Earlier text: General ArticlesModern Spiritualism.
By Editor
SAYS the Scripture, "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father." 1 John 2:23. To give the name or ascribe the honors and power to others that belong to Christ, is surely denying him; for, according to the Bible, it is impossible to find his equal in nature and office. But Spiritualists deny him both in his person and in his offices. 1. In his person.—The following is the testimony of a spirit as given in a Spiritualist paper:— "What is the meaning of the word Christ? 'Tis not as is generally supposed, the Son of the Creator of all things. Any just and perfect being is Christ. The crucifixion of Christ is nothing more than the crucifixion of the spirit, which all have to contend with before becoming perfect and righteous. The miraculous conception of Christ is merely a fabulous tale."—Telegraph, No. 37. This, of course, prepares the way for every kind of infidelity, and opens a way for the introduction of many christs, in fulfillment or our Saviour's prophecy—There shall false christs and false prophets arise. The prospectus of the Truth Seeker contained the following:— "It shall be the organ through which the christs of the last dispensation will choose to speak." Dr. Weisse, before the investigating class of Spiritualists in New York City, said:— "Friend Orton seems to make rather light of the communications from spirits, concerning Christ. It seems, nevertheless, that all the testimony received from advanced spirits only shows that Christ was a medium and reformer in Judea; that he now is an advanced spirit in the sixth sphere; but that he never claimed to be God, and does not at present. I have had two communications to that effect. 'I have also read some that Dr. Hare had. If I am wrong in my views of the Bible, I should like to know it, for the spirits and mediums do not contradict me." According to this testimony of spirits, Christ is now in the sixth sphere. When "Rev. C. Hammond, medium," wrote the "Pilgrimage of Thomas Paine," that noted libertine and blasphemer was in the seventh sphere! One scripture is undeniably fulfilled: "The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted." Ps. 12:8. Dr. Hare made the following remarks in the same class:— "He said that he had been thus protected from deception by the spirits of Washington and Franklin, and that they had brought Jesus Christ to him, with whom he had also communicated. He had first repelled him as an impostor; but became convinced afterward that it was really him. He related that he had learned from that high and holy spirit that he was not the character that Christendom had represented him to be, and not responsible for the errors connected with his name, but that he was, while on earth, a medium of high and extraordinary powers, and that it was solely through his mediumistic capabilities that he attained so great knowledge and was enabled to practice such apparent wonders." So Christ is reduced to the level of mediums, of whom there are now many showing signs, etc. In the Banner of Light of Dec. 30, 1865, through Mrs. Conant, it is said:— "Greater works than he did are performed every day now. Distance lends enchantment to the scene. The works that Jesus did are every way inferior to the works that are being done in your midst to-day." A. J. Davis, condescends, to put Jesus in the "Pantheon of Progress," with Confucius, Plato, Theodore Parker, etc., and after ridiculing those who put their trust in him, adds:— "The 'divine' and 'human' natures of Brahma, of Krishna, of Buddha, of Zoroaster, of Pythagoras, of Jesus, and of—all the favorite 'incarnations.' The story is oriental, and worn out."—The Thinker, page 117. 2. In his offices.—It would seem to be some relief to this dark picture if the utterance of such sentiments were confined to open blasphemers—to those who scoff and mock that it is all that is good. But it is not. He who declares the end from the beginning has described those who have a form of godliness, that they shall depart from the faith, giving heed to doctrines of devils. And his words are fulfilled. From lectures on "Spiritual Science," by "Rev. R. P. Wilson," we extract the following:— "Although as a believer in true spiritual philosophy, we cannot receive the orthodox views of salvation, yet we recognize the birth of a Saviour and Redeemer into the universal hearts of humanity, wherein truly the deity is incarnate, dwelling in the interior of man's spirit. We believe that each soul of man is born with his or her Saviour within them, for as man is an embodiment of the universe in epitome, he contains in his central nature an incarnation of deity. The germ of immortal unfoldings resides within the spirit of it, which needs only appropriate conditions to call forth the expanding and elevating powers of the soul." The "Healing of the Nations" says:— "Man is his own saviour—his own redeemer. He is his own judge—in his own scales weighed." Page 74. Were this last sentence true, it is fair to presume there would be but very few "found wanting." Not that their characters are made to conform to a perfect balance, but "their own scales" are adjusted to suit their characters. And they not only make the Atonement of Christ unnecessary, but consider a belief in it a detriment to progress. Says Dr. Hare:— "Since my spirit sister's translation to the spheres, she has risen from the fifth to the sixth sphere. It has been alleged by her that her ascent was retarded by her belief in the atonement."—Spir. Sci. Dem., page 229. Again he says, on page 215:— "Nothing can be more inconsistent with the religion inculcated by my spirit friends than the idea of atonement for sin by faith in any religion, true or false." Prof. Brittan is another illustration of a departing from the faith. As quoted by Dr. Ramsey, he says:— "It is readily granted that Spiritualism rejects the common notions respecting the fall of angels, total depravity, and the atonement." "Deacon John Norton," a spirit, reported in the Banner of Light, said:— "I used to believe in the atonement; I honestly believed that Christ died to save the world, and that by and through his death all must be saved, if saved at all. Now I see that this is folly—it cannot be so. The light through Christ, the Holy One, shone in darkness; the darkness could not comprehend it; and thus it crucified the body, and Christ died a martyr. He was not called in that way, that the shedding of his blood the vast multitude coming after him should find salvation. Everything in nature proves this false. They tell me here that Christ was the most perfect man of his time. I am told here also that he is worthy to be worshiped, because of his goodness; and where man finds goodness he may worship. God's face is seen in the violet, and man may well worship this tiny flower." In the estimation of Spiritualists, the "tiny flower" or any other object in nature is as worthy of worship as Christ. In the "Pilgrimage of Thomas Paine in the Spirit World," by, or through, "Rev. C. Hammond, medium," it is said:— "Thy wisdom will be increased when thou shalt see the atonement in thyself, and not hope for it because another has it.
"When thou shalt agree with thy Bible, in regard to the atonement, then thou wilt find the atonement in thy works, as thou seest it now in Christ." Page 120. "Your atonement to be the very climax of a deranged imagination, and one that is of the most unrighteous and immoral tendency."—Nature's Div. Rev., page 576. The following in a correspondence of Mrs. Wilcoxson, appeared in the Banner of Light, Oct. 21, 1865:— "In the town of B—, Conn., I was introduced to a lady in membership with the Presbyterians, who gave me a long account of manifestations in her family, said to be through the mediumship of a daughter of some nineteen years. She seemed much interested in the angel dispensation, and said there was only one thing which troubled and perplexed her, and that was, that Spiritualism rejected the doctrine of the atonement. She 'could not feel without that.' And like thousands of others, this dogma of the Dark Ages, with its bloody hand, writing the fancied doom of millions, cast its dark and fearful shadow upon the brighter revelation of her life." Some communications, it is true, have been made through mediums, which favor the idea that Christ died for man; and Gov. Tallmadge quotes one in the introduction to the "Healing of the Nations" which speaks of the race for which Christ died, and himself says that Spiritualism is not contrary to the gospel of Christ. But we find no intimation there that his death was vicarious; nothing to lead to the belief that Jesus died for the race in any other sense than other good men have died for who have been martyrs for the truth. We are obliged to look with caution at such an expression as that introduced by Gov. T., as it is contrary to the general teachings of the best spiritualistic authorities, as our quotations in these pages show. But if Gov. Tallmadge believed, or if the spirits have communicated to him, that Christ is, in any special sense, the Saviour of men, why this discrepancy, if not to suit their teachings to the various tastes of inquirers, and thus more completely to deceive and seduce? Judge Edmonds denies probation and the atonement; and Dr. Hare contradicts the declarations of the governor at every step. Which is the best authority? Dr. Hare was authorized to be the exponent of Spiritualism by a convocation of the highest spirits. His declaration, often made, is in harmony with the majority of spirit communications, that Jesus Christ was only a man, and that the doctrine of the atonement is false. Joel Tiffany, in a lecture on the "Philosophy of Christianity," remarked concerning the power of Christ and the work of the apostles:— "He inspired them with a belief that by using his name they could command his power. Under that conviction they went forth, clothed with the power of faith, and when they said to the sick, 'Be whole,' they confidently expected the result to follow their command. Could he have given them confidence in any other charm, it would have answered the purpose equally as well. To exercise this power, the end to be attained, is to give the requisite intensity to the spirit will; that intensity can only be given by awakening in the operator a conviction that he can command the power necessary to success. That conviction might be awakened by the use of the name of Christ, or by the use of anything else in which they had equal confidence." So, according to Mr. Tiffany, who claimed to be a "Christian Spiritualist," and who affected to reprove the tendency to infidelity with Spiritualists, there was no more power in the name of Christ than in any other "charm"! The following is from Judge Edmonds' work on Spiritualism:— "High up in the heavens, and far distant, I saw the cross of our Redeemer painted. Rough and unhewn itself, it was surrounded by a halo of golden light, and on one of its arms a majestic spirit, clad in dark colored and rich garments, stood leaning. High over it all flashed, in rays of sparkling silver light, 'GOD IS LOVE.' Directly over the summit of the cross was a scroll which seemed to spread abroad a feeling of solemn awe. On it was inscribed, 'HE SAVED MANKIND BY LIVING, NOT BY DYING.' Below the transverse piece was a small scroll, on which was written, 'Do THOU LIKEWISE.'" Thus the Bible truth that we are redeemed by his blood is contradicted; and when the judge gives him the title of "our Redeemer," it is only in a sense in which the title may likewise be applied to himself! We have, in another place, shown that they deny God as the "Judge of all" (Heb. 12:23); this is also a denial of the power and office of Jesus Christ, as the Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son; John 5:23-27; in other words, God is the world by Jesus Christ. Rom. 2:16. Every office and prerogative of Christ is denied by Spiritualism. It is said that the once great chess player, Paul Morphy, is in an insane asylum. He utterly repudiates chess, and denies having ever known anything about it. He imagines himself a great lawyer, surrounded by clients, and is busy at all times settling an immense estate left him by his father. The legal part of that information may explain the "insanity dodge." But the chess repudiation casts a cloud upon it. It is evident that he is ashamed of making himself a professional at an amusement. Even a lawyer (much as the newspapers abuse him) is a better man than a professional gamer. Mr. Morphy has our congratulations on having come to his senses, and our condolence for having lost them. If he had attended to his profession, in the days of his youth, before the evil days came, or the years drew nigh when he said, "I have no pleasure in them," he might now be a useful member of society. To neglect a useful and honorable profession for the sake of an evanescent notoriety in a calling that is utterly useless, except as a recreation, does not show sanity. For some years past Mr. Morphy has been afflicted with mental derangement of a mild form, which has been merely an annoyance to his friends, as they have been compelled to keep constant watch of him to prevent his making himself utterly ridiculous. It is plain to those who know him, that his brain has been turned by the intense strain which his wonderful success as a chess-player, and the great fame it brought to him, occasioned. This insanity is a serious thing to him—poor fellow; but it is valuable as teaching a lesson to others who are wild about amusements when they ought to be earnest about business. If it required any brain to play base ball, or croquet, or archery, it might be a warning to those professionals and their admirers. It ought to make billiardists and poker-players somewhat nervous—for that kind of gaming requires some little intelligence. But in its seriousness to him who was once the king but now the victim, it preaches a most eloquent sermon against considering pleasure first and business afterward. —Hawk-Eye. I HAD drank with lips unsated,
Where the founts of pleasure burst;
I had hewn out broken cisterns,
And they mocked my spirit's thirst. And I said, "Life is a desert,
Hot and measureless and dry;
And God will not give me water
Though I pray, and faint, and die." Spoke there then a friend and brother,
"Rise and roll the stone away!
There are founts of life upspringing
In thy pathway every day." Then I said—my heart was sinful—
Very sinful was my speech;
"All the wells of God's salvation
Are too deep for me to reach." And he answered: "Rise and labor;
Doubt and idleness is death.
Shape thou out a goodly vessel
With the strong hands of thy faith." So I wrought and shaped the vessel,
Then knelt lowly, humbly there;
And I drew up living water,
With the golden chain of prayer.
—Anon. When People Think Themselves Wise
PEOPLE are never so near playing the fool as when they think themselves extra wise. The earthquakes in the world in 1878 amounted to 103, and were most numerous in winter and autumn, only 18 being noted both in spring and summer, while there were 39 in winter and 26 in autumn. This number, however, states Herr Fuchs, who annually records these disturbances, includes as units many periods in which shocks occurred at intervals for days and weeks. The most destructive earthquake took place on January 23d in Terapaca, South America, and another notable disturbance occurred in San Salvador. In Europe, one shock on January 28th affected Southern England and part of France; Switzerland, the Black Forest, the Tyrol, Lisbon and Piedmont also suffered at different times; while the earthquakes on the shores of the Bosphorus in April and May were felt by the British fleet. The lower Rhine earthquake, beginning on August 26th, affected a region of over 2,000 square miles. There were 12 volcanic eruptions—an unusually high number—and these occurred at places far apart, and mostly proceeded from little known volcanoes. The Oakland Evening Tribune speaks as follows of the recent labor troubles:— "The recent labor strike at the railroad pier has come to naught. One or two policemen daily overlook the situation. Fifteen or twenty white men are employed in unloading rock and earth, very glad, it is presumed, to get $1.50 in these hard times on a regular job. Probably, the Company could obtain five hundred more men at the same wages. The “revolution” however, served for a number of speeches from that class of men who hate honest work as the devil does holy water. The idle element is always a dangerous one. There are no men so voluble about their grievances as those who won't work when they have opportunity, and can't live honestly unless they are earning something. California is afflicted with some thousands of this sort. They remember the old times when an ounce of gold could be dug out of a crevice in a day with an old case knife, and when unskilled labor commanded from five to eight dollars a day. Those opportunities will never return. We have all come down to the bed rock. The capitalist cannot get as large returns for his money, and the laborer cannot earn as large wages, while the necessary cost of his living is not half as great. The best remedy for hard times is for every man to do his best. If he cannot earn as much money as formerly, earn something if there is an opportunity. Small wages are better than nothing. Striking in these times is the poorest business that was ever adopted by laboring men." A Great Responsibility.
By Editor
IN the Christian at Work, a writer, after recounting some of the terrible effects of the use of liquor, asks the following questions:— "Who was to blame in this case? The father of course. Yes, the father was to blame. But was there no one else to blame? Yes, the rumseller. Any one else? Yes, the minister who gave his countenance at the sideboard, and joined in the social glass. Any one else? Yes, the members of the church who were frequent visitors, and who, in the presence of that sinless child, gave their influence and example to the practice. Any one else? Yes, the law which tolerates the manufacture of the vile poisons, which are still circulated and sold through the country, at the expense of poor, suffering humanity, dismantling our houses, and filling our cemeteries and potter's-fields with graves, and our jails and penitentiaries and an unseen hell with their victims. If every member of the Christian church in the country would vote for a prohibitory law, it would carry, and there would be no more rum made and sold. Why is this not done?" Dr. Barnes once said that there was no power outside of the American churches which could perpetuate American slavery, if it was not upheld by the churches. If we are responsible for the good which we can do, but which we neglect or refuse to do, then, according to Dr. Barnes' declaration, the truthfulness of which cannot be doubted, the American churches were responsible for all the evils of slavery, including the war which resulted in its abolition. And upon the same principle they are now answerable for all the evils of the liquor traffic, if it is in their power to suppress it. The evils—the horrors of the liquor traffic cannot be estimated, or conceived by a finite mind. More innocents are yearly crying to Heaven for vengeance against the dealers in intoxicating drinks, than were slain under the order of Herod. And if the American churches have it in their power to stay this evil to any considerable extent, their culpability must be great indeed if they refuse to do it. The gospel inculcates two great principles—love to God, and love to man. But love to man is sometimes taken as a test of the sincerity of our love to God. The apostle asks, "He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" And the Saviour (Matt. 5:43-48) makes universal or disinterested benevolence the perfection of Christian character. Therefore they who turn away their ears from the cries of distressed humanity may well expect to have their cries unheard in the day of reckoning. Matt. 7:21-23; 25:41-45. The churches cannot plead as an excuse that this would involve a political issue, for they have voluntarily entered the arena of politics, in which they take an active part. If they take part in the administration of the government, they are responsible for their neglect of the poor and the oppressed; for protection is one of the chief uses of civil government. A government which refuses to protect the innocent who are oppressed and abused is unworthy of its name. A government which sanctions abuses, and refuses to redress wrongs, is nearly as bad as anarchy; it takes the right of self-defense from the subject, while it refuses to act as the defender of the down-trodden and the helpless. Temperance reformers (professedly so, at least) say you cannot make people good by law. This is a very flimsy pretense. You can restrain vice and crime by law, and by law punish the man who willfully and feloniously injures his fellow man. If not, why do we have laws. What is the use of law? Shall we abolish our criminal courts, and throw open the prison doors, because we cannot make men good by law? Shall we let the depraved, the vicious, prey unrestrained upon the helpless, and undermine the morals of society, because we cannot make them virtuous by law? We are opposed to enforcing religion or religious tests by law. Such action is entirely outside the province of civil government. But restraining vice and punishing crime is quite another thing. No government has a right to license men to invade the rights of other men, or to demoralize society. Such action is a usurpation of powers not inherent in any man, or capable of being conferred by man. We know of no reason why any man should be permitted to deal in intoxicating beverages, nor why a church should not be the strictest kind of a "temperance society," in the highest and best use of the phrase. We echo the query of the writer quoted—"Why is this not done?" Can the churches professing the religion of Christ—the religion of humanity and universal benevolence—tell why? Sunday Not the True Seventh Day.
By John Nevins Andrews
THE testimony of the Bible, which we are about to present, directly and unequivocally establishes the fact that God did command the Hebrew people to observe his own hallowed rest-day. But with this plain testimony before them, these professed ministers of Christ deliberately affirm that God took from the Hebrews his own holy rest-day, and gave them, in its stead, the day next prceding it. The responsibility of such teaching is not to be estimated. It is time that such teachers should examine their right hands. See Isa. 44:20. To justify the severity of this language, which certainly proceeds from no ill will toward those who have done this great wrong, we adduce some of the plainest statements of the book of God. 1. Here are the words of the grand Sabbath law:— "Remember the Sabbath-day to keep holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it." Ex. 20:8-11. And now to observe the following facts:— (1) We have here no occasion to argue that the law of God speaks to all mankind (Rom. 3:19), and that it does therefore speak to the Hebrews. We know that whether others are concerned or not, it was, when spoken, addressed personally to the Hebrews, and that it was committed to them in ten oracles. Rom. 3:1, 2; Acts 7:38; Ex. 20. (2) When the fourth commandment enjoins the remembering of the Sabbath-day to keep it holy, it is, as all Bible students know, the same as saying in plain English; "Remember the rest-day to keep it holy;" for Sabbath in Hebrew, and rest in English, are the same. (3) This precept plainly states whose rest-day it is that should be remembered; viz., the rest-day of the Lord of hosts, which is the seventh day. (4) It also states the reason for the existence of this rest-day, and for the obligation of its observance; viz., that God rested on this day from the work of creation, and that he did, for this cause, bless and hallow the day. It is therefore perfectly manifest, (a) That this precept does plainly and explicitly require the observance of the Creator's rest-day; (b) That it was spoken directly to the Hebrew people, and was certainly obligatory upon them, whether it was upon any other persons or not. How inexcusable, therefore, is the conduct of those theologians who assert that God commanded the Hebrew people to keep the sixth day of the week! and that in proof of this they should declare that, having counted the age of the world to the day, they have ascertained that the day which the Hebrews observed was one day too early in the week to be the Sabbath of the Lord! Would they ever thus charge God with folly, were it not that they hope to relieve themselves thereby from the absurdity of keeping as a Sabbath the day after the Sabbath of the Lord? If the responsibility of enjoining and of observing the day before the true Sabbath can be fastened upon the Lawgiver and upon the Hebrews, then the people of the present day can relieve themselves from the folly of keeping the day after the Lord's Sabbath, and can prove that they are actually observing his seventh day in their first day of the week! And so learned ministers dare to meet the express language of the fourth commandment, and claim to prove, by a count of the days from creation, that the seventh day, observed by the Hebrews, was not the Lord's seventh day, but his sixth! And, moreover, that "the first day" of the four evangelists is not the Lord's first day, but his seventh! 2. But let us compare the fourth commandment with the record in Genesis second. The one is the grand Sabbath law, the other is the record of the origin of the Sabbath. Gen. 2:2, 3: "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 that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." Ex. 20:10, 11: "But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it." The words, "hallowed," Ex. 20:11, and "sanctified," in Gen. 2:3, are both translated from the same Hebrew word, and each signifies to set apart, or appoint, to a holy use. Now it is plain, (1) That Gen. 2:3 does set apart to a holy use the day of the Creator's rest. (2) It is also certain that the fourth commandment repeats the very words of the institution of the Sabbath, and that it enjoins the observance of the day thus instituted. So that in the fourth commandment, even though we except the rest of mankind, God did require the Hebrew people to keep the very day hallowed in Eden. Yet by immense labor expended in attempting the exact count of days from Christ back to Adam, and from Adam forward to Moses, Dr. Akers satisfies himself, and many others, that the Hebrews, in attempting to keep the seventh day, were obliged to take up with the sixth under a false name! and that those who are keeping the first day of the week are really keeping the true seventh day in disguise! So that the Hebrews failed to keep the seventh day though they used their best endeavors to keep it! And the professed people of God, in these days, keep it without even intending to do it! Surely it is easier to obey God now than it was then! 3. But it is time to nail the wicked falsehood that the Hebrews kept the sixth day instead of the seventh; for it furnishes a plausible excuse for breaking the fourth commandment under pretense of keeping it in the observance of the first day of the week. We state the fact, therefore, in plain terms, and will prove it by the express language of the Bible that the Hebrews did keep the seventh day, and did not keep the sixth! We have shown that the rest-day of the Lord, commanded in Ex. 20, is the very seventh day set apart to a holy use in Gen. 2, 3. Now we will prove, (1) That that people knew, beyond all dispute, what day this seventh day was; (2) That they kept the very day pointed out by Him who commanded that his rest-day be observed; (3) That the language explicitly states that they did not keep the sixth day. The reader is well aware that, some weeks before God spoke the ten commandments, he began to feed the Hebrews by bread from heaven. Ex. 16. This bread fell during six days, and did not fall on the seventh, and this course of continued for forty years. Now it is perfectly certain that, when God, in the fourth commandment, required men to keep the seventh day on which he had rested, and that when in his providence he showed, by the miracle of the manna, which day the seventh day was, the seventh day of the one was identical with the seventh day of the other, unless God can contradict himself. And we do read that the seventh day pointed out by the manna was "the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord." Verse 23. And Israel did rest on the seventh day, but did on the sixth day gather and cook their manna for the Sabbath. What then shall we say of those who undertake to prove that Israel kept the sixth day, and not the seventh, for the Sabbath? Which is more reliable, their counting of time, or God's designation of the numbers of the days? Is it not a dreadful crime to falsify God's word. 4. God gave his Sabbath, to be a sign between them and himself. Ex. 31; Eze. 20. All other nations had forgotten the true God, and were worshipers of false gods of every kind. That Israel might keep in their memory the Creator, who is the only true God, he gave them his Sabbath which he hallowed when he made the heaven and the earth. The observance of the Creator's rest-day designated the Hebrews as the worshipers of the only true God. Those who attempt to prove by counting, and from various inferences, that God gave Israel the sixth day, and not the seventh, assert that the Sabbath could not have been a sign to Israel unless God gave them a different day from that which he ordained in the beginning. And yet when God gave them this sign, he made its entire significance to consist in their keeping his rest-day; because that he had created the heaven and the earth in six days, and rested on the seventh. Ex. 31:17. And this is therefore a decisive proof that the Hebrews did observe the day of the Creator's rest, and not one of the six days of his labor. 5. When God came down upon Mount Sinai, he is said (Neh. 9:14) to have made known his Sabbath, i. e., his rest-day. This cannot be spoken in an absolute sense, for they were already keeping it. It must imply that he made it known more perfectly, even as he made himself known in Egypt. Eze. 20:5. But how far from the truth is this language, if, instead of giving them his holy rest-day, he gave them the day before it, as proved by the count of Dr. Akers and Mr. F. To say, as does Dr. Akers, that he had just before given them another Sabbath, and authorized them to tread his own Sabbath under their feet, is a most inexcusable perversion of the truth! 6. What God requires of the Jews and Gentiles alike, is to keep his holy day. Isa. 58:13. Who shall have the presumption to say that he authorized the Jews to disregard it and to keep another day? 7. When the Saviour spoke of the design of the Sabbath, he said it was made for man. Mark 2:27, 28. God made it out of the seventh day. Gen. 2:2, 3. In the fourth commandment he bade Israel (and indeed all mankind) observe that very day. But though the Jews are men, and though they were amenable to the fourth commandment, yet Messrs. Akers, Fuller, and others, say that God gave Israel at the exodus a different Sabbath, and authorized them to violate his own rest-even from that time till the resurrection of Christ! And what is worthy of notice, our Lord had this second-rate Sabbath to keep, instead of the genuine! But this theory is proved to be false, even by the very fact that it was concerning this same so-called Jewish Sabbath, that our Lord was speaking when he said it was made for man. They had, beyond all dispute, therefore, the original Sabbath; for theirs was the one of which Christ spoke. 8. Finally, with one grand fact which cannot be counted down, nor counted out, we close this argument. The holy women who followed the Saviour to his burial, having made preparation to embalm his body, laid the spices aside at the approach of the Sabbath, and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Luke 23:56. It is certain, (1) That they kept the very day observed by Christ and his apostles and by the Jewish people; (2) That they kept the very day ordained in the commandment; Ex. 20:8-11; (3) That that day was the rest-day of God set apart at creation; Gen. 2:2, 3; Mark 2:27, 28. And now mark the decisive fact: the next day after the rest-day of the Lord was the first day of the week! Luke 24:1; Mark 16:1, 2. No wisdom of man can make the day of the Creator's rest, which the fourth commandment enjoins, identical with the first day of the week, which comes the next day after that rest-day is past!237 How much wiser in God's sight the observance of the Sabbath of the Lord (for that is the institution enforced by the commandment of God), than the mighty effort to move heaven and earth to show that the first day of the week is, itself, the hallowed rest-day of the great Creator! The text at the head of this discourse may well be cited at its conclusion: Eze. 13:6: "They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith; and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word." Are not these words true of these teachers? Reader, are you one of those that have been made "to hope that they would confirm the word"? These men are not making up the breach in the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. They are not anxious to restore that which has been broken down in God's law. They have a very different work to perform; for their business is to build up a wall of their own, and to daub it with untempered mortar. The day of God is coming; and when its great hail stones shall fall, this wall will be broken down, and every refuge of lies shall, with it, be swept away. Would you stand in the battle of the great day? Then you must make the truth of God your shelter, and this you can only do by obeying it. J. N. A.