This morning as we have dedicated Harley Sheat to the Lord we have delighted in her birth but have looked forward to the time of her second birth and the fact that through that birth will be a gift of life that far exceeds the life that we celebrated here this morning.
As we move on in 2007 and into our ministry and God’s call for our lives this year I want to encourage you that God has a vision for our lives here together.
I am very keen for us to grasp once again the importance of our vision and the working out of our vision here in our own district in 2007.
Everything that we are planning and doing here in the church tracks back to the vision which is:-
Our vision is to be a caring church family who will do whatever we can to help people to become wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ.
But this morning I want to track back from the vision to what lies behind the vsion itself.
This morning my sermon title is:-
Amazing Grace or Why we would really want to be wholehearted followers of Christ.
One of the qualifications for helping people become wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ is that we do that best when we are wholehearted ourselves
2000 odd years ago a important man in Jerusalem crept around to where Jesus was and was privately seeking a deep spiritual truth from Jesus that would fill the hole in his spirit that all his life and religion had not been able to satisfy.
Nicodemus – Who can we compare him with today??
Well Nicodemus was someone who must have been wealthy – When jesus died :- JN 19:38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 4
Only a wealthy man could have afforded such an abundance of spices.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee. In many ways the Pharisees were the best people in the whole country/ there were never more than 6000 of them, they were what was known as a chabarah or a brotherhood.. They did this by taking a pledge in front of three witnesses that they would spend all their lives observing every detail of the scribal law.
The law was the first 5 books of the old Testament they believed it was the perfect word of God.
The scribes worked out the regulations from the law and the Pharisees decdicated their lives to keeping the thousands and thousands of rules.
Nocdemus was not only wealthy and a Pharisee but we are also told that he was a ruler of the Jews. The word is arch^on The Sanhedrin to which he belonged was a court of sevent members and was the supreme court of the Jews.
Under the romans, of course it’s powers had been limited but was nonethe less a court with extensive powers particuarily in relation to religions matters in relation to every Jew in the world.
In addition to all of this it is thought that Nicodemus may well have been a member of a distinguished Jewish family.
Nicodemus was like much of our New Zealand society.
He was a man of position – power and wealth – who none the less was puzzled and seeking so he came to Jesus in the darkness of the night to seek light.
That he found it can not really be disputed as at the end of Jesus life when it was both dangerous and unpopular to be associated with him we find Nicodemus helping take care of his burial with dignity and compassion.
But stepping aside from our text for a moment can I ask you to look again at our church vision.
Our vision is to be a caring church family who will do whatever we can to help people to become wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ.
If we are going to help people become wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ then we can conclude that whatever it was that Nicodemus discovered in the middle of that night that led him to continue following Jesus, whatever that is, we too can benefit from clarifying and embracing it both for ourselves and those we plan to touch with christ’s love this year.
The first thing that is absolutely radical and that many people can not accept is that nothing else is of any use.
JN 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. "
There are two men in this conversation.
Nicodemus and Jesus.
Nocodemus has everything going for him.
He is well born.
He is wealthy
He is well known
He is extremely well educated
Hi is well connected
He is Powerful.
He has been born into position power and wealth.
Much of that is a result of his birth although his personal effort and character have consolidated his position in Jewish society.
Jesus, it seems to me, sees Nocdemus’ incredible situation and puts his finger on Nicodemus’ chest and says you must be born again.
What does that involve for Nicodemus?
It involves in him sweeping everything off the well ordered desk of his life and starting all over again.
Why would someone who was:_
well born.
wealthy
well known
extremely well educated
well connected
Powerful.
Want to sweep everything off the table – wipe the slate clean and start again?
Nicodemus was a man who was born with every advantage in life.
Why would he abandon all of that advantage in order to make a fresh start?
The 6th century Benedictine Monks had a rule which was -
Always We Begin Again
In a sense we always begin again but if we refuse to sweep the table clean and allow Christ into our lives fully our lives will be poorer as a result.
When Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again he points to a complete rebirth.
To be born again is to be changed in such a way that it can be described only as rebirth and recreation. The change comes when we love Jesus and allow him into our hearts.
The reason it is so important is because it is then and only then that we can be forgiven for the past and armed by the Holy spirit for the future; then we can truly accept the will of God.
Only then do we become citizens of the kingdom; and only then do we become a child of God;
Only then do we enter into eternal life, which is the very life of God.
What I want to suggest here to day is that so often we want to declare that we are born again without surrendering the benefits, the habits and the selfish ness of the first birth.
The apostle Paul achieved this.
Like Nicodemus he was a Pharisee.
He himself declares this state:-
.
AC 26:4 "The Jews all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. 5 They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee. 6 And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today. 7 This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. O king, it is because of this hope that the Jews are accusing me. 8 Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
( AC 26:9 "I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.
AC 26:12 "On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, `Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’)
AC 26:15 "Then I asked, `Who are you, Lord?’
" `I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16 `Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
Why is this so important?
We need to understand what it was that Nicodemus was depending on up until that point.
He was depending on – His family, his wealth, his religious activity, his popularity his friends and his brain.
While all of these are healthy and useful for life none of them will save us to be members of the Kingdom of God.
A live dependent on these things will eventually leave to spiritual death.
Romans chapter 3 and verse twenty three says.
RO 3:21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 2
Let me give you an illustration.
A young child in Brazil might belong to a really great family
They may be wealthy and all the things that Nicodemus was but let me explain to you a situation this family got into:-
View larger imageBrazilian grandfather Joaquim Pereira and his grandson.Reuters
10/02/2007
Reuters
A 66-year-old Brazilian man wrestled with a 15-foot anaconda for nearly half an hour to free his grandson from the snake’s crushing death grip, a newspaper reported Friday.
Matheus Pereira de Araujo, 8, would likely be dead inside the belly of the 35 kg anaconda if his grandfather had not heard his screams for help, zoologists said.
Anacondas, the biggest snakes in the world, are nonvenomous and kill prey by asphyxiation.
Araujo was playing with friends near a creek on his grandfather’s farm in Cosmorama, 310 miles west of Sao Paulo, Wednesday when the snake attacked him.
"It was very fast. I didn’t have time to do anything," the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper quoted Araujo as saying by. "My grandfather is a hero - I was so afraid of dying."
Joaquim Pereira was driving home when he heard his grandson screaming. He jumped into the ravine and grappled with the snake, which started coiling around him as well.
Pereira attacked it with stones and a machete and killed it.
"It was the most terrible scene that I’ve seen in my life," Pereira said. "It was totally coiled around him while he was screaming that he was dying."
We are not in the same physical danger as Araujo but we are in the same spiritual danger.
Nothing that we have will save us we need to call for help – god sends help in the person of Jesus Christ.
Jesus takes our place – but it is our task to cry for help.
Listen to what the boy said:-
"My grandfather is a hero - I was so afraid of dying."
When the Grandfather came into his life it changed everything –
The grandson bound for death was rescued.
Why is it that so many New Zealander’ s are self sufficient and flaunt the ways of God and God’s plan for salvation.
Increasingly people are trusting the snake the devil instead of Christ the saviour.
Some people commit to Christ but are not prepared to sweep the table clear of all that they are depending on preferring instead to hold back.
The egg’s no chick by falling from the hen, Nor man a Christian till he’s born again. - John Bunyan (1628-1688)
The good news about Nicodemus is that he became a wholehearted follower of Jesus Christ agains t all the odds.
If we are to be wholehearted followers of jesus Christ then there are three things that we must do.
We can learn them all from Nicodemus here this morning.
The first thing is we must sweep everything off the table of our lives into the hand of the Lord.
Being born again means that nothing from the old flesh life should have a hold on us.
All of our vanities all of our possessions and desires must belong to him.
Anything at all we leave in our hands will go sour in our hands.
EX 16:13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was.
Moses said to them, "It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. 16 This is what the LORD has commanded: `Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’ "
EX 16:17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed.
EX 16:19 Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning."
EX 16:20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
The second thing is we will become humble. Jesus said
John chapter 3 verse 16 For God so loved the world that whoever believes in him
The born again experience means that you are thrown in with all manner of sinners and broken people.
If you think you are superior in some way then you have it wrong.
Nicodemus was in many ways regarded as superior in Istrael – but not in this matter of salvation.
This kind of statement by Jesus should keep us humble.
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
So we find that Nicodemus needs to surrender all of his old life to the Lord and we also find he needs to be humble – but there is a third aspect here – it is found in John chapter 3 and verse 16.
For whosoever “believes” in Him
Believe is an active word.
It implies action.
Believing means two things at least:-
1. It means believing with all our hearts that God is as Jesus declared him to – that involves believing also that jesus is who he says he is and of course the holy spirit is who Jesus says he is.
2. It also means that we will act on what belief in Jesus implies. You will be familiar with the story of the tightrope walker who walks over the Niagra falls with an empty wheelbarrow and asks his audience if anyone beliefs that he can do it again. The crowd heartily agrees. But then he asks for a volunteer to sit in the wheelbarrow. No-one volunteers until at the last minute the mans own Mother volunteers.
Belief implies trust. A wholehearted follower of Jesus Christ will trust his actions to jesus Christ.
Sometimes this is a struggle one we can not possibly win without the work of the Holy spirit who we receive by coming to jesus Christ:-
JN 3:5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, `You must be born again.
This year if we want to be part of the great movement of helping people become wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ we make a great start by making sure we are doing well in these three personally.
