Earlier text: I WILL COME AGAINTHOUGHTS ON THE BOOK OF DANIEL.
VERSE 1. It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; 2. and over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first; that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. 3. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. 4. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. 5. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. Daniel was a chief actor in the kingdom of Babylon in the height of its glory, and from that time on to the time that the Medes and Persians took the throne of universal empire; yet he gives us no connected account of events that occurred during his long connection with these kingdoms. He only touches upon an event here and there such as is calculated to lead the people of God in all ages to faithfulness, and inspire faith and hope and courage in their hearts. The event narrated in this chapter is alluded to by the apostle Paul in Heb. xi, where he speaks of some who through faith have “stopped the mouths of lions.” Darius set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty princes, there being, as is supposed, at that time a hundred and twenty provinces in the empire, each one having its prince or governor. By the victories of Cambyses and Darius Hystaspes it was afterward enlarged to a hundred and twenty-seven provinces. Esth. i, 1. Over these one hundred and twenty were set three, and of these Daniel was chief. Preference was given to Daniel because of his excellent spirit. Daniel, who for being a great man in the empire of Babylon, might have been esteemed an enemy by Darius and so have been banished or otherwise put out of the way; or, being a captive from a nation then in ruins, might have been despised and set at naught, was not treated in either of these ways; but, to the credit of Darius be it said, he was preferred over all because the discerning king saw in him an excellent spirit. And the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then was the envy of the other rulers raised against him, and they set about to destroy him. But Daniel’s conduct was perfect so far as related to the kingdom. He was faithful and true. They could find no occasion against him on that score. Then they said they could find no occasion against him except as concerning the law of his God. So let it be with us. A person can have no better recommendation. VERSE 6. Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live forever. 7. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. 8. Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 9. Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree. 10. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and, his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Mark the course these persons took to accomplish their nefarious purposes. They came together to the king; came tumultuously, says the margin. They came as though some urgent matter had suddenly come up, and they had come unanimously to present it before him. They claimed that all were agreed. This was false; for Daniel, the chief of them all, was not of course consulted in the matter. The decree they fixed upon was one which would flatter the king’s vanity, and thus the more readily gain his assent. It would be a position before unheard of, for a man to be the only dispenser of favors and granter of petitions for thirty days. Hence the king, not fathoming their evil designs, signed the decree, and it took its place on the statute book, as one of the unalterable laws of the Medes and Persians. Mark the length to which people will go to accomplish the ruin of the good. If they had made the decree read that no petition should be asked of the God of the Hebrews, which was the real design of the matter, the king would at once have divined their object, and the decree would not have been signed. So they gave it a general application, and were willing to ignore and heap insult upon their whole system of religion, and all the multitude of their gods, for the sake of ruining the object of their hatred. Daniel foresaw the conspiracy going on against him; but took no means to thwart it. He simply committed himself to God, and left the issue to his providence. He did not leave the empire on pretended business, or perform his devotions with more than ordinary secrecy; but, when he knew the writing was signed, just as aforetime, with his face turned toward his beloved Jerusalem, he kneeled down in his chamber three times a day and poured out his prayers and supplications to God. VERSE 11. Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. 12. Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king’s decree: Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 13. Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day. 14. Then the king, when he heard these words was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. 15. Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed. 16. Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. 17. And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet; and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. It only remained for these men, having set the trap, to watch their victim that they might ensnare him therein. So they again came tumultuously together, this time at the residence of Daniel, as though some important business had called them suddenly together, to consult the chief of the presidents; and lo; they found him just as they intended and hoped, praying to his God. So far all has worked well. They were not long in going to the king with the matter, and to render it more sure, got an acknowledgment from the king that such a decree was in force. Then they were ready to inform against Daniel; and mark their mean resort to excite the prejudices of the king: “That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah.” Yes, that poor captive, who is entirely dependent on you for all that he enjoys, so far from being grateful and appreciating your favor, regards not you, nor pays any attention to your decree. Then the king saw the trap that had been prepared for him as well as for Daniel, and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him, probably by personal efforts with the conspirators, to cause them to relent, or by arguments and endeavors to procure the repeal of the law. But they were inexorable. The law was sustained; and Daniel, the venerable, the grave, the upright and faultless servant of the kingdom, is thrown, as if he had been one of the vilest of malefactors, into the den of lions, to be devoured by them. VERSE 18. Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting; neither were instruments of music brought before him; and his sleep went from him. 19. Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. 20. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel. And the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? 21. Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live forever. 22. My God has sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me; forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. 23. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. 24. And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and break all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den. The course of the king, after Daniel had been cast into the den of lions, attests his genuine interest in his behalf, and the severe condemnation he felt for his own course in the matter. At earliest dawn he repaired to the den where his prime minister had passed the night in company with hungry and ravenous beasts. Daniel’s response to his first salutation, was no word of reproach for the king’s course in yielding to his persecutors, but a term of respect and honor, “O king, live forever.” He afterward, however, reminds the king in a manner which he must have keenly felt, but to which he could take no exception, that before him he had done no hurt. And on account of his innocency, God, whom he served continually, not at intervals nor by fits and starts, had sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths. Here, then, stood Daniel preserved by a power higher than any of earth. His cause was vindicated, his innocency declared. No hurt was found on him, because he believed in his God. Faith did it. A miracle had been wrought. Why then were Daniel’s accusers brought and cast in? It is said that they attributed the preservation of Daniel, not to any miracle in his behalf, but to the fact that the lions chanced at that time not to be hungry. Then said the king, they will no more attack you than him, so we will test the matter by putting you in. The lions were hungry enough when they could get hold of the guilty; and these men were torn to pieces ere they reached the bottom of the den. Thus was Daniel’s case doubly vindicated; and thus strikingly were the words of Solomon fulfilled, “The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead.” Prov. xi, 8. VERSE 25. Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied unto you. 26. I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for he is the living God, and steadfast forever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. 27. He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. 28. So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. The result of this experience of Daniel is that another proclamation goes out through the empire in favor of the true God, the God of Israel. All men were to fear and tremble before him. What Daniel’s enemies designed to prove his ruin resulted only in his advancement. In this case, and in case of the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace, the seal of God is set in favor of two great lines of duty, 1. As in the case of the three in the fiery furnace to not yield to any known sin; and 2. As in the present case, not to omit any known duty. And from these instances, the people of God are to take encouragement, in all ages. Thus closes the historical part of the book of Daniel. We come now to the prophetical portion, which like a shining beacon light has thrown its rays over all the course of time from that point onward to the eternal kingdom. God’s Blessing on My Studies
SINCE I began to beg God's blessing on my studies, I have done more in one week than I have done the whole year before. PAUL'S VISION OF THE THIRD HEAVEN.
By John Nevins Andrews
PAUL, in 2 Cor. xi, enumerates some of the labors and sufferings incident to his ministry. He speaks with modesty, but yet with distinctness, that himself was the man who endured this heavy burden of labor and suffering. But when he passes to his visions and revelations of the Lord, observe how guardedly he speaks. "I knew a man in Christ," "such an one caught up to the third Heaven." "I knew such a man," "how that he was caught up into Paradise." Of course, this was himself. Indeed he could not know it of some other man. Besides, the connection plainly implies that he was speaking of revelations made to himself. See 2 Cor. xii, 1-7. Why then should he speak in this somewhat ambiguous manner, as to who the individual was that was thus caught up? Evidently for the reason, that in this very thing Satan had his chief power of attack. Paul's danger of exaltation, as he here tells us, lay in the matter of these wonderful revelations from the Lord. And so observe how modestly he speaks concerning this dangerous topic. It was a matter of necessity that he should speak of these visions and revelations of the Lord. Yet he might have made this an occasion of sin. His senses were exercised by reason of use to discern the approach of danger. Heb. v, 14. There was no affectation in all this. It was a sense of danger that led him to hide himself when speaking of this matter that Satan had made the special ground of powerful temptation. But why were these revelations granted to Paul? And in particular, why was this wonderful view of the third Heavens and of the Paradise of God opened to him? It does not seem very difficult to answer. When Paul says that he could not tell whether this man were in the body or out of it, he does not mean to say that he knew not whether he was dead or alive. No, by no means was this the point of doubt. He knew not whether this was a vision or a revelation of the Lord, in the highest sense. Whether the third Heaven was shown him in vision, or whether he was actually transported thither. Ezekiel speaks of himself very much in this manner. Eze. iii, 13, 14; viii, 3; xi, 1, 24; xii, 1, 2, 8; and in the book of Acts, we do learn that Philip was caught away bodily from the eunuch, and found at a considerable distance from that place. Acts viii, 39, 40. So wonderful was Paul's view that he was not certain that he had not been transported to the third Heaven bodily. He could not, in God's purpose, be translated as was Elijah. He could not then be made immortal, and like him taken thither to abide. But he could have its infinite glory displayed to him, and this was what it pleased God to grant in his case. Now the Lord never does anything without a reason. There was need of these manifestations of the Spirit of God to guide Paul in his most weighty and awfully solemn responsibilities. Paul was but a man, though greatly the superior of almost all the children of men. But he needed, in the highest sense, divine guidance. He was sensible of it, and sought it. He walked before God with such fear and trembling that even this wonderful, guiding hand of God could be revealed to him. His own judgment, indeed, had to be exercised; but even far more than sanctified judgment was often needed by him in that great work given him to do, and was, therefore, granted him in direct revelations of the Lord. But this one in particular, of which he here speaks, was evidently granted for his own personal benefit; for he was not permitted to tell what he saw. But there was a wise reason for all this. Paul's own case demanded this great encouragement and support. Probably no other person, with the single exception of "Moses, the man of God," ever bore such burdens, or performed such labors, as did this noble servant of Christ. At the very outset of his ministry the Lord said to Ananias, "I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake." Acts ix, 16. And the Holy Spirit witnessed to him in every city that bonds and afflictions did abide him. Acts xx, 23. And surely he met them. Read some of them in 2 Cor. xi. No doubt the sustaining grace of God was wonderfully granted to this servant of Christ, yet there was the utmost danger that so great and constant a pressure upon his spirits should destroy their elasticity, and bring deep gloom and discouragement upon his mind. He was but a mortal man. He had a terrible foe with which to contend. He needed help from God. Undoubtedly his lot must at times have seemed hard to him. And there was even danger that he should feel some measure of unreconciliation, or some feeling akin to it, in view of his hard lot. Poor Paul! pressed out of measure above strength, so that he despaired of life. 2 Cor. i, 9, 10. But how faithful to his servants is their great Master. Paul sought God in prayer. And as he prayed, seeking only submission and reconciliation to the will of God, asking not to have his labors and sufferings abated, but only to have strength to bear his burden, how wonderfully was his prayer answered. The Heaven was opened to him. He was transported to Paradise. He saw what is in reserve for the overcomers. He heard the unspeakable words. He must not tell to others, only in general terms, what he saw and heard. But when he wrote to the Corinthians, in this same epistle, concerning the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, he knew whereof he wrote. Now he could speak of the sufferings of this present time, as our light affliction that is but for a moment. 2 Cor. iv, 17. He was poor Paul no longer. Now he could say, "None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself." Acts xx, 24. He no longer held on to the promises of God by a hand almost paralyzed with anguish. He was raised as on the pinions of an angel, above this sharp anguish. He was exceeding joyful in all his tribulations. He was comforted in afflictions, that he might know how to comfort others. 2 Cor. i, 4. Though we may not be allowed at present, as was Paul, to look into Paradise; we do know that it is now only a step between us and that place of infinite felicity. Courage, brethren in the Lord. A brief moment of cross-bearing and anguish, and we shall be there. Hold out, faith and patience. There is a reward to the overcomer, and that reward is now, thank God, at hand to be given. THE FOUND BOOK.
By R. F. Cottrell
If men would study human character as developed in the history of the past, and consider the evidences of human depravity in the light of the backslidings and apostasies of the church in both the Jewish and Christian dispensations, and then consider that human nature remains the same as it ever has been since sin entered into the world, they would cease to wonder why a great and radical work of reform should be called for in these days. And when their sins and errors were pointed out by the word of God, they would not be so slow to admit that that word is right and they are wrong. We hear them ask, If these things are so, namely, the things which we plainly read in the Bible, why have not the Christian world and our great and learned ministers found it out? They do not stop to think how slow they are to receive the truth when they see that it is clearly revealed in the book of God. If they would do this, they would get the clue to the reason why the proud Christian world in general are so slow to see and adopt any real reform from error to truth, and from the doctrines of men to the commandments of God. Why, my friends, this has been the cry for ages past, If the Bible is right and we are wrong, why have not our learned and pious fathers found it out long ago? The great difficulty is the want of a willingness to obey the truth when it is discovered. So it has been, so it is now. Look at the kingdom of Israel. See them forsake the true God and go into idolatry, worshiping Baal and all the abominations of the heathen whom God drove out from before them. And when some good king arises who heeds the voice of the prophets and commences a work of reform in turning to God and breaking down the altars and burning the groves and defiling down the altars and burning the groves and defiling the high places of false and idolatrous worship, see how soon there comes a relapse. Another king arises that builds again these abominations. The pious reader of our times wonders when he reads, thinking if we had been in their place, we would not have turned away from God, as they did. But remember, friend, fallen human nature is the same now that it was then. But very few persons in our times would do as well in the work of reform as some of the good kings of Judah and Israel. For example look at the good Josiah, who came into power after the reign of the wicked Manasseh, when for more than half a century abominable idolatry had prevailed. The book of the law was found in the house of the Lord. It is brought to the king. What did the king do? Did he say the book must be wrong, or, at least out of date? Did he ask, If these things are so, why did not my father Amon and grandfather Manasseh find it out? No! “When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he rent his clothes.” He sends men to Huldah the prophetess saying, “Go, ye, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.” 2 Kings xxii. Now, dear friends, the book has been found. That book that has been burned in past ages by Papists, and kept from the people in their own language, has been discovered. And it testifies against the wicked idolatry of its enemies, and reveals to us the lamentable fact that we have been following the traditions of apostasy instead of the truth—keeping the commandments of men instead of the commandments of God—and consequently that “the wrath of the Lord,” even “wrath without mixture,” is coming upon us, “because our fathers” and we “have not hearkened unto the words of this book.” Do not stop to inquire why the truth has not been discovered before. The book is found. Will you obey it? Will you rend your heart and not your garment for the sins and errors of the past, and go and inquire of the Lord immediately, if peradventure you may turn away the wrath of God from you, and be hid in the day of his fierce anger? The book is found! Will you have it? GILFILLAN ON THE SABBATH.
By John Nevins Andrews
“Thoughts suggested by the Perusal of Gilfillan and other Authors on the Sabbath. By Rev. Thomas B. Brown, Pastor of the Seventh-day Baptist Church at Little Genesee, N. Y. Alfred Center N. Y.: Published by the American Sabbath Tract Society. A. H. Lewis, Agent. 1869.” Such is the title page of a new work in behalf of the Bible Sabbath. Its author is one of the ablest ministers of the Seventh-day Baptist denomination. He is a man of original mind, having something to offer upon the subject, worthy of the reader’s attention. He has the wisdom to select from the vast pile of incongruous matter in Gilfillan’s work, the few points of vital consequence on which the decision of the whole question turns. He states these points with fairness, and answers them in a manner that commends the truth to every man’s conscience. The writer uses great brevity, yet makes a very complete and satisfactory statement of the argument against those who corrupt the words of the fourth commandment. He is courteous in manner, and candid in the statement of the argument to which he replies. His defense of the truth may be characterized by a single sentence from the book of Job: “How forcible are right words!” The reader will be interested in the following quotations which are presented as samples of his style of argument. Having stated at some length the favorite fallacy of first-day writers, that the Sabbatic institution is distinct from the day of the Sabbath, and therefore capable of being moved from one day to another, the writer thus answers on pages 13, 14: “But the notion that the Sabbatic institution was ordained before the day of rest was designated, is a sheer fallacy: there is nothing in the Bible to support it. The inspired account is simply this: that the Creator, having rested on a certain day, from all his work, blessed and sanctified that DAY. Gen. ii, 2, 3. The fourth commandment is simply an injunction to remember that DAY, and to keep it holy. Ex. xx, 8–11. Careful examination of these two passages shows that every thing predicated concerning the Sabbath has reference166 to the day, and not to the institution apart from the day. The Creator’s rest is represented as taking effect on a certain day; that day he blessed and sanctified; that day we are required to remember and keep holy; in that day we are forbidden to do any work. There is no account of an institution previous to a day. On the contrary, the Creator sanctified the day on which he rested, and the Sabbatic institution is the result growing out of it.” The argument so largely dwelt upon by Sunday advocates that the observance of that day is of pecuniary advantage to men, he thus notices on page 30: “What would be thought of the Christian minister, who should urge men to embrace the gospel, chiefly on the ground that ‘godliness has promise of the life that now is’? Would he not be justly chargeable with losing sight of the great end for which Christ commanded the gospel to be preached? Would he not lessen the dignity of his subject? Would he succeed in winning souls? Would the Holy Spirit honor such preaching? Yet it were about as wise thus to commend the gospel to the unconverted,—for they could feel the force of such arguments,—as to urge Sabbath observance on the ground of its temporal advantages.” He further treats this part of the subject on pages 30–32: “We believe that all the physical, intellectual, and temporal advantages, which are claimed as resulting from the keeping of Sunday, would be as surely secured by the observance of the day of the commandment. But though these additional advantages would be reasons for greater thankfulness on the part of those who have already come into possession of the holy rest, it is not on such grounds that we urge men to observe it. We urge them to keep the Sabbath, even though they should be impoverished by doing so. We plead for it as the memorial of God’s rest at the close of creation. We urge it as the divinely appointed observance, through which the creature man is to make a solemn expression of his obligation to, and dependence on, the Author of his being.” “Is it because the Sunday observance has no such ground to stand upon, that its advocates are unwilling to rest the argument here? Do they see that the first day of the week is not a suitable time for commemorating a rest which occurred on the seventh? Do they see that an observance, held on the weekly return of the day when God began his work, is not suited for the commemoration of a rest entered upon after his work was finished. Do they thus see and feel, that their Sunday celebration is no suitable memorial of creation completed, beautified, gloriously furnished, and all ‘very good’? And is it for this reason, that they drop all allusion to the creation, after barely stating it, and begin to talk of the redemption work of Christ as the foundation of their festival; and then, as if this were too much above the appreciation of carnal men, turn to the consideration of the temporal benefits of the institution? These are questions for themselves to ponder, but we certainly think they are pertinent to the subject.” The book of Gilfillan, like the well known Sabbath Manual of Justin Edwards, deals largely in statements respecting the calamities which have in many cases fallen upon those who have neglected the proper observance of Sunday. On pages 42–44, Mr. Brown thus answers: “Now, these facts, for aught we know, may have occurred just as related; but to the interpretation put upon them we demur. If a calamity following an act determines the act to have been one of rebellion against God, what shall we say of those who had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment; who were stoned, sawn asunder, slain with the sword, wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, afflicted, tormented? If worldly prosperity is a sign of God’s approbation, then what shall we say of those who are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men; whose eyes stand out with fatness and they have more than heart could wish? Do calamities never overtake the righteous? Does prosperity never come upon the wicked? In the final summing up of all things at the great Judgment day, no doubt, it will be well with the righteous and ill with the wicked; but the veriest tyro in the school of Christ knows, or ought to know, that a person’s earthly condition is no certain index of his standing in the sight of God.
“We do not mean to intimate that calamities such as are here referred to come without cause, or that they are not ordered and directed by God. But God has his own reasons for sending them, and he has not made it our province to say what those reasons are. Whenever we undertake to determine matters so intricately wrapped in mystery, we are certain to show how little is our knowledge of the counsels of Heaven. The facts referred to are facts to be studied; their meaning carefully and solemnly pondered. But it could be wished that the attempts to interpret them in the interest of a day, the divine authority of which is yet far from undisputed, were made with a little more modesty. To the authors of such attempts we commend a passage in the life of the apostle Paul. See Acts xxviii, 3–6.” The real ground of Sabbatic observance is thus stated on page 47: “We urge the observance of the Sabbath, therefore, not because, like the other duties of the moral law, it is obviously founded in nature; not because of its conduciveness to health, long life, prosperity in business, worldly comfort; nor principally because of its conduciveness to good morals. But we urge it as a grand celebration, pointing to the great First Cause of all things, rebuking the atheism and idolatry of those who know not God, testifying against the impiety, profaneness, and vice, which are the fruits of such ignorance, and declaratory of the gladness which the works of God are fitted to inspire. Ps. xcii, 4.” On pages 54–56, Mr. Brown presents the following forcible illustration of the nature of the work wrought in the alleged change of the Sabbath, and who it was that did this work: “Now, the Sabbath is a monument which has been set up as a memorial of creation, and upon it is this inscription, which God wrote with his own finger: that having created heaven, earth, and sea, and all that in them is, in six days, he rested the seventh day, and therefore blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, constituting it the day of rest for man.
“Who then shall undertake to destroy, alter, or change this inscription? Yet our Sunday brethren (we grieve to say it) have undertaken this sacrilegious act. They have sought to alter the inscription so as to make it testify to another and different fact. What is worse, they pretend that Christ and his apostles took the lead in this matter. No, brethren, Christ never undertook to mutilate a monument which his Father had built. He did not go about to erase from its tablet the testimony which it bore against atheism and idolatry, that he might put in its place a testimony to his own proper work. He never thought of having redemption commemorated at such an expense. Not Christ, but Anti-Christ was the originator of this movement, even that Wicked One concerning whom it is said, ‘He shall think to change times and laws.’ Dan. vii, 25. The Sabbath-day, which from the beginning was a sacred day, this Anti-Christ has changed into a working day, so that it has become the busiest day of the week; and Sunday, which had always before been a working day, Eze. xlvi, 1, he has changed into a sacred day.” J. N. A. THY WILL BE DONE.
By A. Harris
ONE of the hardest things that Christians ever find to do, is to be entirely willing that God should order their lives according to his own pleasure, that his will, not theirs, should be done. Oh! what solemn depths of peace lie in those words, when he or she who utters them does so with a full sense of their import, and a perfect acquiescence in their spirit,—peace which indeed “passeth all understanding,”—peace which must inevitably have come after conflict, after suffering, sometimes after the intensest anguish that a soul is capable of. That peace comes. God is good to grant it; but he does, after contest with God himself, after the baffled, beaten soul has given up, acknowledging humbly that he knows best, and feeling willing to trust its all to him. For those Christians who have so struggled and rebelled, and cried out in distracted questioning against him, these words are written. When you set forth with your spiritual life, while you remember it was to be a warfare, you believed you should war only against “principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,” against “the world, the flesh, and the Devil;” and you knew what armor lay ready to gird yourself with, and what weapons were before you; and you said boldly with your new zeal and enthusiasm, “Send me foes to conquer,” believing yourself certain to prevail, the way looked so easy, the road so free from special danger. You did not reckon on another more arduous, more unequal, more appalling conflict, whereby your will which you blindly thought had become conformed to his, your poor will should set itself daringly against the will of the omnipotent Jehovah himself. Your will against his! What an unlikely, what a desperate thing it would then have seemed to you! You thought when he renewed your heart, and for Christ’s sake forgave your sins, that you could do anything for him; that you had made an unconditional surrender of your all to him to do with as he saw fit. After that renunciation you could not have dreamed you would ever again be found fighting against him. That was for rebels, not for his spiritual, his forgiven, his covenant children. You would not have thought the time would ever come when you could not honestly say, “Thy will be done;” and you took those very words upon your lips, asking, you know not what, hardly pondering the sorrowful signification they might have for you if God heard and answered more earnestly than you meant, or you would have cowered and trembled in apprehension and dismay. But in your desire to become conformed to his requirements, you did so pray, and he heard you. In unnumbered ways, varied as each individual needs, comes, sooner or later, the reply to their petition. And the answer comes with chastening and scourging; to some, few stripes, to others, many, with maiming and wounding, with anguish of sacrifice always.—A. Harris. The Audacity of New York Ruffians.
In the Court of General Sessions on Thursday, Recorder Hackett directed attention to the escape of the three burglars, Smith, Jones and Moore, on the previous day. Assistant District Attorney Hutchings remarked that he had no doubt if the Recorder and his associate, Judge Bedford, requested the Board of Supervisors to furnish vans to convey prisoners to and from the City Prison, they would do so. The Recorder then directed the person in charge of the court officers to see that hereafter only two prisoners shall be placed in charge of one officer in bringing them to and from the Tombs. The stairways, halls and stoop of the building in which the Court of General Sessions is held were thronged Thursday with armed thieves, who had assembled, it is thought, for the purpose of intimidating witnesses and jurors, and if possible, to rescue their associates in the event of their receiving heavy sentences. At one time, by actual count, there were more than two hundred of these ruffians present in and about the building. Captain Jourdan, seeing this state of affairs, sent a squad of police to the place, who quickly dispersed the villainous mob. It is rumored that several secret meetings of citizens were held in various parts of the city last Thursday. It is positively known that vigilance committees have been formed in the Fifth and Fifteenth wards.—N. Y. Evening Post. A TRAVELER who was passing over the Alps was overtaken by a snow storm at the top of a high mountain. The cold became intense. The air was thick with sleet, and the piercing wind seemed to penetrate into his bones. Still the traveler, for a time, struggled on. But at last his limbs were quite benumbed; a heavy drowsiness began to creep over him; his feet almost refused to move; and he lay down on the snow to give way to that fatal sleep which is the last stage of extreme cold, and from which he would certainly never have waked up again in this world. Just at that moment he saw another poor traveler coming up along the road. The unhappy man seemed to be, if possible, even in a worse condition than himself; for he, too, could scarcely move, and he appeared to be at the point of death. When he saw this poor man, the traveler, who was just going to lie down to sleep, made a great effort. He roused himself up, and he crawled, for he was scarcely able to walk, to his fellow sufferer. He took his hands into his own, and tried to warm them. He rubbed his temples, his feet, his whole body; and all the time he spoke cheering words in his ear, and tried to comfort him. As he did this, the dying man began to revive; his powers were restored, and he felt able to go forward. But this was not all; for his kind benefactor, too, was recovered by the efforts he had made to save his friend. The exertion of rubbing made the blood circulate again in his own body. He grew warm by trying to warm the other. Soon the snow-storm passed away: the mountain was crossed, and they reached their homes in safety. If you feel your heart grow cold toward others, and your soul almost perishing, try to do something which may help another soul to life, and make his heart glad; and you will often find it the best way to warm and restore and gladden your own.