Signs of the Times, Vol. 5, No. 48. (12/18/1879)

Signs of the Times

Dec 18, 1879

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Dec 18, 1879

THE GREAT CONTROVERSY

By Ellen G. White

General Articles.

THE GREAT CONTROVERSY.

BETWEEN CHRIST AND HIS ANGELS AND SATAN AND HIS ANGELS.

CHAPTER XV.

Jacob and Joseph.

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

Of the twelve sons of Jacob, the one for whom he had special love was Joseph; for he was the son of his beloved wife Rachel, and one of the children of his old age. He was a son of remarkable beauty. His oldest sons had arrived at manhood, and had developed unhappy traits of character. There was continual strife among the eleven; they were neither just nor benevolent toward each other. The envy and jealousy which were cherished by the several mothers making the family relation very unhappy, were instilled by word and example into the minds and hearts of the children, who grew up revengeful, jealous, and uncontrolable. They would not endure provocation, for they had too long cherished hatred and revenge. These evils will ever be found to be the result of polygamy. Each of the mothers is envious and jealous lest her own children shall not receive due attention from the father; and again they experience bitterness and discontent whenever they are made to feel that another is preferred before them. Children who grow up together surrounded by such elements are most likely to indulge in resentment for every supposed slight, and revenge for any imaginary wrongs. There is that in polygamy which dries up human affection, and tempts to the loosening of ties which should be held sacred.

Jacob's life was made very bitter by the conduct of his sons. Joseph had another spirit; he was cheerful and happy, and possessed great love for his father whose heart was bound up in his child. This preference for Joseph was unwisely manifested, and called out the revengeful disposition of his other sons. When Joseph saw the wicked course pursued by his brethren he remonstrated with them; but they hated him for his entreaties, and for daring to reprove them who were so much older than he, and accused him of being a spy upon their actions. As Joseph saw that his words and entreaties only excited wrath against himself, he laid the plans and evil purposes of his brethren before his father, which gave him knowledge of many things he otherwise would not have known. The fathers of children among the Hebrews were made responsible in a great degree for the sins of their children, when they were left without the exercise of authority and restraint. When the father's solicitude was expressed to his sons in a voice tremulous with grief, and he implored them to have respect for his gray hairs and not make his name a reproach, and to be despised because of their course, the sons felt sorry and ashamed before their father, because their wickedness was known, but felt envious and jealous of Joseph because he had informed his father of their course of sin. Jacob flattered himself that his sons repented of their wickedness, and he trusted they would reform.

Jacob unwisely gave expression to his love for Joseph in making him a present of a coat of beautiful colors. This only increased the hatred of his brothers against him; for they thought Joseph had stolen their father's affections from them, and they considered themselves ill treated and deprived of their father's confidence and love. They did not see that their own wicked course was a continual shame and disgrace to his gray hairs, and that his affections centered upon Joseph because of his purity and true excellence of character.

The Lord gave Joseph a dream which he related; Jacob would have been alarmed had he suspected the hatred and malicious feelings this dream aroused in the hearts of his sons against his beloved child. Joseph dreamed that while they were all engaged binding sheaves of grain, his sheaf arose and stood upright, and the sheaves of all the rest stood round about and bowed before his sheaf. No sooner was his dream related than they all understood its significance. His brothers exclaimed with indignation, "Shalt thou indeed have dominion over us?" Their hatred toward him burned deeper in their hearts than before. Soon the Lord gave Joseph another dream of the same import, but more strikingly significant. This dream he also related to his father and his brethren. He said, "Behold I have dreamed a dream more, and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me." The interpretation of this dream was quite as quickly discerned as was that of the first. "And his father rebuked him, and said unto him, what is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying."

Like a youthful prophet Joseph stood before them in the simplicity of virtuous innocence, his beautiful countenance lighted up with the spirit of inspiration. His brethren could but admire his purity and goodness; but they did not choose to leave their wicked course and become virtuous and noble like him. The spirit that actuated Cain was fastening upon them. Like him they hated their brother because he was innocent and righteous and beloved of his father, while they were wicked and a source of grief to their father as Cain was to his father.

Joseph's father had confidence that the Lord was revealing the future to his son; but his words of apparent severity did not satisfy his elder sons, for the voice of tremulous affection betrayed his true feelings. He called to mind the promise of God to Abraham, to Isaac, and to himself. His heart had been grieved and disappointed in his older sons, but as he saw the qualities of mind possessed by Joseph, his hopes centered in him. He hoped that God would wonderfully bless him, the eldest son of his beloved Rachel. The favor with which Jacob regarded Joseph could not be concealed, and the gorgeous colored coat which he had given him was a clear evidence to his sons of his partiality. This they thought gave them sufficient reason for harboring jealousy, hatred, and revenge in their hearts.

These brothers were obliged to move from place to place in order to secure better pasturage for their flocks, and sometimes they did not see their father for months. At one time Jacob directed them to go to Shechem, a place which he had purchased. After they had been gone some time, and he had received no word from them he feared that evil might have befallen them, knowing that they were near where their cruelty had been practiced upon the Shechemites. So he sent Joseph to Shechem to find his brethren, and bring him word of their condition. Had Jacob known the true feelings of his sons toward Joseph, he would not have trusted him alone with them; but they had concealed their wicked purposes from him.

When Joseph arrived at the place where his father supposed his brethren were, he did not find them. As he was traveling from field to field in search of them, a stranger learned his errand and told him they had gone to Dothan. He had already traveled fifty miles, and, a distance of fifteen more lay before him. This was a long journey for the youth; but he performed it cheerfully, desiring to relieve the anxiety of his beloved father, and longing to see his brethren who were enshrined in his affections. But he was illy repaid for his love and obedience.

At length he saw his brethren in the distance and hastened to greet them. They also saw him coming, his gay colored coat making him easily recognized; but as they beheld it, their feelings of envy, jealousy, and hatred, were aroused. They did not consider the long journey he had made on foot to meet them; they did not think of his weariness and hunger, and that as their brother he had claims upon their hospitality, their tender consideration and brotherly love. The sight of that coat which signalized him in the distance filled them with a Satanic frenzy. "And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh."

There seemed to be a common feeling of deadly hatred in their hearts. They had engaged in carnage and destruction until their feelings had become calloused. The indulgence of one known sin deadens the conscience so that it is more easily overcome with the next temptation. Thus step by step the course of sin and transgression is pursued until there is a harvest of crime through the indulgence of the first sin. These men regardless of the consequences, had passed on from stage, to stage hardening their hearts in the indulgence of sin until they had to all intents and purposes the spirit of Cain. They were enraged that Joseph had heretofore informed against them, and they looked upon him as a spy.

They had ere this decided that if a favorable opportunity offered they would slay him; the proposition was made, "Come now, therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, some evil beast hath devoured him; and we shall see what will become of his dreams."

This terrible purpose would have been carried out had not Reuben shrunk from participating in the murder of his brother. He plead for Joseph, showing with clear arguments what guilt would ever rest upon them, and, that the curse of God would come upon them for such a crime. He proposed to have him cast alive into a pit, and left there to perish, meaning to take him out privately and return him to his father. He left their company, fearing that his feelings would betray his design.

Joseph came on, glad and joyful that the object of his long search was accomplished. But, instead of a pleasant greeting, he met only scorn, abuse, and fierceness of looks which terrified him. He was immediately seized, and the coat which had created so much hatred, was stripped from him with the most taunting remarks. He had never before received such treatment and he expected his brethren would immediately kill him. His mind runs back to his home, his father, and the blessing he had received as he parted from him, and then he anticipated the sorrow he would feel at his death and the guilt of his murderers. He entreated them to spare his life, but all to no avail; he was helpless in the hands of infuriated men whose hearts were insensible to pity, and whose ears were deaf to the cry of anguish. But the eye of God was upon him, and Joseph's cries of distress reached his throne. His brethren thrust him into a dark pit and then sat down to enjoy their customary meal. But while they were eating, they saw a company of Ishmaelites approaching, and Judah, who was beginning to regret what had been done, suggested that here was an opportunity to sell their brother and obtain money, which would be better than leaving him to perish in the pit; for said he, is he not our own flesh? Then, too, Judah thought that he could be disposed of by being removed entirely from them. All agreed to the proposition of Judah; Joseph was drawn up out of the pit, and heartlessly sold as a slave.

(To be continued).

HE WILL COME.

By Mrs. L. D. A. Stuttle

ONE by one the moments fly, And the rolling years go by, Soon the glorious Messiah shall appear. Fearful signs on sea and land, Speak his advent near at hand, And the "hearts of men are failing them for fear."

CHORUS : Joy, Oh joy the saints are singing, Cheer up pilgrim, he will come— Free from death, and sin, and care— We will meet him in the air, And we'll ever bask in our eternal home.

Christian raise thy drooping head; For thy blessed King hath said, "I am coming soon to judge the sons of men And I hasten to prepare Mansions beautiful and fair. If I leave you I will surely come again."

CHORUS : Oh! we long to hail that hour, When in majesty and power He shall come with angels beautiful and fair, And the dead shall hear his voice, And the living saints rejoice, And together fly to meet him in the air.

CHORUS : Saviour, come! make no delay; Haste to bring the welcome day, When thy weary ones shall share eternal joy. O, we long to be at rest, In those mansions fair and blest, Where the wily foe can never more annoy. MRS. L. D. A. STUTTLE. Vernon, Mich., Nov. 28, 1879.

A “Magnificent Preacher.”

By Editor

The North-Western Christian Advocate thus discourses about popular pastors. All can discover the point in this, and all must acknowledge that it is apt and correct. But it is unfortunate that nine-tenths of those who will read this and appear to appreciate its force, would dismiss a good, faithful, pious, but not brilliant, pastor, and “call” such an one as is here described. The current is in the direction of oratorical, frothy preaching, and few have strength of principle to make any effort to turn it into a better channel. “A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means [take into their hands]; and my people love to have it so.” Jer. 5 : 30. 31. But here is the discourse:—

“Like his prototype of old, Apollos is ‘an eloquent man.’ He was born so. When he was a small boy he used to astonish his fond parents and teachers by his wonderful eloquence in spouting Rienzi’s address and the celebrated philippic of Patrick Henry. Apollos conceived the idea of preaching as the vocation in which he might excel all competitors. His parents were surprised by the announcement of his intention, for, though he had been a member of the church from infancy, and had some inclination to piety, he was not aggressively religious. But the assurance of his college professor of moral philosophy that he had a remarkable genius for moral ideas and that he would be sure to take the highest rank as a pulpit orator, decided the question; and so, after passing through the theological school, Apollos entered the ministry.

There is a peculiar flavor in the preaching of Apollos. He has wonderful personal magnetism. Indeed, the personnel of the man, his fine figure, striking attitudes and gestures, are so forcibly ‘posited in your consciousness’ that you cannot forget them. The subject matter of his preaching is not specially solid or scriptural, though he never fails to take a text from the Bible, and that is a mark of his good sense, worthy of note in these days of progress. But he has such a brilliant imagination and such fertility of invention that you feel it unreasonable to require him to stick to his text. And there is such a glamor of beauty and poetic halo in his thoughts and manners, and such rhetorical finish in his language, that you go away filled with enthusiasm—for the man. When you come to try to recall what he said, in order to sift it and get the residuum of truth in it, you are at a loss, and feel persuaded that there is something so ethereal about Apollos as to elude the grasp of ordinary mortals. You cannot exactly identify that ethereal something with the Holy Ghost; nor do you feel specially fortified and strengthened in your religious life; but of this you are certain: That Apollos is a great man; that he is emphatically what the daily papers in this city call him—‘a magnificent preacher.’”

Active and Passive Meekness

MEEKNESS is imperfect if it be not both active and passive; if it will not enable us to subdue our own passions and resentments, as well as qualify us to bear patiently the passions and resentments of others.

A Chinese Proverb on Human Nature

A CHINESE proverb says: “Man cannot become perfect in a hundred years; he can become corrupt in a single day.”

BARNABAS, A. D. 71

The Immortality of the Soul—History of the Doctrine.

(Continued.)

TEACHING OF THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS.

We now come in the history of our subject to inquire into the faith and teaching of those who in the Christian church were the immediate successors of the apostles. In the Apocryphal New Testament we have the writings of the "Apostolic Fathers."

Says Archbishop Wake, these epistles are a full and perfect collection of "all the genuine writings that remain to us of the apostolic fathers, and carry on the antiquity of the church from the time of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament to about a hundred and fifty years after Christ. Except the Holy Scriptures, there is nothing remaining of the truly genuine Christian antiquity more early. They contain all that can with any certainty be depended upon of the most primitive fathers." (Preface to Abp. Wake's Apos. Fathers, p. 15.)

It is not claimed that these writings are all genuine and reliable; for it is generally agreed that they are not. Some of them, no doubt, were written by the men whose names they bear, and at a very early date; and all of them were probably written sometime during the first two centuries. They simply show the faith of the writers at that time. As they are all the Christian writings that have come down to us from the time immediately following that of the apostles, they are important. We now inquire what they taught upon the subject in hand. Do we find them all teaching the immortality of the soul, the conscious state of the dead, endless torment, etc.? If so, this fact should have some weight with us. But if, on the other hand, we find them harmonizing with the Bible in teaching the mortality of man, the sleep of the dead, and the destruction of the wicked, then we shall have further evidence that we have understood the inspired writers correctly upon this subject.

Let us examine these writings, and see if, as late as one hundred and fifty years after Christ, the immortality of the soul, or eternal misery, was taught by any of the Christians.

BARNABAS, A. D. 71.

The first writer is Barnabas, A. D. 71. We will lay before the reader every passage of his that relates to our subject. He says, "There are, therefore, three things ordained by the Lord,—the hope of life, the beginning and the completion of it." (Chap. 1 : 7)

Life, then, was what they hoped for. He teaches that the wicked will perish. "A man will justly perish, if, having the knowledge of the way of truth, he shall nevertheless not refrain from the way of darkness." (Chap. 4 : 7.) Again: "Because ye shall all wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat you up." (Chap. 5 : 1.) Of Jesus he says, "They that put their trust in him, shall live forever." (Chap. 7 : 7) He says that those who are wicked are "adjudged to death." (Chap. 9 : 6.) And the wicked "are as the dust which the wind scattereth away from the face of the earth." "Thou shalt not cleave to those that walk in the way of death." "The mouth is the snare of death." (Chap. 14 : 6, 17.) "But the way of darkness is crooked and full of cursing; for it is the way of eternal death, with punishment, in which they walk meet those things that destroy their own souls." Here he says eternal death, not eternal misery. "But he that chooses the other part shall be destroyed, together with his works. For this cause there shall be both a resurrection and a retribution." "For the day is at hand in which all things shall be destroyed, together with the wicked one. The Lord is near, and his reward is with him." (Chap. 15 : 1, 8, 10.)

This is a good witness, showing the faith of the church at that time. He represents that the wicked shall die, perish, be destroyed, be blown away as dust, and eaten as a moth; that souls will be destroyed; and he speaks of the sleep of the dead, the coming of the Lord, the resurrection, and retribution thereafter. But, on the other hand, he does not, in all his writings, so much as once hint that man has an immortal soul. He never intimates anything about an endless hell. Dr. Beecher admits that Barnabas perhaps, taught the annihilation of the wicked. He remarks, "What he says may be understood to the annihilation of the wicked." (Doc. of Scrip. Ret. p. 281.)

CLEMENT, A. D. 91-100.

The next writer is Clement, A. D. 91-100, in his two letters to the Corinthians. He was a disciple of Peter's, and bishop of Rome. He exhorts us to lay "aside all vanity, and contention, and envy which leads unto death." (1 Cor. 5 : 1.) Simple death is the doom of the sinner, according to Clement. Again: "The transgressors shall perish from off the face of it [the earth]."

He attaches great importance to the resurrection. "Let us consider, beloved, how the Lord does continually show us, that there shall be a future resurrection." (1 Cor. 11 : 16.) Once more: "And again, Job says, Thou shalt raise up this flesh of mine, that has suffered all these things." (Chap. 12 : 9.) He teaches that the time of reward is at the second advent. "Let us therefore strive with all earnestness, that we may be found in the number of those that wait for him, so that we may receive the reward which he has promised." (Chap. 17 : 6.)

He represents immortality as a gift from God. "How blessed and wonderful, beloved, are the gifts of God. Life in immortality!" (Verses 1, 2.) And again he says to the same effect, "By him would God have us to taste the knowledge of immortality." (Verse 18.) It is through Jesus, then, that we obtain immortality. He represents man as mortal, made of the dust. "But what can a mortal man do? Or what strength is there in him that is made out of the dust?" (Chap. 18 : 2.)

Of the punishment of the wicked he says, "They therefore who do anything which is not agreeable to his will, are punished with death." (Verse 21.) In this second letter to the Corinthians he says, "What think ye, then, that he shall suffer, who does anything that is not fitting in the combat of immortality?" (2 Cor. 3 : 12.) He places himself squarely against universalism, or any hope of repentance in the future world. "For after we shall have departed out of this world, we shall no longer be able either to confess our sins or repent in the other." (Verse 16.) He teaches that when the wicked are once destroyed, it will be forever. There will be no restoration from it. For he says, "Nothing shall deliver us from eternal punishment if we shall disobey his commands." (Chap. 3 : 8.)

The wicked are destroyed. This is their punishment. And as they never come to life again, their punishment is eternal. Thus in the writings of Clement we find nothing of the immortality of the soul, nothing of purgatory, nothing of deathless spirits, nothing of going to Heaven at death, nothing of eternal torment, or anything like this. Clement teaches that immortality is a gift of God, to be obtained through the resurrection, and that the wicked are utterly to perish in the second death. He exhorts us to "lay hold on eternal life." And again: "Keep your bodies pure, and your soul without spot, that ye may receive eternal life." (2 Cor. 3 : 17, 18.)

HERMAS, A. D. 100.

The next in order of time is Hermas, who wrote about A. D. 100. He is supposed to have been a companion of Paul. (Romans 16 : 14.) He has spoken very clearly on the subject in hand. He very plainly teaches the utter destruction of the sinner. "For the remembrance of evils worketh death." (Vision 2 : 23.) Again: "Happy are all they that do righteousness. They shall not be consumed forever." (Verse 28.) He represents the dead as being asleep. Of certain ones he says they "are those which are fallen asleep, and have suffered for the sake of the Lord's name." (Vision 3 : 54.)

The second book of Hermas is called his "Commands." In that he says, "Thou shalt live to God, if thou shalt keep this commandment." (Commands 1 : 5.) Again: "By so doing, thou mayest attain unto life." (Com. 3 : 9.) And again: "They who do such things, follow the way of death." (Com. 4 : 2.) Of the way of evil he says, "It is rugged and full of thorns, and leads to destruction." (Com. 6 : 4.) He represents that there is no life out of the Lord. Thus: "Whatsoever shall fear him, and keep his commandments, their life is with the Lord; but they who keep them not, neither is life in them." (Com. 7 : 6.)

Of sin he says, "It is very horrible and wild; and as its wildness consumes men. And especially if a servant of God shall chance to fall into it, except he be very wise, he is ruined by it; for it destroys those who have not the garment of a good desire, and are engaged in the affairs of this present world, and delivers them unto death." (Com. 12 : 2.) Again he says that the wicked "shall die forever." (Verse 6.) That is, there is no resurrection from that death. His death is eternal. Again he says, God "is able to save and to destroy you." (Verse 33.)

The third book of Hermas is called his "Similitudes." In this he deals largely in illustrations. After showing how certain dry trees were cast into the fire, and utterly burned up, he says that these represent the wicked. "For the other kind of men, namely, the wicked, like the trees which thou sawest dry, shall as such be found dry and without fruit in that other world; and like the dry wood shall be burned." (Sim. 4 : 4.) Here their utter destruction is plainly taught.

Again he says, "If thou shalt defile the Holy Spirit, thou shalt not live." (Sim. 5 : 59.) Again: "This kind of men are ordained unto death." (Sim. 6 : 13.) Sinners "shall bring death upon themselves." (Verse 44.) Once more: "They render themselves liable to death." (Verse 38.) "But for those who repent not, death is prepared." (Sim. 8 : 55.) "They shall purchase death unto themselves." (Verse 64.) If they shall not repent, they shall die." (Verse 67.) Again: "These have utterly lost life." (Verse 68.) The following testimony is very plain: "For before a man receives the name of the Son of God, he is ordained unto death; but when he receives that seal, he is freed from death, and assigned unto life." (Sim. 9 : 152.) Of the wicked he says, "These are condemned to death." (Verse 179.) This statement he repeats a large number of times, so many that we do not try to quote them all.

This is the whole testimony of Hermas upon the nature of man. He sets before the people life and death. In all his writings, life is held out as the reward of obedience, and death as the punishment everywhere threatened. He gives no hint of consciousness between death and the resurrection. He says nothing of going to Heaven or hell at death. He says nothing of eternal torment. As to the immortality of the soul, the deathless spirit, and the like, he is totally silent. Hermas then, plainly believed in the mortality of man, the sleep of the dead, and the destruction of the wicked.

IGNATIUS, A. D. 107.

Ignatius was bishop of Antioch about A. D. 107, and is the next of the apostolic fathers. There are several epistles ascribed to him.

Epistle to the Ephesians.—In this epistle he says the Lord suffered "that he might breathe the breath of immortality unto his church." (Chap. 4 : 4.) Evidently, then, immortality comes alone through Christ. Hence he says again, "Why do we suffer ourselves foolishly to perish, not considering the gift which the Lord has truly sent to us?" (Verse 6.) Then he says, "Forasmuch as he designed to abolish death." (Verse 14.) And again in the same strain, speaking of the Lord's supper he says, "Which is the medicine of immortality, our antidote, that we should not die, but live forever in Christ Jesus." (Verse 16.)

These testimonies are very plain. Death is the portion of the sinner; immortality comes through Christ. With the New Testament, he says that the sinner "shall depart into unquenchable fire." (Verse 3.) As we have shown elsewhere, they will be burned up in a fire that cannot be extinguished.

Epistle to the Magnesians.—In this epistle he says, "Seeing, then, all things have an end, there are these two indifferently set before us, death and life." (Chap. 2 : 1.) Here he is in harmony with the whole Bible, as we have shown. He says that when the sinner is rewarded according to his deeds, he will cease to exist. "For should he have dealt with us according to our works, we had not now had a being." (Chap. 3 : 7.)

Epistle to the Trallians.—Of Christ he says, "Who died for us, that so believing in the death, ye might escape death." (Chap. 1 : 5.) Again: "I refrain myself, lest I should perish in my boasting." (Verse 12.)

Epistle to the Romans.—He here rests all upon the resurrection. Speaking of his martyrdom he says, "For it is good for me to set from the world, unto God, that I may rise again unto him." (Chap. 1 : 8.)

There is no reference to this subject in his epistle to the Philadelphians nor in that to the Smyrnæans.

Epistle to Polycarp.—In this epistle he says, "Be sober, as the combatant of God: the crown proposed to thee is immortality and eternal life." (Chap. 1 : 12.) He plainly teaches the sleep of the dead and the destruction of the wicked, thus: "Labor with one another; contend together, run together, suffer together; sleep together, and rise together; as the stewards, and assessors and ministers of God." (Chap. 2 : 13.) He thus exhorts these ministers to suffer together in their warfare, to sleep together in death, and to rise together in the resurrection.

This is the whole of Ignatius's testimony. Like all others, he is utterly silent with regard to the immortality of the soul, or anything looking in that direction. Of the writings of this father Dr. Beecher says, "In some cases the idea of annihilation is suggested." (Script. Ref., p. 283.)

(To be Continued.)

Is Sinai Extinct?

By Theodore L. Cuyler

We have just laid down the fascinating biography of the late Dr. Eadie of Scotland—the erudite commentator, and one of the most robust Scotchmen of his time. The Doctor describes a wonderful night which he spent at the base of Mount Sinai during a protracted thunder-storm. For hours, the whole atmosphere was ablaze with lightning, and the ancient mountain roared as if the chariots of Jehovah were coursing through the granite pinnacles. It was a most vivid reproduction of that scene when there were thunders and lightnings on the summit, and all Israel waited, trembling, in the camp beneath.

As we read the striking narrative the thought arose in our mind: Oh! that the people of our times could be made to hear more distinctly the solemn voices of Sinai, uttering forth the sacred authority of law, the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and the sure retribution of a wrath to come! Never was there a time when there was a more urgent necessity for preaching God's holy law, in all its scope of righteous demand and just penalty. Never was there a time when the popular conscience needed a more thorough toning up. Never has there been a time when that sharp sword of the Spirit—which Finney used to wield—was oftener required to cleave sinners' hearts and to bring them to repentance.

Some people imagine that Sinai is extinct. Certain pulpits seem to be pitched so far away from the sublime mountain, that its august peak is no longer visible, and its righteous thunders against sin are no longer audible. With this school of rose-water ministers, the theology of law is voted obsolete and barbarous; the world is to be tamed and sweetened and sanctified entirely by a theology of love. They preach a one-sided God—all mercy and no justice—with one-half of his glorious attributes put under eclipse. Even sinners are not to be warned, with tears and entreaties, to flee from the wrath to come. They are to be coaxed into holiness by a magical process which makes nothing of repentance, and simply requires a "faith" which costs no more labor than the snap of a finger. This shallow system may produce long rolls of "converts," but it does not produce solid, sub-soiled Christians.

Sinai is not an extinct mountain in Bible theology. Not one jot of its holy law has been lowered or repealed. In one very vital sense, no Christian is "free from the law." It would not be a "happy condition" for him if he were so, any more than it would be a happy condition for New York or Chicago to disband their police, and to let loose their criminals into the streets. So far from being a kindness, it would be eventual cruelty to any man, or any community, to place them beyond the reach and the just penalties of divine law.

This is especially an unfortunate time in which to preach a limber-backed theology which has no stiffening of the word "ought" in its fiber, and which seldom disturbs men's consciences with the retributions of sin. Society will not be regenerated with cologne-water. We need more of the sacred authority of law in our homes—more enforcement of law in the commonwealth—more reverence for God's law in our hearts—more law preaching in our pulpits, and more "law-work" in the conversion of souls which are to represent Christ by keeping his commandments. Such

successful workmen as Lyman Beecher (would to God that his voice could ring again in certain pulpits!) and Chas. G. Finney, and Kirk, and Daniel Baker, made much of the moral government of God. They never capped Sinai. Under their plain, bold preaching of the guilt of sin, and its deserved retribution, the hearts of the sinners were pricked through with sharp conviction. Being thus convicted of their own guilt, sinners came to know why they required an atonement, and they understood why they must flee to a glorious all sufficient Saviour. Such preaching of the truth broke up the fallow-ground, and produced great crops of thorough Christians.

Set it down as a truism that the minister does the best work who emphasizes most forcibly the depravity of the human heart, the majesty of law, and the complete sufficiency of Christ's life as our model, and Christ's death as the atoning sacrifice for sin. The apostles preached law as well as gospel. Peter "pricked the hearts" of three thousand sinners with the naked blade of truth, and they were converted to Christ before sunset. Paul reasoned about righteousness, temperance, judgment to come, in the very teeth of a licentious governor. All the best revival discourses of Whitefield, Edwards, Nettleton and Payson emphasized the holiness of God, the guilt of sin, and indispensableness of obeying Christ's commandments. The only criticism I have to make on the preaching of my beloved friend Moody, is that he does not make quite enough of repentance before a sinner trusts Christ, nor enough of holy living as the proof that he has trusted Christ. Brother Moody gloriously exalts the cross; but "Christ crucified" is not the whole of the Bible, after all.

It is not only in awakening sinners that God's law plays a vital part: it is equally vital as an element in healthy, vigorous, useful, well-developed piety. Sweet and devout emotions are very pleasant in their place, but Christianity is a great deal more than a rapture. It does not begin or end in a song or a sacrament. It is a living loyalty to God. Holiness really signifies a willing submission to God, a constant obedience to him. Christ cannot be sincerely loved except by the disciple who keeps his laws.

Then, dear brethren, in a time of laxity and license, when men break trusts, and varnish over frauds, and deride strictness as "puritanical," and make a mock at God's law, let us direct their eyes toward Sinai, as well as toward Calvary. Knowing the terror of the Lord, let us persuade men to repent and flee unto that crucified Jesus whose blood cleanseth from all sin. He who thundered on Sinai, invites from Calvary.—T. L. Cuyler, D. D., in Advance.

Courtesy and Character

The countenance and manners of some persons may be compared to the inscriptions on their monuments, which speak nothing but good of what is within; but he who knows anything of the world, or of the human heart, will no more trust to the courtesy, than he will depend on the epitaph.—From Cabinet of Moral Literature.

CHRISTMAS HYMN.

By Harriet Kimball

CHRIST is born our blessed Saviour; Sing the wondrous Life begun! Man divine and God incarnate, Israel, lo! thy holy One! Now fulfilled the prophet’s vision; See the child, the Lord of all, Stript indeed of heavenly splendor, Choosing for His couch a stall. Hail, Messiah! Hail, All Hail!

Wonderful, the Seer proclaimed Thee, Mighty God and Prince of peace, King whose everlasting kingdom Shall forevermore increase. Yet no royal sign or title Could thy boundless grace declare, Like that name of endless sweetness Thou for us alone dost bear. Jesus! Jesus, Hail! All Hail!

Jesus—Saviour of His people! Jesus—Shepherd of His flock! Well of life and hidden manna, Wayside strength and tower of rock! Jesus, see Thy church adoring Prostrate at Thy infant feet, Her Redeemer’s praise outpouring In that name of names most sweet! Jesus! Jesus, Hail! All Hail! —Harriet Kimball, in Independent.

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