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All right, so we're up to John chapter three, and similar to John chapter one, I've had to split the sermon into two. I just felt like I had too much material to preach in one sermon. And I didn't think I could ignore or bypass some of the information that I had here in the first part of John chapter three. But if you look at verse number seven, it says, Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The title for the sermon tonight is ye must be born again. Ye must be born again. Of course, Jesus Christ is teaching on salvation. Let's start there in verse number one, it says, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. All right, so John chapter three is a very famous chapter of the Bible. I mean, it's one of those top chapters, it has to be. It contains the most famous Bible verse, of course, John 3 16. But the person that Jesus Christ is speaking to for more than half this chapter, of course, is a man named Nicodemus. We have an introduction to him here in verse number one, we learn two things about him. Number one, we learn that he's a man of the Pharisees. So he's, he's, he's learning the Pharisaical, if that's the right word, religion, which is, of course, a false religion. All right. And, you know, even today, it's kind of, it's pretty well documented, not documented, but it's pretty well accepted that modern day Judaism has its roots in Pharisaic religion. Like when we think about the Pharisees in Jesus' day, when they're rejecting Christ, modern day Judaism has its roots going back to the Pharisees. Okay, that is pretty well accepted, which is, of course, why modern day Judaism still continues to reject Jesus Christ. So we learn that Nicodemus is not a believer. We learn that from here at the very beginning, you know, he's following a false religion. Okay, but not only do we learn that he's a man of the Pharisees, we also learn at the second part, or the last part of verse number one, it says that he's a ruler of the Jews. Okay, a ruler of the Jews, meaning that he's got, he's a political leader. He's got authority. Okay, not all Pharisees were, of course, in politics. Nicodemus was a man like this. Okay, he was involved in false religion, but he was also a ruler of the Jews. Now, why is this important? Because Pharisee is very different to most of the other, sorry, Nicodemus is very different to the other Pharisees that we read about here. He's holding two hats here. Okay, he's interested for the for the well-being of the people of the Jews, of course, as a political leader, but he's also interested in the false religion of the Pharisees. He's wearing these two caps. And one thing that when you start reading the Bible, you start to see that many times these two hats, or these two offices, don't really go hand in hand one with another. I'll just show you this. If you can turn, keep your finger there, and turn with me to John chapter seven. Come with me to John chapter seven and verse number 45. John chapter seven and verse number 45. We have a part, we're getting to a point here, I'll just bring you up to speed, where the priests and the Pharisees, they desire to arrest Jesus Christ. Okay, but those that they sent to arrest him, they refuse to do so. So we get to John 745, it says, Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees. And they said unto them, Why have you not brought him? Why didn't you arrest Jesus and bring him to us? All right. And they say in verse number 46, the officers answered, Never man spake like this man. They go, man, this is not like a normal man. This is not, this is not an everyday person that we can just arrest on the spot. Okay, notice how they respond in verse number 47. Then answered them, the Pharisees. Are ye also deceived? Notice what they say. Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? Has anyone in prominent positions believed on this Jesus? Have you been deceived? Like you think he's more than just a man, but hey, no one in these high status positions believe on him. But notice that they say, Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed on him? One thing that we learned about Nicodemus, he's both Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. Okay, again, so you see that he's wearing two officers. And you can see that it's clearly laid out here that the different officers that have been held here, but let's keep going there. Verse number 49, it says, But this people who knoweth not the law are accursed. All right, so those that basically believe on Jesus, they don't know the law. They're saying they're cursed. These are cursed people that believe on Jesus. Now look at verse number 50. Nicodemus saith unto them. So Nicodemus responds to this idea that those that believe in Jesus or follow Jesus, they're cursed people. He says, He that came to Jesus by night being one of them, so we can definitely see it's the same Nicodemus here. He answers in verse number 41, Doth our law judge any man before it hear him and know what he doeth? He goes, do we judge before the matter? Shouldn't we at least put, you know, bring Jesus and hear what he has to say and judge him by what he's doing? Shouldn't we assess really, you know, shouldn't we just consider, like, just arrest him and consider all of those cursed that believe in him? Shouldn't we first hear what he's saying? Shouldn't we first see what he's doing? Shouldn't we first prove what he's doing, whether it's right or wrong? Basically coming at the defense of Jesus Christ at that point. Okay. And you can see that Nicodemus is a little bit torn in chapter seven. Okay. Now I'm not, I personally believe that Nicodemus got saved. Okay. I don't know exactly when was he saved in verse chapter number seven by then. Maybe, maybe not. I'm not sure. But you can see that, you know, he's got a soft spot for Jesus. Like he's not like the other Pharisees. They're just calling all these people cursed because, come on, let's just give them a chance. Let's hear what they have to say first. Isn't that what our law commands? And so you can see that Nicodemus has been mindful of that. But the reason we read that again, not just to see Nicodemus response, but also to see that there are rulers and there are Pharisees. And the Pharisees saying, look, none of us believe in him. I think Nicodemus either believes in him at this point, or he's close to believe in him on this point. Okay. Which is why he responds in that sense. Now come with me to John chapter 12. John chapter 12. John chapter 12 in verse number 42. I want to show you something else here. John chapter 12 in verse number 42. Just want to show you again the difference between being a ruler and one of the Pharisees. It says in verse number 42, John 12 42, nevertheless, among the chief rulers, also, many believed on him. Many of the chief rulers, many of the governing authorities in the land of Judah at that point, believed on Jesus. Wasn't Nicodemus one of those rulers? Yeah, he's one of those rulers. They believed on him. But what else did we learn about this? But because of the Pharisees, they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue. For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. See, many of the rulers did believe in Jesus. They did trust him. They did get saved. But they don't want to tell anyone. Especially in case the Pharisees find out about him. Because the Pharisees find out they believe in Jesus, they're going to be cast out of the synagogue. You know, they're going to be an outlaw. They're going to be a reject. They're going to be rejected by the religious leaders. And it says in verse number 43, for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Look, they should have just confessed Christ publicly. And so, yeah, we're believers too. And in that scenario, yes, they'd be rejected by man, but they'd be praised by God. Okay. Now, unfortunately, believers can be like this. Believers that have trusted Christ for salvation, but they're just too timid, too shy, maybe a little ashamed to speak of Christ. And, you know, when they have the opportunity to speak of Christ, they'd rather stay silent, because they don't want to be rebuked. They don't want to be embarrassed. They don't want to go through any rejection. So there are many believers today that have trusted Christ that are saved, but they're just fearful of what others have to say about them. We see that many of the chief rulers were like this in the time of the Bible. All right. That's just an introduction to Nicodemus. He carries two offices, false religion on one hand, a ruler of the Jews on the other hand. Okay. Come back with me to John chapter three. John chapter three. And, Nicholas, can you get me a, I was going to say Nicodemus. Nicholas, can you get me a drink of water, please? All right. Let's keep going there. Verse number two. Verse number two. Okay. About this Nicodemus, the same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou had a teacher come from God. Interesting words. For no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Now, I do believe that Nicodemus is being sincere at this point in time. I do believe he's truly saying, you know, look, when he says we, I don't know who the we are exactly. It's not the Pharisees by large. Okay. Maybe it's some of the rulers. You know, we found that many of the rulers believed in him. Maybe he's wearing that hat at that sense. But obviously he's saying, look, we believe you're a special person, you know, that you're a teacher come from God. You cannot, like, he sees the miracles. He goes, look, this is not, this is not just an illusion. This is not magic tricks. This is not the power of the devil. The only way that Jesus Christ can do these miracles is if God is with him. You know, Nicodemus realizes this. And of course, verse number two, he comes to Jesus by night. I mean, again, he's like the others. He doesn't want to be seen. You know, what are you doing hanging out with Jesus? Where did you go and ask Jesus? He goes at night when there's people in their houses. They can't see him. Okay. This is all secretive coming to Jesus Christ. And I truly believe he's been sincere here. Now, the reason I believe he's been sincere, and it's kind of, I think this goes hand in hand with brother Callum Stoneman on Sunday. I've not heard it yet. But from what I heard from brother Tim, you know, that, you know, if we see sincerity in someone, we should answer them accordingly. And we have more than half a chapter of Jesus Christ teaching Nicodemus. Okay. I'll just give you, I'll just, if you want, you can turn there. Come with me to Matthew 22. You don't have to. But let's just go to another example of when someone comes to Jesus and says very similar things to Jesus. Okay. Matthew chapter 22, verse number 15. Matthew chapter 22 and verse number 15. I'll just read it. Then went the Pharisees, look at this, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. So these Pharisees in this chapter, in Matthew 22 here, they're not sincere. Okay. They're trying to trick Jesus. They're trying to trip him up on his words. Verse number 16. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodian saying, Master, so it's kind of similar like Nicodemus, right? He calls him a rabbi or teacher. They go, Master, look at this. We know that thou art true. Oh, that sounds good. And teach us the way of God in truth. That sounds really good. Neither carest thou for any man, for that regard is not the person of men. Tell us therefore, what thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar or not? They go like, Jesus, is it lawful for us to pay our taxes? Is essentially what they're asking. Look at verse number 18. But Jesus perceived their wickedness and said, why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Okay. So what do we see? Jesus perceives their wickedness. They're not being sincere, but they call him master. We know you have the truth. We know you can't preach in the truth. Okay. But it's not sincere. And Jesus is able to perceive that. Okay. And I just want to show you the comparison with John chapter three, where Nicodemus comes with similar words. Master, we know, you know, you're of God and you know, God must be with you. And yet Jesus Christ takes the time with Nicodemus to explain salvation. And I believe the difference there, of course, is the sincerity of Nicodemus. He wants to know. Okay. He wants to know. He's one of these, he's one of these difficult people though. He's mixed up in false religion. Okay. Which that false religion hates Jesus Christ. And he's a ruler. He's got authority. Okay. He's got an image to keep. Okay. He's got an image to keep. And so it's not an easy position for him to go, you know, to trust in Christ. We really saw that too many of the chief rulers were too afraid because of the Pharisees to acknowledge or to confess publicly that they have believed on Christ. All right. Back to John chapter three and verse number three, John three, three. And sorry for the long, I just feel like I need to give a lot of introduction about Nicodemus and explain what's going on here. Okay. But verse number three, Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Reverend, if you want to go to heaven, if you want salvation, you must be born again. Okay. You must be born again. Jesus Christ is teaching about this new birth. Verse number four, Nicodemus saith unto him, how can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Now, look, I don't know. I'm just, obviously it's a foolish question. Can I get back to my mother's womb? It's kind of silly. Nicodemus, you know, obviously not. Obviously Jesus Christ is not saying, get back into your mother's womb and come out again as a grown man or something like that. Okay. So he's asking this question and Jesus Christ answered, verse number five, Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit. Okay. So we see what the being born again is. We're born of water. Then you're born again of the spirit. Okay. Of the spirit. He cannot enter into the kingdom of God. So in order for you to see the kingdom and to enter the kingdom, you must be born again. Then he says this in verse number six, because I love verse number six, because it just explains verse number five, which to me does not need explanation. But when you have people, false prophets, false brethren, you know, they'll read that except the man be born of water and of the spirit. I've had someone come to my door once and show me this passage and say, see, you have to be baptised to be saved. You must be born of water. That's what baptism is. I mean, people are just so lost, so confused. We're talking about being born. Jesus Christ has been born of water and of the spirit. And in case you don't know what Christ is talking about, he clarifies it further in verse number six, that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. So, so clear. We see that being born of water is being born of the flesh. The moment your mother gave birth to you, you were born of water, you were born of flesh. And of course, we're talking about when the baby's in the mother's womb, okay, that baby's surrounded by that amniotic fluid. And you know, that fluid is basically water. Like it's 98% water. Being born of water is just being born from mum. You know, when a woman says my water has broken or, you know, doctor says go to the hospital when the water breaks. We still use that language today, talking about the amniotic fluid that baby's surrounded, 98% water. That's what the born of the flesh is. Jesus Christ confirms that, clarifies that in verse number six. So you've all been born of the flesh. I believe the vast majority except maybe the, just looking around here, I would say the vast majority except maybe the little children, the smallest have been, have not been, you've all been born of the spirit as well. Okay, born of the spirit. So to be born again is he born of the spirit. And verse number seven, Jesus Christ says marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. Don't be surprised by this. Don't marvel. Like his nickname has been a bit silly, right, going back into the mother's womb. Jesus Christ says, look, don't be surprised. This is, don't marvel. You know, this is, what Jesus Christ is saying is, this is a basic teaching. Like this is not a complicated teaching. Marvel not. It shouldn't like, oh man, that's just crazy. That's beyond understanding, just being born again. But I tell you, there are so many Christians that they understand salvation being born again, but they kind of forget the concepts in Christian living. You know, a lot of the questions that I get, a lot of the confusion that I get from people is the confusion between the flesh and the spirit. They're like, oh, but I sinned again, pastor. You don't understand. I do understand. It's the flesh. Okay. And you need to remember that when you're saved, when you're born again, you've got a dual nature. You have the flesh that we're living in, still with a sinful nature. But then we have the new man, which is born again, born of the spirit. That spirit never sins, never sins. And you need to remember this. Like it sounds like, this is a very simple, marvel not, that I said unto thee, you must be born again. Don't be surprised at this teaching. It's really common. It's very, it's a very simple, it's a very basic teaching that you must, in order to go, in order to be saved, you must be born of mum. Of course, you must be a human being. Okay. And you must be born of the spirit. You must be saved. But in this process of life, we have dual natures, our dual nature, the flesh, the spirit, and to understand the Bible, like in order to just read the Bible without confusion, you must understand there are certain times that it's speaking about the flesh, and at certain times it's speaking about the spirit. Okay. And when you see things like in 1 John, that, that which is born of God, sinneth not. God, but I sinned, I must not be born of God. No, your flesh sinned. But the new man never sinned. That's been born of God. That's been born of the spirit. The Holy Spirit is God. And like, you have to take this, marvel not, you have to take this very simple teaching and apply it as you read the rest of the Bible, or you're going to get confused, or you're going to get tripped over. You're going to, you're going to start being confused by the false prophets out there because they're going, they're going to tell you, well, maybe you're not saved because you're not living the life. Well, living the life is not the basis of salvation. Being born again is the basis of salvation. Whether you've trusted Christ. Verse number eight, it says the wind bloweth where it listeth. So Jesus Christ is given, we'll soon see, Jesus Christ is given earthly illustrations of heavenly or spiritual truths. The first illustration that he gave was being born of the flesh. Because look, it's just, it's like the same thing. Okay. But you got to be born of the spirit. Now he's given an illustration of the wind. Okay. He says the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the spirit. Jesus Christ used the illustration of the wind. You hear the wind blow. You might hear the rustling of the leaves as it's going past, or you hear the howling wind, but you can't see the wind. It's invisible. Okay. It's invisible. You don't know where it's gone, or you don't know where it's coming from. Jesus Christ used this illustration. Then he says, so is everyone that is born of the spirit. Now keep your finger there and come with me to James chapter three. I want to explain this verse to you. Come with me to James chapter three. James chapter three and verse number four. James chapter three and verse number four. Firstly I just want to explain to you what the word listeth means. It says the wind blow for it listeth because it is an archaic word. It's even difficult to find in dictionaries. But what's good about the Bible is that we have it somewhere else and we can understand what it means by going to James chapter three. James chapter three and verse number four. James chapter three and verse number four. The Bible says, behold also the ships, which though they be so great and are driven by fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm. So to direct the ship on the ocean, you need a small helm. Then it says this, whithersoever the governor listeth. The governor is the captain. The guy that's driving, is that the right word for driving? No, it's not driving. That's anyway, the guy that's directing the ship. Wherever he listeth is the way that the ship will go. So wherever the governor listeth is basically wherever the governor wishes. Wherever the governor wishes to go. If he wants to go left, the ship's going to go left. If he wants to go right, it's going to go right. So I want to show you what it means there, listeth. So come back to John chapter three and let's read it again. Verse number eight. John chapter three, verse number eight. It says the wind blow for it listeth. The wind blows where it wants, it wishes. And then it compares the course being born of the spirit. We're talking about how the spirit moves. The spirit is involved in our salvation. That's why when we trust Christ, we're born again. He doesn't work within us. The wind blow for it listeth, we see that the Holy Spirit has his will. It's the Holy Spirit's will to give us that born against spirit. All right. But it's invisible. Like I can't look at someone on the outside and say this person is definitely saved on the outside. You know, there are some Christians that think they can judge someone's salvation by the outward appearance. Well, he must be saved because he's in church today. He must be saved because he's reading the Bible. How can you, no, you can't see where the wind's blown. It's the same thing. All right. But what we can determine, let's read it again. The wind blow for it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof. So we know the wind has blown. We know that someone's been born of the spirit when we hear the sound. What is that sound? I don't think it's that complicated. Okay. I'll just quickly read to you Romans 10, 10. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Look, how can I judge someone's salvation? By the outward? By how much good works they do? By how much they say hallelujah, praise the Lord. Is that how I determine someone's salvation? No. If I go to someone and say, hey, how do you know you're going to heaven? How do you know you're saved? And that person says because I put my faith and trust on Jesus Christ alone. That's a sound that I've heard. I've heard that confession. Praise God. I've heard that testimony. Praise God. Because of that testimony, I know the wind has blown. I know that the spirit has moved within you and given you a born again spirit. What are the charismatic stuff to talk about? My born again experience. Experience. All this outward stuff that took place. No, it's invisible. And I want to hear the right sound. How do you know you're saved? How do you know you're going to heaven? What would you say to someone that asks you? You know, I want to be sure of heaven. Listen, it's by someone's testimony, remember? Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaker. If you trusted Christ with your heart, it's going to come out of your mouth. You're going to say the right things. You're going to say that your faith is resting on Christ and Christ alone. That's how you judge someone's salvation. Listen, if there's a man in prison that has been a thief, who's robbed banks, who's committed murder, and I walk up to that person in prison and say, hey, what do you believe you have to do to go to heaven? And the guy says, all you have to do is believe Jesus Christ. I've put my faith and trust in him. And I know I can never lose my everlasting life. You know what? That man is saved. I don't care how wicked his life was. I don't care if he never steps foot in church or picks up and reads his Bible. I know where his faith is placed. Okay, I've heard the sound. I know the spirit moved in him. I know the spirit gave him new birth. That's how I know. Sometimes you ask people, hey, when did you get saved? And they're like, honestly, I don't know. I'd be listening to preaching. I was reading this book. I was doing this. I was doing that. I don't know when I put my faith and trust in Jesus, but I know that I have. I know he's my savior, and I'm trusting him and him alone. All right. You don't know when the wind blew. You don't know where it's gone, but you know that he made a change in you. He gave you that born again spirit, gave you that new birth. Okay, so people sometimes get worried. I can't remember when I called upon the Lord. I can't remember exactly when I placed my faith on him. It doesn't matter. Is your faith on him today? If it is, then I know that you've been born again. Let's keep going there. Verse number nine, John chapter three, verse number nine. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, how can these things be? Now, Jesus Christ kind of rebukes him here in verse number 10. Jesus answered and said unto him, art thou a master of Israel? Remember, he's a ruler. Are there a master of Israel and knowest not these things? Jesus Christ goes, look, you're a Pharisee. You're a ruler. You're like one of these top people in Israel, and you don't know this. You don't know about being born again. You don't know about salvation. Jesus Christ is saying, look, if you're a religious leader, you ought to know these things. Why don't you know? It's a rebuke. It's a slap in his face. Okay. It's a slap in his face. And, you know, this proves a couple of things. Number one, that he should already have known these things. Meaning that being born again is not just a New Testament truth, but this is a truth that was even in the Old Testament. This is a truth even pre-Old Testament that people ought to know what salvation is, that it's being born again. A better change that is not outward, but a change that is inward. Something that is invisible. This is something that ought to have not, this man, the Godemist, ought to have already known. If you're going to call yourself a religious leader, Pharisee, a master of Israel. So this is a rebuke. Come with me. Keep your finger there. Come with me to Deuteronomy chapter 30. Come with me to Deuteronomy chapter 30. I mean, I look at that as a rebuke, don't you? Like you're a Pharisee, you're a ruler, you know, don't you know these things? You should know these things. Okay. Come with me to Deuteronomy chapter 30. And of course, we know about the Old Testament. You know, one of the things that God taught Abraham to do, and also all those that came after him physically, was that they were to circumcise themselves, right? On the eighth day, to circumcise themselves. And so that's a physical outward work that they would do. But please don't miss this as well. People did not get saved. You'll never get saved. No one ever got saved by a physical circumcision. Okay, Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse number six, it says, and the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. You see, the Jews, yeah, they did, the Israelites, they did do physical circumcisions. Okay, but it's just a picture of what had taken place on the inward. Salvation on the inward. Circumcision of the heart. You see, even in the Old Testament, they had to understand that it's not the outward that saves you. It's not the works that saves you. But the inward, what takes place inside of a man is what's important. The circumcision of the heart. We're to believe with Jesus with our hearts. And what circumcision is, it's a putting away of the flesh. No trust, no confidence in the flesh. When you trust Christ, you say, Lord, I've got no confidence in this flesh. My confidence is on you and you alone. And so you're circumcised in the heart. No confidence in the flesh. No confidence in works. Confidence in Christ alone. And so I just want to show you that in Deuteronomy 30 about the circumcision of the heart. And of course, because salvation has always been the same in Romans chapter 2 verse 28, it says, for he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. You see, circumcision is of that of the heart, in the spirit. We're going to be born again, we're born of the spirits. Okay, that spirit is revived within us. We're born of God. A circumcision of the heart takes place, spiritually speaking. Jesus Christ says, you should know this Nicodemus. You're a ruler. You're a Pharisee. You don't know this. Have you not read Moses? Isn't that what he says to some of the Christ rejecting Jews? They do not believe in Moses. Have you not read how many times the Jesus Christ say that to the Christ rejecting Jews? So I do believe this is a rebuke to Nicodemus. You know, Jesus Christ is basically, you know, exposing his ignorance, exposing his false religion, exposing that he doesn't know the scriptures like he ought to. Okay, verse number 11. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. He goes, Nicodemus, you're not receiving what I'm teaching you. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things? So Jesus Christ has given Nicodemus some earthly illustrations of spiritual or heavenly truths. He gave him the earthly description of a mother giving birth, being born of water, being born of the flesh. You're going to be born of the spirit. He gave the example of the wind blowing because that's like the Holy Spirit. Okay, it's an inward thing. It's invisible because if you don't get this, like Jesus is trying to really make it simple. Okay, you don't get the earthly things. You're going to not get the heavenly things. Okay, like Nicodemus is, what I believe, second place here, is that he's been a bit stubborn. Like he's been stubborn. You know, like obviously you should understand what birth is. You should understand how the wind works, blows, and you don't see it. That's okay. I get that. I get that. So how does it apply to heavenly truths exactly? Now again, I believe he's sincere. He wants to know the truth. This is stubborn. Again, he's a man of high status. Pharisee, ruler, probably not appreciating that Jesus Christ just rebuked him. Shouldn't you already know this stuff, Nicodemus? A little bit stubborn, a little bit stiff necked going on here. Okay, Jesus Christ is, what I believe he's doing here, because as we keep going, I think it makes sense in the context of it. I believe what Jesus Christ is just doing is just exposing Nicodemus's shortcomings, exposing Nicodemus's sin, showing him, hey, look, you're not good enough, Nicodemus. You know, you're not going to make it on your own just because you're a master of Israel. Just because you're a ruler, you're not good enough. You know, you should already, you don't even know these things. You don't know these heavenly things. Okay, I believe what Christ is doing here is just basically revealing to Nicodemus that he's a sinful man. Okay, he's not right with the Lord. And again, I think the context shows this, because then what Christ says in verse 13, he says, and no man hath ascended up to heaven. Now, I'll just stop there for a moment. Some people take this verse. I don't know even how you, I don't know how you go there with this, really. Some will take this verse and say, well, this means no one's, at this point in time of history, no one's ever gone to heaven. Like all the Old Testament saints, all the pre-Old Testament saints, none of them are in heaven, because Christ says right here, no men have ascended up to heaven. But like, when you think about that logically, does that kind of fit what we're talking about here? Do you think Jesus Christ is now teaching Nicodemus, like when people have gone, at what point do men go to heaven and what point do they not? I'll show you what he's teaching, okay. He's teaching this. No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, speaking about himself, even the Son of Man, which is in heaven. Okay, we see the omnipresence of Jesus Christ, that he is indeed God, even though he's on the earth, somehow he's in heaven. Okay, because he's God, he's everywhere at once. Okay, he's in heaven. But he says no man gone up to heaven, except he that came down from heaven, meaning that look, Nicodemus, if you're trying to understand heavenly things, you can't rely on a man ascending up to heaven to find out what's going on in heaven, then coming down and telling you these things. Jesus Christ says, I've done this, I've descended from heaven, I'm the one that's trying to teach you heavenly things. Okay, can I prove that's what he's teaching? Yes, I can. Okay, I mean, if you just keep it together, right, because no man's ascended, but I've descended. Okay, I've come. Like, you can't have a man that's gone up and come back down. All right, Nicodemus, I went to heaven, let me tell you exactly how to get saved, let me tell you exactly what it is, what heaven's all about in eternity. You say that's crazy, Pastor. No, no, it's not crazy, because people at the door say that all the time. I would believe if someone went to, or they say, how do you know for sure? Who went to heaven to come back and show us these things? People say that all the time. I say the same thing, Jesus Christ descended from heaven to tell us these things. Happens all the time. Keep your finger there and come with me to Proverbs chapter 30. Proverbs chapter 30 and verse number one. Proverbs chapter 30 and verse number one. It's a faulty conclusion to say that no one's gone to heaven before this time, because the Bible tells us very clearly that when Elijah was caught up in a whirlwind, okay, that he went up to heaven. But I don't want to address that so much, because I just feel like people take part of a sentence, and now let's build a doctrine on this part of the sentence here without reading the rest of it. Okay, Jesus Christ is very clearly talking about someone that's gone up and come back down. He goes, I'm the one to teach you these heavenly truths. No one else is going to teach you these things. Okay, we got Proverbs chapter 30 verse number one. It says, the words of Agar, the son of Jacob, even the prophecy, the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Yukal. Okay, so these are the words of Agar. This is his proverb. He says, surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man. He goes, surely I'm just a stupid man. British. I have no intelligence. I have no knowledge. He goes, I'm like, I'm like this, I just, you know, when it comes to wisdom, I'm just low on that ladder. Okay, have not the understanding of a man. I've not matured. I've not grown. I just don't have understanding, he says, right? Verse number three goes, I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy. Because I don't even, I don't have wisdom. I don't even know about holy things. I don't know about God. I don't know about religion. I don't know about anything that's holy. Then he says this, here's number four. Who have ascended up into heaven or descended? He goes, has anyone gone to heaven and come back down? He wants to learn about holy things. He wants wisdom. He wants understanding. He's like, hey, who can tell me these things? Has anyone gone to heaven and come back to tell me these things? Then he says, who have gathered the wind in his fists, now he's talking about God, who have bound the waters on a garment, who have established all the ends of the earth. Like he's asking these questions. How can I learn about all these holy things? Because no one's ascended up to heaven, descended to tell me these things, okay? Who have bound the waters in the garments, who have established all the ends of the earth. What is his name and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell? Because I want to know about this God. I want to know his name. I want to know his son's name, if thou canst tell. Well, amazing, isn't it? Of course, the son of God being referenced there, Jesus Christ already in the Old Testament. But you see this man, he realizes, man, I don't know anything about the Bible. I don't know anything holy. I don't have any wisdom. Like who's going to go to heaven and come back down to tell me these things? How am I going to find out about God? Well, what's the answer? The answer is in verse number five. This is how you find out. Verse number five, every word of God is pure. He is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Because this is how I'm going to find out. The word of God, every word of God is pure. That's how we know about holy things. That's how we know about spiritual things. We don't need some eight-year-old kid to so-called go to heaven and come back and write a best-selling book about that. No man's done that, okay? Christ has descended, okay? But we're not here at the time of Christ on this earth, but we have his holy word. We have the Bible. We have every word of God, which is pure. So we can have wisdom. So we don't have to be brutish and stupid. We can have knowledge and understanding and the wisdom of God and to know about holy things, to know about salvation. So even this guy in the province is asking the same question. Who's gone up and come back down? Because the only way I'm going to know is by God's holy word. And then he says he's a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Now put your trust in the Lord. And of course, as we keep going through Nicodemus, the story of Nicodemus, Jesus Christ is encouraging him, put your trust in the Lord. Put your trust in me, in Jesus Christ, okay? Let's come back to, come back with me to John chapter three. John chapter three, verse number 14. John chapter three, verse number 14. Then he says these words. And as Moses lifted up the serpents in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Wow. How do we have eternal life? Whosoever believeth in him. I mean, how simple, how precious the gospel. I just have to believe on Christ, believe in it, and I won't perish. I'm not going to perish in hell. I'm not going to die in my sins. I'm not going to be rejected by God. All I have to do is put my faith and trust in Jesus. Jesus Christ is like Nicodemus, don't you know these things? You just have to put your faith and trust, he goes, in me. You know what? If you knew the Bible, if you were saved, you would know this already. We've seen this in the previous chapters, right? The people that are already saved, his disciples, as soon as they hear Jesus, oh yeah, let's go. That's him. Let's go follow him. Nicodemus doesn't know. He's not saved. He's not a saved man. He's of a false religion, the Pharisees. And Jesus Christ just shows them just how simple it is just to believe in him. You want to be born again and be saved? All you have to do is believe in Jesus. You trust him and you get eternal life. Eternal never ends. That's what eternal means, right? It never ends. Once you have it, it will never end. Once you trust the Christ, you cannot lose salvation. You cannot lose it because it's eternal. But I messed up my life. It's not based on how messed up or how productive your life is. It's based on whether you've trusted Christ. It's so sad. I tell you, I hear a lot of sad things as a pastor. One of the saddest things, and when people say to me, pastor, I don't know if I'm even saved. Why? Because I did X, Y, and Z. Okay, but is doing X, Y, and Z the basis of your salvation? Have you ever put your faith and trust on Jesus? How do I know I'm saved, pastor? Have you put your faith on Jesus? Can you tell me and say, you know what? The reason I'm saved and going to heaven is because I put my faith and trust on Christ and Christ alone. Man, if you say that, it's like I heard the sound blowing, yep, this person's saved, this person's been born again. Salvation is so easy, so simple, too simple for some. Okay, maybe too simple for Nicodemus at this point in time, potentially. And again, I don't know exactly what, I believe he got saved. I'll show you why later, but I don't know exactly when. Okay, but Jesus Christ uses the illustration here of Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness, so we have to go back and look at this. Okay, come with me to Numbers 21, come with me to Numbers chapter 21. Numbers chapter 21, please, Numbers 21. What Jesus Christ is teaching us here is what is known in the theological world as typology, typology, types, shadows, figures of Christ found in the Old Testament, object lessons. This serpent that was lifted up by Moses is a type, Jesus Christ is the anti-type, it's a shadow, it's a picture, it's an illustration of Christ. As I strongly recommend to you when you're reading the Old Testament, try to find the types of Christ, try to find Christ on every page, try to find Him because He's everywhere. Christ is everywhere. The whole Bible is pointing us to Jesus Christ. Numbers 21 verse 5, please, and a very quick introduction. The Israelites, they've left Egypt, they've been led by Moses, and as we've seen in several occasions, they're stiff-necked, they're whiners, they're complainers. Okay, and this is a scenario where they're whining, complaining once again because they're not getting enough food. Okay, Numbers 21 verse 5, it says, and the people spake against God and against Moses, wherefore have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread, neither is there any water, for our soul loatheth this light bread, the light bread's manna. So God's actually provided for them. They're not going hungry, they just want regular bread now. I mean like if you had manna, like a miracle taking place every day feeding you in the wilderness, it takes real stubbornness to I just want regular bread now. Why aren't you providing for us? We might as well just go back to Egypt. I mean just think about how angry would you get at a people like that. And so God gets angry of course. Verse number 6, and the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses and said, we have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us, and Moses prayed for the people. See they recognize that they have sinned against the Lord. They recognize, hey we're sinners. And again the reason I believe that Jesus Christ is rebuking Nicodemus is just to show them how you're a sinner. You're not right with the Lord. Okay you don't know the scriptures, you're not right with him. So what is God going to ask Moses to do? Well tell the people to repent of all their sins, and then I'll help them with the fiery serpents. Is that what God's going to tell Moses to do? Tell them to live a better life, a clean life, and maybe that's you know how I'll deliver them. No that's not what happens. Verse number 8, and the Lord said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent. So like make a statue and set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten when he looketh upon it shall live. That's instruction. Just get the people to look upon this serpent. It's a bronze serpent. Okay and they shall live. They'll be healed. That's all the Lord asked of them. Get them to look upon it and they'll live. So come back with me to John chapter 3. And let's look at verse number 14 once again. And as Moses lifted up the serpents in the wilderness, same way, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. Man that's how easy it is. We're sinners aren't we? We've sinned. We've got the venom of the snakes, the venom of sin within us, and we need deliverance. We need healing. So what do we do? We have to clean up our lives. We have to turn from all our sins. No we just have to look at Christ. Christ who's lifted up. Christ who was lifted up on the cross and believe in him. Yes Lord I believe you can heal me. You know Moses would have to say look at the serpent and you'll be healed, and they have to believe that. They have to believe that to set their eyes upon that and they were healed. They would live. Brethren that's what salvation is. Put your eyes on Jesus. Believe in him that he will heal you and he'll heal you. And the moment you do that you're circumcised of the heart. You're born again of the Spirit. You have the opportunity explaining things again and again to him. So it clicks at some point. And then verse number 16. For God so loved the world, the world by the way, that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. So eternal life never ends. Everlasting life means it lasts forever. Okay look eternal security knowing that you can never lose it is part of the gospel. You cannot give the gospel alright just believe in Jesus and leave people thinking that there's something that can be done to lose salvation. You must assure them that once you have trusted Christ that it is a done deal. It's everlasting. It cannot be lost. I mean if they understand it's all been done by Christ then automatically it should be realized that it cannot be lost. There's a time that I thought that some people you know some Christians they're not saved. I used to think that some of them that believe you could lose your salvation I thought they were saved because they would say yeah I know it's by faith alone but if you don't do the works you lose it. So they might have part of their faith on Christ but still part of their faith is on their works. Are they doing enough? You know and then there's worry I can't leave much if I leave my church I'll lose my salvation. There are cults like that aren't there brother? It's everlasting. It's eternal. Believe on him. Just look at Christ. Yes I believe you can heal me Lord. Give me everlasting life. You got it. Done. Finished. Eternal life. That's the most beautiful part I think. I know that on my drive home after church today if I were to perish in a car accident or something. God, Pastor Kevin and his family. Don't worry we're in heaven. Having the time of our life. Best life ever. In heaven with Christ. That's what's great about a Christian. You don't have to fear death because you only live more once you die. Once his body perishes. You're more alive than you ever have been before. Verse number 17. For God sent not his son into the world. There is again the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved and again I think the context is I told you he rebuked Nicodemus. I think he's like condemned Nicodemus. You're not right. I've not come to condemn you. I've come to save. That's the purpose. That's the end goal. Yeah you might have to be condemned. You might need to be rebuked on the way. We do it all the time. We knock on someone's door. Hey can we share with you? How you can be sure of going to heaven? The Bible says for all have sinned come show the glory of God for example. All right we might use that verse and so Satan says hey the Bible says we're all sinners. You're a sinner. I'm a sinner. Have you ever told a lie? You know 99% of people say yeah total lie. Yeah you know we're not perfect. We've all done wrong things. Of course I'm not perfect. Look when we've done that we've revealed we've rebuked them. We've shown them that they're sinners. We show them that they're not perfect. They're not righteous and then of course we show them that you know not only are you destined a physical death but a spiritual death in the lake of fire. You know we show them that hey they're on their right now in sin they're on their way to hell. That's that's a pretty sharp rebuke even though we do it out of love right and you know but we don't want to leave them there. We don't want to leave them condemned. All right see you later. If you want to know how to escape hell give me a call. No then we want to get to the salvation. We want to get to the gospel. The power of God unto salvation is what we want to get to. Okay Christ is showing the same thing. Look I've not just come to condemn. Come to save. That's what it's about. Okay and then it says but that the world through him might be saved. I love these verses because the whole world can be saved. Salvation is available to everybody. The whole world. The free gift. We don't believe in Calvinism here. Reform theology. What rubbish. What heresy to say that Jesus Christ only came to die for some. That salvation was only available to some and I'm one of the chosen. I don't know if you are. I gotta see how well you live your life till you die. Okay because if I see you out of church brother then you're not one of the elects. I'm sure about that. What rubbish. We're not Calvinist here. Jesus Christ came for the whole world. He did not come to condemn the world but that he will be saved through him. I still got to preach a sermon against Calvinism. I'll do that at some point. There's so much to preach about. Let's keep going there. Verse number. I've lost where I'm up to. Verse number 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned. Wow. But he that believeth not is condemned already. Why? Because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. Look how many times Christ is telling Nicodemus. Believe. Believe. Believe. Believe. Believe. Believe. If you believe not you're condemned. Yeah if you believe not you're condemned. But you're not condemned if you believe. Over and over Jesus Christ is giving him time and time and chance and chance. Explain again and again and again and again and sometimes we have to do that brethren. Sometimes we do have to especially with family we get frustrated. Oh they seem to be rejected in the gospel. All right give them another chance later on. Give them time and time again. Explain that again. You know you go for the gospel presentation. So what do you have to do to be saved? Oh good works. Now go for it again. No the Bible says. So believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Be patient with people. I can see the patience of Christ with Nicodemus. That's what I think is fine. I'm fine in here okay. And you know verse number 16 says believeth in him. Verse number 17 said believeth on him or verse number 18 says believeth on him. So to believe on him is to put your trust on him. Okay we don't teach that all you have to do is believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross, rose again from the dead because even the Catholics teach that. No your trust, all your faith, all of your trust must be on that alone. On Christ alone. That's what it means to believe on him. Don't believe on your works. Don't believe on your church. Believe on him. Trust him. He's the only way of salvation. Look at verse number 19. And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world. John chapter one. Jesus Christ is the light of the world. Remember that? The light is coming to the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Okay see the reason people don't want to hear the gospel is they don't want to be exposed by the light. They prefer to be in their darkness, prefer to be in their weakness, feel comfortable. She'll be right mate. It says verse number 20. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds, sorry, lest his deeds should be reproved. All right again some people that teach in order to be saved you have to repent of sins. All right turn, I don't know, a new leaf of your life. You know live righteously. Live God. Live holy lives. They love to go to these passages that says everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. Is it saying here in order to be saved you've got to stop doing the wicked deeds? Is that what it's saying here? See people take these passages and say see wicked deeds, they hate the light, neither cometh to the light. So in order to come to the light you've got to give up the wicked deeds. That's what it says. What does it say? Let's look at it again. Verse number 20. For everyone that doeth evil, that's all of us as we were sinners, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. So when you come to the light, your deeds, your wicked deeds will be reproved. Okay? In other words you've got to realize you're a sinner. That's what we say to people. Have you told a lie? Have you ever looked at a woman we've lost in your heart? Or something. Have you ever stolen something? Even when you were a child and you took a little pencil from school or something. Have you ever disobeyed mum and dad? When we ask those, when we show people, where have we proven them? We're bringing the light and saying look you're not as good as you think you are. And we show them the light. See some people get offended by that. Oh well you don't think I'm good enough. They hate, they hate salvation by faith alone. They want to be good enough. No the light exposes that your deeds are wicked. Okay? This is not saying give up your wicked deeds in order to be saved. This is saying hey go to the light which is Christ and you'll be exposed for your wicked deeds. Yes Lord I'm a sinner. You're right Lord I'm a sinner. I need a saviour. That's the process. Simple. Yes Lord you're reproved. Means to be reprimanded, corrected or criticized. And again that's what I believe Jesus Christ was doing to Nicodemus showing him hey you should know these things. You're a ruler, you're a Pharisee, you're a master of Israel. You don't know these things. So that's the point that I believe Christ is just shining that light on Nicodemus. He's going you're not right with me. You're not right with the Lord Nicodemus. You've got to believe in me. You've got to trust in me. Okay? You know again you know you have to realize you're a sinner don't you to be saved. Nicodemus has to go yeah you're right Jesus being a Pharisee is not enough to go to heaven. You're right Jesus being a ruler in Israel is not good enough. You know my ego and my pride I've got to put that aside. I might be circumcised in the flesh but I need to be circumcised in the heart. Something needs to take place within me that is invisible. It's been born again of the Spirit. And then verse number 21. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light. You know what I want the truth even though it reveals my wickedness I'm going to come to that light. I'm going to come to Christ. Then it says this that his deeds may be manifest and it says this that they are wrought in God. So wrought is means to be made or yeah made in God. So what is this teaching? Okay it's very simple truth. Okay if you can come with me to Ephesians 2. Let's go there again Ephesians 2. Well not again but come with me to Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2 verse 8. This is talking about doing good deeds here. Okay so it's not saying good deeds to be saved. No you come to the light you reveal that your deeds are wicked but once you've come into that light you can actually do righteous deeds. You can actually do righteous works wrought in God where God utilizes you to do righteous acts for him. Okay and that's why you know just as Ephesians 2 it's just a simple one. You will know it for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God. Verse number nine not of works. So let's make that very clear. Not of works lest any man should boast. I mean Nicodemus could boast I'm a Pharisee. I'm a ruler of the Jews. Stop boasting about that. It's not of works but then once you are saved. So verse number 10. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. So Christ is saying look your deeds it's not good enough to save you but once you've come into the light now you can actually get some good deeds done Nicodemus. Okay because we are his workmanship in Christ Jesus in me Nicodemus. Jesus Christ is teaching that. Alright that's up to verse number 21. I felt like there was so much to cover already in that chapter but come with me to one more passage. Come with me to John chapter 19. John chapter 19. Did Nicodemus come to the light of Christ? Did he or didn't he? Again I believe he did. You know I believe Jesus Christ has given more than half a chapter to explain to Nicodemus. You know he could see the sincerity of Nicodemus. We've seen how Jesus Christ deals with people that are not sincere. Okay at what point did he get saved? I don't know exactly. Then we see later on when they're trying to arrest Christ that Nicodemus is there going hey come on let's just at least hear what he's saying because Nicodemus knows that Christ is not this wicked man. He's not this criminal. He's not this rebel. Okay he knows that what Christ says is true. He knows that he's from God you know and it's like let's just hear what he has to say you know but he's a bit timid right. He's just he's a ruler. What are people going to say about me if I confess that I believe in Christ? You know and then we have John chapter 19 which is after the death of Christ after he died on the cross. I think this is really interesting verse John chapter 19 verse number 38. It says and after this after the crucifixion of the death of Christ and after this Joseph of Arimathea being a disciple of Jesus but secretly and this is what's important I think secretly for fear of the Jews so even this disciple of Jesus is afraid of what the Jews have to say about him. Okay so this is something he does this secretly. He doesn't want people to know. He sought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. He goes to Pilate says look Pilate can I have the body of Jesus but does this secretly all right. He doesn't want the Jews to find out about it for fear of the Jews okay and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore and took the body of Jesus. Now verse number 39 says and there came also Nicodemus which at the first came to Jesus by night and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes about a hundred pound weight. So how does Nicodemus know about this? Because remember it's a secret right. Joseph here is afraid of what the Jews are going to say but I believe Nicodemus is saved not only because he's come to honor the body of Christ and to you know to put the what is the ointments the mixture of myrrh and aloes on the body you know for the burial process but he knows the secret like Nicodemus is in the inner circle of the secrets. How did you find out about it? I believe he's saved. He's just a secret believer okay and somehow maybe he knows Joseph maybe he knows some of the disciples of Christ. He hears about the news that his body's been taken. He goes you know what I want to go and pay my respects to that body. So I strongly believe that Nicodemus got saved. Can I prove it dogmatically without a shadow of a doubt? Not really okay but I truly believe he did just based on what we see there in the book of John. All right well so you know I think it's just unfortunately just one of these believers that have the benefits of salvation but are just too fearful to say anything about it. Too fearful to confess Christ publicly and there are many many Christians like that unfortunately many that are too afraid. You know most Christians are going to go to the grave and to heaven but never once preaching the gospel to the lost. Never once telling people they've trusted Christ. Never taken the opportunities when they've had one-on-one with someone that they care about their love or a work colleague. They'll never take that opportunity to tell them about the wonderful news of salvation. And basically that person they're saved. They're going to heaven. They're like Nicodemus. They're like the chief rulers that believed on Christ but because of fear of the Jews, fear of people, fear of man. They would rather have the praise of man rather than the praise of God. You know let me encourage you not to be that kind of person. You know what even if it kind of slaps you in the face even if you get rejected for speaking of Christ. You know what you're going to receive the praise of God. God will be so happy with you, so pleased and no doubt he'll bless you as you go and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. All right let's pray.