Foundation of Our Faith

The ABC's

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. Furman Fordham II

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Series Code: FDOF

Program Code: FDOF000042A


00:17 Hello, and welcome to Foundation of Our Faith.
00:20 My name is John Dinzey. It's a pleasure to be with you.
00:22 And I'm glad to be a part of this hour
00:25 when we will hear a message from God's Word.
00:28 And today, we have a message from heaven
00:32 through our invited Pastor Furman Fordham II.
00:37 He's a native of Kansas City, Missouri.
00:40 And the Lord has blessed him to pastor in different places
00:43 including youth pastor in Melbourne, Australia
00:45 but he is also pastor in Illinois,
00:47 Kansan City, Missouri,
00:50 and also now senior pastor
00:52 in Riverside Seventh-day Adventist church
00:55 in Nashville, Tennessee.
00:57 The Lord blessed him with a wife Jennifer,
01:00 that a former elementary school teacher
01:03 that has accepted the great privilege
01:06 to be a home-school mom.
01:08 And they have been blessed with three wonderful children.
01:12 And the first one, Furman III also called Pace,
01:17 Irwin also called Pax,
01:19 and Jennings Walter also called Price lovingly,
01:23 nicknames the family has given them.
01:25 And Pastor Fordham is a person
01:29 that the Lord has also used to write a book co-authored
01:33 with Eddie Polite.
01:35 The book called Mission Driven Ministry.
01:38 And the Lord has blessed Pastor Fordham
01:41 with a desire to see churches move
01:44 from just maintenance to mission-driven churches.
01:48 So through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in his life,
01:52 he has been quite a blessing in all the churches
01:55 he has been in thus far.
01:57 And we know you will be blessed
01:59 as you stay with us during this hour
02:01 because we have a message from heaven entitled,
02:04 "The A, B, C."
02:06 So if you think you know the ABCs,
02:08 you need to stay by and listen to God's message
02:11 through Pastor Fordham.
02:14 And we also have a musical guest ministry,
02:18 a music evangelist Sister Chavvah Lister.
02:21 Sister Chavvah Lister is a person
02:23 that loves the Lord and wants to communicate
02:27 that through her music
02:29 so that people will be inspired to follow Jesus
02:31 with all of their heart.
02:33 She's also been blessed with a loving husband
02:37 who is also a senior pastor,
02:39 Pastor Martin, senior pastor
02:41 of the Orchard Park Seventh-day Adventist Church
02:44 and they have two wonderful children.
02:47 And during this hour,
02:48 you will hear a music or a message in song entitled,
02:53 "Were it not for Grace."
02:57 Before we listen to this message and song,
03:00 we are going to ask you to join us in prayer.
03:02 So wherever you are, we encourage you to pause
03:05 and join us as we go to the Lord in prayer.
03:08 Let us pray.
03:10 Our loving heavenly Father, we thank you so much,
03:14 that You have loved so much
03:16 to bring us another message from heaven.
03:19 And we pray Lord that as we listen,
03:21 we will be drawn close to you.
03:24 We pray that you will use Pastor Fordham to speak to us.
03:29 And, Father, we pray that
03:30 if people that are listening to this message
03:33 are going in the wrong way,
03:35 we pray that as a result of listening
03:37 to this message they will find Jesus,
03:39 the way, the truth, and the life.
03:42 And heavenly Father,
03:43 we know that some are listening,
03:48 not because they plan to listen
03:50 but because You have called them for this moment.
03:52 They just turned to the channel,
03:54 they just turned to the webpage,
03:56 found this message on the radio dial,
03:59 and we pray that You will speak to them
04:01 and we pray that they will listen to You
04:04 through your servant Pastor Fordham.
04:06 And we pray heavenly Father
04:08 that as they also listen to the ministering song,
04:11 they will be drawn close to you.
04:12 And we thank you for listening to our prayer,
04:15 for we bring it to you in Jesus' name, Amen.
04:18 Amen.
04:20 Well, we now invite Sister Chavvah
04:21 and we encourage you to be blessed
04:23 as you listen to Were it not for Grace.
04:26 Immediately after this,
04:27 we will hear the message from God
04:30 through Pastor Fordham.
04:31 May God bless him.
04:50 Time measured out my days
04:57 Life carried me along
05:04 In my heart I yearned to follow God
05:10 But knew I'd never be so strong
05:16 I looked hard at this world
05:20 To learn how heaven
05:24 Could be gained
05:28 Just to end where I began
05:33 Where human effort
05:36 Is all in vain
05:42 Were it not for grace
05:50 I can tell you where I'd be
05:56 Wandering down some pointless road
06:01 To nowhere
06:03 With my salvation up to me
06:09 I know how that would go
06:16 The battles I, I would face
06:23 Forever running but losing the race
06:30 Were it not for grace
06:40 So here is all my praise
06:47 Expressed with all my heart
06:54 Offered to our Friend who took my place
07:01 And ran the course I could not start
07:07 And when He saw in full
07:11 Just how much
07:15 His love would cost
07:20 He still went the final mile between me and heaven
07:27 So I would not be lost
07:34 Were it not for grace
07:41 I can tell you where I'd be
07:47 I'd be wandering down some pointless road
07:52 To nowhere
07:55 With my salvation up to me
08:00 And I know how that would go
08:07 The battles I
08:09 I would face
08:14 I'd be forever running
08:17 But losing the race
08:21 Were it not for grace
08:29 Forever running but losing the race
08:36 Were it not for grace
09:01 Forever running but losing the race,
09:05 were it not for grace.
09:07 Praise the Lord for the grace of God
09:11 that gives us everlasting life.
09:13 We wanna thank Chavvah for ministering to us in song.
09:17 And, John, once again, thank you
09:20 for your introduction.
09:21 It is a blessing to be able to share God's Word
09:25 with the Dare to Dream family,
09:28 happy to be a part of
09:29 The Foundation of Our Faith program.
09:34 My wife is a kindergarten teacher.
09:38 And one of the unique aspects of being a kindergarten teacher
09:44 is you deal with the foundation,
09:46 the fundamentals.
09:47 You are teaching individuals how to get in line.
09:51 You are teaching them how to tie their shoes.
09:54 You are teaching the fundamentals.
09:58 You are teaching the ABCs.
10:01 I wanna share from God's Word a conversation
10:06 that Jesus had where he taught the ABCs.
10:11 I wanna invite you to turn with me to John 3.
10:16 And I'm reading beginning with verse 1
10:19 in the New King James Version of the Bible.
10:23 John 3:1 says,
10:26 "There was a man of the Pharisees
10:30 named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
10:34 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him,
10:38 'Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher
10:42 come from God,
10:44 for no one can do these signs
10:46 that You do unless God is with him.'
10:51 Jesus answered and said to him, 'Most assuredly, I say to you,
10:56 unless one is born again,
10:58 he cannot see the kingdom of God.'
11:02 Nicodemus said to Him,
11:04 'How can a man be born when he is old?'
11:08 Can he enter a second time
11:10 into his mother's womb and be born?'
11:13 Jesus answered, 'Most assuredly, I say to you,
11:17 unless one is born of water and of the Spirit,
11:23 he cannot enter the kingdom of God
11:27 that which is born of the flesh is flesh,
11:29 and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
11:32 Do not marvel that I said to you,
11:36 'You must be born again.'
11:40 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it,
11:45 but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes,
11:49 so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
11:53 Verse 9, "Nicodemus answered and said to Him,
11:57 'How can these things be?'"
12:01 Let's bow our heads together.
12:04 Hover over me Holy Spirit,
12:08 bathe my trembling heart and brow,
12:11 fill me with Your Hallowed presence,
12:14 come, oh, come and fill me now.
12:17 Fill me now, fill me now, only You can fill me now.
12:24 So fill me with Thy hallowed presence.
12:26 Come, please come, and fill us now.
12:32 In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
12:37 The ABCs,
12:40 the Bible says there was a man of the Pharisees,
12:45 a ruler of the Jews, a man named Nicodemus.
12:52 The Pharisees in Jesus' day
12:55 were over against the Sadducees,
12:59 like the republicans
13:02 and democrats would be in our day.
13:06 With the addition that they were not just the civic leaders
13:11 and the rulers of the state,
13:14 they were also the leaders of the church.
13:17 So if you were a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews,
13:22 you were a leader in the government
13:25 as well as a leader in the church.
13:28 So Nicodemus is like a congressman and an elder.
13:33 He's a legislator and as well as a deacon.
13:37 Nicodemus is a Pharisee, a rule of the Jews,
13:43 he probably is well-educated,
13:46 probably has a decent amount of resources,
13:50 he has pedigree.
13:52 He is an example of the best
13:55 that the Jewish religion can offer.
13:58 Nicodemus is a part of the upper crust,
14:02 the higher class.
14:04 He's a part of the elite social establishment.
14:08 And this is the individual who came to Jesus.
14:13 Jesus was the polar opposite of Nicodemus.
14:18 Jesus is a country hit preacher from Galilee.
14:23 Jesus didn't attend the higher schools of learning.
14:28 Jesus was homeschooled there on His mama's knee.
14:31 Jesus is not a part of the aristocracy.
14:35 Jesus is the polar opposite of Nicodemus.
14:40 He told someone that foxes have dens
14:44 and others have places to lay their head,
14:47 but Jesus was dependent upon the hospitality of others.
14:51 He was a lonely Galilean.
14:54 He's the polar opposite of Nicodemus
14:58 but yet there is something about Jesus
15:03 that has grabbed Nicodemus's attention.
15:06 Something about Jesus,
15:07 that is attracting him and drawing him.
15:12 It's possible that Nicodemus was among that number
15:17 that went out to the river Jordan,
15:19 where John the Baptist was baptizing.
15:22 And he may have heard John the Baptist
15:26 point to Jesus and say,
15:28 "Behold, the lamb of God
15:30 that takes away the sin of the world."
15:33 It's possible that Nicodemus had heard about that wedding
15:37 at Cana where Jesus turned the water into wine.
15:42 It is probable that Nicodemus was there in person
15:48 when Jesus came into the temple as a part of that feast day
15:54 and He threw out the money changers.
15:57 It would have been the equivalent
15:59 of an inauguration in our state capital
16:03 and one of these country bumpkins
16:05 from way down south comes
16:08 and just disrupts the entire festivities.
16:11 Nicodemus, as a ruler of the Jews,
16:14 would have been there and he sees in Jesus,
16:19 one who is obviously imbued with the power
16:22 and the spirit of God, and he says to himself,
16:26 "I've got to have a conversation with Jesus."
16:31 But it wouldn't be appropriate for big Nicodemus
16:35 to be seen in conversation with unknown Jesus.
16:42 That would compromise Nicodemus's station,
16:46 it would ruin his reputation.
16:48 So Nicodemus decides,
16:51 "I'll secure an interview at night.
16:54 I don't want anybody to see me.
16:57 I don't want to cause any hubbub or any trouble."
17:02 So Nicodemus makes his way up the Mount of Olives.
17:07 Imagine him with his regal pharisaical robes
17:12 trying to not be caught in any bushes,
17:16 or bramble, or thorns,
17:17 and he's winding up the corridor
17:21 trying to find the retreat
17:23 where Jesus spends the night.
17:25 And once he comes in contact with Jesus,
17:29 he tries to regain his composure
17:32 and get his demeanor
17:34 and he clears his throat and he says,
17:37 "Rabbi, we know that you are teacher come from God,
17:43 for no one can do these signs
17:46 that you do unless God is with Him."
17:49 That sounds likes a very dignified address,
17:53 a very appropriate way of showing respect and honor.
17:58 Nicodemus is trying to engage Jesus
18:02 and he uses a salutation
18:05 to try to elicit a response,
18:09 but Jesus cuts right through the charade
18:13 and notices not just what Nicodemus says
18:18 but notices what Nicodemus did not say.
18:24 Nicodemus said,
18:25 "We know You are a teacher come from God,"
18:30 but Nicodemus didn't say,
18:32 "I believe that You are the Son of God."
18:36 Nicodemus is approaching Jesus like a colleague.
18:40 Nicodemus believes that he is a teacher sent from God.
18:43 Nicodemus is coming as if Jesus is a contemporary
18:47 and they're gonna share and trade secrets.
18:50 It's possible that Nicodemus wants Jesus
18:53 to become his disciple.
18:56 He can bend and mould this Young Man
18:58 and he might be able to have him
19:01 as a part of his school of theology.
19:04 But Jesus cuts right to the chase, and says,
19:08 "Verily, verily, I say unto you,
19:11 unless one is born again,
19:15 he cannot see the kingdom of God."
19:19 Jesus is saying it would do no good for me
19:24 to enter into a conversation about my theology
19:28 or about my mission
19:30 if you have not been born again.
19:34 Those conversations will serve no salvific value.
19:38 Jesus is saying, "Nicodemus, we got to deal with the ABCs.
19:44 You are wanting to have big conversations
19:47 about theology, and about predestination,
19:51 and about women's ordination.
19:53 And you want to talk about the end of time.
19:56 And you want to understand my prophetic positions
20:00 on various subjects.
20:01 And you want to talk about the thoughts
20:04 that we have regarding our different tribes
20:07 and whether or not this is the Israel of God,
20:10 and the interpretation of the Mosaic laws
20:13 and the various rituals in the sanctuary.
20:16 But before we get to all of that,
20:18 we got to start with the ABCs.
20:21 Nicodemus, verily, verily, I say unto you,
20:26 unless one is born again,
20:31 he cannot see the kingdom of God."
20:35 Jesus is making it plain
20:38 that spiritual things are spiritually discerned.
20:41 Nicodemus, you don't need more theological information,
20:46 what you need is spiritual experience.
20:52 There are some things
20:54 that are not sufficiently grasped just by observing them
21:00 and studying them and discussing them.
21:04 And Jesus is trying to say,
21:06 "Nicodemus, this spiritual life,
21:10 this Christianity that I have come to inaugurate
21:13 and implement,
21:14 it can't just be studied and discussed,
21:17 it has to be experienced."
21:21 As an African American young man,
21:23 I used to tell my father that I hated the fact
21:28 that I was born in the '70s and grew up in the '80s,
21:32 and missed most of the excitement of the '60s.
21:38 I was jealous that so much happened
21:42 in that civil rights movement era,
21:45 and I felt liked I missed it all.
21:47 I could only read about it in newspapers,
21:51 and read about it in magazines,
21:53 and watch it in video presentations,
21:56 but I was missing something
21:58 because I hadn't experienced it.
22:01 And then I remember
22:04 when a senator from Illinois announced his candidacy
22:10 for the president of the United States,
22:13 and I remember when he ran
22:16 and when he foreseen that caucus Iowa.
22:20 And the African American in these Untied States
22:25 were scared to hope but started to hope
22:28 that we might actually experience
22:31 the first black president of the United States.
22:34 I remember going to cast my ballot early on Tuesday.
22:39 I went to my polling place, the library is where I went.
22:43 And there were older senior citizen,
22:46 African American ladies,
22:48 and they were dressed in their Sunday finest,
22:50 and they would nod as if to say,
22:53 "I know, we coming to do business."
22:55 And I remember when he stood there,
22:57 it was like black royalty, Michelle and Barack.
23:02 I experienced, I lived through
23:05 the first African American president
23:09 of the United States.
23:10 Someone will be interviewing me asking what it was like.
23:15 I didn't study it, I didn't observe it,
23:18 I didn't discuss it, I experienced it.
23:21 And Jesus is trying to say to Nicodemus,
23:24 this spiritual thing is not something
23:29 that can just be discussed, or studied, or theorized,
23:34 or bantered about in the halls of theology,
23:37 it must be experienced
23:40 if you want to see the kingdom of God,
23:43 you must be born again.
23:49 Nicodemus was caught off guard.
23:55 He's expecting to have a conversation
23:57 about different thoughts on teaching the Torah.
24:01 And Jesus hasn't just said,
24:05 "A man must be born again."
24:08 Jesus has suggested that all must men be born again
24:13 which would include Nicodemus.
24:17 The truth is that the Jews described gentiles
24:23 who converted to Judaism as new born babes.
24:29 So Nicodemus is sketching the implication
24:33 that Jesus is suggesting
24:36 that even he needs to be born again.
24:40 That he, the ruler of the Jews, that he,
24:45 the leader of the church, that he, Nicodemus...
24:48 Not they need to be born again,
24:51 not y'all need to be born again,
24:54 Jesus is saying, "You too."
24:59 This is getting a little too close
25:01 for comfort for Nicodemus,
25:02 so he decides that Jesus cannot be suggesting
25:08 that he needs to be born again.
25:10 There must be something else to this discourse.
25:13 Maybe this is a riddle and Jesus is engaging him
25:17 in a joke.
25:18 So he decides he's gonna play along.
25:20 Okay, okay, how can a man be born again?
25:23 What?
25:24 Does he get back into his mothers womb
25:27 to be born again.
25:28 And Jesus says, no, Nicodemus,
25:32 I'm not speaking of spiritual birth
25:37 and physical birth
25:39 in some terms of earthly
25:44 getting inside of your mothers womb
25:47 and coming out in some birthing ward.
25:50 No, I'm speaking about the fact
25:53 that just like flesh gives birth to flesh
25:58 and there is a literal physical birth,
26:01 there is also real, tangible,
26:06 legitimate, spiritual birth.
26:08 That which is flesh gives birth to flesh,
26:12 and that which is spirit gives birth to spirit.
26:16 Nicodemus, do not be surprised when I say to you,
26:22 even you must be born again.
26:28 Nicodemus is making it obvious
26:31 that he does need this spiritual birth
26:36 that Jesus is discussing.
26:39 He's making it clear that spiritual things
26:43 aren't spiritually discerned with him
26:45 because Nicodemus is not a spiritual creature.
26:50 Nicodemus has yet to experience
26:53 the ABCs of salvation.
26:57 When Jesus puts the conversion experience
27:03 in an illustration of birth,
27:05 He's suggesting at least three things.
27:09 Everyone who comes
27:11 to planet earth must be born.
27:17 You can't skip it, bypass it,
27:22 clip it, you cannot delegate it.
27:26 If you are going to come to Planet Earth,
27:29 you must be born.
27:30 And in the same way, Jesus is saying
27:33 if you want to experience the new heaven
27:36 and the new earth,
27:38 you must be born again.
27:42 Jesus is also teaching
27:44 that there's a priority to this new birth.
27:49 There's nothing of importance that you can do
27:53 until you get born.
27:56 You can't go to school, and get married,
28:01 and have a job, and have children of your own,
28:06 until you get born.
28:08 There's a sequence to some things.
28:10 And Jesus is trying to say to Nicodemus,
28:13 "You skipped a step.
28:15 You're trying to form huge sentences,
28:19 and make long paragraphs,
28:22 and deal with polysyllabic terms
28:24 and you've yet to get the ABCs.
28:27 Nicodemus, if you want to see the kingdom of God,
28:32 you must be born again."
28:35 Not only does this birth illustration
28:39 suggest that everyone must experience it,
28:44 not only does it suggest that there's a priority to it,
28:48 we cannot think that we can bypass this step.
28:52 But it also suggests
28:55 that our conversion experience
29:00 is a gift.
29:02 See, birth is not something that you can earn,
29:09 something that you can achieve.
29:13 Your life is something that you can only receive.
29:19 And Jesus is saying to Nicodemus in the same way
29:24 that you were dependent upon your earthly mother and father
29:29 to gift you life that culminated in birth.
29:34 You are dependent upon the ministry of the Holy Spirit
29:39 to gift you new life.
29:43 "Nicodemus, do not marvel when I say unto you,
29:48 'You must be born gain.'"
29:52 This is not optional, this is not a course
29:57 that you can choose to take or decide to bypass.
30:01 This is fundamental like the ABCs.
30:07 And I think one of the challenges
30:09 throughout Christendom
30:11 is we've tried to bypass this fundamental step.
30:17 We have people who are engaged in church work,
30:21 who are concerned about church teachings,
30:24 who want to discuss worship styles,
30:27 and want to discuss whether or not
30:29 women can be ordained and want to deal with tide flow
30:33 and organization of regular and state
30:37 and church conferences
30:38 and want to deal with all of these other enterprises,
30:42 but we've bypassed
30:45 the ABCs of being born again.
30:50 And Jesus wants to explain to Nicodemus
30:56 and I believe He wants to explain to us
31:00 these ABCs.
31:04 Nicodemus' response to Jesus, in verse 9 it says,
31:10 "How can these things be?"
31:15 Jesus has said to him that the wind blows
31:20 where it wishes.
31:22 We may miss it in our English Versions,
31:26 in the original Greek that Jesus is speaking
31:29 and that is being written,
31:31 the word for spirit and the word for wind
31:35 are the exact same.
31:38 Jesus is saying,
31:39 just as the wind is invisible and you cannot control it
31:45 or bottle it or grab it,
31:49 you also cannot disprove it.
31:53 The fact that you can't see the wind
31:55 doesn't mean that the wind does not exist.
31:57 Just because you can't see the spirit, Nicodemus,
32:01 just 'cause you can't grab the spirit
32:03 and hold the spirit,
32:05 does not mean that there's no such thing as the spirit.
32:08 Nicodemus, in the same way that the wind moves
32:13 and it creates and you can tell
32:16 by what it affects that it exists,
32:19 allow the Holy Spirit to move up on you
32:23 and have his way with you,
32:25 and by the change that we see in you,
32:28 we will be able to attest that this is true.
32:33 And, Nicodemus is wondering,
32:35 how in the world can these things be?
32:40 Jesus says to him, I thought you were the teacher
32:43 and you don't understand the ABCs.
32:47 The first thing, Nicodemus,
32:49 you need to admit that even you need to be born again.
32:54 I want us to understand
32:56 that the A in our salvation experience
33:00 is to admit that we have a need of a Savior,
33:04 it's not just them that need to be born again
33:08 or they who need to be born again,
33:12 it is me, it is me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer.
33:17 I need to be born again.
33:22 The Bible says in Genesis 5:1, 2, 3,
33:29 what seems like
33:31 a surface family tree discussion,
33:36 it says that Adam
33:39 was created in the likeness of God
33:45 and then Adam had a son named Seth,
33:49 who was created in Adam's image.
33:54 It's interesting that Adam was created
33:59 in the righteous spotless image of God,
34:05 but then Adam sinned and failed,
34:08 he distrusted God, he removed himself from God.
34:13 After Adam sinned,
34:15 God comes looking for Adam and Adam fears God,
34:19 Adam runs from God, Adam distrusts God.
34:23 By the time Seth comes along,
34:27 that son that was born after Cain and Abel,
34:31 when Adam and Eve are outside of the garden,
34:34 this is after sin has entered in,
34:38 this son is not born, the Bible says,
34:41 in the likeness of God,
34:43 he is born in the image of Adam.
34:47 Something is now wrong with our birth,
34:52 we come here broken, bruised,
34:57 dysfunctional, defamed.
35:01 We come here distrusting God.
35:04 David said, I'm born in sin and shaped in iniquity
35:08 and the reason why that first step is to admit
35:12 that you need a Savior,
35:14 admit that something's wrong with your first birth,
35:18 is because all come here broken
35:21 and damaged and sinful from birth.
35:25 Sin is not just what we do, sin is what we are.
35:31 It is a condition that we have.
35:33 It does not matter how many degrees,
35:36 what pedigree, how many days you spend in church,
35:40 how much offering you give,
35:42 we are born in sin and shaped in iniquity.
35:46 We have an incurable disease.
35:51 Something was wrong with our first birth
35:54 and we need to admit
35:57 that even I need to be born again.
36:02 Jesus is trying to say to Nicodemus, "You too."
36:08 And I believe that the Word of God
36:10 needs to speak to you too, to me too.
36:17 A, Admit my need
36:20 of a Savior.
36:24 The reality is that we can look at physical birth
36:30 and tell that something is wrong with that first birth.
36:35 I know that you like I see your newborn baby
36:40 and think that they're perfect and pure
36:43 and could almost think that they're righteous,
36:46 but let one of those babies cry in the middle of the night
36:50 and you realize they're the most selfish creatures
36:53 that have ever been created.
36:54 Only concerned about my,
36:56 could care less about how long you worked the night before
36:59 and whether or not you got any rest.
37:01 Babies come here selfish.
37:03 I remember when my oldest son was about
37:07 three years old or so
37:08 and my middle son was about six months old or so,
37:13 and the middle son was stealing a cart carrier
37:17 and he was being placed in the kitchen on the floor
37:21 as my wife was preparing to take him
37:24 and his older brother into the car
37:26 to go on a little trip.
37:27 So he is on the floor in his carrier
37:30 and his two and half, three year old brother
37:33 is in the kitchen walking around.
37:34 And my wife hears some big bang,
37:38 it's obvious that something has fallen
37:40 and something has broken.
37:41 She comes down and she says to the oldest boy,
37:44 "Pace, what happened?"
37:46 And Pace looks at his little brother,
37:49 points at him,
37:51 while he's still strapped into the cart seat
37:55 and says, "He did it."
37:59 Now who taught him to lie?
38:03 Why is it that we must teach children
38:07 to tell the truth?
38:10 Because we come here broken,
38:14 we come here damaged.
38:17 And the first step in our recovery
38:22 is to admit that we need a Savior.
38:27 Jesus constantly had a problem
38:29 teaching the ABCs to the church folk,
38:33 those Pharisees wondered
38:35 why he was always hanging out with the public kins
38:39 and the sinners and the tax collectors
38:42 and the prostitutes,
38:43 and all of those high-handed sinners,
38:47 and Jesus said,
38:49 "It's only the sick that have need of a physician."
38:56 He was trying to suggest you are sick too,
39:00 but because you won't admit your need,
39:03 you feel you have no need of a Savior.
39:08 The gospel requires
39:11 that we admit our need.
39:15 Jesus is trying to say to Nicodemus
39:19 and trying to say to us,
39:22 you need to be born again, A,
39:26 Admit your need.
39:29 Then he moves further and gives him the second step
39:34 in the ABCs of salvation.
39:38 He says in an attempt to answer Nicodemus's question
39:42 concerning how these things can be,
39:46 how can this new birth take place?
39:49 Jesus says in verse 14 of John chapter 3,
39:53 "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
40:00 even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
40:06 That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,
40:12 but have everlasting life."
40:14 This was familiar ground for Nicodemus.
40:19 It was a story from the history of his people, the Jews,
40:25 it's found in the Book of Numbers,
40:29 Numbers chapter 21 records the story
40:34 where the children of Israel are now on their way,
40:39 out of Egyptian slavery,
40:42 and they are making their way toward the Promised Land.
40:47 And they are concerned about the fact
40:51 that they cannot find wool, food,
40:54 and they cannot find water and in Numbers 21,
40:59 they are complaining and complaining
41:01 and they are complaining to Moses
41:04 and finally Moses goes and prays to God.
41:08 Now God says,
41:09 I will allow some of these snakes
41:14 in the wilderness,
41:15 some of these serpents in the wilderness to be free
41:19 and to do what they desire
41:21 since you complained about me and you're angry at me.
41:25 I will remove the protection that's provided by me.
41:29 And now the children of Israel
41:31 are being bitten by these venomous snakes
41:34 and they are dying by the hundreds.
41:37 They cry out to Moses and ask him to pray to God
41:41 to remove the fiery serpents.
41:43 And when God goes to Moses, when Moses goes to God,
41:48 God gives him an interesting solution.
41:53 He says, I want you to make a brass pole
41:58 with the form of a serpent around it,
42:02 and whoever looks at the pole,
42:07 will be healed.
42:10 Now I don't know what you think about the solution,
42:15 but you'd have to agree
42:17 that it is not the most scientifically reasonable,
42:21 it would be the equivalent of me having a heart attack
42:25 and someone calls 911
42:27 and they get the ambulance to come
42:30 and instead of them bringing the gurney
42:32 and putting me into the ambulance,
42:33 they say just prop his head up
42:35 and have him look at the ambulance
42:37 that has the picture of the stick
42:39 with the snake around it that comes from this story.
42:43 But yet the Bible says,
42:46 "That those who looked, lived."
42:51 What God was trying to teach them
42:56 was that their sin was equivalent
43:01 to being stung by these serpents
43:04 and the poisonous venom
43:06 was going to result in their death.
43:09 And their only solution was to put their faith
43:15 in the promise of God,
43:17 to put their belief in the Word of God.
43:21 God could have said, do 10 jumping jacks,
43:25 God could have said, do 20 push-ups,
43:27 God could have said,
43:29 dip in the river Jordan seven times,
43:31 God could have said, put blood over the door post,
43:33 God could have said, get in an ark.
43:36 But this time, God said,
43:37 "Make a pole with a brass serpent
43:40 and if you look at the pole, you'll live."
43:43 God gave a promise and if you believe God's Word
43:47 and believe His promise, you'll live.
43:52 Jesus is saying to Nicodemus,
43:55 just as Moses lifted up the serpent
44:00 in the wilderness
44:01 and the people had to come out from their tents,
44:05 not worried about what others would think,
44:08 not worried about whether or not this might fail,
44:11 not even worried about
44:13 whether or not they thoroughly understood,
44:16 remember, the gospel is explaining
44:19 that some things have to be experienced,
44:22 you might not understand
44:24 all of the ins and outs of the rebirth experience,
44:28 you may never understand
44:30 how God can create within you a clean heart
44:33 and restore a steadfast spirit,
44:36 but our job is to stand flatfooted
44:40 on the promises of God,
44:42 standing on the promises of Christ, my Savior.
44:47 They step out of their tents,
44:49 not worried about what people said
44:52 or what people saw,
44:53 and they looked on God with faith and belief
44:58 and those that believed were healed.
45:03 Just as the Moses lifted up the serpent
45:09 in the wilderness,
45:11 even so must the Son of Man.
45:16 Jesus referred to himself as the Son of Man
45:20 borrowing that image from Daniel 7,
45:24 where Daniel envisioned, sees one in heaven,
45:28 coming to God, the ancient of days
45:31 and receiving a kingdom that would never pass away,
45:34 and he's called the Son of Man.
45:36 Jesus is saying, I am that Son of Man,
45:40 and I'm going to be lifted up on a cross
45:44 and whosoever believes on me,
45:50 oh, it doesn't matter if you don't understand it,
45:53 doesn't matter if you can't explain it,
45:56 it may not be scientifically legitimate,
46:00 but your job is not to thoroughly understand it,
46:05 be able to explain it, have an ability to exegete it,
46:09 your job is to believe it.
46:12 Your job is to stand firm on the Word of God,
46:18 admitting your need of a Savior
46:21 and believing that you have a Savior.
46:24 The Bible through Jesus
46:26 is giving us the ABCs of salvation.
46:31 Admit your need of a Savior
46:34 and believe that Jesus is your Savior.
46:40 The reality is that so many of us
46:46 are satisfied discussing our religion
46:50 and debating our religion,
46:53 but we need to bring our need,
46:59 our weakness,
47:01 our hopelessness, our helplessness,
47:05 and then we need to ask God
47:08 for the faith to believe in His righteousness.
47:12 And when our admission of our need
47:16 intersects with the belief
47:18 that God and Christ has served our need,
47:22 it will give birth to change.
47:27 What the Bible is teaching
47:31 is that in order for us to be born again,
47:35 we need to admit
47:38 that something was wrong with our first birth.
47:45 I see it every time I...
47:48 Do not respond consistent with the love of God
47:53 when I do not love others as I love myself,
47:58 when I realize that I'm selfish and that I'm envious
48:02 and that I'm jealous and that inside of me
48:06 is that same kind of propensity
48:09 that Paul talked about in Romans 7,
48:13 "The things I want to do, I don't do,
48:15 and the things I don't want to do,
48:17 I find myself doing, oh, wretched man that I am,
48:21 who shall deliver me."
48:23 I'm A, admitting my need,
48:25 but then I'm ending like Paul did in Romans 7,
48:30 and I'm saying praise be to God
48:33 that I have been delivered in Jesus Christ.
48:37 Jesus is the Savior that I need,
48:41 when he died on the cross,
48:44 dying to pay the penalty for my sin,
48:48 He was communicating the love of God,
48:51 a love so deep and so strong,
48:55 so wide and so high,
48:58 so unconditional, so consistent,
49:01 that it looks beyond my thoughts
49:04 and seize all of my needs.
49:06 When I admit that deep down inside,
49:09 I distrust God, I don't like God,
49:13 I distrust God, and I am selfishly unlike God,
49:18 but then when I look on Jesus
49:22 and I believe that that is God and he loves me,
49:28 it changes me.
49:32 And instead of fearing God, start trusting God.
49:39 Instead of hating God, I start loving God.
49:45 When I believe
49:49 that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh
49:54 and I believe that He has saved me,
50:01 it produces a change that is the equivalent
50:06 to being born again.
50:10 No longer am I anti-God,
50:14 disinterested in God.
50:17 No longer am I apathetic toward God,
50:20 I'm attracted to God.
50:23 Jesus is trying to teach Nicodemus
50:26 and trying to teach you and me, the ABCs.
50:32 He wants us to admit our need of a Savior
50:38 and believe
50:41 that he is the Savior,
50:45 and when my admission of need
50:50 is joined with belief in the Savior that I need,
50:56 it produces a changed creature.
51:01 We see that change in John 19,
51:07 it's the last time that we hear about old Nicodemus.
51:14 He thought about that interview
51:17 and reflected on that interview
51:22 and he was a part of that Sanhedrin council
51:25 that was trying its best to trap Jesus
51:29 and accost Jesus and eventually to try
51:34 and judge and crucify Jesus.
51:37 And he would suggest
51:40 an approach of patience and deliberation.
51:45 He said, we shouldn't try a man and condemn him as guilty
51:49 before we've given him a chance to be tried in court.
51:53 He tried his best to stop the proceedings
51:57 and to halt the proceedings, but after a while,
52:00 the massive mass of the Jewish elite establishment,
52:06 they went out and decided
52:08 that they were going to kill and crucify Jesus,
52:11 and when they secure their objective,
52:13 Nicodemus saw Jesus
52:18 as the Son of Man,
52:21 hung up between two things.
52:26 But he saw him not angry,
52:31 not cursing,
52:34 not abusing those who abused him,
52:37 but willingly saying, "Father, forgive them,
52:43 for they know not what they do."
52:45 And he saw the divinity of Jesus,
52:50 the messianic Christ-likeness of Jesus,
52:55 he was convicted that this was God,
52:58 not just a Savior of the world, but the Savior of his world.
53:05 And Nicodemus was changed.
53:08 And after Jesus was crucified,
53:12 the Bible says
53:13 in John 19:38,
53:20 "After this," after Jesus' death,
53:23 "Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus,
53:27 but secretly for fear of the Jews,
53:30 asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus,
53:34 and Pilate gave him permission.
53:37 So he came and took the body of Jesus."
53:39 He wanted to give Jesus a proper burial.
53:42 But look at verse 39 says in John 19,
53:48 "And Nicodemus,
53:51 who at first came to Jesus by night..."
53:57 embarrassed Nicodemus,
54:00 who didn't want to be see Nicodemus,
54:03 who thought he was too high and mighty Nicodemus,
54:06 who had to come at night so that no one would know
54:09 he was talking to Jesus Nicodemus,
54:12 that Nicodemus who at first came to Jesus by night,
54:17 also came.
54:19 Oh, this is Nicodemus coming in the day,
54:22 this is Nicodemus coming during a period
54:26 when the world won't know what side he is on.
54:29 This is Nicodemus coming out of the shadows,
54:32 because Nicodemus has been changed.
54:36 Nicodemus no longer thinks that he's high and mighty.
54:40 Nicodemus has been brought humble and laid low.
54:43 And Nicodemus wants to come to Jesus
54:46 and do whatever he can to serve Jesus
54:50 because Nicodemus has been changed by Jesus.
54:56 Nicodemus has learned
55:00 his ABCs.
55:03 Nicodemus has experienced
55:08 the ABCs with all of his pedigree,
55:15 all of his Pharisaical robes,
55:18 all of his external righteousness,
55:22 Nicodemus has come to see that he needs a Savior,
55:28 and he admitted his need,
55:33 his emptiness,
55:36 his brokenness, his hopelessness.
55:41 But he didn't just stop at admitting his need,
55:46 he believed in his Savior.
55:49 He believed that Jesus was God in the flesh
55:55 and that he was dying for his sin.
56:00 Nicodemus placed his faith in Jesus,
56:04 placed his trust in Jesus, Nicodemus looked at Jesus,
56:10 and just like the children of Israel,
56:12 looked at that pole with that brazen serpent
56:16 and their poison was healed,
56:19 the poison of Nicodemus's pride
56:22 and Pharisaical righteousness was healed.
56:26 Nicodemus was changed.
56:30 And my prayer
56:33 is that you and me
56:39 will admit that something is wrong with our first birth,
56:46 that we will believe the promise of Jesus
56:52 that says, For God so loved the world
56:54 that he gave his only unique son
56:57 that whosoever believes in him,
57:00 just trusts him and you will have everlasting life,"
57:04 all that we might admit our need of a Savior
57:08 and believe in the Savior we have,
57:11 and that belief
57:14 will produce change
57:18 and we will be born again.
57:23 Are you willing to experience the ABCs?


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Revised 2017-11-28