THE GATEWAY INTO THE KINGDOM

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 81, 9 August 1929, Page 2

THE GATEWAY INTO THE KINGDOM

(By Pastor L. 11. Harvey). (Continued). I We now reach the vital .question; “How can a man be born 'again?” Hear the answer: Not by works of righteousness , which we have clone, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing Hf the Holy Spirit. Titus 3: 5. It is not through self-effort. It is absolutely the creative work of God. No man can assist in his own birth. It is accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit through the instrumentality of the Word. It is a second generation. The first was by the flesh; this second is through the Holy Spirit. It is the provision of His Power and His Love to meet your need and mine. Place with that John 1: 12, 13, “As many as received Him, to them gave He power (the right, or privilege, margin) to become the sons of God,/even to them that believe on His name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” That presents the human, preparatory side —to believe and receive. Some have come to the place where they believe Him, and accept Him as the Saviour of the world. But that is not enough. We are not only to belieVe' Him first, but we must then receive Him by accepting Him personally to be what He offers Himself to be. When the

truth of salvation only in Christ is believed Can'd accepted with the whole heart unto obedience, then the spirit creates us anew. We are horn again. And as in every other great transaction of redemption, personal fellowship with the Saviour Himself is involved. As many as believed and received Him, to them gave He the privilege, the right, to become the sons of Gad. They became the recipients of the power of God that will change the current of life. Are you discouraged? Are you toiling away from day to-day, disheartened over the failures of 1 , the past? Are you tired of the disillusions, hack slidings, and stumblings of your present life? Take courage. Hope sees a star, the bright and morning star. He who puts the blush on the cheek of the rose will ‘’touch your life with the beauty of His own matchles s purity through the importation of His divine life. The hand that leads forth the starry Host will untangle the snarls of I your life. You may become a partaker of the divine nature, even the life of God Himself. He who takes the rainbow and weaves a scarf to wrap around the shoulders of the dying N storm, Will wrap around the storm clouds of your life and mine the mantle of His I glorious promises. His power, His life, His victory. " Haiivje you received that life Have you received that power? It is for every Christian. But it will never bo poured out upon unregenerated lives. You can have it. Ask Him for it, if. you haven’t already done so. Turn away from the world, the devil, and the flesh, and 1 yield to Christ. You can have this new life now, as you bow your head. The way is made plain in verses 14 and 15 of the third chapter of John: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of ma n be lifted up: that who soever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” It is s 0 simple that many are dissatisfied with it. They want something complex, involved, intricate. They want to feel some pain or penance, some sacrifice or suffering. They would make it an act of works, not of, grace. It is not hard, but so simple that they stumble over it. It is simply God’s response to man’s yielding. It is as simple as look and live. The spirit of God through faith produces life in the soul. Jesus recited Israel’s case a s illustrative. You recall the arid des.ert, and the fiery, stinging serpents. The groans of the dying were heard upon every hand. The wail of death ran through the,camp, and the plague raged on. But in the provided remedy, the poor victim had but to look with faith to be healed. The pallor of death vanished, life surged through the arteries, the bloom of health returned to the cheek, and he was rescued from the jaws of death. Just so has the old serpent bitten each member of the human family. We are a smitten, dying race. There is but one remedy, the uplifted Christ, on whom we are to look, on whom believe, to whom wo come, and of whom receive. Jesus Christ is just what we need. Ho is the only door through which vve are to enter the Kingdom eternal.