John3:1-15

Order of Service

• Hymn — When Morning Gilds the Skies
• Call to Worship — Psalm 34:1-3
• Hymn — When Morning Gilds the Skies (continued)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Westminster Larger Catechism Q. 59
• Admission of Communicant Member — Gabriella Wadley
• Prayer
• Hymn — Jesus Shall Reign
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Dedication
• Hymn — Breathe on Me, Breath of God
• Sermon
• Prayer
• Hymn — Lift High the Cross
• Benediction

---

Sermon Title: Supernatural Sight, Knowledge, and Content in the New Birth

Scripture: John 3:1-15

I. Supernatural Eyes

A. The crowds at Jerusalem saw Jesus's signs and believed superficially, but Jesus did not entrust himself to them because he knew what was in man (John 2:23-24)

B. Nicodemus represents those who see Jesus's signs and respect him as a teacher sent from God, but have not yet seen the kingdom of God in Christ (John 3:2-3)

1. Nicodemus was likely a member of the Sanhedrin — called "the teacher of Israel" by Jesus (John 3:10)
2. Physical eyes can produce great respect for Jesus but cannot bring saving recognition of who he truly is

C. Only a supernatural, Spirit-wrought new birth enables a person to see the kingdom of God (John 3:3)

1. The Greek of "born again" can equally be rendered "born from above," emphasizing the heavenly origin of this birth
2. The disciples — mere fishermen, not experts — were granted by the Father through the Spirit to see Christ's glory at Cana (John 2:11)
3. Peter's confession illustrates the same truth: "flesh and blood has not revealed this to you… but my Father in heaven" (Matthew 16:17)

D. The wind analogy: the Spirit's work is sovereign and mysterious, known by its effects, not controlled or predicted by man (John 3:8)

1. Leon Morris: the natural man may have contact with the spiritual man but knows neither the origin of the life in him nor his final destiny
2. 1 Corinthians 2:14 — the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; they are folly to him
3. Salvation is not synergistic but monergistic — entirely God's sovereign work from beginning to end

II. Supernatural Knowledge

A. The exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus is fundamentally about understanding the Old Testament scriptures (John 3:5-10)

1. Jesus is astonished that the teacher of Israel cannot grasp what he is saying
2. "Born of water and the Spirit" should be read as a unified concept, not two separate things

B. Nicodemus as an Old Testament expert should have recognized the Spirit-and-water theme running through the prophets

1. Joel 2:28 — God will pour out his Spirit on all flesh
2. Isaiah 32:15 — until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high
3. Isaiah 44:3 — I will pour water on the thirsty land and my Spirit on your offspring
4. Ezekiel 36:25-27 — I will sprinkle clean water on you… give you a new heart… put my Spirit within you (likely the passage Jesus most expected Nicodemus to connect)

C. The serpent in the wilderness foreshadows Christ lifted up on the cross (Numbers 21; John 3:14)

1. Those bitten by serpents were saved by looking at the bronze serpent on the pole
2. Jesus draws a direct parallel to his own being lifted up on the cross

D. The distinction between inspiration and illumination is key

1. Inspiration: the Spirit carried along the biblical writers to produce God's authoritative, closed Canon (2 Peter 1:21)
2. Illumination: the Spirit enables believers today to rightly grasp and apply the inspired scriptures
3. John Owen on John Bunyan: learning without the Spirit's illumination cannot grip hearts; the Spirit can work through the uneducated as powerfully as through the most learned

III. Supernatural Content

A. Jesus alone brings heavenly truth because he alone descended from heaven (John 3:13)

1. If you want to know about a place, ask someone who comes from there
2. If you want the Spirit of God, you must go to Jesus

B. The Spirit's work is inseparably tied to Christ lifted up on the cross (John 3:14-15)

1. In John's Gospel, "lifted up" consistently refers to Christ's crucifixion
2. Even the true disciples showed much ignorance during Jesus's ministry; the full furtherance of the Spirit's illumination came through beholding the cross
3. Christ's descent into death and judgment, followed by resurrection and ascension, is the primary means by which the Spirit illumines dead hearts to who Christ is

C. The pouring out of the Spirit flows from the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ

1. George Whitfield on Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress: "ministers never write or preach so well as when under the cross; the Spirit of Christ and of glory then rests upon them"
2. Those who thirst for more of the Spirit must sit often at the cross of Calvary and take up their own cross

D. Practical exhortations

1. Pray continually for the Spirit to give and renew the eyes of faith
2. Never stop sitting at the foot of the cross
3. If you have not yet bowed the knee to Christ, pray this day for the Spirit's illumination