The Re-generation Of The Soul.
1. IESUS sat in the porch (of the Temple) and some came to learn his doctrine, and one said unto him,
Master, what teachest thou concerning life?
2. And he said unto them,
Blessed are they who suffer many experiences, for they shall be made perfect through suffering: they shall be [as] the Angels (of God) in Heaven and shall die no more, neither shall they be born any more, for death and birth have no more dominion over them.
3. They who have suffered and overcome shall be made Pillars in the Temple of my God, and they shall go out no more. Verily I say unto you, except ye be born again of water and of fire, ye cannot see the Kingdom (of God).
4. And a certain Rabbi (Nicodemus) came unto him by night for fear of the Jews, and said unto him.
How can a man be born again when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born again ?
5. Iesus answered,
Verily I say unto you except a man be born again of flesh and of spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom (of God). The wind bloweth where it listeth, and ye hear the sound thereof, but cannot tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth.
6. The light shineth from the East even unto the West; out of the darkness, the Sun ariseth and goeth down into darkness again; so is it with man, from the ages unto the ages.
7. When it cometh from the darkness, it is that he hath lived before, and when it goeth down again into darkness, it is that he may rest for a little, and thereafter again exist.
8. So through many changes must ye be made perfect, as it is written in the book of Job, I am a wanderer, changing place after place and house after house, until I come unto the City and Mansion (which is Eternal).
9. And Nicodemus said unto him,
How can these things be?
And Iesus answered and said unto him,
Art thou a teacher in Israel, and understandeth not these things? Verily we speak that which we do know, and bear witness to that which we have seen, and ye receive not our witness.
10. If I have told you of earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of Heavenly things? No man hath ascended into Heaven, but he that descended out of Heaven, even the Son-Daughter of man (which is in Heaven).
LECTION 37. 8. -That our Lord spoke here primarily of a physical rebirth as the great aid of the spiritual re-birth, there can be no doubt, for he distinctly declares he had been telling Nicodemus of "earthly things" in the preceding words, albeit as the analogies and correspondences of spiritual things, as his usual method was. To interpret this dialogue, even as in the A. V., exclusively of the spiritual re-birth, is contrary to the plain meaning of the words.