Trinity
Sunday.
The
Collect.
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A
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LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hast given unto us thy servants grace,
by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal
Trinity, and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity; We
beseech thee that thou wouldest keep us stedfast in this faith, and evermore
defend us from all adversities, who livest and reignest, one God, world without
end. Amen.
1. There
was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we
know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles
that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man
be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb,
and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel
not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest
the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth:
so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 9 Nicodemus
answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art
thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we
do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe
not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that
came down from heaven, even the Son of man which 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 whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:1-16)
Today's text is about the change of the heart that we call regeneration.
Precisely what IS regeneration and how does it occur?
Regeneration is not merely an IMPROVEMENT of character brought about through
effort and study of classical philosophy, or even of the study of God's Word.
Regeneration is that complete change of character that occurs through the
process of being born anew in Christ. Anything that is born is a new creature.
Anything that is born anew is also a new creature whose former character and
And habits
have disappeared. – or even died with the old self (which was also dead before
coming to Christ). It is not an improvement of disposition, but a
fundamental change in nature.
There was once a drop of water that found itself puddle in a dirty and unsavory
gutter drain. It was constantly subject to being spat upon and frequented
by mosquitoes laying their larvae in the water. The little drop of water
looked everyday up to the beautiful blue skies above and yearend, for once, to
be clean and pure, and separated from the filth of the gutter. The yearning of
its heart was heard in heaven, and the warmth of the sun began to draw the
small droplet up, up, and away from the filth it had always known. Being drawn
higher and higher, the air around the droplet was no longer foul and smelly,
but clear and pristine. Yet, it was drawn still higher by the force of the sun
to levels of colder and colder air. The winds took up the droplet of water and
carried it far away where it became a beautiful, white snowflake. It was
deposited on the heights of Mt. Everest where its beauty could be seen, mingled
with other snowflakes, for many miles around. The droplet of water, transformed
by the power of Heaven, had moved from the lowest and dirtiest place, to the
highest and most beautiful on earth. That is regeneration, and that is the
power of God to make new the soul of man.
1.
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night
We see a contrast being drawn in the text between a man of great power, wealth,
and learning; and the Lord Jesus Christ who did not have a place to lay His
head. Nicodemus was an influential member of the ruling Sanhedrin. He was a
Pharisee who truly sought more knowledge. But Nicodemus was also keen to the
politics of the day and did not wish to be exposed as someone who would be an
admirer of Christ – at least not until he had come to know Him for the Lord
that He was. So Nicodemus came under cover of darkness.
Earlier in the day, Nicodemus had seen Christ drive out the money changers and
those who made merchandise of the House of God. He had heard, that day, His
strange but refreshing counsel: Take these
things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. (John
2:16) He had heard the profound and beautiful teachings of Christ and seen His
miracles. His logical mind could not deny that Jesus had strange powers that
could only come from God, unlike those political posers who sat with him of the
Sanhedrin.
If we desire to know a man better, we must find out where He is and talk with
him. Nicodemus obviously had scouted out Christ to know where He was sleeping
in Jerusalem that first Passover of Christ's ministry.
……… and
said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man
can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him
Nicodemus has the least seed of faith in his heart, but it was enough to drive
him to Christ. He recognized the power of God in Christ and he must settle the
issue before the dawning of another day. Though he comes here at night, he
later publicly defends Christ in the Sanhedrin (John 7:50-52) and even publicly
goes with Joseph of Arimethaea to claim the body of Christ for burial even
under threat of retribution from Rome and the Jewish rulers (John 19:39). The
one who came by night later became one who feared no one but God. John
considers the change in Nicodemus so significant that he always makes reference
to Nicodemus in later references as "he who came to Jesus by night."
Jesus is frank in His approach to Nicodemus. He knows the heart of Nicodemus,
and He knows that complete transparency and blunt truth is the very thing
Nicodemus desires.
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Jesus tells Nicodemus what he desperately NEEDS
to know, not that which his ears would have been comforted to hear. Nicodemus
is considered himself to be a great teacher, yet he calls Christ RABBI., or
Teacher. Nicodemus is not too proud to accept the role of student before
superior knowledge of a better Teacher. But these words of Christ are simply
too amazing for Nicodemus to grasp.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man
be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb,
and be born? This is not a frivolous response by Nicodemus.
He does not ask WHY, but HOW. If Jesus were making
reference to the Gentiles, Nicodemus could have understood somewhat, but Jesus
is speaking to a ruler of the Jews – the presumed people of God! To Nicodemus,
it does not make sense, but he trusts in the superior wisdom of Christ to shed
light on the matter. Our first longings of faith must be satisfied through
deeper inquiry even if we risk ridicule by the world.
5. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a
man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God. 6 That which is born of the
flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born
again Nicodemus belonged
to a religion that based salvation upon a complete obedience to the Law written
on Tables of Stone. It was a difficult concept to receive that his entire
previous training had been lacking. Christ points to a change that is alien to
Nicodemus' thinking. There is the story of an owner of a clothing store that
decided to clean his main display window. He gathered his cleaning materials
and went outside to clean. After working diligently, the window appeared
immaculate with the exception of a single troubling blemish high up on the
glass. Regardless the efforts and elbow grease used to clean the spot; it
remained a glaring flaw in an otherwise clear glass. At last he discovered that
the dirty blemish was not on the outside, but the INSIDE of the glass.
Regardless our efforts to dress and beautify our persons, we cannot cleanse the
heart by dressing the outward appearance with good works. Purge me with
hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psalms
51:7) God cleans us inside first with the purgative of the Holy Spirit ere
making our appearance clean on the outside. If the heart is full of filth, it
matters not the outward APPEARANCE.
When we lay down this life, we lay down the body of flesh before our parents
who gave us our traits and hereditary and features of flesh. We then are drawn
in the spirit back to the Father who gave us the Spirit of Life. Or ever
the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be
broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall
the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God
who gave it. (Eccl 12:6-7)
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou
hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it
goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Does any man have the key to the gate of the
wind, to open and close as he deems fit? The Wind is no different in certain
aspects than the Holy Spirit. We do not know the source of the wind, but we
KNOW it has a source. We can hear the wind if we are quiet and attentive. It
literally whispers as that still, small voice of God. (1 Kings 19:12) We cannot
say its direction or where it is going. The Wind is unseen just as the
Holy Spirit is unseen. We see its effects, but not its essence. Those who are
born of God have been touched by that Wind of the Holy Spirit. Their change is
complete and not prideful in display.
Can you imagine Nicodemus' eyes squinting in effort to understand this strange
new doctrine? 9 Nicodemus answered and said unto
him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus
answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things
Nicodemus is
very much like many who are educated in theology and who press a point of an
olive until it becomes a watermelon. He is well educated but, unfortunately, in
things that are not real. Jesus points out his ignorance to him. Many prominent
theologians of our day lack the simple wisdom of a poor farmer who knows the
Lord. This was Nicodemus' problem, but he is open to amendment in
understanding. I wish we all were.
11 Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye
receive not our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not,
how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? Jesus places His evidence before the bar. He
taught often in parables so that the simple farmer or fisherman could grasp
greater spiritual truth when illustrated by earthly logic. But those educated
too much in `theological error' may not be able to grasp the simplicity of the
Gospel which a child can easily grasp. It is not faith and knowledge that saves
us, but `faith in Christ' and right knowledge of Him. We may know the print in
a thousand theological works, but if we lack the nature of a little child in
faith, we are lost
.
13 And no man hath
ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man
which is in heaven.
Despite the delusional dreams and copyrighted commercial works of many today,
no one has ascended to heaven or come down but Christ.
14 And as Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have eternal life. God sent fiery serpents among the Children of Israel in the Wilderness
for their sins. When they pleaded for relief, God told Moses to erect a brass
serpent on a pole for all to look unto when bitten that they might live.
The serpent represented our sins that are crucified on the cross with Christ.
Looking to the sacrifice of Christ, for our own sins, we are saved from eternal
death. (Numbers 21:6-9) We have the same symbolized in the medical kadusa
today.
16 For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life Do not be deceived by modern versions of the Bible such as the NIV.
Jesus Christ is the literal ISSUE of the Father. He is God because He is of the
same substance with God. Not a son or daughter through the adoption that we
are, but the true and issuing Son of the Father – the only Begotten, not One
and Only!
