You Must Be Born Again

and the will of god for the church in the world is to proclaim the gospel that is our calling churches have been distracted to put it mildly in this current climate to get into all kinds of things that are not the gospel even though they want to label them as the gospel the gospel is the gospel and this is a time for us to understand it explicitly and clearly last week we looked at the conversion of matthew tax collector and we heard the words of jesus i have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance and that is the remarkable reality of the gospel that god saves sinners that when we were enemies he set to save us that those people who are self-righteous and religious are by their own self-righteousness cut off from the hope of salvation we saw last week that it was the religious pharisees who thought they knew god and were the representatives of god who were most strongly denounced by jesus and who were sons of hell and making their disciples more sons of hell satan's strategy is in religion false religion is the satanic strategy across the world any deviation from the true and pure gospel is a damning lie but it gives the illusion of knowing god you remember in the text that we looked at in luke chapter 5 it ended by recalling the fact that there was a an illustration of those who are religious being content with the old wine and not wanting to change to anything new that was true of the pharisees it was so true of the pharisees so true there were six thousand pharisees or so at the time of our lord in the land of israel there is only one conversion of a pharisee in all four gospels one they loved the old wine they loved their religion jesus came to those who were irreligious who were confronted with only their sin the gospel always goes to those who are not holding on to any false religion only one pharisee in the four gospels comes to salvation i want to tell you his story open your bible to john 3. john 3 his name will be familiar to you his name is nicodemus that's a good name it means victory of the common people nicodemus and i want to read beginning in chapter 3 in verse 1. there was a man of the pharisees named nicodemus a ruler of the jews this man came to jesus by night and said to him rabbi we know that you have come from god as a teacher for no one can do these signs that you do unless god is with him jesus answered and said to him truly truly i say to you unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of god now let's stop right there we have a responsibility as a church in doing the will of god to proclaim the gospel and the gospel is here articulated by jesus as sinners needing to be born again proclaiming the new birth proclaiming being born again is the priority the most critical responsibility the church has born again is a very familiar term books have been titled born again there are a lot of books on how to be born again i went through some of them just this week five steps to being born again comes to mind how to pray to be born again one book entitled how to be born again all of those are familiar to us because the notion of being born again is so commonly expressed it's part of evangelical pop culture but almost no one seems to understand what our lord is saying it's a simple idea being born again in fact down in verse 12 of chapter 3 jesus calls it an earthly thing in other words an earthly illustration here's the truth this is so simple that you should never be confused by what it means to be born again here is an earthly illustration and if you don't understand this earthly illustration verse 12 says how are you going to understand its heavenly meaning like any parable or any illustration our lord used he picked something very common and simple if you can't get the illustration that in order to enter the kingdom you must be born again you'll never understand the heavenly reality of the new birth and you must understand the heavenly reality of the new birth because it is the foundational truth of salvation you must be born again nicodemus says in verse 4 how and we'll look at it more closely in a moment how if there were an evangelist there he might say pray this prayer might say take these steps but that would miss the entire point and actually nicodemus was getting the point and here is the point you must be born again perhaps more accurately as translated you must be born from above i know then you must be born from above i know then two other times later in the gospel of john is translated from above you must be born from above let me tell you how simple the analogy is what role did you play in your birth your physical birth that's an absurdity you played no role in your physical birth what contribution did you make to your physical birth you made no contribution to your physical birth and that is exactly the idea in our lord using this analogy to assume that you have anything to do with your physical birth is an insane idea to assume that you have anything to do with your spiritual birth is equally insane it's absurd that's why our lord chose this analogy because it's so clear it's not really possible if you give it any thought to miss the point to be born again or born from above is a work in which you play no role your birth happened to you you had no part in it and the same is true of new birth the message of our lord here is that it's a work of god and it's totally a work of god which immediately obliterates all works righteousness all religion all ceremony all ritual all sacraments as having any contribution to make to new life it is what theologians call monergistic it isn't something you and god do together it is god alone you're not going to enter the kingdom of god because you try harder to be a better person or more religious or more moral or more philanthropic or more virtuous that is exactly the point the lord is making and market he is making it to a man who was just introduced to us as a ruler of the jews and down in verse 10 a man who is called the teacher of israel this is a simple earthly analogy as to the foundation of salvation it is solely a work of god solely a work of god this stops a legalist dead in his tracks all his life the legalist in this case the pharisee and in specific nicodemus was achieving heaven or trying to by his self-righteousness here our lord says it is all for nothing meaningless your morality your supposed virtue useless this is a dramatic moment in the word of god crucial revelation that is introduced to us in the story of nicodemus now i want to take you through this story and it's important that you get this because this is how you need to explain to people the gospel okay i'm trying to teach this to you so you can teach it to others so we can do what god has called us to do in the world and i'll say this i've been here as you know 51 years and i've never seen a better time in all 51 years for us to be the church and proclaim the gospel incredible it's all you need to know what the gospel is that you're going to proclaim this is more than a story it is a story it is an incredible story about the only pharisee who is recorded to have come to christ in all the four gospels it makes crystal clear that salvation is not for those who are good it's not for those who try harder it's not for those who live better it's not for those who are more moral or more religious or forsake certain vices or pray certain prayers you can't pray yourself into birth you have no more role in your spiritual birth than you had in your physical birth you you are in the same situation you play no part it's all a work of god this is a crushing reality to legalists for sure but let's set it up a little bit go back to chapter 2 verse 23 now when he was in jerusalem at the passover during the feast many believed in his name observing his signs which he was doing but jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them for he knew all men and because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man for he himself knew what was in man just a small note here by the way jesus is god so he's omniscient nobody has to tell him what people are thinking because he reads their minds this is omniscience and he knew that these people who were believing in his name because they saw the signs the miracles were not expressing a saving faith they had faith in him but he had no faith in their faith he knew their hearts he knew it was superficial if you go a little further into the gospel of john chapter 6 you get a picture of this same kind of faith this false faith verse 14 people saw the sign which he had performed that's the feeding of the thousands they said this is truly the prophet who is to come into the world prophet promised back in genesis this is the prophet so they believed at least that he was the prophet and verse 15 jesus perceiving that they were intending to come and take him but forced to make him a king withdrew again to the mountain by himself alone so there were those who thought he was the prophet perhaps the messianic prophet the thought he was the messianic king and they wanted to thrust him into his reign they surrounded jesus they followed him but if you go toward the end of that same sixth chapter and you look at verse 30 63 rather it is the spirit who gives life again this is again the work of god to give spiritual life birth it is the spirit that gives life the flesh prophets nothing the words that i've spoken to your spirit in our life but there are some of you who do not believe you believe but you don't believe savingly for jesus knew from the beginning who they were who didn't believe and who it was who would betray him he had some non-believing believers following him they were believing that he was perhaps the messiah perhaps the prophet and jesus says this in verse 65 shocking for this reason i have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the father wow your own sense about jesus is not enough to save you no one comes to me with saving faith unless it's been granted to him by the father that's an echo of chapter 6 verse 44. no one comes unto me and except the father draws him verse 66 as a result of this many of his disciples withdrew and were not walking with him anymore the false disciples left so jesus said to the twelve you do not want to go away also do you simon peter answered him lord there's the word lord not just prophet not just messiah lord to whom shall we go you have the words of eternal life you have believed we have believed and have come to know that you are the holy one of god they knew that he was god the holy one of god and that he had the words of eternal life they were the ones that stayed the rest left so what you see in fact the chapter 2 verse 23 is superficial faith and it was all around jesus eventually they would drift away and that's an illustration of that that we see in chapter 6 disciples that walked no more with him so at the end of chapter two there are these people who believe something about jesus maybe that he is potentially the messiah the prophet but they don't believe savingly in him as lord and the holy one of god one of them is introduced to us in chapter three the man named nicodemus there was a man of the pharisees he's one of the group who believed but not savingly he believed something about jesus and he's going to tell us what he believed he came to jesus and he said this in verse 2. we know you have come from god as a teacher so he believed jesus was a teacher why because no one can do these signs that you do unless god is with him he didn't necessarily believe that he was the messiah he certainly didn't affirm that he is god the son he simply says you must have come from god as a teacher because of the signs that you do so this is the kind he gives us an illustration of what it meant to believe in chapter 2 to believe that he was from god a prophet a preacher a teacher because of the signs that he was doing god must have been with him now backing up to verse one for a moment there was a man of the pharisees pharisees that's term that means separated they were the legalists they were the heart of apostate corrupt judaism um to show you how corrupt they were all you have to do is go back to chapter 2 verse 13. the passover of the jews is near jesus went to jerusalem he went to the temple he goes into the temple and he's right at the heart of jewish religion and of course the pharisees were the leaders of jewish religion even though it was the sadducees that operated the temple the the pharisees were the popular theologians of judaism he goes into the temple he finds people selling oxen sheep doves money changers seated at their tables he made a scourge of cords drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen and poured out the coins of the money changers overturned their tables and to those who were selling the doves he said take these things away stop making my father's house a place of business his disciples remembered that it was written zeal for your house will consume me jesus went in and wiped out their corrupt operations pharisees were a part of that they were corrupt in fact we're told they were lovers of money they were lovers of money in matthew 23 we learned more about them and i commented on this last time i just want to refer to the opening of that chapter description of the pharisees [Music] our lord says this uh they tell you do and observe but do not do according to their deeds for they say things and do not do them they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger they do all their deeds to be noticed by men for they broadened their phylacteries little boxes that made them look holy and they lengthened the tassels of their garments they loved the place of honor at banquets and chief seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by men then he goes starting in chapter 23 verse 13 woe woe woe and pronounces curses on the pharisees and they were at the top of the theological pyramid and he pronounces blistering curses on them all the way through chapter 23. nicodemus was one of them it was pretty remarkable that he at least got to the point where he believed jesus had come from god because the rest of the pharisees conclude that he came from hell and that he did what he did by the power of satan nicodemus is a ruler of the jews what does that mean he was a member of the sanhedrin that's the supreme court of israel 70 members plus the high priest so they had an odd vote if they needed it they were the supreme court of israel they were wealthy rich scholars elite from prominent families ex-high priests who made up the jewish court nicodemus was one of them so he was at the top of the theological pyramid as a pharisee and he was at the top of the structure of judaistic authority by being a member of the supreme court there just is not much hope that a man so situated in life so happy with the old wine is going to show any interest in jesus and that is why this story is so unique we're not surprised then in verse two when it says this man came to jesus by night are we a lot at stake if he comes in the daytime he said to him rabbi this is good by the way rabbi recognized him as a teacher we know you've come from god as a teacher because of the signs that you do he came he was curious he was interested rabbi is very respectful the signs he recognizes that they have to be done by god there is no other explanation for them god has to be with him he agreed with many others that there were no possible human explanations for the miracles jesus did he is not alone because he says we know that you have come from god because he's a part of the group from chapter 2 that believed at some point to some degree so here first of all is objective plural first person eyewitness testimony to the authenticity of the miracles of jesus as proof of his divine mission and nicodemus recognizes that and he is polite and he is respectful and i imagine there's a certain amount of excitement in his heart as well he's a professional religionist he's a money-loving theologian he's a justice in the supreme court of israel he is at the top of everything and by the way some of the theology of the pharisees was accurate they believed in divine decree they believed in moral accountability they they believed in immortality they believed in bodily resurrection they believed in than angels they actually believed in punishment and rewards in the future but they thought that they attained to the kingdom of god by law keeping ritual observance and since they never saw a change in their hearts they pretended to be holy this is nicodemus and he did take the road less traveled only six thousand of them and he lived the most restricted life i mean it was a horribly restricted life for example you didn't want to look in anything that reflected your face on the sabbath because you might see a gray hair and pull it out on the sabbath you'd violate the sabbath you could swallow vinegar on the sabbath for a sore throat but you couldn't gargle it but this man's heart is full of fear externally he looks like he's got it all nailed down this is the sinner's worry this is where religious people are at the top of the pile they have all of this on the outside but they know the rottenness of their hearts and they have no confidence that they are in the kingdom of god we go from the sinner's worry to the savior's word in verse 3. jesus answered what do you mean he answered he didn't even ask a question what do you mean jesus answered he answered and said to him truly truly i say to you unless one is born again or born from above he cannot see the kingdom of god what is he answering he's answering the question that is in the mind of nicodemus go back to chapter 2 verses 24 25. he knew people's thoughts omniscience and he knew nicodemus feared that with all his religion and all his ritual and all of his external righteous acts he was not related to god he was not in the kingdom and he was right god is king psalm 93 1 says the lord reigns he reigns over the universe the universal king he reigns over the realm of salvation he reigns over the millennial kingdom to come in the future and he will reign eternally what nicodemus wanted in his heart was to be in the kingdom which is to be accepted by god to have the hope of eternal life he wanted to be in the realm of the redeemed those who are saved from judgment those whose sins are covered and forgiven he wanted to be in relationship with god forever and bound for heaven that was the question in his heart that's a question very like the rich young ruler in matthew 19 who said what must i do to have eternal life that is not asked by nicodemus but that is on his mind he had a high place in judaism abraham was his father but he knew god was not his father and he had no place in the kingdom jesus answer is stunning verse 3 truly truly that appears 25 times in the gospel of john truly truly it's emphatic it's strong it means this is new this is new listen this is new ancient jewish religion said that all jews would be in the kingdom unless guilty of apostasy or blasphemy that's recorded in the mishnah so by being jewish you were already in the kingdom that's what they taught but jesus says i have something other than that to say this is new truly truly i say to you unless one is born from above he cannot see the kingdom of god the sea means to participate that is to say religion is totally ineffective judaism is ineffective even at its highest level and jesus words shatter once and for all every supposed hope in religion all of religion combined at its highest level is a zero before god all of it is useless to be in the kingdom you have to be born from above and by the time you get to verse 8 in this text our lord will have said that five times born from above born from above born from above five times and by the way john picked up on that so that in his first epistle first john he talks about being born from above six times and what our lord is saying to nicodemus is there's nothing to add to your life to kind of top it off and get you into the kingdom which nicodemus might have assumed look i'm i'm as high up as i can go what's the next step and our lord says there is no next step your religion is meaningless you might as well be an atheist you might as well worship a rock you are so alienated from god all your works are dead works they give no life you have no spiritual life you have no relationship to god in order to have that relationship you have to be born from above something has to happen to you that is a work of heaven now the new testament picks up on this reality of the new birth second corinthians 5 17 if any man be in christ he's a new what creature new creation first peter chapter 1 verse 3 blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born from above to a living hope through the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead later in that chapter verse 23 you have been born again born from above not of seed which is perishable but imperishable that is through the living and enduring word of god new birth titus 3 says the same thing but look for a moment at james 1. james chapter 1 in verse 17 and 18 we'll hurry through this every good thing given and every perfect gift and that would include obviously a place in the kingdom salvation is from above every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of lights an ancient jewish title for god who was the creator of light with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow in the exercise of his will he brought us forth by the word of truth did you get that that is unmistakably clear every good thing given and salvation and life being born from above is one of those good things it is a perfect gift it comes from above it comes down from the one who created light and in the exercise of his will he brought us forth he gave us life the new testament epistles recognize this ephesians 2 you are dead in sins but in christ you have been made alive so this is something that you don't contribute to this is stunning this is stunning and nicodemus understands verse 4 he knows jesus is talking in earthly illustration to make a spiritual point so nicodemus said to him how can a man be born when he's old he can't enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born can he and he's being purposely kind of silly saying well this is ridiculous you're saying you must be born again nobody does that nobody can be born again he understands the figurative language so commonly used by rabbis and teachers he picks up on the analogy and his point is unmistakably clear jesus is saying it's impossible that's what jesus is saying you want to be in the kingdom it's impossible no contribution you have made or will make puts you in the kingdom you have to be born from above it has to come down from heaven this is what is so new truly truly this is really new in your legalistic system you have never heard of such a thing how can that happen it's impossible it's impossible he doesn't say to him well you're a good man you're very religious man just going to do this say this little prayer no you're at zero you're at zero oh you're high up in the religious stratosphere but with god you're at zero and you need to be born from above and that is a work of god so nicodemus says how is that supposed to happen that's impossible i can't do anything to contribute to my birth verse 5 jesus answered truly truly i say to you says it again because this is new unless one is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of god unless one is born of the water and spirit what is that i've heard all kinds of answers to that question that water is human birth because a woman's water breaks and so that's referring to human birth well that's kind of an american english colloquialism that wasn't in existence in hebrew so it's not talking about unless you're born physically and spiritually that would be a ridiculous statement because he was already born physically some people say no the water is baptism and baptism is essential for salvation nicodemus wouldn't know anything about water breaking that was not the colloquial expression in his language and he wouldn't know anything about christian baptism either because it hadn't been implemented yet when jesus says to nicodemus unless you're born of water in the spirit you can't enter the kingdom of heaven nicodemus should have known what he was talking about he should have known but go down to verse 10. jesus says to him are you the teacher in israel and do not understand these things is it possible that you are the teacher in israel and you don't understand these things you're supposed to be the old testament expert and you don't know that salvation is not a matter of something you do but it's a matter of what god does in giving you life do you remember ezekiel 11. where god says in verse 18 when they come there they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it and then i will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them and i will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and do them then they will be my people and i shall be their god in other words they will become my people i will become their god when i wash them from detestable things and put a new spirit in them hmm in ezekiel 36 this is just an incredibly important portion of scripture verse 25. this is speaking about the new covenant verse 25 listen to ezekiel 36 this is god promising salvation to israel and to all who believe then i will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean i will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols moreover i will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you and i will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh i will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will be careful to observe my ordinances do you notice there in verse 25 i will i will in verse 26 i will i will in verse 27 i will and finally you will i will wash you that's the water i will put my spirit within you that's the water and the spirit this is not obscure in the old testament even the prophet jeremiah a couple of places but i'll show you one in chapter 31 says essentially the same thing verse chapter 31 verse 31 behold the days are coming declares the lord when i'll make a new covenant with the house of israel and with the house of judah the new covenant which was ratified of course by the death of christ and not like the covenant i made with their fathers in the day i took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of egypt not the mosaic covenant of law which they broke but this is the covenant i will make with the house of israel in the future i will here it is again i will put my law within them and on their heart i will write it i will be their god and they shall be my people i will i will i will i will apostate judaism had thought that religion was to be achieved on the ex excess on the outside i should say the exo part of human identity and god had all along said that i am going to wash you from your sins and put my spirit within you you must be born of water the water of cleansing the washing of the word paul calls it and the spirit must be placed in you to renew your spirit you should know that you're a teacher in israel you don't even know the new covenant promises then the second line of reasoning reasoning verse six nicodemus should have known this that which is born of the flesh is flesh you should know that nicodemus you should know that you should know what paul says in romans 8 8 he says those in the flesh cannot please god you should know that why should nicodemus know that well he could go back to genesis my spirit will not always strive with men because his flesh he is flesh every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually go back to genesis if you're flesh then all there is in you is evil and god says in verse 13 of genesis 6 the end of all flesh is before me for the earth is filled with violence he says in the previous verse all flesh has corrupted their way on the earth job 15 14 what is man that he should be pure or he who is born of a woman that he should be righteous psalm 51 i was brought forth in iniquity and sin my mother conceived me i was sinful from the beginning listen to isaiah 64. for all of us have become like one who is unclean all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment all of us wither like a leaf and our iniquities like the wind take us away there is no one who calls on your name wow nicodemus should have known that he should have known that salvation was internal not external because of those new covenant passages he should have known that man's flesh can only produce flesh he should have known that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked and who can know it jeremiah 17 9 he should have known jeremiah 13 23 can the ethiopian change his skin or the leper his spots then neither can you who are evil do good nicodemus had in the old testament a doctrine of human depravity that should have told him no man from his flesh could produce anything to honor god nicodemus should have known those passages about the new covenant the washing and the granting of a new spirit and the holy spirit so nicodemus look at verse 7 do not be amazed that i said to you you must be born from above you shouldn't be shocked it was all there you're supposed to be the teacher in israel you should have known this so we see nicodemus worry then we hear the words of the savior and then finally we come to the work of the spirit verse six that which is born of the spirit is spirit verse eight the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it but do not know where it comes from and from where it is going so is everyone who is born of the spirit so now we know that this birth is not something that we partner with god in accomplishing it's something that comes down from heaven god does it and it is in particular a work of the holy spirit and it is such a sovereign work verse 8 says that it's like the wind here's another earthly illustration the wind blows where it wishes you hear the sound of it do not know where it comes from or where it is going in other words you can't control the wind the wind is from above it is invisible it is irresistible it is uncontrollable it is unpredictable and so is the work of the holy spirit and just as the the wind is at the whim of god and irresistible so the new birth is at the will of god and equally irresistible what he's saying here is not pray this prayer nicodemus and you can be born again he says well this is a work of the spirit this is all of god and god does it when god wills in both ezekiel and jeremiah it was i will i will i will i will all the work of god nicodemus said in verse 9 how can these things be wow he had just been taught probably this is a cryptic representation of hours of conversation he had been taught again from the old testament about flesh-producing flesh so he had gotten from the lord's lips himself a doctrine of human depravity that made it clear to him that there was no possible way that flesh could please god and then he had been told that all of his religion added up to zero and he needed to be born from above and that was not something he could do this is the true condition of the sinner totally depraved unable unwilling and completely at the mercy of god so jesus says to him in verse 10 are you the teacher of israel and don't understand these things you don't have you don't have a doctrine of total depravity you you don't understand the flesh you don't understand that god's salvation is not some external religious activity but it's a transformation that washes away your sin and gives you a new heart and plants the spirit of god within you this shouldn't have been new but the fact that jesus says a couple of times truly truly meant that he was bringing it to nicodemus as something he didn't ever really know what's nicodemus problem verse 11 truly truly again here's something new again i say to you we speak of what we know and testify of what we've seen and you do not accept our testimony if i told you earthly things and you do not believe how will you believe if i tell you heavenly things he says you're you're not a believer you're not a believer nicodemus that's the problem you're not a believer you don't even understand these things i'm trying to give you earthly illustrations but you you don't you don't move from the earthly illustration to the heavenly reality the problem is you don't believe my testimony verse 11 indicates nicodemus is not a true believer you do not accept our testimony verse 12 you do not be leave that's your problem you don't believe verse 13. no one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven the son of man and as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so the son of man must be lifted up and he's talking about his cross so that whoever believes will in him have eternal life so there is a reality that applies to the sinner and what is it that the sinner must do what believe believe believe this is just shocking this is a man who has worked his whole life to get into the kingdom religiously morally and he is not in or close and with all that achievement jesus says in verse 15 whoever believes in the son of man we'll have eternal life this is literally the worst possible news for the ultimate legalist you have wasted your life all your righteousness is what filthy rags paul called an excrement he was the only other pharisee who gives his testimony in scripture this is just crushing to people trying to earn their way to heaven and worse not only are they not in the kingdom but god offers the kingdom to those who have done nothing to earn it and we're right back to where we were last week right he came not to call the righteous but sinners through repentance whoever believes why for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life most familiar verse in the bible you knew we'd get there right don't look to moses don't look to abraham don't look to the temple don't look to the law look to jesus look to jesus for god did not send his son verse 17 into the world to judge the world but that the world through him might be saved he who believes in him is not judge he who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of god go to the end of the chapter verse 36 he who believes in the son has eternal life he who does not obey the son will not see life but the wrath of god abides on him verse 12 believe believe verse 15 believe verse 16 believe verse 17 indicates that salvation comes through him to the one verse 18 who believes who believes you can't earn your salvation so what about the rest of the story we don't see any comment now from nicodemus what happened well let's let's go to chapter seven i'll give you the rest of the story briefly so verse 40 conflict among people over jesus some of the people were saying he's a prophet others this is the christ others surely the christ is not going to come from galilee and they were arguing over the identity of jesus that he wouldn't come from galilee has not the scripture says that he comes from the descendants of david in bethlehem the village where david was so a division occurred in the crowd because of him some of them wanted to seize him that is to arrest him and take his life no one laid hands on him the officers then came to the chief priests and pharisees and said to them why did you not bring him why didn't you just arrest him the office officer said never has a man spoken the way this man speaks the pharisees then answered them you've not also been led astray have you the police couldn't even arrest him they were so transfixed by what he said verse 48 no one of the rulers or pharisees has believed in him has he what's that saying well if the pharisees who are the most religious of all didn't believe in him and none had at this point including nicodemus why should anybody believe in him they're the experts but this crowd which doesn't know the law is accursed in other words they look down on the hoi polloi then we see this verse 50 nicodemus he who came to him before being one of them said to them our law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he's doing does it hmm a year before our lord's death now so two years have passed and nicodemus has not been born from above but now he's defending jesus against the pharisees desire to take his life he is not yet a believer but but but he is not part of the pharisees either verse 52 they mocked him they answered him you're not also from galilee are you this is a joke search and see that no prophet arises out of galilee mockery and sarcasm against the teacher rich and powerful member of the supreme court the two years have gone by and now he's defending jesus so how does the story end go to chapter 19 verse 38 so wonderful hmm [Music] this is the burial of jesus after his crucifixion after these things joseph of arimathea being a disciple of jesus but a secret one for fear of the jews asked pilate that he might take away the body of jesus and pilate granted permission so he came and took away his body joseph of arimathea is a true believer in jesus secret that he kept because he was afraid for his life pilate gave him the body of jesus look at verse 39 nicodemus oh who had first come to him by night also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes at 100 pounds weight so they took the body of jesus and bounded in linen wrappings with the spices as is the burial custom of the jews now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid therefore because of the jewish day of preparation since the tomb was nearby they laid jesus there two men buried him joseph of arimathea and nicodemus joseph of arimathea rich also a sanhedrin member but not a pharisee he had been born from above and then nicodemus showed up with 75 pounds of spices that was a volume of spices fit for the noblest of people powdered rosin with aloes and fragrance sandalwood smell to cover the odor of corrupting flesh he is now [Music] a new creation he is bold he's not afraid anymore and neither is joseph of arimathea they're not afraid they go to pilate they want the body they're not afraid of pilate they're not afraid of the jews somewhere between john 7 and 19 heaven came down on nicodemus what about the rest of the rest of the story well tradition says nicodemus gave a defense of jesus at his trial before pilate tradition says that nicodemus was baptized by peter and john tradition says that his confession of the lord jesus as savior led him to be deprived of his role as a pharisee he was excommunicated and he was dismissed and banished from jerusalem by hostile jews tradition says that his family was reduced to utter poverty so severe that there's a charming story about his daughter and his daughter on behalf of the family they were so poor was reduced to the shame of digging in the dung piles to find a grain to eat the daughter of nicodemus is approached by a rabbi who sees her looking for seeds in a dung pile and asks who she is and she replied i am the daughter of nicodemus to which the rabbi supposedly said what happened to your father and the girl says he followed christ and was banished and the rabbi refused to help photia centuries later refers to an ancient document that records that nicodemus was martyred for his devotion to christ by being beaten to death by a mob now that's tradition i have good news for you ask him when you get to heaven heaven comes down and god makes sinners new it's a divine miracle we contribute nothing all we can do is believe right cry out to god lord give me faith give me life there's not a formula a formula prayer you pray cry out to heaven that god would grant you life and repentance and faith father we thank you for the time that we've been able to be together today it is the most sacred of all times because we bow our knees to your sovereignty and you speak to us through your word we thank you that you save sinners not on the basis of anything that they have done but when they have recognized they are utterly undone when they come to the point of spiritual emptiness and bankruptcy and cry out with that public and god be merciful to me a sinner may every heart every soul every mind recognize that we will live forever in the kingdom of light the kingdom of heaven the kingdom of god or the kingdom of darkness kingdom of hell pain unending and that the kingdom is only available to those to whom you give life from above all the sinner can do is pound his chest and say god be merciful to me a sinner grant me life grant me faith grant me repentance we have the promise that whoever comes to you you will never turn away those promptings to come to you are promptings that you initiate so where those desires rise in the heart it's your spirit at work bring people into your kingdom give them life from above may they believe in christ the holy one the son of god lord and savior crucified and risen from the grave and in believing have eternal life help us to have opportunity to proclaim the glories of the new birth that you have taught us from your word i pray lord that you will bless this precious congregation of people give them open doors to talk about what it means to be born from above and may they be instruments that you can use as even the lord spoke to nicodemus may they find people with whom they can share the gospel and may you be gracious to open hearts that's our prayer for your glory alone amen

Channel: Grace to You

Views: 215,098

Rating: 4.8632269 out of 5

Keywords: John MacArthur, Bible, Preaching, Christianity, Expository, Exposition, Sermon, Jesus, Christ, Grace to You

Id: VA9TGq7hidw

Length: 64min 53sec (3893 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 09 2020