Living a Christian Life.
Zion's Advocate, Vol. 42, No. 3, March 1903, Part 4.
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." Matt. 16: 24.
The child of God, who has been admitted to membership in the church of Christ, has had a great honor conferred upon him. He occupies a seat in the house of God; he enjoys the fellowship of the members of the family of God; he is permitted to feast upon the manna that God has provided; he shares in all the blessings and privileges that are so bountifully furnished by the hand of God; and his name is enrolled with the heirs of glory. Nothing less than a high and noble birth could have qualified him to occupy such a high and noble position. The highest place furnished by the world is but of the world, the low, changing, fleeting world, but God's house, the city which he has built, is heavenly.Look not upon his kingdom with any lack of respect and appreciation. Only think! The citizens of that kingdom have "come unto Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first- born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." The highest royal court the world has ever known will not compare with this. What a shame it is and how dreadful it must be for any of the citizens of this great and glorious kingdom to misuse their privileges or show disrespect toward the wonderful King. If Moses was required to remove his shoes because of the holiness of the ground upon which he stood as he gazed upon the burning bush, how much more should we try to divest ourselves of all carnality as we look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities, and tread the courts of the tabernacle which God has reared.
Dear brethren and sisters, as we write these sacred and solemn truths we cannot forbear to pause and acknowledge that we have sinned. As we get this scriptural view of the glorious church of Christ we bow with shame in remembering that our hands have been stained as we have handled her sacred relics, and that with unhallowed feet we have walked in her holy sanctuary. Our only hope is that the Redeemer's blood has removed the stains and hallowed our steps. Let us draw near to our great High Priest in fervent prayer for his rich mercy and grace. How much we need his forgiveness, and how much we need his grace to enable us to live more uprightly! O Lord, forgive us all, and draw us that we may run after thee!
"See that ye refuse not him that speaketh." God, your Creator and Father, speaks! See that ye refuse him not. If you turn away from him that speaks from heaven, you will not escape his rod. Besides, ought not your love for him be so great as to cause you to try to please him in all things even if there were no rod? How rich is his mercy who has said he will be merciful to our unrighteousness, and that he will remember our sins no more. It is by this that we have boldness to enter into the holiest service, "by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us." As we have a High Priest over the house of God, "let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith." Are we not living too far from him in whom we pretended to trust? Oh, that we could appeal to the very heart of every reader who has professed the holy religion of Jesus and has come out from the sinful world! Oh, that we could all unite in drawing near to God!
He will not refuse us. Though we have sinned he is faithful and just to forgive us. God is light, and in him there is no darkness. "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another," and the sweet evidence is given us that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. Let us draw near, then, in full assurance of faith. But we are poorly qualified to draw near if we live in disobedience. Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is. Consider one another to provoke unto love and good works. Paul's soul could have no pleasure in those who draw back, and we have a similar feeling to his. When a member begins to take a back seat in church it looks like he is ashamed of his profession, and when one begins to neglect attending the meetings of his church it looks like he cares nothing for the cause. How can we take pleasure in such? How can we avoid being ashamed of them?
J. R. D.
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