The Signs of the Times
January 9, 1896
Obedience Better than Sacrifice
The word of the Lord is to be obeyed without question; it is to be the supreme authority in our life. Saul departed from the express commandment of the Lord, and sought to quiet the compunctions of conscience by persuading himself that the Lord would accept his sacrifice, and overlook his disobedience. When Samuel, the prophet, came to meet him, Saul acted as though he regarded himself as a righteous man, and exclaimed, “Blessed be thou of the Lord; I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” But the unmistakable tokens of his disobedience were so manifest that his assertion of obedience was of little weight. “And Samuel said, What meaneth then, this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God.” “And Samuel said, 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.” ST January 9, 1896, par. 1
Though disobeying the express command of the Lord, Saul claimed to have performed the directions, that had been given him; and in this day there are those who claim to be the children of God who take a similar course. But John tells us that “he that committeth sin is of the devil.” ST January 9, 1896, par. 2
There are those who claim to be wholly sanctified, and yet they persist in keeping up an unrelenting warfare against the law of God. We do not need to specify to what class they belong, for John has plainly declared that “he that committeth sin is of the devil.” “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin,” that is, is not found in transgression of the law of God. We are not to be deceived by the high pretensions of those who claim advanced piety; for our Saviour has given us a rule by which to measure their claims. He says: “By their fruits ye shall know them.” “To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” ST January 9, 1896, par. 3
“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity; they walk in his ways. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I have learned all thy righteous judgments. I will keep thy statutes.... Give me understanding, and I will keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.... Take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments. So shall I keep thy law continually forever and ever. And I will walk at liberty; for I seek thy precepts. I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.... O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies; for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers; for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.” ST January 9, 1896, par. 4
The language of David will be the language of every truly obedient and sanctified heart. But those who are continually pouring out bitterness against the law of Jehovah, have another spirit. They are following the leadership of him who first brought sin into the world, and who has worked, and is still working, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. Through his misrepresentations of the law of God, Satan led many of the angels of heaven to take his side in apostasy and rebellion, and by this same method he has secured the world, and even the largest share of the professedly Christian church, to be at enmity with the law of Jehovah. But the fact that Satan has the world on his side, does not argue that the truth is error, or that error is truth. Numbers can not make sin anything but sin,—the transgression of the law of God. ST January 9, 1896, par. 5
“In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil; whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” Every character must be brought to the test of this measurement; but it has been the determined purpose of Satan to tear down the standard of the law of God, and erect in its stead a lower standard, a finite measure by which men may measure themselves among themselves; and thus their ideas as to what constitutes righteousness have become lowered and confused. This is the reason that so large a number who profess to be followers of Christ, claim to be perfect and sanctified when they are sinners in the sight of God. ST January 9, 1896, par. 6
“For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” John refers in these words not to a new commandment, but to the old commandment, which ye heard from the beginning, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” “Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.” Those who are unreconciled to the law of Jehovah, are unreconciled to those who magnify the law of God, calling it holy, just, and good. They manifest the same spirit of bitterness, malice, and hate, as did Cain toward Abel. The younger brother carried out the express direction of God in bringing the sacrifice to the altar; but Cain, exalting his judgment above that of the Infinite, determined to bring an offering according to his own ideas. When the Lord manifested his approval of Abel's course, and refused to accept the offering of Cain, Cain was filled with envy, jealousy, and hate, and slew his brother, whose righteous works condemned his sinful course. ST January 9, 1896, par. 7
Many, many in the Christian world are following a course after the order of that which Cain followed. The Lord has given to men his law, and has promised that he will bless those who keep his commandments. In the fourth commandment he has enjoined upon men the keeping of the Sabbath, a memorial of his creative works and power; but men have sought out many inventions, and Satan has been permitted to wind his way into the faith and doctrine of the professedly Christian church, until the Sabbath of the Lord, the memorial of creative power, has been set aside, and the law made void by sinful men, while a spurious sabbath has been instituted in its place. Men declare that the first day of the week is commemorated in honor of the resurrection of Christ from the dead, when not one line in the word of God can be found requiring this at their hands. “To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” But many sweep away the Ten Commandments entirely, announcing that they were nailed to the cross with the ceremonial law of types and sacrifices. While professing to honor the Son by keeping a day in honor of his resurrection, they pour contempt upon the law of Jehovah, and are following the course of Cain in offering that which God has never commanded, and in ignoring a plain command which he has given. Those who obey the voice of God, as did Abel, receive from the hands of the disobedient, treatment similar to that which Abel met with from the hands of Cain. John says, “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.” ST January 9, 1896, par. 8
The word of God is to be of supreme authority. The Lord says, “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.” God could not change one tittle of his law without ceasing to be supreme. Men can not bend the law of God to suit their ideas, and, failing to bring it into harmony with themselves, they break its commands and violate its precepts. All too late the world will learn that they can not judge the word of God, but that the word of God will judge them. Would that men would consider how foolish and how wicked it is to contend with God! Would that they would cease to oppose their will against the will of the Infinite! Those who oppose God will yet learn that in so doing they have forsaken the only path that leads to holiness, happiness, and heaven. ST January 9, 1896, par. 9