Top 10 Lessons From Christ And Nicodemus

INTRO:The conversations that Jesus had with people one on one were so amazing, and in the book of John in the first 4 chapters you had 2 doozies! Mr Religious (Nicodemus) & Mrs Irreligious (The Samaritan woman at the well)

PLEASE STAND FOR THE READING OF GOD’S WORD!

John 3:1–21 (NKJV) 1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 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.”

3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4 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?”

5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 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.”

9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 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. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

18 “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. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

PRAY!!!!

10. Pursue The Truth

John 3:2 “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.”

You notice the text says that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. I think Nicodemus knew that his lucrative job (he was a member of the Sanhedrin) I mean he can’t be seen hanging around someone like Jesus, right? Yet there was something about Jesus that drew him in.

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Jesus, The Way, The Truth and The Light was sitting right in front of him, the promised messiah sat right there next to him having a conversation with him, can you even imagine?

You’ll see later on, that it did have an effect on Nicodemus

9. Your Religiosity Has Zero Effect On Your Salvation

John 3:1 “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.”

This man was as religious as you could possibly be!

Nicodemus was one the elite educators of God and His law: Yet he was as lost as last years Easter egg

Even Jesus acknowledged Nicodemus role as “The teacher of Israel

John 3:10 “Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?”

You know that had hurt poor Nicodemus’s feelings and pride..

8. Being “Born Again” Is Only To Enter The Kingdom Of God

John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

1 Peter 1:23 “having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,”

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

7. You Must Be Born Of The Spirit

John 3:5 “Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

Water=Natural physical birth. Spirit=Holy Spirit

Jesus was not teaching that one must be baptized in water in order to be saved.

being born of the Spirit is a spiritual birth that is necessary for salvation

Titus 3:5 “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,”

6. Knowledge Alone Will Not Get You Far

1 Corinthians 8:1–2 “We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.”

1 Timothy 6:20 “O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge”

Your understanding of God’s greatness should make you want to share it with others

You have never truly found Jesus if you do not tell others about Him!

Charles Spurgeon

Affection for Jesus will mean action.

James 2:24 “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.”

One of the most unsettling accounts that Jesus talks about is found in the book of Matthew and should make every one of us to reflect..

Matthew 7:21–23 ““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

5. Believe

John 3:12 “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”

God does things that make no earthly sense. He wants to know if you’ll believe even though the cure looks absolutely ridiculous. Jesus in verse 14 eludes to the account of the “fiery snakes that God sent into the camp because of the Israelites continual whining, thats found in Numbers 21.

Just remember that God’s ways, are not your ways

Isaiah 55:8–9 ““For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Jesus even said we have to have “childlike faith”

And don’t forget :

Proverbs 3:5–6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”

4. One Way, One Key, One Entrance

Jesus!!

“There are many roads that lead to God.” FALSE!

John 3:15 “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Acts 4:12 “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.””

1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,”

It’s Jesus only

3. God’s Love Is The Motivation

John 3:16 “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.”

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

2. The Light vs. The Darkness

John 3:19–21 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved 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.”

People in darkness love to tell you their excuses for not believing..

“The biggest bunch of hypocrites in the world are Christians.” “The Bible is outdated.”

“God killed innocent people in the O.T” “The most judgmental people in the world are Christians.”

A True Encounter With Jesus Will Change You

You see Nicodemus slowly start coming around. first he is sneaking around at night to to talk to Jesus.

John 12:42 “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue;”

then you see him in:

John 7:50–51 “Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”

Nicodemus trying to defend Jesus.

Then look at this:

John 19:39–42 “And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.”

Dear Lord in Heaven..Can you imagine the piercing through the heart that Nicodemus must have felt, knowing his people that he taught at the temple just killed God’s son, The Messiah. I can only imagine what went through Nicodemus’s mind, the haunting recollection of his time spent talking face to face with God’s son, Jesus the long awaited Messiah..

CALL UP WORSHIP!!

IN CLOSING:

Ultimately, Jesus will ask every single one of us this one question

Who am I to You? Who do you say I am?

PRAY!!