The great testimony of the gospel is that God has visited the world in grace. This was evidently something new; especially when we remember that Jesus died, and had to die. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish," &c. Why does He say, "should not perish"? Because they were perishing; and God is visiting a lost world all in grace. This is what opens anyone's mouth-God's working in love. He can tell of a remedy, for he is cured; and of the perfect love of God to poor sinners. Now, it is this grace that will open a man's heart. Other things will make a man hide and cloak his sin, and seek to get away out of God's presence. Not but God can awaken by terror. Yet what opens the heart is that God has come to save us in grace. When we speak of being saved, we do not speak of mere deliverance from wrath, but of being brought to God. Now if you are to be brought to God, you must have hearts to enjoy God; for it is dreadful to be with one in whose presence we have no delight. Look at the case of a sinner. He dare not be in God's presence, and it is misery to be out of it. Therefore do men like annihilation. Can your souls reckon on divine favor? God visits us to give us the knowledge of His favor. We do not get this by speculating over our hearts. Christ did not come to set us speculating whether He would be love or not; He came to be it. Now when a man believes this, he has peace with God; though there must be conflict with the world and with our lusts; for God cannot receive a sinner loving sin.
In the last three verses of chapter 2 we see Christ's judgment of men. There we read that "many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did." I will suppose that you have done what these persons did; you have read of Christ and believed in His name. "But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men." Here we get the faith that is in the world; sincere, I believe; but the Lord does not trust it. Why? Because they have acknowledged Christ to be the Messiah, but there is not one bit of their hearts changed. Is there one thing done on their hearts or on their consciences by such an acknowledgment of the Messiah? Have they said, What horrible sinners we must be when Christ came to die! Christ did not charge them with insincerity, yet their consciences were like millstones. That is what I call the basest form of depravity-acknowledging love unparalleled, and yet not feeling one spark of affection. Do you believe that Christ died for your sins, and do you still go on in sin? That is why Christ did not commit Himself to them. He knew all men. Do you think He does not know you? Is it any wonder that God says, You must be born again? It will not do to say, You must mend. You want something new; you want God to give you a new heart, will, conscience. You do not want to learn about Christ, you want a nature that can be affected by what you have learned. There must be a radical change in principle, otherwise what will you do when you come to God? When will you come to God? At the judgment? What will you do then? If you were the fairest character in the world, you know as a fact that you do not like to meet God. If it was to-day, you would put it off till to-morrow, and if you could forever.
The conscience of Nicodemus was at work. The others continued as they were. There we see the horrible indifference of nominal Christianity. Nicodemus is rather ashamed of being seen with Jesus. Let a man's con science be touched, and he is ashamed to be seen with Christians. Why? Because the very instant that conscience is touched and we get to Christ, there is an instinct to tell us that the world is against us. And of whom was Nicodemus ashamed? Of the Son of God. And this is what man is, and what the world is. Therefore Jesus, who knew the trial, said, "Whosoever shall confess me before men," &c.
Now we get the answer of God. He tells them that "That which is born of the flesh is flesh;" worthless, and worse than worthless. It is not the sins that prove it the most; it is what it shows itself to be when it has to do with Christ, the Son of God.
Christ says you must have a new nature. He says that you are so bad that you cannot be trusted, that you must be changed. " You must be horn again."
" Nicodemus answered and said, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel and knowest not these things?" You ought to have known from your own prophets that under the new covenant such a change was needed. (See Ezek. 36) If you do not believe earthly things, which the prophets declared, that you must be renewed and have a heart of flesh, &c., how shall you believe heavenly things? But who can tell you of heavenly things, if not He who came from heaven?
We have had the necessity of man's being renewed; now we get another thing-the goodness of God to us as we are unrenewed. It is the truth that I need regeneration, but that is not grace. Grace is what God is for me from heaven. When was it that Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness? When the Israelites were bitten by the serpent, when the power of death had come in. So has it come to you. You are ruined, lost, stung; and where is your help? You have sin on you. Can you undo the sins you have done? Can you take guilt off your conscience? Never. Once sin, you can never become innocent. You are guilty, and you know it, though you do not feel it. You know you dare not meet God and talk of sin. No, you would be talking of mercy. When? At the day of judgment. Mercy? It is the day of righteousness; of glory to the saints, not mercy; and of destruction to the world. Now is the day of mercy. God treats you as a sinner. You must be treated as a sinner. He cannot agree to the lie you think of yourself. He says there is none righteous. He cannot say, I have made a mistake. The only question is, whether He will treat you as a sinner now or then. He came from heaven. Why? To make light of sin? To talk of sin? He could not do so. He knew that there could not be happiness where there was sin. He came to be lifted up. " For as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up," &c. He must take on Himself the consequences of sin to put it away from you. Jesus says, Well, I will take sin on me; if it rests on them it will ruin them. In the 53rd of Isaiah God does not overlook the sins. He cannot. What does He do with them? He laid them on Jesus. As to those who do not believe in Jesus, either they or sin must be put away. In the case of the believer sin is put away, because Christ took it upon Him. God saw the sin and visited it on Christ. Why did Christ die? For sin. What has He done with the sin? Put it away. There we get peace, for we know that the Son of man has been lifted up, and that instead of perishing we have everlasting life. Christ says, " that whosoever believeth should not perish." If I believe then in Jesus, owning that I was perishing, He says, I have died that you should have eternal life. There is so much reasoning in our hearts, (and no wonder when we find ourselves in such a labyrinth!) therefore the Lord comes in in such perfect simplicity. Believe and have life. And why? Because it is believing in One who has put sin away.
Sin could not be borne by us, and God is righteous; therefore Christ came to put away sin. That is however but half of the truth. For in the cross I not only see that this dreadful necessity was met, but that even when I was in my sins God loved me. If I see the cross doing that for me which I needed, that touches my conscience and gives me peace. But besides this, how came Christ to do this? Because " God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son," &c. When we were at enmity with God, He so loved us that He would have us understand that while the world hated Him He loved. it all the while, and gave the thing nearest to His heart for its reconciliation. Hence, whilst conscience gets peace through the blood of the cross, the testimony of the perfect love of God-and of this the cross is the proof -sets the heart at rest. Now the sinner knows God. Not only has he got the new nature, but an object to love. It is miserable to have affections and nothing to love. So now we have God to love, and all the affections become centered on Christ. That is sanctification. Our souls know what God is and what He has done for us, and our hearts go out to this God. How it knits the heart and God together! He has loved me-loved me' so, and will love me forever. O what bliss! We shall have trouble, but we have the certainty of the perfect love of Christ. No matter what the trouble may be, I now know that Christ having gone through all for me, neither death, nor life, nor any creature can separate me from His love.
Now that is the way that God makes Himself known. If you meet Christ in judgment, it is not merely that you have broken the law-that is bad enough; but the goodness of God is leading you to repentance. Therefore it is not judgment now, but God commending His love, and if you are untouched by that you are despising a dying Savior! That is a terrible thing and you know it.