Welcome to the In Touch podcast with Charles Stanley for Wednesday, September 3rd. Have you ever wondered what the Bible means by being born again? If you aren't sure, this series on the power of the Holy Spirit continues with an understanding of his part in giving new life. Lord, I really messed up my life.

If I just had a new opportunity to start all over again, I think things would be different.

I wonder if you've ever felt that way.

God, if I could just get a new beginning, if I just had a new start, somehow I think things might be different. And I want to say, first of all,

I've got some bad news for you, and then I've got some good news. The bad news is this. You can't

change your past. That's history. It's fixed. You can't do much about that. But you can start all

over. That is, you can have a new beginning. And that's what I'm

to talk about in this message today, because that's exactly what God promises. No matter what

you've done in the past, there is a way to have a new beginning. And the title of this message

is the Holy Spirit, giving new life. And I want you to turn, if you will,

to the one chapter that best probably describes this in all the Bible, and that is the third

chapter of John. And you'll recall this is Jesus in his interview with Nicodemus, and Nicodemus comes

to him out of curiosity, more than likely. He knew there was

something going on. He couldn't quite understand. He couldn't explain. And so what he was saying to

Jesus is this, explain to me what's going on. He says, now, I listen and I know having been a teacher

himself and being a teacher, he said, I know that you're a teacher

come from God, for no man can do what I've seen going on unless God's with him. And you certainly

couldn't teach the way you're teaching unless God was with you. So explain to me what's happening.

And so Jesus cut it short right there. He said to him, verily, very I say unto you,

a truly truly I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

That is, you can't understand it. You won't understand what's going on. And then he said to him

a second time, he said, unless you're born of water and of the

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