Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

verily."
spots"
mire."
you."
exhibition"
he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Three times in the first 11 verses of
this chapter we find Jesus using the
words, "Verily, Where the word
"verily"
(amen) is doubled it is to be
considered as most emphatic.
Jesus told Nicodemus, a ruler of the
Jews, that he must be bom again.
Whitefield, one of the greatest preach
ers who has ever lived, told Franklin
that he ought to study the doctrine of
the new birth. Nicodemus and Franklin
were both intelligent, cultured, upright
men. They were good men, according to
this world's standards of goodness. But
they were both warned of the necessity
of the new birth.
WHY IS THE NEW BIRTH
NECESSARY
(1) Because Of Man's Sinful Nature.
How often Paul warns that we are
dead in trespasses and sins. There is
no exception to this rule. Every
Adam becomes a part in his great trans
son of
gression. A dead body has no power
within itself to rise. Christ arose from
the dead because He had an inward
source of power, and because He arose
from the dead He is able to raise up
the bodies of those who sleep in Him.
In like manner, Jesus is able to bring
new life to the soul and spirit of man.
What the resurrection is to the physical
body, describes and explains what the
new birth is to soul and spirit. The
change must take place within the
heart. There must be no putting of new
wine in old bottles, or of putting new
cloth on old garments. It is not a matter
of reformation, but of repentance and
renewal. Where there is true repentance
there will be reformation.
We would not say that every person
who does not have the new birth is
wicked in the usual sense of the word.
There are many good and upright
citizens like Nicodemus. But neverthe
less they are sinners and are lost, ex
cept they turn unto Christ and ex
perience
the renewal which He can
give. Man in his sinful estate is self
centered
set upon having his own way.
But as long as he insists upon choosing
his own way of salvation, and rejects
the plan which God has provided, he
is lost.
(2). Because It Is God's Plan
Ever since the fall men have been
trying to work out their own salvation.
Cain brought an offering of his own
choosing instead of bringing that which
God had commanded. He worshiped in
the manner in which he wanted to wor
ship. It is characteristic of false re
ligions or heresies that they teach sal
vation through good works. Men must
work their way to heaven rather than
rest upon the saving
May 4, 1955
grace of Christ.
Even within the membership
of Chris
tian churches there are thousands who
believe that salvation depends upon be
ing good, and not upon one's personal
relationship with Christ.
Some declare that a man must be
religious to be saved. The Mohamme
dans are very religious, but their re
ligion does not even produce good
works. Recently a man was telling me
about what a wonderful philosophy the
Indians have concerning the future
life. But he didn't mention the Indian's
fear of evil spirits, and the evil in
cantations of the medicine men. This
man apparently believed that all the
Indians would be saved because they
believed in a hereafter. When I spoke
to this man who claimed he was a
church member about the necessity of
a personal faith in Christ, he seemed to
have no understanding
of the subject.
His philosophy of salvation was that one
must be religious.
(3). A Necessity to Enter the Kingdom
Of God
Jesus makes this very plain to Nico
demus in verses 3 and 5.
"Except a
man be born again he cannot enter the
kingdom of God." We usually think of
this as pertaining to heaven. Certainly,
one must have the new birth to go to
heaven. But it means far more than
that, for the kingdom of God is upon
earth as well as in heaven. Jesus said,
"The kingdom of God is within
When the new birth takes place, the
changes which take place within a per
son are evident in his life upon earth.
We don't have to wait for heaven to
experience the blessings of the new
birth.
Man has been created in the image
of God, a higher creation than the ani
mals. Animals are lacking in soul and
spirit and cannot experience the new
birth. An animal trainer had a theory
that the nature of an animal was de
termined by the kind of food it ate. To
test his theory he raised a lion cub
on milk. But to his sorrow, he learned
that the lion still had a thirst for blood.
Its nature had not been changed in any
way. Jeremiah writes (2:23), "Can the
Ethopian change his skin, or the leopard
his
"But
Peter writes (II P. 2:22),
it is happened unto them ac
cording to the true proverb, The dog is
returned to his own vomit again; and
the sow that was washed to her wallow
ing in the
Discussion
1. How may one know that he has
been born again
2. Is it essential to know when one
was born again
3. Can one be born again more than
once Can those who are born again
experience a spiritual renewal
For Prayer
1. The young people who will be
graduating from our schools.
2. The coming meeting of Synod.
3. For the Vacation Bible Schools that
are being held, or that are to be held.
W. M. S. Department
Mrs. Ross Latimer. Editor.
Prayer Hour. 1:00 P.M. Monday
COLORADO WOMEN'S
PRESBYTERIAL
The Thirty-sixth Annual Convention
of the Colorado Women's Presbyterial
was held in the Greeley Reformed Pres
byterian Church on Wednesday, April
20, 1955. Miss Pearl Allen of Denver pre
sided. The Devotional Service was led by
Mrs. M. T. Metcalf; reports of officers
and superintendents were next on the
agenda; matters of routine business
were attended to. During recess, the
delegates attended Tea in the Prayer
Meeting room; hostesses were Mrs.
Earle L. Coon and Mrs. Bruce C. Stew
art; Mrs. Edwin R. Keys poured.
The second session opened with a
Memorial Service led by Mrs. Leonard
Willcox. Mrs. Robert McBurney, Mrs.
Wylie Kennedy, and Mrs. Paul White
conducted a panal discussion; and the
Rev. Bruce C. Stewart reported on the
seminar on Visitation Evangelism which
was recently held in Denver under the
auspices of "Christ for America." Sev
eral other items of business were dis
cussed, and the meeting adjourned, Dr.
J. C. Mitchel leading in prayer.
A bountiful ham dinner was served by
the ladies of the Church, and a "Cyprus
prepared by Miss McCrea
was on display at this time.
Miss Gwen Elliott led the devotional
service in the evening; the Juniors of
Greeley under the leadership of Mrs. R.
M. Carson presented some Psalms and
memory work that they had completed.
The speaker of the evening and honored
guest for the Presbyterial was Miss
Blanche McCrea, Principal of the Amer
ican Academy for Girls at Nicosia, Cy
prus. She challenged us with an appeal
for help, and showed pictures of Cyprus.
Rev. Paul D. White led in prayer, install
ing the new officers. They are: Presi
dent, Mrs. Bruce C. Stewart; Vice-Presi
dent, Mrs. Ruth Carson; Recording Sec
retary, Mrs. J. C. Mitchel; Correspond
ing Secretary, Mrs. David McFarland;
and Treasurer, Mrs. Wylie Kennedy.
Miss Anna Dickey,
Corresponding Secretary
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