HEAR YE HIM by W. L. Iles

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 26, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 33.

“HEAR YE HIM.”

By W. L. Iles

Christ and the Law.

Christ is the head of the Christian church. He has all authority in it. He has all power in heaven and earth. His godly life upon earth is the attraction of the universe. His holy precepts are the study of man and the wonder of the angels. His life upon earth was to reveal God to man. It was the righteousness of God. In his life the law was seen in living characters. He, being the wisdom and knowledge of God, is competent to speak upon all points of Christian doctrine. All truth centers in him, for he is the truth. What does he say about the Sabbath and the law? Does his teaching belong to us?

First Proposition.

Christ, while upon earth in human flesh, was a prophet, and we must hear him in order to obtain salvation.

“For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.” Acts 3:22.

When Christ was transfigured, a voice was heard out of the cloud saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” Matt. 17:5. We are to hear him in all things, and the Sabbath and the law are a part of the all things. The result of not hearing him in all things is expressed in the following words: “And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.” Acts 3:23. It is very important, therefore, that we “hear him,” for he has the words of eternal life. If we refuse to hear him we depart from the path of life. To hear him is to believe and practise what he says. To refuse to hear Christ is to refuse to hear God, for God spake through him.

“And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.” Deut. 18:19.

“The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.” John 14:24.

Second Proposition.

Christ taught us to keep a law in which we find a command enjoining the observance of the seventh day.

The fourth command of the Decalog says, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God” (Ex. 20:10), and if Christ taught us to keep the Decalog, or the Ten Commandments, then he taught us to keep the seventh-day Sabbath. What did he say about the law?

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law, till all [things] be fulfilled. 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. 5:17–19.

Christ said, “Think not.” Here is a command or entreaty. He who thinks that which Christ tells him not to think, breaks Christ’s command. Christ came to “fulfil” the law, not to destroy. If Christ did not destroy the law, then it still exists. In the life of Christ we see the law in living characters, because he did fulfil it. What is it to fulfil a law? How does it affect a law to have it fulfilled?

“To fulfil” can not have the meaning of “to destroy.” If the law was abolished by Christ, or made to pass away, then he did do that which he said he came not to do. Christ fulfilled the law by keeping it. He could not fulfil (fill full) the law by breaking it. He fulfilled the commandment, “Thou shalt not steal,” by refusing to steal. He fulfilled the fourth commandment by remembering the Sabbath day to keep it holy. He fulfilled all righteousness by doing all righteousness. “Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” Matt. 3:15. If fulfilling the law by Christ caused it to pass away, then fulfilling “all righteousness” would cause all righteousness to pass away.

“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” It is evident that to fulfil a law, that law must be kept. If the fulfilling of the law by Christ released us from obligation to fulfil its commands, why did he pronounce a blessing upon those that would do them and teach them, and a curse upon those who break them and teach others to do the same?

The law can not be divided, and a part of it be abolished, and the rest remain. One of its parts can not be abolished and the other nine remain binding. Jesus says, “One jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law [be separated from it], till all [things] be fulfilled.” Every commandment, even every jot and tittle, is still binding in this dispensation, if we accept of Christ’s teachings.

The man who breaks one of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. It is a sad fact that many professed ministers of the Gospel are breaking the fourth commandment, and teaching their flock to do the same. Those who do and teach them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. We have in these words of Christ good authority for teaching people to keep the Sabbath, or the seventh day.

Some, in evading the Sabbath, and the law regulating the Sabbath, jumble together the moral law and ceremonial law, thus making one law, and then try to make it appear that Christ abolished all at the cross. If this be true, then Christ in Matt. 5:17–19 is speaking of this one law, and makes every jot and tittle, even the least commandment of all the Jewish economy, binding upon the Christian church. Those who make this claim must refuse to hear Christ, as some who opposed the Sabbath have done,

and claim that the words of Matt. 5:17 were spoken to the Jews and not to the Christian church; or, to be consistent, must practise all the commands, even the least one, of the Jewish economy. We believe Christ is referring to the moral law, or the law of righteousness (verse 20), and not to the law regulating the priesthood.

Jesus says in Matt. 7:21, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” The “will of God” must be done by those who would enter into the kingdom of heaven, and this only can be done by faith in Jesus Christ. But what is the “will of God” that we must do to receive this great blessing?

Let the Bible answer: “Then said I, Lo, I come; in the volume of the Book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart.” Ps. 40:7, 8. Law is the expression of the will of a king, ruler, or lawmaker. God’s law is the expression of his will. Those who do his will, or his law, are the ones who enter into his kingdom. In this text Christ teaches us to keep the law. “Hear ye him.”

“And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments,” is the reply of Jesus. He said unto Jesus, “Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother; and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Matt. 19:16–19. If we would enter into life, we must keep the commandments. These are the words spoken by Jesus, and God demands that we hear him. The commandments we are to keep are the Ten Commandments, for Jesus quoted five of them. One of the commandments says “the seventh day is the Sabbath,” and if we keep the commandments, as Jesus says, we will keep the Sabbath. “Hear ye him.”

Jesus reproved the scribes and Pharisees for making void one of these commandments by their tradition. He said, “Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition.” Matt. 15:3. “In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Christ taught us to keep every jot and tittle of the law. His life was the law in living characters. He desires to see that it then appears in our lives. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what Jesus has to say about the law. W. L. ILES.