The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1903-02-26
of God (John 1, 10 to 49, }

Gods grace IN the soul Il Peter 3, 81.
And it is after we obey this and other
commandments that the master prom
ised to pray the father to send another
comforter that he might abide with us
forever John IA, 15-16.)
Will you pardon me for quoting Mr..
Campbell in regard to spiritual bap-
tism or birthP He says, in substance,
without first having an experimental
knowledge of salvation, through Gods
regenerating power, that being born of
water is nothing, and worse than moth
ing" (See debate between Campbell
and Rice.) But / am thankful we do
not have to depend on men to establish
these blessed truths of the gospel of
the Son of God, for if we are in the
way of holiness, though we may be
fools, we will not err therein Isaiah
S5, 81 Christ said to Nicodemus, SEX
cept man be born again, he can not
see the kingdom of God" Now, have
not all people who were not born blind
got natural eyes to see with? Then,
why does Christ say to Nicodemus,
Except man be born again Cor from
above) that he can not see the kingdom
of God" The inference is that what
Jesus is talking about is not natural,
visible thing, but is an unnatural in
visible spiritual thing that can not be
seen with the natural eye. Then this
new birth gives to every newborn soul
new spiritual eyes, new spiritual ears,
and a new spiritual mind. If this is
not true, why did Jesus say, Except
man be born again he can not see the
kingdom of God" When the Phari-
sees had demanded when the kingdom
of God should come answered them
and said, "The kingdom of God cometh
not with observation, neither shall
they say, 'Lo here or 10 there, for be-
hold, the kingdom of God is within
you'," duke II, 90 and "a And
again it is written, "Know We not that
ye are the temple of God, and that the
spirit of God dwelleth in you q Cor. 8,
16.) Now, my brother, my sister, have
you these new eyes, new ears, and new
mind? q Cor. 2, 16.) If you have not
you can not see or hear, neither under
stand what am preaching, but it is
foolishness to yon Il Cor. 2, 14), for
you have not yet been born or come
out of your cell like the young bee to
get knowledge of the kingdom, but
you can see institutions erected by men
and great numbers gathering at the
ringing of the bell to their church or
creed of choice to be fed on the milk of
the word Il Cor. 3, 1-2.) Yes, but says
one, / know that / have been born
again, for have felt the presence OF
the spirit of God with me often. Yes,
the natural mother often feels the
presence of her child before it is born
Just as your particular church feels
your presence before you are born. As
is the natural, in sense, so is the spir-
itual birth. We are first begotten by
the gospel q Ger. A, 15), and as there
is life, growth, vitality, feeling and de-
velopment in the natural child before
birth, so there is the same in the spir-
itual child before regeneration. As
the natural mother is the life-givine
and developing power to the natural
child, so is the preacher the feeder oi
the spiritual child till it is truly born oi
God, after which time it is taught by
the Holy Ghost (St. John IA, 49, Ac.
cording to the word of God, we would
infer that there are two births spiritual
The life of the natural child before it il
born being type of the spiritual chile
, when it is pardoned or justified by
faith, and the life after it is born up tC
the time it becomes accountable for sir
, type Of the baptism of the Holy Ghos
at which time the spiritual child's eyei
3 and ears are opened to see and hear il
{ the true spiritual kingdom. This Il
3 indeed the great mystery which doe
not come by chance, but by earnes
conservation and faith in Gods powe
s to cleanse and purify the soul Il Cor
9 7,1.) The great apostle to the Gentle
says he was made minister according
$ to the dispensation of God, which i
Y given to me for yon to fulfill the wor'
r Of God, even the mystery which hat
0 been hid for ages and from generation
b but now is made manifest to his saints
i to whom God would make known wha
t is the riches of the glory of this myste
ry among the Gentiles, which is Chris
in you, the hope of glory, whom W
preach, warning every man and teach