Finding the Assurance of Salvation, Part 2

Katie Greer, were you born again. Nicodemus was presented with a choice. It was a choice he had to make could be born into a born-again are you born again is the question you've been through that experience that he's talking about is a personal choice you have to make to be born again or because you were baptized as a kid we know if we've done the right thing to be saved if we did it not sincerely, that's our question today on Senate life as pastor JD Greer continues our new teaching series called start.

God doesn't want us to be in the dark about our steaming with select dive right in. Pastor JD is teaching from the book of John.

Salvation anniversary can know definitively, your heavenly father wants you to know definitively and I believe a vehicle today.

I will hopefully have showed you how you can know definitively the Bible John chapter 3 is rodlike for you to open story of a religious man. May Nicodemus who comes to Jesus to talk about these very things. Roger began his story in chapter 2, verse 23 flexor scroll back up a little bit such operative or 23 will start their first 23. Now many believed in his name Jesus name. When I saw the signs, the miracles that he was doing with Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them because he knew all people made any testimony about make time for he knew what was in each person. In other words, he knew that though this group said they believed in Jesus. He knew their faith was superficial. He knew their love and their commitment to him did not go very deep Nicodemus story is Jesus answer to that group of people to hear the answer. Here Jesus is answer chapter 3, verse one.

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, which is a really religious group.

May Nicodemus ruler of the Jews. This man, Nicodemus came to Jesus by night is what we call the story Nick at 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. In other words, he would Nicodemus want guys to jump into the soul sides and believed verse three Jesus answered him, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God will now Nicodemus is really confused as he thinks Jesus is telling him he's a call back up and was mommy's tummy and so he says for four how can that be too big.

It seems awkward. I think it's illegal in every state except Tennessee verse five Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, you must be born again, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and I was born. The spirit of spirit do not marvel that I said to you. You must be born again three questions.

This tax asked of us and I want you to consider number one is why you must be born again.

What does it mean anyway.

Number two how you can be born again number three. Are you born again. I want you to ask yourself, are you sure that your born-again you really sure. By the way this concept many more than any other regarding salvation shows you that you're either in or out right becomes a pregnancy you are you are my wife and Brenda four times not want to see a pyramidal stack and said I'm sort of pregnant, you know you are you are. Same thing with the new birth. There is a circle. Think of it like that.

Inside the circle. Your are your outside and you better make for sure which side of that line that you are on you know for sure number one why you must be born again why you must be born again to the new birth implies that there something wrong with our first birth right. According to the Bible we are born into a state of spiritual death.

Because of the sin of the human race.

The collective sin of the human race. God had declared Sue our first humans, Adam and Eve in Genesis is the one who sins will surely die. And when we sin, that is exactly what happened, Adam and Eve were driven out of God's presence in their relationship with God was severed at that point, our bodies begin to die our bodies that God had intended to sustain eternally for us began to corrode and die in our spiritual hearts went bad.

It's almost like RR spiritual hearts, our hearts got sick. We quit loving what we were supposed to love and we started so that the level we should love. We were made you seats so that our hearts were turned outward to love God and to love others, but after sin, they begin to turn inward, seeking first the love and serve ourselves. Martin Luther called this incurred by students in say we Latin means curved inward on itself is the condition of the human heart. Scripture is not sparing in its description of the state of our hearts. Jeremiah 79, the human heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately hopelessly wicked. He's talking about your heart you. Your heart is deceitful to you, above all things, and it is desperately wicked sin did not knock us down the Dodge JV team and put us on probation and borders on a slower track to get tormented in heaven sin wiped us out. It killed us. We are staying now through and through with sin. We are all says by nature children of wrath, and we cannot possibly hope to stand before God. Staying so thoroughly with sin. So Jesus said verse six that which is born of flesh/know what you can save your corrupted flash to the efforts of your corrupted flesh tell us is nothing we can do the can change that. That's why we need something more, something different, something from outside of ourselves. So we continues unless one is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Now what is it mean to be born of water and the spirit. While there are some people who say that means waters like human birth of spirit is like a cyber hug.

People say will know it's baptism you got baptized and then you're born by the spirit your lesson all right.

Is your nerd moment you're ready, there's one article in Greek that identifies with water and spirit is not talking about two separate things is not born of the water and the spirit in Greek. That is where same born of the water and spirit three, one instance and he's talking about the gospel he is alluding to a prophecy made in the book of Ezekiel about what the gospel would do with us.

We read a prophecy to use equal 36, 600 years before Jesus. I will sprinkle clean water on you, as of the Messiah talking and I you shall be clean. I will give you a new heart and I new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone and give you a heart of tender flesh.

I'll put my spirit within you and cause you to want to walk in my statutes to give you a desire to obey my rules. I'm to put the desire in your urine, obey me, not because you have to do the baby because you want to God and gave Ezekiel 1 of the coolest visions in the Old Testament how this is gonna work take his ego out of this ballot is filled with dead men's bones, dry bones and sister, Ezekiel, Ezekiel, can these bones live again in his ego says it was recommended to me for a long time thought they know what this is easier said that he hears the sound of the and he restored Roulac, which means either window spirit is a play on words hears the sound of the wind blowing the spirit blowing and also the bones begin to rattle in a sort of form into skeletons heaven sin using tendons begin to connect them in and tender flesh comes in. Coach these bones and then these bones stand up. Now this mighty army of the Lord God says residual phenomena doing the church and by the way, that's was unique. You will need more religion and more rules and more resolutions just it's in the bones back together. You need the wind of the Spirit to make you alive to give you a new arts séance. I got tell you all the time… Wanted to change your behavior was to change your desires is not pleasing to God.

If you obey him as are forced to sue God does not want people in heaven who actually want to be somewhere else because they don't really love God. God wants people there in heaven who share his love who want to be with him to serve him because they love him, who do righteousness because they crave righteousness.

As I got tell you all the time, God's not disinterested in your obedience is interested in why you obey. He wants a new kind of obedience. The dilemma of the human condition is not that we don't behave right, but the limb of the human condition is that we don't love right. That's why you must be born again because you can't change what you love and got to change that number two. What's why you should be morning and we must avoid a limit to how you can be born again. What down just a little bit farther.

Jesus is going to explain verse 14. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. Now there he refers to another really cool Old Testament story. The children of Israel on the way the promise land and they begin to doubt God and so they begin to complain in their hearts begin to wonder after other gods, so God in judgment sends thousands of fiery serpents and so many of these people thousands of Israelites began to arrive in pain and cry out to God for mercy is a God tells Moses. I want you to make a bronze image of one of the serpents I want you to put it on top of a pole and I want you to put it on the top of the highest hill that you can find and you tell people that if they will go to that hill. They will look at that serpent on the pole and it don't believe that I will fuel them. Then as they walk at bats serpent on the hill.

They will be healed and they will live and Jesus says just like Moses did not I'm going to be lifted up, I'm going to put on top of a pole like a serpent on top of a tree on top of a cross. The serpent was the result of their sin right. That's what it symbolized Jesus on the cross was the result of our sin. God made him Paul says in second Corinthians. Who knew no sin heaven's perfect son. The essence of God's glory. God made him to become sin. He became the snake, he became the serpents so that we might become the righteousness of God in him that if we look to him dying there in our place like they looked at the serpent on the heel believing that God will heal us, will be healed just like they were born again out of the curse of death and the promise of new life. For God, Jesus goes on for guy gives the shortest, most concise explanation of the gospel anywhere in the Bible for God so loved the world for the mindset that his life was transformed when my youth pastors and I would liturgical one person but I occasionally visited that you group and that you pastor. One Friday night said to me he said everywhere you see in verse 16 the world or whomsoever you put your name for God so loved Alex that he gave Alex his only son, that if Alex would believe on him. Alex would not perish but how does it have eternal life is that it's hard to describe what happened, he said, but he said my dad growing up she had left us and abandon us when I was a kid I'd never known that kind of father's love is it a now hearing about a father who, after I had spurned and rejected him, came to earth to rescue me. Chase me to a cross I killed them.

The irony is, as I killed and he was paying the penalty for my sins so that if I would just look and I would believe it would recognize that this was him coming for me that I would be healed. I will be saved just like they wanted that serpent were heel you look you looking you live, you believe in you live works of them this week sometimes go I'll read a verse and I'm like I preach this one for 30 years and I miss this as well versus you have verse where it says that there's a when one sinner repents. There is joy in the presence of the Angels and I'm always like what I tweeted is whenever you get say there's a party in heaven, Your Honor.

Always explain like the angels wrote their party and when you get say here's what while that's wrong it was and it said with a Mrs. there is joy in the presence of the Angels Angels like the ones doing the dancing was in the presence of the Angels Godfather Jesus Christ, who, when you come to Christ begins to dance over you begins to because he's your daddy he is your father is always sought you. He came after you. This is what he did it when you look at that and you perceive that you live by the way, when Jesus says believe he's not just talking about believing facts about Jesus you know that is James chapter 2 says even the demons believe, and tremble, demons believe Jesus is the son of God. The demons believe Jesus raised from the dead, they were there. What happened to Ella believe in Jesus. Congratulations you got demonic faith about the level of a demon. The difference in how demons believe in saving faith is that I've look to him in desperation, I look at him on that hill on that pole for me and I have believed and clung to him as my only hope of salvation we often describe like sit down in a chair near the chair you're sitting in you look at it when you came in were quickly decided it looked like it would hold the weight of your body, but that believe that become faith in the chair until you shifted the weight of your body off your legs and onto that chair to believe in Jesus is not that you believe certain things about him is that you have shifted the weight of your soul into him as your only salvation. Your belief is listen accompanied by a surrender. Belief is not become faith until it surrender.

Maybe I'll write this down belief without full surrender is demonic faith belief without full surrender is demonic faith that are believe in Jesus a good are you fully surrender to Jesus now. Not yet. Okay then you're now the level of a demon and those with demon faith will end with a demons fate is not talking about just believe. In fact you not all my different prayer is it that equals believing all people in every religion. Pray to God to let them into heaven were talking about a cry from your heart that realizes that his finished work is your only hope that leaves you clinging to the cross of Christ because you know that as you look only as you look where you live in a semi-told me today that I quote Charles Spurgeon enough in this church but he should be thought of as the pastor emeritus of the summa church which is probably a fair criticism. But I've ever told you or admit it's been a while since I've recounted how he came to Christ I might seek to use his words, let him tell the story because in the sermon he was preaching. He describes his conversion only read to. I sometimes says Charles Spurgeon think that I might've been in darkness and despair. Until now, had it not been for the goodness of God in sending a snowstorm on Sunday morning while I was trying to go to a certain place of worship is 15 years old we lived in London yet spiritual questions you try to make his way to win the big prominent churches in London.

Snowstorm hits a seven. I could go no further. Because of the snowstorm. I turned a little side street and came to a little primitive Methodist Chapel in that chapel there may have been a dozen or 15 people.

I heard of the primitive Methodist doubt that may not translate you but think like good country church independent battles like I grew up usually says they say I heard how they sang so loudly that they made people's heads ache while they shouted back at the preacher while he was preaching, but that did not matter to me.

I wanted to know how I might be saved and if they could tell me that I did not care how much they made my headache. Well, the minister did not even come that morning. He was snowed and I suppose so. After a few awkward moments of very thin looking man, a shoemaker, a tailor or something of that sort went up into the pulpit and began to preach. Now it's a good thing.

The preachers should be instructed, but this man was really stupid. It's his words not mine was obliged to stick to his tax for the simple reason that he had very little else to say. The text was look on the me NBD saved all the ends of the earth. He did not even pronounce the words correctly but that are not matter. There was, I thought a glimpse of hope for me in that text so the preacher began. Thus, my dear friends, this is a very simple text indeed it says luck looking old take a great deal of pains any lifting your foot your finger is just look will Mandy go to college to learn a lot. You may be the biggest fool yet you can look a man needn't be worth a thousand a year to be able to look anyone can look the child can look but then the text says luck unto me. I said he and abroad.

SX accident with the like Pittsboro or Roxborough that many of you look into your sales but a no use look in there and never find any comforting cells text says luck unto me in the good man followed up his text in this way the enemy says Jesus times what great drops of blood look on the me I'm hanging on the cross and the me I am dead and buried them a high rise again on the me I ascend to heaven looking to me I'm sitting at the father's right hand.

12 for center look on the me looked on the me when you going on about that link couldn't manage to spin out 10 minutes or so, the poor souls at the end of his tether, he could think of nothing else to say. When he looked at me under the balcony and I daresay were so few present. He must've known I was a visitor fixing his eyes on me, as if he knew all my heart, is a young man. You look very miserable. Well I did, but I've not been accustomed to having remarks made from the pulpit about my personal appearance.

However, it was a good blow struck right home, he continued, and so on.

You will always be miserable miserable in this life even more miserable in the next. If you don't obey my text. But if you obey now in this moment you will be saved and lifted up his hands.

He shouted, is only a primitive Methodist could do young man look to Jesus Christ who got nothing to do about love and live and also wants the way of salvation. I know not what else he said I was so possessed with that one thought like is when the brazen serpent was lifted out the people only looking for yield so it was with me had been waiting to do 50 different things. But when I heard that one word look what a charming word. It seemed to me oh hi Walt and I walked in I looked until I could almost have looked my eyes away from there and then the cloud was gone.

The darkness had rolled away and in that moment, I finally saw the sign I could've risen that incident. Some of the most enthusiastic of them of the precious blood of Christ and the simple faith which looks alone to him all that somebody had just told me this before.

Look to Christ and you shall be saved, yet it was no doubt, all in God's good time then.

Now I can say their sins by faith I saw that stream my flowing will supply redeeming love has been my theme and shall be till I die. There's 1/3 question, are you born again you had that experience had you been through that experience that he's talking about. Nicodemus was presented with a choice.

It was a choice he had to make could be born into it and be born again. P1 this pair the birth of his parents gave him wasn't enough for one another, but his parents were religious or Jews or whatever – people of their Christian I go. Well, I'm not a Jew amount a Muslim amount of atheists or llama Christian is a personal choice you have to make to be born again.

What enough to just be religious.

Nicodemus was already super religious when I asked people if if there Christian.

The second thing I usually get from them is a list of the religious things they do owe you as I go to church and have her sometimes and Christian city and a micro/natural religious things you do meet you for this before going to church so they go Christian in more than one McDonald Mitchell Hammer going to Dunkin' Donuts Mitchell top right, it's just that's a different question. Are you born again that's the question have you fully surrender to Christ as Lord. Have you fully lean on Christ as your Savior.

Have you been born again to remember when this all finally made sense to me. I was a freshman in college and I just could not could not get the answer. How can I know that I'm safe and member summary tell me that Martin Luther had struggled with his salvation, and so I went and I got in his commentary moments, I noticed a strange thing for freshman in college Arriba this is where my relationship with the began writer and it's beginning to bow these pages I came finally to the commentary given room is to not attend Remsen 910 say that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you will believe in your heart. The got information from the dead, you will be safer. It is with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth that you make confession and salvation. And Luther explained that what you're doing is you were seeing the 2000 years ago. Jesus finished the work of your salvation on the cross and you quit looking at what you were doing to save yourself and you say it's been finished basement finish for me and there in that moment sitting at my desk in my dorm room. It's that lifted my eyes and I dislike I could see him there on the cross and I said that for me it is not about what I'm doing now to save myself. It's about what he's done and I will and I live in was like the weight of the universe dissipated off my shoulders because I knew that it had been finished and all that I had to do was look and believe and live if you ever had that experience. When you look to him if you clung to him you received him.

Have you been born again for the morning. He never taken.

Not sure let me encourage you to go online right now to Jamie Greer.com. You'll find sermons, blog posts and other resources to help you learn more or give us a call at 866-335-5220. We'd love to help you understand more deeply the love of God found in the gospel message. We have a new resource that follows along with this teaching series ascertaining what should we expect as we work through the new start growing closer to God requires transformation, not just information.

This is not a list of things to learn to memorize verses are we to check off it's about learning to grow deeper with God through a constant process of lifelong learning grandmother, for basic things here with you what you to help you go back over an idea that you learn the previous week to learn to listen and understand new ideas and put it into practice to work it out when it's a conversation on paper as you work out the implications of these promises warnings for your own life, and then teaching you know an important part of Christian discipleship is teaching somebody else will we say here that there's nothing that helps you grow in your relationship with Jesus, like helping somebody else out there start take some of the foundational truths of Christianity and uses that process to take you deeper and I think it's a helpful resource. It could be a good beginning for some of you it could be a good refresh of Christian life and again. It's ideal for somebody that is just beginning.

Those first steps in the Christian life for you to be able to point them in a way that will give them the tools to go deeper and deeper you go to JD grid.com you can find out about this and other resources with the links when you donate today to support this ministry so that more people can type into the gospel with a daily basis and request start foundations of the Christian faith, 866-335-5221 more time. 552 20, we can request a study when you donate online by Molly that Yvette's for many Christian Bible consistently getting a shot for you. Really something necessarily subject Monday night