p. 1 | TWO PRINCIPLES

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 20, 1893

TWO PRINCIPLES.

TWO MANIFESTATIONS.

TWO RELIGIONS.

WE have considered in foregoing numbers the two great powers in the universe,—God and Satan,—actuated by, as well as personifying, two great principles,—love, or unselfishness, and hatred, or selfishness. These two principles have been set before us in the word of God in the personalities of Michael and Lucifer. In Michael, “the One like God,” we have manifested the principle of love, unselfishness, and self-denial for others’ sake; in Lucifer we have the opposite principle of hatred, selfishness, and self-exaltation. Love is the positive term, denoting pure affection for all, working for others’ good; unselfishness is the negative side of love, while self-denial for the sake of others is the carrying out of this principle. Selfishness is the positive term of the opposite principle; self-exaltation or profit is its object, while hatred is the other side of the principle, the side toward all opposed to self-exaltation. It is thus that the two principles are manifest in the two characters, as set forth in the Scriptures:—

LOVE AND SELF-DENIAL.

“Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being originally in the form of God, thought it not a thing to be grasped to be on an equality with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted him.” Phil. 2:5-9, R. V., margin.

SELFISHNESS AND SELF-EXALTATION.

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer [margin; “daystar”], son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! for thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High, yet shalt thou be brought down to hell.” Isa. 14:12-15.

Michael, or Christ Jesus, the only being in the universe who had the right to aspire to be equal with God, did not think such exaltation a thing to be grasped or seized, but emptied himself of himself, that God might fill him with all the fullness of the Godhead (Col. 2:9; 1:19), and that thus he might manifest in the flesh God to the world (1 Tim. 1:16; John 1:14); and he could only do this as God was in him (2 Cor. 5:19; John 14:9-11). It is well known that the whole life of Christ was a life of self-denial for others’ good; but in this he was only declaring the love of God. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” John 1:18. See also John 6:46; Luke 10:22. And what Christ did declare was love, infinite love for all.

But not so with Satan. A being created of God, gifted with wondrous capabilities of God, clothed with beauty from God, filled with wisdom from God, none should have been more grateful, loyal, and devoted than he. And such would have been the case if he had been moved by the principle of love. But no; all the gifts, the beauty, the wisdom, the light and glory which God had bestowed upon him, he took to himself, as though they were his by his own creation and not gifts of God. So the prophet speaks of him under the figure of the King of Tyre:—

“Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.” Eze. 28:17.

And this selfishness—and that is the case with all selfishness—stops short of nothing, even to the destruction of the throne of the universe. For, looking upon his wisdom, and beauty, which were wholly from God, he took all as wholly from himself, and considered that his ability and wisdom entitled him to a higher place. And therefore he said: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.” This is what Satan said. I, I, I, will do all these things. This meant the very destruction of the government of God; for there can be but one Most High; therefore, for Satan to be like the Most High meant that he would be sole ruler. This is selfishness; this is hatred of all that opposes self.

The end of this is destruction; for the triumph of the law of selfishness inevitably leads to destruction. If Satan had been able to have become like the Most High and infuse in every responsible being in the universe the same spirit as in himself, his throne would have been in perpetual peril from others who, like himself, were ambitious to be first. The rule of selfishness is, ultimately, only as strong as the individual is strong to maintain it. And, therefore, the Lord pronounces the fate of Lucifer in the following words: “Yet shalt thou be brought down to hell.” “I will destroy thee, O covering cherub.”

TWO RELIGIONS.

Out of these two principles, manifest in their perfection in Christ and Lucifer, have developed among men two great religions. We do not mean by this that those religions have always existed in the same completeness as seen in their great prototypes and founders. The devotees of the true religion, which we may call the true church, have been unable to show forth the perfection of their great Example because they have not emptied themselves, as Christ emptied himself. Neither have the devotees of the religion of Satan, or the false church, fallen as low as the great apostate, because of the merciful interposition and restraining influence of the Spirit of God. And yet, in the great crises of the world, in the times of the formation of the various ages into which the history and development of God's truth and church are divided, the lines between the false and true have been drawn with clear distinction. At other periods it has been difficult to distinguish the false from the true. At such times the true church will be found among the scattered ones. In the times of great crises the two classes are separated. This will appear more evident as we progress in this study.

The principles upon which we are to decide between the true and the false, between the genuine and counterfeit, are the principles set forth in God's holy word, and manifest in the character and life of Christ. The principles may be summed up under one general head, namely,

ABSOLUTE SUBMISSION TO GOD.

This may be expressed by the simple term faith. It may be said to be faith and love. But genuine faith in God will develop love; for if we trust God, we cannot but love him. There is implied in this submission the following: (1) The acknowledgment of the rightness of God's authority, not in a general sense, but as revealed in his law; for he who professes to acknowledge the authority of a government and yet refuses to submit to its laws, is really as much in rebellion against the government as he who is openly against it all, and is a much more dangerous enemy. He shows that, as long as self is pleased or profited, so long as it is expedient, he obeys; but when it is not, he refuses to obey. His submission is submission to self, not to the government. Submission to God is obedience to his every requirement. (2) It implies faith in God's wisdom. He who submits to God implicitly says by that that he believes God knows more than he does in every respect, and that he wants God's guidance. He shows by that that he has meekness. And this is the very class that God will guide. Ps. 25:9; James 4:6. (3) It implies trust in God's power, and shows that the trusting one knows his own utter weakness, and that he trusts in God's might alone. He is humble, but it is the humble ones with whom God takes up his abode. Isa. 57:15. (4) Absolute submission to God implies love to God. We will not submit, voluntarily submit, to God (for the religion of Christ knows no other submission than voluntary submission) if we do not have simple, implicit trust, and we will not hold simple, implicit trust unless we have genuine love. And in love it is all summed up. So much for our relation God-ward.

This relation to God also implies certain relations with our fellow-men, for, as expressed by inspiration, “He who loveth God, loves his brother also.” 1 John 4:21. The same thought is expressed in the words of Christ in Matt. 22:37-40. Man's duty is to love God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength, and his neighbor as himself.

Love to God is begotten by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5), and that spirit comes by faith (Gal. 3:14). This spirit is the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9), the spirit which actuated him to give his life for the world, to become poor that we might become rich, and the same spirit, or mind of unselfishness, or love, which we are exhorted to have in us (Phil. 2:5). The Spirit of God takes possession of us when we do as Christ did,—empty ourselves of ourselves. And, therefore, the very foundation of the Christian religion, in Christ and in us, is laid in self-denial, or love for others (Matt. 16:24).

By denying ourselves, or by absolute submission to God, by implicit faith in the sacrifice of Christ, our sins are forgiven (John 15:3), the righteousness of God is made ours (Rom. 4:5; 3:21, 22), and Christ by his Spirit takes up his abode in our hearts (Rom. 8:9; John 14:17, 23; 15:4), making us new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17), and enabling us to live and show forth a new life (Gal. 2:20). And, therefore, as Christ emptied himself and God filled him, so that Christ did not manifest himself to the world, but did manifest the Father in the fullness of his loveliness of character, even so also when we wholly submit to God, when we empty ourselves of ourselves, for Christ's sake, Christ makes us complete by his fullness (Col. 2:10), gives us his Spirit, so that we may manifest the Christ of God to the world (John 16:14; 17:10, 21-23). And therefore, also, they, having the same Spirit, would have the same love for precious souls which Christ had. For this Christ prayed (John 17:26); it was this which made Paul realize that he was a debtor to all, because Christ died for all (Rom. 1:14), and it was this mind, this spirit, this love, which constrained him to labor even unto death for all men (2 Cor. 5:14; Acts 20:24), even as did his divine Lord.

But further consideration of these principles must be deferred to future numbers.