Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Okay, let's go to John 3 to continue our study. It's possible we might finish up our study on Nicodemus this week, depending on how far we get.
[00:00:12] So let's go to John Chapter three and John Chapter three, and we will pray and then we'll pick up on verse number five, do a little bit of review, and then we'll kind of move forward. I want to look at some Old Testament scriptures today related to this.
[00:00:43] So let's pray first, and then we'll look at John 3, verse 5. Our Father, thank youk that yout are so good to us and that yout provide for all of our needs, that yout have great compassion on us, Lord. Lord, even as brother Ari took the prayer request and many are suffering and with physical ailments and some with spiritual conditions as well that really need your help. Lord, we take comfort in knowing that you are moved with compassion, that you do not look coldly upon our spiritual suffering and our spiritual plight, but also you do not look coldly upon our physical suffering either. And we thank you for that. And Lord, we pray for our study here this morning with Nicodemus. Please guide us, Lord. Be our teacher. And I pray all of your people here that you would speak to them and teach them and show them the truth personally. Apply it to them in the way that would better equip them to be good Gospel ministers and givers of the Gospel and. And people who would understand the Gospel ever more clearly and to be skilled at explaining the truths of Scripture to others. Lord, thank you for the chance to study the Word. And we pray that you bless our time now in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:02:08] So we have Nicodemus. We'll look at verse number five. The Bible says this 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. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Marvel not that I said unto Thee, ye must be born again. You imagine, you know, in verse number seven. Marvel not. You know, you imagine the Lord is speaking to Nicodemus, and maybe his mouth is gaping, or maybe he's showing some sort of, you know, incredulous facial expression that's like, you know, something like that. I don't know if they made those faces back then in that way, but like we do. But that maybe led the Lord to say that. Verse number eight. 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 everyone that is born of the Spirit. Verse number nine.
[00:03:09] Nicodemus answered and said unto him, how can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, art thou a master of Israel and knowest not these things?
[00:03:21] That's where we want to stop this morning, at least for the moment. So, as we said in verse number five, we looked at the water and the Spirit and we saw that it is not a scriptural position to hold that the water mentioned there has to do with baptism. There's nothing to indicate that whatsoever. In fact, the following verse, verse 6 clarifies that using the parallel construction with the pairs of truths in this case, physical and spiritual, water, spirit, you know, that gives a strong indication that the Lord is referring to the natural versus the spiritual. And this is why a person cannot enter the kingdom of God unless they've been born again. Because it's not that which is flesh is flesh. There's no way that a person can be a part of and inherit a spiritual kingdom so long as their spiritual part of them is inactive, dead, you know, cut off from God. And that's what the Bible says. That which is born of flesh is flesh and nothing more. And you know what? No outward, physical, religious, you say, fleshy, fleshly activity or ritual or whatever can change that. Nothing whatsoever. It requires a miraculous act of the power of God upon us. And that is the only thing that awakens our spirit from death and allows us to have a spiritual nature that can enter the kingdom of God. It's just that simple. So that's what the Lord is saying here. And of course, Nicodemus said he doesn't get it then in verse number eight, that the wind bloweth where it listeth, thou hearest the sound thereof, and canst not tell whither it goeth, whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the spirit. We spoke last week about. We saw how that this speaks of the mysterious and invisible nature of this act of God upon a person and its effect. In other words, you cannot see like you can see a religious ritual, which is what Nicodemus was all about. His religion was all about religious rituals. You can. What the Lord Jesus is talking about is not a religious ritual. It is an act of God that's invisible, like the wind is invisible. But its effect is, its effects are undeniable in the life. Just like the storm of wind we had last night or this morning. Rather, the effects of it are plain to see, though the wind itself is invisible. And so there's a certain mystery.
[00:06:03] There's a certain mystery. But just because something is mysterious does not mean it is not true or real. Right? And this is one reason why when a person trusts in Jesus and their life is changed, and we saw that as well, that if someone says, my house had a hurricane and there's not one stick, there's not one leaf, there's not one indication anywhere on their property that a hurricane had come through, would you. Would you. Would I believe that the wind had affected that property? And obviously the answer is no. The effect is real. And so it is with a person who is born again. Is there is a true and a real act of the power of God at work. It produces effects. And if those effects are not there, it questions whether that has actually happened.
[00:06:53] And.
[00:06:55] But nevertheless, it is a mysterious act of God's power.
[00:07:00] And it's sometimes difficult to describe those who have been, who have experienced this, who came to God just as a dirty sinner, just a sinner, just who needed salvation, who needed forgiveness and just wanted forgiveness, but instead got new life.
[00:07:21] Every one of those, you know, especially given time, understands what God has done in their heart and God has done in their life. So.
[00:07:30] And so that's what you have in verse number eight. And then we get to verse number nine. And as I said, Nicodemus does not understand these things.
[00:07:40] We might say it is outside of the paradigm, the religious paradigm of his mind. So he has. He don't have a box to put it in. You don't have any way to interpret it. He says, how can these things be.
[00:07:54] Now, as we've seen with the Lord Jesus, especially as we went through the Gospel of Matthew and the Sermon on the Mount, and specifically chapter five and chapter six, when the Lord was teaching about the law and about what people have heard and then what the law actually said. And we saw how that Jesus, unlike so many of those in religion in his day, his basis for what he taught was the scripture. You say, well, that's common enough. Well, actually it's not. It's actually not all that common in this day. What was the basis? And we talked about this and we were, in Matthew 5, 6, 7, the basis for the Jews for what they believed was not so much the scripture as it was loosely related to it, but the real basis, the real foundation for what they believed was tradition, the tradition of their religion, Judaism.
[00:08:54] And that was. Well, that's what they say. That's what you know, and Rather, the scripture itself was not the basis, not the foundation. You say, well, I mean, it's the same thing, actually. It's not. The authority is different. And what happens is when tradition and scripture are compared, what you find is tradition is off the mark. It's similar, but not the same, because it's man's interpretation of scripture rather than scripture itself. And so Nicodemus understood tradition. Obviously he was steeped in that, being a master of Israel.
[00:09:33] But it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how religious a person is. It does not matter.
[00:09:41] It doesn't matter how many rituals they performed. If they've done confirmation or gone to church their whole life, this truth evades their understanding.
[00:09:56] And often people who are in that case, who have been in church, some sort of church their whole life, or in some sort of religion their whole life, with that comes a great deal of pride. They've learned a lot. They know a lot. They know the religious terms and all of that. And here they see someone who is just a religious bumpkin, right, doesn't know anything, rather ignorant, but who by simple faith in Christ has been born again.
[00:10:27] That person to this religious person is a mystery because their whole life, nothing has done to them to change them on the inside, everything's just been wrapping paper on the outside. And you see this one person who doesn't know stuff, who hasn't been through all the ritual and yet is totally different than them.
[00:10:48] How can these things be? I don't get it. This is the same thing Nicodemus is saying.
[00:10:55] Because an unregenerate, though well learned man, he cannot understand the nature of what Jesus spoke. He cannot, as verse number three says, he cannot see the kingdom of God. So it's no wonder, it's a mystery. And so we go to verse number 10 in answer to this question, how could these things be? Jesus holds him to it.
[00:11:16] Okay, Nicodemus, you say, how can these things be? You're a preacher, basically, right? Are thou master in Israel? You're a preacher, You're a leader in your religion. And you don't know this.
[00:11:34] You should know this.
[00:11:36] You should know this. You see how I held him to the fire? But again, Nicodemus is not basing what he says on the Bible.
[00:11:42] What he thinks is not based upon the scripture but upon tradition.
[00:11:47] Because had he known the scripture as of course our Lord did, he would have recognized this clear teaching in scripture, this clear teaching in scripture. So let's look at that, if you would. Let's look at beginning in Jeremiah, chapter 31 Jeremiah 31.
[00:12:22] Look at verse number.
[00:12:30] Starting at verse number 27, I want to touch on, as we read through this, I want to touch on a few other things that related to doctrinal issues that are worth mentioning. But the truths that, that Jesus is talking about in John chapter three, he did not invent.
[00:12:48] That's why he expected Nicodemus to know it. Right? These were not novel to Christ. In fact, did we not see very little of what Christ did? If we've seen anything in Matthew, we've seen that very little of what Christ did was new. He was just taking the scripture and applying it. Now there are new things he's going to bring into it. Of course there are. But remember Jesus being born under the law of Moses, he lived under the law of Moses. And so, and that, that, that means he operated and taught from within that framework. Now Jeremiah 31, verse number 27 says this. Now this is a prophecy of Jeremiah who lived during the very end of the kingdom of Judah. Okay? So if you can remember, the Assyrians destroyed Israel, the northern kingdom, Judah was left, and Judah outlasted the southern kingdom, outlasted the northern kingdom, and then finally Judah was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. Right? 583 BC roughly. This is what they usually say. All right, Jeremiah was alive when Jerusalem was sacked, right? Jeremiah was alive and he lived through that and the period after that. Okay, so that puts you in the place. So this prophecy that Jeremiah is speaking is a prophecy that is at the very end of the kingdom of Judah. It's 600ish years before Christ. All right, Listen to what he says.
[00:14:19] Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass that like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to throw down and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant, saith the Lord. In those days they. Now it's very important, especially when you're looking, well, all the Bible, but especially when you're looking at prophetic scripture as best as you can to follow the pronouns and find out who they is. Right? Verse number 29. In those days they shall say no more. The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge. Now, this is just a reference to this idea that existed in Jeremiah's day, that the children were being punished for the sins of the parents. And of course, the Lord addresses that. But anyway, verse 31. Behold, the days come. Now, stop there.
[00:15:37] What you're about to read was not in effect at the point at which it was written. You see that? Because it says the days come. So this is a prophetic thing. So at the time of Jeremiah's writing, this had not yet happened. Okay, everybody with me. Behold, the days come. Say of the Lord that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
[00:16:01] Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord. So the Lord speaks of a new covenant. Now, we're not going to go there. But if you look at Hebrews chapter eight, what you'll find is that this new covenant, just like the old covenant. Now, there's a little blip. Reading Hebrews, there's a little blip that says that the old covenant of Moses, which is when God gave the law. God gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai. And then there was a process. There was an agreement. The people of Israel said God gave them the commandment. People, Israel said what? All that the Lord hath said, we will do, remember that.
[00:16:49] And Moses, at the direction of God, confirmed the covenant with his sacrifice. Remember, at the base of Mount Sinai, he sprinkled them with blood. Now, that sounds funny to our ear, but it was a way to confirm a covenant with God. In other words, God, you have said this and you have attached promises to what you've said. That's your side of the agreement. Agreement, we have promised that we will obey you.
[00:17:15] That's our side of the agreement.
[00:17:18] Simple enough. Okay.
[00:17:21] That's what he's talking about in verse 32. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. You see that? Because that's referring to which my covenant, they break. So notice they violated the covenant. Okay? That's the bottom line. Israel violated the covenant. And so God says, I'm going to make a new covenant now. Future, I'm going to make a new covenant, not like the old covenant, but a new covenant now. Notice the key difference. The old covenant was what? It was God saying, these are my Laws. These are my commands. This is my standard of righteousness. And this is how you must approach me. You say, man, that's strict. Yeah, well, that was the covenant. And you know what? They agreed to it. So can't complain if you sign the dotted line. Right?
[00:18:14] They signed the dotted line, they agreed to it, and they didn't keep it. So God says, this covenant is going to be different. This is not about outward laws.
[00:18:27] This is not about outward laws. This is about.
[00:18:31] Now. Just like the first covenant had a sacrifice that confirmed it, so this new covenant that is spoken of here also has a sacrifice to confirm it. And that sacrifice is Christ himself.
[00:18:49] And because I'm just summarizing what Hebrews says, and because the word new is used, that tells you that the covenant with Moses is old, outdated, outmoded. Right? That's what Hebrews tells us. And because the sacrifice that established the covenant is Christ himself, it is better than the old covenant. Now, let's keep going. What does this Covenant entail? Verse 33. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law now. Stop.
[00:19:29] In the first covenant, where did God put his law?
[00:19:35] On tables of stone.
[00:19:38] Notice, I will put my law in their inward parts and will write it in their hearts. So where does God write his law? In the new covenant?
[00:19:50] Inside of a man, inside of a woman.
[00:19:54] Not etched in stone, but in, we'll see in a minute, fleshy tables of the heart. You see the comparison. Isn't this a beautiful picture?
[00:20:04] So God gave the covenant with the Ten Commandments and all that in tables of stone, and they didn't keep it because it was outward. And the flesh we see in Romans, the flesh would not permit them to keep it. They just. They couldn't keep it. So what God says in this new covenant, I'm going to write it in your very soul and notice the effect.
[00:20:26] I will put my law in their heart, in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more. Every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord, for. For they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity and will remember their sin no more.
[00:20:53] You see that? Complete forgiveness, Permanent, forever forgiveness. Now, here's the thing.
[00:21:00] With this covenant, God is not writing the law and letting man know on the outside, he's writing the law on the Inside, inside. He's changing the inward man.
[00:21:13] That's exactly what the new birth does.
[00:21:17] God writes his law inside of them.
[00:21:21] And notice this goes down. This is not. Remember when you have Mount Sinai, you had the tables of the law and God made a covenant with the people.
[00:21:30] Some obeyed it or attempted to, and some didn't. But in this case, this is individual. God writes it on individual hearts. And that, this is. This is a description of the new birth, which is an individual matter. You see that.
[00:21:47] And the effect is that they know God, that they. Verse 34, they know God, every one of them. And they are forgiven entirely individually.
[00:22:03] And every single person has the law of God inside of them. Now look at Ezekiel, chapter 11, if you would.
[00:22:36] Verse 14 says this again. The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, now again, just to get you caught up on the. On the context, Ezekiel was a prophet who was a part of the captivity, but he was a captive. He. He was a captive because there were actually two captivities. Everybody know that there were two captivities of Judah. They came in and basically conquered Judah. The Babylonians, they conquered Judah and they took away all the skilled people and the king's seed and all that stuff. They took them away, but they left the temple standing and they took them to Babylon, okay? And then they set up the king of Babylon, set up other kings to rule over them. The final kings were ones that the king had established. And then they rebelled. So the king of Babylon came and flattened the city and destroyed it entirely. Well, Ezekiel was part of the first captivity, so he lives in Babylon, okay? And God gives him a prophecy about what's going on in Jerusalem still. Okay, now, Ezekiel, verse 17, verse 14, rather 15. Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred and all the house of Israel, holy are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, get you far from the Lord. Unto us is this land given in possession. Therefore say, thus saith the Lord God, although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. Therefore say God, saying to Ezekiel, thus saith the Lord God, I will even gather you from the people and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
[00:24:34] Now pause there a second. This is a promise of God.
[00:24:39] This hasn't happened yet.
[00:24:42] This hasn't happened yet. Who is he talking about? He's talking about Israel and this hasn't happened yet. Because you know why? Even when Israel came out of Babylonian captivity, they were still under the thumb of other kings. They didn't have their land and possession. They were allowed to live there. That's all.
[00:25:02] There will come a day, however, when Israel is allowed, is allowed to, but owns and possesses their land with no one else. They alone.
[00:25:13] Now you say, why does this matter? Okay, well, let's keep going.
[00:25:17] And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. And I will give them Israel one heart. And I will put a new spirit within you. And I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them an heart of flesh. The idea their heart is dead, the inward part of them is dead. No spiritual life. This is Israel now. But notice it all happens in conjunction with Israel's.
[00:25:52] Israel's return to their land. You see that so and again, this hasn't happened yet. This is yet future. When Israel finally returns to their land and is gathered by God, not only will the Lord put them in their land, and they will repent of their detestable deeds, like it says there, but they will also have a new heart.
[00:26:13] That dead old stony heart will be taken out, and a living quivering heart of flesh they'll receive. And notice the effect. Verse 20. And they shall walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances, and do them, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
[00:26:31] So this is, to speak plainly on it, this is. This will be ultimately fulfilled in the millennial kingdom when Israel is finally gathered. And every man of them, down to a person, will have a new heart like we have at this moment. And they will dwell in their land and rule their own land, as the people of God right. And this has never been done before in history.
[00:27:01] Because remember, this new covenant was just instituted with Christ on the cross. All right, now let's go to go to another chapter. Chapter 36, verse 16.
[00:27:17] 36.
[00:27:22] 16.
[00:27:36] Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way, and by their doings their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it. And I scattered them among the heathen. And they were dispersed through the countries according to their way and according to Their doings I judged them. And when they entered into the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name. When they said to them, these are the people of the Lord, and. And are gone forth out of his land. It'd be like seeing a guy stagger out of a bar and collapse on the sidewalk, drunken. And someone saying, that's a Christian, it's a saint. That's the picture being described here. That is a reproach on the name of God. Right? That's what we see here.
[00:28:34] Verse 21. But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God. I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them. And the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen and gather you out of all countries and will bring you into your own land. Here's the problem.
[00:29:16] Some people try to spiritualize this verse.
[00:29:20] And they say, well, this is not really talking about Israel, and it's not really talking the ethnic Israel, and it's not really talking about their land.
[00:29:29] But.
[00:29:31] But this is a distinct promise regarding the people to whom the Lord is speaking and their own land. Verse 25. Again, this is repetitious a little bit. Just follow me here.
[00:29:46] Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you a new heart. Also will I give you and a new spirit. Notice in all the verses we've read so far, who's doing the work?
[00:30:04] God is entirely. Is that not what we saw in John 3, that the new birth is an act of God alone.
[00:30:13] We don't contribute to it. You know, some people say, well, you. You believe to get the new birth, but again, God is doing the entire thing. He does it all.
[00:30:24] In other words, as an example, a person could believe the gospel and be forgiven of their sin and not be born. Again, you say, well, that doesn't make sense. Now, come on. What I'm saying is, if God did not act to raise that Person from the dead, right. And give them a new heart, even though they believe, then they would not have a new heart. You see, this is an act of God, a miraculous act of the power of God he gives. He says, verse 26, A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. Notice the mention of the Spirit of God.
[00:31:00] What happens when a person trusts in Jesus? Not only are they forgiven, not only are they raised from the dead spiritually, not only are they given new life, but they're also given the Spirit of God that was prophesied and foretold way back here.
[00:31:17] And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. And ye shall keep my judgments and do them. You see what I'm saying? This is why a person who has been born again and also has the spirit of God, that's what it says, is supposed to have evidence thereof in their life. Amen.
[00:31:45] It actually affects the way they live because God, what does it say?
[00:31:52] He says, and cause you to walk in my statutes.
[00:31:57] So for you as a believer, listen, to whatever degree that you obey the Lord and walk in his statutes, we have nothing whatsoever to glory of because it is God in us doing that. That's what the verse says.
[00:32:14] This is why someone making a profession of faith with no accompanying change of life is a contradiction.
[00:32:25] Either God's a liar or God is telling the truth. And if God is telling the truth, there must be an accompanying change of life. Because he says, I will cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them. Notice this. And you shall dwell in the land I gave unto your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
[00:32:47] Now the reason I'm pointing this out is notice that the new birth is connected to Israel going back to their land.
[00:32:57] Now, here's the problem. There are some doctrinal persuasions that seek to spiritualize that and say, well, that's. That's not literally talking about ethnic Israel and not literally talking about the land. And they allegorize it. It's Reformed theology is what I'm talking about.
[00:33:18] But when you read this plainly, it speaks plainly as to its meaning.
[00:33:25] Now notice verse 28. You shall be my people, and I will be your God, and I will also save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the corn and will increase it and lay no famine upon you. Now listen what Is this talking about. This is talking about physical blessings tied to a land, Right? Okay.
[00:33:49] And you shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God. Be it known unto you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.
[00:34:14] Now one more passage. The next chapter, chapter 37, verse number 12, or verse number 11 to pick up where it starts.
[00:34:30] Ezekiel 37, verse 11.
[00:34:35] Then he said unto me, son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.
[00:34:40] That's another thing. For those of you that are into doctrine, you know that Ezekiel 37 with the Valley of dry bones is often used to teach doctrines that I don't think the Scripture teaches. But verse 11 really helps to clarify that these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say our bones are dried and our hope is lost. We are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, thus saith the Lord God. Behold, O my people, I will open your graves and cause you to come out up out of your graves and bring you into the land of Israel. Notice the land again and ye shall know that I am the Lord. When I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live and shall place you in your own land. Then shall ye know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it, saith the Lord.
[00:35:40] Again the Spirit again, new life again, resurrection from the dead, all of which occur in an instant when a person is born again. Now, you say we've read a lot of these Old Testament verses and I know we've been kind of a little more technical this morning than maybe we normally are.
[00:36:00] First thing I want you to see is that what our Lord says is deeply rooted in the scripture, number one. Number two, what are these verses we looked at speak directly as a promise to the people of Israel regarding the new covenant when they would be born again. That hasn't happened up to this point, right? So then the question is this.
[00:36:31] Why are we as non Jewish people talking about this if God made this promise to Israel? And there's one reason, one reason, you know what that reason is?
[00:36:43] Is because we find ourselves as a believer in Christ himself.
[00:36:54] That's it. That's it. Because we are in Christ, we have we have access to these blessings that God has given to us that will ultimately and were originally promised to Israel and will be fulfilled to Israel, literally. But because we are in Christ, though we are not Israel, we have access to these blessings.
[00:37:21] And so.
[00:37:23] And that's clearly, clearly articulated to us in the New Testament.
[00:37:33] And with all of that, Nicodemus is still scratching his head.
[00:37:39] Four large, substantial passages of scripture that, as you saw with your own eyes, say the same thing, right? It's repeating the same truths over and over and yet just didn't get it. Didn't get it, didn't get it. Let's pray.
