13
THE KING’S BUSINESS
John 3:5, “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.” It becomes a matter of tremen dous importance then to each one of us that we know whether we have been born again or not. Heaven and earth shall pass' away, but Christ’s words shall not pass away, and Jesus Christ says that no one who has not been born again shall enter His kingdom. Oh man, oh woman, have you been born again ? 5. Still another thing is sure. It is sure that if one seeks to be a Christian without letting the world know it, seeks to be a Christian in the privacy of his own heart, it is sure that Jesus Christ will not acknowl edge such a disciple when He comes. His words on this point are very plain and unmistakable. He says in Mark 8 :38, “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father, with the holy angels.” And He says again in Matt. 10:32, 33, “Whosoever therefore shall con fess me before men, him shall I also con fess before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in .heaven.” There can be no mistaking the meaning of these words. Ypur own deceitful heart may seek to make you think you can be a Christian and not tell it; false friends may try to persuade you of the same thing, but He, not one word of whose shall ever fail, says, “Who soever therefore shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of His' Father, with the holy angels.” Your opinion will pass away, your friends’ false arguments shall pass away, heaven and earth shall pass away, but Christ’s words ,shall not pass away. ,
be saved and get pardon and eternal life in an instant. 3. It is sure again that no one who rejects Jesus Christ shall see life, hut that the wrath of God abideth upon him. Many do not like that doctrine ; they like to think that they can reject Jesus Christ and yet be saved by their imagined morality, or in some other way. There is absolutely no foundation for such a hope. It is not thè doctrine of “fierce old John Calvin,” nor of “bigoted old Jonathan Edwards;” it is the declaration of Jesus Christ, who says in John 3 :18, 19, “He that believeth in Him is not condemned : but he that believeth hot is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begot ten Son of God. And this is the con demnation, that light is come into the' world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” He says again in the fourteenth and fifteenth verses of the same chapter, “And 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 eternal life.” The unmis takable implication of these words is that the one who does f not believe shall perish no matter what else he may do, and John sums up the teaching o,f the Lord Jesus on this point by saying, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life : but the wrath of God abideth on him.” Before you dare question this statement to your own eternal ruin, remember who makes it, viz., the One not one of whose words shall ever fail. 4. There is still another thing that is absolutely sure. It is absolutely sure that if a .man is not born again he shall not enter into the kingdom of God. This is the word of Jesus Christ, who says in John 3:3, “Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” And He says again in
Made with FlippingBook Online document