A few Thoughts on the Moral Law or Ten Commandments of God.
By Isaac Sanborn
It is a law comprised in ten precepts. They are affirmed to have been written by the finger of God. It is a law which uniformly and always commands what is right, and prohibits what is wrong. Without stopping to expound it, it is enough to say that it is so comprehensive as to be applicable to every creature in the universe, and to every instance of his moral conduct. This law is a perfectly decisive standard, and one that is perfectly calculated to disclose the workings of the carnal mind, or conscience. See Rom. viii, 7. The conscience of every man that is enlightened by it endorses it as truly as the congregation of Israel did when at the rehearsal of every precept and penalty, all the people said Amen. There are several things in relation to this great rule of moral conduct that are worthy of a moment's thought. It is a consideration not to be overlooked, that it extends itself to the heart, and does not stop short of the inward principles and motives of human conduct. It identifies the love of God with keeping his commandments. 1 John v, 3. Another fact in relation to it is its wonderful comprehensiveness. It is applicable to all men alike. It is not for the old only, but for the young; it is not for the poor only, but for the rich. Its course is a straight one, and without the least deviation from a right line. No departure from it is allowed under any possible pretence, or any imaginable circumstances. Nothing in the universe can release the obligation to keep it. It is of perpetual force and obligation in all worlds and throughout eternity. Nor does it stand uninforced with appropriate and equitable penalties. Rom. vi, 23. "For the wages of sin is death." Said Paul, "I had not known sin but by the law; for I had not known lust except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." Rom. vii, 7. With these considerations before us, how can we continue to sin against God by transgressing his holy law every week in rejecting the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and keeping the first day of the week in its stead? Remember Paul says "Know ye not to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin (or transgression of the law) unto death, or of obedience (of the law) unto righteousness?" Rom. vi, 16. Whom do we obey when we keep the first day of the week for the Sabbath? The Pope. (See Cath. Cat.) Well, says one, that is no sin to keep Sunday, for God has not forbidden it. But what did you do the day before, on Saturday, or the Sabbath? You worked, did your own pleasure, and spoke your own words. Isa. lviii, 13. Here is where the sin is. Now whose servant are you? Paul says, his whom you obey. O may the Lord help us to flee to him for refuge, for he says if any man worship the beast or his image, the same shall drink the wrath of God. Remember that keeping Sunday will locate the mark of the beast in our foreheads, and that keeping the Sabbath will place the mark of God there. Thus you see two companies are brought out. Where will they stand in the day of the Lord? Rev. xiv, 1. "I looked and lo a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him an hundred and forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads." This is the company that keep the Sabbath, from the fact that the fourth commandment is the source from whence we derive the knowledge of the true God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. See also chap. xv, 1-4. Where do we find the other company? See chap. xvi, 1, 2. "And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways and pour out the vials of God's wrath upon the earth, And the first went and poured out his vial upon the earth, and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and them which worshiped his image." This is the contrast. Oh may the Lord help us to keep his commandments and the faith of Jesus, and stand at last on Mt. Zion with the Lamb. ISAAC SANBORN. Jefferson Co. Wis., May 7th, 1859.