VERY few are living now who saw the birth of the nineteenth century, and soon we shall see its close. It has certainly proved a very eventful period in the history of man. Science has taken rapid strides. Old-time history has been unearthed, whilst other worlds have been opened up to the wondering gaze of man. Scientists have even come to talk of the production of life by, the combination of certain chemicals.
How much of the science of the present day would fall under the catalog of what the apostle Paul terms “science falsely so-called”! Science means knowledge, yet how much so-called science is merely speculation, and has been proved so.
What has been the result of all this wonderful advancement?
Many thought that its influence would bring about a millennial state of things. Man would rapidly improve. Wickedness would be less rampant as man got more knowledge.
But what has been the result?
Certainly man has become more polished; but society is as rotten as ever it was, ―the heart left untouched, ―man as far away from God as ever he was. We admit thieves are more polished; sin gilded over, so as not to offend the aesthetic eye and ear by its unsightliness. But once break beneath the thin crust of polite society, and you find yourself in a vortex of unblushing sin and shame. Science, unlike Christianity, has not produced better fathers, mothers, and children.
Nor are the relations of nations changed to each other for the better. The old state of things is rather intensified. Europe, as has often been said, is an armed camp. Her frontiers are glittering with bayonets, and massed with troops. Millions of money are being spent on navies. Science is the handmaiden to the passions of the nations; she is lending her aid to invent terrible instruments of destruction and cruelty.
Knowledge is no doubt good in its place, but man’s heart being unchanged, he has only used it to gratify his desires and passions.
Saddest of all is the way they are beginning to speak of the good old book. These savants tell us the Bible was all very well for the barbarous and unenlightened people of by-gone ages. They have got beyond it; they have proved it wrong (?). The story of creation, as told in Genesis, is a very pretty story, and suited for the olden times, but it is not strictly true. They prefer to believe the speculations of science before the revelation of God. They forget the conditions of things which obtained six thousand years ago may be so totally different, that speculations based upon conditions of today may be worse than useless. Darwin, without his missing link, is received with respect. The revelation of the Creator is placed on one side; evolution, is the cry!
The keenest of modern thinkers has lately taken up a very pitiable condition, with all his erudition and learning. He deliberately calls himself “an Agnostic,” or know-nothing. He may understand a vast deal about the seen and temporal, but as to the unseen and eternal, he knows nothing, ―as to eternity and his soul, it is all dark! Such is man in his best estate.
How conclusively these things prove the words of Scripture: “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). “The world by wisdom knew not God” (1 Cor. 1:21). Such is man’s wisdom. But what is God’s justice? We turn with relief from man’s theories to God’s facts, ―to what is steadfast and stable.
“We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” Righteousness is satisfied, love is set free to act, wisdom is exemplified, through Christ crucified.
Let us see how man, even in the full blaze of gospel light, is treating Christ crucified.
Surely it is to the Greeks foolishness.
No person, who professes to think at all, nowadays denies the existence of a God. The time has gone by when thinking men deliberately state “There is NO God.” They may call Him by the name of “First Cause.” They may not be able to define His person. How can they?
But once the existence of a God is admitted, it naturally follows that He is the personification of all that is good. They reason that He is righteous; for whenever the laws of nature are violated, there is more or less a punishment following, like a Nemesis, the transgressor. They argue that He is beneficent; the rain, the sunshine, the wonderful provisions made for man and beast, in every way attest this. The heathen, without any revelation from God save that which is seen in creation, in the mighty handiwork of God, creates a god according to his own lusts and passions. He oftentimes is the impersonification of all that is evil. They set up their gods, — hideous in shape, and frightful in aspect. Satan is behind it all. They worship him. No doubt this is to quiet their consciences, dim and dull as they are. Thus sin is made a religious duty―even to murder.
But we, who live in the full blaze of gospel light, cannot do so. Our spirits, that part of man higher than the brute creation, to which God addresses Himself, tell us that the God of the Bible is the God of creation. We may not like it. We must admit His essentials―light and love; His attributes―wisdom, holiness, and righteousness.
But men, even in enlightened England, in spite of the God-given knowledge, will make a god according to their own wishes, ―not the rude idea of a savage, but the polished idea of the faithless scientist or Christless professor. They deny the necessity of a vicarious sacrifice to put away sin, ―the “substitution” of the Scriptures, ―though the blood of thousands of bulls and goats, from Abel downwards, is the type, and the blood shedding of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross is the blessed antitype!
They say, “All we have to do is to confess our sins, and take refuge in the great fatherhood and love of God.” A very pretty sentiment on the surface, but nothing less than an insidious lie of the devil, damning thousands. They thus deny the sine qua non of the scripture― “Without the shedding of blood there is NO remission.”
Let us give you an illustration. Would you like to live in a country where culprits had only to confess their sins to be forgiven? The thief would steal, then confess; steal again, confess, &c. The murderer would express sorrow for his blood guiltiness, the prison gates would be opened, and he would be free to repeat his crime. Nay, no necessity for prisons. In such a state of things life and liberty would not be worth the keeping. The weakest would go to the wall much more rapidly than now. This, then, is the kind of simpering justice that man would ascribe to the everlasting God.
If a monarch pardons a murderer, he does it at the expense of justice. While we all rejoice at acts of clemency, still, strict justice is not, and cannot be, satisfied.
But God is just in His mercy, hence the necessity of a substitute. Earth might be ransacked, yet no sacrifice is found worthy enough. Heaven could not furnish one, ―not even an archangel would do. It takes God to meet God; hence the punishment of man is eternal. A finite creature can never exhaust the wrath of an infinite God.
How then can that beautiful verse in Psalms 85 be fulfilled: “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other?”
Oh! mystery of mysteries―perfection of wisdom―perfection of love!
God manifest in flesh, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, is born into this poor sin-blighted world, lives a perfect life of devotedness to God and man, dies upon the cross, is buried and raised again the third day according to the Scriptures, is ascended into heaven; and now, with redemption and resurrection glories crowning His once thorn-bound brow, can dispense untold blessings, not at the expense of righteousness, but in consonance therewith!
“The river of His grace,
Through righteousness supplied,
Is flowing o’er the barren place
Where Jesus died.”
Thus in the cross is magnificently seen God’s wisdom. The atheists may tell us, “There never was such a life,” as they do; but I want you to say, “There never was such a death; it has brought me untold blessings!”
God can now be “just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26).
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Oh! beloved reader, let not the cold breath of criticism disturb your trust in God’s Word. Bow in grateful adoration and praise, and thank Him for the great, grand, and God-like plan of salvation.
Justice satisfied, righteousness vindicated, ―love, deep and boundless, is free to flow forth in life-giving streams! And all by the cross!
Man’s wisdom brings doubt and difficulties. Infidelity is a cold, cold winding-sheet. Man-made theology brings neither joy to the soul, nor peace to the conscience. But God’s love, known and enjoyed, will bring sweet peace for the present, and fullness of joy for the future.
Well may the apostle ask, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?”
Then neglect no longer, dear reader, but on the authority of God’s unchanging and unchangeable word, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be SAVED” (Acts 16:31). Heaven will be set a-ringing with joy. May God grant it, for Christ’s sake. Amen. A. J. P.