Alright, turn back with me to
the book of John chapter 3. John chapter 3. In the first eight verses of
this chapter, Brother Earl just read 15 verses. In the first
eight verses of this chapter, which we looked at last week,
a Pharisee named Nicodemus comes to the Lord, asking Him about teaching and
miracles. And the Lord tells him, except
a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. And Nicodemus said, I don't understand. I don't understand what you're
saying. Can a man be born when he is
old? Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb? What do you mean? He must be
born again. What does that mean? And the
Lord said, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God. All right, now, verse
nine begins our text this week. Verse nine, John three, verse
nine says, Nicodemus answered and said unto him, how can these
things be? How can these things be? That is the question. That is the question. How can these things be? That's the fundamental question. Every religion, all the churches
in town, They're all built on this question. How can these
things be? Every doctrine, every belief, every church, every
religious organization is formed and attended on this
question. How can these things be? Right? How does a person get into heaven? Well, this is what we believe,
so we're gonna form a church around it. Every single denomination has
a different answer for this question. Every single denomination has
a different answer for this question. It's the question that causes
all the strife, all the arguing. This question is the reason every
single town doesn't have one church. One church! And everybody in town shows up
Sunday morning to the same building to hear one man preach Jesus
Christ. The reason we don't have one
church is because of this question. That's why. And there's only one truth to
this question. This is the question that separates
truth from error. All the different denominations,
all the different places, there is only one true answer And everything other than that
answer is false. There's only one true answer.
You know, that's a fact for every single thing that happens on
planet Earth. There's only one true answer.
Put a witness on the stand in a courtroom and ask him, what
did you see? What did you see? You're a witness.
What happened? What happened? There's only one truth. Right? There's only one truth to what
happened. How can you be sure it's the
truth? Put two or three witnesses on
the stand. They're all going to say exactly
the same thing. Right? Because there's only one
truth. There's only one true answer. Verse nine says, Nicodemus answered
and said unto him, how can these things be? Now, if we want to
know the truth and if we don't want to be here in vain, if you
don't want to have wasted $50 in gas to be here in vain, right? If we want to know the truth
to this question, we need to do the very same thing Nicodemus
has just done. We need to ask the one man who
knows the answer. There's only one man who actually
knows the answer. If we want to know this truth,
we've got to go to the source. He said, I am the truth myself. Verse 9 says, Nicodemus answered
and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and
said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these
things? Are you a master in Israel? Look
at verse 1, it says, There was a man of the Pharisees named
Nicodemus, and he was a ruler of the Jews. He was a ruler of
the Jews. Now the highest religious authority
in Israel was called the Sanhedrin. Okay? They had everybody's respect. They had everybody's attention. They were revered as the authority
on God. Alright? Now this would be just
like the Pope Sneaking out of the Vatican, because it says
in verse 2, the same came to Jesus by night,
right? Under the cover of darkness. This would be just like the Pope
sneaking out of the Vatican and coming to the Lord. And the Lord
says, you're the Pope? You're the Pope? And you don't
know the answer to this question? It takes a lot more than education
to know the answer to this question. You've got a degree in theology
and you don't know the answer to this question? Do you know that most people
don't know the answer to this question? They don't. Most rulers
of religion don't know the answer to this question. It takes a
lot more than morality to know the answer to this question.
You've done all these good deeds your whole life, and you don't
know the answer to this question? It takes a lot more than sincerity
to know the answer to this. You've given your life to this? You've given your whole life
to this, and you don't know the answer to this question? Turn
with me over to Ephesians chapter four. Ephesians chapter four and look
at verse 17. This I say therefore and testify
in the Lord, that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk
in the vanity of their mind. That's the world today. That's
religion today. The vanity of their mind. Verse
18 says, having the understanding darkened. being alienated from
the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the
blindness of their heart. How sad. How sad. They walk in the vanity of their
mind through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness
of their heart. The Lord said, Nicodemus, are
you this ignorant? You're a ruler of the Jews. Are
you this ignorant? Proverbs 4.19 says, The way of
the wicked is as darkness. It's darkness. They know not
at what they stumble. They stumble, and they stumble,
and they don't even know what they're stumbling on. Have no
idea. Turn over to John 12. John chapter 12 and look at verse
35. The kids will be fine. This is
our first nursery. I hear them. You hear them. The
babies are fine. It's all right. All right. John
12 verse 35. Then Jesus said unto them, Yet
a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the
light, lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness
knoweth not whither he goeth. While you have light, believe
in the light, that you may be the children of light. These
things spake Jesus and departed and did hide himself from them. Walk in the light, the light. The Lord asked Nicodemus, you're
a teacher, Nicodemus, and you haven't even been taught
these things, these fundamental things. Does the world need to
hear this or what? The world has no idea how much
they don't know. And I feel so sorry, so sorry. They're blind. And the only way they're going
to see is if light comes to them. That's the only way. Just because a preacher has graduated
from some theological institution, you know, everybody thinks, well,
you know, we've got to listen to what he says and knows what
he's talking about. Well, just because he's got a degree, that
doesn't mean he's been taught of God. We must be taught of
God. Go to John 6. John 6 and look at verse 44. No man can come to me except
the Father which hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him
up at the last day. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that
hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh to me." Here's
what we need. We need to be taught of God.
That's what we need. We need to be taught of God.
We need to come to the only one who knows the answer. God Himself. If a man is not taught of God,
the answer to this question, how can these things be? He's
never going to know the answer. Never. Never going to know that
answer. Alright, now go back to our text
in John 3, verse 9 says, Nicodemus answered and said unto
him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto
him, Art thou a master of 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 you receive not our witness. Now the Lord told him, we testify
what we've seen. Can you imagine the Lord Jesus
Christ preaching? Can you imagine that? Can you
imagine that? One day soon, we're not gonna
have to imagine that. We're all gonna sit together
and God the Son is gonna stand up in the pulpit and say, turn to Genesis 1.1. I can't wait. Can you imagine
hearing Him say, I'm telling you things I've actually seen?
I've been there. We testify of what we've seen. The kingdom of heaven is like,
that's what I used to say. Let me tell you what the kingdom
of heaven is like. Verse 11, He said, Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, we speak that we do know, and testify that
we have seen, and you receive not our witness. What is our
witness? What have we seen? Jesus Christ. We've seen Jesus Christ in the
Word. Bless the world's heart. They
study the Word, and they study the Word, and they study the
Word, and they don't see Christ. They don't. We've seen His glory
in the Word. We've seen His authority in the
Word. We've seen His sovereignty in
the Word. We don't say, let Jesus into
your heart. It's because the Word doesn't
say that. We've seen His holiness. We've
seen His righteousness. We've seen His ability. We've
seen Him. We know who He is and what He's
like because of this Word. We have not seen a way. We've seen the way. We have not
seen a truth. We've seen THE truth. We have
not seen a better life. We've seen THE life. We speak
that we do know. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. I am persuaded. I am convinced. that He is able. Because He's able, I believe. And I know whom I have believed.
Now look at John chapter 5 verse 40. John 5 verse 40. Our Lord said, you will not come
to me that you might have life. I receive not honor from men,
but I know you that you have not the love of God in you. I
am come in my father's name and you receive me not. If another
shall come in his name, him you will receive. How can you believe? which receive honor one of another,
and seek not the honor that cometh from God only." Paul was called
Saul. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees.
He has nothing to glory in. All he wanted to do was receive
honor from other men. But God came to him and knocked
him down and said, I am. And he said, I believe. I believe. If we don't believe His Word,
the witness of His Word, we're going to continue in darkness.
We're going to continue in ignorance. How blind we are by nature. Not
only can we not see, we will not see. Twice blind. We cannot, we will not. But if
the Lord in His mercy and in His goodness will give us eyes
of faith. Tonight we're going to look at
faith. If the Lord will give us eyes of faith to see and believe
God's Word. Men think they believe God's
Word. Quote it to them. They don't believe it. But if
He'll give us faith to see it, faith to believe it, If He'll
give us light and understanding and cause us to walk in it, then
He'll give us more light. And He'll give us more light.
The Lord told Nicodemus, the light you need to begin with
is, you don't know anything. That's what you need to know,
Nicodemus. Walk in the light and the knowledge of the fact
that you don't know anything. You're blind. You're ignorant. He thought, I'm an educated man.
What do you mean? Verse 12 in our text, John 3
verse 12 says, The Lord said, If I have told you earthly things,
and you believe not, how shall you believe if I tell you of
heavenly things? What were the earthly things
the Lord just told Nicodemus? He told him, you must be born
again. That's what He told him. Nicodemus,
you must be born again. That's something that happens
to a sinner while he's here on this earth. It happens while
he's here on this earth. Born again. It's something that
the Spirit of God does, and only the Spirit of God can do. And
that's the one and only truth about the matter. There's no
other truth besides that. Salvation really is of the Lord.
It really is. Look at verse 8. He said, The
wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth,
so is every one that is born of the Spirit. What that means
is, man has no part in it. No part in it. Nicodemus heard that from the
mouth of the Word of God, the witness of God. And it was recorded
in the written Word. He could have studied it his
whole life. Go to Ezekiel 36 with me. Ezekiel 36, it's after Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Look at verse 24. The Lord says,
I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of
all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then
will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from
all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse
you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I
put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your
flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh, and I will put
My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and
you shall keep My judgments and do them." He said, I will take
you from among the heathen. I will cleanse you. I will give
you a new heart. I will take out the stony heart.
I will put my Spirit in you and I will cause you to walk. I will
do all these things. The Lord tells Nicodemus, if
you don't believe these earthly things, what good would it do
for me to tell you heavenly things? What good would it do for me
to tell you about the mind and purpose of God? What good would it do for me
to tell you about the mystery of grace? What good would it do for me
to tell you about the things that God has prepared for them
that love Him? Nicodemus, I hath not seen nor
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things
which God hath prepared for them that love Him. You cannot imagine. Have you ever tried to imagine
what heaven would be like? Heaven is wherever Jesus Christ
is. If you're with Him, you're in
heaven. Have you ever tried to imagine what heaven would be
like? You cannot imagine. You just cannot imagine. Nothing on earth can describe
what being with Him in His presence, hearing His actual voice, is
going to be like. The voice that moves waters. You just cannot imagine. Well, Nicodemus asked this question
and we all ought to ask this question. How can these things
be? How can a person be born again? How can a person enter into the
kingdom of God. How can a person? The Lord, He's
about to answer Nicodemus. He says, first you need to know
this. Verse 13 in our text, back in John chapter 3. Verse 13,
the Lord said, No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came
down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. The
first thing you need to know, Nicodemus, is God is holy. And you think you're worthy to
stand in His presence? You're not. God is holy and man
is sinful. That's the first thing you need
to know. He said, "...and no man hath
ascended up to heaven." Zero. No man is worthy. No man has the right to walk
through the gates of heaven, but except He that came down
from heaven, the Son of Man. The Son of Man is the Son of
God. The Son of Man is God. He alone is sinless. He alone
is holy. He alone is worthy to walk right
in. He alone. And verse 14 says,
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. That's how, Nicodemus. You want
to know how? That's how. How can these things be? As Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up. That's how. He said, do you remember
that story about those fiery serpents? Nicodemus, you're a
ruler of the Jews. You've been reading the Word
all that time, right? You remember that story about
those fiery serpents, those snakes that were biting the people?
You know, we'll start a Sunday school class for the girls here
in a few weeks, Lord willing. And they're going to learn some
stories. And they may not understand what that story means, but they're
going to learn some stories. Well, Nicodemus, he'd learned
some stories, he'd read some Scripture. You remember that
story? Nicodemus, do you know why that
story was written? It was written to show how a
sinner can be born again to inherit the Kingdom of God. That's the
only reason that story was written. Now turn with me over to Numbers
21. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Numbers chapter 21, verse 1 says this, And when King
Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that
Israel came by the way of the spies, then he fought against
Israel and took some of them prisoners. And Israel vowed a
vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this
people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. Israel vowed a vow to the Lord,
and said, If you'll deliver this enemy into our hands, we'll destroy
their cities. Okay, verse 3. And the Lord hearkened
to the voice of Israel. and delivered up the Canaanites,
and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. And He called
the name of the place Hormah. And they journeyed from Mount
Hor by the way of the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom.
And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the
way." What that means is they started to complain. They started
to complain. They were dissatisfied, moaning
and complaining. The Lord had just delivered the
enemy into their hands and they're already complaining. Verse 5
says, And the people spake against God and against Moses, Wherefore
have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? Why
did you bring us out of Egypt? For there is no bread, Neither
is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light bread." We
hate manna. That's what they said. We are
so sick and tired of this heavenly bread. Verse 6 says, And the
Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the
people, and much people of Israel died. The Lord sent judgment
to them because of their sin. Verse 7, Therefore the people
came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against
the Lord and against thee, praying to the Lord that he take away
the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people,
And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and
set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass, that every one
that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass,
and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent
had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. Nicodemus, those fiery serpents
are sin and the judgment of sin. Sin is what's killing the people. The only reason funeral homes
are in business is because of sin. If we didn't have sin, they'd
be out of work. Sin is what has caused us to
die. Sin is the reason we must be
born again. Sin is the reason we cannot enter
into the Kingdom of God. It's sin. And the precious, spotless Son
of God, the Son of Man, who came down from heaven, just as Moses
lifted up the serpent, Just as Moses took the very thing that
was killing the people and put that on the pole, he didn't tell
everybody, look to me and you'll be saved. He made a serpent. And just as Moses took the very
thing that was killing the people and put it on a pole, even so
must the precious Son of Man become the very thing that is
going to kill you, Nicodemus. your sin. How can these things be? The
precious spotless Son of Man must become your sin. There's only one true answer
for this. And then He must be lifted up
on a pole. Lifted up was He to die. You see, Nicodemus, you have
not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of
your infirmities. Not our infirmities. Not sin's
infirmities. Your infirmities. You know those
sins that you bear? Those sins that you bear, you
know those things that we have done and we cannot undo it. History's
gone. The past is the past. We cannot
undo it. Those things that come to our
mind and it's like, oh, I had forgotten about that for a moment.
I can't believe it's back. Those are the same sins He bore. They're never going to go away
until we leave this earth. They're never going to go away
from our remembrance, from our guilt. But those very same sins
are the sins He took with Him up on the top of that pole. It's the very same sins. Numbers
21 verse 9 says, And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it
upon a pole, and it came to pass that if a certain serpent had
bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived."
He lived. All he had to do was look. Have
you ever tried to show somebody something and you're like, look
at that, do you see that? And they're like, I don't see it.
And you say, are you looking? Yes, I'm looking. Well, the good news to dying
sinners is this. God didn't say, all who can see
the serpent. What if something's in the way? You know, they got bit and they
fell right then and there. Who knows where they were? Something's
hindering me. Something's blocking my view.
Can you see it? No. Do you want to see it? Yes. Do you need to see it? Yes. Is your only hope seeing
it? Yes. Then just look. Look and live. Look with your
heart. It's there. Trust it. Believe it. Believe on the name
of the Lord and thou shalt be saved. What's His name? Savior. Believe that and thou
shalt be saved. Can you see all the details?
Can you see all the lines? Can you comprehend the whole
thing? No. Just look. Look and live, my
brother, live. Look to Jesus Christ and live. It is recorded in His Word. Hallelujah. It's only that you
look and live. John wrote that which we have
seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon. Looked to. Trusted in. Now here's a sad truth. I'm sure there were many who
were bitten right at the foot of that pole. They fell right at the foot of
that pole. And they saw it, but they didn't look to it. They
didn't believe on it. They didn't trust in it. That's
foolishness. I've been bitten by a real snake,
and you're telling me that thing is going to... I don't believe
that. I see it. Yeah, I know who Jesus
is. Yeah, I can quote the Scripture
to you. Our text, verse 14, John chapter
3, verse 14 says, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that
whosoever believeth, believeth in Him, should not perish, but
have eternal life." Life. Born again life. Believing is
called faith. Faith is not of yourself, it's
a gift of God. We've got to go back to verse
8. The wind bloweth where it listeth, right? Even believing
is the work of God. Salvation really is of the Lord. But whoever He was lifted up
for, whoever He became sin for, whosoever He's given this precious
gift of faith to, whosoever believeth in Him, who He is, what He's
done, shall never perish. never perish, shall never die,
it says, but is going to have eternal life. That is how this
can be. That's how it can be. One way,
one truth. Thank God He was lifted up. Thank God. Well, may the Lord bless that
to our hearts. Let's stand together.