Earlier text: THE TEMPTATION OF CHRISTBaptism as Memorial of Christ's Death and Resurrection
By O. Davis
Of what is baptism the memorial after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? or of what is it continued in the church as the sign? Our Lord after his resurrection perpetuates or carries forward into the gospel dispensation the institution, by commanding his apostles to “teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Matt. 28:19. The first instance of obedience to this command of the Lord is found in Acts 2:38, and it is in answer to those that were convicted of their sins and inquired of the apostles what they should do. “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” In this passage we find that baptism for the remission of sins is in the name of Him who died and rose again. It does not now look forward to Him who is to come, but back to Him that has come, died, and rose again, a memorial of the work of Christ by virtue of which sins are remitted; for baptism itself does not take away sin; that was to be done by the Lamb of God. In Acts 8:32–37, we learn that a belief in the work of Christ is an essential qualification for baptism. After Philip had preached Jesus to the eunuch, he asks, “What doth hinder me to be baptized?” And Philip said, If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest.” How clearly the institution stands out in this passage as a sign or seal of faith in that work of Christ, the Lamb of God, by which our sins are remitted. Thus far, we find faith and repentance essential to baptism. Acts 10:43: “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth on him shall receive remission of sins.” Verse 48: “And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.” This is the language of Peter when he first preached to the Gentiles Jesus Christ as having been put to death by the Jews, but raised the third day by God, and ordained to be judge of quick and dead. Thus it appears that baptism in the name of Jesus (who died and rose again) for the remission of sins was administered to both Jew and Gentile. In Acts 19:1–6, we find the baptism of John referred to as not covering the whole ground of the baptism of Christ, but as a figure pointing to Christ, as I showed in a previous article. Verse 4: “Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on Him which should come after him, that is, on Jesus Christ. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.” Although they had been baptized with John’s baptism, a baptism that pointed to a coming Saviour, yet Paul instructed them to be baptized with the baptism of the Lord Jesus, and thereby recognize and witness to the great fact that that Saviour had come. How clearly is here shown that John’s baptism prefigured the work of Christ, while Christ’s baptism is a memorial of it, and entitles those that receive it (by repentance and faith) to all the privileges of the Lord’s house or of his chosen people. It appears very clear thus far that it had come to be an ordinance by which a profession of faith was made, and the recipient was recognized as one to whom belonged the gift of the Holy Ghost. Acts 22:16: “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Here Paul is commanded to be baptized and wash away his sins. Now as the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, alone takes away sin, baptism can only be the emblem or sign of that blood by which the sins are washed away. This scripture binds baptism to the act of Christ by which our sins are remitted. A very familiar figure is here used to illustrate the significance of the ordinance. As things are made clean by washing in water, so are we made clean from sin by baptism, exercising faith and repentance. But we are not made clean or washed of our sins by the water in which we are immersed; for blood alone remits sin, and that blood the blood of Jesus, for there is no other name given under Heaven whereby man can be saved; hence, of very necessity, it becomes an emblem of the washing of the blood of Christ. We have thus far considered the institution as it was administered. We will now consider Paul’s command or reasoning upon its significance, and relation to faith. In Romans 6, he has been showing that out of Christ we are all under death, but that grace unto eternal life is extended unto us through Jesus Christ; and having accepted the grace through the means appointed, he asks, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” He answers, “How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?” and then goes on to show that those who were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death. Now as we are not really buried into death, it must be by figure. Those that were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death—they professed to acknowledge the death of Jesus Christ in their stead for their sins through the ordinance of baptism which contained that figure of death. But we have found that the laws of baptism are faith and repentance. Repentance for our sins is a sorrow for, and a putting away of, them, and faith directs us where to put them. Now is the exercise of faith and repentance as a necessary qualification for baptism in harmony with our being dead unto sin? Most certainly; for if we are truly sorry for our sins, we desire to put them away, to be divorced from the old man, the carnal heart—we are dead unto an inclination to sin; and faith, showing us that our sins cost no less to atone for them than the life of the sinless Son of God, love has taken the place of enmity. We desire to be Christ’s, to put off the old man. We have now, through the sign that God has given, entered into the bond of the new covenant. We acknowledged ourselves out of Christ, dead, sold under sin, but as Christ died for us, we accepted of his death in our stead through the sign that showed it in figure; and, as expressed by the apostle, we arise (from our watery grave) to walk in newness of life. We have now come under the bond of the new covenant: we, on our part, to be Christ’s, to walk in newness of life; he, on his part, to give us the promises of that covenant. The apostle now says, verse 5: “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” Verse 11: “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Verse 14: “For sin shall not have dominion over you [you have accepted of the death of Christ for your sins]; for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” The death of Christ that you accepted made full satisfaction to the claims of the law, and you now stand free in that grace that was to reign unto eternal life. We have, then, in the ordinance of baptism a figure of Christ’s death for our sins; and of his resurrection from death. Thus we clearly see that it is God’s appointed ordinance or institution by which we are professedly put on Jesus Christ and are entitled to all the privileges of his house or church; and that it consists in being so completely immersed in the water as to insure death if not raised out of it. How significant are the institutions of God, and how well calculated to fix the mind upon the plan of redemption as he has laid it. With these ideas before our minds let us consider the language of 1 Pet. 3:18–21. By the Spirit “he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which were sometime disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us, (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” How is baptism a figure of the flood? The old world being under condemnation for sin were immersed beneath the water (flood), and having accepted no hope of a Saviour for their sins (the wages of sin is death) died in that condition. But righteous Noah and family, having accepted salvation by the means then appointed, were saved, and a separation was made between the righteous and the wicked. Now, says Peter, the like figure whereunto even baptism doth now save us. Then let us see if baptism by immersion, for such we have proved to be the proper mode of baptism, contains this figure. The sinner is under penalty of death for his sins. He accepts the death of the Son of God (the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world) in his stead by being immersed beneath the water, where he would just as certainly die as did the old world by the flood, did he remain there; but as Christ has died for him he is raised up to walk in newness of life. And thus by baptism, by immersion, we do have the like figure which doth save us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Truly, then, can we not have the answer of a good conscience toward God? The blood of bulls and goats could not make us perfect as pertaining to the conscience; but the blood of the Son of God, God’s own offering, makes full satisfaction to his law, and gives us the answer of a good conscience, purging us from dead works to serve the living God. And as the old world, dead in sin, found a watery grave, so our old man should die by a like figure in our baptism, and thus we become separated from the old man of sin, and united to Christ, the Son of God. We have now passed from death unto life by profession through the ordinance that God himself has instituted in the church to emblematically set it forth. Could any other sign better illustrate the work? Can we leave out any part of the figure and have it still a memorial of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and the washing away of our sins by his blood? And thus upon the requirements of the gospel, as set forth by those who established it, we can only construct such an ordinance as we have been contemplating. The fact that baptism is emblematical of several parts in the plan and work of salvation often leads to confusion in our minds if we are not careful to rightly divide the word of truth. While the ordinance commemorates, as God’s appointed figure, or memorial, as we have seen, the death, burial, and resurrection, of our Lord and Saviour, it also illustrates our passing from death unto life in the present state. Rom. 6:4: “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Here we are represented as having a new life. What has become of the old one? Verse 6: “Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” Our obedience to the old man, the fallen Adam, having brought us under the penalty of death, we acknowledge the condition or sentence upon us. By accepting the death of Jesus Christ in our stead, we renounce any further obedience or debtorship to him (the old man), reckoning ourselves to him dead, and our allegiance transferred to the new man who has bought us by his own blood. And if we are really buried with him by baptism into death, will not the body of sin be destroyed? If, as the figure shows, we discern the crucifixion, sufferings, and death, of the Son of God on the cross for us—if these things are so associated in our minds in our baptism that we are buried with him into that very kind of death, will not such amazing love and condescension destroy the very inclination to sin? This is what the Scriptures expect of us, and therefore speak of us as having passed from death unto life—that the body of sin has been destroyed—been crucified with Christ—that we have put off the old man with all his deeds. How good God has been to his fallen, sinful creature, man. While man has rebelled against his Maker, despised and trampled his authority under his feet, insulted and profaned his great name, he still holds out pardon for him, and that through the blood and suffering of his Son, praying for his transgressions. What love! What mercy! Truly, what more could God do than he has done? While Jesus goes into death for us, we have but to show our acceptance of it on our part by God’s appointed sign. Jesus groans and dies; we accept the offering, and go free. Should we not be dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God? If our hearts have indeed been penetrated by such immeasurable love, will not the very inclination to sin be destroyed, and love be begotten in its place? How wonderfully expressive are the institutions of God, and how calculated to assist the mind in forming and holding a correct gospel faith is the one we have just been considering! We now conclude that it must have been given to John to prepare the way for Christ, as a very expressive figure of the work to be done by One who could see the end from the beginning, and therefore could not only give an institution that should prepare the way for Christ, but should also be the very institution that was best calculated to perpetuate the gospel faith by commemorating Calvary’s part in the great work of man’s redemption, even to its being the figure of the spiritual work of putting off the old man and putting on the new man, arising from the watery grave to walk in newness of life. Excitement among the Jews.
THE Indian Portugera, a Portuguese journal published at Goa, says a great excitement has been caused among the Jews at Bombay by the issue by their pontiff, H. B. Koyn, who has lately arrived from Jerusalem, of a pamphlet entitled, “The Voice of the Vigilant”—the object of this voice being to persuade the Jews that it is useless waiting longer for the promised Messiah, as this is Jesus Christ himself, “whose doctrines have been spread all over the world without sound or force. Compare,” says the pontiff, “the Old and New Testaments, and the truth will be seen.” He says that he was born in the old law, and under it was elevated to the pontificate, but the light had already penetrated with its rays into the deep recesses of his mind, and he is therefore persuaded, and with well-founded reasons, that it is in vain that the Messiah is now looked for. —Guide to Holiness. The Need for Sunny Christians
SUNNY Christians are very much needed. We are not cheerful enough in domestic life—in our social circles. There is great power in a happy life, that goes through the labor of the day, singing as it goes. We don't sing enough out of prayer-meetings and without a hymn book. There is power in a sunny face and a brightening eye. Oh! for an increase of sunny Christians! THE existing state of things will not always last. The end will come. The apostle assures us “that there shall come in the last days scoffers,” who will boastfully inquire, “Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” But the chariot wheels of the Coming One will not be delayed by the skepticism of the religious skeptic, or the scoffing of the religious scoffer. The end will come. Prophetic fulfillments in the past, and the present signs of the times, justify the most literal application of these fearful words of the prophet to our time. “Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” Joel 2:1. Another prophet, looking forward to the close of the present state of things, exclaims: “An evil, an only evil, behold is come. An end is come, the end is come. It watcheth for thee. Behold, it is come.” “The time is come. The day draweth near. Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.” Eze. 7:5, 6, 12. The end to an unbelieving world will be terrific beyond description. But to the just it will be a day of glory, of release, and reward. With longing eyes and quickly beating hearts they will be looking forward to it. And when it shall come, and their adorable Redeemer shall be seen coming down the blazing vault of heaven, their glad voices will unite in the triumphant shout, “Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us. This is the Lord, we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isa. 25:9. We give the following paragraphs from the Christian, under the heading of “The End”:— “The fleeting nature of this world, and the solemn fact of its approaching end, has occupied the thoughts of God’s people for ages past. Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied of a coming Lord, and a coming judgment on all that are ungodly among men. Abraham was content to wander a houseless dweller in tents, in an uncertain world, looking for his permanent inheritance to the heavenly country, and the city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Job foresaw the day when the heavens should be no more, and his Redeemer should appear and stand upon the earth in the latter day. David was a stranger and sojourner here, and foretold the time when the God of glory should appear in flaming fire. Isaiah exclaimed, ‘Oh, that thou wouldest rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence.’ Daniel foresaw the dissolution of all the pomp and glory of a sinful world, and heard the solemn word, ‘at the time appointed, the end shall be.’ “Malachi predicted the coming of the day ‘that shall burn as an oven,’ when all the proud, and they that do wickedly, shall be given to the flames. Jesus foretold the time when the wicked, like the tares among the wheat, shall be gathered in bundles and burned, in the end of the age. Paul declares, ‘Yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.’ John on Patmos exclaims, ‘Even so; come, Lord Jesus!’ James exhorts the saints to be patient, because the day of their deliverance draweth nigh. And Peter says, ‘The end of all things is at hand.’ “Living, then, in a fleeting and uncertain world, we are to ‘pass the time of our sojourning in fear.’ All things which we covet, love, and long for, shall soon pass forever from our grasp, and every earthly joy on which our hearts and hopes repose shall glide away like a forgotten dream. We must learn hence to hold this world with a loosened grasp, and to let no idolatrous love of earthly things becloud our spiritual vision and keep back our hearts from purer and more enduring joys. “The Christian’s hope is anchored within the veil. Not here, but hereafter, will his desire be realized, his aspirations satisfied. He has something in view better than earth’s ideals, something that eye hath not seen nor ear heard, only as God hath revealed it by the Holy Spirit and in his living word. He has no lack of hope, joy, and consolation, but it reaches beyond the toss of earthly storms and the surge of earthly billows. ‘The end of all things is at hand,’ but he shall not be a loser by the change. His treasures are in Heaven. His heart is there also; and in due time he shall rest from his labors and reap his great reward. ‘Looking for that blessed hope; and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ,’ what are the trifles of earth, the pomps, the pleasures, and the pride of a departing world, compared with the eternal gladness that is waiting for him, the eternal glory that he so soon shall share?” “But let not the vain and godless take courage at judgment’s long delay. Let not the scoffer exult in sinfulness and pride. ‘The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night;’ the heavens being on fire, shall be dissolved; the elements will melt, and the works of man shall perish in the dissolving flames; and only for the saints of God shall home or hope remain, in that ‘New Heaven and New Earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.’ “Let us make their blessed portion our own. Let us resolutely spurn the enticements of a sinful world. Let us take heed, lest like Esau, for ‘one morsel of meat’ we sell our priceless birthright. Let us watch, and wait, and hope, and work; and with the passing months and fleeting years, the changes, chances, convulsions, and tumults that rack the world, let us hear forever these words of solemn omen and of joyful cheer. ‘The end of all things is at hand; be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.’” J. W. “A Veritable Curiosity.”
By Uriah Smith
The Christian Statesman of Aug. 1, 1874, has the following among its “Editorial Notes”:— “There is a body of religionists in our country who are a veritable curiosity. The persistent faith with which, in spite of all consolatory indications, they cling to the doleful prospect of persecution, is a lesson for these degenerate times. To their enlightened vision, the beast with two horns like a lamb, in Rev. 13: 11–18, is a prophetic symbol of the United States. Its appearance as a lamb indicates the pacific character of the American government, and our comparative youth, while the fact that, unlike other beasts in prophecy, its horns have no crowns, indicates our republican character. After awhile, however, the lamb-like character disappears, and the beast becomes oppressive, and finally engages in persecuting the true people of God. This is to be fulfilled in the rigid enforcement of ‘Sunday laws,’ under terrible pains and penalties against the keepers of the seventh-day, one of whose organs (the Advent Review), has just published this profound interpretation. The rise of the Religious Amendment, and the formation of the ‘popular and influential National Reform Association’ are at once the means to bring about this dire consummation, and the sign that it is near at hand! What a ‘raw-head-and-bloody-bones’ we are, and what ‘Gorgons, hydras and chimeras dire,’ discerning eyes can see under our fair exterior! Like children frightened out of their wits, there is no reasoning with these people. Besides, there is the prophecy, and what enticing words of man’s wisdom can set that aside? We can only comfort ourselves with reflecting on their sheepish surprise when they find that the amendment has been adopted, and not a hair of their head is in the slightest danger of harm.” We do not quote this for the purpose of offering anything by way of refutation; for “who can refute a sneer?” But we are glad the Statesman has called the attention of its readers to the prophecy of Rev. 13: 11–18, and set them upon the track of its interpretation, though it has only brushed at a few of the pinnacles of our faith without giving any idea of the broad and massive foundations upon which they rest. Nevertheless it may excite a spirit of inquiry, which will result in good. There may be those who have not thought so far upon this Religious Amendment movement, as to see that its logical result is religious intolerance and oppression; but they cannot have studied history without knowing that if the movement succeeds, it passes at once beyond the control of the few who would restrain it from evil. But we are not at all disturbed at the prospect of its success. The little fling about our being frightened out of our wits, may go for what it is worth. We simply aim to show the people that a vital issue between truth and error is before them; that men will endeavor to enforce obedience to error by the severest human penalties, while God denounces upon them more terrible judgments if they yield; and we would have them understand that God has forewarned us in his word of these things so that we need not be taken by surprise by any of the strange movements of this strange time, but may prepare for the issue, and be on the right side when it comes. That the loud professions of tolerance on the part of the movers of the Religious Amendment are a fraud and deceit, is well set forth in the following scathing remarks by the Sabbath Recorder. After quoting the paragraph which we have given above from the Statesman, the Recorder says:— “While we do not accept the interpretations of prophecy given by our Advent friends, we are far from resting in any assurances of protection from outrage and oppression given by the advocates of the Religious Amendment. The terms of the Constitution of the United States do now protect us, but in the State of Pennsylvania there is in operation a wicked and oppressive Sunday law, bearing on those who observe the seventh day; and yet those who under the amended constitution promise protection, will not with one of their fingers remove the burden now on us.” We venture to predict that there will be occasion to refer to this paragraph again in a few years, when that very surprise which the Statesman now anticipates with such pleasure beholding upon our countenances, will be found upon the other side of the house. U. S. The Blind Men and the Elephant.
By Editor
The following humorous poem by J. G. Saxe, offers a well-merited rebuke to that stunted and short-sighted theology which builds a theory upon one or two isolated texts of Scripture, without considering their bearing upon other texts, or that of other texts upon them. A great deal of confusion in the theological world, is, we think, to be attributed to that narrow method of Biblical interpretation; and many of the disputants may well be likened to the blind men in the following fable disputing about an elephant they had never seen, and having only partially examined, had each mistaken his part for the whole. And we offer, as the great recommendation of that system which we call the present truth, that it harmonizes all the Bible into one grand whole. The reader will therefore bear in mind, as he peruses the following lines, that we have not taken the side, tusk, trunk, leg, ear, or tail, of the elephant, alone, but all the parts that go to make up the whole. It is this comprehensive harmony that gives the truth its clearness, and our cause its strength. But to the poem, which is called, “It was six men of Indostan,
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind. The first approached the elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
‘God bless me—but the elephant
Is very like a wall!’ “The second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried; ‘Ho! what have we here,
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear
This wonder of an elephant
Is very like a spear!’ “The third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up he spake:
‘I see,’ quoth he, ‘the elephant
Is very like a snake!’ “The fourth reached out his eager hand,
And felt about the knee;
‘What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,’ quoth he,
‘’Tis clear enough the elephant
Is very like a tree!’ “The fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: ‘E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most:
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an elephant
Is very like a fan!’ “The sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
‘I see,’ quoth he, ‘the elephant
Is very like a rope!’ So these six men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion,
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong! So, oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
‘And prate about an elephant
That none of them has seen!’ “The Sea and the Waves Roaring.”
THIS is named by our Lord as one of the signs which were to forewarn the world of the coming of the Son of man. In fulfillment, we naturally look for some unwonted disturbance in the great bodies of water that cover so large a portion of the globe; and that such disturbances have taken place of late years, we have ample testimony to prove:— “A letter from New Zealand, Aug. 28, 1868, speaks of an extraordinary tidal wave at several points. At Wellington the tide kept rising and falling two or three times an hour, from low water to extreme high water. It caused immense excitement in the town. . . . At Oamaru, the tide rose and fell fifteen feet in fifteen minutes; and at Lyttelton it receded suddenly to six feet below extreme low water level, and then came in with such a rush that it tore all the shipping away from the wharves, and caused tremendous confusion and considerable damage. The tidal wave fell on the island of Hawaii, destroying a number of houses, and causing much loss of property.” “The New York Tribune, of Nov. 12, 1868, speaking of these things, says the ‘tidal disturbances’ are ‘the most remarkable and extensive of which there is any record.’ It is said their velocity was ‘about a thousand miles an hour.’ The Tribune says that by the tidal waves, ‘Both the great ocean waters of the Atlantic and Pacific have been agitated in their whole extent. We mention in particular the tidal waves at St. Thomas, and all the neighboring islands, which were full fifty feet in height. . . . It is said by those who have witnessed these waves that the ocean’s roar is exceedingly frightful.’” At Arica, the British Vice Consul was an eye-witness. He exclaims:— “Gracious God, what a sight! I saw all the vessels in the bay carried out irresistibly to sea (anchors and chains were as pack thread) probably with a speed of ten miles an hour. In a few minutes the great outward current stopped, stemmed by a mighty rising wave, I should judge about fifty feet high, which came in with an awful rush, carrying everything before it, in its terrible majesty, bringing the shipping with it, sometimes turning in circles, as if striving to elude their fate.” At Lima, a writer says: “I saw the whole surface of the sea rise as if a mountain side, actually standing up. Another shock with a fearful roar now took place. I called to my companions to run for their lives on to the Pampa. Too late; with a horrible crush the sea was on us, and at one sweep dashed what was Iquique on to the Pampa. I lost my companions, and in an instant was fighting with the dark waters. The mighty waves surged, and roared, and leaped. The cries of human beings and animals were frightful.” These convulsions certainly answer most accurately to the words of the prophecy. Our Lord then continues: “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” Mr. Cunninghame, an able English writer,85when looking at the aspect of things in the world, says:— “That the present moral and political condition of the world is altogether without a parallel in the past history of mankind, will be denied by no accurate observer. This is, indeed, universally acknowledged by thinking men, as well as by our leading political journals. And if any further evidence of it were wanting, it is found in that indescribable sensation of fear and expectation, which everywhere fills the minds of men, of some mighty event, they know not what, which is coming.” Says Dr. Seiss, of Philadelphia, an able writer and minister:— “Symptoms of a mysterious metamorphose meet us on every hand, causing some of earth’s most far-sighted men, in church and State, to tremble with amazement and doubt.” “All society, everywhere, with its politics, its philosophy, and its religion, is in a perturbed condition, indicating revolutions and occurrences which no mere human foresight can at all comprehend.” “Christians and Jews concede that we are approaching commotions and changes such as never have been since time began.” “No one, acquainted with the existing aspects of the world, can have any doubt that we have fallen upon very startling and critical times.” “A Paris correspondent of the New York Journal of Commerce, when speaking of the signs of the times, says the ‘distress of nations and perplexity,’ the ‘failing of the heart for fear,’ have become so ‘universal’ that one might almost be forgiven for supposing that the end of everything was really at hand, and that the universe itself was about to disappear amidst this general and fearful crushing of all its elements.” PAUL said that in the last days covetousness should so abound, as to be one of the prominent characteristics of even the professed church of Christ. Covetousness is an inordinate desire for the possession of some supposed good, and is to be understood, as used by the apostle, in a bad sense. In this age it manifests itself in a mad clamor for wealth, immense fortunes, gaudy equipage, outward show. And the professed church of to-day responds, not in words, but in action, which more often than words, and more forcibly, tells the truth, that the words of Paul have come true; and this is the way in which one of their own papers speaks about the matter:— “MAMMON IN THE CHURCH.—The present age is a materialistic age. The prominence given to the study of physical science, the innumerable inventions of implements and machinery, and the absorption of thought in money-making, building and land monopoly, prove the statement we have made to be true. The secular spirit is predominant in all departments of life. The people are interested and active, almost exclusively, in things of time and sense. Mammon is king. The lower nature of man is in the majority. There is constant and universal rush for gain of worldly good—for wealth, for fame, for office, and emoluments of the passing hour. The masses of the people are wearing their lives away in toil for bread that perisheth with the using. The times are crowded with schemes of speculation, with incessant strife for riches, and with the parade of temporal power. “In such an atmosphere the church of Christ is stifled, and spirituality wanes. Even among Christians the worldly mood prevails. Religion becomes a thing of show, of convenience, of mere profession. Religious conversation deteriorates to passing criticism on sermons, sects and men. The discipleship which begins and ends in talk is of the letter that killeth.” U. S.