How Can I Be Certain I’m Going To Heaven?

How Can I Be Certain I'm Going to Heaven?

John 3:1–21  ·  “Heaven: The Certain Hope” series

Ricky Powell, Senior Pastor

In this series on heaven, we've been answering questions people have about heaven. That prompted one of our church members to send me a list of silly questions, not about heaven, just about life. So let me share a few of those with you.

Why isn't phonics spelled phonetically?

What's another word for synonym?

Why do we drive on a parkway but park in a driveway?

Isn't it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do “practice”?

Where do forest rangers go to get away from it all?

If a turtle loses its shell, is it naked or homeless?

Is atheism a non-profit organization? (Some of you will get that one on the way home.)

If you work at a bookstore and someone asks where the self-help section is, should you tell them?

Why don't you ever see the headline “Psychic Wins Lottery”?

Why is the word “abbreviated” so long?

Should I be worried that the man who invests all my money is called a broker?

And if “con” is the opposite of “pro,” is congress the opposite of progress? (I'll leave that one with you to decide.)

There are some questions in life that are just silly. We can entertain ourselves with those. But then there are some questions that are serious, sublime, spiritual.

Years ago in Jacksonville, our church would regularly conduct what we called spiritual and moral surveys of our community. We'd stand at a street corner with a sign inviting people to give their opinion on moral or spiritual issues facing our community, and on how the church ought to be helping people. One of the questions I was trained to ask was, “In your personal opinion, what do you believe it takes for a person to go to heaven?” That's a great way to ask it, because people love giving their opinion. We're not going to debate or argue, just, in your opinion, what does it take? I'd say ninety-nine percent of the people who answered gave what I'd call a works answer. W-O-R-K-S. A works answer.

They'd say something like, “Well, you just need to be good. If the good in your life outweighs the bad, you're probably going to make it to heaven. Be a good husband or wife, a good parent, a good neighbor. Pay your taxes. Don't be like the bad people, murderers, adulterers. Don't be like those people. But if you're good, if you're sincere, you'll make it to heaven.” Some people would tell me that all roads lead to heaven, that all religions lead to heaven. A works answer.

I would then follow up with this question: “Would you mind if I shared with you how Jesus would answer that?” Because here's what I've discovered, even people who don't care for organized religion have a respect for Jesus. Many people want to know what Jesus says. And I'll be honest with you: he's really the only authority to which we ought to look when it comes to that life-and-death question, how can I be certain that when I die I'll go to heaven?

If Jesus spoke on that topic, I want to know it. I want to know what he said. I can't always trust what other people tell me. I don't always trust my own views and opinions. But I fully trust the word of Jesus. There was nothing in his life that was untrustworthy. The way he spoke, even his critics had to say, “We can find no deceit in him.” The way he treated people, he was full of grace and truth. He loved the unlovely. He accepted those the religious establishment pushed away. He reached out to sinners. He helped people at every opportunity.

If anyone earned the right to speak into our lives about this question, how can we be certain we'll go to heaven when we die, it's Jesus. And that's where I want to take you today: the Gospel of John, chapter 3, a conversation Jesus had with a religious leader of his day named Nicodemus. Over the next few minutes, let's look at verses 1 through 21 of John chapter 3. I'd invite you to open your Bible there. I'll also have the words on the screen, but there's nothing like seeing it with your own eyes from your own copy of God's Word. I'll read from the English Standard Version this morning.

In John chapter 3, Jesus encounters a man who comes to him with spiritual questions, wanting to have a spiritual conversation. I love this about him, because we can learn something from him: sometimes you need to stop asking everyone else in your life these questions and just go straight to Jesus and ask him. That's what we're going to do today, through the Word of God and through our time together, just hear what Jesus has to say.

Many of you are already followers of Jesus. You know this passage. You know what he's going to say. But my prayer is that you'll hear it as if for the first time, and that God will speak to you in a new way today as you celebrate what it means to be certain that your sins are forgiven and heaven is your home. But perhaps there's somebody here who needs to hear this, because you need to settle this matter today, in your own heart and mind and soul: how can I be certain?

In this series we're talking a lot about heaven; what it's going to be like, what we're going to see and do, the new bodies we'll get one day that will never be sick, never suffer, never die again when Christ returns. But all of that is for nothing if you don't have a personal relationship with God. And that's what Jesus is going to talk to us about.

Let's do this. I'm going to read these twenty-one verses out loud from the ESV while you read silently from your copy of God's Word. Then I want to give you three responses I believe Jesus would have us hear today in answer to this question: how can I be certain?

The Reading — John 3:1–21 (ESV)

Now 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” — in other words, the miracles — “that you do, unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, 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, “Truly, truly, 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 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.”

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 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. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 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. 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. 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. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 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.”

May God bless the reading of his holy Word, the words of our Lord.

1. Being Good Isn't Good Enough.

I think the first thing Jesus would have us hear today, if we want to be certain that heaven is our home, is this: being good isn't good enough. Being good isn't good enough. People typically think, “If I'm just good, I'm going to make it to heaven.” Well, Exhibit A, Nick at night. Being good is not good enough!

Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night with these spiritual questions on his heart and mind. The Bible says he is a Pharisee. That means he's a Jew who has spent his life studying the Old Testament law of Moses in order to regulate his life in keeping with the civic, ceremonial, and sacrificial laws of Israel. And as a Pharisee, he also teaches other Jews how to regulate their lives so as not to break God's commandments.

Pharisees get a bad rap in the Gospels because of the hypocrisy you often see on display with some of them. But by and large, if you were in Jesus's day and looked at this man named Nicodemus, you would say, “That's a righteous man. That's a good man.” He's not only a Pharisee, the Bible says he's a ruler of the Jews. He is one of seventy-one men who sit on the Jewish Supreme Court, the Sanhedrin, helping make judicial rulings on civic and ceremonial issues facing Israel.

This is a man of authority. This is a man of respect in his community. In verse 10, Jesus calls him “the teacher of Israel.” He is an official, ordained teacher of God's Word to the Hebrew people. That's the man who comes to Jesus at night.

Why did he come at night? We don't know, the Bible doesn't tell us. Maybe he came at night because he was busy during the day and this was the first chance he had. Perhaps he didn't want to be interrupted by the crowds that usually thronged Jesus during the day, and he wanted some uninterrupted time with him. Or perhaps, as a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, a teacher of Israel, he was embarrassed to come to this itinerant preacher from Nazareth who hadn't gone to the right schools, who hadn't been ordained by the right people, and humble himself to ask spiritual questions. Maybe he was embarrassed. We don't really know. But he comes to Jesus at night.

If you read John's Gospel, you'll see that John gives us a contrast, repeatedly, between light and darkness, in his Gospel and even in his epistles. I think the darkness of the night sky is an illustration of Nicodemus's heart. He's religious, but he's unsure.

He comes to Jesus and pays him respect in several ways. Did you see that in verse 2? He says, “Rabbi, we know that you're a teacher come from God.” And how does he know that Jesus is a teacher sent by God? “For no one can do these signs.” That word means miracles; John gives us seven signs, seven miracles of Jesus, in his Gospel. No one could do these signs “unless God is with him.” We see that you're sent from God. We see the power of God on your life.

I don't know if Nicodemus is using “we” — the plural — just to be polite, or if he's speaking on behalf of other Pharisees, or the Sanhedrin. But either way: “We're watching you, and we know you're from God, and we see God's power at work in your life.”

Now, Jesus, being God in the flesh, knows the heart of every man. He knows the questions you're asking. He knows the questions you ought to be asking. And in verse 3, Jesus just cuts to the chase. Don't you wish a preacher would just get to the point? Sometimes preachers just need to get to the point — and Jesus gets to the point.

In verse 3, Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly” — in other words, “amen, amen,” or “verily, verily” — “I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus, you're coming to me talking about my being from God, about the power of God at work in my life. You're still not there yet. Because unless you're born again, you cannot even see the kingdom of God. Nick, you see some things, but you haven't seen the main thing. You must be born again.

I remember when Jimmy Carter, from Plains, Georgia, was running for president. I was a child. I remember our family made a pilgrimage to Plains, because we were amazed that someone from our own state would run for president. In one interview, Jimmy Carter made the comment that he was a “born again” Christian, and the media went wild. What's a born-again Christian? Some people treated it like it was a subset of Christians — as if you could be a Christian, or you could be one of those “born again” Christians, like there's a different kind of Christian.

Jesus says there's only one way to be his follower: you must be born again. Literally, not just “born a second time” — in the Greek, “born from above.” You've had a physical birth, but you need a spiritual birth that comes from above. And if God, through Jesus, tells Nicodemus — this good, religious, righteous man, knowledgeable in the Scriptures — that he must be born again, then I certainly must be born again. You certainly must be born again.

Jesus is saying to Nicodemus: being good is not good enough. You're not even going to see the kingdom of God. And what Nicodemus doesn't realize is that the kingdom of God is standing right in front of him — the embodiment of the righteous rule and reign of God — and if you think Jesus is just a good moral teacher who did some neat things, you can't even see the kingdom of God.

You know what you need? You need to be born from the inside out. You need a spiritual rebirth. He's saying this to Nicodemus, who assumed his pedigree, his genealogy, his ancestry as a Jew, meant he got an automatic pass into the kingdom of God. But Jesus says, “No. You must be born again.”

Nick is a little confused. Did you see that in verse 4? “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Now, Nicodemus wasn't born yesterday — no pun intended. He's old enough to know the birds and the bees, ABCs and his 1-2-3's. He knows how this works. He's speaking facetiously — he knows you can't go back and be born again through your mother; that's not how it works. So he's either arguing with Jesus, pushing back a little, or just wanting more information.

In verse 5, Jesus says, “Truly, truly” — amen, amen. Here's a good rule for reading your Bible: whenever Jesus says something twice, you ought to listen. He's trying to get your attention. Think of “Martha, Martha” in Luke 10:41 — when he says a name, or a truth, twice, he wants you to really pay attention. “Truly, truly, 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” — capital S, the Holy Spirit of God — “is spirit.”

There's a lot of ink spilled over what Jesus means by “water and Spirit.” Some say Jesus is referring to physical birth — the idea that a woman's water breaks and a baby is born; you must be born physically, but you must also be born of the Spirit of God. You must be born again spiritually. He says as much in verse 6: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Others say Jesus is referring to baptismal regeneration — that you must be born of water, meaning baptized in water, and of the Holy Spirit.

I think both interpretations miss the point. I think Jesus, speaking to this Jew who has studied and memorized major portions of the Old Testament Pentateuch — who knows the Word of God and teaches others the Word of God — is pointing him to the reality that he needs to repent of his sin and be regenerated by the Spirit of God. He's probably pointing Nicodemus back to the prophet Ezekiel 36, where God said there's coming a day when he will cleanse his people and do for them what they cannot do for themselves. He will renew their spirit within them. He will give them a new heart, and put his own Spirit in them. It's a cleansing and a renewing — water and Spirit. Flesh can give birth to fleshly things, but only the Spirit of God can give you this new birth.

Nicodemus, you don't need more information. You don't need new information. You need spiritual regeneration. You need transformation from the inside out that your religious deeds will never give you. You need God to give you a new birth and a new relationship with him.

So Jesus tells Nicodemus, in verses 7 and 8: “Don't be surprised, don't question, don't marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’” — as if you have to go do something, as if you have to go back into your mother's womb and be born a second time. This is not about what you can do, Nicodemus. This is going to be the work of the Holy Spirit. Verse 8: “The wind blows where it wishes.” Maybe they're standing out in the cool of the night, and the evening breeze is blowing, and Jesus uses that moment to teach about the Holy Spirit. “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.”

Nicodemus, you don't have to understand everything the Holy Spirit does. You can't see the wind, but you can feel its effects. You can hear it. You don't know where it came from or where it's headed. But you can experience its effects. The Holy Spirit of God is not under your control. He moves at the sovereign purpose of God, changing people from the inside out, giving them this new birth. It's not about you doing something. It's about the Holy Spirit of God doing something in you. That's how the Spirit works. And Jesus said it's that way with everyone.

In verses 9 and 10, Nicodemus is still confused. “How can these things be?” And Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?” You, the teacher of Israel, ought to know how the Spirit of God works. Now, granted, in the Old Testament, the Spirit of God is typically seen moving in a national sense on the people of Israel, or on anointed leaders like the king, the priest, or the high priest. But Jesus is talking about something the Holy Spirit will do in everyone who receives him. You must be born again. Being good is not good enough.

2. Only Jesus Can Save You.

I think the second truth Jesus would have us know is this: only Jesus can save you — because your good works can't. If Jesus were standing here, he would say, “Only I can save you. You can't save yourself. Religion can't save you. More information can't save you. Trying harder can't save you. Praying more, giving more — none of it can save you. Only I can save you.”

Look at verses 11 through 16. Verse 11 — there it is again — “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. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” Jesus is saying: you know what you know from your experience, but I'm telling you what I know from who I am. And if you're not going to trust me about physical things, like the wind, how are you going to believe me about spiritual things, like being born again?

Nicodemus, you know about God because you've studied the Scriptures. But Jesus says, “I've come from the Father.” Nicodemus, you're a teacher of Israel, but I am the Word made flesh. You've got questions about heavenly things — I have firsthand knowledge, because I came from heaven.

Don't take my word for it. Look at verse 13: “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” Nicodemus would immediately recognize that title, “the Son of Man.” This isn't merely referring to a mortal man. It goes back to the prophet Daniel 7, who prophesied under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that the Son of Man would one day come on the scene and be given the authority of heaven, to rule and to reign. That's the Son of Man. And Jesus says, “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.”

You're waiting on Nick to say, “I get it — you're the Son of Man.” But he doesn't. So Jesus continues to tell him what the Son of Man, who's come from heaven to earth, is going to do, and gives him another Bible lesson. Wouldn't you love to have had Jesus as your Bible teacher? Look at verses 14 and 15: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

Jesus is teaching Nicodemus about Numbers 21 — when Israel was in the wilderness, following Moses, before they'd reached the promised land. The people grumbled against Moses — bad enough, since he's God's anointed leader — but the Bible says they grumbled against God. And because of their sin against God, he chastened them by sending fiery serpents into their midst, and those who were bitten died. Many people died. So the people of Israel cried out to God: “We're sorry — save us.” And God said to Moses, “Make a bronze serpent, put it on a pole, set it up in the middle of the camp, and everyone who's been bitten who looks at it will live.” It was God's plan of salvation — a way to be set free from the judgment their sin against God deserved.

Jesus is saying: don't you see? Just as Moses lifted up the serpent, and those who looked lived, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. Nick doesn't fully understand yet what God, through the Son of Man, is going to do. We have the hindsight of twenty-one centuries of Christian history. We have a completed canon of Scripture. We know how the Gospels end. We know that Jesus went and was lifted up — not just on the back of a donkey as he marched into Jerusalem one day to the shouts of “Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” No — that didn't even last a full week. Those same crowds went from “Hosanna” to “Crucify him! Crucify him!” And Jesus went to a bloody cross and was lifted up on the hill of Golgotha, outside the city walls of Jerusalem.

Why did he go — as a victim, caught up in events that spun out of control until he ended up in the hands of the Romans, who condemned him to death? Some big cosmic accident, and at least we have his teachings and his example to hold onto? Hogwash. He didn't go as a victim. He went as a volunteer, to be lifted up. He took the sting. He took the punishment. He took the death our sin deserves, as he hung there on that tree. And having died, and having been buried, and having been raised from the dead, he says: whoever looks, lives. Whoever believes in me shall have eternal life. Amen!

Jesus says, don't you see? Verse 16: “For God so loved the world” — that he gave not just a baby in a cradle, but gave his only begotten Son, on the cross — “that whoever believes in him should not perish” — die in their sin, die eternally separated from God — “but have everlasting life.”

I think Jesus is trying to say to Nicodemus: look and live. Don't just see me as a good teacher. Don't just see me as a miracle worker. See me for who I am. I am the embodiment of the kingdom of God. I am the Son of Man. I'm going to make it possible, through the Holy Spirit, through my sacrificial death, for you to be born again — if you believe in me. That's the good news.

To perish means to die in your sin. We all know that sin is what brought death into our world. Unless Jesus comes back while you're still alive as a believer, you are going to die one day. I was listening to the radio this morning, and there's a commercial for life insurance where the man says, “You know, I'm going to die. You're going to die. We're all going to die.” That's a little much to hear at 6:30 in the morning, but it's true, isn't it? Studies have shown that people are dying who've never died before. It's one out of one.

I spend a lot of my time in cemeteries. There's one I've never been to — it's out in Tombstone, Arizona, called Boot Hill Cemetery. Some of you may have been there. Lots of historic graves. There's one grave from the 1800s, the man's name was Les Moore, and his tombstone reads: “Here lies Lester Moore, four slugs from a .44, no Les, no more.”

But in Jesus, this body may die, but we've been given the gift of eternal life, because our Savior died for us. “For God so loved the world” — he loved the world in this way — “that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes” — puts their faith, puts their trust in him — “should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

I usually quote that verse in a sermon every Sunday — not because it's the only verse I know, but because it's the gospel in a nutshell. Those were the first words my children heard me say, whispered into their ear after they were born: the words of John 3:16. My son Joshua, who now has his own child, texted me the day his daughter was born and said, “Dad, I just want you to know — I just whispered John 3:16 into her ear. It's the first thing I said to her.”

You might say, “Ricky, are you treating John 3:16 like it's abracadabra, like there's some magic in it?” No, no, no, no. Every person has to choose for themselves whether they will repent of their sin and believe in Jesus. As much as Mama and Daddy would love to do that for you, we can't. But I do believe this: the Bible says faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. My kids are not going to fail to believe because they never heard. They are going to hear the gospel as long as I have breath in my lungs.

Being good is not god enough, only Jesus can save you.

3. You Must Decide What to Do With Jesus.

We usually stop at verse 16. But Jesus didn't. He continued in verse 17. Let's look at it quickly as we close, because that's the third thing Jesus would have us hear: you must decide what to do with him. Being good is not good enough. Only Jesus can save you. So now you have to decide — what am I going to do with him? Will I believe, or will I continue not to?

Verse 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.” Jesus said, “I didn't come into this world to judge the world.” He's coming back a second time to judge — but he came the first time for sin, unto salvation. He came the first time not to judge us, but to save us, if we'll simply turn from our sin and believe in him.

Salvation is only through him. Jesus is not “a way.” All roads don't lead to Rome, and all roads and religions don't lead to heaven. He's the only Savior, and you've got to decide what you're going to do with him.

Verse 18: “For 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.” Jesus said, I don't have to condemn you — you've done a good job of that yourself, through your sin. You've separated yourself from God. I came to rescue you. I came to redeem you. I can give you the new birth you need.

But here's the problem — verse 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.” Jesus is the light of the world, and he's saying: I've come into this darkened world, Nicodemus, and people reject me — not because they don't know the Scriptures, not because they don't understand, but because they love their evil more than their Savior.

Can I give you a little background on some of your family, your friends, your neighbors, the people you see in the news or on social media who not only reject Christianity — that's one thing — but who are hostile to it? It's often not because they don't understand. It's because they do understand, and it convicts them of their sin. One man said, “It's not the parts of the Bible I don't understand that trouble me — it's the parts I do understand that trouble me, because they convict me.”

Remember, Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. Nick, you've come to me at night, but I am the light. People reject me because they love their darkness, their evil, their sin, more than the light.

Verse 20: “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” They don't want their toes stepped on. They don't want their sin pointed out. They don't want to be confronted with the knowledge that they can't save themselves, no matter how hard they try — because on my best day, I am still a sinner. On my best day, I'm still a man of failure. On my best day, I don't live up to God's holy standard, and I don't even live up to my own standard for how I ought to behave. Neither do you. You know better than you often do. And the truth confronts us and convicts us. People love darkness rather than light because their works are evil, and we don't want to come to the light because we'll be exposed.

But verse 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.” Jesus said: Nicodemus, if you'll simply come to me and let me give you a new life, you'll discover you're still not perfect — even after that. But now, whenever your sin comes up, it doesn't drive you further into the darkness. It drives you to the light. “Oh, Jesus, I'm sorry. I come to you. I need you.” And this new life you have is because of God's work, not yours. You can't take credit for it.

I was this close this morning to preaching from Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1 through 10. I'll give you the short version — Ephesians 2:8-10: “For by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves — it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, that we should walk in them.” You are not saved by your works, but by God's grace. And all the good works that come after are a testimony to him. Thank you, Jesus, for this new life you've given me.

You must be born again by believing in Jesus.

Conclusion

If you were here Friday night for our worship service with the Jubalheirs, it was amazing — we live-streamed it, so go watch it. But that night I shared about G.W. Blanton, a man who came to our church — my second church, Gateway Baptist, in Valdosta. I was in my early twenties, pastoring that little church. His wife was a Christian and a member of our church. I was dating Donna at the time, but I was still a single pastor, and they kind of adopted me — took me in, had me over to their house on Sunday nights for dinner after church.

G.W. was there almost every Sunday, singing in the choir, and he wasn't a Christian. I asked his wife once, “Why is he in the choir if he's not a Christian?” She said, “Because he'll fall asleep, and this way I can pinch him and wake him up.”

One day at the back door, shaking hands after the service, G.W. — a big man, in his late seventies by this point — shook my hand and said, “Pastor Ricky, of all the pastors whose sermons I've slept through, you're my favorite.” I would talk to G.W. and witness to him. His sons prayed for him for years, that he would come to faith in Jesus. He would always tell me, “Pastor Ricky, I respect you, but I've researched all the major religions of the world. I've seen good in all of them, and I try to be good. As long as you're sincere, I think you're going to make it. I just hope I make it one day.” And as much as I tried to share the gospel with him, he didn't want to hear it.

One Sunday, I felt the Lord leading me to preach from John 14:1-6, where Jesus tells his disciples he's going to die on a cross, and it troubles them. He says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

I gave the invitation, like we're going to do here in just a moment. We're going to stand, we're going to sing, and maybe you need to respond. As I stood right here in that little church, I saw movement, about where Cody is sitting now. It was G.W. — big guy, late seventies — and I saw him start the shuffle toward the end of the pew. I'll be honest, I thought he was going out. Instead, he came forward, and I was a little shocked. Isn't that terrible? I'd been praying and witnessing to him, and the moment he moved, I was shocked he was coming forward. I thought he wanted to argue with me about what I'd just preached — pastors get some comments from time to time, I don't know if you know that.

So I took him by the hand and said, “G.W., why have you come?” He said, “Ricky, it was like a light switch. I just realized — I can't save myself. Only Jesus can save me. I need to be saved.” And we rejoiced, and he prayed: “Jesus, forgive me. I can't save myself, but you can forgive me of my sin.”

When G.W. Blanton turned around, his wife was beside herself. His two grown sons were in tears, because their daddy, her husband, had finally realized: only Jesus can save you. Years later I was called back to Valdosta to do his funeral, and his kids got up and gave their testimony: “We will never forget the day Daddy got saved.”

Closing

You know, in the Gospel of John, we're never explicitly told how Nicodemus's story ends. Later in this Gospel, you'll see him standing up for Jesus and defending him to his fellow Pharisees. And after Jesus dies on the cross, it was Nicodemus, along with Joseph of Arimathea and others, who prepared Jesus' body for burial.

But you might ask, “Pastor, did he get saved or not?” I think that's exactly why John left it so open. How did Nicodemus's spiritual story end? Was he content merely going to church, hearing sermons, giving money, doing religious things? Or did he ever come to Jesus and say, “I put my trust in you” — and was born again?

Maybe the reason the story is left open is so that you can put your name in it. How will the story of your life end? Will you trust Jesus today to save you. To be certain of heaven you must be born again by believing in Jesus.