p. 136 | Untitled article by JAMES WHITE

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, August 13, 1867

REPORT FROM BRO. WHITE.

By JAMES WHITE

FIFTH-DAY, July 26th, in consequence of severe suffering from two remaining roots of teeth in the upper jaw, and a decayed double tooth in the lower, I went to the dentist’s office and had them extracted. Relief in my jaws came in consequence, but my head remained inflamed, and ached severely till first-day eve. The loss of blood, of which I have a scanty supply, and the shock, rather unfitted me for the duties of the important meeting before us. But Sabbath morning we rode twelve miles to Bushnell, and found the brethren in the place and from the region round about gathered at the beautiful grove. I spoke to them an hour from Matt. xii, 31, 32, pointing out what the unpardonable sin is, and by whom it is committed. It is thought that the discourse was timely, and that it helped some present who had been tempted to believe that they had committed the sin which hath no forgiveness. Remarks were also made of a cheering, encouraging nature by Elder Strong and Mrs. White. A call was made for candidates for baptism when ten or twelve arose. It was then decided to have baptism in the afternoon, which was taken up in examining candidates, and receiving them by unanimous vote on their being baptized. The result was that twelve were received. Mrs. White and Bro. Strong made this meeting exceedingly interesting by their exhortations to some present to come forward and do their duty. These affectionate appeals they could not and did not resist. They yielded, vowed faithfulness, and were baptized.

Bro. Strong, having become dissatisfied with both his former baptism and ordination, which he received at the hands of men who led off a faction from the body of Seventh-day Adventists, and bitterly opposed those they left, here asked both at the hands of those present.

About five in the afternoon we left for the lake, three miles distant, where I baptized Bro. Strong; and having received authority from the General Conference Committee, bowed with Bro. and sister Strong upon the green shore, and, assisted by brethren Maynard and King, local elders, set our dear fellow-laborer apart to the sacred office of the holy ministry by prayer and the laying on of hands. I mention the name of sister Strong on this occasion. My views and feelings are that the minister’s wife stands in so close a relation to the work of God, a relation which so affects him for better or worse, that she should, in the ordination prayer, be set apart as his helper. The brethren and sisters all bowed with us, and the scene was solemn and impressive. Then, at my request, Bro. Strong led his wife and twelve others down into the water and immersed them, making fourteen in all that were baptized. Bro. Strong is a member of the church at Allegan, and his wife a member of the church at Orleans. This leaves twelve to start with for a church in Bushnell, with six male members, all strong men in the middle age of life. The material for a church here is good; but much needs to be done for them. Others will join them soon.

First-day morning we met to complete the organization of the church by the choice of officers. The meeting was perfectly harmonious. An elder, a deacon, and a clerk, who is also treasurer of S. B., were chosen by unanimous vote. By this time the congregation had assembled, and the ordination of the elder and deacon was deferred to another time. I then took the stand and spoke one hour and a half upon Law and Gospel. My positions were:—

1. That law was a rule for beings on probation to live by. That where there is no law there is no sin, none can fall, consequently no probation. That angels fell, consequently they were before their fall to be governed by law. That man fell, therefore was amenable to the law of God at the time of his fall. That the probation of angels and men was not to be eternal, but for a limited period, at the close of which they would be out of danger of sin.

2. That the design of the law was to be man’s saviour; not to redeem him from sin, but to save him from its commission. Having broken the law, he must have a Saviour who can redeem. There is no redeeming power in law, human or divine. Let the law of Michigan illustrate: To those who are law-abiding citizens, the law is a saviour. It saves their property from thieves, and their buildings from fire, and their families from the murderer. But let a man break the law, and can it save him? It may save him from the repetition of like acts, by seizing him and binding him hand and foot, and taking him to the State’s Prison. The law of God would have saved Adam if he had kept it; but having fallen, it cannot save us. There never was, and there is not now, the least redeeming power in the moral law. There is ordained, however, a redeeming power in our State. A man may be sentenced to two years’ close imprisonment at the State’s Prison; but if circumstances be favorable he may be pardoned out to enjoy freedom at the close of the first year. This power is invested in the Governor of the State. The sinner need not remain shut up in the prison-house of sin. After repentance toward God, he may, through faith in Christ, go free. But if he uses his freedom unlawfully, the law will take hold of him again, as surely as the law of Michigan would take hold of the pardoned culprit should he repeat his unlawful deeds. And as his chance of pardon by the Governor would grow more doubtful at every abuse of his liberty, so the sinner’s hope of finding pardon by the blood of Christ fades at each apostasy.

3. That the gospel, or good news, commenced with the first promise pertaining to redemption, “The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head.” The gospel was also preached to Abraham. The hope of fallen man was not in the law, even after its ministration of service contained in sacrifices was added. These sacrifices could not take away sin; but pointed to One who could. Christ, then, was the only hope of the Jewish church. He was the hope of Adam. We see him leaving the garden in anguish and tears under the sentence of death. But with what joy he bears the good news that redemption is possible. Christ was seen by righteous Abel who brought the firstling of the flock, typifying the Redeemer. And Heaven as much sanctioned this offering pointing to Christ, as it did the introduction of the infant Saviour into the world, when the angels over the plains of Bethlehem sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth

peace, good will toward men.” Christ was the Saviour of the Jews as really as he is of Christians. They looked forward to the cross in faith and hope, through obedience to the ordinances of that dispensation. We look back to it in faith and hope as we obey the ordinances of this dispensation.

4. That if man needed law before the fall, he needed its moral precepts as a rule of life more after his fall, and restoration to hope. I did not say that the letter of the ten commandments was adapted to the condition of angels and man in Eden. Yet they were governed by law, or they could not have fallen. The same moral principles which governed holy beings are fully comprised in ten precepts, worded to meet our fallen condition. Adam needed these as much as Jews or Christians. That Adam, Abel, Enoch, Abraham, and Moses before he saw Sinai, had the ten commandments is seen in the fact that we have in the sacred history of their time the record of the violation of each precept. These could be communicated to Adam as well as the first promise of Christ.

Mark the events of the past which establish the immutability of God’s law. First, the fall, the expulsion from the garden, and the curse seen on man and beast. The whole creation groaneth beneath the weight of the curse, and the blight and mildew of it are seen upon every living substance beneath the sun. Had God’s law been of such a nature that it might have been changed, the sentence of death could have been lifted from Adam, and the fall and its results have been prevented.

Secondly, the proclamation of the law amid scenes of grandeur at Sinai established still more firmly the perpetuity of the moral law. To impress man with its importance and changeless nature, its Author proclaimed it in the audience of all the people gathered around Sinai, while the smoke ascended up to heaven, the lightnings flashed, and the thunders rolled around its base.

Thirdly. The crucifixion. If the law could have been abolished, man might have been set free without the humiliating agony and death of Christ. Oh! the heresy that both Christ and the moral law died! That Christ died to kill his Father’s holy law is the boldest sentiment of the author of all untruth. “Says Christ, ‘Think not that I am come to destroy the law.’” Later we hear Paul’s inquiry, “Do we then make void the law through faith?” He answers, “God forbid; yea, we establish the law.” In the first century Christ had ministers who taught that faith in their Master established the law. In the nineteenth century, ministers abound, bearing the Christian name, who teach that faith in Christ makes the Father’s law void. Are these the ministers of Christ, or of Satan?

See Jesus, once the King of glory, now the man of sorrows, in tears often, in agony, sweat, and blood, in the garden; behold him upon the cross! The sun is veiled in darkness, the veil of the temple is rent, the earth quakes, and the rocks rend. The shaken world echoes to the gospel sound, “It was the Son of God that died.” And for what was this? To redeem man from death, the penalty of moral law.

The greatest events that have occurred since Satan found his way into Eden, establish the law. The fall, the curse with its decay; each falling leaf and fading flower, cite us to violated law. The vast assembly around Sinai, the grandeur of the tempest of fire and smoke, and the voice of God above all distinctly proclaiming the ten moral precepts, all impress us with their dignity, holiness, and perpetuity. The life of Christ, his tears, his agony, his death and resurrection, proclaim in highest accents the law as changeless as its divine Author.

The shock which the creation felt at the fall was great. That which caused Sinai to tremble was its outward manifestation greater; but that which it felt when the Son of the Highest gave up his life, which rent the temple and the rocks, and opened the graves of many of the just, was the greatest. Superlative in degree! None could be greater! The highest but one in the universe dying in agony and blood; the noblest light of Heaven is veiled; the earth, once the workmanship of God’s perfection, tottering, quaking, shivering; and the veil of the temple, the most magnificent building on the earth, rending in twain. This done, even Omnipotence could do no more to redeem man from the sentence of death, and to teach us the perpetuity of his law. The scenes of Sinai gave the Jews great evidence. Add to these the transcendent scenes of Calvary, and Christians have greater evidence that they should observe the commandments of God than the Jews had.

Cain’s punishment for violating the law will be great; that of Jewish sinners will be greater; but that of commandment-breakers in this dispensation will be the very climax of wrath poured out with indignation by the Author of law.

5. The law and the gospel are not antagonists, opposed to each other, one belonging to the past dispensation to the exclusion of the other, and the other alone belonging to the present dispensation. The gospel of the present dispensation does not take the place of the law of the past. If there was no gospel in the past dispensation, then there can be none saved in that dispensation; for law only convicts transgressors, and never saves them. And if there be no law in the present dispensation, then there will none be saved in it, as there is no sin from which to save men. “Where there is no law, there is no transgression.” Law and gospel must go hand in hand throughout the entire period of man’s probation, whether in the Patriarchal, Jewish, or Christian ages.

6. The apostles taught repentance toward God and faith in Christ as comprising the means of salvation. Says Paul, “I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts xx, 20, 21.

Two distinct duties of different natures are required of sinners; first, repentance toward God, because sin, of which they are to repent, is the transgression of his law; and, secondly, faith in Christ, because pardon and salvation is only through him. These two duties were required of sinners in the first century. They are no less required of the sinners of our time. These comprised the duty of Adam, of Enoch before he could walk with God, and of Jewish sinners. But if, as many teach, God’s law is abolished, and a new code from Christ has taken its place, Paul should have taught repentance toward Christ and faith toward Christ. In this case the offended law-giver is made also the advocate, which would be folly in the extreme. As well might men undertake to conduct a case in a court of justice without the statutes of the State. This would be a pleasing change indeed to the criminal to have to do without a good advocate or lawyer.

Christ is not our law-giver. “The words that I speak,” said he, “are not mine but his that sent me.” As prophet, or teacher, he taught his Father’s law. As priest, he becomes the sinner’s advocate with the Father. At the right hand of the Majesty in the Heavens is our advocate. We point the sinner to both, and cry, Behold the offended Lawgiver, and repent of your violation of his law, and, Behold the Lamb who died for your sins, arose for your justification, and ascended on high to intercede with the Lawgiver for you.

With Paul, the apostle John agrees: “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John ii, 1. Catholics may take Christ for their law-giver, and the Pope for their advocate; but with Christ for a law-giver, what will Protestants do?

7. The perpetuity of the law, and its connection with the gospel in the salvation of sinners in the present dispensation is proved by the existence of the ten commandments in the heavenly sanctuary. In the typical service, the sacrifices typified Christ slain; the priesthood, Christ our advocate at the Father’s right hand; and the typical sanctuary, with its two holies, the sanctuary in Heaven where our priest ministers. In the typical holy place was the golden altar, table of shew-bread and the candlestick with seven burning lamps. These are also in the antitypical holy place in the heavenly tabernacle. In the most holy of the earthly was the mercy-seat and the ark containing the ten commandments, before which the high priest ministered at the close of the yearly round of Jewish service. In the most holy of the heavenly is the mercy-seat, (which was the cover of the ark containing the ten commandments) before which Jesus stands at the close of this dispensation.

“For God well knew perdition’s son Would ne’er his precepts love; He gave a duplicate alone, And kept his own above.”

There, beside his own holiness, in the archives of glory, has God deposited his law, safe from the rage of wicked men and demons. There, also, stands Jesus, the author of the gospel and the basis of the hope of fallen man. “And the temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament.” Rev. xi, 19.

This grand scene was to be among those under the sounding of the seventh trumpet. The seven cover the dispensation, the seventh reaching to the close. As our great High Priest at the close of his advocacy for sinners passed into the Most Holy, according to the type, to appear before the mercy-seat, the ark of the ten commandments is there seen. True believers follow their Lord by faith as he enters, and they see the ark. This is why commandment-keepers arise now, and Sabbath-keeping becomes important present truth and present duty.

Men who preach but half a gospel may cry, “Behold the Lamb.” But with definiteness he who has the whole armor may cry, “Behold the Lamb before the ark containing the ten commandments, pleading with the Father for those who have repented of their transgressions of them, and are now obeying them.”

8. That law and gospel are united in the salvation of sinners is seen in the closing declaration of the third and last merciful message of Rev. xiv, just prior to the second advent, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” This needs no comment.

9. The closing benediction of the blessed Book of God contains the crowning promise of all that is promised to those who are obedient to the law of God. “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev. xxii, 14. Notice the following points:

First. It is the Son of God who gives the promise. “Hear ye him.”

Secondly. He speaks of obedience to the commandments of another, which all will admit are those of his Father.

Thirdly. This gospel promise of entering the city of God and having right to the tree of life, which Adam forfeited by breaking the law of God, is made to those who are elevated through faith in the death of Christ so that they can keep them. They are saved by faith in Christ, not for keeping the law of God, but in keeping it. Amen.

The attention and interest of the congregation seemed complete. In the afternoon Mrs. White addressed the earnest listeners for an hour and a half with much freedom. Bro. and sister Strong are now with us. We take them to the Greenbush Grove Meeting, where we separate, they to labor in Gratiot county, and we to return home. JAMES WHITE.

Greenville, July 31, 1867.