Nic at Night

We're in John chapter number 3 today and we're going to start, we're going to go through most of the first part of John 3 but for the sake of time, the reading we're going to start in verse number 5.

And it says, Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again.

The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth.

So is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel and knowest not these things?

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know and testify that we have seen.

And ye receive not our witness.

If I have told you earthly things and you believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things?

And no man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Let's pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, just thank you for this opportunity that we have again to come to you on this beautiful day and just to gather around your word.

Be with the word that is preached today.

Lord, help your words to be spoken to your people.

Allow us to go out this week and use what we have been taught today.

Lord, just be with Brother Tyler and his family as he is away and he is preaching.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Thank you for standing.

You may be seated.

If you take notes, you see that the title of our message this morning is Nick at Night.

All right?

Now, I would love to take all the credit for this sermon title.

However, I cannot do that.

About 20 to 25 years ago, my senior pastor at my home church in Joshua, Texas preached a sermon entitled Nick at Night.

And as a young kid, when I saw that title of the message, I was like, man, that is ingenious.

And one day I want to preach a title or a message with that title.

So here we are.

All right?

Nick at Night.

Anybody remember Nick at Night?

All right?

Oh, yes.

Oh, yes.

All right.

Now you're about to show your age.

Nick at Night has been around since 1984.

Bet you didn't know that.

It has been around for a very, very long time.

Also about to show your age here because I will tell you, I do not remember Nick at Night in the 80s.

All right?

I do not even remember Nick at Night in the early 90s.

Okay?

But it was around.

Nevertheless, I did some research on Nick at Night as I was preparing for this message.

And back in 1984, there were several shows that began airing on Nick at Night.

If you do not know what Nick at Night is, it was a time slot on Nickelodeon in the evening where they would show shows that were geared towards adults or older ones.

Back in the day, they aired the Mary Tyler Moore show.

All right?

I won't make you raise your hand if anybody remembers that show.

But there was also I Love Lucy, Dennis the Menace, all the black and white stuff.

All right?

Back then, I heard that the world wasn't black and white.

It wasn't until color television came around that the world began to be in color.

All right?

No.

But back then, there were several good shows.

And as time evolved, so did Nick at Night.

I remember in my day, I remember watching Full House, the Cosby show, shows like that.

I know Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was airing during my time as a child.

All right?

So I'm not super old, but I am a little bit old.

Okay?

But as time has evolved, Nick at Night has become different.

As a matter of fact, Nick at Night is actually still around.

That might shock you a little bit.

I didn't realize it was still a thing either.

Because we all stream.

I like streaming.

I don't like to watch commercials.

So I don't actually have cable television.

As I'm sure a lot of people in this room might not have cable television.

And so, as I began to look, 2016 was about the peak or the beginning of the decline for Nick at Night.

In 2016, there were showing different shows that you might have heard of.

Everybody Loves Raymond, The King of Queens, Friends, different shows like that were airing back in 2016.

And there were about 97 million people back in 2016 that watched Nick at Night.

Fast forward to 2022, and that number has significantly decreased.

Not just watching Nick at Night, but there were only about 65 million people that even had cable television to begin with back in 2022.

I couldn't find an exact number for this year to date.

But if you could imagine, if there were only 65 million that had cable television, much less than that, were watching Nick at Night.

And now Nick at Night is hanging by a thread.

It is trying to air different shows, and nothing's really working because not a whole lot of people are watching it anymore.

But as you notice, Nick at Night and anything dealing with Hollywood or anything in the entertainment business must evolve to meet the needs of the people.

Because in 2026, I don't believe they're going to be showing the Mary Tyler Moore show.

I just don't think they will.

People don't like that anymore.

New trends have come and gone.

New shows have come and gone.

And that would not really appeal to the audience today.

Today, however, we are going to talk about a story, an instruction given from Jesus Christ that was true back in the Bible, and it is still true today.

It never changes.

We are talking about the unchanging word of God, Jesus Christ, instruction in Nicodemus about salvation.

As things come and go, as change comes, I'm not a big fan of change.

I don't like change very much, but the world is changing.

Different trends come and go.

I'll do six, seven of my teenagers now, and they look at me like I'm not cool because that was totally two weeks ago.

Now they do some scuba thing.

I don't even know what they do now, all right?

It changes.

Things come and go.

But the message that we are going to look at today does not change.

The message that Christ has given us today on salvation does not change.

And Nick at Nights was around for about 42 years.

The message of salvation has been from the beginning of time.

We need to accept Christ as our personal Savior.

It doesn't matter who you are.

It doesn't matter what you do.

It doesn't matter how much you volunteer at the church.

It doesn't matter if you're a Sunday school teacher, a pastor.

That is not good enough to get you into heaven.

That is not good enough to get you eternal life.

And that's what we are going to look at today.

The salvation message that never changes.

And first of all, I see here a religious man in the dark.

A religious man in the dark.

I find it very ironic that it is at nighttime that Nicodemus comes to Christ.

You know why?

Not just because it was physically dark.

But Nicodemus' soul was spiritually dark.

By the way, let's read the first two verses of John 3 and then we'll discuss this farther.

It says,

Just to paint you a picture of who Nicodemus was, Nicodemus was a top dog in the temple.

He was one of those guys that knew the Bible frontwards and backwards.

He knew it well.

He knew all of Christ's teachings.

He knew everything.

But he knew he was missing something.

Nicodemus was a great man.

People looked up to him all over the temple, I'm sure.

But Nicodemus realized he was missing something.

Letter A under this religious man in the dark.

He had an impressive position.

Nicodemus was a guy that you looked at him and you said, man, that guy has everything.

Let me just tell you, just because you're a deacon, just because you're a Sunday school teacher,

just because everybody looks highly on you in the church does not give you salvation.

It doesn't mean you're saved just because of what you do in the church, just because how much you give every month.

That has nothing to do with salvation.

It doesn't.

God's told us to do many things.

God's got commands in the Bible.

But command number one, he said the only way, the only way to accept Christ is to believe by faith on Jesus Christ.

And that's what he's trying to tell Nicodemus here.

Nicodemus knows he's missing something.

Ruler of the Jews, teacher in the temple, had everything together and he was still missing something.

Let me just tell you this morning, doesn't matter what role you have in the church, this is the most important part of it.

Don't miss this like Nicodemus did.

Nicodemus went his whole life studying the Bible, doing things that were right and he was still missing something.

Don't miss salvation.

Just because of who you are and what you portray to be, don't say, well, everybody else assumes I'm saved.

That's not going to get you into heaven.

One day when God looks at you in the face and says, why should I let you into heaven?

Don't be the one saying, well, I volunteered at the church.

Well, I was a Sunday school teacher.

Well, I did everything right, God.

That's why you should let me in.

He's going to say, depart from me for I never knew you.

Because you missed it, just like Nicodemus did.

The poorest person in here, the richest person in here, the person that knows the most about the Bible down to the person who knows the least.

None of that matters.

All that matters is you accepting Christ by faith.

And that's what Christ is trying to tell Nicodemus here.

Nicodemus has missed something, as smart as he is.

If he walked through the back doors today, he'd be the smartest guy in the room.

He would.

He'd be a whole lot smarter than me.

But he still missed the most important part.

So first of all, I see he had an impressive position.

Secondly, I see he had an impressive reputation.

Everybody knew Nicodemus was a Christian.

Everybody knew Nicodemus had it all right.

When you look at Nicodemus, man, he's the guy you want to model your life after.

That's the guy.

If I'm a Christian, I want to be more like Nicodemus.

I see several men in the Bible, first of which Ananias.

I preached on Ananias a long time ago.

Ananias was a man that was a church-going member, a strong member.

Maybe he taught a Sunday school class.

But him and his wife had this plan to basically steal from God.

Ananias had it all in his head and knew everything he was supposed to do.

Knew how to be a good Christian.

And it didn't matter because he missed the most important part.

Judas walked with Jesus Christ day in and day out.

Judas Iscariot.

And he is known for betraying Christ.

Not that he didn't know how to be a good Christian.

I have a feeling.

I don't know what a lot of people do outside of these walls.

I don't know.

I don't know how you act.

I don't know what kind of person you are.

But when I see you in church, I see a person that is trying to do the right thing.

That wants to be a good Christian.

But let me just tell you, that doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter how high of a level of a Christian you think you are.

If you miss this part, my friends, you're not saved.

You don't have Christ.

That's what Christ is going to try to get across to Nicodemus.

All of this doesn't matter.

This stuff that you have, these things that you do, the things that you do for the church, none of it matters.

All of those things are good things, Nicodemus.

But it's not getting you into heaven.

It's not going to work.

It's not.

Not only does he have an impressive position, an impressive reputation,

but thirdly, he had an incomplete understanding.

He thought he knew everything, but he missed one part.

I was a school teacher, as most of you know.

And I taught sixth grade, and I taught high school English.

And you know what was crazy?

In a Christian school, there were some kids, man, that were just super smart.

I could gloss over the material, and man, they could get their work done with no help from me.

And then there were some that I really had to work hard.

I had to beat the book over their head so they would get the information.

There was a girl in my sixth grade class, my first year teaching, that really tried my patience.

Not because she was bad, but because she was not understanding what I was trying to teach her.

I'm very good at math.

Very good at math.

I love numbers.

And I had several in that sixth grade class that were math whizzes.

They were very good at math.

I didn't even have to teach the material.

They could see the steps and do it on their own.

But one girl could not do that.

I would try to teach her certain things.

She was very bad at fractions.

Couldn't do fractions.

Didn't understand why.

And man, I would go through step by step by step how to convert fractions to numbers and vice versa.

And then I would make her do the exact same thing that I just did.

And she would do it wrong every single time.

And it drove me up a wall.

She would come to before school tutoring.

She would come to after school tutoring.

I would spend forever trying to get it through to her how to do this math.

It didn't make any sense to me because I knew how to do it.

The other kids knew how to do it.

Why couldn't she?

That's what makes Jesus Christ such a great teacher.

Because he is able to dumb it down for whoever needs to hear the gospel.

Christ is able to give it to him.

And what's amazing is Nicodemus was brilliant.

And Christ still had to dumb down the gospel for him.

Christ had to show him that you're missing the main point.

Don't miss the main point this morning.

It's not good enough to know about Jesus.

It's not good enough to know what he does.

We need to know to meet Jesus in our hearts.

That is the only thing that is going to give us that complete understanding.

And then finally under this point he came under the cover of darkness.

Nicodemus was scared.

Nicodemus was very uncertain.

Nicodemus was confused.

He was ashamed.

He didn't know what to do.

He came to Jesus at night.

But here is where I got to give props to Nicodemus.

At least he came.

Some of us in here might have been struggling with the salvation for a very long time.

You sit in your pew every single service.

Every time the doors are open you're here.

But you know deep down that you're not saved.

You've never realized your need for salvation.

And you've sat in your seat for so long.

Today you're going to have another opportunity to come.

We don't know when that's going to end.

We don't know when those opportunities are going to run out.

Why don't we make that today?

That's what Christ is telling Nicodemus.

Don't lose out on this opportunity Nicodemus.

He came.

This might have been Nicodemus' only shot.

We'll speak on it here in just a moment.

We don't know the ending to Nicodemus.

We don't know if Nicodemus eventually realized he needed to be born again.

We don't know.

Christ left us on a cliffhanger here.

But I can tell you one thing.

Christ showed that he needed it.

Don't wait.

Don't wait.

It doesn't matter if everybody assumes you're saved.

It doesn't matter if everybody in this building when you come forward for salvation today are shocked.

That doesn't matter.

It's better to come forward now than to be standing in the presence of God Almighty.

And God to say depart from me for I never knew you.

Because of the kind of person that you are.

Because you're highly looked upon in the church.

Don't let that deter you from coming to Christ today.

Nicodemus was probably real embarrassed.

Nobody in this church is as high up as Nicodemus was in the temple.

Nobody is.

He was embarrassed.

Don't be embarrassed to come.

Just come.

Don't be scared.

Come today.

We're going to have an altar that's open.

We're going to have people down here that can show you by the word of God what you need to do to be saved.

Just come.

You know the hardest step?

The first one.

So first I see a religious man who is in the dark.

Secondly I see a radical message about new birth.

A radical message about new birth.

And it says in John chapter number 3 verse 3.

Jesus answered and said unto him.

Verily, verily, I say unto thee.

Except a man be born again.

He cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus saith unto him.

How can a man be born when he is old?

Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born as smart as Nicodemus is?

He was a real bonehead here.

He was not getting what Christ was trying to teach him.

He said you got to be born again.

You have to know all these steps.

This is what you need, Nicodemus.

Don't look past it.

You need a rebirth.

Nicodemus doesn't get it.

Here's where we see another part of his incomplete understanding.

He's not getting what Christ is telling him.

He doesn't get it.

He's still missing the main point.

So in verse number 5.

Jesus has to dumb it down like Nicodemus is 5 years old.

And it says in verse 5.

Jesus answered.

Verily, verily, I say unto thee.

Except a man be born of water and of the spirit.

He cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh.

And that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

Marvel not that I said unto thee.

Ye must be born again.

The wind bloweth where it listeth.

And now hearest the sound thereof.

But canst not tell whence it cometh.

And whither it goeth.

So is everyone that is born of the spirit.

The first thing I notice here under this radical message.

Is the new birth is necessary.

The new birth is necessary.

Necessary.

I notice this.

Many people talk about salvation as a change.

From one way to another way.

Salvation does not bring change.

Let's just get that out there.

Salvation doesn't bring change.

You say well what does salvation bring if it doesn't bring change?

Salvation should be regeneration.

You are one person that is becoming an entirely new creature.

The old man has passed away.

The new man has come.

We should be a new creature.

We should be transformed into something different.

Religion can change me.

Religion by the way can make me a pretty good moral person.

It can change my actions.

But salvation transforms me.

Salvation should transform my life to one person into a new person.

Brother Tyler man he's a great preacher.

He can get up here and give us great things that we can use on a weekly basis.

We can go out in the world and use it and live for Christ.

But if all we get is the truth that he's giving.

We go out and try to live it.

But we never have salvation.

We're trying to change an old filthy man that cannot be changed.

You know why?

Because the flesh lives in sin.

The flesh desires to sin.

And if we are trying to change that man it can't be done.

We are always going to come back to that sinful man.

We're always going to come back to the one that has lust.

That has desire.

And that's what Christ is saying here in verse number 3.

Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Not that he may not.

Not that he probably won't.

He cannot.

There are some politicians out there right now.

You probably know who I'm speaking of when I tell you this.

A man running for the senate that has famously said there are several.

There are many ways for salvation.

You can get saved in many different ways.

Many avenues.

He said many crazy things.

But that is one of the biggest ones that stuck out to me.

You know why?

That's what a false teacher says.

That's somebody that has not read the word of God.

And if he has he's going completely contrary to it.

Because in my Bible verse number 3 says that you cannot see the kingdom of God if you are not born again.

If you do not put your saving faith in Jesus Christ it cannot be done.

Doesn't matter who you are.

Doesn't matter where you've come from.

Doesn't matter if you've grown up in church your whole life.

Or you just came off the streets today.

That doesn't matter.

Or everybody needs to put their saving faith in Christ.

It's not for a few.

It's not just for those that are lost that are coming here.

Our members, most of our members are saved.

We don't know that.

We look at people and I say well I think they're saved.

Your salvation is between you and God.

God's the only one who knows if you're saved.

You're the only one if you know if you've actually transformed into a new individual.

The new birth is necessary.

By the way you can't live this life alone either.

Nicodemus was trying to do everything in his own power.

Everything that he could do he had done.

And he was still missing something.

There was a young man when my parents were youth helpers at my old church.

And there was a young man in the youth department.

His name I believe I could get this wrong.

They'll tell me I got it wrong later.

I think his name was Philip.

He was a Filipino young man.

And I remember my parents always trying to reach him with the gospel.

He came to church almost every Sunday.

He came on the bus.

And multiple times my dad would tell him hey you really need to be saved.

You really need Jesus Christ in your life.

Every time this is what he said.

I'm 85% sure I'm saved.

85%.

That's a pretty good number.

But then he said but if I'm not.

I think I can handle hell.

That's what he said.

He said man if I even if I'm not saved.

I think I can handle it.

Now obviously if I went person by person in the room today.

No one would say they think they can handle hell.

But every time you reject Christ.

Every time you reject his salvation that he's offering you.

You're saying I can handle it.

I've got it on my own.

I can do it.

I don't need Christ.

I've got it.

We wouldn't say that out loud.

But that's what we're saying.

Every time we reject his salvation.

It's a free gift that he's offering.

That's all he said.

He said just come to me.

You can accept me.

You need this rebirth.

It's essential to you being saved.

Believe by faith on me and you can be saved Nicodemus.

It's as simple as that.

But there are so many people that think they've got it.

They can handle it.

That's a pretty scary story to me.

Of a person that actually says I can handle hell.

But as people man I've got an ego.

I like to be right all the time.

Normally when I get in a disagreement with my wife.

It's because I've got an ego.

And I don't want to be wrong.

Even if I know I'm wrong.

I'll still argue my point.

I don't like to be wrong.

I've got an ego.

That's what so many of us have.

And that's what keeps us from coming to Christ.

Because I don't want to know what somebody else thinks of me.

Everybody thinks I'm saved already.

Everybody knows I'm saved.

I can't go forward.

Man going forward is for people that are new.

That are visitors.

Everybody knows I'm saved.

I can't go forward now.

Nicodemus was in the same spot.

He said everybody knows I'm saved.

Everybody knows who I am.

Everybody's got an idea of what kind of a man I am.

I can't do it.

But that first step is the hardest.

And that's what he had to make.

He had to make that first step to come to Christ.

So not only is the new birth necessary.

The new birth is spiritual.

And this is the part that he missed.

He didn't realize.

He thought it was two physical births.

That didn't sound good.

Why would I want to be born again?

That's wild.

I don't know about you.

But I don't want to be physically born again.

It didn't make any sense to him.

So Christ had to dumb it down a little bit and say listen.

Your first birth was great.

The only birth that matters though is your spiritual one.

Because if you don't have a spiritual birth.

A spiritual rebirth.

You will be spending forever one day in a place called hell.

Because you just rejected what God was offering you.

I would never reject a free gift.

I would never reject something that somebody is giving to me.

If somebody came up and handed something to me.

Doesn't matter what it is.

It can be a little twig.

Alright.

You're giving it to me.

It's free.

I'll take it.

I like free things.

Not much in life is free.

But salvation is.

Not much in life can be gotten so easily as salvation.

Then why do we fight against salvation so hard as we do?

Nicodemus.

Man he was convicted.

I imagine he'd been thinking about it for a long time and he fought it.

He said I can't do that.

Everybody knows who I am.

I don't want to do that.

Everybody thinks I'm saved.

Everybody knows I'm saved.

I don't.

I can't go to Christ.

And he finally took that first step.

Why don't you take that first step today?

That first step out of the aisle and say man it's my day.

I want salvation.

A long time ago at my old church there was a man.

His name was Joe.

Back then he was living the right way.

He was actually an usher.

He was a teacher.

He was doing everything the right way.

And I remember one Sunday he came forward and got saved.

And I thought about it.

As a I was probably in seventh or eighth grade.

And I said.

Why is he doing that?

Why is he coming forward and getting saved?

Why would he do that?

And he realized he was living a lie.

He was living a life that looked great.

But it was without the Holy Spirit.

It was without Christ.

He never asked Christ into his heart.

He never realized his need for salvation.

He was living the right kind of life.

But he realized what he was doing was fake.

It was a lie.

I mentioned this in Sunday school this morning with my teens.

You know there's two places that we can be.

We can't be right in the middle.

You can either be all in with the flesh or all in with the spirit.

But so many of us want to hold on to the flesh.

And then come to church.

And act like the spirit.

And we missed Christ.

We missed salvation.

Because we wanted to live life our way.

The new birth is transformational.

It should transform your life.

And then finally under this point.

The new birth is the work of God.

The new birth is the work of God.

I love when Christ uses illustrations.

Because they're way better than anything I can come up with.

It says in verse number 8.

The wind bloweth where it listeth.

And now hears the sound thereof.

But canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth.

So is everyone that is born of the spirit.

You've heard this illustration many times I'm sure.

You can't see the wind outside.

What can you see though?

The effects of the wind.

You can see the trees blowing.

You can see flags blowing.

You can see the effects of the wind.

You should be able to see the effects the spirit is having on your life.

You should be able to see the work of God through your life.

If you are not producing that fruit.

If you are not showing the effects of what the spirit is doing in your life.

You might need to reevaluate things this morning.

I am not preaching this message to get you to doubt your salvation.

I am preaching this message because there are some I'm sure in the midst of us.

That think they are good enough to get there.

Even if they wouldn't say it.

That think maybe they have done enough here to get there.

And salvation.

I just don't want to take that step.

I just don't want to go for it.

I just.

I can't.

Do it.

Today.

If you think somebody is going to look at you and laugh at you and say man I thought he was already saved.

Why is he going down today?

That's just not the case.

The greatest day in heaven is when one more soul.

Comes to him.

I don't care who you are this morning.

I don't care how shocked everybody is to see you come walk down the aisles.

If you have never experienced the rebirth that Jesus is offering.

You need to get that right today.

And third.

This is one of the most important parts.

A remedy that was sent down from heaven.

A remedy that was sent down from heaven.

Every sickness needs some type of cure.

Or we hope there is some type of cure for every sickness.

My kids had a hand foot and mouth disease.

Right.

And they told us the only thing that will help them is basically time.

You can give them Tylenol, Ibuprofen.

That will help with the pain.

But nothing besides time can actually fix it.

There's no medicine that will make it go away.

And I hate that.

I hate my kids hurting and not knowing what's going on.

But they've got a sickness that just medicine isn't really going to do it.

But today we are overcome by a deadly, deadly disease.

It's called sin.

But God has put the medicine on the table.

He's put the remedy for it on the table.

And we have to take it.

If I was undergoing a very severe disease.

I had encephalitis when I was 13 years old.

Pretty severe encephalitis.

There was no medication that could help me.

But let's just say a doctor had created a medicine to give me.

And said there's no side effects.

All it's going to do is take it away.

How foolish would I have been to say, I don't want to do it.

I'm okay living the life that I'm living.

I'm okay where I'm at.

I don't need that.

I don't need what you've got to heal me.

I don't need any of that.

I'm cool being sick.

I'm okay right where I'm at.

I know it might take my life.

But I'm good.

But Jesus uses an Old Testament account that Nicodemus finally understood here.

It says in verse number 9, Nicodemus answered and said unto him, how can these things be?

Jesus answered and said unto him, art thou a master of Israel?

And no, it's not these things.

I find it very funny when I see that Jesus Christ was a little bit sarcastic and a little bit sassy himself.

He's tried to explain to Nicodemus two different times in two different ways that he should have understood at some point.

Nicodemus still hasn't got it.

So he pivots to something that he knows Nicodemus should understand.

It says in verse number 11, verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know and testify that we have seen.

And ye receive not our witness.

If I have told you earthly things and you believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things?

He says, I've told you earthly things.

I've told you heavenly things.

Where else do you want me to go, Nicodemus?

Verse 13, and no man hath ascended up unto heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, which is in heaven.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

In the camp of the Israelites.

This is the illustration that Christ uses.

He says the Israelites were overcome with serpents, were bitten by poisonous snakes.

And God gave them the only way out.

Moses held up a brazen serpent.

All they had to do to get healed was to look on that brazen serpent and believe that God would heal them.

Not everybody did it, by the way.

There were still some that died because of the snake's venom.

All because they just didn't believe what God said he would do.

We're like the children of Israel sometimes, and that's what Christ is telling Nicodemus.

Nicodemus.

He held up Christ on the cross.

He said, I gave you everything.

I gave you what you needed for salvation, and you still, you just won't take a step out in the aisle.

You just won't go to somebody and ask them about salvation because we're so egotistical, we're so stubborn in our ways,

that we're okay right where we're at.

I got it.

I can handle it.

The people were dying here in this camp.

They were dying just like sin has taken over the world, and there are people dying every day because of their sin.

Sin will rot you to the core.

Sin will take you way farther than you ever want to go.

Sin is a very deadly pandemic.

Pandemic is not a great word to use now after 2020.

We all remember the COVID-19 pandemic, right?

It was a terrible time in our history.

Let me just tell you, sin is much more dangerous than any virus could ever be.

Sin is much more dangerous than any disease could ever be.

And the crazy thing is, as deadly as sin is, Christ, or God, gave us a cure.

But if you've never received salvation this morning, you're saying, I don't need the cure.

I'll take this deadly sin in my life.

I'll be okay.

I'll get through it.

Again, maybe you're not saying that out loud.

But in your heart, every time you reject Christ, that's what you're saying.

It's pretty hard to think about that if we're rejecting salvation.

If we're hearing God's word preached over and over and over again, we've never accepted Christ.

We are truly telling God, no.

You've got a gift for me.

I don't need it.

You've got a cure for my sin.

I think I'm going to be okay.

And finally, under this point, the remedy must be received by faith.

You've got to put your faith in Christ.

Just as the children of Israel were supposed to look on that brazen serpent, believe God could heal them.

All you've got to do is look on Christ and believe by faith that he died on the cross for your sins and saved you.

You can be saved.

That's it.

That's all you've got to do.

Christ is offering it to us this morning.

All you have to do is look on him and believe just like the children of Israel did.

It would have been crazy for the children of Israel not to look on that brazen serpent.

God said, I'm going to heal you from the snake venom that's bitten you.

And there were still some that said no.

Just like today, there's still some that are saying no.

Don't be that one.

Don't be that one.

You never know how many opportunities you've got.

You never know how many are going to come by the way.

Why don't we make today's opportunity today to be the day of salvation?

Today's the day of salvation.

Tomorrow's never going to come.

Yesterday's come and gone.

Today should be your day of salvation.

And then finally, this is my favorite part of the message.

A redeeming love for the whole world.

Everybody knows John 3.16.

I'm sure a lot of us can quote it.

It says,

I've discussed it with a few people.

But this past week when Truett was having a seizure, he got like 104 fever on Tuesday.

And a couple hours later, he was having a febrile seizure.

I didn't really know what a febrile seizure was until after it had happened.

And I had it explained to me.

But I was sitting in the living room playing with Emerson.

And all of a sudden, I hear my wife scream from the back bedroom.

And I came in there and all Truett was doing was staring off into space.

And that was it.

Couldn't get his attention.

And then all of a sudden, he closed his eyes and went limp, unresponsive, for about 10 minutes.

And I just remember thinking, I needed to do something.

This is my only son.

I would do anything to make sure that he gets the care he needs right now.

I would have gone off the ends of the earth to make sure Truett got the care he needed.

Now, obviously, I look back and see that those are a little bit more common today, the febrile seizures.

But at the moment, man, I didn't know what was going on.

I didn't know if Truett was about to pass away.

I didn't know.

I had no idea.

And then as I was studying for this message, I thought about it.

I'd do anything for Truett.

God sent his son.

You know what the only purpose God sent his son for?

Was to die for you.

That was it.

I'm sure most parents will understand the love that parents have for their children.

God loved Jesus Christ, and he sent him to die for you.

So let me ask you, think about your love for your child.

God's love was much more than ours for his child.

Get this.

He had him die for you.

How much does he love you?

How much could he possibly love you if he sent his son to die for me?

Man, his love for me must be running over.

And it is.

And it's pretty hard to believe that there are still people that are rejecting him.

That somebody that loves you so much, loves you more than any other person in the world.

And we reject him.

We say, no, I don't think I need it today.

I'm doing all the right things.

I'm a Sunday school teacher.

I'm a deacon.

I'm doing the right stuff.

I'm in the right place.

Take that step forward today.

Nicodemus had to come.

As we close, there's several things.

The source of salvation was God.

God gave us the opportunity to be saved.

God didn't have to do that.

By the way, our sin meant we deserved death and hell.

But God sent his son.

God is the source of salvation.

Secondly, the strength of salvation is God's love.

Love was the foundation of what God built salvation on.

In verse 16, it says, for God so loved the world.

The only reason he sent his son is because he loved you.

He loved you.

Thirdly, the sacrifice of salvation.

There had to be a sacrifice.

And God sent his son to be that sacrifice for you.

And finally, this is the best part.

The scope of salvation.

Whosoever.

Doesn't matter where you've been.

Doesn't matter who you are.

You've got the opportunity to accept Christ's salvation today.

Don't be so stubborn that you say, man, I'm doing the right things.

Everybody thinks I'm safe.

I'm not going to come now.

I'll do it later.

I'll do it in private.

I don't want to come right now.

Take that step, man.

Don't walk away from this church service not knowing Christ.

Don't do it.

It's a very, very narrow, narrow rope to walk when you, again, reject another opportunity that Christ has given you.

As we close, come out of the night today.

Don't stay in the darkness.

Do what Nicodemus did.

He was in a dark place and he knew he had to come.

Like I said, we don't know the finality of where Nicodemus ended up.

But I do know he had to take that first step first.

Take that first step.

Don't sit in your seat.

Don't stay in your seat.

If you're not saved, if you've never accepted Christ's salvation, come today.

Don't wait.

Go ahead and bow your heads and close your eyes.

As our musicians get in place.

Why not make today the day of your salvation?

Don't wait.

I don't play the lottery.

But if you are saying today, I'll wait and do it later.

You are playing the lottery with your soul.

And it's a dangerous outcome.

Don't be the one sitting in your seat saying, man, I don't want everybody else to see that I'm going for it.

Everybody thinks I'm saved.

Don't be that one.

Come today.

Come accept Christ today.

There are a couple people up here that can show you from the Bible how to be saved.

But you've got to make that first step.