Installment Sixteen

On our previous installment, Mr. Anderson was coming to the rescue to
counter arguments that anyone who keeps the Jewish Sabbath is guilty
of killing Christ a second time.
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Installment fifteen:

Harold Wilson continued relating his story to Captain Mann:
"The first thing Anderson did was to ask Dr. Spaulding why he called it
'Jewish."
"'Because, with all the other commandments of the old law, it was given
to the Jews,' Spaulding replied. 'And that whole code was abolished at the
cross.' "
"That is what I have always understood,'" said the captain, interrupting
Harold's narration.
"But you won't believe it any longer, I think," said Harold, "after you've
heard this story."
"Anderson asked, 'do you believe, then, that today there is no law against
stealing and murder, and that there is no longer an obligation for children
to honor their father and mother?' "
"Dr. Spaulding then said something that did not amount to much, for he
seemed unable to explain; and Anderson inquired: 'What do you preach
to people when you wish them to accept Christ? Do you not tell them
they are sinners? You certainly do; but the moment you say this, you
are denying your theory, for men are sinners only when they have
transgressed the law. Paul says, you know, that 'sin is not imputed
when there is no law.' "
"A crowd began to gather when Anderson was speaking, and Dr.
Spaulding asked to be excused; but we all insisted he ought to help
finish the conversation he had begun, so he stayed.
" 'Now brother,' Anderson said, 'this has always been true. The only
reason why Adam was a sinner was that he transgressed the law.
All through the history of time, there has been sin; which means
that there has also been a law - God's moral law. Therefore all
through the history of time, likewise, there has been a saviour to
redeem man from the Law's condemnation. Law, sin, and Saviour.
These are the three great outstanding facts in Bible history."
"I gave him my Bible to read from, and he surely gave plenty of
Biblical evidence for what he was saying. He read a text for every
statement he made. 1 John 3:4 showed sin to be transgression.
Romans 5:13 showed that there cannot be sin without law.
Romans 5:12 showed that Adam sinned. Revelation 13:8 showed
that Christ has been a saviour from the very first."
The captain picked up his own Bible and read Revelation 13:8;
for it came to him as a text scarcely known before.
"That does say, young man, that Christ was slain from the
foundation of the world, doesn't it? But I do not exactly under-
stand it."
"Well, Anderson explained it by saying that all the time before
Christ came, people had the Gospel, and were saved by faith in
a redeemer to come. He read Galatians 3:8 and John 8:56 to
show that Abraham knew Christ. Then he read Hebrews 11:26
to show that Moses did also. A man couldn't help but see it."
"Then he showed that Christ was the one who gave the Sabbath
in the beginning. That it was Christ who spoke the Ten Command-
ments. And that it was Christ who went with the Israelites through
all their journeys. Of, course, Dr. Sapulding didn't enjoy it at all;
but he had to acknoledge that what was said was true, for it was
all there in the Bible."
"I couldn't help laughing when, at the last, Anderson asked:
'Spaulding, if Christ made the world (and you admit that He
did), ad if it was He who made the Sabbath and gave it to man
(and you admit that, too), and if he spoke the law on Sinai, and
thus gave the Sabbath again, must it not be that the Sabbath
known back then was the Sabbath of Christ, and therefore the
Christian Sabbath? Spaulding blushed and moved in an odd
way, and then we all laughed. But he said: 'yes,' just the same.
He couldn't help it."
"Then before we left, Anderson said: 'Friends, I am sure you
can all see that the term 'Jewish Sabbath' is an expression
which Christians should not use any more than they should
say the 'Jewish Law of God.' Both the Law and the Sabbath,
which is a part of it, were given at the very beginning 2,500
years before the Jewish nation even existed. The Sabbath
was given to the whole human race; or, as Jesus said, 'The
Sabbath was made for man.' Mark 2:27"
"Dr. Spaulding was upset when we scattered, and he said to
us: 'This has been a kind of one-sided discussion today; but
if any of you want to study this further, come here tomorrow
at two o'clock, and I will show you a few things. You will then
see that this seventh-day business is a pretty small affair."
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To be continued.....