What Shall I Do - Part Four Nov 13, 2022 by: John Herbert | Series: What Shall I Do... Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T037_20221113.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Jn 1:11 He came to His own [things], and His own [people] did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. We will continue today to look at matters surrounding Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday November 13th 2022 What Shall I Do…….. Part 4 1). Jn 1:11 He came to His own [things], and His own [people] did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. We had seen last time that in the first Chapter of his Gospel, John had drawn attention to individual Jews within the nation who had received Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, focusing on His regality and the Kingdom of the heavens that was on offer, at the Lord’s first Advent. a). These individual Jews because of their belief had been given the right to become ‘children of God’, a phrase that in this context, has nothing to do with eternal salvation, but everything to do with being subject to the child training of the Lord. Those who would be trained as children in order to be a restored firstborn son in the Millennial Kingdom – Lk 18:17 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” And we had seen that these individuals who received Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, had not gotten this revelation concerning His identity as a result of their natural birth, nor as a result of their own intellectual resources, and nor were they taught it by another person, but it was brought forth out of God in exactly the same way that Peter had received the same revelation recorded in - Mt 16:16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And we had seen that what had been established in these verses from John Chapter 1 concerning being born of God thereby receiving Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, must be taken over into John Chapter 3 and into the Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus, as they provide the context into which Jesus’ words in v3 must be placed. b). And it is understanding that which is set out here in John Chapter 1 that gives clarity to Jesus’ answer to Nicodemus’s inquiry – Jn 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Only by being brought forth out of God could an individual see and enter that to which the signs Nicodemus came to talk about, pointed, the Kingdom of the heavens. c). We had seen how the phrase ‘born again’ is better translated ‘born from above’, and most particularly, that within this context being ‘born again’, born from above’, had nothing to do with the new birth and passing from death to life. And consequently, we had recognized the importance of not removing this phrase from its context to make it say something it doesn’t say. This is part of rightly dividing the word of truth so that we may be approved at the Judgment Seat. d). And as we consider righty dividing the word of truth within John’s Gospel, let’s visit another famous verse, also taken from the Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus, John 3:16 – Jn 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. As we approach these verses, let’s remember that Jesus’ purpose for His first Advent hadn’t changed – Mt 15:24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” The purpose for John writing his Gospel, which included this account of the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus, had not changed – Jn 20:30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you [the Jews] may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you [the Jews] may have life [for the age] in His name. And nor had the subject of the Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus changed either – Jn 3:2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him. Scripture does not jump around here from one subject to another, going from age lasting life in one verse to eternal life in the next, and back again. e). With respect to the verses that begin in John 3:14, they must be kept within the overall context and purpose of John’s Gospel. Then in the immediate context in which we find v16, we see an introductory reference in John 3:14-15 to Moses ‘lifting up’ the serpent in the wilderness and Jesus being ‘lifted up’ in like manner. And seeing this we should ask the question, did this event, recorded in Numbers Chapter 21, take place before or after the nation of Israel was redeemed on the night of the first Passover? It was after. So, consequently, can this event in the wilderness have anything to do with death and shed blood and passing from death to life for that first generation? It can’t! But it does have to do with the continuing sin of the Jewish nation after their redemption at Passover – Nu 21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” 6 So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. This should then lead us to ask another question, when John wrote his Gospel during the re-offer of the Kingdom of the heavens to Israel, drawing attention to this event in the wilderness, had Jesus already been to the cross? Yes, He had. And the generation of eternally saved Jews to whom the re-offer was being made knew this. And for this eternally saved generation, Jesus being ‘lifted up’ on the cross could have nothing to do with them passing from death to life, just as we saw with the eternally saved generation in the wilderness. f). And for those individuals within the Jewish nation, during the re-offer, who connected the dots between the serpent ‘lifted up’ in the wilderness and Jesus being ‘lifted up’ on the cross and the nation still in sin, their belief in His name, belief that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, brought them to repentance and offered them life for the age because of it. That very thing which is the purpose for John’s Gospel – Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized [born of water] in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit [born of the Spirit]. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. Acts 3:26 To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.” 4:1 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. And it is John 3:14-15 that introduce and provide the immediate context for v16. Now, is it true to say that God so loved humanity that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, to die on the cross so that those who would believe on Him, accept His death, and shed blood on their behalf, would have eternal life? Yes, this is a true statement. But this is NOT what Jesus is saying to Nicodemus in this verse from John Chapter 3. And to take this verse out of its context to make it say what it doesn’t say is the antithesis of rightly dividing the word of truth. i). And a large part of the problem with this verse seems to come from the word ‘world’. As we look at this word it is natural for us to envisage ‘the whole world’, as this is the common usage of this word within our experience. Within the Scripture though, the word translated ‘world’, ‘kosmos’, can refer to the ‘world’ in broad sense, as in, the whole world, or in a narrow sense, such as, my own little world, it is the context in which it is used which will determine what it is. j). Now, as we remember who the Lord was sent to at His first Advent, ‘the lost sheep of the house of Israel’, we can begin to see that we are to view ‘kosmos’, in this context in John Chapter 3, in a narrower sense than the whole world. And if we go to the Scripture, again in John’s Gospel, Jesus used the word ‘world’ and then defined it for us – Jn 18:19 The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine. 20 Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing. I hope we can see it. Jesus used the word ‘world’, ‘I spoke openly to the world’, and then He defined the extent of the ‘world’ He was referring to, ‘I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet’. And it is this narrower sense of the word ‘world’, referring to the Jewish people that we should see and understand in John 3:16. k). Let’s look at these verses again with some explanatory additions to help our understanding - Jn 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man [a Messianic title – Not the Lamb of God] be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him [believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God] should not perish [with respect to the age] but have life for the age. 16 For God so loved the world [the Jewish people, those to whom Jesus was sent] that He gave His only begotten Son [to them], that whoever [of them, the Jews] believes in Him [believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God] should not perish [with respect to the age] but have life for the age. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world [into the midst of the Jewish people] to condemn the world [the Jewish people, those to whom He was sent] but that the world [the Jewish people] through Him might be saved [with respect to the age]. This then all makes perfect sense within the purpose for John writing his Gospel during the re-offer of the Kingdom of the heavens to Israel by the one new man - that you [the Jews] may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you [the Jews] may have life [for the age] in His name. Mt 21:37 Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ It may well be a part of our Laodicean leftovers, for us to still isolate phrases and verses from their context to make them say something other than what the context would allow. This is something we may do without even thinking about it because of what has been ingrained in our thinking. So, if we apply our question to this, ‘What Shall I Do…’ Perhaps our answer should be, now is the time to start thinking about it, and then to stop doing it. l). And we should do this most particularly, as we realize that the misuse of the Scripture after this fashion has come because of the outworking of the leaven placed in the three measures of meal, it has come as the result of the actions of deceiving spirits and has come from the doctrine of demons. It is the work of the wisdom from below to corrupt and destroy the Word of the Kingdom. m). And we may all still have a residue of Laodicean thinking that we must change our minds about. 2). To go back to an earlier part of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, we will remember that further commentary on John 1:11-13 and John 3:3 was then given by the Lord in John 3:5 - Jn 3:5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. In this verse Jesus drew from Israel’s history, as recorded by Moses, drawing from the Exodus from Egypt with a particular focus on the Red Sea crossing. a). Implicit in this verse is death, burial, and resurrection. Israel had died a vicarious death on the night of the first Passover, was buried in the Red Sea, the place of death and then raised to newness of life on the eastern bank to be led by the Spirit to the land of their inheritance. This is what Jesus wanted Nicodemus to understand. b). And that set out in this verse, in conjunction with John 3:3 and John 1:11-13, drawing from the scriptural record of Israel’s history, has identified a foundational truth that we must also embrace if we are going to enter the Kingdom of the heavens – Ge 1:9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day. And in the foundation, this truth is established on the Third Day of the restoration of the ruined material creation. c). From a spiritual perspective then, let’s re-trace the steps necessary to get to that pictured in this Day. d). All must begin with that seen on Day One when by a Sovereign act of the Divine will, the light shone in the darkness making a division between the two, picturing the moment when an individual passes from death to life, an individual who is then in possession of a redeemed spirit, equated with the light, and an unredeemed soul, equated with the darkness – Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit………. On Day Two in Genesis Chapter 1, we had seen another division, with waters above the firmament being separated from waters below the firmament, providing a foundational type for the wisdom that comes forth from above out of God – Jn 4:24 God is Spirit………… And the wisdom that comes from below that is earthly, sensual, demonic, originating from the kingdom of this world under the sway of the wicked one – Jas 3:14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And it is only because an individual has passed from death to life, being in possession of spiritual life, that he can then make the distinction between the wisdom from above and the wisdom from below – 1 Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. The individual is then able to make a choice, either to receive the wisdom from above, brought forth out of God or, receive the wisdom from below. And this brings us to Day Three in Genesis Chapter 1. And this Day begins as the previous two days, ‘Then God said….’ That which God said, contained in His breath is His Spirit, it is the wisdom brought forth from above. And in Day Three this wisdom is seen in connection with the dry land being raised from beneath the waters, the waters that were below the firmament, and the dry land subsequently bringing forth fruit. e). What God said at the beginning of the Day had a twofold purpose. Firstly, to separate the land from the waters below, and secondly, because of this separation, that fruit would be produced. f). Day Three in Genesis Chapter 1 provides a number of typological pictures for us, not the least of which is resurrection. But before we look at that, let’s look at this from the perspective of the wisdom from above and the wisdom from below. From this perspective, we can see the individual who is in possession of spiritual life, and who is able to distinguish between the wisdom from above and the wisdom from below, making the choice to receive the wisdom from above, brought forth out of God, to hear what God has said. And, because of this choice, the individual, pictured in the dry land, finds himself separated from the wisdom from below, pictured in the waters below the firmament. g). And then, through him receiving and believing the wisdom from above there is a Divine work in him that produces fruit. h). And this foundational truth seen from the perspective of the wisdom from above and the wisdom below, finds commentary and explanation in the Parable of the Sower in Matthew Chapter 13 – Mt 13: 18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom……… Hearing the Word of the Kingdom, the wisdom brought forth from above, can be equated with that which God said at the beginning of the Third Day in Genesis Chapter 1, but to be fruitful for the Kingdom, as we have seen, the individual must be separated from the wisdom below, because it is only the man of the spirit, led by the Spirit, who can produce fruit. And it is the wisdom from below, under the sway of the wicked one, that Jesus identifies in His explanation of the parable of the sower – Mt 13:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. Here then, in a variety of forms, the wisdom from below and its purpose are revealed. ‘When anyone does not understand’ – if the wisdom from above, the Word of the Kingdom, is not understood, then the individual remains immersed in the wisdom from below, ‘the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart’. Without the wisdom from above, the Word of the Kingdom, he cannot produce fruit. ‘He who received the seed on stony places….’ – the Word of the Kingdom brought forth from above is received with joy by this individual, but as yet, he has no root in himself, no firm foundation upon which to stand. And when tribulation and persecution come to him because he has heard the Word of the Kingdom, he then rejects that which he has heard. He goes back to the wisdom from below and does not produce fruit. ‘He who received seed among the thorns…’ – this is the individual who does not choose to look from this world unto Jesus, who, like Lot’s wife, is consumed by that on which his attention is fixed. He is consumed by the wisdom from below and does not produce fruit. i). In this respect, the three individuals we see here never receive the wisdom from above, the Word of the Kingdom, to allow them to be separated from the wisdom from below. Although they all heard what God had said, ‘When anyone hears the Word of the Kingdom’, they never came from beneath the waters, and would remain in the place of death for the age to come. j). And the wisdom from below is seen in these three, through an inability to understand, tribulation and persecution because of the Word of the Kingdom, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, which perhaps we could summarize another way, the world, the flesh, and the devil, or the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. k). And an integral part of our being separated from the wisdom from below, is recognizing and then changing our minds about the Laodicean leftovers in our thinking, such as we have seen with the phrase ‘born again’ and today with John 3:16 – 1 Pe 2:1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. We will pick this up again next time if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed. What Shall I Do - Part Four Nov 13, 2022 Speaker: John Herbert Series: What Shall I Do... Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T037_20221113.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Jn 1:11 He came to His own [things], and His own [people] did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. We will continue today to look at matters surrounding Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday November 13th 2022 What Shall I Do…….. Part 4 1). Jn 1:11 He came to His own [things], and His own [people] did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. We had seen last time that in the first Chapter of his Gospel, John had drawn attention to individual Jews within the nation who had received Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, focusing on His regality and the Kingdom of the heavens that was on offer, at the Lord’s first Advent. a). These individual Jews because of their belief had been given the right to become ‘children of God’, a phrase that in this context, has nothing to do with eternal salvation, but everything to do with being subject to the child training of the Lord. Those who would be trained as children in order to be a restored firstborn son in the Millennial Kingdom – Lk 18:17 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” And we had seen that these individuals who received Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, had not gotten this revelation concerning His identity as a result of their natural birth, nor as a result of their own intellectual resources, and nor were they taught it by another person, but it was brought forth out of God in exactly the same way that Peter had received the same revelation recorded in - Mt 16:16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And we had seen that what had been established in these verses from John Chapter 1 concerning being born of God thereby receiving Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, must be taken over into John Chapter 3 and into the Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus, as they provide the context into which Jesus’ words in v3 must be placed. b). And it is understanding that which is set out here in John Chapter 1 that gives clarity to Jesus’ answer to Nicodemus’s inquiry – Jn 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Only by being brought forth out of God could an individual see and enter that to which the signs Nicodemus came to talk about, pointed, the Kingdom of the heavens. c). We had seen how the phrase ‘born again’ is better translated ‘born from above’, and most particularly, that within this context being ‘born again’, born from above’, had nothing to do with the new birth and passing from death to life. And consequently, we had recognized the importance of not removing this phrase from its context to make it say something it doesn’t say. This is part of rightly dividing the word of truth so that we may be approved at the Judgment Seat. d). And as we consider righty dividing the word of truth within John’s Gospel, let’s visit another famous verse, also taken from the Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus, John 3:16 – Jn 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. As we approach these verses, let’s remember that Jesus’ purpose for His first Advent hadn’t changed – Mt 15:24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” The purpose for John writing his Gospel, which included this account of the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus, had not changed – Jn 20:30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you [the Jews] may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you [the Jews] may have life [for the age] in His name. And nor had the subject of the Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus changed either – Jn 3:2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him. Scripture does not jump around here from one subject to another, going from age lasting life in one verse to eternal life in the next, and back again. e). With respect to the verses that begin in John 3:14, they must be kept within the overall context and purpose of John’s Gospel. Then in the immediate context in which we find v16, we see an introductory reference in John 3:14-15 to Moses ‘lifting up’ the serpent in the wilderness and Jesus being ‘lifted up’ in like manner. And seeing this we should ask the question, did this event, recorded in Numbers Chapter 21, take place before or after the nation of Israel was redeemed on the night of the first Passover? It was after. So, consequently, can this event in the wilderness have anything to do with death and shed blood and passing from death to life for that first generation? It can’t! But it does have to do with the continuing sin of the Jewish nation after their redemption at Passover – Nu 21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” 6 So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. This should then lead us to ask another question, when John wrote his Gospel during the re-offer of the Kingdom of the heavens to Israel, drawing attention to this event in the wilderness, had Jesus already been to the cross? Yes, He had. And the generation of eternally saved Jews to whom the re-offer was being made knew this. And for this eternally saved generation, Jesus being ‘lifted up’ on the cross could have nothing to do with them passing from death to life, just as we saw with the eternally saved generation in the wilderness. f). And for those individuals within the Jewish nation, during the re-offer, who connected the dots between the serpent ‘lifted up’ in the wilderness and Jesus being ‘lifted up’ on the cross and the nation still in sin, their belief in His name, belief that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, brought them to repentance and offered them life for the age because of it. That very thing which is the purpose for John’s Gospel – Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized [born of water] in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit [born of the Spirit]. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. Acts 3:26 To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.” 4:1 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. And it is John 3:14-15 that introduce and provide the immediate context for v16. Now, is it true to say that God so loved humanity that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, to die on the cross so that those who would believe on Him, accept His death, and shed blood on their behalf, would have eternal life? Yes, this is a true statement. But this is NOT what Jesus is saying to Nicodemus in this verse from John Chapter 3. And to take this verse out of its context to make it say what it doesn’t say is the antithesis of rightly dividing the word of truth. i). And a large part of the problem with this verse seems to come from the word ‘world’. As we look at this word it is natural for us to envisage ‘the whole world’, as this is the common usage of this word within our experience. Within the Scripture though, the word translated ‘world’, ‘kosmos’, can refer to the ‘world’ in broad sense, as in, the whole world, or in a narrow sense, such as, my own little world, it is the context in which it is used which will determine what it is. j). Now, as we remember who the Lord was sent to at His first Advent, ‘the lost sheep of the house of Israel’, we can begin to see that we are to view ‘kosmos’, in this context in John Chapter 3, in a narrower sense than the whole world. And if we go to the Scripture, again in John’s Gospel, Jesus used the word ‘world’ and then defined it for us – Jn 18:19 The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine. 20 Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing. I hope we can see it. Jesus used the word ‘world’, ‘I spoke openly to the world’, and then He defined the extent of the ‘world’ He was referring to, ‘I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet’. And it is this narrower sense of the word ‘world’, referring to the Jewish people that we should see and understand in John 3:16. k). Let’s look at these verses again with some explanatory additions to help our understanding - Jn 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man [a Messianic title – Not the Lamb of God] be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him [believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God] should not perish [with respect to the age] but have life for the age. 16 For God so loved the world [the Jewish people, those to whom Jesus was sent] that He gave His only begotten Son [to them], that whoever [of them, the Jews] believes in Him [believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God] should not perish [with respect to the age] but have life for the age. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world [into the midst of the Jewish people] to condemn the world [the Jewish people, those to whom He was sent] but that the world [the Jewish people] through Him might be saved [with respect to the age]. This then all makes perfect sense within the purpose for John writing his Gospel during the re-offer of the Kingdom of the heavens to Israel by the one new man - that you [the Jews] may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you [the Jews] may have life [for the age] in His name. Mt 21:37 Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ It may well be a part of our Laodicean leftovers, for us to still isolate phrases and verses from their context to make them say something other than what the context would allow. This is something we may do without even thinking about it because of what has been ingrained in our thinking. So, if we apply our question to this, ‘What Shall I Do…’ Perhaps our answer should be, now is the time to start thinking about it, and then to stop doing it. l). And we should do this most particularly, as we realize that the misuse of the Scripture after this fashion has come because of the outworking of the leaven placed in the three measures of meal, it has come as the result of the actions of deceiving spirits and has come from the doctrine of demons. It is the work of the wisdom from below to corrupt and destroy the Word of the Kingdom. m). And we may all still have a residue of Laodicean thinking that we must change our minds about. 2). To go back to an earlier part of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, we will remember that further commentary on John 1:11-13 and John 3:3 was then given by the Lord in John 3:5 - Jn 3:5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. In this verse Jesus drew from Israel’s history, as recorded by Moses, drawing from the Exodus from Egypt with a particular focus on the Red Sea crossing. a). Implicit in this verse is death, burial, and resurrection. Israel had died a vicarious death on the night of the first Passover, was buried in the Red Sea, the place of death and then raised to newness of life on the eastern bank to be led by the Spirit to the land of their inheritance. This is what Jesus wanted Nicodemus to understand. b). And that set out in this verse, in conjunction with John 3:3 and John 1:11-13, drawing from the scriptural record of Israel’s history, has identified a foundational truth that we must also embrace if we are going to enter the Kingdom of the heavens – Ge 1:9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day. And in the foundation, this truth is established on the Third Day of the restoration of the ruined material creation. c). From a spiritual perspective then, let’s re-trace the steps necessary to get to that pictured in this Day. d). All must begin with that seen on Day One when by a Sovereign act of the Divine will, the light shone in the darkness making a division between the two, picturing the moment when an individual passes from death to life, an individual who is then in possession of a redeemed spirit, equated with the light, and an unredeemed soul, equated with the darkness – Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit………. On Day Two in Genesis Chapter 1, we had seen another division, with waters above the firmament being separated from waters below the firmament, providing a foundational type for the wisdom that comes forth from above out of God – Jn 4:24 God is Spirit………… And the wisdom that comes from below that is earthly, sensual, demonic, originating from the kingdom of this world under the sway of the wicked one – Jas 3:14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And it is only because an individual has passed from death to life, being in possession of spiritual life, that he can then make the distinction between the wisdom from above and the wisdom from below – 1 Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. The individual is then able to make a choice, either to receive the wisdom from above, brought forth out of God or, receive the wisdom from below. And this brings us to Day Three in Genesis Chapter 1. And this Day begins as the previous two days, ‘Then God said….’ That which God said, contained in His breath is His Spirit, it is the wisdom brought forth from above. And in Day Three this wisdom is seen in connection with the dry land being raised from beneath the waters, the waters that were below the firmament, and the dry land subsequently bringing forth fruit. e). What God said at the beginning of the Day had a twofold purpose. Firstly, to separate the land from the waters below, and secondly, because of this separation, that fruit would be produced. f). Day Three in Genesis Chapter 1 provides a number of typological pictures for us, not the least of which is resurrection. But before we look at that, let’s look at this from the perspective of the wisdom from above and the wisdom from below. From this perspective, we can see the individual who is in possession of spiritual life, and who is able to distinguish between the wisdom from above and the wisdom from below, making the choice to receive the wisdom from above, brought forth out of God, to hear what God has said. And, because of this choice, the individual, pictured in the dry land, finds himself separated from the wisdom from below, pictured in the waters below the firmament. g). And then, through him receiving and believing the wisdom from above there is a Divine work in him that produces fruit. h). And this foundational truth seen from the perspective of the wisdom from above and the wisdom below, finds commentary and explanation in the Parable of the Sower in Matthew Chapter 13 – Mt 13: 18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom……… Hearing the Word of the Kingdom, the wisdom brought forth from above, can be equated with that which God said at the beginning of the Third Day in Genesis Chapter 1, but to be fruitful for the Kingdom, as we have seen, the individual must be separated from the wisdom below, because it is only the man of the spirit, led by the Spirit, who can produce fruit. And it is the wisdom from below, under the sway of the wicked one, that Jesus identifies in His explanation of the parable of the sower – Mt 13:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. Here then, in a variety of forms, the wisdom from below and its purpose are revealed. ‘When anyone does not understand’ – if the wisdom from above, the Word of the Kingdom, is not understood, then the individual remains immersed in the wisdom from below, ‘the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart’. Without the wisdom from above, the Word of the Kingdom, he cannot produce fruit. ‘He who received the seed on stony places….’ – the Word of the Kingdom brought forth from above is received with joy by this individual, but as yet, he has no root in himself, no firm foundation upon which to stand. And when tribulation and persecution come to him because he has heard the Word of the Kingdom, he then rejects that which he has heard. He goes back to the wisdom from below and does not produce fruit. ‘He who received seed among the thorns…’ – this is the individual who does not choose to look from this world unto Jesus, who, like Lot’s wife, is consumed by that on which his attention is fixed. He is consumed by the wisdom from below and does not produce fruit. i). In this respect, the three individuals we see here never receive the wisdom from above, the Word of the Kingdom, to allow them to be separated from the wisdom from below. Although they all heard what God had said, ‘When anyone hears the Word of the Kingdom’, they never came from beneath the waters, and would remain in the place of death for the age to come. j). And the wisdom from below is seen in these three, through an inability to understand, tribulation and persecution because of the Word of the Kingdom, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, which perhaps we could summarize another way, the world, the flesh, and the devil, or the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. k). And an integral part of our being separated from the wisdom from below, is recognizing and then changing our minds about the Laodicean leftovers in our thinking, such as we have seen with the phrase ‘born again’ and today with John 3:16 – 1 Pe 2:1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. We will pick this up again next time if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed.