Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1916-02-03

tian and not sure Of your salvation.
you should study the First Epistle Of
John.
After John Wesley had been preach
ing some time, but without results.
someone said to him: Are you sure.
Mr.. Wesley, of your salvation?" Yves.
ley replied he vas sure that provision
had been made for his salvation. But,
are you sure, Mr.. Wesley, that you
are saved" 1t went like an arrow,
and he had no rest until he was sure
Of his salvation.
But is it not presumptuous for one
to say, Il know l am saved?" Ger.
tainly not, if one really does know
he is saved. 1t honors God and
Christ, for by grace are We saved
through faith, and that not of your
selves. it is the gift Of Cod Paul
was able to say, Il know whom l have
believed, and am persuaded that he
is able to keep that which l have COM
mitted unto him against that day"
Why should this not be your testi-
mony. if you are a Christian? 1t can
be if your assurance centers in
Christ.
Your church membership does not
save you. No church OF earth can
save a man. It's sad, but true, there
are undoubtedly multitudes Of uncon-
verted church members who are lost.
1t is not the church, but Christ. who
saves. There is one other name
under heaven given among men
whereby we must be saved
II you are depending upon your mo-
rality, it went save you. Nothing is
quite SO ~dishonoring to God and
Christ as a sinners boastful righteous
ness, which God says is in his sight
as filthy rags. To pay your debts, to
be a good, r husband OF wife. par
n or neighbor, does not constitute
you a Christian. A Christian is n
who, having accepted by faith the
Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, is
born from above. Thus he becomes
a partaker of the divine nature and
will manifest in his life the life of
God. See Titus 3:5.
Again, let me say that you are not
saved because you feel you are saved.
You can feel saved, and be lost. l
board a train. Someone says, Are
you sure you are on the right train??"
oh, yes, I'm on the right train"
Well, how do you know you are"'
oh. because l feel l am" Non.
sense" the person would say. you
can't depend upon your feelings in this
matter; what you need is not feeling.
but fact" So the right order in the
matter OF salvation is fact, faith, feel
ing. If / can believe what mar says,
assuredly l can believe what God says.
See / John 5:9.l3.
We do accept the testimony Of men;
why then should we not accept the
testimony of God who says He that
hath the Son hath life?" The matter
for US to decide ia whether we have
the Son or not, for upon this depends
whether we are saved or not. He
that believeth on the Son hath ever
lasting life" John 1886. 1t is for
US to receive by faith Gods gift Of
his Son. II we really and truly do
this, God will do his part-give unto
us eternal life.
To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
is not simply to believe that he is
the Son Of God, the Savior OF the
world. The demons we read, be-
lieve and tremble." Saving faith is a
personal appropriation of Christ as
ones own Savior.
helped by the testimony l used to
hear in the Railroad Y. NJ. c. A. on
Sunday afternoons, from old Mr.. Bah
bage, for years the sexton OF the Brick
Presbyterian church, Rochester, N. Y.
Mr.. Babbage had the palsy and with
faltering, stammering tongue be gave
his testimony.
So far as l can remember 1t never
varied and today / thank God for the
~oft.repeated testimony Of his child.
Leaning heavily on the chair in
front Of him, in faitering accents he
would say: John three t%hirty.six, He
that believeth-on the Son-hath,
hath, present tense, thank God. ever
lasting life
That testimony burned its way into
the heart of the boy who today thanks
God for eternal life, a present pos
session.
III we accept the testimony Of men.
the testimony of God is greater; he