The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-08-14
ON REGENERATION
INTERESTING SERMON AT BAPTIST
 CHURCH BY MIR. TALIAFERRO.
Greenvflle Minister Who is Filling Pulpit of Dr. stakeIy, Spoke On
 Text from ywhn fiji, q.

Text from JWhA III, q. On the subject of Regeneration" Rev.
 w. A. Taliaferro. of Greenville. preach
 ed a strong and forceful sermon yester- day morning at the First Baptist , Church.
 1 MT. Taliaferro is filling the pulpit
 of that church during the vacation of
 the pastor, Rev. C. A. Stakely.
 The text yesterday was taken from
 John iii. ', Marvel not that I said , unto thee, ye must be born anew" 1 MT. Taliaferro said:
 This doctrine of the new birth seems : to have been to Nicodemus. a ruler and ! teacher of Israel. as unknown and as mysterious as 1t Is to the average con- ! stood high in the ecclesiastical and in- 1 tellectual life of his day, yet when the | Master, to whom he had gone by night
 for consultation, begins to unfold the l great doctrine of regeneration Nico- demus begins to marvel and to ask: 1 How can these things be?" And so it | is today. So little has this difficult
 though aI-important doctrine been | emphasized. in our eagerness to get
 people into the churches. that vast numbers of our church members are as | densely ignorant of such a doctrine as was Nicodemus of old.
 , As Baptists we owe 1t to the world to emphahfze thls doctrine of the new birth. In fact 1t Is one of our dis tinctive. doctrines--a regenated church
 membership. Some one has aptly said: One may be born pedo- baptist. but
 to be Baptist he must be born again. True one may be born with a decided Baptist bias, but before he can become
 member of a Baptist Church there must be a profession of faith on the part of the individual which throws the burden of responsibility on himself rather than on the church If he Is not regenerated man.
 NN H~I hot oh 1nA~ might learn to appreciate quality ratheri
 than quantity in the building up of our
 memberships.
 So in coming to consider this most important doctrine let us consider,
 First, Something of It's Importance We notice here that when Nicodemus came to Jesus seeking the way of sal vation and light the Master did not say
 shouldst be born anew, but Eye must
 '' I. '' An important 6uty-"Exept
 man be born anew he cannot see the Kingdom of God"
 There seem to be some things in Gods word given us both for duty and for guidance that may be disregarded and still our hope of eternal life be all question that the soul that Is to dwell forever with Him in that eternal city must be the regenerated one.
 A good many people seem to think. ana SOHle say, lHdI uOeSH tdht much difference what a mans creed is so he is honest in it.. The devil never invented more damnable lie. It makes all the difference in the world. of God, says Jesus. and that the way of the new birth. Except a man be born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God" So that leads us to know that there is
 2. No substitute for it-Some of our Baptist brethren, with more zeal than knowledge. together with some of our other deep water friends, seem to so stress d) Baptism: To that extent ,s a means of one's salvation. Others there be. with less water and no war rant, who assume the authority of making @ church mewbership the banish, re-mortem, to eternal dark ness every poor soui that crosses over the river" without the pale of the church. And yet if we will but take the trouble to read an interesting ac- count in Acts viii we will find the story of one Simon who was preached to, baptized by and doubtless received as a member of the Jerusalem church. by Phillip. and yet later on when Peter came preaching about the Holy Spirit and he tries to buy the power of the Spirit with. money Peter tells him, face to face: Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter. for thy heart is not right before God" While we should urge, rather than discourage, for the regenerated man both baptism and church membership, we should strive. as does Gods word. to make 1t clear that these things are no substitute for the new birth and without 1t they prove delusion rather than blessing. Again there are those who seem to think that the (3) performance of reli- In some way take the place of the Spiritual new birth. In other TbSTds tRey re striving to 9rk eor s%d 9T trembling. forgetting that 1t Is God that worketh in them both to will and performance pc % mt nee of of the oo religious duty is is the, result of a visible manifestation, rather. than the means, of salayation;; works and religious rites without a heart, turn to Luke xviii. s-14. Notice that religionist. He was He gave a tenth of all he got. mod el he was for most of us so far as rites said os are o9 who afar off in the sadows of the tenn pie smote upon his breast and in hum in chiidiike dependenee, pleading for mercy and for help. this man went down to his house Justified, rather than and ceremonioes could have taken the place of regeneration neither this Pharisee nor Nicodemus deserved such
 
 We might speak of morality, culture, and a host of other substitutes, all good fin themselves. but dangerous beyond all exception when we become so blind ed to Scriptural truth as to endeavor to substitute them for the new birth.
 One other only let us mention; lD Orthodoxy of creed-Of all other falla- cious substitutes, probably this Is the most insidious and dangerous. One may believe in an historic way, or even in an intellectual way every word of the Book, and yet at heart never be, different creature TO illustrate. he may be as sound in his belief of Scrip tural truth as the. devil is. and yet be almost as vile There can be no doubt but that the devil knows that. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. that he has power on earth to save sinners, that the Bible is the word of God. He be- lieves 1t even If he does try to keep us doxy of his belief isn't worth anything with a devils heart. Paul says: T thank God that ye became obedient from the heart to that form of doctrine whereunto ye were delivered" Only that orthodoxy of faith that carries