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Show I The Divine Element . In Conversion ! . ,!:. j: By REV. C. P. MEEKER - : 'I Director of Practical Work Court, !i, ! . Moody Bible Institute. Ctllctfo. TEXT Verily, verily, I say unto the, xcept a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. John 3:3. The, great George Whitefield waa ance asked why We preached so often on the necessity of the new birth. His short and sufficient suffi-cient reply was, "Because you, must be born again." The text expresses clearly, that at the very threshold of the new life of faith In Christ, the soul stands In need of a distinct transformation of life called a new birth. We enter this life by birth our entrance upon eternal life must be preceded also by a birth. Sin has effaced In man both the moral and spiritual image of God. The new birth restores both. This is the uniform testimony of Scripture. The best that :an be said of the old nature, declared to be dead in trespasses and sin (Eph, 2:1), is that It retained, in spite of the fall, a capacity to receive new life from God and respoud to Ills known Kill. The parable of the sower aptly Illustrates Il-lustrates this. Therein four kinds of aoll are represented. In three cases the soil Is Inhospitable., In one case only Is the soil good. But even here it does not germinate the seed nor create life within It It only receives It tot which it has the capacity and furnishes fur-nishes a hospitable environment la which It may develop and grow. The Interpretation of the parable as generally gen-erally given treats of the soil as tha human heart and ot the seed as tha Word of God. It Is therefore the plant Ing of the Living Word In the heart (which has the capacity to receive it and furnish a hospitable environment for Its development) that results In the reproduction of the moral and, spiritual Image of God. Thla reception recep-tion of the Living Word Into a heart Is definite, and more or less clearly marked In the experience of the Individual, Indi-vidual, being accompanied often by ni positive a crisis as when a child Is born Into the world. In Ills talk with Klcoderaus (John 8:5), Christ gives us the one Instrument Instru-ment the Living Word, and the one active agent, the Holy Spirit, In effecting effect-ing the wonderful transformation called the new birth. These dlvml elements of conversion are expressed lu other connections, as for instance, "That He might sanctify and cleanse It with the washing of water by th Word" (Eph. 5 :2C) ; "Being born nol of corruptible seed, but of Incorrupt, ible, by the Word of God, which livetB and abldeth forever" (I Peter 1:23) and "According to His mercy llj saved us, by the washing of regeneration regener-ation nnd the renewing of the Hoi Ghost" (Titus 3:5). Whenever, therefore, the Spirit it mentioned in connection with watel it signifies the Spirit of God operatinf In and through the Word. To be born, therefore, of water and of Spirit II the New Testament way of saying t lint the Divine Spirit is the active agent, and the Divine Word Is the effective ef-fective instrument In the new birth ol of the soul. "It Is the Spirit thai quickeneth; the flesh profiteth noth' ing; the words I speak unto you they are spirit, and they are life" (John G:G3). "Here then from headquarters we have a statement that His Words are very spirit and life; that His Word ami Spirit are Instrument and agent In the immense work of creating a new nature for the believer." "In tlx new birth, then, the Word of God It the seed; the humiin heart Is the soil; God by His Spirit opens the heart to receive the seed; the hearer believes, the Spirit quickens the Implanted seed Into life in the receptive heart J the new divine nature springs up out of the Implanted Word; the believer Is born ovnln, created anew, mads alive, passed out of death Into life." A remarkable brick, taken from th ancient wall of Babylon, bears the Inscription In-scription of one of Its mighty kings, in the center of the Inscription Is the footprint of a dog. It was the custom to Imprint the royal mark upon hrlckl used for public works. While this pur. tlcular brick was lying In Its plastic or soft state, drying In the sun, a vagrant dog evidently trod upon It. Th king's Inscription Is entirely Illegible, Il-legible, while the footprint of the do? !s perfectly distinct. So slu has effaced ef-faced the linage of God, leaving behind be-hind its own unmistakable mark. Ths divine method of recovering what wai lost In sin Is a new creation based on nn act of faith In the finished work of Christ. (II Cor. 5:17.) |
