ABANDONED At BIRTH-VI—John 3:1-21
Concessions For New Birth
Attention:
Training for a S.W.A.T.(Special Weapons & Tactics) or police assault team.
Anticipation needed to meet worst-case scenario.
On the day you begin your S.W.A.T. Team service, Everything you ever held to before concerning being a free citizen, must be let go of. Now you are protecting other free citizens. You protect others with your new outlook, trusts, knowledge, & equipping.
You see the same things differently, from a different perspective. You notice nuances which you by-passed before. You enter situations you would never have entered previously. You recognize life situations, living patterns, personal & group behaviors, & body language that are all potentially life threatening to you & your mission. You Abandon the way you lived before, opening yourself to new dangers.
Likewise, when you were saved/born again/born from above, you abandoned everything you held to in the flesh. You now strive for what God wants you to be & have & do. You Abandon the way you lived before, opening yourself to new dangers. Unless you surrender your hold on your previous life & way of living, you withhold God’s gift to you of the Kingdom of Heaven.
In God’s scheme of life for mankind, New Birth—being born again— is the only means of...growing close to God, finding & employing His power, being faithful in service, finding God’s purpose for your life, becoming dedicated to His direction at every moment.
Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus yielded the essentials of being born again.
Being born again is essential to God’s plan.
What is essential to achieve new birth?
What is essential to be born again?
6 things abandoned at birth.
We have already found that
Those born from above, Abandon their previous & limiting...
1. POSITION(:1-2)
2. WISDOM(:3-7)
3. DIRECTION(:8)
4. ACCEPTANCE(:9-13) Accept Jesus & His testimony
5. BELIEF(:14-18)
6—Those born from above, Abandon their previous & limiting...
APPROACH(:19-21)
Explanation: (:19-21)Participation/Light
:19—“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, & men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
The reality of the condemnation which hangs over an unbelieving person’s head is clarified outright here.
The pure fact remains for the unbeliever that “the light” has entered the creation of God, in the open presence of everyone(1:4-10). Though the Light was both physically & spiritually in men’s presence(observable by them), these same men(generally) “loved” & thus preferred their “darkness” over & above the light(1:5, 10-11) made available to them.
Unbelievers exercised the free-will granted to them negatively rather than for their benefit. Their poor choices being made simply “because” the very things that they enter into & accomplish were “deeds” of “evil.”
“Light”—fwv—from an obsolete faw(to shine or make manifest, especially by rays; Luminousness(in the widest application, nat. or artificial, abstract or concrete, literal or figurative).
“Loved”(See :16)—agapaw—1) of persons—1a) To welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly; 2) of things—2a) To be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing. Strong—To love (in a social or moral sense). ‘the highest form of love’—RWP
“Darkness”—skotov—Strong—Shadiness, i.e. Obscurity(literally or figuratively).
“Deeds”—ergon—from a primary(but obsolete) ergw(to work); Toil(as an effort or occupation); by implication, An act.
“Evil”—ponhrov—Strong—Hurtful, i.e. Evil properly, in effect or influence, figuratively--Calamitous; also passively--Ill, i.e. Diseased; but especially(morally)--Culpable, i.e. Derelict, vicious, facinorous; neuter(singular)--Mischief, malice, or (plural)--Guilt; masculine(singular)--The devil, or (plural)--Sinners. Thayer—Ponhrov is a word at once stronger & more active(than kakov or faulov(see :20)), it means mischief-making, delighting in injury, doing evil to others, dangerous, destructive. :20—“For everyone practicing evil hates the light & does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”
Thru their heartfelt love of darkness, their living is a mutual complement to it, in that they “practice” such “evil” things. Even their ‘good’ is in reality, “evil.”
Lovers of darkness naturally “hate” “the light.”
They “hate the light” so much, that they refuse to approach the light(with favor).
*They will not approach the light because of an inward fear that the evil they practice might be openly called out(exposed) for the evil that it really is.
“Practicing”—prassw—Verb—1) To exercise, practice, to be busy with, carry on—1a) To undertake, to do; 2) To accomplish, perform—2a) To commit, perpetrate; 3) To manage public affairs, transact public business—3a) To exact tribute, revenue, debts; 4) To act. Strong—To "practice", i.e. Perform repeatedly or habitually; by implication--To execute, accomplish, etc.; specifically--To collect(dues), fare(personally).
“Evil”—faulov—Adj.—1) Easy, slight, ordinary, mean, worthless, of no account; 2) Ethically, bad, base, wicked. Faulov is the bad chiefly as the worthless, the good for nothing. Strong—apparently a primary word; “Foul" or "Flawy", i.e. figuratively--Wicked. Used 4X.
“Hates”—misew—Verb—1) To hate, pursue with hatred, detest; 2) To be hated, detested. Strong—from a primary misov(hatred); To detest(especially--To persecute); by extension--To love less.
“Exposed/Reproved”—elegcw—Verb—1) To convict, refute, confute—1a) Generally with a suggestion of shame of the person convicted, 1b) By conviction to bring to the light, to expose; 2) To find fault with, correct2a) by word—2a1) To reprehend severely, chide, admonish, reprove, 2a2) To call to account, show one his fault, demand an explanation, 2b) by deed—2b1) To chasten, to punish. Elegcw means to rebuke with sufficient cause, & also effectually, so as to bring the one rebuked to a confession or at least a conviction of sin. In other words, it means to convince. Strong—of uncertain affinity; To confute, admonish. RWP—To correct a fault, to reprove, to convict. Used 17X.
:21—“But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.””
It is important to note the tie between knowing of & “doing” “truth.” It is an attitude of the heart just as is “practicing evil” & avoiding the light(:20). Actions surrounding one’s approach to the light are pivotal!
Rom. 10:9 -10—“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus & believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, & with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Illustration: Immediately after Christmas, I took down our lighted Moravian Star(an advent marker with 24 points)—The star is made so it can be completely disassembled/Each of the hollow tines is loosely held to the others by four plastic ‘snaps’/The top tine has a cord Because the light inside it attracts bugs which can easily get inside/Thruout Dec. bugs start filling the downward pointing tines—I removed one tine & cleaned it out but I still have not done any of the others...even though I walk by it every day!
*The person practicing truth, contrary to the one “practicing evil,” willingly & joyfully approaches “the light” knowing that the perfect light of Jesus Christ manifests the works of truth for what they really are...works that have been “done in God.”
*All real works of truth will have been wrought in us—by, in, thru & for God Himself, thru a personal submission & surrender to His design, applying every aspect of who we are(heart, soul, mind, & strength) to His will. It’s what you/I/we(Christians) have chosen to do in our turning to Jesus.
Unlike the unbeliever, there is only reverential fear(& not condemning fear), in approaching God.
1Jn. 4:18—“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”
“He does not claim that they[(deeds)] are perfect, only that they have been wrought in the sphere of & in the power of God. Hence he wants the light turned on.”—RWP
*God’s “light” makes manifest/exposes two sets of works—evil & godly. The single “light” of Christ makes plain all works of God’s truth as well as all evil & evil motives.
“Does”—poiew—Verb—1) To make—1a) with the names of things made--To produce, construct, form, fashion, etc., 1b) To be the authors of, the cause, 1c) To make ready, to prepare, 1d) To produce, bear, shoot forth, 1e) To acquire, to provide a thing for one's self, 1f) To make a thing out of something, 1g) To (make i.e.) render one anything—1g1) To (make i.e.) constitute or appoint one anything, to appoint or ordain one that, 1g2) To (make i.e.) declare one anything, 1h) To put one forth, to lead him out, 1i) To make one do something—1i1) cause one to, 1j) To be the authors of a thing (to cause, bring about); 2) To do—2a) To act rightly, do well—2a1) To carry out, to execute, 2b) To do a thing unto one—2b1) To do to one, 2c) with designation of time--To pass, spend, 2d) To celebrate, keep—2d1) To make ready, & so at the same time to institute, the celebration of the passover, 2e) To perform: to a promise. Poiew denotes "to do", prassw - “to practice”; poiew to designate performance, prassw intended, earnest, habitual, performance; poiew to denote merely productive action, prassw definitely directed action; poiew to point to the action result, prassw to the scope & character of the result. These words are often used interchangeably. Strong—apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; To make or do(in a very wide application, more or less direct).
“Truth”—alhyeia—1) objectively—1a) What is true in any matter under consideration; 2) subjectively—2a) Truth as a personal excellence. Strong—Truth.
“Clearly Seen”—fanerow—1) To make manifest or visible or known what has been hidden or unknown, to manifest, whether by words, or deeds, or in any other way. Strong—To render apparent(literally or figuratively).
“Have been done”—ergazomai—Verbal form of ergon[See :19, 20—“Deeds”]—1) To work, labor, do work; 2) To trade, to make gains by trading, "do business"; 3) To do, work out; 4) To work for, earn by working, to acquire. Strong—To toil(as a task, occupation, etc.), by implication--Effect, be engaged in or with, etc.
Argumentation:
Job 23:13-17—“But He is unique, and who can make Him change? And whatever His soul desires, that He does. For He performs what is appointed for me, And many such things are with Him. Therefore I am terrified at His presence; When I consider this, I am afraid of Him. For God made my heart weak, And the Almighty terrifies me; Because I was not cut off from the presence of darkness, And He did not hide deep darkness from my face.”
1Tim. 6:13-16—“I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.”
**Isa 44:13-20—“The craftsman stretches out his rule, He marks one out with chalk; He fashions it with a plane, He marks it out with the compass, And makes it like the figure of a man, According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house. He cuts down cedars for himself, And takes the cypress & the oak; He secures it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a pine, & the rain nourishes it. Then it shall be for a man to burn, For he will take some of it & warm himself; Yes, he kindles it & bakes bread; Indeed he makes a god & worships it; He makes it a carved image, & falls down to it. He burns half of it in the fire; With this half he eats meat; He roasts a roast, & is satisfied. He even warms himself & says, “Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” And the rest of it he makes into a god, His carved image. He falls down before it & worships it, Prays to it & says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” They do not know nor understand; For He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, And their hearts, so that they cannot understand. And no one considers in his heart, Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire, Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals; I have roasted meat & eaten it; And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” He feeds on ashes; A deceived heart has turned him aside; And he cannot deliver his soul, Nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
*The ACCEPTANCE isn’t there...the BELIEF isn’t there...so naturally the APPROACH isn’t there either.
**Mat. 6:19-24—““Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth & rust destroy & where thieves break in & steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys & where thieves do not break in & steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one & love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one & despise the other. You cannot serve God & mammon.”
If you accept untruth/darkness/worldliness/flesh as light then when the true light is apparent, you will have difficulty(at best) or be totally blinded to accepting or believing it. Until a person comes to the end of himself, & turns to Christ, he is condemned.
**Jn. 10:7-9—“Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves & robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, & will go in & out & find pasture.”
If we can find pasture at the hands of the Great Shepherd, then surely we can approach the shepherd, not with fear, but with confidence!
**Heb. 4:12-13, 16—“For the word of God is living & powerful, & sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul & spirit, & of joints & marrow, & is a discerner of the thoughts & intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked & open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”....“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy & find grace to help in time of need.”
**Eph. 2:14-18—“For He[Jesus Christ] Himself is our peace, who has made both[Jew & Gentile] one, & has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, & that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came & preached peace to you who were afar off & to those who were near. For through Him we both[Jew & Gentile] have access by one Spirit to the Father.”
**Eph. 3:8-12—“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, & to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities & powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness & access with confidence through faith in Him.”
Jn. 9:35-41—Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.” Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him. And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.” Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.”
Illustration:
Atlanta’s use & abuse of Chattahoochie River’s water effects all below them/If they ‘muddy the water’, others pay a heavy price(as Western states & Mexico battle over the water of the Colorado River)/APPROACH
Sea Turtles laying eggs on land—There is some sort of God-ordained built-in mechanism that affects their egg-laying endeavors/Most egg-laying occurs at night, & at high tide/They do not lay their eggs on rocky coastlines/They must have loose sand, which they excavate with their flippers & cover back up/Since beaches are so attractive to people, turtle nesting areas on these beaches would be useless, as the turtles themselves & their eggs would be destroyed/Unless the turtles change their APPROACH, the population will be lessened or threatened/Unless people change their APPROACH the turtle population will be lessened or threatened/APPROACH
Nocturnal animals/To keep from disturbing them use a red(infrared) light/Diurnal creatures close-up-shop & bed-down at the approach of darkness/APPROACH
Hunting preparation vs. Work preparation/Very different schemes of preparation/Abandon previous APPROACH
Prior to my being saved, I saw no need to be involved in church for any reason/I wore a St. Christopher medallion around my neck for a while/I was told it would somehow provide spiritual protection for me...
After being saved at 28 yrs. of age....My experience entering a church building for worship/I was there for a purpose—to get baptized(openly declare my allegiance to Jesus) & become a recognized part of God’s Church/I felt like the only one in the room...Like everybody was looking at me/Fearful, Apprehensive—unsure of their belief....their biblical-trust, their ritual, their sincerity, etc./We are guarded by God’s word--the Bible, & God’s word--Prayer/APPROACH
Your mother probably kept you from wild animals when you were a child/Instilled a fear of them/After you leave home you discover they are to be enjoyed with a knowledgeable respect/You become someone who studies those animals in some way, shape, or form/APPROACH
Church membership as a kid, its what everyone did in our neighborhood—A social-cultural phenomenon...It was expected of you to be associated with a church/And thus was a blessing to the community & area, as God’s moral truth was proffered either intentionally(by Christians) or unintentionally(by being closely associated with Christians)/APPROACH
Application:
?Did you Abandon previous & limiting APPROACH at birth?
?What did you Abandon at birth?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
S.W.A.T. Team member—You see the same things differently, from a different perspective.
Action:
Those born from above, Abandon previous & limiting...
6. APPROACH(:19-21)
1. POSITION(:1-2)
2. WISDOM(:3-7)
3. DIRECTION(:8)
4. ACCEPTANCE(:9-13) Accept Jesus & His testimony
5. BELIEF(:14-18)
Pt. 6-only! Presented 01/01/2017am(New Year’s Day) to:
FBC Cbelle
206 Storrs Ave SE(Ave A)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
Pts. 4-6 Presented 01/09/2010 am To:
Needmore Baptist Church
1620 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Woodleaf, NC 27054
