Satan. Christ, this very Michael, had once
cast Satan out of heaven. Rev. 12:7-0.
Could he not justly reproach him, and exalt
himself over him? Had he not been at war
with him for over two thousand years, and
upon every point defeated him when his ser-
vants had been true? Even Enoch had been
translated to heaven. But Christ dared not
bring one railing accusation against him. He
simply said, “The Lord rebuke thee,” and
took Moses and returned to heaven.
But men do bring railing accusations against
their fellow men, and sometimes against their
own brethren. When they do this they often
THE WATCHMAN
“ Speak evil of those things which they know
not; but what they know naturally, as brute
beasts, in those things they corrupt them-
selves.” It always corrupts a man to speak
evil of another in God’s sight. To know a
thing naturally is simply to leave mercy out of
the reckoning. This is a lesson beasts do not
know. But he who speaks evil of another,
criticizes another, whether the accusation be
true or false, places himself on a level with
the beasts, and has begun to walk on the road
that Cain walked, and if he continues, will
end as Cain ended: cursed of God, and an
object lesson to the universe. S. N. H.
The Jewish Sabbath
OprpoNENTS of the Seventh-day Sabbath have
much to say about “the Jewish sabbath.” The
expression is not found in the Bible, so we
may be sure it is not the Sabbath of the Bible
to which this designation belongs. It may
be worth while, however, to inquire whether
there ever was a Jewish sabbath, and, if so,
what was its nature and purpose.
We admit that there was, and is, a Jewish
sabbath. There was an institution with the
Jewish stamp upon it. Christ encountered it
as he met the opposition of the Pharisees dur-
ing his earthly ministry. “Why do ye that
which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath
days?” was the accusation they repeatedly
brought against him. What was the trouble?
Was Christ violating the Bible Sabbath, which
had been proclaimed by Jehovah from Mount
Sinai? — Certainly not; for the transgression
by Christ of one of his Father's command-
ments would have shown that he was at en-
mity with his Father. Jesus said, “I have
kept my Father's commandments.” John 15:
10. Between Christ and his Father there was
ever the most perfect harmony. But he was
. violating the Jewish sabbath; that is, he was
setting aside the Jewish traditions which they
had imposed upon the Sabbath; and this roused
their anger. They were careless of the law
of God, but zealous for their own traditions.
And the very purpose which Christ had in
breaking the Jewish traditions was to honor
the commandments of God. By their tradi-
tions the Jews had made void the law of God.
Mark 7:9, 13. They were trying to worship
God by teaching the commandments of men,
and their worship was vain. Matt. 15:0.
Jesus set aside the commandments of men, to
teach men not to make void the commandments
of God. He broke the Jewish sabbath to teach
men the keeping of God’s Sabbath.
The Jewish sabbath was the sabbath of tra-
dition. It had the Jewish stamp on it. At
the present day we hear a good deal said
about another sabbath in some respects quite
similar to the sabbath of Jewish tradition;
namely, the “American Sabbath.” And it has
the American stamp upon it. It is stamped
with the impress of a large number of Amer-
ican laws. It has also the stamp of American
popular custom. It is a day on which it is
“wrong” for a poor man to hoe in his gar-
den, but all right for a rich contractor to pave
streets; “wrong” for a seventh-day observer
to do chores around his house, but all right
for railway companies to run their cars;
“wrong” to sell bread, but all right to sell to-
bacco; “wrong” to do honest work to sup-
port one’s family, but all right to loaf. And
the foundation of this American sabbath is the
same as the foundation of the Jewish sabbath;
namely, tradition. The Bible nowhere says
the first day of the week is the Sabbath; it is.
only church tradition that says it is. And
now, as formerly, the commandment of God,
plainly saying the seventh day is the Sabbath,
is made void by the traditions of men.
“The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord
thy God.” It has upon it the stamp of God,
the Creator. It is the day upon which the
Creator rested, and which he blessed and
sanctified. His blessing is still on it, to be en-
joyed by the one who keeps it. “If thou
turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from do-
ing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the
Sabbath a delight,” etc, says the Creator in
Isa. 58:13, 14. God’s Sabbath is a day of
delight to the one who observes it. So we
have before us three sabbaths: the Jewish sab-
bath, loaded with Jewish traditions until its
observance had become an intolerable burden;
the American sabbath, loaded with human
statutes and customs contrary to reason and
revelation, and based, like the Jewish sab-
bath, on church tradition; and the Sabbath of
the Lord, which was made in Eden, and has
the delight of Eden still upon it. Reader,
which one of these will you choose? “ Blessed
is the man that doeth this, and the son of man
that holdeth it fast; that keepeth the Sabbath
from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from
doing any evil.” Isa. 56:2, 6. “The com-
mandments of the Lord are right, rejoicing
the heart; . . . and in keeping of them there
is great reward.” Ps. 19:8, 1I.
L. A. 8S.
MA at
CHRIST’S SECONB COMING
U. Smith
time to this earth, is most explicitly
stated. “Unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time with-
out sin unto salvation.” Heb. 9:28. The re-
strictive clause, “ unto them that look for him,”
does not apply to his appearing; for when he
T HE fact that Christ will come a second
I53
comes “every eye shall see him” (Rev. 1:7;
Matt. 24: 30), but only to his bestowal of sal-
vation; for to those only who look for him will
he appear “unto salvation.”
When Christ ascended, the two angels who
remained a moment behind to comfort the
disciples under the shock and sorrow of sepa-
ration from their Lord, exclaimed in thrilling
tones, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gaz-
ing up into heaven? This same Jesus which
is taken up from you into heaven shall so
come in like manner as ye have seen him go
into heaven.” Acts 1:11. This statement is
direct. Its terms are simple and explicit. It
is not ambiguous. It has no double meaning.
Men may disbelieve it; but it can be under-
stood in only one way, and that is, that the
same Christ who ascended, will literally, vis-
ibly, and personally appear again to human eyes
in the clouds of heaven. 1 Thess. 4: 16 states
the same thing; also Mark 13:26; 14:62;
Luke 21:27.
The object of Christ's coming is to reward
every man as his works shall be. Matt. 16:
27; Rev. 22:12. And this is accomplished
by —
First, raising the righteous dead to im-
mortality. John 6:39, 40; 1 Cor. 15: 23,
42-44, 52; 1 Thess. 4:16; 2 Tim. 4:8; Rev.
20:6.
Second, changing all the righteous living
to immortality through the mighty energy of
the Holy Spirit. Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 15:51,
52; Phil. 3:20, 21; Col. 3:4; 1 Thess. 4: 17;
I John 3:2.
Third, destroying all the living wicked. Isa.
6:11; 13:9; 24:1, 3; Jer. 25:32-35; Zeph.
1:2, 3; Matt. 13:38-42; 2 Thess. 1:7- 10;
2:8; Rev. 6:14-17; 19:21. The wicked
dead are reserved for punishment to the sec-
ond resurrection, after the judgment during
the thousand years of Rev. 20:5, following
which, in their cases, the second death ends
all. Rev. 20: 11-15. ’
In view of this great event, the second com-
ing of Christ and the end of all things, the
church is exhorted to watchfulness (Mark 13:
36, 37; 1 Peter 4:7), to sober, righteous, and
godly living (Titus 2:12, 13), to patience,
and love to the brethren (James 5:8, 9), and
to all holiness and godliness in life and con-
versation. Obedience to these exhortations
will secure us a preparation for that day. Dis-
regarding them, we shall find our portion at
last with hypocrites and unbelievers.
NJ
HER MARK
TrAT the papacy claims the change of the
Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of
the week as the mark of her authority, the
following is good evidence. In response to a
letter written to Cardinal Gibbons, asking the
question, “Does the Roman Catholic Church
claim the act of changing the observance of
the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day
of the week as the mark of her power?” the
following was received :—
“Of course the Catholic Church claims that
the change was her act. It could not have
been otherwise, as none in those days would
have dreamed of doing anything in matters