1 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:05,800 Good to see you guys. My name is Kyle. 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:08,200 I served as lead Pastor here. I want to say, welcome to you. 3 00:00:08,900 --> 00:00:11,500 Especially if you're visiting with us extra, thanks to you for 4 00:00:11,500 --> 00:00:14,700 coming and worshiping the Lord Christ with us today. 5 00:00:14,700 --> 00:00:19,500 We hope that you are edified and your spirit today that you're 6 00:00:19,500 --> 00:00:23,000 encouraged in your walk with him and that your love for others. 7 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:26,800 Grows today just as a part of being a part of this, the spirit 8 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:28,200 would move in your life. I'm that way. 9 00:00:29,700 --> 00:00:32,900 And anyway, so we're going to dive into God's word. 10 00:00:32,900 --> 00:00:37,000 Now if you have your You can turn to John chapter 3, John 11 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,200 chapter 3, we're continuing, however, we are nearing the end 12 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:44,000 of our series called the law and the gospel. 13 00:00:44,700 --> 00:00:50,000 You must be born again. The idea here is that many 14 00:00:50,700 --> 00:00:55,900 Israelites Jews in the Old Testament and specifically in 15 00:00:55,900 --> 00:00:57,500 the New Testament with the Pharisees. 16 00:00:57,500 --> 00:00:59,600 And what we see in this interaction, in John 3 between 17 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,600 Nicodemus and Jesus many live their life according to 18 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:09,200 Justin's, there were trying in some way to make themselves 19 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:13,100 approved before God. And by in some way, I mean by 20 00:01:13,100 --> 00:01:17,900 following the law of God trying to dot every, I cross every T, 21 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:23,000 make sure they nail it on the morality end of the spectrum and 22 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:25,600 the relationship we've drawn from that to present-day. 23 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:27,700 Why do we need this message today? 24 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:32,700 Well, we believe that in some way, there are many who are 25 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,700 quote unquote. Aegis who would say that they 26 00:01:36,700 --> 00:01:41,400 believe in God and yet have no idea who God is. 27 00:01:41,900 --> 00:01:44,500 They have a basis for Morality because they were raised by 28 00:01:44,500 --> 00:01:47,100 their parents or grandparents to be moral people. 29 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:52,600 Maybe they attended church and so they are in some way trying 30 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:57,300 to achieve self-righteousness. They're trying to make 31 00:01:57,300 --> 00:02:01,500 themselves approved before God and the way that they live. 32 00:02:01,500 --> 00:02:05,200 And, and so you see this a lot in what we call the Bible Belt, 33 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:07,100 right? Which is where we might say, we 34 00:02:07,100 --> 00:02:08,900 live in the Bible Belt, Buckle, right? 35 00:02:08,900 --> 00:02:13,200 We're like right in the heart of this idea of the Bible Belt and 36 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:17,400 so many grow up in church and maybe professed some belief in 37 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:19,800 Christ, at some point in their life. 38 00:02:20,100 --> 00:02:23,000 Maybe it was through baptism. Maybe it was during a VBS or 39 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,300 something to that effect. And then they were just a In 40 00:02:26,300 --> 00:02:29,200 that like you've made your decision, you've made a decision 41 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:33,600 to follow the lord, enjoy your life and there was never really 42 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,700 any follow up with discipleship. There was never any growth and 43 00:02:36,700 --> 00:02:39,100 Faith or growth and love for others. 44 00:02:39,100 --> 00:02:42,200 I didn't understand the things of God, they're not really been 45 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:44,800 matured in Christ at all. There's been no discipleship, 46 00:02:44,900 --> 00:02:48,300 and so largely for them. Following Christ required 47 00:02:48,300 --> 00:02:52,600 nothing except an initial profession, maybe some 48 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:56,300 embarrassment, as you went down the aisle or got in the tub, To 49 00:02:56,300 --> 00:02:59,000 be baptized and then that was it. 50 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:02,300 And so, what we don't want, our people who think they are 51 00:03:02,300 --> 00:03:06,500 Christian because they follow some of the rules quote-unquote. 52 00:03:07,300 --> 00:03:11,200 They're attempting self-righteousness and 53 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,100 self-righteousness is no righteousness at all. 54 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:20,000 That self-righteousness is of no value for your soul in the 55 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:24,900 scales of Eternity. But the gospel is, and the 56 00:03:24,900 --> 00:03:27,900 righteousness that comes through the gospel, the righteousness, 57 00:03:27,900 --> 00:03:31,600 that comes from Christ Jesus, that's imputed to us because of 58 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:35,900 his death burial and Resurrection is of every Eternal 59 00:03:35,900 --> 00:03:39,700 value, amen. It is our only hope. 60 00:03:39,700 --> 00:03:42,700 And so that's what we've been proclaiming here is that the law 61 00:03:43,100 --> 00:03:46,500 while it's good. And it's right. 62 00:03:46,500 --> 00:03:49,200 So I want to obey the laws of God. 63 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:54,300 Your motivation for obedience is not to gain the love of God, 64 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:57,000 it's because you have received the love of God. 65 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:02,400 You understand your operating true obedience, correct, 66 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:06,500 obedience biblically comes from Grace. 67 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:12,700 As you have received Grace, it doesn't come from your own mind 68 00:04:12,700 --> 00:04:16,200 so that you might receive Grace. You're not trying to work for 69 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:17,600 your own righteousness. Amen. 70 00:04:18,399 --> 00:04:23,200 But it's easy to fall into that trap because we are by our 71 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:27,000 nature. We have this desire to be our 72 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:30,700 own Lord, and when you want to be your own Lord, you also want 73 00:04:30,700 --> 00:04:35,500 to decide your own destiny. You want to be the Sole Provider 74 00:04:35,500 --> 00:04:39,400 of your own Eternal value. You and this is where we get 75 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:40,600 mixed up. And this is what we see with 76 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:43,100 Nicodemus. Nicodemus is a Pharisee, he's a 77 00:04:43,100 --> 00:04:46,000 ruler of the Jews, he's a member of the Sanhedrin, he's the 78 00:04:46,008 --> 00:04:51,100 teacher of Israel Christ causing so he's way on up there in the 79 00:04:51,100 --> 00:04:56,000 religious ranks and yet, in this interaction he's learning I 80 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:59,900 don't know the way of Salvation that's what Christ is revealing 81 00:04:59,900 --> 00:05:02,300 to him. So will will read this together. 82 00:05:02,700 --> 00:05:03,800 I want to practice something different. 83 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:06,300 So in previous weeks, I've been having you stand and read 84 00:05:06,300 --> 00:05:08,100 together. I want to add to that now, All 85 00:05:08,100 --> 00:05:10,400 right, so you didn't know, but you were being prepped for an 86 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:13,300 additional thing here. So this is what this is, what I 87 00:05:13,300 --> 00:05:15,500 want us to start doing. I want us to go ahead and stand 88 00:05:15,500 --> 00:05:18,100 for the reading of God's word, if you're able or unable that's 89 00:05:18,100 --> 00:05:21,800 fine. And when I finished reading 90 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:24,200 God's word, I'm going to say this is the word of the Lord, 91 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:26,700 and I want you to respond. Thanks be to God. 92 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:28,300 And then I'll pray for us. Okay. 93 00:05:28,900 --> 00:05:31,400 All right, let's read John 3. I'm going to read one through, 94 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:33,600 thirteen, so we get the context of this. 95 00:05:34,300 --> 00:05:37,400 Now, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a 96 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:41,400 ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night 97 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:43,800 and said to him. Rabbi, we know that you are a 98 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:45,700 teacher. Come from, God, for no one. 99 00:05:45,700 --> 00:05:50,000 Can do these signs that you do unless God is with him and Jesus 100 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,200 answered. Him, truly truly, I say to you, 101 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:56,300 unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 102 00:05:56,300 --> 00:06:01,100 And Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he is 103 00:06:01,100 --> 00:06:04,200 old? Can he enter a second time into 104 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:09,000 his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered truly, truly I 105 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:13,800 say to you unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot 106 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:18,900 enter the kingdom of God. That, which is born of the flesh 107 00:06:18,900 --> 00:06:20,700 is flesh. And that, which is born of the 108 00:06:20,700 --> 00:06:25,000 spirit is Spirit, do not Marvel. That I said to you, you must be 109 00:06:25,300 --> 00:06:29,600 born again, the wind blows where it wishes and you hear its 110 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:33,100 sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. 111 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:38,300 So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit Nicodemus 112 00:06:38,300 --> 00:06:40,400 said to him. How can these things be? 113 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:44,400 And Jesus answered him? Are you the teacher of Israel? 114 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:46,400 And yet you do not understand these things. 115 00:06:46,500 --> 00:06:51,900 Things truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know 116 00:06:51,900 --> 00:06:54,200 and bear witness to what we have seen. 117 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:57,400 But you do not receive our testimony. 118 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:01,000 If I have told you Earthly things and you do not believe, 119 00:07:01,300 --> 00:07:06,200 how can you believe if I tell you Heavenly things, no one has 120 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:10,900 ascended into heaven, except he who descended from Heaven, the 121 00:07:10,900 --> 00:07:14,600 son of man, This is the word of the Lord. 122 00:07:15,300 --> 00:07:18,400 Thanks be to God. Let me pray for his father. 123 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:20,500 We love you. Thank you for your word. 124 00:07:20,900 --> 00:07:23,900 We pray, Lord now that you help us to understand it to receive 125 00:07:23,900 --> 00:07:28,300 it, rightly God would you create an awesome heart that is of good 126 00:07:28,300 --> 00:07:32,900 soil to use the words of Christ that as your word is planted in 127 00:07:32,900 --> 00:07:37,500 us that it would bear fruit. Lord help us to be receptive, to 128 00:07:37,500 --> 00:07:42,200 your word, help us to be willing to repent, to be willing to be 129 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:45,800 corrected. Be willing to be encouraged in 130 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:50,000 to further godliness, or however, you see fit today. 131 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:54,200 Would you lead us and guide us. Help us to receive that guidance 132 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:57,200 in Christ's name, we pray, amen. You may be seated. 133 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:02,700 So the thing that I want to put before you today kind of the big 134 00:08:02,700 --> 00:08:06,600 idea that we're rolling with. As we as we look at this, the 135 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:09,500 central message I think that Christ is trying to say here in 136 00:08:09,500 --> 00:08:15,200 verse 11 through 13 to Nicodemus is an idea that's actually said 137 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:20,300 by Christ to Thomas at the end of this gospel as Christ has 138 00:08:20,300 --> 00:08:22,700 reappeared and Thomas is doubting. 139 00:08:22,700 --> 00:08:28,200 And Christ says these words and he says do not disbelieve but 140 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,200 believe and so I might add to that a little bit. 141 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:34,500 I think that what Christ is saying to Nicodemus right now is 142 00:08:34,500 --> 00:08:38,600 do not disbelieve, but believe in the word and the work of 143 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:42,100 Jesus Christ. That's the central theme today 144 00:08:42,100 --> 00:08:46,400 and you can write that down. If you're taking notes now, it's 145 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,000 fortunate. I don't want to sound negative. 146 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,400 It's fortunate that we live in a part of the world where it is 147 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:55,300 culturally normal to profess belief in the Bible. 148 00:08:55,300 --> 00:08:57,200 This comes with all sorts of benefits. 149 00:08:57,200 --> 00:08:59,100 Again, we've talked about this a little bit. 150 00:08:59,300 --> 00:09:03,600 But when you live in a place that is culturally acceptable 151 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:07,000 towards the word of God or towards bible-believing 152 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:09,400 Christians to some extent, right? 153 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:12,600 Well, then that means you get to have your beliefs without much 154 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:15,600 persecution. That's one giant benefit of this 155 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:18,300 is you can be a believer in Jesus Christ. 156 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:22,200 And you might not receive much persecution and tell your belief 157 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:25,300 start infringing on the beliefs of others, right? 158 00:09:25,300 --> 00:09:28,700 So if you, if you rub shoulders with unbelievers or an atheist 159 00:09:28,700 --> 00:09:31,400 at work, And you start talking about your belief in God. 160 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:34,700 Well, you might receive some persecution in that moment from 161 00:09:34,700 --> 00:09:37,900 someone but largely, the government's, not coming to take 162 00:09:37,900 --> 00:09:42,100 your head for believing in the Bible, not here, not in States, 163 00:09:42,100 --> 00:09:45,800 praise God, not yet, right? But this is not true for 164 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:48,300 believers around the world and this is certainly not true. 165 00:09:48,300 --> 00:09:51,700 For believers in first century, to be a believer in the first 166 00:09:51,700 --> 00:09:56,700 century cost you your life sometimes, literally but always 167 00:09:56,700 --> 00:09:59,700 spiritually. And so when someone was Sighs 168 00:09:59,700 --> 00:10:03,600 and the Lord Jesus Christ in the first century they were saying 169 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:07,900 literally I am being put to death with Christ. 170 00:10:07,900 --> 00:10:12,100 And the life I now live is the life that is in Christ alone. 171 00:10:12,300 --> 00:10:15,600 Right and they were identifying themselves with crossover 172 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:19,700 staking everything about who they were on Christ Jesus alone. 173 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:24,700 And they knew that that meant they might become a Lamppost in 174 00:10:24,700 --> 00:10:28,100 narrow streets and by Lamppost, I mean their bodies being lit on 175 00:10:28,100 --> 00:10:31,400 fire. Too warm and light the streets 176 00:10:32,100 --> 00:10:37,500 of first century Jerusalem. All right, and so we were wrong. 177 00:10:37,500 --> 00:10:40,000 Sorry. It was so we want to be we want 178 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:44,700 to be understanding of what it means to be a believer. 179 00:10:45,700 --> 00:10:48,300 It should cost you something and this is what Christ says when he 180 00:10:48,308 --> 00:10:51,600 says if any of you wants to follow me, you must first deny 181 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:54,600 yourself. Secondly, you take up your cross 182 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:57,300 and thirdly you follow me. What does it mean to take up 183 00:10:57,300 --> 00:10:59,700 your cross? You're taking your life on your 184 00:10:59,700 --> 00:11:02,200 back, right? You're carrying your cross. 185 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:04,700 You understand that. I have denied myself. 186 00:11:04,700 --> 00:11:08,600 My life is not my own and now I'm following my savior. 187 00:11:09,300 --> 00:11:13,400 So Christianity nominal Christianity is really a 188 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:15,400 relatively new thing as far as history. 189 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:19,800 Guess it's really, I mean America is really made this 190 00:11:20,300 --> 00:11:24,300 possible in the way that it was established to be a Christian 191 00:11:24,300 --> 00:11:27,600 and for that not to bring persecution, it's brought 192 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:32,400 tremendous persecution and every generation previously, every 193 00:11:33,500 --> 00:11:38,300 country previously. And so this is largely the norm 194 00:11:38,700 --> 00:11:41,900 for the majority of Christians in the world is that it brings 195 00:11:41,900 --> 00:11:45,900 persecution. So, I'm saying, it's fortunate 196 00:11:45,900 --> 00:11:48,800 that we live in a place that we don't endure this persecution 197 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:51,400 but that's also a bit unfortunate, right? 198 00:11:52,100 --> 00:11:54,200 When you live in a part of the world where it is culturally 199 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:56,900 normal to profess belief in the Bible, that's kind of an 200 00:11:56,900 --> 00:12:00,900 unfortunate thing too. Because now anyone can profess 201 00:12:00,900 --> 00:12:04,000 belief in the Bible and it not cost them a thing. 202 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:08,000 And so persecution has a Way. And this is what Peter writes. 203 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:10,700 And in 1st Peter, he talks about the fiery trials that you 204 00:12:10,700 --> 00:12:13,400 endure. They have a way of making your 205 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:15,800 faith real. They have a way of solidifying, 206 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:18,300 your faith. But when you're not enduring 207 00:12:18,300 --> 00:12:21,200 persecution, when there's not fiery trials, very often now, 208 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:24,500 there's fiery trials that exists outside of persecution which 209 00:12:24,500 --> 00:12:26,700 comes to you. There are fiery trials that you 210 00:12:26,700 --> 00:12:30,500 will go through right? You lose a loved one, you suffer 211 00:12:30,500 --> 00:12:33,800 the loss of a job, you suffer, the loss of something else. 212 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:36,000 You suffer in any kind of way sickness. 213 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:40,000 Um, but there's a myriad of things Church splits 214 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:43,400 difficulties in your local churches, pastors, who fail you? 215 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,900 Like you can suffer in many ways in the Christian life and that 216 00:12:46,900 --> 00:12:49,000 can be kind of a crisis of Faith, right? 217 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:55,000 Like mi in this moment going to trust God steel or am I going to 218 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:56,400 allow this thing to rock my face? 219 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:57,600 So there's other ways you suffer. 220 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:00,300 I'm not saying that only suffering comes to you from 221 00:13:00,300 --> 00:13:02,300 outside. I'm just saying when you don't 222 00:13:02,300 --> 00:13:08,700 have that kind of suffering You don't really have to count your 223 00:13:08,700 --> 00:13:13,800 life as lost yet. You can still kind of hold onto 224 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:17,000 your life in one sense, and let go of your life in another 225 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:18,400 sense. Does that make sense? 226 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:24,100 You can you can tow the line to some extent And and so the fiery 227 00:13:24,100 --> 00:13:28,300 trials that do come or the opportunity where you find out 228 00:13:28,300 --> 00:13:31,400 if your faith is real or not, right? 229 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:34,900 As you're having to walk that line and something comes to you 230 00:13:34,900 --> 00:13:36,800 and you realize okay I can't walk the line anymore. 231 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:40,800 I'm either going to stake my life on what I believe right now 232 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:45,400 or I'm going to renounce what I believe to bring on added 233 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:48,900 comfort for my life. And that happens. 234 00:13:49,900 --> 00:13:55,000 So it's a blessing and a curse to be living in a place that is 235 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:58,200 culturally acceptable to believe the Bible. 236 00:13:58,300 --> 00:14:01,700 And to say that you believe in the god of the Bible of the 237 00:14:01,700 --> 00:14:05,200 Bible because there's very little opposition to this idea 238 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:09,200 of the Bible to this idea of God's word again until you start 239 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:13,400 pushing those beliefs. Trying to live those out, trying 240 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:17,400 to reclaim those things and then that rubs people, the wrong way. 241 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:20,600 So it's a curse and that it produces a people who claim to 242 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:23,100 be Bible Believers. But do not follow its 243 00:14:23,100 --> 00:14:25,900 instructions. So we might rightfully say that 244 00:14:25,900 --> 00:14:29,600 Columbia county is loaded with people who like the idea of the 245 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:33,900 Bible but who would not die for its message, should the time 246 00:14:33,900 --> 00:14:38,300 call for it? All right, and that's something 247 00:14:38,300 --> 00:14:41,400 you've got to answer in your heart like in your own life. 248 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:45,900 I like the message of the Bible. I come week in and week out 249 00:14:45,900 --> 00:14:49,400 because I like the things that that Kyle says to us about the 250 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:52,500 Bible and I trust that what he is saying, is what the Bible 251 00:14:52,700 --> 00:14:57,400 says, and so I like the idea of it, but the answer is yours 252 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:01,100 alone. Would you die for it? 253 00:15:02,500 --> 00:15:05,500 Have you counted your life, as lost for it or as Paul says, if 254 00:15:05,500 --> 00:15:09,300 you counted your life, as trash, for the gospel that everything 255 00:15:09,300 --> 00:15:13,800 else in this life is incomparable to knowing Jesus 256 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:17,300 Christ as Lord and Savior. And so you count those things as 257 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:23,200 lost. The Mantra of such people is 258 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:29,000 typically a phrase that reflects an idea of values that we hold 259 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:34,000 dearly God country family, and don't forget guns, right? 260 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:38,000 And these are all things that I love myself. 261 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:42,700 I mean, I enjoy these things, but enjoying those things, 262 00:15:42,700 --> 00:15:45,600 loving those things, none of those things necessarily makes 263 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:49,100 you a Christian being. A Christian is something 264 00:15:49,100 --> 00:15:53,100 altogether, different, and so many people grow up in church, 265 00:15:53,100 --> 00:15:55,900 they're sitting next to Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa whoever's 266 00:15:56,100 --> 00:15:58,200 brought them. They've memorized some 267 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:02,800 scriptures, especially John 3:16, which we'll get into in a 268 00:16:02,808 --> 00:16:06,900 couple of weeks. They asked Jesus into their 269 00:16:06,900 --> 00:16:09,600 heart, they walked, and I'll, they got baptized early in life, 270 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:13,500 they vote Republican. And every election within them 271 00:16:13,500 --> 00:16:17,500 is a reverence for religion and her practices, but you will not 272 00:16:17,500 --> 00:16:20,000 find a reverence for God and his commands. 273 00:16:21,700 --> 00:16:24,300 It's a reverence for God. You can see it in their lives. 274 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:29,000 The lives, they choose to live. I don't think sins real, they 275 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,300 don't think God's Wrath against sin is real. 276 00:16:31,300 --> 00:16:33,100 They don't think judgment is literally coming. 277 00:16:33,100 --> 00:16:34,900 And why do I say that? Because they don't live like 278 00:16:34,900 --> 00:16:38,200 people who think judgment is on the other side of this life. 279 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:41,100 They're not hiding themselves in Christ, Jesus are not 280 00:16:41,100 --> 00:16:43,300 surrendering their life. Them are not submitting 281 00:16:43,300 --> 00:16:46,100 themselves to his Rule and reign in their continuing to live the 282 00:16:46,100 --> 00:16:50,400 way they want to live. They're neither committed to God 283 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,700 or his word rather, they're committed to the approval of 284 00:16:53,700 --> 00:16:56,200 their culture. They will fight in the voting 285 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:58,200 booth for the presence of prayer and the Ten Commandments in 286 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:00,300 schools. But they will not teach them to 287 00:17:00,300 --> 00:17:03,400 their own children. They're not working with her 288 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:05,500 children on. Here's how we pray. 289 00:17:06,300 --> 00:17:08,300 Here's what the Ten Commandments mean. 290 00:17:09,500 --> 00:17:12,400 And moms and dads. If you don't at least teach your 291 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:18,099 children to obey their parents and why That then? 292 00:17:18,099 --> 00:17:22,500 What are you teaching them? And so they know some of the 293 00:17:22,500 --> 00:17:26,300 Bible, they Revere it, but they are not students of God's word 294 00:17:26,300 --> 00:17:29,400 themselves, they leave that up to the professionals. 295 00:17:30,300 --> 00:17:33,000 Alright, the pastor's, the teachers ones who get paid to 296 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,900 teach the things. Friends, this is what a culture 297 00:17:36,900 --> 00:17:40,500 of Bible, knowledge. Produces produces nominal 298 00:17:40,500 --> 00:17:44,100 Christians or you might call it cultural Christianity. 299 00:17:45,900 --> 00:17:48,600 And maybe this describes you, maybe you were raised in the 300 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,000 house that practiced religion, right? 301 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,900 You were in church, you were taught not to smoke or drink or 302 00:17:54,900 --> 00:17:57,300 chew, or run with girls who do, right? 303 00:17:58,100 --> 00:18:02,000 You knew the rules, didn't watch rated R movies unless they were 304 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:06,300 about the death of Christ. All right, you tried to do all 305 00:18:06,300 --> 00:18:14,800 the right things. But I want you to know unless 306 00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:18,600 you were born again, your Bible knowledge, your religious 307 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:24,400 practice doesn't mean anything. Doesn't mean anything. 308 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:30,300 I have known in my life. Several terrible. 309 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:34,900 Sinners. Who knew a lot about the Bible. 310 00:18:39,100 --> 00:18:42,400 It's truly a sad thing to behold once a terrible centers, these 311 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:46,100 were these are men who would quote scripture. 312 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:50,800 We try to talk to you about scripture and in no way tried to 313 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:56,600 live it out. You might say, they're missing 314 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:59,100 Heaven by 18 inches. As the phrase goes, you know, 315 00:18:59,100 --> 00:19:01,600 they've got the knowledge here but not here. 316 00:19:03,100 --> 00:19:05,200 There's no heartfelt obedience to God. 317 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:08,300 They have the appearance of godliness but their heart is far 318 00:19:08,300 --> 00:19:13,100 from him. This is the case for Nicodemus. 319 00:19:15,300 --> 00:19:17,700 Though, he knew a lot about the scriptures. 320 00:19:17,900 --> 00:19:21,600 He spent his whole life studying the word of God, he devoted 321 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:25,300 himself to the fair cycle practices of the day because 322 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:29,400 that was the original, the religious Elite. 323 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:34,700 He became a member of the Sanhedrin, the teacher of 324 00:19:34,700 --> 00:19:40,500 Israel, meaning he held the power at times to say, hopefully 325 00:19:40,500 --> 00:19:43,800 rightly what God's word was saying, when there were 326 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:45,500 questions, he would be the decision. 327 00:19:45,500 --> 00:19:49,900 Maker on what that passage meant coming from the Old Testament. 328 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:56,200 The dude should have and likely did know God's word very well. 329 00:19:58,700 --> 00:20:02,400 But he had no idea what was necessary for him to enter the 330 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:05,700 kingdom of God. In fact, he comes to Christ 331 00:20:05,700 --> 00:20:08,500 thinking he's already entered the kingdom of God. 332 00:20:09,300 --> 00:20:12,200 He comes wrongly thinking, that's why Christ immediately 333 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:14,300 just begins. Listen, unless you are born 334 00:20:14,300 --> 00:20:16,500 again, you cannot even see. The kingdom of God? 335 00:20:16,700 --> 00:20:18,900 No. No, unless you were born again, 336 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:21,400 you cannot even enter the kingdom of God. 337 00:20:22,300 --> 00:20:26,900 No, no, truly, truly. I say to you, what I say, Say 338 00:20:26,900 --> 00:20:30,100 what we have said. We say because we have both seen 339 00:20:30,100 --> 00:20:33,400 it and heard it, but you will not believe our testimony. 340 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:39,300 I mean, he's going Christ, is revealing the heart of the issue 341 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:43,900 for Nicodemus throughout this conversation and he's getting 342 00:20:43,900 --> 00:20:47,800 more and more explicit with it. As he goes, this Pharisee had 343 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:51,200 missed one of the most essential truths of the Old Testament and 344 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:55,400 that is the necessity of the new birth John 3:11. 345 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:58,100 Truly, truly I say to you, we speak of what we know and bear 346 00:20:58,100 --> 00:21:01,000 witness to what we have seen. But you do not receive our 347 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:06,000 testimony, So Nicodemus stands here before Christ and he stands 348 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:10,800 on a faulty Foundation, he's trusting in his impressive 349 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:13,200 resume, he has a great reputation. 350 00:21:13,300 --> 00:21:16,400 He knows many things. He has outstanding, religious 351 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:19,800 pedigree. However, he is wrong to think 352 00:21:19,900 --> 00:21:23,700 that these things on their own will commend him to God. 353 00:21:23,900 --> 00:21:30,900 And yet he does so again I ask maybe you can relate, was there 354 00:21:30,900 --> 00:21:35,700 a time in your past when you found yourself convinced, That 355 00:21:35,700 --> 00:21:38,600 you were right about spiritual matters with God. 356 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:41,400 Only to find out later that you were wrong. 357 00:21:43,500 --> 00:21:48,600 I've been there many times. There are many things to know 358 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:52,900 about our Triune God. For many things to know about 359 00:21:52,900 --> 00:21:57,100 the life that he calls us to as Christians and you will no doubt 360 00:21:57,100 --> 00:22:01,900 grow in that knowledge for as long as you are seeking God. 361 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:06,400 So we believe here that sanctification happens from the 362 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:08,200 moment, your saved to the moment. 363 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:11,300 You breathed your last breath, you were being made into the 364 00:22:11,300 --> 00:22:14,900 image of the glory of God from one degree of glory to the next, 365 00:22:14,900 --> 00:22:18,900 as you behold Christ, Jesus throughout your life, you're not 366 00:22:18,900 --> 00:22:21,600 arriving at some level of maturity. 367 00:22:21,700 --> 00:22:23,400 He than you don't need to grow anymore. 368 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:26,400 None of us here. I don't think least none of us 369 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:29,500 in leadership and as far as all the members, I can recognize 370 00:22:29,500 --> 00:22:34,200 none of us here think. That we've arrived, and our 371 00:22:34,208 --> 00:22:40,500 knowledge of God at all. We are going on, knowing we are 372 00:22:40,500 --> 00:22:44,900 going on growing Going On, Believing in the Name of Christ 373 00:22:44,900 --> 00:22:47,400 Jesus. And we're believe in that he'll 374 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:52,000 continue to train us and but you can be like, Nicodemus and you 375 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:54,000 can stand on a faulty Foundation. 376 00:22:55,100 --> 00:22:57,900 You can think that you've arrived, you can no truths about 377 00:22:57,900 --> 00:22:59,600 God. You can quote Bible verses, you 378 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:02,400 can Faithfully attend church or home group, or Sunday school, or 379 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:07,100 whatever. But not have ever been born 380 00:23:07,100 --> 00:23:10,800 again. Remember the idea of being born 381 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:13,400 again we said is to be born anew. 382 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:19,500 It's to be made brand new and then that word, again also means 383 00:23:19,500 --> 00:23:22,500 above. So it's to be born Anew from 384 00:23:22,500 --> 00:23:25,600 above. It's a, it's a birth that comes 385 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,900 to you from God. That makes you brand-new and 386 00:23:28,900 --> 00:23:30,000 that's what we've been looking at. 387 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:35,200 And so when we say born again, we mean Born Again In Christ. by 388 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,700 his death burial Resurrection, you've been made a new creation 389 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:44,600 So if your desires have not been renewed, if you have not 390 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:48,400 embraced Christ by faith, you're as lost as the god hating 391 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,300 atheist. You're as lost as he is. 392 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:56,600 You must have a new heart from God to truly know him for who he 393 00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:59,100 is and to worship Him is the Lord of your life. 394 00:23:59,100 --> 00:24:01,400 It's only when you humble yourself before him. 395 00:24:01,700 --> 00:24:04,800 It's only when you confess your complete dependence on his 396 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:08,900 grace, it's only when you repent of your sins and believe in 397 00:24:08,900 --> 00:24:11,500 Christ Jesus that you can truly know him. 398 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:14,500 That's when we come to know Christ. 399 00:24:16,500 --> 00:24:19,400 And so in our passage today, Jesus is cutting to the chase 400 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:23,800 here. He's getting to what he wants us 401 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,300 to see. He's getting to Nicodemus the 402 00:24:26,300 --> 00:24:29,000 message that he wants him to hear this morning. 403 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:33,400 He's saying I think I think what Christ is doing is he's already 404 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:40,200 spoken very clearly but I think right now Nicodemus isn't sure. 405 00:24:41,100 --> 00:24:44,500 And so Christ is making sure he understands what he's saying. 406 00:24:44,900 --> 00:24:46,900 Nicodemus. A sure after this statement 407 00:24:46,900 --> 00:24:49,200 again, I'll read it to you, truly, truly, I say to you, we 408 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:52,300 speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen. 409 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:58,000 But you Nicodemus, do not receive our testimony. 410 00:24:59,500 --> 00:25:02,000 Nicodemus is like so many in the Bible Belt. 411 00:25:04,300 --> 00:25:07,600 He doesn't suffer from a lack of knowledge. 412 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:09,700 This is a quote from Lawson's book. 413 00:25:09,700 --> 00:25:12,400 He talks about Nicodemus not suffering from a lack of 414 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:17,100 knowledge, but he suffered from a failure to believe what was 415 00:25:17,100 --> 00:25:21,800 written in the Bible. Once again, Jesus says, truly, 416 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:24,600 truly, I say to you. Now, we looked at this phrase of 417 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:26,400 the couple of times. We've seen it already In this 418 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:28,800 passage, but I'll mention, again, when Jesus is saying, 419 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:33,300 truly, truly, I say to you. He's saying, you need to listen 420 00:25:33,300 --> 00:25:36,900 to what I'm about to say. He's arresting the attention of 421 00:25:36,900 --> 00:25:39,500 Nicodemus, so that he'll hear the words that follow the 422 00:25:39,500 --> 00:25:41,600 statement. Truly, truly, I say to you. 423 00:25:42,500 --> 00:25:46,100 It would be like me coming to you and grabbing you by the 424 00:25:46,100 --> 00:25:48,200 shoulders saying listen to me, right? 425 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:49,800 I mean, you've ever done that with your kids, go ahead and 426 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:52,700 confess. Yeah, listen to me. 427 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:58,100 All right. What he's about to say is 428 00:25:58,100 --> 00:26:00,800 important. So he wants the attention of 429 00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:05,100 Nicodemus and saying, you do not receive our testimony Jesus 430 00:26:05,100 --> 00:26:09,000 Likens Nicodemus to all the religious people before him, who 431 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:12,300 refused to hear the prophets of God that had gone before him. 432 00:26:12,300 --> 00:26:14,800 So they've already addressed the Old Testament. 433 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:19,800 A lot in this passage and we've done that in the sermons that we 434 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:25,900 preach through this passage And so Jesus is saying as has been 435 00:26:25,900 --> 00:26:29,900 said in Isaiah about those who would not receive the prophets 436 00:26:29,900 --> 00:26:32,900 and as is said in the New Testament about those who would 437 00:26:32,900 --> 00:26:36,300 not receive the word of either Christ or the apostles or John 438 00:26:36,300 --> 00:26:40,800 the Baptist they have ears to hear, but they do not hear. 439 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:46,400 They're not hearing aids, and not listening to the message. 440 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:50,700 Lawson says such unbelief is in scripture. 441 00:26:50,900 --> 00:26:54,600 Long plagued, the entire nation of Israel like hyper religious 442 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:56,700 people. In our day, the Jews knew the 443 00:26:56,700 --> 00:26:59,900 minissha of the Bible but not its essential message. 444 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:03,800 They miss seeing the way of Salvation all together. 445 00:27:03,900 --> 00:27:08,700 So Nicodemus is problem is the problem of many he's focused on 446 00:27:08,700 --> 00:27:11,500 the details, but he's missing the meaning of the details, 447 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:14,600 right? He's majoring on minor points. 448 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:18,000 He's minoring on major points. And as a result, he's Unable to 449 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:21,400 see the most important points that is the message of the 450 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:25,200 Bible, the way of Salvation through Christ. 451 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:29,900 Jesus alone, Nicodemus is missing this message and John 452 00:27:29,900 --> 00:27:33,800 5:39 Jesus speaking with the Pharisees. 453 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:37,400 And he indicts them saying, you search the scriptures because 454 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:40,900 you think that in them in the in the scriptures right now he's 455 00:27:40,900 --> 00:27:44,200 talking about the Old Testament in the Old Testament, you have 456 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:50,100 the way of eternal life. And then he says, but it is them 457 00:27:50,100 --> 00:27:53,800 that bears witness about me. So the message of the Old 458 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:56,200 Testament is the law of the prophets, everything contained 459 00:27:56,200 --> 00:28:01,600 in them points to Jesus Christ as the way of salvation. 460 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:06,100 And these Pharisees are oblivious to the way of 461 00:28:06,100 --> 00:28:09,500 Salvation in Christ, despite having the scriptures, they're 462 00:28:09,500 --> 00:28:12,800 missing the message the remaining in unbelief. 463 00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:16,400 And that's what Jesus is exposing here in Nicodemus. 464 00:28:16,900 --> 00:28:21,700 Jesus says, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have 465 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:24,700 seen. Now that we know this, we know, 466 00:28:24,700 --> 00:28:29,800 Jesus was in the night alone, Nicodemus comes to him in the 467 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:33,300 night alone. And begins to inquire about it 468 00:28:33,300 --> 00:28:34,800 because Nicodemus doesn't want to be seen. 469 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:37,700 We covered all of that right? He wants to remain in the cover 470 00:28:37,700 --> 00:28:39,700 of Darkness. He doesn't want anyone to know 471 00:28:39,700 --> 00:28:41,800 about this conversation. At least, not yet. 472 00:28:43,500 --> 00:28:46,400 And so who is the we that Jesus is referring to when he says we 473 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:50,000 speak of what we know and we testify what we have seen. 474 00:28:51,100 --> 00:28:54,600 Well, Jesus is identifying himself with the many others who 475 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,400 have testified to Nicodemus concerning the truth. 476 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:03,200 Who else has testified to Nicodemus, multiple Witnesses in 477 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:05,900 the Old Testament writers. He studied the scriptures have 478 00:29:05,900 --> 00:29:10,600 testified of Christ. If preach the message of the new 479 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:15,400 birth, These men were the mouthpiece of God. 480 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:19,800 Melissa includes men like Moses and Isaiah and Micah and all the 481 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:25,700 prophets. Jesus, likely has in mind John, 482 00:29:25,700 --> 00:29:29,200 the Baptist also who came preaching proclaiming repent, 483 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:32,100 for the kingdom of God is at hand of the Kingdom of Heaven is 484 00:29:32,100 --> 00:29:35,700 at hand. He has in mind himself, you're 485 00:29:35,700 --> 00:29:40,900 not listening to me, Nicodemus. In This Moment, these same men 486 00:29:40,900 --> 00:29:45,200 and many other speak to us. Also, when we opened the 487 00:29:45,208 --> 00:29:48,600 scriptures from Genesis to revelation, we have the 488 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:51,500 testimony of God concerning the way of Salvation. 489 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:54,700 This testimony is clear. The message is clear. 490 00:29:54,700 --> 00:29:59,300 It's thorough, it's cohesive. There are no contradictions 491 00:29:59,300 --> 00:30:03,000 between the testimonies. And anyone who says that the 492 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,200 Bible contradicts itself, doesn't understand the context 493 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:09,300 of what's been written. There are no contradictions in 494 00:30:09,300 --> 00:30:12,700 scripture. Together the scriptures tell the 495 00:30:12,700 --> 00:30:18,000 same story about the way of Salvation it is found in Jesus 496 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:20,600 Christ and this is what Christ is going to go on to say in John 497 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:25,800 14:6. He says I am the way, the truth 498 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:29,000 and the life. No one comes to the father 499 00:30:29,100 --> 00:30:35,700 except through me. The message of the new birth is 500 00:30:35,700 --> 00:30:39,600 not new at all. It's been testified from the 501 00:30:39,608 --> 00:30:42,900 beginning of time. Jesus did not burst onto the 502 00:30:42,900 --> 00:30:45,000 scene. Saying something altogether. 503 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,200 New. Jesus comes revealing the 504 00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:52,700 finished puzzle. He's clarifying at all, he's the 505 00:30:52,700 --> 00:30:56,700 culmination of all the prophets. He's what they were speaking 506 00:30:56,700 --> 00:30:59,600 about. There's not one way of entering, 507 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:02,100 the kingdom of God, in the Old Testament, and an entirely 508 00:31:02,100 --> 00:31:04,800 different way of coming to God. In the New Testament. 509 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:08,100 According To Jesus, there's not different ways for Jews to be 510 00:31:08,100 --> 00:31:10,900 saved or a different way for a gentile to be saved. 511 00:31:10,900 --> 00:31:15,200 There is only one way to get into the Kingdom of Heaven, the 512 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,900 Old Testament and the New Testament, bear witness to it. 513 00:31:19,100 --> 00:31:27,100 It is the way of the new birth. Boston ads in his book New Life 514 00:31:27,100 --> 00:31:29,700 In Christ. He says, anytime anywhere anyone 515 00:31:29,700 --> 00:31:34,000 has been made right with God, it is always been by the inner 516 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,900 working of the Holy Spirit who gives faith in Jesus Christ. 517 00:31:38,500 --> 00:31:42,700 Those who believe this message in the Old Testament times were 518 00:31:42,700 --> 00:31:47,200 saved by looking ahead to the coming of Jesus and his atoning 519 00:31:47,500 --> 00:31:51,400 work. Similarly those in Jesus day 520 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:56,500 were saved by looking to him. In like manner those who 521 00:31:56,500 --> 00:31:59,900 believed after Jesus Ascension, which is all of you. 522 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:06,500 Are saved by looking back at his first coming, and his work upon 523 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:09,100 the cross. So I say to you again, do not 524 00:32:09,100 --> 00:32:13,700 disbelieve, but believe in the word and the work of Jesus 525 00:32:13,900 --> 00:32:18,100 Christ. Our Lord Jesus, addresses and 526 00:32:18,100 --> 00:32:19,700 verse 11, the heart of the issue. 527 00:32:19,700 --> 00:32:25,800 He says, you do not receive our testimony When he says you the 528 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:30,700 word is plural it, he represents the very least the Pharisees of 529 00:32:30,700 --> 00:32:34,400 the day, but very likely it represents the whole nation of 530 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:37,600 Israel who are blinded by their religion of Works based 531 00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:41,300 righteousness trying to achieve salvation through their own 532 00:32:41,300 --> 00:32:45,200 works. The heart of the problem was the 533 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:47,700 same for all of them. They failed to believe the 534 00:32:47,700 --> 00:32:52,100 testimony of these God sent Messengers especially including 535 00:32:52,100 --> 00:32:57,200 the message of the new birth. So we've said it once before in 536 00:32:57,200 --> 00:32:58,000 the series will say it. Again. 537 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,400 The heart of the problem is the problem of the human heart 538 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:05,200 Nicodemus, fell to lay, hold of the biblical testimony that have 539 00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:09,300 been made known to him. He's Blinded By His 540 00:33:09,300 --> 00:33:13,600 self-righteousness and so he's refusing to receive the message 541 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:16,600 of the new birth. There are many today who do the 542 00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:19,700 same thing. Blinded by their 543 00:33:19,700 --> 00:33:23,200 self-righteousness blinded by their own vain attempts, to gain 544 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:25,900 the approval of God. They do not submit themselves to 545 00:33:25,900 --> 00:33:29,400 God, rather, they try to maintain some level of morality 546 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:34,100 that will approve them before. God, This is the message of our 547 00:33:34,100 --> 00:33:37,500 world today. They want morality but not the 548 00:33:37,500 --> 00:33:40,700 god of morality and so we must ask by what standard do you want 549 00:33:40,700 --> 00:33:43,900 morality? If there is no standard of 550 00:33:43,900 --> 00:33:46,500 truth, then why should we try for Morality? 551 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:50,900 But we know because God Bears witness in our consciences. 552 00:33:52,500 --> 00:33:56,100 That he is God. And that there is right and 553 00:33:56,100 --> 00:33:59,400 wrong and that we should make judgments on Justice and 554 00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:04,000 Injustice. And so we having in our own 555 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:08,100 mind, the image of God, we want to Bear witness to that in some 556 00:34:08,100 --> 00:34:10,000 way. Even if we suppress the truth 557 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:17,400 that God exists, but he does exist and he has said and we 558 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:23,600 must obey but the only way you will obey the commands of God, 559 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:27,900 Is to hide yourself in the righteousness of Christ, Jesus. 560 00:34:29,300 --> 00:34:33,500 You will never obey the commands of God fully because you have 561 00:34:33,500 --> 00:34:36,900 already failed to obey the commands of God fully. 562 00:34:38,100 --> 00:34:41,300 So, even if you could from this point forward, you've already 563 00:34:41,300 --> 00:34:44,800 failed. And the wages of sin is death. 564 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:49,199 But the gift of God is salvation through Jesus Christ. 565 00:34:49,199 --> 00:34:58,000 Our Lord So unbelief in Christ results, then and divine wrath. 566 00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:00,300 Jesus is going to say in John 3:18. 567 00:35:00,300 --> 00:35:01,700 Which we'll look at in a few weeks, but I'll go ahead and 568 00:35:01,707 --> 00:35:04,300 mention it. Whoever believes in him is not 569 00:35:04,300 --> 00:35:06,900 condemned, whoever believes in Christ is not condemned, but 570 00:35:06,900 --> 00:35:10,000 whoever does not believe is condemned already. 571 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:14,400 Because he has not believed in the name of the only son of God. 572 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:21,600 So when 312, he says, if I have told you Earthly things and you 573 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,500 do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you Heavenly 574 00:35:24,500 --> 00:35:27,800 things? Jesus just did you catch it? 575 00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:32,600 He just Condemned Nicodemus to judgment here. 576 00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:37,300 He says you do not believe. I've told you Earthly things, 577 00:35:37,300 --> 00:35:39,900 you do not believe. How can you believe, if I tell 578 00:35:39,900 --> 00:35:43,800 you Heavenly things, Jesus is passing Divine judgment. 579 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:45,500 That Nicodemus was an unbeliever. 580 00:35:45,500 --> 00:35:48,900 Nicodemus didn't see himself as this, but he's an unbeliever 581 00:35:48,900 --> 00:35:50,800 because he has not accepted the gospel. 582 00:35:51,100 --> 00:35:54,400 Nicodemus is not humble himself, he's not repented of his sins. 583 00:35:54,900 --> 00:35:56,800 He did not believe the message of the prophets. 584 00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:58,900 He did not receive the testimony of Christ. 585 00:35:58,900 --> 00:36:02,300 Instead Nicodemus chose to believe in himself. 586 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:07,500 Again, Lawson is helpful here. He said Nicodemus chose to 587 00:36:07,500 --> 00:36:10,300 remain entrenched in his legalistic approach to 588 00:36:10,300 --> 00:36:12,600 Salvation. He chose to continue to look to 589 00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:15,300 himself to Merit his acceptance before God. 590 00:36:15,300 --> 00:36:20,500 He chose the sin of unbelief leaving him, spiritually lost. 591 00:36:21,300 --> 00:36:25,400 This is what unbelief does? Lawson goes on to say it. 592 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:29,300 Defiantly refuses to believe the free offer of the Gospel, it 593 00:36:29,300 --> 00:36:34,100 rejects the assessment of Christ concerning what it's true need 594 00:36:34,100 --> 00:36:36,500 is. It denies Jesus, the place of 595 00:36:36,500 --> 00:36:42,500 preeminence and a person's life friends instead of turning to 596 00:36:42,500 --> 00:36:46,700 the Lesser offers of pleasure in this world, to find your 597 00:36:46,700 --> 00:36:49,500 identity, whether that's financial prosperity or 598 00:36:49,500 --> 00:36:55,900 relational security or even good works, you must turn to Christ 599 00:36:55,900 --> 00:36:59,400 by faith. And I urge you not to resist, 600 00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:01,200 his call to surrender your life to him. 601 00:37:01,500 --> 00:37:05,800 But instead to receive his call by submitting to and chasing 602 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:10,700 after him, if you will repent from a lifestyle of vain 603 00:37:10,700 --> 00:37:16,800 Pursuits, you can then Delight in the Triune God. but if you 604 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:23,900 remain in legalism, if you remain in loose living, you will 605 00:37:23,900 --> 00:37:29,900 surely perish in your sins. Hebrews 3:12 through 15, the 606 00:37:29,900 --> 00:37:32,900 author of Hebrews says this, he says take care Brothers. 607 00:37:32,900 --> 00:37:35,700 Let's there be in any of you an evil unbelieving. 608 00:37:35,700 --> 00:37:39,500 Heart leading you to fall away from the Living God but exhort 609 00:37:39,500 --> 00:37:43,400 one another every day as long as it is called today, that none of 610 00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:46,300 you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin for. 611 00:37:46,300 --> 00:37:50,300 We have come to share in Christ. If indeed we hold our original 612 00:37:50,300 --> 00:37:55,500 confidence firm to the end as it is said today if you hear his 613 00:37:55,500 --> 00:38:00,300 voice do not Harden your Hearts as, in the Rebellion. 614 00:38:01,900 --> 00:38:04,700 So I urge you again do not disbelieve, but believe in the 615 00:38:04,700 --> 00:38:06,900 word and the work of Jesus Christ. 616 00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:13,100 Jesus says to Nicodemus, if I've told you Earthly things, you do 617 00:38:13,100 --> 00:38:14,900 not believe. How can you believe if I tell 618 00:38:14,900 --> 00:38:18,200 you Heavenly things by saying this Jesus makes a clear 619 00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:21,500 distinction between two different levels of Truth 620 00:38:21,900 --> 00:38:25,200 Earthly, things refers to the basic truth, conveyed by the 621 00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:30,000 Earthly analogy of the new birth and Heavenly things means the 622 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:34,900 profounder truths of Heaven above where God, dwells those 623 00:38:34,900 --> 00:38:37,500 are the things that are later revealed in your walk with God. 624 00:38:37,700 --> 00:38:42,400 After your new birth, you do not have to understand the Trinity. 625 00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:46,600 You do not have to understand how sanctification works or how 626 00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:49,200 the Old Testament reveals Jesus Christ. 627 00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:51,800 In order to receive the new birth. 628 00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:56,800 There are many profound truths, that go, even beyond the three, 629 00:38:56,800 --> 00:39:02,700 I just mentioned and they reveal to us more about God, but he 630 00:39:02,700 --> 00:39:06,600 reveals those to us through his word as we go closer to him. 631 00:39:07,500 --> 00:39:12,600 Jesus is saying to Nicodemus first things first, you must be 632 00:39:12,700 --> 00:39:15,200 born again by God's grace through faith. 633 00:39:15,300 --> 00:39:18,400 In Christ. Nicodemus must first possess the 634 00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:22,000 knowledge of the New Birth by experience before he can lead 635 00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:24,300 others into it. He cannot continue to teach 636 00:39:24,300 --> 00:39:28,600 others until he has been taught. Truly by God, this must have 637 00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:36,100 been a blow to his ego. Has had two huge, have 638 00:39:36,100 --> 00:39:40,200 humiliated him in that moment. And by humiliate I mean humble. 639 00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:47,300 Not to embarrass. He was the teacher of Israel and 640 00:39:47,300 --> 00:39:50,700 is being told you disbelieve. You do not know. 641 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:56,700 But its necessary to be humbled by God. 642 00:39:58,300 --> 00:40:04,600 If you were going to receive new life in Christ, in fact, the 643 00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:09,700 prerequisite, the only thing, That you must do in order to be 644 00:40:09,700 --> 00:40:16,500 saved, is to bring your empty hands to God and say, I offer 645 00:40:16,500 --> 00:40:20,800 you nothing but my own sin and I know that I need some patients. 646 00:40:22,500 --> 00:40:25,200 We're not offering anything to God to commend ourselves through 647 00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:27,900 him or to cause his favor, to be honest. 648 00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:30,800 And then Jesus adds here, another statement. 649 00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:33,800 He says no one has ascended into heaven except he who descended 650 00:40:33,800 --> 00:40:38,500 from Heaven, the son of man, Jesus is saying that no one has 651 00:40:38,500 --> 00:40:42,000 ascended into heaven to learn more about God, and then return 652 00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:44,400 to the Earth to tell, what he or she has learned. 653 00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:49,500 However, Jesus is saying there is one who has descended from 654 00:40:49,500 --> 00:40:55,300 Heaven to come to this Earth so that he may tell you about God. 655 00:40:56,200 --> 00:41:00,700 This person is the one addressing Nicodemus, the son of 656 00:41:00,700 --> 00:41:05,200 man, Jesus Christ. And if Nicodemus, or if you, or 657 00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:09,200 if I or to know the way to heaven, we must listen to Jesus 658 00:41:09,200 --> 00:41:13,800 Christ. We must hear his teaching. 659 00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:19,600 We Must come to his call. Because he has come down from 660 00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:23,800 heaven to speak to us again. Lawson's, book is helpful, he 661 00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:27,200 offers a few things here that Christ says about himself 662 00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:29,400 concerning his relationship to God. 663 00:41:29,500 --> 00:41:33,800 To show that he is the one who has come from the father Christ 664 00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:36,200 says, no one knows the son except the father, and no one 665 00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:39,300 knows the father, except the son and anyone to whom the son 666 00:41:39,300 --> 00:41:43,300 chooses through reveal him. Matthew 11:27, Jesus came down 667 00:41:43,300 --> 00:41:45,600 from heaven to reveal God, to men. 668 00:41:45,600 --> 00:41:47,900 This is why he came the son of God. 669 00:41:48,100 --> 00:41:51,900 John 3:16 and 18 as he refers to himself, became the son of man 670 00:41:51,900 --> 00:41:53,900 which we see in John 3 13 and 14. 671 00:41:57,100 --> 00:42:01,300 In his Incarnation, this took place to enter this world and 672 00:42:01,300 --> 00:42:05,900 explain the father to humankind as we see in John 1:18 where he 673 00:42:05,900 --> 00:42:07,900 is the image of the glory of God. 674 00:42:07,900 --> 00:42:11,700 For us, the revelation of the invisible God through Jesus 675 00:42:11,700 --> 00:42:15,300 Christ was so cluster, crystal clear that he later says, in 676 00:42:15,300 --> 00:42:21,900 John 14:9 that whoever has seen me, has seen the father, so he's 677 00:42:21,900 --> 00:42:25,600 sure of where he comes from. Lawson as is Jesus. 678 00:42:25,700 --> 00:42:29,100 Words to Nicodemus must be received as being from the one 679 00:42:29,100 --> 00:42:32,900 who has descended from Heaven to Earth to bring this message 680 00:42:32,900 --> 00:42:36,200 about how to enter the kingdom of God. 681 00:42:36,700 --> 00:42:40,200 But if Nicodemus did not accept the Earthly things as Christ 682 00:42:40,200 --> 00:42:43,500 called them concerning, the new birth, he would certainly not be 683 00:42:43,500 --> 00:42:46,800 able to receive Heavenly things as Christ called them of a more 684 00:42:46,800 --> 00:42:53,400 profound nature. So how then must we respond to 685 00:42:53,400 --> 00:42:57,100 what we have seen? Having been told you do not 686 00:42:57,100 --> 00:43:02,700 believe Nicodemus is now at a Crossroads in his life. 687 00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:07,800 He has lived his whole life to this point saying he's a 688 00:43:07,808 --> 00:43:12,300 believer in God and trying to align his life with what he 689 00:43:12,300 --> 00:43:17,500 thinks the scriptures teach but has failed to see the necessity 690 00:43:17,500 --> 00:43:20,600 of the new birth. It's always stands at a 691 00:43:20,600 --> 00:43:24,200 Crossroads Nicodemus, had never had the truth of the new birth 692 00:43:24,200 --> 00:43:27,900 presented more clearly to him than he has In This Moment. 693 00:43:28,500 --> 00:43:31,600 The sway of the the way of Salvation has never been so 694 00:43:31,600 --> 00:43:35,900 openly talk to him, the Deep questions that Nicodemus. 695 00:43:35,900 --> 00:43:41,800 Now wrestles with require a decision Would he believe what 696 00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:48,500 Jesus said about the New Birth? Jesus is up. 697 00:43:49,900 --> 00:43:54,000 I mean obviously these are tremendous evangelist. 698 00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:59,400 He's a tremendous proclaimer of the good news. 699 00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:04,600 And he has pressed Nicodemus to this point he has done what all 700 00:44:04,600 --> 00:44:10,500 of us must do in apologetics. In defending, the faith and 701 00:44:10,600 --> 00:44:12,700 communicating, the faith, sharing the faith. 702 00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:17,300 He is taken the questions of Nicodemus and shown him. 703 00:44:17,400 --> 00:44:22,600 The questions. He must actually ask so, we've 704 00:44:22,600 --> 00:44:26,800 looked a lot about in the, in Sunday school to even, you know, 705 00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:30,500 the questions of Science and evolution and the new, the arc 706 00:44:31,900 --> 00:44:35,000 And we've kind of walked away thinking at times, I think I 707 00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:40,000 have to know all of these things before I can rightly proclaim, 708 00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:41,900 the word of God because if somebody comes asking me 709 00:44:41,900 --> 00:44:45,500 questions about dinosaurs, I must be able to answer it from 710 00:44:45,500 --> 00:44:50,000 the Bible. But do you understand if someone 711 00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:52,800 tries to trap you in a question about dinosaurs? 712 00:44:53,100 --> 00:44:57,000 What they're really trying to do is to get you to suppress the 713 00:44:57,000 --> 00:45:02,500 truth with them about God. And so your job is not really to 714 00:45:02,500 --> 00:45:04,900 answer a question about dinosaurs is to do what Jesus 715 00:45:04,900 --> 00:45:09,000 has done here to say. Well, unless you were born 716 00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:13,000 again, you can't even see the kingdom of God, quite well. 717 00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:14,900 That's not even what I asked. It's not like what I was saying. 718 00:45:15,900 --> 00:45:19,000 Yeah, but it's the, it's the heart of the matter. 719 00:45:20,500 --> 00:45:24,700 It's the heart of the matter. And this is what Christ has 720 00:45:24,700 --> 00:45:27,100 done. He is pressed Nicodemus to this 721 00:45:27,100 --> 00:45:31,700 point He must now. Decide how am I going to respond 722 00:45:31,700 --> 00:45:38,300 to this teaching? Well I continue and my good 723 00:45:38,300 --> 00:45:40,900 works. Well I can't in you in my 724 00:45:41,200 --> 00:45:45,100 self-righteousness. I continue trying to prove 725 00:45:45,100 --> 00:45:52,600 myself before God or will I humbly ask God to give me the 726 00:45:52,600 --> 00:45:55,400 new birth so that I might see his kingdom. 727 00:45:56,700 --> 00:45:58,400 Nicodemus must answer that question. 728 00:45:59,200 --> 00:46:03,100 You see Divine truth is never intended to merely be learned or 729 00:46:03,100 --> 00:46:05,500 known. We're not simply to listen to 730 00:46:05,500 --> 00:46:07,700 Divine truth. We're not simply to observe 731 00:46:07,700 --> 00:46:11,300 Divine truth. We are to move on Divine truth. 732 00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:15,400 Divine truth is designed to move your soul. 733 00:46:19,700 --> 00:46:24,700 It must be acted upon truth. Always Demands a response. 734 00:46:25,400 --> 00:46:27,900 You either Believe it or you disbelieve it. 735 00:46:29,000 --> 00:46:32,300 And make no mistake, there is always a response. 736 00:46:33,500 --> 00:46:36,300 It's always a response you see this throughout acts the 737 00:46:36,300 --> 00:46:37,800 apostles would go from town to Town. 738 00:46:37,800 --> 00:46:41,700 Proclaiming the gospel, there would be some who believed and 739 00:46:41,700 --> 00:46:50,600 some who disbelieved That's it. Either a heart is hardened or it 740 00:46:50,600 --> 00:46:53,300 is melted by the message of the gospel, and this is why. 741 00:46:53,300 --> 00:46:56,500 The Puritans had a saying that the same Sun that hardens, the 742 00:46:56,500 --> 00:47:03,600 clay, melts the ice. The gospel has this effect, you 743 00:47:03,600 --> 00:47:06,800 will either Harden your heart and unbelief are, you will 744 00:47:06,800 --> 00:47:10,200 soften your heart and belief. But there are not, there's not a 745 00:47:10,207 --> 00:47:13,400 third way. So the question is, would 746 00:47:13,400 --> 00:47:16,600 Nicodemus continue in unbelief or would he believe the truth 747 00:47:16,600 --> 00:47:19,300 that was spoken to him by Jesus Christ? 748 00:47:20,700 --> 00:47:24,000 So now the question is yours, maybe you stand at the same 749 00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:29,700 Crossroads today, one is the way of self-righteousness and that 750 00:47:29,700 --> 00:47:33,000 leads to Eternal destruction. The other is the way of 751 00:47:33,000 --> 00:47:37,000 Salvation through the new birth and it leads to eternal life. 752 00:47:37,200 --> 00:47:40,300 That's your decision to make you must decide. 753 00:47:40,400 --> 00:47:44,200 Which way will you travel? You must receive this Divine 754 00:47:44,400 --> 00:47:47,000 testimony. Concerning your personal need 755 00:47:47,000 --> 00:47:51,300 for New Birth. You must if you want eternal 756 00:47:51,300 --> 00:47:54,400 life. To die and unbelief will cause 757 00:47:54,400 --> 00:47:57,900 you to appear at the final judgments without an Advocates 758 00:47:58,100 --> 00:48:02,300 without a savior. Without someone to whom you are 759 00:48:02,300 --> 00:48:05,700 looking and saying, my righteousness is not my own, it 760 00:48:05,700 --> 00:48:08,200 is bought with the blood of Jesus Christ. 761 00:48:08,200 --> 00:48:16,400 It's his The entire Bible is speaking to you with one ringing 762 00:48:16,500 --> 00:48:21,700 loud voice and it declares that you must be born again and to 763 00:48:21,700 --> 00:48:28,600 believe in Jesus Christ. You must If you've never 764 00:48:28,600 --> 00:48:32,700 believed in Jesus Christ, never believe the words that he spoke. 765 00:48:34,900 --> 00:48:36,800 Then what he is saying here to Nicodemus? 766 00:48:36,800 --> 00:48:40,800 The way that he is calling Nicodemus to belief He's saying 767 00:48:40,800 --> 00:48:43,600 the same things to you today. He's calling you to commit your 768 00:48:43,600 --> 00:48:49,200 life to him. Repentance is a renunciation of 769 00:48:49,200 --> 00:48:52,700 all confidence in yourself. It's a laying aside 770 00:48:52,700 --> 00:48:54,400 self-confidence. It's a laying aside 771 00:48:54,400 --> 00:48:58,100 self-righteousness and which you were trying to make yourself 772 00:48:58,100 --> 00:49:00,800 acceptable to God. It's the denial of that. 773 00:49:03,800 --> 00:49:09,400 And it is in turn as it's turning from self-worth, self, 774 00:49:09,400 --> 00:49:12,300 confidence, self righteousness. It's turning from that, and 775 00:49:12,300 --> 00:49:14,500 turning to Christ. Jesus. 776 00:49:15,400 --> 00:49:17,500 You're turning your back on your own righteousness, and you're 777 00:49:17,500 --> 00:49:22,300 turning your face upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ 778 00:49:22,600 --> 00:49:26,800 Alone there. And there alone is where you 779 00:49:26,808 --> 00:49:31,800 will find Salvation for your soul. then if you're a Believer 780 00:49:31,800 --> 00:49:36,400 today, you know, the necessity of the new birth, you've sensed 781 00:49:36,400 --> 00:49:40,100 it in your own life. And today, we must Proclaim, we 782 00:49:40,100 --> 00:49:43,000 must not. Look at a Nicodemus, we must not 783 00:49:43,000 --> 00:49:46,700 look into the world or look into our own City and see people who 784 00:49:46,700 --> 00:49:49,700 are trying the self-righteous route and scoff. 785 00:49:50,800 --> 00:49:53,700 We must not look at them with a wagging finger. 786 00:49:55,400 --> 00:49:59,500 We must look at them with broken hearts knowing that we two were 787 00:49:59,500 --> 00:50:03,800 trying the same things. That we too were like that until 788 00:50:03,800 --> 00:50:06,300 the gospel pierced, our heart and saved us. 789 00:50:08,100 --> 00:50:10,700 And saved us. And so I encourage you today. 790 00:50:10,700 --> 00:50:16,400 If you are born again, rejoice in the Lord, today that you have 791 00:50:16,400 --> 00:50:19,300 known the day of salvation, that today is another day where 792 00:50:19,300 --> 00:50:23,300 you're growing in the grace of God, Amen. 793 00:50:23,600 --> 00:50:28,600 But if you have not been born again, act, now without any 794 00:50:28,600 --> 00:50:33,800 delay, do not disbelieve, but believe in the word and the work 795 00:50:33,900 --> 00:50:37,100 of Jesus Christ. Amen, let me pray for you. 796 00:50:39,700 --> 00:50:43,500 Heavenly Father we love you and we thank you Lord for your 797 00:50:43,500 --> 00:50:46,800 kindness toward us. Your goodness toward us that we 798 00:50:46,800 --> 00:50:50,800 have in Christ Jesus just as we've seen today in the message 799 00:50:50,800 --> 00:50:56,900 to Nicodemus. the necessity of the new birth, you have by your 800 00:50:56,900 --> 00:51:03,400 grace drawing Us in zoo and we have been saved, father And so 801 00:51:03,400 --> 00:51:06,900 we praise you for it, and we ask that you would give us the heart 802 00:51:07,000 --> 00:51:11,600 of Christ towards the unbelieving. and, as he looked 803 00:51:11,600 --> 00:51:15,400 out over the landscape of Jerusalem, he was he mourned 804 00:51:15,800 --> 00:51:18,700 because he saw those who were like sheep without a shepherd, 805 00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:22,000 God help us to mourn for the loss. 806 00:51:22,400 --> 00:51:25,300 Not to rejoice in it. Not to gloat over it, not to wag 807 00:51:25,300 --> 00:51:29,000 our fingers. Help us to proclaim the truths 808 00:51:30,100 --> 00:51:34,300 of Christ, the truths of God, the truth, some sin. 809 00:51:35,700 --> 00:51:40,800 And the need for savior. Helps to do that Faithfully 810 00:51:40,800 --> 00:51:45,400 father. with a heart that is broken for those who don't know, 811 00:51:45,400 --> 00:51:54,200 you Father, I do pray for anyone listening to this message today 812 00:51:54,200 --> 00:51:59,400 who does not know you by faith, God would you help them? 813 00:51:59,400 --> 00:52:02,600 Now, repent of their sins, turn from their own 814 00:52:02,600 --> 00:52:06,800 self-righteousness and turned to you by faith in Christ that they 815 00:52:06,800 --> 00:52:10,300 might receive. As their own, the righteousness 816 00:52:10,300 --> 00:52:15,600 of Christ, that they might know the love of God, which saves to 817 00:52:15,600 --> 00:52:19,000 the uttermost, all of those who draw near to him. 818 00:52:19,100 --> 00:52:26,600 Ruis son. Got saved them, help. 819 00:52:26,600 --> 00:52:30,500 None of us. Not one look to our own 820 00:52:30,500 --> 00:52:32,800 righteousness. Look to our own Works, to be 821 00:52:32,800 --> 00:52:38,900 approved before you help us. Trust In Christ Alone, Jesus 822 00:52:38,900 --> 00:52:40,700 name I pray. Amen.