St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1878-04-05
Essentials of Christian Experience.

Essentials OF CHRISTIAN Experience.
The question What is essential to
genuine Christian experience, as dis
tinguished from what may or may not
be connected with it in a given case
always important-takes on special inn
port in time of SO general religious
interest as the present. 1t is a most
serious question the peril of wrong
answer to which is simply infinite. 1t
is one indeed that no man can hope to
ans er rightly, except as he be guided
by the Spirit of God.
There are two sources which must be
looked to for a safe reply; the Bible,
and general Christian experience. By
the latter, we mean that experience
which is common to all true Christians.
This is very important point. Much
of the experience of true Christians is
peculiar, 1t belongs to themselves. 1t
arises from natural temperament or dis
position, their state of health, the cir
cumstances of their previous history,
their present surroundings. or Gods
special dealings with them. Such vary
ing idiOsyncratic experiences are not
essential to true Christian life. No
one else ever had exactly the expert
ence of Paul, or Payson. Familiar
though men are with this truth, daily
observation teaches that it needs to be
constantly impressed. No individual
Christian does wisely to expect an ex-
perience in its details exactly like that
of any other person of whom he ever
heard or read
Looking now into the Bible, and into
the lives and consciousness of Christian
people, we find three great features
which appear to be common to the ex-
perience of all who give evidence OF
being true disciples of Christ; in which
they are fundamentally at one, however
they may diverge, even toward differ
ence, in other points.
|. They agree in being convicted OF
sin. Christ died for sinners, and no
man ever comes to Christ us Saviour
who does not come as il sinner. The
degree of this conviction differs with
different persons. With some it is
overwhelming at the very outset with
others it is far deeper after conversion
than before but with every saved soul
there must he at least such sense of
sin as shall furnish the ground of abso-
&,
and the redemption of Christ, for sal
walton. We dwell upon this, because
the weak point in the professed Chris
tian experience of the present day APP
pears to be Just here. 1t is not uncOm-
mon to find persons seeking union with
the church because they feel general
interest in religious things, and think it
well for one to he Christian but
having no such view of themselves as
sinners as impels them to go with ur-
gent want, and intelligent faith, to
Christ as the only atOning sacrifice and
Saviour. Read in this connection the
tifty-frst Psalm, and the third chapter
of Romans and be sure that one can
never have a very deep Christian ex-
perience without a deep view of sin.
1t is of infinite consequence that they
who deal with this subject, do so thor
oughly, and bring the whole heart and
life to the test of Gods word humbly
and undoubtingly taking its testimony
as to what sin is, what its essential
OdiOusness, and what its appalling,
eternal and irrevOcable doom.
With all true conviction of sin is also
the inward knowledge and acceptance
of the fact-we may say an essential
feature of it-that God is Just in the
punishment of sin; that, in itself, it
deserves to be punished and by the
very nature of God must be punished.
The wages of sin-its just payments
death.
2. A second element in this expert
ence is the conviction that the sinner
cannot save himself. He may only
Learn this after long and painful expert
ence, but, if led by the Spirit of God,
he will learn it sooner or later. What
ever his theological theories, if he have
any, he will realize that some power
out of and above himself must save
him that an arm stronger than his own
must break the chains of his sins, and
lift him from their doom. "Lord, save.
or l perish"
B. This brings to the third essential.
the acceptance of Christ as a Saviour
The answer that has been given ten
thousand times in every age to the
question What must do to be saved ?
is the answer that must be given still
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved.n
But what is it to believe in Christ
What is this faith that saves the soul
Perhaps no man can answer that cues
tson so as to make it sure that another
shall wholly understand it. He who is
the Author and Finisher, as well as the
object, of faith, alone can reveal lust
what saving faith is. We can only tell
what 1T means to us. May a higher
teacher reveal Christ, not only to, but
in, every reader.
Saving faith involves the believing
that Christ is to us what in the Bible
He is revealed to be, and offered to be
to all who will accept him. That be
is the Son of God; that he became
man that he died for us-the just fol-
the unjust-redeeming us from the curse
of the law by being made a curse fol-
us; that he bore our sins in his owl
body on the tree, and is now able tc
save to the uttermost all that come
unto God by him-and so to save US
whatever our guilt and need. An6
then it is to trust ourselves to him al
such a Saviour; to believe in him, an6
leave ourselves to him to be saved il
his own way, and on his own terms