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Signs of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 11.

Romanism’s Growth in Canada
Earlier text: Romanism’s Growth in Canada

HOLINESS IN THE HOME.

HOLINESS at home means habitual sweetness of temper and word, not feigned or affected, but the pure, honest outflow of a pure heart. This makes full allowance for annoyances, perplexities, sadness, grief, but rules out all "bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, . . . with all malice." Eph. 4:31.
In the home, as elsewhere, things will sometimes go wrong; disappointments will come; occasions of sudden excitement occur; provocations to anger and rashness arise; but if "the heart be established with grace," the result will be patient endurance, without either sudden sourness of spirit, or violent ebullition of passion. The presence of these would but too surely prove the absence of that wisdom from above, and which is "first pure [equivalent of holy], then peaceable, gentle, easy to be intreated," etc.
Holiness at home means a cheerful mingling of holy precept and example. To achieve the highest result for good upon the home circle, these must never be separated, and especially must never be in conflict. Are there children in the home? Paul enjoins with reference to the children of all Christian parents: "Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." This can only be done by wise union of precept and example.
—Selected.

GOD'S OBJECT LESSONS. NO. 1.

By H. F. Phelps

IN these days of advancement in the art of teaching, it is found useful, in order to impress a lesson upon the young mind, to give object lessons to illustrate the truth or lesson to be taught, so it will not be soon forgotten. It seems to me, as I read the Bible, that God understood the value of this object-lesson system, and uses it with telling force, in objects, symbols, and parables, and this, no doubt, because of the natural hardness of the human heart, and our danger, and perhaps desire, of forgetfulness. These lessons show us the nature and result of sin, and how our God hates sin, and cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance or approbation in any of his creatures. And also that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him.
Let us look at some of these object lessons. Our God loves the beautiful. So he made the world, and adorned it; he planted a garden, making it still more beautiful; he placed a happy pair in the garden to dress it, and to keep it. Everything to be desired was theirs. God and angels met with them, and became man's instructors. But the Creator would test their loyalty to Heaven. He laid but one restriction upon them: of one tree they must not eat. It was a small thing, but it was enough to test their love for God. God loved them. He withdrew from them no good thing. But, how sad! They sinned; they ate of the tree. Then came the first great object lesson, to show how God hates sin.
They are driven out of the garden. They can no longer walk in its shady bowers. No more can they pluck its delicious fruit. No more listen to the merry songsters of their Paradise home, as they flit from tree to tree and warble their songs of praise. The garden itself is taken away from the earth. God withdraws himself, his very presence, from them. He no longer talks with them face to face. They have sinned; his presence, his light, and his glory, is so far removed from them, and from the world, that a sense of chilliness pervades the air. Their covering of glory is gone, and they tremble with the cold. The cold grows more intense and disagreeable. The very scenes of nature feel the cold. The leaves of the trees, before evergreen, now fade and die. The frosts increase till parts of the earth are covered with a mantle of snow, and bound in chains of ice. The grass and flowers fade and die. The beasts of earth join in the wail of woe, and lie down and die. And man himself, made in the image of his Maker, dies. Storm after storm arises, dark clouds gather; we see the dread lightnings flash, and the roar of the deafening thunder. The earth itself heaves to and fro, and earthquakes rend its fair bosom. Ragged rocks and deep chasms are to be seen. And as if the very bowels of earth would come forth in the grief of nature, the angry fire, smoke, and lava of volcanoes, send destruction in their wake.
All this has been seen by man so many, many years, that we look upon it as a thing of nature itself. But it is nature out of joint because of sin. It is God's great object lesson, hung up in the very earth, sea, and air, in the groans of creation; the beasts, and birds, and man, all join in the wail of woe—all because of sin.
And our world hangs in the heavens as an object lesson for the unnumbered worlds, speaking with a voice louder than thunder tones that our God hates sin. Happy is the man that will read the lesson, take it to his heart, and live with a wise reference to the coming day. H. F. PHELPS.

THE BEST ANTIDOTE FOR EVIL.

THE late Dean Stanley is the author of the following excellent advice: "Leisure misused, an idle hour waiting to be employed, idle hands with no occupation, idle and empty minds with nothing to think—these are the main temptations to evil. Fill up that empty void, employ these vacant hours, occupy these listless hands; the evil will depart, because it has no place to enter in, because it is conquered by good.
"The best antidote against evil of all kinds, against the evil thoughts that haunt the soul, against the needless perplexities which distract the conscience, is to keep hold of the good we have. Impure thoughts will not stand against pure words and prayers and deeds. Little doubts will not avail against great certainties. Fix your attention on things above and then you will be less and less troubled by the cares, the temptations, the troubles of things on earth."

A DUTY TO BE DONE.

By Dean Howson

You have defrauded your neighbor. You have done him injury, not accidentally, but on purpose. You have sought your profit by inflicting a loss upon him. You have taken what does not belong to you, but to him. You must then proceed to make restitution. Go at once. Go to-day, if you can. State the facts frankly and honestly. Acknowledge your wrong-doing, and repair the harm as fully as you can. It will cost you a struggle to do this. When, however, you have made up your mind to the struggle, you will probably find it easier than you expect. But whatever you do, don't keep this burden upon your conscience. It will stand between you and God. It is an obstacle which you cannot get over. You may forget that it is there; but there it is; and you are on one side, and Almighty God is on the other.—Dean Howson.

The Unfathomable Love of Christ

By Selected

The love of Christ is like the blue sky, into which you may see clearly, but the real vastness of which you cannot measure. It is like the sea, into whose bosom you can look a little way, but its depths are unfathomable.—Selected.

EVERGREEN CHRISTIANS.

By W.

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Ps. 1:1-3.
THE secret of this prosperity is meditation in the law of God. To meditate in the law of God day and night is not simply to have certain fixed hours for devotion, nor is it simply to desire greatly to get away from business, in order to think. Meditation, at least in the sense that it is here used, does not necessarily imply solitude. It is certain that it does not here, for the meditation is to be continued day and night; and God does not want men to be hermits. The life of a monk does not furnish the best opportunities for holiness, as many have testified from experience. One great reason why, is that those who shun the society of their fellow-men are shirking duty that God has laid upon them. If a man has light, he is to let it shine to the glory of God. It is the very essence of selfishness for a man to go off and live by himself in some solitary place, in order that he may perfect holiness, and not be contaminated by evil companionship; and such a one always reaps the reward of his selfishness, in that he has the worst possible constant companion. No man can get away from himself by going into the woods to live.
Meditation is not communion with self. The person who thinks about himself very much will not make advancement in the Christian life. There is only one to whom the Christian should look, and that is Jesus. When a person shuts himself up to himself, he is apt to exclude everything else. While secret devotion and meditation are necessary, if one's meditation is confined to his hours of privacy, he will not grow as a tree. David furnishes a good commentary upon his own words in this psalm when he says: "Princes also did sit and speak against me; but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes." Ps. 119:23. Ridicule and abuse could not affect such a man, for he would be deaf to it. His mind is absorbed in something else.
Meditation in the law does not mean simply thinking about the words of the ten commandments. There is more to the law of God than what appears on the surface. The law is spiritual. That person alone properly meditates in it whose eyes have been opened to behold wondrous things in it, and who has hid it in his heart. His sole thought is, How can I live to the glory of God? He binds the law upon his hand and his head, as well as in his heart, so that his thoughts and his acts will naturally grow out of it. The one question that he will ask is, Is this right? will it be pleasing to God? And the law of God in all its breadth, as exhibited in the life of Christ, will be that to which he will look for an answer.
"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water." The word here rendered "rivers" is not the ordinary word for river. It is a word that signifies division, and seems to refer, not to a river itself, but to the different streams into which a river is divided for irrigating purposes. "Canals of water" would more properly express the idea. It is not simply a tree on the bank of a river, but a fruit-tree in a thoroughly watered soil. Those who have seen the luxuriance of vegetation in a country where irrigation is carried on, can better understand the figure.
"He shall be like a tree." Constant growth is one of the characteristics of a tree. If it lives a thousand years, it grows every year. Each year of its life will see a circle added to it. It does not lose this year all that it gained last year, but it keeps all that it gains, and adds more. Only such growth as that is Christian growth. The true Christian life is continual advancement. Says the psalmist, of those who at last will appear in Zion before God, "They go from strength to strength." Nothing else can be represented by the word "growth."
A tree draws its nourishment from hidden sources. Its roots strike down deep into the earth, to take nourishment; all out of sight are the processes of growth, but the foliage and the fruit are open to all beholders. So the Christian whose abundant fruit glorifies God, is the one whose life is hid with Christ in God. The promise is that if we pray to God in secret, our Father, who seeth in secret, will reward us openly. Men may not know the petitions that are put up to God in secret, they may not know the agonizing cry of the heart and the flesh for the living God, even while the individual is mingling with others in the discharge of his duty, that strong temptation may be resisted; they can see only the fruit that is borne; we cannot see the tree grow—we see only the result of its growing.
"His leaf also shall not wither." Many professors are like the grain that fell where there was not much earth; it sprang up quickly; but as soon as the heat came it withered. They are full of zeal for a time, but when actual conflicts come, they become discouraged. But the true Christian doesn't wither. No matter how fiercely the sun beats down on the tree that stands in irrigated soil, its leaves are always green. Its roots take up moisture continually. So the one in whose heart is the law of God, who delights in it, and meditates in it, has a source of continual freshness. He feeds upon the living word, and grows thereby. This is the only source of growth. The one who depends on feeling and impulse may make a fair show for a time, but only the one who feeds upon Christ and his words, which are spirit and life, can continue to grow.
"Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper," because he will do nothing that the law of the Lord does not prompt. The beauty of the Lord will be upon him, to establish the work of his hands upon him. How much energy is wasted in this life! How many efforts fail, simply because they are misdirected! But he whose strength is in God will not labor in vain. Such shall be called "trees of righteousness;" that is, their righteousness will be increasing with steady growth, as does a tree; and being the planting of the Lord, they will bring forth much fruit, and God will be glorified in their lives. W.

AN IMPORTANT QUESTION.

By Editor

A LATE number of a Roman Catholic newspaper has the following:—
"The Gospel Messenger asks: 'What do we believe?' Well, it's a hard matter to say. A diligent search through the columns of the Messenger fails to discover anything very definite in the way of a religious belief. But then that is not unusual with Protestant papers."
The charge is too true. The idea has obtained of late in religious circles that pronounced belief on religious subjects—it does not matter often of how much importance—is downright bigotry. If one criticises error, he is uncharitable and narrow. One may have thoroughly studied a doctrine, and rejected it, because it is contrary to the plain teaching of the Bible; but then he is prejudiced. Yet in all these instances he may only be true and faithful.
Some religious papers may be read from year to year without finding any pronounced opinion upon many of the most important doctrines of God's word. The columns are filled with a goody-goody, wishy-washy stuff that can't stand alone, furnishing neither timber with which to build nor food by which to grow.
Noah knew his mission. Moses knew his. Elijah, Ezekiel, and Paul knew theirs. John the Baptist was clear and positive. He knew who he was not, and who he was. "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, . . . as said the prophet Isaiah." John 1:23. The great Teacher of all spake with authority.
God give us teachers, whether in press or in pulpit, who have the courage of their conviction, with conviction founded on the eternal Rock of truth, God's holy word as it is in Christ Jesus. Souls are perishing for truth. God's "people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."

THE LAW IN THE GOSPEL.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed, from faith to faith; as it is written, the just shall live by faith."
THE apostle had just before stated that he regarded himself a debtor to all mankind, and that he was willing to preach the gospel even in the proud city of Rome, because, says he, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." The reason why he was not ashamed of the gospel, was that it is "the power of God unto salvation." Men glory in power; if they have none of their own, then they attach themselves to someone who has, and exult in the power with which they are connected. The man who has the greatest power, or who thinks he has, has none of that apologetic air which characterizes the weakling. The ambassador in a foreign country feels boldness, and has a sense of pride in proportion to the greatness of the Government which he represents. Of course Paul's feeling was entirely different from the pride or self-exaltation of the ambassador of an earthly court; but as the ambassador of Christ, he felt that he had nothing to be ashamed of. The power which he represented was the power of God. Why should he be ashamed? Yet it is a fact that many who profess the name of Christ are ashamed and afraid to declare it. Must it not be because they have never experienced the power of the gospel in their own hearts? When one has actually felt "the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward, who believe, according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead," he cannot be ashamed of it.
But the seventeenth verse contains another reason why he is not ashamed, or, rather, an evidence that the gospel is the power of God, namely, "for therein is the righteousness of God revealed." What is the righteousness of God? and how is it revealed in the gospel? These questions should be settled here, for the expression, "the righteousness of God," is one upon which a great deal depends in the book of Romans. Pages upon pages have been devoted to this question by commentators, who have learnedly discussed the original; but the reader who depends solely upon the Bible for an answer will find it very easily.
In Deut. 6:25, after rehearsing the ten commandments, Moses says, "And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us." This follows from the fact stated in Ps. 119:172, where the psalmist says: "My tongue shall speak of thy word; for all thy commandments are righteousness." Since all the commandments of God are righteousness, it is evident that those who do them will be righteous; for "he that doth righteousness is righteous, even as He [Christ] is righteous." 1 John 3:7.
But the ten commandments are not simply righteousness in the abstract. They are the expression of the righteous character of God. Says the Lord, through the prophet Isaiah:—
"Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation; for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people. My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law." Isa. 51:4-7.
Those who know righteousness are the ones in whose heart is the law of God; and this righteousness God calls "my righteousness." That the commandments of God are an expression of his righteousness, may be shown in another way. The apostle Peter says: "As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation [conduct]; because it is written: Be ye holy, for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:15, 16. This is what God requires of us—to be holy, as he is. But the wise man says: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." Eccl. 12:13. Now since he requires holiness of all, and the keeping of the commandments is the whole duty of man, it follows that the keeping of the commandments constitutes holiness.
The proposition that in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, which is only stated here, is fully elaborated in the epistle later on, so that a few words on it may suffice at the present time. First, the righteousness of God—the law of God—is revealed in the gospel, because the gospel carries the law on its very forefront. Without the preaching of the law there can be no preaching of the gospel. The gospel is God's remedy for sin, which is the transgression of the law. All men are sinners, but all men do not realize that fact; for many who are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, think that they are rich and increased with goods. Rev. 3:17. Now it is evident that before such will listen to the counsel to buy the eye-salve, the gold tried in the fire, and the white raiment, they must be shown their condition. They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick; but they who are sick will not send for a physician until they are convinced of their illness, and shown that they need help. So it is useless to preach the gospel as the way of salvation, without showing the need of salvation; and the law of God is the only thing that points out sin.
But it is with a deeper meaning than this, that the apostle says that in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed. The opposite of sin is righteousness; and so when God remits—sends away—sin, he does it by putting righteousness in its place. Where once was sin, now appears perfect righteousness, "even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe." Rom. 3:22. The righteousness of God is declared for the remission of the sins of all who believe in Jesus. He cures the disease by putting health in its place. The righteousness which is brought to the believing sinner through the gospel, is the same thing exactly as the righteousness of the law, for it is witnessed by the law (Rom. 3:21); but it cannot be contained except in Christ, who, as the Word of God, is the embodiment of the law.
This gospel righteousness is the righteousness of which Paul speaks in Phil. 3:9, where his desire is that when Christ comes he "may be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." The fact that God cannot deny himself, proves that he can have but one righteousness; and therefore the righteousness of his law, and the righteousness which the gospel imparts,—the righteousness which is of God by faith,—must be the same righteousness. So we have the law before the gospel, the law in the gospel, and the law in the life as the result of believing the gospel. W.

NOT "LAW OR LOVE," BUT LAW AND LOVE.

By W.

UNDER the heading, "Law—or Love?" the Christian at Work of February 28 says:—
"How pitiable the spectacle presented of Christians called into liberty, going back to the slavery of literalness, as witnessed in the observance of Saturday as their rest-day, many even going so far in their literalness as to drop the smile and recreation and mirth at sunset because ‘the evening and the morning,’ and not the morning and the evening, formed the Genetic day. And then what sticklers for the bare letter of the decalogue we meet with—as if those ten laws laid down for the primitive Hebrews were the Alpha and Omega of the Christian duties to-day—as if perfect love was not as far above these ten specific commands as heaven is above earth."
Terribly afraid of literalness, some people are, especially if it is literal compliance with any divine commandment. But we notice that these same persons who make so much ado about the observance of the literal day required by the commandment, are very strenuous about the observance of Sunday, even going so far as to advocate the enforcement of Sunday observance by civil law. Now a query arises: If it is so terrible a thing to yield literal obedience to a commandment, what will they do when they get their much-desired Sunday law? Will they then consider it their duty to keep Monday? or do they think that only God’s laws ought to be treated with contempt, and that human laws should be kept strictly?
Notice the admission that the observance of Saturday is literally in conformity with the fourth commandment. But the people who deprecate literal conformity to the commandment, are very regular in their observance of Sunday, and, as we have noted, advocate literal conformity to a civil Sunday law. From this we must conclude that the great requisite with them is to be at variance with the terms of the commandment. So long as people do not do exactly as the commandment says, they are satisfied.
That this is not a harsh conclusion, is evident from the latter part of the paragraph quoted. Deprecating compliance with the letter of the decalogue, it says: "As if perfect love was not as far above these ten specific commands as heaven is above earth." That is to say that perfect love ignores the letter of the commandments. Thus the practice in regard to the fourth is consistently carried to all the ten precepts. The first commandment says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me;" but perfect love, according to the Christian at Work, would scorn to be tied down to exact conformity to any such commandment, and would make gods of its own. The sixth commandment says, "Thou shalt not kill;" but, soaring far above servile obedience to the letter of the commandment, perfect love would lead a man to take the life of the first person he met. Why not? If it is so very pernicious a thing to keep the letter of the fourth commandment, it must be as bad to keep the letter of any other commandment. So, according to this theology, the only way a person can perfectly comprehend God is to steal, kill, commit adultery, and swear falsely. This, according to the Christian at Work, marks the free man. Surely not in vain did the Lord say, through his prophet:—
"Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and bear incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not, and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?" Jer. 7:8-10.
We have no fellowship with the love that is so "perfect" that it ignores the simple, direct commands of the Lord. Said the psalmist, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Ps. 19:7. Obedience to a perfect law will make a perfect man, and nothing else will; but obedience can be rendered only in Christ. God is love; the ten commandments are only an emanation from him—the expression of his perfectly righteous character; and so the ten commandments are only a law of love.
So the beloved disciple says: "This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous." 1 John 5:3. Perfect love can be manifested in no other way than in perfect obedience to the requirements of God, both in letter and in spirit. If the commandments are not kept in letter, they are not kept at all; for a man cannot keep the spirit of the sixth commandment and at the same time murder his neighbor. The Christian at Work has made a mistake in terms. To deliberately reject the plain letter of God’s commandments for ways of one’s own, is not perfect love, but perfect selfishness.

THE SABBATH OF THE LORD.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

THE CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION (CONTINUED).

THE new covenant, confirmed by the death of Christ, is God’s means of saving men from the transgression of his law. It is the last testament of Christ to men. It includes in itself all promises and blessings. Its object as regards character, is to write indelibly God’s law in the hearts of men. Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 8:8-12. Whatever Sabbath law was binding on men when that covenant was sealed by Christ’s death, is eternally binding. Whatever law was not binding at that time never can be. As a will cannot be altered in any way after the death of him who made and sealed it, so the testament of Christ cannot be altered in any way. Heb. 9:16-20; Gal. 3:15. “No man disannuleth or addeth thereto.” An addition made to a will one hour after it is confirmed by the death of the maker, is just as fraudulent and illegal as though it was made a thousand years after. The seventh-day Sabbath was in force when the new covenant was confirmed by the death of Christ; it forever remains in force. The first-day Sabbath, even though it had been introduced the day after the crucifixion (which it was not), comes in too late to receive legal recognition. There is evidence of divine foresight that it is not once mentioned previous to the time when the last will and testament of Christ was sealed with his own blood. If through the new covenant, mercy was to be revealed for pardon of first-day Sabbath transgressions, and grace for strength to observe it aright, it would certainly have been mentioned before that covenant was sealed. This silence is an emphatic negative of the Sunday Sabbath. But the seventh day, or the Sabbath of the Lord, remained in force; for not one jot or one tittle of the law of which it was a part was to be changed. Matt. 5:17-19.
We will now briefly examine some further evidences in regard to the Sabbath and Sunday.
1. The first day of the week is mentioned just eight times in all the New Testament. Six of these instances are as follows: Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19. Let the reader note these points: (1) All these texts refer to the same first day of the week, the day on which our Saviour rose from the dead. (2) In no instance is the day referred to as a Sabbath or a holy day unto the Lord in any way. (3) The day before that first day was the Sabbath; and it is so called by Matthew, seven years after the crucifixion (Matt. 28:1), by Mark thirty years after (Mark 16:2), by Luke thirty-two years after (Luke 23:56; 24:1), by John sixty-six years after (John 19:31; 20:1). Thus we see that Inspiration clearly distinguishes between the days as late as 97 A. D., by giving to the first day of the week no other title, while retaining the hallowed name of the day just before, the seventh day. (4) The first day was not regarded as a Sabbath by the disciples, for two of them went to Emmaus that day on business, seven miles distant from Jerusalem (Luke 24; Mark 16). They did not meet together to celebrate the day, as we showed in our last; for they did not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead (Luke 24:37; Mark 16:24).
2. The next occasion when Jesus met with his disciples was “after eight days” from that first day of the week. By no honest argument can this be shown to be the next Sunday. After eight days is certainly nine or ten days after; and counting that Sunday on which he rose as one, after eight days would carry us over to the next-week Monday. The next meeting of Jesus with his disciples was on a fishing occasion, and this might have been on the first day of the week, as the time is not revealed. John 21. There is certainly no evidence of Sunday sacredness here.
3. The first day of the week is next mentioned in Acts 20:7, and is the only Bible account of a religious meeting on that first day. But notice: (1) It was the evening of the first day, answering to our Saturday night, according to the Bible mode of reckoning time (Gen. 1, and other texts). That it was evening is shown by the many lights (Acts 20:8). (2) Paul preached, healed the young man, ate supper, and then preached till day-break, Sunday morning (verses 9-11). The apostle then starts out upon a journey of nineteen miles across the isthmus to Assos (verses 11-13); while Luke and his companions toiled all that day in rowing around the promontory which separated the two towns, a distance of about fifty miles (verse 13). Certainly neither Paul, Luke, nor his companions regarded the first day as holy. The day would probably never have been mentioned had it not been for the notable miracle then performed, and also to show that the apostle and Luke did not regard the day as a sacred rest-day.
4. The next and last mention of the first day of the week is 1 Cor. 16:2. That text merely states that the church at Corinth and the churches in Galatia had been instructed that each member was to “lay by him in store,” or store up, as God had prospered, for the poor saints at Jerusalem. The text does not even hint at first-day sacredness or assemblies. After the Sabbath was over, the week past, they were to lay by themselves what they could afford to give. All versions and translations of authority present the same idea, to “lay by himself, treasuring up,” at home. This certainly did not mean placing in a public fund.
5. Paul gave much instruction to the churches, but he never mentioned Sunday sacredness in any way. He does solemnly state to the Ephesian church: “I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you,” and “I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” Acts 20:20, 27. Yet we have no word that the apostle ever observed or taught to be observed a first-day sabbath.
6. The Sabbath was recognized by Jesus as an existing, sacred institution as late as the invasion of Judea and the destruction of Jerusalem, A. D. 70. In speaking of that event, he says, “But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath-day.” Matt. 24:20. In winter they would greatly suffer, which would be a physical loss; on the Sabbath they could not well worship God in a hasty flight, and would thus meet a spiritual loss. This shows the regard Jesus had for the Sabbath, and the necessity of its being reverently held by the people thirty-nine years after his death, hence for all time.
7. The same high regard for the decalogue, which is so marked in the teachings of the Master, is shown in the writings of the apostles. Paul declares that the law reveals sin (Rom. 3:20; 7:7); that it is not made void by faith (Rom. 3:31); that it is holy, just, good, spiritual (Rom. 7:9-14); that the reason why men do not submit to its claims is that they are carnal (Rom. 8:7). James taught that it was binding in every particular; that the transgression of one commandment showed rebellion against the Lawgiver as much as transgression of all; that by that law we are at last to be judged (James 2:8-12). John declares that love to God is manifested by willing obedience to his commandments (1 John 5:3); and that he who claims to know God and yet transgresses known precepts, is a liar, and the truth is not in him (1 John 2:4).
8. The apostle Paul made the Sabbath a regular day of preaching and religious worship. At Corinth he associated with Aquila in tent-making, and preached every Sabbath for one year and six months (Acts 18:1-11). This was the apostle's custom (Acts 17:2), not in synagogues alone, but in byplaces (Acts 16:13); not to Jews alone, but also to Gentiles (Acts 13:42, 4); and this Sabbath so kept by Paul, and called Sabbath by Inspiration, was the seventh-day Sabbath, the same as was kept by the Jews (Acts 15:21).
The word of God furnishes no evidence for first-day observance; but what greater evidence could be asked than is supplied for the Sabbath of the Lord? Can an individual ask clearer, stronger, more positive evidence? Is not the grace of Christ to save from the transgression of the fourth commandment as well as the others? Is it not safe to follow in the footsteps of the Master? Can we not honor God's law and magnify the grace of Christ by turning our feet from transgression to obedience of all the divine precepts?
We will consider in our next the change and restoration of the Sabbath. M. C. W.

Religious Denominations in England and Wales

According to the Leeds Mercury, there are in England and Wales 250 religious denominations, with 47,000 places of worship. There are 38,000 ministers, and the church and chapel officials number about 170,000. Communicants number about 3,000,000. The annual cost of all this is about £16,000,000 ($80,000,000).

"CHRISTIAN ENGLAND."

By M. C. W.

"CHRISTIAN ENGLAND" is often referred to as the pioneer nation in all missionary operations. She is now and then held up as a model by National Reformers, because she connects religion with the State. She is the "Christian" nation par excellence of today. Of course, National Reformers do not believe that England is radical enough or goes far enough in her legislative efforts to Christianize the world, but she has no Sunday newspapers, has strict Sunday laws, and such things go far to exalt a nation in the eyes of those would-be rulers. Still others besides this class believe that nearly all the missionary effort which has been put forth in Asia and her surrounding islands, has been done through the British Government, or with its co-operation.
It is doubtless true that many times the English Government has opened the way; many times she has protected missionaries; but her object has never been the Christianizing of the races nor the enlightenment of the heathen. English missionaries have gone to heathen lands by the score,—devoted men, some of whom have laid down their lives for the Master. But the effects of the Government's selfish policy has been seen in the blighting influences of rum in India and the opium trade forced on China.
In the February number of Our Day is an article entitled, "Pagan Idols of English Make," by F. Clement Ambrose, which reveals another dark picture of "Christian" England's dealing with the heathen. The writer truly states that for years missionaries were excluded by the East India Company; "and only within a life-time has this English wall to keep the Word out of India been broken down." Many of the idols of India are of English manufacture. The writer says:—
"It is not an unusual occurrence for an East India-man from Liverpool, just through the Red Sea and the shadows of Sinai, to touch at Madras and Calcutta, then tie up at Rangoon, at each wharf landing a missionary from her cabin, and unloading a crate of graven images from her hold."
That the gods which are "the work of men's hands" come of Christian parentage—nominally so, at least, is "one of the knottiest strings the mission worker has to unsnarl on her way to the pagan heart."
Mr. A. then gives what the native says to the lady teacher who would point him to the way of life, and which we give below in a little more readable English:—
"You English trade-men sell me a small wood god for two anna [four cents]—say him a smart god, deucy good fellow! Den you missionary folk tell me, No; wood god is a stick,—a poor stick,—true God is spirit—wonder power—he wrote a book, the book, Book of life! Now, how Tah Ding know which is white-faced lie—big man as sells lots of gods for rupee, or you queer little manning [woman] as give away God for no rupee, Book too, and smile when man take em?"
Many a ship which goes out from England is laden with Bibles and brandy! And this is the civilization which is Christianizing the nations of the earth! These are the factors which are to produce the millennium and usher in the ideal National Reform régime! Truly God is merciful and forbearing to withhold so long his wrath from the wicked of the earth, who profess his allegiance and cause his name to be blasphemed. The only power on which to depend, is His power. Dependence on the nations of earth is like leaning on broken reeds. England is no worse than other powers. None of them are Christian.
Continue reading: SYLVESTER, CONSTANTINE, AND THE LORD'S DAY