Signs of the Times, Vol. 14, No. 13. (3/30/1888)

Signs of the Times

Mar 30, 1888

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 30, 1888

General Articles.

By Mrs. E. G. White

FAITH AND WORKS.

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

THE tendency of the popular religious teaching of the day is to make the Christian's pathway as easy and attractive as possible. There is a great deal said concerning faith, but the necessity of performing the sacred obligations set forth in the word of God, the necessity of living consistent, godly lives, of being workers together with God, of denying self, of coming out from the world and separating from its fashions and follies, is not presented as it should be presented, from the pulpits of the land. "Believe, only believe," is the burden of the instruction from the sacred desk. Repentance, confession, and thorough reformation in life and character are not dwelt on, or required from those who would take part in the privileges of church-fellowship. The line of distinction between the church and the world has become less positive, because the great standard of righteousness has not been the standard by which the faith of men and women was tested and proven. "Only believe" is echoed by thousands who catch up the words parrot-fashion, and repeat them with no sense of their importance or significance. Says the prophet, "They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace."

Many of these religious teachers have developed characters in harmony with their shallow appreciation of divine truth. It has been agreeable to their carnal hearts to be released from all responsibility and obligation. They did not desire the inconvenience of denying self, of taking up the warfare against besetting sins, and of correcting the defects that marred their characters. They have persuaded themselves that Christ has relieved them from the duty of purifying themselves even as he is pure. They declare that Christ has done all, that men have nothing to do but to believe, that good works are impossible and unnecessary. Such souls are deceived themselves and are agents used of Satan to deceive others. They do not believe in Jesus. If they had a connection with him, they would know that he is not the minister of sin. Those who have faith in the Son of God make manifest what is the character of his mission, by lives of devotion, integrity, and self-sacrifice, and prove to the world that he came, not to save men in their sins, but from their sins. He "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

The apostle Paul realized what his words meant when he said, "I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." He knew it meant the surrender of every power of his being to the service of God. It meant an entire renouncing of the world, the flesh, and the devil. It meant that he must follow in the blood-stained path of the Man of Calvary, and walk even as he walked.

How different is the faith that is presented to the world to-day as essential to salvation. It has no vitality, no reality. It does not unite the believers as branches to the living Vine. It is not the faith that works by love and purifies the soul. It is a formal, nominal acceptance of a popular story, and has about as much efficacy as the faith that accepted Abraham Lincoln as a good administrator of governmental affairs. Genuine faith will show definite results in the character, and will exert a controlling influence over the thoughts of the heart, and the affairs of the life. It will lead its possessor to practice the principles of his belief. Says Jesus, "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven." "Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock." Says the apostle, "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." It is the doing of the words and works of Christ that testifies to the saving qualities of your faith.

The law of God is the great standard of righteousness, and it will measure every man's profession and progress. It is a mirror which discovers the defects of our characters, and shows us the requirements of God. It is holy and just and good. Says the wise man, "Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." When Jesus was asked by the lawyer, "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? he said unto him, What saith the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live."

The law of God condemns all selfishness, all pride of heart, every species of dishonesty, every secret or open transgression. The natural heart is not inclined to love its precepts; or obey its requirements. "It is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." But genuine faith in Christ converts the heart, works a change in its attitude to the law, until it delights in the law of God. The man who manifests enmity to the law has not submitted to the converting power of God. It is the keeping of the commandments that proves the sincerity of our professions of love. Says John, "This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous."

Satan is engaged in leading men to pervert the plain meaning of God's word. He desires that the world should have no clear idea in regard to the plan of salvation. He well knows that the object of Christ's life of obedience, the object of his suffering, trial, and death upon the cross, was to magnify the divine law, to become a substitute for guilty man, that he might have remission for sins that are past, and grace for future obedience; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in him—and he be transformed and fitted for the heavenly courts. Satan knows that no transgressor of the divine law will ever enter the kingdom of Heaven, and to rob God of the devotion and service of man, to thwart the plan of salvation, and work the ruin of those for whom Christ died, is the motive that actuates his warfare against the law of Heaven. He caused the fall of the holy pair in Eden by leading them to lightly esteem the commandment of God, to think his requirements unjust, and unreasonable, that they were not binding, and that their transgression would not be visited, as God had said, with death.

The law of God is the foundation of his Government in Heaven and in earth, and as long as the follower of Jesus imitates his Lord by exalting the divine precepts in word and life, Satan has no power to deceive or mislead his soul.

The fatal deception of the religious world is the old disregard for the claims of the law of God. The desire for an easy religion that requires no striving, no self-denial, no divorce from the follies of the world, has made the doctrine of faith, and faith only, a popular doctrine; but we must sound a note of warning. What saith the word of God? Says the apostle James, "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? . . . Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well; the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness; and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only."

The testimony of the word of God is against this ensnaring doctrine of faith without works. It is not faith that claims the favor of Heaven without complying with the conditions upon which mercy is to be granted; it is presumption; for genuine faith has its foundation in the promises and provisions of the Scriptures.

The Jews had faith of a similar character to that of many professed Christians to-day. They believed the prophecies predicting the advent of Messiah; but their faith was not of that spiritual nature which discerned in the Son of God the Saviour of their expectations. They could not accept the work of God for their time, and they rejected the truth because their faith did not see the relation of the shadow to the substance. They clung tenaciously to the offering of their sacrifices, to the rites of the church and the traditions of the fathers; but they refused the Lamb of God, the great anti-type of all the services of the past. They were very zealous for the observance of form, and claimed to trust in Moses and the prophets; but he who had inspired the words of the Scriptures, and whose life was the fulfillment of their prophecies, was a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense. He did not meet their ideal of what the coming One should be. They had imagined a Messiah whose power and majesty would gratify the pride of their carnal hearts, and exalt them to a position of supreme power among the nations. When Jesus unfolded to them the character of his kingdom, and what his disciples must possess in order to be elect, and favored of God, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can hear it?"

The Saviour was invested with the credentials of Heaven. The word of God sustained his claims. His miracles, his holy character, his power over men and devils, all spoke conviction to the hearts of his hearers; but they refused him. He came in accordance with the prophecies they professed to believe, but he was "despised and rejected of men," as the prophets had foretold he would be.

The Jews could not give up their dreams of a great Prince who would rule all nations. They could not relinquish their hopes of temporal power and glory to take up with the Man of Sorrows, to follow in his steps of self-denial and purity. They loved darkness rather than light and the errors they loved wrought out their destruction.

There is no need of any soul being deceived. The teaching of priest and rabbi cannot make the word of God of no authority. It is the duty of each man to know what the Scriptures teach and to take his position in harmony with the truth. The Lord has commanded us to "search the Scriptures." We are instructed to "prove all things," to "hold fast that which is good." God has given us an unfailing test to apply to every man's life and doctrine. Says the prophet, "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." We are not to live by the doctrines of men, not by a fragment, or a perversion of the truth; but by "every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

Genuine faith will lead men to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. They will not follow the course of this world. The Spirit and works of Christ will be manifested in their lives and the word of God will be made the rule of their action. They will do and teach the commandments of God, and will walk humbly before men and angels. They will discern the work of God in the earth, and prejudice will not be permitted to close their hearts against the truth for their time. They will strive to enter in at the strait gate, they will take the narrow way and follow the Redeemer of the world.

Those who are not "doers of the word" may boast of their empty faith. They may boast of their holiness, while trampling on the law of God; but Jesus says to them, "Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" and the final sentence will come, "I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity." For "faith without works is dead."

Christ’s Promise to Return

"Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12.

ALONE WITH THEE.

By Elizabeth Prentiss

Into my closet, fleeing as the dove Doth homeward flee, I haste away to ponder o'er thy love, Alone with thee.

In the dim woods, by human ear unheard, Joyous and free, Lord, I adore thee, feasting on thy word, Alone with thee.

Amid the busy city, thronged and gay, But one I see; Tasting sweet peace, as unobserved I pray Alone with thee.

Oh, sweetest life—life hid with Christ in God, So making me At home, and by the wayside, and abroad, Alone with thee. —Elizabeth Prentiss.

AMONG THE LIONS.

By Joseph Parker

"The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant." Jer. 2: 15.

THAT comes of going from home, leaving sacred discipline, taking life into one's own hand, assuming the mastership of one's own fortune and destiny. Woe betide the man who goes beyond the bounds which God has fixed! Immediately outside those bounds the lion waits, or the plague, or the pestilence, or the pit hardly hidden but deep, immeasurable.

Luther said: "Who would paint a picture of the present condition of the church, let him paint a young woman in a wilderness or in some desert place; and round about her let him figure hungry lions whose eyes are glaring upon her, and whose mouths are open to devour her substance and her beauty." Is the church in a much better condition today? That is the natural condition of the church. The church always challenges the lion, tempts the devourer, excites the passions of evil men. When an evil generation tolerates the church, applauds its dogmas, and flatters its ministry, it is because that church has surrendered her prerogatives and trampled her functions in the dust.

"All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." That is not a historical statement limited chronologically; it is the eternal truth; wherever there is light it must fight the darkness; wherever there is holiness it must judge all evil, and make bad men afraid, and set them on the defensive, and extort from them the most vehement denunciations. Beware of a fictitious peace; beware of the flattery of bad men; it is because you are turning your eyes away from their false weights and scales and measuring-rods; it is because you wink when you pass by their revels and their orgies; it is because you are deaf when you hear their evil speeches and their cruel blasphemies. Know that the church of the living God is alive, and is fulfilling her destiny, when all round about her are men more cruel than ravenous beasts. Israel, the home-born slave, who ought to have walked arm-in-arm with the son of the house, left the precincts of the family and plunged into the way of lions.—Rev. Joseph Parker, D. D.

STUDY TO BE QUIET.

SOME men are fond of notoriety. They are never satisfied but when they are prominent in some new enterprise, or advocating some popular cause. They figure largely in conventions, and conferences, and assemblies. They like to have their names in the papers, and have their praises heralded abroad. Were we to judge from these indications, we might suppose that these men were the most successful instruments in promoting every good cause, bettering the condition of men, and elevating the race. But such a supposition would be far from correct. It is not the men who make the greatest display in public, and do the greatest amount of fine talking, that do the most good; it is the quiet, earnest, faithful, persevering workers, who find something to do, and instead of talking about it, go to work and do it, that in the long run accomplish most for God and humanity. It is work that tells; and it is workers that the world needs. The mightiest forces in nature are the silent forces that are always in operation doing their work. And the men who accomplish the greatest good, are the men who are always "about their Father's business," quietly and unostentatiously, it may be, laboring to save souls, and extend the cause of the Redeemer. "Go work to-day in my vineyard."—Methodist Recorder.

MORE CONSCIENCE.

By M. Rhodes, D. D.

WE want more conscience in all the trades of the day; then our carpentry, our plumbing, our cabinet-making, and our tailoring will not be what they are, but what they claim to be. The looms that weave our fabrics and the establishments that sell them to the people; the lawyers who propose to take care of our wills when we are dead, and to cut now the silver bond of marriage when it has rusted, and concerning which God has said, Let no man put it asunder; the legislators who so tenderly claim only to be the "servants of the people;" the dairyman who sells us milk; the groom who cares for our horses; the clerk who keeps our accounts—all these need more conscience.

There is a vast amount of slovenly, dishonest work done, and it has done much to degrade men and put them at a very serious disadvantage. A man who does not put truth into his work does not tell the truth, and he is doubly guilty when he makes the work or the fabric or the opportunity lie for him. Wherever you are employed, young men, and by whomsoever, put your conscience into your work, and, though your employer wrong you, never wrong yourself by slighting your task. Be very careful that circumstances, the removal of restraints, are not allowed to rob your conscience of its sublime liberty. Better maintain your conscience in doing your duty than to escape the reproach of men, and be careful to carry your conscience into the smallest duty. Nothing is indifferent, the faithful doing of which responds to moral obligation in a man.

Some men cannot be trusted with details. A thing of duty with them is determined by its massiveness, its quality, or the capacity it may have for the promotion of self-glorification. In all the universe very little things are important. It would seem that God was very careful in making a spire of grass, and there is more of wonder in the throat of a canary than in the shaggy head of a lion. The faithfulness of a man is not determined by the size of his work, and duty is never done when its force is expended on the great things at the expense of smaller obligations. When one confers the dignity of conscientious duty upon the smallest part of his work, he has not only served well, but he has laid the stairway of his own promotion.

It is nobler to be faithful than to be famous, and I assure you, young men, if you would give greatness to your duty, if you would ever climb to the ideal yet a dream in your mind, it will be by faithfulness in the smallest matters.—M. Rhodes, D. D.

THE TEACHER'S PIETY, THE TEACHER'S POWER.

By Goodell

IT is an important thing to know about God in the works of nature, and in providence, and to hear his footfalls in history. A great astronomer has said, in tracing God's handiwork in the universe, "O Lord, I think thy thoughts after thee." But it is a far greater thing to know God himself. To be ignorant of him in his inward revelations of the soul is infinitely worse than to be ignorant of him in his works. The new birth is the discovery of God. The new life begins when God begins to come back to his place in the heart, and hold communion there. It is a great thing to be visited by angels; it is more to be visited by God, recognizing him within by a sweet and gracious experience, the soul being insphered in God, and filled with him, as the sky is irradiated by the day, as a crystal is kindled with the light, as friend holds fellowship with friend. This inward sense of God revealed to us, knowing us, known of us, walking with us, imparting peace, joy, light, wisdom, guidance, inspiration, is a wonderful power. We are like those we know and live with. We are as strong, so to speak, as those we commune with and take our thought and being from.

A teacher comes before his class. As he takes them into his sympathy they seem to say to him, "Now therefore are we all here present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God." He appears as one who has come down from the mount of God. His heart is thrilled and melted by a sense of God's presence and aid. "Thy love fills all my soul" to-day, and as he speaks of Him whose "garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia out of the ivory palaces," he finds the arrows are sharp in the hearts of the King's enemies, and where are massed the ranks of Satan to scoff, lie the slain of the Lord to praise. The teacher's piety, therefore, is the teacher's power. He must live in communion with God. Trees most in the sun bear the sweetest fruit. The heart that abides in Christ has Christ abiding in him.

When the teacher says, "I long to see God; I desire to meet this wonderful Being and know him; my heart breaketh for the longing I have to be with him," then men on every hand will long to see him also, and to follow him and commune with him. The teacher who is really acquainted with God cannot go to Heaven alone, any more than Saturn can go without its moons.

What the teacher needs above all things is this garment of salvation by the Spirit. All other qualifications sink before this.—Goodell.

THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST.

By M. S. Howard

WE have often, and with great profit, meditated on the essential deity of the Lord Jesus. He is the Son of God. He is one with the Father in his nature and being. He is truly and properly God, and no man can rob him of the glory which he had with the Father before the world began. But this is contemplating Christ at a long range. It is high. It is difficult to attain unto it. It is one of those great things that even an angel's reed cannot measure; that an angel's plummet cannot sound. But when we think of Christ as a man, we can hold that. He is like ourselves. He had every one of our natural infirmities. When we are weary, we know that he sat tired and thirsty on Jacob's ancient well. When, with midnight watching, we feel the need of long absent slumber, we remember how he slept, though the storm swept across the little Galilean Sea, and threatened to submerge him and those who were with him. There is not a period of life, from dawning infancy to mature years, which may not claim his sympathy, on the ground that he has passed through every stage; felt its joys and its sorrows; known its hopes; and, shall we say, suffered its disappointments? Especially in hours of temptation, when all the powers of evil rally against the soul, it knows that he was tempted in all points with his people, and helps them to conquer the foe with a strength begotten of his own prolonged and bitter experience. And when death draws near, with its shadows and its separations, the believer receives courage from the thought that the Son of God tasted death; was laid away in the grave; for three desolate days slept in unbroken silence, while dear ones wept at their unutterable loss.

How all this brings the Redeemer into contact with the race which he came to save! Men see one like themselves in many respects, and they are drawn to him irresistibly. They feel the pressure of his hand, the beating of his heart, the warm breathing of his soul in response to what is within them. They go about their daily business with the feeling that, though he is a great way above them in purity and holiness, there is a sense in which he is one with them and they are one with

him. The lonely heart feels his presence. The burdened spirit feels the inflowing of his strength. The crushed and anxious know where to go for pity and help.

It was no accident or chance that Christ was born in the flesh; that he was a babe in Bethlehem; a child in Nazareth; a young man of warm and generous sympathies threading the streets of Judæan cities, and doing good quietly and pityingly along highways and in retired hamlets, and wherever the sick and the poor needed his divine help. The more we study the august facts of the incarnation, the more we shall be impressed and awed by it. The Lord of glory inhabiting our miserable clay! The Son of God bending to our condition in all directions apart from sin! The King of angels stooping to our humiliation! The cradle becomes a throne; the manger a presence chamber of royalty; the little obscure town of Bethlehem the very capital city of the kingdom of God!—Sermon by Rev. M. S. Howard, Wilbraham.

NOT MY WAY.

By Horatius Bonar

Thy way, not mine, O Lord, However dark it be; Lead me by thine own hand, Choose out the path for me.

Smooth let it be, or rough, It will be still the best; Winding or straight, it matters not, It leads me to thy rest.

I dare not choose my lot; I would not if I might. Choose thou for me, my Lord, So shall I walk aright. —Bonar.

THE NEW-TESTAMENT SABBATH.

By J. H. Rogers

THE subject to be taken under consideration is that of the teachings of the Scriptures, especially the New Testament, in regard to the Sabbath. We believe, as is expressed by the apostle, that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” Whatever doctrine or work is not taught therein may not be required of any man.

As a starting-point for our examination, we will take Mark 2:27: “And he said unto them, the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” By this our minds are evidently carried back to a period in the world’s history when the Sabbath was made. See Gen. 2:2, 3. This record furnishes us with the foundation of the Sabbatic institution. In establishing this memorial of creation we find that God did three things: He rested upon, blessed, and sanctified the seventh day. As Christ was the Word in the beginning with the Father, and “all things were made by him,” the statement made in Mark 2:28, “Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath,” is eminently proper. The commandment requiring the observance of the Sabbath is placed in the midst of the decalogue which the good and great of all times have acknowledged to be God’s immutable law,—of which Christ said: “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Matt. 5:18.

We will consider the example of our Saviour concerning the observance of the Sabbath. Turning to Luke 4:16, we find it was his “custom” to worship in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. And again, in verse 31 we read that he “came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath days.” At a subsequent time, he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, and there came to him one who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years. And Jesus rebuked the power of the disease, and said: “Thou art loosed from thine infirmity.” “The ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation,” and said: “There are six days in which men ought to work; in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Instead of feeling reproved by the ruler, he said: “Thou hypocrite,” showing that the Saviour regarded him as carrying a false impression concerning the true observance of the Sabbath. For, while he would admit of the loosing of the animals to take them away to water, he would find fault with the Saviour for doing a less work, in point of labor, in exercising his healing power over the spirit of infirmity. See Luke 13:10–17.

In Matthew 12 we learn that while Jesus with his disciples was passing through the corn on the Sabbath day they plucked and ate of the same. Being accused by the Pharisees he justified his disciples in their course by citing the case of David when he fled from Saul, in eating the shew-bread, and also of the priests who served in the temple, and on the Sabbath days offered additional offerings. That as these were matters of necessity with David and the priests in doing what they did, and therefore proper, so with the disciples; he pronounced them “guiltless.” He thus sought to relieve the Sabbath of the useless traditions with which they had cumbered it. And they asked him saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days? that they might accuse him.” With this, he propounds to them a question concerning a work of mercy that they dare not deny. Verses 10, 11. Then follows the legitimate conclusion that what he did was not a violation of the Sabbath, but that acts of mercy might be performed in accordance with the law of the Sabbath.

As a recognition of the perpetuity of the Sabbath in the Christian dispensation, we have Matt. 24:20: “But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” The flight alluded to was the flight from Judea when Jerusalem would be besieged by the Roman army, the “abomination of desolation,” which event did not take place till the year A. D. 70. So that his instructions to the disciples had allusion to a time forty years after these words were spoken. Then if the sacred regard for the Sabbath should be held in memory by the disciples during this time to such an extent that they prayed that they should not have to flee on that day, our conclusion is that it is sacred yet; for since that time who has had the authority to change, or set aside its observance?

Coming down to the time of our Saviour’s death and burial, which, as stated by Mark in chapter 15:42, was “on the preparation, that is the day before the Sabbath,” we learn that the holy women returned from the sepulcher and “prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Luke 23:56. According to what commandment could they have rested? Answer, The fourth commandment, which enjoins the observance of the seventh day.

For the first verse of the following chapter shows that they came upon the first day of the week, bringing the spices with them; thus showing a plain distinction between the Sabbath and the first day of the week.

Next we consider the examples of the apostles. Acts 13:14, 42–44 shows that Paul preached to the Jews and Gentiles on that day. Coming to Philippi, a Gentile city, it is said of Paul and his company, “And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake to the women which resorted thither.” Acts 16:13. We see that the apostle was not dependent upon the opening of the synagogue, but retiring from the tumult and busy scenes of the city, spent the day in sacred devotion.

In Acts 17:2, we learn that “Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.” Here we learn that that which was Christ’s “custom” was Paul’s “manner.” Therefore, Paul must have been a Christian Sabbath-keeping preacher. For in chapter 18:4, we find him in the synagogue every Sabbath, preaching to the Jews and to the Gentiles.

While the Sabbath has been spoken of fifty-nine times in the New Testament referring to the seventh day as the weekly Sabbath, the first day of the week is mentioned but eight times, as follows: Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2. And not in a single instance is it referred to as a rest day or a holy day.

In conclusion, as we see that the Sabbath has been kept in all the past ages as a memorial of God’s creative work, and the keeping of it recognized and practiced by Christ and the apostles, it is evident that no change has been made by divine authority. But man through apostasy has changed the keeping of the Sabbath of the Lord to the “wild solar holiday of all pagan times.” I recommend a careful study of the Bible, the word of God, upon this important subject, with the hope that we may all so walk in the truth that we may at last enter into the rest remaining to the people of God.

J. H. ROGERS.

NEITHER.

“WELL, I cannot understand why a man who has tried to lead a good moral life, should not stand a better chance of Heaven than a wicked one,” said a lady, in a conversation with others about the matter of salvation.

“Simply for this cause,” answered one; “suppose you and I wanted to go into a place of amusement where the admission was a dollar, you have half a dollar, and I have nothing. Which would stand the better chance of admission?”

“Neither.”

“Just so; and, therefore, the moralist stands no better chance than the outbreaking sinner. But now suppose a kind and rich person who saw our perplexity presented a ticket of admission

to each of us at his own expense, what then?”

“Well, then, we could both go in alike; that is clear.”

“Thus, when the Saviour saw our perplexity, he died, and thus obtained eternal redemption for us, and now he offers you and me a free ticket. Only take good care that your half dollar does not make you proud enough to refuse the free ticket, and so be refused admittance at last.”—Selected.

GOD'S SPECIAL CARE.

THE infinite magnitude and majesty of God are too high and vast for our weary minds and hearts. They are good to put us in mind that profound humility and reverence should fill our souls whenever we approach him—that there is no place where pride, self-righteousness, and vainglory are so sinful and so much out of place as in the presence of that majestic Being. But we must find rest for our souls in that humbler and tenderer manifestation of God which he gave us in his incarnate Son. Infinite in all things, God is infinite in his special care and love. He tells us that the very hairs of our head are all numbered, showing that he forgets nothing that is even in small particulars for the safety and good of his children. Why, then, should they fear any evil? Does he not provide richly for them? Will he not keep them safely? He permits not even a sparrow to fall to the ground, unless he wills it. How much more tenderly will he watch over the interests of his own children? They are infinitely more valuable than sparrows. Jesus has proven his estimate of them by dying for them. Will he ever forsake them? No. He came into the world to save them, and, by his grace richly bestowed upon them, he will keep them from all evil, and lead them into all truth. "The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down."

God's care for his people is a strong reason why they should love him and put their trust in him. And in proportion to their love for him they will obey him and follow him. They are truly safe in God's hands. His almighty power, as well as saving grace, is pledged to give them eternal life. But it must not be forgotten that no one can claim this divine protection, and this assured safety, who does not sincerely rest by faith on Christ. If God delighteth in the way of a good man, it is because his steps are ordered by the Lord, and chosen by the good man. If any man would walk safely so that "none of his steps shall slide," the law of God must be in his heart.

God takes special care of all that believe, not merely that they may reach Heaven, and be "forever with the Lord," but that they may be transformed into the image of Christ, and thus be made meet to be partakers of the glory that shall there be revealed.—Interior.

DANGER AND DUTY.

By Methodist Recorder

DR. WATTS, the Christian poet and hymn writer, said, near the close of his life, that of all the converts to a truly spiritual religion he had ever known, only one of them had been led to his first awakening by the amiable aspects of Christian truth. That such is generally, if not universally, the case is doubtless true. Men's hearts are naturally prone to evil, and they love the sins in which they indulge; and so long as they feel that they are safe in pursuing the pleasures of sin, and that no serious consequences will result to them, they are not likely to attempt to restrain their evil propensities and forsake their sinful gratifications.

Men must be brought to feel that their course is not only wrong but dangerous, and if persisted in will involve disastrous consequences before they will be willing to pursue a different and better course. Men in their natural, unconverted state do not love the pure and the good. To them the pleasures of sin are far more attractive than the beauties of holiness. It is not until after their hearts have been renewed by divine grace that they can clearly see the real odiousness of sin, and the supreme excellency and loveliness of the divine benevolence.

To arrest men in their course of sin, and bring them seriously to consider their ways, their fears and self-interest must be addressed.

They must be made to feel that their souls are in danger of being lost before they will consent to seek salvation. It is only the man who feels that he is sick that will send for a physician; it is only the man who feels that he is in danger that will call for help and accept deliverance. Men, if we would lead them to the Saviour, must be made to feel that they are exposed to eternal perdition, and that "God, out of Christ, is a consuming fire;" that "the wages of sin is death;" and that "the soul that sinneth, it shall die."

When men are brought to this state of mind, and not before, they will be willing to flee for refuge to the hope set before them in the gospel. The thunders of Sinai as well as the melting strains of Calvary must be sounded in the sinner's ears; the justice as well as the mercy of God must be presented to his view; for it is only in his deliverance from wrath that the mercy of God is clearly revealed. In saving men we want the plain, solemn truths of the gospel, and not sickly sentimentalism; the clear presentation of facts as they are, and not rose-water theories of divine pity that ignore moral distinctions. We should remember that nothing can be merciful that is not just.

DECEIVED AND BEING DECEIVED.

By Ethan Lanphear

WHY deceive yourselves, “God is not mocked.” Piety and zeal are not Christianity unless it is of God and Christ. There seems to be a wonderful sight of zeal for Sunday of late; and ministers preach and talk about Sunday legislation, and that our Constitution should have the Sabbath and God legislated into it. Do men think that they can strengthen God by legislation? and by legislation support God’s law by substituting the heathen Sunday in place of God’s ordained Sabbath? Do they think they can deceive God as they do men? Let them not pretend that they are working for God, while they are teaching for doctrine the commandments of men. To call Sunday, or the first day of the week, Sabbath, is to place man above God and his Son. And that is just what they are doing in trying to legislate for men to observe Sunday in place of the Lord’s Sabbath. Why, friends, the first day of the week is not mentioned but seven or eight times in the whole Bible; and never as taking the place of the Sabbath. Then why this effort to substitute it by law unless to maintain the heathen sun’s day! Which God are you endeavoring to advocate? “Render unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” “Be not deceived;” for the world and the souls of men are at stake.

ETHAN LANPHEAR.

Plainfield, N. J.

Know Before You Censure

By Thomas Carlyle

BEFORE we censure a man for seeming what he is not, we should be sure that we know what he is.—Carlyle.

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