The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1919-12-11

Light, anu ulBut
for him can be no
more; In future he'll walk in the light.
"A man of the Pharisees, named Mic
0demus," so upright, so good, so re-
ligious, such a charming gentleman,
surely the Lord will welcome him with
open armsl But no.. Abruptly he de-
clares that this splendid man has not
yet begun to live: Except man be
born again, he cannot perceive the
kingdom of God" He cannot even
have right thoughts about 1t, to say
nothing Of his entering 1t.
He has come, saying; "We know
that thou art teacher come from God,
for no man can do these miracles that
thou doest, except God be with him."
And, oh, what lesson this Teacher
come from God has for him! Here"
thinks he, "is one who can teach me
something that shall make me better
man than I am" and he learns that
the flesh does not need teaching be-
cause 1t has been judged that all that
is born of 1t is still but flesh; and that
nan in the flesh cannot be made fit
for God. He must, by second birth in
the power of the Holy Spirit, be
brought into the new creation. And
nothing short of this can ever meet the
mind of God.
Nicodemus speaks Of miracles, but
the Lord will not stop to discuss such
trifies. He will tell at once of the
greatest and most important of all
miracles: the regeneration Of soul.
Men think that If they can understand
miracles, they could understand Christ
and the new birth. Oh, If they would
only believe what Is written, that "In
him was life; and the life was the
Light Of menu Once you have the
life that is in Christ Jesus you are in
the light forever, and shall never have
any difficulty about miracles or about
anything that you find In Holy Scrip
turel
Striking II is that the only place in all
Scripture In which the new birth Is
pressed is here. where the Lord presses
It upon this upright man. All, If he,
with his goodness and religion, must
be born again, what folly to claim ex-
ception from this necessity for any
man that lives today!
But how? He is bewildered by the
thought of such a change. "How can
these things be?" And the Lord makes
no answer. He is not at pains to ex-
plain the workings Of the Holy Spir-
It. The question Is not, do you I'M
derstandp but "Do you believe what
God saysw If so, there is another
must" in this discourse that explains
It all: ''Even so must the Son Of Man
be lifted up: that whosoever believeth
In him shall not perish, but have eter-
nal life"
Except man be born Of water and
of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom Of God" Water Is In Scrip
ture the symbol both of the Word Of
God and of the Spirit Of God. The
Holy Spirit works through the word
to accomplish the regeneration of the
soul, bringing the sinner face to face
with Christ. In this regeneration a
judicial cleansing is effected. 1t Is
that of which we read In Titus rs,
"the washing Of regeneration" and Of
which the Lord jspoke to Peter, declar-
Ing that 1t cleanses "every whit" By
the Spirits ministry In the word the
sinner is brought to see what the Lord
pointed out to Nicodemus, that he Is
the antique Of the brazen serpent, en-
during on the cross of shame the judg-
ment that was the sinners due. The
moment he accepts that he Is born
again.
One came to me saying, / cannot
understand about the new birth and
am so distressed over your insistence
upon the necessity of 1t.
at is not necessary to understand
Il in order to attain It," replied, but
simply to believe in him who has made
IL possible"
"But 1 have been taught all my
life that If was good would go to
heaven when i die"
"ADd so was l." said, "but IL is not
true. But do you believe the Cos
pei? Do you believe that when Jesus
died 1t was for you and that because
he died for you he is exalted in
heaven?"
81 do with all my heart"
"Then you believe that Jesus is the
ChristT
"Yes.''
"very well. then, read this" and as
/ placed my finger on l John 3 Il, she
read IL aloud: whatsoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of
God" And with cry Of joy she ex-
claimed: ooh, see 1t nowl see 1t
powl j am savedr