Last week we left Nicodemus with Jesus who was rebuking this Pharisee for not understanding the basics of how God works in the life of a person to bring him into a right relationship with his creator and God.

JOH 3:5 "Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit."

Two things should be pointed out here.
1) It is the Spirit of God who enlightens the heart and mind and soul of a person so that that person is enabled, spiritually, to see his need and reach out to Christ for salvation.
2) No one can enter the Kingdom of God without the Spirit accomplishing this in the life of an individual.

And when the apostle John uses the phrase, "no one can enter into the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit", he is saying that human beings are incapable on their own to give themselves spiritual birth, just as an infant is incapable of choosing which parents he will be born to.

In the case of spiritual birth it is God who gives this life and therefore, it is God alone who ultimately causes our birth into the Kingdom of God whereby we now have eyes to see and ears to hear as we reach out to Christ by faith alone for this salvation.

As we come to our text this morning we see how Jesus makes this distinction between the two births which Nicodemus had a problem with since he only understood the physical type of birth. Jesus had the spiritual type of birth in mind.

What does Jesus mean by this in light of the context? Well, He begins by addressing the birth Nicodemus had in mind. "Flesh gives birth to flesh." By this Jesus means not only does a human being give birth to another human being, He also means that the fruit of the flesh can only produce the same kind of fruit, namely sin.

The only thing the flesh, or sinful man, can produce and reproduce is flesh or the sin nature of man. All human beings are born with a sin nature. Though an infant or small child might be innocent of acting on that sin nature with evil deeds, the truth is that it is only a matter of time before that sinful nature begins producing fruit in keeping with that nature.

When Paul wrote to the Romans he points out where this sinful nature came from.

ROM 5:12 "Therefore, ... sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned -
19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners..."

Adam was chosen by God to be the representative of the entire human race. What he did determined what would be the status of all men toward God. Since he chose to rebel against God through his disobedience, you and I are born rebels who will disobey God.

You and I are not sinners because we at some time after our birth decided to sinned. You and I sinners because that’s who we are by birth. We are only doing what comes naturally, according to the natural sinful man.

Jesus Christ came to change all of that. And that promise was first given to Adam and Eve shortly after they sinned.

GEN 3:15 "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

They understood God to mean that one who would be a descendant of theirs, born in the future, would fulfill the promise to crush the head of Satan, which is another way of saying to reverse the curse on mankind which separated men from God, because of their rebellion.

And essentially this is what Jesus is saying to Nicodemus. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

Since Adam chose to give up his spiritual inheritance through his sin God had to come along and promise to give back that spiritual inheritance through a Savior born into this world who would take Adam’s penalty for sin, along with the penalty of all men who would embrace the Savior by faith.

According to Old Testament teaching, starting way back in the beginning of Genesis, this was God’s simple plan of salvation. And yet, Nicodemus, who is purported to be a great teacher of the law among the Jews, doesn’t understand this most simple proposition.

JOH 3:7 "You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

Jesus is speaking of spiritual things. And yet, this spiritual leader of Israel doesn’t have a clue. Again, this shouldn’t surprise us. There are many spiritual leaders in the church today who are not born again.

They may be religious, they may have received a Masters of Divinity degree from some Seminary, but so did Nicodemus. Being religious and being born again are not necessarily the same thing.

As I’ve stated before there are numerous polls which have been taken over the years by religious leaders in America, where some of these leaders deny the deity of Jesus Christ, many of them deny the bible as the very word of God, and many of them even deny that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven.

They have the title Reverend conveniently placed before their names, but they are no more to be revered as ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ than any Satanist High Priest.

In fact, they are more dangerous than a Satanist High Priest because at least we know where a Satanist is coming from. These false teachers in the church are hiding behind the name of Jesus Christ but they deny the power of Christ since they are not born again, and they teach a message which keeps people in bondage to their sin as they promote a works oriented gospel, which is no gospel at all.

And this is the problem Jesus has with Nicodemus. But in His grace Jesus goes on to explain the ministry of the Holy Spirit as it pertains to our salvation.

JOH 3:8 "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

Jesus makes a comparison between the wind, which all men experience in nature, and the work of the Spirit in the lives of people. And what He is doing is actually showing the mystery of the working of the Spirit through the example of the wind. We take the wind for granted but if we had to explain it we would have difficulty doing it.

For example we might say that the wind can be seen blowing leaves on a tree, or maybe even seen picking up leaves on the ground and blowing them into your neighbor’s yard. We might even explain how the wind can become so powerful that it can turn into something we call a tornado or hurricane and do extensive damage.

But we would not be explaining the wind, only its effects. Well, you see the wind is the result of the earth heating up the air and as it rises it is then cooled by a system of high pressure which in turn pushes it downward. Again, that might explain how the wind becomes wind, but you can’t even see that.

The bottom line is that as much as you and I might want to explain the wind it is still invisible. You can’t see the wind, you can only experience its effects in one way or another. You can’t see how the wind travels in a southerly path one minute and how it shifts to an easterly path the next. You might feel the difference, but you can’t see the actual wind.

And Jesus uses this analogy to teach a spiritual truth about the work of God as it relates to our salvation.

JOH 3:8 "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

As much as you and I might want to explain the work of the Spirit as it relates to our salvation He is just as mysterious and Sovereign as the wind in that He works in ways we cannot see, and does so without consulting us.

As hard as you and I might try, we can’t change the direction in which the wind blows. It will do as it pleases. And it is the same with the Spirit, is Jesus’ point.

The Spirit of God consults with no man as to how He decides to work in opening the eyes of spiritually blind people. If it were up to man making the decision for the Spirit of God the apostle Paul would not be an apostle of Jesus Christ, he would have continued to be lost in his sin as a Pharisee.

Those on the receiving end of his wrath would probably have voted for God to wipe him out. But the Spirit blows where He will, if you will, and He showed compassion and mercy to Paul as his eyes were opened, even in his blindness, and he was given life as Jesus offered it to him.

This is why you and I can’t dictate to God what He must do in the life of any individual. We are encouraged by the Lord to pray on behalf of individuals, and we certainly come to God with expectations of God opening their eyes and hearts to receive Christ, but ultimately it’s up to God.

Only He can give spiritual birth as they are born from above. This should not discourage us, but should actually encourage all of us because we have the hope that someone can change their hearts.

JER 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"

It was this deceitful heart of man which God saw and understood that prompted Him to destroy the earth by a flood.

GEN 6:5 "The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time."

Paul is emphatic about how the natural man and his sinful heart is not interested in the things of God.

ROM 3:10 "As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."

But praise God our great Savior and Creator is not only capable of changing our hearts to want to seek after Him, He is more than willing to accomplish that as He died in our place to redeem us and reunite us back to the Father. His Spirit is in the business of doing this work in our hearts as He gives us a new nature which desires the things of God.

We can’t see how the Spirit does this, but we can see the effects of the Spirit, like the wind, as we see people desiring God, as we see believers whose lives no longer hunger after the world and the things of the world, but now seek after those things above.

We see the effects of the Spirit in the lives of people who now have this new nature and have the ability for the first time in their lives to actually please God in the power of the Spirit.

We see the effect of the Spirit as His fruit begins to take precedence in our lives.

GAL 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."

These things are the effects of the Spirit and the new life He has given us in Christ, but it is still up to the Spirit to do what He desires to do which will bring glory to God.

And yet, even after Jesus points this out to Nicodemus he still can’t seem to grasp this simple truth of the Sovereignty and purpose of God as it relates to being born again..

JOH 3:9 "How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.
10 "You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things?"

Now keep in mind that Jesus is the one instructing Nicodemus. Surely, we say, if anyone can make an intellectual argument for how we receive salvation, it must be Jesus Christ. If anyone can convince someone to see spiritual things it must be Jesus.

How could anyone question Jesus and not be able to understand the things the Lord is teaching?

This is the point Jesus is making with Nicodemus. The heart is deceitful, who can understand it? Well, Jesus certainly can, but unless the Spirit of God causes his spiritual birth not even the words of Jesus will make any difference to Nicodemus.

The irony Jesus is pointing out is how someone can claim to be spiritual and yet doesn’t have a clue how someone can claim to be a spiritual authority and yet doesn’t even understand the most basic aspects of salvation.

It’s a good thing Jesus shows up on earth as a man, because he loves people too much to let them continue to be blinded by the deceitfulness of their sin. It is His intention to make sure people have a way out of their spiritual death as He, along with the Spirit and the Father in heaven, is going to rescue mankind from themselves, as He gives them life and a new nature.

JOH 3:11 "I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.
12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?"

Isn’t it amazing how people will accept a lie and reject the truth even when that truth is plainly put before them.

I’m always amazed at how people will choose a political affiliation without any thought as to the basis behind that affiliation. Well, it was good enough for my parents, so it’s good enough for me. And simply because of a particular political affiliation it’s as though people will be loyal to a political party even when individuals in their party are doing things which are plainly wrong. And yet, they’ll defend them.

It’s blind allegiance. And in the spiritual realm it’s the same thing. People will defend their sin, they will defend their position that they have a god of their own choosing, or that the God of the bible isn’t the only way. They’ll defend every conceivable lie, but when it comes to the simple truth of who the one true God is, and the plan of salvation He has for mankind, they go off in a tirade.

They’re tolerant of everything but the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is why it is essential that God does a change in us from the inside. It’s a work only He can do.

Now, when Jesus uses the pronoun "we" in our text He’s addressing those who have joined Him in declaring this truth, specifically the prophets of old who have born witness to the truth of who God is.

JOH 3:11 "I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony."

This is an indictment against Nicodemus who should have understood what the prophets of old were talking about and who they were bearing witness of. Jesus says, that we testify to what we have seen.

Has Nicodemus ever been privileged to hear from God? No. But the prophets in Israel were. The Lord spoke to these people and gave them His very word to give to Israel. Jesus Himself has been sent from the Father and He knows the truth.

And what He is now saying to Nicodemus is that the O.T. prophets had the privilege of personally hearing from God and they spoke of the Messiah. Jesus is that Messiah. He is saying that both He and the Old Testament prophets bear witness to this same truth.

And yet, Nicodemus, a Jew, and a Pharisee isn’t willing to accept the testimony of the prophets or Jesus Himself who has proved Himself, (according to Nicodemus), who says that no one could do these miracles unless God were with him.

Now when Jesus speaks of His testimony in verse eleven, He is speaking of His teachings. Jesus is saying to Nicodemus, and by extension, all of the leaders of Israel, that though they might be willing to accept His miracles, they are still not going to believe the teachings of Jesus which tells them that He is the Messiah.

And this is what our Lord puts His emphasis on. If they are not willing to accept the truth of God’s word, it makes little difference if they believe His miracles. It isn’t until a person receives God’s truth and then applies that truth to his own situation by faith, that salvation can become a reality.

This is why I’m always concerned with the world’s approach that we must give people something other than the truth to bring them into the kingdom of God. We need balloons, we need slick marketing tools, we need a building, and the list goes on. If we’re ever going to be successful we must have all of these things which will attract people.

When is the last time you heard of any church involved in the ministry of raising the dead, or multiplying loaves and fish?

Well, whether there are churches today where this is truly going on, or not, they still couldn’t boast in suggesting that the miracles alone are sufficient in turning the hearts of people.

When Jesus Himself was performing miracles and signs and wonders people still rejected Him. It isn’t about creating an environment with these types of things, or through some marketing approach, which will ultimately bring people to Christ. It’s ultimately about the testimony we bear witness to; the same testimony the prophets, apostles and Jesus Himself bore witness to.

Does this mean we’re against balloons or buildings with steeples? No. Does this mean we’re against miracles? Absolutely not. It simply means that if we are to place an emphasis on these things to the exclusion of the truth then we are no better than the Pharisees who did the same.

You can create a lot of excitement with these types of things. People were excited about the miraculous ministry of Jesus. But they still crucified Him. It isn’t about what we do in our own wisdom to create an environment to bring people to Christ, it’s about the truth of God’s word and the work of the Holy Spirit.

I know it’s easy to become discouraged when you think we’re doing the will of God, and yet our growth is still small. I know it’s easy to compare ourselves to others who don’t even teach the truth and yet they seem to be "happening" churches.

But simply because there are great numbers in some of these churches doesn’t mean they are bearing testimony to the truth of God’s word. Some of them are simply appealing to the flesh of people as they try and create an environment of excitement. Lots of flash, but no heat.

It might surprise you to know that many Christians in a lot of these churches are biblically illiterate. And by this I mean, of the myriad of seasoned saints, those who have been in the church for many years, many of those couldn’t distinguish between false teaching and true teaching.

Of course all of us begin in this condition as new believers. But we are told to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I’m constantly amazed when I meet people from different churches who have some of the most bizarre ideas on what it means to be a Christian and how one should grow in their faith; people who should know better.

But because their leadership isn’t teaching the word of God, but rather are utilizing the wisdom of the world, they too depend more on the world than on God. And I guess this shouldn’t surprise us.

But, as Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus He seems to be surprised by Nicodemus’ lack of understanding of the things of God.

JOH 3:12 "I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?"

Jesus has spoken in very plain terms to both the masses in Israel, as well as to Nicodemus. And yet, Nicodemus still doesn’t understand. This is what Jesus means when He says, "I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe..." (JOH 3:12)

This is an expression which deals with the intellect of man as our Lord gives him the truth in simple terms. It’s like an electrical engineer trying to explain how electricity works to second graders.

He would use terms they would understand about this awesome power. He would use analogies second graders would be used to so they could make the leap from ignorance to some sort of understanding of electricity in their lives.

In a similar way Jesus is saying to Nicodemus that He has used terms and analogies to try and show Nicodemus the most basic truths, and still he doesn’t understand. "I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe..."

If Nicodemus, one of the spiritual giants in Israel, can’t grasp this then how in the world will he ever understand the more difficult spiritual truths? "How then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?"

Sometimes Christians want to take an obscure heavenly door to try and reach the lost, hoping that through that door they can introduce them to Christ. It turns out that that door is so out there for the natural man that there is no way they can comprehend that approach.

I know of churches who will try and debate unbelievers about the evil of participating in Halloween. They will spend all sorts of money to print up tracts giving the history of Halloween, its evil roots, its connection to the occult and on and on.

Now, all of that may be true. But to an unbeliever the only thing they’re concerned with is what costume to get their little one who insists they want to be a little fairy or Dracula. The last thing they’re thinking about are the pagan practices of the Druids of the eleventh century and the occultic calendar which specifies this time around Halloween as a spiritual holy day for their pagan religious practices.

The same thing is true of other false religions. Many Christians would rather get blue in the face debating with people who are in these false religions about their false practices and doctrines than simply give them the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a place for all of this. But simply pointing out how someone is wrong in their thinking on these other issues won’t bring the first person into the Kingdom of God. The gospel will. It is the power of God unto salvation.

Nicodemus is an example of how people will gravitate to anything and everything to make themselves feel spiritual. Jesus brings him back to earth and simply points him to the truth that he must be born again, and that birth comes through Christ.

I love getting into the deep spiritual truths of God’s word, but to an unbeliever, we need to keep it simple.

Nicodemus was looking for spiritual truths as he understood them. Jesus shows him that he is not spiritual at all, only religious. That’s where most of the world is today. Let’s show them Jesus, and give them the life transforming truth of the gospel. And pray the Spirit opens their eyes and gives them life in Christ as they reach out to the Savior.

Let’s pray for our community that the Holy Spirit would do a great work here as we are faithful to testify that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior and redeemer of mankind.

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