What Manner of Persons Ought Ye to Be?
By Mrs. E. G. White
GOD is the Governor of the universe. He has put everything under law. Everything in the natural world is under law, from the tiniest flower of the garden to the mighty cedars of Lebanon. The beasts of the fields obey God's law. The ocean obeys His mandate, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." When God speaks to man, His voice is to be heard, and His word is to be obeyed. Man is an intelligent being, and has a mind by which to understand God's will, and a conscience by which to feel his accountability. He has a heart with which to love the law of God, which is holy and just and good. But God compels no man to do Him honor, and to render obedience to His law. Compulsion is the work of Satan and his agents. As intelligent creatures, we may know and do the will of God, or we may stubbornly refuse to submit our finite will to the will of the Infinite. This responsibility that is placed upon us should fill us with a sense of awe. The requirement of God to us is, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself." On these two principles hang all the law and the prophets; and it is for our present and eternal interest to have a proper understanding of the far-reaching principles of the law of God. "By the law is the knowledge of sin," and "sin is the transgression of the law." Sinners must know what is sin before they can have a desire to be rid of sin. It is a matter of eternal interest that we do not misconceive this vital question. When appeals are made in the pulpits of our land, and sinners are invited to repent and to be converted, it is the privilege of the sinner to inquire, What is sin? This we must know, for it is at the peril of our souls that we continue in sin. The apostle gives us light on this subject, and says, "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." Christ was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him was no sin. But were the law abolished, as some claim, we would have no need of a Saviour to take away sin, for "where no law is, there is no transgression." "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin." "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came [home to the conscience], sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which [if obeyed] was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is [a yoke of bondage, against me, and something to be trampled underfoot because it points out my sins?—No;] holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin." But tho we are carnal, we are to reckon ourselves "dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. . . . But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. . . . But now being made free from sin, and become servants of God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." "But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." "He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked. Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning." He who obeys the law through the imputed righteousness of Christ, meets every claim that the Bible presents; but he who sets himself above God, and tramples upon His law, and still professes to be a child of God, is working on the enemy's side of the controversy. In our day, even from the pulpits of our land, professed ministers of the gospel are, as were the Pharisees, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. The only safety for the soul at this time is to inquire at every step, What saith the Lord to His servant? "The Word of the Lord endureth forever." The Bible is to be our guide-book; and instead of consulting the wisdom of men, and accepting as divine truth the assertions of finite mortals, we should search the sure word of prophecy. God has spoken, and His Word is reliable, and we must rest our faith upon a "Thus saith the Lord." God would have us study the events that are taking place around us, and compare them with the predictions of His Word, in order that we may understand that we are living in the last days. We want our Bibles, and we want to know what is written therein. The diligent student of prophecy will be rewarded with clear revelations of truth, for Jesus said, "Thy Word is truth." The Defense for the Righteous
The Lord is at the door, and men's hearts are failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which shall come upon the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. But there is a defense for those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. The prophet declares, "Thy righteousness shall go before thee." Whose righteousness?—The righteousness of Christ. And he continues, "The glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward." "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, tho the earth be removed, and tho the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; tho the waters thereof roar and be troubled, tho the mountains shake with the swelling thereof." "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?"