CHRISTIAN DUTIES by Eld. E. Goodrich

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 25, 1868

CHRISTIAN DUTIES.

By Eld. E. Goodrich

BY ELD. E. GOODRICH.

DEAR FRIENDS: It is with a sense of great weakness and unworthiness that I arise to address you this evening in the name of Jesus and the Christian religion. I am glad to be thus privileged. The subject proposed for consideration is that of Christian Duties. The text chosen is Acts xxiv, 25, and reads, “And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.”

There are many points of vital interest in this subject, and there is also much subject-matter embraced in the text; and, as a matter of course, all these cannot be expressed in a single discourse. By the grace of God, I design remarking in the following order: (1.) Brief comments upon the text and the times in which we are living. (2.) What is duty—what do we understand by the use of the term duty? (3.) What are Christian duties? and (4.) Instances of the more obvious of Christian duties.

The text selected is a very interesting one. It contains four distinct topics: Reason, Righteousness, Temperance, and Judgment to come; each one of which is worthy of an entire discourse. And not only this, but it forcibly illustrates the manner in which many listen to become convinced of the truth, and yet because of some objection, make excuse from obeying it. Felix appears to have been a man of much thought—one that could well understand the nature of an argument; and when the apostle in demonstration of the Spirit and with power, reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, it is no wonder that Felix trembled in view of all the dread and final consequences of sin. But, as in many other such instances, the cares of this life and all the deceitfulness and objections of the carnal heart arose; and he said, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. We have every reason to believe that that convenient season never came; for in every such example (or at least in the great majority of them), the man who is convinced of a truth and yet has not sufficient moral courage to obey it at once, but waits for a more convenient season, or until objections die away, the impressions which at the first were vivid and pungent, like a dissolving view, pass away, and the man becomes lost to all interest and feeling upon the matter upon which his mind was aroused. The only way to retain interest and to gain strength and knowledge in any thing, is by immediate obedience to the truth.

The text reads, “And as he reasoned,” and so on. It may be observed here that the religion of Jesus is not a system of reason, but is a system of faith and worship founded on divine revelation; nevertheless, as the Christian is brought in almost constant contact with the skeptic, and as the skeptic does not acknowledge the authority of revelation, but makes reason the supreme rule by which all questions are tried, it oftentimes becomes necessary for the Christian not only to declare what God has revealed, but to reason of these things. In this the apostle Paul seems to have been a fit instrument in the hand of God in preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. Before this our Lord made choice of twelve comparatively unlearned men to be witnesses of his ministry, his miracles, his death, resurrection, and ascension. And when these were endowed with power from on high, they preached to devout men out of every nation under heaven, and thousands were added to the church in a single day; and miracles were wrought in the name of Jesus. But when the time came for the gospel to be fully preached to the Gentile world, it was both merciful and wise in God to make choice of one who could represent Christianity among the learned and wise of that age. And not only in point of learning, but in point of profound personal experience, the apostle Paul seems to have been every way worthy of being called, “The Great Apostle to the Gentiles.”

As concerning the times in which we are living, although it may seem harsh and uncharitable, yet I regard it as a fact that we are living in an apostate age, an age of great moral depravity and darkness; in an age when the mass of minds have lost those moral sensibilities that render it an easy matter to teach moral truth. Intellectually, in point of refinement, and touching all those questions of art, literature and the sciences, and all the inventions and improvements of the age, we may congratulate ourselves as being in the golden age; as occupying the pinnacle of earthly greatness; but when we speak of those questions of right and wrong, of the principles that underlie individual responsibility and of the duties that we owe to God, and our fellows, it is hard to impress the mind.

This condition of things, and this view of the matter, but corroborates those prophecies that speak of the last days as days of great apostasy and danger to the church; as days when iniquity shall abound and the love of many shall wax cold; as days when evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse; and as days when men shall have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof.

I remark upon these things because it is sometimes an objection in the mind of the young and uninstructed convert, that there are so many learned and great men that have rejected religion; and the question is often asked, “If the religion of Jesus is a truth and admits of a clear and rational demonstration, why is it that so many great and wise men have rejected it?” This question is easily enough answered upon the fact that all minds do not travel in the same channel of thought. All cannot, with equal ease, gain a knowledge of the same things. One man learns the languages, another mathematics, while a third, almost intuitively, gains a knowledge of music, and all the harmonies of sound, but can learn very little else. A man may be profoundly wise in many things, and notoriously ignorant of other things. Every class of truth has its own peculiar evidences and manner of demonstration; and as there is no particular connection between the wisdom of this world and that which is from above which teaches us the way of salvation and eternal life, one may have all the knowledge of the world and know nothing of the things of the kingdom of God. And not only are these things so, but we are assured in the Scriptures that “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Hence, while it is both the privilege and the duty of the Christian to reason of many things, there are other things that can only be received by faith in revelation. Reason is only a system of comparison by which unknown truths are measured by those already known; and as all the promises of God contemplate and are embraced in the immortal age, we cannot reason of these things from a perishable world. We can only accept these things by faith.

With these thoughts before us we may turn our attention and consider the question, What is duty? Duty signifies service owed. It indicates those obligations that one is under to another because of indebtedness or dependence. Duty is always in consideration of some good already bestowed and possessed, or in view of some blessing yet to be enjoyed. Duty is the natural outgrowth and result of relations sustained, and hence, wherever a relation exists, duties exist, and the duties that exist always correspond both in kind and in magnitude with the relation existing, whatever those relations may be. If the relation sustained be a monied relation, the duties are monied duties; and thus we might speak of all the duties that

we owe either to God or man, whether they are social, political, or moral. And it may be added also that rights and duties are always inseparable; these acting in harmony constitute eternal justice. Whenever duties are enjoined where no corresponding rights have been bestowed or promised, all such duties and demands are unjust, and wherever those who have been favored or blessed are unwilling and refuse to yield that service that justice demands, every such act of unwillingness or disobedience is an act of unrighteousness. Sometimes the duties that we owe are only duties of gratitude; for we cannot pay that which is owed.

Again, it is duty to labor and to sacrifice. The relations that we sustain to the material world make it duty to obey its laws—to till the soil, to provide ourselves against its elements, and so on. The relations we sustain to our parents make it duty to honor and obey them, while the relations that we sustain to our fellows, make it duty that we should do unto them as we would that they should do unto us. Our unwillingness at any time to respond to the just demands of duty, never affects the facts of our indebtedness or dependence, if such facts exist. This remark seems proper because we oft-times feel like excusing ourselves from doing what is right upon the ground that we have never promised. There are many persons who appear ready and willing to pay all their debts if they have promised to do so; and yet if they have never promised, and can readily pass through the meshes of law, they will never pay a farthing, saying, “Oh, I never promised!”

The skeptic, while he is ready and willing to criticise and condemn the unjust conduct of professed Christians, if you say to him, Well, why don’t you do right? he will answer you, “Oh! well, I don’t profess to be good;” as though that was an excuse. As well might the idle and ungrateful boy who is lounging around the tavern say, when asked why he is not at home helping his father, “Oh! I don’t pretend to work for the old man.” Would that be an excuse? Certainly not; for the child owes to the parent all that he has and is, and hence it is his duty to love and obey him whether he will or not.

And so it is with every other just duty, whether to ourselves or to others. And not only are we sometimes unwilling to acknowledge and obey the just demands of duty, but quite frequently, because of our selfishness, we covet and are ready to claim all the rewards of well doing while we are walking only in the paths of sin. The ungrateful boy who will not work for his father, and seems to have no interest for the other members of the family, looks forward with longing eyes to the time, when, by the death of his father, he shall be placed in the possession of much wealth.

This is the way with the doctrine of universal salvation; for while it teaches that our present conduct has nothing to do with our final destiny, it promises the holiness and happiness of all mankind in the world to come. The inconsistency of such a sentiment as this was forcibly brought to mind and illustrated while listening to a conversation upon raising boys, and helping them after they became of age. Said the one who was talking (a Universalist), “Well, if my boys have an interest and try to do and be something for themselves, when they are of age it will be my greatest pleasure to help them all I can; but if, on the other hand, they are idle and indolent before they are of age, I won’t help them the first red cent when they are of age.” I could but approve the noble sentiment of the father, as I thought, This is the way God will do both with the worthy and unworthy in the day of final reckoning.

Duty is sometimes the result of natural relations, and at other times it is the consequence of artificial relations. Natural relations are those that are forced upon us by surrounding circumstances, or the action of others; while artificial relations are those formed by the action and consent of the parties related, or those who represent them, as guardians. The relation that the child sustains to the parent, or brother to brother, is a natural relation; but the relation that the husband sustains to the wife, and that one Oddfellow sustains to another Oddfellow, are examples of artificial relationship. Natural relations are created and sustained by natural law, and artificial relations are formed and governed by artificial laws. But as these are made to serve each other, nature providing us with bounties, and art preparing them for our use, that we may define individual rights, and place each in the undisturbed possession of that which is his, it is often necessary to expound natural law by artificial rules. Were it not for this, there could be neither order nor harmony in the enjoyment of those blessings so richly bestowed upon us. It is true that man is endowed by his Creator with all the instincts and faculties of self-preservation and enjoyment; and life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, are inalienable rights; yet it is equally true that man is possessed of intellectual powers and moral sentiments, and is therefore as much and as properly the subject of intelligent and moral law, as he is the subject of natural or organic law. To deny this is to place man on a level with the brute creation.

These remarks seem called for because in coming out from under the darker ages, ages of extreme oppression and tyranny, the mass of mind appears to be fast drifting into the opposite extreme of lawlessness. Many, in seeking to free themselves from the restraints of law, under false impressions of liberty, are making a god of Nature and worshiping her, claiming the right to follow her teachings. This is strikingly exhibited in the doctrine of Free-loveism, which destroys the marriage relation and makes congeniality of soul the rule by which we are to be governed. If the wife of one’s youth, with whom he has lived for years, and who, for his sake, left father and mother, is less congenial than the wife of his neighbor, the former may be put away and the latter taken in her stead, because Nature prompts it, although the happiness of a score of persons is wrecked as the consequence. And if the doctrine of congeniality is a true one, it may be applied to any thing that is our neighbor’s as well as to social life.

But I must hasten. Christian duties are the duties enjoined by the Christian religion. They are the duties that we owe to God as our creator and preserver, and the duties that we owe to our fellows because of our mutual dependence upon each other. These duties are taught and enforced both by the law of God and the gospel of our Lord Jesus; and they require that we shall love God with all our souls, might, mind and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves. These are great commandments, and whether we are righteous or unrighteous, depends upon whether our relations to God and our fellows are equal to the service required of us. If our indebtedness to God, and our dependence upon him and our fellows, is as great as represented in the Scriptures of divine truth, then those commands are just and righteous altogether. But if we owe nothing, no service should be demanded of us.

The entire question of man’s indebtedness and amenability to God can only be discussed as all the evidences of divinely-revealed religion are considered and presented; but the subject may be briefly stated and reasoned in the following manner: There are only two kinds of existences conceived by the mind, the one an absolute, self-sustaining, independent existence, and the other a dependent existence. Man is either an independent or dependent being; if an independent being, not dependent on any foreign power for existence or support, then he is neither the subject of law nor of punishment; but if he is a dependent being, to the extent of his dependence he may be called upon to give an account of every action. If we claim that man is an independent being, where are the facts upon which such an assertion is made; for every fact of man’s history from the earliest to the latest, all declare that man is a creature. In this, as in many other things, reason as well as revelation teaches that there is a God, a God of infinite power, wisdom and goodness, in whom we live and have our being, the object of all true worship and adoration. These facts demonstrate that it is man’s duty to yield unreserved obedience to the God who has created and sustained him, whether the name of this God is Lord, Jehovah, or Jove.

As instances of Christian duties, faith is a duty, repentance is a duty, the confession of sins is a duty, prayer is a duty, baptism is a duty, and deeds of kindness and benevolence are duties. The object in selecting these and remarking upon them is because the principles contained in these are known and universally acknowledged when applied to the things of this world, and it is only when they are applied to religion and divine things that men laugh and scoff at them. Faith is trust, faith is confidence in testimony, faith is the consent that the mind yields to any representation, declaration, or proposition, and it is no more a religious necessity and duty than it is a social or a business necessity. We read in the Scriptures, “Without faith it is impossible to please God; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of all them that diligently seek him.” We may continue to read, Without faith it is impossible to please any body; for he that receives a friend must believe that he is what he claims, and that he will do as he says. Faith, then, is made no more the standard of friendship with God, than it is the basis of friendship with men. It is true that the man who does not believe, may be used as the tool of another, but no man can act intelligently or be received as a friend, a companion or partner of another, either in earthly or in heavenly things, who does not believe.

And as there is much room for thought and comment here, it may be added that the mind that cannot exercise faith, that cannot trust, is incapable either of progression or development; because progression and development are the results of continued action in a certain direction, and faith is always the first definite action in the direction of any truth stated. For this reason the man who does not believe cannot be moved to action, however solemn or glorious the truth declared may be.

It is sometimes objected against religion, that men are required to believe without evidence; but this is not true; for there is neither command nor moral principle obligating one to believe without testimony. It is true, nevertheless, that men are oft-times imposed upon, deceived and wronged in matters of faith and religion by misguided and designing men; but it is equally true in the things of this world. How often it is the case that men are cheated, defrauded and robbed of all that earth holds dear, by putting confidence in treacherous friends. Yea, every day gives us examples of trust that has been wickedly betrayed by selfish persons. This can be no objection against faith as a principle, because faith is the standard of worth in all things; for the man who cannot trust and the man who cannot be trusted, are both alike worthless.

With these thoughts we may consider repentance. Repentance as a Christian duty is urged on the ground that man has sinned; that he is a rebel against the government of God. Repentance signifies turning back again; and although it is something used in an accommodated sense to signify the turning away from a right to a wrong course of action, as when a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness and committeth iniquity, yet it properly indicates the turning away from a course of error and wrong to that which is true and righteous, as when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness and doeth that which is lawful and right.

The doctrine of repentance always contemplates some instance of violated law, and the man who has sinned is called upon to repent in view of the dread consequences that must follow from continuing to oppose law. The object of repentance is either to regain that which has been already lost, or to avoid the further punishment of sin, or to escape some danger that threatens, but from which as yet no loss has been sustained. These various reasons for repentance are founded on the fact that there are different kinds of action. In some kinds of action the consequences begin and continue with the action, each part of the action yielding a certain amount until the final result is reached. In this case, when the action ceases, the consequences cease; but with other kinds the results are obtained all at once and not until the entire work is completed, so that if at any time between the point of commencement and the point of ending, the action ceases, nothing is gained however great the labor or sacrifice has been. In both of these cases the remedy

of repentance is brought in and applied before the action has proved fatal; for in morals as in sinning against organic law, there are wounds that admit of no cure—mortal wounds.

With many the doctrine of repentance and mercy as taught in the Scriptures, seems irreconcilable with the perpetuity of law; for they teach that every violation of law must be punished. For this reason there are two classes of persons: the one holding to the immutability of law, but rejecting grace; while the latter preaches mercy and grace, but rejects law. Both are evidently in error; because if we have no system of law, we have neither rule of justification nor of condemnation; and if we have no system of mercy, there are no means whereby we may return to the obedience of law and regain that which has been lost or endangered. This great error is undoubtedly the result of not understanding the nature and workings of sin, nor the plan and purpose of God concerning man and this earth; which plan and purpose cover the whole history of this world from man’s creation and fall, until the righteous are crowned with immortality and eternal life, and the wicked are punished with the second death. Of this great plan and purpose it may be remarked that

“All are but parts of one stupendous whole, Whose body wisdom is, and God the soul.”

We are not therefore to separate nor consider any individual part from the body, but each is to occupy its own proper place in the body.

Our present state is a state of trial and probation. It is not the result of single action, but of many actions. It is true that every action of sin is in the direction of death; and it is true also that as soon as ever the action begins, the consequences begin; but the end is not reached until the work is completed. Thus we read, “The wages of sin is death.” “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” “Broad is the road that leads to destruction.” “Shall reap corruption,” &c. In all these passages of Scripture the idea of progression and growth is taught, and the possibility of repentance admitted; for if a man is dying he may be saved; if he is on the road he may be brought back again. And thus we continue to read, “Turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” Again, “Escape ye, repent.” Again, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.” And again, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” It is thus that the remedy that God has provided for sin (as in all other legal matters where remedy is possible,) is applied before final judgment is rendered, and the man doomed to execution.

The doctrine of repentance is no more a moral and Christian duty than it is a mechanical, or any other kind of duty, where law has been violated and the man is called upon to turn back again. Repentance is an act of the creature. If it was not, there could be no reason in commanding repentance; but it is by the power and consent of the Creator; for if it was not, God could not have the honor of man’s redemption and salvation. And not only this, but the man that has sold his possessions, or is himself sold into bondage, has no right nor power to purchase either himself or his possessions back again, only by the favor of the master or purchaser.

It is God who showeth mercy, and there are those to whom mercy is not extended; for we read of some who cannot cease from sin. “And Esau, the profane person, who sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, found no place for repentance although he sought it carefully with tears.” And we are thus admonished in the Scriptures: “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.” The poetical doctrine, therefore, that teaches that

“While the lamp holds out to burn, The vilest sinner may return,”

is not true either in reason or in Scripture; for there are points in man’s downward course to death from which there is no turning back again.

The work of repentance may be illustrated by the man who is wounded by some sharp instrument, as a knife or an axe. The wound is a long, deep cut, down into the living flesh, and across bands or layers of muscles; and unless it can be healed, the entire body will be brought under its influence, and the man will die. But the surgeon is sent for, and the wound is dressed. The several parts are brought back and bound together, and the man is commanded to keep quiet until the same law that has been broken heals. But there are wounds, the causes of which remain lodged in the flesh, and until these are removed, no cure can be effected. So it is with the work of repentance, which includes all the means by which every cause of separation is removed, and the severed parts are brought back and united in harmonious relationship.

This brings us to notice the confession of sins. The system of divinely-revealed religion is but a system of rebinding of, or of bringing and binding man back to God, and in this work the confession of sins is as much a moral necessity, as the removing of the cause of a wound in order to heal, is a physical necessity; for the only way that broken friendship can be restored, is by removing the cause of enmity, and this can only be done by confession. For the man who has injured another, either in word or deed, can only restore broken confidence by a confession of his unjust conduct. The principle that should govern us in all matters of confession, is, the confession should perfectly correspond in nature, extent, and earnestness, with the wrong that has been done. Secret sins should be secretly confessed. Wrongs against a neighbor or friend may be confessed privately; but those sins which have been public, can only be taken out of the way publicly. And the confession of sins implies deeds as well as words; for words can only express a consciousness of guilt, while it is the office of works to remove the wrong itself. The man who has cheated his neighbor a hundred dollars, if he makes but a mouth confession, passes sentence of condemnation upon himself as long as he retains the price of iniquity. Judas, the traitor, could do better than this; for he threw down the thirty pieces of silver, the price of treachery, as he exclaimed, “I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.” And it is so in all things. Where law is sovereign, obedience is the price of liberty; and if at any time rights have been forfeited by disobedience, the only way to regain them is to return to the obedience of the law broken, so that the breach may be healed.

And it is thus that one might discourse for hours upon Christian duties—prayer, almsgiving, baptism, all its internals and externals, showing that each has a place, and that every part adds strength and beauty to its fellow part, forming one complete temple of truth. But the time is past, and I must close, praying that the God of all mercy and grace would lead us into a knowledge of his Son, make us meet for his kingdom, and save us at last. Amen.