Review and Herald, Vol. 19, No. 6. (1/7/1862)

Review and Herald

Jan 7, 1862

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 7, 1862

History of the Sabbath.

By John Nevins Andrews

(Continued.)

THE SABBATH DURING THE DAY OF TEMPTATION.

The history of the Sabbath during the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness when God was grieved for forty years with his people may be stated in few words. Even under the eye of Moses, and with the most stupendous miracles in their memory and before their eyes, they were idolators [Ex. xxxii; Josh. xxiv, 2, 14, 23; Eze. xx, 7, 8, 16, 18, 24] neglectors of sacrifices, neglecters of circumcision, [Amos v, 25-27; Acts vii, 41-43; Josh. v, 2-8] murmurers against God, despisers of his law [Num. xiv; Psa. xcv; Eze. xx, 13] and violators of his Sabbath. Of their treatment of the Sabbath while in the wilderness, Ezekiel gives us the following graphic description [Eze. xx, 13-24]:

"But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly polluted; then I said I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them. But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out."

This language shows a general violation of the Sabbath, and evidently refers to the apostasy of Israel during the first forty days that Moses was absent from them. God did then purpose their destruction; but at the intercession of Moses spared them for the very reason assigned by the prophet. Ex. xxxii. A further probation being granted them they signally failed a second time, so that God lifted up his hand to them that they should not enter the promised land. Thus the prophet continues:

"Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands; BECAUSE they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my Sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols. Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness."

This language has undoubted reference to the act of God in excluding all that were over twenty years of age from entering the promised land. Num. xiv. It is to be noticed that the violation of the Sabbath is distinctly stated as one of the reasons for which that generation were excluded from the land of promise. God spared the people so that the nation was not utterly cut off; for he extended to the younger part a further probation. Thus the prophet continues:

"But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols; I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments and do them; and hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God. Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me; they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do he shall even live in them; they polluted my Sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness. Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth. I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries; because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols."

Thus it appears that the younger generation which God spared when he excluded their fathers from the land of promise, did like their fathers transgress God's law, pollute his Sabbath, and cleave to idolatry. God did not see fit to exclude them from the land of Canaan, but he did lift up his hand to them in the wilderness, that he would give them up to dispersion among their enemies after they had entered the land of promise. Thus it is seen that the Hebrews while in the wilderness laid the foundation for their subsequent dispersion from their own land; and that one of the acts which led to their final ruin as a nation was the violation of the Sabbath before they had entered the promised land. Well might Moses say to them in the last month of his life: "Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you." Deut. ix, 24. In Caleb and Joshua was another spirit, for they followed the Lord fully. Num. xiv; Heb. iii, 16.

Such is the general history of Sabbatic observance in the wilderness. Even the miracle of the manna, which every week for forty years bore public testimony to the Sabbath, [Ex. xvi; Josh. v, 12,] became to the body of the Hebrews a mere ordinary event, so that they dared to murmur against the bread thus sent from heaven; [Num. xi; xxi,] and we may well believe that those who were thus hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, had little regard for the testimony of the manna in behalf of the Sabbath.

In the Mosaic record we next read of the Sabbath as follows:

"And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the Lord hath commanded that ye should do them. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath-day." Ex. xxxv, 1-3.

The chief feature of interest in this text relates to the prohibition of fires on the Sabbath. As this is the only prohibition of the kind in the Bible, and as it is often urged as a reason why the Sabbath should not be kept, a brief examination of the difficulty will not be out of place. It should be observed, 1. That this language does not form part of the fourth commandment, the grand law of the Sabbath. 2. That as there were laws pertaining to the Sabbath, that were no part of the Sabbatic institution, but that grew out of its being entrusted to the Hebrews, such as the law respecting the presentation of the show-bread on the Sabbath; and that respecting the burnt offering for the Sabbath: [Lev. xxiv, 5-9; Num. xxviii, 9-10] so it is at least possible that this is a precept pertaining only to that nation, and not a part of the original institution. 3. That as there were laws peculiar only to the Hebrews, so there were many that pertained to them only while they were in the wilderness. Such were all those precepts that related to the manna, the building of the tabernacle and the setting of it up; the manner of encamping about it, &c. 4. That of this class were all the statutes given from the time that Moses brought down the second tables of stone until the close of the book of Exodus, unless the words under consideration form an exception. 5. That the prohibition of fires was a law of this class, i. e., a law designed only for the wilderness, is evident from several decisive facts:

1. That the land of Palestine during a part of the year is so cold that fires are necessary to prevent suffering.

2. That the Sabbath was not designed to be a cause of distress and suffering, but of refreshment, of delight and of blessing.

3. That in the wilderness of Sinai where this precept respecting fires on the Sabbath was given it was not a cause of suffering, as they were ten hundred miles south of Jerusalem, in the warm climate of Arabia.

4. That this precept was of a temporary character, is further implied in that while other laws are said to be perpetual statutes and precepts to be kept after they should enter the land, no hint of this kind here appears. On the contrary, this seems to be similar in character to the precepts respecting the manna, [Ex. xvi, 23] and to be co-existent with, and adapted to it.

5. If the prohibition respecting fires did indeed pertain to the promised land, and not merely to the wilderness, it would every few years conflict directly with the law of the passover. For the passover was to be roasted by each family of the children of Israel on the evening following the fourteenth day of the first month, [Ex. xii; Deut. xvi] which would fall occasionally upon the Sabbath. The prohibition of fires upon the Sabbath would not conflict with the passover while the Hebrews were in the wilderness; for the passover was not to be observed until they reached that land. But if that prohibition did extend forward to the promised land, where the passover was to be regularly observed, these two statutes would often come in direct conflict. This is certainly a strong confirmation of the view that the prohibition of fires upon the Sabbath was a temporary statute relating only to the wilderness.

From these facts it follows that the favorite argument drawn from the prohibition of fires, that the Sabbath was a local institution adapted only to the land of Canaan, must be abandoned; for it is evident that that prohibition was a temporary statute not even adapted to the land of promise, and not designed for that land. We next read of the Sabbath as follows:

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel and say unto them, Ye shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy. Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. . . . Ye shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord." Lev. xix, 1-3, 30.

These constant references to the Sabbath contrast strikingly with the general disobedience of the people. And thus God speaks again:

"Six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings."

Thus does God solemnly designate his rest-day as a season of holy worship, and as the day of weekly religious assemblies. Again the great Law-giver sets forth his Sabbath:

"Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image of stone in your land to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God. Ye shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord." Lev. xxvi, 1, 2.

Happy would it have been for the people of God had they thus refrained from idolatry and sacredly regarded the rest-day of the Creator. Yet idolatry and Sabbath-breaking were so general in the wilderness that the generation which came forth from Egypt were excluded from the promised land. Eze. xx, 15, 16. After God had thus cut off from the inheritance of the land the men who had rebelled against him, [Num. xiii, xiv,] we next read of the Sabbath as follows: [Num. xv, 32-36.]

"And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness they found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath-day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones and he died: as the Lord commanded Moses."

The following facts should be considered in explaining this text: 1. That this was a case of peculiar guilt; for the whole congregation before whom this man stood in judgment, and by whom he was put to death, were themselves guilty of violating the Sabbath, and had just been excluded from the promised land for this and other sins. [Eze. xx, 15, 16 compared with Num. xiv, 35;] 2. That this was not a case which came under the existing penalty of death for work upon the Sabbath; for the man was put in confinement that the mind of the Lord respecting his guilt might be obtained. The peculiarity of his transgression may be learned from the context. The verses which next precede the case in question read thus:

"But the soul that doeth aught presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord: and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him." Num. xv, 3.

These words being followed by this remarkable case were evidently designed to be illustrated by it. It is manifest therefore that this was an instance of presumptuous sin in which the transgressor intended despite to the Spirit of grace and to the statutes of the Most High. This case cannot therefore be quoted as evidence of extraordinary strictness on the part of the Hebrews in observing the Sabbath; for we have direct evidence that they did greatly pollute it during the whole forty years of their sojourn in the wilderness. Eze. xx. It stands therefore as an instance of transgression in which the sinner intended to show his contempt for the Law-giver, and in this consisted his peculiar guilt.

In the last month of his long and eventful life Moses rehearsed all the great acts of God in behalf of his people, with the statutes and precepts that he had given them. This rehearsal is contained in the book of Deuteronomy, a name which signifies second law, and which is applied to that book, because it is a second writing of the law. It is the farewell of Moses to a disobedient and rebellious people; and he endeavors to fasten upon them the strongest possible sense of personal obligation to obey. Thus when he is about to rehearse the ten commandments he uses language evidently designed to impress upon the minds of the Hebrews a sense of their individual obligation to do what God had commanded. Thus he says:

"Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep and do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us who are all of us here alive this day." Deut. v, 1-3.

It was not the act of your fathers that placed this responsibility upon you, but your own individual acts that brought you into the bond of this covenant. You have personally pledged yourselves to the Most High to keep these precepts. [See the pledges of this people in Ex. xix; xxiv.] Such is the obvious import of this language; yet it has been gravely adduced as proof that the Sabbath of the Lord was made for the Hebrews, and was not obligatory upon the patriarchs. The singularity of this deduction appears in that it is brought to bear against the fourth commandment alone: whereas if it is a just and logical argument it would show that the ancient patriarchs were under no obligation in respect to any precept of the moral law. But it is certain that the covenant at Horeb was simply an embodiment of the precepts of the moral law with mutual pledges respecting them between God and the people, and that that covenant did not give existence to either of the ten commandments. At all events we find the Sabbath ordained of God at the close of creation, and obligatory upon the Hebrews in the wilderness before God had given them a new precept on the subject. As this was before the covenant at Horeb it is conclusive proof that the Sabbath did no more originate from that covenant than did the prohibition of idolatry, theft or murder.

The man of God then repeats the ten commandments. And thus he gives the fourth:

"Keep the Sabbath-day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. Six days thou shalt labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou. 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. v, 12-15.

It is a singular fact that this scripture is uniformly quoted by those who write against the Sabbath, as the original fourth commandment; while the original precept itself is carefully left out. Yet there is the strongest evidence that this is not the original precept; for Moses rehearses these words at the end of the forty years' sojourn, whereas the original commandment was given in the third month after the departure from Egypt. (Compare Ex. xix; xx; Deut. i.) The commandment itself as here given, contains direct proof on the point. Thus it reads: "Keep the Sabbath-day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God HATH COMMANDED thee." Thus citing elsewhere for the original statute. Moreover the precept as here given is evidently incomplete. It contains no clue to the origin of the Sabbath of the Lord, nor does it show the acts by which the Sabbath came into existence. This is why those who represent the Sabbath as made in the wilderness and not at creation quote this as the fourth commandment, and omit the original precept which God himself proclaimed, where all these facts are distinctly stated. Ex. xx, 8-11.

But while Moses in this rehearsal omits a large part of the fourth commandment, he refers to the original precept for the whole matter, and then appends to this rehearsal a powerful plea of obligation on the part of the Hebrews to keep the Sabbath. It should be remembered that many of the people had steadily persisted in the violation of the Sabbath, and that this is the last time that Moses speaks in its behalf. Thus he says:

"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."

These words are often cited as proof that the Sabbath originated at the departure of Israel from Egypt, and that it was ordained at that time as a memorial of their deliverance from thence. But it will be observed, 1. That this text says not one word respecting the origin of the Sabbath or rest-day of the Lord. 2. That the facts on this point are all given in the original fourth commandment, and are there referred to creation. 3. That there is no reason to believe that God rested upon the seventh day at the time of this flight from Egypt; nor did he then bless and hallow the day. 4. That the Sabbath has nothing in it of a kind to commemorate the deliverance from Egypt, as that was a flight and this is a rest; and that flight was upon the fifteenth day of the first month, and this rest upon the seventh day of each week. Thus one would occur annually; the other weekly. 5. But God did ordain a fitting memorial of that deliverance to be observed by the Hebrews: the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month in memory of God's passing over them when he smote the Egyptians; and the feast of unleavened bread in memory of their eating this bread when they fled out of Egypt. Ex. xii; xiii.

But what then do these words imply? Perhaps their meaning may be more readily perceived by comparing them with an exact parallel found in the same book and from the pen of the same writer:

"Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge; but thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee thence; therefore I command thee to do this thing." Deut. xxiv, 17, 18.

It will be seen at a glance that this precept was not given to commemorate the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage; nor could that deliverance give existence to the moral obligation expressed in it. If the language in the one case proves that men were not under obligation to keep the Sabbath before the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, it proves with equal conclusiveness in the other that before that deliverance they were not under obligation to treat with justice and mercy the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. And if the Sabbath is shown in the one case to be Jewish, in the other the statute of the great Lawgiver in behalf of the needy and the helpless must share the same fate. It is manifest that this language is in each case an appeal to their sense of gratitude. You were slaves in Egypt and God rescued you; therefore remember others who are in distress, and oppress them not. You were bondmen in Egypt and God redeemed you; therefore sanctify unto the Lord the day which he has reserved unto himself; a most powerful appeal to those who had hitherto persisted in polluting it. Deliverance from abject servitude was necessary; indeed, in each case, in order that the things enjoined might be fully observed; but that deliverance did not give existence to either of these duties. It was indeed one of the acts by which the Sabbath of the Lord was given to that nation, but it was not one of the acts by which God made the Sabbath, nor did it render the rest-day of the Lord a Jewish institution.

That the words engraven upon stone were simply the ten commandments is evident.

1. It is said of the first table:

"And the Lord spoke unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone." Deut. iv, 12, 13.

2. Thus the first tables of stone contained the ten commandments alone. That the second tables were an exact copy of what was written upon the first, is plainly stated:

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest." "And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark." Ex. xxxiv, 1; Deut. x, 3.

3. This is confirmed by the following decisive testimony:

"And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments," margin, words. "And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments [margin, words], which the Lord spoke unto you in the mount, out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly, and the Lord gave them unto me." Ex. xxxiv, 28; Deut. x, 4.

These texts will explain the following language: "And the Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words which the Lord spoke with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly." Deut. ix, 10. Thus God is said to have written upon the tables according to all the words which he spoke in the day of the assembly; and these words which he thus wrote, are said to have been TEN WORDS. But the preface to the decalogue was not one of these ten words, and hence was not written by the finger of God upon stone. That this distinction must be attended to, will be seen by examining the following text and its connection:

"THESE WORDS the Lord spoke unto all your assembly in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me." Deut. v, 22.

THESE WORDS here brought to view as written by the finger of God after having been uttered by him in the hearing of all the people, must be understood as one of two things. 1. They are simply the ten words of the law of God; or, 2. They are all the words used by Moses in this rehearsal of the decalogue. But they cannot refer to the words used in this rehearsal; for, 1. Moses omits an important part of the fourth precept as given by God in its proclamation from the mount. 2. In this rehearsal of that precept he cites back to the original for that which is omitted. (Deut. v, 12-15, compared with Ex. xx, 8-11.) 3. He appends to this precept an appeal in its behalf to their gratitude, which was not made by God in giving it. 4. This language only purports to be a rehearsal and not the original itself; and this is further evinced by many verbal deviations from the original decalogue. [Deut. v, compared with Ex. xx.] These facts are decisive as to what was placed upon the tables of stone. It was not an incomplete copy citing elsewhere for the original, but the original code itself. And hence when Moses speaks of THESE WORDS as engraven upon the tables he refers not to the words used by himself in this rehearsal, but to the TEN WORDS of the law of God, and excludes all else.

Thus have we traced the Sabbath through the books of Moses. We have found its origin in Paradise when man was in his uprightness; we have seen the Hebrews set apart from all mankind as the depositaries of divine truth; we have seen the Sabbath and the whole moral law committed as a sacred trust to them; we have seen the Sabbath proclaimed by God as one of the ten commandments; we have seen it written by the finger of God upon stone in the bosom of the moral law; we have seen that law possessing no Jewish features, but simply moral and divine, placed beneath the mercy-seat in the ark of God's testament; we have seen that various precepts pertaining to the Sabbath were given to the Hebrews and designed only for them; we have seen that the Hebrews did greatly pollute the Sabbath during their sojourn in the wilderness; and we have heard the final appeal made in its behalf by Moses to that rebellious people.

We rest the foundation of the Sabbatic institution upon its sanctification before the fall of man; the fourth commandment is its great citadel of defense; its place in the midst of the moral law beneath the mercy-seat shows its relation to the atonement and its immutable obligation. J. N. A.

(To be Continued.)

A PRAYER.

Almighty Father, unto thee I call ! Make me submissive to thy holy will; Make me, though I should lose my earthly all, Obedient still.

Take me, unclean and sinful though I am, And wash me in the blood of Christ, thy Son; Oh! make my soul's unquiet surface calm— Make me thine own.

Oh! make my heart thy Spirit's resting-place; On me thy gracious blessing gently pour; Make me at last to see thy glorious face, And thee adore.

Make me to fight the goodly fight of faith, And, ere thy coming should my labors cease, May I my eyelids gently close in death, And rest in peace.

THE LOST HUNTER.

Several years ago, a hunter with his faithful dog went among the Adirondac mountains in northern New York, in pursuit of game. Days and weeks passed, and he did not return. At length the half-famished hound came back without his master. The winter spread its snows upon the summits and in the valleys, and no tidings from the hunter reached the settlement from which he started. When spring lifted the winding-sheet of her burial from the earth, and the boats were again upon the lovely lakes, his skeleton form was found on the shore of one of these transparent waters, in sight of his humble dwelling. What a bitterness must the fact that he was so near home when he laid himself down to die, have given to his lonely death.

And thus will it be with very many who are lost for eternity. Pursuing the objects of pleasure or ambition amid the wastes of time, they wander on from the warm centers of love and mercy, till, bewildered and disappointed in the chase, they perish with the refuge of the soul in full view. Then comes the burning tide of memories, and the pang of self-exile and ruin, with the shining windows of glory gleaming on the sight, thro' the darkness and storm.

Oh, sinful hunter after a portion for the mocked and weary spirit, turn to that single oasis in the boundless desert in which stands the cross of Christ, around whose crimson form is gathered the church of the living God.—Am. Messenger.

The Heart and Religious Creeds

A WRONG creed is very frequently the product of a wrong state of heart. We need not only a pure, logical intellect by which to arrive at religious truth; but we need still more a heart purified from its fogs and corruptions by the Holy Spirit of God.

A UNIVERSALIST SERMON.

[The absurdities of the doctrine of Universalism are well shown up in the following article. The subject is not set forth in any too strong a light. Every statement is but a legitimate and necessary conclusion from the unscriptural doctrine that all men receive their reward in this life, and will all finally be saved hereafter. Who can contemplate this picture and then so dishonor the Bible or the God of the Bible, as to believe that it is the doctrine of the one or the plan of the other.—U. S.]

"The love of Christ constraineth us."—Bible.

Dear Brethren and Friends : We are a remarkable people for the love of Christ. We believe that he so loved the world as to die on the cross, that all mankind might be saved. Yes, ALL MANKIND : all despisers and rejecters of Jesus, and all idolaters : all the atheists that ever have scoffed, or ever will scoff, at the idea of a God, and all infidels : all the unitarians and universalists, with errorists of every grade and faction : all vagabonds ; including all the drunkards that ever have died or ever will die, of delirium tremens : and all that ever have died or ever will die of diseases occasioned

by vice : all the murderers who have, and have not, been hung, and all pirates, assassins, and highway robbers : all who have committed suicide ; thieves of every description : such e. g., as horse and man thieves, and knaves, and impostors of the blackest hue : all sorts of gamblers and speculators, who have done all in their power to defraud and injure their fellow men : all profane swearers ; and all liars : all whoremongers, adulterers, and seducers : all hypocrites and deceived religionists, including all the orthodox men and women, of all denominations. In a word, every rational being, from the bitterest enemy to God's throne, who keeps his gigantic and disciplined mind continually employed in forming some new weapon against religion, to the veriest object of filth, who lodges in the gutter, for want of a better place : all, all, whether they regard the claims of the gospel or not, whether they repent or not, shall finally be saved. This doctrine, the unspeakable love of Christ, constraineth us to believe. And it also constraineth us,

1. To regard secret prayer as a ridiculous thing.

2. To neglect, as a general thing, family prayer. Some few of our ministers may occasionally pray in their families, but, as a denomination we do not do it ; we deem it quite unnecessary. It looks too much like the orthodox—too pious. And as for "social prayer-meetings," as they are termed, we regard them pretty much in the same light.

3. It moreover constraineth us to pay no kind of regard to the claims and sanction of the Sabbath. We respect it as we do other days, and no better. If we wish to work in our shops, transact business in our counting-houses, or pursue our journeys, on that day, we always do so ; the expostulations of the orthodox to the contrary, notwithstanding.

In a word, we are constrained by the love of Christ to ridicule everything like practical piety, and to give ourselves up to the unqualified gratification of time and sense, under the full assurance that however we live, whatever may be our crimes, we shall all finally be saved.

We do not believe that God requires his creatures to live such strict lives ; we believe he intends that we shall enjoy ourselves in this world. We do not believe that heaven is as holy a place as the orthodox represent it, if it is, we shall soon wish ourselves back again : and as for singing the praises of the Lamb, we think it all downright fanaticism. We have no heart now for such consummate nonsense, and it is not very likely we shall feel any different THEN. Why should we praise the "Lamb of Calvary," as they call him? He has not, in reality, done anything for us. We suffer the just penalty of our sins in this life : and we therefore expect to claim heaven, as a matter of right. But if it is such a place as the orthodox say it is, we had better be in hell ; for we never could stand it in the midst of such glowing piety.

But, my friends, do not be alarmed. The orthodox are all wrong—all the Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Dutch Reformed, &c., are all wrong, and we are right. Heaven is a more rational place. But I confess that I sometimes think I shall not want my seat very near Paul, or Peter, or John, or Stephen ; or even such ones as James B. Taylor, Dr. Payson, Brainard, Whitfield, Wesley, and some others I might name. But take courage, my friends, I have no doubt the Universalists will be permitted to occupy apartments by themselves.

REMARKS.

1. You see from this subject what sort of characters will form the society of heaven. It will not be so select as many imagine. It will be one vast ocean of heterogeneous and unharmonious mind.

2. You see the folly and superstition of orthodoxy. If, as we allege and believe, all mankind will be saved, it is utter fanaticism to make so much ado about the salvation of sinners.

3. You may see, in the light of this subject, that in point of fact, the preaching of the gospel, and all other means of grace, are of no real necessity.—Sel.

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