From Greenville, South Carolina, we present, Let the Bible Speak. Let the Bible Speak is the radio ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America, preaching Christ in all His fullness. Thank you for joining us today. This is Alan Kearns with you once again, welcoming you to Let the Bible Speak. It's good to have you listening in, and I trust you'll stay with us for the rest of this 30-minute segment, as today we continue our studies in the life of Christ. This week, our theme, the Lord Jesus Christ as He revealed Himself to Nicodemus, the ruler of the Jews. in that famous interview in which the Lord Jesus said, ye must be born again. It's a fascinating revelation that the Lord Jesus gave of himself and we'll be pursuing that in today's broadcast. But first, it's time for our daily commentary, our hot topic for the day. And our hot topic for today may sound a little political. Actually, it's not. I have no interest in promoting party politics. However, when a political party is outrageous in its anti-Christian stance, we get beyond party politics and enter the realm of standing for God and for truth. The Democratic National Committee, at its winter meeting, had a Muslim imam from Dearborn, Michigan, an imam in a Shiite mosque there, lead them in prayer in which he effectively prayed for conversion to Islam and against what he termed occupation. This last reference can hardly be anything less than one to the presence of US troops in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. Can you imagine the furor if a Christian minister had prayed in the name of the Lord Jesus and had called for the conversion of Muslims to Christ, or if he had prayed for the success of American arms in Afghanistan and Iraq, the press would have been all over the story. But somehow it's different when a Muslim imam prays in the terms that we have noted. That's diversity. Christianity spells danger. Such apparently is the current mood of some democratic leaders. It's astonishing and alarming that a major political party should promote the religion in whose name Muslim fanatics murdered thousands of Americans in 9-11. That's not to say that all Muslims support terrorism. All it says is that the terrorists carry out their campaign in the name of the Muslim religion. And yet, Democrats, no less the Democratic National Committee, bowed in prayer to be led by a Muslim cleric that we should all be brought under Islam. The immediate reason for the Democrats' action is obvious. The Imam came from Dearborn with its teeming Muslim population, and the party and its political strategists want to get at those votes. For such short-term political gain, some politicians are willing to do almost anything, including promoting Islam and giving a platform to call for its spread. Now, that's a rotten way to do politics. May God save us from time-serving and self-serving politicians and indeed from the religion of Islam that they are so assiduously promoting. I found a refuge from life's care in Jesus I am hiding in His love divine. He fully understands my soul's deep longing, And He whispers softly, Thou art mine. Only Jesus, only Jesus, only He can satisfy. Every burden becomes a blessing when I know my Lord is nigh. I've found a precious joy in knowing Jesus. never dreamed of in this world of old. No clouds, however dark, can dim the radiance of the heavenly light he doth bestow. Holy Jesus, Holy Jesus, Only He can satisfy Every burden becomes a blessing When I know my Lord is nigh I've found a blessed hope divine in Jesus It is a day star ever shining bright It fills my earthly way with heavenly glory And it turns life's darkness into light Only Jesus, only Jesus, only He can satisfy. Every burden becomes a blessing when I know my Lord. You're listening to Let the Bible Speak, coming to you from Greenville, South Carolina, the radio ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America. I trust that you have already ordered your Let the Bible Speak quarterly magazine. We have a wonderful variety of subjects in this particular issue on the Psalms, including the imprecatory Psalms, 119th Psalm, the Shepherd Psalm. You'll find much here that will be a blessing to you. Many articles, good writers, good devotional, much instruction. All these things are yours free of charge in the Let the Bible Speak quarterly magazine. The back page you'll also be able to read of our worldwide programming schedule and that will enable you to pray for us. So write to us for your copy of the LTBS quarterly at Let the Bible Speak, 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, SC 29615 or you may email us at ltbs at freepres.org or you may call us toll free 1-866-877-LTBS 1-866-877-5827. We look forward to hearing from you. Where is the fountain open for my cleansing? Where since atonement by my Lord was made? He was the lamb that was led to the slaughter. His blood the fountain where my head was laid. The precious cleansing fount was opened there for me. Our path stands by storms unshaken, Redemptions offer the foundation laid. I faith my stand on his righteousness I've taken. He will not fail, I shall not be dismayed. The precious cleansing fountain was opened there for me. The precious cleansing fountain was opened there for me. We return now to John's Gospel chapter 3 to deal with how the Lord Jesus reveals himself to Nicodemus. Yesterday I was pointing out that actually the story of Nicodemus starts in John chapter 2. In context the Lord Jesus had three interviews that John goes on to record After Nicodemus, he spoke to a Samaritan and then a Gentile. And we now pick up the story with the significance of that fact before proceeding to look at the fact that Christ claimed to be the very Son of God, the only Savior of the sinners, and evidenced it by His omnipotence, His omniscience, and His love. The testimony of these interviews is that the Lord Jesus is the Savior of the world. And He is the Savior who is perfectly adapted to the needs of all, be they religious, irreligious, or secular. Be they moral or immoral, be they learned or illiterate, be they rich or poor, young or old, male or female, He is the Savior of the world. to meet the needs of every kind and every class of sinner. Now today, our attention will be on the interview with Nicodemus. Now, as most of you would know, without me having to turn you to it in Scripture, this interview is recorded in John chapter 3. But this is one of those occasions when the chapter divisions of the Bible, which of course had no part, no place whatsoever in the Scriptures as given in the original language. The chapter division in a way helps because it isolates this story of the interview with Nicodemus so that we will not forget John 3 is all about the new birth. That's well worth having the division where it is. But it also has a sort of a malign effect as well, because we tend to start the story of Jesus and Nicodemus at chapter 3 verse 1, whereas in context it starts at chapter 2 and verse 23. And it's very important, as we'll see as we go on, to note that context. Now, I have to say this. This is a great restriction on preachers who like to go here and there, as I say, often go everywhere preaching the Word. In studying this passage, my aim will not be primarily to look at the character of Nicodemus. My aim will not primarily even be to study the great theological truth of the new birth. My aim will not even be to study the great truth of John 3.16. All these things will get a mention. But remember, we are dealing with the life of Christ. We're not dealing with the life of Nicodemus with a side glance at Christ. We're dealing with the life of Christ. And our aim, therefore, will be to keep Christ in view. To keep our focus on Him. and to see the witness that this passage bears to the Lord Jesus. And if we do that, I believe that we shall see that it teaches us that our Lord Jesus Christ claims to be the very Son of God and the only Saviour of sinners. And we will see that He gave powerful and authoritative evidence of these claims by His omnipotence, by His omniscience and by His love. So what I want us to do today, maybe I should rephrase that and say what I want us to start to do today. I'd love to get through it all, especially since it will be a few weeks before I'm back at this subject. But at least start to do today is to see Jesus as He revealed Himself to Nicodemus. Now let me make this statement first. that Christ made great claims for Himself in this interview. He gave Nicodemus a wonderful insight into who He was and into the nature of His work. Now, this is where the connection with chapter 2 assumes great importance. Go back to 2, verse 23. He was in Jerusalem at the Passover and in the feast day. Many people believed in Him. Many believed in His name. Now let me say immediately, if this were the 20th or 21st century, if this were some citywide crusade, be it Baptist, Presbyterian, Fundamentalist, New Evangelical or whatever, these people would be heralded as the fruits of a great revival. Here we had miracles. Powerful miracles. Miracles of tremendous number. And a great many people believed in the name of the Lord Jesus when they saw the miracles that He did. Then we read verse 24. But Jesus. did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men. He didn't need that any should testify of man, he knew what was in man. And as he looked into these people and he knew that they believed because of the miracles, he knew that they were not a true believing people, He knew that they were not a trustworthy people. He knew that their belief was intellectual. It was based in signs and wonders. It had no apprehension of the glory of His person or His mission. They were not really interested in the real Christ and the real reason why Christ was there. And so He did not commit Himself to them. He did not reveal more of Himself to them. He did not get into the details who he was and what he was doing. It's interesting that as it is originally written, they believed and he did not commit himself. They're the same verb, slightly different constructions. They believed in his name. He did not commit himself. It's a very important translation of the verb to believe here, for a simple reason, that it discounts some notions, and I'm not going to follow this through, just you can think of it however, discounts some notions that are altogether too prevalent in parts of evangelical Protestantism, and I'm sad to say in parts of the reformed camp that want to make faith a mere intellectual exercise. that deny the reality that Luther emphasized, that Calvin emphasized, that Knox preached with power, that faith is believing with trust. There is a personal commitment of trust. And you can see that very clearly. They believed in... Jesus did not entrust himself to them. because he knew what was in their hearts. He knew whatever the appearance, what the reality was. Now here is the important connection. And unfortunately it is lost in the AV. For some reason or other our translators left out translating a little two-letter particle of speech. Translation reads literally He knew what was in man, but, or perhaps now, I think but comes in better here, but there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus. Here is all this bunch of people. Jesus knew what was in them. They were not a trustworthy people. Whatever the outward appearance, He could not entrust Himself to them. He would not reveal Himself further to them. But there was a man of the Pharisees. He came to the Lord Jesus. And you know, when you look at the outside, when you look at the appearance, my, you would have to say, there was no more unpromising character who ever came to Christ than Nicodemus. You'd have to say, if there was anybody you would expect the Lord to turn away and say, look, go your way, and when you have the courage of your convictions, come back to me. You'd think it would be Nicodemus, but he didn't do that. Here was one that the Lord Jesus did entrust Himself to. Talk about the sovereignty of God. Here you see it. He did entrust himself to him, and what a revelation he gave to Nicodemus of himself, and through Nicodemus gave to us. You think of some of the things, this would be a whole course in what's called Christology, a great section of theology, and obviously I'm not here to do that, otherwise this would be a mighty long service. But think of the revelation Jesus gave himself. He revealed Himself as the only begotten Son of God. That's very, very clear in this third chapter, verse 16 particularly. He is the only begotten Son of God. Can I tell you exactly what that means? No, sir, I can't. But can I tell you that that is the proper translation? Yes, I can absolutely tell you that. You look at many modern translations of the Bible, and they say he's the only son, or he's the unique son, or he's the beloved son. All those things are true. Maybe this is the place that I should plug the production of my expanded version of the Theological Dictionary. Because there's a long article on eternal generation and another one on the Greek term that gives us that, the term monogenes. And you will find this. This is properly translated. He's the only begotten son. Let me give you a little, without getting technical. He's not just the only son. You could adopt a son, and he could be your only son. He could be a unique son. He could be a beloved son. But he could never be a monogamous son. Never. Whether it's in classical Greek or whether it's in New Testament Greek, the truth of the matter is that the use of this word speaks in human terms of one begotten of a father, or in a few cases, born of a mother. But the idea of begetting is there, and when it's applied to the Father and the Son, it is getting us into the mystery of the Trinity. And it is saying that from all eternity, the Son, begotten of the Father, is necessarily and essentially and truly of the very essence and substance of the Father. He is not derived, He is not subordinate, He is not secondary, but He is essentially and truly, eternally God. And that's what Jesus Christ is saying here. I am the only begotten Son of God. And Hebrews chapter 5 makes it clear to us that That sonship denotes equality. Now, in our depraved condition, sonship is always a note of inferiority. We're inferior in level, in dignity, in order. We're posterior in time. None of those things hold good. In the Sonship of Christ, He is co-equal, co-eternal with the Father. The Reformers loved to emphasize, they took a Greek term and they just made it an English, or Latin, or German, or whatever term. They brought it over and just made it part of their own language. And they said, the Son, just as the Father and the Spirit, is autotheos. He is God in His own nature. God in His own essential, eternal being. The only begotten Son of God. You've been listening to Let the Bible Speak, the radio ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America. I hope that you found today's broadcasting a blessing to your heart. If you'd like to email us, our email address is ltbs at freepres.org. Or if you'd prefer, you may write us at LetTheBibleSpeak 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, South Carolina 29615. We would love to hear from you. If you'd like to know how to be saved and how to be sure you're saved, we'd like to send you my booklet, A New Beginning, and I think that you'll find it very helpful. Each quarter we publish a free full-color magazine, Let the Bible Speak Quarterly, with a good variety of Bible teaching and testimony. It's available to all who request it. If you'd like to receive more information about the Free Presbyterian Church of North America and its ministry, we'd like to send you our booklet, Separated Unto the Gospel. Or if you'd like to have tape or CD copies of the messages here in Let the Bible Speak, you may have them by contacting us. Or you may visit us on the web at letthebiblespeakradio.com. Now that's a lot of information to digest all at once, but you can find it all on our website, LetTheBibleSpeakRadio.com. There you'll be able to listen to and download our programs, visit our online bookstore, and read a text version of each day's commentary. So visit us today at LetTheBibleSpeakRadio.com. This is Alan Kern saying, thank you for listening. I trust that you'll join us each day at this time, Monday through Friday, as we let the Bible speak. This is so bad.