You must be born again! (Pastor Jeff Shipley)

We're going to be in John chapter 3 this morning and no it is not singularity on verse 16

Although that will be within our scripture text John chapter 3

I looked it up this morning on the internet and this morning 69 % or a hundred and seventy six million

Americans say that they are Christian 69 % yet of that 69 % or rather I should say of that hundred and seventy six million only 9 %

Pastor Josiah, wherever you are only 9 % say that the

Bible is accurate and reliable 176 million people

Claim to be Christians now I want all of you in this room to identify just for a second if these statistics

Pertain to you at any level you claim to be a Christian But yet you don't really know that the

Bible is accurate true. May I take it a step further just for a second 176 million people say they're

Christians 9 % of that Say the Bible only the

Bible is accurate and true. But now here's I believe even a smaller percentage And I don't know that's percentage for this but it is microscopically small

Because of those 9 % who say the Bible is accurate and true. Let me ask you this.

Do you live that out every day? Here is why? Here is why so many people in our text, it's the same thing that was happening 2 ,000 years ago

It's the same thing happened today read with me in John chapter 3 starting in verse 1

Now there was a man of the Southern Baptist Church Same thing there was a man of the

Pharisees named Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews This man came to Jesus don't miss these next two words

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 was with him a little break here for a second. Look up at me.

We have a Roman historian who quotes a

Roman citizen, I'm sorry senator who is saying that there is a man named

Christus from Galilee that does many mysterious works

We have another man named Thallus who says the same thing another historian.

None of these people are Christians named Josephus that says that Jesus was a

Magnificent mage so there is historical evidence and writings Outside the gospel of Jesus Christ that say that this man

Jesus did things That no one could explain here. Nicodemus is validating that again

He says we know you must be from God for no one can do what you do

Unless you are from God first three Jesus answered him now doesn't

Jesus response He comes to him and he hasn't really asked a question yet Jesus says truly

I say unto you unless one is born again He cannot see the kingdom of God Nicodemus said to him and probably in a joking and mocked way

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 unto you unless one is born of water and the Spirit He cannot enter the kingdom of God that which is born of flesh is flesh

And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit in our text this morning verse 7 do not marvel that I said to you

You must be born again What is born again?

It's colloquial in churches today. I'm a born -again Christian. I'm a born -again

Christian I mean you hear it in the FCA members on Sunday afternoon on I'd like to give thanks

Steve Stephen Curry or Stephen Curry the basketball player dude. Was that yeah, whatever.

I don't watch basketball I watch sports football, but He is a fine young man from what

I have read about him and seen of him he gives credence and Validity to quote his

Lord and Savior Jesus Christ That's right. Tim Tebow kneels

There's a whole bunch of people out there who claim Christianity Okay, including a guy once named

Adolf Hitler now I'm not equating Stephen Curry or Tim Tebow to Adolf Hitler But what

I am saying claiming something and living something out are two different things

What does it mean to be born again? Well the word born again here and for you are many us in here who can't wrap your head around this

I'm sorry to tell you that born again is akin to in the

Greek and English to the doctrine of Regeneration, let me say that again

Regeneration you say pastor What does that word mean Titus chapter 3 verses 4 through 6 that a lesser pastor that we know just preached on It says this in verse 4, but when the goodness and loving -kindness of God our

Savior Don't miss that God our Savior Appeared he saved us not by works of righteousness, which we had done but according to his own mercy now listen by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the

Holy Spirit People if you're in this room today and you are truly a

Child of God it was not by works of righteousness Which you did but according to the regenerative mercy of Jesus Christ That you have been made alive again

The Word of God tells us that we are dead in our sins and our trespasses

Is dead man can make no choices So God in his mercy he

Regenerates that dead soul some of you sitting in this room are a trichotomy But one cylinder it and firing you men should get that one cylinder it and firing in other words

You have a mind you have a body but you're lagging around a dead soul You're being led by your filthy carnal mind instead of a regenerated

Spirit of the Living God some of you in this room you want to believe in Jesus You have a desire in your head

But because you have never truly submitted you cannot truly understand the regenerative power of the

Holy Spirit of God Let me say this to you today. You want me to tell you how awesome God's grace is

He didn't just save you from your sins He chose you before the foundation of the world by his predestinated power to be

Regenerated in still with faith so you could pray that prayer to Jesus You see your salvation is so much more than walking down an aisle or getting baptized or joining some silly church

God loved you before the world even began before you even understood a

Concept of right and wrong. God had chosen you by his grace to be

Regenerated back to life and he gave you the faith to believe

It's funny how we all sit there as Baptists and say we have done nothing for our salvation

Yet it's that same voice that talks about my faith my work my deeds my goodness my righteousness

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to tell you that that jacked -up concept is going to stress you out

Oh man, how sweet it is for the believer who truly knows the doctrine of regeneration as they fall back into a

Beautiful soft bed relying on nothing but the love grace and sovereignty of Almighty God Understand this today that being born again means to be

Regenerated you must be born again now in this relationship Nicodemus comes and you will hear what

I'm saying more when you contrast it with who Nicodemus was We know this he was a

Pharisee we know he was a Pharisee and for those of you don't understand the scenes and the esoteric groups and the

Pharisees and Sadducee, you don't need to Basically, this is what a Pharisee is. He is an independent right -wing

Nationalistic and I know that word today has a negative connotation I love America if that makes me a nationalist and that's what

I'll be I consider myself a patriot But you can call me whatever you want. My blood bleeds red white and blue.

Okay, the Pharisees started as a political group think of the religious right of the 1980s you see in between Malachi of the

Old Testament and Matthew of the New Testament There were 400 years there and for 400 years the children of Israel were getting just beat up all the time

And finally this guy said, you know what? You know what? We need to get back right with God if we put prayers back in our schools

If we put the Ten Commandments back in the courtroom if we put Jesus Christ and let high schoolers pray at football

Man our country will be revived Here's the problem with that guys

You don't put Jesus anywhere You see I love this saying that we've come up with in church.

I'm gonna make Jesus Christ my lord He is not a Labrador puppy kids

Guess what? He already is Lord. He doesn't need your permission or your acquiescing to his position

You see it's not about you making him Lord. It's about you surrendering to his

Lordship 169 million 9 % Some of you in this room just got it in a personal application

You're so used to church sayings that you have forsaking the truth of the

Word of God And I know that this feels uncomfortable Because your mama wept at your baptism your pastor gave you a pink or blue Bible You are a great moral person

But I say to you in all love you must be born again

Nicodemus was that Pharisee? He was also very successful Nicodemus we know was the third richest person in Jerusalem at that time

The third richest person this dude had Monet Okay, so he was definitely

Respectable he was definitely Successful, but here's the third full that I have for you today.

Listen to this. He was also Acceptable now pastor. How do you know he was acceptable because he did this he came to Jesus at night

Well, why is that a big deal because he didn't want people seeing him You see he was the senior pastor of the largest church there was at that time and I use church

Euphemistically he was the largest pastor. He was the pastor of every

Jew there was He was their pastor How would it look for the pastor going to ask the carpenter's son?

from nutbush about things of God He was acceptable, but here's who he was acceptable to He was acceptable to the religious people or the culture of his time rather than the

God himself Ladies and gentlemen listen Some of you are already bored

Some of your your some of your rear ends have grown legs because they're walking all over that chair listen to me

You are flirting with the damnation of hell Based upon your assumption of acceptability by this culture or a moral elite in this world

You may judge yourself based upon a moral sense of where you are in the religious

Right of the Southern Baptist Convention. I beg you Please leave all that up behind because you must be born again.

Look at this next verse Jesus said truly I say unto you unless one born of water verse 3 verse 5 and by the

Spirit He cannot enter the kingdom of God That's which is born of flesh and flesh that which is born of the

Spirit is spirit What I'm trying to say to you today is this How many of you have ever been a drunk or addicted to a drug?

Yeah, well some of y 'all lying in here and holding your hand down real low because I know you get drunk listen

What some people try to do is this they try to reform their lifestyle

Let me put it to you like this Have you ever gotten a new bed or a new dresser or something in your room?

Looked like a tornado had gone through it and you had to enjoy that peace

You had to clean up your whole room and get everything organized, right? I know a young man whose room looked like a war zone all the time

Underneath his bed underneath his bed. We found Jimmy Hoffa's ring.

I mean it was Nasty. Well, he conned his girlfriend in to coming over and cleaning up His room and when she did that I told my wife that's gonna be the woman he marries right there.

All right So she came over and cleaned it up and I remember him walking down the stairs and this is what he said

You can call me new leaf from now on because I've turned over a new leaf

I will never have anything shoved under my bed. My bed will be clean. My room will be clean everything will be perfect and I said to him as long as she comes over every way to clean up your room.

I agree Guys, here's a reality. I won't tell you who that is.

I Will always love you Rachel. I will That's the

HP I see by the way, I want you to understand something

Guys, if you keep trying to turn over a new leaf in your life Whether it be pornography or whatever it is you struggle with if you try to reform yourself

You're going to fail Trust me from personal experience

You're going to fail You know me pipes. I've cracked and thrown in the garbage can

Bunches I have thrown an eight ball away in a moment of absolutely believing and Knowing that I was never gonna do it again

Yet then I went and jacked somebody in the head to get more money to go buy some more because that Reformation only lasted until the cravings came back.

That's not a Christian Some of you in this room And and this is going to be hard for some of you to hear

But you want to reform your spiritual life by doing devotions every day

To you, that's the height of spiritual acquiescing Listen to me first of all number one nowhere in Scripture does it tell you to read the

Bible every day? So quit using that as a mark of holiness Because what's gonna happen is you're gonna fall into religion

Okay, second of all quit beating yourself up over it You've listened to too many preachers in too many denominations rather than the

Holy Spirit of the Living God God doesn't want you to read the Bible every day. He wants you to memorize it and live it out

Okay, and it would be so much better for you to live out a small portion then ignore it all by simply reading it

Please stop trying to do that stuff quit trying in your own power to reform your life

Let God first regenerate you and make you alive so that you can know what it is to have power over sin second thing

Understanding this you need to be born again. You must be born again It is regeneration, but how does it happen?

Let me read to you again verse 5 and tell you what it is not Before I tell you what it is verse 5 chapter 3 truly truly

I say unto you unless one is born of the water and spirit. He cannot enter the kingdom of God Anybody that's not a

Christian today. Here's what I'm going to tell you I want you to come over here and I in the power

Bestowed upon me by the Holy Spirit of God. Yeah, I will take this holy water.

Hold on Somebody stole my Honda I will take this water right here and I will but based

I skull in this water Paul we're gonna need to drain this base this and You will be saved because it's gonna be of your spirit and the water

That's what it just said verse 5. You must be born of the water and the spirit What theologically for those of you that have actually listened what is a doctrine again?

Y 'all tire me all over Someone besides my wife or an MIT student or a pastor.

What is a doctrine a Teaching but it's more than just a teaching. It's a True, that's that's very important.

That's very important. Okay, it's a truth that is found from Genesis to Revelation Okay Grace is a doctrine

Genesis chapter 6 verse 8 It's the first time grace is used and it's still being used all the way through Revelation 22

That means God really wants you to understand what grace is. So here we go again. What is grace?

What is it? What is it? Some of you heathen rednecks ago. Would I say before dinner? No, what is doctrinally?

What is grace? When I heard a redneck what?

Grace is not being given. That's actually mercy, but that's close. That's close.

Who said that? Moses Moses that that water in there is going this

Correct. The word caris means unmerited favor y 'all believe in unmerited favor, right?

So now help me out because I'm a high school dropout. Okay, so explain this to me if grace is

Unmerited in other words, I can't do anything to earn it But I have to get baptized by action.

How is it then grace that I'm saved? God get who said that?

Oh My god. Yes. God gives grace freely Redundant as that is maybe we need to hear it.

God gives grace freely if Baptism is a prerequisite of salvation

Then where does grace happen? Here's what a lot of people say on verse 5 right here

What Jesus is saying is let me read it to you truly truly. I say unto you unless one is

Baptized with water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God that violates the doctrine of grace that violates an

Understanding that it is unmerited but also watch this Intellectually academically and harmonetically it doesn't make sense read verse 6 with me if you will

We just read verse 5 that which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of spirit is spirit

So the water is flesh now. I'm gonna tell y 'all something that happened to me.

It was 1990 something My wife was pregnant You were pregnant in the 90s be quiet She was spitting out kids like a pez dispenser man.

Every time I turned around she was pregnant but in this one particular case in 1994, she was pregnant again and She was like the great round one.

I mean, you know Gwen was like out to here You know, I you set my coffee cup on her stomach when we were in bed

I mean, it was just like an end table. She was huge, right? So I get up to go to work and she said to me

I'm not feeling Just right now. My wife's pretty tough old broad

Okay, when she said to me, I'm not feeling right. I went I think

I'm gonna stay home. She said oh, it's no big deal. I Got this. Let's not be did.

I said, okay. Well, I'm gonna stay here. Anyways 20 minutes later as she was sitting in my recliner

Her water broke now for those For those of you that don't know

That is more than the clear crystalline water of a purified water bottle

She then Because she decided to have a home birth I had to walk her into the bedroom and I slept closest to the door

So get to which side of the bed I put her on and guess where she gave birth She run my recliner and my side of the bed all

I had was a couch that was it considerate old woman listen It was it was hurtful.

I had to deliver my son 10 -pound baby boy. I Was like come out of there and he's splatted on the wall.

No, listen Listen, you see her water broke

What Jesus is returning to is he's saying this if you're a human being and you were born of the flesh

Born of water, that's great But that don't mean Jack because you have to also be born of the

Spirit It's not adding to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus didn't make an oops there

He's simply saying and harmonetically keep reading whenever you get to a difficult passage.

It'll explain it to you He's simply saying the water is you have to be born of the flesh and the spirit is anybody not getting that Okay good

Artie You're a redneck civil employee. Do you understand? All right, great.

Then everybody gets it. So here's the deal Jesus is saying How does this happen?

He's saying that it's both flesh and Spirit then he gives this analogy keep reading with me if you will

Chapter 3 verse 14 Jesus said this 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

Now watch this watch this that is referring to something that's recorded. Oh Let's see

Which way are y 'all that is something that was recorded all the way back here in the

Old Testament in numbers The children of Israel had just gotten delivered they were out in the wilderness

Right, they're out in the wilderness walking around and they are a bunch of whiny crying complaining

Millennials Okay, they're just they're triggered by everything.

They need safe spaces Okay, and they're walking out and they're going. Oh my god, it's hot out here and they're complaining to God They're sitting there telling

Moses Moses. You need to go talk to God and tell him that this is not working

We're glad that we're no longer slaves. Thank you for our freedom. Oh my gosh.

We've been sacrificing stuff for you all day But where we're at it's not good enough.

Maybe See if human nature can identify with this. Maybe it would just be better If we went back and just be were slaves at least we could get three squares a day

So God sat there and said okay, and he literally rained bread down from heaven

Literal literally When they said that's not good enough. We need meats quails

Quails Showed up and they would just fly over the camp of Israel by the tens of thousands

And then they would just have heart attacks and they would fall and die Right there. They pick them up and eat them.

So now they had bread and meat come flowing out of a rock

God said just keep on following me. I'll provide all your needs finally They got to a point where they said we're done.

We've walked all this way. I don't know where we're going the food is here is

Terrible and we want something else and God said

I He sent the

Word of God says fiery serpents now don't think about you know Snakes with wings and fire coming they were like probably copperhead type.

They weren't copperheads, but you know, they were bronze looking Metallic looking snakes slithering around they'd bite them and people started dying to death so Moses Goes to God and go

God. These are your people In your people and God told

Moses this here's what I want you to do. I want you to take the image of that snake

And stick it on a pole And I want you to lift it up. And then this is what he said

Any Israelite that's bitten by a snake. Here's what they got to do. They got to run around the pole seven times

Then they got to scale up the pole they got to touch that snake ring that bell come on down and they're saved

Is that what he said? Now, but it was a lot funnier seeing me do that, right? No, he said the snakes on top of the pole if anyone's bitten

This is the only thing they have to do is look at it and they'll be saved Now I've had people ask me why a snake

Why not a lamb or something you forget the whole propitiation thing again, didn't you?

You see when Jesus was lifted on the cross He wasn't wearing a nice little white Diaper, he didn't have a few little like razor burn scratches on him

The the crown of thorns wasn't tilted in kind of this rakish James Dean look it was

So horrible that you couldn't even recognize it as a human being and I say it

He was a bloody stomp But the agony suffered was not at the beating of man.

The agony he suffered was the wrath of God You see he died he was the object of scorn and ridicule

You see that which happened 4 ,000 years ago even in the midst of sin.

God's still teaching a lesson So that 4 ,000 years later Jesus can sit with this

Scholarly preacher and go dude. Do you not get it? How long have you been a pastor and you still don't understand?

Listen to the words coming out of my mouth Everything in the Old Testament is talking about me in John 5 he literally says that in two more chapters.

He literally goes everything Moses wrote about guess who it was about me It's all about me.

And if you don't believe Moses's words, you're never gonna believe mine Jesus sat there and said

I am the one who's about to be lifted up and if you will simply look

How would it says you must be born again, how can we do it no matter how good

Nicodemus was He's still falling short I tell you today and it's the most blessed thing in the world to receive the grace of God is by faith in faith alone

All you've got to do is look you say well pastor. I prayed that prayer. It didn't say pray the prayer

It said look well pastor. Where do I look to I can't see God Yes, one of the reasons he doesn't manifest himself because there would be an absence of the need for faith

You see it's got to be faith Faith is according to Hebrews the substance of things not seen yet still believe

Pastor, I don't understand because you're not regenerated You're not truly a

Christian No, no matter what your morals tell you you have never ever been born again

Are you that person that every time you saw Billy Graham on TV, and he said bow your heads with me right now

And pray this prayer Sorry this half of the rooms never even probably heard of Billy Graham, but you know what

I'm talking about Ask Jesus to come into your heart right now.

Why do pastors always talk like that when they start doing the prayer? They start whispering a little bit

They elongate vowels up Why do they do that because it's an emotional plea to an emotional heart that's broken trying to be

Reformed rather than someone who wants to give up everything and no matter if they have to die five seconds later

It is well with their soul because they are going to submit to the lordship and sovereignty of Jesus Christ And that can only happen by faith last point

Read with me if you will He sits there, and he keeps talking and in verse 16

He says this for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whomsoever

Except black folks can't have blacks. You know I'm saying whomsoever well

I mean, that's what our churches say today Black churches don't allow white folk white church don't allow black folk heck on the deed to this church it says

Ain't no black folk allowed up in here Take white trash rednecks all day long, but no black folk

Whomsoever does that mean people who don't smoke cuss or drink or does it mean whomsoever?

You mean those women that have had abortions? Yeah, y 'all are welcome to you mean those folks that has blasphemed

God Yes, the call is to you too Isaiah says in Isaiah 43

God said look unto me and be ye saved all The ends of the earth for I am

God and is no other by the way numbers look Isaiah look Jesus look see the consistency and that's also called a

Someone say doctrine for the love of God Right y 'all so busy reading

Bible stories. You never learned how to understand doctrine listen How do you do it believe now?

What does it look like? When you actually are saved here's a litmus test for some of you

Even some of you've been going to church for 42 years, and you've got your letter in a

Baptist Church hallelujah You're good to go You're a great moral person

You hate fags so right away. God loves you Now you gossip

You gossip you hate other people or dislike other people because they're different from the culture you grew up in You're as damned to hell as the biggest heretic

Crack smoking whore on Jackson Avenue or stripper down to Purple Diamond You see here's your problem

You must be born again How do I know? Well, let's look and see what this looks like Some of you are like Nicodemus when the

Holy Spirit of God convicts you maybe even this morning You hold on tighter to the chair look up the screen and sing the song you're still there at night

You don't have a problem on the inside going Jesus. I need you, but you're gonna come at night you're gonna come to a place in Jesus where your

Sacrifice to follow Christ is meted out by the acceptance of not losing your friends

And may I say this so boldly the sin that you love more than God Say you're gonna rationalize it.

I can still do this God will forgive me. Yeah, he will once you're regenerated and born again.

The problem is with that mindset. You ain't regenerated So here's Nicodemus. He comes to Jesus at night, but now let's follow

Nicodemus Historically just a little bit further read with me. You're from John chapter 7 flip over but just a few pages

John chapter 7 starting in verse 45 here we are and the

Sanhedrin that that body think of Congress that body

That Nicodemus was in charge over they all got together Republicans and Democrats and all agreed on one thing

Jesus has got to go He got to go. He's threatening our power.

He's threatening our money He got to go so they sent the temple police out

In that weird in a free democratic country every government agency has their own police department

No, silly Jews. Oh Y 'all thought I was talking about America. I was verse 45

The authors then came to the chief priests and Pharisees and said to them the cops have come on back

They went try to find Jesus grabbed a couple of doughnuts and they came back and they said this

Why didn't y 'all bring him here? verse 46 the cops answers said

And no one has ever spoke like this man The Pharisees answered them and said have you also been deceived?

Have you any of the authorities of Pharisees believed in him? Here's what they're saying in an arrogant way you

Minimum -wage civil servants You have been deceived to you're scared to bring him in because what he's saying is affecting you

You know something inside of you is bearing truth to what that man is saying

But here's what the prideful people say you're so stupid

Let me ask you this have any of us who know anything everything Do us who know how to memorize scripture and can speak to you in Greek and great doctrinal words

Do we believe well, no, if we don't believe then why should you believe? Right.

Some of y 'all are smiling at me like well, yeah that does no bearing some of you actually believe that everyone in this room evolved from a monkey and The reason you believe it is not because you've researched it or tried to figure it out yourself

It's because a bunch of doctors and scientists have told you so Let me bring that a little bit closer

Some of you in this room believe that men can have babies

They asked Columbia on video go look it up Can men have babies?

100 % of the students in pre -med pre -law said yes

Here's how I didn't understand it Here's how if a man identifies as a woman

Then he is a woman watch this if a woman Identifies as a man and gets pregnant by default a man is having a baby

And the y 'all laughing this is real We've entered into a world

Jesus said this would happen Professing themselves to be wise man became fools

We're living in a world where the predominant overwhelming percentage of this

Generation has so rebelled against the Word of God That they have convinced science and culture

To say that men can become women and women can become men it's hilarious in this video that same camera crew goes to the streets of Harlem and they ask

The people of Harlem what they think it's hilarious It's a great contrast on how powerful culture and indoctrinate.

I'm sorry Education is in America today because all the college

Cambridge or Columbia students were like well of course yes, what do you mean of course they can

And then they go ask a couple of brothers on the side of the street. Hey, man Can a man have a baby and it go look the video up?

It's hilarious and the guy went what? Man, that's stupid And then ask this black lady.

Hey, can a man be a woman she goes he ain't got no uterus guys you

Must come to a place Where you have to have faith in God not the acceptance of this world.

I know some of you are getting bored I know some of you are I see it in your eyes And if you wouldn't mind if you were believer just pray with me for the heathens that are in here that are not saved

That need to hear this word Can you just walk along with me for about five more minutes before you go eat your steak?

Okay Be still Please pray stop being a cultural

Christian and actually care about the soul that's sitting on the same row as you arrogant heathen

Watch this verse 48 Have the any of the authorities of the

Pharisees believed in him verse 49, but the crowd that does not know the law is accursed

Y 'all aren't as smart as us go arresting verse 50

Nicodemus Now notice the parentheses there Nicodemus the one who had gone to him at night

The one who had gone before who was one of them said to them now watch this who was one of them

Who said to them? You know what a regenerator spirits gonna give you it's gonna give you a little bit of confidence

People have said to me over the years pastor, you're too cocky. No you insecure little worm

It's not them too cocky It's something that you loathe because your insecurity wants to manifest the same confidence in Jesus Christ that I have but here's what

Christians do instead of Sacrificing our own pride and being torn down.

So God will lift us up What do Christians do we tear each other down if we can all be on my same level of sock then we're good to go

If we can all be cowards, then I'm gonna be in a common place And And you men

By the way, happy Father's Day you men Did act like your wives and children?

Instead of leading with authority and love and grace and sacrifice and service character and honor

Discipline things that make us men men You argue like a five -year -old

Well, I just whatever If you're a man and a leader in the words, whatever come out of your mouth, you just failed as a man because there's never the answer of whatever

I Guarantee you you didn't go up to Norman Schwarzkopf and go. Hey the

Iraqis are attacking this way We want to attack this way and Norman Schwarzkopf's playing

Mario Brothers like whatever whatever Don't bother me be a leader.

God. I'm preaching like 80 sermons in this one, aren't I? They're bonus last thing listen last thing

Nicodemus when he was Regenerated the things he believed in and the courage that he lacked to come to Jesus at night

It started to fade away a little bit He wasn't just not interested not telling dirty jokes at work.

He was interested in standing up a little bit for Jesus Watch this last verse.

This really is the last one. Look at your sheets. Watch this John chapter 19 Go forward 12 chapters

John chapter 19 Jesus has died you know what real faith looked like that three days in between Jesus's death and his resurrection the

People whose lives were changed in those three days. Those were the Navy SEAL Green Beret Special Forces Christians Watch what

I mean When Thomas saw Jesus resurrected and Jesus didn't show up in a dream or an apparition

But after he was dead Thomas was sitting there and he goes sup Thomas Thomas like oh, he probably wasn't that gay -sounding but you know, he was saying something like that And he looked at Thomas.

He said I stick your hand in them nail prints boy. Now, do you believe what Thomas say?

my lord and my One little

Jesus in the manger the dude hanging on the cross. He was God and the Lord something to submit to All right

Here's Nicodemus. He didn't get to see Jesus rectory resurrected when he made his stand in John chapter 19

He did this It says there in that passage That Joseph of Arimathea who was a rich dude who also was a disciple of Jesus Although privately you can see that in Scripture because he was scared both of them decided

It's time to take a stand It's gonna cost us It's gonna cost us and it did by the way, but that's a sermon for another time

And here's something else Christian. You know why there's a church Because it's gonna cost you and guys

I'm here to tell you I'm a coward So are you but man when you get a bunch of cowards together called

Christians all sudden man was like You get a little bold, right? You start getting a little bit stronger and if you are wounded or you are a little bit scared other brothers and sisters come up And go it's okay.

It's okay It's okay some of them come up to you and oh I do need to quit drinking.

I can't be on the lake and still worship Jesus Because it says gather yourselves together, right that's called obedience, right?

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus became friends and became partners in serving

God before Jesus was resurrected again, that's real courage. That's real faith.

Think of the guy on the cross Jesus remember me when you get to heaven Jesus is over there dying next to him dude.

That's real faith, man You know the Jesus that stood up out of the grave and walked out and the stones rolled away

The Roman soldiers are run away and he shows up and walks through walls and goes up now man. Yeah, I need to believe there, right?

Man, he hadn't rose again yet. Nicodemus does this he brings? 75 pounds of Spices now,

I know that doesn't make sense to us today But that is probably about $200 ,000

In other words, you know what? He did he emptied? Everything he had and brought it now.

He was believing in Jesus Believing in his words. Jesus says hey, man, I'm gonna be right back.

Give me three days. Hang on. I Want enough for Nicodemus? Here's the last thing

I mean tell him to stop saying that Watch this You see when you start to follow

Jesus the things that used to matter to you Don't matter no more

You see when you were regenerated that what you put your hope and faith in that what you relied on your little

Insecurities and your little whoopies that you have whether it be your your drinking your vaping your codependent relationship

Whatever it is. They just don't matter anymore, man They just don't And you'll give up everything

You're brainwashed Guys, I brainwashed all five of my kids try it. It's great stuff

You won't have to be going to juvenile hall. It's really a cool thing for a Friday night You won't be smoking weed in a

Kroger parking lot after work No names mentioned. I'm not even gonna look that way guys

If you're truly regenerated Your speech is going to change What you believe and trust in is going to change your security blankets are going to change

And your actions are going to change Just How many souls have slipped into the abyss of hell by walking

Emotionally down an aisle to that song and praying a stupid prayer that's not found in the gospel and Relying on that moment to be saved

Let me ask you this Christian Especially you Christians have been a Christian a long time and you are a mature

Christian When's the last time you repented? Well in 1983

I was come to the Lord cool When it's 2022 man

Okay for those of you that don't know that's 40 years Biblically, that's a generation.

You mean you tell me you have not repented in a generation Here's what an old man in this church told me one time

He's dead by the way and probably in hell, but this is what he said to me. He used to sit right around here No relation.

Well, maybe to you but I Sat right over there and he just said to me pastor

I love you preaching but you preach so long and then we have to sit through that invitation

And it's like every time we're about to close up someone gets up and comes forward to get saved

And I just looked at him. I almost just said his name. I just looked at him I go Are you serious?

He goes, yeah, man, and I said this why don't you just leave then this is what he said

I don't want people to think bad of me It's okay that God knows

It's okay that I'm in my heart Hating my time being wasted because people are hearing the word and coming down here and getting saved

But I just don't want anybody else to know about it. Does that sound like a regenerated believer? No Now good news is he tithed he'd been baptized

He'd been a member of a Baptist Church He was a Republican and he was white which means right away you're saved white power, right

Guys some of you believe in crap that is going to send you to hell for the rest of your life

Here's here's this The gospel of 1st John says this if you claim to know the truth yet you hate your brother

You're a liar You're a liar liar

Well, but I would say liar, but I asked Jesus liar, but I've been to Phoebe a liar liar

You're a liar if you want he claims to know the truth yet continues to walk in darkness

You've been struggling with sin for 40 years or 20 years and your struggle is this is how you fight sin

You know what a struggle looks like go look up one of his fights on YouTube That's a struggle.

Does that what it looks like you fighting against your sin? Some of you guys in here are struggling with homosexuality and pornography and your struggle is

I only look at it once a day That's not a struggle You Are not a

Christian You have not been regenerated by the power of the