Again, in Amos, we read: "Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings? . ., But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your God, which ye made unto yourselves." (v. 24.)

Hosea also says: "Now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice (marg. ' the sacrificers of men') kiss the calves." (xiii. 2.) Here it appears that allusion is made to the fact that in the temple of Baal there were several chambers, in the innermost of which was a figure or image of Baal, and while those who offered inferior sacrifices only went into one or other of the outer chambers, the man who offered his own child in sacrifice went into the innermost one and kissed the calves of the idol. From all these references in the prophets I gather that the blood-shed, so often spoken of, was mainly, if not entirely, blood offered to idols; not simply brutal destruction of life by violent men: in other words, the horror of it was that it had a professedly religious character, and thus the name of Jehovah was blasphemed among the nations.

We must ever bear in mind that "the things that were written aforetime were written for our learning," and there is great danger lest we should think that all these warnings have no reference to us, and that we have got beyond the need of them. It is not so at all. Human nature is the same now that it always was, and it would be extremely unsafe to say that the days of persecution are now past.

It may, perhaps, be unnecessary now to warn the Christian Church that it must not literally sacrifice to Moloch; but during the long night of the middle ages it literally did this, and literally burnt its sons and daughters at the stake to this monster. And it is because of these atrocious murders, in which nearly every section of Christendom has more or less participated, that the doom of the murderer will ultimately overtake them. Moreover, the spirit that prompted these cruelties is by no means extinct even at the present day; it simply slumbers, and may easily be awakened. The power to persecute is not at present permitted, for God has looked out in the morning watch, through the pillar of fire, and taken off the chariot wheels of the persecutors, so that they drive them heavily; but the doctrines that led to these things are still as powerful as ever.

It must ever be remembered, too, that all these cruelties were done in the name of religion, and there can be no doubt that many professing Christians were perfectly sincere in believing that it was justifiable to punish and even to torture so-called "heretics," if by so doing orthodoxy might be preserved. Our Lord's words, "The time cometh when whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service," were prophetically true, and were justified to the letter.

All idolatry arises from false and cruel views of God; and this is a truth which cannot be too strongly insisted upon, especially as

the tendency to view God as a stern and hard master has by no means died out of the hearts of professing Christians at the present day, though it may be hoped that there is now a great advance in this respect as compared with the views held during the last century. It is not so very long ago that the idea of what is called "toleration" was scouted by almost all Christians, and it is unfortunately too true that the very Puritans who fled to America to escape persecution in Europe treated Quakers and other so-called schismatics in much the same way that they themselves had been treated by the orthodox party.

*

All this arose from the prominence given by all sects and parties alike to the importance of what they called "doctrine," and to their hatred of what they chose to consider heresy, a word whose New Testament meaning has been marvellously perverted from its real sense. In point of fact the prominence of doctrine, the exaltation of doctrine over life and love was nothing more nor less than a form of idolatry, and a very ugly form of idolatry. It exalted an opinion into a kind of divinity, though that opinion was nothing more than "the work of their own hands,"-spiritually speaking-which their own imaginations had transformed into what was supposed to be a truth. Men may, in fact, worship a dogma or an opinion just as they worship any other idol; and this form of idolatry is more dangerous than many others, because it is often wondrously like truth.

The warnings and threatenings of the prophets were by no means only meant for the Jews; they apply, almost word for word, to the Church of the Middle Ages, to the spiritual descendants of those who in the days of Isaiah and Jeremiah went astray after their idols. Strange indeed it is, and would be almost inexplicable, did we not know that "all the nations had drunk of the wine of the fornication of Babylon, therefore the nations were mad." They were indeed "drunken, but not with strong drink." "The vision of all (truth) had become unto them as a book that is sealed." How marvellously accurate these prophecies were will be acknowledged by all, and afford a sufficient answer to those who tell us that it is impossible for the Church to err. Now just as the Jews in the days of Jeremiah, not only burned their children to Moloch, but actually set "their abominations in the house which was called by the Lord's name to pollute it" (Jer. vii. 30); so has the corrupt Christian Church, true to its spiritual ancestors, done with regard to its own atrocities. It has actually pretended that in so doing it was worshipping Jehovah: an idea so horrible, so dreadful, that the only wonder is that God did not at once destroy it, and blot out its name from under heaven. That he would have done so long ago, I have no doubt, but that even in Sardis there were some who had not defiled their garments;

In "Campbell on the Gospels" will be found an interesting discussion on the word "heresy." Campbell proves that by the word "heretic " the writers of the New Testament simply meant a factious man.

and that this very cruelty of the Church was made to work out the glory of God in his saints and martyrs.

The professing Christian Church during the Middle Ages did indeed debase itself unto Hades," and even now it is very far from having shown its sincere repentance for its sins during that period. And when I speak of the Church I speak of almost all professing Churches, for few indeed were there of them who imitated our Lord in "reviling not again."

It is scarcely possible for human nature to have gone to greater depths of cruelty than did the professing Church, if only a tithe of what we read is true: and indeed even Cardinal Manning does not attempt to deny that the Church was cruel, but says that all men were cruel at that time. But granting this to the full, it affords no excuse whatever for a Church professing to be Christ's. It, at least, ought to have known better; it ought to have known that every form of violence or of cruelty was utterly alien to the spirit of Christianity; a religion which everywhere, when real and true, must show its affinity to that blessed Spirit whose fruits are love, peace, and gentleness.

Idolatry is, I think, best defined as being any thing that prevents the free worship of the heart to God the Father. This " any thing" may sometimes be external, sometimes internal; sometimes it may be wealth, power, dignity; sometimes it may be carnal appetite; sometimes it may be a dogma, a system, a church, and not unfrequently it is that most deceitful of all, namely, self-worship. But all this matters not. If it be not the genuine heart-felt worship of God the Father, it is idolatry, and must sooner or later bring forth evil fruit of some kind or other, and proportionate to the nature and magnitude of the idol worshipped.

The only real preservative against any form of Idolatry is a loyal obedience to the "first and great commandment," "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart ;" and any thing, any church or dogma that tends to draw us away from or diminish our love to God the Father has in it more or less of the nature of Idolatry.

God as our Father should ever be to each one of us the centre and sum of our existence. On this point not even a doubt is permissible. Our first thought should be always of him, as such, and of no other object or being whatever. As a Father he claims and ought to have-must rightly have-the first place in our affections. We should love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our understanding. This is above all the grand truth of all real religion, and pre-eminently so of Christianity. Faith and hope, however beautiful in themselves, fade completely away before this glorious truth. The soul that really understands and obeys it cannot go far wrong, for all other truths are subordinate to and follow necessarily from, this first truth. In nothing was our Lord more careful and anxious than

always and everywhere to give prominence to this truth. His whole heart was given to his Father; there was no hesitation, no doubt whatever, on that point. How beautifully, for instance, this appears in the Lord's Prayer, half of which is taken up with ascriptions of praise to the Father, and desire that his will may be done. He does not even mention his own name. The first and chief petition in that beautiful prayer is that the Father's name may be hallowed. Every thing else follows from this; for if the Father's name be really hallowed all must come right at last.

Well, indeed, was it that our Lord gave such prominence to this "first and great commandment," for there is every reason to believe that all the misery in the world has resulted from the neglect of it. God the Father is the embodiment of everything holy, everything true, everything merciful, kind, and good. In all these attributes he is absolutely perfect, and nothing merciful, kind, or good can proceed from any one except through Him. Every good gift and every perfect gift, cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning." All true religion is based on the belief in a perfectly good and righteous God, who is to all who seek him a father and a friend; the best and truest friend that we can have.

But is this the real creed of Christianity? Alas! it seems that while in words it may be so, in reality it is not. Almost always some other object is permitted to come between the love of the soul and God. The church, the sacraments, the atonement itself, or some other doctrine is practically placed between the free worship of the Father and the soul. Theologians try to make us believe that unless we hold their theory of such and such a doctrine, the Father will not draw near to us.

Against all such views the spirit of sonship protests; it will not and cannot thus be repulsed from the Father whom it loves and adores. Let us then, who wish to behold the face of our Father, refuse to allow anything whatever to bar our path. If we love him with all our heart, we shall put aside every obstacle, and, if needful, take the kingdom of heaven by storm. The Spirit of God always and everywhere encourages us to cry "Abba, Father." That endearing and beautiful epithet is the most acceptable to Almighty God, and only the soul that has learned to cast out fear, and thus to address him, is completely free from some form of idolatry. *T. W.

THE GREAT PYRAMID.

PROFESSOR PIAZZI SMYTH, Astronomer Royal for Scotland, regards the Great Pyramid of Egypt as a monument fraught with inspired indications, aiding and confirming the sacred volume in revealing the past history and future destiny of the human

race. Scripture authority in support of this view is quoted from Isaiah xix. 19: "In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt."

The Great Pyramid is pointed to as this very altar and pillar. Its chambers, passages, and galleries are said to symbolise certain conditions and dispensations chronologically considered: while the floor of the inclined plane thereof is said to "represent time at the rate af a pyramid inch to a year, measured in the direction of the meridian, or from north to south, and vice versa."

"The mightiest feature of the interior of the Great Pyramid," observes Mr. Smyth, "is the Grand Gallery, which indicates the Christian dispensation and its history, beginning at the north wall with the birth of Christ, and proceeding thence up the inclined floor of the Grand Gallery southward."

The end of this gallery is said to occur at the date point indicating 1881-2 A.D.; "for there, in all its solidity and overhanging imminence, is the southern wall, or practical termination of the Grand Gallery. Whatever, therefore, that feature symbolises, terminates there too-viz., in 1881-2 A.D."

After giving the year 1881-2 A.D. as the date point, or practical termination of the Grand Gallery, said to indicate the end of the Christian dispensation; Professor Smyth goes on to notice that from this point there proceeds "a very low passage way," fiftythree inches long, which, reckoning one inch to a year, would give fifty-three years.

On this period of fifty-three years, Professor Smyth observes, "Can it be anything else than the unexampled days of future trouble which our Saviour himself announced should immediately precede his second, but which must as certainly succeed the dispensation of his first coming? Of the unutterable anguishes of those most exceptional days to come, we read (Mark xiii. 19), that 'there shall be affliction, such as there was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.' But of their duration, happily it is written that it will be short, even as the passage itself is very short."

I have followed Professor Smyth thus far with a special object. And that object is to draw particular attention to the period of fifty-three years (supposed to be indicated by the fifty-three inches' "low passage way"), as setting forth the duration of the unequalled tribulation predicted in the Word of God. A difficulty occurs to my mind here. For Scripture, when referring to this time of unequalled tribulation, so far from representing its duration as anything like fifty-three years, affirms a very brief period indeed. Taking our Lord's words in conjunction with the prophecy of Daniel, it will not even extend to four years. If this can be shown, the question must be one of great importance, and should