“LET nothing make thee sad or fretful,
Or too regretful;
Be still!
What God hath ordered must be right;
Then find in it thine own delight—
His will.”
A Sling and a Stone
By Emma Hildreth Adams
By Emma Hildreth Adams
It is quite as true in human conduct as in nature, that “tall oaks from little acorns grow.”
On one perilous day, long centuries ago, two hostile armies confronted each other on a barbarous field of battle. One host was noisy with threatening and defiance. The other recoiled in weakness and fear.
Suddenly there appeared on the arena a ruddy-faced youth, who, discarding armor, helmet, and coat of mail, offered him by his king, and equipping himself with but a leather sling, and a smooth stone caught from the near-by brook, smote the clamorous champion of the attacking party.
Thereby did that ruddy keeper of sheep win, that day, not only a famous victory for an intimidated king and soldiery, but he planted in the hearts of dejected Israel seeds of courage and valor, which, in subsequent years, brought forth fruitage wonderful in amount, and amazing for quality,—fruitage whose aggregation far exceeded that one quick, faith-filled act of the shepherd son of Jesse.
The Scriptures are gemmed with such heroic deeds,—deeds inspired, it may be, at the moment, deeds impelled by loftiest motives, deeds displaying truest patriotism, and followed by results propitious beyond all expectation, by consequences never anticipated.
But let us walk a while amid the plants and flowers, and see beautifully illustrated how right resolutions, put into legitimate action, yield harvests out of all proportion to their seed thoughts; just as one white seed of the orange yields, in fruit, fragrance, and adornment for the landscape, a hundred-fold or more.
The other day, led by ties of kinship, the writer visited a home which crowns a short, green slope facing the twinkling, flashing sea at Redondo, that most beautiful of Pacific beaches in Southern California.
On either side of the walk leading to the front door of the dwelling there lay—spread over a large circle of animate soil—a magnificent geranium of the Lady Washington variety, glorious, on one side of the walk, in snowy white and lovely shades of pink; and on the other, radiant in crimson, velvet black, and white.
Each plant had but one central stem, yet both presented an amazing mass of crowded bloom, beautiful beyond power of words to describe.
So freighted, overborne, with jubilant blossoms, were the multitudinous branches, that most of them, like frolicsome children, had fallen away from the parent stalk, and lay prone upon the ground, forming a wide circle of joy-giving life and color.
Held by the fascinating scene, I listened to its lovely yet profound teaching.
Forth bloomed several pointed lessons,—lessons tinted by conditions, dyed by circumstances in life. But that which impressed me remarkably, was, that abounding products may result from infantile beginnings; that from minute planting of worthy seed may issue great measure of delightful income.
Therein, too, was portrayed encouragement to walk onward from a first step in a right path; incitement to make effort when means seem inadequate, when capital is epitomized, when doors of opportunity stand but half open; inspiration to do one’s best even if instruments be not the finest, if fog dim the sun, if winds blow unkindly.
Some of the most brilliant achievements in the realm of mechanics were, at first, but a thought in the fertile brain of some observing, thinking, often indigent man. USING his first thought, his ideas multiplied, clarified, individualized, and there resulted a creation to help the race, to lighten its burdens, to multiply its comforts, to awaken emulation in other minds.
In a conversation recently, a woman said to the writer: “I am deeply interested in the work of the Parent Teachers’ Association, of this place; and tho I possess but little ability, I am resolved to attend its meetings, and to try to aid some poor young mothers I know, in getting a broader view of their relationship and duties.”
The woman put her resolve into execution. She attended the meetings of the association. To-day she is its president, with an inviting door of service wide open before her.
She put her little brown apple-seed into the ground promptly. It sprouted in a day. The living shrub grew as if by magic. Soon some of its wholesome fruit will ripen in a young mother’s expanding concern and effort for the right development of her children.
A little stone of right THOUGHT, put into the sling of strong PURPOSE, and thrown by a skilled hand, on any of the battle-fields of life, may slay, almost any day, some blatant giant of error, of mistake, of crying evil, and deliver an army of God’s chosen people. The thing is to act, when the inspiration comes.
The same principle is true in moral and in spiritual affairs. The final product of a firm, first step in pure living may end in a character grand in strength and uprightness.
An initial step taken in obedience to God and His commandments, may result in the inestimable compensation of ETERNAL LIFE.
Our Guardian Angel
By Delwin Rees Buckner
By Delwin Rees Buckner
We have a guardian angel at our side
To keep us from the thorns that strew our way,
And to protect us hourly, night and day,
When we are buffeted and sorely tried.
He knows the many bitter cups of gall
That we have had to taste down here below;
He knows the frequent times we mortals go
Astray; how many times we slip and fall.
Within his hand he holds a record book,
Where evil acts in red are underlined.
More faithfully he writes our every deed
Than we ourselves could do; each thought, each look,
Deep-hidden in the heart, or in the mind,
Our angel guardian can always read.
Ambato, Ecuador.
Real Courage
By Percy C. Ainsworth
THERE is a picture of a man living out his life fully and bravely in spite of a terrible handicap in the form of an incurable disease, which must, year after year, gain a stronger hold on his body, and eventually end his life. . . .
How do we face this side of things? Naaman faced it with courage. And it was courage of no mean order. It was not born of hope. We say sometimes, “While there is life there is hope.” But that was not true in the case of the leper. He saw the long years of suffering, and knew, humanly speaking, that the way would only get harder the farther he went. Part of the work of life for him was to carry one of the heaviest burdens that a man ever has to carry—the burden of a dead hope. He could not say with regard to his disease, “While there is life there is hope;” but he found a better and a nobler thing to say, “While there is life there is duty.” There is no braver story in history than the story of those who have had to stoop and lift and bear the hope that might have lifted and borne them, if only both its wings had not been broken. Some of the world’s leaders and deliverers and helpers have been men who have had courage to look beyond the thing that could not be, and who have known that the only way to overcome some things is to accept them—the only way to conquer them is to bear them. The faith to remove mountains is not a complete equipment for life. We need also the courage and strength to climb them.—Percy C. Ainsworth.
The Sublime
The rush and clang of the ocean surges on groaning rocks, and the storm-petrel’s plaining, discrepant cry above their noisy war. The hush of mighty forests when the winds are still, or their pomp when Autumn plunges through their deeps with his horses and chariots of fire! Winter with “its white-winged messengers who speed soft-footed out of silence,” and its gleaming “sword which stills the laughing waters at a breath”! The great deep heaven where dust-like shoals of stars, sand-banks of suns, and shining films of firmaments, in nebula separated from nebula by trillions of leagues, stretch and glitter to the feet of God. Whoso will duly consider these manifestations of the sublime in the world we tread, and in the boundless universe beneath it, around it, and above it, an overpowering humility will bend his knees, and an unutterable solemnity will fall on him as from the very presence-chamber of the Highest.
Let us consider these splendors, that they may greaten us in the vision and the awe of them, ever mindful that —
“Nature’s crescent does not grow alone
In thews and bulk; but as the temple waxes,
The inward service of the mind and soul
Grows wide withal.”
— Great Thoughts.
The Strength of Habit
“HABIT is a cable; we spin a thread of it every day, and at last we can not break it.”
CHAPTER 28 deals with the fast-fading kingdom of Israel, like a beautiful flower crushed and broken, the cause of which is found in the sins of her people and prophets. What mighty lessons are given in these chapters 28-31 against trusting in men! How vividly are man’s frailties portrayed! Even Hezekiah, great and good king that he was, fails in giving God the glory for his healing, and instead of revealing the riches of God’s grace and power to heal, he shows the earthly riches which he has himself gathered, arousing the cupidity of the Babylonian ambassadors who afterward despoil the kingdom. We leave the latter part of Isaiah until a later time, inasmuch as it is filled with prophecy relating almost wholly to the days of the Christian dispensation.
MICAH (“who is like Jehovah”) was born in a little village southwest of Jerusalem, and was a contemporary with Isaiah, whose prophecies his own greatly resemble. The fourth and fifth chapters contain very definite prophecies concerning the birth of Jesus, and the seventh chapter the wonderful lesson for God’s people in any age, and especially in the last days.
“NAHUM” means “rich in comfort;” born perhaps at Capernaum, which means “Nahum’s village.” He seems to have prophesied about the time of Josiah and the downfall of Nineveh, 606 B.C. The great burden of his prophecy is the fall of Nineveh.
THE meaning of Zephaniah’s name is “Jehovah hides.” He also prophesied about the same time as Nahum and before the fall of Nineveh. One great characteristic of his prophecy is the world’s judgment, the great day of God’s wrath.
HABAKKUK prophesied just a little later than the last two mentioned prophets, about 604 to 600, in the reign of Jehoiakim, right in the middle period of the career of Jeremiah. The burden of his prophecy is against the Chaldean nation, and through them false Babylon in all ages. Connect Habakkuk 2:14 with the last part of Hebrews 10. Note the tremendous invectives against the rich who rob their fellows. A wonderful song is the last chapter, filled with power and pathos.
OBADIAH, “servant of God,” the shortest book in the Old Testament, is a vigorous prophecy against the Edomites.
THE week closes with Psalms 42-45. Very helpful and encouraging are these psalms, songs of joy and cheer and help after the strong, faithful denunciations of the prophets. Psalm 45 is a prophecy of Christ and His wonderful work and triumph.
Abide by the Truth as You See It
THE following from a sermon by Roman Catholic Archbishop Glennon, preached recently in St. Louis, is to the point:
“Through the ages, the ones who struggled and the ones who died left for humanity a precious heritage. . . . This is a good thought for the new year. It is not the people of ordinary goodness who accomplish much. It is not the people who go with the tide who accomplish much. It is not the people who go with what is called public opinion who amount to much. It is not the people who go with the demagogs because the demagog has the ear of the public. Public opinion was one of the causes of St. Stephen’s death. Not from these are you to receive your inspiration. . . . You must fight for the truth that God has given you; you must work for the faith as God has given you to see the faith. You must walk in the way of truth . . . even though it be a way of sorrow and of trials, that it can truly be said of you, when your work is done, ‘You are asleep in the Lord.’”
Sunrise and Healing
By Llewellyn A. Morrison
By Llewellyn A. Morrison
“Unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings.” Mal. 4:2.
WHERE the flowers fold their faces in their hands,
And the dew-damps fall around—
While Night resteth on the ground,
And o’erhead the mystic moonbeams dance in bands—
When the Morning’s misty curtains upward run,
Fair Urania dons her stole
And the stars pass on parole,
There is healing in the wings of the sun.
REFRAIN:
Every ransomed spirit sings:
“There is healing in His wings;
All the blighting burdens, past,
Bear us recompense at last;
He is come in wondrous glory;
Love’s attainments are begun;
There is healing in the wings of the Sun.”
In the darkness there is blight akin to death;
But beyond the ebon gloom
Beameth everlasting bloom;
If we follow we shall find it, led by Faith,
For the vigor of the morn is grace begun;
In the whiteness manifest
No defilements may molest:
There is healing in the wings of the Sun.
By the malice and malevolence of Sin,
All our virtues have been slain,
And our pureness rent in twain,—
We have only guilt and impotence within;
But our God hath come to succor, and hath won
For our spirits perfect light
And redemption by His might:
There is healing in the wings of the Sun.
Sun of Righteousness is Christ, and Lord of all;
Unto all who fear His name,
Living, purifying flame;
By His greatness life hath everything in thrall;
When we meet Him, bane and bondage shall be done;
Death’s dark shroud of doom be o’er—
Freedom reign forevermore:
Hearts have perfect health and healing in the Sun.
New York City.
Prayer and Meditation
PRAYER is the wing wherewith the soul flies to heaven, and meditation the eye wherewith we see God.—Ambrose.
“In the Beginning God Created”
Into what insignificance all other theories of origins sink compared with the sublime statement of Genesis, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” It does not beg for your approval or acceptance as a theory. It does not stop to argue for a supposition or a hypothesis. It does not endeavor to bring forth instances of perverted law, or manifestations of law not understood by man, or seeming paradoxes of nature, as evidences of its truth. It presents the great fact, “God created.”
“Create” clearly means to bring into existence that which did not exist before, and which only could be made to exist by the mighty power of God. The earth did not exist before God created it. Man, made tho he was from dust, did not exist as man till God created him.
It does not tell us HOW He created. We could not understand it if He did. We can not understand the transmuting process of the growth of various seeds and plants in the same soil under the same sun, yet so widely, marvelously different. We may dissect plant and analyze seed, but we are no wiser. How could we understand God’s modus operandi of creation if He should condescend to tell us?
He does not tell us out of what He created. The word “create” in the original does not mean “made or formed out of nothing,” as we are sometimes told. The creation of man, noted in Gen. 1:27 and 2:7, and the creation of the new earth (Isa. 65:17), clearly prove that this is not the meaning of the word. It might mean that, so far as man could comprehend; but that is not its exclusive meaning, as the Scriptures abundantly show.
Out of what did God create?—To us it seems that the better, fuller, more easily apprehended answer is, OUT OF HIS OWN INFINITE FULNESS. All the theories of men are vague, unsatisfactory, confusing, and contradictory. Neither do their authors set them forth as facts, but as hypotheses, working bases for the explanation of phenomena which will obliterate a personal God, explain away sin, and exalt the blind, often perverted, laws of nature. The nebular hypothesis is combated by such men as Professor See, who has a new hypothesis of his own, decidedly in opposition. And there are still others. The personal God is rejected, yet none of them can tell us how there can be the manifestation of any energy, light, heat, or power, without a center.
God, the great, infinite, mighty, wise, just, living, and loving God, is the Center of all power, all energy, all light, all love. Out of His fulness, by His mighty power and fulness of wisdom, He created. “By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. . . . For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” Ps. 33:6, 9. Men have produced forms of trees and ferns and crystals by their breath; but these were but shadows, and dead shadows at that. God, by His power, has produced the living creature, endowed it with intelligence, and placed within it the power of perpetuation of the species.
“When did God create?” We do not know above what the record states. We do not know over how long a period that beginning stretched its indefinite wings. “In the beginning was the Word,” “before His works of old,” “before the earth was.” John 1:1; Prov. 8:22, 23. And in that time, covered by that “beginning,” “before the earth was,” myriads of suns and systems and clusters of systems were created, among the last of which perhaps was our own.
We are not speaking of the seven days of Genesis; that is another matter. In this talk we are referring only to the great creative work of God “in the beginning.”
Order in Creation
By M’Cosh
Take up the commonest plant,—the furze that grows on the common, the seaweed that clings to the rocks washed by the ocean, or the fern that springs up in the mountain glen,—and you may observe in its structure, in its leaves, or pendicles, a wonderful correspondence of side to side, and part to part. Let the eye travel over nature as we walk among the cultivated fields, or the grassy slopes and valleys of our upland countries, or among the thick woods where the winds have strewn the seeds, and bush and tree of every kind spring up, each eager to maintain its place, and to show its separate form and beauty, and we discover an order in every branch and blade and leaf and shade and color. Take up a leaf or flower, and examine with or without the aid which art can furnish, and observe how one edge has the same number of notches upon it as the other edge, and what nice balancings and counterpoises there are, and how nicely the lines and dots and shadings of color suit each other, and recur each at its proper place, as if all had been done by the most exact measurement, and under the most skilful and tasteful eye. Rising higher, we find all leading events in the earth and heavens to run in periods. Plants have their seasons for budding and growing, and bearing seed and fruit; and their whole existence is for an allotted time. The life of animals and of man himself is a period; and it has its periodic developments of infancy, youth, and manhood, and old age. The very diseases of the human frame have their periods. The events of history, in respect of politics, civilization, science, literature, and religion, can be arranged into cycles, and, as a whole, exhibit a regular, though somewhat complex progression. The tides of the ocean, and in many places the currents, flow in periods; and, in some countries, the winds blow and the rains fall at certain regular seasons. The variations of magnetism on the earth’s surface seem to be periodical. The changes in the condition of the earth have been arranged into geological epochs. The year is a period, and it has its seasons; and there are magni anni in the movements of the planets, and the revolutions of the binary and multiple stars, and probably also in the movements of the constellations and groups of the nebular heavens.—M’Cosh.
The Creator
1. By whom were the heaven and the earth created?
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Gen. 1:1.
2. Of the firm of Deity, who was the active agent in the creation?
“To us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, THROUGH WHOM ARE ALL THINGS, and we through Him.” 1 Cor. 8:6.
“For IN HIM [Christ] WERE ALL THINGS CREATED, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; ALL THINGS HAVE BEEN CREATED THROUGH HIM, and unto Him; and He is before all things, and in Him all things consist [margin, “hold together”].” Col. 1:16, 17.
3. How was the creation accomplished?
“By the WORD OF THE LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.” Ps. 33:6.
4. As Christ spoke for Deity what may He well be called?
“And His name is called THE WORD OF GOD.” Rev. 19:13.
5. What is testified of this Word?
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him; and without Him was not anything made that hath been made.” John 1:1-3.
6. By what all-pervading power was His work wrought?
“By His Spirit the heavens are garnished.” Job 26:13.
7. What can be said of His visible creation?
“Lo, these are but the outskirts of His ways: and HOW SMALL A WHISPER do we hear of Him! But the THUNDER OF HIS POWER who can understand?” Job 26:14.
Creation the Work of God
By Dr. Thomas.
Creation is the work of God: “Without Him was not anything made that was made.” He only can create. The architect can rear a cathedral, the sculptor can cut forms of symmetry and grace from marble, the painter can depict life on his canvas, the machinist can construct engines that shall serve the nations; but not one of them can create. They work with materials already in existence. They bring existing things into new combinations: this is all. God alone can create.—Dr. Thomas.
Companionship of the Bible
A Scotch minister, visiting among the poor, called at a hovel in which dwelt alone an aged Christian woman who was feeble and nearly blind. In her poverty and feebleness he found her very happy. “How do you manage to spend your long days here all alone?” asked the minister. “I am not alone,” she said, “because Jesus is with me, and thinking about Him makes the time pass pleasantly. My neighbors are kind, and when they come in to help me I love to talk to them about Jesus. But there is one hour in the day which is the most pleasant of all to me. Do you see that little window?” she asked, pointing across the room. “For about one hour every day, when it is not cloudy, the sun shines in there. Then I take my large printed Bible and sit down in the sunshine, where I can see well enough to read. And O, sir, that is a blessed hour to me!” Her case illustrates the illumination of the Spirit necessary to make the Bible good company.
Doing the Things Jesus Says
Jesus said, “Why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
Christian Science and the Second Coming of Christ
REALLY it is not necessary to say that the Christian Scientist does not believe in the Biblical second coming of Jesus the Christ. We search in vain throughout Mrs. Eddy’s book for the promise that Jesus is coming again as He went into heaven. Practically “Science and Health and Key to Scriptures,” knows no eschatology, no “doctrine of last things.” Altho declared again and again in the Scriptures, the second coming of Jesus Christ in glory to reward His own, has no place in the teachings of Christian Science. The Bible—the New Testament emphatically—speaks of the last day, the final judgment, the judgment-seat before which every case must come, the coming of our Lord in the clouds of heaven, the punishment of the incorrigibly wicked, the reward of the righteous, the changing from mortality to immortality of His children—all are set forth repeatedly, clearly, emphatically; great admonitions, solemn warnings, precious assurances, and triumphant paeans of victory are connected with them. But of all these Christian Science gives us nothing.
The only substitute which it offers is Christian Science itself. But of this, as with all other substitutes, we need only to tell to our readers in the language of Scripture what the second coming of Christ is, to clearly demonstrate what it is not. Listen once more to what the divine-human Jesus said relative to His coming again:
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME AGAIN, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:1-3.
Read once more His farewell message through His angels as He ascended from earth:
“And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, SHALL SO COME IN LIKE MANNER as YE HAVE SEEN HIM GO INTO HEAVEN.” Acts 1:9-11.
Read again the assurance which Paul gives the troubled ones of their ultimate rest from all the afflictions of this earth:
“And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus SHALL BE REVEALED FROM HEAVEN with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power; WHEN HE SHALL COME to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.” 2 Thess. 1: 7-10.
We pass over many other testimonies, and give in conclusion two from the last book of the Bible, the first from the angel, the second from our Lord Himself:
“Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen.” Rev. 1: 7.
“He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen.” Rev. 22: 20.
There we may leave it. We doubt any system, whatever it may be called, which leaves out of its reckoning the personal, visible, corporeal coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we love Him, we shall welcome His coming. Can we not say with John in response to our Lord’s promise, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus”?
Not Feeling but Faith
THERE are many who think—or at least this is indicated by many expressions—that Christianity is largely a religion of feeling, emotion, or sentiment; that its chief evidence to its devotees is the feeling which it arouses.
It is freely granted that this misconception of Christianity exists among many professed Christians. They are only Christians when they are wrought into an ecstasy of feeling at revivals, under powerful exhortations, or at some warm social meeting. Unless such excitement, incitement, or association continues, the religion wanes. Such religion must necessarily be ephemeral and shallow.
Christianity is based on life union with Christ Jesus; and the channel of that life, the bond of that union, is faith, faith in God's eternal, omnipotent Word. Genuine lasting faith is absolute submission to God persistently maintained. The soul yields to God's commandments, yields the sin God's law condemns, yields himself that God's promises may work out in him the will of God, and grasps joyfully the forgiveness, the righteousness, the life, the joy there is in Christ Jesus. Faith to the Christian is just what the trolley is to the electric car; it connects with the life of God, the Source of power.
The Christian's confidence, therefore, is not based on feeling, but on God's Word. And that Word does not change. Feeling may be absent, emotion may die away, but God's Word abides. We are sinners; but Christ purchased us as sinners; and we, therefore, confess our sins and yield all to Him. He forgives the sins, for so has He promised. It matters not whether we feel like it or not, the sin is forgiven, because we have submitted to the conditions, we have made connection with the Power which takes the sin away. In that promise we may rejoice. Satan may recall those sins by taunting us with them; we may be grieved by seeing their results before us; dark clouds may at times shut out the light of heaven; but God's Word changes not, and our faith rests on the Word. The sins are forgiven, for God has spoken.
This faith will be more manifest in the time of trial. The worldling and Christian may walk together in sunlight and prosperity with little to distinguish between them; but let sorrow come, business reverses take place, friends forsake us, our good name be reviled, death remove loved ones from our presence, then it is that faith is tested. He whose hope is based on the seeming, the feeling, the immediate surroundings, will fail, while he whose hope is in the sure promises of God, will stand secure in Christ Jesus. His house can not fall; it is founded on the Rock. This is genuine Christianity and its basis. Would there were more of it.
He Misses the Point
An article by the Rev. H. I. Andrews in an Elmira paper on Sunday observance demands that Sunday laws shall be enforced and Sunday baseball suppressed; “the laws of the state are against it.” And then he says: “We all are for what the working man needs. If he needs a day of sports and amusements rather than a day of rest and worship, God certainly made a mistake in commanding the observance of a Sabbath day. If a man needs a day for sport and amusement, he should be given one; but there are six other days, a portion of which might be levied upon as man may find he needs. There are many agencies that are seeking to crowd out of life religion and morals, and are seeking to make Sunday a day of gain rather than a day of grace; a holiday rather than a holy day.”
Now all of this is based on the fallacy that man is the one to direct by law the time of religious worship or recreation of his fellows. Man may not need a day of sports and amusements; he may need more than anything else a day of rest and worship. In our souls we believe that he needs the latter altogether the most, for we think that most men get exercise sufficient in their ordinary work. But the question is not as to men’s needs, or as to what would be best for men; the real question is, Has one man, or any set of men, the right to regulate man’s conduct in this respect? Mr. Andrews feels that it would be his duty to go to church, and he would be blessed in so doing on the Sunday, and he has the right so to think; but has he the right to demand that his fellow men should go to church on that day? His neighbor who has wrought indoors through all the week believes that he can rest better and perhaps worship God better by going out into the woods or into his garden to cultivate vegetables rather than to go to church, and as between himself and his fellow men he has the right so to decide. Now by what rule of justice or equity has Mr. Andrews the right to regulate his neighbor’s duty more than his neighbor has the right to regulate his? Mr. Andrews may be wholly right; his neighbor may be wholly wrong; God has commanded the Sabbath; He has not commanded these other things; but the real point is this, that God has delegated to no man and to no set of men the right to represent Him in arbitrary religious enactment. He has not yet abdicated His throne for National Reformers, Sunday-law Reformers, or any other kind of religio-political organizations.
God knows, and surely His children ought to know, that no true service can be rendered Him under compulsion; that no day can be made holy by men who are keeping it under force of civil law; that in fact men can make no day holy by anything that men can do. It is only God that can make holy, and man can keep a holy day acceptably holy in God’s sight, only by being himself made holy by the power of God. If men had a right conception of Christianity, they would never seek to enforce religious dogma of any sort or kind; and if men were conscientious regarding a day, believing that they ought to keep it for God, and were true servants of His, they would never need a law to help them to observe it.
