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Signs of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 4.

The Cripple Healed
Earlier text: The Cripple Healed

Singular Facts about the Sabbath.

By D. A. Robinson

As THE claims of the Sabbath are presented, this question is frequently raised: "If the seventh-day Sabbath, which the Jews kept, is of so much consequence in the gospel age, why is the New Testament so nearly silent upon the question, while the Old Testament abounds with numerous references to that institution? The apparent sincerity with which the question is raised, together with the fact that it is often indulged in by the ministry, carries with it to the minds of many, all the weight of a scriptural argument. No matter if the Sabbath was made at creation, before the fall, before the ceremonial system was introduced, thousands of years before a Jew existed, yet they say that it is purely Jewish, and that when the typical system ended, the seventh-day Sabbath also ceased. If not, why this profound silence of the New Testament upon the subject? Let us carefully examine this pretended argument.
1. The New Testament emphatically enjoins the observance of the law of ten commandments as a whole, a part of which is the Sabbath commandment, which points out the day that man should observe. Paul in speaking of this law declares it is holy, just, and good (Rom. 7:12); that it is spiritual (verse 14); that it is the instrument which proves the guilt of the whole world (Rom. 3:19); and finally, that by it all will be judged. Rom. 2:12, 16. James calls it the law of liberty (Jas. 2:12); he further adds that he who offends in one point is guilty of all. Verse 10. Our divine Lord, he to whom the Sabbath belongs (Mark 2:28), declared that not a jot nor tittle of that law should pass away while heaven and earth remain. Matt. 5:17, 18.
2. The Saviour came to earth not as a lawgiver, but as a teacher. He was to magnify his Father's law and make it honorable. Isa. 42:21. Neither were the disciples or apostles legislators for the Christian Church, as some would have us believe. One of them who had walked and talked with our Saviour declared: "There is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy" (Jas. 4:12); and the prophet Isaiah tells us who this one lawgiver is: "For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver" [margin, statute-maker]. Isa. 33:22.
3. From the foregoing, the logical conclusion follows that if the New Testament did not mention the seventh-day Sabbath once, this would not prove that it is not now binding. Such proof must rest upon the record of its abrogation; but in the absence of any such record, we are compelled to believe that the original Sabbath is still obligatory upon the race for whom it was made. Mark 2:27. Hence, if we should concede that the Old Testament abounds in references to the Sabbath, while, as it is claimed, the New rarely speaks of it, this would in no wise militate against the seventh-day Sabbath; but we will not admit even this.
Taking into account the comparative size of the two Testaments, the following facts warrant the assertion that the New Testament speaks of the seventh-day Sabbath more than twice as often as does the Old. A little mathematical calculation will show the truthfulness of this. The weekly Sabbath is mentioned in the Old Testament seventy-five times. The Old Testament refers to the weekly Sabbath on an average of once in every ten pages. The New Testament mentions the weekly Sabbath fifty-nine times. The weekly Sabbath occurs in the New Testament on an average of once in every four pages, or two and a half times more frequently than it is found in the Old Testament. The apostle Luke alone, in his two little volumes of sixty-one pages, covering a period of only about sixty years, speaks of the weekly Sabbath twenty-seven times; while Moses, in his five books of 190 pages, which cover a period of over two thousand years, speaks of it only twenty-eight times.
The Old Testament covers a period of more than three thousand years, while the New covers less than one hundred years. A plain command of God once stated, demands obedience as verily as though it were rehearsed on every page of the book of God.
Why the profound—not silence but—ignorance on the part of those who talk about the New Testament being "profoundly silent" on the Sabbath question, when it refers to the day of God's rest two and one-half times oftener than the Old Testament does, and seven times oftener than its own pages refer to the first day of the week? The Saviour kept the Sabbath. He styled himself its Lord (Mark 2:28), and he recognized its obligation as late as the destruction of Jerusalem. Matt. 24:20. The followers of Christ observed the Sabbath this side of the cross. Luke 23:54-56. The typical or shadowy sabbaths were abolished at the cross, but the weekly Sabbath was observed this side of that point, consequently it survived the passing away of the typical system.
Profound silence? No! profound ignorance! profound blindness! is manifested by those who talk of the silence of the New Testament upon the Sabbath question. D. A. ROBINSON.

Pride Is Not Manhood

By H. M. Scudder

It is no sign of manhood to swell with pride. Satan can beat you at that business. When you swell with pride, you are most like the devil.—H. M. Scudder.

Feeling and Justice

He who acts from feeling, rarely acts justly.

Saul of Tarsus.

By Eugene Lawrence

ONE great name, eminent only in its lowliness, from this time (the death of Stephen) overshadows and controls the church of Jerusalem. Fierce, cruel, unsparing in his unsanctified state, Saul of Tarsus had disputed with vehemence against the eloquent Stephen, had consented to his death. Among the eager populace who watched the fate of the holy martyr, none was more malevolent than the Jew of Tarsus. He saw without a tear the woes he had occasioned; he heard without a sigh the tender words of forgiveness; an impenetrable veil hid from the world and from himself those nobler qualities that were yet to shine forth with surpassing luster upon mankind. From the murder of Stephen, Saul proceeded to new excesses. He became the leader of that fierce persecution that broke out in Jerusalem. He forced his way into the Christian homes of the Bezetha, or Mount Zion; amidst the wail of women, the cry of little children, he dragged fathers and mothers to their doom; he filled the prisons with his victims. When sated with persecution at home, he hurried to Damascus armed with letters from the high priest and the Sanhedrim, to strike down the infant church that had sprung up amidst the groves and gardens and the glittering waters of the fairest city of the East. The incarnation of the rigid law, of a Pharisaical formalism, of a cruelty not surpassed by an Alva or a Bonner, Saul traveled swiftly and sternly over the ancient road from Jerusalem to Damascus, dead to the fair face of gentle nature around him, to the beautiful and true in life, to the loveliness of virtue and of faith. A pride like that of Hildebrand, a cruelty like that of Innocent, a madness such as ever clouds the intellect of ambitious priests and overbearing churchmen, impelled him as he rushed like a maniac to the slaughter of the just. Suddenly a light came down from heaven; a gentle voice, the harmony of infinite compassion, pierced his soul; he groveled in the dust; he knew that of all sinners he was the chief.
Blind, he staggered on to Damascus. He was led by his companions, more helpless than a child. He saw no more the ever-blooming groves, the countless gardens, the radiant flowers that strewed the banks of the golden river, the rich bazaars, the crowded streets, the stately pomp of the paradise of cities. For three days he remained sightless. A miracle restored him; a presbyter of the Damascus church received the penitent to its society; and he was forgiven by those whom he had sought to destroy. But not by himself. Paul fled from the luxurious landscape of Damascus to the wild and inhospitable desert. He hid in the sands of Arabia for three years. Amidst the herbless solitude, overhung by rocks and mountains ever seared with torrid heat, the burning wind parching his fevered brow, his food the scanty gleanings of the desert, his dress that of the impoverished Bedouin, his only companions the wild beast and the serpent, the apostle perhaps lived in his remorse. Ever before him, in his wild retreat, must have hovered the memory of his guilt; of the gentle Stephen, whose dying love had failed to touch his own cruel heart; of the weeping families he had tortured at Jerusalem; of the fierce hatred he had borne for the church of Christ; of the persecution he had instigated against his Lord. A man of deep conscientiousness, of the purest impulses, now that the veil of a cruel formalism had been torn away from his mind, we can well imagine with what abject penitence the once haughty persecutor prayed and fasted in the homeless desert. Yet, happier in his desolation than in his pride, he toiled for forgiveness, purity, faith. In the Arabian solitude, in the bitter struggle with remorseful woe, Paul was prepared for that fierce combat he was destined to wage with every dominant formalism, with the high priest at Jerusalem or the imperial pontifex of Rome.
Paul was born probably in the second or third year after the Saviour's birth. He may have been thirty-five years old at the time of his flight to Arabia. His youth was passed in his native city, Tarsus in Cilicia, one of those brilliant centers of artistic taste and literary excellence that covered the prosperous East, and the young Jew was, no doubt, highly cultivated in its libraries and its lecture-rooms; his avid mind gathered knowledge eagerly from every source. He was small and plain in appearance; his health always infirm; his voice sharp and tuneless; his intellect ever active. From Tarsus he had come up to Jerusalem to study the sacred law under Gamaliel, the most eminent of its professors, and at his house probably became acquainted with many young men of the priestly families who afterward sat with him on the benches of the Sanhedrim, or joined in his condemnation. Every young Jew was taught a trade, and was expected to provide for his own support; Paul, during his studies, labored as a tent-maker, or perhaps a sail-maker, and from the coarse hair of the Cilician goat wove cloths for mariners and travelers. He was always industrious, and, having in his youth been preserved by labor from immoral tastes, enforced the duty of self-support upon his converts. He was a rigid formalist; the high priest was to him almost a mortal god; the services of the temple, the only source of salvation; the smoking offering, the daily prayers, the fasts and feasts of the Jewish law, the direct appointment of the Almighty. With horror, therefore, the rigid Pharisee beheld the daring innovations of the Christians; with inexpressible rage he listened to the arguments of Stephen. By nature he was fierce and ardent; he was a descendant of that savage Semitic race who had so often stoned the prophets whose relatives—the Phœnician and the Carthaginian—forced mothers to throw their smiling babes into the blazing caldrons of Moloch, and who delighted in human sacrifices. Paul's fierce fanaticism found a real joy in persecution.
But in a moment the savage was converted into the tender, gentle saint. From the wild sands of Arabia, after his long and painful probation, Paul returned to Damascus a preacher of the gospel. He spoke with a natural fervor that won many hearts. Often scourged by Roman and Jew, in prison, or at the verge of death, he welcomed persecution with joy, and was ever eager to wear the crown of martyrdom. He escaped from Damascus, and about the year 43 prepared to return to Jerusalem to seek the friendship and support of the Christian church. Once more he approached the holy city, and saw before him the magnificent temple, the center of his early adoration, glittering in the sunlight on Mount Moriah; the hill of Zion covered with its palaces; the busy suburbs filled with the assemblies of the faithful. But for him all was changed. Shame and contrition probably weighed him down as he entered the scene of his former cruelties; and he scarcely complained when the Christian church at first shrunk from him in doubt and terror. How could they see in this man of cruelty and blood the great teacher of gentleness and mercy, whose inspired thoughts should pierce the hearts of the Gentiles, whose ceaseless toil was to found a church that should live forever? At last, in his humility and his contrition, Paul was made known to James and Peter, and lived in the house of the latter for fifteen days. Again he began to dispute in public, but a higher faith was now his only theme. All the vigor of his intellect, all the resources of his learning, were lavished in his controversies with the Jews of his native Cilicia or of the Grecian lands. He was a new Stephen, teaching the religion of the heart. Driven from Jerusalem by the rage of his enemies, he began that wonderful series of missionary labors that fulfilled in the highest degree the commands of the Master; that carried the name of Christ to the chief capitals of heathendom, and whose example has ever inspired the humble emulation of his modern imitators, who have penetrated with their glad tidings the savage shores of Greenland, the jungles of India, the islands of the Pacific. He was the leader of the great mental revolution whose center was the holy city. For twenty-five years the apostle wandered from land to land, maintained chiefly by his own labors, and inculcating by his example the dignity of honest toil. His intellect, ever active and vivid, was only strengthened by time; his feeble frame, often borne down by disease, was sustained by a miraculous vigor; his joyous spirit, glad in its release from bondage, carried hope to the infant churches; his inspired eloquence pierced with deadly wounds the sensual formalism of the age.—Eugene Lawrence, in Historical Studies.

The Fire of God's Wrath.

By D. L. Moody

Out in our western country in the autumn, when there has not been any rain for months, sometimes the prairie grass catches fire; there comes up a very strong wind, and the flames roll along twenty feet high, and go at a rate of thirty or forty miles an hour, consuming man and beast. When the frontiersmen see it coming, what do they do? They know they cannot run as fast as the fire can run. Not the fleetest horse can escape from that fire. They just take a match and light the grass around them and let the flames sweep, and then they get into the burnt district and stand safe. They hear the flames roar as they come along; they see death coming towards them; but they do not fear, they do not tremble, because the fire has passed over the place where they are, and there is no danger. There is nothing for the fire to burn. So there is one mountain peak that the wrath of God has swept over, that is Mount Calvary, and that fire spent its fury upon the bosom of the Son of God. Take your stand there, by the cross, and you will be safe for time and eternity. Escape for your life, young man, young woman; flee to yon mountain, and you are safe. May God bring you to Calvary, under the shadow of the cross! Then let death and the grave come! You will shout, "Glory to God in the highest!" For there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.—D. L. Moody.

God’s Special Providence

Do you indeed fully appreciate to what minute details the special providence of God descends? "The steps of the good man are ordered of the Lord." The very hairs of his head are all numbered. The Lord preserved David whithersoever he went. "God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work." "All things work together for good to them that love God." So that always, everywhere, in all things, the eye of the Lord is upon you. His ear is open to your cry. He is ready to put around you the everlasting arms; to shelter you under the shadow of his wing; to guard you as the apple of his eye; to preserve you whithersoever you go; to preserve you blameless—body, soul, and spirit—until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before his presence with exceeding joy. What greater assurance can you ask?—Sel.

The Perversion of Good Things

The worst things are the perversions of good things. Abused intellectual gifts make the dangerous villain; abused sensibilities make the accomplished tempter; abused affections engender the keenest misery.

The Sabbath-School.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

LESSON FOR THE PACIFIC COAST—FEB. 21.

Punishment of the Wicked—Continued.

  1. Give a scriptural explanation of Rev. 14:9-11; 20:10.
  2. When the wicked have been simply tormented with fire and brimstone, have they received their reward? Rom. 6:23.
  3. Then what must that fire do in order that the wicked may receive their deserts? Mal. 4:1.
  4. What is appointed unto all men? Heb. 9:27.
  5. Can this death, to which all men are appointed, be the death which is the wages of sin?
  6. What is promised to all men, regardless of their character? 1 Cor. 15:22; Acts 24:15.
  7. Are the wicked now suffering their punishment? 2 Peter 2:9.
  8. When will every man be rewarded according to his works? Matt. 16:27.
  9. Then for what purpose will they come forth from their graves? Job 21:29, 30.
  10. Give further proof that the death which is common to all men is not the wages of sin. Eze. 18:26.
  11. What is it that causes the death which is the wages of sin? Rev. 20:9.
  12. What is this death by fire called? Rev. 21:8.
  13. How long is it after the resurrection of the righteous before the wicked are "brought forth" to destruction? Rev. 20:4, 5.
  14. Who will escape the second death? Rev. 2:11; 20:6.
"AND the third angel followed them saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb, and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." Rev. 14:9-11.
It is not the province of this lesson to explain the meaning of the beast, his image, or his mark. It is sufficient to say that to worship the first two, or receive the last, must be the most heinous crime that man can commit, since it brings down upon the offender the unmingled wine of the wrath of God. The point to be explained is the expression, "and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever." As this has been explained in past lessons, a brief mention here will be sufficient. If the student will read Ex. 21:2-6, he will find that the term "forever" does not necessarily denote that the thing to which it is applied shall never cease to exist; for under certain conditions a servant was to serve his master forever, which could not possibly mean "without end." Now if that term does not necessarily mean "without end," Rev. 14:9-11 affords no proof that the wicked will be tormented to all eternity. That doctrine, if true, must be proved by other texts. But we have already learned that the wicked are to be stubble in a fire that shall "burn them up," and will leave them "neither root nor branch." Then, as in Ex. 21:2-6 we understand that "forever" means as long as the servant might live, so we must understand that Rev. 14:9-11 teaches that the smoke from the torment of the wicked will ascend without any cessation, until there are no wicked left in existence.
THIS explanation will also suffice for Rev. 20:10: "And the devil that deceived them [the wicked] was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are [were cast], and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever." The preceding verse shows that the fire has already "devoured" the wicked; this shows that the devil, the author of sin, survives to see the destruction of all his works. That he himself will, after long torment, cease to exist, we are well assured, because Christ did not die in vain, and he died that he might "destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." Heb. 2:14. Satan is the "root" from which all wickedness springs; the day that cometh shall leave neither root nor branch.
IT is true that "indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish" are threatened to "every soul of man that doeth evil" (Rom. 2:8, 9), yet we are by no means to suppose that those things comprise the sum of the punishment which the wicked are to receive. "The wages of sin is death," and until death takes place, the sinners will not have received their punishment. They are to be "punished with everlasting destruction," and this will not be until their torment has been ended by eternal death.
CERTAINLY no one can gather from the Scriptures that the death with which we are so familiar is the wages of sin. "It is appointed unto men once to die;" all men, both good and bad, die because they have inherited a mortal nature, and not because they have sinned. To all men, whether good or bad, there is promised a resurrection (Acts 24:15; 1 Cor. 15:22) from the death which they die as a consequence of being the descendants of mortal Adam; now if this death were the penalty for sin, then the resurrection would be the revoking of the penalty; but this can never be, because, when once inflicted, it is to be everlasting. That none of the wicked are now receiving the penalty for their sins is evident from 2 Pet. 2:9: "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished." Those who are dead are reserved in their graves, from which, at the voice of Christ, they shall come forth. John 5:28, 29. Job also says that "the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction," and that "they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath." Job 21:30.
IN Eze. 18:26 we have most conclusive evidence that the death which Adam died, and which all his posterity have likewise suffered, was not as a penalty for sin. It reads thus: "When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them, for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die." The prophet here mentions two deaths. If a man dies in his sins, i. e., if he does not repent before death overtakes him, then he shall die. But if he is dead, how can he die? Evidently he must have a resurrection, and this, as we have seen, is promised to all men, irrespective of character. Those that have done evil come forth from their graves to the resurrection of damnation. John 5:28, 29. And in harmony with this idea are the words of Rev. 21:8: "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death."
REV. 20:4-6 shows when the wicked are "brought forth" to suffer the second death. The apostle in verse 4 mentions the righteous who had been martyred, who, he says, lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. They had been dead, but now lived. This, he says, is the "first resurrection." It is the first because "the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." The word again implies another living, or a resurrection. So a thousand years intervene between the resurrection of the righteous and that of the wicked. "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power." This statement has no force unless those who do not have part in the first resurrection do suffer the second death. This is the death which is the wages of sin, and it is brought about by fire. It is yet future, and will not take place until the harvest—"the end of the world"—when the tares will be gathered out and bound in bundles to be burned. Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43.

NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.

FEBRUARY 8—ACTS 21:27-40.

Paul's Concession and Arrest.

NOW WAS the golden opportunity for these leading men to frankly confess that God had wrought through Paul, and that they were wrong in permitting the reports of his enemies to create jealousy and prejudice against him. But instead of doing justice to the one whom they had injured, they still appeared to hold him responsible for the existing prejudice, as though he had given them cause for such feelings. They did not nobly stand in his defense, and endeavor to show the disaffected party their error; but they threw the burden wholly upon Paul, counseling him to pursue a course for the removal of all misapprehension. They responded to his testimony in these words: 'Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe, and they are all zealous of the law. And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together; for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads; and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.'
The brethren hoped that by this act Paul might give a decisive contradiction to the false reports concerning him. But while James assured Paul that the decision of the former council (Acts 15), concerning the Gentile converts and the ceremonial law, still held good, the advice given was not consistent with that decision which had also been sanctioned by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God did not prompt this advice. It was the fruit of cowardice. By non-conformity to the ceremonial law, Christians would bring upon themselves the hatred of the unbelieving Jews, and expose themselves to severe persecution. The Sanhedrim was doing its utmost to hinder the progress of the gospel. Men were chosen by this body to follow up the apostles, especially Paul, and in every possible way oppose them in their work. Should the believers in Christ be condemned before the Sanhedrim as breakers of the law, they would bring upon themselves swift and severe punishment as apostates from the Jewish faith.
Paul's great object in visiting Jerusalem was to conciliate the church of Palestine. So long as they continued to cherish prejudice against him, they were constantly working to counteract his influence. He felt that if he could by any lawful concession on his part win them to the truth, he would remove a very great obstacle to the success of the gospel in other places. But he was not authorized of God to concede so much as they had asked. This concession was not in harmony with his teachings, nor with the firm integrity of his character. His advisers were not infallible. Though some of these men wrote under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, yet when not under its direct influence they sometimes erred. It will be remembered that on one occasion Paul withstood Peter to the face because he was acting a double part.
When we consider Paul's great desire to be in harmony with his brethren, his tenderness of spirit toward the weak in faith, his reverence for the apostles who had been with Christ, and for James, the brother of the Lord, and his purpose to become all things to all men as far as he could do this and not sacrifice principle,—when we consider all this, it is less surprising that he was constrained to deviate from his firm, decided course of action. But instead of accomplishing the desired object, these efforts for conciliation only precipitated the crisis, hastened the predicted sufferings of Paul, separated him from his brethren in his labors, deprived the church of one of its strongest pillars, and brought sorrow to Christian hearts in every land.—Mrs. E. G. White, in Sketches from the Life of Paul.
PAUL, too conspicuous to be neglected, in vain endeavored, by the advice of James, to disarm the rage of his countrymen by conforming to the full requirements of the law. It was too late. His name was abhorred by every fanatic, by almost every Jew. In the Pentecostal festival, when the temple was filled with strangers from Ephesus and Asia, he ventured within the sacred courts. He was set upon by a ferocious mob. Feeble with age and suffering, he was beaten and tossed about, and the people dragged him beyond the temple walls to put him to death.
North of the temple, and joined to it by a bridge or stairs, stood the castle of Antonia, now filled with a Roman garrison. From its turrets the sentinels kept watch over the excited worshippers below them in the sacred courts, and carefully observed their conduct. The Romans saw Paul struggling in the throng, and a band of soldiers sprung down the stairway into the temple court to save him from their rage. They dragged him up the stairs; he was safe. Yet, in the fierce excitement of this perilous moment, the apostle still hoped to soften and preserve his countrymen.
He said to the Roman commander, 'May I speak?' He obtained permission, and then turned to the Jews below. He waved his hand, and suddenly the angry people grew still. The spectacle of that last appeal to Jerusalem still stirs the fancy more than the highest efforts of Cicero or Gracchus. Paul stood on an elevation looking down into the temple court. Above him glittered the holy house so soon to pass away. Before him shone the hill of Zion; below, the proud and prosperous city; silent at his feet hung the multitude from whose rage he had just escaped, bruised, beaten, and forlorn, whose coming doom he foresaw, whom he strove in vain to save.—Eugene Lawrence, in Historical Studies.

Temperance.

By John O. Corliss

Spurgeon on Smoking.

MR. SPURGEON is a smoker. More than that, he says he is not ashamed of the practice, and therefore intends to keep it up. We have known other men of influence to follow pernicious practices, the influence of which was degrading, but their persistence was evidently begotten of sheer selfishness, as in the present case. Everybody understands that a minister ought to be an ensample to his flock. This being true, that which is not wrong for Mr. Spurgeon is not wrong for those of his congregation, or any others,—men, women, or children. Whatever is not morally wrong, is right; but who ever thinks of praising a child for his righteousness (right doing) because of his learning to smoke? On the other hand, what more pitiable sight is presented than boys of seven or eight years of age moving along the street under a cloud of cigarette smoke. Compare the appearance and conduct of this class of boys with those who are not addicted to the vile habit, and every candid person must freely admit a preference in favor of the latter.
But Mr. Spurgeon has demonstrated (to his own satisfaction at least) that he is justified in his indulgence of the narcotic. "Show me," said he, in a recent Tabernacle discourse, "in the Bible the command, 'Thou shalt not smoke,' and I am ready to keep it. I find ten commandments, and it's as much as I can do to keep them." Probably. But what profound logic! With all the boasted spirituality of the Christian dispensation, Mr. Spurgeon sees nothing beyond the express letter of the law. How convenient to do so when we wish to uphold some pernicious habit not particularly specified in that code of morals.
By the same method of reasoning one may justify himself in almost any evil practice. "Show me," the gambler may say, "the command, 'Thou shalt not play at cards,' or the prohibition, 'Thou shalt not bet on a horse-race,' and I will desist from these practices." "Point out to me," says the professional "rough," "the text of Scripture that distinctly says I may not attend dog-fights and boxing-matches, and I will attend them no more. But until you do this, I protest against such pastimes being denounced by you as unchristian. I am not ashamed of what I do in such matters, therefore I mean to do so still more."
Would Mr. Spurgeon accept such trifling talk as sufficient to justify a member of his congregation in indulging in degrading sports? No, indeed. Like every other well informed minister, he would soon point out from the Bible a principle that underlies all morality—even the moral law itself—and which would quickly condemn all the practices referred to, with others of the same class. And yet he himself will not cease smoking, no matter what its influence may be upon others, without a direct command prohibiting it.
But while recognizing the binding force of the ten commandments, Mr. Spurgeon sees no command prohibiting smoking. How strange. And yet, we doubt not, if occasion required, the very first command in the decalogue would be utilized by this distinguished London preacher to inveigh against sins not specified in the Bible, yet plainly covered by the principle underlying that commandment. It would be folly to assume that he has forgotten the prophecy (Isa. 42:21) which predicted that Christ would magnify the law and make it honorable. He well knows that our Saviour, in his interpretation of the commandments, declared a lustful look toward a woman to be a violation of the seventh commandment; also that he condemned hatred by the commandment which says, "Thou shalt not kill."
Now it may be possible that the first commandment, which condemns, by universal consent, idolatry of all kinds and grades, may also condemn the practice of tobacco using in its various forms. If Mr. Spurgeon, or any other votary of this seductive habit, entertains a doubt on this point, and wishes to enter a demurrer, let him settle the matter by attempting to give up the narcotizing weed, and he will soon be convinced that he has become a devotee to a habit that has gained almost absolute control of the moral will, and rendered its possessor virtually powerless.
Tobacco in any form is not food, and therefore does not afford nourishment to the system. At best it is but a mischievous luxury, the result of yielding to the demands of a depraved appetite, and in consequence should be condemned as roundly as the use of intoxicating drink. While it may be true that all tobacco users are not liquor drinkers, it would be hard to find a drunkard who is not a tobacco user. In other words, so far as being slave to a habit is concerned, the tobacco user has the drunkard for traveling companion. And why should he not? Tobacco using is but a stepping-stone to the more degrading vice of drunkenness, and this is the example that Mr. Spurgeon is deliberately keeping before the world, by his persistency in the indulgence of a foolish and hurtful habit.
But notwithstanding his firmness in resisting a wholesome reform in his own case, Mr. Spurgeon must have read those texts which require the Christian to glorify God in his body as well as his spirit (1 Cor. 6:20), and to not live in the flesh to the lusts of men but to the will of God. 1 Pet. 4:2. He surely would not ignore these scriptures. Do they not, when taken in connection with their contexts, forbid us to do injury to our bodies? "What, know ye not," says the great apostle, "that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and ye are not your own?" 1 Cor. 6:19. How can the pure and holy Spirit of the Lord dwell in a temple defiled with the polluting scent of tobacco? "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy." 1 Cor. 3:17.
In view of the last statement made by the apostle, his exhortation in 2 Cor. 7:1 is to the point: "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." But what application will smoking ministers make of such texts? And if they persist in their indulgence, to the injury of their systems, in the face of these scriptures, and many others that might be adduced, how can they expect their hearers to reform their lives, and become God-fearing men and women? J. O. CORLISS.

The Work of the Sabbath School

The general work of the Sabbath-school is embraced in instruction and personal effort. The instruction it affords relates to all points of theology and to all lines of moral conduct. The instruction is important in the formation of a Christian character. The personal effort includes all that the teacher may do, as a person, to lead the pupil into a better life. It is also of great service in the formation of a Christian character.—Sel.

Silencing the Detracting Tongue

No one loves to tell a tale of scandal but to him that loves to hear it. Learn, then, to rebuke and silence the detracting tongue by refusing to hear. Never make your ear the grave of another's good name.

The Vile Ingredients in Cigarettes

By Editor

A DISGUSTED smoker, a former revenue agent in Chicago, is reported as saying: "I used to be a confirmed cigarette smoker, but now you could not induce me to touch one of them." He became, in the discharge of his official duties, familiar with the business of cigarette making, and in answer to a question as to how and of what they are made, he says: "Of all that is vile, and injurious, and mean,—cigar-butts picked up from the streets, barks of certain kinds, tobacco stems, and refuse are heaped together in one filthy pile and then saturated with opium, which gives the cigarette that soothing effect desirable to all smokers." He is of opinion that if all cigarette smokers could see what he has seen, they would abandon cigarettes altogether. We commend to such smokers his warning.—Sel.

Teetotalism: Moonshine or Sunshine

MANY people think that teetotalism is all moonshine; but if they would only try it, they would find it all sunshine.

Habit Is a Cable

HABIT is a cable. We weave a thread of it each day, and it becomes so strong we cannot break it.
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