Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 28, 1858
A WORD TO THOSE IN TRIBULATION.
THE saints of old went through great tribulation; and our Lord has given us to understand that while in the world we shall have the same; yet how few have heartily considered and embraced this portion of divine truth, as it relates of necessity to them personally.
If we look at it at all, we seem to do so under the impression that we are to be exempted from this part of God's will concerning his people.
But let us consider. How can we follow Him who was made perfect through suffering, if we do not suffer with Him? How can we be made alive to God without becoming dead to the world? And how can we become dead to the world, unless we are crucified to it? And how can we be crucified without suffering from the cross, and tribulations by which it is to be accomplished? Nay:
> "Through tribulations deep,
> The way to glory is:"
not only the glory that is beyond this sphere, but that inner glory, of the new man formed within, who is in the likeness and image of God. Before this can be done, our old man must be crucified, with his affections and lusts. And this crucifixion178the hairs of our head, and so particular in all his providence, that not a sparrow falls without him. Yes, faith in him, as one that sitteth as a refiner and purifier of silver, watching the progress of the work, and keeping us in his crucible only till the refining process is completed: or as the wise husbandman of the vineyard, whose eye is constantly upon each branch, perceiving every dry twig, oozing excrescence, or worm-secreting knarl that is to be found upon it; and with his sharp pruning-knife, yet merciful and skillful hand, "purging it that it may bring forth more fruit." Yes, a full and hearty confidence in him, as the Lord from whose hand we receive good, and—what may seem to the unwise or unbelieving—evil; who so completely controls our afflictions, that they really work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. All things are ours; whether it be Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, things present, or things to come, all are ours.
Need we say more? Is it not clear that in order to follow Christ, self must be refused in all its will and wisdom, and the cross accepted with all its pains of crucifixion and death?—that if we are ever purged from our dross we must pass through the fire?—if ever counted happy, we must endure? In a word, if our garments are ever found without spot, they must be cleansed by him whose "coming is like the refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap," penetrating every thread and fibre of the thoughts, desires and intents of the heart; melting and subduing its unpliableness, and cleansing from all its stains and pollution.
The way is then plain. It is simply to embrace all the trials and crosses that come upon you, whether inward or outward, as from the hand of your heavenly Father. Be like Job, who, when stripped of children, possessions, health, reputation, and all else, save his life, looked beyond the Satanic instrumentality through which it was all accomplished, and seeing Him, the Invisible, who had permitted and guarded it all, he endured, and blessed the Lord who had both given and taken away. Let your attention never be taken up with the agency through which your trials come. If you do, all will seem perplexing and wrong. But, as Mr. Wesley says, "See God in all things, and be resigned, that you may be conformed to the whole will of God, who wills and does all (sin excepted) which comes to pass in the world. In order to this, we have only to embrace all events, good and bad, as his will;" not regarding the instrument, but him who governs all. As the poet has it:
> "The man that looks on glass,
> On it may stay his eye;
> Or, if he pleaseth, through it pass
> And then the heavens espy."
Happy is he who has learned this judicious lesson. His eye is single; not double, or manifold, which brings care of many things,—his whole body "is full of light," affording peace and "contentment with such things as he has," and he knows, as Mr. Wesley further says, "that the best helps to a growth in grace are the ill-usage, the affronts, and the losses which befall us." We should receive them with thankfulness, as preferable to all others, were it only on this account—that our will has no part in them. The readiest way which God takes to draw a man to himself is to afflict him in that he loves most; and to cause this affliction to arise from some good action, done with a single eye, because nothing can more clearly disclose to him the emptiness of what is most lovely and desirable in the world.
Yet, under all this, there may be a peace and quiet of soul; like the stillness that prevails far beneath the turbulent waves of the ocean. Yea, a rejoicing in these tribulations, from the assurance that this is the way of salvation, the way through the crucifixion and death of Christ, to the resurrection in his likeness, which is life triumphant and immortal. The way from the earthly to the heavenly, from the flesh to the Spirit and from self to God. Paul had to learn this, and so must we. To him was given a messenger from Satan to buffet him; a thorn in the flesh to pierce his pride, lest he should be exalted above measure, with the revelations of God. He did not at first see its necessity, and besought the Lord, even thrice, for its removal. But God answered not by removing the trial, but by promising him grace sufficient to sustain him in it. Hence after this he could say, "I now rejoice in my sufferings." And "we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, and not only so, but glory in tribulation also;" knowing what they accomplish under God. So fully did he see that "all things work together for good," that we find him glorying in his very infirmities.
The inquiry may arise, when do these sufferings cease, as to their painfulness? In the language of Mr. Wesley we reply, "When we become willing they should endure as long as God pleases." That is, when what is now our cross, that which now thwarts our wills, becomes a pleasure. When we "rejoice ever more, and in every thing give thanks."
If we do but endure the cross of Christ, the time will soon come when we shall be crucified unto the world, and the world unto us; when we shall become "dead, and live not," in our old selfhood, but Christ live in us, and the life that we shall then live, will be by the "faith of the Son of God." Then all things become alike good; all things alike welcome to the spirit of resignation and thankfulness. The mountains are made low, and the valleys are raised up, till all becomes one shining highway, where no evil heart, temper or passion is found, and the Lord our God is "all in all."
We may further remark, that these tribulations, or in other words, the cross of Christ, is wisely presented to all. But oh, how few understand or accept it! The open sinner fights against it, as his bitterest enemy, and of consequence, realizes a life of inward and outward violence and unrest. He will not "take up his cross," and is impatient to find it in his way.
Even the young convert, in the midst of the joys of a justified state, imagines that he shall be forever free from suffering—and when it comes, "if need be, he is in heaviness through manifold temptations" or trials; instead of counting it all joy, as something which is to give faith its perfect work in order that he may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing; he sadly concludes that he has deceived himself, or that he has got out of the way, and is under his Father's displeasure. Hundreds stumble and halt under this error for years. They have no strength or heart to endure tribulations, especially those that are inward, because they have no faith that God is in, or has any control over them. The Lord cannot, therefore, advance them, because they will not abide the fire through which he designs to bring them forth as gold—without dross. You will always find such ready "to leap over a wall, and run through a troop," while in the joyous, luminous and ecstatic of the emotional; but when they are called to "endure hardness as good soldiers," the very means through which the Lord may advance them, they are sad, faithless and discouraged.
Through all this they fail to become established. Sometimes they are in a state of justification—of pardon and joyous consciousness of acceptance with God; but at others they are full of anxiety, if not painful remorse. Their faith depends mostly upon their feelings and emotions, and not, as it should, on the unchangeable promise of the Lord. They lack the faith that would keep them immovable.
A few of these unsettled and anxious ones at length find the way of peace, and become established therein. This they find by simply re-consecrating themselves and their all to God; and relying on the plain promise that they are in consequence "accepted of him." They now cease to look at the state of their emotions, for evidence of acceptance. They find that it is all in the will. When this is in harmony with God's, he accepts and approves. When it is in opposition to his, even in the smallest matter, he is displeased. Resting upon this plain and scriptural test, they find great peace and are enabled to abide in the fellowship of the Spirit from moment to moment, as they never did before. And though tribulations come upon them, and their feelings and emotions vary, as did those of their masters, yet they cling to the precious, comforting truth that "where there is a willing mind is it accepted."
With this faith and knowledge of the way, they can now endure hardness and suffering. They now consent that God shall "do unto them as seemeth unto him good." To put them into the crucible and into the furnace; on mount Tabor, or on the cross; amid the plenty of loaves and fishes, or in the wilderness to suffer hunger and temptation; for they have been assured that all work together for good, while it is in their heart to say, 'Thy will be done.' Their language now is, Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him, being confident that their Father owns them, even in the furnace of affliction.
God now advances them. They are put into the first fires, which cause the grosser dross to arise and pass off, until, as they see no more coming to light, they conclude that all is pure within. They are then subjected to new tests—put into fires hotter than the first, when, to their astonishment, perhaps, more of the selfish nature is brought up to view. This passes also. They are not becoming worse, as it may seem to them, but purer and purer. Only let them abide, and they are passed from vessel to vessel, and from fire to fire, "dying daily," they shall be brought forth "as gold seven times tried in the fire." Yea, after they have suffered awhile, they shall become "strong, established, and perfect." Thus saith the Lord.—Guide to Holiness.
SUBMISSION.
“In your patience possess ye your souls,”Luke xxi, 19.
Be still, my soul!—the Lord is on thy side,
Bear patiently the cross of grief and pain;
Leave to thy God to order and provide,
In every change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul!—thy best, thy heavenly Friend,
Through thorny ways, leads to a joyful end.
Be still, my soul!—thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as he hath the past:
Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake,
All now mysterious shall be bright at last:
Be still, my soul!—the waves and winds still know
His voice, who ruled them while he dwelt below.
Be still, my soul!—when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears.
Then shalt thou better know his love, his heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears;
Be still, my soul!—thy Jesus can repay,
From his own fullness, all he takes away.
Be still, my soul!—the hour is hastening on,
When we shall be forever with the Lord;
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, Love's purest joys restored:
Be still, my soul!—when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.
Be still, my soul!—begin the song of praise
On earth, believing, to thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge him in all thy works and ways,
So shall he view thee with a well-pleased eye;
Be still, my soul!—the Sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine. [Sel.]
Sermon on "the Sabbath," by Dr. Cheever.
According to notice in the daily papers, this distinguished divine delivered a discourse upon the Sabbath, last Sunday evening, (Oct. 3d.) to a large congregation. The object of his discourse was particularly to correct two dangerous errors with regard to the Sabbath. One was that of considering the Sabbath designed as a day of feasting and recreation—an idea which has recently been advocated in an Essay by a clergyman who is a member of his church—one which, as he said, seems to be prevailing more and more in the community. The other was an argument to which his attention had been called, in one of the leading dailies of the city, against the perpetuity and universal obligation of the Sabbath, from the fact, that, in the rules for its observance, it was forbidden to kindle a fire; and that health and comfort, if not life itself, made a fire necessary in some climates, and at some seasons of the year. In reply to this "sneer"—for it was nothing more, and yet might prove, if unanswered, the destruction of many an ignorant youth—he would say that this injunction is not in the moral law, or decalogue, which is binding upon all nations, through all time, but among those ceremonial laws which endured but for a limited time. This prohibition against kindling a fire on the Sabbath was in force with the Jews only, during their wanderings in the wilderness; and never was it binding on any other nation at all. And again, it was given to them, simply with reference to their cooking a feast upon that day. God gave them manna for their daily food, and on the sixth day enough for two days. But, sensual as they were, many of them—they would have killed and cooked a feast from their flocks and herds on that day, consecrated to divine worship, but for this injunction. Notwithstanding we are told they lusted after flesh meat, and God gave it to them, on sixth day, in abundance. Quails covered the ground,
and in their greedy, gluttonous haste, they gathered them all that day and the seventh; and, cannibal-like, ate them as they gathered, with the blood, upon which the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he slew great numbers of them with the pestilence.
Even while the flesh of their uncooked feasts was unchewed in their teeth, we are told the plague seized them—so hot did Jehovah's anger burn against them for their beastly gluttony and wicked disregard for his commands. And no less surely will the anger of God, and the curses of his providence rest on those, here and now, who turn this day of sacred rest and holy worship, into one of mirth and feasting.
And so it is that this injunction against the kindling of fire on the Sabbath, with which the infidel and the scoffer would point an arrow to plant in the forehead of Truth, becomes, when taken in its true sense and connection, a winged arrow against them; convicting them of their wickedness in turning God's day into a day of sensual indulgence and unholy riot; instead of affording the least shadow of proof therefor. Again, said Dr. C., it is a proof of the divinity of the requirement, that it was treated by that stiffnecked and rebellious people with so much respect as it was. What magistrate or legislator, unauthorized by heaven, would have dared to make such a prohibition? What people would have given it any regard, if it were so made?
Suppose that one high in authority, should of his own will decree, in this city, that no man should have a meal of warm victuals or gin-sling, or anything requiring a fire to prepare, on the Sabbath: how such an order would be hooted and scorned by all! No, the Sabbath is a divine institution—and its observance, as a day to be exclusively devoted to divine worship and religious instruction, is as imperative as if Moses himself should ring a great bell hung in the dome of the o'er-arching sky to summon all men, each Sunday(!) morning, to engage in its holy duties!—Sab. Rec.
Prayer.
PRAYER should be simple and reverend. Simplicity in our prayers is a great attainment. We should avoid setting more value on ingenious and original thoughts than on devout, affectionate fixedness of mind and devotedness of heart. One cardinal feature of an effectual prayer is plainness of language. Another feature is simplicity of utterance, as David used, when he could say: "I pour out my complaints before him, I show before him my trouble. Ps. cxlii. No art is needed—no extraordinary talent is required. The right feeling of the heart is the great pre-requisite. "He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him; he also will hear their cry and will save them. Ps. xvi, 19.
We are to avoid haste and precipitation, as if we were in haste to be relieved of an irksome task. We should esteem it a pleasure, and its privilege a condescension of heaven. Hence, let it be inseparable with a spirit of solemnity and our present dependence.
Anything like affectation—anything that borders on an undue attention to elegance of language, or approaches of vehemence of gesture, should be carefully avoided. Bonnell has beautifully said: "Prayer is to the soul what blood is to the body," which is equally essential to its prosperity. Again we notice, we are to ask in faith.
The Scriptures repeatedly insist that we should be faithful in our supplication. James i, 6; Heb. x, 22. "In order that we may enjoy the true spirit of prayer and devotion, we must have an unwavering faith that God is, and is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him."
Faith is belief in God's word, giving God entire credit for absolute truth in all he says. By faith we are enabled to feel that we are in the more immediate presence of God, and can say with David, "He is about my path and about my bed."
A prayer without faith is an engine without steam—instead of clearing the way it only serves to obstruct it. O that we, as ministers and people, might ever share the blessings consequent upon a179life of purifying, overcoming, forthgoing faith! Then will our prayers be frequent and effectual. Again we notice:
We should aim to enjoy a holy boldness of access to God.
By the faith of Christ we may have boldness and access with confidence. Eph. iii, 12. As suppliants we should possess the liberty and humility of a child. The virtue of the mediation of Jesus, who has become our prophet, priest and king, invites us to a resolute and determined spirit that will wrestle and plead with God, and like Jacob, take no denial. "I will not let thee go except thou bless me." Gen. xxxii, 26.
"None that wait on him shall be ashamed." There is no act of our life more ennobling in its nature than a deep contrition of spirit in the humble attitude of prayer. O what a citizenship is his who can with confidence look up and say, "Our Father!" and view by the undimmed eye of faith the openings of an impartial hand! O blessed estate is his whose soul pants after God in fervent prayer?—Chris. Her. and Mes.
Asa and Ira.
Asa and Ira were two brothers, whose farms lay side by side in a fertile vale.
When the corn, the oats and the barley were springing up, the weeds took advantage of the rich soil and came up with them.
"Do you see," said Asa, "what hold the weeds are taking? There is danger of their choking our crops entirely."
"Well, well, we must be resigned," replied Ira; "weeds as well as grain were a part of the Creator's plan, and there is no use in murmuring about them."
And he laid down for his afternoon doze.
"I can only be resigned to what I cannot help," said Asa. So he went to work and hoed until his fields were clear of weeds.
"The army worms are in the neighborhood," said Asa to Ira one day. "They have eaten through the adjoining meadows, and are moving rapidly toward us."
"Ah," exclaimed Ira, "they will surely destroy what the weeds have not choked out. I will immediately retire and pray that their course may be stopped or turned aside."
But Asa replied, "I pray betimes every morning for strength to do the work of the day."
And he hastened to dig a trench around his land—while Ira returned only in season to save a small portion of his crops from their ravages.
"Do you see, Ira," said Asa, another morning, "the river is rising very fast. There is but a slender chance of preventing our farms from being overflowed."
"Alas, it is a judgment upon us for our sins, and what can we do?" cried Ira throwing himself in despair on the ground.
"There are no judgments so severe as those which our own sloth brings upon us," said Asa.
And he went quickly and hired workmen, with whose help he raised an embankment that withstood the flood, while Ira witnessed with blank looks and folded hands the destruction of his harvest.
"There is one consolation," said he, "my children at least are left me."
While Asa's sons grew up strong and virtuous men, among Ira's there was a drunkard, a gambler, and a suicide.
"The ways of the Lord are not equal," complained Ira to his brother. "Why are you always prospered, while I am afflicted, and my old age disgraced?"
"I only know this," replied Asa, "that heaven has always helped me to treat the faults of my children, as I did the weeds, the caterpillars and the flood; and that I have never presumed to send a petition upward without making my toil, my right hand servant a messenger of my prayer."—Sel.
Remarkable Cure of a Lunatic.
Dr. Thayer, on Friday, performed a surgical operation on a lunatic. The man was thrown from a wagon about five years since, fracturing his skull against a fence stake, the injury bringing on violent derangement, which became permanent. He was taken to the Lunatic Asylum where he remained a considerable time, until he was discharged as incurable, and finally remanded to the jail of this county, where he has remained for about a year past. His wife engaged the services of Dr. Thayer to attempt the cure of her unfortunate husband. After examining the case, Dr. Thayer found a portion of the skull much depressed, and resolved to remove it. On entering the cell with his assistants for the purpose, on Friday, the man became greatly enraged, and poured out volleys of execrations on Dr. Thayer, as though he was aware of the business he came on. At the order of jailer Frazee, the lunatic laid down on his bed, when he was immediately confined, and copious doses of chloroform administered, until he became perfectly insensible. The depressed portion of the skull, forming a piece a little smaller than a quarter dollar, which had been pressing on the brain, was then taken out, and found to have thickened considerably on one side. The head was then bound with a bandage saturated with water and the patient left to recover from his stupor.
On Saturday morning he awoke, arose from his bed, and walked up and down the room, perfectly rational. He complained that the bandages, which for some reason that he did not understand had been put on his head, hurt him, and asked the attendant if they might be loosened. As soon as relieved from the pressure, he laid down on his bed and fell asleep. On his again awakening, he was asked if he would like his wife to see him. She had a child not but a few days before the accident and he now expressed a doubt whether she would be able to get out of her bed. On her entering, he was astonished to find her so well after her recent illness, and feared that her health would suffer from exposing herself so early. He asked after the child and wished to see it, but was put off with an evasive answer until it was considered advisable to explain matters to him. He then commenced talk of things that happened five years ago, as having occured but yesterday. It was a long time before he could be made aware of the fact of his long illness and insanity, and when at last convinced of it, stated that he had no recollection of any thing other than a misty kind of a dream about his becoming sick. He recommended his wife to go home to her friends until he was well, as her stay in Cleveland would be expensive, and talked perfectly rational on other subjects. He is now in a fair way of recovery, and will probably do well, unless inflammation should supervene.—Cleveland Herald.
A Bad Spirit! Has he?
WHAT makes you think so, friend? What evidence have you that he has a bad spirit? Because he renounces sin? lifts the sledge-hammer of denunciation against every opposing obstacle to truth, righteousness, love and salvation? Is this your plea? A bad spirit because he dares be singular, obey God rather than man, strike a death blow if possible, to popular sins—sins at which others wink, cover up, pass by. The Scribes and Pharisees accused Christ of having a bad spirit, even that of a devil, of Beelzebub the prince of devils. What for? Because he dared be singular, raise his arm of holy indignation against popular sins, the sin of oppression and hypocrisy, all sin.
These self righteous Pharisees in their long robes could not endure sound doctrine. His cutting reproofs, came too near home.
When Christ probed the heart, saying: 'Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you; this people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.'
'Let them alone, they be blind leaders of the blind; and if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.' Again, 'How can ye, being evil, speak good things.'
'Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell!' What? 'O, he has a bad spirit—how denunciatory.' 'He casteth not out devils but by the prince of devils.' John the Baptist doubtless was accused of having a bad spirit when he laid the ax at the root, and said to the Pharisees and Sadducees, coming to his baptism: 'O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee the wrath to come? Bring forth, therefore, fruits meet for repentance.' Matt. iii, 7: 8. The martyr Stephen, moreover, must have had a very bad spirit on the same principle in his last faithful appeal to his murderers, when he said, 'ye stiff necked and uncircumcised, in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do ye.' Acts vii. 51. What a dreadful bad spirit Paul must have had, when he said to Elymas the sorcerer: 'O full of all subtilty, and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?' Acts xiii. 10.
How now? any of this same bad spirit abroad? The Lord send us more of it. Let any true, whole hearted, godly, uncompromising servant of the Most High, face the modern Pharisee and Saducee—rise up boldly against a time-serving, man-fearing policy, stand for God, the right, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine, stem the mighty current of popular iniquity, come life or come death. — Golden Rule.
Christ Our Refuge in Times of Danger
By Hooker
It is nature that teacheth a wise man in fear to hide himself, but grace and faith doth teach him where. Fools care not where they hide their heads. But where shall a wise man hide himself when he feareth a plague coming? Where should a frightened child hide its head but in the bosom of his loving father? Where a Christian, but under the shadow of the wing of Christ, his Saviour? "Come my people," saith God in the prophet, "enter thy chamber, hide thyself." But because we are in danger, like chased birds, therefore our Saviour giveth His disciples these encouragements beforehand, that fear might never so amaze them, but that always they might remember that whatsoever evils at any time did beset them, to Him they might repair for comfort, counsel, and succor. For their assurance whereof His peace He gave them, His peace He left unto them; not such peace as the world offereth, but peace that passeth all understanding! Peace that bringeth with it happiness; peace that continueth forever and ever with them that have it. [Hooker.]
Fault-Finding
By William Jay
FAULT-FINDING.—There is a disposition observable in some to view unfavorably everything that falls under their notice. They seek to gain confidence by always differing from others in judgment, and to depreciate what they allow to be worthy in itself, by hinting at some mistake or imperfection in the performance. You are too lofty or too low in your manners; you are too frugal or too profuse in your expenditure; you are too taciturn or too free in your speech; and so of the rest. Now guard against this tendency. Nothing will more conduce to your uncomfortableness than living in the neighborhood of ill-nature, and being familiar with discontent. The disposition grows with indulgence, and is low and base in itself; and if any should be ready to pride themselves on skill and facility in the science, let them remember that the acquisition is cheap and easy; a child can deface and destroy; dullness and stupidity, which seldom lack inclination or means, can cavil and find fault; and everything can furnish ignorance, prejudice and envy with a handle of reproach.
— William Jay.
Mistaking Duties and Sin
Some make mountains of duties, and trifles of sin: such souls are under a deception.
Christ’s Righteousness Alone
WHATEVER comes in, when thou goest to God for acceptance, besides Christ, bid it begone; make only Christ's righteousness triumphant. All besides that is Babylon, which must fall if Christ stands, and thou shalt rejoice in the day of the fall thereof.
False Confidences Fail in Need
False confidences always fail in time of need.
THE LAW AND ITS PENALTY.
By Editor
I WISH to ask a few questions for instruction:
1. Was Adam at his creation placed under law?
2. Was temporal death the penalty for his transgression?
3. Was temporal death the only penalty for breaking the ten commandments? If so, will those who suffered it ever have a resurrection?
4. What is it to be under law?
5. In what condition is it to be without law?
Any answers to these questions, through the Review or otherwise, would be gratefully received.
From your friend in hope of eternal life.
J. D. MERIAM.
ANSWERS. To the first question, we reply, Yes. To the second, Yes. To the third (its first clause,) Yes. But here a word of explanation is necessary. We have spoken thus far of Adam only. Death was the penalty affixed to Adam's transgression. And after he had transgressed, and forfeited life, had nothing more been done, death, absolute, final and eternal, would have been the inevitable doom both of himself and his posterity. But when he had sinned and closed against him, apparently forever, the gates of beautiful paradise, the plan of salvation was immediately devised—an avenue laid open whereby he might again return. The Son of God gave himself to die for man. What was the effect of this act? It could not reverse the sentence which God pronounced upon Adam, that in the day that he ate of the forbidden fruit he should surely die. It could not alter the fact that he had by disobedience entailed upon himself a corruptible, dying nature. But it could, and it will ultimately, undo for the whole human race the bonds with which they are bound by the first transgression of Adam, namely, the death which we call temporal. For "in Christ shall all be made alive." We have then the race dead in Adam, and made alive in Christ. Now what shall determine their eternal destiny? We answer, Their personal acts, independent of that act in the garden of Eden by which we have entailed upon us mortality and death. Adam paid the penalty of his first act of rebellion. Through a like change to a like condition, pass all his offspring. A compensation for this, however, we find in that we are to be again restored to conscious life through Christ. But death is still the penalty for sin; and we have a personal account of our own to settle. Hence we see that the plan of salvation supposes of necessity a new probation for man. Upon that second probation Adam entered when he had fallen from his first condition, and the plan of salvation was devised; and he is answerable, if we rightly view the subject, for all his acts subsequent to that time, upon the same ground and in the same way that we are now responsible for our personal sins.
Death having passed upon the whole human race through Adam, and it being decreed that from this death the race shall be brought back again through Christ, we see that the first death cannot be inflicted upon any individual as a penalty for his sins in a moral point of view. And this consideration serves to clear the cases of the Antediluvians, Sodomites, &c., of the questions that have been raised concerning them. It has been asked, Did not God in bringing a flood upon the world, punish the Antediluvians for their sins? and if he did, will they ever be raised to be punished again? We answer, he did not punish them, by that judgment, for their sins. Death was their portion in the natural order of things. Had no flood come upon them, they would, all of them, have eventually fallen in death. God, then, by bringing a flood upon them, only reduced them a little sooner to that state to which they were hastening. So flagrant had their crimes become, that he could not suffer them longer in their sinful career, and he simply arrested them in their course. That is all. Death, which they were ultimately to suffer, came upon them, on account of their corruptions, sooner than it otherwise would have done. But they expiated no crime, they paid no satisfaction for their guilt, as they went down into a watery grave. The account of their personal sins still stands against them, waiting the time when they shall again be made alive. So with the Sodomites, the Egyptians, &c.
Different somewhat from this was the case of the Israelites after the giving of the law. Then, whoever broke any of the commandments was stoned to death on the spot; and he was stoned because he had broken the commandments. The same question has arisen here as in case of the Antediluvians, and seemingly upon better ground; namely, if the individual who was stoned, paid thereby the penalty due to his sin, will he ever be raised to suffer more? or if he is ever raised, will it not be to eternal life? And if, as we have said, the infliction of temporal death, could not, since the plan of salvation was devised, be the penalty for any man's transgressions in a moral point of view, why was this penalty ever inflicted upon a person, for the express reason that he had broken the commandments?
In considering these queries we must not lose sight of the peculiar relation which the Jewish people had entered into with their Maker. This is well set forth in some remarks by W. H. O'Hanlon, of England, concerning the Sabbath commandment. He says:
"It may tend, however, to clear our path and to facilitate our object, if we now advert to the important distinction which subsisted between the Sabbath law as a constituent part of the ethical code of the Jews, and the same law as introduced into their civil code. It should never be forgotten, in the discussion of this question, that the peculiar government established among this people, gave a special air to the whole of their national polity, forming, as it did, the basis of many regulations which could have had no existence apart from the theocracy. Thus it was that temporal rewards were annexed to obedience, and temporal punishments to disobedience, in cases where, otherwise, only the natural moral results would have followed the practice of virtue or of vice.
"Accordingly, disobedience to the fourth commandment, under the Mosaic economy, was not only an act of gross impiety against God as the supreme moral Governor, but likewise an act of daring rebellion against him as their theocratic King. It is on this principle we are to explain the form in which it is presented, and the penalties by which it is enforced in Ex. xxxi, 13–15; xxxv, 2, 3. And such being the righteous penalties enacted and promulgated by the sovereign law-giver, the infliction of them as revealed in Num. xv, 32–35, must not, as it need not, excite our wonder. Thus to despise the word of the Lord, and to break his commandments, was a crime, a public, open violation of the social and civil law, and one which was no more to pass with impunity under the theocratic rule established among the ancient Israelites, than the daring transgression of the law of the land is to be exempt from retribution, in any well-ordered state or commonwealth of the present day."
These remarks, though made with reference to the Sabbath commandment, are applicable equally to all the rest. They show us that, under the Mosaic economy, those who transgressed the commandments, and were stoned in consequence, suffered as violators of the civil code of the Jews under their theocratic form of government. Their responsibilities as moral agents, and the penalty due to their violations of the law as an ethical code, were in no wise affected by their civil polity.
A remark may here be proper concerning the distinctions of temporal and eternal, the first and the second, death. These distinctions did not exist when God made known to Adam what would be the result of his disobedience. Death is death; and thus he was, in case of transgression, to suffer. But when it was arranged, through the plan of salvation, to bring the whole race back to life again, that those who should be found righteous through faith in Christ, might live forever, and those who should be found uncleansed from personal transgression, might die again, and thereby suffer the penalty due to their personal sins, then arose the distinctions we have named. Thus the death which we now die in this world, since it is to be limited in its duration, and will be undone by the resurrection, we call temporal. The death which follows the resurrection, since from it there is to be no release, we call eternal. So in the order of time, the death which we suffer here is the first death; that which follows the resurrection, the second death. But death, be it first, second, temporal or eternal, we believe to be ever the same in its nature.
In answer to the fourth question, "What is it to be under law?" we reply that the phrase seems to be used in various senses. Thus, when, in reply to the first question of this series, we say that Adam was placed under law, we mean to be understood to say simply that he was subject to law. In this sense it seems to be used in Rom. iii, 19. It sometimes signifies to be under the curse of the law, or under its condemnation; as in Rom. vi, 14, and Gal. v, 18. Again, it seems to refer to the ceremonial requirements of the former dispensation, as in Gal. iv, 21.
Lastly, to be without law, we conceive to be in a state of ignorance of God and his revealed commandments. Instances of this condition we find among the heathen; and all we can say in regard to them, is that those who have sinned without law, shall also perish without law: the light of conscience, implanted in every human breast, being sufficient, unless willfully quenched, to indicate though feebly the right and wrong of things, and bring the gross transgressor under condemnation. Such we apprehend to be Paul's reasoning in Rom. ii, 12–15.