Won't be fooled again

John 3:4-9

We won’t be fooled again

I hope you enjoyed that skit. I know we had fun making it. In the Skit, Madison, our host, did a good job of calling out the various false teachers and getting them removed from her program. It’s easy to spot false teaching when it’s so far out there. Yet, there’s still a mountain of false doctrine out there. I couldn’t possibly list it all. Over the years I’ve had you guys bring me a host of questions and teachings that sounded almost right but weren’t. As always I encourage you to dig into scripture and know it so as not to be lead astray.

The Old Testament is the history of God’s people being deceived. It starts with Adam & Even in Genesis 3 being deceived by Satan. We see the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob) being deceived by themselves and others when they strayed from God’s path. When Moses goes on the mountain to receive the commandments from God the people quickly turned aside to worship a golden calf. The book of Judges is full of stories where God’s people turned aside to Idols. Saul, David & Solomon were no strangers to false prophets and false doctrine either.

One of the main jobs of the Pharisees was to make sure people followed the law. Also, they were to call out heresy when they saw it. They were essentially told to keep a watch out for false prophets. Given Israel’s history with false prophets it’s no wonder they became so zealous in not wanting to repeat the mistakes of their fathers. This helps to understand where Nicodemus is coming from. He doesn’t the people to be fooled again. That’s where we are tonight in John 3:4-9 “We won’t be fooled again.”

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?”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ 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 of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

There was no shortage of discussion among the Pharisees & Sadducees concerning Jesus. Jesus even had caught the attention of the Jewish Sanhedrin. Seventy men chosen from all, the religious leaders of Israel, Pharisees/Sadducees, and priests. To be among the Sanhedrin was to be considered the best of the best. They had money, power, status, and education. It was one of the highest honors you could achieve in ancient Israel.

 Nicodemus is one such man Nicodemus was a pharisee, not only that he had made it all the way on to the Sanhedrin. He was considered one of the best teachers in all of Israel.. He had accurate theology. He believed in God, divine sovereignty, human responsibility, angels, demons, heaven, hell and the resurrection. He had access to the OT scrolls which the general public did not. He had the highest education one could obtain.

Nicodemus wanted to know more about Jesus so He goes directly to the source. Here Jesus turns his worldview upside down by telling him “If you want to enter the kingdom of God. You must be born again.”

Nicodemus just got with a painful truth. A painful truth that we all must accept one day or another. That there is nothing we can do to achieve our own salvation.

Nicodemus understood this right away, though it took a while for him to accept it. How can this be? A man can’t re-enter the womb. There’s no Benjamin Button reverse aging going on. We try. Lord knows we try. Much Like Ponce De Leon we waste a lot of time chasing after a fountain of youth. Shaquille O’Neal is famously quoted as saying “Father time is undefeated.”  To be born again is impossible. At least in our own strength. This is one of the cores of Jesus teaching. Matthew 19:26 “ “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.””

We have to first come to that point that things done our way only leads in one direction, Hell.

Jesus’ statement about the new birth was so strange to Nicodemus. He thought that the Jewish people already had it; they certainly weren’t looking for it. They only looked for a triumphant Messiah. We are in a similar boat. We look to Jesus as a heavenly 911 operator or cosmic Santa clause. To deal with problems pertaining to this life. I want this job, this spouse, this house, that car. I want this person healed, I want this person to move away, etc.  How much of our prayer life is devoted to requests that ultimately benefit us personally? How much of it are we seeking to Love God and Love our neighbor?

All over the New Testament this idea of rebirth, occurs. 1 Peter speaks of being born anew by God’s great mercy (1 Peter 1:3)  1 Peter speaks of being born anew from an imperishable seed (1 Peter 1:22-23)  James speaks of God bringing us forth by the word of truth (James 1:18)Titus speaks to us of the washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5)  Romans speaks of dying with Jesus and rising anew (Romans 6:1-11)  1 Corinthians speaks of new believers as new-born babes (1 Corinthians 3:1-2) 2 Corinthians speaks of us being a new creation in Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17) Galatians says that in Jesus we are a new creation (Galatians 6:15)  Ephesians says the new man is created after God in righteousness (Ephesians 4:22-24) Hebrews says that at the beginning of our Christian life we are like children (Hebrews 5:12-14)

Yet, while is is all over the NT at this point the NT hasn’t even been written. So Jesus, makes a reference to the OT for the OT Scholar, Nicodemus.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 

What does that even mean? There’s a lot of stances actually. Jesus was referring to water baptism, the water is the Holy Spirit, the water is the Word of God, John’s Baptism, even physical child birth. However, with the context being Jesus talking to an OT scholar it’s likely he’s making an OT reference to explain His point. 

Ezekiel 36:25-28 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. ²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. ²⁸ Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God”

God is promising through the prophet Ezekiel, six centuries before Jesus, that a time is coming when there will be a transformative new beginning, characterized by spectacular cleansing symbolized by water that washes away all impurities and idols, and by the powerful gift of the Spirit that transforms the hearts of people. That is what is required if people are to see and enter the kingdom of God. Jesus is saying “This is in the Old Testament Nicodemus! You know exactly what I’m talking about. “

You can’t control things, and make no mistake that at the root of works based salvation is a need to be in control, you can’t control things anymore than you can control wind. What can you do to control the wind? Can you summon it? Can you send it away? We’re not Storm from the X-Men. Wind is invisible, uncontrollable, and irresistible. It’s part of the sovereign work of God.

Nicodemus, is stunned into almost silence. I can see the shocked look on his face. The wheels turning in his mind. How it all makes sense, it’s the thing that’s been missing. If this is true, then it changes everything, everything, including Nicodemus. How can these things be? 

Nicodemus in his quest for truth has received it, from the very Logos Himself. A lifetime of making sure others were not fooling him just lead him to the realization that he’s just fooling himself. When we are honest with ourselves that’s the main appeal of false teachers. 

2 Timothy 4:3-4 “³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; ⁴ and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables”

We like the feel good messages that promises prosperity for us and judgment upon those we don’t like. We change the channel, skip to the next video, move over to the next podcast until we find someone that teaches what we already believe to be true. Nicodemus now faces a choice is he going to accept the radical life changing nature of the Gospel, or is he going to remain willfully ignorant and go on business as usual. 

We face the same choice. Covid 19 is not going away. Life will never be like it was prior to all of this. We can pretend that it will be. We can pretend God has nothing to say to us in all of this, or we can take this time to pause, Be still and know that He is God, and see how our lives are to be different when we live them out for the gospel.