Earlier text: THE LAST MESSAGEThy Kingdom Come.
By Roby Tuttle
We are living in the last days, very near the time when this petition is to be granted, and we need very much of the grace of God. While professors and non-professors are alike running into infidelity and spiritualism, either throwing the Bible entirely away or make it only a metaphor, we who do believe God, and take him at his word, need much heavenly wisdom to sustain us, that we may endure unto the end and be saved. Our divine Master saw our need, and provided for us a throne of grace, to which he bids us come boldly. Not only has he invited us to come to a throne of grace and promised that whosoever will come unto him he will in no wise cast out, but he has taught us how to pray. He would not have us as the hypocrites are, who pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, or as the heathen, who use vain repetitions, thinking they shall be heard for their much speaking. But he says, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.” Two ideas we pause to notice: First, we should understand for what we pray; secondly, we should pray with heart felt earnestness. Not simply repeat these words because it is customary or because it is our duty, but remembering Jesus has taught us thus to pray. Therefore, we should pray with the Spirit and with the understanding also, and if we cannot pray thus, let us not repeat this prayer at all. This portion of the prayer which we have chosen for a subject, let us endeavor to understand according to the teachings of Christ, the prophets, and apostles. Thy kingdom come. The disciples understood by the Scriptures that God had promised that the kingdom of David should sometime be restored by the Messiah. They knew God had promised David that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. They also understood the prophecies well enough to know that the time was near at hand when Christ, the seed of David, should come into the world. And by the teachings of Christ, and by the many miracles which he did, they believed him to be the true Messiah, the appointed heir of David’s throne. But when he would restore the kingdom they did not know. As to the nature of the kingdom, they expected it would be just as literal a kingdom as the one which his Father David had once inherited and ruled. They had no idea of a spiritual kingdom in a spiritual land, but believed that when God promised David that his seed should possess his throne forever, he was able to fulfill that promise, and restore unto Israel the kingdom. And Christ himself never taught them differently, but rather taught them that he was the Christ, and king of the Jews, and encouraged their ideas concerning the restoration of the kingdom of David. Hence, when he rode into Jerusalem and the people followed, shouting, Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is the kingdom of our father David which cometh in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest, Christ did not rebuke them, nor tell them the kingdom was never to be restored, but left them to cherish their fond hopes. Why was it? was it because he desired to have them in ignorance, and cherish a hope which, although comforting to them at present, must shortly fall to the ground, leaving them in disappointment and grief to behold for the restoration of the kingdom of David only a metaphor? Or was it because for their fondly cherished hope there was some foundation? If we can rely on the promise of the Lord, if we can take him as meaning what he says, and saying what he means, we can safely say, It was because there was foundation for their hope, and he had no reason to correct them that he did not do so. But if we are to cast aside the promise of God as of no account, if we cannot rely on his word concerning the time and place of the restoration of the kingdom of Israel, but must accept the teachings of popular theology, which is a kingdom beyond the bounds of time and space, then certainly they had no foundation whatever for their hopes. But thanks be to God, we can rely upon his word, and it will accomplish that whereunto he hath sent it. When Christ was before Pilate, and Pilate asked him, Art thou the king of the Jews? he did not deny but said, My kingdom is not of this world, if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered unto the Jews; but now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate saith to him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king; to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. For this cause was I born, i. e., I was born king of the Jews; I came to restore to them the kingdom of David. But the time of its restoration is not come. My kingdom is not from hence, not from this time forward; I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished. Men are mortal, under sentence of death, because of sin. God’s holy law has been broken, and without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. I must die for the nation that the nation perish not. I must pass through the valley of the shadow of death before them. I must bind the strong man, and take from him his armor wherein he trusted. I must gain the keys of death and the grave, that I may open the charnel house, liberate my people from death, and give them immortality. For the kingdom of Israel, when restored, is to be an immortal kingdom, and immortal subjects must dwell there. It is to be a kingdom of righteousness, and righteous subjects are to dwell therein. My blood must be shed for the remission of their sins. They must be reconciled to the Father and his law. I must intercede for them, that the Father may forgive their sins, and accept them in my name as subjects of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God, the kingdom of Israel (restored), and the kingdom of our father David, are all one and the same kingdom. Therefore, when we pray, Thy kingdom come, we pray for all these. Said the angel to Mary, “Thou shalt bring forth a Son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob [Israel] forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” The Israelites were God’s chosen people, and God himself ruled over them. Other nations formed themselves into kingdoms and had kings of the sons of men to reign over them. “And the elders of Israel gathered themselves together and came unto Samuel and said unto him, Make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But this thing displeased Samuel, and Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. . . . Now, therefore, hearken unto their voice; howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.” So he gave them a king in his anger, and took him away in his wrath. Read 1 Sam. 8:6–22. This kingdom, given to Israel and organized under Saul, was established under David, and made in some respects a type of the kingdom of God, soon to be established under the seed of David, the Lord Jesus Christ. God has promised his people a kingdom, one that shall never end, and as his promises cannot be broken, for he has sworn by himself, and can swear by no greater, the kingdom will surely come. When? Christ gives us the time. It is when the Son of man shall come in all the glory of his Father and of his holy angels, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. Therefore this kingdom will be established when Christ comes again, without sin unto salvation. In the establishment of this kingdom we have also the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham, “Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.” In the overthrow of the kingdom of David, God said, “Remove the diadem and take off the crown; this shall not be the same; exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until he comes whose right it is; and I will give it him.” It has been promised to Christ, the seed of Abraham, the seed of David. Hence it is his right. Christ, in order to keep before the minds of his disciples, and to impress them with the truthfulness of a literal kingdom, “taketh with him Peter, James, and John, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his garment was white as the light. And there appeared unto them Moses and Elias, talking with him.” Here we have a representation of the kingdom of God. Peter, speaking of this, says, “We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye witnesses of his majesty. For he received from the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from Heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.” The apostle has just before these words counseled the church to add to their faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity. And says, “If these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And, “If ye do these things, ye shall never fall; for so an entrance shall be administered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” It will be seen by very many passages of Scripture that, with the establishment of the kingdom of God, all other kingdoms must have an end. The stone which smote the image on the feet broke “in pieces the iron, the brass, the silver, and the gold, and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them; and the stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” “And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices from heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.” “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, . . . and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” This kingdom is to be a kingdom ruled in righteousness, sin and wickedness are to be obliterated, sinners destroyed, the earth cleansed, and filled with the glory of God. All hatred, malice, and envy, shall be done away. None but the pure and good can enter there. None but those who are willing and obedient can enter through those pearly gates and eat of the tree of life. It is to be an immortal kingdom, and the immortal saints will reign there. Sickness, sorrow, and death, can never enter the kingdom of our God. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Who cannot join in the petition, Thy kingdom come, with a sincere desire for its fulfillment? “Thy kingdom come. Thus day by day
We lift our hands to God and pray;
But who has ever duly weighed
The meaning of the words he said.” Forming Characters for Eternity
It is an old saying, and one of fearful and fathomless import, that we are forming characters for eternity. Forming characters! Whose? Our own, or others? Both; and in that momentous fact lie the peril and responsibility of our existence.—Elihu Burritt The Law and the Gospel.
By James White
THE position taken last week was that in carrying out the great unit plan of redemption through Jesus Christ, which covers the entire period of human probation, there is perfect harmony between the law of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. The divine law, however, dates back before the gospel. It existed before the fall, or there could not have been any such thing as the fall. It existed as early as there were created intelligences subject to the government of the Creator; and it extends to the future, running parallel with the eternity of God’s moral government. Angels fell, therefore were on probation. They, being on probation, were consequently amenable to law. In the absence of law they could not be on probation, therefore could not fall. The same may be said of Adam and Eve in Eden. The ten commandments, as worded in the Sacred Scriptures, are adapted to fallen beings. As thus worded, they are not adapted to the condition of holy angels, nor to man in his holy estate in Eden. The two grand principles of God’s moral government existed before the fall, in the form of law. These are given in the Old Testament, Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18, and are quoted by Christ in the New, Matt. 22:37-40, as the two great commandments; “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” These two commandments require supreme love to the Creator, and love to fellow-creatures equal to that bestowed upon one’s self. Angels could do no more than these require. Adam, before the fall, could do no more. We can do no more. The two great commandments embrace all that is required by the ten precepts of the moral code. No precept and no principle of the book of God extends beyond these. Soon after the fall, we see the two principles of God’s moral government guarded by ten precepts, worded to meet man’s fallen condition. Love to God is taught in the first four commandments, and love to our fellow-men is taught in the last six. The prophets of the Lord, the Son of God, and the apostles of Jesus, have all spoken in harmony with the ten precepts of the law of God. The whole duty of man, says Solomon, is to fear God and keep his commandments. The ten precepts of the decalogue, so worded as to be adapted to man’s fallen condition, were enforced as early as the circumstances demanded them. The first three were applicable to Adam immediately after the fall. And although the Sabbath of the fourth precept was instituted at the close of the first week of time, before the fall, and we have evidence that Adam was directed to observe it as a memorial of creation, yet that portion of the precept adapted to the fallen state, relative to the man-servant, the maid-servant, and the stranger, could not exist till a later period, when such relations existed. The fifth commandment could not be enforced until applicable to Adam’s children. The sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth, were enforced as early as the parties existed to whom they could properly apply. There is nothing in the moral condition of man in his fallen state, nor in the nature of the ten commandments themselves, to restrict them to any one dispensation more than another. Man’s moral wretchedness is the same, only more deplorable as he advances from the gates of Paradise toward the close of probation. And the law of God, adapted to his fallen state, is applicable and necessary throughout the entire period of his fallen condition, from Paradise lost to Paradise regained. The reign of sin and that of death run parallel from Adam until sin and sinners shall cease to be. And parallel with these, stretching through all dispensations, there has been the knowledge of the principles of the ten commandments, consequently, a knowledge of sin. The means of the knowledge of sin has been the law of God. “By the law is the knowledge of sin.” Rom. 3:20. “I had not known sin, but by the law.” Chap. 7:7. As proof that this knowledge did exist immediately after the fall, see Gen. 4:7, 23, 24; 6:5. Noah was righteous before God. Chap. 7:1. He was a preacher of righteousness. 2 Pet. 2:5. By his preaching right-doing, reproving the sins of the people of his time, he condemned the world. Heb. 11:7. The men of Sodom and Gomorrah were great sinners, excepting one man. Abraham interceded, saying, “Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?” Gen. 18:20, 23, 25; 19:7. The blessing of God came upon Abraham, because he kept his commandments. Gen. 26:5. Those who refused obedience experienced the wrath of God for their transgressions. The cities of the plain were condemned for their unlawful deeds. 2 Pet. 2:6-8. As an illustration of this subject, we briefly notice the murder of righteous Abel. Cain killed his brother, and, as a sinner, received the mark of God’s displeasure. “Sin,” says the apostle, “is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4. Cain broke the sixth commandment, hence that precept existed in the time of Cain. Otherwise he did not sin; “for where no law is, there is no transgression.” Rom. 4:15. The foregoing positions relative to the law of God would not meet with opposition were it not for the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. The proper observance of the Bible Sabbath is not only crossing, but inconvenient, with many, and not favorable to the successful prosecution of their worldly plans. The fearful and unbelieving dodge its claims, brand it as a Jewish institution, and frequently assert that it was unknown to men until the Sabbath law was proclaimed from Sinai. Sacred history, however, proves this statement incorrect. The facts connected with the giving of the manna show that the Israelites understood the obligations of the Sabbath, and that some of the people violated them, and were reproved by the Lord, thirty days before they saw Mount Sinai. See Ex. 16-19. The record of setting apart the Sabbath to a holy use is given in Gen. 2:1-3, as an event that occurred at the close of the first week of time. And the fourth precept of the divine law, in giving the grand reason for observing the Sabbath, cites what God did on that first week. The Sabbath was made for man, the entire race, Mark 2:27, by three acts on the part of the Creator. First, he created in six days, and rested from his work of creating on the seventh day. Secondly, he put his blessing upon the day of his rest, which was the last day of the first week of time. Thirdly, he sanctified, or set apart to a sacred use, the day in which he had rested. Hence these words from the divine precept: “Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work.” Then follows the reason: “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” The entire period from creation to the utterance of the moral code at Sinai, a period of twenty-five hundred years, is doubly spanned, first, by the sacred record of the institution of the Sabbath at the close of the first week, which looks forward to its observance on the last day of each succeeding week, and secondly, by the law of the Sabbath, which points back to the important facts of the first week of time upon which the institution is based. Here is sufficient evidence that the Sabbath should have been observed during this period. And the absence of distinct mention of Sabbath observance in the brief record of the long period covered by the book of Genesis is no evidence that it was not observed by those who were faithful and obedient from Adam to Moses. God gives the reason why his blessing should come upon the father of the faithful without measure in these words: “Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” Gen. 26:5. We call attention to three grand events which have taken place in connection with the sad history of fallen man, either one of which is sufficient to establish the perpetuity of the law of God. First, the fall, with all its terrible consequences. If the law of God was of such a nature that it could be changed in a single particular at any time, why was it not changed when there were but two fallen beings, just before Adam and Eve left Eden. If the plan of God’s moral government could be changed, it would then have been changed, so as to set these two sinners free in holy Eden, and save the tide of human wretchedness which has followed. But, no; it could not be changed. The curse must fall upon man, and upon the earth for man’s sake. And the blight and mildew of sin must follow everywhere, and moral darkness, like a pall of death, must spread everywhere over a world groaning beneath the weight of transgression. Why? Because God’s law that had been transgressed could not be changed. This is the result of sin and the terrible fall. And this has all come about because of the transgression of that law which is as changeless as the throne of Heaven. Every fading flower and falling leaf, since man left Eden, has proclaimed the law of God changeless. If that law could ever be changed in any particular, it would have been altered when there were but two fallen beings. It would then have been changed in such a way as to free them from the sentence of death, raise them from their degradation, and save the race from continued sin, crime, and woe. But for six thousand years the tide has been swelling, and creation has been adding groan to groan. Who can compute the amount of moral wretchedness and agony in consequence of the violation of God’s immutable law? The fall, then, with all its accumulated wretchedness, proclaims the divine law changeless. Secondly, the announcement of the ten commandments from Sinai with imposing display. It was not left for Moses to proclaim this law. It was not left to the angel Gabriel to assemble the tribes of Israel, and utter these ten holy precepts in their hearing. The Lord himself descends in awful grandeur, and proclaims them in the hearing of all the people. And do you infer that that was the origin of the law of God? And do you affirm that he has since abolished that code? When did he do this? Where did he do it? Has any prophet foretold that such an event should take place? And has any apostle recorded that it has taken place? Certainly not. It is only by confounding the handwriting of ordinances with the moral code that was spoken from Sinai, and engraven in the tables of stone by the finger of God, that men infer that the divine law is abrogated. Congress enacts laws which are published throughout the Union. The people understand them. Some of these laws are afterward repealed or changed. Is this done in secret, and the people permitted to know nothing about it? No; the same law-making body makes the changes, and the people are apprised of the fact. And has not God manifested as much wisdom and benevolence in the management of the affairs of his moral government in which man has so great an interest—affairs which affect his eternal welfare? He came down upon Sinai, and proclaimed his law under such circumstances as to impress the people with its grandeur, dignity, and perpetuity. Who can suppose that he would change it or abolish it, and say nothing about it? Thirdly, the crucifixion establishes the law of God. If that law was of such a nature that it could be abolished, or any of its precepts changed, why not have this done, and set man free, instead of God’s dear Son laying aside his glory, taking our nature, living the sad life he lived here upon the earth, suffering in Gethsemane, and finally expiring upon the cross? Oh! why should the divine Son of God do and suffer all this to save man, if that law which held him a sinner could be changed so that he could be set free? But no change could be made in the divine law. Man had fallen, and was shut up in the prison-house of sin. And his sins were of such a nature that the death of a sinless angel, a being amenable to law, and consequently less in value than law, was not sufficient. No sacrifice was adequate but the sacrifice of One who was higher than law, and not amenable to it. He only who engaged with the Father in the formation of man, could constitute a sufficient sacrifice to open the door of hope by which the sons and daughters of Adam might find pardon, and be saved. “Come, O my soul, to Calvary,” and there behold love and agony mingled in the death of the Son of God. Behold him groaning in Gethsemane. His divine soul was in agony as the sins of men were rolled upon him. “My soul,” said he, “is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” The weight of man’s sin in transgressing God’s immutable law was such as to press from his pores as it were great drops of blood. He then bears his cross to Calvary. The nails are driven into his hands and feet. The cross is erected. There the bleeding Lamb hangs six terrible hours. The death of the cross was most agonizing. But there was in his case the additional weight of the sins of the whole world. In his last expiring agony he cries, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” and bows his head in death. The sun, the brightest luminary in heaven, can no longer view the scene, and is vailed as with sackcloth. The vail of the temple, the noblest work of man, is rent in twain. Christ, the noblest being in the universe, save one, is dying in agony. Creation feels the shock, and, groaning and heaving, throws open the graves of many of the saints, who come out of their graves after his resurrection. The law must stand as firm as the throne of Heaven, although the earth may shake, and the whole creation tremble, as the Son of God dies for the sins of men. “Still Drifting.”
By Uriah Smith
UNDER this heading the Christian Press, of March 1875, utters the following note of alarm at the downward tendency of morals and religion at the present time. Believing that the world is to progress rapidly into the temporal millennium, it would be prompted to put as favorable construction as possible on all transpiring events. Nothing therefore but the clearest evidence could wring from it the confession that much of the boasted progress of to-day is in the direction of heathenism. Such testimony to the truth is therefore doubly powerful. It says:— Notwithstanding the loud and frequent boasts of the upward march of civilization, we cannot close our eyes to the fact that much of what is called progress is in the direction of heathenism, rather than toward that Christian elevation which can alone benefit, bless, and save the world from barbarism. This is specially true in reference to the observance of the Sabbath. Twenty years ago the citizens of Cincinnati would have been shocked at the idea of the Opera House being open on that sacred day; and now it is not only open for the exhibition of the lowest class of plays, such as acrobatic feats and clog-dances, but such dignitaries as Archbishop Purcell honor them with their presence and patronage, and it calls forth scarcely a remark. We take the following from the Cincinnati Daily Gazette, of February 15:— “SUNDAY NIGHT AMUSEMENTS.
“Vine Street,” on the hither side of the Rhine, was brilliant with ‘sacred concerts’ last night, which were attended by good audiences. At Wood’s Theater the ‘sacred concert’ consisted of the German comic opera of the Czar and Zimmerman, performed by the late opera troupe of the Robinson’s German Opera House, for the benefit of the chorus which was left in the lurch101by the sudden failure of that promising enterprise. This opera, which is familiar to German opera-goers, was well played, and did not appear to lose its character by being transformed into a ‘sacred concert.’ “At the ‘Grand’ Opera House the ‘Grand Sacred Concert’ for the benefit of a Catholic society at Carthage, consisted of a variety entertainment, instrumental and vocal music, farces, acrobatic performances, dances, banjo solos, etc., and was attended by an audience respectable in numbers and appearance. The first part consisted of male and female choruses, a trio, a fantasia for clarionet, and the Hallelujah Chorus; the second, of a comic piece called ‘The Soldier’s Revenge,’ sacred acrobatic feats by the brothers Davenport, a sacred character piece called Mississippi Sal; a sacred champion clog-dance, a banjo solo and song; Tom and Jerry; The Flour Barrel, by the Davenport brothers; Dutch Specialties, by George Davenport, and a short sacred farce called ‘The School for Scandal.’ All these were set down in the bills headed Sacred Concert, and their sacred character was well maintained. The venerable Archbishop Purcell, with a party of friends, occupied a proscenium box, and enjoyed the sacred acrobatic feats and clog-dances with much satisfaction.” U. S. To Our New Readers.
By Uriah Smith
Some to whom this paper has lately come, seem to think, if we may judge from their communications, that the keeping of the law and the observance of the Sabbath is a new question, and that what we say on the subject is just thrown out by way of experiment to see what can be said on the other side. Hence they make up a hasty budget of the common arguments and common texts, on the Sunday side, and send them in for us to answer, or else stand convicted of our error. Dear friends, please remember these subjects have been before us for the most critical examination for more than twenty-five years. Thousands upon thousands have searched the Bible, letter by letter, on the subject of the Sabbath. The question has been looked at from every conceivable standpoint. Every argument for and against has been canvassed and weighed a thousand times. Libraries have been ransacked, and histories searched, and everything sought out which could have the remotest possible bearing upon the subject. And what is the result? As the light has increased, more and more baseless has the Sunday fabric appeared. It is revealed as something which, so far as the element of truth is concerned, is without head or trunk, body or parts, foundation or superstructure. In the realm of truth it is not to be found. It is not there. No man can show it; for it is not in man's power to make something out of nothing. So we would say to one and all to whom this question may be new, please look over our publication column, and mark the works already published on the Sabbath question. And when you have carefully studied what has already been said, if you still find texts unexplained, and arguments not met, we shall be happy to consider them, and pledge ourselves to answer them. Another War Cloud.
By Uriah Smith
THE reader will remember an article in No. 7 present volume of the Review, on “Eastern Omens,” which spoke of the significant movement on the part of Roumania, one of the chief principalities of the Turkish power, to take a position independent of the Sultan’s government. Now comes a dispatch which is still more significant. It is dated Constantinople March 22, 1875, and reads:— “The Roumanian government has issued orders for a levy of 100,000 troops. This war-like measure excites comment here.” U. S. God Is Good.
By Roswell F. Cottrell
To him who views it as it is, God is very kind and good. His goodness is in all his dealings toward us. He will be a kind and loving Father to all who will believe and put their trust in him. His goodness leads all to repentance, though all do not know it. It is natural for us to selfishly desire happiness; and we do not therefore always understand that all our afflictions are the blessings of a kind Father, only sent in love; and that all things work together for good to them that love God. It is good to recognize a kind Providence in all things. Not a sparrow falls without our Heavenly Father. We certainly are the objects of his care. He greatly desires to save us. To yield our will to his in all things is needful for us. We shall have his approving smiles if we fully consecrate ourselves to him and to the interests of his cause, and believe and trust in him. Let us who are naturally so distrustful learn to trust in him. It is sinful to be unbelieving and distrustful. It is sinful not to confide in his promises. And if we believe him, we believe what he is doing for us. We believe in the light that shines from his word, and not from his word alone, but in what he is doing in fulfillment of his promises. He is enlightening our minds in these last days, is giving us line upon line and precept upon precept. Faith walks in the light. No one thus highly favored of God will neglect to walk in the light, if his heart is right with God. And no one who walks in all the light will regret it in the end. But how many are in increasing peril of being lost by not being willing, or by neglecting, to walk in the light. God, with much long-suffering, is proving his people. It will be seen at length that those who have heeded his counsels have taken the better course. We have obstacles in the way to overcome. It is right that we should have. All tells in our favor, if improved aright. We can by the help of God overcome. All must be brought into submission to the will of God. Self must be crucified, then can we labor for the Lord. A great work is to be done in behalf of our fellow-men. God designs to use those who have the light for the last great work of the gospel. A remnant are to be gathered out who will be saved in the day of the Lord. We may have a part in this honorable and glorious work. But if we do, we must be fitted for the work. We must be endued with power from on high. This will be given to those who are faithful to the grace already given. Let it be our highest aspiration to have a part in the work of the Lord. God is good; and he is not a respecter of persons. He will honor those who honor him, and they that despise him shall be lightly esteemed. Who will heed his counsel and share in the honor that comes from above? It is for us to decide. R. F. COTTRELL.