THERE is a great cry going out for Liberty just now. A wave of democracy is sweeping over the world. Things will never be again as they were before this terrible war. The smaller nations cry out for liberty, the right to assert themselves, to speak their own languages, make their own laws, and mold their own destinies.
Then the individual is calling out for liberty, and the irony of the situation is this, that in order to get it men band themselves into associations, wielding the most autocratic and tyrannical power, and the very opposite to liberty is often the outcome.
So for the attainment of liberty we witness the most terrible conflict between nation and nation, between capital and labor, between master and man, between man and woman, and the worst is yet to come.
But let us discuss freedom at the very root of things. I call upon my reader to face FACTS. Let it be granted that God is Creator. In the magnificent language of the most widely-circulated book in the world, “The worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Heb. 11:33Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. (Hebrews 11:3)). Whatever else we may believe or disbelieve, it is incontrovertible fact that ORDER and LAW are stamped upon all creation. Where is liberty in creation? It only lies in carrying out the order and law that are stamped upon it. All else apart from that is confusion and catastrophe.
For instance, has an apple tree liberty to grow pears, or a fish to live on dry land, or a planet to choose its own orbit, or a stream to run uphill? Is not man driven by inexorable law to eat and sleep? Every infraction of the laws of nature meets with certain punishment. The daily newspaper bears abundant and gruesome witness to that.
It is lamentable to see a fine man, endowed with brain and the will power to advance his life’s schemes, beginning to fail. Just when his powers are at their zenith and his experience has gathered in a great store of useful knowledge, he begins gradually to go downhill, until body and mind are worn out, and finally he DIES. What an awful thing death is! Liberty! Liberty!! Why, we are bound hand and foot all our lives by a thousand chains.
Let me give you an illustration. A medical man was preaching the gospel in the street of a South London suburb some years ago. A drunken man began to interrupt. The preacher said to him, “Now, my man, if you will listen quietly till I am finished, I promise to hear what you have got to say.” The man agreed to the terms. When the preaching was over the doctor turned to him, and said, “Now I’m ready to hear what you have to say.”
Nothing loath the man stepped into the ring, and with the foolishness of a drunken man, said. “I’m a free thinker, a free eater, and a free drinker”―the last named only too evident by his condition.
It was dusk, and from the outskirts of the crowd a voice cried out, “But you’re not a free agent.”
The man turned round, indignantly challenging the statement, when the voice asked, “Do you want to die?” He answered, “No.” Then came the inquiry, “Will you have to die?” He replied, “Of course, we’ve all got to die.” Then came the crushing rejoinder, “Then if you don’t want to die, and you have to die―you’ll have to do what you don’t want to do. You’re not a free agent.”
The fact is, there is no liberty apart from God’s will―no true liberty apart from God’s truth and God’s Son. “The truth shall make you free” (John 8:3232And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)); again, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (vs. 36).
What is the use of talking about liberty when you are a slave of sin, and in the grip of death?
I beseech you, unknown reader, to face FACTS. You are a sinner, death and judgment are appointed to you. Remember that God’s blessed Son, the Lord Jesus, became a man, and died on the cross of shame, in order that He might “deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:1515And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:15)).
Doubtless, liberty in a very secondary and temporal sense can be secured by man’s efforts, but what will that avail if you are not in right relation to God? A planet out of its orbit would be less disastrous than a soul out of relation to God. The fact is, lawlessness to a great extent is deified and miscalled liberty, and the result is confusion, catastrophe, tyranny, the passions of men let loose, God defied, and eternal ruin. Two notable instances of this are the French Revolution, culminating in the Reign of Terror, when the streets of Paris ran with blood, and the recent Russian Revolution, with its terrible lessons.
No one can save you from the awful results of sin but the Lord Jesus Christ. He, and He alone, can put you into right relations with God. His precious blood can cleanse you from every sin, and His power can give you true liberty.
Will you not face FACTS? Child of a moment, thou art soon passing away. Whither? we earnestly ask. Take a long look into eternity. Death and Judgment await each unsaved man and woman. But right athwart your path stands the Son of God. He bears the wounds in His hands and feet and side. He is the great Redeemer. His precious blood can meet your dire case. He says, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)). Beautiful, gracious evangel! It comes with all its drawing charm!
Let the old-time cry, “What must I do to be saved?” come from your lips and heart. Hear the answer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)). In this, and this alone, lies your eternal happiness. Once more, face FACTS.
A. J. P.