Of all the doctrines preached in the world by which the character of God has been maligned and misrepresented, the doctrine of eternal torment for the finally impenitent is the most pernicious. It proclaims God a tyrant, unmerciful and implacable. It makes the execution of his righteous wrath vindictive instead of vindicative. The source of this doctrine it is not difficult to trace. It is the logical and legitimate sequence of the doctrine of inherent and natural immortality, and the doctrine of inherent immortality has for its source the first recorded utterance of Satan, spoken in deceptive falsehood to Eve, in the Garden of Eden, "Ye shall not surely die."
The reception of the doctrine of eternal misery by the Christian church came about by the almost total misconception of the work of Jesus Christ in the great plan of redemption, and the system of rewards and punishments growing out of the relation of that redemptive plan to fallen man. By Adam's fall the sentence of eternal death passed upon the race. Without the redemptive scheme all men at death would have been resolved back into the original elements composing their making, thus to remain forever, so that Adam and his posterity would have become and forever would remain as though they never had existed.
But "God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. Christ by the sacrifice of himself "brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." We will not stop here to consider how he did this. We note the fact that it is through him that life and immortality are brought to light, hence they could not have come through any other avenue or by any other means than through the gospel. It follows further that as life and immortality came through the gospel they are not therefore possessed by man naturally, and that only those will receive them who accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. And to this witnesses the Scripture; for while Christ saves all men from the Adamic death (1 Cor.67715: 22), and becomes in this sense the Saviour of all men (1 Tim. 4: 10), he becomes in a special sense the Saviour of those who believe, in that he gives to them "abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness [and they] shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." Rom. 5: 17. Only those who believe and receive therefor the gift of righteousness escape the second death, which is meted out to the wicked as the wages of sin.
Christ will render to every man according to his deeds. "To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish." Rom. 2: 6-9. Then it is those only who seek for immortality through Christ that shall receive eternal life. All who do not seek for it in obedience to the truth will feel the indignation and wrath of God, the just and merited deserts of their evil doings.
What these deserts are may be seen by reference to Rom. 6: 23: "The wages of sin is death." "But," adds the apostle, in striking contrast to the foregoing, "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." As the righteous and wicked are opposite in character, so will each class receive a reward distinct of its own, the very opposite of the other. The reward of the righteous is life—the positive, while the wages of the sinner is death—the negative condition of life. One is reward earned, wages paid; the other is a gift, the bestowment of something unmerited and unpossessed.
But it is not by the pains of death alone that the punishment of the wicked is to be measured. In a fuller sense can we compute his punishment when we contemplate his loss. Death is cessation of being. Death deprives the sinner of life—of all that he might have enjoyed had he become a loyal citizen of the heavenly commonwealth. Had he accepted Jesus as his Saviour, and sought through him righteousness and immortality, eternal life, with its blissful joys and entrancing glories, would have been his, not as reward, but as full grace, throughout eternity’s endless cycles. A rejection of Christ has left the sinner under the sentence of death, a death eternal, unending, unbroken.
Death is the punishment of sin. This death is eternal in its nature, consequently the punishment is eternal. The wicked will come into that state where they shall be as though they never had existed. "They shall be as though they had not been." Obad. 16. And how much more merciful does the view of endless death as a punishment for sin, compared with eternal misery in hell fire, represent the character of God to be! In thus depriving the impenitent of life there is manifest toward them the highest exercise of infinite love. Sin brings sickness, sorrow, and misery. Life to the impenitent, fraught as it would be with all the evil vicissitudes of sin, would be unbearable and unendurable. God in mercy and love takes from his creatures that which is no longer a blessing, but a blight and a curse.
Thus does God forever rid his universe of sin and sinners. No more, after the glad consummation of his redemptive plan, will it know evil, sin, or iniquity. His creation will be holy, his creatures will be holy. Then shall righteousness cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Num. 14: 21. Then shall his people bask in the sunlight of his love, and nevermore shall they feel sin’s blighting breath or experience its withering curse. Dear reader, to which class will you belong in the day of final reckoning?
JUSTIFICATION.
By Chas. P. Whitford
HOW SHALL a sinner become just in God’s sight? There is but one answer that can be returned to this question. No one is better qualified to answer it than the apostle Paul, who spake as he was moved upon by the Holy Ghost. Listen to his words: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Rom. 5: 1.
Paul describes the justification of the sinner as being accomplished by faith only. But does not James say that “by works a man is justified, and not by faith only”? James 2: 24. Yes. Then do not James and Paul contradict each other?—No. They are in perfect harmony. James tells us that “faith, if it hath not works, is dead.” Verse 17. Paul was speaking about that kind of faith that works.
When Paul declared, “The just shall live by faith,” it was equivalent to saying, “Now the just [the doers of the law] shall live [remain just, or continue doers of the law].” And how shall they continue doers of the law? Listen! By faith. If then a man is a doer of the law, will not this doing of the law justify him?—No. Why not? Paul answers the question: “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident; for, The just shall live by faith.” Gal. 3: 11. “The gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. . . . As it is written, The just shall live by faith.” Rom. 1: 16, 17.
It is plain that by faith the law is established in the heart. By faith the fruits of righteousness (right doing) are made to appear in the life of the believer. It is faith that lays hold of the arm of God, and his own mighty power does the work, or, in other words, we are enabled to do that which only the power of God working through us can do.
How the power of God can work in a man accomplishing that which he could not possibly do for himself, no one can tell. It would be as easy to tell how God can give life to the dead. How the Spirit works in a man to subdue his passions, and to make him victorious over pride, envy, and selfishness, is known only to the Spirit. It is sufficient for us to know that it is done, and will be done in everyone who wants that work wrought in him above all things else, and who trusts in God for the performance of it.
The gospel undertakes to create in men the righteous character which the law demands. It is not within any man’s power to become just in God’s sight, even though he wants to. Listen to Paul again: “For I know that in me . . . dwelleth no good thing; for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do.” Rom. 7: 18, 19.
Paul here declares that it was utterly impossible for him to do good. In doing that which he did not want to do, he thereby acknowledged that the law was good. He desired to keep the law, because to do so was right. But he could not keep it. He says the evil that he did not want to do was just what he did do. Notice carefully, “Now then it is no more I that do it.” Verse 17. Why, Paul, who is responsible for your having done evil? Are you not responsible for having done wrong? I hear Paul saying, No, it is sin dwelling in me, “for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.” Verse 15. Surely Paul’s condition was deplorable indeed, and in view of it he exclaims, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Is there no deliverance from this bondage of sin?—Yes, there is complete and everlasting deliverance. Tell us, oh, tell us, where can it be found? Answer—“Through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. 7: 25. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
When we accept of Christ as our Saviour, when we lose all confidence in ourselves and in our ability to keep the commands of God, then it is that we become justified by faith, and our faith is counted to us for righteousness. Rom. 4: 5. Then it is that we have the honor of being called commandment keepers, and so it is proper to say, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God.” Rev. 14: 12. And yet there is not a man upon the earth that keeps in his own strength the commandments of God. If so, then he does not need Christ’s righteousness at all. His own righteousness would save him. But “what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” Rom. 4: 3. Abraham’s faith was counted unto him for righteousness. It is said of Abraham that he kept God’s commandments, his statutes, and his laws. But he did not keep them so perfectly as to make him righteous, but he was accounted as righteous—as a commandment keeper—and why?—Because of his faith in God. Otherwise the reward must of necessity be reckoned of debt and not of grace. “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Rom. 4: 5.
“Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works?—Nay; but by the law of faith.” Rom. 3: 27. “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.” Rom. 3: 31. When the apostle says we do not make void the law through faith, he means that faith establishes the law in the heart. It is faith itself that keeps the law. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for.” If the thing hoped for be right doing (keeping the commandments of God) faith establishes right doing, or keeps the commandments of God. The substance hoped for is the keeping of the commandments of God. Faith is the substance, therefore faith is the keeping of the commandments of God.
If it was sin working through Paul that did the evil, by the same logic it is faith working through us that does the good, or keeps the commandments of God. Paul said it was sin dwelling in him that caused him to do the things that he would not, and that he could not do the things he wanted to do. Then what power was it in Paul that caused him ever to do good? We will let him answer for himself: “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus. . . . make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that6which is well pleasing in his sight.” Heb. 13: 20, 21.
We learn that it was the power of God in Paul that led him to do those things which were well pleasing in his sight. But this power was not manifest until he had surrendered every power of his mind as fully to God as it had been to the service of sin and Satan.
But does not Paul tell us in Phil. 2: 12 to “work out your own salvation”?—Yes; but how shall this work be accomplished?—By simply choosing whether we will let God work in us that which is good. God never invades the freedom of the will. As individuals we are left free to choose whether we will yield our members as instruments of righteousness unto God, or as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. Rom. 6: 13. When we completely empty ourselves of self, when we surrender every power of our being unto God, then, and not till then, will he come in and take full possession of our very being. Then when he is in us, he can use us to do righteousness. The fruits of right doing will appear in our lives as a result of having yielded ourselves to God for his use. We can then say, as did our blessed Saviour, “I can of mine own self do nothing” (John 5: 30); “but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” John 14: 10. Now if I keep the commandments, it is no more I that keep them, but Christ that dwelleth in me. Contrast Rom. 7: 20.
Thus it is that God lives in us to will or direct all our undertakings, and thus it is that God himself does the work through us. Phil. 2: 13. This gives to Christ all the glory of our salvation. We have no part of the purchase price to pay. It is only when we understand this that we can catch the inspiration of Paul and say, with him, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The apostle realized what his words meant when he said, “For I am determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified.” He knew that it meant the surrender of every power of his being to the service of God.
When we as completely yield ourselves to God as we have to Satan, then definite results will be seen in our characters and lives. We may well be compared to an instrument. What it will do depends entirely upon the one in whose hands it is. But there is this difference between us and an instrument. We have the power or will to choose who shall use us, but it is not in our power to do the work, and yet we are commanded to keep the commands of God, and we must keep them if we are saved, and all this time we are helpless to do the very thing we are commanded to do. But if I place myself as an instrument in the hands of God, he will not permit me to do evil so long as I remain in his hands. If I am kept from doing evil, he must keep me, because I cannot keep myself. But he wants to keep me from evil, for he has shown his desire to thus keep me in giving himself for me. Therefore, so long as I keep my eyes upon him, believe in him and his power alone, and not in mine own, I shall be kept from evil. “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” Jude 24, 25.
GOD'S DESCRIPTION OF OUR GENERATION. NO. 2.
By Anna Agee
Of the same time and people to which reference has been made in Isa. 30: 8-11 (margin) and Ezekiel 13 and 22, the Lord speaks through Jeremiah in several parts of that book. Prominent in that prophecy we find that of chapter 6: 9-19:—
“Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel [the professed people of God in the last days, as Israel means the people of God, and remnant, the last part] as a vine. . . . To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised [unrighteous, unbelieving, as the sign of circumcision was “the seal of the righteousness of the faith” which one had, Rom. 4: 11], and they cannot hearken; behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it. . . . For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them everyone is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest everyone dealeth falsely. They have healed also the hurt [margin, “breach”] of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. . . . Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths [his commandments, Ps. 119: 35], where is the good way [his law], and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. Hear, O earth; behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.”
Here we have portrayed the professed people of God walking in violation of his precepts, yet being lulled into deeper slumber by the cry of “peace and safety,” little dreaming that the Lord means them when he says, “When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, . . . and they shall not escape.” 1 Thess. 5: 3. And they will not hearken, they will not let the voice of God, through his word, awaken them to their soul’s peril. The majority of professed Christians go on to-day, walking contrary to God’s law, if not outwardly, then in thought and motive, for his law reaches even to the hidden things of the heart, and God, who looks upon the heart, not upon the outward acts alone, as man does, sees it all and measures the acts and words by the motives that underlie them, unknown many times by ourselves even, unless we receive enlightenment from the Holy Spirit.
But one command stands before the world as being openly violated by the many,—the Sabbath of the Lord,—thus making the breach in God’s law which he says the priests or ministers have not made or closed up “for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord” which is soon to come upon us. The Lord says:—
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore [for these reasons] the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Ex. 20: 8-11.
To-day we find the first day of the week—Sunday—exalted by man to the place which the Lord gave to the seventh. The seventh day—the memorial of God, and appointed by him as such—has been torn from its place, and “a false sabbath stands before the world,” put there by the Catholic Church, and boasted by her as the mark of her power, because “Protestants allow” the change by yielding obedience to it. “To whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are.” Rom. 6: 16. Reader, if you receive light upon this subject, and see from God’s holy word, which is to try us in the judgment, that the seventh day of the week is the Sabbath, as he says it is, and yet you go on observing the first day as before, which the Catholic Church commands, at whose feet do you worship—at the feet of the Roman Catholic Church, or at the feet of the lowly Nazarene, the King, Creator, and Lawgiver of the universe—which? Whose servant are you? We may be ever so zealous advocates of the cause of Christianity, make ever so high a profession of religion, and be avowed enemies of the Papal Church, but if we do not obey our Lord and Master, who created us, gives us all we have, even died for our sins, that we might take his robe of righteousness and thereby gain an entrance through the heavenly gates, would we not be among those who “profess that they know God, but in works they deny him, . . . being disobedient”?
To those who depart from evil and walk in all of God’s commandments by the power his Spirit gives, he says:—
“Thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isa. 58: 12-14.
Even though we may have to suffer persecution for our loyalty to God, if we have Christ, we have all. He brings to us the fulfillment of every promise, and “in all our afflictions he is afflicted” (Isa. 63: 7-9); we do not have to endure it alone. We have the sure and comforting promise, “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him,” as well as the warning, given in love, “If we deny him [in works as well as words], he also will deny us.” 2 Tim 2: 12; Rom. 8: 17, 18.
If we let the mind of Christ dwell in us (Phil. 2: 5), bringing, as a part of that mind, “the faith of Jesus,” by the power that faith brings us, our daily walk will be in the commandments of God. When our Saviour comes, he will find just such a remnant. Rev. 12: 17; 14: 12. Such are joint heirs with our Elder Brother to the kingdom the Father has promised—the kingdom into which there will come no sin, sickness, sorrow, pain, or death, nothing but perfection; where we, if loyal now, shall see and live with God always.
We would give our Saviour great joy, and also show ourselves to be wise indeed, were we, in the face of all that our fellow-men might say or do, to walk in God’s path where the light of his word shines. Thus would we be of that remnant whom the Lord will receive as his jewels when he comes, because they have submitted themselves to him, to let him work in them “to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Phil. 2: 13.
“’Tis only to such, at his coming,
He giveth the final reward.”
THE RELIGION THAT IS UNTO SALVATION.
By Mrs. E. G. White
Of Christ it is written, "Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." God hates sin. It is the work of Satan to allure to evil. Satan has worked adroitly with bewitching power to fascinate the mind with iniquity, and make righteousness to appear undesirable. We need to remember continually that our secret sins are in the light of God's countenance. Of ourselves we cannot see or realize how grievous are our secret sins in the sight of God. Under the influence of Satan we are led to pursue a course of evil until our hearts become hardened, our conscience seared, and our thoughts are brought into captivity to the prince of evil. But God is ever seeking to impress our hearts by his Holy Spirit, that we shall be convinced of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment to come. We may place our will on the side of God's will, and in his strength and grace resist the temptations of the enemy. As we yield to the influence of the Spirit of God, our conscience becomes tender and sensitive, and sin that we have passed by with little thought, becomes exceeding sinful; for we begin to realize that our secret sins are in the light of his countenance.
There is hope for the sinner. Christ uplifted upon the cross of Calvary furnishes that hope; for mercy has provided to the uttermost demand the victim that justice calls for, for man's transgression. Through the merits of Jesus Christ, God can forgive sin, and be the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. Precious truth of inestimable value to every repenting soul! Shall we not individually seek to appreciate, as far as it is possible, the fact that God forgives sin, that he loves us if we believe in Jesus, though we are erring, ignorant, and sinful, even as he loves his Son? The moment we ask for forgiveness in contrition and sincerity, God forgives. Oh, what a glorious truth! Preach it, pray it, sing it. Lift up the "Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." Say to the people, "Behold the man of Calvary!" God is waiting to forgive all who come unto him with sincere repentance. The Psalmist says, "There is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mightest be feared."
Oh, that the salvation of souls was the aim and object of every soul who professes the name of Christ! Let those who know the pardoning love of God speak to the youth, the unconverted, and in tenderness urge them to give their hearts to Jesus. Oh, make an offering of yourselves to the Lord ere it be too late! Jesus has given his own precious life for you. If God had not loved you, he would never have sent his well-beloved Son to live in humiliation, to suffer and to die. "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Do not allow the enemy to crowd this truth out of your mind. It is a theme for meditation. What have we done to show our appreciation of this great love? What have we given to Jesus, who has given himself for us? The gift that will be most grateful to him, most precious and fragrant, will be yourself. You that have not decided to become sons and daughters of God, I would now entreat you to delay no longer. Place your will on the side of God's will. He delights in mercy. "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage?"
Come to Jesus just as you are, weak, sinful, ignorant, unworthy, and he will receive you. He says, "A new heart also will I give thee." Among the Jews there was a continual remembrance made of sin. Every year on the day of atonement a fresh sacrifice was brought forth; for sin was still remembered, and the blood of the sacrifices could not take away sin. But sins forgiven through Christ are remembered no more. The Lord says, "I will remember their sins no more."
The Lord accepts the sinner who comes to him through the merits of Jesus, and he treats the transgressor as though he were innocent. Will not the youth and the unconverted begin to inquire, "What shall I do to be saved?" The answer is: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Train and educate the mind to think and to talk of Jesus, and Satan will lose his power over you. He cannot long bear to be in the company of those who meditate and converse upon the love of God. In this way the mind is strengthened. Moral power increases by dwelling upon the goodness, beauty, mercy, and love of Christ. Training the mind in this way will make it natural for you to inquire at every step: "Is this the way of the Lord? Will Jesus be pleased to have me do this? Will this course please self, or my Lord?"
The Lord would have us follow in his footsteps, and be influenced by the dictates of his Holy Spirit. The influence of man upon man, unless controlled by the Holy Spirit, is a dangerous influence; for Satan causes his suggestions to be acted upon, and draws men into his service through human instrumentalities. But the Lord Jesus by the agency of his Holy Spirit changes this order of things. He takes upon himself the sin of man, and by the power of his divine love draws men to himself, sanctifies and makes them holy. When men are under the control of Christ, he employs them as his agents, and leads them to devote their powers to doing a work exactly opposite to that which Satan had designed they should do.
Jesus would enlist men in his service. He would direct their perverted powers in such a way that, through his grace, they may become agents for the working of unmingled good to every other man, and each become his brother's keeper in disinterested love, and thus the world be restored to God. Through faith in Jesus Christ the chain of mutual dependence is fastened to the throne of God, and through the agency of man humanity is bound to God. God has promised his Holy Spirit, the highest power in the universe, to be embodied in men, that through faith in Jesus Christ humanity may be elevated. An influence emanating from God draws and concentrates the power of the universe, that a lost and rebel race may be reconciled and restored to God.
Then let those who would stand firmly for God, hold fast their profession of faith without wavering. Let them maintain a close and living connection with God, because in this is involved the life of the soul. Let them follow in the footsteps of Jesus, obeying to the letter his word of direction,—"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me," "so shall he be my disciple." In the grace of Christ alone can this be done. Whatever may be the Christian's business, if it be a lawful calling, God has provided grace that his chosen, his elect, shall not be discomfited by the enemy. God has provided that men shall be Christians in the market place, in the house of commerce, in all manner of taxing cares in private or public life, as well as at the prayer meeting. Every business enterprise may be conducted on Christian principles; but in attempting to serve God and mammon, there will be betrayal of sacred trusts; there will be the putting of mammon first, and Christ last.
In order to be the blessing to the world which God would have his children, we need to pray and to watch unto prayer. Never should we be placed in a position where we shall be so pressed by care that we shall neglect the study of the Bible, or fail to attend the prayer and social meeting. We are not to lose heaven out of our reckoning. The things which belong unto our eternal happiness, which make rich and add no sorrow, are not to be crowded out of our minds by any manner of responsibility. It is not the getting of houses and lands, heaping up treasure on earth, that is to give us peace and happiness; but it is our connection with God, a realization that we are laborers together with him, that is to constitute our joy. We have no right to place ourselves where we shall be loaded down with cares, that will lessen and finally supplant the influence of the truth upon us to sanctify the soul. Let us remember that every moment is charged with responsibility, and that we are to deal with all in the highest integrity, both as regards this life and that which is to come.
SABBATH MORNING.
By W. Maxwell
How SWEET to him the Sabbath morning hours
Whose soul is by the living waters led!
The dawn of day and breath of dewy flowers,
What light and fragrance round his home they shed!
That sunburnt sire, free from his week-day toil,
Beneath his roof tree sits, transfigured there;
Around his Bible, prized 'yond earthly spoil,
His hands are clasped, though in speechless prayer.
Some promise sparkling on the precious page
Sheds o'er his furrowed face a light serene;
Celestial joys his soaring thoughts engage—
His faith is gazing on the things unseen.
The household altar and the gates of praise
He loves, still jealous lest earth's cares invade;
His heart e'en now the grateful song doth raise
To Him whose grace this hallowed day hath made.
What though the morrow's dawn bring sweat and toil,
And earth afford him but a frugal fare?
Content and glad, his store in heaven the while,
He hails the never-ending Sabbath there.
Blest day, where labor, save for simple needs,
Nor sloth, nor folly, mars thy holy calm;
Thrice blest the toiler in thy light who reads
His claim to rest beside the reigning Lamb.
O happy world, when men, at God's command,
With reverend welcome greet the heaven-born guest!
What ills shall fly our fair but fevered land
When for her healing comes true Sabbath rest!
—W. Maxwell.
IS THE NATION A MORAL AGENT?
By G. C. Tenney
BY ELDER G. C. TENNEY.
WE are frequently met with the statement that ours is a Christian nation; and as often the question arises as to how far this can be true, and how far it really is true. In the first place a nation is entirely impersonal. The character of a nation depends upon the character of its constituents. It has no accountability to God any further than the individuals who compose the government, or direct the national affairs, are accountable for their influence and deeds. A State is but an organization of individuals existing as a body politic, maintained for mutual benefit. When a corporation goes wrong, develops fraud and crime, the law calls the promoters of that enterprise to the bar of justice as individuals, in order that the misdeeds of the body may be traced to a responsible origin. Members are frequently called upon to answer for the crimes of their organization, but except for financial restitution no corporation or society was ever made to answer for the crimes of its members. Nor was a corporation as such ever made to answer for penal offenses. These always attach to individual action and responsibility. The State, being an organized and corporate body, bears the character of those who direct its affairs; but the responsibility of their conduct must ever rest with those directors. The faults of a government are the faults of those who administer it; and its merits attach to the same parties. To say that a nation is Christian, therefore, implies just as much as when that appellation is applied to an individual. A Christian individual is one who is Christlike. To be true of a nation, it must be true of those who comprise the nation; and this palpable fact leads us to deny the truthfulness of the assertion that any nation of earth is or ever has been Christian.
There are many Christians in some of our modern nations, and they exert a perceptible influence in giving character to the nation; but so far they have in no instance obtained such power as to drive out sin and sinful machinations, dispossess Satan of his well established power with men, and convert the government into a gospel enterprise. No, nor is such an enterprise likely to be reached.
It is to be devoutly hoped it may not be reached; because secular power has nothing to do with proclaiming the law of God or enforcing the principles of the gospel. Civil government was not ordained to act as an arbiter of private conscience, or to dictate in matters of religion. Civil authority is ordained of God for the purpose of promoting good citizenship. Good citizenship is not necessarily good religion, nor good morality. Morality ought to be good citizenship; but, alas! this is not always the case, because civil law sometimes conflicts with moral principles. That is, there is a distinction to be drawn between civility or citizenship and morality, which is godliness.
Obedience to human laws produces the former, and obedience to God's law produces the latter. The former is an outward conformity to the laws existing between man and his fellows, and of loyalty to the State, while morality consists of hearty, spiritual conformity to the principles of righteousness in thought, word, and deed. To be moral a man must be pure in heart; but a man who is very impure in heart may fulfill acceptably the duties of citizenship.
To cultivate and secure civility is the sole function of civil power. But it is the office of the gospel through its representatives to promote morality, and to encourage it by all the means ordained of God for that purpose. And the means employed to accomplish the two ends are very different. The State acts toward its subjects in a peremptory manner. The duties of civility must be maintained whether men are inclined that way or not. People may choose or reject morality as they please, but their obligations as citizens must not be left to choice. Hence the law commands, and punishment must follow disobedience without any regard to repentance, professed or genuine. The judge has no prerogatives of mercy, or very limited ones; he must speak as the law speaks. The policeman's calling is not to preach and persuade men to do right, but to place upon offenders the heavy hand of the law.
Very different from these are the measures of divine grace, by which men's moral natures are reached. Here love, patience, long-suffering, mercy, humility, tenderness, must prevail. Men are besought to accept of Christ. The Father stands with arms of mercy outstretched toward the sinner; full pardon and the cleansing of Jesus' blood are extended and urged upon sinners. Such are the gospel methods.
But how would a government conduct its affairs on such lines? It would not be a safe place to live in. The fact is that maintaining good government, and inducing men to become reconciled to God, are two very different works. With the latter the State has nothing to do. In providing for the education and enlightenment of its people, and thus fitting them to fulfill their duties as citizens, the State is preparing the ground for gospel work. But in compelling them to accept of religious ideas, it is forcing men over a road that does not lead to the cross of Christ, nor to the crown of endless glory.
CHRIST MORE THAN TEACHER.
By Frederick A. Noble
THERE is something in the nature of the truths which he taught which seems to take Jesus quite out of the category of those whom we call the instructors of mankind.
His themes revolved around moral centers. His discussions had both a personal application and an outlook which made them unique. He spoke as one having an original authority. He did not speculate about God, like Socrates and Cicero and Seneca. He revealed God. He did not ask whether there be truth, and whether truth may be known, and what are the metaphysical conditions of the knowledge. He spoke the truth out to men. He disclosed the divine will and the divine way. He sought to impress men with a sense of the imposing grandeur, the lofty dignity, and the vast worth of the human soul.
There has been no such acute psychologist, no such profound philosopher, in the world as Jesus of Nazareth. He opened the minds of men to themselves and to God. He soared into the realms of the spiritual. He made the way of duty plain. He lifted life up till men saw how august a thing it is to be a living soul, and to bear God's image, and to front an endless destiny. He made the here and hereafter meet and lock hands at the sacred altar of the heart. Had he talked about ethics merely, or geology, or astronomy, or art, or music, or commerce, or political economy, there would have been no difficulty in apprehending him as a teacher, and no hesitation in assigning to him his proper rank as a teacher. As it is, his whole department is so much higher, and his instruction is so much higher, than we ordinarily associate with the teacher, that we find it hard to locate him in this work.—Frederick A. Noble, D.D., in The Pulpit.