January 26, 2014
Morning Worship
Text: John 3:1-21
Subject: Faithfulness
Title: Blessed to be a Blessing Part 3
If you were with us last Sunday morning and evening you’ll remember that we were talking about how God wants to bless us. Proverbs 28:20, A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.
The key to receiving God’s blessings is to be faithful in the things that He has already given you. Those who are faithful in their finances and all the things of this world will be entrusted with greater things in the kingdom. Than means that if you will use the worldly things you have accumulated to enhance the kingdom you can expect the Lord to replenish and even give more abundantly so you can continue to do more.
Luke 16:10-12 helps us to understand that a little better, 10“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
OK, are you with me so far? Now lets look at one more passage quickly before we get into our study today. 2 Corinthians 9:8, 10-11, 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 10Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
Can you see how God wants to establish a pattern in your life for blessings? There is a law of risk and reward that is established in these verses that the church needs to get hold of.
John 3:1-21 tells us the story of Nicodemus who went to Jesus to spend time and find out some things. Now the verse in the passage that everyone remembers is verse 16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Today we want to look at this passage and show you more of how the Lord expects faithfulness on your part in order to receive blessings that will grow the kingdom.
I believe this is God's Word…
I believe it is for me…
I accept it as mine…
And I appropriate it to my life today…
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
1. Nicodemus went at night because Jesus was pretty busy during the day… also it was an opportune time to talk to Jesus when none of his colleagues would see him. This kind of tells us that Nicodemus was serious about getting to know Jesus a little better.
2. a teacher who has come from God… Acts 2:22, 22“Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. Was God with Jesus? Now some will say, “Jesus is God.” That’s true but Jesus laid aside His deity and came to earth as a man empowered by the Holy Spirit – the third person of the trinity.
I love the way that Jesus answers him… He doesn’t even wait for a question, but gives the right answer before it is asked. “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” The Law of risk and reward – when one is “born again” – literally conceived from above - then he can see the kingdom of God…
We think of this as getting saved and then having the assurance of heaven. But I say that you don’t have to wait for eternity to see the kingdom. The word translated as “see” also is translated “be aware of”. Doesn’t that sound like God wants us to know kingdom things right here and right now?
4“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” I believe this is a sincere question on Nicodemus’ part. It shows a true lack of understanding of even Old Testament Scriptures… the Pharisees focused on a teachers interpretation of the Law and held those teachings as equal to the Law instead of reading and finding out for themselves.
5Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8The 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.”
6-8 Jesus asserted that the entrance into the kingdom of God that Nicodemus desired could not be achieved by legalism or outward conformity. It requires an inner change and is given only by the direct act of God. Just as the origin and the destination of the wind are unknown to the one who feels it, similarly the new life of one born of the Spirit is unexplainable by ordinary reasoning; and its outcome is unpredictable, though its actuality is undeniable.
Do we have to understand truth before we accept it? Some think so. But I told you last week that in kingdom living that there are always to parts to God’s promises. 1) His part… Ephesians 2:8, For it is by grace you have been saved… 2) and your part … For it is by grace you have been saved… through faith… Faith is accepting God’s truth even if we don’t understand.
9“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
Now I want you to pay close attention to what Jesus says here.
10“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11I 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. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?
Doesn’t that sound a little like what it says in Luke 16?
11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
The Jews, and especially the Pharisees, who were experts in the Law, were given God's Word and yet they mishandled and misinterpreted it and in essence just missed out on what the Lord was trying to teach them. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?
The "earthly things" Jesus alluded to were probably the phenomena he used for illustrations, such as the wind. If Nicodemus was unable to grasp the meaning of spiritual truth as conveyed by concrete analogy, how would he do so if it were couched in an abstract statement? No one had ever entered into heaven to experience its realities directly except Jesus himself, the Son of Man, who had come from heaven. Revelation, not discovery, is the basis for faith.
13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him (your part) may have eternal life (God’s part).
16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
"Eternal" refers not only to the duration of existence but also to the quality of life as contrasted with futility. Eternal life is a deepening and growing experience. It can never be exhausted in any measurable span of time, but it introduces a totally new quality of life. The verb "perish" depicts the opposite of salvation. It means to fail completely of fulfilling God's purpose and consequently to be excluded forever from his fellowship. Its use here clearly implies that those without God are hopelessly confused in purpose, alienated from him in their affections, and futile in their efforts.
The presentation of the good news of God's love offers only two options: to believe or to perish. Eternal life, which is accepted by believing, is a gift of God and brings with it the fullest blessings God can bestow. To perish does not mean to cease to exist; it means to experience utter failure, futility, and loss of all that makes existence worthwhile.
17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
Paul wrote in Romans 8:1, Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… Condemnation is removed from those who trust the Lord. But the enemy of your soul will do his best to bring condemnation back to you.
Bob Gass writes,
A thought left to ramble in your mind can attach itself to an incident in your past. It will begin to feed on that incident and grow like a virus. The stronger it gets, the weaker you become, until your strength has been drained away by lust or resentment or fear. The thought you left unchecked today can become a stronghold tomorrow. Paul says we must take these thoughts captive before they take us captive.
2 Corinthians 10:5, We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
God’s part – to remove condemnation
Our part – to keep it away
19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
Ephesians 5:8-12, 8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10and find out what pleases the Lord. 11Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13But everything exposed by the light becomes visible…
Back to Luke 16:10, 10“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much…
Listen to this; Jesus said that if we could just have faith the size of a mustard seed there would be no limit to what we could accomplish through Him… it is not the size of the seed that matters – it is what we do with the seed. Are you able to plant a small seed of faith and let it grow in you to help you become what the Lord wants you to become?
21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
The truth in you may begin small, but it has been entrusted to you allow it to become large…
It all begins with faith in Jesus Christ. Are you willing to turn your life over to Him and allow Him to save you and be the Lord of your life?
Then are you willing to take that seed of faith and plant it deep in your heart and then water it and cultivate it so that what you do will be done through God?
Are you willing to take the smallest thing of worldly value and dedicate it to the Lord and watch it grow in Kingdom proportions?
A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.
Will you live for yourself or live for God? It’s your choice.
One night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, "Jump! I'll catch you." He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness. As can be imagined, he was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: "Jump! I will catch you." But the boy protested, "Daddy, I can't see you." The father replied, "But I can see you and that's all that matters."
God sees you and that’s all that matters.
