The Sermon by Ellet Joseph Waggoner

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jun 24, 1875

The Sermon.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

THE LAW OF GOD.—No. 4.

BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.

ALL the promises of God are conditional, and obedience is, of course, the condition. And therefore they all stand related to the law of God—the great rule of obedience. Having seen that the promises to Abraham have the law for their basis, we now turn our attention to the subject of the kingdom of God, or to the

PROMISES TO DAVID.

The Lord promised to establish the throne and kingdom of David forever. 1 Chron. 17 : 11-14. This promise extended to him and to his seed, that is, the heir to the throne, Christ, and to Israel, over whom he was appointed to reign. The condition of this promise is given in Ps. 89 : 30-32. In the verses following he assures that his faithfulness shall not fail; the kingdom and throne of David shall be built up and endure as steadfast as the ordinances of Heaven; as sure as the sun. Because Christ is David's son and heir, the promises are certain to be fulfilled. There can be no failure on his part. The sad history of Solomon is evidence that such certainty could not exist if the seed or son was merely a son of David. He who was Son both of God and of man; who was both son and Lord of David, has overcome all the power and temptations of the enemy; he refused the glory of this world, suffered the pains and weakness of hunger and thirst without complaining of his lot, or presuming on his Father's compassion. The surety of our hope in him is attested by his sufferings, his groans, and tears, and sealed with his blood.

The conditional nature of the promises pertains to the subjects. As these are gathered from among the fallen sons of Adam we find here a liability to sin, and to come short of the offered grace. Appended to the assurance of the stability of David's throne are the following words: "If his children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments, if they break my statutes and keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquities with stripes."

Here we find that obedience to the law of God is the means whereby they could secure an interest in the promises of the kingdom. Indeed, the evidence that the law underlies the Abrahamic covenant, is also evidence that it underlies the covenant with David; for he who is the seed of Abraham and heir of the promises, Gal. 3 : 16, is also the son of David, and heir to the throne. And we are made partakers of both classes of promises by the same means and on the same conditions.

But the children of Israel did transgress the law of God: "And the Lord said, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein, but have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them; therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink, I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their father's have known; and I will send a sword after them till I have consumed them." Jer. 9 : 13-16. But God continued to call after them, and again told the prophet: "And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law which I have set before you, to hearken to the words of my servants, the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early and sending them, but ye have not hearkened; then will I make this house like Shiloh; and I will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth." Jer. 26 : 4-6. Still they would not hear, and he testified against them: "They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my laws, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers." Jer. 44 : 10. Therefore he saith, "Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the houses of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant and trespassed against my laws." Hos. 8 : 1.

Thus the proof is clear and beyond dispute that the condition of the kingdom is the law of God. By keeping the law the Jews might have retained their privileges and secured the favor of God; by breaking it they forfeited the promises and fell from his grace.

But this is not all. It may be of still greater interest to us at this time to know that the condition remains unchanged, and that the Gentiles have the promises offered to them on the very terms rejected by the Jews. In Matt. 21 : 33-43, the Saviour brings this matter before the Jews, in the parable of the husbandmen, who would not render to the householder the fruits of the vineyard, but beat and stoned his messengers, and finally killed his son, the heir, in order to seize the inheritance. His hearers passed sentence that the lord of the vineyard will destroy them' and let it out to others who will render him the fruits in their seasons. He makes the application to them thus: "Therefore I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." We have seen what fruit was required of them. They were required to keep the commandments of God, which he had set before them and before their fathers. Is it not evident that the same fruit, or the keeping of the same law, is required of that nation to whom it was given? Therefore he said, "Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least [shall be in no esteem—Campbell,] 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 : 19. Here the consequences of keeping this law, reach to the kingdom of Heaven, and are not confined to the Jewish ages or dispensation. Love to God, and obedience to his law, are the "fruits of the kingdom." The kingdom is "promised to them that love him"; (Jas. 2 : 5;) and "this is the love of God that we keep his commandments." 1 John 5 : 3.

Paul also shows, in his letter to the Galatians, that "the blessing of Abraham" can "come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ," only by "the curse of the law" being removed from them. Gal. 3 : 13, 14. This, again, is decisive, proof that the Gentiles are amenable to the law, for the law cannot curse those who are not under its jurisdiction. The whole gospel system is built up on the law. And this is not left by the apostle to a deduction alone, but is the subject of direct affirmation, as in Rom. 3 : 31: "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid, yea, we establish the law." And thus we have the most conclusive evidence from the Scriptures that God's covenant commandment, which was kept by Abraham, was the law of ten commandments, which was also confirmed to Israel, ratified by Christ in his teachings, and established by the faith of the gospel.

To those who say we are fallen from grace, or are under the curse, for keeping the ten commandments, we would propose the following questions: 1. If the Gentiles obtain the kingdom by bringing forth other fruits than those required of the Jews, where is that fact recorded in God's word? 2. If we are cursed for keeping the same law that the Jews were cursed for transgressing, how is that fact reconciled with the character of God as given in Mal. 3 : 6, and James 1 : 17?.

In our examination thus far we have seen, first, that the law existed before the Jewish dispensation; hence it cannot be peculiar to that dispensation; and second, by the relation that we sustain to the promises of God having the law for their basis, or condition, that it comes down unchanged into the present dispensation; and there is a perfect harmony in the writings of the Old and New Testaments on this subject. We will quote a few texts as examples.

"All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live." Deut. 8 : 1; also chap. 30 : 15, 16. "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." Matt. 19 : 17. "Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." Eccl. 12 : 13. "The law of the Lord is perfect, the statutes of the Lord are right, the commandment of the Lord is pure." Ps. 19 : 7, 8. "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." Rom. 7 : 12. "I delight in thy law." Ps. 119 : 70; also verses 16, 24, 35, 47, 77, 92, 127, 143, 174. "I delight in the law of God." Rom. 7 : 22. "Walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and hallow my Sabbaths; and baths; that ye may know that I am the Lord your God." Eze. 20 : 19, 20. "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." 1 John 2 : 3. "The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law and make it honorable." Isa. 42 : 21. "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law." Rom. 3 : 31. "I gave them my statutes and showed them my judgments, which if a man do he shall even live in them." Eze. 20 : 11. "The commandment was ordained to life." Rom. 7 : 10. "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." Prov. 29 : 9. "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Matt. 15 : 9. Beginning with the Abrahamic covenant, we find a mass of testimony which it is impossible to evade, that the law of God, the ten commandments, are ever binding, that under all dispensations mankind are under

the same obligation to observe them, and that they are viewed in the same light by the writers of both Testaments. But the "carnal mind" is particularly manifested in opposition to the fourth precept; and we will further notice some of the reasons why it should be observed, and the objections urged against it.

We have referred to the Sabbath as "a sign" of the Creator, to perpetuate the knowledge of his works. To evade the force of this testimony, opponents point to Ex. 31 : 17, where the Lord said, "It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever." This, they say, shows that it was only designed for the children of Israel; or the Jews. But this objection is without force. The objectors seem to lose sight of the fact that the term Israel is not always, in the Old Testament, confined to the literal descendants of Jacob. In this case the subject is not such as to necessarily restrict it. The Sabbath, the sign, is the Lord's Sabbath, sanctified or appointed, or "made for man," long before any national distinctions existed. It was and is in nowise peculiar to the Jews. And it is a sign of creation, and not of anything pertaining to the Jews, or to their age or dispensation.

Again, it is a well-known truth that the children of Israel received the "oracles of God" to give unto the nations of the earth. And thus the Saviour said, "Salvation is of the Jews." Paul said that to them pertained "the adoption, and the glory and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God and the promises." Surely, these are privileges which ought not to be despised. As salvation is of the Jews; as they "received the lively oracles to give unto us;" and as the new covenant as well as the old was made with Judah and Israel, it is anything but wise to refuse a truth or an institution because God committed it to Israel. Nor should we be ashamed because of the scoffs of the world when they falsely call it Jewish; for Jehovah himself is not ashamed to be called "the God of Israel." The Sabbath was not dishonored by being given to Israel, but Israel was highly honored by its reception.

The Sabbath was not, as some have claimed, a sign of the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage. Nor did it date from the falling of the manna. But the miracles connected with the giving of the manna attest the high regard which Jehovah had for the institution of the Sabbath. Note the several parts of this work.

1. In giving the manna, or causing it to fall round about the camp, it was withheld on the seventh day. Not only were the people commanded to remain in their places in the camp in that day, but Heaven itself respected the day and withheld the food which was given on other days. Not only legal, but providential, instruction was thus given to them of the sanctity of the Sabbath, and of God's regard for the day.

2. While it corrupted if it were kept over any other day, it was preserved and was still good for food when kept over the Sabbath. The Lord would leave them no excuse for violating the sacred rest. They could not plead necessity for going out on the Sabbath. He made provision for all their wants in harmony with the requirement to keep the holy day.

Now if we allow that it corrupted from natural causes, and admit but two miracles each week, we have then four thousand one hundred and sixty miracles during the forty years of their sojourning, having for their direct object the proper observance of, and regard for, the seventh day, the holy Sabbath.

3. As proof that God chose this method to feed the people with direct reference to the Sabbath, and to produce on their minds an enduring impression of its importance and of his high regard for it, we quote Ex. 16 : 4. Said the Lord: "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them whether they will walk in my law, or no." The Sabbath was that part of his law on which he tested their loyalty; not merely on one occasion, but day by day and week by week for forty years. No other institution has received such honor at the hands of God as the holy Sabbath. And he has also informed us that he is honored in its observance, and has promised to bless all those who will so honor him. Isa. 58 : 13, 14.

Deut. 5 : 15 does not give the reason for the institution of the Sabbath. It does not tell us when God sanctified the Sabbath day, nor why he chose the seventh in preference to any other day of the week. Moses does, indeed, say that God commanded the Jews to keep the Sabbath because he brought them out of the land of Egypt. We know that, by reason of the rigor of their servitude, they could not keep it in Egypt. And it is true also, that Moses said they were commanded to keep all the commandments and to do justice in all things, for the same reason. But these duties did not originate then and there: nor were they confined, as duties, to the Jews. To reason as do the opposers of the Sabbath on this subject, is to subvert all duty, to deny the plainest principles, and to contradict the most direct scriptures which speak of the responsibility of the human race.

In Deut. 5, Moses was rehearsing to them matters with which they were already acquainted. In verse 4, 5, he said the Lord talked with them, referring to a time then past; and in verse 12 says, "Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee." Also in chap. 4 : 12, 13, he said, "The Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire. * 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."

This rehearsal of the law by Moses, in Deut. 5, was 40 years after it was spoken by the Lord on Mount Sinai, and written on the tables of stone. Though he does not give a verbatim of the original, he says nothing which conflicts with the original. But every one may see at a glance that he does not give the origin of the institution, the reason of the selection and sanctification of the seventh day, nor why the seventh day was called the rest-day. But all these points are given in Ex. 20, the original copy.