ARE gentiles under obligation to keep the Sabbath? Was it not given to Israel alone? C. W.
As this is a frequently raised question, a few points may be worthy of consideration.
1. The Sabbath is a memorial of creation. This is demonstrated by such texts as Ps. 111:4; Gen. 2:2, 3; Ex. 20:8–11. That creation affects all who dwell upon the earth, and all are amenable to the One who created them. The Sabbath was therefore for mankind, the whole race; for “the Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27); and the “God that made the world and all things therein” also “made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation” (Acts 17:24, 26). Among the times before appointed is that of the Sabbath, which originated at creation, and was sanctified, appointed as God’s memorial; and this memorial is “throughout all generations.” Ps. 135:13.
2. That the Sabbath is for all men is shown by the records of peoples, which, before apostatizing, acknowledged its binding obligation and kept it, as shown by ancient records, and the names they have retained for the days of the week.
3. That God gave the Sabbath to Israel was true; but he did not give it to them as a people to themselves; he gave it to them as he did all other truth, that they might give it to others. To Israel pertained “the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises.” Rom. 9:4. The gentile world worshiped idols, forbidden by the first two commands of the Decalogue; shall we therefore reject the law, saying it was for Israel? So with other precepts of that same holy law; God ever calls the seventh-day Sabbath his day, “the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,” but never the “Jewish Sabbath.” The latter is man’s name; which shall we choose? On the other hand, God repeatedly calls himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel; shall we therefore reject him for this?
4. But the new covenant is to Israel; all the promises are to Israel, the inheritance is to Israel, the holy and eternal city of the everlasting kingdom is the city of Israel; for after Israel are her gates named (Rev. 21:12); and Jesus declares that “salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). We have a Bible given through Jesus, spoken by Jesus, and a Saviour who was a Jew, of the tribe of Judah; and “unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” Gen. 49:10. Shall we therefore reject all these precious riches and blessings?
5. The fact of the case is that these Jews were the depositaries of God’s truth because they could best preserve it till Christ came. They rejected it, and God cast them off; but their rejection did not affect God’s truth. He simply placed the flaming torch and sacred treasure in other hands, devoted to his service, to bear the light and blessing to the world. But those who bear them are the Israel of God. There are no covenant blessings or promises to the gentiles only as they become Israelites—prevailers with God—by faith. But all may thus become, Jew or Greek, male or female, black or white; God is no respecter of persons. But faith, the faith of Jesus Christ, the faith of Israel, the faith which works by love, the love that keeps the commands of God,—the same faith and love are required of all; and all who have it are Israelites indeed, true Jews, of “the commonwealth of Israel,” and of “the household of God.” And God is one; his law is one; his Son is one; his salvation, his Sabbath, his mighty redeeming love and eternal inheritance, each and all are one and the same to all who will accept them. He who will not may remain a gentile, “having no hope, and without God in the world;” for there is no other hope, no other God.
No. 351. Close Communion.
IS THE S. D. A. Church a close communion church, that is, will they permit those of other denominations to partake of the Lord’s supper with them? E. H. J.
At the communion service Seventh-day Adventists often invite all who are keeping “the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus,” to partake with them. We have known others to engage, and we believe they are never forbidden. No Christian should show by any act that he considers that any important truth of God is of no account. For this reason he might not be able conscientiously to commune with others. By this he does not judge his brother, but shows his loyalty to what he believes is truth.
No. 352. Caring for the Insane.
PLEASE give me your opinion in the SIGNS OF THE TIMES whether it is right for a Seventh-day Adventist to work in an insane asylum, where he will have to take care of the patients on the Sabbath days, as well as other days? O. N.
The insane, the sick, and the afflicted have to be cared for on Sabbath days as well as other days; and it is just as much the duty of a Seventh-day Adventist to do this as it is for any other person if the Lord wants him to do it. It is proper work to our mind, if he does it with a right motive, and for the Lord’s sake. Whether any person ought to do it or not is a question that lies between his soul and God.
MOODS
By Eliza H. Morton
BY ELIZA H. MORTON.
At times the heart is restless
As ship on tossing sea,
Or lost, bewildered song-bird
That knows not where to flee;
Again ’tis dark and gloomy
As pine trees in their shade,
Or sky when storm is raging
And cloud on cloud is laid.
And oft a mood that’s dreamy
Fills all the soul with fire,
And then we touch a key-note
On fancy’s golden lyre,
And songs we sing while weeping
Spring from the lip and brain
And give exquisite pleasure
So keen it’s almost pain.
The passionate, wild longings
The hot heart holds at bay
May sway the eager spirit
All through the livelong day;
Then like a bell at evening,
With throbbings soft and low,
Bring memories athronging
From out the long ago.
And calm, and, O, so restful
The peace that then we know,
Like moonlight brightly mirrored
In waters deep below!
O life that rises higher,
And higher yet, above
The changing moods of earth-land
To God’s eternal love!
North Deering, Me.
SIN, WHAT IS IT?
By D. T. J.
BY D. T. J.
Condition, Not Deeds.
In defining sin, we are apt to take cognizance only of its fruits, instead of tracing it to its origin in the motives and intents of the heart. The evil acts which are manifested in the outward life are an evidence of a fountain of evil within from which these actions flow; just as the living spring has its fountain in the bowels of the mountain, where its waters are treasured up, or in the everlasting snows which crown their tops.
Sin, then, is a condition, and this condition is implanted in the heart. Conversion is the work of renovating the heart—changing its condition. This was called a new birth by our Saviour, and the apostle refers to those who have been converted as “new creatures in Christ Jesus.”
While the condition of sin exists, it is impossible to do right, no matter how hard the individual may try; and those who have been converted—born again—can not do evil. In giving the test by which we may distinguish the righteous from the wicked, Christ said: “Ye shall know them by their fruit. . . . A good tree can not bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. . . . Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” The fruit does determine the character of the tree, but the tree does not determine the character of the fruit, while the fruit shows what character the tree is of, that is, whether it is a good or a bad one. So it is with the acts of sin; such acts do not determine the character of the individual, but they show what his character is. In speaking from the opposite standpoint—the standpoint of the converted man—John says, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed [or nature] remaineth in him; and he can not sin, because he is born of God.” This does not teach us that converted men may not be deceived and led into doing sinful things, but it does plainly teach that such things will not be in the regular trend of the converted man's life.
The words of the prophet Jeremiah illustrate this point when he asks the question, “Can an Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?” and then answers the question by saying, “Then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil.”
That sin is a condition or state of sin, and the change which is wrought in the work of conversion. We will give a few examples: “And it was so, that, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart.” 1 Sam. 10:9. “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh.” Eze. 11:19. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isa. 1:18. “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.” 1 John 2:9, 10. “If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him.” 1 John 2:29. “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” 1 John 5:18.
In conversion the nature is changed, and in place of having a disposition tending to sin, the converted man has a disposition tending towards righteousness, with the promise of divine power to assist him in carrying out his spiritual desires. “According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue; whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:3, 4.
Sin is the natural inheritance of the human heart, and this condition can only be changed through Christ, who, as man's substitute, has vanquished sin and provided a way, through himself, for man to be released from its dominion.
CHRIST THE CREATOR.
By S. N. H.
BY S. N. H.
The power to carry out the purpose of God was by him placed in the Son. The apostle, in speaking of Christ, says that God “hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.” Again, “Who created all things by Jesus Christ.” If we could get an inspired definition of the terms “by him,” “by Jesus Christ,” then the exact relationship to the Father in creating this world would be understood. In 2 Cor. 4:14 concerning the resurrection we read, “Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.” Here we have the same expression that God the Father would raise the dead “by Jesus.” What part will Christ act in raising the dead? A correct understanding of this would give us a correct knowledge of how he made the worlds by Jesus. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.” “Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:25, 28, 29. When Christ comes to raise the dead, “he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.” He is escorted by “all the holy angels;” and the Father, altho invisible, also accompanies his Son to take the saints from earth to the heavenly city. Yet it is the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God.
It was therefore by the word of the Lord that the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. “For he spake, and it was; he commanded, and it stood fast.” Ps. 33:6, 9. At the beginning it was God who said to his Son, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Gen. 1:26. God was with Christ, but it was Christ’s voice which spake into existence this world. It was the voice of Christ that first brought out of nothing the existence of the earth, “without form and void,” that spoke on each successive day of the six. It was Christ who said, “Let there be light; and there was light.” It was Christ who said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters,” “and it was so.” It was Christ’s voice which said, “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so.”
Christ inherited every name the Father had; so when the Son speaks, it may truly be said to be God. So inspiration says of Christ, “Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands.” Heb. 1:10.
But sin entered, and death by sin. Man lost the image of God. But now if Christ should not become the Redeemer, then there would be a failure; for in him was placed the “eternal purpose” of God, and in that purpose was the creation of this world, and the peopling of it with a race bearing the image of the Father and the Son. Hence we read, “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory7of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Cor. 4:6.
Again we read: “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son [or “Son of his love,” margin]; in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins; who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature; for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him, and for him; and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Col. 1:13–17. The power that God placed in Christ back in eternity was first displayed in creation, and was afterwards made manifest in redemption. It was to restore soul and body. The change in the heart is the first of the new creation. 2 Cor. 5:17. For in Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. All the wisdom, the power, and the glory of the Father are in Christ, and he has brought them down into humanity, that humanity might be recreated, and again bear the image and likeness of the Father.
The assurance of the final accomplishment of God’s purpose lies in the death and resurrection of Christ. He is no longer dead, but is a risen Saviour. It is, therefore, a living and an eternal power which is in the Christian religion, and which energizes both soul and body. It all is in Christ. Christ’s works were only a revelation of the power, the glory, the love, and the goodness of the Father. It was all placed in him before the world was. And in Christ was the eternal purpose of God, even to the number and the character of each person who will finally inherit the kingdom of God. It is for us to accept and take the character, which if we do, the righteousness of Christ places us in the same relationship to the Father as exists between the Father and the Son.
IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE.
The popular adage is: “O, it makes no difference what a man believes, if he is sincere!”
Let us see. A family was poisoned in Montgomery County recently by eating toadstools, which they sincerely believed to be mushrooms. Three of them died. Did it make no difference?
A man indorsed a note for a friend whom he sincerely believed to be an honest man. He was a scoundrel, and left him to pay the debt. Did it make no difference?
A traveler takes the wrong train going north, sincerely believing it is the southern train. Will it make no difference? Will he bring up at the south all the same?
If a man sincerely believes a certain thing, while the truth about it is entirely different, will this sincere belief make it all right?
The truth is, the popular adage is a lie, and a very transparent one at that. If a man is sincere, he will take pains to know the truth. For where facts are concerned, all the thinking in the world will not change them. A toadstool remains a toadstool, whatever we may think about it.—The Covenant.
Putting the Lord Under Obligation
“NEARLY every church has two or three members who think they have put the Lord under obligations to them.”
The Wine of Babylon
By I. E. Kimball
ZION AND BABYLON. NO. 7.
BY I. E. KIMBALL.
The Wine of Babylon.
The holy city—the church of God—has within her a fountain of waters of life flowing forth from the throne of God. And from every saint the living waters flow forth to others. John 7:38, etc. The church, therefore, holds forth to all the living waters, and points to this Fountain (Jer. 2:13), from which every one may draw to satiety. These waters, perfectly pure, in comparison to our own corrupted fountain, represent to us the pure life of God; and, indeed, the waters represent “the Spirit which they that believe on him [Christ] should receive,” according to the above text. But the word of God reveals to us that life; and when the word is made Spirit and life within us, then indeed the life is pure, and the water of life may flow forth from us. The words which are Spirit and life are therefore to renew and wash and cleanse us. Eph. 5:26; John 15:3. The waters of life are thus extended to the world in the pure life contained in the word of God; hence the waters are the word held forth.
But instead of passing this cup to the thirsty, instead of sending forth rivers in high places and streams in the deserts, the apostate church holds a glowing wine cup, pressing it to the lips of the people of earth, to stupefy and besot, causing to err in vision and stumble in judgment. As the waters of life are passed to the world by the true church through the word, so the corrupted word, the “statutes that are not good,” framed according to the lusts of the flesh, intoxicate the world, in that it makes it forgetful of truth, and to expect that which can never be realized. Thus the people become as dreamers, talking in sleep, or as drunkards, with no definite conceptions of anything but the present. “I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.” “Drunken but not with wine.”
Now, that the word which apostasy holds out to the world thus intoxicates, may be seen in that they say, “To-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant,”—the millennial day is forthcoming. Is not the Lord among us, none evil can come upon us; but the prophets have “prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him.” Jer. 28:8, 9. This was said by the prophet, because the false prophet cry of “peace, peace” was raised, “and there is no peace, saith the Lord God.”
The earth is ever represented as falling off to a worse condition, like a drunkard who finally falls to rise not again. Thus will it be when the great day of God’s wrath utterly desolates the earth. Hence great Babylon is to be taken “unawares.” And they say, “Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord,” but “where is the God of judgment?” They do not know him. Partiality in the law (Mal. 2:8, 9), and the various errors which unite the world to the church, and give probation after death, and many such like things, make men “vain worshipers,” utterly dead to God, and insensible to his will. Such is the wine of Babylon with which she makes drunk her votaries, and comforts and kills her paramours.
But this wine is the result of her fornication. And fornication is the term applied to Christians who have been married to Christ by a covenant sealed by his blood, and by their most solemn vow (see Rom. 7:4; 2 Cor. 11:2); so that whoever becomes henceforth a friend and follower of the world is a woman departing from her husband. So says James to worldly Christians: “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” James 4:4. In this way the whole Jewish church, both Israel and Judah, were set forth as adulterous women. “The righteous men they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood.” See Ezekiel 23. It will be noted that the two women—Samaria and Jerusalem—are represented as doting on the Assyrians, or Babylonians. So said the prophet: “The Babylonians come to her into the bed of love.” Thus “the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen.” Eze. 25:8. See also Ezekiel 16.
We see why the church is accused of fornication, simply because “I was an husband unto them,” and they were “as a wife that committeth adultery, who taketh strangers instead of her husband,” as “an imperious whorish woman; in that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street;” that is, she listened to the siren of Babylon, and followed Satan’s voice, and went to become his bride with sister Babylon, and cast off the precepts of God, that is, cast off God. Thus the lives of Israel and Babylon became one. Babylon’s wine cup results in a drunken, lascivious life. Her statutes were “not good,” and her judgments those by which they “should not live.” So Zion became “drunken but not with wine,” and Israel was declared to be “fallen.” Hosea 14:1; Amos 5:2.
It is surprising to what extent the old Babylonial wine is still poured out to the nations to-day, even by the professed church of Christ. What shall I say of the cry “peace, peace,” the teaching which promises salvation to the sinful, whose lives do not harmonize with God? Eze. 13:22; Mal. 2:17. Such are the doctrines of the “Age to come,” “Universalism,” “Unitarianism,” etc. Ritualism masks frightful deformities: The doctrine of inherent and natural immortality, which has been the bulwark of all heathenism from first to last; without it demonolatry and Spiritualism—but they are one and the same—and the horrible doctrines of eternal hell burning and purgatory, could not exist at all. Fornication with Babylon has transplanted these baneful plants out of their virgin soil into God’s vineyard. So are “the mysteries” and the holy days which have been transported from heathenism—particularly Sunday—disguised now as the holy Sabbath.
They are not held out in the word, they flow not from life’s fountain, but come from the Babylonian wine cup. Who should not dread that fatal wine cup and the Bacchanalian revels and sleep which follow? Let every one remember that whoso loveth or maketh a lie shall be damned, as the word affirms. Most of the errors now found in Protestantism—and I think I may safely say all—are simply the fables of heathenism lodged, and now firmly rooted, in the Catholic Church, and coming down to us from thence.
The most dangerous of all these doctrines is the doctrine now so agitated, of a union of religion and the state, which, as I have before shown, comes to us from Satan. It necessarily makes the Christian into a heathen and Turk, in that the conscience is forced, and a godlike authority exercised by man over man, by majorities over majorities, through the strong arm. It takes away the right of private judgment, and makes hypocrites but not Christians.
The commandments of men turn from the truth. To add or abate one jot from God’s word is dangerous. “Ye shall not add unto the words which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught,” but live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Who can imagine for a moment that God looks with unconcern, or even with lenient eye, upon disregard of one of his plain precepts? “Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself.” Disregard of one precept will bring a flaw into the character. “We would have healed Babylon.” And how?—Even as others,—“He sent his word and healed them.” So let the healing balm of truth be applied.
When God Sees the Sinner
“TORMENT begins when a sinner finds out that God sees him.”
Monuments and the Memory of a Good Man
“No HONOR can be conferred upon the memory of a good man by a monument.”
BIBLE REASONS WHY WE ARE PROTESTANTS.
[Extracts from a sermon preached in Masonic Temple, New York, Sunday evening, February 23, 1896, by Rev. John Hall, D.D. (Presbyterian), and copied from a report in the Converted Catholic of March.]
“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”
The epistle of Peter from which my text is taken, begins in that modest and loving way which characterizes the apostle—“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.” He is writing to strangers of the various countries, reminding them of the great, glorious inheritance to which they were elected through the sanctification of the Spirit, exhorting them to holiness and abstinence from all lusts, having their conversation honest among the gentiles. It is a letter full of tenderness and affection. It is, however, singular to notice, by the way, that there is not one allusion to Rome in it. Indeed, the word “Rome” occurs only nine times in the Bible, and never is Peter connected with it.
A part of the third chapter is written to wives, instructing them in a kind and gracious manner as to their duties and as to the way they should carry themselves. Six verses are devoted to the subject, and he places the wives before the husbands. One single verse is addressed to the husbands, reminding them of their duties. Peter was a married man. We know it from the Gospel telling us that Christ healed his wife’s mother. We can understand, therefore, the sympathy of Peter for home life.
The rest of the chapter contains general admonitions to those Christians to whom he is writing, and who were suffering many trials and persecutions because of Christianity, giving them directions as to how they should carry themselves in trying circumstances of life, admonishing them to suffer for righteousness’ sake, but to sanctify the Lord God in their hearts. He uses the solemn words, Sanctify the Lord “in your hearts.” There is no allusion to ceremonies and rites, but the heart is pointed out as the seat of true religion, and God there enthroned as supreme Governor and Ruler. No concealment of these truths from those who persecuted them is advised, but a frank, intelligent adhesion to their religion. “Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you.” He counsels them to know what they believe and be able to answer for their belief to their inquiring fellow-men, not in a haughty spirit, not in a controversial spirit; no, indeed, but in meekness and fear—not in the sense of fear of man, but in the sense of reverence of God’s truth—and also in meekness, with that spirit of tender mercy which best imitates the divine Saviour.
Why do we protest? and why are we entitled to the name of Protestants? The first reason is, the living word of God itself.
The Holy Scripture, being the word of God, is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. We believe with the apostle James that we receive the engrafted word, which is able to save our souls. It is able to save; for it tells you the way in which you may be saved.
The Church of Rome did not regard the word of God in that way. Do not take my word for this statement, but hear the decision of the Council of Trent regarding the Scriptures: “All saving truth is not contained in the Scriptures, but partly in unwritten tradition, which whoever does not receive as the Scriptures, is accursed.” That is to say, human traditions are put on the same basis with the word of God, and given the same authority. We could not accept that, as we put all other authority and unwritten traditions aside.
When the Reformation triumphed, the Holy Scriptures were widely distributed among the people in England, Germany, Switzerland, and with the emigrants from those countries the Bible came to the United States.
Now in all these lands where the Bible had its right place—as in the leading Protestant nations of the world—prosperity and civilization were the inevitable results, while the reverse can be demonstrated of Catholic countries. Even in Switzerland, in those cantons where the word of God is free, we find greater prosperity than in those cantons that are under the Roman Catholic Church.
In recent years the authorities of Rome are said to recommend the reading of the Bible. But that was not so in past ages, and is not so now everywhere.
I have had in my hands the burnt remains of Testaments taken from the hands of peasants, burned by their own spiritual leaders. Deny to the Bible its place, and put it on an equal basis with human traditions! We could not receive such a doctrine, and therefore protested against it.
The second reason why we are Protestants is the attitude of the Church of Rome towards Christ, an attitude that necessitates protest. The church is compared to a body, the mystical body of Christ, and Christ is the head of the church. The apostle Peter speaks of Christ as the Chief Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. He has all power in heaven and on earth. He gave the promise to his people, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”
Why, then, should there be a vicar, a substitute, a human being, standing in his place, with all power over all rulers and princes of this world, and even with personal infallibility? Christ does not need any deputy in his place. But somebody might object and say, Did not Christ tell Peter, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church?” Does not that give Peter the supremacy? It is not so easy to make the sense of these words as clear in the English translation as it appears in the Greek. Petros, which means in Greek Peter, is masculine; petra, which means rock, is feminine. Jesus says to Peter, Thou art Petros, and on this petra I will build my church. What petra did he mean? Christ had asked, “Whom say ye that I am?” and Peter answered, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” That confession of Petros was the petra upon which Christ was to build his church.
Christ meant that Peter saw the rock in his confession of the divinity of Christ. That was the radical truth, the rock, on which the church should be built. The church indeed is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus being the chief corner-stone. But does not Christ say immediately after, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”? That means, Peter was used by Christ to preach the Gospel, the first to open the Gospel to the Jews and gentiles. He was Christ’s apostle, and had by that promise of Christ received the honor to open the door first to the Jews and then to the gentiles.
But Christ said, Whosesoever sins you forgive will be forgiven. Does not that give power to Peter to pardon sins?—No. Read Jeremiah, the first chapter, where the Lord said to him: “I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” But Jeremiah never planted, never built kingdoms. It meant that God would use him to tell to the nations how he would build. In other words, he gave him declarative power, not executive power. Christ uses the same language to his other apostles, also telling men how sins may be remitted and how retained. It is on this account that we can not accept the idea to put a man, even the most distinguished and learned man, at the head of the church, as the Papacy has done, Jesus being sole head of the church. He alone has authority and power, and he alone bought that church with his own blood. It was he who sent the Comforter to sanctify men and to prepare the militant church for the triumphant.
GRAINS OF GOLD.
Golden opportunities do not travel by a time-table.
Success in anything requires singleness of purpose.
He that would enjoy the fruit must not gather the flower.
A good day does not always begin with a bright morning.
Character is something that can not be burned up or buried.
How ready some people are to sell their souls for spot cash!
Hard work is only hard to those who do not put heart in it.
Sympathy is something that is not learned from books.
Murder is committed in the heart before it is done with a gun.
Success that is not planned for and worked for is never enjoyed.
There are men who like to speak well of others—on a tombstone.
The things which do the most to make us happy do not cost money.
It is remarkable how many virtues can be seen in people who have money.
Is the woman who talks about her neighbors any worse than the one who listens?
If you want to be strong in adversity, don't forget to pray when you are prosperous.
Put this restriction on your pleasures, be cautious that they injure no being that lives.
Only a little of the best sermon can be remembered, but an act of kindness is never forgotten.—Selected.
The Habit of Giving
GIVING is educative of our higher nature. The habit of hoarding grows, till miser or monopolist is the end of such development. We benefit ourselves most of all when we seek to elevate others. It is as the Arab proverb says: “The water you pour on the roots of the coconut tree comes back to you in the milk of the coconut, which falls from the top;” yes, and sweetened besides.—Selected.
The Best Investment
“THE best investment any man can make is to give as God expects him to.”
