Buried or Alive?
Notes
Transcript
10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Regeneration Not Reformation)
Regeneration Not Reformation...
The old nature received at birth is hopeless, and dressing it up with education and culture only makes it more dangerous than before. The more we work on the “old man,” the more deceptive it becomes. Do you know why the sinner must be born anew? Because [they were] born all wrong the first time. {They don’t] have to be taught to go [their] own way—it comes naturally to [them]. But by the new birth [they are] turned around and headed in the right direction!
Charles Spurgeon told of a missionary who visited a primitive hut and became nauseated by the filthy floor on which he had to sit. He suggested to his host that they scrub the dirty surface with soap and water, but the man replied, “the floor is just clay—packed down and dry. Add water and it turns to mud. The more you try to wash it, the worse the mess becomes!” Yes, the hut needed something besides an earthen floor. So it is with the human heart: it is hard and dirty, and nothing will help it. [Humanity] needs a new heart. [We] must be born again from above!
M. R. De Haan, Our Daily Bread
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
One of the greatest tragedies in Christianity is the painful truth that all must face. What is that painful truth? Not all Chrisitians are Christians. Not everyone who claims to be “born again” has been reborn.
Do you sometimes doubt that you have experienced spiritual renewal? How do we know that we have been reborn?