, 1877-01-29


moved, an,l Hnu's soul was ho1luA with tho
mnrvclots light nt tho Gospel. Luke, his co1u-
pa1ltot. and ct-worl<cr who doubtless f,at ufttn
heard him rslase rs sxocrensc writss tat Il
rghteousncss burst, III moment, on Ills vislon,
IN f-orbcd,
Nnw. lake this experience md subtract from
@ u 't III 1es, arrs
there llavc been experiences like Banl'a In u.any
respects. Men like 9a1il have Ind terrible hptr..
itNaf contests, mil have been hItf1cnty lfftc,f
out of 'ar|sncss into n,arsclous light; hit, mark
rather than the rule.
Turning now to the other tcxE, VIC find that It
points kqnito different c1pcrlcncc. JOHN the
--orc was Andrew, Willis the utller was proasly
John tile Evaurclist,-and Jesus caiiie alpr&S
John tho Baptist said, " lsrl,u1tl the Lamb nf
noi.n and Ills Two disciples Immediately. tol-
" the cl,1 OF their lives. To he turc, they wcro
The tltscip'cs of John. They n,sl received 1nts
baptism, but this was the first time that Christ
huA bvcn rotnicA ont to them, and without any
,,rig9lo ,,1s xl,atsver' without any power q
they simply md Gtoaly nc.cptcd Jesus as their
SAVIOR nnd tic work oi thur conversion WA
done. How different was this experience iron,
genuine And ali u1Ios tho line n oi tho history
OF Chrsst's Church IN car.l, we find cxpcrcn cs
that correspond With tllosc Of John and Ar-
drew: .
mt only tho Scriptures, bat present, every
day Christian life, exhibits manifold variety Il,
Christian experience. Take meeting for csal-
ference, where Christian. rclatc their personal
exercises of so,il Men SIT by tue four intensely
nrs no two experiences that ,aru exay,,y
alike. II all werc precisely OF The
same Type, run IN the sanc mold, siel meet
since each experience IN most of It's proccssca
differs from every .otl'es. beeausc there Is n
variety as vast lis in field of roses, you are
charmed a,N! riyetcd TO thu spni.
III But, while there Is cnlIcss .lycrsity In
Christian experience. there arc certain puints In
which NIL slich experiences arc Identical. First,
III every genuine Christian experience will l,o
found conv!stton Of personal stntu'ncss. This
+ 80 ;'eep tl!at TIC per;on tins wrought upon
Insisting tllae THIS cnnvlctlo of sir must reach
souIe degree Of Intensity, but TINT such cunylc-
tiou Is al element in real Christian experience:
experience where It l. not found Is = Christian
experience. IN soile cases this conviction Is
intense, III others II is comparatively slight.
How to account for thus Varied intensity Of
sonyeton =? ~ not know s ,s H. this
ing Is not sound: They tell us that
wl1cn c1tlt Is brought up In a Chris
tim houscllofs',. and Its outward life IL
as 'ianeless rs lint Of q MIXTURE believer, VIC
to Christ, that it viii hare such struggle with
sin md e,rh sharp conviction a. one who Inns
bccn notostnuslY sinful and las long etnut out
in tic main II j. ,ioub'less tric,~6ut tier, her,
nrc 1narked exceptions to It. Some years ago
| was ntaluainteil with little elrt who had been
carefully instructed in the truths Of the Gospel.
always !!ecn CHRISTIAN" Sic i'a.l onllnnry
strength uf character. She was not destitute of
WIS alout u years old; She was convicted Of
aln. Never q my iItc hive met With uny one
was tcartal struggle With evil, and II laslc,l
for full two months. At length the light
dawncd OH that troubled spirit tho struggle
vas Sycr the burden v9s rolled Of uPon c,rlst
can rcason very conelusEvc1y In reference to tie
ya:tcd intensity. Of conviction In different
arc brought to filth In Christ, aro tnnrs s
frequently convicted OF sin than others.
But whatever bo the internally Of conviction,
such conviction, tn some degree, Is part md
o eysFy rS Gh'an Ga tGgs5snss Ga e,D,,
encc there is all apprehension au,t IN apnsopria-
t!on Of Christ rs pcrsonal rcdec,ucr. The true
believer Christ his s!n-bcarcr; rs tho Onu
wl,o died for him In lila stead ; as the Ono who
borc for h!'n tic penalty Of violated law, and
who thus delivers him (r0lu marltcd coudeMna-
tton MD punishment.
let Christians dlGes in the clcarncss Of their
EOIllE view 1ll(1l WITHOUT
my intervening, mist; others uppreEend Him
vaguely, sco lin, indlstiuctly. But every
true believer secs Him more or lees
e!cur! y, and all rest npou Him nnll
this apprehension OF, and trust In, Christ as our
substitute, there IL no genuine Christian expo
rlGIlce.
7hirl-F|owing forth from this apprehension
Sss m sss fs fS Seesss
assurcd, In h,s own soul, that his sransgrcsslons
are blottcd out, auti that tod for Chr,st's rako
will remember them no uiorc against him for
other respects, arc identical iu these three
professionalism Of sin, apprehension aud MP
preparation at Christ as u personal Savior, nnd
Consciousness of sin forgiven.
hut the processes thrDllEh which meu como to
this CONSTITUENCIES u forgiveness aro Ms vur,cda4
tic facts OF pereons wlIu experience IT, It ID 0f
the last Importance that We clearly and heartily
rrrugntzB this Tact. II makes no dlifcrtnca what
portant point IL, doca hu comet Is hs really in
Christi iias hc the consciousness that the Lord
| hns par1nnc,t himl S0tnc. when convicted OF
sn, nrG likn Saul, nt Damascus, In great dark
| ness. The struggle with THUR evil passions Is
sllarl: Tlry aro tossed 10 a.il iro. Gol
Their .larkncss gives place 10 thu
light, Of noon'lay. suct, mem speaking frpal
/ ycious tight Of tile Gospel" WI iulye all nut
kuch experiences. but, on thu otlier hand, tAls
consciousness Of parslun through Christ c3,e J
ysry many hseyGrs s Graaa;ay Ths f 'st
morning. Az that they can say ia, ~ WIS in
darkness, but now nn in the light; but how /
rulns Into tho light know uot.'F Can my mat,
Say that this Is not q genuine experienced We
canl,ot trace out the processes OF thc uoly
Again, We % tsar msn p,, speak M q g: = their ctr
Il" c,,,.tS naFa'n; t. Tnfy say, y,x o .,,;
st sstsEA k-I SYt,t3