HUMAN FASTS AND FESTIVALS.
By G.
THE sheer formality of the so-called Lenten fast is shown in the fact that the churches that observe it endorse the custom of feasting and carousal as near as possible to its beginning, and as soon as possible after its close. Christ did not begin His forty days' fast in the wilderness with feasting and dancing, nor did He end it in that manner. He was led of the Spirit into the solitude of the wilderness to enter alone upon the solemn fast, which was a fast indeed; and at the close of His spiritual victory over appetite, and false religious display, and worldly ambition, He was prepared to enter upon the work of salvation with more than human power and wisdom. So far from entering into the frivolous amusements of the world at the end of His trial and temptation, He was in a position to say to His disciples, "Follow Me," "I have overcome the world." What spiritual benefit can one expect from a fast the preparation for which has been a midnight brawl, and the close of which is celebrated by a return to such indulgence of passion? But such are all the perfunctory observances of man-made substitutes for vital godliness. Christ Himself ordained all the ordinances that He designed to have observed by the church (baptism, the ordinance of humility, and the Lord's Supper); all other ordinances and festivals are of human invention, and are observed at the expense of "the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."
G.