The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1903-07-31

self. The Christian must put off if he
would put on. That is what Paul means
when he tells us to cruelty the flesh,
with the affections and lusts." The put
ting off is painful process, but the put
ting on of Christ is the reward and
blessedness of the change of raiment.
THIS is illustrated by the experience
| of Augustine, which has made this,
our text, memorable. He says: Thus
was 1 sick and tcrmented in mind, Bit
terly accusing myself, and rolling and
turning about in my chain, till 1t
might be wholly broken At length,
rushing into the garden, grooming in
spirit, all my bones were crying out,
soul-sick was 1 and grievously tor
mented. 1 said to myself: BE it done
now; be it done now And voice
said: why standest thou in myself,
and so standest not? Cast myself
upon Him. Fear not; He will not
withdraw Himself to let thee fall. He
will receive, and will heal thee. Stop
thine ears against those unclean men,
bers of thine, which are upon earth,
that they may be mortified Then
arose mighty tempest, bringing a
heavy downpour of tears. l cast my
self under a fig tree, and gave rein
to my tears, and the flood of mine
eyes brake forth. Why not now? Why
not this hour make an end of my I'M
cleanness? And, 10! from the neigh
boring house 1 heard the voice as of a
boy or girl, l know not which, singing
and oft repeating: Take and read;
take and readi' Checking the torrent
of my tears, 1 arose, Interpreting 1T to
be Divine command to open the Book
and read the first chapter l could find.
l seized; l opened and in silence read
the passage on which mine eyes fell:
Not in rioting and drunkenness, not
in chambering and wentonness, not
in strife and envying. But PUT YE
ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, and
make not provision for the flesh, to
fulfill the lusts thereof No further
would 1 read; nor was there need, for
instantly all my heart was flooded with
light of peace, all the sadness of
doubt melted away!" History's page
and his own confessions give us
glimpse of the profigacy of Angus
tine; and we can understand that 1t
was no easy task for him to put off
the old life and nature and put on
Christ. But this he did, and we have
in the foregoing vision of what that
struggle meant, and the peace and joy
which came when ne had by faith put
on the Christ whom he professed.
THE world expects the processing
Christian to wear the raiment of the
II to
ward the Christian for help in its dis
tress and need. 1t knows that Chris
tan profession, if it be genuine, is fol-
lowed by the outward expression of
good works. And, on the other hand,
it is able to pick out the Christian,
to know him when it sees him by the
kindly word or helpful deed. | re-
member hearing the testimony once OF
redeemed drunkard. He had been
not only a dissipated man, but skep-
tic. He put all Christians down as
hypOcrites, and refused to believe in
the genuineneSS of religious expert
ences All appeals by Christian work.
ers were fruitless. He was untouched
and unyielding. But one day Chris
tian who was clothed with the COM
! passion and love of Jesus came along
and found this miserable drunkard and
skeptic in the gutter where he had
! fallen He saw beneath the dirt and
filth and besotted condition the soul
which God loved. He went down into
the gutter. He put his arm around
him. He lifted him up. He took him
home. The man was not so drunk
but that he knew he was being COM
passionately cared for. He knew he
was having a new experience, that in
stead of being abused and mistreated
by the wicked and thoughtless and
Stunned by others, he was being de-
livered from his wretched position. As
his brain cleared and he was able to
think, the question kept arising in his
mind: "Why did he Go this?" 1t was
the first thing in his life that ever
made him realize that religion was a
reality He said: "I knew he was
Christian, if ever there was one !
wanted to be one, too.'' That man who
had been denying the reality of the
Christian religion was able to identify
the Christian by the Christly raiment
he was wearing. Does the world have
an opportunity of Identifying you and
me as Christians by the raiment we
are wearing? Are we putting on the
Lord Jesus Christ in the home, on
the street, in business, in the social
circle, everywhere and always, in such
way as to be easily identified as a
Christian?
A ND the people OF the world are
~ quick to detect the sham. They
may not have light enough to realize
their own need; they may never be
brought to the place where they know
they are lost AMI need a Saviour, but
they do know when the protesting
Christian is not wearing the livery of
his Lord. The shallow minded, super
fetal Christian, the worldly-minded
Christian, is blind and does not realize
that the world can detect any differ
ence between his veneer and the genu-
inc raiment of the redeemed, but the
world is keen and observing and
knows just what a Christian ought to
be- 1t can soon penetrate the out
ward sham and know just the depth OK
the profession. What a reprOach 1T is
to-day to the religion of the Lord
Jesus Christ that the Christ is so read
lily and universally protested, and so
little put on. If you profess Christ,
the command to you is to put on the
a. r41.