The poet King of Israel, writing of man’s illumination, said, “The Lord is my light.” Ps. 27:1. At another time he wrote, “In Thy light shall we see light.” Ps. 36:9. Again his pen traced the following: “He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.” Ps. 37:6. Yet again he announced, “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Ps. 119:105.
In telling how the lamp of man can be set aflame, the psalmist explains his hope, “Thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.” Ps. 18:28. And Job, speaking of the days of his illumination, said, “His candle shined upon my head, and . . . by His light I walked through darkness.” Job 29:3. To Job that lighted lamp on his head made the path bright about his feet, and the atmosphere warm where he walked. It drove the fear from his soul, and filled his heart with courage for the work which Heaven had given him to do.
But this lamp is only for him who walks with God. It will cease to shine for the man who turns away from the Lord, and his candle shall be put out. Prov. 24:20. For him who abides in the sunlit way it will increase in its shining, for it is written that “the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Prov. 4:18. And the candle lighted by the Lord not only shines for the man who walks in the true way, but “light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.” Ps. 97:11. The righteous may be reaping light and gladness while they labor.
Writing to God’s people, the apostle says, “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” 1 Thess. 5:5. Their illumination is both for themselves and for others. There should be no darkness where they go. So Jesus, speaking to His people of their influence, said, “Ye are the light of the world.” And then to impress them concerning the responsibility that had been placed upon them, he added, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matt. 5:14, 16.
Jesus knew and exemplified in His own life that man is a social being, and therefore owes duties to his fellow creatures as well as to himself. When right personal living is well learned, man is in the true path of life, ready to impart his illumination to others. In giving this light, he is placing his talents at a high rate of interest, and thus is perpetually adding to his real worth.
When God gives man a beautiful truth, He intends that truth should be put to the exchangers, and not hid under a bushel or buried in a silent grave. It is given to him in trust, and he should pass it on for many to use. Understand that giving it away deprives him of it no more than the ruby is deprived of the light when it sends forth its rays, but that the oftener he sends it out, the more truly does he possess it. And the more he uses it, the brighter it shines, for all the light that radiates from him is in strong rays reflected back again.
Jesus, being the sun of Righteousness, is the “true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” John 1:9. When this light comes to a people, they are to arise and shine, as said the prophet: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory [or character] shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” Isa. 60:1-3. When the church of Christ reaches this point in its experience, it will go forth to complete its true mission in giving light to the world. Then every man shall be tested.
John in his vision saw the same views that Isaiah saw, and more; for he beheld God’s people doing their last work on earth before the coming of the Lord. Then the earth was lighted with the glory of their work. And yet the light that God’s people carried to the world was rejected by all, except a small number. After the light was refused by the masses, they went deeper into sin than they had gone before. When they had done this a fearful announcement followed, saying: “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” Rev. 18:2-5.
O, what a dark, wicked world this will be when God’s light is called out of it,—not a church, not a mission, not a missionary, none to pray, nobody to teach the erring, no tender-hearted to comfort the afflicted, no balm to soothe the suffering, no kind words to quell the rising sorrow! The world will then be left as it was left when Noah went into the ark, and as Sodom was left when the angels hastened Lot out of the city. God would have spared Sodom if the angels could have found ten righteous persons in it, or had there been those who could be led to repentance. God did not make the world that it might be used for wicked purposes; and if men will insist on spending their lives in wickedness, they must be destroyed. God can not be consistent with His own righteousness and allow wickedness to walk abroad unchecked. If the light is rejected by men, the source of light will most surely be withdrawn from the reach of men. At any time or place when none but wicked men are left, then they must meet their doom.
It is because of the few righteous people who are here that the world of the ungodly is spared. And when the time comes that no more sinners can be led to repentance, the righteous will be called out, and destruction will be visited upon the doomed inhabitants who are left. The unconverted will then have resisted all the entreaties of God’s merciful light, as Pharaoh resisted when importuned by Moses, and as the people of Sodom resisted when the angels of heaven entreated them and hastened righteous Lot from their midst.
Jesus, in drawing a parallel between that time and ours, said: “The same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” Luke 17:29, 30.
The Secret of England’s Greatness
“An African prince was sent on an embassy to the court of Queen Victoria, when he asked her to tell him the secrets of England’s greatness. The Queen did not bring out her jewels, like Hezekiah, but, handing him a beautifully bound copy of the Bible, said, ‘Tell the prince that this is the secret of England’s greatness.’”
Hush! O, hush! for the Father knows what thou knowest not,
The need and the thorn and the shadow linked with the fairest lot;
Knows the wisest exemption from many an unseen snare,
Knows what will keep thee nearest, knows what thou couldst not bear.
Hush! O, hush! for the Father, whose ways are true and just,
Knoweth and careth and loveth, and waits for thy perfect trust;
The cup He is slowly filling shall soon be full to the brim,
And infinite compensations forever be found in Him.
Hush! O, hush! for the Father hath fulness of joy in store,
Treasures of power and wisdom, and pleasures forevermore;
Blessing and honor and glory, endless infinite bliss;—
Child of His love and His choice, O, canst thou not wait for this?
Frances Ridley Havergal.
The Bible’s Good Fruits
"A Roman Catholic priest in Belgium rebuked a young woman and her brother for reading the Bible. She replied, 'A little while ago my brother was an idler, a gambler, a drunkard, and made such a noise in the house that no one could stay in it. Since he began to read the Bible, he works with industry, goes no longer to the tavern, no longer touches cards, brings home money to his poor old mother, and our life at home is quiet and delightful. How comes it that a bad book produces such good fruits?'"
John Quincy Adams on Bible Reading
By John Quincy Adams
I have for many years made it a practise to read through the Bible once a year. My custom is to read four or five chapters every morning immediately after rising from my bed. It employs about an hour of my time, and seems to me the most suitable manner of beginning the day. In what light soever we regard the Bible, whether with reference to revelation, to history, or to morality, it is an invaluable and inexhaustible mine of knowledge and virtue.—John Quincy Adams.
Lady Jane Grey and the Bible
“Lady Jane Grey was a great Bible reader, and while her parents were attending the chase, she would remain at home studying its pages. Her friends were surprised, and inquired her reason for doing so. She replied, ‘All amusements of that description are but a shadow of the pleasure which I enjoy in reading this book.’”
Copyright, 1910, by Milton C. Wilcox "Let the Revelation speak and tell what is truth. . . . Uplift Jesus as the center of all hope."
Overcoming through Tribulation
N our last we considered the "Son of God," the One with the Father before the world was, the Son of God in the beginning in His very nature and essence. We learned a little of how His Sonship was disputed, how the Son of God emptied Himself of divine majesty, and demonstrated His right to all that God had given Him by His life in a flesh of sin. His work and sacrifice manifested and demonstrated the infinite and eternal love of God to the world, and His resurrection "determined Him to be the Son of God," the victor over sin and death. He ascended to the Father, and the portals of the eternal city opened to Him as the King of Glory. The power of His resurrection and His ascension was the power of His righteousness. The glory that He manifested was the forth-shining of the righteousness and love within. Possessing this power, clothed in this glory, the Man Child of the prophets sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Father,
Our Great High Priest
the Head over all things to the church, the Head of every man (see Rev. 12: 5, 10; Eph. 1: 20-23; Heb. 4: 14; 8: 1; 1 Cor. 11: 3), the all in all to every believing child of God. And then the great voice in heaven speaks of the victory of Christ and the time of the beginning of His priesthood.
The Answer of the Text
[The answers to the questions are from the American Revised Version. Omitting questions, and disregarding sometimes the capital at the beginning and the period at the close of an answer, the text may be read continuously. In notes and comments both versions are used without designation.]
1. What came to the universe in consequence of Christ's victory?
And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ.
2. What did this mean as regards the devil?
For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuseth them before our God day and night.
3. How were God's children affected thereby?
And they overcame him [the devil] because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death.
4. How did the devil's casting down affect the dwellers in heaven?
Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and ye that dwell in them.
5. How did his fall affect the earth?
Wo for the earth and for the sea: because the devil is gone down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time.
6. What did the dragon proceed to do?
And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the man child.
7. What did Providence do for the woman?
And there were given to the woman the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
8. What efforts did the serpent put forth?
And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream.
9. How was the woman helped?
And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
10. What is the last warfare of the dragon?
And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, that keep the commandments of God, and hold the testimony of Jesus.
Note and Comment
1. AND THEY OVERCAME.—Verse 10 was considered in our last, but as there intimated, the Son of God did not win His victory for Himself. He overcame in the flesh of Jesus of Nazareth, that He might overcome in the flesh of every soul who would yield to Him and by faith let His mighty power be manifest in them. Faith connects the child of weakness with infinite power. The trolley of the electric car connects with the LIVE wire overhead; it brings the power flowing in that overhead channel down to the receptive car, and makes the car a thing of power and motion. From the great Fountain of Life flow over the great streams of life to all the universe of God. Faith reaches up and forms the open channel by which that life may flow into the person of the believer in its own normal way, and thus makes him a living man. The blood represents the life (Lev. 17: 11); the blood of the Lamb represents the life of Jesus Christ, which He has given in Himself, in His Word, and in all His words for every soul. Faith appropriates the life and lives.
But to receive of Christ's life is not alone sufficient for overcoming, for perfecting of character. It is not the law of God's life to ever receive and never give. That were but selfish.
God's law of overcoming comprehends giving as well as receiving. Abram was blessed that he might be a blessing. Gen. 12: 2. The sun shines, the trees grow, the flowers bloom, the rain falls, the brook gurgles its way through grassy meads,—not for themselves, but for blessings to others. God revealed His Son in Paul that Paul might preach Him among the heathen. Gal. 1: 16. And so God has chosen all His people that they "should show forth the virtues of Him who called" them "out of darkness into His marvelous light." 1 Peter 2: 9. Therefore they overcame, not only by the blood of the Lamb, but "by the word of their testimony." The same truth is thus stated by another: "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness [faith appropriates the power of Christ's righteous life]; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation [the believer permits that life to work out in him the virtues of Jesus Christ]." Rom. 10: 10. There are no dead Christians. A lighted lamp in an air-tight receptacle soon burns dim and low, and dies; and he who would selfishly shut the love and grace and blessing of God up in his own selfish heart, would so prevent God's life that it would become death. The healing medicine would become a virulent poison. The normal life of the Christian is shining, living, confessing, blessing. "Freely ye have received, freely give."
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EVEN UNTO DEATH.—The spirit in all Christian life is the spirit of love, as expressed in the latter part of the verse, the whole of which we quote once more: "And they overcame him [Satan] because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death." Bought and nourished by the life of the Lamb, receiving it ever fresh, because ever giving, by simply witnessing the word given them, they value their own life as naught compared with His life. His life is love. The love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit, which is given to the child of faith; and as Christ gave His life in love for them, so all who are truly His give their lives in word and deed, yea, even to death if He but call them, for the love they bear to Him and other purchase of His blood. The life of the Christian is love, and God's love is life.
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2. REJOICE . . . WO.—Everlasting rejoicing in heaven; wo for a little time upon the earth! Rejoicing among the angels that Michael their Prince was triumphant, that Lucifer's character was unmasked, that they were saved from his deceiving power, that God's character was vindicated by the power of everlasting righteousness, and that sin and the accuser were forever debarred from heaven! Wo to the inhabitants of the earth for yet a little while! Previous to our Lord's victory, Satan planned, plotted, longed, hoped, to destroy Him as he had the first Adam, and to destroy the race. His great power and subtle craft were bent to that end. While he tempted and warred against God's people, his mightiest efforts were to destroy the Man in whom rested the hope of the world. In this he failed. Wherein he dealt proudly, even in death itself, the Lord was above him. He conquered Satan in his own realm. Conquered7by Christ, Satan turns his baffled and hellish rage against those who believe in Christ. He will use every power and device of which he is capable, to prevent souls from believing, and to destroy the faith and influence of those who do believe. He will deceive, misinterpret, falsify, pervert, persecute. O inhabitants of earth, the devil has come down unto you! He knows that the Christ of God is beyond his power; he will prevent you from obtaining that birthright which Christ has purchased for you. He feels that as Christ conquered, so may the word be fulfilled that he himself shall be destroyed (Eze. 28: 18, 19); but before that time he will, so far as in him lies, during the last days of his existence, during the short time that remains, destroy as many of Christ's followers as his diabolical ingenuity and Satanic power make possible. He may even hope that he will still tempt Christ to depart from the principle, Right is might. True, Christ did not do that in all the temptations and cruelty against Himself; but Christ loves His people even more than He loved Himself. Is it not possible that Satan can tempt Him to strike before the time at the injustice and oppression and cruelty and wrong of Satan's agents? — No; Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and all the days to come; so while Satan may bring his "manifold temptations" (1 Peter 1: 6), God gives His "manifold wisdom" (Eph. 3: 10) and "manifold grace" (1 Peter 4: 10) to meet the "manifold temptations."
3. PERSECUTED THE WOMAN.— These persecutions began immediately after the resurrection of Christ. It was but a little while and the devoted Stephen sealed his testimony with his blood. Acts 7: 54-60. Persecution extended to the whole church, led by the zealous, energetic, but misguided Saul. Acts 8: 1-4. But while the persecution scattered the people of God, and forced them, mayhap, from comfortable homes and pleasant surroundings, it also scattered the truth of God. Within the space of a dozen years one of the chief of the apostles — James — gave his life as a witness to Christ. Acts 12: 1, 2. As the truth spread, and its power was manifest, Satan stirred up the devotees of the false gods of pagan Rome, and cruel persecution followed. It was given to the children of God to choose between the good and the evil — the persecution with God's approval, or relief from it with the approval of man. With the persecution from the Jews, it was to renounce Christ for dead traditions. With the idolaters it was Jehovah or Jove, Jesus or Apollo, Christ or Diana. It needed oftentimes but a word, the sprinkling of a few grains of incense, a bowing of the head, a refraining from doing a Christian act, to save one from cruellest persecution; but the child of God could not conscientiously submit to do an act, or conscientiously refrain from doing one act, which might SEEM to deny Christ.
By Nero, who accused the Christians of setting fire to Rome, they died, according to Tacitus, "in torments, and their torments were embittered by insult and derision. Some were nailed on crosses; others sewn in the skin of wild beasts, and exposed to the fury of dogs; others again, smeared over with combustible materials, were used as torches to illuminate the darkness of the night." Under Trajan and his governor, Pliny, others were put to death. And in fact, persecution continued, to a greater or less extent, under pagan Rome. The worst of the persecutors among the emperors were Nero, Marcus Aurelius, Decius, Valerian, and Diocletian, the worst of all. Many under his reign were burned alive, in some cases whole congregations perished in their churches, and "droves of them," says Haydn, "were bound together with ropes and driven into the sea."
Why Persecuted
The cause of all these persecutions — of every persecution by law — was a union of religion with the State, or a legalized religion. It was as enemies to the Roman State, whose duty it was to uphold the honor of the gods, that Christians were persecuted. Pagan Rome did not call it persecution, but the simple execution of Roman laws, demanded by the oath of office and the honor of the State. Behind it all, even as he had been behind the death of Christ, was Satan, the old dragon, and pagan Rome was but one of his heads through which he uttered his persecuting decrees.
Worse persecutions were to follow. Paganism had become old. The gods had multiplied till they had become a burden, and unbelief was fostered by the multiplication. Gods were so common as to be of no account. The devotees of such a religion did not put enough zeal and perverted conscience into their persecutions to suit his Satanic majesty, the mover behind the scenes. He would pervert Christianity, connect it to the State, and operate through that. This he did for the period of time indicated in verses 6 and 14.
4. THE WOMAN.—The church militant still left to struggle against a mighty, persistent, cruel foe, but with her strong divine Son to aid her. TWO WINGS OF AN EAGLE. — Recalling the language in Ex. 19: 4; Deut. 32: 11; and Isa. 63: 9. It is indicative of God's power to save and preserve His people. It also recalls the fourth living creature, the flying eagle, representing one of God's great agencies, a division of His hosts to save. WILDERNESS.— Symbolic of desolation caused by the great apostasy. See Jer. 12: 10. During the centuries of superstition the desolate condition and outward poverty of God's people sometimes saved them. Sometimes they found refuge in mountain fortresses and deserted places of the earth. Sometimes they were preserved because of factions in the apostate church, which was a veritable wilderness of error and spiritual barrenness. But in all this, God preserved His people. The place prepared of God, preserved the remnant of the faithful.
A TIME — one year; TIMES, dual, two times or two years; and HALF A TIME, half a year; totaling three and one half years; forty-two months, at thirty days to the month, would make 1,260 days, a period noted in Dan. 7: 25; Rev. 12: 6, 14; 13: 5; 11: 2, 3, expressed in 1,260 days and forty and two months. Each of these days represents a year according to the prophetic rule in Eze. 4: 4, 6; Num. 14: 34. These days began with the elevation of the bishop of Rome as "head over all the churches" and "true and only corrector of heretics" according to the decree of Justinian, issued in A.D. 533, becoming more fully operative in 538. This space marks the beginning of that long prophetic period, the ending of which occurred 1793-8, at the time of the French Revolution and the overthrow of the Papacy. During this long period fierce persecution was waged against God's children; but through and out of the fearful furnace God preserved His faithful ones, and will save those who fell in death for Him.
5. FLOOD OF WATER.— The flood of water from the mouth of the serpent is a fitting symbol of the corruptions of the truth of God, and the persecutions waged against those who cherished that truth, during that dark period. "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him." Isa. 59: 19. This was done by the Reformation of the sixteenth century, and the persecution was stayed by the opening of new and unexplored regions of the earth, as in America, and the abolition of persecuting laws, as in England, Germany, and Austria.
6. THE EARTH HELPED THE WOMAN. — The powers of earth, and also regions hitherto unknown, in contradistinction to sea, a symbol of the organized nations of earth. It is a notable fact that the ceasing of persecution was coincident with the decree of toleration in Austria by Maria Theresa, and with the Declaration of Independence in America — 1776. The New World became the asylum for the faithful and oppressed, who preferred to brave the perils of the unknown wilderness and the cruelty of hostile savages to the religious tyranny and bondage of the Old World.
7. THE DRAGON WAS WROTH.— Persecution did not cease with that of the Dark Ages. As the end nears, and the Gospel message goes forth to the world, calling the attention of men to the falsehood of traditions and the rubbish of error, and holding up the light of the truth of God to prepare men for Christ's coming, it stirs again the wrath of Satan. The remnant of anything is the last of that thing. The remnant of the seed of the woman is composed of the last of her seed, the rest of her children, the last church on the earth. That church has two prominent characteristics; it keeps the commandments of God, hence, all of them, and thus honors Him; and it holds the testimony of Jesus (the spirit of prophecy, Rev. 19: 10), and is thereby warned of Satan's devices. The last church will be a persecuted church, but in it is wrought the righteousness of God, and righteousness is life everlasting.
11. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
12. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Wo to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
14. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
16. And the earth helped the woman; and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
17. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
His Guidance
By Llewellyn A. Morrison
By Llewellyn A. Morrison
"Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. . . . They went down to Bethel. . . . They came to Jericho. . . . And they two went on and . . . stood by Jordan."
So we come to Gilgal — separation —
As the prophets came in days of yore;
Came at Duty's call for consecration,
Hearing voices from the other shore;
Came to Bethel on their way to Jordan —
Anxious tension pulsing in each breast.
Be it strife or service, bane or burden,
Jordan floweth at the Port of Death.
Every land is full of kingdom choices,
Floating where redemptive mercies fall;
Every heart doth hear their kindly voices
Calling soft or sternly unto all.
Still the siren songs are languor-luring
While the human hopes delay and wait;
Still the trembling trust needs re-assuring,
When, like them, we tarry by the gate.
As they came to Bethel, so we gather —
Silences around and overhead,
Guided by the loving heav'nly Father,
Toward the bitter Jericho we dread.
As a flint we set our feet and faces
To go onward to the journey's end,
Doubting not to find the daily graces
That shall prove us right, and God our friend.
Thus we pass with quietness and promise
All the way from birthland to life's close,
While the hours of toil slip freely from us,
And we find the Spirit's calm repose
'Mid the stormy turbulence around us,
In the din and tumult of the strife,
Till the peace of God hath kept and crowned us
With His blessed resurrection life.
Tho we tarry, waiting for the vision,
All the years, obedient to the Word —
While the prophet won the life Elysian
In a moment — for the chariots of the
Lord,
Yet our God's delays are Love's surprises.
Like a flash our vassalage is done
When the curtain falls and light arises,
Then life's perfect mission is begun.
New York City.
The Sabbath
The Day, the Duty
1. What is the Sabbath commandment?
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. Ex. 20:8-11.
2. Has this Sabbath law been either changed or set aside?
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Matt. 5:17, 18.
3. How is a moral obligation “fulfilled”?
If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: but if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. James 2:8, 9. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Gal. 6:2.
NOTE.—The foregoing quotation from James speaks of the “royal,” that is to say, the kingly law. It quotes from that law, and says that it is “according to Scripture.” And it furthermore shows that to “love thy neighbor as thyself” is to fulfil that law. Then to fulfil the law means the most perfect observance of it. In like manner the quotation from Galatians shows that to “fulfil the law of Christ” we must bear one another’s burdens. That is, we must reach to the very highest form of service in obeying the law of Christ, and in that way we fulfil that law. Nothing could be clearer than the manifest meaning of the foregoing texts. To fulfil the law of God is to fill it full of obedience; in other words, to fulfil it is to obey it perfectly. Christ perfectly obeyed His Father’s law. The Scriptures teach this plainly. And the Master taught, as is shown by the foregoing text from the fifth chapter of Matthew, that not a single jot (that is, the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet) or a tittle (that is, the distinguishing corner of a letter) should pass from that law till it was all fulfilled or obeyed. All must come into harmony with the just and enjoyable requirements of that law, or else meet the fate of destruction that is promised for all incorrigible sinners.
4. Since the moral law is not set aside by Christ, what, then, does that law say about the day of the Sabbath?
The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. Ex. 20:10.
5. How has the Lord shown His regard for the Sabbath day?
The Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. Ex. 20:11.
6. What specially precious promise has the Lord given to those who will observe His holy day of rest?
If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Isa. 58:13, 14.
NOTE.—How could any one turn their foot away from the Sabbath unless they were trampling upon it? Observe that God offers a rich reward to those who will be sufficiently loyal to Him to “turn away” their “foot from the Sabbath.”
7. Who has laid claim to being Lord of the Sabbath?
And He said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath. Mark 2:27, 28.
NOTE.—To sum up what the foregoing scriptures plainly teach, we have the statements that not a single jot or tittle shall pass from the law of Jehovah; that law plainly says that the seventh day is the Sabbath; the text from Isaiah is in reality a prophecy that the time would come when men would trample the Sabbath under foot, and it offers a rich promise to those who would turn the foot away from treading down that sacred day; the Master acknowledges the Sabbath by plainly saying that He is “Lord” of that day.
Then is it not a perfectly plain duty for all who follow Christ to observe the day of which He says He is Lord, and from which He requests us to turn away our feet?
