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IO THE PRESBYTERIAI
here in this hall, and if I ant to lie down in my bed,
I'll do so; if not, I will not do so. I'll remain here and
see.''
His saying that he will remain and sec is his own
decision, and shows that he is responsible for his acts.
And besides, we all know that if he sits there until he
sees, he will remain there until doom's day.
Again, we can see the absurdity and folly of such a
position, for he will have to reason thus: "I am sick,
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wut \uii iiiusi not scna ior a pnysician, or give me any
medicine, for if I am going to get well, I will get well,
or if I am going to die, I will die."
<), the folly of fatalism.
()ne more illustration, and I atji done.
Here is a man in tlic room in the second story of a
house, which is on fire, sitting in a chair. The firemen .
have arrived; the ladders arc at the windows; a way
of escape is provided; the warning cry, telling him of
his danger, is given ; the way of escape is offered, but
lie says, "I will not leave this room, for what's to be
will be; if I am to live, I will live; if I am to be burned
up, I will be; if not, I will not be." Of course, we all
know what the result of his decision to remain will be.
'1 his would be folly in the extreme.
So men say, and yet here are the unsaved in this
world with the flames of the eternal fires of hell licking
about them in their mad fury ; a way of escape has
been provided, by predestination, in the atoning blood
of Christ; salvation has been offered; the warning cry
lias been given, by fore-ordination: the one who refuses
to accept the salvation through Christ dies eternally.
In spite of this, they refuse to escape, saying, "What's
to be will be; if I am to be saved, I will be; if not, I
will not be."
As God has positively fixed all the means for the
soul's salvation, and has fore-ordained that men must
avail themselves of these means, or be lost, what folly,
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men, 10 retuse to awaken and obey.
Come, poor, weary, sin-burdened wanderer; let not
Satan longer delude you; come to Jesus Christ and he
will save you now.
Some lives are narrow by reason of the way they have
let circumstances dwarf them. But we must not say
that poverty has this effect, for many who are poor, who
have to live in a little house, with few comforts and no
luxuries, live a life that is large and free, wide as the
sky in its gladness; while, on the other hand, there arc
those who have everything earthly that heart could
desire, yet whose lives are narrow. There are some
to whom life has been so heavy a burden that they are
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..u v..up uy inc way. iney pray ior neaith, and
illness comes with its suffering and its expense. Their
work is hard. They have to live in continual discomfort.
Their associations are uncongenial. There seems
no hope of relief. When they awake in the morning,
their first consciousness is of the load they must lift
and begin to carry. Their disheartenment has continued
so long that it has grown into hopelessness.
No matter how many or how great are the reasons for
discouragement, a Christian should not let bitterness
enter his heart and blind his eyes so that he cannot see
the blue sky and the shining stars.?S. S. Times.
M OF THE SOUTH. May 5, 1909.
THE SURRENDERED LIFE.
My Dear Mrs. R.: I will now tell you of the "surrendered
life" that I do not believe in. And that is the
"surrendered life" you hear so much of in these latter
days.
But let me first restate the true doctrine 011 this subject.
In becoming a Christian or disciple there must
be a personal transaction betweeiv the sinner and Christ,
lie enters into a covenant with Christ, in which he
deeds and conveys to Christ his entire being and all
that he has. lie withholds nothing. He makes a full
surrender.
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iic is men, ot course, under obligation to deliver the
goods. In other words, to fulfill the terms of the
covenant or full surrender. This he must do. But when
he attempts to do it, he finds his business matters in a
deplorable condition. He finds that an enemy, the
devil, has possession of many of his goods, and he will
have to recover them. But the devil is very strong,
and he is very, very weak, and the process of recovery
will be slow.
And not only so, but often, as soon as recovered,
the devil snatches them away again. And then, too,
as lie proceeds, he finds that he possesses so many
more goods than he, in his ignorance, thought he did.
And when he thinks, Well, now, I am nearly through,
his eyes are opened and he sees this sin and that sin
which had escaped his notice, and he hastens to surrender
them according to his contract, and as his whole
body becomes full of light he sees new duties and new
demands of which he had been ignorant and he cries
out. Who is sufficient for these things?
But as the covenant secures to him the grace of
Christ, he puts forth renewed effort, knowing that he
can do all things through Christ strengthening him.
This goes on through life. No man forsakes absolutely
all sin and performs fully every duty in this
life in linlrl t1l/? ffintror.. -* ?: *
? ? ...... ui y i.-5 pci ic?.iiuniMii pure and
simple. And that is what the teachers of the "surrendered
life" hold. They teach that the "believer, with
a few exceptional cases, does not make a full surrender
at the beginning, but goes on living in this sin and that
sin,* neglecting this duty and that duty, and making no
success of the Christian life.
After a while, in many cases, he makes the "full surrender,"
actually delivers the goods, all that the deed
or covenant called for is made good. He no longer
fails in duty, he lives the "surrendered life," and, of
course, he is perfect.
Do I believe in the full surrender? As presented in
former letter, Yes, with all my heart. In the "full surrender"
as presented in this, No, with equal emphasis.
Truly yours,
E. S. K.
And this is the marvel to mortals revealed,
When the silvery trumpets of Christmas have pealed,
That mankind are the children of God.
?Phillips Brooks.
, >
The women of America pay more for artificial flowers
for their hats than .the whole Church of Christ gives to
save the non-Christian peoples.