Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1913-09-13

Christian III
short time. This is a mistake. The
Christian life Is not simply an I'M
provement OF the old life, but oil
ferent kind of life altogether, name
ly. a life Of obedience to Christ. sup
pose you had sour apple tree which
you wished to convert into sweet
apple tree. What would you DO!
Would you dig about it and prune 1t
and scrape the bark? No, indeed. A
hundred years of such improvement
would not make the tree bear sweet
apples, but the introduction OF graft
from a sweet apple tree would do II
very quickly. Even so lifetime
spent in improving ones habits does
not make one a Christian. but the en-
trance OF Jesus Christ into the heart
by the surrender of the will, will do 1t
in a moment. People do not become
Christians by improving their nfe'
but by accepting Jesus Christ He
that hath the Son hath life; and he
that hath not the Son of God hath not
life" Il John SID
What Is Conversion7
The word convert means to turn
about" AS applied to spiritual things.
It means turning Of the soul unto
God "All we like sheep have gone
astray; we have turned every one to
his own way" The real essence OF
sin is this, that the sinner is de-
termined to have his own way. 1t may
not be the worst way In the world. II
may not be an immoral way, or VI
cious way, but 1t is his way and not
Gods way, which he ought to follow.
The only course for the sinner to
pursue is to turn about to abandon
his way. and to accept Gods way.
Let the wicked forsake his way. and
the unrighteous man his thoughts. and
let him return unto the Lord. and he
will have mercy upon him." Conver-
sion, then, is turning OF the soul
unto God, q surrender of the will to
the divine will, an acceptance OF
Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master.
When the sinner, realizing the folly
OF further resistance. finally surren-
ders his will to the Lord Jesus, then
occurs a great change. God forgives
his sins, and so changes his heart that
henceforth he loves Gods way better
than his own way. "A new heart will
l give you, and new spirit will l put
within you-And / will put my spirit
within you, and cause you to walk In
my statutes" (Ezek. 1926. 30. The
sinner no longer has a controversy
with God The great question Of life
is settled, and henceforth his aim is
to know and do the will Of God.
Influences Leading to Conversion.
The Word of God is a very effective
agency. II is like a mirror in which
the sinner sees himself as he really Is.
That is why Christ bids us preach
the gospel to every creature because
there is life In it. The Word OF God
is alive, and powerful, and sharper
than any two-edged sword" One can
hardly read the Bible continuously
\ and not be made to realize that he is
a sinner and need Savior.
On one occasion a man said to
me: From the preaching which /
heard in my boyhood was led to sup
pose that when one became Chris
ton, it was necessary for him to go
through some extraordinary process
called a change of heart. or regenera-
ton. This book which you have loan
ed me, teaches that what is required
is simply a change of purpose. Now
will you please tell me which is right
and which Is wrong?" l replied:
They are both right; you could not
change your heart II you should try;
you could not make it love what 1t
naturally hated, could your" mo,
suppose not" he said. But you could
change your purpose, could you not?
You could decide henceforth to obey
the Lord Jesus?" Certainly" he re-
piled. We'll" said I, IF you will
change your purpose and accept Christ
as your Savior, God will change your
heart and cause you to love what once
you hated, and to hate<what once you
loved" is that all there is to it?''
said he. Certainly" | replied. He
lost no time in accepting Christ and
God gaze him new heart.
Nov is the accepted time: now is
the day of salvation" II you say, Il
want more time to think about It,
answer, What will you gain by walt,
ing? What have you gained by wait.
ing already? No. friend, what you
need Is not time but decision. You
know that you are a sinner, and that
Christ is the only one who can save
you. The simple question is, will
you accept him &C your Savior?" God
expects you to do Il, commands you. to
do II. and IL II il ever done. you are
the one who must DO
Setting q Turkey.
In nearly all cases 1t will be best to