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Gospel of John chapter 3, beginning at verse one.
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher, come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.
Nicodemus said unto him, How can a man be born when he is old?
Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb?
And be born, Jesus answered.
A Verily, verily, I say unto thee.
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.
Marvo, nod that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof. But canst not tell when's it cometh, and whether it goeth? So is everyone that is born of the Spirit.
Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knoweth not these things?
Verily, I say unto thee, we speak, that we do know and testify that we have seen.
And you receive not our witness, if I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man, which is in heaven.
And as Moses.
Lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.
Even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God send not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
This chapter.
Has instruction for us.
And to the keys to understanding the work of God in the soul to bring us into blessing. It also helps us to understand the difference between the plans of the Old Testament saying that and the New Testament to me and the consequences. If we don't understand what this chapter gives us, there's many things that we won't understand.
00:05:15
And come to interpret.
And so it begins with the most fundamental thing that God must do.
To begin with, when he is going to train.
And into one begins with Newburgh, it ends with eternal life. For everlasting life is both the same, same, same word.
But it supposes one very important thing, that man is completely ruined, lost. Another just says has no capacity in himself or any response towards God. Therefore God must work.
And so the initiative is on God's heart and in sovereign will. And so it's very important to take in the first few verses. Maybe I should have asked earlier days to read them or the flesh few verses of character 2, because verse 23 of chapter 2 properly begins a new section in the Gospel of God as part of what we have in chapter 3 now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover and the feast day.
Believed in his name when they saw the miracles, which he did.
But Jesus did not commit Himself unto them, because He knew all men, and neither not that any should testify a man, for he knew what was in man.
Bullets first stage to express faith, doesn't it? On the part of those inside miracles? How is it that the Lord doesn't commit himself to them? It wasn't this faith. It wasn't faith.
It wasn't faith, it was man looking at the works, the miracles, making a deduction in his own mind, satisfied with what he has concluded, and then says, yes, I believe this is the one that's not facing the testimony of God. That's faith in the power of his own intellect and making his own deduction and coming to his own conclusion.
And there are many in the world that have that kind of faith.
The Lord doesn't commit himself to that. That's not the work of God and soul. And so that's that's an important preface to when we come to chapter 3. And really where it says there was a man, it says but there was a man. There's a proper translation because it's linked with a few verses that went before he knew what was in man, but there was a man.
23 speaks up, but there was a man and he comes to God on that very basis, and he has made a deduction in what he has seen and a conclusion, and that as a consequence he's going to come to the war on that basis.
No change in Him. There's been no change. There's been no work of God.
His single tracks made his conclusions and he comes based on that and he comes and he says Rabbi teachers, we know this is the conclusion of those that I've associated with that thou art a teacher come from God. I'll fight through maybe in itself, but it certainly wasn't all the truth, but that was his recollection led him to conclude and what he had seen, but it wasn't faith.
It wasn't the work of God in the soul.
And he comes to the Lord.
And he owns. No man can do these miracles.
They saw the miracles, they made a conclusion, they believed in his faith. No man can do these miracles that thou doest. Except I'll be with him, and the Lord stops and ring his heart. It's not going to take him any further to be enough. You're coming on a wrong basis. Your conclusion is totally wrong.
You're coming to me as a teacher in hopes that you can bring me into your group. And boy, what we need to do in this school with a teacher like this.
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Really make things better. This is what we need. And he says, no, it's not what we need. You need all movie days, a whole new beginning.
This first portion of what we've read needed work with God and SO.
Situations we see that Nicodemus came to work exists by night. When I asked why can't come by tonight, perhaps there was a certain statement and that was coming to the war. You don't know.
But years ago I met in the House of a very influential Member of the British Parliament.
Over 4 hours and later on you would have noted that the one that you put into slavery in the British Empire, but in the younger days you were still member of Parliament. At that time he was going through great exercise of cold. You hadn't had deliverance and so he knew that there was one individual that would probably be able to give him some help.
Amazing dress and this was a pastor and a little older in England and so he defeated it. Whether he would go to 6000 and this cross was mine, that is fine. Finally he decided to go.
To go at night because it was not shame, perhaps.
Connected with that.
Evening gets a knock on the door and there's William will report. And as a result.
Wolf report was truly converted and went out and.
Represented Christ and many of the things that he did, but I I think of that situation where Jesus by night.
But we know that this is not the end of this story. Connection is entrepreneurs, because if we go to the 19th chapter of John, we see one of the last many of them and verse 39 or back to actor and 3013 also Nicodemus.
And what is the team doing here?
Bringing a mixture of her and our about 100 and blade so it was like so it wasn't worth it. I could be caught with it because.
Of the thing, and perhaps you can come.
Brother Steven, are you saying that God had begun the work in Nicodemus soul, but he had to learn the truth of it? Is that what you're saying? That work had already begun? He was different from the others?
No, I don't know that it necessarily presented that way to us. I think he comes on the same basis with what you see in verse 23 or 1:50. And I think it is in the conversation with the Lord that.
The work of God that begins in his soul and it's at that point then we see progression now through the gospel that ends with what our brother had. That's how I take it that he really comes and he's a sample win of of what we've had at the end of the year. A sample man of one who has just come on the basis of what he's determined on his own intellectual, but he's got to have something that's going to take place.
Soul and that's Uber and it's going to be by the power of the word and by the power of the Spirit of God and the word that the word Jesus Christ peace, that new life is going to be imparted where there was none before in Nicodemus. That's how I take it. Yes, I wondered because it does seem the Lord had begun something there at least. And if you go on to the verses beyond where we stopped it brings out the Lord is the light.
And it says there that.
Verse 19, This is the condemnation, that light is coming to the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light either cometh through the light, this his deed should be reproved. Now that's exactly what Nicodemus didn't do. It was night, but he came to the light and the others wouldn't do it. They sent out in John 7 the other verse of Nicodemus and John, they sent out someone to take him.
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They wanted to catch him. Nicodemus was probably timid, like you said, so he has to come at night, but he was going to the light. And so if he didn't have that new birth yet, certainly the Lord was working something there to produce a Nicodemus, that desire to be examined, didn't he?
Connect with Bunker with a man that there had been already been to work through what he had heard the Lord said previously.
That isn't reported here. So thank you. I believe as we as we go down the chapter, it give us a little bit more explanation how a man cannot find way to God. Doesn't matter how hard one tries. We cannot see God on our own. So what was said was a light was given. So we find that often among Christendom, they say, well when you're born again.
You are saved. I do not believe that's what this passage tells us. So when we'll get down to that shortly. One is so you can see.
Then he said after that you can enter. I won't jump too far ahead into that, but let's go back to the very first verse where you said there was a man. I believe that's important because this is saying that this is not a make up story. This is real. And as our brother mentioned in the previous verses, really it concluded that we all have seen.
And come out of the glory of God.
There is none that doeth good. No, not one. He has no confidence in any of them. And now among these men there was a man, a story of this particular man, and then, if you notice, it doesn't say his name, yet it was a Pharisee.
And I believe it's not just the thought of being a Pharisee, but I believe the thought here too is many of us can identify ourselves with the character of the Pharisees. We have children here.
It's how many of you are smart enough that when mom and dad tell you to do something or not to do something, you find a way to get around it. So perhaps mom said don't touch the candies in the candies jar.
So I know if you're like my children, they'll say, no, we didn't touch it. I took a spoon and fished it out. I didn't touch the candies. I don't know how many. Well, some of you may be smarter and come up with different ways. That in a sense is the spirit of the Pharisee, isn't it? We'll find a way to argue and say that's not so. So it's.
See our thoughts, our awe points us back to the darkness. So there was a man, he's a Pharisee. He find ways to argue with God that he's good. Oh, now it becomes personal. His name is Nicodemus.
And I trust that as the story unfolds that you and I may say, yeah, I think the Lord is speaking about me being that Pharisee, fighting with him. And not only that, he was renowned. He was a ruler. He was. He was. He's not just a nobody, He's a ruler of the Jews. He's got a responsible position. But yet.
He came by night and I'll let other comment on that.
And some already commented on it. He need a savior. And now the chapter unfolds after the process of how he needs to be born again. And then later on it tells us what eternal life is.
Actually, Nicodemus would have should have known.
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That when the Kingdom was established.
New birth would be necessary.
Versus In Ezekiel, Isaiah present to us the need of a cleansing.
By the Lord with his people.
Before they are established in the Kingdom, Nicodemus was well instructed in the Old Testament.
And he knew the stories that the Lord referred to the bitten serpent.
But he really didn't understand.
What the Lord was saying that there must be a new life and a new nature.
Imparted the Lord was going on.
To eternal life.
Which had a different character than the Old Testament. Here we are brought into the.
Knowledge of God into the family of God with a.
With an ability to understand heavenly things, Nicodemus knew that there would be an earthly Kingdom established. You should have known that new birth was necessary for that. But the Lord says.
Accept a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God, whether it be the earthly character or the heavenly character.
A new birth was necessary.
By the Spirit of God using the Word of God to bring man into a new position.
Before him having a divine life and divine nature.
Maybe we could look at a few verses that.
Illustrate man's conditions because that's important to understand. And let's start with the 1St chapter of John.
1St 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, His own received Him not.
Many has received Him then gave you power to become or the right to be the children to greed of God, even to them which believe on His name. Who is it that believes on His name? Who is it that in believing on His name now has the right to know themselves as a child of God?
And to know themselves in relationship with others of God's children. Who is it? The next verse tells us it's those which were born. Notice the tent which were born.
God of blood.
That is not by earthly heritage, nor of the will of the flesh, not my personal, my own will and determination, nor the will of the end, not by somebody else's will.
But which were born of God. That's the opening of Gospel of John. John starts where the other gospels finish. They show man tested, tested, tested and morally totally bankrupt. John starts there says we're going to start right here at the beginning and then in our chapter will be read in the end of verse 11 and he received not our witness.
Down to verse 27.
John answered and said, a man who received nothing except to be given him from heaven, verse 32, and what he has seen and heard that he testifies in no man receiveth his testimony go over to chapter 6.
44.
No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me. Draw him. The end of chapter 6, verse 65.
And he said, therefore said unto you, that no man can come unto me, except that we're given unto him of my father. Let's look at Romans chapter 3.
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Romans, chapter 3.
Verse 10 As it is written, there is none. Righteous. No, not one.
There is none that understand it.
That speech of the intellect, the mind. There is none that seeketh after God. There's a heart.
Not only not understanding, not even a desire in the heart, any movement towards God at all.
And in his fallen simple nature is completely unable to respond to God. So God has to start by giving a life that will respond.
He has to start by sovereignly imparting a life where there was no life that will desire after God, that will seek after God, that will come a life that the Father can draw.
And how does he do it? And it's called new birth by the power of the Spirit of God realizing the word of God in parts of life where there was none before. God said, let there be light.
And there was light. It's the same beginning work in the soul. Second Corinthians, chapter 4.
2nd Corinthians.
Chapter 4.
Verse four. In whom the God of this world hath blinded the mind of them which believe not, let the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Verse six What's God's remedy? Satan is involved in keeping man in this condition, but what is God is the same thing He said at the beginning of the creation.
For God has commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts.
Nevertheless, we do preach the gospel to man as a accountable creature.
With a responsibility toward God and we want to keep things in balance. Man is accountable to God and he is going to be judged on that ground.
The gospel was presented to him and he refused. It must be a work of the Spirit of God, but we need to keep these things in balance. When?
Unsaved souls stand at the judgment seat of Christ.
They're going to remember the opportunities that God gave them to believe the gospel and they refused. They are accountable. They are accountable to God and will be judged on that ground.
No one is predestinated to a lost eternity.
Man makes that by his decision.
So we, we need to keep things in balance. God so loved the world, doesn't say he so loved the elect. The heart of God is going out toward every Sinner in this world, regardless of his background. The love of God is being presented to man as a responsible creature. Is that right, Steve? Yeah, I think that's a good point. Because really, that's the beauty of this chapter.
1St we get God's work in the soul, we get Christ work on the cross, and then the appeal whosoever believeth in him. And so we get both God's work sovereignly and we get man's responsibility to receive that message. They're both here in this chapter, but in their prior order.
We get in the Old Testament.
Scores and scores of pictures and types.
Statements of men like Joe as to what the nature of man was really like, but as a revelation from God, the things we're considering this morning were not part of that revelation before the Lord Jesus came. And so the full character of man from the top of his head to the soul of his foot being corrupt.
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And without any merit. Yes, we see it prophetically speaking about Israel and Judah in Isaiah Job said, you know man, he drinks up iniquity like water and how can he be clean? That is born of a woman. He he, he felt that he expressed it. The doctrine that there was not even a shred of good in mind to reach up and save himself is not revealed until the Lord Jesus came. And so the full revelation by God himself of who and what he is.
Was concurrent with the revelation of what man is, and thank God for that. So as we see here in this beautiful chapter, I'm so glad you gave it out.
Accept a man be born anew, born as a say in the King James, born again from an entirely new source. This is not rehabilitation. This is not remodeling of that which has been proven to be unacceptable to God in its totality. This is a life that comes sovereignly from a new source. And so it says, accept a man, Jew or Gentile.
Because now when God falls back.
To his own sovereignty to work, He says, hey, I'm going to work according to my own heart and it's big and I'm not going to confine it towards you. I'm going to go out to the whosoever, to all men. And so it's except a man be born anew. He can't even see the Kingdom of God.
Read through the New Testament. I had a client once that I worked for, he said. I read through the whole New Testament.
It says all I see is some advice on how people to get along to one another.
And all the things that you and I see and enjoy, he couldn't see them at all. He read the words, but he couldn't see the Kingdom of God. Because in this context, the Kingdom of God is moral, and it's not even seen as an unbeliever.
Wonderful things. And I wonder if we could say that you know what we learned here. You love those thoughts. You know Nicodemus. Nicodemus.
He, he, he's only having the ability, he said.
You're a teacher, and I have the feeling you've learned.
Well, the Lord stops it, and he says he must be born again.
But what's the Lord doing? Can they ask? But what's the Lord doing this? He's not doing a work. Set you not free.
You're our client when you want and a lot of times you you want to do or not do.
We want to credit or smoking credit, but it's all based on ourselves and there's the UPS and the downs and the unhappy days and so on and so on. And we never really learned the love of God, how powerful it is and how extensive life is very in in churches, so many demons.
These one of us isn't a wonderful moment that we are saying yes, this isn't a more wonderful moment when we say free, I agree doesn't depend on me the pants on like many of our brother.
You know the love of God because we often use the phrase that God is love and God is light. The love and the light goes together. We don't have just half and say well God is love, so how come he allows certain things to happen? Well, we have to remember the governmental side of God, that he is a God of love. I mean a God of light as well as a God of love. Now if we go back to the beginning of the Bible.
What do we find the condition of this earth in the very, very beginning? And some of your children may remember reading Genesis chapter one. And if you don't read it again, what was the condition of this earth?
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It was without form and void, and they said, and darkness was upon the face of this earth. This world begins with darkness.
What was it like when they crucified the Lord of Glory?
Again.
Why would you and I too fall into this category that we need to be born again? And what does it mean?
Not too long ago I was able to reread a book that I had read some years ago.
Deal with the life of the German missionaries. Name was Samuel.
Come perhaps that read the fact called Phoenix tough, but he was very influential in bringing many.
British soldiers who are saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
On one occasion, one officer.
Further through it and said no way will I let him into my tent when he comes to visit.
So on a different occasion there was a very hot afternoon.
Was in the encampment.
At the Sanford, your footsteps approaching.
And he said I seem powerless to resist.
We pay attention to say no, get out.
But this man who was somewhat a separate and.
He did not really have a good grasp of the English language, in fact.
Said that the only mastered about 550 words and the English language, yet he was very effective.
And when he *****.
Officer.
That he looked at the man, he was a major I believe, and he pointed to the shelf. He said get the book. Well, he had books on military tactics and other books, but he knew what even was telling the joke.
Bible the position to him when he first sent him to service, and he said to him, open the book.
Read Genesis one and verse 2 which I will read and learn. And darkness was upon the face of the deep.
Very hot move upon the face of the water, and he prayed with this major.
Within a few minutes, let's say we're on the same line either approach the fence again.
And he did the same thing. He pointed to the shelf. He said get the books.
And against that read Genesis one verse two. And he read it. He prayed with him and left.
And then the third day.
He said enter, stop. Make your step at that.
And he said get the book which is applied with and he said read Genesis one and verse 3.
Let there be light and there was light so between.
Day 2 and day three.
Might go on upon that man's soul. He was under conviction.
Last week he came to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus, but he was in a place of darkness, needed to be brought into a place of life.
In this chapter, we are pulling back the cover.
You know, there's an engine and it works and there be a latch on it, what it is, and you can open up and you can see inside, Steven was saying in his first comments. And realize it's God which worketh in US both to will and to do with his good pleasure.
And that's the side of it we're looking at in the beginning of this chapter. Is God's side what he does under the cover.
And he works by the communication of life. And so really, we're passive in new birth.
It's not something we can do. I learned this as a young brother holding gospel meetings. I made the mistake one time of telling everybody that they must be born again. A man comes up to me and says I want to be born again. How do I do it? I was speechless. I didn't know how to tell him to do. I couldn't do it and he couldn't do it. I, I stopped, I preached more as the way John was saying and not so much of this side. I put the cover back on. And you present to man his responsibility because God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.
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And he's appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he after ordained. That's the gospel message. But we're looking under the cover this morning, and it's wonderful to see that that it's God's work. First, the Spirit moved upon the waters when there was nothing but darkness and chaos.
And spirit moves on the water and says, let there be light. And so as we read in our fifth verse, except a man to be born, it's a passive. I think that's the right verb tense. I'm not a grammar student, but it's except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. This is something that God does and he indicates to us the the the means with with which which he uses.
Uses the water and the spirit and by other passages in James and first Peter one and other passages like that we see that the water is the word of God. Let's just turn to first Peter one is one example without I don't want to be tedious. I know most understand these things very well.
First Peter chapter one.
Verse 23.
And reading it in a very better translation, having been born again. You can check it if you've got.
Translations having been born again.
Not a corruptible seed, but by incorruptible by the word of God.
Since we're almost at James anyway, we're back to James chapter one.
Verse 17 is nice to connect with this James one and 17 every good gift.
And every perfect gift is from above and from the down, from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. And then?
And Speaking of God's goodness from above, verse 18 of his own will.
Even read in John one, not by the will of man, or the will of the flesh, or by blood, but of His own will, God's own will begat He us the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures. And so it uses in John three the figure of the water.
It could have said, except a man be born of the word and the spirit, but it uses the figure of water.
And I think that's very interesting and instructive because what does water do?
Am I not speaking loud enough?
What can you turn the mic up?
What does water do? I'm not a good shouter. It it, it washes as well as that's the figure from the word. It's the effect of the word, not just the use of the word, if I could put it that way. And it's not necessarily a gospel verse. That's a God that God uses in his work.
Read back in Genesis chapter one and God said and it goes down through those two chapters over and over again he spoke and so we have in this chapter of God speaks and by his spirit he makes the word effectual in your soul and mind or we wouldn't have life at all, let alone follow on with the fruits of it. So I thought this might be a different.
That word is so helpful. Also I think just born.
When it comes to Ephesians, it speaks about you happy, quick and who were dead. It's the same thought that you don't have anything to do with that, do you? You're dead. How do you, being dead, get life? You obviously have nothing to do with it. And it's the same with being born, isn't it? Just the very thought? Yes, it's the impartation of a life. But.
Well, I think we all understand that. When I was born the first time, I don't remember it. I don't have anything, didn't have anything to do with it other than being there. My mother sure remembers it.
And God knows when we're born.
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But we ourselves don't know that. We come into a realization later on. God brings us into that. So it's a really good word to help us understand, isn't it?
When when you get the expression born again, would you say it's the same thing that's happening when you get the expression born again or born anew? It makes an assumption. You had a life, but it's corrupt, it's ruined.
It's without any response towards God at all. You need a whole new beginning, a new life.
When it's the word quickening, it's it's saying you're dead.
And trespassers and sin doesn't even recognize you as having a life.
But you need a life quicker, slightly different, but it's the same work of the Spirit of God. And the flood is a beautiful picture of what we have. What happened with the flood? There was the world falling into sin and corruption and violence. And God brings in the flood. It wipes clean the whole world and it introduces a new world.
Upon which Noah stepped out of the ark into a new world.
The Spirit of God uses the Word of God and he and the Word of God pronounces death upon that old fallen nature that we have, and it has a cleansing power and prepares the way, as it were, for the impartation of a new life in that soul that it didn't have the force just like the flood. Two things except the man.
Be born again. He cannot see.
And he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God again. The Lord does not say that. Nicobas, Nicodemus, you better go out and get born again.
Not what he's saying. He's saying a fact. Except the man he born again. Except there's this whole new beginning, a life from a new source. There's nothing.
When one when a soul is born of God, there's two things that happen.
It sees things that never saw before and I appreciate your comments earlier, Brother Tim. Maybe that's next to work in the soul of Nicodemus. Even previous to this, he's seeing things he never saw before. The soul foresees things now because of that new life that never saw before. It sees believers. It sees things in their life and says, I like that. I would like that for me.
What is that? What is the problem for it's It's like.
That prodigal in John 15 that came to himself and he said I'm in trouble.
And a soul becomes, not only does it see things in others, it becomes aware of controlled condition. I'm in trouble. I perish with hunger. And it's this, you know, back in my father's house, there's good things there. I like that. Warriors running away. He was unaware that he was dying.
Until it says he came from God. That's really a picture of new bird. He now sees things he never saw and appreciates things he never saw before. The second thing is, is that outside the converse there is no entrance into God's Kingdom. The flesh is the flesh, and that's what the next portion tells us. It never is going to change. It's never going to be revitalized. It's never going to be reformed. That which is.
Born of the flesh is flesh. It will never change. You need a life from God. You should be born of God. And so it's a statement of fact, the Lord giving, not an exhortation of Nicodemus. This is what you need to do.
The initial effect of God working in a soul is not necessarily enjoyable. Matter of fact, it can be just the opposite.
Gordon Hale used to tell a story of AI, can't remember whether it was a seaman or a San on his ship. And he was misbehaving and they tried everything. They finally put him down into the hold and there he was in darkness, living in his own excrement. And they passed down water and day after day there was no change in he was down there in his own filth. And they didn't know what to do to bring the the the young man around. Finally someone said.
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I have an idea, send a light down there, send the light down into the pit and you could see what he had on. He would see what he was in the filth and all of the rest and he cried for mercy and said I went out. So the initial work of the Spirit of God is repentance towards God and then faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. So when a soul starts to work, don't, don't be too hasty. Don't as a brothers used to say, maybe it was Ernie Wakefield, don't pick unripe fruit.
And justice, let it ripen and let someone Stew in their juices. And if they're exercised about things, that's good. Let them stay right there till it's time for them to lay hold. We'll get that later on in the chapter. Usually when we read through John three people get too impatient and they want to run to John 315 to 16. We'll see how how we hold up here, but that comes later. So it is repentance and it's a painful thing. I was a miserable young man for two weeks.
After the light of God shined in my soul, the miserable young man. And so it is. Repentance is the work of God, and thank God for it.
Learning or seeing it says here in chapter one of our books it says verse 11.
Seeds in law.
Matthew.
Well, what's it doing here? Please just bless us and see who's being rejected. And Matthew, they wanted me. They wanted a Superman, and they weren't accepted it. They want to say yes, he can do it.
He has sword and shield cover and he's a fighting warrior and he's real now. That's the kind of man we want.
Thinking of our eyes being open.
And we say.
It's what God help.
They might have had a 2 from that. If they wouldn't have, they wouldn't have. They wouldn't have the one of those life in the world as it.
See that?
You're so much more into your brother and I feel my suspicions.
I certain things I see, but I have to admit your.
Like you said, I'm not.
I haven't seen my feet walking in. I see a lot in my feet so.
Last year that discovered a wonderful thing that is we're learning about every day, but in life that has never and never will be matched.
The Lord has his friends ruling in the lips, the Millennium and himself. So he's no Google never was a wonderful to see that and then to enter into a long part of that to say, yeah, I want to come under his jurisdiction, under his mind, under his laws. I want to be under that because that is why we see that.
Dropout humidity. The Lord doesn't want one of them.
He doesn't want one of us role on things.
There's a scripture in Ecclesiastes that says the.
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The light is sweet and it's a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold the sun. Well, we might say it's not very sweet when the light exposes our condition as.
Helpless, hopeless, held downstairs exposes the fact that we're calling for us that the priority of the first man, the light, exposes it. But The thing is, at the same time, the light reveals the solution to the problem, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, I can walk into my garage and turn on the light and I see.
Well, there's dirt all over the floor of this garage. It's not a pleasing thing, but the light also shows you that up against the wall there's a broom and a dust pack to take care of the problem. So you know God, even though he would bring before us our problem.
He never leaves us without the remedy, and the remedy is Christ. It's all about Him, I noticed here.
You know, it speaks about that which is born of the flesh is flesh. There's no good to be found in the flesh. The Lord Jesus said home and John chapter 6 I believe it's the spirit that quickens capital S the Holy Spirit is what quickens in parts life.
But the flesh profits nothing.
Turn over to Romans, pasta, fall, he says. I know that in me that is in my flesh dwells no good thing. Now the world doesn't want to hear that they're trying to improve the flesh, reform it, educate, cultivate it, make something good out of it. No, you got to set it up and we got to realize we need a brand new life. And it's God that imparts that I really appreciate.
Being said here today because, you know, a dead man lies there on the floor, what can he do for himself?
Nothing.
And there's nobody that can impart life but God himself.
So God begins to work, and it's wonderful how he begins it, but he carries it on.
I was just noticing too. I'm sure others have enjoyed this in verse 7.
Lord says to Nicodemus, Marvel not that I said unto thee, You must be born again.
It's been referred to as The sinners must.
There's three must here in John 3.
The second must is found in verse 14. Maybe we could call this the saviors must. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up to whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have it eternal life. So the Savior is the answer to the sinner's problem. But what about the third must been referred to as the Saints must.
Verse 30 He must increase, I must.
Decrease.
So as believers, he recognized that the Lord Jesus.
Has been the answer to our problem and love willing to do the work required for our redemption.
And it causes us.
A response in our souls. The love of Christ is what constrains us. Our desire is consult His name and to magnify the Lord together.
And it's so wonderful, the Viennese meetings here today and get the sense that the desire in this conference, at this meeting is to excel Christ.
That he might increase and that we might decrease.
I think it's important to see and.
The Gospel of John that we have a transitional character to the gospel.
The eternal life spoken of is the very life of Christ in resurrection, a life that he enjoyed with the Father from a past eternity. Of course, it's not deity imparted, but it's a life that has the.
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Ability to understand the very things of God, to connect us with a heavenly portion.
Nicodemus was familiar with the Kingdom being established, and he should have known that cleansing was needed for that Kingdom to be established. But the Lord in his ministry is connecting us with a heavenly portion. But as to the.
Sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. We do not know anything about the decrees of God.
We we do not understand.
Who the elect are, so we are.
Commanded to preach the gospel to every creature.
And.
And repentance. The Lord spoke about repentance.
And putting man in on a responsible in a responsible position. So we are to remember that the heart of God is going out to whosoever, however great a Sinner he may be, and the grace of God can meet that that need.
As as he did here and as he did in chapter four with the woman of Samaria.
We sing #15.
All that we were, our sins, our guilt, our death was all our own. All that we are, we owe to thee, Thou God of grace alone.