Christ and His Church

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 30, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 38.

Christ and His Church.

Of Jesus Christ our Lord, and of each individual who believes in Christ and is truly a member of his church, Inspiration says, "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him." Col. 2:9, 10. Christ is all and in all to the church. He is "the head over all things to the church," and the church is "the fullness of Him that filleth all in all." Eph. 1:22, 23. As Rotherham renders, "The fullness of Him who the all things in all is for Himself filling up."

The Relation.

The relation of Christ and the church is thus represented by the apostle Paul in 2 Cor. 11:2: "I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." This is true of the church (the ecclesia, "the called out"), because it is true of each individual called out, the aggregate of whom form the church. Says the same apostle: "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." Rom. 7:4.

One with Christ.

The most sacred relation which humankind can form is the marriage relation. "They twain shall be one flesh; so then they are no more twain, but one flesh." Mark 10:8. See also Gen. 2:24. Again the apostle Paul illustrates the relation between Christ and his church by the intimate relation existing between husband and wife. He says that "Christ is the head of the church," "the church is subject unto Christ" "in everything," and that "we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." Of the man and wife he says: "They two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and the church." Eph. 5:22-33.

What It Means.

To the wife the husband is all in all. To him belongs her confidence; he is her protector, her shield; to him is given her heart's affection; the union formed is a life union. There is no social crime so great, so evil in its results, so far reaching in its consequences, as the violation of the marriage vow and obligations. It affects not merely the parties involved but all their posterity, and its unholy influences contaminate society on every side. The violation of the marriage obligations constitutes fornication, or adultery.

Spiritual Fornication.

Departing from Christ and joining one's self to the world is spiritual fornication, or adultery. Says an apostle to those who profess to be Christ's: "Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God." James 4:4, Revised Version. The apostle Paul states the same thought when he says of the woman, "So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress." Rom. 7:3. But Christ "ever liveth;" and the individual or church which is truly joined to him has entered upon a life union. Any departure from her baptismal vows to another is therefore spiritual fornication, the very thing of which the apostate church Babylon is guilty. See Rev. 14:8; 17:1-5.

All in Christ.

Christ is the head of the church. The authority he has given the church is "the glorious gospel of the blessed God" (1 Tim. 1:11); it is all things which Jesus has taught (Matt. 28:20), which is all the word of God, for Christ gave the word (John 1:1-3; 1 Peter 1:11, 23-25). The servants of Christ are to preach that gospel (Mark 16:15), which is "the word" (2 Tim. 4:2), the entire Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:16; Rom. 15:4), Christ in the heart of each believer "the hope of glory" (Eph. 3:17; Col. 1:23, 25-28). In "the word of God" "the man of God" finds all that is necessary to thoroughly furnish him unto all good works (2 Tim. 3:17), and to them that receive it by genuine faith it works effectually and is able to build them up and give them the eternal inheritance (1 Thess. 2:13; Acts 20:32). The power which the church is to possess is the power of the Spirit of God (Acts 1:8), the very power that wrought in creation (Gen. 1:2), always and forever connected with his word, and received by faith (Ps. 33:6, 9; John 6:63; 1 Thess. 2:13). And all this is of Christ. He is the revelation of God to us, and nothing of God is revealed to man except what Christ has revealed. See John 14:9; 1 Cor. 8:6; Matt. 11:27. The Scriptures are therefore the word of Christ; the Decalogue is the law of Christ; the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ; the weapons "not carnal but spiritual" are the panoply of Christ; and all are summed up in the gospel of Christ, the living word of the living God. Backed by this authority, clothed with this armor, imbued by this power, the early church was resistless in her might. She had the "all power" of Him to whom is committed the "all things." She could therefore have need of no earthly authority, earthly, carnal weapons, earthly, temporal power. Christ and his word were sufficient. It was Christ within—the mystery of God.

Antichrist.

It is plain from the foregoing that whatever came into the individual heart, whatever came into the church, to take the place of Christ, to whom belonged all, that person or thing would be antichrist—against Christ. Instead of the mystery of godliness actuating the church, it would be the mystery of iniquity. As the Spirit of Christ brings men to the word of God, leads them to revere and proclaim the word of God, leads them to honor his law, leads them to take the word of God alone as the rule of sound doctrine, and the power of the Spirit of God as the only power by which his spiritual work should be advanced, so the mystery of iniquity would lead men away from the word of God to the tradition of men, away from God's law to the customs and practices of mortals, away from the authority of the word to the commandments of men, away from the power of the Spirit of God to civil and temporal power, in order to make men appear to do outwardly what they had no power to do inwardly. This is what the antichrist, the mystery of iniquity, would be expected to do; this is what it has done, and may be expected to do as long as time lasts. "The mystery of iniquity doth already work." It is still at work. It has honeycombed the basic principles of true Protestantism, so that the majority of Protestant members in practice now hold tradition as paramount to God's word.

The Only Hope.

The only hope of each individual, of the church composed of individuals, is the acceptance by faith of Jesus Christ as set forth in God's word. Jesus says: "Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up." Matt. 15:13. "For all flesh is as grass, and all the

glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away; but the word of the Lord endureth forever." 1 Peter 1:24, 25.

A UNIVERSAL SUNDAY LAW.

Forty years ago, when it was predicted by the people whom this journal represents, that there would be a religious conflict in the near future resulting in religious persecution, the center of which would be the Sunday law, some persons sneered, some laughed, nearly all were unbelieving. "Why," they said, "there is no agitation on the Sabbath question; the world is growing more enlightened, and men will never be persecuted for their faith again."

But the days passed on, the agitation began. In God's providence the time came when men should be warned of the coming of the great day of God (Joel 2:1; Zeph. 2:1-3), and of the necessity for preparing for that event. The house of God, partly cleansed at the Reformation, must be clean swept from the pagan and papal error. The law of God, trampled underneath the feet of "the man of sin," must again be exalted. Isa. 42:21; Rev. 14:12. The Sabbath of the Lord, the memorial of God's creation, the sign of his redemption, which the mystery of iniquity thought to wrench from God's law and supplant by "the venerable day of the sun," must be restored. See Isa. 56:1-7; 58:1, 12, 13. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1:16), of which the Sabbath was the center, because of its significance (Eze. 20:12), must again be preached in all the world (Rev. 14:6, 7; Matt. 24:14).

And this message, embracing in itself every true reform, has been and is being heralded to the world. It has roused intense opposition. Honest at first, the opposition sought from the Scriptures of truth the evidence to sustain the Sunday sabbath and to overthrow the Sabbath of the Lord. Deplorably failing in both, many have yielded to God's authority, and have placed themselves under the banner of loyalty to his law and to the example and teaching of Christ. Many more are seeking to do what error has always done, and what the "more sure word of prophecy" declared would be done,—obtain the aid of the State to enforce unscriptural dogmas. Hence the demand for Sunday laws, not only in this land, but in all the world. In "free America" while this is being penned men are lying in durance vile for conscience' sake, for keeping "the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." In Australia men have been sentenced to the stocks for the same thing. Europe, dead as a whole in spiritual things, but alive in things carnal, and taking example from this government, is going backward to the wilderness of the Dark Ages, from which she has been emerging.

The Sunday-law sentiment is becoming universal. It creeps in under various guises and beneficent forms. It is presented as a "sanitary" measure, a "temperance" ordinance, a "police regulation," an act to "protect public worship," a "boon for workingmen," all of which are fallacies. Underneath them all lies the religious legislation. Back of them all breathes the old dragon. Imbuing them all is the mystery of iniquity. The devil does not reveal at once his cloven foot nor forked tongue. Only by the sacred light of God's word can his character be discerned. The entering utterances of Sunday laws are smoother than oil, yet are they drawn swords. It was said a few years ago in this country by the advocates of Sunday laws that they were not persecuting, that they never would affect those who were living honestly, faithfully doing God's will, but it has been demonstrated that this is almost the only class that is affected. All this is but the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy of Revelation 13. All the world will worship the beast and his image and receive his mark. Those who do not will be "not of the world."

The progress this Sunday-law movement is making in the Old World is set forth in an article in the Literary Digest of July 7. It is indicative of what lies before. The Sunday law in its fullness when it comes will be world wide. Here is the article:—

Sunday Observance in Europe.

It is generally well known that, of late years, great efforts have been made to secure a better observance of the Lord's day in the cities of Europe. The movement was inaugurated by the late M. Alexandre Lombard, of Geneva. It sprang out of the International Conference of the Evangelical Alliance held in 1861. Great progress has been made in this direction of late years, and Evangelical Christendom, London, thus summarizes what has been accomplished in the principal countries, as gathered from the seventeenth annual report of the English committee:—

"Belgium.—The most important movement has been the adoption by the Belgian Government of a new rule as to the Sunday delivery of letters. "All the postage stamps now issued by the Belgian post office have printed on them, in English and Flemish, words signifying 'not to be delivered on Sundays.' Persons who wish their letters delivered on Sunday must tear off these words. In the case of postal cards and stamps embossed on envelopes, the words must be crossed out if the sender wishes the card or letter to be delivered on Sunday. "France.—In France a great good is being done by a vigorous society called 'Ligue Populaire pour le Repos du Dimanche en France.' It issues a monthly periodical, enrols members, and has the coöperation of such distinguished men as M. Jules Simon, M. Leon Say, M. E. Cheysson, M. De Nordling, and others. In 1892 the government voted 600,000 francs to allow the country postmen one free Sunday a month. Postal deliveries in Paris are reduced by one-half on Sunday. "Germany.—In 1892 a law was passed in Germany to close shops on Sunday. But as the shopkeepers had previously been accustomed to keep open all the day, considerable friction resulted. This led to a compromise, and shops are now allowed to keep open a few hours on Sunday. It is, however, only a temporary concession, and the law is enforced. Recently a mercantile house employing 120 clerks was fined $300 for making them work too long on Sunday. "Holland.—The cause of Sunday rest is making good progress. No newspapers are issued on Sunday. "Italy.—Some progress is seen. A congress of workingmen's societies, representing thirty-six towns, held at Milan, in 1892, voted in favor of a law making Sunday rest obligatory. "Russia.—Post offices are now open only from 12 to 2 on Sundays. The government is preparing a law for securing Sunday rest in the departments of trades, manufactures, and mines. "Greece.—The Metropolitan [bishop] of Athens and the director of police are taking steps to promote public rest. "Norway.—Marvelous progress is being made. Shops and factories are closed on Sundays. The sale of alcoholic liquors is prohibited from five o'clock on Saturday evening till eight o'clock on Monday morning. "Sweden.—There are only one or two deliveries of letters on Sunday. The crews of vessels are released from unnecessary work on Sundays. "Switzerland.—Nearly all the cantons have now laws to protect the people from Sunday labor. Newspapers are not printed on Sunday. A railroad recently built from Yverdon to Saint Croix does not run passenger trains or freight trains on Sunday."