THE WILL OF GOD by W. A. Sweany

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Feb 21, 1906

THE WILL OF GOD

By W. A. Sweany

BY W. A. SWEANY

The Result of Disobedience.

IT should be known and remembered by all that while there are degrees of sin, some being greater and more heinous than others, thus necessitating varying degrees of suffering, “all unrighteousness is sin,” and “the wages of sin is death;” for “sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” The terrible result of the carelessness, indifference, and impunity with which men commit sin will not be realized by many until, when too late to repent and change, they hear, despite the protestations of their prominence in the realm of religion, the awful words, “Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” For “not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.” Matt. 7: 13-29.

Many seek to palliate, excuse, and even justify indulgence of sin by pleading the "weakness of the flesh," our "natural tendency to sin," etc. But this will not do, for provision has been made for us to become "partakers of the divine nature," which hates, loathes, shuns, and avoids sin, thus escaping the "corruption that is in the world through lust." 1 Peter 1: 1-4; Heb. 1: 8, 9. Having experienced the utter weakness and helplessness of humanity, and the power of the Father to save from sin and strengthen for service, our blessed Saviour makes merciful provision of His all-sufficient grace, to enable us to always triumph over temptation and sin. John 5: 19, 30; 17: 18; 20: 21; 15: 1-4; 1 Cor. 10: 13; 2 Cor. 12: 7-10; 2: 14.

So, while men persist in excusing sin, God invariably and always condemns it, having provided a remedy for it, thus leaving the sinner without excuse for continuing therein. Rom. 8: 1-4. Sinners will be lost at last, not because of Adam's sin (as the Adamic death squares that account), but for their own sins, and rejection of proffered mercy. Rom. 5: 12-21; John 5: 39, 40.

A Fatal Deception.

Of all the soul-destroying, God-dishonoring doctrines and deceptive devices for the downfall of man, none is more in keeping with the character of its Satanic author than the comparatively-recent one, which finds such ready acceptance with the carnal mind, that Christ came to abolish or change the law of God. The result of the wide-spread promulgation of this pernicious doctrine by pulpit and press, is seen in the ever-increasing, rapidly-swelling torrent of iniquity that pours forth from the lives of not only the non-professing world, but from many of the professed people of God as well. "They that forsake the law praise the wicked; but such as keep the law contend with them." Prov. 28: 4. "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." Prov. 28: 9. And "whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 5: 19. It is easy to persuade men that obedience to God's law is unnecessary; for "the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8: 7. But the results will be fatal to both teacher and pupils.

Compliance with the popular demand for "smooth things," "fables," and "deceits," brings popularity and seeming success; but "what will ye do in the end thereof?" 2 Tim. 3: 1 to 4: 5; Isa. 30: 8-14; Jer. 5: 25-31. How Satan must exult when preachers proclaim and people practise the doctrine that Christ came to change or abrogate the law, when in reality He came to live, suffer, die, and rise again in order to fulfil or fully to preach and practise, exalt, honor, magnify, and establish it. Isa. 42: 21; Matt. 5: 17-20; 3: 13-15; Gal. 6: 2; Col. 1: 24, 25, margin; Rom. 8: 1-4; 3: 31. "It is time for Thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void Thy law." Ps. 119: 126. And it is also fully time for the watchmen on the walls of Zion to cry aloud and spare not, lifting up the voice like a trumpet, showing the people their transgressions and sins. Isa. 58: 1; 62: 1, 6, 7; Joel 2: 1-20.

Let the Trumpet Give a Certain Sound,

and make the people to know that Jesus Christ came, not to change the law, but to change transgressors of the law, bringing them into harmony with it (2 Cor. 5: 17); not to blot out, or nail to the cross, His stone-engraved precepts, but the precepts, commandments, ordinances, and traditions of men, by which they make void the commandments of God (Matt. 15: 1-9; Colossians 2); not to abolish the law of God, but that which is enmity against it, and not subject to it—the carnal mind with its commandments and ordinances (Gal. 2: 14, 15; Rom. 8: 7); not to take away the law, but our sins which are the transgressions of the law (1 John 3: 4, 5); not to destroy the law, but the works of the devil (1 John 3: 8); not to release us from obedience to the law, but to redeem us from its curse or penalty which falls on men because they transgress it (Gal. 3: 9-14); not to enable men to cater to their carnality with safety by banishing the law (Rom. 4: 15; 5: 13; 3: 20; 7 entire), but to enable them to keep it and thus to triumph over all sin. 1 Cor. 15: 57. He came to set us free, not by abolishing the law which justly condemned us, but by paying the penalty for past sins, and by bringing us into harmony with it. Ps. 119: 45; John 8: 30-36; Rom. 6: 12-23; James 1: 22-25; 2: 8-12.

"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" "from their sins." 1 Tim. 1: 15; Matt. 1: 21. But instead of accepting this faithful saying, multitudes have so misconceived, misconstrued, and misrepresented it, that the mission of the Master is merged into that in which Satan has been engaged from the beginning, namely, the effort to abrogate Jehovah's law. "Be astonished, O ye heavens!" However, the combined efforts of Satan and sinners to cast contempt on the law of the Lord, affects not in the slightest degree either the law or those that love and obey it; for "all His commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness." "So shall I keep Thy law continually forever and ever." The righteous shall never be moved, for "the law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide." Ps. 111: 7, 8; 119: 44; 55: 22; 37: 30, 31.

(To be continued.)