Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-03-11

YhSfe4 III ~ middJo po1nt r men ~
Hove ii Him. Jegns Nants them AZ
s4y so-thinhs 1t Is better for them
to say 50.
This latter fact, that Jesus thinks
IL better for us ii we believe in Him,
to speak out and say SO, is significant.
It ought to have great weight with
u all. It would be a singular thing
il Jesus were worthy of our confidence
as q Savious from sin and yet were not
wise enough to tell us how best to
live the new Me we get from Him.
Or, to put it in other wards, II it is
not a mistake to accept and trust
Jesus al q Prophet come from God;
IL 1t is not a mistake to accept and
trust Jesus as a Divine Redeemer; if
it is not a mistake to accept and trust
Jesus as One who Is able to save un-
to the uttermost all who come unto
God by Him; then 1t is a mistake and
gross inconsistency not to accept and
trust Him right straight through. For
If we accept and trust Him as One
wholly competent to deliver us from
the consequences OF our transgres-
sions, and to restore us to purity and
the favor Of God, then surely we ought
to accept and trust Him when He tells
us that III sense of pardon, our peace
our happiness, our union with Him,
our growth in grace and knowledge,
our serviceableness in the world, the
preservation of the integrity and vi
ltality of u faith, depend on an open
acknowledgment of His name, and a
conscientious obedience to His COM
mands. A man says: II trust Him to
saw me, to lead me back to the Father,
to give me understanding in righteous
ness, and to make me an heir to the
everlasting Inheritance" and then, in
his conduct, in refusing to follow Him
openly, he turns right round and says:
"But as to the wise nourishing ana
management Of a Christian life here
in this world, I think / know better
than Jesus does" Is not just that
what is practically affirmed: IF ye
love me, keep My commandments"
Not n Of them; not such as you
choose. h1t all of them
Speak out, is the counsel Of Jesus,
and of all the Scriptures.
2. This open and loyal confession
of Jesus is the straightforward and
manly thing to do. If a man believes
in Jesus, and in his secret soul admits
the claims of Jesus-the supposition on
which we are now proceeding-then
his Indebtedness to Jesus is beyond any
computation. Neither in time nor In
eternity will any man, who has been
saved by the grace of God in Christ
Jesus be able to put into ineligible
speechsor tabulation, what he owes to
the Son of God.
1t is when salvation is of small ac-
count to us that our indebtedness to
Jesus seems small. When we think
what it is to be enlightened from on
high-to be set right with God-to be
| put in the way of the kingdom pre-
pared for us from the foundation of
the world, the heart>cannot help speak
ing out.
Now, so much rs this ought to be
done. 1t is due to Christ that the sense
of obligation, which true diciples can
not help feeling, should have clear and
frank utterance. AS n has said:
ut is a bad thing ostentatiously to pa
rade religion; but it is a base thing
for a Christian man to be ashamed of
it-not to stand by his .colors-by his
silence, If not by his speech, to deny
his Master; to sneak away like a cow
ard out of the fight"
If a physician helps, how loud the
restored patient is in his praise, and
what pains he takes to acquaint others
who are similarly sick or inirm with
this doctors rare skill. If a teacher
helps, with what a bold and commend
able enthusiasm pupils proclaim his
merits, and urge others to seek the
stimulation Of his instruction and
counsel. If a friend helps, and through
his love and advice and patient,
brooding interest, one Is held back
from some moral precipice, or having
plunged far down into the depths of
dissipation and rioting, has been res
cued and restored tt self-respect and
the good opinion Of others, how the
excellence of this friend is magnified,
and how his name is cherished. Shall
a man w everything to Christ, and
yet make no sign? Christ says, "Let
your light shine" You say: "No, my
light shall not shine; it shall be as
a fire hidden away in the heart or a
lint. unrAynked. ~unkiudledn