HEAR YE HIM by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 12, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 53.

"HEAR YE HIM."

By Editor

ONE correspondent writes us as follows:—

When Christ rose from the dead, he said to us to remember the first day of the week, and the people began to do so. At the time Christ was baptized there was a voice from heaven (was it not the voice of God?) which said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." There God turned his authority over to Jesus. We are to obey Jesus.

Here are three points which we wish to consider for the benefit of our candid correspondent and others: (1) What Christ said about the first day; (2) "hear ye him;" (3) the authority Christ had.

1. When did Christ say, "Remember the first day of the week"? More than this, when did he even name in any way the first day of the week? It is not recorded in the word of God that he ever mentioned it. Matthew wrote from seven to thirty years after the crucifixion; Mark, about thirty years after; Luke, about thirty-three years after; John, sixty-six years after; and Paul, twenty-six years after. These men all wrote by inspiration. The Spirit of God spoke through them. Yet every one of them called the first day of the week by that term alone, and called the day just before it "the Sabbath." Our Lord never observed the first day as a holy day, nor did he teach others to do it; neither did his apostles so teach.

2. "Hear ye Him." Yes, hear Jesus, the Son of God. He says: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. [The heaven and earth are not yet passed; every tittle of the law, therefore, remains.] Whosoever therefore shall break one of the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least ["in no esteem," Campbell, McKnight] in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 5:17-19.

"Hear ye Him:" "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 7:21. The will of God is his holy law. See Ps. 40:7, 8.

"Hear ye Him:" "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." Matt. 19:17.

"Hear ye Him:" "If any man will do His [the Father's] will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." John 7:17.

"Hear ye Him:" "Blessed are they that do His [the Father's] commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. 22:14.

Yea, hear Christ, and everywhere you will find him exalting, honoring, magnifying the holy law of God, the ten commandments. He magnified it in his teaching; he honored it in his blameless life and in his death upon the cross, showing that the transgression of the holy law could not be excused. Yes, hear Him; and if you do what you hear, you will be obedient to all the commandments of God.

3. Hear Him also in regard to his teaching and authority:—

"My doctrine is not mine, but His [the Father's] that sent me. If any man will do His will [God's will is his law, Ps. 40:7, 8], he shall know of the doctrine." John 7:16, 17.

"For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak." John 12:49.

"He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." John 14:9, 10.

The first of the above texts under the third division (John 7:16, 17) was written before the transfiguration, the last two afterward, yet all tell the same story. In fact, the Father and Son are one. John 10:30. He who would endeavor to set the law of one against the teaching of the other, whether he knows it or not, is seeking to destroy all government, and to bring anarchy and chaos into the government of God.