Energetic Workers and a Lively Growth — Great Changes Wrought in Quarter of a Century
FOUR days’ run from Suva, Fiji, brought us to Auckland, New Zealand, on the last day of June. As we sailed down Hauraki Gulf to the Auckland harbor, my wife and I reviewed the mingled feelings of fear and hope we experienced the first time we came down that gulf. It was the evening of November 13, 1886.
At that time we were alone, and we did not know a soul in New Zealand. We were young and inexperienced, and had never before labored outside the United States. Whether we would understand the British people, and whether we would succeed in our new field, without a single experienced laborer to counsel us, was a serious matter with us.
But we had come in response to what we felt sure was our duty, and we hoped in God and prayed for help. And now on returning, our hearts were filled with gratitude as we reviewed the marvelous work the Lord has wrought through His people during the years that have intervened.
Meetinghouse in Auckland, New Zealand
MANY BELIEVERS EXTEND WELCOME
Arriving at the wharf, we found a company of brethren and sisters waiting to welcome us. Among them were Pastor J. M. Cole, the president of the New Zealand Conference; Pastor Westerman, in charge of the work in the city of Auckland; Dr. P. M. Keller; and some of the first believers to accept the truth under our labors twenty-eight years ago.
Our first call, after being located, was on Brother Edward Hare, to whose house we went direct from the steamer when we came out in 1886. We were glad to find Brother and Sister Hare still rejoicing in the message.
Arrangements had been made for a stay of one week in Auckland. The brethren in all the surrounding towns had been invited to spend the week together in the city, and many came in. The meetings were held in the Ponsonby church, which we erected in 1887, at the close of our first series of tent meetings. This was the first church building erected by Seventh-day Adventists south of the equator. It is still a good, clean, creditable building.
Through the faithful labors of others who have been located at Auckland from time to time, this building has not only been kept in good repair and enlarged by an extension at the rear for Sabbath-school and quarterly meeting purposes, but the membership has been more than maintained. There were a hundred members or more when we left, twenty-six years ago, to open a new field a few hundred miles south. But now there are many more; and in addition to this, there has been established a live, active church in another part of the city, with a very neat church building of their own.
SEVENTH-DAY “ADVENTURERS”
Under these circumstances, it was a very great pleasure to visit this city which we entered with so much trepidation more than a quarter of a century ago. When we began our work there, we were called Seventh-day “Adventurers” by some of the ministers who opposed us, and the people were advised to pay no attention to our teaching, for when the winter rains came on, we would pack our “calico church” for fresh pastures, and leave them stranded. Time has proved that we were not “Adventurers”; and when the winter rains came, instead of moving to new pastures, we moved into a substantial building erected by the believers who accepted the message. Instead of our cause proving to be a short-lived, transient affair, it took deep root, remained, and grew. Now it stretches from the North Cape through the whole length of the country to the bluff in the extreme south. Thus it has demonstrated its great vitality and its splendid staying qualities. To Him whose mighty hand guides and guards His own cause be all the praise and all the glory.
ACTIVE MISSIONARY PHYSICIANS
During our stay in Auckland, we made our home with Drs. P. M. and Florence Keller. They have been in this city eight or ten years, and in the Australasian field fourteen years. Since locating in Auckland, they have built up a large practice. They now have more work than they are really able to carry. Dr. Florence is a member of the city hospital board, and also a member of the public schools board. She was elected to these positions by a large vote of the citizens.
Brother and Sister Keller are known throughout the city as earnest, out-and-out Seventh-day Adventists. They are active in church work of all kinds. This makes them a great blessing to the church, and to the cause generally in New Zealand. Brother Keller is one of the elders of the Auckland church, and Dr. Florence works earnestly for the advancement of all lines of missionary interests. The brethren and sisters love them, and feel that the church would sustain a great loss should they be compelled to leave Auckland.
Why should not all our physicians and nurses become strong factors for the advancement and the finishing of our work in every community where they locate?
THE OLD VETERANS AND NEW RECRUITS
From Auckland we journeyed south, visiting our churches at Cambridge, Napier, Hastings, Palmerston North, Wellington, and Christchurch. We had traveled over all this territory during the four years we were located in New Zealand. At Napier we had labored a year and a half, holding meetings in the tent and in public halls until a church was erected. During this time, we organized and directed the colporteur work in the central part of New Zealand. We also organized the New Zealand Conference, and established the headquarters at Wellington, the capital.
It was a great pleasure to visit these places after so many years, and to meet so many brethren and sisters who had embraced the truth in those early days. And it was just as pleasing and cheering to have the privilege of forming the acquaintance of hundreds of new believers who have united with the cause under the faithful labors of those who succeeded us.
SUCCESSFUL AND PROMISING SCHOOL
The New Zealand Conference has established at Palmerston North an excellent school for the education of their young people. It is not a large school; but all things considered, it is one of the most nearly perfect plants we have in our entire list of educational institutions. It is located four miles from the clean, prosperous, growing town of Palmerston North. The soil of the farm is rich. Everything about the building, in material and workmanship, gives evidence of wise planning and thoroughness in its construction.
Brother Joseph Mills, who spent several years at the Avondale Missionary College in its early history, has been in charge of the New Zealand school since the location was fixed at Palmerston North. At the union conference session just held in Sydney, Brother Mills was elected principal of the Avondale Missionary College, and Brother Leonard Paap was chosen principal of the New Zealand school. Both of these young men were but lads when their parents embraced the message. They have grown up in this cause, and have dedicated their lives to its advancement.
Leaving Palmerston North, we went direct to Christchurch, in the South Island. Here we found the church membership larger and stronger than it was at the time of our last visit, fifteen years ago. The brethren had just purchased and fitted up a very neat building, centrally located, for their church362school. We had the privilege of dedicating this plant to the noble work for which it was prepared. All bills were paid, and the school was dedicated free from debt.
Our New Zealand sanitarium is located in an attractive suburb of Christchurch. It was established there about fifteen years ago. Brother Brandstater, who is now both manager and head bath man, has been connected with the institution the most of the time since it was launched. Its patronage, though small, is steady; and the income, I understand, is sufficient to meet expenses. The management told me, with much satisfaction, that quite a large number of the patients who have come to the institution have left rejoicing in the truth. Thus effort is made to have it a strong factor for the spiritual benefit of those who come seeking health.
GROWTH DEMANDS ANOTHER CONFERENCE
Our work in New Zealand closed with a two days’ visit to Wellington, the headquarters of the conference. Brother Cole, the president, who met us at Auckland, remained with us, rendering greatly appreciated service, until we sailed for Sydney. This gave us opportunity to talk over leisurely and thoroughly the needs of the field and the most important steps to take to hasten on the work. We were glad to learn that the brethren had practically decided to organize a second conference. This will be located in the South Island, with headquarters at Christchurch. The membership on the two islands is nearly the same, and the amount of the aid is about equally divided between the two fields.
Naturally this visit to New Zealand was of much deeper interest to us than this report of it can possibly be to those who read it. It revived memories of early struggles, and revealed anew the divine leadership at the head of this cause. The work started in great weakness in this field. It met with strong opposition. It received but little financial support from the home land. Only one draft was ever sent to us from the General Conference treasury. That was for three hundred dollars. With that exception, the mission was entirely self-supporting after our arrival. The leading members of the Hare family, who had embraced the message during Brother Haskell’s visit to New Zealand in 1885, gave the mission generous support from the time we reached the field. It was a great pleasure to meet these dear friends once more. Others who have embraced the message during the years, have rallied to its support. Thus the Lord has kept His cause alive and growing.
FINANCIAL PROSPERITY
At the present time, the conference has seventeen ministers and Bible workers, and a good staff of colporteurs. Besides its evangelical work, it operates a school, a sanitarium, and two vegetarian cafés. Every department is self-supporting, and the treasury carries a good cash balance as a working capital. This field has all the possibilities that make for the steady growth of the cause.
Brother and Sister Cole are in good health, and are greatly enjoying their work. They have the confidence of their fellow workers and the brethren and sisters throughout the field. Nowhere in our travels have we found our people more active and courageous. They give evidence of enjoying a good spiritual experience. Our stay of eighteen days was altogether too short, but we were obliged to hasten on. So we bade them farewell, rejoicing because the work in New Zealand is onward.
A. G. D.
THE JUDGE REGARDED ONE REASON SUFFICIENT
By R. C. P.
The Law Is Clear — The One Reason Is Invincible — Why Multiply Words?
On one occasion, in a railway carriage in the state of Michigan, an intelligent looking man remarked to a Seventh-day Adventist minister: “Now, pastor, I have you just where I want you. I wish you to tell me why you, and the people you represent, observe Saturday instead of Sunday as the Sabbath.”
The reply was given by courteously reading from Ex. 20: 8-11, as follows: “Remember the Sabbath day, 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.”
The minister remarked, after reading the command of God: “That is the first reason I will give you why we keep the seventh day instead of the first,—God in His law commands us to do so. The second reason is —”
THE LAW SUFFICIENT AND PLAIN
At that point, the jurist interrupted, saying, “Please let me take your Bible.” It was handed to him, and he read the commandment over very slowly several times to himself. Finally he said:
“In one respect you remind me of an attorney I once knew who had a case to defend in court. As frequently as the case was called, he would manage in some way to get it postponed. At last the patience of the court was exhausted, and the judge inquired of the attorney why he asked for postponement, as he had had ample time to prepare his case, and the opposing parties were anxious for the trial.
“The attorney replied that there was an important witness it was necessary for him to have, whom he could not then obtain.
“The judge earnestly inquired where the witness was, and why he was not there.
“The attorney replied that there were several reasons why the witness was not present. The first was, he was dead; and the second was —
“‘Well, hold,’ said the judge. ‘If the man is dead, that is sufficient reason why he is not here. We do not care to hear your second reason.’”
Then, with his black, piercing eyes fixed upon the minister, the jurist said: “I ask you for your reasons for keeping the seventh day, or Saturday, for the Sabbath; and in reply, you turn and read a law of God Himself, spoken by His own voice, and chiseled by His own hand upon the granite quarried from the rock-ribbed side of Sinai. And now you propose to give me a second reason.
SHOULD NEVER ASK A SECOND REASON
“My young friend, no man who believes God or God’s word, ever ought to ask for a second reason. Think of it! In the bosom of the only law God ever gave His creatures, that law which is justly regarded as not only the law, but the constitution from which all the legislation of God proceeded—in that law, He tells all His creatures to keep the seventh day, or Saturday, as the Sabbath. I repeat, No one who believes God or His word, can escape from your conclusions; and no second reason is admissible.”
The inquirer was a judge of one of the state supreme courts. He did not speak as a theologian, but as a jurist. Being free from religious prejudices, he spoke the convictions of a mind trained to logical reasoning and logical conclusion. He spoke the inward convictions that every man must have when he looks into God’s law, and reads what Jehovah commands.
WILL BE IN THE NEW EARTH
In the prophecy of Isaiah, the Lord declares that the Sabbath given to man in an unfallen state will not only remain until the kingdom of Christ shall be established in the earth renewed, but will continue eternally in the new earth when the kingdom is restored: “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord.” Isa. 66: 22, 23.
There is therefore no need for any one to misunderstand which day God recognizes as the Sabbath in the present dispensation. He made one Sabbath to be His recognized rest through all eternity. He has never changed it. It will be His recognized rest when the earth is renewed; and He is calling upon His people to prepare to stand before the law of His kingdom, to pass the test of the Judgment, that they may be subjects of that kingdom.
THE TEST OF ADMISSION
That law says: “Remember the Sabbath day, 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 do363any work.” This command of God, with all the others of the ten, demands obedience of us now, and will be the test of our loyalty to God when we seek admission to His kingdom.
No voluntary substitution of any kind will answer in place of simple obedience to the command of God. King Saul tried it, but it cost him his kingdom and his life. The Lord sent to him the message: “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king.” 1 Sam. 15: 22, 23. Since God is unchangeable, the lesson here given is as important to-day as in the past. There is no promise of life except in the pathway of obedience.
“Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev. 22: 14. R. C. P.
A PROTESTANT CLAIM OF CHANGING GOD’S LAW
By J. P. C.
May the Church at Will Set Aside a Statute of Jehovah? — What About These Claims?
In its answers to correspondents, the Living Church of January 23, 1915, has this in reply to “L. C. G.” on the Sabbath question, which now seems to interest so many people:
“The Sabbath is superseded by the Christian festival of the Lord’s day, purely on the authority of the church, which from the beginning has exercised the authority of our Lord on earth in its distinct realm. Those sectarians who rigidly observe Sunday as the Sabbath (which it is not), and yet deny the authority of the church which authorized the observance of the day, are of course wholly illogical.”
THE LABEL IS PROTESTANT
Those who are familiar with the statements contained in Catholic catechisms and other Catholic writings, will at once suspect that this quotation is direct from the same source. But all such will miss their conjecture. The foregoing excerpt is from an organ of the Protestant Episcopal Church, published in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
But with this information, a query, and a very pertinent one, is in order. It is this: Why does that paper claim to be the exponent of “Protestant” religion? And further: What is the nature of its Protestantism? And against what does it protect?
On the point contained in the extract, it certainly is in the same class with Catholic authorities. Take, for instance, this from Coppens’s “Systematic Study of the Catholic Religion,” pages 318, 319:
“The first commandment of the church is: ‘To hear mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation.’” But how came Sunday to be a “holy day of obligation”?
The answer is thus candidly direct in the author’s own words:
“God in the old law had appointed the last day of the week, the Sabbath, to be specially consecrated to His honor. No power but God’s could have dispensed with this obligation. We do not read that Christ did so; on the contrary, we know that He observed it Himself. And yet we also know that the church abolished the obligation of keeping that day, and in its stead instituted the observance of the Lord’s day, the first day of the week. This fact by itself shows that the church from the beginning claimed the fullness of power to have been committed to her, to legislate in God’s name for the followers of Christ.”
BOTH CLAIM THE SAME THING
As extravagant as is the foregoing regarding the authority of the Catholic Church, it is no more so than is the excerpt taken from the Episcopal organ. The latter claims that the church—presumedly with reference to its own organization—changed the Sabbath day, with sufficient authority to make its decrees binding upon all. It goes further to declare that strict Sunday keepers who deny the authority of the church to change the rest day from the seventh to the first, are “illogical.” Why are they to be counted so greatly in error?—Simply because, denying the authority of the church to change the day of rest, they should logically observe the seventh day, as commanded in the Bible.
The Episcopal Church thus fully agrees with the Catholic organization in its advocacy of Sunday observance. In other words, it agrees that Sunday keeping has no higher authority to sustain it than a human council.
On the other hand, the papacy claims, as in the foregoing quotation, that no power but God’s could make the change. Yet it boldly affirms that it did the thing itself, an act which Christ Himself did not undertake, who assumes the leadership of His people, and exhorts them to hear His voice and follow Him.
PLACING THE CHURCH ABOVE GOD
This is no less, in either case, than to exalt the church above the word of God. If the church has power to release one from Sabbath obligation, so strictly and continuously enjoined by the Bible, why may it not also release from any other bond of duty which it fancies to be inconvenient, and which it may point to with lofty speech as evidence of its commission to be God’s viceroy on earth?
In this perfect agreement of the Episcopal Church with the Catholic, in what does the Episcopal body’s Protestantism consist? Let those answer who can discover the difference.
J. P. C.
GREATER WORKS SHALL HE DO
The work of Christ was simply a presentation to the world of what the Father is. The mighty miracles of Christ, His powerful life of righteousness, the gracious words that He spoke, every act of devoted love and mercy, were all to show lost and fallen mankind how much the Father in heaven loves us.
As we review these mighty works of Christ in manifesting the Father to the world, we should not overlook the great promise. We are too apt to think that the mighty works of Christ are ended. We look upon what the Master Himself did, and are lost in wonder and admiration. But do we grasp what He proposes to do through us?
The work of manifesting the Father to the world is not completed. Christ did His part while here upon earth, but He has seen fit to share this work with His followers. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.”
Most blessed promise! “He that believeth on Me,” says the Lord, “the works that I do shall he do also.” Repeat this promise o’er and o’er. Believe it. Feed upon it. And then let the mind be expanded to grasp the still greater promise, “And greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.”
The foundation of all the mighty works of Christ was His completely perfect life. And when He promises that we shall do the works that He did, He gives us the assurance that we shall have power to live His perfect life.
This is the word of the Master, and it cannot fail. But He must have a channel of purity and righteousness through which to work. And if we, as individuals, are to be the instruments of those greater works, we must first yield to His cleansing power, so that He may prepare us for it.
Most inspiring are the promises of the Lord to every one of us. How they should fill us with the deepest devotion to His righteous cause!
MOST TOUCHINGLY TENDER
FATHERS and mothers, suppose you were called upon to make the most priceless gift that is within your power to bestow, in order that you might show your fervent love to another. Would houses, or lands, or silver, or gold, or any other treasure of wealth, be equal to a well-beloved son? There are many treasures that we may prize very highly, but none of them is so priceless in their unspeakable value as our children.
Then when our heavenly Father gave us His Son, He gave us the very dearest, the most incalculably priceless, the most touchingly tender gift that divine love could bestow.
QUESTION CORNER
By Milton C. Wilcox
CONDUCTED BY MILTON C. WILCOX, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA
NOTE.—This department is for the purpose of helping Bible students. Answers must of necessity be brief, often only suggestive, never exhaustive, never infallible only as they agree with the infallible Word. Such questions only will be answered as pertain to the mission of the paper. Questions of the same import cannot be answered repeatedly in the same volume. Name and address must be given, not for publication, but as evidence of good faith and to insure reply by letter if thought best. It is well always to inclose stamp, not stamped envelope, unless answer is desired by letter alone.
2. When did the Jew come into existence? And what difference is there between Jew and Israelite? P. A. S.
1. The passage in Ephesians reads (verses 14-16): “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; and that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby,” or as the margin reads, “the enmity in Himself.”
Now the “enmity,” the apostle tells us in another place, is the carnal mind—the mind of the flesh. See Rom. 8:7: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” When man yielded himself to Satan, his mind was brought into bondage. Previous to this the spiritual mind absolutely dominated, ruled and regulated the mind, but when Satan came in, the God-given spiritual mind went out, and the only mind that was left was the mind of the flesh, which has ever been at enmity to God’s law. Spirit life was lost; only physical life remained.
Our Lord took upon Himself the flesh of man, sinful flesh. He was made of the seed of David, according to the flesh; but the mind of God was in the flesh, and the carnal mind, or the mind of the flesh, was crucified. This mind of the flesh is manifested in ordinances, carnal ordinances; that is, that man by doing something himself can win God’s favor, by doing something himself can overcome sin and put it away; in other words, build up a self-righteousness.
The ceremonial law, in the days of the apostle, had become a system like that. When God first gave it, it was simply an expression of faith. The Jews themselves were trusting in their own works, their own righteousness, in which they hoped to be saved. Our Lord swept that all away. All the efforts of man were nothing, and the blood of Christ alone could save. And the Jew had to accept that just the same as the gentile had to accept it; and both, accepting it in Christ Jesus, were made one in Christ.
That is the lesson in brief of Eph. 2:14-16. The same thought is expressed in Col. 2:13-17. Verse 13 tells us that He has forgiven us our trespasses; verse 14, that He has blotted out “the handwriting of ordinances that was against us.” All those things which grew out of the carnal mind, and which men in that day were trying to make a means of entrance into heaven—all those things which were contrary to us—He took out of the way, and nailed them to His cross, triumphed over sin in every form and every kind, and made new men.
This too included all those ordinances which the Jews themselves held, and which they were using as God never designed they should be used. Consequently if those gentile Colossian Christians were in Christ Jesus, they were not to let the Jews condemn them in meat or drink or in respect of a holy day or of the new moon or of the sabbath days—that is, those ceremonial features which the Jews held to for salvation—which are a “shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”
Now the commandment to have no other gods before the Lord was not a shadow of things to come; nor the commandment, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain”; nor the commandment, “Honor thy father and thy mother”; nor the commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” God’s Sabbath stands. It is not a shadow of things to come. It is a memorial of God’s creative power, and a sign of His present redeeming power. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ writes all the great moral law in the heart of the believer, but it sets aside all those ceremonies or carnal ordinances in which men trust; consequently the Judaisers had no right to judge the believer in respect of those things.
We have a record of these holy days and sabbath days in Leviticus 23. Note that all these are mentioned “beside the Sabbaths of the Lord.” Lev. 23:38. And therefore the conclusion that the apostle draws, following Col. 2:14-16, that the believers are not to be beguiled of their reward; they are not to be turned aside to the worshiping of angels; they are not to be turned aside from trusting in Christ and Christ only, the Head; they are not to be turned aside by the rudiments of the world, subject to ordinances that can do no good, such as “Touch not; taste not; handle not.” We are to trust in Christ and Christ alone.
Gal. 4:9-11 has reference to the same thing, only in a broader sense. Verse 8 declares that the ones to whom the apostle was writing, once did service to them which by nature are no gods; that is, they were heathen. Then they turned to the worship of God; but having backslidden, and giving attention to works of their own, they had gone back to the “weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage.” That is, they were not going back to the Jewish customs and ceremonies; they were going back to heathen customs and ceremonies; they were going back to do service to their own gods which they once worshiped. And as a sign of this, they observed “days, and months, and times, and years.”
Now that does not mean the days that God has given, or the times that God has given, but it means the old heathen days and times and months and years; and among them was the Sunday. And even at that early day probably was manifested the very first tendency toward keeping Sunday. But the apostle said that when they went back to those heathen days and months and times and years, he was afraid of them. We have no such reproof in the whole New Testament regarding the Sabbath.
2. The word “Jew” comes from the word “Judah,” consequently any member of the tribe of Judah was a Jew. It afterward came to be applied to the whole Hebrew people. The first reference we have to it is in Esther 2:5. From that time on, it was used sometimes as synonymous with Israel. In a technical sense, the Israelites would include all the twelve tribes of the descendants of Jacob; the Jew would simply refer to the tribe of Judah; but “Jews” is used for all, and “Israelites” is used for all. In the New Testament, we have both terms used of those who are true and faithful to God. “He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, . . . but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly.” See Rom. 2:28, 29. All who are saved in the kingdom of God will come in through the various gates of the city of the New Jerusalem, and these are named after the twelve tribes of Israel. See Rev. 21:12; Rom. 9:6.
131—THAT WHICH DEFILES
Please explain Mark 7:15-23. Does it mean that we can eat anything and it will be all right? A. M.
It will be seen, by reading the context of this passage, that our Lord was talking to the Jews, not to gentiles. The question of clean and unclean meats did not come into the matter at all. The real question was regarding the Jewish ordinances concerning defilement. The Jews believed that if a man ate with unwashed hands, he was defiled. See the first nine verses of the chapter. Their traditions were so strong in that way that they made the word of God of no effect. What Jesus wanted to show them was this: that no righteousness could come by mere outward acts of men. We could abstain from this or that, but that would not make us righteous. We could wash our hands as we would; that would not make us clean in heart, because all the wickedness of a man’s life springs from his heart.
Now this does not mean that we should ignore cleanliness. The Scripture teaches elsewhere that we should regard it—“cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.” 2 Cor. 7:1; Rom. 12:1. It does not mean that we should ignore the things that we eat, for we should eat and drink to the glory of God. 1 Cor. 10:31. But it does mean this—that no eating or drinking will bring us salvation, and no abstaining from this or that will bring us salvation; “for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Rom. 14:17.
And the apostle adds, “For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.”
Now, a man who occupies that relationship to God will endeavor to eat that which is good, that he may better glorify God, and that he may render better service for God. Consequently he will carry out in his life 1 Cor. 10:31: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” But such a man will not make his life a bondage by questioning this or that or the other thing. He will find, many times, that the best way to do is to carry out the apostle’s instruction to eat what is set before him, making no question for conscience sake. 1 Cor. 10:25. At the same time, he will try to pursue such a course as will set a right example before those who are weak. 1 Cor. 8:13.
That clean and unclean animals do not come into this scripture at all is a thing that should be regarded, because we know that what was good for the Lord’s people then is good for them now; what was bad for them then is bad for them now. However, the Lord does not put upon us the bondage of the ancient law. He wants us to regard the principles in our lives.
Would you kindly explain Gen. 2:2, 3? Some versions set forth the idea that God ended His work the sixth day. A. G. B.
So far as material work is concerned, God did end His work on the sixth day; but it is true, in a larger sense, that His work was finished on the seventh day. That is to say, God made the week for man; and He made also, in that week, the crowning day of that week, the Sabbath. Consequently it would be true that God’s work for the week was not finished until the Sabbath itself was completed, and the finishing of God’s work included His resting just as well as His working. So in a very large sense, on the seventh day God ended His work by resting, blessing, and setting apart the seventh day for a memorial monument to His great creative power. There is no need whatever of departing from the regular translation of both Common and Revised Versions. The Revised Version, however, is better in the sense of “finished His work” rather than “ended His work.”
133—UNDER BONDAGE IN MARRIAGE RELATIONS
Does not the expression, “A sister is not under bondage in such cases,” imply that desertion is a Bible ground for divorce? See 1 Cor. 7:12-16. C. B.
No. The apostle deals with the matter of desertion before in this chapter. See verses 10, 11: “Unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord. Let not the wife depart from her husband; but and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.” It would seem to indicate that the mere matter of desertion is not ground for divorce. This, however, nearly always results: the wife who willfully deserts a husband, or a husband who willfully deserts a wife, will soon become legally connected with other men or women, and ground for divorce follows. But this is not always the case.
Who was it that Paul had reference to as being caught up to the third heaven? J. R. H.
Clearly himself. He tells us, in the first part of the chapter, “I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.” And then he refers to the abundance of revelations which God gave him fourteen years before—views so clear and vivid that he did not know whether he was actually in Paradise bodily, or whether it was only in vision. It is of such that he says he will glory. Verse 5. But of himself in this earthly state he would glory only in his infirmities.
