Now, the proclamation of the great facts of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ according to the Scriptures will break up that condition of unbelief and produce a conviction of the truth of the gospel.  When the mind is changed from a state of unbelief to one of hearty belief the birth of the mind is complete.  But the mind is only a part of man.  The heart must be born again.  What is the normal state of the unregenerate heart?  It is one of either indifference or hatred.  The latter is the former fully ripened.  It is said that Voltaire carried a seal ring upon which were engraved the words, “Crush the wretch,” and every time he sealed a letter he impressed his spirit of hatred upon that letter.  Now, the gospel sets forth the love of God in Christ and the loveliness of Christ’s sacrifice for us in such a manner as to change the indifferent or malignant heart into one of supreme love to Christ.  When the heart has thus been changed from hatred to love it is born again.  But man has also a body, and upon this spirit can not act.  If the body is to be born again, some element must be used that can act upon the body.  Hence our Saviour says, “born of water and the Spirit,” because water can act upon the body.  Now, the only use of water in the new birth is in the act of baptism.  All scholars of note in the religious world agree that Christ’s use of water in the new birth has reference to baptism.  Paul also speaks of “having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.”  Thus, with mind and heart changed by the Spirit through the gospel, and the body solemnly consecrated to God in baptism, the entire man is born again.  This is all accomplished by the Spirit of God working in and through the gospel.

2.  Another work of the Spirit is to “bear witness with our spirits that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs” (Rom. 8:16).  It does not say, “bear witness to our spirits,” but “with our spirits.”  Many people gauge the witness of the Spirit by feelings within themselves.  If they feel good, it is evidence to them of the Spirit’s testimony, but they frequently feel bad also; whose testimony is that?  The testimony of the Spirit should be clear testimony, and not fluctuating; it should be in words, and not in feelings.  Feelings, impressions and emotions come and go like the waves of the sea, but words remain forever the same.  “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away,” saith the Lord.  The idea of the conscious testimony of the Spirit is not sustained by either the word of God nor a correct psychology.  It is the testimony of metaphysicians, from Sir William Hamilton down to the writer, that consciousness does not take cognizance of causes, but effects.  Feelings are effects and not causes.  Consciousness tells us when we feel good or bad, but it does not tell us what makes us feel good or bad.  When a man has been taught that