Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-08-19

IJ<AIs Il VI OVu ~
loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son that whatsoever
believeth on Him should not perish
but have eternal life. john 3:16.
Jesus did many signs at that first
passover feast, but not to crafty
the curiosity of the crowd or to APP.
peasc the animosity of the Pharisees
AS a result of that, many believed
sgs Him; but Jesus did not commit
himself to them, for they did not
commit themselves to Him. He knew
what was in man, and he saw that
the belief of many was a mere III
tellectual assent, not a faith that
would commit their all to Him.
Eut (for so the Greek of oh. 81
bSSins, although omitted in our Eng
lssh translations)--bu there was a
man of the Pharisees, Nicodemus
by name, a ruler of the Jews, who
came to Jesus by night. The con-
7 lecture seems to imply that Nico-
anus had gone further in his be-
lief than some of the others. lie
wasn't entirely satisfied in his own
mind; he wasn't yet prepared to
come out boldly; but he wasn't will
ms. to stop without further investI-
CATION
We have hardly given Nicodemus
a. square deal We have always
e|Noked upon him as somewhat of a
coward because he came by night.
I But think bit. He held high po-
4 sition; the place of Jesus had not
yet been recognized, and His recent
sensational proclamation of his Son.
ship had been an open rebuke to
the rulers and to the people, as well
70 +,.of olrorS in tho tnY01Dlo
To have come out boldly for Him
now would have cost NicoGemus
everything, and he was not quite
sure of himself or of Jesus. He was
cautious rather than cowardly. He
wanted to be sure before he made
the great step. Everything about
him later shows this to be true; and
when the time finally came, he rang
true.
Nicodemus evidently came to Jssus
now, too, as a representative of 9TH
ers who like himself, had been at
tracted to this new teacher, but who
wanted further light; for when he
comes he says we (not Dive know
that thou art a teacher come from
God, for no man can do these signs
that thou doest, except God be with
, Him
sNicodemus was therefore one of
those mentioned in CHI. 2:23 who be-
heved on His name when they saw
the signs which He did; but whose
belief was a mere Intellectual one.
This was the reason for the rather
enigmatical and abrupt reply which
Jesus made to him. Taking Nico-
demus' word, except" as His
. starting point, Jesus replied: Eek
cept man be born from above, he
cannot see the Kingdom of Cod
In effect what Jesus meant was
I this: Nicodmeus, you and your
friends have seen me do some mira
Giles which you can't explain. You
have an intellectual conception that
have come from God therefore;
but that is not enough; it is barely
a beginning. You come to me as a
teacher to an unusual teacher; but
you must come to me as a guilty
sinner to a Saviour. Salvation is
what you need first before you can
be taught anything more concerning
the Kingdom of God. You have an
= old nature that can not perceive the
things of the divine nature. You
must be born from above If you are
to understand at all the things of
God. Jesus emphasized to the in
quirers, represented by Nicodemus,
the absolute necessity of regenera-
ton, the impossibility of the natural
man receiving the things of God
until the old nature had been de.
stroyed and a new divine nature
impaired.
Nicodemus was confused. But
no
wanted. He was leading His pupil
from what he knew to what he
didn't know but ought to know. He
brought him to where his interest
and attention were aroused, and he
asked questions. How? Said Nico-
demus. How can a man be born
when he is cid? Can he enter the
second time into his mothers womb?
Now two very interesting words
are used here in the Greek. Jesus
said a man must be born another"
/, from above. Nicodemus asked can
man be born "deuteron''-a second
time? You see, he had not caught
Jesus statement at all. SO Jesus,
the Great Teacher, whose object is
to lead this pupil to a Knowledge Of
himself as a sinner and of his need
for q Saviour led him on to a fur
Their step. Still using Nicodemus'
except" Except a man be born
OF later and of the Spirit, he can
not enter the Kingdom OF God Yes,
Nicodemus Gle was saying, you are
right in thinking man can not be
born "deuteron," but what l want
you to see is that he must be born
'anothen'-he can not enter a sec
ond time into his mothers womb
and be born naturally; but he must
be born supernaturally, from above,
II he is to have entrance into the
Kingdom of God. He must be born
OF water and the Spirit What is
born of flesh is flesh, and what is
of the flesh can not partake of the
! things of the Spirit. 1t matters not
how cultured, how moral how gen.