THE CERTAINTY AND BLESSINGS OF HIS FATHERHOOD.
By Jennie L. Ireland
Have You Been Born Again?
“VERILY, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born anew, he can not see the kingdom of God.” At the present time the idea largely prevails among professed Christians that all will enter heaven, no matter what their character now. Resting upon this, souls quiet the voice of conscience, quench the Spirit of God, resist its wooings, and close their ears to the calls of mercy. What foundation have they for their hope of heaven?—None whatever. They are building upon an imaginary foundation. They assume knowledge, and make that assumption the foundation of their character-structure. Such can meet only with disappointment and utter failure. Christ, the Ruler of the kingdom, knows what is essential for entrance to that realm. He is not willing that any should perish, but He will not force any one to become a subject of His kingdom. To those who honestly desire to enter the kingdom of heaven, He clearly points out the way. If they choose to go that way, He will lead them step by step from grace to grace, from victory to victory, until qualified to stand in the presence of the King of glory. One can not enter the kingdom of heaven, says Jesus, unless he is born anew. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” An individual does not reason and argue to convince himself that he is flesh, born of flesh. He does not imagine this to be true. It is an unquestionable fact. So also with that new birth of which Jesus spake—born of the Spirit. It is not imagination, or a vague, unreal conception of the human mind. A spiritual babe is born into the kingdom of God, and is welcomed there. A place has been prepared for it, and the Father’s joy is to watch it grow and develop, and to supply all its needs “according to His riches in glory.” Spiritual food is abundantly supplied—the milk of the Word. Opportunity for spiritual exercise is given, as vigorous development demands, under the watchful eye of a loving Father. Just as the babe of flesh gradually grows in perception of the realities of life, so the sensibilities of this spiritual being enlarge to the realities of the kingdom of heaven into which it is born. That soul is passing from the darkness of sin into the ever-increasing light of eternal day. Every moment brings its opportunity for exercise in spiritual things, and this exercise results in development. Every development brings within reach new realities of purest joy. These all are but a foretaste of the fulness of life that is to be revealed at the second coming of Christ. “As many as received Him [Jesus], to them gave He the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on His name; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” To be a child of God, and to know that you are His child, this is the all-desirable experience, the knowledge which satisfies the soul. By nature we are all born sinners, but God is not the father of sinners. Blood does not make us children of God. Being born by the will of the flesh does not give us this right. The will of man can not make sons and daughters of God. They must be “born of God”—born “by the will of God,” “born anew,” born from above. There is only one way of opening the human heart to this wonderful work, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,” and this salvation will be wrought through this new birth, and the following development. It is the will of God that all should be born anew, and thus possess the right to be His children, “for God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Shall not all perish who do not believe on the name of this Son? Can one be a member of God’s kingdom without that new birth? Can one be born of God and not know his Father? “He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.” Be not deceived. Build not your life on vain hopes or imaginations, but on the sure foundation which God provides. Only in the way pointed out by Him is there escape from eternal destruction. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God; and such we are.” The Father knows His child. The child knows its Father, and is at rest in His presence5in harmony with His rulings. There is a loving bond of union between them. Yet this child was once of the flesh, born in rebellion to God. All its tendencies were opposed to God. Sin was its lawful inheritance. Being in the realm of darkness, where all is perverse, its life was all marred and distorted. To rescue it from merited destruction, God gave all the fulness of heaven in the gift of His Son. It was a wonderful price for such a low, dwarfed, perverted specimen of the living soul, yet God so loved this lost one. And when its heart opened to the name of Jesus, God wrought that miracle of miracles, the new birth, and spiritual life began, and God rejoiced over this helpless little one as it entered His kingdom. He acknowledges it as His own, even before the marrings of its former life are removed. He now ministers to it love, mercy, goodness, truth, and light. As He ministers, the little one learns to know Him, and as it grows into His likeness, the imperfections are removed, till it stands perfected in His likeness. “Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if it shall be manifested, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him even as He is.”