Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 10, 1881
General Articles.
By Mrs. E. G. White
GOD'S CARE FOR ISRAEL.
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
The time drew near when Moses was to leave to others the command of Israel. In obedience to God's decree, he must soon go up to Mount Nebo to die. But before he should leave the congregation, the Lord directed him to rehearse to them the main facts of their deliverance from Egypt and their journeyings in the wilderness. He was to present before them the wonderful manifestations of God's power in bringing them forth from the iron furnace, which figure well illustrated their cruel and degrading bondage in Egypt. They would never have been delivered from their oppressors but for the interposition of the God of Heaven.
Moses was not only to present before the people the merciful manifestations of divine power in all their journeyings, but to recapitulate the law of God spoken from Sinai. When the law was repeated by the mouth of Jehovah to their fathers, the present congregation of Israel were too young to comprehend the awful grandeur and solemnity of the occasion. Their fathers heard the voice of God, and witnessed his power, and were made to feel the sacred character of his holy law; but they had not kept that law, and for their transgressions, they fell in the wilderness without seeing the goodly land.
The sins and mistakes which brought upon the fathers the wrath of God, were to be rehearsed before their children, that they might see the awful results of transgression of God's law. As they were soon to pass over Jordan and take possession of the promised land, God would present before them in a correct light the claims of his law, and enjoin upon them obedience as the only condition of their prosperity. It was not enough for them to be God's people in name only. Their love to him, their right to the name of the Israel of God, would be manifested by their obedience.
Moses stands before the people to repeat his last warnings and admonitions. His face is illuminated with a holy light. His hair is white with age; but his form is erect, his countenance expressing the unabated vigor of health, and his eye clear and undimmed. It was an important occasion. He was once more to give to the people the words of God. With deep feeling and poetic eloquence he magnified the Lord God of Israel. The great mercy, and the unfailing love of their Almighty Protector were portrayed in the most sublime and impressive language. He gave warnings, reproofs, cautions, and encouragement, as Christ had given him the words.
Moses dwelt with great earnestness upon the Lord's wonderful works in bringing his people from Egypt. He set before them the many blessings they had received, for which their hearts should have been filled with gratitude to God, instead of cherishing doubt and unbelief. He dwelt with peculiar earnestness upon the period when they were an unorganized, helpless mass of people, making their way in a disorderly march toward the Red Sea. The Lord favored them with his presence. The cloudy banner in the sky, the standard of their invisible Leader, was a sure guide, a canopy to protect them from fiery heat by day, and a pillar of fire, illuminating their encampment by night, constantly assuring them of the divine presence. And this angel of God, leading their armies in all their journeyings, was their Redeemer.
"When Israel, of the Lord beloved,"
"Out from the land of bondage came,"
"Their fathers' God before them moved,"
"An awful guide in cloud and flame."
"By day along the astonished land,"
"The cloudy pillar glided slow;"
"By night, Arabia's crimson sands"
"Returned the fiery column's glow."
Moses reminds them how, on the third day of their journey, the way grew strange and perplexing, and night found them walled in right and left by ranges of impassable mountains, while directly in front was the Red Sea. They were filled with apprehension, they knew not what course to pursue; yet they had followed the leading of the cloudy pillar. In weariness and hunger, they camped beside the sea, their hearts oppressed with dark forebodings. Then, to complete their despair, they saw and heard the Egyptian host in close pursuit. The armies of Israel were panic-stricken; to all appearance they were a sure prey to their bitterest enemies. But lo, they see the pillar of fire rise from the front, and pass grandly to the rear of the Hebrew host; as a massive wall between them and the Egyptians,—a bright light to the Hebrews, a cloud of thick and awful darkness to their enemies."
While the people reproached Moses as the cause of all their perplexities, the Lord bade him say to the terror-stricken multitude, 'Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you to-day.' 'The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.' In obedience to the divine command, Go forward, Moses lifts up the rod, and at its stroke the angry waves pile up on either side, revealing the path for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in. But no voice had spoken to the defiant king to go forward; and the path of God's providence, the path of safety for his people, was to the enemies of God the path of defeat and destruction. The waters closed over them, and Moses said to the Hebrew host, 'The Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more forever.'"
The thrilling incidents of this night passage had been oft repeated to the Israelites; but never before had it been so vividly portrayed. All who had taken an active part on this occasion, with the exception of Moses and Aaron, Caleb and Joshua, had died in the wilderness. Those who were now responsible men, were children at the time of their passage through the Red Sea, and they had not correct and distinct ideas of this wonderful manifestation of God's power in their deliverance. This important event, rehearsed by Moses with earnestness and solemn eloquence, softened their hearts, and increased their love, their faith and reverence for God.
Moses repeated the song of thanksgiving which he had composed, and which thousands of the Hebrew host united in singing on the shores of the Red Sea, not only men, but women also lifting up the voice of praise, joining to pour forth their exultant, Heaven-inspired gratitude. This song is one of the most sublime and thrilling expressions of triumph and of praise to be found in all the annals of history. Moses recounts the wonderful deliverance which God has wrought for his people, and extols his justice and faithfulness and love.
The Lord frequently permits his people to be brought into strait places, that they may turn to him, their protector and deliverer, as a child would turn to his parents when in trouble and fear. It is no evidence that God is against us, because we are afflicted. When Christ was on earth, a man born blind was brought to him to be healed. The question was asked Jesus, 'Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' The Saviour answered, 'Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.'"
This answers the troubled questioning of many minds, 'Why should these things be? Is it because of our sins that distress and sorrow have come upon us?' It is true that pain and death are the consequence of sin. But the Lord permits those he loves to be brought into trial, that they may learn the precious lessons of trust and faith. If trials are received aright, they will prove of the highest value to us in our religious experience. As they lead us to put our trust more firmly in God, we become better acquainted with his character.
When the Lord has answered our prayers, and proved himself better to us than our fears, we should not fail to express our gratitude for his mercies. Like the Hebrew host, we should praise him for his wonderful works. Here many fail to glorify God. They do not tell of his goodness, making known to all around them that the Lord is to them a present help in every time of need.
We should praise God for every blessing we enjoy, and above all else should we express our gratitude for the provisions of his grace. What compassion, what matchless love, hath God shown to us, lost sinners, in connecting us with himself to be to him a peculiar treasure! What an infinite sacrifice has been made by our Redeemer, that we may be called children of God! and what a tribute of love and gratitude should it call forth!
If the heart be given to God in earnest, sincere affection, we shall love those for whom Christ died, and thus may we reflect back glory to God. By meditating upon his word and drawing nigh to him in the simplicity of faith, we may behold his excellency and his glory, and thus be changed into the same image. We should offer unto God the sacrifice of praise continually, giving thanks unto his name.
REGRETTING.
By Christian Herald
OUR lives are so full of regretting—
We would fain live them over again;
Could we know we should do any better,
We would patiently bear all the pain.
Go back, and retrace every footstep,
Leave out all the wrong we have said;
Unsay the harsh words we repeated,
And whisper kind words in their stead.
Undo all the hasty misdoing—
Do much that we left all undone,
Be patient, where we were complaining—
Where we walked, we would joyfully run.
Scatter roses, where thorns we left growing,
And smiles, where we left only tears;
Comfort hearts, which we left in their sorrow,
To struggle with doubting and fears.
We would pass by the forest of pleasure,
That gave to us nothing but leaves;
Go out in life's wonderful harvest
And gather the bright golden sheaves.
But we cannot retrace our footsteps;
We cannot go over the way;
Regrets and regrettings are idle,
When moments are passing away.
Let us then leave it all with Jesus!
The crooked path we have made;
He'll make it all straight over yonder,
We'll trust him and not be afraid.
Leave the past with its mournful regretting,
And only live for to-day,
One step at a time, if he leadeth,
Will reach to the shining way.
Thank God! it was not for the righteous,
But sinners, he died to save;
Oh, wonderful, loving Redeemer,
For us he went down to the grave.
Welcome life, with its toil and sorrow,
Welcome each little daily care.
He can make of these trials a garland,
Woven into the crown we shall wear.
Oh, earth-life, so strange and mysterious,
So full, yet so incomplete,
These unfinished lives he will finish
When we lay them down at his feet.
—Christian Herald.
PERSONALITY OF THE DEVIL.
By John Norton Loughborough
[Thoughts suggested by the perusal of a lecture of Robert Roberts of Birmingham, England, in a series of letters to a friend in Somerset, by Eld. J. N. Loughborough of Southampton. Published by request.]
LETTER SECOND.
My dear Friend J.: As Mr. R. claims that death came into our world by sin so sin is the devil that “has the power of death,” I read with peculiar interest to learn his explanation of the origin of sin, and how man was led to sin. I find on page 155 of his lectures:—
“The natural serpent ‘more subtle than any BEAST OF THE FIELD, which the Lord God has made’ (Gen. 3:1) and endowed with the gift of speech (no doubt especially conferred with a view to the part it had to perform in putting our first parents to the test) reasoned upon the prohibition which God had put upon ‘the tree in the midst of the garden,’ and concluding, from all he saw and heard, that death would not be the result of eating, he said, ‘Ye shall not surely die;’ etc.
Here the position is fairly taken that the leading of Adam and Eve into sin was accomplished by a “natural serpent,” with no outside influence brought to bear upon him, and as the case is stated it would appear with no intention on his part to deceive, but simply reasoning upon “what he saw and heard.”
He says of this,—
“It was necessary to try the faithfulness of Adam and Eve. How otherwise could they be put to trial? It would never occur to their childlike and inexperienced minds to disobey. The suggestion had to come from without, and could only emanate from some of the living forms by which they were surrounded. It was impossible that the Elohim should be the agent of the temptation.”
It seems from Mr. R.’s language we are to understand that a literal serpent—a talking serpent—was created by God, and by him endowed with the gift of speech on purpose to tempt mother Eve. Seeing a defect in his own position he says,—
“The difficulty about the serpent speaking is more easily surmounted than that created by the theory of Satanic possession. If a dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbade the madness of Balaam (2 Pet. 2:16), why not a serpent be enabled to utter its thoughts when it was necessary to try the faithfulness of Adam and Eve?”
But let us look a moment. In the case of Balaam’s ass speaking are we to conclude that this ass was one that God had created with the power of speech so that he might play his part in this test of Balaam’s loyalty? It would have to be so, to be a parallel to Mr. R.’s explanation of the serpent’s talking to Eve. Instead of this we read of the presence of a holy angel of God to resist Balaam, and the whole record gives the impression that this was not natural to the ass, but was produced by other power than his own. So also in the case of the serpent, there was more than the innocent workings of the mind of a serpent, “reasoning on what he heard and saw.” Let us look at the text Mr. R. quotes from St. Paul to prove that this was only a literal serpent: “I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 2 Cor. 11:3. “The serpent beguiled Eve.” To beguile is to delude or deceive by artifice. It is not a mode of expression to represent so harmless a work as our friend calls the reasoning of the serpent from “what he saw and heard.” Beguiling indicates a deep sealed purpose and determination to deceive and lead away from the right path. This meaning of the word is strengthened by the very use St. Paul makes of it to the Corinthians, for those he mentions were going about with a fixed purpose to deceive and draw the brethren away from Christ.
If this deception of Eve was simply the thoughts originating in the brain of the serpent, with no other power brought to bear upon him, then we must conclude that sin in our world, with all the misery and death resulting therefrom, originated in the brain of a serpent, a literal, veritable, talking serpent. If it is true that God created serpents and endowed them, by creation, with the power of speech, where shall we look for specimens of such serpents?
To claim that God made this serpent speak on that one occasion as the angel did the ass of Balaam, would make the beguiling of Eve originate with the Lord instead of in the serpent alone, as Mr. R. claims. This also would seem to make God directly the author of sin. I cannot see that Mr. R.’s position that the talking serpent was made on purpose to deceive Eve, puts the subject in any better light.
With the idea that the devil and his angels, who had revolted, “kept not their first estate,” had been “cast down to tartarus”—the region of space surrounding our earth—and that stung to wrath by thus being thrust from Heaven they should seek to mar God’s work, all is plain. In deceiving Adam and Eve they were showing their wrath—“beguiling” them into sin. That the devil should use the subtle serpent as his medium, causing it to speak, is no more marvelous than that a holy angel could cause a voice to proceed from the mouth of the dumb ass, and neither of these is very marvelous from beings of higher power than man when we reflect that even some men by the power of ventriloquism can cause voices to appear to proceed from objects both animate and inanimate. This is all in harmony with those Scriptures which connect the devil and the serpent, not only in the deception of Eve, but of the whole world.115
After claiming that sin was introduced by the serpent, he says, “The result was, he was made to go upon his belly.” That is true of the literal serpent as the medium of the temptation, but what about the rest of the sentence, “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.” Gen. 3:15. Is this all fulfilled in the warfare of men on snakes, and in the fact that some in their warfare get bitten by the venomous serpents? Does it not rather anticipate the time of which St. Paul speaks in Rom. 16:20: “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” It undoubtedly refers to the fact that Christ, the seed of the woman (Gal. 4:4), shall at last overthrow the devil and all his works.
On page 156, after quoting from St. Peter, and the book of Jude on the fall of angels, he says:—
“It does not tell of angels being expelled from Heaven to engage in marauding expeditions against human interests and divine authority, wherever their caprice might lead them; but of disobedient angels not necessarily in Heaven, being degraded from their position, and confined in the grave against a time of judgment.”
He claims that these angels are a race of beings that existed on this earth prior to the days of Adam, and says that there is no evidence that they were cast out of Heaven. His position on this subject we deny. They “left their own habitation,” and were “cast down to tartarus,” which, as we have before shown, is the region immediately surrounding this earth, and Rev. 12 seems to speak of a time when angels were “cast out of Heaven.” In Ezekiel, chapter twenty-eight, we have an account of what is there called the “anointed cherub”—beautiful angel—who had been in the garden of God, who aspired to “be like the Most High,” in whom iniquity was found, and who was cast out of “the midst of the stones of fire.”
We know of no pre-Adamic race, and know of no necessity for twisting the plain reading of the Bible, and saying that there had been a race of beings on earth when God says, he “made the earth” “it was without form,” and that having brought it into form, he created man to till the ground. As far as the Bible record is concerned, there is not an intimation that there had ever been a race of beings on the earth previous to the time of Adam. It seems to me a mere fancy. Mr. Roberts, however, seeks proof in the fact that after the creation of Adam and Eve God told them to “be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.” He tells us that the word replenish signifies to refill, which he claims is proof that the earth had once been filled with inhabitants, that it was then reduced into a chaotic state to free it from those inhabitants, and that it was now to be “filled again” by Adam’s posterity. This is quite a large theory to build upon one word—replenish, and we will see if that word really affords the least support to such a theory. He says the meaning of the word replenish is to “fill again.” If we look at the English dictionaries no more force is given to that definition than to the one that makes it mean to “fill completely.” As it is the Bible use of the word we have to do with, we will inquire after its meaning. In this case, like his claim that the angels that sinned and were cast to tartarus are now in the grave and dead, all turns upon the true import of a word.
The Hebrew word translated replenish, in Gen. 1:28, is mahleh or mahlah. Gesenius says, “The primary idea seems to be that of abundance, overflow. (a) To fill up or out an empty space with one’s own bulk or abundance. Gen. 1:22, 28; 9:1. Fill out the shields, that is, with your own bodies. Jer. 51:11. (b) To fill a place with anything. Eze. 8:7; 28:16.” He speaks at much length concerning the signification of this word, but nothing to show that it signifies filling the second time.
This word is used with the Hebrew Scriptures about 240 times, and signifies to fill full or to fulfill. It is rendered replenish in Gen. 1:28; 9:1; Isa. 2:6; Eze. 26:2; 27:25; Jer. 31:25; six cases in all. In none of these is there necessarily conveyed any other meaning than that of filling, though in some of these cases as in that of Noah we know from the connection that the thing to be filled had been filled once before. Here are a few examples out of the many which show that the word simply signifies to fill: Gen. 29:27, fulfill her week; Gen. 44:1, fill the men’s sacks with food; Eze. 9:7, fill the courts with the slain; Eze. 10:2, fill thine hand with coals; Eze. 24:4, fill it with the choice bones; Ex. 1:7, the land was filled with them; 1 Kings 18:33, fill four barrels with water; 2 Kings 3:17, that valley shall be filled with water; verse 20, the country was filled with water; 1 Kings 18:35, he filled the trench also with water.
This Hebrew word does not necessarily signify anything but to fill, as any one may see who will examine the Lexicon of Gesenius or a good Hebrew concordance. Those, therefore, who attempt to prove from God’s command to Adam to fill the earth with his descendants, that the earth had been previously filled with a different race whom God had destroyed, build up an argument that has no foundation in fact, for the word replenish in Gen. 1:28 might with the strictest propriety be rendered fill, as the lexicon shows, and as its almost invariable usage in the Hebrew concordance attests.
On the testimony in Rev. 12, which speaks of the devil and his angels as being cast out of Heaven, Mr. R. says, “The book of Revelation speaks of things to come, and deals in symbols.” It is true that this book deals in symbols, but must we conclude from this that there is nothing literal in it? Because St. John was promised a view of “things to come,” must we necessarily conclude that there is no reference made to the past? In the first part of chapter twelve, we read of the birth of the man child who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and who was caught up to God and his throne. In chapter nineteen we read of the one who is to rule the nations with a rod of iron and “his name is called the Word of God.” We see, then, that this man child is Christ, and that we are carried back to the time of his birth, thence through his persecutions by the Roman power, to his ascension “to God and his throne.” With the idea that everything mentioned in the book must be after John’s time, the birth, trial, and ascension of Christ would be placed after A. D. 96, the date of this Revelation.
In Revelation, chapter twelve, we have the dragon as a symbol of Pagan Rome. This power warred against Christ, and against the church—symbolized here by a woman. This power is defeated in its efforts to exterminate the church of God. As our Saviour said of that tribulation, “For the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” Matt. 24:22. While the dragon symbolizes Pagan Rome, the spirit which stirred that power to its acts of terrible persecution upon the people of God was the devil himself. When the power of Pagan Rome was broken, it was really a defeat of the purpose of the devil to overthrow the church of Jesus Christ. There is nothing strange that, as St. John beholds in vision the defeat of Satan’s purposes in the acts of Pagan Rome, the Lord should carry him back to Satan’s expulsion from Heaven by Christ and the good angels. If the good angels had driven the fallen ones out of Heaven, it is no marvel that Christ should defeat the efforts of Satan, through the power of Rome, to overthrow God’s people. Thus we see how it is that this dragon is called, “That old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.”
On page 158, Mr. R. says:—
“It has to be remarked that in the divine dealings with the Jewish nation, there is an absence of everything giving countenance to the idea of a personal devil. In all God’s expostulations with the Jews through his prophets, the appeal is to the people themselves. Their stiff-necked disposition is charged with all the waywardness and wickedness that prevailed. There is no recognition of diabolical agency or occult influence.”
Let us compare a few facts with this statement. Moses was a prophet to the Jews, for the Lord, in making a promise through him concerning a very laudable attempt to approach the definiteness of the Greek.
Paul next uses the expression, done away, in verse 11: “If that which is done away was glorious.” Here he evidently refers to the same thing. Then he says, verse 13, that Moses put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not look to the end of that which is abolished. What is abolished? That which was covered by the vail. Was that the law? No. The vail was not thrown over the tables of stone which Moses held in his hands, but over his face, to hide the glory of his countenance. Paul adds in the next verse that this vail is taken away in Christ.
The Jew is still looking at the vailed glory of the former dispensation. But when he receives the illuminating Spirit of Christ, and sees the surpassing excellence of the ministration of the Spirit, Moses’ vail and Moses’ glory alike disappear, and he beholds only the exceeding glory of the present.
But is not the law called the ministration of death? and has not that given place to the gospel or the ministration of the Spirit? The law is brought in only by allusion, in the language, “written and engraved on stones.” That dispensation is called the ministration of death, because under it the death penalty was visited without mercy upon every open violation of the moral law. And the ministration is said to be written and engraven in stones, because it was a ministration of that which was engraven in stones. Strictly speaking, we know that there was no ministration engraven in the stones; only the ten commandments were there; but connected with those commandments, under the former dispensation, there was a ministration or service ordained by Moses.
This is one of those elliptical modes of expression so common in the writings of Paul. For instance, he says of those who partake unworthily of the Lord’s supper, that they eat and drink damnation to themselves. 1 Cor. 11:29. Not that they literally do that, but the sin they commit in so doing will lead to that. Again he says, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves; for they watch for your souls as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief; for that is unprofitable for you.” Heb. 13:17. What was to be unprofitable? Not simply to have those who bore rule over them give up their account with grief; but it would be unprofitable for them to take such a course as to cause those who watch for their souls to give up their account of them with grief. So Paul says, elliptically, the ministration written and engraven in stones, instead of the ministration connected with that which was written and engraven in stones.
Dr. Bloomfield considers this verse (2 Cor. 3:7) elliptical. In his Greek Testament with English notes, he says on this passage: “I have, in Recens. Synop., shown that the sense of the verse is this: ‘If the ministry or office of promulgating a covenant which, in the letter (when written on tables of stone), brought nothing but death with it, was glorious,’” etc.
The word “ministration” is the same as is rendered “ministry” in the first verse of the following chapter: “Therefore seeing we have received this ministry.” It means the service of a minister. It is certain, therefore, that the language of Paul in verse 7 is elliptical; for there was nothing pertaining to the service of a minister engraved on the tables; but there was a law there in reference to which a minister could perform service; and the ministry connected with it was, under that dispensation, glorious, “so that,” says Paul, “the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold,” what? The tables in Moses’ hands? No; but, “the face of Moses,” the minister who performed the service.
In all this we find no abolition of the law. The law is that to which the ministry of both dispensations relates. Under the former dispensation, this law was written on tables of stone, and the ministry then connected with it was a ministration of death. Under the latter, the same law is written in the heart of the believer, Jer. 31:31-33; Heb. 8:10; and the ministration connected with it is one of mercy. Paul, in 2 Cor. 3, contrasts these ministrations. The dispensation of Moses gives place to that of Christ. The glory of the former is done away by the glory of the latter. But God’s great moral rule of right, the constitution of his government then as now, and now as then, goes through all dispensations and all time, unchanged and unchangeable.
U. S.
DARKNESS AND LIGHT.
By W. M. Healey
BY ELD. W. M. HEALEY.
The Bible is given to us for a light. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psalms 119:105. Daniel said the vision which king Nebuchadnezzar had, was given "for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king." Dan. 2:30. Verse 45 says it was for the purpose of making known what would come to pass after that time. Thus it was to be a light that would cast its rays into the dark future, and light it up before those who may believe and understand this word. The book of Revelation was given to be a light. It is "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass." Rev. 1:1. It was to show, to cast light upon, the future; but it is not said that any but His servants will see anything by it.
The word of God that came to Noah, lighted up the future before him, and he saw that a flood was coming upon the earth; but it shed no light for the great mass of human beings then living. They spent their time in ways most agreeable to their feelings, "And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away." Matt. 24:39. The Bible is so written that those who are seeking for light can find it, while those who prefer darkness can find something upon which to hang their doubts.
We have the power of choice, and God will help us to light or darkness, according to the choice we make. When Jesus was here upon earth, he taught the people so that some saw great light in his words, but others beheld nothing but darkness. This might be so, he taught the multitudes in parables; and the disciples asked him, "Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, "Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given." Matt. 13:10, 11.
Verse 15 tells why it was not given to them to know: "For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." The people here spoken of were to blame for their condition, as they had shut their own eyes and ears. They had fully decided against the teachings of Christ before they had heard them. In fact, this spirit of truth, is probably what Jesus referred to in verse 12: "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever hath not [this spirit of truth], from him shall be taken away even that [what truth] he hath."
When God sent Moses to Pharaoh, he told him that he would harden the king's heart. As Moses and Aaron came into the presence of the king, with their request for him to let the people go three days' journey into the wilderness, to offer sacrifice unto the Lord, he said that he did not know the Lord; and proposed to them that they show some miracle as a sign of the power of their God. Aaron casts down his rod before the king, and behold it becomes a serpent. The sorcerers and magicians are sent for, and each man casts down his rod, and it becomes a serpent. This was enough for the king, and his heart was hardened. Set against the God of Israel and his people, here his unfairness and lack of the spirit of truth was clearly shown. He had made his own choice of the proofs to be given of the power of the Israelites' God; he would test it by miracles, and now the evidence is all in favor of Aaron's God, for "Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods."
When the plague of frogs was upon the land, the magicians had power to work the same miracle and bring them up out of the river; but here their power ended, for they could not destroy them, nor cause them to return to the river. And Pharaoh was obliged to request Moses to entreat his God to remove this plague from them. This was done, and the frogs died.
Even the magicians admitted the plague of lice to be caused by the finger of God. Pharaoh was just the man to occupy the throne at this time, and give God a chance to punish this wicked nation for the manner in which they had treated his people. And God says of him, "For this purpose have I raised thee up." That is, up in power, raised thee to the throne. He rejected the overwhelming evidence of God's power, and clung to the little which the magicians were permitted to have, and his heart was hardened. He was a bad man at the first, and as he rejected evidences of truth he grew worse, his "heart was hardened." And so it ever is; the more a person rejects of the truths of God, the harder he becomes. Paul says in the second chapter of his second epistle to the Thessalonians that just previous to the coming of Christ, Satan shall work with "signs and lying wonders. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And with this cause,"—because they have not received a love of the truth,—"God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
Surely it is a dangerous thing to turn away from truths which God has given us, for in so doing we may expect God to send us all the darkness we want. What a fearful thing it will be to be shut out of the kingdom of God, when we have fully expected to enter there, but find at last that we have been laboring under a delusion sent us because we have neglected some duty, have turned away from some truth. And yet Jesus says that "many will say to me in that day, 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?" Matt. 7:22. This class of persons are those who have professed Christ, and taught in his name, and evidently expect to be among the saved; but Jesus says, "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Verse 23.
In verse 21, Jesus says that they who do "the will of my Father which is in Heaven," are the ones who enter the kingdom. Where will those appear who reject the will of the Father, and talk of Christ as the only one with whom we have anything to do, and claim that he has abolished his Father's will, or law, and established a different will, one of his own? Read and ponder well these words of Jesus; and I pray, dear reader, do not reject any of the light from God's word, lest he reject you and send you strong delusion, and you believe a lie, and at last be damned. It will not avail to cry Lord, Lord, if you have neglected to do the will of the Father.
Those who are deceived may go on breaking the law of God, and have very little trouble with their conscience about the matter, because they are deluded. But like those unbelievers in the time of our Saviour's sojourn upon the earth, if they are deluded they must have made their choice, closed their own eyes to some point of truth, turned away from some duty. We need not reject all of the Bible to be rejected of God. If God makes one duty known to us and we refuse it, is he not justified in turning from us? Those spoken of in Matt. 7:21-23, had not thrown away all the Bible; they taught Christ, and expected to be saved by him; but they did not receive and do the will of the Father. Dear reader, does it mean you?
"MODE OF BAPTISM."
By R. F. Cottrell
BY ELD. R. F. COTTRELL.
OUR caption is a popular phrase extensively used; but what can be its meaning? If baptism means immersion, a definition generally admitted, so much so that the American Bible Union, an association formed from the leading denominations of the day, have been compelled thus to render the term, the mode of baptism can only refer to the manner of immersion, whether with the face upward or downward, or to some other particular manner in which the immersion is performed.
But we hear them talk of being baptized by sprinkling, by pouring and by immersion. If our definition of baptism is correct, this must mean that some are immersed by sprinkling, others are immersed by pouring, others still are immersed by immersion. The greatest objection to these expressions is, that the first and the second are absurd, and the third is tautological.116Another thing worth our observation is, that the object of the action of baptism, as used in the Scriptures, is always the person. Men and women, we read, were baptized. But in sprinkling or pouring, the object of the action is always, properly, the water. The water, and not the person, is sprinkled; the water, and not the person, is poured. The water may be sprinkled or poured upon the person—he may be besprinkled or wet; but he cannot himself be sprinkled or poured, unless he first be dissolved or reduced to a liquid, or a pulverized state. But a person can be immersed; and it was the persons, and not the water, that were commanded to be baptized in the name of the Lord.
Now immersion is admitted on all sides to be valid baptism; but some think sprinkling or pouring will answer equally as well, and we are offered the choice of the three modes. It would be well to choose as judiciously in these things which pertain to our eternal interests, as we would in matters that effect only our temporary, worldly interests. Suppose then a person owes you ten dollars. He offers you a bank bill in payment. You inquire if it is good. The answer is, some say it is good, and some say it is not. But seeing you hesitate, he offers you another bill in its stead. Is this genuine and good? you ask. About like the other, says he; some say it is good, and some say it is worthless. You can find plenty of people, however, that will take either of them. But if you do not like either of them, here is a gold eagle, and now you can take your choice of the three. Would you take one of the bills? No, say you, give me that which all are agreed is good—that which passes current everywhere.
Then be wise in the things of religion; and insult not God, and imperil not your own soul, by choosing a human substitute for a divine institution.
I have always wondered, from my early youth, how men of learning could repeat the following words: "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit," when they only put a small quantity of water upon the head of the candidate. How dare they use those SACRED NAMES in connection with the deliberate and solemn utterance of a falsehood? Will the unwarranted custom of their denomination shield them?
But light is increasing. That baptism is immersion, is a truth in the hands of the common people, and no longer confined to the learned ministry. If ministers are still willing to subvert and abuse this institution, let the people receive the truth. Each one must answer to God for himself.