[00:00:01] Hello and welcome to Tal Paul's Preaching. Episode seven, Sermon number seven offers an in depth look at one of the most famous scriptures in the Bible which is of course John chapter 3, verse 16.
[00:00:20] This sermon focuses on John chapter 3 as the main text and was recorded on August 12, 2018 and it is titled Nick at Night.
[00:00:36] Let's bow our hearts in prayer.
[00:00:39] Lord, you are good. You are so good. And we just thank you for all that you've done, Lord, and all that you will do in keeping us right there with you, Lord, in strengthening us, encouraging us and comforting us.
[00:00:57] Lord, we have several prayer requests for healing. Lord, we know that you are the great physician and that you can heal and that not only that, but you can guide and give wisdom to those that are our doctors and working on us. And so we just pray for that as well.
[00:01:19] Lord, we pray for travel mercies. Lord, this is the summertime of gathering together as family and family reunions and summer travel and vacations. And so we just ask that you have mercy and you guide us and that your angels work overtime and keeping us all safe.
[00:01:41] We pray as it is summer and we haven't had moisture in a long, long time. We pray for all those that are fighting the fires. We pray that you would send rain and cold temperatures to snuff those out, Lord, and to help them that are fighting them. We pray that no new ones spring up. Lord, we ask that you guide our country, Lord, our elected representatives, that they would look to you, Lord, and seek your wisdom and go to you and do your will. Lord, we just pray for our country, you've put us in it. And we just ask for your blessing upon all its leaders.
[00:02:25] And Lord, we pray that your holy Spirit would grow that seed inside of our heart of your word, Lord, that you would open our ears and our eyes, that we would see what you want us to see and hear what you want us to hear and that we would be changed and we would be strengthened and grow in the knowledge you this we pray in Jesus name.
[00:02:51] Amen.
[00:02:55] Well, I'm going to be telling the old, old story this morning.
[00:03:00] We're going to be looking at perhaps the most well known verse in the Bible. I know it's not Jesus wept. That's the shortest John 11:35, but we're looking at John chapter three, which includes of course, John 3:16.
[00:03:20] For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
[00:03:33] Amen.
[00:03:36] So as you Open to John Chapter three.
[00:03:41] Chapter two ends with the statement that Jesus knew what was in man and what is in man.
[00:03:50] Psalm 14 says this. They are all gone aside. They are all together become filthy. There is none that does good, no, not one.
[00:04:02] As the rich young ruler came to Jesus.
[00:04:07] Mark 10:18. And Jesus said unto him, why do you call me good? There is none good but one, and that is God.
[00:04:18] So that's how chapter two ended, with Jesus knowing what is in man. In chapter three, the Gospel of John starts like this. There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
[00:04:34] So Nicodemus was a man, a Pharisee, and a ruler of the Jews.
[00:04:40] And as a man, Jesus knew his intentions, he knew why he was there.
[00:04:45] And even though he was a ruler of his people, there was nothing good inside of him. It had to come from God. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and the Pharisees were about religious works and outward expressions, the laws and the rituals. And he was a ruler, certainly a higher up, if not at the top.
[00:05:08] We see Nicodemus three times in Scripture. Of course, here in John 3. We also see him in John 7 and John 19.
[00:05:17] And Nicodemus is going to turn out all right. As you'll see in John 7 they are having this discussion amongst themselves whether a prophet can come out of Galilee or not.
[00:05:30] John 7:49 says, but this people who do not know the law are cursed.
[00:05:38] But Nicodemus said unto them, he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them, does our law judge any man before it hears him, and knows what he does.
[00:05:49] And they answered, said to Nicodemus, are you also of Galilee? Search and look, for out of Galilee arises no prophet. And every man went to his own house.
[00:06:01] Now, there are several problems with their discussion here. The first is that they had God in a box. They limited God. They said, can any prophet come out of Galilee? Like God couldn't raise up the stones from the ground to be a prophet. God can do anything. And for them to limit one of us, just because where we were born is wrong. God has the power.
[00:06:29] And they were also wrong. In fact, that there were some prophets that did come from there. Perhaps the most famous was Jonah. But they say Nahum and Hosea also hailed from there.
[00:06:43] And in last we see Nicodemus in John 19, as they embalm and bury Jesus.
[00:06:51] In John 19:38, 40 it says, and after this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him leave. And he came therefore and took the body of Jesus and and there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight. Then they took the body of Jesus and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
[00:07:27] So you see, Nicodemus turns out alright. And not only that, but he was quite wealthy. The 100 pound weight of spices and aloes was quite expensive.
[00:07:39] But here we have our first appearance of Nicodemus and he was a wealthy Pharisee and a ruler. Verse 2. Back in John chapter 3, the same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that you do except God be with him.
[00:08:04] Now a lot of people disparage Nicodemus for going to Jesus at night.
[00:08:09] Maybe they think he might have gone out of fear and shame of the people and sought Jesus in cover of darkness.
[00:08:18] Or maybe he was just too busy during the day and at nighttime was the only time he had to seek Jesus. But personally, I don't think we should disparage anyone who seeks out Jesus for any reason or motive.
[00:08:33] We should all go to Jesus especially for wisdom and answers, as Nicodemus did. James 1:5 says, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it shall be given unto him.
[00:08:53] And so Nicodemus was wise in that respect.
[00:08:58] And he says, we know, Rabbi, we know. And that we means he's speaking for not just himself, but for a group. Most likely the Pharisees.
[00:09:10] He was elected to seek Jesus, whether he volunteered or they drew straws or he's elected.
[00:09:19] What matters is that by him personally going to Jesus, he's going to personally benefit.
[00:09:26] If we just go to Jesus as a group, we don't benefit as much as when we go personally.
[00:09:34] He says teacher, and that's kind of a slam a little bit, you know. They don't call him a man of God or even a prophet, let alone the Messiah. Even though Jesus was doing miracles and works unlike any other before him.
[00:09:53] The Pharisees didn't understand how God moved and worked and they couldn't reconcile Jesus with what they had assumed the Messiah would be.
[00:10:05] The Pharisees did their works for God and for the people to be seen of the people.
[00:10:12] Jesus did his works with God and they recognize Jesus miracles and they accept God be with him.
[00:10:24] You can do none of those things and we should be the same. Only God can.
[00:10:30] Only God can heal. Only God can fix our lives.
[00:10:36] And just as we prayed earlier, we should be turning to God for all our needs, for healing and for the fires and for everything.
[00:10:46] It is by his power.
[00:10:49] But even though they recognized Jesus miracles and said that it came from God, later they are going to deny this claim that Jesus cast out demons by Beelzebub.
[00:11:05] That is kind of a turning point in the ministry. Jesus is going to start talking in parables at that point because they've denied the power of God.
[00:11:16] That's where Jesus says a house divided cannot stand.
[00:11:22] Why was Nicodemus there? Why were they seeking Jesus out? This occurs, this event with Nicodemus occurs very early in Jesus ministry. In fact, later in the chapter, John the baptizer is still baptizing out in the river. He's not thrown into prison yet and he's not been killed. So this is very early. And perhaps the Pharisees were looking for the Messiah and were going to send Nicodemus to ask if that's who Jesus was.
[00:11:56] See, they wanted the Messiah for personal gain. They wanted the Messiah to raise them up above Rome.
[00:12:03] They had expectations of who and what the Messiah was. They envisioned this Messiah as a ruler with a rod of iron, but they didn't envision him as a suffering servant.
[00:12:16] But Jesus cuts all that off and goes right to Nicodemus heart. Whatever Nicodemus was trying to get at by starting in with Jesus, Jesus just avoids all that and goes right to focusing on getting Nicodemus saved.
[00:12:36] So Jesus says in verse three, Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
[00:12:49] So right away we have truly, truly or verily, verily, whenever that you see that, the double emphasis there, we should read and think on it twice.
[00:13:01] Obviously we must seek to be born again to see the kingdom.
[00:13:07] They are going to address this and we are going to find out more about what being born again is. Verse 4. Nicodemus said unto him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?
[00:13:22] The Pharisees were all about the physical, the temporal, the worldly. That was their mindset.
[00:13:29] They didn't think about the spiritual aspects first. And Jesus answered. Verse 5, Verily, verily, again I say unto you, except a man be Born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
[00:13:46] We must be born twice, first physically and second spiritually.
[00:13:54] As the saying goes, when you're born twice, you die once. If you're born once, you die twice.
[00:14:03] See, salvation is for man.
[00:14:07] It wasn't for the angels. The angels had already been judged. Jesus came as a man and died as a man. He was fully God, yes, but he came to save mankind so that we could be adopted by God.
[00:14:26] Verse 6.
[00:14:28] That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
[00:14:35] So here we have this contrast of flesh and spirit.
[00:14:39] There is no work of the flesh. There is nothing I physically can do to obtain salvation.
[00:14:47] That salvation is 100% spiritual and comes from God.
[00:14:54] Now, tongues and fasting, those are physical things that are spiritual, but that is not salvation. Salvation is of the Lord.
[00:15:05] And water baptism is simply a physical representation of the spiritual event that God has already done within us.
[00:15:15] We are born of the Spirit when we accept God's provision of salvation and are adopted and notice that we're born new.
[00:15:26] We're not rebuilt, not renewed, not repaired, not refreshed, but we're born brand spanking new.
[00:15:36] He gives us a new heart, a new mindset, a new foundation that we build upon, which is God.
[00:15:46] Verse 7. Marvel not that I say unto you, you must be born again.
[00:15:51] The wind blows where it wants, and you hear the sound thereof, but you cannot tell from where, where it comes or where it goes. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit.
[00:16:04] We should not be surprised. The creation, the earth, it testifies of God.
[00:16:11] God's Spirit moves upon us like the wind. We can see the effects of the wind, but we cannot see the wind. Thus we can see the effects of the God's spirit working, even though we cannot see the Spirit.
[00:16:28] Nicodemus knew the works of Jesus and that they were of God. That's what he opened with.
[00:16:34] And the Pharisees wanted the power of the Spirit and were jealous of Jesus and were even somewhat disappointed in how Jesus used that power.
[00:16:44] They didn't understand why they were still under the Roman thumb, why they were suffering under persecution of Rome.
[00:16:53] Why wasn't the Messiah lifting them out of that?
[00:16:57] They wanted the power for themselves, not to help others, especially the Gentiles, the Roman soldiers.
[00:17:06] Nicodemus answered and said to him in verse nine, how can these sayings be? And Jesus answered and said to him, are you not a master of Israel and know not these things?
[00:17:18] It is a rebuke. The Masters of the law, but they miss the whole point of the law.
[00:17:24] It is not how best you can do the law. It is that it can't be done. We need God. That is what the law was to teach us.
[00:17:35] And we cannot dictate where the wind will blow, just as we cannot contain the Spirit.
[00:17:41] Jesus expected the leader of the Jews to know the Scriptures, for they testified of the very things that Jesus taught.
[00:17:50] This was not a new concept of being born again.
[00:17:55] There are several Old Testament Scriptures that reference that. Jeremiah, chapter 31 and 32, Ezekiel, chapters 11, 18, 36, Psalm 51, Isaiah 1. And in fact, let's look at Ezekiel 11:19 says, and I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you, and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them a heart of flesh.
[00:18:23] God is giving us new life and a spirit. It wasn't a new concept. And he expected Nicodemus to know that. Verse 11 Verily, verily, I say unto you, we speak that which we do know and testify that we have seen and you receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you believe not, how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?
[00:18:54] It's not that he didn't understand how the wind worked, but that the miracles that they knew Jesus did, they should have known that it came from God.
[00:19:08] They didn't really believe Jesus came from God or they would have recognized him as the Messiah. Jesus not only had mastery over the power of the Spirit to heal and to do miracles that should have testified who he really was, the Spirit didn't come upon him, and he did one thing and then it left him.
[00:19:30] Jesus had total command over the power of God, and John the Baptist recognized this. Later, when John is thrown in prison, he sends his disciples to seek out Jesus and say, hey, I'm in prison. Are you really the Messiah? And Jesus responds to them and says, tell John that you've seen the lame walk and the blind see and the leper cleansed.
[00:19:59] And John the Baptist recognized that this was special. This was mastery of the Spirit. This wasn't just a simple prophet. This was the Messiah.
[00:20:12] And so Jesus is basically telling Nicodemus, even if I told you straight up that I am the Messiah, you wouldn't believe.
[00:20:21] Verse 13 no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, which is in heaven, John is saying there that Jesus came from heaven and he ascended back up to heaven, and that was the demonstration of his power. Some Scholars claim that the apostle John is now speaking because it says, even the Son of Man, which is in heaven, which means that Jesus has now died and been resurrected and has ascended. So this is John speaking as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
[00:21:11] I mentioned earlier that the Old Testament testified of Jesus. And this is one crazy example.
[00:21:19] It's found In Numbers, chapter 21, verses 4 through 9. Numbers 21, 4, 9.
[00:21:27] It says, as they journeyed, the children of Israel, as they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to encompass the land of Edom. And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses. Wherefore have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water. And our soul loathes or hates this light bread. That was the manna that God had provided them day in and day out. But then they despised it. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people. And much people of Israel died.
[00:22:11] The wages of sin is death.
[00:22:15] Now, when it says fiery serpent, it's probably not that the snake was on fire and flames were coming out of the snake. It's more that when it bit you, the poison felt like fire.
[00:22:29] Verse 7.
[00:22:31] Therefore the people came to Moses and said, we have sinned.
[00:22:36] They repent, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, make you a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole. And it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten when he looks upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass and put it on a pole, and it came to pass. If a serpent had bitten any man when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
[00:23:07] That's kind of a crazy way, but it's God's way. It's not what they asked for.
[00:23:13] They asked that God remove the serpent from them. God remove the sin?
[00:23:19] Or. Or maybe God could have made them immune to the bite.
[00:23:25] But he does this strange thing. He takes this snake, which represents sin, and it is of brass, which represents the judgment. And it is talking about sin being judged. And it is so strange that we don't understand it until John explains it here with Jesus.
[00:23:48] For thousands of years, they didn't quite understand what this meant because it's kind of crazy. Hey, you're bitten. You Just have to look at this serpent on a pole.
[00:24:01] But that's God's way. God doesn't look away. That's not how it works. He doesn't ignore our sin.
[00:24:08] God is more than just love. He is just and righteous.
[00:24:14] Sin must be paid for.
[00:24:17] And it's not that we are no longer tempted or immune to this poison or sin. It's that we have a Savior to look upon in our time of need. See, Jesus was lifted up on that cross for all to see.
[00:24:34] Everyone has an opportunity to look to Jesus and live.
[00:24:41] God could have chosen anyway, but he chose that way.
[00:24:46] And it was the people's choice. You know, when you're bitten, they could have said, oh, I'll find my own way. I don't want to look at this serpent.
[00:24:55] Which would have been silly.
[00:24:58] But that's how we are now. Today there's Jesus up on the cross.
[00:25:03] All who want. We're going to get to that verse. Whosoever can have life.
[00:25:09] And it's hard pressed to find someone who hasn't heard of Jesus, especially in this country. He's been lifted up up above.
[00:25:19] He's well known.
[00:25:21] That's the way God chose.
[00:25:23] Verse 15.
[00:25:26] Whosoever believes in him speaking of Jesus should not perish but have everlasting life.
[00:25:36] It is by grace, through faith. And it has always been that way by faith. It will always be by faith.
[00:25:45] It took faith that when you were bitten to just look upon a snake, that would heal you. I mean, that took faith. All I have to do is look upon this serpent on a pole and I will be healed. That sounds crazy. And that took faith. And it's the same way with Jesus.
[00:26:02] God's grace.
[00:26:05] They knew they were sinning. They went to Moses. Hey, we've sinned, they repented. And it's the same for us. When we repent, we can be delivered by faith. Knowing that Jesus paid the price on the cross.
[00:26:21] We are sinners and it's by God's grace. And he provided one way by faith, in that way we will be healed.
[00:26:33] Verse 16:3 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
[00:26:48] Praise God.
[00:26:50] I'm a whosoever and I'm sure you're a whosoever.
[00:26:54] Whosoever includes everyone, anyone, one and all.
[00:27:01] God doesn't refuse anyone. If you want to be a whosoever, you just believe in Jesus. That's what verse 16 is all about.
[00:27:12] And it's that belief in Jesus that that makes one born again.
[00:27:19] Verse 17.
[00:27:20] For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
[00:27:29] Praise God. It's not to condemn.
[00:27:34] We're living in this age of grace. And now is the time. Now is that time to turn to Jesus, to bow our knee willfully.
[00:27:45] Because when Jesus comes again, it's not going to be so pretty.
[00:27:49] For those who have rejected.
[00:27:52] Verse 18. He that believes on him is not condemned. But he that believes not is condemned already because he has not believed. In the name of the only begotten Son of God.
[00:28:09] Our soul is already sold when we sin. The wages of sin is death.
[00:28:17] And it takes Jesus to redeem that soul. To be born again requires the power of God.
[00:28:27] Verse 19. And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world world. And men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.
[00:28:39] That light that Jesus was a reflection. So that we could look at our own righteousness and come to the conclusion that we're not good enough. But Jesus is.
[00:28:52] Our own righteousness is as filthy rags. The Bible says.
[00:28:57] And Nicodemus were well, the work and the light must come from God.
[00:29:06] For every one that does evil hates the light. Neither comes to the light lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that does truth comes to the light that his deeds may be manifest, that they are wrought in God through Jesus. God does not see our sin. He doesn't see us as sinners.
[00:29:29] Through that born again process, Jesus cleanses us from all iniquity. We are justified. And that means it is just as if I had never sinned.
[00:29:41] Hallelujah. Praise God for that.
[00:29:45] Verse 22.
[00:29:48] After these things came Jesus and his disciples to the land of Judea. And there he tarried with them and baptized. And John was also baptizing in Aenion, near Salem, where there was much water there. And they came and were baptized, for John was not cast into prison. And there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification. And they came unto John and said unto him, rabbi, he that was with you beyond Jordan, to whom you bear witness beyond, behold, the same baptizes. And all men are going to him.
[00:30:25] And John answered and said, a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. That's how we opened this with Nicodemus recognizing that Jesus was doing miracles. By the power of God. It's the same as before.
[00:30:39] It's God that has the power to heal, to transform, to give us new life verse 28. You, you bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom which stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom voice. This is my joy, therefore is fulfilled.
[00:31:08] John the Baptist recognized that his role was to just announce the Savior's coming, the Messiah's coming.
[00:31:17] Verse 30.
[00:31:19] John the Baptist says he must increase, but I must decrease. This was not the Pharisees vision of what Messiah would do. They were expecting Messiah to come, kick out Rome and lift them up in power and at their right hand.
[00:31:39] Verse 31 he that comes from above is above all. He that is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He that comes from heaven is above all.
[00:31:50] And what he has seen and heard that he testifies. And no man receives his testimony. He is saying Jesus came from God and just testifies of God. But people aren't listening to verse 33. He that has received his testimony has set to his seal that God is true.
[00:32:13] For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God. For God gives not the spirit by measure unto Jesus.
[00:32:23] The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.
[00:32:29] He that believes on the Son has everlasting life. And he that believes not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.
[00:32:41] Praise God for Jesus. Thank you Lord.
[00:32:45] That was his way of salvation. Jesus died for us, paid our price. He makes us brand new, born again.
[00:33:00] Not just so that we'll see that kingdom of God, but that we'll be in that kingdom with God forever.
[00:33:10] Praise God for that.
[00:33:15] Let's pray. Heavenly Father, you are so good to us.
[00:33:21] Your grace is overwhelming.
[00:33:24] We are sinners Lord, and we couldn't get to you and so you came to us.
[00:33:32] You sent your son to die, to be resurrected so that we can have access to you and be with you forever.
[00:33:42] We praise you for that. We thank you for that.
[00:33:45] All glory you deserve, Lord.
[00:33:50] And we just want to go this week and just remember the goodness and what you've done for us. You've done everything and all we have to do is to just look up to Jesus.
[00:34:06] We praise you and we thank you in Jesus name.
[00:34:11] Amen.
[00:34:15] Thank you for listening to this message. We hope you enjoyed it. Our prayer is that the message in some way or another helped in your walk with God and that your relationship with God was strengthened and grew more intimate.
[00:34:33] If you would like to contact us with questions or comments.
[00:34:37] You can email us at the following that's
[email protected] or me at R e D l e T T e r S Com. Thank you.
