Review and Herald, Vol. 20, No. 14. (9/2/1862)

Review and Herald

Sep 2, 1862

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 2, 1862

Sin and the Law.

"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Jas. ii, 10.

Like the gospel to the ancient Jew and Greek, this text has been to some a stumbling-block, and to others, foolishness. Yet as that gospel, so this text, needs only to be justly apprehended and it will appear to be glorious to God, and all right as toward man.

A sermon from this text should therefore look toward obviating misapprehensions, and then also toward a just exposition of its true significance.

As shown by the previous context, the case before the apostle's mind is that of "beloved brethren," guilty of respect of persons by giving the richly-dressed a "good place" in their assembly, but the poor man in vile raiment a mere place to stand, or if to sit, yet under the footstool. He argues that this is not fulfilling the royal law—"Love thy neighbor as thyself." He who has respect of persons violates this law, commits sin, and is convicted of being a transgressor. "For," said James, as if to confirm his position by appealing to a comprehensive principle, "whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all." Even supposing that you, beloved brethren, are correct and blameless in every other point, yet this one sin of respect for your rich against your poor brethren, vitiates all your obedience. He who offends in one, becomes obnoxious in respect to all. He offends against the whole law. The blow he strikes takes effect against the law as a whole.

I do not understand the apostle to affirm that the man who has kept all the rest of the law, but has offended in one point, has literally broken each and every several precept. This may not be true, and plainly it is not what James meant to say. We infer this from his own illustration of these words. He proceeds in the next verse to prove and illustrate his meaning, and says, "For, he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law." Observe his conclusion: not, thou hast committed adultery, but this, "thou art become a transgressor of the law." He does not affirm that a man who has not broken the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth commands, but only the sixth, has yet broken the seventh and all the rest, each and every. He might have used language to mean this, but he did not. But he does mean (as his own exposition shows) that the man who offends in only one point, has broken the law as a whole—has really sinned—is a transgressor of God's law, and has incurred the fearful curse denounced justly upon the law-breaker.

Yet again: it is not necessary that we interpret James to mean that the man who has broken but one precept, is in all respects as guilty as he who has broken them all. His subject did not require him to speak of comparative degrees of guilt. Yet he might consistently with truth have said or implied that in some respects the case of him who has broken but one precept, is as bad as his who has broken all. Thus for example, he might have shown that the man who has broken but one precept, compared with him who has broken them all, as truly outrages God's law; as truly offends against its majesty; as really insults the Lawgiver; shows that he has no real respect for God; shows that pleasing himself is with him a higher principle than pleasing God; and consequently that he will as surely come under condemnation, and if he does not repent will as certainly be cast into hell. He is just as hopeless of salvation on the ground of his good morality, or even (to come more closely to the apostle's thought) on the ground of his being one of the "beloved brethren." He meant to show that it is not safe for even professed Christians to tolerate one sin, though it be but one, and though it may seem in their eyes a very little one.

These points may seem to some of our readers to demand more explanation and proof.

They will perhaps be made more clear by a careful consideration of several principles of the divine law and government. As for example:

1. That the law of God is, in many respects, a unit. It is a unit in the sense that he who breaks any one precept, breaks the law. He who breaks any one precept insults the Lawgiver, and avows his own disregard of him and of his authority.

It is a unit in the sense that the majesty of law resides in each several precept. Of the precepts of this law we may say the logic of the Almighty overspreads and protects them all. His name is in them; his dignity stands pledged to vindicate each and every precept against contempt and abuse. Or rather let us more truly say, His name is in them, so that he must account every disobedience of any one precept as contempt against himself, and hence every perfection of his being stands committed to mark and avenge it accordingly. In all these respects his law is a unit. To

disobey any one precept is to disobey God, and God must so regard it.

Again, God's law is a unit in the sense that a common interest and a common relationship pertains to all its precepts. The law of God is not made up of diverse and conflicting parts, so that you can honor and obey one part sincerely, while you can disown and trample down another part. Some human codes may have this quality; but nothing could more forcibly evince their imperfection. Any code of which this is true is not fit to be a code, and any government that would enforce such a code is not fit to be a government. If the same benevolence requires you to obey one precept and to disobey another, those laws have no common spirit; that code is not like God's law, a unit. But of God's law, it is one of its prime glories that it is a unit, in the sense that each precept is only an expansion and application of the one comprehensive duty—love. Consequently no man can offend against one of its least precepts without offending against the law of love.

Again, that God's law is a unit, we see in yet another light, when we consider that the spirit of true obedience is evermore one and the same—the same for every precept—the same for all times and all circumstances.

He who has truly the spirit of obedience as to one precept, has it as to all the rest. It is utterly impossible he should obey any one precept without sincerely acknowledging God's supreme authority, and without heartily committing himself to yield his whole soul to that authority. These points being settled in his mind and ruling in his heart, he will obey every known precept; these points not being settled, he obeys none.

2. Again we have essentially the same idea, but in other phrase, when we say, The violation of any one known precept evinces all the essential elements of sin. To break one of God's least known commands is transgression of his law. He who does it shows that (at least for the time being) his selfishness is supreme, and carries him despite of whatever regard he may suppose himself to have for God's glory and authority, or for man's good. His least known sin has in it of necessity that same disregard for God's authority and for God's expressed will that makes all sin so terribly guilty. The same contempt for God as Lawgiver, shines out in small sins as in great—in any one special variety of sin, as in every other.

3. The man who violates any single known precept, shows that nothing is wanting but the temptation and the occasion, to induce him to violate every precept of the entire law. For plainly he is restrained by no true regard for God; if he were, he would not offend in the one point. He has not the spirit of obedience; if he had, he could not practice one known sin.

4. In the same sense in which God is no respecter of persons, he is also no respecter of precepts. He can have no partiality for one precept of his law over another—certainly none of such sort and degree that he can let some one precept drop out of his regard and take no cognizance of offences against it. No sinner need count upon God's becoming indifferent to some of the many precepts of his law, and need not presume that under cover of this remissness on God's part, he can probably or possibly offend in some one fortunate point, and not be held guilty of sin against the majesty of the whole law and of its great Author. The one

point may seem to the offender never so trivial; yet let him beware how he assumes that his disobedience in this one point will appear trivial in the eye of the great Lawgiver.

5. Yet again, let it be considered that the chief guilt of all sin lies in its relations to God. All else but this is comparatively trivial. David's sin in the matter of Bathsheba had borne most cruelly against Uriah; it was an awful sin against Bathsheba; it was a sin of appalling magnitude against the whole nation; and yet though David, penitent, saw all these hearings, yet he cried out, "Against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight." The hearings of his sin against God eclipsed every other view, and apparently he could see nothing else but this.

Now when men feel as David did about the guilt of sin as lying in its relations to God, they will not plead either to others or to their own conscience that this one point is a very small thing, and that probably God will scarcely mind it—that it hurts nobody much, and that judged by current public sentiment, it is one of the least of all sins. No such apologies can possibly be admitted by one who sees how all sin lies against God. It is only when sinners lose sight of God's abhorrence of sin, and forget that its chief guilt lies in its relations to him, that they can comfort themselves in the notion that their sins are few and small.

Let all these principles be duly considered, and none can be surprised that an inspired apostle should say, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."

IN CONCLUSION.

1. This text is of great value for the just views it gives us of the guilt of sin as against God. Whoever shall set himself to study this text thoroughly, and go to the bottom of the principles involved and implied in it, will surely find himself embossed and impressed with this great truth—that the chief mischief, malignity, and wrong of sin lie in its relations to God. He will surely see these qualities of sin when he contemplates it on its side toward God, and not exclusively on its side toward man. And the violation of even one known point of God's law necessarily involves all this fearful guilt of rebellion against God! Therein lies its enormity—its awful, appalling guilt!

2. The passage is eminently useful in giving us the true view of the certainty and justice of damnation for even one sin. In the light of it we see the reason why God ought to punish him who offends in one point only. It is because he is a traitor at heart against God—a rebel against the King of kings. It needs but one known sin to evince this fact. Not even one sin could be committed, but for this spirit of treason and rebellion. And it is this spirit that God abhors—this that God, as a righteous ruler, must visit with stern, decided retribution—unless repentance and faith in Christ bring pardon, and revoke the deserved condemnation.

3. The text shows the utter fallacy of all hopes of heaven built on good morality (so called), yet a morality coupled with a few small sins, on what are conceived to be small and trivial points. But what saith the word of the Lord to such cherished hopes? "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." What then becomes of his refuge? How can he find a hiding-place under a few small sins? What can it avail him though he should prove, and though God were to be convinced that he had offended in only one point? Alas, he only proves himself to be guilty of all! A rebel, a sinner against God, what can his heartless observance of all other points of law avail him toward salvation? Ah, there cannot be a more miserable delusion than this! To follow the logic of this apostle, it is as if a man indicted and convicted for murder should plead and prove that he had not committed adultery. What if he had not? he has broken the law.

4. The apostle James should be read and loved preeminently for his power in revealing the true nature and real malignity of sin. This is one of the rare merits of this epistle. He aims steadily to reveal sin. He gives us its natural history: "Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed." He shows its relation to knowledge and benevolence: "To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to

him it is sin." He searches out and exposes the popular sin of giving honor to wealth and rank, but dishonor to poverty coupled with piety. And finally, inasmuch as some men in his time prated much about their own faith and piety, while yet they made small account of obedience; he set before them the perfect law of God, and gave them to understand that God's favor goes only to those who live in honest obedience to all known duty. The men who choose which precepts they will obey and which not, are law-breakers. They will find that God honors none of their proposals to off-set their good morality against a few small sins. For the pungency and power of this apostle in rebuking such delusions, let him be read with care and God be thanked for sending us such truth in such forms.

5. In the respects last mentioned, this epistle is eminently adapted to our times. For is it not very manifest that the masses of people in our times have very shallow views of the guilt of sin? Is it not sadly evident that only a few are ever very deeply convicted of their own fearful guilt? Great multitudes reach what they suppose to be conversion, without much antecedent conviction of sin. Of course they cannot love much, having not had much forgiven. In many of these cases, the after life seems to prove that there has been no real conversion—and manifestly for the reason that conviction of sin was so shallow.

The sin of respect of persons which James rebukes so sharply, yet so justly, is not unknown in our times. Idolatry of wealth is one of our national sins. It would be a higher glory to the American churches than they have earned yet, if they had kept themselves altogether free from this sin. Must we not say that the respect of persons described by James, is so common in thousands of churches as to show that, practically, it is not accounted as being sin at all? If so, then surely such preaching as this in the second chapter of the general epistle of James, is the very preaching needed in our times and fitting close to our own sins.

6. Incidentally this passage reveals the glorious excellence of God's law. For it is by virtue of its very excellence and perfection that James is enabled to say with so much truth and force, "Whosoever keepeth the whole law, and yet offendeth in one point, is guilty of all." For if any single precept were a bad law—like the American fugitive rendition law, demanding a sinful act and punishing an act of justice and mercy—then James could not say, He who breaks this breaks all. This can be said only of a code in which every particular precept is perfect, and obedience to it the demand of justice and obedience.

7. One most legitimate inference from our text and subject must be obvious—it is a fearful thing to be a sinner at all! To be so much of a rebel at heart against God as to make light of his supreme authority, and let the small good that can come from sinning be a temptation to us to contemn God and disregard his will, even though in some one thing only—this is a horrible state of mind? What would be thought of it in heaven? What would be thought of it even here on earth, if only we had just views of God as holy, great, and good? By what right or reason do any of us dare to despise one of the least of God's commandments? On what ground can we justify ourselves for placing such an example before beings so easily tempted as our fellow-sinners on earth are? And O, how can any of us afford to incur the dreadful guilt and the appalling doom of rebels against Jehovah?

8. Obviously there is no safe and right position save in penitence, faith, and holiness. God has mercifully opened our prison-doors, so that, though sinful and guilty, we may come forth from under condemnation, forgiven through faith in the blood of Him who bore our sins in his own body. Here lies our hope touching the sins of the past. And the same glorious gospel makes ample provision also to save us from sinning more in the future. Thoroughly applied, it would make us abhor single sins and small sins, and would ensure us grace to help in all such seasons of need. For such a world of temptation as ours, this provision of grace to help, and spiritual power to stand, is beyond measure precious. Why should not every Christian stretch out his hand in faith and take it? Why not the whole world fly to this city of refuge and be at peace with Him whom we have by our sins so deeply abused and offended."—Ob. Evang.

Submission.

I would not ask my path to be Forever through the sunny glade; Bright flowers only bloom for me, And only brilliant lights to see Wherever falls a gloomy shade.

I would not ask for pleasure bright To always wait beside me here, And guide me through the spirit's night With her false, flickering, meteor light, That ever flits as clouds come near.

I would not ask for joy to fill My cup with happiness untold; Or wish for every pain be still, If chastening is my Father's will, To bring me to his guarded fold.

But I would ask for strength to bear Whene'er my burdens press me down; For patience, when most tried by care; For faith, when dark the shadows are, While o'er my path the thorns are strewn.

For love to God, whate'er betide; Through every path he thinks the best, That he will all my footsteps guide, And lead me gently to his side At last, within his smile to rest.

[Inquirer.

A Word to Home Rebels.

By Uriah Smith

[THE following from the N. Y. Independent, is a graphic description of the ruling spirits of the present generation, who have exercised a controlling influence in this nation. A policy shaped by such men, we might expect, as long as there is a God who rules in Heaven, would sooner or later recoil with concentrated vengeance upon the heads of its authors. U. S.]

"Business is business, and religion is religion." This is an old saying, and is very popular with men of easy consciences. It is regarded as the Gospel according to St. Shylock. In it there is included a "brief summary" of the faith and creed of that portion of the human family who call themselves "practical men." These are the men who deduce from their creed—a double code of morals—the important truth that he who does not provide for his own family—i. e., for himself—is worse than an infidel. Such provision must be made at any rate,—right or wrong,—cost what it will. These are the men who have made greater sacrifices for their principles, so-called, than any of the martyrs—not excepting John Rogers. They are the men who believe in one God—gold, and one idol—silver; and to both they pay the homage of a crazy devotee. They have feared neither guillotine, prison, nor stake. Rather than yield an iota of their faith, they have been willing to part with body and soul. Fox tells us of many godly men who did the former, but it remains for some new historian and aspirant for literary fame to give us the facts, in regard to these soul-sacrificing heroes. Our latter days of cotton and rebellion have brought these great men to the surface. They stand out in bold relief. Long ago they began their work, and they have fought a good fight. Yes, who ever fought conscience, Bible, and God more boldly? They have kept their faith—the articles of which—their holy trinity—if written out, would read as follows:

1st, We believe in making money. 2d, We believe in making money. 3d, We believe in making money.

Ask such men to aid you in any progressive movement. No, they always say, we shall lose money by it. Ask them to adopt the "higher law" of God as a rule of conduct. That won't do. It wouldn't pay. Ask them to stand up for liberty and justice. Oh no, never; that would cost them at least a hundred bales of cotton. Ask them if they don't think it best to abolish slavery. You must be a fool to propose such a question. That would disturb our amicable relations, and kill their Southern trade. Ask them to put into practice the Golden Rule, and they will say "circumstances alter cases." Ask them to do right under all circumstances and cases, and leave the result with God, and they will say, Yes—well—if—but—and think you very impertinent. These men are not all merchants—selling their principles with their tape, bobbin, and negro-cloths—oh no. They are not all manufacturers, boxing up cargoes of Yankee clocks, patent medicines, and other notions for the Dixie market—oh no. They are not all clergymen who take a south-side view of Christian duty, in order to promote the financial prosperity of their church—oh no. They are not all office-seekers, looking for a seat in Congress, with a fat salary, larded with mileage, pickings, and stealings, or to the Presidential chair with $25,000 per annum—oh no. They are not all capitalists, with large Southern investments in rice, sugar, tobacco, and cotton plantations—oh no. They are a sprinkling of all these elect tribes put together. What a vast throng they would make if the whole army were summoned from their hiding-places into one grand encampment! A "General Order" from the "King of kings" will one day bring them out, and then it will be seen how they will appear.

Who are the real authors of this infernal pro-slavery rebellion? Are they Abolitionists? No. Are they God-fearing, neighbor-loving, Gospel-spreading, self-denying "fanatics"? No; not a bit of it. They are the men who have been attempting to build this great nation upon a rotten foundation of wood, hay, and stubble. We charge our troubles upon you—merchants—who have determined to make money in violation of every principle of justice and humanity. We charge the thousand millions of money spent in this war,

to you—Heralds, Journals of Commerce, and Observers—who have not dared to build this glorious Republic upon the rock of equity and impartial liberty—liberty for every man, woman, and child made in God's image. We charge you—ministers of the Gospel and doctors of divinity—with the indirect loss of ten thousand additional millions, all gone from the hard earnings of the people, to suppress a rebellion which you, if you had been faithful, could have prevented. We mean you, reverend fathers, who have refused to teach the heavenly enactment that we should "obey God rather than man." We charge all these millions upon millions of money, all the precious blood which has drenched the earth, in defense of liberty, and all the mourning and wailing now filling thousands of households, to you, money-loving, truth-dodging, principle-evading, liberty-hating, man-oppressing newspapers, merchants, ministers, capitalists, and others, who have been willing to sacrifice real and eternal riches for a mess of pottage. We are reaping, now, the bitter fruit of such tare-seed sowing. We have lived, toiled, and trampled upon God's laws to gain a great worldly inheritance, and when gained, we have lost it all. We have been willing to sacrifice conscience for gold, and behold! we have lost the precious dust from within our very grasp. God has taken it to do, himself, the very work we have, ourselves, refused to do. We have wanted prosperity, but in securing it, we have laid the foundations of bankruptcy. We have refused to do business except on a basis of injustice, and now we are suffering the penalty. Henceforth it should be our "business" to do right, and our "religion" to seek prosperity founded upon equity. Such business and such religion, combined, will stand, and will pay, in this life, a hundredfold, and insure an eternal inheritance in the life to come.

The Need of Patience.

By W. A. M.

As parents we have need of patience. The expectation of parents concerning their children, prompted and magnified by love, are not always realized. And not only so but sometimes much of life's bitterness arises from the disobedience and waywardness of children. All efforts to remedy the evil may fail, and the hope of reformation may be well-nigh extinct. Then discouragement or irritation is likely to ensue. Here, then, is a demand for patience. To repel might be unwise. Severity might discourage, and neglect would be criminal. The proper disposition under these circumstances is patience. Under the guidance of this virtue, wisdom, and authority, and love may be safely applied. And there is much reason for the exercise of this grace. Our own feelings and conduct in the discipline of our children are more or less imperfect. Impulsiveness and folly always, to some extent, attach themselves to childhood and youth; while time and Providence are our chief reliance after we, as parents, have done what we can. If our children become what we wish, patience will hallow our joy; and if they become what we do not wish, it will exclude from our memories the pain of unavailing regrets.

We have need of patience in our business intercourse. Nearly all persons are either employers or employed, and both of these capacities are subject to be affected by selfishness in some of its trying forms. Employers may be exacting or petulant, laborers may be inefficient or unscrupulous; and so great, at times, may be the trial, that the exercise of this virtue may be difficult; yet its claims are ever valid, its observance practicable, and its rewards certain.

This virtue has its claims upon us as citizens. All men, except a few outlaws, belong to some civil society. Human weaknesses exhibit themselves here also as well as elsewhere, only on a larger scale. All good persons value the privileges which political organization secures, and also desire and labor for the public good. This is sometimes hindered or destroyed by wicked hands. How painful to the good man to witness the surrender or perversion of great fundamental principles, the dominance of faction, the elevation, it may be to posts of honor and responsibility, of incompetent and unscrupulous men; to have vice stalk abroad unrebuked, or desperate men go unpunished. All this may vex the soul of the true patriot, and cause the giving way of his equanimity, his courage, or his charity. But this will not do. There is always another side to such things, and sooner or later, if vigilant and active, a remedy will come. It will avail nothing to lose temper, or to speak or act hastily. The best and safest way in the midst of public evils is to thoroughly do our own duty, and then calmly and patiently trust in God.

So, too, in every work of reform we have need of patience. We are to sow by the side of "all waters," in "morning" and the "evening." A small force applied with an interminable persistence and duration, who can tell the result?

Thou can'st not toil in vain; Cold, heat, and moist, and dry, Shall foster and mature the grain For garners in the sky. Montgomery.

We have need of patience toward God. How dark and unwelcome are many of his ways toward us: our painful allotment, our bereavements, our losses and privations. How prone are we to complain, to rebel, to despond. We "have need of patience."

His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour; The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower. Cowper.

How many are the excellences of this virtue! It is reasonable, and all men are ethically bound to act rationally. It is the only road to success. What can irritation, discouragement, or faint and irregular effort ever accomplish? It is the process by which we can turn the ills of the present life to a beneficial account; a divine alchemy turning clay into gold. It makes us, in this respect, like God. He is the ever-patient God. He bears long with us. He sends his rain on the just and the unjust, and gives sun-light to the evil and the good. He bears with us from generation to generation. His patience never fails. Let us then in our sphere be like him: patient toward all men; patient in doing well; patient in tribulation. Nay, let us in such patience possess our souls that it shall evoke from the shadow of earth-born sorrow, the visions of eternal smiles.

W. A. M.—Christian Advocate and Journal.

Moses no Impostor.

THERE never was an imposture in the world, says Prideaux in his letter to the Deists, that had not the following characters:

1. It must always have for its end some carnal interest.

2. It can have none but wicked men for its authors.

3. Both of these must necessarily appear in the very contexture of the imposture itself.

4. That it can never be so framed that it will not contain some palpable falsities which will discover the falsity of all the rest.

5. That wherever it is first propagated, it must be done by craft and fraud.

6. That when intrusted to many persons it cannot be long concealed.

1. The keenest-eyed adversary of Moses has never been able to fix on him any carnal interest. No gratification of sensual passions, no accumulation of wealth, no aggrandizement of his family or relatives, no pursuit of worldly honor, has ever been laid to his charge.

2. His life was unspotted, and all his actions the offspring of the purest benevolence.

3. As his own hands were pure, so were the hands of those whom he associated with himself in the work.

4. No palpable falsity has ever been detected in his writings, though they have for their subject the most complicate, abstruse, and difficult topics that ever came under the pen of man.

5. No craft, no fraud, not even what one of his own countrymen thought he might lawfully use, innocent guile, because he had to do with a people greatly degraded and grossly stupid, can be laid to his charge. His conduct was as open as the day; and though continually watched by a people who were ever ready to murmur and rebel, and industrious to find an excuse for their repeated seditious conduct, yet none could be found either in his spirit, private life, or public conduct.

6. None ever came after to say, "We have joined with Moses in a plot, we have feigned a divine authority and mission, we have succeeded in our innocent imposture, and now the mask may be laid aside." The whole work proved itself so fully to be of God that even the person who might wish to discredit Moses and his mission, could find no ground of this kind to stand on. The ten plagues of Egypt, the passage of the Red Sea, the destruction of the king of Egypt and his immense host, the quails, the rock of Horeb, the supernatural supply of the forty years' manna, the continual miracle of the Sabbath, on which the preceding day's manna kept good, though, if thus kept, it became putrid on any other day, together with the constantly attending supernatural cloud, in its threefold office of a guide by day, a light by night, and a covering from the ardors of the sun, all, all invincibly proclaim that God brought out this people from Egypt; that Moses was the man of God, chosen by him, and fully accredited in his mission; and that the laws and statutes which he gave were the offspring of the wisdom and goodness of Him who is the Father of lights, the fountain of truth and justice, and the continual and unbounded Benefactor of the human race.

Power of Religion

By Nathaniel Culverwel

POWER OF RELIGION.—See, then, how powerful Religion is; it commands the heart; it commands the vitals. Morality, that comes with a pruning-knife, and cuts off all sproutings, all wild luxuriances; but Religion lays the ax to the root of the tree. Morality looks that the skin of the apple be fair; but Religion searcheth to the very core. Morality chides outward exorbitancies, but Religion checks secret inclinations. Religion requires the very flower and vigor of the spirit, the strength and sinews of the soul, the prime and top of the affections. It is no empty wish, nor languishing endeavor, no stillborn prayer, nor abortive resolution will serve the turn.—Nathaniel Culverwel.

A Distinction

A DISTINCTION.—“Is Mr. —— good?” said a bank officer to a director, the other day.

“That depends whether you mean Godward or manward,” was the answer. “Godward,” continued the doctor, “Mr. —— is good. No man in our church is sounder in the faith, or prays oftener in our meetings, or is more benevolent, according to his means. But manward, I am sorry to say that Mr. —— is rather tricky.”

What shall it Profit?

“WHAT shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”—Mark viii, 36.

Every man possesses a soul that is of more worth than a world; that soul is in danger of being lost; once lost, it is lost forever: therefore man's first and principal business should be to secure the salvation of his own soul. Yet, men set their minds on business, or speculations, or something or other, by which they hope to get wealth, and treat the salvation of the soul as if it were a secondary, yea, a very unimportant matter. To such our Lord puts this question: Suppose you could gain the world, and call every inch of land and all the treasures of the ocean your own, but your soul is lost, and you are doomed to suffer the vengeance of eternal fire. What good would the world do you, when banished from God, when shut out of heaven, among devils and damned souls? You could not purchase one moment's ease, you could not obtain one drop of water, you could not buy one ray of hope. You lost heaven while gaining earth; you earned hell while toiling to purchase the world. What profit have you now? Profit!—the word is a mockery. What a loss have you sustained! what an incomparable loss? You have lost the approbation of God, the joys of heaven, the songs of angels, the company of the saints, the presence of Jesus, and an eternity of joy! Oh, what folly! what dreadful folly! Reader! are you guilty of it? Is your soul safe? Is it in Christ? Is it holy? Are your sins pardoned? Rest not! Rest not until your soul is safe, and safe for ever! Behold, now is the accepted time! Now you may secure an interest in Christ, the favor of God, and a place among the Lord's holy and happy people. Oh, delay not!

“The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”—Romans vi, 23.—Sel.

The Bitterness of Sin

He that hath tasted the bitterness of sin will fear to commit it; and he that hath felt the sweetness of mercy will fear to offend it.—Charnock.

Continue reading: The Opening of the Sixth Seal