1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,500 John chapter 3. If you've never read John chapter 3, I would encourage you to read it. 2 00:00:11,500 --> 00:00:18,680 It's a good chapter. It's a beautiful story. And John chapter 3 verse 16 may very well 3 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:23,880 be the most well-known scripture that there is. Now, I don't know any way to test that, 4 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:28,760 but I'm going to go on a limb and say that it's probably the most well-known scripture. 5 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:33,960 And for good reason. There are some scriptures that are just good. Now, I'm not saying that 6 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:37,520 there are some scriptures that aren't good, but what I mean is there are some scriptures 7 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:41,800 that are good and that we read them and we understand them and we can connect with them 8 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:47,680 and they make sense to us and they help us to see and understand the gospel of Jesus 9 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:53,880 Christ in a way that even a child can understand the truth in some of these passages. And John 10 00:00:53,880 --> 00:01:00,240 chapter 3 verse 16 and really that whole chapter of John chapter 3 is a beautiful story and 11 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:05,240 we're going to talk about that a little bit today. But the scripture is on the screen 12 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:10,720 this morning and if you would like to repeat it with me while I speak it this morning, 13 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:17,640 you're certainly welcome to. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son 14 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:25,400 that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Let's pray. 15 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:31,400 Father God, we come to you. We thank you for your good word and I pray God that today your 16 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:35,520 word is front and center this morning. I pray that we would hear this word and listen to 17 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:40,520 it. God, maybe for some of us we've read this scripture, we've heard this scripture, we've 18 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:46,200 heard sermons on this scripture a hundred times, but nonetheless God, your word is good. 19 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,720 And so I pray that your Holy Spirit would be with us today, that you'd free us from 20 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:55,360 the worries and distractions of this world, free us from all these beautiful decorations 21 00:01:55,360 --> 00:02:00,080 that were not overwhelmed, but that today in this moment that we would focus on you. 22 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:04,880 So I pray God that you'd hide me behind the cross, take away any fears or pride that is 23 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:09,880 within me and I pray that your Holy Spirit would speak to us, that you would be glorified 24 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:17,560 today. And I ask these things in Jesus name, amen. What we see at the beginning of John 25 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:23,600 chapter three is we see a man by the name of Nicodemus. Now we don't see Nicodemus a 26 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:30,080 lot in scripture, but we do see him three times of importance in the book of John. So 27 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:36,720 he's somewhat of an important character. And this event that we see in John chapter three 28 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:42,320 is referenced the next two times that Nicodemus is referenced. Now Nicodemus, we are told, 29 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:48,160 is a Pharisee. That's a word we see sometimes in the New Testament. Pharisees were really 30 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:53,200 religious people. If you go back and you read in Matthew chapter 23, you're going to see 31 00:02:53,200 --> 00:03:00,760 that Jesus, it's pretty hard on these type of people because oftentimes these Pharisees 32 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:07,360 were very religious, but they weren't really godly people. They weren't really people who 33 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:12,720 were living by the word of God. They thought they were. They really knew the word of God 34 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:16,800 well. And when I say the word of God, I mean what we would call the Old Testament, the 35 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:22,480 law, the Ten Commandments and all the other laws like that. They really prided themselves 36 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:28,520 in knowing those things. They really prided themselves in looking the part of being really 37 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:36,400 holy people. But the problem was is that they did not really understand God's word. And 38 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:41,800 they certainly did not like Jesus. Now Jesus had come onto the scene and Jesus began to 39 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:46,440 do things that no one else had done before. If you flip back to John chapter two, you're 40 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:51,640 going to see that Jesus goes into the area of the temple and he cleans house because 41 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:55,560 there are people there that are buying and they're selling and they're not showing any 42 00:03:55,560 --> 00:04:00,240 reverence for God. And it says that Jesus makes a whip and drives the people out of 43 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:09,080 that area. And this is certainly not received well by some. The Pharisees never really liked 44 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:14,480 Jesus very much. And maybe part of that was because they were the ones who were looked 45 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:21,440 at as the holy ones. And now Jesus comes onto the scene and he begins to preach God's word 46 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:26,920 and share God's word and explains God's word from the Old Testament in a little bit different 47 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:34,960 way. And in a sense, Jesus really is holding people to a higher standard than simply living 48 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:40,400 by the letter of the law. Jesus tells people, well, you need to begin to look at your heart. 49 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:44,220 It's not just about what you're doing on the outside. It's what's on the inside that matters. 50 00:04:44,220 --> 00:04:48,840 So Jesus comes onto the scene and he begins to do these really radical things, driving 51 00:04:48,840 --> 00:04:54,360 people out of the temple. He begins to preach these things that some of the people don't 52 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:58,280 understand. Some of them kind of understand there's something going on with what Jesus 53 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:04,040 is preaching. They realize that he's preaching and teaching unlike any who has come before. 54 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:09,160 He's beginning to do these miracles and to heal people and to bring people back to life. 55 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:14,160 And these are the things we see in the ministry of Jesus. And so it's undeniable that there's 56 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:20,120 something about who Jesus is. Well, we get to John chapter 3 and we see this man Nicodemus, 57 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:25,680 who's a Pharisee. And it seems pretty likely that he's a member of the Sanhedrin as we 58 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:30,640 read what little bit we can about him in the scripture. And so he was a higher up of the 59 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:37,120 holy people. And Nicodemus, it says he comes to Jesus at night. Now, I don't know why he 60 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:40,760 came at night. Maybe he was coming because he didn't want anybody to know he was coming. 61 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:44,680 None of us suggested that. Maybe he didn't get through work until late. I don't know. 62 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:50,520 But for whatever reason, Nicodemus came to Jesus at night and he says, he says, look, 63 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:57,080 Jesus, he says, we know that you are from God. We know that you are a teacher from God, 64 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:01,200 he says, because nobody else could do the things that you do if they weren't from God. 65 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:05,560 Now, it's interesting in that passage there. He says, we know that you are from God. Now, 66 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:09,840 I don't know who the we are. Maybe there are other believers who are around when this is 67 00:06:09,840 --> 00:06:15,680 going on. Maybe there were other Pharisees that he is referring to. But he says, we know. 68 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:19,640 And at the very least, Nicodemus realized whoever the others were, we know who one was. 69 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:25,880 And that was Nicodemus. He realized that Jesus, there was something about Jesus. And he says, 70 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:31,960 look, I know you're from God. I know you're a teacher from God. And of all things for 71 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:40,040 Jesus to say, he starts in the next verse by talking about, and you must be born again. 72 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:45,040 Wait a minute. What's going on here? Nicodemus hadn't asked anything about that. But yet 73 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:52,000 Jesus was using this opportunity, I believe, to tell Nicodemus the most important truth 74 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:58,520 there is in scripture. And that is that there is salvation in no other than in Jesus Christ. 75 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:06,200 And there has to be a change in our life from who we are in the flesh to who we are in Jesus 76 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:11,960 Christ. There has to be a transformation for Nicodemus and for you and for me. Now, we 77 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:17,560 may look the part and we may know some scriptures and we may have everybody else fool, but what 78 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:25,280 God looks at is our heart. And there has to be a change in our heart and who we are. And 79 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:32,240 so Jesus takes this opportunity to tell a man who is seeking him what is important. 80 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:38,680 Now, pay attention to what Nicodemus did here. He came seeking Jesus. He had heard about 81 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:44,560 Jesus. He knew that there was something about Jesus. Maybe he didn't understand everything. 82 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:48,440 Maybe he didn't believe that Jesus was a Messiah. I don't know what he believed, but he believed 83 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:55,960 something about Jesus. He believed that Jesus was from God and he came seeking out Jesus. 84 00:07:55,960 --> 00:08:00,520 Now, we need to be those people today. Now, maybe there are some of you and you know a 85 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:05,160 little bit about Jesus. You know that there's something about him and maybe you know a little 86 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:10,080 scripture and maybe you've come to church a little bit. But what I want you to do today 87 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:15,960 is I want you to listen to these words that we see in John chapter three verse 16, to 88 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:21,560 listen to this story and to go back and read this story and to see these words for yourself. 89 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:26,120 That we would be those today who would seek Jesus. That we would be those today that would 90 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:33,560 recognize there's something about Jesus. So Nicodemus came to seek Jesus and Jesus begins 91 00:08:33,560 --> 00:08:37,720 to tell him all this kind of weird stuff. Really, it may not be weird to us because 92 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:42,720 we hear a lot of born again, born again. Well, that seems normal to us. But think about Nicodemus. 93 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:48,320 Think about this language Jesus begins to speak about. You need to be born again. Now, 94 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:52,880 this was confusing to Nicodemus. Now, wait a minute. How is it possible Jesus for somebody 95 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:59,640 who's an adult? Are you going to go back in the woman's womb and come back out again? 96 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:04,640 What are you talking about? And Jesus tells Nicodemus, he says, look, you're a teacher. 97 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:09,560 You should know these things. So obviously there was something that Nicodemus being a 98 00:09:09,560 --> 00:09:13,960 man who would have certainly known the Old Testament scripture pretty good. There was 99 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:17,640 something that he should have known here that he had missed. And Jesus says, you should 100 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:22,440 understand these things. You should understand this idea of being born again. I don't know 101 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:28,760 exactly what Jesus was referencing there. Perhaps Jesus was referencing Psalm 87. Psalm 102 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:34,040 87 talks about Zion and the Holy Mountain and the greatness of Zion. And it says something 103 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:38,360 interesting, some language there that is similar to what we see today. It begins to speak of 104 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:43,880 all these other nations, Rahab and Babylon and Tyre and Cush and all these other nations. 105 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:48,960 And it says of those nations that they will say that they are born here, that is born 106 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:53,560 in Zion, born of Jerusalem. Now, wait a minute. These nations weren't born of Jerusalem. These 107 00:09:53,560 --> 00:09:58,560 weren't Jewish people. These weren't Israelite people. These were foreign people of a foreign 108 00:09:58,560 --> 00:10:05,800 land. But it says of those of a foreign land that they will say, we are born here. Perhaps 109 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:11,480 that's what Jesus was referencing, implying even in Psalm 87 that there would be this 110 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:16,600 idea that nations would be born again and that even foreigners would be part of God's 111 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:22,200 kingdom. Certainly, we see that in the Old Testament. God promised Abraham that all nations 112 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:28,160 will be blessed through you. We even see people from other nations who enter into God's people 113 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:34,240 in the Old Testament. And so this idea of foreigners far and wide and everybody being 114 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:40,040 born into the nation of God, being born as children of God is not just something we see 115 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:44,720 in the New Testament, but even alluded to in the Old Testament. And he begins to tell 116 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:50,080 these things to him and he says, look, you're born of the flesh, Nicodemus, but you need 117 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:56,000 to be born of the Spirit. There needs to be a transformation, a change in your life. Now, 118 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:01,120 we sit here today and we have all been born in the flesh, everyone that's in here today. 119 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:07,160 Now I don't know if you've been born of the Spirit. Some of you, I'm pretty sure you have. 120 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:11,560 Some of you, maybe you have, maybe you haven't, I don't really know. But you know, God knows 121 00:11:11,560 --> 00:11:16,560 your heart. We've all been born of the flesh, but the question we must answer today is have 122 00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:23,080 we been born of the Spirit? Have we been reborn into a new creation in Jesus Christ? Have 123 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:29,360 we been transformed? Because we need to be transformed from who we are into men and women 124 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:35,720 of God. Now our world is just pumping all kind of stuff into our mind all the time, 125 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:41,760 but the scripture calls us to have our minds transformed, that our minds would be renewed 126 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:47,880 so that our minds would not be those minds who are poisoned by the world and listen to 127 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:54,720 the world, but minds that are transformed, that are focused on Jesus Christ. And Jesus 128 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:59,560 says, look, you were born of the flesh. Now oftentimes what we see in scripture when it 129 00:11:59,560 --> 00:12:06,200 talks about the flesh is talking about our sinfulness. Now I don't know if you knew that 130 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:11,040 or not, but you're a sinner. Praise the Lord you come today because that's something we 131 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:16,080 all need to know. That's something that God's word tells us. We probably don't like those 132 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:21,000 parts of it too much. We read it sometimes. We like the good stuff. We like the grace. 133 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:26,800 We like the happy stories. We begin to read about those sins that we're guilty of. We 134 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:30,560 don't really like to read those pages. We don't like to acknowledge those things. We 135 00:12:30,560 --> 00:12:35,440 don't really like the hard teachings of love your enemies and pray for those who persecute 136 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:39,800 you. You know, there are some parts of God's word that are hard, but God's word is good 137 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:45,640 and he gives us this word because it's our instruction on how to live. God's word tells 138 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:51,440 us that we are sinners, every one of us, every one of us today. Now I don't know where you're 139 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:55,280 from. I don't know your background, all of you, but I know that we're all here and I 140 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:59,680 know that we're all sinners. It doesn't matter if we're rich, poor, tall, short. It doesn't 141 00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:06,040 matter if we're smart. If we're dumb, it doesn't matter. We are all sinners and the wages of 142 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:13,200 sin is death. Now that's pretty grim. That's pretty grim. Now we can begin to look back 143 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:17,800 and make a list of the sins that we've done this week and we can probably fill up a page 144 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:22,320 in no time. So we're a pretty evil people. We're a pretty wretched people and we don't 145 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:27,320 like to call ourselves that. We don't like to say we're evil or we're wretched or we're 146 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:32,480 sinners. We like to say, well, everybody makes mistakes, but God's word uses stronger language 147 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:38,200 than that. And so there's sinful things that God's word says you should not do. We should 148 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:42,840 not lie. We should not steal. We should not cheat. We should not take God's name in vain. 149 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:49,280 We should not worship other gods. God's word is full of instructions and commands that 150 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:56,000 we break. And even as Christians, we strive and we try to do our best and we sin and we 151 00:13:56,000 --> 00:14:02,280 break the commands of God. And God's word tells us again and again what sin is. And 152 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:06,600 God's word reminds us that we are sinners. And when Jesus says to Nicodemus here, you've 153 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:11,600 been born of the flesh, what he's saying is Nicodemus, you're a sinner. Now Nicodemus 154 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:18,280 was a holy man by all worldly accounts, but what Jesus says is it's not enough to be holy 155 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:24,680 in this world, but you have to be born again. There has to be transformation. You have to 156 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:31,120 be born of the Spirit. Praise the Lord through Jesus Christ, through his crucifixion and 157 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:36,040 through his resurrection. The Holy Spirit comes and indwells in those who have put their 158 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:42,200 faith and trust in Jesus Christ. And what Jesus tells Nicodemus is, Nicodemus, there 159 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:48,000 has to be a change. You may know about God, you may know the word of God, but there has 160 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:54,160 to be something more. You have to know who Jesus is. You have to be transformed, you 161 00:14:54,160 --> 00:15:02,080 have to be changed, you have to be made anew. And that message to Nicodemus is the same 162 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:07,520 message to you and I today. That we need to be changed. That we need to repent of our 163 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:13,440 sins in this world. That we need to ask Jesus Christ to forgive us through his crucifixion. 164 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:18,320 That we need to gain the victory through his resurrection. We need to know that we can 165 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:23,800 trust in him. That his word never changes. That he'll never leave us or forsake us, but 166 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:28,640 that he will begin to work in us and change our hearts and make us into the men and the 167 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:35,000 women that he wants us to be as the Holy Spirit and dwells in us. So he's telling Nicodemus, 168 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:40,240 there has to be a change in your life. There has to be a change in who you are. And then 169 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:45,360 he references a story as it continues on. He references a story from Numbers chapter 170 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:50,440 21. We talked about this just a few weeks ago. It's probably fresh on some of your minds. 171 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:56,280 It's a story of God's people and they were just disobedient and complained. Now you can 172 00:15:56,280 --> 00:16:00,720 flip to just about any page in the Old Testament and turn five pages. You can find similar 173 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:05,280 stories. They're everywhere. God's people are always complaining. They're always grumbling. 174 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:12,280 They're always disobedient. And in Numbers chapter 21, God's people are complaining. 175 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:15,960 And what does God do? He sends snakes and the snakes begin to bite the people and the 176 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:20,160 people begin to die. And the people all of a sudden say, Oh dear Moses, we have messed 177 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:25,320 up. We need you to help us. Would you intercede for us, Moses? Would you speak up for us? 178 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:30,320 Would you help us? We've done this great wrong. We sinned against God. And Moses speaks up 179 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:35,000 for the people and God tells Moses, he said, I want you to take a steak and I want you 180 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:41,760 to take a bronze snake and I want you to lift that up so the people can see it. And all 181 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:48,000 the people who would look to that steak will be saved. And Jesus references that story 182 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:53,680 in John chapter 3. He says, just as Moses lifted up the snake to save the people in 183 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:59,560 the wilderness, he says, so the son of man must be lifted up so that people can obtain 184 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:05,640 eternal life. Jesus said, look, there's plenty of examples. He's using the Old Testament. 185 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:09,680 Nicodemus knew the Old Testament. There's plenty of examples in the Old Testament that 186 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:14,280 are pointing us forward to Jesus Christ. That's just one of them. That's just one story. And 187 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:18,800 Jesus says, you remember this story, how God saved his people in the Old Testament, how 188 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:23,440 something was lifted up? And by looking to the one lifted up, to the thing lifted up, 189 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:27,640 the people would be saved. Jesus says there's something better that is coming. And it's 190 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:32,760 Jesus himself that is coming. And he even says, before his death, several years before 191 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:36,560 his death here, he says, look, the son of man must be lifted up. Who's he talking about? 192 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:42,400 He's talking about himself. Jesus is telling Nicodemus, there has to be a change. And here's 193 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:47,080 the way that change is going to occur. It's going to come through one that God is going 194 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:52,760 to send, who is going to be lifted up. And when we look to the one who is lifted up, 195 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:59,280 there will be deliverance. There will be eternal life. And then we see this famous scripture 196 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:04,960 that we, some of us probably have seen a lot. Maybe you've never seen it before. And Jesus 197 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:09,640 is building up and he gets to this point and he says, you've got to change. You've got 198 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:14,960 to look to one who is coming. And then Jesus says, for God so loved the world. Isn't that 199 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:23,000 beautiful that God loved the world? God loves you today. You may not know it. You may not 200 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:27,440 think it. You may not feel it. You may feel unloved. You may feel rotten. You may be rotten. 201 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:33,520 We are in our sin. We're rotten. But let me tell you that God loves you today. God loves 202 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:38,680 you today. God loves you. There are times that we feel unlovable. There are times that 203 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:44,000 the enemy will tell you that you are worthless. You are too far gone. You are not worth loving. 204 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:51,200 But I want to tell you today that we are here worshiping a God who loves you. For God so 205 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:58,400 loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That's Jesus Christ. He sent Jesus Christ 206 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:04,200 and Jesus Christ chose to come and Jesus Christ came and he lived in obedience to God and 207 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:09,080 he was faithful to God and he did the work of God and followed the will of God and he 208 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:15,400 was obedient all the way to death on the cross and Jesus was spit on and beaten and mocked 209 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:20,600 and a crown of thorn placed on his head and he was nailed to a cross and he hung there 210 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:28,080 and he bled and he died. Do you know why? Because he loves you. Because he knew that 211 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:34,160 sitting in this church on July the 7th, 2024 was going to be a bunch of people that didn't 212 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:38,880 deserve his grace but he looked at us and he said they need me. They're hopeless and 213 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:44,480 they're helpless without me and he says I will hang on a cross and let my blood drain 214 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:51,320 out of me and let the air come out of my lungs and I will do it so that their sins will be 215 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:58,080 forgiven. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. So God has 216 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:03,520 done his part. You know why? Because he's gracious. God didn't do that because we're 217 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:08,320 so good. He didn't look down and say well those people in enterprise, they're pretty 218 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:16,000 good so I'll send Jesus to die for them. No, we're all sinners. Jesus came because of the 219 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:22,480 grace of God and God has done his part. God has atoned for our sinfulness so that we may 220 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:27,880 be forgiven today because Jesus Christ died on the cross for you and for me. Praise the 221 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:33,240 Lord. That's good news today. That's the gospel. That's the gospel message. Praise the Lord 222 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:38,400 and didn't end there. God raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus was nailed to a cross but 223 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:42,640 God raised him from the dead. He has victory over sin and victory over death and that's 224 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:46,400 how you're going to gain your victory today. It's through Jesus Christ and that's the only 225 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:53,400 way you'll gain victory today. It's through Jesus Christ. So God has done his part. God 226 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:58,360 has provided a sacrifice for us and there was no other sacrifice that could atone for 227 00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:02,440 us. God gave the Old Testament system and it wasn't good enough but he gave us a better 228 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:07,760 sacrifice than Jesus. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son and 229 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:13,000 here's where our part comes in. We have to do our part. God's grace is there. Salvation 230 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:18,680 is there. Eternal life is there. Forgiveness of your sins is there. Peace is there. Joy 231 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:23,600 is there. It's all there in Jesus Christ. God has done his part. For God so loved the 232 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:29,320 world that everybody that believeth in him shall not perish. For God so loved the world 233 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:38,400 that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish. That's 234 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:45,480 where our part comes in. That whosoever believeth in him. The question that I ask you today 235 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:53,080 is do you believe in Jesus Christ? Now I'm not asking you if you know about Jesus. Do 236 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:57,000 you know about Jesus? Well maybe you've read the Bible, maybe you've heard a sermon, maybe 237 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:01,840 you've heard a Bible story, maybe you know about Jesus. I'm not asking you if you know 238 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:06,960 about Jesus. I'm not asking you if you come to church on a regular basis. I'm not asking 239 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:11,720 you if you serve in the local ministry opportunities. I'm not asking you if you'll put money in 240 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:15,800 the offering plate. I'm not asking you if you dress good. I'm not asking you if you 241 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:20,440 say the occasional prayer. I'm not asking you any of those things. I'm asking you do 242 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:29,160 you know who Jesus is? Do you know him? Do you believe in him? Do you trust in him? Have 243 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:35,480 you made the Lord of your life and the King of your life? There's a difference between 244 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:41,040 being religious and being a follower of Jesus Christ. These Pharisees that we see in the 245 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:47,720 Bible, most of them it appears were religious, but they did not trust in Jesus Christ. But 246 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:52,760 Nicodemus, he was smart enough to know, he was smart enough to see that there's something 247 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:59,920 about Jesus and he came to seek Jesus out. What about you today? Maybe you don't know 248 00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:05,840 much about scripture, maybe you don't know much about who Jesus is or much about his 249 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:11,720 miracles, but maybe you know enough to know that you want to seek him out today. I've 250 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:14,920 told you the most important thing about him today and that is he loved you and he gave 251 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:20,360 his life on the cross for you. That's where you start. If you know that, you trust that 252 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:24,680 and you believe that, the Holy Spirit will work with you the rest of the way as you walk 253 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:30,320 and grow in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, and whosoever 254 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:38,880 believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Do you believe in Jesus 255 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:44,320 today? Do you trust him? Do you live for him today? Because the reward of that is something 256 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:50,720 beautiful, it's eternal life. Eternal life in the presence of God, not eternal life here, 257 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:54,520 not the way it is now at least. Praise the Lord. Wouldn't it be horrible if you had to 258 00:23:54,520 --> 00:24:00,240 live here forever with wars and sickness and pain and death and all this junk? But what 259 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:05,880 Jesus promises us is something better, something more beautiful. One day we're going to escape 260 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:10,040 this old world. One day we're going to be transformed into what I don't know, what that 261 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:14,280 process will look like when we leave this world and we're transformed and we're in the 262 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:19,120 presence of God. What that will look like I don't know. But I tell you this, it's going 263 00:24:19,120 --> 00:24:23,200 to look a lot better than what we see now. It's going to be more beautiful than you can 264 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:28,160 imagine. There will be more love and more peace and more joy there than you can possibly 265 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:35,440 imagine, and that is the everlasting life that Jesus is speaking of here. We would live forever 266 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:42,520 in the presence of God, but only those who have trusted in Jesus Christ. I don't know 267 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:50,200 about Nicodemus. Maybe he trusted in Jesus. I hope he trusted in Jesus. I believe he trusted 268 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:57,120 in Jesus. We see at the end of John, in John chapter 19, that a man by the name of Joseph 269 00:24:57,120 --> 00:25:02,600 of Arimathea comes to take the body down of Jesus and prepare it for burial. But we also 270 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:08,680 see one other interesting little tidbit there. It also says that Nicodemus, the one who came 271 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:14,280 seeking Jesus out at night, also came with all the spices that were needed to prepare 272 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:21,000 Jesus for burial. That sounds to me like a man who probably was a follower of Jesus, 273 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:27,080 who was right there with Jesus the day that he died. I don't know about Nicodemus. I don't 274 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:32,360 know if he ever followed Jesus or not. I don't know about you, but you can make that decision 275 00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:38,120 today. You can make that decision today if you're going to follow Jesus. Scripture tells 276 00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:42,640 us that we need to repent of our sins. It's not hard. There's nothing we can do. We're 277 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:48,160 not earning God the grace in any way. All we do is say, Jesus, I believe your words 278 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:53,800 in John chapter 3. I believe that you came to die for my sins, and Jesus, I believe that 279 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:58,680 I am a rotten wretched sinner, and I have done some rotten wretched things. We need 280 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:03,280 to confess those things to Jesus. We need to confess those things to God, and we need 281 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:10,600 to say, God, I'm a sinner, but I know who Jesus is. God, I ask for your grace, not because 282 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:15,960 I deserve it, but because it's grace, God. I don't know if you know Jesus today. I pray 283 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:20,560 that you do. I pray that you've repented of your sins. Maybe today the Holy Spirit's 284 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:25,240 speaking to you. Maybe today is the day that you realize you need to put your faith and 285 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:30,080 trust in Jesus. Praise the Lord. In a moment, we're going to have a song of invitation. 286 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:34,080 We're going to give you an opportunity to do that. Maybe today you've made that decision 287 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:38,240 to follow Jesus. When we have our song of invitation, I would encourage you to come 288 00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:42,440 forward so that we can rejoice with you, so that we can baptize you, as the Scripture 289 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:47,840 says. Maybe today you know God. Maybe you really are a child, but maybe you haven't 290 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:55,160 been living like it. Maybe today is the day that you need to stop and realize that we 291 00:26:55,160 --> 00:27:00,080 need to live for Jesus and stop living for the world. Maybe today we just need to repent. 292 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:05,880 Maybe today you just need to praise God for who he is, but you have a choice to make today. 293 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:10,720 Nicodemus was wise enough to seek out Jesus because he knew there was something special 294 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:16,600 about him. I pray that today we'd be wise enough to seek out Jesus, to confess our sins 295 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:22,920 to Jesus, to trust him and to live for him forevermore. Let's pray. Father God, we come 296 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:28,000 to you today. We thank you for this beautiful story of Nicodemus and who he is. I pray, 297 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:33,080 dear Lord, that maybe there are some today. Maybe they've known about Jesus. They've heard 298 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:39,760 about who he was. Maybe today they came seeking. I hope today that they found him through your 299 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:44,920 word, dear Lord, through the beautiful words of John 3.16. I hope today that they found 300 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:49,800 Jesus. I hope today that they would be those who are born again. I hope today that they 301 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:54,640 would be those who would look to the one who has been lifted up and nailed to a cross for 302 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:59,760 us, and that is Jesus Christ. God, there is no forgiveness. There is no salvation. There 303 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:07,760 is no eternal life in anyone or anything else in this world. Jesus is the way, dear Lord. 304 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:13,120 I pray that if there are some today that do not know who Jesus is, I pray that if your 305 00:28:13,120 --> 00:28:18,520 Holy Spirit is speaking to them and in this moment of invitation here in just a second, 306 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:23,200 that they would just come forward, that they'd come, dear Lord, and tell me that today is 307 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:29,560 the day that they follow Jesus Christ. Maybe there are some that are already here today, 308 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:33,480 and maybe there's something going on, and you're dealing with them. I pray that today 309 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:37,440 they'd listen to you. Maybe they'd need prayer, dear Lord. I encourage them to come kneel 310 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:40,680 down and pray, dear Lord. I'll be glad to pray with them. But whatever it is, dear Lord, 311 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:46,960 if you spoke to anybody in this room today, I pray that we would respond. I pray that 312 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:52,120 we would know above everything else, dear Lord, that you love us, that you sent Jesus 313 00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:58,080 for us, and that we are sinners, but that Jesus died for our sins, and you forgive us 314 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:02,200 through what Jesus did. I pray, God, that today we would all know that truth lived by 315 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:17,640 the truth. I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.