(John 3:5)
�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.�
Many years ago I was in the Boy Scouts. I wasn�t in the Scouts for very long because� Well, because I didn�t really care for the experience. The experience is just not for everyone. Although I played sports quite a bit as a youngster, I was really not an �outdoorsy� type of person.
Cub Scouts, the precursor to the Boy Scouts, was more to my liking. The meetings were inside. I tried to get my son to join the Cub Scouts when he was the proper age. It wasn�t for him.
All during the orientation meeting Ethan was fuming and fussing. I finally took him outside the meeting room and tried to explain all the good things about the Cub Scouts. I was sure I could talk him into joining - willingly.
Finally Ethan explained his reluctance. �I don�t want to join the Cub Scouts. I want to join the Cardinal Scouts.� Those of you who are baseball fans from the Midwest will understand my son�s dilemma!
One day while I was in the Boy Scouts we went camping. For an �indoor person� this was not a large thrill. I think the Scout Master understood that I was bored with the trip. He asked that I go walking through the woods so that another Scout could earn his badge for �tracking.� The other boy was to follow me and report where I had been.
I took my task quite seriously. I cut across fields and did �switch backs.� I wanted to make sure the other Scout earned his badge. It seemed that I was too anxious to make sure this young man �earned� his badge. The Scout Master came by and said I was making the trip too hard. The Scout Master then took over; he made a leisurely stroll down the side of a couple of roads.
The other boy earned his badge.
Much later, when I was a trainee in the Army, I ran into some more people who had an outdoor fetish!
I also discovered that I had a skill I had not known about. If I was handed a topographical map I could find my way out of, or into, nearly any place I was asked to go. An important skill for one in the army. Well, if one wanted to stay out of the infantry it would probably not be a real good idea to be known for possessing this skill.
In our text verse today Jesus gives a word map to Nicodemus. Jesus explains just what He had meant by the term �Born Again.�
In His giving of this map we see that Jesus was speaking the Truth to Nicodemus. �Jesus answered, Verily, verily I say unto thee��
Notice that Jesus began his explanation with a double word. �Verily� means that what is spoken is true. Consider that the word �verify� comes from this root. At a trial, for instance, the prosecutor is asked to verify that the facts presented against the accused are true facts. If this cannot be done we must assume that the accused is innocent as the facts are not demonstratibly true.
All of the pronouncements of Jesus are true. All that the Scripture says is true. All of the pronouncements of Jesus are important. All that the Scripture says is important. This is why we must take special notice of any phrase with begins with the double �verily.�
This is a forceful truth.
Of all the things that the Scripture has to say, when the subject is upon the salvation of man, this is most important.
It is a very warm day while I am typing this message. I just left the keyboard for a minute to get some more ice for the ice water I�ve been drinking. When I did this I walked through the door into a hall, through another door to access the ice in a freezer in the pantry.
Why did I do this? My keyboard is next to a window. I could have crawled through the window. The hallway has three windows. I could have crawled through any of these windows. The pantry has a door to the outside and another window - as well, of course, as a door to the kitchen. I used the doors because this is the proper, and the easier!, way to access the places I needed to go.
Christianity is an even more exclusive religion than my short trek. There are no �windows;� there is only One Door. That �Door� is Jesus Christ. �I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved�� (John 10:9) Jesus was speaking here. But, He said even more, ��and shall go in and out, and find pasture.�
The meaning of the last portion of this verse is not that any man should go in and out of salvation. This is shown by the caveat that in so doing the person would find �pasture.� The idea of pasture is that the sheep would find food. His going in and out was following the shepherd. The sheep which did not follow his shepherd would not find sustenance; he would die either of attack by predators or by starvation.
The reason that pronouncements toward salvation are so important in Scripture is that salvation is the door by which we enter into the pasture of the Words of God. Scripture was given to humanity so that they might find salvation in Christ. Scripture is given to the Christian so that we might find the Glory of God in His Words. Through the Scripture we gain spiritual sustenance.
Not only was this explanation of Jesus a forceful truth, it was also a factual truth. Not everyone tries to enter in fellowship with God through the Door. Some try to climb through those windows. It won�t work!
�Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.� (Acts 4:12)
There are many other ways postulated by man under which salvation may come. We can do good works of charity. We can live moral lives. We can join churches and follow church ordinances and sacraments. All of these fail. It is trust in Christ by which salvation comes to humanity.
Others suggest that we follow religious leaders. Following any other religious leader, unless he is leading you to Christ, is to fail. It�s a window, not The Door!
Christianity, true Christianity, is an exclusionary religion. Only faith in Christ, and in Him alone, can save a soul from sin and hell. That is the message that God has given in His Words to man.
This is a factual truth.
But, even though exclusionary, the way explained by Jesus is also a faith truth.
The Gnostic�s believed that true salvation was dependant upon learning the mysteries of God and spirituality. Aren�t we glad that this is not true!
I have a rather extensive library. In it are works of some of the giants of Christian thought. I will never be their equal. If salvation were dependant upon knowledge, how many of us would ever be candidates for true salvation?
Very few!
Dwight L. Moody was impressed that the world had seldom seen a man who was completely �sold out� to God. Moody attempted to be that man. Moody was a man greatly used of God. If salvation were dependant upon the consecration of men like Moody, how many of us would ever be candidates for true salvation?
Very few!
I am reminded of a man named Ben Morgan. He was the Moderator of the American Evangelical Christian Churches. I was privileged to call Dr. Morgan a friend. He took his relationship with that denomination quite seriously. He labored hard to keep her pure from the world. If salvation were dependant upon a dedication to a church body such as Dr. Ben Morgan displayed, how many of us would be able to access this great salvation?
Not many!
But the salvation offered from God is not dependant upon our power or goodness, or ever our own dedication to God. The salvation offered by God is completely dependant upon the Word of Jesus Christ. �For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.� (Romans 5:6)
Jesus died in time so that we, any of us, might live in eternity.
It is a great salvation which Jesus offers. This salvation is not based on our works; it is based on the Word He did on the Cross of Calvary.
AMEN! Somebody had to say that!
Jesus also approached the subject by showing the trail to Nicodemus. ��Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit��
When Linda and I went on vacations we would sometimes not get where we were planning to go. It didn�t make any difference; we were on vacation. I often said that it didn�t matter if we were lost as long as we found our way back home before the end of the vacation.
I recall one time we were in Arkansas. It was getting late so we began our trek back to Springfield, Missouri, where our tent was already set up for the week. But, instead of just retracing our steps, we started back by a different route.
Somehow, with my map skills (Actually, we also discarded the map. We were counting on using the sign posts located along the road.) we went in a more Westerly direction than we had planned. We began to see signs directing us to Carthage, Missouri. Then we came upon a sign that said, �Precious Moments Museum.� We put this into our bank of �to do things.�
It was back to our camp ground. Next morning we went to the Precious Moments Museum. It was great. Since we went quite regularly back to Springfield, it was an easy thing to add the Precious Moments Museum to our annual trips.
By simply abandoning our normal route we found an enjoyable side light.
The route to Heaven is not like this. Jesus explained that for a man to find the Kingdom of God it would be necessary to have a designated destination. Side trips will not lead to the road to Heaven.
Linda and I could travel around. We could visit a small gas station in a remote town simply so that we could experience the location and people. We were not closely tied to a time schedule or destination. The only constraint upon our time was that day that the vacation would end. By then we needed to be home.
The Bible gives a time we need to be home. �And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.� (Hebrews 9:27)
Folks, it is important that we are ready for that day. We do not know when it will come. One time when Ethan was about four years old we went to a Bible Conference on Evangelism; it was held in Denver, Colorado. During one of the afternoon breaks Ethan and I went sightseeing in the mountains. As Ethan looked over the deep drop offs on the edge of road, he tightened up his seat belt.
I think the sight of the drop off was just a little frightening to him. But, the seat belt would have done him no good. A simple tire malfunction and we would have been hurtled to our death. The seat belt would have done him no good.
We have no idea when the tire of life will cause us to hurtle from the mountain of physical existence. Anything, at any time, could come upon us and we would suddenly be in eternity. If we�ve simply trusted the seat belt of religion, or any of the works which are used to placate God, we are lost. We�ve reached the wrong destination.
Be ready. That is what Jesus was telling Nicodemus. �Being ready� means having trusted Jesus as your Savior.
Jesus was explaining to Nicodemus that there was a directed destination. In other words, there was but one way to enter Heaven.
Quite often when we consider towns and villages we think of the roads that will take us to those places. There are interstates routes that take us too many places. The older US routes, and State routes, will take us to even more places. Besides this there are county roads and even some unnamed roads which go into most places.
One time, however, I was asked to come and preach at a small country church in a very small country town. There was but one road into and out of this town. No �back roads� approached the town from any other direction. One either came into this town by this one country road or one did not come into this town.
I like those four lane highways. It didn�t make any difference. Only this one narrow two lane road could get me to this town. That is the road I used.
Only Jesus, faith in Him and His sacrifice at Calvary, can give us entrance into Heaven. We can �choose� to attempt the trip another way. That other way will not allow us to reach the destination of God�s presence and favor.
Only Jesus. Only. Just One Way.
Jesus also gave a detailed destination to Nicodemus. The phrase �born of water and of the Spirit,� describes to instances. The first, �born of water,� refers to our physical birth. This is the experience of all who reside on this earth. This is the natural birth.
But, Jesus said that we need more than just this. There are those who preach that salvation comes to all. This is false. This is not of the Scripture. We need that �second birth� of the Spirit.
Do you remember what it was that you did that made your first birth, your physical birth, possible? Think about it; what did you do? You just allowed the natural process to take place. Other than this, you did nothing.
The second birth, the New Birth, is akin to that experience. We do nothing. We simply accept Jesus as our Savior and He does all that is necessary. Even in our acceptance, we are drawn by the Spirit. God is so gracious that He calls us to accept His offered salvation.
Finally, in this verse we also see that Jesus is sharing the terrible. ��he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.�
We are often reminded that for every plus there is a minus. For every right choice there is the avoidance of a wrong choice. For every good thing there is a bad thing lurking around a corner.
Such is the case here, Jesus told Nicodemus. It is entirely possible to be banned from the Kingdom of God.
Several years ago my daughter and I went to see a professional baseball game. We traveled for about two hundred miles in a hot car. Then we had to drive in the middle of a large city which had very heavy traffic. Then we had to find a parking spot, several blocks from the stadium which made us walk in that hot sun. Then we were forced to stand in a long line for a very long time.
After all of this we were still not allowed into the game unless we purchased a ticket! One would have thought that they�d just be happy we had come all that way to watch their players. After all, this would make us eligible to buy those $5.00 hot dogs!
But, no! We were banned from watching the game until we purchased a ticket! Then we had to give the ticket to someone who tore it in two!
This seems to be reasonable at a baseball game: buy a ticket to get in. Not any old ticket would do. We had to have one from the baseball team�s office.
I have a perfectly good printer that could have probably made tickets just as good as theirs. If I had tried this I would have been arrested for counterfeiting. It was the proper ticket which was demanded.
Isn�t this just like Heaven. Jesus has purchased, through His death, burial and resurrection, the Only ticket that will purchase our salvation. Then He offers us this ticket free and clear.
Why does anyone believe it is better to refuse His offer, and His passion, and make a counterfeit of some sort of good works done on their own?
Silly. Illegial. Not effective. And, this is tremendously insulting to Jesus Christ, as well!
Besides this, it is also the fact of those who refuse to accept Jesus as their Savior to be barred from the Kingdom.
There is a religious teaching that one may work a certain penance after death in order to gain Heaven. No. The Bible teaches no such thing. The Bible teaches the exact opposite.
In the sixteenth chapter of Luke Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus. As the awful reality of his condition is brought to the rich man, as he languishes in Hell, he asks that Lazarus might visit him to offer some cooling water. Abraham�s reply to this request tells us all that the habitation is set for those in Heaven and in Hell.
�And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.� (Luke 16:26)
On this earth we have the opportunity to accept the salvation offered by Christ. But, only as we are in this body may we make this choice. That choice is sealed at the point of physical death. Our eternal abode is sealed at the point of physical death.
Those who have passed from this earthy scene without having accepted the free salvation offered by Jesus as buried from the Kingdom of God.
While you are alive and on this earth there is only one thing that can separate you from the love of God. This is your own refusal to accept Jesus as your Savior.
Don�t make this mistake. Accept Him today!