THE psalmist thus addresses Jehovah: "Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." Ps. 138:2. These words contain an important lesson to all to whom God has graciously revealed his name and word.
1. The name of God is holy, and greatly to be reverenced. He will not hold him guiltless who profanes it. Ex. 20:7; Lev. 19:12. It is a glorious and fearful name. Deut. 28:58. In "the Lord's prayer," before any petition is presented, respect is paid to the name of the Father. Matt. 6:9. Through his name his people overcome their enemies. Ps. 41:5. He will bless them who think upon his name. Mal. 3:16. The reproach that sin and sinners have brought upon his name will yet be removed, and incense will be offered to his name in all the earth. Mal. 1:11.
2. Jesus, the Son of God, bears the name of his Father. He is called God. Heb. 1:8, 9. His name is Wonderful, and the Mighty God. Isa. 9:6. Men should honor him even as they honor the Father. John 5:23. This, so far from robbing God of his honor, glorifies him in the earth, for God is glorified in the Son. John 13:31; 14:13; Phil. 2:11. He is the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person. Heb. 1:3. He is before all things, and by him were all things created. Col. 1:16, 17; John 1:1-3. In him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily. Col. 2:9. Every knee shall bow to him, and every tongue shall confess him. Phil. 2:10, 11. No finite mind can conceive the power and glory of the Son of God. It is not robbery for him to be equal with God. Phil. 2:6. It can be no reproach to the Eternal One to give his name to such an exalted being as his Son.
3. The word of God is glorious. "Every word of God is pure." Prov. 30:5. His word shall stand forever. Isa. 40:8. He will have respect to those who tremble at his word. Isa. 66:2. His judgments are more to be esteemed than much fine gold. Ps. 19:10. His law is better than thousands of gold and silver. Ps. 119:72. The passages of Scripture which speak in praise of the word and law of God are a great multitude.
The honor of his word must be preserved. The Lord will honor all who reverence his word, as this is the basis of all his honor. He who does not maintain the integrity of his word will soon suffer the dishonor of his name. Therefore, they who lightly esteem the word of God, are as guilty as they who profane his name.
4. Man, by transgressing the law of God, became subject to its penalty, death. By disregarding the word of the Lord man fell, and thereby a controversy existed between God and man, which could result only in man's destruction. Man had set himself against the law of God, and the law stood against man. The authority of the law of God is the authority of God himself, and no man can stand in the Judgment unless he is in harmony with the law by which he shall be judged. Eccl. 12:13, 14; Rom. 2:12. The law was right, and man was wrong. The word of God must endure, and therefore man, the transgressor, must fall before it.
5. But help was laid upon One who was mighty. Ps. 89:19. Jesus, the exalted, the glorious Son of God, undertook to rescue man. God is infinitely just, and he will by no means clear the guilty. Ex. 34:7; Num. 14:18. Sin is a reproach upon the name and government of God, and this reproach must be thrown off. This is the work of Jesus in the gospel. To maintain the honor of God is the first object of the gospel. The love of God would lead him to devise a means to save man; but justice must be reconciled and approve the plan. Jesus came, not to please man, but to please his Father. If man will be saved he must renounce his own will, and do the will of God. The first song of the angels, who announced the birth of a Saviour, was not, "good will to man," but, "Glory to God in the highest." Jesus did not undertake to free man from the restraints and requirements of the law which held him under condemnation, but to free him from the bondage of sin,—from his own carnal mind, and to impart to him the ability to serve God in spirit and in truth. Sin perverted his nature and alienated his heart from God, so that without the Saviour's help he could not serve the law of God. Rom. 8:7, 8; cf. chap. 5:1. Jesus saves from sin; he died to put away sin. Matt. 1:21; Heb. 9:26.
God will be just while he justifies the believer in Jesus. Rom. 3:26. He will not relax his justice to please a world in rebellion. To do so would disgrace his name and government. The honor and integrity of his law must be vindicated, either in the death of the sinner, or by a sacrifice of substitution. By means of such a sacrifice, pardon might be granted on such terms as would be honorable to the government, and vindicate the honor of the broken law. It cannot be set aside without disgrace to God. Its claims must be honored, either by obedience or sacrifice. Man had lost the power to render the former; and if he rendered the latter it would be in his own eternal loss. A substitute must be found, or man be left to utter ruin. Jesus was given, and offered himself as the substitute.
6. To save man by becoming a sacrifice to the law, Jesus must become subject to man's conditions. Accordingly, he was "made under the law." Gal. 4:4. "He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin." 2 Cor. 5:21. As he did only that which was pleasing to his Father, he was not a sinner in fact, or in his own person, but by substitution or imputation.
Now the controversy between sinners and the law assumes an importance which had not appeared before.
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Not only man, but the Son of God is subject to the penalty of the divine law. If angels wondered that man stood against the law of God, what must have been their astonishment to behold the Son of God voluntarily take upon himself man's condition, and become subject to the claims of a violated law!
How shall the controversy now terminate? Shall the law enforce its claims upon this divine being, and take him as its victim, or shall man, through his substitute, secure exemption from the demands of the law? The love and the justice of God seemingly enter into the conflict, and appear to be in antagonism. His love must move him to exempt his own beloved Son from the death which the law requires by reason of the condition which he has assumed; his justice requires that on account of his assuming the sinner's condition, as the sinner he must die. To save him from death, under these circumstances, would be to show to the world that he whom the law condemns, may escape without an atonement being made to the honor of the broken law. To let him die would be to vindicate the claims of the law, and to magnify it and the justice of God so as no created being could conceive to be possible. The divine Son of God may now triumph over the law—over justice—and escape the penalty of the transgression which he has assumed, or he may "magnify the law and make it honorable" by yielding to its claims. God may relax his law to save his beloved Son, who bears his own nature and his own name, or he may maintain his justice and magnify his word above all his name. If ever the law of God is to be relaxed; if ever its claims are to be set aside, now is presented the fitting occasion for such a display of divine forbearance. If ever love is to be caused to triumph over justice, now is offered the opportunity. In this we must remember that he was a representative. He stood for others; he died not for himself; the law made its demands on him for their sins. If he triumphed over the law, it was their triumph over justice.
God is love. But love is not the only element in the divine character. His justice is also infinite, and can never be set aside. Love may devise a plan of salvation, but it must be such a plan that justice can approve it, or there will be a conflict of the divine attributes. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. But in this the claims of the law were by no means lost sight of. So far from it, that the beloved Son died a sacrifice to the law, to meet its claims; to lead man back to obedience; to save him, not only from the penalty, but from the dominion of sin; to render pardon consistent with justice; to make salvation possible without dishonor to the divine government; "that God might be just, and the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus." Rom. 3:26.
Some affect to think that we slight the Saviour by honoring the law. But not so. He it is who magnifies the law and makes it honorable. The law was always honorable; it was perfect; it was holy, and just, and good. It marked out the whole duty of man. "We know that the law is spiritual." But carnality and sin had obscured the glory and honor of the law. Jesus restores it to its appropriate position in the world as a spiritual, glorious law, having the love of God for its basis, and love to God and man for its fulfillment. Matt. 7:12; 22:35-40; Rom. 13:10; 1 John 5:3. If any wish to understand how highly God regards his law, how he abhors its transgression, let them look upon the cross of Calvary. See the beloved Son of the Most High God bearing the burden of man's transgression. Hear his cry of agony as he suffers the penalty of sin, and magnifies the justice of the divine law. We slight the Son of God! Far from it. No one can fully appreciate the sacrifice of Jesus, the depth of the divine plan of salvation, the greatness of the work accomplished for man in the life of our Example in obedience, the death of our Sacrifice, and the intercessions of our High Priest, who has not exalted views of the holy law to vindicate which he lived, died, and makes atonement for sin.
Did Abraham, who rejoiced to see the day of Christ, dishonor Christ by keeping the commandments of God? Gen. 26:1-5. Did Moses and the children of Israel dishonor the coming one by obedience to the statutes of the One Lawgiver? Did the prophets dishonor Christ, whose Spirit was in them (1 Peter 1:11), by teaching obedience to the law of Jehovah? Did Christ set an example which would lead to his own dishonor by keeping his Father's commandments? John 15:10. Did the apostles of Christ dishonor their Master by delighting in the law of God, and teaching its holiness and spirituality? Did they repudiate the law because they loved the Son of God, or did they follow his example to magnify the law and make it honorable? Let Paul answer for them: "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law." Rom. 3:31.
"And let all the people say, Amen." J. H. w.
IS SUNDAY THE TRUE SABBATH?
By Dudley Marvin Canright
BY ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.
LAST week we presented fifty-three Bible facts concerning the seventh-day Sabbath, and now we will present those concerning the first day of the week:—
1. The very first thing recorded in the Bible is work done on Sunday, the first day of the week. Gen. 1:1-5. This was done by the Creator himself. If God made the earth on Sunday, can it be wicked for us to work it on Sunday?
2. God commands men to work upon the first day of the week. Ex. 20:8-11. Is it wrong to obey God?
3. None of the patriarchs ever kept it.
4. None of the holy prophets ever kept it.
5. By the express command of God, his holy people used the first day of the week as a common working day for four thousand years, at least.
6. God himself calls it a "working" day. Eze. 46:1.
7. God did not rest upon it.
8. He never blessed it.
9. Christ did not rest upon it.
10. Jesus was a carpenter (Mark 6:3), and worked at his trade until he was thirty years old. He kept the Sabbath and worked six days in the week, as all admit. Hence he did many a hard day's work on Sunday.
11. The apostles worked upon it during the same time.
12. The apostles never rested upon it.
13. Christ never blessed it.
14. It has never been blessed by any divine authority.
15. It has never been sanctified.
16. No law was ever given to enforce the keeping of it; hence it is no transgression to work upon it. "For where no law is, there is no transgression." Rom. 4:15; 1 John 3:4.
17. The New Testament nowhere forbids work to be done on it.
18. No penalty is provided for its violation.
19. No blessing is promised for its observance.
20. No regulation is given as to how it ought to be observed. Would this be so if the Lord wished us to keep it?
21. It is never called the Christian Sabbath.
22. It is never called the Sabbath day at all.
23. It is never called the Lord's day.
24. It is never called even a rest-day.
25. No sacred title whatever is applied to it. Then why should we call it holy?
26. It is simply called "first day of the week."
27. Jesus never mentioned it in any way, never took its name upon his lips, so far as the record shows.
28. The word Sunday never occurs in the Bible at all.
29. Neither God, Christ, nor inspired men, ever said one word in favor of Sunday as a holy day.
30. The first day of the week is mentioned only eight times in all the New Testament. Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2.
31. Six of these texts refer to the same first day of the week.
32. Paul directed the saints to look over their secular affairs on that day. 1 Cor. 16:2.
33. In all the New Testament we have a record of only one religious meeting held upon that day, and even this was a night meeting. Acts 20:5-12.
34. There is not an intimation that they ever held a meeting upon it before or after that.
35. It was not their custom to meet on that day.
36. There was no requirement to break bread on that day.
37. We have an account of only one instance in which it was done. Acts 20:7.
38. That was done in the night,—after midnight. Verses 7-11. Jesus celebrated it on Thursday evening, Luke 22, and the disciples sometimes did it every day. Acts 2:42-46.
39. The Bible nowhere says that the first day of the week commemorates the resurrection of Christ. This is a tradition of men, which makes void the law of God. Matt. 15:1-9. Baptism commemorates the burial and resurrection of Jesus. Rom. 6:3-5.
40. Finally, the New Testament is totally silent with regard to any change of the Sabbath day or any sacredness for the first day.
We have now given nearly a hundred plain Bible facts upon this question, showing conclusively that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord in both the Old and the New Testament.
Please examine our book list given on another page, and read further upon these subjects.
EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE ON THE SUNDAY LAW.
“THE Evangelical Alliance met in the parlors of the Y. M. C. A. building yesterday morning, Dr. Rutherford in the chair. The Secretary, Dr. Wilson, read the following resolutions, the same which had been referred to the Board of Councilors at the meeting held at St. John’s M. E. Church, on Sunday, the 12th inst. The Board made little changes in the resolutions, and reported them back as follows:—
“Resolved, That in the judgment of this meeting the right observance of the Sabbath in St. Louis can be best promoted by the organization of the St. Louis Sabbath Association.
“Resolved, That a committee of — be appointed, with the power to form a general or sub-committee, which shall represent the whole population of the city as far as possible, and thus complete the organization and put it in working condition.
“Resolved, That the organization, when formed, should employ sufficient executive agency to make work effective and permanent.
“Resolved, That the Association provided for seek the co-operation of all classes of fellow-citizens, and that all shall be appealed to to aid in establishing and sustaining an institution which has for its object to secure to all alike the inestimable blessings of a duly observed Lord’s day.
“Dr. Felton said that the resolutions contemplated a civil Sabbath, not a Scriptural one.
“A member of the Board said that it was thought advisable to put the movement on the ground of simply demanding that the laws upon the statute books should be enforced. There were thousands of men who cared nothing for the Scriptural idea of the day, but who would favor it being set apart as a day of rest.
“Rev. Mr. Godbey had not been able to enforce a religious Sabbath among his own congregation, and had little hope of being able to do so throughout the city or State.
“Dr. Wilson was so desirous of giving to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, that he would not touch with a forty-foot pole any movement that tended towards the enforcement of a religious Sabbath upon anybody. All that this movement should look for was the enforcement of the existing laws. Every decision that had been rendered by the Courts in regard to this question had affirmed that the laws upon this subject were founded, not upon divine law, but upon the benefits which accrued to the people.
“Dr. Ganse thought that the movement would best succeed if it were not run by clergymen. It would be more successful if laymen would take the initiatory steps. He was also afraid that the resolutions contemplated a committee too large for the prosecution of effective work. From the very start he had said that what was wanted was to enlist the aid of laymen of wealth and influence who would form a compact Sabbath committee like the New York organization. These are the men who will have influence with the judges, the legislators, and the press.
“Dr. Wilson moved that the blank in the resolutions previously read be filled so as to provide for a committee of five laymen, who should take charge of the work. The suggestion was adopted. On motion of Dr. Marquis, the appointment of this committee was referred to the Board of Councilors.
“The meeting adjourned, to meet again on the last Monday in January.”
We read that the beast [the United States] that was seen “coming up out of the earth” “had power to give life unto the image of the beast [the Protestant church of America clothed with power to punish heretics, and enforce its dogmas under a threat of death] that the image of the beast should both speak” etc. (Rev. 13:11, 14). It is a “Sunday Law*” that the agitators of this question want, and disguise it as the20opposite party may, and do, yet it is plain to be seen from the preceding (clipped from the St. Louis Globe Democrat of Dec. 23, 1880) resolutions of the “Evangelical Alliance” that this Sunday Law party “mean business” by this organization of the St. Louis “Sabbath [Sunday] Association.” Dr. Felton’s remark that the resolutions contemplated a “civil Sabbath,” not a Scriptural one” is very truthful, and also a significant sign of the times, as it is to a counterfeit Sabbath, not to a “Scriptural” one that “a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads,” (Rev. 13:16) has reference. It seems that they have a similar organization in New York, and no doubt there soon will be organizations of this kind in all the large cities of our land. Another very important item, and sign of progress, is the plan of enlisting “laymen of wealth and influence with the judges, the legislators, and the press.”
WM. PENNIMAN.
THE GOAL AND CLIMAX OF ERROR.
By R. F. Cottrell
BY ELD. R. F. COTTRELL.
IN modern Spiritualism may be found almost every error and falsehood ripened and perfected. For six thousand years Satan has been studiously and laboriously engaged in perfecting his scheme to bring all men to believe the great lie which he uttered in Eden—that man is immortal, independent of his Maker, that the threatening of death against sin cannot be executed, because the germ of a god is in man himself; and that it was only necessary for our first parents to disobey God and defy his power, in order to develop this germ and bring it to maturity. “Ye shall not surely die,” said the serpent to the woman, “Ye shall be as gods.” On this passage Dr. Adam Clarke comments as follows: “The tempter through the nachash, insinuates the impossibility of her dying, as if he had said, God has created thee immortal, thy death therefore is impossible; and God knows this, for as thou livest by the tree of life so shalt thou get increase of wisdom by the tree of knowledge.”
And though death actually entered into the world by sin, yet Satan succeeded in persuading first the heathen world that death was not a reality, but that the soul is immortal, being an emanation from God, and consequently a little god itself. The ancient men of God who spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, decidedly opposed this doctrine, declaring positively that all, men and beasts, have one breath or spirit, that the dead know not anything, and that there is no remembrance of God in death, and no work, nor device, nor wisdom, nor knowledge in Sheol—the receptacle of all the dead. While these sacred writers were believed, the devil’s primary doctrine could get no foot-hold in the church.
But when the great apostasy was developed—the “abomination of desolation,” the “man of sin” sitting in the temple of God—when Paganism was baptized into the Christian name, it became necessary, in order, as Luther says, “to make the pope’s pot boil,” to make the immortality of the soul a Christian doctrine, since without it, purgatory, the source of so vast a revenue to the church, could not exist. Hence these heretofore Pagan doctrines must be adopted by the church together. The result is, the Christian world are prepared, by this false teaching, to be easily ensnared by the last great effort of the devil to sustain his first lie, and are ripe for the reception of Spiritualism, which professes to demonstrate the immortality of the soul. independent of, and in opposition to, the Bible, and God its author.
The immortality of man by nature is the leading doctrine of the devil, and Spiritualism is the goal to which it naturally leads. This ism is the climax of Satan’s plan, the key-stone of the structure he has been six thousand years in building.
This is the leading doctrine—the first announced—but not all. It is curious to see how almost every error that has crept into the church, harmonizes with this, and tends to the same result. It shows not only that Satan has been busy, but that he has worked with a view to the grand consummation of his one great plan—to enclose the world in the net of Spiritualism, and lead men to a decided position against God and the Bible.
Death entered into the world by sin; and while Satan declares that there is no death, he must take the ground also that there is no sin. Spiritualism says, “Spiritually and divinely considered there is no sin.” The existence of sin, would show the existence of a law, of which sin is the transgression. Hence if the law of God can be destroyed, there will be no sin, and if no sin, no death—no punishment of sin. The Antinomian views of professed Christians, have paved the way for this consummation of Spiritualism. By the deceptive workings of the “mystery of iniquity,” which developed the “man of sin,” the Sabbath of God’s law was set aside, and the Pagan Sunday, a child of idolatry, was foisted into its place, baptized and christened, the Christian Sabbath. To account for this change, it became necessary to show that the original Sabbath had been abolished. This could not be done, unless it could be shown that the fourth commandment had expired; for it still says, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” And there being no Bible proof that the fourth commandment is abolished, unless the whole code of ten commandments is dead, this position has been fearlessly and shamelessly taken, by men professing the religion of the Bible. The grand result is found in Spiritualism, which teaches that “Good men need no laws, and laws will do bad or ignorant men no good.” “True knowledge removeth all laws from power, by placing the spirit of man above it.” (I am not responsible for the grammar.) How well this chimes with the doctrine that since the first advent we are under grace; and that the Christian needs no law to restrain him. The whole law-changing and law-abolishing system, reaches its goal and culminating point in Spiritualism.
The false doctrine of the conversion of the world, a doctrine that has acquired such popularity in its short life of about two hundred years, has done its part in preparing the way for Spiritualism to convert the mass of men to the devil. And those who will have it that the world is to be converted before the advent, will be obliged to accept of Spiritualism as the converting power.
Again, the doctrine of the spiritual coming and reign of Christ, taught by those who do not wish him to come literally, according to his word, has called men’s minds to look for a mysterious something, which looking will only meet its expectation in Spiritualism. The men of this generation have rejected the truth of the literal advent of Christ at hand, of which the word testifies so clearly—they have said, We will not have the same literal Jesus to reign over us. We will have a spiritual reign for a thousand years first. On the strength of this popular delusion, the leaders of nominal Christianity rejected the Advent doctrine in 1844, as the Jewish church rejected Jesus in his first advent; and they had scarcely got their heel upon the neck of Adventism, in triumph over its supposed failure, ere modern Spiritualism came up, crying, Lo, here! Behold the spiritual coming and reign! The “christs of the last dispensation” are here, and the grand spiritual era has commenced.
Spiritualism is indeed a “strong delusion;” and it is strengthened and upheld by the false doctrines of which we have been speaking. The way has been graded, and the rails have been laid by the professed church, over which the devil is now driving the engine of Spiritualism, propelled by hatred to God and the Bible. And yet many who do not as yet accept of Spiritualism, are still with their might driving the spikes to fasten the rails upon which this engine is running, swifter than the lightning trains of our day. Can they not see the goal to which their teachings are leading men? Why will they not turn from these popular fables to the Bible as it is? It is time for men who would be on the side of revealed truth, to take their position.
JOHN WESLEY IN COLLEGE
By S. N. Haskell
The Missionary.
JOHN WESLEY IN COLLEGE
BY ELD. S. N. HASKELL.
WHILE in college, John Wesley was continually revolving in his mind the fundamental principles and doctrines of Christianity. He had not as yet comprehended the Scriptural simplicity of justification through faith, but depended rather upon his own works as the means of purification, feeling daily conscious of a lack of harmony with God. Such a harmony, or peace with God as admits of no remorseful sense of guilt, was his ideal of personal religion. Could it be attained? and if so would it not be a matter of consciousness? Did not the Scriptures teach that the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God?” Was there not also a Christian perfection taught in the Scriptures; “a perfect love which casteth out all fear.” Not perfection according to the absolute moral law of God, but in its accommodated relation to our fallen race, through the atonement.
His vigilant mother, who seems to have been providentially guided, not only in forming his character in early life, but in judiciously directing his mind in after years, strengthened by her letters the tendency of his mind at this time. “And now,” said she, “in good earnest, resolve to make religion the business of your life; for that is the one thing, strictly speaking, that is necessary. All things besides, are comparatively little to the purposes of life. I heartily wish you would now enter upon a strict examination of yourself, that you may know whether you have a reasonable hope of salvation through Jesus Christ. If you have the satisfaction of knowing this it will abundantly reward your pains; if you have not, you will find a more reasonable occasion for tears than can be met with in any tragedy.”
From the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination John Wesley dissented. “That which contradicts reason,” says he, “cannot be said to stand upon reasonable grounds; and such, undoubtedly, is every proposition which is compatible with divine justice or mercy. If it was inevitably decreed from eternity that a determinate part of mankind should be saved, and none besides, then a vast majority of the world are born to eternal death, without so much as a possibility of avoiding it. Is it merciful to ordain a creature to everlasting misery? Is it just to punish a man for crimes which he could not but commit? That God should be the author of sin and injustice, which must, I think, be the consequence of maintaining this opinion, is a contradiction to the clearest ideas we have of the divine nature and perfections.” His mother confirmed him in these views. “God’s prescience,” she argued, “is no more the effective cause of the loss of the wicked than our foreknowledge of the rising of to-morrow’s sun is the cause of its rising.”
Although not at this time associated together, Charles Wesley’s experience was similar to that of his brother’s. At one period in his early experience John Wesley was inclined to a monastic life. This was attributable, in a large degree, to his study of Rempis’ “Imitation,” and other works of an ascetic character. At this time his mother writes him as follows: “I take Rempis to have been an honest, weak man, who had more zeal than knowledge, by his condemning all mirth or pleasure as sinful or useless, in opposition to so many direct and plain texts of Scripture.” She told him that God had a better work for him to do. Wesley also consulted others upon this subject. “Sir,” said one man who seemed inspired with the right words at the right moment, “Sir, you wish to serve God and go to Heaven; remember you cannot serve him alone; you must therefore find companions or make them.” These words were never forgotten by John Wesley, still his daily habits of life were decidedly monastical in their character.
The rector of Epworth drawing near his end, entreated John to become his successor, and at his death preserve the family from dispersion. This appeal was an affecting one, and the son has been reproached for not accepting it, but he was steadfast in his conviction that a different course of life devolved upon him; and his thoughtful mother seems not to have joined her husband in attempting to divert him from it. The rector died, the family was scattered, and the Epworth rectory faded from history. Soon the disinterestedness of the young divine, in refusing a quiet21rectory, and the comforts of a parental home was tested. General Oglethorpe, the friend and correspondent of his father, was about to conduct a reinforcement to the colony of Georgia, and, in company with his brother Charles, he consented to go to America as a missionary to the aborigines, providing his mother, who was dependent upon her children, would consent. Her reply was such as might be expected by such a woman. “If I had twenty sons,” said she, “I should rejoice that they were so employed, though I should never see them again.”
THE LAST SUPPER.
A SPANISH artist was once employed to paint the "Last Supper." It was his object to throw all the sublimity of his art into the figure and the countenance of the Lord Jesus; but he put on the table in the foreground some chased cups, the workmanship of which was exceedingly beautiful. When his friends came to see the picture on the easel, every one said, "What beautiful cups!" "Ah!" said he, "I have made a mistake; these cups divert the eyes of the spectator from the Lord, to whom I wished to direct the attention of the observer;" and he forthwith took up his brush and blotted them from the canvas, that the strength and vigor of the chief object might be prominently seen and observed. Thus all Christians should feel their great study to be Christ's exaltation; and whatever is calculated to hinder man from beholding him in all the glory of his person and work should be removed out of the way. "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Let the sentiment and language of Paul be ours.
SILVER HILL, NEBRASKA.
By A. J. Cudney
I CAME to this place four weeks ago, and have been holding meetings in a school-house six miles east of town. There were two persons here who had been keeping the Sabbath since last August, and as a result of their missionary efforts, and some SIGNS that had been sent here, several others were interested, three of whom had been keeping the Sabbath two weeks when I came.
The attendance has been very good. The influence of the Holy Spirit has been felt in these meetings, to a greater extent than in any other meetings I ever held. Infidels who for years had spurned the Bible and ridiculed Christianity, have with tears of deep feeling publicly confessed their Saviour, and are now praying to God for the forgiveness of their sins. About twenty have decided to follow Christ. A Sabbath-school of over thirty members has been organized, and furnished with Instructors and a good library. Surely the Lord does work, when we humble ourselves before him.
A. J. CUDNEY.
Dec. 14.
Temperance.
By W. N. Glenn
SUPERFLUITIES.
BY W. N. GLENN.
[Extract from an essay read before the Oakland Health and Temperance Club.]
THIS feature of human life has come to occupy such a prominent position that it seems to demand some attention, some consideration of how it influences almost every phase of society. To come to the point at once, I venture the proposition that the superfluities of life, commonly indulged in, are principally the causes of the hardships endured by the masses. It is the ornaments, the desserts, the stimulants, the revelings, that impel their coveters to an extra strain of brain, or muscle, or purse, to procure the extra enjoyment. We must not deprecate the encouragement of the beautiful to a sufficient extent to arouse and nourish an appreciation of the splendors which nature supplies for our enjoyment, and which more and more expand as the finer sensibilities are cultivated and prepared for the enjoyment of indescribable glories in the immortal kingdom. This is legitimate labor and investment—a laudable ambition. But when every nerve is put to the utmost tension, and the nerve of others borrowed, to produce or procure indulgence to be consumed upon lust, then we have superfluity—intemperance if you please. All superfluity is intemperance.
The principle that "man wants but little here below, nor wants that little long," if universally carried out in practice, would save much unnecessary toil, anxiety and expenditure of means. But practically there is no end to unnecessary wants, and one superfluous indulgence is sure to beget another imaginary need.
The lust for extraordinary things, beyond what true comfort really demands, is to a great extent caused by the disposition to mimic those a little higher in the social scale, as measured by income or official station. The young man who receives thirty dollars a month feels that he must dress as well, fare as sumptuously, and otherwise show off as luxuriantly as he who receives seventy-five or one hundred dollars. And the man or family limited to seventy-five or one hundred dollars a month must keep pace with those whose income is fifty or one hundred per cent. more. And so on up the scale. No one seeks a lower level as a base of requirements in this life, but all human wants seem to have an upward tendency—all the more with continued indulgence. In short, our supposed necessities are generally gauged by what other people have. The question is not, How little can I get along with? but, How much does some one else enjoy? And remonstrance is answered with the query, Why not; are not we as good as they? and if so, are we not entitled to enjoy as much as they?
The frail, ever-tired matron, who don't see how she ever can get her work done, will persist in putting twice as much labor on the extras as would be required on the necessaries. And while panting,complaining and perspiring over the cook-stove, double the effort is bestowed upon the trimmings, and desserts, and relishes, as would be necessary to prepare simple, healthful food.
But it is not all the woman's fault; a stronger than she is no wiser, and her superfluous toil is oftener a sacrifice to the demands of his eye and appetite than for the sake of gratifying herself. If we do not notice so directly the extra labor upon masculine superfluities, it is because men procure theirs ready prepared; but they are nevertheless procured at the cost of labor and thought that had better be at rest, or of means that might be better employed in some more rational manner.
So long as mankind seeks for the acme of happiness in the pleasures or enjoyments of the present, so long will there be a reaching out for things that a higher and holier aim would not crave. So long as man marks out for himself no grander pattern than his fellow-man, and laboriously seeks a co-indulgence with the more opulent or extravagant, so long will he be a slave.
Why is it that, as many men grow "better off," as it is called, their cares, labors, anxieties and troubles increase? Because they continue striving to do as others do who are still better off than they, and the task of "keeping matters square" grows more and more difficult. These are the ones that hard times always strike the hardest. This is the class (rather than the acknowledged poor, who do not try to make other than the poor man's display) that swell the list of defalcations, bankruptcies, insanities and suicides. It is mainly the intemperate efforts to follow the styles and indulge the habits of others that produces the many financial disappointments, social discouragements, and human wrecks, abounding in our midst.
The forbidden tree in the garden of Eden was a superfluity, and the results of Adam's indulgence should be a sufficient warning for all time to come. And the whole line of human history is strewn with demonstrations of the truth that "waste begets want;" that the inordinate desire for surplus accumulations is constantly bringing wretchedness upon the covetous themselves or their victims; and that superfluous eating and drinking, dressing and carousing, and reaching after unnecessary and injurious enjoyment of all kinds, beget the natural fruits of sorrow, misery and regret.