On February 12, 1809, one of the greatest characters in all history was born. Abraham Lincoln is one of those great personages that seem from their birth to be destined of Providence for a peculiar and important work for the uplift of humanity.
The one great impulse of Lincoln’s life was liberty. Not liberty for a certain favored few; not the liberty of one class to oppress another, but the liberty of all mankind. Hence he stood for the liberty of the common people, and against the idea of their oppression by the powerful and the wealthy class.
Lincoln’s early life of privation, toil, and hardship fitted him to sympathize with the common man. He knew from personal experience what it meant to endure the inconveniences of poverty; and he was intimately acquainted with the exacting burdens of those in the humbler walks of life. Hence, from the standpoint of environment as well as because of his peculiar sentiments, it is not to be wondered at that his soul rose in revolt against the thought of one race of human beings enslaving another. When he was still a very young man, he formed the resolution of doing all in his power to relieve his nation—as well as the colored people—from the oppressions and the degradations of slavery. And the great hand of Providence seemed to be placed behind him to urge him forward in his destined work.
Divine Providence does not ruthlessly lay hold of certain men and compel them to do a special work; but when men yield themselves to the influences of freedom and righteousness, they are standing on the side of the Divine Father, and hence they have the Infinite One working with them instead of against them. This was the part that Lincoln acted for humanity. He took his stand with the God of freedom, and soon found that the infinite resources of Him who framed the worlds, were back of his important work in emancipating a race of slaves.
In doing the work that was accomplished for the Negro race, Lincoln did even more for his own race. For the enslavement of the Negro was quite as degrading on the white people themselves as it was on the blacks. No human being can reduce another member of the human family to the level of a chattel without dragging himself down along with the one he enslaves. It is alone in the atmosphere of perfect freedom that the true heights of righteousness may be reached, and the essentials of the nobility of perfect manhood may be attained. It is sad to think of being a slave on a par, from the view of ownership, with the horse or the ox; yet it is not only sad, but degrading, to think of descending in our sentiments to the point where we would be willing to be the owner of such a slave. To rid this beloved nation from the blight of slavery, was the burden that Lincoln was called to carry in behalf of humanity. All the noble minds of the South now acquiesce in this.
Lincoln worked, as does every true reformer, under the pressure of an abiding conviction that the thing he was doing was right, and it must be done. He did not spend his time considering who were the mighty and the powerful ones he could count on his side; but his thought and his energies were absorbed in the one great effort to convince the nation of the rightfulness of his cause. The earnest, fervid, convincing logic of his eloquence could not have sprung from the heart of the politician that was seeking merely to win popularity. He sincerely felt the burdens of a great cause, and the interests of humanity were imbedded in his affections.
While in the midst of some of his most earnest labors, he learned that some leading clergymen had taken their stand against him. In the bitterness of anguish, he exclaimed, Can it be that the ministers of the gentle Christ can be against me in this work? He felt this opposition keenly, but it did not swerve him in the least from his course. Perhaps, under such circumstances, he found comfort in the fact that there were others of the clergy of the country that had not been blinded by the fogs that encircle the slave owner, and who were with him in his great work.
Many volumes have been written concerning Lincoln, and no doubt much that has been said has been overdrawn. But after making every allowance for all that, there still remains the monumental fact that he was the great liberator under the mighty hand of Providence of an oppressed race, and he saved the oppressors from the calamities they had prepared for themselves.
It is highly fitting that this nation should take time to consider the work that Lincoln did, and the principles for which he stood. It is very appropriate that we should commemorate the date of his birth as one of the fixed landmarks of the nation.
Is Redemption Greater Than Creation ?
By Harry Mathew
By Harry Mathew
MANY Sunday-keepers say that redemption is greater than creation; therefore the day of Christ’s resurrection should be observed instead of the day of the Creator’s rest. But this proposition is open to the fatal objection that the Bible says nothing of the kind. Who, then, knows that it is true? When the Creator gave existence to our world, did He not foresee the fall of man? And, foreseeing that fall, did He not entertain the purpose of redeeming him? Does it not follow from this that the purpose of redemption was entertained in that of creation? Who, then, can affirm that redemption is greater than creation?
But as the Scriptures do not decide this point, let it be granted that redemption is greater. Who knows that a day should be set apart for its commemoration? The Bible is also silent on this point. But granting that a day should be set apart for this purpose, what day should have the preference? It is said, that day on which redemption was finished. It is not true that redemption is finished. The resurrection of the saints and the redemption of our earth from the curse, are included in that work. See Luke 21 : 28; Rom. 8 : 23; and Eph. 1 : 14.
But granting that redemption should be commemorated before it is finished, by setting apart a day in its honor, the question again arises, What day shall it be? The7Bible here again is silent. If the most memorable day in the history of redemption should be selected, undoubtedly the day of the crucifixion, on which the price of human redemption was paid, must surely have the preference. Which is the more memorable day,—that on which God gave up His only well-beloved Son to die an ignominious death on the cross, for a race of sinners who had broken His law, or that day on which He restored that Son to life? The latter event, tho of thrilling interest, is the most natural thing in the world. Yet the day of the crucifixion of the Son of God, for rebellious men, may be safely pronounced the most wonderful event in the annals of all eternity. The crucifixion day is, therefore, beyond all comparison, the more memorable day to keep. “We have redemption through His blood.” Eph. 1 : 7; Gal. 3 : 13.
If, therefore, any day should be observed in memory of redemption, unquestionably the day of the crucifixion should have the preference in the eyes of Christians. But it is needless to pursue this point further. The Holy Spirit has said nothing in behalf of either of these days, but it has taken care that the event in each case should have its own appropriate memorial. Would you commemorate the crucifixion of the Redeemer, dear Christian? You need not change the Sabbath to the crucifixion day, for our Maker has given a divinely appointed memorial of the crucifixion. See 1 Cor. 11 : 23-26.
It is the death of the Redeemer, therefore, and not the day of His death, that the Holy Spirit has thought worthy of commemoration. Would you also commemorate the resurrection of our blessed Lord? You need not change the Sabbath of the Lord for that purpose. God has never authorized such an act; but He has given an appropriate memorial of that event also. See Rom. 6 : 3-5; Col. 2 : 12.
Redemption, therefore, furnishes no plea for a change of the Sabbath, its own memorials being quite sufficient, without destroying the memorial of the great Creator. This you will see furnishes no ground for the sacredness of the first day set apart as a memorial.
Christlike Character in Little Trials
By Horace Bushnell
GREAT occasions rally great principles, and brace the mind to a lofty bearing, a bearing that is even above itself. But trials that make no occasion at all, leave it to show the goodness and beauty it has in its own disposition. And here precisely is the superhuman glory of Christ as a character, that He is just as perfect, exhibits just as great a spirit, in little trials as in great ones.—Horace Bushnell.
What Can You Do?
“I THINK a Christian can go anywhere,” said a young woman who was defending her continued attendance at some very doubtful places of amusement.
“Certainly she can,” rejoined her friend; “but I am reminded of a little incident that happened last summer when I went with a party of friends to explore a coal mine. One of the young women appeared dressed in a dainty white gown. When her friends remonstrated with her, she appealed to the old miner who was to act as guide of the party.
“Can’t I wear a white dress down into the mine?” she asked, petulantly.
“Yes’m,” returned the old man. “There’s nothin’ to keep you from wearin’ a white frock down there, but there’ll be considerable to keep you from wearin’ one back.”
There is nothing to prevent the Christian from wearing his white garments when he seeks the fellowship of that which is unclean, but there is a good deal to prevent him from wearing white garments afterward.—The Lookout.
The Miraculous Meal
By Delwin Rees Buckner
By Delwin Rees Buckner
The prostrate prophet, with his faded beard
Interred in tiny Cherith's cherished tide,
Meanwhile he cools the throat that's parched
and dried,
Is startled strangely all at once and cheered,
As his astounded eyes, so hunger-bleared,
Are riveted on ravens, evening-dyed,
Which strew crisp crumbs and fresh flesh by—
his side;
Then wing away with croakings, queer and weird,
Tho starving souls urge useless prayers on Baal,
Elijah, as he thankfully doth kneel,
Knows well Jehovah worship is not vain;
That never will his bread nor water fail,
What tho the sky be like a dome of steel,
Through which there filter ne'er a drop of
rain.
He Is Coming
By E. Trigg
By E. Trigg
In this world, so long ago,
When our Saviour walked with man,
He arranged, that all might know,
When to earth He'd come again;
Told what signs in heaven should be,
Wondrous signs in earth likewise;
And He bade them watch to see
Him appearing in the skies.
Are we watching for our Lord?
As we labor day by day,
Are we trusting in His word,
Heeding what He then did say?
As the summer follows on
When the fig-tree's leaves put forth,
Soon in judgment He will come,
Closing up the scenes of earth.
He has said that He would come
When those signs had all been seen—
Come to take His faithful home.
Know ye not those signs have been?
Yes, my dear friends, they have passed;
And our Lord will soon appear,
For the day is coming fast.
Be prepared to meet Him here.
When His chariot shall appear,
With bright angels hovering round,
Then with love that casts out fear,
May our souls in Him be found,
Wanting naught to make us meet
For His glory evermore,
As before the mercy-seat
Christ the Holy we adore.
Ye Have Done It unto Me
By Ernest F. Johnstone
By Ernest F. Johnstone, LL.M.
Have you spoken words of comfort to the weary
and distressed?
Have you hastened to the rescue of the tempted
and oppressed?
Have you fed a hungry brother, sorely pressed
by poverty?
If you have, then, brother, listen—ye have done
it unto Me.
Have you given to the thirsty that with which to
quench his thirst?
Have you taken in the stranger, oft, perhaps, by
others cursed?
Have you helped to clothe the naked? Have you
gone the sick to see?
If you have, then, brother, listen—ye have done
it unto Me.
Have you visited the prison, where, confined in
gloomy cell,
Sits a helpless, sentenced brother, soon to bid the
world farewell?
Have you loved him, really loved him, as a
brother, fervently?
If you have, then, brother, listen—ye have done
it unto Me.
O, away with form and fashion, pride, and every
sinful thing.
Let us seek Love's lovely gospel to the sons of
men to bring.
Let us seek to raise the wretched, wheresoever
they may be.
Let us hear the Saviour saying, “Ye have done
it unto Me.”
And while we are recommending Him to any err-
ing soul,
While we tell men of a Saviour who will make
the sinner whole,
While we tell men of a Saviour who will set the
vilest free,
Let us say, and say it truly, He has done it
unto me.
North Orwell, Vermont.
His Token of Hope
By Worthie Harris Holden
By Worthie Harris Holden
“The bow shall be in the cloud,”
Whether ’tis dark or ’tis bright;
The trial His glory shall shroud,
Luring thee up to the Light.
In the cloud is the promise-bow
Of thy covenant-keeping God;
And blazed by our Lord, we know
That we tread where the Master trod.
While fore’er round about the throne
Of our wonderful King in heaven
Has a rainbow of glory shone,
Through the might of His love-gift given.
Ah, soon all triumphant above,
Surrounding the glorious throne,
We shall laud His unspeakable love
That redeemed us and kept us His own.
Our Friend
By Mark Vanderbilt
By Mark Vanderbilt
God sent His singers to the earth
To tell us of our Saviour's birth,
And shepherds watching in the night
Heard voices praising in the height.
A holy Friend from heaven came
To win our hearts from sin and pain,
A Friend whose merits can suffice
To win us back to Paradise,
A Friend so close I can not tell,
A Friend who doeth all things well,
A Friend more close than any ties
Of human love or sacrifice.
His love has bridged the gulf of sin,
Accept His love, and peace within
Will fill the soul, and there abide
In heavenly graces glorified.
Reece, Kansas.
How Bright the Vision
By Amos E. Flint
By Amos E. Flint
Gathered from every land and clime,
Of every tongue, and age, and time,
Around the great white throne a band
Of saints in spotless robes shall stand.
They came through tribulations great,
And bore the cross, and shame, and hate;
But now their tears are wiped away,
And joys light up the ceaseless day.
They see their Master's smiling face,
And glory in His fond embrace;
They're tasting all the pleasures there,
And breathe the pure Edenic air.
There pain or sickness can not come,—
It is the saints' immortal home,
Their days of exile now are o'er,
And theirs the joys on Zion's shore.
How bright the vision of that throng
Who sing the victors' glad, new song!
How long will this glad hour delay
Ere wheels of time shall bring that day?
O, what are all our trials here
If we are worthy to appear
With that enraptured, blood-washed host
Beyond this gloomy, sin-swept coast!
How bright the home of God's elect!
'Tis more than longing hearts expect;
Then be this our ambition here
To win life's battle, tho severe.
In patience we will wait with song,
Nor deem the closing hours too long;
But joyfully, with one accord,
Rely upon God's sacred Word.
Granger, Washington.
As Jesus Prayed
By Chas. E. E. Sanborn
By Chas. E. E. Sanborn
How much we need instruction!
How little yet we know
About the way that Jesus prayed,
As He went to and fro!
Sometimes He prayed the entire night,
His dear face bathed in tears.
Could we but pray as Jesus prayed
How few would be our fears!
O, if our Saviour needed prayer,
How much our need to-day!
Can we neglect this means of grace
And conquer in the fray?
No, so we can not victory win;
We must without delay—
Like holy men of old—implore,
"Lord, teach us how to pray."
Prophecy Fulfilled
NEARLY two thousand years ago a humble Jew, whose boyhood and early manhood days were passed in the town of Nazareth, uttered a prophecy. That prophecy was regarding the capital city of His nation, the center of Jehovah's worship in the earth,—a city which He loved,—Jerusalem.
The people of that city were to crucify Him, yet He loved it. He recalled its early history, the marvelous workings of God in its behalf, its glory under David and Solomon and Hezekiah; He remembered its vicissitudes and calamities, its capture by the Chaldeans, its seventy years' desolation, its rebuilding under Zerubbabel and Ezra and Nehemiah, fostered by Persian kings, according to prophecy, its ravaging by the vile Antiochus, and its present glory and beauty in semi-captivity under the iron heel of Rome.
Still it might rise. Still it might accept God's message of healing in God's Messenger of power. But He saw she would not; and therefore it is recorded (Luke 19: 41-44):
“And when He drew nigh, He saw the city and wept over it, saying,
If Thou hadst known in this Thy day,
Even Thou,
The things which belong unto Thy peace!
But now
They are hid from Thine eyes.
For the days shall come upon Thee,
When Thine enemies shall cast up a bank about Thee,
And compass Thee round,
And keep Thee in on every side,
And shall dash Thee to the ground,
And Thy children within Thee;
And they shall not leave in Thee one stone upon another;
Because
Thou knewest not
The time of Thy visitation.”
The prophecy was uttered in the year A.D. 31. A few weeks afterward the Prophet was to die. Those who clamored for His death rejected His teachings, His principles, His warnings, His leadership. In their madness they declared, “We have no king but Cæsar.”
For twice a score of years nearly the city stood after this. But then the people of the restless heart who had rejected peace in the Prince of Peace rebelled against the Romans, and the great iron empire threw its strength against Jerusalem.
One needs only to read of the awful siege, in Josephus, the Jewish historian, to learn the awful fulfilment. Sufferings incredible, miseries and privations untold! Women crazed by famine ate their own offspring. Jerusalem was destroyed; the temple was razed to the ground, and “a plowshare was drawn over the consecrated ground as a sign of perpetual interdiction.” (Gibbon.)
Later (363) came the Roman emperor, Julian the apostate. He would prove the Nazarene a liar. The temple would be rebuilt the Jews and their worship would be restored. He proclaimed it to the Jews, and to Jerusalem they went from all parts of the empire. “Men forgot their avarice and women their delicacy; spades and pickaxes of silver were provided by the vanity of the rich, and the rubbish was transported in mantles of silk and purple. Every purse was opened in liberal contributions; every hand claimed a share in the pious labor; and the commands of a great monarch were executed by the enthusiasm of a whole people.” (Gibbon's “Rome,” chapter 23.)
But Alypius, Julian's friend and commander, tells us that “horrible balls of fire,” scorching and blasting the workmen, burst from the foundations, and the builders were forced to desist. Gibbon cites several testimonies, and says, “Such authority should satisfy a believing, and must astonish a credulous mind.” (Id.)
At any rate, Jerusalem was not rebuilt.
The Roman Empire and Jewish zeal could not lock the Christ in the sealed stone sepulcher.
The Roman Empire and the enthusiasm of a people could not counterwork in one jot or tittle one word that the Christ had spoken.
The same Jesus has uttered other prophecies. He is coming again, coming in glory, to take His own children home to the mansions He is preparing. He has predicted the fall of all apostasy as veritably and clearly as He did that of Jerusalem. Nor can men or empires prevent their fulfilment. Our hope—your hope, dear reader—is in hiding in Him, is in making Him your peace.
Studies in Ephesians
God’s Purpose and Power
Chapter 1, Verses 11, 12, A.R.V.
Questioning the Text
1. What did we learn in our last study regarding the purpose of Christ?
Answer.—The gathering together in one all things in Him.
2. What are we made in Him?
“In whom also we were made a heritage.” Verse 11. Note 1.
3. According to what have we been foreordained?
“Having been foreordained according to the purpose of Him.” Verse 11. Note 2.
4. What is said of His power?
“Who worketh all things after the counsel of His will.” Verse 11. Note 3.
5. What is the object of this foreordination and working?
“To the end that we should be unto the praise of His glory.” Verse 12. Note 4.
6. Who is meant by the “we”?
“We who had before hoped in Christ.” Verse 12. Note 5.
Notes
1. “Made an heritage.”—In our Common Version, it is “have obtained an inheritance.” The thought seems to include both “obtained an inheritance” and “made an heritage.” The Greek word eklērothēmen occurs only here in the New Testament. It comes from klēros, a lot. Hence the verb means literally, to determine, choose, or assign by lot; and Vincent tells us that from the custom of assigning portions of land by lot, klēros acquires the meaning of that which is thus assigned, the possession, or portion of land. See the Septuagint on Num. 24:18; Deut. 3:18. An heir is originally one who obtains by lot. “The Authorized Version here makes the verb active, where it should be passive. The literal sense is, we were designated as a heritage; so the Revised Version correctly, ‘were made an heritage.’ Compare Deut. 4:20, ‘a people of inheritance.’” So God has made His people a people of inheritance. He does not design that they should be pilgrims and wanderers forever. This earth in its present condition is not their home. Moses tells us: “When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the children of men, He set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. For Jehovah’s portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.” Deut. 32:8, 9. But this does not pertain to this earth alone, and its present divisions, political and otherwise. “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof;” and when God’s purpose is complete, “the meek shall inherit the earth.” “From sea to sea,” and “from the river to the ends of the earth,” God’s children will have their habitation; and in God’s design every one of His children shall there have inheritance. To that He has called them, for that He has made them “a people of inheritance.” The bounds of the peoples then, and the number of the children of Israel then, will be such as to completely fill the new heavens and the new earth which will be given to them.
2. “Having been foreordained.”—“Predestinated,” Common Version; literally, foremarked out, or limited. It does not mean, as the old Calvinistic idea taught, that God had marked out some to everlasting life and some to everlasting destruction. The thought of the apostle all the way through is not on the negative side of the great question. He is not presenting before us the doom of the impenitent, or of the incorrigibly wicked. What he is setting before us, is God’s purpose concerning His children. Let us bear in mind that nowhere is it said that God has foreordained us to destruction. Hold the assurance of the apostle, “For God appointed us not unto wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thess. 5:9.
“According to the purpose.”—God has a purpose in all that He does. Man works purposelessly many times. That is the whole tendency of sin, to make purposeless the best purposes of humanity, and O, how many times he succeeds! Man has noble purposes which he endeavors to carry out for himself and in himself and by himself, but they fail. There is one purpose, however, which will be carried out, and that is God’s great purpose concerning man, and man’s heritage and man’s future. We briefly note it:
First, the earth was created for the children of men. God gave His command in the beginning that men should multiply and completely fill the earth. This we learn in Genesis 1. In Isa. 45:17, 18, God has made oath by Himself that it is not created in vain; it is formed to be inhabited. And He assures us that that purpose will be carried out by the thought, “I am Jehovah, and there is none else.” He must, in His perfect purpose, design that the earth should be inhabited by a certain number of a certain character. “Behold, . . . God hath made man upright,” said the wise man; He formed them in His own image, we learn in the original account. There should therefore be a certain number of a certain character to inhabit the earth,—not too many, or it would be crowded, and some one would lack inheritance; not too few, or there would be barrenness and lonesomeness and vacancy. Not only9nature, but God, must abhor a vacuum; there will therefore be no unused space. Every one of God’s children should have inheritance, or lot, in that earth as it came from God’s hand “very good.” But sin came in and marred God’s handiwork, and God’s children instead of inheriting the earth have oftentimes been the persecuted ones, and those that have been deprived not only of a portion of earth, but of life as well; they have been pilgrims and strangers. Nevertheless the purpose stands.
We may also readily believe, as intimated elsewhere in His Word, that the names of those characters which should inherit the earth, were written in God’s long roll of life before the world was made. The perfect purpose demanded it. These characters would be overcomers, and there were crowns that should await the character, and they still wait—the crown, the name, the character—for those of earth who shall meet the conditions. When once a soul yields to the Lord Jesus, his own name is written in the Book of Life. Phil. 4:3. His own name is written there as a candidate for the name of the everlasting character, written there in the beginning, before mankind was. The crown that is suitable to that name, awaits the overcomer; but if he fails, his own name will be blotted out of the Book of Life. Rev. 3:5. He will fail to receive his crown. Rev. 3:11. But the name of the character will remain, and the crown will remain, and the inheritance will remain, for some one else that will be called to that name and that crown and that character; for God’s eternal purpose concerning the earth and man and character will not fail.
3. “Who worketh all things.”—How good it is to know that the One who has formed the purpose, who has marked out the character, who in the beginning made the earth, is able to do all that He purposes to do. He “worketh all things”—not after the counsel of human will, not after the perversion of that will by devils or men, but—“after the counsel of His own will.” Despite all the perversions of sin, God’s will will be wrought out. It looks otherwise sometimes. It seems as tho the accusations of the “accuser of the brethren” were true. It seems as tho God had Himself become a tyrant, and so Satan makes men believe. It seems as tho He were weak, or unable to carry out His will. It seems as tho all His purposes were thwarted. It seems as tho He had forgotten humanity. But all these things are in the seeming. God remembers; God cares; and God is love. And so in love, tho our short-sightedness may not see it, He is working out all things after the counsel of His will. Man may fail, He will not fail. Satan may seem to thwart His purposes, but out of the conflict His purposes will come all the more glorious. When the devotees of the gods of Egypt seemed to triumph, Jehovah was above them; and in the great final triumph it will be seen that He is preeminently, gloriously Conqueror, and all those who are with Him are triumphant. He can not arbitrarily set aside the sinner; He can not arbitrarily in His plan overthrow the one who commits the sin in its inception,—that would seem many times to be acting unjustly. He must let sin work out its own essential evils. He must let it bear its crop of fearful fruit, in order that the universe may see in the object-lessons how exceedingly sinful sin is.
4. “The praise of His glory.”—When the earth and man came from the hand of God, and the Creator looked upon His handiwork, “behold, it was very good.” It was such as would be to the praise of His glory. It revealed His Master-handwork. It told to all who looked upon it the wisdom and the power and the love of Him who gave it to man; and man himself reflected the very glory of his Creator in his beauty and character. But sin came in, and since the curse rested upon the earth it has not been to the glory of God. Since man turned from the law of his Creator, he has not been to the praise of the Master who created him. While we read that God hath created all things for His glory, we do not see all things to His glory. But the purpose still holds; and He who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will, has stooped down to this poor, sinful earth, and purposes to take man—sinful, corrupt, perverted, crooked in his ways—and make that man “to the praise of the glory of His grace,” so that throughout all the eternal ages to come, wherever children of this world shall appear among all the hosts of light, they shall in character, in manner, in beauty, be to the praise “of the glory of their Creator and Redeemer.” How glorious and how good is the end, or object, of God concerning man!
5. “We who have before hoped in Christ.”—We who have yielded ourselves as candidates for the name, the crown, the inheritance. It matters not what we are; it matters not who we are, when God calls us. We may be such as those of whom He speak in 1 Cor. 6:9,—fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves with men, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners. We are there told that such shall not inherit the kingdom of God; but we are also told that such were some of the Corinthian brethren. They once belonged to these classes; “but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.”
“God worketh.” All the infinite power of the Creator is behind His call to the sinner. The potency of that call is the potency of perfect character to him who will yield to it, and hope in Jesus Christ. It may seem to be impossible to us—utterly so— having tested our own disposition, having known something of its weaknesses, its utter unholiness and unlikeness to God. How many times we were prepared to listen to the discouraging doubts of the enemy that there is no hope in God for us; but we trust in a Being of all power. He who can take the insensate earth and form it into the marvel of the rose, who can from the slimy, stagnant pool bring all the beauty and purity and fragrance of the lily, can take poor mortals of earth and make them “to the praise of the glory of His grace.”
This lesson in Ephesians is a message for you, discouraged soul, whoever you are. Satan may have overcome you. You may have sinned. You may be discouraged in the progress that you are making. Turn away from all these discouragements. Yield yourself to His will and to the workings of the power of His Spirit. He will enable you day by day to spell out some letter in that new name. Win victories to-day which will entitle you to be the wearer of the crown, and help you by His grace and power to earn some part of that glorious inheritance that awaits the faithful. Yield all to Him, accept all from Him. Your hope is not in princes; it is not in what humanity can do; it is what God in Christ has already done for you. Then hope on, hope ever. He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that you ask or think.
The Law of God—What It Is
By A. C. T.
1. What does James call the law of the Scriptures?
“If ye fulfil the ROYAL LAW according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: but if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For He that said [margin, that law which 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. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” James 2: 8-12.
NOTE.— It is made clear, in the foregoing text, that the royal law of the Scriptures is the law which obligates us to love our neighbor as ourselves; and, furthermore, it is the same law that forbids adultery and murder. Distinct mention being thus made of two of the Ten Commandments of the Decalogue, it should follow without controversy that the Ten Commandments are the law of God.
2. Did God test ancient Israel concerning obedience to His law?
“Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may PROVE THEM, whether they will walk in MY LAW, or no.”Ex. 16: 4.
3. Did He “prove” them, or make that specific test over one of the Ten Commandments?
“And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”
“And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord; bake that which ye will bake, and seethe that which ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that to-day; for to-day is a Sabbath unto the Lord: to-day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none.”
“And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, HOW LONG REFUSE YE TO KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS AND MY LAWS? See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore He giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day.”Ex. 16: 5, 22-30.
NOTE.— God placed a specific test upon Israel while in the wilderness, to “prove” them as to whether or not they would walk in His law. That specific test was made over the observance of the Sabbath, thus showing that the law of Jehovah contains the Sabbath commandment. Then we find that not only does God’s law contain the commandment against adultery and killing, but it also contains the command enjoining the observance of the Sabbath—Jehovah’s great memorial of His creative power.
4. After repeating the Ten Commandments to Israel shortly before his death, what did Moses say concerning them?
“These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and He added no more. And He wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.”Deut. 5: 22.
NOTE.— When God spoke His Ten Commandments, this text says, “He added no more.” Then, with His own finger, “He wrote them in two tables of stone.” No other part of the Bible enjoys the distinction of having been first spoken direct to the people by the Lord, and then having been given to them on one of the most enduring substances known to this world. Certainly the Ten Commandments are entitled to the distinction of being called the “royal law.” A. C. T.
