A Young Person of this Generation Who Concludes this Age

Chapter 4

You Must be Born Anew

Seeking the Lord

John chapter 3 begins, “But there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the JEWS. This one came to Him by night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” (vv. 1-2)

Here we have a man in his old age, one of the rulers among the Jews that came to the Lord. We need to see this; he has a very positive aspect: he came seeking for the Lord. Tonight we need to be like this Jew who looked for the Lord. We are here tonight to seek the Lord. When he looked for the Lord he said Master, Rabbi. Even though he was more advanced in age than Jesus, he honored the Lord calling Him Master, Rabbi. Therefore, he not only looked for the Lord, he also respected the Lord. Tonight all of us here, we need not only to seek the Lord, but even more we need to recognize who the Lord is.

We saw in the last message that when John heard the voice he also turned to see. He didn’t want to only hear the Lord, but he also wanted to see the One who was speaking with him. In this chapter we come to Nicodemus, one who came to find the Lord and who recognized the Lord. We need to be like Nicodemus who sought the Lord and like John who turned around to see who was speaking with him. The Lord has something to say. We need to listen to His voice. One of the greatest problems is when we do not hear what the Lord has to say.

We Don’t Know What We Really Need

Nicodemus sought the Lord and said, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” (v. 2) But in verse 3 it seems that the Lord changed the subject: “Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” It seems that Nicodemus asked one thing and the Lord answered a different thing. Nicodemus said that we know because of the signs You do that You have come from God. Jesus responded that Nicodemus needed to be born again. Nicodemus could not understand what the Lord was talking about even though as a ruler and teacher, he had much experience and knowledge.

In verse 4 Nicodemus said, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” The Lord answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” So here we can see that Nicodemus sought for the Lord because he thought that He could teach him something. Because he was a teacher, he thought that maybe he could receive some words that would make him a better man. Rather than that, the Lord told him, “You need to be born anew.” Even though Nicodemus sought for the Lord, he didn’t know what he himself needed. Nicodemus thought that maybe he needed more knowledge, maybe the Lord could help him know more about God. Did he seek the Lord? Yes he sought the Lord, but he really didn’t know what he actually needed.

Tonight we are here to seek the Lord, right? But perhaps we have some concepts. Why do we need to seek the Lord? What should the Lord give to us? What should the Lord teach us? After all, we are seeking the Lord. The Lord should give us something good. But we do not necessarily know what we really need and what the Lord should give us. We don’t know but the Lord knows. Nicodemus didn’t know, but the Lord knew. Nicodemus was mistaken about what he could gain from the Lord; he was seeking others things. But the Lord knew what Nicodemus needed. Saints, young people, the Lord knows yours needs. Tonight the Lord knows what we really need. If we are here to seek the Lord, even if we do not know clearly for what we should seek, first we seek the Lord. We are like Nicodemus tonight; he came looking for the Lord at night, so we also are here to look for the Lord. The Lord knows what to give to us. He knows exactly what we need. When the Lord answered Nicodemus, He didn’t answer according to the question he had asked, nor according to his interest, nor according to what he thought he needed; but the Lord answered according to Nicodemus’ real need.

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