Complete Gospel Tract Titles

Gospel Tract List
1. How I Received the Holy Ghost
2. Jesus Is Coming Again
3. You Must Be Born Again
4. Stir Up the Gift of God
5. The World's Most Dreaded Hour
6. What is Salvation?
7. Stand Still in Jordan
8. The Returned Father
9. Grieved Hearts
10. The Second Death
11. The Father and the Son
12. Suffering and the Saints
13. Cancer Conquered
14. The Church?
15. How Shall They Preach, Except They Be Sent?
16. Have You Received the Holy Ghost Since You Believed?
17. Patience
18. Alone With God
19. Tithes and Offerings
20. Prayer
21. The True Sabbath
22. The Besetting Sin
23. Saving Strength
24. What Will the Harvest Be?
25. Marriage and Divorce
26. Taking the Name of the Lord
27. Keys to the Kingdom
28. Works
29. Politics and Believers
30. Unequally Yoked in Marriage
31. Unequally Yoked in Worship
32. The Forgiven Woman
33. The New Earth
34. The Sin of Silence
35. Freedom
36. Gods of the Gentiles
37. Why Some Are Not Healed
38. The Seven Pillars
39. Life, More Abundantly
40. Fear
41. The Comforter’s Testimony
42. This is My Friend
43. Conversion
44. The Time Is Drawing Near?
45. Songs in the Night
46. The Master's Net
47. Trials are Opportunities
48. Receiving the Messenger
49. Seven Messages to the Seven Pastors
50. Keep Yourself Pure
51. Jezreel
52. The New Birth
53. Denying Jesus
54. Bruised Reeds
56. The Wise and the Foolish
57. Holiness
58. Is Jesus God?
59. Christ or Christianity
60. Have Faith In God
63. Four Kinds of Soil
64. Communion
66. Baptism
69. Crucified With Christ
70. Homosexuality and the Bible
71. The Kingdom of God
72. The Gospel of Christ
77. Sanctification
78. New Commandments
79. The Sacrifice of Christ
81. Speaking in Tongues
87. Antichrist
88. The Way of Grace
90. Relationships
93. Subdued
94. The Spirit of Christ
95. The Blood of Christ
96. Spirit of a Serpent, Spirit of a Dove
97. Gluttony
En español
Bautismo
El Nuevo Nacimiento
¿Cristo o Cristianismo?
¿Que Es Salvación?
El Sacrificio de Cristo

Gospel Tract #52

The New Birth

by John David Clark, Sr.

The phrase, "You must be born again," came from Jesus himself. The Lord made that statement to Nicodemus, a respected elder of Israel who "came to Jesus by night." Jesus made it clear to his night-time visitor that he was speaking of the nation of Israel as a whole when he told him, "You must be born again." They were already God's people by virtue of being born physically as Jews, yet there was a great change coming that would require them to be born again – this time spiritually – in order to remain God's people.

Jesus compared the new birth to the unpredictable wind. He said, "The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it is coming from nor where it is going. It is this way with every person born of the Spirit" (Jn. 3:8). These words are of the greatest importance, for in them Jesus has given us a description of the new birth that applies to "every person born of the Spirit." In other words, Jesus has given us a sign which lets us know who is born again and who is not.

This sign, the one consistent element in every experience of new birth, is "its sound." This "sound" of the Spirit caused quite a stir in Jerusalem when the disciples were born again. "And they were all filled with the holy ghost, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4). Yes, the sound of the wind of God, which our Lord said was the one consistent feature of every new birth experience, is the Spirit speaking in tongues through the person who receives it. When the holy ghost is received, some may weep, some may laugh, some may jump for joy, and others may fall prostrate on the floor. Some may be overcome with the power of God, and some are dealt with very gently by the Spirit. But the one invariable evidence of receiving the Spirit is the sign of the sound of the Spirit.

New Birth Teaching Series

"You must be born again"

Three hours of audio teaching (transcript available) from Pastor John Clark, Sr. on the subject of the "New Birth". New Birth CD set, 3 hours of wonderful teachingWhen is a person born again and how do you know? The Bible contains clear revelation from God about when a person is born again. Learn what had to occur before the new birth was available to man. Listen as Pastor John covers these topics and more:
  • What Jesus had to do before the New Birth was available.
  • When were the disciples born again?
  • The spiritual condition of the disciples before Pentecost.
  • The promise of the Father.
  • Do you receive the Spirit before being baptized with it?
  • What did Jesus mean by "born again"?
  • The spirit of Antichrist.
  • What must I do to be born again?
This is perhaps the most important issue for a person to understand.

Have you been born again?

A person is born of the Spirit when he receives the Spirit. This is why Paul wrote, "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. 8:9). When one receives the Spirit, it is called in the scriptures the "baptism of the Spirit". The disciples received the Spirit (the promise of the Father) on Pentecost morning when they were baptized with it (Acts 1:4-5). The believers in Samaria received the Spirit when they were baptized with it (Acts 8:14-17). Cornelius and his household received the Spirit when they were baptized with it (Acts 10:44-47). Therefore, since receiving the Spirit is to be born again, and since receiving the Spirit is to be baptized with it, we can say that we are baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ (1Cor. 12:13). Or we can say that we are "baptized into Christ" (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27). Or we can even say "baptism saves us" (1Pet. 3:21). However we choose to express it, the new birth and the baptism of the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues are the same experience, which happens today just as Jesus said it would happen when he first described the new birth to Nicodemus.

All who receive the Spirit speak in tongues or have "stammering lips" (Isa. 28:11-12) when they receive it. This means that if you have not yet spoken in tongues, you have not yet received the real Spirit of God. However, even if that is the case with you, my friend, do not be discouraged! Rather, be thankful that this baptism of the holy ghost is still available!

If "tongues are for a sign to unbelievers", as Paul said (1Cor. 14:22), then we should ask, "A sign of what?" The obvious answer for this is that speaking in tongues is God's sign to point unbelievers to the way of Christ. The Spirit that speaks in tongues through men when it enters is the Spirit of God (1Jn. 4:1-3). As one man said, "When Jesus was here, he cast out dumb spirits. He doesn't now give them to men." The Spirit of God isn't dumb. It speaks when it enters, and that sound is a sign to those who are seeking the way into eternal life.

"Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound," wrote the Psalmist (89:15). This joyful sound is the sound of the Spirit confessing Christ through the one who has received him (1Jn. 4:1-3) in a language which the speaker has never learned. It is what Peter called the "answer of a good conscience toward God" (1Pet. 3:21), and it is "more sure" than hearing God's own voice coming out of heaven (2Pet. 1:17-19). Speaking in tongues is the "testimony" Jesus said the Spirit would give when it comes (Jn. 15:26-27). God has given this witness concerning His Son, and it is this "witness" which empowers us to proclaim God to be our Father (Rom. 8:15). Every soul who refuses His witness calls God a liar (1Jn. 5:10). It is the "deep" that "calls unto deep" in times of trouble (Ps. 42:7). It is the means by which men "call upon the name of the Lord" (Zeph. 3:9). One can easily understand why Paul was motivated to say that no one could say Jesus is Lord without the holy ghost (1Cor. 12:1-3), for it is the holy ghost that empowers men to be living witnesses to his glory (Acts 1:8).

The disciples were born again on the day of Pentecost when a sound of a holy wind blew down from heaven into an upper room, and its sound was heard by the crowds in Jerusalem – coming from the disciples' tongues! In amazement, the multitude beheld the disciples stagger as drunk men under the mighty power of God. Some mockingly said the disciples were drunk (Acts 2:13). However, Peter soon let these misguided onlookers know that the men and women whom they were watching were not drunkards. He explained, "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel" (Acts 2:16), and what Joel had spoken of was the outpouring of God's holy Spirit upon men – the new birth! Do you have it?