Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1874-02-13
BEGINNING 4 CHRISTIAN LIFE.

| wish TO say few words directly to those
who are entertaining such purpose, or
whose thoughts turn toward it.
What is this step, young friends, which
you think Of making2 1t is beginning
| Christian life. Mark that word beginning.
You are not called TO do just one act, a
thing complete in itself, and which will
leave you safe and secure. You are called
TO begin n work to-day, which you must
carry on no less vigorously tomorrow,
and the day after, and all through the year,
and on to the end of life. Your Christian
friends tell you TO "give yourselves to God"
! That means, 10 give to him each moment
as it comes. You may indeed, by a sim
| gle act of will resolve TO do this but that
resolution will amount 10 nothing, except
as it is foiowed up by fresh effort Of will
every time you have TO choose between
| good and evil.
To be a Christian is 10 live as Christ did.
| 1t is to look to God as your best friend, and
| lean on Him as your supreme helper; 1t is
| to overcome the temptations Of selfishness,
! Incidence, impurity, pride, anger, and live
a pure, sweet, holy life. How are you go
ing to do this2 Not by any single act of
efconsecration, however hearty; not by
any one experience of Gods grace, how
ever sweet. You can be a Christian only
by trying always with all your might, and
by looking continually 10 God for His help.
What you do when, as you hope, you be-
gin new life, must be done over and over
again TO the very end.
1t Is oflen said "You can give yourself TO
God here and now, without a moments de-
law" In one sense this is true, but it may
be so understood as to do great harm. For
instance, man stands on the dock just as
an ocean steamer is about to sail by sim
gle step he can put himselfon ho-'d OF ner'
and then, withnni ""Otrer effort on his part,
bo taken straight and sure TO Europe. But
a man cannot secure his passage to heaven
| in that way. lie can do only what per-
son does who goes long journey on foot.
| To start is the work Of a moment; and to
start is great thing, IL done with clear
and strong purpose TO persevere; but it is
nothing at all, except as one step after
another is taken, growing to thousands and
| to miles, till the whole distance has been
measured. But you may ask, "In coming
to Christ do we not receive from him help
which will never fail us, aud which assures
our final success?'
Chrisrs help is certain and blessed
thing TO those who continually seek it. But
| 1t will not be forced upon you, or at all
avail you, without your own active re-
sponse, any more after your conversion
than before. You understand fully when
you lirst come to Christ that, though he is
full OF love and desire TO help, he will not
save you unless you voluntarily and heart
! lily give yourself TO him. Now, this is just
as true at every succeeding step as at the
FIRST. Gods grace is not something through
which men can afford to be idle. at Is
God that worketh in you" says the Apos-
tie; and for that very reason he bids us
"Work out your own salvation Do your
part, and God will do his.
The very common mistake of supposing
that the single act Ofturning to God, and
max ina a Christian profassion. is the main
thing, and that the rest will follow almost
OF Itself, does The very greatest harm. To
some it causes hopeless encouragement
and in some it works a fatal security and
idleness. The discou ragement is a very
common experience. \ person believes
that he has experienced a change of heart,
and looks TO find himself ga new creature"
at once. But, TO his dismay, he finds the
same old SELF hardly changed whit And
he is tempted TO think that his whole ex-
perence has been delusion, or else that
religion is a much poorer thing than he
had supposed. But in thinking so he is
like the child who runs to dig up his seeds
the next day after he has planted them,
and is disappointed 10 find that they have
not grown. This is what Christ taught
when he said that the Kingdom of God is
like unto grain of mustard seed, sowed
in field which is the least OF all seeds,
but becomes a great tree. The likeness
lies in the fact of growth which is almost
imperceptibe, but steady. If you do not
seem to yourself any better the day after
you joined the church than the day before
do not be di iscouraged-the tree before youl
window looks just the same that il die
twenty four hours ago! But, lest you bC
too tolerant toward yourself, remember
this; the tree is not the same that it was
it has drawn nourishment through its roots
it has made new wood, and pushed forward
its germinant buds. So if your Christian
, life is real, you will have drawn help fo
your daily need, from your Father in heav
en- you will have shown somewhere
spirit of love and kindness. AS by slow
sure growth the baby comes up to man
hood so by daily fidelity, and the answe
of God TO your seeking, you shall come Il
the stature of a perfect man in Christ Jesus
But worse than encouragement is sell
satisfaction in the thought that one has be
come a Christian, and there is not mue
leil to do. That delusion is the very chill
of the devil. Are you greater than tn
; Apostle Paul, who, far on his course, dc
clared that he forgot the things which wer
before, and pressed toward the mark VIII
I likened th5 Christian life TO a race, to
0 battle, the most earnest and continuou
l effort of which the human frame is capable
Every line of the New Testament tells a
1 gainst the notion that salvation is 10 be Sc
= cured by a single act, which is not enel
u getically and unremittingly followed NJ
) At the best, you are like II child who ha
I Just been put to school, and who has almo'
c everything TO learn. Indeed, If you al
@ disposed to rest contented with what yo
u have done, you have cause to doubt whetl
u or you have ever put your heart to scho'
u to Christ. Making profession of rcligio
Z is like enlisting in the army. 1t is ver
: easily done, and is at the most only prou
Is Use. Whether the promise is kept, d.
;, pends on how the recruit behaves; whetl
u er he endures hardships as a good soldie
y and fights bravoy, and follows wherev
y his Captain leads.
;, The disposition to rest content in a sil
"a gle act of turning to God, with the feelir
=. that salvation has been secured, shows
Of very poor and unworthy way Of thinkin