“Thy Commandments are Exceeding Broad.”
By C. LAWTON
DAVID says, “I have seen an end of all perfection; but thy commandments are exceeding broad.” Ps. 119:96. No doubt David had on his mind the first great commandment, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matt. 22:37–40. Well might David say it is exceeding broad. No doubt it may look so to many of us, and we may think we never can attain to the high and holy standard of God’s word. Certainly we never can in our own strength. But perhaps the most difficult part of the work is the renunciation of self. When we arrive at a point when our love to God, and a desire for purity of heart, exceed our love for self, the world, and every other creature, then may we indeed feel that a genuine work has commenced in the heart. Then shall we begin to see more clearly the depth of our depravity, and the exceeding sinfulness of sin. This will cause a loathing of self, and of sin in every form, and a hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Our desire for purity will not be simply that we may be saved; but because we have a love for it. The heart will go out with earnest longing, for a full salvation from all sin; and this will be the desire of the heart; all else will be secondary. Yes; by faith we have caught a glimpse of the love of Christ—of the great price paid for our redemption; and here we see we are no longer our own. Therefore the justness of God’s great claims upon us, that he should have the supreme affection of our hearts. Our bodies and spirits, time, talents, and possessions, all belong to him. Let us consider the holiness of God’s character, and of the angelic host that surrounds his throne, which has never felt the slightest touch of sin; and the innumerable company of those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, apostles, prophets, and martyrs, who, for their love to God and his word, have cheerfully given up their lives. Who among us can expect to be fitted for such holy society, without entire consecration to God, a thorough renovation of our fallen natures, and sanctification through the truth? We may be made partakers of the divine nature, and bear the impress of our divine Lord and Master. But as this is a progressive work and cannot be accomplished all at once, how important that we make a wise improvement of the little space of time left us before the close of probation. In Spiritual Gifts, Vol. II. p. 225, we find the following: “If the professed people of God find their hearts opposed to the straight work of God, it should convince them that they have a work to do to overcome, or be spewed out of the mouth of the Lord.” Also on p. 226, we find these words: “Those who come up to every point, and stand every test, and overcome, be the price what it may, have heeded the counsel of the True Witness, and they will be fitted by the latter rain for translation.” Oh! the solemnity of the work in which we are engaged. May the Lord help us to give good heed to it, that we may finally secure eternal life. “The day approaches, O my soul,
The great decisive day,
Which from the verge of mortal life
Shall bear thee far away.
“Yet does one short preparing hour—
One precious hour—remain;
Rouse, then, my soul, with all thy power,
Nor let it pass in vain.”