We have an abundance of that which is real, that which is divine. Those who thirst for knowledge need not go to polluted fountains.
Christ presented the principles of truth in the gospel. In His teaching we may drink of the pure streams that flow from the throne of God.
Christ could have imparted to men knowledge that would have surpassed any previous disclosures, and put in the background every other discovery. He could have unlocked mystery after mystery, and could have concentrated around these wonderful revelations the active, earnest thought of successive generations till the close of time. But He would not spare a moment from teaching the knowledge of the science of salvation. His time, His faculties, His life itself, was appreciated and used only as the means for working out the salvation of the souls of men.310He had come to seek and to save that which was lost, and He would not be turned from His one object. He allowed nothing to divert Him.
Christ imparted only that knowledge which could be utilized. His instruction of the people was confined to the needs of their own condition in practical life. The curiosity that led them to come to Him with prying questions, He did not gratify. All such questionings He made the occasion for solemn, earnest, vital appeals. To those who were so eager to pluck from the tree of knowledge, He offered the fruit of the tree of life. They found every avenue closed, except the narrow way that leads to God. Every fountain was sealed, save the fountain of eternal life.
Our Saviour did not encourage any to attend the rabbinical schools of His day, for the reason that their minds would be corrupted with the continually repeated, “They say,” or, “It has been said.” Why, then, should we accept the unstable words of men as exalted wisdom, when a greater, a certain wisdom is at our command?
That which I have seen of eternal things, and that which I have seen of the weakness of men, as God has presented it before me, has deeply impressed my mind, and influenced my life and character. I see nothing wherein man should be exalted or praised or glorified. I see no reason why the opinions of worldly-wise men should be trusted in and exalted. How can those who are destitute of divine enlightenment have correct ideas of God’s plans and ways?
I am willing to be taught by Him who created the heavens and the earth, by Him who set the stars in their order in the firmament and appointed the sun311and the moon to do their work. I need not go to infidel authors. I choose to be taught of God.
HEART EDUCATION.
It is right for the youth to feel that they must reach the highest development of their mental powers. We would not restrict the education to which God has set no limit. But our attainments will avail nothing if not put to use for the honor of God and the good of humanity. Unless our knowledge is a stepping-stone to the accomplishment of the highest purposes, it is worthless.
What we need is knowledge that will strengthen mind and soul, that will make us better men and women.
Heart-education is of more importance than the education gained from books. It is well, even essential, to obtain a knowledge of the world in which we live; but if we leave eternity out of our reckoning, we shall make a failure from which we can never recover.
It is not well to crowd the mind with a class of studies that require intense application, but that are not brought into use in practical life. An education of this kind will be a loss to the student. For these studies take away his desire and inclination for the studies that would fit him for usefulness, and enable him to fulfil his responsibilities.
If the youth understood their own weakness, they would find in God their strength. If they seek to be taught by Him, they will become wise in His wisdom, and their lives will be fruitful of blessing to the world. But if they give up their minds to mere worldly and speculative study, and thus separate from God, they will lose all that enriches life.
IMPORTANCE OF SEEKING TRUE KNOWLEDGE.
Far more than we do, we need to understand the issues at stake in the conflict in which we are engaged. We need to understand more fully the value of the truths that God has given for this time, and the danger of allowing our minds to be diverted from them by the great deceiver.
The infinite value of the sacrifice required for our redemption reveals the fact that sin is a tremendous evil. Through sin the whole human organism is deranged, the mind is perverted, the imagination corrupted. Sin has degraded the faculties of the soul. Temptations from without find an answering chord within the heart, and the feet turn imperceptibly toward evil.
As the sacrifice in our behalf was complete, so our restoration from the defilement of sin is to be complete. There is no act of wickedness that the law will excuse; there is no unrighteousness that will escape its condemnation. The life of Christ was a perfect fulfilment of every precept of the law. He said, “I have kept My Father’s commandments.” His life is our standard of obedience and service.
God alone can renew the heart. “It is God who worketh in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” But we are bidden, “Work out your own salvation.”
THE WORK THAT REQUIRES OUR THOUGHT.
Wrongs can not be righted, nor can reformations in character be made, by a few feeble, intermittent efforts. Sanctification is the work, not of a day, or of a year,313but of a lifetime. The struggle for conquest over self, for holiness and heaven, is a life-long struggle. Without continual effort and constant activity, there can be no advancement in the divine life, no attainment of the victor’s crown.
The strongest evidence of man’s fall from a higher state is the fact that it costs so much to return. The way of return can be gained only by hard fighting, inch by inch, every hour. By a momentary act of will, one may place himself in the power of evil; but it requires more than a momentary act of will to break these fetters, and attain to a higher, holier life. The purpose may be formed, the work begun; but its accomplishment will require toil, time, and perseverance, patience and sacrifice.
Beset with temptations without number, we must resist firmly or be conquered. Should we come to the close of life with our work undone, it would be an eternal loss.
Paul’s sanctification was the result of a constant conflict with self. He said, “I die daily.” His will and his desires every day conflicted with duty and the will of God. Instead of following inclination, he did God’s will, however crucifying to his own nature.
God leads His people on step by step. The Christian life is a battle and a march. In this warfare there is no release; the effort must be continuous and persevering. It is by unceasing endeavor that we maintain the victory over the temptations of Satan. Christian integrity must be sought with resistless energy, and maintained with a resolute fixedness of purpose.
No one will be borne upward without stern, persevering effort in his own behalf. All must engage in this warfare for themselves. Individually we are responsible for the issue of the struggle; though Noah,314Job, and Daniel were in the land, they could deliver neither son nor daughter by their righteousness.
THE SCIENCE TO BE MASTERED.
There is a science of Christianity to be mastered,—a science as much deeper, broader, higher than any human science as the heavens are higher than the earth. The mind is to be disciplined, educated, trained; for we are to do service for God in ways that are not in harmony with inborn inclination. There are hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil that must be overcome. Often the training and education of a lifetime must be discarded, that one may become a learner in the school of Christ. Our hearts must be educated to become steadfast in God. We are to form habits of thought that will enable us to resist temptation. We must learn to look upward. The principles of the word of God,—principles that are as high as heaven, and that compass eternity,—we are to understand in their bearing upon our daily life. Every act, every word, every thought, is to be in accord with these principles.
The precious graces of the Holy Spirit are not developed in a moment. Courage, fortitude, meekness, faith, unwavering trust in God’s power to save, are acquired by the experience of years. By a life of holy endeavor and firm adherence to the right, the children of God are to seal their destiny.
NO TIME TO LOSE.
We have no time to lose. We know not how soon our probation may close. Eternity stretches before us. The curtain is about to be lifted. Christ is soon to come. The angels of God are seeking to attract us from ourselves and from earthly things. Let them not labor in vain
When Jesus rises up in the most holy place, lays off His mediatorial robes, and clothes Himself with the garments of vengeance, the mandate will go forth, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still, . . . and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”
A storm is coming, relentless in its fury. Are we prepared to meet it?
We need not say, The perils of the last days are soon to come upon us. Already they have come. We need now the sword of the Lord to cut to the very soul and marrow of fleshly lusts, appetites, and passions.
Minds that have been given up to loose thought need to change. “Girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in the time of your ignorance; but like as He who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living; because it is written, Ye shall be holy; for I am holy.” The thoughts must be centered upon God. Now is the time to put forth earnest effort to overcome the natural tendencies of the carnal heart.
Our efforts, our self-denial, our perseverance, must be proportionate to the infinite value of the object of which we are in pursuit. Only by overcoming as Christ overcame shall we win the crown of life.
THE NEED FOR SELF-RENUNCIATION.
Man’s great danger is in being self-deceived, indulging self-sufficiency, and thus separating from God, the source of his strength. Our natural tendencies,316unless corrected by the Holy Spirit of God, have in them the seeds of moral death. Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can not resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin.
In order to receive help from Christ, we must realize our need. We must have a true knowledge of ourselves. It is only he who knows himself to be a sinner that Christ can save. Only as we see our utter helplessness and renounce all self-trust, shall we lay hold on divine power.
It is not only at the beginning of the Christian life that this renunciation of self is to be made. At every advance step heavenward it is to be renewed. All our good works are dependent on a power outside of ourselves; therefore there needs to be a continual reaching out of the heart after God, a constant, earnest confession of sin and humbling of the soul before Him. Perils surround us; and we are safe only as we feel our weakness, and cling with the grasp of faith to our mighty Deliverer.
THE HIGHEST INTERESTS DEMAND ATTENTION.
We must turn away from a thousand topics that invite attention. There are matters that consume time and arouse inquiry, but end in nothing. The highest interests demand the close attention and energy that are too often given to comparatively insignificant things.
Accepting new theories does not bring new life to the soul. Even an acquaintance with facts and theories important in themselves is of little value unless put to a practical use. We need to feel our responsibility to give our souls food that will nourish and stimulate spiritual life.
A PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
“Every word of God is pure; He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”
We are not doing the will of God when we speculate upon things that He has seen fit to withhold from us. The question for us to study is, “What is truth,—the truth for this time, which is to be cherished, loved, honored, and obeyed?” The devotees of science have been defeated and disheartened in their efforts to find out God. What they need to inquire at this time is, “What is the truth that will enable us to win the salvation of our souls?”
Christ revealed God to His disciples in a way that performed in their hearts a special work, such as He has long been urging us to allow Him to do in our hearts. There are many who, in dwelling too largely upon theory, have lost sight of the living power of the Saviour’s example. They have lost sight of Him as the humble, self-denying worker. What they need is to behold Jesus. Daily we need the fresh revealing of His presence. We need to follow more closely His example of self-renunciation and sacrifice.
We need the experience that Paul had when he wrote, “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.”
The knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ expressed in character is an exaltation above everything else that is esteemed on earth or in heaven. It is the very highest education. It is the key that opens the portals of the heavenly city. This knowledge it is God’s purpose that all who put on Christ shall possess.
To our ministers, physicians, teachers, and all others engaged in any line of service for the Master, I have a message to bear. The Lord bids you to come up higher, to reach a holier standard. You must have an experience much deeper than you have yet even thought of having. Many who are already members of God’s great family know little of what it means to behold His glory, and to be changed from glory to glory. Many of you have a twilight perception of Christ’s excellence, and your souls thrill with joy. You long for a fuller, deeper sense of the Saviour’s love. You are unsatisfied. But do not despair. Give to Jesus the heart’s best and holiest affections. Treasure every ray of light. Cherish every desire of the soul after God. Give yourselves the culture of spiritual thoughts and holy communings. You have seen but the first rays of the early dawn of His glory. As you follow on to know the Lord, you will know that His going forth is prepared as the morning. “The path of the righteous is as the light of dawn, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Having repented of our sins, confessed them, and found pardon, we are to continue to learn of Christ, until we come into the full noontide of a perfect gospel faith.
THE KNOWLEDGE RECEIVED THROUGH GOD’S WORD.
The whole Bible is a revelation of the glory of God in Christ. Received, believed, obeyed, it is the great instrumentality in the transformation of character. And it is the only sure means of intellectual culture.
The reason why the youth, and even those of mature years, are so easily led into temptation and sin, is that they do not study the word of God and meditate upon it as they should. The lack of firm, decided will-power, which is manifest in life and character, results from their neglect of the sacred instruction of God’s word. They do not by earnest effort direct the mind to that which would inspire pure, holy thought, and divert it from that which is impure and untrue. There are few who choose the better part, who sit at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary, to learn of the divine Teacher. Few treasure His words in the heart, and practise them in the life.
The truths of the Bible, received, will uplift the mind from its earthliness and debasement. If the word of God were appreciated as it should be, both young and old would possess an inward rectitude, a strength of principle, that would enable them to resist temptation.
Let men teach and write the precious things of the Holy Scriptures. Let the thought, the aptitude, the keen exercise of brain power, be given to the study of the thoughts of God. Study not the philosophy of man’s conjectures, but study the philosophy of Him who is truth. Other literature is of little value when compared with this.
The mind that is earthly finds no pleasure in contemplating320the word of God; but for the mind renewed by the Holy Spirit, divine beauty and celestial light shine from the sacred page. That which to the earthly mind was a desolate wilderness, to the spiritual mind becomes a land of living streams.
TO BE GIVEN TO OUR CHILDREN.
The knowledge of God as revealed in His word is the knowledge to be given to our children. From the earliest dawn of reason they should be made familiar with the name and the life of Jesus. The very first lesson given them should be that God is their Father. Their very first training should teach them to render loving obedience. Reverently and tenderly let the word of God be read and repeated to them, in portions suited to their comprehension and adapted to awaken their interest. Above all, let them learn of His love revealed in Christ, and its great lesson:—
“If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”
Let the youth make the word of God the food of mind and soul. Let the cross of Christ be made the science of all education, the center of all teaching and all study. Let it be brought into the daily experience in practical life. So will the Saviour become to the youth a daily companion and friend. Every thought will be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. With the apostle Paul they will be able to say:—
“God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”
AN EXPERIMENTAL KNOWLEDGE.
Thus through faith they will come to know God by an experimental knowledge. They have proved for themselves the reality of His word, the truth of His promises. They have tasted, and they know that the Lord is good.
The beloved John had a knowledge gained through his own experience. He could testify:—
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life (for the Life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us); that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
So every one may be able, through his own experience, to “set his seal to this, that God is true.” He can bear witness to that which he himself has seen and heard and felt of the power of Christ. He can testify:—
“I needed help, and I found it in Jesus. Every want was supplied, the hunger of my soul was satisfied; the Bible is to me the revelation of Christ. I believe in Jesus because He is to me a divine Saviour. I believe the Bible because I have found it to be the voice of God to my soul.”
WONDERFUL POSSIBILITIES.
It is our privilege to reach higher and still higher, for clearer revealings of the character of God. When Moses prayed, “I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory,”322the Lord did not rebuke him, but He granted his prayer. God declared to His servant, “I will make all My goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee.”
It is sin that darkens our minds and dims our perceptions. As sin is purged from our hearts, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, illuminating His word and reflected from the face of nature, more and more fully will declare Him “merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.”
In His light shall we see light, until mind and heart and soul are transformed into the image of His holiness.
Wonderful possibilities are open to those who lay hold of the divine assurances of God’s word. There are glorious truths to come before the people of God. Privileges and duties which they do not even suspect to be in the Bible will be laid open before them. As they follow on in the path of humble obedience, doing His will, they will know more and more of the oracles of God.
Let the student take the Bible as his guide, and stand like a rock for principle, and he may aspire to any height of attainment. All the philosophies of human nature have led to confusion and shame when God has not been recognized as all in all. But the precious faith inspired of God imparts strength and nobility of character. As His goodness, His mercy, and His love are dwelt upon, clearer and still clearer will be the perception of truth; higher, holier, the desire for purity of heart and clearness of thought. The soul dwelling in the pure atmosphere of holy thought is transformed by intercourse with God through the study of His word. Truth is so large, so far-reaching, so deep, so broad, that self is lost sight of. The heart,323is softened and subdued into humility, kindness, and love.
And the natural powers are enlarged because of holy obedience. From the study of the words of life, students may come forth with minds expanded, elevated, ennobled. If they are, like Daniel, hearers and doers of the word of God, they may advance as he did in all branches of learning. Being pure-minded, they will become strong-minded. Every intellectual faculty will be quickened. They may so educate and discipline themselves that all within the sphere of their influence may see what man can be, and what he can do, when connected with the God of wisdom and power.
RESULTS OF RECEIVING GOD’S WORD.
This was the experience which the psalmist gained through a knowledge of God’s word. He says:—
“Blessed are they that are upright in the way,
Who walk in the law of Jehovah.
Blessed are they that keep His testimonies,
That seek Him with the whole heart. . . .
O that my ways were established
To observe Thy statutes!
Then shall I not be put to shame,
When I have respect unto all Thy commandments.”
“Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed thereto according to Thy word.”
“I have chosen the way of faithfulness:
Thine ordinances have I set before me.”
“Thy word have I laid up in my heart,
That I might not sin against Thee.”
“And I shall walk at liberty;
For I have sought Thy precepts.”
“Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold Wondrous things out of Thy law. . . . Thy testimonies also are my delight And my counselors.” “The law of Thy mouth is better unto me Than thousands of gold and silver.”324“O how love I Thy law! It is my meditation all the day.” “Thy statutes have been my songs In the house of my pilgrimage.” “Thy testimonies are wonderful; Therefore doth my soul keep them. The opening of Thy words giveth light; It giveth understanding unto the simple.” “Thy commandments make me wiser than mine enemies; For they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers; For Thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, Because I have kept Thy precepts. . . . Through Thy precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.”
“Thy word is very pure; Therefore Thy servant loveth it.”
“The sum of Thy word is truth; And every one of Thy righteous ordinances endureth forever.”
“Great peace have they that love Thy law; And they have no occasion of stumbling. I have hoped for Thy salvation, O Jehovah, And have done Thy commandments. My soul hath observed Thy testimonies; And I love them exceedingly.”
“I have longed for Thy salvation, O Jehovah; And Thy law is my delight. Let my soul live, and it shall praise Thee; And let Thine ordinances help me.” “Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage forever: For they are the rejoicing of my heart.”
AN AID IN THE STUDY OF NATURE.
He who has a knowledge of God and His word through personal experience is prepared to engage in the study of natural science. Of Christ it is written, “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.” When Adam and Eve in Eden lost the garments of holiness, they lost the light that had illuminated nature. No longer could they read it aright. But for325those who receive the light of the life of Christ, nature is again illuminated. In the light shining from the cross, we can rightly interpret nature’s teaching.
He who has a knowledge of God and His word has a settled faith in the divinity of the Holy Scriptures. He does not test the Bible by man’s ideas of science. He brings these ideas to the test of the unerring standard. He knows that God’s word is truth, and truth can never contradict itself; whatever in the teaching of so-called science contradicts the truth of God’s revelation, is mere human guesswork.
To the really wise, scientific research opens vast fields of thought and information. The ways of God as revealed in the natural world and in His dealings with man, constitute a treasury from which every student in the school of Christ may draw.
The real evidence of a living God is not merely in theory; it is in the conviction that God has written in our hearts, illuminated and explained by His word. It is in the living power in His created works, seen by the eye which the Holy Spirit has enlightened.
Those who judge of God from His handiwork, and not from the suppositions of great men, see His presence in everything. They behold His smile in the glad sunshine, and His love and care for man in the rich fields of autumn. Even the adornments of the earth, the grass of living green, the lovely flowers of every hue, the lofty and varied trees of the forest, the dancing brook, the noble river, the placid lake, testify to the tender, fatherly care of God and to His desire to make His children happy.
NATURE A KEY TO DIVINE MYSTERIES.
As the student thus contemplates the things of nature, a new perception of truth comes to him. The teachings in God’s great book of nature bear testimony to the truth of the written word.
In the plan of redemption there are mysteries that the human mind can not fathom, many things that human wisdom can not explain; but nature can teach us much concerning the mystery of godliness. Every shrub, every tree bearing fruit, all vegetation, has lessons for our study. In the growth of the seed are to be read the mysteries of the kingdom of God.
To the heart softened by the grace of God, the sun, the moon, the stars, the trees, the flowers of the field, utter words of counsel. The sowing of the seed carries the mind to spiritual seed-sowing. The tree declares that a good tree can not bear evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bear good fruit. “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” Even the tares have a lesson. They are of Satan’s sowing, and, if left unchecked, spoil the wheat by their rank growth.
Fathers and mothers, teach your children of the wonder-working power of God. His power is manifest in every plant, in every tree that bears fruit. Take the children into the garden, and explain to them how He causes the seed to grow. The farmer plows his land and sows the seed, but he can not make the seed grow. He must depend upon God to do that which no human power can do. The Lord puts His own Spirit into the seed, causing it to spring into life. Under His care the germ breaks through the case enclosing it, and springs up to develop and bear fruit.
As the children study the great lesson-book of nature, God will impress their minds. As they are told327of the work that He does for the seed, they learn the secret of growth in grace. Rightly understood, these lessons lead to the Creator, teaching those simple, holy truths that bring the heart into close touch with God.
A LESSON OF OBEDIENCE.
God’s laws for nature are obeyed by nature. Cloud and storm, sunshine and shower, dew and rain, all are under the supervision of God, and yield obedience to His command. In obedience to the law of God, the spire of grain bursts through the earth, “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” The fruit is first seen in the bud, and the Lord develops it in its proper season, because it does not resist His working. So the birds fulfil God’s purpose, as they make their long migrations from land to land, guided through trackless space by the hand of infinite power.
Can it be that man, made in the image of God, endowed with reason and speech, shall alone be unappreciative of His gifts, and disobedient to His laws? Will those who might be elevated and ennobled, fitted to be co-laborers with Him, be content to remain imperfect in character, and to cause confusion in our world? Shall the bodies and souls of God’s purchased inheritance be hampered with world-bound habits and unholy practises? Shall they not reflect the beauty of Him who has done all things well, that through His grace imperfect man might hear at last His benediction, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant, . . . enter thou into the joy of thy Lord”?
God desires us to learn from nature the lesson of obedience.
“Ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee; Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee;”328“And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not by all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought?” “With God is wisdom and might; He hath counsel and understanding.”
Blessed is the man whose “delight is in the law of Jehovah; . . . He shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, That bringeth forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also doth not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
The book of nature and the written word shed light upon each other. Both make us better acquainted with God by teaching us of His character and of the laws through which He works.
EDUCATION IN THE LIFE TO COME.
The education begun here will not be completed in this life; it will be going forward throughout eternity,—ever progressing, never completed. Day by day the wonderful works of God, the evidences of His miraculous power in creating and sustaining the universe, will open before the mind in new beauty. In the light that shines from the throne, mysteries will disappear, and the soul will be filled with astonishment at the simplicity of the things that were never before comprehended.
Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now we know in part; but then shall we know even as also we are known.
OUR GREAT NEED.
The knowledge of God that works transformation of character is our great need. If we fulfil His purpose, there must be in our lives a revelation of God that shall correspond to the teaching of His word.
The experience of Enoch and of John the Baptist represents what ours should be. Far more than we do, we need to study the lives of these men,—he who was translated to heaven without seeing death, and he who, before Christ’s first advent, was called to prepare the way of the Lord, to make His paths straight.
THE EXPERIENCE OF ENOCH.
Of Enoch it is written that he lived sixty-five years and begat a son; after that he walked with God three hundred years. During those earlier years, Enoch had loved and feared God, and had kept His commandments. But after the birth of his first son, he reached a higher experience; he was drawn into closer relationship with God. As he saw the child’s love for its father, its simple trust in his protection; as he felt the deep, yearning tenderness of his own heart for that first-born son, he learned a precious lesson of the wonderful love of God to man in the gift of His Son, and the confidence which the children of God may repose in their heavenly Father. The infinite, unfathomable love of God through Christ, became the subject of his meditations day and night. With all the fervor of his soul he sought to reveal that love to the people among whom he dwelt.
Enoch’s walk with God was not in a trance or a vision, but in all the duties of his daily life. He did not become a hermit, shutting himself entirely from330the world; for he had, in the world, a work to do for God. In the family and in his intercourse with men, as a husband and father, a friend, a citizen, he was the steadfast, unwavering servant of God.
His faith waxed stronger, his love became more ardent, with the lapse of centuries. To him prayer was as the breath of the soul. He lived in the atmosphere of heaven.
As the scenes of the future were opened to his view, Enoch became a preacher of righteousness, bearing God’s message to all who would hear the words of warning. In the land where Cain had sought to flee from the divine presence, the prophet of God made known the wonderful scenes that had passed before his vision. “Behold,” he declared, “the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds.”
The power of God that wrought with His servant was felt by those who heard. Some gave heed to the warning, and renounced their sins; but the multitudes mocked at the solemn message. The servants of God are to bear a similar message to the world in the last days, and it will also be received with unbelief and mockery.
As year after year passed, deeper and deeper grew the tide of human guilt, darker and darker gathered the clouds of divine judgment. Yet Enoch, the witness of faith, held on his way, warning, pleading, and teaching, striving to turn back the tide of guilt, and to stay the bolts of vengeance.
The men of that generation mocked the folly of him who sought not to gather gold or silver, or to build up possessions here. But Enoch’s heart was upon eternal treasures.331He had looked upon the celestial city. He had seen the King in His glory in the midst of Zion. The greater the existing iniquity, the more earnest was his longing for the home of God. While still on earth, he dwelt, by faith, in the realms of light.
“Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.” For three hundred years Enoch had been seeking purity of heart, that he might be in harmony with heaven. For three centuries he had walked with God. Day by day he had longed for a closer union; nearer and nearer had grown the communion, until God took him to Himself. He had stood at the threshold of the eternal world, only a step between him and the land of the blest; and now the portals opened, the walk with God, so long pursued on earth, continued, and he passed through the gates of the holy city,—the first from among men to enter there.
By faith Enoch “was translated that he should not see death; . . . for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”
To such communion God is calling us. As was Enoch’s must be their holiness of character who shall be redeemed from among men at the Lord’s second coming.