Now let us go back to the man to whom Christ said these words. I often
rejoice He didn't say this to the woman at the well, nor to Mary
Magdalene. If He had said it to them, people would have said, "Oh,
that poor woman needs to be converted; but I am a moralist; I don't
need to be converted. Regeneration will do for harlots, thieves, and
drunkards, but we moralists do not need it." But who did Christ say it
to? He said it to Nicodemus. Who was he? He belonged to the house of
bishops. Nicodemus stood very high; he was one of the church
dignitaries; he stood as high as any man in Jerusalem, except the high
priest himself. He belonged to the seventy rulers of the Jews; he was
a doctor of divinity, and taught the law. There is not one word of
Scripture against him; he was a man that stood out before the whole
nation as of pure and spotless character. What does Christ say to him?
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." I can
see a scowl on his forehead. He says, "What do you mean by being born
again--born from above, born of the Spirit? Now I am old, can I a
second time enter my mother's womb, and be born again?" Jesus saith,
"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God." He didn't take back
what He had said, but He repeated it. I can imagine Nicodemus was like
tens of thousands of men in London to-day. The moment you talk to them
about regeneration or conversion, there is a scowl on their forehead.
They say, "I don't understand it." Of course, the natural man doesn't
understand spiritual things. It is a matter of revelation. A great
many men try to investigate and find out God. Suppose you spend a
little of your time in asking God to reveal Himself to you.