73 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
73 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
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THE NEW BIRTH
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The New Birth is indispensably necessary before any soul can
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enter Heaven. In order to love spiritual things a man must be
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made spiritual. The natural man may hear abut them, and have a
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correct idea of the doctrine of them, but he cannot love them (2
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Thess. 2:10), nor find his joy in them. None can dwell with God
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and be eternally happy in HIs presence until a radical change has
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been wrought in him, a change from sin to holiness; and this
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change must take place on earth.
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How could one possibly enter a world of ineffable holiness
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having spent all of his time in sin, i.e. pleasing self? How
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could he possibly sing the song of the Lamb if his heart had
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never been tuned into it? How could he endure to behold the
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awful majesty of God face to face who never before so much as say
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Him "through a glass darkly" by the eye of faith? As it is ex-
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cruciating torture for eyes that have long been confined to dis-
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mal darkness to suddenly gaze upon the bright beams of the midday
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sun, so will it be when the unregenerate behold Him who is light.
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Instead of welcoming such a sight, "all kindreds of the earth
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shall wail because of Him" (Rev. 1:7); yea, so overwhelming will
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be their anguish, they will call to the mountains and rocks,
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"Fall on us, and hide us from the face of HIm that sitteth on the
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throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb" (Rev. 6:16). And my
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reader, that will be your experience, unless God regenerates you.
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That which takes place at regeneration is the reversal of
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what happened at the fall. The one born again is, through
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Christ, and by the Spirit's operation, restored to union and com-
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munion with God: the one who before was spiritually dead, is now
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spiritually alive (Jn. 5:25). Just as spiritual death was
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brought about by the entrance into man's being of a principle of
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evil, so spiritual life is the introduction of a principle of
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holiness. God communicates a new principle, as real and potent
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as sin. Divine grace is not imparted. A holy disposition is
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wrought in the soul. A new temper of spirit is bestowed upon the
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inner man. But no new faculties are created within him, rather
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are his original faculties enriched, enobled and empowered.
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A regenerated person is a "new creature in Christ Jesus" (2
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Cor. 5:17). Reader, is this true of you? Let each one of us
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test and search himself in the presence of God by these ques-
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tions. How stands my heart affected towards sin? Is there a
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deep humiliation and godly sorrow after I have yielded thereto?
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Is there a genuine detestation of it? Is my conscience tender so
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that my peace is disturbed by what the world calls "trifling
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faults" or "little things"? Am I humbled when conscious of the
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risings of pride and self-will? Do I loathe my inward corrup-
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tions? Are my affections dead toward the world and alive toward
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God? What engages my mind in seasons of recreation? Do I find
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spiritual exercises pleasant and joyous, or irksome and bur-
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densome? Can I truthfully say, "How sweet are Thy words unto my
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taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth"? (Psa. 119:103). Is
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communion with God my hightest joy? Is the glory of God dearer
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to me than all the world contains?
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A. W. Pink
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Seven New Things which all believers now possess:
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Repentance -- A new mind about God (Acts 20:21).
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Justification -- A new state before God (Rom. 4:25).
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Regeneration -- A new life from God (Tit. 3:5).
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Conversion -- A new attitude toward God (Matt. 18:3).
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Sonship -- A new relationship with God (I Jn. 3:1).
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Sanctification -- A new position before God (Jude 1).
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Glorification -- A place with God (Rom. 8:30).
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