Earlier text: General ArticlesTHIS is ideal Christianity—to have the mind of Christ. It is not to join a church, pay so much money, be decorous in life. It means the living, or the seeking to live, that ideal life that Christ lived here on earth. It means that one shall forget himself in the nobility of work. He who would possess a mind of Christ must be content to organize his thoughts, and do his work even though he may have no name of earthly immortality. It means to do some helpful human work, of brain or hand—to do it gladly, faithfully, as long as life or strength lasts. It is cowardice, when so much needs to be done, to ever dream of a liberation from the necessity of labor. Let the weak and the aged sit in the sheltered corner of the household fire, but to those who can, God says, “Work.” It means to irradiate this common life of ours with divine motives; if one is a mother in a humble home, to fill it with taste and sympathy, the feeling of moral beauty, the tenderness of love. Difficult? Yes, it is. To do common things well is the most difficult of things. There are ten painters who can paint a dreamy Madonna to one who can depict a beggar boy trying to extract a thorn from his naked foot. In an hour of high impulse one does an uncommon deed with dramatic effect. But it is harder to do that which is infinitely more needed to make divine our daily life by drenching it with the Spirit of Christ. So he who would lead a Christian life, called to be a knight, a hero, a worker, whose life tells men that there is an eternal God who loves good and hates evil, and who helps every little bit of holiness in a human heart, whether it be found in a great city, or Western prairie, or Jutuma Fountain. He is to strike great blows against all evil—intemperance, ignorance, idleness, luxury, hypocrisy. He is to take his religion into his home and plant even more thickly the joy-flowers there. This is a great work? Yes, but a great nature is called to great things. A hard world? Yes, but a place for heroes! Christ calls a man to that which is infinite.—Christian Union. Learning to Submit
By Prof. Riddle
WHEN you have learned to submit, to do faithfully, patiently, duty that is most distasteful to you, God may permit you to do the work you like.—Prof. Riddle. The Commonplaces of Our Faith
“THE commonplaces of our faith are the food upon which our faith will most richly feed.” Are the Apostles Greater than Christ?
By Alonzo O. Tait
It may seem strange to some to have us ask such a question as the above. But a statement made by a man claiming to be a minister of the gospel, led us to reflect on the above subject. He was speaking against the Sabbath of the decalogue, and finding that the Saviour said in Matt. 5:17–19 and in Luke 16:17 that the law would stand as long as heaven and earth endure, he tried to parry the force of the Saviour’s words by saying that “no matter what Moses, prophet, priest, or even Christ himself may have said or taught, it is of no force unless it is re-affirmed by the apostles.” Can blasphemy be more daringly asserted than that the great Teacher must have the apostles re-state what he has said, in order for it to be binding upon us as Christians? And yet men will go to such absurd and extreme lengths for no other reason than to get rid of observing God’s great day of rest. And if the apostles must thus confirm what Christ said while a teacher here on earth, what must they be? Are they above the Son of God in authority? And must he ask them how everything he proposes must be done? And after he speaks forth his will must he wait in trembling expectancy to see if it will be sanctioned by the apostles? How absurd! And yet many of the members of that man’s church were so anxious to have him do away with the Sabbath that they thought he was all right in making such a grossly blasphemous assertion. Men used to say, when they tried to get rid of the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, that the Old Testament was all that was abolished; but when they find that Christ taught the Sabbath in the New Testament, they are ready to throw away half of that. Now the question is, When this same class of teachers find how forcibly the commandments and the Sabbath are enforced by the apostles, will they throw away all they wrote too? If a man try to draw a line in the Bible past the last place where the law which requires the observation of the Sabbath is mentioned, and then throw away all before that, he will find himself confined to the last seven verses of the book of Revelation. And those who want to pay so dearly for getting rid of a plain requirement of God’s word will find that the first of these last seven verses tells him that he is without, among the dogs, sorcerers, whoremongers, murderers, idolaters, and liars. This is not very pleasant company surely. But all those who try to get rid of God’s law that forbids such things will unmistakably be found there unless they repent. We are certainly in the time of great deceptions, of which the word of God warns us. And when we find ourselves tempted to throw away the words of Christ in this wholesale manner, we need to reflect seriously whether we would not throw away the great Teacher himself if he was here and presented duty that was not agreeable to the carnal mind. A. O. TAIT. Christian Trials.
By Frank Hope
The subject of trials in the Christian life is very forcibly brought to view in the Scriptures. If a vine is to illustrate Christian life, it has to be pruned; if a stone, it has to undergo a process of chipping and polishing before it becomes a “lively” stone; if silver, it has to be refined and the dross taken out. Jesus was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and he tells us that “the servant is not greater than his lord; if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you;” indeed “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” so “think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you.” There is a sacredness in the sorrow and affliction that every Christian has to some extent to experience; the Lord “scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” The Lord sends trials to separate the wheat from the chaff. Without trials some of the fruits of the Spirit could not be brought forth; patience is a beautiful flower growing out of tribulation; for “tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope.” Trials help us to realize the privileges we enjoy; if there were no clouds we could not so well appreciate the sunshine. Those who have never had any suffering cannot so well sympathize with those who are in trouble. Trials break the hard carnal heart and leave the nature more subdued and tender; it is those flowers that are most crushed that emit the sweetest fragrance. We know that the remnant church has to pass through great tribulation. There is a time of great trouble looked forward to, but while we gaze so fearfully on the intricate mass of shoals in the distance, we must be careful not to run on some sunken reef directly under our bow. “It is the little foxes that spoil the vines!” and it is the little trials that are most likely to trip us. The cross has to be taken up daily. Our life to-day is the inevitable product of every moment gone before. Some one has said, “To-day is the child of yesterday and the mother of to-morrow.” What we will be to-morrow is the outcome of what we are to-day. If we overcome all trials to-day, by the grace of God, we shall do so to-morrow; and when the greater trials come, the Lord will be our strength, and his grace will be sufficient. Paul suffered the keenest and most bitter trials, yet he said he gloried in them. And why? “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying.” Then why should we not say,— “Blest be the sorrow, kind the storm,
Which drives us nearer home” ? Scientific Twaddle vs. the Truth.
By C. P. Bollman
The Christian at Work, of July 29, in noticing some recent Egyptian discoveries which go to confirm Bible history, inflicts upon its readers the following bit of scientific twaddle:— “In this relation it may be noted that not only did the Hebrews borrow parts of their religious forms from the Egyptians, but Professor A. H. Sayce has recently directed attention to the striking resemblances existing in the religious symbolism of the Hebrews and Assyrians, which latter people seem to have borrowed largely from the Babylonians.”
There is nothing at all strange in the fact of a “striking resemblance existing in the religious symbolism of the Hebrews and Assyrians;” nor is it at all difficult to account for a like similarity between the Assyrians and the Babylonians, since out of the land of Babylon “went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh,” the capital of the Assyrian Empire. Gen. 10:11. But why say that “the Hebrews borrowed parts of their religious forms from the Egyptians”? Why not settle the whole question in accordance with the Scriptures, rather than against them, by stating the simple and evident truth, i. e., that the heathen worship of the Babylonians, Assyrians, and Egyptians resembled the “religious forms” of the Hebrews because it was simply a corruption of the forms which God had ordained for his own worship,—forms which were appointed immediately after the fall and were preserved through the instrumentality of such men as Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? They who suppose that either the “religious forms” or the moral code of the Hebrews does not antedate Egyptian bondage or the exodus, have read the old Testament to very little purpose. That parts of both had been lost during the sojourn in Egypt, there can be no doubt; and this is why they were given in a written form at Sinai; but that they were “borrowed” either in whole or in part from any other nation is contrary alike to Scripture and common sense. The Hebrews did, however, borrow one “religious” form from the Egyptians, a form which materialized into the golden calf, which Moses found them worshiping when he descended from the mount after having received the tables of the law. C. P. BOLLMAN. An Incentive to Watchfulness.
By Sel.
A MAN is not compelled, contrary to his volition, to become a Christian; and why should he be compelled, unless his probation has ceased, to remain a Christian? Voluntary obedience only is acceptable to God. What a man does because he is compelled to do it, or because he cannot do otherwise, is destitute of every element of virtue. The service of God, from beginning to end, is a voluntary service. Hence, men are exhorted to come to Christ, and having accepted him as their Saviour, they are exhorted to maintain their fidelity to him. This is a doctrine which cannot be safely disregarded. If Paul, after he had preached the gospel to others, was in danger of becoming a castaway, how important that we cultivate a sense of our danger, continue to cleave unto the Lord, and work out our salvation with fear and trembling. When our state of trial is ended, and we are confirmed in glory, and not till then, will we be beyond the reach of temptation and danger. What a powerful incentive is this to constant watchfulness and faithfulness in the service of God!—Sel. Trials Sure to Visit Us.
By Thomas Manton
If because you are Christians you promise yourselves a long lease of temporal happiness, free from troubles and afflictions, it is as if a soldier going to the wars should promise himself peace and continual truce with the enemy; or as if a mariner committing himself to the sea for a long voyage should promise himself nothing but fair and calm weather, without waves and storms; so irrational it is for a Christian to promise himself rest here upon earth. Well, then, let us learn beforehand how to be abused, and how to abound. He that is on a journey to Heaven must be provided for all weathers; though it be sunshine when he first sets forth, a storm will overtake him before he come to his journey’s end. It is good to be forearmed; afflictions will come, and we should prepare accordingly. We enter upon the profession of godliness, upon these terms, to be willing to suffer afflictions if the Lord see fit; and therefore should arm ourselves with a mind to endure them, whether they come or no.—Thomas Manton, 1620–1677. HE that would love and serve God acceptably and at all times must “keep his heart with all diligence,” for if the heart goes wrong, all about him and in him is wrong. There is no true service of God that is not heart-service. It is the hardest of hard things for a man to keep his feet in the way of uprightness, when he undertakes to do so without the leading and co-operation of the heart. Such a serving of the Lord will be like swallowing the bitterest of medicine, or doing menial service against our will. It is also without any kind of value, and will be of no possible use to us, nor to God. It makes life a drudgery and the claims of religion hateful. The heart must be kept—kept full of love to God, and full of faith in Christ. Then will the law of God be the delight of the soul, and the service of God be the joy of our life. We will run in the way of his commandments when our heart inclines to his service, and in the keeping of his law we will find a great reward.—Methodist Recorder. That Pork Question Again.
By W.
SOME time ago we wrote a short article for the SIGNS in answer to a question concerning the use of swine's flesh. Shortly after, we gave an explanation of Peter's vision, in reply to one who gave that as divine authority for pork-eating. In that we showed that God did not give Peter a vision for the purpose of teaching him that it was his duty to eat pork, but to teach him that he should call no man common. We also stated the fact that the distinction of clean and unclean beasts was not peculiar to the Levitical economy, but that it existed from the earliest ages, and that consequently the abolition of the ceremonial law had no effect upon the hog. As proof that the distinction of clean and unclean beasts existed before the Jewish age, we referred to Gen. 7:2, 8; 8:20. A friend, however, takes exception to this, and claims that Gen. 9:3 shows that there was no distinction, but that all beasts were alike good for food. That verse reads thus, “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.” Every moving thing that liveth would include not only the hog but rats, toads, lizards, bats, buzzards, porcupines, centipedes, spiders, and scores of lesser vermin, which we think even our pork-loving friend would not wish to have included in his bill of fare. But our friend will say the text says, “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you,” and we are not at liberty to say that it does not mean what it says, even though it may appear unreasonable. It is true that we are not at liberty to put our construction on the text, but we must allow one text to explain another. We often find that a comprehensive statement is made in one place, and that exceptions to it are noted in another. For instance we read in Ex. 16:4: “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.” If we should confine our attention to this text we should suppose the people gathered manna seven days in the week, but in the 26th verse we read: “Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none.” Now when we read Ex. 16:4 we read it in the light of the other verse, and know that the Lord meant that they should gather manna every working day; so, likewise, when we read Gen. 9:3, we read it in the light of Gen. 7:2, 8; Lev. 11:7, 8; Isa. 65:3-5; 66:17, and others, which say that certain animals, the swine among them, are unclean and unfit for food. Therefore we know that the Lord meant that he had given to Noah every living thing of clean beasts for meat, and Noah must certainly have so understood it. Our friend brings up Rom. 14:2, 3, 14 as evidence that pork eating is allowable. But these texts have no reference whatever to the eating of pork. The question here as in 1 Cor. 8 is concerning things offered to idols. There is no reason to suppose that the word meat means flesh simply; on the contrary, it must necessarily include fruits and grains as well, for these were offered to idols. Now the question was, Is it lawful to eat any food that has been dedicated to an idol? Paul declares that it is, but he would not make it a matter of dispute. If a brother newly come to the faith thought that to eat food that had been offered to an idol was a recognition of that idol, he should be permitted to abstain from it and select food that had not been so dedicated. Neither should those who knew that there was no harm in it cause the weak brother to stumble by partaking of it. Almost all food which the heathen used was dedicated to their gods, so that Christians could scarcely have found anything to eat if it had been true that such food was not lawful to be eaten. But Paul declared that an idol was nothing and that to dedicate food to it had no effect upon it, and so he said, “Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience' sake.” 1 Cor. 10:27 is quoted as proof that we are at liberty to eat anything and everything. That reads, “If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go, whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience' sake.” The next verse, however, shows what is referred to, for it says, “If any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience' sake; for the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.” If the matter of pork eating had been under discussion it would not have been necessary to say, “asking no question for conscience' sake,” for the man could tell if the dish were pork without asking any questions; but he could not tell that food had been offered to idols unless he should ask, and this Paul tells him not to do because it is of no consequence. Again we read, “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” 1 Tim. 4:4, 5. This text is quoted in favor of pork eating, but like Gen. 9:3 it is too comprehensive. There must be exceptions, for there are creatures whose flesh is unwholesome and poisonous. The fifth verse in this case deprives the pork eater of all the comfort which he seeks to draw from it, for no one can find where swine has been sanctified by the word of God. One more text we must notice. Our friend quotes Col. 2:16, 17, but what has already been said covers this text. Paul is speaking here of the ceremonial law, and we have already seen that the distinction between clean and unclean animals was before the ceremonial law. All must admit that this distinction was made in the very beginning, for immediately after the fall sacrifices were made to God, and no right-minded person could think that the sacrifice of a hog or other unclean animal would be acceptable to God, even if the Bible said nothing about it. Therefore the distinction of clean and unclean beasts could be no part of the shadow of which Christ is the body. But if our friend thinks that he can trace some connection between pork eating599and the mystery of Christ, we should like to have him show it to us. We have considered these texts at this length because an explanation of them was asked, and we wished to give the true sense of them. We still adhere to our belief that the eating of swine's flesh is forbidden by the word of God. We cannot believe that the Lord now delights in what twenty-five hundred years ago he called an abomination. And we emphatically protest against such a low view of Christ's sacrifice as would lead to the supposition that it was made largely in order that men might be at liberty to eat whatever their perverted appetites might crave.
W. The Sabbath and Conversion.
The following question and answer we find in the report of a “gospel service” in San Francisco on a recent Sunday night:— “Is the Sabbath done away with?” “If you are a Jew, No. But it is deplorable to see a person claiming to be a Christian, and going back to Judaism. The Sabbath is the seventh day, but they are not converted people who keep it. Some people devote so much attention to the Sabbath question that their religion is all Sabbath and no Christ.” That is, the thing is done and it is not done. We leave the question as to how a thing can at the same time both be and not be, to those who are more skilled in casuistry than we are. It is too deep for ordinary people. We read that “the Sabbath was made for man;” then if it is abolished, it must be abolished for man; and if it is not abolished, it must still remain for man. We have great respect for the Jews, but we do not believe that they were any more entitled to be called men than we are; therefore we do not believe the Sabbath was made specially for them. The Sabbath was made for all who are included in the general term “man.” If there are any people to whom the term “man” will not apply, then perhaps the Sabbath was not made for them. Keeping the Sabbath is no more Jewish than is worshiping the true God, or refraining from blasphemy, murder, and adultery. Therefore to keep the Sabbath is not to go back to Judaism. “The Sabbath is the seventh day, but they are not converted people who keep it.” The seventh-day Sabbath is the Sabbath commanded in the law, and the psalmist says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” Ps. 19:7. The law, including the Sabbath, is that which converts the soul, and brings it to Christ; now if a man, having come to Christ, rejects that which alone could bring him to Christ, he necessarily, in so doing, rejects Christ. Therefore to say that a Sabbath-keeper cannot be a converted man is unscriptural and false. If the man had said that not all who keep the Sabbath are converted, we should be obliged to agree with him. Not all who profess to worship the true God, are converted. Not all who profess to accept Christ as their Saviour, are converted. Said Christ: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matt. 7:22, 23. But this does not prove that no one can be converted if he worships God or prophesies in the name of Christ. Yet we might as well say that it does as to say that a Sabbath-keeper cannot be converted. Answers such as the one quoted above may satisfy those who “love to have it so;” but the fact that these questions are continually being asked, shows that people are thinking about the Sabbath; and in these investigations many will reject the foolishness of men, and will accept the word of the Lord which “endureth forever.” SOME people refuse to accept the Bible because there are so many things in it that they cannot understand. If they could understand the Bible, they would accept it and Christ. Such need never expect to understand the Bible, for “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Cor. 2:14. If a man would understand the Bible, to begin with it is necessary for him to understand and believe, only these two simple verses: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” 1 Tim. 1:15. If he has mastered these two texts, and all he has to do to master them is to believe them with his whole heart, then he is a child of God, by faith in Christ Jesus, and being in Christ, he has the Spirit of Christ, and may discern spiritual things. If he grows in the knowledge of Christ, he must necessarily grow in wisdom, for Christ is our wisdom as well as our redemption. 1 Cor. 1:30. In Christ “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Col. 2:3. Therefore in Christ we may obtain all wisdom, but out of him we must remain ignorant. So we say to all, if you wish to understand the Bible, confess your sins to God, accept the sacrifice which he has provided, and receive his pardon. There is no Biblical knowledge which is not possible to the thoroughly converted man. The Extent and Purpose of the Third Angel's Message.
By J.
HAVING shown that now is the time—immediately following A. D. 1844, and onward—when the Third Angel's Message is due to the world, it now remains to study the import of that message. It is a world-wide message; for (1) The first of the three angels (Rev. 14:6, 7), spake with a loud voice to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people; the second angel followed this one, and the third angel followed them. As, therefore, the first one was to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, and as the third one follows, it likewise must go to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. (2) The third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If any man worship the beast and his image,” etc. This phrase, “If any man” shows that it is spoken to all men; that it is a universal message. (3) Of the beast it is said, “All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Rev. 13:8. And the work of the image of the beast is but to cause the worship of the beast; true, he compels men to worship himself, the image of the beast; but as he derives his authority and draws his inspiration from the beast, the worship of the image is but indirectly the worship of the beast. Now as the worship of the beast is to be by “all that dwell upon the earth;” as the Third Angel's Message is the warning against the worship of the beast and his image; and as obedience to this warning is the only means of escaping that worship and the wrath of God; therefore the Third Angel's Message must go to “all that dwell upon the earth,”—the warning must be as extensive as the worship. It is therefore evident that this thing will not be done in a corner. This message says: “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.” We have before cited the scriptures which show this wrath to be the seven last plagues, and which show that with the seventh of these comes the end of the world. But all do not worship the beast and his image. There are some who get “the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name,” and these are seen standing “on the sea of glass,” before the throne of God, having the harps of God, and they sing a song which none can learn but they, and it is the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. Rev. 4:6; 15:2, 3. How do these get the victory? Notice; the message not only warns all men against the worship of the beast and his image, but it tells how to avoid that worship; it not only tells men what they shall not do, but it tells them what to do; it not only calls men to the conflict with the beast and his image, but it tells them how to get the victory; and this is contained in the words, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:12. Here then is a message which is now due, which is to go “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,” calling upon all to keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. The purpose of this message is to gather out from “all that dwell upon the earth” a people of whom it can truly be said, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus;” and that so, such may escape the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. This makes it incumbent upon all people to now study the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus as they have never studied them before, asking themselves the question, “Am I one of whom this scripture speaks? Am I one who truly keeps the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus?” And as this message is world-wide, these considerations plainly show that under the power of the Third Angel's Message there will be such a world-wide study of the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus, as there has not been since holy John stood on the Isle of Patmos. What then is meant by “The commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus”? First, as to the commandments of God. In a certain sense, there is no doubt that every injunction of the Bible is a commandment of God, for the Bible is the word of God. Yet, beside this, there is a certain part of the Bible that must be admitted to be the commandments of God above every other part. That certain part is the TEN COMMANDMENTS. Whereas, in giving all other parts of the Bible, “Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21), in giving the ten commandments, “God spoke all these words.” The whole nation of Israel was assembled at the base of Sinai, and “Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire,” “and all the people saw the thunderings, and lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet,” “and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake.” And there amid these awful scenes, God spoke the ten commandments, with a voice that shook the earth. Heb. 12:26. Nor was that all. After having so spoken these great words unto all the people, “The Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there; and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. . . . And Moses went up into the mount of God.” Ex. 24:12, 13. “And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” Ex. 31:18. “And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand; the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.” Ex. 32:15, 16. When Moses came down to the people, he found they had made a golden calf, and were worshiping it after the manner of Egypt; “and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.” “And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first; and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto Mount Sinai.” Ex. 34:1, 2. Then says Moses: “I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, in the day of the assembly.” Deut. 10:3, 4. Thus we find not only that God spoke the ten commandments, but that he wrote them twice upon the tables of stone. Although holy men of God could speak the message of God when moved by the Holy Ghost, none could be found holy enough to speak the words of the ten commandments in their deliverance to the children of men. Although the Spirit could say to the holy prophets, “Write,” no such word could be given to any man when the ten commandments were to be given in tangible form to the children of men. But instead God said, I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written. And again the second time, when these tables were broken, I will write the words that were in the first tables. Nor was this all. God did not come down upon Mount Sinai alone, but thousands of the holy angels were with him there. “The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints; from his right hand went a fiery law for them.” Deut. 33:2. “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels; the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.” Ps. 68:17. This array of angels is that to which Stephen referred when he said to his persecutors that they had “received the law by the disposition of angels.” Acts 7:53. The Greek word here rendered disposition, signifies, “to set in order; draw up an army; posted in battle order.”—Liddell and Scott. When, therefore, God came down upon Mount Sinai to deliver the ten commandments, he was surrounded with the heavenly host of angels, drawn up in orderly array. Four-faced and four-winged cherubim, six-winged seraphim, and glorious angels with gilded chariots—all these by the tens of thousands accompanied the Majesty of Heaven as in love he gave to sinful men his great law of love. Deut. 33:3. Thus at the giving of the law of ten commandments, there certainly has been no more majestic scene since the creation of the world. Well, indeed, might Paul name “the giving of the law” among the great things that pertain to Israel. Rom. 9:4. In view of all these things, it is assuredly the truth that the ten commandments are very properly distinguished as the commandments of God, above every other part of the Bible, although it is all the word of God. This is according to that word itself. “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. . . . And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.” Deut. 4:9–13. Here in impressing upon them the things which they should diligently remember, “specially” to be remembered were the day that God came down upon Sinai, and the words which they heard; and those words were the ten commandments. This is of equal importance to the world to-day; for this is summed up by Solomon when he says: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter [margin, the end of the matter, even all that hath been heard, is]; Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into Judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Eccl. 12:13, 14. Men are to be judged by the law of God; that law is the ten commandments; and the words of Solomon are enforced in the First and Third Angels' Messages of Rev. 14. The first600angel says: “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his Judgment is come,” and the third angel follows, saying: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” The Third Angel's Message embraces Sinai and Calvary; the law of God and the gospel of Christ; God the Father and God the Son; and when this message ends the work of God for the salvation of men—the mystery of God—will be finished. Reader, are you keeping the ten commandments, with the faith of Jesus? Read them carefully and see. Read them earnestly and prayerfully, for God will soon bring every work into Judgment, and every work that will not bear the test of the ten commandments will be found wanting. J.