Review and Herald, Vol. 31, No. 25. (6/9/1868)

Review and Herald

Jun 9, 1868

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 9, 1868

THE SINNER'S INVITATION.

By E. B. Saunders

BY ELD. E. B. SAUNDERS.

TEXT.—"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near." Isa. lv, 6.

SINNER, this gracious invitation to seek the Lord, is to you personally, and is designed to call your attention to the ransom provided for sinful, rebellious man. The invitation is as broad as the ocean of God's love, as we discover, by reading the context, "Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters," which includes all who thirst for the living waters, in every age, in every land; and that it may not exclude any, it reaches even those who find this a hard world, being down-trodden, despised, and poverty-stricken. Listen, ye unfortunate ones; hear what your gracious heavenly Father says to you: "And he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."

Though counted as the offscouring of mankind by your fellow-men, God, the high and lofty One, who inhabiteth eternity, invites you to a table where hunger and thirst will be forever satisfied. Will you accept? Will you come? But the invitation is connected with another promise still more precious than the satiating of our soul with fatness. "Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live." "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. vi, 23. You have served the Devil for wages; now will you turn and serve God and receive his priceless gift? "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." You have sown to the flesh; have followed the desire of your own heart; gratified every appetite, every lust; have tried to drown all thoughts of God, Heaven, and the Judgment, in the pleasures of this poor, fading earth; you have spent your "money for that which is not bread; and your labor for that which satisfieth not;" have all your life long been sowing to the wind, only to reap, in the end, the whirlwind. The wages for such service will be sure—the dreadful pay-day will come; and now, before the day, long dreaded by the wicked, comes, God, in tender mercy, extends to you another invitation. Will you come? God is long suffering, and of tender mercy, not willing that any should perish, though you have sinned with a high hand and acted as though you thought that he who formed the eye could not see, and he who made the ear could not hear; so that your fellows thought your case hopeless.

But God is not man; he does not turn from you; but commissions an angel to once more touch your heart, and urge you to accept the gift of a blissful, unending life in the new earth. Will you have it, or do you still prefer the wages of sin?

The context points out the way in which we may seek God, and find acceptance and pardon. Now it is said concerning us, that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God;" this being our condition, we might well regard it as desperate, were it not for the fact that God hath laid help upon One that is mighty—Jesus—there is sweet music in the name. Jesus says: "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me." John xiv, 6. The context points to him thus: "Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people." Jesus, who tasted death for every man, who endured the agony of the cross for us, is evidence that God means what he says; and now, the ear of God is ever open to his words in behalf of our sinful race. Though we have such an advocate we are not to be idle ourselves. Faith is necessary; faith in Jesus, faith in the promises of God; "without faith it is impossible to please him." We must not only believe in the existence of God, but that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. And that faith must not consist in word alone, though God will condescend to notice and bless even the confession of it for a time; but eventually he requires obedience to those gospel ordinances by which faith is more certainly manifested. And I would remark here, that God is not to be mocked; he will not accept of any evasion of his requirements, his burden is light. Satan would make us think something else just as good, and in yielding to his suggestions we become his servants. "To whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey." Rom. vi, 16. Satan, the author of all sin, once an honored angel in Heaven, has rebelled against the authority of God; though legions of angels sympathized with him in his jealousy, yet he was soon overthrown and banished from the presence of God. His envy doubtless arose from his not being consulted in regard to the creation of this world, and especially of man; hence, his hatred would lead him to mar, if possible, the beautiful handiwork of God, and to sow the seeds of rebellion in the newly-created province of the empire of Heaven. He succeeded too well in a part of his evil plan, by causing our first parents to disbelieve God and disobey his commandment, given only for a simple test of their loyalty. Satan designed to lead man to partake of the tree of life, and thus perpetuate sin, by causing sinful man to become immortal; but cherubim kept the way of the tree of life; and poor, deceived man must gradually waste away in strength and vigor, till he should return again to the ground from whence he was taken. The fruit of the tree of life would have sent the blood coursing through his veins with more than youthful vigor; but it was too late; his fall was known; he had yielded himself a servant to Satan, and now he must receive the wages of sin, which is death. All the race of Adam have inherited, to a greater or less degree, the same doubting, rebellious spirit, and none of the race have lived without committing some act of sin, for "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Rom. iii, 23. And all must suffer the penalty attached to Adam's transgression. Rom. v, 12.

But God, Jesus, angels, and the whole family of Heaven, pitied our race, and sought for some way by which man could be saved, and God could be just, and the authority of his holy law be maintained. Should man be unconditionally pardoned, angels, and the unfallen inhabitants of other planets might infer that God but lightly esteemed his law, and they could also venture to trample on his precepts. And if God should destroy the rebellious race, and re-create the earth, or man, Satan would exult, and feel highly gratified over the destruction of work carried forward without his counsel. But the wisdom of God is equal to the case. A plan has been devised wherein "mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other;" and the mercy of God rises far beyond the comprehension of created minds, while the inhabitants of countless worlds comprehend the dreadful nature of sin, when they see the priceless ransom paid for a puny race on a mere atom of creation. Jesus, the Son of God, the highest in Heaven next to the Father, offers to suffer the penalty (death) for guilty man, and is accepted, and must leave all his glory in Heaven to come to this dark world to endure the terrible agony of the cross to save poor, rebellious man.

A merciful man will often endure much pain to relieve distress in the unfortunate, especially if it be appreciated by the sufferer; hence, we see our fellow-men going to the land of savages to enlighten and save them, or perhaps going where the noisome pestilence is smiting young and old, or where war's red hand has just been felt, if they can but relieve their suffering fellow-man. If our fallen race, depraved by suffering the curse of disobedience for six thousand years, can yet pity and feel for the suffering, oh, how much more capable of compassion is the great Being whose mercy endureth forever! "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him."

"The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them." Ps. ciii, 17, 18.

The tender pity of our God is plainly evident from his dealings with many in the past. His pity saved Noah, and Lot. Israel were often saved from their enemies when they cried unto God in their distress. He pitied them when in Egypt, and brought them out with a high hand; and when they had forgotten him, and wandered after other gods, still he pitied their blindness and ignorance, and raised up a prophet to show them the way; and whenever the crimes and wicked deeds of man call loudly for vengeance upon his guilty head, a compassionate God sends a messenger with weeping eyes and eloquent words to save every honest soul. If in the few mercy-drops of love and kindness that have reached these shores, we see such wondrous sweetness as to captivate our hearts, oh, how surpassing all power of words to express, is the great ocean of his love! Fellow-sinner, will you taste this love? The Christian has some experience in this love. When the cares and disappointments of life vex his soul till he feels without friends, without sympathy, and almost without hope; his misdeeds, like a millstone to his neck, sinking him down to ruin; he tremblingly seeks the Lord, gets a little strength, feels encouraged to pour out his soul before God; the hot tears course down his cheeks while he confesses his want of love, his hardness, his crimes; till, with broken but eloquent words, he has told all, and intreated for pardon through Jesus' blood. Does God turn him empty away? No, never! An angel is commissioned to pour the oil and the wine into his broken heart; the peace of God that passeth understanding begins to fill his heart, and inexpressible joy fills his enraptured soul. Sinner, will you not taste this fountain? You have an invitation. God is waiting to be gracious toward you; only give yourself to him, obey him, and he will give you everlasting life.

God will not always hear. Jesus will not always plead. Life is but a vapor; to-day is ours; to-morrow is not. I have seen the young in the flush of youth, with high hopes of long life, cut down in an unexpected moment, even with the gay laugh still upon the countenance. There was no time for repentance; no opportunity to seek God! But the day of probation will sometime close; and possibly we are living in the very generation that will hear the dreadful words, "It is done;" when Jesus will lay off his priestly garments, and put on the garments of vengeance. Then the sinner will have no intercessor—no atoning blood to wipe away those stains of sin upon his character. For nearly six thousand years, a compassionate God has stretched out his hand to a rebellious race, offering a free pardon and unending life to all who will accept of his gracious terms. But few believed God; few accepted his plan; few sought and found acceptance and pardon. Hard-hearted and sinful is our race; they have hardened themselves against God; have mocked and insulted him, have stoned his prophets, derided his ministers, and slain his believing children, till the wrath of the Lord can be restrained but a little longer. While Jesus pleads, the vials of wrath are withheld; but Jesus is performing the last work of his priestly office; the silver trumpet announcing the hour of God's judgment, has sounded, but the inhabitants of the earth will not receive the message. Like haughty Pharaoh, they have hardened their hearts on the first sound of the footsteps of the coming King of kings.

Patiently has God borne with us, till now he offers us one more chance for life; 'tis the last opportunity; the last call. He asks us to obey his commandments, and get ready to receive his Son. He waits a little moment for us. Sinners, shall we accept? Shall we seize the golden moment ere it be too late? The Lord will not always show mercy to the hardened sinner. "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me." Prov. i, 24-28.

The invitation to "come" requires action on our part. Something more than a mere profession; a change in our habits of life must take place. "Let the wicked forsake his way." Sins long cherished, till they have become almost a part of our natures, must be given up; unnatural appetites, unholy passions, and slovenly habits, must be overcome. Wrongs must be made right, restitution made, forgiveness sought, and justice and judgment done by us, if we would find the knowledge of God. Prov. iii, 1-4; ii, 1-9; Ps. cxix, 97-104. It is not the proud and haughty, but the meek and humble that God loves. Those only who are willing to bow the neck to the yoke of Christ will escape the wrath of God. It must not be a half-hearted, lazy service, but all must be laid on the altar, houses, lands, gold, merchandise, good name, pride, honor, and even our bodies must be presented a living sacrifice to God. Jesus gave much more than this for us; he has purchased our redemption with a ransom more precious than an angel could present; he gave his own valuable life to honor the law before all Heaven, and redeem us from its penalty. The Lord has promised that though our "sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isa. i, 18. "Let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Isa. lv, 7.

We have felt our grievous weight of sin oppressing us all our lives; stifling every holy desire and crushing us to the dust, so that when we would seek God, we have no courage, no faith. Satan would make us think by calling our sins to mind, that there is no hope for us. But there is hope, there is relief from our burden of sin; there is a balm in Gilead; there is a name given whereby we may be saved. We reason in our minds that man does not thus pass by transgression; that it is contrary to our experience to have those we have mocked and insulted, in return pardon our wrong and bestow some precious blessing. Man is not so ready to pardon insult; will God do it? Hear the answer: "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isa. lv, 8, 9.

But there is another inducement held out to us far more lasting than the joy of feeling our sins forgiven; it is the glorious reward in store for the faithful. It is brought to view in the last part of the chapter containing the text. It is not a vague, shadowy, ethereal, dream-like home; but a real, substantial place in the literal new earth, and a substantial mansion in the New Jerusalem. The curse which has so heavily rested upon this earth for six thousand years, will be removed by the purifying fires of the great day, and from the ashes will come forth the new earth clothed in its Eden beauty, with not one trace of sin's sad story. "Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree." "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God." "And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree [the tree of life] are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands." Isa. lv, 13; xxxv, 1, 2; lxv, 21, 22.

Besides this, a mansion in the golden capital of the earth made new, with a right to enter the pearly gates, a right to drink of the waters of the river of life, and eat of the fruit of the tree of life, and then, too, to have our hearts warmed by the sunshine of his love; to feel that God is our everlasting friend; that "Sickness and sorrow, pain, and death, Are felt and feared no more;" and that henceforth we are to live as long as Heaven endures, and eternal life is really ours. Oh, the bliss of Heaven! the bliss of feeling safe at last in our eternal home; safe from the buffetings of Satan; safe from the mocking, Bible-hating multitude, who hate God and despise his law. Oh, how our hearts will overflow with love and gratitude, while our hands sweep the strings of the golden harps, making the high arches of Heaven ring with the song of Moses and the Lamb!

Sinner, these joys may be yours if you will accept the gracious invitation to come; if you will leave the foolish frivolities of this world and cleave to the promises of God, and give your affections to him.

I cannot leave this subject without referring again to the exceeding shortness of time; but enough scarcely being left us to prepare for the great change, even if we commence now. The prophetic periods are all expired, no prophetic time reaching beyond the present. The signs spoken of by our Lord in Matt. xxiv, are in the past. The corrupt, world-loving church spoken of by Paul in 2 Tim. iii, also chapter iv, 1-4, we now see on every side. And the last great delusion of Satan, by which he will deceive the kings of the earth and the whole world, to gather them to the battle of the great day, has already appeared; and now Spiritualism numbers its votaries by millions in this country alone. The effect of the curse seems to increase every year. Preparation for war; bankruptcy of men and nations; famines, pestilences, earthquakes, whirlwinds, &c., betoken the approaching throes of earth, and that her hour has about come.

The question with us is not how we shall spend a long life here; how to multiply riches, and live in pleasure; but how shall we escape the things coming on the earth? What course shall we pursue that we may have the protection of God in the perils of these days? God, ever merciful, has given us notice that the end is at hand; that the work of our great High Priest is closing; that soon there will be no compassionate Saviour to cry, "Spare, spare the sinner a little longer." Soon there will be no precious blood to wipe our sins away; no one with influence at the court of Heaven to advocate our cause! Sinner, what will you do in that day? Be entreated to seek God now. Do not peril your life by delay. Seek Jesus now, before the Spirit of God shall take its flight from the earth, and man be left to feel that he is lost—lost beyond hope of redemption. Then will the sinner realize the anguish of being without hope. Then would they seek God, but the heavens are brass, with no sympathizing spirit to direct, no man of God to teach the way; for they have given their last warning, and borne their last burden for sinners. There is "a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it." Amos viii, 11, 12.

DAILY CHANGES.

By L. D. Santee

Day by day we're gliding onward, Seasons come and go; First the springtime comes with gladness, Then autumn and the snow. Day by day old sorrows leave us, And new sorrows come, But the evening shadows gather, And we're nearing home.

When our life is in its springtime, Hope is gay and bright, But comes bitter disappointment, Then the gloom and night. Brave young hearts in life's fair morning, See their sky is clear, But before they reach the noontide, Oft 'tis dark and drear.

Things of earth are swiftly passing, Reader, this we know, Calmest seas upon the surface Hide their wrecks below. Let us all regard the warning That to us is given, And before the day of mourning, Place our hope on Heaven.

L. D. SANTEE.

Princeville, Ill.

No Command, no Obligation.

By S. Elmer

We read, “This is the love of God that we keep his commandments.” Does it look rational that the Lord will hold us accountable for not regarding a day he has given no command whatever for observing. If one should be brought in the great and final day of account, to answer to the charge of violating the first day, might it not be justly said, Lord, why was there no command in the Bible that I might have known your will concerning it? But his will is made plain as it regards the seventh day. Truly it could be no plainer. And what shall we answer if we disregard it, in that day when every mouth is stopped, and all confess the justness of the great Lawgiver. It is high time, while so much light is shining, to see to it that we strictly adhere to all the requirements of God’s word, being justified by his Son, and thus prepare to enter into the joy of our Lord. S. ELMER.

Forgiveness Should Be Ours

If injuries be our enemies' weapons, forgiveness should be ours.

The Souls of Men

It is better to lose the smiles of men than the souls of men.

Excellency of the Law.

By Scott

The words spoken are generally called, “The ten commandments;” and they are justly considered as the grand outlines of the holy law of God, commonly called the moral law, to distinguish it from the other injunctions of the Mosaic dispensation. As the full and exact knowledge of this law is peculiarly important, in order to our clearly understanding the whole system of revealed religion, I shall introduce the exposition of it, by some observations on its nature, obligations, and uses. A distinction between moral precepts, and instituted appointments, is evident. Some things are in themselves so indifferent, that the same authority which enjoined them, might, without impropriety, have prohibited them; but it is absurd to suppose that God could have forbidden us to love him and one another, or to speak truth and do justice. Some traces of the moral law are discoverable by our natural reason, and the whole perfectly accords to it. It has its foundation in the nature of God and of man; in the relations men bear to him, to each other, and in the duties which result from those relations; and on this account it is immutable and universally obligatory. Though given, on this particular occasion, to Israel, it demands obedience from all mankind; and the whole world will be judged according to this law, and to the opportunity which they have had of becoming acquainted with it, whether by reason and tradition alone, or by the light of the written word.

The law is also spiritual: that is, it takes cognizance of our spirits, of our most secret thoughts, desires, intentions, and dispositions; and demands a holy regulation of the judgment, will, and affections. It principally requires love, without which the best external obedience is condemned as mere hypocrisy. This is peculiar to the law of God, who alone can search the heart; and no other law ever attempted to enforce the obedience of the heart; but, in common with other laws, it demands perfect, unfailing, uninterrupted, and perpetual obedience; for no law can tolerate the transgression of itself. From the entrance to the close of life, God requires of us exact conformity to every precept. He that keepeth the whole law, and offendeth in one point, is guilty of all, (James ii, 8–13.) and the least deviation, whether by omission or commission, excess or defect, is sin; and every sin deserves wrath and needs forgiveness. (1 John iii, 4.) The ten commandments are the holy law, which is commented on in all the preceptive parts of Scripture; and the substance of its requirements is given, still more concisely, in the two great commandments, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength;’ and ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ We are authorized, by the example of Christ, to interpret every one of these commands in the strictest, most spiritual, and extensive sense, of which it is capable. Even repentance, faith in a Mediator, and all evangelical graces and duties, are exercises of this entire love to God, and are required of sinners placed under a dispensation of mercy; though originally the law had no direct connection with redemption, but lay at the foundation of another covenant. We may therefore waive the controversy concerning the rule of duty, whether this be the ten commandments, or the whole word of God; for the one, properly understood, will be found as broad as the other; seeing we cannot love God with all our hearts, unless we love every discovery which he is pleased to make of his glory; believe every testimony and embrace every promise which he gives; seek his favor in the use of all the means that he appoints; and employ ourselves in diffusing the knowledge of his glorious excellencies and wonderful works, according to our ability and opportunity, and the station we occupy in society.

The Lord Jesus perfectly fulfilled the extensive requirements of this holy law; yet, in his peculiar circumstances, it actually required all that love for the Father, and for his brethren, and all those expressions of it, which, subsequent to his incarnation, that he might be our Mediator, he manifested in his life and death. But no apostle or prophet ever reached, in one single instance, that degree of love and purity which it demands. The uses of this holy law, in connection with the gospel of Christ, and in subserviency to the covenant of grace, are many and important. ‘By the law is the knowledge of sin;’ and were it more fully understood, (in the extent and excellency of its spiritual requirements, and the justice of its awful sanctions,) sinners would be at once convinced of their guilt and danger; become acquainted with their wants, and prepared to understand and value the inestimable blessings of the gospel; and they would perceive their need of regeneration, and of that repentance, that life of faith in the Son of God, and sanctification by the Holy Spirit, which in general are disregarded, nay frequently ridiculed. Believers may thence learn their obligations, and receiving the law as the rule of their grateful obedience and the standard of holiness, daily self-examination according to it serves to keep them humble, dependent, diligent, and watchful. It also directs them in acquiring an exact judgment and correct spiritual taste, in respect of every part of the Christian temper; and, in many other ways, it promotes their establishment, fruitfulness, and consolation.

Besides these uses, the law served to restrain the Israelites from gross transgression, by its strictness and terrors; and it still, in a measure, answers the same purpose even to wicked men, and, where known, serves to keep the world in some degree of order. It also discovers the holy character of God, the nature of his government of the world, and the rule and measure of the future judgment, that ‘day of wrath and perdition of ungodly men.’ On the other hand, the bad effects resulting from ignorance or mistakes concerning the holy law of God, are manifold and deplorable. The dreams of a purgatory, either before or after the day of judgment; the flattering illusions of the merit of human obedience; the palliating excuses made for sin; the objections to the sovereignty of divine grace, and to God’s method of justifying sinners; and all antinomian perversions of those precious truths of revelation, seem principally to arise from this source. Ignorance of the extensive requirements of the divine law supports careless presumption and Pharisaical self-confidence; ignorance of its excellency excites murmurs and objections against the severity of its awful sanction. The same ignorance has led some to frame, in imagination, a new law, which has been substituted in the place of the holy law of God, since by sin man became unable to obey it; and the same ignorance has occasioned innumerable objections to the doctrine, and mistakes about the nature, of regeneration; and indeed it has prevented many real Christians from glorifying God in the manner they otherwise might have done. In short, were the law of God well understood, the person and office of the Saviour must appear most suitable and precious; and the genuine beauty of Christianity, as re-instating a lost sinner in his Maker’s favor, and recovering him to his image, in a way honorable to all the perfections of the Deity, would shine forth with unclouded lustre.

We may consider the giving of the law from Mount Sinai, either as a publication to mankind of the law of their reason and nature; or as given to Israel, for the rule and foundation of their national covenant. For want of adverting to this obvious distinction, it has been incautiously asserted, that the law itself was given only to the redeemed; which sentiment not only supposes the rest of Jehovah’s universal kingdom without a law, but vacates redemption itself; for ‘where there is no law, there is no transgression,’ no condemnation, no occasion for redemption. On the other hand, it has often asserted, or assumed, that the believer has in no sense anything to do with the law; nay, it is sometimes even ranked among the enemies, from which Christ came to deliver us: ‘Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.’ But since Christ has fulfilled its righteousness and borne its curse, all who hear the gospel are under a dispensation of mercy, and have forgiveness proposed to them; and all true believers are actually pardoned and justified, and are required, and inwardly disposed, to render a sincere, unreserved, habitual obedience to the law, though not able to obey it perfectly.—Scott.

“CHRIST IN ME.”

“For me to live is Christ.”—PAUL.

Let others toil from day to day, In hope, thereby, to richer be; For one thing earnestly I pray— That, daily,—CHRIST MAY BE IN ME.

Let others toil for earthly fame, And boast an honored pedigree; May holy love my heart inflame, And, daily,—I FEEL CHRIST IN ME.

Let others boast of hoarded wealth, And look with scorn on poverty; Better to me than all things else Is it to feel—I’VE CHRIST IN ME.

Let others strive for earthly power, That men may bow to them the knee; Be this my wish from hour to hour To feel that—I HAVE CHRIST IN ME.

Let others spend in idleness Their precious time—I’ll busy be, Seeking how others I may bless— Thus proving—I HAVE CHRIST IN ME.

How pleasant, then, when he shall come, To go with him ’twill be to me; To feel that Heaven is my home, Knowing that—I HAVE CHRIST IN ME.

No Sin Too Great for Christ’s Forgiveness

WE need not be afraid to look upon our own deformity, great and ugly as it is. Christ died for the sins of the whole world; and, therefore, if I had all the sins of the world in my person, I would not doubt of his forgiveness.

MY EXPERIENCE ON TOBACCO.

By Wm. McKearnin

WHEN I was nine years old I was recommended to smoke for the good of my stomach, to which remedy I resorted, but never received any benefit from the use of the foul weed, though I used it from that time until I was twenty-one. At this time I experienced the blessing of a Saviour. It has always been a query to me why I was not convicted on this point, but I still continued to use it for the space of two weeks, when one day I went into the tobacco factory of a neighbor. He made me a present of half a dozen first class cigars. I smoked one of them and started for home. While on my way home, I became convicted by the Spirit of God bringing this passage of Scripture to my mind: “Cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Said I, this is a filthiness of the flesh, and the word says, “from all,” but I will not throw away my cigar. Again this passage of Scripture came to my mind, “Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, and if any man defile this temple, him will God destroy.” Thought I, this means me. This is enough. Good bye tobacco, forever! So I threw the cigar out of my mouth, the other five out of my pocket, and glory be to God! from then till now, I have had no desire to smoke.

After this the greatest test came. I had at the same time between two and three hundred dollars worth of tobacco on hand, part of it stripped, and part of it not stripped. Then the question was, what must I do with the stuff? This was a struggle. I shall never forget the time. I felt that if it was wrong to use it myself, it was wrong to manufacture it for others, yet it seemed as if it was too bad to throw away so much money’s worth of tobacco. If I did not use it myself I might appropriate the money for some good purpose. But this seemed like taking Baal’s wood to burn the Lord’s sacrifice. In the midst of this conflict, the blessed word came to my relief in 1st Timothy. “Neither be partakers of other men’s sins. Keep thyself pure.” This, like the other two, were the turning points with me, and forever settled this question with me. So I went home, took the fork and pitched the tobacco into the barnyard. The result was, the Lord blessed me wonderfully. Glory to his name. When I experienced the blessing of holiness it took all the compromise out of me, and I had rather go to the poorhouse and not have a friend than to disobey God if I knew it. This is my motto in all things. No compromise with sin of any species. Jesus approves of this way, and keeps me by the moment. Glory to Jesus.—Wm. McKearnin in Earnest Christian.

Scripture Notes.

THE LORD DO SO.

Ruth i, 17. Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me.

The Lord do so, &c.] “This was a common form of an oath in those days and long after, both by God’s people and the heathen also, by which they imprecated some great evil to befall them if they did otherwise than they said.”—Assemb. Ann.

YOUNG MEN.

CHAP. ii, 21. And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.

Young men.] “Though the word in the original be of the masculine gender, yet it signifies all young people, and particularly maidens.”—Patrick. So Hewlett, and the Sept. and Chal. See on verse 14, Reapers.”—Jenks.

HANNAH’S PROPHECY.

1 Sam. ii, 10. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of Heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

“When Hannah spake this song, there was no king over Israel, so that her words here must be prophetical, both of David, the type, and Christ, the Antitype. ‘Who doth not see that the spirit of this woman (whose name was Anna, which signifies grace,) prophesied of the Christian religion, the city of God, whose King and Founder is Christ; and of the grace of God, from which the proud are estranged, that they may fall; but the humble are filled with it, that they may rise?’—Augustin. ‘One cannot but think Hannah had a respect to something higher than the quarrel between her and Peninnah, &c.’—Bp. Patrick. This indeed is expressly saying very little; but it shows what the writer had in contemplation. As to Peninnah, on any interpretation, she can be considered no further, than merely as having given an occasion for this most sublime and sacred song, which may bear a comparison, or even competition, with the most beautiful and magnificent productions of any other inspired writer.”—Scott.

ELI’S DEATH.

CHAP. iv, 18. And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died; for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

Eli’s death, under a divine rebuke for his sins, has been a salutary warning to others, even to this present day; yet, in the circumstances of it, he testified his supreme regard to the honor of God, and the interests of religion, above all personal and relative considerations; and notwithstanding all his faults, he died in a lively exercise of love to God and his ordinances, and even by occasion of it.”—Scott.

GLORY OF ISRAEL.

VERSE 22. And she said, The glory is departed from Israel; for the ark of God is taken.

“The presence and ordinances of God were the chief glory of Israel; and the loss of them was the departure of that glory. But if the wife of Phinehas supposed the Lord had finally departed from Israel, she greatly mistook. From Shiloh, indeed, the ark, the glory of Israel, was finally removed; for probably the inhabitants of that city had too much resembled the abandoned priests; as is generally the case, when such examples of sacerdotal impiety and profligacy are exhibited; but it was restored to Israel, and established in another place. (Ps. lxxviii, 61–64, 67–69; Jer. vii, 12–15.) Neither was the ruin of Eli’s family the destruction of the Aaronic priesthood. (Ch. ii, 35, 36.)”—Scott.

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