Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor
Series Code: EG
Program Code: EG002803
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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 00:15 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 00:27 Pastor Doug Batchelor coming to you each week from Sacramento 00:30 Central Church in sunny California. Discover hidden 00:34 treasures in God's word today. 00:36 Today we're dealing with Nicodemus part 3 and it would 00:42 be titled Whosoever Believeth. Whosoever Believeth. Now just to 00:48 give you a little background, there is this man named 00:51 Nicodemus. I don't want to assume everybody has been here 00:55 for each part of the series. He is a Pharisee. Pharisees often 01:01 had problems with Jesus and Jesus with them because there 01:04 was all this outward religion. They were preoccupied with the 01:08 doing of the deeds without the new heart and Christ said except 01:12 your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and 01:15 the Pharisees you will not enter the kingdom of God. It could not 01:19 be simply the external actions. It needed to be the inner 01:23 attitude, a new heart. And Nicodemus, he thought maybe he 01:27 was going to help Jesus because he was in the Sanhedrin, a very 01:31 wealthy man. He was a ruler among the people, a leader. 01:34 He had heard some of the musings the talk among the Pharisees in 01:38 the Sanhedrin about how we needed to deal with this Jesus. 01:40 We needed to get rid of him. He was a threat to the nation, and 01:45 Nicodemus would speak up in Christ's behalf but he realized 01:49 that Jesus needed to be warned. He also wondered, perhaps this 01:53 is the Messiah. Kind of interesting, he thought he was 01:57 going to come to Jesus and save Jesus. Jesus said no you're not 02:04 coming to save me, but I can tell you how to be saved. 02:06 You need to be born again. And he was going to talk to him 02:11 about you know are the Messiah. And Jesus talked to him as if 02:15 there's no question about that, now let me tell you what to do. 02:19 You need to be born again. So they entered into this dialogue 02:22 and in our talk last week we ended up and matter of fact you 02:27 might resume with me by going to verse 14, just to play the tape 02:32 back a little bit so you know where we're at. Jesus says to 02:36 Nicodemus and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness 02:41 even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Now all of the Jews 02:47 knew what lifted up means. It meant crucifixion. It was a 02:53 phrase. You know in our culture if someone is on death row and 02:57 you say what's going to happen you say they're going to get 03:00 fried. Well you know what that means in our culture. I know 03:04 that sounds kind of crude but crucifixion they had terminology 03:08 for it, it meant lifted up. And so they knew exactly what that 03:12 meant. That was the Roman method of execution. 03:17 Also Nicodemus did not have to think very long what Christ was 03:20 talking about when he talked about the experience in the 03:24 wilderness with Moses. The people looked at that serpent up 03:27 on the pole, a symbol of the defeated enemy, and through 03:30 looking in faith they were healed. I remember reading 03:34 about a painting. I did not see it but I heard it described that 03:38 was in one of these great art galleries and it's a depiction 03:41 of that scene where Moses is lifting up the serpent. 03:45 The children of Israel have all been bitten by these serpents 03:48 and there's a number of individuals in the picture. 03:51 Some of the Israelites who had been bitten, and you could see 03:54 the serpent who was crawling away, they were putting a 03:57 poultice on the bite. Some are looking at Moses and they're not 04:04 getting any better. Some are looking to their families. 04:07 some are looking at the serpents but only the one that looks at 04:11 the bronze serpent on the pole is healed and it's only those... 04:15 not the ones who look to the preacher, it's not the ones who 04:19 look to the problem, it's the ones who look to Christ that 04:24 receive the healing. Jesus became sin for us. By his dying 04:28 on the cross it symbolized that the venom of sin was going to be 04:33 neutralized. And then we read verse 15. Now this verse should 04:37 sound familiar to you because this verse is repeated word for 04:42 word in verse 16. So God wants us to remember this. 04:48 That whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have 04:53 eternal life. Does that sound familiar? Matter of fact, if I 04:57 was to quote verse 15 to you you would think I was really 05:01 quoting half of verse 16. But it is repeated in verse 16. Why? 05:07 When Jesus said verily, verily he's trying to emphasize 05:10 something to us, right? Whoever believes. That's the title of 05:17 our message this morning. Now are you a whosoever? The Bible 05:22 ends with the words whosoever. God will give him the water of 05:28 life freely. We're going to direct our attention now to that 05:32 famous verse John chapter 3 verse 16. Before I go there I 05:36 want you to notice something. There are approximately, I just 05:41 want to make sure I get this right, 1,189 chapters in the 05:45 Bible. This is the Protestant Bible we're talking about. 05:49 If there are 1,189 chapters in your Bible, chapter 1000 is John 05:55 chapter 3. Did you know that. It's interesting. It's the 05:59 millennial chapter. We've spent three weeks on that now. 06:04 And in that chapter the most famous verse is what verse? 06:09 John chapter 3 verse 16. It is the most memorized verse in the 06:14 Bible. How many of you, by show of hands, I'm not going to put 06:19 you on the spot, just wanted to know, could quote John 3:16 if 06:23 you were asked. Now I realize some have modern translations 06:27 that instead of believeth it says believe and instead of 06:31 whosoever it says whoever, but it's the same verse in all 06:36 Bibles. Why are these 25 words so important? It is the summary 06:43 of the plan of salvation. Matter of fact, Luther called John 3:16 06:50 the gospel in miniature. It is the gospel compressed and 06:56 blessed in a nut shell. We're going to look at it again on the 06:59 screen here and you can read it out loud with me and then I'm 07:03 going to take it apart. You ready? John 3:16: For God so 07:21 Now I'm going to tell you why I think that this greatest verse 07:28 in the Bible. Notice here. First it starts with God, the greatest 07:35 individual, the greatest being. So - the greatest emphasis. 07:41 Loved the greatest motive. The world, the greatest number 07:47 that he gave, the greatest act His only the greatest rarity, 07:53 begotten Son the greatest gift, that whosoever, the greatest 07:59 invitation, believeth in Him the greatest opportunity, should 08:05 not perish the greatest deliverance, but have 08:09 everlasting life, the greatest 08:11 possession. Every nuance of this verse is on steroids. Maybe 08:20 that's not a good thing to say these days. I mean, it's 08:23 industrial strength. They're all very potent verses. Now even 08:29 Ellen White speaking of this verse, not just Luther and many 08:35 of the great reformers, she says and this in the book 9Manuscript 08:39 release page 235. And thank you Roy for reminding me to look for 08:46 this. She said: Speaking of John 3:16, Suppose that we had not 08:51 another promise in all the lids of scripture, now these are lids 08:57 means in the volume of the Bible is not this enough to condemn 09:02 every soul that hath not living faith in a personal Savior 09:06 whosoever believes in him he gave his only begotten Son that 09:11 whosoever and whosoever means you and me, it means parents and 09:16 children. For whom did Christ die? Was it for a select few? 09:20 It was for the whole world, the world that was fallen because of 09:24 transgression. I like that phrase, suppose we had not 09:27 another verse between the lids of scripture. The whole gospel 09:32 is blessed and compressed in a nutshell in this verse. 09:36 Now we're going to take it more specifically apart and I want to 09:42 emphasize again what we've talked about. John 3:16 word by 09:48 word. For - in other words consider this. God - It begins 09:53 with God. Something like the Bible, in the beginning God. 09:58 When you pray the Lord's prayer it begin with Our Father. 10:03 It begins with God. That's where it needs to start. He's the 10:07 greatest lover of all mankind. You know, I've heard it said 10:11 that the bestselling books year after year are the love stories 10:16 and the mysteries. The Bible and this chapter we've been studying 10:21 in particular has the greatest love story and the greatest 10:24 mystery, the mystery of the incarnation, of the sacrifice. 10:29 And that's perhaps why it is so popular. It begins with God. 10:33 When we are fully cognizant of his great love for us we'll not 10:39 look to any other. He's so, I want to stop there. So... You 10:44 know I remember a story I have never forgotten, and I've 10:48 probably shared this before. Pastor Fagal who was the founder 10:52 of the Faith For Today program, tells one morning that he was 10:56 reading the paper and he read this tragic story in the 10:59 newspaper about a little boy, four years old, whose parents 11:04 bought him a red Radio Flyer wagon for his birthday. And 11:08 first day on his birthday he's playing with his wagon. Did any 11:13 of you have one of those growing up? How many of you had a friend 11:18 that had one. I just want a little better response. How many 11:20 of you know what I'm talking about. A red Radio Flyer wagon. 11:24 Thank you. He wanted to ride it down his drive way. You know you 11:27 have to turn the whole tongue on the thing to turn the wheels 11:31 and I guess first time down the driveway he didn't know how to 11:34 turn onto the sidewalk and he went straight out into the 11:39 street, was hit by a truck and killed. How sad. And Pastor 11:43 Fagal's wife walked over while he was reading this and his eyes 11:47 were tearing up and she said what's the problem? And he said, 11:51 Ah, I just read this tragic story. How grieved those 11:53 parents must be. Strangely enough then the phone rang and 11:58 it was the family calling him asking if he would conduct the 12:02 service for this four-year-old boy that was lost. So he goes 12:06 to the church and I've been at these services before. A little 12:11 white coffin, they are very difficult. And he said after you 12:16 do the service and then after the friends of the family 12:20 typically they file out. The last to leave are the family and 12:24 they often go by the coffin. And the mother fell over the coffin 12:30 and just kept saying we loved you so, we loved so. And he said 12:35 from that point on whenever he would preach on John 3:16 the 12:39 word so meant a lot more. I was part of a funeral right here in 12:44 town, a 13-year-old boy that died, same thing. It was one of 12:47 our Samoan families and they went there and they said we 12:51 loved you so. Our son, our son. And you know it takes on more 12:55 meaning when you think about God didn't have to include that word 12:59 so. He could have said God loved the world, but saying he loved 13:03 them so much. It's the greatest emphasis that you can have. 13:10 He so loved. Now that word there there's a number of words for 13:16 love. There's eros, there's phileo which is brotherly love. 13:20 Eros is where you get the word erotic, it's sort of the 13:24 romantic love. But this is the word agapeo where we get agape. 13:29 It is that unconditional love, that complete love. It's a 13:36 divine love. He so loved unconditionally, he so loved 13:41 completely to the greatest degree. That's what this love 13:46 means. It means it cannot be exceeded in height or depth or 13:49 breadth or width. Life and death cannot separate us from that 13:56 love. It is the so love. By the way. It's the so love for you. 14:02 It's not the so love for the world. God so loved the world. 14:09 But this is the greatest number. And sometimes we might struggle 14:13 with that because doesn't the Bible say not to love the world? 14:18 Matter of fact, its' the same author of this chapter who says 14:22 in I John chapter 2, love not the world nor the things that 14:26 are in the world. Now it's not talking about the people in the 14:29 world. It's talking about the sins of the world. It's talking 14:32 worldliness. When Jesus talks about the world here he uses 14:37 the word cosmos and it means not only this lost planet but 14:42 all the people in the planet. Now I'll confess to you it's a 14:47 stretch of faith for me to comprehend the individuality 14:53 of his love. Let me explain. You can sort of understand how, you 14:58 know if I were to ask you to go and die for some criminal that's 15:02 on death row to lay down your life for him you might say you 15:05 know he's getting what he deserves. It might be a struggle 15:08 for you. Come on, fess up. Don't admit it but you know in your 15:11 heart right now it might be a tough thing to do. After all my 15:15 family needs me or whatever excuses you might have. And I'd 15:20 have them too. But then if I said we'd like to ask you to die 15:25 for this family. There's about six or eight of them in the 15:29 family, you'd say well you know if it's one on one I'm probably 15:32 worth as much as someone else I might not do that but if it's 15:35 my life for several lives then that might be a worthwhile 15:38 sacrifice. Or if I were to say we need you to lay down your 15:42 life that you could save everybody on an airplane. 15:46 Would you do it? You've got to tackle the terrorist and take 15:48 the bullet so they all can live. Well we've already seen examples 15:52 of where that happened during 9/11. These people realized 15:56 that plane was going to be flown into a public place and 15:59 they kind of put their lives on the line to stop it from 16:02 happening. So there are even people who will do that for a 16:06 larger group or for a town and I think that if you really 16:11 believe that you had to lay down your life to save every human on 16:14 earth, there's six billion, you'd probably say that's a no 16:19 brainer. I don't want to do it but I should because I can never 16:22 live with myself if I didn't. How many agree with that? 16:25 You or six billion. You're not worth that much. Of course, you 16:29 should, right? So it's easy when you say for God so loved the 16:34 world. I could understand there are so many. But when he says 16:41 that he's really saying you, just you and you can read, it's 16:46 taught in the Bible that Christ loves you individually. And in 16:52 the Spirit of Prophecy Jesus would have gone through 16:54 everything he went through just for you. Whether you believe him 16:59 or not, whether you accept him or not, he did it. So the 17:03 question is did he die for you in vain? Well that's up to you. 17:08 He paid for it. How sad that Christ would pay for your sins 17:13 and then you have to pay for them too. Penalty for sin is 17:18 death. He took your penalty. If you believe that you can be 17:23 saved and have everlasting life. But if you don't well then you 17:27 have got to pay as though it's all your own. Isn't that right? 17:32 I'm just giving you basic theology. So loved the world 17:39 that he gave. The greatest act in history is giving. 17:46 The greatest act occurred when the Father sent his Son the Lord 17:48 Jesus to be a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. 17:51 He handed over his most valuable treasure. You know from time to 18:00 time, I've been with families who have lost a child. And it is 18:07 especially hard when it is their only child that they have. 18:15 Sometimes families lose a child. I know it's always heartbreaking 18:20 I know. It's always extremely, keenly painful and you know in 18:26 the natural course of life people die and some of us may 18:29 have to bury a spouse someday. Some of us likely are going to 18:34 have to bury our parents, siblings, but it's never more 18:38 keen than if you outlive a child and have to bury a child. 18:42 That's extremely painful. But when it's their only child and 18:47 then the parents go home and there's no other children and 18:51 when it says that God so loved the world he gave his only 18:55 begotten Son some people have twisted that and they try to 18:59 make something out of the word begotten and they say Jesus was 19:02 created at some time in the infinite past that he was... 19:06 it's talking about that God has an only Son and the only time 19:11 God was begotten as a man is in Jesus. But he preexisted. 19:17 He is the only Son of God. God the Son. And when the Father 19:23 withdrew his presence from Jesus on the cross-Ah it ruptured the 19:29 heart of not only God the Son but God the Father as well. 19:35 He gave his only begotten Son, the greatest gift. You know if 19:39 people said before if your house was on fire what would you 19:43 retrieve. And I've often thought it was funny. The first thing 19:47 that people say is photographs. I said do you have any children? 19:51 Oh, after the children. Of course, I'd get my children. 19:57 And if you had to choose between you making it out or your child 20:04 making it out, which would it be? So for God the Father... 20:08 Some people think that God is up in heaven and he's wanting 20:12 to snuff out this rebellious race because you know they're 20:15 so obstinate and God is waiting to zap us with lightening and 20:19 God the Son is saying please Father spare them and he's 20:22 pleading in our behalf. Some of us have this idea that God the 20:25 Father is the authoritarian, legalist in the heavens who 20:28 wants to destroy us and God the Son in the loving one who's 20:31 trying to save us. And Jesus says no, no, no, no. The Father 20:34 himself loves you Christ said. It is God the Father who loves 20:39 you so much he gave God the Son. Now it was a joint effort to 20:45 save humanity, but they both love us. Where is the love even 20:49 the greatest, what would be the hardest, for you to suffer or 20:55 watch your child suffer. Now you could go forever circling around 21:01 that thought because it broke the Son's heart to know the 21:04 Father was suffering so much. That whosoever. I'm still on our 21:10 verse. I mean can you get any bigger than that? That's a very 21:15 important verse. I'll tell you why. Because that verse cuts off 21:19 Calvinism at the knees. Now I believe John Calvin was a great 21:22 theologian. I expect to see him in heaven, but part of his 21:26 theology, once saved always saved and predestination that 21:30 God has arbitrarily selected some to be saved, they are the 21:33 elect and the others God has appointed to wrath. I don't 21:37 believe that. That idea of Calvinism, that God has decided 21:41 who can be saved and we don't have a free will, that's not 21:46 true and John 3:16 destroys that If God is going out there and 21:49 he's saying I've created these, eeny, meeny, miney, moe, you're 21:53 going to be saved and you're not I've appointed you to salvation 21:56 and you to wrath. And I've made you to live holy and you to be a 22:00 sinner. If God makes anyone to sin, then he becomes an 22:03 accomplice. Am I right? Does that make sense? And that's why 22:07 this verse is so important. God who would not have any man be 22:11 to perish, I'm now in II Peter. He's not willing that any should 22:15 perish. God who would have all men to be saved. Whosoever. 22:19 You know what's wonderful about this is if you think about it 22:23 that would include you. The invitation is to whosoever. 22:31 That's wonderful. I remember hearing a story about a mason 22:39 who was carrying these big buckets of cement and he'd have 22:47 one in each hand. Did any of you ever carry a five gallon bucket 22:51 of concrete that's been mixed? You know those masons they've 22:56 got arms like Popeye, they get strong. And he's got one in 23:00 each hand and one day he decided to bring his little boy 23:04 to work with him and he used to walk up a ladder with two five 23:07 gallon buckets full of concrete. That must weight, what do you 23:10 think, Barry, 100 pounds apiece. Something like that. They were 23:14 heavy. And he brought his little boy to work with him one day 23:16 and the father wanted the boy to feel like he could help him so 23:20 he took his little beach plastic sand pale and put a little 23:22 concrete at the bottom and the boy's struggling, you know, 23:25 carrying it between both legs and the dad says you want me to 23:28 help you with that and he says no, it's too heavy for you dad. 23:36 And you know if God's sacrifice is potent enough to cleanse the 23:43 sins of all the world, not just all the world today, but all of 23:49 humanity that has ever lived, how absurd is it for you to 23:53 think that your sins are too much for him. How absurd for you 23:57 to think, I know there's been a lot of sinners in the world that 24:00 Jesus has saved and some of them have been just as far away as 24:04 you can possible imagine, he somehow saves them, but me, I'm 24:09 pretty heavy. I don't know if he can save me. Well you've got 24:13 very small faith. If he can handle the sins of the whole 24:17 world then he can handle yours. If the blood of Christ is 24:22 affective and sufficient and potent enough to wash the sins 24:25 of the whole world, what makes you think your sins are so 24:29 special that he can't wash yours away? If he can save the whole 24:33 world from sin he can save you from your sins. Whosoever. 24:37 He's not only inviting everybody he's assuring everybody I've 24:42 got enough for you. Here we are at the end of history. 24:46 He's probably run out of salvation after 6000 years. 24:53 The bank's running low. No. Whosoever. Believeth in him. 24:59 The word is pisue. It means to have faith in, to entrust, to 25:06 commit especially one's spiritual well-being. Now this 25:12 verse is key. That's why it's part of our title. Whosoever 25:18 does what? Whosoever believeth. What does that mean? Because 25:22 whoever does it will be saved. Whoever doesn't do it will be 25:28 lost. Matter of fact, you remember John not only says in 25:33 John chapter 3 whoever believes in him would be saved but in 25:37 John 16:16, He that believes and is baptized will be saved. 25:42 He that believeth not will be condemned. Belief is the bottom 25:47 line. We are saved by this belief. What kind of belief is 25:52 it? Is it the same kind of belief that devils have? 25:57 The word belief here that's used and you don't often hear it 26:01 taught that way, it means to commit yourself to, to commit 26:05 your trust to, to commit your faith to. It is a belief of 26:10 commitment. It means really what it says. Whoever believeth, it 26:14 means to be lived. That's what the word belief means. Whoever 26:18 be lives in him. That what it means to be in Christ. It means 26:23 to place all that you are and all that you have into Christ's 26:28 hands. Surrender. To be live in him. Whoever be lives in him 26:34 will not perish. So it's not this cheap faith that has become 26:39 so popular where it's simply a mental ascent. Yeah I think 26:43 Jesus really lived and yeah I've asked him to forgive me my sins 26:46 and that's where it stops. It's not a surrender. There's no 26:50 repentance of living on your own and saying I'm surrendering. I'm 26:55 going to take up my cross. I'm placing all in your hands. 26:57 I believe in you. I can trust you with my life. That's what it 27:02 means. Whoever does that will not perish. That's why we've got 27:07 to know what it is that happens and I could spend the whole 27:11 message just talking about that faith. Yours ought to be a 27:18 saving faith that leads to deeds We're not saved by deeds. 27:24 Nicodemus he came to Jesus as a Pharisee and Jesus said you must 27:29 be born again. Pharisees had lots of deeds, lots of work. 27:34 It's more than that. Believes what? In him. It must be placed 27:39 in Christ. What does that mean? Well the teachings of the gospel 27:44 He is the Word; believing in the Word. Christ is the Word 27:50 incarnate. Whoever believes in him should not perish. Now that 27:56 is so important because God said to Adam and Eve in the day you 28:01 sin you will die. That's what it means, to die, to perish. 28:05 Eternal death. You know this verse is also so important 28:09 because not only does it correct Calvinism's misunderstandings, 28:14 it also gets rid of this idea of eternal torment. There are two 28:19 choices, two destinies anybody can pick between, eternal life 28:24 or perish. Isn't that what he says? You've got believe, not 28:29 perish but eternal life. Those are the two options. The Bible 28:34 tells us that we are saved by grace through faith. The wages 28:40 of sin is what? Death. But God offers us eternal life. Life and 28:47 death. Eternal life or perish. The two options and he's 28:51 offering us the best of the two. There's no third option. There's 28:54 no door number three. So you need to ask yourself, do I 28:58 believe in him? Do I have eternal life? If you don't what 29:03 do you have? A judgment, condemnation, perishing. 29:09 And he talks about that later in this passage too. You know, 29:13 there's a poem and whenever I taught the Revelation Seminars 29:17 I always liked this poem by Louisa Tarkington. I wish there 29:21 was some wonderful place called the land of beginning again 29:25 where all of our mistakes and all of our heartaches and all of 29:29 our poor selfish grief could be dropped like a shabby old coat 29:33 at the door and never put on again. He's offering us when he 29:37 says not perish, a transition, a transformation. You go from 29:42 death to life. That's where the conversion takes place. It's 29:47 right there where it says not perish but. A conversion, a 29:52 change. This is the greatest difference. You know, whenever 29:57 someone says but sometimes you wait for that in a sentence, 30:01 right? I wasn't going to sell you this car but... What does 30:05 that mean when you hear that. There's going to be a change. 30:09 There's a turn happening in the conversation. Or sometimes you 30:12 don't want to hear that word but. You know I know we've been 30:17 dating a long time but... That's not good. What's coming next 30:21 you don't want to hear it. Or if the doctor comes out of the 30:27 emergency room and he says we did our best to try to save him 30:31 but... You don't want to hear that word. That's an important 30:35 word, right. You realize that word how pivotal it is. 30:38 It's like the word so. Those are important words. And so here we 30:43 are perishing, we're on our way to destruction and God says but. 30:48 You like that one? It means I've got good news. Everything's 30:56 going to change. Not perish but have everlasting life. Have. Not 31:04 borrow, not just look at for a little while, not just touch. 31:10 I heard about this millionaire, rich Saudi prince, he has the 31:15 most expensive Mercedes. I don't remember what version it is but 31:20 it's the most expensive Mercedes and he plated it with gold and 31:24 covered it with diamonds. It's over there is Dubai somewhere 31:28 You can read about this on the internet. I don't remember his 31:32 name, Prince Something or Other. And they said they had it at a 31:37 mall in Dubai and if you wanted to pay $1000 you could touch it. 31:41 You don't get to drive it and you certainly don't get to own 31:45 it but for $1000 you could touch it, you could maybe look at it 31:50 for free. Having it would have been different. That would mean 31:55 that it's yours. And God is telling us we can have it, you 31:59 can embrace it, you can own it, it's yours. It's your possession 32:05 to have everlasting life. And that's of course our last part. 32:10 The greatest possession you can have is not just eternal life. 32:14 I mean some churches teach you get eternal life one of two ways 32:19 You either get eternal life in heaven or eternal life in hades. 32:23 And I don't want that eternal life. They say you've got an 32:26 immortal soul and I keep asking where is that verse that says 32:31 immortal soul. It's not in the Bible. We've got two choices. 32:36 It's eternal death or eternal life. And to have eternal life 32:40 and the right kind of eternal life. Not eternal life in some 32:44 fictitious place of suffering but this is eternal life in a 32:47 very real place where there are pleasures at his right hand 32:52 forever more. Then we go to our next verse. And you know there 32:56 are a lot of people they know John 3:16, but you ask them 33:00 John 3:15 or John 3:17. You know so many people go to these 33:04 stadiums, you've probably seen it before and these games, 33:07 football, baseball games and they know the cameras pan the 33:09 audience and so they want to witness for Jesus and so they 33:12 get this big banner, they get this big sign and they hold up, 33:16 what verse do they hold up? John 3:16. And there was this 33:20 game that was being broadcast and the camera panned by and 33:24 this guy was holding up a sign that said John 3:17. And the 33:28 commentator said ah that poor fellow, he's not very bright, he 33:32 got the wrong verse. And he didn't really get the wrong 33:35 verse. He was just directing their attention to our next 33:39 verse that talks about God wanting to save us and not 33:43 condemn us. Just as important. For God did not send his Son 33:47 into the world to condemn the world but the world through him 33:52 might be saved. We're all naturally condemned. We're born 33:58 with these selfish fallen natures. Romans chapter 8 34:04 verse 1: There is now therefore no condemnation to those who are 34:07 in Christ Jesus. What did we talk about? Being in Christ, 34:11 believing in him. Who is not condemned? The ones who are in 34:15 Christ. How do they get there? Through faith. There's no 34:19 condemnation. Now without that faith how do we stand? We're 34:23 condemned already. That's when you get to the next verse, 34:27 John 3:18. How important it is to believe in his name. He that 34:33 believes in him is not condemned So how do we get to be in him? 34:38 Through belief. But he who does not believe is condemned already 34:42 In other words, unless you're born the second time, we talked 34:46 about this earlier, and you're only born once you're born 34:51 condemned because you've got that selfish, fallen nature and 34:56 Jesus didn't need to come to condemn us. We're already 34:59 condemned. You realize when you first have your hearing before 35:03 the judge, if you plead guilty, there's no trial. You're 35:08 condemned. You've admitted guilt They've just got to determine 35:11 the sentence. Well that's where we all are right now. We all 35:15 stand waiting for our sentence which we know what that is 35:18 don't we? The penalty. So Jesus didn't come to try and condemn 35:25 us. We're already condemned. He came to save us from 35:29 condemnation. He comes, if you will, to stand before the judge 35:33 and to say, I'm offering to trade places with the person who 35:37 is condemned. If they accept me as their substitute, I am 35:41 trading places with them. See when he died on the cross he 35:45 offered to be our substitute. And the reason I word it that 35:48 way even though Jesus 2000 years ago came, lived a perfect life, 35:53 suffered for all of humanity on the cross, died, took the death 35:58 penalty, the penalty is suffering and death. 36:00 He took all that. Even though that's all in the past, unless 36:03 you personally cash the check it doesn't do you any good 36:07 today. You know there's another deviant theology that's going 36:11 out there that we're all saved. The reason people are lost is 36:16 because they reject the salvation. They choose to reject 36:18 it and if we don't choose to reject it, we're saved. That's 36:22 not true. We're all condemned. We must choose to accept it 36:25 is what the Bible says. How many of you know what I'm 36:28 talking about? Some good people get mixed up in this stuff. 36:33 It's as though we're passively saved by not choosing. That's 36:37 ridiculous. The devil wants us to believe that. No. We are 36:42 naturally condemned and it is through accepting what Jesus 36:47 provided; cashing the check, if you will. You've got to act upon 36:50 his sacrifice. Then we're saved. He's offering us love, but 36:54 there's no marriage if you don't accept his invitation. It's a 36:58 proposal. You need to accept it. There's something you need to 37:02 do, otherwise we're condemned. We need to do what? He's 37:08 condemned. He who does not believe is condemned already 37:14 because he has not believed, notice, in the name of the only 37:19 begotten Son of God. And that's reminding us again when Jesus 37:23 is the only begotten Son of God. The only time God came to earth 37:27 in the form of men. There were holy men, there were holy women. 37:31 There were prophets and prophetesses but the only time 37:34 God was incarnate. Those angels before, they were not God. 37:37 There's only one person. It wasn't Buddha, nothing personal. 37:41 It was not Muhammad, it was not any of these other spiritual 37:45 leaders through the ages. It was only Jesus when God was 37:49 incarnate. He is the only begotten Son of God. Do you 37:53 understand what I'm saying? Because he did not believe in 37:57 the name. Now some have made a whole theology about you've 38:01 got to say the name the right way. If you pronounce it the 38:05 wrong way... You know one of the things I love about our church, 38:08 I really do, is that we're such an international church. And as 38:11 I visit with the different families it's fun. You know, I 38:14 talk to some of us who've got the Romanian accent and I talk 38:17 to some of us who've got the Samoan or the Fijian accent. 38:20 Some of us have the Filipino accent. And I understand all 38:22 those nuances and it's fun listening. Sometimes I don't 38:25 know how you understand each other because you know with the 38:30 accents if you get someone who's got a real strong German accent 38:33 and they're talking to someone who's got a South Pacific accent 38:36 then you're going I barely understand them. How do they 38:39 understand each other? And there are some who teach... You don't 38:43 mind me being honest with you do you? There are some who teach 38:46 that if you don't utter Jesus name with the right nuance of 38:50 pronunciation in Hebrew he won't answer your prayer. That's not 38:54 what he's talking about. And there's a theology going around 38:57 that you can't call him Jesus which is a Greek pronunciation. 39:00 That's because the New Testament is in Greek. 39:02 That's okay. And if you're Spanish you don't say Jesus, 39:06 you say Heysuse, right? And they are all a little different 39:10 And in Hebrew it's Yeshua. And some say we've got to say it in 39:13 the Hebrew way. Well you know we're not even sure how they 39:17 said it in Hebrew when Joshua was first named or even 2000 39:21 years ago when Jesus was named because words and pronunciations 39:25 change over time. Within 100 years we don't say things the 39:28 same. You know how many times the King James Bible has had to 39:32 be revised because we don't talk exactly like this anymore do we? 39:34 So those who are 39:37 trying to make a theology over praying in the name of 39:41 Jesus you must say it with the ancient Hebrew enunciation and 39:45 emphasis and syllables. If you want to say Yeshua, that's fine. 39:49 But don't condemn those who say Jesus or Heysuse. Got knows who 39:52 knows who we're talking about. Praying in the name of Jesus 39:55 means much more than that. Quote here from the book Steps to 39:59 Christ. A classic. I hope you have this on your shelf. To pray 40:02 in the name of Jesus is something more than a mere 40:05 mention of that name at the beginning or ending of a prayer. 40:09 It is to pray in the mind and the Spirit of Jesus. While we 40:13 believe in his promises, rely on his grace and work his works, 40:17 praying in the name of Christ means praying with the mind and 40:21 the attitude in the life of Christ. It's not like just a 40:26 signature on a letter. While I do believe our prayers are heard 40:33 they're authorized, if you will, they're notarized by the 40:37 authority of Christ. So there is that component but it's much 40:41 more than that when we pray in Jesus' name. If you just walked 40:44 away from strangling your neighbor and you think that all 40:47 you've got to do is mention Jesus' name at the end of your 40:50 prayer, that's not praying in Christ's name is it? 40:52 It's wanting to be like him. That's when we invoke his name. 40:56 Otherwise we're breaking that commandment that says taking 41:01 his name in vain. Believing in the name of the Son of God. 41:07 I'm still quoting from John 3:18 now. Acts chapter 4 verse 12: 41:13 Nor is there salvation in any other for there is no other name 41:19 under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. 41:23 No other religion, no other religious teacher. The only name 41:28 we're to pray in is the name of Christ. He's the only name 41:32 through which we are saved. Believing in his name. 41:35 That doesn't mean uttering the name like it's the special magic 41:39 formula. You've probably seen these fables before where you've 41:42 got some witch or wizard or sorcerer and they're trying to 41:45 perform some miracle and they've got to utter this incantation a 41:49 certain way in order for this magic to happen. Some people 41:52 think that you've got to say Jesus' name the right way and 41:55 then the magic happens. That's not what it means. It's talking 41:59 about praying in his character. By the way, you know God says 42:03 he has exalted his word above his name. I believe that is 42:07 Psalm 119. He's exalted his word above his name and so praying 42:12 in the name of Christ means the character of Christ. 42:15 When someone says you know that person's got a good name, what 42:20 does that mean? Well it might mean the name sounds poetic and 42:23 rolls off the tongue well but most of the time if I would say 42:27 that person's got a good name it means they've got a good 42:31 reputation. So when you pray in the name of Jesus it means who 42:36 he is. Knowing him. And if you want to know someone's 42:40 character and reputation, you've got to know them. Praying in the 42:43 name of the one that you have a relationship with. I heard 42:46 about a blind man one time that stood out on the street corner 42:49 and he was reading this verse we just quoted there in Acts 42:54 chapter 4 verse 12. As he was reading a Braille Bible and he 42:59 came to the part where there is no other name and he lost his 43:04 place on the page and while he was trying to find where he was 43:07 he kept repeating the last three words, no other name, no other 43:10 name, no other name, no other name and there was a man who was 43:13 standing in the crowd who had grown up a Christian and had 43:16 wandered away and he was trying to find happiness and was 43:19 miserable and wondering where it was and he walked by and while 43:22 some people were laughing at this blind preacher, those words 43:25 repeated, no other name, impressed him and he was 43:29 converted just by those words that he would not find it 43:32 anywhere else. John 1 verse 12: But as many as received him, to 43:39 them he gives power, the right, authority, to become the sons of 43:45 God to those who believe on his name. That means believing in 43:50 who he is. That's what it means to believe in his name. I want 43:54 to read this to you while we're talking about the name of God. 43:59 Let's be reverent. This is the name that saves, it should be 44:04 taken very carefully on our tongues, spoken with reverence, 44:09 never in jesting. Another little pet peeve I've got when you pray 44:13 you mention Jesus' name, slow down, say it clearly. I often 44:18 hear people say, they start their prayer, D'eavenly Father. 44:22 Say what? D'eavenly Father. What is that. Dear heavenly 44:27 Father. And they just slur the name of God. Speak it with 44:32 reverence, speak it with clarity Well let me read this to you. 44:36 This is from Signs of the Times, 11/18/1886. Angels are 44:44 displeased and disgusted with the irreverent manner in which 44:48 the name of God, the great Jehovah, is sometimes used in 44:51 prayer. They mention that name with the greatest awe. Angels 44:54 mention it with the greatest awe, even veiling their faces 44:57 when they speak the name of God. Angles do. The name of Christ 45:02 also is sacred and spoken with the greatest reverence and those 45:06 who end their prayers, speaking of those on earth, use the name 45:09 of God in a common and flippant manner have no sense of the 45:12 exalted character of God or Christ or heavenly things. 45:17 So believing in his name means also handling that name with 45:22 reverence. Now our last verses. John 3:19. I'm going to read 45:28 right through verse 21 because they really go together. And by 45:33 the way, the story of Nicodemus we've been covering goes from 45:38 verse 1 to verse 21. The chapter goes on but the discourse with 45:43 Nicodemus ends there. Now we're talking about loving the light. 45:49 John 3 verse 19: And this is the condemnation, this is why the 45:53 world is condemned, that light has come into the world and men 45:59 love darkness rather than light. Why? Because their deeds were 46:06 evil. People loving darkness rather than light. Did you ever 46:12 notice that at night when you turn on a light moths are 46:17 attracted to the light? But if you walk into a dirty kitchen 46:22 and you turn on a light the cockroaches run. The light has 46:26 an opposite impact on both. Something about their nature. 46:31 The cockroaches are afraid of light; they run from the light 46:35 probably exposing that they're feeding on filth. The moths are 46:40 attracted to the light. How a person responds to the light 46:44 usually has something to do with what's going on inside. 46:47 When we want the cleansing of the Lord in our lives then we're 46:52 drawn to the light. We want that light. We want to walk in the 46:57 light as he is in the light. I know this is in print and so 47:03 you've probably heard it, but I used to have a 1971 Volkswagen 47:09 three speed automatic. It was a vacuum shift. I owned it in the 47:15 desert. I had a delivery business when I was there. 47:17 It wasn't in good shape. For one thing the desert winds, I'd get 47:23 caught in sand storms going across the windy pass there. 47:26 Some of you have been to Southern California where 47:27 they've got all the wind generators now because there's 47:29 so much wind down there. They didn't have those back then but 47:32 they had the wind and it actually sand blasted the paint 47:35 off the fenders and certain parts of the car. It was my 47:39 first car I ever owned. I grew up in New York City taking a bus 47:42 and a subway. I did not know how to take care of a car. 47:44 I knew nothing about a car. I remember one time lifting up the 47:48 front trying to figure out how to check the oil. Someone said 47:52 Doug make sure you check the oil and there was no engine in 47:55 there. And then someone said make sure you check the water 47:58 in the radiator. They didn't know I had a Volkswagen. There's 48:01 no radiator. I mean, I knew nothing about cars. Someone said 48:04 keep the oil full. I finally found where the oil was in the 48:06 back and I kept pouring oil in until it ran out. I figured it's 48:09 full now. I embarrassed to tell you that; it's true though. 48:13 That blew out all the seals on the car and so it used to leak a 48:17 little oil. Parking in the desert sun you know would crack 48:21 the vinyl in the tires and it didn't look that good so one day 48:24 I decided to sell the car. And I wanted to get the most I 48:28 could possible get for it, so I went to K-Mart and got some 48:32 white paint, painted the fenders almost the same color. Hard to 48:36 match it exactly when you go to K- Mart for the paint. And I got 48:40 Armor All and I Armor Alled the tires and the vinyl to try 48:43 and dress it up a little bit and cleaned it up and the 48:48 windshield had been pitted by the sand storms so that if I 48:52 came around a turn and the sun hit my windshield my windshield 48:55 just whited out and I couldn't see through it any more that you 48:58 could like a bathroom window. It was totally opaque. I'd have 49:01 to stick my head out the window to continue driving 49:03 without wrecking. Some of your windshields get dirty and you 49:05 know what I'm talking about. All of a sudden the sun hits it and 49:08 you can't see. Well mine was always like that. But I noticed 49:12 that when the sun went behind San Jacinto, it was 11,000 foot 49:15 mountain, the sun would go behind San Jacinto. There in the 49:18 kind of a twilight for a couple of hours the car looked pretty 49:22 good in the shade. So when I ran the ad, the ad in the Palm 49:27 Springs paper said 1971 Volkswagen, 3-speed automatic, 49:33 want $600, will show after 5 o'clock. I really did that 49:38 because there was something wrong with the car and I didn't 49:43 want the light. I wanted it to hang out in the dark. Some 49:46 people don't come to Jesus because they say well the closer 49:50 I get to God the worse I look. Come anyway. You're not 49:55 condemned because you've got sin. We've all got sin. You're 49:58 condemned because you love darkness rather than light. 50:00 God is offering you cleansing. You know there's something to 50:04 say about those who live in the desert. When you're out in the 50:07 sun a lot, the sun actually has a purifying influence on your 50:11 clothes. It will bleach them. Isn't that right? It cleans. 50:15 Walk in the light. As I finish this up I hope I don't disturb 50:18 you too much but I'm going to tell you something you don't 50:22 hear very often. Sometimes people abuse chapter three 50:25 of John and they abuse John 3:16 and the emphasis is on the 50:28 believing and they never keep reading what Jesus said to 50:31 Nicodemus. Notice. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. The important thing 50:36 for a Pharisee was works and deeds, action. Listen to what 50:40 Christ says. I'm reading the whole thing again, John 3:19-21: 50:45 This is the condemnation that he has sent light into the world 50:49 and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds 50:53 their works, were evil. For everyone who practices... 50:58 Is it just believing, or is it practicing. Everyone who 51:02 practices evil hates the light. Is it understood God wants us to 51:07 practice something other than evil. And he does not come to 51:12 the light lest his deeds, his actions, his works, should be 51:16 exposed. But he who does the truth, he comes to the light 51:22 that his deeds may be clearly seen that they had been done 51:27 in God. Now that is so important It tells us that when you come 51:31 to Christ just like you are, you're born again, you walk in 51:35 the light and your life changes and your deeds are different. 51:41 You're not a cockroach anymore. You're now a butterfly and 51:45 you've got the new heart. You know I just think it's so 51:48 significant that John chapter 3 begins with, it says: There was 51:55 a man and it ends in God. It starts with men and it ends with 51:59 God. It begins with a man who is a Pharisee trying to save 52:05 himself by deeds. And it ends by saying done in God. How is it 52:10 that we can have different kinds of lives because if you really 52:15 do believeth in him it's a be living in him. There's a change 52:19 in your heart. First it's the love of God that changes us. 52:23 Don't ever miss that. We love him because he first loved us. 52:26 The more we behold his love it transforms us. That's where the 52:30 new heart comes from. It's a regenerating love. But then 52:33 seen that their deeds are different because now their 52:37 deeds are done in God instead of in the darkness. So what's 52:42 the secret? Run from God or run to Christ? Run from the light or 52:46 run to the light. Believe him. You know in closing off our 52:51 story on Nicodemus I want to take you to the end of the 52:55 gospel of John. When he first came he maybe thought he was 52:59 going to save Jesus. Jesus said, no I need to be lifted up. 53:03 He wanted to know if Jesus was the Messiah. He tried to speak 53:06 up for Christ, but ultimately you might say Nicodemus came out 53:10 of the closet as a believer towards the end. John 19 53:14 verse 39: After Christ died, Joseph got his body off the 53:19 cross. Joseph and Nicodemus were no doubt good friends, both 53:24 rulers. Then came also Nicodemus he finally comes out, which at 53:29 the first had come to Jesus by night. He came in the dark, now 53:34 he's coming before sundown. And he brought a mixture of 53:38 myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight. This is 53:41 commonly what would be reserved for someone like Alexander the 53:44 Great, a fabulous amount of fragrant embalming oils. 53:51 And they took the body of Jesus and wound it in linen cloth with 53:56 the spices as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Nicodemus was 54:00 actually there, personally involved, in wrapping the body 54:04 of Jesus that had been lifted up for him. Did you ever think 54:08 about that? He never forgot that He came out as a believer after 54:12 that. By the way, Psalm 45 verse 8: All of your garments, 54:16 speaking of the Messiah, are scented with myrrh and aloes 54:19 and with cassia. Any of you ever heard that song Out of the Ivory 54:24 Palaces? Yeah, there's a verse in there that talks especially 54:27 about this. I'd like to read from the book Desire of Ages in 54:31 closing, speaking about Nicodemus at the end of the 54:34 chapter by the same title: After the Lord's ascension when 54:38 the disciples were scattered by persecution, Nicodemus came 54:43 boldly to the front. He employed his wealth in 54:46 sustaining the infant church. In the time of peril, he who had 54:51 been so cautious and questioning was firm as a rock 54:53 encouraging the faith of the disciples and furnishing means 54:57 to carry forth the work of the gospel. He was scorned and 55:01 persecuted by those who had paid him reverence in other days. 55:05 The other Sanhedrin, the other Pharisees, they persecuted him 55:08 but he didn't care anymore. He took his stand for Christ, was 55:13 firm as a rock. He became poor in this world's goods yet he 55:18 faltered not in the faith which had its beginnings in that night 55:22 conference with Jesus. He gave so much of his wealth he 55:26 ultimately became poor for Christ's cause. Nicodemus 55:30 related to John the story, that we just read, John probably set 55:34 up the meeting. That's why you and I have a firsthand account 55:38 of this personal interview. He related the story to John, that 55:41 story of the interview, and by his pen it was recorded for the 55:45 instruction of millions. The truths there taught are as 55:48 important today as they were on that solemn night in the 55:52 shadowy mountain when the Jewish ruler came to learn the way of 55:57 life from the lowly teacher of Galilee. It starts with this 56:02 man coming to Jesus and ends done in God. That's the story of 56:07 salvation friends and it has to do with do you believe. Christ 56:12 got right to the point with Nicodemus. Do you believe? 56:14 You're questioning, you're coming at night, you're not 56:17 sure, you're not going all the way. He finally went all the way 56:21 didn't he? And he invested his life and his means. His deeds 56:24 were proof of that. He was willing to be persecuted to 56:28 take his stand for Christ. Can you trust him? Can you commit 56:32 everything to him? Do you believe he'll let you down? 56:37 Whosoever, that's you, believeth in him will not perish 56:43 that's a guarantee, but have everlasting life. How many of 56:48 you would like to have that kind of faith 56:50 and leave with that confidence? 56:52 A web site whose roots date back to the beginning of time: 56:56 SabbathTruth.com is the definitive resource for Bible 56:59 light on the Lord's day. Clear Bible answers for every question 57:03 you've ever had about the Sabbath. Seven key topic 57:06 headings guide you through the purpose of the Sabbath, which 57:09 day is the Lord's day, the Sabbath in prophecy, questions 57:12 about the Sabbath, how to keep it holy, the Sabbath in history 57:16 and many Sabbath resources. Visit SabbathTruth.com today and 57:20 share your new found treasure with a friend. 57:22 If you've been encouraged by today's message and would like 57:27 to know more of what God's word says to you today, Amazing Facts 57:30 invites you to visit our educational website at 57:36 At BibleUniverse you'll discover exciting truths that 57:40 will fill you with peace and purpose. The mysteries of the 57:43 Bible will unfold for you at your own pace. Visit 57:50 today. Expand your Universe. |
Revised 2014-12-17