Good evening everyone:
People say that when men that get bald in the front part of their heads it is because they are thinkers. From thinking too hard they use the front part of their heads and the hair is suddenly gone.
On the other hand the ones that get bald at the back of their heads, it means they are lovers. That one I don’t really know the reason, but people say it is because they are lovers.
Now, for the ones that lose hair everywhere, that get bald everywhere, those are the ones who think they are lovers.
Tonight we are talking about True Worshippers and one of my biggest prayers for us as a church is that we grow in our passion for Worshipping Him more and more.
The Bible says in John 4: 23-24 that: Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
God is Spirit and we must worship Him in Spirit and Truth. Let’s find out how to become True Worshippers by opening the Word of God in John 3.
Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 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.” “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?
The passage is talking about a highly intelligent person here, a thinker for sure. Nicodemus was a highly respected Jewish Pharisee, 3;1, one of the prominent members of the high council, who appears to have become a convert of Jesus. He is mentioned only in the gospel of John.
Intrigued by the authority of Jesus and the miracles he was doing, Nicodemus went to see him secretly, at night, in a serious attempt to discover who Jesus really was. In the conversation Jesus challenged him with the need to be born again, if he wished to see the kingdom of God. In the following verses the Bible doesn’t give us Nicodemus’ response but it does tell us a few other things he did for Jesus later on in the story.
At Jesus’ arrest he strongly argued with his colleagues Pharisees that Jesus should be given a fair trial (7;50). After Jesus was crucified, he bought 75 pounds of expensive perfumed ointment for his burial, took it to the tomb, and assisted Joseph of Arimathea in burying Him (19: 39-42). Nicodemus appeared to be an example of a Jewish Pharisee who came to believe in Jesus and was willing to express that commitment publicly after his death.
Nicodemus, according to the general sense of the nation of Israel, thought that when the Messiah came, all of them would share in His Kingdom. In part for them being sons of Abraham, in part for their good works of the law and in part that the Pharisees thought they were the chosen ones in a religious and intellectual way.
Jesus says: If you are not born from water and Spirit… not meaning baptism specifically but meaning grace.
In continuation he says that flesh gives birth to flesh or human things give birth to human things, but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit.
Jesus throws on the trash all the works, birth rights and religious and intellectual entitlements, saying you need to be born again by the Spirit through grace.
Jesus continues by explaining The Kingdom as the wind, of which its effects are seen and enjoyed but where it comes from, where it gets it strength and where it goes no one could explain. It means that God’s Kingdom cannot be entered by natural means.
It might appear incomprehensible, but it was to be judged of by its effects. As in this case of the wind, the effects were seen, the sound was heard, important changes were produced by it, trees and clouds were moved, yet the wind is not seen, nor do we know where it comes from, nor by what laws it is governed; so it is with the operations of the Spirit. In order to approach God we need to approach Him in Faith, as believing in what we don’t see with our natural eyes.
We see the changes produced, Men that were sinful become holy; the thoughtless become serious; the licentious become pure; the vicious, moral; the moral, religious; the prayerless, prayerful; the rebellious and obstinate, meek, and mild, and gentle. When we see such changes, we don’t doubt anymore that they are produced by some cause--by some mighty agent, than when we see the trees moved, or the waters of the ocean piled on heaps, or feel the cooling effects of a summer's breeze. In those cases we attribute it to the wind, though we don’t see it, and though we do not understand its operations.
From that point Jesus starts leading Nicodemus to the truth, by saying that he was only speaking of Earthly things. Would Nicodemus understand the Spiritual ones? What is the truth?
As we don’t have a step by step on how to be born again and become a new creation here in this passage, we need to keep investigating. Our next lead is the truth and I would like us to open our Bibles in John 18:37-38a.
It says: “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” “What is truth?” retorted Pilate.
Jesus does not here affirm that he was born to reign, or that this was the design of his coming; but it was to bear witness to and to exhibit the truth. By this he showed what was the nature of his kingdom. It was not to assert power; not to collect armies; not to subdue nations in battle. It was simply to present truth to men, and to exercise influence only by the truth. Hence the only power put forth in restraining the wicked, in convincing the sinner, in converting the heart, in guiding and leading his people, and in sanctifying them, is that which is produced by applying truth to the mind. Men are not forced or compelled to be Christians. They are made to see that they are sinners, that God is merciful, that they need a Redeemer, that the Lord Jesus is fitted to their case, and that they need to yield wholeheartedly to his reign. This is all the power ever used in the kingdom of Christ, and no men in his church have a right to use any other way.
The Truth is that: 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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:16-18
Adam and Sin – We were born contaminated – we lived in our own terms – God created us with the purpose to be in His own image – Like eagles soaring so we are for God’s purpose in our lives. God created us and only Him can tell us the purpose of our lives. The 4 biggest questions in history are: Where do I come from…
There has been a huge discussion throughout history about what is the truth and if there is an absolute truth. Philosophers and Theologians have fought a good fight on that one. There are thousands of books on the matter and it looks like our universities all around the World, influenced by Philosophy, have decided that there isn’t such a thing as an absolute truth of which one should give his or her life to defend and promote. It is all relative. What works to one might not work to another they say. We also see lots of religions coming on board with the same line of thinking.
Even Christian churches are starting to disbelieve in Jesus and in the Word of God as the only and sufficient truth, which saddens me a lot. But the whole point that I take here is that Jesus is The Way, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. No one else. No other thing. Not all things. Not a relative truth. HE IS THE TRUTH.
The truth is a person and came with a mission to rescue sinners and save them, bringing them into a complete transformation of life. When Peter, in the first time he preached about Jesus after Pentecost, people were cut to the heart with that message.
Acts 2:37 - When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
John doesn’t tell us the exact response Nicodemus had, but Peter is very clear in his answer. He says:
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Again, before we get to this place we need to remember we cannot see God’s Kingdom through our intelligence, Intellect or Strength, birth rights or religion but by His Spirit.
We come to the Kingdom by hearing the truth and yielding to it as said in John 3:16-18. Those who reject the truth are already condemned because they rejected God Himself.
When we hear the truth, there is a much needed response for us to become True Worshippers that worship God in Spirit and Truth. We need to:
REPAINT AND THIN NO MORE
Repent: Turn away from our sinful lives and Choose God’s absolute Truth, Jesus Christ into our lives. Repentance isn’t a horrifying, punitive thing to keep people from living their lives the way they want, but it is a full of purpose turning away from sin, that is what keeps us from living in true freedom and fulfilment.
There are three types of repentance:
Repentance to Salvation Acts 2;37– Repentance from a particular sin 1 John 1;9 – Repentance as a way of life. Romans 12;2
There is a story Tristin told me about a man that uses his socks on the wrong way around. True Worshippers must worship God from the inside out, otherwise we fall into the trap Jesus warned the Pharisees about: You worship me with your lips, but your heart is far away from me. Your worship is a farce.
God is calling us to turn away from sin to be able to experience the fullness of purpose we were created for. He calls us by our name, once the Jesus is the Truth and he is alive! We can’t call ourselves Christians and live in sin. We can’t call ourselves worshippers and live in sin.
Be baptized, that is an outward expression on an inward reality. Romans 6:3-4 reminds us that baptism symbolizes that the believer has died to their old way of life and has been resurrected as a new creation in Jesus Christ.
Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, that means God living in us, that is the seal of our salvation, our everyday guide and reminder of what Jesus did on Earth so that we can walk in the same path.
Acknowledge Jesus as your SAVIOUR AND MESSIAH, REPENT, BE BAPTIZED AND RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO BE ABLE TO WALK IN THE PATH OF LIFE, IN HOLINESS, IN SANCTIFICATION TO BECOME A TRUE WORSHIPPER.
The Bible describes worship as one that BOWS DONW, CELEBRATES, SHOUTS OUTLOUD, SINGS HIM PRAISES SPONTANEOUSLY, EXTENDS THE HANDS OUT IN THANKFULLNESS AND IN COMPLETE SURRENDER AND we will worship Him with our INSTRUMENTS! We WILL! Halleluiah!!!!!
But that outward expression has to come out from an inside reality, so that you will be called a True Worshipper.
