ent, universal, and only Road of God: "Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. It is impossible to express the practice of God's permanent religion in more forcible words than the following: "Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand rivers of oil? *** He hath showed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"1

150. The teachings of the other Prophets are along the same line, as the following examples show: "I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Yea, though you offer me your burnt offerings, I will not accept of them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs, for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream." I desired mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." " “These are the things that ye shall do; speak ye every man the truth with his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates; and let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbor; and love no false oath; for all these are things that I hate,

3

1 Micah 4:2-5; 5:2; 6:6-8.

2 Amos 5:21-24.

3 Hosea 6:6.

saith the LORD." "They shall take away all the detestable things and all the abominations, and I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep mine ordinances and do them." "I will give them one heart and one way. *** For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the burnt offerings or sacrifices; but this I commanded them saying: Hearken unto my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people, and walk ye in all the Way that I commanded you, that it may be well with you."

993

151. No one of the sixteen Old Testament Prophets is quoted so often in the New Testament as Isaiah. As the others speak, so does he speak against war, injustice, disobedience to God, and all of the apostacies of religion. He is too lengthy to quote, and the reader should turn to his book and read. *

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152. Because of those parts of their books which refer to local matters, and which do not interest us now, many have not even read attentively the writings of these great men. Among other things they unite in teaching as follows:

(a) That God reigns, and has not taken his hand off the earth; and his care for the righteous

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1 Zech. 8;16, 17.

2 Ezek. 11:19, 20.

Jer. 7:22, 23; 12:17; 31:33; 32:17-19, 39.

*Isaiah 1:11-17; 2:4, 5; 11:1-10; 35:8-10; 53:1-12; 58:1-14; 61:1-11; 65:16-25.

and his punishment of the wicked, shall be made

to appear.

(b) That wrong doers must repent, and seek forgiveness from a merciful God; and follow the truth, and do the things of righteousness.

(c) That there is hope for the future; for the kingdom of God, in Messiah's beneficent reign, will come with salvation and blessings to all mankind.

(d) That in all the circumstances of men, God adapts the requirements of worship to fit their needs; and these needs all center in a spiritual religion, without sacrifices or any of the formalities of sacramentalism.

153. It is thus manifested by the Law and the Prophets that the mighty word of the Old Testament is righteousness, and the crowning truth is the holiness of God. It names and condemns the sins of men without partiality; and it makes one hate what God hates. The earnest reader will be led to join with Paul in saying: "Believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets." It is a fact of biography, that sincere and earnest and strong men like the Old Testament.

1

4. LEADING POINTS MADE MANIFEST IN THIS CHAPTER.

154. In manifesting himself and his religion to mankind, God used language, forms of worship, and institutions; as later, he sent his Son, made flesh, with likeness to the Father so that we might in him see the Father.

1 Acts 24:14. See the tract of the American Tract Society, "Tenderness of the Old Testament Gospel," compiled by one who was led to its preparation by his surprise at finding such a rich mine of helpful truth.

155. The universal instinct of mankind for roads, was directed into a spiritual conception of the one, ever-existent, and universal religion.

156. The Law of Moses had the limitations of a cultus, and was not a world but a national religion; but its forms and institutions had such high uses and Divine meanings, that they were not dependent upon the cultus spirit for force but hung upon love to God and to man.

157. The Prophets spoke as guided by the Spirit of God. They exalted the permanent and put out of sight the cultus tendencies of Moses' religion. Jesus accepted their teachings of religion without any modifications.

158. What God did by the Old Testament and its religion, and by his Prophets, to prepare mankind to know and receive Jesus, and to understand the Road, is remarkable as to its fullness and explicitness.

IV

THE RELIGION OF THE PRESENT

AND FUTURE.

159. "Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." 1

160. "Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the Law, till all things be accomplished."

2

161. "Love the LORD thy God *** love thy neighbor as thyself * * * On these two commandments hangeth the whole Law, and the Prophets."

I. QUESTIONS IN THE STUDY OF RELIGION.

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163. What is the permanent religion of the world; and can a man find it when he seeks it, and know it when he sees it? When God's permanent religion prevails, how much of present Christianity will it contain? Can the everexistent religion be separated, as Jesus in his life time separated it from all existing adulterations?

Many people are asking these questions, who are kept by the serious meaning of existence from thoughtlessly giving themselves to build up sects, opinions, ordinances, and the other institutions

Jer. 6:16.

2 Matt. 5:18.

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162. Matt. 22:37-40. "Law" is used in the New Testament (a) for the Law of Moses; or (b) for the letter and ordinances of the Mosaic Law; or (c) for a power which acts on the will of man by external motives; or (d) for the ORICINAL, ETERNAL, AND SPIRITUAL RELIGION OF GOD, embodied in the living truth believed on and taught by the Patriarchs, Moses, the Prophets and Jesus. "Prophets" is used for the books of the sixteen Prophets of the Old Testament, or for their teaching.