274: James Styles – Exhortation: Nicodemus, Out of Shadow into Light

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Welcome to Good Chris Selfie and
talks.

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I’m Levi.
And I’m Chris, and I’m Brian.

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Thank you for joining us this
week.

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On this podcast, we select one
talk a week to help us get the

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Bible in our Daily News feed.
We post a new episode at the

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start of each week with the
short intro beforehand to kind

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of set the stage for the talk
you’re about to listen to, and

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now let’s talk more about.
This week’s Talk

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This week’s talk is an
excitation that was given by

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brother James Stiles at the San
Diego Ecclesia this past summer.

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James is a member of the
Thousand Oaks Ecclesia, which is

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kind of the north side of LA,
and presented it in San Diego,

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which is the far South side of
California.

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James is a close friend of mine
and I’m very thankful that this

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talk was suggested.
I think sometimes I’m biased

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against people I know when I get
suggestions, but this was a

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really excellent excitation.
I had never thought of a lot of

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the points that James brings out
about Nicodemus’s life.

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We have the three, you know,
times where he’s actually in the

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record, but James makes an
interesting point in the times

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that he may have been hearing
what Jesus was saying.

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And the big change that comes
from when he is sneaking in the

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shadows in John Chapter 3 to the
point that he’s actually

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carrying 100 lbs.
Of embalming materials to you

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know to retrieve the body of
Jesus which you would have had

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to you can’t carry as a as a
human.

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So he would have had some sort
of cart or something like the

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most public demonstration of his
dedication to our Lord.

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So I really appreciated this
this exhortation and I’m really

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excited to share it Again, this
was a suggestion which we

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absolutely live off of.
I I really like where the

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podcast as a whole is going
where you know there’s we we

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we’ve kind of got a whole
production community.

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We’re going to be adding more
kind of hosts or guest hosts and

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just just so thankful for all
the contributions we get which

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makes this show really work.
So please, please send in any

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talks you hear from your own
Ecclesia or anything you find

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online or whatever, because we
really, we really benefit from

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this.
So here is James Styles on

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Nicodemus.
Well, good morning, brothers and

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sisters, Sister Kristen and I of
course bring with us the love of

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your brothers and sisters in the
Simi area and more particularly

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our Ecclesia in the Thousand
Oaks City.

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So just recently we finished up
our readings in the Gospel of

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John and we had the opportunity
to meet a man, Nicodemus.

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And we see that Nicodemus is
referenced by name three times

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in John’s Gospel, in John
Chapter 3, John 7:00 and also

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John 19.
And in each of these references

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were given a description of
Nicodemus as a man who came to

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Jesus by night.
And So what we’ll see.

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And thank you for reading
through John chapter 19 this

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morning for us and a couple of
really very sad chapters as we

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see our Lord hanging on the
cross.

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But in the sad story we find a
man who transitions from coming

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out of the shadows to embracing
our Lord off of the cross.

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And so as we look at this man’s
transition, Nicodemus

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transitioning from the shadows
into the light, my hope is that

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we too will be able to take a
look at where we are.

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We’re at and our journeys to
fully transition from the

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shadows to being in the light,
to embrace our Messiah.

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So together this morning we’re
going to be looking at a couple

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of questions and and walking
through his life, we’re going to

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look at when and why did he
approach our Lord Jesus.

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Who was Nicodemus?
What was his life all about?

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What was his identity?
How did Jesus work with him

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individually, although he’s only
mentioned three times by name,

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in John’s Gospel, we can see our
Lord focusing on Nicodemus and

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how he spoke to the multitudes.
And then where does Scripture

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end the story of Nicodemus?
And as we do this, I think we’ll

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prepare our minds for the
breaking of bread.

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As we look at the life of
Nicodemus, we’re going to see a

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man who struggled with many of
the same things that we struggle

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with today.
Our pride, our status, our

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positions in this life and
giving up all of those things.

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To embrace our Lord Jesus Christ
and to embrace bringing Him

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glory, bringing in our Father
glory and the way that we live

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our lives.
Let’s turn over to John Chapter

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2, and we’ll start setting the
context for where Nicodemus

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comes up in scripture.
And as we’re turning the page to

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John Chapter 2, we’ll find our
Lord Jesus in Jerusalem.

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We know it’s the greatest city
in Israel, and it would have

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been at the greatest feast in
the nation of Israel at the

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Passover.
And he would have come, just

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come from Cana of Galilee.
If you remember, this is where

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he turned the water into wine.
And he enters the Temple as he

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goes into the city.
And what does he find?

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Well, he finds that the people
have turned it into a place of

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business.
And so he prophesized of the

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destruction of the Temple and
how it would be raised up again

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in three days.
And of course we know as Bible

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students that he was referring
to himself, his his own death

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and his resurrection, which is
pointed out for us in John

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chapter 2, verse 22.
And it states for us here that

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many would have remembered the
words of our Lord Jesus Christ

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in this prophecy and that as
they would have seen those

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things happen, their faith would
have been confirmed in the Lord

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Jesus Christ.
And I think that would have been

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true with Nicodemus, as we’ll
see at the end of his life.

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So in John chapter 2, reading
verses 22 through 23, we see now

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when he was in Jerusalem at the
Passover during the feast, many

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believed in his name when they
saw the signs, which he did.

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But Jesus did not commit himself
to them, because he knew all men

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and had no need that anyone
should testify of man, for he

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knew what was in man.
And so this crowd that the Lord

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Jesus was working with was an
extremely fickle crowd, and I

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kind of imagined them as a leaf
blowing in the wind.

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In one instance, they were fully
convinced that this was the

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Messiah who stood in front in
front of them.

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And then in the very next
chapter, the very next verse, we

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find that they were ready to
betray our Lord.

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Now among this crowd were the
Pharisees, and one in particular

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that Scripture seems to
highlight for us.

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So turn the page to John,
Chapter 3, verse one, we’re

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introduced to the man Nicodemus
and John 31.

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We read there was a man of the
Pharisees named Nicodemus, a

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ruler of the Jews.
This man came to Jesus by night

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and said to him, Rabbi, we know
that you are a teacher, come

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from God, for no one can do
these things that you do unless

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God is with him.
And so this man, as John points

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out for us, is really a play on
the end of chapter 2.

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This man was just like any other
man in the crowd, except for we

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find him intentionally coming to
our Lord Jesus Christ, but he

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approaches him in darkness.
He wanted to inquire about who

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the Lord Jesus was.
So who was Nicodemus?

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Well, the man Nicodemus.
His name means victor of the

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people, and we find that in
scripture.

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His life was a success story,
wasn’t it?

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But it wasn’t a victory over
people.

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It was really a victory
overcoming out of darkness,

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coming out from under the
weights of the law and the

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Pharisees to a life where he
openly embraced our Lord Jesus

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Christ in the broad light of
day.

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Well, he was a Pharisee, a group
if you remember that Paul

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belonged to in the early part of
his discipleship.

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These men were extremely strict,
and for them it was all about

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following the Torah, the
requirements of the Torah, and

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so much that they sought power.
By doing these things, they

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extended the laws and the
traditions of men to make it

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even harder for people to
follow.

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But he wasn’t just any Pharisee.
We’re told that he was a ruler

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or chief among the Jews.
He would have been part of the

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Sanhedrin, which consists of 70
members, and his specific

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position was the teacher or
Doctor Ruler Master in Israel.

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We read about in John chapter 3,
verse 10, And when you look at

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that, that’s the definite
article in the Hebrew.

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He was the teacher of Israel.
Now the Sanhedrin would have

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presided over all of the
religious activities of the

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nation and within the group
there was hierarchy of

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individuals and Nicodemus may
have ranked within the top three

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of the 70 that ruled in this
group.

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As the teacher in Israel, he
would have been an extremely

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well studied individual.
You think about his reputation,

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his status.
He would have been well off,

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well respected, and we could
infer that he would have been an

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older brother at this point, as
we see in his conversation with

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the Lord Jesus Christ in John
chapter 3.

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So he had a lot at stake, didn’t
he, to come to the Lord by

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night.
And that’s how we’re introduced

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to this man.
He came to the Lord Jesus by

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night.
Now an interesting aside note,

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maybe this is something to look
at later, but there’s one other

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brother mentioned in the context
of night.

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So jot this down.
You can look at this later.

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But John 13 verse 30, having
received the SOP, Judas went out

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and it was night.
And where did Judas go?

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Well, Judas would have went to
the Sanhedrin and so it’s almost

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like these two men cross paths,
1 coming to the light and the

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other going into the darkness.
Again, just an interesting

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thought to think about.
So in John three, this shadow

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disciple, he comes on behalf of
a group from within the

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Sanhedrin.
Well, how do we know that?

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Well, in John 3 verse two he
says we know.

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So there would have been a group
that existed within the

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Sanhedrin that would have looked
at Jesus differently, that had

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questions that were unanswered,
perhaps, maybe started to begin

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to question their own
understanding of who the Messiah

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was and and what he would look
like as they came to him.

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You know in Luke chapter 2,
you’ll recall that Jesus was at

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the feast of Passover earlier on
in his life, by the same feast

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that that’s talked about in the
context here in John and in Luke

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chapter 2, verses 46 and 47,
Jesus is found in the Temple in

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the middle of the teachers,
which is the same word used to

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describe Nicodemus here in John
chapter 3.

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Luke 2 verse 46 says now.
So it was after three days they

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found him in the temple, sitting
in the midst of the teachers,

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both listening to them and
asking them questions.

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And all who heard were
astonished at his understanding

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and his answers.
And so perhaps this same group

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of individuals, or some of the
same group of individuals I’ve

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remembered almost 20 years
prior, the man who taught them

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in the temple.
And here he was again,

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astonishing those same leaders
of Israel.

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But many would be too proud to
change their hearts and to

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change their ways.
So let’s turn back to John

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Chapter 3, because Jesus and
Nicodemus have a conversation

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again in the darkness.
And if we were to have read

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through this, we would find that
Jesus describes for Nicodemus

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the idea of rebirth or baptism.
And initially we see Nicodemus

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give the answer of what would
appear to be a Pharisaical

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answer, right?
And he says, how can one be born

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again when he’s old?
Can he enter a second time into

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his mother’s womb and be born?
And so the implication here

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among these men was that they
were of the seat of Abraham, and

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this was their argument in John
chapter 8, verse 33.

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They didn’t need to be born
again.

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Now perhaps there’s another way
of looking at that, that

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Nicodemus question, how these
things were even possible.

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How can these things be That one
would be born again.

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But regardless, we see our Lord
Jesus have patience with him.

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He explains that he must forsake
himself, his position, his

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status, his wealth, his pride,
or else, Nicodemus, you’re never

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going to see the Kingdom of
heaven.

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And so the lesson that Jesus was
teaching Nicodemus was that a

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transformation of heart was
needed.

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The same message that John the
Baptist talk wasn’t about the

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fair cycle method of checking
off all the boxes, but a change

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of mind, a change of heart, a
change of a way of life.

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He continues the conversation in
John chapter 3 and verses 14

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00:13:07,760 –> 00:13:10,440
through 15.
And Jesus points Nicodemus back

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00:13:10,440 –> 00:13:13,160
to an event that happened in The
Wilderness and Numbers, Chapter

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00:13:13,160 –> 00:13:15,440
21.
You remember, the children of

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00:13:15,440 –> 00:13:18,640
Israel were on the edge of
entering the Promised Land, and

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the event of the serpent on the
pole happens.

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And really what we find is that
this whole event in Numbers

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00:13:24,640 –> 00:13:29,360
Chapter 21, was a great parable
that foreshadowed the event of

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what the Lord Jesus would
accomplish on the cross.

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00:13:32,480 –> 00:13:35,360
But what we see in this event
was that everything that

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00:13:35,360 –> 00:13:38,560
happened in that instance was
outside the law.

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00:13:39,320 –> 00:13:41,440
When we think about what the sin
offering was in Leviticus

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chapter four, well, it wasn’t a
serpent on a pole, was it?

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The law could not provide a
sacrifice that would remedy the

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00:13:48,760 –> 00:13:51,640
problem of sin.
And So what Moses does by

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00:13:51,640 –> 00:13:55,320
raising this pole serpent on a
pole would have been completely

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00:13:55,320 –> 00:13:57,800
foreign to what the people would
have recognized as being

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00:13:57,800 –> 00:13:59,440
something they would have done
under the law.

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00:14:00,400 –> 00:14:03,280
But would Nicodemus have put
those things together had our

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00:14:03,280 –> 00:14:06,880
Lord not pointed him back to
Numbers Chapter 11 to explain

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00:14:06,880 –> 00:14:09,200
these things?
Perhaps not.

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00:14:09,880 –> 00:14:12,520
The Jews would have interpreted
this event as being something

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00:14:12,520 –> 00:14:14,560
very literal.
This serpent bit me.

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00:14:14,840 –> 00:14:18,040
Moses raised the serpent on the
pole, and I’m looking up to

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00:14:18,040 –> 00:14:22,120
heaven and being healed from
this serpent bite.

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00:14:23,080 –> 00:14:26,600
And so Nicodemus would have left
this conversation probably a

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00:14:26,600 –> 00:14:30,000
little defeated, confused that
our Lord was telling him you

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00:14:30,000 –> 00:14:32,920
might not quite understand what
you think you know.

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00:14:34,000 –> 00:14:35,920
It would have been difficult.
Look at these words in John,

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chapter 3, verses 18 through 21.
These words would have struck at

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00:14:39,720 –> 00:14:42,960
the heart of Nicodemus.
John eights are three.

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00:14:42,960 –> 00:14:47,200
Starting at verse 18.
He who believes in him is not

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00:14:47,200 –> 00:14:49,600
condemned.
But he who does not believe is

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00:14:49,720 –> 00:14:52,600
condemned already, because he
has not believed in the name of

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00:14:52,600 –> 00:14:56,720
the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation

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00:14:57,200 –> 00:15:02,160
that the light has come into the
world, and men loved darkness

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00:15:02,760 –> 00:15:05,560
rather than light.
And Nicodemus was here in the

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00:15:05,560 –> 00:15:08,320
darkness, wasn’t he?
Because their deeds were evil.

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For everyone practicing evil
hates the light and does not

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00:15:11,400 –> 00:15:14,120
come to the light, lest his
deeds should be exposed.

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00:15:15,160 –> 00:15:19,640
But he who does the truth comes
to the light, that his deeds may

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00:15:19,640 –> 00:15:23,000
be clearly seen, that they have
been done in God.

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00:15:23,000 –> 00:15:26,080
And Nicodemus would have
remembered these words as we see

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00:15:26,080 –> 00:15:29,560
in John chapter, or reading in
John chapter 19 this morning.

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00:15:32,160 –> 00:15:35,840
Now imagine for a moment that
the Lord is speaking to you,

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00:15:36,080 –> 00:15:39,360
that you are Nicodemus, and you
have mustered up enough courage

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00:15:39,840 –> 00:15:45,680
to approach our Lord, And you’ve
done so in the the the guise of

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00:15:45,680 –> 00:15:51,320
darkness, not fully convinced of
who this man was, perhaps

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00:15:51,320 –> 00:15:56,320
questioning your understanding,
not fully committed as as John

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00:15:56,320 –> 00:15:58,000
Two points out to us in this
crowd.

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And so you approach our Lord
Jesus in darkness.

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00:16:01,720 –> 00:16:04,880
You tell them there’s a group,
including yourself, that

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00:16:04,880 –> 00:16:07,320
acknowledge there’s something a
little bit different about him.

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And the response you get from
him is that you must be born

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00:16:10,640 –> 00:16:12,680
again.
You must change your heart,

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00:16:12,680 –> 00:16:16,800
change your thought process,
your ancestry, your family,

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00:16:17,040 –> 00:16:21,160
doesn’t matter, your position,
your status, your religious

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00:16:21,160 –> 00:16:23,520
leadership.
You need to rethink those

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00:16:23,520 –> 00:16:26,520
things.
Now remember, you’re not just

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00:16:26,520 –> 00:16:29,640
any Jew.
You’re not just any Pharisee.

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00:16:30,040 –> 00:16:31,760
You are a teacher, the leader in
Israel.

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00:16:32,520 –> 00:16:35,640
You’re well studied.
You’re able to discern prophecy.

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00:16:36,400 –> 00:16:38,880
You hold an elevated position
among your brothers and sisters,

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00:16:39,280 –> 00:16:42,160
an elite position, really, that
would have come with status,

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00:16:42,160 –> 00:16:47,040
with power, with respect.
And the conversation ends with

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00:16:47,120 –> 00:16:51,640
Jesus telling you that you’re in
darkness because you have not

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00:16:51,640 –> 00:16:54,000
believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God.

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00:16:54,400 –> 00:16:59,200
You’re a disciple of darkness,
practicing evil, unable to give

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00:16:59,200 –> 00:17:03,600
up the luxuries of life, perhaps
afraid what your peers might

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00:17:03,600 –> 00:17:06,640
think.
You walk away from the

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00:17:06,640 –> 00:17:09,920
conversation with quite a lot to
think about.

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00:17:11,119 –> 00:17:12,359
What are you going to do from
here?

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00:17:13,720 –> 00:17:17,079
And perhaps I know I have, as
I’ve approached the table of our

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00:17:17,079 –> 00:17:19,560
master this morning, felt
similarly.

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00:17:20,200 –> 00:17:23,800
Because unfortunately, we too
can take on the mindset of a

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00:17:23,800 –> 00:17:26,520
Pharisee doing what appears to
be right.

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00:17:27,079 –> 00:17:30,400
Attending, praying, reading
God’s word, spending time in the

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00:17:30,400 –> 00:17:32,600
temple or the Ecclesian.
All these things are good things

296
00:17:32,600 –> 00:17:36,160
for us to do.
But are we in fact shadow

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00:17:36,160 –> 00:17:38,560
disciples?
Have we fully come into the

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00:17:38,560 –> 00:17:42,760
light, taking every opportunity
to manifest the characteristics

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00:17:42,760 –> 00:17:46,840
of our God to those around us,
Perhaps at to a point where we

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00:17:46,840 –> 00:17:50,880
jeopardize our status, our
reputation, our wealth, our

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00:17:50,880 –> 00:17:57,960
jobs, our pride?
So where do we find Nicodemus

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00:17:57,960 –> 00:18:00,160
next?
Let’s start over to John Chapter

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00:18:00,160 –> 00:18:05,600
7, which would have been about 2
1/2 years later or six months

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00:18:05,600 –> 00:18:10,760
prior to the crucifixion.
So in John chapter seven through

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00:18:10,760 –> 00:18:14,160
10 we have the events of the
Feast of Tabernacles.

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00:18:14,240 –> 00:18:19,280
And in John 7, verses 37 through
44, as Jesus would have preached

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00:18:19,280 –> 00:18:21,640
to this crowd, there would have
been a division that form.

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00:18:22,120 –> 00:18:24,320
On one hand there would have
been those who believed that

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00:18:24,320 –> 00:18:27,080
Jesus was the Christ, and on the
other hand there would have been

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00:18:27,080 –> 00:18:28,840
those who wanted to lay their
hands on him.

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00:18:29,520 –> 00:18:33,320
And so the the officers, chief
priests and Pharisees have this

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00:18:33,320 –> 00:18:36,760
close conversation to discuss
what they’re going to do.

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00:18:36,760 –> 00:18:39,360
And thankfully for us, it’s
recorded for us to see this

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00:18:39,360 –> 00:18:42,120
interaction.
So in John Chapter 7, if we drop

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00:18:42,120 –> 00:18:46,480
down to verses 45 through 52, we
see this conversation.

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00:18:47,480 –> 00:18:49,840
It says then the officers came
to the chief priests and

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00:18:49,840 –> 00:18:53,080
Pharisees who said to them, why
have you not brought him?

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00:18:54,040 –> 00:18:57,480
The officers answered.
No man ever spoke like this man,

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00:18:58,400 –> 00:19:02,760
and the Pharisees answered them.
Are you also deceived?

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00:19:03,400 –> 00:19:06,120
Have any of the rulers or the
Pharisees believed in him?

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00:19:10,200 –> 00:19:13,920
Sorry, but this crowd that does
not know the laws accursed

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00:19:15,160 –> 00:19:19,160
Nicodemus, he who came to Jesus
by night, being one of them.

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00:19:19,160 –> 00:19:23,040
A Pharisee said to them, Does
our law judge a man before it

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00:19:23,040 –> 00:19:24,680
hears him and knows what he is
doing?

325
00:19:25,760 –> 00:19:29,560
Then they answered and said to
him, Are you also from Galilee?

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00:19:30,280 –> 00:19:33,360
Search and look, for no prophet
has arisen out of Galilee.

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00:19:34,760 –> 00:19:38,600
And so Nicodemus here, perhaps
still not fully convinced or

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00:19:38,600 –> 00:19:41,640
ready to come into the light,
addresses his peers.

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00:19:41,720 –> 00:19:44,880
What’s the point of knowing the
law if you’re not going to use

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00:19:44,880 –> 00:19:46,800
it?
He points them back to the law

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00:19:46,800 –> 00:19:50,040
of Deuteronomy, chapter one.
And I think it’s at this point

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00:19:50,040 –> 00:19:53,200
that his peers would have seen a
little bit through Nicodemus.

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00:19:53,200 –> 00:19:55,480
They would have seen where his
sympathy lied.

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00:19:55,480 –> 00:19:58,880
And so in verse 52 they tell the
man who’s the teacher in Israel

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00:19:58,880 –> 00:20:02,000
to go search and look in the
scriptures.

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00:20:03,000 –> 00:20:06,200
Can you imagine telling the
teacher, the leader of the

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00:20:06,200 –> 00:20:09,160
Sanhedrin, to go search and
look?

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00:20:09,160 –> 00:20:13,160
That was his job and he would
have known, wouldn’t he?

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00:20:13,440 –> 00:20:16,440
Prophets that came from the
region of Galilee, perhaps men

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00:20:16,440 –> 00:20:19,160
like Jonah and Nahum.
He would have known this.

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00:20:20,240 –> 00:20:23,280
So why didn’t he speak up?
Why didn’t he correct his peers?

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00:20:24,680 –> 00:20:27,080
Well, the record doesn’t
indicate that he says anything

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00:20:27,080 –> 00:20:30,360
at this point, and and so the
narrative moves on.

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00:20:32,320 –> 00:20:34,880
So there was an opportunity here
for Nicodemus, wasn’t there?

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00:20:35,760 –> 00:20:40,800
To make a point, perhaps both
with confidence in his trust and

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00:20:40,800 –> 00:20:44,280
faith in the Lord Jesus, but
also with sensitivity, knowing

347
00:20:44,280 –> 00:20:48,200
where his brothers lay, knowing
that his his brothers perhaps

348
00:20:48,200 –> 00:20:50,320
had a barrier of pride in their
way.

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00:20:51,680 –> 00:20:55,640
So I began to question myself,
What does confession of Jesus

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00:20:55,640 –> 00:20:58,240
look like in my life?
Do I shy away from answering

351
00:20:58,240 –> 00:21:02,600
somebody, perhaps because of the
perception of what that might

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00:21:02,600 –> 00:21:06,400
do, because I might be belittled
for what I believe?

353
00:21:07,320 –> 00:21:10,240
Or perhaps because of something,
something somebody might say or

354
00:21:10,240 –> 00:21:14,160
do to me, because of my
profession of our Lord Jesus,

355
00:21:15,240 –> 00:21:18,680
that we prepared ourselves to
sympathetically and confidently

356
00:21:18,680 –> 00:21:21,160
point people in the right
direction, to give them an

357
00:21:21,160 –> 00:21:24,320
opportunity to hear what we have
to believe.

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00:21:25,440 –> 00:21:29,000
When we think about the initial
conversation of Nicodemus and

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00:21:29,000 –> 00:21:32,040
our Lord Jesus, that’s exactly
how he worked, with Nicodemus

360
00:21:32,040 –> 00:21:36,960
patiently working over years to
convert this man from a disciple

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00:21:36,960 –> 00:21:39,640
of darkness to coming out into
the light.

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00:21:41,000 –> 00:21:43,480
And we’ll see an example of that
in John chapter 8, where we

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00:21:43,480 –> 00:21:47,640
don’t see the name of Nicodemus
come up, but you can clearly see

364
00:21:47,640 –> 00:21:50,920
our Lord speaking to Nicodemus.
So let’s turn over to John

365
00:21:50,920 –> 00:21:54,800
Chapter 8, and we’re obviously
not going to read the chapter,

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00:21:55,040 –> 00:21:57,920
but we’ll just kind of highlight
a couple of things as we see

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00:21:57,920 –> 00:22:01,000
Nicodemus coming out of the
pages to us.

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00:22:01,560 –> 00:22:04,440
So on the next day in John
Chapter 8, the religious elite

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00:22:04,480 –> 00:22:07,360
are in the temple listening to
the Lord Jesus Christ.

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00:22:07,960 –> 00:22:09,960
And if you can imagine, I know
this has happened for me.

371
00:22:09,960 –> 00:22:13,840
I’m sitting in the audience a
brother speaking, and it almost

372
00:22:13,840 –> 00:22:16,840
feels like that brother speaking
directly to me.

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00:22:17,560 –> 00:22:20,280
Well, I think Nicodemus would
have definitely been that.

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00:22:20,280 –> 00:22:23,440
You can almost imagine a
spotlight on Nicodemus as our

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00:22:23,440 –> 00:22:24,760
Lord would have said these
words.

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00:22:25,280 –> 00:22:29,520
Look at what he says in in John
chapter 8, verse 23 and recall

377
00:22:29,520 –> 00:22:34,760
the conversation of John three
and he said to them, you are

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00:22:34,760 –> 00:22:36,600
from beneath.
I am from above.

379
00:22:37,480 –> 00:22:39,560
You are of this world.
I’m not of this world.

380
00:22:40,680 –> 00:22:45,120
That’s John 33, isn’t it?
Unless a man be born again about

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00:22:45,120 –> 00:22:47,440
the next verse in John 8, verse
24.

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00:22:47,720 –> 00:22:50,880
Therefore I said to you, you
will die in your sins.

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00:22:51,600 –> 00:22:55,600
For if you do not believe that I
am he, you will die in your

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00:22:55,600 –> 00:22:57,680
sins.
What’s John 316?

385
00:22:57,680 –> 00:22:59,120
Isn’t it?
For God so loved the world that

386
00:22:59,120 –> 00:23:02,000
he gave his only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in him

387
00:23:02,000 –> 00:23:04,280
should not perish but have
everlasting life?

388
00:23:05,560 –> 00:23:08,720
A couple verses down, John 828.
Then Jesus said to them, When

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00:23:08,720 –> 00:23:11,960
you lift up the Son of Man, then
you will know that I am he, and

390
00:23:11,960 –> 00:23:15,600
that I do nothing of myself.
But as my father taught me, I

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00:23:15,600 –> 00:23:19,480
speak these things.
Again, that’s John 314.

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00:23:19,720 –> 00:23:23,120
And as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, Even

393
00:23:23,120 –> 00:23:26,120
so must the Son of Man be lifted
up, that whoever believes in him

394
00:23:26,640 –> 00:23:29,520
should not perish but have
everlasting life.

395
00:23:30,440 –> 00:23:34,280
Nicodemus could not escape the
message of our Lord Jesus

396
00:23:34,280 –> 00:23:36,280
Christ.
The voice continued to speak to

397
00:23:36,280 –> 00:23:41,400
him, but how would he respond to
the voice of our Lord Jesus

398
00:23:41,400 –> 00:23:44,560
Christ?
And how do we respond to the

399
00:23:44,560 –> 00:23:49,240
voice of our Lord Jesus Christ?
A few chapters later, in John

400
00:23:49,240 –> 00:23:53,640
chapter 12, six months passed by
and we’re in the last week of

401
00:23:53,640 –> 00:23:57,640
our Lord’s life.
If you recall John chapter 12,

402
00:23:57,640 –> 00:24:01,360
we see the triumphant entry of
our Lord Jesus into Jerusalem.

403
00:24:02,320 –> 00:24:06,200
In verses 31 through 36, Jesus
again explains how he would be

404
00:24:06,200 –> 00:24:08,600
lifted up.
In verse 42.

405
00:24:08,600 –> 00:24:11,880
We’re told that the people
feared because the Pharisees

406
00:24:11,880 –> 00:24:15,000
would disfellowship anyone who
who confessed in the Lord Jesus.

407
00:24:15,000 –> 00:24:18,200
And so you can see this barrier
that the Pharisees would have

408
00:24:18,200 –> 00:24:21,720
set up for any sort of
conversion to the Lord Jesus.

409
00:24:22,320 –> 00:24:25,720
We’re told that they loved the
praise more than the ways of

410
00:24:25,720 –> 00:24:30,920
God.
In verses 44 through 46 I

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00:24:30,920 –> 00:24:33,120
believe that Nicodemus would
have heard these words.

412
00:24:33,760 –> 00:24:38,960
So in John chapter 12, verses 44
through 46 says Jesus cried out

413
00:24:38,960 –> 00:24:44,120
and said He who believes in me
believes not in him in me, but

414
00:24:44,120 –> 00:24:47,680
in him who sent me.
And he who sees me sees him who

415
00:24:47,680 –> 00:24:50,680
sent me.
I have come as a light into the

416
00:24:50,680 –> 00:24:54,800
world that whoever believes in
me should not abide in darkness.

417
00:24:55,880 –> 00:25:00,440
And you can imagine the gaze of
our Lord looking at Nicodemus as

418
00:25:00,440 –> 00:25:04,760
he would have said these things.
Here was the disciple who dwelt

419
00:25:04,800 –> 00:25:09,600
in the shadows, and again he was
getting exposed by the Lord

420
00:25:09,600 –> 00:25:13,240
Jesus Christ.
Not long before that we have the

421
00:25:13,240 –> 00:25:16,480
famous chapter of the woes of
the scribes, Pharisees and

422
00:25:16,480 –> 00:25:18,480
hypocrites in Matthew chapter
23.

423
00:25:18,880 –> 00:25:21,360
And again, you think about
Nicodemus as he would have heard

424
00:25:21,360 –> 00:25:24,600
these things, things like woe to
those who love to be called

425
00:25:25,200 –> 00:25:29,120
Rabbi Teacher.
Nicodemus, the teacher of

426
00:25:29,120 –> 00:25:32,040
Israel.
They shut up the Kingdom of

427
00:25:32,040 –> 00:25:34,880
heaven against men.
And they did that by casting

428
00:25:34,880 –> 00:25:39,760
them out of the synagogue.
And so Nicodemus, I believe,

429
00:25:39,760 –> 00:25:42,000
would have followed the Lord
Jesus to his trial.

430
00:25:42,200 –> 00:25:45,360
He would have witnessed the
events of the unlawful deeds

431
00:25:45,360 –> 00:25:49,440
against our Lord.
But here was the dilemma for

432
00:25:49,440 –> 00:25:53,160
Nicodemus and for us.
Let’s start over to Matthew

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00:25:53,160 –> 00:26:00,640
chapter 10.
Matthew chapter 10 and we’ll

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00:26:00,640 –> 00:26:06,560
read verses 34 through 39.
Jesus has these words for us.

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00:26:09,000 –> 00:26:11,040
Matthew 10, starting at verse
34.

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00:26:13,200 –> 00:26:15,480
Do not think that I came to
bring peace on earth.

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00:26:16,000 –> 00:26:18,040
Do not come to bring peace, but
a sword.

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00:26:18,800 –> 00:26:21,680
For I’ve come to set a man
against his father, a daughter

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00:26:21,840 –> 00:26:24,680
against her mother, and a
daughter-in-law against her

440
00:26:24,680 –> 00:26:26,680
mother-in-law.
And a man’s enemies will be

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00:26:26,680 –> 00:26:29,960
those of his own household.
He who loves father or mother

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00:26:29,960 –> 00:26:31,760
more than me, it’s not worthy of
me.

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00:26:31,760 –> 00:26:34,120
And he who loves son or daughter
more than me is not worthy of

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00:26:34,120 –> 00:26:36,800
me.
And he who does not take his

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00:26:36,800 –> 00:26:40,320
cross and follow after me is not
worthy of me.

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00:26:41,120 –> 00:26:45,120
He who finds his life will lose
it, and he who loses his life

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00:26:45,120 –> 00:26:50,720
for my sake will find it.
So what would Nicodemus decide

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00:26:50,720 –> 00:26:53,480
to do?
And what do we decide to do?

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00:26:54,440 –> 00:26:57,400
Let’s turn over to our final
reference in John Chapter 19.

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00:27:01,200 –> 00:27:03,840
We read this chapter this
morning so we’ll just read a few

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00:27:03,840 –> 00:27:10,640
more verses again.
And in John 19 verse 33 we see

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00:27:10,640 –> 00:27:13,960
our Lord hanging on the cross
and it says But when they came

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00:27:13,960 –> 00:27:18,040
to Jesus and saw that he was
already dead, it did not break

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00:27:18,040 –> 00:27:20,760
his legs.
Drop down to verse 38.

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00:27:20,960 –> 00:27:25,400
After this Joseph of Arimathea,
being a disciple of Jesus but

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00:27:25,400 –> 00:27:29,160
secretly for fear of the Jews,
asked Pilate that he might take

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00:27:29,160 –> 00:27:32,440
away the body of Jesus, and
Pilate gave him permission.

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00:27:32,440 –> 00:27:34,200
So he came and took the body of
Jesus.

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00:27:34,600 –> 00:27:39,640
And Nicodemus, who at first came
to Jesus by night, also came

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00:27:40,720 –> 00:27:44,640
bringing a mixture of myrrh and
aloes, about £100.

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00:27:45,480 –> 00:27:48,440
Then they took the body of Jesus
and bound it in strips of linen

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00:27:48,520 –> 00:27:51,280
spices as the custom of the Jews
is to bury.

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00:27:52,120 –> 00:27:54,440
Now on the place where he was
crucified there was a garden and

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00:27:54,480 –> 00:27:57,360
in the garden a new tomb in
which no one had been laid.

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00:27:57,760 –> 00:28:01,440
So there they laid Jesus.
Because of the Jews, preparation

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00:28:01,440 –> 00:28:07,880
day for the tomb was nearby.
In Luke 23 verse 44 we learn

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00:28:08,360 –> 00:28:11,520
that Jesus took his last breath
just after the 9th hour.

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00:28:12,640 –> 00:28:15,520
I know that darkness fell on the
face of the earth from the 6th

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00:28:15,520 –> 00:28:19,160
hour to the 9th hour.
The 9th hour was 3:00 PM

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00:28:19,160 –> 00:28:23,680
according to the Jewish time.
And so as the darkness turned

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00:28:23,680 –> 00:28:27,520
into the light, our Lord hung
there dead on the cross.

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00:28:28,400 –> 00:28:31,320
And out of that darkness comes
Nicodemus.

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00:28:32,480 –> 00:28:35,680
As Nicodemus would have saw our
Lord lifted up, as he would have

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00:28:35,680 –> 00:28:38,800
heard at least three times from
our Our Lord.

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00:28:39,520 –> 00:28:43,560
He believes no longer worried
about what this life had to

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00:28:43,560 –> 00:28:46,080
offer.
He realized what He needed to

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00:28:46,080 –> 00:28:49,880
do, where his deeds needed to be
manifested in the light.

478
00:28:50,600 –> 00:28:56,240
And so here he was confessing
that this was the Messiah, who

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00:28:56,240 –> 00:29:00,760
is now a confident disciple of
Light, forsaking all and

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00:29:00,760 –> 00:29:04,160
becoming a founding member of
the 1st century collision.

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00:29:04,600 –> 00:29:06,280
And what does Nicodemus bring
with him?

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00:29:06,960 –> 00:29:09,560
Well, he brings Myr and Aloes
weighing about £100.

483
00:29:10,160 –> 00:29:13,000
There was no way that this would
be something that would be

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00:29:13,000 –> 00:29:14,720
hidden.
You think about all of the

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00:29:14,720 –> 00:29:17,400
coordination and efforts that it
would have taken to bring this

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00:29:17,400 –> 00:29:21,400
amount of Myr and Aloes.
Now you might think that he

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00:29:21,400 –> 00:29:24,600
brought this for his burial, or
custom is that these types of

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00:29:24,600 –> 00:29:27,920
things would not be used for the
burial of someone who had died.

489
00:29:28,440 –> 00:29:32,680
And so Nicodemus was fully
convinced that just like Jesus

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00:29:33,000 –> 00:29:35,080
prophesied he’d be risen from
the dead.

491
00:29:35,080 –> 00:29:38,720
He would go through a rebirth, A
resurrection, putting away the

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00:29:38,720 –> 00:29:41,640
old things of this life, and
instead resurrect being

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00:29:41,640 –> 00:29:46,480
resurrected into a new man to
life eternal now sitting at the

494
00:29:46,480 –> 00:29:51,280
right hand of his father.
And so as Nicodemus would have

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00:29:51,280 –> 00:29:54,640
lifted our Lord down from the
cross, think about the

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00:29:54,640 –> 00:29:57,080
implication that that would have
meant for him touching a dead

497
00:29:57,080 –> 00:30:00,440
body right on the eve ease of
the Passover.

498
00:30:01,520 –> 00:30:03,320
He would have been unclean under
the law.

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00:30:03,440 –> 00:30:06,120
He would have missed out on the
opportunity to partake in the

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00:30:06,120 –> 00:30:09,320
Passover feast with his fellow
brothers and sisters.

501
00:30:10,040 –> 00:30:12,680
Think about how important that
would have been for a Pharisee.

502
00:30:14,120 –> 00:30:17,360
But he now had a greater
understanding, realizing that

503
00:30:17,360 –> 00:30:19,520
salvation was outside of the
law.

504
00:30:19,840 –> 00:30:21,960
And here lay the true Passover
lamb.

505
00:30:22,760 –> 00:30:27,480
At last he comes out of the
darkness into the broad light of

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00:30:27,480 –> 00:30:31,840
day.
And so we asked the question

507
00:30:31,840 –> 00:30:35,520
then, where are we at in our
journey to forsake all that this

508
00:30:35,520 –> 00:30:39,160
life has to offer and come into
the broad light of day?

509
00:30:40,680 –> 00:30:43,640
But we’re here this morning to
remember our Lord Jesus Christ

510
00:30:44,440 –> 00:30:47,840
and to think about what He’s
done for us, the opportunity of

511
00:30:47,840 –> 00:30:51,760
salvation that’s been offered to
us and how he continues to speak

512
00:30:51,760 –> 00:30:54,160
to each of us as we read from
the Scripture.

513
00:30:54,160 –> 00:30:58,080
As we develop our relationship
through prayer, are we listening

514
00:30:58,280 –> 00:31:00,680
to those things in our lives?
Are we making changes?

515
00:31:00,680 –> 00:31:04,560
Are we making difficult
decisions to forsake ourselves

516
00:31:05,000 –> 00:31:10,480
and to instead embrace our Lord?
Do we come here and look at our

517
00:31:10,480 –> 00:31:13,400
Lord Jesus through bread and
wine, with a true appreciation

518
00:31:14,000 –> 00:31:17,200
for the salvation, for the grace
for this gift that’s been given

519
00:31:17,200 –> 00:31:19,720
to us?
And do we stand in the broad

520
00:31:19,720 –> 00:31:23,080
daylight professing our full
conviction of this hope?

521
00:31:24,280 –> 00:31:25,920
Because Nicodemus did, didn’t
he?

522
00:31:26,320 –> 00:31:29,800
And so must each of us as we
wait for our Lord to return.

523
00:31:43,440 –> 00:31:45,560
Thank you for listening to the
good ’cause Adelphian Talks

524
00:31:45,560 –> 00:31:48,160
Podcast.
We hope this talk helped you in

525
00:31:48,160 –> 00:31:49,680
your walk and brightened your
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526
00:31:50,840 –> 00:31:52,880
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541
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God bless and talk to you next

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00:32:38,280 –> 00:32:38,480
week.