The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-07-27
SAVED"

sT wish my son to be educated and bis
character developed;" "I desire him to be
trained;" II am striving for his reforma-
tion, and want to keep him from bad ways"
81 am aiming at the right moulding of my
daughters ife;" II wish my children
rightly started in life"-such aspirations we
often hear uttered more or less articulately
by parents and friends concerning others,
or by the aspirants themselves. They are
laudable; but they are all included as to their
essence in one word not so often employed.
That word Is s'saved'-in the Bible sense,
no merely from ignorance, bad habits, fall
ure in life, and the like, but Saved, body
and spirit, for time and eternity.
To be saved is to be freed from an accusing
conscience, the dominion Of sin, its i'll conse-
auences and the fear of them; to be content,
at peace, even full of hope as to the great un.
known future. 1t is to have the day OF
judgment diyested Of terror. 1t is to have
positive gain and peace of conscience, free
dom from the mastery of the world, an abid,.
ing, elevating, purifying, motive toward
well-dong, which acts within, and is not de-
pendent on human observation, and hope
which offsets present limitations like grief.
poverty and pain, and actually converts
them into benefits. 1t is to have hope,
realized in due time, of all that Is involved
and how.much that is eternitycan disclose-in
eternal life"
The ordinary mind can see how much this
heart-belevng implies. II was sinful,
guilty; Gods law was broken by me, and i!
was under its penalty. Christ bore 1t and
brought in righteousness. 1t is free gE to
me. I love God, who pitied me. I love
Jesus who saved me. know his work iS
enough; for God raised him from the dead:
I will be grateful as long as l live. / will
try to please him, to honor him. can never
repay him, but in every way that he desires
and shows me will try to please him"
Now, one Of the ways in which be can be
pleased and bonoredis the owning OF him be-
guers got Prince Alexander Ts, out out
subjects who were loyal to him felt bound to
acknowledge him. stand up for him, call him
their prince and respect his government.
What else could they do and be honest, man-
ly, and true to their convictions? When the
Son of Man is cast out. rejected, disowned
by men in this world, and rivals are set up
in his place, what should, what could his
friends do but confess him? The believing
with the heart is the privilege grace gives
the open confession is the duty inseparable
from it. The two are put together. with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation" Having accepted the grace
he assumes the duty. The duty is the
evidence and the heart has accepted the
grace. They are together in the prescription,
but on different grounds. No special genius is
necessary to the understanding OF this.
Here" says the doctor to a patient shaking h
in disease. sis the specific for yonr malady.
Take it and keep as quiet as possible" The
quiet may not be perfect, is not specific. So
il is with the confession. Hence the strong
language Of the Master: "Whoever shall
confess before men him, will 1 confess also
before my father which is in heaven"
Reader, are you doing these two thinss--
believing and confessing? He who cannot
lie says that they who do these things-.two
and yet one-do them "unto salvation"
This means never fails Of the end. The in
vestment is never failure. The remedy is
never without the hoped-for relief. The be-
ing saved is not, therefore, mere senti-
ment. hope, or line of religious conduct; it
carries the very man along, and makes right
with God, and it brings. therefore. in Its
train the present well-doing.-(Rey. j. Hall,
D. D., in Congregationalist.