Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 21, 1892
Editorial.
By Editor
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable."—2 Tim. 3:16.
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.
It may be safely asserted that no live, spiritual church of Christ ever used or desired the civil law to enforce religious dogmas or promote morality; and, furthermore, the "institutions" for which backslidden churches desire the aid of the civil laws are always those which find no support in the Scriptures. Fellow-Christian, think of this.
There is no coercion in religious matters in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The invitation, the entreaty, is, Come. The office of the ambassador of Christ is to persuade men. Jesus says, "Whosoever will, let him come." All Heaven pleads: "Turn ye, oh, turn ye, for why will ye die?" This is the gospel plan, and it may safely be set down that whatever law it is, from whatever alleged source, which would compel a man to observe any religious ordinance whatsoever, is not of the gospel.
Personal responsibility to God ought to be a principle which should enter into every transaction of life. That "every man must give account of himself to God" is a solemn truth of Scripture. We are therefore personally responsible to God. No society or organization or body politic of which we may be a part has any claim upon us which ought for a moment to transcend this obligation. In mere matters of opinion, where moral principles are not involved, in matters where our duties lie in the same lines and are based on the same principles as these organizations, it is good to have company, and in union there is strength. But where moral principle is involved, we should not follow a multitude to sin. Let personal responsibility to God rule. Acting as in his sight, for his sake who bought us, will but unite us in God's own better way with all the good in the universe. Although under the power of the enemy this may seem to leave us alone, leave it with God, and endure "as seeing Him who is invisible."
The New York Observer well says: "Every now and then the daily papers report that such and such a person has become insane through religious excitement. While these reports are true in one sense they are very misleading in another. An eminent physician in the East, who is not identified with any church, expressed the opinion some time ago that in nearly every case those persons who lost their reason while attending revival meetings were on the verge of insanity, and that any strong excitement would have brought about the crisis." The religion of Christ gives soundness of mind, calmness of judgment, and peace in great tumult.
The great question is not the amount of good that has been accomplished through some society or organization, but whether all the good would not have been accomplished in some better way without the organization. God often works in spite of man's devices to help him, not because of them. The very thing to which men often ascribe glory is that which God simply tolerates for a time as an excrescence, an abnormal growth, upon his own better, perfect plan. It makes a great difference from what standpoint we judge. The boy, sitting in his little skiff, who plies his paddle at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, may imagine that he is helping the steamer which is towing him through the water at the rate of twenty miles an hour, but he really retards the progress of the noble vessel. It is even thus with many societies.
The Fullness of Christ.—Reader, are you weary?—Jesus says, "I will give you rest." Are you hungry?—He says, "I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger." Are you thirsty?—"If any man thirst," says Jesus, "let him come unto me and drink." Are you in darkness?—He says, "I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." Are you naked?—He will clothe you "with the garments of salvation," he will cover you "with the robe of righteousness." Are you mourning over your sins?—He has appointed "unto them that mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." Are you sick? Are you weak? Are you afflicted with incurable disease? Are you poor?—Christ is healing, and strength, and life, and eternal riches of good. Have all forsaken you?—He has declared, "I will never leave nor forsake you." Is there none to pity or sympathize with you?—He can be touched with all the feelings of our infirmities, for he was tempted in all points like as we are. Who would not forsake all else and accept of this Jesus in whom "all fullness" dwells.
"THE WORD OF THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL."
THE above words occur in Col. 1:5. Paul tells the brethren at Colossæ that they heard of the hope which was laid up for them in the heavens in "the word of the truth of the gospel." Here are three terms, every one of which expresses the whole; for God's word is truth (John 17:17), and God's word is also the word of the gospel. The apostle Paul in 2 Timothy solemnly enjoins upon Christian ministers their duties. Among others is the following:—
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. 2 Tim. 4:1, 2.
This word is the word of the Scripture, which the same apostle in the same epistle said is able to thoroughly furnish the man of God unto every good work. 2 Tim. 3:16, 17. The instruction which the apostle Paul gave to the Christian minister must be the same as that given by Christ; for the apostle declares that the things which he taught were by revelation of Jesus Christ. Gal. 1:11, 12. But instead of charging his ministers to preach the word, Jesus charges them thus:—
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway. Matt. 28:19, 20.
Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15.
Now it is clear from the foregoing evidences that what is called the Scriptures in one passage, the word in another, and the gospel in another, is identical. The Scriptures are able to make wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 2 Tim. 3:15. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes (Rom. 1:16), and many passages declare that it is by the word that we are cleansed (John 15:3), by the word that we grow (1 Peter 2:2), by the word we are built up and given an inheritance (Acts 20:32). The word is the word of the gospel; the truth is the truth of the gospel.34Again: all these center in our Lord Jesus Christ. He declares the word of God to be truth (John 17:17), and likewise declares himself to be the truth (John 14:6), as he is declared to be the Word (John 1:1-3). Through him came all the truth to man; he is truth personified, and this truth has all been given in God's holy word; and, furthermore, that word is the word of the gospel. See Col. 1:23-28. In verse 23 Paul speaks of the gospel which is preached to all men, of which he was a minister. In verse 25 he says he was made a minister to fulfill the word of God, or fully to preach the word of God (margin), which he in verse 23 calls the gospel. This word and gospel he makes in verse 26 to be identical with the mystery of God, and the next verse declares the mystery to be "Christ in you, the hope of glory; whom," says the apostle, "we preach." The preaching of the gospel, the preaching of the word, the preaching of the truth, the preaching of Jesus Christ, are all one and the same thing. And the reception of that gospel, that truth, that word, is the reception of Christ Jesus into the heart; and the reception of Christ in the heart by faith, so that the life we now live is not ours but his, is the mystery of God.
If it be asked how much we mean by the word and the truth, we reply that we mean all of God's word, the Scriptures of truth; for God's truth is not many truths, but one. It is not many gospels, but one, even as it is one Lord Jesus Christ. That "the word of the truth of the gospel" will include all of the Scriptures might easily be proved, but we will not now take time to do this at length. Let the following suffice: We are saved by the gospel; all will admit that in it we hope; but the apostle says to us: "Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." Rom. 15:3. See also 2 Tim. 3:15; 1 Thess. 2:13. But it is said all the word of God was not preached by Paul, nor was it all contained in the Old Testament. And this is doubtless true; but Paul preached the gospel, and the Old Testament Scriptures are scriptures of the gospel.
This brings us to another interesting question. How much of the truth of God, of the word of God, is necessary to save a man? Bigotry would say, Just as much as I believe and hold, and no less. Charity would be content with much less than this. But verity would say that the smallest amount of truth received with all the heart will save, we care not how small. It may be but one verse from God's word, that verse may be a verse of law or prophecy, but, if grasped by living faith as light from God, it will bring the soul to the light of life, Christ Jesus. Were we cast overboard near a boat in which was the personal Christ, and he should reach out a hand to save us, and we could only grasp a little finger of the Mighty One, and our hold on that did not slip, would it not save us? His finger could no more fail than his hand. So with God's word: men may call this part unnecessary; they may say that prophecy is not gospel, that the revelation of God's law is not gospel, that the words which convey to us precious truth are only human, but he who believes God will accept it all as from God, and will find Christ in what he has revealed, just as the woman with the bloody issue found Christ by touching his garment. God's word and truth are one. There is not one single truth revealed in his word but what if traced back, or, rather, traced up, will be found to have its origin and center in God the Father, and in Christ Jesus our Lord, just as the smallest nerve, ending in the finger tips, may be traced back to its great center, the brain.
But to save one, that truth, that word, must be received with all the heart, and the soul must "follow on to know the Lord." The soul is responsible only for the light which comes to him, whether much or little. If he rejects a part of much, he shows that under certain, sufficient temptation he would reject all. He makes himself the standard. If he accepts of all that comes to him with all his heart, however, he can do no more, and is accepted of God. Christ is in the little. The smallest truth of God is sufficient if that is all that is revealed. The greatest light is none too much to him who sees it. God requires all to accept all that he reveals to them, and he who does this with all the heart, accepts the word of the truth of the gospel of Christ, and has Christ formed within the heart, the hope of glory. Here are comfort and warning—comfort in laboring for the ignorant, warning lest we reject a single ray of light from God.
Hero Worship.
By Editor
Very much has been made, and is being made just now, of Christopher Columbus, and all the glamour of romance is thrown around him. The inhabitant of another world just now arriving on this planet would conclude that the man was some great demigod. It might be well for some of these enthusiasts to ask the question in sober thought which Mark Twain asked, as recorded in his "Innocents Abroad," of his tremolo-staccato guide, "Who is he?" The fact is that the man was a poor, low-down buccaneer of the worst type, and the "noble Isabella," who is said to have pawned her crown jewels to raise the money to fit out Columbus, in reality did nothing of the kind. According to Prof. Herbert B. Adams, of the Johns Hopkins University, Queen Isabella took the money, without the knowledge of Ferdinand, from the imperial cash box, funds which he had drawn from the Jews of Aragon, to the extent of $120,000. The Jewish Exponent remarks: "That the money of Jews should have aided, and the science of Jews furnished the very instruments of navigation which made the discovery possible, is not unimportant in summing up the contributions that we have made to the progress and welfare of the world."
It was under Ferdinand and Isabella that the "Holy Office" of the Inquisition was re-instituted in Spain, with Torquemada inquisitor general. In 1481, 3,000 persons were burned in the beautiful province of Andalusia, and 17,000 suffered other penalties, because they did not profess the faith of the Roman Catholic Church, and of their "most Christian" majesties, Ferdinand and Isabella. America was discovered more than six centuries before Columbus set foot thereon. Protestant Americans could do better work than honoring such a man, sent out by such sovereigns. Let Catholics canonize Columbus if they will; we presume that he would make as good a "saint" as St. Dominic, the first inquisitor general.
SUNDAY, THE WORLD'S FAIR, AND RESPECT TO GOD.
By Editor
THERE is a strong organization working against Sunday closing of the World's Fair, the Advisory Committee of which embraces the Rev. Robert Collyer, of New York; the Right Rev. Bishop Spalding, of Peoria, Ill.; Samuel Gompers, of New York, president of the American Labor Federation; Frank Hatton, editor of the Washington Post; the Rev. J. Minot Savage, of Boston; the Rev. Dr. Thomas, Colonel James A. Sexton, and Hempstead Washburne. Among its friends are Bishop Potter, of New York, Cardinal Gibbons, T. V. Powderly, Professor Swing, Mrs. John A. Logan, Rev. J. T. Sutherland, etc. It is believed by some that the Fair will be opened. The Chicago Advance (Congregational) of November 3 says, however:—
The Fair will not be open on Sundays. The National House of Representatives has said it; the Senate has said it; the President has affirmed it; and now the national commissioners in determining "rules" that shall control the management of the Exposition have expressly declared that the gates shall not be opened Sundays. The Local Directory will have to conform to these rules. This ought to end the disturbing uncertainty. Through the priceless right of petition, the voice of the people has been heard. And the gracious and every way beneficent law of the Creator in ordaining the Sabbath for man has been nationally, officially, and fittingly respected.
The Fair will perhaps be closed except to a select few, as the Philadelphia Exposition was. General Hawley and his special friends found admittance on Sunday. But how the "law of the Creator" has been "fittingly respected" by the honor placed upon a day of which that law takes no cognizance, except as a working day, is more than we can understand. God ordained the Sabbath for man, but the Sabbath which God ordained never was, never will be, and never can be Sunday. If respect were really designed by the Sunday-closing act, it could not have been more unfittingly shown. Its appropriateness reminds us of the man who, wishing to please his wife, presented her with a tombstone. But Sunday arguments, Sunday laws, and the whole Sunday movement are filled full of just such incongruities, inconsistencies, and insults to God and common sense. How much do these human ordinances add to God's glory? How much respect do they show him?
The Bad Man and the Bad Book
Mrs. FRANK LESLIE has recently and truly remarked: “A bad man is, in some respects, like a bad book. You study one or the other, you are altogether shocked and repelled, and at the end you throw the book aside, but you cannot by a mere effort of will forget all that you have read; certain scenes, certain phrases, certain discoveries of hitherto unsuspected forms of vice, remain in your mind in spite of every effort, and life is never quite the same as while you were ignorant of these blots upon humanity.” “Who can handle the pitch, and not be defiled?”
Abraham’s Choice and Lot’s Loss
BETTER it is to give our brother the choice of earth's blessings and retain the friendship of God, as did Abraham, than to choose all the Plain of Jordan, even though it be as fertile as the garden of the Lord, and lose by it integrity of character, as did Lot.
Description and Use of Furniture
By Uriah Smith
MAN'S SIN AND SAVIOUR. NO. 3.
Description and Use of Furniture.
THE essential feature connected with this sanctuary, as described above, was the ministration of the priests which was there performed. To study this we must first glance briefly at the furniture with which the sanctuary was provided for this purpose.
As we enter the court through the opening on the east, we find, standing nearest the door, an object five cubits square and three cubits high, overlaid with brass; this was the altar of burnt offering, on which all offerings of that nature were to be burned with fire. Between this altar and the tabernacle, which was placed in the western square of the court, stood the laver, a large brazen vessel filled with pure water, in which the priests were to wash both their hands and feet when they went into the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they approached the altar to offer a burnt offering thereon to the Lord.
Passing on we find the entrance of the tabernacle closed by a curtain, or veil, of the same material and workmanship as the veil that divided between the holy and the most holy place. This inner veil is called by Paul in Heb. 9:3 the second veil. That which formed the door of the tabernacle was therefore the first veil; and certainly the term "veil" may be applied to this as well as to the inner veil.
As we enter the first apartment, or holy place, three objects meet our gaze: first, a golden candlestick standing at the left of the door, or south side of the tabernacle, consisting of a standard and seven branches, beaten out of a solid piece of gold, about the weight of a talent, and worth, according to our present currency, over twenty-five thousand dollars. The seven branches supported seven lamps, which were kept continually burning. When we come to look at its symbolical nature, we shall find it representing the seven lamps of fire which John saw burning before the throne of God in heaven. Rev. 4:5.
On the north side of the holy place, opposite the candlestick, stood the table of showbread. On this were placed twelve loaves of bread, representing the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. These loaves were renewed every Sabbath, the loaves which were removed being eaten by the priests in the holy place. This bread fitly symbolized the manifold grace of God, which we receive through Christ, the heavenly manna, on which the Christian replenishes his spiritual life.
Between the candlestick and the table, but further inward and near the inner veil, stood the third object, the altar of incense. It was for the purpose of burning incense before the Lord morning and evening. In Rev. 8:3 John was shown an angel offering incense with the prayers of saints, which clearly indicates what the incense symbolized, as offered by the priests in the tabernacle of Moses.
As pertaining to the most holy place, there were three things also mentioned as worthy of notice, namely, the golden censer, the ark, and the mercy seat.
1. The golden censer. This was a vessel borne in the hands of the priest from place to place, and used for the purpose of burning incense. It was constructed in various forms, and of various materials; but there was one particularly of fine gold, which was used only on the day of atonement, and was probably always kept, when not in use, in the most holy place, and hence is spoken of as pertaining to that department. Heb. 9:4; Lev. 16:12.
2. The ark. This was a coffer, or chest, of precious wood, overlaid within and without with the purest gold. It was two cubits and a half (three feet nine inches) in length, and a cubit and a half (two feet three inches) in width and height. It was constructed for the special purpose of receiving the two tables of the law, the ten commandments, which were sacredly deposited therein. Ex. 25:16; 31:18.
3. The mercy seat. This was simply the cover of the ark; but it was a magnificent and costly piece of workmanship. It was of course of the same length and width as the ark, and two cherubim formed a part of it, one standing on each end, and all beaten out of one solid piece of gold. These cherubim were made looking reverently down upon the mercy seat, and shadowing it with their wings, which were spread aloft, and touched each other midway above it. This cover of the ark was called "the mercy seat" because here mercy took up its abode, and met and satisfied the claims of justice; for it was upon the mercy seat, beneath which reposed the law which men had transgressed, that the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled, which satisfied the claims of the law, and left the sinner free. Here was the focal point where mercy and justice met and were reconciled. As the Psalmist beautifully expresses it, here "mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other." Ps. 85:10.
It was in this consecrated spot, between the cherubim, over the mercy seat, that the holy shekinah, representing God's presence, was manifested, and from whence God usually communicated with his people.
For the construction of all this wonderful work God called certain ones, and specially qualified them by putting his Spirit upon them. The sanctuary was not therefore merely the work of men. It was the inspiration of heaven, manifested in this unparalleled and unapproachable work of art.
How impressive must have been the scene presented by the interior of this building! There were its walls, having all the appearance of massive and solid gold, and reflecting in a thousand directions the light of the seven lamps of the golden candlestick. There were the table of showbread and the altar of incense, overlaid with burnished gold. And there was the curtain, which formed the gorgeous ceiling, with its mystic figures of cherubim in blue and purple and scarlet, adding its beauty to the brilliant scene; while in, beyond the second veil, was the golden ark, and above it the glorious shekinah, or visible manifestation of God's glory, into the awful presence of which (except the high priest's entrance alone once every year), no man could venture and live.
We now have before us the sanctuary as Moses erected it in the wilderness of Sinai, 1,490 years before Christ. With its ark of the covenant, its mercy seat, and its glorious shekinah, it constituted the heart and center of Israel's religious worship under that typical system.
THE NATURE OF THE SOUL.
By Elder G. C. Tenney
BY ELDER G. C. TENNEY.
It is, I believe, entirely in harmony with the Scripture, and hence with the truth, to say that man has a soul. And it is not necessary in assenting to this to limit the meaning of the term to the breath, nor yet to make it embrace the entire person, although it is true that the word soul does in its scriptural use often have one of those meanings. We have seen that as an animal man consists of a body animated by the spirit of life, a principle derived directly from God. But man is essentially something infinitely more than a mere animal. The very highest mark of favor and consideration was placed upon man at his creation, when the Creator decided to make man in his own image and likeness. This we believe does not refer solely to contour of frame and feature, but it has a more important signification in its reference to the faculties of the mind.
Physiologists tell us that man differs from beasts in three particulars,—men walk upright, beasts go prostrate; men have chins, beasts have none; men have moral natures, beasts know nothing of right or wrong. In this last particular we have a fact that leads to a proper understanding of the subject of man's superiority to beasts. In physical endowments men are generally inferior to the lower animals. The dog with his sense of smell possesses a power of which we can hardly conceive. Their sense of hearing is the safeguard of many timid animals, which would soon be destroyed if they could hear no better than we can. The nimble dexterity of some animals puts our human acrobats to shame,36while human strength is but trifling as compared with that of the horse, the bullock, the elephant, and other quadrupeds. But man alone of all earthly creatures bears the special mark of divine favor. For man Christ died; for man the heavenly mansions are preparing. To man God gave his word and work; to him has he given a place in the heavenly family. Why all this?—Because man alone bears in his moral and mental powers the impress of the divine mind. There must, then, be a feature in human nature that is distinct and infinitely superior to anything possessed by brutes. And so it is. Man by cultivation may acquire a character that is angelic, God-like, pure; by sin he may debase himself as much lower than the brutes as it is possible through righteousness for him to ascend above them. It is this quality in man's nature that forms the distinctive characters of individuals. These qualities of the mind become the objects of love or aversion, of respect and esteem, or of contempt. We value our fellow-men according as they manifest the amiable and desirable qualities of their mental and moral powers. We may at first be attracted to an individual by his outward appearance, but real affection is based upon the beauty of the inward adorning of the heart. The color of hair, eyes, or complexion then ceases to be much of a consideration. Their bodies may waste away by fever or consumption, but the object of love unimpaired remains. Not only do we estimate people by their moral worth, but we know that God always looks at the heart to form his opinion of men and women. "Man looketh on [at first] the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."
This feature of men's nature is of itself a distinct organization, composed of various elements differently blended in different individuals, even as the blending of tints and colors forms the pictures of art. No two are alike, so no two characters possess in the same quantities the same qualities. Taken as a whole, these principles form human character, and they constitute the essential and identifying principle in the individual's being. Without this mankind is but a drove of cattle.
What shall we call this feature of human existence? Shall we call it the soul? The Bible does. Micah 6:7; Acts 14:22; Heb. 13:17; 3 John 2; Matt. 10:28. But it very much more frequently calls it the heart. So we speak of it. Others may call it character. In this sense the soul is the organization of man's conscious powers, his sentient principles, which embrace intellect, will, and moral faculties. But this, like the body, is a product of growth and development. It feeds upon its surroundings, upon the facts and impressions conveyed to it by the senses. Its development is directed by prevailing influences and by the will. At the age of moral accountability it assumes control of the body and forms the eye. Says Paul, "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection."
As we read the intimate biography of a person we have never seen, we become acquainted with him. Could we read his every word, yea, his thoughts, and discern his motives, we should then know him and realize that he was in some measure peculiar from any other person of our acquaintance, and his character only could identify him in our mind. Thus the character, heart, or soul, becomes a kind of a negative from which to reproduce the man. In God's books the most intimate record of life is kept; that record is the negative, and a man who in the resurrection bears the minute impress of that record is to all intents and purposes the same man. His consciousness connects with his former experience. His friends recognize in a glorified form the same dear friend around whom their affections were entwined. Another person bearing an outward resemblance to the lost friend, but having a consciousness and character formed on a different model, would not fill the place. The preservation or salvation of the soul becomes then the real object of faith: "Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." 1 Peter 1:9.
While lexicographers give to the Greek word ψυχή (psuche) the definition of "the breath," "the animal life," they also include in its significations "the soul, the seat of understanding, the seat of passions and feeling, the genius," "the rational soul," etc.; so that in this definition we have not gone aside from the legitimate use of the term soul. But this does not teach even by implication the dogma of natural immortality. There is not the least shadow of a foundation in all this upon which to build the theory of the independent immortality of the soul. There is nothing in the nature of the soul upon which to predicate conscious existence outside of the organism with which its manifestations are inseparably connected.
Doctrinal.
"If any man will do His will he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God."—John 7:17.
TRUTH.
By Eliza H. Morton
E'EN like a tree that never sheds its leaves
Is truth. It stands the same, unmoved by frosts
Or heat. It ne'er grows old with passing years.
It is a blossom sweet that blooms for all
And sheds its perfume o'er a world of sin.
It is a treasure richer than the gold
Of Ophir's mines. It is a shining chain
'Twixt earth and heaven, uniting hearts below
With the Great Heart above. It is divine,
And yet within the reach of mortal man.
Oh, seek it then! In every field of earth
Make search. Amongst your friends, amongst your foes,
And in the lands beyond the sea make search.
And welcome when 'tis found,—the truth. Oh, let
It have a place within your heart! Heed not
What fingers penned, what lips proclaim, or where
You found the treasure sought. The truth is what
You want, for that alone can give you joy.
Think not because some buds your hands have culled,
Some glittering gems by you been found, that all
The truth is yours. Not till that shining chain
Draws earth to heaven, and all below becomes
The Paradise of God, will you behold
The links of that fair bond, and even then
Eternal ages on and on will roll
And truth keep pouring at your feet
The wealth that God has still in store.
North Deering, Maine.
LIFE FROM THE WORD.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
BY ELDER E. J. WAGGONER.
AND thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. Deut. 8:2, 3.
This reference shows that there was a special purpose in giving the manna to the children of Israel in the wilderness. It was, of course, for the purpose of supplying their physical necessities, but that was not all. God could have supplied them with food in some other way. He could have led them through a land where they would have found sustenance; but he purposely led them through the wilderness, in places where they could find neither food nor water, in order that it might appear in the clearest manner that their food came directly from heaven. It was for the purpose of making them realize continually that God was their sole support.
Jesus referred to this after he had performed the miracle of feeding the five thousand with the five loaves and two fishes. The Jews blindly asked for a sign as proof of his ministry, and thought to set Moses up against Christ, as superior to him, by saying, "Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat." But Jesus answered them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, It was not Moses that gave you the bread out of heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world." John 6:31-33.
Christ, and not Moses, was the real leader of the children of Israel in the wilderness. He was bringing them out of the bondage of Egypt, not physical merely, but spiritual. He was leading them not to a merely temporal37poral inheritance, but to an eternal inheritance of righteousness. The keeping of the commandments of God was the sole condition of their everlasting inheritance. But they had no power to do that. Nevertheless, they were not to despair, and say, "Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it [that is, the commandment] unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?" Neither were they to say, "Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it [the commandment] unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?" And why? The answer was thus given: "But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." In our comparison of this text with the tenth chapter of Romans, in the last article, we found that the commandment here refers to none other than Christ. That is, they could find the commandment only by finding Christ, and he was near at hand. Outside of Christ there is no righteousness, no keeping of the commandments.
Some may think that this fact was not known in the time of Moses, but a careful reading of the thirtieth chapter of Deuteronomy shows that it was exactly what Moses was teaching the people. In verses 15 and 16 we read: "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, death and evil; in that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply." This shows that life is found only in the keeping of the commandments of God. Then in verses 19 and 20 we read: "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live; that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him; for he is thy life, and the length of thy days."
In this the people were plainly given to understand that their finding and keeping the commandments consisted solely in their finding and keeping Christ. With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, because Christ dwells in the heart by faith. The life of the word is the life of Christ. We cannot understand how Christ's life is conveyed by the word when it is received in faith. It is the mystery of the incarnation. It is the mystery of God manifest in the flesh.
But God does not leave his people to try to grasp abstract truth. He cannot explain it to our comprehension, but he illustrates it so that we may be sure of the fact. So for forty years he gave to the Jews a daily object lesson of the truth that he is their life. As they ate the manna which he gave them directly from heaven, so they were to eat of him. There was no human agency employed in supplying them with the manna for their physical necessities. So they were to recognize the fact that no human power could give them the righteousness which the law demands. That same lesson serves for us, for it was written for our learning.
We cannot understand how it is that the bread that we eat gives us life and strength. We know the fact, and that is sufficient. Physiologists trace for us the changes that the food undergoes in the process of digestion, but not one of them can tell how it is that bread is changed into bone and muscle. That is the mystery of life, which is within the power and comprehension of God alone. So, although we may not know how it is that God's word can give us life, we may know the fact.
In the raising of Lazarus and the ruler's daughter Christ gave to us instances of the life-giving power of his word. His word, "Lazarus, come forth," brought Lazarus from the grave in the full vigor of health. So at the last day his word will bring all the dead from their graves. The raising of the dead is accomplished by the same life-giving power that God bestows upon men in this world to save them from sin. Sin is death: "For to be carnally minded is death." Rom. 8:6. "And you hath he quickened [made alive], who were dead in trespasses and sins." Eph. 2:1. To disbelieve that God does actually give us his life in Christ, as we accept his word in faith, is equivalent to disbelieving that Christ ever raised the dead, or that he ever will. But whosoever believes that there was power in the word of Christ to raise Lazarus from the dead, because the word had the very life of Christ himself in it, may have the same life in himself, by which to keep the commandments of God.