Good evening, everyone. We're very glad to see you at the gospel service this Sabbath evening. We're going to commence. with the words of Robert Murray McShane's lovely gospel hymn. So 380, and we'll ask you to stand as we sing all of the verses together, please. Christ on high, looking o'er thy cities far and near, there, Lord, shall thy holy name God save the Queen. Waking up from ground to glee. Heading to the Savior's side. I, the Spirit, sign thee. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave Blessed King John, this we show, Guiding Saints are much like you. Sweet at heart, melodious voice. Then, Lord, shall thy word they know, not till then are much done. I mentioned to you this morning the biography of Hudson Taylor. Let me add to that the biography of Robert Murray McShane, the author of the hymn that we've just sung together. The authorized biography, if I could put it like that, was written by his very close friend, Andrew Bonner. MacShane died at 29, Bonner lived into his 80s and he never really got over the death of his very close friend. He was greatly challenged by his godly life and in his own diary He often referred back or looked back, reminisced to the death of MacShane. At the end of Bonner's biography, he brings together a lot of the other material that MacShane wrote. He penned a number of hymns and a number of poems. So it's worth having the book even to look through those and to be familiar with them. Remember that he went to Palestine, which is what was known then, or Israel, as we know it today. And he sat there on the mountains of Acre in northern Israel, looking over the Mediterranean, and one of his best-known poems is written about the Mediterranean. "'See this, listless tide, listless sea, is like thy love in Christ to me.'" The Mediterranean, of course, the tide never goes out, which is like the love of Christ to us as his people. So, I commend that to you. It's published by the Banner of Truth, the biography. There's quite a few pages of other very helpful material at the end of the book as well. We'll seek the Lord together just for our gospel service tonight. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the words that we have sung together. We're glad to be in thy house, to be able to sing the songs of Zion, to be able to sing the praises of the Saviour. We thank you tonight for your love towards us. We do confess, Father, that oft we do not appreciate that love as we should, even when we consider all that You've done for us, the salvation that You've blessed us with and bestowed upon us. And Lord, we ask Thee to teach us here on earth to show to doubting saints how much we owe. We can never, Father, at this site of eternity, fully contemplate all that we owe to Thee in Christ, for Your mercy and salvation towards us. We want to pray that You'll touch our hearts with that great truth tonight. We want to pray, Father, that You'll teach us from Your Word this evening. We pray that You'll teach us a little more of the truth, as it is in Jesus. We desire to know a little more about our Saviour, that we might know Him as the longing of our hearts. We ask thee, Father, that we'll grow in grace, and will grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We do thank you, Father, for the love of the Saviour towards us that took Him to Calvary. We thank you, Father, that the tide of that love never goes out, that it's steadfast, just like the Saviour Himself, unchanging and unchangeable. And Lord, we want to pray that you'll help us in the way that we live, even to show the love of Christ to others. We thank you for the memory of the just. Your Word says that it's blessed. We thank you even through the singing of these words tonight. We have opportunity to remember your faithful servant of so many years long ago. We thank Father of the short life that he had upon this earth and yet a full life. a life that was lived for the Saviour, a life that left its mark for God upon the church, even to this very day. And Lord, our prayer is that you would help us to live our lives in a similar manner also. Lord, we desire to leave our mark for God upon this world. We desire to have an influence for the gospel. We desire, Father, every day and in our lives as a whole, to make a difference for Christ, to cause our lives to count for Christ. Even, Father, in a way that it's utterly unproportionate just to who we are and to the gifts and abilities that we have. We know that little is much when God is in it. And Lord, we give ourselves to Thee tonight We give the little that we have and we are unto Thee. And remember how You took that little lad's lunch that day, the two little fishes and five loaves of bread, and how You blessed it and multiplied it and used it greatly. And we want to pray, Father, You may do the same with what we offer to Thee this evening. our lives and our service for the Master. We just cry tonight, come and put your hand of blessing very definitely upon it. Thank you for the evening Gospel service. Remember in the Scriptures, there was the morning and the evening sacrifice. We're glad, Father, of being in Your house on the evening of Your day to give to Thee the sacrifice of praise. We ask, Lord, that Our praise and our worship and our prayers will be pleasing unto Thee tonight. We ask Thee to remember these gospel services. We pray that You'll use them. Our prayer is that You'll bless them. We ask Thee, Lord, to add to them. Your Word says that we're to walk by faith and not by sight. We ask Thee, Father, to enable us to do that. And as the seed is sown, we pray that You will use it to the saving of the lost. You have assured us, You've pledged in Your Word, that Your Word will not return unto a void. but it will accomplish the thing whereto You have sent it. Lord, we ask Thee to use Your Word as it goes forth this evening. We pray that You'll use it to the saving of souls. We pray that there'll be those that will be snatched tonight as brands from the burning. We want to pray, Father, that even over this summer time, even over the holiday time, when some of our folk are away on their needed vacation, Lord, we want to pray you'll send in others, that you'll bring in visitors from our city, bring in visitors even from our families. We want to ask, Father, that you'll give us fruitful seasons, even over the summertime. We want to pray that you'll come upon us in the saving of souls. Lord, we want to pray that this summer might be a season of God's blessing, that it might be a time of reaping, We pray, Father, it'll be one of those times when, as a congregation, we come rejoicing, bringing our sheaves with us. We pray, Father, as a congregation and even individually, you'll give us a greater concern for the lost souls of men and women. Lord, touch our hearts. Give us a burden for those that are out of Christ. We pray, Father, give us a concern for our family, and for our loved ones, and our friends, and our neighbours. Lord, we pray that we'll do all that we can to win their souls to Christ. We pray that we'll be a faithful watchman upon the walls of Zion. Remember, Father, that Paul could say that he was pure of the blood of all men. And Lord, that's how we desire to live, how we would desire to die and stand before Thee. on that great day of judgment. Lord, use us, we pray, even in a greater way than you've been pleased to do in the past. Take us up, Father, take us up as a church, as a congregation. We want to pray that the breath of God will come through this congregation. A wind of God come bend us, break us, until humbly we confess our need. Remember, Father, our Children's Day services to take place in two weeks' time. Pray for your hand upon those meetings. We think of all the work that has been done already, the preparations, the practices, We pray that you'll encourage the teachers, our superintendent. Bless the children. Thank you for each one of them. Lord, use them on Children's Day. We pray that they might be the means, Father, of speaking to some loved one, bringing them into the house of God to hear the message of the gospel. Remember our sister who will speak at those meetings. We pray that she will know the blessing of God upon her ministry that day, guide her as she prepares the messages for both of those meetings. Let it, Father. and be a blessed day in the house of God, we ask of thee. Let it be an encouraging time, even the time of fellowship together after the evening service. And Lord, remember the broadcasts of our meetings. We thank you for the technology. that's available. We thank you that we're able to dedicate that technology to the spread of the gospel, not just in this community and among those members of our congregation that can't be with us, be present. But Lord, we want to pray that you'll use it to speak to souls right across the earth. even in countries where missionaries are not able to enter, those closed countries that are closed to a missionary witness and to the preaching of the gospel. Lord, we thank you for the means available to broadcast to the very ends of the earth. We ask, Lord, for messages of how you're speaking, even through those broadcasts. Thank you for the brethren that are involved in the media ministry and all the time that's devoted to it. Bless them, give them the help and guidance needed, but Lord, answer their prayers and encourage them in their labors, even in these days. And we're asking tonight, Father, that Your Word will go forth with power. Your Word is the hammer. that breaks the rock in pieces. We think of many hardened hearts in these days in which we live. And Lord, may the power of your word come and break those hardened hearts, even in the gospel service tonight. Answer these, our prayers, for Jesus' sake. Amen. Reading tonight in John's Gospel, chapter 3, the third chapter of John, John chapter 3, well-known portion of the Scriptures, perhaps one of the best-known portions. We'll begin at the first verse. We're going to read the first 17 verses together. John 3, verse 1, let's hear the word of the Lord to our hearts. 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, ye 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 of Israel? "'And 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. 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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. And we know the Lord will bless to every heart the public reading of his word this evening. In the Savior's name, we give to each one an earnest and sincere word of welcome to our gospel service tonight. We want to thank you for your presence, want to welcome you and say that we appreciate you coming along to the meeting tonight, if you've come to visit. We're always encouraged by the presence of visitors in the services. May the Lord bless us each one around his word, and we welcome those that are Watching again this evening on the live stream and the broadcasts as they go forth from week to week, our prayer is the Lord will use those and make them a blessing to your heart as well. Keep in mind that this Lord's Day, we take the annual offering for the Whitefield College, taken at both services. That's the May offering to help with the running costs of our college from year to year. So place your gift in the plate at the door and put it in an envelope and mark it for the Whitefield College of the Bible. Remember, please, Wednesday night at 8, the special congregational meeting at our midweek service. The purpose of the meeting to adopt the two documents required for our congregation to register with the Charity Commissioners of Northern Ireland. The Minister for Neighbouring Church in Margaret Hill, the Reverend Andrew Patterson, and one of his elders will be coming along to conduct that service for us on Wednesday night. Remember to take your copy of the documents. There's a copy for each family of those who are Communicant members, so take your copy if you haven't had the opportunity to do that as yet. If you do have any questions about the documents, about registering with the Charity Commission, we're happy to help with those questions. Remember, all questions need to be asked before the meeting on Wednesday night, the best if they could be asked today, as time is getting quite short. But no questions or discussion will take place at the meeting on Wednesday night. Opportunity has been given for that. The meeting on Wednesday night will be to vote upon the various proposals that will that will come before the meeting. Remember the list of Communicant members on the porch. Make sure your name is on that. Speak to me today if you have any queries about that. Remember, we're also voting on on weddings tonight as property holding trustees, those elders who have not yet been appointed to that position. Just to highlight again, we need a third of the Communicant members present. on Wednesday to be able to constitute that congregational meeting, and at least two-thirds of those members that are present in the meeting to vote in favor of the proposals that will come before the meeting. So in the light of that, we just stress the importance of a good turnout, and we encourage a good number of our communicant members to be present at the midweek service on Wednesday evening. The service is next Sabbath day, The 5th of June, the Sunday school and Bible class is 10.40, 11.30 and 6.30 are services, the half hour of prayer before, the evening meeting, and I'll be preaching at both meetings myself. The offering taken on Wednesday night passed for the Trinitarian Bible Society. So far, the total there is 458 pounds. We thank all that have given so liberally to that. You can still give to that offering if you haven't had the opportunity to do so. As we mentioned earlier, for the other offerings, put the gift just in an envelope and mark it for the TBS and place it on the plate. The RMA show, Saturday the 11th, We're glad that it's going ahead this year. We're going to have a stand again for outreach purposes. We're very pleased about that. We do need help. To be able to man the stand right through the day is generally those four time slots. Put your name beside whichever period or periods suit you best. We do appeal for a good amount of support just to help to spread the burden. And remember if you'd like to give a gift, to help with the costs, the expenses of that outreach, that would be much appreciated as well. Children's Day is the following day. That's Sunday the 12th of June. Remember, it's a week later this year, so please do note the change of date. Sunday the 12th of June. And the speaker's her sister, Joy. We're delighted about that, that her sister will be able to be our guest speaker this year. And we're planning to have some light refreshments at the time of fellowship after the evening service in two weeks' time following the Children's Day meetings. The practice On that Lord's Day, the 12th, that's Children's Day itself, our superintendent has asked us just to remind you, it's going to be at half past 10 in the morning, rather than the normal Sunday school starting time of 10.40. So it's 10.30, 10 minutes earlier for the practice for the boys and girls here in the church. I think those are all the announcements we need to mention to you tonight. We're going to sing another hymn together, 219, based on the passage that we read from previously in the service. A ruler once came to Jesus by night to ask him the way of salvation and light. The master made answer in words true and plain, ye must be born again. 219, and we'll stand to sing, please. To Jesus my guide, to ask Him the way of salvation of life. The Master made of stone and person and flame, He must be born again. He must be born again. He must be born again. I merrily, merrily say unto you, ye must be warned. He must be born again. He must be born again. He must be born again. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Oh, even when their glorious rest, And said with their ransom, the song of the West, The life everlasting he would uplift, He must be born again. He must be born again. He must be born again. Make us, make art, and make us great again. Heaven, my heart yearns to sing Of the beautiful gay man Who, watching for me, Then blissed to the gold, Will this solemn refrain, He must be born again! He must be born again! He must be born again. I'm whirling, whirling, set off to do. He must be born again. We want to thank all the ladies that came along to the ladies' meeting just a little under two weeks ago, the night that Miss McAfee came and spoke on life in Africa, especially life in Uganda. The meeting was very well attended. That was a great encouragement. It was a good time of fellowship. But I know that everybody that was present really enjoyed the meeting, found it a great blessing, very insightful. I think some eyes were opened in some of the details that were told. But it's certainly very profitable to have a better understanding just of life, living circumstances for our missionaries in the field to which the Lord has called them. Our sister has returned safely to Uganda. Friday week, she and the Koreans returned. So, this past week has been quite a full week. There's been the mountain to climb, the mountain of things that have been waiting on our sister as she's returned. She's known the Lord's help. We're thankful for that. The cranes. have settled in well. They've been there now already for over a week. Two large days passed. Our brother's been busy helping and giving support. Mrs. Crane helping with the hospitality, just to take the burden of that off Miss McAfee at this time. And Mrs. Crane also speaking at some of the assemblies and the Sunday school. The Baxters, when they were there, taught the Sunday School children to sing the 23rd psalm to the tune of Arlington. So, Mr. Crane is building on that and carrying that on. If I remember, I'll post that up on the Facebook page. There's a little clip of it, a recording of the children of the Sunday School singing the psalm to Arlington. Mr. Crane sent through just there yesterday some pictures of the outreach on Friday. Remember the weekly open-air outreach where they go out as a church, and it's a real blessing to see that and the distribution of the gospel literature. Mr. Crane preaching at those meetings during the time that he's there. The Brethren in Kenya, their time is quickly coming to a close. They had the pastors' conference in Kakamega at the beginning of the week. Three of the young men from Uganda crossed over. for the pastor's conference, Master Thomas, Master Ronald, and Master Israel. The young men especially that helped with the leading of the meetings at Emmanuel would take some of the services for us. Some of those young men have an interest in the Lord's work, so it was felt that they would profit from the fellowship and the ministry at the pastor's conference. They just... returned back to Emanuel there at the end of the week. They had 40 pastors that were present for the conference at the beginning of the week, and the Reverend Harris felt it was a very blessed and a very special time he and the Reverend Armstrong were ministering at those meetings. This is their final Lord's Day. They'll be returning in the middle of this week, so do keep them in your prayers. Just to remind you of the Mission Board Facebook page that is up and going, and some of you I know have seen already, but they are planning to put up updates on the various missionaries and missionary works. So that has been taking place during the past week. If you haven't looked at that, take the time to do that. Some of you know more about these things than I do, but there's a way that you'll get the notifications of new posts that have gone up and so forth. So we'd like you to do that, just to keep you up to date with the progress in the missionary work. And if you take a little look there, you'll see some of the pictures of the pastors' conference that took place in Kakamega in in the weak past. So, we'll seek the Lord together. Please, we'll lift our hearts to the Lord. Heavenly Father, we praise Thee for gathering tonight. Thank You for being with us thus far. We confess freely our need. We are in great need, Lord, of Your help. We're very needy people. We feel our emptiness. We need the fullness of God. We need the anointing of Your Spirit. Lord, give us the touch of God upon the preaching tonight. We pray for liberty to be known. But Lord, we pray, help us to preach with conviction, with a burden for souls in great need, those that are lost in nature's darkness. Lord, we thank you for all that's taking place in the various mission fields across the earth. We remember there in East Africa, especially at this time. Bless the Reverend Harris, the Reverend Armstrong, Mr. Hamilton. Keep them safe these final few days. And Lord, do be with the cranes in Uganda. Pray that you'll use them. Give knowing strength for labours. Give wisdom, Father, in all that's to be done. Guidance for every decision that has to be made. And Lord, as we think of these mission fields and the others, too, across the earth, we're praying that, Lord, you'll provide labourers. Even as we thought a little of Hudson Taylor this morning, and the need that they had there in Ningpo those many years ago, and how He called upon the Lord and trusted thee. You provided the workers that were required. And, Lord, we believe you can do the same in our day. We're praying that you'll thrust forth many more laborers out into the great harvest fields of the earth. But, Lord, come and work amongst us tonight. Our earnest and our united prayer is that some soul in this meeting, ere they leave this house of God, might be born again of the Spirit. We offer our prayers in Jesus' name. Amen. John chapter 3, please. Just the opening verse we'll take tonight as our text. John 3, verse 1, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus. a ruler of the Jews. The theme in the gospel this evening is the conversion of a religious leader. I'd ask you to take that upon your heart. That's what our land needs at this time. That's what our city of Armagh, this city that is so well known for religion and for religious leaders, we need to see some of those people converted. And what a testimony that would be to the power of the gospel. Mr. Spurgeon, in his lectures to students, he has a lecture that he entitled, The Man with Slender Apparatus. It's a very interesting title. When I first saw that title, I was a little misled. I thought it had more to do with the man and his physical frame. and his physical ability. But he really in that lecture deals with the minister who doesn't have enough money to be able to buy many books. He can't afford a very large library. So what Mr. Spurgeon does is he suggests the best books for such a man to invest his money in. But one of the other suggestions that he makes to young men in that position is to study people. and to study human nature. That's a very interesting and it's a very profitable study, especially to study those whose lives are recorded for us in the Scriptures. That's what we have been doing now for several weeks on the Sabbath mornings. But what I want us to do tonight is to make a study in the gospel, with a gospel challenge from the life of Nicodemus, especially some of the details recorded here in John 3, and also a little later in the book. I can emphasize, first of all, the character of Nicodemus. What was Nicodemus like? What sort of man was he? Well, for one thing, he was an old man. If you look at verse four, he says, or Nicodemus saith unto him, this is Nicodemus speaking to the Savior, how can a man be born when he is old? So here you get an indication of this man's age, the time of life that he was at. And the fact is, Nicodemus was an old man. His life is almost over. He's nearing the end of his days. He's nearing the end of his life. His days were fast running out, but still he's not saved. He's not ready for eternity. We could sum Nicodemus up like this. He's near to death, but he doesn't have the new birth. And that may be your condition tonight as well. If it is men and women, it's a cause for great concern. But there is a message of hope in this chapter. And there is a message of hope in this story. And the message of hope is that Nicodemus got saved, and he got saved in his old age. So that teaches us tonight, you're never too old. It's never too late to be saved and to get right with God. It is true to say, those that labor among the children will verify this, it's true that most people get saved when they are young. It's best to get saved when you're still young, still a child, still a youth. But the message of this chapter, men and women, is you can still be saved whenever you're old, whenever you're in the latter years of your life. The Bible says of Abraham that the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham. If you study the scriptures, you'll find that Abraham was 70 years of age, threescore years and 10 at that time, whenever he was converted to Christ. When we were in Wales, the Britain church in Connecticut, At the time that the Reverend Fitton ministered there, there was an old man in his 90s called Bryn Mawr Morgan, a very Welsh name. But Bryn Mawr Morgan had lived in New York City. He had been a police officer in New York City for many years. He had witnessed much of life, much of the wickedness of life. But the Lord brought him back to his native Wales. And as he came into those gospel services when the Reverend Fitton was ministering, that old man in his 90s, came to saving faith in Jesus Christ. So there's still time to be saved, men and women. I want to say that to each one in the meeting tonight. But not only was he an old man, he was also a religious man. If you look at the words of our text, verse 1, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. So it's clear we get this man's background here. He's a Pharisee. He's a ruler of the Jews. In other words, he's a member of the famed Jewish Sanhedrin. He's a member of Israel's highest religious court. So what that means is, here's a man whose whole life is taken up with religion. He spent his life going to religious meetings. When we were down in Mull of Glass, there was a family that attended, speaking about the mother of the family. She said, if there's a holy meeting on, Mother will be at that meeting. And that's a wee bit like Nicodemus. He was constantly going to religious meetings, going through prayers, going through rituals and ceremonies. But not only was his life taken up with religion, The fact is, Nicodemus was a leader. He was a teacher in the Jewish religion. The Savior said in verse 10, in Israel, and in the original there it says, the master. So Nicodemus was the teacher, the religious teacher, the religious leader in Israel in his day. He taught and he instructed people in religion. Nicodemus was an expert in the law. He was a very religious man, probably the most religious person alive, and yet he wasn't converted. This man was religious, yes, but he was lost. And the Savior left him with no doubt that night, that religion doesn't bring salvation. And we want you to get that message, too, this evening. Religion doesn't save the soul. No religion. Doesn't matter what your religion is. Remember Oswald J. Smith's great tract, which church saves? And the answer is no church, not even this church. This church cannot save your soul. Salvation is not on a church, it's in a person, and only in one person, and that person is Jesus Christ. Paul said, writing to Titus, it's not by works of righteousness, but it's according to His mercy that He saved us. So that's a little just about the character of Nicodemus. Think of the communication to Nicodemus. Verse 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. Notice as well, verse seven, marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. So Nicodemus received a communication, received a message that night. And it was a message about the new birth. The message was about being born again. The Savior spoke very candidly, very plainly. He said, "'Ye must be born again.'" You might ask tonight, why do we preach about the new birth? Why do we preach so much about being born again? Well, because the Lord Jesus did. And remember, he's our great example in the Christian life. I mentioned Mr. Moody to you this morning. There's a woman who was a very busy church worker in her local congregation. She had heard Mr. Moody preach at one of his gospel meetings, and when she heard the message, she got very angry. She came and spoke to Moody, and she asked him, Mr. Moody, do you mean to tell me that I, An educated woman taught from my childhood in good ways, and all my life interested in church and doing good, that I must enter heaven the same way as the worst criminals of our day?" Mr. Moody replied immediately, "'No, madam, I don't tell you at all. God does. He says that everyone who would enter heaven, no matter how good they think that they are or how well-educated or zealous in good works, must be born again. So let there be no doubt this evening, men and women, the Lord Jesus said that you need the second birth. That was his simple message to Nicodemus that night. And it is his message, that same message, to your hearts in this gospel service this evening. Sometimes people receive a message or a letter, and it's marked with the word urgent, We hear men and women as such a message. The second birth is urgent. It's an essential message. The chapter leaves us in absolutely no doubt of that. The Savior said in verse 3, In other words, there's nothing else. that can bring you into the experience of God's salvation. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. He said in verse 7, ye must be born again. He didn't say you may be born again, but ye must. What that means, men and women, is there's no other way to heaven. There's no other way of salvation. You can get to heaven without riches, You can get to heaven without possession, but you cannot get to heaven without being born again. The new birth is not one of many ways into heaven. The Savior makes it perfectly clear here. It's the only way to heaven. There's no other substitute. There's nothing else that can take its place. This is the one thing that is needful as far as salvation is concerned. Ye must. be born again. So that's the communication to Nicodemus. Think of the third place of the confusion of Nicodemus. If you look at verse 7, the Lord Jesus said, marvel not. So Nicodemus had been marveling, wondering at these things. Look at verse 9. Nicodemus said, or answered and said unto him, how can these things be? Now remember, Nicodemus was a man of great learning. He had to be to hold the position that he had. He had been given the best education available in Israel at that time, both in secular and in theological subjects. He was a man of great intellectual ability, but tragically, he didn't know the things of God. and there are many religious leaders, many so-called Christian religious leaders, even in this city and across the land tonight, in exactly the same position. Nicodemus didn't know the things of God. He was lost. He was in total confusion whenever it came to the basic truths of the gospel. Master in Israel, he might have been. but he had no real understanding of the things of God, no real understanding of what we would describe as the ABCs of the gospel. And as the Savior spoke to him that night, Nicodemus was astonished. He was staggered at what he heard. He couldn't understand the message. He couldn't take it in. Remember, it's a significant fact, Nicodemus came at night. He came in the dark. And that's a picture of this man spiritually, of his spiritual condition, because spiritually, Nicodemus was in the dark. He had no light, no light on the Bible, no light on the way to heaven. Whenever George Whitefield preached his first sermon in Gloucester Cathedral, Seven people were converted under his ministry. What an encouragement that would be to carry on with your evangelistic labors. But the church record in the Gloucester Cathedral records, it says that seven people went mad after that service that day. You see, those people were confused. They didn't understand what had taken place. They didn't understand what God was doing. They didn't understand the new birth. And can I ask you tonight, Are you like Nicodemus, confused? As you sit in the meeting tonight, you marvel, you wonder, you're astonished at the message that is preached, at all this talk about the second birth. Let me make it clear for you men and women, spiritually, you're dead, just like a corpse. Paul writing to the church at Ephesus said that we're dead in trespasses and in sins. What that means is you have no spiritual life. not even the slightest bit, not even a spark of spiritual life. And remember, the only way to get life is by a birth. That's true physically, it's true naturally. The only way to get life is by a birth. And the only way for you to get spiritual life is also by a birth, by a spiritual birth, by letting the Holy Ghost do a work in your heart and in your life. And we want to urge you to let the Holy Spirit do that in this gospel meeting this evening. The other thing I'll emphasize about Nicodemus is his conversion, the conversion of Nicodemus. There's no evidence from John chapter 3 that Nicodemus ever accepted Christ or that Nicodemus was ever born again. We're not told in this passage that he trusted Christ at this time. But we do know that Nicodemus got converted before he died. You say, how do we know that? Well, let me highlight or point out, there are only three references to Nicodemus in all the Bible, and all three of them are in John's gospel. There's the reference here in chapter three, he's mentioned in chapter seven, and also in chapter 19. In John chapter 19, we read of the burial of the Savior. And the two men who buried the Lord Jesus were Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. And that's very interesting, men and women. Remember that this man who was once ashamed to be seen with Christ, this man who at the first came to speak with the Lord Jesus by night, He now made a public stand for the Savior. He came openly and confessed the Lord Jesus. And remember that he made that confession at a time when all the other disciples had fled for fear. He identified himself with Christ when all the others had forsook him and fled. So the good news is Nicodemus got converted. We don't know when, We don't know the day, we don't know the date, but it's evident as you look at his life, especially as you look at the end of his life, it's evident there was a great change that took place. The New Testament says, by their fruits you shall know them. A good tree birthed good fruit. And by the fruit in this man's life, We know that Nicodemus was born again. He came to Christ in salvation in the closing days of his life. And then he sought, with the time that he had left, the little time he had left upon this earth, he sought to do something for the Master. He sought to serve the Lord Jesus. Can I ask you tonight, men and women, what of you? Is there evidence in your life that you're born again of the Spirit. The New Testament says, repent ye and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. So has that change, has that conversion taken place in your life? Don't be mistaken tonight. It's not reformation that you need. It's not just the cleaning up of your life that is required. That's the mistake that Herod made. Remember, under the ministry of John the Baptist, Herod was spoken to. The Bible says he did many things. There was changes that he made in his life, in his lifestyle at that time, but it was just reformation. It wasn't regeneration. It's more than reformation that you need. Your need is greater. Your need is deeper. It's regeneration that has required men and women. It's the regeneration of the Spirit of God. In other words, you need a complete change that'll give you a new nature and that will give to you a new life. Mr. Spurgeon told the story of a man who wanted his gun repaired. Whenever he went to the gunsmith, the gunsmith asked the man, what would you like done with this weapon? So he asked for a new lock, stock, and barrel. You know that famous quote that you sometimes hear. Well, the gunsmith looked at the gun, and he thought it was completely worn out, finished. And he said to him, this gun is beyond repair. It's a new gun that you need. And the reality, men and women, is you can't repair man's sinful nature. just the same way that gunsmith couldn't repair that weapon. You cannot repair man's sinful nature. Sin has destroyed, depraved, corrupted man's nature. What you need tonight is something more. You need a new nature. Paul writing to the Corinthians said, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things passed away, behold, all things have become new. And men and women, that's what the Lord will do in your life. If you come to him for salvation, he will change your heart. He will make you a new person. The fact is that salvation, the new birth, is a life-changing experience. We sing the words, what a wonderful change in my life has been wrought. It's a life-changing experience. And your life, just think of it, your life can be completely changed in this gospel service tonight before you go from this house of God. If you'll ask the Lord Jesus just to come into your heart to be your Savior. So, a little of the life of Nicodemus, a study of the life of Nicodemus. The conversion of a religious leader. Pray for that man and woman. Pray the Lord will do that in a very definite way in coming days. Let me say just in closing, the Bible's like a mirror. We use a mirror generally every day. James said, when we look into the perfect law of liberty, so he's likening the word of God there to a mirror. And whenever you look into a mirror, you see yourself. And you see yourself as you really are. You see the truth. And perhaps in this meeting tonight, as we have studied the life of this man, Nicodemus, you have seen yourself, maybe old, religious, confused about the things of God and the way to heaven. If that is so, men and women, I want to invite you tonight, want to extend to all the clear invitation of the gospel. And I want to invite you to do what Nicodemus did those many long years ago. I want to invite you to come to the Savior. Come to Jesus Christ. Remember, He's the only Savior of sinners. Neither is there salvation in any other. Come to Him. Confess your sins. Trust Him as your Savior. Let Him into your heart. and be born again, be born again of the Spirit in this gospel meeting this evening. May the Lord bless the preaching of His Word to every heart. We're going to sing some verses of 2-2-7, the lovely hymn of invitation. Is there a heart that is waiting, longing for pardon today? hear the glad message proclaiming that Jesus is passing this way. We're leaving out the third verse, so let's sing one, two, and four, and we'll stand to sing, please. Is there a heart that is waiting, Longing for pardon today? Hear the glad message proclaim, Jesus is passing this way, this way today. Jesus is passing this way, is passing this way today. Is there a heart that has wandered? Come with thy burden today. Mercy is tenderly pleading. Jesus is passing this way. Jesus is passing this way today. Jesus is passing, is passing this way today. Come to thy only Redeemer, Come to His infinite love, Come to the gate that is leading The whole world to mansions above. Jesus is passing this way, this way today. Jesus passing this way, is passing this way today. Amen. Would you seek the Lord together? Heavenly Father, we praise you for your mercy in giving to us thy word. We thank you for blessing us with the good news of the gospel. We pray that you'll bless this Sabbath evening very definitely, the preaching of your word all across this province and all across the land. Lord, our prayer is that you'll advance the testimony of Christ. We pray, Father, that you'll bring the church again in today's of great soul winning. We pray that we'll be soul winning Christians. We ask that we'll be soul winning churches. Thank you for the story of Nicodemus and your mercy to him at the close of his life. And Lord, we thank you for your grace that you're passing this way, even at the end of this service again tonight. And our cry is, Father, that there will be some that will turn from their sins and obey the invitation, and come to Christ in salvation. Bless, Lord, all that has been done tonight. Bless especially the preaching of your Word to the winning of the lost. We want to commit ourselves into your hands, as we set out in this new week. We ask thee to go with us and guide us in all that we do. Lord, we pray that every day that you'll continue that great work of sanctification and make us more and more like Christ. that will be conformed more to the image of God's dear Son. And we ask now that you'll spread your covering wings around till all our wandering cease, and until our fathers loved the boat, our souls arrive in peace. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.