THE RELIGION OF JESUS by Susan J. Hatfield

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 9, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 23.

THE RELIGION OF JESUS.

By Susan J. Hatfield

BY SUSAN J. HATFIELD.

WHILE there are many religions in the world, there is but one true religion,—the religion of Christ. It is easy to discriminate between it and the religions of the world. The religion of Jesus was born of God, and comes before the world enshrouded in the glory of heaven, in the love of God. It comes to the poor as well as the rich, and finds a home in the poor man's hut as well as the rich man's mansion. It comes to the homes of the widows and orphans, and is ever a harbinger of peace and joy to the afflicted and distressed. It writes its mission in characters of God's handwriting, while scattering its blessings on mankind. It comes to our hearts with its bright rays of promise, and bathes our souls with the glory of heaven, while we journey to the land of undying rest.

The religion of Jesus Christ is just as pure to-day as it was when it first left the gate of heaven. Time can never change it. It rises majestically over the leprosy of sin, and seeks no compromises with the ungodly, with popularity, or with the world. It gives victory over the grave, and speaks in its voiceless whispers to every true saint of God, whether journeying on their pilgrimage, or resting on the summit of the last hill, or trembling on the verge of eternity, "that we shall live again." It rends the veil which separates the present from the better world, and opens to our spiritual vision the brighter glories of eternal life. It has come to us as we have stood around the bedside of beloved friends, and as we have seen them pass to the unseen world, it has impressed us with the thought that we shall meet them when "this mortal shall have put on immortality, and this corruptible shall have put on incorruption." If it were for us poor mortals to climb the skies and pierce the councils of heaven, we could see the victories which this religion has gained, and the triumphs won over sin and death. It has obliterated the handwriting which was against us, and washed the black record of human guilt as white as snow.

But the religions of the world, clothed though they may be with wealth and popularity, when death comes, give no consolation. Their borrowed light shines but dimly over the pathway of life, and sets in eternal night beyond the grave.

The religion of Jesus and the religions of the world do not harmonize, but are in conflict. One is born of God, and is based upon the authority of the divine word of God, and the precepts, example, and teaching of Jesus Christ, while the others are based upon the exigencies of the times, or the desires of men, so as to make them popular with the world. Any religion that compromises with sin to gain popularity is wrong in principle, hypocritical in profession, and bigoted in practice. The religion of Jesus never taught us to desecrate the house of the living God with festivals, dancing, progressive euchre, or church gambling. Its devotees will not be found frequenting theaters or places of worldly amusement. If Christ were on earth to-day, and was preaching what many professors practice, and would organize euchre clubs, and establish festivals, dancing, and other frivolities in the house of God, it would take all the evidence in earth and heaven to convince those that engage in it that he was the Christ, the Redeemer of the world, and of course he wouldn't be, for his very nature is contrary to it. It is true that the simplicity and purity of the religion of Jesus Christ are what make it unpopular with the world. It is claimed that the exigencies of the times demand a change in the religion of Jesus, but it can never change; it is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. It is not a mere thing of an hour or day, that it can be understood by sneers or crushed by falsehood. It has survived the persecutions of the ungodly for more than eighteen hundred years, and will live to bless the world while God reigns.