Your ShelfYour Projects

Review and Herald, Vol. 46, No. 4.

Constantine the Great: Who Was He?

Review and Herald

Jul 22, 1875

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 22, 1875

Constantine the Great: Who Was He?

By Joseph Harvey Waggoner

CONSTANTINE.—NO. 1.

BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.
There are few names which have been favored with greater celebrity for a thousand years past than the name of Constantine. Almost all classes have united in styling him “the great,” though they have not always agreed as to the reasons why he should bear the title, yet all agree that he was a man of no ordinary ability, a brave and successful general, and a shrewd and politic statesman. Some have also given him credit for the qualities of a sincere and earnest Christian, but in this there is little agreement. The number of authors, that is, of creditable historians, who account him a Christian is by no means large.
Constantine was born in A. D. 272. He was proclaimed emperor upon the death of his father in 306, at the age of thirty-four. For six years he was not fully established in the empire. Maxentius claimed or usurped dominion in Italy. He was defeated in 312, after which Constantine had sole authority. He died in 337, aged 65. Hence “the age of Constantine” properly dates from 306 to 337—a period of thirty-one years.
His father was at least lenient toward Christianity, if not favorable to it, and enacted laws of toleration. His mother was a believer in the Christian religion, which fact may have had much to do with the mild and tolerant course of his father. His mother has by some been esteemed as a devout and intelligent Christian; while others have considered her a religious enthusiast or bigoted fanatic, full of the superstition of those times. The times in which she lived, and especially the court influences by which she was surrounded, were not favorable to the development of a high type of Christianity; and the manner in which she treated the supposed “relics” which she found in Jerusalem, or pretended to find there, shows that she was easily deceived, or tried to deceive others. She is also supposed to have molded the mind of Constantine in favor of Christianity. But that is to be doubted, as he appears to have been actuated entirely by State policy in his first efforts in favor of the Christian religion. Or, if he was at all influenced by her position as a believer, it was no more than to this extent, that he was willing to place Christ among the gods, without according to him any supremacy. That Constantine did, for a long time, hold the Saviour in this relation, is testified by many historians.
There is no room to doubt that, in the minds of many religious theorists, Constantine has occupied a position which does not at all belong to him. This false view has been aided by a few authors of the fourth century. A man is not always most correctly judged in his own day. In the case of Constantine, some, of those whose writings concerning him have come down to us, were his flatterers, and were dazzled by the splendor of his court or by the richness of his favors. But they were mostly blinded by the benefit which they supposed he conferred on the cause of Christianity. Some of them held him up as worthy to be classed with the apostles! When such senseless adulation is indulged in we must use judgment to glean the truth from a field fruitful of error.
After ages, beholding the consequences of his course, the formality and hypocrisy which were introduced by his adopting Christianity as the religion of the empire, and being beyond the influence of the gaudy tinsel which he threw over that religion, by which its loveliness was obscured instead of being increased, others have been better able to discern the motives which led to many of his acts; and they have discovered that he was not so much the adherent to real Christianity as the patron of a religious system which was likely to give strength to his empire and to add glory to his reign.
It must not, however, be inferred that it was left altogether to after ages to settle the question that he was not a true Christian. Some in his own day were amazed at the extent of his crimes. But we can easily believe it was not considered prudent to say much to disparage a monarch so illustrious, and so jealous of his fame and reputation. It is a truth learned from observation of all ages that they who exert the greatest influence in molding public opinion are generally the interested ones, who are the most likely to mislead, and by reason of whom the more candid are held in check, or, as is often the case, the testimony of the latter class is withheld for a time from view. Also, in judging of the merits of powerful monarchs we must remember that flatterers and sycophants are the only ones who are generally admitted to their presence. They who are too upright to dissemble soon give offense, and are dismissed from the courts in disgrace, if not condemned to death as criminals, or as men dangerous to the peace of the State.
In offering historical evidence of the character of Constantine, instead of being crippled for want of testimony, we may need to apologize for offering so much. We desire the reader to bear in mind that the name and influence of Constantine have been used to give weight to certain innovations in the church, and there may be some who will be interested to bring in question the facts presented. Inasmuch as we have taken upon us to give a historical view of these things, we have deemed it fitting our purpose to cite authorities to such an extent that it may appear to all that we are moving on safe ground, and that our statements are not to be disputed as the opinions of a few, or of a minority.
As a man fitted to govern an empire, or, in a worldly view, merely, Constantine would not stand much behind the first rulers of Rome. Mercy, and even justice, was not often to be found in the breasts of emperors, not even for their own kindred and families, when they stood in the way of their ambitious schemes. Constantine, instead of being an exception in this respect, was jealous, cold, and vindictive. His own wife and offspring were sacrificed, apparently without compunction, to his selfishness and ambition. Even the heathen were shocked at his crimes, especially at the causeless murder of an amiable son, and considered him beyond the reach of pardon.
But our chief interest in Constantine is in regard to his relation to the cause of the Christian religion. Were we to confine ourselves to the best accredited facts of his profession of Christianity, we should notice his life only from 323 to 337, a period of fourteen years. But there has been made a strong effort to present him as a conscientious disciple, as well as the courtly patron of Christianity, from the time of his battle with Maxentius. And it has been claimed that the most remarkable event of his life took place at that time, which directly led to his reception of Christianity. We refer to the reputed vision of the cross. There is, however, no need to distinguish between particular periods in his life; as historians are well agreed that his selfishness and his crimes were increased rather than diminished, after his profession of Christianity.
Eusebius, bishop and historian, is more than all others relied upon to prove the excellent character of Constantine, and the great service rendered to the cause of Christianity. But it will be shown by unquestionable testimony and evident considerations that he was biased by court favors, and, like most of the eminent men of the church of that day, considered the favors shown to himself as so much in favor of the cause he professed. Passing from an age of bitter persecution, none of them seemed to realize that there could be any motive but to glorify God which could lead to the toleration, not to say to the upholding, of a religion which had been so deeply despised. The Scripture says, A gift blindeth the wise. Constantine was not slow to attach to his court eminent dignitaries by such means. Nor were the ambitious bishops, who were already full of jealousy against each other, slow to accept the favor of the emperor and turn it to their own advantage. Eusebius was a favorite of Constantine, and in turn became his adulatory. He could not, indeed, be blind to his faults, nor ignorant of his crimes; but in some instances he passed over the more flagrant of them without notice, showing more of the politician and courtier than of the faithful historian. To such a degree did he manifest this disposition to gloss the character of his hero, as to greatly damage his writings as historical evidence, and to bring upon himself the condemnation of just and discriminating minds.
Lest the readers who have not extensively examined this subject should think we are speaking in strong terms, we will at once proceed to lay before them some statements which we have gathered from credible and reputable sources. Without pretending to exhaust the evidence we shall present enough to satisfy all that we have good reason for the remarks which we have here made.
It will be remembered that Constantine fought the decisive battle with Maxentius in 312 under the banner of the cross. Yet there are few who pretend to think that he had any faith as a Christian at that time. It was a superstitious notion with him, believing as he did in a diversity of gods, among whom he reckoned Christ. And thus Mosheim viewed him, as the following from his Historical Commentaries will show:—
“If that man is a Christian who thinks the Christian’s manner of worshiping God is a good and holy one, then I have no doubt that Constantine was, at that time, a Christian. But if no man should be called a Christian, unless he believes that Christianity is the only true religion, and that all other religions are false, then I suppose Constantine became a Christian at a later period.” —Pages 459.
There is strong reason to doubt that Constantine ever became a Christian in that sense unless it was a short time before his death. Stanley has the following striking passage:—
“We may remember the striking remarks of Niebuhr: ‘Many judge of Constantine by too severe a standard, because they regard him as a Christian; but I cannot look upon him in that light. The religion which he had in his head must have been a strange jumble indeed. * He was a superstitious man, and mixed up his Christian religion with all kinds of absurd superstitions and opinions. When certain oriental writers call him equal to the apostles, they do not know what they are saying; and to speak of him as a saint is a profanation of the word.’” —Pages 292.
Mosheim was not wont to speak harshly of Constantine, yet he speaks as follows of his favors to the Christians, for which a few have been willing to think that he was a true believer in their religion:—
“Constantine, therefore, in obedience to the commands of his father, as he himself admits in his edict preserved by Eusebius, wished to be accounted a worshiper of the one God. And yet, when occasion seemed to require it, and lest he should alienate the minds of the people and soldiers from him, he supplicated the gods, gave thanks to them, and offered them sacrifices and gifts. Such being the character of Constantine, before his conversion to Christianity, I fully believe that the favors he conferred on the Christians, from the very commencement of his reign, did not proceed either from his humanity and justice, or from any love for the Christian religion, but were owing solely to his desire to establish his own authority in the empire.—Hist. Com.*, p. 450.”},{

Signs of Earth's Unrest and Coming Judgment

HAVE the thunders ceased to hurtle Through the dim and lurid sky? Are the hands of nations clasped In perennial amity?
Has the dawn of glory, sighed for By the poet and the sage, Ushered in the tearless morning Of an endless, happy age?
Has the sea of earth’s commotion Lulled in ever-during calm? Shall the nations rest in peace In the shadow of the palm?
Has, to dwell in darksome cavern, War, the demon, fled confounded, And the jubilee of mankind Over hill and valley sounded?
No! the voice of murder shrieks Through the solitude and city; No! beside the couch of death Wails the tender voice of pity;
No! in echoes terrible, Voice to voice responsive rings From the smoldering plains of Poland, From the congress of the kings;
No! resounds the throbbing West From its rocky heights and llanos; No! reply the leaping fire-gleams From a hundred hushed volcanoes.
Soon the hypocrite shall see Falsehood’s refuge overflowed, For the heavy cloud of judgment Quivers with its thunder loud.
Soon with messages of woe, Europe’s telegraphs shall tremble; Soon in battle’s dark array Armageddon’s hosts assemble;
Marshaled soon beneath his banner, Antichrist’s vast armies be, Like the hissing, heaving billows Of a dark and surging sea.
Climb the watch-tower, O believer! Take the telescope in hand, And the glimmering horizon Of the Orient sky command;
There, beyond the brooding darkness, There, beyond the ocean strife, Thou shalt catch a streak of radiance, Herald of a world’s new life,
When the blooms of paradise Once again shall scent our clime, And the storm and mist forever Vanish from the hills of time,
When from a descending city, Angel melodies shall ring, Hill and valley shout, Hosannah! Glory to the coming King!
—Prophetic Times.

THE RESURRECTION.

By George I. Butler

(Continued.)
The prophet Isaiah also had a clear view of the resurrection. “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake, and sing, ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” Isa. 26:19. The connection plainly shows that this will take place in connection with the coming of Christ to judge the world.
How it is that divines can tell us that the Old Testament has left the subject of man’s future state in darkness and uncertainty, in view of such scriptures as these, is a mystery. It can only be accounted for on the ground of their ignorance, or their inability to find anything in it concerning their kind of a future being—a ghostly, fleshless phantom, a nothing, dwelling nowhere. As the Old Testament is confessedly very silent concerning this kind of an existence, some of them have told us man’s future life was nowhere taught in it. But how clearly Isaiah gives the lie to this: “Thy dead men shall live.” Can anything be more emphatic? “Together with my dead body shall they arise.” Ah! those old, worn-out cages of the soul, are coming up, are they? So the prophet says, That body which goes down to the dust, and molders away there, till its original elements become a part of its substance, then, is coming forth. So he tells us, “Awake, and sing, ye that dwell in dust.” “The earth shall cast out the dead.”
We may suppose Isaiah was laid in the earth some twenty-six hundred years ago. It would be difficult for men even to find the place of his sepulture. It has not been known for ages. Not a bone, a sinew, nor the minutest particle of his dust, could be identified to-day by one of the unnumbered millions now living on the earth. But the Almighty God, who could create a universe from nothing, has not lost sight of the remains of his faithful servant. His angels watch his resting-place. He whose eye never sleeps, who notices the little sparrows which fall upon the earth, and numbers even the hairs of our heads, does not lose sight of his faithful children, who have borne the cross in this world of darkness and corruption. When the last trump shall sound, he will send forth his angels to the four winds, and not leave one of them to perish. Then the dust of Isaiah shall come forth. How clear his hope! How strong his conviction! “My dead body shall arise”—his own body which went down to the tomb. Amen and amen. What a cheering thought is this!
The prophet Ezekiel speaks plainly upon this subject in the thirty-seventh chapter of his prophecy. The Spirit of the Lord rested upon him, and he was set down in a valley full of bones which were very dry. He was told to prophesy concerning these bones that they should even live again. And as he prophesied, the bones came together, sinews and flesh came upon them, and skin covered them, but as yet there was no life in them, though all the machinery was in readiness for operation. The prophet is now told to summon the life principle, that it may cause these to live. He does it as follows: “Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, Son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.” He did not say, Come down from Heaven, O immortal soul, and take possession of these tenements, and make them live. He here plainly shows that the life principle is in the breath, that it is the vitalizing air which causes the life currents to thrill through the body—such breath as we draw from the four winds of Heaven.
But, says one, this language of the prophet is a mere parable or representation concerning the houses of Israel, which had waxed weak through decay and persecution, and we should not take such things upon which to found a doctrine. Well, let us see what this representation does mean. We admit that it has reference to Israel, but how? “Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. . . . Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.” It represents, then, the literal resurrection. The bodies of all Israel went down into their graves, and here we have the plain prophecy, that they shall come up out of it alive, and shall inhabit their own land. It is thus that the whole body of spiritual Israel will receive their reward.
Daniel speaks also of a resurrection: “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Dan. 12:2. Here is a resurrection in which both righteous and wicked participate. They come forth from the dust of the earth. They are asleep there. They are not, then, in Heaven or hell. They come forth in order to receive their reward. They could not receive it without thus coming forth from the dust of the earth.
Thus we see how plainly the Old Testament writers taught the resurrection. But the New Testament makes this matter still plainer. Hear the Lord of life and glory: “Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:28, 29. It would be impossible to frame a plainer statement concerning it. It is not some mysterious departure of the immortal spirit out of its earthly habitation, as some try to make themselves believe, dignified by the term resurrection. It is a coming forth from the grave, where the dead bodies have been consigned. All who have ever gone there shall come forth, both the righteous and the wicked.
Christ, when about to call Lazarus forth from the tomb, where he had lain four days, till doubtless the process of decomposition had commenced, said, “I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” He then raised Lazarus as an evidence of his truthfulness, and as an illustration of his power.
But time and space forbid that I should consider a tithe of the testimony on this grand subject. Almost every gospel writer refers to it. It was the grand hope that sustained Paul amid the persecutions he had to meet. He was called in question for this hope, as he states in Acts 24:15, 21. He makes the future life of God’s people turn wholly upon the question of the resurrection of Christ and of the dead. 1 Cor. 15:14–18. He makes the resurrection the very means by which we obtain immortality. “For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” Then the triumphant shout shall go up from all the redeemed, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Thus we see that the fact of a literal resurrection is most clearly stated, a literal coming forth out of the dust of the earth of the bodies which have been consigned to the tomb. A few thoughts concerning their nature and condition after their resurrection will close this article.
GEO. I. BUTLER.
(To be Continued.)

Justifying Jonah.

Jonah’s attempt to run away from the Lord when commanded to go to Nineveh was a foolish and wicked act, all must admit; but there is one thing told of him that is very much to his credit: “He paid his fare” on board the ship that was to bear him away to Tarshish.
To be sure, he was directly disobeying God, and he knew it, but then, he settled his bill with the sea captain. He was leaving that great city wherein were more than sixscore thousand persons to perish unwarned; but he fulfilled his obligations to the ship owners in the matter of passage money. He involved his shipmates in the fearful danger of the storm that was already gathering for his arrest; but he would not cheat them out of their due. He was turning his back upon one of the grandest opportunities ever given to mortal; but he handed over his money at the office like a prince.
He was evidently none of your mean sneaks, who, in running to destruction, try to go as dead-heads. Jonah went on his way like a man.
How often, by some such reasoning as the above, we have heard men make out a good case for themselves or for others in the case of flagrant and atrocious acts. Only yesterday, talking with a young man who has become almost a common drunkard, turning away from home, duty, and great prospects of usefulness, he admitted the evil state of the case, but soon became eloquent over his refusal to play off some wicked joke upon a comrade, and declaring, “You’ll never catch me going back on a fellow like that,” became apparently as self-complacent as if the score was fully righted.
A man passes me often who frequently speaks of his present deplorable condition, especially if a little the worse for liquor; but swears he is no hypocrite; “all the bad there is in old J—, he shows right out.” And he uses this single virtue to cover the destruction of home, family, and manhood.
A woman often admits to me the neglect of duties that she owes to God, herself and household, but gains a modicum of comfort from the fact that she “always goes to church, rain or shine.”
I know a young man who refused to obey the call of God, as clearly given as was ever that to Jonah, and is satisfying conscience by the assurance of honesty in a very different and self-appointed sphere.
There is much of this Jonah business on every hand. Men are sharp in their dealings, even to rank dishonesty, but they will talk well and profess better. They cheat and shave on the right hand and the left, but they found a scholarship or seminary, endow a college, or build a church. They are debauched in life, and help to debase their circle; but they are generous-hearted fellows. They are helping to undermine every good institution in a community; but they are kind and obliging neighbors. They bribe and buy their places of power and honor; but then, they are on our side, sound on the main issue. They kill men with bludgeons, shoot them with concealed weapons, but they were once good Sabbath-school boys, or have a frank and interesting countenance.
Because the men that cheat, swindle, and murder us, are possessed of some single excellent virtue, we are asked to set it over against their many nefarious acts and terrible failures in character and life, and call it even.
Well, if the Lord is satisfied we will try to be. How is it? We read that in, spite of all this honesty and promptness in the payment of his bill, a great wind was sent out into the sea that would not subside until the runaway was thrown overboard, and brought to terms; teaching, as it would seem, by the voice of the wind and the waves that a man needs something more than a single virtue to justify him before his Maker. Not that we would underrate or despise the admirable traits that sometimes appear in wicked and debased lives; we only utter our protest against the attempt, so often made, to make them atone for the sin and failure by which they are surrounded.
It would seem as if we were in a measure all associated together in this; poor Jonahs, all of us, satisfied with one little pet virtue, that blooms, perhaps, like a flower adorning a corpse. One has faith, or what passes for it; Peter tells us to add to it virtue, but the possessor is satisfied without any addition, and becomes, and continues, a dawdler. One has vim or virtue, storms around, and tramps rough-shod over the sensibilities of finer natures. The apology offered for all the unnecessary pain inflicted is, “I am always pretty plain spoken, and believe in giving my mind.” And it is fully expected that this excellence of plain speech will excuse all the harshness with which it was uttered and the suffering it caused.
The way we help one another to this same self-complacency over small virtues cherished in the midst of flagrant wrong is, perhaps, the worst part of the story.
Suppose, when the prophet was thrown overboard, in the storm of which we read, the whale had not swallowed him and carried him safely to the land, but he had been thoroughly and terribly drowned, his body thrown upon the beach, dead, and some of us ministers had been called to preach his funeral sermon, don’t you think we could have made enough of that one virtue to have rounded Jonah up into a perfect character?
Of course we should have passed lightly over his rank disobedience, making some general remarks upon the difficulty of always recognizing duty; the cruelty of leaving a great city unwarned of its impending destruction would not be dwelt upon; the meanness of involving others in the destruction that was seeking him would be passed over altogether; but when we came to that fare business, now look out for enlargement. An honest act! Honesty, a good thing in itself, helps to keep business upon a sure basis. This act revealed an admirable character, showed that the man had regard for the rights of his fellows, etc.
If we remember rightly, we have heard funeral discourses that were on some such plan as that. They were like a pyramid standing on its apex; very satisfactory, without doubt, to the minister as a work of art; very consoling, it is to be hoped, to the friends; but very false and dangerous in the eyes of everybody else.
Not that we would have had Jonah’s grand mistake and sin dwelt upon over his dead body, provided he had died; but least of all would we have conveyed in funeral discourses, or in any other manner, the impression that a single virtue atones for a life of disobedience, or can take the place of fellowship with God,and whole-hearted service of our fellow-men. If, by reason of imperfect knowledge and feeble authority, we cannot imitate the beautiful truthfulness of Scripture in setting forth men’s faults, we can, at all events, in its simple and honest treatment of their virtues.—Sel.

Christian Life Naturally Overflows in Good Works

The sun is full of heat and light, and it asks no questions as to how it shall do good, but is perpetually pouring out its golden flood. The spring that sparkles at the foot of the hill is full; and asking leave of no one, is forever welling forth its sweet waters. So the Christian, if only full of love of God and man, and shedding around him benign influences, as a natural result, cannot help doing good.

“I Will Come Again.”

By R. Tuttle

What could have been more cheering to the disciples of Christ than the promise, “I will come again”? The Saviour whom they loved was going away. For three years he had been with them. He had healed their sick and lame, opened the ears of the deaf and the eyes of the blind, taught in their synagogues and in their streets, raised the dead and given them back to their sorrowing friends, fed the hungry, and taught all the things concerning the kingdom of Heaven.
They had learned to love him and confide in him as their friend and comforter, and when he told them, “Now I go my way to Him that sent me,” sorrow filled their hearts. Jesus loved his disciples too well to leave them without hope, alone and sorrowing; therefore he said, “It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”
But the promise of “another Comforter” is not enough. They have been with Jesus and have loved him. They have listened to and marveled at the “gracious words” which fell from his lips. And now the assurance, “I go away” but send “another Comforter,” could never satisfy their longing hearts. But the promise, “I will come again,” is sufficient. This is just what they want; just what meets the desire of each heart. The “same Jesus” who called them away from their ships and fishing nets to preach the gospel of the kingdom is the one they most desire. And the “same Jesus” who was the desire of his disciples then is the desire of his people now.
When Jesus left earth for his home in Heaven, God sent his angels to assure the disciples of his return to receive them to himself; and while the Saviour was taken up from them, and a cloud received him out of their sight, the angels said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Having received this assurance, they return to Jerusalem to await the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus said should “guide them into all truth.” How carefully the Lord has guarded his truth! And yet there are people who think God is not very particular about his word. “It makes no difference,” say they, “what we believe if we are only honest,” which is equivalent to saying, “God does not care whether we believe him or the devil, if we are only honest.”
Oh, that such would pause and think! Does not God care? Then why turn Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden because they believed Satan? Why curse the ground for man's sake? Why send his only begotten Son to suffer and die, if simply being “honest” in any sort of belief will save us? Or why should Paul be so careful in writing to Timothy to exhort him: “Study to show thyself approved unto God, . . . rightly dividing the word of truth”? And again, “I charge thee therefore before God: . . . Preach the word.” What word? The verse above quoted explains—“the word of truth.” What is truth? Let Christ answer. In his prayer to his Father, he says, “Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth.” John 17:17.
The doctrine of sanctification is plainly taught in the Bible. Christ would have his people sanctified; but it must be “through the truth.” “If ye continue in the truth, the truth shall make you free;” that is, free from sin and the condemnation brought upon us by belief in the lie Satan told in the garden of Eden. “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house forever; but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:32–36. If we, by believing and obeying God's word, are made free through faith in his Son, then are we “free indeed.” But if we continue in sin and unbelief of the word of the Father, we may have great faith in the Son, but it is of no avail. Without obedience to God, we cannot hope for his salvation.
What greater sin could the Jews have committed than to reject and crucify the Son of God? and what greater sin can people of this enlightened age commit than to reject the truth for the last days? God cares for his truth. He would have his people “magnify and make it honorable.” We can do this in no other way than by obeying all his requirements.
Paul teaches us that without holiness no man shall see the Lord. But how are we to become holy? Says Jesus, “Now are ye clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” But how can we become clean through the word except by believing and obeying? And by so doing we shall find perfect freedom from sin, and holiness, “without which no man shall see the Lord.” If there is one truth which is more than another an incentive to holiness, it is found in the words, “I will come again.” Says John, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” 1 John 3:2, 3.
Again, Peter, speaking of the coming of Christ and the destruction of the world, says, “Seeing that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless.” 2 Pet. 3:11–14.
Here, then, in the belief in the coming of Christ, the very doctrine above all others displeasing to the popular church (unless it be the Sabbath truth), we find a hope which will cause people to purify themselves “even as He is pure.” Why talk of sanctification, and then reject the very truth which sanctifies? Why preach holiness and then say, “My Lord delayeth his coming”? Why talk of purity and reject the hope that will cause a man to purify himself?
“I will come again.” Yes; soon the opening heavens will reveal the Son of man in all his glory, and the voice which once pierced the tomb of Lazarus, calling him forth to life, will reach the graves of all the holy sleeping ones, bidding them come forth to life eternal—to a seat at his right hand, where there are pleasures for evermore.
“Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
R. TUTTLE.
Continue reading: Good News!