Acceptable Christian Service.
By J. Q. A. Haughey
It is a great and grievous sin against God and our fellow-men to apply means to our own benefit that has been wrongfully obtained from others. In the sight of Heaven, it is nothing else than robbery to obtain means in this way; and it must be accounted for in the Judgment, unless there is repentance, and restitution made for the same. There is no way of escape but to come squarely up to the requirements of God; no way of dodging his justice and equity and obtain a home in his kingdom. The people of God should be a pure and holy people, for that dreadful day—the day of Judgment—is dawning. God is a searcher of all hearts, and will separate the wheat from the tares. All will be “weighed in the balance.” Who, oh! who, shall escape the Judgment? “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” Ps. 24: 3, 4. Dear reader, if you would walk with God, you must confess and forsake your sins, right all your wrongs, and abandon the ways of the world, or you may “be sure your sin will find you out,” and you be left outside of the city of God. Terrible will be the fate of the transgressor. May the Lord help you to set all things in order, that you may escape the Judgment. Heaven is a pure and holy place, and none but “the pure in heart shall see God.” Yet sinners are invited to be the guests of Jesus, for Christ says, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” What a blessed invitation. He also says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matt. 11: 28–30. Come, sinner, turn right about. God has made a way of escape for you. Come to Jesus. He invites you. Be like him, “meek and lowly in heart,” and he will forgive and restore you from your fallen condition, and give you a home in the everlasting kingdom. You were created to be immortal, and upon true and deep repentance of all your sins, he will immortalize, and exalt you to his throne, and you will be as the pure and sinless angels, and live forevermore. What more can you ask? Is this not enough? It is all God can give you. “Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and he was not, for God took him.” Gen. 5: 22, 24. Paul says, “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him; for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Heb. 11: 5. Also, “Noah walked with God.” Gen. 6: 9. And, “The Lord appeared unto Abram, and said unto him, I am the almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.” Gen. 17: 1. We have the evidence that Abram obeyed the injunction; for said he, “The Lord before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way.” Gen. 24: 40. God is no less mindful of those who walk with him now; for his angels, also, are with them, and prosper their way. It is said, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” Heb. 1: 14. Hezekiah says, “O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight.” 2 Kings 20: 3. David says, “Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways.” Ps. 128: 1. Dear reader, note the fact, that the blessing is only for those that walk in the ways of the Lord. Job also was a perfect and upright man, “and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.” Job 1: 1. So we see that the patriarchs and prophets “walked with God,” and were perfect men. All are perfect “that walk in his ways.” And no less is required at the hand of sinners now, for God speaketh through his prophet, “What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6: 8. Job 8: 20, says, “God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evildoers.” And David exhorts the people to “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.” Ps. 37: 37. And Paul says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2. Tim. 3: 16, 17. And Christ has given the express command: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.” Matt. 5: 48. And Peter says, “As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation: Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” 1. Pet. 1: 16, 17. So we see that we are commanded by the holy prophets, and Jesus, to be like God himself,—perfect and holy. May all who profess the name of Jesus trust in the Lord, and “walk with God” in integrity of heart, and rejoice that his ways are not as man’s ways. Oh! let us turn away from all the corrupting influences of the world, and rejoice with the angels at the purity and holiness of God and Heaven. Brethren, who of us shall have a home there? Righteousness is worth living for if we never get to Heaven. There are but two ways; a right way, and a wrong way. The former leads to eternal life, and the latter to eternal death. Dear reader, you do not wish to die; then make choice of the way now. Come, let us be on the Lord’s side, and walk in the way most pleasing to God. To do this, we must confess and forsake our sins. Where we have sinned against God, let us ask his forgiveness. And where we have sinned against men, let us ask them to forgive us, and only hope to obtain their favor through the merits of Jesus. We should not only confess and forsake our sins, but we should make full restitution for all the means that we have wrongfully obtained from others and applied to our own benefit. This is humiliating, and is calculated to prove us, and test our sincerity, and will show our faith by works. As I write these lines, I feel to thank God for some of this spirit of humility. But I need more of the Spirit of Jesus. And, by his assisting grace, I am determined not to be again a partaker of the corruption of this sin-polluted world. In the language of a brother, “We are nearing the Judgment, and should not let the paltry things of earth get for a moment between us and our duty and crown. The means which have been perverted from the right channel,” unless atoned for, will cause many who now profess to be the followers of Christ to be shut out of the kingdom of God. Zaccheus manifested a right spirit when he “stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him four-fold.” Luke 19: 8. No less than this is required at our hand. It is better to do as Zaccheus did; separate ourselves from the world, and be on the Lord’s side—the safe side; for God will inspect every sin, and exhibit to view every unrepented act in the Judgment. How appalling. May the Lord help us to realize the sinfulness of sin. And may we have our sins all put away before that time. Let us be careful “to do justly, and love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.” One of the hardest things we have to do is to confess our faults; but this is made easy when directed and guided by the presence of the Holy Spirit. And the blessing of God is ever ready to fall upon those who do it. Think of the thief upon the cross, and let him that stole, steal no more, for “he that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Prov. 28: 13. “Duty is the path that leads to life,” but few there are that walk in it. Let us look for a moment at our business dealings with our fellow-men compared with the eighth commandment: “Thou shalt not steal.” Ex. 20: 15, as written by Eld. D. T. Bourdeau, and published in the REVIEW AND HERALD, July 30, 1872. It is worthy of notice again. He says:— “This is one of the negative precepts, which not only condemns the sin of unjustly taking from our neighbor property that we are not entitled to, but also as strongly enjoins the contrary virtue, namely, to interest ourselves in rendering to our neighbor property that justly belongs to him. This precept, like the rest of those that relate to our neighbor, grows out of the precept to love our neighbor as ourselves. To keep it in our business deal, 1. We should follow the golden rule, ‘And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.’ We should place ourselves in their position, and look for their interest as well as for ours.” “Men generally look at their own interest first, and, in their deal, seek to get the best end of the bargain. This sin is almost universally practiced. There is perhaps no commandment that men are more liable to violate than the commandment, ‘Thou shalt not steal.’” 2. “We should give an equivalent for what we purchase, and take only an equivalent for what we sell, unless those with whom we deal are disposed to favor us. This principle is often disregarded in having diverse weights and measures, which are said to be ‘an abomination unto the Lord.’ Prov. 20: 10. Very few articles come up to the recommendation given them. How much anxiety and perplexity would be saved us if the great family of Adam were strictly honest. Let us not forget the old proverb, that ‘honesty is the best policy.’” 3. “We should always tell the truth in buying and selling, and should not speak too highly of the articles we sell, or undervalue what we wish to buy. How few there are who will tell the whole truth here. Like Ananias and Sapphira, they will keep back a part of the truth to advantage themselves.” For this grievous sin they fell dead. What a sad mistake they made. “It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.” Prov. 20: 14. “Men will lie as well as steal in their deal, and frequently this is done within the pale of the church. And because this is done within the bounds of custom, it is thought by many to be all right.” But in the Judgment they will be overwhelmed at their sad mistake. May the great God pity, and help the erring, candid soul to behold the light of his truth, that he may see sin in its greatest enormity, and confess, forsake, and abhor and turn away from it. Pause and reflect, if you please, and see how small are the chances of those who violate the eighth commandment to obtain eternal life and a right to the immortal inheritance. Better be Zaccheus-like, and redeem the past by making full restitution than have our sins brought up against us in the Judgment, for they will be sure to sink us to perdition with the ungodly. How necessary it is then that we have a clean record, that we may be able to stand without fault before the throne of God. True and righteous are all his judgments. He will judge the good and evil, and all will receive their just doom. All must appear in his presence. And he will execute true judgment, for all his judgments are just. In the language of a sister, “No fault can be found with his sentence. Justice and equity will characterize every decision.” We understand that the Judgment is set, and must first begin with the people of God, and is now going on in Heaven. “And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” All our thoughts, words, and actions, are faithfully recorded by our recording angel, and by them we shall be judged, and the final sentence be declared. Dear reader, I interrogate you, Who shall hear the welcome plaudit? “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” Shall we meet each other there? It is for us to decide whether we have eternal life or not. This surely is worth living for, but there is a great work to do to right all our wrongs, and get rid of our sins, and form characters for the society of the pure and holy angels. Yes, we must do a work that will tell in our favor in the final day of accounts, or be irretrievably lost, eternally lost in death forever. Be all the thanks and praise to the great King of kings, for making a way of escape from eternal death. Let the righteous rejoice because man will be exalted to the throne of God, and be made a pure and sinless being. And may their daily prayer be, “Oh! for a closer walk with God.” Jesus is our example, and we should walk even as he walked. He “did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.” God requires thorough heart-work. There must be a thorough reformation of all our wrongs. Sinners must repent. Hearts must be searched to the depth, every sin confessed, and atonement made for every sin that we have committed. This is God’s way, and the only way that will lead us through the pearly gates into the heavenly city. And this is all necessary in order to fit up a people for the society of the heavenly host of angels. May God help his people to make thorough work for the Judgment. Mark the following inspired words: “If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed [very few professed Christians do this, the heart of man is so stubborn], walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.” Eze. 33: 15. Read from 10–16 verses. Mark! the promise of107life is upon condition that “if the wicked give again that he had robbed,” &c. The word “if” implies a proviso, and the condition must be complied with, i. e., the wicked must “restore the pledge” by giving “again that he had robbed” in order to secure to himself the prize—eternal life. He that doeth this must thenceforward “walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity.” Then “none of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him; he hath done that which is lawful and right [he is forgiven], he shall surely live.” Eze. 33: 16. “If a man steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double.” Ex. 22: 1, 4. Read from 1–15 verses. Mark the difference made here in making restitution. Samuel says, “Behold, here I am: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.” 1. Sam. 12: 3. This is the duty of every man who professes to walk with God. Zaccheus undoubtedly understood the requirements of God, as taught in the Old Testament, or he would not have proposed to make restitution for wrong acts. No less is required of us. Man must become pure and holy in heart, that he may be able to stand without fault before the throne of God. Then we must do that which is right in the sight of Heaven, that we may be forgiven of our sins, and be sinless, or we cannot stand there. Only by thorough work may we pass the portals of this life into the eternal world, there to unite with the angels and saints in praise to God and the Lamb forever. Who! if he believes the word of God, would not confess and forsake his sins for the sake of eternal life? or for the sake of living a life as long as God lives? God and the angels are witnesses of every act that has been committed since the world was. All our deeds have been faithfully recorded in the books in Heaven by the angels that are watching over and caring for us, and will come up against us in the Judgment, “with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” But if repentance is sought and obtained, they will be blotted out, and hurled back upon the originator of sin, that is, the devil, and he will have to suffer for them. May God help me to see and know my whole duty, and I will, through the strength of Jesus Christ our Lord, perform it. Only give me a home with the angelic host in the world to come, and what more can I ask? I ask no more. May the angels of God watch around his people, and may they overcome the last sin, and obtain the victory through Jesus. Bowersville, Ohio, Aug. 27, 1872.