The Newtown bee., 1897-01-15

whole is greater than any of it's parts, that the whole is equal to all it's parts If man gives himself, all the parts of himself follow in the .gift-his intellect, his will, his conscience, his feelings, his time, his talents, his purse, his home, his friends. That is what the Church is pleading for to-day, that is what will bring the Church up to the high stand ard of living and thinking which will make it the conquering force in the world, entire consecratiou of the self to Jesus Christ. Hannibal, the Carthage nian, when mere boy was brought by his father to the altar and made to take an inviolable oath of hatred toward Rome and how we'll he kept his plight ed faith the page of history truly tells. "Civis Romanus sum-" the words "I am Roman citizen," were proud words of honor to him upon whom the mantle of Roman guardianship fell and how loyal was the citizen even to a government rotten to the core! Shall we whose word of allegiance has been plighted to our Saviour, around whom has fallen the mantle of heavenly cititizenship, be less loyal and firm? There is 10 use in spending words oyer the matter; the Church will always remain shorn of a large part of it's power, the Church will always be weakling in swaddling- hands while it might be
 A GIANT REJOICING IN STRENGTH,
 until it's membership consists fully of
 lives unreservedly committed to the ser vice of Jesus. Excusing ourselves from Christian work because it is hard, be- cause it is unnoticed, will never make a strong church giving pennies when we might give dollars will never make a powerful church going to a social gath eriDg without question and two nights after stay ng away from an important religious service of our own church on | some f1tmsy excuse will never make de- termined church. Two things point me to my theme, personal consecration first, t,that we are pas ing over the thresh. old of a new year; second, that we are i about to gather around the table of our Lord.
 Personal consecratios, the giving of one's self to God, what does it mean? In order that it may be gift at all, it must be such one as that of the members of the Macedonian churches, to whom Paul refers, was :; it must be of our own ac- cord, it must be voluntary, it must be an expression of our own will. Otherwise, it is like the money that the unscrupn- lous Turkish government collects from it's subjects it is in tho nature of an ex- action, tribute, tax. Every coming to Christ, every act of personal conse. cration, is an act of One's own will. No man comes to Christ blindly; several blind men are recorded in the Gospel his tory as becoming disciples of Jesus, but in coming the eyes of their physical and spiritual vision, too, were opened. No one floats into a regenerated life as a mote floats along the path of sunbeam. | No one drifts from Christless life into a Christ-inspired life as chip drifts from the waters of the Hudson river in- to the waters of New York bay. Every man comes to Christ by an act of his own will.
 There are many mysteries about con- version; how the Holy Spirit works upon lhe hearts of men, what influences He brings to bear, just when in some cases the pivotal point comes: but there is one point about which there is no mystery, and that .is, if human being misses Gods salvation, it is the fault of the will of that one human being, it Is not the l fault of God. And ye will not come unto Me, that ye might have lite," cried Jesus sorrowfully to the multitude. 70 Jerusalem, Jerusaleu," said He again, s.thou thst kAlIest the prophets and atom