_First_, I will give you a clear description of it under one similitude
or two. A child, before it be born into the world, is in the dark
dungeon of its mother’s womb; so a child of God, before he be born again,
is in the dark dungeon of sin, sees nothing of the kingdom of God,
therefore it is called a new birth; the same soul has love one way in its
carnal condition, another way when it is born again.
_Secondly_, As it is compared to a birth, resembling a child in his
mother’s womb, so it is compared to a man being raised out of the grave;
and to be born again is to be raised out of the grave of sin—“Awake, thou
that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee life.”
To be raised from the grave of sin is to be begotten and born; Rev. i. 5.
There is a famous instance of Christ—“He is the first-begotten from the
dead, he is the first-born from the dead;” unto which our regeneration
alludeth,—that is, if you be born again by seeking those things that are
above, then there is a similitude betwixt Christ’s resurrection and the
new birth; which were born, which were restored out of this dark world,
and translated out of the kingdom of this dark world into the kingdom of
his dear Son, and made us live a new life; this is to be born again; and
he that is delivered from the mother’s womb, it is the help of the
mother; so he that is born of God, it is by the Spirit of God. I must
give you a few consequences of new birth.
First of all, a child, you know, is incident to cry as soon as it comes
into the world; for if there be no noise, they say it is dead. You that
are born of God, and Christians, if you be not criers, there is no
spiritual life in you; if you be born of God, you are crying ones; as
soon as he has raised you out of the dark dungeon of sin, you cannot but
cry to God, What must I do to be saved? As soon as ever God had touched
the jailor, he cries out, “Men and brethren, what must I do to be saved?”
Oh! how many prayerless professors are there in London that never pray?
Coffee-houses will not let you pray, trades will not let you pray,
looking-glasses will not let you pray; but if you were born of God, you
would.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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