the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 4 of 5
Ezekiel 36:16-38
The LORD now speaks of the work He intends to accomplish by His Spirit in the heart of the children of Israel . . . and of all men. We may compare v. 26 with the words of the Lord Jesus to Nicodemus, on the subject of new birth: "Except a man be born of water (v. 25) and of the Spirit (v. 27), he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). The water of purification is always the Word which the Holy Spirit applies to the heart and conscience to be received and believed for salvation (cf. John 4:14).
The new life freely given to all those who believe is the qualification for entry into the kingdom and into the family of God. But it is not enough for a little child just to be born into the world. He must next learn to walk; later he will go to school. The same applies to the child of God (v. 27). Further he must sooner or later pass through the great experience of v. 31: "ye . . . shall loathe yourselves . . . (see Ezekiel 6:9; Ezekiel 20:43). It is to this knowledge of himself that the Spirit of God leads the reborn soul (cf. Job 42:6).
Nicodemus, a master of Israel, should have known these things (John 3:10). They were expressly announced in the Prophets (see also Ezekiel 11:19; Jeremiah 24:7 . . .). You, my friend, if you have been instructed from your childhood, ought to know them even better!
