John 3:1-16

"There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher from God; for no one can do these signs that You do you unless God is with him."
Jesus answered and said to Him, "Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, 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 that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'
"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born the Spirit."
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"
Jesus answered and said to Him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?
"Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.
"If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
"No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
"that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
"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.

Message:
In our last few lessons we have dealt at length with Nicodemus’ interview with Christ, and sought to bring out the meaning of our Lord's words on that occasion. We saw how the Savior insisted that the new birth was an imperative NECESSITY, that, even though Nicodemus were a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, nevertheless, unless he was born again he could not see (understand, perceive, be a part of) the kingdom of God.

We also saw how the Lord explained that CHARACTER of the new birth as a being born of water (the Word) and the Spirit; that regeneration was not a process of reformation or the improving of the old man, but the creating of an altogether new man in Christ. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and no artificies of man can ever make it anything else. If a sinner is to enter the kingdom of God he MUST BE BORN FROM ABOVE, a divine action that begins in the heart of Almighty God!

Finally, we saw how the Savior likened the operations of the Spirit in bringing about the new birth to the sovereign but mysterious action of the wind. The Savior had used great plainness of speech, and one had thought it impossible for an intelligent man to miss His meaning. But observe the next verse, verse 9. "Nicodemus answered and said unto Him, How can these things be?"

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How this reveals the natural man! Is true that Nicodemus was an educated man and, doubtless, one of exemplary moral character; but something more than education and morality are needed to understand the things of God. God has spoken plainly, and in simple terms, yet notwithstanding, the natural man, the sinner, unaided, has no capacity to receive what God has recorded in His Holy Word.

Paul writes to the Corinthians on this very matter:
(1 Corinthians 2:7-16 Amplified Text)
"But rather what we are setting forth is a wisdom of God once hidden [from the human understanding] and now revealed to us by God-[that wisdom] which God devised and decreed before the ages for our glorification [to lift us into the glory of His presence]. None of the rulers of this age or world perceived and recognized and understood this, for if they had, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory. But, on the contrary, as the Scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed].

Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the [Holy] Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God (the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny).

For what person perceives (knows and understands) what passes through a man's thoughts, except the man's own spirit within him? Just so no one discerns (comes to know and comprehend) the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

Now we have not received the spirit [that belongs to] the world, but the [Holy] Spirit Who is from God, (given to us) that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts (of divine favor and blessing so freely and lavishly) bestowed on us by God.
And we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the [Holy] Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual truths with spiritual language [to those who posses the Holy Spirit].

But the natural, non-spiritual man does not accept or WELCOME OR ADMIT into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them (of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them) because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated.

But the spiritual man tries all things [he examines, investigates, inquiries into, questions, and discerns all things], yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one [he can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or appraise or get insight into them].

For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart.

Even though God became incarnate and spoken human language, men understood Him not. This is demonstrated again and again in the Gospels. Christ spoke of raising the temple of His body, and they thought He referred to the temple standing in Jerusalem. He spoke to the Samaritan woman of the "living water" and she supposed Him to be referring to the water of Jacob's well. He told the disciples He had meat to eat they knew not of, and they thought only of material food. He spoke of Himself as the Living Bread come down from heaven which, said He, "is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world," and the Jews answered, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?"

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He declared, "Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto Him that sent me. Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me; and where I am, thither ye cannot come." And His auditors said, "Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? Will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles?" (John 7:33:35)

Again He said, "I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins; whither I go, ye cannot come;" and the Jews replied, "Will he killed himself? because He saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come" (John 8:21-22).

He declared, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free," and they answered, "We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest, Ye shall be made free?" (John 8:31-33)

AND SO WE MIGHT CONTINUE THROUGH THE GOSPEL OF JOHN... AND TIME AND TIME AGAIN, JESUS WOULD MAKE A STATEMENT AND THEY DID NOT COMPREHEND WHAT HE WAS SAYING.

And Nicodemus was no exception!

Master in Israel he might be, yet he was ignorant of the ABC of spiritual things. And why? What is the cause of the natural man's stupidity? Is it because he is in the dark: "The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble" (Proverbs 4:19). The testimony of the New Testament is equally explicit: Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart" (Eph. 4:18). "For the god of this world has blinded the unbelievers’ minds [that they should not discern the truth], preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (the Messiah), Who is the Image and Likeness of God" (2 Cor. 4:4, Amp.)

Isa. 59:10
"Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead."

Nicodemus asked, "HOW CAN THESE THINGS BE?" Nicodemus was at least honest. He was not ashamed of his own ignorance, and asked questions. Too many are kept in ignorance by a foolish pride which scorns to take the place of one seeking light. Yet this is one of the prime requirements in any who desire to learn. It applies as much to the believer as to the unbeliever. If the Christian refuses to humble himself, if he disdains the attitude of "What I see not, teach thou me" (Job 34:32); if he is unwilling to receive instruction from those taught of God, and above all, if he fails to cry daily to God "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law (Psalm 119: 18), he will not, and cannot grow in the knowledge of the truth.

Nicodemus confesses himself baffled by all this. His puzzled question elicits the gentle reminder that a man in his position ought not to find it all so very difficult. The teacher of Israel points at the very least to preeminence as a teacher. The article ("the" not "a" teacher (may indicate that Nicodemus held some official position, but if so we do not know what it was. The verse could read: "And you, that widely recognized and very prominent teacher of the highly favored people of Israel, do you actually mean to say that you are ignorant with respect to these matters?"

LET ME MAKE ONE VERY IMPORTANT OBSERVATION, PLEASE.

Even a religious teacher may be ignorant of Divine truth. What a solemn warning is this for us to put no confidence in man. Here was a member of the Sanhedrin, trained in the highest theological school of the day, and yet having no discernment of spiritual things. The fact that a preacher has graduated with honors from some theological center is no proof that he is a man taught of the Holy Spirit. No dependence can be placed on human learning. The only safe course is to emulate the Bereans, and bring everything we hear from the platform and pulpit, yes, and everything we read in religious magazines and books, to the test of the Word of God, rejecting everything which is not taught in the Holy Oracle.

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Verse 11. (Amplified)
"I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, We speak only of what we know [we know absolutely what we are talking about]; we have actually seen what we are testifying to [we were eyewitnesses of it]. And still you do not receive our testimony [you reject and refuse our evidence-that of Myself and of all those who are born of the Spirit]."

The dialog now changes to discourse. Jesus is speaking and Nicodemus is listening. As we have noted previously, this was Christ's reply to what Nicodemus had said in his opening statement: "We know that thou art a teacher come from God," declared this representative of the Sanhedrin.

In response, our Lord now says, "We speak that we know, and testify that we have seen." What Christ had said concerning the new birth had struck this ruler of the Jews of being incredible. Hence this solemn and emphatic declaration-"We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen."

Christ was not dealing with metaphysical speculations or theological hypotheses, such as the Jewish doctors delight in. Instead, He was affirming that which He knew to be a Divine reality, and testifying to that which had an actual existence and could be seen and observed.

Jesus here speaks in the plural number, including himself and those engaged with him in preaching the gospel, namely, John the Baptist. Jesus said in reply, We, who are engaged in spreading the new doctrines about which you have come to inquire, speak what we know. We do not deliver doctrines which we do not practically understand. That is a positive affirmation of Jesus, which he had a right to make about his new doctrine. We know its truth, and those who came into his kingdom knew it also. The Pharisees taught doctrines which they did not practically understand. They taught much truth (Matt. 23:2), but they were deplorably ignorant of the plainest matter in their practical application.

Observation!
The teacher of God's Word must not attempt to expound what is not already clear to himself, still less must he speculate upon Divine things, or speak of that of which he has no experimental acquaintance.
And ye receive not our witness.
There is an obvious connection between this statement and what is recorded in the previous verse. There we find Christ chiding Nicodemus for his ignorance of Divine truth; here He reveals the cause of such ignorance. The reason a man does not know the things of God, is because he receives not God's witness concerning them. First receiving, then knowledge; first believing what God has said, and then an understanding of it. This principle is illustrated in Hebrews 11:3-"Through faith we understand." This is the first thing predicated of faith in that wonderful faith chapter. Faith is root of perception. As we believe God's Word, He honors our faith by giving us a knowledge of what we have believed. And, if we believe not His Word we shall have no understanding whatsoever of Divine things.

IF I HAVE TOLD YOU EARTHLY THINGS AND YE BELIEVE NOT, HOW SHALL YE BELIEVE, IF I TELL YOU HEAVENLY THINGS?

Jesus reverts to the first person singular and draws attention to what he Himself is doing. He has borne witness to "earthly things" without being believed. The simplest way to understanding this is to see a reference to the present discourse. It was taking place on earth and concerned a process which affects discernible on earth. In contrast with this, Jesus can impart "heavenly things." That is, higher teaching. But if men like Nicodemus will not believe the simpler things they cannot be expected to believe what is more advanced.

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UNDERSTANDING SPIRITUAL THINGS

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God's law in the spiritual realm corresponds with that which operates in the natural world: there is first the blade, then the ear, and last the full corn in the ear. God will not reveal to us a higher truth until we have thoroughly apprehended the simpler ones first. This, we take it, is the moral principle that Christ here enunciated. "Earthly things" are evident and in measure comprehensible, but "heavenly things" are invisible and altogether beyond our grasp until Divinely reveal to us.

Why is it that our progress is so slow in the things of God? What is it that retards our growth in the knowledge of the truth?

Is not the answer to these and all similar questions stated above: "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you heavenly things?" The earthly things are things which have to do with this earthly realm of human existence. They are the commands of God which are for the regulation of our daily walk down here. If we believe not these, that is, if we do not appropriate them and submit ourselves to them, if we do not receive and heed them, then will God reveal to us the higher mysteries-the "heavenly things?" NO INDEED, FOR THAT WOULD BE SETTING A PREMIUM IN OUR UNBELIEF, AND CASTING PEARLS WITH BEFORE SWINE!

"Heavenly things" is defined by one commentary as: "things pertaining to the government of God and His doings in the heavens; things which are removed from human view, and which cannot be subjected to human sight; the more profound and inscrutable things pertaining to the redemption of man. The feebleness of our understanding and the corruptions of our hearts are the real causes why doctrines of religion are so little understood by us. There is before us a vast eternity, and there are profound wonders of God's government, to be the study of the righteous, and to be seen and admired by them for ever and ever."

Verse 13. (Amplified)
"And yet no one has ever gone up to heaven, but there is One Who has come down from heaven-the Son of Man [Himself], Who is (and dwells, has His home) in heaven."

The connection between this verse and the preceding one seems to be as follows: The "heavenly things" to which the Lord had referred had not till then been clearly reveal to men. To ascend to heaven, and penetrate the hidden counsels of God, was an utter impossibility to fallen man. Only the Son, whose native residence was heaven, was qualified to reveal heavenly things.

SECRET THINGS BELONG TO GOD!

Deut. 29:29
"The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law."

Proverbs 25:2
"It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings."

Mark 13:32
"That one knows about the day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

Revelation 5:3
"But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it."

Job 8:9
"For we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow."

Ecc. 8:7
"Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come?"

Ecc. 11:5
"As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things."

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Micah 4:12
"But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, he who gathers them like sheaves to the threshing floor."

Jeremiah 4:22
"My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, they know not how to do good."

In our passage under study in John, Jesus said that "no man hath ascended up to heaven." What did He mean by that statement?

This verse is a favorite one with many of those who believe in "Soul Sleep" and Annihilation." There are those who contend that between death and resurrection man ceases to be. They appeal to this verse and declare it teaches no man, not even Abel or David, has yet gone to heaven.

But it is to be noted that Christ did not say, "no man hath entered heaven," but, "no man hath ascended up to heaven." This is an entirely different thing. "Ascended" no man had, or ever will. What is before us now is only one of ten thousand examples of the minute and marvelous accuracy of Scripture, lost, alas, on the great majority who read it so carelessly and hurried. Of Enoch it is recorded that he "was translated" that he should not see death. (Heb. 11:5)

Of Elijah it is said that he "went up by a whirlwind into heaven" (2 Kings 2:11). Of the saints who shall be raptured to heaven at the return of Christ, it is said that they shall be "caught up" (1 Thess. 4:17). Of Christ alone is it said that He ASCENDED. This at once marks His uniqueness, and demonstrates that in ALL THINGS HE HAS THE PREEMINENCE (Colossians 1:18).

But further observe that the Lord said, "even the Son of man WHICH is in heaven. In heaven, even while speaking to Nicodemus on earth!
This is another evidence of His Deity. It affirmed His Omnipresence. It is remarkable to see that every essential attribute of Deity is predicated of Christ in this Gospel, the special object of which is to unveil His Divine perfections. His ETERNALITY is argued in John 1:1. His Divine GLORY is mentioned in 1:14. His OMNISCIENCE is seen in 1:48 and again in 2:24, 25. His matchless WISDOM is born witness to in 7:46. His unchanging love is affirmed in 13:1.

"EVEN THE SON OF MAN WHICH IS IN HEAVEN" is a very remarkable expression. Jesus, the Son of man, was then bodily on earth conversing with Nicodemus; yet He declares that He is AT THE SAME TIME in heaven. This can be understood only as referring to the fact that He had two natures - that His Divine nature was in heaven, and his human nature on earth. Our Savior is frequently spoken of in this manner.

John 6:62
"What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?"

John 17:5
"And now, 0 Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."

As Jesus was in heaven - as His proper abode was there - He was fitted to speak of heavenly things, and to declare the will of God to man.

Observation!
The truth about the deep things of God is not to be learned of men. No one has ascended to heaven and returned to tell us what is there; and no infidel, no mere man, no prophet, is qualified of himself to speak of them.
All the light which we are to expect on those subjects is to be sought in Scripture. It is only Jesus and His inspired apostles and evangelists that can speak of those things.

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Verse 14 in our text says: (Amplified)
"And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert [on a pole], so must [so it is necessary that] the Son of Man be lifted up [on the cross].

Now to understand this verse, we must go back into the Old Testament and read from Numbers 21.

Numbers 21:1-9
"The king of Arad, the Canaanite, who dwelt in the South, heard that Israel was coming on the road to Atharim. Then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners.
So Israel made a vow to the Lord, and said, "If You will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities."
And the Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of that place was called Hormah.
Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way.
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."
So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.
Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live."
So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

Christ had been speaking to Nicodemus about the imperative necessity of the new birth. By nature man is dead in trespasses and sins, and in order to obtain life he must be born again. THE NEW BIRTH IS THE IMPARTATION OF DIVINE LIFE, ETERNAL LIFE, BUT FOR THIS TO BE BESTOWED ON MEN THE SON OF MAN MUST BE LIFTED UP.

Life could come only by death. The sacrificial work of Christ is the basis of the Spirit's operations and the ground of God's gift of eternal life. Observe here that Christ speaks of the lifting up of the Son of man, for atonement could be made only by One in the nature of him whose sinned, and only as Man was God's Son capable of taking upon Him the penalty resting on the sinner. No doubt there was a specific reason why Christ should here refer to His sacrifice death as a "lifting up." The Jews were looking for a Messiah who should be lifted up, but elevated in a manner altogether different from what the Lord here mentions. They expected him to be elevated to the throne of David, but before this He must be lifted upon the Cross of shame, enduring the judgment of God upon His people's sin.

The type (the serpent being lifted up on a pole) is a remarkable one and worthy of our closest study. A "serpent" was a most appropriate figure of that deadly and destructive power, the origin of which the Scriptures teach us to trace to the Serpent, whose "seed" sinners are declared to be. The poison of the serpent's bite, which vitiates the entire system of its victim, and from the fatal effects of which there was no deliverance, save that which God provided, strikingly exhibited the awful nature and consequences of sin.

The remedy which God provided was the exhibition of the DESTROYER DESTROYED!

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Question!
Why was not one of the actual serpents spiked by Moses to the pole? Ah! that would have marred the type; that would have pictured judgment executed on the sinner himself; and, worse still, would have misrepresented our sinless Substitute! In the type chosen there was the likeness of a serpent, not an actual serpent, but a piece of brass made like one. So, the One who is the sinner's Savior was sent "in the likeness of sin's flesh" (Romans 8:3, Gk.), and God "made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21).

Question!
How could a serpent fitly typify the Holy One of God? This is the very last thing of all we had supposed could, with any propriety, be a figure of Him. True, the SERPENT did not, could not, typify Him in His essential character, and perfect life. The brazen serpent only foreshadowed Christ as He was "lifted up." The lifting up manifestly pointed to the Cross. What was the serpent? It was the reminder and emblem of the curse. It was through the agency of that old Serpent, the Devil, that our first parents were seduced, and brought under the curse of a Holy God. And on the cross, the holy One of God, incarnate, was made a curse for us. We would not dare make such an assertion, did not Scripture itself expressly affirm it. In Gal. 3:13 we are told, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." There is no flaw, then, in the type. The foreshadowing was perfect. A SERPENT was the only thing in all nature which could accurately prefigure the crucified Savior made a curse for us.

Question!
But why a SERPENT of brass? Ah! That only brings out once more the perfect accuracy of the type. BRASS speaks of two things. In the symbolism of Scripture BRASS is the emblem of DIVINE JUDGMENT! The BRAZEN altar illustrates this truth, for on it the sacrificial animals were slain and upon it descended the consuming fire from heaven.

Again, in Deut. 28, the Lord declared unto Israel, that if they would not harken unto His voice and do His commandments (v. 15), that His curse should come upon them (v. 16), and as a part of the Divine judgment with which they should be visited, He warned them, "The heaven that is above thy head shall be BRASS" (v. 23). Once more in Revelation 1, where Christ is seen as Judge, inspecting the seven churches, we are told, "His feet were like fine BRASS" (v. 15).

The SERPENT, then, spoke of the curse which sin entailed; the BRASS told of God's JUDGMENT falling on the One made sin for us. But there is another thought suggested by the BRASS. BRASS is harder than iron, or silver or gold. It told, then, of Christ's mighty strength, which was able to endure the awful judgment which fell upon Him, a mere creature, though sinless, would have been utterly consumed.

From what has been said, it will be evident that when God told Moses to make a serpent of brass, fix it upon a pole, and bid to the bitten Israelites look on it and they should live, that He was preaching to them the Gospel of His grace!

Just as the bitten Israelites were healed by a look of faith, so the sinner may be saved by looking to Christ by faith. Saving faith is not some difficult and meritorious work which man must perform so as to give him a claim upon God for the blessing of salvation. It is not on account of our faith that God saves us, but it is through the means of our faith. It is in believing we are saved! To say that when a man believes he shall be saved, is just to say that the guiltiest of the guilty, and the vilest of the vile, is welcome to salvation, if he will receive God's wonderful grace and mercy by simply trusting in Christ who was nailed to the Cross! LOOK AND LIVE!