THAT IT IS A BIRTH OF THE SPIRIT
WHAT IS THE NEW BIRTH? AND, WHEN DOES IT TAKE PLACE? I. What is the new birth? I answer, the resurrection. Proof: Isa. lxvi, 7. "Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child." That was Christ. See Rev. xii, 5. "She brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne." David predicted this birth; Ps. ii, 7. "Thou art my Son: this day have I begotten thee."187 But, says the objector, this is his natural birth of the virgin. Let Paul decide that point. See Acts xiii, 29-33. "And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. But God raised him from the dead, and he was seen many days," &c. "And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second Psalm, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee." Here Paul, the divine commentator, calls the resurrection of Christ that birth. But read further, [Col. i, 18,] "And he (Christ) is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the first born from the dead." Why? "That (margin) among all he might have the pre-eminence." All of whom? Rom. viii, 29, answers. "That he might be the first born among many brethren." Rev. i, 5. "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead." Thus we have proved by four good witnesses, that Christ, the great head of the Church was born again, which birth was his resurrection. If the head, so also the members (his body) which is the Church. Because he lives, we shall live also; he is the first born among many brethren. We will now return to Isa. lxvi, 8. "Who hath heard such a thing?" What thing? Why this child brought forth before her final and great travail came. "Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? The implied answer is—Yes. For the earth shall cast out her dead. Shall a nation be born at once? Yes—says Paul, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." When? At the last trump—"For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children." What nation is this to be born at once, but the righteous nation, to whom the gates will be opened? See Isa. xxvi, 2. Who are the children of Zion but the children of God, and what can its birth at once be, but their resurrection from the dead. That the resurrection is here brought to view, is clear from what follows. Verse 9. "Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause (margin, beget) to bring forth? saith the Lord: shall I cause (beget) to bring forth and shut the womb? saith thy God. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her all ye that love her; rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her; that ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance (margin, brightness) of her glory." Read to the 16th verse and you are carried down to the time that the indignation of the Lord is made known towards his enemies, by his revelation from heaven in flaming fire. 2 Thess. i, 7, 8. Thus every thing in its order: first, the head, then the members, or as Paul says, 1 Cor. xv, 23: "Every man in his own order, Christ the first fruits; afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming." For he is the first born from the dead, that among all his brethren he might, as our elder brother, have the pre-eminence. And those who are worthy to obtain the world to come, "are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection." Luke xx, 35, 36. Thus we see the resurrection from the dead is a birth. We pass to show in the second place THAT IT IS A BIRTH OF THE SPIRIT.
1 Pet. iii, 18. "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened (or made alive ) by the Spirit." And in Rom. viii, 11, we read, "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken (make alive) your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." 1 Cor. xv, 44-46. "It is sown a natural body: it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man, Adam, was made a living soul, the last Adam, was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterwards that which was spiritual." How clear Paul is in his reasoning: first, in order, is the natural birth which is necessary to an existence in the present state; afterward, a birth by the Spirit, which is necessary to render us immortal and give us an existence in the world of glory to come. And in verse 49 he adds, "As we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." And a reason is given showing the necessity in the next verse. Verse 50: "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." Therefore as we have an inheritance pure and incorruptible, [1 Pet. i, 4,] we must have pure and incorruptible bodies to inherit it. Hence "ye must be born again;" or, as in the margin, from above, i. e., heaven. For, says Paul, [2 Cor. v, 1-5,] when the same truth is presented. "We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven." Verse 4: "For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit." What for? Why that when Jesus comes, he that hath raised up Christ from the dead, may quicken us by his Spirit that dwelleth in us. Again, Eze. xxxvii, 12-14, "Therefore prophesy and say unto them, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live." Here is the whole house of Israel raised up from their graves and made alive by the Spirit of God. Thus we have shown that the resurrection is a birth, and a birth of the Spirit. Let us now examine our Saviour's instructions to Nicodemus, [John iii, 4,] and see if it will harmonize with this view. When Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God," he exclaimed, "How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered by saying, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." In this declaration we are taught that two births are absolutely necessary to enter the kingdom of God, and only two. 1st, a birth of water—2d, a birth of the Spirit. Let us consider WHAT IS BEING BORN OF WATER?
Some tell us baptism is meant, and that that baptism is the new birth. So when Christ says, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit" he means, be baptized, &c. Such held that conversion is the birth of the Spirit, and that the two are so intimately connected that the change by the Spirit is not effected except in the act of baptism, making baptism a saving ordinance. And indeed, if the birth of water is baptism, I see no way to avoid the conclusion. Others tell us that baptism is meant, but simply as emblematical of the birth of the Spirit at conversion. If this be so, all who make conversion a prerequisite of baptism, are wrong; for they make that which is emblematical follow that of which it is the emblem. And in the case of adults, no one would baptize except the individual professed faith in God and a willingness to obey him. Christ says, first born of the water, and then of the Spirit, but this view reverses God's order. But this birth of water I understand to be the natural birth, which is in fact a water birth. And thus our Saviour explains himself in the next verse, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh." To what I ask, can this apply but to the natural birth? And how this accords with Paul's teaching in 1 Cor. xv, 44-49. Read it carefully. "The first man, Adam, was made a living soul, the last Adam, was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterwards that which was spiritual. And as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." The view usually taken, is, that flesh, the body, is born of the flesh, and the spirit or soul is born of the Spirit. But Jesus says, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit." And this accords with other scriptures. Gen. vi, 3: "My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he (the man) also is flesh." Again Ps. lxxviii, 39: "God did not stir up all his wrath, for he remembered that they were but flesh." Therefore, that which is born of the flesh is flesh—natural—animal—of the earth—earthly; but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit—spiritual—heavenly—i. e., born from above—our house from heaven—after the image of the Heavenly Adam, who is a quickening spirit. In John iii, 8, he explains the nature of those born of the Spirit: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, (i. e., willeth or pleaseth,) 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." So is every one; so is the individual. Mark! it does not say so is the spirit, nor so is his birth, nor the operations of the Spirit in his birth. But so is the person. How? Why, unseen and unknown in his movements to mortal eyes. For things unseen are eternal. They move at pleasure and with speed inconceivable. Now to act is the end of all rational existence. To act at pleasure, is a necessary concomitant of a happy state of existence. God will make his people happy. Yea, says John, [1 John iii, 2,] "We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." Then, says David, "I shall be satisfied." Now when our bodies are quickened by that Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, (and all his saints will be, when he comes,) we shall in our movements resemble him—be as the wind. Christ after his resurrection appeared, to, and vanished from his disciples, and they could neither see him in his approach or departure. Thus after breaking bread to the two disciples at Emmaus, he vanished out of their sight. Upon another occasion he appeared in their midst while the doors were all shut. Again, Jesus says, [Luke xx, 35,] "They which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: neither can they die any more; for they are equal unto angels, and are the children of God, being the CHILDREN OF THE RESURRECTION." Equal to angels! Think what must have been the speed of that angel that visited Daniel. Such will be the speed of the saints. In Heb. i, 14, we are told that the angels are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for the heirs of salvation, and doubtless they do so; yet we see them not. We have no powers of vision to behold them. We see through a glass darkly, and only by faith. But we shall see as we are seen, and know as we are known. Our powers of vision are so gross and limited, that the movements of such beings are imperceptible, and would require a miracle to render them visible. We have an instance recorded where God removed the veil and permitted mortals to see the movements of God's angels. 2 Kings vi, 15-17. The king of Syria sent out an army to take Elisha at Dothan. His servant rising early and looking abroad, saw the city surrounded. And he said to Elisha, "Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, fear not; for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord I pray thee open the eyes of the young man; and he saw and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." Thus "the angels of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him," and we see them not. But thanks be to God, the time is at hand, when as the prophet says, [Isa. xxv, 7,] "The Lord shall destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations." Then shall we discern the things now unseen, being eternal in their nature. As Stephen, the veil being removed, he looked up and saw Jesus standing on the right hand of God. Acts vii, 55. So shall we see the "King of kings, and Lord of lords," "who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can see." 1 Tim. vi, 16. The glory of God cannot be seen nor approached unto in mortality. Why, we cannot even look one of God's creatures, the sun, in the face when he shineth in his strength, much less behold the glory of its Creator, God, in his fullness. John turned to see Jesus on the isle of Patmos, and such was the effect188upon him that he "fell at his feet as dead." So Paul on his way to Damascus, a little ray of Christ's glorified body fell upon him, and he fell to the earth and was instantly made blind, and remained so, until God miraculously healed him. If such was the effect of the glory in which he appeared then upon them, what will it be when he comes in all the fullness of the glory of the eternal Godhead. Do we not see that we must be born again of that Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead, to even see the kingdom of God. Glory to God, we have the promise, [Phil, iii, 21,] that when Jesus comes, "he will change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself." Then shall we possess powers to behold and gaze upon the glories of the Eternal, even as angels who always behold their Father's face. Then shall we know them even as we are known by them as being born again, as children of the resurrection, we shall be equal to them; and having the privilege of the kingdom and the city we shall see God in all his glory. Matt. v, 8: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." For this Jesus prayed, [John xvii, 24,] "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may see my glory which thou hast given me." In Rev. xxii, 3, John saw in vision its fulfillment, "There shall be no more curse; but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face." From this view we perceive the necessity of the new birth, and a birth of that Spirit that shall change our natures from mortality to immortality, which change is never produced at conversion. Hence conversion cannot be the birth of the Spirit referred to by our Saviour in his conversation with Nicodemus. But, as we have shown from the Saviour's own teachings at that time, and by other scriptures, the birth of water is the natural birth, which is necessary to our present state of existence in mortal bodies. And the birth of the Spirit is the resurrection, which birth is equally necessary to our existence in the world to come in immortal bodies, that we may see, and enter, and enjoy the privileges of the kingdom of God. Those who hold this birth of the Spirit to be conversion, make two births of the Spirit necessary to enter the kingdom of God. Who are prepared to take that position? Where is it taught in the Word? and where at all? that conversion is the birth of the Spirit? Again, in taking that position three births are made necessary to enter into the kingdom of God: one, a natural birth, and two spiritual. But the teachings of Christ to Nicodemus are conclusive, and settle all these points, for he teaches that two, and only two are necessary to enter the kingdom of God. And that he that is born of the Spirit, is like the wind unseen and unknown in his movements. Does conversion impart to us this power? Certainly not. Then conversion is not the new birth.