1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,360 In Christian circles, we often hear of the term, born again. 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:06,420 What does this term mean? 3 00:00:06,940 --> 00:00:10,760 In John 2, a man named Nicodemus will have the same question. 4 00:00:11,260 --> 00:00:14,220 He'll ask Jesus how one can be born again. 5 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:17,740 In today's study, we'll consider Christ's response 6 00:00:17,740 --> 00:00:21,880 as well as the theological implications of regeneration. 7 00:00:24,420 --> 00:00:29,100 This morning's text is centered around two words. 8 00:00:29,100 --> 00:00:34,020 and those words are born again. Specifically, Jesus is going to tell Nicodemus that he must 9 00:00:34,020 --> 00:00:41,220 be born again, which is only going to confuse poor Nicodemus. Now, have you ever had a computer or 10 00:00:41,220 --> 00:00:44,960 phone that comes out of the box, and initially when it comes out of the box, it has what you 11 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:50,280 would call factory settings, default settings. Usually the factory settings are the default 12 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:55,060 status that the phone or the computer is in that has to then be optimized somewhere down the road. 13 00:00:55,060 --> 00:00:59,940 Well, in a similar way, in a similar way, mankind, when we came out of the box, so to speak, 14 00:01:00,060 --> 00:01:05,120 mankind, when we are born into this world, mankind comes into this world with default settings. 15 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:07,480 The problem is this, that our default settings are bad. 16 00:01:08,220 --> 00:01:13,060 When we are born, when we come into this world, we come with certain inclinations, 17 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:15,660 a certain disposition, a certain nature, the nature of the flesh. 18 00:01:15,700 --> 00:01:20,340 And the nature of the flesh is uniformly presented negatively, bad, throughout Scripture. 19 00:01:20,340 --> 00:01:25,540 we see that he is born simply and only of the flesh is prone to doing that which the flesh 20 00:01:25,540 --> 00:01:30,440 does which is reject against the spirit or rebel against the spirit ephesians 2 put it this way it 21 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:35,700 says that we're born dead we came to this world dead in our sins and trespasses in fact it says 22 00:01:35,700 --> 00:01:41,540 that we came into this world as children of wrath children of wrath when you first came to this 23 00:01:41,540 --> 00:01:46,540 world you came into this world physically alive absolutely i was at the hospital i did a visitation 24 00:01:46,540 --> 00:01:51,440 it was actually last Sunday, all of a sudden this lullaby came over the speakers there at Memorial 25 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:55,140 Hospital. It was the oddest thing. It only lasted about eight seconds, but the gentleman that I was 26 00:01:55,140 --> 00:01:59,320 visiting with, he says they do that. They play that every time someone's born. There's this sound, 27 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:04,440 this lullaby that occurs every time a child is born there. Now, it's very cool, and it's very 28 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:08,960 encouraging. It's exciting to know that the kingdom is still growing, that God is still bringing new 29 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:14,360 sons and daughters into creation, and yet the fact remains that when any child comes into this world, 30 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:19,840 He comes in this world, as Ephesians 2 says, born dead in his sins and trespasses. 31 00:02:20,340 --> 00:02:21,920 Now, Jesus knew that. 32 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:25,480 And today's text, he's going to be talking to Nicodemus, who does not know that. 33 00:02:25,940 --> 00:02:30,080 And he's going to be teaching Nicodemus, and he's going to use a phrase that Nicodemus was unfamiliar with, 34 00:02:30,220 --> 00:02:33,360 but which we take for granted, and that is the phrase, born again. 35 00:02:33,580 --> 00:02:35,560 You must be born again. 36 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:37,980 You and I, we know what that means. At least we think we do. 37 00:02:38,700 --> 00:02:39,940 Nicodemus didn't have a clue. 38 00:02:39,940 --> 00:02:47,900 And so in today's text, Jesus is going to explain that, and he's going to then springboard into a presentation of the gospel, culminating in John 3, 16. 39 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,460 All right, let me reread verses 1 through 4, and let's just work our way through this passage. 40 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:53,940 Verse 1, so there was a man of the Pharisees. 41 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:57,600 Immediately, we get a bit of his bio right there, and it's negative. 42 00:02:57,920 --> 00:03:00,380 Pharisees are not regarded highly in the New Testament. 43 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:05,300 But there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 44 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:06,940 This means he was also part of the Sanhedrin. 45 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:10,280 He was like a senator is the best way to present it. 46 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:12,340 So there's a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus. 47 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:13,320 He was a ruler of the Jews. 48 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:17,060 Now this man came to Jesus by night, verse 2, and said to him, 49 00:03:17,380 --> 00:03:19,600 Rabbi, we know. 50 00:03:19,780 --> 00:03:21,640 It's almost like he's speaking for some others. 51 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:25,860 We know that you are a teacher who has come from God. 52 00:03:26,180 --> 00:03:29,960 For no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. 53 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:33,800 As a side note, the suggestion here is that Jesus has been doing a lot of signs. 54 00:03:34,100 --> 00:03:36,320 In John chapter 2, we saw one sign, water and wine. 55 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:40,060 It was the first major sign he did, and yet John didn't record everything that Jesus did, 56 00:03:40,300 --> 00:03:42,440 but Nicodemus is aware of other things that have occurred. 57 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:47,660 We know that you're a teacher who has come from God because no one can do the things that you are doing. 58 00:03:48,060 --> 00:03:52,200 No one can do these things unless, he says in verse 2, unless God is with them. 59 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,060 And Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly, amen, amen, absolutely. 60 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:02,160 I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 61 00:04:02,980 --> 00:04:09,380 verse 4, Nicodemus said to him, how, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second 62 00:04:09,380 --> 00:04:14,900 time into his mother's womb and be born once again? All right. At the outset of today's text, 63 00:04:14,980 --> 00:04:20,240 in verses 1 through 4, we see this man. He comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness. With that 64 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:24,160 said, again, we know a few things about this man. Number one, we know that he's a Pharisee. Number 65 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:28,160 two, we know that he is part of the Sanhedrin. He's part of the upper crust. He's the religious 66 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:33,580 elite. And number three, we know that because he is all those things, he usually, men of his ilk 67 00:04:33,580 --> 00:04:38,660 usually fell into the camp that was opposed to Christ. When you read these things, Pharisee and 68 00:04:38,660 --> 00:04:43,640 member of the Sanhedrin and the religious elite and the like, usually, almost uniformly, those 69 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:50,540 who met those criterias are villains in the New Testament context. However, Nicodemus is different. 70 00:04:51,060 --> 00:04:55,880 Nicodemus is different, at least one key respect. Initially, when he comes to Jesus, he may have 71 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,780 been coming on behalf of others. He may have been doing it just by himself, which is why maybe it 72 00:04:59,780 --> 00:05:03,700 was at night. Under the cover of darkness, he comes to see Jesus. It's all that's possible. We don't 73 00:05:03,700 --> 00:05:08,840 really know for sure. Whatever the case is, while his peers and his contemporaries were threatened 74 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:13,120 by Jesus, because Jesus shows up, he starts teaching, doing signs and miracles, and the 75 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:18,280 religious elite were like, ah, we can't have this. Who is that guy? So this guy, Nicodemus, was either 76 00:05:18,280 --> 00:05:23,760 coming to Jesus on behalf of others or by himself, but the question remained the same in either case. 77 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:30,240 Who are you? You're doing things no one has ever seen before. You're teaching things no one has 78 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:36,240 ever heard before. Who are you? We know this much, Jesus. We got this. Rabbi, rabbi, rabbi. We know 79 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:40,960 you must be sent from God. You have to be sent by God because no one can just do this stuff 80 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:47,460 unless he is sent by God himself, an emissary. So we don't know his entire motivation. It's 81 00:05:47,460 --> 00:05:51,200 possible he just wanted to see if Jesus was going to play ball with the rest of the religious 82 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:56,220 leadership. Whatever the case, he does seem sure that Jesus is some sort of divine emissary in some 83 00:05:56,220 --> 00:06:02,400 sort of capacity. Now, if you're Jesus, he actually has just complimented you in a sense. The guy comes 84 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:07,900 to you and says, you are doing just amazing work, knockout work. Unless God was on your side, you 85 00:06:07,900 --> 00:06:13,100 couldn't do what you do. Imagine if you're an elder, a deacon, a pastor even. You're in some role where 86 00:06:13,100 --> 00:06:17,100 you're teaching and preaching. Someone comes up to you and says, that was amazing. Man alive. God must 87 00:06:17,100 --> 00:06:20,560 be with you. Otherwise, you couldn't do what you do. If you ever hear those words, you go, well, thank you. 88 00:06:20,660 --> 00:06:25,700 very kind of you. But that's not what Jesus does, not in the least. He doesn't say thanks or very 89 00:06:25,700 --> 00:06:30,400 kind of you, Nicodemus, or take it as a compliment. That's not his intention. The end of chapter 2, 90 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:33,920 which we didn't read today, but the end of chapter 2 said Jesus knows what's in the heart of men. 91 00:06:34,140 --> 00:06:39,120 He knows what's in the heart. He sees to the heart. He knows the motivations, and he knows something 92 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:42,940 about Nicodemus in the same way he's going to know something about the woman in the well next 93 00:06:42,940 --> 00:06:47,400 week in chapter 4. He knows what they're thinking. He knows why they do what they do. And so here, 94 00:06:47,500 --> 00:06:51,600 instead of engaging in the way that Nicodemus wants him to engage on the topic that Nicodemus 95 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:56,540 has set forth, Jesus cuts to the heart of a different matter. And you see there, verse 3, 96 00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:02,300 that Jesus answers and said to him, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot 97 00:07:02,300 --> 00:07:09,340 see the kingdom of God. So he answers Nicodemus in a way that Nicodemus couldn't possibly have 98 00:07:09,340 --> 00:07:13,840 understood. Now let me stop for a moment. You and I, when we hear the phrase born again, 99 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:18,320 We hear it through 21st century North American evangelical Christian ears. 100 00:07:18,700 --> 00:07:21,980 If someone says I'm a born-again Christian, it's like a three-sided triangle. 101 00:07:22,100 --> 00:07:22,840 They mean the same thing. 102 00:07:23,180 --> 00:07:25,160 If you've been born again, you are what? 103 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:26,280 You're a Christian. 104 00:07:26,660 --> 00:07:31,040 There's no category for born-again Christians in the sense that there's Christians who are not born again. 105 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:34,160 With that said, to Nicodemus, it didn't mean anything at all. 106 00:07:34,780 --> 00:07:35,340 You understand that? 107 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:38,880 You and I, we hear these words through all sorts of presuppositions we have. 108 00:07:39,340 --> 00:07:44,740 Nicodemus had no frame of reference at all for the phrase, born again. 109 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:50,740 In fact, to him, the minute it comes out of Jesus' mouth, Nicodemus says, that's preposterous. 110 00:07:51,380 --> 00:07:53,020 And we know it because of what he responds. 111 00:07:53,100 --> 00:07:54,820 He responds in the most crude, crass way. 112 00:07:54,820 --> 00:07:57,220 He's talking to a rabbi, someone he respects. 113 00:07:57,580 --> 00:07:59,940 He says, come on, Jesus, let's get real here. 114 00:08:00,020 --> 00:08:00,580 Born again? 115 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:04,760 As an old man, do I climb up into mother's womb and then born once more? 116 00:08:04,860 --> 00:08:06,760 You see how crude and crass that would be? 117 00:08:06,820 --> 00:08:07,700 It was preposterous. 118 00:08:07,980 --> 00:08:11,880 The phrase not only meant nothing to Nicodemus, but it kind of got under his skin a little bit. 119 00:08:11,940 --> 00:08:13,980 So he throws at this ridiculous question. 120 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:15,540 Now let's see what Jesus responds. 121 00:08:15,620 --> 00:08:17,020 Let's look at verses 5 through 8. 122 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:19,900 And we'll see Jesus is going to unpack this for Nicodemus. 123 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:20,340 Verse 5. 124 00:08:20,900 --> 00:08:22,720 Jesus answered and said, 125 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:24,260 Most assuredly. 126 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,860 This is a way, again, amen, amen, truly, truly, verily, verily. 127 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:30,520 This is like, you can take this to the bank, Nicodemus. 128 00:08:30,860 --> 00:08:39,860 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter 129 00:08:39,860 --> 00:08:45,520 the kingdom of God. This is interesting to Nicodemus because he was of the idea that just 130 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:49,440 by being an Israelite, he was guaranteed his ticket was stamped, right? But Jesus says, 131 00:08:49,620 --> 00:08:52,960 unless you're born of the water and the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. Verse 6, 132 00:08:53,260 --> 00:08:58,260 that which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, 133 00:08:58,260 --> 00:09:00,040 and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 134 00:09:00,180 --> 00:09:00,760 Do not marvel. 135 00:09:00,860 --> 00:09:02,620 He can see the look on Nicodemus' face. 136 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:04,940 Nicodemus' eyes are getting big at all this. 137 00:09:05,260 --> 00:09:06,280 He says, don't marvel. 138 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:08,340 Don't marvel that I said to you, 139 00:09:08,340 --> 00:09:09,240 you have to be born again. 140 00:09:09,540 --> 00:09:11,340 The wind blows where it wishes 141 00:09:11,340 --> 00:09:12,740 and you hear the sound of it, 142 00:09:12,780 --> 00:09:14,000 but you cannot tell where it comes from. 143 00:09:14,060 --> 00:09:15,380 You cannot tell where it goes. 144 00:09:16,060 --> 00:09:17,580 It might have been a dark and stormy night 145 00:09:17,580 --> 00:09:19,060 that night there when they met 146 00:09:19,060 --> 00:09:19,800 in the cover of darkness 147 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:21,380 and he uses the wind as an illustration. 148 00:09:21,680 --> 00:09:22,980 But he says, the wind blows where it wishes. 149 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:23,820 You hear the sound of it. 150 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:25,140 You can't tell where it comes from, where it goes. 151 00:09:25,140 --> 00:09:28,580 so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. 152 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:30,600 All right, we said a few moments ago, 153 00:09:30,660 --> 00:09:33,860 you and I come into this world with factory settings. 154 00:09:34,300 --> 00:09:38,180 And our factory settings are, at least spiritually speaking, are bad. 155 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:40,380 In fact, they're not just bad, we're born dead. 156 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:41,960 We're dead in our sins and trespasses. 157 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:43,380 We have what's called a fallen nature. 158 00:09:43,820 --> 00:09:46,300 We're not sinners because we've sinned. 159 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:49,280 We sin because we're sinners is another way to put it. 160 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:50,860 So we come into this world with a fallen nature, 161 00:09:50,980 --> 00:09:54,180 a fallen disposition, and fallen sinful desires. 162 00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:58,600 Romans 3 puts it this way, there's none who's righteous. No, not one. There's none who understands. 163 00:09:58,700 --> 00:10:02,900 There's none who seeks after God. They've all turned aside. There's none who does good. No, not one. 164 00:10:03,620 --> 00:10:09,380 Who's included in that? Everybody. And that's the purpose. You know, there's some folks who believe 165 00:10:09,380 --> 00:10:12,880 like you have to get to a certain age, like the age of accountability. Have you ever heard that? 166 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:18,120 People look at little cute infants and say, oh, how adorable. Boy, at some point, I hope he doesn't 167 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:23,980 become a sinner. Have you been a parent? It doesn't work though. It's not like you have to wait to the 168 00:10:23,980 --> 00:10:28,200 age of accountability strikes, and then once you knowingly sin, then we can call you a sinner. 169 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:32,380 You're a sinner from Jump Street. You're a sinner from the word go. Scripture doesn't hide that. 170 00:10:32,380 --> 00:10:38,360 Your nature is this way. You were born of Adam. He is your federal head. Because of Adam's sin, 171 00:10:38,420 --> 00:10:43,060 we all come into this world sinful. Read Romans 5. It's not hidden. That's not something in the 172 00:10:43,060 --> 00:10:48,260 dust jacket of Scripture. This is not something you have to strain to see the theology in these 173 00:10:48,260 --> 00:10:53,260 passages here. It's repeatedly clear time and time and time and time. Again, you and I come into this 174 00:10:53,260 --> 00:10:57,300 world as sinners. There's none who are righteous. No, not one. None who understands. None who seeks 175 00:10:57,300 --> 00:11:03,480 after God. They've all turned aside. There's none who does good. No, not one. Left to our own devices, 176 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:10,820 born only of the flesh. We're like that spiritual zombies. We walk about the world. There's no 177 00:11:10,820 --> 00:11:17,100 spiritual life in us. That's the condition of those who are unregenerated, whose hearts have 178 00:11:17,100 --> 00:11:23,840 not been changed. Spiritual zombies without any spiritual life within them. So Jesus identifies 179 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:27,980 that in verse 5. He says, this is the problem. Unless you're born of the water and the spirit, 180 00:11:28,060 --> 00:11:31,160 this is the problem. You can't enter the kingdom of God, and you can't enter the kingdom of God 181 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:34,880 because your heart hasn't been changed. You remain dead in your sins and trespasses. You remain every 182 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:39,520 part of the bit of Romans 3.10, where there's none who are righteous, no, not one. You are them, 183 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:43,840 apart from something happening. So he gives the problem. He identifies the problem in verse 5, 184 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:49,840 but then he identifies the solution in verse 7. He says that spiritually dead people must be 185 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:54,720 candidates then for spiritual rebirth. And he says specifically, and this is something that 186 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:58,680 theologians have strained at for a long, long time. He says you have to be born of two things. 187 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:02,540 Number one, you have to be born of water. And number two, you have to be born of the Spirit. 188 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:06,760 Now, what does that mean? Born of water and born of the Spirit. I'm not going to go into all the 189 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:11,100 permutations, but I'll identify at least a couple that you might have heard of. That being born of 190 00:12:11,100 --> 00:12:15,860 water. What does that imply? Well, it can imply everything from the relatively crass, the idea 191 00:12:15,860 --> 00:12:19,540 that this is the amniotic fluid, someone's water breaks, that this is the idea that when you're 192 00:12:19,540 --> 00:12:23,680 born, when you come to this world, you're born of water, right? That's one idea. I must be born of 193 00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:27,200 water. That's just my physical birth. I'm born of water. I was born once, and I have to be born 194 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:31,620 again in some spiritual sense. So some people interpret it that way. Others, their understanding 195 00:12:31,620 --> 00:12:36,520 of being born of water is this, that there's something magical that happens when you're 196 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:42,160 baptized. Roman Catholics and others believe in this idea of baptismal regeneration. In some way, 197 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:48,040 some wonderful, magical way, you are regenerated when you are baptized. You're born of water. 198 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:53,780 For reasons I don't have time to go into today, that's not correct, nor biblical. Others, and I'm 199 00:12:53,780 --> 00:12:59,300 persuaded to this opinion or this approach, others believe that be born of water speaks to what water 200 00:12:59,300 --> 00:13:03,340 did in that context. There's two things you used water for, really, in the first century context. 201 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:05,720 Number one was literally life-giving nourishment. 202 00:13:06,300 --> 00:13:09,680 You and your crops and your animals and everything, water is the source of life. 203 00:13:10,060 --> 00:13:13,780 But secondarily, water was utilized in that culture for purification. 204 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:18,360 If you read about water throughout the New Testament from Matthew through Revelation, 205 00:13:18,500 --> 00:13:19,640 what you see is purification. 206 00:13:19,940 --> 00:13:22,120 You see cleansing, and I think that's what it speaks to. 207 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:24,900 You have to be born in the sense that you're cleansed. 208 00:13:24,900 --> 00:13:28,120 There's a repentance, a washing away of your sinfulness. 209 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:31,120 Beyond that, there's this idea that we have to be born of the Spirit. 210 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:35,300 Now, before we look at the next verses, I want to linger on that because that's probably the 211 00:13:35,300 --> 00:13:39,660 most important part of today's text. What does it mean to be born again? What does it mean to be 212 00:13:39,660 --> 00:13:43,540 born of the Spirit? We've already labored over the point that we come to this world of factory 213 00:13:43,540 --> 00:13:48,740 settings dead. That's our condition, that we are dead in our sins and trespasses. Now, if that's 214 00:13:48,740 --> 00:13:53,000 true, what has to happen? Do you have to just be walking along and count a Bible verse and go, 215 00:13:53,000 --> 00:14:00,280 oh, I see now. I get it. Now I think I'm going to choose to believe that which I rejected for 216 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:04,160 all my days. Is that how you were born again? Were you born again because you reasoned your 217 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:11,080 way into the kingdom? Absolutely, definitively not. No one has ever become a Christian because 218 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:16,700 they just volitionally argued their way into a new nature. Whenever scripture talks about being 219 00:14:16,700 --> 00:14:20,840 born again, it talks about his new creation. We're new creatures in Christ. We're born again. We used 220 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:25,560 to be dead and now we're alive. Let me ask you, did you have any choice in your first birth? 221 00:14:26,260 --> 00:14:28,200 Why do you think you don't have any choice in your second birth? 222 00:14:28,700 --> 00:14:32,540 I've used the analogy before, and I'm going to use it again because I find it very helpful. 223 00:14:32,820 --> 00:14:35,420 If you go out to the cemetery, any cemetery in Gulfport, 224 00:14:35,460 --> 00:14:37,120 and you get out your launcher, and you eliminate it, 225 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:38,820 and you sit there, and you look out, what's going to happen? 226 00:14:38,900 --> 00:14:39,420 What are you going to see? 227 00:14:40,300 --> 00:14:41,440 Well, God willing, not much. 228 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:45,080 You're going to look out, and there's going to be gravestones and flagstones and the like, 229 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:48,280 and there is not going to be any movement unless it's the birds or other visitors. 230 00:14:48,900 --> 00:14:51,500 The last thing you expect is that a grave is going to open, 231 00:14:51,580 --> 00:14:53,140 someone's going to pop out and do a dance, right? 232 00:14:53,460 --> 00:14:55,060 Now, why would you not expect that? 233 00:14:55,660 --> 00:15:00,060 For the obvious reason that that which is there is dead. 234 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:05,720 That which is underneath the flagstones and the headstones and the tombstones and the like is dead. 235 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:10,580 We don't expect physically dead people or things to come to new life. 236 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:17,100 Why would you think, if you're spiritually dead, that you can do that of your own any more than the corpse in the graveyard can do it? 237 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:17,960 You cannot. 238 00:15:19,300 --> 00:15:20,300 So what has to happen? 239 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:24,360 If that's your condition, if you came to this world dead, spiritually flatlining, 240 00:15:24,580 --> 00:15:31,380 you know, the EKG. If that's who you were, what had to happen in order for you to become a born 241 00:15:31,380 --> 00:15:36,080 again Christian? Well, what had to happen is what we call the doctrine of regeneration. 242 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:42,640 God, of his own volition, his own choice, had to look down upon you and say, I choose you, 243 00:15:43,380 --> 00:15:51,620 and I will turn this heart of stone, which is within you, into a heart of flesh that is able 244 00:15:51,620 --> 00:15:54,620 and desirous of embracing me. 245 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:58,240 God says, I choose for reasons that are my own volition. 246 00:15:58,900 --> 00:16:01,500 Saul of Tarsus, last guy on planet Earth at that time, 247 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:02,740 you would have thought God would choose. 248 00:16:02,820 --> 00:16:03,960 He was out there killing Christians, 249 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:05,740 persecuting Christians, murdering Christians. 250 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:08,800 Acts chapter nine, it says he's literally on the road to where? 251 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:10,520 Damascus, and he's doing what? 252 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:12,600 He's breathing out threats and murder 253 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:13,940 towards the church, towards Christians. 254 00:16:14,020 --> 00:16:15,620 He's not sitting there contemplating, 255 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:17,360 reasoning his way into the kingdom. 256 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:18,340 He's not going, you know, 257 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:19,860 I think I'll become a Christian today. 258 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:20,660 He's not going, you know, 259 00:16:20,660 --> 00:16:25,800 those Christians make a good case. Gosh, I think I'll choose to become a Christian. He's not doing 260 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:29,800 that at all. He's breathing out threats and murder. And because of God's own choice, for God's own 261 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:32,740 volition, God knocks him off the horse in Acts chapter 9. There's a light, there's a voice, 262 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:37,120 there's all these different things, and his heart is changed. Now, in your own life, it may have 263 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:42,560 been less sensational, less voices and lights and the like, nothing quite like that. But the context 264 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:49,100 is the same thing. At one point, you were not embracing Christ. At one point, at one point, 265 00:16:49,100 --> 00:16:51,080 you were not faithful to him 266 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:53,100 at one point you were rejecting and rebelling 267 00:16:53,100 --> 00:16:55,120 consistently by virtue of your 268 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:57,060 nature you were rejecting your God and your 269 00:16:57,060 --> 00:16:59,120 creator you might not have felt like you were 270 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:01,020 doing that you might not have said oh I think 271 00:17:01,020 --> 00:17:03,060 I'm this bad guy you might have thought you were just fine 272 00:17:03,060 --> 00:17:05,240 but God looked down upon you and he saw a rebel 273 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:07,040 however he saw a rebel he desired 274 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:09,080 to make a child and so at some point 275 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:10,940 he entered your life he took your heart 276 00:17:10,940 --> 00:17:11,900 and he changed it 277 00:17:11,900 --> 00:17:14,060 you were regenerated 278 00:17:14,060 --> 00:17:15,840 that's when you were born again 279 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:19,040 it's not the day that you walk the sawdust trail 280 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:23,100 to the front of the church somewhere and said, I choose to believe. I mean, if you did that, 281 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:27,300 God bless you. But that's not necessarily the time when God changed your heart. In fact, 282 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:31,620 you might not even know when it was. But you know this much, that it was after that event at such 283 00:17:31,620 --> 00:17:36,500 time, whenever he did it, it was at that time that you were enabled to do that which you didn't 284 00:17:36,500 --> 00:17:41,120 previously do, and that is turn to him. Maybe it was a slow process, but at one point your heart 285 00:17:41,120 --> 00:17:46,320 was turned and you were able to see in these elements on the cross someone different than 286 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:50,900 you previously saw. At one point, you may have heard about Jesus a whole lot. Maybe you were in 287 00:17:50,900 --> 00:17:55,380 church for years, maybe decades, but it never really took. And at some point, God willing, 288 00:17:55,460 --> 00:17:59,940 you changed your heart and you were enabled and persuaded to see him through new eyes. 289 00:18:00,500 --> 00:18:04,020 Remember, we talked about that on the cross. There was two thieves that were crucified to either side 290 00:18:04,020 --> 00:18:08,420 of Jesus. And initially, they both mocked him. Initially, they were both lost balls in the high 291 00:18:08,420 --> 00:18:12,620 weeds. Initially, they both rejected. They mocked him. They accused him. They said, Jesus, hop down 292 00:18:12,620 --> 00:18:17,080 off the cross if you really are this Savior guy, and while you're doing it, save us. At some point, 293 00:18:17,100 --> 00:18:20,580 we don't know what happened, but we know this much occurred. At some point, the thief that we 294 00:18:20,580 --> 00:18:25,760 believed to be Jesus's right hand, this thief came to recognition to the man who was left that he 295 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:30,260 didn't previously had. He looked at him, and he saw him through eyes of faith that he even moments 296 00:18:30,260 --> 00:18:36,240 earlier had not had. And as the other thief continues to mock, this guy, he's suddenly able 297 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:41,780 to see Jesus properly. He says, stop that. He says, you, you over there, you stop that. This man is 298 00:18:41,780 --> 00:18:45,760 innocent. You and me, we deserve. We deserve to be here. 299 00:18:45,860 --> 00:18:49,860 This man doesn't. And he looks at him, looks at him directly, looks at Jesus' eyeball, 300 00:18:50,300 --> 00:18:53,760 says, Lord, remember me when you come 301 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:57,720 into your kingdom. And Jesus responds 302 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:01,660 and looks back at him and says, truly, this day you will be 303 00:19:01,660 --> 00:19:05,740 with me in paradise. On the 304 00:19:05,740 --> 00:19:09,660 cross, this man's heart was regenerated. And it was towards the end. If there's people you've been praying 305 00:19:09,660 --> 00:19:15,500 for you say, oh dear God, save such and such or so and so. Dear heavens, that person really needs 306 00:19:15,500 --> 00:19:18,940 to be saved and the clock is running late. If there's anyone in your life who falls in that 307 00:19:18,940 --> 00:19:23,440 category, have some comfort to know that God is perfectly willing to save people that you least 308 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:27,620 expect at the moment you wouldn't expect it at all. It's like the wind. What does Jesus say in 309 00:19:27,620 --> 00:19:30,980 these verses? He says the spirit is like this wind. It moves around. You can't see where it's 310 00:19:30,980 --> 00:19:36,620 going. You don't know who it's landing upon. That's how this works, Nicodemus. You're not 311 00:19:36,620 --> 00:19:40,260 saved simply by virtue of the fact that you were born an Israelite, because that's what they 312 00:19:40,260 --> 00:19:46,580 believed. I'm an Israelite, therefore I'm in. My passport is stamped, right? I get to walk in 313 00:19:46,580 --> 00:19:54,160 because I'm an Israelite. That's 100% not the case. That's what Jesus tells the Pharisees. 314 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:56,920 They thought they were in by virtue of their relationship with Abraham. Jesus looks at them 315 00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:03,100 and says, no, you're not of Abraham. You're not of God the Father, Jehovah. You're of your father, 316 00:20:03,100 --> 00:20:08,120 all right, but your father is who? The devil, right? And he was talking to the religious elite 317 00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:13,020 at the time, to the Pharisees. How bold was that? The point is, we're not saved on the basis of our 318 00:20:13,020 --> 00:20:17,600 ancestry, that we were born to a certain people, that we look a certain way. That's not the basis 319 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:22,120 by which we're saved. You're also not saved on the basis of the things that you do, because that's 320 00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:26,900 the other mistake that Nicodemus and his peers made. There's a reason he's so shocked at all this, 321 00:20:27,220 --> 00:20:31,120 because everything Jesus said just upset his apple cart. I'm an Israelite, and you're saying, 322 00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:32,880 I have to have this other thing, too? 323 00:20:33,300 --> 00:20:34,820 The Spirit has to do something? 324 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:36,840 Don't you know, I'm a Pharisee. 325 00:20:37,140 --> 00:20:38,360 I'm not just a Pharisee. 326 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:40,080 I'm on the Sanhedrin, right? 327 00:20:40,260 --> 00:20:41,120 Look at what I do. 328 00:20:41,220 --> 00:20:42,880 Look at the things I've accomplished. 329 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,500 Surely that is the basis of my acceptance before God. 330 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:47,660 And, of course, God says no. 331 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:50,220 Jesus says no, not at all, not in the least. 332 00:20:50,860 --> 00:20:51,800 That's not the way this works. 333 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:53,540 In fact, he tells a parable elsewhere. 334 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:57,540 He tells a parable, and the parable is of two men that are standing before God. 335 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:00,300 And one is a Pharisee, and the other, I think, is a tax collector. 336 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:01,540 Now, the Pharisee, do you remember what he does? 337 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:03,500 He sits there before God. 338 00:21:04,260 --> 00:21:07,560 Thank God I'm not like this guy, this tax collector here. 339 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:09,020 Thank God I'm not like him. 340 00:21:09,060 --> 00:21:10,100 What is a tax collector doing? 341 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:11,980 A tax collector can't even look up. 342 00:21:12,060 --> 00:21:13,160 He beats his breast. 343 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:17,220 And he feels entirely unworthy to stand before his God. 344 00:21:17,380 --> 00:21:19,320 Entirely unworthy of the favor of God. 345 00:21:19,820 --> 00:21:22,380 You're not saved on the basis of where you were born, 346 00:21:22,620 --> 00:21:24,480 who your family members are, what your ancestry is, 347 00:21:24,500 --> 00:21:26,060 and you're not saved on the basis of the works you do. 348 00:21:26,060 --> 00:21:28,440 You're saved on the basis that God has chosen you, 349 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:31,500 Relected you, changed your heart, enabled and persuaded you to come to Christ. 350 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:36,200 And in due time, like Saul of Tarsus, in due time, like the thief on the cross, you professed faith. 351 00:21:36,300 --> 00:21:38,500 Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. 352 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:41,500 That's a profession of faith that we're all called to have. 353 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:43,280 All right, let's look at verses 9 through 12. 354 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:47,520 So Nicodemus answered and said, how can these things be? 355 00:21:48,140 --> 00:21:49,260 His mind has been blown. 356 00:21:49,260 --> 00:21:56,020 His entire paradigm, frame of reference for understanding the way things work, got blown up. 357 00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:58,260 So he answered and said, how can these things be? 358 00:21:58,340 --> 00:22:04,180 Verse 10, Jesus answered and said to him, are you, are you the teacher of Israel? And you don't know 359 00:22:04,180 --> 00:22:10,680 this. You don't know these things. Most assuredly, again, this is take it to the bank. Most assuredly, 360 00:22:10,700 --> 00:22:17,060 I say to you, we speak what we know. Listen to the plural. We speak what we know and testify what we 361 00:22:17,060 --> 00:22:22,220 have seen, and you do not receive our witness. This is a reference to the Trinity. Verse 12, 362 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:26,220 if I have told you earthly things you don't believe, how would you believe if I was to tell 363 00:22:26,220 --> 00:22:32,080 you the heavenly things all right so verses 9 and 10 jesus has to teach the teacher a man who 364 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:37,140 should have known better nicodemus represented the upper crust of israel's religious and political 365 00:22:37,140 --> 00:22:41,260 leadership but the truth is he was clueless as was all the other religious leaders at his time 366 00:22:41,260 --> 00:22:45,600 there's a reason why the priests are dragged through the mud throughout the new testament 367 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:49,800 it's because they didn't know what they were doing the priests religiously the scribes the 368 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:54,460 pharisees the elders of israel these are guys who should have known better because they had the old 369 00:22:54,460 --> 00:22:58,700 Testament. They should have known better if they'd studied it. And yet they didn't know better. And 370 00:22:58,700 --> 00:23:02,520 because of that, they taught people the wrong things. And because of that, they led people off 371 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:06,140 a cliff. It was the blind leading the blind. And that's what Jesus says to Nicodemus. Oh, 372 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:13,720 Nicodemus, you call yourself a teacher of Israel? How can you be a teacher of Israel and you don't 373 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:19,940 have this right? How can you be a teacher of Israel? You ever encountered, you know, Ezekiel 374 00:23:19,940 --> 00:23:25,560 36, it talks about the nature of the new life and how it's granted. Remember, all they had to study 375 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:28,540 was the Old Testament. You and I have the Old Testament and the New Testament. We've got more 376 00:23:28,540 --> 00:23:33,620 to study and review. They had less to study and review. They didn't even know that. How can you 377 00:23:33,620 --> 00:23:39,440 present yourself as a teacher, oh Nicodemus, and you don't even understand these things? You put 378 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:43,800 all the emphasis on the wrong things, on being an ancestor of Abraham and on the works they do, 379 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:49,640 nothing on God's sovereign choice, nothing on grace and the election and the like. The Pharisees 380 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:55,180 had forgotten all about how God saves worthless people, how he plugs in Rahab into his community 381 00:23:55,180 --> 00:24:00,020 of faith and even into the lineage of Jesus Christ himself. They forgot about Ruth, the old 382 00:24:00,020 --> 00:24:04,540 Moabitess who comes in, who would seemingly be just unworthy. They forgot about the Ninevites 383 00:24:04,540 --> 00:24:09,260 that God, Yahweh, Jehovah had extended grace to. They just didn't have a filter to understand how 384 00:24:09,260 --> 00:24:13,480 to plug those things and those people in. All they knew is their habits and their customs and 385 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:18,600 their traditions. And the traditions in the first century were largely predicated on this idea that 386 00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:22,440 we are going to protect and preserve our power, which is why he came to this rabbit and said, 387 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:31,360 we know. We know about you. We know about you, O Jesus. And isn't it fascinating that Jesus chooses 388 00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:37,720 to respond to him with a phrase that includes the words, well, we know about you, Nicodemus. 389 00:24:38,260 --> 00:24:43,680 Remember, what did that verse say? Verse 11. We speak. He's talking on behalf of the Trinity, 390 00:24:43,860 --> 00:24:47,320 The triune God, we speak what we know to you, O Nicodemus. 391 00:24:47,540 --> 00:24:49,340 We speak what we know and testify what we've seen, 392 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:51,280 and you do not receive our witness. 393 00:24:51,620 --> 00:24:54,260 If Nicodemus thought he was representing some establishment, 394 00:24:55,100 --> 00:24:56,980 Jesus says, I represent a better establishment, 395 00:24:57,400 --> 00:24:58,500 and we know things too. 396 00:24:59,120 --> 00:25:00,340 Listen up, O Nicodemus. 397 00:25:00,340 --> 00:25:02,980 All right, let's look at our remaining verses for this morning. 398 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:05,660 Let's look at verses 13 through 17. 399 00:25:06,300 --> 00:25:06,900 He says this. 400 00:25:07,020 --> 00:25:11,260 He says, No one has ascended to heaven but he who came down from heaven. 401 00:25:11,700 --> 00:25:13,420 That is the Son of Man who's in heaven. 402 00:25:13,860 --> 00:25:16,760 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 403 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:20,040 even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. 404 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:23,400 He's talking about his crucifixion, which is still ways off at this point. 405 00:25:23,940 --> 00:25:25,620 But even so, the Son of Man must be lifted up, 406 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:30,160 that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 407 00:25:30,900 --> 00:25:34,380 For God so loved the world, that he gives only begotten Son, 408 00:25:34,980 --> 00:25:39,800 that whoever believes in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. 409 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:43,200 And there's no reference to working, earning, meriting the salvation. 410 00:25:43,860 --> 00:25:45,220 Rather, he who believes. 411 00:25:45,580 --> 00:25:47,780 He who believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 412 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:50,660 Verse 17, for God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, 413 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:52,920 but that through him the world might be saved. 414 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:58,220 In the Old Testament, there were a number of things that pointed to Jesus, 415 00:25:58,380 --> 00:26:02,180 not just in terms of who he was by nature, but also what he would accomplish. 416 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:05,500 And the verses, like the text that deals with the Passover, 417 00:26:05,820 --> 00:26:08,660 we talked about this a few weeks ago, the Passover pointed to Jesus. 418 00:26:08,660 --> 00:26:12,280 The people took the perfect lamb, they put the blood of a perfect lamb on their door, 419 00:26:12,340 --> 00:26:13,780 and the angel of death passed over. 420 00:26:13,860 --> 00:26:19,160 and their house was spared and this pointed forward to jesus person but also his work his 421 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:23,840 person that he was the lamb of god but his work that he would die he would atone his blood so to 422 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:28,620 speak would be the the means by which the people would be spared right so the passover looked ahead 423 00:26:28,620 --> 00:26:33,800 isaac sacrificed remember abraham took isaac up the mountain and isaac is anticipating he's going 424 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:38,080 to be sacrificed abraham is anticipating isaac's going to be sacrificed and then god provides a 425 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:42,960 substitute a ram that's found in the thicket isaac is spared and this ram is sacrificed it's a picture 426 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:47,880 of propitiation. It's a picture of atonement. It's a picture of Jesus. Jesus would come along and do 427 00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:51,800 these things. The reference he gives specifically in this text, he refers to the serpent, Moses. 428 00:26:51,980 --> 00:26:56,840 The people are sick. The people are having just the worst health crisis they could imagine. And 429 00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:01,540 Moses lifts up the serpent on a pole. And then when they look at this, they are healed. In the 430 00:27:01,540 --> 00:27:06,880 same way Jesus says here that the Son of Man, when he comes, he too must be lifted up and men must 431 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:13,800 look to him if there would be healed not only what ravages their body but their soul now why 432 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:23,740 would he do all that why do you deserve it no dear heavens look in the mirror identify this 433 00:27:23,740 --> 00:27:28,960 the things you've done this past week and say do i pass the smell test of someone that god should 434 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:34,580 let into his kingdom and if you answer that by saying yes you know let's talk because that's 435 00:27:34,580 --> 00:27:37,580 not the teaching of scripture. What does scripture say? Romans 3, there's none who are righteous, 436 00:27:37,740 --> 00:27:41,520 no, not one. Now, if you're thinking, man, that's a problem because the wages of sin is death. If 437 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:46,960 you're a sinner, what are you going to do about it? Well, John 3.16 says what God does about it. 438 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:53,700 You can do nothing about it, but God, God did this. For God so loved the world. He so loved you, 439 00:27:53,700 --> 00:28:00,080 despite what he knows about you, which is a lot. He so loved you. He so loved his people. He so 440 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:03,560 loved the bride. He so loved the church. He so loved sons and daughters that he said, I'm going 441 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:09,440 give that which is most precious to myself, my only begotten son. He will die that they might live. 442 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:16,240 And he did it not out of compulsion. This is not transactional. You don't do enough stuff that you 443 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:21,400 trip the wire that he has to then save you. Anyone who buys into workspace theology, that's what 444 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:25,420 they're telling God. They're saying, God, I did enough. I did enough. I did enough. I did all the 445 00:28:25,420 --> 00:28:30,580 things you expected. I did at least as well as humanly possible. I deserve to get in. If that 446 00:28:30,580 --> 00:28:36,200 were true, what does salvation become? It becomes a debt that God owes you. If you ever find yourself 447 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:40,860 drifting, if you ever know anyone who drifts into workspace theology, workspace theology is not only 448 00:28:40,860 --> 00:28:47,460 just stupid, but it guts the gospel itself because it deprives it. It neuters it of grace. It neuters 449 00:28:47,460 --> 00:28:52,580 it of mercy. It neuters it of love. For God so loved the world that he sought you out when you 450 00:28:52,580 --> 00:28:57,300 weren't seeking him. For God so loved Saul of Tarsus that he changed his heart and made him Paul. 451 00:28:58,020 --> 00:28:59,660 For God so loved the thief on the cross 452 00:28:59,660 --> 00:29:01,300 that he literally hung and died next to him, 453 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:02,700 bearing this man's sins. 454 00:29:03,700 --> 00:29:05,520 For God so loved you that he did the same thing. 455 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:08,100 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son 456 00:29:08,100 --> 00:29:09,420 that whoever should believe in him, 457 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:11,020 not earn it, not deserve it, not merit it, 458 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:12,440 but whoever should believe in him 459 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:14,440 should not perish, 460 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:17,640 but have everlasting life. 461 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:21,680 This is the message that the world around us needs to hear. 462 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:24,060 It's the only message that matters. 463 00:29:25,100 --> 00:29:27,760 The newspapers are filled with all sorts of trials and tribulation, 464 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:29,820 And a lot of it's scary, no doubt about it. 465 00:29:29,860 --> 00:29:33,560 But the message that people need to hear more than any other message is this. 466 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:40,440 That God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever should believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life. 467 00:29:41,380 --> 00:29:46,840 That's the message that we get, not deserve, but we get reconciliation. 468 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:50,060 A peace is made through the blood of the lamb on the Calvary. 469 00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:51,880 That this is provided to us. 470 00:29:52,060 --> 00:29:54,240 And what is it coming upon us then to do? 471 00:29:54,340 --> 00:29:55,740 What do we need to do then, if anything? 472 00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:58,960 Well, we're called to faith, and even that is a gift. 473 00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:01,780 In closing this morning, I'll tell you something cool. 474 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:03,660 Nicodemus got it. 475 00:30:04,420 --> 00:30:08,900 He came to Jesus with faulty theology, faulty presuppositions. 476 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:13,080 He had more wrong than he had right, to the point he was confused with everything Jesus said. 477 00:30:13,500 --> 00:30:16,360 But in time, Nicodemus got it. 478 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:19,820 Some of us might be confused by some of this, what we're talking about. 479 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:21,140 Like, what is all this about? 480 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:23,920 Regeneration, that's an $8 word. 481 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:25,080 What is all this stuff? 482 00:30:25,580 --> 00:30:28,660 Initially, Nicodemus was in that same boat, but it's okay. 483 00:30:29,260 --> 00:30:32,760 Nicodemus got there because he who starts a good work finishes it. 484 00:30:33,180 --> 00:30:34,880 And Nicodemus didn't even realize it, 485 00:30:35,020 --> 00:30:38,420 but he was a benefactor of this very same heart change 486 00:30:38,420 --> 00:30:41,120 that Jesus was telling them everyone needs to undergo 487 00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:42,900 if they're going to enter into the kingdom. 488 00:30:43,140 --> 00:30:44,060 Now, how do we know that? 489 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:46,460 How do we know that Nicodemus is saved? 490 00:30:46,460 --> 00:30:48,940 How do we know that Nicodemus had hope beyond this encounter? 491 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:52,800 Well, we know because this isn't the last time he shows up in John's Gospel. 492 00:30:53,620 --> 00:30:55,160 In John chapter 19, he's back. 493 00:30:55,580 --> 00:31:02,940 Nicodemus is back, but what's he doing? Nicodemus was one of the many who sacrificed in front of 494 00:31:02,940 --> 00:31:07,240 all those who were aware of it, sacrificed all his credibility with the religious leaders. He 495 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:13,400 sacrificed his standing with others in order to be part of the burial team. Nicodemus was part 496 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:18,800 and parcel to the efforts undertaken after the crucifixion to bear our Lord and Savior Jesus 497 00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:25,140 Christ. He's presented, he's presented as one who came to faith. This morning we have some idea, 498 00:31:25,300 --> 00:31:27,500 some hope that that's how he responded. 499 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:29,440 But the question for us, 2,000 some odd years 500 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:30,800 later, is how are you going to respond? 501 00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:33,520 God has presented to you 502 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:35,520 the gospel. If at no other time in your 503 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:37,600 life you've heard, at least in some small portion 504 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:38,140 this morning, 505 00:31:39,340 --> 00:31:40,560 how do you respond to it? 506 00:31:41,620 --> 00:31:43,400 The road forward is not a road paved 507 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:45,520 by your own efforts. The ladder such 508 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:47,320 as it is, that will ascend to his golden 509 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:49,400 shores, is not created rung by rung 510 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:51,060 by rung by you. 511 00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:53,380 The ladder is singularly 512 00:31:53,380 --> 00:31:55,540 this, that God so loved the world 513 00:31:55,540 --> 00:31:57,440 that he was the only begotten son. His son 514 00:31:57,440 --> 00:31:58,820 came down as a ladder 515 00:31:58,820 --> 00:32:01,600 that if we were to have any hope, we must ascend 516 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:03,100 through faith in 517 00:32:03,100 --> 00:32:04,860 him. Let's pray.