authority himself, addressed that despised and per- secuted Teacher by the respectful appellation of " Rabbi ;" confessing his belief in him as a Teacher sent from God. Thus far all was well. But there were in Nicodemus two great defects, to which I must now call your attention :
1. His cowardice —
[Twice is Nicodemus mentioned after that interview ; and both times is he stigmatized as the person that " went to Jesus by nightV In this he acted most unworthily. As a man of probity, he should not have been ashamed of doing what was right, or afraid of any censure he might incur by following the dictates of his own conscience. What have we to do with man's opinion ? We should approve ourselves to God, without so much as thinking, and much less fearing, what man may either say or do. It is the happiness of the Christian that he has none to fear, but God. But, wherever Christ comes in the ministration of the word, there are too many who are like- minded with Nicodemus ; and are kept from seeking instruc- tion for their souls, through " that fear of man which bringeth a snare." Many will not even go so far as he. They have an inward conviction that this or that minister is really sent of God, and has most valuable information to impart; and yet they neither dare to hear him in public, nor to visit him in private, lest it should be known that they are inquiring after truth. Sad enemies are these to their own welfare, whilst they deprive themselves of opportunities which God has afforded them for the instruction and salvation of their souls! They may avoid the censure of men ; but they have a stigma fixed upon them by God ; and they have reason to fear that that Saviour, " whom they thus deny before men, will deny them before his Father and his holy angels V]
2. His unbelief —
[Our blessed Lord, instead of reproaching him for his cowardice, immediately opened to him that doctrine which he most needed to hear, and which was of most immediate im- portance to one of his caste and complexion. Being himself a teacher of religion, and of that sect which was highest in repute for sanctity, he would of course think that he needed only some particular instruction which Jesus might have been commissioned to impart. But our blessed Lord told him, and with the strongest asseverations assured him, that he needed altogether a new birth ; and that, without being born both of
a Compare John vii. 50. b Mark viii. 38.