Doctrine

Sabbath in the Time of Jesus

by

The Sabbath, along with marriage, was first introduced in the Garden of Eden to our first parents. Since then there has been a controversy over the day that the Creator set aside to be a blessing to His people. When on earth, Jesus had many controversies with the Jews over the Sabbath. Who better to understand the meaning of Sabbath than the Creator Himself, but the Jews had conjured up a lot of manmade rules they thought would make them holy. They used these manmade rules to judge others, even Jesus, accusing Him of breaking the Sabbath.

By distorting the actual words of Jesus, Christians today believe that He invalidated the Sabbath. It is claimed that the Sabbath was blotted out by Jesus’ death on the cross. The texts commonly used to try to prove this are Colossians 2:14–17.

Paul says, “Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. Therefore, let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon, or sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (literal translation).

We know that Jesus’ death did not blot out the Sabbath, and that Colossians 2:14–17 is not talking about the blotting out of the Sabbath, for the following reasons:

  1. In verse 14, Paul uses the phrase, “blotting out the handwriting.” The Ten Commandments were not handwritten. We all write by hand but God does not, He uses His finger. “And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18).

Deuteronomy 9:10 says, “Then the Lord delivered to me (Moses) two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.”

  1. The Sabbath of the Lord was made before sin entered the world. It is not, therefore, one of those things “which are a shadow of things to come” that foreshadow redemption from sin. It was given as a memorial of creation.
  2. The Sabbath was made for man before the fall. It is not one of those things that are against him, and contrary to him, as Paul said of the ordinances in Colossians 2:14. The Sabbath was given to be a blessing to man.
  3. When the ceremonial sabbaths were ordained, they were carefully distinguished from the seventh-day Sabbath, which is called the Sabbath of the Lord.

Leviticus 23 describes all of the ceremonial sabbaths:

  • the Passover, “the fourteenth day of the first month” (verse 5);
  • the Feast of Unleavened Bread on “the fifteenth day” (verse 6);
  • “the seventh day” of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (verse 8);
  • the Feast of the Firstfruits, the wave sheaf (verses 9–11).

Remember, there was a Passover, then a first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread on the fifteenth day. Then the next day (the sixteenth day), stated in verse 11, was “the day after the sabbath [when] the priest shall wave” the wave sheaf.

Let’s look at the order of events from the crucifixion of Christ until He returns:

  • Christ was crucified on Friday, or Good Friday. That was Passover, the fourteenth day of the first month.
  • The fifteenth day, which was the seventh-day Sabbath, was also a ceremonial Sabbath. That is why it was called in the gospel of John, “a high day” (John 19:31). It was the first Sabbath of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the first ceremonial Sabbath.
  • The sixteenth day was a Sunday, the day they were to wave the wave sheaf. The wave sheaf represented the firstfruits. Jesus Christ and those who were raised with Him were the firstfruits. 1 Corinthians 15:23 says, “… each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.” Christ rose on the exact day so that type (the foreshadow) would meet antitype (the real).
  • The Feast of Weeks followed: “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord” (Leviticus 23:15, 16). Fifty days later was Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out.
  • Then came the Feast of Trumpets (verse 23), which was the first day of the seventh month to warn the people that the Day of Judgment was coming.
  • The Day of Atonement was next (verses 26–33), which was the tenth day of the seventh month.
  • Then the Feast of Tabernacles (verse 34) began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month.

After these ceremonial sabbaths are listed, Moses says in verses 37 and 38, “These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day—besides the Sabbaths of the Lord.” [Emphasis supplied.] Notice that these are ceremonial sabbaths, yearly feast days, that are in addition to the Sabbaths of the Lord, in addition to your vows and your freewill offerings. When the ceremonial sabbaths were ordained, they were carefully distinguished from the Sabbaths of the Lord.

5.  The Sabbath of the Lord does not owe its existence to any handwriting of any ordinances, but is contained in the                  heart of the Ten Commandments, which Jesus said He did not come to destroy (Luke 16:17) or blot out by His                      death.

  1. The effort of Jesus throughout His entire ministry was to redeem the Sabbath from the thralldom of the Jewish doctors and to vindicate it as a merciful institution. Jesus claimed that it was lawful to do what He did on the Sabbath. He said, “If you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:7, 8).

Jesus claimed to be keeping the Sabbath, not according to Jewish traditions, but according to the law of God. “So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him. But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Arise and stand here.’ And he arose and stood. Then Jesus said to them, ‘I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?’ And looking around at them all, He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other” (Luke 6:7–10, literal translation).

Jesus continually pointed out the hypocrisy of the Jews, especially in regard to the Sabbath. While criticizing Him for healing on Sabbath, they circumcised babies if the eighth day fell on Sabbath (John 7:21–24).

While Jesus redeemed the Sabbath from the thralldom of Jewish customs, He did not invalidate or depreciate it.

  1. The Lord’s instruction to His disciples concerning their flight from Jerusalem, which was to occur many years after the crucifixion, recognized the sacredness of the Sabbath, as found in Matthew 24:20: “Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.”

Opponents of the Sabbath came up with the argument against this verse saying they could not flee on the Sabbath because the gates of Jerusalem would be shut and they could not get out. This is pure speculation and not only can it not be proven, there is pretty good evidence that it just wasn’t so.

Nehemiah 13:15–19 says, “In those days I saw people in Judea treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, ‘What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.’ So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day.”

Verse 22 says, “And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day.”

The gates were guarded to prevent people from hauling their carts back and forth on the Sabbath with all their merchandise for selling. A person was not prohibited from going in or out of the city on the Sabbath. Jesus often came from the Mount of Olives and into the temple to teach the people on the Sabbath.

Jeremiah said, “Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. Thus says the Lord: “Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; nor carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers” ’ ” (Jeremiah 17:20–22).

These instructions were given to prevent trading and carrying on business on the Sabbath. It was not wrong to carry something on the Sabbath. Jesus was accused when He healed the man by the pool of Bethsaida on the Sabbath day when He told him to take his bed and go. The man rolled up his mat, his bed, and put it on his shoulder. When he started to walk away, he was accused of breaking the Sabbath. It was not wrong to carry his mat with him on the Sabbath. He would need it when it was time to sleep again.

Our Lord’s instruction to His disciples concerning their flight from Jerusalem, many years after His crucifixion, recognized the sacredness of the Sabbath (Matthew 24:20).

  1. The Sabbath in the new earth will be a perpetual reminder of the Creation. “ ‘For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,’ says the Lord, ‘So shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,’ says the Lord” (Isaiah 66:22, 23).

It would make no sense that in the new earth throughout eternity that every Sabbath all flesh is to come and worship before the Lord if the Sabbath was obliterated at the cross.

  1. Many years after the crucifixion of Christ, the authority of the fourth commandment was recognized. We read in Luke 23:54–56, written many years after the cross: “That day (when Jesus died on the cross) was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near. And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.”
  2. The royal law, which was not abolished, includes the ten commandments and consequently embraces and enforces the Sabbath of the Lord. James 2:10–12 says, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.” There is no doubt that the “law of liberty” is the Ten Commandments.
  3. The Ten Commandments are not ten separate laws, but one law. By breaking any part of the ten, the whole law is broken. “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them’ ” (Exodus 24:12).

Notice, it is the law that God has written. That is singular—one law. If you break one, you are a law-breaker. Psalm 89:34 says, “My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.”

Some argue that time may have been lost. Therefore, how do we really know which day the Biblical Sabbath was? The death of Jesus confirms time. Luke 23:54 says, “That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.” The Christian world today calls the day that Jesus died on the cross Good Friday. So Good Friday is the day before the Sabbath. “They returned, prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment” (verse 56).

“Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared” (Luke 24:1). This passage of Scripture raises several points:

  • It contains an express recognition of the fourth commandment. It was written many years after the crucifixion of Jesus.
  • It is the most remarkable case of Sabbath observance in the whole Bible. The Lord of the Sabbath was dead, and preparation was being made to embalm Him. But, when the Sabbath drew on, the preparations were suspended while they rested according to the Sabbath.
  • It shows that the Sabbath is the day before the first day of the week that we call Sunday, thus identifying the seventh day in the commandment as our Saturday.
  • It is a direct testimony that the knowledge of the true seventh-day was preserved as late as the crucifixion, for it says, “They observed the Sabbath according to the commandment.”

Many think that when Jesus rose from the dead, the Sabbath was changed from the seventh to the first day of the week. To determine the truth of those assertions, look at all the records in the New Testament of these events:

Matthew 28:1: “Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.” He had already risen.

Mark 16:1, 2: “Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.”

Mark 16:9: “Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.”

Luke 24:1: “On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.”

John 20:1; 19: “Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.” “Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, ‘Peace be to you.’ ”

Some conclusions can be drawn from these verses:

  1. There is no mention of any change of the Sabbath.
  2. They carefully distinguish between the Sabbath and the first day of the week.
  3. They apply no sacred title to the first day of the week, and they do not refer to it as a Sabbath.
  4. They make no mention of Christ resting on the first day of the week, which would be absolutely essential if the first day of the week was a rest day. The word Sabbath means rest. Throughout the Old Testament the word Sabbath from Genesis and on can be translated rest or rest day.

In order for the rest day to be transferred to Sunday, Jesus would had to have rested on this first Sunday. The trouble is, these verses make no mention of Christ resting on the first day of the week.

  1. They make no mention of God removing His blessing from the seventh day. Remember, after God had completed His creation He rested on the seventh day, He blessed it and sanctified it and made it holy (Genesis 2:2, 3).
  2. They give no precept in support of first day observance, nor do they contain a hint of the manner in which the first day of the week can be enforced by authority of the fourth commandment.

When people read these verses, it is claimed that Jesus met with His disciples on the first day of the week after His resurrection. Let’s examine this claim.

In Luke 24:29 Jesus is walking with two disciples on the way to Emmaus. It says, “But they constrained Him, saying, ‘Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.’ And He went in to stay with them.”

It was the first day of the week and the sun was just about to go down. They prepared a meal, sat down and as Jesus blessed the food they noticed the nail prints in His hand. They recognized Him, and instantly He vanished, and they said, “Did not our hearts burn within us” (verse 32)? They were so excited about the most wonderful news that they didn’t even eat their meal and left the food right there on the table. “So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together” (verse 33). Emmaus was about seven miles from Jerusalem along a hilly and rocky road that they travelled after dark.

In Jewish time the evening and the morning were one day, meaning the next day began at sunset.

  • The first meeting that Jesus had with His disciples was not on Sunday but after sunset on what we would now call Sunday evening, the beginning of Monday.
  • The second meeting would be either Monday or Tuesday, however you would reckon it. The first meeting was on Sunday night, or the beginning of Monday. In John 20:26 it says, “And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, ‘Peace to you!’ ”
  • The third meeting, we are not told what day of the week it was, but that the disciples had been out fishing all night.
  • The fourth meeting when He met with them all as a group was forty days after the resurrection on the day He ascended to heaven. Forty days after the resurrection (Sunday), was actually a Friday.

There is no evidence to show that there was any change or transfer of holiness or any blessing given to Sunday as the first day of the week, a day to go to church, or anything else—Sunday sacredness is a manmade institution. The memorial for Christ’s death and resurrection is baptism and the communion service—the ordinances of the New Covenant.

We are told that the Sabbath/Sunday issue will be the conflict that divides the whole world into two camps at the end of the world. “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him” (1 Kings 18:21).

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

The Problem in Galatia – Works of the Flesh

by

It was on Paul’s second missionary journey that he and Silas visited the churches in Galatia. Only slight mention is made of it in the book of Acts: “Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia” (Acts 16:6). Note that this is only a passing reference, with no details of the work they did there.

The next mention of Galatia in Acts is in 18:23: “After he [Paul] had spent some time there [in Antioch], he departed and went over the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples.” Again, we have only passing reference to Galatia.

Interestingly, these are the only two mentions in the book of Acts of the work Paul did in Galatia. Nevertheless, the work that he did there was significant enough that it merited the preservation by divine providence of a letter of rebuke he wrote “to the churches of Galatia” (Galatians 1:2).

Why termed “a letter of rebuke”? After Paul’s customary greeting, which is almost identical in all of his epistles, the very first thing he wrote is, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel …” (Galatians 1:6).

Paul devotes most of the first and second chapters of Galatians to a justification of his whole body of work and to an account of his efforts to correct errors of the early church as it made the transition from the sacrificial services of the Jewish economy to the Christ-based fellowship of the Christian church. (Of course, the Jewish economy had also been Christ-based, although the Pharisees and the Sadducees had made the sacrificial service an end unto itself, failing to understand that these services pointed to the ultimate Sacrifice.)

Then he closes the second chapter with an exquisite exposition of justification by faith, exclaiming, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Paul begins the third chapter with a second rebuke: “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified” (Galatians 3:1)?

From what follows in his letter, it is clear that the Galatians had either maintained or returned to their erroneous beliefs of justification by works: “This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh” (Galatians 3:2, 3)?

As Paul continues to explain how justification is by faith and faith alone, he reminds the Galatians of how Abraham was justified, then segues into a brief explanation of righteousness by faith, explaining, “… that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for ‘THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH’ ” (Galatians 3:11). [Emphasis supplied.]

As he continues his explanation of justification by faith, he provides a between-the-lines allusion to the difference between the moral law and the sacrificial law, stating, “Why, then, was the Law added? Because of transgressions, until the descendant came to whom the promise pertained. It was put into effect through angels by means of a mediator” (Galatians 3:19, ISV).

That mediator, of course, was Moses, who, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, wrote the details of the sacrificial law and placed it beside the ark: “So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying: ‘Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there as a witness against you’ ” (Deuteronomy 31:24–26).

The remainder of chapter three and the beginning of chapter four give a clear explanation of those who constitute modern Israel, following the rejection of Christ by ancient Israel—the Jewish nation: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:27–29).

Following his explanation of the very basics of justification and sanctification being by faith and faith alone, and an explanation of who the recipients of the promise given to Abraham are, Paul returns to his concerns for the Galatians, asking, “… how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain” (Galatians 4:9–11).

By relating the story of Hagar and Sarah, Paul expands on the difference between justification by works and justification by faith, noting that “we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. …  So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free” (Galatians 4:28, 31).

In essence, Paul is again asserting that justification is by faith (Sarah) and not by works (Hagar).

In chapter five, Paul begins by exhorting the Galatians, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1).

Seeking to ensure that the Galatians understand his concerns for them, Paul once again points out the error that they have fallen into, writing, “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth” (Galatians 5:4–7)?

After having established the critical importance of faith as the sole basis for justification and righteousness/sanctification, Paul endeavors to confirm that the Galatians have a clear understanding of the difference between the works of the flesh (recall that the Galatians were attempting to achieve justification by those works under the dictates of the sacrificial law) and the fruits of the Spirit in verses 19 through 23. (Obviously the Galatians were not attempting to gain justification through the sinful works of the flesh Paul outlines here, but they were, nevertheless, seeking to achieve justification through works.)

Paul closes his epistle by returning to his major theme of the futility of seeking justification through works of the flesh by following the sacrificial law: “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation” (Galatians 6:14, 15).

Paul’s letter to the Galatians is a perfect example of the treasures hidden in God’s word that can only be found by a thorough mining of that Word. So many different aspects of the plan of salvation are touched on, that many hours could be devoted to a study of this epistle alone. While clearly intended to be an admonition to the Galatians who were “turning away” from the righteousness that faith in Christ establishes, this letter can have a far greater impact for those who seek to understand the gospel that “came through the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:12).

“Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen” (Galatians 6:18).

 

John R. Pearson is the office manager and a board member of Steps to Life. He may be contacted by email at: johnpearson@stepstolife.org.

Danger of Fanaticism

by

There is a serious danger of God’s people entering into fanaticism. Fanaticism is so dangerous that it can easily cost you your eternal life. If you look in the book The Great Controversy you will find that Ellen White makes it clear that fanaticism almost destroyed the 16th century Protestant Reformation. The devil has not forgotten that. It is stated very clearly that fanaticism was more dangerous to the Protestant Reformation than was the Roman Catholic Church.

During the last few decades, God has raised up a grass-roots revival and reformation movement in the Second Advent movement all over the world, and the devil knows how to successfully destroy these revivals. Fanaticism is still his method of choice. Many historic Adventist churches have been destroyed as a result of fanaticism. Fanaticism has threatened to disrupt and destroy the work that God’s workers have worked for years to build up in various parts of the world.

When we talk about the dangers of God’s people entering fanaticism, we need to learn what we can do so we don’t get caught up by it. This does not just happen to common people; leaders in God’s work are also susceptible, and often we don’t realize what is really going on until it’s too late. It is a deadly trap!

Fanaticism can cost you your life. There is a dramatic story in I Kings 13 about a prophet who got caught up in fanaticism. This fanaticism cost him his life. One of the reasons for this story to be in the Bible is to help people understand how dangerous the issue is.

The Lord gave to this prophet a message. He said he was to go down to Jeroboam in Bethel and pronounce judgment against him and against the altar because they were practicing idolatry. So, he told Jeroboam that one born of the sons of David by the name of Josiah is going to destroy the altars and burn the bones of the ones that sacrificed on them. Incidentally, this was hundreds of years before Josiah was born. Jeroboam, not being very happy, decided to have this prophet arrested, and in the attempt, his arm withered up and became helpless. He became scared, and said to the prophet, Please pray to Jehovah for me so that I can have the use of my arm again. The prophet prayed for the king, and God restored his arm.

There was no question that God had sent this prophet. This was demonstrated by three miracles. Not only was the prophet sent with a message to Jeroboam, God had given him specific instructions about what he was to do after he gave the message. You can read it all in 1 Kings 13; the Lord told him, You’re not to eat bread there. You are not to eat bread and you’re not to drink water in that place, and you are to leave by a different path than that by which you came.

Now, here is the point. When God gives instructions, nobody has a right to change any instruction that God has given, and if you allow a change in the instructions, you are touching fanaticism.

For instance, did God give some instructions on what day of the week to keep holy? All through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation it is talked about. Now, if somebody comes to you and says, “Our church was authorized by Jesus Christ, and we have the authority to change that day,” if you believe that, you’re into fanaticism. Is it reasonable to believe that you can lose your soul from fanaticism? You can be as sincere as you want to believe, but you can still lose your soul, because God gave you the instructions and you allowed somebody else to give you different instructions than what God gave you.

The prophet that took the message started out, and there were two young men who were the sons of another prophet, who came home and told their father everything that had happened. The father went looking and found him sitting down under a terebinth tree and said, “Come to my house and eat bread and have something to drink before you go back home.” And the prophet said, “I can’t. The Lord told me that I wasn’t to drink water, and I wasn’t to eat bread in this place. I was to go back by a different way.”

The other prophet said, “Well, an angel of the Lord told me by the word of the Lord, that you can come to my house and eat bread and drink water.” Do you remember what the apostle Paul said in Galatians 1 about that? He said, “Even if an angel from heaven tells you a different gospel than we have told you, let him be cursed.” When God gives you a message, even an angel doesn’t have authority to change the message, and if you allow an angel to convince you to do something different than you have instructions from God’s word to do, you are into fanaticism. And don’t think it can’t cost you your life.

That prophet got up and went to the other prophet’s home, and while he was eating and drinking, the word of the Lord came to the other prophet who had lied, and He said, “Because this man, whom I told not to eat bread or not to drink water in this place, disobeyed, he will never return to the land of his fathers.”

The other prophet felt badly about this, as he was the one who had invited him back home, so he thought he had better help him get home. He wasn’t going to let him walk home, so he saddled up a donkey and sent him home on his own donkey. On the way home, a lion met him and killed him, and his carcass never got home. Part of the punishment of the false prophet was not only to notify all the relatives, but also to go and take care of the man. He buried him in his own tomb, and the Bible says that they made a terrible wailing for this man. He felt terrible because he was responsible for the other man’s death.

The same thing has been repeated down through history. Whether you’re listening to it, or promoting it, fanaticism can destroy you. Fanaticism is usually a distortion or exaggeration of something that is actually true; just an extreme position. It is often a result of a lack of faith or presumption. Usually it helps the people who accept it have a good feeling about themselves and their advanced beliefs that others supposedly do not understand.

There are a few cures for fanaticism. One is to develop a humble mind. Jesus said, “I am gentle and lowly in heart.” Fanaticism is almost always associated with spiritual pride. If you want to avoid fanaticism, you need to develop a humble mind, a humble heart. And secondly, you need to develop faith. Faith is based on the promises of God’s word.

When the word faith is used it is based on the promises of God’s word—what God’s word explicitly says, and not what is implicit in God’s word.

An example of this is the story of Paul and Silas in Philippi in the book of Acts, chapter 16. At midnight there was an earthquake, and they were let out of prison and the jailor comes. Verses 30 and 31 say, “And coming to them outside he said, ‘lords, what is necessary for me to do so that I should be saved?’ And they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved, and your house.’ ” Now there is nothing wrong at all with that explicit statement, but it is very interesting what we think is implied by that statement. There are four different conclusions that people have deduced from this simple statement, “You shall be saved and your house.” Acts 16:31:

His house will be saved if the father or husband believes.

His house will be saved if they also believe.

If he does not believe, then his house will automatically be lost.

His house will be lost if they don’t believe, but they could be saved if they believe.

Those are four contradictory deductions that people think are implicit in the text. And that’s the problem with implicit evidence. Different people will get a different implication out of the very same thing. That’s why if you don’t want to end up in fanaticism when any new teaching arises you must insist that, in order to accept the teaching, it is explicitly taught in God’s word.

Paul said to Timothy in II Timothy 2:15, “Study to show yourselves approved to God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” As we draw near to the end of time, there will be people more and more deceiving and being deceived. God knew ahead of time; Jesus predicted it in Matthew 24: He said, “There will arise false christs and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible, they would deceive (or lead astray) the very elect.” Now that’s an interesting statement. If it were possible, they would lead astray the very elect. The Lord gave the Spirit of Prophecy to the Second Advent movement, so His people need not be deceived.

We are living in the most deceptive period of earth’s history. Not only this, but we are the weakest generation that has ever lived physically, spiritually, and mentally. If this is the case, how are we going to deal with the prevailing deceptions? God predicted through Malachi 4:5, 6, “Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet. He’s going to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and hearts of the children to the fathers, lest I come and curse the earth, smite the earth with a curse.”

We read in Revelation 12:17 that God’s remnant people are not only going to be a commandment keeping people, but they are going to be people who have the testimony of Jesus. The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy; Revelation 19:10.

One of the reasons that God gave us the Spirit of Prophecy was to keep us from going into fanaticism. If you understand the Spirit of Prophecy, thoroughly and carefully, it will protect you from going off on tangents.

We are not as powerful or as intelligent as we sometimes think. In II Timothy 2, in Greek, it says that the devil captures them alive at his will. He just leads them astray, takes them wherever he wants to, and they don’t even know what is happening. We need both the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy to keep us from going into fanaticism.

Before we have any new teaching, in addition to talking to the leaders in our churches, we should be checking in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy to find a plain “thus saith the Lord” to support the belief. In the book, The Great Controversy, 595, it says that God will have a people who, before accepting any doctrine or teaching, will demand a plain “thus saith the Lord” in its support.

The devil is very successful in leading many of God’s people into fanaticism today. We need to be on the watch for this.

False visions and dreams. That is the number one way that the devil is leading God’s people into fanaticism. It is all over the world today, and it has been with us for a long time. Some claim to have seen Jesus. Recently, a book was circulating from a man who claimed that Jesus told him that a Sunday law would be passed before April 2008. Friends, Paul said to Timothy, “Preach the word.” The Bible is the authority, and we should not believe any message that is not in the word of God or the Spirit of Prophecy.

If God sends you a message from a prophet, that message will be able to be documented and authenticated. For example, Ezekiel says, at a certain date, in the certain year of a certain king, at a certain place, the Lord told me this; I’m Ezekiel and the Lord told me this, this, this. The message is authenticated; there is a place, a date, and there is a person who can be identified who meets the Biblical tests of a prophet. That is always the way God has worked. The Lord says in Numbers 12:6, “If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will manifest Myself to that person in a vision and in a dream.” And it says in Amos 3:7 that God won’t do anything except He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets.

If God has a special message for His church, it will come through a person who is a prophet. And, of course, God has authority to do that at any time. But, if God has a message for you and me, for the church, through a person to whom He is giving a vision or a dream, that message can be documented and authenticated. Part of the documentation is, as we read in either the book of Numbers or Daniel 10, when a prophet has a vision, that prophet does not breathe. There must be supernatural events connected with the vision; otherwise you do not know whether the vision is from the Lord or the devil. You cannot tell whether an angel is from heaven or hell. Remember, it says in Revelation 16 that in the last days devils are going to work miracles. They are going to be so successful that they will deceive the whole world.

In regard to Ellen White, her visions were authenticated. Ellen White had many public visions, and these have been very thoroughly documented. The Lord gave her visions over and over again in public so that God’s people could document and authenticate that this was a prophet of God.

If God has a message for you, you must be able to prove that this person really does have the prophetic gift, because you’re going to stake your life on it, and you’d better not stake your life on a message that you don’t know for sure came from a true prophet.

The second example—and this is a terrible one to have to go over, but it is worldwide. God does speak to people individually for some specific circumstance in that person’s life or in some other person’s life to help them. He has done that many times; however, if God has a message for His church, it will come through a prophet that can be authenticated and documented.

In John 18:19, 20, it says, “The high priest therefore asked Jesus concerning His disciples and concerning His teaching. Jesus gave answer to him, ‘I have spoken openly to the world. I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple where always the Jews gather together, (or you could say where all the Jews gather together). And in secret I have spoken nothing.’ ” Jesus is saying, I don’t deal secretly. It’s the devil that is behind all the secret information that God’s people are accepting today. It’s time to wake up and recognize where this information is coming from.

If God wants to warn His church about something, He will not do it by some secretive way that you can’t document. As an example: a rumor was spread that by the middle of September 2008, the entire American economy is going collapse and the world would never be the same again. That prophecy, by the way, has proved to be false, but, unfortunately, when these prophecies prove to be false, they are just revised and moved up in time. The same people will tell you nothing happened in September, but it is going to happen in October.

It is usually difficult to ascertain the source of these messages, because they come through so many people. A lot of this information is coming from the evangelicals, and we’re taking their information and spouting it off, and we’re just getting into fanaticism. There’s a book, written by a Sunday keeping evangelical pastor, about what is going to happen in 2008. The book states all the awful things that are going to happen in 2008. Before the end of the book, he gets into his own false interpretation of the seals and the seven thunders, and our people are getting information from all of these people.

At the beginning of every year, Pat Robertson tells the world what the Lord told him is going to happen that year. In January 2008, he said that before September 2010, there will be a major stock market crash and there will be a major depression. Then he listed other things that are going to happen, but what he didn’t know was that he was about one year late. Several financial analysts, in January and February of 2007, said that we are going to have a major recession during 2008, and they didn’t claim that God was telling them anything. They were just looking at the economic and financial conditions in the world.

So you see, Pat Robertson was actually about a year late in his prediction, and, of course, he did hedge himself using the date in 2010. Pat Robertson does not have a stellar record. When he gave his yearly prediction of what the Lord had told him was going to happen in January of 2007, he said there was going to be a major terrorist attack on the cities of the United States, probably using nuclear weapons. People were petrified all over this country. Strangely, though, it didn’t happen. So, in 2008, he announced, “I guess God’s people must have prayed and the Lord had mercy on us!”

If God is trying to get a message through to you, you will not find it out by some secretive source that somebody found from this, that, that, and that. There is a game called “Gossip” where a circle of children sit, and one child whispers something in somebody’s ear and then that child whispers in the next person’s ear what they heard and then they keep going around and the last person has to tell you what he or she heard. When the last person tells what he or she heard everybody else starts laughing because it is so distorted by the time it passes from one mouth to another ear.

Unfortunately, there are people who are making all kinds of rash decisions on the basis of this kind of information.

Friends, the devil is trying to get God’s people terrified so that they will go into a panic, because he knows that when people go into a panic, they will do irrational, crazy things that don’t make any sense. God’s people are in a state of panic. Back in Jesus’ day His disciples were also in a state of panic, and Jesus said, “Do not let your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me.” The reason the Lord is allowing these things to happen now is to get you ready for the bigger troubles in the future. If you can’t survive the panics we have now, what are you going to do if we get a really bad one? What are you going to do then?

We need to forget about all this secret information, because there is so much that you’ll never be able to even read it all; the information that’s coming from the CIA, the Vatican, the Jesuits, the government—in every group in the world—there is somebody who claims to have secret information that will help you to do something. And you have no way of knowing which is accurate and which isn’t.

What you need to do is ask, What does the Bible say? What does the Spirit of Prophecy say? Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled.” In commenting on that, Ellen White said, Satan’s devices are most successful against people whose hearts are darkened by discouragement or trouble; they’re oppressed, they’re depressed, they’re discouraged. God does not want you to be troubled. It is the devil that wants you to be terrified and in a panic, not the Lord. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, do I give unto you.”

The world’s peace can be taken away at any time, but God’s peace cannot. “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

This is not suggesting that we stick our heads in the sand. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.” John 16:33.

There are going to be worse times in the future than there are now. And we have to learn to trust in Jesus, and to follow Him and His Word and not any other teaching if it does not agree with the Bible or Spirit of Prophecy. We have the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy to show us what to do and which way to steer our craft. If you allow yourself to get caught up and directed and led by all the information coming, the devil will see that you get enough information to lead you astray.

Pastor John Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by e-mail at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Two Covenants

by

To understand the two covenants, we first need to understand what a covenant is. A covenant is a legal term used more frequently in the past. Today we use the term contract. Webster’s dictionary defines a covenant firstly “as a formal, solemn and binding agreement between two or more persons.” Secondly, it is “a written agreement or promise, usually under seal, between two or more parties especially for the performance of some action”.

In order to understand the covenant in the Bible, we need to understand that there are three different types of covenants. The first type of covenant is exemplified in Exodus 19:3–8: “And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, ‘Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and [how] I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth [is] mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These [are] the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.’ And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.”

This contract entered into at Sinai is an example of an agreement type of a covenant between God and the nation of Israel. Under this plan a theocracy was set up whereby God agreed to be Israel’s king and lead them into the promised Canaan. Israel agreed to be His people and to accept God in this relationship. Never before or since has such a kingdom been set up under God. The book, Patriarchs and Prophets, describes it like this. “Soon after the encampment at Sinai, Moses was called up into the mountain to meet with God. Alone he climbed the steep and rugged path, and drew near to the cloud that marked the place of Jehovah’s presence. Israel was now to be taken into a close and peculiar relation to the Most High—to be incorporated as a church and a nation under the government of God. The message to Moses for the people was:

“ ‘Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine: and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.’ [Exodus 19:4–6.]

“Moses returned to the camp, and having summoned the elders of Israel, he repeated to them the divine message. Their answer was, ‘All that the Lord has spoken, we will do.’ [Exodus 19:8.] Thus they entered into a solemn covenant with God, pledging themselves to accept Him as their ruler, by which they became, in a special sense, the subjects of His authority.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 303.

The second type of covenant is a promise covenant. A promise covenant is a type where one party promises to do something for or to another party. There are no conditions necessary; just a promise. “And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; And with every living creature that [is] with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This [is] the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that [is] with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which [is] between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.” Genesis 9:8–15.

The everlasting covenant is also an example of this type of a covenant. This covenant was first given to Adam and Eve after their fall in Genesis 3:15. It was given to Noah in Genesis 9:9–17; to Abraham in Genesis 12:2, 3; to Isaac in Genesis 26:3, 4, and also to Jacob in Genesis 35:9–12. It represents the only means of salvation for mankind. It could also be called the covenant of peace, the covenant of grace, or just simply, the gospel.

The everlasting covenant was given in many different types and forms. In Genesis 3:15, it is given as the seed of the woman which will bruise the serpent’s head. To Abraham it is given that through his seed shall all the nations of the world be blessed.

This same promise is given to us in the most familiar verse in the Bible: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

“Father and Son are pledged to fulfill the terms of the everlasting covenant. … Christ was not alone in making His great sacrifice. It was the fulfillment of the covenant made between Him and His Father before the foundation of the world was laid. With clasped hands they had entered into a solemn pledge that Christ would become the surety for the human race if they were overcome by Satan’s sophistry.” The Faith I Live By, 76.

The third type of covenant discussed here is called a commanded covenant:

“And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only [ye heard] a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, [even] ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.” Deuteronomy 4:12, 13.

The Ten Commandments are referred to here as a covenant. Again in Hebrews 9:4, and also in Deuteronomy 9, the tables of the law are called the tables of the covenant. (The definition of a commanded covenant is a rule of action to which men are obligated to make their conduct conformable, a command in force by some sanction; a principle of conduct may be observed habitually by an individual or class, or it may be imposed on all individuals who consent or are unable to resist its application and the penalty for non-compliance, and in that case it becomes a law.)

A good example of a commanded covenant is the law of the land. As a United States citizen we are born under the laws of this country. We do not have to sign an agreement or take an oath to agree to these laws. We are born under those laws, whatever they may be. If we break the law we are subject to the penalties of the law. Now, if you are a foreigner, before you can become a citizen you must take an oath of citizenship. The current oath reads as follows: “I hereby declare on oath that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty of whom or which I have here-to-fore been a subject or citizen. That I will support and defend the constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. That I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law. That I will perform non combatant service in the armed forces of the United States when required by the law, that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law, and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, so help me God.”

Within that oath are a lot of principles that we can apply to our spiritual walk. We are not born as citizens of heaven; by nature we are born under the kingdom of darkness. Because we are foreigners, before we can become citizens of heaven, we have to take an oath of citizenship as well. The law of God, as stated in Exodus 24, the commanded covenant, is the law of the land and the kingdom of heaven. It is the basis for all other covenants, and it was the basis of the terms of the old covenant which Israel agreed to in Exodus 19 that we read. God said to Israel, “If you will obey My voice and keep My covenant [the Ten Commandments], then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people.” (Exodus 19:5.) In Exodus 20, God spelled out the Ten Commandments, exactly what they were.

In Exodus 21 to 23, He expounded further on the commandments and gave to Moses different laws and statutes, broken down, to be written into a book and then these were read to the people and there they took their oath of citizenship under the government of God. The covenant was then ratified by blood, making it binding. “And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled [it] on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.” Exodus 24:7, 8.

Just as in taking the oath of citizenship of the United States they denounced their allegiance to any other king or any other prince, it is the same when becoming citizens of the kingdom of heaven; all other kings must be renounced.

In Hebrews 9:16–21, the old covenant is also referred to as a testament. A covenant is an agreement between two or more parties; however, a testament has an inheritant connection with it, just like a person’s last will and testament. In speaking of the new covenant, Paul also uses the same two terms, a covenant and a testament.

The old covenant was an agreement between God and Israel which also included an inheritance. The Israelites were to inherit the land of Canaan. In the new covenant, there is also an agreement and also an inheritance. Those who have by baptism given to God a pledge of their faith in Christ and their death to the old life of sin have entered into a covenant relation with God. Just like in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, when we are baptized, we profess our faith in Christ and enter into a covenant with God. The inheritance of the new covenant is the heavenly kingdom, the heavenly Canaan.

Just as the inheritance in the old covenant was conditional on obedience, the same is true of the new covenant inheritance.

The whole chapter of Deuteronomy 28 is filled with blessings and curses. The inheritance of Israel was dependent upon obedience to God. And it says in verses 63 and 64 that if they didn’t obey, He would take them out of the land which they went in to possess and He would scatter them among the nations. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened to Israel.

The terms of the old covenant and the new covenant are the same—obedience to the law of God. The commanded covenant is the basis for both. There was a problem with the covenant made at Sinai. The problem wasn’t with God. God fulfilled His part of the covenant, but the people didn’t fulfill theirs. During their long exile in Egypt, the children of Israel had for the most part lost their knowledge of God and of His law. They didn’t understand the sinfulness of their own hearts or their inability to keep the law in their own strength.

The children of Israel heard God speak the law from Sinai, but less than six weeks later they were dancing around the golden calf and worshipping another god. They had broken the covenant they had made with God and would have been immediately destroyed had it not been for the mediation of Moses. Moses, in the old covenant, was a type of Christ in the new. He was the mediator between the children of Israel and God. Moses interceded on behalf of the children of Israel and on behalf of the nation and prevailed, even though 3,000 people lost their lives. Upon coming down from Mt. Sinai, Moses took the law that God had written, the Ten Commandments, the tables of stone that God had written with His own finger, and he broke them at the base of the mountain to show that the covenant had been broken. Now it was after this experience that the children of Israel were then ready for what came next: they realized their need of a Saviour. They then began to understand the exalted character of God’s law, and the sinfulness of their own hearts.

This necessity resulted in the setting up of a sanctuary service in order to provide a way of separating man from his sins. Through the sanctuary service God presents to us, in living characters, the plan of salvation in types and symbols. It is the working out of the everlasting covenant that was given to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15.

“To man the first intimation of redemption was communicated in the sentence pronounced upon Satan in the garden. The Lord declared, ‘I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.’ [Genesis 3:15.] This sentence, uttered in the hearing of our first parents, was to them a promise. While it foretold war between man and Satan, it declared that the power of the great adversary would finally be broken. … Adam and his companion were assured that notwithstanding their great sin, they were not to be abandoned to the control of Satan. The Son of God had offered to atone, with His own life, for their transgression. A period of probation would be granted them, and through repentance, and faith in Christ, they might again become the children of God.” The Faith I Live By, 75.

“Let those who are oppressed under a sense of sin remember that there is hope for them. The salvation of the human race has ever been the object of the councils of heaven. The covenant of mercy was made before the foundation of the world. It had existed from all eternity, and is called the everlasting covenant. So, surely as there never was a time when God was not, so surely there never was a moment when it was not the delight of the eternal mind to manifest His grace to humanity.” The Signs of the Times, June 12, 1901.

Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. In the old covenant the repentant sinner would bring the sacrificial offering, the sacrificial lamb, to the door of the tabernacle, or to the door of the courtyard. Before the lamb was offered, the sinner would place his hands upon the lamb and confess his sins, transferring his sins, by figure, to the lamb, which represented Christ. They did this by faith. The lamb was then slain by the hands of the sinner, and the blood was taken into the sanctuary and sprinkled before the veil by the priests transferring the sins to the sanctuary. This service, referred to as the daily service, was for the forgiveness of sins. It is through Christ that we can receive forgiveness of sins after they have been confessed.

Every lamb that was slain was to point the people, to remind the people, that without the shedding of blood there is no remission, there is no forgiveness of sin, and that the wages of sin is death. It was also to direct the mind back to the everlasting covenant given in Genesis. In the new covenant we are to behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. Through repentance and faith in the blood of Christ, we can receive forgiveness of sin.

“By pledging His own life, Christ has made Himself responsible for every man and woman on the earth. He stands in the presence of God saying, Father, I take upon Myself the guilt of that soul. It means death to him if he is left to bear it. If he repents, he shall be forgiven. My blood shall cleanse him from all sin. I gave My life for the sins of the world.” In Heavenly Places, 42.

“If the transgressor of God’s law will see in Christ his atoning sacrifice, if he will believe in Him who can cleanse from all unrighteousness, Christ will not have died for him in vain.” The Review and Herald, February 27, 1900.

The plan of salvation was not only to provide forgiveness, but to provide a way to be cleansed and separated from sin and brought back into obedience. The terms of the covenant have always been the same. Obey and live. So we have to be brought back into obedience to the law of God.

“The Son of God in becoming man’s substitute, and bearing the curse which should fall upon man, pledged Himself in behalf of the race, to maintain the honor of the law of God. The Father has given the world into the hands of Christ, that through His mediatorial work He may save the sinner, and completely vindicate the claims of the law. His mission was to convince men of sin—which is the transgression of the law, and through the merits of His blood, and by His mediation, He was to bring them back to obedience. Through the sacrifice of Christ, the law could be maintained, and the sinner could be pardoned— not only freed from the power of sin, but renewed ‘after the image of Him that created him.’ Colossians 3:10.” Bible Training School, February 1, 1908.

As we look to Christ, and what He did for us, how He shed His blood for us and now how He takes that blood into the heavenly sanctuary and pleads that blood on our behalf, we can not only have our sins forgiven, but we can be brought back into obedience through the power that He gives us.

“The love and justice of God, and also the immutability of His law, are made manifest by the Saviour’s life, no less than by His death. He assumed human nature, with its infirmities, its liabilities, its temptations. ‘Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.’ Matthew 8:17. ‘In all things it behoved him to be made like unto [his] brethren.’ Hebrews 2:17. … He exercised in His own behalf no power which man cannot exercise. As man He met temptation and overcame in the strength given Him of God. He gives us an example of perfect obedience. He has provided that we may become partakers of the divine nature, and assures us that we may overcome as He overcame. His life testified that by the aid of the same divine power which Christ received, it is possible for man to obey God’s law.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 17, 337. So, Christ united humanity with divinity so that through His life, through His obedience, we can also receive that obedience. We can have the same power that Christ had.

“How this is accomplished, Christ has shown us. By what means did He overcome in the conflict with Satan? By the Word of God. Only by the Word could He resist temptation. ‘It is written,’ He said. And unto us are given ‘exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature. … ’ [11 Peter 1:4.] Every promise in God’s Word is ours. … When assailed by temptation, look not to circumstances or to the weakness of self, but to the power of the Word. All its strength is yours.” The Faith I Live By, 23.

So how did Christ receive strength? It says that we can overcome as He overcame, that we can receive the same power that He had. And what was that power? How did He receive power? What did it say? It says, by the word of God. All its strength is yours. “Grasp His promises as leaves from the tree of life: ‘Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.’ John 6:37. As you come to Him, believe that he accepts you because He has promised. You can never perish while you do this—never.” Ibid., 23.

Jesus overcame through the word. “It is the Spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.” John 6:63. When we believe in the Word, by faith we become partakers of the divine nature. In commenting on these verses in John 6, Ellen White says, “ ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life,’ Christ declares: ‘no man cometh unto the Father, but by me’ (John 14:6). Christ is invested with power to give life to all creatures. ‘As the living Father has sent me,’ He says, ‘and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.’ ‘It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life’ (John 6:57, 63.)” Selected Messages, Book 1, 249.

Then it goes on to say something that I found very interesting. It says, “Christ is not here referring to His doctrine, but to His person, the divinity of His character.” Ibid., 249.

So, how do we receive? It says that through the promises we become partakers of the divine nature, and Christ relates Himself to the word, His person, the divinity of His character. So it is as we receive those promises by faith, by the hearing of the word, we become partakers of the divine nature, which is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27.

The promise of the new covenant: “This [is] the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them, And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” Hebrews 10:16, 17. That is the same promise that God gives us today. He says that He will write His law in our hearts. The law is the basis of the new covenant just as much as in the old. In the old covenant, the law was written on tables of stone. In the new covenant, it is going to be written in our hearts.

“The word of God, received into the soul, will be manifest in good works. Its results will be seen in a Christlike character and life. Christ said of Himself, ‘I delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy law is within my heart.’ Psalm 40:8.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 60. The Psalmist says, speaking of Christ, that Thy law is what is in My heart. The law is within His heart, so when we fully receive Christ, then the law is written within our hearts too.

“Look not to self, but to Christ. He who healed the sick and cast out demons when He walked among men is the same mighty Redeemer today. Faith comes by the word of God. Then grasp His promise ‘Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.’ John 6:37. Cast yourself at His feet with the cry, ‘Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.’ [Mark 9:24.] You can never perish while you do this—never.” The Desire of Ages, 429.

Through the death of Christ upon the cross we can receive the forgiveness of sin. It is through the mediation of Christ that we, through His merits, can come boldly to the throne of grace. Christ gives us access to the Father. The Bible says that through the Father every good gift comes down from heaven. Through the merits of Christ, we have access to the Father, so we can receive the gifts that He wants to give us—the gift of His Holy Spirit, which is His life.

As we look at the children of Israel and their relationship with God, we can see many parallels in things that they did wrong. And through the sanctuary service we have an object lesson that helps us to see and to understand the sanctuary service that is going on for us in the new covenant today. The old covenant was a picture. The new covenant is the reality. It’s the working out of the everlasting covenant that was given from the beginning.

Looking into the sanctuary service, we notice the Day of Atonement, the final phase of the everlasting covenant. Not only will our sins be forgiven, but it says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9.

Not only must we have our sins forgiven, but they have to be cleansed, they have to be taken away, and that is the work of Jesus in the final atonement in the sanctuary in heaven. In order for our sins to be taken away, they have to go beforehand to judgment. We have to confess them. We have to put them away, and then, by the grace that Christ gives us, walk in newness of life and obedience to His commandments.

God has given to each one of us precious promises. We can cling to them and have them written into our hearts and into our minds and trust in them, trusting that He who has promised is able to accomplish that which He has promised. May the Lord help us to be faithful, and to apply the gifts that the atonement has provided for us by faith.

Jim Stoeckert is working at Steps to Life and can be reached at: historic@stepstolife.org.

Commitment to the Law of God

by

Week of Prayer for Tuesday

The Law of God is a very unique law that deserves our fullest attention. It reads as follows: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 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. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that [is] thy neighbour’s.” Exodus 20:3–17.

And God Said

These commandments are the very words of God Himself. The Bible says, “And God spake all these words, saying . . .” Exodus 20:1. This law is so sacred, so holy, so elevated that God chose not to give it through inspiration but spoke it directly to the fallen race Himself.

In addition to speaking the words, He also wrote them with His own finger. (Exodus 32:15, 16; Deuteronomy 4:13.) They stand separate and above the rest of Scripture. They did not come to us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit for men to put into defective human language. They came to us direct from our Father in heaven.

They were etched in stone, representing their enduring eternal quality. These two tables of stone were placed in the Ark of the Covenant that was kept in the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary.

The Most Holy Place of the sanctuary in heaven was opened in October of 1844, and there was seen the Ark of the Covenant that contains the great original principles of that law. (See Revelation 11:19; The Great Controversy, 433.)

Law of the Universe

The Ten Commandments will stand as the law of the universe throughout eternity.

“The precepts of the Decalogue are adapted to all mankind, and they were given for the instruction and government of all. Ten precepts, brief, comprehensive, and authoritative, cover the duty of man to God and to his fellow man . . . .” Patriarchs and Prophets, 305. This quotation continues by saying that these ten precepts are based upon the great fundamental principle of love.

Principle of Love

Paul defines this love, charity, in 1 Corinthians 13:4–8, which says, “Charity suffereth long, [and] is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether [there be] prophecies, they shall fail; whether [there be] tongues, they shall cease; whether [there be] knowledge, it shall vanish away.”

The Scriptures separate this love into two areas of man’s experience—his relationship to his Creator and his relationship to his fellowman.

“ ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.’ Luke 10:27. See also Deuteronomy 6:4, 5; Leviticus 19:18. In the Ten Commandments these principles are carried out in detail, and made applicable to the condition and circumstances of man.” Ibid.

Transcript of God’s Character

“The law of God is as sacred as Himself. It is a revelation of His will, a transcript of His character, the expression of divine love and wisdom. Through the ages that law has been preserved as the highest standard of morality. Not all the inventions of science or the imaginations of fruitful minds have been able to discover one essential duty not covered by this code.” The Signs of the Times, February 1, 1910.

“The law of God is the standard of character; it is the expression of the character of God Himself.” The Bible Echo, July 29, 1895.

For men to do away with the law is to do away with the very character of the God of heaven. That would be utterly impossible. The law of God is as enduring as the Ancient of Days who sits on the great white throne of the universe.

“It [God’s Law] was given to Adam and Eve in Eden. God planted for them this beautiful garden, and supplied their every want. Was it too much to ask them to respond to all His love and care by obedience to His righteous law, which, if kept, would have secured to them happiness, peace, and joy forever?” Ibid.

Is it too much for God to ask His people today to respond to all His love and care by obedience to His commandments when it will secure for them eternal life in heaven?

“God’s law is the security of life and property, of peace and happiness. It was given to secure our present and eternal good. A thoughtful kindness runs through every enactment. Each commandment is an enactment of mercy, love, and saving power.” The Signs of the Times, February 1, 1910.

Opposition to the Law

God’s Law is for our present and eternal good. Why would anyone want to do away with a law that provides so much good to those who are under its authority? Why would anyone be in opposition to a law that is so wonderful a blessing to them?

To answer these questions, we will go back in time and see what brought in this antagonistic spirit against the Law of God. Here is the record of how sin, which is the transgression of the law, came into the universe.

“The angels joyfully acknowledged the supremacy of Christ, and prostrating themselves before Him, poured out their love and adoration. Lucifer bowed with them, but in his heart there was a strange, fierce conflict. Truth, justice, and loyalty were struggling against envy and jealousy. The influence of the holy angels seemed for a time to carry him with them. As songs of praise ascended in melodious strains, swelled by thousands of glad voices, the spirit of evil seemed vanquished; unutterable love thrilled his entire being; his soul went out, in harmony with the sinless worshippers, in love to the Father and the Son. But again he was filled with pride in his own glory. His desire for supremacy returned, and envy of Christ was once more indulged. The high honors conferred upon Lucifer were not appreciated as God’s special gift, and therefore, called forth no gratitude to his Creator. He glorified in his brightness and exaltation and aspired to be equal with God.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 36, 37.

This statement reveals that Satan permitted three violations of the law of God to germinate in his mind: pride, envy, and jealousy. There was no reason or excuse for these characteristics to be cherished, except that Satan permitted them to grow and develop deeper and deeper roots until they controlled his thinking and actions.

Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 13:4, 5, that God’s Law of love does not envy; God’s love is not proud, and His Law of love is not self-seeking. Therefore, Satan was in violation of God’s holy and sacred law on three points by his own choice.

Fatal Sins

That God sees these same sins among His professed people today is very evident from Scripture. Notice what Jesus says: “Nevertheless I have [somewhat] against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” Revelation 2:4, 5.

These sins are fatal to those who indulge in them, for they will not enter the kingdom of glory. The lack of unity among God’s professed people is clear evidence that these sins exist among them today, but they seem unable to recognize them and put them away.

In the following statement, God explains how He identifies these sins among His people today: “Now God requires that you who have thus done the least injustice to another shall confess your fault, not only to the one you have injured, but to those who through your influence have been led to regard their brother in a false light, and to make of none effect the work God has given him to do. If pride and stubbornness close your lips, your sin will stand against you on the heavenly record. By repentance and confession you can have pardon registered against your name; or you can resist the conviction of the Spirit of God, and, during the rest of your life, work to make it appear that your wrong feelings and unjust conclusions could not be helped. But there stands the action, there stands the evil committed, there stands the ruin of those in whose hearts you planted the root of bitterness; there are the feelings and words of envy, of evil-surmising, that grew into jealousy and prejudice. All these testify against you.” Review and Herald, December 16, 1890. [Emphasis supplied.]

Scenes of Judgment

On the morning of October 23, 1879, Ellen White had a vision in which she was shown scenes of the judgment. Here is a portion of what she wrote concerning what she saw in that vision: “On the morning of October 23, 1879, about two o’clock, the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and I beheld scenes in the coming judgment. Language fails me in which to give an adequate description of the things which passed before me and of the effect they had upon my mind.

“The great day of the execution of God’s judgment seemed to have come. Ten thousand times ten thousand were assembled before a large throne, upon which was seated a person of majestic appearance. Several books were before Him, and upon the covers of each was written in letters of gold, which seemed like a burning flame of fire: ‘Ledger of Heaven.’ One of these books, containing the names of those who claim to believe the truth, was then opened. Immediately I lost sight of the countless millions about the throne, and only those who were professedly children of the light and of the truth engaged my attention. As these persons were named, one by one, and their good deeds mentioned, their countenances would light up with a holy joy that was reflected in every direction. But this did not seem to rest upon my mind with the greatest force.

“Another book was opened, wherein were recorded the sins of those who profess the truth. Under the general heading of selfishness came every other sin. There were also headings over every column, and underneath these, opposite each name, were recorded, in their respective columns, the lesser sins.

“Under covetousness came falsehood, theft, robbery, fraud, and avarice; under ambition came pride and extravagance; jealousy stood at the head of malice, envy, and hatred; and intemperance headed a long list of fearful crimes, such as lasciviousness, adultery, indulgence of animal passions, etc.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 384, 385.

This vision gives a description of a portion of the “Ledger of Heaven” that is being used in the courts above during the Investigative Judgment. I have listed the sins that God sees in column form as Ellen White may have seen them in vision. She says that this is the record that appeared beside the names of many who made a profession of the truth.

The quotation continues: “As I beheld I was filled with inexpressible anguish and exclaimed: ‘Who can be saved? who will stand justified before God? whose robes are spotless? who are faultless in the sight of a pure and holy God?’

“As the Holy One upon the throne slowly turned the leaves of the ledger, and His eyes rested for a moment upon individuals, His glance seemed to burn into their very souls, and at the same moment every word and action of their lives passed before their minds as clearly as though traced before their vision in letters of fire. Trembling seized them, and their faces turned pale. Their first appearance when around the throne was that of careless indifference. But how changed their appearance now! The feeling of security is gone, and in its place is a nameless terror. A dread is upon every soul, lest he shall be found among those who are wanting. Every eye is riveted upon the face of the One upon the throne; and as His solemn, searching eye sweeps over that company, there is a quaking of heart; for they are self-condemned without one word being uttered. In anguish of soul each declares his own guilt and with terrible vividness sees that by sinning he has thrown away the precious boon of eternal life.” Ibid., 385.

Covetousness Ambition Jealousy Intemperance
Falsehood Pride Malice Lasciviousness
Theft Extravagance Envy Adultery
Robbery Hatred Indulgence of animal passions
Fraud etc.
Avarice

The Lord’s Appeal

Today, the Lord is appealing to His people in earnest, loving tones, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” Revelation 3:22.

“I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. . . . Be zealous therefore, and repent. . . . Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” Revelation 3:18–21.

“We must know more of Jesus and his love than of the fashions of the world. In the name of my Master, I call upon the youth to study the example of Christ. When you wish to make an article, you carefully study the pattern, that you may reproduce it as nearly as possible. Now set to work to copy the Divine Exemplar. Your eternal interest demands that you possess the Spirit of Christ. You cannot be like Jesus, and cherish pride in your heart. You cannot give any place to envy or jealousy. You must consider it beneath the character of a Christian to harbor resentful thoughts or indulge in recrimination. Let the law of kindness be sacredly observed. Never comment upon the character or the acts of others in a manner to injure them. In no case make their failures or defects the subject of ridicule or unkind criticism. You lessen your own influence by so doing, and lead others to doubt your sincerity as a Christian. Let peace and love dwell in your soul, and ever cherish a forgiving spirit.” Review and Herald, December 6, 1881.

“How many there are as weak as water who might have a never-failing source of strength. Heaven is ready to impart to us, that we may be mighty in God, and attain to the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. What increase of spiritual power have you gained during the last year? Who among us have gained one precious attainment after another, until envy, pride, malice, jealousy, and selfishness have been swept away, and only the graces of the Spirit remain,—meekness, forbearance, gentleness, charity? God will help us if we take hold of the help he has provided.” Ibid., January 9, 1900.

“Contention among God’s people is offensive in his sight. In union and harmony alone is there strength. Pride, selfishness, envy, and jealousy originated with Satan, and lost for him his Eden home. He now urges his temptations upon the followers of Christ, and the most frivolous pretense excites a prejudice and jealousy which is as cruel as the grave.” The Signs of the Times, August 19, 1880.

Law of Liberty

“ ‘There is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance.’ [Luke 15:7.] If the sinner repents because of your kind and loving admonition, work has been done for eternity. There is great need of carrying out the instruction of Christ in a definite manner, acting up to the word of our Master. This is living the law of God. In thus dealing with our brethren, we may make an impression on others that will never fade from their minds. We may not remember some act of kindness which we do, it may fade from our memory; but eternity will bring out in all its brightness, every act done for the salvation of souls, every word spoken for the comfort of God’s children; and these deeds done for Christ’s sake will be a part of our joy through all eternity. When we pursue toward our brethren any course save that of kindness and courtesy, we pursue an unchristian course. We should manifest courtesy at home, in the church, and in our intercourse with all men. . . .Where Jesus reigns in the heart, there will be sweet love, and we shall be tender and true to one another. It takes special watchfulness to keep the affections alive, and our hearts in a condition where we shall be sensible of the good that exists in the hearts of others. If we do not watch on this point, Satan will put his jealousy into our souls; he will put his glasses before our eyes, that we may see the actions of our brethren in a distorted light. Instead of looking critically upon our brethren, we should turn our eyes within, and be ready to discover the objectionable traits of our own character. As we have a proper realization of our own mistakes and failures, the mistakes of others will sink into insignificance.” Review and Herald, February 24, 1891. [Emphasis supplied.]

“The whole universe will have become witnesses to the nature and results of sin. And its utter extermination, which in the beginning would have brought fear to angels and dishonor to God, will now vindicate His love and establish His honor before the universe of beings who delight to do His will, and in whose heart is His law. Never will evil again be manifest. Says the word of God: ‘Affliction shall not rise up the second time.’ Nahum 1:9. The law of God, which Satan has reproached as the yoke of bondage, will be honored as the law of liberty. A tested and proved creation will never again be turned from allegiance to Him whose character has been fully manifested before them as fathomless love and infinite wisdom.” The Great Controversy, 504.

Dear friends, let us keep the affections alive, that we may see the good in the hearts of others. Let us turn our eyes within to discover the objectionable traits of our own characters. Then, as we cooperate with Jesus to remove these objectionable traits, He will clothe us with the white robe of His righteousness and grant us entrance into that Holy City.

Maurice Hoppe lives in Wichita, Kansas, and donates many hours to Steps to Life.

Rendering to God His Own, Part III

by

“Never was there a more important time in the history of our work than the present. The message of the third chapter of Malachi comes to us, holding up before us the need of honesty in our relations to the Lord and His work. My brethren, the money that you use to buy and sell and get gain will be a curse to you if you withhold from the Lord that which is His.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 53.

“Wherever there is life, there is increase and growth; in God’s kingdom there is a constant interchange,—taking in, and giving out; receiving, and returning to the Lord His own. God works with every true believer, and the light and blessings received are given out again in the work which the believer does. Thus the capacity for receiving is increased. As one imparts of the heavenly gifts, he makes room for fresh currents of grace and truth to flow into the soul from the living fountain. Greater light, increased knowledge and blessings, are his. In this work, which devolves upon every church member, is the life and growth of the church. He whose life consists in ever receiving and never giving, soon loses the blessing. If the truth does not flow forth from him to others, he loses his capacity to receive.” “The man who will rob God is cultivating traits of character that will cut him off from admittance into the family of God above.” Ibid., vol. 6, 448, 391.

We as a people have always believed and taught that the message from God to the Laodicean church recorded in Revelation 3:14, finds its application in the denomination which is delivering to the world the warning message of Revelation 14:6 [see also verses 7–12]; in other words, the Seventh-day Adventists. We have looked on the Laodicean message as a sifting process that will remove from the ranks the wrong-doers, while preparing the true in heart for participation in the message of the loud cry.

For many years we have looked forward to the reformation that will be wrought by this message, but time and again we have been told by the Spirit of prophecy that the message was not yet doing its work. In 1873, the servant of the Lord stated plainly the preparation that must be made before the result presented in that message can be realized: “The people of God must see their wrongs and arouse to zealous repentance and a putting away of those sins which have brought them into such a deplorable condition of poverty, blindness, wretchedness, and fearful deception. I was shown that the pointed testimony must live in the church. This alone will answer to the message to the Laodiceans. Wrongs must be reproved, sin must be called sin, and iniquity must be met promptly and decidedly, and put away from us as a people.”

“I saw that many who profess to be keeping the commandments of God are appropriating to their own use the means which the Lord has entrusted to them and which should come into His treasury. They rob God in tithes and in offerings. They dissemble and withhold from Him to their own hurt. They bring leanness and poverty upon themselves and darkness upon the church because of their covetousness, their dissembling, and their robbing God in tithes and in offerings.

“I saw that many souls will sink in darkness because of their covetousness. The plain, straight testimony must live in the church, or the curse of God will rest upon His people as surely as it did upon ancient Israel because of their sins. God holds His people, as a body, responsible for the sins existing in individuals among them. If the leaders of the church neglect to diligently search out the sins which bring the displeasure of God upon the body, they become responsible for those sins.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 260, 269.

These statements lose nothing of their force because of the years that have passed since they were made. Their application and necessity are more evident now than they were forty-three years ago. That the revival of the straight testimony will do its work and prepare a people to give the warning to Babylon, is clearly shown in the description of a vision given to Sister White. In this vision a great reformatory movement passed before her. The people of God were aroused from their lethargy, and were hastening in every direction, engaged in various lines of missionary labor. They were so spiritually minded that the sick were healed at their solicitation, and miracles witnessed to the genuineness of their work, while the covetous, refusing to be converted, were sifted out. See Testimonies, vol. 9, 126.

From this it is evident that this reformatory movement will be the result of the application of the Laodicean message, and according to the Testimony just referred to, it will be accomplished by the revival of the pointed and straight testimonies. A careful study of the Testimonies will show that one of the main reasons, if not the principal one, for unfaithfulness in the payment of tithe, lies in the lack of systematic methods for its collection.

God holds the church officers responsible for the collection of tithe. . . . The elders and church officers are expected to visit and labor with the delinquents. Briefly presented, the instruction is as follows: “Ministers have neglected to enforce gospel beneficence. The subject of tithes and offerings has not been dwelt upon as it should have been.” Ibid., vol. 5, 382. . . .

In an article published in the Church Officers’ Gazette for January 1915, Elder G. B. Thompson quotes from the Supplement to the Review and Herald of December 1, 1896, the following from the servant of the Lord: “Let the church appoint pastors or elders who are devoted to the Lord Jesus, and let these men see that officers are chosen who will attend faithfully to the work of gathering in the tithe. If the pastors show that they are not fitted for their charge, if they fail to set before the church the importance of returning to God his own, if they do not see to it that the officers under them are faithful, and that the tithe is brought in, they are in peril. They are neglecting a matter which involves a blessing or a curse to the church. They should be relieved of their responsibility, and other men should be tested and tried.”

Elder Thompson then comments as follows: “I hope this instruction from the servant of the Lord will not fall on stony ground, but bear fruit. If all the officers in our churches will take up this burden, many thousands of dollars of tithe will be gathered for the work of God. This means greater blessing to those who are faithful, more laborers sent into the fields, and more souls saved. Shall not this long-neglected matter receive attention without further delay?” No one, however, can be compelled to obey God, neither can any be questioned as to the amount of income or increase to be tithed. The individual is to be left free to tithe his income, but God requires a tenth to be turned in to the treasury. If he makes a false statement, it will appear in the judgment against him; it is a personal matter between God and the individual.

“Men are not naturally inclined to be benevolent, but to be sordid and avaricious, and to live for self. And Satan is ever ready to present the advantages to be gained by using all their means for selfish, worldly purposes; he is glad when he can influence them to shirk duty, and rob God in tithes and offerings. But not one is excused in this matter.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 382.

“Systematic benevolence should not be made systematic compulsion. It is freewill offerings that are acceptable to God.” “As to the amount required, God has specified one tenth of the increase. This is left to the conscience and benevolence of men, whose judgment in this tithing system should have free play. And while it is left free to the conscience, a plan has been laid out definite enough for all. No compulsion is required.” Ibid., vol. 3, 396, 394.

“Voluntary offerings and the tithe constitute the revenue of the gospel. Of the means which are entrusted to man, God claims a certain portion—a tithe; but He leaves all free to say how much the tithe is, and whether or not they will give more than this. They are to give as they purpose in their hearts.” Ibid., vol. 5, 149.

“The first Christian church had not the privileges and opportunities we have. They were a poor people, but they felt the power of the truth. The object before them was sufficient to lead them to invest all. They felt that the salvation or the loss of a world depended upon their instrumentality. They cast in their all; and held themselves in readiness to go or come at the Lord’s bidding.

“We profess to be governed by the same principles, to be influenced by the same spirit. But instead of giving all for Christ many have taken the golden wedge and a goodly Babylonish garment and hid them in the camp. If the presence of one Achan was sufficient to weaken the whole camp of Israel, can we be surprised at the little success which attends our efforts when every church and almost every family has its Achan?” Ibid., 156, 157.

“As a people professing to be reformers, treasuring the most solemn, purifying truths of God’s word, we must elevate the standard far higher than it is at the present time. Sin and sinners in the church must be promptly dealt with, that others may not be contaminated. Truth and purity require that we make more thorough work to cleanse the camp from Achans. Let those in responsible positions not suffer sin in a brother. Show him that he must either put away his sins or be separated from the church.” Ibid., 147.

In a Testimony concerning the guilt of Achan, and its effect on the camp of Israel, the following statements are made: “I have been shown that God here illustrates how He regards sin among those who profess to be His commandment-keeping people. Those whom He has specially honored with witnessing the remarkable exhibitions of His power, as did ancient Israel, and who will even then venture to disregard His express directions, will be subjects of His wrath. He would teach His people that disobedience and sin are exceedingly offensive to Him and are not to be lightly regarded. He shows us that when His people are found in sin they should at once take decided measures to put that sin from them, that His frown may not rest upon them all. But if the sins of the people are passed over by those in responsible positions, His frown will be upon them, and the people of God, as a body, will be held responsible for those sins. In His dealings with His people in the past the Lord shows the necessity of purifying the church from wrongs. One sinner may diffuse darkness that will exclude the light of God from the entire congregation.” Ibid., vol. 3, 265.

Reprinted from The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald,Vol. 93, No. 24, May 11, 1916, 8–10; No. 25, May 18, 1916, 7, 8; No. 26, May 25, 1916, 9, 10; No. 27, June 1, 1916, 9, 10.

Rendering to God His Own, Part II

by

It has ever been the effort of Satan to have the system of tithing made to appear in the light of a burden. He has striven to limit the investigation of the purposes of the system to its obligation as a commanded duty. To the unconverted heart a demand for a stipulated amount to be contributed regularly to the cause appears as an arbitrary and unnecessary exercise of power.

“Some will pronounce this one of the rigorous laws binding upon the Hebrews. But this was not a burden to the willing heart that loved God. It was only when their selfish natures were strengthened by withholding that men lost sight of eternal considerations and valued their earthly treasures above souls. There are even more urgent necessities upon the Israel of God in these last days than were upon ancient Israel. There is a great and important work to be accomplished in a very short time. God never designed that the law of the tithing system should be of no account among His people; but, instead of this, He designed that the spirit of sacrifice should widen and deepen for the closing work.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 396.

“The moral law enjoined the observance of the Sabbath, which was not a burden except when that law was transgressed and they were bound by the penalties involved in breaking it. The tithing system was no burden to those who did not depart from the plan. The system enjoined upon the Hebrews has not been repealed or relaxed by the One who originated it. Instead of being of no force now, it was to be more fully carried out and more extended, as salvation through Christ alone should be more fully brought to light in the Christian age. . . . The gospel, extending and widening, required greater provisions to sustain the warfare after the death of Christ, and this made the law of almsgiving a more urgent necessity than under the Hebrew government. Now God requires, not less, but greater gifts than at any other period of the world.” Ibid., 392.

Giving Proportionate to Blessings

And because of this the Lord has laid down a principle that is to govern in all decisions concerning tithing. “The principle laid down by Christ is that the gifts and offerings should be in proportion to the light and blessings enjoyed. He has said: ‘For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.’ ” Ibid.

“It is the spirit of covetousness which leads men to keep for gratification of self means that rightfully belong to God, and this spirit is as abhorrent to Him now as when through His prophet He sternly rebuked His people, saying, ‘Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me.’ [Malachi 3:8.] . . . The spirit of liberality is the spirit of heaven. This spirit finds its highest manifestation in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. In our behalf the Father gave his only-begotten Son; and Christ, having given up all that He had, then gave Himself, that man might be saved. The cross of Calvary should appeal to the benevolence of every follower of the Saviour. The principle there illustrated is to give, give. . . . On the other hand, the spirit of selfishness is the spirit of Satan. The principle illustrated in the lives of worldlings is to get, get. Thus they hope to secure happiness and ease, but the fruit of their sowing is misery and death.

“Not until God ceases to bless His children will they cease to be under bonds to return to Him the portion that He claims. Not only should they render the Lord the portion that belongs to Him, but they should bring also to His treasury, as a gratitude offering, a liberal tribute. With joyful hearts they should dedicate to the Creator the first fruits of their bounties—their choicest possessions, their best and holiest service. Thus they will gain rich blessings. God Himself will make their souls like a watered garden whose waters fail not. And when the last great harvest is gathered in, the sheaves that they are enabled to bring to the Master will be the recompense of their unselfish use of the talents lent them.” The Acts of the Apostles, 339, 340.

Unlimited Effort Demanded

If the true purpose of God was understood, then the hearts of the people would be drawn to God in gratitude for his considerate care and the tender love shown in his provision for their safety and salvation. Through his servant God reasons with His people in this way: “It should not be a lamented fact that there are increasing calls to give. God in his providence is calling His people out from their limited sphere of action, to enter upon greater enterprises. Unlimited effort is demanded at this time when moral darkness is covering the world. Many of God’s people are in danger of being ensnared by worldliness and covetousness. They should understand that it is His mercy that multiplies the demands for their means. Objects that call benevolence into action must be placed before them, or they cannot pattern after the character of the great Exemplar.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 254, 255.

“Our Redeemer, who knew man’s danger in regard to covetousness, has provided a safeguard against this dreadful evil. He has arranged the plan of salvation so that it begins and ends in benevolence. Christ offered Himself, an infinite sacrifice. This, in and of itself, bears directly against covetousness and exalts benevolence.

“Constant, self-denying benevolence is God’s remedy for the cankering sins of selfishness and covetousness. God has arranged systematic benevolence to sustain His cause and relieve the necessities of the suffering and needy. He has ordained that giving should become a habit, that it may counteract the dangerous and deceitful sin of covetousness. Continual giving starves covetousness to death. Systematic benevolence is designed in the order of God to tear away treasures from the covetous as fast as they are gained and to consecrate them to the Lord, to whom they belong. . . .

“If riches increase, men, even those professing godliness, set their hearts upon them; and the more they have, the less they give to the treasury of the Lord. Thus riches make men selfish, and hoarding feeds covetousness; and these evils strengthen by active exercise. God knows our danger and has hedged us about with means to prevent our own ruin. He requires the constant exercise of benevolence, that the force of habit in good works may break the force of habit in an opposite direction.” Ibid., vol. 3, 548.

Character Revealed

“It is in a crisis that character is revealed. When the earnest voice proclaimed at midnight, ‘Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him,’ and the sleeping virgins were roused from their slumbers, it was seen who had made preparation for the event. Both parties were taken unawares; but one was prepared for the emergency, and the other was found without preparation. . . .

“The ten virgins are watching in the evening of this earth’s history. All claim to be Christians. All have a call, a name, a lamp, and all profess to be doing God’s service. All apparently wait for Christ’s appearing. But five are unready. Five will be found surprised, dismayed, outside the banquet hall.

“At the final day, many will claim admission to Christ’s kingdom, saying, ‘We have eaten and drunk in Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets.’ ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works?’ But the answer is, ‘I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from Me.’ Luke 13:26, 27; Matthew 7:22. In this life they have not entered into fellowship with Christ; therefore they know not the language of heaven, they are strangers to its joy. . . .

“Saddest of all words that ever fell on mortal ear are those words of doom, ‘I know you not.’ The fellowship of the Spirit, which you have slighted, could alone make you one with the joyous throng at the marriage feast. In that scene you cannot participate. Its light would fall on blinded eyes, its melody upon deaf ears. Its love and joy could awake no chord of gladness in the world-benumbed heart. You are shut out from heaven by your own unfitness for its companionship.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 412, 413.

Yield Obedience

It is vital that man shall yield obedience to the law of tithing, and for this reason Satan has sought to impress upon his evil angels the necessity of so influencing commandment keepers as to weaken their faith in the promises of God, and to develop the natural tendency to selfishness common to fallen man. He is represented by the servant of the Lord as thus instructing his angels:—“Go, make the possessors of lands and money drunk with cares. If you can make them place their affections upon these things, we shall have them yet. They may profess what they please, only make them care more for money than for the success of Christ’s kingdom or the spread of the truths we hate. Present the world before them in the most attractive light, that they may love and idolize it. . . . Present every plausible excuse to those who have means, lest they hand it out. Control the money matters if you can, and drive their ministers to want and distress. This will weaken their courage and zeal. . . . Make covetousness and love of earthly treasures the ruling traits of their character. As long as these traits rule, salvation and grace stand back.” Early Writings, 266, 267.

“As Satan sees that his time is short, he leads men on to be more and more selfish and covetous, and then exults as he sees them wrapped up in themselves, close, penurious, and selfish. If the eyes of such could be opened, they would see Satan in hellish triumph, exulting over them and laughing at the folly of those who accept his suggestions and enter his snares. . . . Every selfish, covetous person will fall out by the way. Like Judas, who sold his Lord, they will sell good principles and a noble, generous disposition for a little of earth’s gain. All such will be sifted out from God’s people.” Ibid., 268, 269.

When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the promise is that the Lord will raise up a standard against him. So, to counteract the effort of Satan to develop selfishness, God presents the principles embodied in the parable of the talents, these to be worked out in the life, thus developing a character that cannot be molded along evil lines. In the parable of the talents man is presented as a steward, a coworker, with God: “The idea of stewardship should have a practical bearing upon all the people of God. The parable of the talents, rightly understood, will bar out covetousness, which God calls idolatry. Practical benevolence will give spiritual life to thousands of nominal professors of the truth who now mourn over their darkness. It will transform them from selfish, covetous worshipers of mammon to earnest, faithful co-workers with Christ in the salvation of sinners.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 387.

Servants of the Master

One servant, in the parable, confessed that he had hid the talent entrusted to him, and his counterpart is seen all through the ranks of Sabbath keepers today. “This unprofitable servant was not ignorant of God’s plans, but he set himself firmly to thwart the purpose of God, charging Him with unfairness in requiring improvement upon the talents entrusted to him. This very complaint and murmuring is made by a large class of wealthy men professing to believe the truth. Like the unfaithful servant they are afraid that the increase of the talent that God has lent them will be called for to advance the spread of truth; therefore they tie it up by investing it in earthly treasures and burying it in the world, thus making it so fast that they have nothing, or next to nothing, to invest in the cause of God. They have buried it, fearing that God would call for some of the principal or increase. When, at the demand of their Lord, they bring the amount given them, they come with ungrateful excuses for not having put the means lent them by God out to the exchangers, by investing it in His cause to carry on His work.

“He who embezzles his Lord’s goods not only loses the talent lent him of God, but loses eternal life.” Ibid., 386, 387.

“Christians forget that they are servants of the Master; that they themselves, their time, and all that they have belong to Him. Many are tempted, and the majority are overcome, by the delusive inducements which Satan presents to invest their money where it will yield them the greatest profit in dollars and cents. There are but few who consider the binding claims that God has upon them to make it their first business to meet the necessities of His cause and let their own desires be served last. There are but few who invest in God’s cause in proportion to their means. Many have fastened their money in property which they must sell before they can invest it in the cause of God and thus put it to a practical use. They make this an excuse for doing but little in their Redeemer’s cause. They have as effectually buried their money in the earth as had the man in the parable. They rob God of the tenth, which He claims as His own, and in robbing Him they rob themselves of the heavenly treasure.” Ibid., 398.

To such professed Christians the servant of the Lord speaks in decisive tones: “I have been shown that many of our people are robbing the Lord in tithes and in offerings, and as the result His work is greatly hindered. The curse of God will rest upon those who are living upon God’s bounties and yet close their hearts and do nothing or next to nothing to advance His cause.” “The only means which God has ordained to advance His cause is to bless men with property. . . . Well, says one, the calls keep coming to give to the cause; I am weary of giving. Are you? Then let me ask: Are you weary of receiving from God’s beneficent hand? Not until He ceases to bless you will you cease to be under bonds to return to Him the portion He claims. He blesses you that it may be in your power to bless others. When you are weary of receiving, then you may say: I am weary of so many calls to give. God reserves to Himself a portion of all that we receive. When this is returned to Him, the remaining portion is blessed; but when it is withheld, the whole is sooner or later cursed.” Ibid., vol. 5, 151, 150.

To be concluded . . .

Rendering to God His Own, Part I

by

The study of nature demonstrates the existence of a God who is a Creator, but gives no insight into His purposes in creating the earth or in placing man upon it, or of His plan for the salvation of man. For this information we must go to the Bible. Why? Because it is the only source of revelation of that God and Creator, declaring His purposes in creation and presenting His plan of salvation. Anciently God spoke to certain men, prophets and apostles, making known His purposes and plans through them. These revelations have, in part, been gathered by divine direction, and now constitute what is known as the Scriptures, or Sacred Writings.

If men would study these writings and live out their teachings, they would find them a source of knowledge that would thoroughly furnish them “unto all good works.” [11 Timothy 3: 17.] But this they fail to do, hence God has given us instruction through the testimonies of His Spirit. But these testimonies were not given to take the place of the Bible. “God has seen fit in this manner to bring the minds of His people to His Word, to give them a clearer understanding of it.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 663.

“The written testimonies are not to give new light, but to impress vividly upon the heart the truths of inspiration already revealed.” Ibid., 665.

A Study of Tithing

With these two sources of light and knowledge, let us study more deeply, possibly, than we yet have done, the otherwise familiar subject of tithing; study the purpose of God in planning it; study it until we reach the foundation principle, love, the beginning of every purpose, every plan, of God. And as the light comes, and the beauty and charm of it all is revealed, let us turn our wayward feet back again into the dear old path, and tell the Lord that, won by his love, we are “coming home, never more to roam.” [William J. Kirkpatrick, “I’ve Wandered Far Away From God,” The Church Hymnal, Review and Herald Publishing Association, Takoma Park, Washington, D.C., 1941, 560.]

For an amplification of the truth of the biblical statements concerning tithing, we will place the Testimonies beside the Bible. Beginning, then, with volume 3, we shall obtain a clear explanation of God’s purpose in presenting the tithing system to man. From page 388 we will quote, commenting as we proceed: “The great work which Jesus announced that He came to do was entrusted to His followers upon the earth. Christ, as our head, leads out in the great work of salvation and bids us follow His example. He has given us a world-wide message.”

From this we gather that Christ opened up the work, illustrating how it should be accomplished, but that the work itself was to be and will be accomplished through human agents. Now what was this work, as defined by himself? “He announced in the synagogue of Nazareth: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’ ” And this statement is followed by the further one. “He has given us a world-wide message. This truth must be extended to all nations, tongues, and people.”

Completing the Work

Did you ever have an important piece of work on hand which you were extremely anxious to see finished, yet so many annoyances and interruptions distracted your attention and consumed your time as almost to discourage you in your efforts to accomplish your undertaking? Well, there you have a picture of the predicament and perplexities of the missionary for Christ. Still that is not all or the worst side of the picture. The most discouraging and the most appallingly disheartening obstacle the missionary has to meet and allow for is unfaithfulness in support from the home center. It takes money to carry on war. How cruel to send gospel soldiers out into the field to meet the enemy, then rob the home treasury so that an adequate amount cannot be forwarded to meet the soldier’s needs and necessities!

The Lord’s servant has said, “An extensive war was to be maintained against the powers of darkness. And in order to do this work successfully, means were required. God does not propose to send means direct from heaven, but He gives into the hands of His followers talents of means to use for the very purpose of sustaining this warfare. He has given his people a plan for raising sums sufficient to make the enterprise self-sustaining. . . . The treasury will be full if all adopt this system, and the contributors will not be left the poorer. Through every investment made they will become more wedded to the cause of present truth. They will be ‘laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.’ ” Ibid., 388, 389.

When an individual enters the church through baptism, the act is a tacit pledge to “walk in newness of life,” which means not only to believe but to live out all the principles of truth. [Romans 6:4.] “Every person, upon becoming a member of the church, pledges himself to be a representative of Christ by living out the truth he professes. The followers of Christ should carry forward the work which He left for them to do when He ascended into heaven.” Ibid., vol. 4, 464. When you accepted present truth and became a member of the church, you agreed to cooperate with Christ in the giving of the message, in person and in time, and to contribute of your means, . . . to carry on the warfare to be waged against Satan. This is what it means to be a co-laborer with Christ, and in return the assurance is given that persistence in this cooperation will insure a change of character which will admit the faithful one to the heavenly courts. In God’s plan there is no other way in which a character can be perfected.

Self-denial

The plan of salvation is founded upon [Jesus Christ, and it, by His example and command, includes] self-denial. The cultivation of that spirit is, therefore, a necessity as a fundamental principle of truth. God has made this absolutely obligatory. “Whatever necessity there is for our agency in the advancement of the cause of God, He has purposely arranged for our good. He has honored us by making us co-workers with Him. He has ordained that there should be a necessity for the co-operation of men, that they may keep in exercise their benevolence. . . . Christians are required by the Scriptures to enter upon a plan of active benevolence which will keep in constant exercise an interest in the salvation of their fellow men.” Ibid., vol. 3, 391, 392. “This is God’s means of exalting man. It is just the work which he needs, for it will stir the deepest sympathies of his heart and call into exercise the highest capabilities of the mind.” Ibid., vol. 4, 472.

“God is not dependent upon man for the support of His cause. He could have sent means direct from heaven to supply His treasury, if His providence had seen that this was best for man. He might have devised means whereby angels would have been sent to publish the truth to the world without the agency of men. He might have written the truth upon the heavens, and let that declare to the world His requirements in living characters.” Ibid., vol. 3, 390.

“But the all-wise God did not choose any of these ways. He knew that man must have something to do in order that life might be a blessing to him. The gold and the silver are the Lord’s, and He could rain them from heaven if He chose; but instead of this He has made man His steward, entrusting him with means, not to be hoarded, but to be used in benefiting others. He thus makes man the medium through which to distribute His blessings on earth. God planned the system of beneficence in order that man might become, like his Creator, benevolent and unselfish in character, and finally be a partaker with Him of the eternal, glorious reward.” Ibid., vol. 4, 473.

To Give or To Get

The primary object, then, in presenting the tithing system is the salvation of man through cooperation with God in his plan of salvation, the support of his cause being supplemental, as one of the incidents connected with the plan. The spirit of heaven is to give. Christ first gave himself, and then gave all that he had, for the redemption of man. The angels put aside the quiet life of absolute bliss, and gladly took their places as ministers to fallen man. The plan of salvation began with a sacrifice, and will end with one. All heaven has been emptied by a loving, sacrificial offering for souls. The man who would cooperate with God and with the angels in such a work must have a heart and mind like theirs, or the work would fail of attraction to him.

The natural desire of the human heart is to retain, to get. This nature must be changed until it learns to delight in giving, loves to labor for others. Selfishness is a fundamental sin, is the natural condition of fallen natures; the tithing system is intended to eliminate this deformity, and replace it with the love of God. As a man faithfully tithes his income, the blessing of the Master tenders his heart. He becomes interested in the work into which his money goes, and as time passes, he learns to love others as himself, and obtains a burden for their salvation. He learns to think God’s thoughts after him, and gradually develops a character like God’s. Then he is ready for admission into heaven, and for association with God and the holy angels. This is God’s purpose in presenting the tithing system to man—to insure the eradication of self and the development of character, so that man can be accepted as an heir of God, and admitted to companionship with his holy family.

“Christ saw that in the prosecution of business the love of riches would be the greatest cause of rooting true godliness out of the heart. He saw that the love of money would freeze deep and hard into men’s souls, stopping the flow of generous impulses and closing their senses to the wants of the suffering and the afflicted.” “The system of benevolence was arranged to prevent that great evil, covetousness.” Ibid., vol. 3, 547.

“God in His wise plans has made the advancement of His cause dependent upon the personal efforts of His people and upon their freewill offerings. . . . As the work enlarges, means will be needed to carry it forward in all its branches. Those who have been converted to the truth and been made partakers of His grace may become co-workers with Christ by making voluntary sacrifices and freewill offerings to Him.” Ibid., vol. 4, 464.

“Whenever God’s people, in any period of the world, have cheerfully and willingly carried out His plan in systematic benevolence and in gifts and offerings, they have realized the standing promise that prosperity should attend all their labors just in proportion as they obeyed His requirements. When they acknowledged the claims of God and complied with His requirements, honoring Him with their substance, their barns were filled with plenty. But when they robbed God in tithes and in offerings they were made to realize that they were not only robbing Him but themselves, for He limited His blessings to them just in proportion as they limited their offerings to Him.” Ibid., vol. 3, 395.

—To be continued . . .

The Executive Judgment

by

The Saviour closes His priesthood with the acquittal of His people at His Father’s bar. For the act of God, the Father, in sitting as judge, enables the Son to appear as the advocate of His people, and to obtain decision in their favor. That acquittal involves the virtual condemnation of all others. The last act of the Father in the work of the judgment in Daniel 7 is to crown His Son king, that He may execute its decision. It is at the close of this session, therefore, that our Lord terminates His office of priest-king upon His Father’s throne, and takes His own throne to execute the decision of the Father. For it is the part of the Son to show from the record of the books who have overcome, and to confess the names of such before His Father (Revelation 3:5). It pertains to the Father to give decision that such persons shall have immortality. And the execution of the judgment will consist in making these persons immortal, and in destroying all the rest. The decision of the judgment does therefore rest wholly with the Father. But the execution of the judgment pertains alone to the Son, who is crowned king at His Father’s tribunal for this very purpose.

The distinction between these two relations sustained by the Father and the Son to the work of the judgment is made very plain by our Lord’s words in John 5:22–30. This chapter takes up the judgment work just where the prophecy of Daniel leaves it. The Father having rendered decision, and having anointed His Son king, it pertains to the Son to execute the judgment—a work which He distinctly acknowledges in John 5. In this chapter our Lord uses these remarkable words: “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son; that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.” (Verses 22, 23.)

Now it is certain that God the Father must sit in judgment to fulfill Daniel 7:9, 10. But if we read forward in these words of our Lord to verses 26, 27, we shall see what He means in verse 22.

“For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself; and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man.” Verses 26, 27.

It is therefore not the decision of the judgment, but its execution, that the Father had by promise even then given to His Son. And this execution will be effected, by the accomplishment of the words which follow: “Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” Verses 28, 29.

That our Lord is simply carrying out the judgment of His Father in the work which He thus performs, is distinctly taught in the next verse: “I can of Mine own self do nothing; as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just; because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me.” Verse 30.

Christ’s part of the judgment work is its execution. His work is just, because He first hears the Father’s decision, and then carries it out, doing only the Father’s will in all this work. We conclude this chapter with the following direct proof that the decision of the judgment, which is the Father’s part of the work, is past when our Lord comes again in the clouds of heaven. The execution of the judgment must be preceded by the investigation and decision of the cases which are judged. Now it is distinctly stated that the coming of Christ is to execute the judgment; whence it follows that the decision of the judgment is made by the Father before He sends His Son in the clouds of heaven. Thus we read of His Second Advent: “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” Jude 14, 15.

The term saints, or holy ones, is applied to angels as well as to men (Daniel 8:13). These ten thousands of His saints are the host of heavenly angels that will escort our Lord on His return to our earth (Matthew 25:31). Enoch does, therefore, distinctly state the object of the Second Advent. It is to execute the judgment. And this fact constitutes a convincing proof that the decision of the judgment precedes our Lord’s return. That event is therefore “the revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” Romans 2:5. And the very act of giving immortality is one part of the work of rendering to every man according to his deeds (Romans 2:6, 7). The judgment of God does, therefore, precede the advent of His Son from heaven.

When the events of Christ’s advent are mentioned in the Scriptures, it is not merely those which happen at the very point when He descends from heaven, but also those which happen in consequence of that event. The execution of the judgment covers more than one thousand years (Revelation 20). But the advent of Christ lies at the foundation of this whole work. And when men find just retribution meted out to them for all their sins, they will surely be convinced of their ungodly deeds and of their hard speeches.

 

The Gathering of the Nations

 

The coming of the Son of man in His glory, attended by all His holy angels (Matthew 25:31), and the riding forth of the King of kings upon the white horse, followed by the armies of heaven, when heaven itself is opened (Revelation 19:11–16), must be one and the same event. When Jude describes the Second Advent, or rather when he quotes Enoch’s description of that event, He says, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgment upon all.” Verses 14, 15. Our Lord’s description of this grand event in Matthew 25:31–46, and of the things consequent upon it, relates wholly to the execution of the judgment, and the convincing of the ungodly of all their evil deeds and hard speeches. And it is certain that the revelation of the King of kings, followed by the armies of heaven, is for this very purpose; for it is said (Revelation 19:11), “In righteousness He doth judge and make war.”

It being true that these representations of Christ’s advent are each statements of one and the same event, it is worthy of notice that the chain of events in Matthew 25:31–46, and the chain of events in Revelation 19:11–21, has each, as its second link, the gathering of the nations before Christ. In Matthew 25:32, we have simply the statement of the fact, “And before Him shall be gathered all nations.” But in Revelation 19:19, we have the occasion of this gathering stated: “I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army.”

The gathering of the nations mentioned in these two texts must be identical, as each gathering is at the same time as the other, and both are connected with the same event, viz., the advent of Christ. The nature of this gathering is presented in the following passages: “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” Revelation 16:13, 14.

“And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army.” Revelation 19:19.

“Therefore wait ye upon Me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for My determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them Mine indignation, even all My fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy. For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent.” Zephaniah 3:8, 9.

These texts clearly indicate that the gathering of the nations is effected not by the good angels of God, but by the evil angels of Satan. The mighty working of the devil, even after men have passed the day of grace, is plainly his final desperate struggle before he is bound. This great gathering of the nations is, in the providence of God, for the purpose of pouring on them the fierceness of His wrath in their terrible destruction. The battle of the great day of God Almighty is the very scene of treading the winepress of the wrath of God (Revelation 19:11–15). The central point of this great slaughter is the valley of Jehoshaphat near Jerusalem (Joel 3:2, 9–12). The city (Revelation 14:19, 20) near which this winepress is trodden must, therefore, be old Jerusalem. But the slain of the Lord in the great battle shall be from one end of the earth to the other (Jeremiah 25:30–33).

The separation of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:32) must be at the same time as the separation of the wheat and tares (Matthew 13:30, 40, 41); and of the good and bad fishes (Matthew 13:48, 49); and of the wheat and the chaff (Matthew 3:12). This separation of the righteous and the wicked is effected in the manner stated in the following texts: “And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matthew 24:31. (See also Mark 13:27.)

“For 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; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17.

But the angels who perform this work, do it under the express order of Christ. Thus we read: “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people. Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” Psalm 50:3–5.

And the Saviour, who gives this order, is simply executing the judgment already determined by the Father (John 5:22, 27; Daniel 7:9–14). Indeed, the saints are made immortal before the angels bear them away from our earth; for the sounding of the trumpet is the signal for the angels to descend from Christ to gather His saints (Matthew 24:31). But the saints are changed to immortality in an instant at the sounding of the last trump (1 Corinthians 15:51, 52).

The decision of the judgment has, therefore, been rendered before even the separation of the two classes described in (Matthew 25:32); for the gift of immortality is a part of the righteous judgment of God in rendering to every man according to His deeds. (Romans 1:5–8). And in particular, the resurrection which makes a part of mankind equal to the angels (Luke 20:35, 36), which makes them immortal (1 Corinthians 15:51–54), which shows them to be blessed and holy, and incapable of the second death (Revelation 20:6), and which shows that they were that part of the dead which belonged to Christ (1 Corinthians 15:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:16), this resurrection which our Lord terms the resurrection of the just (Luke 14:14), is, in the expressive language of Paul, declared to be the “justification of life.” Romans 5:18. This free gift of God, which is open to all men, like the gift of grace and righteousness in the previous verse, will be shared by those only who accept the grace and righteousness offered in the gospel, and will only be conferred on them after they have been pronounced just in the judgment; for the change to immortality, which precedes the act of the angels who are sent by Christ to separate the two classes, is demonstrative of the fact that those changed in this manner have already been pronounced just in the decision of the judgment. The resurrection to immortality is, therefore, the “justification of life.” Our Lord does not pronounce the decision of that judgment which He thus begins to execute, until He has conferred upon His saints the gift of immortality. And when He does it, it is in words which imply that the Father has already rendered decision in favor of the saints (Matthew 25:34).

The separation of the sheep and goats is effected by the angels (Matthew 13:49). It must, therefore, be accomplished when the saints are caught up to meet Christ in the air (2 Thessalonians 4:17). The placing of the righteous upon the right hand, and the wicked upon the left, cannot, therefore, have reference to the right and left sides of the Saviour. It must signify the exaltation of the one class in His presence, and the rejection of the other class to shame and final ruin. Even if we place the separation of the two classes at the end of the one thousand years, when all the righteous are within the city, and when all the wicked surround it on every hand, we shall still be compelled to interpret these words as above (Revelation 20:7–9).

Thus we find this term used in many places. At the right hand of the Lord “are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11. God saves by His right hand those that put their trust in Him (Psalm 17:7). The right hand of the Lord holds up His servants. (Psalm 18:35.) His right hand is used for His saving strength. (Psalm 20:6). The right hand of the Lord gave Canaan to Israel. (Psalm 44:3). Christ is the man of the Father’s right hand. (Psalm 80:17).

And as Christ, at the Father’s right hand, was a joint ruler with His Father upon His throne (Psalm 110:1, 4; Zechariah 6, 12, 13), so the saints, when they are placed at Christ’s right hand, sit down with Him upon His throne, as once He thus sat down upon the throne of His Father, that they may be joint rulers with Him, and may co-operate with Him in the judgment. To sit at the right hand is the highest place of honor in the presence of one greater. Gesenius says: “To sit on the right hand of a king, as the highest place of honor, e.g., spoken of the queen (1 Kings 2:19; Psalm 45:9); of one beloved of the king and vicegerent of the kingdom (Psalm 110:1).”

When the saints enter Christ’s presence they are immortal. They will be like Him, for they “shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 3:2. They will behold His face in righteousness when they awake with His likeness (Psalm 17:15). One of the first events that follows the entrance of the saints into Christ’s presence is thus stated: “For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in His body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10.

Though our Lord comes to execute the judgment (John 5:22, 27; Jude 14:15; 2 Timothy 4:1; Matthew 25:31–46; Acts 10:42; 17:31; Psalm 50:3–5), and though He makes His people immortal before He gathers them into His presence (1 Corinthians 15:51, 52; Matthew 24:31; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17), yet it is certain that everyone, even of the righteous, shall stand at the judgment-seat of Christ (Romans 14:10). It is not, however, that their cases may be decided for salvation or for perdition, but “that everyone may receive the things done in his body.” Even all the wicked shall stand thus in His presence, that they may receive for their deeds of evil, which have not been repented of, and so neither pardoned nor blotted out. But the wicked will not stand thus before Christ till the resurrection of the ungodly, at the end of the one thousand years. The righteous will appear at Christ’s judgment-seat, that they may receive the reward of well doing; and at a later time all the wicked shall stand in His presence, that they may hear their sentence and receive this just reward. In executing the judgment, our Lord is to reward every man according to his works (Revelation 22:12; Matthew 16:27). Then the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to Paul a crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8). To all His saints He will in like manner give crowns, but of very different brightness (1 Corinthians 15:41, 42), and assign to each a reward proportionate to his labors and responsibilities (Luke 19:15–19).

When the Saviour, in the work of executing the judgment, which has been already determined by the Father, pronounces the heavenly benediction upon His people; He does it in His Father’s name. Thus we read: “Then shall the king say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me in; naked, and ye clothed Me; I was sick, and ye visited Me; I was in prison and ye came unto Me.” Matthew 25:34–36.

This plainly indicates: (1) That the record of their good deeds has been already examined; (2) that this examination has been made in the Father’s presence, by Whom they have been pronounced innocent, and upon whom His blessing has been conferred. The saints will have boldness in the day of judgment (1 John 4:17), for their sins are all blotted out before the Saviour ceases to act as priest, and they are made immortal before they stand at Christ’s judgment-seat; and when they thus stand before Him, it is not to have decision rendered whether they shall be saved or lost, but it is to hear the Saviour enumerate their good deeds, and to receive from Him their great reward.

When invited to inherit the kingdom, it is said to be prepared for them from the foundation of the world. This cannot signify that they are at once to inherit the new earth, for the new earth cannot exist till the sentence has been passed upon the wicked, and executed upon them, as the lake of fire, where the wicked are punished, is our earth in its final conflagration (2 Peter 3:7–13;Malachi 4:1–3; Proverbs 11:31; Revelation 20:21). Indeed, the new earth can hardly be said to have been prepared from the foundation of the world. But Paradise, which contains the tree of life, and is now in the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2–4), was prepared for mankind in their innocency, when the earth itself was founded (Genesis 2:8–15; 3:1–24) and is to be given as a part of the overcomer’s reward, and will be reached by their entrance within the walls of the heavenly Jerusalem (Revelation 2:7; 22:2, 14). The giving of the kingdom to the saints begins with the capital of that kingdom, but will not be finished till they take the kingdom under the whole heaven, to possess it forever, even forever and ever (Daniel 7:18; Revelation 21). The Saviour’s act of giving the kingdom to His saints is a part of the work of executing the decision of the Father respecting His people; for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give them the kingdom (Luke 12:32).

When our Lord was about to leave His disciples to go to His Father, He told them that He would go to prepare a place for them, and would then return and receive them into himself; that where He was they might be also (John 14:2, 3). And on this very occasion He told Peter that he could not follow Him then, but should follow Him afterward; that is, when He should have completed the preparation of the place, He would return for Peter and for all the saints, and they should follow Him thither (John 13:36). Thus it is that our Lord is the forerunner, and His entrance is, therefore, the pledge that His people shall afterward follow Him (Hebrews 6:20). In this connection let us notice I Thessalonians 4:14. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.”

Many read this text as teaching that at the Second Advent Christ will bring the souls of His sleeping saints from heaven. But let it be observed: (1). That heaven is not a place of soul sleeping. (2). That the sleep of the saints is in the dust of the earth (Daniel 12:2. 3). (3). That the sleeping ones cannot be brought from heaven, for they are not there when Christ descends for His people. (4). That they cannot be brought to our earth at that time, for they are at that moment asleep in its dust. (5). The one who brings the saints is God the Father. (6). To bring them, He must do one of two things, either He must come with His Son at the second advent, and take along with Him, as He thus comes, His sleeping saints, or else He brings His saints to Himself by sending His Son to awaken them, and then to take them into His presence. (7). Two reasons forbid the idea that the Father brings the sleeping saints to the earth. One is, that the Father does not come to our earth, but sends His Son (Acts 3:20); and the other is, that the sleepers are not in heaven, but already within the bosom of the earth (Isaiah 26:19). (8). We cannot, therefore, avoid the conclusion that the act of bringing the saints is into His own presence. (9). The saints are to be brought according to a certain example, which is the resurrection of Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:14; Hebrews 13:20). (10). The very act of bringing the saints by God the Father is wrought by sending His Son after them, as described in this chapter, and by this means taking them into His presence. So that this chapter brings to view the great fact taught in our Lord’s promise that He would go into the Father’s presence to prepare a place for His people and then return after them,to take them to this prepared place. So Christ will present His saints unblamable in holiness before His Father as He bears them up with Him to the heavenly Jerusalem (Compare John 14:2, 3; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 4:14).

That the Saviour takes His people to the house of the Father, the New Jerusalem, immediately after He has made them immortal, and invited them in the Father’s name to share Paradise with him, is further proved by what is said respecting the marriage supper. This is eaten directly after the saints are received into Christ’s presence (Luke 12:36, 37). But the marriage supper must be eaten where the bride is. The saints are the invited guests. But the bride, the Lamb’s wife, is that holy city, the New Jerusalem (Revelation 19:9; 21:2, 9, 10; Galatians 4:26–28; Isaiah 54).

The saints are in the Father’s presence, near the throne of God, when they eat the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 191–9; Luke 12:36, 37; 22:16–18). Our Lord does, therefore, introduce His saints to the holy city, and to the presence of His Father, where they eat the marriage supper, in the kingdom of God. This is the grand celebration of our Lord’s assumption of His own throne and of His royal city, the metropolis of His everlasting kingdom. When this is past, the great work of the judgment upon the wicked remains to be entered upon by Christ and His saints.

 

God’s Word vs Man’s Word with Respect to the Sabbath

by

According to the Bible there are many kinds of religions in the world. One is the kind that Jesus had. Many, in Christian countries of the world, desire to have Jesus’ kind of religion. However, many do not really know what kind of religion He had. They believe that if you simply profess to be a Christian that you are practicing the kind of religion that Jesus had. Is that true? How do we know what Jesus’ religion was like? Jesus Himself told us in Matthew 4:4: ” ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” ’ ” Therefore, the religion that Jesus had was based on the Word of God.

Jesus lived among the Jews, the chosen people of God. They professed to be the people of God and to have the oracles of God. They boasted, “We have the Word of God.” And they did, but they were not living by every word in His Book. They were too busy studying the traditions and counsels of the wise men of the land, which had been added to God’s Word. They actually paid more attention to these additions than to the Word of God. They did not have the religion of Jesus.

This caused a controversy. The religious leaders were constantly harassing Jesus because He did not keep all of their traditions. Matthew 15 tells of one such instance: “Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, ‘Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.’ [This was a mandatory ritual washing.] But He answered and said to them, ‘Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, saying, “Honor your father and your mother;” and, “He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.” ‘But you say, “Whoever says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever profit you might have received from me has been dedicated to the temple’ is released from honoring his father or mother.” Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: “This people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” ’ ” Matthew 15:1–9.

This is something to think about! Remember, these were not the heathen, idol worshipers of the world, these were people that were religious and worshiped God. But Jesus said their religion was worthless. It was worthless because they honored God with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him. They said, “We believe the Word of God.” But they did not practice it because they had added to it the commandments of men, which were contrary to the Word of God.

The apostles had the same problem with setting up a man-made religion in the place of God’s religion. Paul had to deal with it over and over again. Notice what he says in Colossians: “Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—‘Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,’ which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.” Colossians 2:20–23.

When you look at the many different religions of the world, there are really only two kinds. One religion is based on the Word of God and the other rests on the word of men. And it doesn’t matter who the men are. They may be the most intelligent and brilliant of all men, yet they are mere men. All the heathen religions of the world are based on the words of their founders or religious leaders. And regretfully, the great majority of Christians today have for their ultimate authority the words of religious leaders and not the Word of God. How did Jesus describe that type of religion? He said it was absolutely worthless!

 

How Are We to Worship?

 

If we want to have God’s true type of religion, we must ask, how are we to worship God. The Bible tells us exactly. The Psalmist wrote: “Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand.” Psalm 95:1–7.

Notice, that the reason the Bible says we are to worship the God of heaven is because He is the Creator. He is the one who made the sea and the dry land, and we are the people of His pasture. Because He is our Creator, we owe Him our worship. This subject is so important that it is imbedded in the heart of God’s law. The very first commandment tells us how we are to relate to God because He is our Creator. It says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3. God tells us that we should have no other gods before Him, because only He can claim us as His creation.

The second commandment is more explicit about this problem of worshipping other gods. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Exodus 20:4–6. We are not to worship any man, saint, martyr, or angel of heaven. (For Bible examples see Acts 10, Revelation 22:8, 9.)

But the commandment that is the most explicit about who we are to worship and why we are to worship Him is the fourth commandment. It says: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8–11.

 

Is There a New Covenant Sabbath?

 

I have often heard people say, after reading the fourth commandment: “Yes, I believe in the Sabbath commandment in the time of the Old Covenant, but now we are living in the time of the New Covenant and I believe that the Sabbath commandment has been changed from Saturday to Sunday.”

Is there any record in the Word of God that a change of this type has occurred? We read the following concerning the new covenant in the Word of God. “Where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force (confirmed) after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.” Hebrews 9:16, 17. Paul tells us here that the new covenant was confirmed by the death of Christ. Once Christ died, the covenant could not be changed. (The Ten Commandments are called God’s covenant in Deuteronomy 4:13.) Any change that was to occur in God’s law or His covenant had to be made prior to the death of Christ. Paul wrote in another place, “Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it.” Galatians 3:15.

There is no evidence that a change occurred before the death of Christ. In fact, the Bible says that Jesus, “as His custom was . . . went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day.” Luke 4:16. Jesus Himself said, “I have kept My Father’s commandments.” John 15:10.

A careful study shows that there is no record of a change of the Sabbath anywhere in the New Testament. Instead, there is a direct command, to keep the Sabbath, written many years after the death of Christ. This command is found in Hebrews 4. In this passage, Paul is writing about Israel, which received the judgments of God because she was breaking God’s Sabbath. (See Jeremiah 17, Ezekiel 20.) Paul says, “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He said: ‘So I swore in my wrath, “they [the children of Israel] shall not enter My rest,”’ although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all His works’; and again in this place: ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, again He designates a certain day, saying in David, ‘Today,’ after such a long time, as it has been said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.’ For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.” Hebrews 4:2–8.

Paul is talking here about how the Israelites did not keep the Sabbath, and refused to enter into God’s rest. But he says that a rest remains for us. Notice that this is not a new rest that was just established at the cross of Christ. This was the rest that had existed since the foundation of the world—the seventh day Sabbath rest. Paul says, “There remains therefore a rest [in Greek the word is “sabbatismos” or the keeping of a Sabbath] to the people of God.” Hebrews 4:9.

Then he says in verse 10: “For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. [God ceased from His work of creation on the seventh day.] Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.” This is a direct command! We are to be diligent to enter that rest, the seventh day Sabbath rest that he is talking about. If we do not, we will fall after the same example of disobedience.

There are only two kinds of religion in the world. There is a religion that is based on the Word of God and a religion that is based on the traditions of men. Which one will you follow? If you follow the Word of God, then you must keep the seventh day Sabbath. If you follow the word of men, then you can keep Friday, or Sunday, or whatever day men choose for you to keep. The choice is yours.