The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1907-11-18

round, TO change about This Is
rhe clear Biblical meaning Of the
erm This wise traveller, finding
imself on the wrong road, turns an |
aeCs about, getting right, 50 should
ne uneonyerted sinner travelling on
he read that leads TO death. turn
About get on the marrow way" lead
ing 10 eternal life Two distinct steps
on parts are involved in this turn
ing process After conviction OF sin
penitence or contrition must come
The individual must realize his lost
and ruined condition, and that he Il
a yiolator of divine law, for which he
must repent Thus, penitence o.
heartfelt sorrow for sin and an
earnest desire to be free from it, =
the first step In conversion.
The second step is faith in Christ
rhe penitent soul looks to the Sa
sior as a helper 1t reaches out and
avs hold upon the Savior crying ~
aith, ~I.ord. ii thou wilt, thou cans
make me clean and then, Lord, !
believe, help mine unbelief, and then
My Lord and my God" This is faith
The second step of conversion; turn
ing from sin sincerely and honestly
accepting Jesus Christ, These two
tops. complied with, the individual
IS now converted, turned from dark
Tess to light.
I ~ tVxb
hange21 obviously, all who are not
in a converted state Those who d,
aot have the elements or evidences
Of the new life within them; all
who 10 not have In their hearts trus
penitence for sin and true faith in
Christ
III we look carefully for these ele
mentary principles OF the new life
We will find numbers Of the children
and youth Of Christian parents who
have them. From their earliest recol
lection these young disciples hat
sin; they cannot think OF time
when they did not love Christ, nor
pray TO God through Christ They
were consecrated and given TO the
Savior in infancy. the parents sin
cerely pledging themselves to bring
these children up in Gods admoni-
ton and fear At the time OF this
occurred their birth
the feeble beginning OF the new life.
These germs of the new life were
afterwards carefully fostered and nur
Eured by the Word OF God and prayer
Such children are children of the
covenant; they cannot remember
when they did not love and trust
Christ They are in line with
Moses, Samuel jeremiah, John the
Baptist and Timothy, and their moth
ars belong to the class OF Hannah,
Elizabeth, Lois and Eunice. Such chill
Iren and the youth and adults coming
from such blessed childhood, need
no conversion
Not all who are given to God
through baptism remain true to the |
1aptismal covenant: not all Of them |
ire confirmed. and not all of the con
irmed are converted truly. These be |
'ome prodigals, wandering away into |
he far country Of sin, where they are
,onteLt to eat the husks OF worldli- |
less. All such need conversion. They /
iced to turn from their wicked ways
nd practices, they need TO become
,enitents, and faithfully give them
elves to God through Christ. In AL
ition to these, those who have never
ieen baptized who have never en-
cred into covenant with God, ana
Who know nothing of true penitence
r living faith--all such need CONVEX
ion. must have it, before they can
become true disciples of the Lori
esus Christ
No man. through reason or human
over, can bring about conversion;
e only can accept conditions tina
I'LL bring it about. Conversion is q
ivine work. the Spirit of God brings
about. How? Through the Word,
esus says The words that | SPEAK
nto you they are spirit and they are
fe" The Spirit of God must be in +
ne Word and must operate through
. The spoken or read Word is the
lstrument used by the Spirit in
,uching the sinners heart IT is the ]
Word that engenders faith--saving
aith. The Gospel encourages and
ENVELOPES faith; the Gospel holds up
crucifed and arisen Christ as Sa
Tor, and faith lays hold of this medi-
Tor. We read that faith cometh by
caring. and hearing by the word OF
cd"
Now. "a adult conversion. all do not
slifest the same. all do not have
milar feelings" With some indiyid-
;. the feeling predominant. control
ith others the judgment is the ele-
ent controlling In the matter Of
~ one feels" when converted. II
ill not be wise to lay down arbitrary
lies. Are we truly penitent2 Have
o a living faith In Christi II so, All
@ come to him as a Savior the wor
Us rs Tie viii not refuse to accept
). The Testimony of the Word is bet
o. than mere feeling" Some can
d the exact time when and where
IS were converted Zaccheus AMI