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THE LAW—THE PROMISES

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 10, 1900

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 77, No. 15.

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THE LAW—THE PROMISES.

By R. A. Underwood

R. A. UNDERWOOD.
I WILL call your attention to the language found in Deut. 33 : 1-3: “And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. And he said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.”
In what I have read are many thoughts that I would be glad to dwell upon. One precious one is that every saint of God receives the word of God. I wish to study with you something of the two phases of this fiery law. In the fourteenth of Exodus there is brought to view the cloud that went before the children of Israel by day, and behind them at night. That cloud, in which the Son of God was enshrined, was a cloud of brightness, of glory, of assurance, of promise, of protection, to the children of God, while the opposite side of it was a cloud of darkness, despair, and threatening ruin to the unbeliever.
Just so with this fiery law that God gave to his beloved people: to the believer in Christ, it is simply so many rich promises, which differ from other promises in some respects. Some promises are temporary, but every promise in this law is eternal. On the other hand, to the unbeliever the law speaks only prohibition and condemnation, with only a promise of utter destruction in the end.
I will turn to one text in the New Testament, which speaks of it as a law of prohibition to the unbeliever and disobedient: “Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.” 1 Tim. 1 : 9, 10.
To the loyal believers that law does not stand as a law of prohibition. No; to them it stands as a law of promise and protection. I will call your attention briefly to a few of these promises, which I am certain you will be able to see. Take this third commandment: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” To unbelievers it is simply a law of prohibition and condemnation, while to believers it is a law of promise that they shall not take the name of the Lord their God in vain.
The Lord, in Jeremiah 3, represents himself as married to his people. When a woman is married to a man, and she takes his name, what does that name mean to the woman?—It means that she is entitled not only to the protection of the man, but she is entitled to all that name stands for. When we are married to Christ, we take his name, not simply to be called by it; but to realize all there is in it.
Turn to Prov. 18 : 10: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” The name of the Lord is a tower of protection, a shelter of promise; and he that runneth into it, or takes that name, is saved. That the people of God take the name of God in a different sense entirely than do the ungodly and unbelievers we shall see from a few texts that follow. See Dan. 9 : 19: “For thy city and *thy people are called by thy name.”
God’s people are called by the name of God. Does that mean anything? Turn to John 10 : 34, 35: “Is it not written in your law, I said [who is talking?—Christ], Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture can not be broken; say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?”
To whom did the Word of God come?—“He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But to as many as received him, to them gave he power [“the right or privilege,” margin] to become the sons of God.” John 1 : 11, 12. Does the son inherit the father’s name?—Most certainly.
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” This is one promise in God’s law. Let me take a few other commandments: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,” etc. Why?—“For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” Do you see any promise in that commandment? There is condemnation to the ungodly and profane; but there is a promise of eternal wealth to those who love God and keep his commandments.
Take another one: “Children, . . . honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise.” Eph. 6 : 1, 2. Is that the first commandment in the decalogue that has a promise in it?—That is the first commandment on the second table of the law. In what sense then is this fifth commandment the first commandment with promise?—It is so with every soul that has ever lived. What is the first duty of every child?—To obey his parents; to honor his father and mother, even before he is accountable to God. During the first years of our life our parents stand to us as God stands to them. And this is the first commandment with promise, because it is the first commandment that any child can obey. To render obedience, respect, and honor to father and mother is the first obligation resting upon every child that is ever born into the world. Hence to every person it becomes the first commandment that has a promise in it.
Let us look again at the third commandment: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” Again I say, The name stands for the character, and all there is of the individual; and when we take that name, we are entitled to all there is in it. We shall not fully realize all the promise in this world, forit is eternal; but we become an heir of all that is in that name.
I will turn to a few texts of scripture that speak of the name of Christ. Here is one, in Isa. 26 : 3, 4: “For the Lord Jehovah is the Rock of Ages,” margin. He is called a Rock in many places. That Rock that went with the children of Israel was Christ. In Isa. 32 : 1, 2, he is spoken of as a Rock: “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”
This world is one sad, dark, gloomy page of carnage, of strife and hate, all the way through. But here is a man who is to reign in righteousness. And, thank God, that reign is approaching. But notice what he is now. He is a “hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”
A few months ago, when some of the principles of this law were brought out, a man said to me: “Mr. Underwood, I think you are right, but I think I will go with the crowd.” I said, “My dear friend, if you disobey that law, you are not in the crowd.” It was a revelation to him. “What do you mean?” he said. “Do you mean that the most of the people in this world obey God’s law?” “Oh,” I said, “this world is the only spot in all God’s universe where sin reigns.” The shining worlds in space all worship the Lord of hosts. Neh. 9 : 6. When the servant came and said, “Alas, my master! how shall we do?” the prophet said: “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” But the servant said, I do not see anybody with us. Then the prophet said, “Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see.” The Lord opened his eyes, and what did he see?—He saw all around about the prophet of God the chariots of fire. 2 Kings 6 : 15-17. In this world, you may feel the scorching winds of time blowing upon you, seeming to blight all that your hand touches for the time being. But this great Rock is a shadow of protection to every one who has taken that name.
(Concluded next week.)