Spread The Word Born Again

 Spread The Word

Born Again

Opening Illustration:

This morning I want to take a few minutes and reintroduce you to someone that you’ve heard of, maybe even known quite a bit. You’ve heard about him when you were a child in Sunday School. I spent some time looking back through my old Vacation Bible School files and realized that I have spoken about this character no less than 6 times in year’s past. I want this sermon, this message to be like a time machine for all of us. Consider this sanctuary to be 1975 Delorean fitted with the latest time travel technology. Our time stamp is 2000 years ago and our destination is Jerusalem. You are going to be an invisible fly on the wall during a conversation with Jesus and Nicodemus. That’s right, this morning you will be reintroduced to Nicodemus. Our text may just be the most important chapter in all of the Bible, John chapter 3. John chapter 3 verse 16 is perhaps the most famous Scripture in all the Bible and that passage is but a snippet of a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. This morning, I am going to call Nicodemus what his friends called him. I am going to call him Nick. 

So, who is Nick? Let’s round him out as a character. He was a teacher, a philosopher, and a Pharisee. He was a member of the Sanhedrin. His name appears 3 different times in the Gospel of John. This morning we are going to read the first instance of his name as he is having a night time conversation with Jesus about how to possess eternal life. You might say that this conversation between he and Jesus is the original “Nick at Nite”. It is in this conversation that Jesus shares with Nick the Gospel, the Good News of salvation. Now we do not see Nick embrace Christ but thankfully this is not the end of Nick’s story. In the second instance, he addresses his colleagues in the Sanhedrin, mentioning that, according to the law, a person must be heard before a judgement is passed on them. So, Nick stands alone among his peers and defends Jesus. Nick may have come to Jesus at night during their first conversation but Nick would stand boldly for Christ on the second evening they spent together. His final appearance occurs following the Crucifixion of Christ. He brings the customary embalming spices and helps Joseph of Arimathea in making the body of Jesus ready for burial. Most theologians believe that Nick left behind his Pharisaical lifestyle to pursue Jesus. He heard the Gospel, stood boldly for Jesus, and was there at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry. In today’s Scripture reading, it is understood that Nick is an old man. He may have been as old as 80 years old when he had this conversation with Christ. I only bring this up because everyone here this morning needs to understand that it is never ever to late to follow Christ. We should never stop praying, never stop sharing, never stop hoping that even the most elderly among us might embrace Christ. 

Fill in today’s thought, when it came to Jesus, Nicodemus was cautious, curious and captivated. Clearly this is true. Brothers and sisters, Jesus is still captivating people today. The world is still curious, wanting to know more about Christ. People hunger for Christ and even today, people hang on His words. Vox, a left leaning liberal publication polled 3000 people from all walks of life and asked them if they could meet anyone, dead or alive, who would they want to meet. Overwhelming to the tune of 80%, respondents claimed that they would like to meet Jesus. Think about it, the words of Christ have impacted every area of civilized civilization. Jesus has influenced law, politics, art, philosophy, our notions of justice and equality, interpersonal relationships, foreign affairs, capitalism, the family, marriage, the origin of life, and the purpose of our existence. The Bible, which tells the story of Christ is still the best selling book year over year and has been translated into more languages than any book ever written. So, it is not a surprise that Nicodemus, a Pharisee, was cautious, curious and captivated by the man who would split time with His birth and turn the world upside down with His death and resurrection. Let’s take a couple of minutes this mooring and read from John 3:1-9. I am reading this morning from the New Living Translation. 

Today’s Thought:

When It Came To Jesus… 

Nicodemus Was Cautious, Curious, and Captivated! 

Today’s Scripture:

John 3:1-9 New Living Translation

There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.

Today’s Quote:

“Many Christians have the mistaken notion that eternal life beings when they die. But that is not Biblically accurate. Eternal life begins when we are born again into the Kingdom of God”

-Dr. David Jeremiah

Illustration:

As many of you know, recently a draft document from the Supreme Court involving the horrific and unconstitutional ruling regarding a woman’s right to murder the child in her womb leaked to the public. This leak sparked not only outrage but numerous conversations on when human life began. Now, as Christians we believe that from the moment of conception human life begins. We believe that from the moment of conception that that human life has value, that God has a plan for that life, and that it is wrong to terminate that life. 

Exodus 20:!3 ESV

“You shall not murder.”

Psalm 139:13-16 ESV

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Believers know that life starts at conception and this is foundational true throughout the pages of Scripture. Nicodemus is asking a similar question. He is not asking about the origin of human life on earth, he is asking about enteral life in heaven. Jesus reminds Nicodemus that simply being born is not enough to grant one eternity. Hardly. In order for one to gain eternity, he must be “born again”. This information is shocking to Nicodemus who, like all of us is familiar with birth. After all, he was born of his mother. He gets that. What does it mean to be born again? How is God involved in this process? 

Dr. David Jeremiah has this to say about Nick’s predicament. “Many Christians have the mistaken notion that eternal life beings when they die. But that is not Biblically accurate. Eternal life begins when we are born again into the Kingdom of God”. Nick, like all the rest of us, have to be born again to inherit eternal life. So, let’s look at 3 notions from Nick and night’s conversation with Jesus. 

3 Notions From Nick at Night!

I. Nick’s Proclamation  vs. 2. 

John 3:2 NLT

2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

Point:

Nicodemus was someone rather special in Jewish society. He was a Pharisee, a member of the Jewish ruling class. He was a man of great influence. People listened when he spoke. He was probably a man of great wealth, great power, and great prestige. People looked up to him and some might have even idolized him. You have heard the word “Pharisee” before no doubt. Do you know what it means? Pharisee actually means “the separated one”. Pharisees were men who had separated themselves from ordinary people. They had set themselves apart from normal ordinary life. They did this so that they could keep the entire law, ever jot and tiddle, of Moses. Their goal in life was not to have a relationship with God but to follow the rules of God and the natural by product of this lifestyle was the development of a holier than thou mentality. They actually thought that they were better than the common man. They really believed that God loved them more if they kept all the rules and regulations. 

Notice that Nicodemus recognizes Jesus’ authority as a teacher but does not recognize His divinity. Jesus had performed miracles, healed those who were thought to be beyond medical help, even raised people from the dead. Jesus had even forgiven people their sins. Still, Nicodemus does not recognize those aspects of Jesus’ life, he only calls Jesus by the name of Rabbi which is just a fancy Jewish way of saying “Teacher”. You might think, but preacher he does say that he knows that God is with Him. That’s saying something right? Sure, it is saying something but it is not speaking the truth. God being with someone is not the same as that person being God incarnate. Nicodemus gives a nod to the miracles but does not allow the overwhelming evidence, the mountain of proof, to convince Him that God is in his very presence. He does not yet realize that he is looking into the very eyes of the one who made him, sustains him, gives him life and breath, and the one who will soon take his sins as His own. 

Point:

People are still missing the forest for the tress when it comes to Jesus. There is a mountain of evidence, a tidal wave of proof shouting the truth that Jesus is God, that He is Lord, and still they deny Him. People still say “no” to Jesus even today. 

The Jews claim that Jesus was a teacher, miracle worker, that He died on the cross but deny Him as the Messiah. 

Muslims claim that Jesus was a prophet, a wise teacher, a healer but say no to him being the one true God. 

Bahai claim that Jesus was a mystical being, that He had two separate natures:a divine nature and a human nature. They claim that these natures are not one but separated. Jesus again, like the rest, not God. 

Hindus state that Jesus was a Holy man. They have no problem with saying that Jesus was a little g God. One of the millions of Hindu little g Gods. 

Mormons claim that Jesus was a god, brother to Satan, that He died for our sins. He came back in the 1800’s with a new revelation to the American Indians and that we can be like Jesus, a God ourselves. 

Point:

Nicodemus is no different from the rest of these people. He came to Jesus with a preconceived notion of who Jesus was. Nicodemus tried to put Jesus in a box to his liking. He was going to come to Jesus on his terms, not on Jesus’ terms. Nicodemus was willing to throw Jesus a bone. Sure Jesus you seem like a good guy, you do some neat things, but I am going to deny the one thing about you that might change my life. Nicodemus tried to, like many people do today, craft Jesus into something that makes them feel good about themselves. There are so many people who love the Jesus that lets the kids come and sit in His lap but they don’t want the Jesus who defines marriage as a man and a women committed, pure, holy, and faithful for their entire lives. They don’t want the Jesus who flips tables and demands holiness, telling us to take up our cross daily. They try to turn Jesus into something that He is not, a Disney character who whistles Zippy Dee Doo Da and grants all of our wishes. Jesus does not come to us on our terms, squeezing Himself into our confined box. We come to Jesus and we conform our lives to His commands, His boundaries, His truth. WE don’t get to define Jesus, Jesus defines Himself. It does not matter how that makes us feel, Jesus is going to be Jesus. He is far more than a teacher as Nicodemus is about to discover. 

Point:

In 1936, Watchman Nee made a argument in his book, Normal Christian Faith. A person who claims to be God must belong to one of three categories:

First, if he claims to be God and yet in fact is not, he has to be a madman or a lunatic.

Second, if he is neither God nor a lunatic, he has to be a liar, deceiving others by his lie.

Third, if he is neither of these, he must be God.

You can only choose one of the three possibilities.

If you do not believe that he is God, you have to consider him a madman.

If you cannot take him for either of the two, you have to take him for a liar.

There is no need for us to prove if Jesus of Nazareth is God or not. All we have to do is find out if He is a lunatic or a liar. If He is neither, He must be the Son of God.

C. S. Lewis, speaking in 1942 (and published in Mere Christianity in 1952), gave the argument its most memorable formulation:

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. . . . Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.

Point:

What about you friend, what do you say about Jesus?

Matthew 16:13-16 NIV

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

3 Notions From Nick at Night!

I. Nick’s Proclamation  vs. 2. 

II. Jesus’ Revelation  vs. 3

John 3:3 NLT

3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

Point:

So we just heard the proclamation, you are a rabbi, sent from God, able to do miraculous signs and wonders, now how does Jesus respond? Unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God. Essentially Nick asks Jesus, how do I inherit eternal life? Jesus answers him that one does not inherit eternal life simply by being born. Everyone that ever exists is born but that does not necessarily grant them eternal life. It grants them life, but there is more to this life than the life that we can sense. One most experience a rebirth, a regeneration of our spirit. There is a conversation that follows where Jesus remarks that Nicodemus is Israel’s teacher, a spiritual man, a man of God, but he does not understand what Jesus is saying. 

Point:

The important thing here is not so much that Nicodemus gets the answer wrong, the important thing here is that Nicodemus is asking the question. You see friends, we live in a world where people have built into them a desire to know what happens when we die. Is this existence all that there is or is there more?

Nicodemus knew there was more to this man called Jesus than any other man he had met.

Nicodemus knows only one language and that is the language of earth. He doesn’t understand what Jesus is talking about. “Born again?” His earthly language was getting in the way of the Heavenly meaning. Nicodemus is confused. He doesn’t understand. To him, Jesus is speaking another language. He has question after question. Nicodemus wants to understand. He wants to put his questions to rest so he can move on.

Point:

We often assume that at church that we all know what it means to be born again. When I was preparing this message I was convicted that even thought I have used the term born again over and over again, I dont know that I have actually, in my own words, ever actually expressed its meaning. Maybe you have heard the term but never had the courage to ask. Maybe you have been a Christian for a while now but never heard an actual definition of what it means to be born again. So, I took a few minutes and came up with a definition. Here we go. 

Definition of Born Again. 

The phrase “born again” applies to people who have accepted Jesus as their Savior or Redeemer. The born again soul realizes that they are a sinner (Romans 3:23) and that the penalty for that sin is death (Romans 6:23). To rectify the circumstances, God sent His only Son to die in their place, to take the punishment for sin (Romans 5:8). After Jesus’ death, He arose from the dead (I Corinthians 15:3-6). Jesus is the only way to God (John 14:6) and He provides the blessing of salvation. Each person has the choice to receive or reject God’s gift through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) and experience new birth (John 3:1-8). Whoever follows Jesus as Christ, the Son of God, and has accepted His gift of life can be called Christian. That is where the journey of rebirth begins. Christian, we call this moment of rebirth salvation. That is the start but there is more to go. When have been reborn, your spirit comes to life, you have traded your dead soul for a soul rejuvenated by Jesus Christ. The days following your salvation, where you take up your cross to follow Christ, is called sanctification. You are literally engaged in the purification process where you begin to think, talk, act, and do the things of Christ. 

This conversation with Nick and Jesus is before Nick’s salvation. 

By the way, there is something really interesting about this conversation. Nick was a “holy” man. A righteous man. He was good by human standards but guilty by Godly standards. In fact, if you ask people if they are good or evil most everyone will respond that they are good people. They are good because they are not judging by God’s standard. Nick kept the rules. He went to church. He was a giver. He sang the songs and even memorized Scripture. He looked like a man that would go to heaven but sadly, Nick was lost. He was a part from Christ and if he were to have perished before this conversation, before his conversion, he would have been sentenced to eternal death in hell, a part from God. 

Brothers and sisters, do you know the scariest verse in all the Bible? It is Matthew 7:21-23. 

Matthew 7:21-23 NASB

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [a]miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

Point:

Years ago while in seminary I had a professor tell me that he believed that 80% of those who attend church fell into this category. People who had all the trappings of salvation but they were missing the one thing that mattered, a relationship with Jesus Christ. 

The application to this point is simple. There are people who are asking important questions about Jesus. Are we available to answer? Are we open to their questions? I believe that many people today do not evangelize because deep in their hearts they know that they are not really of Christ. They are afraid of being exposed. Remember Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. He was also afraid of being exposed. Still, at least he came. At least he asked. I once heard it said that people are more willing to hear about Jesus than we are willing to tell. 

John 3:36 ESV

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

3 Notions From Nick at Night!

I. Nick’s Proclamation  vs. 2. 

II. Jesus’ Revelation  vs. 3

III. Nick’s Investigation vs. 9

John 3:9 NLT

9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.

Point:

I just told you what I believe to be the scariest verse in the Bible. Let me tell you what I believe the most important question in all the Bible. It comes from John 3:9, how are these things possible? What things? Nick asks Jesus, how can I inherit eternal life. 

The good news is that it appears that Nicodemus does embrace Christ. How do we know this? Scripture actually informs us of this reality. That’s right, I believe that this Pharisee who came to meet Jesus eventually stood for Christ in the daylight when it really mattered. The words that Christ spoke to Nicodemus about being born again became a reality to him. 

Did you know that Nicodemus defended Christ before the Sanhedrin? He did. Turn with me in your Bibles to John 7.  Skip down to verse 40. Jesus is in Jerusalem and He is surrounded by thousands. He was teaching and preaching along side of His disciples. In front of a large crowd Jesus claimed to be living water and invited those in the crowd to free drink of Him and stated that if they did that they would never thirst again. Some in the crowed felt that Jesus was the Messiah and others were still undecided. The Pharisees instructed their guards to seize Jesus and bring Him before them. Even the guards were mystified by Jesus and refused to bring Him to them. The Pharisees mocked Jesus. 

John 7:47-49 NLT

47 “Have you been led astray, too?” the Pharisees mocked. 48 “Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him? 49 This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the law. God’s curse is on them!”

The Pharisees call anyone who follows Jesus a fool. At that moment, verse 50 arrives. 

50 Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up. 51 “Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?” he asked.

Nicodemus boldly defends Jesus. Remember this was a man who first came to meet Jesus at night. He did so because he was risking his status in the Sanhedrin. Just meeting, even speaking to Jesus, might give the Pharisees a reason to excommunicate him from the body. Something had no changed in Nicodemus. No longer was he concerned about his status. No longer did he care about being politically correct. No longer was he concerned with offense. Nicodemus was now about truth and he was starting to see through the lies that he had built his very life upon. 

Brothers and sisters, what about you? What lies have you been believing? Lies that the world have spoken to you? In order to be happy you need to purchase or buy this widget, trinket, or thing. In order to be fulfilled you need to get that degree, climb the ladder, make investments, broker those deals. In order to feel good, drink that drink, take the pill, stimulate yourself and please your body. The world tells us to feed our every appetite, sleep around, give in to every whim, indulge every fleeting emotion, deny the reality of who God made you to be or how He made you to be, and if a consequence rears its head, just abort it, terminate it, and go pop another pill to medicate your troubles away. 

You see not very much has changed since the days of Nicodemus. Nicodemus lived in worldly lies that kept him a prisoner as well, until he met Jesus. Jesus told him the truth and the truth about Christ was setting him free. 

Point:

Lastly we see the final act of Nicodemus’ salvation in John 19:39. John the Beloved gets a lot of praise for being the only disciple to stand with Mary at the cross of Christ. That praise is well deserved. Still, there is another that is present. He was not a disciple. He was not originally thought to be a follower of Christ, Who was there in the last moments of Jesus’ earthly experience? Nicodemus! 

John 19:38-42 NLT

38 Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away. 39 With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes. 40 Following Jewish burial custom, they wrapped Jesus’ body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth. 41 The place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb, never used before. 42 And so, because it was the day of preparation for the Jewish Passover and since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

Read between the lines here folks. Nicodemus was no longer a Pharisee. That life was gone. He was now fully giving of himself to Christ. This was a man who clearly had a genuine experience with Jesus Christ and this encounter with Jesus left Nicodemus altered, changed, transformed. 

You cannot have a genuine experience with Jesus Christ and go away the same. You will get better or you will get bitter.

Remember, before Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, secretly, as to not arouse any trouble from himself. He was full of questions and did not understand. Here is a Jewish leader who is opposing his colleagues by his actions. He is there helping to take down the man the other religious leaders had killed. And yes they did have Him killed—Pontius Pilate declared Him an innocent man. Nicodemus has taken a bold step. I think it is a step of faith to show that he is a follower of this same man that he had visited with earlier. He had come with questions. What did he leave with? Answers.

Rabbi, please tell me. I am a ruler. I am an educated man. I am a religious man. But Rabbi, I have this void in my heart and I am a broken man. I need to have something in my life that will transform my evil to good, darkness to light, hate to love, ugliness to beauty, stinginess to generosity, sin to salvation. Rabbi, please tell me. What is it that I need?

Nicodemus, whether educated or uneducated, Jew or Gentile, black or white, rich or poor, powerful or weak, blue blood or blue-collar, religious or sinner, you must be born again.

Nicodemus’ investigation had come to a conclusion and it terminated in Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, I guarantee that you have a Nick in your life, someone looking for answers. Someone who is searching. Someone who may even look religious but needs you to give them the final ingredient that they need for their salvation, an introduction to Jesus Christ. Who is your Nicodemus? Why have you not shared Jesus with that man or woman, that friend or classmate? 

Are you a Nicodemus? If you are here this morning and you are looking for answers, read God’s Word for yourself. You will be introduced to a God who loves you, desires to have a relationship with you, and longs to adopt you into His family. He wants to know you, love you, and give you help. Will you come to Christ? Day or night, will you please just come to Jesus. Take that first step of salvation this morning and the sanctification process will start. 

Mathew 7:7 NLT

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.

Who Is Your Nicodemus?