The Newtown bee., 1894-06-22

ITS NECESSITY BECAUSE OF THE NATURE
 OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.-IT IS NOT
 REFORMATION, BUT AN ENTIRE CHANGE
 OF THE PREVAILING MOTIVE IN LIFE.
 IT IS THE SPIRITS WORK AND YET
 MANS ALsO.- THE FACT OF THE
 CHANGE, RATHER THAN THE TIME, IS
 TO BE EMPHA SIZED.-A SERMON
 PREACHED AT THE CoNGREGATIONAl.
 CHURCH, NEwTowN, JUNE 10, BY REV
 OTIS W. BARKER.
 Text, John 3 8, "Jesus answered and said unto him, verify, verify, say unto thee, cept a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God"
 In one way or another, within the past few weeks, this question of the new birth" has come before me; members of this church have asked me my opinion about ir, what was necessary in order to realize it, when it took place, what were the marks of it., and 50 on. Since some seem to be ill earnest i'll desiring to come to right understanding of the subject. 1 propose to discuss it this morning. Not for one moment do 1 say that my expectation is to remove all your per pleXities and set all your questions at rest; but, if, when l am done, 1 shall have cleared away none of your doubts, 1 certainly shall not have accomplished that which l now set out to do. 1 con- tidently hope for better things.
 At once let me say that we should en- ter upon the unfolding of this subject without fear. It is great subject, about it there fingers some atmosphere of mystery; but l surely believe it is not a dense fog-land of doubt whose uncer- tainties can never float away. Is it a hard doctrine that deals with a higher life, with heavenly experiences, with diviner living, with worthier being? Is it a rough road that leads up holy steeps to ones noblest estate and to God This thought of the 'ehew birth" is not a hard, forbidding doctrine, it is a blessed privilege it is a blessed privilege even to speak of it, and as such 1 enter upon it now.
 | To get our subject, then, plainly be- | fore us, let us carefully repeat the words of the text Jesus answered and said unto him, verify, verify, l say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" Amen and amen, were Jesus words to the Jewish | ruler, Nicodemus, truly and certainly say unto thee, except a man be bOrr again, he cannOt-nOtice that word Jesus does not say to Nicodemus that without this spiritual re-brth man shall not see the kingdom of God, but he can- not. That is, it is an unalterable law ot l the relation of man to that kingdom l Spiritual recreation is for man the pass port to that kingdom, our text is the legend that stands written above the entrance gate. Here is preceding, the 'new birth;" here is a succeeding, THE KINGDOM OF GOD;
 here is a first and then comes second | Without the first, for NicOdemus, for 1 you, for me, for every one, there is nc | second.
 That, then, is my first point, estab- 1 lished on the authority of ChrisL's owr l words: Spiritual regeneration, the ''new birth" whatever it is your choice | to call it, is an absolute necessity for sal. vation to every man. This is so, not be cause God simply chose to make it so, il was not mere arbitrary fiat of His will This is so from the very nature of things | from the nature of man and the nature of Gods kingdom. Man, to begin with | is an animal in his nature; his instincts are selfish, his desires and appetites are | low, his thoughts are impure, he is alto gether of the earth, earthly; while, or
 the other hand, the kingdom of God is pure, heavenly, spiritual. Mans nature
 and the nature of Gods kingdom are il direct contrast with each other, just
 as black darkness is ill contrast witt
 strong light; and so they cannot be fit
 ted each to the other. They must il
 some way be made like, if the two are
 ever to be conjoined, and surely the pure
 kingdom is not to be brought down tC
 the level of impure man; man must
 rather be brought up to the level of Gods
 kingdom, and that leveling-up process is | done through the thew birth.'
 Now that leads us by an easy and
 natural stage to ask: Since this new
 birth is absolutely necessary for the heavenly life, pray what is it's nature, iu
 what does it consist? I can quickly tell you what the thew brth'' is not
 It is not reformation, that is, 8 changing of the life upon the old basis. the building of new structure and still keeping the old foundation stones. It is not, then, merely turning over a new leaf," making a few good resolutions | looking back to the old life to see where.
 in it was faulty and failed and consider ing whether the future cannot be an i'm. provement upon that. This structure o1 Ia new life has only one foundation any other is sand, any other will fall. This | doctrine says to the one who thinks his
 former mistakes and errors are a suffi cient guide for him to better life: "Fol other foundation can no man lay thar that is laid, which is Jesus Christ , One says, Begin at the top of the tree and Top off the unsightly and
 | TWISTED BRANCHES OF CHARACTER"
 Jesus says, Hay the axe at the roots o1 | the tree, fell the old growth entirely | down, start altogether anew" One says "Try to remove the blemishes that ap pear upon the surface by some externa
 application" Jesus says, That vii
 not do, the blemish will soon appear
 again, the source of the disease is fal deeper than that; it is malady of tho
 blood and the heart" No, my friends with you to-day; if you do, shall sure l ly feel that my effort has gone fol naught. The ''new birth'' is not q change in degree, it is in kind; it is not reformation, it is being made over again regeneration. It does not say to the drunkard, tReform,'' it does say to hin Repent" It does not say to him, ssDC | better" but "Be better;'' not aTry again." but 'sBe born again." It says tc | him: "Get yourself filled with love ot | God; make Him your master, let youl drink no longer master you; for, be wei
 assured, that not until you love God SUI premely will you love your cups less" Now, that this is the true view of the
 matter, the Bible leaves us at no loss tC | decide. It almost seems as if it exhaust ed the capacities of expression in em | phasizing the fact that the thew birth is an altogether new life. Follow mt carefully in some of these expressions
 It is putting off the old man and put
 ting on the new; it is passing iron darkness unto light, from the power o1 Satan to the power of God it is being s
 snew creature,' so that to the one who
 has experienced this change s.old things
 have passed away; behold all things are become new.o It Is removal o1
 blindness; it is an unfettering of ths shackles and deliverance from the
 bondage of sin; it is even spoken of as 8 resurrection, as quickening from the dead. And as if to meet this wrong idea