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Printed
September - October, 1958
13
SYMBOLIC CODE, NOS. 11, 12
QUESTIONS
ANSWERED ON SABBATH OBSERVANCE
Part 4
IS THE
SABBATH ON SUNDAY? OR ON SATURDAY?
"I
wish," writes still another Truth-seeker, "you could help me see for
sure from the Bible that Sabbath falls on Saturday, and that Christians are
required to keep It instead of Sunday."
Every
Bible student knows that the seventh day of the week is the Sabbath; that It
alone is holy, and commemorative of God's creation (Gen. 2:3). Then, too, the whole civilized world knows that Sunday is the
first day of the week, and not a few know that it was originally a pagan festal
day in honor of the mythical god of the sun.
The fact thus follows that the day preceding it, Saturday, is the seventh
day--the holy Sabbath of creation. Besides,
every honest Bible student knows that the Bible neither in the Old nor in the
New Testament teaches any Sabbath other than the seventh-day Sabbath.
It must
also be remembered that the only part of the Bible that God ever wrote with His
own fingers is the ten-commandment law of which the Sabbath is a part (Ex.
31:18). In fact, He Himself not
only personally wrote the
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Decalogue
but also personally came down to deliver It to mankind amid the most awful,
awesome, and solemn demonstration of all time.
(See Exodus 19 and 20.) Think
of it! God in person descended to
the top of Mount Sinai, spoke the ten precepts of the law, and "ADDED NO
MORE." Deut. 5:22.
Who can
with eyes and ears opened wholeheartedly turn away from this strictly Heav-enly
thunder-and-fire-attested, stone-preserved Truth of the Scriptures?
Surely you will most seriously consider to what purpose and of what worth
are you making to yourself the Lord's special and most celebrated commemorative
visitation, solemnizing the giving of His ten Heaven-born precepts of justice
and peace, and happiness for all mankind--the world's oldest, yet greatest, of
all documents. What mad folly, indeed, that would do away with It?
Has it ever occurred to you that to disregard His own personal handiwork
in the Scriptures, is manifestly a thousand times worse than to disregard all
the work that was done by the hands of all the prophets and all the apostles?
Any wonder, then, that the Devil is working with such hatred and such
wrath against it?
In this
day of increased knowledge, all this adds up to the stark reality that to
attempt to set up another day for the Sabbath is in itself supreme idolatry,
blasphemy, and contempt directly against the Most Holy Himself.
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In view
of these awful considerations of Truth, no better off are those who declare
Sabbath to be for the Jew only. They
seem utterly to scorn the simple fact that there was no Jew when God created and
Himself set the example of Sabbath keeping.
The Saviour, too, declared that "the Sabbath was made for man"
(Mark 2:27)--not merely for the Jew, but for all mankind.
Furthermore,
just as God commanded the Jews to keep the Sabbath holy, so He likewise
commanded the Gentile, saying:
"Thus
saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for My salvation is near to
come, and My righteousness to be revealed.
Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold
on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting It, and keepeth his hand from
doing any evil. Neither let the son
of the stranger [the Gentile], that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak,
saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from His people: neither let the
eunuch [Gentile] say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep My Sabbaths, and
choose the things that please Me, and take hold of My covenant; even unto them
will I give in Mine house and within My walls a place and a name better than of
sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be
cut off. Also the sons of the
stranger [Gentile], that
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join
themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be
his servants, every one [Jew or Gentile] that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting
it, and taketh hold of my covenant; even them will I bring to My holy mountain,
and make them joyful in My house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their
sacrifices shall be accepted upon Mine altar; for Mine house shall be called an
house of prayer for all people. The
Lord God, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others
to Him, beside those that are gathered unto Him." Isa. 56:1-8.
And if
it must still be argued that the Sabbath is only for the Jews, then so much the
more that It must also be for the Christians, because a "born again"
(John 3:3) Gentile is no longer a Gentile.
His second birth, says the scripture, has caused him to become a Jew,
"for...if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according
to the promise." (Gal. 3:28, 29).
Having
thus been cut off from the "wild" (Gentile) olive tree, and having
thus been grafted to the "good" (Jewish) olive tree, such a one has
become a member of the Jewish eternal family tree, says Romans 11:24; and Christ
reaffirms that "Salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22), and that
"unto him [Judah] shall the gathering of the people be." Gen. 49:10.
So it is
that the Kingdom of Christ is made
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up of
Spirit-born Jews only. Even the
name of the eternal capital city--new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2)--is compounded of
the words Jew-risalem--Jewish-peace. It,
too, therefore, loudly declares that Christ's Kingdom is a Kingdom made up for
and of spiritual Jews only.
Moreover,
the founders of the Christian church were all Jews by blood. And the thousands of converts that were added to the church
on and after the Pentecost--during the first three and one-half years--were also
all full-blooded Jews, but as they no longer called themselves Jews, but
Christians instead (Acts 11:26), they all lost their national identity.
So they, and also their brethren,--the kingdoms of Judah and Israel--who
were dispersed throughout the world were, with the exception of a few Jews,
assimilated by the nations, and thus down through the centuries all lost their
national and racial identity. (Hos. 3:5). This
being so, no Christian and no so-called Gentile really knows for sure whether he
is a descendant of the Hebrew tree or of the Gentile tree.
God only knows.
Though
we are plainly told that the 144,000 guileless servants of God, the first fruits
are made up of the twelve tribes of Israel--first Jacobites after the flesh and
second born of the Spirit (Rev. 7:4-8), and that the innumerable great
multitude, the second fruits, are made up of all nations (Rev. 7:9) first of
both Gentiles and Jews born after the flesh, and
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second
birth after the Spirit, yet God can and will identify them all: "I will
make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know Me:" says the Lord,
"behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.
And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the
highest himself shall establish her." Ps. 87:4, 5.
Thus it
is that all through the prophecies which point to this day and age God addresses
the church not as Christian or as Gentile, but as Judah, Israel, Zion, Jerusalem
and so on. Furthermore, all the
covenants and all the promises are made to the descendants of Jacob.
Aside from a privilege to join the Jews--the church--there is not one
promise made to the Gentiles. When
a Gentile, therefore, accepts Christ and joins His church, he then becomes a Jew
and thus subject to share in the promises to the Jews and to keep the Jewish
Sabbath if we must call It such.
You who
want to be in Christ's Kingdom whether you be Jew or Gentile in the flesh had
better now become full fledged Jews in the Spirit by accepting not only Christ,
but also His Holy Sabbath, otherwise you shall certainly find yourselves outside
of the City. God forbid, "For
without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters
and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie" (Rev. 22:15)--all the unrepentant
law-breakers since
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the days
of Cain. It will be heart breaking
and soul terrifying to find yourselves in a crowd that is doomed to suffer the
second death--eternal death. "There
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matt. 24:51.
As we
have now actually come to the time in which the church is to be purified and
unified (the tares taken out of it and burned up), the House of God made white
and clean, no unrepentant sinner left in it, God beforehand makes it known to
His people. "Surely the Lord
God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the
prophets." Amos 3:7. This is
the very reason for which this and other companion publications are not
announcing that the great and dreadful day of the Lord (the Judgment--cleansing
the temple of God--Mal. 3:2, 3; 1 Pet. 4:17) is at hand, all of them crying out
loud throughout Laodicea, saying:
"Ho,
every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come
ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk [present Truth] without money and
without price. Wherefore do ye
spend money for that which is not bread [not inspired by the Spirit of God]? and
your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto Me [to
Inspiration], and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in
fatness." Isa. 55:1, 2. (Your
soul rather than your bones or flesh, denotes that the food that is offered free
of
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charge
is spiritual, not physical. The
only literature of revealed Truth ever given away, given without money and
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"Howl
ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the
Almighty." Isa. 13:6.
"But
who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for
he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' sope: and he shall sit as a
refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi [the
ministry], and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord
an offering in righteousness." Mal. 3:2, 3.
The
scripture implies that their "offering" (labour) heretofore has not
been in righteousness, but that after the cleansing it will be in righteousness.
"...For there shall be no more any vain vision [false, uninspired]
nor flattering divination [no bragging of spiritual achievements] within the
house of Israel. For I am the Lord:
I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no
more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and
will perform it, saith the Lord God." Ezek. 12:23-25.
Let us
now understandingly listen to God's
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voice as
He presently pleads through Isaiah's long concealed prophecies that are now
unsealed for the first time and for our special good, saying:
"Awake,
awake; put on thy strength [faith in the Word of God], O Zion [the rulers of the
denomination]; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem [the under rulers],
the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the
uncircumcised and the unclean [the sinner be put away forever].
Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down [on thy God-given
throne], O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive
daughter of Zion." Isa. 52:1, 2.
"...the
ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners [the uncircumcised and the
unclean] in the congregation of the righteous." Ps. 1:5.
"And
it shall come to pass, that he that is left ['the remnant'--after the sinners
are 'cut off from among His people' in that day of cleansing-Judgment--(Lev.
23:29)] in Zion, and he that remaineth [the remnant' derived by the cleansing]
in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the
living in Jerusalem. [Thus shall it
be] When the Lord shall have washed away [cleansed] the filth of the daughters
of Zion [the Christian church, the mother of which was the ancient Jewish
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church],
and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the
spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
And [after this purification takes place, then it is that] the Lord will
create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud
and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the
glory shall be a defence. And there
shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a
place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain." Isa. 4:3-6.
Brethren,
you cannot afford to miss this future glory now at the eleventh hour--the last,
the Judgment hour.
And as
to those who are trying to make the world believe that Christ nailed the Ten
Commandments to the cross of Calvary, they are either dishonest in what they
say, or else are ignorant of what the Scriptures teach.
The Bible teaches that the law is "holy, and the commandment holy,
and just, and good" (Rom. 7:12); that sin is "the transgression of the
Law" (1 John 3:4), that "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23),
and that men ought to repent of sinning--repent of breaking the law--so that
Christ by His spilled blood might pay the penalty of their having sinned against
the law, and thus make them free from the law.
Since
the fundamental aim of Christ is to
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impel
men to repent of sinning, of breaking the law, thereby to lift them to the
Divine level of morality and keep them free from sinning, it is as absurd as it
is blasphemous to conclude that He could even breathe the thought of ever
abrogating the law. In fact, had
Christ destroyed the law, then from that moment onward there could never have
been any more sin, and, therefore, never anything more to be forgiven of, and
hence never need of Him any more! If this be so, then what a supremely wicked
Book the Bible, and what a supremely cruel Being, God! And by contrast, what a
hero Satan! O the foolishness of
men--Blasphemy of blasphemies! Truly,
therefore, one would have to be another dolt indeed not to see that
antinomianism in its every and its least expression is the most dread of
Dragon-doctrine, and that it comes from carnal mind, for "the carnal mind
is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be." Rom. 8:7.
Since in
both Old and the New Testaments, the Bible still forbids (1) having other gods,
(2) making images and bowing to them, (3) taking God's name in vain, (4) still
demands children having respect for their parents, (5) still condemns killings,
(6) committing adultery, (7) stealing, (8) lying, and since finally It still
makes positive that (10) to break one of the commandments is to break all of
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them
(James 2:10), the conclusion is therefore sure and inescapable that all the ten
commandments of the law are still in force, and that the Bible still demands our
keeping them.
Who then
could have done away with the law? Certainly
not the Lord, not the prophets, and not the apostles, for they all kept and
taught the ten-commandment law, and all laid special emphasis on its
immutability and therefore irrevocable validity. Then what Dragon talk to say, "The moral law is done
away"! Who indeed could
honestly look himself in the face while denying that all antinomian devisings
are but rationalizing means for dodging Sabbath observance? Of this be assured--never will Heaven do away with the law
which condemns sinning. Only the
foolish, the lawless, the crooked, the sin-loving think it out of the way.
But just let them be caught stealing or killing, and they will speedily
find out then if they do not know now, that the law is still very much in force
upon all, be they Jews or Gentiles, professors of religion or professors of
atheism. No wonder that these
law-hating religionists, the so-called Christians of this day, have no better
reputation in society and no better credit in the business world than do the
non-Christians. Wonder is
that they have any standing at all! What a pity their plight, and what a tragic
awakening will one day be theirs.
Let
everyone know once for all that the
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only law
which God did do away with is the law of the sacrificial ordinances (Eph. 2:15;
Col. 2:14; Heb. 7:18-25). And He
removed this law of sacrifices only because it, the shadow, the type, met its
substance and its antitype in Christ's sacrifice of Himself for penitent
sinners, and in His heavenly ministration for them, all in vicarious atonement
for their sins--in payment of the death penalty which the moral law imposed upon
them for their having broken it. Thus
the typical sanctuary with its ceremonial services was, in effect, transferred
to the antitypical sanctuary in Heaven, where Christ our everlasting High Priest
is now officiating, offering His Own blood, in our behalf.
Hence the typical sacrificial law is the only law that was ever removed
from earth.
In
Paul's time as now there were troublemakers over the law.
Especially troublesome were those who held to the rite of circumcision.
They had succeeded in confusing some of the Galatians.
Whereupon Paul wrote to the latter as follows: "O foolish Galatians,
who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the Truth, before whose eyes
Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of
the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are
ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the
flesh?...Stand fast therefore in the liberty
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wherewith
Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall
profit you noth-ing....I would they were even cut off which trouble you."
Gal. 3:1-3; 5:1, 2, 12. The apostle Paul you readily note is against the law of
circumcision--the ceremonial law, not the moral law.
That in
the foregoing words the Apostle is in no wise teaching the abrogation of the ten
commandment law is made evident by His words in the following verses:
"Now
the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations,
wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings,
and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time
past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God."
Gal. 5:19-21.
"(For
not the hearers of the law [the ten commandment law] are just before God, but
the doers of the law shall be justified)." Rom. 2:13.
Then
Paul goes on to explain that no one is actually justified by the keeping of the
law (the decalogue) itself, but that it points out the
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sinner's
transgression, pronounces his doom, then sends him condemned to Christ His
Saviour Who alone, through the merits of His atoning blood which He shed in
behalf of all sinners, can forgive him, justify him, then go on to sanctify him.
Thus the Apostle writes:
"Therefore
by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by
the law is the knowledge of sin [not the forgiveness of it].
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being
witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by
faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no
difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus....Do we then make void the law through faith?
God forbid: yea, we establish the law." Rom. 3:20-24, 31.
(The
reason that Paul's readers not infrequently encounter difficulty in
understanding his epistles is that they read them as books instead of as
letters. Hence, all who would
understand them now, will keep in view the fact that he wrote them to groups
with whom he had previous acquaintance and correspondence, of whose troubles and
queries he had previous knowledge. It
was in that vein that he wrote to them, so he knew what to say to them, and they
well understood what he meant. Consequently,
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if we
are to understand his letters, we must first become conversant with the
conditions which called forth the letters.
To do this one must, by studying each letter, endeavor to find out what
were the recipients' problems that he has tried to solve. Otherwise there can only follow confusion as to what Paul is
talking about. Read them in this
fashion, and you will discover that they are not so difficult to understand as
they seem to be).
And let
none deceive you with their gross self-interest--their vain words, fair
speeches, and crooked interpretations. "By
grace...through faith (Eph. 2:8), keep the Truth sanctified in your heart, and
It will wash you in the blood of Christ, cleanse you and keep you clean, and
clothe upon you the robes of His righteousness,--His glorious
character,--"not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." Eph.
5:27. "...if ye do these
things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you
abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ." 2 Peter 1:10, 11.
No one
who abides in the love of Christ will ever turn a deaf ear to His Word, whether
revealed through Himself, through His apostles, or through His prophets.
Such a one cannot possibly lose out, for should he, after being
"born again," stumble into sin (not deliberately walk into it), then
he has Jesus Christ, his advocate
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in
Heaven, to plead his case, atone for his sin, and cleanse him from the guilt of
it for ever (1 John 2:1; 1:9).
Accordingly,
the salvation of the faithful today as in all ages, has been eternally secured
by Christ's sacrifice of Himself for all, in payment of the penalty of death
upon all for their transgression of the law of God.
This "so great salvation" did He secure, not by making the law
valid for one age and void for another! God forbid. He secured it by the atoning blood of Christ for penitent
sinners of all ages. "By grace
through faith" in the wondrous efficacy of that blood, every penitent,
pardoned soul is eternally freed from the condemnation of the broken law.
O, amazing mercy that leaves no mortal a chance for losing out if he
wants to win!
Also
seriously consider what wicked discrimination, what destructive confusion, what
dreadful injustice;...What kind of a god do most Christians serve!
Is it not the god of lawlessness for him to charge the God of love and
justice to have demanded from His chosen people perfect obedience to His law,
and to have commanded the Gentiles entire disobedience to it!
The God
of law and order in heaven and earth counsels us to "remember the Sabbath
day, to keep It holy" (Ex. 20:8) and also to
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"remember
the Law" which He "commanded unto [Moses] in Horeb for all Israel,
with the statutes and judgments"--(Mal. 4:4), the law of the ten
commandments (Ex. 20:1-17). (For
the interpretation of it see chapters 21 to 23.) Inspiration also declares that
"by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20); that "sin is
the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4); that "the wages of sin is
death" (Rom. 6:23).
If there
is no law, then there is no sin, and there should be no death, and therefore no
need for either a Bible or a Saviour.
Remember,
too, that when the rich young ruler asked what he must do to have eternal life,
Jesus' answer was: "Keep the commandments." And His answer today is
the same. (See Rev. 22:14) When the
ruler inquired which commandments he should keep, the Lord plainly told him:
"Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not
steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and,
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Matt. 19:18, 19.
Here you
see that the moral "law" and the "commandment" are
synonymous. "Think not,"
He declared, "that I am come to destroy [or to put away] the law, or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill [the prophecies concerning Me
and My work]. For verily I say unto
you, Till heaven and earth
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pass
[and they still stand], one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the
law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever
therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so,
he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven: but whosoever shall do
and teach them, the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven....Ye
have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and
whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the Judgment: but I say unto you,
That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of
the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger
of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell
fire." Matt. 5:17-19, 21, 22.
"For
as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me,
saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another,
and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me,
saith the Lord." Isa. 66:22, 23.
The
prophets (the Old Testament), including Jesus (the New Testament), positively
magnify and perpetuate the ten-commandment law, rather than do away with it.
The Sabbath is to be kept, they declare, even in the New Earth.
The
whole "law is holy, and the command-
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ment
holy, and just, and good" (Rom. 7:12).
David is in rapt Inspiration, too, declares, "Thy law is the
Truth...all Thy commandments are Truth." Ps. 119:142, 151. And Paul concludes: "We know that the law is
spiritual...." Rom. 7:14. Hence
James' all-comprehensive conclusion: "whosoever shall keep the whole law,
and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all....Thou believest that there is
one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." James
2:10, 19. The unrepentant law
breakers, be they devils or humans, are lost forever.
"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.
"Blessed
are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life,
and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and
murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." Rev.
22:14, 15.
When the
Lord was asked: "Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus
said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy mind. This
is the first and great commandment. And
the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matt.
22:36-40.
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Let us
note carefully that the commandments were written by God Himself on two tables
of stone. The first one contained
the first four commandments--those which demand love to God--and the second
table contained the last six commandments--those which demand love to our fellow
men. These two tables with their
ten precepts--four on the one and six on the other, the Lord summarizes them in
two commandments and declares that they are the great commandments.
All of the ten commandments, therefore, are great, there is no
distinction between one and the other. So
it is that on these commandments hang the law and the prophets--the whole
Bible--that if these commandments fail then the whole Bible fails, that since
the Bible cannot fail neither can the commandments fail, but he who does not
repent for having broken them, and does not stop breaking them, will certainly
fall to the bottom of the pit.
"Let
us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments:
for this is the whole duty of man. For
God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be
good, or whether it be evil." Eccles. 12:13, 14.
This
what the Bible teaches concerning the ten-commandment law, of which the Sabbath
is a part, and this is what a Christian must believe, do, and teach if he
expects to
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have a
place in the Kingdom of God.
And now
as the Truth on the law, particularly on the Sabbath, is ablaze like the burning
bush on Horeb, and as its penetrating light exposes the subtle heresies that are
trying everyone's faith to the limit, the voice of Inspiration admonishingly and
challeng-ingly asks: "...How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord
be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him...." 1 Kings 18:21.
How did
Sunday, the first day of the week, instead of Saturday, the seventh day, come to
be observed as the Sabbath? For
your answer, read history, article Sunday.
The fact
that every prominent heresy ever taught came through men who were held in high
esteem and respect as ministers of God, should in itself be the greatest of
eye-openers. Tragic truth that it is, it solemnly adjures us never to lose out
of reckoning the grim reality that no mortal on earth can afford to base his
faith on another's conviction or reputation, but solely upon his own personal
and unbiased examination of purported Truth.
Such a one will ever trust for guidance only the Spirit of God Who "searcheth
all things, yea, the deep things of God" (1 Cor. 2:10).
He is the only one Who leads every God-trusting individual into all Truth
(John 14:26; 16:13). There is no
other safe course, no, none other that gives that
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"peace....which
passeth all understanding...." Phil. 4:7.
Why are
ministers led to devise heresies?--Because the Enemy of souls knows that the
laity, with but few exceptions, depend on the ministers and accept their
opinions of freshly revealed truths, instead of trusting implicitly in the
Spirit of God to guide them into all Truth through a personal examination of
purported revelations. Moreover,
never since the dawn of sacred history, has Truth found It self born in halls of
learning, or in the minds of the so-called great and wise, but only when and
where "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2
Pet. 1:21. And what is more, what
few so-called great ever have come to study unpopular Truth, have been among the
very last to embrace It, although among the very first to fight against it and
to keep their flocks from It. Hence
to remember and to guard vigilantly against this dominant deadly peril is a
prime requisite to following Christ and to receiving the "so great
salvation" (Heb. 2:3) which He hath wrought for us "by the sacrifice
of Himself" (Heb. 9:26), to satisfy the demands of the broken law (Rom.
8:3, 4; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24).
The
condemnation which Christ, "The True Witness," last pronounces is
against "the angel [the ministry] of the church of the Laodiceans,"
not against the church itself, and
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not
against the laity. (See Revelation
3:14-18).
Moreover
since The True Witness Himself openly declares that they are the ones who feel
in need of nothing more, that they are the lukewarm (satisfied and contented in
their delusion) and determined to stay poor and blind, thus to be spued out,
then what hope is there that they will ever arouse the laity to see and to
accept freshly revealed Truth with which to heal the Laodicean malady?
None whatever--no, no more than there was hope for the Jewish laity ever
to be enlightened by their priests and rabbis.
Hence the inevitability of their trying to confuse God's message and to
bar it from reaching their flocks. But
Jesus' assures: "I am the good shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of
Mine. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me:
and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of My hand. My
Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck
them out of My Father's hand." John 10:14, 27-29. "Fear not, little
flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom." Luke
12:32.
To know
which day God blessed, hallowed, and set aside for mankind to keep is indeed
commendable, but this knowledge alone is insufficient.
To know how to keep It holy, and to really keep It, is of far greater
importance. We
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should,
therefore, not neglect to look into it.
"Remember
the sabbath day, to keep It holy. Six
days shalt thou labour, 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 manservant, nor thy maidservant, 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.
The word
"remember" would not have been included if men were not apt to forget
the Sabbath, We are, says Inspiration, to keep holy not a Sabbath, but "the
Sabbath." We are to keep It
holy because It alone God blessed and hallowed. Now follow the examples of how to keep It holy:
"And
it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two
omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, Tomorrow is
the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake to day,
and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to
be kept until the morning. And they
laid it
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up till
the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm
therein. And Moses said, Eat that
to day; for to day is a Sabbath unto the Lord: to day ye shall not find it in
the field. Six days ye shall gather
it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in It there shall be none.
And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the
seventh day for to gather, and they found none.
And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep My commandments
and My laws? See, for that the Lord
hath given you the Sabbath, therefore He giveth you on the sixth day the bread
of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on
the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day." Ex. 16:22-30.
"And
Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said
unto them, These are the words which the Lord hath commanded, that ye should do
them. Six days shall work be done,
but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a Sabbath of rest to
the Lord: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.
Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath
day." Ex. 35:1-3.
Here,
God's unfailing care over His people is demonstrated in type.
If there is no food (manna) to be found tomorrow, He sends us a double
portion today, and its preservation
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He makes
sure. So it is that by keeping His
Sabbath holy we cannot possibly be losing.
He Himself in one way or another makes up the deficiency.
The type therefore proves that the search for manna (livelihood) on the
Sabbath is a wasted and fruitless sport, and that cooking and food preparations
should be made on the day before the Sabbath.
That needless work, such as building fire for the sole purpose of cooking
on the Sabbath day, is prohibited. The
type, moreover, shows that the penalty for deliberate Sabbath breaking is
death--the second or eternal death. Sabbath
though, should be made pleasant and attractive for the children. Something
special will make them love to see the Sabbath hours come in.
Find out what would please them best that is within the bounds of Sabbath
keeping.
Since if
one is passing through a field, a garden or an orchard on the Sabbath day while
hungry he may pick food and eat (Matt. 12:1) but not carrying any of it out of
the field (Deut. 23:24, 25), and since the sick, human or animal must be watched
and cared for on the Sabbath (Luke 14:5), it is understandable that if one is
living in the frigid zones, where and when it is cold, he can have artificial
means for keeping warm. Building
fire for such cause is therefore permissible.
Then, too, we should remember in our Sabbath keeping program that
"the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." Mark
2:27; that Sab-
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bath
keeping brings blessing not a curse, tyranny or poverty; that It brings joy over
what God has enabled us to accomplish during the six working days.
It enables us to rejoice and to look back upon our deeds and
whole-heartedly and honestly be able to say "My work and deeds are
faultless, they are very good." God reviewed His creative work on the Sabbath day and
rejoiced over it. Then, too, six
days of honest work should bring all our work up to date rather than leaving
part of it for another day--no true Sabbath keeper is a time killer either.
"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, honourable; and shalt
honour 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.
Thus is
the Divine surety that God's Truth-seeking people will not be fooled.
They will "let God be true, but every man a liar." Rom. 3:4.
They will let no man take the place of the Spirit of God, Who leads into
all Truth, for they know that only by using their own God-given reason and
personal saving experience will they find their way into the Kingdom of
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God.
In short, they know that "though Noah, Daniel, and Job" be in
the land, they shall deliver but their own souls...." Ezek. 14:20.
----------0-0-0----------
"If
the law could be changed, man might have been saved without the sacrifice of
Christ; but the fact that it was necessary for Christ to give His life for the
fallen race, proves that the law of God will not release the sinner from its
claims upon him. It is demonstrated
that the wages of sin is death. When
Christ died, the destruction of Satan was made certain. But if the law was abolished at the cross, as many claim,
then the agony and death of God's dear Son were endured only to give to Satan
just what he asked; then the prince of evil triumphed, his charges against the
divine government were sustained. The
very fact that Christ bore the penalty of Man's transgression, is a mighty
argument to all created intelligences, that the law is changeless; that God is
righteous, merciful, and self-denying; and that infinite justice and mercy unite
in the administration of His government."--Patriarchs and Prophets, pg. 70.
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in the United States of America