Review and Herald, Vol. 40, No. 11. (8/27/1872)

Review and Herald

Aug 27, 1872

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 27, 1872

DISCUSSION ON THE SABBATH QUESTION

By Peter Vogel

BETWEEN ELD. J. H. WAGGONER, S. D. ADVENTIST, AND ELD. PETER VOGLE, DISCIPLE.

QUESTION.—Do the Scriptures teach that the Seventh day was made a Sabbath at creation, for man's observance?

ELD. WAGGONER, affirms; ELD. VOGLE, denies.

ELDER PETER VOGEL'S SECOND REPLY.

A few items, not immediately connected with the subject before us, deserve a passing notice.

When I gave “Thou shalt not kill” as an example of an express command, and said that by no possible construction could a Jew make it lawful to kill, I simply meant to emphasize the fact that the command is express, nothing more. It was wrong to kill from the beginning. Nevertheless, as given on Sinai, the command concerned none but a Jew.

My brother quotes Rev. 1:10, as applying to the Sabbath. It has no such reference, as I will show in due time.

I do not think it necessary to occupy more time in proving when Genesis was written, since my brother admits there is no proof that it was written before the transactions on Sinai. Eld. W.'s reply, however, makes me say that it was not written till Exodus and Leviticus were written. He should have quoted me in full by adding, “from the exode till Exodus and Leviticus were written, or at least the history therein contained had transpired, we find Moses so busy as to have had no time for such a work.” Even if the Pentateuch was consecutively written, as Dr. Smith and others think, my position need not be false. The reasons I gave were only intended to show that my hypothesis has something in its favor. I have an argument that carries conviction with it, but owing to its great length prefer not to give it, since there is no need of it, there being no practical difference between us.

It is perhaps not best for my brother to say of an uncompleted argument, “But this is the kind of evidence on which he grounds his faith that the Sabbath was not sanctified at creation.” He shall have all the proof he can reasonably ask when I take up the affirmative. All that I intend at present to do, is to show that his proof-texts are thoroughly consistent with the hypothesis that the Sabbath was not enjoined on man till after the exodus.

The conclusion I draw from a comparison of Gen. 17 with Ex. 4:24–26, in favor of Genesis being written after the latter event is not proved to be false by the fact that the Israelites did not practice circumcision during their forty years' sojourn in the wilderness. It was evidently with God's approval that they did not practice it then, since they were not reproved for it. For real or culpable neglects they were invariably reproved, but not for this. In the case referred to in Ex. 4:24–26, the neglect was culpable, else the Lord would not have “sought to kill” Moses for it. We must distinguish between things that differ.

Eld. W. makes some distinctions with reference to the Sabbath, which, even if just, are not necessary to an understanding of the subject before us. He speaks of the Sabbath as being constituted, instituted, and appointed. I fear that in this he bewilders his readers, and, judging from what he says, he himself is not clear in his distinctions. As these by him are meant to be turning or salient points, he should have clearly defined them with reference to the subject before him. I suppose he intends to express nearly, if not quite, the same idea by the first two, and a different one by the third, yet constitute and appoint are practically synonyms. Webster defines each by the other, and Crabb gives them as synonyms with but a shade of difference. Something similar may be said of institute and appoint. Thus Gesenius, whom he quotes on kadash, says: “Also to institute any holy thing, to appoint,” using them synonymously.

According to Eld. W., instituting the Sabbath made it a Sabbath, and appointing it enjoined it on man for observance. And he evidently regards the two acts as distinct in time; for he says: “In one text it says, ‘He blessed the Sabbath day;’ and therefore it was already a Sabbath day when he blessed it. In the other it says, ‘He blessed the seventh day because that in it he had rested,’ or sabbatized, which teaches the same.” Again he says that it is God's resting and blessing which “entitled the day to a high regard” with those who properly respect and reverence “the mind and blessing of our great Creator,” without and before “appointment,” and that the evidence of its appointment is found in the words “sanctified and hallowed.”

I would like to ask, (1) If the seventh day was already a Sabbath in the sense of being a holy day, in virtue of God's resting on it, before he blessed it, what effect did the blessing have? (2) If God's resting and blessing made it holy, why then was it afterwards “hallowed”? and what effect had this hallowing on the day? (3) And if it is “in its appointment we must find the duty of observance,” and “the evidence of its appointment is found in the words sanctified and hallowed,” how was, or is, the day holy in itself? (4) Moreover, since “the sanctification of a day consists in a precept for its observance, for a special or sacred purpose,” how is the Sabbath a moral and not a positive institution? (5) If “God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested,” how is it that man had a Sabbath from the beginning? (6) Again Eld. W. insists that the Sabbath was “appointed” at creation for man's observance, and yet he tells us that “the Sabbath was directly enforced after the exode!” Of course, then, before the exode it was indirectly enforced. What was “the measure of obligation” of this indirect enforcement? Was it akin to that high regard and reverence men should have for “the mind and blessing” of God before appointment?

I fear that my brother is misled by the term Sabbath. It often and literally means nothing more than rest, and at times it is used to denote sacred or religious rest.

Sabbath day, then, often denotes only a rest day, and frequently also a sacred or religious rest day, “a rest holy to the Lord.” We must not confound the two. It is at least possible for God to rest without making it thereby a sacred rest; and while his resting on any day would constitute that one day a rest day (Sabbath), i. e., a day in which he “had rested,” it would not constitute it a sacred rest day. For if the mere act of resting, because it is God's act, necessarily makes it a holy and to-be-repeated rest, then God's working on any day, because the act is God's, makes it a holy and to-be-repeated labor. Consequently, if God's resting on any day made that day “his property,” laboring on any other day made it also “his property;” and it is as morally wrong not to labor on the day on which God labored, as not to rest on the day on which he rested. To what absurdities such reasoning would lead us! No, the Lord's resting did not make it a holy, sacred, or to-be-repeated rest, nor impart sacredness to the day on which he rested; and such expressions as, “the Lord's Sabbath,” or “my Sabbath,” are equivalent to “the Lord's rest,” or “my rest,” and, if understood to refer to his resting at creation, do not declare ownership, but simply the fact of his having rested as a fact. And rest here must not be understood of having been “refreshed” (for such an expression is only an accommodation to man's capacity as God's “repenting” is), but as equivalent to having ended work or ceased to labor. The Lord never becomes weary to need rest, nor does his spiritual nature require a special day for its culture.

Before “sanctifying” or “hallowing” the day—and “the sanctification of a day,” as Eld. W. truly says, “consists in a precept for its observance for a special or sacred purpose”—before “sanctifying” the day it was not the Lord's property any more than any other day, but afterwards it was; and that too in the same and special sense in which other requirements based on precepts were his property. “The Lord's Sabbath” or “my Sabbath” is of the same category so far as it expresses ownership, as “mine ordinances,” referring to tithes, sacrifices, and such like, Mal. 3:7, and “mine altar,” Mal. 1:7. Tithes, sacrifices, and altars, the Lord calls his, because he has enjoined them on, and requires them of, men, and so with the weekly Sabbath. The other sense of “my Sabbath,” as already said, does not declare ownership, but simply a historical fact. We must not deceive ourselves by a double use of possessives, making them the same.

See again how Eld. W. is misled by the twofold sense of “Sabbath.” He says, “He (God) blessed the Sabbath day; and therefore it was already the Sabbath day when he blessed it.” Before God blessed the seventh day, it was indeed the Sabbath day in the sense that he had rested in it, but not the Sabbath day in the sense of a sacred and to-be-observed institution, since it was not yet “hallowed.” Hence, we read also, He “blessed the seventh day, because that in it he had rested.” I have given these matters more attention than they deserve, but my opponent made it necessary, and I trust we will have no more of it.

Another point deserves a brief notice. Eld. W. says: “God's resting on the seventh day is the basis, and the only basis of its institution. . . . If Deut. 5 gives the reason of its institution, I would like to have it pointed out.” Let me avoid using the word “institution” lest we attach different senses to it. The chief reason why God gave the Jews the Sabbath (and I will show in due time that it never was given to any other people) was because they had labored in bondage. “And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched-out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day.” Deut. 5:15. Strictly speaking, God's resting had but little to do with the Sabbath as a sacred rest on the part of man to God. God gave the Jews a sacred rest-day, because of, and in memory of, their deliverance from bondage, as the above passage clearly shows. But the question, How often shall I observe this sacred rest? how many days shall I labor and then rest? and this mainly, was determined by the facts of the creation week. Accordingly, when reference is made to creation in connection with the weekly Sabbath, the number seven or seventh always plays a prominent part. “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it (the seventh day) he had rested from all his work.” “Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. . . . For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” “Six days may work be done, but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. . . . It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.” Gen. 2:3; Ex. 20:10, 11; 31:15, 17.

I return now to the consideration of Gen. 2:3, which I left unfinished in my first reply. “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” The blessing and sanctifying of the seventh day made it a Sabbath for man's observance. When, then, was it blessed and sanctified? Eld. W. says at creation; I say the passage can, without violence to any law of language, be understood of a much later date, namely, of some time after the exodus out of Egypt. In other words, it furnishes no proof that the Sabbath was not made for man's observance at so late a date as I assign. For the sake of testing this, I will assume that the Sabbath was given for man's observance after the exode.

1. The passage itself excludes the idea of a Sabbath for man's observance from the beginning. The seventh day was sanctified after the first seventh day was past, after God “had rested.”

2. While narrating facts in Genesis, Moses would at times make comments thereon, as in Gen. 2:23, 24: “And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.” Moses comments, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh.” This is known to be Moses' comment by the fact that Adam then knew nothing of “father,” “mother,” and progeny. In like manner, the blessing and sanctifying of the seventh day, mentioned in verse 3, may be regarded as Moses' comment, called forth by the historic mention of the seventh day; as if he had said, “By the way, this reminds me that God blessed and sanctified the seventh day for man's observance after he had brought us out of Egypt.” I fail to see the “incongruity” of which my brother speaks.

3. Anticipation, or prolepsis, is common in works, both sacred and profane, written after the event. Since Moses wrote, not only long after the creation, but also after the Sabbath was given, there is not the slightest impropriety in speaking of both events in connection, though widely separated in time. It is needless to give examples from profane writers; let a few from the Scriptures suffice.

John 11:1, 2. “Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.” But this anointing took place some time after Lazarus was sick (chap. 12:3), yet they are here joined because one suggests the other, as in the case of the seventh day.

The language which my brother uses in reply to me is just as much against John. It won't do, John, to join these events; it is “doing violence to the record, and to reason.” It does violence to the record, for it denies the order laid down by inspiration, wresting the third verse from the second chapter of Genesis [the second verse from the eleventh chapter of John] in its relation to recorded events, and placing it where inspiration never placed it!

Matt. 10:2, 4. “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: . . . Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.” (For the time of betrayal see chap. 26.) Comments by Eld. W.: “Such a perversion of Sacred Scripture is very rarely seen. For if the events there recorded did not then transpire according to the order laid down, the record is calculated to mislead the reader!”

Let us now hear from Moses in his Genesis 10:4, 5: “And the sons of Javan [were]; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.” But the confusion of tongues transpired after the events of this chapter, see chap. 11:7, and the term “Gentiles” is of still later origin. Comments by Eld. W. again: “To thus mutilate the record, and take the facts of Gen. 2:3 [Gen. 10:4, 5] from their evident and oft-declared connection, is without any reason or necessity—except that which is found in the theory which gives rise to the perversion!” Poor Moses! he seems to have fallen into severe hands.

In Gen. 3:20, we have an evident anachronism, that is, an event introduced before its time: “And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.” Eve was not a mother till after the events recorded in this chapter, both before and after this verse, had transpired. See chap. 4:1. An anachronism in Gen. 2:3, is just as lawful, in itself, as one here; it does no more “violence to the record” there than here. And that there are facts stubbornly demanding some such disposition of that verse, shall be abundantly shown in due time.

4. If even in none of the ways suggested Gen. 2:3 could be shown to be consistent with such a hypothesis as I make, here is another. Both sacred and profane writers often take up a line of thought and follow it to a certain point, then return and take up a second, carrying it forward to a desired point, then return for a third and fourth, or as many as they see fit. Even in prophecy, this plan is pursued. See Revelation, and Lange on Matt. 24 and 25. This is precisely what Moses did in Genesis. He began a line of history with the creation of the heavens and the earth, traced it past the making of plants, of animals, and of man, up to the making of the Sabbath for man's observance, which line ends with Gen. 2:3. He then returns to the very beginning at verse 4, brings up another line which ends with the fourth chapter, in the days of Enos, when “men began to call upon the name of the Lord.” And in the fifth chapter he returns a third time, not now to the beginning, but to the creation of man, and traces another line. Even in the book of Exodus, the same course is to some extent pursued. Since Gen. 2:3 stands as the end of a line of history, it is with all ease and naturalness that it falls in with my hypothesis. While this is actually the case, yet, as compared with what is recorded immediately before and after the third verse, it may be looked upon as comment, prolepsis, or anachronism, according to the standpoint from which we view it. And thus the impregnable Gibraltar of a creation Sabbath is shown to be a fort of paper. What, then, shall we say of other passages which by their friends are confessed to be weaker?

I knew not, till copying it, that this article is so long; I shall atone for it by brevity in my next.

BEHOLD, THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH,

Up, awake! his summons hurried, The watchers shout high on the turret, Thy Lord, O Zion, comes to thee! Through the midnight shadows falling, Hark! clear and loud the voice is calling, Ye prudent virgins, where are ye? Rejoice, the Bridegroom’s near! Up, let your lamps shine clear. Hallelujah! Make no delay, In fair array, Go forth to meet him on the way!

Zion hears the watchers singing, And up, her heart for joy is springing, She stands and looks with watchful eyes. Lo! He comes from Heaven glorious! In mercy strong, in truth victorious! The morning star breaks through the skies. Now come our joy and crown, Lord Jesus to thine own, Hosanna! We enter all The joyous hall, And hold with him the festival.

Glory be to Thee ascending, From tongues of men and angels blending, From cymbals and the harp’s clear tone: Thy city’s pearly gates before us Stand open, and we join the chorus Of angels high before thy throne. No eye hath seen the throng, No ear has heard the song. Oh! the glory! There we shall be And sing to thee, Praises everlastingly!

—Christian Treasury.

CEASING TO DO EVIL.

The prodigal, when he said, “I will arise and go to my father,” became, in a measure, reformed from that very moment. How? say you. Why, he left the swine-trough; more, he left the wine-cup, and he left the harlots. He did not go with the harlot on his arm, and the wine-cup in his hand, and say, “I will take these with me, and go to my father.” It could not be. They were all left, and, though he had no goodness to bring, yet he did not try to keep his sins and come to Christ.

C. O. TAYLOR

By C. O. Taylor

Spiritualism.

I HAVE heard it said that the spiritualists claim Henry Ward Beecher as one of their number. Whether he is identified with them or not, his views of death are much like theirs, as the following from him will show:—

“Dying is changing form, changing position, passing out from a lower to a higher position. It is the spreading of the wings which had been unfolded before. It is crowning men, giving them the scepter. It is not coffins and decaying bones we are to think of. There are men who believe they are made better by spending whole days in sepulchers. Yes! if worms are men's best priests; when I think of death I think of immortality.”

Mr. B.'s views of death are the general views of the churches. They are standing quite strong on the ground of spiritualism.

Modern spiritualism has framed and brought out a platform, or system, that just meets the views of the churches. It is as they believe. They will accept of it. They can, and be consistent with their faith. Yet God in mercy offers the truth first. When rejected that leaves them to the strong delusion, to be deceived as men have never been deceived. 2 Thess. 2 : 9. Even the true, and faithful followers of Christ are to be strongly tempted. Matt. 24 : 24.

C. O. TAYLOR

Fair Warnings.

By B. M. Minor

FAIR warning of what? Why, that the coming of the Lord is near at hand, even at the doors. Matt. 16: 27: “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” Here is a plain, unqualified declaration that the Lord is coming. Those who believe that this coming is to be a spiritual coming should read and study, Acts 1: 9, 10, 11, which plainly teaches that Christ shall so come as the apostles saw him go. There is nothing there about a spiritual ascension or a spiritual coming; the 9th verse reads, “And a cloud received him out of their sight;” not a spirit, but the Lord himself. Christ assembled with the apostles personally, ascended in person, and will come in person, is the plain meaning of these passages, and many others that might be quoted.

Adventists generally are sorry to see so many deny their having any means of knowing when the coming of Christ is near at hand. Those who make this denial often quote Matt. 24: 36. “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of Heaven, but my father only.” This passage, in the minds of many, settles the whole subject. The first part of the chapter, from which this quotation is taken, is as a sealed book to them. I am acquainted with no Adventists that profess to know of the day or hour of Christ’s coming. But we do profess to believe, and to know, when that coming is near at hand. The evidence is plain that Christ intended to give his disciples the signs of his coming. Matt. 24: 3. “And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Here the question is plainly and pointedly asked. Did the Lord evade the question, and tell them it was not for them to know? No! just the reverse of this. The Lord tells them, personally, the signs that would take place, and the disciples seem to have been satisfied with the reply.

Why should not this reply satisfy us also? We have seen nearly all of those signs fulfilled, and yet many are not satisfied. Christ’s answer to the apostles, the fulfillment of the prophecies, and the fulfillment of the signs, are a conclusive answer that the Lord intends that we who are now living should know that his coming is near at hand. The Bible and historical evidence should settle this question with all seekers after truth who are not afraid to meet it.

Dear reader, if you do not now believe in the near coming of Christ, I ask you to give the subject a careful, earnest, and prayerful investigation. At the same time study yourself a little, and see if you are not so wedded to the things of this world that you have more pleasure in them than you have in contemplating meeting your Lord at his coming. If so, throw yourself unreservedly upon him; seek for pardon and light, and be assured that if you do so you will get it. When you can truly say you would be glad to meet the Lord, then will the truth and light shine before you as it never did before. Then will you say that the warning is a fair one, that it is easily comprehended by earnest, prayerful seekers after truth. Christ knew that the warning would not be generally heeded or believed, and plainly told the apostles so, as recorded in Matt. 24: 37–39, another evidence that his coming is near at hand; for the time has come when the majority will not endure sound doctrine. Men are now great lovers of pleasures, and evil men and seducers are waxing worse and worse, from day to day.

Dear reader, the prophecies are nearly all fulfilled, the signs have nearly all taken place, the third angel’s message is being proclaimed. Take warning in time. Be found prepared to meet your Lord. The time is short. The great event will soon be

upon us. We must meet the Lord face to face. Think of this. Let us all try to realize this fact, show our belief by our actions, and do our whole duty. Let each one of us believe the Lord has some special work for us, and then so perform it that it may be well with us in the end, and that we may enter in through the gates into the city.

B. M. MINOR.

Mendocino Co., Cal., July 12, 1872.

Halting.

By A. M. Lindsley

AFTER the light has been set before a person, or a community, so plainly that their judgment is convinced, and admit it, why are some so long in deciding to obey? Is there any plainer reason than this, that they are in possession of a heart that is carnal, that is not subject to the requirements of God, neither indeed can be? Perhaps up to this time they have thought themselves to be very fair Christians, accepting the gospel according to the preaching of the day. But when the Sabbath and other reforms come up, with other points of doctrine which have been erroneously held or understood, they are brought to a stand. It becomes at once a test, and will manifest their true depth of Christian character. Some will manifest the disposition of the foxes of the desert. Dodging from one point of exit to another, they try to elude the final conclusion that their will must yield. Building for themselves a foundation of hay, wood, and stubble, they make ready to settle down again at their ease. But oh! the overflowing storm of God's wrath will soon sweep away the refuge of lies. Better dig deep and lay the foundation sure.

Again, some think they will wait a little, to have a few more move out, before they commit themselves. They had rather travel in a larger company; in other words, it would better suit their tastes to be a little more popular. Such, if not aroused, will sink, through weakness and temptation, beyond the reach of help. Oh, beware in time!

Others, who are wholly convinced, are waiting for a more convenient season. Business would suffer, or friends would scoff—some lion is in the way. We are admonished to seek first the kingdom of Heaven, then all necessary things will be provided for. In fact, there is not a position of doubting or of danger but provision has been made by Infinite Wisdom, if we will only take heed to the sure word. This spirit of lethargy is almost the very atmosphere of Satan, and a very special means by which he binds his enslaved victims till it is too late. He will try to cause us to have too diminutive views of life, by which the mind is dwarfed and rendered imbecile and indifferent in regard to our greatest needs. Oh! that such could have their eyes opened to see the snares of the enemy. Hear the words of the prophet, Jer. 13: 16: “Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.” See also 2 Thess. 2: 10–12: “Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie,” &c. And Isa. 66: 4: “I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear,” &c. God loves those who are willing to take his yoke upon them, let it bring more or less of loss in things of this life; but how quickly do such feel the recompense of reward, even here. It is the willing and the obedient that eat the good of the land.

I cannot close without referring to the words of the prophet Elijah to rebellious, backsliding Israel. 1 Kings 18: 21, “How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.” Read the whole chapter. What could be more thrilling and sublime, showing the power of the prayer of faith, and in demonstrating that “the Lord, he is God.” Now the spirit and power of Elijah is in the preaching of the Advent messages, according to Mal. 4: 5, 6, and God will as surely demonstrate that he is God, and that he is to be obeyed, as he did then. Oh! then no longer halt and stumble into perdition, but flee as a bird from the snare of the fowler. Read the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the solemn time we are living in, written out as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost. How sublime and lofty their writings. Read Isa. 3, 27, and onward, Hab. 3, the book of Joel, and others, too numerous to mention here. God's word will not return unto him void, but will accomplish whereto he has sent it. He knoweth them that are his, and will help the trusting, obedient ones, however weak and feeble they may be. A. M. LINDSLEY.

We Should Love God.

By B. F. Merritt

CONTEMPLATE Creation. God formed the earth, and beautifully adorned it. Graceful trees, with waving boughs, laden with flowers and fruit, formed the pleasant groves. Flowers of various hues decked the green carpet of the glade. Beautiful rivers rolled along, where sparkling stones and precious metals could be seen. The noble beasts, all gentle as a lamb, roamed about, while the merry songsters filled the sweet-scented air with music. How beautiful all must have appeared in the bright sunlight. Infinite wisdom had designed it, and omnipotent power had accomplished it. This delightful abode, the Father gave to man, and gave him dominion over all. How good a Father!

Contemplate Redemption. When man had forfeited all right to life and happiness, and justice demanded his everlasting destruction, God pitied him. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,” the most exalted of the heavenly host, the one nearest the Father, “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” “God commendeth his love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Such wondrous love as this we cannot fully comprehend. When guilty man could not be saved and God’s justice maintained, he gives up his well beloved, that he may die for us. Herein is love, boundless love, manifested.

Think of God’s care. “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom.” “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him; for he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” The “hairs of your head are all numbered.” “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.”

“When through the deep waters, I call thee to go, The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow; For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless, And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.”

Think that God always has done right. “The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.” In all his dealings with the children of men, the strictest justice has been done. He never made a mistake. All that he ever did was right.

Men may not understand now why he has done certain things as he has, yet we are taught that the people of God shall participate in the Judgment, when all things will appear in their true light, and then it will be seen that God has been “righteous in all his ways.” When it is realized that infinite wisdom, infinite justice, and infinite love, have been manifested in all God’s ways, men will love him more.

Think how he has dealt with you. O child of God, have you not great reason to love your Father? How often he has quelled your fears; how often he has calmed your troubled breast! In him you have found a place of rest. He has been to you a Friend, a Benefactor, a Father, and at times you have realized that he was specially nigh.

Now if we love God we will love his holy word. I love to read a letter from my dear father, when away from home, so if I love God I will love to read his good book, which tells me of his character, his will, myself, and my Saviour, who died for me.

If I love God, I will love to pray. I love to go to my father’s house and talk to my kind father and mother. I love to be in their presence. So, if I love God, I will love to seek the place where he has said he will meet with me, and I with him can hold sweet communion. B. F. MERRITT.

Old Things Done Away.

By Susan Elmer

I HAVE heard the above quoted to prove that the Sabbath was done away. For, say they, after Christ came, old things passed away, and all things became new. But they must have forgotten the other part of the text. It reads thus: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Has he broken the law of God? How willingly does he now turn his feet in the way of his commandments. They are no longer grievous; for the law is now written in his heart. He who is in Christ will be wholly transformed. The things he once hated he now loves. It makes the covetous soul liberal, the fault-finding and murmuring patient and forbearing, the proud and haughty spirit is now exchanged for a meek and quiet one. And how can it be otherwise, if he is imbued with the spirit of his Master?

We see this exemplified in the case of Paul. Now, behold him with the fury of a demon, entering the houses of the saints, hating men and women, committing them to prison. He will by no means allow them to speak for Jesus. But listen again, for it does the heart good to hear him. “What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” Now he possesses the meek and lowly spirit of that same Jesus that he so lately had persecuted. Oh! yes; and do we not need to cultivate more of the same spirit, that we may die to sin daily, grow up unto Christ our living head in all things, reflect his image more fully, having the blessed assurance that we are his, watching and longing for his appearing? Then we shall indeed be ready to hail his return with delight, and realize the glorious fulfillment of that prophecy spoken by the Lord to the beloved John so many centuries ago: “Behold, I make all things new.” God grant that we may be ready to participate in the new creation.

SUSAN ELMER.

Ashfield, Mass., Aug., 1872.

Are We Like Them?

By H. A. St. John

“When he slew them, then they sought him: and they remembered and inquired early after God. And they remembered that God was their Rock, and the high God their Redeemer.” Ps. 78 : 34, 35.

THIS inspired language has reference to the Israelites while passing through the wilderness. When the judgments of God rested heavily upon them, they sought the Lord with diligence. When hundreds were dying from the effects of the bite of fiery serpents, when destroyed by the plague, when slain by their enemies, and at many other times when afflictions pressed them sore, how earnestly in their distress did they seek the Lord. And he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not utterly. Yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. Many of the people of God have departed from him in prosperity, and with bitter repentance returned again in adversity. King David testifies of himself that “before he was afflicted he went astray.” Jonah, by reason of his affliction, cried unto the Lord out of the belly of hell. But it is very dangerous to thus grieve the Lord and provoke his displeasure. To presume upon his mercy is attended with great peril.

We are prostrated upon the bed of languishing, and death stares us in the face; how earnestly then we cry unto God that we may be prepared to die. Does death enter our family and snatch from our embrace a loved one; then, with tears of contrition, we seek God early. Are our earthly prospects suddenly blighted, and anticipated pleasure or enjoyment dispelled; then we feel the need of trusting in God, and of having a treasure laid up in Heaven.

Reader, let me appeal to you, and answer me in the solitude of your own thoughts. Are you the most thankful to God when the blessings of life are most abundant? When no visible mark of God's displeasure rests upon you, are you then the most grateful?

When health, happiness, and prosperity, attend you, do you then delight yourself most in the Lord? When seas are calm, and skies are clear, is it then, more than at all other times, that your soul is filled with a sense of the goodness and love of God? Do you love the service of God, the place of secret prayer, and communion with saints, most of all when your pathway is strewn with heavenly benefits? In short, does the goodness of God lead you to repentance and consecration! If you cannot answer the above questions in the affirmative, then is it not obvious that you need to seek at once for a hungering and thirsting after righteousness, a new conversion to God, that you may feel as did the psalmist when he exclaimed, “I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Ps. 34: 1. Are we like ancient Israel? If so, will we not be zealous and repent before we are spewed out of the mouth of the Lord? H. A. ST. JOHN.

Continue reading: Christianity and the Advent