Sinfulness of the Flesh- A.T. Jones

 'THERE is a serious and very bothersome mistake, which is made by many persons.

That mistake is made in thinking that when they are converted, their old sinful flesh is blotted out. In other words, they make the mistake of thinking that they are to be delivered from the flesh by having it taken away from them altogether. Then, when they find that this is not so, when they find that the same old flesh, with its inclinations, its besetments, and its enticements, is still there, they are not prepared for it, and so become discouraged, and are ready to think that they never were converted at all. And yet, if they would think a little, they ought to be able to see that that is all a mistake. Did you not have exactly the same body after you were converted that you had before? Was not that body composed of exactly the same material—the same flesh and bones and blood—after you were converted as that of which it was composed before? To these questions everybody will promptly say Yes. And plainly that is the truth. And now there are further questions: Was not that flesh also of exactly the same quality as before? Was it not still human flesh, natural flesh, as certainly as it was before?—To this also everybody will say Yes. Then also a still further question: It being the same flesh, and of the same quality,—it still being human flesh, natural flesh,—is it not also still just as certainly sinful flesh as it was before? Just here is where creeps in the mistake of these many persons. To this last question they are inclined to think that the answer should be “No,” when it must be only a decided “Yes.” And this decided “Yes” must be maintained so long as we continue in this natural body. And when it is decided and constantly maintained that the flesh of the converted person is still sinful flesh, and only sinful flesh, he is so thoroughly convinced that in his flesh dwells no good thing that he will never allow a shadow of confidence in the flesh. And this being so, his sole dependence is upon something other than the flesh, even upon the Holy Spirit of God; his source of strength and hope is altogether exclusive of the flesh, even in Jesus Christ only. And being everlastingly watchful, suspicious, and thoroughly distrustful of the flesh, he never can expect any good thing from that source, and so is prepared by the power of God to beat back and crush down without mercy every impulse or suggestion that may arise from it; and so does not fail, does not become discouraged, but goes on from victory to victory and from strength to strength. Conversion, then, you see, does not put new flesh upon the old spirit; but a new Spirit within the old flesh. It does not propose to bring new flesh to the old mind; but a new mind to the old flesh. Deliverance and victory are not gained by having the human nature taken away; but by receiving the divine nature to subdue and have dominion over the human,—not by the taking away of the sinful flesh, but by the sending in of the sinless Spirit to conquer and condemn sin in the flesh. The Scripture does not say, Let this flesh be upon you, which was also upon Christ; but it does say, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:5. The Scripture does not say, Be ye transformed by the renewing of your flesh; but it does say, “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2. We shall be translated by the renewing of our flesh; but we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The Lord Jesus took the same flesh and blood, the same human nature, that we have,—flesh just like our sinful flesh,—and because of sin, and by the power of the Spirit of God through the divine mind that was in him, “condemned sin in the flesh.” Romans 8:3. And therein is our deliverance (Romans 7:25), therein is our victory. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” “A new heart will I give you, and a new Spirit will I put within you.” Do not be discouraged at sight of sinfulness in the flesh. It is only in the light of the Spirit of God, and by the discernment of the mind of Christ, that you can see so much sinfulness in your flesh; and the more sinfulness you see in your flesh, the more of the Spirit of God you certainly have. This is a sure test. Then when you see sinfulness abundant in you, thank the Lord that you have so much of the Spirit of God that you can see so much of the sinfulness; and know of a surety that when sinfulness abounds, grace much more abounds in order that “as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” ' A.T. Jones

Sabbath

 

THOUGHTS ON THE SABBATH  by  J.N. Andrews

 

Those who observe the Sabbath of the Bible, are able to present as its foundation, a divine institution. “God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.” Genesis 2:3. To sanctify is “to separate, set apart, or appoint to a holy, sacred, or religious use.” Webster. It was by this act of the great Creator, that the Sabbath was made for man. Exodus 20:11; Mark 2:27. As God has never taken this blessing from the seventh day, and has never given to secular purposes the day which he here “set apart to a holy use,” the original institution still exists. As he has never sanctified another day as a weekly Sabbath, the Sabbath of the Lord is the only Sabbatic institution. Exodus 20:10.

 

As God made the Sabbath in paradise, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy, it follows that it is not Jewish, not a carnal ordinance, not a yoke of bondage, but a sacred institution made for the well-being of the human family, while yet upright. The great Creator rested first on the seventh day and was refreshed. Exodus 31:17. The Son of God who kept his Father’s commandments, followed this example, [John 15:10; Exodus 20:8-11,] and thus, also, did the entire church so far as inspiration gives us the facts.

 

After giving the institution of the Sabbath, the book of Genesis, in its brief record of 2370 years, does not again mention it. This has been urged as ample proof that those holy men, who during this period were perfect and walked with God in the observance of his commandments, statutes and laws, [Genesis 5:24; 6:9; 26:5,] all lived in open profanation of that day which God had blessed and set apart to a holy use. But the book of Genesis also omits any distinct reference to the doctrine of future punishment, the resurrection of the body, the revelation of the Lord in flaming fire, and the judgment of the great day. Does this silence prove that the patriarchs did not believe these great doctrines? Does it make them any the less sacred?

 

But the Sabbath is not mentioned from Moses to David, a period of five hundred years during which it was enforced by the penalty of death. Does this prove that it was not observed during this period? The jubilee occupied a very prominent place in the typical system, yet in the whole Bible a single instance of its observance is not recorded. What is still more remarkable, there is not on record a single instance of the observance of the great day of atonement, notwithstanding the work in the holiest on that day was the most important service connected with the worldly Sanctuary. And yet the observance of the other and less important festivals of the seventh month, which are so intimately connected with the day of atonement, the one preceding it by ten days, the other following it in five, is repeatedly and particularly recorded. Ezra 3:1-6; Nehemiah 8:2, 9-12, 14-18; 1 Kings 8:2, 65; 2 Chronicles 5:3; 7:8, 9; John 7:2-14, 37. It would be sophistry to say that this silence respecting the day of atonement, when there were so many instances for it to be mentioned, proves that that day was never observed; and yet it is actually a better argument than the similar one urged against the Sabbath from the book of Genesis.

 

The reckoning of time by weeks was established in Genesis 1; 2. This period of time is marked only by the recurrence of the sanctified Rest-day of the Creator. That the patriarchs reckoned time by weeks and by sevens of days, is evident from several texts. Genesis 29:27, 28; 8:10, 12; 7:4, 10; 50:10; Job 2:13. That the reckoning of the week was rightly kept appears evident from the fact that in Exodus 16, Moses on the sixth day declares that “tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord.” Verses 22, 23.

 

But if the opponents of the Sabbath, claim that a knowledge of the true seventh day was lost in the patriarchal age, we will now show that before God gave the ten commandments he pointed out the true seventh day in a manner which could not be mistaken. First. By a direct miracle. God caused the fall of a certain quantity of manna each day of the week to the sixth day when there was a double quantity. Exodus 16:4, 5, 29. Second. On the seventh day, which Moses calls the Sabbath, there was none. Verses 25-27. Third. That which was gathered on the sixth day kept good over the seventh, whereas it would corrupt in the same length of time on other days. Compare verses 23, 24, with verses 19, 20. This three-fold weekly miracle continued the space of forty years. Verse 35; Joshua 5:12. The fact is settled, then, beyond all controversy that the Sabbath of the Lord which was made in Paradise, was here directly pointed out by God himself. And to this important testimony we add the declaration of Nehemiah 9:13, 14, that God made known to Israel his holy Sabbath.

 

No one pretends that the true seventh day was lost by the Jewish church after this. And it is certain that as late as our Lord’s crucifixion they observed the true seventh day. They rested upon the day enjoined in the fourth commandment; namely, the day which the Lord rested upon and hallowed at creation. Luke 23:55, 56; Exodus 20:8-11; Genesis 2:3.

 

Since the record of inspiration closed, the Jews and the Christians, each scattered in every land under heaven, have carefully kept the reckoning of the week. If a mistake in this reckoning had been made, a discrepancy would at once manifest this. For it is certain that every Jew and every Christian under heaven could not at the same time make the same mistake. The fact that there is no such discrepancy is decisive testimony that such mistake has not been made. Consequently we have the true seventh day from creation.

 

When God gave his law in person, in the hearing of the people, by the fourth precept of that law he solemnly enforced the observance of the holy Sabbath. Exodus 20:8-11. In explicit language the great Law-giver states the reason why he made the Sabbath and the time when this act was performed. “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore [i.e., for this reason] the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” This is the reason why God made the Sabbath. It is the same reason that is stated in Genesis 2:3.

 

The act by which God made the Sabbath is here stated with distinctness. It was his act of blessing and hallowing his Rest-day. The time when this act was performed is here given as in Genesis 2:2, 3; namely, the close of the creation week. And it is worthy of note that in thus giving the fourth commandment, God calls the seventh day the Sabbath at the time when he thus placed his blessing upon it. This most effectually shuts the mouths of those who deny the institution of the Sabbath at creation.

 

The great design of the Sabbath was that there might be a standing memorial of God’s act of creation. Its observance would have saved the world from atheism and idolatry; for it has ever pointed back to God, the great first cause; and it has ever pointed out the true God, the great Creator, in distinction from “the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth.”

 

We have now considered three important facts in the history of the Sabbath. First, its institution at creation; second, the fact that the true seventh day was pointed out to Israel; and third, the grand law of the Sabbath, the fourth commandment. As we proceed in this investigation we notice three different Sabbaths. First, the weekly Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day. Exodus 20:10. Second, the annual Sabbaths of the Jews, the first, tenth, fifteenth and twenty-third days of the seventh month. Leviticus 23:24, 27-32, 39. And third, the septennial Sabbath of the land, the seventh year. Leviticus 25:1-7.

 

The Sabbath of the Lord was instituted at creation, and at Sinai was embodied in the royal law, every precept of which according to James 2:8-12, is still binding upon us. But the Sabbaths of the Jews and the Sabbath of the land were instituted in the wilderness, and embodied in the hand-writing of ordinances with the feasts, new-moons and ceremonies of the Jewish church. That hand-writing of ordinances, which was a shadow of good things to come, was nailed to the cross by our Lord, thus taking all these festivals out of the way.

 

The most precious blessings are promised to those who observe the Sabbath of the Lord. Isaiah 56; 58:13, 14. And it is worthy of notice that this prophecy pertains to a period of time when the salvation of the Lord is near to be revealed. Hebrews 9:28; Isaiah 45:17. The blessing is promised to the sons of the stranger, the Gentiles, [Exodus 12:48, 49; Isaiah 14:1; Ephesians 2:12,] as well as to the people of Israel. If they will keep the Sabbath holy unto the Lord while dispersed in the four quarters of the earth, God will bring them again to his holy mountain. The promises here made by the prophet shall be verified when the outcasts of Israel and the sons of the stranger shall come from the east and from the west and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God. Matthew 8:11.

 

Notice the distinction between the Sabbath of the Lord and the Sabbaths of the Jews as presented in the prophets. Of the perpetuity of the former let us judge after reading Isaiah 66:22, 23, where we are informed of its observance in the New Earth. But the Lord assures us by the prophet that the latter shall cease. Hosea 2:11. The fulfillment of this prophecy may be read in Colossians 2:14-17. The weekly Sabbath is styled “the Sabbath of the Lord,” “my Sabbath,” etc. Exodus 20:10; Isaiah 56:4; Ezekiel 20:12-24; 22:8, 26. The annual and septennial Sabbaths are styled “her Sabbaths” and “your Sabbaths.” Hosea 2:11; Leviticus 23:32; 26:34, 35, 43; 2 Chronicles 36:21; Lamentations 1:7.

 

Though the Scriptures nowhere teach or authorize the change of the Sabbath, yet they plainly point out the power that should do this. Let the reader compare Daniel 7:25, with the history of the Papal power, and carefully mark its acts of changing and mutilating the divine constitution, the ten commandments.

 

We have seen the grand law of the Sabbath embodied in the decalogue. We come now to the New Testament. That our Lord did not destroy that law, or lessen our obligation to obey it, he clearly teaches in Matthew 5:17-19. And we may with the utmost safety affirm “that the apostles did not disturb what their Lord left untouched.” Romans 3:31; James 2:8-12. We say therefore that the New Testament teaches the perpetuity of God’s law, and for that reason does not re-enact it.

 

Our Lord came to “magnify the law and make it honorable.” Isaiah 42:21. He kept his Father’s commandments, and solemnly enjoined obedience to them, pointedly rebuking those who made them void that they might keep the traditions of the elders. John 15:10; Matthew 19:16-19; 15:3-9. “The Sabbath was made for man,” says the Saviour, “and not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27. If the Sabbath was made for man, then it belongs alike to Jews and Christians, and to all our race. The statement carries the mind back to the creation of our race and evinces that the Sabbath was made in immediate connection with that event. On the one hand our Lord rebukes the Pharisaic observance of the Sabbath; on the other, he rebukes with equal force that class of modern teachers who affirm that the Sabbath of the Lord which Infinite Wisdom made for man before the fall, was one of those Sabbaths which were against him, contrary to him and taken out of the way at the death of Christ. Colossians 2.

 

The fact that those, who had been with Jesus during his ministry, “rested the Sabbath-day according to the commandment,” after his crucifixion, and resumed labor on the first day of the week [Luke 23:55, 56; 24:1] shows clearly that they knew nothing of the supposed change of the Sabbath. Yet Jesus testifies that all things which he had heard of his Father he had made known unto them. John 15:15. The fact that God has never sanctified the first day of the week shows plainly that it is not sacred time, and not a divinely instituted Sabbath. The fact that God has never required us to rest on that day shows that its observance in the place of the Sabbath of the Lord, is a clear instance of making void the commandments of God to keep the traditions of men. Mark 7:6-13; Proverbs 30:6.

 

That sanctified time exists in the gospel dispensation, or in other words, that there is a day which belongs to God, is clear from Revelation 1:10. That “the Lord’s day,” is the Sabbath-day is plain from Isaiah 58:13. As the Sabbath was made for man, we find it under all dispensations, and in every part of the Bible. Those therefore who profane the Sabbath, sin against God and wound their own souls.

 

J.N.A.

Delight in the LORD!

 

Psa 37:4  Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 

Psa 37:5  Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. 

Psa 37:6  And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. 

Psa 37:7  Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. 

Psa 37:8  Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. 

 

Delight thyself- make yourself happy.

Where do we find happiness?

What is our personal definition of happiness?

One might find happiness in solitude, another among people.

We are told to find our happiness in the LORD.

Whether alone or with others, happy with our situation or not, we are to find our happiness in the LORD and nowhere else.

 

This goes hand in hand with our seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness- Matthew 6:33, doesn't it?

 

And for our searching for God with all our hearts- Jeremiah 29:13

 

Also, for laying up our treasures in heaven- Matthew 6:20

 

Delighting ourselves in the Lord. 

 

Happiness for us is in the Lord.

 

We often take the temporal things surrounding us and try to find happiness with them. We imagine the scenarios in our lives that could finally make us happy.

We remember past happiness and long to go back to it.

We look at the trials and tribulations of our lives, the setbacks, rejections, catastrophes, and dwell on them as if they could interfere with our happiness.

 
IF our happiness is in the LORD, nothing can interfere with that!

 

He is with us whatever our lot in life- horror or contentment.

NOTHING and NO ONE can take the LORD away from us- it is impossible!

 

People can take everything we own, everything we care about, our family, our livelihood, the roof over our heads, they can strip away everything that makes us feel the least bit secure in life. People can imprison us, torture us, destroy all our loved ones, but they cannot remove the LORD from our lives- He's untouchable!

 

The greatest treasure we can ever have in this crazy world is the LORD and nothing and no one can take Him away, not ever, in any circumstance.

 
Is it any wonder we are told to put our treasures in heaven, our heart in heaven, our delight in the LORD?

 

If we TRULY do this, truly delight in the LORD we will be happy in Him- the eternal, the everlasting, our salvation from all the evils of the world, the hope we only find in Him eternally! 

 

We live knowing this awful world, this awful suffering, this awful place filled with lots of awful people doing awful things is only temporary!

Yes, we SUFFER now in many ways, even as we can cling to the eternal LORD and all He promises- our suffering now is only for a moment in light of eternity, even if it feels like the worst thing lasting forever ever.

 

Those who delight in the LORD, those who find their happiness in the LORD, have found the truth that everything but the LORD, is temporary to eternity.

Consecration- We are not our own, we are the Lord's

 

Present Truth Articles - Consecration 

 

'Consecration is simply the constant recognition of the fact that we are the Lord's and not our own. He who learns  that this is a fact and lives in the constant living presence and recognition of it as the great fact--he is  consecrated, and this is consecration.

 

Nor is this a hard thing to do in itself. People make it hard for themselves by thinking it to be something that it is not, and trying to accomplish it in a way that is not the Lord's way, and even then they miss it. And, in truth, going about it in another than the Lord's way, they cannot possibly do anything else than miss it.

 

Is it a fact, then, that we are the Lord's?--Of course it is; for it is written: "Ye are bought with a price."1Corinthians 6:20. And the price is, "the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." 1Peter 1:19. For He "gave Himself for us." Titus 2:14 This "price" was paid for every soul that is on earth, and for everyone who ever was or ever shall be on earth; for "He died for all." Having died for all; having paid the wondrous price for all; having given Himself for all, it is certainly a fact that all are His. Therefore it is written: "Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1Corinthians 6:19-20

 

He not only gave Himself for us, but for all there is of us--yes, even for our sins. For again it is written that He "gave Himself for our sins." Galatians 1:4. And He did it "that He might deliver us from this present evil world;" that He might "purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works;" that He might present us "faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24)--in one word, "that He might bring us to God." 1Peter 3:18

 

He so loved us that He wants to save us. But He cannot save us in our sins. He will save us from our sins.

 

And as our whole self is sin and sin only, in order to get us, in order to buy us, He had to buy our sins also. So in giving Himself for us, He gave Himself for our sins too. And as we are His, because He bought us with that great price, so also our sins are His, for He bought them with the same great price.

 

Then will you let Him have the sins which He has bought? or will you hold on to these yourself? Will you let Him have what is His own? Will you let Him do what He will with His own? And what will He do with these sins? Oh, He will forgive them! 1John 1:9. He will make them as white as snow. Isaiah 1:18. He will put them away. Hebrews 9:26. He will cast them into the depths of the sea. Micah 7:19. He will remove them from us as far as the east is from the west. Psalm 103:12. He will cast them all behind His back. Isaiah 38:17. And when they are all cast behind His back, He and His own throne will stand between us and them, as the pledge that we are free from them; and the rainbow round about the throne will be the sign--the token--of the everlasting covenant that our sins and iniquities will be remembered no more. Hebrews 8:12

 

Thus in giving Himself for our sins, He gave Himself to us. In giving Himself for us, He gave Himself to us. So when we let Him have our sins, we get Him instead. When we let Him have ourselves, we get Himself instead. Would you rather have Him than your sins? Then let Him have them. Make the blessed exchange today.

 

 Would you rather have His way than your way? Would you rather have His life than your life? Would you rather have His disposition than your disposition? Would you rather have His character than your character? Would you rather have Him than yourself? "To be sure I would," you say. Then, oh! let Him have you now; make the blessed surrender and exchange now and for evermore.

 

 This is consecration.

 

And thus it is …

a daily,

an hourly,

a constant recognition,

…in gratitude and thankfulness, that we are His own. So each day, "consecrate yourself to God in the morning. Make this your very first work. Let your prayer be, Take me, O Lord, as wholly Thine. I lay all my plans at Thy feet. Use me today in Thy service. Abide with me, and let all my work be wrought in Thee.' This is a daily matter. Each morning consecrate yourself to God for that day. Surrender all your plans to Him, to be carried out or given up as His providence shall indicate." Say, "I am the purchased possession of Jesus Christ, and every hour I must consecrate myself to His service." "Thus day by day you may be giving your life into the hands of God, and thus your life will be molded more and more after the life of Christ." This is consecration. And it is not a burden, but a living, everlasting joy.

 

Therefore, "reckon ye also ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. . . . Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you." "Sin shall not have dominion over you"--is that promise worth anything to you? It is worth all that God is worth to the one who reckons himself to be dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God through Jesus Christ; and who yields himself unto God, and his members unto God as instruments for God to use. To this one God has declared, "Sin shall not have dominion over you."

 

Thank the Lord for this blessed promise of freedom from sin and all the power of sin. And this promise He will make a fact in the life and experience of every one who reckons thus and yields to God. You furnish the reckoning, He will furnish the fact. You yield to Him, and He will use you. You yield to Him your members, and He will use them only as instruments of righteousness. And so, "sin shall not have dominion over you," for God is stronger than sin.'

 

 - A. T. Jones

Shall It Be Grace or Sin?

 EXCERPT- "Shall It Be Grace or Sin?"

'It can never be repeated too often, that under the reign of grace it is just as easy to do right, as under the reign of sin it is easy to do wrong.

This must be so; for if there is not more power in grace than there is in sin, then there can be no salvation from sin.

But there is salvation from sin; this no one who believe in Christianity can deny.

Yet salvation from sin certainly depends upon there being more power in

grace than there is in sin. Then, there being more power in grace than there is in

sin, it cannot possibly be otherwise than that wherever the power of grace can

have control, it will be just as easy to do right as without this it is easy to do

wrong.

No man ever yet naturally found it difficult to do wrong. His great difficulty has

always been to do right.

But this is because man naturally is enslaved to a power–the power of sin–that is absolute in its reign. And so long as that power has sway, it is not only difficult but impossible to do the good that he knows and that he would. But let a mightier power than that have sway, then is it not plain enough that it will be just as easy to serve the will of the mightier power, when it reigns, as it was to serve the will of the other power when it reigned?

But grace is not simply more powerful than is sin. If this were indeed all, even

then there would be fulness of hope and good cheer to every sinner in the world.

But this, good as it would be, is not all; it is not nearly all. There is much more

power in grace than there is in sin.

For "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." And just as much more power in grace than there is in sin, just so much more hope and good cheer there are for every sinner in the world.

How much more power, then, is there in grace than there is in sin?

Let me think a moment. Let me ask myself a question or two. Whence comes grace? From God, to be sure. "Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Whence comes sin?–From the devil, of course. Sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. Well, then, how much more power is there in grace than there is in sin? It is as plain as A B C that there is just as much more power in grace than there is in sin, as there is more power in God than there is in the devil. It is therefore also perfectly plain that the reign of grace is the reign of God; and that the reign of sin is the reign of Satan. And is it not therefore perfectly plain also, that it is just as easy to serve God by the power of God as it is to serve Satan with the power of Satan?

Where the difficulty comes in, in all this, is that so many people try to serve God with the power of Satan.

But that can never be done.

"Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt." Men cannot gather grapes of thorns, nor figs of thistles. The tree must be made good, root and branch. It must be made new. "Ye must be born again."

"In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature."

Let no one ever attempt to serve God with anything but the present, living power of God, that makes him a new creature; with nothing but the much more abundant grace that condemns sin in the flesh, and reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Then the service of God will indeed be in "newness of life;" then it will be found that his yoke is indeed "easy" and his burden "light;" then his service will be found indeed to be with "joy unspeakable and full of glory."

Did Jesus ever find it difficult to do right? Every one will instantly say, No. But why? he was just as human as we are. He took flesh and blood the same as ours. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." And the kind of flesh that he was made in this world, was precisely such as was in this world. "In all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren." "In all things"! It does not say, In all things but one. There is no exception. He was made in all things like as we are. He was of himself as weak as we are; for he said, "I can of mine own self do nothing." Why, then, being in all things like as we are, did he find it always easy to do right?–

Because he never trusted to himself, but his trust was always in God alone. All his dependence was upon the grace of God. He always sought to serve God, only with the power of God. And therefore the Father dwelt in him, and did the works of righteousness. Therefore it was always easy for him to do right.

But as he is, so are we in this world. He has left us an example, that we should follow his steps. "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure," as well as in him. All power in heaven and in earth is given unto him; and he desires that you may be strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power. "In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily;" and he strengthens you with might by his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your heart by faith, that you may be "filled with all the fulness of God."

True, Christ partook of the divine nature, and so do you if you are a child of promise, and not of the flesh; for by the promises ye are partakers of the divine nature. There was nothing given to him in this world, and he had nothing in this world, that is not freely given to you, or that you may not have. All this is in order that you may walk in newness of life; that henceforth you may not serve sin; that you may be the servant of righteousness only; that you may be freed from sin; that sin may not have dominion over you; that you may glorify God on the earth; and that you may be like Jesus. And therefore "unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. . . . Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." And I "beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain."

A. T. J.

The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald

73, 35 , pp. 557, 558.

September 1, 1896

"Saving Faith"

 "But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above); or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith, which we preach: that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Rom. 10:6-9.

May we accept these words, especially the statement in the last verse, as literally true? Shall we not be in danger if we do? Is not something more than faith in Christ necessary to salvation? To the first of these questions we say, Yes; and to the last two we say, No; and refer to the Scriptures for corroboration. So plain a statement cannot be other than literally true, and one that can be depended on by the trembling sinner.

As an instance in proof, take the case of the Jailer at Philippi. Paul and Silas, after having been inhumanly beaten, were placed in his care. Notwithstanding their lacerated backs and their manacled feet, they prayed and sang praises to God at midnight, and suddenly an earthquake shook the prison, and all the doors were opened. it was not alone the natural fear produced by feeling the earth rock beneath him, nor yet the dread of Roman justice if the prisoners in his charge should escape, that caused the jailer to tremble. But he felt in that earthquake shock a premonition of the great Judgement, concerning which the apostles had preached; and, trembling under his load of guilt, he fell down before Paul and Silas, saying, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Mark well the answer; for here was a soul in sorest extremity, and what was sufficient for him must be the message to all lost ones. To the jailer's anguished appeal, Paul replied, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16:30, 31. This agrees exactly with the words which we quoted from Paul to the Romans.

On one occasion the Jews said unto Jesus, "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" Just the thing that we want to know. Mark the reply: "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." John 6:28, 29. Would that these words might be written in letters of gold, and kept continually before the eyes of every struggling Christian. The seeming paradox is cleared up. Works are necessary; yet faith is all-sufficient, because faith does the work. Faith comprehends everything, and without faith there is nothing.

The trouble is that people in general have a faulty conception of faith. They imagine that it is mere assent, and that it is only a passive thing, to which active works must be added.

But faith is active, and it is not only the most substantial thing, but the only real foundation. The law is the righteousness of God (Isa. 51:6, 7), for which we are commanded to seek (Matt. 6:33); but it cannot be kept except by faith, for the only righteousness which will stand in the Judgement is "that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." Phil. 3:9.

Read the words of Paul in Rom. 3:31: "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we extablish the law." Making void the law of God by man is not abolishing it; for that is an impossibility. It is as fixed as the throne of God. No matter what men say of the law, nor how much they trample upon it and despise it, it remains the same. The only way that men can make void the law of God is to make it of none effect in their hearts, by their disobedience. Thus in Num. 30:15, a vow that has been broken is said to have been made void. So when the apostle says that we do not make void the law through faith, he means that faith and disobedience are incompatible. No matter how much the law-breaker professes faith, the fact that he is a law-breaker shows that he has no faith. But the possession of faith is shown by the establishment of the law in the heart, so that the man does not sin against God. Let no one decry faith, as of little moment.

But does not the apostle James say that faith alone cannot save a man, and that faith without works is dead? Let us look at his words a moment. Too many have with honest intent perverted them to a dead legalism. He does say that faith without works is dead, and this agrees most fully with what we have just quoted and written. For if faith without works is dead, the absence of works shows the absence of faith; for that which is dead has no existence. If a man has faith, works will necessarily appear, and the man will not boast of either one; for by faith boasting is excluded. Rom.3:27. Boasting is done only by those who trust wholly in dead works, or whose profession of faith is a hollow mockery.

Then how about James 2:14, which says: "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?" The answer necessarily implied is, of course, that it cannot. Why not? - Because he hasn't it. What doth it profit if a man say he has faith, if by his wicked course he shows that he has none? Must we decry the power of faith simply because it does nothing for the man who makes a false profession of it? Paul speaks of some who profess that they know God, but who deny him by their works. Titus 1:16. The man to whom James refers is one of this class. The fact that he has no good works - no fruit of the Spirit - shows that he has no faith, despite his loud profession; and so of course faith cannot save him; for faith has no power to save a man who does not possess it.

An article written by Dr. E. J. Waggoner first published in the Aug. 1, 1890 issue of Bible Echo, in the book Lessons on Faith where the article was reprinted, entitled

“Trust in the Lord” EGW

 

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.”

 

Each day has its burdens, its cares, and perplexities; and when we meet, how ready we are to talk of our difficulties and trials.

 

So many borrowed troubles intrude, so many fears are indulged, such a weight of anxiety is expressed, that one might almost suppose that we had no pitying, loving Saviour, ready to hear all our requests, and to be to us a present help in every time of need.

 

Some are always fearing and borrowing trouble. Every day they are surrounded by the tokens of God’s love, every day they are enjoying the bounties of his providence; but they overlook these present blessings. Their minds are continually dwelling upon something disagreeable which they fear may come: or some difficulty may really exist, which, though small, blinds their eyes to the many things which demand gratitude.

 

The difficulties which they encounter, instead of driving them to God, the only source of help, separate them from him, because they awaken unrest and repining.

 

Brethren and sisters, do we well to be thus unbelieving? Why should we be ungrateful and distrustful? Jesus is our friend.

 

All heaven is interested in our welfare; and our anxiety and fear grieve the Holy Spirit of God.

 

We should not indulge in a solicitude which only frets and wears us, but does not help us to bear trials.

 

No place should be given to that distrust of God which leads us to make a preparation against future want the chief pursuit of life, as though our happiness consisted in these earthly things, and we could gain them while ignoring the fact that God controls all things.

 

You may be perplexed in business; your prospects may grow darker and darker, and you may be threatened with loss. But do not become discouraged; cast your care upon God, and remain calm and cheerful.

 

Begin every day with earnest prayer, not omitting to offer praise and thanksgiving.

 

Ask for wisdom to manage your affairs with discretion, and thus prevent loss and disaster. Do all you can on your part to bring about favorable results. Jesus has promised divine aid, but not aside from human efforts.

 

When, relying upon your tried Helper, you have done all you can, accept the result cheerfully. It will not always be gain from the worldling’s standpoint; but perhaps success might have been the worst thing for you.

 

If your confidence remains unshaken that God will do all things well, these light afflictions will work out for you a “far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

 

If trial and loss are our lot here, let us remember that the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” “I reckon,” said Paul, “that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” It would be well if we would all begin to reckon as did this hero of faith.

 

We want an eye single to the glory of God in all the affairs of life; we want a living faith that holds fast the promises of God, no matter how dark the prospect. We are not to look at the things which are seen, and judge from the world’s standpoint, and be ruled by the world’s principles; but we are to look at the things which are unseen, eternal.

 

It is not the will of God that his people should be weighed down with care. But our Lord does not deceive us. He does not say to us, “Do not fear; there are no dangers in your path.” He knows there are trials and dangers, and he deals with us plainly.

 

He does not propose to take his people out of a world of sin and evil, but he points them to a never-failing refuge.

 

His prayer for his disciples was, “I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil.” “In the world,” he says, “ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”

 

When in the synagogue at Nazareth Jesus announced his divine character and mission, no such gracious words as he spoke had ever before fallen upon the ears of his listeners. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,” he read, “because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

 

And then came the words so full of hope and comfort, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”

 

He who was the hope of Israel, he who alone was able to bind the strong man armed, and set free the captives of sin, had come to them with loving offers of mercy. Admiration and wonder were awakened; but they refused to accept him as the Messiah, because he did not come in a way to gratify their proud, unbelieving hearts.

 

As in the days of his flesh, he invites the weary and care-laden, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

 

Lay off the yoke of anxiety and worldly care which you have placed on your own necks, and “take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

 

Find rest and peace and quietude in God, dear brethren and sisters. Yield your hearts to him; rely wholly upon him; cast “all your care upon him, for he careth for you.”

 

How can we remain in doubt, questioning whether Jesus loves us, sinful though we be and compassed with infirmities? He gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

 

He came to our world in the humble guise of a man, that he might become acquainted with the griefs and temptations that beset man’s pathway, and that he might know how to help the weary with his offer of rest and peace. But thousands upon thousands refuse his assistance, and only cling more firmly to their burden of care.

 

He comes to the afflicted, and offers to soothe their grief and heal their sorrow; but they turn away from the proffered rest and peace, and continue to talk of their distress and mourn over their hard lot. To the disappointed, the unbelieving, and the unhappy, he offers contentment, while pointing to mansions that he is preparing for them: but they close their eyes to the beautiful prospects, and their hearts against the comfort and joy that the Redeemer alone can give.

 

Jesus, our precious Saviour, should be first in our thoughts and affections, and we should trust him with entire confidence.

 

He has removed the barrier that separated us from God, that prevented us from grasping the hand of our heavenly Father. He has taken upon himself our guilt, and stands ready, through his own merits, to accept our penitence, and pardon our transgressions.

 

“The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.” And the Father himself loves us, or he could never have consented to this great sacrifice.

 

John exclaimed, as he contemplated the amazing love and condescension of God: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 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.”

 

We cannot perfect Christian character unless we are willing to learn in the school of Christ, and make a practical use of every lesson he would teach us.

 

Every day our Saviour gives us our work to do, and that work is to conquer every difficulty and temptation which the day presents.

 

We are not to manufacture trials and evils by our own wrong course of action. We are not to imagine difficulties which do not exist. We need not create evils; for this is Satan’s work, and he is equal to the task. When by the indulgence of a perverse temper or the natural inclinations of the heart, we help him in his work, we add to the sum of the evils which we must endure.

 

As each day comes, we must in the strength of Jesus meet its trials and temptations. If we fail one day, we add to the burdens of the next, and have less strength. We should not cloud the future by our carelessness in the present; but by thoughtful and careful performance of today’s duties, be preparing to meet the emergencies of tomorrow.

 

We need to cultivate a spirit of cheerfulness.

 

We should be happy and grateful; for we have everything to make us happy and to call out gratitude. Let us ever look on the bright side of life, and be hopeful, full of love and good works, rejoicing in the Lord always.

 

“Let the peace of God rule in your hearts,” and “be ye thankful.”

 

Review and Herald February 3, 1885