Hence, then, a person going to law is not governed, in so doing, by the principles of the kingdom of God, but by the principles of the kingdom of Satan, who is the prince of this world. It is not a question as to his being a Christian, but simply a question as to the principle by which he is governed in the act of going to law under any circumstances.[4] I say nothing of the moral instincts of the divine nature, which would surely lead one to apprehend with accuracy the gross inconsistency of a man who professes to be saved by _grace_ going to _law_ with a fellow-man--of one who, while he owns that if he had his _right_ from the hand of God, he would be burning in hell, nevertheless insists upon exacting his rights from his fellow-man--of one who has been forgiven ten thousand talents, but yet seizes his fellow by the throat for a paltry hundred pence. Upon these things I shall not dwell. I merely look at the question of going to law in the light of the kingdom, in the light of eternity; and if it be true that in the kingdom of God there is no need for courts of law, then I press it solemnly upon my reader's conscience, in the presence of God, that he, as a subject of that kingdom, is totally wrong in going to law. True, it will lead to loss and suffering; but who is "worthy of the kingdom of God" who is not prepared to "suffer for it"? Let those who are governed by the things of _time_ go to law; but the Christian is, or ought to be, governed by the things of _eternity_. People go to law _now_, but it will not be so _then_; and the Christian is to act _now_ as if it were _then_. He belongs to the kingdom; and it is just because the kingdom of God is not dominant, but the King rejected, that the subjects of the kingdom are called to suffer. Righteousness "suffers" _now_; it will "reign" in the millennium, and it will "dwell" in the new heavens and the new earth. Now, in going to law, the Christian anticipates the millennial age. He is going before his Master in the assertion of his rights. He is called to suffer patiently all sorts of wrongs and injuries. To resent them is to deny the truth of that kingdom to which he professes to belong. I press this principle upon my reader's conscience. I earnestly implore his serious attention thereto. Let it have its full weight upon his conscience. Let him not trifle with its truth. There is nothing which tends so to hinder the freshness and power, growth and prosperity, of the kingdom of God in the heart as the refusal to carry out the principles of that kingdom in the conduct.[5]
[4] How often, alas! does it happen that people go to law to be _righted_ of their _wrongs_, and in the end find themselves _wronged_ of their _rights_!
[5] The Christian should be governed by the principles of the kingdom in every thing. If he is engaged in business, he should conduct his business as a child of God, and a servant of Christ. He should not have a Christian character on Lord's day and a commercial character on Monday. I should have the Lord with me in my shop, my warehouse, and my counting-house. It is my privilege to depend upon God in my business; but in order to depend upon Him, my business must be of such a nature, and conducted upon such a principle as He can own. If it is not so, I must leave the Lord out, and I am then on the same footing as the men of the world, and left to fall into their ways and manner of doing business.
Of course, everything depends upon the motive which actuates the mind. What, then, is my motive in my daily labor? Is it to provide food and raiment, or is it to lay up treasures upon earth? If the former, God has pleasure in it, and is with it; so that, if you are in the way of His appointment, you have only to depend upon Him.
Faith always puts the soul on a totally different ground from that occupied by the world, no matter where or what our calling may be. Take, for example, David in the valley of Elah. Why did he not fight, like other men? Because he was on the ground of faith. So also Hezekiah. Why did he put on sackcloth when other men put on armor? Because he was on the ground of simple dependence upon God. Just so in the case of a man in trade; he must carry on his trade as a Christian, else he will mar the testimony and rob his own soul of blessing.