endeavors to excuse his sin. The wrongdoer does not realize the enormity of transgression, and without the convicting power of the Holy Spirit he remains in partial blindness to his sin. It is the duty of Christ’s servants to show these erring ones their peril. Many have gone down to ruin as the result of false and deceptive sympathy. {EP 252.4} Nadab and Abihu would never have committed that fatal sin had they not first become partially intoxicated by the free use of wine. By intemperance they were disqualified for their holy office. Their minds became confused and their moral perceptions dulled so that they could not discern the difference between the sacred and the common. To Aaron and his surviving sons was given the warning, “Do not drink ... when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die.” The use of spirituous liquors prevents men from realizing the sacredness of holy things or the binding force of God’s requirements. All who occupied positions of responsibility were to be men of strict temperance that their minds might be clear to discriminate between right and wrong. {EP 253.1} The same obligation rests upon every follower of Christ. “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people.” 1 Peter 2:9. When intoxicants are used, the same effects will follow as in the case of those priests of Israel. The conscience will lose its sensibility to sin and a hardening will take place, till the common and the sacred will lose all difference of significance. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31. To the church of Christ in all ages is addressed the solemn and fearful warning, “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” 1 Corinthians 3:17. {EP 253.2}
Chapter 32—The Grace of Christ and the New Covenant Adam and Eve at their creation had a knowledge of the law of God; they were acquainted with its claims; its precepts were written upon their hearts. When man fell by transgression, the law was not changed, but the promise of a Saviour was given. Sacrificial offerings pointed to the death of Christ as the great sin offering. {EP 254.1} The law of God was handed down from father to son through successive generations. But few rendered obedience. The world became so vile that it was necessary to cleanse it by the Flood from its corruption. Noah taught his descendants the Ten Commandments. As men again departed from God, the Lord chose Abraham, of whom He declared, “Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” Genesis 26:5. To him was given the rite of circumcision, a pledge to remain separate from idolatry and obey the law of God. The failure of Abraham’s descendants to keep their pledge was the cause of their bondage in Egypt. In their intercourse with idolaters and forced submission to the Egyptians, the divine precepts became still further corrupted with the vile teachings of heathenism. Therefore the Lord came down upon Sinai and in awful majesty spoke His law in the hearing of all the people. {EP 254.2} He did not even then trust His precepts to the memory of a people prone to forget, but wrote them upon tables of stone. And He did not stop with giving them the Decalogue. Moses was commanded to write judgments and laws giving minute instruction as to what 145
