THE PERPETUITY OF GOD'S COMMANDED COVENANT OF TEN COMMANDMENTS.
By Joseph Bates
TEXT.—Deut. iv, 10–13: “Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
“And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire; ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.” I purpose here to examine some of the leading testimonies of both Testaments for proof of the perpetuity of this commanded covenant of the ten commandments of God, and the promised blessings to all who obey and keep them. Moses was here rehearsing the wonderful scenes which had transpired forty years in the past, when the great Lawgiver of nations, by his own voice in the presence and hearing of some two millions of people, declared unto them his covenant of ten commandments, which he commanded them to perform, and gave it to Moses in his own handwriting, plainly written on two tables of stone, and directed him to place them in the ark. Deut. x, 1–5. Having no authority to say that any portion or part of the Bible was written before God wrote his commanded covenant on the two tables of stone, we have good reason to believe that this was the earliest writing in existence, and the only complete code of moral precepts that God ever gave to man, communicated from his own sacred lips, and then presented in his own handwriting. Such is the origin and character of his commanded covenant. That this commanded covenant of ten commandments constitutes God's law has always been admitted by every considerable body of professed worshipers of God, whether Jews, Catholics, or Protestants. This may be learned from the writings of their respective authors, their catechisms, and church articles. That the commandments were not given expressly for the nation called the children of Israel, but for all the nations of the earth in every generation, is evident from the testimony of the Holy Scriptures. We will commence with Moses, who received these commandments from the hand of God: “And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes; and ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up; and thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thy house, and upon thy gates; that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of Heaven upon the earth.” Deut. xi, 13, 18–21. Here the gracious and precious promises to parents and children who obey God and keep his commandments are, that their days will be as the days of Heaven upon the earth. In Psalm lxxxix, 29, we learn that the Saviour's throne will be “as the days of Heaven.” In Luke i, 32, 33, we further learn that the Saviour will reign on his throne “over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Then of the days of Heaven there will be no end. Again, “Know, therefore, that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.” Deut. vii, 9. The generations here spoken of are not less than a thousand, but they are more. For David while writing on this subject four hundred and fifty years after Moses, still calls it a “thousand generations.” Thus, “Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.” 1 Chron. xvi, 15; Ps. cv, 8. Now if we follow the Bible rule, and count generations as given in Gen. xi; Matt. i; Luke iii, 23–38, from father to son six thousand years from the creation of the world, will not give two hundred of these generations. Then eight hundred generations more to make up a thousand would require twenty-four thousand years yet in the future from 1868. But as we had proved that Moses meant more than a thousand generations we may safely follow some other ancient writers in the way they express unlimited time, namely, “generation and generation.” Lam. v, 19; Dan. iv, 34. Or as David in Ps. c, 5, “All generations.” Then we prove that the keeping of the commandments of God are perpetuated from “generation to generation.” For additional proof we now turn to the one hundred and eleventh psalm. “The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure, they stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness. He sent redemption unto his people; he hath commanded his covenant forever.” Verses 7–9. As God's commanded covenant of ten commandments were done in truth and uprightness, they must remain unalterable. They stand fast forever and ever. The same language is expressed by the Psalmist when he speaks of the unlimited reign of God and his throne. Thus, “O God, thy throne is forever and ever.” Ps. xlv, 6; x, 16. His covenant then is perpetual. From this we turn to the testimony of our Lord and Saviour: “Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven; but whosoever shall do, and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven.” Matt. v, 19. For proof that the ten commandments are here referred to, two of them are quoted and explained. See verses 21 and 27. The word whosoever means any person whatever. Webster. The Scriptures give the same meaning, thus: “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” “The Spirit and the bride say, Come, and let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.” 1 Cor. xi, 27; Rev. xxii, 17. We understand then that the declaration and promise of the Saviour was to any person whatever, from thenceforward, who would do and teach the commandments of God, that he “shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven.” “But whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven.” The apostle James quotes the same two commandments, and says, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James ii, 10, 11), and of course cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven, unless he repents and keeps the whole. At a certain time while Jesus was teaching concerning the resurrection, “A lawyer asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matt. xxii, 35–40. Our Lord introduced no new precept or principle here, but quoted from the writings of Moses in Deut. vi, 5; Lev. xix, 18, showing plainly that the ten commandments had always rested on these two great principles: first, to love God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and, second, to love our neighbor as ourselves. These ten commandments of God, thus summed up under two heads, are the epitome of all moral law, to be regarded as God's great standard of right, and, after man's rebellion, the great test by which sin is shown. They are, therefore, of necessity unchangeable in their character. The promised reward for obeying and keeping them had been eternal life, and that it was so then will appear from the following testimony: “And behold a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him,218What is written in the law, how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live.” Luke x, 25–28. He understood how this ten-commandment law was explained by the prophets; for Jesus said, “Thou hast answered right; this do and thou shalt live.” Live how? Ans. Have eternal life. Again, “And behold one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” And he said unto him, “Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God; but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments,” and then recited some of the precepts from his Father's commanded covenant of ten commandments. Matt. xix, 16–18. Said the Saviour, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.” John xv, 10, 12. Thus far we have learned that all the prophets and the Saviour taught that eternal life was obtained by keeping the commandments of God. When the Saviour was closing his earthly mission here, he said, “Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matt. xxviii, 19, 20. Then our Saviour died, and no one who believes the Bible doubts but that his Father raised him from the dead, and gave him eternal life. Did he keep his Father's commandments? Yes. And was not this last commission which he gave them, to continue to the end of the world? Yes. Then all who teach and baptize those who believe, are required to teach them to observe all things whatsoever he commanded them? Yes. Then the doing and teaching the commandments of God to obtain eternal life, are not only one of the things, but one of the most important. It is, therefore, a fact, that the keeping of the commandments of God is perpetuated to the end of the world. For further proof of this, we now turn to examine the testimony of the great apostle to the Gentiles. “For I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment which was ordained unto life, I found to be unto death; for sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it, slew me.” Rom. vii, 9–11. The apostle is evidently relating his own experience in this chapter. That he means the covenant of ten commandments is also evident from his quoting the tenth commandment. “Thou shalt not covet.” Verse 7. The words “alive,” “died,” “slew me,” do not refer to natural life, neither to cessation of natural life; but he here expresses two opposite states of mind and feelings. “The commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” Here the covenant of ten commandments which God had commanded to be performed to give eternal life, he “found to be unto death.” Why? Because, by the commandment he was then fully convinced that he was a sinner before God, as all men out of Christ were, and must yield to all its claims by repentance toward God, and faith in Jesus Christ. Thus he found the commandment was unto death, and by it he was slain, and he died. “Dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” So when Paul found the way to eternal life was first by unfeigned repentance, and dying to sin, how readily he expressed the change it had wrought in his mind, saying, “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good.” Verse 12. Mark it, friends, the law of ten commandments was not at that time changed, altered, or made unholy, but the very reverse. This epistle to the Romans was written A. D. 60, some twenty-nine years after the Saviour died. According to the Scriptures, Paul was not converted until the fourth year after the Saviour's death. What we have stated in relation to his experience in Rom. vii, 9–13, may be still better understood by reference to Acts xxii, 1–22.—The relation of his wonderful experience and conversion before the Jewish church; and then before King Agrippa, Acts xxvi, 1–23. In Acts ix, 1–22, Luke is more particular in his relation to this his passing “from death unto life,” in his wonderful gospel experience and conversion. When he was the chief of sinners, going to Damascus to destroy the people of God, Jesus spake to him in an audible voice, saying, “Saul, Saul, why persecuted thou me?” From thence he was “three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.” The commandment slew him and he died to sin. Then the Saviour called his faithful servant, and said, Go to him, “for behold he prayeth.” Verses 2, 4, 9. And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord (even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest) hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales; and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. Verses 17–20. Thus, by the law of ten commandments, which is holy, just, and good, Paul, and all other persons under the gospel, who violate its precepts, are slain, and then made alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. From this we turn to John the beloved disciple, and bosom friend of the Saviour, who said, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous.” 1 John v, 2, 3. This testimony shows most clearly that no person whatever loves God, who does not keep his commandments. Neither do they know they love the children of God, unless they keep his commandments. The Saviour says he “abides,” or continues in his Father's love by keeping his commandments. John xv, 10. “He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love.” 1 John iv, 8. Here we learn that John's teaching is in perfect harmony with the Saviour's explanation of the two great principles on which his Father's commandments had always hung; namely, love God, and love your neighbor. Matt. xxii, 35–40. Here John also teaches the perpetuity of God's commanded covenant of ten commandments, thirty years later than Paul taught the Romans, and sixty years after the Saviour died on the cross. Lastly, we come to “the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein; for the time is at hand.” Rev. i, 1–3. How important that every intelligent person give his attention to the study of the prophecy of this book, and keep and do “those things which are written therein,” that he may receive the promised blessing. One of the most important of these things herein written is found in Rev. xiv, 12. “Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Who are these? Answer, They are Advent believers, who unhesitatingly believe the three angels' messages (Rev. xiv, 6–12), and then the coming of the Son of man as given in this chapter. The first one closes his message with the proclamation, “The hour of his judgment is come.” The second which followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen,” closed at the same time. Verses 6–8. The great Advent movement from 1840 to 1844 most clearly answers to this prophecy. Here the proclamation of the second advent of the Saviour closed, with the 2300 prophetic days of Daniel's vision. And the third angel's message came, and all who hear, teach, and believe it, begin to keep all the ten commandments of God, and all the faith, or testimony of Jesus. Thus they enter into the patient waiting for the second advent of the Lord. Mark it, dear friends, this is the preparatory message, the only one which God has given to prepare the living saints for their sudden and last change to receive eternal life. Read carefully, and prayerfully. Reject it not, we entreat you. God means every word he has said. Believe, oh! believe, and do, and live. Since the apostolic age, and particularly during the thirteen hundred years' reign of the Papacy, the Man of Sin, the fourth commandment of God has been most shamefully mutilated, and trampled in the dust. One of the six working days has been substituted for the day to worship God. There has been almost a total failure in keeping the commandments of God. For we are told if we fail in one, we are guilty of all. Whatever learned men may say to palliate and evade, will avail nothing. God's word is infallible and cannot fail. “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. xii, 17. The dragon, here, is the Devil. The woman represents the true church. The remnant of her seed, is the last end of the church. That this remnant are those already described in the third angel's message is evident. The dragon's ire is kindled against them because they keep all the ten commandments of God, and all the testimony of Jesus Christ; while other organized bodies of professed Christians do not. That he is going to make war with this waiting people, and be overcome, and all his wicked hosts destroyed, is evident from the following testimony which God has further given in this prophecy. See chap. xiii, 11–17; xvi; xix, 11, 16, 19–21. Thus closes the devastating scene which follows the third angel's message. Jesus conquers most triumphantly. The patient, waiting saints will then be overcomers. Then will come the promised blessing, in its order and time, namely, “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. This is the language of the Saviour. The commandments he speaks of are his Father's ten commandments. He could have reference to nothing else; for when “one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” . . . He answered “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” And when he was asked by another one, he pointed to the same conditions. Matt. xix, 16, 17; Luke x. Now “let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.” Eccl. xii, 13. And that every reader may be perfectly satisfied that the fourth commandment of God always has remained unalterable, and always will remain so, may be known by the following testimony: “For as the new heavens and new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.” Isa. lxvi, 22, 23. Thus we have very carefully and prayerfully examined the testimony of prophets and apostles, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the revelation of God, to the last promise in the prophecy, and find only one, and the very same, condition to inherit eternal life held forth to mortal man, and that is to keep the ten commandments of God. Here, then, is conclusive evidence that the commandments of God are not only perpetuated to the end of the gospel dispensation, but they are coeval and co-extensive with eternity. Dear friends, if you really desire to have eternal life when Jesus comes, be sure, Oh! be sure, that you keep all the ten commandments of God. Ex. xx, 3–17. Amen.