GIFT OF THE PURPOSE OF LIFE By JAMES A. WALTERS Published for the Welden Book Co. 1922 COPYRIGHT, 1922 BY JAMES A. WALTERS HAMMOND PRESS W. B. CONKEY COMPANY CHICAGO ear C&iforen WILLIAM ELDON, MARGARET, ESTHER, and FRANCES LOUISE WALTERS This Little Volume is Affectionately Dedicated by the Author 5034. >., PREFACE IN presenting this little volume to the public, I am only using the printed page, that I may reach a larger number of people than would be possible in any other way ; and for the same reason that I would awaken a sleeping family in a burn- ing dwelling, or wave a danger signal over a burning trestle, at the approach of a railway train. Without the Spirit of Christ, the individual or world, is lost, and that Spirit is love; and the only times Christ was not all tenderness and com- passion, was when dealing with hypocrisy and Pharisaism. This world is a most beautiful home for the human race, the possibilities of which are as yet scarcely suspected. The blessing of God is on it all, and only the ignorance, selfishness, and lazi- ness of man have failed to appropriate all of God's bounty to supply every need. A box of flowers in the window, a well-kept yard or lawn, a thrifty, well-tilled garden or farm, 6 -''< ' ;/ ; *' * r< ' ' Preface all may be an act of worship, and a pleasure to our loving heavenly Father, helping Him to make a beautiful world; but many are depriving themselves of the greatest blessing of all the privilege of little children in their homes. The highest adornment of the world is happy, light- hearted, care-free children. The proper appreciation and care of the chil- dren of the home bring more wholesome disci- pline to the parents than any other one thing in the whole course of human life. And the powers God has given to the men and women of the world, if perverted to a base use, will be followed by the direct punishment, to be meted out to base impenitent souls. It is only out of my love for the souls of men and women, that I have given the consent of my mind to write and publish this book. And any good that it may accomplish is all due to an in- dulgent, loving, heavenly Father, who bought me with the blood of His only Son, Jesus. JAMES A. WALTERS. Kewanna, Indiana, Aug. 14, 1922. CHAPTER I THE PURPOSE OF LIFE WHEN we go out and look at the sun in all his gorgeous splendor, the moon in her silvery bright- ness, or the stars in their sparkling beauty, we marvel and ask of ourselves the question, "Wherefore this wondrous display?" And why are they there? Of ourselves the only reply comes back, Why? When we travel over the Earth (either in im- agination or in reality), and see the wondrous variety spread out before us, lakes and rivers, mountains and valleys, great seas of forest, prairie or water ever in varying contrast, we ask again, Why? and the echoing answer again comes back, Why? In imagination again we view the world with its teeming millions of people, in numbers too great for the human mind to com- prehend and again we ask the time-old question, Why? The mind of man refuses to be convinced that these have always existed, that they are intermin- 7 8 : '2%* -Purpose of Life able. There must have been a beginning, and if a beginning a cause, and if a cause a purpose. We view the great cities that man has built, the long railroads, the telegraph and telephone lines, the flocks and herds of men, the splendid farms and homes, the great ships that plow the seven seas with their cargoes of goods or men, and again the great interrogation of time is Why? and echoing back from the invisible of Eternity is the one inevitable reply, Why? We are ever seeking, but to the human mind alone the great secret is forever closed. In this world of ours the very lowest of animal life acts only by purpose. The larva in the water as the fly that floats over its surface, or the fishes that swim beneath, each and all have a purpose in every movement and as we ascend the scale of animate life, the birds and animals, the beasts of the forest or the flocks and herds on the plains, all have a purpose in every action self-preserva- tion or pleasure. What of man? In view of the testimony of all the lower world, shall we dare to say that man, the highest even of our animal world, would act without a purpose, our intelligence would reject such a statement without a question. The Purpose of Life 9 The framers^nf thp npngfitnfi'on of our great countfyTiad solved that question in the affirma- tiv^TlhaTjnaji does ha^_a. motive in every act. anoTEEey^stated that motive in unequivocal terms. Happiness and the pursuit of this purpose is the inalienable right of every man and this great government of ours with all its vast machinery is organized and perpetuated with that sole end in view. True, if one man wishes to promote his happiness at the expense of another man's happi- ness he is going beyond his right and the guaran- tee of his country and thereby makes himself a subject for restraint. If we_ grant a purgosejn nrtioft-4e-4he-4owet^ of animate life and all the way up the scale of being to man, and to man himself, have we less reason to grant a purpose to the intelligence that created them and all the universe that we observe? We have not yet attempted to name the power, but from the harmony which we observe through all the works of nature we are wont to admit that that power is intelligent. But man in his observation of his own weakness and frailty in conflict with many of the powers of nature is not always inclined to attribute to that power of creation a beneficent attitude toward 10 The Purpose of Life himself. So we find in the mind of the untutored or undeveloped man, a fear or dread of the un- seen Creator. But happily for the race, among all people there have been a few more intelligent in mind and nobler in spirit through whom that infi- nite mind could communicate to the others of mankind. We are wont to give these men the name of prophets, or seers. And the very highest of these have given us a book or books that we call the Book of God. Man no longer gropes in darkness, for this book has revealed to us the Being which we call God, who created all things that we ob- serve. Its opening statement is, "In the beginning God created." The statement is clean cut, and plain, but man with his pigmy intellect has ever been trying to pry off the lid to see how He did it, and if they get but one tiny peep they look around on the others of the world and with a knowing wink say, "I've got the secret. I know all about it," and then follows their elaboration which they call science and then claim to the world that it did not require a God to do that, for if they just had the material they could do almost as well. But, if they will just furnish the material The Purpose of Life 11 out of which worlds and suns and moons and stars are made, the rest of us might admit with some reservations that they might. Might! Might! Well, they might fail even then. We have the world, the sun, moon and stars all the things in the world, and man. As yet we have not discerned one purpose of it all. We search the book God has given us and He soon tells us that man was the object of his creation, the world was his home; the sun to give light by day, the moon and stars by night; that the ele- ments, sunshine and rain, heat and cold, and the fertility of the soil were to work together to pro- duce enough for his care. All the beasts and ani- mals, birds of the air and fishes in the water were for man's use, but what about man? Of what use was he?. For what purpose? Ah! here we come up to the rocky precipice, a stone wall mountain high. God gave to man the authority of dominion over every living thing and latent powers to use the forces of nature for his benefit, but even this dominion would not be a sufficient reason for God to create a world and place in it a creature of man's capacity. If man were only an animal of superior intelli- 12 The Purpose of Life gence to all other animals, to have dominion over all creation, that might satisfy man's reason for existence, but man being a spiritual being des- tined to live throughout all eternity, we must look to a higher purpose to satisfy the mind of our Creator. So then we must search further in this Book of God, that possibly He has revealed his purpose in our creation. Can the mind of man go no higher? Is it sacrilege to try to fathom the purposes of the Infinite? /Must man go on groping in darkness through trie ages, come into life a helpless babe to be nurtured and cherished by loving hands through infancy and childhood, struggle through young life to acquire an education to gain a liv- ing for a wife, to beget more children, to repeat the process that has just gone before, and so on over and over, again and again, with no outlook, groping his way as a blind man in the glare of the noonday sun ?"\Thousands an d millions have walked this way frpm the dawn of time, many growing weary have fallen by the way ere the journey was well begun; many more, restless un- der the restraints of civil life have sought out many devices and inventions to while away their time, and almost invariably these diversions are The Purpose of Life 13 in one way or another detrimental to the welfare of themselves or others, their fellowmen also on the journey of life. And in this conflict what fur- nishes pleasure to one may destroy the pleasure of another. This is indeed a gloomy picture of the human race. Sunk in despair longing for the end, only to be repeated in the life of another, or recklessly indulging in worldly pleasure until the frail form falls exhausted and life goes out like a burned-out candle. In view of this interminable round we again ask, Is there no purpose? Does not God care? Does He take delight in man's distress? Our very intelligence cries out, "No." Is there then a way out of this wilderness of which our forefathers sang, "This world's a wilderness of woe"? We look again into God's book and have__crpatgd him f* my glory, "-^g. divine pur- pose to meet a divine end. This is a wonderful statement contained in so few words, so very brief that the world has passed it by unnoticed, or was it the blind eyes or deaf ears "that could not see or did not hear the proclamation of God that has been ringing down the ages." Isaiah the great prophet of God sent this mes- 14 The Purpose of Life sage to man more than seven hundred years be- fore the coming of the Son of God, and when He came, He found the world steeped in ignorance, degradation and sin, the light of God had well nigh gone out, yet a few noble souls there were through whom Christ could work. He gathered a few of the chosen ones of that number about him and laid before them His plans for the glori- ous life that was yet to come to man on this earth. No more to grope in darkness and fear, no more to tread the pathway of life as a beast of burden carrying his load till he falls exhausted at the end of the way; a slave to his passions and appetites that had debased him below the wild beasts of the forests, a burden to himself and a grief to his Creator. Christ came proclaiming a new life, a new birth! "Born from above" born of the Spirit that came from God, a Spirit that was God! So wonderful a message could not help but astonish the world and the most noble minds could not grasp its meaning. Nicodemus, that ruler of the Jews who came to the great Teacher by night enquiring of this new life, could not grasp its meaning. Christ did not see fit at that time to ex- plain, but left him to ponder this great truth dur- The Purpose of Life 15 ing the days to come. No doubt this statement was handed from one of Christ's followers to another until all knew it well, yet none dared ask Him the meaning. He told them that the life he came to give was a great mystery. "The wind bloweth where it listeth, thou hearest the sound thereof but cannot tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the spirit.'' Christ likened himself to a vine. That was a land of vineyards, and all were familiar with the vine, and when He said, "Ye are the branches" they understood that he expected them to bear fruit, but no one yet was able to tell them what that fruit was to be, and when he again told them "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit," He was then beginning to show them a God-given purpose in their lives, glorifying the Father, the same as Isaiah had stated seven hundred years before. But what was the fruit to be, and how borne? The mind and heart of man was not yet ready to receive all of God's won- drous plan for the human race. Their eyes had been darkened and their ears deaf too long to see all the light or to hear his voice as yet. Men's hearts grew hard and their minds cruel. 16 The Purpose of Life Christ, betrayed and denied by His own followers, led to the cross, gave up His life, was buried and all seemed over. Had He remained away but a few brief months His followers would have scat- tered and the work of a lifetime would have been lost. But no ! He had told them He would come forth from the grave and meet them again. Their hope in this promise was very weak, but some hoped against hope, and soon he stood among them, confirming His promise; gave them their commission to proclaim this life in Jesus by the new birth of the Holy Spirit which was promised on condition of obedience, ten days hence. But none as yet were able to point the way of a "Glorified Father." God was watching over the new kingdom He had established in the world, and realized He had need of one of greater penetration of mind and more aggressive spirit to carry forward the work. Who shall it be? Ah! there goes a man with a rope in one hand and a parchment in the other, striding along with determination in every move- ment. Whither bound? On the work of God? No ! On the work of sin, going down to Damascus to bind and drag back to Jerusalem the humble followers of Christ who had fled from their perse- The Purpose of Life 17 cutors, bringing them back to be stoned to death or hanged, for their faith in Christ. But, hark! A blinding flash of lightning, a voice from the cloud and the arrestor is arrested. Face about, I want you for a purpose, the pur- pose of God again revealed. Paul, the great apostle of the Gentiles, the great writer to the churches, and in these letters he now reveals the full purpose of God for all men, and how is it possible for man to compre- hend that purpose? Paul in writing to the Church at Rome felt the need of impressing on them the duties of the new life in Christ. And that being a country of olive orchards he likened them in their new life to a grafted olive tree, but reversed the process to make the teaching of Christ plain and told them that they were like the wild olive, grafted into a tame olive tree, but they were expected to bear tame olives. In nature they knew that that could not be, but when they took the words of Christ to his disciples that "I am the Vine" He also meant contrary to nature as by nature they were prone to evil all the time, and to live even respectable lives, it took constant vigilance and then failure was often the result. 18 The Purpose of Life "Remember that you do not bear the Root, but the Root (Himself) bears you." So they must become converted or changed by the flowing of the life of Christ through them. No more their own blood flowing through their veins, but the blood of Christ. Ah ! Yes, we are coming nearer to the realization of the great plan of God. We must look again into God's word and here Paul the great writer to the Gentiles is our in- structor. In his letter to the Galatians, he contrasts the life of men before his union with Christ and the life in Christ. The works of the flesh are all bad, all contrary to the law of God, and are positively forbidden to the man or woman who has been joined to Christ by the "renewing of the mind." Those then who are united to Christ in spirit will bring forth the fruit of the spirit in order to glorify the Father, and that fruit Paul tells the Galatians is Love, Joy, Peace, Long Suffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temper- ance, Righteousness and Truth. Against such there is no law; corroborating the statement, "If the Son shall make you free you shall be free in- deed." It would hardly seem necessary to add that The Purpose of Life 19 Christ said that the tree could not bear two kinds of fruit, "You do not gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles," neither the reverse; "either make the tree good and its fruit good or else the tree and the fruit bad." Then shall we allow to grow in our lives the works or fruits of Evil, Adultery, Fornication, Uncleanness, Lasciviousness, Idol- atry, Covetousness, Wrath, Hatred, Varience, Emulations, Strife, Seditions, Heresy, Envyings, Murder, Drunkenness, Revelings and such like, a host of other evils named all through the word of God? Which shall we do then, live to the glory of God or bring dishonor to His cause and Name by our fruitless lives and take the chance of being cut off and cast into the fire? "If thou continue in His goodness, otherwise thou shall be cut off" "for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed that he also spare not thee." By this he refers to the Jews who were rejected because of unbelief. Therefore let us hold onto God by faith in Jesus Christ and bear fruit to His glory that other men may see our good works, thereby bringing glory to our King and Lord. It is not the desire of God that any shall be lost, but the word does state "not every one who saveth unto 20 The Purpose of Life me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven." "Also, many shall say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy Name? And in Thy Name cast out devils? And in Thy Name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you! Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity," Math. 7:21-25. I This stern denunciation is explained by the pre- ceding verses, Mat. 16:20, "Ye shall know them by their fruits." Further, we must accept Christ, "for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Why? Because in our own strength we cannot do the things God demands of us. But there is one God and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Further, "The car- nal mind is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." The fall was complete. "In Adam all died." The plan of salvation is perfect. In Christ all shall be made alive. Our work in life so simple : To love God, to love our fellowmen; result, joy and peace within our own soul. The Purpose of Life 21 To state the purpose of God in man's creator in its simplest form is to say, "For His Glory." The fulfilling of that purpose is to love God. Love means obedience, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." "Thou shalt Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, might, soul and strength, and thy neighbor as thyself" and "a new command- ment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you." If we can measure Christ's love for sinful man, then we can measure what our love should be to each other. With love like this, comes joy. Joy is the product of Christian love. Then follows peace. If we have joy and peace, then it naturally follows that suffering is easily borne, though that suffering is long. Gentle- ness, the emotions subdued, by the indwelling of love. Goodness just the state of being good. Meekness not bold or aggressive toward others. Temperance just temperate in all things; and all attributes acquired only by our faith. Faith in God as our Father who loves us and faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. 22 The Purpose of Life Let us analyze the first precept, Love. "Suffereth long - Patience And is Kind Kindness Envieth not Generosity Vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up - - - Humility Doth not behave itself unseemly ----- Courtesy Seeketh not its own - Unselfishness Is not easily provoked - Good Temper Thinketh no evil - - - Gentleness Rejoiceth not in in- iquity but rejoiceth in the truth - - - - Sincerity and Honesty All these attributes of the soul may be attained by any one; the weakest or least intelligent can love to his full capacity, and the strongest and most learned, the giant in intellect, can do no more. So if each have done this, he has fulfilled the divine plan of bringing glory to God. Any- thing less brings dishonor or disgrace to our heavenly Father. In view of the foregoing statements, much light is thrown on many of the statements of our Lord that were so radically different and opposite to all the teachings of man, previous to his coming. The Purpose of Life 23 Take this one, "Thou shalt love thine enemy. If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink." Now these commands to the natural man are entirely foreign to his being but even to the saved man why should He command him to love his enemy? Well, if he were not in sin he would not be his enemy. All men are born in sin. They are not lost because of their own sin, but sin because they are lost, and if they were not lost they would not be our enemy. Men may differ in opinion or in methods of doing things who are saved men. But they do not become the enemy of each other; hence the saved man must love his enemy. He cannot do otherwise for he is his lost brother, and if he is then saved he becomes his friend though even a rival in business or some activity of life. If we profess to love God and at the same time hate our fellowman, the Word tells us that is an impossibility. "He that saith he loves God and hates his brother is a liar," and it is equally im- possible to love our fellowman without we first love God, and if we love God we must accept Christ as our Saviour, our Redeemer; must ac- knowledge that we are sinners and aliens from God. "If ye are ashamed to confess Me before 24 The Purpose of Life men, My Father will be ashamed to own you be- fore the angels in heaven." The statement of Christ is, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what the Lord hath prepared for them that love Him." Our love to God is predi- cated on our love to our fellows. If we love not our brother whom we have seen, how can we love God whom we have not seen? In such statements we see that Leigh Hunt was ) in his little poem "Abou Ben Adhem" more than half right. ABOU-BEN-ADHEM Abou-Ben-Adhem, (may his tribe increase), Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, And saw within the moon-light in his room, Making it rich like a lily in bloom, An angel writing in a book of gold. Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold And to the presence in the room he said "What writest thou?" the vision raised its head And with a look made of all sweet accord Answered "The names of those who love the Lord." And is mine one, said Abou, "Nay not so" Replied the angel; Abou spoke more low, But cheerily still, and said "I pray thee then, Write me as one that loves his fellowman." The Purpose of Life 25 The angel wrote and vanished, the next night, It came again with a great wakening light, And showed the names whom love of God had blessed, And lo ! Ben-Adhem's name led all the rest. Pg. S. 100.3. "Know ye that the Lord He is God; It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves." Isah. 43.7. "I have created him for My glory, I have formed him; (man) yea I have made him." John 15.8. "Herein is my Father glorified that he bear much fruit." John 15.16. "I have chosen you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit." Gal. 5.2. "The fruit of the spirit is love." If then the purpose of life is to bring Glory to God by our love to Him, then to manifest that love by worship of Him is the proof of that love, then our worship is a manifestation of that love, and worship without love is no worship but hollow mockery. And his declaration that it is an im- possibility to love God and hate our fellowman, "He that sayeth he loves God and hates his fel- lowman is a- liar." Then our salvation and accept- ance in heaven depends on our love to our own kind; and since it is impossible to love our enemies while we are in a sinful state, it becomes inpera- tive that we accept Christ and be born of God and become new creatures. 26 The Purpose of I*fe There is no other way. The plan is complete for our fulfilling the purpose of God in this life, thereby being fully prepared to fulfill the purpose of God in the life that is to come. The comple- tion of this life is but the commencement day of Eternity where we shall enjoy forever the pres- ence of God and all the celestial hosts and the place the home that Christ has gone to prepare for us. "My heart was heavy, for its trust had been abused; Its kindness answered with foul wrong. So, turning gloomily from my fellowman, One summer Sabbath day I strolled, Among the green mounds of the village burial place, Where, pondering how all human love and hate find one sad level; How wronged and wrongdoer, each with meek- ened face and cold hands, Folded over a still heart Must pass the green threshold of one common grave, Whither all foot-steps tend, and none depart. Awed for myself, and pitying my race, Our common sorrow, like a mighty wave Swept all my pride away, and trembling, I for- gave." Whittier. CHAPTER II PERSONALITY OF GOD WHEN we now consider that God created this world and fitted it as a home for man who was designed for the sole purpose of love to his Cre- ator and out of that love to come reverence and worship, it throws light on many of the passages of Scripture that have always been more or less veiled in obscurity; and also we get a clearer vision of the character or personality of God. Take this one, "God is love." Now an abstract principle is hard to comprehend, but if we reason from our knowledge of human love, and that God himself created man that He Himself might receive the love of man from choice, that is, that men by comprehending the nature of God would choose to love Him and obey His will. How it must have grieved a loving Father, as we now see Him when man plunged recklessly into sin, and ever forgetful that there was a God and if there was a God that He was not their friend, that He was cruel and vindictive, laying 27 28 The Purpose of Life on them needlessly heavy burdens. We see this grief in the statement, "He repented that He made man," and how His great heart must have throbbed in pity and sorrow. When the whole world had gone so far from Himself and so deep in sin that He determined to remove them all by the deluge, not in vindictive wrath but in pity and compassion that He might have the world bring forth a race of people that would love HIM, not from necessity but from choice, for choice has ever been man's prerogative, "choose ye," has ever been the password into fellowship with God- How pitiful the wail of a bereaved Father as He refers to the Jews saying, "I took a goodly vine and planted it in a fertile field, placed a wall about it and tilled the land and looked that it should bring forth fruit and it brought forth wild grapes." The chosen people ever forgetting God, going off in sin, worshiping idols, their punishment and subsequent return to God, only to again wander away and forget their Creator, until at last God gave them up as a lost race as expressed in the yearning grief-stricken cry of the Saviour as He looked over the great and wicked city of Jerusalem, "Oh! Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How Personality of God 29 oft I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and ye would not!" Then when we know that God's desire for love is His purpose, how intense that longing must have been when He gave His only Son to wir men's love to Himself. "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son," not only to draw them back to the love they had forsaken, but that they might be reborn into God's Kingdom where all His subjects love Him, and to love Him must also love each other. Pure love is essentially alike, whether in man or God so we may now more fully understand His saying, "Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto Me." ; Also what a wonderful revelation to us now when Christ says, "I am in My Father, and My Father in Me, and I in you," all are one. Pure love, heaven. "Know ye not that the Kingdom of heaven is within you?" David had this vision when he said, " I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness," not as a physical likeness but as God had created man "in our image" in our like- ness. Love, Heaven, God. A material, physical beauty could not make a heaven however beauti- 30 The Purpose of Life f ul. The glorious beauty as revealed in the Apoc- alypse would not be heaven were there hatred there. What a wonderful plan God has put in operation through His yearning for love of man ! Man ! in the image of his Creator dwelling for a few brief years in a physical body, but a soul that shall live throughout all the Eternities. Somewhere out in the great unknown universe of God, a place prepared for us by our great Elder Brother, Christ, "I go to prepare a place for you." It may be one of the glittering stars that we see nightly in all its resplendent beauty, or it may be some far more glorious place far beyond our human vision even with our most powerful mechanical aid. Why should we not love such a God? But, the condition of that love is, we must love our brother man whatever his color black, brown, yellow, red or white. He is God's creation and our brother, and the word says, "If we say we love God and hate our brother we are liars." And it is no accident that that is in the last book of God's word and almost the last chapter that it is written, "and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." But! love, through the transforming power of Christ, to love as He Personality of God 81 loved, what a glorious life, and what a beautiful world and what wonderful companionship we may have as we journey through this world of ours will be told in the following pages. CHAPTER III THE EMANCIPATION OF MANKIND "As man thinketh in his heart, so is he." WHEREVER the Bible has gone, the story of the fall of man has gone. The low moral condition of the race is every- where apparent to the most casual observer, and spiritual life is entirely lacking except among the most favored people of the world, and the most universal trait that is visible in all the race is a desire to live, with the least possible effort, and only by absolute need is the majority of man- kind induced to labor, and among so called civ- ilized people this tendency to shun labor often culminates in open rebellion. Not that people always know what they are fighting for or against, but deep down in human consciousness it is the desire to enjoy the benefits of the natural resources of the world by the least labor possible. Yet the more thoughtful of men know that labor is man's greatest blessing, but the why that this is so, is not so readily discerned. 52 The Emancipation of Mankind 33 In so-called Christian lands the story of the fall of man and the consequent curse pronounced upon the race has had, and i^ow has, a most bane- ful influence and men say that toil is the penalty of Adam's sin, and the thought is constantly pres- ent to devise some plan whereby to evade that penalty, even though they profess to be lovers of God, the desire to evade the penalty of another's sin is constantly present, and this is one of the devil's subtlest means of defeating God's plan for the race and destroying man's soul. Covetous- ness has its source in the desire to enjoy the fruits of toil without effort, taking from the other man what he has toiled to possess without giving him in return the opportunity to enjoy the full bene- fit of his own efforts. Herein lies the conflict. The strong desire to enjoy without toil, and the weaker class must toil without enjoying. This conflict has gone on since the dawn of history to the present, and seems destined to go on until the end of time un- less some means shall be used to dignify labor and show that God is a loving father, that His plans are perfect, and that He has a high and noble purpose in man; that labor is working with God for man's good and God's glory. Such was 34 The Purpose of Life man before his sin. He was placed in a garden of God's own making and given a commission as overseer and husbandman. Then came sin and man was driven out into the world, a curse pro- nounced upon the land and upon man. "Cursed is the ground for thy sake." "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." In this decree that looks so stern and cruel, if we look deep, we will see God's beneficent hand. The great lesson he wished to teach man in His fleeting earth-life was obedience, and these hard conditions were only intended to break man's wilful and rebellious spirit, which conclusions we draw from the constant repetition throughout His word of the admonition to obedience and finally to the will of His own Son, being subject to the will of the Father. First the Son sent into the world ; second doing his Father's will, and lastly we read, "Though he were his son, yet learned he obedience by the things he suffered." For nearly two thousand years, man lived un- der this baneful law of unrequited toil wringing from the sterile soil and thorn-grown hills a bare subsistence, yet in all this time God was unable to conquer the rebellious spirit of man, who going constantly deeper into sin and degradation, ever The Emancipation of Mankind 35 more forgetful of God, only now and again one more noble in mind and spirit that remembered God, until at last in His infinite mercy He de- vised a plan to rid the world of all rebellious people, and make a new start to repeople the world with the most noble of the race, the flood came on as God had ordained ; only a remnant of mankind was saved from the great flood. But man was not the only thing that perished in that flood. When the waters subsided Noah looked out on a changed world. The raven went forth while the waters were still on the earth and returned not, but Noah would not trust the raven, a bird of unclean habits, he might live amid surroundings that were not fit for man, and again Noah sent forth the dove, which returned, the clean, gentle and inno- cent bird. Noah knew the earth was not yet ready for his return. Again the dove was sent forth, not to return again. Noah needed no further message, the gentle, peaceful dove goes forth to build her nest and repeople the air with birds of her kind. All is now ready. Noah and his family descended to the earth which is now in readiness for his home. After due course of time, Noah perceived there had come over the earth a 36 The Purpose of Life change, no more the sterile soil and a constant strife with the thorns and thistles that sprang up to choke and destroy the meager crops, but instead the plantings of his hand flourished, and his fields and herds produced abundantly. From the gratefulness of his heart he said, "I will build an altar to our God and offer a sacri- fice to him for all his benefits." Noah offered a sacrifice of every clean beast and every clean fowl which pleased the Lord and he said in his heart, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake," for I cannot reform man by poverty and hard labor. I have tried that for these hundreds of years and it has been a failure. So the curse was removed and yet after these more than four thousand years we find men quoting scripture and still believing that the curse of the world is labor. No ! the earth brings forth abundantly. God rules and we have His promise of seed time and harvest and the forces of nature are promised to co-operate for the fruit- fulness of the soil. It is only sin, and the ignorance produced by sm, that enslaves the race. War, famine and pes- tilence are all produced by sin, the curse of every race and clime. God's bounty is inexhaustible, The Emancipation of Mankind 37 the present natural resources of which we now know and know how to use of earth, sea and air will not be exhausted until others of which we know nothing now will become known. The present known resources of supply of man's need have scarcely been touched. Man has in many cases wasted his bounty through ignorance, but these defects may yet be remedied by a more gen- eral diffusion of knowledge, both of the intellect and spirit. We are God's husbandmen, whether we labor on the farm or in the factory, mine, forest or upon the sea. Our labor is to help beautify this world for the habitation of man, to build him houses to live in, to furnish those homes and make them pleasant, food to eat and clothing to wear and fuel to keep us warm. God has pro- vided abundance of all needed material. It is our privilege to use them in co-operation with the spirit of brotherhood, and, all diffused with the Spirit of God, will change the earth like unto the garden of the Lord. Isaiah 55:3, 10, 13, "I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the rain cometh down and the snow from Heaven watereth the earth and maketh it to bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater." "Instead of the thorn shall come up 38 The Purpose of Life the fir tree and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree." If we had not that promise from God that he would no more curse the earth, our reason would teach us, we only have to look out upon the world to see His wondrous bounty, the great plains and fertile valleys, the wooded hills that are full of coal and iron and all the other varied minerals, lakes of oil and reservoirs of gas; the lakes and rivers full of fishes and the great seas with their vast stores of wealth all ready to man's hand to be taken for his use. When the resources of the eastern world were becoming inadequate for the needs of the race, God put into the heart of a man of iron will to break away from the superstition of the age and brave the perils of the great unknown sea with the consequence that a vast continent was discovered, that then had but few people which now has become under His providence, the granary of the world. Many times by our ignorance we fail to achieve the de- sired results. God intended us to use our minds as well as our hands to labor. If we try to raise corn where wheat was intended to grow, we in a large measure fail, likewise, wheat where we should raise cattle or sheep. Not all land is for agricultural purposes. It may be for forests to The Emancipation of Mankind 39 conserve moisture, break the force of winds, or the great mountains to condense the moisture and produce rain. All these are working together for man's good in perfect harmony. Who would want to live a vegetable existence? Just grow, like Jonas' gourd vine, come up in a day and perish in a day. Just think of a city of people with nothing to do. It is very hard to keep them morally decent even when most of them are busy at work; what would it be if they were not re- quired to work? Work is not only every man's duty, but also his pleasure, and what a partner he has, "Workers with God," in His great garden that extends from pole to pole and from sea to sea. The only slavery of man is sin ; not necessarily his own sin, but the sins of the entire race affect every man. Selfishness, covetousness and lust bring war. War brings famine, poverty, sick- ness, misery and premature death to untold thou- sands; the spirit of progress and enterprise are destroyed. The staggering cost is left as a bur- den to coming generations. "Come let us reason together." Banish sin in our lives through Jesus Christ, take new courage and work with our great Heavenly Father to make this old world in deed and in truth, "the Garden of the Lord." 40 The Purpose of Life What a glorious world we live in! What won- drous beauty all around ust Our great forests, coal beds, oil fields, mountains of ore, mines of various minerals and stone quarries, all speak of the wonderful provision of God for our comfort ; and when we view our great prairies and river- valleys and mountain slopes, just waiting for the hand of man to till and utilize for our benefit; then we can turn with new assurance to the Book of books where God, through his prophets have told us of His glorious bounty in our behalf. In Isaiah we read, "For the Lord shall comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places ; and he will make her wilderness like Eden; and her des- ert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and glad- ness shall be found therein. Thanksgiving and the voice of melody, the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing and all of the trees of the fields shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree, and it shall be to the Lord for a name for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." This land that was desolate is become like the Garden of Eden. Had the prophets viewed America in the twentieth century they would have The Emancipation of Mankind 41 beheld the greatest garden in the world with her varied climate, from the severe cold of the North, where the small grains develop to perfection down through the states with their more moderate climate to the greatest corn fields in all the world, on to the gulf and Atlantic, viewing the great plantations of cotton and sugar and rice, the beau- tiful fruit orchards and vegetable gardens and on to the Pacific Coast, with its mild and pleasant climate, wonderful for fruit and grain, gigantic forests and mountain streams abounding in fishes, back across the Rockies to the great plains with their vast ranges for cattle and sheep; he would then have exclaimed as did the Southern Queen on her visit to the home of God's people in the days of Solomon. "The half has not been told." Could we but banish selfishness, hatred and lust and enthrone our common Lord, then would come to pass, in one country at least, "the nations of earth have become the nations of our Lord and His Christ." Whatever your place in life may be, if you render service to make the surroundings more pleasant for man's home, you are working with God in keeping the world-garden, just as our first parents were commissioned to keep the gar- 42 The Purpose of Life den of Eden. No station is too low to be noticed by our Father, but if our labor is for the selfish vanity of ourselves or others, we then lose our re- ward as His helpers. The miner who digs the coal or iron, or the mechanic who designs and con- structs the implements of cultivation, is no less a gardener than the men or women who use the implements. All are working for a common pur- pose. The shopkeeper, or railroad worker, each is contributing to a common purpose, working with God to supply the needs of men. Our ser- vice is to God and humanity and we are all paid, if our service is rendered willingly, whether our pay check is large or small. The question of dis- tribution does not enter into God's part of world- development, that is the social and ethical that is to be controlled by the spiritual law of life. CHAPTER IV THE ROYAL GUEST THERE is something perverse in human nature that rebels at coercion or what appears to be coer- cion. If there is a reason given for the commands laid down, and that reason meets the approval of the mind, there is then consent to obedience even though reluctantly given. But we are ever saying within our inmost consciousness, "Why may I not seek pleasure and avoid pain? Who is there who can tell me what I am to do if it brings me pleasure? Am I not free? 33 But here is where we often fail, for the greatest pleasure is not of the body, but of the mind. Intellectual pleasure, that of admiration of beauty or the sublime, the wonders of natural phenomena ; these all endure. Even for months or years we look back and recall the scenes and the joy returns. Not so with sen- sual pleasure. It is but for the passing moment, gone never to return; each new pleasure requir- ing a new sensation to produce. When our Creator conceived the idea of mak- 43 44 The Purpose of Life ing a world and peopling it with a new order of being, possibly unlike any other in all his uni- verse, he made them male and female and gave them powers to bring forth others of their kind. He pronounced a blessing on them and gave them command. "Be ye fruitful and multiply and re- plenish the earth and have dominion." God pro- nounced His work good, and very good, appar- ently well satisfied with His work. But the man He had created He had endowed with a free will, the ability to choose his course of conduct. Their home was beautiful and everything given to meet their needs and but one direct command that meant restriction of their liberty given. This one command, the violation of which proved their un- doing. The same evil spirit that is in the world now, inciting men and women to the breaking of laws, was there, with enticing words and false promises. He induced the mother of the race to disobey the command of her Creator; but first of all he must destroy her belief in the good will of God to her. Satan told her God was a liar and jealous of her ability, she succumbed to flattery and disobeyed. Adam was not deceived, but yielded to the importunity of his wife. Both be- came guilty of disobedience; both incurred the The Royal Guest 45 displeasure of God; both were banished from their home. The punishment given to the woman for her part in the fall was frequency of concep- tion and sorrow. We do not know that the nature of woman was changed, but from reading, we presume it was, sexual instincts stronger and will power less, becoming subject to the will of man, and as man became base and animal, woman was dragged down to the level of a slave to man's passion and a bearer of children. In her rebellion at such a lot, every evil impulse was developed until the race was hopelessly depraved. Then came the great deluge ; men and women were all destroyed except the few (Noah and his family) of the noblest and best that God could find from which to rebuild the race, and as we read the subsequent history of them and their de- scendants, we form no exalted opinion of them. But the idea of God and his right and power to rule had not been entirely lost. The place of woman in the world socially and economically had scarcely changed so far as history gives, until the call of Abraham. The call of Abraham is an epoch in develop- ment of mankind, a new endeavor on the part of 46 The Purpose of Life the Creator to build a race of noble men and women from the best stock He could select. In the three generations, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they had increased from two, and they far ad- vanced in years, (Isaac a child of their old age), to seventy souls at the time of famine and the de- scent of Jacob into Egypt. God was with them in their new home. They were given the best of the land. Though one of Jacob's wives, his best beloved Rachel gave up her life at the birth of her son it seems that God was more lenient to the women of Israel than to the women of the other people around them. Tribal and national life was developing and the prosperity and perpetuation of any peo- ple depended upon their number, and we read that the women of Israel were very lively and were delivered before the arrival of the midwife; so much so that their numbers increased greatly to the surprise and jealousy of the Egyptians. Severe repressive measures were taken to limit the numbers of the Israelite people. It is one of the surprising things of history that during the 215 years of the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt, that we have no account of their sins or any re- bellion against God, though the latter part of The Royal Guest 47 their residence was in slavery. It was the goodly vine planted in a fruitful land with contentment and great gain, especially numerically, and we can only conjecture what would have been the history of the world had the subsequent life of this people been as subject to the will of God as had been their lives during the 215 years in Egypt. After the flood, and Noah had come from the ark to again take possession of the earth, we read that God had given in His heart a promise to no more curse the earth for man's sake. Hard work and poor pay had been a failure in the reform of man, but the curse pronounced on the mothers of the human family remained, but subsequent events seem to point that God had mitigated the severity of the penalty on the mothers of his chosen people, at least up until the time of their going out from Egypt. Disobedience and rebel- lion against God and his laws had but one result : increased burdens. If obedient, we work with God; if disobedient, we work against Him, and we know who will be defeated. The history of the chosen people of God from their wilderness journey till the coming of the Messiah is a history of rebellion, sin and disgrace, 48 The Purpose of Life repentance, forgiveness, restoration, repeated over and over, again and again, until the coming of the promised Messiah, and the rejection and dispersion of the Jewish race. With the coming of Christ, a new order of social life was established, the worth of the indi- vidual man was proclaimed. The broken relations between God and man were restored. Man from this time forth was not to be governed as a supe- rior sort of animal, but the spiritual life devel- oped and a full knowledge that every person, whether rich or poor, high or low, learned or unlearned, was a soul immortal, to live through- out all eternity and where that eternity is to be spent depends entirely on our own relation to God here in this life. He has given us our life- work to perform and any shrinking from that work is displeasing to him. This truth Christ tried to make plain in the parable of the talents. To one he gave ten, and he gained other ten; to one he gave five, and he gained other five. To one he gave but one talent, that being so small he seemed to think it would not be noticed by the Master, so he buried the talent just hid it away for safe keeping, to be returned to the Master at His coming, but what a surprise awaited him at The Royal Guest 49 his Lord's coining! "Thou wicked and slothful servant." Now note the punishment, "Thou wicked and slothful servant cast ye (him) into outer darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Not an outbroken sinner, just slothful, a slacker, but his penalty is that of the vilest sinner. Also the parable of the pounds. Each received one pound, one gained ten pounds a phenomenal increase. One gained five pounds a good increase ; but the one gained none. He likewise received the condemnation, "thou wicked and slothful servant." "Bring hither thou mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them and slay them before me, (we must re- member that at that time a master had the power of death over his slaves) , which is equivalent to the banishment of the unprofitable servant in the parable of the talents. As the coming of Christ brought a new order in the relations of men, so also a new estimate of the individual that ac- cepted Him as the Christ and followed him as their leader. Notice, "Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Then he reversed the dec- laration, saying, "As ye did it not unto one of these, my brethren, ye did it not unto me." 50 The Purpose of Life Then again the estimate of child life was very low. None seemed to pay much attention to the children, except the parents, and that was from instinctive yearning and self interest. Where these were lacking, the child was an outcast in- deed, subject to slavery to anyone who wished. But Christ saw in the child possibilities which the world had never seen. For instance, where he said, "Except ye be converted and become as a little child, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of Heaven." Again when the children were brought to him for his blessing and was forbidden of the disciples he said, "Suffer it to be so, that is, let them come, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." But Christ reached his climax in his extolling of child- hood when he declared, "He that receiveth one such little child in my name, receiveth me, and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me." The condition of this exaltation is to receive in His name, these children as his. He is not here to render them service, but if we take his place we are receiving the most royal guest that is pos- sible to man. But the first condition is that in character we be like Christ. In view of these statements we then behold the The Royal Guest 51 glorified office of motherhood, the young wife who has entered the marriage stage with fear and trembling at the prospect of motherhood, may well lose her fear and rejoice in the possibilities that God has given her. Millions of people, al- most, if not quite, worship the mother of our Savior as the Holy Virgin and the birthplace of the Christ child is revered in all the world where His name is known, and yet Christ's revelations make every mother holy, who lives a holy life and in her child is the Christ child born anew, the most royal guest of all the ages, and the husband and father as he goes forth to toil for their sup- port, goes knowing, if his life is given wholly into God's keeping, that his home is the palace of a king however humble that home may be. The only condition is an unconditional surrender to God. Labor becomes light for those we love, and not alone because they are ours and we love them, but God has given us a great commission as Pharaoh did to the mother of the babe of the Nile, "Take this child and raise it for me and I will give you your wages." That babe was raised to be an earthly king, but the babe of the Christian father and mother is to be raised and trained to be a citizen of Heaven, a joint heir with Jesus Christ of all the glories of the celestial world. 52 The Purpose of Life In view of these marvelous declarations of our great Lord and Master, we no more can look on the task of motherhood as a burden, but as a great privilege to be coveted instead of shunned. Christ foresaw a day in the advancement of civili- zation, or retrogression of Christianity, that would bring grief and banishment from the presence of the angels and the Joys of Heaven. On his way to Calvary, as the people who pro- fessed to love him were weeping and wailing, Christ gave His last and possibly only prophecy -Luke 23:28, 29. "For behold the days are coming in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bare and the paps that never gave suck." Then shall they begin to say to the moun- tains, "Fall on us, and to the hills cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in a dry?" In other words, if those who profess to love and follow me exalt the childless marriage, to what extreme of sin will the ungodly world descend? However reluctant to admit it, we are now in the commencement of that period of which Christ prophesied, and strange as it may be, this great sin is most prevalent among the most learned and well placed financially. God The Royal Guest 53 has never withdrawn his command to man. "Be fruitful and multiply." But we are wont to do our reasoning and frame excuses for shirking re- sponsibility, not to man alone, but to God. But will God accept our pleas? Christ looked down the ages and .saw the growing selfishness of man and that the refusing to bear offspring is only the desire to live in pleasure and the word says, "She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she lives." The purpose of men and women in mar- ried life is children, and aside from physical defect is there an excuse that we can render to God? We may frame an excuse that will look plausible to ourselves or to the world, but we, nor they, are to be our judge. And in the face of so plain a declar- ation as that given by Christ, we may well know now what the fate of the slacker will be, "Not everyone that sayeth unto me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father which is in Heaven." There is no need to go into detail or statistics to prove that childless marriage is on the increase. Quality row in any town or city is too silent wit- ness to this fact to need any rebuttal. Many whole streets could scarcely furnish children enough to man a tennis court, and now this same 54 The Purpose of Life condition is moving to the side streets and coun- try homes. The American people of three and four generations standing, are scarcely holding their own or are actually diminishing. The popu- lation is being recruited by foreign immigration and children of foreign emigrants. But we ex- claim, "What is my private affairs to anyone else?" We answer that by saying, "Why shall we preach the gospel to an unsaved people or approach an unsaved man or woman and ask them to come to Christ?" Though you profess to be a Christian, live correct moral lives outwardly and are yet shirking your duty to God and the race, you are equally lost so far as your soul is concerned. It is not wholly a matter between you and your God, as you are failing to contribute to the future welfare of the race and losing the op- portunity of soul development by self denial that becomes necessary to rear and train a family. An excuse of ignorance of God's demands would not be accepted in any court for "Igno- rance of the law excuses no man." The admonition of Paul is emphatic. In Titus we read, "A bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife, hav- ing faithful children, and having his children in subjection." An example to the children of God and if an example, then others should follow. The Royal Guest 55 The women are promised immunity or mitiga- tion of suffering if they are wholly and truly God's. Even if some are called to give their lives for the life of their child. God has promised to care for them and they only the sooner receive the reward of a righteous life. In every place the family is not child but children, there must be two or more to prevent a decrease of population, but we are not seeking a limit, that is a question for you to settle alone with God, and going through a long married life as a slacker and then in old age repenting, would be like stealing a horse and keeping the horse until dead and then repenting. The penalty of disobedience is the same for the buried talent as the buried pound or covetousness or adultery, or any other of the more outbroken sins as that pronounced against the slacker in his or her marital relations. "There is a way that seemeth right, but the end thereof is the ways of death." Many of the weaker and less informed are at- tempting to follow the example of those who style themselves aristocrats, and have fallen into ways that have cost the lives of untold numbers of prospective mothers. Someone must stand sponsor for their death. 56 The Purpose of Life If it should be that this little volume should fall into the hands of someone who has been de- prived of the great blessing of children in your home, can you not find it possible to open your heart and home to some poor child that has no home? Would you not wish to entertain a royal guest in the name of our great Lord and Master? You are not to live this life for selfish ends, or an easy time when others need your help. These little ones belong to God. An institution may clothe and feed and educate these children, but it cannot give them a father's and mother's love. Any attempt to thwart the will of God in taking the life of an unborn child may be a greater crime than taking the life of a full grown man or woman. The Prophet Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 1 :4, that the word of the Lord came to him saying, "Before I formed thee * * * I knew thee, and before thou comest forth of the womb I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." We know not what place God may have in re- serve for that unborn babe. Likewise David in the 139 Psalm, and 16 Verse, says, "Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect and in thy book all my members were written, which in The Royal Guest 57 continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." If God knew Jeremiah and David and Job when they were conceived, what assurance have we that he does not know every other unborn child? Now as we are building our lives on God's word, we must live according to that word or fail, and if we are not building on the word of God, what are we building on but sand for no other faith will stand the test? It must go down before the great ideals as revealed in Christ, and yet these are only such as may be attained by every- one, not of self, but by the unfolding of the Holy Spirit. BffllMBl** 11 YB 21929 J 50 345 -3 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY