THE JUNE 15, 1911 than gold; yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. ‘“‘KEEP BACK THY SERVANT FROM PRESUMPTUOUS SINS’’ ‘*Moreover, by them is thy servant warned [conceraing the dangers by the way and the snares of the adversary, and concerning everything which is caleulated to discourage, or to hinder his growth in grace], and in keeping of them there is great reward. Who [in the use merely of his own fallible judgment and without the standard of God’s law, eun understand his errors [can rightly judge himself |?’ But when, as we measure ourselves by this standard, we detect and deplore our shortcomings, let us remember the Psalmist’s prayer: ‘‘Cleanse thou me from secret faults’’—thus supplementing our efforts by our prayers— Psa. 19:7-12. But there is still another part of this prayer, which the Lord thus puts into our mouths. It reads: ‘‘Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me; then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.’’? Let us consider what kind of sins would be presumptuous sins. To presume signifies to take for granted without authority or proof. A presuunptuous sin would, therefore, be taking for granted and asserting as truth something which God has not revealed, or the perversion of what he has revealed. To claim and hold tenaciously as a part of God’s plan any doctrine, merely on the ground of fallible human reason and without divine authority, would therefore be a presumptuous sin. Of this nature is the sin of those who malign the divine character by boldly teaching the blasphemous dovtrine of eternal torment without warrant from the Scriptures, and in direct contradiction of them. And there are many other sins of greater and less degree which partake of the same character. But the words here seem to refer directly to some partieular error into which there is danger of drifting—*Then shall I be tnnocent from the great transgression’’—evidently, the sin unto death referred to by the Apostles also. (1 John 5:16; Heb. 6:4-6; 10:26-31) Such a sin would be that of presuming upon the love of God to bring us salvation, even though we should wilfully refuse it through the channel which he has appointed—the precious blood of Christ, shed for our redemption. ‘‘BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE DELIGHT IS IN THE LAW OF THE LORD’’ Well, indeed, may we pray and strive to be kept back from presumptuous sins—sins of pride or of arrogant selfwill which does not meekly submit to the will of God! Let us, beloved, beware of the slightest tendency toward pride and self-will, or the disposition to be wise above what is WATCH TOWER (180-181) written, or to take for granted what God does not clearly promise. ‘‘Then,’’ indeed, if we watch and strive against the very beginning of that proud and haughty spirit which surely presages a fall, we shall be ‘‘innocent from the great transgression.’’ ‘Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who doth meditate therein day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.’’ (Psa. 1:1-3) If we make the Word of God the theme of our constant meditation, its principles will soon be assimilated and become part of our mental makeup, making our characters more beautiful and commendable both to God and to our fellowmen; and in harmony with this habit of the mind the aets of life will speak. The purified fountain will send forth sweeter waters than formerly, bearing refreshment and good cheer to all who come in contact with it. 1¢ will make happier homes better husbands, better wives and better children. It will sweeten the temper, soften the voice, dignify the language, cultivate the manners, ennoble the sentiments and lend its charming grace to every simple duty. Jt will bring in the principle of love and cast out the discordant elements of selfishness. Thus it will make the home the very gardenspot of earth, where every virtue and every grace will have ample room to expand and grow, Tt will not only thus favorably affect the individual and the home-life, hut it will go out into the avenues of trade, and truth and fair-dealing will characterize all the business relations; and thus will God be honored by those who bear his name and wear the impress of his blessed Spirit. While the heights of perfection cannot be reached so long as we still have these imperfect bodies, there should be in every child of God very perceptible and continuous growth in grace, and each step gained should be considered but the stepping-stone to higher attainments. If there is no perceptible growth into the likeness of God, or if there is a backward tendency, or a listless standstill, there is eause for alarm. Let us constantly keep before our eves the model which the Lord Jesus set for our example—that model of the complete fulfilment of the will of God, in which the whole Law was kept blamelesslv. Let us follow his steps of righteousness and self-sacrifice as nearly as a full measure of loving zeal and faithfulness and loyalty to God will enable us to do, and we shall have a blessed sense of the divine approval now, and the glorious reward of divine favor in due time. THE REWARDS OF SACRIFICE ‘*T lheseech vou, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.’’—Rom. 12:1. Nowhere in the Seriptures are we commanded by the Lord to sacrifice our earthly rights and privileges. The divine commands end at the line of justice. In other words, justice and righteousness are one and the same thing. Sacrifiee, self-denial, taking up the cross to follow Jesus, are all propositions away beyond the divine law. The Law Covenant proffered a perpetuation of human life to all who would fulfil its requirements. None of the Jews, with whom that eovenant was made, were able to fulfill those requirements, except the One who came from above and for whom was provided a perfect human body, which enabled him to keep the requirements of the Law Covenant, entitling him, therefore, to everlasting earthly life. The new Law Covenant, under the antitypical Mediator, will offer the same reward of everlasting human perfeetion to all who will fulfil its requirements. Its superiority over the first Law Covenant will consist in its having a better Mediator, eapable of helping mankind fully out of condemnation, death and weakness and authorized so to do because of the merit of his ‘‘better sacrifices.’ But while Jesus, born under the Jaw, was obligated to the conditions of that covenant and fulfilled them and through them had a right to everlasting earthly life, he did more. He sacrificed that earthly life—laid it down— permitted sinful men to take it from him without resistanee, although he had the power to call for legions of angels for protection. This was his sacrifice. He did not saerifiee sinful weaknesses, for he had none. He saerifieed perfect life and all his legal rights and privileges. His reward for so doing was exaltation from the human nature to the divine nature—far above that of angels, prineipalities and powers. (Eph. 1:21) Thus exalted, he has the human rights (whieh he never forfeited) to give Adam and his race—their ransom-price. These he will give to them in the end of this age, applying them to the sealing of the New Law Covenant, under which IJsrael and all mankind may he restored to all that was lost through the first man’s disobedience. Meantime, the glorified Redeemer uses that sacrificial merit (which he intends to give eventually to the world) to cover (imputatively) the blemishes of those of the household of faith who may hear the divine call (and aecept the same) to follow in the footsteps of Jesus—to saerifice and suffer with him in the flesh, that they mav he glorified and reign with him on the spirit plane beyond the veil. SIN-OFFERING SACRIFICES ACCEPTABLE DURING THE GOSPEL AGE ONLY Throughout this Gospel age the Law Covenant has continued upon the Jews only, the remainder of the world being without anv covenant with God and waiting for the ‘‘times of restitution’’ under the New Law Covenant of the future, (Acts 8:19-21; Jer. 81:31-84) It is during this time (the Gospel age) that God draws and ealls a certain loyal class and gives them an opportunity of sharing with their Redeemer in sacrificial death. The faithful will be counted his members or his bride or joint-heirs in his kingdom of glory and honor and immortality. All men, in proportion as they know the divine will (what is just, from the divine standpoint), are correspondingly in duty bound to fulfil that righteous requirement or Law of [4835]
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