...the necessity of the new birth in a big church. - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John 3:3

The popular English bishop, John Taylor Smith (1860-1937) once preached a sermon on the necessity of the new birth in a big church. In order to emphasise this point, he said, "My dear friend, do not allow anything to replace the new birth. You may be a member of a great church like the Church of England, to which I, too, belong. But membership of a church does not mean being born again."
He then pointed to the parish priest sitting next to him and continued, "You may even be a priest, like my friend here next to me, and not be born again; for Jesus said, 'Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' "
Then he pointed to the archdeacon of the diocese and to himself to show that offices and dignities are no substitute for the new birth by conversion to God and faith in Christ.
A short time later, the bishop received a letter from the archdeacon: "My Lord Bishop, You have seen through me. For thirty years, I have held ecclesiastical offices without knowing anything of the joy that believing Christians speak of. ... When you pointed directly at me, it became clear to me at that moment where the fault lay: I had never experienced the new birth."
"The next day," Bishop Smith reports, "we met and spent some hours together speaking about the Word of God. Then we knelt down, and the church dignitary confessed before God that he was a lost sinner. He surrendered his life to Jesus the Lord and trusted Him as his Saviour."
Today's reading: 1 Kings 16:1-20