The present religious aspect of the Christian world, with its heterogeneous multiplicity of jarring, contending sects, all differing, disputing and dividing among themselves, yet each one claiming to be the true Church of Christ should be a sufficient answer. For if puny man, by apostatizing from truth and concocting such a vast variety of ways and means for worshiping his Maker, can create such a pandemonium of doctrinal discord as that which ecclesiastical Christendom—to say nothing of heathendom—displays, then what might not the Almighty accomplish in the same direction, were it not in diametrical opposition to His principles to descend to the perpetration of such folly and wickedness, and thereby defeat the fulfillment of His most cherished designs, besides dooming unnumbered myriads of His begotten offspring to spiritual death and destruction!
We might continue this argument ad infinitum from a biblical point of view, but without going further into that divine record in quest of proofs which are scattered as thickly as summer sunbeams over its sacred pages, let us now survey the subject from another standpoint and see whether reason alone will not bear out the belief that "this Gospel of the Kingdom," which was to be and now is being "preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations," before the coming of "the end," is the one and only system of salvation that has ever been or ever will be revealed from heaven for the redemption and exaltation of the human family.
It is to be presumed that there are but few, if any, sincere believers in God or in any form of religion, bearing the name of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who would willingly assert that the letter could be anything else than a perfect plan of salvation. The Almighty, as a perfect being, is necessarily perfect in all His ways and works, and any system or science devised by Him for the temporal or spiritual regeneration of our race, would consequently be faultless in construction, consummate in operation and thoroughly capable of fulfilling every requirement of its existence. These facts being admitted, we must immediately concede the unity and exclusiveness of the Gospel of Christ. How so? it might be asked. For the following reasons: A perfect Gospel is of necessity an exclusive Gospel, for of any two such systems, which for argument's sake, we will say might be revealed, one of them must as a matter of course be inferior. No two things can be created exactly alike, and therefore, speaking in the strictest sense of the term, no such thing as equality can possibly exist. But even if it could, in the present instance, what would be the use of two Gospels made exactly alike for precisely the same purpose? The Creator is a wise economist, but such an act would be superfluous and extravagant in the highest degree. But they could not be exactly alike. One of them, as explained, would have to be inferior, for only one of the twain could be perfect, and hence completely competent to fulfill the exact measure of their mutual formation. The superior Gospel would be the creation of God, and it alone; for the inferior one, being imperfect and therefore defective in its organization and capacity, could not possibly proceed from Him, since there is no such thing as imperfection extant in all His handiwork. It is true, His creature, man, is at present very imperfect, but not so originally. God made man upright, says Solomon, "but they have sought out many inventions." On the morning of creation, he, with all the rest of the Creator's great workmanship, was made perfect and pronounced "very good," but he afterward fell into transgression, which is always the downward path, and through his own sins and follies has steadily degenerated to his present fallen condition. Now it is only by means of a perfect Gospel that he can be regenerated and raised to the high and perfect position from which he fell, and such a one is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the subject we are now considering.
A perfect Gospel comprehending all truth, all intelligence, all principles of progression, is necessarily sole and exclusive in its nature. It actually precludes, not only the necessity, but likewise the possibility of the existence of any other Gospel having genuine efficacy and saving virtue. For being complete and perfect in all its parts, all inclusive, all absorbent, all powerful, all sufficient in character and capability, as the greater, it would certainly comprehend the less, and not only deprive it, if existing, of any room or occasion to operate, but if not existing, would leave no extra, unusual material for its construction. So that whichever alternative is chosen, by such as may be disposed to question the validity of our position, it is clearly the case that any other Gospel, besides the only one that ever did, ever will, or in the very nature of things ever can exist, would either be superfluous or impossible; and to accuse the all-wise Creator of committing either folly, would be an insult to His intelligence and a profanation of His character. Mankind may invent, as mankind has already invented, systems upon systems of so-called religion, and falsely call them, to his greater condemnation, by the sacred name of Him who died that all men might live, and some of these man-made methods of worship, or rather idolatry, though all are imperfect and defective, like their clay creators, may be exceedingly plausible and popular with their professors, nor yet entirely devoid of grains and particles of truth. Nevertheless they are all illegal and unauthorized of God, who will utterly refuse to recognize the usurped authority, unlawful establishment and unhallowed administrations, or to accept of the fruits of any faith or form of worship, whatsoever, aside from those of the everlasting, unchangeable Gospel of His Son Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Jesus Christ! That sole and exclusive system of salvation, that perfect and perpetual science of progression, that marvelous and mysterious plan, so plain, so simple, and withal so powerful; so admirably adapted to the needs and capacity of every soul, from the highest to the humblest intelligence ever tabernacled in mortal flesh, and so amply capable of subserving the far-reaching purposes of Omnipotent Creator, as to be the all essential method of salvation in this life, and the indispensable medium of unceasing exaltation in the life to come!
It is a matter of easy comprehension in the ordinary affairs of life, why obedience to any natural law must of necessity precede the attainment of its legitimate result. The accountant at his desk knows perfectly well that in order to obtain the sum of a column of figures he must first employ one of the fundamental rules of the science of mathematics; the chemist in his laboratory is equally aware that the blending of certain elements, in accordance with established rules of the science with which he is operating, is absolutely essential to the formation of the compound which he desires; the student at school who aspires to honors and efficiency in the course he is pursuing, is fully as well satisfied that faithful application and a certain line of deportment is indispensable to insure him a successful examination, with its subsequent reward or recognition of merit; the alien desiring citizenship, when once informed of the fact, seldom, if ever, hesitates to question the advisability of "taking out his papers," or going through certain forms of law, in order that he may be qualified to exercise the rights and privileges of a member of the commonwealth; and it is self-evident that the traveler, who wishes to arrive with all possible speed and security at his destination, must previously select and intently pursue the shortest, safest and most feasible route leading in the right direction. These facts are patent to the poorest comprehension.
Why is it, then, that so many, to whom the above illustrations are so simple and self-evident, fail to see the analogy which exists with reference to the great Gospel or science of salvation, and the obedience to its laws, principles and requirements so imperatively essential to admission into an eternal inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom of God? Why is it that so many millions, notwithstanding the plainest and most pointed declarations of inspired Scripture, the examples and testimonies of the Savior and holy men of old, corroborated by the God-given human reason, profanely and recklessly insist on asserting that compliance with the sacred and everlasting laws and ordinances of salvation is no longer necessary to accomplish the very object of their institution, and vainly imagine or assume to suppose that it is possible to reach the presence of their Maker without putting into practice the immutable principles upon which all celestial promises are predicated, and responding fully and faithfully to the requirements invariably made of those who become possessed of this inestimable privilege? Why is it that the accountant cannot see that eternal life is the sum of all existence, and that all who would obtain it must add together faith and good works, unceasingly, employing all rules, both fundamental and superstructive, of salvation's endless science, in order to solve the otherwise insoluble problem of this life and acquire the grand total of life everlasting in the world to come? Why is it that the chemist cannot perceive that the all-containing compound of eternal happiness is only to be produced by the careful and judicious mixture of the elements of eternal salvation while man yet lingers in the laboratory of his mortal probation? How can the student in the precious school of earthly experience, who fails to improve his time and learn well the lessons assigned to him in this intermediate department of God's great University, hope to pass a successful examination at His Judgment Seat, to merit or attain possession of the "greatest gift of God," and be blessed with the opportunities of entering upon a higher course of studies in a never ending future of education and experience, if he does not win and present a properly signed and attested certificate of good conduct while here, and of complete and thorough preparation for the ineffable and interminable hereafter? Why does the alien of the world, who professes to seek Citizenship in the Celestial Commonwealth, foolishly doubt the necessity of taking the oath of naturalization, renouncing all foreign allegiance, responsibilities and relationship, and conforming to the plain and positive regulations by means of which alone he can even so much as enter into the Gates of the Golden City, to say nothing of exercising and enjoying the rights, privileges and possessions accorded to its humble, faithful, obedient and law-abiding inhabitants? Or why should the traveler of time, the pilgrim to a promised paradise, as he journeys through this weary wilderness, entertain the expectation that he can avoid the pitfalls, snares and dangers which beset his pathway at every step, and arrive with safety and all possible expedition to the flowery outskirts of the dark and dreary desert, where the arms of a loving and sympathetic Savior are waiting open and ready to receive him, if he does not pursue the straight, narrow and only practicable route tending in the proper direction?—in the direction of Him who explored the waste, pioneered and opened up the way, brushing and clearing it with His own bleeding hands and feet, of many of its sharpest rocks and crudest thorns and brambles, planting innumerable guideposts and danger signals along the line of the perilous probation, thereby making it not only possible, but comparatively easy for all men to follow in His footsteps, to inherit bowers of eternal bliss and gardens of unspeakable glory beyond, but solemnly and repeatedly asseverating, both before and after the close of his brave and remarkable career, that there is none other way under the whole heaven whereby the same pilgrimage can be accomplished and the devoutedly wished for consummation attained.
Some will doubtless contend that the cases above mentioned, though capable of parabolical comparison, are not practically analogous in their nature; that the ordinary process employed by the accountant, the chemist, the student, the alien and the traveler, are matters of plain and practical fact, self-evident truths, susceptible of the easiest elucidation, and do not therefore demand, for their acceptance, the exercise of that faith or far-reaching credulity, so indispensably pre-requisite to the investigation of the Gospel, and the acknowledgment of implicit obedience to its principles as the sole alternative to the sacrifice of all hopes of celestial exaltation. In reply to this argument, since to all who would put it forth it would be waste of time and trouble to quote Scripture, we desire to propound two questions. By what means have the so-called self-evident truths of modern science, art, invention, philosophy, etc.—now, but not always, so easily explained and understood—become the plainly proved and firmly established facts that we find them at the present time? Does not the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the perfect and perpetual plan of salvation, purposely made simple and comprehensible—as great things invariably are—in order that even the wayfaring man, though a fool, might not needfully err therein—does it not exhibit upon its face ample and indubitable evidences of the power and efficacy which it claims, and has been proven by unnumbered millions to possess? To the first question we unhesitatingly assert, without fear of successful contradiction, that every truth now known to mortal man has at some period in its history been more or less the subject of his doubt and conjecture, if not of his open and avowed hostility and unbelief, and that without any exception their adoption, establishment and development on earth have been directly due to the exercise of what some people are pleased to confound with the term credulity, but which we prefer to designate by the more dignified and appropriate title of faith, all-powerful faith, a principle whose necessity as the foundation or mainspring of all action and success, is as self-evident as any other fact under heaven, and without which, as a necessary consequence, no truth whatever could have been brought forth, proven and perpetuated in the mind and memory of man. The exercise of faith, the humility and willingness to make experiments, the honesty and courage to proclaim results, the fortitude and patience to endure the taunts, the sneers, the threats and even persecutive violence of the ignorant, unprincipled, selfish, skeptical, unthinking and depraved—the latter incited by Satan, the resister and would-be destroyer of right, and the former pushed on and inspired by Almighty God, the great leader of the vanguard in the eternal march of human progress;—these and these alone are the invincible agencies which have converted popular opinion and transformed the once "crazy notions," "impossible theories," "wild speculations" and "manifest absurdities" of "crack-brained" genius and philosophy, into the since time-honored maxims, venerable proverbs, world-accepted facts and self-evident propositions, and the many marvelous artistic triumphs and scientific achievements now so popular and prevalent in the world, and of which the world that formerly despised and persecuted their incipiency, with its customary conceit and inconsistency, is at present so vainglorious and proud. Faith and good works, those inseparable, Siamese twins of Gospel efficacy, have done all that ever has been or ever will be done, in heaven or on earth, for the benefit and blessing of humanity, while blind, bigoted unbelief and cold-hearted skepticism, though always the loudest to boast of the world's advancement, especially if it advances in wickedness, have as invariably been the persistent opposers and stumbling-blocks in the way of all righteous progress and development. As to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, every principle of which, on fair and honest investigation, will be found abundantly capable of demonstrating its own power and saving virtue, we dare and do maintain, from ample observation and individual experience, that it requires far more credulity to disbelieve the validity of its claim to being "the power of God unto salvation," than faith for its acceptance and acknowledgment as the one and only medium through which the souls of men and the planet upon which they dwell can be saved, sanctified and celestialized forevermore.
Hear it, ye nations and inhabitants of the earth! Hear it and give heed, while yet the Gospel trump is sounding through the streets of your cities, and its receding echoes are ringing and reverberating from your hills and highways! Hear it and heed it, while the lingering twilight of hope keeps back the fast descending night of despair; while the "swift messengers" of salvation are still going forth, and the acceptance of their warning message will avail. Despise not the humble testimonies of those unlettered oracles of God, for every word they deliver is rife with the fate of men and nations, and simultaneous with their utterance on earth, the busy pens of recording angels are enrolling them upon the archives of eternal judgment. Remember that from humblest and apparently weakest causes, have ofttimes sprung the highest, wisest and mightiest results, and if the Gospel is plain and simple in construction, and its advocates and adherents among the poorest and most illiterate of men, that the Almighty has purposely made them so, that the faith of the proud world might be tested, that its population, high and low, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, might be left without excuse for its rejection, and that to God, not man, might redound all honor and glory for the triumph which His omnipotent truth is destined to achieve. Put away all prejudice and narrow pre-conceptions, close your ears against the voice of misrepresentation and calumny, shake off the cloak and coil of cowardice, smother the selfish promptings of worldly interest, and while you sacrifice the paltry things of earth, remember that you are laying up eternal treasures in heaven. "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve!" The line of demarkation is being drawn, the times of separating, sifting and sorting are at hand, and the worshipers of God and Mammom henceforth must cease to mingle and commune. The night of doubt is ended. The day of decision has dawned. Truth and Error have taken the field, their hostile hosts are already in battle array, and the trumpets of both sides are sounding loudly for volunteers, summoning the earth's inhabitants to the Armogeddon of Almighty God. On which side will you fight? Which cause are you willing to be found defending to the death? Be wise in choice. Be instant in decision! But above all things be not dazzled and deceived.
"Truth, crushed to earth, will rise again,
The eternal years of God are hers;
But error, wounded, writhes with pain,
And dies amid his worshipers."