SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/16/2016
7:25 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 The Insight
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John 3:4-8
Message of
the verses: “4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man
be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb
and be born, can he?" 5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and 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 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ’You must be born
again.’ 8 "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it,
but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who
is born of the Spirit.’”
What do you think Nicodemus meant by his question “How
can a man be born when he is old? He
cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” I have always thought that he was missing the
point, that he was in a way kind of making fun of Jesus statement, but what I
think he is saying is how do I get to start over again? How can I go back to
the beginning? We can take for granted
that he surely did not understand about what Jesus told him that he had to be
born again or born from above. John
MacArthur writes “Jesus was asking for something that was not humanly possible
(to be born again); He was making entrance into the kingdom contingent on
something that could not be obtained through human effort. But if that was true, what did it mean for
Nicodemus’s works-based system? If
spiritual rebirth, like physical rebirth, was impossible from a human
standpoint, then where did that leave this self-righteous Pharisee?”
Dr. Wiersbe writes:
“Once again, we meet with the blindness of sinners: this well-educated religious leader,
Nicodemus, did not understand what the Savior was talking about! Jesus was speaking about a spiritual
birth. The situation is no different
today. When you talk with people about
being born again, they often begin to discuss their family’s religious
heritage, their church membership, religious ceremonies, and so on.”
I will have to apologize about the shortness of this
SD as it has been a very busy day for me, but I do want to write something
about what I was speaking with the Lord this morning about that I believe has
to do with what we are talking about here.
To answer the question as to why Nicodemus, or for that matter anyone
today as Dr. Wiersbe writes about as to why Nicodemus could not understand what
Jesus was talking about was because he was spiritually dead. We have been over this ground before, but it
won’t hurt to go over it again. When
Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden they died spiritually and therefore
all offspring from them are also born spiritually dead with the exception of
Jesus Christ who did not have an earthly father. Since we are all born spiritually dead we
cannot understand the spiritual truth that is found in the Word of God or from
the person who is talking to them as He tells them truth from the Word of
God. I have told the story before about
a undertaker friend of mine and a Pastor friend of mine ask this undertaker if
any of his clients, those who were physically dead, ever answered him when he
asked them what color of tie they wanted put on them. Well that little story illustrates why
Nicodemus did not understand the statement that Jesus told him that he had to
be born again. How then can we who are
spiritually dead ever become spiritually alive and be born again? The answer is that the Holy Spirit is the one
who gives us an effectual call, and call we cannot say no to. Paul writes the following to the Romans in Ro
8:11 “But if the Spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the
dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” (KJV) “But
if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who
raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
through His Spirit who dwells in you (Rom. 8:11 NASB).” The Holy Spirit not only makes us alive
spiritually, but He also gives us the faith so that we can trust the Lord Jesus
Christ as Savior and Lord and this eventually happened to Nicodemus.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Twenty Years” (Genesis
31:36-41).
Today’s Bible question: “Who
is the end of the law for righteousness to believers?”
Answer in our next SD.
1/16/2016 7:56 PM
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