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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Dec 26, 1906

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 32, No. 50.

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FROM THE LAPIDARY'S TABLE. NO. 3.

By Gualterio

"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Matt. 5:48.
THAT man might be as perfect in his sphere of existence as the great God, his Creator, is in His divine estate, was the design of the Architect of this earth when He created man and placed him in his Eden home. But disobedience to one of the laws of his spiritual life changed the relationship of man to his Maker, because by his own act he cut off his spiritual life and rendered himself subject to death—a one-sided, imperfect being. And the longer he has lived to fulfil the imaginings of his perverted life, the farther he has gone from his original estate. Truly the words of Inspiration are fitly spoken: "God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." Eccl. 7:29.Those inventions which have served most to his undoing have been in the realm of religion, seeking to quiet the guilty throbbing of his conscience by "giving his first-born for his transgression, the fruit of his body for the sin of his soul;" setting up for his worship, howsoever unwittingly it might be, some embodiment of himself. It has been one constant endeavor of the human family—from Cain, man's first offspring—to establish a standing in the court of the invisible Potentate of the universe by some work of their own devising. This seems to have been in order that they might escape accomplishing the end desired by acknowledging their own utter helplessness. And this in face of the fact that ever since Adam perverted his being to satisfy a selfish desire God has, by precept and example, made plain the way to the development of the only character that will stand the test of Heaven's law.
Man has ever failed to estimate at its true value the havoc wrought by his failure to keep the divine law; and, to insure against any possible misunderstanding, the Lord has often and plainly stated man's impotency. Witness these statements:
"O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." Jer. 10:23.
"Unto the pure all things are pure; but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled." Titus 1:15.
"Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths." Isa. 59:7.
"Having eyes full of adultery, and that can not cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls; an heart they have exercised with covetous practises; cursed children." 2 Peter 2:14.
"Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips," Rom. 3:13.
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" Jer. 17:9.
And yet, notwithstanding man's utter depravity by natural birthright, God has provided a way by which he may be redeemed to the uttermost and reinstated in his lost dominion. Yea, more; He has provided a way by which man is exalted by adoption to sonship of the eternal God and joint-heirship with Jesus to all the glories of the universe. Shall we exclaim with Nicodemus, "How can these things be?" What saith the Saviour?—"With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."
Of those who have fulfilled the expectations of the Lord, and have finally come off victorious over sin, it is triumphantly declared in the heavens: "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Rev. 7:14.
Thus we understand when the Lord says to the lost man, "Wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved," that a Fountain for cleansing has been opened for all men, but that it is optional with them whether they will avail themselves of the boon freely bestowed. "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves," says the apostle Paul, "but our sufficiency is of God." "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." 2 Cor. 3:5; Phil. 2:13.
A writer of our time very clearly sets before us the conditions which obtain in this matter of choice:
"In the work of redemption there is no compulsion. No external force is employed. Under the influence of the Spirit of God, man is left free to choose whom he will serve. In the change that takes place when the soul surrenders to Christ, there is the highest sense of freedom. The expulsion of sin is the act of the soul itself. True, we have no power to free ourselves from Satan's control; but when we desire to be set free from sin, and in our great need cry out for a power out of and above ourselves, the powers of the soul are imbued with the divine energy of the Holy Spirit, and they obey the dictates of the will in fulfilling the will of God."—"Desire of Ages," page 466.
"All true obedience comes from the heart. It was heart-work with Christ. And if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses. The will, refined and sanctified, will find its highest delight in doing His service. When we know God as it is our privilege to know Him, our life will be a life of continual obedience. Through an appreciation of the character of Christ, through communion with God, sin will become hateful to us."—Id., page 668.
And now consider, if you please, some of the ways in which God has signified His willingness to fortify man against possible failure.
"And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new Spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh." Eze. 11:19.
"For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee." Isa. 41:13.
"For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even unto death." Ps. 48:14.
"When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him." Isa. 59:19.
"According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remaineth among you; fear ye not." Hag. 2:5.
In fact, God has so far united divinity with humanity that he says, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." And ever since the fall in Eden men have lived in enjoyment of all the privileges made possible by these promises of God. To the antedeluvian world Enoch was an example of what all men might be. Of him the record says, "Enoch walked with God." Gen. 5:24.
Of Moses it is said, "He endured, as seeing Him who is invisible." Heb. 11:27. Of the Corinthians it is said, "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. . . . We have the mind of Christ." 1 Cor. 2:12-16.
Christ was a perfect Man and walked with God. How did He do it?—The four Gospels are an ample record. He was a diligent and thorough student of the Scriptures. Luke 24:44. He resorted often and earnestly to lengthened seasons of prayer. Mark 1:35. He lived as a man of God's opportunity, demonstrating by precept and example that the Gospel He proclaimed is "the power of God unto salvation," which enables a man to overcome sin at all times and in all places, irrespective of environment or conditions.
Without question, failure to attain to Christian perfection results from neglect, in part or in whole, to study into the details of the Christ life. He is our example in life and doctrine. Follow Him step by step in prophecy and fulfillment. There is power in His life, and this is given to men so that all the commands of God embrace power to do. To us He says, "Be ye perfect;" and so surely as the paralytic walked at the command of Christ, we may obtain the victory by yielding a cheerful obedience. "For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath." 2 Cor. 8:12.
Reader, can we longer question the purpose of God in our behalf, or the possibility of its attainment?—"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 2 Cor. 7:1.
"Reach for the things above—to those who climb Steps ne'er are wanting; ever the sublime Allures us onward, and our lives will be Just what we make them, to eternity." Mountain View, Cal. GUALTERIO.