What Nicodemus learns from Yeshua

all right I really appreciate that guys that was I was really blessing and I appreciate the prayers and the encouragement and I just I really appreciate all of you and really really enjoyed getting to know all of you that I have gotten to know and those of you who are new tonight who I haven't had a chance to get to know I look I look forward to getting to know you and we have a great group of people here a great family that loves each other and so I am I am very thankful for that tonight I we're working through the Gospels and we are now at John chapter 3 so last week we talked about Yeshua cleansing the temple and this week we are to the part where Nicodemus comes to visit you schewe excuse me so if you turn to John chapter 3 starting verse 1 there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews now this this man named Nicodemus it says he was a ruler of the Jews the word that she was there is actually referring to him being part of the Sanhedrin he was one of the ruling elders of the Jews he was not just a regular Joe he wasn't just a regular guy he was a ruling elder and according to historians and certain scholars he was considered one of the three wealthiest men in Israel Nicodemus wasn't just a nobody he was somebody who had a lot of clout he had a lot of authority he had a lot of influence and a lot of weight he was somebody that the rest of Israel looked up to and he wouldn't have gone to just anybody for counsel for wisdom for guidance and so it's very interesting what happens here when he comes to Yeshua he being one of the leading elders in Israel he recognized something in his schewe that made him want to come to him now if you've ever thought about that before but listen to what happens this man came to Jesus by night and said to him rabbi we know that you were a teacher come from God for no one can do the signs you do unless God is with him and so that that tells you a lot about where Nicodemus was why he came to you sure he saw something in issue he said you you are definitely somebody we need to talk to you were coming from God you were a man of God and this is something that he hasn't seen anywhere else something he sees unique in Yeshua that he didn't see anywhere before but says he came to him by night and so that's indicates to me that he was trying to do it secretly he didn't want everybody to know that he was coming to you sure he wanted to kind of keep it keep it quiet for now anyway and we see later on that he's one of the guys who actually becomes very involved in a couple other places and specifically in the and the death of Baro that he comes and and he helps out with the burial of Yeshua and so he he is somebody we see that he does become a disciple one of the ruling elders of Israel but so he comes to you and he says we know you're from God and and it's almost like you shoes changes the subject or maybe he knows what's already on Nicodemus his heart because of how he he responds to him he just says it says and jesus answered and said to him most assuredly I say to you unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God and it almost kind of seems like he's saying this out of nowhere does Nicodemus hasn't asked him any questions he hasn't told him why he's there he just kind of shows up and says hey I know you're from God and then you should just start talking to him about the kingdom of God and so it's like yuxuan knew what was on his heart he knew the burden that Nicodemus was feeling and if you're familiar with the Pharisees the Pharisees were considered the the Conservatives they were the the the most traditional conservative sect in Judaism and they were they were known for their Torah observance they were known for keeping the Old Testament and for teaching the Old Testament and then they also had their own traditions that they kept as well but on many occasions Yeshua refers to the Pharisees hypocrites and whitewashed tombs John the Baptist called them snakes they were called sons of the devil it's like wait a minute they are considered the epitome of Judaism at the time they were considered the most righteous the most godly people in Judaism at the time in Israel at the time and in Matt you know like in Matthew chapter 5 yushua says unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees you're not you're not going to get into the kingdom and so we have these is interesting there's this this really fine line it seems that we see in the scriptures that if you're on one side of the line is legalism if you're on the other side of the line is lawlessness and we've got this really fine line that we've got to stay on and Yeshua says most assuredly I say to you unless you are born again you cannot see the kingdom of God Nicodemus said to him how can a man be born when he is old can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born issue answered and said most assuredly I say to you unless one is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God and we see these these two lines most assuredly I say to you unless you're born again you cannot see the kingdom of God and most assuredly I say to you unless you're born of water and the spirit you cannot see the kingdom of God these are parallel statements they're saying the exact same thing slightly differently and we see this in a few other places in the scriptures but I want to go ahead and finish this little paragraph here so unless you're born of water in the spirit you cannot enter the king of God that which is born of flesh is flesh that which is born in the spirit of Spirit do not marvel that I said to you you must be born again the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes so is everyone who is born of the Spirit this is one of those verses that Nicodemus was having a hard time understanding what you she was talking about and I think a lot of times we have a hard time understanding what he's talking about this is this is some deep stuff this is some stuff that's hard for us to comprehend it's just like Nicodemus said how am I going to enter a second time into my mother's womb I want to turn to Ezekiel 36 Ezekiel talks about the water and the spirit stirring verse 24 for I will take from you among the nations gather you out of all countries and bring you into your own land then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean I will cleanse you from your filthiness and from your idols I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and will give you a heart of flesh I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will keep my judgments and do them so we see he's going to sprinkle us with clean water and put his spirit within us and I think that I think that's has something to do with what you she was talking here about here with the water and the spirit that we must be born of the water and the spirit to see the kingdom and now Paul talks about this as well in first Corinthians and I think Paul gives us a little bit more detail and gives us a little better idea of what this is talking about in first Corinthians 15 starting verse 35 now first Corinthians 15 Paul is talking about the resurrection he starts off by saying explaining the gospel and the gospel he goes on he talks about Yeshua dying resurrecting being saved by witnesses and various things and then puts his argument forth about the resurrection how important the resurrection is and then we get to this part where he's talking about what body we're gonna have when direction when the resurrection takes place it's the story verse 35 he says but some will say how are the dead raised up and with what body do they come foolish one what you sow is not made alive until it dies and what you sow you do not sow that body that would that shall be but a mere grain perhaps wheat or some other grain but God gives it a body as he pleases and to each seed its own body so he's using a agricultural example here you take your grain your seed and you stick it in the ground that seed dies and then something else comes up out of the ground so you put a seed in the ground and then a tree comes up you put a seed in the ground and corn comes up very you know we see all kinds of different examples and and you know all these different seeds become all kinds of different things so this is the example he's giving he's comparing us to the seed and so as we die we're placed in the ground but at the resurrection we're gonna spring forth and we're gonna be something different as is basically the argument Paul is making here he goes on he says all flesh is not the same flesh but there is one kind of flesh of men another flesh of animals another flesh of fish and another birds there are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies but the glory of the celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another there's one glory of the Sun and another glory of the moon another glory of the stars for one star differs from another in glory so also is the resurrection of the Dead the body is sown in corruption it is raised in incorruption it is sown in dishonor it is raised in glory it is sown in weakness it is raised in power it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body hang on to that it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body there is a natural body and there is a spiritual body and so it is written the first man Adam became a living being the last Adam became a life-giving spirit however the spiritual was not first but the natural and then afterward the spiritual the first man was of the earth made of dust the second man is the lord from heaven as was the man of the dust so also are those who are made of dust and as is the heavenly man so also are those who are heavenly and as we have borne the image of the man of dust we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man now this I say brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God now this is getting to what Yeshua was talking about unless you were born again you can I enter the kingdom of God unless you are born of water and the spirit you can't I knew the king of God unless you were born from above you cannot enter the kingdom of God so Paul says flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God he just described how we bear the image of the earthly man Adam because we are created of dust he's talking about the resurrection how we have a fleshly body now and at the resurrection we gonna have a spiritual body so he goes on he says nor does corruption inherit incorruption behold I tell you a mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality so when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory and so when Yeshua says you must be born again you must be born of the Spirit I believe he's talking about the resurrection because of what Paul says because right now we are born of flesh but at the resurrection we're going to be born of spirit we're gonna be spiritual beings we're gonna have a spiritual body a resurrected glorified immortal body that will be able to enter into the kingdom of heaven does that make sense and so but what happens is he has given us a deposit of his spirit now as a down payment as a surety it's it's to let us know that that's that we're on the right path if that's where we're heading towards and so we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit right now we receive the Holy Spirit into our life but at the resurrection we will become created by the Spirit we will become a spirit being will be like the resurrected Yeshua and so as Paul says flesh and blood cannot enter they can name of God we're not capable flesh and blood is not able to enter God's kingdom we have to have a spiritual body and so how do we get that spiritual body but through the resurrection how do we get the resurrection through Yeshua and so that's what Paul talks about at first Corinthians 15 leading up to this point is if the dead are not raised then we have no hope we believe that you sure died and resurrected and because he resurrected we have hope of the resurrection and so just as God raised his body up we also believe that we will be resurrected and raised up that you guys following along is that making sense and now Peter Peter says it's interesting because your she was talking about being born again now Peter in one of his letters he writes and he talks about how we are born again and the present tense and so there's kind of this interesting dichotomy I guess you know we have we are currently born again but we are not born of the Spirit yet we're not completely born again we see the same thing with the kingdom it it tucks it you know the things about how the kingdom of God is now as present as here but it's not in his fullness it's not complete and so we are we are part of the kingdom right now because we are under the reign and rule of Messiah if we have made him King in our life that we are part of the kingdom of God but the kingdom of God has not fully come on earth he has not come and set and set up in his and established his kingdom yet he's not reigning and ruling on earth as king over all the earth just yet when he returns that's what he's going to do and so we have this the same kind of dichotomy that we are saved but we're not completely safe it says you who endure to the end persevere to the end will be saved we're born again but we're not fully born again we're not born of the Spirit completely yet the Spirit has been placed in us it's conceived in us and but we're kind of in that womb stage right now we're in the embryonic stage and so we've got it we've got to pursue a persevere all the way through to the birth we're conceived the Holy Spirit is conceived in us but we haven't been given birth yet as spiritual bodies as spiritual beings that comes at the resurrection when you should returns and so does that help a little bit better understand what you she was talking about here now let me read part of this again and see if it makes more sense now we we see you sure when he was resurrected what did he do he could change his appearance apparently because he was walking with the disciples that it recognized him and then all of a sudden he revealed himself to them and they recognized him there's another time when they were inside a locked room and then he just suddenly appeared there I don't know if he walked through the wall or if he just teleported or what but he could suddenly just appear in a room without having to open the door but he could still eat because they gave him some food and he ate it they could touch him and feel his body and see their the scars because they did that so he obviously had a different type of body and that's what Paul was talking about his first Corinthians 15 well there's a different type of body that we're gonna receive it's not exactly the same as our current body but now listen to what he says again most assuredly I say to you unless one is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God that which is born of flesh is flesh that which is born of spirit is spirit do not marvel that I said to you you must be born again the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes so was everyone who was born in the spirit does that make sense now when we're born in the spirit we're gonna be like the wind like he sure was he was able to come and go as he pleased he was able to walk through walls or suddenly appear suddenly disappear he even flew apparently because he ascended up and into the heavens right we're gonna have some kind of a new body some kind of a different body and it's gonna be like Yeshua's so I want to look at John first John chapter 3 now first John chapter 3 talks about this as well first John 3:8 what's your tale sir in verse 1 behold what manner of love the father has bestowed upon us that we should be called children of God therefore the world does not know us because it did not know him beloved now we are children of God and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be but we know that when he is revealed we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is and everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure and so John is doing the same thing he says we are children of God currently present tense but we are not what we're going to become we're going to become like him did you catch that and so let's go ahead and continue on so John introduces us he says we are currently showing of God but we're going to be changed to become like him first for whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness and sin is lawlessness and you know that he was manifested to take away our sins and in him there is no sin whoever abides in him does not sin whoever sins has neither seen him nor known him little children let no one deceive you he who practices righteousness is righteous just as he is righteous he who sins is of the devil for the devil has sinned from the beginning for this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil whoever has been born of God does not sin for his seed remains in him and he cannot sin because he has been born of God in this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God nor is he who does not love his brother those are some really convicting words aren't they if we are children of God our lives need to reflect that it needs to be evident to others that we are sons and daughters of God our life needs to be transformed it needs to be different we need to be living in righteousness justice holiness purity love and if we don't look any different than everybody else maybe we're not sons and daughters of God if we look exactly like the world maybe we're not children of God maybe we're sons of the devil that's what John is saying right there so we need to be people who are pursuing holiness godliness righteousness walking he says abide to abide in Christ to abide in Messiah as we are abiding in him resting in him trusting in him listening to him meditating on his word as we are walking in and out daily with him that's what transforms us that's what changes us it's not through the righteous acts like the Pharisees did though the Pharisees were called whitewashed tombs he says on the outside you you've got it all together but inside is a dead man's grave it's not about just having it together on the outside making it look good to other people letting your righteousness be seen before others he says that your righteousness needs to be greater than that of the Pharisees how is that done by the transformation inside of us through the Holy Spirit let's move on it's not about physical lineage flesh gives birth to flesh the Spirit gives birth to spirit right John the Baptist was criticizing the Pharisees saying you claim that Abraham is your father but I tell you that God can raise up sons of Abraham from these stones Paul talks about how those who are of faith our sons of Abraham is by faith that we have inheritance of the promise that was given to Abraham is not by physical lineage the only thing we got physically through our physical lineage is we got the sin nature of Adam that's what we gain through physical lineage that's nothing to boast about whether you're a Jew or a Gentile or something else we all come from Adam through Noah we all have sin nature and that's what we inherit through the flesh that's why we have to be born again those who want to boast about being blood relatives of Abraham so what it doesn't get you in the kingdom because flesh gives birth to flesh we have to enter the kingdom through faith through the spirit through having the spirit and dwelling in our life and then being birthed at the resurrection with a new glorified immortal spiritual body that's what that's what he's talking about here as he's talking to this elite religious elder of Israel named Nicodemus saying you must be born again you've got to have the spirit in you Nicodemus answered him and said how can these things be assured answered and said to him are you a teacher of Israel and do not know these things this is kind of a jab I think are you a teacher of Israel and you don't understand what I'm talking about I'm talking about the resurrection you're a Pharisee you should understand the resurrection I'm not telling you anything new Ezekiel talked about it talked about being washed in the water and sprinkled and I sprinkled water filled with the Holy Spirit I'm not telling anything new it's been prophesied through the Old Testament it was talked about by Moses aren't you a teacher of Israel why don't you understand what I'm saying most assuredly I say to you we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen and you do not receive our witness if I have told you of earthly things and you do not believe how will you believe if I tell you of heavenly things no one has ascended to heaven but he who came down from heaven that is the son of man who is in heaven you guys ever catch that verse before I most people are memorized John 3:16 how many have memorized John 3:13 no one has ascended to heaven but Yeshua and so when the Catholics come along and they say that Mary has ascended to heaven and we should pray to Mary that is blasphemy Mary is dead and buried and waiting for the resurrection if you pray to her your you're doing a necromancy you're talking to the dead she's not alive she's dead same way with all the saints all the apostles all the prophets they're dead they're in their grave and they're waiting for the resurrection we read that in in Acts chapter 2 Peters sermon in acts chapter 2 after the receiving of the Holy Spirit he gets up and he starts preaching and verse 29 men and brethren let me speak freely to you about the patriarch David that he is both dead and buried and his tomb is with us to this day therefore being a prophet and knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body according to the flesh he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne he foreseeing this spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ that his soul was not left in Hades nor did his flesh see corruption this Yeshua God has raised up of which we are all witnesses therefore being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the father the promise of the Holy Spirit he poured out this which you now see in here for David did not ascend into the heavens but he says himself the Lord said to my lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you have crucified both Lord and Christ Peter's very first sermon right after receiving baptism Holy Spirit he goes out and he preaches the resurrection of Yeshua and he is exalted to the right hand of the Father and that this is unique not even David has done that right David was a man after God's own heart if anybody was going to receive an early resurrection surely David would have right is it David is dead and buried and in his grave and if anybody wants to argue about this I'd be glad to have a conversation with you the dead the dead weight in their graves for the resurrection nobody has gone to heaven yet nobody's gone to hell yet that's Greek mythology that's been mixed in with Christianity Gnosticism platonism told that we have this immortal soul that goes on living outside of our body Genesis tells us that in the beginning God formed man from the dust of the earth breathed into him the breath of life and he became a soul doesn't say had an immortal soul that God dropped off and stuck inside his body he became a soul and when we die what happens the dust returns to the dust and the breath returns to God who gave it we're dead better threat at the resurrection we're gonna be given life again and this life is eternal if we're part of the resurrection to life if you're part of the resurrection to condemnation then you get tossed into the fire and it's called the second death for a reason so we go on back to John 3 so third verse 13 Oh what does this ended heaven but he who came down from heaven and that is the son of man who is in heaven and as Moses lifted up the servant and the serpent in the wilderness even so the Son of Man must be lifted up that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life should not perish but have eternal life for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life and so we see in in the very beginning of the Bible in Genesis Adam and Eve were given to two trees tree of life in the tree of knowledge of good and evil and God told them if you eat of the tree of life you're gonna have eternal life and live forever and if you´d of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will surely die death is the outcome from eating of that tree but Eve was tempted by the serpent the lust of the flesh lust of the eyes and the pride of life kicked in and she ate the fruit and then she gave some to Adam but the temptation is certain that the serpent said to him is you will not surely die you will not really die right remember that you will not surely die if you eat this fruit God knows that you'll become like him your eyes will be opened up and and you'll have understanding you're not gonna die Gaza the v2 that retreat you will die that is the curse of sin sin leads to death Romans in Romans Paul talks about this right for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Yeshua our Messiah so right here in John three assists forgots all over the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life when Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden because they from the wrong tree God cut off access to the Tree of Life why that was an act of grace because if they had eaten from the tree of life having sinned they would be eternally sinful and they would not be able to be redeemed you realize that we would become eternally sinful just like Satan it was an act of grace to prevent us from eating for the tree of life and we look at the end of the book though when we get to Revelation at the end of the book what to say the tree of life is presented and those who come into the kingdom are able to eat from the tree of life isn't that amazing and so whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved he who believes in Him is not condemned but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God and this is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil for everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light lest his deeds should be exposed but he who does the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be clearly seen that they may be that they have been done in God now one thing I see a lot of people in this movement I guess you call it Messianic Hebrew roots Torah observant whatever you want to call it the people who are realizing hey maybe we should be obeying God's instructions maybe he gave those to us for a reason there's this fine line that talked about earlier that one side is legalism the other side is lawlessness and we've got to walk this tightrope somewhere in between I see so many people who are wanting to say if you want to be saved you've got to do this you've got to keep the Sabbath or you've got a eat kosher you've got to get circumcised or you've got to keep Passover you've got to do something you've got to do it you've got to keep the Torah if you want to be saved you've got to keep the Torah don't break those Commandments because that'll that'll break your salvation I hear stuff like that I'm like where are you getting that from the Bible doesn't say though the Torah was given to us for salvation Paul says if if salvation could come from through the law then there wouldn't be any need for him to send his son issuing the law is not given to us for salvation that's not the purpose that was not why it was given and I know that a lot of people misunderstand what we say when we say we're supposed to be obeying the commandments because we are God gave us Commandments for purpose but the purpose wasn't to save us God saved Israel by grace through faith in the blood of the Lamb then he took him out in the wilderness and gave him instructions on how to live as a redeemed people they weren't saved because they obeyed anything they were saved by grace through faith in the blood of the Lamb that's how we're saved to my grace is faith in the blood of the lamb the Lamb of God and if you notice what you she was talking to Nicodemus here he says if you want to enter the kingdom of God you've got to be born again but he doesn't say here's how you're born again you've got to do these things you got this checklist you got it to go through he didn't say that he says believe in the Son of God trust in the Son of God put your faith in the Son of God that's that's where it hinges and I see people this is what Paul was talking about by the way when he says are you are you so dumb that you're now throwing away the grace of God and turning back to trying to earn your own salvation through works that's what he's talking about is people who want to say we've got it we've got to do something to be righteous we've got to do something to be holy we've got to do something to be accepted by God that's what Paul was talking about we've got to earn your salvation no we don't earn our salvation salvation is a gift from God we obey because we love him says if you love me keep my Commandments and we obey because the Holy Spirit was given to us to convict us of sin and convince us of righteousness and so as the Holy Spirit is in our life moving us convicting us of sin we say oh I want a repent of the sin I'm not going to do that anymore you know oh I I didn't know that this was wrong but the Holy Spirit showed me it is so now I've got to cut that out of my life so that I can be pleasing to my father so that I can show him my love for him so that I can be sanctified and said apart made righteous and holy not for salvation though because I've already been saved by grace through faith and blood of the Lamb because I put my trust in the Son of God and I just wanted to be very clear there is a fine line and it's very easy to jump off into one side or the other those who want to say it's you you know you don't have to keep any of the law that we it's all by grace and faith and you you don't need to do anything at all you don't need to keep any Commandments of all Jesus did it all for you they fall on the lawless side of the line and say you don't have to do the law at all but then you've got other people on the other side of line let's say well you've got it you've got to keep the law exactly right you've got to follow the letter of the law to be saved well they're on the legalistic side on that either side of this balance beam either side of this tightrope we're off track and we've got to keep it right there in the middle don't let the pendulum swing either direction we've got to be right there in the middle we are saved by faith because of what you should did for us but we obey because we love him because he is our king right if you disobey the king what is that called treason right if he is king in our life and king in our heart then he we we if we call him Lord then we have to do what he says if you call me Lord Lord and do not do what I say right it's just giving him lip service we call him Lord because he is our Lord he is our King he's our God and we obey Him because he is our Lord not because it's gonna earn us anything because our righteousness is a filthy rag right but we'll ban because he is our king will ban because he is our God our Lord our Savior we look forward to his return when he sets up the kingdom and we get to be part of the resurrection in that exciting I think that's a good place to stop

Channel: The Grafted Church

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Keywords: What Nicodemus learns from Yeshua, Nicodemus and Yeshua, Lex Meyer, Grafted Church, sermons by great preachers, John 3, sabbath service, Torah Portion, Yeshua, Jesus, Bible, live sabbath service, preacher, nicodemus, born again, nicodemus and jesus sermon, nicodemus and jesus conversation, nicodemus and jesus scripture, born of the spirit, born from above, resurrection, born again christian, what does it mean to be born again, sermon, grafted church lex meyer, deity of yeshua

Id: b3vr7-y2Kgc

Length: 42min 39sec (2559 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 24 2018