Just A Rendezvous....or Is It A Relationship?

JUST A RENDEZVOUS….. OR A RELATIONSHIP?

JOHN 3:1-5

PRAYER: HEAVENLY FATHER, WE PRAY THAT YOU ALLOW YOUR PRESENCE TO BE MADE MANIFEST IN THIS PLACE. LET YOUR HOLY SPIRIT FILL THIS PLACE THAT WE MAY WORSHIP YOU IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH. YOU ARE OUR STRENGTH, YOU ARE OUR WAY IN AND OUR WAY OUT. ARREST OUR MINDS, SPIRITS, THAT WE MAY FOCUS ON YOU. WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. WE WANT TO EXPERIENCE THE MIRACLE OF HOLY FELLOWSHIP. SEARCH OUR HEARTS AND SPEAK TO OUR NEEDS FILL US WITH YOUR HOLY SPIRIT UNTIL WE ARE SHAPED, MOLDED AND MADE INTO WHAT YOU WOULD HAVE US TO BE. WE COME INTO THE HOUSE OF WORSHIP EXPECTING A BLESSING FROM YOU. WE GIVE YOU THE PRAISE, HONOR AND GLORY. HIDE US IN THE BOSOM OF YOUR LOVE....AS I PREACH, FIX IT SO THEY DON’T SEE THE PREACHER, BUT THEY SEE YOUR POWER. WE THANK YOU FOR THIS DAY AS WE COME TO THE ALTAR OF YOUR LOVE AND WORSHIP YOU IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH.

NICODEMUS WAS A GREAT MAN OF THE JEWS. HE WAS SOMEONE AND SOMEBODY. THE WORD SAYS THAT HE WAS A RULER OF THE JEWS. HE WAS A PHARISEE, BUT ALSO A PHARISEE OF THE PHARISEES. HE SAT AT THE RULING COUNSEL OF THE JEWS. HE WAS ALSO A MAN OF INFLUENCE. WHEN JESUS HAD BEEN CRUCIFIED AND HIS BODY WAS BEING RETRIEVED, NICODEMUS CAME ALSO TO ANOINT THE BODY OF CHRIST. WITH EXPENSIVE SPICES. HE WAS ESTABLISHED IN THE COMETEMPORARY SOCIETY OF HIS DAY. AND YET HERE WE FIND THIS GREAT MAN OF HIS DAY IN THE CLUTCHES OF A MIDNIGHT RENDEZVOUS WITH JESUS. BECAUSE OF HIS POSITION IN SOCIETY, AND BECAUSE OF THE POOR RELATIONSHIP THAT JESUS HAD WITH ESTABLISHED RELIGION OF THAT DAY, NICODEMUS HAS MUCH TO LOOSE IF SEEN IN JESUS COMPANY. NICODEMUS WAS A PHARISEE, AND THE VERY WORD MAKES PEOPLE THINK OF MEN JESUS CALLED HYPOCRITES. HE COMPARED THEM TO WHITEWASHED TOMBS THAT SEEM CLEAN ON THE OUTSIDE, BUT ARE FILLED WITH ROTTEN BONES WITHIN. JESUS’ WORDS MADE THE PHARISEES VERY ANGRY, BECAUSE DURING NEW TESTAMENT TIMES THEY WERE MUCH RESPECTED FOR THEIR OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW. THEIR ANGER AT JESUS’ CRITICISM DROVE THEM TO PLOT WAYS TO GET RID OF HIM. THEY WANTED TO TRAP HIM SO THAT HE WOULD BE PUT TO DEATH. BUT NOT EVERYONE WHO WAS A PHARISEE WAS INVOLVED IN THE PLOT TO KILL JESUS. SOME WANTED TO LIVE UP TO THEIR NAMES, FOR THE WORD PHARISEE MEANT "ONE WHO IS SEPARATE". NICODEMUS WAS ONE SUCH HONEST PHARISEE. HE REALLY WANTED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT GOD AND HIS RATIONAL FOR GOING WAS THAT HE HAD SEEN THE MIRACLES THAT JESUS HAD DONE, AND HE BELIEVED THAT JESUS WAS SENT BY GOD. PHARISEES ONLY RECOGNIZED TWO KINDS OF RELIGIOUS LAW. THE FIRST WAS THE WRITTEN LAW, THOSE COMMANDMENTS GOD GAVE TO THE ISRAELITES THROUGH MOSES. THE SECOND WAS THE ORAL LAW. THIS HAD BEEN HANDED DOWN BY WORD OF MOUTH OR ORAL TRADITION THROUGH MANY GENERATIONS OF RABBIS. THERE WERE MANY RULES AND REGULATIONS IN THE ORAL LAW THAT COVERED ALMOST ALL THE ACTIVITIES OF THE PEOPLE. BUT THIS JESUS, WAS DIFFERENT,..HE WOULD SAY THAT HE DID NOT COME TO DESTROY THE LAW, BUT THAT THE LAW MIGHT BE FORFILLED. AND WHAT JESUS WOULD SAY TO NICODEMUS AT THAT RENDEZVOUS WOULD CHANGE HIS LIFE FOR ETERNITY. SO HE MET JESUS AT A TIME, WHEN HIS EXPOSURE WOULD BE GREATLY LESSENED. HE HAD A RENDEZVOUS WITH JESUS.

I. HE CAME BY NIGHT....NOBODY COULD SEE HIM. WHEN NO ONE ELSE WOULD BE AROUND. LIKE SOME FOLKS IN OUR DAY,..HE WANTED THE REWARDS OF BEING WITH JESUS, BUT DIDN’T WANT TO RUN THE RISK OF BEING ASSOCIATED IN PUBLIC WITH JESUS. YOU CAN BE FOR SOMEBODY, AND NOT WITH THEM! AND COUNTERDISTINCTIVELY, YOU CAN BE WITH SOMEBODY, AND NOT REALLY FOR THEM! BUT HE WANTED TO FIND OUT ABOUT JESUS, BUT HE DIDN’T NECESSARILY WANT TO FOLLOW JESUS AT THIS POINT. A LOT OF FOLKS WANT TO KNOW OF HIM, BUT DON’T WANT TO GET TO KNOW HIM. HE JUST WANTED TO BROADEN HIS SCOPE OF UNDERSTANDING, NOT CHANGE HIS WAYS. HE WAS LOOKING TO TOUCH BASES, BUT NOT A HEALING HAND. HE DIDN’T WANT TO CHANGE HIS LIFE, HE JUST WANTED A MEETING. HE WANTED A RENDEZVOUS, NOT A RELATIONSHIP. HE CAME AT NIGHT,...AFTER HE HAD TAKEN CARE OF EVERYTHING ELSE HE WANTED TO DO. JESUS WAS ON HIS LIST, BUT HE WAS NOT A HIGH PRIORITY. MANY OF US HAVE A RELATIONSHIP LIKE THAT....AFTER I HAVE DONE EVERYTHING I WANT TO DO, THEN I’LL GO SEE JESUS. (IF IT DOESN’T RAIN,...I’LL GO TO CHURCH,..IF IT ISN’T TOO HOT, I MIGHT GO TO PRAYER MEETING...KNOWING THAT THE BUILDING IS AIR CONDITIONED,...AFTER I’VE DONE EVERYTHING ELSE, THEN I’LL GO TO JESUS...) FOLKS TESTIFY ABOUT JESUS BEING THE HEAD OF MY LIFE,....OR FIRST GIVING HONOR TO GOD.....DO WE REALLY MEAN WHAT WE SAY..OR ARE WE JUST GIVING JESUS LIP SERVICE? HE CAME BY NIGHT....DIDN’T WANT TO BE SEEN. DIDN’T WANT OTHERS TO SEE HIM WITH JESUS. SO THAT IF ANY KIND OF RELATIONSHIP WAS ESTABLISHED IN THIS RENDEZVOUS, THEN IT WILL BE ON MY OWN TERMS. IF A RELATIONSHIP IS ESTABLISHED, THEN IT WON’T CONFLICT WITH ANY OF THE OTHER THINGS THAT I’M DOING. IF A RELATIONSHIP IS ESTABLISHED, THEN IT WON’T MAKE ME CHANGE MY WAYS, IT WON’T CAUSE ANY TROUBLE WITH MY FRIENDS...IF A RELATIONSHIP IS ESTABLISHED THEN IT WILL BE ON MY TERMS, AND I WON’T HAVE TO GIVE UP ANYTHING. SO HE CAME BY NIGHT....TOO MANY FOLKS COME TO JESUS ON THEIR OWN TERMS. SOME FOLKS CAN SHOUT ALL DAY SUNDAY....AND THEN