In the matter of the duty of keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, it is not to be understood that the two can for a moment be separated. The commandments cannot be kept acceptably to God except by faith in Jesus Christ; and faith in Christ amounts to nothing—is dead—unless it is supported, made perfect, by good works, and these good works consist in keeping the commandments of God. Christ kept the commandments of God: “I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” John 15:10. By his obedience it is that many must be made righteous. “For as by one man’s [Adam’s] disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one [Christ] shall many be made righteous.” Rom. 5:19. But these are made righteous only by faith in him, thus having “the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Rom. 3:22, 23.
All have sinned, and “sin is the transgression of the law.” As all have thus transgressed the law, this is why it is that none can attain to righteousness by the law. There is righteousness in the law of God; in fact the word says, “All thy commandments are righteousness,” but there is no righteousness there for the transgressor. When any one has transgressed the law, then if righteousness ever comes to that person, it must come from some other source besides the law. And as all in all the world have transgressed the law, to whomsoever, therefore, in all the world, righteousness shall come, it must be from another source than from the law, and that source is Christ Jesus the Lord. This is the great argument of Rom. 3:19-31. “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
Then the question comes in, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.” Notice, he had already said that, although this righteousness of God is without the law, and by faith in Christ, yet it is “witnessed by the law and the prophets.” It is a righteousness that accords with the law; it is a righteousness to which the law can bear witness; it is a righteous-ness with which the law in its perfect righteousness can find no fault. And that is the righteousness of Christ which he wrought out for us by his perfect obedience to the commandments of God, and of which we become partakers by faith in him, for “by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.” Thus we become the children of God by faith in Christ; by faith in him the righteousness of the law is met in us, and we do not make void, but we establish the law of God, by faith in Christ.
This is further shown by Rom. 8:3-10: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” What was it that the law could not do? 1. The law was ordained to life (Rom. 7:10) but it could not give life because all had sinned—transgressed the law—and the wages of sin is death. 2. The law was ordained to justification (Rom. 2:13), but it will justify only the doers of the law, and of all the children of Adam there have been no doers of the law; all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. 3. The law was ordained to righteousness (Rom. 10:5), but it can count as righteous only the obedient, and all the world is guilty of disobedience before God. Therefore because of man’s failure, because of his wrong doings, the law could not give him life, it could not justify him, it could not accept him as righteous. So far as man was concerned, the purpose of the law was entirely frustrated.
But mark, what the law could not do in that it was weak through the sinful flesh, God sent his Son to do in the likeness of sinful flesh. What the law could not do, Christ does. The law could not give life, because by transgression all had incurred its penalty of death; the law could not give justification, because by failure to do it all had brought themselves under its condemnation; the law could not give righteousness, because all had sinned. But instead of this death, Christ gives life; instead of this condemnation, Christ gives justification; instead of this sin, Christ gives righteousness. And for what? that henceforth the law might be despised by us? Nay, verily! But “that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill,” said the holy Son of God. And so “Christ is the end [purpose] of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” Rom. 10:4. For of God, Christ Jesus “is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 1:30, 31.
Again, says the Scriptures, “The law is spiritual,” and “The carnal mind [the natural mind, the minding of the flesh] is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” Rom. 7:14; 8:7, 8. How then shall we please God? How shall we become subject to the law of God? The Saviour says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh,” and we have just read in Romans that it is “sinful flesh,” this is why they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But the Saviour says, further, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Therefore it is certain that except we be born of the Spirit we cannot please God, we cannot be subject to the law of God, which is spiritual, and demands spiritual service. This is precisely what the Saviour says, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” We know that some will say, that the kingdom of God here referred to is the kingdom of glory, and that the new birth, the birth of the Spirit, is not until the resurrection, and that then we enter the kingdom of God. But such a view is altogether wrong. Except a man be born of the Spirit he must still remain in the flesh, but the Scripture says, “They that are in the flesh cannot please God,” and the man who does not please God will never see the kingdom of God, whether it be the kingdom of grace or of glory. “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The kingdom of God, the kingdom of grace, is “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Rom. 14:17. Except a man be born again he cannot see nor enter into the righteousness of God; he cannot see nor enter into the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, and except he be born of the Spirit of God, how can he see or enter into that ‘joy in the Holy Ghost’? Except a man be born again—born of the Spirit—before he dies, he will never see the resurrection unto life. This is shown in Rom. 8:11. “If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” It is certain, therefore, that except the Spirit of Christ dwell in us we cannot be raised from the dead. But except his Spirit dwell in us, we are yet in the flesh. And if we are in the flesh, we cannot please God. And if we do not please God here, we can never see the kingdom of God, neither here nor hereafter.
Again, it is by birth that we are children of the first Adam; and if we shall ever be children of the second Adam, it must be by a new birth. The first Adam was natural, and we are his children by natural birth; the second Adam is spiritual, and if we become his children it must be by spiritual birth. The first Adam was of the earth, earthy, and we are his children by an earthly birth; the second Adam is the Lord from Heaven, from above, and if we are to be his children it must be by a heavenly birth, a birth from above. For “as is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy.” The earthy is “natural” of the flesh, “but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God;” “because they are spiritually discerned,” and “they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” Such is the birthright, and all the birthright that we receive from the first Adam. But “as is the heavenly such are they also that are heavenly.” The heavenly is spiritual, He is “a life-giving Spirit,” and the spiritual man receives the things of the Spirit of God, because they are spiritually discerned; he can please God because he is not in the flesh but in the Spirit, for the Spirit of God dwells in him; he is, and can be, subject to the law of God, because the carnal mind is destroyed and he has the mind of Christ, the heavenly. Such is the birthright of the second Adam, the one from above. And all the privileges, the blessings, and the joys of this birthright shall be ours if we be born from above. “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born from above.” “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” With the argument of this paragraph, please study 1 Cor. 15:45-48; John 3:3-8; 1 Cor. 3:11-16; Rom. 8:5-10.
Thus in briefest outline we have drawn a sketch of the faith of Jesus which must be kept, and by means of which alone the commandments of God can be kept. He who keeps this will live the life of the just, as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” Then can he say with the great apostle, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Gal. 2:20. And when his course is finished, he can say with both the great apostle and the beloved disciple, “I have fought a good fight [it is the fight of faith, 1 Tim. 6:12]. . . . I have kept the faith.” “And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 2 Tim. 4:7; 1 John 5:4.
We thank God for the message which calls upon all men to “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” J.
Our Message.
By J. H. W.
In Rev. 10:6, 7, an angel swears to the ending of the time, prophetic time, contained in the little book which was opened, in his hand. This was fulfilled by the First Angel's Message of Rev. 14:6, 7, proclaiming “the hour of his Judgment is come.” The Judgment of investigation and of decision of character is identical with the cleansing of the sanctuary; a work to take place at the end of the prophetic period of two thousand and three hundred days. Dan. 8:14. Rev. 10 closes with these words: “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.”
Without a full understanding of the fact that the time referred to in the oath of the angel is prophetic time, it would be natural to conclude that this oath announced the coming of Christ, and the end of the dispensation. And this was the view of those who gave the first message. They did not understand that the Judgment was to sit, and the sanctuary be cleansed, before the coming of the Lord. They fully believed that they were giving the First Angel's Message, and that, with the close of that message, time should be no longer. But “their eyes were hidden,” that they did not see that two messages were to follow the one they were giving, and that the coming of the Lord is after the three are all given. The words of Rev. 10:11 are a prophecy of the Third Angel's Message, and by this we learn that it is to go to “many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.”
Rev. 14:9 says the third angel proclaimed his message “with a loud voice.” Thus in these texts we learn two interesting and important truths: 1. This message is to go to the nations of the earth. 2. It is to go with a loud voice, or in mighty power.
God's purposes of grace are worked out by instrumentalities. He has committed to man the work of proclaiming the gospel to his fellow-man. The responsibility of this message is upon us. Not as a burden, grievous to be borne, but as a privilege granted to us by infinite mercy, that we may be “workers together with God,” the highest honor that weak mortals can enjoy. This message must increase in extent and power. God's word has spoken it, and it cannot fail. But to fulfill this, those who proclaim it, who send it forth to the nations, must be clothed with power from on high. It is their privilege to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” As the message rises in power, God will clothe his servants with strength and power to rise with it. He will be “the health of our countenance,” if we put our trust in him.
When Israel went out of Egypt they came to a point where they were hemmed in by the sea, the mountains, and the host of the Egyptians. At this point, with every avenue closed before them, the voice of the Lord is heard, saying, “Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward.”
These things “were written for our learning.” Let us rise up and go forward. The sea, so dark and forbidding before us, will divide as we approach it, and soon we will sing the song of victory on the other shore. J. H. W.
A National Reform Convention
NEXT year the one hundredth anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, will be held in Philadelphia. The Christian Statesman is calling for a National Reform Convention, to be held at the same time, and consider means for altering that charter of American liberty, so as to overthrow all that was done by the revolutionary fathers.
Signs of the End.
By Stephen Nelson Haskell
To THOSE who are looking for that event, there are evidences of the soon coming of the Lord, which are not evidences to those who do not believe the truth. It is now as it was in the day when Israel came out of Egypt. The pillar of the cloud lit up the pathway of the Israelites that they might see clearly where to go, but the other side of the cloud was darkness to the Egyptians, and left them to pursue a course that brought them into confusion and final destruction. The Scriptures clearly give us the history of the world, showing that we have reached the last days. This can be understood by all; and having reached the last days, near the second coming of Christ, there are many things spoken of which those who are looking for that event see fulfilled, that to them are evidences that probation is about to end. The earthquake which has recently shaken Charleston, South Carolina, and affected the larger portion of this country, is only a precursor of what will be seen, sooner or later, not only in this country, but in other parts of the world. Such events as are now taking place in America are not peculiar to this country. Like events happen in Europe; and in the Pacific Ocean, some islands sink while others rise.
The Saviour teaches us in Luke 21:25, that upon the earth there will be “distress of nations, with perplexity,” the “sea and the waves roaring.” There will be disturbances in the earth and among the nations. These disturbances of nature will affect the sea, and men's hearts will fail them for fear for looking after those things which are coming upon the earth. The heaving of the mighty deep, causing tidal waves, is something to be feared. At the time of the great day of wrath there will be such disturbances in nature that every mountain and island will be moved out of their places, and so terrible will be the day of the Lord that the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman will hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and call for the mountains and the rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
But previous to this the “gospel of the kingdom,” will be preached unto all nations. It will have found its way to every kindred, nation, tongue, and people, and in the closing of the work, persecution also will come upon the people of God. “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads; and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” This will be among the last acts in the experience of the people of God in this world. As we approach this time, we shall see scenes taking place around us that will clearly indicate that the end is approaching. The persecutions, that will come on the people of God even in this enlightened land, for not observing the first day of the week, are already approaching. Many of our brethren have been indicted, their goods taken from them to pay fines, or they have been sent to prison. The Russians are taking their part in imprisoning those who are preaching the truths of the Third Angel's Message. Brother Conradi, missionary from America, was lately confined in a Russian jail for the truth's sake.
The truth has nearly encircled the world. Although there are nations where the living preacher has not gone, yet by publications the message has found its way to almost every nation, and God has, through this instrumentality, raised up advocates of the truth, so that calls for laborers come in from every part of the civilized world. We have not the men nor the means to fill these calls, but it would be a disgrace to say that God has not means among his people to carry forward a work which he has undertaken to do. But this means needs to be transferred from the people to the Lord's treasury, that it may be used to carry forward the work that God would have us perform, and if we refuse to act in this matter, God will raise up others who will do this, for the silver and the gold are his, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
Do we need greater evidences that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh than these facts which we see existing all over the world. Destructive earthquakes have been rare in this country, but they are now becoming common. The Spirit of God has borne testimony to these things. The events for which we have looked for the past forty years are taking place in our midst. Shall we not then stir ourselves as never before to throw in the scale of truth the influence which we possess? Most certainly we should if we are to be found among those who will be saved when the Lord comes. He calls upon his people everywhere to co-operate with his providence and work to warn the world of the impending judgments. Those who cannot be stirred by these events to put forth extra efforts to send the solemn warning to all parts of the earth show too clearly that they are lacking that interest which is necessary to prepare them for the coming storm. We say to our brethren and friends, Have courage in God; it is the Lord who is shaking this earth; and he will care for those who link their interests with his truth and thus prepare to meet him.
S. N. H.
The Missionary.
By Stephen Nelson Haskell
A New Line of Policy of the Bohemians.
The Bohemians had decided that the gulf between them and the emperor was impassable, made so by the death of Huss and Jerome; but Procopius was unwilling to forego the hope of peace so greatly needed by a stricken and bleeding country. He was ready to die for them on the battle-field; but he longed, if it were possible, to make peace on just terms, and so to close their fearful wars. Accordingly a Diet was assembled at Prague, and he was sent to lay before the emperor the terms upon which they would accept peace. This he did by presenting the following four cardinal points: The free preaching of the gospel, communion in both kinds, satisfactory arrangement of the ecclesiastical property, and the execution of the laws against crimes, by whomsoever committed. Sigismund would not agree to these terms. Procopius returned to his people with the satisfaction that he had held out the olive branch of peace, and that if the sword must be unsheathed, the blood which would flow would lie at the door of those who had spurned the overtures of a just and a reasonable settlement.
Up to this time the Hussites had only assumed the defensive; after they had proposed to make peace with the emperor, and their propositions were rejected, they decided to follow another policy,—to enter Germany and see what could be accomplished by carrying the war upon the emperor’s own borders. Accordingly Procopius entered Germany in 1429, and during the campaign that followed, the whole of Western Germany felt the weight of his sword. One hundred towns and castles he converted into ruins, and he exacted heavy ransoms from wealthy cities. The barons and bishops he made pay equally large sums as the price of their escape from captivity or death. Some of the most prominent towns, and such magnates as the Elector of Brandenburg, and the Bishop of Salzburg, he rated at ten thousand ducats [$20,000]. This was an enormous sum at this time, before the gold-yielding countries were discovered. He returned home with three hundred wagons which groaned under the weight of the immense booty which he carried back to Bohemia.
This move has been censured by many historians; but Procopius felt that the time had come when they should do something that would bring peace to their borders, and if the enemy would not accept peace on reasonable terms, willingly, they should be forced to do so. It, however, turned the sympathies in favor of the papal party and the German nation. It was not men clad in metal that Rome dreaded the most; but it was men clothed in the armor of truth, wielding not the sword, but the Scriptures, before whom that apostate body trembled.
The Pope and emperor again took counsel how they might rid themselves of this source of danger which seemed to threaten all Christendom. As the result, an army of one hundred and thirty thousand men was raised, and on the first of August, 1431, they crossed the Bohemian frontier, penetrating through the great forests which covered the country on the Bavarian side. This crusade resulted as the one before it had done. The army became panic-stricken and fled from the field. The Duke of Bavaria was one of the first to flee. It is said that the only man who did not lose his head that day was the legate Cesarini. It would be expected that the Bohemians, with their inferior numbers, would have been the ones to flee; but that the Germans should flee is inexplicable, unless on account of the moral state of the combatants. It shows that a good conscience is the best equipment for even an army, and that it will do much to secure the victory. There is here seen the touch of a divine finger,—the infusion of a supernatural terror. Their enemies were so frightened, it is said, that some of them really lost their way and wandered back into the ranks of the Bohemians, others, fleeing to their own cities, began to beg for lodging as though they were strangers, and had no acquaintance with the country.
S. N. H.
Experiences on a Stock Range in Idaho.
By Mrs. W. Hubbell Smith
It is about thirteen months since I commenced to keep the Sabbath, and I had kept it only about a month when we moved to this ranch sixty miles from Boise City. Since then I have not seen a Sabbath-keeper. I have bought and distributed about ten dollars' worth of books and papers. I am sorry to say I do not know of any one who has obeyed the truth through the reading I have given them. But that does not discourage me for the Saviour is now waiting to give all an opportunity to choose between God's laws and the laws of men. If his glorious truth is placed in people's hands and they will not heed it they will be without excuse in that great and terrible day when “every eye shall see Him.”
I gave a Bible to one family who, though members of a prominent Protestant church, were bringing up their four children without a Bible in their house! They complain that the one I gave them is an “Advent Bible;” and they say the “Advent people have changed the Bible, especially the fourth commandment.”
Think of their inexcusable ignorance; for they are Americans who have for many years been professed Christians without a Bible in their house, and do not recognize the common version when it is given to them! It is not necessary in some instances to go far from home to find heathen.
I am filled with wondering joy when I read of the rapid fulfilling of the words that foretell the coming of the dear Lord. The joyful certainty that he is coming makes all burdens light to bear.
MRS. W. HUBBELL SMITH.
Payette, Idaho.
Nebraska Camp-Meeting.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
THIS meeting was held at Lincoln, the capital of the State, September 15–21. The camp was located on a vacant block in the eastern part of the city, handy to the street cars and other conveniences. There were about sixty family tents on the ground, besides the public tents. These were all crowded to their utmost capacity. There were probably four or five hundred persons encamped on the ground. Quite a number of these were not Sabbath-keepers, but neighbors and friends who came with the brethren. Evidently these brethren had made special efforts to get them out, in some cases paying part of their expenses. The attendance from the city was also excellent. The camp-meeting was held here last year, and there has been a mission in the city since that time, also a tent-meeting through the summer, conducted by Elder Cudney. About forty new Sabbath-keepers have embraced the truth during the year. There is evidently a good feeling in Lincoln toward our people.
Elder Haskell and myself arrived on the ground Thursday noon, and labored to the best of our ability in the various branches of the work. Generally there was good freedom in the meetings. On the Sabbath day the exercises were specially interesting. At the close of the forenoon sermon, forty or fifty came forward, manifesting very deep feeling. In the afternoon, at the close of Elder Haskell’s sermon, the work was taken up and carried forward still further, and quite a large number more made a start. Nearly all who came forward did so for the first time; but some were those who had wholly backslidden, and were again giving themselves to the Lord. Quite a number here took their stand publicly to keep the Sabbath, and many very touching testimonies were borne. It was as good a meeting of the kind as I have witnessed this season.
Monday forenoon was the best of the whole meeting. Elder Haskell laid before them the wants of the cause. Money and pledges were then called for, and we spent an hour in this work. The good Spirit of the Lord came in, and nearly every one gave something, and it seemed to do them good to do so. The Conference was in debt about $1,400. This amount was readily raised, besides about $800 for the general fund, and city mission. During the year two good companies have been brought into the truth simply by brethren giving Bible-readings in their own neighborhoods. This shows what can be done in this way, and it also shows that Nebraska is a good field for labor.
The brethren here set a good example for other Conferences to follow in the matter of obtaining names for the daily papers containing reports of the meeting. Over 500 subscribers were gathered up throughout the Conference, to each of whom six numbers of a daily paper were sent during the meeting. Generally those receiving the papers paid for them themselves,—fifteen cents for six numbers of the papers,—and they were mailed directly from the office of publication. Thus the truth will be read all over the State, and largely paid for by those who read it. The brethren report that they had no difficulty in getting large lists of subscribers for the paper among their neighbors. Let others follow this example.
J. P. Gardner was elected President of the Conference, with A. J. Cudney and L. A. Hoopes on the Executive Committee. A. J. Cudney was elected President of the Tract Society, and O. A. Johnson President of the Sabbath-school Association. Monday afternoon about forty were baptized. On the whole, we feel that we have had a very encouraging meeting, and that with proper management, this will soon be a strong Conference. They need to improve in the arrangement and accommodation for their camp-meeting. We feel sure that they will do this another year.
PILATE had declared that Jesus was innocent of the crimes of which he was accused, yet he was willing to make a partial sacrifice of justice and principle in order to compromise with an unfeeling mob; he was willing to suffer an innocent man to be scourged, that their inhuman wrath might be appeased. But the fact that he proposed to make terms with them placed Pilate at a disadvantage with the ungovernable crowd, who now presumed upon his indecision, and clamored the more for the life of the prisoner. Pilate turned to the people, and represented to them that the priests and elders had not substantiated in any degree the charges brought against Jesus. He hoped by this means to raise their sympathy for him, so they would be willing to release him.
The governor was forced to action; he turned to the crowd and spoke with great earnestness: “Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” It was customary at this feast for the governor to release one prisoner, whomsoever the people desired to be set at liberty. Pilate seized this as an opportunity to save Jesus; and by giving them a choice between the innocent Saviour and the notable robber and murderer, Barabbas, he hoped to rouse them to a sense of justice. But great was his astonishment when the cry, “Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas!” was started by the priests, and taken up by the mob, resounding through the hall like the hoarse cry of demons.
Pilate was dumb with surprise and disappointment; but by appealing to the people, and yielding his own judgment, he had compromised his dignity, and lost control of the crowd. The priests saw that though he was convinced of the innocence of Jesus, he could be intimidated by them, and they determined to carry their point. So when Pilate inquired, “What shall I do then with Jesus who is called Christ?” they with one accord cried out, “Let him be crucified!” Here Pilate again revealed his weakness, in submitting the sentence of Jesus to a lawless and infuriated mob. The governor’s cheek13paled as he heard the terrible cry: “Crucify him!” He had not thought it would come to that—a man whom he had repeatedly pronounced innocent, to be consigned to the most dreaded of deaths. He now saw what a terrible thing he had done in placing the life of a just man in the balance against the decision of those, who, from envy and malice, had delivered him up to trial. Pilate had taken step after step in the violation of his conscience, and in excusing himself from judging with equity and fairness, as his position demanded he should do, until now he found himself almost helpless in the hands of the Jews.
Pilate, in the vain hope of exciting their pity, that they might decide this was sufficient punishment, now caused Jesus to be scourged in the presence of the multitude. The pale sufferer, with a crown of thorns upon his head, and stripped to the waist, revealing the long, cruel stripes, from which the blood flowed freely, was then placed side by side with Barabbas. Although the face of Jesus was stained with blood, and bore marks of exhaustion and pain, yet his noble character could not be hidden, but stood out in marked contrast with that of the robber chief, whose every feature proclaimed him to be a debased and hardened desperado.
Pilate was filled with sympathy and amazement as he beheld the uncomplaining patience of Jesus. Gentleness and resignation were expressed in every feature; there was no cowardly weakness in his manner, but the strength and dignity of long-suffering. Pilate did not doubt that the sight of this man, who had borne insult and abuse in such a manner, when contrasted with the repulsive criminal by his side, would move the people to sympathy, and they would decide that Jesus had already suffered enough. But he did not understand the fanatical hatred of the priests for Christ, who, as the Light of the world, had made apparent their darkness and error.
Pilate, pointing to the Saviour, in a voice of solemn entreaty said to priests, rulers, and people, “Behold the man.” “I bring him forth to you that ye may know that I find no fault in him.” But the priests had moved the mob to mad fury; and, instead of pitying Jesus in his suffering and forbearance, they cried, “Crucify him, crucify him!” and their hoarse voices were like the roaring of wild beasts. Pilate, losing all patience with their unreasoning cruelty, cried out despairingly, “Take ye him and crucify him; for I find no fault in him.”
The Roman governor, familiarized with cruel scenes, educated amid the din of battle, was moved with sympathy for the suffering prisoner, who, contemned and scourged, with bleeding brow and lacerated back, still had more the bearing of a king upon his throne than that of a condemned criminal. But the hearts of his own people were hardened against him. The priests declared, “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”
“When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; and went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.” Jesus had already told Pilate that he was the Messiah, that his kingdom was not of this world; and he had no further words for a man who so abused the high office of judge as to yield his principles and authority to the demands of a blood-thirsty rabble. Pilate was vexed at the silence of Jesus, and haughtily addressed him:—
“Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above; therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.” Jesus here laid the heaviest burden of guilt upon the Jewish judges, who had received unmistakable evidence of the divinity of Him whom they had condemned to death, both from the prophecies and his own teachings and miracles. What a scene was this to hand down to the world through all time! The pitying Saviour, in the midst of his intense suffering and grief, excuses as far as possible the act of Pilate, who might have released him from the power of his enemies.
Pilate was now more convinced than before, of the superiority of the man before him, and tried again and again to save him. “But the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Cæsar’s friend; whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Cæsar.” This was touching Pilate in a weak point. He had been looked upon with some suspicion by the Government; and he knew that a report of unfaithfulness on his part would be likely to cost him his position. He knew that if the Jews became his enemies he could hope for no mercy at their hands; for he had before him an example of the perseverance with which they sought to destroy one whom they hated without reason.
The implied threat in the declaration of the priests regarding his allegiance to Cæsar, intimidated Pilate, so that he yielded to the demands of the mob, and delivered Jesus up to the crucifixion rather than risk losing his position. But the very thing he dreaded came upon him afterward in spite of his precautions. His honors were stripped from him; he was cast down from his high office; and, stung by remorse and wounded pride, he committed suicide not long after the crucifixion.
“When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person; see ye to it.” Caiaphas answered defiantly, “His blood be on us, and on our children;” and his words were echoed by the priests and rulers, and taken up by the crowd in an inhuman roar of voices. “Then answered all the people and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.”
Only a short time before, the governor had declared to his prisoner that he had power to release or to condemn him; but he now thought that he could not save him, and also his own position and honor; and he preferred to sacrifice an innocent life rather than his own worldly power. Had he acted promptly and firmly at the first, carrying out his convictions of right, his will would not have been overborne by the mob; they would not have presumed to dictate to him. His wavering and indecision proved his irredeemable ruin. How many, like Pilate, sacrifice principle and integrity, in order to shun disagreeable consequences. Conscience and duty point one way, and self-interest points another; and the current, setting strongly in the wrong direction, sweeps away into the thick darkness of guilt him who compromises with evil.—Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 3.
Letters from South America.
A BROTHER, a native of British Guiana, writes as follows from Ulverstone:—
“I have now been at Rose Hall Village for several successive Sundays, distributing papers and holding Bible-readings. There is a great call there for reading matter. As a result of the Bible readings, there are some who believe and admit that the seventh day is the Sabbath. I am encouraged to spend the most of my time there. The field is large and there is much need of laborers. I am sorry to see time wasted by some who make no effort to spread the truth; they seem to be afraid of the taunts of men; and are forgetful of the words of the Saviour: ‘The servant is not greater than his Lord.’”
“I ask your prayers that God may bless my feeble efforts to spread his truth.”
Another brother writing from Berbice says:—
“In November and December, 1884, I received a few copies of the SIGNS from a brother in New Amsterdam. They were cast aside, however, and not much attention paid to the truths which they contained till some months later, when I met the one from whom I had received the papers. He then placed more reading matter in my hands, and after a careful examination of the subject I, determined to observe the Sabbath of the Lord.
“From this small beginning there has been a company of Sabbath-keepers raised up upon the coast. The brother from whom I received the truth visits us regularly, traveling a distance of twenty miles to do so. He has organized a Tract and Missionary Society here and is truly devoted to the work. May God help him in his efforts is my prayer. I would urge that a minister be sent to help us, and we trust soon to welcome one.”