Enlisting for Life

Many of my readers may be agitating the question in their minds, Ought I to enlist publicly in the service of Jesus Christ and unite with his church? A vitally important question this for all who are considering it; a very important one also for parents and teachers to whom the young may apply for counsel in regard to such a decisive step. An immense majority of those who unite with our churches by confession of faith are under twenty-five years of age. The impulsiveness and the inexperience of youth are elements of danger; on the other hand, the fact that the young have not yet rooted down so deeply into old habits of sin is an element of hopeful encouragement. Every pastor can find on his muster-roll more or less names of those who enlisted for Christ and then drifted away as deserters. The list of the wounded and *“missing’’ is sadly large in almost every large church. ‘he time for careful inspection on the part of a pastor and for thorough self-inspection on the part of the candidate is the time of enlistment.

The first question of all with you, my friend, if you propose such an important step, is this: Have I joined my heart to the Lord Jesus Christ? Have I been born into a new life by his Spirit? Have I found in him what my soul most needs, and surrendered that soul, without any reservations, to his keeping and control? The heart union to Christ must precede any public union with his church. If you will turn to an unnoticed incident in Old Testament history, you will see an illustration of what I mean. Ittai of - Gath, a blunt honest soldier, led his regiment of Gittites in review before King David at.a very critical time during Absalom’s rebellion. ‘The old king frankly and generously tells him that there is danger ahead if he enlists for the campaign. But the plucky Philistine has so knit his heart to the exiled monarch that his prompt reply is: ‘‘ As the Lord liveth and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or in life, even there also will thy servant be.’”? ‘That solemn oath of loyalty came from the heart. If others turn traitors, Ittai means to stzck. He can die for the ‘‘old flag,’ but he will never desert. A few days later on, and the body-guard of Gittites with the valiant Ittai at their head, march back triumphantly into Jerusalem, bringing the exiled David to his palace and his throne.

The prime essential with you is that you shall put your Saviour just where that loyal soldier put his sovereign — in the core of your heart. You must be ready to say, ‘‘ Wherever Christ leads, I will follow; whatever he commands, I will obey.’’ For bear in mind that the chief thing you do when you enlist in Christ’s service is not to subscribe to a system of sound doctrine (important though that may be), but to confess Jesus as your Saviour and Lord and. to pledge to him lifelong loyalty and obedience. You join your weakness to his strength, your ignorance to i i his wisdom, your unworthiness to his merits, your interests to his oversight, your poverty to his resources, your whole self to his service. If you do that sincerely, Chtist becomes responsi- “ble for you. He will provide for you spiritual armor. He will furnish you the daily rations of truth and grace to feed you. His‘precious promise is, ‘‘My grace is sufficient for you.’’ His guaranty is, ‘‘ No man shall pluck you out of my hands; because I live ye shall live also.’’ Christ accepts no volunteer for six months or for a single campaign. If you enlist, you must enlist for “ife. On the blade of that sword of the Spirit which the Captain of your salvation hands to you is inscribed: ‘‘He that endureth unto the end shall be saved.”’ But you may inquire, ‘‘Just how ought I to feel and just what should I be when I take the ‘lifelong obligation of church membership on myself?” God’s Word gives a very brief answer *

when it declares that if you trust in the Lord

Jesus Christ you shall be saved. This inward

faith must be evidenced by daily conduct. My own custom as a pastor is to put into the hands of every applicant for admission into the church a brief statement of the nature of church membership and the following six questions: 1. Have you seen yourself to be a sinner against God? 2. Have you not only repented of your sins and sought forgiveness, but do you hate all manner of sin and pray to be delivered from its dominion? 3. Is your hope of acceptance with God founded upon the Lord Jesus as your atoning Saviour, and upon him only? 4. Have you given your heart to Christ, and are you willing to follow him whithersoever he shall lead you? 5. Is it your honest purpose — in reliance on his grace — to cleave to Christ as your Redeemer and your Guide to the end of life? 6. In order to maintain your Christian life do you conscienciously practise the duties of prayer and the study of God’s Word as your daily rule of conduct?

You will notice that these interrogatories imply an enlistment for life. Also that they embrace the two core ideas of Christianity, which are to abhor sin and to love Christ — to turn from sin and to follow Christ. These seem to my mind to be the Scriptural evidences of regeneration. The new life in your soul may as yet be very feeble; it may be only the weak pulse-beat of an infant; the. blade of grace may, like the blades of grass in May, be very small; but if the life imparted by Jesus zs there, then you may strengthen it by an open confession of Him. When Christ bestows converting grace he demands confession. Love prompts it. A fire kindled in a stove reports itself; concealment is impossible. If nobody among your associates ever suspects or supposes that you are a Christian, then you ought to doubt if you are one. Be honest with yourself and with God. Ask him to search you and to guide you aright; and if after self-examination and testing you are persuaded that Jesus Christ has begun to live in your

soul, then openly enlist in his service. ‘‘Do you think that you love Christ?’ I asked a young convert recently. The prompt answer was, ‘“‘I

know it.’ Why should he not know it; for love

is a conscious emotion and act of the heart. Do ei not hold back because enlisting for Christ involves responsibility and will excite the watchful observation of others. You weed that; witnesses are intended to be watched and examined. If enlistment puts you into hard battles, all the better. Cowards and shirks win no victories and wear no crowns.

Pitch your standard high and then push on and fight on up to your colors. Do not be disheartened by some failures and repulses; there is no soldier who has not known some defeats. Peter was badly defeated in Pilate’s hall; but it made him a more watchful and a stronger warrior ever afterward. In religion as in war, it is ‘under fire’’ that makes the true soldier. The Bible phrase ‘‘a perfect man”? really signifies a full-grown man, but how can you reach that unless you begin?

Do you desire to be on Christ’s side at the Day of Judgment? Then enlist on that side now, and say to your Master, ‘‘ Lord, wherever thou art, whether in life or death, there will thy servant bel’’

going
HOW MUCH HAVE YOU GOT?