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I want to talk to us again from the last in our series of sermons entitled Out Living Your Life.

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Out Living Your Life. This passage of Scripture is one of the best known in the New Testament

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because John records this conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus as a presentation of a

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grand summary of the Gospel. The teaching deals with the kingdom, with regeneration,

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with faith, with the Son of Man, with God's love and the plan of salvation. This conversation has

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to do with judgment and unbelief. The account of the conversation is full of vital importance

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because Jesus said to Nicodemus the thing that is essential for every one of us. Brothers and

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sisters, it is the only occasion upon which it is recorded that he revealed this fact in

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speech. And so it ought to arrest us today that Jesus said you must be born again, not to a hated

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tax collector. Jesus said you must be born again, not to the woman caught in the act of adultery.

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Jesus said you must be born again, not even to the woman at the well. Jesus did not say you must

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be born again to the man in the tomb cutting himself with stones. Jesus didn't even tell the

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thief on the cross that you must be born again. But he said these words to one of the most powerful

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and influential men in Israel at the time. He told this learned Jew, this rich man Nicodemus,

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not a thief, not a prostitute. He told Nicodemus, this smart man, you must be born again. Brothers

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and sisters, it almost seems impolite. But I want to eavesdrop on this conversation between

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Nicodemus and Jesus to hear for myself and for the rest of us the eternal truths that Jesus

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shared with this man who came with questions about religion, but left with answers about redemption.

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He came to Jesus with questions about Jesus, but he left with knowledge about himself. He came to

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Jesus by night, physically and spiritually, and he left Jesus in the full light of day with the

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brightness of salvation beginning to dawn in his own soul. In verses one, two and three, Nicodemus

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met Jesus face to face. Look with me again. Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader

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of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come

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from God, for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God. Jesus answered

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him, verily, verily, truly, truly, amen, amen. Very truly, I tell you, you must be born again.

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Let's look at this face to face encounter and this face to face meeting of Jesus and Nicodemus

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has to do with life. Nicodemus, brothers and sisters, is described at length. His party

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affiliation, his actual name, and his official position are stated in the text. The fact that

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he was a ruler of the Jews means that he was a member of the Sanhedrin Council. This body of 70

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men consisting of high priests, scribes, and elders. Combined with his being in noted Pharisee,

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means that he was learned in the Old Testament scriptures. He was from the school of Gamaliel.

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That he was a Pharisee proves that Nicodemus was narrow minded, dogmatic, and bigoted. And his

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outlook upon religious matters was supernatural rather than natural and his views were traditional

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and ritualistic. Oral tradition tells us that Nicodemus was one of the three richest men in

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Jerusalem. But what you have does not change what you are. He was a respectable man. But what you

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achieve does not change what you are. Nicodemus was a rich man, a respectable man. He was a religious

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man. But what you do does not change what you are. Nicodemus had seen some of the signs or he had

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heard about Jesus. And he heard some of Jesus' teachings and the teachings of Jesus, the impression

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made on him had been so strong that he risked visiting Jesus at night. Some people claim that he

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came at night because he was embarrassed to be seen with Jesus in the day. And he did not want to

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risk his reputation of being seen with this itinerant preacher in the day because Nicodemus was a

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learned Jewish scholar. He was a scribe and a Pharisee. He was a member of the Sanhedrin

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Council and Jesus was this lowly Nazarene carpenter. And Nicodemus some say came to him at night

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because he did not want to be seen with him. But I do not believe his coming by night was cowardice,

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but rather careful caution. Because Nicodemus worked all day. He was on the Sanhedrin Council.

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He was a learned scholar teaching all day. And Jesus worked all day. Healed the sick,

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gave sight to the blind, fed the hungry. So Nicodemus came when Jesus had time to listen.

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Careful caution. The fact that Nicodemus came to him, whether he was a coward or cautious,

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he came. Somebody ought to help me preach it. No matter if he was a coward or if he was cautious,

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thank God he came. And this morning it does not matter why you came, I'm glad you came.

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Because if you come to Jesus, he will in no wise cast you out. The fact that he came,

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taking the risks involved, shows his seriousness. And he shows how deeply Jesus gripped his heart.

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Let's not be too brutal and too harsh on Nicodemus because he came by night with some questions.

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Let's not hold it against him that he was not sure. Because Nicodemus was not going to stake

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everything on somebody who said he was Messiah. Because there were some false messiahs before

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Jesus. I need somebody who can help me talk here this morning. And Nicodemus was not going to help

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his star to a wagon that wasn't going anywhere. He wanted to make sure that this was the real

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Christ. And the reason we not not be so hard on Nicodemus is because John the Baptist

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sent some disciples to Jesus. I need two or three more Bible readers. John the Baptist was the cousin

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of Jesus. The forerunner of Jesus. Born to prepare the way for Jesus. And John said, are you the one?

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Or do we have to look for another? And Jesus said, go tell John the blind seeker.

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The lame are walking. The deaf are hearing. The dumb are speaking.

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The dead folk are coming out of the grave. And the poor have the gospel being preached to them.

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If you're going to follow Jesus, you got to be sure it's the right Jesus.

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Nicodemus came by night. Not because he was a coward. But because he was careful and conscious.

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He did not want to be in possession of an unexamined face. He did not want to be guilty

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of credulity. Of believing without examination. He did not want to follow Jesus because somebody

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else was following. He didn't want to go to church because it was socially acceptable and expedient.

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He didn't want to follow Jesus just to get a hookup. He wanted to be sure that Jesus was who

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he says he was. And if you're here this morning for the reasons I've just mentioned, you're here

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for all the wrong reasons. But you can get it straight before you go home this morning.

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What can wash away my sins? Not a good education. Because education will just give you smarter

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ways to go to hell. What can wash away my sins? Not money in the bank. Money will give you more

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expensive ways to lose your soul. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

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And like Nicodemus, you need a face to face encounter. He met him face to face.

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And he said to him, Rabbi, sir, teacher, we know, he's talking about, they've been talking about it

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in the Sanhedrin Council. They've been meeting on it behind closed doors. We know that you are a

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teacher, but not just any teacher. You're a teacher sent from God. Because nobody can open

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blinded eyes. Nobody can unstop deaf ears. Nobody can turn ordinary water into extraordinary wine.

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Nobody can take two fish and five loaves and feed 5,000 men not counting women and children.

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Nobody can walk through a crowd and a woman just grab his clothes with an issue of blood.

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And when he stops, the blood stops. Nobody can do that, except God be with.

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We know who you are. You are teacher sent from God. And Jesus didn't answer his mentioning of

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his pedigree. Jesus didn't acknowledge all of the hullabaloo about who he thought he was.

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Jesus was not impressed with the titles that Nicodemus just gave him.

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Jesus said, bump all that. Let's get to why you came here.

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You must be born again. But before he got to that, Jesus said, Verily, Verily, truly, truly, amen, amen.

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That word, Verily, Verily is the assurance of verity. And when Jesus says, I say to you,

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that's the assurance of authority. Verily, Verily is the assurance that what I'm about to say is

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powerful, but who's saying it is more powerful than what's just been said.

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I wish I had time to stay right there. You must be born again, because the nature of your humanity

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and the nature of heaven makes being born again a must.

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Now, hear me, brothers and sisters, many, many well-meaning people are confused into thinking

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that they can do enough and be enough to guarantee access in the heaven.

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You hear it all the time when people are talking about, when I get to the pearly gates, I hope

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St. Peter will let me in. Or you hear jokes about St. Peter letting somebody into the pearly gates.

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St. Peter, lucky he's in the gate.

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No, no, the Virgin Mary can't pray your end. St. Augustine can't get you in.

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St. Andrew can't get you in. The patron saint of lost causes can't get you in,

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because everybody who's in is in the same way you got to get in. You must be born again.

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The reason the new birth is not an option. The reason the new birth is not a take it or leave

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it proposition is because no matter what you have, what you do or who you are, the Bible says

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you are a sinner in need of salvation. If you're rich, you need salvation. If you're poor,

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you need salvation. If you're black, you need salvation. If you're white, you need salvation.

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If you're homeless, you need salvation. If you just built a house, you need salvation.

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If you don't have a job, you need salvation. If you are a supervisor, you need salvation. If you are

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a bus driver, you need salvation. If you're a high school principal, you need salvation. If you're

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you need salvation. If you preach the gospel, you need

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salvation.

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You must be

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born again.

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Like Nicodemus, we do not we we do not need new and superior

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works.

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Not new, superior, more difficult, meritorious works.

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We do not need a new national or ecclesiastical or religious

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party connection that's better than the Pharisees. But we need

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an entirely new birth.

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We need a new birth.

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Jesus worried regarding the new birth. Brothers and sisters

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shatters once and for all every supposed excellence of man's

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attainment. All merit of human deeds. All prerogatives of

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natural birth. All vicissitudes of our station in life.

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Spiritual birth. Listen, it's something you undergo and not

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something you achieve on your own.

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You undergo the new birth. You don't manufacture it.

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It's something that happens to you. Not something that you

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happen into. You don't stumble in to the new birth. The new

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birth comes upon you from above. That's a face to face

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encounter that has to do with your life.

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But as I heard, not only did Nicodemus meet Jesus face to

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face, he made him mind to mind.

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Look with me in verses four through verse number eight.

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Nicodemus said to him, how can anyone be born after having grown

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old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be

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born? Jesus answered, very truly I tell you, no one can enter

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the kingdom of God without being born of water and spirit.

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What is born of the flesh is flesh and what is born of the

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spirit in spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you,

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you must be born from above. The wind blows where it chooses

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and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it

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comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born

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of the spirit.

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Hear me brothers and sisters. Like many people who are lost

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and on their way to hell without a hope in Christ.

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Nicodemus possessed intellectual comprehension, but not

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spiritual apprehension. He had intellectual comprehension, but

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no spiritual apprehension. He is trying to unravel a mystery

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when Jesus expects him to just believe a miracle.

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He's trying to unravel, unravel a mystery and Jesus is just

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saying, believe a miracle. Let me see if I can make that

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and make sense. There is no doubt that the new birth is a

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mystery. No doubt about it. The new birth, how we are born

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again is a mystery. How God could choose a wretch like me is a

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mystery. How God could look over my six brothers who are older

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than me and call me to preach. A rump of the litter, the

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smallest of all of them, the most, the most uncoordinated,

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the most gawky, the most, the most nerdy of all of them. God

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chose me out of all of them. It's amazing that God looks

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beyond your shortcomings. God looks beyond what makes you

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low down and cranky and mean and gossipy and some timey and

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good for nothing. A liar, a hormonger, a drug user, an

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alcoholic, a street walker. God looks beyond all of that and

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saves you. When you get home, look at yourself in the mirror.

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If you want to see a miracle, look at yourself in the

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mirror. Y'all like me because of what you don't know about me.

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But God knows how low down I am. I wish I had some other

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crooks in here this morning. God knows how sinful I am, how

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weak I am, how fickle I am, but he looks beyond that and he

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remembers that I'm just dust. And he decided to save me.

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That is a mystery.

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Growing up, I didn't talk to anybody outside my family.

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I just never spoke. I was very articulate.

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I was particularly intelligent, but I didn't talk to anybody

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outside my family. I was just that awkward.

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I was just that shy. Can you believe that?

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I was just that shy. And so when I announced my call to preach,

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people who loved me said, how is he going to preach?

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And he never talked. You have to talk to preach.

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But God can take anybody.

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I said, God can take anybody.

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He can take a nobody and make him a somebody.

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He did that with Moses. Moses said, I can't speak for you.

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I started when I talked. God said, just open your mouth.

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I will speak for you.

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Moses spent 40 years thinking he was somebody.

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He spent another 40 years finding out he was nobody.

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And spent the last 40 years finding out how God can take nobody

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and make him somebody. Just open your mouth.

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Just put yourself in the way. Just offer yourself as a living sacrifice.

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Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

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And if you be not conformed to the pattern of this word,

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but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,

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you'll be able to prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

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The new birth is a miracle.

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But now I want you to hear me as I hurry.

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It's something that I don't understand.

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I don't understand everything about it, but I believe it.

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I don't believe because I understand.

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I seek to understand because I believe.

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A mystery is not that about which you cannot know anything.

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A mystery is that about which you cannot know everything.

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I'm going to give you a couple of mysteries that you just accept.

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So if you accept this, then the new birth ought not be a problem for you.

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I don't understand electricity.

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But so that I don't sit in the dark, I'll pay my bill.

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It's a mystery.

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I don't understand it, but you put your finger in an electrical socket

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and you start believing right away.

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I do not understand, but I believe.

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I don't understand how a brown cow can eat green grass

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and give yellow butter and white milk.

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But that's some blue bell homemade vanilla ice cream.

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Sugar mahala.

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I almost spoke in tongues right there.

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In my freezer with my name on it.

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I don't understand it, but I got a blessing with my name on it.

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Now for you smart people, Jesus told Nicodemus for a man to get to heaven.

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He got to have two birthdays.

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The day you were born physically and the day you were born spiritually.

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And the reason he likens it to birth is because physical birth correlates to spiritual birth.

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When you are born physically, physical birth provides life.

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Spiritual birth provides life.

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Physical birth can only happen once.

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You can only come out of your mother's womb once.

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The new birth can only happen once.

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Physical birth takes place because a woman suffers.

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The new birth takes place because a man suffers.

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On a hill, far away.

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I wish I had somebody to help me.

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I stood in old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame.

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But I love that old cross where the dear is the best for a world of lost sinners with sleep.

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I'm through. Physical birth gives you a brand new start.

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No baby is born with a past.

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If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.

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All things are passed away.

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Behold all things are becoming new.

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I'm through. He met him face to face.

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He met him mind to mind.

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But then finally he meets him heart to heart.

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Nicodemus said, how can these things be?

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Jesus said, you mean to tell me you're a teacher?

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You mean to tell me you've been to school?

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And you don't know what I'm talking about?

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He said, if I tell you natural things and you don't believe it, how can I expect you to understand spiritual things?

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He said, let me put it to you this way. The wind comes from somewhere and the wind goes somewhere.

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But can you tell where it came from or where it's going?

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Here's the application.

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The only way you know the wind is blowing is if you feel it.

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The only way you know you've been born again is if you feel it.

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I wish I had somebody to help me close.

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00:33:06,460 --> 00:33:10,460
I don't always look saved.

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I don't always act saved.

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I don't always sound saved.

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But every now and then I feel something.

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I wish I had somebody to help me close it.

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I feel something on the inside.

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Whenever I hear the name Jesus, something happens to me on the inside.

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Whenever I come to the house of God and get in the company of the people of God, I feel something.

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I need one or two more believers here.

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Some of you here who are over 40 can help me shout right here.

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We were growing up as children in the hood.

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There are some things that were just fighting words.

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If you talked about my daddy, I'd let you get away with that so long.

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But if you talk about my mama, that's fighting words.

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And I didn't really want to fight because I wasn't a fighter.

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I was more of a lover than a fighter.

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So I'd put a stick on my shoulder and say,

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if you bad, knock that stick off my shoulder.

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And I was praying that they wouldn't knock that stick off my shoulder.

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Because that meant I had to fight.

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Some words were just fighting words.

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But there are some words in the scripture that's not fighting words,

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but shouting words.

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I wish I had somebody to help me close it.

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Whenever you read Romans chapter 8 and verse number 1,

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there's shouting words.

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There is therefore now no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus,

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who walk not after the flesh,

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but after the spirit.

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When you read verse 16 of John chapter 3,

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that's shouting words.

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For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.

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Whosoever, whosoever, believe within him,

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shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

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When you read Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 20,

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that's shouting words.

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Now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all,

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you can even ask or think according to the power that is at work in you.

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When you read Psalm 23, that's shouting words.

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That Lord is my shepherd.

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I shall not want.

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He makes me to lie down in green pastures.

293
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He leads me beside the still waters.

294
00:36:35,460 --> 00:36:38,460
He restores my soul.

295
00:36:38,460 --> 00:36:43,460
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

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Yay!

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00:36:45,460 --> 00:36:51,460
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

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I will fear no evil.

299
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For God is with me.

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00:36:56,460 --> 00:37:02,460
His rod and his staff, they comfort me.

301
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He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

302
00:37:08,460 --> 00:37:15,460
He anoints my head with oil so that my cup is just running over.

303
00:37:15,460 --> 00:37:17,460
Surely!

304
00:37:22,460 --> 00:37:25,460
Surely!

305
00:37:25,460 --> 00:37:27,460
Goodness, I'm thirsty.

306
00:37:27,460 --> 00:37:32,460
You shall just follow me all the days of my life,

307
00:37:32,460 --> 00:37:40,460
and I will, I will, I will, I will.

308
00:37:40,460 --> 00:37:49,460
I said I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

309
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If God will save you, if you've been born again,

310
00:37:54,460 --> 00:37:57,460
why don't you grab somebody?

311
00:37:57,460 --> 00:38:02,460
Tell them you don't know like I know.

312
00:38:02,460 --> 00:38:07,460
You can't tell it like I can tell it.

313
00:38:07,460 --> 00:38:09,460
What the Lord?

314
00:38:09,460 --> 00:38:13,460
I know He's alright.

315
00:38:13,460 --> 00:38:28,460
I know He's alright.

316
00:38:28,460 --> 00:38:30,460
He walks with me.

317
00:38:30,460 --> 00:38:32,460
He talks with me.

318
00:38:32,460 --> 00:38:36,460
He tells me I'm His own.

319
00:38:36,460 --> 00:38:41,460
There are some things I may not know.

320
00:38:41,460 --> 00:38:46,460
There are some places I cannot go,

321
00:38:46,460 --> 00:38:51,460
but I am sure of this one place.

322
00:38:51,460 --> 00:38:54,460
That God is real.

323
00:38:54,460 --> 00:38:57,460
I can feel.

324
00:38:57,460 --> 00:38:59,460
Have I got a witness?

325
00:38:59,460 --> 00:39:04,460
I cannot tell just how you felt

326
00:39:04,460 --> 00:39:09,460
when Jesus took your sins away.

327
00:39:09,460 --> 00:39:14,460
But since that day, since that hour,

328
00:39:14,460 --> 00:39:21,460
God has been real, for I can feel His holy power.

329
00:39:21,460 --> 00:39:24,460
Do you feel it?

330
00:39:24,460 --> 00:39:26,460
Do you feel it?

331
00:39:26,460 --> 00:39:28,460
Tell Him thank you.

332
00:39:28,460 --> 00:39:30,460
Thank you.

333
00:39:30,460 --> 00:39:32,460
Thank you.

334
00:39:32,460 --> 00:39:39,460
I know He's alright.

335
00:40:02,460 --> 00:40:14,460
I know He's alright.

336
00:40:14,460 --> 00:40:16,460
Won't He do it?

337
00:40:16,460 --> 00:40:18,460
Won't He save you?

338
00:40:18,460 --> 00:40:21,460
Won't He open doors?

339
00:40:21,460 --> 00:40:25,460
Won't He make a way out of nowhere?

340
00:40:25,460 --> 00:40:28,460
Won't He put food on your teeth?

341
00:40:28,460 --> 00:40:30,460
Clothes on your back?

342
00:40:30,460 --> 00:40:32,460
Money in your pocket?

343
00:40:32,460 --> 00:40:37,460
Write your name in the Lamb's Book of Life.

344
00:40:37,460 --> 00:40:42,460
Some glad morning when this life is over.

345
00:40:42,460 --> 00:40:46,460
I will fly away.

346
00:40:46,460 --> 00:40:51,460
Is there anybody here who knows who I'm talking about?

347
00:40:51,460 --> 00:40:54,460
Why don't you help me?

348
00:40:54,460 --> 00:40:56,460
Magnify His name.

349
00:40:56,460 --> 00:40:59,460
He's a rock in a weary land.

350
00:40:59,460 --> 00:41:02,460
Shelter in a time of storm.

351
00:41:02,460 --> 00:41:04,460
A friend when you're friendless.

352
00:41:04,460 --> 00:41:06,460
Brad when you're hungry.

353
00:41:06,460 --> 00:41:08,460
He died.

354
00:41:08,460 --> 00:41:10,460
Didn't he die?

355
00:41:10,460 --> 00:41:13,460
But brighter hour.

356
00:41:13,460 --> 00:41:15,460
Suddenly morning.

357
00:41:15,460 --> 00:41:17,460
He got up.

358
00:41:17,460 --> 00:41:33,460
I know He's alright.