Signs of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 49. (10/15/1894)

Signs of the Times

Oct 15, 1894

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Oct 15, 1894

Christ Jesus Our Example

Where Is the Sacrifice?—The Son of the eternal God "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself, a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Titus 2:14.

In the above sacrifice the Son was not alone. The Father had joint interests in the matter; he was fellow-sacrificer with the Son. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.

In the above we have the fullness, the completeness of sacrifice. God gave all that he could give without jeopardizing, aye, ruining the government of heaven. The Son gave all that he could give—he gave himself, the only true sacrifice. In giving himself he gave all. That included the humility, the poverty, the suffering, the shame, the cruel death upon the cross. "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." 2 Cor. 8:9.

WHERE self is given there is nothing reserved. In this sense God the Father gave himself; for "God is love," and Love gave the dearest thing in all the universe. When Christ gave himself in that far back beginning he held nothing in reserve. When the time came for him, to act as the Captain of the Lord's host of angelic messengers to this sinful earth, he who was in the image of God did not affect to reign on the throne of the universe, but took upon him the form of the servant. He served with the other heavenly messengers as Michael—the one like God. He came with messages of mercy to Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Isaiah, Daniel, and others. When the time came to be manifest in the flesh, there was nothing to hold him back; he had already yielded. When the temptation in the wilderness came, he followed the leading of the Spirit, submitted to the long fast, the fierce hunger, and the fearful test. And so with all the other temptations,—the garden, the denial, the persecution, the ignominious death,—he submitted to all, for he had already submitted to all when he gave himself.

Christ Jesus Our Example

In all this Christ is our example. He says, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23. The only cross which avails is the cross of Christ. See Gal. 6:14. All the sins of the world were borne there by Christ Jesus. If we believe him, if we accept him as our Saviour, we count his sacrifice ours by living faith. We reckon our sins as being there. We reckon his death for our sins as our death, and to him we give all the sins. And as the root or basis of sins is selfishness, we give up, if we truly believe Christ, all of self. We are to do as Christ did, empty ourselves. He "emptied himself" of himself and God filled him with all his fullness. Thus it was that God gave himself through Christ for the world. We are to empty ourselves of self, and Christ will fill us.

OUR Lord has expressed this giving up of self very graphically in the following: "If any man come to me, and hate not [love not less] his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh [renounceth] not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:26, 33. This is the crucial test of Christianity. Christ gave all; he bought all; he demands all; and he who yields, by faith himself, yields all. He who yields self, yields home, relatives, property, pleasure, ease,—all, all, all,—for Christ, God may make him steward of the property he yielded, he may not, but just the same it belongs to God, to be used as he directs. It belongs to the man no longer; it never did belong to him; he has admitted it outwardly, if he at least professes Christ. He does not give up self simply that he may be forgiven, and his conscience relieved of any uneasy [soul]. If he does not give up all for all time, he does not know. What he seems to give is only to purchase some immunity or favor for self. If we have yielded to God any, we have yielded all.

AND yet there are professed Christians everywhere who use time to their own pleasure or profit solely, whose ability mentally is given for self and the world, whose means are hoarded or expended for selfish gratification. The poor are suffering; souls are dying in darkness for the want of the light of life that money could furnish; God's bleeding cause needs means; but these "Christians," who expect to possess sometime all the treasures of the better world, do not seem to know it. They see not the wants of the needy. They hear not the groans of the dying. They are deaf to the calls of God. They worship and serve self. Oh, that they might know that God demands all! Souls?—Yes, they admit that. Bodies?—Yes, a "living sacrifice." It is the giving up of self that Christ demands, the choosing of Christ, of Christ's sacrifice, of Christ's Spirit, of Christ's life. That is Christianity; all else is counterfeit, or at best the approaches to the genuine which is in Christ Jesus, with all that is in that implied. It is yielding up all of self to God; it is choosing Christ in the place of self. Reader, do you possess this Christianity? It is worthy. Its only condition is to give up your sinful and dying self, and to choose Christ for all, and forever. Will you not do it? Christian friend, will you not remember your baptismal vows?

REVELATION XII.

In the past articles we have considered quite at length the part which the church has had to act in the great apostasy down to the time of her last union with the powers of earth. Before carrying that side of the investigation farther, it will be necessary to study the other side, that represented by the empires of earth.

1. The Dragon.

In Revelation 12 are three symbols, about which there can be little question as to their application: (1) The woman, a symbol of the church of God; (2) the man child, a symbol of our Lord Jesus Christ; (3) the dragon, which is expressly declared to be the devil or Satan.

The chapter itself is a graphic symbolic outline of the great controversy of the universe between Christ and his angels on one side, and the devil and his angels on the other. The field of contention is this world, and the special object of the care of the one and the rage of the other is the church of the living God. This great controversy, waged on this earth, is the conflict of the universe, for if Christ loses here, there is no assurance that he will win elsewhere. In that case,

the promises of God would be of none effect.

Satan is represented in this scripture not only as a deceiver, but as the chief persecutor against the people of God. But persecution, in the sense it is generally understood, persecution by unholy laws and the execution of legal sentences, cannot be carried on by Satan and his army of demons personally. He can instigate persecution by working on the minds of those who are under his influence, but he cannot imprison, torture, or kill. He first induces men to accept religious error as truth, by combining it with truth. When man comes to believe a lie, the next step is to induce them to believe that that mixture of truth and error must be maintained or government will go down, and souls will be lost. The next step is tyrannical decrees and persecuting laws.

The governments through which Satan's wrath has been especially exercised are represented by the heads of the dragon. It is the head which plans to execute the desires of the heart. It is the mouth which speaks the heart's utterances. So it is fitting that these governments which have yielded to Satan's principles should be represented by the heads. As the head plans and speaks for the heart—the power behind it—so the wicked governments plan and utter their persecuting laws in obedience to the Satanic power controlling them.

Satan's Work before Christ.

Man's archenemy knows of the plan of salvation. He understood from the beginning that it was the will of God that the Seed of the woman should at last be the victor. And therefore none watched more carefully than he (1) to prevent the birth of that Seed, and (2) if defeated in that, to destroy the Seed when brought forth. It was promised Abraham that the Seed should come through him. Of his two sons, Isaac was the progenitor of the Seed. Jacob was chosen before Esau. Of Jacob's twelve sons, Judah was chosen, and unto the Shiloh which would spring from him was the gathering of the people to be. God promised to Levi the priesthood, and to Judah the rulership; and that the fulfillment of his promises might be demonstrated, the genealogy of both tribes was kept till the time of Christ.

During this period Satan endeavored in various ways to prevent the coming of the Seed as promised. He not only induced Israel to commit idolatry that he might tempt God to destroy them, but he moved upon the nations around them to blot them out of existence. He also endeavored by intermarriage with the heathen to frustrate the promise of God. Failing in all this, and knowing that the church was waiting, longing, travailing for the Deliverer, he waited for the child, for the coming of the Son of God in all the weakness of humanity, for the second Adam.

As Satan had brought the entire race under the dominion of death through the first Adam, so he knew that if he should succeed with the second Adam the race would be hopelessly lost. Defeated in preventing the coming of the Seed, he with the church waits for the coming of the Child, the church waiting for the deliverance, Satan for the destruction of church and Seed.

The power which Satan used for the purpose of destroying the Son of God was Pagan Rome, first through Herod and then through Pilate. But the Son of God triumphed. He won the victory through death, and there arose that mighty song in heaven:—

"Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night."

And then follows that which shows the glory of Christ's victory,—those who have faith in Christ overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb, the symbol of all Christ's sufferings.

The fact that Satan used Pagan Rome as one of his agencies to execute his wrath suggests also the other heads. The suggestion carries us directly back to that time when the Israel of God went into captivity, subject to the powers of the world. During the days of Israel, down to the time of the Babylonian captivity, they were most of the time independent of all other nations. But under Zedekiah—B.C. 606—the subjugation and captivity of "the daughter of Zion" began. Babylon was the first great organized power which overthrew and persecuted the organized church of God. From thenceforth the church must be subject to the persecutions of earthly powers, developing faith and character amid trials which at times would be restrained, but only by the wisdom and power of God, when such restraint would conduce to his glory.

Before Christ was Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Grecia, all of which promulgated decrees against the people of God, all of which were antagonistic to the truth, all of which were governments wherein religious dogmas were enforced by statute law. We have Babylon's cruelty to the Jews at their capture, and her decree concerning the image on the plains of Dura. Under Medo-Persia, the second head of the dragonic persecution, Daniel was cast into the den of lions; and Haman's decree went forth for the utter destruction of the Jews. They were also persecuted under Grecia. Of the persecutions under Pagan Rome we need not speak.

It is true that the people of God received many favors under these three heads, notably under Persia, but the favors came from God, not from the idolatrous governments. They came because angels of God in their holy influence overcame the angels of evil. Yet these three heads were not used by Satan as were subsequent powers, because he was waiting for greater success in the overthrow of Christ. But these powers were each in turn used as his agents, and were, when not especially restrained of God, persecutors.

Pagan Rome, the fourth head, we have already considered. It was under Pagan Rome that the crisis of the world was reached, and righteousness and life triumphed over sin and death. Christ having triumphed in his own person, Satan turns all his rage against the people of God. This will show why persecution and temptation are much more fierce and frequent since the time of Christ. Says the prophet in speaking of Christ's triumph:—

"Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."

He was ambitious of higher triumphs in conflict with the Lord of life, but failing there, he comes down to his followers. The record immediately declares that when the dragon saw that he was defeated, he persecuted the woman,—the church. This persecution is continued to the end,—till the remnant church, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, is gathered home. But this is more fully told in other scriptures, and must be reserved for future issues.

SOCIAL CHRISTIANITY.

By Editor

ONE of the great hobbies of the "reformers" of to-day is "Christianity as a social force." We have a sample of this modern infidelity in the following from Judge Albion W. Tourgee, in the Chicago Inter Ocean of August 25:—

It is only yesterday that the world awakened to the fact that Christianity is a social force and imposes on every believer the duty of doing what he may for the betterment of his fellow's earthly condition.

This element in Christianity he demands shall be applied to the Christian citizen's "political action as well as to his personal relations." Of this conception he says:—

This is the great awakening; this is the new reformation, greater by far than that which Luther headed, by which not only the Christianity, but the political and material conditions of the twentieth century will be differentiated from all that have preceded it. . . .

It was inevitable that the time should come when citizenship should be looked upon as the greatest of all fields of human endeavor, because the governmental relation is that which most widely and potently affects human conditions.

In every stage of human development political conditions have done more to shape individual character and control individual conditions than all other influences.

Speaking of the "study of Christian citizenship" as proposed by the Christian Endeavorers, he among other things says:—

For its own sake the time has come for American Christianity to take up in earnest the study of the citizen's duty and the extent of his responsibility.

The Society of Christian Endeavor is moving in the right direction. The study of citizenship is the study of the most important function of civilized man.

And there is much more in the same line. Of course the whole thing leaves God out of the question, or relegates him to a second place, or merely uses the livery of heaven—its terminology—to better serve the devil. We do not mean that these "reformers" know this; they do not; yet, nevertheless, that is the character and effect of their work. When this religio-politico social craze which is sweeping over Christendom is called a reformation greater by far than that of the sixteenth century, when "citizenship" is looked upon

as the "greatest of all fields of human endeavor," when it is said that "in every stage of human development political conditions have done more to shape individual character and control individual conditions than all other influences," when it is stated that the study of citizenship is the most important function of civilized man—in the light of all of this we are bound to say that they who so say do not know the gospel or the Christianity of Christ, and have read but poorly the lessons of history. The only reformation the world ever knew or saw or can know, were and are and must be wrought by Christianity from within. To mould it from without, to shape it by politics, is like attempting to give life to a dead man by exciting action through galvanism.

Christianity is a spiritual force working upon the spiritual nature. It operates in no other way. It bears its fruit in abundance. It will make better men, better citizens, better surroundings, better homes, all things better, but these are resultant not objective. These are not the life but the results of the life within, implanted by simple faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

But there will be results from the "reformation" of which Mr. Tourgee speaks. It will more rapidly develop, and strengthen the present tendency toward a union of Church and State. It will lead the professed church of Christ to more fully than ever unite with the world, and to imitate the courage of which Mr. Tourgee speaks by assuming to dictate to politicians just what they shall and must do. This is already painfully apparent, and this movement of Christian Endeavorers, so warmly approved, will only serve to help it on. But the final result will be what it was in the Dark Ages,—persecution, and denial of Christ in the truth of his gospel and the person of his saints, while professing his name. It seems grand and good and plausible, but it is human, not Christian. It is self in the place of Christ. It is saying over again, as said the builders of Babel of old, "Go to, let us build us a city, and tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name." And as of old will it be again: "The Lord came down, . . . and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel [confusion]." Such has ever been, is, and ever will be every effort of the human to reform the world without God. All the effort of Mr. Tourgee and his coworkers will not only prove to be more fruitless in the end than making "bricks without straw," but it will be making them without clay. The fruit at last will be Dead Sea apples. Oh, that men knew Christ! Oh, that they would come to him that they might know him!

Is It Not a Factor in the Evil?

By Editor

The gambling curse of Chicago—and Chicago is not alone—is appalling. In speaking of that city, and the apathy of the mayor in dealing with the gambling curse, the Advance of the 27th ultimo says:—

"Apart from the infamy of it, the wickedness of all this cannot escape attention. The effects of the gambling mania are horrible. Thousands of once happy homes in Chicago are to-day in misery and ruin because of it. The character and prospects of thousands of young men are being blighted by its fatal touch. The gambling habit and the gambling curse stick like the devilfish to their victim. And in the city it is as if the mayor had been the constant and primarily guilty participant day and night in every bunko game that was played, so long as the gambling hells, both the gilded and the squalid, were under perfectly well-understood and paid-for official protection. As easy adorn a sunbeam as exaggerate the perfidy, the essential cruelty, the comprehensive wickedness, the civic shame and criminality of it. None could see this mayor without the instant reminder, there goes the man who—with the whole police force absolutely in his control, and the laws of the State, the county, and city on his side—might any day since he took his oath of office have exterminated all these gambling dens, but who, instead, chose to bargain with them for his official protection."

We have no desire whatever to condone or excuse the guilty officials; they may be guilty of all that is charged; but of how much of this evil is the church guilty? "The church guilty?" Yes, the church guilty. Her grab-bags, her fish ponds, her prize guessing, and raffles involve every principle of gambling, are gambling on a small scale. They are schools for the young and inexperienced, whose appetites in such things are whetted for greater risks, and who are led to look upon gambling as not very bad because conducted under the sanction of the church. The church is not the cause of the great curse, but is she not a factor in the matter? The man who despises a drunkard may be the very one who was the chief cause of that drunkard's ruin by urging upon him a single glass of wine or beer. That church which deplores gambling hells may have made the chief gambler, by inducing him to buy tickets to a religious raffle, or a chance in a church fish pond "for sweet charity's sake." How many church members are gambling in stocks? These are matters worthy of consideration on the part of the church. As of old "the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles" through the professed people of God. See Rom. 2: 21-24.

CONSIDER THE MORAL CODE.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

"I WILL walk at liberty; for I seek thy precepts. I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes." The commandments of God are not a yoke of bondage, and in obedience to them we have nothing of which to be ashamed. We should not feel that we are severely restricted in being required to keep God's law. The Lord withholds from us nothing which is for our good. We should be ashamed of disobedience to his precepts.

There are men who profess to open the Scriptures to others, and who claim to be ministers of the gospel, who yet place stumbling-blocks in the way of those who are seeking for safe paths. But let the sincere seeker for truth look to the Author of truth, and not to the would-be instructor who knows not the way of light. Go to the Fountain of knowledge, and become acquainted with what saith the Scriptures, and take no mortal man's inferences and assertions. The fallacies of men have in them no power to sanctify the soul; and the word of God is not to be adulterated with the customs and traditions of the world. "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." "And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart

condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us."

The next verse opens with this warning: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world." Let us consider the moral law, which was specified by the loved disciple as the "old commandment which ye had from the beginning," which was spoken from Mount Sinai amid smoke and flame, thunder and earthquake. The commandments are:—

"I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. "II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. "III. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. "IV. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; 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. "V. Honor thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. "VI. Thou shalt not kill. "VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery. "VIII. Thou shalt not steal. "IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. "X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's."

If this code of morals had been respected and obeyed, the world would not now be in the state in which it is,—corrupted under the inhabitants thereof. If human agents had coöperated with God, and had obeyed the laws which lie at the foundation of his government, we should not see and hear so much concerning iniquity and crime, suffering and death. Christ magnified the law, and made it honorable. He saw the necessity of expounding the law which he himself had spoken amid flame and thunder and tempest. The rabbis had heaped the rubbish of their traditions upon the law, and made of no effect the commandments of God, because they taught as doctrines the commandments of men. He showed the people that the law of God penetrated to the motives of the heart, and the lover of self was a transgressor of the law. He rescued the commandments from their companionship with error, and placed them in the framework of the gospel, and presented them to men in their true significance and importance; and to those who listened the law seemed a new revelation. Far from taking anything from the sacredness of a single precept, he revealed to men the exalted character of the whole law. But because he cleansed from the law the rubbish of tradition, and freed it from the exactions of men, and from the multitude of minute requirements of men, that confused the people, and hindered them from seeing the real significance of the requirements of Jehovah, the Pharisees were saying in their hearts that Christ had come to do away with the law. But while they were musing in their hearts, he spoke words that revealed to them the fact that he read their thoughts as an open book:—

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 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. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."

Christ then proceeds to show that the commandments are exceeding broad, and penetrate to the very motives that control the heart.

The great adversary, the first rebel and apostate, makes war on the commandments of God, for "by the law is the knowledge of sin." This is the reason that he would have the world believe that the law of God is not binding, for then he can keep men in ignorance of the fact that they are sinners and in need of a Saviour. In this way he can lead them to reject the great salvation, that has been purchased for them at infinite cost.

What's in a Word?

By Editor

Words count for much in this present state of things, even when there is nothing behind them. This is especially manifest in several particulars just now. The Roman Catholics, for instance, have whistled temperance, and all at once many of the temperance people have executed a lively dance, only to find when all tired out that the Roman Catholics did not mean temperance very much after all, certainly not enough to exclude saloon keepers from either church or societies. The same thing is manifest in the religious world. Let a man or organization show honor or reverence for "Sunday" and straightway he is a "Christian." Not long ago we gave an instance of where a congregation of Hebrews had been characterized as such, because they had left the faith of their fathers and the word of God and had adopted for expediency's sake a day in which they did not believe. Words count with God if there are deeds behind them. "Why call ye me Lord, Lord," says Christ, "and do not the things which I say?" Says the beloved apostle, "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth."

THE JUDGMENT OF THE JUST ONE.

By New World

THE Pharisee a sinner brought, And to Jesus made this plea: "Shall we, as our fathers taught, Take her life, or set her free?" But the Saviour, who discerned All the evil that they planned, No answer to their plea returned, But, stooping, wrote upon the sand.

Then they said, "The law divine Bids us punish such as she; But we wait for word of thine; Shall we stone, or set her free?" Then these words the plotters heard, In the Saviour's sternest tone, "Let the man who ne'er hath erred Be the first to cast a stone."

And, again, he, stooping, wrought With his finger in the sand, And each saw his inmost thought Written by the Master's hand. Ah! how often, Lord, do we, Like those Jews of olden times, Bring our erring friend to thee To be judged for all his crimes, Saying, "Lord, this man hath done Evil things against thy name; Let him for his guilt atone." Still the judgment is the same As those ancient Hebrews heard; He to whom all hearts are known Answers, "He who ne'er hath erred Be the first to cast a stone."

THE SABBATH IN THE NEW COVENANT.

By T. H. Starbuck

BY ELDER T. H. STARBUCK.

In the prophecy of the new covenant the Lord says, "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts." This language teaches that he will write the principles of his living law in the hearts of men, or so impress them upon the moral nature of man that he will live in harmony with their requirements. Ezekiel refers to the same thing in his thirty-sixth chapter. He says: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." These words teach that when God puts his Spirit in the heart of man, he will go in the way of God's statutes, or law. Therefore when the Spirit is in the heart, the law is there. It is the presence and power of the Spirit that puts the law there.

In 2 Cor. 3:3 this work of the Spirit is explained: "Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart." This is a direct reference to writing the law in the heart under the new covenant. With the law written simply on tables of stone, it is impossible for man to obey it; but when the Spirit writes it in the heart, obedience is a possibility, for the heart with the Spirit of God in it is a heart inclined to obedience.

When the Spirit does its work upon the mind of man, a new nature,—a new heart,—is created. Then the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in those who walk after the Spirit. Rom. 8:1-4. From these scriptures the following conclusions are gleaned:—

The law must be written in the heart in order to secure obedience to its principles.
The object of the new covenant is to put the law in the heart and secure obedience.
The Spirit is God's agent to do this work.
When the Spirit does its work upon the heart, the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in the life.
It follows, then, that the law and the Spirit are inseparable. The law is a living thing, and the Spirit is its life. The law is God's divine rule of conduct—the way in which the Spirit operates. When the Spirit is in the heart, the right way (righteous way, or disposition) is there. This righteous way is indispensable to the divine life, for without it it is impossible to please God. That life and the Spirit are inseparably connected with the law is proved by the words of Christ in John 6:63: "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." It is "the law of the spirit of life." Rom. 8:2.

It is clearly demonstrated that the law is embraced in the terms of the new covenant; but is it the same law that was written on the tables of stone? If it is the same law, it will logically follow that the Christian is to fulfill in his life all the precepts of that law written on stone. But if it is some other law, or even that law amended, the Bible will give us ample instruction.

The law on the stone tables says, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Is this precept written in the heart under the new covenant? If so, then the seventh day is the Sabbath of the new covenant, and Christians who understand new covenant principles will keep it. The life and teachings of Christ will fully answer this question. God says, "This is my beloved Son; hear him." In an ancient prophecy are found these words: "I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation." Ps. 40:8, 9. In this prophecy Christ himself is represented as the speaker. He says to his Father, "Thy law is within my heart." When this was written, the thought of a change of law, or a new law, had not entered the mind of man. It has direct reference to the law of the Father, and not to the so-called new law of Christ, which Antinomians advocate so much in modern times. There is no question then as to what law is intended in this passage. It was the Father's law, then so well known among the people of God.

That prophecy was written about one thousand years before Christ came into the world. Four hundred years later Jehovah says, through Jeremiah, in a prophecy of the new covenant, "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts." Now Christ is the testator of the new covenant. Heb. 9:16. His death was the closing act in confirming and making it efficacious in the salvation of sinners. Read the eighth chapter of Hebrews, and carefully consider. It is believers in Christ who enter into the new covenant relation with God. Since his death the new covenant has been of full force. Men are not to wait till after the resurrection to enter into its blessings. Believers in Christ are having the law written in their hearts

here in this life. This operation of the Spirit upon the heart fits men for the immortality yet to come.

About seven hundred years before Christ Isaiah had a prophetic view of the mediatorial work of our Saviour. He said of him, "The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable." Isa. 42:21. He had a view of the same law of which the others speak. The same Spirit revealed the same things to him which had been revealed to others. To magnify the law and make it honorable would be to reveal the power and spirituality in a higher sense than it had been commonly understood before.

In the sermon on the mount it is clearly discernible that Jesus makes the law a changeless thing, to be taught throughout the dispensation upon which they were just entering, and he shows that it is so spiritual that it takes cognizance of the thoughts and intents of the heart. He teaches that it is to be taught and obeyed entire by those who enter into the kingdom of God. He added nothing to the new law, but revealed a spirituality and a love which had not been recognized before.

The new commandment of Christ is the native love of the law, revealed in the sacrificial life and death of the Son of God. Men have sometimes died for their friends. This was the highest conception of love among men; but when Christ died for his enemies, he revealed a higher form of love than men had ever known. This was the supreme love of the law which was in his heart, or, rather, a new phase of that love, and constituted the new commandment of which he speaks. It was all there from the beginning, but men had never understood it. Jesus also removed the traditions which the Jews had heaped upon the law, and taught what things were lawful to do on the Sabbath day. He gave instruction concerning every precept written upon the tables of stone, thus showing that he had it all in his heart, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

In conclusion, then, how, do the teachings and life of Christ answer the question of what law is written in the heart under the new covenant? From the above premises, the following conclusions are drawn:—

Christ came with the Father's law written in his heart—the same law which was known among the people of God one thousand years before.
He magnified that law and made it honorable by revealing the spirituality and love that were in it.
He taught the law that was in his heart. He could teach no other, for to teach a law differing in any respect from that which expressed the Father's will would be violence to the law of God, and would be sin; but there was no sin in him.
Christ kept the law that was in his heart. Without this obedience he could not do the Father's will, for his will was expressed in it.
Jesus kept the Sabbath of that law which was in his heart. This is admitted even by Antinomians, for there is no question about it.
Christ, the Mediator of the new covenant, confirmed it with the Sabbath law in his heart. After his death, which was the confirmation of it, no man could disannul or add anything to it. His disciples could not teach a new law, or one differing in any respect from that which was in his heart when he died to confirm it. Gal. 3:15.
It is the Spirit of Christ that writes the law in the heart. But his Spirit could not write in the heart of man any law which was not in the heart of Christ; or a law which he neither taught nor kept.

We are to let that mind be in us which was in Christ. Phil. 2:5. That mind will lead men to follow his example in observing the Sabbath. Those who abide in Christ are to walk as he walked. 1 John 2:6. He walked according to the fourth commandment. If we walk as he did, we will also keep it. We are saved by his life. Rom. 5:10. We cannot be saved by his life without adopting it. But we do not adopt it unless our lives are characterized by the same obedience exemplified in his life. Christ's life is a representation of the manner in which God would have us regard his law. He obeyed it, because God was in him. We will obey it if God is in us: "For it is God which workseth in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Phil. 2:13. Then the whole law which was written on stone tables is written in the heart in the new covenant. Those who are loyal to God, and fully understand new-covenant principles, will be consistent Sabbath keepers, and God's word says of such: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." "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."

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