_," that is, not by anything we can do of ourselves, though this
has a place, a distinctly secondary place; "_nor of the will of man_,"
that is, not by what somebody else can do for us, though this too has
its place.

These are the three "_nots_"; the three ways we are _not_ saved. And it
becomes of intensest interest to notice that these are the very three
ways that the crowd is emphasizing to-day, some this, others that, as
the way of being saved. The three modern words we commonly use for these
three "nots" of John are, _family, culture_, and _influence_.

Some of us seem to be fully expecting to walk into the presence of God,
and to get all there is to be gotten there, because of the family we
belong to. This is probably stronger in some of us than we are conscious
of. It's a matter of blood with us, our blood, our natural generation.
We take greatest pride in showing what blood it is that runs in our
veins. We trace the line far back to those whose names are well known.
And this sort of thing has overpowering influence in our human affairs
down here.

His gracious majesty King George is King of England, because he is the
child of Edward and Alexandra. His one and only claim to the English
throne is that at the time of accession he was their oldest living son.
But that won't figure a farthing's worth when he comes up to the
hearthfire of God's family. And I think he understands this full well.
I'm expecting to see him there; not as King of England, but as a
brother.

It is not a matter of blood. It's a blessed thing to be well-born. It
makes a tremendous difference to have the blood of an old noble family
in one's veins, if it is good clean blood. But it'll never save us.
Salvation is not by lineal descent, not by family line. It is "not of
blood." John clears that ground.

Some of us put great stress on what we are in ourselves. This looms big
with a great crowd scattered throughout the earth. We know so much. We
have gotten it by dint of hard work. We can do some things so skilfully.
We have worked into positions of great power among men. Our names are
known. Sometimes they are spelled in large letters.

The broad word for this is _culture_, what we have gained and gotten by
our effort, of that which is reckoned good, and which _is_ good. Culture
is one of the chief words in our language to-day. Whether spelled the
English way or the German, it looms big. It is one of our modern
tidbits. It is chewed on muc