The Spirit of the Word

The Words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.—Jesus.
The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.—Paul.
Vol. 1, No. 8 —October 15, 1885.

Paragraph Headings Of Vol.1, No 8

The Purpose Of Evil
The Purpose Of The Law
The Purpose Of Trial

The Purpose Of Evil

I Create Evils I, The Lord

There is probably no subject in all the range of religious thought so hard to deal with as that of the purpose of evil. Writers on Biblical lore have tried to account for the origin of evil; but it seems to me that the real difficulty is the bare fact of its existence, whatever may have been its origin. The great question for theologians to wrestle with is this,—How can you account for the existence of evil alongside of a supreme, all-wise, holy and benevolent God? Think for a moment of the condition of things in this world. Evil exists on the earth to embitter and darken, to blight and curse everything else that exists on the earth. On it goes like a huge Juggernaut car, rolling through the world, crushing its helpless victims on every hand, and (the saddest feature of it all) crushing without distinction the innocent and guilty together in one common quagmire of sin, suffering and death and God allows it to go on, when he might at any instant stop it; and on it has gone for 6000 years. Take an example in the concrete, the horrible September massacre of the French Revolution, when, during a period of one hundred hours, from Sunday afternoon, Sept. 2, 1792, until Thursday, the helpless inmates of the seven crowded prisons of Paris, were, after a mock trial before a self-constituted tribunal, hurled to a howling mob of human wolves and fiends and butchered in cold blood; men and women, young, middle aged and gray haired, shared the same fate, and for no other crime than that, as Carlisle expresses it, they were "suspected of being suspected;" and all this was enacted under the canopy of heaven where sits the God of infinite power and love! how can we believe it! Add to this the years of horror of that same revolution; add the slaughter of the Waldenses and Albegenses; add the massacre of St. Bartholomew; add the unspeakable cruelties of the Spanish Inquisition; add the decades, centuries and millenniums of butchery and blood that have cursed the world from fratricidal Cain, down to the present time, and then try to reconcile all this with the existence in the same universe of a God of infinite power and love; can you do it? Rather does not the contemplation of this vast sea of human suffering cause one to shrink back with horror from the ghastly vision, and almost (and sometimes quite) doubt that there is a God? Alas, how many there are that are troubled by this problem! Can you help them? The Word can help them.

First let me say that there is no help out of this trouble in orthodoxy. In regard to this subject, orthodoxy is hopelessly contradictory, and utterly absurd. Thus it speaks,—"It was not in God's original plan that evil should exist, but evil has come into existence and done incalculable harm, and yet God's plans cannot be thwarted or disarranged in the least, because he is all wise and almighty. Evil being in existence before man was created, God allows it to come into contact with the man he created. when he might have prevented it, and knowing full well what the result would be, and yet he is in no wise responsible for the consequences of evil, and in fact it is blasphemy to entertain any such idea. Evil having come into existence contrary to God's will, He cannot put it out of existence, but it will continue as long as he exists, an eternal blot on his otherwise perfect universe, and a perpetual offense unto all the purified, and yet his will is absolute and sovereign and the redeemed will be perfectly happy; thus God is in no wise responsible either for the origin, existence, consequences, or continuance of evil, and yet he can have everything as he pleases, and is the Creator of all things." And so Orthodoxy goes on, stultifying common sense, throttling human reason, and stupidly expecting that intelligent, thoughtful men and women will accept its idiotic patter as the infallible utterances of divine inspiration. Can not every one see that the entire orthodox view is contradictory and absurd in the extreme, and hence self-destructive and utterly untenable? Now I hold, that the following proposition is self-evident. Given a God of infinite power, wisdom and goodness, and he is responsible for ALL things that exist; and this also follows, from the wisdom and goodness of God, that all things that exist are for an intelligent and benevolent end. These conclusions are inevitable from the premises; they cannot be modified except by modifying the premises. For instance if you say that some things exist contrary to God's will, then it follows that God is not all-powerful; and you cannot escape this conclusion by bringing in the orthodox doctrine of man's free moral agency, for whatever free moral agent may do, He is responsible for it who made him a free moral agent; if God made man a free moral agent he knew beforehand what the result would be, and hence is just as responsible for the consequences of the acts of that free moral agent, as he would be for the act of an irresponsible machine that he had made; man's free moral agency, even if it were true, (which it is not, see 1-1-10) would by no means clear God from the responsibility of his acts, since God is his creator and has made him in the first place just what he is, well knowing what the result would be. If God's will is ever thwarted then he is not almighty; if his will is thwarted, then his plans must be changed, and hence he is not all-wise and immutable; if his will is never thwarted then all things are in accordance with his will, and he is responsible for all things as they exist; and if he is all-wise and all-good, then all things, existing according to his will, must be tending to some wise and benevolent end; and thus we come back to my proposition again, that if God is infinite in power, wisdom and goodness, then he is responsible for all things that exist, and all existing things are tending toward some wise and good end. He who cannot see that this proposition is absolutely inevitable, as much so as a mathematical axiom, must be very deficient in logic and reason, and it would be useless to argue with him; he who does see the truth of this proposition will also see the truth of several corollaries dependent upon it; viz., absolute evil cannot exist, because God is absolutely good; the absolute is the unconditioned and unlimited; but if there were absolute evil then the good would be limited, and hence not absolute, and hence again God would not be absolutely or infinitely good; but God is infinite in goodness, hence evil is not infinite, therefore it is relative, temporary and limited and therefore again endless evil is an impossibility unless you make God less than infinite; and thus it is seen that the doctrine of endless torments is as contrary to reason as it is to scripture.

We have arrived then purely by reasoning to the somewhat startling and yet perfectly scriptural conclusion that "All things are of God," or God is in all things, or is responsible for all things: including all so called evil things as well as good things. Is not such a position as this very dangerous? is it not a fearful thing to say that evil is of God? I answer, there is nothing dangerous or fearful about this view unless the truth is dangerous and fearful. We have seen that reason compels us to this position whether we will or no, and every one familiar with the Bible ought to know that this view is most positively scriptural. That "All things are of God" is declared over and over again in the Bible (see 1-1-7); The prophet Amos goes so far as to particularize evil as "of God," when in his question he makes an implied statement, which from an orthodox standpoint would be blasphemous; "Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?" (Amos 3:6); but what is still more to the purpose we have the direct positive statement that God creates evil.

GOD CREATES EVIL.

"I form light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil; I, the Lord, do all these things." Isa. 45:7. This passage is most strange and unaccountable on the ground of any of the current orthodox creeds. God creates evil! it cannot be. But here it is in the Word, what will you do with it? "We must explain it some how, says Orthodoxy, "and yet save our creed; how shall it be done? Suppose we say that the evil here spoken of is not moral evil, sin and wrong doing, but physical evil, famines, pestilence, tornados, which God controls and sends upon mankind as punishment for their wickedness?" It will not do; the word here rendered evil is the one commonly used throughout the Old Testament to denote wickedness, sin, wrong doing in some five hundred passages it is so used; for example see Gen. 6:5.; Num. 14:27; Deut. 31:29; 1 Ki. 11:6, 17:30; Psa. 34:21; etc., etc. The very same word in the original is also rendered "wicked" and "wickedness" more than a hundred times; see for example Gen. 6:5; 13:13; Psa. 94:23; 101:4, etc. Suppose that instead of trying to explain this passage in harmony with some cut-and-dried creed, we let all the creeds go, and see if we can find out what the passage really means? and then if the creed does not harmonize with that meaning, throw the creed away and form another one that will harmonize with it. At any rate here is the statement in the word and we will be brave enough to receive it as truth, and trust the same One who made it to explain it. Since God is infinitely good and wise, and evil is one of his creatures. it must be that evil shall ultimate in some good and wise end, as we have already seen; but how can that be? and if we can by any means understand how it can be, the next question would be what can it be? what can be the end, good and wise, toward which evil is tending?

Several subjects have been discussed in past issues of this paper, a thorough understanding of which would put us into a position where we could readily answer this great question; such subjects, for instance, as "All things are of God," "Free Moral Agency," "We are God's Workmanship"' "Judgement," "Sodom," etc., etc. I must refer the new reader to these subjects for preliminary instruction preparatory to what follows; if we are familiar with these subjects we are prepared to go on to the consideration of other deep and precious truths in the wonderful economy of God. We can understand how all evil tends to good from the fact that we know from our own experience how some evil tends to good, and in the Bible and in the world around us we see the same thing illustrated again and again; in 1-1-7 I have given several examples of how God has over-ruled evil for good. Now if God has done this in some cases, and if, as we know, "He worketh all things after the council of his own will" then it surely is not difficult to believe that he over-rules all evil for good; in fact this must be so, for it is only on this ground, viz., that all evil tends to good in the end, that we can harmonize the existence of evil at all with the existence of a God of infinite power, wisdom and love. It is not necessary for us to understand how, in each particular case, evil is over-ruled for good, in order to believe that it is so over-ruled. The subject is made still clearer, moreover, from the fact that we can see and understand what some of these good ends are toward which evil conducts us, and thus we come to know something of the purpose of evil; and we see furthermore that this purpose is grand and glorious and in perfect harmony with the character of God, and that it fully accounts for the existence of evil. How could God ever reveal himself to man in his mercy, long-suffering, compassion, etc., if it had not been that evil had put us into a position to call for the exercise of these attributes in our behalf? and especially how could God manifest to us his love in all its intensity and greatness except by such an opportunity as evil-furnishes? As it is written, "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him;" there could have been no such manifestation of the Father's love if there had been no such thing as evil. We might believe that a friend loved us even though his love had never been especially tested; but we never could fully appreciate his love unless circumstances transpired to give him an opportunity to exhibit it in all its strength and fullness. So too we never could understand fully the love of God, (and hence never could "know him fully"—1 Cor. 13:12, N.V., margin—for God is love), had it not been for our lost and wretched condition furnishing the Father with an adequate opportunity for its manifestation. It was "when we were without strength" that Christ died for us,—God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us;" it was because we were in such an evil case, "without strength" and "sinners," that the love that sent the Deliverer is so marked and readily appreciated. Hence "Hereby perceive we the love of God because Christ laid down his life for us." How should we have been able thus to perceive that love in its so great plenitude, if we had never come under the power of evil so as to need this extreme manifestation of it?

Furthermore as evil gives God an occasion to reveal himself to us so that we may know him, so it gives us the opportunity to exercise the attributes of God so that we may become like him. The existence of evil in the world gives the child of God the opportunity for the exercise of the godlike attributes of mercy, compassion, forgiveness, forbearance, meekness, gentleness (see Psa. 18: 35), etc., and thus he becomes like God; for if ye do these things "ye shall be the children of the Highest, for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust, and is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil." Thus we see something of the purpose of evil in the blessing of mankind.

But in addition to all this we have other direct testimony from scripture that evil is one of God's ministers for good. It is clearly intimated again and again, that God uses evil for the accomplishment of his plans, which of course are always good. See for instance, Judges 9: 23; read the context and you will see that Abinelech by a most atrocious crime had obtained the rulership of Israel, and to punish him, "God sent an evil spirit between him and the men of Shechem," and the result was the punishment of all the guilty parties. See the same idea in 1 Sam. 1.6: 14; "The spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him." This evil spirit did not come from the devil, nor from hell, but "from the Lord," to do his bidding. See also 1 Ki. 22:23, where the Lord is represented as using a "lying spirit" in order to deceive wicked Ahab for his own destruction.

The case of Job is one of the most striking and perfect illustrations of this wonderful truth. The Lord speaks of him as, "My servant Job,—there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil." Thus it appears that Job was a remarkably good, and this is confirmed by Ezek. 14: 14, 20. Now then what does God do but deliberately hand over this "perfect and upright man" into the hands of Satan, to do his worst upon him, only that he should not touch his life. How could we have a more perfect illustration of how God uses evil as an instrument for good? for although Job suffered intensely yet we know that in the end he was greatly blessed by his hard and bitter experience. If God thus uses Satan, the embodiment of evil, as a minister for good in the case of one individual, is it hard to believe that all evil is over-ruled of God for good in all cases?

The New Testament teaches the same truth. Did you ever notice how strangely the evangelists Matthew and Mark speak of Christ's temptation? The Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, and he was there with the wild beasts. What a strange statement! The holy spirit of God drives the sinless Jesus into the wilderness among the wild beasts to be tempted of Satan, the arch-enemy of all good, a murderer from the beginning and the father of lies! Truly God creates evil, and uses it too, for his own purposes and glory! The apostle Paul fully understood this great truth and practiced it himself, hence he writes to the Corinthians "to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus;" and he declares in his letter to Timothy that he himself had delivered certain ones unto Satan, "that they might learn not to blaspheme." It would seem also that the apostle knew something of this kind of discipline himself, for he says, "Lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure." All this clearly proves that God over-rules evil for good,—that even Satan's work shall result in blessings for God's children.

Finally we will notice one more passage more remarkable, if possible, even than those I have cited. In the 20th chapter of the Revelation we have an account of the total restraint of the devil and consequent suppression of evil for a thousand years, what a blessed era of peace and righteousness that will be! and how desirable that it should continue, and that evil should never again curse the earth! But lo, wonderful to relate! at the end of the thousand years, Satan is loosed out of his prison, and again goes out to deceive the nations, and Peace is banished from the earth, and war and slaughter ensues with terrible suffering and destruction, According to the orthodox idea of the origin and final effects of evil there would seem to be some terrible mistake here. Either Satan was not watched close enough, or his prison was insecure, or there was treachery,—some awful blunder, or more awful crime, has been committed to let the devil loose when once he was well secured,—surely it would seem from the orthodox standpoint. But so it is not. All is plain when we see the great truth that I tried to set forth in this article. Satan is God's servant, to carry out his plans; he is just as much under God's control and works just as truly under his direction, as does the angel Gabriel. God now leaves him free to work out his mischievous will among the children of men; he is "the prince of this world, "the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience." The time will come when he will be bound and put under total restraint, and so remain through the Millennium; then he will be loosed because God has something more for him to do, and he will be finally disposed of at the time and in the manner that God pleases. God could destroy him now if he was so disposed, but we have seen that evil is needful and beneficial in the end; it is one of God's creatures, and his servant, and is conducive to the accomplishment of his gracious plans, as are all other things.

Thus the Word untangles this great mystery of evil for us, and shows us clearly that it is not an interloper in God's economy, it is not a foreign substance in the delicate fabric of God's great plan obstructing and disarranging its intricate mechanism —nay, it is a necessary part of that plan, it rightly belongs to that marvelous congeries of forces that, under the control and guidance of the supreme mind, works and interworks steadily, and without interruption or delay, to the glorious end of creating a divine and godlike race. Thank God! that in this, as in all other things, He will be glorified, and man, in the end, be blessed!

Now another thought. There are some who say that they could accept the foregoing position if it were not for one thing, viz., the great injustice there is in the world. They can see how God can overrule evil for good in the case of the guilty; those who deserve punishment are benefitted by it; but the evil of this world falls with equal weight upon the innocent as upon the guilty; and even in many cases with greater weight upon the former than upon the latter. The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children. The innocent and helpless suffer most keenly, on account of the viciousness and brutality of others, and thus the most outrageous injustice is perpetrated continually around us in the world. How can all this be permitted in the dominions of a God of absolute justice and boundless love? and how can all this be conducive to good? Is there an answer to this tremendous problem? Two considerations, if I err not, will help us to a solution.

We have seen that one of the purposes of evil is to develop in our characters attributes akin to God: pity, mercy, compassion, charity, gentleness, etc. etc. Now suppose that we lived in a world of absolute justice; where no one suffered except what they strictly deserved to suffer; where the innocent never suffered, but only the guilty, and they suffered just so much, no more and no less, as was due to their transgression, and as would be beneficial to the transgressor. Suppose we lived in such a world as that; at first thought it would seem as though it would be a very nice kind of a world; but how could we in such a world develop the godlike attributes above referred to? There would be no room for heavenly compassion and sweet charity and pity in a world of absolute justice. We would not be likely to pity very much a person whom we knew was receiving only the punishment due his fault, and that in the end would be for his benefit and blessing. Is it not plain that just this kind of evil, i.e. the evil of injustice, is needed in order that those crowning attributes of God, the tender and loving qualities of our Father in heaven, may be developed and perfected in his human children? Furthermore, so far as the injustice goes, that may be only temporary and apparent. Who shall say that in future cycles which God's plan has yet to run, all the apparent injustice of this present time may not be perfectly adjusted, taken into account, and made right? Surely no one has any right to say it will not be so; and it is perfectly reasonable and probable that it will be so.

But there is still another consideration that fully confirms all the foregoing and still further explains the whole subject. We should always endeavor to discover the underlying principles of God's actions. Nothing that God does is arbitrary or capricious, but every one of his movements has an adequate and righteous cause; He always acts from principle; the outward act may change, under different circumstances, and toward different individuals, but his principles of action never change. See this whole subject set forth in Ezek. 18. Hence, in order to become acquainted with God, to know him more and more, we must endeavor to understand not simply what God does, but why he does it; to know merely what God does is ofttimes very puzzling and inexplicable; to know why he does it, makes all as clear and luminous as noon day. What we need to know then in order to know God, is the reasons for God's actions: the purpose, "the end of the Lord" (Jas. 5:11.), the causes and principles of his movements and operations in his dealings with mankind. We may always be sure that there is a just and righteous reason for all God's ways, and our endeavor should be to know and understand that reason. Now let us apply this to the subject we are considering. Evil exists; a thing that seems utterly antagonistic to God and his ways, but which we are sure from the foregoing considerations to be in some sense "of God," in harmony with his will, and conducive to the furtherance of his plans. Now then is there any principle of action, just and righteous in itself, that will account for the existence of evil, and indicate its ultimate result? There certainly is such a principle, thus: —It is a recognized principle in law, equity and morals that it is right and just to inflict or permit temporary evil for the sake of an ultimate and permanent good. This principle all will see is certainly correct. It is upon this principle that all punishment of any kind is justifiable, and it is only on this principle that it can be justified. Punishment is an evil; but it is an evil that may ultimate in good, and when it is inflicted for such a purpose it is right and just. Now we know from numerous examples, many of which I have given in this article, and many more in previous issues of the paper, that God acts upon this principle. He uses evil as an instrument for good. Admit that this principle is correct, and, that God acts upon it, and all evil is at once accounted for, and its final result indicated. This sweeping conclusion may not at once be clear to all, but a little thought will show that it is fully justified. If it is right to use evil as an instrument for good, and if God acts upon this principle, the principle fully explaining and justifying the act, then is it not reasonable to conclude that all evil is so justified? We cannot enter sufficiently deep into God's plans to be able to explain the how, and the why in each individual case, but once admitting the principle, and seeing numerous examples of its application that we can understand, and the conclusion is fully warranted that this principle applies to all cases. Of course no one could accept this conclusion who believed in endless torment. The above principle will not explain or justify unmitigated and eternal evil. I have already shown that such evil, really dethrones God, or at least shares his throne with him, which is equivalent to dethroning him. To say that evil is absolute and eternal, is to fully invest it with attributes peculiar to the Deity, and thus to make it "equal with God," at least in some respects; but this cannot be; at that rate there would be two gods, a good and a bad one, and each of them would eternally exist, and be eternal foes. To such a frightful conclusion does the doctrine of the eternity of evil lead us; let those believe it who can. But if we take the Bible teaching on this subject, the principle enunciated, fully accounts for and explains the existence and purpose of evil. It may seem to some that this principle cannot apply to all evil; they are able to see how some evil may be over-ruled for good, but that all the terrible forms of evil can be so over-ruled seems to them impossible. But such a question is simply one of degree. If God can make some evil conducive to good can he not so make all evil, of whatever form or quantity? If it is true that God uses evil for good at all, how can we tell, not knowing perfectly God's plans and methods, just what kind of evil and just how much evil God will so use? We must conclude that all the evil we see about us in every horrifying form and in all its vast amount, comes under the same category of part and parcel of the great plan that through sin, corruption, chaos and death, is moving on to holiness, purity, order and life eternal.

Furthermore the final outcome of God's plan, so clearly revealed in Scripture, fully confirms the foregoing view, and in fact irresistibly drives us to that view. All the details, and every particular of the plan in all its length and breadth are not revealed, but the result is revealed; and that result, the final outcome, is, a perfect and absolute triumph for goodness, truth and justice. "Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall give praise to God"—"The whole creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption"—"All things in heaven and earth shall be gathered together in Christ"— "Death shall be swallowed up in victory"—"There shall be no more anything accursed"—and "Every created thing shall praise God." This is the outcome; thank God! it is good enough. To this final result all things are tending. To such a universal victory we are traveling on. We can see it by faith, "afar off."

"I cannot doubt that good shall fall,
At last—far off—at last, to all."

If this is the outcome, then all things, evil included, are to eventuate in good; and thus we arrive at the same conclusion that we have reached in so many other ways in this article. Evil must be one of God's servants for good, it must eventuate in good, for nothing but good is to be the final result.

Thus does reason and the Word set forth the purpose of evil. My feeble powers of expression are altogether inadequate for the full presentation of the great truth; but these thoughts will suggest the solution of the problem, and will help the lover of truth to a deeper and fuller apprehension of the unique and wonderful ways of God. "Lo, these are parts of his ways; but how little a portion is heard of him! and the thunder of his power, who can understand?" Job 26:14.

THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW.

To misapply a good thing is to make it in effect a bad thing, hence we need to be sure not only that that which we use is good, but that we use it for the right purpose and in the right manner. "Now we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;" (1 Tim. 1:8) there is such a thing then as using the law unlawfully, and thus "that which is good is made death unto us." (Rom. 7:13). Turn we then prayerfully and earnestly to study the purpose of the law, that we may use it for that purpose and no other. I shall consider the subject briefly, for I am very sure that most of the readers of this paper are not in bondage to the law, and yet they may need clearer light on its real purpose. I will try first to show what is meant by the word law, then the purpose of the law, negatively and positively.

I will not go into a lengthy consideration of the meaning of the word law in the abstract, except to say that we should not consider law separate from God; all law of any kind, if it really is law, is of God and is founded on eternal truth; anything that is not so founded is not law and never can be whatever it may be called, God is the source, author, and executor of all law.

But we are to examine especially the meaning of the word law as it is used in the Bible. My subject is the "purpose of the law," some particular law; what law is meant? From the Scriptures we find that this term is used in a very broad sense, to express the great body of God's precepts, rules and directions, given to us through Moses or other Biblical writers; and even in many passages it is used as a general name for all God's written revelation; thus it is used mostly in the 119th Psalm. The distinction which some have tried to make between the Ceremonial law, or Temple Ordinances, and the Moral law, or Ten Commandments,—the former, as they claim, being the law of Moses and the latter the law of God,—this distinction is not a Scriptural one. The ceremonial laws were as much the laws of God as were the ten commandments; and both were in the same sense the law of Moses; i.e., God gave them to the people through Moses. When Paul says, for in-stance, in his epistle to the Romans that we are "not under the law," we know that he includes the ten commandments, for in the next chapter (7: 7) he quotes one of the ten commandments as a specimen of the requirements of the law to which he referred. We take the term law then in this broad sense; there are a few passages where it is restricted, but in the many it is used in the general way indicated above. Now what is the purpose of the law? in other words why did God lay upon man any commands at all? We are certain, in the first place, that God knew beforehand that none of his laws would be kept; from the first one given in Eden down to the last precept of Holy Writ, every one of them have been transgressed again and again; and God knew this when he gave them; hence we conclude that God did not give the law for the purpose of having it kept or obeyed, that is by man in his present condition. He knew it would not be obeyed; he knew it would be repeatedly broken by all generations; hence it is impossible that he could have given the law for a purpose that he knew would not be carried out. I will notice presently the difference between keeping the law and fulfilling the law; the law will all be strictly fulfilled, it is impossible that it should not be fulfilled; but it has never been kept by any human being excepting the Lord Jesus Christ. Furthermore if the law was not given for the purpose of being obeyed, then surely it was not given to make man holy, pure and good, and acceptable to God. If the law had been perfectly kept it might have made man pure and good; but it has never been kept, as we have already observed, and this was not the purpose for which it was given, hence it could not have been given to make man good or to recommend him to God; and this position is perfectly scriptural for we are distinctly told that righteousness does not come by the law, Gal. 2: 21, and that "the law made nothing perfect," (Heb. 7: 18.)

Again we are told that "the law is not of faith," Gal. 3: 12, nor of grace, Rom. 6: 14: if we are under the law we are not under grace; if we are living by law we are not living by faith; and if we are not living by faith we are not justified, for "a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law," and "the just shall live by faith;" Rom. 3:28; Gal. 3:11. All this is very positive, and clearly indicates what the purpose of the law is not. We turn now to consider what it is.

We have several passages of scripture that set forth in formal terms the purpose of the law, so that we need not be in the least doubtful upon the subject. The first passage we will notice is Rom. 3:20, 21. This passage declares two purposes of the law.

1. By the law is the knowledge of sin.
2. The righteousness of God is witnessed by the law and the prophets.

The first purpose of the law then is to give knowledge of sin; or in other words to bring us to a true knowledge of ourselves. The law is the perfect standard to be set up alongside of imperfect man that he may know how far he is out of the way, "that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." Paul says, "I had not known sin but by the law;" again, "The law worketh wrath;" and yet again, "The law entered that the offence might abound," "that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful." Thus the law aggravates the offence, and makes it more prominent and conspicuous, until its thraldom becomes hateful and intolerable, as set forth in Rom. 7, and the poor "servant of sin" cries out, "0 wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Thus also. it is seen that "the strength of sin is the law," 1 Cor. 15:56; the law gives to sin a strength that makes its deadly grip unyielding; "where there is no law there is no transgression;" "sin is not imputed where there is no law." "But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." Hence we read again that that was a "ministration of death" which was "written and engraven in stones," (i.e. the ten commandments for that was the only part of the law that was engraven on stones; Deut. 5:22; 10:1-5) and we are also told that it was a "ministration of condemnation" and was to be "done away;" and Paul further tells us when it is "done away," viz., "after that faith is come," Gal, 3:23-25. The law is a "child-leader," (1-2-41) until we get along far enough for Christ to take us up; He opens up the way of "righteousness by faith," and "we are no longer under a child-leader." "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth," Rom. 10:4. Thus the law brings us to perfect self despair, and we cry out, "0 wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me?" then the work of the child-leader for the time being is done and the work of Christ begins,—"I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 7:25; 1 Cor. 15:57). Thus Christ is "the end of the law," and the beginning of grace, for "grace and truth came by Jesus Christ," John 1:17; and hence the believer is "not under the law but under grace." By faith (not yet in actual reality, for "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen; compare Rom. 8:24, 25) by faith, I say, the believer has passed out of the "ministration of death and of condemnation," into "the ministration of the spirit and of righteousness" (2 Cor. 3:7-11), and thus "The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, makes us free from the law of sin and death." This purpose of the law then is to give "knowledge of sin," and thus to reveal man to himself so as to destroy pride, and sell-trust, and false security, that God may "work in us," through Christ, "to will and to do of his good pleasure." We cannot walk the way of "grace through faith" until the law has accomplished this purpose in us. "For God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble;" "We have the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God that raiseth the dead;" and we know that there is no security out of Christ," for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

Now there is one other passage that I would notice in this connection that fully confirms the foregoing. See Gal. 3:19; in this passage Paul asks the very same question that we are considering, "Wherefore then serveth the law?" and he answers it, "it was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator." Notice in this passage how the temporary, transient character of the law is indicated; it was "added" for the time being, "until" a certain further step in the development of God's plan, and then it was to be "done away." Notice also that "it was added because of transgressions," i.e., as we have endeavored to show, to give "knowledge of sin," that "sin might become exceeding sinful," that "the offence might abound." Sinful man needed this sort of discipline for a while, as we have seen, "until the Seed should come," i.e., until Christ should come (Gal. 3:16), and then He would "become the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth;" thus this formal enunciation of the purpose of the law is in perfect harmony with the view we have deduced from other scripture.

The second purpose of the law is that of a Witness to "the righteousness of God." There is a deeper meaning in this expression, "the righteousness of God," than I now have time to speak of. I will only say that perhaps it has not occurred to some of my readers that God is on trial as well as humanity. But as strange as it may seem it is even so. Does not the apostle say, "Let God be true, though every man be false; as it is written, that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome (or be victorious) when thou art judged." Is God to be judged, or tried? Young renders it, "That thou mayest be declared righteous in thy words, and mayest overcome in thy being judged." The idea here may seem very strange to some who have not thought of it before, but it is a great truth, and is fully confirmed by other scripture; see Heb. 3:8, 9; "Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation, (trial) in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted (tried) me, proved me; and saw my works forty years." Probably most have thought that it was the children of Israel that were being tried and proved during that forty years, but the above passage seems to indicate that it was God. I throw out this thought simply as food for consideration, and will only say now by way of explanation that in the outcome of the work of creation God's honor and credit is at stake, as well as man's well-being, and the result will fully vindicate his wisdom, power, and love, (see 1-2-29), He will be fully "justified in his words, and be victorious when he is judged" and his righteousness, i.e. his rightness, his absolute rectitude of character, will clearly appear; and even now is this righteousness "witnessed by the law and the prophet." That is to say in plain language, the law and the prophets (those writings that go by that name) are mediums through which God is made known to man; they are his witnesses; and thus of these two purposes of the law that we have thus far considered, the one is to make man known to himself, the other is to make God known to man. It is not difficult to see how the law and the prophets witness to the rightness of God. The history of God's dealings with his ancient people under the law, and during the times of the prophets, reveals to us the character of God,—his kindness, and good his long suffering and patience, his mercy and faithfulness, his tenderness and compassion; it also reveals God's hatred of sin, his severity and wrath, his unswerving justice, and his terrible chastisements. All these, and much more, do the law and the prophets witness, and all these when rightly understood, as they will be by all ultimately, "for God will have all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth"—all these clearly show the true character of God, his undeviating righteousness, his changeless love, so that men will at length cry out, "Lo, this is our God, we have waited for Him; he will come and save us."

There is one more purpose of the law that we will notice. Heb. 10:1. "The law has a Shadow of good things to come." This is an important purpose of the law. It is a system of types, allegories, patterns, figures, and shadows whereby the "good things to come" are clearly set forth. I need not dwell upon this point; every Bible student knows that this is the character of the law. Everything in it, all its ceremonies and ordinances, were typical, foreshadowing the "better things," "the heavenly things themselves," even "the unseen and eternal things"; and in this purpose of the law we find its great value and utility to the Christian. How dry and uninteresting it is to read the details of the law as laid down in Exodus, Leviticus, &c., if we see nothing but the letter; many of the laws thus viewed seem trivial, some seem exceedingly harsh and severe and even cruel, and others seem perfectly meaningless and foolish. But how full of significance and interest these dry details become when we see their typical import! Take for instance the law of the Passover, of the Atonement, of the Sabbatic cycles and the Jubilees, of the Sacrifices, the Tabernacle with all its apartments, veils, furniture, and ceremonies, all this and everything else in the law, down to "every jot and tittle," is pregnant with meaning as types and shadows of "good things to come." And this brings me to notice the difference between keeping and fulfilling the law. The law has never been kept by any human being excepting one, the Lord Jesus, but "Till haven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Keeping the law is obedience to its requirements. Fulfilling the law is the performance or accomplishment of that to which it points, or typifies. As we have seen, the law is a perfect system of types and patterns, it" has a shadow of good things to come," and these types and shadows are just as sure of being carried out as God is sure. In this respect it is not possible that the law should fail, "it would be easier for heaven and earth to pass away." The fulfilling of the law is in God's hands; it is one of the purposes for which the law was established,—"for see, saith he, that thou make everything according to the pattern shewed thee in the holy mount;" the law was to be a pattern of spiritual things; hence of course the fulfilment of the law is an absolute certainty, for in God's economy nothing is incomplete; in his great workshop there never could be a pattern without the real thing sometime appearing, that the pattern was intended to prefigure; hence the fact that the law is a system of patterns is an absolute guarantee of its ultimate fulfilment; but that has nothing whatever to do with keeping the law.

We have found then that the purposes of the law are three:

1. It gives knowledge of sin.
2. It witnesses of the righteousness of God.
3. It is a system of patterns of heavenly things.

I find no other purpose of the law laid down in Holy Writ. If we use the law according to these three purposes we shall use it "lawfully," and shall find it "good"; if we use it for other purposes for which it is not intended we shall find "that which is good made death unto us." A story of Mr. Moody's so well illustrates this subject that I will give it here, even though some of my readers may have already heard it. His little boy was going away with him. Mr. Moody told the boy that he must first have his face washed as it was dirty; the boy said that mother had already washed his that morning and that it was clean. "No," said the father, "you have got it dirty since it was washed, you must have it washed again before you can go with me." "It does not need washing, it is clean," insisted the boy. Then the father without another word took him up in his arms and let him look into the mirror where he could plainly see the reflection of his face, streaked with dirt where he had been playing in the street; at this sight the boy was silent and quietly submitted to his washing. "But," significantly remarks Mr. Moody, "I did not wash his face with the mirror." So the law shows us what manner of person we are, and "every mouth is stopped and all the world becomes guilty before God." But it is vain to try to wash yourself with the mirror. "By the law is the knowledge of sin." But cleansing does not come by the law; nor life, nor improvement, nor deliverance from the bondage of corruption, nor salvation of any kind or in any degree. 0, cannot all see that to use the law as a means whereby to lift ourselves out of sin, is to use it unlawfully, and the result can be nothing but failure and loss in the end; let no one try to wash their face with the mirror. You cannot keep the law perfectly, try never so hard; no one ever kept it but the immaculate Jesus; and the keeping of the law would be of no benefit to you, not a particle, unless you could keep it perfectly. "For it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, is guilty of all." What can you, then, poor, weak, sinful man, expect from such a law? Can you satisfy its rigid, absolute requirements? "But," says one, "though I cannot keep the law perfectly, I can keep it partially, and it is no reason because I cannot do the former that I should not do the latter." Well, and how then will you get rid of the "guilt" of the partially broken law? "0, by faith in Christ, and by the grace of God, of course we need that to cover our short-comings, and to make up for our defects." 0, ye Satan-deluded souls, "are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" Do ye think to unite that which God has divided, law and faith? and so partially earn heaven by keeping the law and partially receive it by the grace of God? Are ye not then "climbing up some other way," and so showing yourselves to be "thieves and robbers"? You need no Saviour, no "door," if you can climb over the fence into the "sheep fold" in this way. "For if righteousness come by the law, Christ is dead in vain." Either you are wrong or the death of Christ was a gigantic mistake. God help us all to see the truth on this subject, and to "have no confidence in the flesh," (Phil. 3:3). How wonderfully God has simplified this whole subject and brought all the great tangle of the law down to one luminous point when he says by the mouth of his servant, "All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; Therefore LOVE is the fulfilling of the law." Gal. 5:14; Rom. 13:10. 0 blessed simplicity of the gospel of Christ! Let the whole ponderous ritual of the law go; cast off the bondage of all legal requirements,—not to give license to sin, "God forbid!" (Rom. 6:15)—but to turn our whole thoughts and aspirations to the "more excellent way," the way of love. "God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him;" and such an one will possess, not the righteousness "which is of the law," (Phil. 3: 9)—but the righteousness "without the law," even "the righteousness of God."

THE PURPOSE OF TRIAL.

Paul said, "We glory in tribulation also." How is it possible to have such an experience? Every true Christian knows something of being resigned in tribulations It is thought to be a great triumph of grace if in the midst of troubles, distress and persecution one is uncomplaining, submissive and patient, but to "glory in tribulations," "to take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses,"—-to actually take pleasure in such things,—this is an experience that very few know anything about; indeed to most it seems an impossible experience; it seems moreover utterly unreasonable to expect any such thing. How can a person take pleasure in that which is unpleasant and painful; the thing is contrary to nature, and indeed seems contrary to common sense; and yet what shall we do with the numerous scriptures that plainly set forth this experience, like those I have quoted above, and many others to the same effect? Such an experience must be possible, for Paul and Peter and the other apostles and early Christians had it, and speak of it in the Bible as a thing within the reach of every disciple of the Lord Jesus. I apprehend that the reason why so few understand this experience is because they read the Word so carelessly, and understand so little about God's way of life. "Made perfect through suffering , Through death unto life, is God's way, and the one secret of "glorying in tribulations" is to understand the purpose of trials. He who has his eye on the result, when that result is grand and glorious beyond all expression or comparison will reck little of the means, especially if he realizes that they are the only possible means, and at the same time the absolutely certain means to reach the desired end. Herein lies the whole secret of this wonderful experience; a worldly person might glory in the severest trials and sufferings if they were absolutely sure that they would thereby reach some lofty position of honor, power and wealth; he would not glory in the sufferings for their own sake, but for the sake of the final outcome. So the Christian can "glory in tribulations," and "take pleasure in distresses," if he knows that thereby he is drawing nearer and nearer to the life of God and the kingdom of heaven; and this is just what the scriptures teach; we will look at a few passages.

Paul says, "We glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy spirit which is given unto us." The whole point in this passage depends on seeing the force of the word "knowing." We glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience," &c. Do you know this? Do you know that our troubles and sorrows and distresses chasten, refine and sanctify us, and make us "meet for the inheritance of the saints in light?" and that this is the only way whereby we may be made thus meet? Do you desire an abundant entrance into the kingdom? A seat with Christ on his throne? A share in his reign? A place among the kings and priests who shall be associated with him in the bright "ages to come," in ruling and blessing and saving the race? If you are aspiring to such a lofty and glorious position you must be content to be fitted for it beforehand, for not otherwise shall you obtain it. The Lord will have no incompetent ones in his kingdom. "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried [not before,] he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." Our trials are the means whereby we are fitted for the place God has for us in his kingdom. They give us the necessary training for our office in that kingdom; without them we could not enter into the kingdom at all; hence they are the price we have to pay for a government position under the Lord Jesus Christ; "Buy the truth and sell it not," (Prov. 23:23). If we think we are paying too dear we can "draw back," but such an one is "not fit for the kingdom." It is the knowledge of this fact, viz. that every trial properly borne brings us nearer perfection and the reward of the overcomer, that enables the believer, not only to bear them with patience and resignation, but even to rejoice in them, since we know that though "for the present they are not joyous but grievous, yet afterward they yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness." Our God is a reasonable Being. He says, "Come now let us reason together." He deals with us on common sense principles. God's way when rightly understood will commend themselves to our own judgment; his requirements and precepts are just what we should choose ourselves had we the same knowledge; hence when we come to understand his ways, we readily conform to them because we see that they are best, that this is our "reasonable service." (Rom. 12:1) Now then in regard to trials, if we can only see and understand that they are needful for our training to fit us for a glorious and blessed future, then although we could not rejoice in the trial for its own sake, we could rejoice in it, yea, we could take pleasure in it, for the sake of the benefit we were to derive therefrom in the end. Men of the world act upon this principle. The Athlete submits to the most rigid training and to great self denial for months together, in order that he may gain the prize in the walking, rowing, or sparring match, or in some other contest of muscle and brawn. "Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible" (1 Cor. 9:19-27) If God has opened your eyes to see something of the glories of the coming kingdom, if the veil of sense has been removed that you have caught a glimpse of the things unseen things," and if you understand that the path to those glories lies through trial suffering and affliction that you may reap the reward by and by.

The apostle says, "Our light afflictions, which are but for a moment work out for us a far more exceeding, and eternal, weight of glory;" and most people stop here and so lose all the point of the passage; they say, "my afflictions are not light and momentary; they are heavy and continuous, far beyond that of other people, and I cannot see how they are of any benefit to me, nor how I can rejoice in them." Read the next verse and you will understand how to obtain the experience set forth. "Our light afflictions which are but for a moment work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of WHILE WE look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporal but the things that are not seen are eternal; for we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Afflicted brother or sister, what are you looking at? Are you looking at yourself and your trials? are you looking with envious eyes at your neighbors and friends whom you think have an easier time than you? are you looking with longing eyes at the pleasures and enjoyments the apparent peace and comfort of others? wishing that you might possess the same, and comparing your hard circumstances with their apparently pleasant ones; While look at such things as these you will not find your afflictions and momentary, neither will they work out for you the wonderful glory that Paul speaks of; it is only WHILE you look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen,—not seen by the natural eye but apprehended by the eye of faith, (Heb. 11:13-16) —that your afflictions become easily bearable and work out for you the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; your afflictions become light and momentary by comparison with the exceeding glory of the unseen and eternal things; as the apostle says again, "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Our present sufferings are oft times great in themselves, and sometimes they seem overwhelming while we are looking at them, or compare them with the apparently pleasant circumstances of others, but they "are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." So Paul thought when he "counted all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord; that he might know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death, if by any means he might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." The ancient worthies were actuated by the same intense desire, "not accepting deliverance" from their cruel persecutions, "that they might obtain a better resurrection." Moses "chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward;" and Jesus Christ himself "endured the cross, despising the shame, for the joy that was set before him." So also Jesus taught, listen! "Blessed are ye when men shall hate you,"—what! Blessed are ye when men shall hate you! Is that the way its reads? Yes, that's the way its reads; but hear the rest. "Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for in like manner did they unto the prophets." Well, well, that's a strange "blessed." Blessed when we are hated; we are to rejoice and leap for joy when we are reproached, and slandered, and cast out; that's too much for human nature. Yes, it is too much for human nature, but it is not too much for the "divine nature," of which we are made "partakers," by the exceeding great and precious promises." (2 Pet. 1:4). These promises are God's notes of hand, and are good for their full face value, and more, yea, "much more," (Rom. 5:15-21), because the Great Promiser is "able to do exceeding abundantly, above all that we ask or think." But let two things be remembered in regard to the above quoted words of Jesus,—"and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for the Son of man's sake." If you are spoken against falsely, and for Christ's sake, then this "Blessed" is yours, and you may rejoice in it. But "what glory is it if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if when ye do well and suffer for it ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow his steps." We sometimes hear persons say when they are suffering from the ill will or unkindness of others, "if I had done anything to merit such treatment I would not say anything; but to be accused falsely, and be ill treated when you are not to blame, is more than I can bear." It is not more than Christ bore, and he "did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth," and if any man hath not the spirit of Christ he is none of his." Sufferings, afflictions, trials, etc., are a part of the believer's "calling," in this age. Whatever calling, profession or occupation a man may choose he would of course expect to pass through a certain process of study, discipline and training to fit him for that calling; and that preparatory process is a necessary part of the calling. So it is in "the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus;" the process by which we are prepared for the high position of kings and priests in the kingdom, is of course a part of the calling. How inconsistent it would be to for an "abundant entrance" into the kingdom and then draw back from the discipline that alone can fit you for any entrance at all into the kingdom. With the "hundred fold now in this time," we must accept the "persecutions," if we would have "aeonial life in the world to come." (Mark 10:30) Therefore "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you, [rather take it as a matter of course, an expected part of your training] and rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed ye may be glad also with exceeding joy; if ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you." (1 Pet. 4:12-14) "If we suffer with him we shall also reign with him;" and thus are we "heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." You desire to be "forever with the Lord" by and by,—in the glory,—are you unwilling to walk with him now in the suffering, humiliation and reproach and thereby "fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ?" only as we know now something of "the fellowship of His sufferings," shall we know by and by "the power of His resurrection." And what a wonderful privilege it is thus to be permitted to share with Christ in his sufferings and his glory! "Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake," (Phil. 1:29), and if we "see our calling" (1 Cor. 1:26), we shall "rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ" (Acts 5:41). Therefore "My Brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations (trials), KNOWING THIS, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have its perfect work that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." (Jas. 1:2-4). Here again the whole force of the passage depends on the word "knowing;" if you know the truth set forth in the latter part of the passage you will have no difficulty about the experience of the first part. You can count your trials "all joy," if you only know that thereby you are being continually advanced toward that condition where you will be "perfect and entire wanting nothing;" if you do not know this great truth, the idea of counting trials "all joy" will seem impossible and even foolish to you; in other words if we understand the purpose of trials, we shall not only be resigned to them, but we can glory in them, yea "take pleasure" in them,—"in infirmities, reproaches, necessities, persecutions, distresses, for Christ's sake, that the power of Christ may rest upon us." The hardest trials we have to bear are injustice, misrepresentation, slander, false accusation, but this is just what we need to perfect our patience, and fit us for a place in the coming kingdom. The Lord's "jewels" (Mal. 3:17) need cutting, grinding and polishing, before they shall be fit to be set in his "crown of rejoicing," but the severer the process the more brilliant will be the finished gem, and the more perfectly will it be able to flash forth the reflection of the glories of the great Artificer. Hence the believer, fortified with this knowledge of the purpose of evil, can "smile at the storm," knowing that, let it blow never so hard and so angry, the gale can only "drive them nearer home."

Perhaps someone is ready to ask at this point, "Is not the believer ever to be sad and sorrowful? should he always be full of joy and mirth no matter what comes?" Surely the child of God is sad and sorrowful oftentimes; frequently there is but very little mirth in his heart, and yet he may rejoice even while he weeps. Did you never read Paul's Paradoxes? "In all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God." by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report, as deceivers and yet true, as unknown and yet well known, as dying and behold we live, as chastened and not killed, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things." (2 Cor. 6:4-10) Oh wonderful and blessed experience of life in death, joy in sorrow, riches in poverty, "all things" in "nothing"! Foolishness to the natural man, but luminous with glory "to him that is spiritual"! But, alas, how few there are who know anything about this experience! God's professed people "love this present world, (2 Tim. 4:10) so well that they do not know enough even to be resigned in trials, much less to glory in them. "When the Son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth?" There is plenty of the spurious article, but where is the genuine? Oh that you and I, friend reader, may be among the few who shall possess that clearness of spiritual insight, and audacity of faith, that shall enable us to "glory in tribulation," to "take pleasure in infirmities," and to "rejoice and leap for joy" even, on account of those things that the world would reckon among the worst calamities. "What! shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" (Job 2:10). He is equally the Creator of both, and both shall equally "work together for good to them that love God." There fore, "0 thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted," (Isa. 54:11) triumph over your trials and afflictions by this knowledge of their purpose, for the Lord hath said, "No I will never leave thee; no, no, I will not forsake thee." (Heb. 13:5; see Emphatic Diaglott).

In a fashionable gathering a young man who affected infidelity heard that a lady of note, then present, professed to believe the Bible; finding her out in the company he made bold to ask if it were true that she believed the Bible. "Yes, sir, I do most certainly," replied the lady decidedly. "Why do you believe it?" still further queried the skeptic. "Because I am acquainted with the Author;" was the quick reply, that effectually put a stop to all further questioning. "Thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth in this, that he understandeth and knoweth ME, that I am the Lord who exerciseth loving kindness, judgment and righteousness in earth; for in these things I delight, saith the Lord." Jer. 9:23, 24.