One More Soul
John 3:1-15
Bishop Richard D. Snyder

John makes it crystal clear why he wrote the gospel. "These" (i.e. miraculous signs) "are written so that you may believe (i.e. continue to believe) that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life" (John 20:21).

Jesus makes it crystal clear why He came, "I came to seek and to save the lost."

The Father made it crystal clear that He has deep interest in lost people: "… heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven't strayed away" (Luke 15:7).

The first command of Jesus was, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."

His last command was, "you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit and will be my witnesses… ."

God focused all of heaven's energies on the salvation of One More Soul. In the garden of Eden, when God asked Eve "How could you do such a thing?" and Eve answered, "The serpent tricked me," God did not turn first to Adam and Eve. They had disobeyed God's only negative command, thus bringing into the human family the awful principle of sin. They — and we — would severely suffer for their sin.

BUT ...

God turned first to the serpent — the devil — and said: "Because you have done this you will be punished. You will be singled out from all the domestic and wild animals of the whole earth to be cursed. You will grovel in the dust as long as you live, crawling along on your belly. From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He (i.e. Jesus) will crush your head, and you will strike his heel" (Genesis 3:14-15).

This reference to history's pivotal battle of submission and Jesus' victory on the cross was highlighted years later when Israel was wandering in the desert. "But the people grew impatient along the way, and they began to murmur against God and Moses. ... So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among them, and many of them were bitten and died.
Then the people came to Moses and cried out 'We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away these snakes.' So Moses (even though spoken against) prayed for the people. Then the Lord told him. 'Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to the top of a pole. Those who are bitten will live if they simply look at it" (Numbers 21:4-8).

We can jump ahead many more years. The world was a mess; God's people had become religious bigots. But God had not quit.

As Jesus is digging into Nicodemus' heart, He tells him, "For only I, the Son of Man, have come to earth and will return to heaven again. And
as Moses lifted up the snake on a pole in the wilderness, so I, the Son of Man, must be lifted up on a pole, so that anyone who believes in me will have eternal life" (John 3:13-15).

To the Romans Paul wrote, "When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners" (Romans 5:6).

"God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us" (Romans 3:25 NLT).

I think about Nicodemus quite a lot.

As an elder in the church; a bishop; a member of the Board of Administration and General Conference; a reader and student of the Scriptures; a hard worker ... I fall way short of Nicodemus.

• Nic was a Pharisee. No group was more revered and respected among the people.
• Nic was a member of the Sanhedrin — a council of 70 men who ran the religious issues of the nation.
• Nic had authority over every Jew anywhere in the world.
• Nic was a religious fanatic. As one of 6,000 Pharisees, he had vowed to devote every moment of his entire life to please God by obeying His law.
• Nic's view of the ten commandments impacted his every decision, his every act. For example, the Mishnah, the book which defined the law, had 24 chapters about not working on the Sabbath. Then there was a commentary on the Mishnah called the Talmud. It devotes 156 pages to Sabbath-day observance alone.

Like Saul of Tarsus, Nicodemus had credentials and power and a following and prestige and comfort and students and friends and a future.

But he didn't have life, and he knew it.

So, out of fear or worry or what we in our politically correct culture, might call "protocol" or "tact," Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. Obviously, he didn't want to be seen. He had a name to protect — a reputation to keep. He didn't want to embarrass the Sanhedrin. He didn't want to be regarded as a wierdo in the neighborhood. He didn't want it thought that the way he had been taught — the way he had lived— fell short of the life, joy and peace that he knew he was missing.

Nic — like me, like you — hungered for love and — as we do so often — had looked in all the wrong places.

I never miss church; I pay my tithe; I give offerings; I'm on the music team; I'm a pastor; I'm in a small group; I'm a superintendent; I'm on the board; I'm a bishop; I read my Bible; I say my prayers; I pay my taxes; I ...

"Would somebody please help me?"

"Teacher," declared Nicodemus, "we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are proof enough that God is with you" (John 3:2).

There is no question that Jesus was and is a teacher. In fact, all truth is God's truth, and the Holy Spirit — whom Jesus sent — teaches us all things and guides us into all truth.

There is no question about Jesus and miraculous signs. John closed his gospel by writing, "I suppose that if all the other things Jesus did were written down, the whole world could not contain the books" (John 21:25).

If that was true at the close of Jesus' three years of miraculous signs, it is abundantly true today as His kingdom conquers the world — one soul at a time.

But Jesus cuts through all of the references to his teaching; to his being sent by God; to his miraculous signs ... to the fact that God was with him.

He got straight to purpose; He stayed on message: "I assure you (Nicodemus) unless you are born again, you can never see the kingdom of God."

The truth is, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. "I baptize you with water,: declared John the Baptist "but someone is coming soon….He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Luke 3:16).

Jesus had a leader here, a scholar here, an influencer here.

What an opportunity to discuss theology, or politics, or the structure of the temple, or the latest agenda of the Sanhedrin, or the score of yesterday's game, or to the real essence of life-today's weather.

But Jesus was passionate for One More Soul.

Francis Asbury, first Methodist bishop in the United States wrote, "As I am not a man of the world, the most of the conversation about it is irksome to me."

After being in the home of physician Dr. Edward Tiffin — first governor of Ohio — Asbury wrote,"O what a charming view presents itself from Doctor Tiffin's house! But these long talks about land and politics suit me not; I take little interest in either subject: O Lord, give me souls, and keep me holy."

As was true of every conversation Jesus ever had-or has-with any person, the soul of that person was-and is-His crucial and central consideration.

Dr. David McKenna said, "It is no accident of history that Free Methodism lost the energy of aggressive evangelism in the same decade that it reached the western shores of the North American continent. With the frontier closed, it turned back upon itself."

This is why I think about Nicodemus a lot. I was born into the Free Methodist Church — this church that had turned back upon itself.

For as long as I can remember, hunger for us to be a mighty movement of God has haunted my soul — for us to quit being afraid of the Holy Spirit; for us to stop looking with skepticism on the stories of miracles, doubting in our hearts that God does much of that sort of thing any more.

Dr. David McKenna pointed out the numerous plans and efforts put forth by the Free Methodist Church, concluding, "each of the initiatives has failed … (in) leading to the spiritual vitality and numerical growth for which we all pray."

Today, we are on the threshold of another new initiative — ONE MORE SOUL. It was not born in a vacuum. It was born out of the heart of the BOA at a time in our history when Free Methodist World Missions is booming and when the hunger for us to be a healthy, biblical community of holy people who are multiplying disciples, leaders, groups and churches is high.

But, I want to say that the same devil that bound Nicodemus is here to bind us.

Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke whose congregations sometimes exceed 1.5 million people, wrote: "The church is to concern itself with one aim-the war with Satan and the campaign for souls. ... The church should plan to neglect anything that interferes with going."
(p. 22, Evangelism by Fire)

When we realize that 70 percent of our churches in the United States are either stagnant or in decline; when we realize that our nation is in deep spiritual hunger; when we realize that the churches who have put all their eggs in the basket of making disciples of Jesus Christ are growing and thriving, we must also realize that our stagnant and declining churches are turned in on themselves and that their neglect is the neglect of obedience to the Lord who said, "Go and make disciples. …"

It can become so easy to live in disobedience to the command of Jesus. So easy that over time we hardly even give it a thought. When we are forced to give it a thought, we find incredibly creative ways to explain why we are not going and making disciples.

We can get our theology right. We can make sure our Book of Discipline is correct. We can work hard to practice good process. We can make sure our communications are spiffy. We can concentrate on getting the right structures. We can improve our music, our style, our schedule and our management. We can do all this and more and — like Nicodemus — never be born again; never be baptized with the Holy Spirit; never have the fire which accompanies that Holy Spirit baptism, and, therefore, never witness to One More Soul; Never weep over our neighbors whose destiny without Jesus is eternal weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Look at them. Think of them.
Paul and Carol
Joan and Steve
Dennis and Linda
Rob and Brittany
John and Alysa
Doug and Chris
Nic
Mark
Ken
Michelle
Tim

Neighbors, friends, family associates.

We know them.
They know us.

But do they know Jesus?
Do they have a hope and a future?

Nicodemus had it all, but he had nothing. Nicodemus was in the group, but he was not in Christ. Nicodemus had religion coming out his ears, but no life.

Without the Lord Jesus, we're finished. Without the Holy Spirit, we're fake. Without the fire of God, we're feeble.

If the church neglects Jesus' command to, "Go and make disciples of every nation," everything else it does is irrelevant.

Our founder, B.T. Roberts, was right: "He is a successful minister," (and we are all ministers) "who is successful in saving souls. If he fails in this — no matter in what else he may succeed — he fails in the one important thing." Further, he wrote, "In the work of the Lord, success never comes by chance … he who wins souls labors for souls."

And finally, a reflection from John Wesley: "What marvel the devil does not love field preaching! Neither do I: I love a commodious room, a soft cushion, handsome pulpit. But where is my zeal if I do not trample all these under foot in order to save one more soul" (p. 357, America's Bishop).