John 3:9-10 – Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?
Nicodemus was a highly educated man of God. It is likely He was the most highly regarded rabbi of his time because Jesus did not call him a teacher of Israel but “the (Emphasis mine) teacher of Israel.” Nicodemus was unquestionably highly educated and he was a man of God. We see the evidence of him being a man of God not because of his advanced education or because of the acknowledgement of the academia of his time, but because of his humility and hunger for God. We remember he came to Jesus to understand. This respected teacher coming to Jesus to learn. No amount of education from any institution may establish anyone as a person of God. The fact that one seeks the education, supposedly to serve God, is an indicator and not a fact of. Personally, I love to read what wise men of God have written, to informally educate myself in what I otherwise do not know. However, I pray before reading books authored by men so that the Holy Spirit would lead me in God’s Truth so that I might not become indoctrinated by the so called insights and doctrines of men but that the Holy Spirit would be the received wind to anchor me in the Word while carrying me where I know not to do what I know not. It is as we are carried within the wind of the Spirit that we learn what cannot be grasped in the natural. As we are submitted to the Lord and as we are carried by the Spirit, that is where the supernatural and delightful happen. (John 4:23-24) We see that men had educated others to learn how men explained God’s Word, but Jesus several times said to the people “You have heard that it was said…” only to follow up and correct by starting with “Buy I say to you.” (Matthew 5:21-48)
Whether one reads a book while attending a university, or whether in private study too often one depends and leans on what is learned in the book rather than on the Spirit of God. Often the creative teacher can be considered the most gifted one, not the pedantic one. It is better to be inspired by the Spirit than to lean on man’s teachings. A licensed Christian Therapist, or Counselor, or Elder may too often run to the teachings of man that they have studied instead of trusting the Spirit to guide him. To the one who does not know what it is to be guided by the Spirit it seems so much easier to run to the help of a man and his books than to the Lord and His book. It, at least at first, can be easier to trust what oneself thinks and what oneself learned in school rather than to learn to trust God and His book. It seems that we have a propensity to trust men rather than God, even in matters of spirit, heart, mind and emotions. When we seek counsel from people we ought to seek counsel from people led by the Spirit and His Word rather than those who are led, in the most part, by the teachings of man. Please don’t misunderstand me, the teachings of man can very wise and give much insight. They are not something to be discarded, but rather they should be what the Spirit pulls from us to help each other. A seminary degree is great (I wish I had one), but being led by the Holy Spirit is better. Does anyone have trouble with that? That person needs to know God and His Word better. That person needs to understand what Nicodemus, at least at first, did not understand. That person must know the meaning of John 4:23-24 “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
We know that God always has purpose. He is not frivolous. God gave us the Holy Spirit with good reason. John 14:16-17 “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” God wants us to rely on Him, on His Holy Spirit. If one doesn’t know how, whatever your position in a church, find out now. Otherwise you will find that what you don’t know has become a dam against the blessings God wants you to have. Nicodemus was humble and genuinely seeking to grow in God. He was at the top of the totem pole by the estimation of men. But He craved to know God deeper and He would come to set aside his position, and what he had previously learned from men to behold God in the flesh, and to know Him. (Luke 14:11) Praise God who is so patient with us and always wants to draw us near and teach us wonders we could never conceive without Him. Praise God! Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, Oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.