Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 4, 1872
LOST TIME.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
BY ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.
Among the numerous excuses which men raise for not keeping God’s holy Sabbath, that one based upon the argument of “lost time” may be called the “last ditch.” When all other arguments fail, persons fall back upon this and excuse themselves from any further trouble about the matter. We often hear them say that they are convinced that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and that they would keep it, if they only knew which it was; but that, either before the flood, or during the sojourn of Israel in Egypt, or in the Babylonish captivity, or during the dark ages, or somewhere, time was so lost that the true seventh day cannot be found. That this excuse is utterly without foundation we are sure we can now convince the reader, if he is candid enough to really desire the truth in the case.
That Saturday is the true and veritable seventh day, the day upon which God rested from the foundation of the world, can be proved by an overwhelming mass of evidence. Is it not a little strange that until seventh-day advocates came along no one ever said anything about time being lost, and that you could not tell when the seventh day does come? From the minister in the desk to the child in Sunday-school, all agreed that Saturday was the old seventh day, and Sunday the first day on which Christ rose from the dead. But, when it is shown that there is no proof for a first-day Sabbath, and that the Scriptures teach that the seventh day is still the Sabbath, then, behold, these same persons are very ignorant all at once. Time has been lost and you can’t tell when the seventh day does come? Can they tell when the first day comes, the day of Christ’s resurrection? They never seem to have any doubt about this. If they can tell that, certainly we can find the seventh day, for it must be the one just before it! Having found the first day, any person who can count seven on his fingers, ought to be able to find the seventh day! Somehow, notwithstanding all the other days of the week are so easy to find and to count, yet this seventh day is very slippery, bothersome, and hard to find. It reminds me of the boy who was sent out by his father to count the pigs. He returned, saying that there were nine pigs besides one little spotted fellow that frisked about so that he could not count him!
We should naturally suppose that this cry of “lost time” would be confined to those who claim that there is no Sabbath now binding; but this is not the case. They generally freely acknowledge that Saturday is the old and true seventh day, and that there is no reliance to be placed upon the argument of lost time. Surprising indeed it is to hear this argument used by those who profess a great regard for the Sabbath commandment, and for Sunday as the Christian Sabbath, the resurrection day. They seem not to realize that if time has been lost, they are as bad off as we are. This objection weighs just as heavily against the first day of the week as it does against the seventh.
Allowing that the seventh-day Sabbath is binding, it is unreasonable to suppose that God has suffered it to be lost. If God has given a law requiring the observance of the seventh day, he certainly is able to preserve the knowledge of that day if he still desires men to keep it. It is, then, highly absurd to admit that the seventh day is the day that ought to be kept, and then to say that we would keep it if we could only tell which it was, claiming that it has been lost! It is directly impeaching the wisdom and power of God. Equally unreasonable is it to claim that any other day of the week is the Sabbath and yet to say that the days of the week have been lost so that you cannot tell when it does come. No; the Judgment day will show that all these objections and quibbles arise more from a carnal heart unwilling to submit itself to the plain requirements of the law of God than they do from any real difficulty in the case.
But to the facts in the case. Follow us carefully and see if there is not an abundance of proof that Saturday is the true seventh day from creation. Gen. 1 gives a concise history of the first six days of time. Chap. 2: 1–3 says: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”
Here we have a sure starting point. God worked the first six days. He rested the seventh. Then he blessed the seventh day. After that he sanctified it. To sanctify, is to set apart, to appoint to a holy use. See Webster. This shows that God there appointed this day for Adam and his family to keep holy. By thus keeping it, it would weekly mark off a period of seven days. Hence originated a week of seven days, which we find so often mentioned in the history of the patriarchs, and afterward of the Jews. Notice a few instances. Just before the flood, God said to Noah, “For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth.” Gen. 7: 4. Of Noah, it is said: “And he staid yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark.” Gen. 8: 10. And again, “And he staid yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove.” Verse 12. Laban says to Jacob: “Fulfill her week, and I will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.” And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week.” Gen. 29: 27, 28. These quotations, and many more that might be made, show that the week, composed of seven days, was known and observed by the patriarchs both before and after the flood. Hence it is strong proof that they had, and observed, the Sabbath. Of the antiquity of the week and the Sabbath among all nations, Gilfillan in his large book on “The Sabbath,” published by the American Tract Society, says: “Let it suffice, however, in a matter on which there is so general an agreement, to present the words of four eminent authors: ‘The septenary arrangement of the days,’ says Scaliger, ‘was in use among the Orientals from the remotest antiquity.’ ‘We have reason to believe,’ observes President De Goguet, ‘that the institution of that short period of seven days, called a week, was the first step taken by mankind in dividing and measuring their time. We find from time immemorial, the use of this period among all nations, without any variation in the form of it. The Israelites, Assyrians, Egyptians, Indians, Arabians, and, in a word, all the nations of the East, have in all ages made use of a week, consisting of seven days. We find the same custom among the ancient Romans, Gauls, Britons, Germans, the nations of the North, and of America. According to Laplace, ‘the week is perhaps the most ancient and incontestable monument of human knowledge.’” It would appear that the Chinese, who have now no Sabbath, at one time honored the seventh day of the week.’—The Sabbath, by Gilfillan, pp. 364, 365.
All these ancient nations being descendants of Noah and his sons, must have received the Sabbath by tradition from them. That the Sabbath would not be lost from Adam to Abraham is manifest when we consider that Adam lived and conversed with Methuselah for 243 years; Methuselah lived contemporary with Shem about 100 years; and Shem lived and talked with Abraham for 150 years.
The lives of these three men span the whole time from Eden even to the old age of Abraham. How easy and natural for them to hand down the Sabbath from father to son without any probability of losing it.
Coming a little further down, was not the Sabbath lost in Egypt? Let us read, in Ex. 16, what occurred immediately on their coming out of Egypt. “Then said the Lord unto Moses, 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. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.” “And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating; and when the sun waxed hot it melted. And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord; bake that which ye will bake to-day, and seethe that which ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade, and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that to-day; for to-day is a Sabbath unto the Lord; to-day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day.” “And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.” Verses 4, 5, 21–23, 35.
Notice the important facts here stated: 1. Manna for all Israel fell the first six days in the week. 2. No manna fell on the seventh day, the Sabbath. 3. A double portion fell on the sixth day. 4. That which fell on any day except the sixth would not keep over night. 5. That which fell on the sixth day would keep over the Sabbath.
Here were five notable miracles wrought every week for forty years, which directly pointed out the Sabbath day in so remarkable a manner that a child could have no excuse for not knowing when it came. This was the special work of the Almighty to teach the Jews to remember, reverence, and keep holy his sanctified Sabbath day. Five miracles wrought every week would be 260 each year; and in forty years would be 10,400 miracles wrought to point out the Sabbath! Truly had all traces of the Sabbath been lost, it was here so forcibly restored that none could doubt when it came. Here it was certainly restored if it was ever lost.
But was this the true, original seventh day here pointed out? It would be preposterous to claim anything else. 1. God certainly knew when his original, true seventh-day Sabbath came, and was able to point it out. 2. That he should give them another day and teach them by the falling manna, &c., to violate his own holy Sabbath, is highly unreasonable, and not to be supposed unless most distinctly so stated. 3. The record directly says that that day was “the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord,” verse 23, “the seventh day, which is the Sabbath.” Verse 26. These statements are repeated several times in the above record. 4. Shortly after, the manna began to fall on the six days and none on the seventh. While the whole nation was keeping that day as the Sabbath, according to God’s direct instructions, the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai and gave them the ten commandments. The fourth one relates to the Sabbath, and reads thus: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Ex. 20: 8–11.
What does this command require? That they keep “the Sabbath day,” “the seventh day,” “the Sabbath of the Lord,” the day which God had rested upon, and blessed and sanctified at creation, after working six days. In short, it points out and specifies in the most definite manner the very day we started with in Gen. 2: 1–3. No candid person can doubt this who will compare the two records. So then at the entrance of the Jews into Canaan, 2553 years after the creation of the world, we are certain that we have the true seventh day.
In the promised land, they became a great and numerous people, a settled and established nation for over 800 years. During all this time they had the strictest laws and regulations touching the observance of the Sabbath. During this time God often spoke to them by his prophets and frequently called their attention to his holy Sabbath. See 2 Kings 4: 23; 1 Chron. 9: 32; Isa. 56: 2–6; 58: 13; Jer. 17: 24–27; Eze. 20: 10–24; Amos 8: 4–6. Samuel, David, Solomon, Hezekiah, and all the noted kings of Israel, lived in this time. To suppose that the Sabbath was lost during this time, would be simply absurd. It would have been impossible, guarded on every hand as it was. Indeed, no one ever claims lost time here.
Next comes, 600 years before Christ, the Babylonish captivity of 70 years. Was it not lost here? Notice a few facts: 1. God sent them into that captivity because they did not regard his Sabbath strictly enough. Jer. 17: 17–24; Neh. 13: 15–18. Would he then allow the Sabbath to be lost so that they could not keep it, and thus frustrate the very object for which he sent them there? 2. Daniel, the greatest of all God’s prophets, lived in Babylon with the captives during the whole of their sojourn there. See Dan. 1: 1–21; 9: 1, 2; Ezra 1: 1–6,194&c. Daniel thus having constant communion with God, would have corrected his people had they been in danger of losing or forgetting the Sabbath, as he was very jealous for the law of his God. Dan. 6: 5. 3. As soon as the Jews return to Jerusalem, they solemnly promise God not to violate his Sabbath any more; and Nehemiah reminds them that this was the very sin for which they were sent into bondage. Neh. 10: 31; 13: 15–18. 4. It would not be possible for a whole nation in the short space of 70 years to forget and lose the Sabbath, even though they had no prophets to teach them, which, however, the Jews did have. What would we think of the assertion, that the American people had lost Independence day within the last hundred years, so that we could not tell when the true 4th of July does come? The idea would simply be laughed at. Yet the 4th of July only comes once a year, and hence would be much more easily lost than the Sabbath which comes once every week, besides being a day much more sacredly observed. 5. The records and genealogies were all carefully kept during this time. 6. On their return, the whole nation is still found keeping the Sabbath, without any disagreement as to which day it was. Neh. 10: 31. These facts show that it was not lost then.
About 500 years before Christ, the Jews returned to Judea and there remained till the final overthrow of Jerusalem, 70 years after the birth of Christ. Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, prophesied during this time.
Again the Jews became a powerful nation, settled in their own land, under the Maccabees and others. The Sabbath now comes in still more prominently. They regarded it so strictly that some of the time they would not even defend themselves in war on that day. 1 Maccabees 2: 32–40. See Josephus. Of course there was no possibility of their losing the Sabbath at that time. So when Christ came, he found them all very strict and over particular in keeping the Sabbath. Matt. 12: 1–12; John 5: 5–19.
Thus we have carefully traced the Sabbath for over 4000 years, to the coming of Christ. Here, again, we have another sure waymark: Christ, the Son of God, knew all things. If the Sabbath had been lost, he would have known it, and have corrected it. But he gave no intimation that the Jews were not keeping the right day. He kept the same day they did. He said it was the Sabbath day, and he was its Lord. Mark 2: 27, 28. In Luke 23: 54–56; 24: 1, we read thus: “And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulcher, and how his body was laid. And they returned and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” “Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices, which they had prepared, and certain others with them.”
Here are several important declarations: 1. We have the preparation day, which was the sixth day. (Ex. 16: 5). 2. Following this, we have the next day, “the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” 3. And the next day was “the first day of the week.” This is the language of inspiration, hence there is no discount upon it; therefore that day was “the first day of the week.” Hence we are still on the right track, and know that we have not lost the days of the week. This fact is made doubly sure by the inspired declaration that the day before that first day of the week was “the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Here again we know that we have the correct Sabbath day, the one enjoined in the commandment, for inspiration says so. The Sabbath day “according to the commandment,” could be no other day than the one which that commandment enjoined, which we have shown is none other than the very day upon which God rested. After this, the Sabbath is frequently mentioned in Acts. See Chap. 13: 14; 15: 21; 16: 13; 17: 2; 18: 3. The last time it is named is in Rev. 1: 10, A. D. 96, which brings us to the close of the Bible and of the first century. Now we have spanned 4100 years of the world’s history and found no place for the Sabbath to be lost yet.
(Concluded next week.)
THE DAY.
By Marianna Farningham
“Ye see the day approaching.”
Steadily, sternly, it marches on;
At each sun’s setting a step is won;
At each sun’s rising ’tis nearer yet;
We cannot its sure approach forget.
For the long procession is filing past,
And soon will it come, the great, the last.
We see it coming; our shrinking eyes
Are drawn to its splendor across the skies.
We fain would hide from its blinding glare,
Or hinder it by a wild, sad prayer;
But ever relentlessly on it comes
To our shadowed hearts and our darkened homes.
What though we banish with mirth and song
The sound of its coming? It sweeps along.
It will not stay for our many fears;
It will not halt for our flowing tears;
And every season of blessedness
Is making the distance ever less.
But why should we tremble and fear the day?
Christ is in it, he comes this way.
Little of all the pompous show,
The gloom, the splendor, our eyes shall know;
For we shall see in the Heaven above
The friend we long for, the Lord we love.
Then let us sing, as we pass along,
A cheery measure, a hopeful song;
Better than all the times shall be
That glorious time when the King we see.
So let us watch, and wait, and pray,
For the approaching of that day.
—Marianna Farningham.
Using the Abilities We Already Have
God helps us to make use of such means as are within our power, and not to sit down idly to regret the power we do not possess. Perhaps it would be dangerous for us to possess the abilities we covet; it is always safe to consecrate those we have.
More Consecration.
By E. B. Saunders
WHEN we first learned the great truths of the three messages, our feelings were much stirred, and we felt like taking hold of this work with considerable energy. But with some of us it was a hard struggle to consent to the Sabbath truth; for that required a change of habit, while other points required only a change of mind or belief.
Generally, when we had committed ourselves to these truths, we manifested much zeal to get others to investigate and understand the reasons we had for our belief. This zeal, on the part of some, it is to be feared, was not prompted so much by a sincere love for the truth, or for souls, or God, as it was by a desire to increase their party, and out-argue their opposers. Besides, new acquaintances were formed with similar views, and, by intercourse with them, we felt encouraged to believe ourselves right in the sight of God. And God, in his infinite mercy, regarding the first dawning of amendment in us, sometimes let a few mercy drops fall on us, and then we connected ourselves with the church, and participated in the sacred rites of the Christian religion.
The desire for eternal life, and to enjoy the rich reward, prompted many of us to try to overcome our evil habits, lusts, and appetites; and sometimes a victory would be gained when the appetite or habit was not firmly seated, or when, by abstinence for a season, the desire would be worn out. But, oftener than otherwise, the evil was only curbed or checked, not cured. Our own wills, unassisted by the grace of God, were not strong enough to subdue those fierce passions which ruled our hearts. They would constantly rise with such power as to overcome all our good resolutions, and then a depressed, discouraged feeling would weigh us down, while our zeal for others would die out, and the joy we should feel in communion with those whose lives were pure, would be almost entirely wanting, and rather a sense of relief from uneasiness would be felt by us when out of their presence. Also our interest to meet for worship would gradually die out, so that a mere shadow of an excuse, like bad roads, a slight rain, or cold, or snow, or perhaps a tired feeling from overwork, or anything that could serve for an excuse to quiet the conscience, would keep us from the house of God. And the meetings would not seem interesting, especially if the majority of those present had passed through about the same experience.
Such meetings always drag, and about all the confidence some get to speak or pray, is the thought that others are not aware of their failings. While in such a state of mind, our prayers are formal; but our consciences must be quieted, so the daily task of praying must be kept up. Conscience requires us to read the word of God; so, besides the daily chapter, some portion, like the story of Joseph or Samson, Elijah or Jonah, is read occasionally, to make us think that we really love the Bible.
Our Systematic Benevolence we pay, but it does not increase proportionally to our property; in fact, it sometimes decreases. With some, the subscription for the REVIEW remains unpaid, and everything indicates that our religion is getting shabby; yet we flatter ourselves that we are going to be saved.
At the same time, we do not feel that we have the victory, but at some future time intend to obtain it, while it ought to be evident to us that we are losing ground. We feel rich and increased with goods, and that we have need of nothing, when, if our eyes were opened, we should find ourselves poor, and blind, and naked.
Now, what can be done to help us? Nothing but the heavenly anointing can reach our cases. We need to be converted through and through. Our hearts must be cleansed from sin, and the Spirit of God must come in and dwell there, or we shall be among the lost. “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” “Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts.” But the Spirit of God is not in the heart of the lukewarm, or worldly-minded, professor. The Spirit of God dwells only with the pure in heart—the victor over sin. “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”
The Spirit of God does not dwell in a heart that loves sin; and the reason that so many are almost entirely unacquainted with the movings of the Spirit of God, is because sin, which God hates, is cherished. Such is the deceitfulness of the human heart that we think all we possess is devoted to the service of God, when this world and its pleasures are first in all our thoughts. Even our worship, both public and private, is marred with meditations of a worldly nature; our means is often squandered to gratify self. We ask God to bless us with health and strength only to consume it upon our lusts.
There must be an entire willingness to give up our darling sin, whatever it may be, before Christ will dwell in us by his Spirit. And when the Spirit of Christ is received into the heart, you will need no one to tell you of it; the sweet harmony between the heart and the word of God, the sacredness of his law, sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, will make it evident to yourself that God accepts you. Others will judge you by the fruits, “Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” These fruits may be counterfeited, but they always seem unnatural, stunted, and irregular, when connected with a corrupt heart.
One who is acquainted with the Spirit of God need not be deceived by them. These graces, in the one case, will seem forced and put on for appearance sake; while in the other, they will spring spontaneously from a good heart.
Unless we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we shall be lost. We can never truly get the victory without it; but when it dwells in us we are virtually victors. Oh! how easy then to keep the commandments; and God does not then seem to be a hard master. His law will seem “sweeter than honey and the honeycomb,” and we shall feel it to be a privilege to improve the talent entrusted to our care. The service of God will be a pleasure, and this world will seem to us small indeed.
My brethren, will you seek this conversion, this consecration, this Spirit? If you feel like waiting awhile, till you have enjoyed the pleasures of sin a little longer, it is evident that you are unacquainted with its sweetness, and your heart not right before God. I entreat you, as a servant of God, to make no delay, but seek the Lord by confessing and forsaking sin, and by earnest prayer to God for pardon, till the Spirit of Christ returns to you again, and you can say from the heart, Jesus is mine, and I am his. E. B. SAUNDERS.
The Liberty of Christ.
By David Downer
“STAND fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.”
The above language is recorded in Gal. 5: 1. It is claimed by not a few that this language gives us an undisputed right to break the holy law of God. This position we are often called upon to meet. The gospel of Christ, while it exhibits him as Saviour, does so by showing how he magnified and made honorable the law of Heaven by suffering its penalty and obeying its precepts. His salvation consists in bringing the redeemed to be of one mind with himself; and since the law was written in his heart, it also must be written in theirs.
Believers are said to be free from the law when they are delivered from the condemning sentence of the unchangeable law of righteousness, which is obtained through forgiveness; but for this very reason they are under increased obligation to obey its precepts. It is vain to deny the obligation of the law of God by representing the gospel as the rule of obedience; for the gospel is not a rule of conduct, but a message of peace and of reconciliation. It calls for a new degree of love. Let it be remembered that the divine law must ever require that Jehovah be loved according to the revelation given of his character at the time; so that perfect conformity to his law consists now in loving him as he is revealed in Christ.
It is vain to say that the Spirit, and not the law, is our rule; for that which excites to obedience, as does the influence of the Spirit, is quite a distinct thing from a rule of obedience. The promise is that the law of God shall be written in the hearts of the subjects of the covenant of peace, and this is effected by the Spirit of God. 2 Cor. 3: 3. But this supposes a previous existence and constant obligation of that law.
It has been said that Christians are ruled by love and not by law; and, it is true, they do not obey from slavish fear; but they are not so ruled by love as to exclude the idea of obligation on their part, and of authority on the part of God. What, indeed, is conformity to the law, but the exercise of love? For there is not an act of obedience that is not comprehended in the general precept of love. The precept that requires it is denominated, The first and great commandment of the law.
If it be said that the prevalence of love renders a law unnecessary, it is sufficient to say in reply, that the Scriptures expressly declare that it is the love of God that we keep his commandments. 1 John 5: 3. Love is indeed the great principle of Christian obedience; but it cannot be the regulator. Love in creatures such as we are, is often like a ship with full sails, but without a pilot at the helm. The love that is required, is love to God with all our heart and understanding. And with reverence be it said, when the Saviour appeared in the form of a servant, his love to the Father was, in certain respects, regulated in its exercise by divine commandment.
But why speak as if love was, in itself, incompatible with subjection to rule, when Jesus himself was made under the law. He was so, indeed, that he might redeem them that are under the law. He was so that he might redeem from its curse. But he could not be so to free us from the claims of obedience; for in keeping God’s commandments lies the happiness of man.
But though love, in connection with the judgment, will, to a certain extent, decide what is right to be done, it cannot do so in every case. There are many circumstances and dispensations in which the path of duty cannot be ascertained without an explicit revelation. Love, in a word, will prompt us to do whatever is the will of God, yet we must, by some means, know what is pleasing to him, before we can properly show our affection. 1 Thess. 4: 1.
No matter in what way the will of God may be made known, in whatever way it is revealed, its obligation is the same, so far as the revelation extends; and the appeals which are made to love, are made to it as the exciting principle to action, rather than its rule. Nothing can be more plain than that the particular laws given by God for the regulation of his creatures must correspond with their circumstances.
The question, then, must be, Are the precepts of the law of God suitable or unsuitable to the present circumstances of the believers in Christ? It merits our attention, too, that when certain duties are enforced, there is an express recognition of the authority of the law; as, for instance, the duties of children to their parents, which are enforced by an express repetition of the fifth commandment. Eph. 6: 1–3. And when certain evils are condemned, the very form of the commandments are employed, as in James 2: 8, 13: “For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill,” &c. Then such expressions as the following: “He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” John says that whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is a transgression of the law. Now, if there be no sin that is not a transgression of the law, it follows that there can be no rule that is not comprehended in the law of God.
In a word, let the law be considered, and the conscience of every Christian will say that there is not one of those commandments which he can break without blame, or obedience to which is not connected with his happiness. Christ declared that he did not come to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them. And having said this, he proceeds to explain the moral precepts of the law in their spirituality and extent as reaching the intents and desires of the heart, and to enforce them on the consciences of his disciples. Matt. 5: 17, 22.
He taught that the law and the prophets hang on the two great commandments of love to God and love to our neighbor; thereby declaring that the moral injunctions of the law and the prophets continue to be binding. Matt. 22: 37. And after enjoining the universal law of equity, that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us, he enforces it by saying, “For this is the law and the prophets.”
It is the whole of the divine precepts collectively which constitutes the law of God. And though the fundamental principles of his law must ever be the same, yet those principles are applied according to the nature of the special dispensation under which his creatures are placed. Attention to this is of importance. To closely understand the distinction, connection, and harmony, between the law and the gospel, and their mutual subserviency to each other, is a happy means of preserving the Christian195from being entangled in errors on every hand.
Finally, the law of God, though it be language of authority, is also the voice of friendship; and the man who, in the faith of the gospel, walks humbly and in obedience to God’s holy law, finds the truest liberty, and the greatest happiness attainable in this life. He is serving his gracious Father and his faithful sovereign; and he feels that to be free from law, does not make us free to break it at pleasure.
DAVID DOWNER.
“Search the Scriptures.”
By F. W. Morse
“SEARCH: To examine thoroughly.” The man seeking goodly pearls illustrates the persevering energy which the Bible student should exhibit as he obeys this gospel command. The searcher finds one pearl extremely precious. To obtain it, he is willing to sacrifice all his possessions. It is no trial for him to do this; he makes the transfer with joy. There is no drudgery, no compulsion, no unwillingness. It is cheerfully done, a free-will transaction; he has got his eye upon eternal life.
The devoted, Bible examiner will get his affections riveted upon the same glorious prize, and, with that inspiring object in view, will hide God’s word in his heart, for fear that he tread incautiously in the ways of sin and death. Even the night watches will not prevent his earnest meditation on the words of life.
The Scriptures point out the way of life, and by obedience to their teachings we may finally obtain eternal life. “You think to obtain by them eternal life.”—Campbell.
The inspired volume points out the way of eternal life, and makes known to us the great Creator, the source of life and light. By the word of God, we are made acquainted with beings of another, a heavenly, world. Referring to the Scriptures, our Saviour declared, “They are they which testify of me.” Their great Author urges, “Acquaint now thyself with me and be at peace; . . . receive, I pray thee, the law at my mouth, and lay up my words in thy heart.”
By treasuring up the words of God in our minds, we may get an insight into his character and his ways, so far as it is for our benefit. Knowledge of God, as revealed in his word, is an indispensable element of the Christian character. Our Saviour named his disciples “friends;” “for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15.
Those who despise the knowledge of God as revealed in his word, are they who are settled down in darkness, dead to righteousness, though fully alive in the lust of concupiscence.” 1 Cor. 15:34; Eph. 4:18; 1 Thess. 4:5. Their final portion, unless reformed, is with those in the day of perdition who “know not God and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ.” 2 Thess. 1:7.
The Scriptures testify of Jesus Christ, and none can ever expect to become members of that Good Shepherd’s flock, unless they form an acquaintance with the divine Shepherd. The sacred book is held up to us, and the Chief Shepherd pleads, “Acquaint now thyself with me and be at peace.” Why longer seek to clamber up some other way? Lay aside the empty trash of the day, and store up the words of life and salvation contained in the blessed Bible as the chiefest treasures of thy heart.
We are not left at the mercy of every wind of doctrine. “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. Here is the great criterion by which we are to measure the doctrines of the day. “To the law and to the testimony,” an oracle which is always open for consultation. The inquirer may apply to the inspired writings, and, without bribe or incantation, learn the ways of life and truth.
In making a daily research of the inspired volume, we shall obtain the approbation of Heaven. The ancient Bereans searched the Scriptures daily. The word of God commends them as being of a noble disposition. They possessed an elevated character, and their gracious inclinations of mind led them to explore the word of God daily. The Bible contains a wonderful arrangement of knowledge. It is the standard authority in the wisdom of God; the text-book in the science of eternal life. It clears up problems otherwise incomprehensible and unaccountable. What depth of philosophy could account for those miracles which accompany true religion? What sagely wisdom could look to the bottom of these mighty problems daily put forth in the operations of nature? Outside of the Bible, who can tell the giver of the daily bread that feeds a thousand million souls? “Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” F. W. MORSE.
“The End of all Things Is at Hand.”
By John Calvin
THOUGH the faithful hear that their felicity is elsewhere than in the world, yet, as they think that they should live long, this false thought renders them careless, and even slothful, so that they direct not their thoughts to the kingdom of God. Hence the apostle (1 Pet. 4: 7), that he might rouse them from the drowsiness of the flesh, reminds them that the end of all things was nigh; by which he intimates that we ought not to sit still in the world, from which we must soon remove. He does not, at the same time, speak only of the end of individuals, but of the universal renovation of the world; as though he had said, “Christ will shortly come, who will put an end to all things.”
It is, then, no wonder that the cares of this world overwhelm us, and make us drowsy, if the view of present things dazzles our eyes: for we promise, almost all of us, an eternity to ourselves in this world; at least, the end never comes to our mind. But were the trumpet of Christ to sound in our ears, it would powerfully rouse us and not suffer us to lie torpid.
But it may be objected and said, that a long series of ages has passed away since Peter wrote this, and yet that the end has not come. My reply to this is, that the time seems long to us, because we measure its length by the spaces of this fleeting life; but if we could understand the perpetuity of future life, many ages would appear to us like a moment, as Peter will also tell us in his second epistle. Besides, we must remember this principle, that from the time when Christ once appeared, there is nothing left for the faithful, but with suspended minds ever to look forward to his second coming.
The watchfulness and the sobriety to which he exhorted them, belong, as I think, to the mind rather than to the body. The words are similar to those of Christ: “Watch ye, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.” (Matt. 25:13). For as an indulgence in surfeiting and sleep renders the body unfit for its duties, so the vain cares and pleasures of the world inebriate the mind and render it drowsy.
By adding prayer, he points out an exercise especially necessary, in which the faithful ought to be particularly occupied, since their whole strength depends on the Lord; as though he had said, “Since ye are in yourselves extremely weak, seek of the Lord to strengthen you.” He yet reminds them that they were to pray earnestly, not formally.—John Calvin, A. D., 1551.