A RIGHT EXPERIENCE NEEDED.
By Albert Stone
It is not so much what we feel as what we do that makes up the true Christian character. Evidence of conversion based on feeling is not to be trusted. No man will risk the success of worldly interests on mere feeling. The men of the world know that oft’ repeated blows struck in the right place, at the right time, are what give success. There is a feeling that is in harmony with Christianity, and there is a feeling that is opposed to Christianity; but if they are not strong enough to ripen into action, they are comparatively of little account. There are too few who act on the principle that the philosophy of success in religion is the same as the philosophy of success in worldly business. It is the diligent hand that maketh rich. The man whose heart is set on wealth lays himself out for its attainment. He spares no pains, makes ventures, toils early and late, with watchful care and diligence. Success is the result. Two things account for his success: 1st, God has given him the requisite talent; 2nd, He has improved the talent given. The road that leads to eternal life is just as simple as the road to wealth, and more so, for all may have eternal life who will, but all cannot be rich. But if you cannot afford to be a co-worker with God in the salvation of your soul, you might as well give it up, for such is God’s only method of salvation. God will not do the work he has assigned to you to do. It is yours to work in the Lord’s vineyard, both in your own interest and that of others. True Christian experience is progressive. It seeks no leisure, nor permits any this side of final victory. Some mistake by supposing that religion consists chiefly in a happy frame of mind, and that this is to be sought as one of its chief excellencies. Where in the Bible do we read of prophets’ or apostles’ seeking a happy frame of mind? True religion seeks rather to bear burdens and imitate Christ, the Man of sorrows. If we do not sympathize with Christ’s temptations and sufferings, it is because we have no part in him. If we do not mourn, weep, hunger, thirst, labor, and suffer with Christ, it is because our hearts are not right with God. If you are not deeply convicted by the law of God that you have been a great sinner, then your experience lacks an important ingredient. If in addition to this you are yet proud, selfish, and unreformed in your life and conduct, then there is another important element wanting. The most reliable evidence of true conversion must rest, not on what we have been, but on what we are now. Does your faith overcome the world to-day? Are you constant in secret prayer to-day? Have you the spirit of sacrifice, of love, of consecration, to-day? Do you prize communion with God and the fellowship of the Spirit above all earthly good to-day? Do you earnestly desire, and are you striving to obtain, a deeper and more satisfactory experience in the things of God? Are you nearer Heaven to-day in your spirit and temper, in your desires and pursuits, than you were one year ago? Are you cheerfully doing your Bible duty in tithes and offerings? and are you personally doing what you ought to save others? Are your examples worthy of imitation? Do you habitually think of God as your loving Father, reconciled through Christ? Is your mind drawn out to thank God for his great goodness? Do you love the appearing of Christ, and long to see him coming in the clouds of heaven? It is too late to trifle with these things. Let the people all awake. Many, perhaps most, who read this writing will not taste of death till the Son of man is come. It was said that after the declaration of American independence, the struggle to obtain it tried men’s souls. And so it was. History speaks of great sacrifice and suffering by the American soldiers. They proudly beat the time to martial music, as they marched over frozen ground with bare and bleeding feet. Their motto was, “Give me liberty, or give me death.” They had an object in view that would pay, though they sacrificed and suffered much to obtain it. The same principle must govern Christian soldiers if they would obtain the victory and the reward. The conflict into which the people of God are now advancing will be the most trying of any they have ever engaged in. The present generation have been brought up delicately, and are poorly prepared, without rigid discipline, to meet those things that are coming upon the earth. Many professed Sabbath-keepers have little or no experience of enduring hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. They have been inactive, and left others to do the work and bear the burdens. They have not made it their daily business to seek the Lord, and to lay up treasure in Heaven. They have too much neglected secret prayer and self-examination. They have not heeded the testimony to the Laodicean church. They have not overcome the world. Such should be greatly alarmed, and make the most of the little time that remains to get a deep and solid Christian experience that will stand the test of those terrible trials and temptations that every child of God must meet just before the Lord comes. “The hour of temptation” is what will try men’s souls. This lies right in the pathway of the remnant church—no one can get round it. Let us therefore try to understand the necessities of the case, and put forth every possible effort in the strength of the Lord, to be ready for those things that are so soon to come on the earth, for the great day of his wrath is coming, and who shall be able to stand?