p. 5 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 3. (1/16/1912)

The Nature of God's Law

By J. O. Corliss

LL law has one general purpose; that is, to regulate the conduct of all who come under its authority. No government organization could long be maintained without some fundamental regulations by which harmony of action could be secured. Indeed, fitting laws are the very soul of organization. Nature itself has an established order by which the material world is regulated. This arrangement extends to every act of motion, whether in earthly or heavenly bodies.

When one considers the confusion always consequent upon irregularity of movements, or non-conformity of action, he must be convinced of the infinite wisdom which provided laws of conduct for the unification of men and things. A Being capable of doing this is worthy of highest praise and deepest adoration. Such a law, indeed, should be regarded as divine, and therefore complete in every respect, even to the regulation of the inner as well as the outer man.

Perfect

Commenting upon this law the psalmist declares it to be "perfect, converting the soul." Ps. 19: 7. This expression means much when one studies its connection and analysis. The psalm in which this is found opens with a most vivid setting forth of God's power and glory as shown by the exactly regular movements of the heavenly bodies, which reveal infinite wisdom in their law of maintenance. Attention is then called to the effect of the same divine law upon earth dwellers, when the inspired speaker says, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul."

Otherwise expressed, God's law is not confined to regulating heavenly bodies, but if permitted, it will enter the realm of the human soul as well, to methodize its functions in harmony with Heaven's decree. Without power to reach and regulate each and every constituent element of creation, the law of the Creator would not have been perfect or complete. It is true that while the heavenly bodies are constantly upheld by the word of God's power (Heb. 1: 3), that "word of power" has not been orally expressed in human ears. But silent tho its commands may appear to humanity, the voice of God meets a response in the moving planets, and their daily and nightly speech conveys the knowledge of a ruling Power to all who will listen to their united voices.

Everything Should Harmonize with Law

As the heavens thus declare God's glory by their every part responding to the "word of God's power," so it was designed that the earth, as well, should contribute to the praise of its Creator. But man having been formed in the image of his Maker, and thus endowed with power of mind capable of reciprocal companionship, the "word of power" by which his conduct was to be regulated, came to him as an oral appeal in behalf of maintaining the mutual relationship with his Creator which had been established by creative decree. Gen. 1: 26.

Man's failure to preserve his original station is a familiar theme not necessary to dwell upon here. It is enough to say that man's miscarriage resulted from his non-observance

of direct instruction intended to preserve his unity with Jehovah. Obedience to this first, and at that time, only necessary rule of moral conduct, would have continued man in the life and image of his Maker. Disobedience brought mental deformity and consequent death. Rom. 5: 12.

This separation from the life and likeness of Jehovah plunged man into moral darkness, which so degraded his mind as greatly to impair its power of discrimination between right and wrong. In other words, man lost, in a large measure, the intended usefulness of his mind, and so, being left without keen moral feeling, gave himself to "work all uncleanness with greediness." Eph. 4: 17-19.

Man's Wrong Conceptions of Deity

More than this, the knowledge of God departed, and from his darkened mind man formed conceptions of Deity in agreement with his own sordid views of moral character. Passing under the religious influence of the sun-worshiping Egyptians, the sons and daughters of Abraham were easily turned aside from their already faint ideas of moral obligation, to endorse the forms of worship encountered in the land of their enslavement.

Yet as the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham (Gen. 15: 13, 16), Moses was commissioned to lead that people forth to the land of promise. But so little did they know of the great God, that when Moses repeated His name before them, they would not listen to his voice. Ex. 6: 9. Altho in anguish of soul because of their cruel bondage, they dared not permit themselves to yield to the promise of deliverance brought to them from the throne of Jehovah.

Circumstances, however, finally drove the Israelites out of Egypt by force. They saw and profited by the miracle of the opening Red Sea for their deliverance; they partook of the heaven-sent manna given for their sustenance in a trackless desert; and yet their darkened minds did not comprehend the nature of their Deliverer, nor sense the obligation they were under to Him. They were an unorganized throng because not subject to divine law, and hence rebelled at will against the instruction of Moses.

But the time soon came when God would reveal His mighty power in their presence. They were encamped at the base of Mount Sinai, when out of an awful, smoking darkness which enveloped the eminence, the lightnings darted forth, and quaking thunders rolled out their deafening, frightful peals. The people were stricken with terror at the sight, and moved away, begging Moses to speak to them, saying that they would rather listen to his voice. Moses assured them that this demonstration was from God, their deliverer from Egyptian bondage, who had come into their midst to reveal His attributes in oral terms.

The Law in Plain Language

When the people's fears had satisfactorily subsided, God delivered in plain language the requirements of His law of government, the Ten Commandments. Ex. 20: 2-17. First of all, these forbade the worship of any other than the true God, whose power can and will redeem His people. Second, any image of men's imagination of God was forbidden to be made, and bowed before in form of worship. No visible, physical form could, by this instruction, be used to represent the eternal God, who is a Spirit, and must be worshiped in spirit, as well as in truth. The third injunction of the ten restrains the use of God's name, except for holy purposes, so sacredly would Jehovah guard from commonplace connections His holy office as Creator.

The fourth mandate still further instructs regarding the being and power of the high and holy One. While the first precept points to Him as the Supreme Being, before whom no other shall have precedence, and the second forbids the making of any supposed likeness of Him for the purpose of worship, the third charge guards even the name of Jehovah from being used in common ways. But these warnings, plainly as they are given, might have been misapprehended, and consequently misapplied to some god of human choice, had not the fourth precept pointed out the only One entitled to the considerations required by the three previous commands. This behest identifies Him as the Creator of the heavens and earth and all things contained in them.

One Seventh of Our Time Required

So important, indeed, is this knowledge for the encouragement and support of loyalty toward the one only true God, that one seventh part of one's entire life is here required to be given to the cultivation of that line of thought, lest some influence should come in to overshadow it, and thus permit false worship to obtain in the mind. Six days of secular work was known of Jehovah to be all that man should attend to, without a day of meditation upon the source of all his comforts and happiness. Therefore each seventh day is asked for by Jehovah to be devoted to the worship of His name as Creator.

The remaining six commandments point out man's duty to his fellow man. These ten constitute the law of God's government over the universe. The principles laid down in these Ten Commandments being universally important, every would-be loyal being in earth and also in heaven was summoned to be present at their delivery from Sinai. It is clearly stated in Deut. 33: 2 that ten thousands of holy ones came down to Sinai with the Lord when His "fiery law" was spoken. Speaking of the same event, the psalmist says that many thousands of angels were with the Lord upon that long-to-be-remembered occasion. Ps. 68: 17.

They Were Both Spoken and Written

Another fact adds to the significance of this heavenly demonstration at Sinai. God not only spoke the words of His law with His own voice out of the midst of the fire, but after having spoken these in the most solemn manner, amid majestic splendor, He wrote them in tables of stone, for the perpetuation of their remembrance through all succeeding generations. Deut. 4: 12, 13.

This last thought is worthy of consideration. It is clear to any unbiased mind that the fourth commandment of the Sinaitic law was designed to keep in weekly remembrance the name of Jehovah, who created heaven and earth. This constitutes the Sabbath day, therein enjoined, a weekly memorial of God's creative power. It follows, in reason, that such a memorial of the eternal God would be as necessary in one age as in another. This indeed is the decision of inspiration; for we read: "Thy name, O Lord, endureth forever; and Thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations." Ps. 135: 13.

Another Year

By Llewellyn A. Morrison

By Llewellyn A. Morrison

Another year of life and grace Unto the past is reckoned; From sun-dawn heights a smiling face Hath to my spirit beckoned.

The fading shadows pass unseen, As hast'ning hours pursue one— There is no counting-place between The old year and the new one.

I stand alone; my God is near; The silence is unbroken; The pulsing of my heart I hear— Nor whisper hath been spoken.

Alone with Him—yet not alone,— The gnomes of conscience chide me For selfish words and actions shown Where Virtue can not hide me.

I hear the dark and ebon shape Of Doom, my deeds assailing. There is no portal of escape; My tears are unavailing.

I dare not lift my face above, Yet, lo, I feel Him smiling! He hath prepared a plan of love, My record reconciling.

His Son hath borne my guilt afar; His penitence hath found me; His perfect angel from yon star With life, divine, hath crowned me.

He in my hands His Word hath placed— Thus for my weal providing— And on the holy page hath traced His promise for my guiding:

"As thy days are, thy strength shall be;" "No evil shall befall thee;" "Fear not—the kingdom is for thee;" "And I will come and call thee."

"The morning cometh, and the night;" "Springtime and harvest," ever; "At evening time it shall be light;" "I dwell with thee forever."

I take from Him His gifts for me— The boons His mercy handeth; I joy, they are so full and free; My vows He understandeth.

I pledge to Him my strength and love, Who blesseth all my labor, For earth below and heaven above, With every man my neighbor.

San Francisco, January 1, 1912.

Studies in Daniel

God the Ruler; the Lesson Learned

It is not God's desire that any shall perish; for "As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live." Eze. 33:11. It was God's desire that Egypt's ruler, the Pharaoh of the oppression, should turn from his way and live. God desired to save Pharaoh. Hence all the judgments that came upon Egypt, to teach him and the Egyptians God's way, came against the gods of Egypt, but touched no human life; and it was not until Pharaoh had utterly rejected God and everything which would touch his heart that the Lord withdrew His Spirit from him, and got glory to Himself by the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host. When we reach Nebuchadnezzar we come to another mighty ruler in earth, one whose heart is indissolubly linked to idolatry. He believed in the worship of Baal, of Marduk, and of other noted gods of Babylon. He built to them temples, he honored them for his victories, he named even his own servants, taken from other nations, after his tutelary divinities. God's own children had so far departed from Him that they were sent into captivity; but His truth must not perish from the world. And therefore He puts forth an effort to win one who could spread abroad to the earth a knowledge of the true God, despite the apostasy of His people.

His first lesson to Nebuchadnezzar was regarding education. God showed that His simple education, which comprehended the whole man, was superior to all the education which Babylon could give. And Nebuchadnezzar seems to have acknowledged it. His second lesson showed clearly — and Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges it — that no other god could reveal the future as could the God of Daniel, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. However, Nebuchadnezzar's heart still remains proud and stubborn. He would change the future which God had revealed. He would make the kingdom of Babylon eternal, instead of being one of a succession; and when men protest against that by refusing to bow down to his apotheosis of patriotism, he condemns them to death, and boasts, "What god can deliver you out of my hands?" And again God reveals to him, and he learns the lesson, that no other god can deliver as could the God of the Hebrews. But he has not learned it all yet. He is still lifted up in his own self-sufficiency, still proud of the mighty empire which he rules, still unwilling to acknowledge God; and one more lesson is given him in God's mercy, — a lesson that he, too, learned, and he himself tells us how he learned it. For the fourth chapter is not written by the prophet; it is permitting Nebuchadnezzar to tell his own story.

Questioning the Text

Daniel 4, A.R.V.

1. How does Nebuchadnezzar begin his proclamation?

Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all the peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied unto you. It hath seemed good unto me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God hath wrought toward me. How great are His signs! and how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation. Verses 1-3. Note 1.

2. By what means did God again bring before him the truth?

I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace. I saw a dream which made me afraid; and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. Then came in the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers; and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof. But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and I told the dream before him, saying, O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof. Verses 4-9. Note 2.

3. What vision was given him?

Thus were the visions of my head upon my bed: I saw, and, behold, a tree in the midst of the earth; and the height thereof was great. The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth. The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was food for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the birds of the heavens dwelt in the branches thereof, and all flesh was fed from it. I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven. He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from its branches. Nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven: and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth: let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones; to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth up over it the lowest of men. Verses 10-17. Note 3.

4. Whom did he call to interpret it?

This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen; and thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation; but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee. Verse 18. Note 4.

5. How was Daniel affected?

Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was stricken dumb for a while, and his thoughts troubled him. The king answered and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation, trouble thee. Verse 19. Note 5.

6. What did he tell him was the meaning of the tree which he saw?

Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine adversaries. The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth; whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was food for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the birds of the heavens had their habitation: it is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong; for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth. Verses 19-22. Note 6.

7. What was the lesson of the dream?

And whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew down the tree, and destroy it; nevertheless leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of heaven; and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him; this is the interpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High, which is come upon my lord the king: that

thou shalt be driven from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and thou shalt be made to eat grass as oxen, and shalt be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee; till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will. And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if there may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity. Verses 23-27. Note 7.

8. Under what circumstances did the fulfilment come?

All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he was walking in the royal palace of Babylon. The king spake and said, Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling-place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken: The kingdom is departed from thee: and thou shalt be driven from men; and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field; thou shalt be made to eat grass as oxen; and seven times shall pass over thee; until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen; and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hair was grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. Verses 28-33. Note 8.

9. At the end of the days of his chastisement what experience did Nebuchadnezzar have?

And at the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him that liveth forever; for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom from generation to generation; and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou? At the same time mine understanding returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and brightness returned unto me; and my counselors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent greatness was added unto me. Verses 34-36. Note 9.

10. To what condition of mind and heart did it bring him?

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of Heaven; for all His works are truth, and His ways justice; and those that walk in pride He is able to abase. Verse 37. Note 10.

Note and Comment

1. NEBUCHADNEZZAR THE KING, UNTO ALL THE PEOPLES. God designed that His own children should bear His message to all the nations of the earth. They failed. Now the king of Babylon is bearing that message. It goes to all the peoples and nations and languages that dwell in all the earth. It is a Gospel message: "Peace be multiplied." It is a revealing message, a witnessing message; for he tells of the great things that God has shown to him, that He is the One over all that is worthy to be worshiped, and who has an everlasting kingdom.

2. DREAM . . . VISIONS. God had before spoken to the king in a dream (see chapter 2). He speaks to him in a dream again. Nebuchadnezzar had tested out his wise men by demanding at the first that they should not only tell the interpretation but the dream itself. This they could not do. They had learned to fear the king. They were chary of his decrees. He tells them the dream now; but none of the magicians, or enchanters, or Chaldeans, or soothsayers, could tell him, and after they had been tried and tested, Daniel (or Belteshazzar, as Nebuchadnezzar had named him) is brought before him. Nebuchadnezzar remembers Daniel's wisdom. He calls him "master of the magicians," and declares that the spirit of the holy gods is in him, and that no secret troubles him. His confidence was revived, seemingly, as he called him.

3. THUS WERE THE VISIONS. The vision is very clear and simple. He dreams of a great tree with branches extending to the end of the earth, leaves fair, fruit abundant, containing food for all, and shadow for beasts and birds. And he sees and hears a watcher, a holy one, crying, "Hew down the tree, and cut off its branches;" and the sentence, he learns, is given by a decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones, and he is told in that very dream, "to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth up over it the lowest of men." He wants Nebuchadnezzar to learn this lesson, — that it is not by his power, or greatness, that he is occupying the position that he is, but that he is there an instrument in God's providence upon the throne because God desired to use him. This the king had not learned. He was not yet willing to be an agent for God.

4. O BELTESHAZZAR, DECLARE THE INTERPRETATION. As before remarked, all the other wise men had been tested out, and were not able to make known, "but thou art able." As he has told the prophet his dream, his faith in the prophet's God seems to increase.

5. DANIEL WAS STRUCK DUMB, not because God had not given him the interpretation, but because of the great things that were coming upon the king. It overwhelmed his minister, and the king tells him not to let the interpretation, or dream, trouble him, but to let him know what it was.

6. MY LORD, THE DREAM BE TO THEM THAT HATE THEE. Evidently Daniel had come to love the king. He could not wish him ill. He had seen something of his greatness and power and magnificence and generosity, but he also saw in it God's lesson, and so he tells him plainly that the tree represents him, and the empire over which he ruled. "IT IS THOU, O KING, that art grown and become strong."

7. A WATCHER AND A HOLY ONE. Nebuchadnezzar had forgotten that there was a God who saw, that that God had invisible servants who took account of all that he did. This dream brought it to him again. By the decree of His heavenly angels God declared that the tree should be hewn down, but the stump left. The seven times Josephus tells us was seven years (some have thought that it may have been but seven months), seven years' interregnum in the kingdom during which the nobles rule. The very circumstances surrounding Nebuchadnezzar's malady, it would seem would hold men in obedience and in harmony with the law, and prevent usurpers from rising up. And then we are told that God was keeping the kingdom until the end of that time. Nebuchadnezzar should go insane, should go out and try to eat grass as did the oxen — literally a wild man, for that period of time. And yet his kingdom was to be preserved. Then Daniel pleads with him to save himself from that doom by breaking off his sins by righteousness, and his iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. There is no other way to break off sinning but by righteousness. There is no negative goodness before God. The heart that is not active in righteous acts will yield itself to the unrighteous. The soul that does not show mercy to the poor will harden itself against all things that are good. Would that every soul could remember that there are high and holy watchers over them. God's angels are keeping account of the deeds, and the thoughts, and the work that we do. If the tree of our life can be made useful and beneficial to others, and we can acknowledge Him as the giver of all, it will grow and stand; but if it is to be used for our own purpose, or our own glory, the decree will come from the holy watchers, Cut it down. Why cumbereth it the ground?

8. ALL THIS CAME UPON THE KING. We are still with the story. One year passes, and there has been no fulfilment of the dream. And the king's heart seems to have been hardened by the delay. "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." The execution had not come against Nebuchadnezzar, and his heart had been lifted up against the revelation. He had been beautifying Babylon as it had never been beautified before. He had built immense palaces for his government, glorious temples for the gods, and hanging gardens for his queen, that greatly embellished and beautified the royal city; and as he was walking in his royal palace, probably upon some of its spacious porches or elevated verandas where he could view more or less of the entire city, he forgot God, and said, "Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling-place, by the might of MY power and for the glory of MY majesty?" He had reached the climax of his sin of self-glorification. It was the spirit of Babylon from the very beginning. And while the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven declaring to him that his kingdom had departed from him, and the dream was to be executed until the king could learn that lesson, "that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will." In that very hour it came upon him. In his insanity he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew from heaven.

9. AT THE END OF THE DAYS. God is faithful to His promise. As He had spoken the judgment and limited the time, He remembered the limit even as He had fixed its beginning. God does not forget. He is allowing the great Babylon of this old world to go on in its pride, in its self-worship, in its sin and iniquity. But just as surely as the punishment came to Nebuchadnezzar, just so surely the judgments which God has pronounced in His Word will fall upon a world that is emphasizing the sins that were in Nebuchadnezzar of old. His understanding returned to him, and with that understanding he remembered all that through which he had passed during the seven years, and he "blessed the Most High, and praised and honored Him that liveth forever." He had learned the fourth lesson, — "that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men." He had learned that all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing in God's sight. He had learned that God "doeth according to His will in the army of heaven," and that of the inhabitants of earth "none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?" Great and mighty was the lesson that he learned; and God could establish him, therefore, in his kingdom.

10. NOW I, NEBUCHADNEZZAR, PRAISE AND EXTOL AND HONOR. The lesson was complete. His heart was humble, and he bowed before his Creator. He had accepted God as the One over all, the King of Heaven. He had learned that all His works are truth, that all His ways are just; he had also learned that those that walk in pride He is able to abase. It seems certainly clear that Nebuchadnezzar had become a converted child of God, henceforth to serve Him while life should last. If those who followed after him had only learned these lessons as well, God would have used Babylon mightily, even as He has used the Anglo-Saxon race in later days, for the giving of His truth to the earth. "We would have healed Babylon," said the Lord through Jeremiah, "but she is not healed." Babylon in later years refused, and God had to set her aside, as He had her great king, for a little while. But this king learned his lesson, and God would have all rulers of the earth learn the same lesson. Now they are only little parts of the kingdom of men. They are seeking by federation to make it one great kingdom ruled by men, in which man's greatness and power will be extolled and honored. Let them learn the lesson from this scripture, "that THE MOST HIGH RULETH IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN, AND GIVETH IT TO WHOMSOEVER HE WILL."

The Sabbath and the Law

By H. W. Cottrell

1. Does Christ give assurance of the perpetuity of ALL the law?

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang ALL the LAW and the prophets. Matt. 22: 37-40.

2. Is there Sabbath law in the New Testament?

Wherefore it is lawful [in harmony with law] to do well on the Sabbath days. Matt. 12: 12.

3. Did Christ observe the law, and thus magnify it?

I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love. John 15: 10.

He will magnify the law, and make it honorable. Isa. 42: 21.

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. Matt. 5: 19.

4. In whose name and through whose counsel must men obtain eternal life?

Jesus Christ's.

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts 4: 12.

And a certain ruler asked Him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, . . . Thou knowest the commandments. Luke 18: 18-20.

And He said unto him, . . . If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. Matt. 19: 17.

5. Should the life be in harmony with the whole law?

If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well. . . . For whosoever shall KEEP the WHOLE LAW, and yet offend in ONE POINT, he is guilty of all. For He that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. James 2: 8, 10-12.

6. What kind of work is lawful on the Sabbath day?

And He saith unto them, Is it lawful [in keeping with Sabbath law] to DO GOOD on the SABBATH DAYS, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. And when He had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, He saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. Mark 3: 4, 5.

NOTE.—It is certainly in harmony with the Christ life, of obedience to the law, to perform acts of charity and mercy on the Sabbath as well as on other days of the week.

7. Is there any blessing attached to the obedient?

Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the Tree of Life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. Rev. 22: 14.

NOTE.—God requires obedience to His holy law both in letter and in spirit. To keep the law in letter, which forbids stealing, is to refrain from theft. But to keep the same commandment in spirit is to have no desire in the heart to steal. A thief behind the bars is necessarily observing the letter of the law, but may not be keeping it in spirit, desiring to steal. He who keeps the law of God in the spirit, having no desire in mind or heart to violate it, will of necessity refrain from its violation, and thus observe it in the letter.

H. W. COTTRELL.

Religion More than Politics

By William Jennings Bryan

I OFFER no apology for speaking upon a religious theme, for it is the most universal of all themes. I am interested in the science of government, but I am more interested in religion than in government. I enjoy making a political speech. I have made a good many, and shall make more, but I would rather speak on religion than on politics. I began speaking on the stump when I was only twenty, but I began speaking in the church six years earlier—and I shall be in the church even after I am out of politics. I feel sure of my ground when I make a political speech, but I feel even more certain of my ground when I make a religious speech. While to me the science of government is intensely absorbing, I recognized that the most important things in life lie outside of the realm of government, and that more depends upon what the individual does for himself than upon what the government does or can do for him. Men can be miserable under the best government, and they can be happy under the worst government.

Government affects but a part of the life we live here, and does not deal at all with the life beyond, while religion reaches the infinite circle of existence, as well as the small arc of that circle which we spend on earth. No greater theme, therefore, can engage our attention. If I discuss questions of government, I must secure the cooperation of a majority before I can put my ideas into practise; but if, in speaking on religion, I can touch one human heart for good, I have not spoken in vain, no matter how large the majority may be against me.—W. J. Bryan.

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