MY BABY.... SHE'S ALL I GOT!

 

THE NIGHT NICODEMUS GOT BORN AGAIN 

In this thrill-a-minute episode where we find Jesus lecturing one by the name of Nicodemus, a Pharisee by qualification; in the dead of the night. This meeting was made possible at the behest of Nicodemus since he didn't want to be seen having a heart to heart discussion with Jesus, out in the public. Nicodemus was afraid of all the criticism he'd face coming from his own ranks of the Pharisees and Scribes academics. 

I refer to these schools of thought as pure academia because that's exactly what they were about…DOCTRINE! The religious sect in the times of Christ was based on pure academia and rife speculation due to the changing times when compared with ancient days of Moses; in the wilderness. 

At this juncture, I'm not inclined to give you specifics and differences which existed between these two major opposing academia; who both owed their existence to the Law of Moses and the Prophets. There is another third arm of the religious sect which was called: The Sadducees. These guys denied the resurrection of the dead and believed in the Law of Moses alone. 

The Pharisees belonged to the ancient Jewish sect which upheld the Law of Moses and often saw themselves as morally superior to the common people who didn't observe the written law. On the other hand, the Scribes were historians who were tasked with the upkeep of the written law or the scrolls in their original tongues. They did not edit anything out in order to accommodate the changing times in which people lived in the days of John the Baptist and Jesus, the Galilean. 

I'm highlighting these different sects  in order to emphasize the glaring contradictions which put the same religious sects of the day: at odds with one another. I did try my best to show in our last Exposition that the modern day Church of today is no different to the religious sect who withstood Jesus; the very same Person, the Law of Moses pointed to: and was to be appointed by God in the fullness of time. 

We're still trapped in the same opposing sects and contradictions by labeling ourselves and staring down at others as "wrong" based on the dogma which contradicts Christ's Teachings. We're not projecting the DOCTRINE OF CHRIST to the lost world by identifying ourselves as "them" and "us". We're lost just like the sinful world we're trying to rescue from the same foolishness we suffer from. 

In the 80s and 90s during our youth, we used to wear T-Shirts emblazoned with the inscription: I Belong To Jesus! This was the movement of young armies inspired by my late spiritual father, Evangelist R. Bonkke. It was magic! We went from house to house, and around the townships and even at our schools; preaching the Gospel of Salvation through Jesus Christ: and man, didn't we win souls for Christ! 

Hello, we didn't see ourselves as "us" and "them": we were united as the Body of Christ crucified with Him. We were not Baptists, Pentecostals, Charismatics, Adventists, Methodists, Episcopalians, etc. All these labels are based on sectarian doctrine which demands and forces people to shun another due to doctrinal differences which have nothing in common with the Kingdom of God. I thank God that I do not belong in any of these foolish labels cause I'm a follower of Christ. 

One only needs to take one step across the line into being a number added to extremism of religious sectarianism and Pharisaical cynicism of looking down on others: based on our heretical doctrines. We're the modern day Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees of our times. 

Like the religious leaders of Jesus days, convicted by their own conscience: we do not qualify to throw the first stone at the gay and lesbian people, nor to strike at the abortionists, rapists, witches, racists, child molesters, murderers, fraudsters, immoral and down-trodden savages of our times: we sneer and snarl at because we deem ourselves as more righteous than them, 

Unless we first accept the fact that: WE ARE ALL SINNERS IN THE SIGHT OF GOD…our highway will end up in Hell and eternal suffering! Our sin remains… 

John 9:41

[41]Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Only the blind could see Jesus and only the deaf could hear His voice. Only the dead experienced His Resurrection Power. Only the sick, and the possessed could feel His Healing Touch. Only the unclean could experience His Power of  Forgiveness. The religious leaders and their followers blinded by the doctrine of the Law missed out on the open opportunity to encounter the Real Christ who stood every day and preached the Gospel of the Kingdom 

I've said all these words not because I wanted to brag about my skillful writing or to show off my grammatical prowess but rather; to voice my provoked frustration at how I witness preacher after preacher in our TV making it hard for people to understand the same simple Gospel: which Christ preached with so much unmatched grace and ease. I feel like screaming and throwing all forms of projectiles and hurl unprintable curses at these people who mislead the world. 

Like I said, I listen and watch preacher after preacher on TV every weekend, falling over and making a mess out of a simple message of the Gospel: Christ preached without becoming theological or stressful academically. Listen, Jesus used every-day language people understood in order to draw His parallels that led them to "understanding" God in their mother tongue. About 99.5% of all the Televangelists on our TV, do not qualify to even be afforded one single minute by the lost and sinful world. 

They do not represent the Christ of the Cross! 

John 3:1-21

[1]There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

[2]The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

[3]Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 

[4]Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

[5]Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 

[6]That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

[7]Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 

[8]The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 

[9]Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

[10]Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 

[11]Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 

[12]If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 

[13]And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 

[14]And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 

[15]That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 

[16]For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

[17]For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 

[18]He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

[19]And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 

[20]For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 

[21]But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Wow, that's more than 70% Jesus dedicated The Gospel according to John Chapter 3. Do you sometimes make it your habit to read the verses of the Bible in their rightful context as is the case with John chapter 3? Do you? 

Nicodemus, the Pharisee to Jesus in a dark alley:

John 3:2

[2]The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

Jesus answer to indirect question from Nicodemus:

John 3:3

[3]Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

You see here, Jesus wasn't blinded by Nicodemus' flattery of "thou art a teacher which came from God": because He knew what was buried deep down in his heart: hunger for the Truth! Remember in our last episode we learned that "Grace and Truth" came by and through Jesus Christ? Nicodemus had discovered that the Law he was teaching had many holes and flaws as he continued to listen to Christ preaching about the Kingdom of God. The Law of Moses didn't teach a thing about the Kingdom of God. 

The Law didn't teach people about Grace and Truth and certainly didn't teach the people to address God with the endearing term of being their "Father in Heaven". The Jews always knew Abraham as their only Father: God was seen and perceived as an angry God to be pacified with sin offerings once in a while when they overstepped His line of vengefulness. 

This all changed when Jesus came and wowed them on God being their Heavenly Father. Oh how these people struggled to make sense of Jesus' sermons… they were stunned to their nines, sixes and sevens and had their doctrines turned upside down! Oh God, this is how simple the Gospel actually is: all learned and educated fools trip over its simplicity. Nicodemus was served to full. 

This is the night Nicodemus got born again and saved from the curse of the Law of Moses. He left with the Light of Christ shining  through his darkened heart. Jesus took His precious time and went even further and told Nicodemus that:

John 3:16

[16]For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Hello, Jesus didn't say this when He was preaching on the Mountain Sermon: He said it directly to Nicodemus' ears. Oh Nicodemus, what a blessed man you are: to have had the Son of God preaching the Gospel to you, exclusively; Hallelujah! 

Nicodemus was one of the few individuals alongside, the Samaritan woman, Zaccaeus, Simon the leper, woman caught in adultery and others; who enjoyed private audiences with Jesus. Every one whom Christ sat down with, never remained the same again: they were changed, transformed and got born again through the water and the Spirit of Christ. This is how simple Jesus' Message was to the world: our generation just got it all complicated through our God damned doctrines which have nothing in common with the Christ of the Cross. 

Just tell me, how in the world can a common and tired sinner not find this simple Gospel of Christ simple to digest and receive it? 

Matthew 11:28-30

[28]Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

[29]Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

[30]For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

What's wrong with you church people who are addicted and tied up to man-made doctrines; to stand up and shout flippant things which have nothing in common with the Christ of the Cross? 

Who authorized you to stand in front of the world and feed the lost with your rehashed doctrine of Pentecostalism, Adventist, Evangelism, Humanism, Baptism and all the isms-schisms outside the parameters of the Cross of Christ? How dare you? 

Mark 7:13

[13]Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

How dare you make the Gospel vain through your silly traditions and godless doctrines?