News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1921-10-26

! mas zone all ne
can do he finds himself cOnvincet
that by his own work he has not OBJ
tanned what he sought. Do what he
will he cannot find salvation until at
last, like the jailer, he cries, What
must do to be savedW (Acts 5000.
The answer today is the same as
when this question was first asked,
viz: Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved" (Acts
16 BIZ.
The sense of condemnation rising
from conviction of sin is the common
heritage Of all men. To find relief
from this sense of condemnation man
turns to various expedients, but the
more he tries to rid himself of it
the more he feels condemned. But
when he turns to the Word Of God
he finds written in Jno. 3 :1S, "He that
| believeth on the Son Is not con-
| demned.'
] The possession of eternal life comes
over the same pathway, that Of faith
in Jesus Christ. 1t is not for the man
who works but, "He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life" (Jno.
1867.
| If it be a question Of justification
! before God, it is simple faith and not
works Of any kind that brings it, for
we are told in Acts 13 80, "By Him
! (Chris) all that believe are justified
from all things from which We could
| not be justified by the law of Noses"
| n thon hnor
| ing to those who asked Him what
| they should do to work the works Of
| God, This is the work Of God that
We believe on Him whom He hath
sent" (Jno. 6:29). Faith in Christ is
the only medium by which we may Sc
cure gifts from God, but He has no
gift that may not be ours in answer
to our faith in this great object Of
faith, Jesus Christ. 1t is not there
fore my good life or works, not my
church or religion, not my integrity
of character or honesty Of purpose,
nor anything that I can do, which is
the object of my trust, but it is what
Christ has done and u.s. that must be-
come the object Of my faith.
Many have vague ideas about faith
and think Of it much as pagan
might think of some fetch. But it Is
not the faith but the object of faith
that holds the power and brings the
blessing. Noahs faith took him into
the ark because he believed that safe
ty from the judgment about to fall
was to be found only there. Thus it
was the ark, the object Of his faith,
that saved him. So the believer to-
day finds his faith takes him to,
Christ, the object of his faith, Who'll
saves him.
A man may have splendid faith, but
the faith is useless, however good 1t
may be in itself. For illustration: A
man may place his money in q bank
and by doing so prove he has splendid
faith in that bank. If the bank fails
and the man loses his money, it is bel
cause the object of his faith was un-i
worthy, and not because there was
anything wrong with his faith
Again, man may have good faith int
a boat and prove his faith is good byt
entrusting his life to that boat. Butt
If it goes down at sea and the man
loses his life 1t is not because his
faith was not of the right kind or
that there vas not enough of ii, but
simply because the object of his faith
was bad.
Today there are many men and
women trusting their future welfare
and their hope Of salvation to good
iobf lviru hnnastyy nf
purpose or sincerity, who will loses
their souls not because there is any-s
thing wrong with their faith, but be-
cause any of these things, however
good In themselves, is an unworthy
object for faith. All of them put to-
yether could never save soul. Noth-s
Ing but Christ can be worthy OBJ
Iect for faith which brings salvation.
A man may be a moral, praying,
going man, as Nicodemus was,
md not be saved; may be an upright
lean, almsgiving man, as Cornelius
vas, and not be saved; may be zeal
,us man, blameless before the law,
Is Saul of Tarsus was, and not be
,aved but none can be a believer In
he Lord Jesus Christ and not be
aved. because the Word of God still
declares, Believe In the Lord Jesus.
yhrist and thou shalt be saved" (Acts
@ BY. It is Christ, the supreme OBJ
ect for the sinners faith, who can
md will and does save all who put
heir trust in Him. The aviator in
he air. has no other stay or hope
han the machine in which he rides.
{ the machine proves good the man
5 safe, but if the machine is bad it
5 just the reverse, for he has no
Their stay-he has put his faith in it.
10 to be a believer on Christ means
hat a man has no other help or stay
L. L., L I.,r.n inA