BE YE PERFECT by J. Clarke

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 3, 1859

BE YE PERFECT.

By J. Clarke

WHAT a glorious mark! Perfection of beauty! What a height of excellence! Holiness! How terrible, yet how mild is holiness! How godlike! How high, how pure, how noble! How generous, yet how meek and humble! How calm and peaceful!

I have seen a few who walked, and moved, and spake, as holy men and women. I felt a hushed awe in their presence, and their influence I still feel; yet they were the most broken and contrite of heart. Alas, that such precious ones are so few! Yet I thank God, I have looked upon a few such, and felt their influence upon my obdurate heart, as holy, heavenly dews.

But they are not my standard; no, Jesus is the perfect rule. Yet in such instances of proficiency I take courage to press forward; for what God has done for others of his children, he is willing to do for me in this pursuit.

Is it impossible for God who rules the universe to make his promise good? If I am his, am I not a partaker of his holiness? Why, then, may I not be wholly sanctified? Shall I rest in a partial work? Shall I doubt?

True, in bygone years we have seen those who made their boast of living without sin, while their lives told a different tale. They disgraced the name of Christ; and perhaps this was Satan's device: to raise up a people who should disgrace the word, and the name of Christ, in order to cast a stigma upon a people who should afterward arise, with a perfect law as their standard. A perfect law, with the blessing of God, would doubtless make a holy people, when united with the faith of Jesus, as it is under the proclamation of the third angel.

Be that as it may, I must confess that disgust for such instances of depravity as I have seen, who held that they lived holy, perfect lives, has been the means of giving a coloring to my views of Christian perfection, which I now discover to have been quite unscriptural and unprofitable.

The light of the third angel's message is a pure, a clear light: and now in its holy atmosphere I behold a people arising, who have a perfect law, and a perfect faith; and I discover that those who walk in its clear rays, are holy persons, while the imperfect, and the novice, are, as it were, in its twilight; and as they become free from the blighting, withering curse of sin, they too rejoice more and more in its lifegiving light; or, as they let go of the truth, and give way to sin, they recede into darkness.

Here is the mystery unraveled to my dark mind. Those apostates who boasted of perfection, had no law, no test; therefore they fell; for it was not of God to make a perfect people without a perfect law: but now with a perfect law, and the faith of Jesus, under the gathering call of the third angel, God will have a perfect people.

Awake, then, O my soul, to thy glorious privilege; stay not to subdue thy sins only, but eradicate them: do not only cut down the tree, but dig it up by the roots, make clean work; for when the tree is cut down, its roots may grow again, but dig out its roots, and the work is done; severe the pain may be, but the result is sure.

Why shouldst thou despair, O weary, tempted, way-worn wanderer? Has not He who kindles the lightnings, and who holds the winds, promised? and will he fail to perform? Do thy part; stop where thou art; break from the tempter's power; arise in the Redeemer's strength, and like Samson, snap the cords that bind thee; but do not like him lie down in the lap of Delilah, while thy locks are shorn.

Stop short in thy career. Hast thou been long tempted and almost overcome, perhaps quite? Hold no longer parley. Fly to thy closet often, often; stay there till thou dost obtain the victory. Shouldst thou again fall into temptation, go again, and again. What if it is out of season? No matter; go a hundred times in a day or night, rather than be overcome; tempted and proved you must be (Christ was tempted), but do not let Satan get the least advantage.

Encourage thyself with the thought of the glorious reward, but remember it is conditional; God is still the same holy being that he was when he gave the law on Sinai; men have erred; but truth is still the same; unbending, unsoiled, uncorrupted; Moses, the man of God, erred, and paid the penalty; David sinned, but the seer followed up the royal culprit, and with the word of the Lord in his mouth, pronounced a terrible penalty upon the family of the offender; the heart of Hezekiah was lifted up, as he displayed to the nobility of Babylon his choicest treasures, and a woful message by the mouth of the prophet fell upon his ears. O it is a fearful thing to sin against God.

God is still the same; he has never stooped to parley with evil; neither has he, nor will he, tolerate it in his people. It is a glorious fact that God is holy; that Christ and angels are holy; heaven is holy. What godly soul does not leap at the thought of holiness, in its glorious excellence and beauty? its patience and forbearance, its gentleness, its love, its truth, its humility, its industry, its high aims, its noble, generous soul, its perseverance, its intelligence, its order, its strength, its moderation, its faith, its godlike dignity, and its brotherly love?

But words are feeble; the theme is too grand, too exalted for language like that of earth to describe; we must contemplate the living embodiment, as exhibited in the character of Jesus, as developed in the plan of redemption. We must know something of the terrors of the majesty on high, we must realize in some degree the sleepless justice of the royal law, its comprehensive, spiritual sway. The rebel must first see the sinfulness of sin, its utter hatefulness, its deadening, blighting influence, its withering curse and disastrous consequences; and thus, when the Spirit has opened the eyes to understand the evil of sin, we are somewhat prepared to appreciate its opposite—holiness.

I am glad to have a brother say to me, Elevate the standard, consecrate all to God. Everything, all, is laid at Jesus' feet. After all, what a lame sacrifice! but it is all I have to give. Receive it, blessed Master, and help me to live as my brother has exhorted, "without sin." O happy freedom! Let me enjoy it, realize it. Hear me, O Jesus; pray the Father to send his Spirit, with all the power I need.

A calm, settled peace fills my mind, as I think and write upon this subject. Such solid ground to rest upon, such durable materials to build with, such a glorious pattern for our example, such a brotherhood to warn and instruct, all owning that one great rule of life, all in the light of harmonious truth, with such glorious prospects. O it satisfies the longing soul.

But it should be holy hands and a holy life, that should set forth to the world a living illustration of holiness. Then let us be holy, without guile. Jesus testified that Nathaniel was an Israelite, without guile. So let us live that he shall so testify of us.

Brothren, sisters, some of you have made great attainments; I would be happy to sit at your feet, and in meekness learn how I might attain to holiness, from your experience; but alas! I know that most of us have yet much, very much, to do, ere we fully overcome. To such let me humbly say, that if we believe the third angel's message, we must admit that one single delay is fraught with fearful danger. As time passes, dangers thicken. The skies seems to brood with storms, while the distant horizon seems to flash with the tempests of Jehovah's wrath. Mercy's door is almost ready to be closed; then, O what a fearful, wailing cry, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." He that is holy, let him be holy still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still."

Brothren and sisters, it is no false alarm, no echo of fear, but it is the voice of prophecy, the voice of God, and the voice of his people. "Haste, stay not in all the plain." Stop this moment, overcome every besetment, and be ye perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.

J. CLARKE.