ALTHOUGH we have shown by repeated arguments and texts of Scripture, that the law endures forever, and have shown that Christ did not come to relax any of its claims, but that he is the "end of the law," in that he enables sinners to keep it, and thus to secure the life to which the law was ordained, there is a text which to some may seem to be a contradiction, or which may at least cause confusion in their minds. That text, therefore, shall be our next study; it reads thus: "For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace." Eph. 2:14, 15.
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable." 2 Tim. 3:16. Therefore there can be no contradiction in the Bible, and the text just quoted cannot contradict those texts which say that the law cannot be abolished. Although a certain "law of commandments contained in ordinances" is spoken of as having been "abolished," even before we study it, our faith in the integrity of the Scriptures forces us to conclude that in this text a law is referred to, different from that of which Christ said, "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." Luke 16:17.
Let us contrast certain expressions. That which is abolished is said to have been "enmity;" but Paul says: "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." Rom. 13:10. And John says: "This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous." 1 John 5:3. Certainly the same thing cannot be both love and enmity. Again Paul says: "The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." Rom. 7:12. Surely then it is not the law of God to which he applies the term "enmity." He also says: "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man." Rom. 7:22. But he would not delight in that which was enmity; therefore we know that Eph. 2:15 has no reference to the law of God, or ten commandments.
Go back now to the time when the law was given from Sinai. The record says that after God had spoken the ten commandments, "he added no more" (Deut. 5:22); and we have seen that all that God spoke from the mount on the day of the assembly, was written by him on the two tables of stone, and that nothing but the ten commandments was so written. The people, however, could not know that God intended to speak no more than his own holy law, and they said to Moses: "Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die." "Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say; and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee." Ex. 20:19; Deut. 5:27.
Accordingly God told Moses to say to the people, "Get you into your tents again." "And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was." Deut. 5:30; Ex. 20:21. Moses was in the mount with God forty days, receiving instruction for the people; and the fact that the people received instruction through Moses, besides232that which the Lord spoke to them directly, is thus noted in Nehemiah's prayer: "Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments; and madest known unto them thy holy Sabbath, and commandest them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant." Neh. 9:13, 14.
Those things which were given by the hand of Moses are recorded chiefly in Exodus, chapters 25-30, and in Leviticus. Among them were many burdensome ceremonies,—the requirement that every male should go up to Jerusalem three times in every year, circumcision, "diverse washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation." Heb. 9:10. We say that these ceremonies were burdensome, for Peter himself said that they were a yoke, "which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear." Acts 15:10.
Moreover, some of them, at least, were an "enmity," or a cause of enmity, between the Jews and Gentiles. The ceremony of circumcision, which was designed to serve as a line of demarcation between the Jews and the Gentiles, was especially the cause of much enmity. The Jews regarded it as a sure proof of their superior sanctity, and therefore looked with contempt upon the uncircumcised Gentiles; while the Gentiles in turn hated the Jews, and despised their circumcision, looking upon it as little different from a badge of slavery. Acts 11:2, 3 indicates how the Jews regarded those who were uncircumcised.
This rite of circumcision was done away in Christ. It was given to Abraham as a sign or "seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised." Rom. 4:11. Thus we see it was designed to mark a real separation, the separation which always exists between the righteous and the wicked. But when a Jew departed from God, his circumcision and separation from the Gentiles was only an outward form, a mockery. Paul assures us that real circumcision is "of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." Rom. 2:29. God looks upon the heart, and demands that righteousness shall be from within, and not merely from without, as an outward sign. The man who is pure in heart is really separated from the world more completely than he could possibly be by any mere outward mark. And so "in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." Gal. 6:15.
Thus this source of enmity, which really served as a barrier to the Gentiles, was taken away. We say it served as a barrier to the Gentiles, because, being uncircumcised, they were held to be rejected of God, and would naturally make less effort to become his followers. The Jews, also, in their sectional pride and vain confidence, were really separated from the true Israel. But when this cause of enmity was removed, both could be united in one body by the cross, and so find peace. But after circumcision as an outward sign lost its force, the keeping of God's holy law still remained as a primary obligation. Said Paul: "Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God." 1 Cor. 7:19. And the keeping of the commandments from the heart constitutes the true circumcision, whose praise is of God.
Among the "ordinances" there were also various sacrifices. In the fourth chapter of Leviticus we find an account of the sin-offerings. We cannot take time to go over the ground in detail, but simply refer the reader to that chapter, also Lev. 6:25-30; 10:16-18, and chapter 16. In the service for sin, an innocent animal was substituted for the sinner, whose sins were confessed over it, and it was slain. Either the flesh or the blood was carried within the sanctuary, and the sinner was forgiven. On the last day of the year, a goat was slain as a sin-offering for all the people; its blood was taken within the sanctuary, and its body was burned. In every sacrifice for sin, the sin was considered as laid upon the substitute as a whole, and it was entirely consumed.
But these sacrifices did not atone for a single sin: "for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." Heb. 10:4. The only one who can remove sin is the Lamb of God. John 1:29. He "appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Heb. 9:26. On him was laid "the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6), and he "bare our sins in his own body on the tree." 1 Pet. 2:24. After Christ's sacrifice, those typical sacrifices that could not take away sin, were no longer required, as we read: "Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me." Heb. 10:5. And so it is literally true that "in his flesh" Christ abolished "the law of commandments contained in ordinances." So it is that we are required to eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, if we would have eternal life. John 6:53-56.
One thought more. Where these ordinances were abolished "in the flesh," it was "to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace." And what alone can make peace? Let inspiration answer: "Great peace have they which love thy law; and nothing shall offend them." Ps. 119:165. "O that thou hadst hearkened unto my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea." Isa. 48:18. Paul, also, speaking of those who have sinned (i. e., transgressed the law), says, "And the way of peace have they not known." Rom. 3:17. Therefore we see that instead of the ten commandments of God being abolished "in his flesh," they "stand fast forever and ever," and are the bond of union of the "one new man;" they are the basis of the peace which both Jews and Gentiles who believe may have with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And so both those who are near, and those who were afar off, become together members of "the household of God," not settled on a new basis, but "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone." Eph. 2:20. E. J. W.
Is It a Whimsy?
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
A NOTED California clergyman says that the keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath is "a whimsy," and a prominent religious journal of the coast indorses the statement. A whimsy is, "a whim; a freak; a capricious notion." Let us see about this. About four thousand years ago a mountain in Arabia "was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly." Ex. 19:18. "He came with ten thousands of his holy ones; from his right hand went forth a fiery law for them." Deut. 33:2. This law was spoken by God himself "out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice" (Deut. 5:22); and was written upon tables of stone. "The tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables." Ex. 32:16. Of this law the psalmist says: "Thy word is true from the beginning; and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever." Ps. 119:160. And again: "All his commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness." Ps. 111:7, 8. Christ himself said that "one jot or one tittle" should in no wise pass from the law (Matt. 5:18), and that "it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." Luke 16:17.
And now we find that of the commandments which were spoken by God's own terrible voice, amid scenes of the most awful grandeur, and which were written with his own finger in the imperishable stone, to indicate that every letter was to be as enduring as his own eternity, the fourth one reads as follows:—
"Remember the Sabbath day [literally, the day of the Sabbath], to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. 20:8-11.
What do you say, friends? Is the keeping of the seventh day a capricious notion, a whim? If so, do you know of anything that is reasonable, and which rests on a solid foundation? Read the book of Malachi, and see what the prophet says of those who say, "It is vain to serve God."
E. J. W.
"The Abiding Sabbath."
By Alonzo T. Jones
LIKE the majority of people who keep Sunday, the author of the "Abiding Sabbath" finds great difficulty in fixing the day, when the Sabbath of the Lord—the seventh day—is under discussion, but no difficulty at all when the first day of the week is to be pointed out. He inquires:—
"When does the day commence and end? Shall we define, as in the first chapter of Genesis, that the 'evening and morning' make a day, and therefore reckon from sunset to sunset, as did the Puritans? or shall we keep the civil day, from midnight to midnight?"—Ps. 204.
To those who regard the word of God as of any authority, we should think the day as defined in the first chapter of Genesis would be sufficient, and that therefore they would reckon the day as the Bible does, and as Mr. Elliott knows how to do, that is, "from sunset to sunset." But those who choose a heathen institution—Sunday—instead of the institution of God—the Sabbath day—we should expect to find reckoning as the heathen did, that is, "from midnight to midnight." And nothing more plainly marks the heathen origin of the Sunday institution, and the heathen authority for its observance, than does the fact that it is reckoned from midnight to midnight. If the religious observance of Sunday had been introduced by the apostles or enjoined by any authority of God, it would have been observed and reckoned as the Bible gives the reckoning, from sunset to sunset. But instead of that, the Sunday institution bears Rome on its very face. Rome from the beginning reckoned the day from midnight to midnight. Sunday was the great heathen Roman day; and when, by the working of the "mystery of iniquity," and Constantine's heathen edict, and his subsequent hypocritical conversion, this "wild solar holiday of all pagan times" was made the great papal Roman day, it was still essentially the same thing; and so it is yet. However much Protestants may dress it up, and call it the "Christian Sabbath," and the "Lord's day," the fact still remains that the Lord never called it his day; that there is nothing about it either Sabbath or Christian, for the Lord never rested on it, and Christ never gave any direction whatever in regard to it; and that it rests essentially upon human authority, and that of heathen origin.
Now he says:—
"As a concession to that human weakness which is troubled, after eighteen centuries' drill in spiritual religion, about the particular day of the week to be honored, the question will be fairly met."—Ps. 205.
Remember, he has promised that the question shall "be fairly met." And the proposition with which he starts in fulfillment of that promise, is this:—233
"There is no possible means of fixing the day of the original Sabbath."—Ib.
Let us see. The Scripture says at the close of the six days employed in creation, that God "rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made;" that he "blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested." Gen. 2: 2, 3. In the fourth commandment, God spake and wrote with direct reference to the day upon which he rested from creation, and pointed out that day as the one upon which the people should rest, saying: "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work. . . . For [because] in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore [for this reason] the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Therefore nothing can be plainer than that God, in the fourth commandment, pointed out distinctly "the day of the original Sabbath." The word of God says also, that the day the Saviour lay in the grave, certain persons "rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23: 56. The Sabbath day according to the commandment, is the day of the original Sabbath. When those persons rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment, they rested the day of the original Sabbath. Therefore the day of the original Sabbath is fixed by the word of God to the day which followed the crucifixion of the Saviour. And that same word declared that the day which followed this day of the original Sabbath, was the first day of the week. Mr. Elliott finds no difficulty at all in fixing the first day of the week—the day of the resurrection of the Saviour. But the day of the original Sabbath is the day which immediately precedes the first day of the week. Therefore, as Mr. Elliott finds it not only possible but easy to fix the first day of the week, how can it be that he finds it impossible to fix the day of the original Sabbath, which immediately precedes the first day of the week?
But Mr. Elliott proceeds to argue the proposition, and this is how he begins it:—
"Who can tell on what day of the week the first man was created?"—Ib.
Shall we grant Mr. Elliott's implied meaning, and conclude that he does not know on what day of the week the first man was created? Not at all; for within eight lines of this question, he begins to tell us of the day on which man first existed. He says:
"For the sake, however, of any literalists who still believe that the work of creation began on Sunday eve, and ended Friday at sunset, it may be suggested that the seventh day of creation was the first day of man's existence."
There, reader, you have it. He himself knows what day of the week the first man was created. For, as "the seventh day of creation was man's first day of existence," it follows inevitably that man must have been created on the seventh day, unless indeed he supposes that man was created one day and did not exist till another! But who ever before heard of "the seventh day of creation"?! We cannot imagine where he ever learned of such a thing. Never from the Bible, certainly; for the Bible tells of only six days of creation. The first chapter of Genesis gives the record of the six days of creation; and in the fourth commandment God declares, "In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is." The Bible tells plainly that man was created on the sixth day. But lo, Mr. Elliott finds seven days of creation, and that the seventh day of creation was the first day of man's existence!! What a wonderful thing a five-hundred-dollar-prize essay is!
Well, what is Mr. Elliott's conclusion from this line of argument? Here it is:—
"If he [man] began the calculation of the week from that time, and kept the same Sabbath with his Maker, then the first day of the week, and not the seventh, was the primitive and patriarchal Sabbath. If a crude, bald literalism is to be the rule of interpretation, let us follow it boldly, no matter where it takes us."—P. 206.
We should say that, if a crude, bald nonsense is to characterize the argument by which the Sunday-sabbath is supported, then the essay entitled "The Abiding Sabbath" is fully entitled to the five-hundred-dollar prize which it received. This is the only reply that we shall make to this argument, for he himself knows that it is worthless; and he feels the necessity of making an apology for it, which he does, saying:—
"This suggestion is made, not for any value which it possesses, in itself, but as a fair illustration of the difficulties attending any attempt to fix the day."—Ib.
If an honest inquiry were made for the day which God has fixed as the day of the original and only Sabbath of the Lord, it would, in every case, be found with less than a hundredth part of the difficulty that has attended this five-hundred-dollar-prize effort, or any other effort, to show that Sunday is the Sabbath.
We now take our leave of Mr. Elliott and his prize essay; to pursue the subject further, would only be to multiply notices of nonsense. In closing, we would simply repeat the remarks already made; that, in consideration of the fact that the committee of award decided that this essay was worthy of a prize of five hundred dollars, we should very much like to see an essay on this subject which that committee would decide to be worth nothing. If this essay stands as one of the best arguments for the Sunday-sabbath, and this it certainly does by taking the aforesaid prize, and by its receiving the indorsement of the American Tract Society by a copyright, then the Sunday institution must be in a most sorry plight. And if we had no better reasons for calling the people to the observance of the Sabbath of the Lord—the seventh day—than those that are given in this prize essay for Sunday-keeping, we should actually be ashamed ever to urge anybody to keep it.
The word of God is truth. All his commandments are truth. Ps. 119: 151. When God has spoken, that word must be accepted as the truth, and all there is then to do is to obey the word as he has spoken it. "It shall be our righteousness if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God as he hath commanded us." Nothing is obedience but to do what the Lord says, as he says it. He says, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work." To disregard the day which God has commanded to be kept, is disobedience. And the disobedience is not in the slightest relieved by the substitution of another day for the one which the Lord has fixed, even though that other day be styled "Christian." The fact is, that the seventh day is the Sabbath; and in the fast hastening Judgment, the question will be, Have you kept it? God is now calling out a people who will keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. Nothing but that will answer. Neither commandment of God nor faith of Jesus ever enjoined the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week. Both commandment of God and faith of Jesus show the everlasting obligation to keep the seventh day, the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. Will you obey God? Will you keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus?
A. T. J.
The Missionary.
By John Norton Loughborough
Fresno, Cal., Camp-Meeting.
THIS meeting was held, according to appointment, from March 26 to April 6, on a beautiful site in the city of Fresno. There was a much larger attendance of our people than we anticipated; it was so early in the season we feared some might think it dangerous to camp upon the ground. Forty-four tents were erected, including the 50x70 ft. meeting pavilion. In these tents more than one hundred and fifty of our people were encamped. Besides these, a number of Sabbath-keepers who reside in town, but did not camp with us, attended the meetings, making in all about one hundred and seventy-five Sabbath-keepers who were regular attendants.
The weather was fine throughout the entire meeting, although a little cool nights. The days were warm, and as most of the campers were provided with stoves, none of them suffered much inconvenience. Our services were quite well attended by the people of the town, and produced conviction in some minds. There were held in all fifty-eight meetings, besides two sessions of the camp-meeting Sabbath-school. Of these meetings, twenty-seven were preaching services; three, social meetings; five, sessions of a Biblical Institute; four, sessions of a Sabbath-school Convention; six, meetings for youth and children; three, missionary meetings, in one of which a Rivulet Missionary Society was organized for the young people of Fresno, and one meeting in which instructions were given as to the proper method of keeping church records.
Of the discourses, five were given by Elder Butler, who arrived in time to be with us during the last five days of the meeting. Brother E. R. Jones spoke eight times; Brother Briggs, nine times, and the writer, five times. The preaching was decidedly close and practical, as well as instructive on present truth. After the close of Brother Butler’s discourse, Sabbath forenoon, April 3, he made a call for those who wished to consecrate themselves to God, or to make a start in his service, to come forward. About fifty responded to the call. After prayers had been offered, the whole camp retired to the eight tents used for morning worship, and the work of seeking God was still further advanced. On Monday forenoon, the 5th, this call was repeated, followed by a call for those who desired baptism. As the result of these efforts, seventeen, mostly the youth of our people, were baptized, and united with different churches in Fresno and Tulare Counties.
The preaching and talks of Elder Butler were timely, and were highly appreciated by our people. The two Sabbath-school sessions held were full of interest. The school March 27, consisted of 24 classes, and April 3, of 25 classes. On the first Sabbath 162 took part in the exercises, and on the second Sabbath 172 took part. The contributions were $28.81.
At the closing meeting, April 6, our people expressed themselves by a unanimous rising vote as well satisfied with the camp-meeting, and requested that another might be held for these counties, in the spring of 1887. They not only expressed gratitude in words, but they cheerfully raised the necessary means to meet all the local expenses of the meeting.
On April 6, after the camp-meeting had closed, a meeting of the Fresno church was held on the camp-ground. In this meeting a committee was chosen to solicit funds, and make arrangements to erect a house of worship in Fresno; said house to be about 32x60 ft. A good lot and about $2,500 towards the enterprise were pledged in the above meeting. It is expected that the meeting-house will soon be erected.
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.
The Apostles’ Creed
CONSIDERABLE attention is being drawn just now to what is known as the Apostles’ Creed. At the last meeting of the Protestant Theological Society in Paris, its character as an embodiment of the essentials of Christian doctrine, its origin and its history were freely discussed. The creed, it appears, was not introduced into the regular Sunday services of the Reformed Church until 1743—two centuries and a half after the formation of that church. It had no claim to the title of “Apostles’ Creed,” its origin not being later than the fifth century. For similar reasons Dr. John Hall, of this city, is opposed to the general use of the creed in the regular Sunday service.
DURING the entire day after Christ had cleansed the desecrated courts of the temple, he was healing the sick and relieving the afflicted. Nicodemus had seen with what pitying compassion he had received and ministered unto the poor and the oppressed. With the demeanor of a loving father towards his suffering children, he had wrought cures and removed sorrow. No suppliant was sent unrelieved from his presence. . . . All day, Jesus had instructed the restless, curious people, reasoning with the scribes, and silencing the caviling of the haughty rulers by the wisdom of his words. Nicodemus, after seeing and hearing these wonderful things, and after searching the prophecies that pointed to Jesus as the looked-for Messiah, dared not disbelieve that he was sent of God. When night came on, Jesus, pale with the weariness of his long-continued labors, sought for retirement and repose in the Mount of Olives. Here Nicodemus found him and desired a conference. This man was rich, and honored of the Jews. He was famous throughout Jerusalem for his wealth, his learning, and benevolence, and especially for his liberal offerings to the temple to carry out its sacred services. He was also one of the prominent members of the national council. Yet when he came into the presence of Jesus, a strange agitation and timidity assailed him, which he essayed to conceal beneath an air of composure and dignity.
HE endeavored to appear as if it were an act of condescension on the part of a learned ruler, to seek, uninvited, an audience with a young stranger at that unseasonable hour of night. He began with a conciliating address, “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” But instead of acknowledging this complimentary salutation, Jesus bent his calm and searching eye upon the speaker, as if reading his very soul; then, with a sweet and solemn voice, he spoke and revealed the true condition of Nicodemus. “Verily, verily I say unto you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
THE Pharisee was surprised out of his self-possession by these words, the meaning of which he partially comprehended. . . . Nicodemus had long felt that there was a want of spirituality among the Jews; that bigotry, pride, and worldly ambition guided their actions in a great measure. He had hoped for a better state of things when the Messiah should come. . . . This learned dignitary was a strict Pharisee. He had prided himself upon his own good works and exalted piety. He considered his daily life perfect in the sight of God, and was startled to hear Jesus speak of a kingdom too pure for him to see in his present state. His mind misgave him, yet he felt irritated by the close application of the words to his own case, and he answered as if he had understood them in the most literal sense, “How can a man be born when he is old?”
JESUS, with solemn emphasis, repeated, “Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born of the water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” The words of Jesus could no longer be misunderstood. His listener well knew that he referred to water baptism and the grace of God. The power of the Holy Spirit transforms the entire man. This change constitutes the new birth. . . . Jesus here seeks to impress upon Nicodemus the positive necessity of the influence of the Spirit of God upon the human heart to purify it preparatory to the development of a righteous and symmetrical character. “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” This fountain of the heart being purified, the stream thereof becomes pure.
THIS new birth looks mysterious to Nicodemus. He asks, “How can these things be?” Jesus, bidding him marvel not, uses the wind as an illustration of his meaning. It is heard among the branches of the trees, and rustling the leaves and flowers, yet it is invisible to the eye, and whence it comes and whither it goeth, no man knoweth. So is the experience of every one who is born of the Spirit. The mind is an invisible agent of God to produce tangible results. Its influence is powerful, and governs the actions of men. If purified from all evil, it is the motive power of good. The regenerating Spirit of God, taking possession of the mind, transforms the life; wicked thoughts are put away, evil deeds are renounced, love, peace, and humility take the place of anger, envy, and strife. That power which no human eye can see, has created a new being in the image of God. . . . Patiently Jesus unfolded the plan of salvation to Nicodemus, showing him how the Holy Spirit brings light and transforming power to every soul that is born of the Spirit. Like the wind, which is invisible—yet the effects of which are plainly seen and felt—is the baptism of the Spirit of God upon the heart, revealing itself in every action of him who experiences its saving power.235HE explained how Christ, the Burden-bearer, lifts the burden from the oppressed soul, and bids it rejoice in deliverance from bondage. Joy takes the place of sadness, and the countenance reflects the light of Heaven. Yet no one sees the hand that lifts the burden, nor beholds the light descend from the courts of God. The blessing comes when the soul, by faith, surrenders itself to the Lord. This mystery exceeds human knowledge, yet he who thus passes from death to life realizes that it is a divine truth. . . . There must be a new birth, a new mind, through the operation of the Spirit of God, which purifies the life and ennobles the character. This connection with God fits man for the glorious kingdom of Heaven. No human invention can ever find a remedy for the sinning soul. Only by repentance and humiliation, a submission to the divine requirements, can the work of grace be performed. Iniquity is so offensive in the sight of God, whom the sinner has so long insulted and wronged, that a repentance commensurate with the character of the sins committed often produces an agony of spirit hard to bear. Nothing less than a practical acceptance and application of divine truth opens the kingdom of God to man. Only a pure and lowly heart, obedient and loving, firm in the faith and service of the Most High, can enter there. . . . Christ brought his divinity to earth, veiled by humanity, in order to rescue man from his lost condition. Human nature is vile, and man's character must be changed before it can harmonize with the pure and holy in God's immortal kingdom. This transformation is the new birth.
If man by faith takes hold of the divine love of God, he becomes a new creature through Christ Jesus. The world is overcome; human nature is subdued, and Satan is vanquished. In this important sermon to Nicodemus, Jesus unfolded before this noble Pharisee the whole plan of salvation, and his mission to the world. In none of his subsequent discourses did the Saviour explain so thoroughly, step by step, the work necessary to be done in the human heart, if it would inherit the kingdom of Heaven. He traced man's salvation directly to the love of the Father, which led him to give his Son unto death that man might be saved. . . .
THE words spoken at night to a single man in the lonely mountain were not lost. When Nicodemus saw Jesus upon the cross, hanging like a malefactor between heaven and earth, yet praying for his murderers; when he witnessed the commotion of nature, in that awful hour when the sun was hidden and the earth reeled in space, when the rocks were split in sunder and the vail of the temple rent in twain, then he remembered the solemn teaching in the mountain: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." The scales fell from his eyes, and faith took the place of doubt and uncertainty. Beams of light streamed from the secret interview in the mountain and illuminated the cross of the Saviour. In that time of discouragement and danger, when the hearts of the disciples were failing them through doubt and fear, Joseph of Arimathea, a secret disciple of Jesus, came forward and obtained the Lord's body from Pilate, and Nicodemus, who at the first came to Jesus by night, brought a hundred pounds' weight of myrrh and aloes. These two men with their own hands performed the last sacred rites, and laid the body of the Saviour in a new sepulcher where never man lay before. These lofty rulers of the Jews mingled their tears together over the sacred form of the dead.
NOW, WHEN the disciples were scattered and discouraged, Nicodemus came boldly to the front. He was rich, and he employed his wealth to sustain the infant church of Christ, that the Jews thought would be blotted out with the death of Jesus. He who had been so cautious and questioning, now, in the time of peril, was firm as the granite rock, encouraging the flagging faith of the followers of Christ, and furnishing means to carry on the cause. He was defrauded, persecuted, and stigmatized by those who had paid him reverence in other days. He became poor in this world's goods, yet he faltered not in the faith that had its beginning in that secret night conference with the young Galilean.—Mrs. E. G. White, in "Great Controversy," Vol. 2, pages 125-136.
Work in Rutland, Vermont.
Brother T. H. Purdon writes thus to the Review and Herald concerning the mission recently started in the above-named place:—
“Rutland is the largest town in the State, and has a population of 16,000, according to the latest estimate. When we came here, we found three who had received some light on the message, and were trying to keep the Sabbath. Nine others have since taken a decided stand for the truth, while others are halting between two opinions. Many with whom we have held readings admit that we have the truth, and for them we shall still labor. Meetings are held every Sabbath at our rooms, No. 24 Church Street; also Bible-readings Sunday, at 3 P. M., and Wednesday evenings. We have a flourishing Sabbath-school, numbering from twenty to twenty-five members. Fifteen copies of the Instructor are taken.
“Brethren Barton, Ayers, and Farman during the winter have been laboring much of the time in the adjoining towns, and as a result many are investigating the truth with interest. While I write, a report comes from the town of Sherburne, about ten miles distant, where Brethren Farman and Ayers have been holding readings and visiting for the last three weeks, that several heads of families and their children, numbering about sixteen in all, have decided to keep the Sabbath, and that others are deeply interested.
“We are thankful for donations received for use at the mission; but we would gently remind our friends that our work here is not yet done, and that God still loves a cheerful giver. We also acknowledge the receipt of copies of the Signs of the Times for missionary work, and shall try to make good use of them, and would be glad of more of any or all of our periodicals. Our address is Box 116, Rutland, Vt.”
One Idol Left.
A POPULAR and successful revivalist is reported to have declared in substance on an occasion having for its object the promotion of a deeper, truer consecration on the part of believers, that he had known of persons who had made high professions of sanctity, who waxed very happy, and shouted very lustily in religious meetings, who yet, as soon as any lesson of real self-denial was clearly and pointedly brought home to them, were found very suddenly and completely to subside. “Hosannas languished on their tongues, and their devotion died.” Name, for example, the matter of tobacco, and insist upon the inconsistency of the use of this vile weed with the highest style of piety, and in case any of these happy brethren chance to be addicted to the filthy practice named, you will find that you have suddenly brought an awful coldness upon them. They will be either mute, or angry, or both. Their fervor, somehow, alas! has instantly all eked out at the ends of their fingers, and their harps are hung on the willows. That appetite was not killed by the shock which annihilated innate depravity. Away with all such superficial Christianity. It is a delusion—this perfection which thus is on the lips only, and has no consistent, victorious life behind it. In this connection we are reminded of an old Methodist divine to whom a certain brother came and dolefully confessed that he had been enabled to put everything on God’s altar but one.
“What was that?” asked the old divine. After some persuasion, the brother at length reluctantly admitted that his cherished idol was his pipe.
“You need have no concern about that,” said the speaker. “God don’t want your good-for-nothing old filthy pipe. Throw it away, brother, and your vile tobacco with it, and come to Christ at once, and with all your heart.”—Christian at Work.