p. 186 | Review and Herald, Vol. 51, No. 24. (6/13/1878)

Review and Herald

Jun 13, 1878

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 13, 1878

THE REJECTED ORDINANCE.

By W. H. Littlejohn

BY ELD. W. H. LITTLEJOHN.

WHEN our Lord was upon the earth his heart was often saddened by the refusal of the people to accept his teachings, even when they were set forth in the use of unanswerable logic. Though patient in the iteration and re-iteration of truth, he at times turned away from those whose hearts were hard as steel, and whose spiritual eyes were as destitute of sight as were the seared and filmed orbs of Bartimeus the beggar, to mourn the blindness of an age where light seemed to have lost its power to illuminate the soul.

“Walk [said he] while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.” “While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.” This exhortation, however, was fruitless in moving his hearers to obedience, and the record which follows shows that, having exhausted the resources of his power in the vain effort to draw the people to himself as the light of the world, he withdrew and hid away from them. This he did, doubtless, not from any feeling of animosity because of the rejection of himself or his word, but because his continued presence would have resulted in harm rather than good, since—having developed an unwillingness to obey—an increase of evidence would have simply served to enlarge their accountability. On another occasion, as his eye rested on the city of cities, he uttered these mournful words, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.” Matt. 23:37. His heart was burdened almost to breaking with a sense of his inability to save those whose salvation had been the great desire of his life. He knew his mission full well. He knew that in him alone were the possibilities of pardon and life. He also knew that those men had refused to receive him, not because of any want of evidence of his divinity, but because they loved darkness rather than light, even where the latter was so clear that it equaled in its strength the full blaze of the midday sun. He was aware that they had cast him out deliberately, and under circumstances which made their condemnation certain. He said to them, “Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner; this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?” Matt. 21:42. From this it is manifest that he well understood the fact that the leaders of the people had set him at naught, but that God had made him, notwithstanding this fact, the foundation of every well-grounded hope of salvation. Eighteen hundred years have since passed, and how completely has the order of things been reversed. Where God is, there is always assured triumph.

The priesthood—those who ought to have been the God-directed builders of the spiritual temple—failed to recognize the corner-stone which the Lord had provided for that most glorious edifice which has since become the stupendous structure of the Christian Church, and they were left to themselves, while the chosen instrument of God has filled the precise position which He designed he should fill in the only plan of salvation which has been offered to man.

From this we may learn two lessons. The first is, that it is a fatal thing to reject truth. The second is, that even when truth is rejected, the declaration of the apostle is verified; namely, that we can do nothing against it, and that its ultimate success is certain.

We read that God has sown the light for the righteous; this being the case, he who fails to gather its rays, in order that he may thereby illuminate the pathway of life which he is treading, is neglecting to avail himself of God’s appointed means for his salvation. The consequences of such an action must uniformly be ruinous.

If we are ever saved, it will be because God will save us in the use of those instrumentalities which he has provided.

If we are ever lost, it will be because we have failed to carry out the instructions given in the sacred record.

As in the State it is vain for an individual to plead his ignorance of the statute law in extenuation of his offense, so in the Judgment of the great day it will be useless for us to urge, either that we were not acquainted with God’s requirements, or that we were unable to see light in his light.

Our opportunities for knowing what is the will of the Lord are ample, and if we do not avail ourselves of them, the fault will be our own. We speak, of course, of the great fundamental principles of the gospel. Said Christ, “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” John 7:17.

Here, then, we learn that divine aid is promised to every honest-hearted individual who is really anxious to discover the path of light.

But divine aid means success.

The only thing, therefore, necessary to its realization, is a sincere desire to know the will of God.

But says one, “How shall we be able to understand our own hearts, so as to know whether we are actuated by motives which, in this matter, are every way right?” I answer that the test, according to the scripture quoted, is very simple. The only thing to be determined is, whether we are really desirous of doing the will of the Lord; or whether our motive is, after all, simply that of an anxiety to be saved. In other words, are we doing the will of God because we love to do that will? or are we striving to do it merely to obtain the reward which we hope will follow?

In deciding this point, there is one test which can always be relied upon with confidence.

If we love to carry out the purposes of Him who has a right to our services, we shall ever seek to know just what he would have us do in all particulars.

Our eyes will never be closed to light, let it shine upon a duty however unpleasant; and we shall never hesitate to follow out a line of thought or listen to an array of argument, for fear that it may throw upon us a responsibility which we do not like to incur. Let it cost what it may, we shall not only be ready to receive instruction, but we shall also pray for it in reference to everything which God has revealed in his word, however humiliating to our feelings and disastrous to our temporal interests that instruction may prove to be.

In the Saviour’s prayer for the church we find these words, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:17. Here we are taught that sanctification comes through knowledge. As therefore sanctification, or purification, is the very thing which God desires for us, and which we should desire for ourselves, we ought to reach out after it as the tendrils of the earth-plant reach out after the shrub or the tree as a means wherewith to lift itself toward heaven and light.

By looking through the history of the ages, we see that the providence of the Lord has been in harmony with the text quoted, and that whenever men have been “purified and made white,” it has been in connection with their obedience to some important truth. The observance of this truth has usually brought with it the necessity of a sacrifice, either of feeling or property, and that sacrifice has in turn brought the individual making it nearer to God.

Reader, are you ready for the ordeal?

Do you value the favor of Heaven above the treasures of the earth?

Will you exchange the approbation of man for that of God?

Are you ready to search his word to see if there is not some light there which you have not yet received?

If so, you are very near, if not within, the kingdom of Heaven.

Before we part company, let us prove your sincerity or demonstrate your lack.

Is it probable, in view of the differences of opinion existing among different sects, that you have all the truth and no error?

We fear not.

It would be strange indeed if such should be the case; yea, more; it would be remarkable if your errors were not numerous, and your lack of light very considerable.

With your permission, therefore, we will select from many which might be taken a single unpopular truth, and call your attention to it through this article. It shall be what we have alluded to in the heading of this article as the rejected ordinance.

Do not suppose that it is baptism, and that, as immersionists, we shall claim that the churches generally have rejected the proper mode of baptism.

No; we allude to an ordinance more unpopular than that which Anabaptists love, and one which we believe they have set at naught more fully than Pedobaptists have the one which relates to the plunging of the body in water.

The one to which we have reference is the sacrament of feet-washing.

It is brought to view very fully in the thirteenth chapter of John. From the record we learn that on the memorable evening when the Lord instituted the supper which commemorates his death, “he riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself;” and that “after that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.” John 13:4, 5.

We also read that he said to them, “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.” John 13:14. Here is a plain intimation that the rite there instituted was not to cease with its origination. But somehow—for what reason we cannot tell—there has disappeared from the church almost altogether everything which answers to the transaction which took place at the time in question.

It is true that in the Romish Church we have a trace of it in the practice of the pope in washing once in each year the feet of twelve beggars. The perversion of the ordinance, however, as here perpetuated, is so complete as to make it almost unrecognizable. The only lesson which we can draw from it is that the Church of Rome, as a whole, acknowledge that Christ’s work was exemplary, and therefore to be followed in after ages. This concession is important in settling the general principle of the perpetuity, in some sense, of the ordinance, as by that means we have the testimony of the majority of the Christian world to the effect that the language of Christ implies the continued celebration of the event in which he is represented as having washed the apostles’ feet.

As already remarked, the great mass of the Protestant world have nothing which in any way commemorates the wonderful humiliation of the Master which we are considering.

It is true that there are a few denominations that constitute exceptions to the rule; but they are so few as to be regarded merely as exceptions. This fact, however, does not affect the settlement of the question at issue, since it was to the word of God, and not to the practice of men, that we were to go for light. Let us therefore approach the subject in a spirit of candor and of prayer.

To begin with, it will be well to inquire into the reasons which are assigned for the general discontinuance of the practice under consideration.

The only one with which we are acquainted is based upon the supposition that what Christ did was not designed to be regarded as the institution of a religious ordinance, but was simply an exercise of the rite of hospitality. In other words, that he only did that which it was common among the Jews for the host to do to his guest when visiting him at his own home.

Having stated the argument of those who object to the idea that Christ designed to originate by the transaction in question a new rite which was to be celebrated by his followers in succeeding ages, we now proceed to an examination of the reasons set forth from which such a conclusion has been reached.

The first suggestion which we offer is, that were we to concede that the premise taken is correct, i. e., that what the Lord did, conformed in every particular to a custom then existing, such a concession would not preclude the possibility of his having had an ulterior design in the whole matter.

Were this true, it would not be the only time when he had availed himself of an existing practice for the purpose of building upon it an institution whose object was entirely different in its nature from that with which it had formerly been associated.

Take, for example, the ordinance of baptism; all must admit that its design in the Christian dispensation differs materially from that which John had in view when he administered it upon the banks of the Jordan; or, going still further back, from that of the immersion of proselytes to Judaism as it was practiced ages before either John or Christ made their appearance in the world.

So, too, in the matter of circumcision; it by no means invalidated the argument for the perpetuity and design of that rite as a religious institution, when it was conceded that it had been practiced by the heathen nations before the days of Abraham. God took the one and Christ the other, and for wise purposes transformed them into religious ceremonies which were to be perpetuated

. They were well adapted to inculcate the moral which it was designed to teach when resorted to under the sanction of God, and it was therefore unimportant whether or not they ever had been used for another purpose.

But if this be true, then it is merely begging the question to say that, because feet-washing was resorted to in the days of Christ by others than himself, therefore he must, in the case in hand, have employed it for no other purpose than that for which it was resorted to by others.

As in the case of baptism and circumcision, so in this case, it is possible that he might have seized upon it as being precisely adapted from the religious standpoint to inculcate just the grace which he was anxious to develop among those of his followers who should come after him.

(To be Continued.)

AD JESUM.

By Independent

“Dignare me, O Jesu.”

Deign, Jesus, Lord, my soul to hide Within thy pierced and bleeding side! O give me in thy wounded heart My rest to find, nor thence depart.

When Satan’s wiles would work me harm, And Earth with her delights would charm, Within thy heart I safely rest, Within thy side secure and blest.

When sense with every art beguiles, And tempts me with her treacherous smiles, I will not fear, since still for me Thy side a refuge safe shall be.

When fate shall end my mortal breath, And close these eyes in darksome death, O Jesus, let my soul abide E’en then within thy bleeding side! —Independent.

WHY THEY DON'T STAY CONVERTED.

By GEO. D. BALLOT.

It is a source of frequent remark among church-going as well as other people, that revival preaching is powerless to impart lasting spiritual vitality to those converted under its influence. When our attention is once arrested by this thought, it does seem lamentable that so few of the many who seem to accept the gospel, and perhaps unite with some church, remain faithful to their profession for a year. Probably not more than one in ten of the conversions reported proves permanent and works such a reformation as to show that the individual was genuinely converted.

In a recent revival where forty cases of conversion were reported, the minister having charge of the effort boasted publicly of the glorious revival experienced and the rich harvest of souls that had been gathered into the fold; but at the same time he remarked privately that if eight of the forty remained faithful it would be all he could expect. Such an admission was indeed humiliating, if we claim that the gospel was given to save men.

We are reminded of what the prophet Hosea says: “They have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.” Hosea 5:7. There must be some avoidable cause or causes operating to produce such results; for certainly the gospel has not lost its power, nor has God ordained that such unsatisfactory and pitiable results should follow the preaching and acceptance of the simple truths of his word. How different is the present time from the early gospel days. Then it was only the few who drew back, now it is the few that remain faithful.

We think the mode of procedure in the order of presenting Bible truths is largely to blame for this state of things. Modern scientific educators give us an excellent rule to pursue in presenting new truths of any kind; it is to follow the order of dependence. In the practical workings of this rule, the teacher endeavors to present new ideas and thoughts in such a way that each new one will depend on those previously presented. Let us apply this rule to religious teaching: The Bible consists largely of instruction both doctrinal and practical, with here and there a word of timely exhortation interspersed. One who has never thought of this matter will be surprised at the very small proportion of exhortational scripture. The whole book is an exposition of the plan of salvation, with something of the history of its workings. The instructional portions are intended to give us a knowledge of the relations we sustain to God, and the exhortational to lead us to act with reference to those relations.

This thought leads us to see how perfectly the Bible is adapted to man's nature: the instruction appealing to his intellect, and the exhortation to his feeling. God gave the intellect to govern the physical and emotional elements of our nature. Men who succeed in any undertaking have practically to recognize this truth. Those who are governed by feeling universally end in making a failure.

The feelings are implanted in us, not to lead and control, but to give force and character to the carrying out of the decisions of our judgment. Popular religious teaching seems to ignore this common-sense view of man's nature and requirements to such an extent that nearly every effort to convert souls is a direct appeal to the feelings, with scarcely a legitimate attempt to reach the intellect. The preaching is nearly all exhortation, addressed to the emotions and feelings, with little or no instruction in it. The great object is to move the feelings, and the shortest method to produce this result is adopted. When once this is accomplished, and the poor trembling candidate has expressed a desire to become a Christian, he is said to be converted. The work is done according to the popular notion, and he is ready to be admitted into the church. Feeling, when it reaches a certain depth and stirs up a certain degree of excitement, according to revival theology, is suddenly and mysteriously transformed into pure and undefiled religion. Hence it is that men who can control the feelings of their audiences and sway them at will are in such demand when a revival is wanted.

We often hear the complaint from intelligent, candid people, both church members and worldlings, that they do not learn much about the Bible from the preaching they hear; they do not understand the plan of salvation any better at the close of a revival than at the commencement.

This certainly is not as it should be. Men and women must be instructed in regard to their relations to God before they can intelligently accept the terms of the gospel. A well-founded conversion, one which imparts the ability to give a reason of the hope within, costs something of an effort. (Read Prov. 2:1–9.) To the great mass of mankind, close thought and application of the mind are exceedingly distasteful; but this is the price of that wisdom which is from above, which is first pure, then peaceable, and of that peace which passeth understanding. There must be a yielding up of our will and way, and a diligent inquiry after truth.

In contrast with this state of mind, there are very few who do not like to have their feelings stirred to the depths. They love to be excited and thrilled. They love to be carried to the brink of the precipice and held out over the yawning abyss, and then be suddenly and miraculously rescued. This style of preaching, which is largely in demand, partakes too much of the character of novel reading. The attendant excitement subsides rapidly, and often leaves the newly converted in a worse condition than before. Nothing short of a greater excitement than the first will suffice to arouse such backsliders from the spiritual stupor into which they inevitably fall.

And thus the story repeats itself all over the land. Is it any wonder that many sensible people withhold their sympathies from the churches, when they see such unreasonable proceedings?

The best place to exercise common sense and good judgment is in religious matters, and nothing can show better judgment than to instruct people in regard to the plan of salvation before trying to get them to accept of its offers.

The great popular cry wherever one attempts to explain and show the harmony of the Scriptures is, “Away with your doctrines and give us the Spirit.” We ask how men and women can be converted so long as they regard the Bible as more or less dark, mysterious, and contradictory? Are not its doctrines and instructions necessary to instill the right spirit into us? How does the church expect to convert the world, or even a single soul, so long as they allow that much of the Scriptures is inexplicable?

The greatest fault of the church is that they are neglecting the study of the Bible, thus losing the instruction which is specially applicable to our time. Instead of trying to instruct themselves out of the word and walk in the increasing light, they cry out against nearly every effort to obtain more knowledge and light and submit to be led by their own feelings and inclinations. Especially is this true when any popular doctrine is called in question.

The church of to-day is trying to walk by the light which shone upon the pathway of their fathers. They forget that “the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Prov. 4:18. How easy for us to sympathize with Moses in his dealings with rebellious Israel, or to weep with Jeremiah in his afflictions, or to have our hearts moved with tender pity as we contemplate the life of Christ; and then how easy for us to go our ways and forget that God is dealing with the world now just the same as in any past age, and that we have a part to act just as truly as the prophets and holy men of old.

God surely has not left his creatures to themselves. He has had special truths for past ages, and he has a special truth for this time; and it is our privilege to know what this truth is, by earnestly searching the word of God.

It seems that the time has come when those who will, can see the weakness and folly of popular religious teaching. It is time for sensible men and women to cry out for more instruction, more knowledge, more light, and less of the shallow sentimentalism so characteristic of our times.

GEO. D. BALLOT.

THE LAST DAYS, NOW.

H. G. Guinness, of England, in a work entitled, The approaching End of the Age, says:—

“Unless the entire biblical system of Sabbatic chronology have no application at all to the measures of human history as a whole; unless the moral and chronological harmonies which we have traced between the three dispensations be utterly illusive and unreal; unless the divinely instituted typical ritual of Leviticus have no chronological agreement with the long course of redemption history; unless there be no meaning in soli-lunar chronology; unless the employment of great astronomic cycles to bound the duration of historic and prophetic periods be a matter of pure accident; unless the singular septiform epacts of these periods be the result of chance; unless, in short, the whole system which we have traced out in the word and works of God be utterly groundless and erroneous,—then there can be no question but that we are living in the very last days of this dispensation.”

PROPS

By Joseph Clarke

“Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh.” Jer. 17:5, 6.

Weakness ever seeks support. The trailing vine, as it aspires to climb the trunk of a neighboring oak, clings closely to the tree. So weak, puny man, cast adrift in this dark and unfriendly world, finds he needs help; for dangers and perils are all around, and he stands dismayed at the prospect. Fear of future evils causes him to seek for protection somewhere; and how few, in this emergency, repair to God, who alone is a safe and secure retreat from the storms of life, and who alone can insure complete safety in all the changing phases of human life. In sickness or in health, in poverty or in wealth, in peace or in war, at home or abroad, in life or in death, God is a sure refuge, an unfailing support.

To sustain himself in this world of sorrow, and make the most of life, man betakes himself to various supports rather than to God. Some trust in riches or popular favor; others, fearing late reverses, trust in the oaths of secret societies. Arms and armies are the defense of nations; and empires rely upon the support of navies, forts, arsenals, and men of war; or they hope for security in the ability and forecast of wise statesmanship, and in the strength of parties or the power of the ballot.

The great error into which we as fallible mortals are in danger of falling, is that of losing our hold upon God, who alone is able to protect and lead us and sustain us in all emergencies; and having forsaken God, we lean on a staff that will eventually fail us when we most need support.

We may not rely, even upon the best of men, in the sense here spoken of. What could even good old Noah do for his friends after the Lord had shut him in the ark? or what could the prophet Jeremiah do for the people of Israel after the decree had gone forth that his people should be carried captive to Babylon? The parent may anxiously bear his burden, and commit his child to God; but the child cannot trust in his parent to save him in the day of God’s wrath; the child has to exercise faith and trust in God, if he would gain the blessing from God.

Were all the good men who have ever existed still on the earth, and were they all to unite their efforts to save a single individual from the wrath of God, and were that person to trust in the friendship, love, prayers, and good offices of those good people, instead of leaning upon the Almighty Arm, that soul would not only fail of eternal life, but the curse pronounced in our text would fall with all its weight upon him.

There is but one hope for man, that is in God. Our kind Heavenly Father will provide for us many ways of protection, and comfort, and guidance; but we should look through them all to him. Have we friends? They are gifts from God. Have we of the things of this life, so that no want presses wolf-like upon us? This is a special favor of God. Have we character, standing, favor? This is of God, who can lift up or pull down. Health, strength, gifts mental and physical, skill, wisdom, talent,—all are from him. Man may deck his brow with all the gems of thought and learning, wisdom and excellence; he may adorn his home or his country with his wealth, his works of science and art, or his inventions; and he may say, as did the proud monarch of Babylon, Is not this the work of my hands, and the product of my labor? and all the while he may forget God who made him what he is, and who gave him the little skill and ability of which he is so vain.

How natural for man to lean upon his own supposed strength, and upon almost any support rather than upon God. God alone should be our trust. Taking his word as our guide, we find he has given us all the directions we need. He has conferred

upon us many favors; but we should look upon these gifts with gratitude to God, and should appreciate them. The ancient people of God fell, because they forgot his benefits and slighted and misused his prophets; they trusted in false gods and in their own resources.

This is the great error and delusion of man in every age,—a tendency to make man his trust. Few of any age or nation are in the habit of daily looking up to God with pure confidence and trust. The faith of this age is a mixed faith, and much of it is so diluted with faith in other objects that it has become an idolatrous faith. Pure and unmixed trust in God does not undervalue the means he has appointed to save men. No, verily; but this faith causes a still higher appreciation of all the gifts which God has ordained for the edification of his people. We are directed by the word of God to view all these as so many agencies ordained of God to lead his people to cultivate a faith that looks within the vail to Jesus, who is the Mediator of the new covenant. JOSEPH CLARKE.

PRAYER

By Eliza H. Morton

In the morning I will sing Praises to my Saviour, King; All the day I will pray.

When on high the sun doth roll Then to God I'll pour my soul; All the day I will pray.

When at eve the shadows fall Then, O God, on thee I'll call; All the day I will pray.

In the watches of the night, Songs he gives and visions bright, If we pray All the day.

Human life will ever be Blest with peace and harmony, If we pray All the day.

ELIZA H. MORTON.

Allen's Corner, Me.

ZEAL FOR GOD.

By N. W. Vincent

In the life of Jesus we witness a sweet, solemn earnestness, a perfect zeal for God. He had compassion upon the scattered flock of his people. So intent was he on preaching to them, and on healing all their diseases, that his mother and brethren seem at first to have thought him beside himself. It was his meat and his drink to please his Father. He had foregone heavenly pleasures and glories; he now denied himself common earthly comforts. He had not where to lay his head. He cast behind him the alluring vanities of the world. He spent whole nights in prayer. He took fatiguing journeys. He overcame Satan's most wily temptations. He endured the most unreasonable contradiction, the most cruel persecutions, all without sin, without a murmur, without ceasing till on the cross he could say, “It is finished.” Brethren, will we learn of Jesus how to work while the day lasts, how to do with our might what our hands find to do? Will we by him be zealously affected in the good work of instructing, benefiting, saving souls?

Have we fathers, brothers, sons, dear friends and neighbors, in the road to everlasting destruction? How are we using our means, talents, and time to save them? Could we meet their eyes, if they were to-day finally condemned, with a clear conscience? Could we listen to their weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and feel quite clear of their blood? Jesus has set us an example. In deathless love he bids us, “Follow me.” How we would toil to save these loved ones from starvation! But are they not starving for lack of sanctifying, saving truth, while tracts, books, papers, glowing with the precious revelations of God, are left to lie neglected, like the hidden talent, in publishing houses, in the rooms of the secretaries and librarians of our tract societies, or even in musty boxes and on dusty shelves of our own homes?

What time and money we would spend, what letters write, what journeys take, what insults bear, to protect these dear ones from the loss of earthly homes, to keep them out of prison, to preserve them from life-long disgrace or any temporal death. Are we manifesting half the zeal to keep them from losing Christ's glorious kingdom, and ourselves from losing their sweet company there forever; in keeping them out of the fires of Gehenna; in preserving them from everlasting contempt and the second death?

O brethren, let us awake, let us rise from the dead, and may Christ impart to us a zeal for God according to knowledge.

N. W. VINCENT.

Sabbath School Department.

By G. H. Bell

BIBLE LESSONS FOR YOUTH.

LESSON I.

Creation and the Sabbath.

1. What took place in the beginning? Gen. 1:1.

2. What means did God use in creating the earth? Ps. 33:6, 9.

3. What was the first condition of the earth? Gen. 1:2.

4. How many days were employed in the work of creation? Ex. 20:11.

5. What was created on each day?

6. What did God do on the seventh day? Gen. 2:2.

7. What does the expression “ended his work” signify?—That he ceased working,—discontinued it.

8. Which day of the week, then, is the rest-day of the Creator?

9. What word signifies rest-day?—Sabbath.

10. What direct proof have we that the seventh day is the Sabbath? Ex. 20:10.

11. How did God honor the seventh day? Gen. 2:3.

12. What is it to sanctify anything?—See synopsis.

13. Did God set apart this day for his own use?—Syn.

14. For whom must he have set it apart?—Syn.

15. What does our Lord say about it?—Syn.

16. What command have we in regard to this day? Ex. 20:8.

17. Why is this day to be kept holy? Repeat. Ex. 20:11.

18. Why is the Sabbath called God’s memorial?—Rom. 1.

19. What will become of those who forget God? Ps. 9:17.

20. What will help us to love God and obey him?—Rom. 2.

21. Why have we no right to follow our own desires?—Rom. 2.

22. Why have we no right to use our possessions as we please?—Rom. 2.

23. Keeping the Sabbath will lead us to do what?—Rom. 3.

24. Why have we no right to injure or abuse any of our faculties?—Rom. 4.

SYNOPSIS.

God created the heaven and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh; and since Sabbath means rest-day, the seventh day must be God’s Sabbath. “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.” Ex. 20:10.

“God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested.”

To sanctify is to set apart for a holy use. The seventh day was set apart for the use of Adam and his posterity. “The Sabbath was made for man.” Mark 2:24.

We are commanded to remember it and keep it holy. Ex. 20:8. The Sabbath should be kept holy that we may ever remember the great work of creation; “For in six days God created the heavens and the earth,” etc. Ex. 20:11.

REMARKS.

1. Thinking of God’s wonderful works in the creation will keep him in our memory; and for this reason the Sabbath is often called God’s memorial. All who forget God will be turned into hell. Ps. 9:17.

2. Thinking that God created us and all that we have, will help us to love him and obey him. It will make us feel that we have no right to follow our own desires, for we are not our own; that the things we possess are only lent to us, and we have no right to use them except as God has directed.

3. Keeping the Sabbath, then, leads us to think of the creation, to remember the great Creator, to love and obey him, to remember that we are not our own, and that all we have is God’s.

4. God has not only created us, but he has bought us by the blood of his Son; so we have no right to abuse or injure any of our faculties of body or mind. G. H. Bell.

LESSONS FOR BIBLE CLASSES.

By G. H. Bell

LESSON I.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM.

What king reigned in Babylon when the prophet Daniel and his people were captives in that city? Dan. 1.
What was the extent of his dominion? Dan. 2:37, 38; 4:22; Jer. 27:4–11.
What thoughts came into the mind of this great monarch of all the earth as he lay upon his bed? Dan. 2:29.
Who made known to the king “what shall be in the latter days”? Verse 28.
In what way did he make these things known? Dan. 2:1, 2, 3, &c.
Who related the dream and gave the interpretation of it? Dan. 2:19–45.
Relate the dream. Dan. 2:31–35.
What nine verses give the interpretation of this dream, as given by the prophet?
What did he say the head of gold denoted? Verses 37, 38.
What did he say should arise after him? Verse 39.
By what part of the image were the second and third kingdoms represented?
What is said of the strength and conquests of the fourth kingdom? Verse 40.
By what part of the image was this fourth kingdom represented?
What did the toes of the image denote? Verse 41.
What did the prophet say should take place in the days of these kings that should rule over the fourth kingdom in its divided state? Verse 44.
Describe the kingdom of God. Verse 44.

SYNOPSIS.

About 607 years before Christ, Daniel and many more of the children of Israel were taken captives by Nebuchadnezzar, and carried away to Babylon, the capital of his kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar was a great king and ruled over all the nations of the earth. One night, as he was thinking about what should come to pass in future years, he fell asleep and had a wonderful dream. In his dream he saw a great image. Its head was of gold, its breast and arms of silver, the lower part of its body was of brass, and its legs and feet were of iron. Finally, a stone cut out of a mountain without hands smote the image on the feet, and dashed it to pieces. Then all parts of the image were shivered to atoms, and carried away by the wind. The stone then became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

None of the wise men of Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom could interpret the dream, but the Lord showed its meaning to the Hebrew captive Daniel, and he explained it to the king. He said that the image represented four great kingdoms that were to rule the earth successively; the first represented by the head of gold, the second by the breast and arms of silver, the third by the brass, and the fourth by the legs and feet of iron.

The first kingdom was that over which Nebuchadnezzar then ruled, Babylon. The fourth was to be strong as iron, breaking and bruising other nations as iron can break and bruise gold, silver, and brass. The toes of the image denoted a division of the fourth kingdom into ten parts. In the days of these kings that rule over the fourth kingdom in its divided state, the God of heaven is to set up a kingdom which will have no end. This fifth universal kingdom is symbolized by the stone that smote the image. G. H. BELL.

WHAT NEXT?

By GEO. S. REICHARD

As the state of society in the last days is spoken of by the sacred writers as a sign, and as we are commanded to watch as well as pray, do we not well to notice to what extent professors of religion are led by their covetousness and love of pleasures?

More than a year ago it entered into the minds of some of our citizens to have a large cemetery in our midst, and dispense with small graveyards. Certain persons were therefore chosen to buy the land and see that everything was properly done. Four acres of land were bought, and according to contract had to be fenced within a specified time. The ground was surveyed, cut into lots, and offered for sale. Nearly enough money was raised in that way to fence the ground; there was, however, a small sum to be raised yet, which these men thought could be done by having an “oyster supper.” The plan was soon carried out.

This was rather a stunning blow to our moral sensibilities. We could not forbear to exclaim: “Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things?” But imagine our utter astonishment, when the announcement was made that still they lacked some money, which they were going to raise by another “oyster supper” and a dance. A dancing party and oyster suppers to raise money to inclose a place to bury the dead! Said a young man, “I know that I am wicked and love dancing, but I am not going to dance for that purpose.” The oysters were eaten, the dance continued all night, even till daylight; yet still they lack some money. What next?

GEO. S. REICHARD.

York Co., Neb.

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