Christ for the remission of sins, and were complete in him, they were warned of Paul against deceivers who sought to bring them under the bondage of the law, and therefore he continues from verse 11, saying, "In whom ye also are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ; buried with him. in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who raised him from the dead; and you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it."

Now what is the conclusion of all this? This is what it is: He commands them plainly and says, "Let no man therefore judge you in meats or in drinks, or in respect of an holy day, or in the new moon, or of the sabbath days." (The word days is inserted in Italics, but it is a superfluity, and out of place here, not being in the original.) Therefore in this Scripture Paul points out the sabbath as one of the ordinances of the law that had been taken out of the way, and nailed to the cross of Christ.

What then must be the darkness of men's minds, and how completely blinded must these religious teachers be who cannot see so simple and plain a matter as this! And it is well for these misguided teachers of the darkness of this world that the sabbath law as God gave it to Israel is not in force among us, for if it were, and the penalties carried out as they were upon the man who picked up sticks to build a fire on the sabbath day, it would obliterate most, if not all, the preachers in the country, as well as others from off the face of the earth for sabbath desecration.

The conclusion of the whole matter as it concerns the sabbath day, then, is this, that we are under no command from God to keep it; so that if we keep one, we are none the better, and if we do not, we are none the worse. Christ is Lord of the sabbath day and he, instead of requiring us to keep it, has exempted us from its operations, and nailed it to his cross, and taken it out of the way. Therefore laying aside the clerical yoke of bondage, it is a good and wise thing to cease from labor as far as practicable on the seventh day, or one day in seven, as a day of rest for man and beast, and also to afford opportunity for religious gatherings, and especially for searching the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make us wise unto salvation through the faith which is in Jesus Christ.

REPRESENTATIVE MEN

Who are the men and teachers in the days of Christ and the apostles who represent in their doctrines, hopes and manners the great body of religious teachers in the churches and religious organizations of the world known as Christendom in the present day, who lay claim to be followers of Christ, and many of whom claim to be successors to the apostles? But Jesus said, “By their fruits ye shall know them"; for men are not always what they claim to be, as Paul said to Titus concerning certain teachers in his day, "They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable and

disobedient and unto every good work reprobate" (or as the marginal reading hath it, "void of judgment ").

Therefore it is by comparison that we may determine as to whom the great body of bishops, cardinals, doctors of divinity and clergy of those days follow after, whether it is Christ and his apostles, or those on the other hand who opposed Christ and his apostles. First, the scribes and Pharisees were great champions and advocates of the sabbath, insomuch that when Jesus did for men and women on the sabbath day what they did for a sheep or an ass, to relieve them from their misfortunes or sufferings, they were angry with him, and said to the people, "There are six days to work; in them come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day "; and they sought to take him and put him to death for breaking the sabbath, not knowing and realizing that he was Lord also of the sabbath day, and taught that the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.

Now our scribes and Pharisees of these times follow hard after those of old and appear to be just as much under the veil as they were of old, and although the Lord of the sabbath nailed it to his cross, and took it out of the way, and exempted the Gentile converts to the faith from keeping the sabbath day, some of the Pharisees who had believed and were baptized with their eyes about half open took up the story in the church of their brethren outside, to bring the Gentiles under bondage to their law, to keep holy days, and especially the sabbath day; and the clergy of our day follow hard after them also, and in defiance of the apostles' decrees; and be it remembered that the decrees issued by the apostles did by no means stop the opposition from maintaining their own cause; they continued their wicked works, and we have to this day the fruits of their doings manifest before our eyes.

Second, the scribes and Pharisees of old were under the veil spread over all nations, and believed the doctrine of the immortality of the soul which they claim is a disembodied spirit which, when the man is dead, enters immediately into his reward. Jesus, to rivet their delusions upon them, spake to them the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, which we have explained more fully elsewhere, and in which he sets forth their own doctrine more clearly than they themselves could do. And this very parable which was spoken to the scribes and Pharisees to blind their eyes is accepted by our modern teachers as their chief argument in support of the doctrine which they hold in similar form to the way the scribes and Pharisees did before them, not realizing that this parable was not spoken to these blind guides to open their eyes, but to close them up more closely, as it is written, "Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but unto them that are without all these things are done in parables." Now note particularly the purpose for which that was done: "That seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them." But the key is put in this parable, so that a wise man need not be deceived by it, "Ye have Moses and the prophets," they will tell you whether dead men are alive or not, and whether they enter upon their reward when they die, or when the trumpet shall sound, and they rise from the dead.

These considerations indicate that the men of old who represent the men

of the clerical orders of our day, are not to be sought for in Christ and his apostles, but rather in the ranks of the opposition; and when we examine into the merits of the claims of the chief dignitaries of the Protestant and Catholic churches, that they are successors of the apostles, we find them wanting. There were no successors to the apostles, as no one coming after them could possess the qualifications that they had, and that a man must have, to fill the office of an apostle of Christ. For instance, when a man had to be elected to fill the place of Judas, he had to qualify as Peter declared, namely, "Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection." This statement to any person possessing common sense should settle the question without controversy, that no man since the days of the apostles could claim to be an apostle, or a successor to an apostle, for the object for which these twelve men were chosen was that, after being personally cognizant of all that was done from the days of John the Baptist all the while that Jesus went in and out among the people. until the day that he was taken up into heaven, they might be witnesses of Christ's resurrection. And how were they witnesses of Christ's resurrection? Why, as Peter testified when he baptized the household of Cornelius, saying, "We are witnesses of all things that he did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree; him God raised from the dead the third day and showed him openly, not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead." This is the testimony that an apostle had to give of his apostleship, and all such evidence is wanting in all subsequent pretenders. Paul also was called and became a witness of Christ's resurrection, as Jesus appeared to him alive after his passion, of which Paul bore witness among the Gentiles and Jews.

RELATION OF JEWISH CHRISTIANS TO THE LAW

The "apostles' decrees" clearly determine the relations of Gentiles who had turned to God, to the law, but not that of the Jews. On the contrary, the Jews who had believed the gospel and had been baptized into Christ continued to circumcise their children, and to walk according to the customs of the law, to keep holy days, and the sabbath day, and to offer sacrifices as they had done before Christ came. This on first thought to some might appear very strange, and even contradictory to many things that Paul taught in his letters to the churches, and is therefore a matter that should not be passed over without proper attention.

Some years after the conference, Paul desired to be present at Jerusalem. on the day of Pentecost, and so it is said in the narrative as set forth in the twenty-first chapter of the Acts, "And after those days, we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem. There went with us also certain of the disciples of Cæsarea, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge. And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly, and the day following, Paul went in with us unto James, and all the elders were present, and when he had saluted them,

he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles through his ministry; and when they heard it they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, Brother, how many thousands of the Jews there are which believe, and they are all zealous of the law: and they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore? The multitude must needs come together, for they will hear that thou art come. Do this therefore that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them: them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them that they may shave their heads, and all may know that those things whereof they were informed of thee are nothing, but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves. from things offered to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication.

"Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them, entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them. And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel, Help! this is the man, that teacheth all men everywhere against the people and the law and this place; and further, brought Greeks into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place (for they had seen before with him, in the city, Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple). And all the city was moved, and the people ran together; and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple, and forthwith the doors were shut."

I have cited these Scriptures to show the difference between Jews and Gentiles touching the law, that while the Gentiles were exempt from the operations of the law of Moses save in the four items mentioned in the decrees of the apostles, it was not so with the Jewish converts to the faith. They still continued to walk according to the law, and all the apostles including Paul with them; and therefore the Jews which were from Asia, where Paul had labored, when they could not put Paul down by fair means, determined to put him down by lying and foul means if possible. These Jews from Asia would no doubt belong to, or sympathize with the opposition in the conference, who fought against Paul and determined to bring Gentiles under the yoke.

Now some have been foolish enough to suppose that Paul dissembled, when he took the advice of the other apostles, and took a vow upon himself and consented to have an offering made for himself according to the law of Moses, to show that all the charges brought against him by the men of Asia were false, and that this was in violation of his written letters. But this is a great mistake. Paul's letters were written to Gentiles, and were intended to guard them from being beguiled by false teachers who sought to have them circumcised, that they might glory in the flesh, and bring them into bondage. Now to prove that Paul was innocent of the charges brought against him, refer to his letter to the Corinthians (I Cor. 7: 17-19) where he says, "But as God

hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk." And now note this saying of Paul in this place, " And so ordain I in all the churches." And this is now what he ordains, saying, "Is any man called being circumcised? (that is, a Jew). Let him not become uncircumcised. Is any man called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised." And why? we might ask. 'Because," Paul continues, "circumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God." This one statement of Paul's fully exonerates him from the slanderous reports of the men of Asia; and again he says, "For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature; and as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God" (Gal. 5:6).

But some may say, If circumcision and walking according to the customs of the law of Moses availed nothing, then why were the Jews who believed still required to continue with those things? And why were the Gentiles forbidden to do them, and told by Paul that if they were circumcised, Christ would profit them nothing, and more, that they had fallen from grace? First, Jews were born under the law. The law of Moses, was the law of their country; they knew no other. It served to regulate all their political, religious, and moral relations; and the law was of a typical and shadowy character, so that it foreshadowed good things to come. It was a schoolmaster, and led up to a better righteousness than that contained in itself, and therefore while the Jewish Christians were zealous of the law, they were made distinctly to understand that their justification and salvation before God did not rest upon the works of the law, as they were only shadows of the substance, which was Christ himself: he is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. And they were circumcised and walked after the customs because they were Jews and under the law by birth. Peter distinctly stated in the conference the position of both Jews and Gentiles, saying, "We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved, even as they," that is by faith, independent of the works of the law.

Second, for the Gentiles who had believed and obeyed the Gospel by being baptized into Christ, and who therefore, as Paul says, were complete in him," - for them now again to seek justification by the works of the law was to repudiate Christ and seek another justification, outside of him, and thereby make themselves transgressors, for if Jews under the law could not be justified by that law, how foolish then must a Gentile be under the guidance of false teachers, to seek justification through that wherein the Jew had failed.

But it must not be forgotten that the things of which we have spoken relate only to Jews and Gentiles who had obeyed the gospel of Christ, and not to Jews or Gentiles outside, at all. Jews that were disobedient and rejected Christ, remained outside under the law, as before Christ came; in fact their condition now was in reality worse than it was before, because now they had broken God's covenant by rejecting Christ, and therefore the curses of the law lay heavy upon them; and the Gentiles who had rejected God's command which he sent to all nations to repent and obey the Gospel, and who had refused to do so, remained outside as mere cyphers, to live out their days and die and perish like sheep, neither known nor respected by their Creator whose