Signs of the Times, Vol. 3, No. 36. (9/13/1877)

Signs of the Times

Sep 13, 1877

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Sep 13, 1877

THE ADVENT OF CHRIST.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

The Son of God was next in authority to his Father, whose express image he was, not only in form and features, but in perfection of character. Man had fallen through sin, and the divine Son of God was the only sacrifice of sufficient value to fully satisfy the claims of God's perfect law. God made man perfect and upright, and after his transgression, no sacrifice was sufficient to make atonement for his sin unless it was superior to man in his state of innocence and perfection.

The angels were sinless; but they were created, probationary creatures, themselves amenable to the law, and of less value than the law; therefore they could not ransom the fallen race. Man could not atone for man; for the whole human family were alike partakers of the sin which had come into the world through the fall of Adam.

Christ was of more value than had been the sinless Adam. He was of as much more value than man as his noble, spotless character, and exalted office, as commander of all the heavenly host, were above the character and work of man. Upon Christ no requirements were made, He had united with the Father in the creation of man; and he had power, through his own divine perfection of character, to atone for the sins of man, and to elevate him to his first estate. No obligation was laid upon the Son of God, requiring him to undertake the work of atonement; it was a voluntary sacrifice on his part.

The priesthood, and the sacrificial offerings of the Jewish system, were instituted to represent the death, and mediatorial work of Christ. All the Jewish rites and ceremonies had no meaning, and no virtue, only as they related to Christ, who brought into existence, and was himself the foundation of the entire system. The Lord made known to Adam, Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and others of the ancient worthies, and especially to Moses, that the ceremonial system of sacrifices, and the priesthood, were of themselves unable to secure salvation to a single soul; they merely pointed to Christ as the coming Saviour of man. Those ancient worthies saw him in the divinely appointed types and emblems, and believed on him. They looked upon the whole system of priests and sacrifices as being specially ordained by Heaven to keep fresh in the minds of the people the fearful separation which sin had made between God and man, and which made necessary a mediating ministry. Through Christ the communication which was cut off by Adam's transgression was opened again between God and the ruined sinner.

The symbolical Jewish system was to continue until the real and perfect Offering should take the place of the figurative offering. The Mediator in his office and work was greatly to exceed in dignity and importance that of the earthly, typical priesthood. He was to stand between the Most High and his people. Through this mediation a way was opened whereby the guilty sinner might find access to God. He could not go to the Father in his own sinful person; he could only approach him through Christ, whose sacrifice in behalf of man equaled the demands of the divine law.

Christ was perfect and undefiled by sin. The extent of the terrible consequences of sin could never have been known, had not the remedy been of infinite value. The salvation of fallen man was procured at such an immense cost that angels marveled, and could not fully comprehend the divine mystery, that the Majesty of Heaven, equal with the Father, should die for the rebellious race.

Satan had labored zealously to lead the Jewish nation away from their loyalty to God, and as the time drew near for the Son of God to make his first advent to earth, he became very active in preparing the hearts of the Jews to be steeled against the evidence which Jesus should bring of his Messiahship. The result of his labor was that the Jewish religion had become corrupted by useless ceremonies and customs. As a nation they were proud and boastful; the purity of the priesthood was not preserved; the priests, scribes and elders were hypocritical; while they were exact in outward forms, to be observed of men, and to give the people exalted ideas of their zeal and devotion in religious duties, they were at the same time hard and unfeeling, showing no mercy to the poor and unfortunate, taking advantage of the helplessness of the widow and the fatherless, extorting large sums of money from the conscientious, and while ostensibly placing it in the Lord's treasury, in reality appropriating it to their own selfish use. They were, as a rule, ambitious, unscrupulous and avaricious.

Traditions, customs and needless ceremonies, which were not appointed by God, were forced upon the people, in order to exact money from them on one pretext or another. These traditions finally came to be considered as binding upon them as the law of God given through Moses; and they were so blended with the requirements of the law that the common people could hardly distinguish between them. Men who aspired to the priesthood frequently gained the object of their desires by treachery and secret dishonesty. God had designed that the high priest should represent Christ, who was to become a high priest after the order of Melchisedec. This holy office however came to be filled by men who were not divinely appointed to the sacred work, but who loved power and display, and who gained their positions through worldly influence. The office of high priest was one of power and importance and it was secured by unscrupulous and ambitious men, who practiced fraud under the garb of piety. The high priest was counselor, mediator, and a judge from whose decision there was no appeal within the Jewish economy. Clad in his consecrated, and expensive robes, with the light flashing upon the precious stones in his breastplate, the high priest made a most imposing appearance, which struck the conscientious and believing people with reverence and awe. When the Jews at length, by reason of their departure from God, fell under the Roman power, and were required to pay tribute to them, and to acknowledge the temporal superiority of their conquerors over them, they chafed under their bondage, and looked forward to the reinstatement of their nation through Messiah, the Deliverer foretold by prophecy.

Their views were narrow, and they believed the Coming One would at his appearing, assume kingly honors, subdue the oppressors of the Jews, and take the throne of David. In their wounded pride, and want of spiritual discernment they overlooked the prophecies which pointed to his first advent in poverty and humility, and applied to this event those prophecies which describe his second coming with power and great glory. The Jews had become so proud and corrupt, and so ambitious for worldly honor, that they could not discern sacred things. They misapplied, and misconstrued the prophecies to suit their ambitious desires for the establishment of a temporal kingdom, which would reduce the Romans to subjection, and exalt themselves above all other nations. In such a time, and to such a people was the Saviour of the world to come.

The proud Pharisees and scribes, with their hypocritical ceremonies, and apparent devotion to the law, were ignorant of the true manner of his appearing, notwithstanding their boasted wisdom and learning in expounding the law and the prophecies in the schools of the prophets. Their chief study was to find the most successful manner of obtaining riches and worldly honor, and they were wholly unprepared for the coming of Messiah to earth as a humble child. They looked for a mighty promise, and often made their proud boast to the Romans, that they would soon be freed from the yoke of bondage, and be established as a glorious nation. They were spiritually blind, and were leaders of the blind.

It was understood in heaven that the time had come for the advent of Christ to the world; and angels left the realm of glory to witness his reception by those whom he came to bless and save. They had been witnesses of his glory in heaven, and had been messengers to do his will; and they anticipated that on earth he would receive honor in accordance with his character, and the importance, and dignity of his mission. On visiting the earth, they sought first the people whom God had separated, as his peculiar treasure, from the other nations of the world. But they were astonished to find no special interest or expectation among the Jews, no eager waiting and watching to receive their Redeemer, and to proclaim his advent.

The angels from heaven beheld with astonishment the indifference of the people, and their ignorance of the great event about to transpire in their midst. The world presented to them a sad spectacle. The Jews, claiming to be the chosen people of God, were absorbed in traditions and empty ceremonies; while other nations were dealing in fables, and worshiping false gods. All were alike ignorant of what prophecy had foretold was about to transpire.

Angels beheld the weary travelers, Joseph and Mary, making their way to the city of David, to be taxed, according to the decree of Augustus Cæsar. They were brought to that place by the providence of God; for there prophecy had foretold that Christ should be born. Angels saw the weary pair seek in vain a place of rest at the inn; for the wealthy and honorable had been welcomed there to receive rest and refreshment, and there was no room left for the humble pilgrims. They finally take refuge in a rough building which is for the shelter of dumb beasts.

Here the Saviour of the world is born! The Son of God, who had filled all heaven with admiration and worship, who had been attended by holy angels, is cradled in a manger, surrounded by the beasts of the stall! Wonder, O Heaven, and be astonished, O earth! This frail, helpless babe, to all outward appearance like unto other infants, is the divine Son of God, his majesty vailed by humanity. The tidings of his birth were borne with joy by the angels to the heavenly courts, and great was the rejoicing there that man had now a Saviour upon earth.

As there were none among the sons of men to herald the advent of Messiah, angelic messengers performed the task which was the honored privilege of men to do. But the angels, with their glad tidings of the Saviour's birth, were sent to the humble shepherds, and not to the learned Jews, the professed expounders of prophecy, who had no heart to receive it. As the shepherds were guarding their flocks by night, suddenly the heavens were lighted up with a great brightness. They were alarmed at this strange appearance, and did not at first discover the myriads of angels that were congregated in the heavens; for it was the brightness and glory of this angelic host which illuminated the entire plain.

While the shepherds were terrified by this exceeding glory, the leading angel of the throng quieted their fears by revealing himself to them, saying, “Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” The shepherds could not at first have borne the radiance of glory which attended the revealing of the whole heavenly host; but, as their eyes became accustomed to the brightness of the angel that addressed them, and their fears departed, and joy took their place, as his message was delivered to them.—“Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

The shepherds were rejoiced at the glad tidings which had been brought them; and when the glory of the angels had disappeared, they said one to another, “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.” They immediately hastened to Bethlehem, in search of the Saviour. They found him, as the celestial messengers had testified, wrapped in swaddling bands, and lying in a manger.

The shepherds were deeply impressed by what they had seen and heard. They were filled with amazement, love, and gratitude that God should condescend in his infinite mercy, to send his Son into the world for the salvation of men. They spread the joyful tidings abroad, telling of the wondrous glory they had seen, the message of the leading angel, the splendor of the vast heavenly throng, and their united proclamation of, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

The Sacrifice.

The riches of Christ's matchless love— More precious to my heart Than garlands e'er for conquerors wove, Or monarchs can impart, His voice how sweet its accents fall Upon my listening ear! My soul receives the gracious call, That calms each anxious fear.

Deep anguish pierced his bleeding heart, Death's agony he bore, The sacred Temple's veil did part— The Sacrifice was o'er!

Silence reigned deep in heaven's high courts, The harp-tuned cherubs cease, While nature in amazement stood Enwrapt in awful peace.

He died for me! each mortal sigh That heaved his fainting breast, Was offered on the cross for me, And through them I am blest. His stripes shall heal our bleeding hearts, His groans shall make our peace; His resurrection gives us life In Him that ne'er shall cease.

There is a fount whose gushing tide Can cleanse from every sin; He stands with arms extended wide And bids me come to him. I'll go from scenes of mortal strife, From pleasures here that cloy, And in his death will find new life, And in his grief my joy.

Strong Characters.

STRENGTH of character consists of two things—power of will and power of self-restraint. It requires two things therefore for its existence—strong feelings and strong command over them. Now it is here we make a great mistake; we mistake strong feelings for strong character. A man who bears all before him, before whose frown domestics tremble, and whose bursts of fury make the children of the household quake—because he has his will obeyed, and his own will in all things, we call him a strong man. The truth is, that is the weak man; it is his passions that are strong; he that is mastered by them is weak. You must measure the strength of a man by the power of the feelings he subdues, not by the power of those which subdue him. And hence composure is very often the highest result of strength. Did we never see a man receive a flagrant insult, and only grow a little pale, and then reply quietly? That man is spiritually strong. Or did we never see a man in anguish stand as if carved out of solid rock, mastering himself? or one bearing a hopeless daily trial remain silent, and never tell the world what cankered his home peace? That is strength.—F. W. Robertson.

Faith and the Use of Means

FAITH will teach thee to use means as God's ordinance, but rely on God to bless it.

THE BIBLICAL INSTITUTE.

By Uriah Smith

HELD IN OAKLAND, CAL., APRIL 1–17, 1877.

[In this form we give a synopsis of the lectures presented at this Institute, the aim being to give principal facts, dates and references, with as few words as will serve to connect them. The lessons are not intended to measure the recitations. A lesson embraces an entire subject; but some of these occupied a number of recitations in the class.]

LESSON SEVENTEEN.

THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR THOUSAND.

As we investigate the third angel’s message, we naturally feel an interest to know if the prophecies anywhere intimate what the effect of this message will be; or what measure of success will attend it. We think we find this clearly indicated in the seventh chapter of Revelation. We have shown that the angel ascending with the seal of the living God here brought to view is the same as the third angel of Rev. 14. And as the result of this work, in Rev. 7, it is declared that 144,000 were sealed as the servants of God.

But says one, the 144,000 cannot belong to the present generation, or be gathered in the gospel dispensation; for they were sealed out of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. A sufficient answer to this is found in the testimony of James. He, writing in A. D. 60, to Christians, and for the benefit of Christians, and carrying us down even to the coming of Christ, addresses his epistle to the twelve tribes scattered abroad. It is evident, therefore, that Christians are counted as belonging to the twelve tribes.

In what sense are they so considered? for there are no genealogies of tribes preserved in this dispensation. Paul illustrates this by a beautiful figure in the eleventh chapter of Romans. He sets forth the people of God in the former dispensation, the literal Israel, under the figure of an olive tree with twelve branches. These branches represented the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. These branches were broken off, which signified that the Jews by rejecting Christ ceased to be God’s people.

The Gentiles, who accepted Christ, were taken by the Lord as his people; and Paul represents this movement by branches of a wild olive grafted into the tame. Where the natural branches, the Jews, were broken off, there the wild olive, the Gentiles, were grafted in. Now, how did this affect the tree? There were, at first, twelve branches, representing the twelve tribes of the children of Israel; and after they were broken off, and grafts were inserted from the Gentiles, or Christians, there are still twelve branches, or tribes, in the household of faith.

These are not the literal seed, but spiritual; because they are brought in by faith. So we hear Paul saying in Rom. 2:28, 29, “He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter.” Again, Paul says, Rom. 9:6–8, “They are not all Israel, which are of Israel; neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children; but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” And he adds in Gal. 4:28, that, “We, brethren, [Christians] as Isaac was, are the children of promise.” And he adds in the next verse, that he was born after the spirit.

Nothing could be plainer than these testimonies. That there is a spiritual seed, reckoned as the true Israel, perpetuated, not in a literal, but a spiritual, sense.

Because the twelve tribes, therefore, are mentioned in Revelation from whom the 144,000 are sealed, that is no evidence that they are not taken from the gospel dispensation; or even from the closing portion of it. But we have still clearer evidence to present upon this point.

The New Jerusalem, which John saw coming down from God out of Heaven, in which there was the throne of the Lamb, as well as the throne of God, will not certainly be considered a Jewish city; for in the twelve foundations were the names of the twelve apostles. But on the twelve gates of that city, as described in Rev. 21:12, there are names written, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.

Now all the people of God, from Adam to the close of the gospel dispensation, will go into that city through some one of those twelve gates; hence, all will be reckoned, both Jews and Christians, as belonging to some one of the twelve tribes.

No genealogy is kept of those tribes here upon earth, as it is not necessary that men should now understand these distinctions. But Paul speaks of the church of the first born written in Heaven, giving us to understand that the record is kept there. The only object of preserving the tribes distinct in the former dispensation was that the prophecies concerning Christ, who was to spring from a particular tribe, might be fulfilled; and the Jews might thus be able to identify the Messiah. But since Christ has come, that necessity no longer exists; and hence the genealogy of the tribes has been irrecoverably lost.

This company, the 144,000, are again brought to view in Rev. 14:1–5. And here we have indisputable evidence that they are gathered from the last generation of the living. John says, A Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with him, a hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. This name is the same as the seal of God brought to view in Rev. 7; hence this company is the same as the 144,000 of chapter 7.

And of these it is said, that they were “redeemed from the earth,” and “redeemed from among men.” This can mean nothing else but translation from among the living. These first five verses of Rev. 14 belong to chapter 13, and are a continuation of that prophecy. This 144,000 are the ones who pass through the terrible conflict with the two-horned beast power, described in Rev. 13:11–17. But we have shown that this power is a symbol of our own government, is now upon the stage of action, and is the last power which persecutes the church of God. Therefore the 144,000 are the ones who are developed by the third angel’s message, and who will be translated from among men at the second coming of Christ.

The sealing work of Rev. 7 results in sealing the number here specified; but as this is identical with the third angel’s message, this sealing work has for many years already been going forward; and some whose whole religious experience has been connected with, and is owing to, this work, have fallen asleep since the message commenced. Will they be reckoned with this 144,000? If so, how can it be said that they are redeemed from among men, or translated?

We answer, before Christ comes, there is a partial resurrection to take place, according to Dan. 12:2, and Rev. 1:7. Daniel says, “Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” This is not the general resurrection of either class; for at the general resurrection of the righteous there are no wicked ones to be raised, and at the general resurrection of the wicked there are no righteous ones included. But here is a mixed resurrection, taking some, a few, of both classes; and this occurs in connection with the standing up of Michael, and the closing time of trouble. We, therefore, infer that at this time, probably when the voice of God is heard, Joel 3:16, Heb. 12:27, and Rev. 16:17, some of the pre-eminently wicked will come forth, and all those who have died in the third angel’s message. Being then raised from the dead, and taking their place with those who have not died under this message, they are translated when the Lord appears; and hence, with the others, may also be said to be redeemed from among men.

U. S.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS NOT ABOLISHED.

By Joseph Harvey Waggoner

A REVIEW—BY ELDER J. H. WAGGONER.

(Concluded.)

“(9) BUT is the seventh-day Sabbath abolished? Yes, utterly. When the law died, that died. When that glorious law, ‘written and engraven on tables of stone,’ was ‘abolished,’ ‘done away,’ etc., it was entire. No vestige remains to dispute the right of obedience with Christ. The law of Christ is now the believer’s only rule of life. Nobody was ever under it till God gave it for a sign between him and Israel. Eze. 20:20, and Ex. 31. Nor has it ever bound anybody since the substance or body which cast the shadow was reached. That it ended there, Paul teaches most clearly. Col. 2:13–17: ‘And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect to an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days; which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.’ The sabbath days, the whole of them, were then taken away, abolished, nailed to the cross, as well as meats and drinks, new moons, and holy days. ‘So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman [Mount Sinai, in Arabia], but of the free [the New Jerusalem].’ ‘Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage.’ Gal. 4:31, and 5:1. But is there no Sabbath now? No; not like that of Moses; that if you pick up a stick, or kindle a fire on that day, you shall be stoned to death.”

1. That part of the above which relates to the abolition of the law has already been noticed.

2. The Sabbath was truly a sign between God and Israel, but for what? That they might know that he was the true God that made heaven and earth. See the texts. And it is such a sign still; it is yet true that God made all things in six days; that he rested the seventh day; that he blessed and hallowed the rest-day; and that he commanded that it be kept holy. The “word of the Lord endureth forever.”

3. The seventh-day Sabbath is never spoken of as a shadow; and this very qualification of the apostle shows that the above is a perversion of the Scriptures. The sabbath days referred to in Col. 2, are defined to be “shadows of things to come.” There were yearly sabbaths in the law of Moses, which were shadows of the work of Christ, and to these the text refers; but the seventh-day Sabbath, being a memorial of a work in the past, and having no reference in its institution or commandment to anything future, is of course excluded from the text. Any person can see this at a glance. The candid must acknowledge it.

4. The freedom of the gospel is freedom from sin; but the intent of the above quotation is to prove that gospel freedom is solely freedom from obligation to obey the law of God! We invite the readers to draw anything else from the argument if they can. The Saviour said his Father’s law was in his heart, and he delighted to do his will. Ps. 40:8. He gave the Father’s will as a test of the heavenly origin of his doctrines. John 7:16, 17. Paul further defined the will of God to be his law; Rom. 2:17, 18; and shows that the gospel takes away the carnal mind, and restores us to obedience to the law, as we have already proved. But, judging from the argument now under review, the only bondage that the children of men were ever under was the obligation to keep God’s law, and the only liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free is liberty to transgress his Father’s law at our will and pleasure! Again, I say, such freedom we do not covet; we love the restraints of a holy law, and thank God for a rule that is so just, that convinces us of sin when we go astray, that leads us to look away from weak and sinful self to Christ for justification. We have no fault to find with the law; like one of old, we will leave our complaint upon ourself; or say with the apostle, ‘For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.’ Can our opponents place themselves along side the apostle in this sentiment? They will not. There is a world-wide difference between them and Paul on this subject.

“(10) But there is the first day of the week; the day of our Lord’s resurrection, which from that time has always been a day of rest and worship to his disciples. He has honored, owned, and blessed its observance, and put a mark of his displeasure on those who disregard and profane it. Constantine did not institute the first day of the week as the Sabbath; but he found it in universal observance among Christians, as a Christian institution, and threw around it the protection of law, that Christians should not be disturbed in their devotions and rest, just the same as most, if not all, the States of this Union have done. Whatever Christ saw fit to transfer from the Mosaic to the Christian system, he or his apostles brought forward and re-affirmed; and that is binding on Christians, but nothing more.”

Thus closes the article; and seldom do we find more assumptions without proof, and without the possibility of being proved, than in the above.

1. There is no proof that the first day was observed by Christians from the time of the resurrection.

2. There is no proof that He has “honored, owned, and blessed its observance,” or put a mark of displeasure upon those who disregard it. How shall we know this to be so? Must we take the writer’s word for it? Does not the word still remain, that “by the law is the knowledge of sin?” If it is sinful to “profane” the first day of the week, where is the law which proves it so? We know that in the book referred to in the beginning of this review, it is claimed that the law is so, “changed or completed” as to enforce the keeping of Sunday. But how is a law which is “utterly abolished,” of which “not a vestige remains,” to enforce the keeping of the first day of the week? Is that the authority they find for keeping Sunday? When they undertake to wield the sword, they should be careful as to which way it cuts.

3. Inasmuch as there is no law for the observance of Sunday, such observance is “will-worship,” and is denounced by the apostle in his epistle to the Colossians. As was said by one of the past century, that is not obedience for which there is no commandment.

4. We admit that “Constantine did not institute the first day of the week as the Sabbath;” for neither he nor any other had yet called it the Sabbath at that time. He enforced it under the name of “the venerable day of the sun” (Sun’s day—Sunday), which was the only veneration paid to it at that time. And, says the writer, “he threw around it the protection of law.” Yes; and this was the first protection of the kind it had ever received; so says Alexander Campbell, and all

history attests its correctness. But the Scripture says, “Where no law is, there is no transgression;” therefore, as there was no law for Sunday-keeping till Constantine, so the “profanation” of Sunday, spoken of above, could not exist till his decree went forth! If our opponents dissent, will they please point to the law that existed previously? Give us the “law and the testimony” for keeping Sunday, and the controversy ceases at once.

5. Whatever Christ saw fit to transfer from the law to the Christian system, is now binding, says the writer. Well, what did he transfer? He does not tell us, but perhaps he would say all of the ten commandments except the fourth. We could, however, disprove it by his own position on Acts 15, where he avers that they were not transferred or given to the Gentiles! But allowing them to take both positions, as they generally do, we would inquire, If the commandments, Thou shalt not kill, nor commit adultery, nor steal, are not transferred into the Christian system, why do you keep them? “Is it for form? or for justification?” If for form, it is mockery; but if for justification, then it is vain; for justification by law is impossible. I challenge any one to show that a moral obligation can be so related as to justify a sinner. Again, I refer to Mr. Campbell, who declares it an impossibility to be justified by the same instrument which convicts of sin. In this dilemma our opponents are placed; seeking justification by these laws, or keeping them for form, if they keep them at all, which we should certainly doubt from their own arguments. They have but one instrument to condemn and justify, to slay and make alive. Their theology is consistent neither with reason nor justice, nor even with itself.

Yet these men, throwing aside the holy law, which Paul abundantly shows convinces of sin, and thereby proves to our awakened consciences that we need a Saviour, accuse us of denying Christ, the blessed Son of God, because, like him, we strive to keep his Father’s commandments!

We contend that no one can appreciate the sacrifice and mediation of Christ, and the pardon offered through him, who does not regard the law of God as holy, just, good, and of perpetual obligation. The certainty of condemnation, and the necessity of pardon, are based on the power and immutability of the law. Yet they who urge that the law is abolished accuse us of disregarding the gospel, and themselves profess to be the true servants of God! We are reminded of the words of Andrew Fuller, who wrote:—

“An atonement has respect to justice, and justice to the law or rule which men have violated. If this be worthy of being traduced by a servant of Christ, it was worthy of the same treatment from his Lord and Master; and then, instead of being honored by his life and death, it ought to have been annulled, both in respect of him and of us. The doctrine of the cross, according to this view of things, was so far from being a display of the divine glory that it must have been a most shocking exhibition of injustice.”

And again: “Such views of the atonement excite an irreverent familiarity with God, and in some cases a daring boldness in approaching him; yet such is the strength of the antinomian delusion that it passes for intimate communion with him.”

This “antinomian delusion” has, in all ages, by the godly and eminently pious, been considered a most dangerous heresy. It has been opposed by all true reformers. Thus I copy from a work recently read:—

“The Methodist Conference under Wesley, in 1770, declared that the universal immorality then prevailing was because of the widespread opinion that Christ had annulled the moral law, and that evangelical freedom dispensed with the ten commandments.”

Wesley’s notes on this subject were attacked by certain dignitaries of the established church, which gave rise to “Fletcher’s Checks to Antinomianism,” a work worthy of the perusal of every Bible student.

Andrew Fuller, the celebrated Baptist author, in his remarks on the Atonement and Justification, said:—

“If the doctrine of atonement leads us to entertain degrading notions of the law of God, or to plead an exemption from its preceptive authority, we may be sure it is not the Scripture doctrine of reconciliation. Atonement has respect to justice, and justice to the law, or the revealed will of the sovereign, which has been violated, and the very design of the atonement is to repair the honor of the law. If the law which has been transgressed were unjust, instead of an atonement being required for the breach of it, it ought to have been repealed, and the lawgiver have taken upon himself the disgrace of having enacted it. Every instance of punishment among men is a sort of atonement to the justice of the country, the design of which is to restore the authority of good government, which transgression has impaired. But if the law itself is bad, or the penalty too severe, every sacrifice made to it must be an instance of cruelty; and should a prince of the blood royal, in compassion to the offenders, offer to suffer in their stead, for the purpose of atonement, whatever love it might discover on his part, it were still greater cruelty to accept the offer, even though he might survive his sufferings. The public voice would be, There is no need of any atonement; it will do no honor, but dishonor, to the legislature; and to call the liberation of the convicts an act of grace, is to add insult to injury. The law ought not to have been enacted, and now it is enacted, ought immediately to be repealed. It is easy to see from hence, that in proportion as the law is depreciated the gospel is undermined, and both grace and atonement rendered void. It is the law as abused, or as turned into a way of life in opposition to the gospel, for which it was never given to a fallen creature, that the sacred Scriptures depreciate it; and not as the revealed will of God, the immutable standard of right and wrong. In this view the apostle delighted in it; and if we are Christians we shall delight in it, too; and shall not object to be under it as a rule of duty, for no man objects to be governed by laws which he loves.”

How evident it appears that antinomianism is opposed to the Scriptures and to all just reasoning. And how easy to perceive that a disparagement of the ten commandments leads to laxity of the morality enforced by those commandments. When the Lord gave that law, he said they would be a holy people if they obeyed it. David said it was perfect, and that he greatly loved it. Solomon said that to keep God’s commandments is the whole duty of man. The Saviour said his Father’s law was in his heart, and that worship was vain where the commandments of God are made void. Paul said the doers of the law shall be justified; that the righteousness or precept of the law is fulfilled in those who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit; that the law is spiritual, holy, just and good; and that it is not made void through faith. And we confidently appeal to all if they think it possible that vital piety and earnest zeal for the honor and the truth of God can exist where that law is reproached and disregarded, which is so highly honored and so strongly enforced in all God’s word. David prayed that his eyes might be opened to behold wondrous things out of the law of God. Too many now shut their eyes against all its wonders and glory, and their hearts against its holy claims. Paul said the law was his delight; but these delight to revile the law and cast reproach upon it.

On which side would you, dear reader, wish to be found in that day when “God shall bring every work into judgment,” when every man shall be rewarded according to his works; when the angel shall announce, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus”? If we are to be judged by the law, how important that we come in harmony with it before that day of terror comes! As we stand related to it in probation, so shall we be related to it in the judgment. Now we can prepare ourselves for his service, and turn away from sin to obedience; then mercy will be denied to all the unreconciled.

“Strong delusions” are increasing. The form of godliness without the power is prevailing. Iniquity abounds, and the love of many waxes cold. There is only one way to be shielded from the influence of evil and error, and that is to seek the enlightening, guiding, and sanctifying influence of God’s Spirit, and, through faith in Christ, walk in obedience to the revealed will of God.

Continue reading: Samuel and the Witch of Endor; Or, the Sin of Witchcraft