The Consequences of Disobedience to God and Despising His Word
Table of Contents
The Consequences of Disobedience to God and Despising His Word: Part 1
“Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." (1 Cor. 10:12.)
The Lord was pleased to manifest His grace to A. D.-, a young girl whose fiery temper and frivolous mind gave but little hope for her conversion. Nevertheless, nothing could have been more real, and, breaking at once with the world she had loved so much, she made rapid progress in the faith, and seemed to desire nothing save to glorify the Savior who had redeemed her.
But the Word of God gives us abundant examples of falls and of slackness, even with men most eminent for their piety and noted for their faith, and we could easily quote Abraham (Gen. 12), Solomon (1 Kings 11), Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22), and many more, whose alliance with the world has shown their weakness. A., also, was to make the sorrowful experience of what it is to turn away from God; and, for us, she is another witness that "He that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption" (Gal. 6:8). Satan was setting a subtle snare before this young Christian by putting into her heart to marry an unconverted man; and this she was trying to do unbeknown to the brethren whose fellowship she had enjoyed. But the Lord, in His goodness, allowed that pecuniary interests should become a matter of disagreement between the parents of both parties, and this put off the marriage so that A.'s brethren heard of it while it was yet time to seek to hinder it.
One of the brethren in particular felt urged to give her a serious warning, and having gone to see her, he asked her the following question: "Do you not think that, despite the corruption which is in the world, there are yet families so bound to each other that no member would undertake anything without the approbation of the other members?”
A., who had not the least thought that this brother knew a word of her circumstances,, answered: ''Yes, certainly, such can be found, and it would be easy to mention cases.”
“Well, tell me," continued this brother, "which ties are strongest, those of the flesh or of the Spirit?”
“Evidently those of the Spirit," answered A.; "it is grace which has created them and nothing can break them.”
“We, then, who are God's family," added this brother, ''are we not to do what even the men of the world approve, and have confidence in one another? And, if so, how can you do the exact opposite, inasmuch as you have sought not only to hide from us your intention to marry, but also your marriage itself?”
A. answered nothing, but burst out in tears, while this brother, addressing the mother, asked if perhaps she had not urged her daughter to this marriage. The mother answered, she had not influenced her daughter in any way, but that A. was very anxious to have the marriage take place as soon as possible, and that she had been the more determined since hearing that a sister in the Lord, who had done the same thing in a neighboring place, was not hindered from attending meetings.
“This, then, is all you care for," continued the brother, addressing A., "and you doubtless think that a man who will not forbid your attending meetings is quite enough of a Christian for you to marry him.”
“But," answered A., "I believe he would do much more than let me go; I hope he would go with me, for he already seems to me well-disposed, and, as he says himself, perhaps I might be the means of doing him good and hastening his conversion.”
“And what blessing would you have God grant you when you begin by disobeying Him, who forbids His children to be yoked with unbelievers? (2 Cor. 6:14-18.) Remember that obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Sam. 15:22), and is all-important in God's sight. 'Blessed is the man in whose spirit there is no guile' (Psa. 32:2). Besides, have you been initiated in the counsels of God to know if your intended husband is 'ordained to eternal life'? (Acts 13:48.) You say he is well-disposed: I wish it to be so; but do you know that many people become very pious when marriage comes in question, and Satan himself can appear as an angel of light to satisfy his own desires. And what happens to those Christians who have allowed themselves to get into such a position? The mask does not fail to fall from the companion they have chosen for their pilgrimage; his feigned godliness soon gives place to ungodliness, and the poor Christian is made to feel the consequences of his unfaithfulness, for while he walks toward heaven, the other follows the path of perdition.”
Upon returning home this brother felt the need of beseeching the Lord to make effectual what he had said to A. He asked Him, with supplication, to turn her away from her evil course, or to take her away from this world, rather than let her dishonor His name by such an act; for though A. seemed to perceive, in some measure, her bad state of soul, yet her object remained, and Satan was ready to help her in every possible Way to pursue and obtain it, and this would not have failed had not God Himself taken the matter in hand.
A., however, had been shaken, and she went to a friend of hers to unburden her heart. She confessed she felt very unhappy at the thought the brother above-mentioned knew the whole affair, and that her mother had given him all its details. "O!" she cried, "now I see my state and the evil I have been playing with.”
Nevertheless, to divert her mind and calm the impressions she had received, she resolved to visit a sister of hers who lived at G- , some distance away. While waiting for the train which was to carry her away, she called on a friend of her mother's to beg her to do all in her power to bring about a settlement of the matter which hindered her marriage, so as to end, as soon as possible, the conflict going on in her mind.
The thing then seemed inevitable, and there is where self-will can lead one who has got away from. God. A, arrived at her sister's in full health, but five days after. she was seized with a violent fever, and, after three days of suffering, she passed out of this world. But from the earliest beginning of her sickness, the Word of God reached to the bottom of her heart; she judged herself seriously and recognized she was sick unto death. She refused the help of three physicians who surrounded her, saying she knew very well why she was thus struck down. As she could not say more to those who surrounded her because they ignored her case, she begged them to send for the brother by whom God had shown her her state, that, before departing, she might express to him her thankfulness, and tell him what was her happiness in going to God, now that she had found perfect restoration in the ocean of His grace. This grace filled her heart and removed her from this world full of joy, without the least murmur or complaint having been perceptible during her sufferings. Even after a severe paroxysm, she asked if nothing had passed her lips by which the Lord might be offended. But nothing had passed them, and praise so filled her that one of the friends having asked her what she desired them to ask the Lord for her, she answered: "Give thanks, I have all things.”
Somebody remarking that death was a painful thing, A. answered with an inexpressible smile: "No, it is not dying to go to one's God!" And until the Lord took her to Himself, her happiness failed not one moment. She loved to repeat the hymn,
Nothing, O Jesus, but Thy grace,
Nothing but Thy blood most precious,
Which give a guilty conscience peace,
Can make holy, and righteous.
Thus was God pleased to bless the last moments of His child whose tears were changed into joy, and distress in songs of triumph. She is now happy and blessed with the Lord, who chose to take her to Himself rather than let her commit an act which would have marred her whole Christian life by dishonoring the beautiful name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
May these facts bring more soberness and spirituality, first of all in the Christian who has been their witness, and also in every Christian who may read these' lines, that we may be steadfast and unmovable (1 Cor. 15:58), following hard after the Lord (Psa. 63:8), in the paths of holiness and truth, uniting our hearts to fear His name. (Psa. 86:11.)
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?”
(To be Continued.)
The Consequences of Disobedience to God and Despising His Word: Part 2
The account of A. in our August paper tells out, in all Christian simplicity, facts which show the way God may intervene by His judgments to deliver His children from the sad spiritual consequences arising out of want of faithfulness. A young Christian had allowed herself to be drawn into an offer of marriage by an unconverted man; her conscience testified clearly that she was acting against the will of God. But she could not stop at the first steps, and not having rejected from the very beginning, as an unfaithful act and a sin, the very thought of what was offered her, she had no strength for it afterward, and God had to take her out of the world to keep her from committing a sin she would not have wished to commit, but which she had no more strength to resist. O! how difficult, when once started on such a road, to stop on the way! If true affection recognizes God and all the relations in which He has placed us with Himself, it is absolutely impossible that a Christian should allow himself to marry one of the world, without violating all his obligations toward God and toward Christ. If a child of God joins himself to an unbeliever, it is evident he utterly leaves Christ aside, and he does it willingly, in the most important circumstance of his life. It is at such an hour there should be the most intimate communion of thought, of affection, of heart interest with Christ-and He is totally excluded. A common yoke with an unbeliever is taken up. The choice has been made to live without Christ. With set determination, one has preferred to do his own will and exclude Christ rather than renounce that will and enjoy Him and His approbation. The heart has been given to another in giving up Christ and refusing to listen to Him. The more affection there is-the more the heart is engaged, the more openly one has preferred something to Christ. What a terrible decision, thus to fix one's self for life, and to choose for companion an enemy of the Lord! The influence of such a union must necessarily be to drag the Christian back to the world. He has already chosen to accept, as the most loved object of his heart, what is worldly, and the things of the world alone can please the worldly, though death be their fruit (Rom. 6:21-23). "The world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." What a horrible position, to be unfaithful to Christ, or to have always to resist, when the most tender affection should have established a most perfect union. The fact is, that unless God's sovereign grace sets to work, it is always the Christian who gives up, and who, little by little, falls into worldliness; nothing is more natural: the man of this world has only worldly desires; the Christian, besides his Christianity, has his flesh, and, what is more, he has already renounced Christian principles to please his flesh, by joining himself to a person who does not know the Lord. Now the result of such a union is, that there is not one thought in common concerning the subject which should be the most precious to the heart, with the person dearest on earth and who is as a part of one's self. Nevertheless, they will only have quarrels, as it is written: "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3.)Otherwise, there will have to be a giving up to worldliness, and afterward having a taste for it.
But that sad result is not in view when the position which makes it inevitable is taken. The Christian is drawn in little by little; he is not in communion with his Savior, and he can find pleasure in the society of a person who is agreeable to him, without thinking of Jesus. When he is alone he does not think of praying, and when he is with the person he loves, his conscience or his Christian friends may warn him, but he has no more strength, and Christ has not power enough in his heart to turn him away from his course and make him give up an affection which he knows the Lord disapproves. He engages himself more or less by other motives, such as a feeling of honor. Alas! even more detestable motives are often the case, such as pecuniary interests, and conscience will be sacrificed, and the Savior, and, as far as lies in his power, his own soul, but at any rate, the glory of God. That which, at the beginning, seemed only a fancy, has become an ungovernable will.
There is another remark the history of this young girl leads me to make. The first impulse of a converted soul, no matter how sincere, produces quite another thing from the judgment of one's self and of the flesh. This, in manifesting our weakness to us, makes us cast our burden at the feet of Jesus; then we seek for strength only in Him, and we have confidence only in Him. The confidence one has in Jesus, who knows and distrusts himself, is what gives him a solid and lasting peace-when he has understood, not only by doctrine, but in his heart, that Himself is our righteousness. But one gets there only through having been in the presence of God, and having found out before Him that we are only sin, and that Christ is perfect righteousness, God perfect in love. Henceforth, we distrust self; we fight it, and the flesh and the enemy have no more the same power to deceive us.
I do not think the young person mentioned in these pages had got through with self. There are many Christians in that state, and though we are all exposed to the same danger, yet such have particularly to fear the enemy's cunning, because they have not learned to what extent flesh deceives, nor what a terrible traitor we have to do with. When one has learned all that, it may happen he will fail in watchfulness, but Christ has a large place in his heart and there is more calm and less of self.
Notice how deceitful the heart is and how it loses all power over itself when away from God. This poor young girl, while sinking deeper and deeper in the mire she was playing with, according to her own expression, was asking a friend of her mother's to do all she could to remove the obstacles, and this woman, who had some piety, wondered that A. should want to marry an unconverted man.
How cunning and deceitful is our heart! What slaves an idol makes of us, inasmuch as, while we seek to avoid the danger, we take means to accomplish the thing we desire while we fear it. What an awful thing to get away from God!
This young person, before being entangled in this affection, would have turned away with horror from the very thought of such ways. When the heart has got away from God, it fears men more than God Himself. One can easily understand that God, who loved A. and by whom He was loved in the bottom of her heart, should have had to take her out of the world where she had no more the courage to return to the straight path. He has taken her to Himself. She died in peace, and through pure grace only she triumphs. While enjoying peace at his last moments, the Christian should always, in such cases, feel God's intervention in allowing it to be so. What a solemn lesson for such as want to get away from God and His holy Word with a view to satisfy an inclination which would have been easily got rid of at its birth, but which becomes tyrannical and fatal when nursed in the heart. May God give the reader of these lines, as well as all His children, to seek every day His divine presence.
(Continued from page 217)
“Little children, keep yourselves from idols." (1 John 5:21.)