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John 3:7
Ye
must be born again. |
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Regeneration is a subject which lies
at the very basis of salvation, and we should be very diligent
to take heed that we really are "born again," for there are
many who fancy they are, who are not. Be assured that the name
of a Christian is not the nature of a Christian; and that
being born in a Christian land, and being recognized as
professing the Christian religion is of no avail whatever,
unless there be something more added to it-the being "born
again," is a matter so mysterious, that human words cannot
describe it. "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou
hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of
the Spirit." Nevertheless, it is a change which is known and
felt: known by works of holiness, and felt by a gracious
experience. This great work is supernatural. It is not an
operation which a man performs for himself: a new principle is
infused, which works in the heart, renews th e soul, and
affects the entire man. It is not a change of my name, but a
renewal of my nature, so that I am not the man I used to be,
but a new man in Christ Jesus. To wash and dress a corpse is a
far different thing from making it alive: man can do the one,
God alone can do the other. If you have then, been "born
again," your acknowledgment will be, "O Lord Jesus, the
everlasting Father, Thou art my spiritual Parent; unless Thy
Spirit had breathed into me the breath of a new, holy, and
spiritual life, I had been to this day 'dead in trespasses and
sins.' My heavenly life is wholly derived from Thee, to Thee I
ascribe it. 'My life is hid with Christ in God.' It is no
longer I who live, but Christ who liveth in me." May the Lord
enable us to be well assured on this vital point, for to be
unregenerate is to be unsaved, unpardoned, without God, and
without hope.
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Proverbs
18:12
Before destruction the heart of man is haughty.
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It is an old and common saying, that
"coming events cast their shadows before them;" the wise man
teaches us that a haughty heart is the prophetic prelude of
evil. Pride is as safely the sign of destruction as the change
of mercury in the weather-glass is the sign of rain; and far
more infallibly so than that. When men have ridden the high
horse, destruction has always overtaken them. Let David's
aching heart show that there is an eclipse of a man's glory
when he dotes upon his own greatness. 2 Sam. 24:10. See
Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty builder of Babylon, creeping on the
earth, devouring grass like oxen, until his nails had grown
like bird's claws, and his hair like eagle's feathers. Dan.
4:33. Pride made the boaster a beast, as once before it made
an angel a devil. God hates high looks, and never fails to
bring them down., All the arrows of God are aimed at proud
hearts. O Christian, is thine heart haughty this evening? For
pride can get into the Christian' s heart as well as into the
sinner's; it can delude him into dreaming that he is "rich and
increased in goods, and hath need of nothing." Art thou
glorying in thy graces or thy talents? Art thou proud of
thyself, that thou hast had holy frames and sweet experiences?
Mark thee, reader, there is a destruction coming to thee also.
Thy flaunting poppies of self-conceit will be pulled up by the
roots, thy mushroom graces will wither in the burning heat,
and thy self-sufficiency shall become as straw for the
dunghill. If we forget to live at the foot of the cross in
deepest lowliness of spirit, God will not forget to make us
smart under His rod. A destruction will come to thee, O unduly
exalted believer, the destruction of thy joys and of thy
comforts, though there can be no destruction of thy soul.
Wherefore, "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."
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