WE are to form characters after the divine Model, Jesus Christ, and bring every power and capability of our natures into subordination to him in this life, that we may through him have a right hold of the future immortal life. "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Those who have a character that will be found worthy of a place in the kingdom of God, will be those who have become acquainted with God, who have obeyed the explicit directions given in his word. They will be entitled to a seat at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
The only way in which we can distinguish between the true Christian and the pretender to Christianity is by the fruit of the life. The works will testify whether or not Christ, the hope of glory, is formed within. Every one who enters the kingdom of heaven will have been tested and proved. Judas was one who was favored in being associated with Christ and his disciples. He was with Jesus during the time of his public ministry, and he possessed qualities of character that would have made him a blessing to the church had he but submitted to the discipline that Jesus desired him to have. He was privileged to have the same advantages as did John and the other disciples, and might have been benefited by the education and training of the greatest Teacher the world ever knew.
In Christ he beheld a character that was pure, harmless, and undefiled, and his heart was drawn out in love for his Master. But the light that was shed upon him from the character of Christ, brought with it the responsibility of yielding up every natural or acquired trait that was not in harmony with the character of Christ. In this Judas did not stand the test. The love of the world was deeply rooted in his heart, and he did not give up his love for the world, nor surrender his ambition to Christ. He never came to the point of surrendering himself fully to Jesus. He felt that he could retain his own individual judgment and opinion. While he accepted the position of the minister of Christ, yet he never brought himself under the divine moulding of Christ. He clung to his objectionable traits of character, and indulged in his own sinful habits, and, instead of becoming pure and Christlike, he101became selfish and covetous. Selfishness became the controlling power of his life.
Judas listened to the lessons which Christ gave to his disciples and to the multitudes, and he did not offer any opposition, or seem to question their importance. He made no outward murmur until the time that Mary anointed the feet of Jesus. The record says:
"Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served; but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein."
In the circumstance of Mary's anointing Jesus' feet, the plague spot of Judas' character was revealed. The crisis had come in the life of Judas, and the ruling trait of character took its supremacy over every other trait. Covetousness, which is idolatry, had been cultivated, and had strengthened in his heart, and when temptation came upon him, he was held under its control. The temptations of Satan will ever thus meet a response from the elements of depravity that are in the human character that have not been resisted and overcome. The covetous greed that Judas had indulged for years, now held in control and overpowered every other characteristic of his nature. He harmonized with the drawings of Satan, and evil triumphed as he yielded to temptation. Although he was professedly a follower of Jesus, yet he was in heart strengthening the evil of his character. Jesus knew every transgression, and he now looked sorrowfully upon him who was numbered with the twelve, and who was yet not a doer of the words of Christ.
The disciples could not discern the evil of Judas' heart; only the eye of God could discern the hidden motive, the unholy desire. When an impure thought is welcomed, an unholy desire cherished, a rebellious purpose formed, the purity of the soul is stained and its innocence is ruined, temptations prevail, and hell triumphs. "Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." A man is tempted to sin when some attractive object or indulgence is presented to him, and he is drawn to overstep principle, and to violate his conscience in doing that which he knows to be wrong. This was what Judas was doing. He had no oil in his vessel with his lamp. He professed to have a deep interest in the welfare of the poor, but all his professions were pretenses, mere hypocrisy. He wanted to give others the impression that he was a very pious man, but the fact was that he was nothing else than a self-conceited sinner.
It was his day to seek grace and purity and holiness; but he failed to seek them. He did not cultivate humility, and die to the world. He did not cultivate hope and love, and manifest pure devotion to God. He did not obtain a strong, noble character, full of faith and holy endeavor, but permitted the wild, unsanctified elements of character to prevail. During his whole life he continually repeated acts of selfishness, though wearing the garb of religion.
Those who are satisfied in having merely a form of religion, who do not carry out the lessons of Christ in their practical life, make manifest the weakness of their character when trial and temptation come upon them, and they prove that they were not Christians. Every duty that is performed in love to Jesus, in simplicity and humility, divested of all selfishness, has its effect on the character and shapes it after the divine Model. Through faithfulness in the Christian life the soul is braced to withstand sudden assaults of temptation; for the true Christian learns to depend upon Christ for strength and grace. When the first temptation is met and resisted, the second is more easily met and resisted. We may be able to resist every temptation that assails the heart by calling upon our mighty Deliverer.
It is not in the power of Satan to force anyone to sin. Sin is the sinner's individual act. Before sin exists in the heart, the consent of the will must be given, and as soon as it is given, sin is triumphant, and hell rejoices. But there is no excuse for sin, either great or little. Christ has been provided as the tempted one's refuge. "For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted."
"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
Temptation is not sin, and is no indication that God is displeased with us. The Lord suffers us to be tempted, but he measures every temptation, and apportions it according to our power to resist and overcome evil. It is in time of trial and temptation that we are enabled to measure the degree of our faith and trust in God, and to estimate the stability of our Christian character. If we are easily jostled and overcome, we should be alarmed; for our strength is small. Let us consider the words of comfort that have been left on record for our instruction: "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." God has apportioned the temptation in proportion to the strength he can supply, and he never permits us to be tempted beyond our ability to resist or to endure. "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation." "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." Through prayer and the word of God we shall be enabled to overcome temptation.
BUT SHE GOES ON JUST THE SAME.
SAYS the Christian Enquirer (Baptist) of New York:—
The Roman Church itself can see, if it is not stone blind, that it cannot go much further in the grasp for office and power, and in its demands on the public treasury for money for its schools and charities, without creating a public opinion which will end in revolution, and the withdrawal of the assistance now given by municipal, State, and federal governments so lavishly. When the people do awake from the long and guilty sleep, the public indignation will be so great that the whole relations of the State to this foreign church will change. The time is not far away when 40,000,000 Protestants will no longer allow 8,000,000 Romanists, led largely by foreign priests, taking their politics from Rome, to hold so much power and draw so largely on the public treasury as at present. The Church of Rome in America is overdoing the thing altogether, and the reaction is as certain as the revolution of the seasons. When the inevitable conflict comes, it will be short, sharp, decisive. Whether it will be at the ballot box or in the streets, it will soon end. It will be 40,000,000 against 8,000,000. It is a shame that the city of New York should be wholly in the hands of Romanists, from the mayor down.
But Rome goes on just the same. The Protestant element as represented in their politicians cannot check Rome; and many "Protestants" have had all the Protestantism taken out of them by their unprotestant position in upholding, and their unprotestant methods of enforcing, the papal Sunday. Rome does not stop.
THE LOVE OF GOD.
As flows the river calm and deep
In silence toward the sea,
So floweth ever, and ceaseth never,
The love of God to me.
What peace he bringeth to my heart,
Deep as the soundless sea!
How sweetly singeth the soul that clingeth,
My loving Lord, to thee!
How calm at even sinks the sun
Beyond the clouded West!
So, tempest driven into the haven,
I reach the longed-for rest.
—Selected.
The United States Sold to the Papacy
By Prof. P. T. Magan
A REVIEW OF SUNDAY LEGISLATION IN CENTURY NINETEEN. NO. 5.
THE UNITED STATES SOLD TO THE PAPACY.
FEBRUARY 29, 1892, was passed by unnoticed by almost all the people of the great American republic. Nor has it since become to them a day of historic note. Those, however, who knew what was decreed in the highest department of our national governmental fabric upon that day, can only weep over God's favored people, saying: "If thou hast known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes." "Your house is left unto you desolate." Luke 19: 42; 13: 35. These were the words of Jesus as he wept over the city of Jerusalem, at a time when the inhabitants thereof were plotting an alliance with Rome, in order to crucify their Lord. And these are the words that those in whom Christ is dwelling, "the hope of glory," may rightfully apply to a people which has been sold by its rulers, and, worse than that, by its pastors, the shepherds of the flocks of Christ, into the hands of Rome—the Papacy—thus forming that Church and State system which will crucify afresh the Lord of glory, and put him to an open shame.
I affirm that this was done, unwittingly perhaps, upon February 29, 1892, by the highest judicial authority in the land, and that on that day the doom of the United States was sealed, and that even now High Heaven has given over the nation to destruction, and no earthly power can save her.
Upon that day the Supreme Court of the United States rendered a decision upon a case, in itself of minor importance to the commonwealth, but through the decision of most supreme importance to all the world.
The case in brief was this: The officers of the Church of the Holy Trinity in New York City, made an agreement with a clergyman in England, named Warren, that for a stipulated salary he should come over and preach for them. This contract was made while he, Warren, was yet upon the other side of the Atlantic. He was a subject of the British realm, consequently an alien to the commonwealth of the United States.
Prior to this, in 1887, Congress had enacted the following, known as the "Alien Contract Labor Law":—
> Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this act it shall be unlawful for any person, company, partnership, or corporation, in any manner whatsoever, to prepay the transportation, or in any way assist or encourage the importation or migration of any alien or aliens, any foreigner or foreigners, into the United States, its Territories, or the District of Columbia, under contract or agreement, parol or special, expressed or implied, made previous to the importation or migration of such alien or aliens, foreigner or foreigners, to perform labor or service of any kind in the United States, its Territories, or the District of Columbia.
It was held by the U. S. District Attorney that the contract with Warren was a violation of this act, and accordingly he entered suit against Trinity Church Corporation for violating the law. The United States Circuit Court decided that the church was guilty, and rendered judgment accordingly, whereupon the church appealed to the United States Supreme Court, upon writ of error. The Supreme Court reversed the decision, and in support of this reversal gave two separate and distinct lines of argument.
With the first of these lines I have no fault to find. The court proved that, although102the contract in question came within the letter of the statute, it did not come within the spirit or intent of the statute, and therefore was not a violation of the law.
The second line of argument in the decision is the one which gives the nation, body and soul, into the hands of Rome. The real relation of this line of argument to the case in question and the decision of the same I fail to see. And, moreover, I am inclined to doubt whether the learned judge himself who made the decision clearly understood its relation to the case he was deciding. In fact, the more one thinks of it the more certain he becomes that he could not possibly have understood its relation to the case or decision. I have too much respect for his common sense to suppose such a thing.
The only part of the decision furnishing any clue whatever to the idea in his mind is the words introducing this second line of supposed evidence:—
> But beyond all these matters, no purpose of action against religion can be imputed to any legislation, State or national, because this is a religious people. This is historically true. From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation.
The words in Italics form the clue referred to above, namely, that, since this is a “religious people,” it could not be supposed that it would pass any law having a “purpose of action against [its own] religion.” And on this ground, therefore, according to the finding in the case, it would only be right to reverse the decision of the lower court.
Following the last quotation from the decision Justice Brewer cites “historical” evidence by which he establishes the Christian religion as the national religion; “justifies the use of the civil power to maintain the discipline of the churches; a religious test oath as a qualification for office; general taxation for the support of public Protestant teachers of piety, religion, and morality; the governmental requirement of a belief in the doctrine of the Trinity and the inspiration of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments; and then without a break quotes the Constitution of the United States, in which religious legislation and religious establishments are positively prohibited, and flatly declares”:—
> There is no dissonance in these declarations. [!!] There is a universal language pervading them all, having one meaning. [!!!] They affirm and reaffirm that this is a religious nation.
All of this is astounding, as my analysis will clearly show.
In proof of the above sweeping declaration the court gives historical citations to prove that we are a “religious people,” a “Christian nation.” Here is the first:—
The commission to Christopher Columbus, prior to his sail westward, is from “Ferdinand and Isabella, by the grace of God, king and queen of Castile,” etc., and recites that “it is hoped by God’s assistance some of the continents and islands in the ocean will be discovered,” etc.
Ferdinand and Isabella, king and queen of Spain, are known to history as the “THE CATHOLICS.” This Ferdinand was the second of that name on the throne of Aragon, a large and influential Spanish province. In 1469 he married Isabella, ruler of Castile, another influential Spanish province. These two rulers gradually gathered beneath the sway of their scepter nearly the whole of Catholic Spain, uniting all the smaller territories with the larger, thus making one united Catholic monarchy. This scheme was completed by 1479.
Before the succession of Isabella to the throne, “in her early days,” she employed as her “confessor” a character who deserves notice here. This was—
A Dominican monk, Thomas de Torquemada, a native of Old Castile, subsequently raised to the rank of prior of Santa Cruz in Segovia, and condemned to infamous immortality by the signal part which he performed in reference to the Inquisition. This man, who concealed more pride under his monastic weeds than might have furnished forth a convent of his order, was one of that class with whom zeal passes for religion, and who testify their zeal by a fiery persecution of those whose creed differs from their own, who compensate for their abstinence from sensual indulgence by giving scope to those deadlier vices of the heart, pride, bigotry, and intolerance, which are no less opposed to virtue, and are far more extensively mischievous to society. This personage had earnestly labored to infuse into Isabella’s young mind, to which his situation as her confessor gave him such ready access, the same spirit of fanaticism that glowed in his own.
Indeed, it is stated on good authority that he extorted a promise from her that—
> Should she ever come to the throne, she would devote herself to the extirpation of heresy, for the glory of God, and the exaltation of the Catholic faith.
Such was the character of Torquemada; such was the character of the religion and religious vow of Isabella. Such was the religion under which Columbus, “by the grace of God,” was commissioned to discover “some of the continents and islands in the ocean;” and such was the religion he was to plant upon them when found. It therefore logically follows that if we are “a religious people,” and a “Christian nation,” the religion of the Inquisition is our religion. I would like to inquire how many Americans would be willing to admit it. Although not one American citizen in a thousand might admit it, nevertheless, the nation is in the hands of the church, which glories in the holy office, because, since the Supreme Court has decided that we are a “Christian nation,” it must be so, and according to the proof given by the court, it must be the Catholic religion and the Inquisition.
It is true that the judge, in the other “historical citations” which he gives to prove that we are a “Christian nation, refers to the Church of England and to the Puritans. It may be urged that a similar line of reasoning to that given on the citation in favor of Rome would establish equally well the religion of the Church of England, or that of the Puritans. This is technically true; but it is my intention to prove in future numbers of this paper that both of these religions were papal in their conception, have ever been papal in their principles and actions on Church and State questions, and in the matter of intolerance. Therefore, although technically you may give the country to any one of these three creeds, or to all of them, you cannot escape, according to the decision, from giving her into the bondage of Roman Catholic principles.
Again, the Catholic Church is the oldest organized body advocating intolerance toward those who do not agree with her. She is the oldest religious body propagating the union of Church and State theory. When the Episcopal Church split off from her she continued to advocate these two above mentioned doctrines of her mother. When the Puritan body separated from the Church of England it also continued to advocate these two doctrines of its grandmother. Some churches which have come out from these three have proclaimed against these doctrines; but now they are all advocating or beginning to advocate them, thus professing the principles which are distinctly Roman, only under their own names.
Further, the papal church possesses more political power in the United States than any other church. She holds the balance of power between the two great political parties. She gets greater annual appropriations from the United States Treasury for the schools among the Indians, than do all the other denominations put together. It is therefore only natural to infer that she will come out ahead in any contest among the churches for favors, or recognitions from or by the United States Government.
Now Rome too has noticed this decision, and she was glad to see it and to see how closely the ideas of the Supreme Court coincided with her own. And so Archbishop Corrigan, speaking in Chicago this summer of 1893, informed the world that the Inquisition was “historically” the religion of this country. A part of his speech follows.
(To be continued.)
Zeal and Grace in Serving God
By Hamilton
WE want not time to serve God, but zeal; we have not too much business, but too little grace.—Hamilton.
The Empire of Babylon
By George E. Price
HISTORY. NO. 3.
BY GEORGE E. PRICE.
THE EMPIRE OF BABYLON.
THE bounds of the habitation of the kingdom of the Babylonians were early determined by the will of the Eternal. The times before appointed during which they should seek the Lord, and during which mercy would be extended to them, were unalterably fixed; and during this time the word of the Lord was: "And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the very time of his land come." The children of Israel were included in this decree, and were carried away captive to Babylon; and thus God accomplished a double purpose; he chastened Israel and taught them to seek the Lord, and they carried his truth to Babylon, to be proclaimed there, and thence to be given to all the nations of the world. Daniel was a witness for Jehovah. The three Hebrew worthies proclaimed his name. But the king’s heart was lifted up, and as he began to say, "Is not this great Babylon that I have built?" the decree went forth against him, and he was driven out among the beasts of the field. He had not heeded the warning voice to break off his sins by righteousness, and his iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, that the time of his tranquillity might be lengthened, and so the tall tree was hewn down for a time, in order that the living "might know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will." The lesson when complete accomplished its work, and he "praised and extolled the King of heaven," and proclaimed his signs and his wonders "unto all peoples, nations, and languages." But there came a time when the last point of iniquity in this nation’s history was reached; when all these things were willfully forgotten, and the most daring insult was added to neglect. The holy vessels of the house of God were prostituted to the lascivious rites of his abominable sun worship, and "in the same hour came forth fingers103of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace." And "this is the interpretation of the thing: Mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Tekel; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Peres; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."
Almost the same line of history occurred with Medo-Persia. The truth of God, salvation from sin through the merits of a great coming Sacrifice and Redeemer, were proclaimed at the capital of that nation. We have one incident in the reign of Darius, and one in the reign of Xerxes, the Ahasuerus of the Bible, that give us a glimpse of this great work. But when the great day shall come that we, as the saints, "shall judge the world," and we then have access to the great original historical records above, we will no doubt see that in the time of Alexander the cup of that nation’s iniquity was full, and that God’s protection was removed from the rejecters of his grace.
The same might be shown with Grecia. The light may not have shone as brightly at this time, but we cannot prove that it did not. The difficulty is the very meager account there is of it in the great book that God has given to man as an outline of the records above. Secular history gives us indeed some facts concerning the dealings of this nation with those to whom were committed the oracles of God; but we have in that word itself the plain intimation that the Macedonian Empire was not destroyed or subdued by another until the measure of its iniquity was reached. "In the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up." Dan. 8: 23.
This has brought us out from the misty ages of the past into the light of a clearer day. And now the illustration of these principles is found on every hand. Indeed, this is all that history would do if we had all of its records and they were rightly understood. The time will come when the history of this world, from Eden to Eden, will be studied by all the surviving sons of God, and will be shown to teach man’s sin, and misery, and woe, and God’s mercy, tenderness, and love. There is no fear of exhausting the subject, for it is limitless. Volumes could be written upon it and then be but the preface, for the cross of Calvary, and in its light the history of our world, "will be the science and song of the redeemed to all eternity;" not the darker phases of the record, but those brighter pages in which we see the love and tenderness of God in restraining iniquity and sin, in blotting out transgressors when they become an obstacle to his work, and in "pleading with men everywhere to accept the gift of life." "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!"
The nations just mentioned do not, of course, include all of the world down to the time of Rome. They were, however, the centers of the world; they were the nations that were most closely connected with God’s work in the earth, and almost all to which we have any extended reference in the Old Testament. But Roman history, and the history of the church for the last eighteen hundred years, what do they not teach? What truth do they not illustrate? what lesson do they not point out? and what course of folly do they not reprove? How terrible the denunciations against the least departure from the laws laid down in the book of God for the government of nations! How tender its accents of pleading when showing the love and mercy of God toward nations and individuals! But we cannot go into details in this short sketch, and shall only refer to some of the principles that have been already mentioned.
The world was made ready for the advent of the Son of God. The whole civilized world was consolidated into one grand empire, and its representative received ambassadors from India, from China, and from Ethiopia. The Jews were scattered throughout the earth, and, although they may not have been good living representatives of the religion of the true God, yet the sacred writings that they carried with them were to be taken hold of by God and given to the world once more. That people, with such an unparalleled national history as a cause of pride, had scorned the weak tyranny of the Seleucidæ; but beneath the iron monarchy of Rome they were at least compelled to wear their chains with becoming reverence. But eagerly they awaited the fulfillment of the numerous prophecies that spoke of a coming King. And "this opinion of the approach of a general deliverer extended much farther than the country of the Jews; for, through their connection with so many countries, their disputes with the learned men among the heathens, and the translation of the Old Testament into a language now almost general, their religion greatly prevailed in the East; and, consequently, their opinion that a Prince would appear in the kingdom of Judah, who would dispel the mists of ignorance, deliver the Jews from the Roman yoke, and spread his dominion from one end of the world to the other."—Fleetwood’s Life of Christ, chap. 1, p 8. At such a time was revealed in all his splendor, "that true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."
The wisdom of Athens and the valor of Sparta had descended to the Roman world. The probity of a Regulus, the courage of a Horatius or a Scipio, the eloquence of a Cicero, and the genius of a Cæsar, all mingled in the veins of the citizens of that proud monarchy—"the most sublime incarnation of power, and a monument the mightiest of greatness built by human hands, which has upon this planet been suffered to appear." "The gods of every nation, having been carried to Rome, had there lost the power of their oracles, as the people had in the same place lost their liberty. These gods, ranged face to face in the capitol, were mutually cast into oblivion, and their divinity had shrunk into nothing."—D’Aubigne.
But out of this great caldron, into which had been flung something from every civilization on earth, there arose the genius of Rome; and, resplendent with glory, she claimed to rule in all things, human and divine. The divinity of the State, as personified in her rulers, claimed the homage of all mankind. But while Greece had forgotten God for artistic beauty, and Rome had "changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man," the people of the earth, including even their sages, had sunken into that depth of iniquity so faithfully set forth in the first chapter of the book of Romans. Even the genius of Rome, teaching the philosophy of a Plato, could not save the world. With even the professed people of God unable to fitly represent the pure religion of their ancestors, and even unwilling that any others should have a part in its salvation, the world as never before was in the need of the gospel of God, and so the Son of Man appeared.
(To be continued.)
JESUS AND THE TREASURY.
By H. A. St. John
BY ELDER H. A. ST. JOHN.
"And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury; and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury; for all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living." Mark 12:41-44.
We here see that when Jesus was on earth he had an interest in the Lord's treasury; he sat over against it and beheld with the deepest interest how the people cast money into the treasury. In his instruction to his disciples he uttered no words of condemnation of the rich for casting in much of their abundance, for this was eminently proper for them to do. It is just the right thing for the rich to cast in much. To whom much is given, much is required, and how can they clear their own souls, as good stewards of their Lord's goods, if they do not cast in much.
But that which interested and impressed our Saviour most of all was the gifts of the poor, those who cast into the treasury from their want, their penury, their actual living. To such giving is a real sacrifice. In this is the highest merit. Jesus did not discourage this giving on the part of even the very poor, but, on the other hand, his words may be taken as the highest kind of commendation. What an encouragement to the poor if they may learn from this circumstance that their offerings, which seem so small and of so little worth to them, are so highly prized and greatly blessed of the Lord!
Do you not think that poor widow would have been glad in her soul if she could have known how Jesus felt, and what he said to his disciples about her two mites?—Most assuredly she would. But what was this written for? Why has it come down to us? Is it not for our instruction, admonition, and encouragement?—Without question this is true, it is for us. Jesus still sits over against the Lord's treasury in every church. He is still beholding how people, both the rich and the poor, cast money into the treasury.
Reader, if we could see the Jesus, he who was infinitely rich and became poor for our sakes, who then gave his life for us, if we could see him sitting over against the treasury, beholding how we cast money into the treasury, would we not come to the treasury with gladness, and cast in much, of our abundance? or, if poor, come just as gladly, and cast in of our want, especially when we know the high estimate that Jesus puts upon these offerings of the poor?
Then let us all remember, always remember, that Jesus sits over against the treasury now, watching the people with the most intense interest, as they do not come, or do come, to cast104money into the treasury. And then, as with an eye of faith you can see him there, let your offerings be as unto the Lord, and not unto men.
Ring it out from east to west, from north to south, everywhere, that Jesus sits over against the treasury now. Jesus sits over against the treasury now, beholding how the people, HIS PEOPLE, cast money into the treasury. Jesus will guard his treasury well, nor will he change his relation to the treasury of his church till his work of salvation for sinners is past. Some backslidden souls will never find Jesus until they find him at the treasury. Happy the souls that meet their Lord often at the treasury.