Prescription - Pastor Kipp Penrod

Thank you for listening to this message from

Lifehouse Church. Well, it's good to have you.

How many know it is almost Thanksgiving? Almost

is close, right? We're just about there. It's

almost Thanksgiving. And it's time to get yourself

prepared for turkey. It's time to get yourself

prepared for dessert, right? And it's just, I'm

getting geared up. I don't know about you. But

I just told somebody this morning, I think eating

is one of my spiritual gifts. I'm not quite sure.

Come on, anybody with me in the house? I can't

find it in the Bible, but I think it's something

that's a spiritual gift for me. But I just wanted

to take a moment because this is a week of Thanksgiving,

and this is a time where we take and give thanks

to the Lord in particular for all the things

that he's given us. But I don't think I get to

do this often enough. I don't get to thank God

for you. We come in here week after week and

we get the opportunity to minister. And sometimes

I just want to stop and give God thanks for you.

You could go anywhere else and serve in the body

of Christ in any other church. And so many of

you come and we serve together. We serve arm

in arm and we lift up the name of Christ and

we worship together. And I'm just so grateful

this morning as I was thinking. I'm so grateful

for the people that God's brought together in

this particular group and slice of the ministry

and slice of heaven. Amen. And it's true. So

thank you. If you're listening online, you are

part of this gathering. You're part of this body.

We've got people who listen online all the time.

We've got people who listen to the podcast somewhere

up in Canada, man. All kind of places all across

the globe that listen. And you're part of our

family. And we love that you're here. And we

love that we come together and we get the opportunity

to do this. We're family. Amen? Amen. So I just

wanted to give thanks, take a moment to recognize

you. But most of all, I want to give thanks to

the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Can

you stand and give them an applause? Come on,

just stand up. This is for Jesus, not for me,

not for anybody else. Just give it for Jesus.

Come on. You might not do that around a Thanksgiving

table, but you can do it here, right? Give them

glory. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated. I

love Thanksgiving. I love Christmas. I love this

time of year and what God's doing in the hearts

and lives all across the globe, truly. Well,

this morning, I thought I'd let you in on just

a little secret. It's not really a big secret,

but it's a little secret. I kind of want to let

you in on one of the habits that the LifeHouse

staff, those of us who work in ministry and LifeHouse

on staff and ministry, one of our habits that

we've tried to instill over the last couple years.

is reading books. And all of our staff get together.

We read the same book at the same time. We get

together each week for staff meeting, and we

talk about what we pulled out of the book. It

keeps us accountable, helps us really grow together

and learn together. And there's two books that

we always want to be reading, right? First is

the Bible, always. A, number one, we want to

be in Scripture. We want to be in God's Word.

And then two, we read books about ministry. We

read books about leadership. We study what we

can to get ourselves a little wiser, right, to

grow the gray matter. Anybody need to grow gray

matter up there? Yeah, I do. You know, we learn

to get knowledge. We learn to get educated. We

learn to hear the stories. We read to broaden

and narrow our perspective both at different

times, sharpen our skills from time to time,

right? Change our focus, maybe learn about a

particularly interesting area. We read to grow.

We read to expand everything that's in our hearts

and our heads. But before we read those books,

we make sure we read the Word of God. Because

the Word of God isn't just a book. It isn't just

a little bit of knowledge. It's a revelation

of God's redemptive plan for mankind. It is the

book. It is the path from death to life. Everything

else in life is life to death, right, that we

see around us. But in the Bible, it goes from

death to life. It contains the road to God. It

is the mysteries of life. It exposes the darkness

and brings us into his glorious light. It is

a book unlike any other book that you will ever,

ever read. It explains what's happening in your

head and in your mind and even in the world that's

around us, right? It contains God's plan to get

us back together and fix this broken world that's

around us because it contains the words of God,

words of salvation. There is a reason that the

Bible is the best -selling book of all time because

it is the greatest book of all time because everything

changes. When the word of God begins to come

in. And the word of God is not just descriptive

in nature. I learned this just about a month

ago from someone else. It's not just descriptive

in nature, but it is prescriptive. It is the

prescription. Say it's the prescription. Come

on, it's the prescription that changes everything,

right? It isn't just a description of what God

is doing, but it is the prescription. How does

a prescription work? Anybody know? Anybody ever

get a prescription in -house? Come on, raise

your hand. Yeah, come on. All of you have. You're

all sitting there like, oh, you get a prescription.

Yes, you have. All right. Yeah, you've got a

prescription, right? And you know how it works.

You get ill. You get sick. You call the doctor.

And you make an appointment. And you show up.

Your appointment's for 3 p .m. You come in. You

check in at 5 to 3. You sit down in the waiting

room. Check in. Sit down in the waiting room.

At 10 to 4, they come and get you. Right. They

take you back to a little room and you sit on

a metal table that's cold and has crunchy paper

on top. And you sit there and a nurse comes in

and takes your vital signs and writes it all

down. And they lean in and say, well, what are

you here for today? Right. That's how they do

it. They lean in. I don't know if they think

I'm deaf or what, but they lean in a little.

You know, what are you here for today? And you

explain. They close the door and 30 minutes later,

the doctor shows up. You sit in the crunchy room,

read all the things that are on the wall, right?

Play with all the little gidgee gadgets that

look like organs in the body. And you wait for

the doctor to come in. And the doc comes in,

and he asks you the same questions, maybe asks

some more, listens to some things. And at the

end of all this, he says, I'm going to prescribe

you something. And he asks where your pharmacy

is that you normally go to, and they send the

prescription to that pharmacy. And you go and

get it. And you pick up that prescription, and

the idea is that you take that home, right, and

you internalize what the doctor's giving you.

Whatever medication, you take it, you eat it,

you drink it, whatever it is, you swallow it,

and you internalize it so it goes through your

being and changes you. Wouldn't it be a waste

of time, money, and effort if you went to the

doctor, went through all that rigmarole, right,

to get to the prescription? God picked up the

prescription, took it home, and sent it on the

shelf, and never took any of it, right? Never

opened it, never internalized it, never changed

anything in your physical body. God's word is

the prescription for the illness for my ailment.

Do you know that? It is. It fixes me. It brings

me from death to life. It is the prescription

that fixes the sin that if left untreated will

take me out. It is the prescription for the huge

void between God and myself. God's word is a

prescription that keeps me from imminent death

and eternity in hell. And just take a moment

right now and thank God for the prescription

that leads me to the medication named Jesus.

Amen? Come on. Give the Lord another applause

for the Word of God. This is week of Thanksgiving.

You need to thank Him for everything this week,

right? Because without it, I'm doomed. Without

it, I'm weak and I'm sick and I'm weary. Without

it, death is imminent in my life. It truly is.

God's word taken eternally brings me to life.

It saves me. It heals me. It sets me free in

every area of my life. And in John chapter 3,

John 3 · chapter mention

and that's where we're going this morning, so

some of you should be geared up. You got your

Bible ready to go, right? In John chapter 3,

John 3 · chapter mention

there's this man named Nicodemus. Say Nicodemus.

Yeah, and you know who we're talking about, right?

A Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, and he finds

the prescription. He finds Jesus himself. But

he debates on taking what is prescribed. He really

does. He seeks out the remedy for what ails him

and ails society and the world around him. He

even comes to the great physician Jesus. But

then he finds out that he's having a hard time

swallowing what Jesus is prescribing. And you

might ask, well, why does he struggle? Why is

the difficulty there? And I believe it's this.

See, you have to understand something about Nicodemus

before we read about him. He's a Pharisee. He's

a Pharisee. And as you're turning into John chapter

John 3 · chapter mention

3, I'm going to pray, and then I'm going to tell

you a little bit about Pharisee, and then we're

going to jump into God's Word, all right? Father,

I thank you for this day. I thank you for the

Word of God. Lord, God, I don't need to pray

for blessing on your Word. Your Word is already

blessed. God, I pray for blessing upon our ears,

upon our hearts, upon our minds. God, that we

might receive, we might internalize, and God,

that it might change us. God, that it might shift

us. And Lord, that we might do all things for

your glory and purpose. And we thank you. And

everybody say it together. Amen, amen. Listen,

as you're turning, I want to tell you a little

bit about a Pharisee. I want to tell you a little

bit about this Pharisee named Nicodemus, where

he's coming from. Because sometimes if you know

somebody's background, sometimes if you know

where somebody's coming from, it helps you understand

why they can't get where they're going exactly,

right? Sometimes if you know where they're, you

know, the view that they're seeing, the lens

that they're looking through, it might help you

understand their struggle just a little bit.

And that will help you out with Nicodemus. Because

the Pharisees struggled. Now, you've got to understand

this about Pharisees. Their struggle was self

-inflicted pretty much, all right? They kind

of brought it upon themselves. But the Pharisees

in Jesus' day were middle -class businessmen.

or leaders in the synagogue. And they were the

minority in the Sanhedrin court. The Sanhedrin

court was the highest court. There was a great

Sanhedrin, which was the greatest court. And

all the Jews in that locally, they were Sanhedrin.

And these individuals were made up. They were

part of the Sanhedrin. And a lot of times they

held a minority, but they were very powerful

because they were very popular among the people.

And they were known for emphasizing personal

piety and acceptance of the oral tradition, as

well as the written law of Moses, the Mosaic

law. And they taught the 613 plus, it's actually

right around 13, 613 Jewish Mosaic laws. But

they added a whole bunch to it. I guess they

figured 613 wasn't enough. They added a whole

bunch of things into it, ordinances and laws

that they said they were law. They just made

them up, right? And in the Gospels, the Pharisees

were often presented as hypocritical. They were

proud opponents of Jesus. And the Lord stated

it bluntly in actually Matthew chapter 23. They

Matthew 23 · chapter mention

do not practice what they preach as a general

rule. Pharisees were self -righteous. They were

kind of smug in their delusion that they were

pleasing God by following all their laws and

particularly their man -made ordinances. It was

good they were following the law of God, but

the man made stuff, right? Their tradition. And

as Jesus pointed out to them, as meticulous as

they were in following the finer points of ritualism,

they failed to measure up to God's holy standard.

Because in the word of God, Jesus said this,

you've neglected the more important matters of

law. He said this to the Pharisees, justice,

mercy, and faithfulness. And while most of the

Pharisees were in direct opposition to Jesus,

Nicodemus was one of the Pharisees who was not

completely opposed to Jesus. As a matter of fact,

he said things like, I know that you're a teacher

who has come from God. He has respect for Jesus.

But Nicodemus wrestles with Jesus' teaching because

of the group that he identified himself with,

the Pharisees, because of his tribe, right? Because

of their focus on the ordinances that were really

not even in part of God's word. But in their

minds was a performance -based thing. If I'm

good enough, right? If I follow enough of the

traditions of what we've made up, if I'm good

enough, I can get to God. So this struggle comes

for Nicodemus, right? At this point in time,

this struggle comes because he's observing the

ordinances and Jesus tells him something very

direct. He says, you must be born again. Let's

go to God's word. John chapter 3, I know that

John 3 · chapter mention

was a long introduction, right? John chapter

John 3:1

3 verse 1 says this. There was a man of the Pharisees

named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man

came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi,

we know that you are a teacher come from God,

for no one can do these signs that you do unless

God is with him. So we see the struggle. First

two verses, right? First two things we read about

Nicodemus. We start to see the struggle that

Nicodemus is having. Because when does Nicodemus

come to Jesus? What time of day is it? Yeah,

nighttime, right? He did not call Jesus' office

and set up an appointment for during the day.

He didn't get a hold of the disciples and set

something up. He's sneaking around at nighttime.

He's coming to Jesus under the cover of darkness.

This expert in the law, right, is sneaking around

in the darkness because he doesn't want his people

to find out. He doesn't want his fellow Pharisees,

right, his group, his tribe, these people that

he identifies with. He doesn't want them to know.

So he knows there's something powerful about

Jesus. He knows that there's something different.

He knows that God's with him. He even speaks

it, right? He respectfully says, we know that

you're a teacher coming from God. No one can

do these signs except God's with them. But he

sneaks in, in the cover of darkness. He's just

like some covert Christians I've been around,

right? They're at church on Sunday, and then

when they get to the workplace on Monday, nobody

knows they're a Christian. Nobody could figure

it out, even if they had to. I remember hearing

something one time. If you were convicted on

the evidence that you're a Christian, would they

have enough to convict you? It's a very telling

thing. And, you know, Nicodemus, you know, some

people, they're at church Sunday, they're raising

their hands Sunday, they're worshiping God. And

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,

nobody even knows who they are. And this is Nicodemus.

He's kind of hiding out. He's coming in the dark.

But Jesus doesn't waste any time. Nicodemus comes.

He wants to talk with Jesus. He wants to find

out what Jesus is all about. And Jesus jumps

right to the heart of the matter. Nicodemus comes

in, he says some nice things, and in verse 3,

Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly,

I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot

see the kingdom of God. Interesting. He doesn't

have any chit -chat with Nicodemus about ministry.

He doesn't get into any Old Testament debates.

He doesn't even challenge him on the ordinances

and the traditions that... that Nicodemus is

all about. He doesn't get into any church talk,

ministry talk, sharing about ministry experience.

He doesn't do any of that. He gets right to it.

He moves right to the gospel. He says, Nicodemus,

if you want to see the kingdom of God, you must

be born again. Nicodemus, if you want to see

the kingdom, you're going to have to find that

there's new birth in me. Nicodemus, I, Jesus,

am the way, the truth, and the love. I'm the

only way into the kingdom. And it's rose Nicodemus,

right? I can see him stand there. And I know

this because as you read in the scriptures, you

can tell he's a little stunned. There's a little

bit of spiritual shock, right? He came in with

some niceties. He's just ready to have a conversation.

And Jesus is like, boom, Nicodemus, if you want

to see the kingdom of God, you've got to be born

again. He didn't even know where to go with the

conversation. He didn't even know what to say.

He's probably thinking, Jesus, can't we move

back to some tradition? Can't we talk about the

Mosaic law? Because Nicodemus said to him, how

can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter

a second time into his mother's womb and be born?

And Jesus is probably thinking, Nicodemus, seriously,

we're talking about spiritual things, and you're

over here thinking about physical things, right?

Aren't you an expert in Scripture? Aren't you

an expert? Nicodemus, we're talking about the

physical realm. Right? Or the spiritual realm,

not the physical. Because Jesus answers him,

he says, Moses, surely I say to you, unless one

is born of water, which is flesh, okay, that's

the physical, and the spirit, we cannot enter

the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh

is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is

spirit. Do you not marvel that I said to you,

you must be born again? The wind blows where

it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot

tell where it comes from and where it goes. So

is everyone who is born in the spirit. Nicodemus

answered and said to him, how can these things

be? Mr. Pharisee has been thinking of him like

a Pharisee for so long, living in the present

identity that he's been a part of, the group

that he's been a part of, that he's struggling

to hear what Jesus is saying. He's an expert

in the law. He's an expert in the Old Testament.

He's always believed that practicing the law

is going to get him into the kingdom of heaven.

He's trained in this. He's dressed for the part.

He follows the rules along, right, or as many

as he can. He's kind of almost as he'll say,

if I'm just good enough, right, if I just get

it right, I'm in. And Jesus flips his whole theology.

He says, Nick, it's not just about following

God's law, right? You have to be born again.

Being good enough isn't good enough. You have

to be born again. It's not being good enough

that gets us into the kingdom of heaven. It's

the sacrifice that Jesus made and the cleansing

that he brings to us that he paid for on the

cross. I can't be good enough. I'm not good enough.

Only he was good enough. He's the only way. That's

just what he was bringing to Nicodemus. He's

like, Nicodemus, you're never going to be good

enough. I'm the one that's good enough. That's

why I came. That's why I left heaven. That's

why I'm here. This is why I sacrificed myself

for your sin. And I say all that to say our present

identity can keep us blind to eternity, right?

Our present identity can keep us blind to eternal

reality. If my present identity is anything other

than in Jesus, it can skew my view of spiritual

reality. I can start to think that there's some

other path to God. You know, that somehow it's

flexible and it's up to interpretation. Right?

You know, and I hear this all the time. I hear

it on the TV. I hear people talking about this.

Well, you know, everything leads to God, right?

You know, it's kind of up to your interpretation.

You can just kind of go anywhere and experience

God. Here's what I'm telling you this morning.

Hear what Jesus told Nicodemus. The only way

to the kingdom of God is to be born again. Salvation

through Jesus. All paths do not lead to God.

That's like saying that all driveways lead to

my house. Okay? I only have one driveway at my

house. I don't know if you have two or not, but

I only have one. All driveways that you go up

do not lead to my house. There's one and only

one driveway to get to my house. Unless you're

going to drive through my yard, which then we'll

have to have a talk. Okay? Because I'm serious

about my yard. But there's only one. Way to the

kingdom of God. He was letting Nicodemus know.

He was telling us, I am the door. I am the gate.

I am the way. So sometimes, sometimes, say sometimes.

We said that a lot last week, right? Sometimes

when we're talking to someone who is far from

God and they're kind of blind by their present

identity or maybe the group that they're associated

with, right? Sometimes you're going to have to

get right to it. You're going to have to ask

them the question, right? Do you want to see

the kingdom of God? Because if you do, you have

to be born again. There's one path. There's one

direction. There's one way to there, and it's

Jesus. And you've got to do just like Jesus did

with Nicodemus. You've got to let them wrestle

with it. You've got to let them wrestle in their

own spirit. You've got to let them ask the questions.

Jesus was right there with them. You've got to

let them, you know, let them. converse with you.

Let them struggle with it. Let them fight with

it. Every one of us who know Jesus as Lord and

Savior had to. Each one of us had to come to

God and we had to come before the cross and say,

you know what? I realize that I'm a sinner. I

realize that I'm far from God. Each one of us

had to do that. And we had to realize that the

only way to get there is Jesus. That the plan

of God started with the fall of man in Genesis

when we walked away from God, rebelled against

God, sin separated us from God. And it began

to change. and God made provision with Jesus

Christ that we could come back into relationship

with him. That's why he sent his only son. I

can't even imagine, I have one son, can't imagine

sacrificing my son for everybody else, but he

did. That's how much he loves us. In verse 10,

Jesus answered and said to him, are you the teacher

of Israel and you do not know these things? Most

assuredly I say to you, we speak what we know

and testify what we have seen and you do not

receive our witness. If I told you earthly things

and you did not believe, How will you believe

if I tell you heavenly things? No one is ascended

to heaven, but he who came down from heaven,

that is the son of man who is in heaven. And

as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,

even so must the son of man be lifted up, and

whoever believes in him should not perish, but

have eternal life. Here it is. Come on, say it

with me so many of you know this. For God so

loved the world that he gave his only begotten

son, that whoever believes in him should not

perish, but have everlasting life. For God did

not send his son into the world to condemn the

world, but that the world through him might be

saved. Born again. Born again. Worship team,

if you'd make your way to the platform. I haven't

heard that term used a whole lot these days.

Maybe we need to bring it back, right? We talk

about being saved, but it really is about being

born again. It really is about becoming brand

new in Jesus Christ. It is really realizing that

without Jesus, this spirit man, not the physical,

right? This spirit man is dead. I said it at

the beginning. Everything in God's word goes

from death to life. Everything in this life physically

goes from life to death. And I start out without

Jesus dead. And I need birth. I need life. I

need to be born again spiritually. The thing

that Nicodemus had such, can we just call him

Nick for a while? All right, the thing that Nick

struggled with, right? So much in his head and

his heart. We've got to get our head around.

Jesus tells Nicodemus, if you want to see the

kingdom of God, you have to believe this. You

have to believe it. Can I tell you, you will

act. on what you believe and not on what you

know. Can I say that again? You will act on what

you believe. You will not act on what you know.

I know chocolate chip cookies are not good for

me, but I don't believe that in my heart. And

I eat them on a regular basis. Amen, thank you.

You don't act on what you know. You act on what

you believe. And this morning as you stand, I'm

going to ask everybody in the house to stand

that can stand. I'm going to ask you this question.

What do you believe? I want you to know. I could

probably go around this room. You tell me what

you know because there's so many that will be

able to explain the gospel. Do you ever meet

somebody that rambles on and on about a particular

subject? And they go on and on and on. They've

got knowledge, statistics. They've got all the

different things. And then you look at their

lives and they've never done any of what they're

talking about. Do you ever know what I'm talking

about? They know a whole bunch of things, but

they don't really believe in it because they

don't really do it, right? You've got to believe.

You've got to believe. That's what Jesus was

telling Nicodemus. You've got to believe. I am

the only way. You've got to be born again. If

you want to see the kingdom of God, if you want

to see the kingdom of God, when we meet people.

If you're a Christian in the house and you're

talking with somebody, sooner or later you've

got to get there in the conversation. Sooner

or later, right, you might come in soft. You

might not come in as hard as Jesus did with Nicodemus.

Right off the bat, I think Jesus did that because

he was a Pharisee and he was an expert in the

law. It might take a while for you to build a

relationship. But sooner or later you've got

to ask him, listen, if you want to be in the

kingdom of God, you know what it takes? You've

got to be born again. You've got to be born again.

And that can be quick and it can be harder. It

can be soft and, you know, it takes some time.

But that's the question. Do you believe this?

Do you believe this? Do you believe it? John

3 .15, right? That whoever believes in him should

not perish but have eternal life. For the gospel

of the world that he gave was only begotten.

John 3 .16, whoever believes in him should not

perish but have. It's about the belief. Don't

you believe? to this message from Lifehouse Church.

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