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Pastor
Here we find ourselves in John, chapter three. If you're there, say Amen. We're going to read the first 21 verses. This chapter here is so rich. John, chapter three, the very last gospel of the four in the New Testament. And it says this in John 3, verse 1. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said to him, how can these things be? Verse 10. Jesus answered and said to him, are you the teacher of Israel and do not know these things? Most assuredly I say to you. We speak what we know and testify what we have seen, and you do not receive our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but he who came down from heaven, that is the Son of man who is in heaven. Verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world. And men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing Evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be clearly seen that they have been done in God. The title of our Bible study today comes in the form of a question. Have you been born again? Let's pray. God, we commit our Bible study to you now. We ask that you would touch our lives. We ask that we would encounter the spirit of the living God today. Lord, you be our teacher. Use your word now and the power of your spirit to accomplish your purposes in our lives. We're here to hear from you. We trust that you desire to speak to us. So would you just come now, pour out your spirit upon us. Teach us. Lord, I pray that for those who don't know you, they would come to know you in a very personal way today. For those of us who do know you, who have been walking with you, mature us, refine us, and draw us into deeper depths of fellowship with you today. We love you, we praise you in Jesus name and all God's people together said, amen. Growing up, my dad would often just kind of pile us kids into the car and we'd go on drives. And it was one of those things that I was like, why do we always have to go on drives? And there was never even like a destination in mind. We would just pile in the car and we would go on drives. And one of the questions that us kids would pester my parents with is, where are we going? Where are we going? Because I didn't like to just hop in the car and not know. I wanted to know, where are we going? And then I can just kind of relax and enjoy the rest of the drive. Well, here today, I think in Bible study, it's always good to let the people know where we're going. And so I want to make my heart very clear for us today, because my dad, when he's in the pulpit, he's taking us through the Bible, and we're currently in the book of Colossians. But when one of us has the opportunity to fill for him, he kind of gives us the freedom just to park it wherever we feel led to. And so I could not escape John chapter three. I felt like the Lord was just bringing this chapter, and I couldn't focus on any other part of the Bible other than John chapter three. So we're kind of along for the drive here, and I want to give you the destination up front. My heart for our time together today is that if you do not know Jesus Christ. If you have no idea what it means to be born again, that you would be born again today, that you would come to Christ, that you would know him in a personal way, that you would know that God loved you so much that he sent his son to die on a cross for your sins. And you can have peace with God today by trusting in Jesus. That's my heart for us. That's where I'd like to take us. And there's no better passage in the Bible than John chapter three to explain to us what it means to truly have peace with God, to be right with him, and to be born again. And we're going to unpack this chapter through the eyes of this one man. His name is Nicodemus. Nicodemus. He has a private conversation with Jesus and he's confused about the purpose of Jesus ministry. Like, who in the world is this Jesus figure? And so before we get into what it means to truly be born again, we're going to look at the man Nicodemus and check out verse one with me. It says there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. So we. We understand a few things here. Nicodemus is a Pharisee and he's a ruler of the Jews. What are those two things mean? Well, first, Nicodemus is a Jew, but he has a Greek name. His name in the Greek is two Greek words combined. Nikos meaning victory, or today we say Nike the swoosh. Nikos meaning victory, Nike meaning victory, and demas meaning the people. So his name in the Greek means victory of the people. Nikos Demas, a Jewish man who has a Greek name, victory of the people. And it's pretty fitting because the Bible says he's a Pharisee. If you were a Pharisee, you had reached the pinnacle of legalistic Judaism. Pharisees strictly held to the Mosaic Law, regulations and traditions of the Old Testament. But the Bible says he's not only a Pharisee, but he is a ruler of the Jews. What does that mean? It means he's a part of the Jewish ruling council, also known as the Sanhedrin. It's kind of like the Supreme Court of those days. And then again we see in verse 10, Jesus answered and said to him, are you the teacher of Israel? And you don't understand these things? So we see that Nicodemus is not just a Pharisee. He's not just a part of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. He is the teacher of Israel, Jesus calls him. So we see that Nicodemus is religious. He has power, he has influence. And then we get a sneak peek into how Nicodemus perceives Jesus. Verse 2, it says, this man Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. So here we have the first Nick at night, says he came to Jesus by night. What's the implication there? Means this guy is a guy of reputation. So he meets Jesus by night to somehow, perhaps uphold some kind of reputation he has with his religious circle, comes to Jesus secretly by night, and he says to him, rabbi, which is a respectful title that means teacher. Rabbi, we know that you're a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. So we learn a few things about how Nicodemus perceives Jesus, calls him Rabbi, respectful title that means teacher. He sees Jesus as a respected teacher, but not only that, he says, who comes from God. Meaning Nicodemus understands that Jesus is no ordinary man. And he also recognizes that Jesus is a miracle worker. He says no one could perform these signs unless God was with him. So Nicodemus, being this religious man of influence and power and prestige, he recognizes Jesus as this respected teacher, no ordinary man who performs signs and wonders. But what's interesting to note is that this man, Nicodemus, he's going to be confronted with the reality that despite his social standing, despite his influence, despite his education, despite his religiosity, despite, and his deep respect for Jesus, all of this still is not enough to enter into the kingdom of God. His social standing, his influence, all of it still not enough. I think Nicodemus represents many of us today. It's possible to be religious, influential, powerful, highly educated. And it's possible to believe that Jesus existed as an actual historical figure, to respect his teachings, to think he was a good man, a holy man, even a miracle worker come from God. And yet all of that is still not enough to enter into the kingdom of God. Again, that might represent some of you here today. You see Jesus as this historical figure who actually existed. You see Jesus as a good man, a holy man, a teacher, a good prophet. And I'm here to tell you, Jesus is about to burst that kind of a bubble. Understanding Jesus to be those things is good, but it is not enough to enter into his kingdom. So what needs to happen? How can one be certain? How can one know that they know that they're right with God and headed for the kingdom of God? The answer is in verse 3. Jesus answered Nicodemus and said to him most Assuredly I say to you that unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. What Jesus is basically saying to Nicodemus is, okay, you see me as a good teacher, awesome. You see me as a respected rabbi, great. You see me as no ordinary man come from God who's able to do signs and wonders, great. That's awesome. But that is still not enough. Verse 3, you must be born again. Your access into the kingdom of God, into heaven is by being born again. It's more than just recognizing me as a good historical figure who existed, who did a lot of good stuff and taught good stuff. You have to be born again. And to further explain what this new birth is, what it means to be born again, Jesus is going to talk about these three things with Nicodemus. He's going to talk about the womb, the wind and the wilderness. To really stamp this truth on Nicodemus heart about what it truly means to be born again, he's going to talk about the womb, the wind and the wilderness. First, the Womb Again, verse 3, Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, you can circle that phrase in your Bibles. Born again. Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. That phrase born again, the Greek word for again, it's anothen and it means again. It can also mean to be born from above. Unless one is born again or born from above, he can't see the kingdom of God. Now verse four, Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? So when Jesus talks about being born again, Nicodemus mind naturally goes to physical birth. How can a man be born again? How can a man enter into his mother's womb a second time? I don't get it. He's not computing. And what Jesus then is going to do, he's going to highlight the difference between the natural birth and the supernatural birth. He's going to talk about the difference between physical birth and spiritual birth. Nicodemus mind automatically goes to physical birth. And Jesus is going to say, I'm not talking about physical birth here, Nicodemus, to be born again means I'm talking about a spiritual birth that has to take place in the life of a person. And in verse 5, Jesus answered and said, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh Is flesh. That which is born of the spirit is spirit. Jesus replies to Nicodemus natural question, how can a man enter into his mother's womb again? And Jesus in verse five says, no, no, no, no. Unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Again, Jesus is explaining the difference between physical birth and spiritual birth. Now, some read John 3. 5. Some religions will tell you that this is a proof text to teach that baptism is necessary for salvation. You must be born of water, meaning baptism and the spirit. And respectfully, that is clearly not the context that Jesus is speaking in here. Jesus is talking about the difference between physical birth and spiritual birth, natural birth and supernatural birth. How do we know? Because he clarifies what he means. Again, in verse six, he says, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the spirit is spirit. There's a reason that babies come out looking like raisins. They've been in water amniotic fluid for nine months. And so when Jesus says one must be born of water and the spirit, he's talking about one must experience physical birth and then a new birth, a spiritual birth. All of us in this room, we've experienced this physical birth. We've all been born from water, from our mother's womb. And Jesus is trying to reframe Nicodemus mindset here. I'm not talking about physical birth, being born of water, being born from the womb. I'm talking about a supernatural birth. That's why he says flesh gives birth to flesh, but only the spirit can give birth to spirit. So when he talks about being born of water, he's speaking of physical birth. When he talks about being born of the spirit, he's talking about having a supernatural encounter with the living God. There's two different births. Jesus is speaking of the physical birth, the natural birth, and the spiritual birth, the supernatural birth. And Jesus is going to say, all of us have experienced physical natural birth, but only those who experience this supernatural spiritual birth can see the kingdom of God. And you have to understand, this would have gone against the grain of Nicodemus mindset. Why? Because Nicodemus is a Jew. And Jews in the Old Testament believe that they were right with God because of their physical heritage. Oh, I'm of the seed of Abraham. I'm a Jew. I've been outwardly circumcised to identify with the true God. And so this would have gone against the grain of traditional thought in Jewish culture, still does today, thinking, well, I'm of the seed of Abraham, I'm a Jew. Remember in Philippians chapter 3, where Paul would unpack his religious pedigree? He would say, I'm a Pharisee. I'm of the seed of Abraham, circumcised on the eighth day. But I count all of that loss for the sake of knowing Christ. So again, this would have gone against the grain of the Jewish mindset. Jesus is emphatic. It's not what home you're born into that matters, Nicodemus. Your family heritage or your physical birth isn't what brings you peace with God. And this goes against the grain of some of our mindsets today. See, because many of us grow up thinking, well, my. My parents are Christians. Well, I grew up going to church. Well, I was baptized as a baby. I'm an American. And many of us, as Americans, we label ourselves Christian. And so I grew up in that environment. I grew up in a religious household. So that must mean that God and I are good, right? And again, Jesus is bursting that bubble. No, it's not your physical parentage that matters. It's not the family you grew up in. It's not just slapping on the title Christian. It's not just your church attendance. Oh, well, I'm a good person. I do a lot of good stuff. And hopefully God sees that my good deeds outweigh my bad deeds. And that means that God and I are good, right? No, that is not what it means to be born again. You must encounter the spirit of the living God. Listen, humanity needs not reform of behavior, but radical conversion by the spirit of the living God. Jesus is not talking about being born again to Nicodemus, meaning, oh, good. Bad people just need to be good and good people need to be better. He's not talking about behavior modification here. He's talking about experience this new spiritual rebirth by encountering the spirit of the living God. When one places their trust in Jesus Christ. Not just bad people being good, not good people being better, you'll hear that in society. You'll hear that even in some Christian circles. Well, I just want to. I want to be the best version of myself. No, Jesus has come to do something completely different. The Bible says that all of us are bad people. No one is good. No, not one. The. There is no one righteous. No, not one. The Bible is clear. We all fall under the camper category of dirty sinners. And guess what? The news gets worse. Before you can appreciate the good news, you have to hear the bad news. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. The condition of the human heart. We're all dying of this one condition called sin. All of us. For all have sinned. Romans 3:23 says, and have fallen short of God's glory. All of us are dirty sinners. We're all dying of the same thing. And our parents, Adam and Eve in the garden, they ruined it for all of us. I was putting my daughter Blair to bed a few days ago, and I had just taken all our toys away because she was being just stubborn and rebellious. You know, I love my kids, but they're just little sinners. They're dirty little sinners. So I had to take all Blair's toys away as a consequence for her bad behavior. And I'm tucking her in bed, and she's just a little down. She's kind of crying a little bit. Just a little bit weepy and somber. I said, what's wrong, Blair? Why did Adam and Eve have to do this to us? They ruined it for all of us. I said, I know, I know. I'd still have my toys if it weren't for them. I know, I know. See, ever since Adam and Eve rebelled against a good, kind, loving God, sin entered into the human race. We're all dying of the same disease called sin. And the wages of sin is death. What is a wage? A wage is a payment. A wage is what you've earned. A wage is what is due to you. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. God is paying us in death because of our sin. That's what we've earned. That's what we deserve. God's wrath, God's judgment, eternal separation from God in a place called hell. The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So this is the good news that Jesus is trying to unpack here with Nicodemus. It's not about good people being. Being better, bad people becoming good. You need to encounter the spirit of the living God so God can transform your heart from the inside out. And you could be made right with God because of what Christ has done. And he's unpacking this here with Nicodemus. You must be born again, Nicodemus. So he talks about the womb, the difference between physical birth and spiritual birth. You have to experience spiritual birth. Nicodemus. And Nicodemus still isn't getting it. You had no say in your physical birth. You had no say in what family you were brought up in. Spiritual birth is a very different matter. And Nicodemus still doesn't get it. Nicodemus is thinking at this moment, okay, well, I can see physical birth clearly when one is born. That is something you can physically see. But how can one spot spiritual birth? Like, how in the world can I tell if someone has been spiritually been reborn? How can I know that I've been spiritually reborn? And Jesus continues to explain what it means to be born again by moving from the womb to the wind. And he's going to use the wind as another object lesson to teach Nicodemus about the new birth. Look at verse eight. In verse eight, he says, the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. What is Jesus saying there? Imagine Nicodemus and Jesus are sitting outside, and Jesus uses the wind as an object lesson. And they see the bushes rustling, they see that the leaves on the trees rustling. And he points to the wind and he says, you can't physically see the wind, but you can see the effects of the wind. And just like you can't physically see the wind, but you can see the effects of the wind as the trees blow in the distance, so too is the person who's been reborn, who's been made alive by the Spirit. You can't physically see any outward change when one surrenders to Jesus Christ, but you can certainly see the impact of a transformed life. All of you who have experienced a relationship with Jesus Christ, your life before Christ looks a whole lot different than your life after Christ. Can I get an amen? But physically on the outside, everything looks exactly the same. Even worse as we age, right? Physically on the outside, nothing changes. So Jesus is saying, just like you can see the wind, just like you can't see the wind, but you can see the effects of the wind, so is everyone born of the Spirit of God. When you come into relationship with Jesus Christ, physically you look the same. But internally, what God does by his Spirit is he transforms our lives and he works obedience in us and through us. And so a life transformed by God on the outside now looks completely different. Now you have a hunger and a thirst for righteousness and purity as you chase after God. The way you handle money is not the same before you knew Christ. And now after you know Christ, the way now you treat your spouse is way different than the way you treated your spouse before you came to know the Lord. The way you love on your kids again, the way you steward your resources and finances is completely different now that you're in Christ as opposed to the way you operated outside of Christ, the way you operated your body sexually, it's very different before Christ and now that you know Christ. And so Jesus is looking at the wind, saying, you can see the effects of the wind, even though you can't physically see it with the naked eye. And so it is so true with us, spiritually speaking. God transforms our life internally. And people notice. People know that you're different. Not on the outside, but people can spot a difference. There's something different about this guy. There's something different about this girl. I don't know what it is because I can't physically see it on the outside. But what they're trying to communicate is the fact that God has gotten a hold of your life. He's transformed you radically from the inside out. And now you follow him and you obey him in response to the work and power and spirit of God in your life. Now, what I find so funny here is that Nicodemus is still not getting it. And I love this because I would have been right there in the same boat with Nicodemus. I'm the dumbest, slowest guy in the room by far. And Nicodemus, in verse 9, he answers and says to him, how can these things be? And Jesus replies, in verse 10, are you the teacher of Israel and still you're not getting it. Now, honestly, at first glance, I kind of feel bad for Nicodemus. Like, Jesus, what are you talking about? He says, are you the teacher of Israel and you still don't understand these things? Like, when I read that, I'm like, well, how. How in the world should Nicodemus understand that one must be born again? Like, isn't being born again and being made alive by God's Spirit, isn't that like a New Testament, New Covenant thing? Absolutely not. You see, sometimes we think that the Old Testament, or the Old Covenant and the New Testament, the New Covenant, they compete, when in actuality, the Old Testament and the New Testament, they complement one another. The New Testament is a continuation or a fulfillment of the Old Covenant. How in the world should Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel, understood that one must be born again? Ezekiel 36, 26. You need to write that verse down. Go home, read Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel, chapter 36. What Jesus is going to tell Nicodemus is, Nicodemus, you're the teacher of Israel. You should have been more aware that our Old Testament prophets predicted that God was going to pour out his spirit on us. Ezekiel 36, 26. Now God is using Ezekiel in the Old Testament to communicate this truth that would be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. God's people in the Old Testament, they constantly were in just this cycle of sin. They would repent and they would come back to God. And then it wouldn't take long for them just to get back into their idolatrous ways and follow paganism and idolatry and witchcraft. And so they could not in and of themselves obey the Lord. They couldn't stay loyal to the true God. And so God would use the prophet Ezekiel to predict a day when God was going to do a new thing in their hearts. Ezekiel 36:26 says, this God is speaking. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. Check this out. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. And you will keep my judgments and do them. You see, the Old Testament predicted a day when God would transform the hearts of his people internally and he would fill them with his holy Spirit so that they could obey not in their own strength, but by the Spirit of God that indwelt within them. And Jesus is saying, you're the teacher of Israel and you don't remember that our prophets predicted that this day would come. This day is now here. You must be born again by the Spirit of God. God wants to put a new heart in you. It's not about your physical heritage. It's not about you belonging to the seed of Abraham. It's about you being born again by born anew, encountering the spirit of the living God Nicodemus. This is what Jesus is communicating here. And third and finally, to further stamp this truth upon Nicodemus heart, he then talks about the wilderness. Look at verse 14. Jesus continues. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, and even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Now what is Jesus referencing here by saying, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. He's Talking about numbers 21, what happened in numbers 21 by quick summary, Moses has just by the power of God freed the Israelites from their Egyptian slavery. They've crossed the Red Sea. Moses is bringing them through the wilderness toward the promised land. What should have been an 11 day journey ended up taking them 40 years because of their rebellion and stubbornness. And as Moses is taking them through the wilderness to the land that God has promised his People, the Bible says in Numbers 21 that God's people begin to complain against Moses and speak evil against the Lord. And you know what the Lord does to wake up his people? He sends snakes into the camp. All it would have taken for me is just seeing one snake. God, you've got my attention. And that's what happens to the people. God sends snakes into the camp. They start biting the people. The people come to Moses and say, moses, God has our attention. What must we do to be healed from these snake bites? And God tells Moses to do a very interesting thing that seems very weird on the surface. He tells Moses, I want you to fashion a snake made out of bronze. And I want you to hold that bronze snake up on a pole on a staff. And whoever looks at this snake, this bronze snake on the staff, they will be physically healed from their bites. Now, what is Jesus doing here by bringing this passage to the face of Nicodemus, Jesus is applying this to himself and he's saying, nicodemus, just as Moses lifted up that bronze serpent in the wilderness so that whoever looked to that serpent, they would be physically healed, so the Son of Man, speaking about himself, is going to be lifted up on a pole called the cross.
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Worship Leader
And.
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Pastor
And for as many people as would look to me on the cross, they would be spiritually healed, forgiven of their sin, and have everlasting life. You see, bronze in the Old Testament was a symbol or a medal of judgment. And as the people in the Old Testament looked to that snake on a pole, symbolizing judgment, they would be healed from God's judgment. And so Jesus is saying, for as many people as would look to me on the cross, they could be saved from God's judgment, not experience God's wrath or eternal separation, but they could be reconciled to a holy God by trusting in what I did for them on the cross. That's why he then goes into the most famous verses that even non believers know to this day. John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he what he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but. But that the world through him might be saved. And Nicodemus is now confronted with this reality that it's about the whosoevers, not just those who belong to the seed of Abraham, but this call Jesus is opening up to the rest of the world. Does it matter? Your religiosity, your societal standing, your economic Background, your influence, power or prestige, it all matters. Have you looked to the cross to be forgiven of your sin, to, to be made right with God? This is what Jesus is telling Nicodemus here. And he's going to mention that word believe seven times. For as many as would believe in me, Nicodemus would have everlasting life. Now that word believe, it's the Greek word pastuo. And it's much more than just an intellectual knowledge. You might be here today and you intellectually, you know and believe that Jesus was a real historical figure who existed. Maybe you even believe he died on the cross. You intellectually have come to this understanding. But when Jesus says, for whosoever would believe in me would not perish but have everlasting life. The Greek word pastuo means more than intellectual knowledge. It means to commit to, to surrender to, to trust in. This is a giving over of one's life to Jesus Christ. For as many you see, the invitation is open wide. See, Peter would say, for God desires that no one would perish but all to come to repentance. What does it mean to repent? To repent means to turn around. It means you acknowledge that you're a sinner in need of God and his saving grace through Jesus Christ. So you turn from the old life, you turn to Jesus Christ. You go from unbelief to belief, to this trust in. I am committing my life to Jesus Christ. And today, for those of you who have never done that, I want to give you an opportunity to get right with God, to be born again, to be spiritually made right in God's sight. Not by your good works, not by your good standing, but by Jesus work on the cross for you. For he says, for as many as would look to me and what I did on the cross, for as many as would trust in me, you would have everlasting life. Do you know him? Today, I want to close with this final story before I give you an opportunity to respond. Over 100 years ago, in the month of April, April of 1912, the Titanic sunk. 2,223 people were on board that ship. And at 2am the Titanic began to sink. And out of those two hundred and twenty two thousand two hundred and twenty three people on board, seven hundred and six survived. Now obviously there was no mass communication in that day or that time. And so the way that you found out whether or not your loved one on that ship made it or survived is you'd have to travel to this warehouse in Liverpool, England. And in Liverpool, England, in this Big warehouse, there was a giant chalkboard. And the manager of that warehouse, he would begin to get word who was known to be lost and who was known to be saved. And at the very top of the chalkboard, he wrote down those two different categories. Known to be lost, known to be saved. He would get in the name. He would take his piece of chalk and under one of those two categories, he would write the name. Now just imagine you had a mom or a dad on that ship. You had a son or a daughter on that boat. You had a best friend on that ship that night. And you hear of this tragedy that this unsinkable ship has just gone down. You travel to Liverpool, England, and now you're there in front of the chalkboard, just waiting with anticipation. Is my loved one's name gonna fall under the known to be saved category or the known to be lost category? See, as people entered that boat that night, there were three different classes. First class, second class, third class. But when that ship sank that night, there were only two categories that mattered. Lost and saved. See, when all of this is said and done, when our life is over, there are only two categories that matter. Are you lost or are you saved? Do you belong to God? Do you know God? Have you trusted in Jesus Christ and his finished work on the cross to forgive your sins? Or are you far from God? Running from God, don't belong to him, living in sin? There are only two categories that matter. When all this is said and done and today I want to give you an opportunity to respond. Listen, it doesn't matter. Your societal standing, your upbringing, the family you grew up in. Jesus is saying, no, it's not about physical birth. You must be born again. Do you know him in that way? Have you encountered the living God? Have you been filled with the spirit of God? Are you headed for the kingdom of God? You can know that, you know that. You know that you are headed for the kingdom of God and that you have peace with God when you surrender your life to Jesus Christ. I'm going to ask all of us to stand because I want to give some of you an opportunity to respond. Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart right now. And in Revelation, chapter three, Jesus would stay. Say, I stand at the door of your heart and I knocked. And if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me. He's speaking about personal relationship. He's not talking about religion. He's not talking about joining a specific church. He wants personal relationship with You. And right now, for some of you, he is knocking at the door of your heart and he wants relationship with you. But this has to be your decision to choose that you desire to be made right with God by letting Jesus in, by trusting in what he did. For you. See, at the beginning of Nicodemus encounter with Jesus in John chapter three, he goes and he sees Jesus privately. At the end of Jesus's life and ministry, who do we see but again, Nicodemus. And Nicodemus is one of the men who's helping Jesus. Dead, crucified bodies, helping Jesus's body off the cross. He is publicly identifying with Jesus at the end of Jesus's ministry. Some of you right now, you're kind of like, you're a little bit on the fence. You're curious about Jesus. You believe in Jesus, but it's this secrecy because of your standing or the circle you run with. Listen, today is the day where you make a public decision. I want to identify myself with Jesus Christ. I want to repent of sin. I want to trust in Christ. I don't want to just have this private Christianity. I want to publicly come to faith in Jesus Christ. Follow Nicodemus example. Surrender your life to Jesus Christ. In just a moment, Mike is going to sing this song. And as he sings, if that's you, if Jesus is calling you home today, if you want to respond and finally trust in Christ today, I'm going to ask that, as Micah sings that you make this bold public declaration of your faith, you respond by coming down front and standing right down here. And then for as many as are down front, I will lead you in a collective word of prayer to trust in Christ today, right now, maybe for some of you, your heart is beating because you want to do that, but it's embarrassing. Like, do I really have to get up out of my seat and come forward? Listen. Yes, publicly identify with Jesus Christ. If you can't publicly be bold for Jesus in here, in a safe place where people will applaud your decision, there's no way you're gonna boldly publicly live for Jesus out there. So do it here. This is a safe place where people will applaud your decision. This is the best decision you can ever make to fully surrender to Jesus Christ. So I'm casting the net out wide for those of you who want to trust in Jesus for the very first time and be born again. And even for those of you, you're a believer, but you've been wandering far from the Lord. You've been indulging in sin. You've been running from the Lord. You've been doing things you know you shouldn't be doing. And today you want to repent and recommit your life to Jesus Christ. This call is for you, too. So Micah's going to sing. If this is you, you know who you are. Come, respond. Encounter the living God. Come forward, and for again, as many as are down front, I will pray, and I'll lead you in this collective word of prayer to trust in Christ. Micah's going to sing. If this is you, listen, I don't want anyone to feel like I'm forcing them or compelling them. This is your decision. Maybe. Maybe you'd look at a friend and a friend would go down with you. But do not leave this place with regret. Today is the day of salvation. Micah's gonna sing. If that's you, you come.
- [41:25]
Worship Leader
Now.
- [41:25]
Pastor
You respond. You come.
- [41:28]
Worship Leader
Come. This is my desire to wonder you. Lord, with all my heart, I worship you. All I have within me, I give you praise. All that I adore is in you, Lord. I give you my heart, I give you my soul. I live for you alone. Every breath that I take, every moment I'm awake, Lord, have your way in me, Lord, I give you my heart and I give you my soul. I live for you alone. Every breath that I take, every moment I'm awake, Lord, have your way in me.
- [43:27]
Pastor
Praise God for those who are coming. I don't want to prolong or belabor this moment, but I also don't want to rush through it. If the Lord is tugging on your heart, don't leave without coming to Christ. You join these people down front. We'll wait for you. If there's anybody else. Today is the day of salvation. God loves you, and he displayed that 2,000 years ago on a cross so that you might know him in a true way. Come to him today. Don't delay again. I don't feel like I'm forcing you. This is your decision, but don't leave here with regret. I'll wait one second longer. There's anybody else who wants to come forward, you come. You come. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Anybody else? Listen, I have all day. I could wait here all day. I don't want to, but I will. For those of you who've come down front, you're making the most important decision of your life, because this impacts your eternity. And so I'm going to lead you in a collective word of prayer. You be bold about this. You pray it out loud. There's nothing magical about repeating a prayer after me. But this is your heart, your attitude to God, wanting to be made new and trust in Jesus Christ. So I'm going to pray this prayer. I'm going to go slowly enough so you can repeat it after me. But you pray it with. Pray it out loud with all boldness and Jesus will respond. He'll come into your life by his spirit. And this is what it truly means to be born again. So you pray this, say, dear Jesus, forgive me of my sins. Today I choose to be born again. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and I believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead. Save me today. I'm giving you my life. I trust in you today. Thank you for the promise of heaven. Fill me with your spirit. From this day forward, I'm all yours and you're mine. In Jesus name and all God's people together said Amen and amen. Hey, don't go anywhere. We got Bibles. The pastors are going to go ahead and pass out Bibles. Even if you have a Bible, still take a Bible to remember today's decision. God loves you. You're now a part of his family. You are born again. God loves you. I love you. God bless you guys. We'll see you next time.