Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 30, 1894
Christ and His Church.
Of Jesus Christ our Lord, and of each individual who believes in Christ and is truly a member of his church, Inspiration says, "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him." Col. 2:9, 10. Christ is all and in all to the church. He is "the head over all things to the church," and the church is "the fullness of Him that filleth all in all." Eph. 1:22, 23. As Rotherham renders, "The fullness of Him who the all things in all is for Himself filling up."
The Relation.
The relation of Christ and the church is thus represented by the apostle Paul in 2 Cor. 11:2: "I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." This is true of the church (the ecclesia, "the called out"), because it is true of each individual called out, the aggregate of whom form the church. Says the same apostle: "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." Rom. 7:4.
One with Christ.
The most sacred relation which humankind can form is the marriage relation. "They twain shall be one flesh; so then they are no more twain, but one flesh." Mark 10:8. See also Gen. 2:24. Again the apostle Paul illustrates the relation between Christ and his church by the intimate relation existing between husband and wife. He says that "Christ is the head of the church," "the church is subject unto Christ" "in everything," and that "we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." Of the man and wife he says: "They two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and the church." Eph. 5:22-33.
What It Means.
To the wife the husband is all in all. To him belongs her confidence; he is her protector, her shield; to him is given her heart's affection; the union formed is a life union. There is no social crime so great, so evil in its results, so far reaching in its consequences, as the violation of the marriage vow and obligations. It affects not merely the parties involved but all their posterity, and its unholy influences contaminate society on every side. The violation of the marriage obligations constitutes fornication, or adultery.
Spiritual Fornication.
Departing from Christ and joining one's self to the world is spiritual fornication, or adultery. Says an apostle to those who profess to be Christ's: "Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God." James 4:4, Revised Version. The apostle Paul states the same thought when he says of the woman, "So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress." Rom. 7:3. But Christ "ever liveth;" and the individual or church which is truly joined to him has entered upon a life union. Any departure from her baptismal vows to another is therefore spiritual fornication, the very thing of which the apostate church Babylon is guilty. See Rev. 14:8; 17:1-5.
All in Christ.
Christ is the head of the church. The authority he has given the church is "the glorious gospel of the blessed God" (1 Tim. 1:11); it is all things which Jesus has taught (Matt. 28:20), which is all the word of God, for Christ gave the word (John 1:1-3; 1 Peter 1:11, 23-25). The servants of Christ are to preach that gospel (Mark 16:15), which is "the word" (2 Tim. 4:2), the entire Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:16; Rom. 15:4), Christ in the heart of each believer "the hope of glory" (Eph. 3:17; Col. 1:23, 25-28). In "the word of God" "the man of God" finds all that is necessary to thoroughly furnish him unto all good works (2 Tim. 3:17), and to them that receive it by genuine faith it works effectually and is able to build them up and give them the eternal inheritance (1 Thess. 2:13; Acts 20:32). The power which the church is to possess is the power of the Spirit of God (Acts 1:8), the very power that wrought in creation (Gen. 1:2), always and forever connected with his word, and received by faith (Ps. 33:6, 9; John 6:63; 1 Thess. 2:13). And all this is of Christ. He is the revelation of God to us, and nothing of God is revealed to man except what Christ has revealed. See John 14:9; 1 Cor. 8:6; Matt. 11:27. The Scriptures are therefore the word of Christ; the Decalogue is the law of Christ; the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ; the weapons "not carnal but spiritual" are the panoply of Christ; and all are summed up in the gospel of Christ, the living word of the living God. Backed by this authority, clothed with this armor, imbued by this power, the early church was resistless in her might. She had the "all power" of Him to whom is committed the "all things." She could therefore have need of no earthly authority, earthly, carnal weapons, earthly, temporal power. Christ and his word were sufficient. It was Christ within—the mystery of God.
Antichrist.
It is plain from the foregoing that whatever came into the individual heart, whatever came into the church, to take the place of Christ, to whom belonged all, that person or thing would be antichrist—against Christ. Instead of the mystery of godliness actuating the church, it would be the mystery of iniquity. As the Spirit of Christ brings men to the word of God, leads them to revere and proclaim the word of God, leads them to honor his law, leads them to take the word of God alone as the rule of sound doctrine, and the power of the Spirit of God as the only power by which his spiritual work should be advanced, so the mystery of iniquity would lead men away from the word of God to the tradition of men, away from God's law to the customs and practices of mortals, away from the authority of the word to the commandments of men, away from the power of the Spirit of God to civil and temporal power, in order to make men appear to do outwardly what they had no power to do inwardly. This is what the antichrist, the mystery of iniquity, would be expected to do; this is what it has done, and may be expected to do as long as time lasts. "The mystery of iniquity doth already work." It is still at work. It has honeycombed the basic principles of true Protestantism, so that the majority of Protestant members in practice now hold tradition as paramount to God's word.
The Only Hope.
The only hope of each individual, of the church composed of individuals, is the acceptance by faith of Jesus Christ as set forth in God's word. Jesus says: "Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up." Matt. 15:13. "For all flesh is as grass, and all the594glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away; but the word of the Lord endureth forever." 1 Peter 1:24, 25.
A UNIVERSAL SUNDAY LAW.
Forty years ago, when it was predicted by the people whom this journal represents, that there would be a religious conflict in the near future resulting in religious persecution, the center of which would be the Sunday law, some persons sneered, some laughed, nearly all were unbelieving. "Why," they said, "there is no agitation on the Sabbath question; the world is growing more enlightened, and men will never be persecuted for their faith again."
But the days passed on, the agitation began. In God's providence the time came when men should be warned of the coming of the great day of God (Joel 2:1; Zeph. 2:1-3), and of the necessity for preparing for that event. The house of God, partly cleansed at the Reformation, must be clean swept from the pagan and papal error. The law of God, trampled underneath the feet of "the man of sin," must again be exalted. Isa. 42:21; Rev. 14:12. The Sabbath of the Lord, the memorial of God's creation, the sign of his redemption, which the mystery of iniquity thought to wrench from God's law and supplant by "the venerable day of the sun," must be restored. See Isa. 56:1-7; 58:1, 12, 13. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1:16), of which the Sabbath was the center, because of its significance (Eze. 20:12), must again be preached in all the world (Rev. 14:6, 7; Matt. 24:14).
And this message, embracing in itself every true reform, has been and is being heralded to the world. It has roused intense opposition. Honest at first, the opposition sought from the Scriptures of truth the evidence to sustain the Sunday sabbath and to overthrow the Sabbath of the Lord. Deplorably failing in both, many have yielded to God's authority, and have placed themselves under the banner of loyalty to his law and to the example and teaching of Christ. Many more are seeking to do what error has always done, and what the "more sure word of prophecy" declared would be done,—obtain the aid of the State to enforce unscriptural dogmas. Hence the demand for Sunday laws, not only in this land, but in all the world. In "free America" while this is being penned men are lying in durance vile for conscience' sake, for keeping "the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." In Australia men have been sentenced to the stocks for the same thing. Europe, dead as a whole in spiritual things, but alive in things carnal, and taking example from this government, is going backward to the wilderness of the Dark Ages, from which she has been emerging.
The Sunday-law sentiment is becoming universal. It creeps in under various guises and beneficent forms. It is presented as a "sanitary" measure, a "temperance" ordinance, a "police regulation," an act to "protect public worship," a "boon for workingmen," all of which are fallacies. Underneath them all lies the religious legislation. Back of them all breathes the old dragon. Imbuing them all is the mystery of iniquity. The devil does not reveal at once his cloven foot nor forked tongue. Only by the sacred light of God's word can his character be discerned. The entering utterances of Sunday laws are smoother than oil, yet are they drawn swords. It was said a few years ago in this country by the advocates of Sunday laws that they were not persecuting, that they never would affect those who were living honestly, faithfully doing God's will, but it has been demonstrated that this is almost the only class that is affected. All this is but the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy of Revelation 13. All the world will worship the beast and his image and receive his mark. Those who do not will be "not of the world."
The progress this Sunday-law movement is making in the Old World is set forth in an article in the Literary Digest of July 7. It is indicative of what lies before. The Sunday law in its fullness when it comes will be world wide. Here is the article:—
Sunday Observance in Europe.
It is generally well known that, of late years, great efforts have been made to secure a better observance of the Lord's day in the cities of Europe. The movement was inaugurated by the late M. Alexandre Lombard, of Geneva. It sprang out of the International Conference of the Evangelical Alliance held in 1861. Great progress has been made in this direction of late years, and Evangelical Christendom, London, thus summarizes what has been accomplished in the principal countries, as gathered from the seventeenth annual report of the English committee:—
"Belgium.—The most important movement has been the adoption by the Belgian Government of a new rule as to the Sunday delivery of letters.
"All the postage stamps now issued by the Belgian post office have printed on them, in English and Flemish, words signifying 'not to be delivered on Sundays.' Persons who wish their letters delivered on Sunday must tear off these words. In the case of postal cards and stamps embossed on envelopes, the words must be crossed out if the sender wishes the card or letter to be delivered on Sunday.
"France.—In France a great good is being done by a vigorous society called 'Ligue Populaire pour le Repos du Dimanche en France.' It issues a monthly periodical, enrols members, and has the coöperation of such distinguished men as M. Jules Simon, M. Leon Say, M. E. Cheysson, M. De Nordling, and others. In 1892 the government voted 600,000 francs to allow the country postmen one free Sunday a month. Postal deliveries in Paris are reduced by one-half on Sunday.
"Germany.—In 1892 a law was passed in Germany to close shops on Sunday. But as the shopkeepers had previously been accustomed to keep open all the day, considerable friction resulted. This led to a compromise, and shops are now allowed to keep open a few hours on Sunday. It is, however, only a temporary concession, and the law is enforced. Recently a mercantile house employing 120 clerks was fined $300 for making them work too long on Sunday.
"Holland.—The cause of Sunday rest is making good progress. No newspapers are issued on Sunday.
"Italy.—Some progress is seen. A congress of workingmen's societies, representing thirty-six towns, held at Milan, in 1892, voted in favor of a law making Sunday rest obligatory.
"Russia.—Post offices are now open only from 12 to 2 on Sundays. The government is preparing a law for securing Sunday rest in the departments of trades, manufactures, and mines.
"Greece.—The Metropolitan [bishop] of Athens and the director of police are taking steps to promote public rest.
"Norway.—Marvelous progress is being made. Shops and factories are closed on Sundays. The sale of alcoholic liquors is prohibited from five o'clock on Saturday evening till eight o'clock on Monday morning.
"Sweden.—There are only one or two deliveries of letters on Sunday. The crews of vessels are released from unnecessary work on Sundays.
"Switzerland.—Nearly all the cantons have now laws to protect the people from Sunday labor. Newspapers are not printed on Sunday. A railroad recently built from Yverdon to Saint Croix does not run passenger trains or freight trains on Sunday."
Question Corner.
By Editor
"If ye will inquire, inquire ye." "But avoid foolish questions."
[From time to time we will reply under this head, if deemed advisable, to such candid inquiries as may be sent us. Correspondents wishing a reply to their questions must give their full name and address, not for publication unless they wish, but as an evidence of good faith on their part, and to give us opportunity to reply by letter if deemed best. It is always well to inclose stamp. Let the questions be short and pointed, and such as may be answered in limited space. The questions will be numbered continuously.]
Isa. 42:2 reads, "He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street." In simple language, it doubtless means that Christ was no brawler. He would not call attention to himself. He would not be heard in loud, meaningless harangues. That has been the characteristic of fanatics in all ages, but that was not the case with Christ, nor with John the Baptist, nor has it been the case with those who have had much of the Spirit of Christ. The power was not in his performance, in outward action, or physical exercise. It was in the message which he bore and the Spirit which accompanied it.
147. "THE SONG OF MOSES."
What is the song of Moses, mentioned in Rev. 15:3?
The "song of Moses," as mentioned in Rev. 15:3, has evident reference to Moses' song of triumph recorded in Ex. 15:1-19. Some think that it has reference to the song recorded in Deuteronomy 32; but the latter is not called the song of Moses, but is rather a song of remembrance, which God gave Moses to write, that the children of Israel might keep in mind God's wondrous goodness in his dealings with them, so that when they should rebel the very song which they had been taught should be a witness against them. See Deut. 31:19, 22. Many of the same truths which are expressed in the one are found in the other. God's wondrous power and work in opening the Red Sea and redeeming his people from Egypt, his justice and truth as manifested in the destruction of the Egyptians according as he had foretold them by his prophet Moses, the awfulness of his character as represented by his name Jehovah, are all revealed in this wondrous song. It is a revelation of God's mercy and justice, so that Moses could truly say, "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" Again: "The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation. . . . The Lord is his name." Primarily, it is a song of deliverance, a triumph over all temporal outward foes, that triumph wrought by the power of God's name, and will so be sung by the last generation of the redeemed. The song of the Lamb expresses the triumph over all inward foes, and together they express triumph over all conceivable foes, complete and eternal victory.
148. THE MATTER OF FEELING.
In Acts 17:27 it reads, "If haply they might feel after Him, and find Him." Has this anything to do with our salvation? and what kind of feeling does that mean?
The word "feel" in Acts 17:27 means to grope for or after, as persons in the dark; to reach out for. It has no reference to feeling in the sense of inward emotion, but intimates that all persons, it matters not what their condition nor where they dwell, if they will but admit the Spirit of God into their hearts, it will awaken within them such desires that they will reach out after God and find him, for "he is not far from every one of us." The text evidently has reference to those who are in the darkness of heathenism; but every such one, even, if he will reach out after God, will find him.
ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE RICH.
By Mrs. E. G. White
THERE is a work that must be done for the wealthy, to arouse them to a realization of their relationship to men and their accountability to God. They must be awakened to the fact that they are to give an account to Him who shall judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom. Those who are rich are put under responsibility to labor for others in the love and fear of God. But many of the rich trust in their riches, and do not realize the danger in which they are placed. God has something to give them of vastly more value than gold or silver or precious jewels. The soul needs to be attracted by the things that are of enduring value. They need to understand the value of true goodness. Jesus says unto them, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." He asks them to exchange the yoke of their own manufacturing for his yoke, which is easy, and for his burden, which is light. He says, "Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls." He is calling: "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." "Him that cometh unto me I will in nowise cast out."
Those who will listen to the voice of Christ, will recognize the voice of superior goodness, the voice of the True Shepherd. Oh, that the wealthy might feel their responsibility to be faithful stewards of the means which God has intrusted to their care! Oh, that they might understand that they must be agents for God, if they would meet his approval! Oh, that they might know that they were standing upon holy ground, and might be distinguished workers, engaging with Christ in the grand work of elevating those whom Christ died to save!
The Lord has intrusted to human beings capabilities of talent and influence; he has intrusted to men an abundance of money, not to be lavishly spent in selfish ways, for the gratification of unholy desires, but for the performance of their part in the great work of redemption. He has intrusted riches to the wealthy in order that they may bless humanity, by relieving the wants of the suffering and needy. This is the work that has been committed to them, and in doing this work they are not to feel that they have done some wonderful thing. Many endow some large institution, or give large sums to the church, and fail to relieve the distress of the suffering poor right about their doors. But the rich are to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to help those who are in trying circumstances, those who are wrestling with all their power to keep themselves and their families from the pauper's home.
God does not mean that the misery which we see about us in the poverty of the masses, shall exist. He does not intend that one shall have all the luxuries of life, and that others shall cry for bread. All the means intrusted to men over and above what is required to supply their own necessities, is intrusted to them for the blessing of humanity. If those whom God has made stewards, love God, they will love those who are formed in his image. Stewards of this character will not give with a patronizing air, as though they had done something for which they should be praised and honored; but they will realize that they are but trading on their Lord's goods, and that in the judgment they will have to give an account of the way in which they have employed their Lord's capital. They will understand that they are laborers together with God.
Jesus, the world's Redeemer, laid off his royal crown, laid aside his kingly robe, clothed his divinity with humanity, and left his high command. He was adored and worshiped by the angelic hosts, and yet for our sake he became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich. He came to give us, not the perishable treasure of houses and land and gold, but that which is enduring and imperishable, even eternal riches. Will men then refuse to be laborers together with God? Will they refuse to take their part in the work of redeeming lost humanity? In every large city there are men, women, and children who do not receive as much consideration as do the beasts. In England I saw poor children who were clad in dirty rags, who were half starved, whose countenances were stamped with vice and degradation. People live in damp, dark cellars reeking with filth, and children are born and brought up in these vile holes of misery. From earliest infancy through life, they see nothing but that which is unlovely, degraded, and vile. There is no view of nature's loveliness to attract the eye, and they hear the name of God only in oaths of horrible profanity. In places of this kind children are left to come up as they may. They are moulded and fashioned by the low precepts and wretched examples of those around them. Disagreeable surroundings greet their sight, impure words fall upon their ears, and the fumes of liquor and tobacco fill their atmosphere. Brought up in immoral degradation, it is no wonder that they turn out to be thieves, beggars, and murderers.
They subsist upon insufficient food, of a character unfit for the human stomach, and from these abodes of misery, piteous cries are sent up to heaven by those who know not how to pray. At the same time that this dreadful wretchedness is in existence, those to whom God has intrusted means are adding farm to farm, building house to house, and mansion to mansion, and even providing palaces for their dogs, and hiring servants to care for them. Dogs are fed and cared for in a luxurious way, while human beings are left in destitution, misery, crime, disease, and death.
Is it a wonder that our Lord exclaims, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God"? Jesus, the Majesty of heaven, became poor for our sake. He penetrated into the very inner circles of life. He sought to call the attention of men to the fact that, while they were devoting themselves to their busy activities, they were neglecting their eternal interests. He sought to impress upon them the fact that God had given them endowments of talent, means, and influence to be improved and increased, that they might grow in efficiency, and be better able to be laborers together with God.
God has made human beings his almoners and agents, to distribute the benefits of his providence. They are to use wisely his intrusted talent of means, as well as the endowment of his grace in other directions. Men are required to engage with heavenly intelligences in restoring, reshaping the human character. The rich are to help the poor. It is not according to God's plan that the rich should give to the rich. It is the oppressed, the downtrodden, the discouraged, the hungry, the naked, the suffering poor, whom Jesus says "ye have always with you." We need to take closer views of eternity, and by doing this we shall not be unfitted for our work in this world; we shall not be disqualified for taking a Christlike part in the affairs of society.
The gospel of Christ is not only to be believed, but it is to be acted upon. We are to be doers of the word; and in doing or not doing according to the instruction of Christ, we are deciding our eternal destiny for life or death. God does not desire fitful service, emotional spasms of religion. We are to act from principle, to have a firm, abiding trust in Christ. If Christ is formed within, the hope of glory, it will be made manifest in the development of our character and actions; for there will appear the likeness of Christ in our life. We shall represent the Father and the Son to the world. The command is given, "Work while it is day; for the night cometh, in which no man can work."
Jesus calmly asks, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?" If we employ these hours realizing our accountability to God, acting as serious, candid agents for God, keeping eternity in view, we shall live in such a way as to secure the eternal inheritance, and by our precept and example shall bring souls to Christ. But we have no time to devote to the indulgence of self in sin, no time for selfish pleasure seeking. Time is golden. We have characters to form for eternal life, and angels of God are watching what progress we are making. Angels are weighing moral worth. Oh, that we all might realize the value of time! A ruler exclaimed, when the physician told him that he could live but a few minutes, "A kingdom for an hour's time." He had been granted year after year. He had had the twelve hours of the day. Was not the time granted him that he might secure his eternal interests? Now is the appointed time, now is the day of salvation. Oh, may none put off the day of repentance and reformation! Now is the accepted time.
Jesus Christ has engaged to save every soul who will believe in him as a personal Saviour. He has engaged us in his service, and has596pointed out to us the work that he expects us to do. He has given us a glimpse of eternity, in order that we may realize that temporal things are of little moment beside that which is eternal. Something higher than the affairs of this life is to engage our attention, and call forth the energies of our being, that we may glorify our Redeemer. Christ calls upon us as human agents to coöperate with heavenly agencies in the work of saving the world. Not one is to feel that he can use his time as he chooses. Heavenly requirements are not to be ignored. It is the universal tendency of men to subordinate the eternal realities to temporal matters, to make the claims of the future, immortal life subservient to the commonplace affairs of this fleeting life. But the Lord has said: "No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." The god of this world claims the service of men, and seeks to keep them in continual slavery to his will. But Christ, the uplifted Saviour, calls to men in authoritative tones, saying, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things [of secondary importance] shall be added unto you."
SONGS IN THE NIGHT.
By Marie D. Thorne
BY MARIE D. THORNE.
The martyrs had songs for prison,
And songs for the rack of pain,
A song for Roman arena,
And the 'lion's gory mane,'
A song for the desert island,
A song for the mountain glen;
And the songs that the fathers sung
Still live in the lives of men.
There's a song for the lips of pain,
For the burdened, storm-tossed soul,
When over it resistless waves
Like a mighty ocean roll;
There is a song for the darksome valley,
A song for the coffin lid,
And the Christian sings because his life
With the Christ in God is hid.
THE SABBATH IN CREATION.
By R. C. Porter
BY ELDER R. C. PORTER.
AFTER man had been created and provided with an helpmeet for him, and the bill of fare best suited to the needs of his physical being, in which there was no flesh of dead beast, or fowl, or fish, or creeping thing (Gen. 1:29), had been given him, "the Sabbath was made for man" (Mark 2:27; Gen. 2:1-3). By whom was the Sabbath made, and for what purpose?—By Him through whom all things, both in heaven, earth, and sea, were made, even Jesus Christ, as we have before seen. "For all things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made." How did he make it?—By resting upon it himself and blessing it. Gen. 2:1-3. What day did he rest, and upon what day did he pronounce the blessing?—The seventh day. Gen. 2:1-3. Why did he make it for man?—"For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. 20:11.
Christ made the Sabbath then as a commemorative institution, by which the Creator was ever to be kept in mind. Not only was he to be remembered as the Creator, but remembered in his true character as Creator, a Creator that created because he loved, and One whose very act of creation was an act of almighty power, for the highest good and the greatest happiness of the created. This was not only to be remembered on the Sabbath day, but as all other days of the week were to be used with reference to the Sabbath, the Creator in his true character was to be continually kept in mind. The Sabbath thus kept would ever prove a safeguard against the temptation to imagine that God was not in his infinite love doing all within his almighty power for the best good of his creatures. It could not be kept according to God's appointment by simply taking physical rest upon that day. Yet to keep it properly a man must cease his common labor on that day, for "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work." Ex. 20:10. In this we have before us the model of the Good Shepherd going before us as the example to his children. Though "he fainteth not, neither is weary," yet he ceased his labors and entered upon a season of spiritual rest and worship of Him who is worshiped only in spirit and truth, and he "was refreshed." He viewed all the work of creation, and saw that it was not only good, but "very good," for in it all he saw the divine touch of infinite love. This brought to him continually such a sense of his Father's goodness that he could see him only in his true character, a God of infinite, eternal love and power. This was true Sabbath keeping.
That this is the nature of Sabbath keeping is further shown after the fall of man, when the Lord, through Moses and Ezekiel, instructed his people, "Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." Ex. 31:13; Eze. 20:12, 20. That is, set you apart for my service and keep you thus set apart. The presence of Christ sanctified Mount Sinai; his presence made the ground holy at the burning bush. So his presence within us sanctifies us, and, abiding in us, keeps us sanctified.
To know God as the God that did sanctify them, they must know him as the God that "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. They must also know Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent, as the sin-pardoning Redeemer, who loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood. Rev. 1:5. "For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved," "neither is their salvation in any other." Acts 4:12. Therefore to keep the Sabbath according to its true significance is to keep it ever remembering God as almighty in power and infinite in his love to us, his laws framed in love, his government administered in love, and Jesus Christ a Saviour of matchless love and power. This could only be true of spiritual Israel; hence the generations here mentioned are the generations of spiritual Israel; and he that truly keeps the Sabbath is an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.
Since the presence of Christ sanctifies and makes us holy, as it sanctified the mountain, and made the place "holy ground" at the burning bush (Ex. 3:1-5), and at his meeting with Joshua (Joshua 5:13-15), so his presence sanctifies and makes holy the seventh day of the week (Gen. 2:1-3; Ex. 20:8-10). And since the presence of Christ rests in a special sense in the seventh day, and sanctifies it and makes it holy, and God has thus set it apart for his holy Sabbath, it is impossible to keep the Sabbath upon any other day than the one in which the presence of Christ rests to sanctify it and make it holy. As he said to Moses, "My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest" (Ex. 33:14), so it is only on the day in which Christ's presence rests that we can rest and be refreshed by true Sabbath keeping. Neither are we to conclude that because true Sabbath keeping requires more than spiritual rest, we are at liberty to do common labor on the sacred hours of the Sabbath. For God hath said, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work."
SINNERS DESTROYED OUT OF THE EARTH.
By William Covert
BY ELDER WM. COVERT.
As THE earth was not made for wickedness, it follows that the wickedness must be rooted out of it. The transgressors cannot glorify God. They will not accord with that which was intended to give them happiness, and as there will only be room in the earth for the righteous to dwell, it will therefore be necessary to remove the wicked from the earth. But there is no place in the universe for them to remain, and in order for them to get out of the world they must go by the way prepared for the devil and his angels,—the lake of fire. This will be done when the righteous are called to take possession of the kingdom. Matt. 25: 34, 41.
"Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies; thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger. . . . Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men." Ps. 21: 8-10.
Elsewhere the statement is made that the saints "are preserved forever; but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off." Ps. 37: 28. And again: "The upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it." Prov. 2: 21, 22. By another writer the assertion is made that "he shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world." Job 18: 18.
David prayed that the wicked might be consumed out of the earth and be no more. Ps. 104: 35. This places them in a condition as to place and existence as though they had never existed.
The reason the Lord assigns for their destruction is that they destroy the earth. Rev. 11: 18. Their sins corrupt and ruin the earth, because the curse that follows their transgressions makes the earth a barren desolation. Their presence as well as their course is but a detriment to the very purpose of God, therefore they must be destroyed.
The completeness of their destruction is forcibly stated by the apostle where he says they "shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." 2 Thess. 1: 9, 10. Another writer says the effect of that burning day will be so complete that it will leave them neither root nor branch. Mal. 4: 1. And yet another word of inspiration decides their end as the consuming into smoke of the fat of lambs. Ps. 37: 20. John the Baptist compares their destruction to the burning up of chaff with unquenchable fire. Matt. 3: 12. Another scripture says, "They shall be devoured as stubble fully dry" (Nah. 1: 10), while Obadiah in verse 16 says, "They shall be as though they had not been." Solomon uses the following language in his presentation of how it shall be: "The righteous shall never be removed; but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth." Prov. 10: 30. But no language can be more positive than the following in Rev. 20: 9: "And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them."
Thus the matter will be forever ended597with the wicked. Upon this earth they have spent their time in folly, shame, and sin, a burden to themselves, and a trial to others, a blight upon the handiwork of God with their corruptions, a curse to the earth itself. They have been offered salvation from sin and death; but they have chosen the ways of unrighteousness because it, offered to them the gratification of self. They have sown to the flesh and of it have reaped in sorrow. They have remained with their sins and utterly perished in their own corruption. 2 Peter 2: 12. The earth will then be rid of the wicked, and when they are gone, to return no more forever, it will only remain for the Creator to undo the work that sin has wrought in the earth, that his original purpose may be carried out.