SINCE the last two lessons have included quite a general review of what has been passed over, we will proceed at once with
The Lesson for the Week.
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of Him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded; but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased. I would they were even cut off which trouble you. For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." Gal. 5: 1-13.
There is nothing in this portion of Scripture that is difficult for one who has followed the study of the Epistle closely from the beginning. Therefore the whole of this study will really be little more than a review. Let us consider some of the supposedly difficult expressions.
Circumcision Opposed to Christ.
When the apostle says that Christ is no profit to those who are circumcised, it is easy to understand that he is not referring to the mere fact that one had been circumcised, for he himself had undergone that rite. Moreover, he preached Christ to the Jews as well as to the Gentiles. We must recall the circumstances which called out this Epistle. There were those who were persuading the new converts that belief in Christ was not sufficient for salvation, but that they could not be saved if they were not also circumcised. This, it will be seen, was in reality a rejection of Christ; for if Christ be not accepted as a complete Redeemer, He is not accepted at all. That is to say, if Christ be not accepted for what He is, He is rejected. He can not be other than what He is. Christ is not divided; and He does not share with any other person or thing the honor of being Saviour. Therefore it is easy to see that if any one were circumcised with a view to receiving salvation thereby, that would show absence of faith in Christ as the only and the all-sufficient Saviour of mankind.
From the statement that Christ is of no profit to those who are circumcised, we see that it means a rejection of Him; for Christ is always the same, and is always a perfect Saviour. The only ones in the world to whom He is nothing are those who do not accept Him. So, then, what the apostle really says is this: If you are circumcised for salvation, you reject Christ and His salvation.
What Circumcision Means.
This has been stated in the language of the Scripture so many times that we will do no more here than merely to refer to the passages. Read again Rom. 2: 25-29; 4: 11, where it appears very plainly that circumcision means the righteousness of the law. As God gave it to Abraham, it was a sign that he already had righteousness through faith in Christ; but as it became perverted by the Jews, it came to signify in their minds the fact that they themselves were doers of the law. And finally it came to be considered as a substitute for the doing of the law, or as conferring the righteousness of the law. God gave it as a sign of faith in Christ; they perverted it into a substitute for faith. So when a Jew boasted in his circumcision, he was boasting of his own righteousness. This is shown by Gal. 5: 4: "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace." This is no disparagement of the law, but of man's ability to keep the law. It is the glory of the law that it is so holy, and its requirements are so great, that no man is able to attain to the perfection of it. Only in Christ is the righteousness of the law ours; and true circumcision is to worship God in spirit, to rejoice in Christ Jesus, and to put no confidence in the flesh. Phil. 3: 3.
A Debtor to the Law.
"For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law."
"There!" exclaims some one, "that shows that the law is a thing to be avoided; for Paul says that those who are circumcised have got to do the whole law; and he warns them not to be circumcised."
Not quite so hasty, my friend. Stick a little more closely to the text. Read it again, and you will see that the bad thing is not the law, nor the doing of the law, but that the thing to be avoided is being a debtor to the law. Is there not a vast difference? It is a good thing to have food to eat and clothes to wear, but it is a sorrowful thing to be in debt for these necessary things. Sadder yet is it to be in debt for them, and yet to lack them.
"The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." Rom. 7: 12.
What does one understand by "a debtor"?—One who owes something. Then one who is in debt to the law, owes the law righteousness and holiness. But what one owes is what he ought to pay. Therefore this scripture teaches us that one ought to do the law. No one ought to be in debt to it; but the only way we can avoid being in debt to it is to do it.
If one is debtor to do the whole law, that shows that while he ought to do it all, he has not done any portion of it. So then we are forcibly taught by this scripture that whoever seeks righteousness by his own efforts, and not by Christ, has no righteousness at all. But the fact that by rejection of Christ one is a debtor to do the whole law, shows that by acceptance of Christ one yields to the law all that it demands, and satisfies it in every particular.
"The Hope of Righteousness."
"For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith."
Don't pass this verse by without reading it more than once, or you will think that it says something that it does not say. And as you read it, think of what you have already learned about the promise of the Spirit.
Don't imagine that this verse teaches that, having the Spirit, we must wait for righteousness. Not by any means; the Spirit brings righteousness. When He is come, He will convince the world of sin and of righteousness. John 16: 8. Whoever therefore receives the Spirit, has the conviction of sin, and has also the righteousness which the Spirit shows him that he lacks, and which the Spirit alone can bring.
What is the righteousness which the Spirit brings?—It is the righteousness of the law; this we know, "for we know that the law is spiritual." Rom. 7: 14.
What, then, about the "hope of righteousness," for which we wait through the Spirit? Notice that it does not say that we through the Spirit hope for righteousness, but that we wait for the hope of righteousness by faith, that is, the hope which the possession of righteousness brings. Let us briefly go over this matter in detail. It will not take long, for we have already studied it, and all that we have to do is to refresh our minds.
1. The Spirit of God is "the Holy Spirit of promise"—not the Spirit promised, but the Spirit the possession of which insures to us the promise of God.
2. That which God has promised to us, as children of Abraham, is an inheritance. The Holy Spirit is the earnest, or pledge, of this inheritance until the purchased possession is redeemed and bestowed upon us. Eph. 1: 13, 14.
3. This inheritance that is promised is the new heavens and the new earth, "wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2 Peter 3: 13.
4. The Spirit brings righteousness; for the Spirit is Christ's representative, the means by which Christ Himself, who is our righteousness, comes to dwell in our hearts. John 14: 16-18.
5. Therefore the hope which the Spirit brings is the hope which the possession of righteousness brings, namely, the hope of an inheritance in the kingdom of God, the earth made new.
6. The righteousness which the Spirit brings to us is the righteousness of the law of God, which by the Spirit is written in our hearts, instead of on tables of stone. Rom. 2: 29; 2 Cor. 3: 3.
7. The sum of the whole matter, therefore, is this, that if we will wholly distrust ourselves, and will acknowledge that in us there dwelleth no good thing, and that consequently no good thing can come from us; and so, instead of thinking ourselves so powerful that we can do the law, will allow the Holy Spirit to fill us, that thus we may be filled with the righteousness of the law, we shall have living hope dwelling in us. The hope of the Spirit—the hope of righteousness by faith—has no element of uncertainty in it; it is positive assurance.
Working Faith.
"For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love."
The word here rendered "availeth" is the same word that is rendered "able" in Luke 13: 24; Acts 15: 10; 6: 10. In Phil. 4: 13 it is rendered "can do." The statement, therefore, amounts to this: Circumcision is not able to do anything, neither is uncircumcision; but faith alone, which works by love, can do anything. This faith which works by love is found only in Christ Jesus.
But what is it that there is talk about doing?—Nothing else than the law of God. No man can do it, whatever his state or condition. One may boast of his circumcision, and another may boast of his uncircumcision, but both are alike vain. By the law of faith boasting is excluded (Rom. 3: 27); for since the faith of Christ alone can keep the righteousness of the law, there is no chance for us to tell what we have done.5'All to Christ I owe.'
Liberty to Serve, Not to Sin.
"For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another."
The two preceding chapters tell about bondage, imprisonment. Before faith comes, we are shut up under sin, debtors to the law. The faith of Christ sets us free, but as we are set at liberty, the admonition is given us, "Go, and sin no more." We have been set at liberty from sin, not at liberty to sin. How many make a mistake here! Many sincere people imagine that in Christ we are at liberty to ignore the law, and to set it at defiance, forgetting that the transgression of the law is sin. 1 John 3: 4. To serve the flesh is to commit sin, "because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8: 7. So when the apostle exhorts us not to use our liberty for an occasion of the flesh, he simply warns us not to misuse the liberty which Christ gives us, and to bring ourselves into bondage again by transgressing the law. Instead of this, we should by love serve one another, for, as we shall learn in our next lesson, "all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
The substance of the whole exhortation is, Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. Not dead in sin, but dead to sin and alive unto righteousness.
E. J. WAGGONER.
The Expression of God's Love
By John Orr
MYSTERY SERIES. No. 6.
The Expression of God's Love.
THE nature of God being love, He must be entirely opposed to any element not of the same character. But that the universe might know His attitude toward evil, some expression from Him, defining His position, was necessary. As the moral Governor of the universe, the expression of His mind on the point could not but be the utterance of His own moral will, the nature of which is love. His moral nature being repugnant to evil of any sort, the assertion of His will must, of course, forbid His creatures to harbor evil, lest they be contaminated by it, and so become hostile to His moral nature, and be separated from divine guidance.
Such expression of God's will could not well be in any other form than that of moral law. The nature of God being what it is, and the tendency of evil being what it is, it is plain that God could not be true to Himself and to His creatures had the expression of His will produced a law which could license a single sin, however small. It is safe to affirm further that, from its very nature and demands, moral law must be universal in its application to moral beings, whether they be men or angels. This is clearly deducible from the fact that the sure tendency of evil, even in its mildest form, is to injure moral nature wherever existing; and as angels are sentient, moral beings in a full higher sense than earthly creatures are, it follows that they, as well as men, are subject to moral restrictions.
But neither angels nor men who have been truly born of God, serve Him in the spirit of legality. In other words, they do not refrain from evil because the moral law forbids it; nor do they render service to God because He directly commands it. But, being born of Him, and stimulated by His indwelling life, all their service is spontaneous. As sons rather than servants, their homage is but the outpouring of love from full hearts toward an adorable Creator. This constitutes their ministry one of privilege instead of duty; a labor of joyous love rather than one of mournful obligation. Their delight is ever in that which is to God's praise, and they avoid that which is displeasing to Him, because their hearts are in full sympathy with all the ways of heaven. This is the love which fulfils the law. Rom. 13:10.
But while such service is not induced by the precepts of the moral law, it must necessarily be fully in conformity with them as the expression of the supreme will of their Author. True and acceptable service being always rendered through the promptings of love, such suggestions must inevitably point toward compliance with the commandments of God, since the principles of love constitute the essential feature of these commandments. Matt. 22:37-40. It is therefore manifest that to violate any one of them, in any degree, is so far to depart from the principles of love, by which only one can render cheerful and pleasing service to God.
Any violation of moral precepts is sin. Ignorance of the law's requirements does not destroy guilt, tho it may be a factor in moderating the penalty. In the very nature of things, moral law must be inexorable, not because it is absolutely necessary to punish transgressors, but because the love of God must, to be true to its nature, utterly oppose the first step in a direction which tends to lead men contrary to the mind and will of heaven, and so mar the image of the Divine with which he was at first endowed.
But without some revelation from Him who is the beginning of all things, and to whom all intelligent beings should return the strength of life received from Him; without some proclamation of His character, and what He requires from all, no one could serve Him intelligently. In proportion as one holds false views of the divine Being whom he worships, he pays homage to a false god, and so fails to receive that benefit which ought to be the result of his acts of reverence. There can, however, be no means of redemption from superstition and consequent evil, except through a revelation of the moral attributes of the true God.
The present imperfect state of creation can not do this, else the heathen would know more of Him than they do. Neither can precept alone convey a knowledge of divine character, because the mere definition of love can not possibly reveal the true nature. Affinities and sympathies enter into love, the power of which can not be told in the ear, but must be rendered effective by acts of sacrifice and self-denial. Love is a living principle, which must declare itself to the heart as well as to the intellect.
Law and love are one with God; yet man, contaminated by sin, and thereby alienated from the life of God, has become so darkened in mind that he fails to recognize the relationship of these elements. Eph. 4:18, 19. The original design of the law was not to condemn, but to protect from sin, which separates from the life of God. Rom. 7:10. Within its limits dwelt love, joy, and peace; beyond its inclosure were forces of evil. Infinite love made it a barrier to all sentient beings against the encroachments of a common enemy, which, if permitted, would put hatred in the place of love, pain instead of joy, and enmity for peace.
But when a subject of God's kingdom had once strayed beyond the prescribed limit, the law had no longer power to protect him, because it could not reach so far. The life of God being only for those within the precincts of that law, to go beyond was to separate from the life of God, and so entail death. Rom. 6:23. When life was once forfeited in this way, the law had no power to restore it, because to grant a pardon for the transgression of its own requirements would be to make itself void, and so destroy its protecting power over those who still remained within its prescribed limits.
Then, again, to offer a possible pardon to any transgressor without his restoration to obedience (which is not in the power of the law), would not in the least benefit him, since he would again immediately fall under the ban of the law. So, then, unless some extraordinary plan for such restoration could be effected, it is clear that the highest good of God's creatures would demand the destruction of the transgressor. The love of God being always expressed in seeking the greatest good of all, that love must surely be vindicated in complying with such demand, relentless tho it might seem to a superficial observer.
Moral law can therefore do no less than require that its penalty be visited upon the transgressor. So, then, if the law were in itself absolute, that is, if no supreme Lawgiver stood above it, to maintain its dignity, and at the same time to interpose in behalf of the guilty, no transgressor could possibly be saved from the penalty of the law. It is therefore apparent that whoever is saved from the law's penalty, must be rescued through the intervention of the Lawgiver, who, while upholding the justice of the law through righteousness, restores the offender through infinite mercy. Well might the prophet ask, "Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger forever, because He delighteth in mercy." Micah 7:18.
But man's need as a sinner demanded more than a mere statement that God loved him. His alienation from God had closed his mind to the higher thought of God's attributes. In order that such creatures might know God's character of love, it was necessary for Divinity to appear among them, that the power of a living love might be seen and appreciated. Therefore such a Mediator between God and man must appear as would truly reflect the moral image of God, that heavenly love might beget its image in earthly minds.
But the way for this must first be prepared. The race to be saved had lost the knowledge of the true man as fully as it had lost the knowledge of the true God. It was therefore important, while attempting to reveal God as He is, to point out also what man ought to be, that, by beholding this wonderful sight, degraded humanity might be changed into the same likeness. 2 Cor. 3:18. To do this it was necessary for the Infinite to be joined with, and act through, the finite. The two natures, being thus shown in one Person, would reveal at once the true God and true man, while at the same time the Divine could be seen elevated above the human, tho acting in connection with it. In this way alone could infinite love reveal Divinity and perfect humanity in the person of Emmanuel, which is "God with us." Matt. 1:23.
The Majesty of God’s Word
"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap; He layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast."
PESSIMISTS AND OPTIMISTS.
By T.
THE words "pessimist" and "optimist" are often used in public speaking these days, and quite as frequently do they find their way into the public prints. And many people are found asking what these words mean.
In answering them, perhaps the easiest way would be to simply refer them to the dictionary, but even in this enlightened nineteenth century it is not every one who can always have one of these quite necessary books constantly at his elbow. Then if one should go to the dictionary would he, after all, find the correct definition of those words? Indeed, it is to be doubted whether any dictionary is sufficiently modern in its definition of terms to tell the facts as they really are in regard to the use of the words "pessimist" and "optimist."
According to the actual use of the words, leaving all dictionaries out of the question, a pessimist is one who sees the evil that is coming upon this world and is plainly telling the people about it. He is not telling of some imaginary thing that he thinks may possibly cause trouble, neither does he look through a diseased imagination at good things and see nothing in them but evil and distress. He is looking straight at actual facts, and he sees things as they are, and has the courage to tell what dangers are hanging over us by the brittlest threads, even tho myriad voices all about him are crying out, "Pessimist!"
An "optimist," on the other hand, is one who hears the faithful warnings but does not wish to be disturbed. He feels comfortable where he is, and does not wish to be moved by the thrilling facts that a clear-sighted brother is seeking to hold before him in order that he may see his danger and escape. And so he falls back upon the old, worn-out refrain of, "Pessimist, pessimist, pessimist," and imagines that he is all safe, while in reality his danger is only obscured by the murky atmosphere that he persists in binding about his vision.
As you walk by his side along the street and call his attention to the gilded saloons and the thousands of homes and millions of men and women that are being ruined, he says: "O you pessimistic fellow! I am an optimist." And of course he imagines that his little bombastic speech has settled the whole difficulty.
Call his attention to the brothels, to the open vice, and to the evidence also of the more hidden pollutions that are sweeping the world into the whirlpool of lust, and all he can say is: "Pessimism, pessimism! Why, don't you see I am an optimist?"
Speak to him of the gigantic trusts and other combines of wealth that are being formed; call his attention to these superhuman manifestations of greed; let him see the startling facts in regard to the revolutionary and rioting spirit that is being stirred up because of it, and he still insists upon telling you that you are a "pessimist" and he is an "optimist."
And so you might go through the list of ills and evils that are so manifest and so intense and dark in their forebodings of dire calamity and distress; you might show him the grim visage of the assassin, all bespattered with blood; you might lead him into the dark chambers of political corruption and fraud; you might show him the powerless, the apathetic, the worldly, and selfish condition of the professed church in these times; but none of these things would change his refrain. He would still meet every fact with his little one-word song of "pessimist, pessimist, pessimist."
There are doubtless some who are so morbid that they can see nothing straight who truly ought to be classed as pessimists. But there are many times more who are priding themselves on their optimism, but who are nevertheless the worst deluded people on earth. If a man is standing in the midst of a burning building he will not save himself by shutting his eyes to the flames and saying that he is too optimistic to believe that all this fine building will burn. The thing for him to do is to recognize facts and get out of danger. To simply shout, "Peace," when there is neither peace nor safety will save no one, but will all the more surely drown him in destruction.
TWICE WRITTEN.
GOD writes all His Word twice. He not only does not leave “Himself without witness” in the beneficent course of nature, but He leaves not His Word without witness. That Word is in general composed of historical, ethical, or moral, and prophetic writings.
The history records actual events which took place in connection with men and nations in their relations with God and with each other. They show the working out of principles of truth and the result of the rejection of those principles. They are prophecies of principles and of similar circumstances yet to rise. They show, and are designed to show, to those who follow that “whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap;” that certain causes produce certain results; that he who transgresses God’s law, the law of life and being, must certainly reap the sure result, deterioration, utter ruin, and death; and that the Most High ruleth in the kingdoms of men and giveth them unto whomsoever He will.
The moral portion of God’s Word, interwoven with every other part, is in words the expressed character of God. It is a declaration of what God requires of men, a promise and prophecy of what God will make all who will yield to Him. All His holy precepts and requirements were gloriously fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ, the true Witness to God’s character, and all will be in the true people of God through Christ. Every true Christian is a witness to the truth of God’s Word. He, his life, is a visible manifestation to the world of the power of Christ over sin and sinful flesh.
The prophetic portions of God’s Word is the history of the world, of nations, of peoples, of cities, of individuals, in advance. It is God telling beforehand just what will be true. When the time comes for its fulfilment, God, in His overruling providence, writes it again, that all who know His prophecy may read again His Word, may shun the dangers, and may find in Him salvation.
Do you wish to read God’s Word in the strange providences around you, in the characters on every hand, in the history of the world at the present time?—Study first of all God’s Word. Be filled with it, saturated through and through. And in the trying times before us we shall be able to read God’s Word in the events of every-day life, in individuals, in nations. Laid up in the heart it will keep from falling, make us wise unto salvation, and preserve us unto His heavenly kingdom.
“OVERGROWN MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS.”
By T.
IN taking leave of his public responsibilities and retiring to private life, George Washington delivered, on Sept. 17, 1796, a farewell address to his “friends and fellow-citizens.” That address was based upon the experiences of a long and most active and successful life. Washington had studied in the school of hardship, and through a multitude of observations had been led to reflect deeply. It would be well if those who are seeking to guide public affairs now would frequently read what Washington said at that time.
Washington believed in the principles of freedom, and he knew what those principles are. He could not be led away from them either by flattery or guile. He believed that the true and only principles of freedom were wrapped up in popular government—that the people should be their own rulers. But while he believed this sincerely he saw the dangers ahead if these principles should be perverted or cast aside.
In his “farewell address” Washington most earnestly exhorted his countrymen to remain closely united—that sectionalism should not be allowed to alienate one portion of the country from another. For by a close union he said “they will avoid the necessity of these overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.”
The danger from the dismembership of the Union seems to be past, for the present at least. But the demand for an “overgrown military establishment” is coming from another quarter. The system of colonial expansion upon which the country has entered so vigorously during the last year will call for a more extensive military and naval power than any threatened breaking up of the Union could possibly create. For the United States’ possessions in the Philippines have placed this country in the very storm center of European broils, and one pretext after another will soon make it seem necessary to burden this nation with all the military slavery under which every nation of the Old World is to-day groaning.
While America remained free from these Old World entanglements there was hope that peace and comparative international tranquility would be prolonged. At least there would be one spot on the earth where the people might enjoy peace. But now there will be no more a return of the peace and quietude that we have enjoyed in the past. The foundations7of the government are undermined; her principles of republican liberty are being thrown aside. And one thing will follow another till this country, with all the rest of the world, marches onto the great battle-field of Armageddon.
There is the same perfect individual safety in Christ Jesus to-day that has always been. But national security is a thing of the past so far as this world is concerned. There may be an occasional brief calm, and those who are deceived by the sophistries of Satan may look upon it as the triumph of peace in the return of tranquillity. But such calms are only the little lulls that make the return of the tempest all the more disastrous.
T.
TRADITION VS. THE SABBATH.
By W. N. G.
WHEN people persist in "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men," they invariably get into the quicksand and begin to flounder about in quest of a foothold. But in no respect is this rule more conspicuous than in attempts to destroy the Sabbath day, which God "blessed" and "sanctified" as a memorial of His creative power in the beginning (Gen. 2:2, 3; Ex. 20:8-11), and later as a memorial of redemption also (Deut. 5:15). In order to destroy the plain letter of this command (which is of the essence of every command, human or divine), there must needs be a substitution of some other "letter." As the Lord has not given any substitute, some other authority, or assumed authority, must furnish one. A substitution or change of a command without the sanction of the author is fraudulent.
A certain journal which advocates the observance of Sunday instead of the Sabbath of the commandment, admits that our papers and preachers "truthfully claim constant victory" when confuting the argument of a change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week. But it claims that "under the new covenant no day is commanded to be kept." This is a most unscriptural position, as is easily shown. It is a grave error into which all fall who set the new covenant over against the law of God. In order to do so they have to assume that the law of God is the "old covenant," which was done away. The "old covenant" was an agreement on the part of the people to keep the law of God, while on His part He agreed to make them a peculiar people. Ex. 19:3-8. But by failing to keep the law they broke the covenant.
Now the proof that a day is commanded in the new covenant is brief and comprehensive. A day is commanded in the law of God, and that day is the seventh day. The Israelites broke the old covenant by breaking the law. But God did not break His part of the covenant; therefore it remained intact until it expired by limitation, when the new covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ. Neither was the law done away when the children of Israel broke it; if it had been, why should Christ give His life to pay the penalty of a law that was annulled? The law did not expire by limitation, as is shown by the fact that under the new covenant, which is also made with the house of Israel, the law (not a new law) is written on the hearts of those who enter into it. Jer. 31:31-33. God is dealing with the house of Israel all the time; He never made a covenant with Gentiles. And the Sabbath day—the Sabbath day of the law, for God never spoke of any other weekly Sabbath—is given as a sign between God and Israel, that they may know that He is the Lord, their God. Eze. 20:12, 20.
Jesus Christ is "the mediator of the new covenant," and of His coming to earth He said, "Lo, I come; in the volume of the Book it is written of Me, I delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy law is within My heart." Ps. 40:7, 8. In addition to this, Christ said to the Jews: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matt. 5:17, 18. But the purpose was not only that Christ might fulfil the law Himself, but "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." See Rom. 8:3, 4. Now, if these things be true; if the law, without the loss of a jot or tittle, is written in the hearts of the people of the house of Israel under the new covenant, how can any one truthfully say that "under the new covenant no day is commanded to be kept"? But who are the house of Israel under the new covenant? Let Paul answer: "We are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." Phil. 3:3.
This advocate of the "no-day" theory, in further attempts to ignore the plain obligation to follow Christ in Sabbath-keeping as well as in other respects, gives a rather novel excuse for disobedience, namely, that Sunday observance "is purely a free-will offering to the Lord." God has shown in various ways that offerings made to Him at the expense of that which is ordained are not acceptable. The offering of Cain was one of this class; so was the proposed offering of King Saul on returning from the battle with the Amalekites without carrying out the word of the Lord. Samuel, when he met him, administered this pointed rebuke: "Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." 1 Sam. 15:22.
Again, all the "traditions of the elders" were based upon the plea of gratuitous service, and all these the Lord emphatically condemned. "And He said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." Mark 7:9. Christ Himself never resorted to any works of supererogation; the plain commandments were written in His heart; consequently there could be no room for anything else. "I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love." John 15:10. This was His practice on earth, and several years after His departure to heaven He sent back this encouraging word to His church, through His servant John: "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. 22:14.
Feeling for Somebody
A BLIND man, says Dr. Torrey, was brought into the services at the Chicago Avenue Church, by a Christian young woman. He seemed very eager to hear the way of life, and soon accepted Christ as his Saviour. One night after this step had been taken, the preacher was urging the Christians to go to work to bring in the unconverted. There was no hearty response. At last the blind man could stand it no longer. "Why don't you help?" he cried. "I can't see to bring any one, but I'll feel for somebody."
Where can I get the book "Remarks or Comments on Mistakes of Moses"?
W. R. W.
The two witnesses of Rev. 11:3 are the Old and New Testaments. For a full exposition of the subject see the book "Daniel and the Revelation," by U. Smith, for sale at this office.
The best book to read on the "mistakes of Moses" is the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch was written by the unerring pen of inspiration; and other books on the subject have the disadvantage of having been written by fallible men, warped by all sorts of prejudices.
920. Revelation, Chapter 7.
By Editor
PLEASE give a short explanation of the seventh chapter of Revelation, especially the eighth verse. J. D.
It would hardly be within the limits of this paper to enter into an exposition of the whole of the seventh chapter of Revelation particularly just now. But Elder Uriah Smith's book, "Daniel and the Revelation," gives not only an explanation of Revelation, chapter 7, but of the whole book of Revelation and the book of Daniel too. The book is on sale at this office.