Selected From: The Free Presbyterian Magazine and Monthly Record, Vol. 1, No. 2 (June 1896), 54.
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” – John 3:3
Nicodemus was not so bitter against Christ as were the other Pharisees. He was willing to learn. The children of the new birth come to understand that, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh.” There is no virtue in circumcision, as in Paul’s case. They must hear the voice of Christ, there is then a change of heart and a change of fruit. “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5–6). Self-abhorrence is a clear mark of regeneration; sin in you set on fire by the law is another mark of the new birth. Can you say as follows?—“He told me all things that ever I did.”
Your trials and even bitter complaints, believer, I regard as the sign of health. “I am ‘like the slain that lie in the grave.’” “The arrows of the Almighty are within me.” Yes, you may say, his arrows were for many a long day in my soul, so that I became unfit for the daily duties of my calling. The saintly Dr. Love was much afraid of relief from spiritual trouble, because very severe trials from Satan often followed relief. Sometimes you complain of being forsaken, and at other times you can say, “My cup runneth over.” Here is a precious mark of the new birth in the soul—love to Him that begat. “The love of Christ constraineth us.”
A mark of the new birth is drawing near to God in prayer. His children know how to get near him, yes, and they try to keep him when they do get access to him. Jacob wrestled with him and would not let him go until he got the blessing. Mary availed herself of the privilege she had; she sat at his feet. Others were made to look on all things as loss, in comparison with the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. They said, “We beheld his glory, the glory as that of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” When they said so, they got a sight of the glorious sacrifice.
A beautiful mark is a desire that the poor without the fold might be taken in. O taste and see that God is good! Faith, of course, is another mark of the new birth. They are not in total despair. Hear this: “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved; we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Again, they enter into communion and fellowship with God. From the first time you entered into this fellowship, you will never cease entering into it in this world; no, nor throughout eternity. They grow in grace. The graces of the Spirit work mightily in your soul. Love in the child’s soul is after more knowledge. “Show me thy glory.”
Archibald Cook says, “How beautiful would a large mountain of honey appear! When you see this large mountain, consider that a little of it may be eaten by a young girl or boy. They have a taste of what is in the great mountain, both as to its quality and kind.” You have in this world a little taste of his love in your soul. The poor woman who pressed after him in the crowd got a drop of his love. Do you remember when the child asked for a crumb? “Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the master’s table.” This was an empty soul for Jesus to fill. Poor Mary got nothing on earth to fill her soul but Jesus. I think I can say that his poor ones realise great pain in love. When their love is hot, they feel as if their heart would burst. Do not fear that Christ will forsake you; no, as one said, “Jesus would sooner come and suffer again on the cross than that he would leave any of his poor ones on earth.”
Hear another mark of grace—“I must build a temple.” Your desire is to labour for Christ. They require to watch and pray. Another mark is, they see that they must be purified; sin is made exceeding sinful. “Nothing that defileth will enter the kingdom.”
Now I give a word of warning. Without the new birth, a man cannot enter the kingdom, and if not, where is he to go? He must go to where there is weeping and wailing forever. Are you here today refusing Christ? Husband out of Christ, your godly wife will, at the last great day, put her amen to your eternal damnation. And you, ungodly woman, remember that your godly husband will take Christ’s side in giving you the final sentence of eternal damnation. You, ungodly son that broke your saintly parents’ hearts on earth, will have no sympathy from them at the judgment, they will most assuredly acquiesce in the sentence of Christ upon you, which must be, “Depart ye cursed.” The children of Christ will get then such a clear view of his glory and his justice that when he pronounces the fearful sentence, “Depart,” even upon husband, wife, son or daughter, they will say, “Amen, so let it be.” “They refused to hear our pleadings with them on earth, they despised Christ and neglected the great salvation, Thou are just and righteous in punishing them for ever.”
No earthly ties will mar the happiness of God’s people in heaven, “They neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels.” O poor sinner, won’t you consider these awful truths? How can you separate for ever and ever from your godly mother or godly father? How can you separate from godly sister or godly brother? My last mark of the children of the new birth is that they fear. They often speak as follows: “Ah! I am so unlike Christ, my beloved, my fear is that I am so filthy and polluted with sin that I cannot inherit the kingdom.” You may yet be enabled to say, “My beloved is mine and I am his.”1Many churches in Scotland have, since the 1600s, held Communion Friday Fellowship Meetings, in which the laity had religious communion and discussion among themselves. A minister or elder would usually raise the Question from a Scripture verse, for instance Job 8:13, “So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish”. For this Scripture the Question posed might be to ask the brethren to distinguish between the hope of the believer and the hope of the hypocrite. Certain men were called upon to add their thoughts to the initial remarks. Finally, a minister or elder would offer concluding remarks. This piece offers an example of concluding remarks from Rev. D. MacDonald, Shieldaig. (Ed.)
Footnotes
- 1Many churches in Scotland have, since the 1600s, held Communion Friday Fellowship Meetings, in which the laity had religious communion and discussion among themselves. A minister or elder would usually raise the Question from a Scripture verse, for instance Job 8:13, “So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish”. For this Scripture the Question posed might be to ask the brethren to distinguish between the hope of the believer and the hope of the hypocrite. Certain men were called upon to add their thoughts to the initial remarks. Finally, a minister or elder would offer concluding remarks. This piece offers an example of concluding remarks from Rev. D. MacDonald, Shieldaig. (Ed.) ↩︎
