Most people in the world have
heard about John 3.16. John 3 is what we want to look
at today. I want to go through the first
21 verses, but I don't want to do it all today because it's
too much to try to cover in one day. And I've been looking at
this for quite some time now. not only recently, but even for
a long time, most people have heard at least one message from
John chapter 3. I want to bring several messages
from this chapter before we finish the first 21 verses, and I'm
not sure how many messages that will take. But as I've looked
at this, I've seen a lot of things here, and I don't think I can
get through it without hurrying too much. So I want to start
with just the first three verses today, but I want to read through
all 21 verses. And I want to focus today's message
on how God has revealed to us through this man named Nicodemus
our need of salvation and our condition before Him. and how
he is preparing us for seeing that salvation that's in the
Lord Jesus Christ. So let's begin. I actually want
to include the last three verses of John chapter 2 in our reading. So let me begin with John chapter
2 verse 23. I've entitled this message, Prepared
to See Salvation. In verse 23 of John chapter 2,
we read, Now when he, Jesus, when he was in Jerusalem at the
Passover in the feast day, many believed in his name when they
saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself
to them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any
should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. There was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Chapter separations that
are put here in the Bible weren't put there by God, but they were
put there by the Bible translators to organize the verses and try
to group them together. It also provides us an easy way
of referencing where we are in Scripture, so that helps tremendously. But we have to understand that
when we read from chapter to chapter in the Bible, that they're
connected. And so when Jesus is in Jerusalem and many people
saw his miracles and believed his miracles, believed that he
could do miracles, it says that he did not commit himself to
them because he knew all men and needed not that any should
testify of man for he knew what was in man. That's teaching us
something about what's going to follow because Nicodemus was
a man Jesus knew. And so we're going to see how
that is used here in chapter 3 in Christ's dealings with Nicodemus. So let me just read from John
chapter 3 verse 1 through verse 21. There was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus
by night and said to him, Rabbi, which is a title that they gave
to the Jewish teachers in those days. So Nicodemus is calling
Jesus a rabbi. It's a title of honor, a title
of recognition of their ability to teach from the scripture.
So he came to Jesus by night and said to 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. Jesus answered
and said to him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus
saith unto him, How can a man be born, when he is old? Can
he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God. 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,
you must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
which means where it pleases, 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. Nicodemus answered
and said to him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and
said to him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these
things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
We speak that we do know what we do know, and testify that
we have seen, and you receive not our witness. If I have told
you earthly things, and you believe not, how shall you believe if
I tell you of heavenly things? And no man 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. 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. For God sent not His Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through
Him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because
he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world,
and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil. For everyone that doeth evil
hates the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they
are wrought in God. Now, I've taken time to read
the entire text of Scripture with very little commentary,
because I want you to know that God's Word is living. I don't
make God's Word alive to you. I simply declare what God has
said. God's Word itself is living and
God applies His Word as it pleases Him. He must give us life from
His Word. And so I want you to hear it
just as it's written, and it's necessary that we read it carefully
and think about it in order for us to understand it. But I also
want to point out what God has said here in these verses, because
we don't just read it once. We have to understand what's
being said, and that's what I'm really asking that the Lord would
give us an understanding of His Word. Now, it turns out that
right now, in the world, there's a lot of trouble because of the
coronavirus. And I thought about what kind
of a message I should bring, given the current situation.
Should I bring a message about the coronavirus? And I thought
about that a little bit, and I thought, I don't think it's
appropriate to bring a message about the coronavirus. These
things are trouble. God sends trouble into the world
in order to humble men, in order to show them that they're not
in control, in order to show them that they're dependent upon
God for life and for all things. But there's a greater problem
than physical trouble brings. And there's a greater need than
to be saved from sickness in our body, or even death of our
body. And that need is what we need
to always be focused on. God's Word always draws our attention
to our spiritual need. And that's what this chapter
does. It draws attention to a need that we have that's spiritual.
In 1 Kings 8, Solomon said that if a man comes and prays to God,
through the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm explaining what he said.
But he says when he comes looking to the temple, which means looking
to what God has done in the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing the plague
of his heart, then Solomon asked that God would hear him. And
so the problem we have is not a plague on the outside. It's
a plague on the inside. Nicodemus was concerned with
things on the outside. but Jesus addressed the problem
of his heart. And so that's the first thing
I want to say before we begin here looking at these verses
of Scripture from John chapter 3. So, I want to look at the
first verse of John chapter 3 and let's see, let's look at these
first three verses and let's see how God prepared this man
to see his salvation and to save him from his sins. First of all,
I want you to see that this man, it says in verse 1, he was a
Pharisee. There was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Now, Nicodemus is mentioned
in this place, in John chapter 3. He's also mentioned in John
chapter 7, and he's mentioned in John chapter 19. In each of
these places it mentions Nicodemus, it says that he's the one who
came to Jesus by night. And so, what kind of a man was
he? In John chapter 7 and John chapter
19, it's clear that when Nicodemus is mentioned there, that he was
standing up for Christ against the rest of his peers, those
who were like him, who were rulers of the Jews in the Sanhedrin.
He stood up against them in John chapter 7 verse 50, and he asked
them why they were so quick to condemn Jesus before they heard
him. So that shows that Nicodemus,
when he stood up for Jesus against the Pharisees, he was actually
showing that he believed in Jesus, that he was defending him against
those who wanted to kill him. But in John chapter 19, after
Jesus was crucified and his body was hanging on the tree, Joseph
of Arimathea came to Pilate and begged Pilate to give him the
body of Jesus. And so, not only did Joseph of
Arimathea, but Nicodemus joined Joseph and removed the body of
Jesus from the cross, and Nicodemus prepared a tremendous amount
of spices to put on the body of Jesus. So in that place it
shows Nicodemus' great honor for the Lord Jesus Christ, and
wanting to do him this kindness in showing that he honored him
in his death. Because at that time, Nicodemus
was a saved man. He understood and believed on
the Lord Jesus Christ. But here in John chapter 3, he
was not a saved man. He was not saved because Jesus
tells him that he wasn't in the verses that follow. So when we
read verses 1 and following, when we read all the way through
this chapter, we're going to see how God saves people. We're going to see the way in
which He saves them. And we're going to see the condition
He finds them, and how He shows them their great need of a Savior.
In the first three verses, He's going to show us how He prepares
us to see His salvation. And so, look at this with me.
There was a man of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were religious,
very religious people. The word Pharisee means someone
who separates themselves from others. Why would people separate
themselves from others for religious reasons? Well, because they thought
others were sinful. They thought that their sin would
pollute them. that they weren't sinners and
that somehow sin was outside of them and being associated
with these sinful people would make them sinful because of that
association. So they separated themselves
from these sinful people. That's what Pharisees means.
They separated themselves from other people who they considered
to be sinners And they considered themselves to be better than
others, and they trusted in their own righteousness, and so they
were called Pharisees. They were very religious people.
And they were very religious, and other people respected them
because they were so good in how men looked at them. To men,
they looked very good. In fact, if you look at Luke
chapter 18, Jesus tells us about Pharisees in verse 9 of Luke
18. He says, Jesus spake this parable
unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous
and despised others. So those two things always go
together. People who despise others because
those others they see, they consider to be sinners, they are the same
people who trust that they themselves are righteous. So if we trust
that we're righteous, then we're going to despise others because
of their sinfulness. And Jesus tells this parable
in Luke 18 about these two men. In verse 10 he says, These two
men went up to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, the
other a publican. And the Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself. He stood by himself, separate
from the others, and he actually prayed, not really to God, but
he prayed to hear his own voice, and he prayed so others could
hear his voice. He prayed with himself. He thought
of himself. And he didn't really think about
what God thought of him, except what he thought that God should
think of him. He said, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men
are. He knew what to say. He knew
that it was right to thank God that he wasn't like others. But
he didn't really believe that he was crediting God for it.
He thought of himself. I thank thee I'm not as other
men are. And then he lists sins, he lists
these sins that he saw in others that he did not see in himself.
Because he said, I'm not like other men are, extortioners.
An extortioner takes steals from other people. He takes what's
not his own. And he does it by lying and cheating,
unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. He points out
this man, this publican, and he says, I'm not like him. It's
clear that he's a sinner. It's clear that I'm not. And
he goes on in verse 12, I fast twice in the week. That was considered
a virtue, to go without food, to deprive yourself of food in
order to show that you were earnest and that you were holy. I fast
twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. I don't leave out anything. I
take a part of what is mine and I give it to the Lord. And he's
crediting himself for doing that. And so Jesus says, verse 14,
I tell you, this man, the publican, went down to his house justified
rather than the other. For everyone that exalts himself
shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.
The Pharisee exalted himself. And Jesus said he did not go
down to his house justified by God. In fact, he went down in
the way he came as a sinner. Look at Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 20.
Jesus said, I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall
exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall
in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now, what does that
mean? The word righteousness refers
to obedience before God, and there's only righteousness if
there's a perfect obedience. And Jesus is saying that the
obedience of the Pharisees, what they trusted, their own obedience
to God's law, what they considered to be righteousness, was not
enough to get them into the kingdom of heaven. Now, if it wasn't
enough, what does that mean about their condition? Were they in
the Kingdom of Heaven? Were they going to Heaven? Were
they going to be there? Well, the answer is no, because
their righteousness wasn't good enough to get them into Heaven.
So the Pharisees were outside of the Kingdom of Heaven, because
their obedience wasn't enough. But back in John chapter 3, the
Pharisees were the very best of religious people. They were
the very best. And so what God is teaching us
here is those who are the very best, when we look at them, the
best religious people on earth, they don't have an obedience
that's good enough for God. Their obedience is not righteousness,
not a righteousness that God accepts, not a righteousness
that allows them to enter heaven. even though they are good in
the eyes of men, even though they separate themselves from
men, and they think that by doing so they are going to maintain
their own righteousness before God because their sin is outward,
and they separate themselves so they don't have sin because
they're not part of other people, they're not around people who
are sinners, not like themselves, and they trust their righteousness,
those people, according to Jesus, shall not enter heaven, the very
best among men. And this came as a real shock
to Nicodemus. But it doesn't say any of this
yet in verse 1. I'm just pointing out that this
is what kind of a man Nicodemus was. But back in chapter 2 it
says that Jesus knew what was in man. He didn't need someone
to tell him what was in man. He knew what was in man. And
so he knew this man who was a Pharisee. He knew what he was like on the
inside. But in John chapter 3 and verse
1, it also says that he was not only a Pharisee, but he was a
ruler of the Jews. A ruler of the Jews was recognized
by the Jews and respected by the Jews for being knowledgeable
of God's law and capable of ruling the people because he understood
the scriptures. And so he was a man who had a
great understanding of the Old Testament scripture and the law.
And they believed that his understanding was right. And they respected
him for that. And they gave him this title,
this honorary title of being a teacher. Jesus said in verse
10, are you a master of Israel? So that was the title that he
was given by men. And he claimed that title. And
that shows that he thought himself to be worthy of that title. So
we see what kind of a man this was. He separated himself from
others. He considered himself not to
be a sinner like others. He thought that sin was on the
outside. He thought that he was capable of leading God's people
in the way of truth because he was an expert in the scriptures.
Because he was an expert in scripture, he thought he could lead them.
And he took the title men gave him and he wore it as a badge
of honor. Now this is what kind of a man
he was. So this man, it says in verse 2, the same came to
Jesus by night and said unto him, calling Jesus, Rabbi, we
know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can
do these miracles which thou doest except God be with him.
Now understand here that when the Bible mentions little things
like the fact that he came to Jesus by night, it doesn't do
it accidentally. If you look at John chapter 7,
where it mentions Nicodemus again, later on, it says, Nicodemus
said to them, he that came to Jesus by night, being one of
them. When he came to Jesus by night,
it mentions his name, Nicodemus, but it identifies him as the
one who came to Jesus by night. Look at John chapter 19, verse
39. It says, and there came also
Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night. So the
three times he is mentioned in all of scripture, every time
it mentions him, it says that he came to Jesus by night. So what time of the day is it?
It's night time. And why would he come to Jesus
by night? Well, because it was dark. And
people do things in the dark so that they can't be seen. Darkness
is a cover for when we don't want to be seen. When Nicodemus
came to Jesus, he didn't really want to be seen by others as
coming to Jesus. And he also came in this way
by night because the cover of darkness kept him, he thought,
from being seen clearly by Jesus. He was ashamed. He couldn't be
honest with the Lord Jesus Christ. He knew that he could see through
him, and he didn't want to be exposed to what he truly was,
so he came at night. But it also means that he was
himself in the dark. He couldn't see spiritually.
He couldn't see spiritual things. If you look at Ephesians, in
Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 8. He says, you were sometimes
darkness. And he's talking here, look at
verse 6. Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because
of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers
with them, for you were sometimes darkness, but now are you light
in the Lord. Walk as children of light. So
there are children of darkness and there are children of light.
There are people who were in darkness and who were now in
the light. And all of God's people originally
were in darkness and they were called darkness. He says, you
were sometimes darkness. And then he says, chapter 4,
in verse 18 of Ephesians, he says, verse 17 as well, he says,
This I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you henceforth
walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind. Vanity means they have all kinds
of thoughts that are empty. Have no basis of truth and reality. They have their own view of God
and things and is false. Verse 18. 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. This is darkness. Darkness is
when our understanding is darkened and we are alienated or separated,
have no part in the life of God, and all of that is through ignorance
that is in us because of the blindness of our heart. In Jeremiah
17, verse 9, it says, the heart of man is deceitful. Deceit means
we don't see the truth. We're blinded to it by our own
deception. our heart itself is darkness,
we're blind. And so when it says here in verse
2 that this man Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, it's a reference
to not only the time of day and the cover of darkness in which
he tried to come to hide himself from others, to hide himself
from Jesus, to keep himself from being known as he truly was,
but also it describes Himself, it describes the condition of
his own understanding. He was darkness. He himself was
darkness. He was alienated from the life
of God. His understanding was darkened.
He couldn't see the truth, and yet he thought he could. He thought
he was in the light. And there's no greater darkness,
there's no greater deception than when we are deceived and
we don't know that we are deceived. But that's exactly what Nicodemus
was. He was blind to his true condition.
He did not understand what he was. He did not understand God's
requirements. He didn't understand how those
requirements could be met. He didn't understand God's salvation.
He did not know the Lord Jesus Christ. He was completely in
the dark, and yet he thought he could see. He was a blind
man who thought he could see, and that's the greatest kind
of blindness. And so look at John chapter 9. This describes
not only him, but all who were like him. This chapter is about
a man who was born blind and Jesus opened his eyes. But in
John 9, in verse 39, after Jesus opened the eyes of the blind
man who was born blind, Jesus said this, in verse 39, Jesus
said, For judgment I am come into this world. and have to
listen very carefully to this, that they which see not, they
which see not might see. I came into this world in judgment
to give sight to the blind. I'm coming to the world that
they which see not might see. And the next part of the verse
says this, and that they which see might be made blind. In other words, those who think
they see might be blinded. And Nicodemus was one of these
people who thought he could see. Let's go on and read verse 40
of John 9. And some of the Pharisees, which
were with Jesus, heard these words, and said to him, Are we
blind also? They asked that question, not
because they really thought they were, or wanted to be discovered
as blind, but because they were trying to defend themselves.
They were mocking him. You're not calling us blind,
are you? In verse 41, Jesus said to them,
If you were blind, you should have no sin. But now you say,
We see. Therefore your sin remains. Now, back in John chapter 3,
Jesus knew what was in man. He knew the condition of Nicodemus'
heart. He knew who he was. He knew the
life he lived. He knew that his obedience was
not good enough for him to enter heaven. He knew that he was in
darkness, the darkness of the night of his own soul. And so
when Nicodemus said this to him, he said, Rabbi, or teacher, 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. Jesus
knew that this man was blind. And even though in John chapter
2, when Jesus spoke about these people who believed that he could
work miracles, but he didn't commit himself to them, here
in John chapter 3, here was a man who was blind, and yet Jesus
is spending his time talking to him. Now think about this. It was at night. There's no doubt
that Jesus was probably tired from the rest of the day. He
didn't sit around. resting. He was always active. People were always coming to
him. He was healing people. He was teaching. He was very
busy. People could come to him at any
time and he didn't refuse them. And so this man came to him at
night and he took time, his own time, from the night time when
he could have been resting or praying or doing something to
actually talk to this very proud. deceived, self-righteous man
in order to save him. And that's a great mercy of the
Lord Jesus. But when Nicodemus comes to him,
notice what he says here. He says, When we read about Nicodemus,
it's easy for us to look at him like someone would look through
a microscope at something on the microscope slide. You know,
that's what biologists and chemists do and other people. They use
microscopes to see tiny things and they examine these specimens
on a slide under the microscope in order to understand what those
things are. A lot of times when we read the
Bible or hear the Bible, we think about how it explains to us what
other people are like. But God didn't write this about
Nicodemus here in order to allow us to analyze Nicodemus and see
his weaknesses. He wants us to see that when
he describes Nicodemus to us, he's really describing ourselves. He's really showing us what we
are like. And so we need to not think of
this as a way for us to judge Nicodemus or cast stones at Nicodemus
and his blindness, but to see that we are just like him, and
that we, therefore, are sinners in need of being saved. But notice
in verse 2, he says, 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. Think about it. Nicodemus is
coming to Jesus. The first thing he tells him
is, here's what we know about you. But Jesus knew what he knew,
didn't he? Doesn't he know all things? Did
he need Nicodemus to tell him what Nicodemus knew? To tell
Jesus what he knew? That shows how little Nicodemus
understood about Jesus. Why did he say, we know? Doesn't
he know all things? Doesn't he know what we know?
Doesn't he know us? If we come into the presence
of the Lord Jesus, who is the Son of God, and the Son of God
not only, but the Son of God in our own nature, is it right
for us to tell him what we know? to claim that we know something? Shouldn't we instead know that
we don't know anything like we ought to know? That we really
know nothing at all? In 1 Corinthians chapter 8, when
Nicodemus says, we know that thou art a teacher come from
God, he's trying to tell Jesus what he knew, because that was
what the Pharisees did. They always thought they knew
more than other people. And you know you can't teach
anyone who knows everything, can you? When someone knows something,
they're not going to listen to you to teach them that thing.
So he says in 1 Corinthians 8, verse 2, If any man think that
he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. That's
the principle here. Nicodemus comes to Jesus thinking
he knows something about Jesus. And he tries to instruct Jesus
as if he's the teacher and Jesus is going to learn from him. And
he comes in this way not realizing that he's standing before the
one who really knew him. And so when we come to the Lord,
we should never come to him telling him what we know. Lord, you know
that I is oftentimes the way we think of starting a prayer.
You know that I trust you. You know that I know this about
you. But we should always come to
Him realizing that we aren't going to know anything unless
He teaches us. In fact, if He asks us to tell
Him what we know, We have to come and say, Lord, I know nothing
at all unless you answer the very questions you ask of me. Job said this in Job chapter
9. He says, I couldn't answer him one of a thousand. Verse
2, Job answered his three friends. He says, I know it is so of a
truth, but how should man be just with God? How can a man
be righteous with God? If he will contend with him,
if God will contend with a man, He cannot answer God, one of
a thousand. You see, Job knew that if God
were to put a man under his microscope, if he were to ask him questions
to answer him, he wouldn't be able to answer him one thing
of all that he asked of him. Not one of a thousand. Look at
verse 14. How much less shall I answer
him and choose out my words to reason with him? I can't answer
God. Verse 15. Whom though I were
righteous, Yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication
to my judge." So Job was saying, I wouldn't presume to try to
answer God in judgment. I can't be justified, I can't
be righteous with God by my answer to God. He says over in verse
20 of Job 9, If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn
me. If I say I'm perfect, it shall prove me false, perverse. In verse 21, Though I were perfect,
yet would I not know my soul, I would despise my life. So here,
Job is helping us understand that when Nicodemus came and
said, we know that you were a teacher come from God, he was starting
entirely on the wrong foot. He was claiming to know something
about Jesus. When Jesus knew all about him,
and he knew nothing about the Lord Jesus. He wasn't recognizing
that anything that he was going to learn, he was going to have
to be taught, even about himself. And so, it's important, back
in John chapter 3, that we understand this. Because everything Jesus
says to Nicodemus He says, by looking into his heart and finding
out what he did not know and actually addressing the very
point that Nicodemus himself didn't know about himself. Nicodemus
didn't know what he didn't know. He was so blind. And it was worse
than that. He thought he knew. He thought
he knew. And so, this is called pride
of the highest kind. So we have to come to the Lord
asking Him to give us what He asks from us. We ask Him to answer
for us. Look at Psalm 139. This is the
way a person taught of God comes and speaks to Him. In Psalm 139,
in verse 1, He says, Thou hast searched me and known
me. Thou knowest my down-sitting
and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off way before I think it, way before I come to you. Thou
compassest, or surroundest, or encloses my path, and my lying
down, and are not acquainted with all my ways. You know all
my ways. There is not a word in my tongue,
but lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it all together. Look at verse
23, Search me, O God. See, this is the way the psalmist
came to the Lord. You search me, O God, and know
my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked
way in me, and lead me in the way of everlasting. But that's
not how Nicodemus came. And so that's what Jesus is going
to do. In his grace, and in his mercy, the Lord, Jesus, looks
into Nicodemus' heart. He knows him, even before he
comes to him. In fact, that's the reason he
came. Because God drew Nicodemus to
the Lord Jesus Christ in order that the Lord Jesus might save
him and expose who Nicodemus was to himself and make him known
to himself. And this is the way God saves.
The way that God saves sinners. The first thing that happens
here is that a blind, proud, lost sinner comes to Jesus and
claims to know something about him, but the Lord himself drew
him in order that he might open up his heart and expose him and
show him his true condition. And that's what verse 3 begins
to do. He says, Jesus answered. He answered
Nicodemus when he claimed and said, we know something about
you. We know who you are. We know you must be sent of God.
that you can do these miracles, God must be with you. And Jesus
answered and said to him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now Nicodemus
wasn't talking about the kingdom of God. He didn't say anything
yet about the kingdom of God. He didn't say anything about
being born. He didn't say anything about being born again. It's
almost as if what Jesus said to him was on a different subject. Nicodemus came. He acknowledged
Jesus to be a teacher. He said, we know that you're
a teacher. That you can do these miracles. No one could do these
except God sent him. So God must be with you. So you're
a teacher. And Nicodemus is coming to him
as a teacher. Now, if it comes to him as a
teacher, what Nicodemus is thinking, what he's saying by that is that,
if you would just teach me some things, then I'll understand.
This shows that he had no idea of what his true condition was.
If you could just teach me a few things. I already know a lot
of things. I know that you're a teacher
sent from God. I know that you couldn't do these
things, these miracles except God were with you. I know some
things. I'm obviously a master of Israel
myself. He didn't mention that, but he
was a Pharisee. That's what he claimed. He was
a ruler of the Jews, so he thought he knew some things. And he only
needed to be taught some more things. But the fact of the matter
is, is that Nicodemus could not even understand what Jesus was
about to say. Because he was not born of God. And that's what Jesus is saying
here. Except you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of
God. Nicodemus, you think you can
be taught? You can't be taught. You have no ability to understand
the things of God. You can't understand them. You
can't receive them. And so the first thing Jesus
does here is he shows Nicodemus his true condition. And his true
condition was that he was completely incapable of learning. spiritual
things, because he was not a spiritual man. That's what he's saying
here. Except you're born again, you
can't see the Kingdom of God. Now, Nicodemus thought that he
could see the kingdom of God. He thought he was in the kingdom
of God. Because he thought that knowing
God's law and being an expert in God's law meant that he obviously
was in that kingdom. He thought the people of Israel
were blessed by God and that they were the kingdom of God. He thought that being a Jew,
being born to Abraham, made him part of the kingdom of God. But
Jesus said, no. That birth, that first birth
that you had to Abraham as a child of Abraham is not what makes
you a child of God. You have to be born again a second
time. You were born physically. Now
you have to be born spiritually. And this is an absolute necessity. It's a must. Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, accept a man, any man, except any man and every
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." You
can't understand it. You cannot perceive. You can't
receive it. There's nothing about these spiritual
things that you're able to understand. So teaching you is not possible. because you're not a spiritual
man. You can't receive spiritual things. So the first thing Jesus
does is show him his condition. The second thing he does is he
tells him his great need. You must be born of God. You must be born a second time.
Your first birth didn't make it possible for you to understand
spiritual things. Look at 1 Corinthians 2, verse
9. It says, "...as it is written,
Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that
love him. But God has revealed them unto
us by His Spirit." No one has understood, no one has heard,
no one has understand the things God has prepared for them that
love Him, but God has revealed them to us by His Spirit. In other words, we can't know
them unless God reveals them by His Spirit. He goes on. For
the Spirit, the Spirit of God, searches all things, yea, the
deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things
of a man save the Spirit of man which is in him? I can't know
you unless you tell me what you're thinking. Even so, the things
of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God." You can't know
God unless His Spirit tells us about Him. So He says in verse
12, Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but
the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that
are freely given to us of God, which things also we speak. Not
in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost
teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. So the
Holy Spirit of God teaches, He says, the Holy Ghost teaches
spiritual things. Look at verse 14. But the natural
man, that's what we are by our first birth to our mother and
father, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God, for they are foolishness to him, neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned. So Jesus is telling
him in chapter 3 verse 3, you're not a spiritual man. Therefore,
no amount of teaching is going to teach you spiritual things
until you are actually made to be what you are not, spiritual. You have to be made a spiritual
man, born again, born a second time, and this time born from
above. Now I'm going to bring it to
a close here because I know we don't have enough time to continue
on in this, but I want you to see here how what Jesus said
to him touched the very issue in his heart. He thought he understood
some things. He came to Jesus, not as needing
to be taught, but as one who, if Jesus just told him some things,
it would be enough. But he didn't understand that
he couldn't understand spiritual things, that he did not understand.
He was blind, still in his sins. And so Jesus is saying, except
you're born again, you can't see the kingdom of God. What
is he really saying to Nicodemus? You're blind. You are blind to
spiritual things. You don't know anything spiritual. And so Nicodemus responds in
verse 4. Because Jesus said he had to
be born again. He said, how can a man be born
when he is old? Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? How was Nicodemus born
the first time? From his mother. From his mother's
womb. Just like everybody is. And so
he said, because he could only think about physical things,
he shows that what Jesus said was true by what he answered
Jesus. He could think no further than
what he had experienced physically. So he said, if I was born the
first time, if I have to be born again, then I've got to be born
the same way from my mother. What a foolish thing to say.
It's almost like he was mocking. He thought that what Jesus said
was foolishness. And it was to him. Because he
didn't have any spiritual understanding. He was a man who was lost. And
then Jesus said, in verse 5, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. Nicodemus, you're blind to spiritual
things. You haven't seen the kingdom
of God. And now he says to him, Nicodemus,
you're not only blind, but you are outside of the kingdom of
God. He's revealing to him his condition,
blind and outside of the kingdom of God, unable to understand
and receive the things of God. And then he reveals to him his
great need. What was it? He had to be born spiritually. And yet it was absolutely impossible
for Nicodemus to do what must happen to him. He couldn't do
it. Which is what he goes on to show
him in the rest of this. His condition lost and outside
the kingdom of God. And blind to his condition, he
did not know himself to be lost. His need was to be born of God.
To be made spiritual. A spiritual man. And yet he couldn't
do it. He couldn't bring it about. So
what does this do to Nicodemus? It frustrates him. It humbles
him. It hurts him. It hurts his pride. Before the Lord Jesus Christ,
it's almost like someone punched him in the stomach and brought
him into an immediate state of depression. A sense of being
lost and helpless in the presence of the Son of God. And he had
no way to change his condition. He couldn't meet his need. He
was brought to a state of utterly dependent upon God. upon God
acting and God doing for him what he could not do. And that's
what we are. That's what our need is. We're
lost in ourselves. We don't understand spiritual
things. We think we know some things.
We know nothing like we ought to know. And unless God himself
gives us a spiritual nature. Until He opens our eyes to understand
spiritual things, we cannot be saved. God has to save us. This
chapter is not about a process we follow in order to be saved.
It's about the work God does to save us. It's about His salvation
of lost sinners who are helpless in their sin. And so when we
think about the current coronavirus or whatever it is, people feel
helpless against it. And a lot of people trust in
what they can do to get out of it. They trust somebody's going
to find a vaccine or I just have to stay away from people in order
to stay safe and all these things. And we begin to look at the way
that we are either healed or kept from getting the virus.
and we begin to look for help from those things, a vaccine,
or our behavior, or our health, or those kinds of things, and
we completely miss the fact that salvation from anything, whether
it be sickness or our spiritual sickness, comes from the Lord.
And if God doesn't save us, we'll trust in medicine, we'll trust
in the things that God uses to make us well in our bodies, and
we won't see the great need of our soul, which is the plague
of our heart. And that's the need we most need to be saved
from. Things that trouble us in our body distract us in many
times from the real need of our heart. Just like Nicodemus, he
was only thinking about being taught a few things. And so he
came to Jesus to learn a few things when he really had a much
greater need, which was to be completely made new. Let's pray.
Dear Lord, we pray that you would see our need, that you would
search us, that you would meet our need, which we cannot meet.
There is a necessity for us to know the Lord Jesus Christ, and
that necessity is something we cannot fulfill. We can't make
it happen. We're utterly dependent upon
God. and we don't know what to do we have no strength so we
thank you lord that in these things you humble us and that
hurts but we know lord that is necessary for you to show us
your salvation and we pray lord that you would do that according
to your grace not according to our works not for anything in
us. We have no understanding of spiritual
things apart from Your Spirit. And we need Your Spirit to show
us how You save sinners like us. And so we pray, Lord, deliver
us from this plague in our heart. And we pray that You would keep
us in life and give us this grace to see and know the Lord Jesus
Christ and have life in Him. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.