JOHN 3:1-16 FROM HGM ON 21 MARCH 23

1 "There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:"  Commentary: The wording and focus was on Nicodemus the man and not a Pharisee. Who unlike most Pharisees Nicodemus recognizes Jesus as a teacher like none have ever known. And he was a ruler of the Jews. 

2 "The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him."  Commentary: As a man and not a Pharisee he approaches Jesus. As we have seen in the past the Pharisees usually approach Jesus with guile and hatred always trying to trap Jesus. Nicodemus knew Jesus was from God and saw the miracles so he knew he was special. This meeting happened about a year after Jesus started His ministry time is needed for the harvest to ripen. Jesus saw this in Nicodemus. 

 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."  Commentary: A double imperative, "Verily verily" which means there is no other way or the only way something can happen; John 12:24. Only those born of the Spirit can truly "see" (understand) what Jesus was saying about the kingdom. In the Greek Jesus said, except a man be birthed (born from heaven) from above he cannot see the kingdom of God. "The natural man receives not the things of God nor can they know them because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 1:14) We know the kingdom of God is a heart condition that is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Roman 14:17) The people (like today) were not looking for the kingdom of God. The kingdom of Heaven is only used by Matthew in the NT 52 times. 

 4 "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?"  Commentary: Nicodemus is confused by Jesus' analogy and reveals the darkness still in him, but darkness can be dispelled by revelation of which Jesus gives him. It is better being way off track and asking stupid questions, but have a love for the truth.

 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."  Commentary: Another double imperative here. This time Jesus uses born of the water lifting us from the physical to the spiritual realm and drawing a difference between the two. The birth Jesus refers to is a birth into something not a birth out of something. Jesus was not talking about water baptism. Man stands outside of God's power and authority and lacks the ability to enter unless he is born of the "water" (water is used to designate the Holy Spirit. Water is used as the source and substance of Spiritual life. The Samaritan Woman in John 4:10) and of the "Spirit." "Water" and "Spirit" are one in meaning in the Greek. In Galatians 4:29 the birth is according to the "Spirit." So our new birth is out from and according to the realm of the Spirit. Spirit begets Spirit and so because we are birthed out from and according to the Spirit we are birthed into the Spiritual realm. 

6 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."  Commentary: Jesus was telling Nicodemus his thinking is flesh and it can only produce flesh . Flesh produces flesh have it be a new born baby or a new born idea. Flesh produces beautiful products so there is a huge market for fleshly things. There is much spirit produced by the satanic spiritual realm. So, if you want to enter the kingdom of God and you are going to produce something it must be from the spiritual realm. No matter how correct, religious, and beautiful our corruptible flesh is it will not function in the kingdom of God. 

7 "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."  Commentary: Jesus encourages Nicodemus not to try to figure it out and reduce it down to a human understanding. "Born again" (birthed from above) is beyond the natural man's intellect and cannot be understood by the natural man. 

8 "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."  Commentary: Another mystery is introduced that of a person who has experienced this new birth from above. The mystery of the wind and mystery of the Spirit are similar. He now moves and lives as the spirit moves. He is characterized by the realm of the Spirit. In the presence of a natural man he is not understood because the wisdom in him is from above. The natural does not understand the spiritual so he persecutes it. 

9 "Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?"  Commentary: Nicodemus salvation lies in the fact that he knows he is still in the darkness and admits his ignorance. Still in darkness he tries to logically figure things out. Instead of receiving it with a child-like faith he stays on an intellectual level trying to understand eternal truths. Most Pharisees would never admit their ignorance. 

10 "Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?"  Commentary: Nicodemus had the responsibility to open up truth to many, but could not because he was not operating in the realm of the Spirit. It is amazing how religious leaders are so plugged into tradition and such limited spiritual insight many have. The Pharisees were no wrapped into tradition and function they could not get to God. So too today. 

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."  Commentary: Yet again another (third) double imperative. Jesus is really laying it all out to Nicodemus. Here Jesus addresses Nicodemus, but ascribes the fault of not receiving the testimony of the truth to the whole body of Jewish leaders. The "we" does not speak of people, but of the Father, the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. Also Jesus could be including the perception of the prophets of the OT and the perception of the Scriptures themselves. What we have seen applies to the witnesses: The Father, the Holy Spirit, John the Baptist and thus applies to all the witnesses who have the ability to see. The Pharisees have not received them. 

12 "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?"  Commentary: Jesus tells Nicodemus the believing is in the truth He (Jesus) portrays and not to the lack Jesus is objecting. Jesus speaks in earthly terms every day parables. It was not they did not understand the parables, but they did not want to and resisted in believing what they understood. Jesus concludes by saying if they did not want to believe the earthly realm (pictures and images) how would it be possible for them to believe the heavenly realm? 

13 "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven."  Commentary: We must remember the ascension of Jesus is in the future. Jesus was not talking about people who have ascended into heaven like Enoch or Elijah. Nor is He talking about Jesus (Himself) in an incarnation, nor is He talking about the Son of God leaving Heaven to be born of a virgin. Jesus was talking about God (in the person of Jesus) descending down to earth to commune with man. And as we ascend up into the heavenly in spiritually understanding we can descend with the things of God and give them to men. For Nicodemus to come out of His darkness he must ascend and then descend. 

14 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:"  Commentary: Jesus was telling Nicodemus He (Jesus) must die on the cross. If there is to be a birth from above in him (or anyone else) He (Jesus) must die. "Lifted up" was a Roman way to describe crucifixion. So too in our lives. The way up is down. If we desire to go up into the heavenly spiritually we must die to our natural earthly fleshly realm. 

15 "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."  Commentary: The two track rail Jesus presents is His death and our faith. "Whosoever believeth in him" only those people who believe in the Gospel: the death, the burial, and the resurrection (all in the future) will receive eternal life. Salvation is for everyone, yet not everyone will receive salvation. By Him we live and are made righteous He had to be lifted up on the cross. 

16 "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."  Commentary: Here Jesus tells Nicodemus faith lays hold of eternal life just as it lays hold of everything else in God's provision for us. We must understand God wants us to have this eternal life now and not wait till we die. John 17:3 tells us life eternal is not living forever, but knowing God. The more we come to know God the more eternal life we will have. Our believing is to be alive and progressive. It is towards a person not a doctrine nor a benefit or denomination. All progressive faith is towards Jesus.

A MOVE OF GOD

God purposely waited for now to give me this article. It has been wrestling around in my spirit for some time, but now I feel God has given me the green light. Now please do not misunderstand my article. I am not talking against the Ashbury revival, it was good, wholesome, and of God, but He wanted more. He always wants more from us, but I know He wanted to wait and see what happened. The atmosphere in Hughes auditorium was electric as Asbury students, many in tears, streamed to the altar to pray, while worshippers sang hymns, mixed with Bible readings, testimonies and public prayers of repentance. Administrators cancelled classes, grasping that this ordinary chapel service was the start of something bigger, a 144-hour wave of worship that drew thousands to Wilmore, Kentucky. The year was 1970. Then again, revivals rocked Asbury College, now a liberal-arts Methodist University: in 1908, 1921, 1950, 1958 and on other occasions. Historians will now add 2023. One of the administrators said, "The wildness of these events is that they're actually un-wild. The atmosphere is serene, deep and at times rather quiet." He said, “It's like a veil is pulled back and students see Jesus for the first time, Jesus manifested in a new and powerful way." But sadly, Asbury leaders announced that services would be moved off campus, with students moving toward a regular academic and chapel schedule. Follow the money. This seems to be what happens when God decides to manifest His Spirit in a sudden, glorious, and unusual way. Man gets involved and shuts it down. Man, just needs to let God be God and do as He pleases. But, from 8 to 24 February God had His way, wonderful things (we will never know) were happening lives being changed people coming to Christ, but the longer God went on the more man wanted to get back to the usual. And yes, man closed down campus locations and pawned it out to other places in town, a big mistake, but this is to be expected and more. Sadly, this is what usually happens. There is a spiritual principle in play here the more man handles the things of God the less of God is going to be moving. Flesh seems to override Spirit in the end. At the end of the Toronto Blessing people were being led into the service with a collar and leash on their hands and knees like dogs, because one of the stated manifestations of the Spirit was barking, even though barking is not recorded as a Spiritual manifestation anywhere in the Bible. The Brownsville Revival ended when they started making music CD and merchandising this move of God. Even in a genuine move of God there will be 90% God and 10% man, but in time these numbers change some faster than others like in Brownsville. Something else to be expected is the sudden migration of Believers and Christians to warm themselves at another’s fires. In the 17 days of campus services, they estimated over 20, 000 people ran to Ashbury to see what was going on. Apparently, these people could not build a fire at their home or they just want to be where the action is so they run here or over there to find God well, all they had to do is open up their heart. One of the biggest wants in Christiandom is to find God, but Jeremiah plainly tells us how to find God. Jeremiah writes, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11:13) No need to run here, or over there, or go to Ashbury to find God, just open up your heart. Peter learned that lesson the hard way when he stood in the outer court waiting on Jesus, “And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself.” (John 18:18) Someone built this fire for Peter to warm himself at as someone built a fire at Ashbury and 10s of 1,000s of people did as Peter did, warmed themselves at fires they did not build. I think this more than the administrators closing down God is more of an offense to God. Another administrator said, “True revivals, throughout history, have led to evangelism, missions and efforts for social justice at the national and global levels.” Social Justice? Here their liberalism is showing. Here they are getting off track. Did you know the word “revival” is not in the KJV of the Bible. It is another word that we made up to define something God is doing. Like Spiritual Warfare, Mount of Transfiguration, Prodigal Son. All things that are true, real, and in the Bible, but NOT named as such. Now naming of things in the Bible often changes meaning and precepts of where we get our concepts. Remember, we can only defend the Bible ONLY as far as we can read it. And more important the truth of the Word of God is found in the words as the Holy Spirit give us the revelation. Now on the other hand, the word “revive’ is found eight times and only in the Old Testament. A “revival” (or maybe an “Awakening” when we leave God alone) is a supernatural service as with Ashbury or the words churches put up on their marquee that announces their special seasonal services, which is in reality just a few more services in the week out from a church tradition started years ago, and just kept it up not knowing any better with this dead work. My friend if your church is having a “real” revival there will be no need to advertise people will be coming for miles and miles around to be involved. But, as good as a revival like Ashbury was that is NOT repeat NOT God’s best for His people. God does not want a revival for His people, which only carries us so far in God, but He wants us to daily be revived by His Spirit, renewed, and strengthened with His might in our inward man. We are to die daily so we can experience His resurrection life found only being in Christ and bringing us back to life, His life, again and daily. The administrator went on, "It's also clear that this Asbury revival is about Gen Z and its hunger for genuine worship," referring to younger Americans born in the internet age. Researchers note that record numbers of Gen Z young people are religiously unaffiliated and/or have doubts about God. Also, signs of anxiety and depression are rising, with a recent Centers for Disease Control report noting 42% of high-school students "experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness" and almost 20% "seriously considered attempting suicide." But, I think it is more much more. God never goes after one generation He desires for none to be lost no not one. Peter tells, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) And yes, the Gen Zs are included. An Asbury Seminary student Madison Pierce said it's interesting that "God would mark this outpouring with: A tangible sense of peace for a generation with unprecedented anxiety. A restorative sense of belonging for a generation amidst an epidemic of loneliness. An authentic hope for a generation marked by depression. Emphasizing protective humility for a generation deeply hurt by the abuse of religious power. A focus on participatory adoration for an age of digital distraction." In THE service that ignited days of 24/7 worship, the Rev. Zach Meerkreebs, a Christian and Missionary Alliance Campus Minister, delivered a sermon that touched on guilt, shame, anxiety, abuse and the struggle to sincerely love others. Rev. Meerkreebs said, "Some of you guys have experienced radically poor love. Like evil love, selfish love and I would say, today, we should not even give it the honor of calling it 'love'," he said. "Some of you guys have experienced that love in the church. Maybe it's not violent, maybe it's not molestation, but it feels like someone has pulled a fast one on you. This is not love. Do not leave here before you learn about the love of God, experience the love of God, so that you can pour it out. Asbury, the world needs this kind of love." In closing Karen and I go food shopping usually every Saturday at the commissary on the Air Station. One of the joys we look forward to then is talking with a 98 year old lady name Gwynn who still drives her car to the commissary and selects her own groceries. Now, Gwynn is a hardened Methodist from the John Wesley era I think, a true Believer, but she was so sad that the United Methodist Church (UMC) she has attended most, if not all of her life, was talking about splitting. She would keep us up to date with what was going on at her church and the vote, to secede from the UMC and all of their ungodly homosexual and LBGTQ+ perverse doctrine or go with the Global Methodist. Gwynn was concerned because the number of people attending service each Sunday had been dwindling. I told her oh no this is a good thing. I told her if her church leaves the UMC attendance will skyrocket from all of the good Methodists staying at home, holding their noses to the stench in the UMC, and can then come back with honor. Well, Gwynn’s church was brave and voted to secede and guess what happened, yes that’s right, all of those good Methodist folks are now back in church. Last week we saw Gwynn and I asked her if she has heard of the Ashbury Revival and she said yes, her Sunday School Teacher went to a service or two at Ashbury. And I asked her what she thought about the Ashbury Revival and she said it just was a special move of God. I told her she was right, but I thought there was more moving here than just a special move of God. Now this is my belief why the Ashbury Revival. I told Gwynn I believed the Ashbury Revival is God’s approval on the split of the Methodist Church. God wishes none to perish, but we know sadly some will. You should have seen Gwynn’s face, like an Angel, it lit up and she said I think you are right. I cannot wait to get to Sunday School tomorrow and tell my teacher. My friend we do not need a mighty move of God or another revival all we need to do is go to God and open up our heart and he will revive us day by day. Written by David Stahl