The law of God is the standard of character; it is the expression of the character of God Himself. It was given to Adam and Eve in Eden. God planted for them this beautiful garden, and supplied their every want. Was it too much to ask them to respond to all His love and care by obedience to His righteous law, which, if kept, would have secured to them happiness, peace, and joy forever?BEcho July 29, 1895, par. 1

God gave our first parents a pure and upright character, in harmony with His law; and had they remained obedient, they would have bequeathed the same character to their posterity. But they listened to Satan's specious temptations, and transgressed this holy law, and the result was death. And the sons and daughters of Adam, instead of coming into the world, as God first made man, righteous and heirs of eternal life, have been the victims of sin and death and woe. This is the result of the transgression of God's law in Eden.BEcho July 29, 1895, par. 2

The Law in Noah's Time

In Noah's time the law of God was made void. “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Evil and violence prevailed; appetite and passion controlled men, and reason was dethroned. Cruelty and violence, misery and horror, were the prevailing characteristics of the time. And the Lord sent Noah to warn the wicked inhabitants of the old world that in a hundred and twenty years He would send a flood of waters to destroy them from off the face of the earth.BEcho July 29, 1895, par. 3

The Law Given to Israel

The divine law was entrusted to the Israelitish nation; but in dwelling upon the exactions they themselves had made, and presenting them to the people, they overlooked its grand principles. Their minds were dwarfed in contemplating these lesser things; and the law of God was not seen in its true importance and dignity of character, as a law of love, and not a law of destruction.BEcho July 29, 1895, par. 4

The law of God is destructive of nothing but sin. It is opposed only to the carnal, sinful practices of men. It was given to keep mankind from becoming like the depraved inhabitants of the old world. Obeyed, it becomes a rule of life that keeps the character pure. Those who adopt it as it was given by God are not mourners for sin, nor morally sickly and diseased. Read what the prophet says:BEcho July 29, 1895, par. 5

“O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established; thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by Me; whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.” “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 54:11-15, 17.BEcho July 29, 1895, par. 6

This passage shows the results of the principles of the law of God carried out in the life. God would have established Israel in righteousness, had they been faithful to Him.BEcho July 29, 1895, par. 7

The Law of God in the Last Days

The law of God is to be obeyed in every particular in the last days, when God's “salvation is near to come,” and His “righteousness to be revealed.” The prophet says:BEcho July 29, 1895, par. 8

“Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice; for My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from His people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep My Sabbaths, and choose the things that please Me, and take hold of My covenant; even unto them will I give in Mine house and within My walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters. I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My covenant; even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer.” For “the Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to Him, besides those that are gathered unto Him.” Isaiah 56:1-8.BEcho July 29, 1895, par. 9

The Law of God Practical

God is the only source of moral obligation; conformity to His law is to be taught to children and children's children throughout the generations of mankind.BEcho July 29, 1895, par. 10

This life is a training school, where we are to be transformed, refined, and made meet for the society of saints in the kingdom of God, with whom we expect to associate throughout the ages of eternity. Let Christ's righteousness, the righteousness of the law of God, be the standard, and let the Christian's prayer be, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” The world will soil the soul every day unless the cleansing blood is our reliance. Every thought is to be brought into captivity to Christ; every angry word is to be left unspoken. There must be no deception; selfishness or carelessness is a deviation from right. God's law should be the rule in all business transactions. This will lead to the payment of debts, that the character of God may be rightly represented. Truly “the commandment is exceeding broad,” reaching to every thought and act of the life.BEcho July 29, 1895, par. 11

June 24, 1895

August 5, 1895