stick, which was the first day. It was not the extinction of the light, but the transference of it from one day to the other." The principal difference now lies in the object of commemoration. "The Christian Sabbath, not overlooking man as a creature, regards him specially as a sinner; and while it still bids him adore God the Creator, it summons him particularly to confide in God the Redeemer, and sets before him the Saviour's triumph in His resurrection from the dead. Our Sabbath combines both man's relations as a creature and a sinner, but assigns to the latter a peculiar and just pre-eminence in its change of day, and in the eclipsing glory of the event which it commemorates." Such, then, is in brief the scriptural argument for the observance of the Lord's day. Add, to the special reasons here adduced, the more general considerations already enumerated in support of the Decalogue as a whole, and, we submit, few Bible institutions are established by more satisfactory evidence.

Resuming our argument in support of the obligatory character of the entire moral law, we observe that it was ratified and fulfilled by the mission and work of Christ. He magnified the law and made it honourable by obeying all its precepts and perfectly complying with all its requirements. The object of this was to teach us what we ought to do. Embodying as He did in His life all the virtues inculcated in the Decalogue, those virtues come to us for cultivation stamped with His approval, and enforced by that holy example which it is our duty to imitate. And unless this law be obligatory, how can we be interested in His sufferings and sacrifice? Foreseeing that should incur the curse of destruction by our violations of the Divine requirements, He gave His life a ransom for us. God can now be merciful to us. How is this? Because THE LAW was covered with glory when its fearful sanction was owned and vindicated and endured by the Mediator Jesus Christ. We might dwell on this topic at great length; but what has been said will suffice to establish beyond doubt the point in question.

we

In conclusion, what testimony do we derive from the writings of the apostles, one of whom asserts, "We are not under the law, but under grace?" Rom. vi. 15. Great stress is laid on this passage by

those who deny the obligatory cha racter of the Decalogue; but that it gives no support to their argument, a very brief notice of the design and scope of the epistle to the Romans will suffice to show. Paul is insisting on salvation by grace through faith; and is most solicitous in warning the parties addressed against depending on the works of the law for eternal life; that is, apart from satisfaction for past transgression. But that salvation by grace in no way dispenses with the law as a rule of works, is another chief point illustrated in the epistle. Thus he demands, in chapter iii. 31, "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbidyea, we establish the law." The grand object of the work and sufferings of Christ was, as we have already seen, to render satisfaction for man's guilt. But this, so far from setting us free from the duty of obedience, brings home most forcibly to our minds that very obligation; for by the atoning work of Jesus we are placed on a vantage ground hitherto unknown; and have free access to stores of power which God will freely dispense for the specific object of encouraging conformity to His precepts. Doubtless we are to guard against trusting to works of our own for acceptance with heaven. Unquestionably we are to beware of regarding our obedience to Divine law as the procuring cause of salvation. But at the same time obedience is essential as giving evidence of faith, and as being the fruit of the Spirit. To live in sin, and encourage ourselves with the belief that in the present dispensation we are free from moral obligation, is the most guilty presumption. Those acting thus are they "who sin wilfully, after having received the knowledge of the truth; and for such there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful

looking for of judgment." It is unnecessary to enter more fully into an examination of the New Testament writings. Had we no other testimony than that contained in the epistle to the Romans, it would be sufficient. Paul commends the moral law to us as "holy, just, and good." Rom. vii. 12. We are therefore bound to accept it as perpetually binding upon us and all J. W. L M.

men.

Ireland, May 12, 1859.

TEMPTATION.

By the late Rev. John Davies, of Daventry.

THE means necessary to be used, in order that temptation may not prevail against us.

1. If you would not be overcome by temptation, study sobriety, according to the admonition of St. Peter: "Be sober, because your adversary walketh about." Sober-mindedness consists in the moderate use of earthly things.

2. Be always upon your watch-tower; watch against Satan's wiles and subtleties. Be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about."

3. Make use of the word. This the apostle calls the "sword of the Spirit." Three times Christ wounds the serpent with this sword. There is no temptation but what we have a fit Scripture to answer it.

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If Satan tempts to Sabbath-breaking, answer him, "It is written, Remember to keep the Sabbath-day holy.'

If he tempts to uncleanness, answer him, "It is written, Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.'

If he tempts to carnal fear, say, "It is written, Fear not them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.""

If he tempts to despondency, say, "It is written, Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

If he tempts to unbelief, say, "It is written, He that believeth not is condemned.""

4. Let us be careful of our own hearts, that they do not decoy us into sin. The apostle saith a man is drawn away of his own heart and enticed. Every man hath a tempter in his own bosom. A traitor in the castle is dangerous. Our principal enemies are those of our own household.

5. If you would overcome temptation, make use of faith. "Above all things, take the shield of faith." Faith wards off Satan's fiery darts: "Whom resist, steadfast in the faith." Faith brings Christ to the help of the soul; and with Christ in the vessel, the soul smiles at the storm. It is this that makes faith an all-conquering grace; it takes hold of Christ's meri value, and virtue. Faith lays hold of Omnipotence itself. The tempter trembles and flees away.

6. If you would overcome temptation, be fervent in continual prayer. It is the best antidote against temptation. A Christian fetcheth down strength from

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be

heaven by prayer. Samson cried to heaven for help: "O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, that I may avenged of the Philistines.' And the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people."

7. Exercise the grace of humility. It is to the humble in spirit that God gives the more grace. The tempter fears not the pride of a man, but humility renders the soul invulnerable. The garment of humility is so impenetrable, that the poignant arrows of the tempter cannot inake their way through. "Be clothed with humility." The humble soul only is fit for the heavenly protection.

8. If ye would not be foiled by temptation, don't dispute with it. When Eve began to argue the case with the serpent, the serpent was too hard for her, and by his logic disputed her out of Paradise. Satan is too subtle a sophist to hold an argument with him; dispute not, but fight; to arms immediately, or you will lose the victory.

9. If we would not be overcome by temptation, let us put on Christian fortitude. An enemy we must expect, let us be armed with courage. "Deal courageously, and the Lord shall be with the good." And to animate us in our combat with our enemy, let us remember

We have a good Captain that marches before us. Christ is called the "Captain

of our salvation."

We have good armour. Grace is armour of God's making, Eph. vi. 11.

Satan is beaten in part already. Christ hath given him his death-wound upon the cross, Col. iii. 15.

He is already manacled; his power is limited; he cannot force the will.

He is a cursed enemy, and God's curse always blasts; therefore put on holy gallantry of spirit and magnanimity. Fear not, greater is He that is with you than he that is against you.

10. If we would not be overcome by temptation, let us seek the communion of saints. The fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much. There is a tendency in this communion to enlighten, to strengthen, and to fortify the soul against temptation. It is no wisdom in fighting with an enemy to give him the advantage of the ground: we give the tempter the advantage of the ground when we are alone. Eve was foiled in the absence of her husband. It is a Scripture expression, "Two are better than one." Get into the com.

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munion of saints, and you will find it a remedy against temptation.

11. If we would not be overcome by temptation, let us make use of all the encouragements we can.

If Satan be a roaring lion, yet he is under the absolute control of Christ, who is "the Lion of the tribe of Judah." If Satan tempts, Christ prays.

If Satan be a serpent to sting, Christ is like the brazen serpent to heal.

crown.

If the conflict be hard, look to the Whilst we are fighting, Christ will succour us; and when we overcome He will crown us. What makes the soldier endure a bloody fight, but hope of a golden harvest? Think that shortly God will call us out of the field where the bullets of temptation fly so fast, and He will set a diadem of glory upon our head. How will the case be altered! Instead of fighting, singing; instead of a helmet, a diadem; instead of a sword, a palm-branch of victory; instead of armour, white robes; instead of Satan's skirmishes, the kisses and embraces of a Saviour.

The viewing these eternal recompences would keep us from yielding to temptation. In the heavenly regions, the place prepared for all that fight under Immanuel's banner, there shall be no fears to harass the mind, no dangers to overcome, no enemies to subdue; and all tears shall for ever be wiped away from their eyes; they shall drink of the living streams that flow from under the throne of God and the Lamb.

A REVIVAL.

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WHEN many souls are coming to Christ at one time, we call it a Revival of Religion." There is no impropriety in this, even though the obvious effects are in converting sinners. This is always preceded by the refreshing of the church, and just as God reneweth the face of the earth (Psalm civ. 30), in the spring, by calling forth grass and flowers, so He revives the wintry places of His church by bringing to light thousands of hitherto darkened souls. From Pentecost onwards, the Holy Spirit has been frequently sent in effusion so copious as to add multitudes simultaneously to the church of such as shall be saved. O reader! a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord is also a time for great searchings of heart," Judges v. 16. Will you give

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a few moments to certain solemn and tender inquiries?

1. Are you an enemy of a revival? You shudder at the thought! yet enemies there are; an arch-enemy, a liar, a murderer, the old serpent, is still the foe of Christ and all His works. His aids and emissaries seek to hinder the arousing of saints, and the conversion of sinners. Perhaps you have heard them sueer and rail at the work of grace; which they deride as a disease or an infatuation. "These people are insane." "These men are full of new wine,' Acts ii. 13. Perhaps you have joined in the laughter of the sons of Belial; or have been afraid or ashamed to break silence. Consider with which party you then ranked yourself. "Who is on the Lord's side?" (Exod. xxxii. 26) is still the question. To mock at the operations of the Holy Spirit, ascribing them to lower causes, is not unlike the sin of the Pharisees, who dishonoured the miracles of Christ, Mark iii. 22; Luke xi. 15.

Men may fight against God (Acts v. 39), and oppose His work of grace, by denying or disparaging it; by dwelling on every person or incident which has a ludicrous side; by repressing the feelings of awakened souls; or by encouraging frivolous and distracting conversation, reading, or amusements, when the Spirit of God is clearly and mightily moving the community to solemn consideration, bitter grief for sin, and earnest turning from the world to Christ.

2. Do you rejoice in a revival? The church cries to God: "Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee?" The church has no greater joy on earth; yea, the church in heaven rejoices over one sinner that repenteth (Luke xv. 7); God and Christ rejoice over multitudes renewed and forgiven. Is this your joy, O reader? When the mighty awakening took place in the region of Samaria, "there was great joy in that city," Acts viii. 8. One converted family is cause of joy; when a whole church, when a whole neighbourhood, when multitudes in a city, turn unto the Lord, how exceedingly great should be the gladness of all who love Christ and love souls! Are you conscious of such joy? Can it be a matter of indifference to a truly renewed soul, even to hear a report of hundreds brought to confess the Lord Jesus? Feel as Christ and holy angels feel, and you will possess a joy in the salvation

of your fellow-creatures and the glory of your Lord. But possibly you know nothing of all this.

3. Are you a subject of a revival? The kingdom of God has come nigh unto you; but are you of it? You

hear, perhaps you speak, of a great revival; but have you been yourself revived? Has your cold heart, dead in trespasses and sins, been made alive by the Spirit of the living God? Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" John xix. 35. Have old things passed away, and have all things become new? 2 Cor. v. 17. Have you that love to the Lord Jesus Christ, without which your sentence is ANATHEMA MARANATHA? Cor. xvi. 22. Have you crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts?

These are very serious questions, to which you have long since given a deliberate answer, if you have been faithful to your own soul. Believe me, dear reader, it is not enough to be a communicant in the church. Thousands have been such, who are now in hell. A revived church possesses revived members. Are you such a one? Lay the hand on the breast and say, has the pervading influence of the blessed Spirit kindled your soul to new faith, hope, love, devotion, and duty? If not, you are still outside of this shower of grace.

4. Do you pray for a revival? Many thousands are so praying. It began in prayer. This fresh gift of the loving Saviour was born amidst the cries and tears of His people. While they were speaking, God was near, to bless. Thus He came upon the gathered eleven, and thus upon the pentecostal meeting for prayer, John xx. 19, 26; Acts i. 14, ii. 1. The precept is still in force, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem;" the promise still holds good, “They shall prosper that love thee," Ps. cxxii. 6. As revivals begin in prayer, so are they maintained by prayer. The minister of the word is but a fainting Moses, if Aaron and Hur cease to uphold his hands, Exod. xvii. 10, 12. If we would see many thousands converted to God, we must pray.

"For thus saith the Lord

God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock; as the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts," Ezek. xxxvi. 37, 38. In the house of God, in the converted meeting of brethren, in

the Sunday school, in the family, in the closet, pray, pray, pray!

Say

5. Are you helping forward a revival? There is much work to be done among saints and sinners. Almighty God is the only effectual power. Paul and Apollos are nothing, till God give the increase. Yet men are co-workers with God; humble instruments to convey His truth and promote His glory. not you are weak; He hath chosen the weak things of this world to confound the mighty. Say not you have no influence: you have already exerted too much, on the wrong side. Go forward in the name of the Lord, with light and love, and you shall behold the fruit of your labour, You have a relative, a partner, a friend, a dependant, a neighbour, whose soul you have neglected. You have an hour in the week, or five minutes in the day, which you have failed to devote to saving an immortal being. You may conduct one to a religious meeting; you may bless another by rebuke. You may lend a book, give a tract, write an affectionate letter. Especially you may plead with some fellow creature, that he would be reconciled to God. Peradventure your working-time is short.

6. Does your heart care for the fruits of a revival? There is a duty to the golden sheaves after the ears have fallen before the sickle. Folded sheep must be watched and fed. New converts are endangered creatures, lambs amidst wolves. Christ cares for them, and wills that His servants should care for them. It is not the will of the Father that one of these little ones should perish, Matt. xviii. 14. Beware how you offend, that is, betray into sin, one of these little ones. Seek to prevent their straying. Seek to imbue them with sound doctrine. This ductile condition is the very one in which to receive the mould of truth, Rom. vi. 17. Earnestly endeavour to bring them to an intelligent and sincere profession of faith, and then to useful labours. Half the benefit of revivals is lost from neglect of those who have been converted. Might not classes of instruction for such persons, after the primitive model, be found valuable? Dear Christian reader, if your heart has ever felt true penitence and love to Jesus, feed His sheep, feed His lambs!

7. Have you sought to honour God in a revival? The glory of God the Saviour is the chief end to be regarded in the

salvation of the perishing. Every true conversion adds splendour to Messiah's crown. By every true revival of religion, glory redounds to the Lord God Almighty. But this declarative glory is lessened by everything in the work which overclouds Divine grace, or exalts poor, sinful man, and his doings and deservings. Oh, how careful should we be, in every meeting, in every devotion, in every word, to maintain a reverence and godly fear for that Holy One whom we profess to believe present! "For our God is a consuming fire," Heb. xii. 29. The young Levite, who unwarily touched the ark, was zealous but not reverent. When dealing with or for souls, we cannot be too gentle and tender, even as a nurse cherisheth her [own] children; we cannot be too humble

and meek. Pray for the "love of the Spirit," Rom. xv. 30. Shun all that is censorious, or savouring of spiritual pride. All religious experiences are doubtful, which leave the soul arrogant, unteachable, harsh, and denunciatory. Let the awe of God's presence affect us, as it did the seraphim; and when our exultation is highest, let us most deeply cry-HOLY, HOLY, HOLY! Isa. vi. 1-6. How tenderly we should fear lest any uncrucified tempers of ours should "eat as doth a canker," and spread contagion through the blessed work, 2 Tim. ii. 17. So live, beloved brother in the Lord, that you may be able to say of all around you, as did Paul," And they glorified God in me," Gal. i. 24. J. W. ALEXANDER.

SEA OF

"Now it came to pass on a certain day, that He went into a ship with His disciples; and He said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. But as they sailed He fell asleep, and there came down a storm of wind on the lake, and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy."LUKE Viii, 22-24.

THE Sea of Galilee is a fresh-water lake, the Hebrews calling any large sheet of water a sea. It has four names in Scripture, taken from different localities connected with it. It is called the Sea of Chinneroth, Numb. xxxiv. 11, from an ancient city of that name, situated on its western border; the Sea of Galilee, as lying in that district of country, Matt. iv. 18; the Lake of Gennesaret, Luke v. 1, from a small plain or strip of land lying along the shore; and the Sea of Tiberias, John xxi. 1, from a city of that name, built by Herod Antipas, in honour of the Emperor Tiberius, on its south-west coast. Mr. Carne thus describes it:-"The length of the Lake of Tiberias is about fourteen miles, and the breadth five. The fish it contains have a most delicious flavour, and are much the size and colour of a mullet. The boats used on it are in some seasons of the year much exposed, from the sudden squalls of wind which issue from between the mountains. The water is perfectly sweet and clear. The Jordan is seen to enter it at its northern extremity, and its course is distinctly visible through the whole extent of the lake. The range of mountains forming its eastern shore is very lofty; their steep and rocky sides are barren, with a sprinkling of trees on a few of the summits."

Mr. Jowett observes:- The Sea of Galilee, in its dimensions, resembles exactly the size of the Isle of Malta-about twenty miles in length, twelve in breadth, and sixty in circumference. There is not a single boat now

GALILEE.

upon the lake to remind us of its former use." -Researches in Syria.

Mr. Bonar, of the Church of Scotland's deputation to Palestine, gives the following description in a letter of 15th of July, 1839. "We are now in our tents by the side of this memorable lake, close by the town of Tiberias. We washed in its waters, and got into the only boat upon it, and now we have just seen the last of the setting sun fade from the hills of Bashan, which are full in our view, and there is a deep stillness and serenity on the surface of the lake. We sat in quiet and thoughtful meditation till near midnight, remembering how Jesus twice came to deliver His disciples at the darkest hour; how He walked on the waves, and spoke peace. We could fancy it was on such a night as this that Peter and the others went out to fish, and caught nothing till next morning We got some of the fish of the lake broiled, to our evening meal. The lake is clear, and the channel is not muddy, but pebbly; the water is sweet and soft. The edge is either bare, or fringed with reeds, but occasionally rhododendrons in full bloom, and a species of convolvulus, form a beautiful border. The hills on the opposite side are very steep, just such as the swine might run down. While conversing with a very respectable and intelligent Jew respecting the Sea, we asked him about the squalls that sweep over it, and he said that in winter time it was often far more stormy than the Great Sea. The deputation estimate the lake at fifteen miles in length, by nine in breadth. They add, "The eastern side is bounded by bare and lofty mountains; along the north-west margin is a plain, about three or four miles long, and a mile, or a mile-and-a-half broad, supposed to be the land of Gennesareth, where Capernaum and other fishing towns were situated." -Narrative of Mission to the Jews.