EVERY preacher who goes out to explain and defend the present truth, finds it very convenient, and often highly necessary, to sustain his positions and interpretations of Scripture by quotations from history and eminent authors bearing upon the point presented.
When I first began lecturing twelve years ago, I bought a blank book in which, from time to time, I have preserved testimonies of this nature, upon the different points of our faith which I always use in a course of lectures. Wishing now to revise this, I thought it might be of advantage to others and of interest to the readers of the SIGNS to publish them in short articles. They will necessarily be brief, as we do not find it good to read very long extracts in a lecture, the briefer the better if it only covers the point. Reading long extracts in a sermon always wearies the attention of the people. Short ones and more of them is better.
WHEN THE DAY BEGINS.
In the Bible the days were reckoned from evening to evening. Thus we read in Gen. 1:5: "And the evening and the morning were the first day." And so the 8th verse says: "And the evening and the morning were the second day." And so the Lord in Lev. 23:32 expressly says: "From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath." "Even" is when the sun sets, as is proved by Deut. 16:6: "Thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun." "And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath." Neh. 13:19.
In the New Testament the day is reckoned in the same manner. Thus we read that Christ healed in the synagogue on the Sabbath. But the bigoted Pharisees thought this was wrong, yet as soon as the sun set, and the Sabbath was past, then they came with their sick to be healed. "And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. . . And he healed many that were sick." Mark 1:32-34.
Here the testimony of several eminent authors upon this point:—
"The Jews reckoned their days from evening to evening, according to the order which is mentioned in the first chapter of Genesis, in the account of the work of creation: 'The evening and the morning were the first day.' Their Sabbath, therefore, or seventh day, began at sunset on the day we call Friday, and lasted till the same time on the day following."—Nevin's Biblical Antiquities, p. 171.
"The Hebrews began their day at evening. Lev. 23:32."—Union Bible Dictionary, Art., Day.
"The Jews kept their Sabbath from evening to evening, according to the law. Lev. 23:32. And the Rabbins say, 'The Sabbath doth not enter but when the sun is set.' Hence it was that the sick were not brought out to our Lord till after sunset, because then the Sabbath was ended."—A. Clark on Matt. 8:19.
"One of the priests stood of course, and gave a signal beforehand, with a trumpet, at the beginning of every seventh day, in the evening twilight, as also at the evening when the day was finished, as giving notice to the people when they were to leave off work, and when they were to go to work again."—Josephus Wars of the Jews, book iv., chap. 9, sec. 12.
The time of commencing the day has an important bearing upon the meeting held upon the first day of the week, mentioned in Acts 20:7. That meeting was held upon the night part of the first day of the week. As the first day commences with the setting of the sun Saturday night, and ends at sundown Sunday night, this meeting must have been held on Saturday night, for, if it began after sundown Sunday night, then it would have been on the second day of the week, not on the first. Here follows the testimony of several eminent authors confessing that meeting was upon Saturday night.
I have before me "The Life, Times, and Travels of St. Paul," by Conybeare and Howson. It is highly recommended by Bishop Simpson of the M. E. church and by others. Of this meeting at Troas they say, "The labors of the early days of the week that were spent at Troas are not related to us, but concerning the last day we have a narrative which enters into details with all the minuteness of one of the gospel histories. It was the evening which succeeded the Jewish Sabbath. On the Sunday morning the vessel was about to sail." Of Paul's journey that day to Assos they say, "He pursued his lonely road that Sunday afternoon in spring among the oak woods and streams Ida." Vol. 2, pp. 206, 209.
Prof. Hacket, in his commentary on Acts, pp. 329, 330, says: "The Jews reckoned the day from evening to evening, and on that principle the evening of the first day of the week would be our Saturday evening. If Luke reckoned so here, as many commentators suppose, the apostle then waited for the expiration of the Jewish Sabbath, and held his last religious service with the brethren at Troas, at the beginning of the Christian Sabbath, i. e., on Saturday evening, and consequently resumed his journey on Sunday morning."
"It has, from this last circumstance, been inferred that the assembly commenced after sunset on the Sabbath, at which hour the first day of the week had commenced, according to the Jewish reckoning, which would hardly agree with the idea of a commemoration of the resurrection."—Cyclo. of Bib. Literature, Art., Lord's Day.
Prof. McGarvey, of the Disciple denomination, in his "Commentary on the Acts," says: "I conclude, therefore, that the brethren met on the night after the Jewish Sabbath, which was still observed as a day of rest by all who were Jews, or Jewish proselytes, and considering this the beginning of the first day of the week, spent it in the manner above described. On Sunday morning, Paul and his companions resumed their journey, being constrained, no doubt, by the movements of the ship, which had already been in the harbor of Troas seven days."
ALEXANDER CAMPBELL ON THE LAW AND SABBATH.
"The single fact that the four archbishops of Ireland, and the Roman Catholic College of Maynooth should have impiously dared to strike one commandment from the ten, which God wrote on two tables with his own finger, and should have changed and divided the tenth into two, speaks volumes in proof of my allegata against the Romanist's rule of faith. . . . It is a poor apology for this expurgation of the decalogue, that it is not so done in the Douay Bible; for when these catechisms were introduced, and even yet in most Catholic countries, not one layman in a thousand ever read the Bible. The catechism intended for universal consumption contains all his knowledge of God's law. What myriads, then, through this fraud, must have lived and died in the belief that the second commandment is no part of God's law! It is clearly proved that the pastors of the church have struck out one of the ten words, which not only in the Old Testament, but in all revelation, are the most emphatically regarded as the synopsis of all religion and morality. They have also made a ninth commandment out of the tenth, and their ninth, in that dependent position, becomes identical with the seventh commandment, and makes God use tautology in the only instrument that he wrote with his own hand! But why this annulling of the second commandment? Because it is a positive prohibition of the practice of bowing down to images and doing them homage; a custom dearer to the Romish church than both the second and the seventh commandment."—Debate with Purcell, pp. 214, 215.
"No license is given (by the gospel) to offend—the moral law is unrepealed—a day of Judgment is still appointed."—Christian System, p. 43.
"The moral and religious institutions of the Patriarchal, or family worship, which continued from the fall of Adam to the covenant of circumcision, were the Sabbath, the service of the altar, oral instruction, prayer, praise, and benediction."—Christian System, pp. 128-130.
"The Sabbath was observed from Abraham's time, nay, from the creation."—Evidences of Christianity, pp. 302, 303.
"But some say it was changed from the seventh to the first day. When? Where? and by whom? No man can tell. No, it never was changed, nor could be, unless creation were gone through with again; for the reason assigned must be changed before the observance or respect to the reason can be changed. It is an old wive's fable to talk of the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day. If it be changed, it was that august person changed it who changed times and laws, ex officio. I think his name is Dr. Antichrist."—Bible Advocate, January, 1848.
"Was the first day set apart by public authority in the apostolic age? No. By whom was it set apart, and when? By Constantine, who lived about the beginning of the fourth century."—A. Campbell, Lecture in Bethany College in 1848.
"The words us to metaxu Sabb. are by many commentators supposed to mean 'on some intermediate week day.' But that is refuted by verse 44, and the sense expressed in our common version, is no doubt, the true one. It is adopted by the best recent commentators, and confirmed by the ancient version."—Note on verse 42.
It will be seen that all these quotations have an important bearing upon different points of the present truth.
Doctrine and Duty.
THE first thing mentioned by Paul, for which the Holy Scriptures are "profitable" is "doctrine," (2 Tim. 3 : 15, 16), and then we have presented that which is practical : "That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."
The intimate connection between doctrine and duty ought never to be lost sight of, yet there is a widespread tendency at the present time to divorce them, or at least to put doctrine on the background and bring what is called "practical teaching" unduly forward.
If we should say to a friend about to start on a journey, "It is a cold day, and you had better take an overcoat;" or, "It threatens rain, and you had better take an umbrella," there would be no difficulty in seeing the connection between the statement made and the counsel given. One naturally grows out of the other. And thus it is in the word of God. Take the following as a sample of the divine arrangement:—
DOCTRINE : "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." DUTY : "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." Col. 3 : 4, 5.
DOCTRINE : "Our conversation is in Heaven, from whence we also look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." DUTY : "Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy, and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved." Phil. 3 : 20, 21 ; 4 : 1.
DOCTRINE : "The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the Lord." DUTY : "Therefore, comfort one another with these words." 1 Thess. 4 : 16-18.
DOCTRINE : "Ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief : ye are all the children of light and the children of the day ; we are not of the night, nor of darkness." DUTY : "Therefore, let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober." 1 Thess. 5 : 4-6.
DOCTRINE : "The end of all things is at hand." DUTY : "Be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer; and above all things have charity among yourselves; for charity shall cover a multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging." 1 Pet. 4 : 7-9.
DOCTRINE : "The day of the Lord will come as thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the works that are therein shall be burned up. . . . Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. DUTY : "Therefore beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent, that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless." 2 Pet. 3 : 10-14.
DOCTRINE : "Behold, I come quickly." DUTY : "Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." Rev. 3 : 11.
Thus doctrine and duty go hand in hand through the Temple of Truth. God has united them. "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."—is as applicable to a union of divine truths as to matrimonial alliance.—Messiah's Herald.
Money for Christ.
PERSONAL (purse-an-all) consecration was certainly a prominent characteristic of the apostolic age, and in marked contrast with the covetous policy so prevalent at the present day.
Captain Webb, a practical Christian laborer of Wesley's time, when he heard of the conversion of a rich man, was in the habit of asking: "Is his purse converted?" Very properly doubting the former, if not corroborated by the latter.
A laudable instance of liberality in this direction is that of an afflicted lady in Virginia, who annually gives $150 toward enabling a man to spend all his time in missionary work in destitute portions of that State and Tennessee.
Though a helpless invalid, she is, by proxy in this way, a useful gospel worker.
There is an inseparable connection between temporal and spiritual prosperity, and Christian liberality. "He that watereth shall be watered also himself."
An English gentleman gave, the first year, $80 to the Bible Society, and increased his contributions from year to year, until he finally gave $20,000 annually.
When asked how his charities increased so largely, he replied: "The more I give the more I get." A princely giver in our own country, when asked the same question, replied: "It don't cost me anything; it is the Lord's money I give."
The poor people of Glasgow, Scotland, used to say that "David Dale gave his money by shovelfuls, and God almighty shoveled it back again."
According to John Bunyan:
"A man there was, some called him mad;
The more he gave the more he had."
A gentleman of Quincy, Illinois, in addition to liberal local contributions, has for years supported a foreign missionary.
Zacchæus gave one-half (Luke 19:8), and John Wesley, as is well known, gave all of his income, except the merest pittance for support and the expenses of travel.
As largely increased contributions are urgently demanded by the exigencies of the church and world, it becomes the imperative duty of all Christians to prayerfully inquire as to what may be their individual obligations and responsibilities in the premises.
"Give! give! be always giving!
He who gives not is not living!
Give strength, give thoughts, give deeds, give pelf,
Give love, give tears, and give thyself!"
—Church Union.
The Rev. Dr. Duryea says that Christian people have been too much in the habit of giving their chips, shavings, and sawdust as charitable offerings to the poor, and now he insists that they shall strike the heart of the timber, and make their gifts solid and substantial.
LET a person begin life by dodging, and he must run a gauntlet to the end, as a rule. Let him face the world squarely, and if his success is slow, depend upon it it will be sure.
EACH Pisgah of labor has its glimpse of the promised land.
Keep it before the People.
By Uriah Smith
IN a ponderous volume of twelve pamphlet pages, the “Rev. H. L. Barnaby” essays to settle the great question of the Sabbath; and some of the assertions which he summons to his aid in the effort are truly astonishing. He says:—
“So much has been written and said about the seventh day of the week, that one would naturally suppose the Bible to be full of lessons about it; and yet there is not a word said in the Scriptures about the seventh day of the week.”
The shallowness of this evasion is well exposed in Bro. Waggoner’s review of Baird. Because these particular words “of the week” do not occur, to deny that the week is meant, is to show one’s self ready to resort to tricks of argument of which a third rate pettifogger would be ashamed. A moment’s thought shows that the week must be intended. Thus, when God set apart the seventh day, he did not set it apart for himself, but for man for whom the Sabbath was made. And he did not set apart that first seventh day which was past, but his blessing and sanctification pertained to the seventh day for time to come. Thus, then, it was ordained that men should devote to religious uses every seventh day from that time forward.
No one can fail to see that as soon as this arrangement was entered into, the week was an established fact, and followed as inevitably as day and night follow the revolution of the earth upon its axis. All coming days are at once set apart in divisions of sevens; for when the next seventh day arrived after the one upon which God rested, it was to be observed in rest. Then the count must begin again; for the next seventh day was to be kept in like manner; and that being past, a new week must begin with a new count. And so on to the end. Thus the week of necessity existed as soon as the Sabbath was instituted, and as evidently it owes its existence to that institution. And the seventh day of each of these weekly periods was the Sabbath; and when the word of God says the seventh day, without qualification, it means, and can mean, nothing else but this.
Mr. B. continues:—
“We find no command for, or example of, the observance of any day recorded in the Bible, prior to the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.”
This man has been told better than this and has no excuse for such an assertion. For any man of honest mind and sincere spirit, it is enough to find plain evidence that a command was given, though the express words of the command are not recorded. And it is positively stated in the record that such command was given to Adam. This is what we want kept before the people: There was a Sabbath commandment in the world, from the lips of God himself, binding upon all his people, for more than twenty-five hundred years before Sinai. People may dispute this point as much as they please, and ministers may profess a sanctimonious ignorance of it, but there is the record in unequivocal terms. It says that in the beginning God sanctified the day. To sanctify means to set apart to a religious use. Now, will some of those who deny that there was any command for the Sabbath before the exode, tell us how this was done? How was the Sabbath set apart in the beginning to a religious use? They know that this involves a command for its observance; that the sanctification of it was a command for the keeping of it, nothing more nor less. It could not possibly have been anything else. Whoever denies this, takes upon himself the disgrace of insulting truth and common sense. Here while yet the whole race stood in their representatives, Adam and Eve, and sin had not entered the world, the Sabbath was given to man, and with the institution a command to enforce and regulate its observance, in all places through all time. Yet ministers, without trembling at their own dishonesty, or blushing at their ignorance, will deliberately affirm that there was no command for the Sabbath till it was given from Sinai.
Keep it before the people. Let them become so fully informed in regard to this matter, that all attempts to use this old misrepresentation will be nullified and spoiled.
U. S.
Practical Thoughts on Bible Subjects.
HUMILITY
Is that grace which enables us to put a just estimate upon ourselves. It is just what is requisite in order that we may know our place and keep it. It enables us to obey the injunction not to think of ourselves “more highly” than we ought to think. Rom. 12:3. It opens our eyes to our own defects. It gives us a sense of our own failure to imitate the divine pattern. Without it we could not hunger and thirst after righteousness, for we should think ourselves good enough already. We learn lessons of humility with much pain; yet nothing is sweeter and more divinely peaceful than this excellent grace. The pain which we experience in taking lessons in humility is because that our nature is entirely averse to this lowly disposition. Vanity and pride fill the hearts of the sons of men. The grace of God alone can effect this wondrous change.
Dying to pride is a painful process. The change, when wrought, is one of heavenly serenity and blessedness. It is our business to humble ourselves. If we leave this work to be done for us by the Lord, we shall infallibly bring upon ourselves his afflicting hand, for it is by this that he humbles the children of men. God humbles men as Gideon taught the men of Succoth, with “thorns of the wilderness and briers.” Judges 8:16. Better learn humility this way than not at all. But far better would it be to make it a business to humble our own hearts daily and continually before the Lord. We can abase ourselves or we can have the Lord abase us. The valley of humiliation is in itself the sweetest, and, what is of greater consequence, the safest part of the heavenly journey. John Bunyan tells us that in this valley our Lord, in the days of his earthly sojourn, had his country house. One thing is certain, that whoever walks in this valley will have the Saviour for his companion.
FALSE HUMILITY.
This is one of the worst forms of pride. Persons under this deception suppose themselves very humble and lowly in heart. In fact, they really believe that they are far in advance of their brethren in all that renders men acceptable in the sight of God. Under this impression, people become proud of their humility. If there were one particle of honesty or frankness to sin, we should not so often fall into it. But sin deceives us. That is its very nature. The deceitfulness of sin is that which makes it so dangerous an adversary. Sin is the eldest born of Satan. He is the arch-deceiver. Deception is his business. Cheating is an art which he has carried to the highest perfection. Nothing but fraud and guile can proceed from such a source. Though the prince of darkness, he can transform himself into an angel of light. 2 Cor. 11:14. And such is his skill in beguiling men that he is able to give to pride the outward form of humility, and to make it, many times, pass for this excellent grace.
This kind of humility is often manifested in acts of austerity or apparent self-denial for the purpose of attention or securing the approval of others. Sometimes it is shown in the wearing of mean and slovenly apparel, that thereby one’s humility may be declared. But all these acts of apparent humility are performed to gratify the pride of a self-righteous heart, or to receive the approval of those whose good opinion is specially desired. One test generally if not invariably distinguishes false humility from that which is genuine. One can bear reproof, the other cannot. One is grateful for correction, the other is altogether too holy to allow of any such treatment of its exalted piety. Another almost universal test is found in the fact that spurious humility seeks by word and act to draw men’s attention to itself; but that which is genuine would hide from every eye but God’s. “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness; but a faithful man, who can find?” Prov. 20:6. Reader, have you genuine or spurious humility?
MODERATION.
This becomes the Christian at all times, when in prosperity or adversity. Overmuch joy at any earthly blessing is entirely out of place. Our mountain does not stand so strong that it shall certainly continue even one day. Our griefs are not so great that we should abandon ourselves to unrestrained sorrow. Our case might be worse. This will always be true until we find ourselves—if we should be so unfortunate—among the lost. Let us restrain both joy and sorrow so far as earthly blessings and calamities are concerned, within the bounds of moderation. An eastern monarch asked one of his wise men for some saying that would moderate his joy in great prosperity, and his grief in deep affliction. The sage replied: “Remember this too shall pass away.” This is an admirable saying, but it is not equal to this one from St. Paul: “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” Phil. 4:5. If we walk in the presence of God and of the great day of account, prosperity and adversity will alike seem small to us in the presence of eternal realities.
SOWING AND REAPING.
“Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.” Men cannot sow thistles and reap grain. They cannot do evil deeds and receive the reward of well doing. Every act on our part is one whereby we sow something; and everything sown shall bear its own proper fruit. Could we realize that every act of wrong doing shall be followed by its own natural consequences, and that every thing thus sown by us shall bear a plentiful harvest of evil, how circumspect should we be in walking in the fear of the Lord. What a fatal error on the part of parents to allow the young to “sow their wild oats.” Such a crop once sown needs no care in order to have it bear a plentiful harvest, and nothing is more certain than that they who sow the seed shall themselves reap the harvest in the very kind which they sow. Beware of wrong doing. You must meet it again, and with it all the evil which it has caused in the world.
A PROMISE.
“If we suffer we shall also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us.” 2 Tim. 2:12. Our Lord proposes to do great things for those who are worthy to receive them. Reigning with Christ will be no less than actually sitting down with him upon his throne, and wearing a crown which his own hand shall place upon our heads. But none shall show in this exaltation who do not prove themselves worthy by enduring the proper test. Every one who reigns with Jesus shall first suffer with him. The anguish of the cross shall precede the triumph of the saved. No man who shuns the cross shall ever sit down upon our Lord’s throne of glory.
He is to confess his people before the Father and the angels. But every one thus confessed has first been proved worthy of this great honor. Those who now deny Christ before men shall then be denied by him.
How wise it would be in us to make the last day our ever-present companion. Then every act would be wrought in God, and all our work such as we would willingly meet in the Judgment.
J. N. A.
More Opposition to the Law of God.
By J. H. W.
It was my privilege—if it can be called a privilege—some time since to hear Eld. Wright of Santa Clara, of the Disciple denomination, preach a sermon against the Law and the Sabbath, in Gilroy. Those who oppose the Sabbath do not seem to be learning anything by the light which is spreading in every direction. To the contrary, it seems that they are getting more blind, their prejudice increasing with the increase of opportunites to learn the truth. A few points in his discourse will be of interest to the reader.
1. He very foolishly appealed to prejudice instead of reason by informing his hearers that we are in a new dispensation, and that circumcision is not now necessary. Most of his hearers had recently gone over the evidence that the Sabbath was instituted at creation, and was therefore no more affected by a change of dispensation than was marriage. This effort to mislead the minds of his hearers did him no credit.
2. He said we are under no obligation to observe any law that was given to the Jews! We are sometimes at a loss what to think of the words of preachers when they oppose present truth. Do they really mean what they say, or do they speak at random, without considering the tendency of their language? We hope we shall never be thrown into society with those who do not keep any law that was given to the Jews. What a church he would have if they should all live up to such teachings.
3. He said we are not to go back of the day of pentecost for instruction in anything. It is wrong to refer to Matt. 18 as a rule of church discipline because it was spoken before the day of pentecost. This shuts out Christ as a teacher, and ignores everything he said. Notwithstanding this, he referred to the transfiguration, and said we are now commanded to "hear him." But not a word will they hear from him, because he lived and spoke before the day of pentecost!
It would seem that any man of ordinary intelligence would be ashamed to thus slight the head of the church, and openly reject his teachings. He said "we are to follow the inspired apostles." But for this there is no scripture. Jesus said, "follow me," and the apostles themselves held up Jesus as our pattern, and said we ought to walk even as he walked. 1 John 2 : 6. Again we are informed that we are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus himself being the chief corner. Eph. 2 : 20. Peter said we do well to take heed to the sure word of prophecy which holy men of old spake; 2 Peter 1 : 19-21; and Paul said the Holy Scriptures which Timothy knew from a child are able to make us wise unto salvation, and are profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. 2 Tim. 3 : 16, 17. It is truly strange that people who profess to take the teachings of the apostles as the rule of faith will shut their eyes against such testimony.
4. One of the strangest declarations we ever heard was this, that "the conditions of salvation were never given to man until the day of pentecost." He denied that the gospel was contained in the promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent, for, he said the gospel could not be preached until the facts of the gospel existed, and therefore could not be preached before the resurrection of Christ. Faith in a coming Saviour was taught in the sacrifices of the past dispensation as truly as faith in a crucified and risen Saviour is taught by the ordinances of this. The conclusion is evident that if no condition of salvation was given before the day of pentecost, then no one was saved before that day, or if they were saved they were saved unconditionally. Where there is no condition there can be no difference of character. His assertion being true, if any were saved, all were saved. But whether all were saved or all were lost is a question difficult to settle in the light of such assertions. It would seem that all must see at a glance that such teaching is a plain denial of the Scriptures. Yet some consider it pre-eminently "the gospel." Surely light is needed in the darkness of this age.
5. He said the apostles did not command to keep any day holy. This is a good admission against the first day. But we know that God whom the apostles worshiped and served, commanded to keep the seventh day holy, and nothing can add to his authority. But again he said he had no objection to their keeping every day holy. This gives rise to a question. What does he mean by keeping a day holy? All who heard that discourse know that he had strong objection to their keeping the seventh day as a day of rest. Did he mean, as we have heard others assert, that the way to keep every day holy is to live Christian lives every day? And if so, did he mean that the apostle did not command any day to be kept holy, that is, they did not command us to live Christians any day? That must be it, for surely he could not mean to say that he had no objection to their entirely abstaining from doing their own work every day. The no-Sabbath theology is a strange mixture; its best friends cannot give it any appearance of consistency.
6. He said he wanted his hearers to understand that we are saved by grace; but, he added, we must do whatever God commands us to do. Then it appears, after all the talk to the contrary, that obedience to whatever God commands is not inconsistent with salvation by grace. This is just what we have tried to make the people believe, but what the no-law preachers have persistently denied. We believe, with Paul, that we do not make void the law through faith, and we may not sin that grace may abound. Some would make us believe that obedience to the law of God frustrates grace; but Paul shows in Rom. 6 that it is disobedience which shuts us away from the grace of God. Alexander Campbell, enforcing obedience to the gospel, said, "Nor do we in truth, in obeying the gospel, make void either law or gospel, but establish and confirm both."—Baptism, p. 258. This agrees with Paul, but most of the disciples of Mr. Campbell have overlooked this truth.325The theology of the present age is a mass of confusion. "Babylon" is plainly written upon it. The "present truth," the third angel's message with the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, brings a remedy. Outside of this all is darkness. But "the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life." Prov. 6 : 23.
Many see the light, but the cross is too heavy; the way is too narrow; and the world is too dear to their hearts. Instead of regarding it a privilege to be restored to obedience to God, they consider it a hardship. That which the Lord has revealed as a delight, is to them bondage. Darkness is their light, and evil is their good. How merciful is the Lord to send a message of warning and of duty to dispel the darkness, and to bring us into light and liberty. For they who delight in the law of the Lord are blessed, and they who seek his precepts shall walk at liberty. Ps. 1 : 1, 2; 119 : 45.
J. H. W.
Our Situation.
By Jos. Clarke
If we could be for one hour, translated to some distant planet, where the inhabitants have never sinned, and where Edenic beauty reigns, and the glory of God is seen and enjoyed by celestial beings, without a single accident or error to mar the place, and could we from that sublime and heavenly standpoint, look through some celestial telescope, and view the toiling millions of earth, as they rush along in hot pursuit of wealth, or renown, or pleasure, or as they sit down and complacently enjoy their several gifts, or as they murmur at their hard lot, how would we long to stir this multitude to better thoughts.
At such an altitude how would earthly objects dwindle into a speck or into naught. Earthly honor or fame, earthly pleasure or wealth, or grandeur, how small would it all look compared with the state of those beings who were the happy citizens of that distant planet.
How came this evil here? how came this evil into my heart, and to the world? how can it be eradicated? and how can we best extricate ourselves from the pit into which we have fallen? These questions would seem sensible when put by beings placed as we are in a world of sin and sorrow.
Is there a better world, a better state? can I aspire to a higher state where sin will no more mar the face of nature? and where man will no more war with his fellow-man? Is there a kind Creator somewhere in this universe, and can I find him? will he consider my case, and befriend me? One would think that such would be the natural outspoken thought of the miserable crowd which daily fills the street or spreads out its countless numbers into the country and over the vast oceans.
But as you spend one happy hour in that far-off planet, and with that celestial telescope view the movements of the crowd which moves daily along upon the earth’s surface, how few seem to think of the terrible accident which has befallen them. With the exception of a few here and there whose eyes are directed upward occasionally as if in a fit of absent mindedness and then are attracted to earth again, all seem to think it a matter of course, and one in which they have no particular interest. You discover that even the few who look up occasionally seem to be deadened to the real state of things, and to see only as in a dream.
Now you see the crowd, as they rush eagerly for imaginative prizes. You see earth, a vast cemetery for the dead; and the living dropping one by one into it, yet they laugh and sport just as before. You see misery in the presence of wealth, and want in the presence of plenty, for the greed of the covetous. You have seen armies destroying armies, for lust of power and lust of wealth, and for anger and spite; and all this and more, of untold misery and sorrow, yet the inhabitants of earth do not look beyond their present abode.
Now, how would you wish to leave that beautiful abode of the good, that you might wake the slumbering millions of earth from their state of mental stupor and spiritual death to see the beautiful world which you have visited, and to consider the offers of escape from this low estate into which they had fallen.
Those who looked occasionally upward, and were immediately attracted back to earth again, you would exhort to continue their upward aspirations until they, too, might be favored as you had been with a visit to such a planet, where they might also look, as you had, through a heavenly glass at earthly things.
Such a look, with the aid of a telescope like that, would, you believe, clear the mental vision of all who were favored with such a view.
Now, how is it with us? Is it a fact that we are the beings seen from Heaven, and that from the distant planets the angels and others are peering down upon us with their heavenly eyes, and wondering at our stupidity?
Is there a beautiful planet not far from the orbit of our earth, perhaps filled with intelligent people who have never sinned? Perhaps Heaven has arranged it so that that planet shall be nearer to us now than it has been for many years, that its celestial brotherhood may view more clearly the sublime scenes of the advent. Be that as it may, we are a spectacle to the universe, and shall we be seen stupid, ignorant, wicked, covetous, vain, proud, disobedient, treacherous, worldly minded now, lovers of the world, lovers of pleasure, lustful, boastful, ill-tempered, morose, or shall any wicked thing darken our characters now? God forbid.
Now is the time for the church to put on her cleanest attire, her whitest robes, and to go out free from the chains of sin, which have bound her to the man of sin who has corrupted the earth by fraud and craft.
Let us look upward until we see that celestial beings are viewing us, and more than all, that their God and ours is looking down upon us to see if we will appreciate the situation, if we will believe his word, and obey its precepts.
Let us look upward until we can catch the heavenly fire, and keep it burning within us. Let us look up to the sanctuary where Jesus is, and let us secure the intercession of our great High Priest, and the benefits of his mediation.
Not Heaven alone, but the universe, is interested in us. Do we take an interest in the daily and weekly news from foreign parts? and do not all the intelligent beings in the universe of God take an interest in us? How closely and with what interest they watch the work of God in this sin-cursed earth, it is not for us to determine; but we may very safely conjecture that no one is an uninterested spectator.
May God help us all so to walk in humility and love and faith, as to honor his truth and name, and that as God, and angels, and all the universe of intelligences look down upon us, they may not be pained at our stupidity or neglect. Jos. CLARKE.