The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1913-11-24
HOW TO BEGIN
CHRISTIAN LIFE
No Step Can Compare With II
Says Rev. D. D. Stalker :,

Bul as many rs received Him to
them gave He power TO become the
sons OF God" John 1:12
No step i'm life can compare in inn
portapcc with beginning the Christian
life" said Rev. ID. d. Stalker in his
sermon at the Presbyterian church last
evening. Our text tells us how to be-
Gin and Il is of the highest import
ance that we begin Alright. For il we
start wrong the whole life that fol-
lows will likely be wrong The right
way TO begin is by accepting Christ
But as many as received Him to tncm
gave He the right to become the chii-
dren OF God.
What is IL To receive Jesus Christ?
1t Is To take Him to be 10 us what
God offers Him To be to everybody. viz.
To be our Saviour, or Sin Bearer. We
are all sinners and exposed to the
penalty due to sin. IF we say that we
have no sin we deceive ourselves and
the truth is not in us AN have sin
ned and came short of the glory of
God Sin excludes the sinner from
God and the enjoyment Of His favor
unless II is removed. God i'm His love
provides a sin-bearer, who assumed
our guilt and made atonement for il.
Now God can forgive our sins because
they have all been punished i'm the
great substitute and the law which we
violate has been satisfied. We re-
ceiVe Christ when We take Him as our
deliverer from the power of sin as
well as its guilt. Jesus not only died.
lie rose again, so that we Worship not
dead but living Christ. and to Him
all power in heaven and earth has been
committed So that He is not only
able Ia save us but to keep us from
sin and lie will do ii if we trust Him.
This is the secret of daily victory over
sin. by looking up constantly to the
risen Christ He will keep us. Through
the cruci1ed Christ we get dcliveranco
from the guilt of sin, but it is through
the risen Christ that We get daily vic
tory over the power Of sin.
To receive Christ is to take Him as
our Master, the one whose word we
absolutely believe and To whom we
Yield full confidence. We give Hip alb
solute control of our lives, so that
henceforth the question will he not
what would like to do, but what
would Jesus my Master have me do.
Failure To realize that Jesus is our
Lord and Master has led to many a
false start in the Christian life. We
begin with Him as Saviour or Sim
knnrnr and 1aIiNnrap thn nnWpr
Of sin. but we must not stop there, we
must know Him as Master.
Unconditional Surrender.
There is nothing more important in
the right beginning of the Christian
life than an unconditional surrender of
christ. We must say from the heart, |
and say it again and again, All for |
Jesus Many fail because they shrink |
from this entire surrender. They serve |
Jesus half heartedly. To hold back |!
anything from Him means "A poor life |
of stumbling and failure. The life of |
fun surrender is joyous life, life |
swayed by the Holy Spirit and life |
powerful in prayer.
"'ro sum il all up. the right way Ia
begin the Christian life is to accept |
Jesus as our Saviour from sin, GUY de-
liverer from the power of sin ami cur
Lord and Master to whom we yield
absolute obedience and control of our
lives. This is the right beginning and
he only right beginning of the Chris
ian life. Then being a Christian is
living out that same life Of love, obcdi-
rnce. surrender and service all our
lays.
There Is something else. lie who
owes Christ will love his brother also.
We cannot make too much of our rela-
ion to Christ, that is the beginning.
lut we have relations to others also,
We show that our relationship to'Christ
* correct by our actions towards His
lhildren BY this shall all men know
hat yc are my disciples If We have
owe one To another We know that we
nave passed from death to life be-
'ause we love the brethren IF man
says he loves God and hateth his
brother he is "A liar We being Chris
ians must live i'm the atmosphere OF
owe the atmosphere of the 18th Chap.
If LIST Corinthian. The Christian life
hat does not make us more gentle.
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