Now let's look right there where
Brother Tim read. I'm going to be preaching from
the last three verses of John chapter two. But what I have
in mind, the reason I got on this subject is the Lord has
laid it on my heart to really expound upon John chapter three,
the whole chapter. And you know that's the one where
he begins speaking to a man named Nicodemus about you must be born
again. And what that chapter is dealing
with is the new birth. And I've told you that when you
look at the scriptures, you look at them through the lens of God's
grace, which is accomplished, established firmly, by the work
of Jesus Christ who is none other than God manifest in the flesh. And that's why I wanted Timothy
to read that whole chapter. It starts out there with the
Lord's first public miracle there, changing water into wine. And
then he goes to Jerusalem. He drives the money changers
out of the temple. That's shown there in the book
of John to be a fulfillment of scripture that would apply only
to the Messiah, who is in his person God, man, both God and
man. And then when he told them, when
they asked him, he said, now you're doing all these things,
what right do you have? What sign do you show us? And
he spoke of his resurrection, but he spoke of it in metaphorical
terms, this building. You lower, you destroy, and I'll
raise it up again. He's talking about himself, his
death bearer on resurrection. They didn't understand that at
the time. And now here, he comes to the Passover feast. And then
he meets this man named Nicodemus, which I'll start on next week. But Nicodemus, a ruler of the
Jews, who didn't know the Messiah when he saw him. And of course,
the Lord said, you must be born again. Or you cannot see the
kingdom of God. You cannot enter the kingdom
of God. We need to understand this, that in order for a sinner
to have a right relationship with God, there's two great hurdles
that must be cleared. Two great tasks that must be
performed And we as sinful people cannot perform either one. You understand what I'm saying?
We cannot do it. We're helpless in each case.
The first hurdle, the first great task has to do with a legal issue. There's a legal matter. We're
sinners and we deserve nothing but death and condemnation. The
soul that sinneth shall surely die. The wages of sin is death. And the law has a hold upon us
unless the law can be satisfied. Justice has to be done. God is
a holy God. He's a just God. And in order
for him to have communion with sinners, to bless sinners, to
save sinners, his justice must be satisfied. That's called justification. How can a man, the scripture
asks, a sinful person, how can he be just with God? And the
answer to that question is totally, totally wrapped up in the person
and the finished work of Christ. How can God look at a sinner
like me and say, not guilty? How can he forgive me? It must
be on a just ground. How can he declare me righteous?
And it's only through the blood of Jesus Christ, his son. It's
only through his righteousness, Christ's righteousness, the righteousness
of God, charged to my account, imputed to me. given to me by
God's grace, a righteousness that I don't contribute anything
to. He did it all. He finished the work. Now, the
second hurdle, the second task that must be performed is a spiritual
matter. And that spiritual matter has
to do with the new birth. You see, we fell in Adam into
sin and death. And as a result, we're born into
this world naturally spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. Now, what does that mean? Does
that mean that people who are unsafe cannot hear what I'm saying? Well, they can hear it, but they
cannot and will not believe it and love it and live by it because
they're spiritually dead. What is spiritual death? It's
the absence of spiritual life. What is spiritual life? It's
life from the dead by God who brings a sinner to faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ and repentance and perseverance. And until we're
born again, we have no capacity, no desire to believe and live
by the things that glorify God. No knowledge of them. And you hath he quickened, given
life, who were dead in trespasses and sins. That's called sanctification
of the spirit, the new birth. Now that spiritual task, that
spiritual hurdle, is the fruit and the effect of that legal
matter having been taken care of. Romans 8 and verse 10 tells
us that. If Christ be in you, the body,
this physical body, is dead because of sin, But the Spirit, the Holy
Spirit, is life because of righteousness. Who's? Christ. And so the new
birth is Christ giving his people spiritual life, a new spirit,
a new heart, a new life, a spiritual resurrection from death unto
life everlasting. That's what it is. And the first
evidence that Christ died for my sins and removed that legal
hurdle, and that I've been born again as a result, the first
evidence of that is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Trusting
Him for salvation. Pleading His blood as my only
righteousness before God. That's the first evidence. Now
with that in mind, I want you to look back up at John 2 and
verse 23. And the title of this message is, What is in Man? What is in man? It says, verse
23, now when he was in Jerusalem, Christ, at the Passover, in the
feast day, many believed in his name when they saw the miracles
which he did. Now from the next two verses
we know that their believing in Christ was not what we call
saving faith. That it was merely the faith
of miracles. That's all it was. Believing
in Him not as Savior and Lord, not as surety, not as substitute
and redeemer, not as the Lord our righteousness, but simply
believing as did Nicodemus, we're going to see next week in chapter
three, that Jesus was a mere man, but a man sent from God,
enabled by God to perform miracles. That was nothing new. In the
Old Testament, there were mere men who performed miracles by
the power of God. But it's clear here that they
did not believe that Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, as they saw
him, that He is the Messiah, He is God manifest in the flesh. He's the Savior, as old Simeon
called Him, the consolation of Israel. They didn't believe that,
but they believed He was special, a special man, just a mere man,
but a man sent from God. So when it says here that they
believed on Him when they saw the miracles, this is not the
gift of faith that comes from God in the new birth. wherein
he gives his people a new heart, a new knowledge that brings sinners
to Christ for salvation, for righteousness, for forgiveness,
for eternal life and glory. You see, the Bible tells us that
faith does not come by miracles. You know that? You remember what
the Lord in the parable of the rich man Lazarus said, when the
rich man looking up from hell, saying, send Lazarus back to
tell my brothers so they won't end up where I am. And what was
the rich man told? He said, if they see somebody
risen from the dead, they'll believe. No, no. Though one rise from the dead,
they won't believe. They have Moses and the prophets.
They have the word of God. They have the gospel. Faith doesn't come by miracles.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Scripture
tells us. It's the gospel, not miracles,
that are the power of God and the salvation. I had a fellow
ask me about the modern day charismatic movement. And you know there
are false preachers who claim to be performing these miracles. And they asked me about that,
and I said, well, first of all, you know, when Christ performed
a miracle, do you know there was no question, there was no
doubt that a miracle had been performed? When he healed somebody,
they didn't have to call in doctors and say, now prove that he's
been healed. No, everybody knew it was so. But I said this, I said, if one
of those preachers If they actually performed a miracle before my
very eyes, and I knew it was a miracle, what would I say? And here's
what I told them. I said, I'd still not believe
they're God's servant until I heard what gospel they preached. Do you know that? What is their gospel? How does
God save sinners according to them? Because if they don't preach
the gospel, I don't care if they could lift up this building and
throw it into space. They're false preachers. And
that miracle was strong delusion that the people would believe
a lie. Now I believe that. There's no replacement for the
Word of God. I don't care what it is. If we
could raise everybody out and crown him, if we could do it,
that means nothing if the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace,
wherein the righteousness of God is revealed, is not preached. There's no greater miracle than
God saving a sinner by his grace with his truth. There's no greater
miracle. If you're a believer today, you're a miracle. That's the truth. You're a greater
miracle than if you could move a mountain. The greatest miracle. Well, look at verse 24. It says,
but Jesus did not commit himself unto them because he knew all
men. Now that word commit there, translated
commit himself, it's the same word translated believed in the
prior verse. So they claim to believe in him,
but only because of the miracles, not because of any conviction
of their sins or their need of a savior from their sins, not
from their need of righteousness in life that only comes to a
sinner by God's grace through and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
But it says basically Christ didn't believe in them. He had
no faith in their faith. And one thing to be assured of
is that whenever God saves a sinner, He is fully committed to that
sinner. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out, He said. He said, this is the will of
him that sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. And it says he didn't commit
himself to them because he knew all men. You know, the Bible
tells us that only God truly knows all people. And that he
alone knows the true hearts of all people. Solomon, you know,
in Solomon's prayer, in his dedication to the temple, he prayed this. He said, for thou, even thou
only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men. 1 Kings
8, 39. So what is this showing us? Well,
look at verse 25. He knew all men and needed not
that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. So to say that Christ knew all
men and that he knew what was in man, That's an affirmation
that he's not only man without sin, he's God manifest in the
flesh. And I'll tell you something here,
we need to make a distinction in what kind of knowledge this
is. This means, what he's saying
here is that Christ, as God manifest in the flesh, that he is aware,
he's cognizant of who they are, what they've done. what they're
doing, what they will do. He knew their hearts. Matthew
7, when those came before Christ at the judgment said, we've preached
in your name. We've done many wonderful works. We've cast out demons. What did
Christ say to them? He said, all things are naked
and open under the eyes of Him whom we have to do. And He said
it this way. He said, depart from Me you that
work iniquity. I never knew you. What is He
saying there? He knew their hearts. He knew
what was in them, but He didn't know them in salvation. He didn't
know them in that intimate relationship and knowledge that God has of
His people. You see, He knows His elect in
sovereign, redeeming love. In fact, the Bible says this,
it says, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal,
the Lord knoweth them that are his. Now, he knows everybody. He knows your mind, he knows
your thoughts. Everything's open and above board to him, with
him whom we have to do. But he knows his people in a
special way, in a gracious way, in an intimate way. He said,
I know my sheep. They know me. That's the kind
of knowledge I want him to have of me. I know he knows my thoughts. I know he knows my heart. But
my hope is that he knows me as one of his sheep, one of his
redeemed ones, one who is a member of his bride, his church, who
he redeemed with his precious blood. One whom He has given
life and brought by faith. Well, let's consider this question
briefly. He says in verse 25, He knew
what was in man. What is in man? Christ knows. But you know something? By nature,
we don't know what's in man. You know it by nature. When I
say by nature, you know what I'm talking about, don't you?
I'm talking about how we're born naturally. We fell in Adam, were
born spiritually dead, and in that spiritual state of death,
we don't even know ourselves. By nature, the only thing that
is in us, according to God's Word, is sin and death. And that includes all, without
exception, who fell in Adam and are born spiritually dead, naturally.
That includes the worst of us and the best of us. We fell into
that state of sin and death, and we're born spiritually dead.
And we have no spiritual life. You know, what is the spirit?
Talking about not the Holy Spirit, but the spirit of life. That's
our heart, that's our mind, our affections, our wills, our motives,
our knowledge, what drives us, what our goals are, what we love,
what we hate, Being dead spiritually means that we have no knowledge
of or desire for the things that glorify God. Especially in the
matter of salvation. What is in man? Think about this. I'll tell you what's in us by
nature. Pride. And self-righteousness. You remember when Adam and Eve
fell and they realized their nakedness? What did they do?
They tried to cover it up with fig leaf aprons. That's what
we do. You remember Cain bringing his
works unto the Lord seeking acceptance? That's the covering, man's works. By nature we all think too highly
of ourselves. No fear of God before us, no
true humility. False religion teaches us that
all people through, though fallen and sinful, retain a spark of
goodness and humility. And all we need is a preacher,
a fiery preacher, a charismatic preacher. to just fan that flame
and get our emotions going to where we'll accept and decide. But what does the Word of God
say? Look at Romans chapter three with me. See, by nature, we don't know
what's in us. But you know what? God's Word
tells us what's in us. Look at Romans three and verse
10. Listen to this. Now you either have to accept
God's Word or you've got to relegate this off to somebody else. But
it says in verse 10, as it is written, that means this is God's
Word, there is none righteous, no not one. Now who is that talking about?
That's talking about all of us by nature. You say, but now wait a minute.
I've never killed anybody, I've never robbed anybody, I've never
done this, done that. There is none righteous. No, not one. What is he saying
here? No matter how good we try to
be, we will not attain the perfection of righteousness that can only
be found in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen from the dead. We'll
always fall short. Don't you quote Romans 3.23? All have sinned and what? Come
short of the glory of God. Where's the glory of God? In
Christ. Look at verse 11. There's none that understand
it. That's spiritual death. We don't understand the way of
salvation. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them, for
they're spiritually discerned or understood. There's none that
seeketh after God. The first time I heard a gospel
preacher preach from this, he stopped and said something I've
never heard before. He said, it says there's none
that seeketh after God. And he said this, he said, now
notice, it doesn't say there's none that seeketh after a God. A God of men's imaginations. It doesn't say there's none religious
here. It doesn't say there's none moral
here in the eyes of men. It says there's none that seeketh
after God, the true and living God. By nature, we won't do that. That's what's in man, ignorance. And then verse 12, they are all
gone out of the way. Now what way do you think he's
talking about here? the way of the moral majority, the way of
false religion, the way of grace, God's way. They're together become
unprofitable. And that includes their religion.
He's not talking about the stock market here. He's talking about
how sinners are by nature. And look here, there's none that
doeth good, no, not one. He's talking about goodness in
God's standard. How does God measure goodness? I'll tell you exactly how. In
Christ. How does God measure righteousness?
In Christ. That's why the question is posed
so many times in Job. How can a man, a sinful person,
be clean in God's sight? How can a man be justified with
God? You know, one of the main problems
with the modern popular Christianity of today is that it denies what
God says about us. Our fall in Adam, our sin, our
spiritual death and depravity. Again, they claim that man has
this spark of goodness This free will, as they call it, which
is no more than a sinner rebelling against God, seeking to be autonomous,
that means on his own, and independent from God. And that gives rise
to all kinds of false gospels, false ways of salvation, conditional
salvation. God loves everybody, Christ died
for everybody, now it's up to you. You know why they say that? They don't know what's in man. They portray the redemptive work
of Christ on the cross as not a true redemption, but only a
possibility. If you'll just cooperate, if
you'll just decide. Yet the Bible says that that's
not in man. People go about thinking that
we're justified not by what Christ finished, but by what God has
enabled us to do. Like the Pharisee, I thank God
that I'm not like other men. I thank God that I do this. We're going to be talking about
the new birth. Regeneration. That's what the old theologians
called it. That's in the Bible a couple
of times, that word. Regeneration and conversion. You know what
most people believe today? They believe what they call decisional
regeneration. That means you decide, you make
the right choice, and then God gives you life. That's not what
the Bible teaches. You see, that decision to follow
Christ, that's not in us by nature. You see, if we believe the gospel,
If we truly believe Christ, you and I don't believe the gospel
because we're better or wiser or more righteous than anyone
else. We believe it because God sovereignly, powerfully, and
graciously intervened and drew us to himself by sovereignly
and powerfully and invincibly giving us life. A new heart. Let me show you that. Look over
at John chapter one. I'll be going back to this verse
later on when we talk about the new birth. But look at verse
11 of John chapter one. It says, he came unto his own
and his own received him not. They didn't receive him. Verse 12. but as many as received
him." Now, some did receive him. Why? Well, they're just less
rebellious, I guess. They're less opt... No. It says,
to them gave he power, and that word power there doesn't mean
ability, it means right. The privilege. The privilege
to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
Now, look at verse 13. Which were born. Now, he's talking
about a new birth here. not of blood, not by their physical
birth, nor of the will of the flesh, which I believe means
the works of the flesh, nor of the will of man, not of their
decision, but born of God. Isn't that what it says? By nature, the Bible tells us
that the will to believe God, the will to decide for Christ
and receive Him, is not in man. What is in man? Rebellion, unbelief. He came to his own and his own
received him not. What is in man? An evil heart
of unbelief. Read in Jeremiah 17, let me just
read this to you. This is the heart of man by nature,
every one of us by nature, even the most religious. It says,
verse nine, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked, who can know it? Well, surely, pastor, that's
talking about the immoral segment of society, the perverted people. It's talking about everybody
by nature, even the most religious. even the most dedicated, without
Christ, without knowledge, without the Gospel, without faith, without
righteousness. And you know, even in the Old
Testament, even the prophecies of the Old Testament of the coming
of Christ and the establishment of the New Covenant, what does
He say? What does God say that He's going
to do for people? Well, in Jeremiah 31, listen
to this. He says in verse 31, behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in
the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the
land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although I was in
husband unto them. But this shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel after those days. Listen
to this. saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts. I will write it in their hearts. I will be their God and they
shall be my people. That's what God's going to do.
Ezekiel spoke of it. Let me read you this. This is
Ezekiel chapter 36. Verse 25, listen to what he says.
He says, then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you
shall be clean. That's the blood of Christ. From
all your filthiness, from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
A new heart also will I give you. A new spirit will I put
within you, and I will take away the stony heart. the hard heart,
the unbelieving heart, the evil heart, out of your flesh, and
I will give you a heart of flesh, one that will bend and bow to
the ways of God. Now let me ask you a question. He's prophesying there of a new
day, under a new covenant, which was ratified and fulfilled by
Christ, and guarantees a people with a new heart. Why didn't
He do that to those Old Testament unbelievers? Why didn't He do it for them?
Because it seemed good in His sight. That's His sovereign will. What is in man? Spiritual death. What is in man? A hatred of the
true Gospel. Look at John chapter 3 again.
We'll see this in later messages. But listen to verse 19. Christ says this is the condemnation
that light has come into the world. Men loved darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil. You know what deeds
he's talking about? He's talking about what man by
nature thinks is good. His works, the gospel light of
Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead, of Christ as my
only righteousness, that exposes my deeds My attempts at making
myself fit for God's kingdom to be evil deeds because they
deny the glory of God. They deny the work of Christ.
They exalt man to a place where he doesn't belong. And it goes
on, verse 20, for everyone that doeth evil hateth the light,
the gospel, Christ. Neither cometh through the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved, exposed. But look at verse 21. but he that doeth truth. Now,
what is it to do truth? It's to believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is our truth. He comes to the light, that his
deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God. That
is, they are the work of God. We are his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, not because of, but unto good
works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them. Well, let me leave you with this
question. Consider this. How does the Lord
know me? Now it says here he knew all
men. And we know he knows and loves his elect in a special
way, a gracious way, a loving way. How does he know me? Well, it takes the word of God
empowered by the Holy Spirit as the spirit of truth and conviction
to show us what we are by nature. And when God shows us our true
selves, what does he do? He drives us to Christ for salvation. The psalmist said, 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 everlasting. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Has He given me a new heart wherein
Christ dwells within me by His Spirit and His Word? Has He given
me a heart for Christ? Has He given me the assurance
of perfect righteousness that I can only see and find and embrace
in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ? That's what
it's all about, isn't it?