our Bibles and turn to John chapter
3. John chapter 3. I'd like to read
verses 13 to 15. Let's read these verses and then
ask the Lord's blessing. John 3, verse 13, hath ascended up to heaven, but
He that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is
in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
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. Let's pray together. Our Father, thank you again for
another time that we can meet together. We realize that it
is by the indescribable grace of God that we're able to be
here. Lord, that you've maintained
the candlestick in this place all these many years. What a
miracle of grace, compassion, kindness. I pray that as we meet
today, Lord, may we be sensitive, made sensitive to think upon
how marvelous you've been to this community. Bless the Word
we ask you. Cause our hearts to be set aflame
by the Spirit of God and rejoice in that which we see concerning
our Savior. For it is in His name we pray,
Amen. The Lord Jesus Christ, the last
time we looked at the Scriptures, said to Nicodemus, in verse 12,
ìIf I told you earthly things and you believe not, how shall
you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?î And as we considered last time,
man by nature doesnít even believe earthly things. Those things that are seen and
considered marvelous in themselves, but
earthly things, things that can be perceived." You can sit here
this morning and you hear the Gospel preached and you read
in the Scriptures that the preaching of Christ, preaching of the Gospel
is the power of God and salvation. Here is a marvelous thing, an
earthly thing. We can actually be here. How many people believe it, that
this truly is the power of God and salvation? Only those that
the Lord has given a new heart. That we can search the Scriptures
and see if these things be so. Man by nature will hear the preaching
of the Gospel And they'll say, I don't believe that. I don't
believe what you're saying. That thing of God's sovereign
grace. Oh, I can't be fair. Look in
the book. Search the Scriptures and find
out if these things are so. If I'm lying to you, show me. Show me in the Scriptures. or
I'm lying to you, earthly things. You can take your book, your
Bible. Scripture says that when we pray,
enter into your closet and pray to your Father in secret. How much time have we spent today
already? How much time have we spent?
in prayer in our closet this morning. For all of us, that's
embarrassing, isn't it? He said, if I tell you earthly
things, you don't believe me. How are you going to believe
if I tell you heavenly things? The subject of our Lord's discourse
with Nicodemus is the new birth. And that which the Lord has revealed
concerning the new birth. It's concerning something of
which the Lord Jesus Christ is the author and finisher. Salvation
is all of grace. Now, the discourse up to this
point has been the Lord revealing the necessity of the new birth.
You must be born again. And he's going to now tell him
some heavenly things. He told him, he said, I've told
you earthly things. And you don't believe me. How
are you going to believe me if I tell you heavenly things? Now,
he's going to start. And over the next few weeks,
we're going to consider these heavenly things that the Lord
has set forth to Nicodemus. Now today we're going to look
at three vital issues concerning the new birth. Three heavenly
things that absolutely must be revealed. You just don't know
them. I'll tell you what they are and
then we'll look at them very quickly. Here's the first one. How God reveals. his purpose
to show mercy. That's the first heavenly thing
that he's going to tell him. How God reveals. The second thing is how God can
be just and justify a sinner. And the third thing is who are
going to actually be saved? Who is God going to save? Here is the first thing. How
does God reveal His purpose to show mercy? Well, look at verse 13. Here
it is. No man hath ascended up to heaven,
but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is
in heaven. Now here's what the Lord has
just revealed. Men talk about being able to send up, go up to heaven. They talk about salvation. They
talk about when I die, I'm going to go to heaven. The Lord has revealed here, no
man hath ascended." Now there's the key word right there. No
man hath ascended into heaven, up to heaven, but he that came
down. Now here's the question. Why? Why did he come down? We're going
to look at this a little bit more in verse 17, but for right
now, why Did He come? Turn to Hebrews 1, verse 1 to
3. Hebrews 1, verse 1 to 3. God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son. whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness
of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high." According to Hebrews 1, God spoke. for the last time in the person
of His Son. Here's the question. How has
God been pleased to reveal the purpose of His mercy? How? He did it by sending the
Lord Jesus Christ to reveal the fullness of his purpose, of his
will, to show mercy and compassion to a people that he's everlastingly
loved. Now, who hath ascended up to
heaven? Who has ascended? Here's the
key. The scripture sets forth that
Paul was called up to heaven. Elijah went up in a whirlwind. Enoch was translated that he
should not see death, but no man ascended. And here's the key to that word,
on his own merit. No man ascended up on his own
merit except the one that came down from heaven. and who is
even now in heaven." Now, he's talking to Nicodemus and he's
telling some things. He said, Nicodemus, no man ascends
up on his own merit except he who came down from heaven, who
is in heaven right now. Here's the heavenly thing. You're
talking to God. You're talking to God in the
flesh. You know, that just... That ought
to just stop us and just think. We're here this morning. We hear
these words, where two or three are gathered together in my name.
I've said before, listen, I know, I know that to be able to have
some time to meet with the Lord in prayer, and we're commanded
to. and when you pray. There's times that I can come
here during the week and I walk into this building and it's good. It's good to be here. I mean,
I walk in and I'm thankful. I sit down at that desk right
there and turn the lights on, open the Scriptures, look and
ask. I'll read something. I don't
understand it. Talk to the Lord about it. Lord, I said, Lord,
You wrote this. I know You can explain it. I
read these commentaries. I read what these men are saying. That doesn't ring true to me
just yet. Lord, would You help me? Would
You open this Scripture to my heart and have some time? And
it's wonderful to be, but I'm telling You, There's something
about meeting together with God's people, assembling ourselves
together in the presence of God's people and hearing the voice
of Him that came down from heaven. Now, I know, I know that based
on His Word, I know He's here. I'm convinced that we've met
together in His name. I believe we have. I believe
that when he says in his name, in his character, according to
his character, how has God revealed his word? Here's a heavenly thing.
He came. No man ascended up except he
that came down from heaven, even he which is in heaven. Here's
a second heavenly thing. How? Can God be just and justify
a sinner? I know that justice has to do
with that which is right. I know that justice has to do
with that which is fair. And God is fair. He's just. And justifying means
to examine and to declare according to God's standard, God's law,
what is right. Now, if a man is justified before
God, the law has examined that man's state. And Almighty God
according to absolute justice has said, no guilt, no guilt,
no record of guilt, no record of guilt. You know, the problem is that
we think in a certain way, and we think that What has happened
is that somehow that God has just kind of swept this thing
under the rug. Somehow we think that God is
just going to just look at something and say, well, I'm just not going
to... You're really guilty. But when it comes to justification,
no record. That is just deeper than I can
grasp hold of. Pardon, I can understand. And
we are pardoned. But we are pardoned because the
blood of Christ has put away our guilt. And God can justly
forgive us of our sins. But justification is something
that just by faith How can God be just and justify a sinner? Now, the Lord's been talking
to Nicodemus concerning this new birth, giving man life by
the impartation, the putting in of a new nature. A new nature. But what about
He talked about putting in of a new nature. But what about
his sin? What happened? What really happened
to his sin? Now remember, it takes two vital
things for a man to find himself eternally with Christ in heaven. It's going to take two things.
Number one, his debt is going to have to be taken care of. His debt is going to have to
be taken care of. And number two, he's going to have to be
holy. He's going to have to be holy. Holy. How can God be just? Here it
is in verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Now, here's the Lord teaching
Nicodemus a heavenly thing. Now, this is a heavenly thing.
Now, I'm going to tell you something. Now, you stop right here and
you realize what He just said. And by the grace of God, I want
to try to verbalize. And I pray that the Spirit of
God would bless it. to the understanding of God's
people. Here's what happened. As Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, for the sake of time,
I'll tell you what happened. But here's what actually happened. In the wilderness, the Israelites
were dying. They were bitten by, the Scripture
calls them, some fiery serpent, some poison burning. poison serpents. And you know that those serpents
were a picture of sin. Now, we've looked at this before.
But according to this Scripture right here, this is what actually
was being pictured, set forth and typed. These snakes were biting the
people. And the people, they were poison
snakes. The people were dying. And the Lord told Moses, I want
you to take a piece of brass and I want you to make a brass
snake. Make a snake out of brass. Just
form it and you put it on a pole. and you lift up the brass snake,
the brazen serpent. Now, whoever looks at that brass
snake is going to live. Now, you know, when you stop
and think, Number one, what was being set
forth in that? Well, that which was biting the
people were snakes. And Moses was told to make a
brass snake. In the very image of that which
was biting the people, That's what Moses was told to make the snake. Make it a
brass snake. Sin from the fall has been that
which bites man. That is the reason that man is
dying. He's sin. He's sin. That's what he is. embodiment
of sin. Paul refers to sin as a body
of sin. I can't even explain to you what
sin is. I don't know. I've read the transgression
of the law. I can read that. But when you
enter into the very depth of what it is, whatever I know it's
rebellion against God. I know, I know, I know. I know
that sin deserves and will receive death. The wages of sin is death. But when you get into the very
heart of it, I don't know what it is. But I do know this, that
because of it, every person where sin is found
is going to die. wages of sin is death. Moses
took that brass serpent and he lifted it up and it was made
in the very image of what bit the people. How can God be just
and justify a sinner as in the way Like Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. Now listen. Was Moses told to
make a brazen serpent? Yes. Was the brazen serpent setting
forth the very thing that was biting the people. Yes. When the Lord Jesus Christ was
lifted up just like as Moses lifted up the serpent, even so,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Scripture says in 2 Corinthians 5.21, was
made sin. He was made sin. Just as Moses
lifted up that brazen serpent, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. Now, I'm telling you, every time
I bring this up, I'm telling you, I stand here with just holding
my breath, but remembering what our pastor told us. He said,
don't you ever back up. from what the Scripture says
the Lord actually did in putting away our guilt. Christ was not
made like sin. He was made sin. And hanging
upon that cross just as Moses lifted up that brazen serpent,
made in the very image of what bit those Israelites, Christ
was made sin. And God forsook him. God turned
His back on him. My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? He was made sin. And God is of
pure eyes than to behold iniquity. How could God be just and justify
a sinner? Let me tell you something. Did I, who am the embodiment
of sin, did I deserve in myself that I deserve in myself to die? Yes. The answer is yes. There
is only one way that God can be just. God can be fair. He can be fair. He can be fair. Christ is going to have to be
made what I am. God is going to deal with Marvin
Stoniker He's going to deal with Marvin Stoniker and put away
his guilt, or he's going to put me in hell, one of the two. Either
my guilt is really, truly, truly dealt with. God's fair. So I say, well, Christ
really wasn't actually made sin. He wasn't actually made sin.
Christ wasn't actually made sin. Well, then let me ask you something.
Why did God kill him? Why did he die? Well, he actually
was just dealing with just the sin. Then why did Christ die? Well, he actually wasn't made
sin. It was just upon him. He himself
didn't actually become sin. Why did he die then? You better know the answer to
that. You better know the answer. Because I'm telling you, if He
wasn't actually made what you and I are, number one, God's
not fair. God's not just. And God really
didn't deal with you in the person of a substitute. How can God
be just, just, just and justify a sinner? You say, well, I can't enter
into the depth of that. I'll agree with you on that one.
I'll agree with you. But I'm telling you, Almighty
God dealt with Christ as the substitute. The substitute. The actual changing of place. If you ever enter into what the
word substitute means. Substitute. I've given you this illustration.
hundred times. I'm telling you, this is a help
to me. I said this, if my mother committed
sin, committed adultery, not adultery, a murder, if my mother
committed murder and she was sentenced to die, And I said as her son, I'll take
her place. I'll pay the penalty of it. What's the penalty of it? Electrocution?
Okay. All right, I'll pay the penalty
of it. I'll pay the penalty. And I take the electric chair. And I sit and they turn the power
on and they electrocute me. People say, oh, what a loving
son. He loved his mother so much.
He paid her penalty. Was justice done? No. You know why? Because I wasn't
guilty. I was not made guilty. People will say, boy, I tell
you what, he sure loved his mama. But you know what? She's still
standing right there. She's the one that did it. But if I can
become Marion Stoniker, if I can actually become her and a substitute,
a substitution, and I die as her. I die and those charges
now are really mine. Like the Lord said in Psalm 40,
mine iniquities have taken hold of me. And I'm actually made
guilty. Now, you look at me now. You
say, you know what? There's the guilty one right
there. Made guilty. And they turn that juice on.
Can I die? Justice has been done. Now, see,
there can be no true substitution. You and I can't do that. I can't,
you know. Neil, if you do something, I
love you, brother, but I can't become you. I just can't do it.
But God did it. God, that's a heavenly thing.
I've told you, earth, how are you going to believe if I tell
you heavenly things? As Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, there was a picture of true substitution. Here's the last thing. Who's
going to be saved? Who's going to be saved? Verse
15, Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. What did the people have to do
when Moses lifted up the brazen serpent? What did they have to
do? Look. They had to look. Look. One thing was needful to
look. to live. Look, one thing, how about if I'm able
to come up with a snake serum? How about if I'm able, I've got
a better way. I've got a better way. I believe
that if I look At the pole. Maybe I can look at the pole. Upon which that brazen serpent. How about if I look at Moses?
Maybe I can look at Moses. Moses made that thing, you know.
How about if I look at Moses? How about if I look to the law? How about if I look at that old
rugged cross? I probably could come up with
a better, maybe I could come up with a support group and maybe
we can start trying to encourage some of these people that's bitten,
you know, to reform and maybe we can get them to, you know,
maybe that's a better way. Who's going to be saved? Whosoever
believeth in him should not perish. Belief in Christ is a look from
a new heart. Whosoever believeth in Him, and
I'm telling you, believing in Him is to forsake all else. A man that believes Christ, he
looks to Christ. That's all my hope right there.
Not my profession of faith. not my baptism, not my church
membership, not my Bible reading, not my praying through, not my
whosoever believeth in Him. You say, well, what's it going
to take for me to believe? You must be born again. How is a man born again? As the wind blows, You don't
know where it's coming from. You don't know where it's going.
Yeah, but what can I do? The preaching of the Gospel is
the power of God and salvation. Get under the Gospel. Stay where the Gospel is. How do I know whether or not
I'm hearing the truth? Search the Scriptures. and find
out. Ask. Ask the Lord. I'm telling you, a man or woman,
that Almighty God has given a heart to forsake all this other mess. They've got some hope. They've
got some hope. What do I do? What do I do? Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Accept Almighty God. Give a man
a new heart to believe. He's going to perish. And the
most amazing thing in the world to me is this. A believer is
so concerned about it. They're so consumed with it. They'll search the Scriptures.
Make their calling and election sure. They'll pray. They'll ask,
Lord, please don't leave me to myself. Oh, God, don't leave
me to myself. And a nonbeliever, they just
don't care. May God Almighty bless these
words to our heart and our understanding for the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ and for the good of His people. Amen.