Earlier text: NOAH'S TIME AND OURSTHE BIBLICAL INSTITUTE.
By Uriah Smith
HELD IN OAKLAND, CAL., APRIL 1–17, 1877.
THE seals are introduced to our notice in the 4th, 5th, and 6th chapters of Revelation. The scenes presented under these seals are brought to view in Rev. 6, and the first verse of Rev. 8. They evidently cover events with which the church is connected from the opening of this dispensation to the coming of Christ. While the seven churches present the internal history of the church, the seven seals bring to view the great events of its external history. The first seal, presenting a white horse as described in the second verse of chapter 6, with a rider who went forth with a bow and a crown conquering and to conquer, represents the gospel in its first introduction. The whiteness of the horse denoting the purity of the church; and the success of the rider, the marvelous conquests of the gospel. The second seal introduces a red horse; and under this seal peace is taken from the earth and events of strife and confusion are introduced, represented by a great sword in the hands of him who sat on this horse. This seal is supposed to cover the time from the days of the apostles, at about the close of the first century, to the days of Constantine the Great. In his day the church had so far apostatized that peace was taken from the earth and religious strife became so intense, that, as Mosheim says, there was continual war. The third seal brings to view a black horse and he that sat upon him had a pair of balances in his hand. Then a voice was heard saying, “A measure of wheat for a penny and three measures of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” The color of this horse, just the opposite of that of the first horse, denotes the terrible apostasy both in doctrine and practice which had taken place in the church. The reference to the balances, the wheat and the barley, sets forth the worldly spirit which had taken full possession of the professed church. The period covered by this seal was from the time of Constantine A. D. 325 to the setting up of the papacy A. D. 538. This was a period of superstition, of darkness and error, during which the principles of the great papal apostasy were rapidly developed. The fourth seal introduces a scene stranger still. It was a pale horse and the name of his rider was death, and hell (hades, the grave) followed with him. “And they had power to kill with sword and with hunger and with death and beasts of the earth.” The preceding seal having brought us to the commencement of the papal supremacy, this seal naturally covers that period of its history during which it had in its hands the power of persecution. This was restrained by the Great Reformation of the 16th century, as we shall see under the following seal. The fifth seal brings to view a scene which we will present in the language of the scripture itself: “I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.” This passage is supposed to furnish strong proof in behalf of the conscious existence of disembodied souls. But a little thought will show some insuperable objections to this view. These souls are under the altar; and the altar is the altar of sacrifice; for it is where they were slain; but there is no such altar in Heaven. They cried that their blood might be avenged; but the disembodied immortal soul has no blood. If they were in Heaven according to the popular view, they could look over into the vault of hell and behold their persecutors writhing in its inextinguishable flames; for such is their view of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Luke 16:19–31. How then could they cry for vengeance upon those who had slain them? Was it not enough to behold them in the flames of hell there to be punished through all eternity? In view of these difficulties both Adam Clarke and Dr. Barnes give up the idea that this is a literal representation. Clarke says: “The altar was upon the earth,” and Barnes says that we are not to suppose that such a scene literally occurred, but that justice cried to God for vengeance upon those who had slain the martyrs as really as if they cried themselves. But how could they cry, if they were not conscious? We answer, By a figure of speech, just as Abel’s blood cried, Gen. 4:10, and just as the stone cried out of the wall and the beam out of the timber answered it, Hab. 2:11. The persons here brought to view are those who had fallen under the papal persecutions of the preceding seal. The expression, The souls of them that were slain, being simply a strong expression to denote the persons, with all their capabilities of being, who had been sacrificed by papal fury. Just as Dr. Clarke says that the expressions, “spirits of just men made perfect,” Heb. 12:23, and “Father of spirits,” Heb. 12:9, and “God of the spirits of all flesh,” Num. 16:22; 27:16, “means men not in a disembodied state.” Note on 1 Pet. 3:19. And the fact that they had been slain cried like Abel’s blood to God for vengeance. The white robes that were given unto them were robes of character. They had gone down into the grave covered with obloquy and reproach. But the Reformation vindicated them in the eyes of all Christendom. It was seen that they were not the vile heretics that they had been represented to be, but the precious of the earth. They were to rest a little season. A few more were to be slain before the day for the final vindication of the people of God. This seal covers the period from the beginning of the Reformation in the early part of the sixteenth century to the opening of the sixth seal about one hundred and thirty years later. Under the sixth seal we have brought to view a great earthquake, the darkening of the sun, the turning of the moon to blood, the falling of the stars, the departing of the heavens as a scroll, and events immediately connected with the second coming of Christ. The earthquake was the great earthquake of Lisbon which occurred Nov. 1, 1755, which affected at least four million square miles of the earth’s surface. The sun was darkened May 19, 1780. The moon refused to give her light the following night; and when it did appear, it bore the appearance of blood as described in this prophecy. The stars of heaven fell Nov. 13, 1833. Other star showers or meteoric displays have been witnessed at different times, but this was the most remarkable and extensive. Mark speaks of the same signs and locates them at the same time. He says, “In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars of heaven shall fall.” “In those days,” before the 1260 years of papal triumph ended, but “after that tribulation,” after the persecuting power of the papacy was restrained, between that point and 1798 where the 1260 years ended, these scenes were to appear; and right here history locates the most remarkable of these phenomena that have ever been seen. It will be noticed that in the fulfillment of this prophecy we stand between the 13th and 14th verses of chapter 6. The next thing here before us is the departing of the heavens as a scroll and the scenes of the great day. The seventh seal is introduced in Rev. 8:1. The only event mentioned is silence in Heaven about the space of half an hour; and the only time brought to view in the Bible when this could be fulfilled, is that described in Matt. 25:31, when Christ appears and “all the holy angels” come with him. Then there can be silence in Heaven; and this event we understand to be the one to which the sixth seal is devoted. It will be noticed that the language of the first five seals is symbolical, that of the sixth and seventh literal. We can account for this change in the language only by supposing that the events of these seals being located at the time when the prophecy was to be understood and the doctrine of the second coming of Christ proclaimed is for this reason given in literal and not symbolic language. Taken as a whole we may say that these seals represent the great apostasy in the church. The first seal represents the apostolic church in its purity. The succeeding seals, the church in its apostasy. But the true church occasionally appears this side the first seal. It is the oil and the wine of the third seal, the martyrs of the fourth and fifth seals; and those who will be saved at the coming of Christ to which the last seal brings us. While the apostate church will be among those who will call for the rocks and mountains to fall on them and hide them from his presence in the day of His wrath.
U. S. The unqualified declaration of the beloved disciple is that God is love. The apostle in his epistle dwells much upon the subject of love. He was mild in spirit and kind in nature. He was a special companion of Christ, who was the embodiment of love. He leaned upon the bosom of Christ at the supper table. In his life and ministry he set forth the high and holy principle of love; and it is said of him when too aged to labor in the ministry, that he would be carried to the assemblies of the saints where his voice would be heard uttering those sweet words, "Little children; love one another." The third chapter of his first epistle opens with these words: "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God!" 1 John 3:1. Here he speaks of the love of his Father in the gift of his Son. In love God gave us existence. Life is a great gift. If it is not why do we cling so tenaciously to it with all its present woes? Ask the most wretched specimen of humanity what he would take for a year of his life, and he would respond, Let me live. Offer him mountains of gold for one year of his miserable life, and from him you would receive the same response, Let me live. Suppose the heavenly bodies all of purest gold, and that they were at your command. Offer all these, and you receive the same reply, Let me live. The love of the Father is seen in the gift of his Son, that we also may become the sons of God. When all was lost by reason of sin God in love gave his Son to die, the just for the unjust. God in love has given his holy word and his Holy Spirit as a guide from a life of sin to a life of happiness, and heaven as the priceless reward. In these inestimable gifts is seen the great love of God. But if the sinner will not accept the gift of eternal life, what will our loving God do for them? Will he send them to an old fashioned orthodox hell, to burn in fire whose heat shall be intensified with sulphur to all eternity? No, no, there is no love in this. What then will the God of love do with the sinner? Will he take him up to heaven with all the blackness of sin upon him? This would be the veriest hell for him. God in love will put an end to his miserable existence, and let him be as though he had not been. The apostle not only speaks of love in a general sense, but of the manner of love that moved the bosom of the loving Father to give his only Son for a race of rebels. The earth knows no such love, only as it is revealed from heaven through the Son. Here is seen the love of the Father and the Son. Here is disinterested benevolence. Not one selfish act marked the mission and ministry of Christ. This matchless manner of love may be illustrated by the case of a Russian nobleman. He with his family were traveling in his carriage drawn by four horses, one cold winter's evening. They were startled on hearing the wolves approaching. The nobleman buttoned his coat tighter and his timid wife nervously drew her shawl closer. As the wolves came near the carriage the serf inquires, "What shall I do?" "Tear the horse blankets in strips, and make a rope of them to drag behind the carriage to intimidate the cowardly creatures," was the reply. But this held them back but for a moment, when they surrounded the carriage and were ready to spring upon the horses. The driver seeing that the lives of not only the horses but of the entire party were in great danger, again inquires, "My lord, what shall I do next?" "Cut off one of the horses," was the reply. The traces were soon severed, and the poor creature stumbled into the ditch to be devoured. And as the poor creature was being devoured his groans were heard by the party, and the driver was ordered to make all possible haste to an inn which was at a short distance. But before they reached this place of safety the wolves came upon them again, and the serf inquired, "What shall I do next?" "Cut off the other leader," was the anxious reply. The wolves having gotten a taste of fresh blood were inspired with still greater fury, and again surrounded the carriage. The driver saw that there was but one thing more that could be done, and turning to his master, inquired, "Will you take care of my wife and children?" "Yes," was the nervous reply, and in an instant he flung himself into the jaws of the hungry wolves and was devoured of them. The Russian lord put whip to the remaining horses and reached the place of safety. What must have been the gratitude of that Russian lord and his family, and their love for the widow and her orphan children language cannot describe. Here was manifested a manner or kind of love seldom witnessed in this world. Paul, in speaking of the love manifested in the death of Christ has said, "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Rom. 5:7, 8. In the case of sinful men it is the superior giving his priceless life for the worthless sinner. Eternity will be none too long to sing of the matchless depths of the Saviour's love. "Behold, what manner of love," is the language of the apostle. He would call especial attention to this marvelous love. This is the burden of the gospel of Christ, and the work of every minister of Christ. Satan and the world are calling the attention of dying men to other objects. Some men love money. Others love popularity. Men love power. There is a power in money and in fame, and men left to themselves, without the gospel of Christ, will become buried up in their wealth and pride. They become deaf by these things, and need the gospel to call their attention to the wealth of heaven. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world is the key-note of the gospel. The object to which the attention of sinners is called is worthy of notice. It is no less than to become the sons of God. We do not have to wait for immortality in order to become the adopted sons of God. The adoption as a member of the heavenly family is here. Here we become heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Glorious relationship indeed! Here to us is given the Spirit of adoption by which we know that God is our Father, Christ our elder brother, the angels our ministering spirits, and heaven our long and happy home. The apostle continues, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." Verse 2. There is nothing in fallen man or in the earth that shows what will be the state and condition of immortal saints. This however will appear over on the immortal shores. Should Abraham in all his immortal future greatness appear on the earth he would be in the greatest possible contrast with the dying men of to-day. It doth not appear yet what we shall be. This is a matter of faith. But when faith shall be lost in sight, and hope be swallowed up in fruition, then that which is vailed to our senses now will appear in all its glory. When Christ shall appear in glory, those who sleep be raised, and the living righteous be changed, and immortal beings have bodies like Christ's glorious body, then will appear that which now is a matter of faith. Yes, Christ will appear. He who walked a man among men, was taken up from the midst of the brethren of Olivet, and ascended, a living, tangible Christ to his Father's throne, will appear again on earth, and all his people will be like their adorable Lord. They will see him as he is. What a thought! See the world's Redeemer. Shake hands with him. Receive and return the kiss of love. Walk the gold-paved streets of the city of God, arm in arm with the loving Lamb of God. But notice here that John speaks of the love of the Father. Some teach that the Father is a being of stern justice, and that love exists with the Son alone. The revivalist Hammond, in a sermon in Oakland, represented the relation of the Father and the Son to the sinner in these words "Mary had a little lamb which she dearly loved. This lamb grew to be a fat sheep desired by the butcher, and Mary's father sold the lamb to him. This grieved Mary, and she appealed to a benevolent neighbor who purchased the lamb and saved it from the knife of the cruel butcher." Mr. Hammond applied the figure as follows: The lamb is the sinner. The cruel butcher is the Father. And the benevolent gentleman who purchased the lamb, is Jesus Christ. As though the Father was trying to slay the sinner, and the Son was giving his life to save the sinner. This is a terrible perversion of the facts in the case. The love of the Father is the great scheme to save sinners. Again we repeat the golden phrase, "God is love." "I and my Father are one," says the Son of God. Behold, dear reader in the plan of salvation, the love of both the Father and the Son. "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." 1 John 3:3. Notice the expression, "this hope in him," and the result that follows. Such an one "purifieth himself, even as he is pure." The blessed hope is set forth by Paul as an incentive to purity. "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Titus 2:13, 14. Peter speaks also to the point. "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God." 2 Peter 3:11, 12. A Baptist minister once gravely chided us for dwelling so much on the second advent. "Why don't you preach practical sermons, such as Christ's on the mount. We affirmed that the second advent, set forth in almost every page of the Bible, especially of the New Testament is practical, or at least, is set forth as an incentive to holiness of life. The Order of Events in the Judgment.
By John Nevins Andrews
Eccl. 3:17. "I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work." The judgment of the great day is an event certain to transpire. "He hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained." Acts 17:31. What God hath appointed is sure to arrive in due time. The resurrection of Christ is an assurance to all men of the final judgment. It is not the fact of the judgment, however, but the order of its work that, at this time, engages our attention. The work to be accomplished is of immense magnitude. The judgment relates, 1. To all the righteous. 2. To all the wicked. 3. To all the evil angels. The number of cases, therefore, to be acted upon at this grand tribunal exceeds our powers of conception. We must not, however suppose that there will be any difficulty on the part of the Judge in acting upon every case individually. Far from this, "There is a time there for every purpose and for every work." The judgment, indeed, pertains to an immense number of beings; yet every one of them shall give account of himself to God. Rom. 14:12. It will not relate to so vast a number as to make it otherwise than a strictly personal matter. Nor will there be aught of confusion or disorder in that final reckoning. God has plenty of time for the work, and he has order in this work, the Scriptures clearly teach. 1. The righteous are to judge the wicked; yet the righteous are themselves to pass the test of the judgment. Whence it follows that the judgment must pass upon the righteous before they can sit in judgment on the wicked. This is a very important proposition. That it is truthful, we know from the express testimony of the Scriptures. 1 Cor. 6:2, 3: "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?" Rev. 20:4: "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them; and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." Dan. 7:21, 22: "I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." Here is the exalted work of the saints in the judgment. They are to take part in the examination of the cases of all wicked men and fallen angels. But this is not to be till they have been changed to immortality, and exalted to thrones of glory. They do not, therefore, have their cases decided at the same time with the wicked. We believe the reader will acknowledge the justice of this reasoning. Let us state another proposition:- 2. The trump of God sounds as the Saviour descends from heaven. When that trump is heard, all the righteous are, in the twinkling of an eye, changed to immortality. There can be no examination after this to determine whether they shall be counted worthy of eternal life, for they have already laid hold upon it. From this it follows that the examination and decision of the cases of the righteous takes place before the advent of Christ. The resurrection of the righteous to immortality is decisive proof that they have already passed the test of the judgment, and have been accepted of the Judge. That they are thus raised to immortality, the following texts plainly teach:- 1 Cor. 15:42: "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption." Verse 43: "It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power." Verse 44: "It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." Verses 51, 52: "Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." These passages are perfectly convincing. The resurrection of the saints is to immortal life, and they are made immortal in the very act of the resurrection. The decision of their cases is, therefore, passed before their resurrection, for the nature of their resurrection is declarative of their eternal salvation. But the fact, that the decision of the judgment in the case of the righteous, precedes the advent, is proved by another proposition, as follows:- 3. The righteous are raised before the wicked have their resurrection. This shows that the examination of their cases takes place before they are raised, for the final discrimination is made in the very act of raising the just and leaving the unjust to the resurrection of damnation. Rev. 20:5, 6: "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years." Luke 20:35, 36: "But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage; neither can they die any more; for they are equal to the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection." Phil. 3:11: "If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." (Literally "the resurrection out from the dead ones.") 1 Cor. 15:22, 23: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order; Christ the first fruits; afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming." There is a resurrection which bears the inspired designation of the "first resurrection." All who have part in this resurrection are pronounced "blessed and holy." On them "the second death hath no power." This resurrection is out from among the dead. Paul earnestly labored to attain unto it. It is to be at the coming of Christ. Only those who are Christ's shall have part in it. All that have part in it are the children of God, because they are the children of the resurrection to life. These facts clearly prove that the examination of the cases of the righteous precedes their resurrection at the advent of Christ; that event being really declarative of their innocence in the sight of God, and of their eternal salvation. Such as are accepted of God are resurrected; the others sleep till the resurrection to damnation. These facts are decisive proof that the righteous are judged before they are resurrected. But we have a still more explicit statement yet to notice. Says our Lord: "But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead," etc. Then it is certain that the act of accounting worthy to obtain the resurrection from among the dead, and a part in the world to come, does5 precede the resurrection of the righteous. But this act of accounting men worthy of a part in the kingdom of God is the very act of acquitting them in the judgment. The investigative judgment in the cases of the righteous is, therefore, past when they are resurrected. As the resurrection of the just is at the advent of Christ, it follows that they pass their examination, and are counted worthy of a place in the kingdom of God before the Saviour returns to the earth to gather them to himself. J. N. A. Sabbath Investigation.
By R. F. Cottrell
THE Evangelical Messenger, published at Cleveland, Ohio, in October last, published an article entitled, “The Law of the Christian Sabbath.” It is too lengthy to be republished entire; but I give the first division of it as a perfect refutation of all that follows in favor of the change to the first day of the week, by making the Sabbath over into a largely Jewish institution, and then abolishing the Jewish part, and quoting the usual texts which are claimed to prove that the apostles kept the first day instead of the seventh. My reply sent to the Messenger, as here given, will give the reader a general idea of what was contained in the subsequent divisions of the article. “THE LAW OF THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. “Opinions in regard to the nature and obligation of the Christian Sabbath have become, at the present day, so various and discordant, that a careful review of the subject seems to be a public need. Very many of these opinions have been adopted without much reflection, and are clearly erroneous; and their influence upon the public conscience is bearing most pernicious fruit. The first day of the week is treated by many professed disciples as a day for indolent enjoyment, or for a few and occasional acts of ceremonial worship, rather than as a day for religious culture. Without further preface the attention of the reader is invited to the following considerations:— “I. A Sabbath was instituted by God in Paradise—was made for man—for the race—and as a law it became binding upon all men. “1. ‘And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it; because in it he had rested from all his works which God created and made.’ Gen. 2:23. The import of this language is not obscure. Day, considered as a fraction of time could not enjoy either a blessing or even a sanctification. It was to be a blessing to man and a means for his sanctification. It was specially set apart for his benefit as a moral and accountable being; and the requirement was that he should ‘keep it holy.’ “2. Prior to the giving of the law of the ten commandments on Mount Sinai, it was written, ‘This is that which the Lord hath said. Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord.’ Ex. 16:23. This language clearly recognizes an existing institution prior to the promulgation of the decalogue, and the decalogue recognizes the same fact. Its language is: ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.’ Ex. 20:8. A man cannot remember that of which he has no previous knowledge. The people of Israel must have had knowledge of an existing institution, else they would not have been called upon to remember it. “3. The Sabbath was evidently made a memorial day, which has caused a weekly division of time through all nations from the very beginning of the world. We have both in the Bible and in the traditions of the ancient heathen world, very distinct traces of such a division, as well as of the peculiar eminence attributed to the seventh day. In Genesis 4:3, 4, we read that Cain and Abel ‘in the process of time,’ or, literally, ‘at the end or cutting off of days,’ offered sacrifices to God. It is not therefore a violent presumption that it was upon a Sabbath or seventh day. It was an act of religious worship. So we read that Noah entered into the ark seven days before the commencement of the deluge. Gen. 7:4, 10. Seven days also intervened between the two occasions when the dove was sent forth from the ark. Gen. 8:10, 12. Homer calls the seventh day “The day in which all things were framed.” Another of the ancient heathen called it ‘The birth-day of all things.’ Several of them speak of the seventh day as ‘holy.’ The Sabbath was therefore a well-known and positive institution from the very beginning; and it was made—not for the Jews only—but ‘for man.’—Theta.” To the Editor of the Evangelical Messenger:— In your paper of October 1, 1877, I find an article by “Theta” under the heading “The Law of the Christian Sabbath,” concerning which I ask the privilege of making a few remarks and inquiries. To all that is said under the first general division of the subject, of the institution and universal obligation of the Sabbath “upon all men,” I have not a word to object, but can heartily endorse it all. I think indeed there can be no reasonable objection raised against it. But how the Sabbath became “in many respects, a Jewish institution,” merely because God reaffirmed it to Israel at Sinai, and they were the only people who continued its faithful observance, I cannot see so clearly. I cannot see how the fourth commandment of the ten should become Jewish from this fact any more than those against murder, theft, false witness, or any other one of the whole decalogue. The “special prohibitions and penalties” of their municipal code could be enacted and abolished without affecting in the least degree any one commandment of the universal moral code, as expressed in the ten commandments, and distinguished from all other laws by being given by God's own voice and written in his own handwriting in tables of stone. But, waiving this objection, I can agree most heartily with the third proposition, that, “So much of the Sabbath as was peculiar to the Jews has been abolished; but the original law given to Adam is still in full force.” The Sabbath therefore neither gained nor lost anything by being for awhile a “Jewish institution.” I fail to find a word concerning the weekly Sabbath in Rom. 14, but I agree with the writer that the expressions of this chapter “clearly refer to the ceremonial law,” and consequently they have no bearing upon any commandment of the moral, or “original law.” Neither were the sabbaths (plural) belonging to the “hand-writing of ordinances,” of Col. 2:14-17, which were blotted out, being only a shadow of things to come, ever any part of the original law. These were festivals and sabbaths “beside the Sabbaths of the Lord,” mentioned in Lev. 23. “The types of the Jewish ceremonial law were clearly fulfilled in Christ.” How does the writer learn from John 20:26, Acts 20:7, 1 Cor. 16:2, and Rev. 1:10, that “the apostles and early Christians were in the habit of observing the first day of the week?” I cannot find it in these texts. The first does not mention the first day, and it cannot be proved that it was the first day when Jesus made this visit to the common abode of the twelve and found Thomas at home; the second speaks of the only recorded meeting for religious worship upon the first day of the week, an all-night meeting at Troas; the third makes no allusion to Christian assemblies, but gives direction what each one was to do by himself, at home; and the fourth cannot be shown to refer to the first day of the week at all. The beloved disciple was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. To assume that this was the first day of the week, is to assume the very thing to be proved. Where is the first day of the week called the Lord's day? Not in the Bible; but “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord.” He calls it “my holy day;” Isa. 58:13; and the Lord Jesus “is Lord also of the Sabbath.” The meeting at Troas was a night meeting. It took place either on what we now call Saturday night or Sunday night. The Bible uniformly begins the day at the going down of the sun; therefore for a night meeting to be held on the first day of the week, it must be held on the evening before the first day. If this meeting was held on what is now called Sunday evening, the whole transaction took place on the second, and not on the first day of the week; but if it truly was held on the eve of the first day, the fact that Paul started on a long journey at break of day proves that he did not regard it as the Sabbath. Rom. 14 says nothing about the Sabbath, neither does it mention the seventh or the first day of the week. Yet “Theta” says: “In our judgment the apostle is here speaking of the controversy about which of the two days was to be observed.” Where is the history of this controversy in the apostolic church? Is it in this chapter? Read and see. My friend must have a very fertile imagination to paraphrase the text thus: “One man esteemeth one of these two days above the other; another esteemeth them alike sacred. He that regardeth, or observeth the seventh, regardeth it to the Lord, and he that observeth it not, does it conscientiously, worshiping God on the first.” Now if this was really what the apostle meant, could he not have come a little nearer to saying so? But I am happy to agree with the writer in such utterances as the following: “The original Sabbath given to Adam was as a memorial of the past, while [all] that which was instituted in the ritual law for the Jewish nation alone, was typical of something in the future.” “No one of these passages countenances the idea that the Sabbath which was made for man, and instituted in Paradise nearly three thousand years before the promulgation of the Jewish law, was intended only as a part of the Jewish economy. Nor does either of them furnish the slightest evidence that the original appointment has been recalled. It was therefore designed to be perpetual.” R. F. COTTRELL. Ridgeway, N. Y.