bath. Now let us look at the
Apostle John's testimony.

"And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. He
that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a LIAR, and
the truth is not in him." Now no man, more especially one who professes
to abide by the whole truth, feels entirely easy if he is called a
_liar_. Now John please explain yourself.--Hear him: "Brethren, I write
no new commandment unto you, but an _old_ commandment that ye had from
the beginning. The old commandment is the _word_ which ye have heard
from the BEGINNING." What do you mean by _beginning_? Turn to my gospel,
1st ch. "In the _beginning_ was the word,"--"the same was in the
_beginning_ with God." 1, 2. See Gen. i ch: "In the _beginning_ God
created the heavens and the earth." Then you are pointing us to the
seventh day of creation, in which God instituted the seventh day Sabbath
of rest, for the _old_ commandment in the _beginning_. ii: 3. Certainly
there is no other place to point to. Does not Jesus point to the same
place for the _beginning_ when marriage was first instituted. Matt. xix:
4. In my second letter to the church, I have taught the same doctrines:
viz. "This is the commandment that as ye [28]have heard from the
_beginnings ye should walk in it_." (practice it.) ii: 5, 6. "A _new_
commandment I write unto you." ii: 8 v. This is the one that Jesus gave
us on that memorable night in which he was betrayed, after he had
instituted the sacrament and washed our feet. He said "By this shall all
men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another." xiii:
34, 35. The first then teaches us, Love to God; 2d, to Love our neighbor
as ourself; "on these two commandments (says Jesus) hang all the law and
the prophets." Then we understand this is the essence of the ten
commandments, and if we do not keep the Sabbath we do not love God.
Jesus says, "If ye love me keep my commandments." We are repeatedly told
that the Sabbath was changed or forever abolished, at the crucifixion of
our Lord; and it is stated by the most competent authorities that John
wrote this epistle about sixty years afterwards, and that about six
years after this our blessed Lord revealed to him the state of the
Church down to the judgment of the great day. In the xiv ch. Rev. 6-11,
he saw three angels following each other in succession: first one
preaching the everlasting gospel (second advent doctrine); 2d,
announcing the fall of Babylo