(Continued-Chapter X -Under God's Moral Regime Only Those Who Believe Can Be Saved)

    "Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees,
    And looks to God alone;
    Laughs at impossibilities,
    And cries, "It shall be done!"

    THE HIDDEN LINE
    (The Destiny of Men)

    There is a time, we know not when,
    A point, we know not where,
    That marks the destiny of men
    To glory or despair.

    There is a line by us unseen,
    Which crosses every path;
    The hidden boundary between
    God's patience and God's wrath.

    To pass that limit is to die,
    To die as if by stealth;
    It does not quench the beaming eye,
    Or pale the glow of health.

    The Conscience may be still at ease,
    The spirit light and gay;
    That which is pleasing still may please,
    And care be thrust away.

    But on that forehead God has set
    Indelibly a mark
    Unseen by man, for man as yet
    Is blind and in the dark.

    And yet the doomed man's path below
    May bloom as Eden bloomed;
    He did not, does not, will not, know
    Or feel that he is doomed.

    He knows, he feels that all is well,
    And every fear is calmed;
    He lives, he dies, he wakes in hell,
    Not only doomed, but damned.

    Oh! where is that mysterious bourne
    By which our path is crossed;
    Beyond which, God himself hath sworn,
    That he who goes is lost?

    How far may we go on in sin?
    How long will God forbear?
    Where does hope end, and where begin
    The confines of despair?

    One answer from the skies is sent;
    "Ye that from God depart,
    While it is called to-day, repent,
    And harden not your heart."

    (Dr. J. Addison Alexander.)


II. HOW TO LIVE AS A CHRISTIAN

When anyone is saved and has the joy of the Lord in his heart, he should do as Andrew did, who, upon learning that Jesus was the Messiah, went and brought his brother Peter to the Lord. Men are saved for service. We are no longer our own; we are bought with a price--"with precious blood, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ" (I Pet. 1:19). We therefore are to glorify God in our daily lives.

Those who have accepted the Lord Jesus as Saviour should not only win others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ but should do as those did who accepted Christ on the day of Pentecost: "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers" (Acts 2:42). These disciples listened to the teaching of the Apostles and continually obeyed, not only the letter, but the spirit of their teaching. They continued in fellowship, one with the other; that is, they continued in mutual association with each other and in helpfulness to all. In doing this, they, as is seen in the latter part of this chapter, gave of their means for the good of the community of Christians and for the propagation of the truth of the gospel. They likewise continued in "the breaking of bread." The breaking of bread here is doubtless a reference to their observing the Lord's supper which Jesus instituted the night on which He was betrayed. One account of this is found in Matthew 26:26-29:

26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it and he gave to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27 And he took a cup, and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many unto remission of sins. 29 But I say unto you, I shall not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's kingdom.

From Acts 20:7 it appears that the disciples at Troas had the custom of meeting on the first day of the week for the purpose of remembering the Lord's death till He come: "And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow." On this occasion not only did they come together to break the bread, but they did it: "... And when he was gone up, and had broken the bread, and eaten, and had talked with them a long while, even till break of day, so he departed" (Acts 20: 11). The early church continued, as we see in Acts 2:42, in prayer, that is, they continued steadfastly in prayer, realizing that God hears and answers the petitions of His people.

To every one who has accepted the Lord Jesus Christ and has become a new creature in Him, I would say that he should by all means procure a copy of the New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and read it daily, asking God to open his eyes that he might understand the wonderful things that are found in the Word. Whenever he discovers a truth new to him, he should immediately act upon it, and thus keep walking in the light as He is in the light. Christians are urged to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen" (II Pet. 3:18). This exhortation does not imply that the unsaved can so act and conduct themselves as to enter the state of grace. No, when we accept Christ, the Lord delivers us--translates us from the kingdom of darkness and places us in the kingdom of the Son of His love (Col. 1:13): "... who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love." Being thus transplanted into the sphere of grace, we are urged to grow under such favorable circumstances and to increase in the knowledge of the truth. We can thus make this spiritual growth only by constant prayer and fellowship with God in worship and in the reading of the Word "not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is ..." (Heb. 10:25).

Let the one who has found Christ take his stand upon the promise found in Romans 8:28: "And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good,
even to them that are called according to his purpose." I wish to bear testimony to the fact that God is faithful and will work out in the life of everyone who loves Him, and who is called according to His purpose, everything for his good. Sometimes things will seem to be contrary to the promise of God, but the Lord knows His own and is making everything that comes into their lives contribute to their well-being.

III. HOW TO BE LED BY THE SPIRIT

The apostolic teaching is that all who accept Jesus Christ as Saviour and are born again should yield themselves to the Spirit of God by a surrender of all personal preferences and desires. They are to be open to conviction and to be willing to receive any and everything that God has said in His Word. Thus by surrendering their wills to do the will of God and by reading the Scriptures for the purpose of knowing what He desires of His servants, they make it possible for the indwelling Spirit of God to have an opportunity of influencing and guiding their thoughts and desires to do what is plainly written in the Word. Hosts of both men and women through the centuries who have accepted Christ have been enabled by the yielded life to be led by the Spirit. The Apostle Paul was bold in asserting that he was living the victorious life and in glorying in the fact that Christ was living His life in him: "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me" (Gal. 2:20).

Thoughts concerning the yielded life, that appeal to me very much, from the pens of others, I herewith present.

"As you leave the whole burden of your sin, and rest upon the atoning work of Christ, so leave the whole burden of your life and service and
rest upon the present inworking of the Holy Spirit.

"Give yourself up, morning by morning, to be led by the Holy Spirit, and go forward praising and at rest, leaving Him to manage you and your day. Cultivate the habit, all through the day, of joyfully depending upon, and obeying Him, expecting Him to guide, to enlighten, to reprove, to teach, to use, and to do in and with you what He will. Count upon His working as a fact, altogether apart from sight or feeling. Only let us believe in and obey the Holy Spirit as the RULER of our lives, and cease from the burden of trying to manage ourselves, then shall the fruit of the Spirit--love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control, appear in us, as HE will, to the glory of God" (Anon.).

"To be filled with the Spirit ... All that is necessary is to allow the Holy Spirit to take control. 'The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death' (Rom. 8:2). It is simply a question of yielding to the Spirit's control--an utter and complete abandonment of one's life to God, reckless of the consequences and regardless of the future ... The New Testament emphatically declares that 'sin shall not have dominion over you' (Rom. 6:14) ... Thank God, the victorious life is possible, but it is possible only by giving up struggling, and by yielding to the Holy Spirit ... 'Let go--and let God!' 'He breaks the power of cancelled sin and sets the prisoner free.'

"If the fullness of the Spirit is to be a continuous reality, there must be a constant and continued yieldedness to God. Said Dr. Chas. Inwood, 'There is no such thing as a once-for-all filling. It is a continuous appropriation.'

"The perpetual filling of the Spirit is dependent upon constantly repeated consecration and surrender. There are no short cuts to spirituality.
Every day of life should witness a renewal of the act of consecration, but the radiant Christian life resultant therefore is a testimony to the power of the indwelling Spirit ..." (F. A. Tatford).

Additional thoughts on the yielded life are found in the following passages of Scripture:

6 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein? Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection; knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin; for he that hath died is justified from sin. But if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him; knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death no more hath dominion over him. For the death that he died, he died unto sin once: but the life that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:1-11).


3 If then ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth. For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory. Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; for which things' sake cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience: wherein ye also once walked, when ye lived in these things; but now do ye also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out of your mouth: lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings, and have put on the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him: where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all. Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye: and above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to the which also ye were called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God. And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Colossians 3:1-17).

13 Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him. Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working. Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again; and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. My brethren, if any among you err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he who converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins (James 5:13-20).

15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever (1 John 2:15-17).

15 See that none render unto any one evil for evil; but always follow after that which is good, one toward another, and toward all. Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus to you-ward (1 Thessalonians 5:15-18).