[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday evening, the 19th of March, 2017, during our joint Lenten service held at Memorial Evangelical and Reformed Church.]
A little over two weeks ago, on Ash Wednesday we stepped out on a journey known as Lent. This is a long, arduous journey that carries us from the wilderness where Jesus was tempted by Satan and drops us off at the foot of the cruel cross where our Lord was crucified.
Folks that really love the Lord hate that He had to suffer so much, and they often ask why? Why did He have to go through this? Why did it have to be this way?
I believe Jesus Himself answered that for us. Listen and follow along as I read from the Gospel Account of the Apostle John, chapter 3, verses 1 through 18, and I’ll be reading from the Modern English Version of our Holy Bible…
Folks that really love the Lord hate that He had to suffer so much, and they often ask why? Why did He have to go through this? Why did it have to be this way?
I believe Jesus Himself answered that for us. Listen and follow along as I read from the Gospel Account of the Apostle John, chapter 3, verses 1 through 18, and I’ll be reading from the Modern English Version of our Holy Bible…
1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 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, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a man 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 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.”
9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can this be?”
10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, but you do not know these things? 11 Truly, truly I say to you, We speak of what We know and bear witness of what We have seen, but you do not receive Our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven except He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but may have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned. But he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
--John 3:1-18 (MEV)
Let us pray…
Father God, we try to follow Your Son Jesus, but sometimes we just don’t completely grasp what He is trying to tell us or what He has done for us. Speak directly to our hearts, Father, that we might better understand the message Jesus has for us, that we might better discern Your will for our lives. In the blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Just before they were married, a husband and wife decided that he would make all the major decisions during their life together and she would make the minor ones. After 20 years of marriage, he was asked how this arrangement had worked out for them. "Great!”, he replied. “In all these years I've never had to make a major decision."
Speaking of decisions, while it may be true that there are two sides to every question, it is also true that there are two sides to a sheet of flypaper. It makes a very big difference to the fly which side he chooses.
We all face choices in this life, and on a daily basis. We choose what we want to dress in each morning, what we want for dinner, what book to read, what TV show to watch after supper.
Some of those choices, while they may seem innocent enough, can reflect on the greater choices we make. Are the clothes we put on a little too revealing or risqué? Is our menu choice healthy, good for our body? Is that book we’re reading something that will help us in our Christian walk, or is it more akin to “Fifty Shades of Grey”? Does that TV show promote good moral living or gain laughs and viewership by filling the time with sexual innuendo or worse?
In other words, do the choices we make on a daily basis reflect our full acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master, following the path He laid and the instructions He gave? Or do they show that we are still too closely aligned with the world and its value system?
Our scripture reading tonight includes the one Bible verse that more people are familiar with than any other – even people who don’t know the Bible and those who claim no religious beliefs or who don’t believe in Christ. We don’t even have to say the words. All we need to do is mention “John 3:16” and people know exactly what we’re talking about. But while this passage tells of the full depth of God’s love for mankind and for all His creation, it also speaks of choices.
Nicodemus just didn’t get it. He recognized that Jesus was God sent, but he could not see past the flesh of the man to recognize God standing before him. Nor could he understand what Jesus was trying to get across to him regarding the path he must follow for salvation, to “see the kingdom of God”, as Jesus put it.
At least Nicodemus was trying to understand, for he kept asking our Lord for explanations to all He said. And can’t you just feel the exasperation Jesus must have experienced. Here is a teacher of the people of Israel, a religious leader, someone who is well versed in the Law of Moses and the books we know as the Old Testament, yet he failed to grasp that God is Spirit and must be worshiped in the spirit, that man must be born again of the Spirit, of God’s Holy Spirit.
Jesus even points to an incident in the Jewish people’s history, when Moses raised up a serpent made from bronze on a pole while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness. Do you remember that story? The people were questioning God as they had done so many times before, in effect rebelling against His authority. So God sent fiery serpents throughout the camp, biting people and making them ill, many dying from the bites. To be healed, they needed to show their faith by simply looking upon the bronze serpent that Moses raised up on a pole over them, according to God’s instructions.
That serpent served as a symbol of the people’s sin and judgment, raised from the earth and hung on a tree. Jesus not only serves as a symbol of our sin, He takes our sin upon Himself so that we have the chance to be judged fit to enter heaven, that we not perish for all eternity in the lake of fire if we only believe in Him! He took our sins, and our judgment will be from Him. Nicodemus didn’t understand this. Do we?
And then we get to the part everyone knows, the part that’s all about God’s love. God does not want us to perish. He wants us to have everlasting life with Him in heaven. That’s why He sent Jesus to atone for our sins. That’s why He signed a new covenant with us, sealed by the blood of His only Son.
People have a little more trouble grasping what comes next. God didn’t send Jesus to condemn us, but to save us! Jesus came to us and sacrificed Himself for us that we might be saved from eternal damnation! If we would only believe, and in believing, follow Him. If we don’t believe, we’re already condemned.
Choices. Do we really believe? Do we truly try our best to follow Jesus? Or are we a little too comfortable in the world? Do our daily decisions accurately reflect doing what Jesus commands us to do, following the example He set? Or are we too often more consumed with what we desire in this life, with what we want from the world, with what other people are doing and saying and thinking? Do we fully and completely believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus is God, that Jesus will judge us in the end, that He is our Master whose every command we should follow without question?
God gave us the choice: believe or not, commit or not - be saved or be condemned.
Christian writer C.S. Lewis once offered this cautionary piece of advice:
“When the author walks onto the stage, the play is over. God is going to invade, all right; but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else comes crashing in? This time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. That will not be the time for choosing; It will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side.”
Right now, tonight, right here in this place may be the last chance we have to choose exactly which side we serve. Do we choose God and fully commit ourselves to His Son Jesus, or do we choose to remain in the world and enjoy all it has to offer with little thought of what comes tomorrow? If we take our last breath on this earth tonight in our sleep and awake to see the face of God, it will be too late. If the final trumpet sounds as we leave this building, it will be too late.
I know this isn’t a revival service, but we might not have time before revival comes around. So I am going to ask my brother Pastors gathered here tonight to join me down front as we sing our closing hymn.
If you do not know Jesus as your personal Savior, now is the time to come forward and accept Him as Lord. If you are not fully committed to following and serving Him, now is the time to rededicate your life to Him. Come lay your burdens at the foot of His cross. Come and let us pray together.
Are we saved, or condemned already? The choice is ours. Choose wisely. Believe, and be saved.
In the glorious name of Jesus. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind as to just how much You love us. But sadly, Father, there are many who don’t understand that love. Nor do they see just how important it is that they accept Your love by accepting Your Son Jesus as Lord. Please, Father, help us fully grasp just what sending Your Son means to us. Help us realize the full significance of His atoning sacrifice on our behalf. Open our eyes, that we might see, Father. Open our minds that we might know. Open our hearts that we might love as You love. Please hear us now, Lord God, as we come to you in the silence, praying straight from our hearts…
Lord Jesus, we have failed You in so many ways. We claim to love You and follow Your words, yet we just can’t seem to pull ourselves away from the temptations of the world. We try to obey You, but there are just people who we can’t stand, who press all our hot buttons, who scare us, who embarrass us, who we simply cannot find it within ourselves to love as You would have us love. Forgive us, Jesus. We hear the words that there can be no atonement of sin without a sacrifice of blood, we read that You allowed Your own blood to be shed that we might be washed clean, we know that the choice is ours to believe and be saved or not believe and be condemned, yet we struggle to give evidence of our belief by fully obeying Your commands.
Father God, we repent of our rebellion! We want to believe and show our belief by obeying Your Son. Help us to turn fully from our sin, help us to ignore the world and all its trappings when it conflicts with what Jesus would have us do. Help us make the right choice so that we can have life everlasting with You and Jesus in heaven.
This we pray, in the righteous name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Father God, we try to follow Your Son Jesus, but sometimes we just don’t completely grasp what He is trying to tell us or what He has done for us. Speak directly to our hearts, Father, that we might better understand the message Jesus has for us, that we might better discern Your will for our lives. In the blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Just before they were married, a husband and wife decided that he would make all the major decisions during their life together and she would make the minor ones. After 20 years of marriage, he was asked how this arrangement had worked out for them. "Great!”, he replied. “In all these years I've never had to make a major decision."
Speaking of decisions, while it may be true that there are two sides to every question, it is also true that there are two sides to a sheet of flypaper. It makes a very big difference to the fly which side he chooses.
We all face choices in this life, and on a daily basis. We choose what we want to dress in each morning, what we want for dinner, what book to read, what TV show to watch after supper.
Some of those choices, while they may seem innocent enough, can reflect on the greater choices we make. Are the clothes we put on a little too revealing or risqué? Is our menu choice healthy, good for our body? Is that book we’re reading something that will help us in our Christian walk, or is it more akin to “Fifty Shades of Grey”? Does that TV show promote good moral living or gain laughs and viewership by filling the time with sexual innuendo or worse?
In other words, do the choices we make on a daily basis reflect our full acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master, following the path He laid and the instructions He gave? Or do they show that we are still too closely aligned with the world and its value system?
Our scripture reading tonight includes the one Bible verse that more people are familiar with than any other – even people who don’t know the Bible and those who claim no religious beliefs or who don’t believe in Christ. We don’t even have to say the words. All we need to do is mention “John 3:16” and people know exactly what we’re talking about. But while this passage tells of the full depth of God’s love for mankind and for all His creation, it also speaks of choices.
Nicodemus just didn’t get it. He recognized that Jesus was God sent, but he could not see past the flesh of the man to recognize God standing before him. Nor could he understand what Jesus was trying to get across to him regarding the path he must follow for salvation, to “see the kingdom of God”, as Jesus put it.
At least Nicodemus was trying to understand, for he kept asking our Lord for explanations to all He said. And can’t you just feel the exasperation Jesus must have experienced. Here is a teacher of the people of Israel, a religious leader, someone who is well versed in the Law of Moses and the books we know as the Old Testament, yet he failed to grasp that God is Spirit and must be worshiped in the spirit, that man must be born again of the Spirit, of God’s Holy Spirit.
Jesus even points to an incident in the Jewish people’s history, when Moses raised up a serpent made from bronze on a pole while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness. Do you remember that story? The people were questioning God as they had done so many times before, in effect rebelling against His authority. So God sent fiery serpents throughout the camp, biting people and making them ill, many dying from the bites. To be healed, they needed to show their faith by simply looking upon the bronze serpent that Moses raised up on a pole over them, according to God’s instructions.
That serpent served as a symbol of the people’s sin and judgment, raised from the earth and hung on a tree. Jesus not only serves as a symbol of our sin, He takes our sin upon Himself so that we have the chance to be judged fit to enter heaven, that we not perish for all eternity in the lake of fire if we only believe in Him! He took our sins, and our judgment will be from Him. Nicodemus didn’t understand this. Do we?
And then we get to the part everyone knows, the part that’s all about God’s love. God does not want us to perish. He wants us to have everlasting life with Him in heaven. That’s why He sent Jesus to atone for our sins. That’s why He signed a new covenant with us, sealed by the blood of His only Son.
People have a little more trouble grasping what comes next. God didn’t send Jesus to condemn us, but to save us! Jesus came to us and sacrificed Himself for us that we might be saved from eternal damnation! If we would only believe, and in believing, follow Him. If we don’t believe, we’re already condemned.
Choices. Do we really believe? Do we truly try our best to follow Jesus? Or are we a little too comfortable in the world? Do our daily decisions accurately reflect doing what Jesus commands us to do, following the example He set? Or are we too often more consumed with what we desire in this life, with what we want from the world, with what other people are doing and saying and thinking? Do we fully and completely believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus is God, that Jesus will judge us in the end, that He is our Master whose every command we should follow without question?
God gave us the choice: believe or not, commit or not - be saved or be condemned.
Christian writer C.S. Lewis once offered this cautionary piece of advice:
“When the author walks onto the stage, the play is over. God is going to invade, all right; but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else comes crashing in? This time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. That will not be the time for choosing; It will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side.”
Right now, tonight, right here in this place may be the last chance we have to choose exactly which side we serve. Do we choose God and fully commit ourselves to His Son Jesus, or do we choose to remain in the world and enjoy all it has to offer with little thought of what comes tomorrow? If we take our last breath on this earth tonight in our sleep and awake to see the face of God, it will be too late. If the final trumpet sounds as we leave this building, it will be too late.
I know this isn’t a revival service, but we might not have time before revival comes around. So I am going to ask my brother Pastors gathered here tonight to join me down front as we sing our closing hymn.
If you do not know Jesus as your personal Savior, now is the time to come forward and accept Him as Lord. If you are not fully committed to following and serving Him, now is the time to rededicate your life to Him. Come lay your burdens at the foot of His cross. Come and let us pray together.
Are we saved, or condemned already? The choice is ours. Choose wisely. Believe, and be saved.
In the glorious name of Jesus. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind as to just how much You love us. But sadly, Father, there are many who don’t understand that love. Nor do they see just how important it is that they accept Your love by accepting Your Son Jesus as Lord. Please, Father, help us fully grasp just what sending Your Son means to us. Help us realize the full significance of His atoning sacrifice on our behalf. Open our eyes, that we might see, Father. Open our minds that we might know. Open our hearts that we might love as You love. Please hear us now, Lord God, as we come to you in the silence, praying straight from our hearts…
Lord Jesus, we have failed You in so many ways. We claim to love You and follow Your words, yet we just can’t seem to pull ourselves away from the temptations of the world. We try to obey You, but there are just people who we can’t stand, who press all our hot buttons, who scare us, who embarrass us, who we simply cannot find it within ourselves to love as You would have us love. Forgive us, Jesus. We hear the words that there can be no atonement of sin without a sacrifice of blood, we read that You allowed Your own blood to be shed that we might be washed clean, we know that the choice is ours to believe and be saved or not believe and be condemned, yet we struggle to give evidence of our belief by fully obeying Your commands.
Father God, we repent of our rebellion! We want to believe and show our belief by obeying Your Son. Help us to turn fully from our sin, help us to ignore the world and all its trappings when it conflicts with what Jesus would have us do. Help us make the right choice so that we can have life everlasting with You and Jesus in heaven.
This we pray, in the righteous name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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