The next question, then is,—how is regeneration to be accomplished? That is, indeed, the next question, and the great question, and one which should interest every thinking man, more, infinitely more, than how to get rich, or how to win honor, even though it were to gain the whole world: for "what shall it profit a man, though he gain the whole world, and lose his soul."[1] Honor and riches can last, at most, but for a few years—and then comes death, "and after that the judgment." Of what value will our riches and honors be to us in that trying hour, if we are not possessed of the spiritual riches of faith and love?
Yes! how to be regenerated, is the question of questions: for as heaven, that is, a happy everlasting life, is the only thing truly worth living for,—so, regeneration, which is the means of attaining heaven, ought to be the most practically interesting of all subjects. The question may be answered, in general terms, thus: the way to become regenerated is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to keep His Commandments. The first thing is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; that is, to look to Him as the Divine Redeemer and Saviour, from whom comes that Holy Spirit which alone can truly regenerate us; consequently, to pray to Him,—to go to Him, like little children, and ask for strength to do His will, remem-
- ↑ Matthew xvi. 26.
and thence is derived fruit that is sweet and delicious. As distinct as the graft is from the original tree, so distinct is the new birth from the original nature—the new man from the old. This heavenly graft is derived from the Lord by His Word: hence we are born again; and this new spiritual mind growing up gradually within us causes us to become, truly and really, "sons of God." (John i 12, 13.)
