There are a ton of lessons to learn from today's text. John is my favorite book of the Bible (I actually memorized John 3 when I was in elementary school), so of course I couldn't pick just one to highlight. I'm just going to go through it from the beginning. This might be a little long, but hang with me... :)
I was flipping through my old sermon notebooks and found notes from a sermon that Bro. Rick preached in May 2008 titled "When Good Is Not Good Enough" about Nicodemus.
1. Nicodemus was a good man: He was a Pharisee and a leader among the Jews.
2. Nicodemus believed that Jesus was a good man: He had heard Jesus preach and had seen the miracles that Jesus had done. And, he was moved to find out more, which is why he came to see Jesus.
3. Nicodemus was not good enough: Even though he was a good man, he still had to be born of the Spirit. The great thing is that we don't have to understand all the ways of God, we just have to believe!
"For God so loved the world that he gace his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
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Less Is More
"He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3:30
I think one of the hardest things about being a Christian is that daily battle between your flesh and Spirit. We will never be perfect or sinless like Jesus was. Each day is a battle between our sinful human nature and the Holy Spirit that lives within us. And it is up to us who wins that battle.
"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Matthew 16:24
We are supposed to deny our fleshly desires and pursue Jesus. We are to chase after Him and seek Him. We are to be more like Him.
I think John the Baptist said it best: "He must increase, but I must decrease."
Less of me and more of Him is always best.
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