1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:08,280 If you would grab a Bible and open it to John chapter 3, we'll 2 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:13,600 read God's word together. John chapter 3, take one more 3 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:15,960 pass through it before I pray for us. 4 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:18,400 John chapter 3, starting in verse one. 5 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:25,080 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a 6 00:00:25,080 --> 00:00:29,840 ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night 7 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:33,240 and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you're a teacher, come from 8 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:37,000 God, for no one can do the signs that you do unless God is with 9 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,720 him. Jesus answered him Truly, truly, 10 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:46,240 I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom 11 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,520 of God. Nicodemus said to him, How can a 12 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:53,600 man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into 13 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:58,880 his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered truly, truly. 14 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:02,880 I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he 15 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:07,560 cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is 16 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:10,560 flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. 17 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:13,720 Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again. 18 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:18,080 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear it sound, but you 19 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:21,840 do not know where it comes from, or where it is where it goes. 20 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:24,880 So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. 21 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,960 Nicodemus said to him, How can these things be? 22 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:33,960 Jesus answered him, Are you the teacher of Israel? 23 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:36,400 And yet you do not understand these things? 24 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:40,760 Truly, truly, I say to you, We speak of what we know and bear 25 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:43,640 witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our 26 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,920 testimony. If I have told you earthly 27 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,240 things and you do not believe, how Can you believe if I tell 28 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:55,000 you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven 29 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,160 except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 30 00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:04,160 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so 31 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:08,080 must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him 32 00:02:08,479 --> 00:02:12,320 may have eternal life. These are the words of God. 33 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:18,960 Would you pray with me? Our Father in heaven, we come to 34 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:23,360 you like Nicodemus came to Christ seeking wisdom. 35 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:31,800 God, we need to know what only You can tell us that, that we 36 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:37,840 need that information that comes from beyond the earth, beyond 37 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,840 our life. We need wisdom on eternal life. 38 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,200 And so we pray, Lord, that you, by your Spirit, would take up 39 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:47,360 your word, would take up your servant, and that you would 40 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:49,960 teach us, that you would speak to us, that we might hear your 41 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:53,040 voice this morning. Would you bless this time in 42 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:55,360 your word? We ask it in Jesus name for his 43 00:02:55,360 --> 00:03:00,920 sake, Amen. So our culture is one that is 44 00:03:00,920 --> 00:03:06,640 forever asking, what must we do? What do we do now with our money 45 00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:10,880 so that when we're old we have enough of it, right? 46 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:15,280 What do we do with our health right now so that we can live as 47 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:19,280 healthy and as happily as we can for a long period of time? 48 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:21,720 What can I eat? What can I drink? 49 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:25,880 What what medicine can I take? What things can I avoid? 50 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:30,040 What do we do to live life well? That's our question. 51 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:34,680 And all of these different questions are micro versions of 52 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:39,440 the great question that is asked in Scripture of the Lord. 53 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:45,320 What must I do to be saved? The Bible says it is appointed 54 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:49,560 for a man who wants to die, and then comes judgment. 55 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:54,600 So all of us at some point or another are going to die, and 56 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:59,680 all of us will stand before our Maker and offer Him the totality 57 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:01,720 of our life, and He will pass judgment. 58 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:06,360 He'll look at it at everything we've done in the body, and 59 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:09,880 he'll pass judgment on us. And so the great question for 60 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:14,960 every person that knows that that judgment is coming is this, 61 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:19,959 What must I do to be saved? How do I pass that test? 62 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:26,520 How, as CS Lewis put it, how can on that day, how can God look at 63 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:31,040 me and all of my life and somehow that I wouldn't just 64 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:36,360 pass, but that I would be one of the ingredients in the divine 65 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:39,600 happiness. They would look on me with 66 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:41,960 pleasure, look on my life with pleasure. 67 00:04:42,280 --> 00:04:44,920 If you have not posed that question, you ought to. 68 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:48,280 This is what the Scriptures talk about. 69 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:52,200 Teach us to number our days, that it may, that we may attain 70 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:55,480 a heart of wisdom. It may sound ridiculous, but 71 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:00,320 little old me, I'm going to give you the answer to that today. 72 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:03,440 So if that's your question, you've come to the right place. 73 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:07,800 Then it's not me, it's Christ. Yeah. 74 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:11,160 So Christ is going to teach Nicodemus, and then we're going 75 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:16,440 to learn second hand what we must do in order to be saved. 76 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:19,000 And so as we think through this text together, I'm going to 77 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:21,960 point out some things to you. And I want you to see that Jesus 78 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:25,720 gives a bunch of negatives. It's not going to be done this 79 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:29,560 way because he needs to peel our fingers back from the things 80 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:33,800 that we're holding onto so that we can grasp that real eternal 81 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:36,240 life. The question is, how do we come 82 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:38,400 to eternal life? How do we get there? 83 00:05:39,280 --> 00:05:43,280 OK, so the first thing that Jesus is going to tell Nicodemus 84 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:49,400 in in verses one through 3 is that eternal life is not inside 85 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:52,920 of us, but it's outside of us. It's not something we find 86 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:54,040 inside you. Give that a lot. 87 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:56,920 You want eternal life or love or peace or whatever. 88 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:00,960 Just just look into yourself. Go meditate wrong 100 times 89 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:03,600 over. Eternal life is not found inside 90 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,560 you, it's found outside of you. So look at verses one through 91 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:08,320 three with me. There was a man of the 92 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:13,280 Pharisees, so a law keeper. So many believe that in the word 93 00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:17,200 of God, you have in the scriptures, you have the very 94 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:21,920 word of God, a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who was a ruler of 95 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:24,440 the Jews. There's kind of a play in in, in 96 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:28,480 Greek on his name, Nico and Demas means a ruler of the Demas 97 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:31,120 where we get democracy, a ruler of the people. 98 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:35,320 And then he's, John says he's Nico Demas, a ruler of the Jews. 99 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:36,960 So he's really, really important. 100 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:41,360 He's as big as they come. And this man came to Jesus by 101 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:44,880 night. OK, So if you, if you think 102 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:47,320 about this in the Gospel of John, you have this dichotomy 103 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:51,880 between the darkness on earth and the light of the world that 104 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:54,760 comes into the world to shine in the darkness. 105 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,840 This is Christ. And so you have this, you have 106 00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:00,760 this light that is the gospel of the Lord Jesus, and you have the 107 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:05,240 darkness that's dwelling in the on the earth Judas when he when 108 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:09,640 he leaves Christ's presence to go betray Christ, we're told 109 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:14,280 this detail that it was night. So this is a, this is a light 110 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:17,960 versus darkness kind of a thing. And Nicodemus comes by night to 111 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:22,040 Christ. And so I take this as Nicodemus 112 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:25,440 realizing, and you can tell by his words, his introduction to 113 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:29,200 Christ, realizing that there's something special about Christ 114 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,240 that he doesn't know. And so he's not coming for 115 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:36,240 baptism yet. He's not all in chips are not 116 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:38,280 all on the table. He's kind of investigating. 117 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:42,880 Let's go talk to this, this new teacher and let's see what he's 118 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:44,480 about. He comes at night so he doesn't 119 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:47,120 cause a stink. He doesn't he's not outed as a 120 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,760 follower of Christ. He comes by night and he says to 121 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:51,440 Jesus, and I want you to listen to these words. 122 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,920 It's very respectful. Rabbi, we know that you're a 123 00:07:55,920 --> 00:08:00,480 teacher, come from God, for no one can do these signs that you 124 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:05,880 do unless God is with him. So he's very, very respectful. 125 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:11,040 But Jesus cuts right to the heart of the matter and actually 126 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:17,040 rebukes the disrespect that's there in Nicodemus words. 127 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:20,240 Look, in verse 3, Jesus answered him truly, truly. 128 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:26,160 I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom 129 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:29,720 of God. So Nicodemus again intends to 130 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:32,760 show respect to a mere man, a prophet or a teacher. 131 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:35,280 That you see this all the time in our world that when people 132 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:39,200 talk about Jesus, they they say, obviously he's one of the 133 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:41,600 greatest men to have ever lived, a great prophet, a great 134 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:43,360 teacher. I mean, you hear all of these 135 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:47,360 things, but what has never entered into Nicodemus's wild 136 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:53,480 imagination is that Nicodemus is talking not to a man with whom 137 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:56,160 God is. We know that God is with you. 138 00:08:56,160 --> 00:09:01,560 He says nobody can do the stuff you do unless God is with him. 139 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:04,360 It's never entered into Nicodemus his imagination that 140 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:09,840 God is not just with Christ, that Christ is Emmanuel. 141 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:16,760 Christ is God with us. OK, so Nicodemus hasn't come 142 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:19,880 into the presence of a good teacher with whom got it, who 143 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:22,360 got his blessing. Nicodemus has come into the very 144 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:25,560 presence of God. He is attempting to have a 145 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:29,360 little chat, a friendly meeting of the minds with an upstart 146 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:33,240 teacher, but he finds himself in the holy of holies, talking to 147 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:35,600 his Creator. He is standing like a clod 148 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,360 hopper with muddy boots in the presence of the burning Bush. 149 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:44,000 He has ascended into Zion's cloud, into Sinai's cloud, in 150 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:46,840 his talking shop with the living and the true God. 151 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:50,880 Nobody should be surprised that Nicodemus is as wrong footed as 152 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:54,360 he can possibly be. But Jesus says something very 153 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:56,480 important that we need to, that we need to sit in. 154 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:01,800 He says unless one is born again, he cannot, that is, he is 155 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:05,760 unable to see the Kingdom of God. 156 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:09,640 This is as big a mystery to Nicodemus as the identity of 157 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:13,160 Christ is. How can we be born again when we 158 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:15,280 didn't have a hand in our birth in the 1st place? 159 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:17,600 So let me just let's do a thought experiment. 160 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:22,000 I invite you to think about your birth. 161 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:24,040 Jesus says you must be born again. 162 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:27,360 So we might ask, how were we born in first place? 163 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:31,080 Something that none of us want to think about, might not like 164 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:33,560 to think carefully about it, but all things being the same, your 165 00:10:33,560 --> 00:10:35,480 birth took place something like this. 166 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:41,800 Two people came together without your permission and they made a 167 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:45,200 very interesting plan that resulted in you first coming 168 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:50,960 into the womb and then coming into the world long before you 169 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:57,080 ever realized that you were a you, long before you ever 170 00:10:57,080 --> 00:10:58,680 realized that you were in the world. 171 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:02,520 You were born. How does that grab you that you 172 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:05,600 exist? You were born passively. 173 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:09,720 You didn't ask raise your hand. Any of you guys asked your 174 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:12,360 father to bigot you? No, you weren't there. 175 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:14,880 That's the point. Dad is making a plan. 176 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:18,280 Mom's making a plan or not. What however, that however that 177 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:21,040 worked? But you come into being based 178 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:24,800 upon the actions of another without your permission. 179 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:28,680 Eternal life is the same. It isn't something you can 180 00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:32,840 accomplish within yourself. It has to come from without 181 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:35,600 yourself. What must I do to be saved? 182 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:38,440 Stop asking that question. It doesn't come from you, it 183 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:41,480 comes from outside of you. You must be born again. 184 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:43,960 It has to come from outside of yourself. 185 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:47,080 You didn't accomplish your birth, you received it. 186 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:49,280 Being born again is the same way. 187 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:52,840 Eternal life is not within you. It is without you. 188 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:57,000 And I don't mean I don't mean it is done without you there. 189 00:11:57,000 --> 00:11:59,480 I mean it is done outside. It's a preposition. 190 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:03,760 It's done outside of you where God does something inside of you 191 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:06,320 that will result in eternal life. 192 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:11,360 So eternal life is not something that happens within you, but 193 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:13,080 it's something that happens without you. 194 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:16,640 Secondly, Jesus tells Nicodemus that eternal life is not 195 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:19,480 something that we see, but it's something that we can see. 196 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:23,680 By Louis's favorite or famous description, I know that 197 00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:26,320 Christianity is true. I know that Christ is Lord, not 198 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:31,160 because I can see him, but because by him I can see all 199 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:32,560 things he said. It's like the sun. 200 00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:36,800 I, I don't look at the sun, I look at all things by the sun. 201 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:41,120 Eternal life is the same way. Look in verses 4 through 8, 202 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:45,080 Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he is old? 203 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:48,720 He can't enter a second time into his mother's women be born. 204 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:52,280 Perish the thought. And Jesus said truly, truly, I 205 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:55,800 say to you, unless one is born of water in the Spirit, he 206 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:59,040 cannot enter the Kingdom of God. And I just want to point 207 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:01,960 something out to you that first he says unless one is born 208 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:04,480 again, he cannot see the Kingdom. 209 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:09,240 Now he says truly, truly, unless one is born of water in the 210 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:11,800 Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom. 211 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:14,480 That which is born of flesh is flesh that was just born of the 212 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:17,360 Spirit is Spirit. So you have born again, born of 213 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:19,840 water in the Spirit, born of the Spirit. 214 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:23,640 All of these ways in which Jesus is talking about the same 215 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:26,760 reality that theologians called the regeneration of the Holy 216 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:30,360 Spirit, that we were dead in our trespasses and sins, and God 217 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:34,280 sovereignly quickens us. He makes us alive together with 218 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:36,200 Christ. By grace we have been saved. 219 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:39,600 So he says truly, truly. I say to you, unless one is born 220 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:41,560 of water in the Spirit, he cannot enter. 221 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:44,640 Not only can he not see, he can't enter the Kingdom of God. 222 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:47,720 Then he says that which is born of flesh is flesh. 223 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:50,760 If you go, if you could figure out a way to go be reborn of 224 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:52,880 your mother, you're still going to be the problem. 225 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:54,800 You're still going to be fleshly. 226 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:57,680 Don't marvel it. I said, you must be born again. 227 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:01,200 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you 228 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:03,520 do not know where it comes from or where it is going. 229 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:06,720 So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. 230 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:11,520 So you cannot enter, you cannot see unless you have been born of 231 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:14,320 the Spirit. And he gives us this, this great 232 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:17,080 picture. The wind blows where it wills. 233 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:20,560 Wind in Greek again is a play on word in the Old Testament, 234 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:25,080 ruach, the word ruach is it can be translated spirit or wind. 235 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:27,640 So when you talk about the Spirit of God, you talk about 236 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:29,480 the ruach. When you're talking about the 237 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:33,960 wind, you're, you say the word ruach and same thing in, in the 238 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:37,760 New Testament, in, in Greek, numatas is wind, Numatas is 239 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:39,880 spirit. So when we talk about the Holy 240 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:43,800 Spirit in Greek, it's it's some combination of Numatas and 241 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:46,240 Hagias, the spirit which is holy. 242 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:51,240 You can also translate it the wind, which is Holy Spirit 243 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:54,720 Numatas. He says the wind blows where not 244 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:58,400 where you wish it, but where it wishes. 245 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,680 And you hear it sound, but you do not know where it comes from 246 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:04,320 or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is 247 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:07,560 born of the Spirit. It doesn't blow because you bid 248 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,640 the wind. Your eyes have never think about 249 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:12,960 this. Your eyes have never seen the 250 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:15,600 wind. What do you see? 251 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:17,080 How do you know that the wind is blowing? 252 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:20,360 Well, you hear it and you hear the effects of it. 253 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:24,760 You see the wind affecting the world around you and you 254 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:28,200 conclude that there is an invisible force at work around 255 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:31,160 you. And Jesus says, so it is with 256 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:33,360 everyone who is born of the Spirit. 257 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:36,840 So just think about, you don't have to look around yet, but 258 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:39,560 when we come to the communion table, you must look around. 259 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:42,760 In a few moments we're going to come to the Lord's table. 260 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:46,040 And I would just invite you to look around at the effects of 261 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:49,160 the wind. How many of us were born and 262 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:53,520 spent years of our life totally indifferent or antithetical to 263 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:57,840 the person of Christ? And yet here we are, like how 264 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:02,880 many times, how many, how many days, weeks, months, years of 265 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:05,040 your life did you just not care about Christ? 266 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:06,880 Some of you grew up in the church. 267 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:09,560 You've always known love and trusted Christ, and God be 268 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:13,960 praised. But some of us grew up against 269 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,240 Christ, not believing in Him, disbelieving in Him, neutral to 270 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:20,560 Him, and yet here we are. In a few moments I'm going to 271 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:22,600 say, this is Christ's body broken for you. 272 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:24,840 This is His blood shed for the forgiveness of your sins. 273 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:28,440 If you want him, come in faith and we're all going to get up 274 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:30,880 and run to the table. Why? 275 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:33,360 Because it's the effect of the wind. 276 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:38,440 The Holy Spirit has sovereignly moved to awaken faith and love 277 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:41,520 in US. OK, so so we were. 278 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:44,560 Many of us were born and spent years of our life totally 279 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:45,840 indifferent to the person of Christ. 280 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,960 And yet here we are, bending and thrashing about in the fury of 281 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:51,120 His love like trees under a highwind. 282 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:55,920 Glory to His name. He is here with us and you are 283 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:58,360 all undeniable proof of that fact. 284 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:00,800 God be praised. Eternal life is not something we 285 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:03,680 can see, it's something we can see by. 286 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:07,839 I didn't see the Holy Spirit form Christ in you. 287 00:17:07,839 --> 00:17:12,000 I didn't see Him awaken you, but I can see that you love Christ 288 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:14,200 And so I can say the wind has blown. 289 00:17:15,079 --> 00:17:19,920 Christ has saved us. Amazing eternal life is also not 290 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:22,240 new. It's very, very, very old. 291 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:27,880 Look, in verse 9, Nicodemus asks a very understandable question. 292 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,640 So he comes what the idea is, what must I do to be saved? 293 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:32,440 And Jesus says, you got to be born again. 294 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:35,040 You got to be born again. And he keeps saying you got to 295 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:39,160 do something that you can't do. And so Nicodemus asks what we 296 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:43,280 all have to ask when we realize the impossibility of what God 297 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:45,800 requires. How can these things be? 298 00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:49,520 You're telling me I can't do it, I can't affect it, I can't make 299 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:51,360 it happen. How can that be? 300 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:56,360 And Jesus says something very interesting. 301 00:17:57,120 --> 00:18:01,720 He doesn't say, Nicodemus, look in the Old Testament wasn't this 302 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:04,200 way, but but now there's something new and you're just 303 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:07,040 going to have to bear with me. Watch what he says. 304 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:13,200 Are you the teacher of Israel? And yet you do not understand 305 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:15,480 these things. This is the way it's always 306 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:18,520 been. Old New Testament doesn't matter 307 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:22,080 if you've ever if anybody has ever been saved, it's because 308 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:26,080 the Holy Spirit has regenerated them given them faith in the 309 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:28,320 word of God. Are you the teacher of Israel 310 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:30,920 and yet you do not understand these things Jesus is saying 311 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:34,680 this is this is faith and relationship and covenant with 312 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:36,280 God. One O 1. 313 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:41,680 It's like coming to a mechanic's shop and they don't know what a 314 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,520 wrench is right? Going to a plumber and they 315 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:46,520 don't know how to use primer and glue. 316 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:49,800 It's like, dude, this is 101, right? 317 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:53,360 You have to understand this. And so Jesus rebukes Nicodemus 318 00:18:53,360 --> 00:18:55,640 for not understanding his Old Testament. 319 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:58,280 Are you the teacher of Israel? And you don't understand these 320 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:00,360 things? Truly, truly. 321 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:03,600 I say to you, we speak of what we know and bear witness to what 322 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:06,600 we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 323 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:08,960 And he says in verse 12, this is wild. 324 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:11,600 If I have told you earthly things, this doesn't sound like 325 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:13,680 earthly things. It sounds like mystery, right? 326 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:16,320 Born again, invisible work of God. 327 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:19,200 That sounds really mysterious. Jesus says no, this is earthly 328 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:21,040 stuff. If I tell you the the 329 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:24,400 Christianity 101 and you don't believe, how Can you believe? 330 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:28,600 If I tell you heavenly things like I'm going to take your sin 331 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:32,560 upon myself and die on your behalf, how will you possibly 332 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:38,360 understand that verse, Verse 13, He says very interesting phrase. 333 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:43,800 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from 334 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:47,880 heaven, the Son of man. OK, Eternal life is not new. 335 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:50,640 It's very, very old. There's a tendency to see the 336 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:53,160 words of Christ as describing something brand new. 337 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:56,680 And he talks about regeneration and being born again, that it's 338 00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:58,840 new on the scope of God's redemptive work. 339 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:02,680 But don't make this mistake. In the Old Testament you you 340 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:06,600 should hear an illusion when we read Jesus saying no one has 341 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:09,120 ascended except for he who descended. 342 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:12,080 Does any text come to mind? You don't have to shout it out. 343 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:14,360 Just think. Just think about it does. 344 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:17,520 Is that biblical language or is Jesus just coming up with 345 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:19,920 something? The first time to my knowledge 346 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:23,920 that we come across this phrase ascending and descending is when 347 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:26,200 Jacob is running from his murderous brother. 348 00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:29,280 He lays down on a rock in a place that he named Bethel, the 349 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:33,600 House of the House of God. And in the night he sees a 350 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:37,280 vision of a ladder that goes into heaven. 351 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:39,680 And the Lord is at the top of the ladder, and he sees the 352 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:44,400 angels of God ascending and descending on the ladder. 353 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:47,240 Right? We see it again and I want to 354 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:51,120 read this text to you. This is this is from Deuteronomy 355 00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:55,000 chapter 30, where Moses, they're just getting ready to go into 356 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:59,120 the into the land. He re preaches the law to them. 357 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:01,280 And I want you to hear what he says. 358 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:03,360 What he says. This is you don't have to turn 359 00:21:03,360 --> 00:21:05,520 here. It's Deuteronomy 30 verse 6. 360 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:08,560 If you want to write that outside beside ascending and 361 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:11,000 descending, here's what Moses says. 362 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:15,960 And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the 363 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:19,520 heart of your offspring. 2 things he's going to do 2 works. 364 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:20,920 He's going to circumcise your heart. 365 00:21:22,360 --> 00:21:24,320 Circumcision is something you can do right? 366 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:26,960 We can do that with a knife. How many of you can circumcise a 367 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:29,440 heart with a knife? Answer you can't. 368 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,560 Moses is saying God is going to do some work inside of you to 369 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:35,600 make you right with God and the promise. 370 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:38,440 And This is why we've baptized our offspring, because of 371 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:40,600 promises like this that are ours in Christ. 372 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:44,720 The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the 373 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:46,800 heart of your offspring. It comes as promise. 374 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:50,960 This is what he's going to do, so that you will love the Lord 375 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:53,600 your God. Notice it's not that you love 376 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:56,080 the Lord your God and then he circumcises your heart. 377 00:21:56,080 --> 00:22:01,800 You don't love unless and until He does that work inside you. 378 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:05,880 OK, now listen to what Moses says in in verse 11. 379 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:10,000 He says for this commandment that I command you today is not 380 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:14,080 too hard for you be perfect as your Father in heaven is 381 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:15,800 perfect. Love the Lord your God with all 382 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:17,120 your heart, soul, mind and strength. 383 00:22:17,120 --> 00:22:20,840 Love your neighbor as yourself every moment of every day for 384 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,520 the rest of your life perfectly. And Moses says it's not too 385 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:26,240 hard. You can do this. 386 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:29,160 What? What are you talking about? 387 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:32,040 He says it's not too hard and it's not far off. 388 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:34,640 It's not in heaven that you should say who will? 389 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:38,280 Here's our phrase, who will ascend heaven for us and bring 390 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:40,000 it to us that we may hear it and do it. 391 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:42,840 Neither is it beyond the sea that you should say, Who will go 392 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:45,840 over the sea for us to bring it to us, that we may hear it. 393 00:22:46,120 --> 00:22:48,200 He says, But the word is very near you. 394 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:53,280 It's in your mouth and in your heart so that you can do it. 395 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:58,920 The human heart is hard wired to earn and to accomplish, right? 396 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:02,840 So when my favorite authors said this week, I heard him say that 397 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:05,640 in the Old Testament, when you look at the law, there's two 398 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:08,120 ways of looking at the law. There's a Pharisaical way that 399 00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:12,480 you look at the law and you see a ladder of ascending into 400 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:15,160 heaven, that if you'll just do this and do this and do this, 401 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:19,240 you can climb your way and you will despair for the rest of 402 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:20,640 your life. There's another way to look at 403 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,400 the law, that when you look at the law, what you see is the 404 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:26,200 portrait of Christ, of who Christ will be for us. 405 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:29,840 And that's Jesus's word to Nicodemus, the ascending and 406 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:32,280 descending. The human heart is hardwired to 407 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:36,440 earn and accomplish, but as a fallen race, all we can do to 408 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:40,640 affect our salvation is receive. It's not something we 409 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:43,200 accomplish, it's something God gives us. 410 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:45,400 Corporately, this is very important. 411 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:48,000 Corporately, the people of God are feminine. 412 00:23:48,120 --> 00:23:53,400 We're the bride of Christ. OK, we take from God and by his 413 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:56,240 grace multiply that grace out into the world. 414 00:23:56,240 --> 00:24:02,040 But so often we transgender our salvation like we do everything 415 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,400 else in life. We make ourselves the initiator. 416 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:08,920 How many times in youth camp were you told if you'll just 417 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:11,880 take that first step, God will take the other 99? 418 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:13,960 Baloney. You will never take that first 419 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:16,840 step unless God awakens faith in you. 420 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:20,320 God is the initiator. God is the masculine. 421 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:25,520 God is the sower of seed. We are the receiver and we can't 422 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:29,360 get that swapped. We become the givers. 423 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:32,280 God may receive from us. That is not the way of 424 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:35,720 salvation. If you would be saved, God must 425 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:39,440 give you Himself and you must receive Him by faith. 426 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:41,080 It does not happen any other way. 427 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:43,440 This is the way it has always been. 428 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:47,880 Eternal life is not new. It is the only way God has ever 429 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:51,800 saved people. And so back in John chapter 3, 430 00:24:52,120 --> 00:24:54,640 it's not something that comes from within you. 431 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,000 It is not something that you can accomplish. 432 00:24:57,280 --> 00:24:59,320 It's something that only God can do. 433 00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:06,680 And so all of us should say this should leave a frightful taste 434 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:10,040 in our mouth thinking about, OK, So what can I do right? 435 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:14,480 If if it's nothing that I can, that can that I can affect, what 436 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:16,760 should I do? And Jesus is finally going to 437 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:18,880 give us the answer, the positive. 438 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:20,880 Here's what you do. Would you be born again? 439 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,800 Would you pass that test? Would you stand before Almighty 440 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:27,080 God and have a look at your life and approve and be pleased with 441 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:30,520 what you have done? This is the way. 442 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:36,080 And verse 14, Jesus says to Nicodemus, as Moses lifted up 443 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:39,120 the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted 444 00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:43,680 up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 445 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:47,680 Oh, you must be born again, which is something you can't do. 446 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:50,800 And so all of us ought to throw up our hands and say what then? 447 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:54,440 Can we can be done? If I need outside help, but I 448 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:57,200 can't force that outside help any more than I can force the 449 00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:00,600 wind to blow, is there any hope for me? 450 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:04,160 Are you telling me that I'm literally just sitting here at 451 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:08,880 the mercy of God? Yeah, that's what I'm telling 452 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:12,520 you. All of us are literally sitting 453 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:15,560 here waiting on the mercy of God. 454 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:19,640 And you know what? There's no safer place for human 455 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:22,880 beings to be than waiting upon the mercy of God. 456 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:26,520 Jesus anticipates, and he answers that question for us. 457 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:28,520 God, you're saying it. There's nothing I can do. 458 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:32,560 Yes, I'm saying there's nothing you can do, but here's one thing 459 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:35,160 you can do. He answers this question by 460 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:39,160 reminding Nicodemus of a Seminole moment in Israel's 461 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:40,680 history. And I'm going to read it for 462 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:42,200 you. Don't turn with me, but right in 463 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:45,240 the margin of your Bible, numbers 21, four through 9, 464 00:26:46,360 --> 00:26:49,800 Beautiful story. Jesus says as Moses lifted up 465 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:51,680 the serpent in the wilderness. And we would say, well, how did 466 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:53,440 Moses do that? Listen to this. 467 00:26:53,600 --> 00:27:00,280 It won't be long from Mount Hor. That's HOR, not WHOR, just in 468 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:03,320 case, since you're listening and not reading from Mount Hor. 469 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,960 They set out by the way of the Red Sea to go around the land of 470 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:09,320 Edom. And the people became impatient 471 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:12,800 on their way. And the people spoke against God 472 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:15,520 and against Moses. And here's what they say. 473 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:17,280 And I want you to listen very close. 474 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:21,480 Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the 475 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:23,240 wilderness? That's what God does. 476 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:26,720 He rescues us from slavery to kill us in the wilderness of 477 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:29,760 something worse, right? Why have you done this? 478 00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:32,760 And then they say, watch this, there's no food. 479 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:40,240 They've had manna every day for 40 years, but there's no food. 480 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:43,040 There's no food. There's no water. 481 00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:47,760 The rock that follows them is Christ who feeds them, gives 482 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:51,480 them water at every turn. There's no food, there's no 483 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:53,240 water. And then they turn directly 484 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:57,920 against manna, the heavenly bread that Christ says is Christ 485 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:01,040 himself, the bread from heaven that we don't know about, that's 486 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:04,200 mysterious, that comes to us, that tastes like wafers and 487 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:10,080 honey to feed more than or somewhere around 2 million 488 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:13,560 people in the middle of the wilderness when nothing else is 489 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:16,440 there. They turn to manna and they say 490 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:24,120 we loathe this worthless food, this food that Christ says that 491 00:28:24,120 --> 00:28:28,280 was me feeding my people. They use the word loathe, A 492 00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:30,000 literal translation of the Hebrew. 493 00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:34,400 Our souls hate this. And when they say worthless 494 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,680 food, it's contemptible, it's disgraced. 495 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:40,600 They hate. What are they hating? 496 00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:46,760 They're hating Christ and the Lord says, aw shucks, I'll be 497 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:50,960 patient. No, the Lord sent fiery winged 498 00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:53,320 in Hebrew. It's both. 499 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:55,160 It's seraphim. It's where we get our word for 500 00:28:55,160 --> 00:29:00,240 seraph, burning winged serpents among the people, and they bite 501 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:02,800 the people so that the people of Israel are dying. 502 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:07,120 If you want to see cobras, that's fine, you can do that. 503 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:13,120 But I think it's Dragons. Maybe I'm all by myself, but 504 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:16,480 it's winged fire serpents, and they're biting the people, and 505 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:18,720 people are dying. And so the people come to Moses 506 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:21,520 and they say we've sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord 507 00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:24,400 and against you. Pray to the Lord that he takes 508 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:28,720 away the serpents from us. They are, think about this in 509 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:33,320 Moses's life, who is the one that reaps A plague from not 510 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:36,440 obeying God's word? And he sends a plague to them 511 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,080 and they say we've sinned, please take it away. 512 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:41,080 Who is that? It's Pharaoh. 513 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:43,640 The people are now the new Pharaoh. 514 00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:46,000 They're saying we we've had enough of serpents. 515 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:48,720 Pray to the Lord that he takes them away. 516 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:51,800 And so Moses prayed for the people, and I want you to watch 517 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:52,760 this. This is marvelous. 518 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:54,880 God could have done it any old way. 519 00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:58,040 He doesn't take the serpents away. 520 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:01,800 What he does is he sends them a weird rescue. 521 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:07,240 Moses prayed and the Lord said to Moses, I want you to make a 522 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:11,840 fiery serpent out of bronze. So I want you to make something 523 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:14,120 in the image of what is killing my people. 524 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:17,880 And I want you to put it on a pole and I want you to lift it 525 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:22,880 up so that everybody who is bitten, when he sees it, he 526 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:25,320 shall live. Do they know the mechanism 527 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:27,480 there? Are they saying, well, when you 528 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:30,840 look, what's happening is the mitochondria and the Golgi 529 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:33,640 bodies is working. They don't have a clue. 530 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:38,280 You just look to what God has provided for you and you will be 531 00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:42,040 saved. And the text says, so Moses made 532 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:44,960 a bronze serpent, something in the image of what is killing 533 00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:48,360 God's people, and he put it on a pole and he raised it up. 534 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:52,680 And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent 535 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:56,600 and he would live. So Jesus, how can we be born 536 00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,960 again? Just as Moses made a bronze 537 00:30:59,960 --> 00:31:02,160 serpent in the image of the judgement of God which was 538 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:06,200 killing sinful men, Moses made that image of judgment and he 539 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:08,720 put it on a standard, and he lifted it up over the people of 540 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:11,120 Israel so that they could look at it and be saved. 541 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:16,160 In the same way, the Son of Man must be made into the very image 542 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:21,840 of sin and lifted up on a Roman cross so that whoever is dying 543 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:24,600 in their sin might merely look to him. 544 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:28,600 And by looking to him in faith, crucified for sinners, we might 545 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:31,080 have eternal life. What must you do? 546 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:34,040 Just look to Jesus. That's the only hope you have. 547 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:38,160 That's the only hope I have. So fret not yourself over much 548 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:41,480 about how you can be born again. You, you don't have to 549 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:43,680 understand the mechanism. Water spirit. 550 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:45,440 It's a baptism. How does the, how does the wind 551 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:47,880 look? Forget all of that stuff or not. 552 00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:53,120 Don't forget it, certainly don't forget it, but just don't worry 553 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:57,000 over the how. Look to Christ, lifted high upon 554 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:01,040 a Roman cross, made to be sin on your behalf, that you might be 555 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:03,200 made the righteousness of God on His behalf. 556 00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:08,000 Look to Him and be saved. And dear brothers and sisters, 557 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:12,360 there is no greater picture available for us today than this 558 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:16,200 table that is before us now. This bread is the body of Christ 559 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:18,760 broken for you. This wine is the blood of Christ 560 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:21,440 shed for you. You come to this table looking 561 00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:25,040 outside of yourself to the salvation of God, and looking 562 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:28,840 away from yourself, fix your eyes on Christ and feast your 563 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:33,280 eyes upon him who is lifted up, that you might have eternal 564 00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:37,800 life, not as an earning, but as a gift of grace. 565 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:42,200 So come to life himself. Come and welcome to Emmanuel, 566 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:46,960 welcome to King Jesus, welcome to eternal life, O Sinner, and O 567 00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:49,760 Christian, won't you come to Christ? 568 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:56,720 Let me pray for us. Lord Jesus, we we thank you for 569 00:32:57,080 --> 00:33:02,480 your wisdom in these words to put salvation so far outside of 570 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:09,560 our reach as to cause wild panic in US, and then to show us that 571 00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:11,480 you've already put salvation in our pocket. 572 00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:16,320 It's there, It's there. We need to look in faith to you 573 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:19,480 outside of ourselves. There's no hope there, there's 574 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:25,680 only despair that we would turn our eyes to You who in love for 575 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:29,480 sinners took our sin upon yourself and suffered yourself 576 00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:35,960 to be nailed to a Roman cross and to be killed as a punishment 577 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:38,600 for our sin. We thank you for your 578 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:41,160 resurrection. We thank you that the salvation 579 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:46,560 that we have comes solely to us as a gift, and we return thanks 580 00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:50,120 and we take it with grubby hands, and we say thank you. 581 00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:54,200 So would you draw near to us now at your table for those who are 582 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:58,640 downtrodden and despairing? Would you give them by the power 583 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:02,400 of your spirit, the ability to look away from themselves and 584 00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:09,040 where they will find no hope to to fix their eyes on you, on 585 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:11,920 your cross, on your resurrection, on your ascension 586 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:15,360 into heaven, and at at your current rule, where you sit at 587 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:18,400 the Father's right hand interceding for those who come 588 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:22,159 to you by faith? Would you minister to us now by 589 00:34:22,159 --> 00:34:25,560 your Spirit at the table? We ask it in Jesus name, Amen.