January 27, 2025 • 25 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
A lot of people say I'm waiting on God, when
God's auntey is I'm waiting on you.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Doctor Tony Evans says, we may be the ones blocking
our own miracles.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
We all need miracles, but are you giving God something
to work with?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. Parents will give
responsibilities to their children based on their maturity, and in
a similar way, God does the same for us. Today,
doctor Evans takes a look at how Jesus challenges his
followers to consider not just the desire for spiritual growth,
(00:37):
but their capacity to receive it. Let's join them. In
the first chapter of the Gospel of John.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
We have this miracle of the wedding of Canaan, and
the Mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his
disciples were invited to the wedding. This was a joyful occasion,
and the wine had run out. The Mother of Jesus
says to him in verse three, they have no wine.
It run out, So why don't we use this wedding
(01:04):
as an opportunity for you to reveal your deity? He says,
My hour has not come. This is not the time
and the place to manifest my supernatural activity. However, I
will solve the problem. I just won't advertise me when
(01:24):
I do it. His mother said to the servants, whatever,
and there's a great lesson here. Whatever he says to you,
do it.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Now.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
This is the lesson that we must all learn and
grow to learn. God often doesn't explain himself in advance.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Of our action.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
He tells us what to do, but he doesn't always
explain how he's going to do what he's going to
do based.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
On what we've done.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
You give God something to work with if he tells
you to do something, even though you don't understand how
you doing something will affect the situation that you're facing.
So by the time they get to the head waiter,
he tastes the water which become wine and did not
(02:19):
know where it came from. And the head waiter call
the bridegroom. He said, where does wine? Because we last
time I checked, we didn't have anything. He said to him.
Every man serves the good wine first, and when the
people have drunk freely, then he serves the poor wine.
But you have kept the good wine until now. Now
(02:42):
What did that tell you about Jesus. When he moves,
it's going to be the best thing for you. They
thought the best was already gone, and the best hadn't
even happened yet, because Jesus hadn't gotten involved yet. This
is the beginning of his signs. Verse eleven said another word,
(03:06):
he just getting started. That Jesus did in came of
Galilee and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
So this was for the benefit of the disciples, not
for the crowd. The crowd never found out how this happened.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
If God wants.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
To take you to a deeper spiritual level, he will
let you get on empty and then when you obey
at the right time, the transformation of whatever is in
the context of that particular situation according to His will
can happen.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
It's now the passover Verse thirteen.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
And Jesus then went up to Jerusalem, and he found
in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep
and doves and the money.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Changes seated at their tables.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
And he made a scourge of core words and drove
them out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen,
and he poured out the coins of the money changes
and overturned the tables, And to those who were selling
the doves, he said, take these things away. Stop making
my father's house a place of business. God is not
(04:20):
against commerce. But they had misused the temple and turned
it into a business deal. What sign, the Jews say,
do you show us of your authority for doing such things?
You turned over the temple? Run us up out of here.
Who gave you permission? Who died and made you boss?
(04:44):
And this is when Jesus speaks. He says, destroy this
temple and in three days I will raise it up,
because he knew they were threatening him. Basically, the Jew
says it took forty six years, so they didn't know
what he was talking about. It took forty six years
to build his temple, and you will raise it up
(05:05):
in three days. Because they're thinking physical, but he's speaking spiritual.
By this, he was speaking of the temple of his body.
Jesus will often speak in parables or something that is
vague or camouflage, because when he is rejected, he will
(05:28):
not give you more light. The scripture puts it this way,
he that has more shall be given to him. But
he that does not have that which he has shall
be taken away. That means he will give more light
to people who really want light, but to people who
(05:50):
are rejecting, then he will remove light. And so he
would speak in ways that the disciples could understand, but
the people couldn't.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Many believed on him.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
That means got saved, but he wouldn't entrust himself to them.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
In other words, they.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Were Christians, but they weren't trustworthy Christians yet. So even
though they had gotten saved, they had not matured in
their faith. So God will only give you as much
of himself as you can handle. That's why spiritual growth
is important, because it expands your capacity to experience more.
(06:35):
All right, So he wouldn't even give his disciples. God
did not treat all of his disciples at the same level.
He had different levels. He had Peter, James and John Okay,
those were the inner circle. Those are the only three
he took up to the Mount of Transfiguration. And of
the three Peter James and John, John was the closest.
He's the beloved Disciple, because they were so intimate, fifteen abiding.
(07:00):
They were so close that he could reveal more to
John which is why John wrote the Book of Revelation.
So the question is not how much of Jesus do
you won't, is how much of Jesus can you handle?
Because he will only give you as much as he
knows he can trust you with, even though you're saved.
(07:24):
Now we come to chapter three. Now, that was a
man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Rule of the Jews. And this man came to Jesus
by night.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
He's coming at nighttime when his posse is.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Sleep, because then they gonna want to know what in
the world you're doing.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Talking to him. We just challenged him. He just messing
up our temple situation. And so Nicodemus comes to night
and he says, Rabbi, teacher, we know that you have
come from God as a teacher. For no one can
do these signs that you do unless God is with him.
(08:00):
I got to admit I'm a little different than my boys.
God's got to be with you for you to be
pulling off some of this stuff you pulling off.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
But I can't say that in the daytime.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
I gotta I gotta tell you this at night. This
is called you know, this is the movement of a
potential secret disciple. All right, so he says this, and
now he comes to Jesus, and Jesus says, truly truly,
And when Jesus hits you twice, that means he's underscoring something.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Truly truly means.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
For real, for real, I say to you, unless one
is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
A wait a minute.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
That statement has seems to have absolutely no connection to
what Nicodemus just said. Nicodemus has just paid Jesus a compliment.
Nobody could do these miracles, Rabbi, unless God is with God.
Show must be with you, Jesus said, Nigga demons, that
ain't why you came in. You ain't sneak out at
(09:12):
night to pay me a compliment. You snuck out here
at night because you want to make sure you in
the kingdom. You want to make sure you saved. So
I ain't gonna beat around the bush. I ain't gonna say, oh,
you complimented me. I feel so much better. Let's get
(09:33):
to the real deal here, nick truly truly, for real,
for real, show enough, show.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Enough, I say under you.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the
Kingdom of God. The Greek word born again means to
be born from above, born from above.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
The Jews were looking towards a.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Kingdom, the Messianic Kingdom. The whole Old Testament look forward
to the day when Messiah would come.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
In fact, the Jews now and Israel is still looking.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
For Messiah because they rejected Jesus as the Messiah. But
they were looking for Messiah to come to set up
his kingdom. That's what the Jews were looking forward to.
Passionate about. One day Messiah is coming. Jesus comes on
the scene and the whole the lamb of God wish
takes away.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
The sins of the world. He is Messiah.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Fellow Seeson has mission the Fangal seasons Messiah Andrew Peter.
They sa him as Messiah, and they were looking because Messiah,
the King of Israel, would set up the Kingdom of
God on earth.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Nicodemus. Unless you are.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Spiritually reborn, you'll not see this kingdom. You won't experience
the kingdom unless there is a spiritual rebirth. Being a
religious leader of the Jews won't cut it. Unfortunately, today
we are far too many people who think they're saved
(11:01):
by religion. This saved by church anity, This saved by
some work not understanding that a new birth is required.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Doctor Evans will expand on that thought when he returns
with more of today's message in just a moment. First, though,
I want to tell you about an encouraging book from
Tony that focus is on renewal and transformation. It's called
Dry Bones Dancing, a study of Ezekiel's vision of brittle
bones brought to life by the spirit's breath. It's a
(11:35):
work that will renew and energize your faith like never before.
And it's yours as our thank you gift when you
make a contribution in support of Tony's ministry. And right
now we're packaging this book along with all fourteen full
length messages in Tony's current two volume teaching series on
the Gospel of John. Get all the details and make
(11:55):
your request right away at Tonyevans dot org or call
it our twenty four hour resource request line at one
eight hundred, eight hundred thirty two twenty two. That's one
eight hundred eight hundred three two two two. We'll hear
more from doctor Evans right after this.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
What if you could unlock the mysteries of life, the universe,
and everything in between.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
Genesis one to eleven is the foundation for everything.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
The Tony Evans Training Center presents a transformative course from
special guest lecturer Ken Hamm, founder CEO of Answers in Genesis.
Speaker 5 (12:28):
If you want to understand anything about the universe and
anything about life and this Earth, we have to jump
into God's word.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
This course dives deep into the origins of life, the
harmony of science and scripture, and how to build a
solid biblical worldview.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
Do science conflict with the Bible? No, not at all.
Observational science confirms the Bible over and over and over again.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Equip yourself to face today's toughest cultural challenges with clarity
and confidence.
Speaker 5 (12:53):
If we're going to deal with issues in our culture,
we need to start from our foundation first of all,
to understand what we should believe.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
Discover faith strengthening truths from Genesis, and explore more courses
to deepen your understanding of God's Word at Tony Evans
Training dot Org. Explore the Kingdom anytime, anywhere.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
So, Nicodemus says to him, because now he's been thrown
for a loop, because he doesn't know what in the world.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Jesus is talking about how.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Verse four can a man be born when he is old?
Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb
and be born? Kenny, what are you talking about? He said,
I need to be born again? To what Jesus says? Truly?
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Truly, Jesus says in verse eleven, I.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Say to you, we speak of what we know, and
testify of what we have seen, and you do not
accept our testimony. If I told you of earthly things,
physical things, and you do not believe, how will you
believe if I tell you of heavenly things, that.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Is, spiritual thing.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
No one has ascended into heaven but he who has
descended from heaven, the Son of Man. So here Jesus
Christ identifies himself as having ascended from heaven as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. Even so the
son of Man must be lifted up. He uses that
Old Testament story to teach this New Testament truth verse fifteen,
(14:24):
so that whosoever believes in him have eternal life. Jesus
now gives us the theme of the book, the Good
News of eternal Life, which leads to our famous verse
for God's soul love the world, that he gave his
(14:44):
only begotten son, that is, one of a kind, unique son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
everlasting life. This is probably the most well known verse
in the Bible. Let me just say a word about it.
God loved the world that means the world of people,
(15:09):
and his love prompted an action.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
That action was to give his.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
One of a kind son, the second member of the Trinity,
as a substitute for sin. And there was only one condition.
Whoever believes in him will get eternal life and not perish.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
There's a whole lot in that. There's the love of God.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
There's the sacrifice of Jesus, Christ gave his only begotten son.
There is a requirement in the faith of the son
and his sacrifice. Believe in him and watch this. He
says in verse sixteen that once you do that, you
will not perish but have everlasting life. And you get
(16:06):
everlasting life when you believe so, when you trust Jesus
Christ as your personal sin bearer, you are given eternal
life right then, and judgment is removed right then. What
you are believing God for when you look to Christ
(16:27):
for the forgiveness of your sins. You're believing him for
the eternal life he promised to give you.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
That's what you're believing him for.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
The Father says, I'm going to give you eternal life
if you believe in my son and his sacrifice for
you to get it. You believe in his son and
his sacrifice for you to get it. He says. When
you do that, you have this, so you don't have
to do this and then hope that you'll.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Wind up with that that is in this.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
The security is in the salvation, and it is embedded
in the promise of God. Let's understand Jesus verse seventeen.
God did not send his son into the world to
judge the world. He sent his son in the world
that the world might be saved through him.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Jesus's purpose was to bring salvation to all men.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
He who believes in him is not judged, because the
judgment is already on Christ. But he who does not
believe has been judged already because you're already under condemnation
because he is not believed in the name, that is,
the person of the only begotten Son of God. God
didn't go through all his trouble for you to reject him.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
This is the judgment. What's the judgment that light has
come into the world.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Jesus Christ and men love darkness rather than light, for
their deeds were evil. Okay, so why does judgment exist.
Judgment exists because a rejection occurs once you reject the light,
because you prefer the dark that brings the condemnation. That
(18:13):
brings the condemnation. The condemnation is tied to a rejection
of the provision. If a doctor offers you medicine to
save your life and you say I won't take it,
the consequence is built into the rejection. The doctor didn't
(18:34):
kill you. It's the rejection that killed you. That is
the judgment that you do not believe. That is that
you have rejected the light that has been made manifest
in the person of work of Christ. But he who
practices truth, he who wants the truth, comes to the
light so that his deeds may be manifested as having
(18:56):
been wrought in God in verse twenty two. After these things,
Jesus and is disciples came into the land of Judah
and spending time there with them in baptizing, and John
also was baptizing. Because there was much water in the
area where he was baptizing, and there rose a discussion
on the part of John's disciples with a Jew about purification,
(19:18):
this process of cleansing that the Jews had, And they
came to John and said to him, Rabbi, teacher, he
who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you
have testified, Behold, he is baptizing, and all are coming
to him. Wait, man, the guy who was with you,
everybody now going to him, and left of them are
coming to you. John said, a man can receive nothing
(19:40):
unless it has been granted to him from Heaven. You
yourselves are my witnesses that I said. I am not
the Christ, but I have been sent ahead of him.
I'm sent to prepare the way for the Christ. So
it not bothered me that they leaving me. They supposed
to leave me. When he shows up, he who has
the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom,
(20:03):
who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the
bridegroom's voice. So this is the joy of mine that
has been made for I am not the bridegroom. I'm
just a friend. So don't get all excited about the friend.
At a wedding, you get excited about the bridegroom. Jesus
is that bridegroom. He must increase and I must decrease.
(20:24):
I'm gonna shrink when he shows up, because he's the
star attraction. You know, when you go to concerts, they
have the upfront entertainment. They have the upfront of it.
You don't want them on that too long. You know
what their job is to warm the crowd up. That's
what they did. They're warming the crowd up. They getting
(20:46):
the crowd excited. You don't then say, okay, let me
go home, because that's not why you came. You ain't
come to see the you know, the start of the show.
You came to see the main attraction. John is saying,
let me get off the stage, because the main attraction
is here. He who comes from above is above all,
So he says, Jesus came from above. That is, he's
(21:08):
not just a man. And he who is of the
earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth.
He who comes from heaven is above all. What he
has seen and heard of that he testifies, and no
one receives his testimony. He who has received this testimony
has set his seal on this that God is true. Okay,
(21:30):
is the deal God has spoken about his son. When
you reject his son based on the evidence that God
has demonstrated, you have called God a liar. You gotta
let that sink in God, I reject Jesus. Therefore you
are a liar. For he whom God has sent speaks
(21:53):
the words of God. For he gives the spirit without measure.
The Father loves the Son and has given all things
in his hand. And he who bleeds in the Son
has eternal life. But he who does not obey the Son,
that is, by believing in him, will not see life.
But the wrath of God abides on him. So the
(22:14):
issue is simple, what you're going to do with Jesus?
Because God has handed everything over.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
To the sun.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Doctor Tony Evans wrapping up today's message with the most
important question you'll face in life, what are you going
to do with Jesus? He's back with this follow up.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
If you want to know for certain that you're on
your way to Heaven when you die, then I invite
you right now to go to Jesus Christ and let
him know that you believe he died for you, that
you believe he rose for you, and that you want
to put your trust in Him alone for the forgiveness
of your sins and the gift of eternal life. If
(22:58):
you really want to go to heaven, He'll give you
a free ticket there, but you must go to him
for it and believe him to give it to you.
If you do that, you'll be saved right now.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
If you're ready to accept that free ticket to Heaven,
take the time to visit Tonyevans dot org and click
on the link at the top of the homepage that
simply says Jesus. Tony has more information there about becoming
a follower of Christ, as well as free resources to
help in your journey now. If you'd like to receive
a copy of today's message to review on your own
(23:32):
or pass along to a friend, just contact us for
details on the message called a Lesson in Faith. Better yet,
get it as a part of the special offer I
mentioned earlier. All fourteen messages from both volumes of Tony's
current sermon series on the Gospel of John, along with
his encouraging book Dry Bones Dancing. They're yours with our thanks.
(23:54):
When you make a donation to help keep this listener
supported program coming your way. Just visit to Evans dot
org to make the arrangements, or call our resource center
at one eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two
where team members are standing by to assist with your request.
That's one eight hundred eight hundred three two two two,
(24:15):
or online at Tonyevans dot org. A road sign isn't
the destination, but it points the way there. Next time
on the Alternative Broadcast, Doctor Evans looks at how Jesus
used physical acts as signposts to reveal deeper spiritual truths
that still hold true today. I hope you'll tune in
(24:37):
for that
A lot of people say I'm waiting on God, when
God's auntey is I'm waiting on you.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Doctor Tony Evans says, we may be the ones blocking
our own miracles.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
We all need miracles, but are you giving God something
to work with?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. Parents will give
responsibilities to their children based on their maturity, and in
a similar way, God does the same for us. Today,
doctor Evans takes a look at how Jesus challenges his
followers to consider not just the desire for spiritual growth,
(00:37):
but their capacity to receive it. Let's join them. In
the first chapter of the Gospel of John.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
We have this miracle of the wedding of Canaan, and
the Mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his
disciples were invited to the wedding. This was a joyful occasion,
and the wine had run out. The Mother of Jesus
says to him in verse three, they have no wine.
It run out, So why don't we use this wedding
(01:04):
as an opportunity for you to reveal your deity? He says,
My hour has not come. This is not the time
and the place to manifest my supernatural activity. However, I
will solve the problem. I just won't advertise me when
(01:24):
I do it. His mother said to the servants, whatever,
and there's a great lesson here. Whatever he says to you,
do it.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Now.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
This is the lesson that we must all learn and
grow to learn. God often doesn't explain himself in advance.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Of our action.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
He tells us what to do, but he doesn't always
explain how he's going to do what he's going to
do based.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
On what we've done.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
You give God something to work with if he tells
you to do something, even though you don't understand how
you doing something will affect the situation that you're facing.
So by the time they get to the head waiter,
he tastes the water which become wine and did not
(02:19):
know where it came from. And the head waiter call
the bridegroom. He said, where does wine? Because we last
time I checked, we didn't have anything. He said to him.
Every man serves the good wine first, and when the
people have drunk freely, then he serves the poor wine.
But you have kept the good wine until now. Now
(02:42):
What did that tell you about Jesus. When he moves,
it's going to be the best thing for you. They
thought the best was already gone, and the best hadn't
even happened yet, because Jesus hadn't gotten involved yet. This
is the beginning of his signs. Verse eleven said another word,
(03:06):
he just getting started. That Jesus did in came of
Galilee and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
So this was for the benefit of the disciples, not
for the crowd. The crowd never found out how this happened.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
If God wants.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
To take you to a deeper spiritual level, he will
let you get on empty and then when you obey
at the right time, the transformation of whatever is in
the context of that particular situation according to His will
can happen.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
It's now the passover Verse thirteen.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
And Jesus then went up to Jerusalem, and he found
in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep
and doves and the money.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Changes seated at their tables.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
And he made a scourge of core words and drove
them out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen,
and he poured out the coins of the money changes
and overturned the tables, And to those who were selling
the doves, he said, take these things away. Stop making
my father's house a place of business. God is not
(04:20):
against commerce. But they had misused the temple and turned
it into a business deal. What sign, the Jews say,
do you show us of your authority for doing such things?
You turned over the temple? Run us up out of here.
Who gave you permission? Who died and made you boss?
(04:44):
And this is when Jesus speaks. He says, destroy this
temple and in three days I will raise it up,
because he knew they were threatening him. Basically, the Jew
says it took forty six years, so they didn't know
what he was talking about. It took forty six years
to build his temple, and you will raise it up
(05:05):
in three days. Because they're thinking physical, but he's speaking spiritual.
By this, he was speaking of the temple of his body.
Jesus will often speak in parables or something that is
vague or camouflage, because when he is rejected, he will
(05:28):
not give you more light. The scripture puts it this way,
he that has more shall be given to him. But
he that does not have that which he has shall
be taken away. That means he will give more light
to people who really want light, but to people who
(05:50):
are rejecting, then he will remove light. And so he
would speak in ways that the disciples could understand, but
the people couldn't.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Many believed on him.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
That means got saved, but he wouldn't entrust himself to them.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
In other words, they.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Were Christians, but they weren't trustworthy Christians yet. So even
though they had gotten saved, they had not matured in
their faith. So God will only give you as much
of himself as you can handle. That's why spiritual growth
is important, because it expands your capacity to experience more.
(06:35):
All right, So he wouldn't even give his disciples. God
did not treat all of his disciples at the same level.
He had different levels. He had Peter, James and John Okay,
those were the inner circle. Those are the only three
he took up to the Mount of Transfiguration. And of
the three Peter James and John, John was the closest.
He's the beloved Disciple, because they were so intimate, fifteen abiding.
(07:00):
They were so close that he could reveal more to
John which is why John wrote the Book of Revelation.
So the question is not how much of Jesus do
you won't, is how much of Jesus can you handle?
Because he will only give you as much as he
knows he can trust you with, even though you're saved.
(07:24):
Now we come to chapter three. Now, that was a
man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Rule of the Jews. And this man came to Jesus
by night.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
He's coming at nighttime when his posse is.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Sleep, because then they gonna want to know what in
the world you're doing.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Talking to him. We just challenged him. He just messing
up our temple situation. And so Nicodemus comes to night
and he says, Rabbi, teacher, we know that you have
come from God as a teacher. For no one can
do these signs that you do unless God is with him.
(08:00):
I got to admit I'm a little different than my boys.
God's got to be with you for you to be
pulling off some of this stuff you pulling off.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
But I can't say that in the daytime.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
I gotta I gotta tell you this at night. This
is called you know, this is the movement of a
potential secret disciple. All right, so he says this, and
now he comes to Jesus, and Jesus says, truly truly,
And when Jesus hits you twice, that means he's underscoring something.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Truly truly means.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
For real, for real, I say to you, unless one
is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
A wait a minute.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
That statement has seems to have absolutely no connection to
what Nicodemus just said. Nicodemus has just paid Jesus a compliment.
Nobody could do these miracles, Rabbi, unless God is with God.
Show must be with you, Jesus said, Nigga demons, that
ain't why you came in. You ain't sneak out at
(09:12):
night to pay me a compliment. You snuck out here
at night because you want to make sure you in
the kingdom. You want to make sure you saved. So
I ain't gonna beat around the bush. I ain't gonna say, oh,
you complimented me. I feel so much better. Let's get
(09:33):
to the real deal here, nick truly truly, for real,
for real, show enough, show.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Enough, I say under you.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the
Kingdom of God. The Greek word born again means to
be born from above, born from above.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
The Jews were looking towards a.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Kingdom, the Messianic Kingdom. The whole Old Testament look forward
to the day when Messiah would come.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
In fact, the Jews now and Israel is still looking.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
For Messiah because they rejected Jesus as the Messiah. But
they were looking for Messiah to come to set up
his kingdom. That's what the Jews were looking forward to.
Passionate about. One day Messiah is coming. Jesus comes on
the scene and the whole the lamb of God wish
takes away.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
The sins of the world. He is Messiah.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Fellow Seeson has mission the Fangal seasons Messiah Andrew Peter.
They sa him as Messiah, and they were looking because Messiah,
the King of Israel, would set up the Kingdom of
God on earth.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Nicodemus. Unless you are.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Spiritually reborn, you'll not see this kingdom. You won't experience
the kingdom unless there is a spiritual rebirth. Being a
religious leader of the Jews won't cut it. Unfortunately, today
we are far too many people who think they're saved
(11:01):
by religion. This saved by church anity, This saved by
some work not understanding that a new birth is required.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Doctor Evans will expand on that thought when he returns
with more of today's message in just a moment. First, though,
I want to tell you about an encouraging book from
Tony that focus is on renewal and transformation. It's called
Dry Bones Dancing, a study of Ezekiel's vision of brittle
bones brought to life by the spirit's breath. It's a
(11:35):
work that will renew and energize your faith like never before.
And it's yours as our thank you gift when you
make a contribution in support of Tony's ministry. And right
now we're packaging this book along with all fourteen full
length messages in Tony's current two volume teaching series on
the Gospel of John. Get all the details and make
(11:55):
your request right away at Tonyevans dot org or call
it our twenty four hour resource request line at one
eight hundred, eight hundred thirty two twenty two. That's one
eight hundred eight hundred three two two two. We'll hear
more from doctor Evans right after this.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
What if you could unlock the mysteries of life, the universe,
and everything in between.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
Genesis one to eleven is the foundation for everything.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
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special guest lecturer Ken Hamm, founder CEO of Answers in Genesis.
Speaker 5 (12:28):
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Speaker 4 (12:34):
This course dives deep into the origins of life, the
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Speaker 5 (12:41):
Do science conflict with the Bible? No, not at all.
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Speaker 4 (12:48):
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Speaker 5 (12:53):
If we're going to deal with issues in our culture,
we need to start from our foundation first of all,
to understand what we should believe.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
Discover faith strengthening truths from Genesis, and explore more courses
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Speaker 1 (13:14):
So, Nicodemus says to him, because now he's been thrown
for a loop, because he doesn't know what in the world.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Jesus is talking about how.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Verse four can a man be born when he is old?
Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb
and be born? Kenny, what are you talking about? He said,
I need to be born again? To what Jesus says? Truly?
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Truly, Jesus says in verse eleven, I.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Say to you, we speak of what we know, and
testify of what we have seen, and you do not
accept our testimony. If I told you of earthly things,
physical things, and you do not believe, how will you
believe if I tell you of heavenly things, that.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Is, spiritual thing.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
No one has ascended into heaven but he who has
descended from heaven, the Son of Man. So here Jesus
Christ identifies himself as having ascended from heaven as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. Even so the
son of Man must be lifted up. He uses that
Old Testament story to teach this New Testament truth verse fifteen,
(14:24):
so that whosoever believes in him have eternal life. Jesus
now gives us the theme of the book, the Good
News of eternal Life, which leads to our famous verse
for God's soul love the world, that he gave his
(14:44):
only begotten son, that is, one of a kind, unique son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
everlasting life. This is probably the most well known verse
in the Bible. Let me just say a word about it.
God loved the world that means the world of people,
(15:09):
and his love prompted an action.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
That action was to give his.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
One of a kind son, the second member of the Trinity,
as a substitute for sin. And there was only one condition.
Whoever believes in him will get eternal life and not perish.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
There's a whole lot in that. There's the love of God.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
There's the sacrifice of Jesus, Christ gave his only begotten son.
There is a requirement in the faith of the son
and his sacrifice. Believe in him and watch this. He
says in verse sixteen that once you do that, you
will not perish but have everlasting life. And you get
(16:06):
everlasting life when you believe so, when you trust Jesus
Christ as your personal sin bearer, you are given eternal
life right then, and judgment is removed right then. What
you are believing God for when you look to Christ
(16:27):
for the forgiveness of your sins. You're believing him for
the eternal life he promised to give you.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
That's what you're believing him for.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
The Father says, I'm going to give you eternal life
if you believe in my son and his sacrifice for
you to get it. You believe in his son and
his sacrifice for you to get it. He says. When
you do that, you have this, so you don't have
to do this and then hope that you'll.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Wind up with that that is in this.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
The security is in the salvation, and it is embedded
in the promise of God. Let's understand Jesus verse seventeen.
God did not send his son into the world to
judge the world. He sent his son in the world
that the world might be saved through him.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Jesus's purpose was to bring salvation to all men.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
He who believes in him is not judged, because the
judgment is already on Christ. But he who does not
believe has been judged already because you're already under condemnation
because he is not believed in the name, that is,
the person of the only begotten Son of God. God
didn't go through all his trouble for you to reject him.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
This is the judgment. What's the judgment that light has
come into the world.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Jesus Christ and men love darkness rather than light, for
their deeds were evil. Okay, so why does judgment exist.
Judgment exists because a rejection occurs once you reject the light,
because you prefer the dark that brings the condemnation. That
(18:13):
brings the condemnation. The condemnation is tied to a rejection
of the provision. If a doctor offers you medicine to
save your life and you say I won't take it,
the consequence is built into the rejection. The doctor didn't
(18:34):
kill you. It's the rejection that killed you. That is
the judgment that you do not believe. That is that
you have rejected the light that has been made manifest
in the person of work of Christ. But he who
practices truth, he who wants the truth, comes to the
light so that his deeds may be manifested as having
(18:56):
been wrought in God in verse twenty two. After these things,
Jesus and is disciples came into the land of Judah
and spending time there with them in baptizing, and John
also was baptizing. Because there was much water in the
area where he was baptizing, and there rose a discussion
on the part of John's disciples with a Jew about purification,
(19:18):
this process of cleansing that the Jews had, And they
came to John and said to him, Rabbi, teacher, he
who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you
have testified, Behold, he is baptizing, and all are coming
to him. Wait, man, the guy who was with you,
everybody now going to him, and left of them are
coming to you. John said, a man can receive nothing
(19:40):
unless it has been granted to him from Heaven. You
yourselves are my witnesses that I said. I am not
the Christ, but I have been sent ahead of him.
I'm sent to prepare the way for the Christ. So
it not bothered me that they leaving me. They supposed
to leave me. When he shows up, he who has
the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom,
(20:03):
who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the
bridegroom's voice. So this is the joy of mine that
has been made for I am not the bridegroom. I'm
just a friend. So don't get all excited about the friend.
At a wedding, you get excited about the bridegroom. Jesus
is that bridegroom. He must increase and I must decrease.
(20:24):
I'm gonna shrink when he shows up, because he's the
star attraction. You know, when you go to concerts, they
have the upfront entertainment. They have the upfront of it.
You don't want them on that too long. You know
what their job is to warm the crowd up. That's
what they did. They're warming the crowd up. They getting
(20:46):
the crowd excited. You don't then say, okay, let me
go home, because that's not why you came. You ain't
come to see the you know, the start of the show.
You came to see the main attraction. John is saying,
let me get off the stage, because the main attraction
is here. He who comes from above is above all,
So he says, Jesus came from above. That is, he's
(21:08):
not just a man. And he who is of the
earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth.
He who comes from heaven is above all. What he
has seen and heard of that he testifies, and no
one receives his testimony. He who has received this testimony
has set his seal on this that God is true. Okay,
(21:30):
is the deal God has spoken about his son. When
you reject his son based on the evidence that God
has demonstrated, you have called God a liar. You gotta
let that sink in God, I reject Jesus. Therefore you
are a liar. For he whom God has sent speaks
(21:53):
the words of God. For he gives the spirit without measure.
The Father loves the Son and has given all things
in his hand. And he who bleeds in the Son
has eternal life. But he who does not obey the Son,
that is, by believing in him, will not see life.
But the wrath of God abides on him. So the
(22:14):
issue is simple, what you're going to do with Jesus?
Because God has handed everything over.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
To the sun.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Doctor Tony Evans wrapping up today's message with the most
important question you'll face in life, what are you going
to do with Jesus? He's back with this follow up.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
If you want to know for certain that you're on
your way to Heaven when you die, then I invite
you right now to go to Jesus Christ and let
him know that you believe he died for you, that
you believe he rose for you, and that you want
to put your trust in Him alone for the forgiveness
of your sins and the gift of eternal life. If
(22:58):
you really want to go to heaven, He'll give you
a free ticket there, but you must go to him
for it and believe him to give it to you.
If you do that, you'll be saved right now.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
If you're ready to accept that free ticket to Heaven,
take the time to visit Tonyevans dot org and click
on the link at the top of the homepage that
simply says Jesus. Tony has more information there about becoming
a follower of Christ, as well as free resources to
help in your journey now. If you'd like to receive
a copy of today's message to review on your own
(23:32):
or pass along to a friend, just contact us for
details on the message called a Lesson in Faith. Better yet,
get it as a part of the special offer I
mentioned earlier. All fourteen messages from both volumes of Tony's
current sermon series on the Gospel of John, along with
his encouraging book Dry Bones Dancing. They're yours with our thanks.
(23:54):
When you make a donation to help keep this listener
supported program coming your way. Just visit to Evans dot
org to make the arrangements, or call our resource center
at one eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two
where team members are standing by to assist with your request.
That's one eight hundred eight hundred three two two two,
(24:15):
or online at Tonyevans dot org. A road sign isn't
the destination, but it points the way there. Next time
on the Alternative Broadcast, Doctor Evans looks at how Jesus
used physical acts as signposts to reveal deeper spiritual truths
that still hold true today. I hope you'll tune in
(24:37):
for that
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