THE KING’S BUSINESS
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vincing than if he directly asserted it. One of the overwhelming proofs of the authen ticity of the Gospel narratives and of their minute accuracy in their reports of the words of Jesus and others, is seen in the way in which some little and apparently insignificant word (and as in this incident, the very position of the word in the Greek text) carries in it a wealth of meaning that would have been missed if some other word, at first sight just as good, had been used (or if the word had been placed in some pther position in the Greek text). Another proof of the same thing, of which we have an illustration here, and also of the fact that God led the different evange lists in their choice of their material, is found in the way in which what one evan gelist records as having been said or done by one person fits into what another evan gelist records as having been said or done by another person, and that without any possibility of 'design on the part of either evangelist. v. 8. “The wind bloweth where it Hsteth, and thou hearest the sound (voice) thereof, but canst not tell (knowest not) whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every, one that is born of the Spirit," The key to the rich treasures of truth that are revealed in this verse is found in the fact that in the Greek text in which we have the report of this conversation (as well as in the language in which our Lord probably spoke to Nicodemus) precisely the same word is used for “wind" and “Spirit." The verse might be translated with perfect exactness, “The Spirit bloweth (or, breath- eth) where He will, and thou hearest the voice of Him, but knowest not whence He cometh, and whither He goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit;” or it might be translated with equal exactness, “The wind bloweth where it will, and thou hear est the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth : so is every one that is born of the wind.” There might have been an advantage in some ways if the word which is translated in this verse “wind” and “Spirit” had been
of God, or be not born anew and perish. The all-important question then that stares each of us in the face is, “Have I been born again ?” Lay these notes down right here and settle the question. Reformation, prayer, Bible study, alms-giving, baptism, church membership, all have their val,ue, but none of them, nor all of them together, will take the place of the new birth. If a man is to be saved and enter into the king dom of God, he must have “the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5, R.V.). If any man could do without the new birth, Nicodemus was the man; he was moral, religious, sin cere, but Jesus looked him in the eye and said, "You must be born again.” There is another matter to be noted about the emphatic “YE” in this verse, and that is that Jesus excepts Himself (and Himself alone) from the operation , of this other wise universal law, that no one can see or enter into the kingdom of God without being morn anew. He does not say “We must be born anew,” but “Ye must be born anew.” Why is this? The answer is given in the context. Verse 6 gives the reason for verse 7. “It is a necessary and uni versal law,” says Jesus in effect in verse 6, “that the offspring inherits the essential nature of its parents and nothing more, and as the essential nature of man is flesh, and as therefore all you get by human descent is flesh, and as the essential nature of the kingdom of God is Spirit (since God is Spirit), therefore, to see and enter iiito that kingdom, you must be born anew, born of the “Spirit.” Why then the law did not apply to Jesus is plain, viz., because He at His birth out of Mary had also another parent who was not “flesh” but “Spirit,” a Divine parent. He was Son of Mary, it is true, but He was also “Son of God.” At His first birth He was “born of the Spirit,” and therefore did not need to be “born anew” (cf. Luke 1:35). John nowhere in his gospel mentions our Lord’s supernatural birth out of a virgin, but the words of our Lord which he here records implies it, and it is more forceful and con
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