Earlier text: The Greatest of AllLooking Homeward.
By M. M. Sollars
Beautiful land of the spirit set free,
Nearer and dearer than ever to me,
Now, as we're nearing the glad harvest day,
Longing eyes ever keep turning away,
Turning away toward that City of Light,
Where the glorified walk in pure garments of white.
Where never, a sorrow, a blight, nor a care
And naught that defileth may once enter there.
O, jasper walled city, I long to behold
What eye hath not seen nor ear hath been told;
For the cleansing that purifies whiter than snow,
Whatever the trial, dear Lord, I would know.
And when I am fully abiding in Thee,
A glimpse of the beautiful land may I see.
M. M. SOLLARS. “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for IT IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Rom. 1:16. 2. What is revealed in the Gospel?
“For therein is THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” Rom. 1:17. 3. The Gospel being the power of God unto salvation, from what does it save?
“And thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people FROM THEIR SINS.” Matt. 1:21. NOTE.—From the foregoing texts it will be observed that the Gospel is the “power of God.” The success of the Gospel, then, rests upon God and His power, and not upon any human strength or human devisings. And not only is the Gospel the power of God, but it is “the power of God unto salvation.” And it brings this salvation to every one that believeth. The Gospel is for the purpose of saving from “sin” or wrong-doing, and the apostle shows how it can thus save from wrong-doing by saying, “For [that is, because, or for the reason that], therein is the righteousness of God revealed.” The Gospel, then, saves from sin by revealing or bringing into the individual the righteousness of God to supplant the man’s sinfulness. And this transformation is accomplished thru faith, for God’s righteousness is revealed “from faith to faith.” 4. How is this righteousness of God, which is perfect right-doing, made to enter the life of the sinner and take the place of the sins he has committed?
“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD WHICH IS BY FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace thru the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation thru faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, thru the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Rom. 3:21-26. NOTE.—Man sinned and thus placed himself where he could not do right, neither could he get back to the place that he could perform right acts. He had hopelessly fallen. Then our heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ step in and rescue fallen man by offering the perfect “righteousness of God.” And this righteousness is given to the individual “by faith.” Note also that this faith is the “faith of Jesus Christ.” Then our Father offers us His righteousness and with it He also offers us the “faith of Jesus Christ,” His Son. Thus it is seen from the verses just quoted that both the righteousness and the faith are of divine origin and are direct divine gifts. Therefore they must be acceptable to God for He Himself has given them for the very purpose of our salvation. The apostle states that Christ is set forth to “declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past.” Then he repeats and emphasizes that God “declares” this righteousness in the place of the past life of sin. That is to say, all our past life of sin is taken away from us by the power and willingness that the Lord has to “declare” in the place of that sin the righteousness of His own life. And from the moment that the sinner accepts this great gift of righteousness from the hand of the Lord he is no longer to look at his past life of sin to grieve over it, but he is to thank the Lord every day and continually that his life of sin is gone and he has in its stead the perfect life of Christ. Christ lived a perfect life from infancy to His death, and He lived that life for us. He lived that life of righteousness so that we could accept it by faith, and so that we could thank the Lord all the time that the sinful life that we have lived has been exchanged for the perfect life that our Saviour has lived for us. 5. Having accepted the righteousness and faith that come from God, who are we then to constantly behold?
“We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Cor. 3:18. “Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Heb. 12:2. 6. What is the extent of the power that attends the Gospel in this transformation from sin to righteousness?
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Matt. 28:18-20. NOTE.—All power that is in heaven and in earth is given to our Saviour for His work of redeeming men. And He commands His followers to go in this power, for He says that He is with them always. He is ever at their side. He never leaves them for a moment. And all this mighty power that centers in Him is exercised in and for the one who accepts Christ and thus permits the Master to walk with him “alway.” 7. How many may have the privilege of receiving this Gospel of righteousness and salvation?
“For 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. “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Rev. 22:17. 8. How is the law of God related to the salvation given in the Gospel?
“For by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Rom. 3:20. “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Rom. 7:7. NOTE.—It is perfectly clear from the foregoing texts that the sinner can see nothing but his sins in the light of the law of God. The law which is the expression of the righteousness of God shows to the sinner the evil of his course. 9. What is the penalty for sin?
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life thru Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. 6:23. “When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” James 1:15. 10. Then what is the view that the sinner has of the law?
“The commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.” Rom. 7:10. 11. What may be accomplished for the sinner who sees himself as he really is—who has a view of his life in the light of the law of God?
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak thru the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Rom. 8:2-4. NOTE.—Study the foregoing texts carefully, and you will see that from the sinner’s standpoint God’s holy law is a “law of sin and death.” It is the law that shows him his sin, and unrepented sin brings sure condemnation and death. But as soon as the sinner turns from his evil course then that same law becomes the law of life in Christ Jesus. Each commandment becomes an enabling act. Each precept is transformed into a blessed promise. 12. Then what kind of mind only is opposed to the law of God?
“The CARNAL MIND IS ENMITY AGAINST GOD: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Rom. 8:7. THAT the Bible should be studied, and that faithfully, must be patent to all who believe it. The intelligent teacher, engineer, physician, or architect knows that it requires earnest, faithful, hard study in the principles of his vocation or profession if he would make it thoroly successful. He can not ignore this. Wise theories, well digested, reduced to constant practise, make men successful in the various professions and sciences and vocations. The word of God reveals the science of religion. It is the only true system of theology. In it we learn all that can be learned in books of God and Christ, and the blessings, privileges, and requirements of Christianity. If we would learn Christ, we must study that word. John 5:39. If we would be sanctified, it must be thru the truth of God's word. John 17:17. If we would victoriously meet temptation, it must be with the sword of God's word. Eph. 6:17; Ps. 17:4. If we would be kept from sin, we must have the moral truths of God's word hid in our hearts, which can not be unless we know what they are. Ps. 119:11. It was in this way that Jesus met the enemy and conquered. Ps. 40:8; Matt. 4:4, 7, 10. We are preparing a schedule of the whole year which can be slipped into the Bible, and thus ever furnish a ready reference to the Scripture reading of the day. This is more than we agreed to do; but we felt that many of our Band would send away their papers to friends, or mislay them, perhaps, and therefore we are preparing the whole year's schedule. Where clubs have been sent in we will mail a sufficient number to the sender. Others who desire it will please enclose stamp and one will be sent immediately. Schedule for the Week Ending Feb. 1, 1908.
Sunday January 26 Exodus 9, 10 Psalm 26
Monday " 27 " 11, 12 " 27
Tuesday " 28 " 13, 14 " 28
Wednesday " 29 " 15, 16 " 29
Thursday " 30. " 17, 18 " 30
Friday " 31 " 19, 20 " 31
Sabbath February 1 " 21-24 " 32 Some of our Band may be Sunday-observers, and may therefore have more time to read on Sunday. Let them read the regular number on the day previous and five on Sunday. As the going out of Egypt into Canaan is a type of the deliverance of God's people from the dark Egypt of earth, so the plagues visited upon Egypt are a type of the last plagues recorded in Revelation 16. They were literal, and Egypt knew it; and Philistia did not doubt it. 1 Sam. 4:7, 8. Not till we reach the tenth chapter is it said that God 'hardened' Pharaoh's heart. See the American Standard Revision. Pharaoh's heart was made heavy and stubborn by his own resistance to the Spirit of God. But there came a time when God could no longer impress the haughty king, and His Spirit was withdrawn. Only so does God harden hearts, by withdrawing His Spirit and leaving man to himself. It is always best to draw personal lessons from the scripture we read. Take the solemn Passover. That Passover represented Christ. 1 Cor. 5:7. If His decision in our cases should come tonight, or death should visit us, are our sins washed away? Wonderful lessons are these chapters of God's power. The song of Moses will be repeated by those who are delivered from the persecuting powers of earth when Christ comes. Rev. 15:2, 3. But those then delivered will sing another song, that of the Lamb, because they are triumphant over sin. Note the threefold weekly miracle in connection with the manna continued for forty years. Think how impossible it was for Israel to be mistaken about the day of the Sabbath. God knew, and God made it so plain for forty years that the unbelieving among them could not be mistaken. This was the Sabbath given in the law (Ex. 20:8-11), and this was the Sabbath kept by the disciples of Jesus (Luke 23:56). How blessed it would have been for Israel to feed upon the food furnished of God instead of the flesh-pots of Egypt. How much better it would be for men and women now to eat simple, wholesome food instead of the multitudinous concoctions and mixtures of modern cooking. And how much more blessed to feed our souls upon the word of God spiritually than upon the traditions and substitutes of men. In the nineteenth chapter (verses 3-8) are the preliminary steps of the 'old covenant.' Notice that God's covenant, His voice, is not the covenant between Him and Israel; they are the conditions of the covenant. How befitting to God's great and eternal law was all the glory and power displayed in its giving. It begins with Ex. 20:2 and ends with verse 17. We need not worry over its division. The great thought with us each and all ought to be not to have that holy law without as a condemner of our sin, but to let God by His Gospel (see pages 6, 7) write it upon our heart, and make each commandment an enabling act in our lives. It is a good law, isn't it? If Israel had not loved sin, they would not have asked that God speak no more. Chapters 21 to 23 are various general laws and precepts which were necessary in community life. Chapter 24 is the ratifying of the 'old covenant' by blood, 'concerning' the words, the conditions of the covenant. Israel broke the covenant, but the righteous law of conditions remained. Note that in verse 12 the Ten Commandments are called 'a law,' separate from all other laws. God is a 'devouring fire,' but only to consume sin. Most excellent in their spiritual sweetness and fulness are the Psalms for this week. How fittingly does the thirty-second come in in connection with the Gospel Bible-reading in this issue. The Relation of the Law to the Gospel.
(From Posthumous Sermons of Thomas Chalmers.) If there be one character of the law of God more distinct and more declared than another, it is the resolute, the unbending assertion which it makes of its own authority; and, in virtue of which, it will stoop to no compromise with human disobedience. There is in this respect, a high state and sovereignty in the divine government, from which it is impossible that it ever can descend.—Page 12. We never can by our most strenuous observation of the law arrive at a juridical or a forensic right to heaven. But it is just by our observation of the law, as a law of piety, and purity, and equity, and kindness, that we arrive at that personal righteousness which makes us meet for heaven's exercises and heaven's joys—the exercises of a morality that is then faultless, the joys of a then complete and unsullied virtue.—Page 125. Greatly do they mistake the whole design and economy of the Gospel, who think that it brings any exemption from the services of righteousness along with it. There is, in truth, a busier and a more abundant service than before; and the only distinction is, that, whereas under the one dispensation you served in the oldness of the letter, under the other dispensation you serve in the newness of the spirit. The obedience now is of a more refined, and pure, and exalted character than ever was obedience then. It is obedience altogether divested of that mercenary character, which never ceases to adhere to it; so long as viewed legally, it is regarded but as the term of a bargain. Instead of a constrained stipulation, it becomes a spontaneous offering of love and of loyalty; and, proceeding as it does from the new taste and a desire of a heart now emancipated from the bondage and the terror of a felt condemnation, it is as unlike to what it formerly was as the obedience of a seraph is unlike to that of a slave. And be assured that, unless this new obedience is entered on, you have no part nor interest in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.—Page 126. What the Protestant Episcopal Church Declares.
(From the Thirty-nine Articles.) "Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation."—Article 6. "No Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the commandments which are called moral."—Article 7. The Will of God.
By John Gill
(From "The Word and Works of God," by John Gill, D.D., page 155, published by H. Dayton, New York.) "The will of God, which He would have performed by men, is revealed in the law (Rom. 2:18), made known to Adam, by inscribing it on his heart, was delivered to the Israelites, written on tables of stone by the finger of God; written on the hearts of God's people; who, being transformed by the renewing of their minds, come to know what is the good, perfect, and acceptable will of God." (Rom. 12:2). One daily paper, referring to the Sunday crusade in New York, wonders if the music stops in heaven on Sunday. Yet the real core of the Sunday question does not lie in what the Lord does or does not do; it is what a man has a right to do or not to do. Men may choose evil or choose good, but the law has no right to regulate man's religious duties, whether it calls that duty police regulation or civil law. H E is "under the law," under its condemnation, who is not in Christ. By nature all are under the law, for all have sinned. Rom. 3: 9, 19, 23. But he who by faith accepts Christ is justified, or counted righteous. His faith is counted for obedience. See Rom. 3: 21, 22; 4: 5-7; 5: 1. And because we have died to sin, and the sin is taken away, and righteousness is imputed, thru grace, sin has no dominion over us. But what then? Does this give us the privilege of sinning, or breaking God's law? —Not at all; for if we turn again to sin, we become servants of sin, and are again under condemnation of law. We are made free from sin that Christ working thru us may keep the law. Rom. 8: 4; 1 John 5: 3. And this is Paul's argument all thru Romans 7. Married to the old man, we are the servants of sin, held in bondage by the law which we can never keep. But yielding ourselves to Christ, dying with Him by faith, the old man crucified and buried, we are delivered from the condemnation of the law, and are free to be married "to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." Rom. 7: 4. The last part of the second chapter of Romans, as shown in the study of those verses last week, presents the fact that making the profession of the religion of the Bible is of no avail unless the professor comes into actual possession of the righteousness of God. Professing to be a follower of the God of heaven, and still doing the wicked things that were practised while making no such profession is mere hypocrisy; it is not Christianity. In those verses already referred to, Paul condemns the Jews of his time for making their boast of godliness while at the same time they were dishonoring God by the iniquities that they were practising. And yet, while the Jews of that time were largely living these hypocritical lives, still there were some among them that were true to the religion that they professed. For in the first part of the next chapter we read: "What advantage then hath the Jew? or what is the profit of circumcision? Much every way: first of all, that they were intrusted with the oracles of God. For what if some were without faith? shall their want of faith make of none effect the faithfulness of God? God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, "That Thou mightest be justified in Thy words, And mightest prevail when Thou comest into judgment. "But if our unrighteousness commendeth the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who visiteth with wrath? (I speak after the manner of men.) God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world? But if the truth of God thru my lie abounded unto His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? and why not (as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), Let us do evil, that good may come? whose condemnation is just." Since there was so much hypocrisy among the Jews, and since because of this hypocrisy (as shown in chapter 2: 23, 24) the name of God was made a byword among the Gentiles, or unbelievers, what was the advantage then of the Jew? What advantage did God gain by taking to Himself the Jewish people, and what advantage was there in it to the Jew himself? There was much in every way, because they furnished a depository for the oracles of God; they furnished a medium thru which God could reveal Himself, not merely to the Jews, but to the whole world. Now, it is true that many of the Jewish nation did not really believe, and consequently could not practise the things that they professed; but it is equally true that there were some among the Jews who really did believe God and practise the righteousness that He bestowed upon them; and it is furthermore true that the light of the righteous lives of these faithful ones reached many individuals in the heathen world; and thus were both Jew and Gentile blessed by the committing of the oracles of God to the Jewish nation. In committing His oracles to the Jews, and thus making them His light-bearers to the world, the Lord knew that there would be many hypocrites among them that would bring discredit to His name. He knew that many would take only a superficial view of what He was seeking to do for each man in all the world, and hence these superficial persons would have nothing but sneers and ridicule for the Lord and His work. But while the Lord knew all this, He also knew that there would be some that would believe and consequently would truly represent Him. These true believers would be fitted by His grace for everlasting life. And so the Lord "for the joy that was set before Him [the joy of seeing in immortality those who had accepted His grace and salvation] endured the cross, despising the shame." Heb. 12: 2. "What if some were without faith? shall their want of faith make of none effect the faithfulness of God? God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar." Verses 3, 4. No matter what men may do, God is always faithful. "If we are faithless, He abideth faithful; for He can not deny Himself." 2 Tim. 2: 13. Our salvation rests upon the faithfulness of God. It does not rest upon the faithfulness of man. Hence we have a secure foundation, for He "abideth faithful," no matter what we may do. Even tho the great majority of the human family may deny Him and despitefully mistreat Him, yet He is ever the same. Because the great majority of the human race reject Him He does not become disgusted with the whole of mankind and turn them all into destruction. He stands ever with open arms, entreating, entreating, ever entreating, all to come to Him; and every one who comes meets with a royal welcome, and is immediately cleansed from all his sin and defilement and thus fitted to associate with the angels and the spotless Son of God. God is true, even tho every man be found a liar; and thus our God is "justified" in His words, and He will prevail when He cometh into judgment. When the individual stands before the great tribunal he will not be able to say that God was unfaithful or faulty. He will be forced to admit that God was always kind to him; he will be forced to admit that the tenderest sympathies were ever extended to him by the Father in heaven; he will be forced to acknowledge that the Lord has sent him the same rain and sunshine and the rest of the bounteous blessings of nature that were bestowed upon His own loyal children. God has shown Himself faithful in every way, but the unrepentant sinner has spurned Him and now stands in the judgment speechless.9 The sinner comes up to the bar of God, having treated the divine kindness with contempt and resentful scorn; he has met love with hatred; he has met faithfulness with indifference, and now what can he say for himself? He can only acknowledge that God is just in condemning him to eternal death. He has refused the eternal life so kindly and entreatingly offered by his heavenly Father, and now all that is left for him is eternal death, a thing that by his whole course of life he has insisted upon having. Then is not the answer to the apostle's next question perfectly clear? "Is God unrighteous who visiteth with wrath?" We must certainly say No, even tho we "speak after the manner of men." Even tho we have no higher sense of justice than the unregenerate man himself, yet must we say that God is just when He visits wrath upon the incorrigible evil-doer. God presents a perfect plan for saving man from sin. He has arranged to save man from all his sins of the past, and also to lift him to the place that he can live free from sin in the present, and thus be fitted to live in righteousness forever. And since God has provided all this, and also tenderly and faithfully urged it upon each individual thruout all his probationary life, what can men say in the judgment if they have refused it? "But when the king came in to behold the guests, he saw there a man who had not on a wedding-garment: and he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding-garment? And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him out into the outer darkness; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth." Matt. 22: 11-13. The king at his own expense had provided the wedding-garments for all his guests,—and this person showed contempt for his host by presuming to come into the wedding in any such a way. He was dumb before the question of the king. And so will the sinner be "speechless" when he stands without the "wedding-garment" of character in the judgment day.