Lights in a Crooked and Perverse Nation
Zion's Advocate, March 1906, Vol. 46, No. 3.
"Do all things without murmurings and disputings; that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world."This admonition follows the declaration of the motive power from which springs all true and acceptable service: "It is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." This inclination and ability being wrought in the children of God, consistency requires that they "do all things without murmurings and disputings." It is enough for them to know that their Father in Heaven requires them to render obedience to him, and to believe that he will give them needed strength at all times to render that obedience.
It is impossible to be entirely free from faults at any time, yet it is possible for the children of God to bring their faults under subjection and keep them from ruling in their general conduct. It is by this course that they may be "blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke." How bright and beautiful is the lives of such as succeed in attaining and holding that desirable end in the christian warfare! It is to be desired and sought after above all other things in this life.
The world in which the sons of God are to shine is described as a "crooked and perverse nation." These two terms, crooked and perverse, have reference to the opinions and practice of the world, and can mean nothing less than that the world is very erroneous in its opinions and altogether wrong in its practice. This is true both in a moral and religious sense. It is a very dark world indeed when it can be truthfully said that "men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil." These not only love darkness and abide in it, but they are darkness itself. This was the former condition of the children of God, for inspiration declares in addressing them, "Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord." "There is none righteous, no, not one," was the wise decision of him who is the embodiment of all wisdom. "There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God." How crooked is their understanding and how perverse is their course! Their throats, lips, mouths, feet, eyes, with their knowledge, are all crooked - all perverse. An open sepulchre, bold deceit, the poison of asps, vile cursing, dreadful bitterness, shedding of blood, no fear even of God, these are true portraits of the depravity of mankind. This moral turpitude is universal, for it is declared that there is no difference, all having sinned and come short of the glory of God. What a dreadfully dark world! What a crooked and perverse nation!
The world's religions are no better than its morals. It is a crooked world in respect to its opinions of God. The most enlightenend nations of ancient times, which were left without the aid of divine inspiration, worshiped a great many gods instead of one. This is called Polytheism (Greek polus, many, and theos, god). This conception of many beings, superior to man and claiming his worship, is the ideal of man's creative fancy, and would doubtless have been the universal notion of the human race today had the supreme Being withheld his divine light from the world.
Polytheism seems to have attained the height of its prominence among the ancient Greeks, a nation which boasted of the greatest glory and most advanced enlightenment of any in that age of the world. Every sound and every sight, every thought and every deed, was supposed to have a sublime significance caused by some god.
The Grecian Empire finally sank under the dominion of Imperial Rome, which became mistress of all the civilized world. About one hundred and twenty millions of persons, belonging to many different countries, were thus brought under one general government, embracing a territory of more than sixteen hundred thousand square miles. Such was the political state of the world at the time of the birth of our Saviour. Agriculture, arts, sciences, learning and commerce, were promoted to a degree much beyond what had been known before. Wise councils, prudent measures, and equitable laws were exhibited, and a boasted civilization prevailed in the more favored parts of the Roman Empire.
With all these advantages, correct views of God would have been held had it been possible for man to know him by his natural wisdom. Instead of the light of that knowledge, however, we find the darkness of polytheism. In every nation under the sway of the Roman Empire a general belief prevailed that all things were subordinated to an association of powerful spirits, who were called gods. Each nation had its peculiar dieties, differing in many respects from those of the other countries. Each nation conceded to the others the right of worshiping their own gods as they might choose to do. In many nations the sun, moon and stars, and other excellent parts of creation, were adored. What a crooked and peerverse nation the human family had become! How true was the prediction of Isaiah, in referring to the age when God would perform the mercies promised to the fathers, "Behold darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people." Isaiah 60:2.
The Jews, at the time of the coming of Jesus, had the oracles of God in their hands, the writings of Moses and the Prophets, those holy men of God, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, yet, with all these advantages, their condition in general was not much superior to that of the Gentiles. They had generally departed from the piety of their ancestors, and had sunk into empty formality and hypocrisy. For four hundred years prior to the coming of the Son of God no prophet had appeared to teach them. How very dark the world had become!
Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, looked upon his babe and said under the guidance of inspiration, "And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace." Dawn had come at last, and soon the Sun of righteousness arose, whose light made glad the hearts of those who were born, "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
The three years ministry of Jesus passed by, he laid down his life for his sheep, and was interred in the tomb. The Shepherd was smitten by the sword of Justice, and the sheep were scattered, to whom this was a period of the deepest gloom. However, greater light awaited them than they had ever yet beheld. On the third morning, the fetters of death were broken and the Son of God arise! At the end of forty days another surprise followed and the wonder-struck apostles stood gazing toward heaven where they had seen their Master go. Light came suddenly to them in the declaration of the two heavenly messengers: "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."
All the wonderful things that had transpired produced no change in the outward world. It was as crooked and perverse as ever. If it had been his design to christianize it all, as many religious fanatics are now trying to do, what a miserable failure it would have been! Not a single town or neighborhood had been entirely christianized. His elect people were found in every sectin of the inhabited earth, however, and into their hearts God purposed to shine to give them the light of the knowledge of his glory in the face of the beloved Jesus. These were originally darkness, but were made to be light in the Lord. Out of this material was constructed the visible church, a collection of baptized believers, which was designed to be as a city set on a hill, the light of which cannot be hidden.
These elect ones, who had been quickened by the Spirit and raised from death in sins, were in the world but not of it. They were of God, while the whole world was lying in wickedness, I. John 5:19. It is still so. The world continues to be crooked and perverse. God is regarded as having done all he can or all he intends to do toward the salvation of sinners and is waiting to see how the matter will turn out. It is supposed that his Spirit is wooing and beseeching dead sinners to let him save them, these operations being limited to the territory where the "gospel" is preached. That "gospel" is regarded as the great "means" by which dead sinners are brought to life, the Spirit operating through it as a vehicle to reach their hearts. The atonement is believed to have been made for the whole race of man, to be applied to all who will accept it. Man's condition is represented as being much better than the old-fashioned Bible makes it out to be, not being entirely lost and condemned, and possessing a degree of goodness and power to act in a way that will please God. The will of God is thus made subservient to the will of the creature by this crooked, speculative theology. The whole thing is but an attempt to rob the great Shepherd of his glory by climbing up some other way. "Conditions" of salvation are proposed in positive denial of the plain teaching of the Bible which those pretended divines claim to believe.
While this religious crookedness and perverseness is being supported and carried on, moral corruption is prevalent all around. Lying, stealing, fighting, murdering, and all other abominable deeds are perpetrated in the very midst of those religious fanatics who are crying all the time for more money to send the "gospel" to "heathen lands." What a dark world both religiously and morally!
In the midst of this crooked and perverse generation the true church of Christ is designed to shine as a light. How beautifully the glorious doctrine of our Sovereign God shines in the darkness we have been considering. The true character of God is set forth. "I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will do all of my pleasure." Isaiah 46:9,10. "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love; having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will." Ephesians 1:4, 5. The particular, special and effectual atonement made for these elect by the offering of Christ once for all time is proclaimed. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." Romans 5: 8, 9. The unconditional calling of those elected and atoned for is taught. "Who hath saved us, and called us, with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ before the world began." I. Timothy 1:9. The utter powerlessness of preaching to reach any until they are thus called is held forth. "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." I. Cor. 1:23, 24. The final perseverance of the elected, justified, and called is contended for. "Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." I. Peter 1:5.
How brilliant is that grand old doctrine amid the darkness of this corrupt world! It continues to glimmer, though opposed by all the powers of darkness, a beacon light to pilgrims, who have no continuing city here, but seek one to come, whose maker and builder is God. Not only do the true followers of Christ shine in upholding and proclaiming the true doctrine, but also in maintaining the practice ordained for them to walk in. As the light of the heavenly bodies is clear and undubious, so the light shed forth by these faithful ones is a decided and unequivocal illumination. The celestial bodies give also a steady, permanent light; so are the rays of true christian character not to be periodical, but steady and permanent.
In conclusion we would say to the humble followers of Jesus, "Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."
It is not the business of saints to save sinners, or even to aid God in doing so, but it is their business to show forth his praise. The god of conditionalism may need aid, but the God of the Bible does not. To presume to assist him in his work would be to cast reproach upon his name. To ascribe all the honor and glory of salvation to him is to pay homage to his person. Reverential attitude to the Divine Being becomes those who aspire to be his true followers. "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour." Love is the great light of christian character. To reflect that love which is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit is to shed forth the bright beams of true christian influence.
All the luminaries of heaven, as far as mere light is concerned, might shine on, clear and bright as ever, and yet if that peculiar, mysterious, vital warmth which accompanies their rays at certain seasons were absent, the earth would be one vast scene of wintry desolation. So the christian's opinions may be clear, correct, enlarged and scriptural, and his practice be outwardly blameless, yet if the vital warmth of love be lacking the influence of his light is dead. It lacks the glowing warmth of the true christian spirit. The two elements of light and heat must be combined to shine as spiritual light. A pure, elevated, glowing piety is what we need. No false fire can supply its place. Daily, holy communion with God beneath the intense beams of his propitious face, the holy flame of supreme love to God, the constraining love of Christ for souls which are fed and fanned by the communications of God's Spirit, and a beaming zeal for the good of the cause which Jesus endured so much to establish, these are the things to be coveted and sought after and prayed for. What we need is more religion in the heart. Let us press closer to the Lord and each other, striving ever to exert a warming influence over those associated with us in the Master's cause. Such a course persistently followed will send out the light of our holy religion over the benighted world. Those who have eyes to see will see it and be attracted by it and will join our march. How we long to witness a revival of our divine cause, so that, under showers of heavenly blessings, the plants of the garden of grace may put on a fresh beauty and emit the sweet perfume of joyful praise to the blessed Redeemer's name!
J. R. D.
Copyright c. 2003. All rights reserved. The Primitive Baptist Library.
