Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 24, 1894
For Us
Crucified with Christ.—Says the apostle Paul: "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Gal. 2:20. Again, in Rom. 6:6, he says: "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him [Christ], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."
JESUS met his death by crucifixion; he here reached the acme of his sacrifice—death. It is for this reason that the cross stands as the symbol and exponent of all his sufferings,—it was in reality but the climax; they here reached high noon. Perhaps it would be better to say that they here reached deepest, darkest night; for his whole life was a cross-bearing life. From his anointing at his baptism by the Holy Spirit it was especially so. "He poured out his soul unto death,"—a process which endured during his whole earth life. "For even Christ pleased not himself" applied not to a few acts, but to his whole career. His whole life was a crucifixion, a putting to death, by the power of God, of the natural lusts and tendencies of the flesh which he had in common with all men.
For Us.—All this he did for us. "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures." 1 Cor. 15:3. He was made "to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Cor. 5:21. He took upon himself our nature, was made in "the likeness of sinful flesh" (Rom. 8:3), "in all things" "made like unto his brethren" (Heb. 2:17), a partaker of "flesh and blood," "that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them, who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb. 2:14, 15). All this Christ did for us. He "pleased not himself." He crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts, never giving them place for a moment, never parleying with the enemy, never entertaining the thought of sin. And he did all this that we might so unite with him that the same work of righteousness might be wrought by his life in our sinful flesh. His was a lifelong crucifixion, of which the cross of Calvary was but the climax.
WE are crucified with him. Faith gives up all to Christ, because he has bought us, body and soul. It accepts of Christ's sufferings for our sufferings, Christ's death for our death. But faith does not do this that we may still indulge in sin. It does this that we may separate from sin. Therefore, Christ's self-denial, Christ's sufferings, Christ's crucifixion, if truly accepted by faith, will do for us just what it did for him. First of all, it will lead us to give up all that he may live in us, even as he gave up all that God might live in him. Christ met the suffering, the crucifixion, in purpose in the very beginning before he came to this world. He was then the "Lamb slain." He was the Lamb slain in the wilderness of Sinai; he was the Crucified One at his baptism. His death on the cross, the lowest depth of degradation for man, was but the filling up of his sufferings. And faith accepts all—Christ's crucifixion in all things. For Christ's sake it renounces the world, renounces all aims, objects, ambitions, relations, even life itself, for the one sole object of glorifying God, of doing God's will. "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections [margin, "passions"] and lusts." Gal. 5:24. "The grace of God that bringeth salvation" teaches us that we should deny "ungodliness and worldly lusts." Titus 2:11, 12.
Buried with Christ.—We die with Christ. "We are buried with him by baptism into death." The "old man," "the body of sin," the worldly affections, lusts, desires, ambitions, are dead; and baptism—immersion—is a fitting representation before the world of the severance of the sinner from his life of sin. When one dies, in the common order of things, he is buried. The fact that he is buried is a proof on the face of it that he is dead. So when one is buried in baptism, he says to all who behold it, I am dead to the world; I have yielded up all for Christ.
Risen with Him.—The crucifixion, the death, the burial, are but the negative side of the question. The same faith which accepts Christ's suffering and death as ours, which makes us to be crucified with him, and buried with him, also accepts Christ's life, Christ's righteousness, as our righteousness. As Paul expressed it, "Christ liveth in me." The emptied heart for Christ's sake, the renounced life, leaves room for Christ to come in and reign in the heart and life as King. We die and are buried with Christ, not simply "that the body of sin might be destroyed," not simply that "we should not serve sin" longer (Rom. 6:6), but that we should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God (Rom. 7:4), or, as stated in Rom. 6:4, that we "should walk in newness of life." This is the genuine proof of death to sin, the genuine evidence of faith. "If ye love me," says Jesus, "keep my commandments." "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." 1 John 2:4. These are strong words, but they are the words of the Spirit of God. Reason shows them to be true. When Christ lived here upon the earth as Jesus of Nazareth, he kept all of God's commandments. John 15:10. He did the Father's will. John 6:38. Will he not, then, if he lives his life in us, do the same work, keep the same law of love and liberty?—He certainly will. "The righteousness of the law" will "be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Rom. 8:4), because the Spirit of Christ in us will lead us to walk in the new life, "even as he walked" (1 John 2:6).
At the Wrong End.
By Editor
The one great reason why scientists and others who are not scientists come to wrong conclusions respecting truth is that they begin at the wrong end. They take for a basis oftentimes that which has neither been demonstrated or proved. Reasoning from false or uncertain premises, they must come to false or uncertain conclusions. The wrong end is the human end. They reason from complex and insincere man to the infinite. They hope to build upon the shifting, uncertain sands of humanity a building which will reach to heaven. If the divine is brought into the scheme, it is a perversion of the true. It is measured by the finite, it is judged by man. Conclusions drawn from such premises will be but half truths at best, and these are often the worst of lies. The only true basis of all true character building, the only true basis of every scheme for the uplifting of humanity, the only true foundation of truth, is God. “Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at930peace; thereby good shall come unto thee.” Job 22:21. Seeking God, becoming acquainted with him, in the fullest, clearest revelation which he has given,—Jesus Christ and his word,—is the only true way of building surely and eternally. His law will not then be limited in its scope by human law. His gospel will not be separated from his law as something entirely different.
A LESSON FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF JUDAS.
By Mrs. E. G. White
It was a grief to the Saviour that his disciples failed to comprehend the character of his kingdom. He plainly stated to his followers the humiliation, suffering, and death that awaited him; but they seemed to be unable to understand it, and on the way to the scene of the Saviour's trial and death, disputed among themselves who should be greatest in his kingdom. Judas was numbered among the twelve. He was accepted, not because he was perfect, but notwithstanding his imperfections. Peter, James, and John were not perfect characters, but they were received by the Master in order that they might be moulded by the words he should speak and the example he should set before them. Judas had witnessed the power which the disciples had over the unclean spirits, and could testify that the devils were subject unto them.
But the often-repeated statements of Christ in regard to his kingdom not being an earthly kingdom, created thoughts of disaffection in the mind of Judas. He had marked out a line upon which he expected Christ to work. He had planned that Christ should deliver John the Baptist from prison, and, lo! John was left to be beheaded in prison, and Jesus withdrew himself and his disciples into a country place, instead of avenging the death of John. Judas wanted more aggressive warfare established, and thought that if Jesus would not hold them back from carrying out their schemes, they would be more successful. Doubt became more established in his mind as he saw the gathering enmity of the Jewish leaders, and saw the challenge go by unheeded by Christ when they requested that he should show them a sign from heaven. His heart was open to unbelief, and the enemy supplied mind and heart with thoughts of questioning and rebellion. Why did Christ dwell so much upon that which was discouraging, portraying his trials and persecutions, and describing the trials and persecutions which his disciples must endure? Why did he refer to his own humiliation and death? Were their hopes to be all disappointed? Was it not the prospect of having a high place in the new kingdom which God was to establish that led him to espouse the cause of Christ? Judas had not decided that Jesus was not the Son of God, he had not made up his mind that he performed miracles through the agency of Satan, but yet he was questioning, and seeking to find some way by which he could explain the mighty works which he did.
The other disciples were as unwilling as was Judas to receive the statement concerning Christ's humiliation and death, for it seemed to them to mean an end to all their hopes; but when Christ presented before them his true mission, they were not offended, but appreciated the spiritual good that was to come, although they but dimly perceived its nature. Jesus said unto them: "I am the Bread of Life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. . . . Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that Bread that came down from heaven; not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead; he that eateth of this Bread shall live forever. . . . Many therefore of his disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? what and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before? It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given him of my Father."
Jesus, the Lord of life and glory, was about to suffer an ignominious death, and he spoke plain truth in order that the characters of all those who professed to be his disciples might be developed, so that the true and faithful might not have added to their trials the discouragement that these doubters and questioners should bring upon them at his death. Judas was among those who said, "This is a hard saying; who can hear it?" "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon; for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve."931It was at this very time that Judas made shipwreck of faith. After this he permitted doubt, envy, suspicion, bitterness, and hatred to be his guests. He became jealous at once when he was not included among the three who were chosen to witness the transfiguration of Christ upon the mount. When the disciples disputed by the way as to who should have the supremacy, his voice was often heard. In all that Christ said to his disciples there was always something with which he disagreed, and the leaven of disaffection was fast developing under the influence and presence of Judas. When he witnessed the manifestation of the fervent love of Mary as she anointed the feet of Christ with the precious ointment, his very spirit seemed turned to gall. He manifested his covetous nature, and displayed his malice and hatred.
Judas was not a doer of the words of Christ. He had had every advantage given him in order that he might learn lessons concerning Him who brought to light life and immortality, but he failed to overcome his selfish spirit, and cherished covetousness, which is idolatry, and did not cleanse the soul temple of its defilement. Every human soul has some mastering passion which must be overcome or it will overcome him and plunge the soul into ruin. Christ said: "Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh! Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee; it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire."
Each one has a work of overcoming to do. If the objectionable trait of character is not overcome, Satan will take advantage of the defect, and thereby defile the whole man.
While Jesus was at Bethany, he told his disciples of what was to come to pass in a few days from that time. At the Passover the case of Judas was decided. Satan took control of heart and mind. He thought that Christ was either to be crucified, or would have to deliver himself out of the hands of his enemies. At all events, he would make something out of the transaction, and make a sharp bargain by betraying his Lord. He went to the priests and offered to aid them in searching for him who was accounted the troubler of Israel. Thus it was that the Lord was sold as a slave, purchased by the temple money used for the buying of the sacrifices.
Satan bound Judas to his side to be his human agent to work the death of the Son of God. But conscience was not yet dead in Judas, and when he saw Jesus deliver himself into the hands of those who would condemn and crucify him, Judas rushed in to the priests, exclaiming: "I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself." As he saw Jesus given into the hands of his enemies, he remembered the words he had spoken in Gethsemane, "Betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?" His master passion had spent its force, and reason again held sway; but he felt nothing but despair. He knew that Christ was the Son of God, and that he was his betrayer. The leaders of Israel heartily despised his base conduct; though they had taken advantage of his covetousness and hatred, yet when he repented, and turned to them with a confession of his guilt, they spurned him, and left him to die in his sins. Judas failed to have a place among the sanctified because he failed to learn of Christ the daily lessons that he would teach his followers, of meekness and lowliness of heart. He failed to learn the lessons of faith that the other disciples finally learned, and thus became heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
ROME'S INFLUENCE.
THE following words, by Prof. Geo. H. Schodde, are well worthy of remembrance, and especially just now, when Rome's claims are so persistently and continuously set forth by its advocates as the saviour of the world and the conservator of its education and religion. He says:—
A positive and aggressive force in modern civilization at large or in special lines the Church of Rome has not been. It is a singular yet instructive fact that in none of the departments controlling modern life and thought—not in politics, not in literature, not in philosophy, not in science or learning of any kind, not in journalism, not in education—does the leadership and directing power lie in the hands of the Roman Church. She utilizes all these agencies for her own purposes, but does so not as their mistress, but as best she may, and as under compulsion and in self-defense. Although the largest by several millions among the Christian churches in America, she has not a single journal or periodical of national reputation or influence in the land, and through this, probably the strongest medium of power in modern public life, her influence, outside of her own constituency and on the thought and morality of the people in general, is virtually nil.
It is a noteworthy fact that those three countries which are, beyond any and every doubt, the leading powers on the globe, namely, England, Germany, and the United States, are distinctively Protestant in character; not, indeed, in the sense that they have no Roman Catholic subjects, but because in their development the principles of Protestantism prevail.
There is one thought in the above quotation which is worthy of special attention, and that is that Rome "utilizes all these agencies for her own purposes," and, while she has not of her own a single journal or periodical of national reputation, she is using the great daily press in a way that no other single denomination is doing or all denominations together are doing, and her influence there is most potent. She is exerting the same influence in political life, often unseen in its operations, but clearly manifest to the careful observer in its effects. The dominant religious power in political life to-day is either that of Rome, or, what is the same thing, the Roman principles for which Protestants stand sponsors. Wherever these things work for the union of Church and State, or what will inevitably end in that, they are building for Rome, and Rome will reap the benefit. Our Protestant churches as organizations are committed to these principles to-day in the matter of Sunday laws.
God designed that Protestantism should use all the wonderful blessings which have come to her to the honor and glory of Christ and his cause; but she is endeavoring to use them for her own glory, to advance the aspirations and ambitions of men, to bind the consciences of souls instead of setting them free, to replace the commandments of God by traditions of men. She will find that the crafty old mother is more than a match for her in this warfare.
JESUS KNOWS.
By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle
BY MRS. L. D. AVERY-STUTTLE.
[Tune, "The Open Window."]
How glad I am that Jesus,
My blest Redeemer, knows
Each little pang that grieves me,
My sorrows and my woes.
And, oh, what waves of glory
Sweep o'er my raptured soul,
As I list the blessed story,—
“Christ Jesus makes thee whole”!
When in the midst of sorrow,
Of weakness, and of pain,
I know the falling raindrops
Must ripe the yellow grain,
And, though hot tears of anguish
May fill my cup of gall,
I know that in his “bottle”
My Jesus counts them all.
And so I say: “Dear Saviour,
Thou knowest what is best.
In sorrow's saddest hour
Thou givest me perfect rest;
And, oh, I will trust thee ever,
Nor murmur nor repine,
That in the blest hereafter
Thou may'st call me thine.”
THE TIME OF THE JUDGMENT.
By M. H. Brown
BY ELDER M. H. BROWN.
A Wonderful Prophecy.
It is a matter of great interest to the candid student of the Scriptures to find that they reveal the time of the judgment, or the time when Christ will enter upon the closing service of his ministry in the true tabernacle. In the eighth and ninth chapters of the book of Daniel, we have a clear and comprehensive line of prophecy reaching from the time of Daniel till the close of earthly rule. The eighth chapter records a vision which Daniel had in the third year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, B.C. 538.
Formerly the Belshazzar of Dan. 8:1 and Daniel 5 was supposed to be the Nabonadius of secular or profane history, who began his reign B.C. 555. The chronology used in the margin of our reference Bibles, Archbishop Usher's, was based on that supposition, hence it gives the date of Daniel's vision as B.C. 553. Researches and discoveries made in recent years, however, show that Belshazzar was the son of Nabonadius, or Nabonedus, and that the latter associated his son with him as king about B.C. 540.
This would make the third year of Belshazzar B.C. 538, which was the last year of his reign, for in that year Belshazzar was slain and Medo-Persia conquered Babylon. The third and last year of Belshazzar's reign would therefore coincide with the first year of Darius, who succeeded him; namely, B.C. 538. This would bring the vision of Daniel 8 and the vision of Daniel 9 in the same year, B.C. 538, and consequently only a few months apart, instead of fifteen years, as given by Usher's chronology. This fact establishes a close connection, chronologically, between the two chapters, and strengthens the view that the vision of Daniel 9 was given to explain the time brought to view in Daniel 8. It also explained why we have no symbol of Babylon introduced in the vision of Daniel 8. It was given in the last year of Babylon's supremacy, B.C. 538, the very year it was overthrown by the Medo-Persians under Darius and Cyrus. It was then just passing away. It may be well to add in this connection that the dates and references in the margin of our Bibles are not inspired, neither were they written by inspired men, hence they may be wrong. Some have been proved wrong, while others have been proved correct by indisputable evidence.
In this vision Daniel was taken to Shushan, in the province of Elam, and by the river Ulai. Shushan, or Susa, was a very ancient city, and after the capture of Babylon by Cyrus it became the capital of Persia. It was located on the river Ulai, and Daniel was placed by that river in the vision here related. It is worthy of note that the standpoint of this vision was not Babylon, the capital of the kingdom about to be overthrown, but Shushan, the capital of the kingdom fast ascending to the supremacy of the world. So in this vision Babylon is left out and Medo-Persia is first in the list of the kingdoms symbolized, as the seat of empire was transferred to Medo-Persia that very year, B.C. 538.
In this vision Daniel saw a ram, goat, and little horn. Verses 1-12. No argument is necessary to prove that the ram was a symbol of Media and Persia, and that the goat was a symbol of Grecia, for this is directly stated in verses 20 and 21:—
"The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia; and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king."
The rise and history of those nations are forcibly illustrated by the symbols used. The great or notable horn between the eyes of the goat fitly represented Alexander, the first king of Grecia, and it being broken when the goat was strong fitly symbolizes the death of Alexander in the zenith of Grecia's power. The division of the Grecian Kingdom into four kingdoms after the death of Alexander is illustrated by four notable horns coming up toward the four winds of heaven. These four divisions of Grecia are also represented by the four heads of the leopard (Dan. 7:6), and are brought to view in the literal prophecy of Dan. 11:3, 4. These four kingdoms were Thrace, now Turkey, on the north, Syria on the east, Egypt on the south, Macedon on the west. Hence, when we read in Daniel 11 of the king of the North and the king of the South, reference is made to these kingdoms into which Grecia was divided toward the four winds of heaven.
The Little Horn.
"Out of one of them," that is, out of one of the four notable horns, "came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land." Dan. 8:9. The little horn here brought to view is a symbol of Rome throughout its entire career, from the time it conquered Macedon, B.C. 168, until it is "broken without hand" (verse 25), when Christ smites the nation with a sharp sword that goeth out of his mouth (Rev. 19:11-13), and breaks them in pieces as a potter's vessel (Ps. 2:8, 9).4The following specifications of the prophecy clearly and conclusively prove that Rome is the kingdom symbolized by the little horn of this chapter:—
1. Having conquered Macedon, one of the kingdoms symbolized by the four notable horns, it went forth to further conquests, till it waxed exceeding great.
2. It made conquests toward the south, Egypt, and toward the east Syria, and toward the pleasant land, Palestine.
3. The comparison made and the expression used concerning its greatness. The ram, Medo-Persia, became "great" (verse 4), the goat, Grecia, "waxed very great" (verse 8), and the little horn "waxed exceeding great" (verse 9). This clearly points to Rome, for no other nation or kingdom could be truthfully compared with Medo-Persia and Grecia in such terms.
4. It cast down the truth to the ground by suppressing the word of God, and trampling upon his law; and it has practiced and prospered as no other power has since the time of Greece. Dan. 7: 21, 25.
5. It came up in the latter time of the four kingdoms of Grecia, B.C. 168. The great horn was broken in 323 by the death of Alexander, and the four kingdoms came up within fifteen years after his death. They were all conquered by Rome, one after another, beginning with Macedon, B.C. 168.
6. It was "mighty, but not by his own power." Rome secured its power largely by its craft and policy, by which it bound other nations to it through alliances and treaties, which made it for their interest to support Rome with men and money.
7. It has destroyed "the mighty and holy people." The word of God says, "He shall destroy wonderfully." Surely the millions of martyrs that have gone down under the cruel power of Rome, both pagan and papal, bear silent but truthful witness to Rome's relentless and unparalleled persecutions.
8. It stood up against the Prince of princes. Rome was the power that ruled the world in the time of Christ (Luke 2: 1), and, in the person of Pilate, delivered him up to be crucified (Luke 23: 23-25).
9. "He shall be broken without hand," that is, by divine power, as manifested in the burning glory of that day when Christ shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire. 2 Thess. 1: 7, 8; 2: 8.
Here are nine important specifications which clearly refer to Rome, and which are true of no other power. These symbols, therefore, the ram, goat, and little horn, represent the three great kingdoms of the world, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome, which rule from B.C. 538 till earthly kingdoms are broken in pieces and Christ's kingdom is established.
Angels in Conversation.
After these symbols had been presented before Daniel in this vision, he says: "Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot?" Dan. 8: 13. Here is an important question,—How long shall be the vision? That is, how long will these wicked, persecuting powers bear sway, and trample underfoot the truth, the worship, and the people of God.
It is worthy of notice that one saint or angel spoke. It is evident that he said something about the wonderful things presented in the vision, for another saint, or angel, then asked him the question above quoted. The one who first spoke was no doubt Michael, or Christ, the Archangel, the chief, or head, over the angels. This is proved by the following Scripture facts: (1) He was higher in position and greater in knowledge than the angel who questioned him. This is obvious, and needs no argument. (2) The same personage afterwards commanded Gabriel to explain the vision to Daniel. Dan. 8: 16. He therefore must have been higher in authority than Gabriel. (3) But the only one who held with Gabriel in these wonderful revelations which were given to Daniel was Michael. Dan. 10: 13, 21. Michael is the first of the princes. See margin of verse 13. He is "the great Prince which standeth for the children of Thy people." Dan. 12: 1. In Jude 9 he is called "Michael the Archangel." In 1 Thess. 4: 16 we read that "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first." From this we know that the voice of Christ himself and the voice of the Archangel are the same. That voice, the voice of the Son of God, awakes the sleeping dead. John 5: 26-29.
It is an interesting fact that the answer was addressed to Daniel, and not to the angel Gabriel, who asked the question. Evidently the Lord designed to have this answer revealed to his people, for it was addressed to his servant Daniel, and he was inspired to write it for their benefit. The question pertained to time. "How long shall be the vision?" Gabriel asks the question, and Michael, Christ, answers it.
THE FALLING AWAY; OR "THE DOCTRINE OF BALAAM."
By Lee S. Wheeler
SUN worship was the greatest abomination of Old Testament times. "Ra was the Egyptian sun god and was worshiped at Heliopolis [city of the sun]."—Rawlinson.
The Canaanitish nations, the Syrians and the Phoenicians, worshiped it under the name of Baal; and "the ancient rites of Baal-Peor, but little changed in the course of ages, intruded themselves into the sanctuary of the Capitoline Jove."—Milman.
And Mosheim says that "all the Eastern nations performed divine worship with their faces turned toward that part of the heavens where the sun displays its rising beams." See also Eze. 8: 16.
Sunday (sun's day) was so called because from the earliest antiquity it was dedicated to such worship. Moser says: "It is not to be denied but we borrow the name of this day from the ancient Greeks and Romans, and we allow that the old Egyptians worshiped the sun, and as a standing memorial of their veneration dedicated this day to him."—Dialogues on the Lord's Day, p. 22.
Jennings says that when the Israelites left Egypt their custom of commencing the day (at sunset) was in opposition to "the idolatrous nations, who, in honor to their chief god, the sun, began their day at his rising."—Jewish Antiquities, book 3, chap. 1, p. 297.
To keep his people from falling into the idolatry of those nations, they were commanded not to "observe times" which were holy to that worship (Lev. 19: 26; Deut. 18: 10, 24; 2 Kings 21: 6); but to remember the Lord's Sabbath (Lev. 20), compare verses 26 and 30. The Lord said also: "It shall be a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you [separate you or set you apart]." Ex. 31: 13. So long as they kept the Sabbath holy, it would distinguish them from others as worshipers of the true God, who created the sun and "all the hosts of heaven." Compare Ex. 20: 10, 11 with 2 Chron. 33: 3. It marked them as Jehovah's, and, so long as "remembered," it was impossible to fall into idolatry and the observance of "times," sacred to the heathen. "Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs." Lev. 18: 30.
That his people might have nothing in common with the customs of these nations, they were commanded to erect the tabernacle, and the worshipers were to enter and worship toward the west, instead of the east, as did the sun worshipers, whose altars and high places looked toward the sun-rising. By these things the Lord intended to leave no way open for an amalgamation of the true worship with Baal [sun] worship. Notwithstanding all this, they soon fell into an apostasy, which afterward was repeated in the Christian dispensation, and foretold by Paul as the "falling away."
At Shittim, in the land of Moab, the children of Israel were seduced into this kind of idolatry by the people of Balak. "They called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baal-Peor [sun worship, verse 4]." Num. 25: 1-4. "These caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of [Baal] Peor" (Num. 31: 16), until twenty-four thousand perished by the plague. This was the work of Balaam, who left the counsel of the Lord, and followed Balak, to seduce Israel into the rites of Baal (sun) worship, for which he knew the anger of the Lord would be kindled against them, and their nation would fall.
THE FALLING AWAY.
The gospel dispensation opened when this sun worship was having a revival among the Gentile nations. They even hoped that "the Jewish, the Samaritan, even the Christian, were to be fused, and recast into one great system, of which the SUN was to be the central object of adoration."—Milman.
Paul foresaw the dangers and referred to the Balaam apostasy as a warning:—
"Now these things were our examples [or figures, margin], to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." 1 Cor. 10: 6-8, compared with Num. 25: 1, 9.
"Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather, reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret [the mysteries]." Eph. 5: 11, 12. Among the Greeks and Romans, the people of the East, nothing was held more sacred than what were called the mysteries.—Mosheim.
"The mysteries were simply forms of the widespread and multiform sun worship."—Two Republics. And, therefore, "there was always in it, as an essential of it, the elements of abomination that characterized sun worship everywhere."—Id. This worship was especially carried on upon the day of the sun god, "the venerable day of the sun," "Dies Solis," our present Sunday (sun's day). With such things Christians were to have no fellowship, but were admonished to "flee from idolatry" (2 Cor. 10: 14), "for the mystery of iniquity doth already work." 2 Thess. 2: 7.
Said the great apostle, "I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears." Acts 20: 31. And yet Rev. 2: 14 tells us that the Balaam seduction was spreading among the people, i. e., they were joining themselves to sun worship.
Dr. Killen, in the preface to his "Ancient Church," says, "Rites and ceremonies of which neither Paul nor Peter ever heard, crept silently into use, and then claimed the ranks of divine institutions." "Constantine933dared to mingle together the attributes of the SUN, of CHRIST, and of himself."—Milman. The policy of "half pagan, half Christian," was a mould in which the two systems were run together; "then the universal deity of the East, the SUN, to the philosophic, was the emblem, or representative; to the vulgar, the Deity."—Milman. At this stage of apostasy, when the elements were plastic, "owing to the union of pagan and Christian sentiment, . . . THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK was recommended by Constantine to his subjects, pagan and Christian alike, as the venerable day of the SUN.
. . . It was his mode of harmonizing the discordant religions of the empire under one COMMON INSTITUTION."—Stanley. Christians acquiesced, interpreting "Sun's day" to refer to the "Sun of Righteousness." While they rejected the gross error of supposing that God dwelt in the sun, "they retained the ancient and universal custom of worshiping toward the east, which sprang from it."—Mosheim. A practice condemned by the Lord. Eze. 8: 16.
Thus Baal's day, with its rites, was venerated, and only time and superstition were required to hallow as divine this abominable practice. All this was according to "the doctrine of Balaam." Rev. 2: 14. But where did God ever give his people a "common institution" with Gentile heathen, in their abominations?
"What concord hath Christ with Belial?" (2 Cor. 6: 15), or the Sabbath of the Lord with that of Belial (the devil)? For says Paul, "The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God; and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils." 1 Cor. 10: 20. Sunday was dedicated to these sacrifices, and therefore to the devil. When Christians observed the day of devil worshipers, with what were they in "fellowship" and in "concord," but these and the "works of darkness"?
If meats sacrificed to idols were unfit for their service (Rev. 2: 14), so was the day; and the will of the Lord was plain in reference to whatever had any connection with these abominations: "Come out from among them, and be ye SEPARATE, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." 2 Cor. 6: 17. "Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you [separate you]." Ex. 31: 13.
But just as the people left the Sabbath of the Lord in the Old Testament and went after Baal, so they did now, and just as then, when some reformer arose in Israel, as Joash, it is said: "And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. . . . Howbeit the high places were not taken away; as yet the people did sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places." 2 Kings 14: 3, 4. So now Sunday keeping remains unto this day," as says Stanley, "The tenacious adherence to the ancient god of light has left its trace even to our own time."—History of the Eastern Church.
It remains for those who claim that the Sabbath was changed by divine authority, but can show no proof for it, to consider why God should abolish the Sabbath, descended from Eden (Gen. 2: 3), sacredly preserved through forty centuries, hallowed by patriarchs, prophets, and priests, by Jesus, the Holy One, and his apostles, whose memories of holy rest were primeval, and substitute a day prostituted to devil worship, whose associations still tinge with pollution the reminiscences of sacred life that linger about the Holy Land, whose time-overgrown memorials of licentious practice still remain by the Nile, the Jordan, and the Tiber,—Sunday, name that summons to the revel of the gods the shades of Bacchus and of Baal, the signal of apostasy, "the mark of the beast."