Jesus and Nicodemus Part 1 - John 3:1-4

1:02He had lived long in the land, and he was known for his great wisdom, and had caused the kingdom and many in the kingdom to prosper by his wise counsel. Kings treasured his wisdom. And one of his proverbs was this: True nobility comes by birth. True nobility comes by birth. Every year the king held a grand Christmas Day celebration at his castle, and everyone in the kingdom was invited, from prince to pauper, and everyone in between, and of course, the old wise sage.

1:45It was always a spectacular celebration. There were decorations, there was great food, wonderful music, and of course, a lot of conversation. And on one of these occasions, a young prince challenged the sage's proverb. He said his proverb was old, it was outdated and wrong. And he was very vocal about his position. And according to the young prince, he said, Nobility is a skill that is learned. It's one's environment that produces nobility, not one's genetics. Nobility is a function of environment, not one's birth. Well, when the young prince's words were reported to the sage, the sage quietly replied in his usual sagely manner, The boy is wrong. Well, this infuriated the young prince, and he immediately challenged the sage to a public debate. And the king, having heard of this, was somewhat amused by his son's impertinent challenge, but he knew he had to learn his lesson. Lesson. So the king set the date for the public debate. At the next Christmas Day celebration, each side was to present their case to a watching world. Each had a year to study, a year to research, and a year to prepare and set forth the best case to argue their position.

3:25The king knew that the issue needed to be settled. Was nobility a function of birth or was it a function of training? Well, the young prince wasted no time. He thought to himself that if he could train his cat to be a gentleman, then he would win the debate without saying anything. For if a cat could be trained, then certainly any human can be trained, and so he would prove his point that nobility is a function of one's environment. So for the next year, the prince hired a team of the best teachers and tailors in the land to teach his cat how to walk and how to talk and how to act like a real gentleman. Well, the training was a huge success. The cat learned to walk on his two hind legs. He learned to wait table.

4:30In the most noble fashion. He learned to converse intelligently on any subject in every language spoken in the land. This was some cat. Well, news spread about the young prince's cat, and everyone was amazed. Surely the prince was right. Nobility was a function of one's training, not his birth. Well, the next Christmas Day celebration came, and with it the public debate that all had been waiting for. The king took his seat in the royal court, and suddenly the prince's cat appeared, dressed in the finest tuxedo in the land, perfectly suited for a Christmas celebration, dressed to the nines perfectly, as you would expect nobility to do. He approached the king in the most dignified manner. He graciously bowed with one tray table in hand and his top hat in the other. The cat elegantly served the king a glass of wine and conversed with the king on a number of important issues of the day. Well, the king was amazed. His son was right. Nobility is a matter of training, not one's birth. Everyone in the room knew that the young prince had won. Won the day. They even felt pity upon the old sage. The king's eyes glanced at the sage and nodded as if to say, it's your turn. Well, the sage slowly reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a little box, and he opened it. Three little mice came running out. The cat lost all his composure, dropped his tray, and ran after the mice. The noise, the chaos, and the carnage absolutely horrified the crowd. And about 15 minutes later, the cat reappeared, purring in the most satisfied manner. His tux was shredded, his hat was gone, but it was evident to all the cat was still a cat.

6:53All the clothes and all the training did not change the nature of the cat. That's the Christmas cat. So, what does this story of the Christmas cat have to do with our text this morning? What does it have to do with Christmas? Well, I'm here to tell you it has everything to do with you. And it has everything to do with our text this morning. And it has everything to do with our celebration of Christmas. Well, back to John chapter 2. If we just finished John. Chapter 2, we saw the power of Jesus, we saw the passion of Jesus displayed in his cleansing of the temple, and we saw the opposition to Jesus last week. Two significant forces that we looked at last week nailed Jesus to the cross. The first was that of protectionism. And if you'll remember, I said last week, I left you with this thought: that if you want to oppose Christ's name, the best way to do this, or one of the best ways to do this, is to not let his word change your understanding of God. Be offended. Come up with your own view of God, your own understanding of God, and contrary to what the scripture says, hold on to your view of God, and in that sense, protect what you think God ought to be like. Well, that was certainly the religious leaders, or many of the religious leaders of Jesus' day. But then there is another group, another way to oppose Christ, and that is to be superficial. Don't just be a protectionist. Be a superficialist. Follow him only when it serves your interests. Be a protectionist or be a superficialist, these are the forces that put Christ on the cross.

8:53And it's in that context of superficialism. If you look back in chapter 2, in verse 23, now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast. Many believed in his name, observing his signs, which he was doing. There were many signs that he was doing, and people knew that they were from God, and they believed. They believed in his name. But Jesus, very interesting verse in verse 24, but Jesus, on his part, was not entrusting himself to them, for he knew all men, because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for he himself knew what was in man.

9:38So look back at all men. He knew what was in all men, and he knew what was in a man, or he knew what was in man. Now look at what happens in verse 3:1. Now there was a man of the Pharisees. In other words, what Jesus is saying here, what John is saying about Jesus is he did not believe in people's belief. He did not believe. He didn't have trust in the people's trust. Literally, he didn't have faith in their faith.

10:19And so Jesus' conversation of Nicodemus that flows right out of this serves as a prime example of why Jesus did not believe in human. Believing. He did not have faith in human faith. There is a faith that cannot be trusted. My question to you: what is your faith? What is your faith? Is your faith something that Christ would be able to trust in, or is it of an earthly origin that Christ himself would not be able to trust in? Look at our text, and then we will read this chapter 3 and verse 1. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? His mother cannot enter a second time into, or he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?

11:45So what I want to do this morning, we are entering into a very profound section of Scripture. And I want to do little more this morning than to introduce you to the man, Nicodemus, and the conversation he had with Jesus. We will pick up and go in depth in January when we get back on this study. Next week, I want to spend some time looking intensely at the Lord's Supper, what it is, what it means, and go in depth on that, spend the whole time really understanding. Then, Christmas Day, I invite you back, and we will prepare our hearts to receive the Lord's Supper. And so, I hope next week to really set the stage for the Lord's table and that we could prepare our hearts to receive the Lord's Supper on Christmas Day.

12:37So, we'll pick this up again in January, but today I just want to throw this out there. I want to put this in your mind, I want to expose you to this conversation. This Nicodemus is going to show up two more times in the Gospel of John. He's a very significant individual. He will show up here, he shows up halfway through, and then he'll show up near the end. But this morning, I just want you to introduce you to who he was, why he came to Jesus, and the shock he received from the statement that Jesus made. So, first of all, we'll look at Nicodemus, who he was. Verse 1. Now, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. So, he's a Pharisee. Nicodemus belonged to the party of the Pharisees. That party most likely originated due. During the period just preceding the Maccabean Wars. If that is the case, which it probably is, they had been around for about 200 years by this time. The word Pharisee literally means separated ones, and they were a reaction against the secularistic spirit of Hellenism of the day. Hellenism is the conforming to Greek culture. So it's the secularists conforming to the secularism of the day conforming to popular Greek culture. So this Pharisee movement, this separated one, reacted against this movement. They were actually kind of a small group. There was never more than 6,000 of them. And to be a Pharisee was a great privilege. It was a privilege, or membership was a privilege. It was a special group. To be a Pharisee, one had to take a pledge in front of several witnesses that he would spend his whole life observing every detail of the scribal law. They were a very devout group. They were esteemed by the people and produced many distinguished men. You could go through a list. There is Gamaliel, there was Paul, there was Josephus, a number. So Nicodemus was a Pharisee. But he was also a ruler, a ruler of the Jews.

15:00He was a member of the Sanhedrin. This was that court of 70 members that presided, that was presided over by the high priest. And the precedent for these 70 goes back to Moses in Exodus 18 and Numbers 11, that this group of 70 with the high priest for a total of 71, they were the supreme court of the Jews. They had jurisdiction over every Jew worldwide. They were made up of chief priests, high priests, chief priests, elders, family heads, and scribes.

15:39And the way a person became a member of the Sanhedrin was through their heritage, through birth, and through political achievement. Those two factors played in to who was on the Sanhedrin. So Nicodemus was one of those. He was of the Pharisees. He was a ruler. This is a very prominent individual. It is also possible, and extra biblical materials tell us that there was a Nicodemus that actually negotiated or was an ambassador to Pompeii in 63 BC when he entered.

16:26And later, there was a son of Nicodemus in 73 BC. A.D., that negotiated the surrender of the garrison in the last and final days of the capital of Jerusalem. So it's possible that Nicodemus was from a very prominent family. Obviously, he was being a Pharisee and on the Sanhedrin, and may have even been of a very distinguished family, even beyond that. So this is a very, very important person. In fact, his name is a combination of the word Nike, victor, and people. So his name literally means victory over the people, a victor of people. So in many ways, when Nicodemus comes on the scene, he is the best man that Jewish life and society can produce. This is the best of them.

17:27In fact, we know of another one in Scripture, right? Saul, who would boast in Philippians 3:4 that I am, if anyone has confidence in the flesh, I can have more. I circumcised on the eighth day a nation of Israel, a tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew, a Hebrew as to the law, a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness, which is in the law. I was blameless, but whatever these things were gained to me, I have counted loss for the sake of Christ. And that's where Nicodemus was going to have to go.

18:02Nicodemus was the same caliber, same disposition of Saul before his conversion. Well, back in verse 1, you look at that. His description is: he is of the Pharisees, and he is of the Jews, the best of Jewish society. That's Nicodemus. That's who he was. And next, I want you to see why he came to Jesus. Look in verse 2. This person, this man came to Jesus by night. Now, I'm going to pause there for a minute. There's a lot of people who have allegorized this and spiritualized these two words by night and have suggested all kinds of interpretations: that this is a picture of his soul, this is the picture of the Jewish nation, and have read a lot into that. There's a darkness and night, a light distinction or separation in John that runs throughout.

19:03There may be something there. But you know me, I tend to kind of look at just the simple, straightforward. I suggest there were two reasons, two very practical reasons why Nicodemus came at night. Number one, it was probably a sign of caution. He was cautious. He didn't want to speak to Jesus. I mean, he wanted to speak to Jesus without expressing some kind of public endorsement. He just wanted to have more. He wanted some more information about Jesus, and he didn't want, so there may have been some caution, some secrecy involved. Sure, there most likely was. But second, I think he wanted an absolutely private and completely undisturbed time with Jesus. Jesus would have been busy during the day. There have been a lot of people around him, and so coming at night was very practical. And the cloak of darkness hid him from everyone else. So he wanted to be there. But the mind, the main thing on Nicodemus' mind was something that comes out in the text here. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Nicodemus is a thinking man. He's saying, What you are doing cannot be explained at all whatsoever, except that God is with you. I know, we know, there are some, we know for sure you are from God. Perfect. Now, we know that you have come from God. He dresses him as rabbi, teacher, a respectful titer. He's saying, I know you are a teacher because no one could possibly do what you were doing unless God is with him. I know you've come from God.

20:59I think what's going on. On in Nicodemus' mind, he's not just making a statement. There is an underlying question in his mind. Are you more than a teacher? Are you more? We know you are from God. In fact, he was a thinking man. Nicodemus was a thinking man. He was an educated man, and he knew the scriptures. He would have known Malachi 3:1. Behold, I'm sending my messenger, and he is going to clear the way before me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger and the covenant in whom you delight. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire. He will sit as a smelter and purifier as silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. He's like, I know we're expecting one to come. He's going to come to his temple. And you know what he's going to do? He is going to clean house. And no doubt, Nicodemus is a thinking man. He's like, I know scripture. I know that God is with you. What you are doing cannot be explained except God alone.

22:19And probably as a Pharisee, he probably was saying, yeah, that temple, there's some Sanhedrin politics and the. The Pharisees probably felt like some that could have been out of order there. Who knows? But he's asking. In fact, he may have been like Simeon. Remember Luke 2, where there was a Simeon and an Anna. These were looking for the consolation of Israel. Nicodemus is, they're under Roman occupation. He's a thinking man. He understands. And he sees this rabbi come on the scene, a teacher, a wonder worker. And he goes to him for a conversation, as if to find out, are you more than a teacher?

23:18So, Nicodemus, we've seen who he was and why he came to Jesus. Now I want you to see the shock that he received, the shock that he received. We'll pick it up in verse 3. Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Interesting. Nicodemus has just said, We know you're from God. And Jesus turns it around, goes right to the heart of Nicodemus personally, and he says to him, Unless, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. It's important, this phrase, kingdom of God, only shows up here. And in verse 5 in the book of John, John doesn't camp on this subject. Now, there will be some discussion about Christ's kingdom when he is before Pilate in chapter 18 and 19. But here, in these two verses, in verse 3 and verse 5, we have this phrase, the kingdom of God. And since John is writing to Jews, the phrase of the kingdom of God must be understood in Old Testament terms. What went on in Nicodemus' mind when Jesus used this term, kingdom of God? And so I want to take a few moments to do a quick survey of some Old Testament passages that would hopefully settle in our minds, or hopefully with the intention of gaining an understanding of what this phrase kingdom of God would have triggered in Nicodemus' mind.

24:55Well, as you just look at the phrase kingdom in general, as you study through the Old Testament scriptures, the first time the word kingdom is used, you're drawn to Genesis 10, chapter 10, chapter 10, verse 10, speaking of Nimrod. And I like the ESV translation. He was the first on earth to be a mighty man. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Therefore, the Lord said, or therefore it is said, like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord. And then in verse 10, it discusses. Describes the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and it goes through from there, and he goes to Assyria, and he built Nineveh and the great city. And so there's this description of this Nimrod whose kingdom was great, one of the first great kingdoms. And the idea of the kingdom, as you go through scripture, you'll see a number of kings and kingdoms discussed, and it always refers to a king or his power or the extent of his domain, his jurisdiction. Sometimes it refers to his physical real estate, but it always involves the reign, the dominion, the jurisdiction of a king. And so that's, generally speaking, God in his providence has given kingdoms, people to rule over. In fact, we could even refer to this term in a generic sense and think about every one of us has something under our jurisdiction. We have something under our dominion. God has entrusted to you your little sphere. May not be an empire like Nimrod's or like the kingdoms of the earth or many, but you have your jurisdiction. You have your dominion. And one of the things we see Throughout Scripture, is this universal reign of God, this universal kingdom of God, of which we are all part of. He rules, he reigns, and he is entrusted to you your jurisdiction, your dominion, and you are to pay tribute, give honor to him. That's what is required of man. God has given you your sphere, given you your dominion, giving you your jurisdiction, and you will be held accountable for how you steward that. In fact, this is one reason. I had a conversation, somebody came and asked me about tithing this past week. And I said, Yeah, one of the means of giving to God, giving to the church. And by the way, the church is the institution that God has set up to receive your tithes and offerings, just so you know. And we don't talk about it, we don't wave an offering plate in front of you very much. We did today.

27:59That's unusual. But the idea of when you think about offerings and giving tithes and offerings to God, it's just another expression of a tribute that you give to God. And it's not just tithes and offerings, it's your being. He looks for the fruit from his creation. And he is entrusted to you. So all that's a form of tribute. We are all part of. God's universal kingdom, and as such, we pay him. We are to give him tribute, tribute, the tribute of our lives. You can see this throughout the Old Testament, this universal kingdom of God. And I just will draw your attention to a few verses. In chapter 15 of Exodus, you remember Moses, the song of Moses after Pharaoh's army is delivered, I mean, is drowned in the sea, then Moses, the son of Israel, sang this song to the Lord and said, I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. And he goes over in verse 18 and he says, The Lord shall reign forever and ever. So he is the one who rules and reigns forever.

29:19And that's this kingdom of God. Psalm 93, listen to this, verse 1: The Lord reigns. He is clothed with majesty and has clothed and girded himself with strength. Indeed, the world is firmly established. It will not be moved. Look at Psalm 103 in verse 19. It says this: The Lord has established his throne in the heavens and his sovereignty rules over all. And on and on. Psalm 104, verse 24, the earth. Earth is full of your possessions. You, in wisdom, you have made them all. You get this sense of this universal kingdom that we are all a part of.

30:10So, in that sense, we're all part of this kingdom, this universal kingdom. He reigns over us all. He is God, and we are not. However, this is not the kingdom of God that Jesus refers to when he is speaking to Nicodemus. This general, universal reign, we're all part of that. We're all subject to him. But the scriptures speak a lot. The Old Testament prophets speak a lot about the kingdom of God that is going to show up at the end of human history. The prophets spoke about this glorious kingdom. It was future. It would endure forever, and it would put an end to all other kingdoms. In Daniel chapter 2 and verse 44, Daniel says this about King Nebuchadnezzar's dream. He interprets it. He says, In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed. And that kingdom will not be left for another people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it itself will endure forever. And in Daniel 7:13, Daniel sees a vision. He says, I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, One like a son of man was coming, and he came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him, and to him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom that all the peoples and nations of men of every language might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. So there is at the end of the age, at the end of the days, this kingdom. This is what Nicodemus is thinking about. The king and this kingdom, this kingdom of God. And a question throughout Scripture is: who is this king? And who are his people? It's a kingdom that's going to endure forever. It is going to crush and put an end to all of this is, and friends, this is the real kingdom. This is the real one that's going to last forever. This is going to be the future state of blessed humanity. It's in his kingdom. The question is: who is this king? Well, the prophets answer this throughout the Old Testament. As you go through, he will be a son of David. This king will be a son of David. Isaiah 9:6, for unto us a child will be born. A son will be given to us, and the government will rest upon his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father. Prince of peace, there will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish and uphold it and with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord is going to accomplish this. Zechariah 9:9 says this: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you. He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the bow of war. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be cut off. And he will speak peace to the nations, and his dominion will be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. One of David, David's son. Who is his king? Well, he's going to be one of David's son. But he is also referred to in the Old Testament as the Lord's servant. He is the Lord's servant. He is David's son, but he is also the Lord's servant. Isaiah 42, 1 says, Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one, in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him, and he will bring forth justice to the nations. Isaiah 49, 5 says, and now, Says the Lord who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel might be gathered to him. The function of the servant is to bring Jacob back so that Israel might be gathered. He says, It's too small a thing that you should be my servant just to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to preserve and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. Says to the servant, I will also make you a light of the nations, so that my salvation may reach the end of the earth. So he is going to be David's son. He is going to be the Lord's servant. But Scripture also makes it very clear that he is going to be the Lord Himself.

35:17Zechariah 14:9 says, And the Lord will be king. Yahweh will be king over all the earth in that day. Yahweh will be the Holy One, and His name the only one. Who is this king? Well, he is David's son, the Lord's servant. He is Yahweh Himself. It's interesting, he is the Lord, yet he is distinct from the Lord. That's how he is presented in the Old Testament. It's interesting that John begins the gospel with, and the beginning was the word. And the word was God.

36:00And yet the word was with God, distinct, and yet of one essence. So who is the king? Who is the king? The son of David, the servant, Yahweh himself. The second question that runs through the scriptures is: who will participate in the kingdom? Who are the noble subjects that are going to receive the kingdom? The kingdom comes at the end. And what's happening in human history is the king is revealed and his subjects, the invitation. So the kingdom comes at the end. After the king has been revealed and his subjects have been called. At that time is when you need the kingdom.

36:54The end. Well, to a Jew, to a Jew, like Nicodemus, and certainly with the convictions of a Nicodemus, to see the kingdom of God was to participate in the kingdom of God at the end of the age, to experience it, to experience eternal resurrection life, to participate, to be one of the noble ones who has received this kingdom. That's what Jesus truly, truly. I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And he's going to further develop this, making it very clear. It's participate in. You will not see, will not come to you. Truly, truly, amen, amen. I say to you, most certainly, most assuredly, unless you're born again.

37:53The word really means born from above. It's the terminology for ripping the veil from top to bottom. John's going to use it in verse 33, 31, and 19, 11 clearly to refer to coming from above. It certainly also implies being born again. You have to be born again from above. You need to be born again. You got to reconstitute. There's a major change. You need to be born from above. You need to be fathered by above. That's the idea.

38:38And so what Jesus is saying is: unless one is fathered by heaven, fathered from above, born from above, he's not going to enter the kingdom at all. And what Jesus is saying to Nicodemus, as you stand right now, you are not. Able to enter. Well, and this is Nicodemus' shock. Nicodemus, you can see it in his reply in verse 4. Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time in his mother's womb and be born, can he? He's like, How?

39:22How can this be? How can a man, how is it possible to be born when he is old? What are you talking about? That's the idea. How can this be? And the conversation is going to continue, and we're going to pick it up in January. But for now, it's interesting to point out that Nicodemus' question is a question of how, not why. How? How does this happen? Not why did you do it this way? It's how? How can this be? He is shocked that Jesus would dismiss Nicodemus' credentials as inadequate for entry into the kingdom. Nicodemus is like, man, if there's anyone, I'm pretty much the best that the Jewish life and culture has produced. And you're saying I'm not good enough to get in? He said, yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying. And he's shocked about the whole rebirth concept. He's shocked that Jesus would dismiss his credentials. And he's shocked about this whole rebirth concept. It's as though Jesus is saying to Nicodemus: Nobility comes by birth.

40:45Not an earthly birth, not an earthly credential, but a heavenly one. Nobility, those who are going to receive this kingdom, those whom this kingdom is being prepared for, are my noble ones. And the only way into it is to be fathered from above, to be born from above. He started this with why didn't Jesus put his faith and trust in man's faith? Why wasn't Jesus' trust in man's faith? A faith that came about by signs, a faith that came out and had its origin from man's own nature. You know, there's a nature of demons, they believe, but it is not saving faith. There is a belief among people that is drawn to Christ and may be convinced for a while, but it has a human origin. It is not fathered from above.

41:51You see, earthly faith cannot change. Earthly nature. And that's what Jesus is saying. Something else has to happen. Earthly faith, a faith according to the pattern of man, cannot change human nature. Nicodemus had been raised to be religious. He dressed the part, he played the part, he talked the talk, and in many, many ways, he walked the walk. But like the Christmas cat, none of this changed his nature. And the reason why God has no faith in that kind of faith is because when the conditions are right, when persecution arises, when temptation comes up, or trial comes up, the whole faith is upset. It is abandoned.

42:49Superficialism vanishes. And the earthly nature comes out. If it's just a faith according to the pattern and nature of man, it will express itself as such when the conditions are right. And Jesus has no confidence in this kind of faith. He knows that man needs another kind of faith, one that is born from above, and one that is based on a new nature. Well, this morning I wanted our attention this morning to be focused on that long-expected kingdom. And those who will enter it, so that we will make rebirth our desire in our prayer and in our ministry. Rebirth, born from above, absolutely critical. Without it, you cannot know God, period. The kingdom is not for you, period. These are truly, truly words from Christ Himself. He's the king. And he tells us what's necessary. He's going to go on to tell us how that's going to be. Bottom line is, you must be born again.

44:14Do you think Jesus has faith in your faith? You know, you cannot save yourself. You cannot even cause yourself to be born from above. That's the emphasis. And when you honestly realize that you can do nothing to cause your birth from heaven, and you realize your utter need of it, then, and only then, are you ready to pray and ask for it? That's exactly where God wants us to be. I cannot cause my own birth. You cannot change your nature.

44:55And you absolutely need to have it changed in order to receive. God's kingdom, absolute certainties. So, where does that leave you? One place. Cry out. That's exactly where God wants you, and then you're ready to experience grace alone. And only then can you experience what grace alone does. On the other hand, you cannot cause your friend to be born from above. We cannot cause this community to be born from above. All our ministry efforts cannot bring about rebirth.

45:39Your loved one or your friend cannot change or cannot cause himself or herself to be born again. That's something out of us. But when you realize this, then you are ready to really pray for your community. You're really ready to pray for your loved one. Because except a man be born again, fathered from heaven, cannot see the kingdom of God. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, you give us these teachings. We see the words of your king. We know the kingdom. We know it is glorious. We know it is beautiful. And we know it is coming. And Father, you have told us.

46:31That unless you cause us to be born from above, we will certainly not enter, even if our righteousness excelled that of a Nicodemus. But, Father, we rejoice that you have brought us to the end of ourselves. Father, that we might look up to you, the God who says you open your hand and freely satisfy the desire of every living thing. And as we look to you, Father, in need of salvation, we know that you are faithful and quick and desirous to grant it. And so I pray for every person here today that does not know you and knows that they need to know you, that they would approach you and ask for you to give them the gift of life, a new nature, born from above. And Father, I pray for all of our loved ones, all of this community around here. Father, we just ask you to insert yourself into this world, into our ministries, Father, such that we would see true birth from heaven. Father, thank you.

47:48Thank you for all this in Jesus' name.