Think Not That I Am Come to Destroy the Law

Let us listen to the words of Christ, the divine Teacher, as they fall from His lips upon the ears of the disciples, who press closely around Him, and upon the ears of the scribes and Pharisees, who watch His every movement, and listen to His every word, hoping to hear something which they can use as an accusation against Him. The vast multitude listen also to words full of grace and truth, spoken in a clear, musical voice. Such words they have never heard from the rabbis.

«Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets,» Christ says; «I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.»

Our eternal well-being has not been left in uncertainty. We need not depend upon the writings of «the Fathers,» or upon commentators, for explanations regarding the law of God. When these men have told us all that they in their human intelligence can, we find that they do not agree. We see such a diversity of opinions that were we to follow them in deciding what is truth, we should be left in confusion and uncertainty. The Lord has told us not to follow these human guides, but to take everything claiming to be Bible doctrine to the Scriptures. «Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him. Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion. And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.»

«The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.» This light was shining forth as Christ in His sermon on the mount gave the true exposition of the law. The traditions, maxims, and false interpretations which had been brought in, had buried the precious jewels of truth beneath a mass of rubbish. Christ rescued these precious jewels, and placed them in the framework of truth. He bade them stand fast forever, to shine in their natural luster, commending truth to the intellect, arousing the slumbering conscience, leading the people away from human tradition to the word of God. Christ taught the people to ask, «What saith the word of the Lord?» I have a soul to save. I cannot afford to be mystified when my eternal well-being is at stake. Because my minister refuses to examine the Scriptures with a heart free from prejudice and stubbornness, because he refuses to admit the binding claims of the law of God, shall I do the same? Shall I refuse to lift the cross? Shall I be guided by preconceived opinions? Shall I lose the way to heaven because the shepherd cries in my ears, Peace, Peace, The Fathers, The Fathers? Shall I turn from the cool snow waters of Lebanon to the turbid streams of the valley?

Many among those who were listening to Christ were not seeking for evidence of the truth of His teaching. Of this they had had altogether too much. What they desired was not evidence, but an excuse to evade truths of eternal importance, which had for their foundation a «Thus saith the Lord.» They did not wish to obey; for obedience involved a cross. So to-day many refuse to put their will on the side of God’s will. They refuse to conform their lives to the great standard of righteousness. They have educated and trained their God-given intellect to make of none effect the law of Jehovah, treating it as a code of moral embarrassment, a yoke of bondage. In the lives of transgressors they see the result of disobedience, yet they will not yield. They are not willing to reason from cause to effect, because Satan has blinded their minds by his sophistry, clothing the truth with a shadow of darkness. Paul’s words to the Galatians, «Who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth?» come sounding down along the line to our time.

But whether the world, or the Church, which has joined hands with the world, obeys or disobeys, the law of God maintains its binding claims, notwithstanding the fact that men claim to have refuted every argument in its favor. The truth still lives; the light still shines; it cannot be put out. In the Dark Ages the Bible was set aside; it was burned. Men tried to banish it from the earth; but how signally they failed! The law of God may be ignored, despised, rejected, trampled upon, but it is still the great standard of righteousness, immutable and indestructible. It is eternal, like the character of Jehovah.

The keenest intellect may try to the utmost of its capacity to make void the law, but behold, the intellect of the greatest men perishes. Men build themselves up, full of a desire for high titles rather than for a growth in grace, but they go down to the grave. Their ambition perishes with them. Their eloquence and genius are forgotten. But God’s holy law, unchangeable, eternal, and immortal, will stand firm forever and ever.

God will test all, even as He tested Adam and Eve, to see whether they will be obedient. Our loyalty or disloyalty will decide our destiny. Since the fall of Adam, men in every age have excused themselves for sinning, charging God with their sin, saying that they could not keep His commandments. This is the insinuation Satan cast at God in heaven. But the plea, «I cannot keep the commandments,» need never be presented to God; for before Him stands the Saviour, the marks of the crucifixion upon His body, a living witness that the law can be kept. It is not that men cannot keep the law, but that they will not.

To-day men dare to charge Christ with being a Sabbath-breaker. Those who repeat this charge, made by the scribes and Pharisees, place themselves on the side of the enemy of God, and directly contradict Christ’s teaching. With sacrilegious words the Pharisees charged Him with transgression, and if they could have fastened crime upon Him, as they flattered themselves they could do, they would have been able to prove that He should be sentenced by the very law He had given. But they could not prove in a single instance that His works were not in perfect harmony with the law.

In His human nature Christ rendered perfect obedience to the law of God, thus proving to all that this law can be kept. He endured the death penalty himself, not to abrogate the law, not to immortalize sin, but to take away sin. It is because He has borne the punishment that man can have a second probation. He may, if he will, return to his loyalty. But if he refuses to obey the commands of God, if he rejects the warnings and messages God sends, choosing rather to echo the words of the deceiver, he is willingly ignorant, and the condemnation of God is upon him. He chooses disobedience because obedience means lifting the cross, practicing self-denial.

The natural mind leans toward pleasure and self-gratification. It is Satan’s policy to manufacture an abundance of this. He seeks to fill the minds of men with a desire for worldly amusement, that they may have no time to ask themselves the question, How is it with my soul? The love of pleasure is infectious. Given up to this, the mind hurries from one point to another, ever seeking for some amusement. Obedience to the law of God counteracts this inclination, and builds barriers against ungodliness. Each person, as a rational human being, is under the most sacred obligation to obey the law. The Spirit has been provided to enable all to do this. Those who transgress the law by resting on the first day of the week instead of on the seventh, bear false witness to the world. God desires His people to uphold the dignity of His law by resting on the seventh day, His memorial of creation.

The ability to enjoy the riches of glory will be developed in proportion to the desire we have for these riches. How shall an appreciation of God and heavenly things be developed unless it is in this life? If the claims and cares of the world are allowed to engross all our time and attention, our spiritual powers weaken and die for lack of exercise. In a mind wholly given up to earthly things, every inlet through which light from heaven may enter is closed. God’s transforming grace cannot be felt on mind or character. The talents that should be used in active piety are ignored and neglected. How, then, can a response be made when the invitation is heard, «Come; for all things are now ready»? How is it possible for a man to receive the commendation, «Well done, good and faithful servant,» when he has been disobedient, unthankful, unholy? He has trained his mind to disregard God’s plainest requirements. He loves the things of earth more than the things of heaven. —