
                                  THE NEW BIRTH

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

                                                               A. W. Pink


             Seven New Things which all believers now possess:
             Repentance -- A new mind about God (Acts 20:21).

             Justification -- A new state before God (Rom. 4:25).

             Regeneration -- A new life from God (Tit. 3:5).

             Conversion -- A new attitude toward God (Matt. 18:3).

             Sonship -- A new relationship with God (I Jn. 3:1).

             Sanctification -- A new position before God (Jude 1).

             Glorification -- A place with God (Rom. 8:30).
