October 1, 1894

What Manner of Persons Ought Ye to Be?

EGW

God is the Governor of the universe. He has put everything under law. Everything in the natural world is under law, from the tiniest flower of the garden to the mighty cedars of Lebanon. The beasts of the fields obey God's law. The ocean obeys his mandate, “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.” When God speaks to man, his voice is to be heard, and his word is to be obeyed. Man is an intelligent being, and has a mind by which to understand God's will, and a conscience by which to feel his accountability. He has a heart with which to love the law of God, which is holy and just and good. But God compels no man to do him honor, and to render obedience to his law. Compulsion is the work of Satan and his agents.ST October 1, 1894, par. 1

As intelligent creatures we may know and do the will of God, or we may stubbornly refuse to submit our finite will to the will of the Infinite. This responsibility that is placed upon us should fill us with a sense of awe. The requirement of God to us is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” On these two principles hang all the law and the prophets; and it is for our present and eternal interest to have a proper understanding of the far-reaching principles of the law of God. “By the law is the knowledge of sin,” and “sin is the transgression of the law.” Sinners must know what is sin before they can have a desire to be rid of sin. It is a matter of eternal interest that we do not misconceive this vital question. When appeals are made in the pulpits of our land, and sinners are invited to repent and to be converted, it is the privilege of the sinner to inquire, What is sin? This we must know, for it is at the peril of our souls that we continue in sin. The apostle gives us light on this subject, and says, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law.”ST October 1, 1894, par. 2

Christ was manifested to take away our sins, and in him was no sin. But were the law abolished, as some claim, we would have no need of a Saviour to take away sin, for “where there is no law, there is no transgression.” “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law; for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came [home to the conscience], sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which [if obeyed] was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is [a yoke of bondage, against me, and something to be trampled underfoot because it points out my sins?—No.] holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin.”ST October 1, 1894, par. 3

But though we are carnal, we are to reckon ourselves “dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.... But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.... But now being made free from sin, and become servants of God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected; hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning.”ST October 1, 1894, par. 4

In order that there might be no mistake, and no excuse for disobedience, the apostle makes it very plain as to what commandments are to be regarded,—“an old commandment which ye had from the beginning.” In this reference to the law of Jehovah he carries the mind back to the commandment which is a memorial of the creation of the world, when by his work on the six days, and his rest on the seventh, God laid the foundation for the Sabbath. When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy, God placed the fourth commandment in the bosom of the Decalogue. In this commandment a special charge is given to “remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Then follow the reasons for this special charge: “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 manservant, nor thy maidservant, 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.”ST October 1, 1894, par. 5

In the fourth commandment we have the fact set forth that the Maker of heaven and earth is the true God. “But the world in its wisdom knew not God.” There is much wisdom in our world, but men, proud in their knowledge, do not employ their wisdom as did Daniel. They do not behold the beauty, the majesty, the justice, the goodness of God. They do not see the wisdom and holiness of his truth in his law, which is the transcript of his character.ST October 1, 1894, par. 6

If those who believed in God during the old dispensation were enjoined to arise and shine, how much greater is the obligation today to arise and shine, when our light is brighter, and shines with clearer and more steady rays. Our obligation to shed forth light is as much greater than was the obligation of the people of ancient times, as our light is more clear and definite. “The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” The disciples of Christ are to make him known to the world. We have reasoning faculties, and as our capacity increases as we improve upon the talents that God has given us, we should gather up the divine rays of light that patriarchs, prophets, and apostles have left to us as hereditary trusts, and should still continue to seek for truth as for hidden treasure. We are called upon of God to let the light which he has given us shine forth in clear and steady rays. Everyone who believes in Christ as the light of the world is to be as a lighthouse on a dangerous coast, sending forth bright rays of light to warn souls, lest they make shipwreck of faith. But instead of thus shining, there are thousands who are living a godless, Christless, worldly life, whose names are registered upon the church books as Christians. They believe about Christ, but they do not believe in him.ST October 1, 1894, par. 7

He who obeys the law through the imputed righteousness of Christ, meets every claim that the Bible presents; but he who sets himself above God, and tramples upon his law, and still professes to be a child of God, is working on the enemy's side of the controversy. In our day, even from the pulpits of our land, professed ministers of the gospel are, as were the Pharisees, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. The only safety for the soul at this time is to inquire at every step, What saith the Lord to his servant? The word of the Lord endureth forever. The Bible is to be our guidebook, and instead of consulting the wisdom of men, and accepting as divine truth the assertions of finite mortals, we should search the sure word of prophecy. God has spoken, and his word is reliable, and we must rest our faith upon a “Thus saith the Lord.” God would have us study the events that are taking place around us, and compare them with the predictions of his word, in order that we may understand that we are living in the last days. We want our Bibles, and we want to know what is written therein. The diligent student of prophecy will be rewarded with clear revelations of truth, for Jesus said, “Thy word is truth.”ST October 1, 1894, par. 8

Those who profess to be followers of Christ will be found guilty before God unless they are laborers together with God, and earnestly seek to lift up their fellow-men. Prophecy is rapidly fulfilling; and all men are ranging under their chosen standards. One class are preparing to be used of the Holy Spirit, and another class are ranging under the black banner of the prince of evil. This class have no love for either God or their fellow-men, and Satan uses them as vessels to honor himself. The very atmosphere of our world is tainted with physical and spiritual miasma. The principles of truth are corrupted. God has been dishonored, his law has been transgressed, and the earth has become defiled under the inhabitants thereof, and the vials of the wrath of God will be poured out upon the world.ST October 1, 1894, par. 9

Calamities by land and sea, by fire and flood, by pestilence and famine, by horrible accidents, by earthquakes in divers places, all testify in unmistakable language that the end of all things is at hand, and that great Babylon is coming into remembrance before God. The Lord is even at the door, and men's hearts are failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which shall come upon the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. But there is a defense for those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. The prophet declares, “Thy righteousness shall go before thee.” Whose righteousness?—The righteousness of Christ. And he continues, “The glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward.” “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.” “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then 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?”ST October 1, 1894, par. 10