Pope Felix V., elected by the Council of Basel in 1440, presented the city with a large bell, which was mounted in the old cathedral where the council was held, and afterwards known as the Pope's Bell. Of late the Protestants have seized the bell rope, and are giving it a vigorous ringing, so that the sound thereof may yet be heard in all Europe.
Just how they are ringing the Pope's Bell will be understood by the following facts. The Imprimerie Polyglotte, the Seventh-day Adventist publishing house for Central Europe, is located in this city. As generally known, this people observe the seventh day as the Sabbath, instead of Sunday. The Sabbath command, say they, enjoins labor on six days, as well as rest on the seventh, and, accordingly, their printing office is in operation on Sunday. This brings them in conflict with the Swiss authorities, as there are both local and federal laws requiring the observance of Sunday, and these laws have recently been put in operation.
At first they were fined nominal sums for each offense, but as the violations continued, the fines were rapidly increased, the last fine being 150 francs. On refusing to pay the fines, the managing director was cited to appear before the police court, and afterwards before the civil court. He here declared that he worked in obedience to the Sabbath command, which forms a part of the unchangeable law of God, by which he will be judged for eternity. The fact that God requires obedience to this law is proof that he grants the full right to keep it. Hence, in resting on the seventh day and working on the first, he was not only keeping the command of God, but exercising a divinely ordained right.
Another reason why he worked on Sunday was that by not doing so he would acknowledge a rival sabbath. God commanded all men to keep the seventh day, and has never changed this command. It is a memorial of the creation, and hence a sign of the true God. Eze. 20:20. God only can create, and he only can save, for salvation is but a new creation. To be saved, a man must be freed from sin, purified, sanctified. And as the Sabbath stands as the memorial of creation, it stands also as a sign of sanctification. "Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Eze. 20:12. Christ being the Creator, he alone is the Saviour; hence as the Sabbath stands as a sign of his creative power, it is our assurance of his saving power.
But while the Bible truly says of Christ that "there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved," the Church of Rome has arisen and claimed that through it only can men be saved. As God has a sign of his saving power in the Sabbath, so this antichristian power has a sign or mark of its alleged saving power in the Sunday.
Protestants stoutly deny that Rome has a monopoly of salvation, but Rome shows their inconsistency by holding up a sign of her assumed authority which Protestants have already acknowledged. That sign is the Sunday. Roman Catholics show that there is no scriptural authority for this day, and that, on the contrary, the command plainly enjoins the observance of the seventh day, and then boldly and proudly claim that they have changed the day; and Protestants acknowledge it by keeping Rome's Sunday instead of God's Sabbath. As a standard Catholic work, "Plain Talks to Protestants," says:—
The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] Church.
By this act Protestants overtly set Rome above God, for another power that can change law is above its maker. Hence, with the Adventists it is not a question of mere days, as many suppose, but it is a question of allegiance to God or allegiance to Rome.
Again, the director of the publishing house in question claimed that God foretold this attempted change of his law (Dan. 7:25) and revealed in prophecy that there would be a great conflict over the question in the last days,—God's Sabbath restored to its proper place in the church as the sign of sanctification through the creative power of Christ, and the coming down of Satan with great power to enforce by law upon all his rival sabbath. The preaching of the everlasting gospel just before the coming of the Lord, with the warning against receiving the mark or sign of the antichristian power, develops a people whose characteristic is that they "keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Read Rev. 14:6-14. When Satan knows that his time is short, he comes down with great wrath, and that wrath is manifested against those "which keep the commandments of God." Rev. 12:17.
So we say that all that there is in the plan of salvation is involved in this question, and that in the final struggle between good and evil, our loyalty to God is tested by our fidelity in keeping the Sabbath and refusing to pay homage to Rome by ceasing to work on Sunday. No one tries to hinder our keeping the Sabbath, but to force us to keep Sunday; and since the only way that we can show, so far as the world is concerned, that we do not keep this day, is by working on it, the whole question resolves itself finally into that of working on Sunday as on any other day.
So for the Adventists of Basel this is not an ordinary question of the rights of conscience, but an extraordinary one. If they were asked to fall down and worship a golden image, such as was set up on the plain of Dura, it would mean no more to them than it does for the authorities to ask them to keep this Sunday institution.
But the explanations seemed to make little difference with the court. The fines were all confirmed. When the collector called for the fines, the director said that he could not pay them, for by so doing he would acknowledge their justice. The court then ordered that his goods be attached. This was done; and as he refused to redeem them, they were taken to the city and sold at public auction.
And thus the Pope's Bell was set ringing by this city, so far famed for its piety. It is considered as the most religious city of Switzerland, but it has first of all begun persecuting its citizens for keeping the commandments of God.
Is it possible that a man cannot keep the ten commandments in Switzerland? A strange question to ask of a so-called Christian nation, but the facts warrant the question.
Music: Features of Its Use
By Elder E. W. Whitney
MUSIC. NO. 3.
Features of Its Use in Connection with the Work of God Since Bible Times.
THERE can be no doubt that with the apostasy and corruption which marked the history of the church during the centuries leading to the Dark Ages, the character of music as a means of worship degenerated in proportion to the departure from the simplicity of the gospel. Testimony is not wanting, however, to its special use among the Christians and martyrs of the first centuries. The spirit of praise and song is noticeable in the records remaining of those times and experiences. They encouraged their own hearts and those of their fellows by the singing of hymns of praise and hope under the most trying circumstances. The same is true of those who were faithful to the light which began to shine out of the darkness in the twelfth century.
We read of the persecuted Waldenses at a later date that, when driven from their homes, "they sang canticles as they climbed the steeps, which served at once to smooth their rugged path, and to dispel their terrors." And, again, of the martyr Geofroi Varaile, "He walked to the place where he was about to die, with a firm step and a serene countenance; he addressed the vast multitude around his pile in a way that drew tears from many eyes; after this he began to sing with a loud voice, and so continued until he sank amid the flames."
But it was not until the period of the Reformation, which was to give the word of God, containing the complete knowledge of the plan of redemption, to the world in a manner in which it had never before been given, that the science of music was so thoroughly understood, or its religious use so fully appreciated, as has been the case since that time. Much testimony might be cited concerning this decline in music during the earlier centuries, and its later revival and development; but the intended brevity of these articles forbids anything but a short extract. Under the heading "Hymns," in the Encyclopedia Britannica, concerning the early centuries may be found this: "The poets of this primitive epoch, which closed with the sixth century, wrote in the old classical meters, and made use of a considerable variety of them." Then, after referring to a transition which "progressed from the sixth century downwards," it adds: "This process, while it promoted the development of a medieval as distinct from a primitive style, led also to much deterioration in the quality of hymns."6
This deterioration, however, both in music and hymnody, was recovered in connection with the Reformation. The same authority says:—
"Luther was a proficient in, and a lover of, music," and he was so just in proportion to his proficiency in the word and work of God. He says in the preface to his hymn book (1545) that he desired that "this beautiful ornament might in a manner serve the great Creator and his Christian people." One of his hymns alone is said to have made many conversions, and that "preëminently above all is the celebrated paraphrase of the forty-sixth psalm, the production of the moment in which Luther, engaged in a conflict with a world of foes, sought strength in the consciousness that he was defending a divine cause which could never perish." Luther was not only the author of many hymns, but a composer and teacher of music. He spent several years at Wittenberg teaching his people to sing his hymns, which soon spread over all Germany. Coleridge says of him that he did as much for the Reformation in this manner as by his translation of the Bible.
The Encyclopedia Britannica, in the article "Music," says:—
Yet another prominent feature in musical history dates from the sixteenth century. . . . Luther is said to have been the first to write metrical verses on sacred subjects in the language of the people, and his verses were sometimes adapted to ancient church melodies, sometimes to tunes of secular songs, and sometimes had music composed for them by himself and others. . . . It was he who put the words of praise and prayer into the popular mouth, associated with rythmical music which aided to imprint the words upon the memory and enforce their enunciation. . . . The placing of the choral song of the church within the lips of the people had great religious and moral influence; it had also its great effect upon art, shown in the productions of the North German musicians ever since the first days of the Reformation.
English and French versions of the psalms by various authors were later published for the same purpose of fitting sacred minstrelsy to the voice of the multitude.
In this connection the fact that the home of the Reformation is also (and beginning with the same period) the home of the greatest masters of music the world has ever produced, can but be regarded as strikingly significant. It is said of Handel and Bach that they "wrote every combination of musical notes that down to our own latest times has ever been employed with good effect; and the more the works of these masters are studied, the more are they found to foreshadow the supposed novelties in harmony employed by subsequent artists." Another interesting fact, and worthy of consideration here, is that, while Germany is at once the home of the Reformation in Bible religion and sacred song, Italy, which is the home of the Papacy—the antichrist—becomes the field for the production and establishment of the opera, and a class of light secular music which took readily there and in France, but which gained favor in Germany very slowly. Of the fore part of the seventeenth century it is said:—
The opera now became a fixed institution in Italy; its performance was no longer restricted to the palaces of the princes and nobles, and it became the best esteemed entertainment in the public theaters.
In Germany the seed of opera fell upon stony ground. . . . Only importations of Italian works, with Italian singers, came before the public until nearly the end of the century.
Following the period of the Reformation of the sixteenth century there seems to have been a decline in religion, music, and hymnody until the time of the Wesleys and the Methodist movement, which revived again the true spirit of devotion and musical worship. The sacred music of this period is proverbial for its spirit and power. Many examples might be given, but two facts,—that Charles Wesley was the most noted hymn writer of all modern times, and that his son Samuel was the most brilliant organist of his day—will sufficiently illustrate, in this instance, the point designed to be given prominence, viz., that, in proportion to the manifestation of the Spirit and power of God in the preaching of the gospel, is the same Spirit and power witnessed in the production and use of sacred verse and song. Charles Wesley is said to have written over six thousand hymns.
Perhaps no more marked exemplification of this truth has been witnessed than in connection with the Adventist movement of 1840-44. William Miller was himself a hymn writer and singer, and the entire movement was characterized by the same intensity and fervor of its hymns and music which distinguished it in all its features as one of the most remarkable awakenings of the present century.
We may learn from this brief survey of the subject that, as the purposes of God become more and more fully understood, and the nature of his work appreciated, the spirit of praise and song, together with a knowledge and development of the science of music, have proportionally increased.
But as God’s ways and works are infinite, we should not conclude that all has been realized in either direction that God designs. Fields of rich blessing and knowledge lie still unexplored, and the Lord is pleased to have everyone, as expressed by another, "acquire everything possible both in science and revelation." "The theme of redemption is one that angels desire to look into; it will be the science and song of the redeemed throughout ceaseless ages of eternity. Is it not worthy of careful and thoughtful study now? Should we not praise God with heart and soul and voice for his wonderful works to the children of men?"
IN approaching this subject there is one point that should always be borne in mind, namely, that all of Christ’s ministry was devoted to the people of Israel, the literal seed. “He came to his own.” They were his recognized people, to whom pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came. (See Rom. 9: 4, 5.) It was meet, therefore, that he should give them the first opportunity to receive him, and through them reach out to the nations of the world.
From this point of view it would be expected that his teaching would be primarily adapted to their condition. Christ was a wise teacher; in him was all wisdom; and it must not be supposed that in teaching a certain class he either intentionally or accidentally shot over the heads of his pupils. Whatever was intended for future generations, was designed to come through that generation, and not over it.
The question here arises, What was there in their condition that must first be overcome before they would accept the humble Nazarene as the Messiah?—It was their false ideas of the mission of the Messiah. They supposed themselves righteous; that none but the literal seed of Abraham were worthy of salvation; that the Messiah would come in great majesty and power, and set them above all other peoples in the world. This idea of the Messiah and of themselves rendered them selfish, covetous; and we learn from verses 14 and 15 that this is what called out the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. He would teach them that “that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” Until they could learn this lesson, until they would become convinced of their true condition, and of the true mission of the Messiah as Saviour of all who would come unto him as sinners, regardless of birth or social position, it was of no use to try to teach them anything else. Hence the burden of his direct appeals to them had this prime object in view.
In the parable before us the Lord presents two characters conforming to the Jewish idea of themselves and the Gentiles: “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day; and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores.” The Jews deemed themselves rich and highly exalted above all other people, because they were Abraham’s seed and heirs of the promises. They deemed all other nations as unworthy of their consideration, and who would be literally at their mercy when the Messiah should come. They deemed the Gentiles as unworthy of any better relationship to them than being laid at their feet; and they looked for a time in the then near future when the conditions would be comparatively about as described in the parable,—the beggar “desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.” The companionship of the dogs adds emphasis to the low degree of the class represented by Lazarus, the beggar.
Now we come to the turning point, and we view the situation from the Lord’s stand. We must remember that this is a parable, and the characters are not two literal individuals. “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom.” Are all the Gentiles to be saved?—No; “if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Gal. 3:29. But the kingdom of God is made up from “Lazarus,” “out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” Rev. 5:9. Even those Jews who will be saved will not be in the kingdom because of their natural birth, but because of their faith. They can only come in on an equality with Lazarus. And the Scriptures are very explicit as to the time when the angels shall gather the elect “into Abraham’s bosom.” It will be at the coming of the Lord in glory:—
“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matt. 24:30, 31.
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to743meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4:16, 17.
These scriptures show that the language of the parable is highly figurative. The dead holding converse must be figurative, parabolical, for
“The dead know not anything; . . . also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.” Eccl. 9:5, 6.
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” Verse 10.
Bear these scriptures in mind as we read: “The rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell [hades, the grave, or place of burial] he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”
Now note particularly the conversation:—
“And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”
He calls Abraham his father; he must represent the literal seed, for if he stands for the spiritual seed he would not be in that situation. He asks Abraham for mercy, so he represents those who trust in Abraham. This shows beyond question the class represented by the rich man. And, in addition to this, Abraham calls him his son:—
“But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
“And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed; so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
“Then he said, I pray thee therefore father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house; for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
“Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
“And he said, Nay, father Abraham; but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
“And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”
Now what might the Jews learn from this parabolic prayer to Abraham and the answers?—It was designed to teach them, as Jews, that there was no help in Abraham, either before or after death. Although the promises were to Abraham and his seed, yet they could not secure them by virtue of being his literal seed. It was also designed to teach them, as Jews, that the word of God as given in the writings of Moses and the prophets, was the standard of doctrine, instead of their traditions; and if they believed Moses and the prophets, they would accept him (Jesus) as the Messiah. Failing to believe the word of God, no other evidence would be given them.
But what does the parable teach us?—We may learn from it the same lessons that they were to learn as Jews, in order that we may avoid similar mistakes. There are also other very pointed lessons for them and us in common: (1) “There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (2) There is but one mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ the righteous, and there is no use of appealing to dead saints. If Abraham, the father of the faithful, and the friend of God, cannot help his own descendants, surely no other can. (3) Wealth and honor in this world are no guarantee of wealth and honor in the kingdom of God. He who seeks what the carnal mind calls the “good things” of this life must expect the conditions to be reversed in the life to come. (4) There is no hope of a probation after death. If those who go into the grave unsaved are confronted by an impassable gulf “fixed” between them and the place of the saved, what hope is there for them? “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.” “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (5) Dead saints cannot return to the living, cannot possibly render any assistance in the conversion of the impenitent. They are dead, and their coming back would imply their being raised from the dead. (6) And even this would be of no avail, for those who are impenitent do not believe the word of God; and if they will not believe that, “neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.” (7) We are then shut up to the word of God as the only ground of faith. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” These are the plain lessons of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
THE THREE TILLS.
By H. A. St. John
BY ELDER H. A. ST. JOHN.
"But man dieth, and wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?" Job 14:10. This is a direct inquiry as to the state of the dead. The above inspired words in three different ways assert the death of man; first is the simple statement, "man dieth;" second, "he wasteth away;" and, third, "he giveth up the ghost"—all of which mean death—and then comes the explicit question, "Where is he?" And we are glad to learn that this important question is just as explicitly answered in the inspired words that immediately follow: "As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up; so man lieth down, and riseth not; . . . they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep." This is indeed a plain and explicit answer as to the state of man in death.
First, we are told that it is like something of common occurrence and observation—as water is absorbed in the earth so man lieth down in death; he wasteth away. Then we are told in plain words that he sleeps, and shall not awake—riseth not. What, never rise? never awake? and is death then an eternal sleep—as the atheist claims?—Ah, no; blessed be God! We have omitted a most important and beautiful clause, "So man lieth down, and riseth not; till the heavens be no more." In that little word till there is a bright gleam of hope to the dying man, and he anxiously inquires, When will that till run out? When will the heavens be no more?
This brings us face to face with the question of a resurrection, and so the inspired patriarch of Idumea proceeds: "If a man die, shall he live again?" This question is right to the point. Now give attention to the answer: "All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee; thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands." Job 14:14, 15. Waiting an appointed time, "a set time," then to be remembered by the Lord, to be called, and changed. Elsewhere he says the place of waiting is the grave. Job 17:13. And let it be observed that here is another till,—I will wait "till my change come."
Now if the reader will consult John 5:28, 29; 1 Cor. 15:51-54; 1 Thess. 4:16, and Rev. 6:14, as well as many other Scripture texts of like import, he will get a clear knowledge of the time when these "tills" expire. The appointed or set time to remember the dead is when Jesus comes. Then the heavens depart as a scroll; Jesus calls to the dead, first his own people; they hear, answer, come forth, and are changed to immortality, made like the angels, never to die any more. Blessed hope, soon to be realized.
Again Job breaks forth: "Oh that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!" Job 14:13. The set time is appointed; it is the resurrection, and the servant of God will then be remembered. Thus it is seen that all these tills expire at one and the same time, and then all that Job hoped for will be realized.
1. "Till—the heavens be no more."
The heavens depart as a scroll when Jesus comes.
2. "Until—thy wrath be past."
The wrath of God, filled up in the seven last plagues, will be past when Jesus comes.
3. "Till—my change come."
God's sleeping saints will all be changed, when awakened by the last trump, when Jesus comes.
Lord, hasten the glad day when these tills all run out, and the saints' last great change comes, when they shall sing victory over death and the grave.
The Bible Readings at Brewer's
By M. B. Duffie
THE BIBLE READINGS AT BREWER'S. NO. 3.
SUCH a measure of curiosity had been awakened in the minds of the people who had heard of Mabel Brewer's Bible studies that it was an easy task to induce others of her neighbors to attend. So, after lunch, when the family, with those who had come in from the outside, had assembled with their Bibles around the table, Mabel brought out her books, and as several were now present who had not had the benefit of the previous study, she gave a brief review of the points which had been brought out, after which she proceeded to unfold the subject which she had chosen for the evening's consideration, and which therefore was as new to the members of the family as to the callers, and proved as fully convincing to one as the other, especially when each point was so firmly clinched by Bible evidence.
As a sort of preface Mabel said: "Since last Sunday evening this book of Bible readings which I hold in my hand has, with my Bible, been my almost constant companion, and I must confess that I have been somewhat startled, and not a little perplexed, and it may be chagrined, over this one point more than all others yet discovered, and that is the proof I have that we as a family have been going as completely though unwittingly astray in regard thereto as on the question of man's condition in death, and which I am sure must bring with it a far greater cross to those who accept it. I refer to the subject of holy time, that the seventh day of the week, instead of the first, is the day which the Lord sanctified and blessed."8
"Do you mean to imply," asked Mrs. Westmore, "that Sunday should not be regarded as holy time?"
"I only know what the Bible says, Aunt Amie," said Mabel.
"Of course it should not be so observed," said Mr. Brewer. "I have always contended, as you know, Maria, that Sunday had no more right to the title of Sabbath than had Monday, Wednesday, or Friday."
"Yes, David, you have, I will admit, but I always had a sort of a faint suspicion that what you said concerning it was more than anything else a sort of a balm to ease your conscience, and account for your tendency to go on fishing and hunting excursions on that day. But I am anxious to hear whatever Scripture testimony can be adduced on this point also. I am not prepared to say but this is another idol that has been bolstered up in our hearts by preconceived ideas rather than by biblical facts."
"Yes," said several voices in chorus, "let us know how it is."
Mrs. Evers, wife of Elder Evers, pastor of the "Freewillers," as they are called, said that she had always supposed, from what thinking she had done herself, as well as what the elders and others had said, that there wasn't a particle of doubt but what the term "Lord's day" applied to Sunday. Then, appealing to Mabel, she asked, "Does not that verse somewhere in the book of Revelation, I cannot say just where it is, where John speaks of being in the Spirit on the Lord's day, have reference to Sunday?"
"I hardly think it does," said Mabel. "The text you refer to is the tenth verse of Revelation 1. Let us see what day is the Lord's day, if we can, and then we will know without any question or doubt. We want to determine what Lord is spoken of, and which day it is that he is the Lord of. Those who have your Bibles please turn to the twelfth chapter of Matthew and the eighth verse. There you will see that the Son of Man is the Lord there revealed, and that he is Lord even of the Sabbath. His day is the Sabbath of the Lord. Now turn to the book of Isaiah, the fifty-eighth chapter and the thirteenth verse, and you will see that he calls the Sabbath 'my holy day,' the very one he made and sanctified in the beginning, as you will see by a reference to Gen. 2:3, and embodied in the ten precepts found in Exodus 20. The Sabbath is enjoined in verses 8-11, inclusive, and again in Deut. 5:12-15, and so on through both the Old and New Testaments."
"Well, then, how does it happen," said Mrs. Tannehill, "that we are all keeping Sunday?"
"That is what I would also like to know," said old Mrs. Denmer, "and by what power or authority was it done?"
"I learn," said Mabel, "that it was done by that power which we find revealed in the twenty-fifth verse of the seventh chapter of the prophecy of Daniel, a power which should think to change times and laws, a power that has changed the time for beginning and ending the days, from sunset to midnight, and has attempted to change the law of God, of which the Sabbath law is a part, the power of which the pope of Rome is the acknowledged head."
"Can it be possible?"
"Did you ever hear of such a thing?"
"What is the world coming to?" queried several voices in unison.
"Yes, indeed," said Mr. Brewer, "and that power boasts of it, too."
"Indeed that is true," said Mabel, "as you will all realize by the following, taken verbatim from the catechisms of the Romish Church. Here is one as an illustration, copied from the 'Doctrinal Catechism.' Hear what it says in reply to the question, 'Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?' Answer—'Had she not such power she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her: she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no scriptural authority.'"
"Well, well, well."
"Listen to that, Tom," said Will.
"How I wish my husband could hear that!" said Mrs. Evers.
"My husband and sons are members of the A. P. A. and I know they ought to hear it, too," said Mrs. Denmer.
"There are many other quotations which I might take from works of the same character, and which I might read to you if necessary," said Mabel.
"For my part," said Mrs. Tannehill, "I am quite well satisfied with that. If it is a fact that the Catholic Church did that miserable piece of work, and I have not the least doubt but they did ["Nor I," "Nor I," "Nor I," responded several in chorus], the sooner we Protestants know it, and refuse to honor that authority, be Protestants indeed, and return to our allegiance to God, asking his pardon for ever having served such a power, the better it will be for all of us."
"Quite true," said Mrs. Brewer, "and may the Lord forgive me for breaking so many Sabbaths as I have."
"Amen," responded several voices together.
"Let us begin next Friday evening at sundown, Mabel," said Mrs. Brewer, "and keep the Sabbath the Lord has designated."
Mabel delightedly agreed, and when the sun was sinking in the west at the close of the sixth day of the week, Mrs. Brewer, Mabel, and Mrs. Westmore began to observe their first Sabbath on earth, and regular Sabbath meetings are now being held at their house. Neither Mr. Brewer nor the boys refrain from labor on that day, as yet, though they admit, as do many others, that it is right. They are staunch advocates of religious liberty, and are regular readers of the American Sentinel, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, and Review. They do everything they can to make it pleasant for mother, Mabel, Aunt Amie, Mrs. Evers, and the other members of the little class which assembles for Sabbath school and worship every Saturday forenoon in the pleasant little reading room. Much interest is being manifested among some of the other neighbors. Some are calling for reading matter, others for the living preacher, and it is expected that this little company will soon have some further desirable acquisitions to its ranks, in which case we will report further.
DON'T BE DISCOURAGED.
By Our Young Folks
DON'T conclude that the devil is having his way without opposition because nobody seems to be growing in grace very fast in your church, for it is generally the case that when things look as though God had no friends in sight there is something the matter with us. The Lord can always be depended on to put the real salt of the earth in the right place without our help. When we can't see anything that suits us in anybody, from the preacher to the man who dusts the seats, it is a pretty good sign that we need a revival in our own hearts, and the sooner we go to praying and believing for it the better it will be for the church. When the devil can persuade a man that he is about the only out-and-out righteous man in his part of the country, he is no doubt very well satisfied with his day's work.
Going around and proclaiming, with a long face and solemn voice, "I am very jealous for the Lord of hosts," is a poor thing to do to promote a revival. When God wants the census of his people taken, he will not employ a human instrument. The prophet Elijah thought he stood alone in the midst of a great multitude, and if it were possible for him to be mistaken, surely there is no call for any of us to go about in the community undertaking to number the Lord's own, and concluding that we have all the religion worth speaking of in the town.
DID you ever think how heavy a drop of rain might be? A shower is nothing when some festive entertainment is in progress, but on prayer meeting night and Sunday each watery globule seems to weigh a ton. Such anxious glances are cast at the lowering sky, so many of the inmates of your house consulted over and over again as to whether they suppose it is really going to rain. Of course if it were clear it would be a matter of duty to attend the services, but it is sprinkling, and there might be pneumonia in that wet grass, or a bad attack of rheumatism lurking on those damp walks, or some of those dreadful consumptive comma bacilli prancing around in the air; so you resign yourself to fate and remain at home. The pastor delivers his sermon to rows upon rows of empty benches in the front and a small collection of people, like raisins in a baker's cake, in the background. Of course he feels blue, and a little tinge of the indigo creeps into the address, in spite of his determination to the contrary.
Before the discourse is ended, a stray waif of a sunbeam glides through the side window and smiles lovingly upon the few brave souls who have actually dared to venture out, but it lingers longest upon the head of that poor old wrinkled-faced woman sitting in the corner. Her dress has two neat darns in front, and her bonnet is so old fashioned that it might have descended to her from some primeval ancestress, dating back as far as the flood, but such a satisfied look beams from those mild blue eyes—she has found something to take home with her, heavenly manna that will nourish her soul for a week; rainy days are never marked as "at home" days in her calendar.
The minister feels discouraged, not because you were absent, but on account of the number of yous who made it their particular business not to be present. Perhaps when the Lord sends you an invitation to join the services up above, you will look out of the window and say, "I pray thee have me excused for this time; I must wait for a pleasant day." And the recording angel will write against your name, "Weighed in the balance and found wanting."—N. Y. Observer.