The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-06-10
Relieiuus aflistellanp.
The Lifeline.

stretched from the wreck to the precip-
itous shore. the passengers, one after
another, were swung over the pillows to
the land. A single passsenger-crazedI
and paralyzed with fright-refused to
trust himself to the lifeline; voices
from the rock of safety shouted to him
to hasten; he still held back, and
within ten minutes he was swept, amid
the crashing timbers of the wreck, into
eternity. That man had just one thing,
only one, to do. The lifeline was pro-
vided for him; was within reach; he
had nothing to do but to grasp it
quickly, and swing across to his COM
rades on the shore. Whose fault was
it that he persisted? And whose fault
will it be, kind reader, if you lose your
soul forever? Observe that Just what
was provided for that endangered man
has been provided for you. The Lord
Jesus Christ has bridged the danger of
perdition for you with his lifeline, and
the call is ringing in your ears, Now
is the day of salvation" Millions have
tested it, and have been saved by it to
new life and an everlasting heaven.
Your duty is two-fold. 1t is to quit
and to cling--to quit your present posi-
ton and to cleave with heart-grip to
your loving, all-suflicient Savior. No
one else can do this for you, or pray
you across that lifeline; not even God
himself will do this for you. The first
act is quitting of the old self and the
old sins. Gods command to you is to
repent - not of sin in general, but
of your own personal bad thoughts and
sinful practices. No one is accepted
and forgiven until he admits that he is
utterly wrong-until he stops excusing
himself for his wicked disobedience and
honestly confesses, I" am guilty
man; God be merciful to me a sinnerH'
Is this enough? No. Confession avails
nothing until there is change of con-
duct; prayer is of no avail unless it is
put into practice. Genuine repentance
implies the voluntary abandonment of
sin, both in the heart and in the life.
To rise for prayer" in a revival
meeting, and then go away and con-
tinue the practice of known sins, in de-
fiance of conscience, is mockery 1t
increases guilt and insults the Holy
Spirit. 1t is like drunkard request
ing to be prayed for, and then going off
to a dram-shop. That infatuated pas
senger who stuck to the wrecked ship
could not possibly be saved by the life
line. So, if you hold fast to your sins,
they must inevitably carry you to the
bottom. 70 "cease to do evil and
learn to do well " is prodigious task
when undertaken in your own weak
ness; but it becomes perfectly pos
sible thing when you summon to your
aid the Holy Spirit. That Almi ghty
Spirit is now offering you aid. Co.
operate with the Spirit. He knows ex-
actly your weakness, your wickedne IS,
your past failures and your inability
to regenerate your own heart. If you
could do without him he certainly would
not come to you with his divine aid.
Do not commit your former folly and
sin and grieve away the gracious. low
ing Spirit from you. But you may in
quire, " Is not the first step to lay hold
on Christ? Must not faith 90 before
everything" OF course it is only by
believing on the Lord Jesus that we
can be saved. But the wise old As
sembly of Westminster was right when
it defined repentance unto life to be a
4" turning from sin, with grief and
hatred of sin, unto God, with endeavor
after new obedience" The imperiled
passenger could not lay hold of the life
line until he had quit the worthless,
sinking ship; nor can | conceive of a
saving grasp on Christ which is not
preceded by a letting loose of self and
sin, the more entire and thorough
the better. 1t is because some persons
try to compromise by holding fast to
sin with one hand, and reaching out
towards Christ with the other, that
they either grieve away the Spirit OF
become only half-converted professors
Your grasp on Jesus must be prompt
hearty and entire. The hold on the
lifeline must be one of entire depend.
ence, as on support strong enough tC
bear your weight and of a world OF
sinners beside you. Jesus says, " Trust
me-" your heart must respond, " Lord
l believe; help thou my unbelief.''
This help will come to you in every
step of obedience which you honestly
undertake. Christ will help you in
your conflict with the tempter anC
with old evil habits. He will help you
in your first efforts in the Christian
life-as the loving mother puts her arm
under the arms of her lettering chile
when it is making its first experiment.
in walking. You will get grace fol
duty and solid satisfaction in obeyins
Christ and conscience-even if yoi
have no such sudden raptures as you
have heard of in the experience o
some others. Do not offer as an ex
cuse for delay that you cannot regen
crate your own heart Neither coulC
Bartimeus restore his lost sight. Blu
he promptly did three things-h,
prayed for mercy, he arose and came
to Jesus and he yielded himself i'm
plicitly to the Savior to be operate,
upon in any way that the love an,
power of the Wonder-worker nigh
act Ten minutes more and it woul,
have been too late. How prompt
and gladly he grasped the lifeline
Why do you not? 1t will cause yo
some sacrifice and the surrender @
darling sins. But it will cost you in
finitely more to stay where you are on tn
sinking ship. AT one end of the life
line is hell; at the other end heaven
Grasp it at once! Three or four Ell
couragements sparkle like diamond
before you. If you want to be save
Jesus wants to save you. Nobody ca
prevent your salvation but yourself
That lifeline carries you over to soil
peace; the service of Jesus gives lif
its richest joys and highest usefulness
A working Christian never can b
wrecked Rescued Yourself Won ma