THE LAW AND THE TESTIMONY
By J. H. Waggoner
THE GIFTS AND OFFICES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT,—NO. 5.
THE LAW AND THE TESTIMONY.
In detecting certain systems of error now prevailing, the Lord, by his prophet, gave the following test:— “To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isa. 8:20. In verse 16 the order is given to “bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.” We cannot imagine that God left so important an instrument as the law without a seal, and then required man to affix one to it. The Lord sealed his own law, but man has removed the seal, and it is now to be restored. It must be sealed among his disciples; for among them it has been removed, and as with the law so with “the testimony.” Violence has been done to both in the professed church of Christ. The work of restoration is pointed out in the prophecies of the New Testament. But this is not accomplished without opposition. For thus speaks the prophet:— “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. 12:17. An explanation of the last expression is given in Rev. 19:10, which says, “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Hence in the last days there will arise those who have these peculiarities: They will keep the commandments of God, which have been rejected or dishonored; they will restore the seal to the law, and thus present it to the world a perfect and complete instrument; they will have the testimony of Jesus which is the spirit of prophecy, and they will “bind up the testimony,” which has been torn from its place in the church of Christ. This relation of the law and the testimony is noted in the Scriptures in many places, and presents to us some interesting features of Acts 2:28, 29. Those religionists who deny the power of the Spirit and the perpetuity of its gifts through this dispensation usually take antinomian ground, namely, that the ten commandments are abrogated and the gospel is substituted for them. Close observation of the ground causes us to remark that antinomianism and the Spirit of God do not go together. Therefore it is not surprising that they who oppose the law oppose also the doctrine of the gifts and the power of the Spirit. In developing this truth it is necessary to offer a few remarks upon the harmony of the law and the gospel. The gospel cannot be substituted for the law. They are different in nature, and neither one can answer the purpose of the other. The object of the law is to form a good character; that of the gospel is to reform a bad one. The law is a rule of right action, and the gospel is a remedy for wrong action. Where no wrong exists no remedy is needed. Therefore, had the law been kept and never violated, no gospel would have existed; for it would not have been needed. This shows that Paul’s words are true without any qualification: “The doers of the law shall be justified.” And thus is proved that the law contains all the elements of justification. The law is right, but man is wrong. Says Paul:— “For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Rom. 7:14. The law is a rule; the gospel is a means. As such they cannot be interchanged. Again the apostle says:— “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Rom. 3:19, 20. As the law is not the means whereby a sinner is justified, so the gospel is not the rule by which sin is pointed out—by which men are proved guilty before God. But some treat it as if it were such a rule, and reject the law. Yet no one can read the Scriptures to suit such a belief; no one will accept the following version of Rom. 3:20: “Therefore by the deeds of the gospel there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the gospel is the knowledge of sin.” Both truth and justice require that they shall renounce their cherished premise, as they will not consent to accept the necessary conclusion. As the gospel cannot be substituted for the law, and as it would not have existed had there been no transgression of law, so it cannot now exist without law. If the law be abrogated the gospel becomes a nullity, as no one would ask for a pardon where there was no possibility of conviction. Speaking of the redemption through Christ, the apostle says:— “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness; that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Rom. 3:25, 26. The harmony of the law and the gospel is precisely the harmony of justice and love in the divine character, and it is represented by the union of the Father and the Son. The Son saves only those who return to allegiance to the Father. Faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ is of no avail without repentance toward God. Acts 20:21. The will of the Father is a test of the doctrines of the Son. John 7:16, 17. And in vain they cry to Jesus, Lord, Lord, who do not the will of his Father. Matt. 7:21. In Rom. 3:25, 26, it is shown that the sacrifice of Christ was necessary to vindicate the justice of God in justifying or pardoning the believer. God cannot suffer his justice to be trampled upon; his law and his government must be honored. Had it not been necessary to preserve his justice, God could have saved all sinners without a sacrifice and without condition. The violated law, which is holy, just, and good, has a claim on the transgressor which cannot be set aside—it must be satisfied. Infinite love could devise and infinite mercy could execute only such a plan of salvation as infinite justice could approve; for these are attributes of God, and they must act in perfect harmony. When we have learned to “honor all the name” of God, and to respect alike all his attributes, we shall know what it means to “serve him with gladness and fear,” and to “rejoice before him with trembling.” And thus shall we unite the commandments of God with the faith of Jesus our dear Mediator. Rev. 14:12. With these few remarks on the harmony of the law and the gospel we pass on to consider the connection between the law and the means of perfection in the gospel—the gifts of the Spirit. The following text is often quoted in part, but the whole in connection is seldom considered:— “Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law happy is he.” Prov. 29:18. The method of this statement is worthy of remark. The use of the disjunctive places the keeping of the law in contrast with the absence of a vision or of the gifts of the Spirit of God. Where there is no vision, the people perish; but where the law is kept, there is happiness or blessedness—they do not perish. The evident conclusion is that where the people keep the law visions of the Spirit are vouchsafed to them. God by his Spirit leads his people to love and obey him, and where the gifts of the Spirit are acknowledged and received, there the law will be kept, and thus the people will be blessed and God glorified. The German of Prov. 29:18, says, “Where there is no vision the people become rebellious.” Gesenius defines the word used thus, “To be unbridled, unruly.” All history and observation teach this same truth: “Where there is no vision the people become unruly,” self-willed, rebellious, and there, instead of humble obedience to the law of God, we find “confusion and every evil work.” And this connection of the law and the Spirit is recognized by another prophet who thus speaks of the desolation of Jerusalem:— “Her king and her princes are among the Gentiles; the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the Lord.” Lam. 2:9. By the same prophet the Lord has threatened to destroy Jerusalem and to burn up her gates if her children profane the Sabbath. Jer. 17. And accordingly when the law was no more among them, when it ceased to be respected, her prophets found no vision from the Lord. This was always received as evidence that the Lord had forsaken them; for he always gave answers to his people by his Spirit when they drew near to him. Saul knew that the Lord had departed from him when he could get no answer “by the hand of prophets.” Another prophet thus speaks of Jerusalem’s destruction:— “Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.” Eze. 7:26. Thus again it is shown that when the priests and the people depart from the law, they shall seek in vain for a vision from the prophets. This is a position which was always deeply deplored by holy men of God, because it was regarded as an evidence of the displeasure of God. Therefore it was written by the prophet:— “Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded; yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.” Micah 3:6, 7. And again the deplorable condition of Israel was thus described:— “Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.” 2 Chron. 15:3. Against all this it cannot justly be claimed that this was true in Old Testament times, but is not applicable in the gospel age; that in the darkness of past ages it was necessary that the Lord should constantly remind them of their duties, their failures, and their danger, by the hand of seers and prophets, but in the light of the gospel dispensation it is not necessary. For the declension of piety hardly ever was greater among the Jews than it has been among professed Christians. For centuries the gospel was almost hid from the face of the earth. Since the Reformation there has been less “unity of faith” with the followers of Christ than among the people of God in any other age of the world; and in no other age have the gifts of the Spirit been so generally repudiated, which were given to perfect union of faith among Christians. So greatly does this diversity prevail that unbelievers are bewildered, and they think the gospel has no power to unite believers in faith and spirit. The world is led to conclude that the prayer of the Saviour for the union of his followers, such union as exists between the Father and the Son, and the exhortation of the apostle to be perfectly united in mind and judgment, and to speak the same thing with one accord, are impossible of accomplishment. The gospel is derided as an impracticable theory, not suited to the present condition of mankind. And all because Christians reject or neglect the means whereby God designed that this “unity of faith,” of heart and mind and judgment should be accomplished. Spiritual pride takes the place of meekness and self-denial; worldliness is substituted for cross-bearing; “science falsely so called,” is expected to do more for the church than the interposition of divine providence; and direct answers to prayer are neither sought for nor expected. If it was designed that there should be more manifestations of the Spirit’s power in the former dispensation than in the present; if it was God’s plan to light up the darkness of that age by the gifts of his Spirit, and to withdraw them from his people in this, in what sense, and with what propriety, is this called “the dispensation of the Spirit” in contrast with that? Both promises and facts show that the glory of this age was to consist in the outpouring of the Spirit “on all flesh,” that is, on all the church, “even as many as the Lord our God shall call;” while this heavenly illumination was confined to a few in the ages past. Alas for the day when the Holy Spirit is grieved, restrained, and rejected; when human wisdom exalts itself in the churches above the light and power of the Spirit of God. We say that both the promises and the facts are in favor of the idea that God intended to bestow the largest measure of his Spirit in this age. The promise was that that which was shed on the apostles on the day of Pentecost was to be poured out on all flesh, or on all the called of God. The facts on this subject are two-fold: 1. The Spirit was poured out and its gifts were distributed in all the churches where the gospel in its purity and power was accepted; 2. The evidence stands on record that the Spirit and the law of God stand together in this dispensation as they did in the past, and in that connection the gifts of the Spirit are recognized even unto the end of the world. “Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:12. Examining the context we find that this declaration, which is located in time by the122adverb here, is made after the proclamation is made, “The hour of his Judgment is come,” and just before the Son of man appears on the white cloud to reap the harvest of the earth. This proves that the text applies near to the end of time—near the close of the dispensation. The faith of Jesus is united with the commandments of God—not substituted for them. The faith of Jesus is a comprehensive phrase, and must include the whole gospel system in its duties and promises. For there can be no duty nor benefit in the gospel which is not embraced in “the faith of Jesus.” And therefore “the commandments of God,” in distinction from the faith of Jesus, must refer to God’s moral law, which is the basis of the gospel, and without which the gospel would be a nullity. “By the law is the knowledge of sin,” and the gospel is the remedy. In point of time the following text is parallel with the one quoted; Rev. 14:12; and it is explicit in its testimony on the connection of the law of God with the gifts of the Spirit. “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. 12:17. As “the remnant” of the seed of the woman—the church—can be no other than the last part, or the last age of the church, this text must also be fulfilled near the close of the dispensation. The circumstances of the people of God are the same in the two texts. In Rev. 13:11–17, they are revealed under persecutions because they will not worship the beast, nor his image, nor receive his mark. In chapter 14:9–12, they who do thus worship the beast are threatened with terrible plagues. They who do not worship the beast—who escape the plagues—are found keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Of them it is said, “Here is the patience of the saints.” Now as “tribulation worketh patience,” Rom. 5:1–3, we have in this text reference to the persecutions of chapter 13:11–17, or the war which is made against the remnant of chapter 12:17, who “keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” We give again the explanation of the position of “the remnant” as found in the following text:— “I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus; worship God; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Rev. 19:10. According to the Scriptures, the remnant of the seed of the woman—the last state or last part of the church of Christ—keep the commandments of God, and have the spirit of prophecy; that is, the gifts of the Spirit are restored to them before the Lord Jesus comes to reap the harvest and gather his saints to himself. And this is confirmed by the words of Paul to those who are looking for this second coming of the Lord, as follows:— “Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you; so that ye come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. 1:6, 7. Here we may safely rest the argument that in the last days of this dispensation, when the true church is waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the testimony of Jesus—the spirit of prophecy—will be confirmed in the believers, so that they shall possess its gifts and powers. But there is more evidence in the Scriptures to be presented on this subject, equally decisive with that which is here offered. The evidence on the relation of the law of God and the gifts of the Spirit we have given only in part. It deserves further examination.