water and of the Spirit, he could neither see nor enter into the kingdom of God. This, it might have been expected, Nicodemus should be well acquainted with : for the prophets, with whose writings he was so conversant, had most distinctly affirmed itc But Nicodemus could not at all compre- hend such mysterious truths: he foolishly thought that our Lord must refer to some natural birth which his followers were to experience ; and when our Lord explained himself more fully by a comparison which was familiar to all, and told him plainly that it was a spiritual birth that he spoke of, he still remained as ignorant as ever ; saying, " How can these things be?" Hence our Lord reproved his unbelief; saying, "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things'1?"
Thus it frequently is found amongst ourselves. Frequently do we see persons who are most exemplary in their morals and most intelligent in their minds, and, on the whole, of candid dispositions too, yet stumbling at the truths of the Gospel, and " unable to comprehend them, for want of a spi- ritual discernmente." And so it must ever be, when men " mix not faith with the word they hear1."]
Having seen the character of Nicodemus, let us, II. Make some remarks upon it —
This subject would open to us a very wide field for observation ; but I content myself with observing, that in Nicodemus we see,
1. The power of the world in opposition to truth — [It is clear that the words of our blessed Lord had made a lodgment both in the mind and in the heart of this timid man ; and yet he did not dare to follow up his convictions. At no great distance of time, when the council was condemning Jesus unheard, Nicodemus ventured to express an opinion that such conduct was both ungenerous and unjust : " Doth our law judge any man before it hear him, and know what he doethg?" But for three years after this we hear no more of Nicodemus. No more does he seek to be instructed by our Lord, either in public or in private. The general voice was against our Saviour; and Nicodemus dared not to encounter the reproach that would be cast upon him, if he should be known to be, even in heart, a follower of the despised Nazarene. Who would have thought that " a ruler in Israel" should be so timid? But the fact is, that the more elevated any man is, the more
c Jer. xxxi. 32, 33. Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 26. d John iii. 12. c 1 Cor. ii. 14. f Heb. iv. 2. e John vii. 51.