Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Aug 12, 1880
General Articles.
By Ellen G. White
THE BURNING AT TABERAH.
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
AFTER traveling three days from Sinai into the wilderness, complaints began to be made by those in the uttermost parts of the camp who had not fully united their interest with the body, but who were continually watching to find something to condemn in those willing to bear the responsibilities and burdens of the people. These complainers were not pleased with the course of their march, and were constantly murmuring about the way in which Moses was leading them, notwithstanding they knew that he was following only where the pillar of cloud lead the way. Some also felt that they ought to have a leading position, while others complained of marching so long in the wilderness.
God continued to feed them with the bread rained from Heaven; but they were not satisfied. Their depraved appetite craved flesh-meat, which God in his wisdom had withheld, in a great measure, from them. "And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting; and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic. But now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all, besides this manna, before our eyes." They became weary of the food provided for them by angels. Yet they knew it was just the food God wished them to have, and that it was healthful for them and their children. Notwithstanding their hardships in the wilderness, there was not a feeble one in all their tribes.
Satan, the author of disease and misery, will approach God's people where he can have the greatest success. He has controlled the appetite in a great measure from the time of his success-experiment with Eve, in leading her to eat the forbidden fruit. He came with his temptations first to the mixed multitude, the believing Egyptians, and stirred them up to seditious murmurings.
These murmurings would soon have leavened the entire camp, had not the wrath of God in fire from Heaven flashed like lightning from the cloudy pillar and consumed those who were the instigators of the trouble. Yet this, instead of humbling them, seemed only to increase their murmurings. When Moses heard the people weeping in the door of their tents, and complaining throughout their families, he was greatly distressed.
Here Moses, himself, came very near distrusting the Lord. Even in his perfect physical strength and vigorous intellect he was staggering under the weight of responsibility, made so much heavier by the wicked complaints of the people. The burden seemed almost insupportable. Did not Moses at this time regret that he had not consented to have Israel destroyed, and himself made a great nation? Such temptations troubled him. It grieved him sorely to have them direct their complaints against him, as if every supposed deprivation was chargeable to him. And this was the very people for whom he had prayed that his name might be blotted out of the book of life rather than that they should be destroyed. He had imperiled all for them, and here was their response. His heart sunk within him; but he turned to the only One who could help him in his trouble. His was a prayer which was almost a complaint. "Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?" "Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh that we may eat. I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness."
This prayer does not honor to Moses, who had seen so much of the power of God. The burdens of care had overtaxed him. He could have borne them all had the people stood by him; but he knew that their perverseness would only be quelled by the display of God's wrath, and he preferred death rather than to see Israel disgraced and their enemies triumph. The Lord heard the prayer of his servant, and the answer came, strong and positive, directing him to gather before him seventy men, whom he knew to be elders in Israel,—men not only advanced in years, but possessing dignity, sound judgment, and experience, and who were qualified to be judges or officers. "And bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there; and I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone."
The Lord allowed Moses to choose for himself the men whom he knew could be the best helpers. These men had shown faithfulness and order in their position as officers and elders, and now they were chosen to bear higher responsibilities. They be authority to check the violence of the people and quell any insurrection that might arise. But had Moses shown simple trust and confidence in God, corresponding to his great goodness and mercy, these men would not have been chosen. Serious trouble would eventually result from their enlarged authority. God would have guarded his servant continually, and strengthened him in every emergency, had he relied fully upon him. Moses was not excusable in so nearly imitating the people in murmuring against God. He magnified his burdens and services, when the Lord was really the worker, and he only the instrument. Poor, weak human nature, how little it is to be trusted!
Moses was commanded to prepare the people for what God was about to do for them: "Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, and ye shall eat flesh; for ye have wept in the ears of the Lord saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the Lord will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; but even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you, because that ye have despised the Lord which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?"
Once before, when they received the manna just before they reached Sinai, the Lord had answered their clamors for flesh-meat. They ate of it only one day, however, and then it was withheld because it was not the best article of food for them. Their murmurings now reflected upon the wisdom of God, as though he did not know just what they needed while traveling in the wilderness. The enemy perverted their imagination. The Egyptians who left Egypt with the Hebrews were accustomed to rich food and flesh-meats, and they were the first to complain. The food of the Israelites in Egypt was generally of the cheapest quality, but hard labor and a keen appetite made it palatable.350
In response to the statement of the Lord that the people should have flesh to eat, Moses said, "The people among whom I am are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month. Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them?" These words expressed a manifest distrust, for which the Lord reproved him by saying, "Is the Lord's hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not." He who could divide the Red Sea, binding the waters like a wall on either side while Israel passed through on dry land, and could rain bread from Heaven, and bring water out of the flinty rock, could provide meat to supply the host of Israel.
"And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the Lord, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle. And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders; and it came to pass, that, when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease." These persons were endowed with the Spirit of the Lord in a similar manner as were the disciples on the day of pentecost. They foretold the work and mission of Christ, and by their wisdom and fluency of speech evidenced to all men that the power of God was upon them. The Lord saw fit to thus prepare them for their work, and honor them in the presence of the congregation, that confidence should be established in them as men chosen of God to unite their authority with that of Moses in his arduous work of restraining and governing the people during their sojourn in the wilderness.
There were two of the seventy chosen who went not out to the tabernacle. They were not rebellious, but they felt unworthy of serving in such a high and responsible position. But when the Spirit of the Lord rested upon the elders about the tabernacle, it fell also upon them, and they prophesied, speaking words of wisdom and eloquence. Then a young man ran to Moses and told him how two men were prophesying in the camp; and Joshua, being jealous for Moses, appealed to him to command them to be silent. But Moses, free from all jealousy, replied, "Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them."
"And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth. And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails; he that gathered least gathered ten homers; and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague."
In this instance the Lord gave the people that which was not for their highest good, because they would have it. They would not submit to receive from the Lord only those things which would prove a benefit to them, but gave themselves up to seditious murmurings against Moses, and against the Lord. God gave them flesh-meats, as they desired, and they suffered the results of gratifying their lustful appetites. Burning fevers cut down very large numbers of the people. Those who had been the most guilty in their murmurings, were slain as soon as they tasted the meat for which they had lusted. Had they received with gratitude the food which God selected for them, of which they could eat freely without injury, they might have retained the divine favor, and they would have escaped the terrible results of their rebellious murmurings.
MY REFUGE.
By Editor
[These lines, quoted from the Sunday Magazine, were written by Ellen Lakshmi Goreh (a Brahmin of the highest caste), adopted daughter of Rev. W. T. Storrs, Great Horton Vicarage, Bradford, England.]
In the secret of His presence, how my soul delights to hide!
Oh, how precious are the lessons which I learn at Jesus' side!
Earthly cares can never vex me, neither trials lay me low,
For when Satan comes to tempt me, to the secret place I go.
When my soul is faint and thirsty, 'neath the shadow of his wing
There is cool and pleasant shelter, and a fresh and crystal spring;
And my Saviour rests beside me, as we hold communion sweet.
If I tried I could not utter what he says when thus we meet.
Only this I know; I tell him all my doubts and griefs and fears;
Oh, how patiently he listens, and my drooping soul he cheers.
Do you think he ne'er reproves me? What a false friend he would be
If he never, never told me of the sins which he must see.
Do you think that I could love him half so well, or as I ought,
If he did not tell me plainly of each sinful word and thought?
No; he is ever very faithful, and that makes me trust him more,
For I know that he does love me, though he wounds me very sore.
Would you like to know the sweetness of the secret of the Lord?
Go and hide beneath his shadow; this shall then be your reward;
And whene'er you leave the silence of that happy meeting place,
You must mind and bear the image of your Master in your face.
You will surely lose the blessing and the fullness of your joy,
If you let dark clouds distress you, and your inward peace destroy.
You may always be abiding, if you'd dwell at Jesus' side;
In the secret of his presence you may every moment hide.
DAY OF THE LORD.—NO. 7.
THE THIRD ADVENT OF CHRIST TO EARTH WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE DAY OF THE LORD.
It is objected that the Bible does not mention a third advent of Christ. It is true, the phrase, third advent, is not found in Scripture; neither is the second coming thus named in the Old Testament. But did not the ancient prophets foretell it? All must admit they did. And the Jews stumbled over the first advent, and fell, because they had their eyes fixed on the glories of the second. So, now, there is a class that have their eyes fixed on the third advent and the glorious reign on earth, while they reject the only message that can prepare them for the second.
In the Old Testament, the different advents are spoken of in close connection, and not so clearly separated; but the progressive fulfillment of prophecy and the revelations of the New Testament, clear up whatever might be involved in doubt. And here permit me to say, that whatever seems doubtful in respect to unfulfilled prophecy, is interpreted by God himself in the fulfillment. It was so at the first advent; it is so now. Men may differ concerning the meaning of the three messages of Rev. 14, but God is giving his own interpretation of them in their fulfillment; and those who will not accept of it, will remain in the dark, and stumble into perdition.
In Malachi 3: 1, 2, the first and second advents are spoken of in close connection. The messenger sent before Him was John the Baptist. (See Matt. 11: 10, and parallel passages.) But the second verse, “But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?” clearly refers to his second coming. In like manner the second and third advents are spoken of in different scriptures. As an example, I quote 2 Thess. 1: 7–10: “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints,” etc.
The Lord is revealed from Heaven with his mighty angels, at the second advent. At that time he is taking vengeance on his enemies in the pouring out of the seven last plagues, one of which is flaming fire, or the sun scorching men and the earth with great heat. Rev. 16: 8, 9; Joel 1: 19, 20. But though he is then taking vengeance, he is not, at that time, punishing them with everlasting destruction; but he says, “Who shall be punished,” at a time then future, “when he shall come to be glorified in his saints,” that is, to present his glorified saints in the presence of the resurrected wicked, when they shall be gathered around “the camp of the saints and the beloved city,” and “shall see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of Heaven,” and they themselves shut out.
This we learn from Rev. 20, is a thousand years after the first resurrection, which takes place at the second advent. The wicked are not punished with everlasting destruction till they are raised from the dead, encompass the “beloved city,” which will have descended to the earth, and fire comes down “from God out of Heaven and devours them.” There is no resurrection from the “second death,” therefore this is everlasting punishment, a punishment not inflicted at the second, but at the third, advent; for we have before proved that, at the second advent, Christ returns with his saints to Heaven. The day of the Lord includes the taking of vengeance in the seven last plagues, or the wrath without mixture, the second advent, the thousand years, the third advent, and the everlasting destruction of the wicked by fire and brimstone from Heaven. (Compare Rev. 14: 10; 20: 9; Ps. 11: 6; Gen. 19: 24; Jude 7.)
This view of the day of the Lord explains Zech. 14, and removes an objection which is raised upon that chapter, by those who confound the second and third coming. Keeping in mind what has been proved, let us look at the events here brought to view: 1. The nations are at war, they are gathered against Jerusalem. 2. The second advent takes place—the Lord goes forth to fight against those nations as when he fought in the day of battle. (Referring to Josh. 10: 10, 11, where the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel, and “cast down great stones from Heaven upon them,” as a type of the great hail-stones which fall under the pouring out of the seventh vial. Rev. 16: 21.) This battle is described in symbol in Rev. 19. 3. In that day, at the close of the thousand years, the Lord makes his third advent, sets his feet upon the Mount of Olives, which cleaves asunder and prepares a place for the city that comes from Heaven. Verse 4. Here is the camp of the saints and the beloved city, on this prepared spot. The revived wicked surround it, and are destroyed; the earth is melted and the new earth appears. 4. Then commences the eternal day, described in verses 6 and 7, the waters of life flow from Jerusalem the new, and the Lord is “king over all the [new] earth,” verse 9, and there is “no more utter destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.” Verse 14. This is not a city built by human hands, to be superseded by the city from Heaven, but it is the heavenly city itself, which is to remain forever. No more utter destruction, it will be eternal. What follows concerning the plagues is not written in its chronological order. It is something fulfilled in the present world; while the Jerusalem described evidently belongs to the eternal world. Thus there are three principal advents, though the Son of God may have passed from Heaven to earth, and from earth to Heaven a thousand times. Gen. 18: 17, 22; Acts 7: 38; John 30: 17.
R. F. COTTRELL.
THE CHIEF PRIESTS' STORY.
By Charles S. Robinson
ON the evening of Friday, Jesus had been hastily buried. Saturday was, as it is now, the Hebrew Sabbath, and the day then began with the evening before; that is, it was Sabbath on Friday evening at sundown. These disciples, in common with all their nation, had been trained to keep that closing day of the week with great strictness. They thought it would be wicked to use holy time in making preparations for permanent interment. So, as best they could, they wound up the body Joseph begged of Pilate, and laid it in this generous counselor's tomb. They expected to return and to complete their work on Sunday morning.
Now, at this juncture in the affairs, the chief priests make it evident that they had kept warily on the watch for all which occurred. A suspicion arose in their minds. Some of them remembered that Jesus had declared he would rise again in three days. So they went to Pilate asking that a guard might be set at the sepulchre until the critical date of the third day had passed. Their wish was granted. Sixteen men, divided into four fours,—the so-called "quaternions" of a Roman military watch,—were assigned to the duty, and took their regular turns as sentinels on the spot.
Moreover, the unusual precaution was added, of sealing up the entrance to the enclosure. Most likely they rolled up the stone before the opening of Joseph's new excavation in the rock, then passed a strong cord around it, fastening the ends at either side, and covering the knots with balls of wet clay on which they stamped some official letter or sign; if the grave were disturbed, this would show it, no matter who the parties might be.351When Sunday morning dawned, the tomb was found open, the buried body was gone. Aware that some explanation must instantly be made, the chief priests circulated the story which Matthew records. They said that the soldiers fell asleep, and then the friends of Jesus came secretly and stole the body away. The military guard admitted this statement publicly, and so helped on the tale.
Before we submit this fabrication to the test of argument as a "case" in jurisprudence, it may be just as well to note two interesting points made by it at the beginning. This story settles, at any rate, the fact of Christ's actual death and burial. In the recital, everybody admitted he was truly crucified, really dead at last in the grave. It was agreed on all hands that he had predicted his own rising upon the third day. With equal acquiescence, it was understood that on Sunday morning the body was missing. This is worth the recollection; for so much of either gospel history or doctrine as rests in the death of Jesus upon the cross may forevermore be considered as established by his enemies beyond a cavil.
Further; since the chief priests put their case on the best basis they had, it must follow that, if this subterfuge of theirs fails, all presumption is against any process of denial. They asserted, and this is all they said in explanation of the most stupendous miracle the universe ever knew, that the disciples secretly stole and made way with Jesus' body. If such a story cannot be now credited, then there is an end of all counter-evidence to be adduced by those who would deny the doctrine of our Lord's resurrection.
Coolly and dispassionately it becomes us to weigh the tale, therefore, on its own merits. This case, if it be good for anything, will bear the same cross-examination and analysis as others in the annals of important jurisprudence. And candor is compelled instantly to admit it labors under serious embarrassments.
1. In the very outset, the antecedent improbability of particulars crushes it. How came a trained watch all to go to sleep? Would the whole band of sixteen men be likely to fall away at once, and remain in slumber a time long enough for this amount of labor? This was noisy work, and took some numbers to do it; yet it would have to be done leisurely. Who folded up the napkin, and arranged the grave-clothes so methodically in the dark? And, if the Roman soldiers were asleep, how did they know anything about it?
2. But go a step further; the immediate followers of Jesus had no motive to steal the body of their Lord. They must have believed him to be either a true man or an impostor. If they now gave him up as an impostor when they saw him die, then the sooner he was out of all remembrance and notice forever, the better for them; the more effectually he was buried and forgotten, the easier for their disappointment and shame. They surely did not need or wish to follow a deceiver; they did not want his memory on their hands. On the other side, if they believed him true, they had only to wait till he should vindicate himself. Whatever the supposition as to the state of these men's minds, to go and purloin the dead body was the worst policy for them. For this admitted and agreed that he was a liar; it accepted the taunt of his infamous crucifixion; it confessed he was a mere man.
3. Nor is this all; it is evident from the entire story told here in its artless naturalness that the disciples had no sort of concerted plan to do any such thing. Why, they had his body full in their power, after Joseph begged it on Friday evening; how was it possible that the idea should strike them to go and pilfer it away on Saturday? Who was it did the stealing? Not Peter; for one can doubt its utter ignorance and unconsciousness, as he arrived on Sunday morning, breathlessly rushing into the sepulchre unbidden. Nor John; he knew nothing about a disappearance of the body, for he ran with the greatest surprise to see if the opened grave was empty. Nor Thomas; for he obstinately refused to surrender his confidence in anything on the subject until he had put his finger in the print of the nails. Surely, not the women; for the mother of Jesus was entirely ignorant of any such connivance. These poverty-stricken friends of Christ spent their time and their scant money in gathering expensive spices and myrrh just to embalm the body. We cannot mistake their unsophisticated surprise.
4. Again; the Jews never told this tale in any judicial audience or court, so that it could be subjected to cross-examination. Stealing this body was a capital crime; yet not one of these accused disciples was ever arrested for its commission. The chief persecutors among them pressed these Christians most cruelly before and after the ascension, while they preached the resurrection from the dead; they charged them with every conceivable crime; but it is marvelous to notice that this pretended fraud they never ventured to mention again. They did not so much as once use the tale in rebutting evidence offered them. We know very well from the Acts and the Epistles that the main doctrine, for which during forty years these disciples contended, was the actual resurrection of Jesus. They had no end of taunts, gibes, and arguments to answer. But this story of theft in the night they were never called upon officially to deny. To have proved it would have overturned the entire Christian religion in one sweep. But, after this first lie in Jerusalem, the Sanhedrim preserved a discreet silence. Nowhere else in the Bible do we find any allusion to this fabrication.
5. To all this now add the consideration that there was awful risk to the soldiers, if this story were true. Death was in every instance the punishment for a Roman sentinel who slept on his post. To suffer an escape like this was unpardonable. But if the story was not true, there was no peril in it. They could be hired to repeat it as often as was necessary, and they could do so fearlessly. That is, they would tell it out around among the populace loosely; for all they had to do, if ever brought to the governor or pressed to trial on the charge, was to deny it again, and say they were only lying; punishment belonged to the sleeping, which they would assert they did not do; not to the falsehood, which they would admit. Certainly, if such a confession had been honest, they would have conspired to help each other keep the secret for their life's sake.
6. Finally, the inherent impossibility of the act itself cannot be left out of sight. This was only two nights after Passover, and that feast was always observed at the full of the moon. That garden, therefore, was filled with white light. It would have been fatal to any man or woman to be caught on such an errand. Joseph lived close beside the city, most likely; Jerusalem was crowded at the time with a vast throng of unusual pilgrims. It was jubilee year, and there were greater numbers in attendance at the festival. Mountains and valleys on every side of the town were occupied with booths and tents of excited travelers. The people must have been alert and frightened. Oh the majesty and the horror of that whole day! The curtain of the temple was torn in two—the holiest place was in full display before the profane eyes—rocks were split—graves were opened—old dead Hebrews had been up from their tombs, and had been seen walking in the streets! And if there was one spot more than another likely to be under malevolent and curious scrutiny, it was where this Nazarene prophet was laid. Any suspicious movement would have been observed by a score of eyes.
Then what could have been done with the body after the disciples had got it in possession! In all ages of mysterious history of crime, how many midnight machinations have been defeated and exposed because the presence of a human body was involved! It seems as if death would never be kept secret. In that land, too, where such strict regulations existed, so superstitious and exact, where every one shunned contact because of ceremonial uncleanness, how could those frightened Galileans have relieved themselves of a burden so awkward after they had passed the precincts of the garden? If discovered, what was there so fatal to their faith, as well as to themselves, as this half-buried body of that crucified Nazarene?
There seems hardly any need of pursuing so idle and so ill-contrived a tale with such seriousness. But remember this is all the evidence which has ever been offered in these eighteen centuries to explain the stupendous fact that on Sunday morning the new sepulchre of Joseph was found tenantless. In a word, it is the entire defense in this supposed case of jurisprudence. Justin Martyr and Tertullian, the historians of the second and third centuries, tell us that the Jews sent this story by letter around through all the East. Even in our time, the descendants of those people stubbornly insist that it is true. If, therefore, the story breaks down, the entire case against the gospel is lost.
So let us bear in mind that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is more than a fact; it is a doctrine. And once admitted, it will surely take all the other Christian doctrines in its train. Just let me know that Jesus himself folded that napkin, burst those stony barriers of the sepulchre, and led captivity captive, and then I know that the atonement is perfected. Man may find his way unhindered in returning unto God, and through penitence and faith sin may be checked, Satan conquered, and Heaven set open forever!
With such a gospel, why does any one wait? Even the Turks say in a proverb, "Hold thy mantle wide open, when Heaven is raining gold!"
—Charles S. Robinson, D. D.
SUNDAY NOT THE SABBATH.
By C. P. Whitford
THERE is not one text in all the Scriptures from which even a plausible inference can be drawn that the first day of the week, or Sunday, is the Sabbath. Not one. I weigh my words carefully. I speak soberly when I say that God has never claimed that day as his, never. He never has promised a blessing upon a man for keeping it. He has never said that a man should be punished for doing common labor on that day. Has God ever claimed any day as his, and reserved it unto himself? He has. “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Gen. 2:3. “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Ex. 20:10. Then why insist upon calling Sunday the Sabbath? Is not one plain text of Scripture worth more than a dozen mere arguments? Logic can be met with logic, but God’s word can never be altered or changed. Your opinion will convert nobody. From “a thus saith the Lord,” there is no appeal. Metaphysical dissertations may confound the intellect, historical statements may instruct, rhetorical flourishes may captivate the imagination, but the conscience will remain untouched.
Every careful reader of the Bible knows that God has made only one day the Sabbath, and that is the day upon which he rested; and every careful student of church history knows equally well that the Sunday was never deemed a Sabbath by virtue of the fourth commandment until the time of the Puritans. The earliest and main reasons given for its observance were vague and fanciful, not even claiming to be scriptural. Its first character as a rest day came from a civil enactment of Constantine, a Roman Emperor, A. D. 321.
With such authority for Sunday-keeping, we again inquire, Why insist upon calling Sunday the Sabbath? Those who would speak the truth should call things by their right names. Those who claim that the first day of the week, or Sunday, is called the Sabbath in the New Testament, proclaim either their ignorance or (shall we say it?) dishonesty. If we give the title of Sabbath to a day to which the Scriptures never gave it, do we not contradict that record which always gave it to the seventh, and to no other? Is it not presuming upon the goodness of God to give the title belonging to his blessed rest day to a day which he never claimed as his? Would it not be better to honor that day with the title of Sabbath which all inspiration calls by that sacred name? Is it safe to thus trifle with God and his sacred words, uttered with his own voice, and written with his own finger?
Reader, we entreat you to beware. Whenever you are tempted to call the first day of the week the Sabbath, please stop and reflect concerning the authority by which you do it. Never abuse the sacred term Sabbath by applying it to that to which it never was applied by its divine Author. If you would speak the truth, you must call things by their right names.
C. P. WHITFORD.
SELF-COMMENDATION.
ONE of the temptations to which all of us are exposed is that of thinking that we have been called to peculiar sacrifices or endurances, and that we have borne ourselves bravely and well in the struggle. If we had done anything noteworthy in this line, we should not be aware of the fact. Our absorbed interest in the contest would forbid our standing off to view it impartially, and to pass complacently upon our bearing in the crucial hour. Commenting to a friend on the written words of a lady, concerning the strengthening effect on her character of sacrifices to which she had been called, Frederick W. Robertson said:
"People who make real sacrifices are never able to calculate self-complacently the good the sacrifices are doing them; just as people who really grieve are unable at the time to philosophize about the good effects of grief." And he added that it would have been much better for this lady to have said: "How dare I talk of sacrifice! and how little of it there is in my life—one perpetual succession of enjoyments!" The trials of life which we make the most of in our thoughts are commonly no real trials at all. As Mrs. Browning puts it:—
"We walk upon
The shadow of hills across a level thrown,
And pant like climbers."
Or as inspiration rebukes the complaining boasters: "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." What do you know of real warfare? When Moses had so profited by his personal communion with God that his face was transfigured with a celestial glow, he wist not that his face shone. But many of us have an idea that our faces must be shining, after all we have gone through so valiantly, when in truth our features are flabby from want of any high endeavor, or disfigured with scowls in our overweening estimate of our trials and endurances. It may be that we have borne ourselves nobly and bravely. If so, we are not conscious of the fact. If we think that we deserve credit for heroism, we more likely have pursued a course of which we ought to be ashamed. - Exchange.
LIBERALISM.
THERE is at the present day, a decided tendency to liberalism in religion; but it is born of a desire to secure the advantages, without the sacrifices, of piety. It is a sort of Christian laziness, if there could be such a thing. We suppose this is nothing new, only in the form of the thing. Liberalism always borders upon license at the other side, and it is a true Christian grace to be liberal, without giving countenance to license; the former is a virtue, the latter a grave vice. Thus it is always true that there is but a step from good to evil, as from the sublime to the ridiculous. It is only by being keenly alert and on our guard, that we can ever be free from error of one kind or the other. It is no more true that, "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," than that, unless the Christian watch constantly, he will fall into temptation and a snare. This being the case and the devil being very wily, if a man loses from his soul that consuming zeal and intense activity which leaves no room for suggestions of personal ease or pleasure, he is very apt to fall into this most popular snare of the enemy of souls. When once he is taken, when personal ease has acquired any hold upon him, then it is like running down hill to glide into liberal (alias easy) Christianity, while it is up-hill work to get away from his self-love and into that humility which comports with real Christian efficiency.—Golden Censer.
Cuyler’s Twentieth Pastorate
Rev. Dr. T. L. Cuyler, at the recent completion of his twentieth pastorate at the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian church, Brooklyn, said that he had "never allowed a day to pass without a visit to some family and a talk with some one on personal religion. During his ministry the Sunday-school has had 4500 children enrolled. Of these 427 have joined the church; and nine have entered the ministry."
Christianity Shown in Life
By Joseph Parker
SOME clocks do not strike. You must look at them if you would know the time. Some men do not talk their Christianity; you must look at their lives if you would know what the gospel can do for human nature. But a clock need not be incorrect because it strikes; a man need not be inconsistent because he speaks as well as he acts. —Joseph Parker.