- September 9, 2020
To all the saints of Grace Baptist Church of Dallas, Oregon
Greetings to you in the safe and sure name of Jesus our Lord!
Currently we are in a very strange weather pattern, which began last Monday. There was tremendous wind; but with that wind also came dust, soot, smoke, and a lot of downed leaves and branches. I don’t think that I have ever experienced anything like it? There are fires raging all around the valley. When I was at Safeway the other day I overheard a lady saying that it “felt like we were on Mars.” The sky was red and brown and the sun barely shone through the haze. Others suggested it reminded them of the “End times” that the Bible speaks about. Now you couple this with the coronavirus pandemic and we find ourselves in a difficult position to say the least. Our church has one family that came and camped out at the church due to being evacuated. We should say a prayer for the Owings family who are looking at substantial loss. This is LaVoy’s daughter and son-in-law, and two of his grandkids. We sometimes wonder, “What is up with all of this?” But as we wonder—let’s remind ourselves that God is inviting us to come to Him. He is here for us, and longs for us. He is an ever-present help in a time of trouble. James had a good reminder for us last week when he wrote, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom,” James 1:13. And in James 1:5 we are told that if we lack wisdom… we could ask God for it; and that He is a generous giver.
Since we have been dealing with wind, I want to focus on Jesus’ teaching about the wind. He uses wind as an illustration of the Holy Spirit. It comes in the context of Jesus teaching Nicodemus one evening. This is a familiar story to us.
“1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:1-8 (NIV2011)
So Nicodemus was a Pharisee. Some would say that they were the best of the best folks in the nation. They were conservative, law-abiding, and very religious. They did their very best to do everything the law said. Nicodemus was a member of the Jewish ruling council, which was called the Sanhedrin. This was a group of 71 elders, appointed to sit as a tribunal in the ancient land of Israel. Not all the members of the Sanhedrin were Pharisees, there were Sadducees as well. The Sadducees did not hold to the entire Old Testament and were not nearly as legalistic in their observation of the law. It was kind of like having republicans and democrats today—with left and right viewpoints. Not so much has changed?
It is noted that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. Many wonder why? This wasn’t the usual time to go visiting people. So it is suggested that he came at night because of fear. The cover of darkness could help conceal the visit. It speaks to the political tension of the day. Visiting Jesus and asking Him legitimate questions of Him was not politically correct. It was just easier to avoid them altogether. But Nicodemus knew something that he had to get straightened out. Verse 2 gives us a clue: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” You see, Nicodemus had this conviction inside that said, “Jesus is no ordinary man!” He had to get clarification on this. He doesn’t even get to ask Jesus a question, because Jesus gets right to the heart of his condition. Jesus knows what is in the heart of every man, woman, and child. We can’t conceal anything from Him. And I’m so glad that we can’t. Why? Because it lifts the lid off our foolish self-denial. We might as well be totally honest with God in everything—because there is no fooling Him, or hiding from Him.
Listen again to Jesus’ answer in verse 3: “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” Jesus knew that Nicodemus, for all of his knowledge, status and good works was lost, and under God’s condemnation. Jesus’ answer tells us that Nicodemus was looking for assurance on how to enter the kingdom of God. He was trying to earn his way into the kingdom, and no doubt he put additional reliance on the fact that he was of Jewish descent. Jesus is basically saying to him, “Nicodemus, if you are relying on your heredity, you are actually going to need a new one. You must be born again.”
Now the fact that Nicodemus had no clue as to what Jesus was talking about tells us that he was lost, blind, and still dead in his sins. He is thinking that salvation is something that he had to accomplish! It was just going to be harder than he could imagine. I mean, “How does a guy enter his mother’s womb to be reborn?” If this was possible, I believe that Nicodemus was willing to try. But it is not true. In the flesh this seems so foolish, so Jesus corrects him in verse 5.
In other words, Jesus tells Nicodemus that what he was thinking is impossible, and it’s not what Jesus was trying to teach him. There is something else that Nicodemus hasn’t thought of yet. Nicodemus would have to be born of the Spirit. Now, to be sure, there were plenty of references to the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. Nicodemus surely was aware of this. No doubt he had heard of John the Baptist teaching about the One coming after him who would baptize with the Spirit. Nicodemus should have connected the dots on this teaching, but he didn’t. A person needs to be born of water and the Spirit. In this scenario, I believe that the water here refers to repentance ministry of John the Baptist. In other words a person needs to repent, just the way Jesus had called people to repent when He declared, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near,” Matthew 4:17. This is a plea for people to recognize who they are before an almighty God, see their need for forgiveness, and trust in God’s provision. This repentance is then accompanied by the Spirit to bring about the new birth. Thus, a person is born of both water and the Spirit.
Jesus clarifies this some more in verse 6 as he contrasts the difference between one kind of life and the other. He says, flesh gives birth to flesh; hence flesh cannot give birth to spirit. It requires the Spirit to give birth to spirit. In other words this is something that falls in God’s domain. Humans can’t get there on their own efforts.
Then Jesus chides Nicodemus a bit when He says, “You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’” As good a scholar as Nicodemus was, he should have been on this. I think Jesus was surprised at Nicodemus that he didn’t comprehend what He was teaching. I think a lot of teachers are surprised by their students this way. Often I think to myself, “I thought I was pretty clear about this?” only later to find out that I left someone still confused. Now I’m wondering if I do that every week? People tell me, “That was a fine message, Pastor.” But maybe they are being polite. If this happened to Jesus, it surely happens to me?
But now in verse 8, Jesus clarifies His teaching some more. He is trying to help Nicodemus grasp this spiritual reality of new birth. In other words, this new birth is tied to the work of the Spirit. And Jesus illustrates the work of the Spirit with the work of the wind. Listen to what He says again. “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” So what is Jesus teaching here?
Well for one, in the Greek we see a word play here. The word for spirit and wind are one and the same. It is the word “pneuma.” Now just like the wind, the Spirit is invisible and powerful. Just like the wind, you can’t control the wind. It is sovereign as it determines its own course of action. So when people are born again, it is due to this sovereign and invisible power. And just like the wind, (and we have had lots of wind this week) you can experience its effects. You can hear the sound of the wind, you can see how the leaves blow, you can feel its cooling effects. When a person is truly born again, there is evidence that the Spirit has touched that life. And, Nicodemus, you can’t make yourself be saved, or force anyone else to get saved either. Although, I have to say that when people pray—the Spirit listens, and the Father’s desire is that people would come to faith in Him. The Spirit is found more among a praying group of people.
Take for example the prayer meeting in Acts chapter 2, verses 1-4. “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” This is a perfect example of the work of the Spirit on Pentecost. A great prayer meeting was taking place. And then the Spirit came upon them suddenly like a violent wind. The Spirit is sovereign and powerful—and the effects of that work is still being seen today. In it, the church was born, and people were made to drink of the Spirit, and He satisfied their thirst. Their lives were changed forever and they were “born again.”
Moving forward, the early church was filled with the Spirit, and walked in the Spirit. It is the Spirit that accomplishes the great works of God. The Christian life is meant to be lived in the Spirit, full of life, freedom, power and fruit. When a believer thinks that s/he can live for God on their own fleshly power—they are thinking the same way Nicodemus was before he was born again. Let’s not make that mistake. Rather, as the people of God, let us keep in step with the Spirit of God; calling upon Him to fill us anew and do His great work in us… and then through us. Our lives will be changed dramatically; much like the wind this week has changed our environment.
“Sweet, Sweet Spirit,” by Doris Akers
There’s a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place, And I know that it’s the Spirit of the Lord;
There are sweet expressions on each face, And I know they feel the presence of the Lord.
Sweet Holy Spirit, Sweet heavenly Dove, Stay right here with us, Filling us with Your love.
And for these blessings We lift our hearts in praise;
Without a doubt we’ll know that we have been revived, When we shall leave this place.
My prayer is that we will see a revival in the coming days…
Benediction:
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all,” 2 Corinthians 13:14 (NIV2011).
Pastor Russ Hilsinger
Grace Baptist Church of Dallas, OR
P.S. Pam and I will be leaving for vacation this Sunday the 13th. We will be gone for a week to 10 days to Montana, visiting Dennis and Pam Fischer. I will write you again after I return. In the meantime, may the Lord bless you richly.