Review and Herald, Vol. 43, No. 20. (4/28/1874)

Review and Herald

Apr 28, 1874

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 28, 1874

The Sabbath in the Old Testament.

By John Nevins Andrews

BY ELD. J. N. ANDREWS.

TEXT: “And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath; therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” Mark 2: 27, 28.

The Sabbath does not pertain to one dispensation merely, but to all. It is not peculiar to the Edenic, or antediluvian, or patriarchal, or Mosaic, or Christian, age. It does not pertain to men as Jews or Gentiles, as sinners, or as saints. It belongs, exclusively, neither to man’s innocence, nor to his state of guilt; no, nor even to the period of his final recovery. It covers all time; it embraces all races of mankind. It begins with the first man; it lives with man after he becomes immortal. It commemorates the creation of the heavens and the earth, and shall, therefore, last while heaven and earth endure.

It was made for man. There was, therefore, a time when it was made, and certain acts by which it was made. There was also One who made the Sabbath. It was the same One who also made the heaven and the earth. As the act of creation marked the beginning of the first week, so the making of the Sabbath fully brought that week to a close. Three acts entered into God’s establishment of the sabbatic institution: 1. He rested on the seventh day. 2. He blessed the day. 3. He sanctified it. These last two acts were wrought because he had rested upon it. No one disputes that the Creator’s rest was on the day succeeding the six days of creation. He rested on the seventh day. That he did not defer the blessing and sanctification of the seventh day till the time of Moses, is shown, 1. Because this does violence to the narrative in Gen. 2: 1–3. 2. Because there is not the least trace of such a work on the part of the Lord in Ex. 16; for everything in that chapter indicates that the Sabbath was an institution which had been in existence from some previous time. 3. But what is still more definite in fixing the time of this blessing and sanctification of the seventh day, is this decisive fact: God did this to the seventh day because he had rested upon it. The reason existed when the rest of the Creator was complete. And nothing can be more certain than that God acts without delay whenever the reason for his action exists. God having used the seventh day in rest, man must never use it in labor. No sooner, therefore, had God rested than he set apart the day for man to do the like. God’s rest was to lay the foundation for a divine institution. Man’s rest was to commemorate God’s. The rest of God was from the work of creation. Man’s rest is in grateful commemoration of the Creator’s work.

The foundation of the Sabbath being laid by God’s act of resting on the seventh day, two further acts were necessary on his part in order to give it complete form. It was necessary to put his blessing upon the day, so that all who would use it as he should bid them, might share that blessing. And lastly, it was necessary to give a precept concerning the day. God had rested upon the day; he had for that reason placed his blessing upon it. Now he must bid man use this day for sacred purposes only, that he may commemorate the great Creator’s rest. And so the record tells us that God sanctified the day of his rest, i. e., he set it apart, or appointed it, to a holy use. And thus we have the Sabbath made by God’s rest and blessing, and set apart by God’s appointment. Its observance was, therefore, certainly incumbent upon the first Adam in the garden of God.

And this fact is made very apparent by the text at the head of this discourse. In the original Greek, the definite article is used each time in connection with the noun, man. Thus we read: “The Sabbath was made for the man [Adam], and not the man [Adam] for the Sabbath; therefore the Son of the man [Adam] is Lord also of the Sabbath.” Here are the two Adams brought into very close relationship. The Sabbath, being given to the first Adam in Eden when he was the head of the human family, formed no part of any typical or ceremonial code, but did constitute a part of that existing arrangement of perfection that needed no change, and contemplated none.

The second Adam is the Lord of the Sabbath. And well he may be; for in his divine nature, as the Son of God, he was with the Father when the Sabbath was made. Indeed, God, the Father, made the worlds by him. John 1: 1, 2; Eph. 3: 9; Col. 1: 16; Heb. 1: 2. Our divine Redeemer was, therefore, directly concerned in the institution of the Sabbath in Eden. And Adam the first having forfeited his place as head of the family of man, the second Adam is ordained of God to fill it. So he is both the observer and the Lord of the Sabbath. He was concerned, as the Son of God, in its institution; he is concerned, as the Son of Man, in its perfect observance. We have seen in a former discourse that the law of God takes hold of each Adam. Here we see the same in the case of the Sabbath. It began with Adam the first, and it shall endure as long as the reign of Adam the second. But the existence of the Sabbath in the future kingdom of God will be more particularly noticed in the conclusion of this discourse.

The fall of the manna is a remarkable event in the history of the Sabbath. It attests the fact that the Sabbath is not an indefinite, but a definite, day. It is a providential testimony to the fact that the knowledge of the true seventh day had been preserved; for there could be no mistaking, when the manna so plainly declared the truth in the case, that a certain day was the Sabbath, and the other six days were not. And it is to be observed that the people have the right reckoning of the week; for of their own accord, without direction given them to do, till after they had themselves acted, they gathered a double portion on the sixth day in anticipation of the Sabbath. Ex. 16.

When, therefore, the following month, they reached Mount Sinai, and, after solemn preparation, heard the voice of God in the proclamation of the ten commandments, they were well prepared to appreciate the words of the fourth precept. As the commandment recited the events of the creation week, and bade them observe, in a sacred manner, the seventh day because of what God did to that day at the close of the work of creation, they could understand beyond all doubt what day of the seven that was. Three miracles in the case of the manna did, each week, for the space of forty years, attest the sacredness of the Sabbath, and definitely point out the day which they should honor in obedience to God’s commandment. These were, 1. A double portion on the sixth day. 2. None on the seventh. 3. The preservation over the Sabbath of that gathered on the sixth day.

Shortly after the ten commandments had been so solemnly proclaimed from Sinai by the voice of the Law-giver, he called Moses up into the mount to receive his law written in ten commandments upon two tables of stone. Ex. 24: 12. God first gave to Moses the plan of the sanctuary, and the ark, and then at the end of forty days’ time, gave him the tables of stone to be placed in the ark, and that to be kept in the most holy place of the sanctuary. Ex. 25: 31. When Moses came down from the mount, behold the people had made them a golden calf, and were worshiping before it. Then Moses, in his distress, broke the tables, acting in this, as it appears, under a divine impulse. Ex. 32. Then Moses caused the leading idolaters to be slain, and next asked God to pardon the sin of the remainder. And God bade Moses hew him out a second set of tables, and take them into the mount, and he would again write for the people the words of his law. And at the end of the second period of forty days Moses received again from the Lord the tables of stone, with a second copy of his law written thereon. Deut. 9, 10. Thus the Sabbath of the Lord shares, with the other precepts of the law of God, the great honor of having been once publicly proclaimed by the voice of God; and twice written upon tables of stone by the finger of the Law-giver. It has, moreover, one signal honor which the other precepts cannot lay claim unto; viz., the fact that it is founded upon the example of the Almighty himself.

The law being thus delivered to Moses, and by him brought down from the mount, was, by God’s command, placed beneath the mercy-seat in the ark of God’s testament. Ex. 40: 20; Deut. 10: 5.

The whole work of atonement and sin-offering in the earthly sanctuary related to this law of God; and the Sabbath of the Lord constituted one-tenth part of that law. Lev. 16.

During the period of the forty years’ sojourn in the wilderness, the children of Israel did very generally violate the Sabbath. Ezekiel has given us much information on this point. It even appears that while Moses was in the mount during the first forty days, Israel did then greatly pollute the Sabbath. It was one of the sins for which they came so near being shut out of the promised land at that time. Eze. 20: 9–13. But God gave them a second probation, or rather prolonged their existing probation; but it was, for all that, a failure. So he lifted up his hand in the wilderness and solemnly sware that they should not enter the land. See Num. 14: 28, 29; Eze. 20: 15. And here is the reason for this oath, as stated by Ezekiel in the next verse: “Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my Sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.” When, therefore, Paul wrote to the Hebrew people, the descendants of these very persons who thus failed to enter the promised land because of their violation of the law of God in general, and of the Sabbath in particular, how significant to them must have been his solemn exhortation. Heb. 4: 11: “Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” Their unbelief showed itself in acts of direct and positive disobedience to God’s commandments, and in especial manner to his Sabbath. Against their evil example Paul solemnly warns us.

Even after the exclusion of all the adults from an entrance into the land of Canaan, the same acts of disobedience were performed by the children. God entreated them not to act like their fathers, but to walk in his statutes, and keep his judgments, and hallow his Sabbath. And this, strange to say, they refused to heed. They did not regard his law, nor keep his judgments, but they polluted his Sabbaths, until God meditated their overthrow in the wilderness, like the overthrow of their fathers. Instead of this, he lifted up his hand to them in the wilderness, that he would, even after their entrance into the promised land, scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries, because they had not executed his judgments, but had despised his statutes, and polluted his Sabbaths. Eze. 20: 18–24. Thus the Hebrew people laid the foundation of their future ruin by violating the commandments of God in the wilderness, and particularly, by the violation of the Sabbath of the Lord.

It was at the end of forty years of that rebellion and Sabbath-breaking that Moses, in the book of Deuteronomy, makes his final appeal in behalf of the Sabbath. “Remember,” says he, “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. 5: 15. In a former discourse particular attention was called to this passage. Doubtless there was the strictest propriety in alluding to their Egyptian bondage and their deliverance therefrom, as it is not at all likely that they could, as a people, in any proper manner, keep the Sabbath of the Lord in Egypt. But a comparison of this text with Deut. 24: 17, 18, shows, beyond all dispute, that this reference to Egyptian bondage is not designed to teach that the Sabbath is a memorial of their deliverance therefrom, but that it is an appeal to their sense of gratitude, and one, too, that would seem sufficient to move very hard hearts.

After this appeal in behalf of the Sabbath, no mention of the sacred institution appears in the Scriptures till we reach the time of David. 1 Chron. 9: 32. Some five hundred years thus elapse in which no mention is made of the rest-day of the Lord. Six books of the Bible in succession, which give us the history of this time, preserve a total silence so far as the direct mention of the Sabbath is concerned. No one argues from this that the Sabbath was not observed during this period; yet many persons, with the fact before them, plainly recorded in Gen. 2: 1–3, that God set up the Sabbath in paradise, will earnestly contend that inasmuch as that book makes no further direct mention of that institution, it was, therefore, totally disregarded from Adam to Moses!

One of the Psalms was written for the Sabbath day, as its title in Hebrew plainly testifies. In verses 4, 5, it calls attention to the works of God as the proper theme for meditation on the Sabbath. The sacred day is designed to commemorate the greatest of them all, the creation of the heavens and the earth. See Ps. 111: 2, 4.

Isaiah speaks of the annual sabbaths (of which, according to Lev. 23, there were seven) and the new moons, as things which were not pleasing to God in their observance, especially because of their sins. See chap. 1: 10–14. But he speaks of God’s

holy rest-day in terms of strong exhortation and earnest entreaty. If the people of God in their dispersion would observe it, they should be gathered to his holy mountain. If the Gentiles would observe it also, they should be joined with his people in the reception of his blessing. Isa. 56. And he makes the further promise in behalf of Sabbath reformers that if those who are now trampling the Sabbath beneath their feet will turn away their feet from the Sabbath, and call it the holy of the Lord and honorable, and will honor him thus, he will honor them with a place in his immortal kingdom. Isa. 58: 13, 14.

When Jerusalem was threatened with destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, the Lord sent to that people, through Jeremiah, an offer to preserve their city from his power, if they would hallow the Sabbath day. He even promised that the city should stand forever, on condition, however, that they should not violate his Sabbath. Jer. 17: 19–27. But they did not regard this gracious offer of the God of Heaven. Ezekiel informs us that they profaned the Sabbath of the Lord, and hid their eyes from it. Eze. 22: 8, 26. And he further informs us how they defiled his sanctuary, and profaned his Sabbath; for they slew their children in sacrifice to their idols on that day, and then came into the sanctuary to profane it. Eze. 23: 38, 39. It was thus that they treated the Sabbath in response to the gracious offer made them through Jeremiah. And thus wrath came upon them to the uttermost in the destruction of their city and the ruin of their nation.

After the Babylonish captivity, when a remnant had returned to their own land, Nehemiah found them again violating the Sabbath. He reminded them that the violation of the Sabbath had been the cause of their ruin, and earnestly entreated them to desist from this great transgression. With this solemn appeal of Nehemiah ends the history of the Sabbath in the Old Testament. Neh. 13: 18.

The prophet Isaiah has given us a glorious view of the future kingdom of God. When the second Adam shall, with the family of the redeemed, possess the new earth, then shall the immortal saints assemble from the whole face of the earth, on each successive Sabbath, to worship before the Lord of hosts. Isa. 66: 22, 23. And Paul tells us of this final rest of the redeemed, that there remains a Sabbatismos, i. e., as the margin has it, “a keeping of the Sabbath,” to the people of God. Heb. 4: 9. The Sabbath was made for man in Eden. It has survived the dreadful deluge of sin that has almost drowned out piety and truth in the earth. It exists to-day as the subject of promise and of prophecy. It stands firm as the pillars of Heaven, and is established in the immutable authority of God’s unchanging law. And when an end is made of sin, and none but holy beings remain to possess the immortal inheritance, the Sabbath made for man shall still exist, and

“All flesh shall keep it with one heart.”

WORK FOR JESUS.

Workers in the Master's vineyard, Faint not, though the task seem hard; You have promised; will you falter In the service of the Lord? Work still, if you do not gather Any treasures for your pain; All that you can do for Jesus Will be your eternal gain.

If you see an erring brother Wandering from the path of right, Lead him back by loving counsel From the darkest shade of night. Yes, though he may be rebellious Blindly take his God to task, Christ will from his ways reclaim him If you humbly come and ask.

Or perhaps a child may falter At the threshold of the door, Only wanting words of wisdom To reclaim it evermore. Will you let these words be wanting, Words to guide his soul to Heaven? And relinquish to the tempter One for whom Christ's blood was given?

Or if none of these are near you, If you cannot work at home, Go into the streets and highways, Gather in the lambs that roam. Take some little wandering outcast; Bind him by the bands of love; Lead him home by gentle kindness, To the heavenly fold above.

—Sel.

Science: Knowledge Reduced to System

By Jos. Clarke

Science.

SCIENCE is defined by Webster, “knowledge reduced to system.” A man may have a vast amount of knowledge on various subjects; yet it is so disarranged, and exists in his mind in such a condition of disorder, that he can make use of it to but little advantage. The grand object to be obtained by a thorough course of education is to be able to systematize and arrange, and then to put this system to some practical use.

On religious topics, this principle is as applicable as on any other subject, although it is not generally so viewed; and there is no subject upon which people are so absurdly very confused as upon this; for an idea has generally obtained credence, that it matters little how erroneous an opinion may be, if sincerity is the basis; and very often a compound of stupidity, conceit, and obstinacy, are mistaken for sincerity.

We may come to a definite conclusion, by the help of God, on all revealed truth, although it is quite a popular idea that a union of sentiment on Bible subjects is a thing not to be expected while the present state of things continues. The Bible was written by different individuals, at different periods of time; and though all were inspired men, yet they wrote under very different circumstances. Their great desire as individuals was to please God, and they labored to this end, yet the necessity which impelled each was of quite a different nature. These writers were each of them guided by the Holy Spirit.

The Bible being written thus, it is evident that to obtain a knowledge of its doctrines, it must be thoroughly examined as to what it teaches; subjects must be followed up by a system of reference, until the opinions and teachings of each writer are fully brought out and harmonized. All may be clearly stated, and correctly arranged, until definite conclusions are formed.

Infidelity would be robbed of its strength, if all would apply true science to the study of the Bible; and how strange it seems that many who reason so clearly on popular science should reason so absurdly on Bible subjects. A lifetime devoted to science is considered well spent; yet often men blaspheme God because they do not get the sense of the sacred word by a few casual readings. JOS. CLARKE.

Do We Make Void the Law?

By G. C. Tenney

The psalmist says, “It is time, Lord, for thee to work, for they have made void thy law;” and we are frequently made painfully conscious that this is true of the present time, when people urge the abrogation of the moral law as an excuse for not obeying its precepts. Those who do so make a grave mistake which the Judgment will certainly reveal.

But this state of things becomes more a matter of regret than surprise to us when we consider the so-called liberal tendency of the times and the teaching of those who are regarded as safe teachers.

As an instance of this teaching, we notice in Yale Lectures on Preaching, by H. W. Beecher, as published in the Christian Union recently, these remarks concerning

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

“Take the ten commandments. It is true that by a very liberal construction you can make them cover about everything in creation, as, by beating gold with gold beaters’ skin you can make a piece as big as my hand cover an acre or so. The ten commandments stand where men emerge from the lowest conditions, and in the dawn of the recognition of God’s authority. They have to do with the commonest vices of men, and with their plainest duties in society. They are the charter that imposes conditions, without which there could not be rectitude, or the proprieties of life, or the sanctities of the household. But they are all negative. All that which is called in the New Testament “the fruit of the Spirit” is left out of them. Of the glow of interior illumination there is not a ray in them. Far back they stand in the beginning of the history of the world, and far down in that history which reproduces itself in every generation. They are adapted to the building up of a lower style of man. Their cry forever is, “Thou shalt not,” “Thou shalt not.” Woe to that man who has lived among churches and Bibles and preachers, and has not got higher than the ten commandments! And yet we see them emblazoned in the house of God as though they expressed the highest ideas to which men have reached. They say to men, “Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not commit adultery”; the grosser and more bestial forms of sin are forbidden by them; but those moral virtues and spiritual attainments which belong to a developed manhood are not enjoined in them.”

Such teaching does not accord with the word of God concerning the moral law. For though it does not deny its existence in the lower walks of life, and recognizes its usefulness at the outset of a moral life, to the Christian it becomes as a spelling book to an advanced scholar, the first mile post, long since passed.

The liberal construction mentioned as possible was made by our Saviour, both in his life and teachings. He magnified the law and made it honorable, and gave it an application which reaches to the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Paul testifies that “the law is holy.” David says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting soul.” And the conclusion of the whole matter is, “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” Eccl. 12:13. Are we better than holy, or more perfect? If so, we are above the law of God. If we are less than that, we are below it. A person whose

character is formed by this law will naturally bear the fruits of the Spirit; for a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, nor do we expect to find the graces of the Spirit in a willful commandment-breaker; but we observe that those who in their lives most closely fulfill the law as expounded to the lawyer, Matt. 22:37–40, bear most of the fruits of the Spirit which are developed as the natural outgrowth of such a life.

Let us not add to our sins that of making void God’s law, but rather pray with the psalmist, “Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.”

G. C. TENNEY.

Beecher on Ordination.

A young man who goes out to preach is never ordained when the consecrating hand has been laid on his head, and he has entered upon the ministry. The ceremony of ordination is very well as far as it goes; but not until the providence of God has put its hand upon you; not until you have ached and wept and prayed in secret places; not until you have realized your weakness and unworthiness, and said, “Would God that I were dead;” not until you have felt that your appearing is as nothing; not until with unutterable desire you have turned to God with the meekness and humility and gentleness and sweetness of a child, and been conscious that you were carried in the arms of his love—not until then will you be fully ordained. But when you have had this administration, how blessed the word of God will be to you!

Cotton Mather on Preaching from Notes

COTTON MATHER, in 1680, wrote “Directions for a Candidate,” in which he says, “Let your notes be as a quiver on which you may cast your eye now and then, to see what arrow is to be next fetched from thence; and then, with your eye as much as may be on them whom you speak to, let it be shot away with a vivacity becoming one in earnest.”

On the Lasting Harm of Falsehood

To tell a falsehood is like the cut of a sabre; for, though the wound may heal, the scar will remain.

The Promises of God.—No. 3.

By H. A. St. John

“Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity.” Isa. 58:9.

The above is but one of a number of precious promises, accompanied with their conditions, found in Isaiah 58. The first condition expressed is the taking away of the yoke, or, as stated in verse 6, the breaking every yoke. This, of course, must not be understood to refer to literal yokes, or literal slavery, but something even more grievous to be borne. Obviously the yoke may consist of several things. First, it may be the casting of burdens or responsibilities upon others that properly belong to us. There are but few real burden-bearers among professed Christians, few who will take responsibilities, and these few are left, many times, to groan under their heavy burdens, as a cart under its load of sheaves. God be praised for those precious souls that are willing to bear all things; for at times it would seem that the cause of God would be ruined if it were not for them.

But when this state of things exists, there is an inexcusable neglect on the part of some to fulfill the law of Christ, namely, to bear one another’s burdens. Now all these shirkers of responsibility, that are at ease in Zion, must consecrate themselves to God and come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty, or they will not only fail of the precious promise above given, but in the end will be cursed with a terrible curse.

Again, individuals may be filling positions of important trust by the appointment of God or the church, and we may put heavy yokes upon them by murmuring or complaining, or in any way failing to stay up their hands. To be continually finding fault with those in authority, or those over us in the Lord, whether they be leading ministers, or simply the local elders or deacons of a church, is a great wrong, a yoke we must break, in order to experience the blessing of God.

“The putting forth of the finger.” I suppose this has reference to the very censurable practice of pointing out the faults of others without the paramount effect in view of glorifying God and helping the erring. There are some who never seem so well satisfied as when discoursing upon the real or supposed weaknesses of others. Deluded souls! Could they but realize that it is all recorded above, they would become more wise, and cease to put forth the finger.

“And speaking vanity.” Here there is very great danger. The world is full of vanity. For every idle word that men shall speak, says our Saviour, they must give account in the day of Judgment. Foolish talking and jesting are not convenient, but rather the giving of thanks. Professed followers of Jesus will often spend hours together talking freely and fluently about the world and the things therein, but do not say a word for Jesus. Especially is this true of the youth. How many hours of precious time are worse than wasted in trifling, foolish conversation. It makes the sober-minded almost heart-sick to think of it, and quite so to be obliged to hear it. Do such persons really love Jesus? Oh! no, no. The things about which they can so eloquently talk fill their hearts, and there is no room for Jesus. If these words meet the eye of any such, oh! be entreated to ponder the matter well. Seek the Lord with the whole heart until you feel that your soul is filled with the love of Jesus, and the things pertaining to the kingdom of God; and then above all things you will love to talk about them.

But what is it the Lord here promises to those that take away from their midst the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity? It is that when they call he will answer, when they cry, he will say, Here I am. Oh! what a precious promise is this. What is better in this life than communion with God? Reader, do you pray? Do you have communion with God? To you is the gracious promise given, that when you call he will answer. Rest not satisfied until you have the assurance that God regards your prayer. If you live thus in communion with God, he will lead you in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

H. A. St. John.

Early Teaching of Methodism,

By C. H. Bliss

(Extracts from the Preachers’ Manual, Continued.)

In regard to the use of tobacco, on page 132, he has the following: “Concerning that abominable and fatal drain of human life, the pipe and the quid, I need here say nothing. My opinion has long since been before the public. I am sorry to say that I know several young men who are to this day murdering themselves in this way, but they are by me incorrigible. I leave them in the hands of God, and say to you, ‘Never imitate them; they disgrace themselves and would disgrace you.’”

On page 119, speaking of indolent preachers, he says: “They idle away that time which is an invaluable gift of God; and either sleep away their moments, or become what one justly terms ‘the most detestable of all negatively sinful characters, smokers of tobacco.’ There are some, it is true, who smoke and study too. The latter they should do, and leave the former undone. But these are angels compared with those who read little, study none, and are continually at the pipe.”

From the preceding extracts we can form some idea of the earnest devotion, sacrifice, and holy life, of the early Methodist preachers; but what is their condition now? Alas! alas! they are fallen. A good share of them now are in the habit of using tobacco: some in both its forms, smoking and chewing. And almost all of them must have their strong tea or coffee, and it is considered almost an insult should you inform them that you think it wrong to use those poisonous drinks.

The laws of health are but little regarded. In fact, judging from the actions of some, it seems as though they were anxious to get rid of this “tenement of clay” and fly away and be at rest. And why not, if “death is the gate to endless joy”? Are not the words of the angel applicable? “I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love.” Did they realize it, there might be hope; but they say, “I am rich and increased in goods, and have need of nothing.” And is not this the condition of most of the churches? “Truly the standard of piety and practical godliness has fallen; but shall it remain thus?” No; for God has called out a people who have raised it from the dust, and are lifting it still higher and higher. But may not this same class of people learn a lesson from the history of the past? Is not the following the history of nearly every Protestant denomination that has ever arisen? First, a spirit of devotion and sacrifice, and a holy life characterized the first leaders; and this perhaps had a greater tendency to multiply adherents than soundness of doctrine. But, by-and-by, a spirit of rivalry enters the church, and in their desire to excel, especially in numbers, the standard of piety has been lowered to gratify the desires of an unconverted multitude. Thus many of the churches have “become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” On this account God has forsaken them, and another people have been raised up who would lift up the fallen standard.

And now, in these last days God has in mercy called out another class of people, to stand in defense of his truth; but what is to be the result? One thing seems quite plausible that before the second coming of Christ the true church of God is to stand again upon apostolic ground, divested of all the traditions and commandments of men, and keeping the “commandments of God and the faith of Jesus,” being without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.

C. H. BLISS.

The Divine Helper.

We believe in the Holy Spirit; and this faith is full of comfort, full of power. We could not hope to live with any approach, even the most distant, to the Christian standard without it; we could not go down to our graves “sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust,” unless at each stage and every hour this our faith were melting and flowing in a sweet experience. Without controversy, great is the power of the Holy Spirit; and after all controversies, “the faithful in Christ Jesus” are essentially of one mind in respect to its office in the economy of divine grace. What is that office? It is impossible to phrase it, in all its variety and comprehensiveness, in a definition, or to describe it in full by any delineation. But it may help us in the endeavor to see what it is, if we suppose that Christianity had handed down to us only the knowledge of God as the Father, and the example of a perfect human life in the beloved Son, with all the ethical and even spiritual instructions recorded in the gospel. At first thought, it might seem that this is enough; but a little reflection and the testimony of experience will satisfy us that something more is needed. For how shall man, infirm of moral purpose, with only languid and intermittent religious desires, immersed so largely in material interests, with a great burden of sin resting upon him—how shall he brace himself up to the task, and pursue it unaided, of transforming the frail creature he is into a true child of God as seen in the face of Jesus Christ? Surely something else is needed, some power, some help, not found in words even the heavenliest, nor in examples though the most perfect.

And if we were going to express this deepest want in the form of prayer, we should bow our knees before the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and say: Send down, O Lord, thy Holy Spirit to renew us with might in the inner man; to make us strong in whatever is right to do thy will; to assist our feeble endeavors; to quicken our dull consciences; to take away our shame and fear; to give a fresh start and glow to our affections; and to keep our minds fixed, trusting in thee. A divine helper who can enter the inner chamber of man’s life, the very holy of holies, in that temple of God which man is, touch the secret springs of his moral being, and supply new impulse and force to his faint, weary, struggling soul; a divine comforter too, to allay the fevers of the worn and anxious brain, to still the fears and the hurried throbbings of the disquieted bosom, to plead with and mollify the accusing conscience,—such a comforter, such a helper, is not this man’s eternal need? Would not the divine dispensations be incomplete without such an effluence from God into the soul that is open and waiting to receive it? A father uncommunicative, having no immediate connection with his children, no way of reaching their hearts in their sorest needs, is scarcely a father to be loved “with all the heart and soul and mind and strength.”

Therefore the truth of the fatherhood of God is supplemented by that of the perpetual coming of the Holy Spirit, “to bring conviction of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment;” to scatter the shades of doubt and confirm the word spoken in the outward ear; to calm sorrow; to breathe peace; and to witness with our spirits that we are the children of God. Christ might be all he is to us and the Holy Spirit not known, God might be our Father and no Holy Spirit visit us. But who could spare that breath divine now that it is come and is forever coming? Whose prayer falters in the song:

“Holy Spirit, light divine, Shine upon this heart of mine; Chase the shades of night away; Turn the darkness into day. Holy Spirit, love divine, Glow within this heart of mine; Kindle every high desire; Cleanse my soul in thy pure fire. Holy Spirit, joy divine, Cheer this saddened heart of mine; Bid my troubled thoughts be still; With thy peace my spirit fill.” —Monthly Religious Magazine.

Important Statistics.

INQUIRIES are frequently sent to us respecting the statistics of the liquor traffic in this country. A correspondent of the New York Evening Post furnishes the following figures on this subject, claiming to have taken them from official documents.

Statistics showing the amount of money spent in the United States for intoxicating liquors during the year 1870, as taken from official records:

Imported and domestic distilled and spirituous liquors — $1,344,000,000 Brewed and fermented liquors — $123,000,000 Imported wines — $15,000,000 Domestic wines — $5,000,000 Total — $1,487,000,000

Add to this, $90,000,000, the cost of litigations, crimes, prisons, etc., caused in part by intemperance, and we have for a single year the enormous sum of $1,573,491,865.

The cost of flour and meat was — $530,000,000 The cost of cotton goods — $115,000,000 The cost of boots and shoes — $90,000,000 The cost of clothing — $70,000,000 The cost of woolen goods — $60,000,000 The cost of newspaper and job printing — $40,000,000 Total — $905,600,000

The quantity of distilled, fermented, and brewed liquors drunk was sufficient to fill a canal four feet deep, fourteen feet wide, and eighty miles long; if all the drinkers could be placed in procession, five abreast, they would make an army 130 miles long; and if those killed by the intemperate use of spirituous liquors were there also, we would see a suicide at every five miles, and 550 funerals per day; and if all the places where intoxicating liquors are sold were placed in rows, in direct lines, they would make a street 100 miles long.

There were 400,000 more persons engaged in the liquor business in the United States than in preaching the gospel and school-teaching; and from the effects of intoxicating drinks, 100,000 are annually sent to prisons, 150,000 to drunkards' graves, and 200,000 children are reduced to want. The total number of persons engaged in the business is 560,000 of which 56,663 are employed in making and selling annually 5,685,633 barrels of beer.

It is estimated that the clergy of the United States costs annually $12,000,000; the lawyers, criminals, prisons, etc., $90,000,000; and intoxicating liquors, as before said, $1,487,000,000.

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