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The Born Again Experience
John 3:10, 'Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?'
JOHN 3:1-21
The Greek word translated 'master' here actually means, 'an instructor, doctor, teacher'. Nicodemus was a very educated man in religious matters, yet he didn't have the slightest idea what Jesus was talking about.
Nicodemus' relationship with God had all been academic. He knew a lot about God, but he didn't know God personally. Jesus had a union with God that was unique and Nicodemus was intrigued. God was Jesus' father. This was foreign to Nicodemus.
Jesus had not been educated by man and yet He knew God in a way that the theologians and seminary graduates of His day didn't. He...
He Uses The Usable
John 2:24, 'But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all [men].'
JOHN 2:18-25
This was the first time Jesus had ministered in Jerusalem. Multitudes believed on Him when they saw the miracles He performed (v. 23). This looked like a perfect opportunity for Jesus to take these people and use them to spread the news far and wide that He was the Christ. Instead Jesus did just the opposite. He didn't want people proclaiming His gospel in their own ability.
This reveals an attitude of Jesus which is lacking among many Christians today. Jesus is more concerned with the quality of ministry than the quantity of ministry. In...
There Is A Righteous Anger
John 2:15, 'And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables.'
JOHN 2:12-14
Jesus brought the message of 'love your enemies' to the world and demonstrated it in such a way that some people have forgotten instances like this when Jesus showed anger. Anger can also be a godly emotion.
Ephesians 4:26, tells us to 'be angry and sin not'. This means there is a righteous type of anger which is not sin. This is why we are told to hate evil (Ps. 45:7; 119:104, 163; Pro. 8:13; Rom. 12:9).
Ephesians 4:26, goes on to say, 'Let not the sun go down upon your wrath'. That doesn't mean...
God Is Not Cheap!
John 2:6, 'And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.'
JOHN 2:1-11
God has been represented as a God who is on a tight budget and who disapproves of us asking for anything more than just the necessities. However, this first miracle of Jesus disproves that.
Scholars suggest that a firkin was equal to about nine U.S. gallons. This would mean that six of these water pots would hold 162 gallons of wine. That's a lot of wine!
In a similar instance when Jesus was asked to provide food for the multitude, He once again supplied more than the need (Mt. 14:15-21; Mk. 6:33-44; Lk. 9:11-17).
These examples show the...
BORN TWICE....DIE ONCE
DO YOU REALIZE THAT YOU MUST BE BORN TWICE. JESUS SAYS TO NICODEMUS IN JOHN 3:3-5 "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 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? 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.
God's Peace
Luke 10:5 - 'And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.'
Peace is the result of casting our care upon the Lord through prayer and thanksgiving. However, many people are asking God to give them peace so that their cares will leave. It doesn't work that way. Through faith we cast our cares on the Lord, and then God's peace comes. Christians who are lacking God's peace have not taken their cares to the Lord and left them there. All Christians have peace. It is a fruit of the Spirit that is always present in our born-again spirits. Cares will blind us to God's peace. When we eliminate the cares, peace flows.
Being carnally minded doesn't just tend toward death, it is death. Likewise, being spiritually minded doesn't just...
Sharing God's Love
Luke 10:2 - 'Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.'
It is commonly thought that an evangelist is someone who has a passion to lead people to the Lord. But every believer should have a passion for souls. When presenting the Gospel, we are not just presenting a theory about God but the factual account of God's dealings with man as revealed through His Word, with the ultimate witness being the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Our personal witness of the reality of Jesus being alive in our lives brings Christ from theory to reality.
The early Christians had experienced the love of Christ in an intimate and...