the patriarchal religion given in the first ages of recorded time and to all people. We next observe that this religion was not abolished or superseded when the Jewish religion was given, at least only so far as the Jewish people were concerned, and much of it was incorporated in the Jewish system. Any law given by any authority is obligatory until it is repealed, and if it be repealed it must be repealed by the same authority which gave it, and to the same extent to which it was given. The patriarchal religion was given by divine authority; it was given to the whole world, and never by divine authority repealed or superseded until Jesus said, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." The fact of God having given a divine system of religion to one nation would not and could not repeal the religion of all nations. We have no divine warrant for assuming that this religion was abolished, but, on the contrary, there is much to show that it was still binding on other people, while the Jewish religion was in force. For God had regard for nations and peoples, for prophets, priests, and kings who were not His chosen people, Israel. Jethro, a priest of Midian, gave Moses instructions in regard to the government of the Jews. Balaam, who had pronounced blessings on the children of Israel, was a prophet of God, b yet not an Israelite. God sent Jonah to preach to the people of Nineveh and received their repentance in sackcloth and ashes. The prayers and alms of a a Ex. xviii. c Book of Jonah. с b Num. xxii. 12-23, xi. 12. BRIT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE THREE REVELATIONS 63 Cornelius, a Roman centurion," Came up for a memorial before God." And when Peter preached to him and those assembled with him, he said, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." a Not only did God accept those who worked righteousness but He punished those who did wickedly. He destroyed the seven nations of Canaan when they had filled up the measure of their iniquity. He rained fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah, and drove Nebuchadnezzar from his throne to live as a beast until seven years passed over him, until he was willing to bless the Most High, saying, "I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion; and his kingdom is from generation to generation; and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?" The Patriarchal religion then was given to the human family in its infancy, and no doubt embraced the race and pointed forward dimly to the Coming One. The Jewish religion was national. "It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made," which is Christ. The Jews had no command to preach their religion to the various nations or races of the earth. In this regard it was a Acts x. 34, 35. b Gen. xv. 15-21. like many pagan religions, it was confined to the nation. They despised the Gentiles, and were permitted to buy the heathen round about them and enslave them. Yet in them we have displayed, in a most wonderful manner, the justice of God. To them were committed the oracles of God, and through them the Messiah came teaching the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God. We now remark that the last great religion was not only designed to be universal and supersede all other religions, but it was new. It was original in all its great features. It differed widely not only from the Patriarchal and Jewish but from all the religions known to earth. The religion of Jesus was not compiled from other systems; it was not borrowed from tradition, nor was it the deduction of philosophy. It was original; it was called, by the Jew and the pagan, a new religion, a new doctrine. Looking forward, the prophets of old spake of the reign of Christ as a new covenant. John the Baptist, Jesus and His apostles, spoke of "its near approach," as the "kingdom of heaven," "the kingdom of God." The book which contains this religion is called the New Testament. It presents a new and living way under a new Prophet, Priest, and King. The facts upon which it rests are new, being nothing less than the death, burial, and resurrection of its great Author. The commands which it enjoins are new. Faith in the Lord Jesus and obedience to Him were never enjoined before. All other governments and religions recognize justice, but the Christian abounds in mercy. Humility here, a as nowhere else, is taught as the road to greatness, and love for our enemies is not only commanded, but it is exemplified in the death of its Founder and His last prayer for His foes. In the New Testament we have revealed a new organization, with new officers, new laws, new ordinances and new worship. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.' By virtue of this relationship Christians are called the temple of God, and His Holy Spirit is said to dwell in them. They are called sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, with whom they are to reign forever and ever. This new religion, with all that it implies of dignity, honor, and glory, was untaught before Jesus. The promises of this religion are also new. It promises the forgiveness of sins, gives the guilty conscience the peace of God. There is no longer a remembrance of sin year by year, but a full and free pardon. "Their sins and iniquities I will remember no more, saith the Lord." Not only does it promise the forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit, but in the end everlasting life. No other religion ever promised such an immortality-a distinct, separate existence of a spirit clothed with a glorified and celestial body. It is new in being adapted to all nations, races, and conditions of men in all time. It is the light of the world, and grows brighter as the ages advance. It spans time with a triumphal arch, and throws upon the curtain of death the rainbow of 2 Cor. v. 17. a hope. It is new because it has painted immortal beauties across the valley and beyond the shadow of death. Reveals the gates standing ajar through which its subjects may enter the everlasting kingdom and enjoy the fadeless splendor of the new heaven and the new earth, where sin and suffering, disease and death, shall never come; where the good and the holy shall meet the God they have loved and the friends they have lost; where they shall live and reign with Christ and run forever the high race of immortality. |
