Now when Jesus came and spoke to the crowds, you can imagine that there were two kinds of people that were listening to him. First of all, you can see the people that were kind of the outsiders. The outsiders that listened to Jesus were the people like the tax collectors and the Samaritans, the Gentiles, the prostitutes. The people that were just on the fringes. Those were the people that listened to Jesus, and it says in the Bible that they heard Him gladly. And then the other group that listened to Jesus were the leaders of the religious things. The scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the people that were of the high priestly family. And those people who listened, they listened for a different purpose. They didn't listen to gain from Jesus. They listened to get evidence against Jesus. They wanted ammunition that they could use against Him because they wanted to get rid of Jesus. And if you want an example, think to John chapter 8, where in John chapter 8, you know, they took the woman that they had found taken in the very act of adultery. You know, they brought her in before Jesus and they said, OK, Jesus, what do we do about this woman? What would you do? And you remember how he handled that situation. He handled it perfectly. They couldn't trap the Lord Jesus, but they always were trying to trap him. Now Nicodemus, as you know, was from the religious insiders. He wasn't a person on the outside. He wasn't that guy that was on the outside, but he was a very successful, very highly respected, very wealthy, powerful man. We remember that Nicodemus was somebody that was well-to-do because he, along with Joseph of Arimathea, bought all the spices that were used to be wrapped around the body of Jesus. If you go to the very end of the book of John, you'll see him there going to helped Joseph of Arimathea wrap the body of Jesus. And you know, they used instead 100 pounds of spices. Now, have you ever bought spices? You go to the grocery store and you know you buy spices in just these little bitty tiny amounts and it's $4.79 for about 1 eighth of an ounce. Now, spices are expensive, aren't they? The spices that they used to wrap the body of Jesus were expensive. This man was well-to-do. He was successful. He was one that was part of the elite group in Judaism. He was part of the Seventy, the Sanhedrin Council. And those people were like the Supreme Court of Israel. They handled all the difficult cases. So this man, Nicodemus, stands in great contrast to fishermen, to tax collectors, to the woman taking an adultery, to any of these ordinary people on the fringe that actually listened to Jesus. This man came to Jesus and he said, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher sent from God because of all the things that you do. Now the word that Nicodemus used that he called Jesus, the Greek word in which he used to address Jesus, is the Greek equivalent of what we would say the title is for a PhD or a doctor, an MD. So he's giving him a lot of respect. He's coming at Jesus and saying, Doctor, we know that you're a teacher sent from God because of all the things you can do. It makes you wonder, doesn't it? Why really did Nicodemus come? Now, we can only suppose because we can't ask him yet. And so we can only suppose why he came. Some people said, well, maybe he came to really get his life. Maybe he had some life questions to find out about. Maybe he was really interested in salvation. Maybe he was. But some other folks said, proposed that perhaps he came because he was trying to get Jesus out and bring Jesus under the umbrella of the Sanhedrin. Bring Jesus under the umbrella of all the religious establishment. You know, the quickest way to get rid of somebody that's causing you problems is to bring them in the establishment and watch them. And that's what they wanted to do with Jesus. Because Jesus had a following, Jesus was an excellent teacher, He didn't teach like the scribes and the Pharisees, He did signs and wonders, and everybody was flocking to hear Jesus. So the best thing they could do to get rid of Him was to kind of co-opt Him by bringing Him under the wing of their establishment work. Now maybe that's why He came, we don't know. But Nicodemus comes at night, and if you notice how much Nicodemus talks to Jesus. The first thing, he says, good teacher, we know you're a teacher from God because of all the things that you do. And you know, Jesus doesn't fool with that question at all. He doesn't get sidetracked on any of that stuff. What did Jesus say to Nicodemus? Look at verse 3. John chapter 3 verse 3 says this, Jesus answered and said to him, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again. Now that word, that Greek word for again, that we translate that way can also mean from above. Unless somebody is born again from above, what? He cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, did Jesus know who he's talking to? Jesus knew exactly, but look what he did. He said, oh, you're a member of the Sanhedrin, are you? Oh, you are a well-respected teacher of Israel, are you? Nicodemus, I'm going to tell you this, and it's going to shock you. Nicodemus, unless you're born again from above, you can't even see, at a distance, the kingdom of God. Now that must have been a shock to Nicodemus. Nicodemus must have been blown away by that because you know how society is. You know how society is today? Who do we think about when we think somebody needs to be born again? Don't we think about, well, that guy that's down there at the homeless shelter, or that guy that's been an alcoholic all his life, or that guy that robbed that bank, or that guy that embezzled that money, or that guy that cheated on his wife, or that guy that abused his children, that's the guy that really needs to be born again. That's the person that we look at when we say, oh man, that guy really needs to be saved. He's in bad shape, brother. He needs to go to church to get right with the Lord. Well, you know, we tend to point to the other people, don't we? We tend to point to the worst people we can think of in society as those people that need to be born again. But did you see what Jesus said? Jesus looked at Nicodemus, maybe the godliest guy that he's going to run into. The guy that keeps the law, the guy that is very careful about obedience, the guy that tithes everything that he gets, the guy that prays, the guy that fasts. He looks at that guy, Nicodemus, and says, Nicodemus, unless you're born again from above, you won't even be able to see the kingdom of God at a distance. Now we know to be born again implies a change of direction, but it implies a complete transformation. If anybody is really saved, right? We say this ourselves. If anybody is really saved, their life is just turned around. What they once were, they are not anymore. Remember when Chuck Colson wrote that book, Born Again, back in the 70s? Chuck Colson had been, you remember him, he was the guy that was the Kind of the enforcer for President Nixon. He was the hard-nosed, hard-line Marine that came along and he kind of put things in order in the White House. He was the one that's behind the dirty tricks. He's the one that gets called up for this and that. Mr. Colson, Chuck was known as being a real tough guy. Hard apple to deal with. Gets indicted in Watergate. Right before he goes to prison, he goes to see a man he knew in business, a good friend of his. And that man said, you need to be born again. He said he went out and sat in his car in that man's driveway. And he just broke down and committed his life to Christ. Now when we think of people that need to be born again, we think of Chuck Colson pipes. Hard nose, hard liners. Guys that are down and done all kinds of dirty tricks. And we know they're the ones that need the radical transformation. But look at what Jesus says. Jesus looks at Nicodemus and he says, Nicodemus, you need to be born again from above. He didn't say anything like, Nicodemus, you're doing really good. You know, we'd have probably said, Nicodemus, you're doing great, man. You're always at church. You fast, you pray, you give your tithes. You're helping everything. You're looking at the Scriptures to see how to obey every little bitty command of the law. That's what Nicodemus was like. But Jesus looked at Nicodemus and said, unless you're born again, you won't even be able to see the kingdom of God. Jesus said, none of your outward law obedience, none of your study of the scriptures, none of your fasting, none of your tithing, none of your teaching, none of this is going to get you to heaven. Jesus didn't mince his words, did he? He didn't just fire one barrel, he fired both barrels at Nicodemus. Nicodemus, you've got to be radically changed or you won't even get anywhere near the kingdom that you think that you deserve to go into right now. Remember how Paul was? Paul said, I've kept the law perfectly since I was just a kid, you know? That's how Paul felt before he was saved and he was self-righteous. He saw these people that were following Jesus and he says, they're nothing but traitors. We need to arrest every single one of them. We need to lock them up and get rid of them. Jesus is teaching us in this passage that being born again into the new spiritual birth is necessary for every single one of us. No matter how good we think we are, No matter how much we've gone to church, or read the scriptures, or memorized verses, or done anything that is outward obedience. Jesus says, every single one of us need to be born again. It's not just criminals and tax evaders and thieves, but it's every single one of us. You see, Jesus was speaking to the godliest guy in the crowd. And he says, Nicodemus, you are the very one that need to be born again. Because you remember what the book of Romans quotes from the Old Testament? He says, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God. All have turned aside. Our mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Destruction and misery are in our paths. There is no fear of God before our eyes. When Nicodemus heard this, he couldn't believe it. You can imagine. I mean, how would you like some upstart prophet from Galilee coming in and telling the godliest guy on the Sanhedrin that he needs to be born again. If he's not born again, he'll never even see the kingdom. He said, man, I got my seat already in the kingdom. Jesus looked at him and Nicodemus looked back at Jesus and what he was thinking is this. This is ridiculous. Who does he think he's talking to? When Jesus said, you must be born again, he starts fighting him. You notice what he does first? He says, now wait a minute. Are you telling me? that somebody like us, and let's say he's 70 years old, he's been a member of the Sanhedrin, he's well respected, he's done all this, he says, you're going to tell me for the way for me to get to the kingdom is for me to find my mother and somehow magically be reintroduced into her body so I can be born a second time? Are you telling me that's how it is? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life. And Jesus says, ah, you know better than that. You know better than that. Jesus said, don't be amazed that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it. But you don't know where it comes from and where it's going. So is everyone who's born by the Spirit. Nicodemus says, how can these things be? He's saying, Jesus, what you're saying is impossible. And Jesus looks at him and says, you're the teacher of Israel and you don't even know this? You don't know the very basics, Nicodemus. You don't know the ABCs of the Gospel. You've missed the thing above all else that you have to be born again by the Spirit of God working in you. He said that you missed everything in the Old Testament that the Old Testament talks about the Spirit of God. Have you missed all this about what it's like? He says, then I will sprinkle you clean in Ezekiel chapter 36. Then I'll give you a new heart. Then I'll give you a new spirit within you. Then I'll enable you to be a new person. I'll take away the stony heart of your flesh and I'll give you a tender heart. That's the work of the Spirit, Nicodemus. Did you miss all of that? You're the teacher of Israel and you don't know the ABC's of the Gospel. Jesus said, I'm not talking about physical rebirth and you know it. Your first birth came out of water from your mother. And that which is born of flesh is flesh. But what you need is a second birth, born of the Spirit of God. Where the Spirit of God transforms you and changes you. Because if you're just physically born, you've got to be You're only going to be fleshly, because whatever is born just of the physical life is just flesh. But you, in order to be approved by God to enter a spiritual kingdom, you've got to be born again of the Holy Spirit. You've got to be transformed on the inside. You've got to be changed. Because if you're not changed, you're just going to be like the whole rest of this bunch. looking to follow a law and a set of commandments and a set of teachings and somehow think that you're going to earn your own righteousness by fulfilling a standard, by taking your pen out and checking, I've done this, I've done that, I've done this, I've done that. The rich young ruler came up and he said, what do I lack? I've done this, I've done that, I've done this, I've done that. And Jesus said, unless you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself, you're never going to make it. Unless you're born again by the Spirit of God. Whatever is born of flesh is just flesh. You've got to be born again by the Spirit of God. I don't know about you, but I was raised hearing the same thing Nicodemus believed. I was raised in the culture and the church in the South, and basically what we were told was, if you're a good person, If you keep the Ten Commandments, if you don't cheat on your spouse, if you pay your taxes, if you're good to your neighbor, if you're good to your mom and daddy, then you'll be fine. And what is that? The Bible calls it works righteousness. If I'm a good person and live a good life and please people, then I'm pleasing God too and I'll go to heaven. And we say this sometimes, we say, well, if anybody ever went to heaven, it's old Joe. Why, he gave me money when I was out, when I didn't have a job, and he took care of my kids, and he did this, and he did that. And you know, if anybody ever went to heaven, it was old Joe. We know him. But you know, Jesus doesn't say that. Jesus says, unless you're born again, you'll not even see the kingdom of heaven. In verses 11 to 15, Jesus says to this, will you believe me if I tell you heavenly truths? Now that's what he did. He looked at Nicodemus. He said, Nicodemus, you're not doing very well. You're not believing me. He says, will you believe me if I tell you something spiritual? And what he said was, I'm going to tell you the truth. I'm the one that ascended into heaven and the one that's ascended into heaven is me and I've descended too to come down here to tell you spiritual things. Will you believe me if I tell you? The Son of Man is the one that came down from heaven for us. That's what Nicodemus went to see. Nicodemus probably did have a wonderful hunger and thirst for the things of righteousness because he knew that something was missing in his life. And maybe he went to Jesus that night, not just to co-opt Jesus, but to find out what really was real. And you and I often come to the same place. We say, Lord, I don't have the answers. In my heart, there's this big vacuum. I've tried to do right, but I've messed up. I've tried to live right, but I sure hadn't lived up to my own standards. And there's got to be a way for me. And Jesus said to Nicodemus, Nicodemus, there's a savior that came down from heaven for you. And I want to tell you about it. You know who it is. It's me. The son of man is the one who came down and the son of man that came down to give you a righteousness. He said, I've come to give you a righteousness that you cannot earn. A righteousness that you do not deserve. a righteousness that will be a gift to you." And he says, you remember in Numbers 21, what happened to the people as they were wandering in the desert? Well, we know they sinned. And when they sinned against God, God sent snakes among them. And those snakes were biting them and thousands of people were dying. Because they worshipped the idol, they had done all kinds of evil things, they made an idol and worshipped it, even wrote God's name on it. The holy name of God they wrote on that idol that they made in the wilderness. And those snakes started to bite them and people started to die left and right. And God said to Moses, there's one thing I want you to do. You take an emblem of a bronze snake and you put it on the pole in the center of camp and everybody that looks at that bronze pole and trusts in me, everybody that does that is going to live. And everybody that won't is going to die. And you know that's exactly what happened. Nicodemus, do you know what the meaning of that thing was in Numbers 21? The meaning was, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. That's me, Nicodemus. I'm going to be lifted up. I'm going to be lifted up on the cross and whoever believes in me will have in me eternal life. You see, that's what Jesus told Nicodemus. Verses 14 and 15. Whoever looks up and believes and trusts in me, the Son of Man, is going to live. Whoever doesn't trust in me is going to be just like those people, Numbers 21, who died because the serpents were biting. What Jesus is, is the Son of Man who came down from heaven. We know this because we've read the whole Bible. We know that Jesus came down for us. He knew that we could not be righteous in ourselves. There's no righteous bones in our bodies. We're all self-focused and self-interested and we all do what pleases us. So why should it surprise us if we see people every day that do things in the news that are full of self-interest. We're just like they are. And we need a Savior. We need a Savior not here. I don't need to be my own Savior. I need a Savior that came down from heaven for me. I need a Savior by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the righteous sacrifice, who did come to die in my place, who did come to bear the wrath of God on the cross for me so that I wouldn't have to bear it through all eternity. He's the one that loved me when I didn't deserve to be loved. He's the one that loved me when I was his enemy. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, and that while we were yet enemies of Him, at enmity with Him, while we were fighting Him tooth and nail, He said, God sent His only Son to die for us, so that we could live. He said, Nicodemus, that's the way of life. Nicodemus, that's the way of life. You see, the same message that he told Nicodemus is true for us today. That's the way of life. It's not me being good enough to be my own Savior, to keep a set of laws, a set of rules, a set of requirements. It's not. I can't do it. I can't keep my own rules, much less anybody else's. God says there's hope. You don't have to give up in despair. You know, when you look around us today, look at all the people that are in despair. Tony Scott, the producer from California, he made millions of dollars in movies like Man on Fire and Top Gun. He had all kinds of money. He had all kinds of fame. He was doing movies. He did one movie that's finished, going to be released next year. He did that one in 2010 called Unstoppable about a train. That man took himself to a bridge in Los Angeles, a bridge 165 feet above the Los Angeles River. And he stands up on that bridge and he nervously looks at it and he jumps and kills himself. Because he doesn't have any hope. Now we don't know what the letter said that he left to his family. But a man who does that doesn't have any hope. He hadn't been diagnosed with any critical illnesses. He hadn't been told he had cancer and had two months to live, as far as we know. And everybody's been looking at that. But he gets up there because he has no hope and he jumps off to die to kill himself. 68 years old. He didn't have any hope, but we do. You and I who are sitting here this morning, we know that our only hope is in Jesus. That He lived for us and that He died for us and that He took our judgment in hell and that He came for us so that we wouldn't have to go through life without hope and living in despair. You know, Nicodemus doesn't say anything about what he did here, does it? John chapter 3 just moves on. And we go to John chapter 3, 16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. What a wonderful verse. No more Nicodemus in this chapter. We get him about chapter 7 where he says, Do we condemn a man before we hear him? He's depending on Jesus. Then at the end of the book, chapter 19, we run across Nicodemus again in 20, and he's in there and it says, Nicodemus and Joseph and Arimathea go get the body of Jesus. And they take it away, and they wrap it up, and they put it in a brand new grave. This man had an act of devotion at the end of his life, an act of commitment to Christ. And we believe and trust and I have every hope and belief that we will see Nicodemus in heaven. How wonderful it is to think about that, that Jesus spoke to a man who was worried and who was looking at his own record and said, you can have eternal life by looking to me. And the same thing is said for you and me today. Have you looked to the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you looked to this one who came for you? You can be in church all your life. You can hear the gospel a million times. How many times did I hear it before I trusted in Christ? How many times did you hear it? You can hear it a million times, but the important thing is knowing and trusting. And then you know what we do with it. We don't take our light and put it under a bushel and just cover it up and say, that's the end of it. I've got eternal life. That's great. We take that light and we hold it up to all the world and say, the light of the world is Jesus. For you who are living in despair and darkness. For you who've got no place to go when you go home. You've got nobody that cares about you. You've been abandoned by your family. You've got no hope for the future. You're worried about getting old and sick and having enough money to live on. You're worried about everything. You don't have to live like that because Jesus has died for us. And the one who loved us gave himself for us to care for us forever. You see, that's the good news that we can tell everybody that we run into. Nicodemus, unless you're born again from heaven, from the Holy Spirit working in you, you have no hope. But if you do, whoever believes in him will not be disappointed. Whoever trusts in him will have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Let's pray. Father, we thank You that You've made such a promise to us, that if we trust You, if we look to the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross and trust in Him, that we have everlasting life. We thank You for that promise. We thank You for that good news. We pray that we'll live in it and not trust our own performance, our own past, our own perfect works, imperfect works. Help us, Father, to always trust in your Son, the Lord Jesus. In his name we make our prayer. Amen.