Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1877-11-26
&kli0inas department.
WHAT is 1T TO BE A CHRISTIAN !!


may get at by looking at the apostles
answer to the king. Agrippa had used
the new word Christian which had been
coined at Antioch, and Paul paraphrases
1t into "such as l am" Now, what
character They were many, but they
all centred in his faith, and there were
two things about that which were pc.
culiar. 1t was first, faith in living
Saviour and it was second. living
faith which pervaded all his actions. 1t
was not merely creed that he believed,
but the risen and reigning Jesus that he
trusted. And that trust showed itself
in everything he did. 1t was character
lied wherever it is genuine. This, then,
is, to be a Christian, to have that faith
itself living thing, inspiring and ami
mating the life.
Agrippa felt himself drawn towards
Christ and he had almost yielded if he
had, he had become a Christian. The
will of man is the keeper of his soul,
and when that will chooses to give in
and to give up to Christ he becomes a
Christian. When man is persuaded
to be Christian he is Christian. Thus,
though the agency of the Holy Spirit in
the case is very real. the matter is some
how also at choice of the person him.
self. If man is not saved it is not
because his sins are too great or because
the Holy Spirit has been denied to him,
but because he will not come unto
Christ that he may have life. Thus
the matter hangs in the balance of the
sinners choice, and the all-important
question is to which side will the scale
preponderate.
One may know the contents of Gods
Word without making this choice.
Agrippa knew the prophets, and yet he
was only almost persuaded. 10 know
is one thing, to act upon that knowledge
is another. One may be perfectly fa-
miliar with the guide-book and yet new.
er stir from his parlor fire. The best
work on the geography of Palestine was
written by man who never himself
visited that land. So one may be even
well acquainted with the Bible. and YET
no Christian. Christ said, .'Tf ye know
these things, happy are ye," but He die
stop there, He added with awful sig
nifcance, "if ye do them" Again
one may be deeply moved by the preach
ing of the Gospel, and yet be only al
most persuaded. Agrippa felt the fore
of Paul's appeal, but he got no farthe
than s'almost" Felix trembled as b.
heard the apostle reason of righteous
ness, temperance and judgment to come
but he never had the convenient sea
son" for which he professed to wait
Herod heard John the Baptist gladl,
and did many things because of him
but after all he commanded him to b
beheaded. So many have been deepl
moved by some powerful sermon, bu
have gone no further. Conviction j
not conversion. Awakening is not re
pentance. Salvation comes only whe
we give up self and sin, for Christ.
1t is because they love something els
better than they love salvation by Chris
They feel that if they are to acceI
Christ, they must give up somethin
that they are not willing to part will
and so they keep that and let Chri
and His salvation 60. In our Scottis
home we once heard story of two sal
ors who set out over night in state
intoxication to row themselves in a
open boat over wide firth. They roy
ed, and rowed all through the nigl
until the gray dawn began to open, al
then to their establishment they di
cerned that they had not moved var
: Would you know the reason? In Il
! stupidity of their drunkenness they b;
forgotten to lift the anchor when tn,
began. That is the whole truth. Ov
that secret thing the whole battle
conversion has to be fought. and on
=. when that is given up for Christ a
i they saved.
Many years ago, while we were mi
> istering to church in Liverpool, it W
u our melancholy duty to go to the wide
: of the first officer of the Royal Oh;
d ter" and tell her that her husband W
u drowned. The vessel had gone rou
IL the world in safety. Her arrival
Queenstown had been telegraphed a
" the sailors wife was sitting in her p'
is lor with the table spread in eager {
at pectation of her husband, when we {
e. tered to say that he had been drown
tv with more than 400 others in Noe
ID Bay, only two or three hours from
err harbOr. We never saw such agony
X that face depicted when, grasping (
hand in hers, she cried with grief
, deep for tears, $50 near home and
" lost |" But, oh what must be the
:: guish Ofhim who through eternity sho
= have to say. Il was once almost say
and now l am in hell.-M 7. With
And she laid Him in a manger