John 3:1-17 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." 3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." 9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?" 10 Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. NKJV
Introduction: Jesus meets with a man by the name of Nicodemus. He is identified as a Pharisee of the Jews. The Pharisee’s believe in the inspiration of the Old Testament, they believe in the coming of the Messiah, they believe in miracles and in the resurrection. He is a ruler of the Jews (Jn 3:1).
We observe Nicodemus was a man of the Pharisees. When he was in their midst, his actions and words were characteristic of the Pharisee’s. However, we get a picture of a different person when is not meeting with the other Pharisees. Many live today in public lives and portray a different persona privately when they are alone. He let down his guard. He is searching to fill the emptiness in his life that only can be filled by Jesus. John 3:2 scripture records that Nicodemus approaches Jesus under the cover of darkness. The world today is filled with the darkness of sin and there in the lives of men and women there is an emptiness that can only be filled by a divine encounter with the Savior of the World. That emptiness can’t be filled with the things of the world. When Adam and Eve were in the garden and disobeyed God’s Word, they exposed themselves to the ravages of sin that are found only in the world. When God sought them out, they were hiding because they realized they no longer we emersed in the Glory of God’s Creation but now they are hiding in the darkness of their sinful actions and attempting to cover their sin (Gen 3:7-10).
Nicodemus like many others in the world then and now believed that his own righteousness would produce an eternal reward. Worldly attempts to achieve eternal life will fail. It is only through the redemption of Jesus on the cross that pave the way to our eternal life with our Creator.
Nicodemus was hiding behind a mask of religion, yet he realized there was a missing element in his life. In the same way people today are hiding behind facade of living in the world today when they are searching for something to fill the emptiness in their lives. They need Jesus but wait let me clarify that statement we all need Jesus. There is only one thing that keeps a person from having eternal life. That one thing is you. You decided that you want to spend eternity with God our creator and His Son who is the redeemer of the world. It’s your choice not God’s.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
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Illustration: Benjamin Franklin a great statesman and inventor, but he was also a great correspondent and received letters from famous people from all over the world. One day he received what could well have been the most important letter ever to come to his desk. It was from the well-known British preacher George Whitefield.
“I find that you grow more and more famous in the learned world,” Whitefield wrote. “As you have made such progress in investigating the mysteries of electricity, I now humbly urge you to give diligent heed to the mystery of the new birth. Today it matters not your level of notoriety, the level of education you may possess or the size of your bank account the most important thing is your sternal salvation. You Must Be Borne Again!
1st The Right Question- John 3:4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, we can only speculate why he sought out Jesus, but I believe he realized that his religion was not meeting or filling then emptiness in his life. Nicodemus was a man of wealth and position in the Jewish community. He appeared to have it all. But he lacks just one thing, Eternal Life. Nicodemus was initially attracted to Jesus because of the miracles He did. He wanted to know more about Jesus and the doctrines that He taught. Nicodemus himself was “the teacher of the Jews” (John 3:10, literal translation) and he had great respect for the Teacher from Galilee.
John 4:11-12 The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? NKJV
1 Cor 1:18-19 or the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent."
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1 Cor 2:14-15 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. NKJV
The natural man cannot understand the deep meaning of God and His Word. Spiritual understanding only comes by faith in the Author and Finisher of our faith, Jesus. To understand this statement Jesus causes Nicodemus to question Jesus’ statement concerning the 2nd birth. A non-believer cannot be expected to think or act like believers. The real problem is not intellectual or moral all scripture points to God. The real difference is the non-believer is not guided by the Holy Spirit. It is our faith to that brings a person to a spiritual understanding of the meaning of being “Born Again.”
Nicodemus response to Jesus’s statement is a worldly understanding of a spiritual statement however the only we can understand the truths of God and His Word is through faith. This faith must include His plan of salvation which God communicates spiritual truth through the Holy Spirit. Intellectual knowledge and human reason cannot produce faith, at best intellectual reasoning can only produce facts and not faith.
1Co 2:10-14 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Jas 2:19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
ILLUST: Years ago, a radio station received a letter from a shepherd who lived on an isolated ranch in the western part of the United States. Never had the station received such a request. It read, “Will you please strike an ‘A’ on the piano in your studio? I am far from a piano, and the only comfort I get is when I play my worn-out violin, and it’s out of tune. Will you please strike an ‘A’ so I can get it in tune again?” The life that is lived between the white lines of faith and fact will always be tuned to “A.”
The longer you play on the string of life, the more likely it is to become off key. When we are not tuned to “A,” our only hope is confession, repentance, reclaiming, and reconsecration. (Dennis DeHaan. Our Daily Bread, Radio Bible Class, 2001, Day 43)
2nd The Right Answer– John 3: 5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus questions Jesus concerning being “Born Again.” In his worldly understanding of the 2nd birth his thought is to ask how a man can be born a second time. The is often confusion concerning Jesus’s response to Nicodemus, my understanding is that a person must be physically born (John 3:5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.) Our physical birth is necessary to come into this world but for a person to enter the kingdom of God there must a spiritual birth. That spiritual birth come the Word of God and the revelation of the Holy Spirit to our spiritual heart. With out the 2nd birth, new birth we are spiritually dead.
Eph 2:1-5 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
Spiritual came to all mankind when Adam/Eve disobeyed God which resulted in the separation of man and God. Just as the vail of the temple separated man from the Holy of Holies in the Temple. When the penalty of sin was paid by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus on the cross of Calvary the vail of sin which kept us from God was torn from top to bottom, we now have access to God through the blood of Jesus.
ILLUST: Do you really know God?
Two friends were discussing this question: If Jesus asked why you should get into heaven, how would you answer? One friend said, "I have been a good person and always try to do the right thing." But that was not the right answer. The other friend said, "Because I went to church every week." But even that was not enough.
Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23 that many religious people would try to get into heaven, but He did not know them personally. Being a good person or religious activity will not get anyone to heaven. The only answer is to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. (Sermon Central-Charles Walls)
3rd The Right Way– John 3: 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. NKJV
Nicodemus was searching for the right way to God. He went to the Son of God. He went to Jesus because of all the things had said and done Nicodemus realize he need a savior and not just religion. Religion does not bring salvation it brings condemnation. It is only through faith in the Son of God that brings us eternal life. In this world there is only one thing that can lead us to eternal life.
Matt 7:13-14"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. NKJV
When question by one of the disciples as to path to eternal life Jesus responded by saying!
John 14:5-6 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. NKJV
ILLUST: Religion says, “Try” but the gospel says, “trust.”
Religion says, “Pay me what you owe,” the gospel says, “I’ll pay what you owe.”
Religion says, “Live for God,” the gospel says, “Live through God.”
Religion says, “Obey the law,” but the gospel says, “Obey the Lord.”
Religion says “Do,” but the gospel says “Done.”
Religion says, “Attain righteousness,” the gospel says, “Accept righteousness.”
Religion says, “My way is the right way,” the gospel says, “God’s way is the only way.”
Religion says, “Salvation is in a formula,” the gospel says, “Salvation is by faith.”
Religion says, “Believe something,” but the gospel says, “Receive someone!” (Sermon Central)
