Get To The Secret Place

 1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:1-16 ESV)

What is “the secret place?” Do you have a place where you meet with the Lord? Where you know when you show up there He is waiting for you. A place where you can go with your heavy heart, your weighty questions, reveal the parts of your soul that you keep hidden from everyone else, where you can be listened to, a place that will heal your wounds and replenish the well within you. For me, this place looks like a blanket laid on the floor beside my bed, where I sit with another blanket draped over my head with my word opened to the psalms, and I pour out my heart before the Lord.

In John chapter 3 we get a glimpse inside of the first person to go to the secret place; Nicodemus. A well known Pharisee, John shows us the conversation that Nicodemus has in the secret of the night with Jesus. This passage brings tears to my eyes when you see the human emotion in it. When I look at my own normal emotions that I have, and I assume that these basic emotions have transcended through generations of individuals who process their thoughts and feelings as I do. Here is Nicodemus sitting at the table with Jesus, and when I read this text I see that his heart is heavy with these questions. As I read these verses I wonder “how long were these questions burning in his heart?”, “Did Nicodemus see Jesus in the temple that day teaching something so profound, or performing a miracle that could only be from God?”, “Was Nicodemus laying in bed that night and replaying what he saw over and over again in his mind; did he feel something in his heart drawing himself to Jesus that night?”. I ask these questions of the text, because I think of how many times have you and I been laying in bed at night, and our hearts are heavy, there is a burning question in our heart, our mind is pregnant with thoughts ready to be birthed into passions, and instead of doing as Nicodemus does we pull out our phone and stroll until we become sleepy. What if God is drawing you to go deeper with Him. What if He is calling you to the secret place.

“10b But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, 11 and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs” (1 Thessalonians 4:10b-11 ESV) I want to highlight what Paul urges us to do; “aspire to live quietly.” John 3:16 is arguably the most well known verse in all of the Bible. Yet it wasn’t spoken during the sermon on the mount, it wasn’t from one Jesus’ teachings in the synagogue, it wasn’t a moment of wisdom He was imploring to His disciples, it was in a conversation in the secret of the night behind closed doors with a man who’s peers opposed the Lord Jesus. This verse was not written into scripture in the moment. It was something Jesus spoke into Nicodemus’ heart. It was the answer to his questions. Sometimes I think about how intimate that would have been, and how powerful it would have been to hear that spoken. And to keep that conversation a secret for the rest of Jesus’ ministry. Do you think when Nicodemus took Jesus down from the cross that he had a flashback to that moment at the table? As the flesh was peeling off the Lord and His blood was staining Nicodemus’ garments, was he reminded that it was Jesus who said “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” I believe Nicodemus lived a quiet life. I believe what we see in the intro of John 3 is a man who was seeking a deep intimate relationship with the Lord for himself, and the Lord revealed things to him that He didn’t with anyone else.

What would God reveal to you if you had this heart for Him? Would you be able to steward an intimate relationship like that with the Lord? If God spoke something to you would you conceal it, and keep it as a deeply intimate thing between you and the Lord? Or would you run to your bible study, go to social media, tell all your siblings and shout this deeply intimate conversation to anyone who will listen. Many times I hear from people that they feel like they don’t have an intimate relationship with God. That they just don’t have the ability to hear His voice. I would challenge this and say do you seek Him because your heart longs for Him or because you need to feel included.

So how do we do that then? How do we enter the secret place longing for a deep, intimate relationship with the Lord. “19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:19-23 ESV) My eyes water as I read over this scripture, because the writer of Hebrews reminds you and I that we can enter the secret place with confidence. When Isaiah in chapter 6 sees the Lord and cries out “woe is me” because he recognizes the ugliness of his own sin, Hebrews 19 reminds me that God sees me cloaked in righteousness. That I get to enter His presence with confidence because I have been covered by the blood of the Lord Jesus, we have a great high priest over the House of God. Let us enter the secret place with a true heart and enter His presence having full assurance of our faith. That is, be honest with the Lord. Tell Him the deep dark things of your heart, the true motives you have for things, the painful things you are struggling with. We so often talk to the Lord trying to make ourselves seem better then we are. If you had an argument with your wife don’t just say “Lord I am struggling with anger towards my wife!” Instead be honest with the Lord: “Father today during my argument with your daughter a thought crossed my mind in my anger after she left that if she died in a car crash I would not care, because I was so deeply hurt and angary with her over our argument. Would you help me Lord!” These are two very different confessions, one is approaching God with innocence, the other is being honest with the Father. And you know what it takes to do that in the presence of the Father? Humility. “God opposed the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6 ESV) Enter the secret place with humility, recognize who you are speaking to. Who’s feet you are sitting at. It was humility in Nicodemus to seek out Jesus and to say “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” What does Jesus meet Nicodemus’ humility with? Grace.

Enter the secret place with confidence knowing what Christ has done, and with humility knowing who He is. For He who promised is faithful.