He was under deep conviction. Man could not have produced this result; but the Spirit had. About two o’clock in the morning light broke in upon his soul: and he went up and down the business street of the city and told what God had done for him; and has been a most active Christian ever since.
There are four other passages in dealing with inquirers, which were used by Christ Himself.
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3).
In Luke 13:3, we read:
“Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
In Matthew 18, when the disciples came to Jesus to know who was to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, we are told that He took a little child and set him in the midst and said, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” (18:1–3).
There is another important “Except” in Matthew 5:20:
“Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven.”
A man must be made meet before he will want to go into the kingdom of God. I would rather go into the kingdom with the younger brother than stay outside with the elder. Heaven would be hell to such an one. An elder brother who could not rejoice at his younger brother’s return would not be “fit” for the kingdom of God.