Holy Spirit descended upon them. Here two things are to be noted: First, that the apostles were wont to meet on this day, and next, that on two of these occasions Jesus appeared to them, and on the third the Holy Ghost descended on them By both of these events their meeting on that day was sanctioned and approved.

Advancing, in the Acts of the Apostles, we meet with the following passage: "And we sailed away from Philippi, after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow" (Acts xx. 6, 7). Now, this is the same Paul who is supposed to have announced the absolute cessation of a sabbath of rest. We find him here abiding in one place seven days, which is evidently a week, or interval between. one holy convocation and another. And on the first day of the week the disciples come together to break bread, and Paul preaches unto them. We have thus on record four clear instances of the custom of assembling for worship on the first day of the week.

Moreover, the custom of assembling for worship is noticed again and again in the writings of this self-same Paul. In 1 Cor. xi. he praises the brethren, because they keep the ordinances (vs. 2) as he delivered them to them; and he goes on to speak of the proprieties of public worship, and incidentally of praying, prophesying, and singing, and repeatedly of their regularly coming together for these exercises into one place (1 Cor. v. 4; xi. 17, 18, 20, 33, 34; xiv. 23, 26; Heb. x. 25). Now, it is impossible to come together statedly, unless there be a set time, as well as place, of assembly. Here, then, we have a day of holy convocation in all the dwellings of the people, on which they engaged in prayer, praise, reading, and expounding the scriptures. In the same Epistle to the Corinthians he expressly mentions the day of meeting: "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered

him, that there be no gatherings when I come " (1 Cor. xvi. 2). It might not be called the sabbath, because, in common parlance, the seventh day was still called by that name. But it became, to all intents and purposes, the sabbath of the New Testament church.

There is one other noteworthy passage in the Book of Revelation: "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day" (Rev. i. 10). We observe, 1. On this day John was in the Spirit. This recalls to us the day of pentecost, that great feast of weeks on which the Holy Ghost fell on the assembled apostles. 2. Next, on this day the Lord appeared to John in his glory and power-an incident reminding us of the first day on which he rose from the dead, and appeared to Mary Magdalene, to the other women, to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, to Cephas, and to the ten assembled together in the evening. 3. On this day the Lord communicated to John some part, if not the whole, of the revelation. which God had given to him for the church. 4. This day is now distinguished by the special name of the Lord's day. We have in scripture two things called the Lord's, namely, the Lord's supper and the Lord's day. The former is so called because it was instituted by the Lord to commemorate his death. And when we find the apostle John in the Spirit on this solemn occasion speaking of the Lord's day, we cannot but conclude that it has been appointed, as it has been repeatedly sanctioned, by the Lord himself, to commemorate his resurrection, and become the sabbath of rest, instead of the seventh day, which, after he had lain all that day in the tomb, was unfitted to be the day of rest, of gladness, or of worship. 5. We are thus brought back to the text now before us, in which it is concluded: "Therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the sabbath." He has now exercised his lordship over it by transferring it to the first day of the week-the day of light, of the wave-sheaf, of the two wave-loaves, of the resurrection of the Son of Man, and of the descent of the Holy Ghost. It reminds us, also, of the last clause in the fundamental definition of the sabbath:

"It is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings." This has been the sabbath of rest, the holy convocation, the sabbath of the Lord, in all the dwellings of Christendom.

The experience of the past has proved to all thoughtful men that the sabbath was made for man, and therefore perpetual in its obligation. It is an unspeakable boon to the sons of toil or care. It is the touchstone of a nation's piety. And the spirituality, intelligence, and efficiency of a church rise in proportion to the degree in which it remembers the sabbatlı-day to keep it holy. Like the fifth commandment, it has its promise. "If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord honorable; and shalt honor it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."

ARTICLE V.

THE ORGANIC AND VISIBLE MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM, AND THE HUMAN AGENCY IN ITS ADVANCEMENT.

BY SAMUEL HARRIS, DWIGHT PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY IN THE THEOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT OF YALE COLLEGE.

PART I.-THE CHURCH THE ORGANIC OUTGROWTH OF THE LIFE-GIVING AND REDEEMING GRACE OF CHRIST PENETRATING HUMAN HISTORY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT..

JOHN in his first epistle, presents, Christ's life as penetrating humanity and manifesting itself therein by a growth vitalized by that life and having its character; as the vital force of a seed penetrates inorganic nature and creates a growth" after its kind." The eternal life which was with the Father is in his Son; by him, the Word of Life, it is manifested to men. He that hath the Son hath the life, and participating in his life, is like him. The life penetrating human history, creates a growth after its kind. That life in God is light, and as it unfolds in man it is light, and in it is no darkness at all; in God it is love, and unfolding in humanity it is love, excluding all selfishness and hate; in God it is absolute purity, and among men whosoever hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure, this life entering the human heart effects a new birth; and "whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God." The "fellowship" on which the apostle insists is more than communion in meditation and worship; it is participation in the life that was in Christ, as a plant participates in the life of the seed. The apostle proceeds to teach that it is by the Holy Spirit that Christ abides in us. The criterion. by which we discern the Spirit of God is that he is the Spirit

of Christ, confesses him as the life of the world, and creates an outgrowth of the life that is in him.

Since the life that was in Christ is thus penetrating and vitalizing humanity, it must manifest itself in effects which can be historically traced. In some form the kingdom of heaven must reveal itself in human history rising from the ruins of humanity and shaping itself in its divine beauty. Somewhere must appear the living tree into which the mustard-seed is growing. Goethe calls nature the living garment which is always weaving for Deity in the whizzing loom of time, and by which we see him. So the kingdom of heaven, forming itself in human history, is the garment which God is weaving by which we see him as the Redeemer and the life of men.

The more spiritual and profound historians of the church recognize it as the manifestation of this divine life flowing into human history. But this is true of the organized church only with important qualifications. The life must manifest. itself in an organization; but the organization is neither the only nor the complete exponent of the life. The kingdom of heaven is organizing rather than organized. It creates for itself an organization, yet the kingdom of heaven is not the organization, but rather the life which produces it. The life which creates the organization, penetrates and purifies also the family and the state, renovates individuals, and blooms and fructifies in Christian civilizations; and these also are its historical manifestations. Always the kingdom of heaven is within you. In the variously organized churches of history, without doubt, the life has been revealed and organized. But no one has been the only and complete outgrowth and manifestation of the life. The kingdom of Christ is neither identical nor co-extensive with them.

These qualifications must be kept in mind as we proceed to consider the church as the organic outgrowth in human history of the life that is in Christ.

There are two maxims which express what is essential in the two conflicting theories of the church. The first is: