3RD. THE WORSHIP.

In our previous observations we have endeavored by a kind of induction, to anticipate the main subject of our remarks, viz. : the worship as displayed in the New Testament. Perhaps, too, it might be in place to say more of a negative character.

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Worship, in the proper and scriptural sense, is not the mere performance of religious acts. These may be mechanical, unmeaning, and possibly might be "let out" as men "let houses," hire farm work," &c. For many years it has seemed to us, that the practice of hiring preachers to make such flowery, startling, and gorgeous sermons as would call together indiscriminately church members, gamblers, drunkards, and thieves into the same admiring multitude, to say the least, is very far from primitive usages. The general tendency of these clerical orations, is decidedly immoral and corrupting. As an illustration, a short time since, we heard of a volatile girl of our acquaintance, who said she was delighted with Mr. -'s sermons," for, said the light hearted creature, "He always makes me have such a good opinion of myself." Before dismissing this thought, we will add, that the chief object with many persons in securing preaching, is to hear what will reconcile them with themselves. We once heard Orville Dewey assert that the debauched in this life paid up to the last farthing, when the sceptics, drunkards, and abandoned present chuckled most heartily that there was no more required of them. Men will pay the highest price for the preaching which will plaster over an immoral life, and enable them to die in sin without compunction. Preaching, though valuable in its place, is not the food of spiritual progress. We must also be well guarded against that deceitful philosophy, which says, "That is right to him who practices it, flattering himself it is so." This system consecrates to heaven all the idolatry of the world. It places the most lascivious impulses and brutal deeds upon a par with, if not above, the precepts of Jesus Christ. Worship is not what may seem good in our own eyes. It is the doing of the things which the Lord has revealed, with the understanding it constitutes the service of God, and

with the hope eternal life will be the reward. In the parable of the sower, there were but two conditions of thirty, sixty, and an hundred fold, viz.: 1st, an honest; and 2nd, an understanding heart.

We wish the reader to know, that we do not suppose there is any talismanic power in the appointments of the Almighty to make us worse or better. There is no fitness in religious ordinances, so far as we can see, to make men good or bad. The whole power and efficacy of a Law are in the authority with which it is given. We can see no philosophical fitness in the sacrifices under the law, to take away sins, no more than medicinal ability in a brazen serpent to cure the bite of poisonous reptiles. There seems nothing applicable in belief—a mere mental act to change the heart; or in baptism, to change the state; but the Lord of hosts is their author, and he blesses his appointments. This may serve as a general definition of worship, but there are special performances which claim our attention. The mere abstaining from evil is negative, and although as a condition to do good it is indispensable, religion is positive in its tendencies.

We have mentioned, and sufficiently examined for our present purpose, the necessity of religious feeling, and the importance of assembling with the saints; but under the head of worship it remains for us for to point out briefly the order and the manner in which we are to discharge the various obligations which rest upon us.

READING THE WORD OF GOD IN THE

CONGREGATIONS.

for us to say to our readers, that we regard the organ and violin worship, and even the fashionable choir singing of our country, as mockery of all that is sacred. It is of a piece with "hiring out" the teaching, admonitions, and prayers of the saints.

A spiritual mind gives sweetness to the roughest voice, and the hymn of devotion never fails to inspire a love of purity and goodness.

THE LORD'S SUPPER.

"Upon the first day of the week, the disciples came together to break bread," (Acts xx. 7) and as certain as there are fifty-two Lord's days in the year, the people of the Most High should meet fifty-two times in the year, and no oftener, to commemorate the death of their Saviour. This is the labor of the congregation, and Jesus Christ never intended that a preacher should be called to break the bread to them. There is, indeed, no such thing as keeping the Lord's day, if the saints fail to attend to this very solemn and important appointment.

First of all, a feeling of interest in religion, induced by an acquaintance with our Father's will, should be encouraged; secondly, the obligations to meet with the saints, must have a place in our hearts; and thirdly, the service in reading, exhortation, prayer, and singing, with the Supper, should ever lie near our heart. These constitute much of the service through which the Lord has promised to bring us off more than conquerors. "Blessed are they that do his commandments, for they shall have a right to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates into the city."

May the lovers of truth in the nineteenth century, learn and love the ways of truth, T. F.

We have now examined, with more or less precision and fulness, one hundred and thirty-six specifications in this series of prophetic events. The avowed object of the angel, "And now I am come to make them understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days," has been our guide in every particular. By it we have wandered through the mazes of Jewish, Persian, Grecian, Egyptian Syrian, Roman, Arabian, and Turkish history, embracing a period of two thousand years; and in no case have we failed to discover the exact fulfilment of the prophetic word in the fortunes of the Jews themselves, or in the authentic records of those nations who have, in succession, held in subjection the land which God gave to Abraham and to his seed for an everlasting possession.

of Astronomy, with the phenomena of the celestial spheres, is sufficient to demonstrate its correctness, certainly the prophetical and historical coincidence of all these events ought to convince every reflecting mind, that the main scope of the prophecy refers to the Jews and their terrestrial patrimony; that other nations are introduced only on account of their associations with the Israelites, or their influence over Palestine, which, for a time, was to be trodden down by the Gentiles; that these Gentiles have been in succession the Persians, the Macedonians, the Egyptians, the Syrians, the Romans, the Saracens, and finally the Turks, concerning whom a few things remain to be considered.

have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Lybians and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps." All this applies specifically to the Turkish or Ottoman Sultans, and to them only. Mohammed II. the conqueror of Constantinople, was in 1481 succeeded by his son, Bajazet II. a prince of mild and peaceable temper. He, however, subdued Bessarabia, and some important provinces in Asia. After a reign of thirty years, he was forced to resign his throne to his son, Selim, surnamed Gavuz, or the Savage. This most cruel of the Ottoman monarchs, commenced his reign by the murder of his brothers, his nephews, and forty thousand dissenters from the orthodox faith. Having removed all competitors for the crown, he next turned his arms against the Persians, over whom he gained several important victories, and from whom he wrested large portions of territory beyond the Tigris.

He then marched against Gauri, the Mameluke Sultan of Egypt, who in the late Persian wars had fought against the Ottomans. The two armies met near Aleppo, a town of Northern Syria. The engagement was fierce and sanguinary; but Gauri was slain, his army defeated, and all Syria added to the dominions of the conqueror. Jerusalem and Judea were included in this conquest; and from that time (1516) to the present they have been subject to the Sublime Porte.

"But these shall escape out of his hand, even Eden, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon." These countries were overrun and pillaged by the Turks. And in the reign of Solyman, all Arabia were supposed to be conquered by the Ottomans. But as a bird escapes from the hands of the fowler, so did these tribes of the desert elude their captors; and now every map of the Turkish empire is an illustration of the truth of this prediction.

But the land of Egypt was not so fortunate. Selim met and defeated the new sultan, Tuman Bey, near the walls of Cairo. He afterwards stormed the city --hung Tuman Bey before its principal gate-put to death fifty thousand of its inhabitants-sent five hundred of the most distinguished families, and a vast amount of gold, and silver, and other

treasure, to Constantinople--and finally reduced Egypt to a Turkish province, in which condition it remained for above three hundred years.

After the conquest of Egypt, several of the neighboring tribes on the West and on the South of Egypt, sent ambassadors to Selim, and became voluntary tributaries to the Sublime Porte. Others were subdued by Solyman, the son and successor of Selim; in whose reign the Turkish empire attained its greatest extent and its greatest power. He headed his armies in thirteen campaigns-took parts of Hungary and Northern Africa-captured Rhodes and other islands in the Mediterraneandefeated the Persians, and added Tebreez and Bagdad to his dominions. Thus did the Sultan of Constantinople stretch forth his hand upon the countries-thus had he power over all the treasures of Egypt-and thus did the Libyans and the Ethiopians serve him, according to the most authentic records of modern history.

"But tidings out of the East, and out of the North, shall trouble him; therefore, he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace, (or his palace-like tabernacles) between the seas, in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him."

These verses reveal to us the fate and destiny of the Turkish empire. They evidently relate to the future; though the present difficulty with Russia may be, and very probably is, the beginning of troubles. But on these points, it becomes no uninspired man to dogmatize. Prophecy is a system of outline maps and charts, on which are inscribed the leading political, civil, and religious events of the world's history. Time alone can fill up the blanks, and reveal to erring man the various ways and means by which God will fulfil, or permit to be fulfilled, all that the prophets have spoken.

In whatever, therefore, relates to the future, we should be careful to distinguish what is certain from that which is only probable. That Turkey will fall, is just as certain as that the closing paragraph of the eleventh chapter of Daniel refers to it. France and England may sustain her for a time; but

all the powers of Western Europe cannot ultimately save her. She will come to her end, and none shall help her. When, how, and by what means, are not so clearly revealed. But it is probable

1. That Russia and some eastern power, most likely Persia, will be made the instruments of this overthrow. It has long been the fear of the Turks, and the growing expectation of the Greeks, that Russia will one day put an end to the Ottoman empire. These impressions have been strengthened by the events of two hundred and fifty years. From the reign of Peter the Great, Russia has been encroaching on the limits of Turkey; and all the world now knows, that Constantinople would soon be tributary to St. Petersburgh, were it not for the combined influence of France and England. But these western powers cannot always serve as her guardians. The events of another year may require all their forces at home, or to guard their supposed interests in some other part of the world; and then how soon would tidings out of the North, and very probably also out of the East, trouble the Sublime Porte? But be this as it may, all the powers of earth cannot long preserve Turkey. Fall she must, and fall she will, as every other government that will not bow to the authority of Him who is King of kings, and Lord of lords. For says Isaiah, Ix. 12, "The nation and kingdom that will not serve thee, shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted."

the next thirty-six years, or before the epoch of 1892. It may happen much sooner. We see nothing in prophecy to prevent its occurrence within ten, or even five years. But about 1892, we confidently anticipate an event which must be subsequent to the fall of Turkey; and hence we fix upon thirtysix years as the maximum period of her national existence. That this period cannot be of very long duration, is, we think, quite evident from several sources of evidence. The signs of the times clearly indicate this; and the apostolic visions of St. John seem to reveal the near approach of this next event in the order of prophecy. The most eminent theological writers concede, that the pouring out of the seven vials of the wrath of God upon the earth, is symbolical of the execution of God's righteous judgment on all the enemies of the church; that the first five of these have been emptied; and that the pouring out of the sixth refers to the final ruin of the Ottoman empire, which cannot, therefore, be very remote.

John, however, does not fix the chronology of these events. For this we must depend chiefly on Daniel. But we have not yet before us the proper data from which this question can, with any show of probability, be determined. For the present, therefore, we simply give the result of our investigations, which, in a subsequent article, we hope to be able to sustain with some degree of satisfaction to the reader.

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In the meantime, the events which will immediately follow the fall of Turkey, deserve our very special conAnd at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."

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3. That this event will occur within

C

We have, then, first in order, the fall of the Ottoman empire; second, the rising up of Michael the archangel, as the advocate of the twelve tribes; third, a scene of unparalleled trouble; fourth, the deliverance of the Israelites; and