NO STUMBLING-BLOCK by G. W. Reaser

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 12, 1902

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 11.

“NO STUMBLING-BLOCK”

By G. W. Reaser

It is written, “Great peace have they which love Thy law; and nothing shall offend them.” Ps. 119:165. The marginal reading for the last clause of this verse is, “They shall have no stumbling-block.” Who shall have no stumbling-block? Answer, “They which love Thy law.” What is a stumbling-block? In the spiritual sense, here evidently meant, a stumbling-block is something over which one may stumble and fall spiritually; and with the fall there is the possibility of never rising again.

A stumbling-block is, in reality, sin cherished in the heart. The law defines sin. Those who fully love the law and its Author, will not cherish sin in the heart, therefore they will have no stumbling-block.

Christ was a Stone of stumbling to the house of Israel. Had they loved God’s law, and recognized its principles in action, they would have recognized the Son of God; for in His life the law appeared “drawn out in living characters.” “They that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew Him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning Him.” Here is a startling example of cherishing sin in the heart instead of loving the law of God.

Suppose a professed Christian does not wholly love the law of the Lord, but has a stumbling-block in his heart instead of one of the commandments, can such a one have “great peace”? Evidently he will not have “the peace of God which passeth all understanding.” Suppose he should seek the Lord for guidance, still cherishing this stumbling-block in his heart, what would be his condition after thus formally seeking the Lord, and what would be the Lord’s attitude toward him? Let the Lord answer: “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their face; should I be inquired of at all by them?” “For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from Me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me; I the Lord will answer him by Myself; and I will set My face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.” Eze. 14:3, 7, 8. Again, the Scriptures say, “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.”

Many professed followers of Christ are not remembering to keep holy the same Sabbath that He kept, and which is embodied in the very heart of God’s law. When light from the sacred page shines upon their pathway, revealing this truth to them, if they still persist in disregarding the claims of God, can it be truly said of them that they love His law? Can they consistently expect to have His “great peace”? Do they not cherish an idol, a stumbling-block in their hearts, even the keeping of a day which was never sanctified as the Sabbath of Jehovah, and is a rival to His holy day? Suppose such come to the Lord in prayer, desiring to be established in an error,—in keeping a popular day and not in keeping an unpopular Sabbath; what is the danger to such a person? The Lord says, “I will answer him according to his stumbling-block, and I will set My face against that man,” “and I will cut him off from the midst of My people.”

Does any one ever think of such an absurd thing as of asking the Lord if we may live in violation of any of the other nine commandments of the Decalogue? Are not the claims of the fourth commandment as binding as any of the other nine?

Millions keep Friday as a Sabbath. Is it wrong to use Friday for secular work? Many other millions of the human family regard Sunday as a Sabbath. Is it sinful to perform our own work upon Sunday, the first day of the week? There can be but one truthful answer to the question concerning each of these days.

“Where no [divine] law is, there is no transgression.” Both of the days, as sabbaths, are man-made institutions. The Lord never proclaimed them as His holy days.

Are we, then, left without a Sabbath day? “There remained therefore a rest to the people of God.” The Sabbath, made for man—the race—at the foundation of the world, is still in force, still regarded by the Lord as His holy day, still His blessed rest-day. His Word, the true Protestant’s guide, declares in favor of none other than the Sabbath of the fourth commandment.

Why not be on the Lord’s side, which, tho unpopular, is always the safe side? Is it not safe, for time and for eternity, to keep the same Sabbath that was kept by our Saviour and all other Bible characters who met with God’s approval? Write out a list of God’s worthies, as recorded in His Word, and do not forget to give the Man of Calvary the chief place among them. Is not the company sufficiently honorable so that you would esteem it a privilege to have a place among them and a part with them in the kingdom? These were all Sabbath-keepers, and none of them Sunday-keepers.

Dear reader, which day do you observe as the Sabbath? What a fearfully unsafe thing it is to be at variance with God, in one of the most prominent, distinguishing, and essential Christian institutions and practises; and yet all who are keeping the first day of the week instead of “the Sabbath according to the commandment,” are doing this unsafe thing. They not only keep a day which is set up as a rival to the Sabbath of Jehovah, but they trample His day under foot. (See Isa. 58:12, 13.) “Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace; thereby good shall come unto thee.”

G. W. Reaser.

Maritzburg, Natal.