From the E.G.White book THOUGHTS FROM THR MOUNT OF BLESSING comes the chapter, The Spirituality of the Law & is where this mornings reading is found. The words of Christ, though calmly spoken, were uttered with an earnestness and power that stirred the hearts of the people. They listened for a repetition of the lifeless traditions and exactions of the rabbis, but in vain. They were astonished at His teaching: for He taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. Matthew 7:29, R.V. The Pharisees noted the vast difference between their manner of instruction and that of Christ. They saw that the majesty and purity and beauty of the truth, with its deep and gentle influence, was taking firm hold upon many minds. The Saviours divine love and tenderness drew the hearts of men to Him. The rabbis saw that by His teaching the whole tenor of the instruction they had given to the people was set at nought. He was tearing down the partition wall that had been so flattering to their pride and exclusiveness; and they feared that, if permitted, He would draw the people entirely away from them. Therefore they followed Him with determined hostility, hoping to find some occasion for bringing Him into disfavor with the multitudes and thus enabling the Sanhedrin to secure His condemnation and death. On the mount, Jesus was closely watched by spies; and as He unfolded the principles of righteousness, the Pharisees caused it to be whispered about that His teaching was in opposition to the precepts that God had given from Sinai. The Saviour said nothing to unsettle faith in the religion and institutions that had been given through Moses; for every ray of divine light that Israels great leader communicated to his people was received from Christ. While many are saying in their hearts that He has come to do away with the law, Jesus in unmistakable language reveals His attitude toward the divine statutes. Think not, He said, that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. It is the Creator of men, the Giver of the law, who declares that it is not His purpose to set aside its precepts. Everything in nature, from the mote in the sunbeam to the worlds on high, is under law. And upon obedience to these laws the order and harmony of the natural world depend. So there are great principles of righteousness to control the life of all intelligent beings, and upon conformity to these principles the well-being of the universe depends. Before this earth was called into being, Gods law existed. Angels are governed by its principles, and in order for earth to be in harmony with heaven, man also must obey the divine statutes. To man in Eden Christ made known the precepts of the law when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. Job 38:7. The mission of Christ on earth was not to destroy the law, but by His grace to bring man back to obedience to its precepts. The beloved disciple, who listened to the words of Jesus on the mount, writing long afterward under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, speaks of the law as of perpetual obligation. He says that sin is the transgression of the law and that whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law. 1 John 3:4. He makes it plain that the law to which he refers is an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. 1 John 2:7. He is speaking of the law that existed at the creation and was reiterated upon Mount Sinai. Speaking of the law, Jesus said, I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. He here used the word fulfill in the same sense as when He declared to John the Baptist His purpose to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:15); that is, to fill up the measure of the laws requirement, to give an example of perfect conformity to the will of God. His mission was to magnify the law, and make it honorable. Isaiah 42:21. He was to show the spiritual nature of the law, to present its far-reaching principles, and to make plain its eternal obligation.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 10:45:19 +0000
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