National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1873-10-27
ASSEMBLY, PRKsBYTRRIAS CHURCH.
Rev. George D. Little % ike Necessity oil
Psrfeetiou.

rertecuon.
In the above church the Rev. George o.
Little preached on tho following text; BE
ye therefore perfect, even rs your Father
which Is In heaven Is perfect" With these
words Christ concludes the first part Of his
sermon on the Mount the part IN which he
gives his strict Interpretation OF the moral
law In contrast with the more lax interpreta-
ton of those Of oldcn time. II Is thus an
epitome OF the moral teachings Of tho Bible
These moral teachings differ from all Others
In tnat they alone arc perfect while all the
others, with much TO commend, arc imper-
feet. All governments have moro or less
moral teaching In their laws. But.
/. 1t Is negative In Its character, saying
simply Thou shalt not do; I'd, 1t oyorlooks
many sins and Sd, actually licenses others.
All false religions have moral teachings.
! But
1. They arc but little elevated above the
preaching morality. Their Gods and god
desses are only localized men and women.
Q. They acknowledge msn-dcprsvity, and
ada apt themselves to IL by lowering Its stand
ard according TO the motto: MAN Is weak,
and God knows IT,"
8. They are based on outward actions and
4. They all acknowledge and teach that
sometimes 1t 10 right to doeyil that good may
come. ...
Only the Bible teaches Q morality that Is
perfect, even a our father In heaven Is per-
feet. Starting from this perfection as basis
two exactly opposite conclusions arc reached,
with one Of which wish to deal to day. II
Is as follows; I. God would not command
men to do what he knows they cannot do.
.. Man cannot do what Is commanded In tho
does not expect man TO be perfect aud will
DO satisfied with the nearest practical approx
| imation to Il that 10 possible.
On this argument so-callcd moral men rest
their hope, thinking their good works will
not save them, but will go good way towards
1t. deny emphatically both Of the premises
deny the nrst on the ground that
/. An Infinitely wise aud holy God cannot
consistently demand OF men anything less
than perfection. Governments and false ro-
ligions have imperfect laws, because tho
trainers arc imperfect. Being finite, they
can take cognizancc only of outward actions,
God is Infinite, and must judge the motives
as we'll. Again; Men of hnite wisdom think
1t expedient to sometimes do evil that good
may come. But God, In infinite wisdom,
knows the result Of evil Is always evil. The
moment God should lower his commands
from infinite perfection, that moment skeptics
would argue imperfection In their author.
Again: II In any point the standard Of
morality was lowered, 1t would manlfestly
encourage the sin, or class Of sins, permitted.
And this would so far impcach the holiness
of God.
This permission OF one sin while another
was punished could be explained only on the
ground Of expcdiency, which would also be
fatal to the doctrine Of divine holiness. Thus
In every way II Is manifest that an infinite,
wise and holy God can demand nothing less
than perfection. Whether man can obey Is
another question. II would not help him TO
have q iess-perfoct law any more than II
would help scholar 10 have au imperfect
copy In writing, as matter of fact II would be
an injury.
II. Again, deny the second premise, viz;
That man is unable 10 perform the command
OF the text, and claim that In time God will
help man TO accomplish the task aud be per-
feet.
The fallacy lies In the limiting the time
He cannot do Il In week, nor year, nor In
lifetime. lie cannot do Il 80 long as he has
q depraved nature, True, but there Is a life
beyond, to which this life Is nothing. In this
life he can and should be approxlmating per-
lection by diligent perseverance, by follow
ing the spirit Of God; by looking unto Jesus;
by casting aside easily besetting sins; by
forming habits Of virtue; by gaining new
spiritual strength, And, having done this,
At the moment OF death be made perfect In
holiness.
This Is the doctrine Of qualification as