Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 16, 1856
THE SABBATH.
By James White
THE word of the Lord says: "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment." Eccl. xii, 13, 14. In view of the solemn scenes of the Judgment-day we should carefully examine the terms of the commandments wherein our whole duty is revealed, that we may know how to worship God in truth, and escape the wrath to come.
As the Scriptures present the consequences of the Judgment as the motive for keeping God's commandments, we justly conclude that they will be the rule of judgment: that by them the nature of all actions will be determined. Then if we have done wrong, God's commandments or law will show it; as the apostle says: "By the law is the knowledge of sin." Rom. iii, 20.
WHAT IS THE LAW?
God has in many ways revealed his purposes to man, but when he made known his law, he spake it with his own voice, and himself engraved it on tables of stone; which gives us an idea of its holiness and perpetuity. Man is a moral agent, required to be holy, or develop a holy character. Of course the law which defines the duty of a moral agent must be purely a moral law; and the law which would prove a man to be holy because he kept it, must be a holy law. This holy, moral law is a transcript of the divine mind, and a development of the divine perfections, as it is the perfect will of a holy God. It was called God's holy covenant, as Moses said to the children of Israel: "The Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments, and he wrote them upon two tables of stone." Deut. iv, 12, 13. The Lord said to Moses: "Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them." Ex. xxiv, 12.
That the ten commandments constitute God's Law is not only abundantly proved by the Bible, but it is admitted by every considerable body of professed worshipers of God, whether Jews, Catholics, or Protestants. This we learn from the writings of their respective authors, and from their church articles and catechisms.
That there is a great deal of sin at the present time none will deny; of course, the law of God is much disregarded; for "Sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John iii, 4. And as it is God's decree that "the soul that sinneth it shall die, [Eze. xviii, 4.] we feel that it is a duty we owe to God and to our fellow men, for the honor of his government, and the salvation of their souls, to raise our voices in warning them to turn from their sins and live.
But there are many who will not be convinced of their sins; they deny the Bible, the text-book of righteousness, and charter of our eternal inheritance. Such we are obliged to leave to their own ways; for they cannot be saved who willfully reject the counsel of God. We lament their blindness, but can do no more.
But we also think that many who acknowledge that the Bible is true, and reverence that law which Jehovah spake with a voice that shook the earth, are unknowingly transgressing that law from week to week. To such we would make an earnest appeal, and ask them to lay aside all prejudice, and as frail mortals on the way to Judgment, humbly look up to him who has said, "I am God, . . . my counsel shall stand." To them we would say, Let no vain excuse turn you away from learning perfectly God's truth; for we have his revealed will placed before us, and if we neglect to search for his light and his truth, we shall be guilty of slighting the all-wise counsel of the Just and Holy One.
That you may understand how great is the departure from God's word and law, even by those who profess to love him and follow his Son, and that you may be enabled to conform to it yourselves, if not now fully observing it, we ask you to examine
THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT.
This commandment enjoins the observance of the Sabbath of the Lord. As it is well to have the law plainly before us when we inquire concerning our duty, we will copy this commandment.
"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 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, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 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." Ex. xx, 8-11.
That we may understand what is meant by blessing the Sabbath-day, we must bear in mind that Sabbath signifies rest; therefore to bless the Sabbath day means to bless the Rest-day, and to remember the Sabbath-day is to remember the Rest-day. The day of the Lord's Sabbath is the day of the Lord's rest. This the commandment says was the seventh day: also in Gen. ii, 3: "And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God had created and made."
To this plain fact we would call your especial attention, because we know that the day on which God rested, the day which he blessed and hallowed, the day which he commanded should be kept holy, is not generally kept by those who profess to take God's word for their guide; but they keep a day on which he did not rest, which he did not hallow, and which he never commanded them to keep. If the sanctified Rest-day of Jehovah is the proper day to be observed, and that is the very day specified in his law, then the observance of another day in its stead, is an offense against the great God who gave the law. The law does not say that you shall remember to keep the first day of the week, (which is now called Sunday,) but the seventh day. It is not indefinite, leaving you to observe any day as a Sabbath that you may see fit; but it is a certain definite day, namely, the Sabbath-day, that is, the day of the Sabbath or rest of the Lord, which is no other than the seventh day of the week.
ORIGIN OF THE SABBATH.
The fourth commandment points to the Sabbath as a memorial. It says: "The Lord blessed the Sabbath-day." The act of blessing is recorded in Gen. ii, 3 and it was bestowed because that in it he had rested from all his work. Then the Sabbath was, from the foundation of the world, a holy day, and to be observed because God rested on it, and blessed it. Thus it is commemorative of what God has done. In order to observe a day as a memorial, we must keep in view the object of the memorial, and the day on which the event occurred which we celebrate. The fourth commandment enjoins the observance of the memorial of God's work and rest. A rest implies a work performed; therefore to remember to keep God's Rest-day, is the divinely appointed means of keeping in mind his great work.
You cannot find in God's law any duty to remember or keep the day of Adam's fall, or the day of the flood, or the day of the departure of the Israelites from Egypt or the day they entered the promised land, or the day of the Saviour's birth, or the day of his death, or the day of his resurrection, or the day of his ascension. You may remember all these days, but the fourth commandment does not tell you to, neither did the Lord bless and hallow any of these days. But it requires the observance of the day on which the Lord rested, which he also sanctified, which was the seventh day of the week; for he made the world in the first six days of the first week of time, and then rested.
That the original Sabbath-day was the seventh day, and that the Jews did keep the very day enjoined in the law, all well know; and they admit it also, since they denominate the seventh day of the week the Jewish Sabbath. Therefore in this they admit that the very day which the Jews observe is the true original Sabbath of the Lord.186
THE SABBATH WAS NOT JEWISH.
We hope you will examine this fact with care; for there are many that suppose that those who keep the seventh day are Jews, or are observing a Jewish institution. But we assure you that we endeavor to live as Christians, observing only these things enjoined in God's word, and neglecting or rejecting only those things not found therein.
The name Jew is derived from Judah, the son of Jacob, who was born 2255 years after the creation. Then the distinctions of Jews and Gentiles could not have been known, for they did not exist until more than 2000 years after the Rest-day of God was blessed and sanctified. But if the sanctified day on which God rested was a Jewish Sabbath after the Jews as a separate people came into existence, what was it during the 2000 years before their existence? Would you conclude that it was a Gentile Sabbath from the creation to the separation of the Hebrews, and then a Jewish Sabbath till the time of Christ? Consider well this matter, and let your conclusion be such as will stand the test of the Judgment-day.
But we do not find in the Bible that the seventh day Sabbath was ever called a Gentile Sabbath, or a Jewish Sabbath, but it was always called the Lord's Sabbath. It was established and sanctified as a day of rest from the creation, not by the Gentiles, nor the Jews, but by the Lord; and neither Gentiles nor Jews were there. When the Sabbath was made no human beings were there but Adam and Eve; and though they were the first parents of all, both Gentiles and Jews, it would be as absurd to call them Jews or Gentiles as it would be to call them English, French or Germans. And to say that the Sabbath which God instituted at creation, and sanctified because that in it he had rested—to say that it was a Jewish Sabbath is no more correct than to say that it was a French Sabbath, a German Sabbath, or a Norwegian Sabbath. Men, the creatures of God, the descendants of Adam, have become divided into various distinct classes since the Sabbath was instituted; but to say that the Sabbath was instituted in view of these distinctions, or for any particular class, is taking unwarrantable liberties with God's word and his sacred institutions. We should take God's truths as they come to us from his hand, and place implicit confidence in what he has spoken.
THE SEVENTH DAY IS THE SABBATH OF THE LORD THY GOD.
What is Sabbath? It is rest. Who rested on the seventh day? The Lord thy God. Mark well this fact: the seventh day is never in the scriptures called the Sabbath of the Jews, or of the Greeks, or of the Russians, or of the Romans, but always and invariably the Sabbath of the Lord. It was his; and he made it for man, [Mark ii, 27,] to glorify him, the Creator, and to benefit man, the creature. We know that the Jews are men; but the Gentiles are also men. Jacob, (Israel,) was a man; so was Enoch. Moses was a man; so was Noah. Solomon was a man; so was Pharaoh. Daniel was a man; so was Nebuchadnezzar. Peter was a man; so was Cornelius. English, French, Germans, Turks, Chinese, Africans, &c., are all men—all are descended from Adam; but no one class or nation can be called men to the exclusion of others. Can you find in God's word that the Sabbath was a national institution? You cannot. It is right to be strictly just toward our fellowmen, and to render to all, that which is their due; but while we render to Caesar that which is Caesar's, let us be very careful to render unto God that which is God's. The Sabbath is the Lord's. He himself hath said so; and so let it be.
J. H. W.
(To be Continued.)
VIA CRUCIS, VIA LUCIS.
By Brooks
From the German—Brooks.
Through night to light!—And though to mortal eyes
Creation's face a pall of horror wear
Good cheer! good cheer! The gloom of midnight flies;
Then shall a sunrise follow, mild and fair.
Thro' storm to calm!—And though his thunder car
The rumbling tempest drive through earth and sky,
Good cheer! good cheer! The elemental war
Tells that a blessed healing hour is nigh.
Thro' frost to Spring!—And though the biting blast
Of Eurus stiffen nature's juicy veins,
Good cheer! good cheer! When Winter's wrath is past,
Soft murmuring Spring breathes sweetly o'er the plains.
Thro' strife to peace!—And though with bristling front,
A thousand frightful deaths encompass thee,
Good cheer! good cheer! Brave thou the Battle's brunt,
For the peace march and song of victory.
Thro' sweat to sleep!—And tho' the sultry noon,
With heavy, drooping wing, oppress thee now,
Good cheer! good cheer! The cool of evening soon
Shall lull to sweet repose, thy weary brow.
Thro' cross to crown!—And tho' thy spirit's life,
Trials untold assail with giant strength,
Good cheer! good cheer! Soon ends the bitter strife,
And thou shalt reign with Christ in peace at length,
Thro' wo to joy!—And tho' at morn thou weep,
And though the midnight find thee weeping still,
Good cheer! good cheer! The Shepherd loves his sheep;
Resign thee to the watchful Father's will.
Thro' death to life!—And thro', this vale of tears,
And through this thistle field of life, ascend
To that great supper in that world, whose years
Of bliss unfading, cloudless, know no end.
I PROCEED,
By Flavel
ON KEEPING THE HEART. No. 3.
I PROCEED,
Thirdly. To point out those special seasons in the life of a Christian which require our utmost diligence in keeping the heart. Though, as was observed before, the duty is always binding, and there is no time or condition of life in which we may be excused from this work; yet there are some signal seasons, critical hours, requiring more than common vigilance over the heart.
1. The first season is the time of prosperity, when Providence smiles upon us. Now, Christian, keep thy heart with all diligence, for it will be very apt to grow secure, proud and earthly. "To see a man humble in prosperity," says Bernard, "is one of the greatest rarities in the world." Even a good Hezekiah could not hide a vain-glorious temper in his temptation; hence that caution to Israel: "And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he swore to thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities which thou buildest not, and houses full of all good things which thou fillest not," &c., "then beware lest thou forget the Lord." So indeed it happened; for "Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked." How then may a Christian keep his heart from pride and carnal security under the smiles of Providence and the confluence of creature comforts?
There are several helps to secure the heart from the dangerous snares of prosperity.
1. Consider the dangerous ensnaring temptations attending a pleasant and prosperous condition. Few, very few of those living in the pleasures of this world, escape everlasting perdition. "It is easier," says Christ, "for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven." "Not many mighty, not many noble are called."
We have great reason to tremble when the scripture tells us in general that few shall be saved; much more when it tells us that of that rank of which we are, but few shall be saved. When Joshua called all the tribes of Israel to cast lots for the discovery of Achan, doubtless Achan feared; when the tribe of Judah was taken, his fear increased; but when the family of Zarhites was taken, it was time to tremble. So when the Scriptures come so near as to tell us that of such a class of men very few shall escape, it is time to be alarmed. "I should wonder," says Chrysostom, "if any of the rulers be saved." O how many will have been wheeled to hell in the chariots of earthly pleasure, and others whipped to heaven by the rod of affliction! How few, like the daughter of Tyre, come to Christ with a gift! How few among the rich entreat his favor!
2. It may keep one more humble and watchful in prosperity, to consider that among Christians many have been much the worse for it. How good had it been for some of them had they never known prosperity! When they were in a low condition, how humble, spiritual and heavenly they were! but when advanced, what an apparent alteration has been upon their spirits! It was so with Israel; when they were in a low condition in the wilderness, then Israel was "holiness to the Lord;" but when they came into Canaan and were richly fed, their language was, "We are lords, we will come no more unto thee." Outward gains are ordinarily attended with inward losses; as in a low condition their civil employments were wont to have a savor of religious duties, so in an exalted condition their duties commonly have a savor of the world. He indeed is rich in grace whose graces are not hindered by his riches. There are but few Jehosaphats in the world, of whom it is said, "He had silver and gold in abundance, and his heart was lifted up in the way of God's commands." Will not this keep thy heart humble in prosperity, to think how deadly many godly men have paid for their riches; that through them they have lost that which all the world cannot purchase?
3. Keep down thy vain heart by this consideration: God values no man the more for these things. God values no man by outward excellencies, but by inward graces; they are the internal ornaments of the Spirit, which are of great price in God's sight. God despises all worldly glory, and accepts no man's person; "but in every nation, he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him." Indeed, if the judgment of God went by the same rule that man's does, we might value ourselves by these things, and stand upon them; but so much every man is, as he is in the judgment of God. Does thy heart yet swell, and will neither of the former considerations keep it humble?
4. Consider how bitterly many dying persons have bewailed their folly in setting their hearts upon these things, and have wished that they had never known them. How dreadful was the situation of Pius Quintus, who died crying out despairingly, "When I was in a low condition I had some hopes of salvation; when I was advanced to be a cardinal, I greatly doubted; but since I came to the popedom I have no hope at all." An author also tells us a real, but sad story of a rich oppressor, who had scraped up a great estate for his only son: when he came to die he called his son to him, and said, "Son, do you indeed love me?" The son answered that "nature, besides his parental indulgence, obliged him to that." "Then," said the father, "express it by this: hold thy finger in the candle as long as I am saying a prayer." The son attempted, but could not endure it. Upon that the father broke out into these expressions: "Thou canst not suffer the burning of thy finger for me; but to get this wealth I have hazarded my soul for thee, and must burn, body and soul, in hell, for thy sake; thy pains would have been lost for a moment, but mine will be in unquenchable fire."
5. The heart may be kept humble by considering of what a clogging nature earthly things are to the soul heartily engaged in the way to heaven. They shut out much of heaven from us at present, though they may not shut us out of heaven at last. If thou consider thyself a stranger in this world, traveling for heaven, thou hast then as much reason to be delighted with these things as a weary horse has to be pleased with a heavy burden. There was a serious truth in the atheistical scoff of Julian: when taking away the Christian's estates, he told them "it was to make them more fit for the kingdom of heaven."
6. Is thy spirit still vain and lofty? Then urge upon it the consideration of that awful day of reckoning, wherein, according to our receipts of mercies, shall be our account for them. Methinks this should awe and humble the vainest heart that was ever in the breast of a saint. Know for a certainty that the Lord records all the mercies that ever he gave thee, from the beginning to the end of thy life. "Remember, O my people, from Shittim unto Gilgal," &c. Yes, they are exactly numbered and recorded in order to an account; and thy account will be suitable: "To whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required." You are to be a steward, and your lord will come and take an account of you; and what great account have you to make, who have much of this world in your hands? What swift witnesses will your mercies be against you, if this be the best fruit of them.
7. It is a very humbling reflection, that the mercies of God should work otherwise upon my spirit than they used to do upon the spirits of others to whom they come as sanctified mercies from the love of God. Ah, Lord! what a sad consideration is this! enough to lay me in the dust when I consider:187
(1.) That their mercies have greatly humbled them, the higher God has raised them, the lower they have laid themselves before him. Thus did Jacob when God had given him much substance: "And Jacob said, I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and all the truth which thou has showed thy servant; for with my stuff I passed over this Jordan, and am now become two bands." Thus also it was with holy David; when God had confirmed the promise to him, to build him a house, and not to reject him as he did Saul, he goes in before the Lord and says, "Who am I, and what is my father's house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?" So indeed God required. When Israel brought to him the first fruits of Canaan, they were to say, "A Syrian ready to perish was my father," &c. Do others raise God the higher for his raising them? and the more God raises me, the more shall I bless him and exalt myself? O how wicked is such conduct as this!
(2.) Others have freely ascribed the glory of all their enjoyments to God, and magnified not themselves, but him, for their mercies. Thus says David, "Let thy name be magnified and the house of thy servant be established." He does not fly upon the mercy and suck out its sweetness, looking no further than his own comfort: no, he cares for no mercy except God be magnified in it. So when God had delivered him from all his enemies he says, "The Lord is my strength and my rock, he is become my salvation." Saints of old did not put the crown upon their own heads as I do by my vanity.
(3.) The mercies of God have been melting mercies unto others, melting their souls in love to the God of their mercies. When Hannah received the mercy of a son, she said, "My soul rejoiceth in the Lord;" not in the mercy, but in the God of the mercy. So also Mary: "My soul doth magnify the Lord; my spirit rejoiceth in God my Saviour." The word signifies to make more room for God; their hearts were not contracted, but the more enlarged to God.
(4.) The mercies of God have been great restraints to keep others from sin. "Seeing thou, our God, hast given us such a deliverance as this, should we again break thy commandments?" Ingenious souls have felt the force of the obligations of love and mercy upon them.
(5.) The mercies of God to others have been as oil to the wheels of their obedience, and made them more fit for service. Now if mercies work contrarily upon my heart, what cause have I to be afraid that they come not to me in love? It is enough to damp the spirits of any saint, to see what sweet effects mercies have had upon others, and what bitter effects upon him.—Flavel.
On Magnifying Injuries
Every man magnifies the injuries he has received, and lessens those he has inflicted.
Reform, Not Merely Control
Traits of character which you seek to control, you had better seek to reform.
Marks or Characteristics of Perfect Love.
If the doctrine of Holiness or Christian Perfection is true, then it will follow that it is our duty and privilege, even in the present life, to realize in our own souls the fulfillment of that great command, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart." In other words, we must possess what may properly be called perfect love. Accordingly it becomes a very important and interesting inquiry. When can our love properly be said to be perfect? It will be our object in the remarks which follow, to endeavor to answer this inquiry.
In the first place, perfect love, (that is to say, such love as our Saviour requires us to exercise,) implies the removal or extinction of all selfishness. So long as there is selfishness in the heart, even in the least degree, there cannot be that perfect love which Christ requires. But in making this statement we ought perhaps to keep in mind the distinction, which mental philosophers make between self-love and selfishness. Self-love is the name for that implanted desire of happiness, which is natural to the human mind; and which, in its legitimate exercise, can never fail to be approved by the great Being who implanted it; selfishness, considered as a state of the mind, is the undue, excessive or inordinate exercise of the principle of self-love; an exercise which is inconsistent with the claims of our fellow men upon us, and particularly the claims of our heavenly Father. Selfishness, therefore, must be removed from the heart before there can be perfect love.
In the second place, there must be not only a removal or extinction of that which is opposite to love; but also the affirmative or positive existence of love itself in the soul. But the question arises here, What is love? It may perhaps be difficult to define this state of mind with much exactness; but we find on a careful examination of it, that it is susceptible of being resolved into two elements: first, a complacency or pleasure in the mere contemplation of the object which is loved, and, second, a desire of good to that object. We are not only pleased with the object, which is one thing; but we desire also, which is of still greater moment, to co-operate with it in its own personal plans of action and happiness.
We now proceed to inquire, when this love may be regarded as perfect; in other words, When shall we know, or at least have reasonable grounds to believe, that we fulfill in our own hearts that great and excellent command, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and soul and mind and strength?
Love to a human object, it will be remembered, embraces two things: first, a pleasure or complacency in the object, and second, a desire to do good to that object. When speaking of God, who sustains to us a relation higher and different from that sustained by human beings, we may with propriety alter the form of expression slightly, although with essentially the same idea at the bottom, and say that love to God embraces two things: first, a pleasure or complacency in his character, and second, a desire to promote his glory. Accordingly the first mark of perfect love to God is an entire approbation of and delight in his character in all respects. In other words, approving and complacent emotion, without the least intermixture of doubt and dissatisfaction, arise in view of his power and justice, as well as of his goodness and mercy, so that we delight truly and continually in his whole character, and in all the exhibitions of his character, as they are actually made known to us in the Holy Scriptures or in any other way. A second mark of perfect love is, the existence of a desire to promote his glory, which is the other higher and more decisive characteristic of this complex mental state, in such a degree, that we are not conscious of having any desire or will at variance with the will of God. In other words, it is our sincere and constant desire to do and to suffer in all things the will of God. When such is the case, when there is an entire and cordial acquiescence of our own will to the will of God both to do and to suffer, we have the second mark, and probably we may add, the most important and satisfactory one, that our love is perfect. The nature of the human mind is such, that we never can have an entire and cordial acquiescence in the will of God in all things, without an antecedent approval of and complacency in his character and administration. Accordingly the second mark, viz., a will entirely accordant with and lost in the will of God, is of itself sufficient. And by this, as I suppose, we may know, whether love is or is not perfect.
We may perhaps illustrate this view of the subject, by what we sometimes notice in the various forms and degrees of filial love. We will take, in the first place, the case of a child, who is sincerely attached to his father, but who, as we sometimes express it, exhibits "a will of his own." This child undoubtedly loves his father very much; but at the same time he does not always do with entire pleasure and readiness that which his father wishes him to do. He sometimes hesitates, exhibits a clouded brow, or utters an impatient expression, when certain things are required of him. He has certain little objects of his own which he is very much attached to; and if his father's plans happen to cross and oppose them, he exhibits in a greater or less degree, a disposition to set up for himself and to rebel. And when he outwardly obeys, it is found that he does it reluctantly, and not with a will harmonizing and blending with the paternal will. Now we say very truly that this child loves his father—perhaps he loves him very much—and yet it is clear he does not love him perfectly. But when we see a child who is happy only when he sees his father happy; whose delight it is to anticipate the father's wishes; whose will, by a sort of instinctive tendency, is invariably and powerfully united and blended with the paternal will, so that the least opposition between the two wills is a source of the greatest grief to him, we at once feel, and cannot help feeling, that the love of such a child may properly be called perfect.
What other idea of perfection of love can we have than this? His heart is made one with another heart, and what could we ask for more? Thus then is the true mark of perfection in Christian love; viz., an entire coincidence of our own wills with the will of God; a full and hearty substitution of the divine mind in the place of our own minds; the rejection of the natural principle of life, and the adoption of the heavenly principle of life; the expulsion of self from the heart, and the enthronement of God there as its everlasting sovereign. This view, which is practically a very important one, seems to be confirmed by what the Saviour says of himself in a number of passages. John vi, 38. "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." John iv, 34. "Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work." Heb. x. 9. "Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." The same idea, viz., that perfection of Christian love exists, and exists only in connection with a will united to and perfectly coincident with the will of God, is conveyed in that interesting passage, [Mark iii, 34, 35.] "And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister and mother." Matt. vii, 21. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the will of my Father which is in heaven."
A number of inferences follow from these views.
First, A person who has perfect love will love his Bible above all other books. It will be dear to his heart, an inexpressible treasure. And the reason is obvious. It is because in the Bible he learns the will of God, which he delights, more than in anything else, to do and to suffer.
Second, Perfect love will exhibit a trait of permanency and perseverance under the most trying circumstances. Our fears and hopes vary; our joys and sorrows vary; but we may reasonably expect that perfect love will continue the same. There is no reason why it should change, since the object at which it aims is the same with the immutable will of God. Accordingly, when in the providence of God we are afflicted, our joys will be less, but there will be no diminution of love. Joy flourishes in the sunshine, but love grows and flourishes in the storm also. God may hide his face from us, but hearts of love still look in that direction where his face is. The Saviour on a certain occasion was greatly afflicted. His language was, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." His joy was taken from him, but his love remained. He could still say while he prayed that the cup might, if possible, pass from him, "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."
Third, We are not at liberty to give up our hope of exercising an acceptable love to God, because we are tempted, tired, afflicted, or called in any way whatever to suffering, so long as we can truly say with our blessed Saviour, "Not as I will, but as thou wilt." So long as we can say this, "Our life is hid with Christ in God," we are safe in him; and in our troubles, although we may not have raptures, we shall have peace, abiding peace, such as the world knows not of. And when the day of our visitation is passed, when the light of the divine countenance shines through the clouds which he had pleased to throw around us, and we hear the saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant," which we shall sometimes hear, even in the present life, that peace will swell up into a full and solid strain of joy.
Fourth, We shall love the brethren with peculiar strength. Perfect love is the image of Christ in the soul; and wherever we see that image, in whatever denomination of Christians, our hearts will recognize the divine relationship, and rejoice in it. Without this strong love to those who bear the divine image, we may be sure that our love is not perfect. It is God's great work, and highest delight, to create this image in the hearts of men, and if our will is swallowed up in his will, we shall rejoice in it in some degree as he does, and shall know the delightful meaning of those numerous passages of scripture which speak of the love of Christians to each other.—Christian Perfection.
The Danger of the World
The Danger of the World.—The world twines itself about the soul, as a serpent about an eagle, to hinder its flight upward, and to sting it to death.
A Thought of Martin Luther
A THOUGHT OF MARTIN LUTHER.—Luther remarked, that there were three things on which he could not bear to dwell, without Christ; viz., his sins, death, and the day of Judgment.
The Proof of a True Rose Tree
One rose upon a bush, though but a little one, proves that which bears it to be a true rose-tree.