670
October 1927
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
enter.” Heaven is a spiritual place for a spiritually born people. Man, to be happy, must be in correspondence with his surroundings. The guest at the King’s wedding feast without the wedding garment was cast out. Many an unsaved moralist cannot stand the atmosphere of praise and prayer, cannot listen to spiritual discourses here on earth. He is out of his element. Heaven would be hell to him, could he enter in his unsaved condition. 3. A final reason is that CHR IST IN S IS T S UPON IT. “Ye MUST be born again.” He has put the ulti matum. The Word of God everywhere insists upon it. It is useless to seek entrance some other way when God says NO. “How can these things be?” Never mind— THEY MUST BE! “The wind bloweth—thou hearest the sound but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth.” The wind is mysterious, yet it is comprehen sible. We feel it, we see its effects; we are invigorated by it. Who can trace the first workings of the Holy Spirit in the life? Who can explain the process of the new birth in the soul? The question is, Have we experienced it? It is wonderful when a babe opens' its eyes for the first time and the new world begins to unfold. Natural birth is the gate to these experiences. The new birth is just as truly a waking up in a new world. Cultured Nicodemus would fully understand these things when once he was born into the spiritual world by obeying the condi tions Jesus laid down (1 Cor. 2:9-14). “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life” (vs. 14-15). N icodemus at th e C ross When next Nicodemus is seen in Scripture coming to Jesus, he looks upon Jesus hanging upon Calvary’s cross (Jn. 19:39). Did he recall the wo,rds—“Son of man lifted up” ? Israelites had been saved from the serpent’s sting because of accepting the divinely appointed cure, the serpent of brass lifted up by Moses—as foolish as that might seem to some. Just so Nicodemus must look to the uplifted Christ bearing His sin upon the cross, and looking with true faith he should be saved. “God so loved the world (Mightiest Motive) that he gave his only begotten Son (Grandest Gift) that whoso ever (Widest Welcome) believeth on him (Easiest Es cape) should not perish (Divine Deliverance) but have everlasting life (Priceless Possession)” (v. 16). Coming to the 18th verse we read, “He that believeth not is condemned already,1’ and in the 36th, “The wrath of God abideth on him.” The unregenerate man is already in a state of condemnation. There will be no need of a long inquisition at the judgment. He is lost because he spurns the Greatest Gift, the Widest Welcome. Every hour of the day wrath hangs as by a slender thread over his head. BUT “he that believeth is not condemned” (v. 18)-— not “shall not be at the last day”—but IS NOT—from the moment he accepts Christ. That moment his condemna tion is reckoned upon Christ, and Christ’s righteousness to him. He “HATH eternal life” (v. 36)—not “He will get it when he dies”—He HAS IT now—a spiritual and a timeless life. Man, woman, have you that life? Have you any doubts about it? We beg of you to think on these things and definitely RECEIVE.
An Absolute Necessity for Every Man on Earth
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye MUST BE BORN AGAIN." (John 3:3, 5, 7.) OWHERE in the whole Bible is a single statement put so strongly or so emphatically repeated. Nicodemus, the man to whom the words are addressed, was a member of the Sanhedrin, a religious teacher of authority. With all his attainments, knowl edge and virtue, he comes short of acceptance with God, and requires a radical change, a new birth “ from above.” The expression “born again” is literally “bom from above.” The word is so translated in verse 31. In Matt. 27:51 it is translated “from the top.” This is not some thing that originates within. It is not the fanning of a divine spark into a flame. It is from without man. It is a “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17), a “quickening” (Col. 2: 13; Eph. 2:5), a spiritual “rising from the dead” (F.ph. 5:14; Rom. 6:13). It is the infusion of a new nature, not the repairing of the old. In the natural birth, a germ is infused, and in the spiritual birth, a supernatural life is implanted within. When once this “divine nature” has been infused, it will never again be absent. To be “born from above” means never to be unborn from below. Not knowing what to say to these things, Nicodemus asks a foolish question: “How can a man be born when he is old?” Fac§ to face with their lost condition, men fre quently try to turn the conversation to technical points or place some carnal interpretation upon Scripture. Nico demus well knew that Jesus was not speaking of any ordi nary birth. The Gospel cannot be evaded on the plea of its not being intelligible. The reality of the new birth cannot be denied so long as this unspeakable change is seen to take place in the lives of men. Experience ever stands ready to answer reason. T hree R easons W hy N ecessary Three reasons are here set forth as to the necessity of the new b irth : 1. Man is not in a spiritual condition to meet God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; that which is born of the Spirit is spirit’-’ (v. 6). Through the fall, man has a corrupt nature. Some, indeed, have offended more against the laws of morality than others, yet all by nature are alike—unregenerate. Unregenerate neople are oftentimes very remarkable, still the word stands: “They that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8). Jesus, looking upon the young ruler, loved him, and of Nathaniel He said, “Behold an Israelite in whom is no guile”—yet He informs both of their need of salva tion. Education, culture, refinement, environment, social or political improvements—all leave man’s spiritual con dition untouched. 2. The natural man would be out o f his element in heaven. “Except a man be born of the Spirit he cannot
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