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only a doctrine, it is a fact. The new creation is as real in the Christian life as th e creation of th e world in th e ma terial universe. 1. The new birth' is 'fundamental. Nicodemus, a ru ler of th e Jews, came to Jesus for instruction in th e things of th e kingdom o f God, We would expect the Master to be thorough and exact. The foundation fact which Christ pre sented was th e new birth. Apart from regeneration th e best man living is only a galvanized corpse. E lectricity' can make a corpse open its eyes, and move its hands and feet, bu t th e re is no life i n i t . 2. The new b irth is a D ivine' act entirely. Man has no p a rt in his regen eration. This is hum iliating bu t it is the teaching of Scripture. The physical n atu re is living, bu t the sp iritu al n atu re is dead un til th e Spirit of God breathes into it the b reath of life. Life can only come from th e touch of life. Who can raise th e dead bu t God alone? When the P rophet Ezekiel s^w the volley of dry bones under th e b reath of the Al mighty, he knew th a t nothing b u t Diviné power could tu rn bleaching bones into massed battalions. The law of God is the same in th e n atu ra l and spiritual worlds. Man cannot regenerate himself. He must be born frpm above. 3.. The new b irth is necessary for adm ission in to heaven. An unregener ated man could not enjoy heaven. He would have no sympathy w ith its service or capacity for its exercises. The pres ence of Christ was torm ent to the de mons when He was upon earth. A sinner in heaven would be worse off than a saint in hell. When th e C arth a ginians captured Regulus they cut off his eyelids and bound him w ith his back to the ea rth and his face to the sun. The two conditions of th a t awful agony were an open eye and a pure glory. That is a picture of a sinner in
heaven. No anguish could be g reater to a lost soul than th a t w ith open eye he should be compelled to endure the full blaze of Divine glory. , Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people. 4. p?he new b irth though wholly of God is easily obtained. It is not im planted by a process. It is received by a’n act of faith. When a sinner accepts th e Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour and believes th e Gospel, th e Holy-Spirit regenerates him. There is no ground for uneasiness because regen eration is wholly of God. This is ra th e r a reason for confidence and joy. We are so weak th a t self-dependence would be a most uncertain thing. If man had to regenerate himself, it would be poorly dond. God is unchangeable and all powerful and dependence on H im means absolute and eternal safety. John 3:5 and 3:16 are p arts of th é same chapter. Since regeneration is necessary to make God’s love in Christ effective to us, may we no t tak e it fo r gran ted th a t th e offer of th e one is as broad as th e offer of the'S on ? Whosoever means “ you, me or anybody else.” K|j|l THE JUNIORS (Review the Story of the Sign-post.) How many have seen a sign-post a t a railroad crossing?. W hat did it say? (Stop, Look, L isten) Stop! That means be quiet,— think. Look! Have your eyes open. There are dangers be fore you. (Tell us some of them .) L isten! Have your ears open for the warning message from the Word of God! “The soul th a t sinneth, it shall die.” (Ezek. 18:4.) Why was .John th e B aptist called a sign-post? To Whom did he point? (Review th e story of th e Lamb.) “Be hold the Lamb of God th a t ta k eth away the sin of th e world.” A WEDDING Jo h n 2:1-12
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