NOTES-The theme of the Gospe for to-day, expressed in the key-note, is self-humiliation, as exemplified in the penitent publican in contrast with the proud, self-righteous Pharisee. The Epistle presents us with another example of great self-humiliation in the case of the apostle Paul, who says of himself: "I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle..... But by the grace of God, I am what I am." The necessity of self-humiliation in order that we may be exalted by the Lord, then, is the lesson which we are taught both in the Gospel and Epistle for the day; and for the grace which shall enable us thus to humble ourselves, we pray in the Collect. in the plain below. It is commonly supposed that God uttered the Ten Commandments in articulate speech so as to be heard and understood by all the people. But see Exod. xix. 19: Acts vi. 53; Gal. iii. 19. All these words. The Ten Commandments, which are in Hebrew called the ten words of the law, which in Greek and English has become decalogue. These are divided into two tables, the first of which is commonly supposed to consist of four, and the second of six commandments. The first table teaches us what duties we owe to God (religious duties), the second what duties we owe to our neighbor (moral duties). VERSE 2.-Introduction to the commandments, and statement of the reaFrom the wilderness, of sin the sons for claiming obedience to them. children of Israel removed, and, en- I am the Lord thy God. Reference to camping successively at Dophka and the covenant established in circumAlush (Exod. xxxiii. 12-13), they ar- cision. Israel is not to keep the comrived at Rephidim, where again they mandments in order to become the pitched their camp for a longer season. people of Jehovah, but because they Three notable events occurred at Re- are the people of Jehovah. Have phidim the production of water from brought thee out of the land of Egypt. the rock (Exod. xvii. 1-7); the war In Egypt Israel could not have kept with Amalek (vera. 8-16); and the the commandments (for instance, those visit of Jethro, which led to the ap- relating to idolatry and to the Sabpointment of judges in Israel (Exod. bath); but now, being delivered from xxiii.). Egypt, they are able to keep them; and with the ability comes the obligation to keep them. The same reason substantially exists in the case of Christians. The encampment here continued perhaps half a month, after which they again removed; and finally, at the beginning of the third month, they arrived in the desert of Sinai, and pitched their camp in close vicinity to the sacred mountain. And here, in the wilderness of Sinai, where Moses about a year before had received his divine call, occurred the giving of that law which has since exerted such a mighty influence upon the destinies of mankind, and the fundamental principles of which will abide in force when heaven and earth shall pass away. The Lord has become our God, and we have become the Lord's people, in the covenant of baptism. Moreover the Lord has also delivered us, not indeed from Egyptian bondage, but from the worse bondage of the devil, of which Israel's bondage in Egypt was but a figure. We are, therefore, able to keep the commandments; and because we are able, we are, therefore, under obligation to keep them, not that we may become the people of God, but because we are the people of God. VERSE 1.-And God spake. The mountain range which is sometimes called Sinai, but more generally Horeb, VERSE 3.-First Commandment. As terminates at its southern extremity in in reality there are no other gods bea perpendicular peak, which towers sides Jehovah, the true God, the com2000 feet above the plain, Wady es mandment forbids the acknowledgeSebaiyeh, lying to the south of it. ment and worship of any imaginary or This peak, called Jebel Musa by the fictitious gods, and enjoins the acknowArabs, that is, Mountain of Moses, was ledgement and worship of the one God probably the one from which the law only. The heathens believe in many was delivered, while the people stood gods, because they see the divine power in nature divided, and manifesting itself in many different objects and forms, such as the sun, moon, stars, the air, clouds, winds, thunder, the earth, the sea, the mountains, rivers, lakes, and trees and animals of every kind. Some heathen na ions worship these natural objects themselves as gods; but more generally the gods are upposed to dwell in, and rule over, these natural objects and elements. The symbols and images by which these imaginary gods are at length represented to the senses are called idols. These are in the likeness of men, of birds, of four-footed beasts and of creeping things (Rm. i. 23). At first the gods may be distinguished from the idols, but in course of time the idols themselves come to be worshipped, and the people who do this are called idolaters. This is to rob the Creator of His glory and give it to the creature. But idolatry does not only consist in worshipping actual idols. St. Paul says covetousness is idolatry, (Eph. v. 5, Col. iii. 5). God himself wants to be the supreme object of our love, and devotion, and confidence, and worship; and anything that comes between us and God, so as to withdraw from Him our supreme love and devotion is an idol. One may, therefore, be an idolater without bowing down before a literal idol. Many acknowledge no god at all, and never utter a prayer, but that is not fulfilling the commandment. They may make an idol of themselves or of their money. God wants us to worship Him, not be cause He is selfish or ambitious of honor, but because it is the only condition of maintaining communion with Him, without which there could be no sound spiritual and moral life. VERSES 4-6.-Second Commandment. As the first commandment relates to the true object, the second relates to the true mode of worship. Anything that is in heaven above. Heaven here means the sky or atmosphere, and the things that are forbidden to be represented are birds and all creatures that fly in the air. In the earth beneath. Men, beasts and reptiles. In the waters Fishes and other animals of the deep. This does not mean that we may not make representations of these things, but only that we may not make them for purposes of worship-not as symbols of God or of the divine attributes, by means of which we might pretend to worship God. All such symbolism, as history shows, soon degenerates int> idolatry. "God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." True, man is not wholly spiritual, and therefore needs some outward meaus of communion with God (hence the constant tendency to symbolic representations of God, and to idolatry); but this want of our nature God has met in the ordinances of the church (altar, sacraments etc.). See verse 24. None are so spiritual as to be able to di-pense with the altar and the sacraments. Those who have no faith in these, will have faith perhaps in a mourner's bench, something of their own invention, like the pagan's idol. The second commandment, then, enjoins us to worship God in the way of His own appointment. A jealous God, visiting the iniquities, etc. This is what we witnesss constantly. Children inherit the conse. quences of the parent's sins, such as poverty, disease, vicious habits, etc. So, on the other band, the virtue of parents procures blessings to many generations of children. And these are facts which apply with special force to the matter of this commandment. The departure from the true worship of God entails idolatry with its attendant vices upon countless generations coming after those who have taken the first step in this bad direction. VERSE 7.-Third Commandment. The name of God is that by which His being is manifested. God's being cannot be abused, for it is beyond the reach of the wicked, but His name may. This may be done by profane or rash swearing, cursing, blasphemy, perjury, and by the light and frivolous use of the name of God. An oath is a declaration or promise accompanied by an appeal to God, and an imprecation of the divine vengeance if the declaration or promise be false. There is no difference between an oath and an affirmation in respect of its contents. An affirmation, so-called, is as much an appeal to God as an oath, and serves the same purpose. An oath is lawful when it is demanded by proper authority for a worthy end; and was therefore sanctioned in the Old Testament, and accepted by our Saviour (Deut. vi. 13; x. 20; Matt. xxvi. 63). When a lawful oath is false it is perjury. And this the commandment forbids, together with all unauthorized or unnecessary swearing. "Swear not at all. . . But let your communication (your ordinary speech, your intercourse, your common declarations and promises) be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil" (is profane). Profanity is a very great sin. God will not hold him guiltless (acquit and suffer to go unpunished) that taketh his name in vain. In the Old Testament the sin of profanity was punished with death (Lev. xxiv. 16). The name of God must only be used seriously and reverently. Men and boys gain nothing in point of respectability, character or peace of conscience by departing from this rule, but only expose themselves to the awful wrath of God. Sunday or Lord's day as well as to the old Jewish Sabbath. The Lord's day should be spent in acts of public and private worship, in devotional reading and meditation, in godly conversation and works of Christian charity. The Lord's day is profaned by all kinds of secular work, and by all kinds of worldly conversation, study, and amusement, on account of which the worship of God is neglected. Visiting on the Lord's day, attending to business, travelling are some of the ways of desecrating it. In some sections of country, Sunday-school pic-nics, and Sunday camp-meetings are occasions of profaning the Lord's day, and though carried ou in the name of religion, do immeasurable injury to the cause of religion. By little foxes tender grapes are destroyed, according to Solomon. Little foxes are very cunning and most difficult to catch; and so are those little temptations by which our moral natures are gradually eaten away. The tender grapes of many a Christian branch are destroyed by such little foxes as temper, discontent, avarice, vanity. Many who could resist much greater sins yield to these. There is an excitement in the very greatness of a trial of temptation which enables us to resist it; while the chase after little foxes is dull and uninteresting. No wonder that when we analyze the lives of those who have ruined themselves morally, we generally discover that It was the little rift within the lute, VERSES 8-11.-Fourth Commandment. The word Sabbath means rest. The Sabbath is the day of rest from secular labor, but of employment in the service and worship of God. Remember the Sabbath, etc. This word remember implies that it was an old institution that was referred to, with which the Israelites had long been familiar, though they might often, especially in Egypt, have neglected it. This commandment is not arbitrary, but rests upon a necessity of our nature. See Mark ii. 27. Man cannot labor incessantly, for that would That, ever widening, slowly silenced all; speedily end in his destruction. He Or little pitted speck in garnered fruit, needs seasons of rest and refreshing: That, rotting inward, slowly mouldered all. because he is a spiritual being, he needs How many people are almost successseasons when, by sinking back, in the ful, missing their aim by "Oh, such a way of worship, into God the fountain little!" Minutia in these cases make of his life and being, he may be quick- or mar us. "If I am building a mounted and strengthened for the duties of ain," said Confucius," and stop before mou. This necessity of our nature is the last basketful of earth is placed on called of the commandment. What the summit, I have failed." The exaterminatden on the Sabbath day is all mination is lost by half a mark. Oue a perpendi secular labor, and what is neck nearer and the race would have 2000 feet a that it shall be kept holy. been won. The slightest additional ef Sebaiyeh, lyingment has never been fort would have turned the tide of war. This peak, calleaannot be abolished. "Thou art not far from the kingdom of Arabs, that is, Mornged (changed from God," were solemn words, making the probably the one fiday of the week), terrible difference between almost and was delivered, while to the Christian | altogether.-Chmabers's Journal. The Guardian. VOL. XXXII. Editorial Notes. SEPTEMBER, 1881. THOMAS CARLYLE said when his wife died: "The light of my life has gone out." And the late Lord Beaconsfield was equally overpowered at the bier of his wife. "On foot, with uncovered head, exposed to the falling rain, the stricken husband followed her remains to the crypt of the little Church of St. Michael's, which he soon after restored and beautified in her gracious memory, and where he now sleeps by her side, the tired brain and the weary hand and heart forever at rest from the strife and turmoil of life. Those who were intimate with Carlyle and Beaconsfield have said that these great heirs of fame were never the same men after the loss of their wives. It is of Beaconsfield's wife, twenty years older than himself, that the following heroic and touching incident is related. One night, when a great debate was to take place in Parliament, she entered the carriage with him to drive from their residence at Grosvenor Gate to Westminster. The groom, in closing the carriage-door, crushed her finger. Lest her husband should be agitated by the knowledge of the pain she endured, she concealed it from him during the drive, and he entered the House, eat through the debate, and made a famous speech, without knowing what martyr pain she quietly endured without allowing a groan or a sigh to escape her, so as not to disturb his mind in the great effort he was making. THE summer is upon us. The time of vacations and nervous vexation has come. Brain-workers and workers with brawny muscles pant for rest: "For a lodge in some vast wilderness, NO. 9. The young folk and the little children. are clamoring for a day's fun on some Even the farmer, pic-nic or excursion. hies away to the sea shore. We wish with bronzed face, takes a day off, and all wary, rest-seeking people much joy in their shaded streets or more public resorts. Lazy, do-nothing people neither need nor deserve recreation. The idler rests all the year round; his aimless, useless life becomes dull and insipid, which no vacation can relieve. Some people object to vacations because the devil takes none. No, he takes none, and his children take none. The drunk ard, the liar, the swearer, the thief, and the debauchee, take no respite. There is a Lord's day of rest, but no Satan's day of rest, except when he steals God's day by leading his minions to desecrate it. And then it becomes a day of the most exhausting, wearying work, folache and heartache; with an empty lowed by a "blue Monday," with headpurse and a guilty conscience. Our vacations come but occasionally. Extending over the whole year, they would All work and no play makes Jack a afford us neither pleasure nor repose. dull boy; and all play and no work makes him a very bad boy. I LATELY sat at the feet of a veteran ex-legislator while traveling on the was, in the good sense of that term, who has been honored with important offices life has put him beyond the pale of poby his fellow-citizens. His advanced cars. A sort of a self-made man he litical favor. At his time of life he neither seeks nor could he secure an office. His gray hairs seem to be against him. For in matters of this kind the accumulated experience and ripe wisdom of years count little over against the younger aspirants for place. I was pleased to hear with what philosophical is lawful when it is demanded by proper authority for a worthy end; and was therefore sanctioned in the Old Testament, and accepted by our Saviour (Deut. vi. 13; x. 20; Matt. xxvi. 63). When a lawful oath is false it is perjury. And this the commandment forbids, together with all unauthorized or unnecessary swearing. "Swear not at all. . . . But let your communication (your ordinary speech, your intercourse, your common declarations and promises) be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil" (is profane). Profanity is a very great sin. God will not hold him guiltless (acquit and suffer to go unpunished) that taketh his name in vain. In the Old Testament the sin of profanity was punished with death (Lev. xxiv. 16). The name of God must only be used seriously and reverently. Men and boys gain nothing in point of respectability, character or peace of conscience by departing from this rule, but only expose themselves to the awful wrath of God. VERSES 8-11.-Fourth Commandment. The word Sabbath means rest. The Sabbath is the day of rest from secular labor, but of employment in the service and worship of God. Remember the Sabbath, etc. This word remember implies that it was an old institution that was referred to, with which the Israelites had long been familiar, though they might often, especially in Egypt, have neglected it. This commandment is not arbitrary, but rests upon a necessity of our nature. See Mark ii. 27. Man cannot labor incessantly, for that would speedily end in his destruction. He needs seasons of rest and refreshing: because he is a spiritual being, he needs seasons when, by sinking back, in the way of worship, into God the fountain of his life and being, he may be quicked and strengthened for the duties of mou. This necessity of our nature is called of the commandment. What terminatden on the Sabbath day is all a perpendi secular labor, and what is 2000 feet & that it shall be kept holy. Sebaiyeh, lyingment has never been This peak, calleaannot be abolished. Arabs, that is, Mounged (changed from probably the one fiday of the week), was delivered, while to the Christian Sunday or Lord's day as well as to the old Jewish Sabbath. The Lord's day should be spent in acts of public and private worship, in devotional reading and meditation, in godly conversation and works of Christian charity. The Lord's day is profaned by all kinds of secular work, and by all kinds of worldly conversation, study, and amusement, on account of which the worship of God is neglected. Visiting on the Lord's day, attending to business, travelling are some of the ways of desecrating it. In some sections of country, Sunday-school pic-nics, and Sunday camp-meetings are occasions of profaning the Lord's day, and though carried on in the name of religion, do immeasurable injury to the cause of religion. By little foxes tender grapes are destroyed, according to Solomon. Little foxes are very cunning and most difficult to catch; and so are those little temptations by which our moral natures are gradually eaten away. The tender grapes of many a Christian branch are destroyed by such little foxes as temper, discontent, avarice, vanity. Many who could resist much greater sins yield to these. There is an excitement in the very greatness of a trial of temptation which enables us to resist it; while the chase after little foxes is dull and uninteresting. No wonder that when we analyze the lives of those who have ruined themselves morally, we generally discover that It was the little rift within the lute, That, ever widening, slowly silenced all; Or little pitted speck in garnered fruit, That, rotting inward, slowly mouldered all. How many people are almost successful, missing their aim by "Oh, such a little!" Minutia in these cases make or mar us. "If I am building a mountain," said Confucius, "and stop before the last basketful of earth is placed on the summit, I have failed." The examination is lost by half a mark. Oue neck nearer and the race would have been won. The slightest additional ef fort would have turned the tide of war. "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God," were solemn words, making the terrible difference between almost and altogether.-Chmabers's Journal. |
