Newspaper Page Text
y
6 THE PRESBYTERS
Contributed
A FRESH START TOWARD CHRIST.
By Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler, D. D.
A man has just gone out of my room who said to jne:
"I am going to btgin the new year with a fresh start."
All his life he had been drifting farther and farther tT
from where his conscience told him that he ought to be.
His "fresh start" was toward Jesus Christ. And every
unconverted person who reads these lines ought to take
the same step; you expect to do it at some time before
yo i die; do it now. Jesus Christ waited for you all
last year, and many years before it; hasten to him at
once.
Do not wait for any keener sense of guilt; people
often discover more of their own weakness and wickedness
after they have come to Jesus than they ever
dreamed of before. Do not wait for more feelino- Tf
e?"
you had fallen from a ferryboat into the North river,
filled with floating ice, would you wait to feel colder
before you grasped the rope flung out to you? When
Jesus told the blind beggar to come to him, he cast off
his garment and came straightway. When the leper
besought Christ to heal him, the Master bade him "go
show himself to the priest." The suffering wretch did
not stop to count his scabs or scales, nor inquire, "What
good will it do me to go?" He asked no questions, but
started, and "as he went he was healed." The path of
obedience was the path of salvation; it will be just so
with you..
When Jesus encountered James and John on the lake
shore of Gennesaret, he simply said to them, "Follow
me." He did not come twice after them, nor did he
need to speak twice to them. Their destiny hung upon
ten minutes; so may yours. Suppose that these two
fishermen had treated the Savior as you have always
treated him, where were their wonderful history, their
priceless service, and their crown of glory? Their destiny
turned on a "Yes" or a "No." They did not stop
tn rr\r ? ><>- -
? u?ti mcir sins, or to bargain with their new Master
as to their support; they quit their nets, rose up and
walked off with Jesus Christ, not knowing whither he
would lead them.
You, too, my friend, must forsake your "net."- A
single favorite prevailing sin may be a net that entangles
your soul in its meshes. The "net" which my friend
who has just left this room is quitting, is a dangerous
tampering with a braildy bottle. I have seen hundreds
1 -
?_?i awaKcnea souls drawn back into hardened impenitence
by sensual temptations; the decanter, the gamingtable,
the playhouse, or the appetite for licentious gratification
have coiled their net around the feet, and held
them from following Christ.
Perhaps your besetting sin is a love of making money
and in ways that do not satisfy your conscience. Then
stop it at whatever sacrifice. You cannot make an
honest prayer while there is a dishonest coin in your
pocket. Just as it is the hidden root which holds a tree
r i
VN OF THE SOUTH. January 27, 1909.
against every effort to move it, and the hidden rock
that staves the hole in the bottom of a vessel, so it is
the secret sin that oftenest keeps a soul from Christ.
Search your heart to the bottom, and whatever Christ
bids you give up, surrender it. Perhaps fear of ridicule
or the desire to stand well with your irreligious associates
may be influencing you. But you cannot keep
011 good terms with sinners and live 011 good terms
with your Savior. Take a bold stand, if some of your
acquaintances do stare at you or sneer at you. Perhaps
your courageous coming out for Christ may startle
them and shame them, and be the means of saving
their souls. I knew of two young ladies who so impress
eci tneir circle of friends by their decided stand for
Christ, that a deep religious interest was started, which
finally spread through the congregation. Obey Christ,
and he will take care of the consequences.
In order to be saved by Jesus Christ, there are two
things that arc indispensable. One is repentance of
sin, and the other is faith. They both mean doing.
They are not frames or feeling; they arc acts. Repentance
is a resolute turning away from your old sins, with
a full purpose to live a different life. Faith is a resolute
grasp of Jesus Christ, binding your soul to him as your
atoning Savior. You must put your whele heart into
both. Nor can you consider yourself a converted man
or a saved man until you are joined bv th*? T-Toi?
-r J WF"1L
to the Infinite Son of God. The Spirit will help, waits
to help you, and every hour that you refuse to obey
conscience and follow Jesus, you are resisting that divine,
loving Spirit. In the saving of your soul you
must act and Christ must act. Your faith is your laying
hold on Jesus, and doing whatever he bids you.
Jesus will forgive your sins, cleanse your soul, and
give you strength to follow him. That is his doing.
Take these two truths and act on them. Go to Jesus
in honest prayer. The "Inquiry Meeting" for you is a
meeting of your own heart with him: nn nact^r
, ,
evangelist, or friend can be a substitute for your Savior.
One honest hour with Jesus Christ is the first step to
which you must come sooner or later, or else die in your
sins. One honest hour with Jesus may give you a new
life in this world, and life everlasting up yonder. A
single decisive step?straight to Jesus Christ?will give
you such a "Happy New Year" as you never knew before.
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Send the road is clear before you
When the old Spring fret comes o'er you
And the Red Gods ca41 for you.
?Kipling.
Some one suggests that the "almighty dollar" ought
to be changed to the "Almighty's Dollar." This would
put it right?"The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,
saith the Lord of Hosts."
*
What moots it to say that you love a man's soul, when
you don't care if he lives or dies, or if his family is starv" '.g
??Graham Taylor.