Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1884-01-17
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CONDUCTED BY
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
PRIVILEGES AND DUTIES.

The impression is widespread and has
many practical advocates, that God grants
us a multitude of privileges, but imposes
upon us but few duties. Rarely do the mass
of those who claim to be followers of Jesus
Christ associate privileges and duties to-
gether in the way thatGod has linked them.
A duty is something that God demands of
us, and privilege is something that God
grants us; but there are numerically no more
privileges granted than there are duties i'm
posed. This may be stated thus. Every
duty is privilege, and every privilege isa
duty. If this be true, ourprivileges are nu-
merically no greater than our duties, and
many things which we are accustomed to
regard as privileges are sinful because they
are not duties
1t would be impossible to make out list
of duties in short article-perhaps abso-
lutely impossible, but a sufficient number
may be mentioned to test the correctness of
the above statement. The great duty which
may be said to include all demands which
God makes of us, is obedience to his re-
vealed will. No one will deny that it is the
duty of all men to obey God in all things.
Now, is it not a great privilege to obey God ?
TO obey, considered as a duty, is better than
sacrifice, and, considered as a privilege, it
is the source of all bliss, or rather, it is the
sum and substance Of all bliss.
God commands all men everywhere to be-
lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ. Such being
the case, it is the duty of all men to believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Men may refuse
to believe in Jesus Christ, but God grants no
man the privilege to reject Jesus Christ. In
this instance the duty which God imposes
is also privilege. No sane man will deny
this statement. 1t is the duty of all men to
repent, because God commands all men, ev-
erywhere, to repent. Surely every one Will
admit that it is the duty of all those who
have transgressed Gods law to break off
their sins by Righteousness, and their iniqui-
ties by turning unto the Lord, and surely no
one will deny that God bestows upon the
sinner great favor when he grants him the
privilege Of repenting.
In practical point of view, the principle
stated above is of great Importance. We
reason incorrectly when we conclude that a
thing may be privilege bestowed but not q
duty imposed. If God has not commanded
thing and thus made it a duty, it cannot
be regarded as privilege. In other words
a thing must be imposed as duty before it
can be regarded as being bestowed as priv
ilege. The charter of our privileges is the
command of God which imposes our duties.
A strange notion seems to have taken
hold of the multitudeof the human family,
that they have the right and privilege to
believe and do just as they please. Such an
idea is as foolish as it is wicked. 1t is fool
ish, because it contradicts all experimental
observation, and it is wicked, because it
robs God of his authority and is in open con-
flict with every revelation which God has
made of himselfin his word or works. The
sum of all our duties is expressed by the
words ''obey the voice of the Lord your
God" And to obey the voice of the Lord
our God is all the privilege which God has
given any Of us.