Daily Devotionals

Devotional: July 1st

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY

To him, therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin, - James 4:17

The recognition of the universality of the knowledge of God in all Christian people has great revolutionary work to do amongst the churches of Christendom yet. For I do not know that there are any of them that have sufficiently recognized this principle. Not only in a church where there is a priesthood and an infallible head of the Church on earth, nor in churches only that are bound by human creeds imposed on them by men, but also in churches like ours, where there is no formal recognition of either of these two errors, the practical contradiction of this universality is apt to creep in. It is a great deal more the fault of the people than of the priest; a great deal more the fault of the congregation than of the pastor, when they are lazily contented to take all their religion at second-hand from him, and to shuffle all the responsibility off their own shoulders on to his. If this truth obliges me, and all men who stand in my position, to say with the Apostle, "Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy," it obliges you to take nothing from me, or any man, on our bare words, nor to exalt any of us into a position which would contradict this great principle, but yourself, at first hand, to go to God, and get straight from Him the teaching which He only can give. Dominion and subjection, authority and submission to men, in any office in the church, are shut out by such words as these.

But brotherly help is not shut out. If a party of men are climbing a hill, and one is in advance of his fellows when he reached the summit, he may look down and call to those below, and tell them how fair and wide the view is, and beckon them to come and give them a helping hand up. So, because Christian men vary in the extent to which they possess and utilize the one gift of knowledge of God, and some of them are in advance of the others, it is all in accordance with this principle, that they that are in advance should help their brethren, and give them a brotherly hand. Not as if my brother’s word can give me the inward knowledge of God, but it may help me to get that knowledge for myself. We can but do what the friend of the bridegroom does: he brings the bride to her lover, and then he shuts the door and leaves the two to themselves. That is all that any of us can do. You must yourself draw the water from the well of salvation. We can only tell you, "There is the well, and the water is sweet."

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