John Chapter 3:1-3

Who Jesus is, is the most important decision you will ever make in your life. And whatever decision you make, you have to live and you have to die by that decision. If you're willing to live with a decision that you reject Jesus Christ as your Savior, be willing to die by that same standard.

I'm not willing to do that. I'm not willing to die saying Jesus is not my Messiah, because I understand that I can't pay the price. I'm not righteous in and of myself.

I don't meet the standard of sinless perfection. I need a Savior. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of the Bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina, and we're glad to have one of David McGee's associate pastors, D.A.

Brown, here with us as Pastor David continues through the book of John. Do you realize that Jesus said in John chapter three, we must be born again? Well, you know, we all have different decisions in life and some were important and some not so much. But the most important decision you'll ever make is deciding what to do with Jesus. Bob, in John chapter three, Jesus said we must be born again.

What does that even mean? And have we been born again? How do we become born again? Well, D.A., in today's teaching, David McGee will be asking that question and I'm sure he'll be answering it directly from the word of God. So let's jump in as David McGee continues teaching in John chapter three. John chapter three, verse one says, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Now, see here, we have a Pharisee that's coming to see Jesus. Again, we've gotten this mistaken notion that all Pharisees rejected Jesus and that all Jewish leaders rejected Jesus.

And it's just not so. Now, verse two, 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. This is interesting that Nicodemus did not doubt the miracles. Actually, it was the miracles that caused this spiritual leader in Jerusalem and Jerusalem to check out this upstart from Galilee.

It was the miracles. And I've heard some people say, well, look at Nicodemus. He came to Jesus by night. That's that's pretty lame that he came to him by night.

How prideful and legalistic we can be. Guys, don't you realize that every one of us come to Jesus in the middle of the night? Oh, you may come to him this morning, but really, you're coming to him in that darkness of your life. You're coming to him in the darkness of your sins.

You're coming to him in the privacy of your heart communicating with him, even if you do it publicly. But see, Nicodemus knew the law. He knew his weakness. He knew his disease, his sickness. But he also knew where to seek out the cure. He came to Jesus. He was convinced that he couldn't fulfill the law, so he came to Jesus saying, asking, what's the deal with the kingdom of God? You need to understand that because as long as you think that you can keep the law, you won't seek out a savior. You'll think, well, I can do this.

I can handle this. There's people all over the triad this morning sitting in church that think they can fulfill the law, that think they can obey the law 100% of the time. And it's nothing more than spiritual arrogance because friends, brothers, sisters, family, we can't do it. That's why we need a savior because there's an inability in us to keep the law. And if you're sitting out there and you think that you've kept the law, we've done this before.

And guys, one of the reasons I repeat this, if you've been here for a while and you've heard this so many times, is so you will use it in exchange and communication with other people. Because so many people will say, well, you know, how are you getting to heaven? Well, I'm basically, you know, I'm obeying the 10 commandments.

I'm doing the best I can. And they think that that will allow them in the heaven. I'm kind of jumping into the next verse a little bit, but go with me. They think, well, you know, and they'll say, well, I've basically kept the 10 commandments. Really? Well, that's amazing. Well, well, you know, and then ask a couple of questions. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever told a lie?

And some people go, no, no, no. Yes, you have. You just did.

You just did. I mean, we have all, whether it's an exaggeration or whatever, you know, I was so disappointed as a child because my dad used to tell me these stories about, you know, having to walk to school three miles uphill, both ways. And I was at my grandmother's house one day, you know, and I was looking and I said, dad, the school that's at the end of the driveway, isn't that the school you went to?

Oh, yes. Dad, there's how, what did you do? Walk around it eight times. It can't be three miles to get to there.

I was further away when I was younger. Yes, you've lied. What does that make you?

Basically a good person. No, it makes you a liar. Have you ever stole anything?

And everybody, most people go, oh no, no, no, no, no. Never stole anything. You don't have anything in your house that belongs to someone else. Maybe something you borrowed that you never returned.

Nothing. Well, if you have to go all the way back to school, remember that phrase, and it was always an interesting phrase to me. When you'd say, let me borrow a piece of paper and you borrowed the piece of paper and you never gave it back, did you? So you need to repent for that.

Even if you've not stolen anything since then, probably borrowed a pencil that you didn't give back. Okay. So what does that make you? Well, basically a good person. No, that makes you a thief, a thief and a liar. If you ever use God's name inappropriately, hit your thumb with a hammer and said the wrong word.

Chances are yes. What does that make you? Basically a good person. No, it makes you a blasphemer.

Have you ever looked with lust at another person? Raise your hand. No, I'm kidding.

Don't raise your hand. Then what does that make you? Well, according to Jesus, that makes you an adulterer. So you are a lying, thieving, blaspheming adulterer. We're all about self-affirmation here.

Are you feeling warm and fuzzy? No. See, you have to realize that you can't obey the law, that you can't fulfill the law perfectly before you realize you need a savior. You have to come to that.

And you know what? Guys, very often when we're witnessing, we present the answer before we present the problem. People have to understand their inadequacy to fulfill the law, to go to heaven before they want to hear about Jesus Christ.

But Nicodemus didn't doubt the miracles and he knew his inability to keep the law. And he also said something that's interesting because it's a view held by some people today. He says, you're a teacher come from God. See, I talk to people sometimes that say, and when I ask them, what do you believe about Jesus? And they'll say, well, I believe he was a good teacher. I don't believe he was the son of God, but I believe he was a good man. He was a good teacher. I don't think he was the Messiah.

I don't think he was the son of God, but I do believe he was a good teacher. Chances are you've probably heard somebody say that. I love what C.S. Lewis said. And I quote from mere Christianity. He said, I'm trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him. I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God.

That is one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of thing Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either say there to be a lunatic on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg or else he would be the devil of hell.

You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the son of God or else a mad man or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool.

You can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. If Jesus was a good teacher, he went around saying that he was able to forgive sins. Now, either he was telling falsehoods and he knew he was not God. So he was a liar or he thought he was God, but he was not. So he was a lunatic.

Or he was telling the truth. So you have to decide. Everybody has to decide. Make this decision. Some people call this the trilemma. So the dilemma.

Two choices. Trilemma, liar, lunatic, or Lord. It is an awesome, awesome way to share with those who are confused about what Jesus was here for. And while we're talking about this, realize that the gospel writers, the disciples themselves, you could break them into two categories. Really, either they were telling the truth and they knew it, or they were telling a lie and they knew it. Now, what I found in my life is that scarcely will a person die for a lie. Scarcely will they die for the truth, and hardly ever, if ever. Do you hear of an instance of somebody dying for a lie, and yet 10 of the 11 disciples, minus, you know, Judas, 10 of the 11 disciples died being persecuted without recanting.

Some of them horrible deaths. That shows that they believed what they wrote, they believed what they told, they believed what they talked about. And the life lesson, guys, is who Jesus is, is the most important decision you will ever make in your life. Who Jesus is, is the most important decision you will ever make in your life. And whatever decision you make, you have to live and you have to die by that decision.

Now, be prepared for that. If you're willing to live with a decision that you reject Jesus Christ as your savior, be willing to die by that same standard. I'm not willing to do that. I'm not willing to die saying Jesus is not my Messiah, because I understand that I can't pay the price. I can't, I'm not righteous in and of myself. I don't meet the standard of sinless perfection. I need a Messiah. I need a savior. We'll be right back with more from David McGee on Cross the Bridge. Right now, here's a word from associate pastor D.A.

Brown. Hey, Bob, we want to pray for some listeners today in these California cities, Maple Creek, Mariposa, Marysville, Mount Shasta, Muscogee, Napa, and North San Juan. God, we thank you for the people living in these cities and those tuning in today. Lord, we pray that they would get excited about following you. Lord, that they would use that excitement to be a blessing and love other people, that they would get plugged into godly churches. And we pray for the pastors in these cities, that you would give them wisdom and discernment, how to lead their flocks and point them to your word in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

Thank you, brother. And now let's get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse. Jesus in verse three cuts right to the heart of the matter. Jesus answered in verse three and said to him, most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Boy, that's really vague, isn't it?

That's kind of gray. Let me read it again. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. It's pretty plain, isn't it?

I mean, I don't think anybody in here is confused by that statement. And remember who Jesus is talking to. He's talking to Nicodemus, who is a Pharisee and not all Pharisees were hypocrites. And I personally don't believe Nicodemus was a hypocrite. I believe he was probably a very godly man.

Why? Well, first of all, he sought out Jesus personally. He could have very easily sent one of his assistants and say, go find out who this guy is.

Report back to me. He didn't do it. He went personally to Jesus and said, tell me what, who you are, what's going on. So there was a reality there, but he was very devout. He was very religious.

The Pharisees were a separated people. They lived for the Lord. They believed the word of God. They taught the word of God.

Yes, they got into legalism. Yes, they got into tradition, but there were some that really desired to live a godly life. And I believe Nicodemus was very devout and very religious. And he was a man that was searching after God. And he was a man that was not going to heaven.

Jesus says that right here. And he upsets the apple cart of the religion of the day. And you know what? Quite frankly, he upsets the apple cart of religion today.

And he meant to. Nicodemus' law and his religion was not enough. And you know what? Law and religion today is not enough. And how sad that we've portrayed that to people.

What is it to be a Christian? Well, you got to quit doing this. You got to quit doing that. You got to start doing this.

You got to start doing that. That's the gospel. That's the good news. That doesn't sound like good news to me. Telling somebody you need to try harder, focus more, make more promises.

That's not good news to me. And we toss around this phrase, born again. Born again Christian. That's an interesting phrase, isn't it? Born again Christian.

Why do we have to clarify? Are you a born again Christian? Is there like another kind? Jesus says here, there's not another kind of Christian. Born again Christian is the only Christian there is. If you call yourself a Christian, you're identifying yourself by name as a follower of Jesus. And Jesus said, you got to be born again. So it's not an option for you to say I'm a non unborn again Christian. Because then you are not following Jesus. You're not obeying the words of Jesus.

Do people that call themselves born again sometimes not understand what that means? You bet you. You bet you. I ran across these statistics.

Before I give them to you, let me tell you, these are on the good side. These are optimistic figures. 84% of born again Christians consider the Bible to be totally accurate. 16% do not. 50% of born again Christians believe Satan is not a living being, but a symbol of evil. Is that what the Bible says? 38% of born again Christians believe that if a person is good enough, they can go to heaven. 31% of born again Christians believe that Jesus committed sins while on earth. And 26% of born again Christians believe it doesn't matter which faith you follow because they all teach the same lessons. Which leads us to the question, do people really know what being born again is?

Looking at this statistic, I'd have to say, no, they sure do not. And some of you are sitting here and you're going, well, yeah, yeah, okay, I've done the born again thing. I've asked the Lord Jesus to forgive me of my sins also. Maybe some of you have not. We're going to give you the opportunity to do that this morning. But if you're sitting here and you're saying, yes, I've been born again, I've done this, I've asked for the forgiveness of my sins, then let me ask you a real cutting question.

What are you doing with it? Is it something you're hiding or is it something you're walking in and you're sharing with other people? Being afraid, guys, is not a legitimate excuse not to share your faith. Because the reality is all of us are afraid.

There's other people that need to know what you know. And let's make it a little more personal. We're talking about your friends and your family and your neighbors.

We're talking about people that live in your community that you play ball with or your children hang out with. Next time you're at the mall or a restaurant or in school, look around and look at the faces and look at the eyes and see people who are not going to heaven. And we need to tell them.

We need to tell them. Now, God could have written the gospel in the sky. He could have thundered his voice from the heavens, but he has chosen to use you and I to tell as imperfect as we are, as flawed as we are, we need to do what we can, while we can to reach those we can.

But there's too many people that are sitting either under bad teaching, false teaching or no teaching at all. And they don't know what being born again is. They don't know it's not dependent upon their goodness, their works. We spend a lot of energy and effort to reach out to people. We have the radio broadcast that presents the gospel.

Why? Because the statistics show that about 40% of the Christian radio audience is not born again. John 4, 35, 36 says, do you not say there are still four months and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields for they are already white for harvest. And he who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. Proverbs 10, five says, he who gathers in summer is a wise son. He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame.

We're seeing a harvest here. People come to me on a weekly basis, say, Hey man, I led somebody to the Lord this week. Praise God.

Awesome. See, because you guys are in circles that I don't travel. And maybe your ministry is to invite people to church. That's a valid ministry.

And that's why we have the cards saying you were invited to, and a map on the back. But I think it's more than that. Matthew 9, 36 says, but when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

There's a great prayer to pray as the Lord send out laborers into the harvest and to realize that you are a laborer. Reality is, and this is a life lesson. We are told to tell about Jesus.

Either we are telling or we are being disobedient. How do you become born again? It guys, it's real simple. Admit you're a sinner. Believe Jesus died for you and rose again. Ask for forgiveness and turn from your sins to Jesus. Admit you're a sinner. Believe Jesus died for you.

Ask for forgiveness and turn from your ways to his ways. Now notice turning from your ways to his ways, turning from your sins to him is number four. It's not number one. A lot of times we make that number one and we do the gospel, the good news of disservice. Did you do number four first?

I bet not. You might've tried and you might've been very frustrated with your lack of success. Jesus tells us in the word through the apostle Paul, Romans chapter five verse eight says, but God demonstrated his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. When you came to the Lord to ask him to forgive you of your sins, it wasn't because you were worthy of being forgiven.

It wasn't because you were living a good life. It's because you're a sinner and you needed forgiveness. Does repentance play a part?

You betcha. But repentance is a gift from God. And if somebody has the mustard seed of faith to believe that Jesus Christ died for their sins and they step out on that, God will give them give them that gift of repentance.

But the focus has to be on Jesus has to be on the good news. Notice again, what Jesus didn't say. He didn't say you were born again when you're christened or when you're baptized or when you're confirmed or when you do this or when you do that, he says born again. And we've just talked about what being born again is Romans 10, nine and 10 and 13.

Tell us confess with your mouth. Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died and rose again. Romans 10, 13 who so ever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So if you're here this morning and maybe you've been thinking that it was your works, your goodness, that was the way you were supposed to get to heaven, man, I've got good news for you.

It's not dependent on your good works. It's dependent upon him who died on the cross in your place. And if you've said that prayer before, then you need to realize that people all around you are dying. They're dying without God, not knowing.

Do me a favor right now. Place your hand on your heart and feel your heartbeat. Do you realize that with every beat of your heart, a lost sinner is dying and going to an eternity without Jesus?

Every minute, 70 times a minute, every hour, every day, seven days a week. If you're okay with not doing anything, it makes me wonder if you really understand the good news. The good news. Guys, I've meant this morning for the words of Jesus to challenge you as you think about those who don't know. I want you to join with me and saying, Lord, send out laborers into the harvest because I'm not talking about strangers this morning. I'm not talking about people in India. Yes, we need to pray for them.

We need to support missionaries going over there. I'm talking about your friends and your neighbors. I'm talking about the people you work with that if you don't tell them at some point, probably in the future, they will know that you knew and didn't tell them, Lord, thank you for making it so simple, Lord, that it's not dependent upon our good works. It's dependent upon your righteousness and Lord, you died for our sins. And Lord, if we believe that even with a mustard seed of faith and we ask for forgiveness and we're willing to turn from our sins to you, Lord, we can be born again. We can know the forgiveness of sins and Lord, we realize that we've not been diligent in telling people. We've not been telling people the way that we should and Lord, we want to minister to them. We want to tell them the good news that it's not about works. It's not about what you do.

It's about who you know. Lord, I just ask that you would light a fire in our hearts, that we would not be complacent and lazy, Lord, but that we would seek out opportunities to invite people to hear the gospel and to share the gospel with them. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know you can know right now. I want to lead you in a short simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking him to help you to live for him. Now God wants you to pray this prayer so much that he died to give you the opportunity and the ability to ask him to forgive you. Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me that I could be forgiven and I believe you were raised from the dead that I could have a new life and I've done wrong things. I have sinned and I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you all of my days in Jesus name.

Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. So congratulations, friend.

You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can visit crossthebridge.com to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ.

Or you can write to Cross the Bridge at P.O. Box 12515, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27117, and share how God is working in your life. Well, DA, before we go, what are some ways that we can bless our listeners? Each day you can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David through the Word of God with his email devotional, life lessons to consider, a daily reading plan, and a thought to meditate on throughout your day from the heart of David McGee.

That sounds good, Pastor DA, and again, it's been great to have you with us on the program today. But tell us, what else can our listeners find on crossthebridge.com? If you're not able to make it to your home church this Sunday, why not join us for our live stream at 10 a.m. Eastern Time or on Thursday nights at 7 p.m. Eastern Time? Just visit crossthebridge.com and click on our live stream link. There, you'll experience a live service from David's home church, The Bridge in North Carolina. Again, that website is crossthebridge.com. Thanks again for listening and join us next time as David McGee continues teaching verse by verse in the Gospel of John.