A father related how one of his son’s favorite games was “hide and seek” – and his son always hid. The game always went the same: Dad always counted to 100 by 5’s and then he’d shout “Here comes Daddy to find you Tommy.” Then Tommy would always hide in the same room and the same spot – but of course Dad went thru the motions of looking every other room. He’d go into one of the bedrooms and loudly proclaim “I wonder if Tommy is under the bed?” And he could hear Tommy giggle down the hall. “I wonder if he’s in the closet?” Again giggles. Making his way into the bathroom, “I wonder if he’s in the shower?” Giggles. “I wonder if he’s in the toilet?” The giggles were getting louder. Out in the hallway now, the father proclaimed “I wonder where Tommy could be?” And at that moment Tommy would burst out of his parents’ bedroom crying “Here I am Daddy, here I am!” and throw himself into his Dad’s arms. The dad later recalled telling his son “But, Tommy, that’s not how the game is played.”
But Tommy didn’t care. Why not? Because the object of the game for Tommy was to be found and then to rush into his father’s arms. Tommy was “hiding.” Waiting and wanting to be found.
And in our story today from Scripture… Nicodemus was hiding too. Did you notice what time of the day Nicodemus came to Jesus? “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus --- by night…” John 3:1-2
Why come at night? Because… he was hiding. He didn’t want anybody else to know that he was there. You see, Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and the Pharisees didn’t like Jesus. At one point we’re told “… many even of the authorities believed in (Jesus), but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue” John 12:42
It was a dangerous time to even look like you were believing in Jesus. But Nicodemus had become intrigued by this Rabbi. By the time Nicodemus came to Him, Jesus had done a lot of wondrous signs, taught a lot of powerful things. He’d even run the merchants out of the Temple who’d turned the Holy place into a marketplace to make money. Because of all of this… Jesus had literally become a celebrity overnight.
So Nicodemus was probably impressed by what he’d seen and heard, and he shows up (“Nick at Night” if you will) to take a look at this Jesus and find out for himself what kind of man this Rabbi was.
So he’s come by night. Hiding in the dark. Even his opening statement is a bit guarded “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” John 3:2
He wants to engage Jesus in a conversation, but he wants to do it on his terms. He isn’t coming to Jesus as (some kind of) a humble learner. I think he sees Jesus as something of an EQUAL. I mean, after all, Nicodemus is a pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. He’s a man of importance; He’s a religious leader who has a reputation; he’s arrived (if you will) in his religion.
But when he comes to Jesus, Jesus turns everything upside down. He confronts Nicodemus with the truth that he is LOST and needs to be FOUND! In fact, the first words out of Jesus’ mouth are these: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3
And Nicodemus is shocked: he says to Jesus, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” John 3:4
Now… why did Nicodemus answer Jesus this way? It’s obvious he’s not serious. I mean, did he really think Jesus was talking about somebody climbing back into their momma’s womb and being born a 2nd time? I don’t think so! But the alternative was NOT acceptable to Nicodemus! You see, back in the days of Jesus, the rulers of the Jews knew what the term “Born again” meant, because they used it all the time.
The Encyclopedia Judaica states, “A proselyte (a Gentile who becomes a Jew) terminates all former family ties upon conversion and `is considered a newly born child’” (volume 13, page 1184, article “Proselytes”).
The Talmud said, “A man who became a proselyte (a Gentile who becomes a Jew) is like a child newly born.”
According to another source: “New birth, as a figure of speech, was known to refer to proselyte conversion. It was understood to mean conversion of the mind and heart, beginning a new spiritual life with a new way of thinking, leaving one’s old ways and ideas completely behind.”
You see, Jesus was telling Nicodemus: You are NOT acceptable as you are; You have to change; You have to become like a Gentile who becomes a Jew; You have to become… like a new-born child.
ILLUS: Now, how much does a newborn child know? I’ve got a grandson and granddaughter and I can tell you, babies they don’t know much. Luella’s about 6 months old now, and all she can do gurgle, laugh and cry. It’s kind of hard to carry on a conversation with her. I’ve tried!
So Jesus is telling Nicodemus - you need to become like THAT newborn. You need to realize you don’t know as much as you thought you did. In fact you’re going to have to RELEARN everything you thought was true.
And that didn’t set well with a man of prominence like Nicodemus. Instinctively, he rebelled against that kind of thinking. And that’s why this conversation with Jesus seems so bizarre. Nicodemus understood just enough of what Jesus was saying that it made him uncomfortable. And you’ll find that’s true for a lot of people.
ILLUS: I know a man who wanted to get baptized sometime back, and I explained that baptism was just part of what was involved. I explained repentance (acknowledging that he was a sinner and needed to change his life), and I explained confession. Romans 10:9 “If you CONFESS with your mouth that Jesus IS LORD and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” You see, when we CONFESS Jesus is LORD…we’re declaring that He will now own us, and everything we possess. This man didn’t like that, and so he decided he didn’t want to get baptized after all. WHY? Because he realized it meant that he’d have surrender completely to Jesus and he didn’t want to do that.
That’s one of the reasons a lot of people don’t come to church. They understand just enough of what God has said to know that if they come to Jesus… they’ll have to change, and a lot of people don’t want to do that.
But, once God’s Spirit convicts them, they WILL want to do that. They will want to surrender to him. And that’s the main point of our Revival. If we can get them in the door for this kind of event, the Spirit will have one more shot at their souls. And that’s worth all the effort involved in this Revival.
If our Revivalist does his job right (and I’m convinced he will) our guests are going to be asked to come to the cross and surrender their lives. They’re going to be asked to acknowledge they’ve sinned & need change. They’re going to be asked to die to who they used to be.
And that’s what Jesus was talking about when he told Nicodemus: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” John 3:5
Now, Nicodemus would have understood the water part, because baptism was part of the process for outsiders to convert to Judaism. According to a commentary by Jamieson, Fausset and Brown: “The Jews were accustomed to say of a heathen proselyte, on his public admission into the Jewish faith by baptism, that he was a new-born child. But our Lord here extends the necessity of the new birth to Jew and Gentile alike—to everyone.”
So Nicodemus would have comprehended the water… but not the SPIRIT. Jesus was introducing something Nicodemus had never heard of before - the idea that God would place HIS SPIRIT inside of believers, so their lives could be changed. That’s what God promised in Acts 2:38 “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the HOLY SPIRIT.”
The Bible teaches that to become a Christian, we had to die to our sins. Our dead bodies were then buried in the waters of baptism and rose from that grave to walk in newness of life. We were literally “born again” at the baptistry.
I discovered something intriguing a couple weeks ago. I discovered that word “revive” consists of 2 parts: “Vive means life” and “Re” mean again (Grant Adams). Revive means: To have Life again… or to be BORN AGAIN. In our Revival, we are seeking to challenge people to be BORN AGAIN - to challenge them to give their lives to Jesus.
One man noted that what we need is “an old time, old fashioned, sin killing, devil stomping, sinner changing, fire kindling, power packing, life changing, soul saving, God breathing, heaven sent, Holy Ghost anointed Revival.” (loosely quoting a statement by Kelly Dodson) Can I hear an “Amen?”
But in order to have all that old time/ old fashioned kind of revival, we need to have some old time/ old fashioned kind of praying - by some old time/ old fashioned believers who believe God will create a soul saving/ heaven sent/ Holy Ghost anointed revival. Do you believe god can do that? Oh yeah… me too!
But in order to turn God loose on these people we’ve got to pray because “…unless the Lord builds the house, they that labor upon it, labor in vain.” (Psalm 127:1) So we’re praying for our 10 MOST WANTED list (a handout we’ve put in the bulletin every week for the past 2 weeks where people could list 10 of the people they will pray for) and we’re going to invite them to come and join us. But PRAY 1st… then invite. Set God’s Spirit loose by prayer and let Him soften up the people you want to have come.
Charles Spurgeon once said: “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and UNPRAYED for.”
So pray (and pray 1st) for those you intend to invite.
But make no mistake: you’ll be inviting people to come and to be confronted by a Jesus. And Jesus will demand change in their lives. Just like He did with us! It won’t matter how rich/ powerful/prominent these folks may be, God will ask them to change their lives.
As someone once said “They will not come, they must be brought. They will not seek, they must be sought.” So seek, pray, and bring - those that you - love to Jesus
CLOSE: I want to close with a story of my own dad. I loved my dad, he was a decent man who told stories about his days playing baseball and basketball and working on the farm. And I loved hearing him tell his stories over and over again. But dad had once been someone they called a worldly man. He came to church and went through the motions, but he and God had something of a “nodding acquaintance”. It’s not that dad was a “bad” man… he just wasn’t God’s man.
Mom however, was a Godly woman… and she prayed for dad a lot. And one day at church something happened. The Spirit had been working hard on dad and on that particular day, something inside dad snapped. At the invitation, he got up and made his way to the front… and from that day on his life changed. Mom said that on the way home from church, dad pulled the car over to the side of the road, and he wept. And from that day on, he was God’s man.
That’s the kind of change we’re praying for, and that’s the kind of change we’re looking for in this Revival. If just one person comes forward and gives their life to God… this Revival will be a success.
INVITATION
