A. D. 1920

A REBIRTH THROUGH SINCERE DESIRE 219

It was a witness to me, my brethren and sisters, of the fulfilment of the words of the Redeemer himself. You know that men sought Jesus. They desired' to know the way by which they might attain to everlasting life. They offered money on occasions. But he told them that the gifts of God could not be purchased with money, and bore witness that except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus marveled at that. He did not understand what it meant. Then the Redeemer illustrated the thought by saying, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." How often in the Church we encounter people who lack faith People addressed us at !

that meeting this morning who, I knew, because of their accent and peculiarity of speech, were not American born. I knew they had come from abroad. I knew the gospel had found them away over there in England, possibly in Ireland, possibly in Scotland, or in Wales, or in Scandinavia, or other of those old world countries. Their testimony was the very same as the testimony of boys whom I knew, and who were there this morning, whose grandfathers were in the Church, who were among those who first carried the gospel into the old world. There is no difference of nationality there is no difference of sex. It ;

doesn't matter where we live, doesn't matter, as I remarked, whether we are tall or short or blonde or brunette if we go to the Lord he will ;

make good the promise which he has made to the people of the world, that "He who seeketh me in faith shall find me, he who asketh in faith believing, I will answer to him who knocketh, I will open ;" and ;

just as certain, my brethren and sisters, as the Lord has made good that promise, so is it certain that he who does not seek does not find, to him who does not knock it is not opened, and to him who has no desire to know the truth, truth is a sealed book.

A REBIRTH NECESSARY —A CONVERSION TO THE oOSPEL. I have often thought, and I have thought of it recently more than atany other period in my life, that there is, it seems to me, ampng young men and women in the Church, a spirit of indifference. This is rot general, but there are too many exceptions to the general rule. We find among these boys and girls a lack of faith, a lack of knowledge among many of them apparently there is a sincere desire to know, ;

and yet they appear to be in doubt I wonder if we have not thought, we, ;

fathers and mothers, that from the fact that our children were born in the Church, born under the covenant, and that we have, in the Church, auxiliary associations that are designed to teach faith,—whether we have not left our children entirely to the direction, or to a great exient to the direction, of these facts and organizations, and we have neglected to impress upon their minds that boys and girls born in the Church of goodly parents must be born again to know Christ and God, just as a