HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div
The Lord shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah. Psalm 87:6
“The LORD will write in the register of the peoples: This one was born in Zion!” Psalm 87:6
I have purposefully given two different translations of the text for your edification.
This is God’s great census. My sympathies are comparatively narrow in their range. They scarcely extend beyond my family, my friends, and my country. But His compassions take in lost men the world over. His wisdom knows what key will fit the door of every human soul. His power is not dismayed by the problems that fill me with fear. His chariot rides conquered Egypt, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia.
But it is a spiritual birthright which alone will satisfy Him. I must be born there, not enrolled merely in His worldwide family — but begotten into its ranks. So then I am undone and dead until He interposes; and He must re-mould, re-fashion, re-make me. It humbles my pride, for I congratulate myself on the dignity of my nature. But let me take God’s estimate. And let me receive God’s regeneration.
And it is an individual experience that He demands. This man, He says, using the singular number. One by one, the vast muster roll is written and completed. One by one, men are forgiven, enlightened, purified, and saved. Ah, those separate entries in God’s long list of His sons and citizens — is mine among them? Have I crossed His threshold? I cannot enter with the crowd. I must go in alone.
THE MYSTICAL COURT 