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Untitled Article
the more sudden and striking change of a conversion from sin to holiness , it is well expressed by the figure of a birth . What is it to be born in the natural sense ? To be born is to receive being , life , existence * It is to have objects presented to our eyes , melodies to our ears , flavours to our taste , to have a thousand sensations crowded upon us , of which before we could not possibly have any idea , or form the most
imperfect conception . It is to leave a dark prison , and emerge to life and joy and action . And how well does the change wrought in the heart of a Christian correspond with this criterion of a birth ! What a new world of ideas and feelings are opened upon him ! He had before no organs with which to discern spiritual things . He had heard of them , but he apprehended them not ; there was no faculty in him by which he could take hold of them ; but the moment he is- born again the eyes of his mind are opened : he sees , feels , tastes and relishes the word of God , the bread of life , the
gracious influences of the Spirit . The invisible world is laid open to him , he sees the beauty of right action , feels the force of moral obligation . He tastes a sweetness in the ordinances of religion , in prayers and psalms and sacraments , which before were dry and without savour to him ; which he had attended from day to day and from sabbath to sabbath as mere matter
of form and decency . Before he was born into the- world of sense , now he holds communion with the world of spirits . And is not this a mighty and important change ? Again : To be born implies having a father , a descent , a parentage : the natural man is born the son , perhaps , of some mighty chief or distinguished statesman , or head of a noble house . But trifling , indeed , are all these
distinctions m comparison of that which he receives who acquires a right to consider himself as the child of God , who in humble confidence may call by the tender and affectionate appellation of Father , the Sovereign of the universe . A child , when born , has a name given him . And the Christian has a name , a new name , written in his forehead , registered in heaven , even in the Lamb ' s book of life . As soon as a child comes into the world its voice
is heard . It sends forth a cry , a meaning cry , which seems to say , " Here am I feeble , helpless , naked ; nourish me , protect me , cherish me in your bosom , bear with my weakness , lead me up to manhood . " So also when a believer is born into the life of Christ , his voice is heard and he prayeth . With strong and earnest cries he supplicates the Father of his spirit for pardon and for blessings . Prpyer is the natural , unstudied expression of those feelings which are then awakened within him . He casts himself
before the throne of grace , and waits patientl y there as an infant clings to the breast of its mother , and there he rests all his cares , all his concerns in a child-like humility and unreserved trust and cheerful confidence . Again : A child is pot born into the world without great and strong pains . She bowed herself , her pains came upon her , she was in travail . And great are the pains which precede the new birth , sharp are the pangs of repentance , great the travail pf the ministers and labourers in CJhrist , and deep
those groamngs which cannot be uttered , that must pass before the change be wrought , which if * some distinguished instances has been wrought , from the depths pf guilt $ nd de ( ilemen . t , and mental bondage , to the g lorious liberty of the sons and servants of Christ . But whew once 3 child is born , how great is the joy ! The father taketfi it in his arms an < J tyesseth it ; the mother forgetteth her suffering to smile upon it ; the friends and relations and neighbours crpwd arountf ft , and welcome into existence the new
Untitled Article
478 Discourse by Mrs . Btrbauld .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1827, page 478, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1798/page/6/
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