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. Once again, this is Alan Kearns with you, welcoming you to Let the Bible Speak. It's good to have you listening in, as today we return to our study of the Gospel of John, looking further at the life of Christ, and especially how he evidenced his claims to be the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Omniscient Christ, by the knowledge that he showed of Nicodemus. Stay with us as we look into God's Word together today. First, however, our hot topic for the day deals with what is thought to be a very widespread virus, Affluenza. How's this from Reuters? Beware the affluenzavirus, an epidemic of mindless consumerism is sweeping the world with the compulsive pursuit of money and possessions making people richer but sadder. That's the stark warning issued by best-selling British psychologist Oliver James after a mind tour of seven countries chronicling how depression envelops the affluent. we have become addicted to having rather than being, and confusing our needs with our wants. Affluenza. Capitalistic consumerism. It's a deadly virus that's hazardous to your mental health. The British psychologist quoted above, shouldn't be dismissed too quickly, but neither should he be believed too easily. He admires the Chinese for their stoicism. He is firmly on the ecology and environmental bandwagon. He believes that capitalistic consumerism is depriving the next generation of the necessary but limited resources the earth has to offer. In other words, he's driven by an anti-capitalist left-wing agenda. He's part of the monumental scare campaign that the Left has mounted to make us believe that the economic success of the West is an evil thing, that it's destroying the planet through man-induced global warming, and that the need of the hour is a redistribution of the world's wealth, what they euphemistically call creating a level playing field among the nations of the world. So Oliver James's opinions should be taken with a pinch of salt. And yet there's enough truth in what he says to make us think. The misery he found among affluent people is not a reason for America to espouse socialism, but it's a reminder of the truth that the Lord Jesus Christ stated in Luke's Gospel chapter 12. A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things that he possesseth. Things don't make you happy. James contrasted the miserable life of a New York millionaire who's a sex-addicted atheist with a poor but happy Nigerian taxi driver whose faith upholds him and makes him faithful in his marriage. The point is well made. Gain commences with godliness and happiness with holiness. Godliness with contentment is great gain. So pay attention to the things that really matter. In the words of an old hymn, In land or store I may be poor, By name unknown my place obscure, Of this I have the witness sure, O bless the Lord, I've Jesus. Or as another says, I have Christ, what want I more? Here is true health and wealth. John Calvin's rendering of Philippians 1 verse 21 puts it perfectly. In life or death, Christ is my gain. Alleluia! Reclamation, the church of God, Full of His Spirit, rushing with love. This is my story, this is my song, Praising my creator, Praising Thy glory, praising Thy power, Praising Thy name, O Lord of all. Perfect salvation, perfect divine, Rich in compassion, This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Saviour all the day long. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave Through this transition of life and death, I am entreated to have a new test, a new and great beginning of love. Heaven and earth are filled with God's praise. You're listening to Let the Bible Speak, the radio ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America. We have a very special offer for you in this month of April, and I trust that you'll avail yourself of it. As our gift to you, we'd like to offer you my book on the Lord's Prayer. This has been a book that the Lord has greatly used and has been very instrumental in leading many Christians to a deeper experience of God in the sacred place. The book is yours if you wish to have it by writing to us or emailing or calling. Our mailing address is Let the Bible Speak, 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, SC 29615. Our email address is ltbs at freepres.org. or you may call us toll free at 1-866-877-5827 1-866-877-LTBS we look forward to hearing from you and to letting you have the Lord's Prayer a book you'll thoroughly enjoy It is the love so bright that we feel it in his wings. When the morn's sun is shining, he comes unsung again. And he's the love we're shining to share in God's presence. In holy contemplation we see ♪ God's salvation ♪ ♪ And mine eternal new ♪ ♪ Help me from dread and sorrow ♪ ♪ With symphony can say ♪ ♪ He lends me on your morrow ♪ ♪ Bring with it what he's made ♪ ♪ He gives his peace to you ♪ He shall bring with his loving what he will bear us through. Would it but be this loving ever lives in one's soul. Be with us when we pray. And He who feeds your labours will give His children bread. O my love, be free, O my love, and have compassion, O come, O come, O come, O come, O come, O come, to Bethlehem. And now we return to our study of the life of Christ as He reveals Himself to Nicodemus. We're in John chapter 3. We're picking up the message today near the end of yesterday's message showing again what's entailed in the revelation that Christ here gives of His omniscience that He knows all mankind, knows all men thoroughly and especially making the point He knows what is in Let's now turn back to John's Gospel, chapter 3. He knows all men. Not only that, but he knows what's in them. Now that's a divine knowledge. That's something that you and I can never really know. We judge by appearance. Doesn't the scripture say, man looks on the outward appearance? We judge by a person's visage. We come to great conclusions about the look on their countenance. I don't want to get off on a tangent here, but let me tell you, be very careful how you judge that, because very often you'll come to a wrong conclusion. And I have known people, even preachers, to come to radically wrong conclusions because they're judging a person's countenance. And the truth is, we don't know the multitude of things that are going on that cause that countenance. I can remember times in my own life when I looked at a person's face and I knew exactly what they were thinking. Or so I thought. Only to find out later that that on their countenance was actually produced by a crisis of which I had no knowledge whatsoever. Or by a feeling, or a pain, or a sickness, or a worry, or a concern, or a need that I had no knowledge about. So be very careful. But that's how we deal. We look at the people's face. We look at what they do. We listen to what they say. And however much we say to the contrary, we listen to what other people say. We factor in all the evidence. But having said all that, we rarely know what is in a man. The Lord Jesus looks on the heart The Lord Jesus penetrates to the depths of the soul. When He wrote to the Christians in the seven churches of Asia, He said, I know thy works. But then He went beyond the works. beyond what they did. Take the church of Ephesus as the outstanding example. I know your works. They're all good works. They're wonderful works. They're praiseworthy works. They're such works as would identify this as the best church in America if it were here today. But I am somewhat against thee, for thou hast left thy first love. You're doing all the things you always did. You're saying all the things you always said. You're keeping before you the goals that you always had. You're not in compromise. You're not in apostasy. You're not backslidden that anybody can see. But I understand your heart, and I know that you've drifted, and that the love that we read of, for example, in Paul's epistle to the church at Ephesus, The love that so thrilled your heart, the love of God in Christ that so stirred your love for Him, is no longer the burning furnace that it was. You've left your first love. Oh, that's the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows what's in you this morning. He's not fooled. by pretentious words, whether in testimony or in prayer. He is not deceived by actions calculated to make an impression upon man. He goes beyond the words and the works, and he sees what's in you. He sees the heart. doesn't depend on any outside source of information he knows intuitively and if you study Biblical theology, you'll understand, one of the great marks of the omniscience of God is that God's knowledge is intuitive knowledge. It is knowledge that resides within Him because of who He is and what He is. It does not depend upon information. It does not need information. It comes by a divine intuition. That's the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Another mark of divine knowledge is that it is immediate knowledge. And therefore it is comprehensive knowledge. The Lord Jesus knows men immediately. That means without anything or anybody standing in between. He knows the superficial response to the gospel for what it is. He sees people whose faith never rises above excitement to a deep, settled confidence in his own person and work. I haven't time to follow that down through what's happening in America today. But what is it that passes for faith? It is this Thraldom that excitement has over the hearts of men. They want to be where the action is. They want to have meetings that are stirring up the emotions of the flesh. Something that is always causing a surface response. And where there's excitement, they say, we believe, we believe. But Jesus Christ draws a distinction between a superficial fleshly response to exciting stimuli and a true, settled confidence and commitment to the person and the work of the Son of God. But here is an encouraging thing. He knows a true seeker when he meets one, however weak that seeker may be. Look at Nicodemus. Remember that chapter 3 starts with a but. Jesus would not commit himself to these shallow, empty professors. Let me stop there. I should have said this, and I really am a wee bit leery about getting into it because it goes too far. And I don't want to leave unguarded statements, but shallow professors, people who are in chapter 2, 23, 24, 25, shallow professors never really get to know Christ. That's how you know them. They never get to know Christ. He never commits Himself to them. Their religion never gets beyond the surface. They are never brought to a place where Christ reveals Himself to them. Now that's a very big statement. Let's stand back, take good stock of ourselves, for our eternal destiny depends on this. Unless your religion proceeds beyond where these people were, you'll be lost forever in hell. For if Jesus doesn't commit himself to you, you can't be in heaven. If he won't commit himself to you, You can't be in heaven. Now let's take this very seriously. But then let's look at the other side. He knows the true seeker. Now look at Nicodemus. Was there a more unlikely character? Jesus wouldn't commit himself to these people, but there was a man of the Pharisees, and he goes on to commit himself to him. He was a man that was genuinely seeking Christ. We're told he came by night. John Wesley, I think, sums up the views of most, and I think he's right. He said he came by desire. He came by night through shame. Now, that doesn't put Nicodemus in a very good light. The word Nicodemus is a very pretentious sort of name. It means conqueror of the people. And yet, if ever a man was a slave to people's opinions, it was Nicodemus. Far from being a conqueror, he was a victim. But though he was coming, trembling, frightened, ashamed, the Lord Jesus detected in Nicodemus a genuine sincerity A genuine seeking, a genuine desire, a desire that was so deep that he couldn't even articulate it. As you'll see when you read this, the Lord Jesus answered a question that Nicodemus hadn't even got around to asking. But as Jesus looked at this man, He didn't have any of the trappings or the appearances of the crowd that we read of at the end of chapter 2. But Jesus believed in him. Jesus believed in him. And Jesus trusted himself to Nicodemus. The bruised reed, he doesn't break. The smoking flax, he doesn't quench. A bruised reed, you know, is worth nothing. Try to put a bruised reed in a reed instrument like an organ. It's useless. The world cannot repair or find use for the bruised reed. A smoking flax does nothing but irritate your nostrils and your eyes. It's useless. It gives neither light nor heat. It's just a nuisance to everybody around it. But the Lord Jesus comes to a Nicodemus. He comes to you, to me, with all our weakness and all our folly. And He sees if there is an honest, simple desire to know Him on His terms. He sees that. And far from crushing the bruised reed, He tends it. And he can do what none else can do. He can make it new. Far from snuffing out that smoking flax, he tends it until he turns it into a torch of testimony to his own glory. 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.