Faith in Christ

Faith in Christ

(No. 3095)

TO MEN OF BUSINESS, PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 1908.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE FRIENDS' MEETING-HOUSE,

BISHOPSGATE STREET, ON TUESDAY MORNING, MAY 8, 1877.

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved."

Acts 16:31.

THE subject which I have chosen for this morning and which may God the
Holy Spirit bless to us, is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the way
of salvation. Nothing can be of more importance than this subject and,
therefore, nothing will more thoroughly interest a company of practical
businessmen.

The preaching of the Gospel has become, happily, very common in these
days. You may hear it at the corner of the streets and any day you may
have the same message pushed into your hands in the form of a tract as
you go about your business. Since the late revival, when so many were
drawn together to hear the Word of God, I should hope that there are
few now among us who are unaware that the religion of the Gospel sets
forth faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation. I
have no doubt that there may remain a remnant to whom this will be news
but, in this city, after the great stir that was made, I should suppose
that at least the vast majority of intelligent, educated people know
that this is the teaching of Christ's ministers–that whoever believes
in the Lord Jesus Christ is not condemned, but has passed from death
unto life.

Salvation by Grace through Faith is no new Doctrine. In addition to its
being in the Word of God, as taught by our Lord and His Apostles, it is
the distinguishing Doctrine of the Christian religion all through its
history–and it is always clearest when that Christianity is most pure.
Especially is it the very heart and essence of Protestantism. When
Luther was upon the Santa Scala at Rome, hoping to earn merit and
indulgences by creeping up and down that idolized staircase upon his
knees, repeating many prayers, this text came to him, "The just shall
live by faith." And he got up and forsook his superstitions once and
for all. Finding peace by faith in Jesus, he began at once to declare
to others the message which had brought life and light and freedom and
joy to his own soul! The Reformers, following Luther's example, made
this the cardinal point of their preaching. And today it is still true
that the article of a standing or a falling Church is the Doctrine of
Justification by Faith, or that men, believing in Jesus Christ, are
accounted just before the bar of God.

Let me set forth the manner of this Doctrine. We have sinned against
God and it is inevitable that sin should be followed by punishment.
"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" And a judge who never
punishes does not do right, but neglects his office. God, who is all
Love, as a necessary consequence is also sternly just, for the omission
of Justice from His Character would be the omission of an essential
ingredient of love. God, therefore, must punish sin. And every
transgression must have its just recompense of reward. But His
only-begotten Son, in wondrous compassion to our souls, came into this
world, took upon Himself our nature and veiled the Godhead in human
flesh and, being found in fashion as a Man, He suffered in our place
the penalty which was due to the Law of God–

"He bore, that we night never bear, His Father's righteous ire."

He took the debts of this people upon Himself and upon the Cross, by
death, discharged them all–so that they are blotted out and can never
be mentioned against His people any more forever. But who are His
people? Who are the people for whom He died? Who are those for whom He
was an actual, literal and efficient Substitute? They are known by
this–that they believe in Him. According to His own saying, "My sheep
hear My voice, and I know them, and they

follow Me." Our Lord tells us that the Son of Man was lifted up, "That
whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
And yet again, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life." By His death our Lord has made a full Atonement for
the sins of all who believe in Him and they are, therefore, justified
in the sight of God!

This believing in Christ has been illustrated in a great many ways and
I do but repeat what you have often heard. Believing is relying upon,
or trusting. It is not a mere assent to a dogma, or the acknowledgment
of a fact of the past. It is trust–trust in that Christ who died upon
the Cross, that through His merit, He can remove the guilt and
punishment of sin. And also trust in that Christ who rose from the dead
and is gone into Heaven, that by the power of His eternal Spirit, He
can cleanse us from the dominion and habit of sin. That is the faith
which saves–trust in the living Jesus who is able to save unto the
uttermost them that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make
intercession for them. We have heard faith illustrated by the picture
of a child in a burning house. In vain does he attempt to escape from
the fire. The flames are bursting into the room. He rushes to an upper
window, he hangs there grasping the sill. Can he be saved? Yes, a
strong man stands beneath him and cries, "Drop into my arms! I will
catch you." The boy looks down. He observes that the man is strong. He
believes that fact, but that belief does not save him, though it leads
up to it. The act which really saves him is when he trustfully lets go
of every other hold and simply drops into the arms which are ready to
receive him. Here you and I, by nature, hang in danger, and Christ
beneath us says, "Drop, and you shall be safe in the arms of Jesus."
The act of faith is not believing that Christ is an actual Person, nor
the believing that He is able to save us, but the practical act of the
mind arising out of the two beliefs which leads us to give up
everything else and trust to

Him.

I remember hearing an illustration of faith which struck me very much.
It came from an idiot. They had been teaching him all they could, but
it was weary work. He had a little brain left and, after long teaching,
and especially teaching him the great Doctrine of Faith, one of the
teachers began to question him and said, "John, have you a soul?" The
poor creature replied, "No, I have no soul." The teacher felt grieved
and thought that he had spent his labor for nothing. But the poor
fellow went on to say, "I had a soul once, but I lost it. And Jesus
Christ found it and so I always let Him keep it, and so it is His and
not mine." Truly, the very essence of faith lies there–the
consciousness of being lost in ourselves and found in Christ, and the
leaving of one's soul in Jesus' hands! When we go to Christ, faith does
very much the same as when a man takes his money and deposits it at the
bank. I see you come up to the counter and pay in very large sums of
money. But you do not come back in half-an-hour and say, "Show me my
money." You do not stand there at the counter half the day to watch the
sovereigns as they are counted in order that you may make sure that
your money is safe! No, you trust in the bank and go your way. So do we
deposit our souls in the hands of Christ, committing them to Him as
unto a faithful Creator. And then we say with the Apostle Paul, "I know
whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that
which I have committed unto Him unto that day."

Now, this believing in Christ has appeared to some persons to be far
too simple and they have said, "Well, but why is not everybody saved,
if they are to be saved merely by trusting in Christ?" Truly, it is
very simple, and yet of all the mental acts that are ever performed by
mankind, this is one of the most difficult. "How so?" you ask. I will
express myself in a paradox–its easiness makes it difficult. Let the
story of Naaman illustrate it. He comes in great pomp from Syria to be
healed by Israel's Prophet. He was a great man with his master–his
retinue was considerable and, therefore, with no little self-importance
he drove in his chariot to the Prophet's door, hoping to be healed of
his leprosy. The Prophet only sent him a message–"Go wash in Jordan
seven times." Naaman was angry. He thought that surely the Prophet
would come out to him–such a great man as he was–and that he would go
through certain ritualistic performances and, among other things,
strike his hand over the place and cure the leprosy. But, "Wash in
Jordan seven times? Does he insinuate that I need a bath?" The
prescription was too commonplace and the course of cure by far too
simple! It was too difficult for him because it was so easy–and he
turned and went away in a rage! But his servants wisely said, "My
father, if the Prophet had bid you do some great thing, would you not
have done it? How much rather then, when he says to you, Wash, and be
clean"? Had not the servants been wiser than the master, Naaman would
have gone away with his leprosy uncured!

And so it is all the world over–our proud hearts reject the simple,
artless, unencumbered plan of believe and live. If there were orders
given today from Heaven that if we went on pilgrimage from Bishopsgate
to John o'Groat's House

barefooted we would be saved, many of us would be on the road at once!
But when the message of mercy consists only of, "Believe and
live"–when God declares that we have only to trust His Son and rest in
the Atonement which He has made, we say, "No, it is too simple a
business." The difficulty lies only in our proud hearts! They are so
lofty and self-sufficient that they do not readily stoop to be saved by
Another's merits and never, until the Spirit of God brings us down
humbly to feel our need of such an Atonement, are we willing to accept
the salvation of Jesus Christ!

But simple as the whole matter is, there is a great misunderstanding
about it among some who look unfavorably upon evangelistic efforts. I
have noticed in the newspapers a controversy which arises from a
misunderstanding as to what faith is. Somebody has very severely
condemned a hymn which says–

"Nothing, either great or small–

Nothing, Sinner–no

Jesus did it–did it all,

Long, long ago."

Now it has been supposed that we teach that faith in Christ, altogether
apart from moral character or obedience to the Law of God, will save
the soul–and it is then charged that we undervalue the decencies and
moralities of life! It is no means so. We have never taught that a
faith which is without works will save a man, for we know that such a
faith is dead and is, therefore, of no value! We do teach–and every
man who rightly preaches the Gospel teaches–that we are saved by faith
in Christ and not by works. But we also teach that he who is saved, is
saved from sin, is saved from unholiness, is saved to morality and to
something a great deal better–to holiness and careful walking before
the living God!

What is salvation? It is necessary to explain that word in order to
make this matter clear. Salvation is not merely being snatched from
Hell and being admitted to Heaven. The greatest trouble of a really
awakened conscience is not Hell, but sin. "How can I be saved from
sin?" is the anxious enquirer's main question. Since I spoke here last
week I have received notes from persons present who have said, "Speak
to us about how we can conquer besetting sins. Tell us how we can get
supremacy over carnal lusts," and the like. That question I am
answering now! Christ's salvation rescues men from themselves and frees
them from the domination of evil! I would give nothing for a supposed
deliverance from Hell if it does not come by way of deliverance from
sin! It is sin that makes Hell, for there would be no Hell if man had
no evil within him, as there certainly can be no Heaven for a man till
he is made good and fit to dwell with God, for the fire of Hell is a
guilty conscience before God–and the bliss of Heaven is holiness and
reconciliation to the Most High.

Now, this kind of salvation comes to a man by faith, or in other words
by trusting Jesus to save him. It is not merely that I believe the fact
that Christ died on the Cross–I do believe that, but the mere
historical belief in a past transaction will not save me! I trust in
Him who died for me and believe that He will set me free from the power
of my sins. Jesus Christ, who still lives in the highest heavens, says
to me, "You are sick in soul. I can save you. Will you trust Me? You
must trust not anything you can do, or anything you can be, but trust
Me." Very well. My reply to Him, if I am really led by the Spirit of
God, is, "Great Physician of Souls, I do trust You." Now what follows
upon trusting a physician? Obedience to his orders! Imagine a physician
calling upon a person who is sick and promising him a cure upon the one
condition that he will have perfect confidence and leave himself in the
doctor's hands. The physician remarks, "Your disease is a very terrible
one. What are you accustomed to eat?" The patient at once mentions
certain articles of diet and the physician shakes his head and says,
"If you continue to eat in that fashion, I can do nothing for you. You
really must give up the unhealthy matters upon which your disease
feeds." Then he adds, "Here is the medicine which I prescribe. I have
never known it fail. You are quite sure you trust me?" "Yes, Sir,
implicitly." "Then all will be well."

The physician goes his way and calls again in due time, but the patient
is not a bit better. "You are no better. How is this?" The doctor looks
surprised. "What food have you been eating?" The patient tells him and
it turns out that he has been taking precisely what he was forbidden to
take. "Well," says the doctor, "you do not trust me. You have no faith
in me." "Oh yes I have, Sir! I have the greatest possible faith in
you." "Then why do you act in this fashion? You are mocking me! I
consider myself to be trifled with and I shall have no more to do with
the case unless I have your confidence. You have no faith in me if you
persist in disobedience. You do not trust me unless you keep to the
regimen which I prescribe. Did you take the medicine?" "No, I did not
like it. I tasted it and I did not admire the flavor–and so I set it
aside." "And yet you say that you trust me?" "Yes! And you said that if
I trusted you, you would work a cure."

"But," replies the physician, "you know what I meant and you are
mocking me! You do not trust me at all, or else you would both forego
what I forbid you and gladly accept what I prescribe you."

Is not this reasonable? Carry it, then, into the matter of trust in
Jesus. The faith in the Lord Jesus Christ which saves the soul shows
itself in obedience to the precepts which He lays down and in forsaking
the habits which He condemns. This is the faith which we declare saves
the soul and I defy any man to say that there is anything in such
teaching which is detrimental to morality or opposed to good works! No,
rather, but whatever things are pure and of good repute are fostered by
such preaching and are undoubtedly produced by the saving faith in
Jesus Christ of which we speak!

Now, the assertion that simple faith in Jesus Christ will save a man
from sin and will ultimately make him perfect if it shall work in him
by the power of the Spirit of God is most reasonable. The natural and
inevitable fruit of faith in Christ is holiness. For observe. We spoke
last week about a child that had no love to its father and of the great
grief of the father's heart because the child was alienated. What would
be one of the readiest ways to get back the boy's heart? If you can get
that lad to believe in his father–to confide in his father! The
affection which he had lost will come back again. When a man trusts God
and accepts His way of salvation, that trust naturally influences his
affections and through his affections it is sure to influence his life.
That is clear enough to any man who chooses to remember the laws of the
human mind. Confidence in a person's love tends to make us love him in
return.

A sense of pardon is a wonderful curative of sin and this comes by
faith. The man who is conscious of being guilty is usually possessed by
a sort of sullen despondency as to better things. The old proverb that
you may as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb operates on many a man,
"I am lost," he says, "and if lost, I may just as well go in and enjoy
myself while I am here." But oh, when that man is led to believe
Christ, quite another feeling possesses him! The joy of pardon banishes
all gloom and he cheerfully cries, "How shall I continue in sin after
such a loving forgiveness? Has Christ washed it all away and cast it
all behind His back? Then will I labor with all my heart to show my
gratitude to Him and henceforth the evil which I once loved shall be
detested by me!" Many a man has felt more influence exerted upon his
mind by the Grace that has pardoned him than by the Justice which
threatened to punish him! And when God comes and deals with us in that
fashion, assuring us that we are forgiven, there is a conquest attained
over sin!

He who believes that he has been forgiven by the merit of the
Redeemer's death, loves Christ. And let any man who loves Christ answer
me–Is not the love of Christ the most potent force conceivable for
delivering you from sin? You cannot see yonder Cross and mark the drops
that flow from Jesus' wounds and say, "Thus my sins were washed away"–
and then go and offend Him. No! But for the love you bear His name, you
feel ready and willing to do anything and suffer anything, rather than
grieve His Spirit. The love of Christ constrains us to all sorts of
self-denials and self-sacrifices when once we are fully possessed with
it! It purges from all that is petty, mean, selfish and impure–and as
he who believes in Jesus Christ has a faith which works by love after
this fashion, you can clearly see how faith leads on to a holy

life.

There is one fact connected with our being saved through faith which
ought always to be remembered. It is thought that if a man knows
himself to be forgiven and saved he will go about the world and feel
that he is somebody and look down upon other people as if they were
almost unworthy of his acquaintance. I have never met with any case
where that has occurred but, still, it is thought that such would be
the case. But observe–if this salvation comes to a man not at all by
his own merits, but only as the free gift of God. And if all that he
has done has been to accept it and lay hold upon it by simple
faith–instead of feeling proud,he feels humbled by the great mercy
which he has received! He cannot trace any of it to himself, so as to
claim the smallest measure of credit for it–and so he is saved from
the tendency to pride and Phariseeism which otherwise his distinguished
position as a saved soul might have suggested to him! The principle
which delivers from pride and self-conceit, which is in itself no small
salvation–is that of faith in Christ!

He who believes in Jesus has another means by which he overcomes sin,
namely, that he reckons himself henceforth not to be his own but to be
henceforth the property of his Redeemer. This rings in his ears–"For
you are not your own: you are bought with a price." And so, if he is
true to his convictions, he cannot live to himself. He has higher aims
and nobler objectives than any which concern his own personal
advantages. He reckons that his time, his substance, his faculties, his
position do not belong to himself, but he uses them as a steward for
his Master and gives to his Lord the interest. I think I need not dwell
longer on this point, for it will be clear to all who wish to see it,
that faith in Jesus is a very operative faculty and tends to promote
holiness.

But faith is not that mere cold, barren thing which says, "The creed is
true," and then doubles it up and forgets it, or puts it on the shelf
all the week to be taken down only on Sundays–it is a loving trust in
Christ which changes the heart and affects the entire life! It is the
grandest, greatest power ever seen on earth, for by it the Holy Spirit
displays His might in the salvation of men!

But, men and Brothers, the proof of any theory must always lie in
results. What are the facts? Has Gospel preaching produced morality,
purity, holiness, or the reverse? There are some of us who have been
preaching the Doctrine of Justification by Faith for years. What have
been the results? According to the opinion of some, we ought to have
gathered around us a frightful nest of hypocrites who would strut about
the world, looking down upon everybody else but really being the most
lustful and licentious of men since they are free from all the
restraints which are supposed to arise out of the doctrine of salvation
by works! That, of course, would be the consequence if it is, indeed,
true that Justification by Faith discourages morality! The preacher
ought to be the center of a happy hunting ground for the police if our
objectors have any foundation for their allegations! But how have we
found it? I will not vaunt myself beyond my line and measure, but I
will say that the purest, holiest, most honest and most worthy people I
have ever known are Believers in this Truth of God. Do you tell me that
they were naturally excellent and would never have gone wrong whatever
they had believed? I have a reply for this also. I know scores of those
who were once degraded women and even harlots of the street, who, at
this moment, are chaste women, scrupulous in purity and loving their
Lord! I know thieves, drunkards, persons of all classes and castes from
whom I have heard the story of their lives and who have told me that
they would have continued as they were–sinful and leading others into
sin–if it had not been that they heard of free salvation through the
precious blood and believed and lived!

We cannot bring these people up before you to speak personally, because
you yourselves see that it would be an indiscreet and improper
proceeding. But if the case had to be tried like any other in a court
of law we could produce proofs by the hundreds that faith is the friend
of morals and the source of purity! Yes, we could not only bring you
brands plucked out of the fire from the lower ranks of society, but
there are gentlemen who are equally illustrious instances of Divine
Grace. We have heard of gentlemen respected in their spheres who,
nevertheless, behind the wall were living in fornication and adultery
and all sorts of filthiness, but who, nevertheless, chanced to drop in
and hear the Gospel and were led by Grace to believe it–and their
lives have become henceforth renewed and purified! It has been their
earnest wish to undo the mischief they have done and to live all the
more devotedly to the Glory of God because they know that they have
done so much damage to society and to their own souls. We are not here
to unveil private lives, or make heroes out of great sinners, but we
cannot and will not have it said that faith in Christ does not cleanse
men when we know to the contrary! If, as I stand preaching on the
Sabbath, I were to say, "Let those who have felt the power of the
Gospel and have been delivered by it from gross sin, stand up," there
are not a few who would run the risk of being thought immodest and who
would rise and say, "Yes, blessed be Jehovah Jesus' name, we are brands
plucked out of the burning! We have felt the transforming power of
Divine Grace."

What has done this except the Gospel? Truly I know not! I heard a
missionary say the other day that he stood in public places in India
and preached the unity of the Godhead–and that when the Hindus rose
and objected, he knew their objections and answered them. Then he
preached the deity of Christ and the Muslims opposed him. "But," he
said, "I was so familiar with the controversy that I could reply to all
their remarks and win the victory. I did this for years," he said, "but
I saw small good come of it. But when I changed my plan and began to
preach the great love of God to man through Jesus Christ and taught
them to believe and live, then came success! I saw them moved to tears
and converts came to prove the power of the Gospel." What does Dr.
Chalmers say–(no mean witness)–that for years he preached morality
and virtue till he scarcely could find any in his parish! But when he
began to preach Jesus Christ and simple faith in Him, then he saw the
worst of the worst reformed and men sought after holiness and truth! We
cannot but speak what we know and testify what we have seen! The quaint
old English proverb is that "the proof of the pudding is in the
eating," and one great proof of the Gospel lies in the effect that it
produces. If, good Sir, you profess to believe in Jesus Christ and your
faith does not affect your heart and your life–it is a counterfeit and
you will do well to be rid of it as soon as possible lest so suspicious
an article should be found upon you!

My time has almost expired and, therefore, let me use it in pleading
with you. Jesus Christ has a great claim upon the faith of everyone of
us here present. My Brothers, you who believe in Him, do not believe in
Him half enough. You who trust Him with your souls, should trust Him
with everything else. Rely upon Him in Providence as well as in Grace.

To those who do not trust Him, let us say this. Do you believe in the
New Testament? Is that to you an Inspired volume? Then to you I speak.
You believe that Jesus Christ is God–can you not trust your soul with
God? What can be too hard for Him? What if you are guilty–cannot God
pardon you? What if your heart is evil–cannot God change you? Cannot
He who made you, make you new? Surely, then, to doubt God is insanity,
since where there is Omnipotent power there is no rational room for
doubt!

Remember, next, that Christ came into this world commissioned by God to
save. He did not come as an amateur, taking the office upon Himself
without authorization. When He descended on the breast of Mary and lay
in the manger, God sent Him with a high commission at His back, giving
Him authority to be a Prince and a Savior. We may well trust the
Messiah whom God, the Everlasting One, sends with unquestionable
warrant!

Remember, too, that the work which He had to do He has altogether
finished. To put away sin was Christ's work– He has put it away! Not a
pang of punishment remains to be borne for sin by anyone who believes
in Jesus–

"He to the utmost farthing paid Whatever His people owed."

He who believes in Christ may know that Christ took all the load of sin
upon Himself–every particle of it–past, present and to come–and
threw it into the depths of the sea where it is drowned forever! It
were somewhat harder to believe in a Christ who has to do this, than in
a Christ who has done it! But Jesus claims our trust because He has
already done the work!

Many like ourselves have been saved. Look at Heaven–filling with the
redeemed. And look at earth–how many still among us are wending their
way to the blest abode! Trust Him of whom no man ever dared to say that
He deceived him! I have stood by scores of dying beds, but I have never
heard a Christian say, "I trusted in Christ, but He has failed me." I
have seen them with the clammy death sweat upon their brows, but I have
never heard them say, "I die deceived, for I trusted Christ to support
me now and He has left me to perish." Surely somewhere in the world
someone would have found Him out by this time if He were not
trustworthy! But, instead of it, we trust Him so implicitly that we
wonder others do not, for we feel, for our own part, that if we had ten
thousand souls we would ask for no other Savior, but would confide the
whole ten thousand and ten thousand more in His once pierced hands!

Have you never trusted Him? Then, since He is worthy of your
confidence, confide in Him now! Sitting in these benches, at this
unusual hour for listening to the Gospel, hear this pleading voice–

"Oh, believe the record true, God for you His Son has given! You may
now be happy too, Find on earth the life of Heaven." Rest in Jesus and
a thrill of life will go through you such as you have never felt
before!

I saw not long ago a woman who said to me, "Is it indeed true that upon
trusting in Jesus I shall be saved at once?" I replied, "It is even
so." "Why," she said, "My father, when he got religion, was nearly six
years a-getting it. And they had to put him in a lunatic asylum part of
the time! I thought that there was no getting saved without going
through a very dreadful process." I spoke to her of the Person and the
work of Jesus, and repeated to her the Divine Command, "Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." She caught the idea and
obeyed the command! I perceived that she yielded to the Truth of God
and really trusted, for I saw a change come over her face which
betokened the rest of her soul. Those who are familiar with such scenes
know what a beauty lights up the countenance of the plainest persons
when they come to see the way of peace and enter upon it. "I am saved,"
she said, and she hastened off, saying, "I will get away now, for your
time must not be wasted! I am saved and you can tell the Truth to some
others and perhaps they will rejoice as I do."

Are there none here this morning to whom this Gospel will be good news?
Young man, it may be that you will begin this morning a new life and
that there will be for you a grand career in the service of God! The
beginning of the new life is faith in Jesus Christ–

"Only trust Him, only trust Him!

Only trust Him now!

He will save you, He will save you,

He will save you now!"

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JOHN31-21

Verses 1, 2. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler
of the Jews: the same came to Jesus by night and said unto Him, Rabbi,
we know that You are a Teacher come from God: for no man can do these
miracles that You do, except God be with him. When enquirers come to
see any of you who are Christians, do not begin talking to them, but
let them begin by telling you what they have to say, for it will
probably guide you as to what you shall say to them in return. Our Lord
Jesus could read all hearts and He needed no one to tell Him what was
there, yet, for our sakes He sets the example of letting Nicodemus
speak first. This man was a Pharisee and, consequently, was apt to
attach too much importance to the outward part of religion–so observe
how the Savior deals with him by dwelling on the inner part of it–upon
the necessity of the new birth. He has less to say to him about
believing and more about experimental godliness and the work of the
Holy Spirit in his heart. Our main business, in dealing with men's
souls, is not to teach them what they want to know but what they really
need to know, bringing forward ever that Truth of God which, if it is
not the most palatable, shall be the most profitable to them.

3. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Except a man be born-again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. "He has
no idea of what it is. He cannot perceive it. He has not the faculty by
which he could see or understand the meaning of the Kingdom of God."

4. Nicodemus said unto Him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can
he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? His
religion was external, you see–he could not grasp the spiritual idea
which Christ had set before him. This matter of the new birth is very
simple to all of us who know what Jesus meant, but it was exceedingly
difficult to Nicodemus–as it has been to all but those who have
experienced it.

5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born
of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
The entrance into that Kingdom is by a new birth in which water and the
Spirit of God are both necessary. There is a cleansing and there is a
new creation. There is the cleansing water of the merit of Christ and
there is the Divine operation of the Spirit of God. Or, if the Savior
only means entrance into His visible Kingdom, then it is through
Baptism that the man outwardly makes his profession of faith in Christ.
It is through the Spirit of God alone, however, that he really enters
into the Kingdom of God. Note the distinction between seeingthe Kingdom
and entering into it–no man can even see the Kingdom of God, much less
enter it, except by that new birth which is worked only by the Holy
Spirit!

6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. No matter who the father
is, nor who the mother is, there is no such thing as inherited
godliness. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh," and nothing
more. All that is born of the flesh cannot rise beyond its original
source. However much the man may improve himself, our Savior's words
will still remain true– "That which is born of the flesh is flesh."

6. And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit Everything is
according to its birth and according to its nature. The Spirit of God
must, therefore, operate upon us and we must have a new birth if we are
to see and to enter the Kingdom of God.

7. Marvel not that I said unto you, You must be born-again."Do not
wonder at this, for it must be so. The first birth, at its best, can
only give you flesh. There must be another birth, a birth from above,
to bring you into the realm of spirit that you may understand and share
in spiritual things."

8. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound thereof, but
cannot tell from where it comes, and where it goes: so is everyone that
is born of the Spirit He is a mysterious personage, not to be
understood by carnal man. You see his outward life, but you cannot see
the hidden spring by which that life is moved and controlled, for that
mysterious inner life is only discerned by those who possess it.

9, 10. Nicodemus answered and said unto Him, How can these things be?
Jesus answered and said unto him, Are you a master of Israel, and know
not these things?"Do you profess to teach others and have you never
been taught this first great spiritual Truth of God?" Nicodemus was not
the last Rabbi who did not understand what it is to be born-again, and
it is greatly to be feared that there are still many who are teachers
of others, who yet have never experienced this all-important change.
The Lord have mercy upon them!

11. Verily, verily, I say unto you, We speak what We know and testify
what We have seen; and you receive not Our witness. The testimony of
Christ and of His Apostles, and of all true disciple of Christ is
this–that there is such a thing as a new birth. Men may not believe
that it is true but, for all that, it is as certain as any other fact
in the history of the world! It is foolish for any to deny it because
they have not experienced it themselves. Although they have not
experienced it, others have, and those who declare that they have been
born-again are as honest, as reasonable and as trustworthy as any other
people in the world. If any counsel had to prove his case in a court of
law, by the mouth of five or six witnesses, I am sure that he would not
want better witnesses than those who declare that they have been
born-again! Many of them are well known people of high repute and their
testimony ought to be believed. But it is not a question of six, or a
dozen, or a dozen thousand witnesses. There have been hundreds of
thousands of men and women who have borne witness that a miraculous
change has taken place in them, by which they have been born into a new
world and have received a new life! And the testimony of these
witnesses ought to be believed. It was hard that Christ should have to
say, "You receive not Our witness."

12. IfIhave told you earthly things, and you believe not, howshallyou
believe ifI tell you of heavenly things?"For regeneration is, as it
were, one of the commonplaces of the Christian religion. It is a thing
that very often takes place among men. But if this foundation Truth of
God is not believed, how can men expect that yet higher Truths of God
shall be revealed to them?

13. And no man has ascended up to Heaven, but He that came down from
Heaven, even the Son of Man who is in Heaven. So far, this chapter
treats of the new birth and there are many people who are much
perplexed because they cannot comprehend this great mystery. They ask,
"How, then, can we be saved? Is there no way of salvation without the
new birth?" Assuredly there is none, yet the way of salvation is very
simple and clear. It is, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you
shall be saved," and it is very significant that this chapter which,
beyond any other, teaches the Doctrine of the New Birth and, with equal
clearness, teaches the Doctrine of Salvation by Faith in Christ.
Listen–

14-18. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so
must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whoever believes in Him should
not perish, but have eternallife. For Godso loved the world, that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the
world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be
saved. He that believes on Him is not condemned: but he that believes
not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of
the only begotten Son of God. That is the proof of his condemnation–he
must be an enemy to God who will not believe on His Son! He who refuses
to believe the witness of God is, by that very fact, convicted and
condemned! And if he had no other sin, it is sin enough to sink him to
the lowest Hell to deny the veracity of God–to make God a liar by
refusing to believe in Jesus Christ His Son! See, then, how these two
Truths are blended. "You must be born-again," and, "he that believes on
Him is not condemned." Why is that? Because he is born-again! That new
birth has taken place in him and eternal life is his because he has
believed on the only begotten Son of God!

19-21. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were
evil. For everyone that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the
light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that does truth comes
to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are worked
in God. Now, my Friend, are you willing to come to the light–to the
light of Scripture–to the light of Revelation? If so, so far well. God
grant us Grace to feel that light is our friend–that we do not need to
shun it, but desire to walk in it!