If you have your Bible this morning,
turn to John chapter three. We're gonna be looking at the
last few verses in John chapter two and the few verses, the first
few verses of John chapter three. And while you're turning there,
I'm gonna read a verse and make some comments. And you're gonna
recognize this verse. John 3, 16, and I believe that
everybody in here can quote that with me. It is a verse that is
known by believer and unbeliever alike. For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. We see
it on billboards, on bypasses, and I can remember growing up,
throughout the years, Sunday football come on, they'd go to
kick a field goal and somebody had to raise a sign, John 3,
16. Seen it all my life. And so, this verse, John 3, 16,
is often a declaration by the world of God's universal love
and redemption. And it is also a verse that is
used by many evangelists to try to get men to believe, saying
that if you believe. And so when I first began hearing
the gospel, when I first began listening, I wanted to go to
the scripture and understand. And this is one of those passages
scripture that I would go and read. Well, to understand a verse,
you have to understand it in its context. If I write, I offend
thee, pluck it out. Now this morning, I don't see
anybody who has plucked out their eyes. We want to understand the
scripture in context. And so with this verse, it is
a wonderful verse. It is a glorious verse. But I
want to understand the context. And as I began studying the context
of his verse, I had questions. There's things that I've seen
that even caused me to have more questions. And we'll get into
that, and we will see that here in a minute. I began seeking context. And
so to do that, oftentimes you go back to the beginning of a
passage. And so then let's go back to John chapter three and
begin reading in verse one. There was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus. a ruler of the Jews. The same
came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that
thou art a teacher come from God. For no man can do these
miracles that thou doest except for God be with him. Jesus said,
or Jesus answered and said unto him, barely, barely, I say unto
thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of
God. So I don't know how many times
that I read and reread and read verses one through three. trying
to get the context of this conversation that this man, a Pharisee, Nicodemus,
was having with our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when you have a
conversation and people speak, one will say something, the other
will understand, and then they will respond. And you will have
a conversation of understanding. Well, I can tell by this passage
that there was a conversation that was taking place between
our Lord and Nicodemus and they understood each other. Yet I
couldn't understand what I was reading. Why did the Lord reply
to Nicodemus in the way that he did? Well, so I began looking
at verse number three and looking at our Lord's answer to him.
And his answer was, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, before
I started sitting under the gospel, And before when I had read this
passage, my thoughts were this, he cannot see the kingdom of
God. And I would interpret that verse as this, unless a man's
been born again, he couldn't go to heaven and see it. He couldn't
die and go and see the streets of gold. and he could not die
and well, go to heaven. That's how I interpreted that
verse. So as I began studying this passage
and studying this verse, I learned that that is not the response
of our Lord Jesus Christ to Nicodemus. He was telling Nicodemus this,
except a man be born again, he cannot perceive. He cannot perceive. the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. That word see means to perceive. And the word kingdom means the
reign. So what the Lord was telling
Nicodemus is that unless a man's been born again, he cannot see
the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, why did he tell him that?
Why did the Lord tell that to Nicodemus? Well, look back at
verse one, or rather verse two, yeah, verse one. There was a
man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, and the
same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, 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. So the conversation started with
this. Nicodemus came to the Lord and
he said, we know that you're from God because we've seen the
miracles. We know that you've come from
God because of what you're doing. We've seen it with our natural
eyes. And with our natural understanding,
we know that no man can do these things. that you have to be from
God. God has had to give you the power
to do this. Therefore, we know that you're
a teacher who's come from God. And our Lord's response to him
was this, you cannot know. The reasoning that you've given
me, telling me that you know, it's not a good reason. It's
not a good, it's not the way it works. you must be born again to see. You're saying that I believe
because I've seen these miracles. You're saying that you know that
I am of God because of the miracles. But a man does not know these
things because he sees with his eyes. A man knows these things
is because God has given that man life. And God opens his eyes
and God reveals to him Christ. So that was the answer. That
is why our Lord answered him the way he did. And so, for by
grace are you saved through faith. and that not of yourselves, it
is a gift of God. This new birth that the Lord
was mentioning to Nicodemus was a gift of God, the new birth. And that gift comes by grace. The faith in which the Lord gives
men is that faith in which they see Christ. Now, so the Nicodemus,
Told Christ, I believe. And Christ told him, you can't
believe. So for more context, I still was looking into this
passage and reading. And one of the things I have
been told, and taught, and I believe it was very good instruction,
I've learned it to be so beneficial to me, is oftentimes when you
read the scripture, go back before the chapter, because oftentimes
these chapters, they are given to us and they are divided that
we might find texts. and the way they're divided,
we can go into the scripture, and I say John chapter three,
you can turn chapter two, chapter three, that's where we're at.
And so the chapters and the verses are given to us really for navigation
and for communication. I can give you a verse, and I
said John 3, 16, and every minute, you knew exactly the verse. So
these verses are, this means verses and chapters are very
beneficial as far as referencing and finding. But oftentimes,
we forget that these verses and chapters, when they were written,
they were not written with verses and chapters. These things were
added later. And so oftentimes, we have a mental stop at the
beginning of a chapter, or at the end of a chapter, and we
start again with another chapter. Well, so with that in mind, I
went back and was reading previous verses and previous chapters.
Well, so what I have learned in studying this passage, it
really, all of this conversation, the context, let's say, the context
of John 3.16, the context of John 3.1, the context actually
starts in John 2. Begin reading with me, John 2.23. Now, when he was in Jerusalem
at the Passover, in the feast day, read this, many believed
in his name when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus
did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and
needed not that any should testify of men, for he knew what was
in men. So what does verse 23 tell us
about chapter three? One is that Nicodemus is one
of these that's spoken of in John chapter two, verse 23. It says, many believed in his
name when they saw the miracles which he did. And if you look
down here, when Nicodemus come to the Lord, he says, we know
you're from God because of the miracles that you've done. So
you see that? So this verse, chapter two, verse
23, really should be verse one of chapter three, really. but
it gives us context and it's telling us what's going on or
it helps us to understand the passage. So Nicodemus really
is a representation of a great number of people, a great number
of people. It says many, many believed in
his name when they saw the miracles that he did. But in verse 24,
it says, but Jesus our Lord, He did not commit himself unto
them. Now you see that word commit
there in verse 24. Jesus did not commit. That word
commit is the exact same word as believe. It's the same word
translated with commit instead of a believe. Our Lord had no
confidence in their belief. Our Lord put no confidence and
they're believing on him. Now again, many believed in his
name. Many believed in his name. Many
believed in his name. Whosoever believeth shall not
perish. And then verse two or verse three,
John three, we read that our Lord, It's disputing Nicodemus. And so we have a belief here
that's mentioned in John chapter two that's different than the
belief that's quoted in John chapter three verse 16. Wait
a minute, are you sure about that? I am, and we're gonna see
that. There is a faith. There is a
faith that comes from man. There is a faith that's in man.
that cannot see God. It cannot perceive God. It cannot
understand God. It is alienated from God. In
the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. And in that
death, man's ability, man's ability to get to God, man's ability
to see God, man's ability to understand spiritual things died. It died completely. It died totally. Now, he did not lose his religious
nature. He did not. He would make gods
with his own hands. He would worship. If he heard
of the God of heaven, he would, well, just like these people,
they believed in Jesus, it says. They believed in his name, yet
they did not know him. Who are these people, I ask? Who are they? Are these that
went back and walked with him no more? There in John chapter
six, when he told him, he that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood, that you must, and oh, this is a hard saying, and
there was controversy, and some of them followed him no more.
Is that who these are? Are these those that are, temporary
followers of our Lord? Well, maybe some of them, some
of them maybe were. Are these those who cried there
in Luke chapter 23, crucify him, crucify him. After he had offended
there in John chapter six, instead of following and declaring that
they believed, did they turn and then all of a sudden they're
there crying, crucify him. Well, maybe some of them, maybe
some of them did. But I want you to turn to Matthew
chapter seven. Here a few weeks ago, well, right
now our pastor is going through the book of Matthew. And here
a few weeks ago, this jumped out at me. Matthew chapter seven, verse
number 23. Read what it says. Many, many will say unto me in
that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And
have we not cast out devils in thy name and done many wonderful
works? And then I will say unto them,
depart from me. Say unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. Many of those who followed him
There in John chapter two, they followed him all the days of
their life. They died believing that they
had a hope. They seen the miracles and they
were convinced that he was a teacher come from God. They were convinced
of that. They were convinced of that.
They prophesied. Does it not say in Matthew 7,
as they stood before the Lord, before he tells them, depart
from me, didn't they declare, we prophesied in thy name, in
thy name. We prophesied in thy name. Many believed in his name when
they saw the miracles that he did. Aren't these the same people? Or at least many of them? They
cast out devils. They done many wonderful works.
If somebody was hungry, they fed them. If somebody was cold,
they clothed them. If somebody was wet, they put
a roof over them. They've done that their entire
life. And they died expecting to have a hope of eternal life
and stood before our Lord when he said, I never knew you. Now, I don't want to be one of
these people. I don't want to be one of these
people. And so how do I know? How can I examine myself? The scripture tells us examine
yourselves to see if you be in the faith. How do you examine
yourself? How do I know that I believe? How do I know that? Well, a good
example that I have heard, and I think it's a good illustration. If you want to know if a stick
is crooked, take a straight stick and set it beside it. and it
will reveal, the crookedness will be revealed by the straight.
So I wanna take the confession or the profession
of Nicodemus and let's look at it and compare
it to some others. Okay, so with me, turn to John
chapter one. Back a few verses or a few chapters
from our text. Verse 29, and I want us to read this and think
about what it's saying. Now, remember, Nicodemus said,
when he saw the miracles, he says, he's a teacher from God.
The next day, John seeth Jesus coming unto him and said, behold,
the Lamb of God. Do you see the difference? Nicodemus
seen a teacher. John seen a lamb. John, when
he beheld our Lord, he seen God himself. He seen God's sacrificial
lamb. Nicodemus seen miracles. Turn
with me to Luke chapter two. And I seen this Wednesday night. This is a passage that was read
back in the Bible study. And I thought, man, this is part
of our text when we read it. Luke chapter two, beginning in verse 25. And behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost
was upon him. And it was revealed unto him,
notice, by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before
he seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to
do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up
in his arms and blessed God and said, verse 29, Lord, now let
us, thou servant, depart in peace according to thy word. For mine
eyes have seen thy miracles. No, mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Nicodemus seen miracles. Simeon holding that little eight-year-old
baby. seeing God's salvation in his
arms. It was God, the Holy Spirit,
that revealed it to him. It did not come by flesh. And
then also, if you look down at verse 28, or rather 38, beginning, actually in verse
36, there was yet another one there in the temple. Her name
was Anna. Verse 36, look two. And there was one Anna, a prophetess. And look what she says down in
verse 38. And she coming in that instant
gave thanks likewise unto the Lord and spake of him. She spake of Christ. She spake
of him to all them that looked for redemption. When she seen our Lord Jesus
Christ, she seen redemption. It wasn't miracles. Now she may
have seen some miracles later in her life, which maybe not,
she was an old lady, but the point is, when she seen the Lord,
she seen the Lord's salvation. And then there is yet another
one. I think of Blind Barnabas. When
he was coming there, and I can't remember the city, you know what
he cried out? Jesus. You know what that word
means? Savior. He cried out, Savior,
thou son of David, have mercy on me. When blind, when a blind
man, he seen Christ. When a blind man seen Christ,
he seen God's salvation. Have mercy on me. He seen a man that was not just
able to heal a withered hand or open the physical eyes, Blind
Barnabas knew he needed more than just his eyes open. The
Lord had given him spiritual sight, and he was asking for
his spiritual sight. But the reason he could cry as
he cried is because he seen Christ. He seen God. He seen God in the
face of Jesus Christ, and he was blind. So you see the difference
between the faith of Nicodemus, this believing that you see there
of Nicodemus, and the believing that only God can give to the
sinner, the faith that God gives to the dead sinner, there's a
difference. Crooked faith, not only will
it look to miracles, And now I'm back to what isn't saving
faith? True faith always looks to Christ. True faith looks to a person. Faith looks to a person. A man that is looking and examining
himself and asking himself, what is my hope? Well, his mind, if
he's a believer, his mind is going to a person. His thoughts
are to a person. His thoughts are to the Lord
Jesus Christ alone, alone. But there is a faith in this
world that has many objects, many objects. Now, for Nicodemus,
it was the miracles that he did. But are there not many who look
at their baptism, their hearts troubled, you know, their hearts
troubled, you know, what is my hope of eternal life? Am I a
believer? When I die, is the Lord going
to say to me, well done? Is he going to welcome me? Or
am I going to perish in my sins? And many people, they will look
back and they've been taught in their religion, whatever that
is, baptism. And in their mind, they don't
go to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. They don't go and behold
Him, they go to experience that baptism. And for some, it's,
and we're, the way I was raised, right here, salvation. You raise
your hand and, you know, Second, third verse, just as I am, you
come up here and you know, there'll be three or four, they'll come
around you, they'll pray with you, you know, accept Jesus and
ask Christ to come into your heart. And boy, you're tore all
to pieces and you do that. It's emotional. You get up, you
feel better. And then from that day forward, you look back to
that moment and you die and go to hell because you never seen
Christ. Never seen him. It's not the experience that's
at the front of the church. It's when God opens the eyes
and beholds the Lamb of God. There is my hope. That's my hope
of salvation right there. Some people look to their works.
Matthew chapter seven, we've done many wonderful works. Well,
we've done that and we got baptized and then we started driving a
bus for church, you know, bring the kids in. We've done all these
things, collected clothes and really cared for, I mean, really
genuinely cared for people. Now, they did not love them as
themselves, as the law says. Now, they might've loved them,
but they did not keep the law in loving them as they loved
themselves. But they did love, and they did collect, and they
did distribute. And they looked to that as the
evidence of their salvation. That's their evidence. They looked to their experiences.
Some looked to sacraments. Some have experiences. I've seen
it, I've heard it. I've heard it from people. Some
people have a dream. I've seen this before, you know,
especially, you know, somebody has died and, boy, they were
pulled out of the body and they looked down and seen the operators
and the doctors and everybody working on them and trying to
get them back and they couldn't get them back and they went back and,
you know, the angels said, well, no, it ain't time, so you're
gonna have to send you back. And they go back down there, they
go back to their body and wake up, you know? And, boy, they
believed it. Maybe it happened, I have no
idea. But I tell you what, that's not my hope of salvation. I'm
not looking to that experience. What happened between them and
their experience, I have no idea, but I'm looking to this word
and I'm looking to the Lord Jesus Christ for my hope. Whatever
experience may happen, a man can have many an experience. That is of Satan, a lot of experiences. You go back, Pharaoh, when Moses,
Aaron had cast his rod down and turned to a serpent, well, Pharaoh
said, oh, well, his musicians, they done the same. They threw
seven or eight of them down there. They turned into serpents too.
I don't know the power of the adversary, I don't. I don't dwell
there, I don't go there. I stay away from it. I wanna
look to Christ, let him, he's defeated our adversary. I wanna
look to him, but I'm telling you, he has powers that are greater
than I. And he has the ability to deceive.
And according to the scriptures that I haven't referenced, they
can do many wondrous things and deceive many. So I don't, those
dreams, those experiences, those miracles out here, don't look
to those things. Look to Christ. Look to Christ. And we'll close. John chapter
one. And I was gonna bring this into
the lesson earlier, but we're gonna close with it. John chapter one, beginning in
verse 10. He was in the world, speaking
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the world was made by him, and
the world knew him not. He came into his own, and his
own received him not. But as as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe," our subject this morning, to them that believe
on his name, which were born, and you remember, Our Lord told
Nicodemus, you must be born again, which were born not of blood,
nor the will of flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. In other words, all those that
were born when our Lord told Nicodemus, you must be born again. This new birth is not of blood. It's not a dissension. It's not
because I'm a Jew. It's not because I'm a Moody.
It's not because that, um, uh, It has nothing to do with my
lineage. It has everything to do with God's mercy, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh. It's not by our efforts, our
works, those things that we attempt to do to please God, not by that,
nor the will of man. It doesn't matter what kind of
evangelical program you put together. and try to get this person to
repeat your words or do your deeds or whatever you think it
is that brings God's salvation. No, no, not of blood, not of
the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God.
Any man that does not die, and perish in his sins, it is because
of the sovereign grace of God. It is because God in his mercy,
in his wisdom, in his love, in his purpose that I cannot explain,
he has purposed and seen that sinner among many sinners, among
many sinners where there's no difference. other than probably
the worst sinner. And he says, you will be mine.
And God, the Holy Spirit, will come and grab that man and arrest
that man and draw that man to himself, but of God. And look at verse 14. And the
word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and read these words,
and we beheld not miracles, his glory, the glory of his grace,
the glory of his mercy, the glory of the cross, the glory of his
power. You're dismissed.