John 3:1-13 - ”A Brand New You” - Abundant Life (Gospel of John)

Our

Old Testament reading comes from Ezekiel

36

22-28.

Therefore I say to the house of Israel,

thus says the Lord God, it is not for

your sake, oh house of Israel, that I am

about to act, but for the sake of my

holy name, which you have profained

among the nations to which you came.

And I will vindicate the holiness of my

great name which has been profained

among the nations and which you have

profained among them. And the nations

will know that I am the Lord, declares

the Lord God. When through you I

vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

I will take you from the nations and

gather you from all the countries and

bring you into your own land. I will

sprinkle clean water on you and you

shall be clean from all your

uncleannesses and from all your idols I

will cleanse you and I will give you a

new heart and a new spirit I will put

within you and I will remove the heart

of stone from your flesh and give you a

heart of flesh and I will put my spirit

within you and cause you to walk in my

statutes and be careful to obey all my

rules. You shall dwell in the land that

I gave to your fathers and you shall be

my people and I will be your God. Our

New Testament reading comes from John

3:es 1-13.

Now 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." Jesus answered him, "Truly,

truly, I say to you, unless one is born

again, he cannot see the kingdom of

God."

Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be

born when he is old? Can he enter a

second time into his mother's womb and

be born?

Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to

you, unless one is born of water and the

spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of

God. That which is born of flesh is

flesh, and that which is born of the

spirit is spirit." Do not marvel that I

said to you, you must be born again. The

wind blows where it wishes, and you hear

its sound, but you do not know where it

comes from or where it goes. So it is

with everyone who is born of the

spirit."

Nicodemus said to him, "How can these

things be?" Jesus answered him, "Are you

the teacher of Israel, and yet you do

not understand these things?

Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of

what we know and bear witness to what we

have seen, but you do not receive our

testimony.

If I have told you earthly things and

you do not believe, how can you believe

if I tell you heavenly things?

No one has ascended into heaven except

he who descended from heaven, the Son of

Man. This is the word of the Lord.

>> Thanks be to God.

Thank you. Um, I ran out to get some

sinus pills. I didn't have to use the

bathroom. I just want to clarify

cuz I know you're all thinking it. So,

it's it's much more mundane than most

people think.

Um,

you know, there's a a myth, I call it a

very strong myth in our culture that

there will be a separation of uh church

and state. Have you heard this? I'm

going to tell you something. It is not

going to happen. It's not going to

happen on the right and it's not going

to happen on the left. Within the last

week, I saw a picture and they're all

sitting around the Oval Office praying

and laying hands on Donald Trump. It's

not a judgment. Just saying this is a

myth that we accept.

And then and this is what I'll be

speaking on today. I got inundated after

Tuesday about some guy from Texas who

won the Democrat primary. You see, I got

hit because he claims to be a

Presbyterian.

And they're going, "What is this guy

saying?"

His name is Here he is. He's cute. Jim

Tali Yako.

Kind of think he looks like the guy from

the Mad Magazine. You remember that guy

a little bit. You won't unsee it now.

Anyways,

I'm not here to talk about his politics,

which I can guess, but that wasn't what

everyone was sending me. See, Mr.

Talako, he sells himself as a Christian,

and that's his main political move. and

he sells himself as a true Christian who

really understands. Warning number one,

when somebody says they've got it

figured out and 2,000 years missed it,

that's a red flag. If you're on a date

with a guy like that, hit the other way.

[snorts]

So, here's this guy. He got up and of

course, I'm getting nothing but boom,

boom, boom, boom, boom. And I got uh

what did he say? We should be ashamed of

our whiteness. Whiteness is a virus

because God showed him that.

We should uh um be feminists because we

need the Gospel of Thomas which is a

long thrown out considered a heresy

text.

Um he also said of course all of the

things that the world says around

sexuality and gender. In fact, he told

us that uh there are not just two

genders but six genders and that God

himself is non-binary.

He's a very busy guy and he did all this

from the uh place of being a he's some

sort of a state representative. Now he's

going to be the Senate person. Now the

reason I bring him up is not because

he's new. By the way, the crazy

theology, and I'm not yet done with you,

Jimmy, um, that he speaks has been going

around for a while. It's exactly exactly

because somebody like him has the

worldview he has. That, by the way, in

case you're wondering why the

Presbyterians, Anglicans, Lutherans, and

United are all dead.

Because these guys got control of the

top.

Okay? And these guys are very, very

political. He wants to use his politics

and he sees it as he'll use his religion

in Texas. Remember this is Texas

where he's going to tell everyone that

they don't really have God figured out.

In fact, the God they have is one of

many gods. He says,

that's what he says. There is no one

way. There is no one truth. He says,

"Somehow I think in Texas that dog's not

going to hunt."

Why do I bring him up?

Because there's nothing new.

There is nothing new.

People are always seeking political

power and people are always using

religion to get it.

And the question is,

are they right to do so?

or how can they get it so wrong when

they don't?

You see, I've been asked over the years,

every time I teach a gospel text, people

ask me, "If these Pharisees knew so

much, if they had memorized the Gospels,

if they had done all of these things, if

they had worked, they were the doctors

of the time, how could they have got it

wrong?"

I'm going to give you a little hint

right now. You ready?

There's nothing that will blind

a person more than religion.

And there's nothing that will destroy a

soul as one who thinks they're right

with God who is not.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you so much

for your grace to us.

We thank you for your love and your

care.

Help us to see you through this time.

Help us to be a part of who you are

and make us a people

that seek after you and you alone.

And give us the discernment to point to

those who are not

who are telling us about you but don't

know you.

Amen.

Well, let me go back to another guy who

was very very very very very very very

political, very different politics and

very very very very religious and he

used his very very very very deep

political pockets to make himself a very

very popular leader and his name was

Nick. Nicodemus. That is one thing you

got to know about Nick is Nick was a

Pharisee. And these guys were a very

humble lot in the sense of they called

themselves the separate ones. In other

words, they didn't hang out with the

rest. We're separate. We're above.

And these guys were very political in

the sense of they were very concerned

about Israel's geopolitical health.

See, they have been under the under the

thumb of Rome for a long time. And

before that, the Greeks and the

Egyptians and you name who else has been

above them.

And these Pharisees are longing for

deliverance, longing for it. And so what

they've done is they're a people of God.

Then they become they become to this

point where they figure out what

religious system will save us which will

get God to send his deliverer down, his

Messiah.

Now, I'm not talking Trump Messiah. I'm

talking Messiah.

I say Trump Messiah because that's what

people call him. Not him.

This guy they're looking for is not a

politician who wins

once every four years.

This guy is going to come with a sword

mighty and powerful and wipe out us

Gentiles. That's what they long for. And

the reason why Nicodemus is walking

around Israel interviewing people like

Jesus is he wants to make sure they got

the religion right so that God will

forgive them and then blessings will

fall on the land.

You see for them they believed the truth

that said in seven days if seven days we

can keep Torah this was a Pharisee

saying then God will deliver us and send

his deliverer. They believed that and

they longed for this wonderful day. So

when Nicodemus comes in, he is a

politician, religious figure like James

Talico. They're the exact same in that

sense. Their theology not so much.

And he's coming in and he's looking at

Jesus and he's looking at Jesus

questioning, is this guy going to throw

things off or is he going to set things

right? Okay. And you got to remember

this is important because one thing

Nicodemus knew is we're saved because of

our bloodline.

Because we're Jews, that's why we're

saved. We're not going to heaven, by the

way. We're going to get a resurrection.

That's what he longed for. We're saved

by that. And we keep that salvation by

obeying Torah. Okay? That's what he

believed. And he's coming in to make

sure Jesus is the same view that this is

how you remain as it were a people of

God.

Well, he puts Jesus under trial.

Unfortunately, Jesus, as he always does,

flips the script.

Now, there was a man of the Pharisees

named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

So, right there, we see they got the

religious and the political in one.

This man came to Jesus by night. Well,

there's a hint for us, my friends.

John's gospel uses day and night so

beautifully. Every time it's a day, they

have revelation. They see Jesus, the

woman at the well. It's in the highest

point of the day, revelation.

But when it's dark and it's in the deep

dark, like it says here in this

particular Greek word, we don't expect

that. We expect blindness.

And said to him, Raboni, this is not a

rabbi as we understand it today. They

didn't have positional rabbis. This was

a position of teacher, someone who might

be an itinerant preacher that walked

around Jerusalem. They won't have

professional rabbis till after the

temple falls and there's a different

style of Jud Judaism.

So he goes, Raboni,

we know that you are a teacher come from

God. That's pretty high praise.

He's saying to them, we know you're a

teacher come from God because no one can

do these signs that you do unless God is

with him.

What are the signs he's talking about?

We don't know all of them. But the

wedding at the the wedding at Kaa

perhaps he thought even the cleansing of

the temple was a sign.

We don't know. But the one point he's

trying to say is you would ne we would

not know you or we recognize you as a

man of God because you have done these

signs. That's why we know. And that's

wonderful. and he's laying the

foundation and you can say that they are

giving him the stamp of approval of

Pharisees. Do you see that? They think

they are judging him whether he's

allowed to work in their world. Right?

You know, one thing I like about Jesus,

he flips the script pretty quick

and within 10 seconds,

Nicodemus realizes it's he

that's under judgment. It's he that's in

the dock.

Jesus began and he answered him, "Truly,

truly, oh, when you hear those two

amens, that means you better pay

attention, my friend. I say to you,

unless one is born again, it says in our

text." But here's my problem with that

Greek word, and I think this is why we

get this whole text mixed up sometimes.

That Greek word means two things

equally.

Yes, it means born again. But more

likely in this case, it's born from

above. Okay? So, it could mean born

again or born from above.

Unless one is born above or again, we're

going to go with that. He cannot see the

kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is

that's the language they used of

salvation.

This was the time when the king would

come in and God would rule over the

nation again and they will never see it

unless they are born as Nicodemus hears

this again because he can only hear it

through the physical world. But I

believe Jesus is saying born from above.

I'll show you why. Nicodemus says as we

would all do if we were asking ourselves

him some questions. We're like he just

said to him you're such a good guy and a

a teacher. And Jesus throws back to you,

you got to be born again. His first

answer is probably the logical one most

of us would say. How can a man be born

when he is old?

Like in other words, you're nuts.

How can he enter? Can he enter a a a

second time into his mother's womb and

be born? Obviously, the question is no.

Or it would take a miracle. It's

interesting he says that because he just

told Jesus that, "Wow, you're quite the

miracle worker.

doesn't it? But all he can do is hear

this born again through the physical

world. He can only see it through the

literal.

But Jesus is going to do something much

greater than that. Jesus says to him,

"Truly, truly I say unto you, oh double

truly trulies." You got to really listen

to this. Unless one is born of water and

spirit,

he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Now, this has led to some very unusual

commentaries.

What does he mean? Some people think,

well, he must mean the water of baptism

and the spirit of Pentecost.

The problem with that is, how would

Nicodemus have any reference for that?

Right.

Well, what about the birth? Born of

birthly water. You know, the water that

happens when you're born and then some

sort of spirit person you become later.

That's another translation.

That must be it, right? Well, no.

Well, how do we know what he means? Why

is he

using these words? And why will he in a

bit give Nicodemus heck for not knowing

this? He says, "You're a teacher of God.

How can you not know this?" Well, what

book did Nicodemus live out of every

day? Do you remember

the Old Testament, the Jewish

scriptures, the prophets? Right? So,

there's something about being born into

water and the spirit

that they should know.

And Jesus is saying, "And you don't know

this because you're too caught up in

this world."

So if we were to figure out what it

means, Jesus says, "To be born of the

water and the spirit, where should we

then go to figure this out?"

I'm going to say it. If you're not going

to say it, the Old Testament, right? The

prophets.

I'm telling you what, I just saw a study

that said 75% of evangelical children

under 50 think the Old Testament is pass

and shouldn't be read.

So encouraging.

You can't understand Jesus Christ. You

cannot understand the gospel. You'll

never understand Paul unless you get the

Old Testament down. Okay.

So what do we do? We go back to our Old

Testament and we go to the point where

God is promising that he's going to

bring them out of exile. That's what

Jesus is promising. I'm going to take

you out of exile. This one great time

where he would take them out of exile

and then he would do something among

them so that they would be his people.

Okay? And that one spot is right after

the dry bones in Ezekiel and it's

Ezekiel 36:28

Ezekiel 36:28

24-28. And listen to what it says.

I will take you from the nations and

gather you from all the countries and I

will bring you into your own land. I'm

going to take you out of exile.

I will sprinkle clean

water. I will sprinkle clean water on

you and you shall be clean from all your

uncleanliness and from all your idols I

will cleanse you. What just happened in

chapter 2 at the wedding of Canaa? What

was that all about?

Do you remember yet?

There were the jugs of that you could

wash the uncleanliness off yourself. Do

you remember that? They remember the

uncleanliness. Jesus turns them into

water. What does the water mean?

The blood of Christ, right?

He goes up onto the cross and he takes

the old wine. Only place he drinks it,

right?

drinks it. But out of him comes when

they cut his side, blood and water.

The cleansing water comes out of his

side. He took in the bad and he comes in

and he cleanses up and out of his side

comes blood and water.

So when he says, "I will sprinkle clean

water on you," he's talking about the

blood of Christ.

That is the fulfillment. This is what

must happen.

And what does John's epistle say? And we

will be cleansed by the blood of Jesus.

So that's the first part. That's the

water. And you shall be clean from all

your uncleanliness and from your idols.

We will be cleansed. But Ezekiel doesn't

end there.

And I will give you a new heart and a

new

right there.

Jesus is saying to this guy who says he

knows the Old Testament that you need to

have water and spirit. And it's right

there in his text. And no wonder he's

mad that he doesn't get it. And a new

spirit I will put within you. And I'll

remove your heart of stone from your

flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And

I will put my spirit within you.

This is what we need for salvation.

Pentecost, right, folks? and cause you

to walk in my statutes and be careful to

obey my rules. And when he says, you

shall dwell in the land that I gave your

fathers and you,

you people who have been cleansed by the

water, you people who have been filled

with the spirit shall be my people and I

will be your God.

What Jesus is saying is this was always

the plan of how you become part of the

people of God. Nicodemus says you have

to have the right right bloodline and

obey tra. What Ezekiel was pointing to

and what Jesus is pointing to is it was

always we had to have our sins cleansed

and a new spirit put within us.

And Nicodemus cannot comprehend this.

Then Jesus says that which is born of

flesh is flesh and that which is born of

spirit is spirit. Well, this can become

confusing because now is he talk about

is this what he talking about birth

again born of the flesh is a little baby

versus some sort of spirit baby.

Not at all because we have to know what

the word flesh means. The flesh doesn't

just mean your body.

The flesh means every part of you that's

that is in contrast to the living God.

Every part of you in rebellion with God.

Some of times that means the physical

body, but it just as much means your

spiritual intent, your physical intent,

your psychological intent. And what he's

saying is that which is born of flesh,

the first Adam,

is someone who has no ability to be

saved because they are bound to their

natural desires.

Okay? That's what it means to be born in

the flesh. And all of us, by the way,

have been born in the flesh, in case you

didn't know.

That's why we do really stupid things.

And we think we're better than the other

people down the pew who think who do

really stupid things, too.

That's our natural condition. And what

Jesus is saying, that which is born of

like Adam is like Adam. And that which

is born of the spirit, this gift that

comes from above that falls upon us.

Praise God for Pentecost, my friends,

because we wouldn't be the church.

That which is born of the spirit is

spirit. And we become alive new because

we're no longer bound just to our

natural desires, but the spirit comes

in, takes shelter in us, and begins to

make us look like him.

Does that make sense?

He says, "Do not marvel that I said to

you that you must be born from above."

Then he says this, "The wind wind blows

where it wishes and you hear it sound."

What is the spirit's metaphor throughout

scripture? God's breath or wind.

But you do not know where it comes from

or where it is going. Oh, what a slight

to a Nicodemus whose religion's got

things tight.

You have no idea what's going on. So it

is with everyone who is born of the

spirit. You cannot tell who's going to

get this stuff. Oh boy, that's going to

shake up the sociological cart.

This is a threat to the very core of

what does it mean to be Israel? Because

next thing you know, if you say that,

maybe the wind blows on those Gentiles.

Maybe it blows on a Sadducee. Do you

see?

Nicodemus said to him, "How can these

things be?" Here we go. Jesus answered,

"Are you a teacher of Israel and you do

not yet understand these things?" He has

spent his life studying Ezekiel and all

of these things. And yet he has such a

warped theological view that only good

Jews could make it.

Truly, truly, I say unto you, and now he

flips it. Remember they said, he said,

Nicodemus at the beginning, we know

you're from God. Watch what Jesus does.

I love this move. I say to you, we who

do you think he means by we?

Father, Son, and Spirit. He hasn't got

anybody else around him.

We speak of what we know and bear

witness to what we have seen. And then

goes back to chapter one. But you do not

receive our testimony. The religious

people are sure of themselves and yet

they completely deny Christ.

If I had told you earthly things, he

says, in other words, if I explain this

like spirit and water in earthly ways

and you do not believe, how can you

believe if I tell you of heavenly

things? If I start telling you of things

you can't know because you haven't been

there,

you don't even understand what I'm

talking about that I've shown the

prophets in the in the in this world.

And then he goes, "No one has ascended

into heaven." They used to say a lot of

people ascended into heaven in the mid

mid between the testaments. Lots of

stories. You got guys hopping on um

chariots. You got lots of this stuff

going up. Jesus' point is no one has

ascended to heaven except he who

descended from heaven. The only one

who's been to heaven that can actually

tell you what's going on is his main

point is he who descended from heaven.

And then he uses the son of man. And

what does the son of man do in Daniel 7?

He ascends to the ancient of days,

doesn't he?

So here he's playing on the fact that he

is the only one, and this is the

important point, that can tell this

truth. And he is trying to tell them,

and they don't even understand.

They can't even understand. Even though

he's told the prophets, even though he's

pointed them that something very

different was going to happen, they were

unable because they had a worldview.

They had a tight worldview. They had a

cultural worldview and they preached out

of that.

You see, the problem Nicodemus had is

the same problem James Talico has and

everyone else who decides to use

religion for power

or used God in a wrong way. We all are

born blind.

I can't say this enough.

Every one of us by our nature are blind

to who God is. And that includes all of

us.

That all of us do not see correctly.

After that moment

where we gave up that relationship with

God,

what happened was we started to worship

idols. And the scripture describes the

worshiping of idols as being without

sight,

being without be able to hear, without

being able to speak because we become

like the stone idols because we make

them in our image. And we're all bound

by this. There's not one person on this

planet that sees the kingdom.

Not one.

But there's lots of people who don't see

who say they do. James Talico,

Nicodemus.

What do you do with that? In our

culture, we're just told to be nice.

Well, he must liked God somewhat. He's

just he he talked about God. He's so

nice. We need to have to empathy with

him. Let's not shake the couple card.

Who cares if he leads everyone astray?

Let me give you an example of why I'm

saying this. Mr. Talico was preaching in

a church

and I've never heard anything like this.

This took some hubris, man. He got up

and said that we should have abortions.

Ready for this? Because of the virgin

birth.

I'm not online. You can look this up,

right? It's it's there. And you also

realize that the crowd in the

congregation are all very old white

people.

And his argument was this that the angel

came down and said, "Hey,

do you want to have a baby?"

And he said, "Mary got to say no. She

had a choice."

So God showing us we have a choice.

So go off and knock those babies out of

your wombs, babies, cuz you're like

Mary. Actually, you're a Catholic.

That's a great thing.

Doesn't actually say that, by the way.

Go back and look. He says, Mary is I

have found favor on you. I actually did

double check because I thought I must

have missed something. [clears throat]

And he says, you will be having this.

And then she says, "In the end, let it

be done as to me as you will." Do you

remember that? That's hardly her making

a choice. He's already said it's going

to happen, right?

How can somebody say that abortion is

okay through the very high point of

creation, the creation of the living

God? That if that doesn't shock you,

nothing will.

How in the world could someone be that

evil?

and it is evil. Well, guess what guys?

I'm actually enjoying this because I've

been hanging around this because I'm a

Presbyterian and there's lots of James

Talos in my denomination and they're all

as dumb as him.

They really are. And they're all going

to go meet soon at a place called

General Assembly and they're all going

to talk and they're all going to make

themselves universally dumber.

And they are.

and they have creeped into the Anglican

church and the United Church and the

Lutheran Church and they are heretics.

I'll say it, I'll look right on the

thing and I'm not scared of them at all.

The only thing I like in life at times

and I shouldn't is when I they'll

actually take the risk of to debate me.

Oh, I love that

it's all about power and prestige. And

this man, the only reason I'm mentioning

it is not because of his politics. I

don't care about his politics. But when

he goes out there and says, "I'm a

Presbyterian seminarian and this is

truth." Some Presbyterian better get up

and say he's full of crap.

Let me be the first to say he's

absolutely full of crap.

Okay?

And I'm not saying now let's become

fundamentalists or Christian

nationalists. Please believe me.

What I'm saying is that we are all born

blind and there are people out there who

say they see and they don't. And Jesus

had a special little thing for them.

Let's look on in John. Then Jesus told

him, "I entered this world to render

judgment, to give sight to the blind,

and to show those that think they see

that they are blind.

Some Pharisees who were standing nearby

heard him and asked, "Are you saying

we're blind?

If you were blind, you wouldn't be

guilty."

Jesus replied, "But you remain guilty

because you claim to see."

Our Lord came to do something wonderful

and that is give us sight. And I can

assure you, my friends, there are people

in religion and in politics who really

want to keep you from getting that. And

they need to be called out just like

Paul did.

The advice of Oswald Chamber at this

point I want to share because this has

bothered me. Trust no one, not even the

finest saint who ever walked the earth.

Ignore him if he hinders your sight of

Jesus Christ.

James Talico was leading them away from

Jesus Christ. So was Nicodemus, by the

way.

I'm not talking about how moral they

are. I'm telling you, they were out.

So how do we go from there? Well, let's

go with Jesus.

Number one, sight is given only by God.

Here's the truth that I've learned over

my limited time. First of all, and I

will be the first to tell you in the

academic, theological, re religious

world, I have met some of the most

amazing Christian people. So, it's not a

correlation to that.

But I will tell you one thing. I've also

sound found some pretty amazing awesome

Christian people in all walks of life.

I've met them in jail. I've met them in

pubs.

I've met them all over. It was a plumber

in my house one time who blew my mind on

his faith. You see, because that wind is

blowing and it isn't just blowing in

here right now.

That wind of the spirit that is opening

eyes can go everywhere and touch anyone.

And if we think it can't happen,

we've missed who Jesus is.

The truth is there is nothing in us that

deserves to see the good news as he

wants us to see.

Carl Bart said the reference to this

unique event of salvation in a man's

life which can be expected and affected

only from above from God. The event of

his total transportion into one who may

see the kingdom of God and who may thus

enter it receiving active part is

receiving an active part in its

establishment. The references to you a

unique event in a man's life that cannot

be expected

cannot be put on by us.

That is what he's talking about. He's

talking about an event where you and I

awake to Jesus Christ.

And that is by the grace of God alone.

And it has nothing to do with when we

think we figured it out. In fact, if we

think we figured it out, guess what? You

might want to wonder on where you're at.

You want to know how I know this is

true? I'm pretty educated guy. I know

scripture pretty well. And I'm going to

tell you, when the Lord hit me and he

opened his eyes and he decided to bless

me with his Holy Spirit, I was so smart.

I thought that going to a job thing at a

church meant it was about a job

opportunity.

That's the brilliance of Emory. But I

loved the Lord

and I began to see it and I began to

fall in love with it and I kept it

going. I'm telling you right now,

Nicodemus, who you knew so much, there

are going to be people that are going to

surprise you, like prostitutes and tax

collectors who are going to follow Jesus

Christ pretty soon,

and they're not going to look right,

even Gentiles,

because it's only given by God.

And he only gives it this one way, and

this is what we need.

water and spirit.

See, once he touches us, there's two

things that make us the people of God.

It isn't our bloodline. It's not even

particularly our confession. Our

confessions are great. It points out to

who we already are, but something else

has to happen. Number one, we have to be

cleansed inside.

You and I are dirty.

We are unclean. We are unholy. We need

something to step in. And that's what

the cross is about.

When he died for our sins, he provided

the forgiveness and the cleansing into

our very inner being to wash that which

needs to go to the depth of our hateful,

harmful intentions.

When you come to this table today, what

a gift.

And the blood of Christ will wash us

clean from our sin.

What a gift to us who, by the way, I

know the little secret that we all keep

sinning. What a gift for us who feel

like we need to be cleansed again to

come up back to this table. Wasn't this

great?

Because it represents what he does in

us. We need the water. We need the

cleansing. We need to be set free.

But it doesn't end there. We need his

spirit.

The difference between religion and

faith is the Holy Spirit.

Anyone can be religious,

but only one can live in faith and be

part of the people of God when one has a

taste and a filling of the Holy Spirit.

Because if you live by your flesh,

whether you're religious or not, it

leads to destruction.

But if you live by your spirit, that

spirit that's put in you, you get new

life.

You get life out of death. And he has

given it to us.

This is just Romans, isn't it? Romans 8.

For those who live according to the

flesh set their minds on the things of

the flesh, but those who live according

to the spirit set their minds on the

things of the spirit. For to set your

mind on the flesh is death, but to set

the mind on the spirit is life and

peace.

The only way that can happen is if God

encounters us, if God awakens us, and if

God shows us. And the only thing I can

say to Nicodemus and James Talico is you

need to be saved.

The good news maybe Nicodemus was

according to history. The good news is

maybe James will be too.

But let us stop playing games and

saying, "Oh, that's just another nice."

It's his perspective.

I'm so sick of that crap.

Because it destroys souls and empties

churches.

The thing about this book and what Jesus

is trying to do is get us to have new

life.

That's the whole point. He wants you and

me to read and study and get all this.

He wants you and I to be different, to

have life, to have abundant life, to

have life overflowing.

I mean, read it again. But these are

written to you that you may believe

Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God,

and by believing you may have life in

his name. Let me assure you, my friends,

that life in his name will only come

through his spirit and his water

by your sin being cleansed and your eyes

being open. And when your eyes are

opened, you will start to see garbage

for what it is.

When you have that spirit cleansed you

and you have someone getting up and

saying, "Well, God doesn't really care

what you do with your body."

I mean, this man is walking around with

theological reasons to have children

have their body parts chopped off if

they're confused about their gender.

That and he makes theological arguments

for it.

Even the world's saying that's a bad

idea.

That's not life.

But we have life

in Jesus Christ.

Lesie Nubigan

first that to experience the kingship of

God as a present reality not merely a

future hope can only be the result of an

act of God himself.

It is always a miracle, a mystery, an

action from above.

It is not and can never be the direct

result either of the reasoning of the

theologian or the technique of the

successful evangelists.

Second, and this is so important, to

experience the kingship of God as a

present reality is not simply a matter

of illumination. It is a matter of

regeneration.

It is not just now seeing but now

believing.

My friends,

don't listen to this garbage.

This person is saying there's no need

for regeneration. Just keep doing what

the world says.

I'm promising you that part that's

broken that you hate, God's regenerating

that.

That part that you have done in your

life that you know is wrong, he's

cleansing you from it.

and he is putting new life within you.

This is the good news. This is the

kingdom of God.

This is the only thing worth living for.

You are going to hear about this guy and

you're going to hear he's a

Presbyterian.

Remember what I said.

He's may be Presbyterian on label, but

he's not biblical or a minister in

truth.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your

amazing grace. We thank you that you

have poured your spirit down upon us.

We thank you that you are faithful.

I pray personally for James Terko

that his eyes will be open that he will

see.

I pray for those who are under his

teaching that their ears will be blocked

from his lies.

I pray Lord that you by your spirit will

one day change him on the inside.

Heavenly Father, I pray for our churches

that we stand firm against false

teaching

and that we embrace you. We run to you,

the giver of life.

Heavenly Father, we pray that you will

be in these elements today.

That you will remind us that you have

cleansed us through your sacrifice on

the cross and that you have given us

your spirit on Pentecost. And may you

begin that illumination and regeneration

today. So that when people walk around

who are confused, who have heard lies,

they might see in us truth.

The truth that is only truth we have,

Jesus Christ.

Amen.

All right. Now's the