The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-08-25

that the sinner should pass from death
unto life. Even the implantation of this
new principle of life was not deemed suf-
ficient. 1t was necessary that the opera
ton of the Holy Spirit on the soul should
be continued in the work of Sanctifca-
ton, in order that pardoned man might
be fitted by new and holy affections for
the enjoyment of heaven, and the COM
partnership of angels.
Thus it appears that the man who
would escape the doom of hell must real
ize that he is sinner, and he should la
Dor to understand what is the truth, that
he is such a sinner that his sin deserves
ETERNAL PUNISHMENT. He flies like
Christian from the City of Destruction.
Now shall such a one, as he passes out
of the wilderness linger amid the
scenes of Vanity Fair, with the idea of
continuing his journey after he shall
have drunk from the fountains of pleas
ure? Ifthe sinner realizes the enormity
of his guilt, and the fearful peril which he
seeks to escape, the business and the af-
fairs of earth will seem to him very
little thing. He will not pause till he is
sure of his salvation, and he will strive
to experience genuine and thorough Re-
pentance for all his sins, to realize that
he has rested his faith on Christ as his
only hope, and to realize that he has
been the subject of the regenerating in
fuences of the Holy Ghost Even then,
his work is not done: he must proceed to
grow in grace under the sanctifying work
of the Holy Spirit. Thus to become a
Christian should imply l. A profound
sense of Sinfulness; 2. A deep AMI earn
est Repentance, which involves not mere
ly contrition but reformation; 8. The
acceptance of Jesus Christ as a Saviour,
with Unreserved Conservation to his SER
vice; 4. Regeneration by the Holy Spirit;
5. Christian Growth in Sanctifcation, as
it is called by the old theologians; 6.
Love to Jesus Christ as Personal Sa-
viour. Some of these are included in
the others, or follow as matter of course;
we merel y mention them apart in order
to bring out clearly what is required to
form complete Christian character. For
example, Faith in Christ implies that one
feels himself to be sinner, and involves
love to that Saviour as a necessary con
sequence. But we see feeble Christians
without much love, without deep convic-
ton of sin, without complete consecra-
ton.
We wish to bring out that the idea of
ones becoming Christian in free-and-
easy way, just at ones convenience, and
just up to a certain point, is grave mis-
take. To experience this change implies
a thorough revolution in ones affections,
tastes, and habits, and deep spiritual ex-
ercises, involving work The essential
change itself may be wrought in mo-
ment by the Spirit of God; but there
must be the change; and after such
change, there must be progress and
growth in the Christian life. In fine,
becoming Christian is serious matter,
and not light matter, as many suppose
1t is nothing but the surrender of the
will; but have you thought what that
means? 1t means an unceasing life-strug-
gle to be more conformed to the image of
Christ. 1t is, as we have remarked, the
revolutionizing of the soil Of the soul in
which the weeds of sin are ever newly
springing up. One may be Christian
without having made much progress but
one can never be Christian who forms
the determination not to make progress.
So that when you resolve to be a Chris
tian, you must resolve to lament, to re-
form, to trust, to love, and to grow.
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ON THE EPZ8COPA T,E