What Blessedness Belongs to God (John 3:1-22)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:06.320 My friends, let's turn our attention to John Chapter Three. Here we read 2 00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:13.070 story, John's account of someone coming to the word of God, that is, 3 00:00:13.150 --> 00:00:20.870 Jesus. Jesus, here a man named Nicodemus comes to Jesus and we 4 00:00:20.989 --> 00:00:26.899 read of that encounter. We learn more about our savior and his kingdom. 5 00:00:28.219 --> 00:00:32.179 God's Word is good. Let's give our attention to it. John Chapter Three, 6 00:00:32.219 --> 00:00:38.049 versus one through twenty one. Now there was a man of the Pharisees 7 00:00:38.130 --> 00:00:43.289 named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by 8 00:00:43.289 --> 00:00:48.049 night and said to him, rabbi, we know that you are a teacher 9 00:00:48.289 --> 00:00:53.240 come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless 10 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:58.439 God is with him. Jesus answered him truly truly, I say to you, 11 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:02.880 unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. 12 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:07.750 Nicodemus said to him. How can a man be born when he is old? 13 00:01:08.549 --> 00:01:11.870 Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? 14 00:01:14.189 --> 00:01:19.140 Jesus answered truly. Truly, I say to you, unless one is born 15 00:01:19.260 --> 00:01:23.019 of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That 16 00:01:23.219 --> 00:01:26.939 which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the 17 00:01:26.939 --> 00:01:30.459 spear. Here it is spirit. Do Not Marvel that, I said to 18 00:01:30.620 --> 00:01:36.250 you. You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and 19 00:01:36.409 --> 00:01:38.969 you hear it sound, but you do not know where it comes from or 20 00:01:40.129 --> 00:01:44.769 where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit. 21 00:01:44.810 --> 00:01:49.120 Nicodemus said to him, how can these things be? Jesus answered him. 22 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:53.280 Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these 23 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:59.359 things truly. Truly, I say to you, we speak of what we 24 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:02.390 know and we bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not 25 00:02:02.590 --> 00:02:07.629 receive our testimony. If I've told you earthly things and you do not believe, 26 00:02:08.389 --> 00:02:13.949 how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has 27 00:02:13.990 --> 00:02:19.259 ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the son of Man. 28 00:02:19.300 --> 00:02:23.580 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son 29 00:02:23.659 --> 00:02:30.409 of man be lifted up that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 30 00:02:30.409 --> 00:02:35.650 For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes 31 00:02:35.689 --> 00:02:40.330 in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send 32 00:02:40.409 --> 00:02:45.000 his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the 33 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:50.159 world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, 34 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:55.080 but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he is not believed in the 35 00:02:55.159 --> 00:03:00.430 name of the only son of God. And this is the judgment. The 36 00:03:00.469 --> 00:03:06.229 light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light 37 00:03:07.030 --> 00:03:10.389 because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light 38 00:03:10.909 --> 00:03:15.259 and does not come to the light lest his works should be exposed. But 39 00:03:15.379 --> 00:03:20.659 whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly 40 00:03:20.780 --> 00:03:27.330 seen that his works have been carried out in God. Amen, he may 41 00:03:27.370 --> 00:03:32.009 be seated. When Nicodemus comes to Jesus, he seems to want to know 42 00:03:32.689 --> 00:03:40.330 something more, something more about what he has already seen. He says that 43 00:03:40.599 --> 00:03:46.039 he has seen the things of God, and he's right about that. But 44 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:50.159 John tells us, as a detail in the story, that he comes in 45 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:54.280 the night, he comes in the darkness. But what we see is that 46 00:03:54.400 --> 00:04:00.349 the darkness in which Nicodemus comes is not nearly that of the sun not shining, 47 00:04:01.110 --> 00:04:10.020 but there is a darkness in his own mind misunderstandings, blindness. Let's 48 00:04:10.060 --> 00:04:15.780 begin this morning by going through the story briefly, reminding ourselves some what is 49 00:04:15.860 --> 00:04:20.139 here and then thinking about what it is that Nicodemus finds, what it is 50 00:04:20.259 --> 00:04:30.529 the Lord tells him. So Nicodemus comes in the night and he lacks understanding. 51 00:04:30.490 --> 00:04:34.850 He comes, we read, as a ruler of the Jews. He 52 00:04:35.089 --> 00:04:42.360 is of the Pharisees. And, interestingly, and places where Jesus addresses Nicodemus, 53 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:46.319 sometimes he addresses him in the plural, which may suggest that he is 54 00:04:46.360 --> 00:04:51.910 a representative of the Pharisees, that there are more people listening, perhaps through 55 00:04:53.029 --> 00:04:59.509 Nicodemus, then Nicodemus, than just Nicodemus himself. When he comes to Jesus, 56 00:04:59.629 --> 00:05:01.750 though, he doesn't come as an accuser, as an attacker. He 57 00:05:01.870 --> 00:05:06.540 he comes with respect. You see that in verse two right He says, 58 00:05:06.939 --> 00:05:12.259 rabbi, we know that you are a teacher, come from God, for 59 00:05:12.420 --> 00:05:15.100 no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. 60 00:05:16.220 --> 00:05:19.860 Well, why does Jesus respond to this? Good job, Nicodemus, you 61 00:05:19.939 --> 00:05:26.050 got it your understanding. Perhaps he could have, but instead Jesus responds with 62 00:05:26.089 --> 00:05:30.129 a Teat, with with a teaching. That parallels his statement. He says, 63 00:05:30.329 --> 00:05:32.970 we know that you are a teacher, for no one can come to 64 00:05:33.170 --> 00:05:40.120 God unless God is with him. Jesus takes this unless phrase and sort of 65 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:44.759 turns it and he says truly, truly, I say to you, unless 66 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:49.910 someone is unless someone is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven. 67 00:05:50.790 --> 00:05:56.110 In this way, he takes what Jew Nicodemus already stands, understands, 68 00:05:56.149 --> 00:06:00.509 and he ratches, Ratchet's it up a notch. Right he says, we 69 00:06:00.750 --> 00:06:04.899 recognize this, you are from God. And No, no, we recognize 70 00:06:04.980 --> 00:06:09.139 that. No one could do these things. and Jesus says, yes, 71 00:06:09.259 --> 00:06:13.100 you see, but you cannot see the Kingdom of God unless you are born 72 00:06:13.220 --> 00:06:15.579 of the Kingdom of God. So you perhaps you're seeing these things, but 73 00:06:16.019 --> 00:06:23.529 it's not enough. Now this doesn't make Nicodemus say, Oh, okay, 74 00:06:23.689 --> 00:06:26.410 thank you very much, I appreciate the help, and he goes on his 75 00:06:26.529 --> 00:06:31.850 way. Now Nicodemus is confused, very confused, and what we see is 76 00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:35.680 that Nicodemus, like most of us, wants to come to the Lord on 77 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:41.160 his own terms. The Lord is tells him, though, that is going 78 00:06:41.240 --> 00:06:46.189 to require much more nicodemus recognizes these signs, but he will not see the 79 00:06:46.269 --> 00:06:51.149 Kingdom of God unless he is born again from of Heaven. In other words, 80 00:06:51.189 --> 00:06:58.470 Nicodemus needs to be differently related to God. Then he perhaps isn't already. 81 00:06:58.509 --> 00:07:03.019 He needs to be born again. He needs to be change, have 82 00:07:03.139 --> 00:07:10.060 a change in his family. Now Nicodemus takes this in a physical way. 83 00:07:11.139 --> 00:07:15.660 How can a man be born again? A sort of a I don't understand 84 00:07:15.660 --> 00:07:18.209 what you're saying. An old person. Does he enter into the womb? 85 00:07:18.410 --> 00:07:24.850 I'm sure it's something's disconnecting right. and Jesus says a man must be born 86 00:07:24.970 --> 00:07:29.569 of the water, in spirit, or else he cannot enter the Kingdom of 87 00:07:29.689 --> 00:07:33.839 God. So Nicodemus thinks he sees signs, but he won't see the Kingdom 88 00:07:33.879 --> 00:07:39.279 of God unless he is reborn. Not Just Nicodemus, but this is true 89 00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:44.870 of everyone. Jesus says Nicodemus can't see how he'll enter the womb, but 90 00:07:44.949 --> 00:07:49.870 Jesus says it must happen if he is to be reborn, not through the 91 00:07:49.949 --> 00:07:56.670 womb but through the water and the spirit. And then after this we have 92 00:07:56.709 --> 00:08:00.259 an explanation of how it is a person is born again, this water in 93 00:08:00.379 --> 00:08:05.420 spirit, which reminds us of the sovereignty of God in all of this work, 94 00:08:05.980 --> 00:08:13.129 after this dialog and these various this back and forth conversation, then Jesus 95 00:08:13.209 --> 00:08:16.970 begins to explain more about what it means to belong to the Kingdom of God. 96 00:08:18.449 --> 00:08:26.410 He uses this amazing phrase, eternal life. We think about life all 97 00:08:26.449 --> 00:08:33.399 the time. Our thoughts about the afterlife are sometimes very present and in front 98 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:37.840 of us, what happens after we die, but often with they're not there 99 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:41.990 right rather I should say always. Even if they're not they're right in front 100 00:08:41.990 --> 00:08:46.350 of us, they are certainly in our minds. What we do, how 101 00:08:46.429 --> 00:08:50.669 we act in this world, depends very much on what we think about what 102 00:08:50.909 --> 00:09:01.500 is to come. Jesus is promising something here, eternal life. He talks 103 00:09:01.539 --> 00:09:05.379 about this in terms of his mission as well. Whoever believes, he says, 104 00:09:05.460 --> 00:09:09.409 whoever believes in him, will have eternal life, and he says this 105 00:09:09.490 --> 00:09:18.169 is why God has sent him into the world to give eternal life. All 106 00:09:18.370 --> 00:09:24.049 this teaches us the quite a lot. Nicodemus comes in darkness. Perhaps you 107 00:09:24.250 --> 00:09:31.080 and I come in a certain measure of darkness to Jesus, but here Jesus 108 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:35.279 Shines His light and he tells us who he is, why he came, 109 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:41.149 what he's there to do. Nicodemus comes with a certain understanding of Jesus, 110 00:09:41.789 --> 00:09:50.029 certain misunderstandings and lack of understanding with Jesus. But Jesus then tells Nicodemus about 111 00:09:50.029 --> 00:09:54.620 himself. He opens himself up, about himself, and he does it not 112 00:09:54.740 --> 00:10:00.779 just for him but for us to we're given here the conversation of the Lord 113 00:10:00.820 --> 00:10:03.820 of Heaven about his own mission, about the results that we can have, 114 00:10:05.059 --> 00:10:09.610 the blessings that we can have when we believe in him. How important it 115 00:10:09.649 --> 00:10:18.649 is to know and understand and to believe Jesus's words. Think about heaven again, 116 00:10:20.210 --> 00:10:26.720 think about the afterlife. People have all kinds of ideas about what heaven 117 00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:31.200 is, about how we get there. There's a book over the last few 118 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:37.590 years that I continue to see and circle case and airports and just must keep 119 00:10:37.590 --> 00:10:43.190 selling and selling selling about heaven. We're curious, we want to know. 120 00:10:43.429 --> 00:10:50.220 It's important. We spend our lives trying to preserve our lives. We spend 121 00:10:50.259 --> 00:10:58.860 our lives mourning the death of people we love and we care about. What 122 00:10:58.019 --> 00:11:05.049 about the afterlife? What about heaven? What about Hell? Who is Jesus? 123 00:11:05.250 --> 00:11:09.210 People have all kinds of ideas about these things. Some people think you 124 00:11:09.289 --> 00:11:13.970 need to be a really good person to get into heaven, some people think 125 00:11:13.970 --> 00:11:16.929 you don't need to do anything because everyone goes there, and, of course, 126 00:11:16.970 --> 00:11:20.840 some people claim not to believe in an afterlife at all, that we're 127 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:26.559 just a bunch of neurons and once the switch is flipped off and the lights 128 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:31.159 go out, that's all there is. Now there are lots of ways to 129 00:11:31.240 --> 00:11:33.830 evaluate and to think about these ideas, but let me suggest to you that 130 00:11:35.149 --> 00:11:39.629 the best way to evaluate and think about these ideas is to go directly to 131 00:11:39.750 --> 00:11:45.750 the source, go to the one who has descended from heaven and has promised 132 00:11:45.789 --> 00:11:50.980 to provide a way there, rather than guessing, rather than speculating, rather 133 00:11:50.019 --> 00:11:58.419 than taking our accounts from people who may or may not be trustworthy, let's 134 00:11:58.740 --> 00:12:05.769 take our let's take our knowledge from the son of God himself, who specifically 135 00:12:05.850 --> 00:12:11.289 came into the world to answer this question, to reveal this knowledge, to 136 00:12:11.529 --> 00:12:18.200 tell us about heaven, about eternal life and how we can have it. 137 00:12:22.279 --> 00:12:31.470 I want to continue underlining the importance of this point by reminding you the very 138 00:12:31.509 --> 00:12:37.990 high stakes that are involved. I don't know exactly how what Nicodemus's intentions were 139 00:12:39.149 --> 00:12:41.429 in coming to Jesus. there. A little bit suspicious, a little bit 140 00:12:41.509 --> 00:12:48.620 not, it's hard to say. But no matter what, what Nicodemus and 141 00:12:48.700 --> 00:12:50.820 I think we all realize is that when you come to Jesus, you quickly 142 00:12:50.899 --> 00:12:58.299 realize that the stakes are much higher than you often think. A lot of 143 00:12:58.340 --> 00:13:01.649 times we think of Jesus in a very small way, a rabbi, a 144 00:13:01.809 --> 00:13:07.850 teacher, a friend, a counselor a healer even. But what Jesus constantly 145 00:13:07.929 --> 00:13:11.570 reveals is that the stakes are much, much higher, that he's much, 146 00:13:11.610 --> 00:13:20.240 much greater than we offer and think. When we think about what we think 147 00:13:20.679 --> 00:13:24.320 about him and what we think about what happens after we die, makes a 148 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:28.750 big difference, the scriptures say, a difference for how we live now and 149 00:13:30.389 --> 00:13:33.590 which makes the difference for what happens after we die. Here's some of the 150 00:13:33.710 --> 00:13:39.870 scriptures. First Corinthians says a first Corinthians nine says, or do you not 151 00:13:41.070 --> 00:13:46.379 know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be 152 00:13:46.539 --> 00:13:52.779 deceived, God says. Neither the sexual immoral, sexually immoral, nor idolaters, 153 00:13:54.379 --> 00:14:01.090 nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality. And again, Romans Nineteen 154 00:14:01.210 --> 00:14:05.889 says, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. This 155 00:14:07.090 --> 00:14:11.919 tells us that people don't get away with sin, and this judgment of God 156 00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:16.799 will be brought about, God says, by the Sun himself. As Jesus 157 00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:20.279 is going to say in John Chapter Five, the father has given everything to 158 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:24.950 the sun, and so quote, an hour is coming when all who are 159 00:14:24.990 --> 00:14:30.710 in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done 160 00:14:30.710 --> 00:14:35.470 good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection 161 00:14:35.149 --> 00:14:41.460 of Judgment. You can, of course, ignore this fact, but you 162 00:14:41.580 --> 00:14:45.580 ignore it at your own peril. It's like racing towards the edge of a 163 00:14:45.659 --> 00:14:50.539 cliff and seeing giant billboards watch out, watch out, the end is coming, 164 00:14:50.700 --> 00:14:54.409 and then you just blow by em. People do this all the time, 165 00:14:54.769 --> 00:14:58.730 but just because they do it doesn't mean it's a good idea. Our 166 00:14:58.889 --> 00:15:05.929 conscience ands all tell us that there's no escaping judgment. You'll even hear someone 167 00:15:05.970 --> 00:15:09.039 who claims to be an atheist, who claims to have this view about the 168 00:15:09.159 --> 00:15:15.559 body being a mere machine, and saying things like what goes around comes around, 169 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:20.200 or pill eventually get what's coming to him, or that's not fair. 170 00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:26.429 How could they do that? Even somebody who claims that the body is nothing 171 00:15:26.509 --> 00:15:37.820 more than a mere set of switches and and a jumble of electricity, still 172 00:15:37.019 --> 00:15:43.179 talks and acts and lives in a way which understands what is right and what 173 00:15:43.340 --> 00:15:48.539 is wrong. Still lives and acts in a way that depends on things like 174 00:15:50.009 --> 00:15:56.730 fairness and truth and justice. WHO said? Who will say things like that's 175 00:15:56.850 --> 00:16:04.080 not right, that's not fair. We know the difference between right and wrong, 176 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:11.320 and the judgment of God rightly falls on those who do wrong. We 177 00:16:11.720 --> 00:16:15.919 judge others when they do US wrong, and so Paul says in Romans to. 178 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:19.389 What makes us think that we will then escape God's judgment, who knows 179 00:16:19.429 --> 00:16:26.990 all things perfectly and judges all things right? Are you a person who ignores 180 00:16:26.549 --> 00:16:32.470 the warnings that God gives, like the passage we read in Zachariah? God 181 00:16:32.590 --> 00:16:36.820 tells us his Willie tells us us, tells it to US clearly. Are 182 00:16:36.940 --> 00:16:42.179 you a person who hardens your heart? We simply moves on. Who suppresses 183 00:16:42.340 --> 00:16:51.529 what you feel? It's dangerous if you suppress a fire that burns in your 184 00:16:51.570 --> 00:16:56.090 conscience. If you take the sharp edge of a surgeon's scalpel and doll it 185 00:16:56.250 --> 00:17:02.159 down, it's not going to work for doing surgery on your heart, which 186 00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:08.759 is necessary if you're going to live. Is this a warning? Yes, 187 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:14.000 it's a warning. This is me, but I a giant billboard in front 188 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:19.549 of you saying watch out. But it's not really me, it's God himself, 189 00:17:21.549 --> 00:17:26.069 in his love, in His mercy, plaque, harding before you the 190 00:17:26.230 --> 00:17:34.539 truth of what happens when we numb ourselves to his warnings. Jesus says in 191 00:17:34.619 --> 00:17:41.819 Matthew Twenty Eight, do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot 192 00:17:41.859 --> 00:17:47.930 kill the soul. Rather, fear Him who can destroy both soul and body 193 00:17:48.809 --> 00:17:56.650 in hell. Jesus is no mirror, rabbi, and Nicodemus is beginning to 194 00:17:56.730 --> 00:18:04.640 realize this. He doesn't perhaps yet realize it all now, and in a 195 00:18:04.759 --> 00:18:11.680 way that's okay. He's learning, he's there, he's listening, he's asking 196 00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:18.470 questions and there are indications in the Bible that he gets it by the end. 197 00:18:19.549 --> 00:18:25.789 It's this process of time that is just another example of God's mercy to 198 00:18:25.910 --> 00:18:30.900 us. Can you imagine what would have happened if Jesus came as a judge 199 00:18:32.460 --> 00:18:37.180 the first time he came. You remember, notice what Jesus says here to 200 00:18:37.259 --> 00:18:41.609 Nicodemus. He says God did not send this is verse seventeen. God did 201 00:18:41.690 --> 00:18:47.289 not send his judgment into the world to condemn the world, but in order 202 00:18:47.329 --> 00:18:51.650 that the world might be saved through him. In other words, Jesus, 203 00:18:51.690 --> 00:18:56.240 he's saying, I didn't come as a judge. I didn't come to set 204 00:18:56.359 --> 00:19:00.039 all things right and to rule and separate the sheep's from sheep from the goats. 205 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:06.359 I came to bring salvation. I came to bring mercy. Can you 206 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:10.029 imagine what would have happened if Jesus had not come in this way? What 207 00:19:10.150 --> 00:19:14.029 if there was no cross? What if there was no lifting up of the 208 00:19:14.069 --> 00:19:18.750 savior that we might look on him, believe and be saved? Well, 209 00:19:18.789 --> 00:19:22.069 the scriptures tell us exactly what it would have been like, because we know 210 00:19:22.269 --> 00:19:26.779 what it will be like when he comes again to do that work of judgment. 211 00:19:29.259 --> 00:19:34.259 Revelation nineteen eleven says that Jim Jesus comes the second time not to not 212 00:19:34.500 --> 00:19:40.410 to be lifted up in this way so that we might look on him and 213 00:19:40.529 --> 00:19:45.690 be saved, but to save all those who have believed. Revelation nineteen eleven 214 00:19:45.769 --> 00:19:52.920 and following says this of Jesus's second coming. Then I saw heaven opened and 215 00:19:52.039 --> 00:19:56.599 behold a white horse. The one sitting on it is called faithful and true, 216 00:19:57.160 --> 00:20:03.319 and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a 217 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:07.150 flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has 218 00:20:07.190 --> 00:20:11.710 a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a 219 00:20:11.789 --> 00:20:15.069 robed dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the 220 00:20:15.309 --> 00:20:21.940 word of God, and the armies of Heaven, arrayed in fine linen, 221 00:20:22.420 --> 00:20:26.819 white and pure. We're following him on white horses. From his mouth comes 222 00:20:26.900 --> 00:20:32.819 a sharp sword with which to strike down the nation's and he will rule them 223 00:20:32.940 --> 00:20:36.450 with a rod of iron, and he will tread the wine press of the 224 00:20:36.769 --> 00:20:41.569 fury, of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on 225 00:20:41.650 --> 00:20:45.769 his thigh he has written a name written, King of kings and Lord of 226 00:20:45.970 --> 00:20:55.119 Lords. This is not how Jesus first came. When Jesus first came, 227 00:20:55.359 --> 00:21:00.000 he did not come as the Lord of hosts, arrayed with this giant army, 228 00:21:00.759 --> 00:21:07.750 ready to do battle against all who have and are opposing him. Instead, 229 00:21:07.990 --> 00:21:12.910 the Lord of hosts, all of that heavenly angelic host were singing praises, 230 00:21:14.029 --> 00:21:18.460 saying glory to God and the highest peace on earth. We Bring News 231 00:21:18.539 --> 00:21:27.660 of great joy salvation to the world. It's the same person, but his 232 00:21:27.819 --> 00:21:33.130 mission. When he came in his incarnation, when the word of God became 233 00:21:33.130 --> 00:21:37.450 incarnate and dwelt among us, this same king of Kings, this Lord of 234 00:21:37.569 --> 00:21:41.410 Lords, did not come in the way that he will come. He came 235 00:21:41.529 --> 00:21:48.920 as a little child, is a baby. He came clothed in mortal flesh, 236 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:55.519 he covered his glory. He came in such a way that a bumbling 237 00:21:55.960 --> 00:22:00.200 teacher like Nicodemus could come into the middle of the night and say, rabbi 238 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:04.430 been seeing some things and I have some questions, and that he would be 239 00:22:04.589 --> 00:22:11.029 received by the Lord of Heaven and that the knowledge of the glory of God 240 00:22:11.190 --> 00:22:17.619 would then be revealed to this man, a man who, like you and 241 00:22:17.779 --> 00:22:23.660 like me, is full of sin and misunderstanding and Misapprehension and not yet worshiping 242 00:22:25.539 --> 00:22:32.930 God as he ought. And more than all that, this same man, 243 00:22:33.130 --> 00:22:41.410 Jesus, perished to save us who are perishing. He died to save us 244 00:22:41.450 --> 00:22:45.200 who are dying. He was lifted up, as he says here, so 245 00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:48.640 that all who might look on him might be saved. If you don't know 246 00:22:48.759 --> 00:22:55.400 much about God, you know a lot more now and you know everything in 247 00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:59.829 a way that you need to know about him that when you put your faith 248 00:22:59.950 --> 00:23:07.829 in him, in this Jesus, that you will be saved in this world. 249 00:23:07.869 --> 00:23:12.539 Are In this word that you have heard. You cannot avoid is awesome 250 00:23:12.700 --> 00:23:18.420 power and his might, but he also reveals himself in this way that he 251 00:23:18.539 --> 00:23:26.099 promises salvation to all who believe on him. How strangely, some people like 252 00:23:26.250 --> 00:23:30.609 to think that when this kingdom comes, this mighty Kingdom of God that brings 253 00:23:30.730 --> 00:23:36.009 eternal life and say he is all who look upon Jesus, that they think 254 00:23:36.049 --> 00:23:41.599 that God will then place this mighty, awesome, unshakable kingdom in the hands 255 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:45.759 of men who will shake and maybe even drop it and it'll all be over. 256 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:52.079 But of course makes zero sense. Who Can God? When God brings 257 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:56.509 this reality into the world, when he manifests his kingdom, he doesn't give 258 00:23:56.549 --> 00:24:02.670 it to people who are going to then fail and drop it. It's not 259 00:24:02.750 --> 00:24:06.710 because they don't fail, they do all the time, but it's because God 260 00:24:07.710 --> 00:24:12.099 holds that in his own hands. He uses weak, failing, sinful people 261 00:24:12.900 --> 00:24:18.259 to bring these things about. What I'm trying to say is that when the 262 00:24:18.299 --> 00:24:22.859 Kingdom of God comes, it doesn't even though God comes in this humble, 263 00:24:23.769 --> 00:24:27.529 careful way, in this very meek and lowly way, into the world, 264 00:24:29.089 --> 00:24:33.329 it is not fragile. Yes, Jesus will die, but in his dying 265 00:24:33.410 --> 00:24:38.319 he is Glorious and lifted up. Though Jesus comes in, the Kingdom of 266 00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:45.599 God comes as a baby, it also comes like a charging rhinoceros. It's 267 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:51.680 not something that you can just sort of stop. God does not bring about 268 00:24:51.799 --> 00:24:56.029 his unbreakable kingdom and then place it in the hands of fallible men who might 269 00:24:56.069 --> 00:25:00.910 break it. I point say this because this kingdom, this salvation, and 270 00:25:02.069 --> 00:25:07.859 this god in whom you put your trust in, will save no matter what 271 00:25:08.059 --> 00:25:14.779 the plot and plans of men are, and Jesus is making this point as 272 00:25:14.819 --> 00:25:19.500 he notes the sovereignty of God in this salvation that he's talking about. I 273 00:25:19.740 --> 00:25:23.769 came into this world to bring salvation and a men and that is not a 274 00:25:25.170 --> 00:25:32.289 fallible salvation. Notice what he says. He says that this kingdom the salvation. 275 00:25:32.529 --> 00:25:34.880 That is not something that is born of the flesh. It's born of 276 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:41.759 the spirit that those who enter into it are not born of temporal things which 277 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:45.559 will pass away, but a born of the very spirit of God, who 278 00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:49.470 is eternal. Notice what he says about the works that people do in Verse 279 00:25:49.549 --> 00:25:53.630 Twenty One. When people do the works of the spirit, the works of 280 00:25:53.710 --> 00:25:56.710 the light, when they do what is good, when they turn away from 281 00:25:56.710 --> 00:26:03.579 the darkness, they are works that are carried out in God. Those who 282 00:26:03.660 --> 00:26:07.900 turn away from the light, those who remain in the flesh, are those 283 00:26:07.940 --> 00:26:11.779 who are already condemned, but those who come to the light are those who 284 00:26:11.779 --> 00:26:19.049 are being saved. Consider God's sovereignty. When he talks about the spirit in 285 00:26:19.250 --> 00:26:23.410 Verse Eight, the Wind Blows where it wishes. You hear it sound, 286 00:26:23.569 --> 00:26:26.569 but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So 287 00:26:26.809 --> 00:26:33.880 it is with everyone who is born of the spirit, Jesus says, in 288 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:37.440 one hand, on the one hand, the salvation and the eternal life he 289 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:44.000 brings is so simple. You look on him, you believe and you are 290 00:26:44.160 --> 00:26:48.349 saved. But then people like to pervert that and think that somehow then it 291 00:26:48.509 --> 00:26:52.990 becomes something that they can control, that the salvation of something is of God 292 00:26:53.109 --> 00:26:57.950 is something that they can manage or manipulate or lose or grow or but God 293 00:26:59.069 --> 00:27:06.059 says no, though it's incredibly simple. Look on Jesus and be saved, 294 00:27:07.299 --> 00:27:11.019 it is nevertheless in his sovereign hands. It is in the hands of the 295 00:27:11.099 --> 00:27:15.769 spirit, a spirit that you don't control, a spirit that goes where he 296 00:27:15.890 --> 00:27:22.369 wishes like the wind. You hear it sound, you recognize his presence, 297 00:27:22.450 --> 00:27:26.089 you see his work, but you do not know where it comes from or 298 00:27:26.130 --> 00:27:30.119 where it goes. If you don't know it, you certainly can't control it. 299 00:27:32.839 --> 00:27:37.039 What does this mean for us? What Jesus is teaching us, as 300 00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:41.240 Nicodemus comes to him, is that, from beginning to end, your focus 301 00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:49.150 ought to be on God, not on yourself, nowhere else. As you 302 00:27:49.230 --> 00:27:53.869 consider his judgment that is to come at the end of the world. Let 303 00:27:53.910 --> 00:27:59.619 Him terrify you in your sins, but the fear of God be upon you. 304 00:28:00.779 --> 00:28:03.099 See Him for all his glory. Know that he will coming and he 305 00:28:03.140 --> 00:28:07.579 will judge all, but let your but let you, as you look upon 306 00:28:07.779 --> 00:28:12.970 God, let him also be your rescue, your salvation. As he says 307 00:28:14.009 --> 00:28:21.529 here, whoever believes in him may have eternal life. How is that? 308 00:28:21.769 --> 00:28:29.680 Possible. It's because Jesus will be lifted up on a cross. He will 309 00:28:29.759 --> 00:28:33.240 give his life as a ransom for many, but the dead of our sin 310 00:28:33.480 --> 00:28:41.119 will be paid, and paid perfectly. When we think about our lives, 311 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:45.509 when we think about the afterlife, are often so afraid about temporal things, 312 00:28:45.549 --> 00:28:51.670 about frail men, about ourselves. We turn away to all kinds of things, 313 00:28:51.829 --> 00:28:55.430 to this and to that. But Jesus is saying, come to me, 314 00:28:56.220 --> 00:29:00.099 let me be your fear, let me be the one that you are 315 00:29:00.420 --> 00:29:07.140 most concerned about, most worried about, but let me be your salvation, 316 00:29:07.220 --> 00:29:11.089 let me be your joy, let me be the one whom you look upon 317 00:29:11.329 --> 00:29:17.490 and trust with everything that is in you, because God so loved the world 318 00:29:17.529 --> 00:29:22.329 that he gave me his only son. The whoever believes on him should not 319 00:29:22.650 --> 00:29:32.880 perish, but have eternal life. If you feel the weight of your sins 320 00:29:32.920 --> 00:29:38.069 and your conscience, if you feel the judgment of God upon you, the 321 00:29:38.309 --> 00:29:45.750 know that when you believe in Jesus, all is forgiven from beginning to end, 322 00:29:45.750 --> 00:29:51.990 the littlest to the biggest, and in the forgiveness of your sins, 323 00:29:52.109 --> 00:29:57.539 you are made right before God so that you can have eternal life. He 324 00:29:57.700 --> 00:30:03.180 makes you holy, he cleans your heart, he presents you before his father 325 00:30:03.460 --> 00:30:10.809 and before himself as holy and blameless, so that when the Lord comes in 326 00:30:10.970 --> 00:30:15.650 judgment, it won't be a judgment again upon you, but a mere recognition 327 00:30:15.849 --> 00:30:22.000 and a vindication of what Christ has already done in you, and you will 328 00:30:22.039 --> 00:30:26.640 not stand before the throne of God trembling and wondering what will be, what 329 00:30:26.759 --> 00:30:30.720 will happen to you, wondering if you've been good enough in order to inherit 330 00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:36.269 eternal life, because you already know that you were never good enough, and 331 00:30:36.430 --> 00:30:40.670 that's why you trusted Jesus, and that's why you stand before him now, 332 00:30:40.750 --> 00:30:51.420 raid and light and splendor of holiness. On that day you will be saved. 333 00:30:51.460 --> 00:30:53.539 Let us pray.