Sold out or still for sale?
John chapter 3:1-21
As most of you know we just returned from camp WOW and our summer AFCC church camp
Once again thank you for your support and your prayers
Summer camp is a great opportunity to teach and show the love of Jesus to our children
And for the sponsors that went
Ya’ll know
It is a chance to grow spiritually
The theme of this year’s camp was ----Sold out---
My plan was to continue with our series on 1 Samuel
In our series Real People with Real problems
And more specifically with our series within a series titles “ Knowing God”
But Listen
No one walks away from church camp unchanged
And I wanted this morning to share those changes
8 Kids this week went from lost to found
8 kids sold out to Jesus
We will be baptizing them in the weeks to come
2 more dedicated their lives to ministry this week
Some overcame fears and struggles
And the Adults experienced spiritual renewal and even some spiritual firsts
Praying, giving testimonies
Giving themselves to The Lord and our kids
So is my honor to once again
Change lanes and go another way
So today we are going to look at the subject of being ---Sold out to Christ
The camp Verse
This year
Philippians 1:21
The New King James bible says it this way
“21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
And this is the way the kids learned it
Just ask them – they know it
But I teach from the New Living Translation
I do this for 2 reasons
It is often easier to read and understand
And also the learning the ropes bible we give away are NLT’s and it would be both confusing and irresponsible of me to give you a bible and your bible not say what I preach
So from the NLT
Philippians 1:21
21 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.”
Living means living for Christ- Being sold out – all in
And
Dying to my self
Dying to my sins
Dying to the world
Spiritually
Is even better
Or is gain
As the NKJ says it
And even physical death is gain when life is Christ
Because we have the assurance of heaven
To be in the presence of the living God who created us
And who loved us so much
That he refused to lose us to sin
Loved us so much
That he refused to let us go into the darkness
So he gave what he loved most – His one and Only Son
Jesus Christ
To buy us back
Redeem us
Save us
For me – Like Paul--to live is to live for Christ
And dying is even better
Someone told me at one of the clinics at camp something that stuck with me
We are either -----Sold out
Or we are ---------Still for sale
So toady I want to see what both look like
Sold out and still for sale
Let me introduce you or reintroduce you to a well known figure in the bible
I like to call him Nick
But his real name is Nicodemus
We read about Nick in the bible in John chapter 3
Chapter 7
And Chapter 19
And through the bible we see Nick change
We will see him go from for sale to sold out
Let me tell you a bit about him
He is a Pharisee
This means that he has the right credentials
To be a Jewish leader
He has the right family heritage
Only Jews with verifiable 100% Jewish lineage could be considered for such a prestigious and important position
But lineage and ancestry was not enough
In addition to the right family
He had to have the right education
This means that he had spent years in the study of God’s word
He knew scripture
He knew the law
He had been taught and instructed
Mentored by powerful men in the Jewish religious system
And Nick passed all the tests with flying colors
You see in addition to being a Pharisee
His wisdom-knowledge
His understanding of scripture
His ability to read and interpret the law
Caused him to be elevated in the Jewish system
Promoted, if you want to think of it in that way
Because he had all the right requirements he became a member of the highest
Jewish ruling authority
The Sanhedrin
The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel,
It was made up of 71 men
70 Pharisees and Sadducees
And the high priest.
The Sanhedrin were the only ones who could try a king
In common terms they were the big Ku-hu-na when it came to Jewish law
Being a member of the Sanhedrin was a big deal
And
Its members were respected
Loved in some cases
Feared in others
Someone holding such a position as this would be very aware of where they went and where they were seen and who they were seen with.
This is where we come to this morning
Please open your bibles to John chapter 3
John 3:1-21
3 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again,[a] you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.[b] 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.[c] 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You[d] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.
10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. 12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man[e] has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.[f]
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave[g] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.
Go back and look with me at verse 1 and 2
3 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus.
Notice the words after dark
Old Nick did not want to take a chance of being seen
He was still for sale
And about now the Sanhedrin had the high bid
Being seen going to Jesus could very well mean the loss of everything that he had worked so hard to accomplish
But we have to give him a bit of credit
He went anyway
I tend to see him in my mind looking around to make sure no one was following or watching
Maybe pulling his hat down low and his collar up
Staying in the shadows
But still he went
You see
Nick had heard about Jesus
And what he had heard intrigued him
He heard how John the famous preacher had stepped back and told his followers to follow Jesus
He had undoubtedly heard about people dropping what they were doing and following this man
Leaving their jobs and old lives behind
He I have no doubt had heard of the many miracles, he would hear of many more
Maybe one of the most disturbing things he heard was about Jesus clearing the temple
I have no doubt that Nick knew some of what was going on at the temple was wrong
Listen even though Nick was serving as a Jewish leader
I think he knew what was going on in the temple was wrong and he was not ok with it
This is one reason he was coming to see Jesus
I don’t think he was involved in the corruption on a personal level
But he sure went along with it
Kind of like what Gus told Jake just before they hung him
Jake said he was just riding with the bad guys to get through the territory without getting scalped
And
That he was planning to leave them as soon as he could
And Gus told him
“Any man that goes along with 5 killing is taking his leaving a little slow”
Nick had gone along with a lot of wrong doing by the Jewish religious system and I think it bothered him a more than a bit
But more than that
He heard how Jesus taught in the temple with authority
This means – he explained God’s word so people could understand it
This baffled the Jewish leaders
How did this simple – nobody- no education- no title
Teach with this knowledge
So Nick
Concluded that Jesus must be sent by God as a teacher- a prophet
I have no doubt he was not ready for what Jesus was fixing to tell
Nick called Jesus Rabbi a sign of respect and honor
He complimented Jesus on his miracles
He praised him for his teachings
He honored him
I bet it set Old Nick back a bit when Jesus did not return the compliments
When he did not return the respect
Don’t get me wrong here
I don’t believe Jesus was rude or disrespectful
He simply cut to the chase
You see he knew what Nick wanted to ask, even though Nick himself wasn’t even sure why he was there
So in verse 3 Jesus told him the answer to a question that he had not asked yet
Verse 3
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again,[a] you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
This set Nick Back a couple of more steps
He did not or could not understand what Jesus meant
Being born again is a common term in today’s world but
This was not something he could grasp
He thought he understood the kingdom
He knew it would be set back up on earth and that it would be ruled by God
But
He also thought that only the Jews- God’s chosen people would be included in it
Jesus is telling him that being born a Jew has no bearing what so ever on being a part of the kingdom
That heaven depended on acceptance of God’s one and only son
The Messiah
Who was standing there talking to him
So he asked
4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
Nick could not get the picture in his mind about rebirth
He did not understand that Jesus was talking about spiritual birth not physical birth
So Jesus lays it out for him
Verses 5-8
5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.[b] 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.[c] 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You[d] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
Jesus was not referring to literal water baptism here
Once again baptism is an act of obedience not a condition of salvation
Jesus was referring to the need for spiritual cleansing or renewal.
Re- birth not of flesh but of spirit
To be born of water is the natural birth
And to be born of Spirit is the rebirth that comes from accepting Jesus as savior
And receiving the gift of the indwelling of the Holy Sport by all believers
Rebirth
Not physical birth
But a spiritual rebirth
Listen
We never need to minimize the importance of baptism
It is important
A new believer should want to please Jesus
And baptism pleases Jesus
But it is not condition of salvation
It is an act of obedience- A sign of salvation
Not a requirement of salvation
Back to Nick
He can’t wrap his brain around this
I am sure his head was swimming
Everything he had been taught is being turned over
So in verse 9
He asks
“ 9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.
I don’t get it Jesus
How can this even be possible?
This is not what I’ve been taught
Remember
Jesus did not return the compliments and praise in our opening verses when Nick fluffed him a bit
But
He was not rude of disrespectful either
But in his next reply to Nick
I can hear a bit of sharpness in Jesus’ words in my mind
“ 10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. 12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
Man, you are supposed to be the smartest of the smart
The religious elite
Well educated
Well read
Nick!
How can you not see?
How can you not understand?
Have you not studied the prophesies
How can you expect to understand the spiritual things I tell you when you do even get the worldly ones?
Open your eyes Nick
Open your heart Nick
Jesus is hard on him just a bit here
But he goes on to explain
13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man[e] has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.
Jesus is telling Nicodemus right here
Hey!
I am the one that the prophesies were written about
I am the Messiah
I am the Promised One
I AM
And then Jesus explain to Nick
Just what this means
In doing so he gives us the most well know
Most loved
Most quoted verse in the entire bible
In these words
Jesus makes it simple
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave[g] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life
God loved
God gave
We believe
We live
It really is that simple
Believe in Jesus and live
Man has done such a great job of taking an easy to understand message and mucking it up with rules and rituals
God loved
God gave
We believe
We live!!!
But then he continues with a just important but less known part of this passage
Verse 17
17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
The Old Testament law
And especially with all of man’s add on was designed to condemn
Thou shall not
Or thou wilt----------
Jesus says I came to give mercy and love – not to condemn
Jesus fulfilled the law
Completed the law
He came to deliver us from ourselves and from our sin’ he came to deliver us from the penalty of the law
Verse 18 first half
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him.
What this means in simple terms is that when you believe in Jesus
When you accept him
You are found guiltless in God’s eyes
We know we are not guiltless
We all sin
But
We no longer need to fear the punishment that we deserve
If you are a believer in Jesus here this morning
This verse should give you great comfort
Verse 18 second half
“But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.”
Verses 19-21
19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.
Nicodemus came at night
He tried to hide
He was still for sale
But Hang on tight
He did see the light
Later when the Jewish leaders were planning their evil deeds
Putting the wheels in motion to crucify our Lord
It was Nick who stood against the force
It was Nick that said
Hey wait just a minute
Let’s not do this Guys
It was Nick that showed his hand, just a little
Verse 50 of John 7 gives us a just a glimpse of the change that was taking place in the heart of Nicodemus
But sometime a glimpse is enough for those who are looking
John 7:45-52
45 When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
46 “We have never heard anyone speak like this!” the guards responded.
47 “Have you been led astray, too?” the Pharisees mocked. 48 “Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him? 49 This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the law. God’s curse is on them!”
50 Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up. 51 “Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?” he asked.
52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself—no prophet ever comes[i] from Galilee!”
We see a softening of the heart of our friend Nick
We see a change taking place
No longer set on the legalist rules and regulations of Judaism
He is looking
Seeking
Desiring
New ownership
Scripture does not give us details about his conversion
But
I believe he heard Jesus ‘words on the night he came in the dark
I believe they sunk deep into his heart
And started a longing for the truth
And I believe a work began in Nick
That God would bring to completion
I believe because scripture while not giving us details about the changes
Does give us evidence of them
How so you may ask
John 19 tells the story of God’s love through the crucifixion of our Lord
John 19 gives the heart wrenching details of his death and suffering
John 19 gives us a picture of God’s love for us
And then John 19 gives us a picture of being sold out for Christ though Nicdemous
This time in the light
In full view
For all to see
Nick rode for Christ
No shame
No darkness
Verses 38-42
38 Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away. 39 With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds[k] of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes. 40 Following Jewish burial custom, they wrapped Jesus’ body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth. 41 The place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb, never used before. 42 And so, because it was the day of preparation for the Jewish Passover[l] and since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.
You see Jesus’ words reached Nick
The same words that have reached so many like Nick though the years
And he went from for sale to Sold out
From lost to found
From unforgiven to forgiven
And more than that he
He went from served to servant from leader to follower
He came in the sunlight for the Son
In full view
I think Nick got what Jesus meant when he said
All who believe
He understood that ALL “included him
He got that eternal life was available to him
In spite of his mistakes and his past-----
Nick saw the light
And he gave his all to Jesus
Play Song
Close from the heart
Pray
