Are you saved? – Part 3

Text: John 3:1-36
Key Verse: John 3:4, “Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (NKJV)

Nicodemus said to Jesus, how could a man be born again, when he is old. I am an old man. Nicodemus did not understand at all the concept of new birth, though he was a religious leader. It is unfortunate the man did not understand. It is unfortunate that we have people in the church, today, who do not understand what it means to be born again. But, something happens that make people not to understand the Word of God, when it is being preached. It is the devil that stops people from getting understanding and so he blocks people’s minds, so that they are unable to understand the Word of God, when it is being preached (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

You remember the parable of the Sower? As the Word was going forth, the devil was plucking It away, so that the Word would not even land in the people’s hearts and minds. Thus, the devil removed the Word completely (Mathew 13). Some of those that succeeded in landing, he makes them not to grow, he makes them not to sprout, and if they don’t, how can they bear fruit? They cannot bear fruit and the pastor is there shouting, shouting and sweating, but somebody is sitting down there and the devil is robbing him of all the Word. If the devil comes to church, one of the things he comes to do there is to stop us from hearing the Word. So, he sends some people to sleep and he brings distraction to some other and they are distracted. He plants some thoughts into the hearts of people and they are sitting in church and they are thinking about their business; they are thinking about their husbands, they are sitting in church and the pastor is preaching and they are thinking about their money. The pastor is busy preaching and they are thinking about the coming wedding and the pastor is busy preaching, but they are not benefitting anything. It is the devil’s work. He is an expert at stopping people from concentrating on God’s Word.

Why does the devil do all of these, while the Word of God is going on? Because the flesh profits nothing, it is the Spirit that gives life. Jesus said in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” Nothing else matters, it is only the Word of God, and when the devil robs us of the privilege of listening to that Word and understanding what God is saying, then we have been robbed of the most important thing that God wanted us to receive. So, you have to resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7).

So here is Nicodemus asking a question. He did not understand the new birth and Jesus said to him, ‘you will be born of water and of the spirit; otherwise you will not see the kingdom’ (John 3:5). You see the Kingdom and then you have a desire, you have a longing, you have a thirst, you desire to enter, you long to enter, you pursue it so that you will enter and then you can go in and enter into the Kingdom. When you enter into the Kingdom, God Has become the King of your life.

Today’s Nugget: It is the Spirit that gives life
Prayer: Lord Jesus, come into my life
Prayer lines: 08054477940.
E-mail: servantofgod111@yahoo.com
Rev. Pastor Ejikeme Ejim, General Superintendent, Assemblies of God Nigeria