121 lines
8.6 KiB
Plaintext
121 lines
8.6 KiB
Plaintext
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Attention!
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Is Christ YOUR Lord?
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We do not ask, Is Christ your "Savior," but is He, really
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and truly, your LORD? If He be not your Lord, then most
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certainly He is not your "Savior." Those who have not received
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Christ Jesus as their "Lord," and yet suppose Him to be their
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"Savior," are deluded, and their hope rests on a foundation of
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sand. Multitudes are deceived on this vital point, and
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therefore, if the reader values his or her soul, we implore you
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to give a most careful reading of this little tract.
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When we ask, Is Christ your Lord? We do not inquire, Do you
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believe in the Godhood of Jesus of Nazareth? The demons do that
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(Matt. 8:28, 29) and yet perish notwithstanding! You may be
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firmly convinced of the Deity of Christ, and yet be in your sins.
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You may speak of Him with the utmost reverence, accord Him His
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divine titles in your prayers, and yet be unsaved. You may
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abominate those who traduce His person and deny His divinity, and
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yet have no spiritual love for Him at all.
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When we ask, Is Christ your LORD, we mean, does He in every
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deed occupy the throne of your heart, does He actually rule over
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your life? "We have turned every one to his own way" (Isa. 53:6)
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describes the course which all follow by nature. Before
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conversion every soul lives to please self. Of old it was
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written, "every man did that which was right in his own eyes,"
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and why? "In those days there was no king in Israel." (Judges
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21:25) Ah! that is the point we desire to make clear to the
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reader. Until Christ becomes your KING, (I Tim. 1:17; Rev.
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15:3), until you bow to his sceptre, until His will becomes the
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rule of your life, SELF dominates, and thus Christ is disowned.
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When the Holy Spirit begins His work of grace in a soul, He
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first convicts of sin. He shows me the real and awful nature of
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sin. He makes me realize that it is a species of insurrection, a
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defying of God's authority, a setting of my will against His. He
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shows me that in going my "own way," (Isa. 53:6) in pleasing
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myself, I have been fighting against God. As my eyes are opened
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to see what a lifelong rebel I have been, how indifferent to
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God's honor, how unconcerned about His will, I am filled with
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anguish and horror, and made to marvel that the thrice Holy One
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has not long since cast me into Hell. Reader, have you ever gone
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through this experience? If not, there is very grave reason to
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fear you are yet spiritually dead!
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Conversion, true conversion, saving conversion, is a turning
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from sin to God in Christ. It is a throwing down the weapons of
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my warfare against Him, a ceasing to despise and ignore His
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authority. New Testament conversion is described thus: "Ye
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turned to God from idols to serve (be in subjection to, obey) the
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living and true God." (I Thess. 1:9) An "idol" is any object to
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which we give what is due alone to God--the supreme place in our
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affections, the moulding influence of our hearts, the dominating
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power of our lives. Conversion is a right-about-face, the heart
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and will repudiating sin, self, and the world. Genuine
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conversion is always evidenced by "Lord, what wilt Thou have me
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to do?" (Acts 9:6): it is an unreserved surrendering of
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ourselves to His holy will. Have you yielded ourself to Him?
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(Rom. 6:13)
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There are many people who would like to be saved from Hell,
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but who do not want to be saved from self-will, from having their
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own way, from a life of (some form of) worldliness. But God will
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not save them on their terms. To be saved, we must submit to HIS
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terms. Listen to His terms: "Let the wicked forsake his way, and
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the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the
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Lord (having revolted from Him in Adam), and He will have mercy
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upon him." (Isa. 55:7) Said Christ, "Whosoever he be of you
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that forsaketh not all that he hath (all that is opposed to Me),
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he cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:33) Men must be turned
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"from darkness to light, and the power of Satan unto God" before
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they can "receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them
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which are sanctified." (Acts 26:18)
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"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk
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ye in Him." (Col. 2:6) That is an exhortation to Christians,
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and its force is, Continue as you begin. But how had they
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"begun"? By receiving "Christ Jesus the Lord" by surrendering to
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Him, by subjecting themselves to His will, by ceasing to please
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themselves. His authority was now owned. His commands now
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became their rule of life. His love constrained them to a glad
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and unreserved obedience. They "gave their own selves to the
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Lord." (2 Cor. 8:5) Have you, my reader, done this? Have you?
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Do the details of your life evidence it? Can those with whom you
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come into contact see that you are no more living to please self?
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(2 Cor. 5:15)
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Oh my reader, make no mistake upon this point: a conversion
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which the Holy Spirit produces is a very radical thing. It is a
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miracle of grace. It is the enthroning of Christ in the life.
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And such conversions are rare indeed. Multitudes of people have
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just sufficient "religion" to make them miserable. They refuse
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to forsake every known sin--and there is no true peace for any
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soul until he does. They have never "received Christ Jesus the
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Lord." (Col. 2:6) Had they done so, "the joy of the Lord" would
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be their strength. (Neh. 8:10) But the language of their hearts
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and lives (not their "lips") is, "We will not have this Man to
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reign over us." (Luke 19)14 Is that your case?
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The great miracle of grace consists in changing a lawless
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rebel into a loving and loyal subject. It is a "renewing" of the
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heart, so that the favored subject of it has come to loathe what
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he loved, and the things he once found irksome are now winsome.
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(2 Cor. 5:17) He delights "in the law of God after the inward
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man." (Rom. 7:22) He discovers that Christ's "commandments are
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not grievous" (1 John 5:3), and that "in keeping of them there is
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great reward." (Psa. 19:11) Is this your experience? It would
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be if you received Christ Jesus THE LORD!
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But to receive Christ Jesus the Lord is altogether beyond
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unaided human power. That is the last thing which the unrenewed
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heart wants to do. There must be a supernatural change of heart
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before there is even the desire for Christ to occupy its throne.
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And that change, none but God can work. (1 Cor. 12:3)
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Therefore, "Seek ye the Lord while He may be found." (Isa. 55:6)
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"Search for Him with all your heart." (Jer. 29:13) Reader, you
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may have been a professing Christian for years past and you may
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have been quite sincere in your profession. But if God has
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condescended to use his tract to show you that you have never
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really and truly "received Christ Jesus the Lord," if now in your
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own soul and conscience you realize that SELF has ruled you
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hitherto, will you not now get down on your knees and confess to
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God your self-will, your rebellion against Him, and beg Him to so
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work in you that, without further delay, you may be enabled to
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yield yourself completely to His will and become His subject, His
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servant, His loving slave, in deed and in truth?
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A. W. Pink
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