WHILE reflecting upon the present condition of the world, and especially our once peaceful and happy nation, now engaged in the most terrible war recorded in the annals of history, and in consequence, the thousands of desolate families, pinching want, untold suffering and agony, that is to be witnessed on every side, my mind wandered back to the beautiful garden of Eden and the earth as it sprang from the hand of its Creator beautiful and lovely. Blight and decay, were nowhere visible. Death with his ghastly tread, had never entered there, causing sorrow, sadness and desolation. All was happiness, joy, and peace. No sickness or pain, to mar the pleasure and happiness of any of God's creatures.
Oh, what a contrast, what a change from that scene! And very naturally do we inquire, what has wrought this great change? Alas the sad tale is told in one little word. SIN. Do we inquire what is sin? Ans. Sin is the transgression of the law; and the wages of sin is death.
Man made in the image of God, violated his just commands; partook of the forbidden fruit, thereby forfeiting all right to the tree of life, which was designed to perpetuate life and immortality; and in consequence death passed upon the human family. Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return, was the mandate of Jehovah; and the withering curse was pronounced upon the earth. We are now witnessing its sad effects.
But had God's holy, just, and perfect law, which was given to be the rule of man's life and conduct here, been ever after obeyed, a great difference would be witnessed in the condition of the world from what we now see. Many blessings are promised on conditions of obedience; and fearful judgments in consequence of disobedience. But as we trace down the page of history, both sacred and profane, we find the commands of God have ever been disregarded and set at naught by the mass of mankind. And for this have the righteous judgments of God been visited upon the guilty nations of earth. "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth; and them that dwell therein are desolate." Isaiah xxiv, 5, 6.
In what tones of love and pity does God by the mouth of the prophet exclaim, "Oh! that thou hadst hearkened unto my commandments; then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea." Isaiah xlviii, 18.
And after all our transgressions, he has not left us without hope; but has devised a plan by which fallen man can come to God, and find acceptance and pardon for past transgressions, through the atoning merits of a Saviour's blood.
The earth which now groans so heavily beneath the curse, will soon be restored to its pristine beauty, to be the happy abode of the saints of God, who have honored him by keeping his holy law. The wicked who have dishonored him, and rejected his holy word, will be destroyed; then the wickedness of the wicked shall come to a perpetual end, and righteousness will be established in the earth.
No bugle notes will there be heard as the signal for the deadly strife. The peaceful inhabitants will no more be called from their quiet homes to engage in bloody strife. The groans of agony; and cries of the sufferers will no more be borne on the gentle breeze. No sickness, pain nor death, no aching hearts, or burning tears of sorrow, in that joyous free and happy land.
Dear reader, would you be there? Would you gain Heaven with all its attendant glories and joy; and receive a crown of unfading glory, and the gift of immortality and eternal life? Oh then, keep God's commandments. No longer trample upon his just and holy law, which is just as sacred now as when uttered from Sinai. And although the man of sin who thought to change times and laws; in his attempts to exalt himself, hath taken from it the holy Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and substituted in its place an institution of his own, yet there it stands engraven on tables, safely enclosed in the ark of his testimony in Heaven. And now, as the darkness and error of papal superstition is being exposed by the light and glory which is shining upon the sacred pages, we find the mass of mankind, instead of bowing to the mandates of Jehovah, worshiping an institution of human invention.
Says God, "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord honorable; Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Isa. lviii, 13-14.
Oh how long will men trifle with the great God of Heaven and earth, by rejecting his holy word, and think by substituting a man-made institution in its place, that he will accept their homage? Says James, "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." And the testimony of Jesus was; "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled."
"Then as we would our God obey,
In letter and in spirit too,
Oh let us keep the seventh day,
For it is plainly brought to view."
"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. xxii, 14.