[All questions to this department will be answered which to the editors will seem to minister to the good of the readers and to the mission of the paper. The same question can not be answered repeatedly in the same volume. The name and address must accompany question, not for publication, but as an evidence of good faith, and that answer may be made by letter if deemed advisable. It is well always to enclose a stamp for reply.]
2442.—Guilty of the Death of Christ.
Some of us who believe in Christ as the Saviour and Son of God claim that the historical part of the Jewish contention is true; not that the Jews did not kill Christ, but that the Romans are the guilty ones and not the Jews. Will you give a review of the facts in your Inquirers' Department?
This department does not admit of an extended review of so large a subject. It is true that the Jews did not at that time have the power to execute the death sentence, but they did declare before Pilate, "We have a law, and by our law He ought to die." It is true that by the demands which they made and the pressure which they brought to bear upon Pilate, he was constrained to deliver Jesus to be crucified. Pilate's career had not been the best. He was afraid that he might be accused to Cæsar and deposed, and perhaps slain. They said to him that Jesus was guilty of sedition against the Roman government; they declared that He had made Himself a king and was therefore plotting against Cæsar. This Pilate knew was not true, for he himself repeatedly declared, "I find no crime in Him," "nothing worthy of death." But they said, "If thou let this Man go, thou art not Cæsar's friend." Therefore Pilate delivered Him to be crucified. But the leaders of the Jews were guilty, and so the apostle declared, "Ye by the hand of lawless men did crucify and slay." Acts 2:23. "Whom ye delivered up, and denied before the face of Pilate, when he had determined to release Him. But ye denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted unto you, and killed the Prince of Life." Acts 3:13-15. It seems to us that this settles where the guilt of the crime belongs.
The Scriptures certainly indicate that a time of persecution lies before the people of God. See Rev. 12:17. But we are also promised that the Lord will save His people out of it. See Rev. 15:2, 3.
2443.—What Is Required of Gentiles?
From Acts 15:20-29 and Acts 21:25, it would seem that there is not very much required of the Gentiles. Will you please explain.
There is required of the Gentiles just what is required of every soul on the earth, if he would be saved, and that is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. See Acts 16:31. That is not mere nominal assent to the truths of the Gospel, but such a yielding of the heart to God that He can cleanse it of sin and place there His own life of righteousness. Therefore "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness." Rom. 10:10. Apart from such faith there is no salvation. But that faith means a "faith which worketh by love." Gal. 5:6. And the love means the keeping of all the commandments of God. 1 John 5:3. The question in Acts 15 was a question of justification. Some of the Jewish converts felt that it was necessary for the Christian Gentile converts to keep the ceremonial laws. It was not a question as to the keeping of the moral law, the Ten Commandments; that was not the question which was raised at all. It was not a question as to whether they should steal or not, whether they should kill or not, whether they should worship idols or not, whether they should keep the Sabbath or not. There was no question as to that; the real question was as to whether they should keep the ceremonies and laws of the Jews for justification. These four necessary things spoken of among the ceremonies of the Jews had a moral bearing. And so they were to abstain from things offered to idols, lest their ceremonies should be polluted; from blood because of the grossness of eating blood, the feeding upon the life of creatures; from things strangled, that is, meat in which the blood had coagulated; and from fornication, which was, of course, a moral question as well as a part of the local law of the Jews. These things were very common among the Gentiles, and not considered by them as sin; but the apostles told them that these must be refrained from. It is to the Roman Church that the apostle Paul declares that faith establishes the law of God, that is, the moral law. Rom. 3:31.
2444.—Mohammedan Holy Day.
When, how, and by whom, was the Friday sabbath set apart? As the Mohammedans accept the Old Testament, why did they not also accept the seventh-day Sabbath, or Saturday?
It has been truly said that Mohammedanism consists of a great truth and a great lie. The great truth is that God is one; the great falsehood is that Mohammed is His prophet. The Mohammedans accept a great many things that are told in the Old Testament, but above the Old Testament are the teachings of Mohammed. They do not keep all of Friday as a holy day, only about an hour of it, in commemoration of the creation of Adam on that day. Evidently they did that so as to keep themselves distinct from the Christians on the one side and the Jews on the other, against whom they were very bitter. No one is required to abstain from labor except at the hour of midday prayer. A male who absents himself three times in succession is said to have renounced the faith. Just the date of setting apart the day we can not at this time inform our querist. Perhaps some of our readers can give date and authority.
2445.—For Whom Did He Pray?—The prayer of our Saviour on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," was not for His followers, but for those who crucified Him. Tho it may seem otherwise, they certainly did not understand what they were doing. They were blinded by sin. They supposed they were killing a mere man and one who was really a criminal. Read the words of Jesus with those of Peter in Acts 3:17: "And now, brethren, I know that in ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers." Also the words of Paul, 1 Cor. 2:8: "Which none of the rulers of this world hath known: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." Jesus' prayer expressed the wonderful mercy of God. God's forgiveness waits for all sinners, and for the Jews, if they will only turn to Him as individuals.
2446.—Women in the Church.—E. P. T.—One of the reasons why so many churches are blessed and prospered, in which the work is nearly all done by women, is that God works by every one whose heart and life are yielded to Him. He is no respecter of persons. He is just as willing to work by women as by men, and vice versa. There would probably be more men in the church if there were a great deal more strong, straightforward, vigorous, manly preaching. The texts to which you refer, 1 Cor. 14:34, 35; 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:11; Eph. 5:22; Col. 3:18, etc., we have not time to discuss at length. Certainly this we do know, that God has used women, that He has abundantly blessed them. In Old Testament times we may instance such cases as those of Miriam and Deborah and Huldah, while in New Testament times we have the noble women who followed Christ, the four daughters of Philip the evangelist, Phebe, and Priscilla. In the promise of the Spirit there is no discrimination made, as recorded in Acts 2, also in Joel 2; for the promise is that the Spirit shall be poured out upon all flesh, "and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." Simply because we do not fully understand one or two texts of the New Testament is no reason why we should forbid women to speak. The same epistle which says, "Let your women keep silence in the church," also gives instruction, in the eleventh chapter, as to how women who prophesy, or talk, should dress, and how they should comport themselves. The last two passages cited above tell the wives to be in subjection to their own husbands. This is certainly a proper thing, used in a proper way. The husband ought to be a strong, faithful man of God upon whom the wife can lean, to whom she can look for help; but it is not for the husband to demand subjection. The husband should love the wife as Christ loves the church, but it is not for the husband to demand love. Let each strive to do his own part and there will be no trouble over any of these scriptures. So we would say to our sister, still witness for Christ, speak in meeting and bear testimony to God's love whenever the Spirit prompts you to speak, even as all Christians should speak, in lowliness and humility.
2447.—B. B. No. 925.—Fire on the Sabbath.—The command to kindle no fire throughout their habitations on the Sabbath day refers, without any question it seems to us, to the wilderness wanderings of Israel. They were passing through a very warm country and they needed no fire save for the cooking of food, and that was not to be done on the Sabbath. Therefore the instruction which God gave them to kindle no fires throughout their habitations on the Sabbath. We may be assured that He who justified His disciples in rubbing out wheat to eat on the Sabbath day, who ministered to the sick and healed them on that day, would not bring suffering to His children by forbidding fire on that day if it were necessary to life and comfort.
2448.—Fairs, Dinners, etc.
Do the Seventh-day Adventists have dinners, fairs, and socials to raise money for the church? Do they pass around the contribution box to every one every time they have church?
Replying to the first question, Seventh-day Adventists do not have dinners, fairs, and socials to raise money for the church. They believe, as is taught by devoted souls in various denominations, that the service of Christ is worthy of our support, in and of itself, without endeavoring to give toward it by something which costs us nothing, or ministers to sensuous pleasure. The ministry among Seventh-day Adventists is paid from the tithe, bestowed voluntarily by every member who so desires, and nearly all pay tithe. The church services and work are supported by voluntary contributions; and voluntary contributions are given to missions. On every Sabbath day every one is given the privilege of making an offering to the Lord if he so desires, but not every time any services are held. This is the regular weekly service, in harmony with the scripture, "Ascribe unto Jehovah the glory due unto His name: bring an offering, and come into His courts. O worship Jehovah in holy array." Ps. 96:8, 9. But all this is a free-will offering.
—M. M.—According to that scripture it is proper to sell certain foods to unbelievers which the people themselves could not eat. They do this knowingly, openly; there is no deception in it in any way. The one who buys knows the character of the food he is buying, and the animals from which it came; so from that view-point it is legitimate. From the esthetic and the personally moral point of view it is more questionable. It is not for us to condemn any one for such a course as that, and yet on the other hand it certainly would be better if we were not dealing in such things as that. It is anything but a nice occupation to raise hogs, and the tendency must be to lower rather than to raise normal conscience and true Christian standard. The writer would have nothing to do with it.
2450.—B. B. No. 234.—Seeing God's Face.—For harmony of such scriptures as Gen. 32:30; Ex. 24:11; 33:20; John 1:18; see editorial, "God's Presence, and Sin," page 8, in SIGNS of March 18.