Christ
Reflected
Alonzo T. Jones
1901
Reprinted for the author by
Revelation Messengers Publishing
www.revelationmessengers.com
April 2011
Alonzo Trevier Jones
1850–1923
Alonzo T. Jones was a deep Bible student and loved the Lord Jesus Christ.
He was born in Rock Hill, Ohio in 1850, and at the age of 20 joined the
U.S. Army, where he served until 1873. Following his baptism in 1874,
Jones acquired his knowledge of the Bible through personal study. He
became assistant minister to Isaac Van Horn shortly after, and the
two ministers moved to northwestern Oregon where they held
evangelistic meetings and organized churches. Jones later moved
northward to Washington where he continued this same work and, in
1884, moved to California where he became editor of a Christian
periodical. In 1889, Jones spoke before the U.S. Congress in
opposition to a bill that would require national Sunday observance.
The arguments used and set forth by Jones in the hearing he later
published in book form, titled The
National Sunday Law.
Thus he became known as a prominent speaker on religious freedom.
Among his studies, Jones familiarized himself with world history, as
well as Biblical, and the prophecies contained in the Bible, and this
lead to the authorship of many written works on the subject of Bible
prophecy and their fulfillment as demonstrated in history. Jones
believed that the Bible should be “preeminent” among
those books studied by Christians, stating: “Nothing that is
not Christian can ever properly be brought into the education of a
Christian, any more than can anything that is not Christian be
properly brought into any other phase of the life of the Christian.
Therefore, the Book of Christianity, the Bible, must be the standard
of Christian education.”
Publisher
T
he
Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day, which He Himself has named and
appointed; which He declared with His own voice from heaven; which is
His own, upon which He placed His blessing, which He made holy, and
which He sanctified;—this,
the Sabbath of the Lord, is the sign of what Jesus Christ is to those
who believe in Him. The observance of it by faith—the true
observance of it—brings into the life of the believer in Jesus,
as nothing else can, the living presence and power of Jesus Christ.
This is true, and every man may know it by faith in Jesus.
Let us candidly study this important thought. It is written: “Hallow
my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may
know
that I am the
Lord
your
God.”
There is, therefore, that about the Sabbath by which he who hallows
it may know not only that the Lord is God, but that the Lord is his
God. But to know God is to know not only that
He is, but also what
He is; for His name is not simply “I AM,” but “I AM
THAT I AM,”—I am what
I am, I am that
which
I am,—so that “he that cometh to God must believe that He
is, and
that He
is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek Him,”—must believe not only
that
He is, but also what
He is. Therefore as the Sabbath is a sign which God has set, by which
those who hallow it may know that He is the Lord their God; it
follows with perfect certainty that there is in the Sabbath, that by
which those who hallow it may find the knowledge of God. There is in
it that by which he who hallows it may know what God is to the person
who believes in Him. In other words, the Sabbath is a means of the
revelation of God.
This is yet more
fully seen in the truth that “no man knoweth…the Father,
save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.”
Matt. 11:27. Thus God is known only as He is revealed in Jesus
Christ. What God is, is revealed only through Christ, and can be
known only in Christ. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world
unto himself.” Christ is therefore and forever, “God with
us.” 2 Cor. 5:19; Matt. 1:23.
Now as the Sabbath is God’s sign by which men may know that He is
the Lord, and as He is known only as He is revealed in Christ, it is
the very certainty of truth that the Sabbath is God’s sign by
which those who hallow it may know God as He is revealed in Jesus
Christ,—the sign by which men may know what God is to the
believer in Jesus.
Again: the Sabbath
is God’s sign by which those who hallow it may know that the
Lord sanctifies them. Eze. 20:12. But no man can be sanctified except
by faith that is in Jesus Christ. Acts 26:18. Therefore as the
Sabbath is the Lord’s sign that He sanctifies men, and as men
can be sanctified only by faith in Jesus, it is the plain truth that
the Sabbath is God’s sign by which men may know the sanctifying
power and purity of God, through faith in Jesus Christ.
This is why it is
that only the believer can enter into God’s rest in the
Sabbath, as it is written, “We which have believed do enter
into rest.” And this is why it was that Israel, who did not
believe, could not enter into God’s rest; as it is written, “So
I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.” But
“to whom sware He that they should not enter into His rest, but
to them that believed
not?
So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”
Thus faith in Jesus Christ is and always was the object of the
Sabbath; and the whole life of Sabbath-keeping.
The Sabbath, then, being the sign of what God in Christ is to the
believer, it follows that there must be found in the Sabbath that
which is also found in Christ. In other words, the Sabbath being the
sign by which men may know that God is the Lord; and as God is known
only in Jesus Christ: it follows that in the Sabbath there is the
very reflection of Jesus in what He is to the believer otherwise it
could not be such a sign.
Let us, therefore, look at the Sabbath as God made it: and at what the
Lord did in the making of it by which it became the Sabbath of the
Lord. First, He created all things; then He ceased from His works and
rested the seventh day; He then blessed the seventh day; He made it
holy, and sanctified it. The Sabbath, therefore, is—
The reminder of God as Creator: it is the reminder of His creative power
manifested; for it is a sign between Him and His people forever,
because
that “in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the
seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” Ex. 31:17.
In the Sabbath is God’s rest;
“for He spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this
wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in
this place again [he spoke of the seventh day on this
wise], They shall not enter into my rest.” Heb. 4:4, 5.
In the Sabbath is God’s blessing;
for He “blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because
that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and
made.” Gen. 2:3.
In the Sabbath is God’s holiness;
for “He hallowed [made holy] the Sabbath day.” But it is
only the presence of God which makes anything holy. When Moses,
attracted by the curious sight of the bush
burning with fire
yet not consumed, turned aside
and approached to
behold, “God called unto him out
of the midst of the
bush, and said, Moses, Moses.
And he said, Here am
I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy
feet, for the
place
whereon thou standest is holy ground.”
Ex. 3:4, 5. That place was made holy ground solely by the presence
of “Him who dwelt in the bush.” Again, when Joshua, near
Jericho, beheld “a man over against him with his sword drawn in
his hand,” and Joshua asked him, “Art thou for us, or for
our adversaries?” “he said, Nay; but as Captain of the
host of the Lord am I now come….And the Captain of the Lord’s
host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the
place whereon thou standest is holy.”
Joshua 5:13-15. That which made holy the place whereon Joshua stood,
was the presence of the “Captain of the Lord’s host,”
who was there. And as it is the presence of the Lord which makes
holy; that which made holy the seventh
day,
the Sabbath of the Lord, was the presence
of Him who rested the seventh day from all His works.
The
Sabbath has in it God’s sanctification;
because He not only blessed the seventh day, but sanctified
it,—set it apart unto the holy use and service of the
Lord,—that His presence might dwell therein; for it is not
merely the transient presence, but the abiding
presence,
the special dwelling
of God in a place, which sanctifies; for it is written: “Israel
shall be sanctified by my glory;” for “I will dwell
among the children of Israel, and will be their God.” Ex.
29:43 (margin), 45.
Thus connected with
the Sabbath there is the creative power of God; the rest of God; the
blessing of God; the presence of God which makes holy; and the
continuing, dwelling, presence of God which sanctifies.
And
all this is precisely, and in order, what is found in
Christ
by the believer in Jesus; for—
First
of all, the believer finds in Jesus the creative
power of
God
manifested in making him a new creature; for, “We are His
workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus
unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them.” Eph. 2:10.
The
believer finds in Jesus, God’s rest;
for, having found in Christ creative power to make him new, he
ceases from his own works, as God did from His, and enters into
God’s rest in Christ. Heb. 4:10. Therefore it is written:
“Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in
heart: and ye shall find rest
unto your
souls.”
Matt. 11:29.
The
believer finds in Christ, God’s blessing;
for “God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless
you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.”
Acts 3:26. And “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ,…hath
blessed us
with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly things in
Christ.”
The
believer finds in Christ, the presence of God
to make him holy;
for it is written: “I will not leave you comfortless: I will
come to you….At that day ye shall know that I am in my
Father, and ye in me, and I in you….If a man love me, he will
keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we
will come
unto
him.”
John 14:18-23. And “God would make known [“to his
saints”] what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among
the Gentiles; which is Christ
in you,
the hope of glory.” Col. 1:27.
The believer finds in Christ, God’s abiding,
dwelling
presence
to sanctify
him; for it is written: “If a man love me, he will keep my
words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and
make
our abode with
him.”
(John 14:23); and, “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the
Son of God, God dwelleth
in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:15); “For ye are the
temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall
be my people.” 2 Cor. 6:16.
Thus it is plainly
seen that in the Sabbath is the very reflection of all that the
believer finds in Jesus; and thus it is that the Sabbath is a sign to
everyone who hallows it, by which he knows that the Lord, the Creator
of the heavens and the earth, is his God. And as no one can know God
except as He is revealed in Jesus Christ; and as the Sabbath has
connected with it the suggestion, the reflection, of all that the
believer finds in Jesus; it is plainly God’s sign, by which he
who hallows it may find the knowledge of God as He is revealed in Christ.
In all this it must also be borne in mind that it was in Christ and by
Him that God created all things; for, “In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….All
things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that
was made.” John 1:1-3. “By Him were all things created,
that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers:
all things were created by Him, and for Him.” Col. 1:16. Thus
it was Christ who created all things; it was Christ who rested on the
seventh day from all His work; it was Christ who blessed the seventh
day because that in it He had rested; it was Christ whose presence
made the day holy; and it is the continuing, dwelling presence of
Christ which sanctified, and sanctifies,
the seventh day. It was Christ Himself, therefore, who connected with
the Sabbath of the seventh day that which is the reflection of
Himself, that which is the expression of what He is to the believer
in Him, so that whosoever would hallow the Sabbath might know that
the Lord, who is known only in Christ, is his God.
God’s rest is
in the seventh day; and God’s rest is in Christ. It is
impossible for God’s rest to be in antagonistic places; for as
with God “there is no variableness neither shadow of turning.”
God’s rest is the same wherever it may be. Therefore, God’s
rest being ever the same, God’s rest in the seventh day, and
God’s rest in Christ, is precisely the same rest. And this,
being impossible to be in antagonism, is in perfect unity, and
therefore demonstrates that the
Sabbath is in Christ
and Christ
is in the Sabbath.
A beautiful lesson that shows Christ in the Sabbath and the Sabbath in
Christ, is found in the ancient sanctuary. There was the table of
showbread, upon which were placed, at the beginning of every Sabbath,
twelve fresh-baked cakes. Those cakes remained there until the
beginning of the next Sabbath, when they were replaced by the fresh
bread. Thus at the beginning of every Sabbath the bread was renewed.
The term “showbread” is literally “bread of the
presence;” and signifies Christ the “true bread which
came down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.” This
bread of the presence therefore signified the presence of Christ with
the whole people—the twelve tribes—of Israel. The bread’s
being always there, signified the presence of Christ always with His
people. But this bread of the presence was always there only by being
renewed,
and it was renewed every
Sabbath.
And thus God would teach the people then, and now, and forevermore,
that His
presence in Christ
is renewed
to the believer every
Sabbath.
When the Sabbath is past, however, His presence still abides through
all the days of the week until the next Sabbath, when it is renewed;
and thus is fulfilled the scripture, “My presence shall go with
thee, and I will give thee rest.” Ex. 33:14.
Thus the true
believer in Jesus, the true observer of the true Sabbath, is ever
growing in the knowledge of God as He is revealed in Christ; and thus
the Sabbath is a sign by which he knows
that the Lord is his God, and by His abiding presence He sanctifies
him.
It is so also with the blessing
of God in the Sabbath. When on the sixth day God made the man, “God
blessed them.”
Gen. 1:28. Then came the seventh day, in which God rested, and “God
blessed the
seventh
day.”
Gen. 2:3. Thus both the man and the seventh day were blessed. The man
was blessed before the day
was blessed. Then when that blessed
man
came to that blessed
day,
he found additional
blessing;
and each succeeding Sabbath he found yet additional blessing. And had
he remained faithful, it would ever have been the blessed man coming
each Sabbath to the blessed day; and so he would ever have grown in
the knowledge of God. And
so it is to-day
with every soul whom God has blessed in turning him away from his
iniquities, and who hallows God’s blessed Sabbath day: every
time this blessed
man
comes to that blessed
day,
he receives additional blessing, and so is ever growing in the
knowledge of God.
And thus, whether before man sinned, or since he sinned,
the Sabbath has ever been, and is still, and will ever be, God’s
sign, by which he who hallows it may know
that the Lord, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is his God; and may know what
God is, as He is revealed in Jesus Christ, whether in creation or in redemption.
And what shall we more say? The Sabbath, truly understood, means all of
Christ; and Christ, truly understood, means all of the Sabbath. And
neither can be truly understood without the other. The Sabbath is
God’s sign, and Christ is God’s sign. Christ is God’s
sign spoken against, and the Sabbath is God’s sign spoken
against: and all, “that the thoughts of many hearts may be
revealed.” Luke 2:34, 35. Yet ever He is indeed “the
glorious Lord” (Isa. 33:21); and ever “His rest,”
His Sabbath, is indeed “glorious.” Isa. 11:10.
“Let us
therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His
rest, any of you should seem to come short of it….For we which
have believed do enter into rest.” “And hallow my
Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may
know that I am the Lord your God.” “The seventh day
is the Sabbath
of
the
Lord
thy
God.”
“Thus saith
the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near
to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that
doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth
the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any
evil.” Isa. 56:1, 2.
“If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on
my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord,
honourable; and shalt honour Him, not doing thine own ways, nor
finding thine own pleasures, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt
thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon
the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of
Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”
Isa. 58:13, 14.
“For as the
new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before
me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it
shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one
Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith
the Lord.” Isa. 66:22, 23.
Since, then, the
Sabbath of the Lord—the seventh day—is the key to the
fullness of the knowledge of God as He is revealed in Christ, these
evidences demonstrate that the Sabbath is the key to the true
knowledge of the whole law of God—the Ten Commandments. And
even this thought, in just this way, is revealed in the Scriptures:
When God had brought out of Egypt His people of old time, to bring
them into His own promised land, He said He would prove them whether
they would walk in His law or no. And it was distinctly and alone by
the Sabbath that He proved them as to whether they would walk in His
law or no. Ex. 16:4, 5, 22-30. And now, when He has set His hand the
second time to bring His people into His own promised land, again,
to-day, He will prove all the people whether they will walk in His
law or no. And the test by which to-day He will prove the people
whether they will walk in His law or no, is the same as ever—the
Sabbath—the Sabbath as it is in Christ; for there is no other
law, there is no other key, and He, whose is the law and its key, is
“the same yesterday and to-day and forever.” With Him “is
no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
This article was taken out of the book,
The Great Nations of To-day,
written in 1901 by Alonzo T. Jones. It can be found in the 19th
chapter of that book, under the original title:
The Great Necessity for the Third Angel’s Message.
Although the entire chapter was not here republished in this booklet,
all but the last two paragraphs were, with original grammatical
emphasis and paragraph breaks maintained throughout the study.
“Christ Reflected” is a title created by Revelation
Messengers for republishing purposes, and was done so with the
intention that it be applied strictly to this booklet alone, not to
be assumed as having any original connection with the author’s
writings. It has been renamed for publishing purposes only.
Additional Study Materials Available
The New Covenant and The Law
The Spirit of God
The Importance of Understanding and Keeping God’s Commandments
(According to the
Scriptures)*
Enter His Rest
Sunday (the first day) in the New Testament*
A treatise on God’s Sabbath
The Law before Sinai
The True Israel of God**
The Rusty Woomer Story (Bill Stringfellow)*
What Denomination Should I join? (Lynnford Beachy)
What Must I Do To Be Saved…?
Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled
Changed By The Spirit
A Need For Heavenly Enlightenment
The Faith of Jesus (Alonzo T. Jones)
The Dangers of the Cares of Life
Living for Christ and Keeping His Work
An Investigation of the Scriptures on Truth and its Importance
Anathema Maranatha
The God of Our Fathers
Hidden Truth
Take Your Stand and Fight
By Beholding We Become Changed
Baalmass and Pagan Easter (L. B. Brunk)
Christ In You (Lynnford Beachy)
*Available in Polish **Available in Spanish
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