The Signs of the Times, vol. 10

November 20, 1884

“The Sabbath-School” The Signs of the Times, 10, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

LESSON FOR THE PACIFIC COAST.—DEC. 13

1. Upon whom did Christ pronounce a special blessing? Matthew 5:10. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.1

2. For what did Peter say it was better to suffer? 1 Peter 3:17. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.2

3. For what did Christ once suffer? Verse 18. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.3

4. For whose sins did he suffer? Isaiah 53:5. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.4

5. Why did he thus suffer? 1 Peter 3:18. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.5

6. How did he suffer for our sins? Ib. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.6

7. By what was he made alive? Ib. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.7

8. To whom is it said that Christ preached? Verse 19. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.8

9. By what agency did he preach to the spirits in prison? Verses 18, 19. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.9

10. But who are they who walk at liberty? Psalm 119:45. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.10

11. Who may be said to be in prison? SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.11

12. When was it that Christ by the Spirit preached to those disobedient ones? 1 Peter 3:20. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.12

13. Did the Spirit of God indeed strive with the antediluvians? Genesis 6:3. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.13

14. When did the Spirit cease to strive with them? SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.14

15. To what place do the dead go? Psalm 16:10. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.15

16. Where did Christ go before he ascended to Heaven? Ephesians 4:9. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.16

17. Did the same Jesus that ascended to Heaven also descend into the grave? Ephesians 4:10. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.17

18. Did the soul of Christ go into the grave (hades)? Acts 2:29-32. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.18

19. What Scripture proof can you give that Christ did not preach while in the grave? SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.19

20. When we read that Christ suffered for sin, “being put to death,” does it mean that the soul of Christ suffered even to death? Matthew 26:38; Isaiah 53:10, 12. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.20

21. What had the Lord promised concerning death? Isaiah 25:8. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.21

22. How only could he destroy death? Hebrews 2:14. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.22

23. If Christ himself had not died, what would be the condition of the human race? SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.23

The Scripture which calls out the texts that compose this lesson, is 1 Peter 3:18-20. The text itself teaches a lesson far different from that which is commonly supposed to teach, and the design of the lesson is to correct this mistaken idea. The apostle exhorts Christians to be patient under reproach, even though it be unjust, citing the example of Christ, who, though sinless, suffered for sins, “the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit; by which also he went in preached and to the spirits in prison.” It is concerning this last expression that the misapprehension exists, people supposing that because preaching to the spirits in prison is introduced almost immediately after the death of Christ is spoken of, therefore Christ must have preached to those spirits after his crucifixion and before his resurrection. If this supposition be true, then our previous teaching concerning the state of man has been at fault; therefore we will study the text carefully. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.24

It would be well for those who hold to the theory that Christ immediately after his crucifixion went and preached to the spirits in hades, to compare this text with Luke 23:43, which was studied last week. It is claimed from that text that Christ went at once to Paradise; yet the same persons claim from 1 Peter 3:18-20 that Christ went to some place where the dead were congregated, and preached to them. If one theory be true, the other cannot be. A little examination of this passage will show us that no statement whatever is made in it concerning the condition of Christ between his death and resurrection. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.25

Notice that the statement concerning his preaching to the spirits in prison does not immediately follow the statement that he was put to death. Between these two is the statement that he was “quickened”-made alive. So if we follow the order of the apostle’s statements, we find that the preaching was done while Christ was alive. But on reading the verses still more closely, we find that Jesus did not preached in person at all. It was by the Spirit that he preached. The apostle, having introduced the sufferings of Christ, mentions the fact that he was put to death. But the Bible writers always connect the death and the resurrection of Christ. They do not have Christ put to death, and then leave him. So he says, “put to death in the flesh, but quickened,”-made alive. This is not all, he was “quickened by the Spirit; by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.” The verse teaches simply that the Spirit which raised Christ from the dead, is the very same spirit by which Christ preached to the imprisoned spirits. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.26

Now when did this preaching take place? The twentieth verse contains the answer. “When the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing.” Turning to Genesis 6:3, we read: “And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” Thus we find a harmony between the two passages; the Spirit of the Lord was striving with the antediluvians. Christ was preaching to them, through Noah, but all true preaching is accompanied by the Spirit of God. It is the Spirit that impresses the truth of God upon the heart, and convinces of sin. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.27

“But,” says one, “you forget that those to whom Christ preached by the Spirit, were in prison.” No, we do not. For what purpose was the Spirit upon Christ when he was here on earth? In Luke 4:16-21 we read that Christ read Isaiah 61:1, 2, and said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” That scripture reads: “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to [them that are] bound.” Who are these captives? David says, “I will walk at liberty; for I seek thy precepts.” Psalm 119:45. And from that we would conclude that all others are not at liberty. So Peter says of false teachers, and those who are inspired by them: “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.” 2 Peter 2:19. Paul also teaches that if a man yields himself to sin, he is the servant of sin. Romans 6:16, 17; and in Romans 7:15-24 he gives a graphic description of the struggles of one who is seeking to escape from the cruel bondage of sin. At last he finds liberty in Christ; his servants alone are free man. So then all sinners are in prison; they have transgressed the law of God, and where the laws are not a nullity, transgressors are always consigned to prison. Through faith in Christ, they may get liberty. But this liberty is contingent on their obedience to the law. The Spirit presses the claims of the law home to the heart, and when the sinner repents and accepts the way of truth, the Spirit abides with him. See Romans 8:7-14. In Noah’s time “the wickedness of man was great” (Genesis 6:5); and therefore the Spirit, through the preaching of Noah, was striving to have them repent and find true liberty. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.28

It is not alone for the bearing that the popular theory of this text has on the Bible doctrine of immortality, that it deserves notice. There is a deeper reason. The popular interpretation of both 1 Peter 3:18-20, and Luke 23:43, but only makes these texts contradictory, but overthrows the foundation principles of the gospel. In what way? By virtually denying the death of Christ. When man had sinned, he could not save himself. He could not by any obedience atone for his own sin. Neither would the life of one man answer for the life of another, for all have forfeited their lives by sin. Human sacrifices, then, would avail no more than with the blood of bulls and goats. Nothing but the life of a divine being, one who was sinless, and the giving of the law, could answer for man. Such an one was which Christ. He offered himself freely, not because law had any claim on his life, but that his righteousness might be counted instead of the past transgressions of those who should believe in him, and obey him. But now they tell us that Christ, the divine Son of God, did not die; that only his earthly, human body died, if that be so, then indeed is our faith vain, and we are yet in our sins. With the sorrowing Mary we may say, “They hath taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.” An interpretation that makes such a conclusion necessary should not be held for a moment by those who profess to love the Lord. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.29

That Christ himself did die, there is abundant proof. Aside from the texts which say that the dead know not anything, we have special statements concerning Christ. The Jesus that “ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things,” who now sits at the right hand of God, there making intercession for us, is the same Jesus who “descended first into the lower parts of the earth.” Ephesians 4:9, 10. Not merely his human body, but his soul, which certainly must include his divinity, went into the grave. As we read in Acts 2:29-31, David did not, in the sixteenth psalm, speak of himself, but, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath that he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne, “He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ that his soul was not left in hell [hades, the grave], neither did his soul see corruption.” If, by the resurrection, the soul of Christ was not left in the grave, then it must previously have gone into the grave. Christ himself declared in the garden that his soul was “exceeding sorrowful; even unto death,” and this is just in harmony with the prophet’s statement that he “poured out his soul unto death.” Isaiah 53:12. By death alone could he “destroy him which had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Hebrews 2:14. So then, notwithstanding the theories of man, “the foundation of God standeth sure,” viz., that “Christ died for the ungodly.” E. J. W. SITI November 20, 1884, page 678.30

“Punishment of the Wicked” The Signs of the Times, 10, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

“FOREVER AND EVER”

There is one text that should have received attention in connection with the article concerning the “everlasting fire” into which the wicked are to be cast. Before introducing it, however, and we will briefly review the points already made. SITI November 20, 1884, page 696.1

1. Those only who accept Christ receive eternal life; all others perish. John 3:16. That is, they will be blotted from existence. This is the penalty which was threatened in the beginning, before sin entered, and which is now simply delayed a little in order to allow mankind an opportunity to repent. Thus it is that “the long suffering of our Lord is salvation.” 2 Peter 3:15. SITI November 20, 1884, page 696.2

2. The agent by which the death penalty is to be executed, is fire-“everlasting fire.” We saw that it was “eternal fire” that destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Jude 7), and that by means of “unquenchable fire” the walls and palaces of Jerusalem were devoured. Jeremiah 17:27; 2 Chronicles 36:18-21. We learned also that the “eternal fire” that fell upon the cities of the plain turned them to ashes (2 Peter 2:6), and that this is what is always accomplished when fire is unquenchable. The wicked being likened to chaff, and stubble, it does not tax our imagination in the least to understand how, when cast into unquenchable fire, they will be burned up, and be ashes. Matthew 3:12; Malachi 4:1, 3. SITI November 20, 1884, page 696.3

3. We have also seen that the wicked go into “everlasting punishment.” But this punishment is death (Romans 6:23), so that Matthew 25:46 simply teaches that from the death which the finally impenitent suffer, there will be no resurrection. This point was still further shown by the statement in Psalm 2:12, that even a slight manifestation of God’s wrath causes the one against whom it is directed to perish, and that since that wrath abides on the sinner (John 3:36) there will be no recovery from that perdition. SITI November 20, 1884, page 696.4

The texts already cited are amply sufficient to prove the final utter destruction of the wicked; but we have no desire to evade the point, or to pass by any text which would seem to militate against the positions taken. We therefore turn our attention to Revelation 14:9-11: “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” SITI November 20, 1884, page 696.5

The question is, Does the expression, “the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever,” necessarily imply that the torments of the wicked will never cease? If it does, then there is an unexplainable contradiction between it and those texts which speak plainly of the final extinction of the wicked. But this cannot possibly be; it cannot for a moment be admitted that there are contradictions in the sacred record. This text, then must harmonize with the great mass of testimony already quoted. We might quote authorities on the meaning of the Greek word rendered “forever,” but we shall let the Bible explain this text, just as we have all the others, for it is only when men take it by itself, without regard to other Scriptures, that it presents any objection to the position we have taken in regard to the destruction of the wicked. In the twenty-first chapter of Exodus, the first four verses, we find the law in regard to the length of the time a Hebrew might be kept as a servant. Six years was the limit; after he had served six years, his master was bound to let him go free, for nothing, and allow him to take away as much as he brought with him. If during his term of service he had married one of his master’s servants, she and her children were to remain with the master. In such a case, however, it would often happen that the servant would rather stay with his wife and children than have his liberty; if so, the law made the following provision:- SITI November 20, 1884, page 696.6

“And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free; then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever.” Exodus 21:5, 6. SITI November 20, 1884, page 697.1

Now will anyone claim that the life of that servant, as well as that of his master, was to be prolonged to all eternity? Certainly not; no one can be found who would gather from the above text that either the servant or his master would live any longer than a natural life-time. The text simply teaches that under the special circumstances mentioned, the servant should remain with his master and serve him continuously, as long as he should live. So we find that “forever” does not necessarily mean “to all in eternity.” SITI November 20, 1884, page 697.2

Take another instance: In Isaiah 34:9, 10, we read, concerning the land, here called “Idumea,” as follows: “And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever; from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.” In a similar strain the prophet continues to the close of the chapter; and then we have read: “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.” Isaiah 35:1, 2. These words are spoken of the same land from which, in the preceding chapter, it is that the smoke should ascend for ever. So we see that there does come a time when the smoke does not arise from it; and that is when “the indignation of the Lord upon all nations” shall have been accomplished. Thus again we find that “forever,” even “forever and ever,” does not necessarily imply that there shall be no end. SITI November 20, 1884, page 697.3

This text is the more important to note, as it has a direct bearing on Revelation 14:11. The time when the smoke shall thus ascend for ever, is “the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion” (Isaiah 34:8), and the time when “the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations” (verse 2). This being so, and the fact having been proved that the land does afterward cease burning, and become renewed, we find that we are positively bound to admit that there will come a time when the smoke of the torment of the rebellious ones will cease; and that the statement that it shall ascend for ever and ever, means, as in the other two cases cited, but that it will ascend continuously, as long as there is any wicked in existence. There will be no reprieve in their case, or relaxing of the punishment. The fire which causes the smoke is unquenchable; it utterly devours the sinners; but when they have been devoured, and have become ashes, then the fire will of necessity cease to burn, and likewise the smoke will cease to ascend. SITI November 20, 1884, page 697.4

Read the verses (Revelation 14:9-11) once more. They (the rebellious ones) “shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture.” In our last article we learned (Psalm 2:12) the effect of the wrath of God when it is kindled even a little against the people of the earth; is to cause them to “perish,”-“to come to nothing.” Now if the wicked are made to drink of the “wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture,” certainly the result can be nothing less than their utter destruction. SITI November 20, 1884, page 697.5

We are not attempting to fix the duration of the “tribulation and anguish” which the wicked shall suffer previous to their death, nor to limit it in any way. The statement that “they have no rest day nor night,” implies that it will not be of short duration. That they will suffer anguish for a long time, there can be no doubt; neither can there be any more doubt that this anguish which will eventually be terminated by death; “for the wages of sin is death;” “sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” If we insist that the torments of the wicked never cease, then these texts have no meaning. Yet it must be borne in mind that there is no restoration to the favor of God. No; the wicked shall “go away into everlasting punishment,” even “everlasting destruction.” SITI November 20, 1884, page 697.6

Revelation 14:10 is not the only place where the “wine of the wrath of God” is mentioned. In Jeremiah 25:15 we read: “For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.” The different nations that shall drink of it are then specified, and the list closes with these words: “And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth.” Verse 26. This corresponds with Psalm 75:8: “For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.” Now what will be the result of their drinking of this cup? We turn again to the prophecy in Jeremiah:- SITI November 20, 1884, page 697.7

“Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; ye shall certainly drink. For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts.” “A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord.” “And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.” Jeremiah 25:27-29, 31, 33. SITI November 20, 1884, page 697.8

Thus we see that the drinking of the wine of the wrath of God produces death. They who drink it “fall, and rise no more.” This is perfectly in harmony with what we have previously learned of the effect of God’s wrath, when it abideth on the sinner. But there is one more text to be noticed in this connection, which settles the case absolutely. It is Obadiah 15, 16, which reads thus:- SITI November 20, 1884, page 697.9

“For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen; as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; thy reward shall return upon thine own head. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.” SITI November 20, 1884, page 697.10

What stronger language could be used to show the final utter extinction of the wicked? And let it be remembered that this language is used concerning those who drink of “the wine up the wrath of God,” threatened in Revelation 14:9-11. Certainly all must agree, then, that this latter text, instead of teaching the endless torture of the wicked, plainly shows that day, after suffering for an unknown length of time the “tribulation and anguish” which is their just due, and finally receive the full wages of sin, which is death. E. J. W. SITI November 20, 1884, page 697.11

“The Lord’s Day” The Signs of the Times, 10, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.” Revelation 1:10. Strange as the statement dwell may appear, an examination of this text involves an answer to the question, “Who is the Lord?” Indeed, it may be said that this question covers a large portion of the ground at issue. The fact is not going to any difficulty in the text itself, but solely to the position taken by those who have appropriated the term “Lord’s day” to the first day of the week. They have made the settlement of the question as to what day is meant by the expression “Lord’s day” depend on something which is not, or ought not to be in dispute at all. This fact will be more clearly seen by the following, from an article entitled “The Lord’s Day,” which was sent to us sometime ago for review:- SITI November 20, 1884, page 697.12

“To learn what day is the Lord’s day, it is necessary to know who is the Lord. Adventists deny that Jesus is Lord, therefore they are prepared to deny that that day which gives Jesus must honor is the Lord’s day.” SITI November 20, 1884, page 697.13

If the writer of the above knew anything at all about Seventh-day Adventist (for of course they are the Adventists to whom he refers), he well knew that he was penning a falsehood when he wrote it. It is a good sample, however, of the method of argument (?) by which Sunday has been exalted to, and maintained in, its present position in the professed Christian world. Instead of going directly to the point, and bringing proved-Bible proof-that Sunday is the Lord’s day, its adherents attempt to turn the mind away from a consideration of the real question at issue. They erroneously assume that if Christ is Lord, then Sunday must be the Lord’s day; then they assert that Adventists deny the divinity of Christ. The result is that, in the minds of those whom they can induce to believe their statements, a very natural prejudice is aroused against the Adventist; and in proportion as they become prejudiced against Seventh-day Adventists, they increase in devotion to any institution or practice to which Seventh-day Adventists are opposed. But there is no more reason in the assumption that, because Christ is Lord, therefore Sunday is the Lord’s day, than there would be in the assumption that, because Noah built the ark, therefore he must have been the discoverer of America. And the statement that Seventh-day Adventists deny that Christ is Lord, is nothing less than willful of falsehood. Such methods are adopted only by a man who are conscious that they have no proof for their theory, yet are determined to sustain it at all hazards. Macaulay says that whenever people have made up their minds without knowing why, “discussion ends in scurrility, the last resource of the disputant who cannot answer, and who will not submit.” SITI November 20, 1884, page 697.14

The inspired prophet exclaimed: “O Israel, thy prophets [teachers] are like the foxes in the deserts.” Ezekiel 13:4. The marked characteristic of the fox is craftiness. He will cover up his trail, and resort to various devices to throw the hunters off his track. His characteristic cunning is manifested in deceiving his pursuers as to his relocation, causing them to think that he is in a certain hole when he is far distant. That the prophet, by this figure, aptly describes the supporters of the Sunday-Sabbath, is evident to one who has studied their tactics. Take the case before us, for instance. They accuse us of denying the divinity of Christ in order to divert attention to the real question at issue, and also to conceal the fact that they themselves in reality deny his divinity. For proof of this last statement we offer the following:- SITI November 20, 1884, page 697.15

It is readily conceded that the seventh-day Sabbath was appointed by God himself at Sinai; this is not denied by those who will not allow that it was given at creation. Further, they do not claim that God ever appointed any other day. But they do claim that Sunday should be observed in honor of Christ, and that he sanctioned, if he did not institute, such observance. Thus they make the Father and the Son antagonistic to each other, or, to say the least, they have each one working on a plan of his own, and for his own pleasure. But this is utterly at variance with the truth uttered by Christ, “I and my Father are one.” John 10:30. Unity with the Father is an essential part of the divinity of Christ; and therefore to claim that Christ engaged in a thing that the Father did not, or that he has any interest separate from the Father, is to deny that perfect unity, and, consequently, to deny the divinity of Christ. Since the question of the divinity of Christ is made a prime factor in determining this matter of the Lord’s day, the remainder of this article will be devoted to that point. SITI November 20, 1884, page 698.1

Christ says, “I and my Father are one.” This we must accept as an absolute fact in the sense in which he designed it. He prayed to the Father for his disciples, “that they may be one, even as we are one.” John 17:22. The union between the Father and the Son is the same as should exist between brethren in the faith. It is a union of thought and purpose. See 1 Corinthians 1:10. The will of one is the will of the other. The language of Christ was, “I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart.” Psalm 40:8. Again, “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” John 14:10. A closer union than this cannot be imagined. So close is the union that Christ is called God, as in Isaiah 9:6, and Titus 2:13. In talking with the young man (Matthew 19:16, 17) he himself plainly showed his right to be called God. The apostle Paul, speaking of Christ, says that “in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Colossians 2:9. SITI November 20, 1884, page 698.2

This fact of the unity of the Father and the Son, must of necessity be true at all times, and under all circumstances. Let us see. Jesus is known as the Saviour, the Redeemer of the world. It is through his blood that we have redemption (Colossians 1:14), and besides his name there is no salvation in any other. Acts 4:12. But if he and the Father are one, the Father must have had an equal share in the work of redemption. And so it is. The plan of salvation was not devised and executed by Christ apart from the Father. It is God’s love that is commended to us in the death of Christ. Romans 5:8. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. When Christ was on earth he was doing the Father’s work, for he said, “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” John 4:34. And in harmony with this idea were his words to Mary, “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” Luke 2:49. The message that he bore was from the Father. He himself said, “My doctrine is not mind, but His that sent me” (John 7:16): “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.” John 12:49. And so Paul says that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world under himself.” 2 Corinthians 5:19. Therefore whatever memorials of redemption are observed, must be in honor of God as well as of Christ. SITI November 20, 1884, page 698.3

Again, God is best known as the Creator of the world. This, indeed, is that for which he would be remembered, for his creative power is that which distinguishes him from false gods. See Jeremiah 10:10-12; Psalm 96:5; 2 Corinthians 8:5, 6; Acts 14:15. But if Christ and the Father are one, then Christ must have shared equally with the Father in his work of creation. And so he did. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:1-3. Of the One through whose blood we have redemption, Paul says that “by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him; and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Colossians 1:16, 17. And finally, Paul exhibits the unity of Father and Son in both creation and redemption, in these words: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.” Hebrews 1:1, 2. Thus we learn that it was through Christ that God made the world, and through Christ that God conveyed to lost man his message of mercy. In Christ God’s will is made known and executed, and thus it is that he is called “the Word of God.” SITI November 20, 1884, page 698.4

When we say that all Seventh-day Adventists hold to the truths taught by these scriptures as cardinal points of faith, it will be readily perceived that a denial of the divinity of Christ is not one of their peculiarities. With Peter they believe that God hath made this same Jesus who was crucified “both Lord and Christ;” and they also gladly acknowledge that fact “that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.” John 5:23. In what way they should honor him, will be shown next week. E. J. W. SITI November 20, 1884, page 698.5