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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/john-meekin/things-nicodemus-didnt-understand/
Let's turn together please to the Gospel of John. I'm going to take quite a familiar reference John's Gospel and in chapter 3. Just before I read from the scriptures, I would like to put it on record again for the assembly here and for the Christians and for those who have stayed, sincere thanks.
It has been my privilege along with my brethren to be here for the conference and sincere thanks to everyone here for staying for this session of the Gospel. We're glad that you're here tonight and if you're not saved we trust that even as the Gospel is preached that you will understand the implications of these things and even in these moments come to accept the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior.
We believe it's possible. Our brethren who spoke here last night, they believed it was possible. The Christians who are gathered here presently, they believe it's possible and I as a speaker, I believe it's possible that you could come to know Christ and find in him everlasting life and eternal salvation.
John's Gospel then and in chapter 3 and we'll read from verse number 1. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 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.
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. 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?
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. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, he must be born again. 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.
Nicodemus answered and said unto him, how can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, art thou a master or a teacher, the teacher of Israel? Knowest not these things? Verily, verily I say unto thee, we speak that we do know and testify that we have seen and ye receive not our witness.
If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man which is in heaven.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. It's not really my exercise to speak about it, but we could hardly stop the reading now without reading the next verse.
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. And God bless that exceedingly familiar reading from the sacred scriptures.
I think most of you will know that it was this time of year. That's one of the comparisons that we have with John's gospel chapter three and this gospel meeting tonight. It was actually at this time of the year, but it was in a different location.
It was what was known as Passover. That really for us, the comparison for us would be Easter time. And you say here we are at the same time of the year, but we're in a different location. There's a man and he's moving through the streets of Jerusalem.
His name is Nicodemus. If you had got to Nicodemus just that dark night in the city of Jerusalem, and you had got to speak to the man and you said, Nicodemus, where are you going? Nicodemus would have said to you and I, he would have said, I am on my way to speak to the Lord Jesus.
He makes his way through the streets of Jerusalem. He makes his way along the bypass and along the sidewalks. And at last he arrives where the savior was. He moves into the presence of the Lord Jesus and very respectfully, he starts to address Christ.
Listen to what he says. He says, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God. He says, no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. And of course, normally what happened was this.
When there was a teacher or a rabbi in the presence of another teacher or rabbi, the one teacher would command the first one, just like Nicodemus has done. And he would expect a commendation from the other man.
The Lord Jesus didn't do that. The Lord Jesus cut through it all. And Christ looks at this man that is before him. And Christ has a message for this man, just as he has a message for you tonight in this gospel meeting.
Listen to what the Lord Jesus says. You know that the whole focus of this weekend has been the kingdom of God. Christ looks at Nicodemus and the Lord Jesus says, he says, Nicodemus, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus, are you born again? You'll never be in that kingdom. You will never have a relationship with God unless you are born again. You see in this gospel meeting tonight, I'm looking at boys. I'm looking at girls.
I'm looking at friends who have gathered here in this large audience. Let me remind you again, folks, you will never have a relationship with God. You will never be in God's kingdom unless you are born again.
I ask you now, before I even start preaching, are you born again? Has there ever been a moment when you were saved? Has there ever been a moment when your sins were forgiven? Has there ever been a moment when you started for heaven?
Has there ever been a moment when you were fitted for God's kingdom? I ask each and I ask all who are gathered here this evening, tell me, friends, are you born again? Are you in a relationship with God?
Of course, one of the things that I notice about the interchange in John 3 is this, how Nicodemus starts. Did you notice what he said? He said, we know. And the reality was he didn't know. I have a daughter at home.
She hates me telling preacher stories on her, but she's not here this weekend. So I guess I can tell you this one. Frequently, my daughter will come to me and she will ask me a question and I'll answer the question to the best of my ability.
And when I have answered the question, my daughter, Lauren, she will respond to me and she will say, dad, I knew that. And I look at her and I say, I get frustrated with it. It's just her way of, it's quite a precious time between her and I, but I get frustrated with it.
And frequently I will tell her, Lauren, that's not true. You didn't know that. And she'll turn to me and she'll smile and she'll say, dad, I knew that. And she'll walk away. Nicodemus didn't do that. One of the things that happens is this, frequently we are introduced to something that we don't know.
And when we are introduced to something that we don't know, we're not prepared to face it. Let me ask you tonight, are you prepared to face the fact that you don't know? You think that you do know. You've heard about being born again before.
You've heard about being saved before. You've heard this message of the gospel before. And yet you're sitting here in a gospel meeting this afternoon, as I have the privilege of preaching to you. And here is Nicodemus and Nicodemus says, we know.
But Nicodemus didn't know. But you see, by the time the night was over, Nicodemus came to a realization. He came to a knowledge. He came into the benefit and the blessing of God's great salvation. And he came to know.
And you could have the same blessing tonight. Well, you say, what did he not know? I would say that the first thing that Nicodemus didn't understand is this. He didn't understand the words of the savior.
The Lord looks at Nicodemus and the Lord says to Nicodemus, he says, Nicodemus, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And Nicodemus did not know what being born again meant. Let me ask you, do you know what being born again means this evening?
Do you understand what we are preaching when we are preaching about the new birth and being born again? You see, we preach about the necessity of the new birth and we preach about the need for the new birth.
And we preach about the nearness of the new birth that you can be born again. But there are people in this gospel meeting and you along with me before I was saved really did not know what it meant to be born again.
In fact, the man Nicodemus, I can see him here. He actually says to the savior, how can a man be born when he is old? And then further down the passage in verse number nine, he says this, how can these things be?
Because Nicodemus essentially, and in reality, he didn't know. My father, I've told this story before. Frequently when it comes to the gospel, I don't take every opportunity that comes my way. I would have to admit that.
My father, whenever he received an opportunity, he always took it. We were coming home from a gospel meeting one night. This was when we lived in Northern Ireland. Myself, this was when I lived in Northern Ireland.
And as we were moving from the gospel meeting going home, just it was at the period of time when the British army would set up roadblocks in the roads. We loved it when we were kids. I mean, the soldiers were in the hedgerows.
The soldiers were lying there with their guns, their SLRs and their SA80s and all of that thing. And we used to love just watching for them. And here it is this night. And there's the flashlight going round in the road, the red light.
And eventually we were pulled over. And the English soldier, he approached the window of the car. And he looked in through the window to my father and to my mother. And he glanced into the back to us.
And as he did that, he said to my father, what's your name? My father told him. He said, where are you going? We were only a stone's throw from home. And my father told him where we were going. He says, do you own your home?
My father said, yes. And then the next question that came was this, where are you coming from? And I thought to myself, mister, you just asked the wrong question. My father said to him, I'm coming from a gospel meeting.
And that polite English soldier looked through the window of the car and he said, you what? My father said to him, I'm coming from a gospel meeting. And he said, I had the privilege tonight of opening the scriptures and telling people that they needed to be born again.
And the next question, you could almost understand. You could almost tell me the next question. The man looked at my father and he said, how can a man be born again? And I thought, mister, you've just asked the wrong question.
Because my father took the opportunity for the second time that night of pouring into the heart and into the ears of a man who had never heard it before. The glorious truth of the gospel that that man and every unsaved person needs to be born again.
Let me ask you again tonight, boys. You folks who are gathered here, tell me, have you been born again? Has there ever been a moment when you were saved? Because when we speak about being born again, when we speak about being saved, when we speak about repentance, when the Bible speaks about trusting Christ, they are all synonymous terms for the same thing.
Being born again is being saved. Being born again is trusting Christ. Being born again is repenting of your sins. Being born again is being brought into a living relationship with the Lord Jesus. I ask you this afternoon now in the fear of God, tell me, folks, have you ever been born again?
Nicodemus did not understand the words of the Savior, but the Savior's words were clear. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. The second thing that Nicodemus didn't understand was this, he didn't understand the wickedness of sin.
And you say, where would you get that in the passage? Well, tell me, what is being born again? If you were answering that question, what does being born again, what does it really mean? You see, being born again is the impartation of life from God.
That's what being born again is, that the moment a person accepts the Lord Jesus, the moment a person is saved, they are given divine life. Listen to what the Lord Jesus said, I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.
Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Being born again is having eternal life. But that means this, that sinners are dead in their sins. You see, I've spoken to people, I've worked with people here in Wisconsin, I've preached before, I have preached before in Iowa.
And you see some of those folks to whom I have preached, they have told me, I will let my spirit soar to worship God. Listen, if you're not saved, you can't, you're dead in your sins. Some of those people have told me about working for God.
Listen, folks, you can't work for God if you're not saved. You're dead in your sins. The Bible puts it like this, Ephesians chapter 2, we are dead in trespasses and in sins. That means there's nothing you can do.
It means there's no work that you can accomplish for your own salvation. It means that salvation is not in church. Salvation is not in works. Salvation is not in baptism. Salvation is not in prayers. Salvation is not in preachers.
One of the great things about salvation is this, it's not in a preacher like me. It is not in a priest. It is not in a Pope. It is not in a potentate. As I'm preaching to you this evening, salvation is in Christ and it's in Christ alone.
That's the wonder of the gospel. If you want salvation tonight, it's found alone in Jesus Christ. That's why Nicodemus had come to the right man. We know, but he didn't know. We know he didn't understand the words of the Savior.
He didn't understand the wickedness of sin. We are dead in trespasses and in sins. The third thing that I want to touch is this, Nicodemus didn't understand the work of the Spirit. He says to the Lord Jesus, how can these things be?
How is it possible that a person can be born again? And the Lord Jesus says, he says, Nicodemus, he says, the wind bloweth where it listeth. Thou hearest the sound thereof, but you cannot tell whence it cometh or whether it goeth.
So is everyone that is born of the Spirit. Let me tell you just how it comes to pass that a person is born again. God begins to work by his spirit. I've heard people and they've told me I can get saved when I like.
Really? You ever think like that? There are Christian's children here this evening, and maybe in your heart you think I can get saved whenever I like. Tell me, try it now. Let me just show you from the Bible how people do get saved, how they are born again.
God begins to work by the power of his spirit. And God through the instrumentality, and God through the activity of the Spirit of God, he begins to move. And people are stirred. And people understand I need to be saved.
And they understand I should be saved. And they understand this, I need to be born again. I can remember very vividly just the time whenever I get saved. Things began to, in my life, God began to work.
I actually went on a Saturday evening. I went to a fairground. Some of the folks from Iowa will have heard this before. I went to a fairground on a Saturday evening in the month of May, 1990. I went to get away from the gospel.
One week of gospel meetings was already ongoing. I had no thought about my sin. I went to enjoy time with my friends. I got on a ride at that fairground about 9 30 at night. The dear man that was operating the ride, normally he played music.
This night was different. No music was playing. And he made the ride spin and spin quickly until the girls were screaming. And then he spoke into a microphone like this and he said, girls, the reason why you're screaming on this ride is this.
This is the fastest ride on the fair. He says, fellas, the reason why the girls are screaming, this is the fastest ride in the fairground. And then he said this, he said, this is a fast ride to hell. And instantaneously, I got off that ride and I stood and I watched people passing.
One week of gospel meetings I'd been to sitting under the sound and the power of God's word unmoved. And here is an ungodly man. And he says, this is a fast ride to hell. And my friends started to call me and they said, John, let's go, let's go.
And the only thing that I could think of was this. It's time to be born again. It's time to be saved because if I am not born again, if I am not saved, it's hell for me. You know, in this gospel meeting this evening, there is a real hell.
Do you know the reason why we preach the way we do? Why the gospel sounds like this? Why you listen to man with faithfulness and with fervency, preaching the way we do. Dear folks, the reality is this.
There is a real heaven and there is a real hell. And if you stay the way you are, you will perish and you'll perish forever. I say to this audience this evening, it's time to wake up. I say to those who are listening, it's time to do business with God.
I say to you folks tonight, using the words of the Lord Jesus, young men, young women tonight, ye must born again. Nicodemus didn't understand the words of the Savior. Nicodemus didn't understand the wickedness of sin.
Nicodemus didn't understand the work of the spirit. Just as I conclude this evening, I want you to think of a fourth thing. Nicodemus didn't understand the way of salvation. There comes a moment when he wants to be delivered.
There comes a moment when he wants to be right with God. There comes a moment when he understands for this kingdom to be in that kingdom. I need to be born again. I want to be born again. How can I be born again?
And the Savior says, Nicodemus, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but of everlasting life. And Nicodemus was pointed back to a passage that he knew well, Numbers 21.
There were a people who were bitten. There were a people who were perishing. There were a people who were dying in their sins. And Moses took a serpent and he puts it upon the whole. And Moses goes to those people in the camp of Israel.
And he says this, look, look and live. And you say, what's it all telling us off? It's all telling us of Christ who would come from glory, who would die upon a cross for our sins, who would be lifted up at Calvary.
Nicodemus hears about those people. And the message for them is look, look and live. And you say, did it work? Come on. It's a rhetorical question. Just like Brody mentioned last night. Just a rhetorical question.
Did it work? Everyone here knows it worked. You look at a bitten Israelite here. Moses goes to the man and his sins. And Moses says to the man, you'll perish if you stay the way you are. You need salvation.
You need to be born again. There's a serpent lifted upon the pole. If you look, you'll live. And I see the man with his remaining strength. He takes a look. And the moment he looked, he lived. You know, in this gospel meeting, if you look to Christ, you'll live.
Look to Jesus, weary one. Look and live, look and live. Look at what the Lord has done. Look and live. See him hanging on the tree. Look and live, look and live. Hear him say, look on to me. Look and live.
You must be born again. There is only one way of salvation, and it's in Christ. May you accept the Lord Jesus? Nicodemus says, we know. But he didn't know. By the time the night was over, he did know.
Because this passage, John 7 and John 19, they all say the same thing. He came to Jesus by night, and he was born again. May God bless his word. Let's pray. Our Father, we spend these moments again now in thy sacred presence.
We thank thee for thy word. We thank thee for its power. We think of this man that needed to be born again, and we thank thee for that night when he came to Christ, and his sins were forgiven. Our God, we look to thee this evening.
We pray for those who are gathered with us, and we commit them to thee. God have mercy upon them. We ask, Father, for thy attendant blessing on thy word this evening, and last night, and to the children, and through the conference.
And we pray for God's mercy and God's blessing in every way. We give our thanks now, as we wait before thee. We thank thee for our supper prepared, and the kind hands that have worked, and prepared our dinner for us this evening.
We give our thanksgivings to thee, as we wait again in thy presence, in the Savior's name. Amen.