Tell the Truth

FCF: We make sharing the Gospel hard when it doesn’t have to be. Jesus gave us the example of how it is supposed to be

Intro: growing up, cleaning my room by shoving everything under the bed and in to the closet

3 truths about jesus and how to tell people about him

TS: As we walk through this passage Jesus is communicating to Nicodemus about how to have a relationship with Jesus and to us as well, but we want to be a people who communicate the gospel as active part of our walks w the Lord and so we can take the teachings of Jesus and apply it to how we tell people about Jesus. So tonight we are looking at the story of Nicodemus and how Jesus told him about how he can have a relationship with Jesus, and how we can do the same.

Tell the truth about what it takes v. 1-14

Now 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 him, “Truly, truly, 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, “Truly, truly, 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 its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

BG: When Jesus encountered Nicodemus, this man came to him at night bc he was a Pharisee, and for a Pharisee to speak to Jesus, it would have been borderline scandalous.

Nicodemus was an expert on the scriptures, he knew the OT forward and Backwards. But he did not know the truth

He did not realize what it takes

It takes a change

Jesus tells Nic that the change you have to make is to be born again

Nic has the same reaction that we have to some of our southern sayings

Finer than a frog hair

Nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs

Putting lipstick on a pig

That when you hear these things they make you scratch your head

But when we understand them they make perfect sense

Jesus is telling Nic that because of your sin you need to be made new

That you need to be cleansed by water and reborn in the spirit so that you are a new person

You have been completely changed because of Christ

This change is evident in how we live our life, spend our time, our money, not because you are suddenly better but because Christ has worked in your life you are a changed.

It takes faith

Not only is there a change but the critical component is that it takes faith

That following Jesus is an act of faith

That what it takes to follow is putting your faith in Jesus

That we dont get to see jesus until we meet him face to face

But we get to see the evidence of him, we see how he works hust as we see the evidence of the wind

Our faith is a reflection of the change that is made in our life you can make all kinds of changes but when we look at what it takes to follow jesus it takes a change but what makes it eternally changing is the faith you place in jesus as your lord and savior

We have this faith because of what Jesus tells us right here in his word

When we communicate to people about christ what he did for us we tell them the action steps of what it takes but wear ealso telling them about the truth of His love

Tell the truth of His Love v. 16-17

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

He loves everyone

That when we read v 16 there are two words that standout to us

The world- kosmos, the earth

Whoever- pas (pass) call any ever

These woods signify to us that god’s love stretches the span of the whole world and everyone that fills this world

This love that we read about it does not come with a qualifier that we dont have to do anything to receive this love

That werely existing allows us to receive this love

This is something foreign to us because every other type of love we receive is conditional

Your parents love because your there kid

Abbey loves me because i am her husband

But every other type of love there is a reason there is some type of qualifier

But the love that christ shows is simply because we are here

So when we share the gospel we need to tell people that Jesus loves us no matter what we do because his love is for everyone

His love redeems

Not only is jesus love unconditional bit it also redeems

That jesus was sent by God to save the world and not to condemn

That because of jesus wwe can be redeemed from the thing that separated us

That Jesus love is saving us from our sin

We live in a world that is constantly trying to fix problems whether it is medical governement societal we always trying to fix something

But there is one problem that we can not fix which is sin in our life

“We could no more save ourselves than a baby could birth himself” matt carter and Josh wredberg

That is the kind of relationship that we have w saving ourselves from our sin

That is why we need the redemption of jesus

That is why we need to tell others about him

As we are telling people the truth about Jesus theres a certain point where we have to tell them about the reality of the truth of the gospel

Tell the truth of the Reality v. 18-21

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

The choice that we make about Jesus determines the outcome of where we will spend eternity when we passs on from this life

We have a choice: Love God or Love the World

A love for God and believing the truth of Jesus means we will have life

But this is a choice that has to be made that you either choose to have faith in Jesus and live your life serving him because of the grace and the mercy that he showed you by sending his son or you choose to spend your life loving the world which lead to a life of death and despair