The Conditions of Heaven Unfavorable for Its Propagation or Repetition
By G. W. Reaser
THE END OF SIN'S DOMINION.—NO. 6.
The Conditions of Heaven Unfavorable for Its Propagation or Repetition.
Many excuse themselves in sinning under the pretext of unfavorable surroundings, or conditions which seem to make it impossible for them to resist temptation. It is a sad truth that multitudes of the human family are born and nurtured under the most sinful surroundings. The very atmosphere which they breathe is, in a spiritual sense, impregnated, surcharged with sin. Ample provision is made in the plan of salvation, so that such “may escape the corruption that is in the world,” and become pure in heart. In the conditions, surroundings, and moral atmosphere of the redeemed, all things will be most favorable for the propagation of righteousness. Instead of misery and wo, as now, all will be happiness supreme. “I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people,” says the Lord. “The loves and sympathies which God Himself has implanted in the soul, shall there find truest and sweetest exercise. The pure communion with holy beings, the harmonious social life with the blessed angels, and with the faithful ones of all ages, who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, the sacred ties that bind together the whole family in heaven and earth,—these help to constitute the happiness of the redeemed,” and form a safeguard against the entrance of sin. It is written concerning those of the children of men who do not put their trust in the Lord, but instead count Providence as blameworthy for their hard lot, “that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.” But in the happy estate of the redeemed there will be no hunger, no thirst, no discontent. All will have permanent homes. There will be no weariness, no tears, no insane asylums, no sickness, no death. These terms, all employed to express the results of sin, will be obsolete, and will not be needed in the vocabulary of the church triumphant, except, perchance, in referring to the great drama when sin reigned unto death. In concluding our present study, let us recall the original and only cause of sin. Sin has many synonyms, but its true definition is, “transgression of the law” of God. When the Lord called His people out of the land of Egypt to serve Him under more favorable circumstances, He did not demand unreasoning obedience to His law, but rather appealed to a truth which was calculated to touch the deepest emotions of their hearts, and lead them to serve Him with joyfulness and gladness all the days of their lives. Consider their condition in Egypt. They were abject slaves, in the most cruel bondage; and kept in such ignorance that they were fast losing the knowledge of the true God, and had begun to worship the gods of their captors. They were deprived of that religious liberty for which millions have fought, and bled, and died. Their children were cruelly snatched from their arms and destroyed. They had no hope of better days, except in the promises of the God of Israel. When the Lord had brought those strange plagues upon the Egyptians, by which His people were not afflicted; when He had4opened the Red Sea as a highway for the fugitive slaves, and had destroyed their enemies, both rider and horse; when He had sent bread from heaven for their hunger, and had given an exhibition of His power and majesty at Sinai, then, to preface His law, He presented this appeal, “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Then followed the giving of the law, the doing of which was for their good always. Now, just as certainly as the Lord saw the affliction of His people in Egypt, and heard their cry, and knew their sorrows, and sent a deliverer “to loose those that were appointed to death,” “to bring them unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey,” so certainly has He sent a Deliverer in the person of His Son, to gather the true house of Israel, and deliver them from all bondage, both physical and spiritual, into the heavenly Canaan. Not only during the sojourn of the literal house of Israel in the land of Egypt, but “in all ages the Saviour’s chosen have been educated and disciplined in the school of trial; . . . they were purified in the furnace of affliction. For Jesus’ sake they endured opposition, hatred, calumny. They followed Him thru conflicts sore; they endured self-denial, and experienced bitter disappointments. By their own painful experience they learned the evil of sin, its power, its guilt, its woe; and they look upon it with abhorrence. A sense of the infinite sacrifice made for its cure, humbles them in their own sight, and fills their hearts with gratitude and praise, which those who have never fallen can not appreciate. They love much because they have been forgiven much.” “The heirs of God have come from garrets, from hovels, from dungeons, from scaffolds. . . . On earth they were destitute, afflicted, tormented. They are no longer feeble, afflicted, scattered, and oppressed. The days of pain and weeping are forever ended. The King of glory has wiped the tears from all faces; every cause of grief has been removed.” In that day “they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries, . . . and they shall dwell in their own land.” This language might appropriately be used to preface the law of heaven, when all the redeemed are gathered home. What more could the Creator do to call forth from the ransomed, willing obedience to His law? As the glories and the bliss of heaven expand to the astonishment of the redeemed, while it will not be essential that they have the law of God in a written code as we now have it, yet the principles of that law will be engraved indelibly upon their hearts, and they will have no other gods before Jehovah. And having access to the visible presence of “Him who sitteth between the cherubim,” none will make graven images and bow down to them, nor cherish idols in their hearts. Neither will they take the name of the Lord in vain, as is all too frequently done in soulless prayer and in formal worship. The Lord says, “Before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” Instead of speaking the name of the Creator irreverently, they will recognize His majesty and greatness, and with adoring angels, bow before the throne crying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.” To illustrate the gladness and faithfulness of Sabbath-keeping in the world to come, let us suppose that all of God’s people in all the world were given the opportunity of attending one grand gathering, where the glory, and presence, and power of God could be manifested, even in greater degree than on the memorable day of Pentecost. Suppose, too, it was understood that all of their expenses would be defrayed, and all of their effects preserved in perfect safety during their absence from home. Certainly all would keep careful reckoning of the appointed date, and start in time to be present at the opening of the first meeting. Weekly services will actually be held in the kingdom of glory, and will be attended by all of the redeemed; no matter how widely their routes of travel may diverge in the intervals between these convocations. Being then possessed of facilities of locomotion now utilized by angels in their ministry, and having the glorious prospect within their choice of meeting with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Elijah, John the Baptist, Paul, and all other worthies of the human family; and better than all else, of meeting with the angelic hosts, with Jesus the Saviour of men, and with God the Father, and of mingling their voices in such music as has never yet greeted mortal ears, they will not forget to count the days till the return of the Sabbath; and thus “it shall come to pass that . . . from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord.” And the observance of the fourth commandment is to “remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” The fifth commandment will be kept by supreme honor being bestowed upon the eternal Father, and due honors upon all others. As love will be the ruling power in each life, there will be no murder in the hearts of any, and consequently none in the overt act. There will be no want there, and hence no temptation to steal from another, whether it be honor, or glory, or goods. Where love reigns supreme, there can be no lying, but rather words of kindness, goodness, charity. Each having all that heart can desire, and no possibility of coming days of dearth, and being wholly unselfish, there will be no enticement to covetousness. To get a more comprehensive object-lesson of sin’s results, let us stop for a few moments, and listen in breathless silence. Then imagine all of the pain, all of the sorrow, all of the woe, all of the anguish with which humanity at this very moment is being racked, and let it all sweep over us in one overwhelming billow. Dear reader, are you not sick at heart at the thought of it? and don’t you feel an intense longing in your heart that you may get out of a sinful world into a sinless one? Be of good courage, fellow-sojourner; for He will “not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth,” and “affliction shall not rise up the second time.” “I’m weary of staying; O, when shall I rest
In that promised land of the good and the blest;
Where sin can no longer her blandishments spread;
Where tears and temptations forever are fled?
“O Jesus, my Saviour, when shall I behold
That morning long promised by prophets of old;
When sin’s night of sorrow forever is past;
And death’s silent captives are ransomed at last?”
G. W. REASER.