As the Lord may be pleased to
help us this morning, I would like to direct your prayerful
attention to the words found in the chapter that we read together, in the Gospel according to John,
in chapter 3, and we'll take as our text, verse 7, where the Lord Jesus says to Nicodemus,
marvel not, that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The gospel according to John
chapter three and verse seven. The Lord Jesus is he who stands
ready to save. And what a wonderful blessing
this is. He had, as we read together, performed his first miracle.
In John chapter two, we read about it. And those disciples
who were with him had a wonderful experience of a realization that
not knowing why, or the outcome, they learned the wonderful blessing
of obedience. Because what we read is, at that
wedding, the head of the feast must have been very embarrassed
because they invited more people than they had wine sufficient
to drink. And the word went round that
there was a shortage of wine. What the Lord Jesus said to the
disciples was, fill the water pots with water, which they did. These water pots, if you convert
the volume of them, would have held about eight or nine gallons
of liquid. They would have been quite big.
They were filled to the brim. The disciples didn't know what
was going to happen. They would have been the water containers
which were normally used for ceremonial washings. But the
Lord Jesus knew exactly what he was doing, because he commanded
them to fill the water pots. They were involved in it, but
it was he who performed the miracle whereby the water was turned
into wine. This grape juice that came out
of there was most acceptable, better than what they started
with. The Lord Jesus is he who is able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we can ask or think according to the power,
that is his power, that worketh in us. And we have before us
a man named Nicodemus, who came to the Lord Jesus by night, a
man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus. He was a man of great learning. He was a Pharisee. He would have
been working to the upholding of the
Old Testament law and rules, rules which sadly they had added
to, and they were so keen to preserve all these things, and
of course the Apostle Paul was one of them. Until the Lord Jesus
met with him on that Damascus road, he referred to himself
as a Pharisee of the Pharisees. And the Apostle Paul was going
about destroying the only church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
what happened? The Apostle Paul was suddenly
struck down. A light shone round about him,
we read, brighter than the noonday sun. And a voice spoke to him,
the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? And of course, the Pharisees
were involved, them with the Sadducees, in turning people
away from the Lord Jesus Christ and the New Testament teaching
to the extent that they did not believe in the glorious resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember how that following
the resurrection, when the guards were set up to
guard the tomb, and when we think of that, dear friends, it doesn't
hardly sound true, does it? Who would set an army of soldiers
on watch to guard a grave, to make sure a dead person doesn't
come out of that grave. But they did. Pilot said, you
have a watch, and they did, and they put a seal on the stone. What happened? That same angel
that came, and by the power of God given, those guards were
thrown backwards, Lord Jesus Christ rose again on that glorious
Easter morning, first day of the week, the same day as we
are gathering together for worship today. The first day of the week
reminds us that we worship our Lord Jesus Christ who has risen
again from the dead and has power over sin and death and hell and
this same Lord Jesus is he who rose again from the dead. And the same angel who by God's power
threw back those people who were guarding, it's the same one who
spoke so tenderly to those dear women who came that same morning. And he said, he is not here for
he is risen. come see the place where the
lord lay and go and tell his disciples and so on now what
a blessing it is that the lord jesus in all his risen and ascended
power spoke to the apostle paul and brought him out of darkness
into light and we have here a character nicodemus He was a member of
the Sanhedrin, the ruling council, and we have an account of him coming
to see Jesus by night. He might well have come at night
because he had his fellow Pharisees, and I understand there would
have been a great number of them at this time, a number of thousands,
If any of them had seen him in daylight with Jesus, he would
have had a lot of answers to give. But he chose to come at
night. We can come to Jesus whenever
and whatever our case or condition. And more than that, he has invited. The door of God's mercy we sometimes
sing is open all day to the poor and the needy who knock by the
way. And no sinner was ever yet empty sent back who came seeking
mercy for Jesus' sake. This same Lord Jesus is he who
spoke so kindly to Nicodemus who came to him by night. and he might well have come because
there was discussion going on amongst the Pharisees regarding
the Lord Jesus. Because if you look at the context,
and we must always admire the translators of the version of
scripture we've got, for the accuracy, look at verse two in
chapter three, and it says the same came to Jesus by night and
said unto him, Rabbi, that is, teacher, Rabbi, we know that
thou art a teacher come from God. We. He's not speaking just
for himself. It's as though he's coming with
a question that's come up in their discussions and of course not realizing that the
Lord Jesus could look into his heart and know all about him. He had a personal disturbance
going on in his heart and life. And of course, we shall see,
as we look further into this subject, that he truly was a
follower of the Lord Jesus. And of course, his influence
amongst the Pharisees, because he had the fear of the Lord in
his heart, and the teaching of the Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus
would have watched over him in his pathway. But he came to the
Lord Jesus and made a statement, we know that thou art a teacher
come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest,
except God be with him. Now the Lord Jesus didn't argue
that point, no. Jesus said unto him, verily,
verily, that means very truly, earnestly, I say unto thee, except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. What a statement the Lord Jesus
made. to counter the statement that Nicodemus made. Nicodemus came by night, yes,
so that he might not be seen, but he was very much in the nighttime
of his experience, wasn't he? And I don't know what your condition
is this morning, Maybe one listening in online, having a disturbance
going on in his heart and soul, a realization that he has a soul,
a realization that there is a Lord Jesus. And who put that there? Well, that would have been God
in his wonderful mercy. He puts questions into our heart
and questions require answers and It may be that you're still
in the night time of your experience, but you can come to the Lord
Jesus, he who hears and answers prayer. And Nicodemus needed the glorious
gospel of the new birth of the saved soul to be explained to
him. and we have a wonderful record
of it. And reading this just recently, reading it through
again, I thought, you know, we've got a wonderful privilege. It's
as though we can, as we read these verses before us, it's
as though we can listen in, listen to the dialogue between the Lord
Jesus Christ and Nicodemus, who was a ruler of the Pharisees
having a discussion. And the Lord Jesus is he who
is able to make the glorious good news of the gospel clearly
defined to this man. And it tells us much of the wonderful
character of the Lord Jesus to whom there is a welcome to those
who come. We see here the Lord Jesus is
very firm in what he teaches, but he's friendly. He's welcoming. And this is all part of the wonderful
nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we read when the epistle
to the Hebrews was first written, There's a wonderful statement
made in the opening verses. God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake unto the fathers by the prophets,
hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also
he made the worlds. The creator, yes, and the creator of a work of grace in the heart,
soul and mind of a person on this earth. And the word goes on to say,
who be in the brightness of his glory and the expressed image
of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power
when he had by himself purged our sin, sat down on the right
hand of the majesty on high. This same Lord Jesus, in all
his glory, all his power, is the same Lord Jesus who speaks
so kindly to one who comes to him. Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot
see the kingdom of God. And he goes on to say, that which
is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the
spirit is spirit. We're all living creatures, yes? But here Nicodemus was gaining
a personal knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not trained by
men, no, but by the divine power of and
the right of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus leads his people on
to a knowledge of their personal need. He who came by night came
with his need. and he came to know the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the night and the need and the name. Nicodemus was shown his need,
not just to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was a teacher
come from God, And as he says in verse two,
except God be with him, God was not only with the Lord Jesus,
the Lord Jesus is God. As we read in those opening words
to the Hebrews, he is the express image of God's person. He is
co-equal, co-eternal, he is God in the form of a man. He who humbled himself, he came
to this earth, And he uniquely lived a life of perfection. No
one before, no one since, has ever lived a life of perfection. The Lord Jesus did. And this,
although all the arrows of Satan were fired at him, he did not shrink from leading a perfect
life. And this he had to do to secure
the salvation of lost souls. He had to be the fulfillment
of that wonderful Passover lamb without blemish. Remember, if
you go back into the Old Testament at the Exodus, when the children
of Israel came out of Egypt, there was a Passover service. And the lamb sacrifice then had
to be a lamb perfect. If it had a scar, an injury,
or an illness, and it was imperfect, that lamb was not accepted. It
had to be a lamb without blemish. And it's called the Passover
because the angel of death was to pass over that night. And
the word went forth. When the blood of the lamb was
painted on the side posts and the lintels of the door, God made that wonderful statement.
When I see the blood, I will pass over you. I will pass over
you. If we, dear friends, are trusting in that supreme
sacrifice for sin of our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby people
who are born again, born from above, are trusting for salvation
in the finished work of the Lord Jesus, God will pass over their
sin. And that blood foretells so much. That blood
had to be painted on the doorposts and the lintel. Not to be spilt on the doorstep.
No, it's precious. It must not be trodden underfoot. It is precious. And Jesus is
precious, says the word. There is no other name given
unto heaven among men, whereby we must be saved, in the name
of Jesus. And therefore, the Lord Jesus
teaches Nicodemus these wonderful truths, that which is born of
the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is
spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
ye must be born again. The Lord Jesus came into this
world of darkness. He came from the Father of light. And he came to individuals just
like you and I. And he shows us our need because he is the fountain of
all truth. And his truth teaches us of eternal
life. And therefore, we dear friends, can venture
our souls on such a savior. Nicodemus came with what he did
believe. He said, we know. We know that
thou art a teacher come from God. The Lord Jesus said to him, no
man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven.
Verse 13. Even the son of man which is
in heaven. The Lord Jesus knows about heaven, doesn't he? He
is God. His dwelling place is in heaven. His condescending love to lost
souls in this world of sin, His condescending love was so great
that He laid aside His glory in heaven. He took upon Him the
form of a servant. And it's in Mark's Gospel, we
read that wonderful statement of the Lord Jesus, that He came not to be ministered unto, but
to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. What a wonderful
truth this is, that our Lord Jesus came to serve. He is a servant saviour. He humbled
himself. He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Wherefore, God, his Father, hath
highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every
tongue confess that he is Lord. Now Lord Jesus is he who speaks, and speaks of his wonderful
grace. It is only new life in God that
is able to bring a soul into a living relationship with our
Lord Jesus Christ. Grace is able, and salvation
by grace is able to bring a soul into a living relationship with
our Lord Jesus. Birth, naturally, when we are
all born as little babies, is the beginning of our life. To be born again is the beginning of a new life in
Christ Jesus. To be born from above. It's not just a case of patching
up the old and improving it. No, a new life is a new life. If you go back into the Old Testament
and see the wonderful miracle in the days of Elijah when Naaman
the leper was so miraculously healed. We read that Naaman was
told to go and wash himself seven times in Jordan and he would
be healed. He protested. He said he came
from a A nation where, he said, there's wonderful rivers. Can I not wash in them and be
clean? No. Naaman had to learn humility. The River Jordan, I
believe, is the lowest river in the world. He had to be brought
down to a realization of his helplessness and his own inability,
whereby he could receive this miracle of healing. His servants were the ones who
were more wise than me. His servants said to him, and
they spoke very feelingly, they said, father, they spoke to him
as a father, they said, if the prophet had bid you do some great
thing, would you not have done it? How much rather then, when
he says to you, wash and be clean? And at that, Naaman obeyed, He
went down into Jordan, we read he dipped himself seven times,
and he came out healed. And the scriptures tell us something
else. His skin was as the skin of a little child. We've recently had a great-grandson
born in our family, and I looked at his hands, and they weren't
knocked about and weathered Scarred like mine, his skin was smooth,
perfect, unblemished. Naaman's skin wasn't just healed. If you and I had that deadly
disease of leprosy, and our skin was made like it
was beforehand, we would most likely be satisfied and be very
thankful. Because leprosy is a destroyer. But his skin, Naaman's skin,
we read was like the skin of a little child. New life, new
beginning. And therefore, our God is he who begins with a new foundation. It is God's design and God's
plan. And therefore, all these things
are that which meet the need of those who come to Jesus. Jesus did not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. The Lord Jesus was teaching Nicodemus
very patiently and very plainly that there can be no other birth to be born again than to be born
of the Holy Spirit, born from above. The Lord Jesus refers to him
as a master in Israel. He said, Art thou not a master
in Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, we speak that we do know, and testify that we have
seen, and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly
things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you
of heavenly things? It's then that he tells him that
he is the son of God, the son of man, who came to this earth
as God in the form of a man. And then he goes on to tell him
of the finished work of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus himself,
who lived a life of perfection, as we already mentioned. But
how was sin to be put away? God must deal with sin. We cannot
escape the fact that a guilty soul is that which will lead us to be eternally lost. But we
sung in that last hymn that we sung together, I'll just turn
it up, 764. There's a hymn that dear Dr. Watts, the hymn writer, closes
that hymn with. Verse five says, stretch out
thy arm victorious king, my reigning sins subdue. Drive the old dragon
from his seat with all his hellish crew. And then he comes to the
true condition of a seeking soul, a guilty, weak and helpless worm,
on thy kind arms I fall, be thou my strength and righteousness,
my Jesus and my all. The heading over that hymn is faith in Christ for pardon
and sanctification. Surely this is our salvation, to know that the
Lord Jesus is our strength and righteousness and we have none
of our own. It is He alone who can put away
our sin. And this, the Lord Jesus is reminding Nicodemus,
a master in Israel, he would have known the writings and the
life of Moses, Children of Israel brought out of Egypt and set
on their way to the Promised Land. But what happened? When those people rebelled and
complained, the Lord sent fiery snakes among them, didn't he?
And people began to die. And they had a realisation. Not only a realisation, but they
felt their sin. Every bite of those snakes, yes,
would have taught them the acuteness of the danger that they were
in. The Lord spoke to Moses and told
him to make a serpent of brass and hold it up on a pole. And
we read a wonderful thing then, don't we? The people were told. And there were thousands, hundreds
of thousands of them, that serpent had to be held up on a pole and
it would have shone like the brass that we have either side
of me here in that brilliant Middle Eastern sunshine. The
people at the back might not have been able to see it very
clearly, but in the sunlight they would have seen the reflection
of that serpent of brass telling us of the Lord Jesus bearing
the sin of all who will come to trust in him, bearing it on
that cruel cross. Looking forward to that. A type
of the Lord Jesus giving his life to pay the penalty for sin
and satisfy God's righteous justice on the behalf of all who come
to trust in him. What we read of that account
in the scriptures is that everyone who looked lived. To those who looked to Jesus, he who suffered on that cruel
cross, and remember when he was in the garden of Gethsemane,
he took on him the full weight Of all the sin, of all, he had
eternally designed to save. All that the Father has given
me shall come to me, he said. And he took on himself the full
weight of all that sin. And he knew the agony he would
have to endure. He prayed to his Father in heaven.
He said, Father, if it be possible, let this cut pass from me. Nevertheless,
not as I will, but as thou wilt. At that point, the Lord Jesus
gave his life. And remember, he had power to
do it. He made that remarkable statement. And we find it in the scriptures.
He said, no man taketh my life from me. I have power to lay
it down. I have power to take it again. This have I received from my
father. The Lord Jesus himself spoke
to Nicodemus of this wonderful sacrifice once and for all for
sin. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal
life. Have eternal life, when? Now. A new life beginning on this
earth. A saving and living relationship
with our Lord Jesus. which will continue while life
shall endure and continue for all eternity in the immediate
presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, who spoke to Nicodemus and said,
marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. When the Apostle Peter was tried
and they tried to blame him for causing a riot because he preached
the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus. What was his answer? He said, neither is there salvation
in any other for there is none other name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved. What a blessing it is
that we have that word must. Surely this should give to us
a heart to seek for that assurance, which is not in our own strength,
but in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. All who looked,
lived, and so it is in Christ. All who
look to our Lord Jesus Christ, some can see more clearly than
others, But don't be put off, dear friend. You look, if the Lord Jesus is
pleased to bless you, what a blessing that is. He so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him. That's
the big point, dear friend. Believe in him. there is no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved than the name
of Jesus. And good Nicodemus showed such love to the Lord
Jesus because he shone very brightly when we come to the other end of John's gospel. If
we look at John chapter 19, John chapter 19, after the death of
the Lord Jesus Christ, and you may be sure that Nicodemus was
there witnessing, and he would have heard that centurion say,
surely this was a righteous man, the Lord Jesus, he would have
witnessed the wonderful salvation by grace of that thief who in
life's latest hour looked to the Lord Jesus and said, Lord,
remember me when I come into thy kingdom. And the Lord Jesus
spoke to him and remember the agony The pain he was bearing
to put away sin, even the sin of that one who was by his side
on a cross. He said, today thou shalt be
with me in paradise. What a promise. But what we read is, when the Lord Jesus had given
his life for sin, to save lost souls for all eternity. We read
in John chapter 19 and verse 38, after this Joseph of Arimathea
being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews,
besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus.
And Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore and took the
body of Jesus, 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, then took they, Nicodemus
and Joseph of Arimathea, they were there to put the Lord Jesus' body in the
tomb. They took the body of Jesus and
wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of
the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was
crucified, there was a garden. And in the garden, a new sepulchre,
wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they, Jesus. Therefore, because of the Jews,
preparation day, for the sepulchre was nigh at hand. Nicodemus was there for that
vast crowd who was there to see. If the Lord Jesus is at work in
a person's heart and soul, that person will be made manifest
as one who is a believer in the Lord Jesus. Nicodemus, the subject of God's
saving grace. By grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast, for we are his workmanship. May the Lord add his blessing
to these few remarks. Amen.