Now, we're going to read through
this first 16 verses. I'm actually going to read more
than just the first 16 verses. I'm going to back up to verse
18 of chapter 2 because it goes together. I'm just concerned if I try to
preach this message in one sermon that we'll miss so many details
here. The more I read it, the more
I think about it, the bigger it gets. So we're gonna take
at least two, maybe three Sundays to cover this. But let's just
take it one step at a time. Back in chapter two, verse 18,
Jesus had come into the temple. It was the Passover. The Feast
of the Passover was at hand and people were flocking to Jerusalem.
Jesus came into the temple and saw the thieves, those selling
sacrifices for the Passover, and he came in and he overturned
the money changers' tables, and he drove out those that bought
and sold in the temple, and he said, that this is my father's
house, don't make my father's house a house of merchandise,
it's a house of prayer for all people. Verse 18, we picked that
up there. He says, Then answered the Jews
and said to him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou
do these things? So they asked him for a sign.
This was a common practice of the Jews, show us a sign. Prove
that you are, that you have the authority, that you're sent of
God. Give us something that we can use to substantiate your claims. So in verse 19, Jesus answered
and said to them, this is the sign, destroy this temple and
in three days I will raise it up. The Jews heard that and they
later used it at the trial before his crucifixion against him.
They misquoted it. They said, he said he would destroy
the temple and raise it up again in three days. But that's not
what he said. He said, you destroy this temple and in three days
I will raise it up. Verse 20. Then said the Jews,
Forty-six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear
it up in three days? But Jesus spake of the temple
of his body. They were going to destroy his
body. He was going to raise it up in three days. That's very
important that we see this at the outset. The Jews looked for
a sign. He gave them a sign. He spoke
in earthly terms, but his meaning had a heavenly and a spiritual
meaning. Everything Jesus said had a spiritual
and a heavenly meaning. Although he used earthly things.
And when he spoke, Verse 22, When therefore he was risen from
the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this to them,
and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had
said. Now, when he was in Jerusalem
at the Passover and the feast day, many believed in his name. And if you stop reading that
verse at that point, you would think, that's a good thing. But
go on, he says, when they saw his 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." The Lord Jesus Christ knows us, doesn't
He? And these men who, these people,
whoever they were that believed on the Lord Jesus, here it says,
believed in His name. They believed in His name insofar
as they thought He could work miracles and was sent of God.
They didn't believe in His name in the sense that He was Jesus,
the one God sent to save His people from their sins, the Christ
of God, who is the Son of God, the Lamb of God, and all that
goes with that. They didn't believe that. They
didn't see that. They didn't understand the sign
He referred to. Clearly, that was hid from their
eyes. He was the one who came into the world whose body they
would destroy on the cross, and who would raise His own body
up from the dead. by the power of God. And they
didn't believe Him. They didn't understand that.
So now we see a group of people who, we see the masses of these
men who Jesus drove out of the temple. We see those who were
against Him, who looked for a sign, who would eventually kill Him.
And we see these who believe superficially only because He
worked miracles. That's the context for Chapter
3. And now I just want to read through chapter 3, the verse
16 verses. 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 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 to 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,
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 unto
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, 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. Now if you read through that,
as we just did, I think many questions immediately spring
to your mind. The first one is, what does it
mean? What does this mean? It seems
so confusing. What does it mean when Jesus...
Why did Jesus abruptly change the direction Nicodemus was talking
about in verse 2 and in verse 3 and say, except a man be born
again? He can't see the Kingdom of God?
Why did He do that? And what is the Kingdom of God?
And what is this thing about Jesus saying that in verse 5,
"...except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter." Why did He say that? And what is the water and the
Spirit? And then what does it mean in
verse 8 where it says, "...the wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest a sound thereof, and canst not tell whence it
cometh, or whether it goeth. So is everyone born of this..."
What does that mean? Nicodemus was finally brought
to this point in verse 9. How can these things be? That's
really the question that comes to us, I think, when we read
these verses, honestly. And why did Jesus say, In verse
13, no man has ascended up to heaven. Why did he introduce
this topic? Why did that come into play here in this conversation? And why did he suddenly shift
to Moses lifting up a serpent in the wilderness and the son
of man needing to be lifted up? I don't understand. Don't you
feel the same thing, the same confusion that Nicodemus had
here? Why did he say these things? That's what I want to consider
this very carefully with you, because if you look at this scripture,
and you think about how God has revealed, now, we cannot understand
this, I'll tell you this, we cannot understand this, these
verses, at all. Unless we look at the scripture
of the New Testament that comes later. That's the first thing. And secondly, we won't understand
these to our, the prophet of our souls, unless God Himself
reveals Himself to us in these things. So, we need to consider
these things carefully. A lot of time is spent in preaching
saying what salvation is not. But as a sinner, I want to know
what salvation truly is, don't you? I want to know if God has
saved me. That's my concern. So I really
think that these scriptures do something so marvelous that if
we're not careful, we're going to completely miss it. I remember
as a youngster, my mom suggesting when I wanted to try to read
the Bible, I think I was about eight or nine, start with John. So I went to the epistles of
John, 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. I was so confused, but I got
through them quickly. But I can imagine reading this
chapter and being completely clueless. What is Jesus talking
about? Thankfully he didn't stop here. One thing I see here is that
every word of the Lord Jesus Christ is just jam-packed with
meaning. and truth that we don't even
think about. And He speaks as one from heaven
in such a way that when He says it, it's so far over our head
that unless He continues to open it to us, we'll completely miss
it. We'll just be as confused as Nicodemus was. So I want to
take this carefully. But I want to give you just a
slight overview here. Notice that when the Lord Jesus first
talks in Nicodemus about being born again, He speaks about the
Spirit of God. Here's a man who was a sinner,
no doubt. He hadn't seen, he had not entered
the Kingdom of Heaven yet. He was a sinner. And the Lord
Jesus starts with the work of the Spirit of God. Then, He goes
to the Son of Man, and He talks about the Son of Man, who no
man has ascended to heaven, and He that came down from heaven,
even the Son of Man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted
up the serpent, even so the Son of Man must be lifted up. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. And then He
talks about God the Father sending His own Son into the world out
of love. in order that all who believe
on him should not perish. So here we see our salvation
given to us in our experiential order, in the reverse order that
it occurred from eternity because it was God the Father who loved
his people from everlasting. And it was Christ who was sent
into the world and died to redeem his people and then rose and
ascended to heaven's throne and sent the Spirit of God. And the
Spirit of God then works in the hearts of his people to save
them. And we find it in our experiences coming as Nicodemus, as a sinner.
And so we experience it in the reverse order, don't we? But
God had it all planned out. We see here the whole work of
God from eternity. God the Father, and God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit in the salvation of a sinner. And this
is what this chapter is about. The salvation of a sinner by
the triune God out of His everlasting love. So if you don't lose that
as the framework in which this chapter is given, then you won't
go too far astray. But now I want to look with you
beginning at the very first of the chapter here, chapter three.
And I want to take this a little bit at a time so that we can
appreciate what's going on here. Let me get my notes in order
here. First of all, look at chapter
3, verse 1. There was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus. A man of the Pharisees. You know
what the Pharisees were? Well, this man, he says, was
a ruler of the Jews. And later Jesus said he was a
master of Israel. So we can put it all together,
can't we? Here's a man who was very intelligent. A man who was
very educated. A man who was very religious. A man who had adopted the teaching
of the strictest sect in Israel. Probably had the closest doctrine
to the truth, the outward understanding of the truth of the law. And
he practiced it outwardly. So that if you looked at this
man, you would have admired him. No one would have... If you were
introduced to this man and he sat down or if he spoke, you
would never have thought that this man on the inside was a
horrible, wretched sinner. You would never have thought
that. You would have thought this is the most upstanding, intelligent, well-educated,
most religious man I've ever met. He was a ruler in Israel. A master. And so this is the
kind of man that came to the Lord Jesus Christ. But look at
Luke chapter 18. I want to show you what this
man was like. Because this is the mercy of
God. Luke is before John, the book
before John. In Luke chapter 18 it says in
verse 9. Jesus spake this parable unto
certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and
despised others. So now the Lord Jesus who sees
the hearts of men, because it says he knows what's in man,
he takes back the curtain That facade that hides what's truly
in the man, he takes it back in order for us to see what's
in this Pharisee who's standing here in the parable. And he says,
he was among those who were a certain man, a certain man, a Pharisee,
who trusted in himself that he was righteous. And that caused
him also with that to despise others. The two go hand in hand.
You despise others because you think you're better than they
are. That's always a bad thing, isn't it? Pride and self-righteousness,
spiritual pride and self-righteousness are the first thing God lists
in Proverbs 6, the things the Lord hates. These six things
the Lord hates. Yeah, seven. Pride is the first
in the list. Proverbs 6, 16. So we see that
this man was a Pharisee. He trusted in himself. These
two men, Jesus said in the parable, went up to pray. The one a Pharisee,
the other a publican. And the Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself. God, I thank thee that I am not
as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, even as this
publican. I fast twice in the week. I give
tithes of all that I possess." You see, he was thinking about
all those things that he did according to that strict rule
of their law that made him appear to others to be a good man. And he trusted in those things.
He came to God to be accepted based on what he did and who
he was as a Pharisee and as a Jew. And that is who Nicodemus is. He is a man of the Pharisees,
intelligent, educated, religious, upstanding, well-respected, honorable
among men. And he comes to Jesus by night,
it says. The first thing we learn from
that is that education and intelligence and religiosity and respect among
men have absolutely nothing to do or to contribute to our salvation. And then in verse 2 it says,
"...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." Now
remember in John 2 where we just read, they saw the miracles Jesus
did and some of them believed on him, many of them believed
on him because they saw those miracles. And so Nicodemus was
among those. He came to Jesus at night. Jesus
didn't commit himself to those in chapter 2, but here Nicodemus,
a straggler from that group, He comes to Jesus by night among
those who saw the miracles that he did. And he acknowledges those
miracles. And he calls Jesus Rabbi. Rabbi is a title of honor. Jesus said in Matthew, He said,
Thou, don't you be called Rabbi. So Rabbi was entitled, a title
of honor among men, and Jesus said, don't you do it. Don't
take honor, don't take honorary titles to yourself, because that's
just seeking the praise of men. Men honor one another with these
titles. And so Nicodemus was coming to
the Lord Jesus, and honoring him with a title that men give
to men. That's the first problem here,
isn't it? The Lord Jesus is here, and Nicodemus comes to him at
night. And Nicodemus honors Jesus as
a peer, someone his equal, a master of Israel, as Nicodemus was. And he comes and he acknowledges
Jesus must be a man sent from God. No one can do these miracles
that you do, except God be with him. Was it a big thing for Nicodemus
to acknowledge Jesus in this way? Well, it was true that he
did these miracles, and it's true that he did them because
he was sent of God. But the problem is, is that he
came to the physician of men's souls, and he himself had no
disease. Jesus, in Matthew chapter 9,
the Pharisees asked Him, they said, Master, why do you eat
and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answered,
He said, because the whole need not a physician, but the sick. The sin sick, the publicans and
sinners, Jesus saw them as sick. They were sick, diseased, plagued. And they needed healing. And
that healing could only take place by the one who was the
physician. The great physician of men's
souls. And the miracles that Jesus did throughout the New
Testament. Healing men's bodies. Raising the dead. Casting out
demons. Healing leprosy and opening blind
eyes and deaf ears and loosening tongues. Now all the things that
he did. All those physical miracles. were done in order to teach us
what He could only do because He was the Savior of men's souls. And as the Savior of men's souls,
something else had to happen in order for Him to deliver a
man from even the sickness of his body. He Himself had to take
our infirmities and bear them, and by His stripes, then we could
be healed. But Nicodemus comes to Jesus,
the physician of men's souls, the savior of men from their
sins, and he has no disease. He came to the Lord of glory,
and he gives him the honor that men give to men. He came to the
wisdom of God, and he himself didn't ask for wisdom. He came
to the fountain of living waters, and he wasn't even thirsty. That's
the problem here. It's like he came to the doctor
who is a specialist in brain surgery and he had a deadly disease
and he talks about a scratch on his finger. He was blind,
wasn't he? He did not even know what he
did not know. That's how blind he was. You
blind guides, you blind leaders of the blind, Jesus called the
Pharisees. In John 9, he said, if you were
blind, you should have no sin. But because you say, we see,
therefore your sin remains. This man came to Jesus by night.
What does it mean that he came? What was the significance of
that? It wasn't accidental. Nothing in scripture is recorded
incidentally. And nothing happens in time accidentally. This man came to Jesus by night
because he himself was in the kingdom of darkness. He was blind,
spiritually blind, and dead in sins. But he didn't even know
it, because that's the way we are as sinners. We're blind.
But notice here the grace of God. Out of all these people
who believed on Jesus because of the miracles, and those who
spoke against him because he overturned the money changers'
tables and cast out those men who bought and sold in the temple.
Out of all those, one of them comes to the Lord Jesus. Here
we see the salvation of a sinner. A distinct salvation. A salvation
of one sinner out of a multitude of lost sinners. Do you see here
the specific particular grace of God toward this man? God holds
him up to us. See here a trophy of grace and
he doesn't even know it yet. He's going to be made an example
of how God saves sinners. Proud. Self-righteous. corrupt, inwardly full of dead
men's bones, sinners. That's who the Lord's talking
to here. That's who comes to him. So you see how God in his
grace draws this man to Nicodemus. He didn't know that Jesus was
the Son of God. He didn't know he was the Lamb
of God who takes away the sin of the world. He doesn't know
these things yet, but he's going to discover it. The Lord Jesus
himself is going to open his eyes. But before he does, something
first has to happen. Something has to happen first. And this is the way God saves.
So that's why it says in the next verse. Verse 3, Jesus answered
and said to him, Verily, verily, This is not a joke. This is not
trivial. I'm going to tell you the truth.
If you don't hear this truth, you cannot be saved. You must
understand this is the truth. It is unshakable, unchangeable
truth. I say unto thee, He Himself,
who is the Word of God, is going to speak to Nicodemus. Accept
a man. Be born again. He cannot see
the kingdom of God. Why would he say that? Well,
because Nicodemus trusted in himself that he was righteous.
He trusted. He was a Jew, a master of Israel. He was born to Abraham. He could
trace his genealogy back to Abraham through Jacob and Isaac, through
the tribe that he belonged to. He was Nicodemus. Well respected. And Jesus said,
no, except a man be born again. And we know he said again because
Jesus said, how can you be born a second time? So he had to do
with being born again. But born again, he was born once. He was born to his mother in
Israel. Why born again? Because for this very reason,
in Romans chapter 2 it says, he is not a Jew which is one
outwardly. He is not a Jew which is one
outwardly. And then in Romans 9 verse 6
through 8 it says, it's not the children of the flesh who are
the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted
for the seed. So you were born first as a Jew
in a nation And even though that nation was called by God's name
and God gave them prophets and priests and kings. And they have
a kingdom where there are kings who rule in Israel. Historically,
David and Solomon, these great kings, they revered and honored. You're not yet in the kingdom
of God because you're part of that kingdom. You're not yet
in the nation that God has chosen. You're not in that chosen generation. You're not in that royal priesthood.
You're still in that first birth. You're not a child of God. You're
not yet born of God. You have to not just be born
to your parents, you have to be born of God. You have to be
made a son of God by nature in order to be in this kingdom.
And that immediately tells us something about those who are
in this kingdom. Every one of them is a child of the living
God by nature. They're born of God. And so Jesus
says, you cannot see the kingdom of God except you're born again. Immediately, this teaches us
that Nicodemus couldn't see. He had not yet been born of God. And so the first thing Jesus
does is to bring him down. And many things follow in this
way. Because every time the Lord saves,
He always saves in this way. He takes us down, down, down. In 1 Samuel chapter 2, Hannah
prayed. Remember Hannah? The mother who
didn't have children and she was married to Elkanah who had
another wife also. Penina I think her name was or
something like that. And she had children, but not
Hannah. And Hannah lamented, and this woman continued to berate
Hannah over the long course of time. And finally the Lord gave
Hannah a child. And she prayed this prayer. In
1 Samuel chapter 2, listen to this, what she says in her prayer. She understood how God saves. She understood the way the Lord
does this. She says, In verse 1 of 1 Samuel 2, and
Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord. Mine horn,
my strength, is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over
mine enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation. She found nothing
in herself. There's none holy as the Lord. For there's none beside thee,
neither is there any rock like our God. Now listen to how she
says this, "...Talk no more, so exceeding proudly. Let not
arrogance come out of your mouth. For the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by Him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are broken,
and they that stumble are girded with strength." Keep reading,
he says, "...they that were full have hired out themselves for
bread, and they that were hungry cease, so that the barren hath
born seven, and she that hath many children is waxed feeble."
Look at verse 6, "...the Lord killeth and maketh alive, he
bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The Lord maketh
poor and maketh rich, he bringeth low and lifteth up." And so on. So you see that the Lord is doing
to Nicodemus here in chapter 3, the first thing he says to
him. Here he comes. He's about seven and a half feet
tall in his own mind. And Jesus lays the axe to the
root of the tree, as it were. And he says, except you're born
again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. Can't perceive it. You
can't know anything about it. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 14 says,
the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God.
They're foolishness to him, neither can he know them, for they're
spiritually discerned. So Nicodemus could not spiritually
discern. He couldn't see the kingdom of
God. And the first thing that Jesus says is, you can't see.
The thing you trust in, that you're in the kingdom of God,
being part of Israel, born into that kingdom, that nation. All
of that means nothing. You can't even see it, Nicodemus. Which leads us to a question.
What is the Kingdom of God? What is this Kingdom that he
speaks about? Well, we know that everyone in this Kingdom is born
of God. Because Jesus says you can only
get in there by birth. You can't see it or enter without
being born by the Spirit. But we also know, because it
teaches us later in scripture, that the Lord Jesus Christ is
king in this kingdom. And so not only are those who
are in it born of God, but those who are in it are those who are
over which the Lord Jesus reigns as king. And so, what the Kingdom
of God is, is that it's the people of God, collectively, made up
of those in whose heart Christ reigns as King, and over whom
Christ reigns as King, in order to save them from their sins.
It's the Church of God. The Church of God. Those in that
organization, not that organization, but that organism, that body,
that temple, they're builded up. God has chosen them in Christ. They're in there because they're
in Christ. But Nicodemus knew nothing about
this. This was a mystery hid in God from the foundation of
the world. And he didn't reveal it until later. And that's one
of the key parts of this chapter, understanding this, is that it's
about the Church of the Living God. And so, everything through
this, we have to view this in the light of the fact that Christ
is King over His people, reigns in their hearts, and those people
make up the Church. And this is not just something
that God decided to do later, after Israel failed. This was
something God had in view from the foundation of the world before.
Throughout eternity. Before time began. There never
was a time when God didn't see His people in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And therefore in the Kingdom
of God. And we can see this in Ephesians. I just want to take
you there real quickly. Look at Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 1. We'll read
it a couple of places here in Ephesians. In fact, let's start with chapter
3, in verse 1 of chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3, verse 1. For this cause, I, Paul, the
prisoner of Jesus Christ, for you Gentiles... Now, a Gentile
means anyone who is not born to Jacob. Not one of the 12 tribes
of Israel. Israel was another name for Jacob.
Anyone outside of that nation was called a Gentile. And the
Jews viewed the Gentiles as heathens, as dogs, as the nations of the
world. That was the way they referred
to them. The nations of the world, or the Gentiles, to put it succinctly. And so Paul now is a prisoner
of Jesus Christ. He was in prison there for the
purpose of fulfilling his commission that Christ had given to him
for the Gentiles, he says. He says, if you have heard of
the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you,
word, God gave him a gift. and a mission for the Gentiles.
Verse 3, how that by revelation he made known unto me, Paul the
apostle, Christ made known to him, the mystery, as I wrote
afore in few words, whereby when you read you may be able to understand
my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was
not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed
unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit." This is amazing
now. Think about it. Throughout all
of history, from the beginning of time, God had not made known
a mystery. And this mystery now is being
made known by Jesus Christ to his apostles who are now making
it known to the church, to the people of God. That gathered
people out of the world. So in verse 6 he says, and this
is the mystery, made known to the prophets and the apostles
by the Spirit of God, verse 6, that the Gentiles, those who
were not Jews, Those who were not called my people, those who
were not called beloved, those people, the Gentiles, should
be fellow heirs, inheritors of the same body, And of the same
body, that means the same body that makes up the body of Christ.
And partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel. This
is phenomenal! What is he saying here? All the
promises of God, that God made to Abraham, He made to Abraham's
seed, Christ, and to those who were in Christ, those promises
are made theirs and told to them by the gospel. Declared to us
in the gospel. And this was a mystery hid from
the foundation of the world since time began. Now he says in verse
7, "...whereof I was made a minister." According to the gift of the
grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his
power, unto me, whom less than the least of all saints this
grace is given, that I should preach among the Gentiles, what?
The unsearchable riches of Christ. This is the gospel. The unsearchable
riches of Christ. And to make all men see what
is the fellowship, the mystery, which from the beginning of the
world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. This mystery was hid in God,
and now it's made known, and He created all things by Jesus
Christ. To the intent, this is why this
was given to Paul, to the intent that now unto the principalities
and powers in heavenly places, I should say, this is why God
held it up until this time, and it was revealed by His Apostles
through Christ. He says, "...to the intent, for
this reason, that now unto the principalities and powers in
heavenly places might be known..." How? "...by the church..." What? "...the manifold wisdom of God."
According to what? According to the eternal purpose. Which he purposed, where? In
Christ Jesus our Lord. Do you see it? God's eternal
purpose is in Christ. Those who are saved are in Christ. So when we talk about the kingdom
of God, we're talking about those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ
as the head. They're the body, He's the head.
He reigns in heaven and He subdues their enemies and saves them
from their sins. And so in Ephesians 1, we see
this in a great summary form when He says in verse 3 of Ephesians
1, He breaks into praise to God the Father. He says, Blessed
be the God and Father. He calls Him Father because we've
been made sons of God. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Nicodemus thought
that he was in the kingdom because he was in Israel. He had a king
who was king over Israel. David, Solomon, whoever he was.
Looking for the Messiah to come and reign over the nation of
Israel. No, no, that wasn't it at all. God chose His people,
blessed His people in Christ. God the Father blessed His people
in Christ with every spiritual blessing in Christ. He says in verse 4, that this
blessing of all things is according... "...as He hath already chosen
us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love." What kind of a
blessing is that? To stand before God the Father,
in Christ, holy, and without blame, in love before Him. His love to us. Is that a blessing? That's the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus
couldn't see that. It's no wonder. It had been hidden,
God. Back in John chapter 3. But we need to understand that
that's where Christ reigns. He reigns in the hearts of His
people. Over a people that He would save from their sins. A
people given to Him before the foundation of the world. A people
blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. A people
of promise. Because all the promises of God
were given to Christ and His people in Him. And here Nicodemus
is completely unaware of this. And Jesus says, Except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." And Nicodemus
is taken down to a very low level, but he defends himself in verse
4. It's like he was knocked down, but he rises to strike back a
little bit. He says, how can a man be born
when he's old? Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? Because he thought the
only thing he could conjure up is that being born, I know what
that means. And so if I've got to be born
again, that means I've got to be born to another mother by
my same mom again? How does this work? What are
you talking about? The words that the Lord Jesus
speaks are true. And we can't understand them,
but it's our fault because of our ignorance and blindness.
But this shows how pride is so misplaced, doesn't it? Here Nicodemus
was walking with great confidence. And he had no basis for it. He
had every reason to be ashamed. And so Jesus reiterates it here.
He says, Jesus answered, Verily, verily I say unto thee, except
a man be born of water... and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh,
is flesh. And that which is born of the
Spirit, is spirit." Now he's beginning to add a little
clarity to it. Nicodemus thought birth was birth
to your mom. But he says, no, no. Whatever
you received from your first parents, that's called flesh. And scripture calls it all sorts
of things. Flesh, the carnal mind, the old man, the natural
man. All these things. That's called
flesh. That's all that it is. It's flesh.
What we are by nature is flesh. What you were by birth to your
mother, flesh. It's just flesh. It never rises
any higher than that. It cannot see the Kingdom of
God. It cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Flesh is flesh. A corruptible
cannot inherit incorruption. 1 Corinthians 15. Mortal cannot
inherit immortality. Something has to happen. You
have to be born again. What do you mean? You have to
be born of water and of the spirit. Well, that makes all the sense
in the world now, doesn't it? Not at all. Actually, it just
raises more questions, doesn't it? What do you mean, water and
spirit? We might consider Nicodemus to
be willfully ignorant at this point
and blame him for it but how many thousands of years have
gone by when we've had this scripture and how many times have you looked
at this scripture and wondered what does it mean and how many
times have you heard someone explain this and have someone
else explain it in a completely different way and you wonder
what does it mean if if we can't understand it After all these
years, how can we really find fault with Nicodemus? Doesn't
it just underscore the fact that what Jesus said is true? We can't
understand the things of the Spirit of God unless He makes
them known to us. We're just like Nicodemus, and
that's one of the comforting things here. Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners. And this man was the chief of
sinners. He was a Pharisee. Outwardly good, inwardly corrupt. outwardly looked really good,
but he brought to Christ, the Son of God, his own filthy rags
righteousness. And so, I want to cover this
the next time. I hope you can make it. The water
and the spirit. Read these verses through. Try
to understand them. And I think, as I was thinking
about this, I think when we get to glory, even now, every one
of us should be able to tell how the Lord saved us according
to his mercy as he did this man. But we see it in this man. For
him, it was painfully sent forth in scripture. And we have our
own experience to continually painfully go through. This humbling,
this humbling thing. First, Jesus says, you can't
see. Second, you can't enter. And then Nicodemus says, I don't
understand. And then he says, well, you haven't
received our testimony. He rejected all that had been
told to him. And then he finally groups in with all those who
were dying because they spoke against God in the wilderness.
You're just like them, and you're going to have to look up just
like them in order to be saved. Let's pray. Father, we pray that
you would help us as we consider these words of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He has told us what must be for
us to enter the kingdom of God. He told us we can't see and we
can't enter unless we're born of God. And we know, Lord, we
had nothing to do with our first birth. How can we possibly contribute
to our second? We can't even understand the
words. It's in a different language to what we are. We're in a different
kingdom unless you translate us. We're dead in sins. We need to be created anew. We
need a new heart and a new spirit. Lord, we pray that you would
speak to us from your word concerning our Savior and his work to save
and you would cause us to look to him and find in him all that
you required and realize that he was sent of God. In Jesus'
name we pray. Amen.