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There's nothing standing
still in the great universe of God. Everything's moving
onward, whether physical or moral. The great world's moving in
its alloted sphere, and the sun, moon, and stars follow the
paths marked out for them in the sky. The rivers run into the
great sea, yet the sea isn't filled, for the water's
evaporated by the sun. If evaporation should stop, it would
cause the death of every living thing. Can we imagine what the
result would be if the sun should cease to shine? The
consequences would be multiform. Directly, every heart would
cease to beat, and also at that moment time would come to an
end, and necessarily the day of mercy would be past. If Jesus
Christ were suddently to cease in his office-work as Mediator
between God and man, the world would be without an Advocate,
and no one could obtain an audience with God. Let's delight to
think upon Christ as one whose blood's continually flowing,
the cleansing properties of which are available to all the
world.
The Native
American...
This law of progress seems
to resolve itself into a universal command which says to all
things, animate and inanimate, "Go on... Go on... Go on." A
principle is laid down in the Word of God that if a man won't
work, neither should he eat. It was the execution of the
aweful law of cause and effect that drove the Native American
off... from a land which seemed to be his own. The white man
didn't drive him off(?), it was the law of progress(?). Some
years ago the writer, with hundreds of others, was standing on
one of the main streets of Toledo, Ohio...watching the
structural iron workers placing beams in the eighteenth story
of a large building. Suddenly a heavy hand was laid upon my
shoulder, and a stern voice commanded, "Everybody move on,
you're blocking the street, and hindering traffic. Move right
on---everybody move on"... And such is the voice of the law of
progress.
The law commanding moral
progress is true of the individual and of the nation. "If a
man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is
withered" (John 15:6). "If those ordinances depart from me,
said the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from
being a nation before me forever" (Jer. 31:36).
The Beginning of
Life...
From the moment of true
conception, an individual entity has taken its place in the
universe of God, the human is immortal---it can't die. Unless
arrested by physical death, the embryonic days are soon past,
and a new being takes its place in the home and in the world.
Not only is there a law compelling growth, but we desire the
child to advance. At first it's upon its mother's breast, then
her lap, by her side, and then at school. First it kicks, then
creeps, walks, and then runs. No heavy responsibilities are
laid upon the child until its mentality has developed
commensurate with duties required. The only law it knows, or
penalties to which it's amenable, are those in the home and
school. It can't go back, it must go on.
During the period of
childhood's innocency it's passive under the blood of Christ,
i. e., it's not held responsible to God for any acts
pertaining to morals. By education it learns to respect the
rights of others in the home, in the school, the neighborhood,
the state, and the nation. By obedience to just laws...he
enjoys religious, political, and physical freedom. About the
time there comes a physical awakening of the moral faculties
of the soul, whatever he's been taught by parent or school
becomes his belief; and that belief becomes his religion,
whether it be Mohammedanism, Confucianism, or Christianity
etc. He must go on.
Responsibility to
God...
The animal kingdom doesn't
differ materially today from what it was in the day Adam gave
names to the beasts and fishes, etc., of Eden. Living
creatures eat, drink, lie down, and are satisfied. Man differs
from the animals; for he may be surrounded by every earthly
substance for which he craves, and still be unsatisfied.
There's a longing in every human heart which God alone can
fill. Man's a worshipful creature and will never be satisfied
only in the exercise of that which differentiates him from the
animals which are below him. The fish finds pleasure in the
swiftly flowing river, in using its fins, the exercise of
which makes it different from the worm that finds pleasure in
crawling beneath it at the bottom of the water. The little
song-birds fly from limb to limb in the trees above the
stream, finding pleasure in the exercise of the wing, that
which makes them different from the fish that swims with its
fins. If either were taken out of its native element it would
be unhappy, and finally die. The fish placed upon a limb of a
tree could not use its fins, hence would be unhappy and die.
The bird taken out of its natural element, the air, and placed
in the water, where it could not use its wings, would be
unhappy and in time would lose its life. If both were left in
their native element of water and air and yet become
paralyzed, they'd still be unhappy and die. Happiness, then,
with regard to the animal kingdom, depends upon free exercise
of native instincts in elements suited to their kind.
Of what can man boast that
makes him superior to the beast? Since man can't be fully
satisfied only in the exercise of that which makes him
different, it's necessary that man find his proper place. Man
can't boast of physical strength, for the horse is stronger
than he; nor of swiftness of foot, for the antelope is swifter
than he; not of sharpness of sight, for the eagle can see
farther and plainer than he; not of delicacy of tasete, for
the honey-bee can find honey where men would never suspect it.
Of what, then, can man boast? Answer: Man was made to know and
to worship God---that's his native instinct, his soul's
element. Man alone has a moral instinct, and he can't be happy
or be fully satisfied until he's free from the paralyzing
effects of sin and in favor with the God for whom he was made,
and in the service of love, outside of which he's unsatisfied
and unsafe.
Reconciliation
Necessary...
There's only two termini at
the end of our earthly pilgrimage: life in a world of eternal
joy; or death... i. e., eternal separation from God and the
pure in heart. Man must go on. He can't retrace his steps. He
must meet his God and answer for his deeds. There's no turning
backward of the wheels of time. Death's upon man's track,
perhaps but a short distance behind. Man must hasten on. Ahead
of him is God, the Judge of all; behind him, coming on at a
fearful pace, are the influences he set in motion and all the
dark deeds of a sinful life. Beneath him are the regions of
darkest night. Within his inmost soul's a feeling of sorrow,
guilt, and awful suspense. What shall he do? Where must he go
for help? The answer comes down from over the everlasting
hills, "Look unto me and be ye saved, for I am God, and
besides me there is none else." Another voice takes up the
strain, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." A candle of
hope is lighted in his heart, and he inquires, "What must I do
to be saved?" Fully awakened to his condition he exercises
Repentance For
Sin...
Repentance includes an
awakening, sorrow on account of wrongs committed aginst God
and one's fellow man, a desire to do right.
Being sorry for past conduct
of wrong will work in him a willingness to make a
Confession of
Sin...
The Bible declares that he
who covers his sins shall not prosper, but that those who
confess them shall find mercy. There's a shade difference
between a confession and an acknowledgment. For example: A man
steals an automibile. In a distant State he looks behind him
and sees the sheriff coming at a rapid rate. He turns and
says, "I'm the guilty man." That's more of an acknowledgment
than it is a confession, because he owned up only when caught.
Had there been no officer in sight, and, coming to himself,
he'd volunteered to return the car, and had turned about and
gone and delivered it to the owner, that would've been a real
confession. For a person to live for himself all his life, and
when he sees the messenger coming with a death-warrant...then
to throw up his hands and say, "I'm guilty," is more like a
simple acknowledgment. It'd be far better to arise in the
strength of manhood or womanhood and say, "I'm doing wrong. My
life isn't right. I'm sorry I've so sinned," and then call
upon God for mercy and forgiveness. Having confessed his sins
to God, it'll be comparatively easy for him to make
Restoration of
What's Stolen...
The Bible teaches
restitution. It plainly teaches that we must give back what
we've taken from another and which doesn't belong to us. If a
person has stolen, he's a thief until he's returned the stolen
goods and been forgiven. The law of progress says, "Give again
that he hath robbed."
Forsaking of
Sin...
He who confesseth and
forsaketh shall find mercy. He mustn't only stop what's been
wrong in his life, but he must'n repeat it in the future. He
must go out of the sin business. The thief must stop his
stealing, the liar his lying, and the adulterer his lewdness.
Not only so, but he's willing to exercise
Forgiveness of
Offenders...
Jesus said that if we don't
forgive men their sins, neither will our heavenly Father
forgive us our sins, and he also explains that we must forgive
from the heart. If people have wronged us, we must hold an
attitude of forgiveness until they come asking us to forgive.
A person once asked the Master how many times we should
forgive our offenders, and he answered that we should forgive
as often as they come asking. Not only does the Bible teach
that we should forgive those who've wronged us, and we make
right the wrongs we've done, but that there should be
Perfect
Reconciliation...
The law of progress will
send us to the person with whom we've quarreled. In the Word
of God we read that if we go to the altar (Christ) and there
remember that our brother hath ought against us, we should
leave our gift, and go first and be reconciled to our brother,
and then come back and take up our subject with the Lord.
This's all very reasonable; for it makes for a perfect
understanding and full restoration of confidence and
brotherhood. When a repentant soul has decided to obey God,
and do the right, it won't be hard for such a one to take
another necessary step, which is to believe that he's saved,
or to accept
Salvation By
Faith...
The Lord says to a repentant
sinner...that if he knocks, the door will be opened. If he
asks, he shall receive. If he seeks, he shall find. Christ
faithfully declared that he won't turn away any who come to
the throne of grace. He says that if men ask forgiveness of
him, he will forgive and will remember their sins against
them...no more...forever. So with such offers of mercy the
sinner can boldly approach the mercy-seat (Christ) and find
that for which his soul craves. The result of such seeking and
believing brings a joy and freedom into the soul never felt
before. The power of sin is broken, the paralyzing effects of
sin neutralized, and the soul set free...bounds back into its
native element, the love of God---like as a beast, finding the
cage door open quickly returns to his habitat in the jungles.
Salvation's not by works, but by faith in God. Yet the law of
progress teaches us the road we must travel to reach the goal
at last.
[ The End ]
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