Signs of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 38. (9/20/1899)

Signs of the Times

Sep 20, 1899

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 20, 1899

Answers on Baptism and Bible Chronology

963. (A. H. A.) Rom. 6:4.—The baptism of Rom. 6:4 is a baptism which sets forth the three great Gospel facts, Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. The baptism of the Spirit is that of life alone. "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism unto death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." Verses 3, 4. Baptism is the marriage ceremony before humanity of the converted soul's marriage to Christ.

964. (F. H.)—The "new dispensation" began at the crucifixion of Christ. There ended the Aaronic priesthood, and there the typical sacrifices ceased. Read Hebrews 9.

965. (J. W. B.) Bible Chronology.—The common chronology of the Bible is that of Archbishop Usher. This is about one hundred years too short. Usher only gives about three hundred fifty years to the period of the judges, while Paul says, "He gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet." Acts 13:20. But this, it will be seen, is not definite. Usher has other minor mistakes. Your idea of the 6,000 years of earth's history and the 1,000 years of Sabbath rest, seems to be borne out by the ancient types.

966. (M. E. S.)—The second commandment forbids the attempted making of any likeness to Deity, or any conception of Deity, in order to worship. It forbids the worship of all images or likenesses of any sort whatever. But this does not mean the making of images of things to beautify; for the tabernacle and temple were, by the Lord's express directions, beautified by the imagery of angelic figures and fruits. The Lord has also told His prophets to make plain upon tables the visions He gave them.

967. (W. E.)—The Sabbath is to be kept, according to the fourth commandment, "holy unto the Lord." But this does not mean that it was to be antagonistic to human life. If human life or health or necessity require the building of a fire on the Sabbath day, build it. It was not required when Israel was passing through the wilderness. It is required in cold climates. "The Sabbath was made for man," to be a blessing and comfort to him forever.

968. (M. E. S.) The Beginning of the Sabbath.—The day is made up of evening and morning, the evening coming first. See Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, etc. In harmony with this the Lord told Israel, "From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath." Lev. 23:32. The Sabbath began and ended at sunset. See Neh. 13:15-19; Matt. 8:16; Mark 1:32-34; Luke 4:31-40. It will be seen by these scriptures referred to in the Gospels that the Sabbath closed at even, when the sun did set. Then the sick were brought, which would not be done on the Sabbath. How good it is to have one of God's richest blessings come to us at a time when we can welcome it, and to go at a time when we can consciously receive its parting blessing! Satan would have us put all this at midnight, when humanity is unconscious. God's way is the better.

969. (F. A. H.) Christ's Baptism.—The word "baptism" itself means a burial. The believer's baptism is like that of the Master's, and that is a burial. See Rom. 6:3-5; Col. 2:12. It is hardly reasonable to suppose that our Lord was taken down into the water in order to be sprinkled. He was immersed, and if the word baptizo had been translated, it would have said so; that is what the word means.

970. (W. P. F.) Luke 16:16.—The first part of the sentence, like many others, is elliptical, that is, it is not complete; the verb is understood. The translators supplied but one-half of it. "The law and the prophets were preached until John; since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it." The kingdom of God then became present truth, and it stirred the people. See Matt. 3:1-6.

971. (Fellow-worker.) Oysters.—"Are oysters forbidden in the Word of God?" See what the Lord calls such things in Lev. 11:9-12. Have they changed since? We shall have an article upon the subject of diet soon.

CUT LOOSE.

Heb. 12:1: "Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us."

2 Cor. 6:17: "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you."

Two men, under the influence of liquor, one night tried to row a boat across a bay. They rowed all night, and in the morning found they had made no progress whatever, for they had neglected to lift the anchor. Many Christians act as stupidly as this in their endeavors to make spiritual progress. They attend church, give liberally, and conform generally to Christian standards, but deep down in their hearts there is something they will not give up. There is something they love more than Christ, and they are anchored to it, so that they can make no progress.

NOT ALONE.

John 8:29: "The Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him."

Ps. 34:7: The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them."

One evening a lady of New York, while on her way home at a late hour, without an escort, was approached by a lewd fellow as the boat on which they rode neared its landing, who asked:—

"Are you alone?"

"No, sir," was the reply, and, without further interruption, when the boat touched, she stepped off.

"I thought you were alone," said the fellow, stepping to her side again.

"I am not," replied the lady.

"Why, I don't see any one; who is with you?"

"God and the angels, sir; I am never alone."

This arrow pierced the villain's heart, and with these parting words, "You keep too good company for me, madam," he shot out of sight, leaving the heroic lady to enjoy her good company.

ONLY WHAT WE CAN.

Mark 14:8: "She hath done what she could."

A bedridden woman lived near the railroad track, a long way from any other house. Near by was a deep gully over which the railroad passed on a new iron bridge. One night there was a terrible wind. The poor woman was alone. All at once she heard a fearful crash; it was the bridge. In ten minutes the train would be along. What could she do? Her son was away. Praying earnestly for help, she took the only light in the house, a tallow candle, and began to crawl, for she could not walk, toward the track. How she got there she never knew. She could hear the roar of the coming train. She prayed, "O God, help me to light this candle, and keep it burning until the engineer sees it; and make him see it!" The candle was lighted, the wind subsided; she waved the candle. Would the engineer see it? She heard a grating sound,—the brakes were set. She lost consciousness then, but the train came to a standstill a few feet from the yawning chasm. Hundreds of lives were saved. This weak, sick woman did what she could; God used what she had. He will use what you have if you will lovingly do your part.

BE ESTABLISHED.

2 Chron. 20:20: “Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper.”

James 5:8: “Stablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”

A good tree, a strong tree, strikes its roots deep down. The temple in Jerusalem was founded upon a rock, and it is said that the foundation was as deep as the building itself was high. It must be so with us if we would be established. We must work, but we must also pray, and the more work we have to do the more prayer we must make. We must think of this world, but we must also think of the next. We must do what is right by men, but we must also do what is right by God. When we “get on” in this world, get riches, get more mercies, get more comforts, then we must get a deeper, deeper trust and hold on Jesus Christ. If we fail to do that, if we do not get in deeper with Jesus as we get on more in the world, one day we shall be found adrift, for we have had too shallow a grip, we have not been established. Be established, settled on Jesus, for life and for death, once and forever.

THE SLEEPLESS WATCHER.

Ps. 121:4: "Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."

A little four-year-old in my congregation inquired of her widowed mother one moonlight night:—

"Mama, is the moon God's light?"

The light had just been put out, and the timid little girl, as well as her mother, was afraid of the dark; but presently she saw the bright moon out of her window, and it suggested the question:—

"Is the moon God's light?"

"Yes, Ethel," the mother replied; "the moon and stars are all God's lights."

Then came the next question from the little girl:—

"Will God blow out His light and go to sleep, too?"

"No, my child," replied the mother, "His lights are always burning."

Then the timid little girl gave utterance to a sentiment that thrilled the mother's heart, and led her to a more complete trust in her God:—

"Well, mama, while God's awake, I am not afraid."

A BLESSED, PERSONAL SAVIOUR.

John 14:3: "I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

Rev. 22:20: "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

In 1849, when the excitement for gold in California was great, a man left his family of wife and little daughter in an Eastern home to try his fortune in the gold regions. He soon sent his wife a check for fifty dollars, then a hundred, shortly five hundred, and soon a thousand; then the checks came faster and larger. The mortgage on the home was lifted, a mansion built, and money put in bank. Years fled; the daughter went to school, finished her education, came home; but home was not what she desired it, without the companionship of her father. So she wrote about the following letter:

"Father, we thank you for the blessings bestowed upon us; we have a beautiful home, money in bank, my education is finished, and I am at home, but home is not home without you. We enjoy the blessings, but we want the blesser. Father, dear, come home, come home; father, come home!"

ASSOCIATION WITH CHRIST.

Acts 4:13: "They took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."

A thought to brighten poverty is that, however poor and obscure we may be, we can have as much fragrance in our lives as the greatest and best. A Persian fable tells of a man who picked up a lump of clay which had a delightful odor.

"What art thou?" he asked.

"Only a lump of clay."

"But whence this odor?"

"I have been dwelling with the rose."

And the poet takes up the fable and sings:—

"And will not those Who love to dwell with Sharon's rose Distil sweet odors all around, Tho low and mean themselves be found?"

CHRISTIAN CHARITY.

1 Peter 4:8: "Charity shall cover the multitude of sins."

An eminent painter was requested by Alexander the Great to sketch his likeness. Alexander had a scar upon his brow, the result of a sword-thrust. For a time the artist was perplexed as to how he might make a good likeness of the king, and yet not show this deformity. He finally hit upon the expedient of having the monarch seated on his throne with his head slightly resting upon his hand, thus concealing the scar. When we sketch the characters of others, let us kindly lay our hands over their scars; and when others come to sketch us, perhaps they also will lay the hand of charity over our scars, for we have them, too. Thus shall each preserve and set forth the beauty of the other, and forget the deformity that more or less mars us all. Jesus Christ takes away our scars, and places His own beauty upon us. Let His Spirit actuate us.

BE COURTEOUS.

1 Peter 3:8: "Be courteous."

"Would you like to know by what means I was converted?" said a good old man to his minister.

"Certainly I would," was the reply.

"One day I was walking, and met a little boy. The little fellow remained standing beside me. 'May I beg you, sir,' he said to me, 'to take this tract? and may I also beg you to read it?' Tract! I hated heartily all tracts or anything of the kind; but that, 'May I beg you, sir,' of the little boy conquered me. I took the tract and thanked the little boy, and I said I would read it, and I did, and the reading of it saved my soul."

Mountains and Streams.

By Editor

There is nothing of earth in nature which brings to the mind of the thoughtful and reflective, such sublimity, and grandeur, and elevation of thought, as the great mountains and flowing streams of pure, sparkling water. They are emblematic of the great and the good. They speak of God and His power; and, for this reason, we have no apology to make for our first-page illustration, from the beautiful Yosemite.

Mountains are suggestive of strength, endurance, majesty, exaltation. Their mighty, rugged base seems as tho they could never be moved. Ages come and go, kingdoms rise and fall, cities are built and decay, men and races live and die; but the strong, mighty mountain endures, the very personification of stability and strength. What a symbol of true exaltation is the high mountain, with its snow and cloud-crowned crest! The eagle soars above it; the balloon ascends higher than its loftiest peak; but these are so unstable, so without foundation, that they inspire no sublime, exalted feeling. But the height of the mountain speaks of solid exaltation; a lifting up toward God, with a solid foundation underneath. It suggests a purer atmosphere, high above the fetid air of pestilential swamps and festering lagoons and noisome cities. The mountain means a larger, more comprehensive view, wherein the little local affairs of our own little vale mean less and do not hide from our view other matters equally great or infinitely worthier. The mountains lift to a "purer air and grander view."

God has usually chosen to commune with His servants in the mountains. It was in Mount Moriah where God met with Abraham, and where the old patriarch received his crowning blessing. Here also was built the temple of the Lord. It was to Horeb, "the mountain of God," that the Lord called His people. Upon one of its peaks, Sinai, He condescended to manifest His glory and presence. Up into this mount He twice called Moses, and communed with this "man of God" forty days and nights. To this mountain Elijah fled from the wicked Ahab, and spent twice twoscore days and nights with his God. Then there are the mountains connected with our blessed Lord—the Mount of Temptation, the Mount of Blessing, the Mounts of Prayer, the Mount of Transfiguration, the Mount of Calvary, where Jesus shed His blood, and Olivet, whence He ascended to heaven, and Zion above to which He returned, and where His throne is established. O the mountains of God, made blessed by associations with the Divine. Thus has Inspiration spoken of Mount Zion, the eternal mountain of God, in type and antitype:—

"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, In the city of our God, in His holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, The city of the great King."

"Let Mount Zion be glad, Let the daughters of Judah rejoice, Because of Thy judgments. Walk about Zion, and go round about her; Tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, Consider her palaces; That ye may tell it to the generation following. For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our Guide even forevermore."

And Streams.

Mountains are suggestive of streams. The dead, level countries know no gushing springs, no swift, purling brooks, no clear, beautiful rivers. The plain is often parched and bare, when from the mountainside flow fountains of life and fertility. Water is typical not only of both of these, but of cleansing and peace. What makes sweeter music than the patter of the rain upon the roof, the babbling of the purling brook over the pebbles and stones and rocks? what grander than the rush of mighty waters over the stupendous cliff, the roar of Niagara, "the sound of many waters," like the voice of God?

The Spirit of God is symbolized by water. "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring; and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses." "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believed on Him were to receive."

Those that believe on Christ are thus like the mountains. The mountain top catches the clouds, the dew, the outpourings of rain, the snow. It becomes saturated, filled with the moisture, a reservoir of refreshing, life-giving liquid. Far down the mountainside, perhaps at its very foot, or far away in the valley, gushes out a great spring of pure, clear water, the source of a cool, clear stream that flows on and on, an emblem of cleansing and life, a picture of ever-increasing usefulness and peace.

These imperfect notes are but weakly suggestive of a wealth of scripture and reference in the Word of God to these great works of nature. God would have us learn the blessed lessons of strength and power, of life and blessing and peace. He would have us look beyond the mountains of earth, which will be broken and removed, to the great mountain of God's righteousness and strength. When He speaks out of Zion, all of earth will be shaken; all of sin will be removed forever. But he who puts his trust in God will be unmoved, like Mount Zion above, the eternal throne of the Most High. For "they that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which can not be removed, but abideth forever." Live in the high mountain with God. Drink of the cool, pure waters of Life's Lebanon.

THE OUTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT.

By Ellen G. White

In Two Numbers.

No. 1.

"YE shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Just before He left them, Christ gave His disciples this promise of the Holy Spirit, and while the words were upon His lips, He ascended. A cloud of angels received Him, and escorted Him to the city of God. The disciples returned to Jerusalem, knowing now that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. Their faith was unclouded, and they waited for the fulfilment of the promise, preparing themselves by prayer for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting." "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." In that assembly there were mockers, who did not recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit, and they said, "These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words; for these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams."

After the crucifixion of Christ, the disciples were a helpless, discouraged company,—as sheep without a shepherd. Their Master had been rejected, condemned, and nailed to

the ignominious cross. Scornfully the Jewish priests and rulers had declared: "He saved others; Himself He can not save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him."

But the cross, that instrument of shame and torture, brought hope and salvation to the world. The disciples rallied; their hopelessness and helplessness left them. They were transformed in character, and united in bonds of Christian love. They were but humble men, without wealth, and with no weapon but the Word and Spirit of God, counted by the Jews as mere fishermen. Yet in Christ's strength they went forth to witness for the truth, and to triumph over all opposition. Clothed with the divine panoply, they went forth to tell the wonderful story of the manger and the cross. Without earthly honor or recognition, they were heroes of faith. From their lips came words of divine eloquence that shook the world.

Those who had rejected and crucified the Saviour expected to find the disciples discouraged and crestfallen, ready to disown their Lord. They heard with amazement the clear, bold testimony of the apostles, given under the power of the Holy Spirit. The disciples worked and spoke as their Master had worked and spoken, and all who heard them said, "They have been with Jesus, and learned of Him."

As the apostles went forth, preaching Jesus everywhere, they did many things that the Jewish rulers did not approve. The people brought their sick, and those vexed with unclean spirits, into the streets; crowds collected round them, and those who had been healed shouted the praises of God, and glorified the name of Him whom the Jews had condemned, crowned with thorns, and caused to be scourged and crucified. Jesus was now extolled above priest and ruler, and there was danger that the doctrines of the rabbis would be brought into disrepute, for the apostles were even declaring that Christ had risen from the dead.

The Jewish leaders thought themselves competent to decide what the apostles should do and teach, and they determined that their work must and should be stopped, for it was proving them (the rulers) guilty of the death of Jesus. They saw too that converts to the faith were multiplying. "Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees)," who hold that there will be no resurrection of the dead. The assertion made by the apostles that they had seen Jesus after His resurrection, and that He had ascended to heaven, overthrew the fundamental principles of the Sadducean doctrine. This was not to be allowed. Filled with indignation, the priests laid violent hands upon the apostles, and put them in the common prison.

The disciples were not intimidated or cast down by this treatment. The words of Christ, in His last lesson to them, were brought to their minds by the Holy Spirit: "He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him." "When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me; and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning." "They shall put you out of the synagogue; yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." "These things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them."

In the Jewish nation those whom the Lord had made depositaries of truth, had proved unfaithful to their trust, and the Lord chose others to do His work. In their blindness these leaders gave full sway to what they called righteous indignation against the ones who were setting aside cherished fables. They would not admit that there was a possibility that they themselves did not rightly understand the Word, or that they had misinterpreted or misapplied the Scriptures. They acted like men who had lost their reason. What right have these men, they reasoned, some of them mere fishermen, to present ideas contrary to the doctrines which we teach the people?

The God of heaven sometimes commissions men to preach that which is contrary to established doctrines. Men in authority are not always to be obeyed, even tho they may profess to be teachers of Bible truth. By night the angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, and said to the disciples, "Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life." This command was obeyed by the apostles; "they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught."

In the meantime, "the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned, and told, saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors; but when we had opened, we found no man within. Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people. Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence; for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned."

"And when they had brought them, . . . the high priest asked them, saying, Did we not straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men." The Spirit of the Lord moved upon Gamaliel, a Pharisee and doctor of the law, whose advice was, "Refrain from these men, and let them alone; for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to naught, but if it be of God, ye can not overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. And to him they agreed."

Yet the attributes of Satan so controlled the priests and rulers that, notwithstanding the wonderful miracles wrought by the apostles, they were so filled with prejudice and hatred that they could hardly be restrained. "When they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."

THE TRUTH.

By Archibald Lampman

FRIEND, tho thy soul should burn thee, yet be still. Thoughts were not meant for strife, nor tongues for swords. He that sees clear is gentlest of his words, And that's not truth that hath the heart to kill. —Archibald Lampman.

THE TWO COVENANTS.

By Cyrus Simmons

A COVENANT is a solemn obligation or undertaking under seal. The fact of its being a sealed instrument contradistinguishes it from a simple contract. It necessarily has to be written. Two covenants are prominently mentioned in the Scriptures, the old and the new.

The Old Covenant.

The law, or the Ten Commandments, constituting the basis of the old covenant, were first spoken by God from heaven on Mt. Sinai (Ex. 20:1, 22), then they were written with His finger on two tables of stone (Deut. 5:22; Ex. 31:18), and, finally, they were written by Moses in the book of the covenant (Ex. 24:4, 7).

The people, on their part, promised to keep the Ten Commandments: "All the words which the Lord hath said will we do." Ex. 19:8; 24:3, 7; Deut. 5:27.

By promising to keep the law, they obligated themselves to be holy, to be righteous, to be perfect. A tremendous, an impossible, undertaking without divine power.

For obedience to His law, God promised them temporal prosperity; He told them they should be the head, and not the tail, in the governments of the world; that they should lend unto nations, and not borrow. Deuteronomy 28. On His part, He also promised to bless them spiritually; that they should be a peculiar treasure unto Him, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. Ex. 19:5, 6. "And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord." Deut. 28:10. "O, that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep all My commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!" Deut. 5:29.

This solemn agreement was sealed with the blood of calves and goats. "For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people" (Heb. 9:19), and said, "Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words" (Ex. 24:8).

The New Covenant.

In both covenants the contracting parties are the same,—the Lord and the Israel of God. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah." Jer. 31:31.

The subject matter of the two contracts is the same; that is, the law, or the Ten Commandments. Heb. 8:10. The fault with the old covenant was not found by God in His law, but with His people. "For finding fault with them . . . because they continued not in My covenant." Heb. 8:8, 9.

The great difference in the two contracts is manifestly seen in the manner in which the law is administered.

As we have seen in the old, the law was written with the finger of God on tables of stone. In the new, we find the same law written with the Spirit of the living God in the fleshly tables of the heart. 2 Cor. 3:3. "I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts." Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10. The ministration in the old covenant is the ministration of condemnation, of death. 2 Cor. 3:7, 9. It is a picture of the righteousness of God without the power to do it. It was "glorious" (2 Cor. 3:9-11) in that it revealed righteousness to man, but not in him.

Its object is to bring the sinner to Christ, his only hope of salvation. "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ." Gal. 3:24. This ministration of death was given that the sinner may see the necessity of a Saviour, and, in a measure, appreciate the great sacrifice in the death of the Son of God, by whose blood (or life) the new covenant is sealed.

How vastly different, also, the executive power in the two contracts!

For its execution, the old covenant rested upon the word of man: "All the words which the Lord hath said will we do."

The new covenant is founded upon the powerful (Heb. 8:12) Word of God. "I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes." Eze. 36:27.

The new covenant is the Gospel of Christ; "for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." "That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 1:16; 8:4.

The new covenant is God in man. It is the mystery of godliness now made manifest to His saints, "which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Col. 1:26, 27.

This mystery is known to the saints. To know the mystery is to know God. The result of the new covenant is to know the Lord. "And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord; for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest.'" Heb. 8:11.

The new covenant is Christ and the law. God is as inseparable from His law as He is from His righteousness. The one is declaratory of the other. Christ is "the faithful and true witness" (Rev. 3:14) of God to man; the law is the witness of God in man. "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets." Rom. 3:21.

Among other precepts of righteousness, the law says: "But the seventh day [or Saturday] is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Ex. 20:10. If we believe in or keep the first day of the week, or Sunday, how can Jesus write all His law on the fleshly tables of our heart? If we do not let Him, are we not guilty? "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10. Is not our guilt more assuredly so when the Saviour Himself says: "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no-wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (Matt. 5:18)?

In the apostolic age it was popular for Pharisatical believers to be sticklers for the law, but it meant persecution and, many times, death to know and to preach Christ and Him crucified. The devil, with his great subtlety and cunning, in the last days, has reversed his point of deception. Many, after a form of godliness, want Christ, but they disclaim any obedience to the law, and look upon it as a Jewish institution which had served its purpose when that people as a nation was scattered to the four quarters of the earth. A careful searching of the Scriptures, however, testifies of both Christ and the law.

To annul the law is to do away with the government of God. To deny Christ is to deny the power to keep the law.

The new or everlasting covenant agrees, by man's co-operation, to keep the law, or fulfil its righteousness in him. Rom. 8:4. Man never did nor ever can keep God's law. But God in man can and will keep it for him if he will only let Him. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good-pleasure." Phil. 2:13.

The righteousness we do, then, is not our righteousness, but it is "the righteousness of God." "For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His." Heb. 4:10.

Knoxville, Tenn.

Time and Eternity

"Time is a parenthesis in eternity."

Continue reading: THE TIME OF CHRIST'S COMING