CHRIST SHALL DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL.
By John Matteson
“For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the Devil.” 1 John ii, 8. This text states in very plain words the object for which God sent his own dear Son into this world, and for which Christ endured and suffered so much. He will destroy the works of the Devil. How important that we have a clear conception of what constitutes the works of the Devil; or are able clearly to distinguish between the works of Christ and the works of the Devil. — This would be a good way to decide the Sabbath question. All Bible readers will acknowledge that the seventh day was once sanctified and blessed, was once the Sabbath. All that we need to decide now is: Was that work the work of the Devil, or was it the work of Christ? If the sanctification of the seventh-day Sabbath was the work of the Devil, then those are correct who teach that Christ has abolished the ancient Sabbath; for Christ came to abolish or destroy the works of the Devil. But if Christ is the author of the seventh-day Sabbath then you have made a fatal blunder in attributing that to Christ which really is the work of the Devil, to wit., the attempt to destroy or abolish the seventh-day Sabbath. It is evident that the seventh-day Sabbath once existed. It is also evident that some one has tried to abolish or change the same. Now be not satisfied before you have clearly ascertained whether this is the work of Christ or of the Devil. Daniel predicted that the little horn, or papal power should think or attempt to change times and laws. The great head of that power is certainly the Devil. The Sabbath cannot be classed among shadows and ceremonies; for it existed before ever sin existed, and there could be no figures of atonement as long as there was no cause for atonement. If our opponents therefore persist, without the least Scripture testimony to that effect, to claim that the seventh-day Sabbath is abolished or destroyed, we would urge upon them to prove that Satan is its author. But if they will not, they represent Christ as destroying his own work. Christ was the author of the Sabbath. Proof: “By him were all things created.” Col. i, 16. “By whom also he [the Father] made the worlds.” Heb. i, 2. “All things were made by him.” John i, 3. “The Sabbath was made for man.” Mark ii, 27. Then Christ did make the Sabbath for man at creation. Christ was the agent by whom the Father made this world. He gave light to the sun, and he gave sanctity to the seventh day. Blind men may argue that they see no light about the sun. Blind professors may argue that they see no sanctity about the Sabbath of the Lord. But this has not impaired the splendor of the sun. It shines as brightly as ever. So likewise the seventh-day Sabbath is as holy as ever, in spite of all the slander and abuse that has been poured forth against it by the blind. And in spite of all the hallucinations and counterfeit splendor of a rival Sabbath, the day which was sanctified at creation still shines with unimpaired splendor, although a sin-polluted atmosphere is not so well adapted to the display of its glory, and a correct idea of its sanctity, as the pure and holy air of Paradise. And the fact that there is still a people in the earth who celebrate this divine institution, after such powerful attacks by the enemy, is a strong proof of the truthfulness of the word of God, and of the genuineness of the work among God's remnant people. The Sabbath of Jehovah has risen above the raging surges for nearly 6000 years. It will stand the storm a little longer, and soon the unpolluted atmosphere of the new earth shall reflect all the rays of its everlasting glory, and every heart shall rejoice in its splendor, when all flesh shall worship before the Lord from Sabbath to Sabbath. Isa. lxvi, 23. Dear reader, decide in your own mind the question: Is the seventh-day Sabbath the work of the Devil? Christ came to destroy the works of the Devil. Beware lest you take side with the enemy.