Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1909-06-10
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Theme: Regeneration

l If1eEACs SCSCAOA0SAON
John 3: .Ye must be born. again"
This is fundamental In the teaching
OF Jesus. It lies at the root or all
| Christian experience. 1t is as true
as it is terse, as philosophic as It IS
pungent. as timely as It is 1nsistent..
No man can know the JOY OF the
| Christian life until he has been born
| anew.
This statement Of Jesus to Nicode-
j! n,ns was startling. It was both a
challenge and a rebuke, a bit of sage
counsel and a quiet though terrible
arraignment. !.
Nicodemus came in the name OF
The class whose representative his
t torfcally he has been and Immediate
" he was. In their own eyes they
held the essence of wisdom unto life
eternal. 1--WE know that Thou art a
teacher come from God" I'VE
, know" In their opinion it was nee
essary/ for all the world to become
7egenerated in the bonds Of Judaism
before the world could enjoy a saw
ing knowledge of the only true God.
They were Gods people, His chosen.
the sons of Abraham. They were
quite familiar with the idea Of a new
birth. for they declared that the
world would have to be born to a
knowledge of their spiritual posses
sions before the world could possess
the gift of the divine favor.
No doubt Nicodemus thought he
could instruct Christ. In all likeli-
hood he had little prescience of the
reception he would receive. It is
quite probable that he considered
himself a fit challenger OF Christ.
Behold the challenged is the challen-
ger, the representative of the wisdom
Of Israel a pupil Of a despised Naza-
rene. 1t Is not to be wondered that
Nicodemus was amazed.
Jesus declared strong doctrine.
aye must be born again." "Ye," the
leaders and righteous Of Israel!
"Ye," teachers and priests and pre-
lates, learned and intellectual, who
have tithed mint and cummin and
anise and forgotten the weightier
matters Of the law, "ye" must be
born anew!
If He had said that the GreekB and
Romans, barbarians and foreigners,
Gentiles, without the pale, had to be
born again, there would have been
no How can these things be?" But
"ye!"
And yet it was quite correct teach
Ing and most sublimated thought
AS truly as it is necessary that a man
must be born to enjoy the exercise of
physical faculties in a physical world
so truly is it requisite that in the
world of the Spirit he shaft undergo
a process of spiritual borning- 1t is
1GrQSCorV fhqf a man cho11 nnfor the
world before he can experience the
varied activities Of physical life He
must become alive to the intellectual
environment Of humanity before he
can have experience therein Not
otherwise is it with the world Of the
Spirit We must be born. Born to
another and a larger as a higher
plane Of living; born again.
There Is nothing permissive about
It. Ye must" It is the law Of the
spiritual kingdom. 1t is the law OF
all life. IF you are alive to one
world and dead to the consciousness
of another you must" be born fntr
It, into a consciousness of its reality
before you may enjoy It's experiences
Its prerogatives and its engagements
What Jesus said to Nicodemus He
says to the world to-day. 1t is the
summons Of God to the world. eye
must be born again" Born to the
sense Of a larger life. Born to the
consciousness of a fuller and a bet.
ter life. Born to the spiritual life O.
God III Jesus Christ our Lord.
Upon 40 other terms is it possible
for men to enter the kingdom of Coo
or to see It. And the wonder is that
they sc rebel. It is not an invitation
or command 70 sole IooA-,,,t;oo 49,.
to q larger self realization. It is no,
a call to sin, but a promise Of spirit
ual growth. It is not irksome, bu
distinctly profitable. Humanity ha,
nothing to lose and everything tt
gain.
, Regeneration is the need of this a
OF every time. Men never needed t,
be born anew more than they do to
day. Born to the better things, bor1
to the larger world, born to the en-
joyment Of the spiritual kingdom O
, the al1-wise God.
, Beside, the JOY Of the spiritual 1ff
the pleasures of the world are vain
Inc capacities of men are limited b
the physical environment in whic,
4 they live Only in the world of tn
spirit can the faculties of man be ad
equately exercised and his powers in
I hnttely enlarged. But to know an
to enjoy this kingdom and its lit
we must, as Nicodemus, be Dor
e anew. Being born into It we ma
live therein; a large life, a full an
s free and varied and soul-invigoratin
4 life. The life of God flooding an
rejuvenating- the life of Go
give us the desire for regeneratfo
and the grace to willto be born agai1
III
n The Model Woman.
IT, A woman may be model, Marie
n or single, but not ideal. The de;