The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-11

| the finite mind can never grasp. "volumes might be written in exposi | ton of it, and still many importan truths implied in it would be left unex plained. It is like an inexhaustible mir' | of precious ore, from which We. may all ! for ages. and still leave unlimited store l for the discovery of future generations. | "The first question, that comes clamor | ing at the door of Investigation demand | ing an immediate answer is: R | T. Why the necessity of regeneration
 Il. It is Gods command, Marvel no | that said unto thee. .Ye must be bori again St John iii, 2. AaS F ''2. It is because of mans corrupt na l ture. Genesis vi, 5; Isaiah, 1, 6; lsaial | lii, 6; Jeremiah xvii, 2; Matthew, xv, ls | Galations V, 19-21.
 When man was first placed in thu beautiful. Garden of Eden, surrounded | with it's beautiful fountains and conse crated bowers, no sin had eyer polluted his holy lips. In time, man disobeyec Gods command, and this act or disobe- dience tore man loose from God. severed
 his union with his Maker, and separated
 his soul from the source of spiritual life.
 Before man can get back to this relation in which he was created, It Is necessary that he be regenerated by the Holy Spirit he must be born again Regeneration removes the defacing influence of sin and restores dissolved relationships.
 :, II. What is regeneration?
 i've will consider, first, what 1t Is not.
 '1. It is not church membership.
 Regeneration doth not consist In church membership. Perhaps were many of you asked what reason can you give for the hope that is in you. what title you have to call yourselves Christians-per- haps you could say no more for your- selves than this, namely, that you belong
 to the church..
 Your names may be in the church reg ister, and yet, at the same time, not be in the book of life. It Is not enough that you belong to this or to that cburch-'you must be born again.
 '2. Regeneration doth not consist in baptism.
 If you are basing your hope for a1eav- en on being baptized, when you were young or when you were old, you are building on a sandy foundation.
 Baptism is certainly an ordinance Of the Lord Jesus Christ-it ought certainly to be administered; but then, my dear friends, take care that you do not make a, Christ of your baptism, for there have been many baptized with water and in water, as you were, who were never 'savingly baptized with the Holy Ghost. Paul had a great value for circumcision; but when he saw the Jews resting on their circumcision, he told them circumT cision was nothing, and uncircumcision was nothing, but a new creature. An nanias and Sapphira were baptized, Si- mon Magus was baptized: and, therefore, if you place regeneration. merely in be- ing baptized, in having the outward washing of water, without receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost, you place regeneration in something 1t doth not consist.
 $. Regeneration doth not consist in Morality.
 "I am not speaking against morality f. Is a blessed thing when Jesus Christ is laid as the foundation of it, and could heartily wish that you moral gem tlemen, who are talking SO much Of your morality, I wish we could see lit- tlc more of that than we do. Don't rest upon your morality. Don't make Christ of your morality. If you depend upon morality, if you make a Christ of it. and 20 about to establish righteous ness of your own, and think your mor- ality will recommend you to God, my dear friends, you are building on rot ten foundation, you will find yourselves mistaken. and that the Kingdom of God Is Aot in your heart
 "The rich young ruler was moral man. He paid his debts, was good to his parents. was a good citizen and thought he was keeping the command ments, but according to the record, the young man, with all his morality and honesty, was lost.
 'Nicodemus was a moral man, but this did not satisfy the longings of his soul.
 Nothing but the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ will satisfy the longings of the sinners heart.
 "A man may be a member of the purest church, man may be baptized, do mo- body harm, do a great deal of good. at- tend to all the ordinances of Christian ity and yet at the same time may be @ child of the devil.
 "If a man may go thus far. and yet at the same time miss regeneration what will become of you, who do not keep up a form of religion, who scarcely know the time when you have been at church? What will become of you, who count 1t your pleasure to riot in the day time, to spend the time in rioting and wanton- ness; who are sitting in the scorner's chair, and joining with your evil com who love to dress the children of God in bear skins? What will be- come of you who live in acts of un- cIeauness? Surely, without repentance, you will be lost.
 "If regeneration doth not consist in church membership, nor baptism, nor morality, nor formality, nor reformation, in what doth 1t consist.
 What is renegeration?
 ..Regeneration is a new birth. The very etymoIogy of the word confirms this statement. It is a creation from above. Men may preach and labor for the saliva ion of souls, but God alone can save. Yes inc life which Jesus restores to the soul comes by birth. It Is not a mere renewal of the mind, by dispelling from it the darkness of error, and fmparting to if the illumination of truth Such renewal, my brethren, would be mere Reformation comes through truth imparted, and affects only the ex- tornal manners of life; while regenera- ton comes through grace infused ana affects the deep fountains and well springs of the heart. Reformation Is at- fected by natural means. Regeneration is the product of supernatural agencies.
 Reformation and conversion take place here. Regeneration Is creation from above. As the child in natural birth experiences a fundamental change In the condition of it's being, is intro duced into new element, made acquain- ted with new objects, and begins an en- tirely new mode of existence, so the soul, in It's supernatural birth, experiences a fundamental change in the condition of It's being, Is introduced into the element