General Conference Bulletin, vol. 7

The Sermon - FREEDOM IN CHRIST

A. G. DANIELLS

Sabbath, May 24, 11 A. M.

When I was asked by the brethren Thursday to take this service, I did not contemplate the great blow that would come to us [the sudden death of Elder Irwin]. I have been exceedingly busy all the morning, and I feel very greatly the need of your earnest, united prayers at this hour. I am sure that the circumstances which surround us, and all that we face at this hour, will cause us to humble our hearts, and lead us to recognize God, and to avail ourselves with all our hearts of the provision that is made for our present victory and for our triumph and salvation at last. GCB May 27, 1913, page 155.1

PHOTO-ONE OF THE DORMITORIES, AUSTRALASIAN MISSIONARY COLLEGE, COORANBONG, NEW SOUTH WALES

The text that has been impressed upon my mind is this: “For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2. And this is the message I want to bring to every soul here this morning,—deliverance from the law of sin and death. I believe the apostle Paul tells us of his triumph in his own personal experience. I do not think he was writing alone for some one else; I believe that he stated just what he himself had found, that the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made him free from the law of sin and death. I believe that what the apostle experienced and gave to us is a revelation of what we ourselves may experience in our struggles with sin. So we have this for our encouragement and our hope today, and I am sure this must be a welcome word to many hearts here this morning. It does not make any difference what our names are, what our nationality is; it makes no difference what our advantages or disadvantages have been; we are all in the same position the apostle Paul was in naturally. We are all struggling with the same great problem, we are all in need of the same glorious victory here today. We feel it; and surely it must cheer our hearts this morning to learn from the Word of God that there is a way to be made free from the law of sin and death. GCB May 27, 1913, page 155.2

I do not know, dear friends, that I ever sensed the glorious value and meaning and help of this statement more than I did yesterday. And I think I may be free to tell you why. While Dr. Fox was speaking yesterday morning, I was called out to the telephone, and was told that a gentleman down in the city wished me to ring him up; I did so. He told me that he very much wanted to see me. GCB May 27, 1913, page 155.3

Well I arranged to see him at his hotel. He is a man of standing and influence. But he felt the same great need that many of us, or all of us have felt. He said to me, “You are a Christian. I want to be one. I am having a great struggle because I lack the will power to do what I know to be right, and to refuse what I know to be wrong. I must have help. I must have power to do that which my own conscience approves. I believe in God, and that he hears prayer, and I have felt so anxious about this, that I thought you would come down here and pray with me and ask God to give me victory.” GCB May 27, 1913, page 155.4

Well, I tried to show him from the Bible what it taught, and it was there, brethren! As I looked into the earnest, solicitous face of that man, and I thought of the gaiety and the sin and the vanity of this great city—and that this man locked himself in his room until I got there—then to have him earnestly ask a Christian to pray to God for victory touched my heart. O, how I prized this statement of the apostle! and how I wished that it might be borne to all struggling men and women! And so, after going over the provision God has made to redeem lost humanity and to give weak men strength, we knelt down together, side by side, and I besought the Lord with all my heart to give him new power, to give him will power, to convert his heart, to make him a Christian and obedient. When we arose, he was bathed in perspiration, and was very pale; he could not speak, and I could say no more than to tell him I would continue to pray. He pressed my hand, but did not speak, and we parted. GCB May 27, 1913, page 155.5

I have thought of this experience ever since as much as I have had time to think of what men want and need, and I feel, brethren, that there are many of us here on this ground who want the same blessing. We want power from God to overcome our sins. We may be seeking for gain, or for honor and fame. We may have evil tempers; wicked thoughts may crowd into our minds. We may have difficulties in our homes, with our companions, in our churches, with our brethren and sisters. It does not make any difference what our besetting sins are, brethren, we want the power of the Almighty to overcome them. We want victory in the struggle at home, in the church, on the street, among the people, and in all walks of life. Everywhere, every day, we want to know personally the power of God that frees from the law of sin and death. And, brethren, that blessing, that personal victory over sin, will be one of the greatest assets the denomination can have for the triumph of this work in this day; for it is a victorious, triumphant, overcoming church that can bear powerful testimony to a sinful world. O, may God teach us our need of victory, and show us the way, so that in all the vicissitudes of life, in these powerful temptations that come to us when we grapple with them,—no one, perhaps, knowing of our efforts to become free but our own poor, struggling hearts,—O, that we may know the experience set forth by the apostle Paul in his trimphant testimony of personal victory! GCB May 27, 1913, page 155.6

We must study the preceding verses in order fully to understand the verse I have read. In these we find that the law of God, the law of the ten commandments, enters into this great argument that the apostle carries on. Let us read a verse or two. In the seventh chapter, verse 7, the apostle inquires: “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” GCB May 27, 1913, page 155.7

What law is here referred to?—The commandments of God. In verse 22 we read, “I delight in the law of God, after the inward man.” The apostle is bringing to our minds the law of righteousness,—that law the transgression of which is sin. He also calls attention specifically to sin. “For sin,” he declares, “taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.” The apostle is dealing not only with the law of God, which is the standard of righteousness, but with sin itself; and he tells us his relation to sin, his attitude toward it; he says that it deceived and slew him, and he was under its dominion and power. GCB May 27, 1913, page 155.8

Then Paul calls our attention to himself; and in this he brings each one of us into touch with the question with which he is dealing. He says, “We know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not, but what I hate, that I do.” Verses 14, 15. He is dealing with himself, personally, and in relating his experience, he relates yours and mine, does he not? GCB May 27, 1913, page 155.9

Voices: Yes, Yes! GCB May 27, 1913, page 155.10

Precisely. Paul could not have spoken more truly of us, and if we were to be as frank and as open and true, we would speak of ourselves exactly as Paul did of himself. GCB May 27, 1913, page 155.11

“If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. GCB May 27, 1913, page 155.12

Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.” The apostle reveals his relation to sin, just how he and sin stand,—and how is it? Why, he said, sin dwells in me. The wicked thing itself is in me, and that is what makes me do the things I do not want to do, and keeps me from doing the things I desire to do. That is it. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.1

That is just what many who come to us today say, “I will, but I have not power to carry out my will; I promise, but I have not the power to keep my promise; and what I want is that prayer shall be offered that God will give me the power.” That is just what Paul is talking about; and, brethren, that is just what we are struggling with. O, you people that have come here to this gathering from your homes, I do not believe that you came here primarily to visit the city of Washington! GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.2

Many voices: No, No! GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.3

I do not believe that you came here chiefly to visit one another. I believe that back of every other reason, deep down in your hearts, you came here for the blessing of God. GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.4

Voices: Amen! GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.5

Did you not brothers, sisters? Did you not come here to get new help? GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.6

Voices: I did! GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.7

Did you not come here to get a little more power to resist temptation? Did you not come here hoping that somehow you would be given the secret and the power of a victorious life in your homes, in your associations, and in your service for God? Is not that it? I should be very sorry if that were not the real purpose of our gathering here. That is it! GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.8

Now let us go on with Paul’s experience. The twenty-second verse: “I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind,”—against my conscience, against my knowledge, against my sense of things. There is another thing in me besides a conscience, besides enlightenment, besides understanding, that has power over my conscience, over my understanding, and over my desires. I see another thing in me that is ruining me, that is taking me down to perdition, as much as I desire to be delivered. “O, wretched man that I am!” That is what Paul exclaimed. I am sure that many here have sent up that cry to God more than once. Then the apostle asks, “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Who shall deliver me from this law in my members, that is successfully and triumphantly warring against the law of my mind? Why, that is a fearful situation to be in! One may be in physical danger, he may be surrounded with perplexities, or facing dreadful calamities; and he may work himself out by a terrible exertion. He may throw himself into the battle and win out. But not so with this. The thing is in him, and it is beyond his power; struggle as he may, he cannot conquer. So Paul surrenders. He throws up his hands, and exclaims, “O, wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me” from this terrible thing? I cannot deliver myself. Who can and who will? GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.9

Now, after speaking plainly of his experience and placing before us those facts that are well known to ourselves, personally, he makes the triumphant statement I have chosen for our text: “The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” The law of the spirit of life had come in and wrought for him the deliverance for which he longed. GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.10

But how did this marvelous change come about? How is it that Paul steps from a state of condemnation and sin, a state of bondage and groaning servitude, to the place where he can say, “There is therefore now no condemnation”? He tells us that the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus had come into his body—among his members—and had made him free from the law of sin and death. Brethren, there is the way of victory; there is the way of conquest. Paul found the way, and he has shown it to us. Now, brethren, this may be argument, but I want it to be more than argument today. I want it to come to every heart as a blessed experience. But we must know the way, and I do not believe there is any other way than the way laid down here in this Word. GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.11

Now just a few words more about this law of sin and death. In Galatians 5:19 we read: “The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these”—we get now the features of this rule of sin and death, this power of evil that rules in the human heart, and that enslaves the whole human race. These features are traced in all their ugliness and meanness, and we can hardly read the horrible things without blushing. First the apostle mentions “adultery, fornication, uncleaness, lasciviousness”—that terrible, vile, and awful thing that has fastened itself in every heart of the human family. It has come to us in its various insidious manifestations and operations. O, brethren and sisters, we want the power of the living God to blot this thing out of the heart! We want the cleansing blood to wash us clean of this evil thing. Perhaps that is all I can or dare say here, but you know what is meant, we all know what is meant, and know that we want the cleansing blood, and we want the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, to set us free. GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.12

Here is another thing, “idolatry”. Idolatry is not all confined to India, China, Japan, and the heart of Africa. I will tell you, my friends, that thing has residence in the human heart; it resides wherever the heart is not cleansed and made free by the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.13

And the list goes on, “witchcraft, hatred.” O, yes, you say, I can forgive, but I cannot forget! This is hatred. In how many forms does it manifest itself! Hatred is the cause of trouble in the churches, trouble in the family, in the neighborhood, and in the world. In the epistle to Titus we are told something about this, in the third chapter and the third verse: “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.” That is one of the manifestations of the law of sin and death; that is one of the parts of that law that runs in the heart and rules the very life; and that must be broken, and eradicated from the heart. It is a strange thing to me to have a brother or a sister take offense in the church. I have seen it right along. Perhaps some one has wronged a brother or a sister, either intentionally or unintentionally; perhaps the person has not been wronged at all, but only thinks so. The next time they meet, the person that thinks he has been wronged, will not look at the one he thinks has wronged him, but looks the other way. The one he thinks has wronged him may try to get his eye and perhaps may now and then succeed in getting an icicle sort of nod, but if he shakes hands with him, it is like shaking a pump handle. There is no life, no brotherly sympathy and love, manifest. And then this person goes into the church and “worships the Lord”! Brethren, this is all wrong. It is a manifestation of the law of sin and death. It is one of the works of the flesh, which is of the devil. Now do you think brethren, that we are going through to the city of God feeling that way toward some one who has wronged us, either intentionally or unintentionally? GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.14

Voices. No. GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.15

I heard of a brother who had unintentionally wronged a brother, or at least a brother supposed he had been wronged, and when this brother met the other he would not speak to him. It went on and on, until finally the brother who was supposed to have injured the other brother became so agitated over the matter that he could not endure it. One day he met the other brother in the road, and he fell down on his knees before him, and said: “My brother, I cannot live with your hatred toward me. I want to be a brother to you, and I want you to be a brother.” And there he had to plead in the dust for that brother to smile upon him. And when they came to talk it all over, it, proved to be nothing but a misunderstanding. GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.16

I will tell you, brethren, a great many of the troubles that come to us, that cause us sleepless nights and anxiety, are caused by just such misunderstandings and misjudgments. And unless we get hold of God enough to take that evil thing out of our hearts, and make us forbearing, and long-suffering, and kind to people who actually mistreat and wrong us, how can we go out and talk the gospel of peace and good-will to our fellow men? O, we must experience this thing in our own hearts. We must know it. GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.17

Now the apostle tells us that we were sometimes disobedient, hateful, and hating one another, but he says, “after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.18

The apostle pictures a marvelous change that came over the church of God, and made them new creatures in Christ Jesus, so that they had victory over the law of sin and death. GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.19

Now let us go back to the law of sin and death, as presented to us by the apostle Paul: “Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.20

Our salvation depends upon our deliverance from this law of sin and death. We cannot get to heaven with this law reigning in our hearts and controlling us. There is no use. We may hide a thing from our brethren and from the world, but it is known to God, and we must be fair and honest with him, and take that thing to him, and ask him to slay it, and deliver us. And do you know what real pleasure there is in going alone, where not a human ear can hear a word said, and bow down in the presence of a holy God, and say, “Lord, look on this wicked thing in me. Look on this thing I am struggling with. You know its power. You know how I have struggled with it. Lord, slay that thing. Crucify it; deliver me from it, whatever it may be.” If it is a desire for gain, leading you to withhold from God his tithe,—O brother, if you are tempted to grip the tithe, and not let it get back to God, where it should go, that is an evil thing! Take it to the Lord, and say, “Lord, look down at this room in my heart where commerce has its seat; look at this selfish thing that reigns here; look at my covetousness, which is idolatry, which exalts money and gain above my God; look at this evil thing, and, O Lord, deliver me from it. GCB May 27, 1913, page 156.21

If it is desire for place, to be the elder of the church, or the chief singer, or the ruler in the conference, or anything else, we can say, “Lord, look at this thing that sin has planted in my heart; look at it, and deliver me, O Lord! Give me a humble mind. Make me enjoy service for others. Help me to be willing to be the servant of others. Lord, deliver me from this thing.” GCB May 27, 1913, page 157.1

Do you know how much joy and pleasure there is in an hour of such communion with God? I will tell you, brethren, it is not only joy, but it is victory, and you can come from the secret chamber with a new flush upon your cheek, with a new feeling in your heart, and with the honor of all your brethren and your neighbors cherished. It is for us. I do not know of a single evil in the whole category of sin, but what can be dealt with in that way, and can be put down and slain, and the grace of God be put in its place. GCB May 27, 1913, page 157.2

Now perhaps I have said all I can at this hour on this law of sin; but I will tell you it is a terrible law, an awful thing. It is that which binds the nations of the world today; it is that which rules throughout the world; it is that which causes the bloodshed, the sorrow, the suffering; it is that which has broken and held millions of hearts; it is that with which Paul is dealing, and from which he is telling us how to get free. O, I rejoice that God placed me where I could see the light of this glorious gospel sent into the world, to deliver men, to deliver sinners! GCB May 27, 1913, page 157.3

Now let us spend a few minutes in considering the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. That is the grand, the glorious, the beautiful side of this whole question. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus is here contrasted with the law of sin and death. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love.” How much better this is than hatred! How much better it is to love a human being than to hate him! How much better to feel an unspeakable desire to help a poor man than to crush him! GCB May 27, 1913, page 157.4

Love is the fruit of the spirit. I can tell you once, brethren, when that love flooded my heart, and gave me a new revelation of what love meant. It was a simple thing, but that does not make any difference. Our experiences come to us many times in little things. I was traveling on the train in Australia from Sydney to Melbourne. We came to a place where we had to change cars. GCB May 27, 1913, page 157.5

I got my satchel placed on the train, and as I turned around, I saw a group of men and women looking at a poor man who was intoxicated. He had dropped his satchel, and it had opened. His things were scattered about, and the ladies were passing around so as not to come near him. Some of the men were looking on with disgust, and some were making fun of the poor fellow. Somehow it touched my heart greatly. I noticed that his face was intelligent. There was a drunken man who could not help himself. Before, I had always steered clear of an intoxicated man. But in this instance I went forward and stooped down and picked up his things and put them in his satchel. Then I said to him, “My man, where do you want to go?” He said, “I want to go to—,” naming the town we were then in; so I said, “Well, we are here.” But he said he must get on that train. I said, “No.” GCB May 27, 1913, page 157.6

All the time these people looked on, thinking, I suppose, I was his brother. It was a little embarrasing, but I worked with him. I finally got him by the arm and helped him to stagger along to a cab. I said to the cabman: “Here is a man. This is his town, but he cannot manage himself. You take him to his home, and if you want your pay beforehand I will pay the bill.” As we were going toward the cab, the drunken man turned to me, and said, “Who are you?” I said, “Never mind.” But he said, “Who are you?” I said, “I am a friend.” He said, “Well, I bet you are.” Then he began to fumble in his pocket, and got out a sixpence. He said, “I must pay you.” “No,” I said, “put that back in your pocket, and hurry along, because I must get my train.” So he staggered along. He said, “I bet you will find that sixpence.” I did not know what he meant, but I got him in the cab and all fixed up, and then said, “Good-by.” Although intoxicated, this poor man was profuse in thanking me for my kindness. He appreciated what I had done for him. GCB May 27, 1913, page 157.7

I went back and sat down in my seat. I thought of that poor soul. I thought of his lost condition. I thought of his landing at last in perdition, and O, how my heart yearned to save him! And somehow, just then, a flood of Christ’s love came into my heart as I never had felt love before for men. I put my hand in my pocket for my handkerchief, and there I found that sixpence. I looked at it, and I kept it a long time, because it renewed a very precious experience. I felt that I had tasted the love of God for a helpless creature. I felt some as Brother Farnsworth pictured that father who went out to meet his wayward, sinful, sinning boy—so glad, so kind. Brethren, I must say to you that from that night—it was midnight when we changed cars—from that hour there came to me a new feeling and a new longing to work for lost men. I had tasted some of the joys of such service. GCB May 27, 1913, page 157.8

Now the Bible says that one of the fruits of the Spirit is love,—the love of our Heavenly Father; the love of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for us. Brethren, it is that love we need to give us power in soul-winning work. We all need it, brethren, in our homes, in our communities, in our churches, everywhere. We need it in missionary endeavor; we need it in the schools as teachers. O, how you teachers need this love of God to make you patient, forbearing, helpful! How you need it to make you kind with the erring, with the wayward, with naughty children! O, it is love that will conquer! But without love we can do nothing. GCB May 27, 1913, page 157.9

We could spend all the time this morning on this one fruit of the Spirit—love. It is love that must be manifest in the life if we have power to win to Christ. But, brethren, love comes only through the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. GCB May 27, 1913, page 157.10

Brethren, there is indeed “no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus;” for the law of the spirit of life does free all from the law of sin and death. This experience comes to every man who surrenders himself fully to God. We may have such an experience on this camp ground, and we ought to have it. This people ought to know this experience, this abounding love. We are commissioned to go into all the world and preach this love to a lost world, and how can we fulfil our trust without this love abiding and abounding in our hearts? O, we must have victory; we must know it! You have come to this meeting, I trust, for it. Do you want to win you wayward boys to Jesus? Make them know the love of God. Do you want to win that worldly husband to Christ before it is too late? Somehow reveal to him the love of God. GCB May 27, 1913, page 157.11

Brethren, we must be winning these victories. This people ought not to be weak in soul-winning endeavor. We ought to be mighty in the world, and people ought to know that they can send to us for prayer. And, O, when we go in response to such calls, we ought to know how to lay hold of God for victory! We ought to. GCB May 27, 1913, page 157.12

I must close. Brethren, I want to ask, though, how many there are here whose hearts yearn for this change. Of course in the great congregation I am sure all do, but are these some here who especially desire this victory that comes through the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus? First of all, I want to ask those who especially desire this, who long for it, and feel that they must know more about this before leaving this conference, to stand up. [Many arose.] I do not call for a general manifestation, but you—whether you are a minister or a teacher or an elder—do you feel that somehow a new hold must be obtained, a new experience that will enable you to be victorious in your personal struggles and in your endeavors for the lost? I am sure it must be so. We all feel it. GCB May 27, 1913, page 157.13

We do not want any one to leave this Conference sorely disappointed. The message has come to us that we must not repeat the mistake of 1909—going away with the showers of blessing just hanging over our heads, but not falling. They must fall upon us. Who, then, will join in the congregation, and in the effort on our part necessary to bring this great blessing? [Others joined those already standing, and here the service closed.] GCB May 27, 1913, page 157.14