WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.240 Father, we want to be humble before your word. 00:00:04.919 --> 00:00:08.820 Father, humble us so that we can listen to your word. 00:00:09.279 --> 00:00:16.000 Humble us, Father, still our preconceptions and the limits we want to put on your word. 00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:25.600 Father, at the same time, humble us in such a way that we still desire to use the very best of our mind to hear and to understand your word. 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:34.200 And we ask, Father, that your word would be so read and heard by us that it will enter deeply into our lives, into the center of who we are, 00:00:34.579 --> 00:00:40.840 and that we would then, in our day-to-day lives, bear much fruit that brings you great glory. 00:00:41.539 --> 00:00:45.240 And this we ask in Jesus' name, your Son and our Savior. Amen. 00:00:45.980 --> 00:00:46.719 Please be seated. 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:57.539 I don't know how many people read the blog that I write every week. 00:00:57.700 --> 00:00:58.500 It's in the bulletin. 00:00:58.759 --> 00:01:04.900 This isn't a plug for it or anything, but I make mention to something that happened to me when I was in university. 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:08.259 There were several times in university that I almost lost my faith. 00:01:08.260 --> 00:01:17.880 And I record just very briefly one of the incidents that actually took place over several months where I almost lost my faith. 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:24.120 I was familiar with the idea that Jehovah Witnesses didn't believe that Jesus was God and they didn't believe in the Trinity. 00:01:24.680 --> 00:01:30.840 But I'd never come across somebody who seemed to know the Bible quite well and who wasn't a Jehovah Witness 00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:38.600 and who claimed that the Trinity isn't taught in the Bible and that the Bible doesn't teach and Jesus didn't claim that he was God. 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:40.880 And this caught me by surprise. 00:01:41.140 --> 00:01:48.080 And at first I just completely and utterly, I didn't know, I didn't know actually that the word Trinity never is found in the Bible. 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:50.260 And I denied it. 00:01:50.439 --> 00:01:55.400 And that's actually a really bad start to a type of a long-time argument or discussion, 00:01:56.020 --> 00:01:58.359 that I deny something and it turns out they're right. 00:01:58.359 --> 00:02:07.379 And one of the problems I had is that when I started to look into the Bible to see where it taught about the Trinity, 00:02:07.799 --> 00:02:10.240 in particular in Jesus being God as well, 00:02:10.860 --> 00:02:16.139 the texts that I could come across, they didn't seem to teach what I thought they would teach. 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:17.400 They seemed really weak. 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:25.659 And it was sort of a bit of a dark time for me because I thought maybe I was wrong about this. 00:02:25.659 --> 00:02:32.199 And it would, for me, I mean, I would have probably stopped being a Christian, actually, if I'd come to that conclusion. 00:02:33.319 --> 00:02:37.939 And so we're going to look at a text today that talks about the Trinity. 00:02:38.259 --> 00:02:42.319 And it would be a great help to me if you would open your Bibles to John chapter 3. 00:02:43.659 --> 00:02:48.259 And in some ways, I don't know if this was one of the texts that I would have looked at all those years ago, 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:50.139 a long time ago now when I was in university. 00:02:50.139 --> 00:02:57.319 I don't know if this would have been one of the texts, but it actually is a really good text to illustrate some of the problems that people have 00:02:57.319 --> 00:02:59.959 when they go to the Bible to find proof for the Trinity. 00:03:00.939 --> 00:03:04.939 And one of the things, you might not know this, so I'm going to tell you this right now. 00:03:05.259 --> 00:03:09.979 This is actually Trinity Sunday in the ancient church year. 00:03:10.679 --> 00:03:19.239 And this is the text appointed to be read if you're doing a communion service on Trinity Sunday. 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:30.920 And the interesting thing about it is that this text, as a reading, goes back to the early 400s. 00:03:31.820 --> 00:03:37.879 And the early Christians, they were increasingly having to deal with people who were illiterate. 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:44.500 And even those who could read, before the invention of the printing press, people wouldn't have Bibles. 00:03:44.500 --> 00:03:54.319 So the early Christians tried to think through what Bible passages would be read on a Sunday when people came to church 00:03:54.319 --> 00:04:01.340 that would be read every year so that people would have a basic knowledge and understanding of the important things in the Bible. 00:04:02.680 --> 00:04:07.879 You think about it, if you had to go into an area that was illiterate, and even if they could read, they didn't have books, 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:09.960 you might want to think of something like that as well. 00:04:09.960 --> 00:04:13.320 It's a very interesting missiological question. 00:04:13.640 --> 00:04:15.400 Sorry, I like to use big words occasionally. 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:22.480 So one of the things which puzzled me as I look at this text is it wouldn't normally be a text that I would teach on 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:24.699 if I wanted to try to teach about the Trinity. 00:04:24.900 --> 00:04:28.199 In fact, usually I would jump around to a lot of different texts. 00:04:28.360 --> 00:04:32.160 But we're just going to sit with this text for about half an hour and just look at it. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:39.100 Because this, for 1600 years, this would be one of the texts that people would go to if they want to talk about the Trinity. 00:04:39.620 --> 00:04:41.780 That's sort of interesting in and of itself, isn't it? 00:04:42.520 --> 00:04:44.540 And so let's look at it. 00:04:44.700 --> 00:04:45.760 John chapter 3. 00:04:46.320 --> 00:04:51.540 But actually, before we read John chapter 3, we're going to start actually in chapter 2, verse 23. 00:04:52.220 --> 00:04:53.320 And this is very important. 00:04:53.500 --> 00:04:54.940 This is a, I have to be careful. 00:04:55.100 --> 00:04:57.200 I can have lots of asides in a sermon. 00:04:57.640 --> 00:04:59.320 But this is an important aside. 00:04:59.319 --> 00:05:05.680 One of the standard problems that Christians have when they read the Bible is that they forget that the Bible is made up of books. 00:05:06.819 --> 00:05:08.399 So John is a book. 00:05:08.920 --> 00:05:10.319 John sat down and read it. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:13.719 He began it, verse 1, and he kept writing until he came to the end. 00:05:14.420 --> 00:05:18.839 And we tend to take pieces of the Bible as if they're just quotes. 00:05:19.039 --> 00:05:22.719 You know, as if you go to a book of quotations or a web page of quotations, 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:25.300 where it doesn't really matter what quote you read. 00:05:26.060 --> 00:05:28.740 But the Bible isn't written as a book of quotes. 00:05:28.740 --> 00:05:29.680 It's written as a book. 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:36.319 And if you've ever read John's Gospel, you'll know that Jesus is infuriating in John's Gospel. 00:05:37.160 --> 00:05:40.920 Because all the way through John's Gospel, somebody will say to Jesus, 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:43.040 here's my question, here's my problem. 00:05:43.540 --> 00:05:49.660 And then the very, very next thing you know is that Jesus is talking about something completely and utterly different. 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:54.040 And it often doesn't seem to make very much sense when you're reading John's Gospel. 00:05:54.040 --> 00:05:58.460 Well, if you've been wondering that in your personal devotions, I've now said it out loud. 00:05:58.580 --> 00:06:00.480 It often doesn't seem to make any sense. 00:06:01.100 --> 00:06:04.520 And the reason it doesn't make any sense is because we've forgotten that it's a book. 00:06:04.819 --> 00:06:11.939 And what John does here at the end of chapter 2, he gives us, in a sense, a reading key for the rest of the book. 00:06:11.939 --> 00:06:14.500 So let's just read it. 00:06:15.300 --> 00:06:17.779 And then you'll see what I mean. 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:21.759 Now, when Jesus was in Jerusalem, this is chapter 2, verse 23. 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:29.099 When Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:38.980 But Jesus, on his part, did not entrust himself to them because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man. 00:06:39.539 --> 00:06:42.180 For he himself knew what was in man. 00:06:42.579 --> 00:06:44.259 Now there was a man of the Pharisees. 00:06:44.459 --> 00:06:45.659 Now, just pause here. 00:06:45.660 --> 00:06:53.960 What this text is saying is that you're going to now read, John, in a sense, is saying you're going to read a whole, I'm going to give you now a whole pile of stories about Jesus. 00:06:54.540 --> 00:07:00.620 And what you have to understand in all of these stories is that Jesus understands what's actually going on in a human being. 00:07:01.900 --> 00:07:09.260 And so what you're going to see is that people will come to Jesus and they think they know what's going on in their lives. 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:14.420 Or at least they want to present a particular picture of themselves to Jesus and they say something. 00:07:14.420 --> 00:07:18.400 But Jesus doesn't answer their mere words. 00:07:19.020 --> 00:07:20.420 He deals with their heart. 00:07:22.500 --> 00:07:22.900 Okay? 00:07:22.980 --> 00:07:28.700 It's just as if maybe you have a, you know, in a couple of years, young Everett will come to the parents. 00:07:28.900 --> 00:07:30.620 And he might want to be saying this. 00:07:30.819 --> 00:07:38.600 But if the parents are wise, they might understand that actually Everett, you know, maybe he's worried that he, I don't know, painted all over the wall. 00:07:38.840 --> 00:07:41.480 Or, you know, crayoned all over the wall or something. 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:46.819 And Everett's not really asking or trying to do what he seems to be wanting to do. 00:07:46.900 --> 00:07:50.600 He's actually, in a sense, trying to deal with this other thing that's going on in his life. 00:07:51.280 --> 00:07:56.860 And a wise parent will try to read beneath the words or behind the words to see what's going on in the heart. 00:07:57.580 --> 00:07:59.460 Obviously very hard for us human beings to do. 00:07:59.939 --> 00:08:03.600 So all the way through the Gospel of John, that's what Jesus is going to do. 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:08.160 He's going to address the heart issue, not the words, per se. 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:11.000 He goes underneath the words to the heart. 00:08:11.620 --> 00:08:13.380 So let's see how this works out with Nicodemus. 00:08:13.500 --> 00:08:16.000 And by the way, Nicodemus is a Canadian. 00:08:17.320 --> 00:08:17.680 Eh? 00:08:19.160 --> 00:08:20.120 You'll see it in a moment. 00:08:20.280 --> 00:08:22.000 I mean, technically, he's not really a Canadian. 00:08:22.180 --> 00:08:25.360 But what you see here is you see here represented a perfect Canadian. 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:27.379 It goes here, chapter 3, verse 1. 00:08:27.379 --> 00:08:31.719 Now, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 00:08:32.500 --> 00:08:35.059 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:37.980 Rabbi, or that could also be translated as teacher, 00:08:38.519 --> 00:08:40.820 we know that you are a teacher come from God, 00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:44.059 for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:45.240 Now, just pause. 00:08:45.340 --> 00:08:46.179 Why is he a Canadian? 00:08:47.379 --> 00:08:49.399 Well, first, because, you know, 00:08:49.399 --> 00:08:52.459 if you were to say what Nicodemus just said, 00:08:52.620 --> 00:08:55.659 is that Jesus is a teacher come from God, 00:08:56.620 --> 00:08:59.919 you could say that in the editorial room of the Ottawa Citizen 00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:01.939 or the National Post or the Globe and Mail. 00:09:02.079 --> 00:09:03.699 You could say it on CBC Radio. 00:09:03.860 --> 00:09:05.299 You could say it at University of Ottawa 00:09:05.299 --> 00:09:08.179 on the philosophy faculty or the religion faculty, 00:09:08.379 --> 00:09:10.139 and nobody would raise their eyes at it. 00:09:11.459 --> 00:09:13.299 Yeah, Jesus is a teacher come from God. 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:15.000 There's been lots of teachers come from God. 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:18.879 And from an anthropological and sociological point of view, 00:09:18.980 --> 00:09:20.879 we're now on very, very familiar territory. 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:23.840 We can have a conversation about teachers who come from God. 00:09:24.779 --> 00:09:27.700 It's a very Canadian understanding of who Jesus is. 00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:31.679 And so it's very, very interesting that this Canadian is here. 00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:33.379 And why specifically is it Canadian? 00:09:33.860 --> 00:09:35.620 Because he comes to Jesus at night 00:09:35.620 --> 00:09:37.720 when nobody will know that he wants to talk to him. 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:41.919 Because it doesn't bear to be too hung up about Jesus 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:44.320 or too preoccupied about Jesus in public. 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:46.379 Like, people might get worried 00:09:46.379 --> 00:09:48.400 that you're one of those fundamentalist types. 00:09:49.140 --> 00:09:51.900 So Nicodemus, he wants to talk to Jesus. 00:09:52.100 --> 00:09:53.900 He comes at night when nobody can see him. 00:09:54.580 --> 00:09:59.260 And he begins, Nicodemus, like in modern cultural context, 00:09:59.420 --> 00:10:02.080 Nicodemus would be like a person who has their PhD in philosophy, 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:04.340 also have their PhD in theology. 00:10:04.760 --> 00:10:05.700 They're also a lawyer. 00:10:06.160 --> 00:10:08.880 And they're also in the cabinet of the province of Ontario. 00:10:09.280 --> 00:10:11.100 And they also happen to be very wealthy. 00:10:11.100 --> 00:10:13.560 Like, would be Nicodemus all rolled into one. 00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:16.059 And so Nicodemus is a member of the elite. 00:10:16.339 --> 00:10:17.719 He's very, very well educated. 00:10:18.139 --> 00:10:19.739 He comes to Jesus and says, 00:10:19.799 --> 00:10:21.739 I want to talk about prophets who come from God. 00:10:21.779 --> 00:10:24.859 I want to talk about teachers who teach about God with you, Jesus. 00:10:25.459 --> 00:10:26.559 Let's talk about that. 00:10:27.299 --> 00:10:29.419 So how does Jesus respond to this? 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:31.099 From a Canadian point of view, 00:10:31.159 --> 00:10:33.059 a very reasonable thing to want to talk about. 00:10:33.179 --> 00:10:34.239 How does Jesus respond? 00:10:34.779 --> 00:10:35.899 Look at verse 3. 00:10:35.899 --> 00:10:38.139 We're going to be, 00:10:38.279 --> 00:10:40.679 and this is what's so frustrating about Jesus for a lot of us. 00:10:40.819 --> 00:10:45.100 He talks like he's a hick from the Appalachian Mountains. 00:10:46.419 --> 00:10:48.799 One of those religious whack jobs. 00:10:50.100 --> 00:10:53.699 That's a bit frightening for us sophisticated Canadian Christians 00:10:53.699 --> 00:10:57.639 to understand that Jesus talks like he's going to one of those weird, 00:10:57.840 --> 00:10:59.360 fundamentalist whack jobs. 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:03.860 That in and of itself is a disturbing notion 00:11:03.860 --> 00:11:07.740 to a lot of contemporary Christians in Canada. 00:11:08.300 --> 00:11:11.360 Here's how Jesus answers this very reasonable discussion 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:14.039 about teachers who teach about God. 00:11:14.360 --> 00:11:16.120 He says, verse 3, 00:11:16.120 --> 00:11:19.840 Truly, truly, verily, verily, amen, amen, 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:23.100 I say to you, unless one is born again, 00:11:23.620 --> 00:11:25.700 he cannot see the kingdom of God. 00:11:26.759 --> 00:11:28.779 And some of your Bibles probably have a little note. 00:11:29.060 --> 00:11:31.500 The words that have been translated in English as born again 00:11:31.500 --> 00:11:34.379 can also equally be translated as born from above. 00:11:35.340 --> 00:11:38.580 Equally valid way of translating the word. 00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:43.299 And so Jesus completely and utterly comes at this 00:11:43.299 --> 00:11:46.439 from a very, very, very different way. 00:11:47.139 --> 00:11:49.099 Now I want to pause here just for a second. 00:11:49.319 --> 00:11:51.079 And if Andrew, you could put up the first point. 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:57.639 God is not a mere object for our minds to play with. 00:11:59.459 --> 00:12:03.919 God is not a mere object for our minds to play with. 00:12:04.599 --> 00:12:07.559 This is going to be one of the powerful themes throughout this. 00:12:07.559 --> 00:12:09.699 And in fact, remember I shared with you 00:12:09.699 --> 00:12:12.799 that when I started looking into texts, 00:12:13.299 --> 00:12:14.219 back in university, 00:12:14.519 --> 00:12:17.399 trying to find out whether the Bible taught the Trinity, 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:19.359 if I'm honest, 00:12:19.719 --> 00:12:21.199 what was going on in my mind 00:12:21.199 --> 00:12:24.199 is that I was treating the topic of God 00:12:24.199 --> 00:12:27.219 as if he was an object for my mind to play with. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:30.159 And I was looking for words 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:33.419 suitable to my way of arguing 00:12:33.419 --> 00:12:34.959 and my way of thinking. 00:12:35.539 --> 00:12:37.240 And when I didn't see them, 00:12:37.579 --> 00:12:38.679 I was disappointed. 00:12:38.679 --> 00:12:42.879 I wanted God to have written a part of the Bible 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:44.039 that said the Trinity, 00:12:44.959 --> 00:12:46.000 you know, and then have, you know, 00:12:46.059 --> 00:12:48.399 43 points or seven points 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:49.599 you need to know about the Trinity 00:12:49.599 --> 00:12:52.639 and have it all very nicely logically laid out 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:55.299 so I could win the argument against this person. 00:12:56.079 --> 00:12:56.639 In other words, 00:12:56.719 --> 00:12:58.319 I wanted to treat this topic 00:12:58.319 --> 00:13:00.039 as if God was an object 00:13:00.039 --> 00:13:02.399 that my mind could play with. 00:13:03.359 --> 00:13:03.939 Now just, 00:13:04.259 --> 00:13:05.620 if you think about this for a second, 00:13:05.620 --> 00:13:07.519 the Bible teaches that God is a person, 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:09.139 imagine for a moment 00:13:09.139 --> 00:13:10.620 that my wife was in here 00:13:10.620 --> 00:13:12.080 and she was sitting in that seat 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:13.919 and I was to spend the next 20 minutes 00:13:13.919 --> 00:13:15.100 talking about my wife 00:13:15.100 --> 00:13:18.279 as if she was an object for my mind to play with, 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:22.320 trying to discuss the pros and cons of her character, 00:13:22.460 --> 00:13:23.919 the nature of who she is, 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:25.279 her looks, etc. 00:13:25.820 --> 00:13:27.399 That would not go over very well. 00:13:28.379 --> 00:13:28.840 In fact, 00:13:28.860 --> 00:13:30.299 that would not go over well for me 00:13:30.299 --> 00:13:33.080 for the next several decades of my life, 00:13:33.080 --> 00:13:33.800 actually, 00:13:33.800 --> 00:13:35.440 if I was to treat my wife 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:37.580 as an object for my mind to play with. 00:13:38.660 --> 00:13:40.460 Yet that's what we want to do with God. 00:13:42.160 --> 00:13:44.879 And so Jesus is going to try to 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:46.940 knock that desire 00:13:46.940 --> 00:13:48.720 out from under us. 00:13:49.520 --> 00:13:51.980 So this guy wants to just talk about teachers 00:13:51.980 --> 00:13:53.040 who talk about God 00:13:53.040 --> 00:13:54.420 and Jesus says, 00:13:54.860 --> 00:13:55.920 you need to be born again, 00:13:56.020 --> 00:13:57.259 you need to be born from above. 00:13:58.200 --> 00:13:59.580 Now Nicodemus responds 00:13:59.580 --> 00:14:03.420 with a reductio ad absurdum argument. 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:04.639 I mean, he's well educated. 00:14:04.900 --> 00:14:06.560 He knows how to have these debates. 00:14:06.680 --> 00:14:07.700 In fact, he might even think, 00:14:07.820 --> 00:14:11.060 oh, Jesus is doing a very interesting opening move. 00:14:11.540 --> 00:14:13.200 Well, I'm going to defeat him. 00:14:13.740 --> 00:14:15.860 So Nicodemus says to Jesus, 00:14:16.780 --> 00:14:17.920 verse four, 00:14:18.160 --> 00:14:19.860 how can a man be born when he is old? 00:14:19.940 --> 00:14:21.100 Can he enter a second time 00:14:21.100 --> 00:14:22.680 into his mother's womb and be born? 00:14:23.920 --> 00:14:25.759 Nicodemus takes one of the two senses, 00:14:26.259 --> 00:14:27.259 born again or born above. 00:14:27.259 --> 00:14:29.980 And if this was being done on TV, 00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:33.259 there'd be a convenient little gong right here. 00:14:33.899 --> 00:14:36.519 And after Nicodemus has said this to Jesus, 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:37.860 he would have picked up the thing and gone, 00:14:38.059 --> 00:14:39.220 gong, got ya. 00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:41.899 Big smile, sit down, 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:43.399 waiting for Jesus to come back 00:14:43.399 --> 00:14:45.000 because he's made such a good response, 00:14:45.139 --> 00:14:46.200 reductio ad absurdum. 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:49.960 And Jesus keeps going after the heart. 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:52.120 Here's how Jesus talks. 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:54.799 And the words in my version, 00:14:54.939 --> 00:14:55.580 truly, truly, 00:14:55.580 --> 00:14:56.900 if you use the King James version, 00:14:57.000 --> 00:14:57.940 it's verily, verily. 00:14:58.040 --> 00:14:59.259 I have to say verily, verily. 00:15:00.160 --> 00:15:02.680 That sounds so much neater than truly, truly. 00:15:02.900 --> 00:15:05.240 It could also be translated as amen, amen. 00:15:05.900 --> 00:15:06.420 Verse five, 00:15:06.520 --> 00:15:07.200 Jesus answered, 00:15:07.820 --> 00:15:08.500 truly, truly, 00:15:08.660 --> 00:15:09.259 verily, verily, 00:15:09.379 --> 00:15:10.120 amen, amen. 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:10.879 I say to you, 00:15:10.920 --> 00:15:12.780 unless one is born of water and the spirit, 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:15.120 he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 00:15:15.620 --> 00:15:17.500 That which is born of the flesh is flesh 00:15:17.500 --> 00:15:19.540 and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:21.940 Do not marvel that I said to you, 00:15:21.940 --> 00:15:23.400 you must be born again 00:15:23.400 --> 00:15:25.080 or you must be born from above. 00:15:25.520 --> 00:15:27.020 The wind blows where it wishes 00:15:27.020 --> 00:15:28.020 and you hear its sound, 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:29.820 but you do not know where it comes from 00:15:29.820 --> 00:15:30.560 or where it goes. 00:15:31.040 --> 00:15:33.780 So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit. 00:15:35.220 --> 00:15:38.840 Now, this is a very odd way for Jesus to answer. 00:15:40.060 --> 00:15:43.260 And if you go and look at academic commentaries, 00:15:43.400 --> 00:15:45.640 there's been piles of trees killed 00:15:45.640 --> 00:15:48.360 and ink spilled on this particular topic 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:50.980 because in a very, very interesting way, 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:52.480 a lot of modern commentators 00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:54.659 want to make it look as if Jesus is talking 00:15:54.659 --> 00:15:56.980 about something called baptismal regeneration. 00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:01.159 That if you baptize somebody with water, 00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:02.800 they're automatically saved. 00:16:03.220 --> 00:16:05.279 And that's not what this text is talking about at all. 00:16:06.220 --> 00:16:07.159 Jesus is Jewish. 00:16:07.820 --> 00:16:08.860 John is Jewish. 00:16:09.659 --> 00:16:11.919 Jesus is talking to a Jewish scholar. 00:16:12.580 --> 00:16:14.279 And Jesus, in a sense, 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:15.800 points to two passages, 00:16:15.799 --> 00:16:19.199 more than two passages in what we call the Old Testament, 00:16:19.339 --> 00:16:20.899 what the Jewish people call the Tanakh. 00:16:21.479 --> 00:16:22.539 If you look in the bulletin, 00:16:22.579 --> 00:16:25.139 you'll see that I give the text in Isaiah and Ezekiel. 00:16:25.699 --> 00:16:27.139 And that's what Jesus does. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:28.959 And Nicodemus, 00:16:29.059 --> 00:16:30.519 who would have known the Old Testament, 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:31.439 at least the words, 00:16:31.539 --> 00:16:33.620 he might not have understood the significance of it, 00:16:33.659 --> 00:16:34.199 but he understood, 00:16:34.359 --> 00:16:35.659 he would have remembered the words. 00:16:36.179 --> 00:16:36.939 And he would have known 00:16:36.939 --> 00:16:38.939 that those are very significant texts 00:16:38.939 --> 00:16:42.039 because those are texts where God says, 00:16:42.039 --> 00:16:45.360 you human beings, 00:16:45.959 --> 00:16:48.579 you do not have living hearts. 00:16:49.579 --> 00:16:52.000 You inside of you and in your heart, 00:16:52.099 --> 00:16:52.860 in the Old Testament, 00:16:52.980 --> 00:16:55.039 that's the command center of the individual. 00:16:55.819 --> 00:16:57.299 It's not the seat of the emotions. 00:16:57.519 --> 00:16:59.459 It's the command center of the person. 00:16:59.639 --> 00:17:01.919 It's the command center that directs the will, 00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:03.279 that directs the mind, 00:17:03.879 --> 00:17:06.839 that directs the affections or the heart and the emotions. 00:17:06.839 --> 00:17:08.359 And he says, 00:17:08.639 --> 00:17:09.359 God says, 00:17:09.639 --> 00:17:12.579 your heart is a dead stone. 00:17:14.199 --> 00:17:15.439 That's what you have 00:17:15.439 --> 00:17:17.899 at the command center of who you are, 00:17:18.119 --> 00:17:19.819 a stone which is dead. 00:17:21.139 --> 00:17:22.779 And you need me 00:17:22.779 --> 00:17:25.299 to work with water in the spirit 00:17:25.299 --> 00:17:28.759 to give you a heart of flesh, 00:17:29.159 --> 00:17:30.279 a living heart. 00:17:31.059 --> 00:17:32.899 And I will do this. 00:17:32.980 --> 00:17:34.259 A time will come. 00:17:34.259 --> 00:17:36.460 And he uses this double imagery 00:17:36.460 --> 00:17:37.619 of water in the spirit, 00:17:37.740 --> 00:17:38.299 of cleansing, 00:17:38.539 --> 00:17:40.099 of life in a desert type of area, 00:17:40.220 --> 00:17:41.920 the idea of water and life 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:43.660 and the spirit. 00:17:43.859 --> 00:17:45.160 And that's the image that he uses 00:17:45.160 --> 00:17:46.599 in Isaiah and Ezekiel. 00:17:47.559 --> 00:17:48.079 In fact, Andrew, 00:17:48.140 --> 00:17:49.339 if you could put up this next point. 00:17:50.839 --> 00:17:51.440 By nature, 00:17:51.619 --> 00:17:53.579 I have a heart of dead stone. 00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:54.940 By grace, 00:17:55.740 --> 00:17:56.859 God will give me 00:17:56.859 --> 00:17:59.119 a new and living heart. 00:18:00.220 --> 00:18:02.019 And in Isaiah and Ezekiel, 00:18:02.099 --> 00:18:03.440 it's God that will do this. 00:18:04.259 --> 00:18:05.819 God will do something 00:18:05.819 --> 00:18:07.740 with water and spirit, 00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:08.900 water and breath. 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:10.579 God will do something 00:18:10.579 --> 00:18:12.240 because the human problem 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:15.000 is that we have hearts 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:15.579 that are dead, 00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:16.759 that are stones. 00:18:17.579 --> 00:18:19.740 And we weren't made by God 00:18:19.740 --> 00:18:20.920 to have such hearts. 00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:22.059 We were made to have 00:18:22.059 --> 00:18:24.240 a command center that was alive 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:26.359 and was open to God. 00:18:26.359 --> 00:18:30.419 And stones can't turn into life. 00:18:32.379 --> 00:18:33.559 It doesn't matter if you have 00:18:33.559 --> 00:18:35.159 a tiny stone or a big stone. 00:18:35.259 --> 00:18:36.159 It doesn't matter if you put 00:18:36.159 --> 00:18:37.379 all sorts of stones together. 00:18:37.539 --> 00:18:38.559 You can make stones 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:39.639 as stony as you want. 00:18:39.719 --> 00:18:40.579 They just say stones. 00:18:40.679 --> 00:18:41.500 They don't come alive. 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:44.240 God has to do a miracle 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:46.399 to turn a heart of stone 00:18:46.399 --> 00:18:47.679 into a living heart. 00:18:48.339 --> 00:18:49.799 And that's what the Bible says 00:18:49.799 --> 00:18:51.019 that God is going to do. 00:18:51.740 --> 00:18:53.000 And Jesus, in a sense, 00:18:53.059 --> 00:18:54.299 is referring to it. 00:18:54.339 --> 00:18:54.900 And he's going to, 00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:55.299 in a sense, 00:18:55.359 --> 00:18:56.759 as the conversation goes on, 00:18:56.879 --> 00:18:57.160 says, 00:18:57.680 --> 00:18:58.619 is in effect saying 00:18:58.619 --> 00:19:00.139 that his presence there 00:19:00.139 --> 00:19:01.519 is the means by which 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:02.519 God is going to do it. 00:19:02.519 --> 00:19:05.779 So Nicodemus, 00:19:06.859 --> 00:19:08.039 in verse 9, 00:19:08.139 --> 00:19:08.819 here's another thing 00:19:08.819 --> 00:19:09.740 about reading the Bible. 00:19:10.259 --> 00:19:11.079 When you read narratives 00:19:11.079 --> 00:19:12.019 or conversations, 00:19:12.660 --> 00:19:13.759 a lot of time, 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:15.259 it will come to a fork 00:19:15.259 --> 00:19:15.839 in the road. 00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:17.579 And you can ask yourself, 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:18.599 when you're reading a narrative 00:19:18.599 --> 00:19:20.160 or something like this, 00:19:20.200 --> 00:19:20.900 a conversation, 00:19:21.579 --> 00:19:22.779 you can ask yourself, 00:19:22.859 --> 00:19:24.119 this conversation can go 00:19:24.119 --> 00:19:25.220 in one of two ways. 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:28.379 Will Nicodemus continue 00:19:28.379 --> 00:19:29.400 to sort of act like 00:19:29.400 --> 00:19:31.539 he is the member of the elite, 00:19:31.539 --> 00:19:32.359 the faculty, 00:19:32.639 --> 00:19:33.079 you know, 00:19:33.139 --> 00:19:34.420 part of the philosophy faculty 00:19:34.420 --> 00:19:35.700 of the University of Toronto, 00:19:35.859 --> 00:19:36.899 part of the law faculty 00:19:36.899 --> 00:19:38.200 of the University of Toronto, 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:39.619 the cabinet of the province 00:19:39.619 --> 00:19:40.279 of Ontario, 00:19:40.399 --> 00:19:41.259 who sits on the board 00:19:41.259 --> 00:19:43.000 of very important companies, 00:19:43.099 --> 00:19:43.819 who's just talking 00:19:43.819 --> 00:19:45.460 to this mere itinerant 00:19:45.460 --> 00:19:47.159 Jewish religious teacher, 00:19:47.399 --> 00:19:48.799 who obviously is trying 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:49.759 to undercut him 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:51.259 in making Old Testament references. 00:19:51.700 --> 00:19:52.799 And will Nicodemus 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:53.619 act like a member 00:19:53.619 --> 00:19:54.220 of the elite? 00:19:55.819 --> 00:19:56.920 Or will he say, 00:19:57.339 --> 00:19:59.059 I need to know 00:19:59.059 --> 00:19:59.659 what you're saying. 00:20:01.539 --> 00:20:03.379 And in the narratives 00:20:03.379 --> 00:20:03.960 in the Bible, 00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:05.940 sometimes a fork 00:20:05.940 --> 00:20:07.599 towards life is taken 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:08.740 and sometimes a fork 00:20:08.740 --> 00:20:09.859 towards death is taken. 00:20:10.639 --> 00:20:12.539 What fork does Nicodemus take? 00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:13.480 He takes the fork 00:20:13.480 --> 00:20:14.279 towards life. 00:20:15.779 --> 00:20:17.200 And in verse 9, 00:20:17.299 --> 00:20:17.799 he says, 00:20:18.200 --> 00:20:19.799 how can these things be? 00:20:22.099 --> 00:20:23.359 How can these things be? 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:28.619 And Jesus in verse 10 answers, 00:20:29.619 --> 00:20:30.879 are you the teacher of Israel 00:20:30.879 --> 00:20:31.579 and yet you do not 00:20:31.579 --> 00:20:32.799 understand these things? 00:20:32.879 --> 00:20:33.179 In other words, 00:20:33.199 --> 00:20:34.179 he knows the words. 00:20:34.579 --> 00:20:36.039 He's picked up the reference 00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:37.319 to Isaiah and Ezekiel. 00:20:37.399 --> 00:20:38.379 He knows the words. 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:39.359 He doesn't understand 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:40.240 what it's going to look like, 00:20:40.299 --> 00:20:40.639 how on earth 00:20:40.639 --> 00:20:41.979 it could possibly work, 00:20:43.139 --> 00:20:43.639 how on earth 00:20:43.639 --> 00:20:44.919 it could possibly be something 00:20:44.919 --> 00:20:46.439 that Jesus knows something about. 00:20:46.500 --> 00:20:47.899 He doesn't know these things. 00:20:49.219 --> 00:20:49.859 In other words, 00:20:49.899 --> 00:20:50.779 one of the things is 00:20:50.779 --> 00:20:52.660 that people, 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:54.379 he's seen some of the miracles 00:20:54.379 --> 00:20:55.599 that Jesus has seen, 00:20:56.059 --> 00:20:57.579 but he hasn't understood 00:20:57.579 --> 00:20:58.180 the miracles. 00:20:58.319 --> 00:20:59.079 He doesn't understand 00:20:59.079 --> 00:20:59.879 that the miracles 00:20:59.879 --> 00:21:02.000 aren't just a mere display of power, 00:21:02.759 --> 00:21:03.639 that they're actually, 00:21:03.779 --> 00:21:04.500 in every case, 00:21:04.639 --> 00:21:05.579 like a sign 00:21:05.579 --> 00:21:07.079 that's pointing to something. 00:21:07.639 --> 00:21:09.019 And he's merely just seen 00:21:09.019 --> 00:21:10.039 the fact that miracles 00:21:10.039 --> 00:21:10.519 have happened, 00:21:10.619 --> 00:21:11.700 but he hasn't asked himself 00:21:11.700 --> 00:21:12.579 a question as to 00:21:12.579 --> 00:21:14.000 where the signs point to 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:15.940 and what God is trying 00:21:15.940 --> 00:21:18.059 to communicate to him 00:21:18.059 --> 00:21:19.039 through these signs. 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:21.779 And so Jesus continues, 00:21:21.960 --> 00:21:23.200 Are you the teacher of Israel 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:24.680 and yet you do not understand 00:21:24.680 --> 00:21:25.159 these things? 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:25.859 That's verse 10. 00:21:25.940 --> 00:21:26.420 Verse 11, 00:21:26.839 --> 00:21:27.460 Truly, truly, 00:21:27.619 --> 00:21:28.240 verily, verily, 00:21:28.279 --> 00:21:29.039 I say to you, 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:30.920 we speak of what we know 00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:31.639 and bear witness 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:32.579 to what we have seen, 00:21:32.980 --> 00:21:34.139 but you do not receive 00:21:34.139 --> 00:21:34.960 our testimony. 00:21:35.899 --> 00:21:36.759 If I have told you 00:21:36.759 --> 00:21:37.480 earthly things 00:21:37.480 --> 00:21:38.460 and you do not believe, 00:21:39.139 --> 00:21:41.379 how can you believe 00:21:41.379 --> 00:21:42.180 if I tell you 00:21:42.180 --> 00:21:43.019 heavenly things? 00:21:43.819 --> 00:21:45.099 No one has ascended 00:21:45.099 --> 00:21:45.920 into heaven 00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:47.399 except he who descended 00:21:47.399 --> 00:21:48.119 from heaven, 00:21:48.220 --> 00:21:48.920 the Son of Man. 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:51.159 And as Moses lifted up 00:21:51.159 --> 00:21:52.440 the serpent in the wilderness, 00:21:52.740 --> 00:21:54.139 so must the Son of Man 00:21:54.139 --> 00:21:54.859 be lifted up 00:21:54.859 --> 00:21:57.159 that whoever believes in him 00:21:57.159 --> 00:21:59.740 may have eternal life. 00:22:01.460 --> 00:22:01.980 So, 00:22:02.299 --> 00:22:05.599 here's what Jesus is doing 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:06.680 in this conversation. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:07.139 Andrew, 00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:07.680 if you could put up 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:08.319 the next point. 00:22:12.619 --> 00:22:13.579 Nicodemus has come 00:22:13.579 --> 00:22:14.519 wanting to discuss 00:22:14.519 --> 00:22:15.799 the sociological 00:22:15.799 --> 00:22:17.659 and anthropological phenomenon 00:22:17.660 --> 00:22:18.880 phenomenon of teachers 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:20.000 who teach about God. 00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:21.240 He, in a sense, 00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:22.160 is maybe trying to pay 00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:23.160 Jesus a compliment 00:22:23.160 --> 00:22:23.800 that even though 00:22:23.800 --> 00:22:24.759 Jesus doesn't have 00:22:24.759 --> 00:22:26.440 a PhD from Cambridge 00:22:26.440 --> 00:22:27.860 and a PhD from Oxford 00:22:27.860 --> 00:22:29.540 and a PhD from the Sorbonne 00:22:29.540 --> 00:22:31.080 and that he's not really rich 00:22:31.080 --> 00:22:31.820 and he didn't attend 00:22:31.820 --> 00:22:32.420 the right schools 00:22:32.420 --> 00:22:33.120 when he was a kid, 00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:34.720 he's still a pretty smart guy. 00:22:35.900 --> 00:22:37.840 And Jesus is trying 00:22:37.840 --> 00:22:38.860 to bring Nicodemus 00:22:38.860 --> 00:22:39.600 to the point 00:22:39.600 --> 00:22:40.900 where he realizes, 00:22:41.220 --> 00:22:41.840 and I'm putting it, 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:42.740 because if you're writing this 00:22:42.740 --> 00:22:43.500 as your own notes 00:22:43.500 --> 00:22:44.080 for yourself, 00:22:44.180 --> 00:22:45.240 that's how I put it this way, 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:47.299 I am not in a position 00:22:47.299 --> 00:22:49.799 to merely consider 00:22:49.799 --> 00:22:50.980 different ways 00:22:50.980 --> 00:22:52.700 to ascend to God. 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:56.120 I am not in a position 00:22:56.120 --> 00:22:58.579 to merely consider 00:22:58.579 --> 00:23:00.019 different ways 00:23:00.019 --> 00:23:01.380 to ascend to God. 00:23:02.839 --> 00:23:04.019 And it's been 00:23:04.019 --> 00:23:05.819 the constant human desire 00:23:05.819 --> 00:23:06.700 to figure out a way 00:23:06.700 --> 00:23:07.740 to ascend to God. 00:23:08.539 --> 00:23:09.579 Some of us want to assist, 00:23:09.720 --> 00:23:09.900 you know, 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:10.980 human beings will talk 00:23:10.980 --> 00:23:12.299 about ascending to God 00:23:12.299 --> 00:23:12.980 through developing 00:23:12.980 --> 00:23:15.460 fine aesthetic sensibilities. 00:23:16.200 --> 00:23:16.980 Some of it will be 00:23:16.980 --> 00:23:17.920 by, in a sense, 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:19.120 as if your wealth 00:23:19.120 --> 00:23:19.920 will make you 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:21.140 somehow more God-like. 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:22.259 Some of it will be 00:23:22.259 --> 00:23:23.500 through unbelievable 00:23:23.500 --> 00:23:24.740 physical mastery. 00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:25.500 Some of us, 00:23:25.539 --> 00:23:26.720 it will be through mysticism. 00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:27.319 Some of us, 00:23:27.360 --> 00:23:28.620 it will be through rationalism. 00:23:29.019 --> 00:23:29.460 Some of us, 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:30.539 it will be through science 00:23:30.539 --> 00:23:31.299 and technology. 00:23:31.539 --> 00:23:31.940 Some of us, 00:23:31.980 --> 00:23:32.900 it will be through science, 00:23:32.980 --> 00:23:34.319 finding out some principle 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:35.079 or some equation 00:23:35.079 --> 00:23:36.279 that explains everything. 00:23:36.740 --> 00:23:37.180 Some of us, 00:23:37.220 --> 00:23:38.480 it will be through sacrifices 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:39.860 or religious activities 00:23:39.860 --> 00:23:41.460 or mystical experiences 00:23:41.460 --> 00:23:42.339 or all of these types 00:23:42.339 --> 00:23:42.659 of things. 00:23:42.759 --> 00:23:43.740 And Jesus says, 00:23:44.119 --> 00:23:45.699 no one can ascend to God. 00:23:47.399 --> 00:23:48.259 You're talking about 00:23:48.259 --> 00:23:49.019 ascending to God 00:23:49.019 --> 00:23:49.740 and you're stuck 00:23:49.740 --> 00:23:50.839 with a stone 00:23:50.839 --> 00:23:52.459 where there should be, 00:23:52.699 --> 00:23:53.819 as your command center, 00:23:53.899 --> 00:23:54.459 where there should be 00:23:54.459 --> 00:23:55.240 something alive. 00:23:57.939 --> 00:23:59.039 And this goes beyond 00:23:59.039 --> 00:23:59.539 the text. 00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:01.079 If you read the rest of, 00:24:01.139 --> 00:24:02.199 I don't have time to do it 00:24:02.199 --> 00:24:02.579 if you read 00:24:02.579 --> 00:24:03.759 Pastor John 3.16, 00:24:03.859 --> 00:24:04.179 but Andrew, 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:04.799 if you could put up 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:06.720 the next point. 00:24:07.480 --> 00:24:08.500 Jesus is also going to 00:24:08.500 --> 00:24:09.039 make the point 00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:09.919 with Nicodemus 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:11.940 that human beings 00:24:11.940 --> 00:24:13.759 are tragically addicted 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:14.680 to hiding 00:24:14.680 --> 00:24:15.980 from the living God. 00:24:19.700 --> 00:24:20.820 And I put it down, 00:24:21.300 --> 00:24:21.860 because I want, 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:22.800 if I'm reading the notes, 00:24:22.980 --> 00:24:23.740 I don't want to say, 00:24:24.140 --> 00:24:26.660 my wife is tragically addicted 00:24:26.660 --> 00:24:27.380 to hiding 00:24:27.380 --> 00:24:28.380 from the living God 00:24:28.380 --> 00:24:29.440 or my kids are, 00:24:29.900 --> 00:24:30.940 or those Muslims 00:24:30.940 --> 00:24:32.039 or the gays 00:24:32.039 --> 00:24:33.420 or the transgendered 00:24:33.420 --> 00:24:34.000 or the rich 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:34.519 or the people 00:24:34.519 --> 00:24:35.360 who vote liberal 00:24:35.360 --> 00:24:35.640 or, 00:24:36.460 --> 00:24:37.360 because that's what we can do. 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:38.339 That's why I always put down 00:24:38.339 --> 00:24:38.679 I, 00:24:39.719 --> 00:24:40.719 often in my points, 00:24:40.779 --> 00:24:40.899 right? 00:24:40.959 --> 00:24:41.479 Because I want you 00:24:41.479 --> 00:24:42.179 to write it down 00:24:42.179 --> 00:24:43.719 if you want to write it down 00:24:43.719 --> 00:24:44.539 and it's, 00:24:44.779 --> 00:24:45.479 you're speaking 00:24:45.479 --> 00:24:46.240 about yourself. 00:24:47.219 --> 00:24:48.740 I am tragically addicted 00:24:48.740 --> 00:24:49.259 to hiding 00:24:49.259 --> 00:24:50.199 from the living God. 00:24:50.379 --> 00:24:50.539 I mean, 00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:51.240 just think about it 00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:51.779 for a second. 00:24:52.579 --> 00:24:53.359 One of the reasons 00:24:53.359 --> 00:24:54.359 it can take a lifetime 00:24:54.359 --> 00:24:55.000 to get to know 00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:55.779 another person 00:24:55.779 --> 00:24:57.259 is because we as persons 00:24:57.259 --> 00:24:58.399 hide from each other. 00:25:00.299 --> 00:25:00.579 I mean, 00:25:00.599 --> 00:25:01.740 a husband and a wife, 00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:03.299 even husbands and wives 00:25:03.299 --> 00:25:03.839 who've been married 00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:04.939 for many years, 00:25:05.099 --> 00:25:05.619 there's things 00:25:05.619 --> 00:25:07.039 they hide about themselves 00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:08.139 from the other person. 00:25:10.019 --> 00:25:11.119 And if we do that 00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:11.719 to a person 00:25:11.719 --> 00:25:12.519 that we're married to 00:25:12.519 --> 00:25:13.139 that we see, 00:25:13.500 --> 00:25:14.759 imagine how much 00:25:14.759 --> 00:25:15.519 that reveals 00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:16.939 about our own 00:25:16.939 --> 00:25:18.159 tendency 00:25:18.159 --> 00:25:19.079 to try to hide 00:25:19.079 --> 00:25:19.779 from God. 00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:25.019 And so here I am, 00:25:25.099 --> 00:25:26.459 this is what Jesus 00:25:26.459 --> 00:25:27.099 is going to talk about 00:25:27.099 --> 00:25:28.399 verses 17 on, 00:25:28.719 --> 00:25:29.599 the continuation 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:30.619 of the conversation 00:25:30.619 --> 00:25:31.759 I'm just trying to give you. 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:32.179 So here, 00:25:32.519 --> 00:25:33.079 here, 00:25:33.679 --> 00:25:34.759 Nicodemus 00:25:34.759 --> 00:25:35.440 is thinking 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:36.559 he can discuss 00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:37.980 all these complicated things 00:25:37.980 --> 00:25:38.660 but he hasn't looked 00:25:38.660 --> 00:25:39.259 at his heart. 00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:40.660 He hasn't realized 00:25:40.660 --> 00:25:41.480 his heart is dead. 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:42.720 He doesn't realize 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:43.700 that he can't ascend 00:25:43.700 --> 00:25:44.200 to God, 00:25:44.299 --> 00:25:45.160 that that's not at all 00:25:45.160 --> 00:25:46.299 what his position is. 00:25:46.740 --> 00:25:47.420 And he doesn't even 00:25:47.420 --> 00:25:48.079 understand that 00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:49.319 his fundamental problem 00:25:49.319 --> 00:25:51.000 isn't ascending to God 00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:51.680 but the fact that 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:52.140 he's addicted 00:25:52.140 --> 00:25:53.259 to hiding from God. 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:54.400 In fact, 00:25:55.119 --> 00:25:55.660 one of the ways 00:25:55.660 --> 00:25:56.220 to understand 00:25:56.220 --> 00:25:57.079 the book of John 00:25:57.079 --> 00:25:58.259 is that 00:25:58.259 --> 00:25:58.980 one of the things 00:25:58.980 --> 00:25:59.660 which has troubled 00:25:59.660 --> 00:26:00.259 many people 00:26:00.259 --> 00:26:00.819 is the way that 00:26:00.819 --> 00:26:01.740 John keeps referring 00:26:01.740 --> 00:26:02.559 to the Jews. 00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:04.740 And what you have 00:26:04.740 --> 00:26:05.220 to understand 00:26:05.220 --> 00:26:06.220 about the book of John 00:26:06.220 --> 00:26:06.940 when you read it 00:26:06.940 --> 00:26:07.859 is that John, 00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:09.799 basically, 00:26:10.220 --> 00:26:11.640 there's lots of symbolism 00:26:11.640 --> 00:26:12.400 in it. 00:26:13.400 --> 00:26:14.839 And John is Jewish, 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:15.900 he's not anti-Jewish, 00:26:16.019 --> 00:26:16.799 Jesus is Jewish, 00:26:16.940 --> 00:26:17.539 he's not anti-Jewish, 00:26:17.539 --> 00:26:19.400 and Jesus isn't anti-Jewish. 00:26:19.779 --> 00:26:21.059 And John's gospel 00:26:21.059 --> 00:26:22.500 is constantly filled 00:26:22.500 --> 00:26:23.460 with Old Testament 00:26:23.460 --> 00:26:24.099 references 00:26:24.099 --> 00:26:26.339 that he uses 00:26:26.339 --> 00:26:27.339 to show that Jesus 00:26:27.339 --> 00:26:28.440 is what the whole Bible 00:26:28.440 --> 00:26:29.220 is talking about. 00:26:29.220 --> 00:26:30.539 when he uses 00:26:30.539 --> 00:26:31.579 the word the Jews, 00:26:32.220 --> 00:26:33.940 it's a symbol 00:26:33.940 --> 00:26:36.120 for human beings 00:26:36.120 --> 00:26:37.779 using religion 00:26:37.779 --> 00:26:39.720 to hide from God. 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:43.220 Human beings 00:26:43.220 --> 00:26:44.360 using spirituality 00:26:44.360 --> 00:26:46.360 as a way 00:26:46.360 --> 00:26:47.579 to hide from God, 00:26:48.059 --> 00:26:49.279 the true and living God. 00:26:51.120 --> 00:26:51.579 And that, 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:53.140 whenever you see Jews, 00:26:53.140 --> 00:26:55.400 see human beings 00:26:55.400 --> 00:26:56.200 organized 00:26:56.200 --> 00:26:57.319 in their religion 00:26:57.319 --> 00:26:58.180 and spirituality 00:26:58.180 --> 00:26:59.120 to hide from God. 00:26:59.220 --> 00:27:00.200 that's what he means. 00:27:01.400 --> 00:27:03.000 That's how we make it 00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:04.019 so that we can understand 00:27:04.019 --> 00:27:05.519 how it's easy 00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:06.240 for us to develop 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:07.160 church services 00:27:07.160 --> 00:27:08.900 that are all about 00:27:08.900 --> 00:27:10.319 an emotional experience, 00:27:10.700 --> 00:27:11.279 that are all about 00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:12.799 an aesthetic experience, 00:27:13.400 --> 00:27:13.860 are all about 00:27:13.860 --> 00:27:15.539 an intellectual experience, 00:27:16.220 --> 00:27:16.880 that are all about 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:17.680 maybe having 00:27:17.680 --> 00:27:18.640 some insight 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:19.220 about how to get 00:27:19.220 --> 00:27:19.740 a promotion 00:27:19.740 --> 00:27:20.259 or how to have 00:27:20.259 --> 00:27:21.140 a better marriage. 00:27:21.940 --> 00:27:22.900 But they're all 00:27:22.900 --> 00:27:23.700 just examples 00:27:23.700 --> 00:27:25.420 of moralism 00:27:25.420 --> 00:27:26.500 and therapy 00:27:26.500 --> 00:27:28.079 with a distant God. 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:34.639 So, 00:27:34.859 --> 00:27:36.019 it's talking about 00:27:36.019 --> 00:27:36.659 Nicodemus 00:27:36.659 --> 00:27:37.419 is one of us. 00:27:40.599 --> 00:27:41.119 And, 00:27:41.299 --> 00:27:43.720 and so, 00:27:43.980 --> 00:27:44.639 so Jesus 00:27:44.639 --> 00:27:45.559 is going to 00:27:45.559 --> 00:27:46.859 say here then 00:27:46.859 --> 00:27:47.859 that no one 00:27:47.859 --> 00:27:48.319 has ascended 00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:48.720 into heaven, 00:27:48.839 --> 00:27:49.500 verse 13, 00:27:49.619 --> 00:27:50.179 except he who 00:27:50.179 --> 00:27:51.119 descended from heaven, 00:27:51.199 --> 00:27:51.879 the Son of Man. 00:27:51.880 --> 00:27:53.580 And then in verse 14, 00:27:55.160 --> 00:27:57.020 excuse me, 00:27:57.400 --> 00:27:58.660 then in verse 14, 00:27:58.860 --> 00:27:59.280 he says, 00:27:59.400 --> 00:28:00.060 and as Moses 00:28:00.060 --> 00:28:01.160 lifted up the serpent 00:28:01.160 --> 00:28:01.840 in the wilderness, 00:28:02.060 --> 00:28:03.320 so must the Son of Man 00:28:03.320 --> 00:28:04.120 be lifted up, 00:28:04.600 --> 00:28:05.580 that whoever believes 00:28:05.580 --> 00:28:06.060 in him 00:28:06.060 --> 00:28:07.420 may have eternal life. 00:28:08.100 --> 00:28:08.540 And what he's, 00:28:08.620 --> 00:28:09.120 and you can look 00:28:09.120 --> 00:28:09.940 in your bulletins, 00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:10.800 it's in the 00:28:10.800 --> 00:28:11.620 Growing in Grace. 00:28:14.260 --> 00:28:15.380 I give you the different, 00:28:15.540 --> 00:28:16.420 I know it's going deeper, 00:28:16.500 --> 00:28:17.180 I give you the different 00:28:17.180 --> 00:28:17.900 references here. 00:28:17.980 --> 00:28:18.720 It's a story 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:19.740 from the book of Numbers, 00:28:19.820 --> 00:28:20.880 Numbers chapter 21. 00:28:20.880 --> 00:28:22.800 And the Jewish people 00:28:22.800 --> 00:28:23.500 are in the wilderness, 00:28:24.140 --> 00:28:25.520 they're under God's judgment 00:28:25.520 --> 00:28:26.340 because they didn't want 00:28:26.340 --> 00:28:27.600 to enter the promised land, 00:28:27.700 --> 00:28:28.640 they turned back, 00:28:29.120 --> 00:28:29.800 and now they're under 00:28:29.800 --> 00:28:31.440 another particular aspect 00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:32.460 of God's judgment, 00:28:32.940 --> 00:28:34.560 and as part of God's judgment 00:28:34.560 --> 00:28:35.380 for their complete 00:28:35.380 --> 00:28:36.260 and utter disbelief, 00:28:36.340 --> 00:28:37.660 he sends serpents 00:28:37.660 --> 00:28:39.560 as a means of his judgment, 00:28:39.700 --> 00:28:40.440 and these serpents, 00:28:40.580 --> 00:28:41.120 when they bite, 00:28:41.320 --> 00:28:42.580 it's like an infestation 00:28:42.580 --> 00:28:43.160 of serpents, 00:28:43.240 --> 00:28:43.780 that when they bite, 00:28:43.860 --> 00:28:44.720 they're going to bring death. 00:28:45.360 --> 00:28:46.540 And they call out to God 00:28:46.540 --> 00:28:47.460 for deliverance. 00:28:48.040 --> 00:28:49.440 And so God says to Moses, 00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:50.860 I will deliver my people, 00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:52.100 I want you to take a pole, 00:28:52.600 --> 00:28:53.740 and I want you to put the pole 00:28:53.740 --> 00:28:54.880 in the center of the camp, 00:28:55.380 --> 00:28:57.040 and I want you to make 00:28:57.040 --> 00:28:58.800 an image of the serpent, 00:28:59.080 --> 00:29:00.360 which is my judgment. 00:29:00.560 --> 00:29:01.880 I want to have my judgment, 00:29:02.040 --> 00:29:02.340 in a sense, 00:29:02.460 --> 00:29:03.740 symbolized as a serpent, 00:29:04.120 --> 00:29:05.540 and I want you to put it 00:29:05.540 --> 00:29:06.600 on the pole, 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:08.600 like this. 00:29:09.740 --> 00:29:10.820 And I want you to put 00:29:10.820 --> 00:29:11.520 the serpent, 00:29:12.360 --> 00:29:13.600 my means of judgment, 00:29:14.600 --> 00:29:17.520 and your need to be judged, 00:29:17.520 --> 00:29:18.520 and your need for deliverance, 00:29:19.420 --> 00:29:20.319 and I want you to put it 00:29:20.319 --> 00:29:20.879 on a pole, 00:29:21.759 --> 00:29:23.740 and in the ancient Hebrew, 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:25.799 the serpent would have been red, 00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:28.299 the color of atonement, 00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:29.240 the color of blood. 00:29:30.460 --> 00:29:31.420 And I want you to put it 00:29:31.420 --> 00:29:31.819 on the pole 00:29:31.819 --> 00:29:32.660 in the center of the camp. 00:29:34.639 --> 00:29:35.960 And anybody who looks 00:29:35.960 --> 00:29:36.740 at that serpent 00:29:36.740 --> 00:29:37.740 that's been lifted up 00:29:37.740 --> 00:29:38.599 and put in the center 00:29:38.599 --> 00:29:39.720 of the camp on a pole, 00:29:39.859 --> 00:29:41.079 and anybody who looks to it, 00:29:41.079 --> 00:29:43.299 they won't die 00:29:43.299 --> 00:29:44.339 from the serpent's bite. 00:29:44.899 --> 00:29:45.559 They'll be delivered. 00:29:47.199 --> 00:29:48.559 And Jesus is saying 00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:49.539 to Nicodemus, 00:29:49.960 --> 00:29:51.099 you come to me 00:29:51.099 --> 00:29:52.559 thinking that you can discuss 00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:53.879 religious anthropology 00:29:53.879 --> 00:29:56.439 and religious sociology 00:29:56.439 --> 00:29:58.399 and competing theories 00:29:58.399 --> 00:29:59.559 of teachers from God. 00:29:59.659 --> 00:30:00.480 You don't realize 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:01.759 that you have a heart of stone. 00:30:02.279 --> 00:30:03.099 You don't realize 00:30:03.099 --> 00:30:04.439 that you can't ascend to heaven. 00:30:04.859 --> 00:30:05.619 You don't realize 00:30:05.619 --> 00:30:06.779 that your fundamental problem 00:30:06.779 --> 00:30:08.019 is that you're hiding from God. 00:30:08.019 --> 00:30:08.720 You don't realize 00:30:08.720 --> 00:30:09.759 that you can't fix it. 00:30:09.759 --> 00:30:11.079 You want to ascend? 00:30:12.160 --> 00:30:12.720 No. 00:30:13.839 --> 00:30:15.599 You need God himself 00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:16.400 to descend 00:30:16.400 --> 00:30:19.240 and then to be lifted up 00:30:19.240 --> 00:30:20.900 on a cross 00:30:20.900 --> 00:30:23.579 so that those who look 00:30:23.579 --> 00:30:26.640 and put their trust 00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:28.140 that that will save them, 00:30:28.220 --> 00:30:29.160 that they will be saved. 00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:37.440 And then in John, 00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:38.359 the next verse, 00:30:38.440 --> 00:30:39.059 could you actually, 00:30:39.059 --> 00:30:40.259 I put it down at the end, 00:30:40.579 --> 00:30:40.799 Andrew, 00:30:40.859 --> 00:30:41.639 can you fast forward 00:30:41.639 --> 00:30:42.819 and put John 3.16 00:30:42.819 --> 00:30:43.940 up on the screen, please? 00:30:44.539 --> 00:30:46.059 Could you all say this with me? 00:30:47.379 --> 00:30:49.299 For God so loved the world 00:30:49.299 --> 00:30:51.019 that he gave his one 00:30:51.019 --> 00:30:52.099 and only son 00:30:52.099 --> 00:30:54.419 that whoever believes in him 00:30:54.419 --> 00:30:55.720 shall not perish 00:30:55.720 --> 00:30:57.399 but have eternal life. 00:30:57.519 --> 00:30:58.639 Can you read that with me again? 00:30:58.779 --> 00:30:59.299 It's, you know what, 00:30:59.359 --> 00:31:01.460 no religion has a verse like this. 00:31:02.460 --> 00:31:03.559 No spirituality 00:31:03.559 --> 00:31:05.440 says something as profound 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:06.919 as this. 00:31:06.920 --> 00:31:10.220 For God so loved the world 00:31:10.220 --> 00:31:12.039 that he gave his one 00:31:12.039 --> 00:31:13.120 and only son 00:31:13.120 --> 00:31:15.500 that whoever believes in him 00:31:15.500 --> 00:31:16.779 shall not perish 00:31:16.779 --> 00:31:18.779 but have eternal life. 00:31:20.460 --> 00:31:21.680 We want to have 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:24.380 a debate about God 00:31:24.380 --> 00:31:26.500 and a debate about how to ascend. 00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:28.440 God knows that what we need 00:31:28.440 --> 00:31:29.019 is a savior 00:31:29.019 --> 00:31:31.380 and that's what he provides 00:31:31.380 --> 00:31:32.660 in the person of his son. 00:31:32.660 --> 00:31:38.300 Now just before we go back to this, 00:31:38.380 --> 00:31:39.180 just in closing, 00:31:39.580 --> 00:31:40.560 some of you might be saying, 00:31:40.620 --> 00:31:41.360 George, I thought this was 00:31:41.360 --> 00:31:42.420 a Trinity sermon. 00:31:43.759 --> 00:31:44.480 But you see, 00:31:44.720 --> 00:31:45.940 this is why the ancients 00:31:45.940 --> 00:31:46.960 were so smart 00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:49.540 because they know 00:31:49.540 --> 00:31:51.040 that what we want 00:31:51.040 --> 00:31:52.120 is to treat God 00:31:52.120 --> 00:31:52.920 like an object 00:31:52.920 --> 00:31:54.600 that we can have mind games about. 00:31:55.480 --> 00:31:56.759 But they weren't dumb. 00:31:58.040 --> 00:32:00.620 This text actually perfectly models 00:32:00.619 --> 00:32:02.219 how you start to get to know 00:32:02.219 --> 00:32:02.699 the Trinity. 00:32:04.439 --> 00:32:05.079 Now just, 00:32:05.579 --> 00:32:07.079 the first thing about it 00:32:07.079 --> 00:32:08.559 is that we human beings, 00:32:08.799 --> 00:32:09.039 Andrew, 00:32:09.099 --> 00:32:09.759 if you could put up that, 00:32:09.819 --> 00:32:10.799 I think it's the fifth point. 00:32:11.679 --> 00:32:13.039 When it comes to God, 00:32:13.219 --> 00:32:14.259 we humans love 00:32:14.259 --> 00:32:15.779 flat earth thinking. 00:32:16.459 --> 00:32:17.519 When it comes to God, 00:32:17.659 --> 00:32:18.479 we humans love 00:32:18.479 --> 00:32:19.619 flat earth thinking. 00:32:21.459 --> 00:32:22.879 I was going to try to come up, 00:32:22.879 --> 00:32:23.259 I was going to have 00:32:23.259 --> 00:32:24.059 a whole list of things. 00:32:24.159 --> 00:32:25.259 I realize I have to be careful 00:32:25.259 --> 00:32:26.539 with time in this service. 00:32:27.159 --> 00:32:28.159 You know what just really 00:32:28.159 --> 00:32:29.239 blows your mind? 00:32:29.240 --> 00:32:31.339 So when I was coming here 00:32:31.339 --> 00:32:32.599 this morning on the Queensway 00:32:32.599 --> 00:32:33.700 and I took a corner 00:32:33.700 --> 00:32:34.440 a bit fast 00:32:34.440 --> 00:32:35.740 and as I took the corner 00:32:35.740 --> 00:32:36.420 a bit fast, 00:32:36.519 --> 00:32:37.039 you could feel, 00:32:37.099 --> 00:32:38.500 I could feel my briefcase 00:32:38.500 --> 00:32:39.120 and my other stuff 00:32:39.120 --> 00:32:40.079 shifting a little bit, 00:32:40.120 --> 00:32:40.279 right? 00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:42.039 Because when you're moving fast 00:32:42.039 --> 00:32:42.620 and things, 00:32:42.940 --> 00:32:43.799 and you turn a corner, 00:32:43.980 --> 00:32:44.240 things, 00:32:44.779 --> 00:32:45.500 you know, 00:32:45.539 --> 00:32:46.140 sort of move. 00:32:46.960 --> 00:32:48.180 Do you realize that right now 00:32:48.180 --> 00:32:49.160 while we're sitting here 00:32:49.160 --> 00:32:49.799 feeling very, 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:50.480 very secure, 00:32:50.559 --> 00:32:51.779 the planet is turning 00:32:51.779 --> 00:32:54.620 at 1600 kilometers an hour? 00:32:54.619 --> 00:32:59.879 1600 kilometers an hour. 00:33:01.419 --> 00:33:02.979 One hour from now, 00:33:03.379 --> 00:33:04.619 even if you've just sat 00:33:04.619 --> 00:33:05.759 on your chair, 00:33:06.079 --> 00:33:06.559 an hour, 00:33:06.659 --> 00:33:07.139 this afternoon, 00:33:07.219 --> 00:33:07.879 if you spend an hour 00:33:07.879 --> 00:33:08.799 watching TV, 00:33:09.119 --> 00:33:10.859 you've moved 1600 kilometers 00:33:10.859 --> 00:33:12.659 in a circle. 00:33:14.179 --> 00:33:15.419 You want something else 00:33:15.419 --> 00:33:16.179 which is really, 00:33:16.279 --> 00:33:16.959 really crazy? 00:33:17.500 --> 00:33:18.019 That's just, 00:33:18.279 --> 00:33:19.079 we're going like this, 00:33:19.119 --> 00:33:20.459 1600 kilometers an hour. 00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:21.199 That's how fast 00:33:21.199 --> 00:33:23.039 we're turning around the axis. 00:33:23.039 --> 00:33:24.059 You know how fast 00:33:24.059 --> 00:33:25.299 we are moving through space? 00:33:25.859 --> 00:33:26.920 Every second, 00:33:27.379 --> 00:33:28.359 the Earth moves 00:33:28.359 --> 00:33:30.899 30 kilometers. 00:33:32.799 --> 00:33:33.819 Every second, 00:33:34.339 --> 00:33:35.339 we go from here 00:33:35.339 --> 00:33:36.339 to Carlton Place. 00:33:39.180 --> 00:33:40.180 Every second. 00:33:41.460 --> 00:33:42.500 But we don't feel anything. 00:33:43.200 --> 00:33:44.500 We just feel very secure. 00:33:44.619 --> 00:33:45.599 We're in one place. 00:33:47.339 --> 00:33:49.319 It's really counterintuitive 00:33:49.319 --> 00:33:50.319 to think that we're 00:33:50.319 --> 00:33:52.480 on the outside of a planet 00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:55.579 the outside of a planet 00:33:55.579 --> 00:33:57.039 that's spinning 00:33:57.039 --> 00:33:59.759 at 1600 kilometers an hour 00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:02.299 while moving through space 00:34:02.299 --> 00:34:05.059 at 30 kilometers a second. 00:34:07.640 --> 00:34:09.059 And I can well understand 00:34:09.059 --> 00:34:09.980 how many people 00:34:09.980 --> 00:34:10.860 for a long time 00:34:10.860 --> 00:34:11.659 had a hard time 00:34:11.659 --> 00:34:12.360 believing that this 00:34:12.360 --> 00:34:13.559 could possibly be true. 00:34:15.380 --> 00:34:16.099 And, you know, 00:34:16.159 --> 00:34:16.840 if you want to talk 00:34:16.840 --> 00:34:17.539 to some of the people 00:34:17.539 --> 00:34:18.440 who are in sciences 00:34:18.440 --> 00:34:20.559 here in the church, 00:34:20.559 --> 00:34:22.179 and try to talk 00:34:22.179 --> 00:34:23.500 about the nature of light, 00:34:24.579 --> 00:34:25.299 try to talk about 00:34:25.299 --> 00:34:26.199 quantum things 00:34:26.199 --> 00:34:27.719 and quantum particles, 00:34:28.019 --> 00:34:28.420 if you want it, 00:34:28.460 --> 00:34:29.400 like to understand 00:34:29.400 --> 00:34:30.299 that human beings, 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:31.500 it seems so solid. 00:34:31.659 --> 00:34:32.059 In fact, 00:34:32.099 --> 00:34:32.659 most of us 00:34:32.659 --> 00:34:33.820 is empty space 00:34:33.820 --> 00:34:37.159 because of the way 00:34:37.159 --> 00:34:38.960 atoms and all work 00:34:38.960 --> 00:34:41.000 and that we're made up 00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:41.639 of things that are 00:34:41.639 --> 00:34:42.799 spinning around each other. 00:34:42.900 --> 00:34:43.059 Like, 00:34:43.079 --> 00:34:44.480 isn't that just unbelievably, 00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:45.599 like reality, 00:34:46.599 --> 00:34:47.980 is weird. 00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:50.559 And yet, 00:34:50.619 --> 00:34:51.740 when it comes to God, 00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:53.460 we want flatter thinking. 00:34:55.500 --> 00:34:55.940 Andrew, 00:34:55.980 --> 00:34:56.559 if you could put up 00:34:56.559 --> 00:34:57.099 the next point, 00:34:57.199 --> 00:34:57.460 please. 00:34:58.480 --> 00:34:59.860 The truth about God 00:34:59.860 --> 00:35:00.500 as Trinity, 00:35:00.500 --> 00:35:02.480 how are we doing? 00:35:02.659 --> 00:35:03.300 Not that bad. 00:35:03.719 --> 00:35:04.559 The truth about God 00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:05.139 as Trinity 00:35:05.139 --> 00:35:07.219 develops from precise, 00:35:07.800 --> 00:35:08.400 prayerful, 00:35:08.860 --> 00:35:10.199 careful thinking 00:35:10.199 --> 00:35:11.300 on the data 00:35:11.300 --> 00:35:12.179 of Scripture. 00:35:12.179 --> 00:35:14.000 So, 00:35:14.099 --> 00:35:14.759 just very briefly, 00:35:14.879 --> 00:35:15.539 this text. 00:35:16.539 --> 00:35:17.839 The Old Testament reference, 00:35:18.019 --> 00:35:19.319 what does it very clearly say? 00:35:19.699 --> 00:35:20.099 God, 00:35:20.319 --> 00:35:21.299 only God 00:35:21.299 --> 00:35:22.359 can make you 00:35:22.359 --> 00:35:23.179 born again 00:35:23.179 --> 00:35:24.279 or make you 00:35:24.279 --> 00:35:26.159 have this new heart. 00:35:26.299 --> 00:35:27.419 Only God can do it. 00:35:28.259 --> 00:35:29.279 And at the same time, 00:35:29.379 --> 00:35:30.099 Jesus says 00:35:30.099 --> 00:35:30.739 that it's going to be 00:35:30.739 --> 00:35:31.539 the Holy Spirit 00:35:31.539 --> 00:35:32.199 that does it. 00:35:32.899 --> 00:35:33.799 And at the same time, 00:35:33.839 --> 00:35:35.119 he says that being born above, 00:35:35.259 --> 00:35:36.000 that's going to be something 00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:36.919 that God does. 00:35:37.139 --> 00:35:38.119 And at the same time, 00:35:38.460 --> 00:35:39.139 Jesus says 00:35:39.139 --> 00:35:39.960 that when he goes up 00:35:39.960 --> 00:35:40.739 on the cross, 00:35:41.139 --> 00:35:41.940 he's going to be 00:35:41.940 --> 00:35:42.740 the means by which 00:35:42.740 --> 00:35:43.720 you have eternal life. 00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:44.200 Well, 00:35:44.240 --> 00:35:44.700 one moment, 00:35:45.159 --> 00:35:46.139 God is going to do it. 00:35:46.340 --> 00:35:47.079 The Holy Spirit 00:35:47.079 --> 00:35:47.820 is going to do it. 00:35:48.139 --> 00:35:49.280 Jesus is going to do it. 00:35:50.220 --> 00:35:51.340 And at the same time, 00:35:51.380 --> 00:35:52.059 it's very clear 00:35:52.059 --> 00:35:52.960 that within the text 00:35:52.960 --> 00:35:54.000 that they're all different. 00:35:54.500 --> 00:35:55.480 When Jesus says 00:35:55.480 --> 00:35:56.179 that he's descended 00:35:56.179 --> 00:35:56.800 from heaven, 00:35:57.059 --> 00:35:57.700 he doesn't mean 00:35:57.700 --> 00:35:58.179 that he's come 00:35:58.179 --> 00:35:58.760 from something 00:35:58.760 --> 00:36:00.500 like something emotional. 00:36:01.240 --> 00:36:01.519 Heaven, 00:36:01.940 --> 00:36:03.000 for a Jewish person, 00:36:03.139 --> 00:36:04.559 is being right with God. 00:36:04.700 --> 00:36:05.240 It's being like 00:36:05.240 --> 00:36:05.559 in a sense, 00:36:05.659 --> 00:36:06.200 standing right, 00:36:06.300 --> 00:36:07.159 just like I'm standing 00:36:07.159 --> 00:36:08.460 just like with Brian. 00:36:09.119 --> 00:36:09.320 Well, 00:36:09.400 --> 00:36:10.119 I could have Brian 00:36:10.119 --> 00:36:10.740 come and stand 00:36:10.740 --> 00:36:11.679 right here beside me 00:36:11.679 --> 00:36:12.980 and if I'm with Brian, 00:36:13.239 --> 00:36:13.879 I'm in, 00:36:14.239 --> 00:36:15.579 that's the same image. 00:36:15.679 --> 00:36:16.679 You're in God's presence. 00:36:17.179 --> 00:36:18.119 And Jesus says 00:36:18.119 --> 00:36:20.099 he leaves God's presence. 00:36:21.539 --> 00:36:22.440 So God is, 00:36:22.960 --> 00:36:24.199 he's left God's presence. 00:36:24.419 --> 00:36:25.019 So one moment, 00:36:25.159 --> 00:36:26.460 Jesus is different than God. 00:36:26.799 --> 00:36:28.379 Jesus has left God's presence. 00:36:29.179 --> 00:36:29.940 God is going to have 00:36:29.940 --> 00:36:30.460 to be the one 00:36:30.460 --> 00:36:31.019 to save us. 00:36:31.159 --> 00:36:31.679 God is the one 00:36:31.679 --> 00:36:32.339 who makes us born 00:36:32.339 --> 00:36:32.839 from above. 00:36:32.940 --> 00:36:33.619 The Holy Spirit 00:36:33.619 --> 00:36:34.039 is the one 00:36:34.039 --> 00:36:35.039 who makes us born again. 00:36:35.460 --> 00:36:36.259 Jesus is the one 00:36:36.259 --> 00:36:37.339 who gives us eternal life. 00:36:37.340 --> 00:36:39.559 And the thinking 00:36:39.559 --> 00:36:40.400 about the Trinity 00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:41.559 emerged 00:36:41.559 --> 00:36:43.160 from careful, 00:36:43.780 --> 00:36:45.160 prayerful reading 00:36:45.160 --> 00:36:46.380 of the data. 00:36:48.380 --> 00:36:49.460 And just as 00:36:49.460 --> 00:36:50.880 with any human being, 00:36:50.980 --> 00:36:51.900 any person, 00:36:52.420 --> 00:36:53.800 we reveal ourselves 00:36:53.800 --> 00:36:54.940 in bits and pieces. 00:36:56.400 --> 00:36:57.559 And for me to know 00:36:57.559 --> 00:36:58.880 the mystery of my wife 00:36:58.880 --> 00:37:00.539 and for her to know 00:37:00.539 --> 00:37:01.640 the mystery of me 00:37:01.640 --> 00:37:04.400 is revealed over time 00:37:04.400 --> 00:37:04.840 in many, 00:37:04.840 --> 00:37:05.780 many different ways 00:37:05.780 --> 00:37:06.880 by things we say 00:37:06.880 --> 00:37:08.320 and the way we carry ourselves 00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:09.340 and how we sit 00:37:09.340 --> 00:37:09.960 and how we eat 00:37:09.960 --> 00:37:10.840 and how we do this. 00:37:11.260 --> 00:37:12.400 And the mystery of the person 00:37:12.400 --> 00:37:12.980 is revealed 00:37:12.980 --> 00:37:14.320 from all of this. 00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:15.900 So it is that 00:37:15.900 --> 00:37:16.960 the doctrine of the Trinity 00:37:16.960 --> 00:37:18.200 is found in the Bible. 00:37:18.880 --> 00:37:19.160 Jesus, 00:37:19.519 --> 00:37:20.260 God doesn't write 00:37:20.260 --> 00:37:21.559 an Athanasian creed. 00:37:21.660 --> 00:37:22.320 He doesn't write 00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:23.940 a book of systematic theology. 00:37:24.260 --> 00:37:25.380 He reveals himself 00:37:25.380 --> 00:37:26.260 in such a way 00:37:26.260 --> 00:37:27.579 that our hearts are revealed, 00:37:28.420 --> 00:37:29.840 that we have hearts of stone. 00:37:31.900 --> 00:37:32.160 Andrew, 00:37:32.220 --> 00:37:32.740 could you put up 00:37:32.740 --> 00:37:33.860 John 3.16 again? 00:37:34.840 --> 00:37:35.840 Could you all read this 00:37:35.840 --> 00:37:36.480 with me again? 00:37:36.660 --> 00:37:36.880 Actually, 00:37:36.940 --> 00:37:37.660 before we read it, 00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:39.100 you know what is so wonderful 00:37:39.100 --> 00:37:40.039 about this text? 00:37:41.480 --> 00:37:43.440 You can be very poor 00:37:43.440 --> 00:37:45.579 and go to heaven. 00:37:47.420 --> 00:37:49.100 You can be mentally challenged 00:37:49.100 --> 00:37:49.880 and go to heaven. 00:37:50.620 --> 00:37:51.960 You don't have to have 00:37:51.960 --> 00:37:53.079 a university degree. 00:37:53.600 --> 00:37:54.820 You don't have to be rich. 00:37:55.100 --> 00:37:56.280 You don't have to be married. 00:37:56.660 --> 00:37:57.860 You don't have to be single. 00:37:58.340 --> 00:37:59.039 You don't have to have 00:37:59.039 --> 00:38:00.059 a perfect sexuality. 00:38:00.780 --> 00:38:01.940 You don't have to be famous 00:38:01.940 --> 00:38:02.640 on the planet. 00:38:02.639 --> 00:38:03.879 You don't have to have 00:38:03.879 --> 00:38:05.039 athletic prowess. 00:38:06.099 --> 00:38:06.940 None of these things 00:38:06.940 --> 00:38:08.599 which matter to human beings 00:38:08.599 --> 00:38:09.779 do you have to have 00:38:09.779 --> 00:38:11.799 to be made right with God. 00:38:12.179 --> 00:38:13.440 There's only one thing. 00:38:14.119 --> 00:38:15.480 You must be born again. 00:38:17.400 --> 00:38:18.599 And there is no one 00:38:18.599 --> 00:38:20.259 so far from God 00:38:20.259 --> 00:38:24.079 that Jesus isn't sufficient 00:38:24.079 --> 00:38:25.259 to make them right, 00:38:25.400 --> 00:38:27.139 to make you right with him. 00:38:27.139 --> 00:38:29.400 And there is no one 00:38:29.400 --> 00:38:30.400 so successful 00:38:30.400 --> 00:38:32.219 or so much of a failure 00:38:32.219 --> 00:38:34.079 that you don't need 00:38:34.079 --> 00:38:34.859 to be born again. 00:38:37.299 --> 00:38:38.819 And God does this 00:38:38.819 --> 00:38:40.920 in the words of John 3.16. 00:38:41.739 --> 00:38:42.879 Could you read it with me, 00:38:42.980 --> 00:38:43.679 please, out loud? 00:38:44.480 --> 00:38:46.219 For God so loved the world 00:38:46.219 --> 00:38:47.900 that he gave his one 00:38:47.900 --> 00:38:48.940 and only Son 00:38:48.940 --> 00:38:51.159 that whoever believes in him 00:38:51.159 --> 00:38:52.500 shall not perish 00:38:52.500 --> 00:38:54.379 but have eternal life. 00:38:54.900 --> 00:38:55.839 There's the gospel. 00:38:55.840 --> 00:38:57.380 It's one of the greatest verses. 00:38:57.680 --> 00:38:58.880 Buddhism doesn't have it. 00:38:59.300 --> 00:39:00.559 Islam doesn't have it. 00:39:00.940 --> 00:39:02.400 Hinduism doesn't have it. 00:39:02.940 --> 00:39:03.840 Atheism and agnosticism 00:39:04.480 --> 00:39:05.280 doesn't have it. 00:39:06.519 --> 00:39:06.820 In fact, 00:39:07.860 --> 00:39:08.880 I'm going to talk about this 00:39:08.880 --> 00:39:09.760 more in another sermon. 00:39:11.019 --> 00:39:11.840 Here's the incoherence 00:39:12.880 --> 00:39:15.760 and the great aching need 00:39:15.760 --> 00:39:17.320 that modern people have 00:39:17.320 --> 00:39:18.280 but don't entirely, 00:39:18.440 --> 00:39:19.519 can't articulate it. 00:39:21.260 --> 00:39:23.720 Human beings descend from apes, 00:39:24.300 --> 00:39:25.720 therefore love one another. 00:39:26.660 --> 00:39:28.340 That doesn't make any sense. 00:39:29.880 --> 00:39:31.940 Human beings descend from apes, 00:39:32.059 --> 00:39:33.079 therefore love one another. 00:39:35.320 --> 00:39:37.539 Human beings have this great sense 00:39:37.539 --> 00:39:39.500 of their need for love. 00:39:40.820 --> 00:39:42.300 And only the scriptures, 00:39:42.559 --> 00:39:43.820 only a brilliant text 00:39:43.820 --> 00:39:45.059 like John 3.16 00:39:45.059 --> 00:39:47.340 explains our great need for love 00:39:47.340 --> 00:39:50.240 and our great longing for it 00:39:50.239 --> 00:39:53.199 and that God so loved the world 00:39:53.199 --> 00:39:55.879 that he gave his one and only son 00:39:55.879 --> 00:39:58.519 that whoever believes in him 00:39:58.519 --> 00:40:00.279 shall not perish 00:40:00.279 --> 00:40:02.239 because we have hearts of stone 00:40:02.239 --> 00:40:04.339 but shall have eternal life. 00:40:04.939 --> 00:40:06.859 God will give a heart, 00:40:07.399 --> 00:40:08.159 a living heart. 00:40:08.539 --> 00:40:09.779 Let's just stand, please. 00:40:09.780 --> 00:40:18.780 I want to urge you 00:40:18.780 --> 00:40:21.620 that if you have never given your life to Jesus, 00:40:21.760 --> 00:40:23.360 there is no better time than today 00:40:23.360 --> 00:40:24.660 to just, you know, 00:40:24.980 --> 00:40:25.880 I'm not going to lead you 00:40:25.880 --> 00:40:26.780 in a sinner's prayer 00:40:26.780 --> 00:40:27.680 or anything like that. 00:40:27.740 --> 00:40:29.519 If the Holy Spirit is convicting you 00:40:29.519 --> 00:40:30.060 that you need, 00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:31.980 just say, John, 00:40:32.120 --> 00:40:32.560 just say, 00:40:32.940 --> 00:40:34.240 Father, God, 00:40:34.239 --> 00:40:35.819 I have a heart, 00:40:35.899 --> 00:40:37.399 I have a heart of stone. 00:40:37.639 --> 00:40:39.439 I want what George just talked about. 00:40:39.919 --> 00:40:41.059 John 3.16, 00:40:41.219 --> 00:40:41.899 I believe it. 00:40:41.919 --> 00:40:42.519 I can't even know 00:40:42.519 --> 00:40:43.719 if I remember all the words 00:40:43.719 --> 00:40:44.479 but God, 00:40:45.219 --> 00:40:46.819 what that talked about, 00:40:47.119 --> 00:40:49.639 I want that to be for me. 00:40:50.879 --> 00:40:51.959 And use your own words 00:40:51.959 --> 00:40:52.839 and call out to God 00:40:52.839 --> 00:40:54.059 and there is no better time 00:40:54.059 --> 00:40:55.699 than today to do it. 00:40:56.039 --> 00:40:57.500 No better time than right now. 00:40:58.019 --> 00:40:59.019 What's stopping you 00:40:59.019 --> 00:41:01.919 from doing it right now? 00:41:03.039 --> 00:41:04.159 Let's just bow our heads in prayer. 00:41:04.239 --> 00:41:04.719 Father, 00:41:06.879 --> 00:41:08.059 thank you so much 00:41:08.059 --> 00:41:10.019 that you are our creator. 00:41:10.459 --> 00:41:11.419 Thank you so much 00:41:11.419 --> 00:41:12.719 that you are our sustainer. 00:41:13.139 --> 00:41:14.159 Thank you so much, 00:41:14.319 --> 00:41:14.500 Father, 00:41:14.559 --> 00:41:15.199 that you made us 00:41:15.199 --> 00:41:16.639 to be in a relationship with you. 00:41:16.779 --> 00:41:17.399 Thank you, Father, 00:41:17.500 --> 00:41:18.979 so much that when you saw 00:41:18.979 --> 00:41:21.179 that we desire to be like God, 00:41:21.259 --> 00:41:22.539 when we, in a sense, 00:41:22.659 --> 00:41:24.099 killed the command center 00:41:24.099 --> 00:41:24.799 of our lives 00:41:24.799 --> 00:41:26.179 and turned the command center 00:41:26.179 --> 00:41:26.799 of our lives 00:41:26.799 --> 00:41:27.919 rather than being something 00:41:27.919 --> 00:41:28.959 connected to you 00:41:28.959 --> 00:41:31.219 into being a heart of stone. 00:41:31.379 --> 00:41:32.079 Thank you, Father, 00:41:32.119 --> 00:41:33.919 that you saw our desperate need 00:41:33.920 --> 00:41:36.720 and seeing our desperate need. 00:41:36.820 --> 00:41:37.659 You loved us 00:41:37.659 --> 00:41:39.360 and sent your son 00:41:39.360 --> 00:41:41.059 to die upon the cross 00:41:41.059 --> 00:41:42.400 to be the one 00:41:42.400 --> 00:41:43.200 by whom 00:41:43.200 --> 00:41:44.740 you can make us 00:41:44.740 --> 00:41:45.599 right with yourself. 00:41:45.760 --> 00:41:46.519 Thank you, Father, 00:41:46.599 --> 00:41:48.240 that he took our judgment 00:41:48.240 --> 00:41:49.119 upon himself. 00:41:49.340 --> 00:41:50.360 He took our doom. 00:41:50.740 --> 00:41:51.840 He took our sickness. 00:41:52.360 --> 00:41:53.700 He took our alienation. 00:41:53.699 --> 00:41:55.519 And he offered us 00:41:55.519 --> 00:41:56.579 his life, 00:41:56.839 --> 00:41:57.619 his health, 00:41:57.879 --> 00:41:58.779 his strength, 00:41:59.159 --> 00:41:59.960 his destiny, 00:42:00.339 --> 00:42:01.279 his place for you, 00:42:01.419 --> 00:42:01.819 with you. 00:42:01.919 --> 00:42:02.099 Father, 00:42:02.239 --> 00:42:03.599 thank you for this profound 00:42:03.599 --> 00:42:04.639 act of love 00:42:04.639 --> 00:42:05.839 and substitution 00:42:05.839 --> 00:42:07.099 and exchange. 00:42:07.659 --> 00:42:07.779 Father, 00:42:07.919 --> 00:42:09.480 make us disciples of Jesus 00:42:09.480 --> 00:42:10.299 who are gripped 00:42:10.299 --> 00:42:11.399 by this gospel, 00:42:11.899 --> 00:42:12.439 who are learning 00:42:12.439 --> 00:42:13.579 to live for your glory. 00:42:13.779 --> 00:42:13.980 Father, 00:42:14.139 --> 00:42:15.699 make us disciples of Jesus 00:42:15.699 --> 00:42:16.819 gripped by the gospel, 00:42:17.319 --> 00:42:17.960 learning to live 00:42:17.960 --> 00:42:18.599 for your glory. 00:42:19.000 --> 00:42:19.779 And this we ask 00:42:19.779 --> 00:42:20.799 in Jesus' name. 00:42:21.379 --> 00:42:21.719 Amen.