Spirit's work be secretin itself, yet manifest by its effects, it suggests
the important inquiry, Can I discern in my characterand life the signs of the
Spirit's presence?
(J. Caird, D. D.)
The heavenly wind
C. H. Spurgeon.
I. Take the text in reference to THE HOLY SPIRIT HIMSELF. The wind is
an emblem of the Holy Ghost.
1. In its freeness. The wind is the very image of freedom. No one can fetter it.
Caesarmay decree whathe pleases,but the wind will blow in his face if he
looks that way. So the Spirit is most free and absolute. He visits one nation
and not another. Of two men one receives His blessing and not another. One
man wins souls, another seems to miss them. And the same minister will one
day speak like the voice of God, and another be but a reed shakenby the
wind. Yet while absolutelyfree He is not arbitrary.(1) The wind has a law of
its own, and the Spirit is a law to Himself. He does as He wills, but He wills
that which is best.(2) There are certainplaces where you will always find a

breeze, on the mountains, in the morning or evening on the seashore. So in
communion with God you will ever find the Spirit in motion.(3) The wind in
some lands has its seasons.There are trade winds, etc., which may be counted
on. So there are certain times in, and certainconditions under which He visits
the Churches — times of mighty prayer and exceptionalfaithfulness in
preaching,(4)The wind may blow, but the sailormay be asleep. Neversuffer
the Spirit to be with us and find us regardless ofHis presence. Whenthe
windmill was more in use than now, some parishes would be half starved
when week afterweek there was no wind. The miller would look anxiously by
day, and if the breezes stirred at dead of night, somebodywould run and
knock him up. Be on the look out. Hoist sail when the wind favours.
2. In its maul-festations — "Thouhearest," etc. Our Lord spoke of the gentle
zephyr which is heard. The hearing earis intended to be the disceruerof the
Spirit. Faith cometh by hearing.(1) Many get no further than hearing.(2)
Others hear the sound in their consciencesand are disturbed.(3) The man who
is savedhears
(a)The threatening wind.
(b)The destroying wind.
(c)The invigorating wind.
(d)The sound of a going in the mulberry trees which summons us to victory.
3. In its mystery — "Thoucanstnot tell." We may tell that the wind comes
from a certain quarter, but we cannot tell at what point it begins or where it
ends. So with the Spirit we cannot tell —(1) "Whence He cometh." His first
movements are hidden in mystery. Why is it that you obtained a blessing
under one sermon and not under another, and yet when you spoke to your
sistershe had been blessedunder the other?(2) "Norwhither it goeth."(a)
When we let loose the truth in the powerof the Spirit we never know where it
may fly. A child takes a downy seed, but who knows where it will settle?
Whole continents have been coveredwith strange flowers simply by the
Wind's wafting foreignseeds thither. Fling the truth, then, to the winds.(b)

Nor canwe tell whither it will carry us. When Careygave his young heart to
Christ, he never thought the Spirit would carry him to Serampore.
II. The text relates to THOSE WHO ARE BORN OF THE SPIRIT. The birth
partakes ofthe nature of the parent.
1. As to freedom: where the Spirit is there is liberty from the bondage of the
law, custom, sin, fear of death and dread of hell
2. As to manifestation. The regenerate are knownby their sound. The secret
life will speak by voice, action, influence.
3. As to mystery —
(1)Thou knowestnot whence He cometh from the throne of grace.
(2)Thou knowestnot whither He goeth — to the secretplace of the MostHigh.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The operations of the wind
J. Caird, D. D.
I. The wind SOUNDS.
1. Sometimes it wails, and so the Spirit sets men mourning for sin.
2. Sometimes its sound is triumphant, and so the Spirit inspires in us the shout
of victory over sin and death.
II. The wind is a greatLEVELLER. It aims at things high. If you are down
low in the street you escape its fury, but climb the height and you will scarcely
stand. Even so the Spirit. He makes every high thought bow before the
majesty of His might.
III. The wind PURFIES the atmosphere. In the Swiss valleys there is a
heaviness which makes the inhabitants unhealthy. They take quinine and have
big swellings in their necks. The air does not circulate;but if there is a great

storm it is a greatblessing to the people. So the Spirit cleansesout our evil and
brings health to the soul.
IV. The wind is a GREAT TRIER OF THE NATURE OF THINGS. It sweeps
over heaps of rubbish and scatters the dust, etc., but iron and stone remain
unmoved. The Holy Ghostis similarly a testing power, both of men and
doctrines.
V. The wind is HELPFUL. In Lincolnshire, where the country is flat and
below the sea level, they are obligedto dry the land by means of windmills. In
many parts all the corn is ground by means of the wind. The Spirit is also a
mighty helper. You are inundated by a flood of iniquity which you can never
bale out; or you need some powerto prepare your spiritual food, and you will
never find better help than that which the Spirit cangive.
VI. MAN MUST CO-OPERATE WITHTHE WIND, and so Christians with
the Spirit.
1. In all spiritual work:as the sailorhas to raise his sails.
2. In growth in grace. We are to work out what He works in.
VII. MEN ARE COMPLETELYDEPENDENTON THE WIND. They are
entirely at its mercy as to time, direction, and strength. So we are compelledto
wait the pleasure of the Spirit. But just as the sailoranxiously looks up at the
mast-head to see how the breeze is shifting, so should we look up to heaven
and observe the movement of the Spirit of God.
(J. Caird, D. D.)
The work of the Holy Spirit is a hidden work
J. C. Hare.
As oftentimes, when walking in a woodnear sunset, though the sun himself be
hid by the height and bushiness of the trees around, yet we know that he is
still above the horizon, from seeing his beams in the open glades before us,
illuming a thousand leaves, the severalbrightnesses ofwhich are so many

evidences of his presence. Thus it is with the Holy Spirit. He works in secret;
but His work is manifest in the lives of all true Christians. Lamps so heavenly
must have been lit from on high.
(J. C. Hare.)
Methods of conversionvary
H. W. Beecher.
— Men's convictions of sin differ with their characters.One man says, "In
such a sermon, a lion-like convictionsprang out upon me, and seizedmy soul
in its grasp, and had nearly torn it asunder." And anothersays, "The twilight
of God's love fell upon me; but when the eclipse was over, the sun shone out
again, and I was happy." Terror, or only sadness, anguish, grief, and love, are
all alike really conviction.
(H. W. Beecher.)
The preciousnessofDivine influence
J. Trapp.
Watch, therefore, the gales ofgrace:we cannot purchase this wind for any
money. This bird when flown will not easilybe brought back again.
(J. Trapp.)
The wind an emblem of the Spirit
J. Dyke.
The work of the Spirit is compared —
I. To the BLOWING of the wind.

1. The wind blows vitally and refreshingly, causing the earth to fructify. So it
is the Spirit of God who imparts vital grace and makes us bring forth fruit
(Song of Solomon4:16). When a man is drowsy a blast of wind freshens him:
so doth the Spirit awakenus from our spiritual slumberings. As Godused the
wind to bring quails, and still does to bring in greattides of water; so by His
Spirit doth He bring all blessings to us, and the tides of repenting tears. The
wind from the bellows revives the fire — so does the Spirit the sparks of
heavenly fire in us. How soonwould the smoking flax be quenched but for
this!
2. Winds dissolve the clouds and cause an irrigation of the earth; this spiritual
wind causes rainalso, even the tears of penitence.
3. Winds cause clearnessand sereneness ofthe air: likewise the Spirit having
dissolvedour iniquities causes the beauty and sunshine of God's favour to
cheerthe believer.
4. Winds refrigerate. In the heatof summer how acceptable theircomfort! So
the Spirit allays the heat of our temptations and afflictions, that we may with
patience endure and overcome them. How could the martyrs have so
triumphed in the flames but for this?
5. Winds penetrate. So the Word of the Spirit (Hebrews 4:12).
6. Winds terrify by their destructive power. So under the powerof the Spirit
sinners tremble.
7. Winds carry all before them: with what ease doth the spirit perform its
duties when under the powerof the Spirit.
II. To the LIBERTY of the wind. No creature has any power to raise or check
either.
1. In regard of the outward means of the ministry, for it is in that blessed
trumpet that the Spirit commonly blows. Once this wind blew in the East, and
how famous were those Churches i But it is now turned into the West.
2. In regard to the efficacyof the means.

3. In regard to the measure of the efficacy, piercing deeper, purging cleaner,
acts more vitally in some than in others (1 Corinthians 12:11).
4. In regard to the manner of His working. Sometimes using means,
sometimes not.
5. In regard of the time of working.
III. To the SENSIBLENESSofthe wind. This voice is —
1. Secret, within the heart of the regenerate.
(1)Arousing, as in conviction of sin.
(2)Mild and sweet, alluring to holiness (Isaiah30:31; Hosea 2:14).
(3)Comforting (Matthew 9:2; Romans 8:16).
(4)Fervent, as in prayer.
2. Open.
(J. Dyke.)
The wind a symbol of the Spirit s working
T. Guthrie, D. D.
I. LET US FORM SOME PRECISE IDEAOF THE WIND; which is just the
atmosphere in motion. The atmosphere is an envelopment of air that enwraps
our globe and rises to the height of from forty to fifty miles. It gets lighter and
thinner as we ascend, till it gradually disappears. The air consists chieflyof
two gasesin the proportion of about one-fourth of the one to three-fourths of
the other. It is the element in which alone it is possible for us to live. It is just
this air in motion that constitutes wind. As still waterstagnates,so would still
air. A benevolent Creator, therefore, has seento it that it shall never be long
still. And this motion is produced mainly by changes of temperature.
II. Let us now pass to THE REALITY ILLUSTRATED — the influences of
the Divine Spirit in regeneration. Theseinfluences, like the wind, are —

1. Vital — absolutely essentialto spiritual life (Genesis 1:2; Genesis 2:7;Psalm
104.29, 30;Ezekiel38:8-10). But will the Spirit come to me? Do you ever ask,
Will the vital air come?
2. Sovereign. Foraught that we can do it bloweth where it listeth. Come on us
where it may, when, whence, and with what result. It is absolutelybeyond our
control. We may indeed turn it to account, and ought; and this very
sovereigntyof it is the strongestreasonwhy we should. Equally sovereignis
the Spirit: "He divideth to every man severally as He will." Nevertheless,He
is benignly here for us all. Though absolutely sovereignHe is Love; and it
sovereignlypleases Him to be here, striving at every heart. When sovereign
love has done its best, vain will be our cries and tears.
3. Mysterious (Ecclesiastes11:4-6). "Wind," "Spirit," "Birth," all are here.
These stronglyset forth that so far from discouraging action, they are
strongestincentives to it. Forthe wind is not "mysterious" in any such sense
as to mean causelessorcapricious. It is not independent of law.
Mathematicians cango far in describing the properties of curves; but fire a
rifle, twirl a half-crown, or toss a ball into the air, which are the simplest and
most familiar of acts, and though every convolution exactly obeys
mathematical and physical laws, yet where is the Newtonor the Leibnitz that
could trace these in detail, and sum up for us so complex and intervolved a
computation? So the Spirit's influences are inscrutable, in greatpart, from the
nature of the case. Theydeal with the most involved and interwarped of all
problems. They have to do with free agency, duty, destiny, and diversities of
individual temperament and circumstances. How stumbling oftentimes to see
some highly privileged one resisting to tim lastthe influences of the Spirit;
while another, much less privileged, or a third, even openly profligate, is seen
to surrender himself to the overpowering influence of gospeltruth and love.
But this is the time for such mysteries now that the mystery of iniquity doth
work. Only the antagonistic mystery of godliness cancounterwork it.
4. Discernible. With all its mystery there is no mystery about its presence. A
regeneratedman will not be able to veil off his character. Sound is itself a sort
of wind, in its vibration on the auditory nerve: therefore genuine Christians

will tell personally on others with the self-same influence in varying degrees
that told on themselves.
5. Benignant(Psalm 135:7). The breeze is —
(1)Healthful and reviving.
(2)Purifying.
6. Universal — "where it listeth;" yes, but then it listeth to blow everywhere;
not in short detachedbreaths, but in broad, boundless, interblending currents
that benignly embrace, belt, and begirdle the globe. So is it with the Holy
Spirit (Hebrews 3:7; Acts 2:17; Acts 7:51; Revelation22:17).
(T. Guthrie, D. D.)
“The Wind Blows Where It Wills”:The Meaning of Jesus’Teaching in John
3:8
What did Jesus meanwhen he said: “The wind blows where it wills. You hear
its sound, but do not know where it is coming from and where it is going. Thus
is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8)?
To understand the meaning of Jesus’teaching in this verse, we need first of all
to recognize that there is a play on the double sense of the noun πνεῦμα in this
verse. πνεῦμα canbe translatedas wind or spirit. John is deliberately playing
on the dual sense ofπνεῦμα as wind or spirit, drawing an analogybetweenthe
wind and the Holy Spirit. Wind is consideredin the Bible to be a phenomenon
that, like the waves ofthe sea, is beyond the controlof human beings (e.g., Job
38:24;Ps 107:25;Prov 30:4). Just as the wind blows whereverGod wills, so
also God’s Spirit blows whereverGod wills. That is to say, God’s Spirit works
in a sovereignway.

Just as people cannotsee the wind but can hear the sound of the wind
blowing, so also the Spirit of God cannotphysically be seenwith human eyes
but we can perceive his effects on the objects which he touches. The conceptof
the sound of the wind as an image of the movement of the Spirit finds an echo
in the events of the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, whenthe sound of a
mighty rushing wind from heavenwas heard as the Spirit came down upon
the early church (Acts 2:2). The movement of God’s Spirit cannot be
predicted or controlledby human beings, but we canperceive his effects as
people’s lives are transformed by the powerof God’s Spirit.
The point of Jesus’analogybetweenthe wind and the Spirit is statedin the
final clause of the verse: “Thus is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” The
point of the wind/spirit analogyis that the beneficiaries of rebirth by the Holy
Spirit are not determined by human beings. In the contextof the concernon
the GospelofJohn with the ethnically universal nature of salvationprovided
through Jesus, and given that Jesus was currently directing this teaching to
Nicodemus, a representative of the teachers ofIsrael (John 3:9–10), the
implication of Jesus’analogyin this verse is that it is not right for Jews to
think that the saving work of the Spirit is solelylimited to Israel.
Although covenant membership is inherited according to physical descent—a
principle which applies under the new covenantas well as the old (Acts 2:39; 1
Cor 7:14)—the work of the Spirit during the new covenantage exhibits a
greaterscope comparedto the situation under the old covenant. Under the old
covenant, the work of God’s Spirit was limited to operate primarily within the
boundary of covenantmembership in Israel. But under the new covenant,
God’s Spirit operates notjust within Israel, but extensively beyond the
borders of Israel. Furthermore, even within the constraint of covenant
membership, it is not the case that everyone in covenant with God is a
recipient of the saving work of the Spirit. The determining factor for salvation
under both the old and the new covenants is not formal covenantmembership
but whether or not a personhas experiencedthe work of God’s Spirit writing
God’s word upon one’s heart. Those who have God’s law written in the heart
are those who are right with God and who therefore experience salvation(e.g.,
Ps 37:29; Isa 51:7; Rom 2:28–29).

Regenerationby the Spirit, therefore, remains a sovereignact of God. God
has mercy on whomever he wills, the implication being, that he has mercy on
“everyone,” whichis to say, on Gentile as well as Jew. This is the sense in
which the Spirit blows where he wills. https://berithroad.blogspot.com/
“BORN OF THE SPIRIT”
John 3.8
INTRODUCTION:
1. Turn in your Bible to John chapter 3. When you find John chapter 3,
please stand for the reading of God’s Word:
1 There was a man of the Pharisees, namedNicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know
that thou art a teachercome from God: for no man can do these miracles that
thou exceptGod be with him.
3 Jesus answeredand said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except
a man be born again, he cannotsee the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How cana man be born when he is old? can
he enter the secondtime into his mother’s womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I sayunto thee, Excepta man be born of
waterand of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearestthe sound thereof,
but canstnot tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that
is born of the Spirit.
9 Nicodemus answeredand said unto him, How canthese things be?
10 Jesus answeredandsaid unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and
knowestnot these things?
2. It is quite obvious to every one of you that this passageis one of the most
important in the entire Word of God, showing the absolute necessityand
urgency of being born again.
3. As well as emphasizing that no one who is not born again cansee the
kingdom of God, and that no one who is not born again canenter the kingdom
of God, this passage also showsthe vital connectionbetweenthe Spirit of God
and being born again.
4. Let me emphasize that Jesus Christ, the eternalSon of the living God, is
the unique Savior of sinful men’s souls. The three divine persons of the
godheadare involved in this miracle of salvation, but the SecondPersonis
alone shown to be the Savior, the Objectof our faith, and the vicarious
Substitute Who suffered and bled and died to atone for sins.
5. That said, this sermon is about the Holy Spirit of God, the third of the
divine persons of the godhead. And I tread on this subject delicately, since the
Spirit of Godis not usually the appropriate subjectof a sermonthat pleases
God.
6. I say this because ofwords the Lord Jesus Christspoke in John 16.7-14:
7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away:
for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I
will send him unto you.
8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of
righteousness, andof judgment:

9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
10 Of righteousness, becauseI go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all
truth: for he shall not speak ofhimself; but whatsoeverhe shall hear, that
shall he speak:and he will shew you things to come.
14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto
you.
7. Of importance to us at this point are verses 13 and 14, wherein the Lord
Jesus Christ instructs that the Spirit of God’s primary purpose is to focus
attention on the Savior and to glory Him. In a word, the Spirit of God is
selfless. So,beyond showing sinners that it is the Spirit of God Who makes
them feel bad about their sins and who frightens them about their tragic
destiny, not much is usually said about Him to the unconverted.
8. Tonight, however, I feel compelled to bring a messagefrom God’s Word
about the Holy Spirit because there are severalin our midst who I greatlyfear
are about to make soul damning errors because oftheir stubborn love of sin
and their ignorance of the workings of the Spirit.
9. My text for tonight is John 3.8: “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and
thou hearestthe sound thereof, but canstnot tell whence it cometh, and
whither it goeth:so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”
10. You know that you are dead in trespasses andsins and that your soul is
condemned to Hell by your sins. You know that the Spirit of God convicts
sinners of their sins and makes them feel bad about their wrongdoing and
their guilt. And you know that when you feel bad about your sins for a while
and then later don’t feel so bad, you have succeededin grieving the Spirit and
driving Him awayto eliminate His influences and effect on you.

11. However, it is likely that there are some truths born out in our text that
you do not know:
1A. First, YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS
SOVEREIGN
1B. In the first phrase of our text, the Lord Jesus Christchose to paint a
word picture to describe one attribute of the Holy Spirit. He said about Him,
“The wind bloweth where it listeth.” So, the SecondPersonof the triune
godheadlikened the Third Personof the triune godheadto wind.
2B. What is it about wind that the Lord Jesus Christlikened to the Spirit of
God? “The wind bloweth where it listeth.” That is, the wind blows wherever
it chooses. To look atit another way, you have absolutely no control over
which direction the wind will blow. Neitherdo you have any means of
deciding the course, the direction, or the activities of the Spirit of God in the
lives of men.
3B. The single word for this faculty is sovereignty. What is sovereignty?
Sovereigntyspeaks ofthe absolute right and prerogative to do as one chooses,
independent of any requirement of approval, cooperation, oraid from
another. Thus, the Holy Spirit does as He pleases,seeking neither your
permission nor your help to do what He, alone, can do.
4B. This understanding of the Holy Spirit is decidedly alien to those
decisionists who insist that the Spirit of God operates according to the pattern
of their own witnessing and tract reading, supposing that when the so-called
“soulwinner” is speaking the Spirit must also be dealing, and that when the
“soulwinner” has decided that it is time for the sinner to pray some formula
prayer the Spirit is then bound to impart life.
5B. Heads up, as well, to you who are lost and who think that when you
make up your mind to become a Christian the Spirit of God will necessarily
be close at hand to impart life in accordance withyour wishes. The Spirit is
sovereign;you are not sovereign.

2A. Next, THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS DETECTABLE
1B. Just because the presence and the activity of the Spirit of God can be
detecteddoes not mean that the presence and activity of God’s Spirit will be
detected. I am strongly persuaded that there are some who think the Spirit of
God can be felt, as though He makes skincrawland gives goose bumps. But
they are wrong. The Spirit of God is a spirit, meaning that unless He so
choosesto be perceived by the five senses He cannot be seenor smelledor
heard or tastedor felt.
2B. The Lord Jesus said, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou
hearestthe sound thereof.” Sound canbe heard, because wind is physical.
But the Savior was not likening the Spirit of God to the wind as being
perceptible to the ears. He was likening the Spirit of God to the wind as being
discernedindirectly.
3B. Of course, if you take the analogytoo far it breaks down. But the thrust
of what the Lord Jesus Christ was saying is that as we usually discern wind
indirectly, so much the activity of the Spirit of God be discerned. We see the
wind move the leaves and bend the branches. We hear the wind rustle the
dried leaves on the ground. We feel the wind drive sand and dust into our
cheeks. Ifyou would detect the presence and the activity of the Spirit of God
you must look for the effectthat He produces in a man’s life.
4B. And what effectdoes He produce in a man’s life? Well, it depends upon
the man’s spiritual condition. The effects He produces in a Christian’s life are
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,goodness,faith, meekness,
temperance, and the fear of God. The effects He produces in the life of an
unsaved person is guilt and fearand foreboding and a sense ofcondemnation,
as He reproves of sin, righteousness, andjudgment.
5B. So, after you have heard strong law preaching you may feelsad, and you
may feel despondent, and you may feelfrightened. But I detectthe presence
of the Holy Spirit at work in your life. As well, a few minutes later you may

feel happy and contentedand enthusiastic, while I would discernthat you
have grieved the Spirit of God awayand His beneficial convicting has ceased.
6B. So, the Spirit of God is sovereign. The Spirit of God is also detectable.
He cannot be directly detected, but indirectly, as He works in the lives of men
to produce discernible results.
3A. Third, THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS NOT PREDICTABLE
“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearestthe sound thereof, but
canstnot tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth”
1B. You cannot tell what the Spirit of God will do next. That is to say, you
cannot know whether He will come back to you after you have grieved Him
away. You do not know which, of the opportunities you have had to yield to
His ministrations, will be your last.
2B. Do we not read in Genesis 6.3, “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not
always strive with man”? Do we not read in First Thessalonians 5.19,
“Quenchnot the Spirit”? And listen to what we read in Hebrews 10.28-29:
“He that despisedMoses’law died without mercy under two or three
witnesses:Of how much sorerpunishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought
worthy, who hath trodden under footthe Son of God, and hath counted the
blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath
done despite unto the Spirit of grace?”
3B. You need to think seriouslyabout doing despite unto the Spirit of grace.
When you refuse the gospel, and resistHis holy impulses to abandon your sins
in favor of Jesus Christ, you become guilty of outrages againstboth the Savior
and the Spirit. And you cannottell whether the Spirit of God will ever come
your way againor not.
4B. And if this seems like something less than the most serious issue you will
ever deal with, then consider,

4A. Finally, THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS THE REGENERATOR
“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearestthe sound thereof, but
canstnot tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is
born of the Spirit.”
1B. “so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” This seems like an unusual
way to conclude a sentence, but for the fact that there are decided similarities
that exist betweenthe way the effectof the wind is detectedand the future
course of the wind is unpredictable, and the fact that a Christian is the effect
of the Holy Spirit and no one can tell who the next convertwill be.
2B. This phrase emphasizes that it is the Spirit of God Who regeneratesand
quickens. Thus, you who grieve and quench the Spirit of God, who presume
that there will be a next time for you to considerthe claims of Christ, need to
keepone thing in mind: Though the Lord Jesus Christ is still sitting on His
throne at the Father’s right hand, ready to save anyone who comes to Him by
faith . . . none of this will happen exceptthrough the agencyof the Spirit of
God.
3B. My friends, I do not pretend to know all there is to know about the
interaction that takes place betweenthe Spirit of God and the sinner, or the
line of demarcationthat exists showing where the Spirit’s workings end and
the Savior’s saving begins. Only the Lord Jesus Christ took upon Himself
human flesh and shed His blood for sins. Only the Lord Jesus Christ is the
Savior of sinful men’s souls. Only the Lord Jesus Christis the proper object
of a sinner’s saving faith.
4B. Just know this: You do not have to know anything about the Spirit of
God in order to getsaved. The sole criteria for salvationis faith in Jesus
Christ. But some of you are dallying so much, tarrying so much, resisting so
much, that I felt it necessaryto inform you what you were doing and what the
consequenceswillbe if you do not quickly come to Christ.

CONCLUSION:
1. The Lord Jesus Christ is held up before you as the all sufficient Saviorto
look to, to believe in, to flee to for safety from the wrath of God.
2. The Spirit of God works, mostly behind the scenes, to invisibly glorify the
Savior and prepare the hearts of sinners to come to Him. Be carefulthat you
do not so grieve Him that He will leave you never to return.
www.calvaryroadbaptist.church/
Jesus is using a very cleverplay on words here. In English, this doesn't come
across clearly. Verse 7 and verse 8 use the Greek word pneuma, which can be
translated severaldifferent ways. It can mean "spirit," lowercase,or"Spirit,"
capitalized, or "wind," depending on the context. All of these have a religious
meaning which Nicodemus would have recognized. Wind—or breath—is often
symbolic of the Holy Spirit (Job 3:33; John 20:22;Acts 2:2). The term would
also have reminded Nicodemus of Ezekiel37:1–14. In that passage, the wind
blows across dry bones and brings them back to life.
In verse 7, Jesus explained that the need for rebirth should not surprise
Nicodemus. "Flesh" andSpirit" are opposedto eachother, so the only way
for a personto take on a new nature is by being "born again." The exact
reasons why this happens, and how it happens, will always be a mystery to us.
We can't really see the wind, or predict everything about it. In the same way,
the work of the Spirit isn't something we can completelyunderstand.
https://www.bibleref.com/
What did Jesus meanin John 3:8 when talking to Nicodemus?

Answered by Rob J Hyndman · 3 July 2010 · 7 Comments
“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know
where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the
Spirit.” (John 3:8)
I think the point being made here is that you can’t see the wind, you canonly
see its effect. Similarly, you can’t see any physical change in a personborn of
the Spirit, but you can see the effectof the Spirit at work in someone. We may
not understand how the Spirit works, but the effectof the Spirit in the lives of
believers is evidence of God at work.
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8 September 2011
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23 August 2018
In "Answer"
Taggedwith → spirit
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7 Responsesto What did Jesus meanin John 3:8 when talking to Nicodemus?
Andrew Riggs says:
4 July 2010 at3:57 pm
My understanding on this verse of John 3:8, is that it is simply referring to
people receiving the Holy Spirit. The Greek translation of this verse reads like
this: “The Spirit breathes where He desires and you hear His voice; but you
do not know from where He comes, and where He goes-so is everyone who
has receivedbirth from the Spirit.” (Greek Interlinear Bible)
The word goes onto say in Acts 2:4, “And they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit and spoke with tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (KJV)
This was how the new testamentchurch began, by birth of the Holy Spirit. It
is the same way today.
In John 3:3-8, Jesus told us that we must be born again (from above).
Whenever God breathes new life into a person(like a child being born), the
sign of life accompaniesthem. Whenevera person is born again, they’ll speak
in tongues.
This gives people the wonderful ability to “worshipthe Father in Spirit” –
John 4:23 and to “pray in the Holy Spirit” – Jude 20.
Other references ofthis include Acts 10:44-48, Acts 19:1-6, Rom 8:26, 1Cor
14:2 & 14.
May God bless His word to you.
Reply
RJ Walkersays:

21 February 2011 at7:04 am
Jumping in on an old post/thread….
Note first that I am heterodox in many of my understandings of Scripture.
And, perhaps not surprisingly, I read John 3:8 as Christ’s ‘endorsement’ of
heterodoxy: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you
do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who
is born of the Spirit.”
The Spirit, like the wind, may and will blow eachof us in different directions –
teachus different meanings and give us different understandings of scripture
and of God.
Hence, when “…. people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great
powerand glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his electfrom the
four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
His followers will have different understandings and hence will need to be
gatheredfrom the various places the wind has blown them.”
In other words, if God is truly ineffable, if He truly surpasses our
understanding, none of can be certain we have “final” or “correct”
understanding of His ways. His glory exceeds our grasp.
Reply
Justin says:
11 October2011 at 3:50 am
John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearestthe sound
thereof, but canstnot tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every
man that is born of the Spirit.
What a greatScripture this is, on the Holy Ghost infilling. You can hear the
wind and you canfeel the wind, but you cannotsee the wind. So is every
person that is born of the Spirit. (Filled with the Holy Ghost)When filled with
the Holy Ghostyou cannotsee it, but you can feeland hear it.. Acts 2:2 And

suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty rushing wind, and it
filled all the house where they were sitting. Just like on the day of Pentecost
there was sound when they were filled with the Spirit.. “… So is every man
that is born of the Spirit” John 3:8 When filled with the Holy Ghost, there will
be a sound. This sound is the Voice of God in your life, evidenced by a new
tongue and a Holy Language unknown to you. Acts 2:4 And they were all
filled with the Holy Ghost, and beganto speak with other tongues, as the
Spirit gave them utterance. When the Spirit comes in you, He will speak
through you. James 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil,
full of deadly poison. When you repent and surrender your tongue to God, He
will controlyour words… Let God control your life, let Him be number One.
1 Cor. 6:19 what? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? You are
made to be a dwelling place for the Holy Gost, so that you may be a witness..
Acts 1:8 You NEED His Spirit to witness and also to be Saved. John 3:5
…Excepta man be born of the water and of the Spirit, He will not enter the
kingdom of Heaven. So if this must be done, then it servers purpose that it
must be done right. You NEED the Holy Ghost.. ” Have you receivedsince
you believed?” Dont know about the Holy Ghost? its okay, neither did this
church. Acts 19:2 …We have not so much heard whether there be any Holy
Ghost. Acts 19:6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them; the Holy
Ghostcame on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. This was
a group of believers, the “CHURCH” but they knew not of the Holy Ghost,
they had to be taught.. They were sincere believers but lackedthe Spirit of
God. When they receivedHim, there ministry changeddrastically. They were
now filled with the saving Power. The Holy Ghostis important, and is
evidenced only by Speaking in another tongue, a heavenly language that satan
cant understand nor corrupt. Please dont let this oppurtunity pass you by,
have an open mind and let God speak to you through this message. YOU are
needed in this time to be the most effective witness ever. Without the Holy
Ghost, how is this possible? Acts 1:8…But you shall receive powerafter that
the Holy Ghostis come upon you, to be my witnesses…“Have you received
since you believed?” Dont let this truth pass you by!
Reply

Tori says:
27 October2011 at 11:54 pm
Eachtime you read the bible it gives you a new meaning according to your
needs and what the Holy Spirit wants to use you for. There is never one
correctmeaning, but there is meaning of the moment. You can have a
different meaning to a verse from the meaning you got the last time you read
it. Thats the work of the Holy Spirit.
Speaking in toungues is not evidence of the Holy Spirit on everyone. It’s one of
the gifts from God(1st Corinthians vs 12). Howeveron Pentecostit was a sign
to the Gentiles (1st Corinth 14 vs 22) that the spirit had landed and NOT to
say that everyone who shall be filled with the Holy Spirit shall be evidenced by
speaking in toungues. If that was so then how about the flames that landed on
everyone on Pentecost(Acts 2 vs 3), should we be seeing this on everyone
speaking in toungues to determine whether their toungues are real?.
One can be filled with the Holy Spirit and not speak in tongues but still has
the Spirit operating in them and you see them by their fruits. Because ofmis-
interpretation of the verse, many people tend to pretend to speak in toungues
copied or memorised from hearing from other people just to suit the flow of
the congregation, outof embarrassment that they can’t or so that they fit in
and not be outcastedas ones without God in them or not saved. Nobody
considers 1 Corinth vs 22 anymore. (Its now like a competition of speaking in
toungues where people dont know the reasonor why they are doing it). At
PentecostPeteraddressedthe crowdin Acts charpter 2 ……..vs21:“and
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”, he didnt say that
everyone who has proof of speaking in toungues will be saved.
In the Bible after resurrection, there are so many man and women of God
who did amazings things filled with the Holy Spirit and being used by it, but
without a mention of them ever speaking in toungues.
In conclusionthe Holy spirit stirs people to do different amazing things,
nothing too small or too big. Watchthe fruits of the Holy Spirit in people,
thats the evidence of being filled with the holy Spirit. We should’nt look for

tongues or enforce them on anybody, (pressurising them on people until they
start memorising what they hear from others) just to beat congregationalpeer
pressure.
Speaking in tongues is not an essentialforone to enter the Kingdom of God,
nor is it a necessity.
Reply
Jeff Creightonsays:
30 April 2013 at5:32 am
The Christian goes where he wants, and you can hear the sound of the
Christian, but you DO NOT KNOW from what place the Christian comes,
and where the Christian goes;this is how you know that the Christian has
been born again.
-John 3:8 (De – Analogized)
Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded.
-Romans 3:27
That you put off concerning the former conversationthe old man, which is
corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.
-Ephesians 4:22
Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about
how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
-Romans 13:14
As it is, you boastin your arrogantschemes. All such boasting is evil.
-James 4:16
First of the two qualifying attributes that tests that the man is born again.
You know NOT from what place the Christian comes.

The blood coating of your silence of the past, is the first layer of the coating to
the forgiveness ofsins.
We are not to uncover the sins of another, only if askedby the judge, then
only to witness what has been asked.
Not only the judge of an american court as your mind might percieve, yet of
the Christ who dwells in those baptised in his name and sheds light on His
choosing.
Secondof the two qualifying attributes that tests that the man is born again.
You know NOT from what place the Christian goes.
The blood coating of your silence of YOUR OWN future.
So then how do people make plans?
As Christ covers Man. Man covers Woman.
Prophecy, is the fortelling of an event.
Example of Man covering with the Christ.
Now listen, you who say, “Todayor tomorrow we will go to this or that city,
spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not
even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that
appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is
the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
James 4:13-15
Example of a Woman covering with a Man.
My Husband is taking us to Disney World.
Example of being uncovered.
I am going to Disney World.
Response.I am Jealous.

… I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…..
-Exodus 20:5
Judge for yourselves:Is it proper for a woman to pray to God(the greatI
AM) without the covering taught by the Christ, that he died for us to learn?
-1 Corinthians 11:13 (De – Analogized)
==
Every man who asks for something or says what is going to happen; to a
woman, who is down the chain of authority defined by God dishonors Jesus.
But every woman who asks forsomething or says what is going to happen,
without using her Husband as an authority covering, dishonors her Husband,
the dishonor and embarrasmentto the Husband is intense, a glory of the Lord
has been stolenfrom God, and the woman exhaults herself to God’s throne
bearing the Glory of the Lord, and then wonders why she FacesWrath!
For if a woman does not use her Husband as an authority covering, she should
have her hair shavedoff; but if it is a disgrace fora woman to have her hair
shaved off, then she should use her Husband as an authority covering.
For a man indeed should not use his wife as an authority covering for he is an
Image, and is a glory of God, but a womanis a glory of Man.
8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man
createdfor woman, but woman for man.
-1 Corinthians 11:8-9
It is for this reasonthat a woman should cover her own authority, it is because
of the ones watching.

11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man
independent of woman. 12 For as woman came from man, so also man is born
of woman. But everything comes from God.
-1 Corinthians 11:11-12 (De – Analogized)
Judge for yourselves:Is it proper for a woman to pray to God(the greatI
AM) without the covering taught by the Christ, who died for us to learn?
Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a Man has long hair which
is the glory of the Woman, it is a disgrace to him,
But that if a womanhas long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her
as her glory, and the woman was given to the man to glorify man, and man
was made to glorify God.
If anyone wants to be argue about this, tough, we have no other practice nor
do the churches of God.
Reply
MichaelGray says:
7 May 2013 at1:58 am
Jeff, you summed it up the best and in a simple and understanding manner.
Reply
Sothie says:
10 June 2014 at 7:13 pm

In Romans 8:28 God presets a path for those born in the Spirit on how they
will be conformed into the mirror image of His Son Jesus. When you are born
againyour diapers are changed,butsince our fresh is never remade,we tend to
dirty those diapers…thus we have Holy Spirit as our Helper.
The Wind here is the Holy Spirit…and He will take(blow)you into the
direction that God wants….remember the Holy Spirit will speak for
Himself…what He desires is God’s.Your Ultimate direction is to be drawn
closerto Christ’s image…..to be like it…..but in everyday life,that direction
wont be easyto tell……you will go in unknown series of twists.
You will feeland hear the sound of the wind…..you will hear Him directing
you……you may feel direction but cant really tell where exactlyit is
heading.The Holy Spirit may whisper what it is to come….butwont tell it all.
Thus it becomes a relationship of trust……you must trust God all the way.
You must trust its God speaking to you and that He wont lead you into a
ditch. When you born of the Spirit….you move by faith and not by
sight…….youjust trust the wind will take you to the right place…mirror
image of Christ….True Righteousness….. bibleq.net/
John 3:8 – The Spirit Breathes
By Wayne Jackson

In His conversationwith Nicodemas regarding the new birth, Jesus declared:
“The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the voice thereof, but know not
whence it comes, and where it goes:so is every one who is born of the Spirit”
(Jn 3:8 ASV).
This passageis frequently appealedto by denominationalists in an effort to
prove that the new birth is a mysterious process,like the blowing of the wind,
which cannot be explained. It is “betterfelt than told.” This misunderstanding
is due to a faulty translation in our common versions.
The term rendered “wind” in John 3:8 is the Greek wordpneuma. It is found
386 times in the Greek New Testament, and it is never rendered “wind”
exceptin this solitary instance. In fact, the term is used five times within this
context. Why should it be translated“Spirit” on four occasions, and“wind”
once? The ordinary term for “wind” in the Greek Testamentis anemos (cf.
Mt. 11:7).
The context here reveals that the Lord was explaining how the Holy Spirit
operates in the new birth.
Underline “wind,” and write “Spirit” in your margin, or, if you use the
American Standard Version, note the footnote in that edition; cf. also W.E.
Vine, Expository Dictionary, “Spirit” (a).
The word “bloweth” translates the Greek verb pneo, which can mean to blow
or to breathe, depending upon the context. Kindred forms of the word are
elsewhere employedof breathing (cf. Lk. 23:46;Acts 9:1; 2 Tim. 3:16).
In this passagethe Lord is suggesting thatthe Spirit breathes where He wills;
His voice is heard (i.e., His inspired words are perceived); “even so” (i.e., in
this manner), is one begottenof the Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit’s operation

through the word of God that initiates the new birth experience (cf. 1 Pet.
1:23). https://www.christiancourier.com/
Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
John 3:8
John 3:7
John 3
John 3:9
"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not
know where it comes from and where it is going;so is everyone who is born of
the Spirit."
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Adam Clarke Commentary
The wind bloweth - Though the manner in which this new birth is effectedby
the Divine Spirit, be incomprehensible to us, yet we must not, on this ground,
suppose it to be impossible. The wind blows in a variety of directions - we hear
its sound, perceive its operationin the motion of the trees, etc., and feelit on
ourselves - but we cannot discern the air itself; we only know that it exists by
the effects whichit produces:so is every one who is born of the Spirit: the
effects are as discernible and as sensible as those of the wind; but itself we
cannot see. But he who is born of God knows that he is thus born: the Spirit
itself, the grand agentin this new birth, bearethwitness with his spirit, that he
is born of God, Romans 8:16; for, he that believeth hath the witness in
himself, 1 John 4:13; 1 John 5:10; Galatians 4:6. And so does this Spirit work
in and by him that others, though they see not the principle, can easilydiscern
the change produced; for whatsoeveris born of God overcomeththe world, 1
John 5:4.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography

Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on John 3:8". "The Adam Clarke
Commentary". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/john-
3.html. 1832.
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Albert Barnes'Notes onthe Whole Bible
The wind bloweth … - Nicodemus had objectedto the doctrine because he did
not understand how it could be. Jesus shows him that he ought not to rejectit
on that account, for he constantlybelieved things quite as difficult. It might
appear incomprehensible, but it was to be judged of by its effects. As in this
case ofthe wind, the effects were seen, the sound was heard, important
changes were producedby it, trees and clouds were moved, yet the wind is not
seen, nor do we know whence it comes, nor by what laws it is governed;so it is
with the operations ofthe Spirit. We see the changes produced. Men just now
sinful become holy; the thoughtless become serious;the licentious become
pure; the vicious, moral; the moral, religious; the prayerless, prayerful; the
rebellious and obstinate, meek, and mild, and gentle. When we see such
changes, we oughtno more to doubt that they are produced by some cause -
by some mighty agent, than when we see the trees moved, or the waters of the
oceanpiled on heaps, or feet the cooling effects of a summer‘s breeze. In those
caseswe attribute it to the “wind,” though we see it not, and though we do not
understand its operations. We may learn, hence:
1.that the proper evidence of conversionis the effect on the life.
2.that we are not too curiously to searchfor the cause or manner of the
change.
3.that God has power over the most hardened sinner to change him, as he has
powerover the loftiest oak, to bring it down by a sweeping blast.
4.that there may be greatvariety in the modes of the operation of the Spirit.
As the “wind” sometimes sweepswith a tempest, and prostrates all before it,
and sometimes breathes upon us in a mild evening zephyr, so it is with the
operations of the Spirit. The sinner sometimes trembles and is prostrate

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