Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor
Series Code: EG
Program Code: EG002801
|
00:09 It's been 2000 years since the glorious light of the cross
00:12 illuminated a world veiled in darkness and confusion about 00:16 the character of God. And still today the greatest need of 00:19 mankind is a revelation of God's love as revealed in the life of 00:23 Christ. Amazing Facts presents the Everlasting Gospel with 00:26 Pastor Doug Batchelor coming to you each week from Sacramento 00:30 Central Church in sunny California. Discover hidden 00:33 treasures in God's word today. 00:36 I remember hearing about a young man working his way through 00:42 school at a Taco Bell, working the night shift. Nicholas Zahn. 00:47 Very busy one evening trying to manage the desk and the drive 00:53 through window and a woman named Dvorna Andrews let out a 00:59 shriek. She had been standing in the line within the Taco Bell. 01:03 He turned and looked and could see quickly that she was great 01:07 with child and as you might have guessed she went into labor. 01:11 He had to make some very important decisions right at 01:15 that moment. He was there kind of managing a little Taco Bell. 01:20 And he took off his head set, called 9-1-1, ran around and 01:24 tried to make her comfortable. And before he knew what was 01:28 happening he was catching a baby that, in his words, sort of just 01:32 popped out in his hands before the rescue vehicles could get 01:37 there. Now you might be thinking if you owned that Taco Bell, I 01:43 did not hire that man to deliver babies. We had a lot of people 01:48 waiting in line for their burritos and their tacos. 01:51 A lot of people were lined up at the drive-through window and 01:55 here he is delivering babies. He needs to get his priorities 01:59 straight. Now I don't think most of you were thinking that way. 02:04 Most of you were probably thinking, well delivering a baby 02:10 was the priority at the time. More important than delivering 02:15 beans, right? Human beans are more important than pinto beans. 02:22 Do we all agree with that? Now I say that because sometimes we 02:27 can come to church and we can get so involved in the routine 02:32 the busyness of what we're doing that we forget the priorities. 02:37 The priority of everything we do as Christians is summed up in 02:44 the new birth. There must be new creations. We must be born 02:50 again. And that will be the focus of our talk this morning, 02:54 our study this morning. I have titled the message today, well 02:59 for the next two weeks it's going to be on Nicodemus. 03:01 Today is part one. Nicodemus Part - 1: Born Again. Now you 03:06 don't need to wonder too much where I'm going, because the 03:11 only time you find any reference to Nicodemus is in the gospel of 03:16 John. And this passage that is one of the most famous passages 03:20 in the Bible, is found in John chapter 3. Please turn there 03:24 with me. We'll look at some other scriptures as you know, 03:28 but I want you to turn with me to gospel of John chapter 3 and 03:33 in a special sense we'll be considering verses 1-8 this 03:38 morning in the story about Nicodemus. Now of course it's a 03:44 good idea to begin at the beginning. Verse 1: There was a 03:52 man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 03:57 Now we're going to take that verse apart and we're going to 04:01 learn about Nicodemus. You might be wondering, Nicodemus is 04:05 mentioned five times in the Bible, only in the gospel of St. 04:09 John and he plays a prominent role there at the beginning of 04:13 Christ's ministry, sort of in the midst of Christ's ministry, 04:17 then ultimately at the end of Jesus' ministry. Why is 04:21 Nicodemus not mentioned by Matthew, Mark or Luke? I think 04:26 part of the key is that he is a Pharisee. Now the Pharisees were 04:32 one of four Jewish sects that existed during the time of 04:35 Christ. Those four divisions of the Jewish religious group were 04:39 the Pharisees, the largest group, the Sadducees, the 04:44 Essenes and the Zealots. The Pharisees sort of evolved after 04:49 the Babylonian captivity during the time of the Maccabees. They 04:54 were the guardians of the religious ritual and the law. 04:59 They believe that you were saved through faithfulness to 05:03 observation of the law of Moses and they were very critical of 05:09 those who did not observe. There was a certain air of arrogance 05:15 and self-righteousness among many of the Pharisees. 05:17 You remember of course the Pharisee that went into the 05:19 temple and prayed. Jesus told the parable, the Pharisee prayed 05:22 thus with himself, Lord I thank you that I am not as other men. 05:26 By the way, this is Luke 18 verses 11 and 12. He stood and 05:30 prayed, I think you I'm not like other men, extortioners, 05:33 unjust, adulterers, even as this tax collector, the publican that 05:37 was in the back of the church. I fast twice a week, I give 05:41 tithes of all that I possess. Now Pharisees were very self 05:45 righteous. They were meticulous about paying tithes of even 05:48 their herb gardens. Now the Pharisees weren't all bad. 05:53 Nicodemus was a Pharisee. Paul was a Pharisee. They were well 05:57 acquainted with the word but they believe that they were 06:02 saved by virtue of keeping the law. They did not understand 06:06 grace. If you were a Pharisee, 06:13 and if you were not only a Pharisee but if you were part of 06:16 the Sanhedrin, I'll get to that in just a moment, and you 06:20 converted to Christianity, well the other Pharisees and 06:25 Sadducees would see that as a betrayal and it would be 06:29 something like if you lived in Pakistan today and you were a 06:33 Pakistani Islamic teacher and you converted to Christianity, 06:37 do you realize that the penalty is death? Are you aware of that? 06:43 That's right. And there are some Pakistanis who have converted to 06:49 Christianity and have been executed and they are supported 06:52 by the government in that when they are executed. If you were 06:56 a Pharisee and part of the Sanhedrin and you converted 07:02 Christianity, did they try to kill Paul for doing it? So one 07:06 theory is that Nicodemus who we all know became a follower of 07:11 Christ and his high station when he converted, he had a price on 07:15 his head. The writers of Matthew, Mark and Luke, he may 07:19 have still been alive during their time. John wrote his 07:23 gospel last, Nicodemus had probably died at that point and 07:27 it was safe to talk about him by name; there was no harm done at 07:31 that point. But he was very prominent. The early church knew 07:34 who he was. He sort of needed to live a little bit incognito 07:38 because he may have had a price on his head because of what was 07:41 seen as a betrayal by the religious leaders at the time. 07:47 So Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a very religious man. He went to 07:53 church, fasted, paid tithe. Keep in mind that the Pharisees were 07:58 also missionaries. You remember in Matthew where Jesus 08:02 denounces the Pharisees and he issues these scathing rebukes. 08:06 He says you cross land and sea for one convert. So they 08:11 believed in missionary work. They were very religious. 08:16 But Nicodemus comes to Jesus because he knows something is 08:20 missing. Not only does it say he's a Pharisee, it tells us 08:25 that his name is Nicodemus. The word Nicodemus means victory 08:29 of the people. Now I think that is significant because Nicodemus 08:34 sort of represents all of us who need to come to Jesus. And he's 08:40 searching for truth and he finds it in Christ. One historian said 08:46 that during the time of the Roman emperor Vespasian 08:50 there was a man by the name of Nicodemus who was the son of 08:54 Gorian. He's mentioned in the Jewish writings. The Josephus 08:58 who wrote the antiquities or the war of the Jews, different 09:01 Josephus. He's mentioned by him and it says that he was so 09:05 wealthy that he could support all of the inhabitants of 09:09 Jerusalem for 10 years from his bank account. Now maybe that's 09:13 an exaggeration, but it still gets the point across this man 09:19 was very Nicodemus Bar Gates. Very wealthy, a billionaire by 09:25 the terms of the day. So we know that he's a very religious man. 09:31 He's a man of substance and by the way it mentions that 09:37 Nicodemus, when Jesus died, he got 100 pounds of aloes and 09:42 myrrh to bury him. That was extremely expensive. We believe 09:47 the historian that says he was very wealthy and we knew that 09:52 some of the Pharisees were. Furthermore, it tells us that he 09:57 was a ruler of the people. I'm still in verse one. The rulers 10:01 of the Jews were part of the Sanhedrin. Now there may have 10:06 only been about eight or ten thousand official members of the 10:09 Pharisees during the time of Christ. There were a number of 10:12 Pharisees in training. But among the Pharisees and the Sadducees 10:17 the religious leaders there, 70 were chosen to represent the 10:21 people. It was the supreme court of the Jewish nation. They were 10:25 called the Sanhedrin. They were the rulers of the people. We 10:28 know that Nicodemus sat with this group because it mentions 10:31 him speaking out during one of the Sanhedrin meetings in 10:34 defense of Jesus. And we'll talk about that again later as well. 10:40 So here you've got this man who has great possessions, great 10:45 position. He is extremely religious and by the way the 10:48 way, the word Pharisee comes from the Jewish word pharash and 10:53 it means to set apart. They were the separated ones. But he had 10:58 heard Jesus teaching and he knew that something was missing. 11:03 There was a purity, there was a simplicity, there was the grace 11:07 about what Jesus said that was so different from the 11:10 pharisaical teaching of the day. He knew that Jesus supported 11:14 Moses and the law and the prophets and yet it was mingled 11:18 with grace and the Pharisees were missing that. He saw the 11:22 boldness, he saw the miracles and the works of Christ and it 11:29 says that he came to Jesus at night, during the darkest time. 11:35 Maybe he didn't want the scrutiny. It tells us that 11:40 there's this sincerity. He does come to Jesus but he comes when 11:43 it's dark. He's timid about it and he feels a conflict between 11:47 this yearning, this sincerity and this timidity about having 11:51 others see. Now I thought it was interesting that in all of the 11:56 gospel of John, and you might jot these scriptures down 11:59 because they're going to come up again, where it talks about 12:03 Nicodemus. He's only mentioned five times. It says, verse 2, 12:08 chapter 3 verse 2, the same came to Jesus by night. You go to 12:13 chapter 7 where it talks about Nicodemus. It says, he that came 12:18 to Jesus by night. Then you go to chapter 19 verse 39 and John 12:23 is again talking about Nicodemus which first came to Jesus by 12:28 night. Three times there it says he came to Jesus by night. 12:34 You know, we must assume that when they came to arrest Jesus 12:39 when did they come. Why did they come at night? They didn't want 12:44 the multitudes to see what they were doing. Nicodemus when he 12:49 came to Jesus at night was trying to hide from other prying 12:52 eyes. They didn't have the street lights like we have today 12:55 All they had were these little candle lights, hand-held lamps 12:58 They're not very bright. You've got to get really close to a 13:01 person to make out who they are with those primitive lights. 13:05 Not much better than a kerosene lamp. We also believe because 13:09 the apostle John writes of Nicodemus and the apostle John 13:13 during the trial of Christ knew people in the priesthood that 13:17 John may have even arranged the meeting. They may have had 13:21 family members that were in the priesthood, John and James. 13:25 And Nicodemus through his secretary his administrative 13:29 secretary, he's a very wealthy man. He's got an entourage. 13:32 He makes contact and says you know I would really appreciate a 13:36 private audience with the teacher. And John works it out 13:39 and Jesus said I'll be happy to talk to him. So they come at 13:43 some point probably not far from Jerusalem and he has this visit 13:46 with Jesus. He doesn't want others to see, doesn't want to 13:49 create a spectacle, does not want it to be in the tabloids of 13:52 Jerusalem the next day that one of the prominent, wealthy 13:55 Pharisees, Sanhedrin member, is interviewing with Jesus. Might 14:00 send the wrong signal. So maybe he's a little frightened. But he 14:06 knows that Jesus has the truth. So he comes at night. You know I 14:11 thought it was also interesting that when you read in the gospel 14:16 of John he comes to Christ and he makes this opening 14:21 introduction and he says in verse 2: Rabbi, we know... 14:25 Who is the we? Did he have a mouse in his pocket? Were there 14:31 other members of the Sanhedrin that believed that Jesus might 14:35 be the one. Well you would think of all these religious leaders 14:39 out of 70 of them there must have been more than just one 14:40 that had it right. 14:43 I mean out of the 12 spies there were at least two that were 14:46 faithful so out of the 70 there could have been a handful, five 14:49 or six, that believed. And if you read later even some of the 14:53 priests in Acts chapter 5 believed on Jesus. So Nicodemus 14:57 is not just representing himself He said we. We know that you are 15:04 a teacher come from God and that no man can do these miracles 15:09 that you do except God be with him. Part of the reason that 15:14 they believed in Christ, he saw the works of Jesus. Now is there 15:19 anything wrong with that? No. He saw the wonderful things that 15:24 Christ was doing and he believed that this man must be from God. 15:28 Can the devil do miracles? Does that mean you're never supposed 15:31 to notice the wonderful works. Jesus said you'll know them by 15:35 their fruits. Works are one of the signs of the power of God. 15:38 Jesus said in the gospel of Mark these works will follow them 15:42 that believe, these miracles, these signs, will follow. 15:45 And Jesus said, John chapter 5 verse 36, the very works that I 15:52 do bare witness of me that the Father has sent me. Can we see 15:57 the works of Jesus in creation? That's one of the greatest 16:02 testimonies. Can we see the works of Jesus in conversions 16:07 of people, when someone changes, their heart is changed? You know 16:12 we receive a lot of Christmas cards. We're very grateful for 16:16 those of you who send Christmas cards and let me officially 16:19 thank you on behalf of the Batchelor family. It's hard for 16:22 us to keep up with sending cards to everybody that sends cards to 16:26 us. We did send some cards out to a number of people, but one 16:30 of the cards we got included a letter of incredible testimony 16:34 of a conversion of somebody who would have seemed totally 16:37 opposed to this message but through the power of the word 16:41 they were transformed. And you can see the power of God is 16:45 there because of conversions. Nicodemus what probably in the 16:49 background observing some of the teachings of Jesus, the 16:52 miracles of Jesus. Maybe first hand he beheld some of these 16:56 things. Keep in mind in the gospel of John chapter 9 there 17:00 was a man who was blind from birth. He was brought into the 17:04 Sanhedrin and in front of the whole Sanhedrin he says I was 17:06 born blind and I don't who it was but all I know is I was 17:09 blind and now I see. They heard, the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees, 17:13 they heard about the miracles of Jesus. They had messengers 17:16 that were coming back reporting to them. So he knew about what 17:20 Christ was doing. He was turning their religious world upside 17:24 down. He knew. It says we know you've come from God. No one can 17:29 do these things. And he begins with giving respect to Jesus. 17:35 Jesus is a carpenter. He's poor. His apostles are largely poor. 17:39 And yet he still shows respect to Christ and maybe he's trying 17:43 to butter him up with a lot of the platitudes and the flowery 17:48 language that they've got. Jesus when he begins to respond, he 17:52 cuts through all of that and he goes right to the heart of what 17:57 Nicodemus needs to hear. He makes first things first. 18:02 We talked not too long ago about priorities. You know before you 18:07 get to the gospel of John chapter 3, it's preceded by 18:10 John chapter 2. You all knew that, right? You know what it 18:14 says there? John 2:24, the last verses in the gospel of John 18:19 chapter 2. I think you need to get the context. Jesus did not 18:23 commit himself unto them because he knew all men and 18:28 indeed not only that any should testify of man for he, Jesus, 18:34 knew what was in man. One of the definitions of God is God and 18:38 God only knows the thoughts of your heart. The devil might 18:41 place something in your mind but he doesn't know what you're 18:44 thinking. He can try and read your body language and your 18:47 facial expressions and just all of the external evidence and the 18:51 devil can guess, he can make a lot of educated guesses about 18:54 what you're thinking about his temptations but he can't read 18:57 your mind. When you pray in your heart the devil can't hear those 19:01 prayers. Don't hesitate praying out loud, the Bible supports 19:05 that in your private prayers. Jesus prayed out loud. 19:07 Don't pray to be seen of men. 19:10 But only God can see your heart. God knows what you're thinking. 19:14 Man looks on the outside, the Lord looks on the heart. So in 19:17 the end of chapter 2 it says only God can look in the heart. 19:21 Jesus knew what was in man. And so you talk about Nicodemus and 19:24 the very next passage and Jesus looks right into his heart. 19:28 It gives you an example, an exhibit, of him doing that. 19:32 And he says no man can do the things you do except God has 19:37 sent him. And what does Jesus say to him. You need to be born 19:43 again. John 3:3: Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly 19:49 now that's the strongest definite language, King James 19:52 verily, verily. I'm telling you for a fact. Don't miss this. 19:55 Get this straight. This is the truth what I'm about to say. 20:01 That's what he's saying when he says verily, verily. I am 20:04 telling you, you can count on this, take it to the bank. 20:07 So he's using very strong terms when he's speaking to Nicodemus. 20:11 Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 20:18 Now that really exploded his world. Because every Pharisee 20:25 was waiting for the kingdom of God which they thought was going 20:27 be on earth. And they thought when the kingdom of God did come 20:29 that the first ones that would lead out in that new kingdom 20:34 would be the Pharisees because the Pharisees prided themselves 20:38 on being guardians on the law of Moses, the constitution of the 20:42 kingdom, if you will. And so for Jesus to say to a Pharisee you 20:47 don't even have a chance of seeing from a distance the 20:50 kingdom of God unless you're born again. Wow! And to say that 20:54 to somebody who is in the most religious group in the kingdom 20:58 who is sitting on the supreme court of that religious group 21:03 and looking for the kingdom of God and to tell them you don't 21:07 have a hope unless you are born again. Now you know why I 21:11 thought this message was important? Sometimes you can 21:15 go to church for years and not be born again. Nicodemus was in 21:20 church. I don't know about you. I'd probably vote Nicodemus in 21:25 as an elder at Central Church. Wouldn't you? I mean, good man. 21:30 By all earthly measurements he would have been a great 21:33 candidate. Anybody who baptized Nicodemus would have said 21:36 Praise the Lord. We're glad we got him in the church. He's got 21:40 leadership skills, he's rich, and he's religious. What a 21:45 combination. But according to Christ he might have power, 21:50 intellectual skill, leadership power, great possessions, very 21:55 religious, dedicated, devoted, reads his Bible, knows his Bible 22:01 lost unless you're born again. Is it possible that we could 22:06 have all the trappings of religion, our lives could be 22:10 festooned with all the religious paraphernalia but the heart is 22:15 not born again and we're lost. It's like I've got this watch 22:19 here and it's a Casio watch and I like them because the battery 22:24 lasts for years. But eventually they do die. Occasionally I've 22:28 replaced one. And if all of a sudden the light goes out and 22:33 the battery dies, if I polish this watch and dress it up and 22:38 tighten the band, it's not going to help me one bit. Everything 22:43 about it is in perfect working order except it has no power. 22:48 It needs a new battery. It needs a new heart. And I think a lot 22:52 of us, we go to church like watches with dead batteries. 22:56 You know it looks great on the outside. I could probably wear 23:00 this watch for a year, not have it running and unless you ask me 23:03 for the time you'd never know would you. It looked good to 23:08 you. Pastor Doug's got his watch on. You don't look close enough 23:11 to see if it's ticking or not. And the same way a lot of people 23:15 go to church and on the outside it looks like everything's okay. 23:20 But on the inside the battery's dead. And Jesus cut right to 23:23 that. If you're going to be a Christian, the most important 23:27 thing is, you must, not that it would be a nice addition 23:31 you must be born again. The new birth is crucial for salvation. 23:36 If you've got everything and you don't have the new birth you 23:41 have nothing. Who was it that said he that is only born once 23:47 will die twice, second death. He that is born twice will die once 23:53 Matter of fact, in keeping with that thought I found a quote 23:57 here from A. W. Tozer. There are two spirits abroad in the 24:02 earth. The spirit that works in the children of disobedience 24:06 and the Spirit that works in the sons of God, the Spirit of God. 24:10 They can never be reconciled in time and eternity. You've got 24:14 the spirit that dwells in the once born. It's forever opposed 24:19 to the Spirit that inhabits the heart of the twice born and in 24:24 the church you've got both groups. And some go to church 24:28 for years and they're still only the once born. And you know 24:32 what I've discovered? Just my own personal observation. 24:35 I could be wrong but most of the personnel problems you have 24:39 in a church congregation are between the once born and the 24:44 once born. Sometimes you'll have conflict between the once born 24:49 and the twice born. I don't remember ever having any real 24:53 conflict between the twice born and the twice born. They usually 24:57 are willing to do whatever they think Jesus wants them to do and 25:00 they're both on the same wave length. You can eliminate a 25:03 whole lot of problems in a church when you've got a church 25:06 full of people that have new hearts because they're born 25:10 again. So I'm just trying to make my job easier which is why 25:15 I'm preaching this message and that of our associates. 25:18 Man! Wouldn't it be wonderful pastors to pastor a church if 25:22 everybody was really born again. Wouldn't that be great? Wouldn't 25:26 it be wonderful to have that fellowship of people who all 25:29 new hearts. Jesus said unless you have it you cannot see the 25:33 kingdom of God. I don't about you but I want to see the 25:35 kingdom of God. I want to know that I have a new heart. Now we 25:39 are going to talk about that this morning. By the way, this 25:43 wasn't a totally new concept even though Nicodemus seemed to 25:47 balk at what Jesus was saying. It wasn't a totally foreign 25:51 concept. Ezekiel 18 verses 30 through 32: Repent and turn 25:56 from all your transgressions so that iniquity will not be your 25:59 ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have 26:04 committed and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. 26:09 That's what Christ was talking about and the new birth is a new 26:11 heart and a new spirit. Do you agree with that. Is the new 26:15 birth something different from the new heart. No, it's the same 26:19 thing. Get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit for why 26:22 will you die O house of Israel? Here even in the Old Testament 26:25 without the new heart, without the new spirit, without the new 26:29 birth, you can't see the kingdom of God. I have no pleasure in 26:32 the death of one who dies says the Lord. Therefore turn and 26:36 live. So new birth represents a turning. It's a repentance. 26:40 Have you ever heard the expression lock, stock and 26:45 barrel? Lock, stock and barrel. I've said that for a long time 26:48 because you hear other people use things. You hear them use it 26:51 in context. You sort of get the idea of how to use this cliché 26:55 but you don't know where it comes from. During the days of 27:00 the pioneers in the old west a farmer who wasn't too bright 27:05 went to the gun smith in the town and he plopped down his 27:10 rifle on the counter and said I need you to make some repairs. 27:13 So the gun smith picks up the rifle and examines it and the 27:17 barrel's worn out and the stock is worn out and the lock, you 27:21 know the trigger mechanism, it's worn out and he said well what 27:24 do you want me to do? And the farmer said well the way I got 27:28 it figured if you replace the stock and you could replace the 27:30 barrel and you could replace the lock it would probably work 27:33 pretty well. And the gun smith said, well it seems to me that 27:36 if you want a new lock, stock and barrel you better off just 27:39 buying a new gun. And some of us, I think, in our Christian 27:43 experience we're wanting to repair it in pieces. 27:48 We're wanting to fix this piece and that piece and the Lord 27:51 says look, you need a new heart lock, stock and barrel. 27:54 It's like this person who had this old house for sale and an 27:59 investor came by and he said I'd like to buy your property. 28:05 And the man said all right, well you know I'm going to fix up the 28:10 windows. I know there are some broken windows here and I'm 28:13 going to replace those boards on the porch steps and see those 28:16 shingles missing in the roof. I'm going to replace those 28:18 shingles up there in the roof. And the buyer said don't bother. 28:20 He said I'm going to bull doze it and build another house. 28:25 So when we talk about the new birth it's not an appendage that 28:31 the Lord sews into our heart. It is a heart transplant is what 28:37 it is. He makes us new creatures Have you seen somebody 28:41 experience the new birth and you say boy they're not the same 28:45 person. They're all new. You're born once you're born in the 28:49 devil's family. You're born twice, you're born in God's 28:52 family. Oswald Chambers said You must be born again. This is 29:00 not a command, it is a foundational fact. 29:03 When Jesus said you must be born again he wasn't shaking his 29:07 finger at Nicodemus and saying so be born again! He's saying 29:10 something that had to happen. And he's saying it of you and me 29:14 You must be born again. It's a fact that all of us need that 29:18 new heart. The characteristic of the new birth, I'm still quoting 29:22 Chambers here. The characteristic of the 29:24 new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that Christ 29:29 is formed in me. And it's no longer you but when you are born 29:33 again, you are born after the new parent, you take on the 29:39 image of the new parent which is Christ. You find examples of 29:43 this in the Bible. Some of you remember King Saul. By the way 29:48 who chose Saul to be king there in the Old Testament. Did he 29:52 volunteer or was he chosen? Chosen by God, anointed by God. 29:57 And you know when he started out he started out right. 30:00 One example of that would be I Samuel 10 verse 6: I'm going 30:05 to read verses 6 and 9, this is I Samuel 10. The Spirit of the 30:10 Lord will come upon you God said and you will prophesy with 30:15 them and be turned into another man. So it was that when he had 30:20 turned back to go from Samuel that God gave him another heart 30:24 and all these signs came to pass that day. Saul, who was very 30:28 timid when they first chose him to be king, he was hiding in the 30:32 baggage, hiding among the baggage and the stuff. 30:35 You remember that? He was so timid. God gave him a heart of 30:38 courage and he became a great king, but ultimately he 30:41 surrendered to pride and selfishness and he lost the 30:44 Holy Spirit. What was once the new heart turned into an old 30:49 heart. That's why Paul said I die daily. When you're born 30:53 again, you've got this new life within and you've got to crucify 30:58 the old man otherwise he's going to try and resurrect. God is 31:03 calling us to be new creations. II Corinthians 5:17: Therefore 31:08 if anyone is in Christ. So what does the new birth mean? That we 31:13 are born in Christ. He is a new creation. Old things have passed 31:19 away, behold all things have become new. You and I become 31:22 new creatures when we're born again. Psalm 51 verse 10: Create 31:27 you notice it doesn't say repair Create in me a clean heart. 31:32 You know what that means? Can you and I create life? 31:37 Scientists that don't believe in creation. I always like to get 31:42 down to the most basic common denominator. As much as they can 31:46 manipulate what God has made they cannot create life. 31:52 Allow me to take a little side track here just to help you 31:56 understand the miracle of the new birth. When the theory of 32:00 evolution was born the most powerful magnifying glasses 32:05 could not see very much of a simple cell. When they looked at 32:09 a simple cell of life they could see the cell wall and they could 32:13 see the nucleus and they could see the material that was 32:16 swimming in the cell. An egg is a simple cell. You've got the 32:19 shell, you've got the yolk and you've got the white. They could 32:22 see what was in the white of the cell so to speak and they 32:25 saw that there was something happening there but it was 32:29 conceivable to them that some how through... They were very 32:32 amazed with electricity back during the time of Louis Pasteur 32:35 and Charles Darwin. They thought that may be if electricity hit 32:39 some primeval sludge somewhere that it could make a cell. They 32:43 didn't know how these single cells could form and they called 32:48 it spontaneous generation. You know where they also got that 32:52 idea? They noticed if you took a piece of meat and if you left it 32:58 out too long pretty soon worms crawled out of it. And they 33:02 thought that these worms spontaneously were born out of 33:05 the meat. And for years people believed in evolution because 33:09 they said well we could see evolution and spontaneous 33:11 generation. These worms were just crawling out of this and 33:14 became food or meat and so we're surrounded by evidence of 33:18 evolution. But what they didn't know is that before maggots 33:22 could crawl out of something dead, the flies had to lay eggs 33:26 on it. Before the mold could grow on something the spores had 33:30 to land on it. They didn't have the microscopes powerful enough. 33:33 Louis Pasteur did an experiment. He took some meat. He put it in 33:37 a sealed vacuum, did not let any flies lay eggs. It never had 33:40 maggots. He proved spontaneous generation was a myth, didn't 33:43 ever exist. There is no spontaneous life. 33:46 And now with our powerful microscopes you look at any 33:49 single cell of life and I can't remember the doctor's name but 33:52 he made a statement I would never forget. Because I grew up 33:56 in New York City. The doctor said we now know that the 34:00 simplest cells of life, looking through our hyper powerful 34:04 microscopes, have more complexity going on than 34:10 New York City at rush hour. Now picture that, New York City, the 34:13 subways and the buses and the electric things and the people 34:17 and the buildings and elevators. New York City at rush hour. 34:21 One single cell of life has more complexity than that. The idea 34:26 of that happening by accident, you think that's possible? 34:31 The only way you can get spontaneous life is by the word 34:36 of God. The only way that you can get a new heart is a 34:41 creative act of God. It is the word of God that creates a new 34:48 heart within us. It's a miracle. I sometimes wish that I could 34:54 take people and shake them into a new birth. We'd be called the 35:00 shakers. A new denomination, well actually an old 35:02 denomination revived. How many of you remember hearing about 35:07 the Shakers. They didn't last long. They all got dizzy and 35:12 broke up. But I'd start by shaking myself and that would 35:17 start other rumors. You can't shake a person into the new 35:22 birth. I can't do it to you and you can't do it to me. I get 35:26 phone calls every now and then from parents and their hearts 35:29 are yearning over their loved ones. And they'll say you know 35:32 I live far away but my relative, my child, lives in Sacramento. 35:35 Could you go convert them for me? Well that's kind of heart 35:39 rending you know because sometimes they say they're 35:41 interested, they want Bible studies. We can do that. But it 35:44 is only the Holy Spirit that can create a new heart. Pastors 35:48 can't do it. It's something that God does. He does it for us. 35:52 He does it for you. It's an act of creation. Deuteronomy chapter 35:57 10 verse 16 Moses said Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your 36:02 heart and be stiff-necked no longer. They were so preoccupied 36:06 with the external part of the religion. Moses told them even 36:09 back there in the 36:10 Old Testament that these rights only pointed to a change in the 36:13 heart. Then Paul makes that real clear when he says in Galatians 36:17 Chapter 6 verse 15. And by the way Nicodemus knew these verses 36:21 didn't he in the Old Testament. For in Christ Jesus neither 36:26 circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but a new 36:31 creation is what God wants. A new heart. Are you born again? 36:38 Why is it necessary to be born again? Why born again? Because 36:45 the old man with the old nature cannot be changed. I think most 36:51 of us who are at all privy to the news heard about a tiger 36:56 at the San Francisco Zoo. I guess all the details aren't in 37:00 yet but something was going on after hours and three young men 37:03 were there at the cage and for whatever reason... I don't know 37:07 I haven't read all the stories. I don't know if they were 37:09 taunting the tiger or if they were just looking or what 37:11 excited the animal but the tiger leapt out of its cage, killed 37:16 one young man and mauled two. I think it was Christmas day. 37:21 That would be terrible. But as far as they can tell the tiger 37:26 did not go crazy. As far as they know the tiger was a healthy 37:31 tiger that for whatever reason was just acting like a tiger and 37:35 tigers are predators and they eat things bigger than people 37:41 in the wild. He was fulfilling his nature. I'm not defending 37:45 the tiger, I'm not taking any political position. I'm just 37:50 saying the Bible tells us can a leopard change his spots. Can an 37:56 Ethiopian change his skin? Matter of fact, you don't need 37:59 to be Ethiopian. Most of us can't change our skin. Isn't 38:04 that right? You know, we kind of are jealous a little bit of 38:09 animals that shed their old fir and develop a new coat every 38:14 year and caterpillars will slough off their old skin. 38:18 Even reptiles, snakes look prettier when they shed. 38:21 They all kind of get a new fresh skin. You and I are kind of 38:25 stuck with what we've got aren't we. Now you might get a sunburn 38:28 and peel a little bit but it doesn't look new afterward does 38:33 it? You just get freckles or something. So we sometimes wish 38:38 we could put on a new coat. But we've got these hearts. 38:43 The Bible tells us in the book of Jeremiah the human heart 38:48 is desperately wicked. Who can know it? And that's why we need 38:52 to be born again. Because the old heart is unconverted, it's 38:56 unregenerate. Jesus said the way you are now Nicodemus you can't 39:00 enter the kingdom of God. It's not enough to be a Pharisee, 39:03 it's not enough to be part of the Sanhedrin, it's not enough 39:06 to be a child of Abraham. You may have been born in the church 39:09 you may have a position in the church. You may have evidence of 39:12 prosperity and God's blessings. You've got all of that but if 39:16 you don't have a new heart, you can't be saved. I want to make 39:19 sure we have our priorities straight this year. We must be 39:23 born again. Now it's the real important part of the issue. 39:27 Born again, how. How are we born again. Verse 4, Nicodemus says 39:34 to him, How can a man be born when he is old. Can he enter a 39:42 second time into his mother's womb and be born? Well, I don't 39:48 know of any story where a baby's been born and the doctor said 39:54 you're not ready and put the baby back. Kangaroos right after 39:59 their born they go into their mother's pouch and they come 40:04 out and they come out more and more as they mature until they 40:08 finally kind of go out on their own full time. And if any of you 40:12 have been to Australia or maybe you've see nature films, it 40:16 really is funny watching an almost full grown Joey, that's 40:19 what they call the baby kangaroos. That thing is about 40:23 half the size of the parent, trying to get back in the pouch. 40:28 Nicodemus knows that absurd, but he's really trying to find out 40:32 from Jesus what do you mean being born again? And the older 40:38 we get the less likely it is. Right now Stephen came home. 40:43 Some of you saw him with the Fountain group and he's back up 40:49 at Canada now, back in school. And just since he left and 40:54 joined the school between that time and the time he came home 41:01 he passed his mother in height. And you know I think most 41:07 mothers at some times in their quiet moments they muse within 41:13 themselves and they think, how in the world did that big 41:16 strapping kid ever come out of me and they're not going back. 41:21 I mean you know this is what Nicodemus is saying. This is 41:28 absurd. How can you be born again. When you're younger 41:34 Ummm, but when your old? You know it is true that there is a 41:40 golden age between the time of well it's usually between the 41:46 time of about eight and 12 that children are old enough to 41:50 understand the concepts of the gospel and if people are 41:55 surveyed and they say at what time in your life did you make a 41:57 decision to accept Jesus, the majority of people will say 42:02 somewhere between the ages of eight and 12 they made that 42:06 decision to be a Christian, to accept Christ. By the way, this 42:12 year Amazing Facts is doing something we've never done 42:16 before. We're doing a net evangelistic meeting just for 42:19 children and we're targeting the children that are in the age 42:23 range between eight and 12 or 13 and we're going to do this 42:27 kidsangelism program. It's evangelism especially for kids. 42:31 We're uplinking from Texas next September. Hope you're going to 42:34 pray. Hope we participate here at Central Church. But part of 42:37 the reason we did that is there's that golden age when 42:40 they accept Christ. Their hearts are sensitive, they're tender. 42:42 They haven't hardened them yet against the conviction. 42:47 But Nicodemus is saying you know the concrete is set, I'm 42:52 old. When a tree is young and it's a sapling you can actually 42:57 bend it. There's this place on highway 101, I drove it just 43:02 a few weeks ago. It's called Confusion Hill. I don't know if 43:06 any of you have ever driven down highway 101. People get all 43:10 excited. The advertising's not good. You used to drive for 43:13 miles and you'd see you're 20 miles away from Confusion Hill. 43:17 And you're five miles away from Confusion Hill. Don't miss 43:20 Confusion Hill and they build it up and you go what is Confusion 43:22 Hill? People turn in and they take you on this tour and they 43:24 show you or they sell you redwood curios and artifacts 43:27 I think the bottom line is up there on the hill somewhere 43:30 years ago some Indians had taken some redwood saplings or some 43:34 trees and they tied them in a knot and they grew like that 43:39 and they've turned that into a big attraction which is not that 43:43 exciting. But you can't do that with a redwood when it's 10 43:47 years old, when it's 20 years old. Matter of fact, the Bible 43:52 says as the twig is bent so is the tree inclined. As the twig 43:57 is bent so is the tree inclined. When you young. But when you're 44:00 old. You know what I like about the story of Nicodemus. Some of 44:04 us are thinking there's no hope for me. The concrete is set. 44:08 The tree is too big to bend. But Jesus says you can still be born 44:14 again. How? How does it happen? It's a miracle of the Spirit of 44:20 God. I Peter chapter 1 verse 23, this is very important. I Peter 44:27 1 verse 23: Having been born again, Peter's talking about 44:34 being born again. Not John, this is Peter. Having been born again 44:39 not of corruptible seed but incorruptible. Not being born 44:43 of human seed, not human genes, but the incorruptible genes of 44:49 God through the what? Did you open your Bibles. I know I put 44:54 the scripture up and sometimes you get complacent. Through the 44:59 word. Being born again through the word. We're not that far 45:04 into the new year. Do you read your Bible every day? Unless 45:07 you're born again you will not see the kingdom of God. How are 45:11 you born again? Born again through the word. Well Christ is 45:13 the word, you're born again through Christ. How does Christ 45:18 change our hearts? Through the word. For the umpteenth time 45:24 December 31st I read the words Even so come Lord Jesus. 45:28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, Amen. 45:33 You know where that's found? Revelation 22, last verses of 45:38 the Bible. It always feels good. I get a little choked up when I 45:41 after the year of reading through either the New Testament 45:44 or... What I do is I read through the Old Testament 45:47 I'm starting that now this year. Then I read through the New 45:51 Testament. You get to the end and then I start again. Every 45:55 day. That's our only hope of becoming like Christ. We're 45:58 changed by beholding through the word. There's something 46:02 miraculous about the word. It causes creation. How did Jesus 46:05 create the world? He spoke and it happened. And as you read 46:09 the word you get this new heart. And as you read the word you've 46:16 got to allow the word to do it's thing. That's part if the how 46:21 still. Philippians 2 verse 5, telling you how to be born again 46:27 Let this mind, by the way the Bible says, as you think in your 46:32 heart, so when it says let this mind it means let this heart. 46:37 Let this mind, let this heart, be in you which was in Christ 46:41 Jesus. You notice it says let it. You know why Paul says let 46:45 it? Because it's possible sometimes that we won't let it. 46:49 We resist it. As we're reading the word and the Holy Spirit 46:53 is working on us and we feel that sense of conviction, we 46:58 push away. We close our hearts. And he says open your heart. 47:03 Let the word have its work in your heart. I hope you're 47:06 reading your Bible. I hope you're praying in the new year. 47:09 You might say Oh Pastor Doug now I'm going to have to wait 47:13 till next year. It's already, see my battery's new. It's the 47:18 fifth too late. Oh you can catch up. Start now and read until 47:23 next January 5th. But I hope you read your Bible every day. 47:26 You don't have to necessarily read through the whole Bible. 47:30 I told you what I do is I read through the New Testament one 47:33 year and then I read through the Old Testament in two years. 47:36 And I take my time. Otherwise I found out trying to read nine 47:39 chapters a day plus all my other study that I was just racing 47:42 through and I wasn't getting anything. So I needed to slow 47:44 down where I could really read it and enjoy it and study it. 47:47 Do research. So but read something, right? I mean there 47:52 might be some crumbs. You bring your crumbs to Jesus. 47:57 He'll multiply them. Get some bread of life and I hope that 48:01 you'll read and not just the Bible. God's given us other 48:06 inspired things to strengthen our faith. We're born again 48:13 through the word. Let it happen. John chapter 3 verse 5: And 48:19 Jesus answers and he says it again, emphatically. Most 48:24 assuredly I say to you unless you are born of water and of the 48:28 Spirit you cannot enter the kingdom of God. We need to be 48:33 born of the water. That water represents the cleansing that 48:37 God affords that comes with baptism and born of the Spirit. 48:42 Now there's a big argument that is many years old and some 48:45 argue that when Jesus said here you need to be born of the 48:48 water, that that's the physical birth. You know a baby is in an 48:52 envelop of water before it's born. And if you hear a pregnant 48:55 woman say my water broke she usually doesn't mean she's got 48:58 plumbing problems at home. It means you better get her to the 49:01 hospital or at least to Taco Bell, right, so I could help her 49:07 But, it's not talking about that water birth, it's talking about 49:12 baptism. See the gospel of John begins with John the Baptist 49:17 baptizing and he says except you're born of the water and of 49:21 the Spirit you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Water birth 49:27 is your choice to surrender your life. The Spirit is God's choice 49:32 The world was baptized in water in the days of Noah and it's 49:39 going to be baptized in fire when Christ comes again. 49:41 Our world is going to be born of the water and born of the 49:44 fire of the Spirit and God creates a new heaven and a new 49:47 earth. We need both. The children of Israel went down 49:51 through the Red Sea, water baptism, born of the water, 49:54 baptized in the water. And then the pillar of cloud, the fire, 49:58 baptized in the Spirit, the fire Both baptisms are not talking 50:02 about being born of a woman. You've probably heard it that 50:05 way. That would really be kind of redundant to say that. Let me 50:09 just do a test here. How many here have been born of a woman? 50:13 I mean why does it say that you know? Unless you're born of a 50:17 human. Why even include that? Everyone is born of a human. 50:20 He's saying unless you're born of the water, your choice to 50:23 surrender. Why does he say that? Because God does not force 50:28 himself on anybody. Even Paul on the road to Damascus, did he 50:32 need to choose to be baptized. He did. God didn't force him. 50:36 He made a decision. God met him on the road to Damascus, but 50:39 Paul had to surrender. It was his choice. So you choose to 50:43 surrender yourself and say I'm going to be baptized. You might 50:46 be baptized by the Holy Spirit before you get your water 50:49 baptism like Cornelius and his family. You might be baptized 50:53 by the Holy Spirit, get that new heart at the time of your 50:56 baptism. Jesus, the Holy Spirit came down at the time of his 50:59 water baptism. The apostles, they got baptized by John the 51:02 Baptist but they weren't born of the Spirit until Pentecost. 51:06 It happens different ways. That's why it's God's doing. 51:10 But we need both. And if you've been baptized in the water but 51:13 you've not been baptized in the Spirit then Jesus is saying the 51:16 same thing to you that he said to Nicodemus. Don't miss the 51:20 most important part. You must be born again. I think it's 51:23 something to pray for, to pursue I see the clock and I may not 51:27 get through all of my assigned verses. It's okay. I want to 51:31 cover this well. I wanted to share something with you. 51:34 One of my heroes, I study the lives of great preachers. Oh by 51:38 the way, Ezekiel 36 verse 25. God says I will sprinkle clean 51:42 water on you and ye shall be clean. I will cleanse you from 51:46 all your filthiness of your idles. I will give you a new 51:49 heart. Here he talks about God sprinkling water on them. Born 51:53 of the water and born of the Spirit. I will give you a new 51:57 heart and put a new Spirit within you. He's talking about 52:00 that inner cleansing. Any of you do mechanic work. I remember I 52:05 worked in a logging barn and no air conditioning through the 52:09 summer, fixing the trucks and the chain saws for the loggers. 52:13 By the end of the day I was covered with solvent and sweat 52:18 sometimes blood, usually my own and grease from greasing the 52:22 trucks and the flies and the chain saw fluids and at the 52:25 end of the day, 16 hour days, because during the logging 52:29 season it's seasonal. The trucks went out in the morning and they 52:32 came back. Man I couldn't wait to get home and get in the water 52:37 and to clean off. It felt so good to be clean. And this is 52:40 what Jesus is saying. You know we get both cleansings. 52:44 A cleansing of life and a cleansing of heart. We need 52:49 both for sanctification. But I was telling you, I like to study 52:52 the lives of great preachers. One of my favorites is George 52:56 Whitfield. He reminds me a little bit of Nicodemus in his 52:59 experience because he tried so hard to please the Lord through 53:02 the external things and he finally experienced the new 53:06 birth and it ultimately transformed him. Listen. 53:09 George Whitfield, at the age of 16, became convicted. He was an 53:13 actor. He had a tremendous voice they called him the trumpet of 53:16 the Lord. He's speak and Ben Franklin once said he could hear 53:21 distinctly a mile away, no amplifier. That's an incredible 53:26 voice. Converted age 16, became deeply convicted of sin. 53:30 He tried everything possible to erase his guilt through 53:34 religious activity. He wrote, I fasted for 36 hours twice a week 53:38 I prayed formal prayers several times a day and almost starved 53:43 myself to death during lent. But I only felt more miserable. Then 53:48 by God's grace I met Charles Wesley, John Wesley's brother. 53:51 He put a book in my hand that showed me from the scripture 53:55 I must be born again or eternally lost. Finally by the 53:59 work of the Holy Spirit in his heart, reading and studying the 54:03 word, Whitfield came to understand Jesus' words in 54:06 John chapter 3. He believed and he was gloriously saved. 54:10 Afterward he became a preacher and spoke at least 1000 times on 54:13 the subject of being born again, the new birth, the new heart. 54:19 I like Whitfield also. You know it says that he died kneeling 54:25 with an open Bible. The last night before he died, he knew he 54:30 was getting weak. He could preach outside four or five 54:33 times a day. The people gathered at his door and they said Pastor 54:36 Whitfield could you preach to us one more time. He was so tired. 54:39 He probably died of heart failure. He was carrying a 54:43 candle into his house. He set the candle down. He said I will 54:46 preach till the candle goes out then I must retire and he died 54:50 the next morning as he was kneeling reading the Bible. 54:53 He used to read the Bible on his knees. He wrote a letter that we 54:58 have recorded to Ben Franklin. 1752 George Whitfield wrote to 55:02 Benjamin Franklin, they were friends, As I find you growing 55:06 more and more famous in the world of letters, Ben Franklin, 55:10 of course, became very famous as a scientist and inventor in 55:13 Europe and North America. I recommend to your unprejudiced 55:17 study the mysteries of the new birth. It is a most important 55:21 study that, if mastered, will abundantly repay you and I bid 55:25 you dear friend, they wrote together a lot, but you can 55:28 read about George Whitfield in Benjamin Franklin's 55:31 autobiography, and I recommend to you dear friend that he 55:35 before whose bar we both must soon appear, he has solemnly 55:40 declared that without it, without the new birth, you shall 55:44 in nowise see his kingdom. You know Benjamin Franklin used to 55:48 be a deist earlier in his life. But by the end of his life he 55:51 had given up deism for Christianity again. Most 55:54 historians don't tell you that but you read his autobiography 55:58 and it's very clear. We must be born again. You know what I like 56:02 about this story? Nicodemus, as you read his life, he came to 56:06 Jesus. He defended Jesus and his teachings and at the end of his 56:10 life when Christ was on the cross, Nicodemus was there 56:13 wasn't he? I think Nicodemus did get the new heart, that he was 56:17 born again. It says he came to Jesus. He came at night, but he 56:22 did come. And if we would be born again, we need to come 56:25 to Christ. 56:26 The escalation of terrorism, global instability, crime, 56:31 violence and natural disasters indicate our world is plummeting 56:35 toward its final hour with destiny. Who will survive the 56:39 final events of earth's history? Does the Bible give any answers? 56:43 Pull back the veil of uncertainty. Know the future 56:48 today. Join us as Amazing Facts presents BibleUniverse.com. 56:52 This stellar web site will guide you to places you've never been 56:57 before and answer many questions you have about Bible prophecy. 57:00 Discover what the Bible says about the rapture, the mark of 57:04 the beast and Armageddon. Journey into the future and 57:08 explore the mind and will of God at BibleUniverse.com. 57:13 Expand your universe today. 57:26 Thank you for joining us for this broadcast. If you've missed 57:29 any of our Amazing Facts programs, visit our web site 57:32 at AmazingFacts.org. There you'll find an archive of all 57:34 our television and radio programs including Amazing Facts 57:38 Presents, Central Study Hour, Everlasting Gospel, Bible 57:41 Answer Live and Wonders in the Word. You'll also find a 57:45 storehouse of Biblical resources geared toward answering some of 57:48 your most difficult questions and our online Bible school is 57:51 just a click away. |
Revised 2014-12-17