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Signs of the Times, Vol. 4, No. 27.

CALVARY

Signs of the Times

Jul 18, 1878

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jul 18, 1878

CALVARY.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
THEY hurried Jesus away with loud shouts of triumph; but their noise ceased for a time when they passed a retired place, and saw at the foot of a lifeless tree the dead body of Judas, who had betrayed Christ. It was a most revolting spectacle; his weight had broken the cord by which he had hung himself to the tree, and, in falling, his body had become horribly mangled, and was then being devoured by dogs. The mutilated remains were ordered to be buried at once, and the crowd passed on; but there was less noisy mockery, and many a pale face revealed the fearful thoughts within. Retribution seemed already to be visiting those who were guilty of the blood of Jesus.
By this time the news of the condemnation of Jesus had spread through all Jerusalem, striking terror and anguish to thousands of hearts, but bringing a malicious joy to many who had been reproved by the teachings of the Saviour. The priests had been bound by a promise not to molest any of his disciples if Jesus were delivered up to them; so all classes of people flocked to the scene of outrage, and Jerusalem was left almost empty. Nicodemus, and Joseph of Arimathea, had not been summoned to the Sanhedrim council, and their voices had nothing to do with condemning Jesus. They were present at his crucifixion, but unable to change or modify his terrible sentence.
The disciples and believers from the region round about joined the throng that followed Jesus to Calvary. The mother of Jesus was also there, supported by John, the beloved disciple. Her heart was stricken with unutterable anguish; yet she, with the disciples, hoped that the painful scene would change, and Jesus would assert his power, and appear before his enemies as the Son of God. Then again her mother's heart would sink as she remembered words in which he had briefly referred to the things which were that day being enacted.
Jesus had scarcely passed the gate of Pilate's house when the cross which had been prepared for Barabbas was brought out and laid upon his bruised and bleeding shoulders. Crosses were also placed upon the companions of Barabbas, who were to suffer death at the same time with Jesus. The Saviour had borne his burden but a few rods, when, from loss of blood and excessive weariness and pain, he fell fainting to the ground. As he lay beneath the heavy burden of the cross, how the heart of the mother of Christ longed to place a supporting hand beneath his wounded head, and bathe that brow that had once been pillowed upon her bosom. But, alas, that mournful privilege was denied her.
When Jesus revived, the cross was again placed upon his shoulders and he was forced forward. He staggered on a few steps, bearing his heavy load, then fell as one lifeless to the ground. He was at first pronounced to be dead, but finally he again revived. The priests and rulers felt no compassion for their suffering victim; but they saw that it was impossible for him to carry the instrument of torture farther. They were puzzled to find any one who would humiliate himself to bear the cross to the place of execution. The Jews could not do it because of defilement, and their consequent inability to keep the coming passover festival.
While they were considering what to do, Simon, a Cyrenian, coming from an opposite direction, met the crowd, was seized at the instigation of the priests, and compelled to carry the cross of Christ. The sons of Simon were disciples of Jesus, but he himself had never been connected with him. This occasion was a profitable one for him. The cross he was forced to bear became the means of his conversion. His sympathies were deeply stirred in favor of Jesus; and the events of Calvary, and the words uttered by Jesus, caused him to acknowledge that he was the Son of God. Simon ever felt grateful to God for the singular providence which placed him in a position to receive evidence for himself that Jesus was the world's Redeemer.
When Jesus was thought to be dying beneath the burden of the cross, many women, who, though not believers in Christ, were touched with pity for his sufferings, broke forth into a mournful wailing. When Jesus revived, he looked upon them with tender compassion. He knew they were not lamenting him because he was a teacher sent from God, but from motives of common humanity. He looked upon the weeping women and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but for yourselves, and for your children."
Jesus did not despise their tears, but the sympathy which they expressed wakened a deeper chord of sympathy in his own heart for them. He forgot his own grief in contemplating the future fate of Jerusalem. Only a short time ago the people had cried out, "His blood be on us and on our children." How blindly had they invoked the doom they were soon to realize! Many of the very women who were weeping about Jesus were to perish with their children in the siege of Jerusalem.
Jesus referred not only to the destruction of Jerusalem, but to the end of the world. Said he, "Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" The innocent were represented by the green tree. If God suffered his wrath because of the sins of the world to fall upon the Redeemer, in that he was permitted to suffer death by crucifixion, what might be expected to come upon the impenitent and unbelieving, who had slighted the mercies of God, purchased for them by the death of his Son? The mind of Jesus wandered from the destruction of Jerusalem to a wider judgment, when all the impenitent would suffer condemnation for their sins; when the Son of man should come, attended not by a murderous mob, but by the mighty hosts of God.
A great multitude followed the Saviour to Calvary, many mocking and deriding; but some were weeping and recounting his praise. Those whom he had healed of various infirmities, and those whom he had raised from the dead, declared his marvelous works with earnest voice, and demanded to know what Jesus had done that he should be treated as a malefactor. Only a few days before, they had attended him with joyful hosannas, and the waving of palm-branches, as he rode triumphantly to Jerusalem. But many who had then shouted his praise, because it was popular to do so, now swelled the cry of "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
Upon the occasion of Christ riding into Jerusalem, the disciples had been raised to the highest pitch of expectation. They had pressed close about their Master, and had felt that they were highly honored to be connected with him. Now they followed him in his humiliation at a distance. They were filled with inexpressible grief, and disappointed hopes. How were the words of Jesus verified: "All ye will be offended because of me this night; for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad." Yet the disciples still had faint hope that their Master would manifest his power at the last moment, and deliver himself from his enemies.
Upon arriving at the place of execution, the condemned were bound to the instrument of torture. While the two thieves wrestled in the hands of those who stretched them upon the cross, Jesus made no resistance. The mother of Jesus looked on with agonizing suspense, hoping that he would work a miracle to save himself. Surely He who had given life to the dead would not suffer himself to be crucified. What torture must this woman have endured as she witnessed the shame and suffering of her son, yet was not able to minister to him in his distress! Bitter grief and disappointment filled her heart. Must she give up her faith that he was the true Messiah? Would the Son of God allow himself to be thus cruelly slain? She saw his hands stretched upon the cross—those dear hands that had ever dispensed blessings, and had been reached forth so many times to heal the suffering. And now the hammer and nails were brought, and, as spikes were driven through the tender flesh and fastened to the cross, the heart-stricken disciples bore away from the cruel scene the fainting form of the mother of Christ.
Jesus made no murmur of complaint; his face remained pale and serene, but great drops of sweat stood upon his brow. There was no pitying hand to wipe the death-dew from his face, nor words of sympathy and unchanging fidelity to stay his human heart. He was treading the wine-press all alone; and of all the people there was none with him. While the soldiers were doing their fearful work, and he was enduring the most acute agony, Jesus prayed for his enemies—"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." His mind was borne from his own suffering to the crime of his persecutors, and the terrible but just retribution that would be theirs. He pitied them in their ignorance and guilt. No curses were called down upon the soldiers who were handling him so roughly, no vengeance was invoked upon the priests and rulers who were the cause of all his suffering, and were then gloating over the accomplishment of their purpose, but only a plea for their forgiveness—"for they know not what they do."
Had they known that they were putting to exquisite torture one who had come to save the sinful race from eternal ruin, they would have been seized with horror and remorse. But their ignorance did not remove their guilt; for it was their privilege to know and accept Jesus as their Saviour. They rejected all evidence, and not only sinned against Heaven in crucifying the King of Glory, but against the commonest feelings of humanity in putting to a torturous death an innocent man. Jesus was earning the right to become the Advocate for man in the Father's presence. That prayer of Christ for his enemies embraced the world, taking in every sinner who should live, until the end of time.
After Jesus was nailed to the cross, it was lifted by several powerful men, and thrust with great violence into the place prepared for it, causing the most excruciating agony to the Son of God. Pilate then wrote an inscription in three different languages and placed it upon the cross, above the head of Jesus. It ran thus: "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." This inscription, placed so conspicuously upon the cross, irritated the Jews. In Pilate's court they had cried, Crucify him! We have no king but Cæsar! They declared that whoever claimed other than Cæsar for a king was a traitor. But they had overreached themselves in disclaiming any desire to have a king of their own nation. Pilate, in his inscription, wrote out the sentiments which they had expressed. It was a virtual declaration, and so understood by all, that the Jews acknowledged that on account of their allegiance to the Roman power, any man who aspired to be king of the Jews, however innocent in other respects, should be judged by them worthy of death. There was no other offense named in the inscription; it simply stated that Jesus was the king of the Jews.
The Jews saw this, and asked Pilate to change the inscription. Said the chief priests, "Write not, The King of Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews." But Pilate, angry with himself because of his former weakness, and thoroughly despising the jealous and artful priests and rulers, coldly replied, "What I have written I have written."
And now a terrible scene was enacted. Priests, rulers and scribes forgot the dignity of their sacred offices, and joined with the rabble in mocking and jeering the dying Son of God, saying, "If thou be the King of the Jews, save thyself." And some deridingly repeated among themselves: "He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him; for he said, I am the Son of God." "And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself, and come down from the cross."
These men, who professed to be the expounders of prophecy, were themselves repeating the very words which inspiration had foretold they would utter upon this occasion; yet, in their blindness, they did not percieve that they were fulfilling prophecy. The dignitaries of the temple, the hardened soldiers, the vile thief upon the cross, and the base and cruel among the multitude, all united in their abuse of Christ.

Jesus Condemned.

By L. D. A. S.

Behold the precious Lamb of God, Before the priests is brought again, 'Mid cruel enemies to be, Condemned and judged by guilty men.
The evening mob, with frantic cries, Discordant shrieks, and bitter strife, Like fiends incarnate, cry for blood, And clamor madly for his life.
Caiaphas in his glittering robe, Upon the throne is seated high, With taunting word and bitter tone, Condemns the Son of God to die.
And yet, he meekly bore the scorn, The shameful jest, the cruel word, And from his pure unsullied lips No wrathful answer e'er was heard.
My guilty Soul; was it for thee— Thy Saviour all these sorrows bore? Was it for thee, in wondrous love The piercing "crown of thorns" he wore?
And shalt thou not accept his grace, With tearful eyes and grateful heart, Lest when he comes, in glorious might, Thou hear'st the dreadful word "Depart." L. D. A. S.

Are You Tried?

Go and tell Jesus your trials. To whom as a tried Christian but to Jesus can you go? Oppressed and sorrowful as our humanity is, there is wanting in each and all the tender disciplined feeling that exactly harmonizes with our own chastened and pensive spirit.
We take our sorrows even to a sorrowing believer, and we find his heart so charged with his own personal trial, his mind so perplexed with his own anxieties, or his spirit so bowed under its own concealed dejection, that we shrink from adding one drop to his brimmed cup by pouring into his sad heart the sadness of our own. He is silent of his own grief, but that silence, oh! how expressive!
But there is One to whom you may go, whose sorrows now are all over, and who is prepared to make yours his own. You are tried in your spirit, tried in your principles, tried in your faith, tried in your worldly calling, tried in your spiritual history, tried in your domestic circumstances, tried in those near and dear to you. Whither, son or daughter of trial, can you turn, but to Jesus? Have you pondered this sacred and precious privilege? Has it ever bethought you to arise in your grief and go and tell Jesus? He was as you are, a child of sorrows, a man of grief. Smitten, wounded, traduced, belied, foully accused, bruised and heart-broken, and is fitted as no other being in the universe is, to listen to the story of your trial, to succor, soothe, and sanctify it.—Sel.

Knowledge With Economy of Time

THAT writer does the most who gives his reader the most knowledge, and takes from him the least time.

VINDICATION OF THE TRUE SABBATH.

By J. W. Morton

A Narrative of Events.
BY J. W. MORTON.
[IN the following able treatise on the divine appointment of the Sabbath of the Bible, the writer makes use of an argument or two which we might not employ. Yet we can commend it to the readers of the Signs, especially to those who have been, and still are, misinformed in regard to a very plain, important, and ancient institution of Jehovah. And we do this the more earnestly as we are assured that the reader will find in the personal narrative of its author a noble instance of self-sacrifice and devotion to the truth for the truth's sake.]

CHAPTER I.

ON the 13th of December, 1847, I landed with my family in Port-au-Prince, Hayti, the first foreign missionary of the Reformed Presbyterian church in the United States. I began my labors soon afterward, and continued them without serious interruption till the 21st of April, 1849, when a train of circumstances, to which I am about to advert, made it necessary that I should return home.
In the latter part of December, 1848, I was unexpectedly called upon to defend the practice of keeping holy the first day of the week in place of the seventh. I had been taught from my infancy that the moral law, "summarily comprehended in the ten commandments," is the only rule of moral conduct; and I had supposed that it required me and everybody else to keep the "Christian Sabbath" on the first day of the week. On examination, however, I was forced to the conclusion that the fourth commandment enjoins nothing else than the sanctification of the seventh day. Of course, then, I must either renounce this precept, as a part of the rule of my life, or endeavor to keep holy the seventh day of the week. The former I might not dare to do; the latter I knew I might attempt without offending God, or insulting the majesty of his law.
The question then came up, Is there any Scripture authority for keeping holy the first day? Does God require it? I knew very well that if God does not require it I could not, as a Reformed Presbyterian, bind my conscience to it. I took up the Bible, and resolved on a prayerful and thorough search. I wished to assure myself of the divine authority of the first day, even after I was satisfied that the claims of the seventh are indisputable. But how was it possible to gain this object? Every text to which I was referred for proof seemed to lack the very thing that I most wanted—a certain testimony to the institution of a Christian Sabbath. I reasoned thus: The fact that Christ appeared once or twice to his disciples on the first day of the week, and the fact that the disciples met once on that day to break bread, and the fact that Paul commanded the Corinthians and Galatians to "lay by them in store" on that day as God had prospered them—these facts, with a few others, might shed light on the institution if one single text could be found to prove its existence. But if this cannot be found they do not touch the question at issue. And how I did long for that one text! How I chided with the apostles for not having made known more clearly what I had determined to be the will of God! Never did Rachel mourn for her children as I mourned for that one text; but, like her, I could not be comforted, because it was not!
I was thus driven to the conclusion that, should I make conscience of keeping holy the first day of the week, I would offer to God a service that he did not require, and could not accept at my hands.
But what was I to do? This was the great, practical question. Could I, with my then present views, continue to preach the gospel as I had done before in that land of "darkness, and of the shadow of death?" Could I teach the children in the school, as I had taught them before, that God had changed the Sabbath to the first day of the week? Could I proclaim to the benighted heathen that they might habitually break the fourth commandment with impunity? Could I, as a Protestant missionary, become the partisan of him who thought to "change times and laws," by assuring his blinded devotees that his changes had been made by divine authority? Or, on the other hand, could I carry out my convictions of truth and duty, declaring the whole counsel of God as I then understood it, and retain at the same time, my connection with my brethren at home? Would they grant me this privilege, and, if they would, could I accept it?
A little reflection served to convince me that all these questions must be answered in the negative. It was no small matter to resolve upon breaking these bonds of ecclesiastical fellowship that had so sweetly bound me to the Reformed Presbyterian church. A struggle, painful indeed, but not protracted, ensued. I resolved at once to keep the Sabbath in my family, though I feared it would not be honest to make any public exhibition of my views while I continued to minister by the authority of the Synod. I know not what I should have done, had not my change of sentiments brought with it the needed consolations. Whatever were the "vexing thoughts" with which my heart was oppressed during the first six days of the week, I found invariably, in the quiet retreat of my little family on the seventh, that "peace of God that passeth all understanding." Yes, Hayti, when the recollection of thy brilliant skies, thy evergreen mountains, and thy sweet, clear rivers, shall have ceased to awaken joy in my bosom, the memory of thy Sabbaths shall be "my songs in the house of my pilgrimage!"

CHAPTER II.

CONVINCED as I was that something must be done immediately to bring the subject of my change to the attention of the rulers of our church before the next meeting of the Synod, I prepared the following Circular Letter, which I transmitted to more than seventy ministers and elders in different parts of the United States:—

CIRCULAR.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAYTI, JAN. 17, 1849.
MY DEAR BROTHER: The mutual relation existing between us, as members of the same Synod, the glory of our common Lord, the interests of our Mission, and the sacred regard for personal character, all require that the following statement be transmitted to you and my other co-presbyters, with as little delay as possible. If I am not actuated herein by a desire to promote God's glory and the salvation of men, may the Lord rebuke and forgive me, and "let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness!" May the Head of the church grant to you, and to all other members of the Synod, a disposition to hear with patience and candor a narration of my recent experience in which, perhaps, you may find things both "new and old."
My sentiments in relation to the "Sabbath of the Lord our God" have undergone an important change, to which I now wish to call your attention. Our Confession of Faith, Catechisms, and Testimony, all teach that the first day of the week is, and has been ever since the resurrection of Christ, the Christian Sabbath. This doctrine alone, of all those contained in our Standards, though I did believe it till lately, I can no longer receive. As to the manner of sanctifying the Sabbath, I believe all that you and I have always contended for; but, for the present, I am constrained to believe that the seventh day of the week is the only weekly Sabbath that God has ever appointed.
My attention was first called to this subject by Rev. W. M. Jones, missionary of the Baptist church, who has recently abandoned his earlier views and practice in regard to the Sabbath. He not only argued the question with me at length, but gave me some publications of the American Sabbath Tract Society, which, as they seemed to breathe a spirit of ardent piety and zeal for God's law, I read with attention. Both in my discussion with him and in the reading of those tracts, I struggled with all my might to convince myself from the Scriptures of the divine appointment of the first day or Christian Sabbath. But, though I did not then doubt it, I was astonished to find how hard it is to prove it.
I searched all the books I could find, bearing on this question, and discovered, what I had never noticed before, that the early French and Genevan Reformers, with Calvin at their head, had taught the abrogation of the fourth commandment, as a ceremonial institution; and that they contended for the Sabbath, or stated day of worship, under the gospel, only as a wise and necessary human arrangement. I found that even Terretin, at a later period, had taught that the fourth commandment is partly ceremonial, and that it was necessary to change the Sabbath from the seventh day, in order to put a difference between Jews and Christians. I found, also, in my books, quotations, containing similar sentiments, from the celebrated Augsburg Confession. The only authors I could find who had attempted to prove from the Scriptures that the Sabbath had been changed from the seventh to the first day of the week by divine authority, were Terretin, and the framers of our Standards. These authors appeared to depend mainly for proof upon three texts of scripture—Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1, 2; and Rev. 1:10. When I came to examine these texts, I was surprised and mortified to find that they contain neither the word "Sabbath," nor any other synonymous with it. True, I had always thought that the "Lord's day" (Rev. 1:10) was the first day of the week; but my opponents contended that the terms refer more properly to the seventh, which God styles, "My holy day" (Isa. 58:13); and when I remembered "his challenging a special propriety in the seventh," I could not well deny it. Moreover, I could not find a single passage asserting that the first is holier than any other day of the week, or that Christians were, in the apostles' days, in the habit of holding meetings regularly on that day. Neither could I discover that Christ or his apostles had ever spoken, directly, or indirectly, of keeping a day holy in honor of his resurrection; nor that that event, which is always held up as the occasion for the change of the Sabbath, is even once mentioned in connection with the first day, unless where it is recorded as a historical fact. On the other hand, I observed that Christ and his apostles were accustomed to enter into the synagogue on the seventh day, or Sabbath, for public worship. Luke 4:16; Acts 17:2, and elsewhere.
Thus, my dear brother, I saw at this critical moment all Scripture evidence forsaking me, while every inch of ground on which I could set my foot was trembling. It seemed as if the thunders of Sinai were uttering anew their awful threatenings, while the "still small voice" of "Him that dwelt in the bush" was whispering in my ears, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Ex. 20:10. "I am the Lord, I change not." Mal. 3:6. "Verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matt. 5:18. Still I hesitated. For a moment I thought of "going down to Egypt for help." The fathers, thought I, have fixed the interpretation of these texts in favor of the observance of the first day. But immediately I heard a voice within me, saying, "Would you then observe a holy day whose appointment cannot be proved from the Bible without the aid of human tradition? Could you admit the testimony of the fathers to set aside one of the plainest injunctions of the moral law, that law which was written upon tables of stone 'by the finger of God,' and styled, by way of pre-eminence, 'the testimony?'" No! I replied with an involuntary shudder; and another flood of scriptures came rushing in, like "deep waters," to the very soul. "The law of the Lord is perfect." Ps. 19:7. "Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven." Ps. 119:89. "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth." Ps. 119:142. "All his commandments are sure; they stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness." Ps. 111:7, 8. "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Matt. 5:17. "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law." Rom. 3:31. O my brother, "the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword."
You now have my reasons for embracing a doctrine which is confessedly at variance with our Standards. What I entreat of you is, that you will once more examine this subject for yourself, and see whether those Standards are consistent on this point, either with the Scriptures or with themselves.
You perhaps think that I have forsaken the "footsteps of the flock," and that testimony which has been sealed by the blood of martyrs. But tell me candidly, was there ever a martyr who died in defense of the first-day Sabbath? Or, could you, my brother, collect from the Scriptures evidence of its divine appointment, clear enough, to solace your soul in the midst of the flames? From my inmost soul I pity that covenanter who may be called to testify, at the stake, to the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week. Remember, too, that I am now in the path that was trodden by the saints for more than four thousand years; and it is for you to show that that path was ever stopped up, unless by the presumption and inexcusable neglect of man. Truly, I am "compassed about by a great cloud of witnesses." I would follow the example of Jehovah himself, who "blessed the seventh day and sanctified it," and by whom the "Sabbath was made for man;" the example of Adam, Enoch, and Noah; of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve patriarchs; of Moses, Aaron, and those millions of Pilgrim Covenanters who united in its observance in the wilderness; the example of Samuel, David, and a host of other prophets; of Jesus Christ our Divine Mediator, and "Lord of the Sabbath;" and of the apostles of our Lord, together with the churches established and watered by them;—in one word the example of all the saints, from Adam to the last apostle; all of whom kept and honored the seventh day as "the Sabbath of the Lord their God," and having finished their course with joy, are entered into that heavenly rest, of which that Sabbath was, and still is, an emblem.
I intend, if the Lord will, to be present at the next meeting of our Synod, and meet my brethren face to face. I expect, of course, nothing else than to be excluded from the privileges of the church; but I rejoice that I have learned to respect the discipline of the Lord's house. I desire, therefore, with a willing heart to approach the altar, and, if the Head of the church require it, to be "offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith," that God may be glorified in my salvation, and not in my destruction. God forbid that either prejudice, willful ignorance, passion, or personal resentment should fan the flames of that altar!
In conclusion, rest assured of my continued and unabated attachment to the cause of the reformation in general and to the interest of the Reformed Presbyterian church in particular; and allow me to repeat what I have already intimated, that with every other doctrine contained in our Standards, I am, so far as I understand my profession, entirely satisfied; nor have I abandoned this one but from a firm conviction that it is not taught in God's word. I know well that trials sore and many await me. God doth know that my heart delighteth not in contention; but, my brother, have we not all "entered into a curse and into an oath to walk in God's law, which was given to Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our God?" Neh. 10:29.
Your brother in gospel bonds, J. W. MORTON, Missionary of the Ref. Presb. Church.

Our Portion Here.

By C. M. S.

JOHN 16:33: "In the world ye shall have tribulation but in Me ye shall have peace." The peace of God is the rich heritage of the Christian in the present life. Says David, "Great peace have they that love thy law and nothing shall offend them." All that is given us of earthly tribulation is for our everlasting welfare. Nothing but good can happen to us if we are following Jesus. As I look back upon the tribulations that I have passed through, I can see that they were all necessary. I have been learning patience and submission, and I know that the grace of God is sufficient for us; and he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Jesus says, Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Oh! how much better are his gifts! Earthly gifts perish; and earthly riches take wings and fly away; but the rich spiritual blessings we receive from God on our pilgrimage may all be retained by us. No one can take them from us and we may grow richer and richer in them. Having cast all our care on Jesus, we can sweetly sleep at night knowing we are safe. Who would want to share the glory of Heaven without first suffering with Christ? Let us have on the whole armor. Let us press on, and each have a share in the conflict, and know the fellowship of his sufferings. We are assured that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Oh! how sweet it is to feel an inward peace in God when persecution is raging without.—C. M. S.

God's Answers to Man's Excuses for Not Keeping the Sabbath.

Excuse 1. It is inconvenient to keep the seventh day.
Answer. (Matt. 16:24.) "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me." Chap. 10:38; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; 14:27.
Excuse 2. I have a family to support; it will interfere with my business.
Answer. (Matt. 16:25, 26.) "For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Chap. 6:24, 31-33; Luke 12:15-37; 1 Tim. 4:8; Ps. 37:3; Isa. 65:13, 14.
Excuse 3. Everybody keeps the first day.
Answer. (Matt. 7:13, 14.) "Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because, strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Prov. 11:21; 16:5; Ex. 23:2.
Excuse 4. Many learned men teach that it is right.
Answer. (Hos. 10:13.) "Ye have ploughed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies; because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men." 1 Cor. 1:25-27; Rev. 18:23.
Excuse 5. We are unlearned and must look to them for instruction.
Answer. (Prov. 19:27.) "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge." 2 Tim. 3:1-7.
Excuse 6. The laws of our country enforce it.
Answer. (Acts 4:19.) "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye." Chap. 5:29; Dan. 3:16-18; 6:10.
Excuse 7. It causes trouble and division.
Answer. (Luke 12:51, 52.) "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division; for from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three." Verse 49; Matt. 10:34-37; John 15:19; 17:14; 1 Kings 18:17, 18.
Excuse 8. I shall lose my influence and bring reproach.
Answer. (Matt. 5:11, 12.) "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." Luke 6:22, 23, 26; 1 John 4:5.
Excuse 9. It makes no difference what day I keep, if I keep it right.
Answer. (Ex. 20:9, 10.) "Six days shalt thou 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." Matt. 15:3, 9. ☞ To keep any day right, is to keep it as God's law directs; otherwise, his law is not right. To keep every day right, is to work on the first six, and rest the seventh.
Excuse 10. I am afraid of new doctrines.
Answer. (Ex. 20:11.) "In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Gen. 2:2, 3.
Excuse 11. I do not think these old laws are binding.
Answer. (Jer. 6:16.) "Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." Chap. 2:11-13; 18:15.
Excuse 12. The apostle teaches that old things are passed away.
Note: (2 Cor. 5:17.) "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." ☞ The "old man" of sin must pass away. Then the man becomes new—not the law. 2 Tim. 3:16, 17: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."
Prov. 30:5, 6: "Every word of God is pure; he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."
Eccl. 12:13, 14: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."
Rev. 22:14: "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."
"THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURETH FOREVER."

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou 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, thy manservant nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for, in six days, the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Ex. 20:8-11.
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