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The Christian Life : How to Find
It |
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Author: C. E. Orr |
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"In imitation of the Holy One who has called you;
you also must be holy in all your habits of life." I Pet. 1:15
(Weymouth)
Dear friend: I want to have a few moment's talk with you about
the Christian life. There are many people who know much about
the sporting life, the professional life, the political life,
the commercial life, the social life, but not so many, we fear,
fully understand the Christian life.
Most every one believes in an eternity. They believe also that
in eternity there is a place called heaven, where people will be
forever happy. Few, indeed are the people who do not desire to
go to heaven when done with the things of this life. I met one
man, however, who said he did not want to go to heaven, but
there are very few who get in such a hardened state.
Think for a moment what it will be to gain heaven; the very
extreme of happiness forever. Think what it will be to miss
heaven; the very extreme of wretchedness forever. Thousands of
people will miss it, but shall it be you and I? Our getting to
heaven depends upon the life we live here. If I owned the whole
world I would rather lose it all than to miss heaven. But,
except we live the true Christian life, this beautiful happy,
eternal heaven will never be ours.
THE STATE OF THE SINNER
Before saying more about the Christian life, let us talk awhile
about the state of the sinner. There are, we all well know,
different states or conditions in which people can be. Some of
these states are very exalted and blessed, while others are low
and deplorable. There is a state of man which the Bible terms
sinful. All sinners, from the chief to the least, are in this
sinful state. Some sinners have descended lower into the depths
of sin than others, and are, therefore, in a more deplorable
condition, yet all who sin are in a sinful state.
All who are thus conditioned are estranged from God. This should
be sufficient, if no more were said, to make all feel the
deplorable situation of a one in sin, estrangement, or a
stranger to God. When the judgment day is set and all mankind is
gathered before a just God, He is going to say these
soul-despairing words to all in sin, "Depart from me, I never
knew you." Estrangement has "strange" as its root word. To be an
unknown stranger to God in the great judgment day will be a
fearful thing.
Allow us to turn aside from our subject at this point to notice
for a moment the difference between those in a sinful state and
those in a state of righteousness. The former are strangers to
God; the latter are strangers to the world. To the sinner God
says, "I do not know you." To the Christian the world says, "I
do not know you." I would rather be unknown by the world than to
be unknown by the Lord.
The inspired writer of the Ephesians' epistle (2:12) says to
those who were once in sin, "Ye were without Christ." (More
accurately "Separate from Christ.") We note again the
distinction between the sinner and the Christian. The one is
"separate from Christ," the other is "separate from the world."
The distinction between those who are ready for heaven and those
who are not, is so clear that none need be deceived.
The apostle Paul says further of the unregenerate that "they are
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel." Christians are the
spiritual Israel of today. The unrighteous have no part in the
blessed privileges and glorious prospects of the righteous.
Furthermore, the sinful man is a foreigner to the promises of
God. The promises in the Bible are from a kind Heavenly Father
to His children and not to sinners. The promise to the sinner is
salvation if he will repent. Still further it is said of those
in their sins that they have "no hope." Their state can be
changed, but in a sinful state there is no hope.
Yet once more it is said that sinners are "without God in the
world." Literally godless. Oh, what depth of wretchedness to be
in such a state. It is not surprising to often hear the ungodly
saying, "I wish I never had been born." I, too, would rather
never have been born than to be "without God in the world."
There is a wide difference between the sinner and the Christian.
The sinner is darkness, while the Christian is light. Every
sinful life makes this world darker. Every righteous life makes
the world brighter. Which life are you living?
THE SECRET OF CHRISTIAN LIVING
Because some do not make success in certain undertakings does
not prove that success in such an undertaking is impossible. We
should not be discouraged because some others have failed. A
small boy undertook a certain task and failed. Another boy of
equal size, standing by, saw the cause of the first boy's
failure. He profited by the failure and made a success. Many a
person has raised the monument of victory on the ruins of
another's defeat. I hope to aid you in living a Christian life
by pointing out some reasons why others have failed.
In talking with people about the Christian life, we hear
expressions oftentimes like these: "I cannot live as I would
like to live." "I do many things which I know I ought not to
do." One man said, "I have been trying with all the energy of my
being for 20 years to live a true and right life, but I have
miserably failed. I have sinned more or less every day."
Many sincere hearts are hungering for a higher, holier, nobler
life. There is something in the nature of man that demands a
life that is true and right, but alas, how many are failing to
find that which meets that demand?
It affords me inexpressible joy to be able to tell you that we
can always think that which is true and do that which is right,
and that there is a Holy Power which we can possess in our own
life that will enable us, not as a mere machine, but as a
volitional person, to do from the heart that which is true and
right. Thank God. We can live as the great Author of Life
intended us to live. Each evening as we rest our head upon our
pillow, we can have the blessed consciousness that our life that
day has met all the purpose and expectation of our Maker, and
met the demands of our own nature. There is no sweeter life on
earth than this. It is a heavenly life. It is the Christian
life. You are eager to know how to live such a life and I am
eager to tell you.
You will agree with me when I say that in all the undertakings
of life two things are necessary to success: First, beginning
right; second, keeping right. If we begin right and then keep
right, we will end right. The difficulty with the greater
portion of those who cannot live right is because they did not
begin right. Many of those who do evil while they desire to do
good refer us to Paul's experience. Paul did have such an
experience, but it was because he had not begun right. Later he
went back to the beginning and started right. From that time on
he lived so holy, justly and blamelessly that when he came down
to the closing hour of life he said, "I have fought a good
fight; I have kept the faith; I am ready."
All men and women who sin "more or less every day" are sinners.
That is the way sinners live. If a bush bears sour grapes "more
or less" every year, do we call it a fig tree? The only way to
live a true Christian life is to become a Christian. You cannot
live like Christ except you get the life of Christ within you.
HOW TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN
I stand before a class of boys holding on a leaf an ugly-looking
creature. I ask them, "What is it?" They answer:"It is a
caterpillar." "Are you certain it is not a butterfly," I ask.
"It is nothing like a butterfly," they answer. "It is a
caterpillar." I put this ugly-looking worm into a showcase. A
little later, holding something before the boys, I ask, "What is
this?" "It is a cocoon," they reply. "What is a cocoon?" I ask.
"It is a covering spun by a caterpillar." "There is a dead
caterpillar inside." I place this cocoon back into the showcase.
A few days later, standing before the boys holding an object up
to view, I ask, "Who can tell what this is?" They answer in a
breath, "That is a butterfly." "Are you certain," I question,
"that it is not a caterpillar?" "Certainly it is not a
caterpillar. It is a butterfly." The boys know that a
caterpillar is not a butterfly and also that a butterfly is not
a caterpillar. "But," I say to these boys, "you said awhile ago
that it was a caterpillar; now you say it is not one. This is a
mystery. Who can explain it?" One bright boy holds up his hand.
"Well Sir, you may explain this mystery," I say to him, "It was
a caterpillar, but it died. It was in that cocoon tomb, a dead
thing. The old caterpillar life passed away. Out of that death a
new life came forth. It was a butterfly life. This butterfly is
a new creature with a new life. All its habits, all its manner
of life are entirely new." The boy is right. He has told the
story, too, of how the sinner becomes a Christian. He must die.
The old life of sin must pass away. Out of that death springs
forth the Christian life. The Christian is a new creation. He is
as distinct from the sinner as the butterfly is from the
caterpillar.
COMMUNION WITH GOD
The soul that is brought out of death into life is born of God
and has sweet communion with Him. There is nothing so blessed to
the Christian's soul as the hour of prayer. There is no time
spent in such thrilling delight as the time of communion with
God. There are no thoughts so sweet as the thoughts of God and
heaven.
The labors of life are sweetened by the exchange of a few words
with God amid our toil. How delightful it is to turn our hearts
to Him and feel the touch of His love upon our inward being when
we waken to the new day or lay ourselves down for the sleep of
the night. Is this true in your life?
If this blessed communion has not entered into your daily life,
strengthening you for duty and making your life a delight, you
are not realizing the best possibilities of the human life.
THE CHANGED LIFE
The Christian life is a changed life. There is no change in
nature so marked and definite. The changing of winter into
summer; of night into day; of sickness into health; of blindness
into sight; of the grain into a living plant, is less
distinctive than the conversion of a soul from sin into grace.
True we look upon the same form and face, but the old life is
gone and a new life is created. He is a new creation. Old
things, the old life, is passed away and all things have become
new. It is a passing from death to life; a transition from
darkness to light; a translation from Satan's kingdom into the
Kingdom of Christ.
The Christian life is the life of Christ in a human life. "I
live," says Paul, "yet not I, but it is Christ that lives in
me." Oh, how very much this means. The Christian can say in
truth, "Christ lives in me. The life I live is not mine but
Christ's." He does not bear witness in word only, but his daily
walk is a living testimony to the same. Is this true in your
life? Is Christ in every act you perform?
The Christian is a revelation of the Christ. His character is
the character of Christ. Jesus dwells and walks in the heart and
life of the Christian. This means that He will live in him and
do all things through him that He wills. He will think His
thoughts in him; speak His words in him; live His life in and
through him, work out His will in him.
DOES YOUR CHRISTIANITY REPRESENT WHAT
IT COST?
Some things are secured only at great
cost. That we might be Christians has cost the life of the Son
of God. "For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with
corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain
conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with
the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot." I Pet. 1:18-19. The life of Jesus was paid for
Christianity. Does your Christianity represent its true cost?
THE SPIRITUAL BIRTH
"Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."
(John 3:3). "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit." John 3:6. We see from
the above Scriptures that one must have a spiritual birth if he
would enter the Kingdom of God. Dear friend, do you have this
spiritual birth? Can you say you have the Spirit of Christ? "If
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." (Rom.
8:9).
CHRIST'S EPISTLE
"Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ." II Cor.
3:3. Another translation says, "All can see that you are a
letter from Christ." The Christian is Christ's "open letter."
His life is a message from Christ to the world. His daily walk
is a genuine letter from the Saviour of men. The Christian life
is written by the same Hand that wrote the New Testament and
they read just alike. If you profess to be a Christian, be sure
your daily life is the handwriting of Jesus. Your life in your
home amid its trials and provocations should read like God's
Word. It is very confusing and discouraging to others if your
life and the New Testament read differently.
The purpose of a letter is to convey the thoughts and mind of
the writer. The Christian is that kind of letter. Men come to
know the thoughts of God by reading the Christian's life. He
shows Christ's patience in his patience. His life is not his
life, but Christ's life in his life. The life of a saint is a
letter in which the world can read Christ's gentleness,
kindness, humility, sobriety, calmness, sympathy, love,
holiness, separateness from the world and hatred of sin. Do not
think this standard is too high. If you will take time to pray
and seek after this life with determined effort, leaning hard on
Christ's helpful arm, it will surprise you what a wonderful and
beautiful letter you can become. |
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Printed By: Faith Publishing House,
P.O. Box 518, Guthrie, OK 73044 |
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