The Church of Eleven22 - Saturated 2018 - Sunday: Pastor Joby Martin

Episode Date: September 16, 2018

God loved so God gave. If you believe, then you receive eternal life.

Amen and amen. How we doing, church? Are you all right? Have you enjoyed saturated? How many were here for saturated? Were you here? Praise God. Hey, this is how much I love you.

I love you so much that I would bring preachers that are way better than me. You see what a bunch of insecure preachers would do, would bring a bunch of carapid dudes so that you'd think, man, our guy's really good. But I don't know if you remember the miracle where Jesus turns water and wine, and they say, you know what most people do is they bring out the good stuff first, and when everybody has had their fill, then we bring out the rest of it. I'm the rest of it.

All right, so that's just kind of how it is. All right. Hey, if you got your Bibles, this is crazy. We're not in Romans anymore. What are we going to do, huh? If you got your Bibles, go to John Chapter 3, John Chapter 3. If you go to Romans and then go left a little few books, you'll find your way to John. The reason we're going to go to John chapter 3 is there's a conversation that Jesus has with a man,

that shows up, it's got questions about who Jesus is, and what Jesus is going to do is he is going to get at the heart of what it means to be a believer or a follower in Jesus Christ, and so that's where we're going to spend our time. Today could be a really, really good day. A really good day. I don't have much control over this afternoon, but we're going to start out really, really good this morning, and then we'll see what happens from there. Chapter 3, verse 1 says this, now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus.

Now, Nicodemus means Victor over the people. So he was kind of into himself, or at least his mama was. And so he thought he was awesome. And he was a member of this group called the Pharisees. Pharisee means separated ones. And what that means is the Pharisees would spend their entire life studying the Bible and creating rules about the rules, about the rules, so that they were sure to be religiously, ritualistically, ceremonially clean,

so that when the Messiah showed up, they would be the first ones to recognize him. This is who Nicodemus is. And so a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Verse 2, this man came to Jesus by night. Now, there's a lot of theologians that think this is really important, that he shows up at night. And it could be because he's embarrassed. He doesn't want anybody to see him. It could be because he might get in trouble with the other Pharisees.

But one of the things I want you to notice here is that Jesus meets Nicodemus right where he is. Here's what I know. Some of you, people are here at all of our churches all over the city today for all kind of different reasons, man. All kind of different reasons. Some of you are here because you love Jesus. Yes, you do. You love Jesus. How about you kind of people, right?

You can't, what you were here Thursday night, you came to all of saturated. You come to every service. You're like six disciple groups. So bless your ministry. Some of you are here because the only way that she would go out with you is you to go to church with her, all right? It's just true. Some of you got confused.

You didn't even know you thought it was a concert. It saw all the cars, and here you are, all right? There's all kinds of reasons. And the cool thing is that Jesus meets us exactly where we are, just like he does here with Nicodemus. So he shows up by night, and Nicodemus says to him, Rabbi, which would have been a term of honor. Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God.

For no one can do these things. done some miracles. For no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Now, here's the thing that gives me a little caution here about Nicodemus. You see, Nicodemus is drawn to Jesus. He respects Jesus. He has legitimate questions about Jesus. He is near to Jesus. He even knows many facts about Jesus. And he doesn't know Jesus. It's the scariest thing in my mind about pastoring this church with the thousands and thousands and thousands of people that show up every week after week after week and I think man and you kind of know church like you know where to park you know how to get in you know how it goes you know if you're not into the singing you just hang

out in the lobby and drink a coffee until the third song because the third song is when you can come in in a seat and then you know how to do the like pledge allegiance to Jesus while we're singing you know how to come to the altars at the end to sponsor a kid getting a group you kind of know how to do the thing and you see nicodemus nicodemus was a guy that knew his Bible better than everybody else. And in fact, the reason that he studied his Bible is so that he would be able to recognize the Messiah when he showed up. And turns out he's two feet away from the Almighty God.

He can smell the breath of God, and he's not sure if he is who he says he is yet. It makes me nervous. It makes me nervous that you can know a lot about him and not know him. And so Jesus replies to Nicodemus. Notice Nicodemus does not. ask a question, but the Bible says Jesus answered him. Nicademus just says, Rabbi, we know that

you're a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. And Jesus answered him. You see, Jesus knows the heart of Nicodemus. He knows why he is here. He answers the eternal heart questions, even though Nicodemus doesn't ask. And what he does is he jumps right to the conclusion.

There's no warm up, there's no introduction. He's not telling stories. He just jumps right to the conclusion. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. By the way, I just want to jump right to the conclusion. Here's what I want to do today. Okay? I'm going to lay out the gospel of Jesus Christ, according to John chapter 3. In about 44 minutes, I'm going to invite you to surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And after, and again, man, if the Spirit of God moves you, that's who I'm talking to. All right? And then after that, I'm going to invite you to come get in the baptismals over here.

and surrender your life to the Lordship of Christ and go public with it. Proclaim Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. I want you to go ahead and start thinking about that because some of you're like, I didn't plan to get baptized. That's all right. God planned this before the foundation of time. You get in there and get wet. And then we're going to leave here and we're going to go watch the Jaguars

stomp a mud hole in the Patriots. That's what we're going to do today. So Jesus just jumps right to the end. He says, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. You see, because what's going on here is that Nicodemus at this point was ready to acknowledge Jesus as a teacher, as a religious leader, as a rabbi. And Jesus essentially is saying that that's nice. I appreciate it.

But that won't save you. You see, here's the way C.S. Lewis says it in mere Christianity. He says, I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing. that people often say about Jesus, that I am ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said

would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level with a man who says he's a poached egg or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the son of God or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher.

He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. So when Nicodemus shows up and says, Rabbi, Jesus is going to say, not exactly. It's Messiah. Truly, truly, I say to you, Nicodemus, unless one is born again, literally that phrase means born from above, then he cannot see the kingdom of God. And so Nicodemus says to him, see, this is, Nicodemus doesn't understand what's going on here. Nicodemus says 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? Don't think about that too much. I'm going to stir up your egg McMuffin here this morning here at church. We're like, what are you talking about, Nick? That's just, and Jesus answered, no, man. You have to go to seminary to see the nuances of the text like that. And Jesus answered, truly, truly I say to you, listen, he just dives right after it again. 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 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 it 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. And Nicodemus says to him, do what? That's a loose interpretation. How can these things be? You see, this is totally going over Nicodemus's head.

He's like, look, man, I still don't know what you're talking about. First of all, you're talking about being born again, and I, you know, I'm, I love. love my mama. What are you talking about? How can a man be born twice? And then he's like, no, no, no, no. Unless you're born it with the water and the spirit and then the wind's blowing. I think Nicodemus is like, are you talking to me? Like, it feels like I'm saying words and you're saying words, but they don't have anything to do with each other. What are you talking about? By the way, just the one-off. You ever get confused at church? We up here singing stuff, the lion and the lamb and the blood's being shed and all over, people slain. And

I'm up here preaching about propitiation and glorification and justification and all sanctification. Have you ever sitting there and you're like, I have no idea what's going on here? Anybody, anybody here, all right? Come on, raising my... All right, glory to God. Okay, I'm here for you, by the way. Me too, man. Me too.

I got really good news. If you've got a lot of questions, if there's a whole bunch about this stuff that you don't understand at all, you can make a really great disciple. This is where Nicodema starts. we find out later in the book of John that Nicodemus is going to surrender his life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ but where he starts right here is he has no idea what Jesus is talking about.

You see, Jesus is just assuming, I know Jesus knows all the thing, he knows the heart of every man, but he is just assuming since Nicodemus is a Pharisee, is a ruler of the law, that he can just go varsity, he can just go Ph.D. level.

And so he sends two zingers, then they go, right over Nicodemus's head. And so Jesus being the master teacher he's going to kind of bring it down a level. Here's what he says. After Nicodemus in verse 9 says, how can this be? Verse 10, Jesus answers him,

are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you don't understand these things? And Nicodemus is like, nope. Verse 11, 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. I think Nicodemus is more confused. He's like, is somebody with you now?

What are you doing? You see, what Jesus is doing is he is claiming divinity. I and the Father are one. See, in the beginning, there was God, just God. One God, three persons. God, the Father, God, the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, eternally existing in a perfect, submissive love relationship with himself. And God's love for himself spills out into creation.

and what Jesus is claiming here is this. I am he. Verse 12. If I have told you earthly things and you don't 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. Basically what Jesus is saying is, listen, Pharisee,

you have spent your whole life trying to live this ceremonial, clean life so that you would be prepared when the Messiah shows up will open your eyes because here he is right in your face. That's what he's saying. He's saying you thought that you would see the Messiah because you were a great rulekeeper, but I'm here to tell you, you're going to see the Messiah because I'm a great promise keeper. And I promised that I would show up and seek and save those who were lost. And you thought that it was all predicated on behavior, but it's not. It's rooted in belief. And you thought it was about rules and religion, but it's not. It's about a rescue mission that leads to a relationship. So Nicodemus, that's what I'm here for. And then now what he's

going to do is he's going to put it down on Nicodemus's level. So he's tried to talk to him about what it means to be born again or born from above, goes straight over his head. He talks to him about how God moves like the wind blows, and that one goes over and says. So now what he's going to do, again, because Nicodemus is a Bible scholar of the old. Old Testament, it's all he had at this point. Then what Jesus is going to do, he's going to use two different Old Testament events to illustrate who he is. And so he goes back to Numbers chapter 21.

This is what he's quoting when he says verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. You see, he's quoting this event that happened in Numbers chapter 21. And I'm telling you, in that moment, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, What the Academus begins to do is he goes back to Sunday school. He's like, oh, I know that story. I know that event.

Numbers chapter 21, verses 4 and following, here's the whole event. From Mount Orr, they set out by way to the Red Sea. This is right after Moses has gone to Pharaoh and say, let my people go, and then God breaks them out of the bondage of Egypt. From Mount Orr, they set out by way of the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom, and the people became impatient on the way. and the people spoke against God. Just remember, the reason the people were released from the bondage of the Egyptian

is because the people of God cried out to God that he would rescue them. He does rescue them, and then he complains about the way he rescues them. By the way, you know most of the things we complain about are the things we prayed for. You realize that? Like, you know, you complain about your job? You're like, my job, and I got the br-br-br-br-br-wrang. Don't you remember? You were like, dear God, please give me a job.

He's like, okay, here. Or when you complain about your kids? Don't you remember asking him for that? God, would you please be so gracious? No, not this. That's how we are to him. You think things have changed? You see, every single one of us reject God.

Sometimes by rebellion, forget you, God. I do what I want with who I want, when I want. You ain't the boss of me. And sometimes we reject God by religion. No, no, no, no. I got this. I got this. By my own works, I will cover my own sin and shame.

This is where it starts right here. And the people spoke against God and against Moses. Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die the wilderness for there's no food and no water? And we loat this worthless food. And then the Lord sent fiery serpets. Fiery doesn't mean like on fire. It means poisonous. And the Lord sent fiery serpets among the people and they bit the people so that many people of Israel died.

And the people came to Moses and said, we have sin for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. prayed to the Lord that he take away the serpents from us. And so Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole. And everyone who is bitten when he sees it shall live. And so Moses made a bronze serpent and he set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. Now again, Nicodemus knows that event, that story.

He knows it backwards and forwards. And so then Jesus points at that and says, just like Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, I'm going to be lifted up. You see, little did Nicodemus know when he's in Sunday school studying Numbers. Chapter 21, he was actually studying the gospel. You see, first and foremost, we all reject God. We, like the Israelites, complaining in the wilderness and say, forget you, God, I got this. My way's better than your way.

And like the children of Israel here in this story in Numbers 21, every single one of us is snake-bitten. We are snake-bitten. And the problem with being snake-bitten by a poisonous snake, it's not the bite, it's what gets in your veins that is the problem. And if you got poison running through your veins, it doesn't matter how much medicine you rub on the outside of it. It will do nothing about it. You can even kill the snake that bit you,

but it does not change the problem. The problem is what is in you. Listen, I was hunting a few years ago. I started, imagine that. It was raining hard. And it's nighttime I'm walking back. It hunts over. I'm walking it back to my truck, and I felt something smack my boot.

I don't know if you, maybe you don't walk in the woods a lot, which could explain what's wrong with you, but anyway, sometimes, like one boot can catch like a root or a limb or something, and it'll just kind of come back on you, and that's sort of what I thought it was. And I felt something smacked my boot. I got this little headland on me, I turned down, and it is a water moccasin has latched onto my snake boot. Okay?

and so I just did what the Bible says you're supposed to do and made a God of peace who will soon crush Satan now our Bible says underneath your feet but the Bible also says that he has provided us with everything we need for life and godliness and what he provided me that day was a Glock 45 on my side and so I about shot my toes off but I was like boom boom boom emptied the clip I mean just

if he had friends they'd could have got me after that because it was over man shot him in the head and then you know what i did i took him back to our camp and hung him up for all his evil family to see don't you bring that weak game up in here okay we like you may bruise my heel but crush your head right that's what and i know some of you freaks are like well some that's a good snake no you need to read your bible you understand curse it but see even the problem if i didn't have the snake boots on and the point poison gets in me, the problem at that point is not what's outside. You can kill a snake all you want. It does nothing, nothing, nothing to cure the problem you have. The problem is that you, you need an

antidote. And what Jesus is saying here is that every single one of us are snake bitten. It's an inside problem. That the heart of the problem, folks, we've got a heart problem. Every single one of us by nature and nurture. We are not mistakeers. The need to be a heart problem. We are not mistakeers that need to try harder. No. We are wretched, wretched, crooked, depraved, darkened, deep, deep, deep, dark, wretched, blackhearted sinners. You, you. And if that offends you, it's because you're a prideful, egomanic glory hog that thinks the whole world should revolve around you. Senator, you know how I know? Me too. I mean, do you ever wake up and be like, what is wrong with me? You have these thoughts and you're like, what is wrong?

Like, bad things happen to people that you love, but you're kind of jealous of so you secretly rejoice when they have bad things happen to them? Oh, you don't do that? You're just going to leave me up here like I'm all by myself. See? You're a bunch of liars. That's your problem. Me too, man.

Me too. Here's why with great confidence I can call you sinner. forget forget God's perfect law and righteous standard. You and I can't even keep our own standard. How many times you promise you'd never do something again? Huh? How many of you probably? This year I'm doing the Daniel fast.

Yep, right. Liars. All of us. What if God puts a recorder under your mouth and only held you accountable to the things that you said you ought to do or you should do? How would you do on that scooter? Not good. You know why?

Because we're snake-bitten. we're snake-bitten and you can try to cure that thing from the outside it just won't work we have to have an alien antidote we need someone to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves and Jesus is telling Nicodemus

you remember the story about Moses the people are snake-bitten and then God tells Moses hey take one of those fiery serpets a bronze serpent a poisonous snake and hold it up and God is going to take the very thing that caused the problem and he's going to put that up high and Jesus says

And just like that, I am going to be high and lifted up, and God will make him who had no sin to be sin. Not just carry our sin, but to be sin. And we will become the righteousness of God. For anyone who, not by works, I think I can clean this up, but by fate says, I need you to do for me what I can't do for me. You see, Jesus is sharing the gospel with Nicodemus. So that's the first one. That's the first Old Testament path he goes.

And again, it's because Nicodemus is an expert in the Old Testament. So he's like, this is starting to make sense. And then he quotes the most famous verse. Some of you think Tebow wrote it. He didn't. It's John 316. You've heard it before. But you've probably never heard it the way Nicodemus would hear it.

Jesus says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. You see, this is a reference. This is a reference to Genesis 22-2. There's a bunch of words in here that are the same words as that used of Abraham loving his son, Isaac. You see, because Jesus was the master teacher, there were some rabbinical traditions. There were some rabbinical techniques of teaching that they would use. You see, the Pharisees, every good Jewish boy and girl grew up memorizing the entire Old Testament.

So sometimes in the ways rabbis would teach, they would do what in Greek is called the prologel. logos, the first word. And a good Pharisee would understand the first time that particular word was used in the scripture. And the first time ever in the scripture is the words like only begotten son or used. It's in Genesis chapter 22 describing Abraham's love of his son, Isaac. In Hebrew, it's called a remez. And what a remez is, it's like, is the teacher would start something that you're very, very familiar with so that he could then build on that thing without explaining it all to you so he could get further faster. Like for instance, here's a remiss.

If I want to know who in this room grew up in the 80s and maybe early 90s, it's this simple. I can just say, regulators, that's my people, all right? You're either too late. If you didn't say mount up and you're either too old or too young, all right, Google it. You can find it. Or I can tell how old you are this way. If I just go, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. If you're older than me, you go, pressure.

and if you're younger to me, you're going to have to stop, collaborate, and listen. That's what you do. I don't have to teach that. That's just in there, okay? So what Jesus is doing in the most famous verse in America, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Every one of these words are like a sentence under themselves.

It starts out this, four. He's going to say, this is why I came to save you for God. that salvation does not begin with you. It begins with him. He is the initiative. For God so loved the world, not just sort of love the world. You see, in Greek, you can put this little multiplier in front of a verb, and it means that it maximizes the verb that follows.

Oh, what manner of love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called children of God. The God doesn't just give you enough mercy and grace and love to just barely get you into heaven, that he loves you enough to save you and then loves you enough to sanctify you and then loves you enough to invite you into his presence every single week at church and then loves you enough to give you a fate family and then loves you enough to draw you unto himself.

I mean, it's just like love upon love upon love. If you begin to understand the lavish love of God towards us, you look like one of those fools on the weather channel when the hurricane's coming and you're like leaning into it. Like, I'm here, Ted, standing into hurricane because of the wind. That's the love of God. it's not just raining in a little bit. It so loves you. That's how God loves. For God, so love the world that he gave. He gave. He didn't feel something. He didn't think

something. He didn't pray about something. He did something. He made a way for us to be reconciled. He became the just and the justifier. And he gave us. The ESV here says his only son. The NIV says his one and only son. The King James says his only son. His only son. The King James says his only. His only only begotten son. The Greek word, even if you don't know Greek, you can translate this. Monogenus, one gene. It means of the same essence. That God would love you so much that he would not even spare his own son. And you got to think, when Abraham, I mean, when Nicodemus hears this, he's thinking Abraham in Genesis 22, too. And God says to Abraham, take your son, your only son, your monogenes son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Mariah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains to which I shall tell you. You see, in case you knew the Bible study, Abraham was named as Abraham. He's just hanging out, mine is an own business.

And then just because God is who he is and by his grace, he just picks Abraham, makes a covenant with him. Abraham believes in God, puts his faith in God, and God counts that as a friendship, as righteousness. And he gives him a promise. You're going to have a son, and through this son, you're going to be the father of many nations, and all nations will be blessed. He's talking about Jesus has come in from your line. And then one day, in Genesis 22, too, he comes to him, and he says, take that son, take your son, your only son, Isaac. Now, the crazy thing is, is Abraham had two sons. He had Ishmael, he had another son.

But that was the son of the flesh. That was the son of work. That was the son of God. I can't wait on your promises. I got this. He goes, no, no, no. You see, Ishmael is a picture of Romans chapter 3 that by works of the law, no man can achieve their own righteousness.

So he says, take your own son, your only son, the son of promise, the son of faith, the miraculous son that I brought you. And take him up on the mountain. sacrifice him there. Now we find out in Hebrews chapter 11 that the reason that Abraham could do this is because he believed if God could fulfill this promise, then God could resurrect that promise if he were to go through with it. And then he gets in that place and listen, there's so much gospel stuff happening here all the way back in Genesis 22. It's a three-day journey from where

he was to Mariah that Isaac carries the wood for the offering up the hill on Mariah. And Jesus carries the wooden cross to the top of Galgotha. when Isaac says, Father, we have the wood and we have the fire, but where is the sacrifice? In our Bibles, it says that Abraham says God will provide. That phrase will provide literally means God has seen before himself the lamb. Then he raises the knife and the angel says, whoa, I have provided for you a substitute. And there is a ram caught in the thicket. I've been deer hunting my whole life.

I ain't never seen a deer just hung up into a tree. briars. That would be miraculous, praise God. And there is a substitutionary payment or atonement there. And Jesus, this is what he's unpacking. This is why this verse explodes in the mind of Nicodemus. For God so loved the world that he gave, his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. And that's how much God loves you. Listen, I love you. I really do. I'm more. More, than make sense. I really do. I love you, church, like crazy. I ain't giving up my kids for you. I'm not. There's no way. I mean, in fact, when we had babies, man, I didn't know that I possessed the ability to love like this. I mean, I love G, but it's totally different. I remember we found

out we were having a kid, and I went to every one of those little appointments, especially the one with the lady to put a step on the belly and do the little, and you look at it. I remember when at first, you know, at first it just looks like a little. like, that's it, okay, like an M&M. And then real quick, it's a gummy bear. And you're like, I don't know I could love a picture of a gummy bear like this. It's about who doesn't like a gummy bear, but that's mine. That's my gummy bear right there.

Look at that thing, man. And then eventually we go back to the one where you find out the sex. Boy, I prayed some theologically inaccurate prayers when we were doing this. God who just wanted him to be healthy. But, come on, let's give me the boy. That lady puts that goopy stuff on her stomach. She's, and then she goes, oh, there it is. And I'm looking.

It's like, when I remember those painting things, and you look at them, you can see the 3D, and some people could see it. That's what I was like at the sonogram thing. I said, I don't see what you're talking about. And then she goes, congratulations, Mr. Martin. It's a boy. And, dude, I scooped up that little lady. Gress was like, you need to put her down.

And so I did. And I called my daddy. He said, Daddy, I made a boy. You know what he said? I knew you had it in you, all right? Then when he was born, man, he was born. That wasn't awesome. That part was not.

Nope. He did not prepare me for that, and Gretchen was a trooper, and I was not awesome, okay? But then finally, when that whole situation is wrapped up, and they wrap him up in that little burrito of love, and they hand him to you, and you just look at your child. He looked like a little Hulk Hogan, had like a skullet, you know, like ball, but with a mullet. I was like, this boy's from Dylan. This is, and hopes and dreams and all that stuff, right? And about four years later, we get pregnant again.

And I remember, in fact, we were going to, and then I was on a mission trip, and Gretchen called me. She has time to think about stuff like this a lot when I'm out of town, and she's like, I don't think we should. We got one. He's awesome and perfect. Let's just stop there. And I'm like, okay. I'll talk to you later. And then she calls back 20 minutes later. She's like, never mind. I'm already pregnant. All right. So then we go back into the goppy thing. And then she's like, it's a girl. And Gretchen says, are you going to be okay? I will be. I got to pray, you know, we've got to get ready for this. It takes a man to raise a little girl these days, you understand? And so. So I start my prison ministry from the inside.

I ain't scared, you know what I'm saying? Same thing, little Reagan Capri. I knew more about this. I stayed. I was the furthest away from it all, just in case I'd check in with Gretchen from over, like Spider-Man. You know, when he dropped down, that's how I was. You're doing great, baby, and I just stayed way up here. And Reagan is born, and they, see, the question is, everybody, parents, you know this,

if you got more than one kid, when you're having the second one, you legit. legitimately in your heart wonder, am I going to be able to love that one like I love this one? Now, all you second and thirdborns and your insecurity, relax. The answer is yes, you can. You totally can't. But at that point, you don't realize that love is an inexhaustible resource, that you can, like, pour out all the love that you have in your human ability on one kid, and then there's your next kid, and somehow none of the reserves have been tapped into,

and you can love that one with everything you are made of. And they wrapped up little Reagan Capri. And they handed her to me, and I had two thoughts almost immediately. I thought I would die for you. And I will make somebody die for you if I have to. That's not like a euphemism, man. I'm telling you. And if your father, earthly father, who was evil,

knows how to give good gifts to his kids, how much more will your heavenly father? So in my very limited ability to give and receive love, I can love my kids like this. How much does the infinite Father of the universe love you that he would give his only begotten son? Let me just be clear. If the salvation of you came down to me sacrificing my kids,

you're going to hell. Yeah, me and my four, we're going to heaven. Just be us four in Jesus up there. and all y'all going to hell, because I ain't sacrificing him. You understand? And yet God, for God, so loved you that he gave his one and only son that whosoever would believe in him, would not perish, but have everlasting life. That's what he's talking about here.

And have eternal life. Eternal life doesn't just mean that you're going to live forever. In John 173, Jesus says, and this is eternal life that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. You see, the good news of the gospel is not you get heaven. The good news of the gospel is you get him. That when God created the very first man, and breathes the breath of life into him,

and he opens his eyes and he's face to face with his heavenly father. It's the first thing a human ever sees is the face of his creator. And that's what every single one of us were created for. And if there's something missing in your life, that's what it is. There's no trinkets that'll do that for you. There's no success that can do that for you. There's no human relationship that can do that for you. That is what you were created for.

And Jesus comes on a rescue mission to reconcile you and me back to the Heavenly Father so that you and I can know eternal life. And that means to know God and His Son, Jesus Christ. And see, just like Jesus answers questions that Nicodemus never ask out loud, in the scriptures right here between John 316 and 317, Jesus is going to ask the question that you begin to think through. The moment you hear for God so love the world that he gives is one and only son, and whoever would believe, you begin to think, whoever, like me.

Because a lot of you think that it's just for church people, it's just for good people, it's for the people that kind of grew up in this situation, and you begin to, in your own mind, you begin to come up with the excuses of why God could not. love you. Let me tell you, if you don't think God loves you, let me say something to you. Who do you think you are? You honestly think your sin is that bad that the infinite king of the universe can't overcome it by the blood of his son? I mean, as evil as we are, all of your sin is like a little gnat on the back of an elephant in regards to the grace of God poured out for you. This is why he keeps going, and he goes, for God did not send his son into the world to

condemn the world. Yeah, you've been to some churches and all they do is condemn you. If you think that Christianity is about condemnation, then you're doing it wrong. You see, we learned in Romans 8-1, therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Condemnation is not just like a, it's not just a feeling. It's like a state of existence. It's a building term. Like the building inspector goes to a building and says, whoa, this is unfit for use. I know firsthand. My fraternity house in college got a big condemned sign on it. That means y'all got to move out.

This is unfit for use. And when you hear the gospel and in your mind you start hearing the whispers of condemnation, it is the native tongue of the enemy because the last thing he wants you to know is that therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You know what that means? That you're not your past. You're not your sin. You're not your struggle.

you're not your addiction, you're not your marital status, you're not your divorce, you're not your affair, you're not your hormones, you're not your orientation, you're not primarily what color you are, you're not who you vote for, you're not your social media life, you're not your public opinion on what's going on in this world, you are not the things that you're ashamed of. Louis Giggoe said this a couple weeks ago, he says, the enemy tries to define you by your scars, but Jesus defines you by his. That's good, isn't it? That's so good. It's going to be mine in two weeks, okay?

Next time I'll say, you've heard it said, and then in three weeks I'll say, I've always told you, and then that's my quote, okay? You see, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned. That whoever, if you say, even me, I would say especially you. Whoever believes.

Now, I think it's unfortunate that this word Pistuo in the Greek gets translated, believe, because we think, when we hear the word believe, we think like a cognitive assent to something. Like, I believe that. This is like a believe in. It's very different. You see, at this point, Nicodemus believes that Jesus is a rabbi, but he is yet to put his faith, his trust in him, to believe in him. Like currently, I believe that the Patriots are in town.

I've seen evidence of it on social media with a big tacky, egomaniac airplane. They got parked in our city. And I'm sure Tom's running around deflating footballs because he's a cheater. And he's probably paying off referees, so they blow the wheel so early. Because we all know Miles Jack was not down, okay? So I know. Now, if you're a Patriots fan,

we're a movement for all people but know where you are but I do not believe in said team some of you treat Jesus that way you believe that the things about him are true but you've just never trust you never postooed him trusted him leaned your life against

him you see that's different than just knowing it up here what it means to believe is that when Jesus Christ pushed up on his nail-pierced feet on the cross and he says it is finished that somehow, even if you can't explain all this, even if you've got 10,000 doubts and a million questions, even if you get confused about all the other stuff, but somehow when Jesus died on the cross, somehow in your soul you believe, that counted for me.

And the Bible says you'll be saved. forgiven of your sin and adopted into the family of God. What it means to believe is not just believe that, but believe in. I know I use this illustration all the time, but it just, it's just what I think of. It's like when my dad took me to the pool, the Dillon Public Pool, and he invited me to jump off the diving board for the first time. I couldn't swim. We didn't have things like swimming lessons or helmets or seatbelts, for that matter,

where I grew up, all right? And I get out on the diving board, and he goes, and he's in the water, and I can't swim. And he goes, come on, buddy, jump in. You see, standing on that board, I believe that. That's my dad. I recognize him with a sweet magnum PI mustache and the cool country accent. There's my mom over there drinking a tab, just hanging out, working on skin cancer, putting baby oil on. line of kids behind me, not necessarily encouraging my decision-making at that moment.

And here's my death. Come on, buddy, I got you. You jump, I got you. And here's what I know. If he doesn't keep his promise, I'm a dead man, because I can't swim. If I jump in here without him, I'm going to the bottom. And yet, what it comes down to is this, not believing that. Yep, there he is.

I believe he's in the water. I believe he's saying these words. but to trust in is to take that one step of faith off of the board and say, I believe you are who you say you are. My dad, and I believe you're going to keep your promises. And I'm going to take my life with an inability to keep myself alive in this water as a little kid. And I'm going to take my life and I'm going to put it in your hands knowing that you would never, ever let me down. That's what it means to put your faith in Jesus.

It's that simple. I mean, it's so complex, smart people write books about it and will until Jesus returns, and yet it is so simple, a little kid can understand what it means to take a step off that board into the hands of your loving Heavenly Father. For God so love the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever would put their faith in him would not perish but have everlasting life. John 112 says it this way, but all who did receive him who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God. So, church? Have you ever taken the leap of faith? Maybe right now, like I was, when I was a teenager,

I was sitting at a camp, and Coach Bull Lee explained the gospel through John 316. He says, for God so loved you that he gave his only begotten son to die on a cross, and if you would believe in him, you would be saved. And I don't know how to explain it. I had heard that before. I grew up in the South, man. We believed in God and college football and NASCAR. and we just thought they all had their appropriate seasons.

But I did not know that it was a personal invitation for me to take my life and put it in the hands of the Almighty God and say, I trust you. Have you ever done that? Not have you grown up in church, not do you know the right words. Have you ever surrendered your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? And just a second, I'm going to give you the same invitation Coach Lee gave to me. And years and years and years ago, something came alive in my heart. God ripped out my heart of stone and replaced it with a heart of flesh with his heart. And it began to beat for him.

And I was adopted into the family of God. And today you can be too. And then right after we pray, I'm going to invite you for anybody that's never going public with their faith. And maybe you are ready to proclaim Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. I'm going to invite you at all of our locations to just walk down front, get in line, and we're going to be baptizing people on both sides. and if you're like, well, I wasn't really planning on that. Don't worry about it.

Just come on. We got a T-shirt for you. You can just go home dripping wet. We're beach people. Get over yourself, okay? It'll be fine. All for the glory of God. Would you please bow your head and close your eyes?

And if you were here today, and for the very first time in your whole life, you are ready to admit that you're not a mistakeer that needs to try harder, but you're a sinner that needs a savior. You're snake-bitten, and instead of looking to yourself, you're ready to look to just. Jesus high and lifted up. And you believe that somehow when Christ died on the cross, that counted for you. And right now, you were ready to confess him as your Lord and Savior. Would you lift your hand right where you are? Say, Father, here I am. I admitted I'm a sinner in need of a Savior. I believe that

when Jesus said, it is finished, that counted for me. And Jesus, I confess you as Lord and Savior. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we thank you for the glorious good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. God, we thank you for your love, that your love for us is not predicated upon our behavior, but did you give us the faith to believe, to trust in you? Jesus, I thank you for the rescue mission that we were rescued to be reconciled into a right relationship with you, God, and I thank you for the dozens and dozens and dozens of people who have surrendered their life to you throughout this whole saturated series. And God, I thank you that there's salvation in this place today by the Bible.

blood of Jesus. God, we love you more than anything because you first loved us. We prayed in Jesus' name. Amen.