We are in receipt of a letter which says: "So long as a seventh day of rest is observed, it matters not a bit which of the seven days it is; but it is wise to conform to general custom, for the sake of convenience and order; every day is a seventh day." This statement of the case is worthy of consideration, for it presents a very common idea of the Sabbath question. The only thing that should concern us is to know the exact truth, and not mistake conjecture for positive evidence.
We are told that "a seventh day of rest" ought to be observed, but that it makes no difference what day it is. Query: How does anybody know that a regular rest day ought to be observed? The idea is quite prevalent among certain nations, but what gave rise to it? Let us see if we can find out.
Someone will say that reason teaches it. But no one has exceeded the ancient Greeks and Romans in acuteness of intellect or power of reasoning, yet they never had the idea of a weekly rest day. They had innumerable holidays,—festival days,—when those who were able to do so gave themselves up to amusement and revelry, but there was no thought of cessation of labor. Those who went to the greatest length in the observance of the holidays were the ones who did little or no work, while for the laboring class there was no respite.
It is a fact such a thing as a Sabbath day is not and has never been known among what are termed heathen nations. This disposes also of the supposition that physical reasons are sufficient to account for the weekly rest day. The Chinese are diligent toilers, yet they have never learned the necessity of a weekly rest day. It is the same with other heathen peoples. So then it is a fact that by far the greater number of people on earth not only do not observe a weekly rest day, but do not recognize the existence of such a thing.
Whence, then, comes the idea of a necessity for a weekly rest day? The only answer that can be given is that it comes from the Bible. Where the Bible has no place, the weekly rest day is unknown. The fourth commandment enjoins it, and gives its origin as well. Here it is:—
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. 20: 8-11.
Here is the original authority for the observance of a rest day. Whatever idea men may have about such a day, the idea that there should be a weekly rest day at all sprang from this source, and from this alone. Now the question must arise, Since it is to the Bible that we owe our knowledge of the fact that a weekly rest day ought to be observed, why should we not also depend solely on the Bible for our knowledge of all the particulars concerning it? Why should men learn from the Bible that a rest day ought to be observed, and then consult custom, or their own taste or convenience, as to how and when it shall be observed? Such a course is manifestly inconsistent in the highest degree.
THE DEFINITE SABBATH DAY.
Note well that in the commandment there is nothing said about "a seventh day of rest." The language is very definite. "The seventh day is the Sabbath." "In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day." The idea of an indefinite Sabbath, regulated by custom, is utterly foreign to the Scriptures.
Just before the commandments were proclaimed from Sinai, the children of Israel were given manna for their food. See Exodus 16. Six days in the week it fell, but on the Sabbath none was to be found. On each of the first five days only enough for the day's supply was to be gathered, and if more was gathered, and it was kept till the next day, "it bred worms and stank;" but on the sixth day twice the usual amount was to be gathered, and a supply laid up for the Sabbath day, in which case it did not spoil, but kept sweet. By this series of miracles, which was kept up for forty years, the Lord showed his regard for the Sabbath day; and at the same time he effectually guarded against the idea that the day of the Sabbath is to be settled by the caprice or custom of men.
The reader can see at a glance how impossible it was for any of the Israelites to get the idea that the Sabbath is an indefinite day. They might rebel against it, and disregard it, but they knew very well that the Sabbath was fixed by the Lord himself, and not left to man; custom has nothing to do with it.789
After the Babylonian captivity the Jews became very strict in the outward observance of the Sabbath, even going far beyond the commandment. They often presumed to rebuke Jesus for what they termed his violation of the day. On one occasion he healed a man on the Sabbath day, and the Jews murmured.
That day was the seventh day of the week. If the Sabbath is any day that men may choose, what an opportunity that was to enlighten the Jews. Did he tell them that it made no difference what day was observed, if only a seventh part of time were kept? —Not at all. He simply said, "It is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days" (Matt. 12: 12), thus recognizing the definite Sabbath day, but showing that he had not violated it.
Christ was crucified on the day before the Sabbath; "that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on." Luke 23: 54. "And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulcher, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Verses 55, 56. "Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared." Luke 24: 1. This first day of the week was the day immediately following the Sabbath day on which they rested "according to the commandment," for the record in Mark says that "when the Sabbath was past, . . . very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher" (Mark 16: 1, 2); and the record by Matthew is still more definite, saying that it was "in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week." Matt. 28: 1.
What do we learn from these texts? This, that the Sabbath day "according to the commandment" is the day before the first day of the week." The day before "the first day of the week" must be "the seventh day of the week," since there are but seven days in a week. Therefore we have the fact stated, by Inspiration, that "the Sabbath day according to the commandment" is the seventh day of the week. Moreover, to make the matter more sure, we are told that even "very early in the morning the first day of the week" the Sabbath is already "past." No matter how early one rises in the morning the first day of the week, he will be too late to find the Sabbath day; it passes before the first day begins.
If one regards the Bible as of no authority, that is another matter. We have no commission to prove the truth of the Bible, for it is its own evidence; but to those who regard the Bible as the word of God, the evidence above given, although brief, must be conclusive. The Spirit of God expressly declares that the Sabbath "according to the commandment" is the day before the first day of the week, namely, the seventh day of the week; and the words of Christ are, "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass than one tittle of the law to fail." Luke 16: 17.
CUSTOM.
The Bible declares that "the customs of the people are vain." Jer. 10: 3. The command is, "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil." Ex. 23: 2. Again we read: "Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies; because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men." Hosea 10: 13.
The correctness of a course is not determined by the number who follow it. In the days of Noah the multitude were opposed to the truth. Noah was in what would be termed "a hopeless minority;" and if the truth of his preaching could have been settled by a popular vote, the flood would never have come. Nevertheless it did come, because the word of the Lord had said so. When Christ was on earth, "he came unto his own, and his own received him not." John 1: 11. He was rejected by the church. The question was, "Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?" John 7: 48. They had not, with the exception of one or two who believed secretly, and the fact that they had not was considered sufficient evidence that he was an imposter; yet he was the Son of God, although "despised and rejected of men."
There is custom, however, that we are permitted to follow, and that is the custom of Christ; for "he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." 1 John 2: 6. He left us an example, that we should follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2: 21. Of him we read that after his baptism and temptation, "being full of the Holy Ghost," "he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read." Luke 4: 16. Said he, "I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love." John 15: 10. Reader, whose custom will you follow? the vain custom of the world? or the righteous custom of the Lord Jesus Christ?
DID CHRIST ABOLISH THE LAW?
By J. E. Fulton
BY J. E. FULTON.
“THINK not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets; I came not to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished.” Matt. 5:17, 18, R. V.
We live in a time of almost universal apostasy. Men and women eagerly seize upon every excuse to satisfy a troubled conscience. “They have made void God’s law,” and fain would charge all this to Christ, who came to set aside not one precept of that law. “He spake as never man spake,” and his words, his teachings, and his actions, were in exact harmony with those living words, delivered amid the awful scenes of Sinai. Concerning him, Isaiah prophesied, “The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable.” Isa. 42:21. He exemplified this while among men, for “in his life the law appears, drawn out in living characters.” God’s law was in his heart,—he loved it, he taught it to men, and thus he fulfilled it. He came not to destroy, and not one jot or tittle of the law will pass away till all things be accomplished. All things are not yet accomplished; the heavens and earth are yet unmoved in their orbits. And Luke tells us that “it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.” Chapter 16:17.
Thousands who desire to evade a plain command, will charge Christ with abolishing the law, and hide behind the word “fulfill.” Matt. 5:17. Could not an argument equally forcible be made against the gospel?
“And when he had opened the book [of Isaiah], he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. . . . And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” Luke 4:17-21.
What a sad thing it is for humanity if “fulfill” means abolish. “This day is this scripture fulfilled,” i. e., that message of hope Jesus read to them. Are the poor, the broken-hearted, the captive, and the blind without a ray of hope?—Yes, if “fulfilled” means abolished, for “that day” was the gospel message “fulfilled.” Thank God it is not so. Jesus came to preach the glad tidings to those in the bondage of sin, and to present it more fully than it had ever been known. See Col. 1:25, margin. And “that day” “they wondered at the gracious words” he spoke. Luke 4:22. No more is the law abolished because fulfilled. And it is a blessed thought to know that Christ still fulfills the law in us. He showed us how to keep the law, but that is not all. By faith “he is come in the flesh” “to dwell.” 1 John 4:2, 3; Eph. 3:17.
He becomes our obedience, “for what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Rom. 8:3, 4. Then in us the law is yet fulfilled by Christ, and if we are not carnal, we will be subject to that law. Verse 7. Having the mind of Christ we will delight in the commandments and will “do and teach them.”
Doubts Conquered on My Knees
By Sir Thomas Browne
THERE are in philosophy, so in divinity, sturdy doubts and boisterous objections. More of these no man hath known than myself, which, I confess, I conquered, not in a martial posture, but on my knees.—Sir Thomas Browne.
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK.
By Christian Worker
A RELIGIOUS life is more than a mere profession of faith, or an initiation into some church or religious society, however orthodox it may be. It strikes its roots into hidden depths, and unless there be something about it unseen by men and known only to God, it is far from being what it should be. It is not enough for persons to purchase a new Bible, learn a few Scripture texts, and talk and chatter, and think they are doing Christian work.
He who really lives the Christian life and works the work of God, has a deeper hold upon eternal things. Those whose ideas touch only the surface, are like the morning cloud and the early dew that passeth away. They have never known true soul hunger and thirst, nor have they tasted the living bread and the living water. They know nothing of godly sorrow nor yet of godly joy. They have never felt the blackness of the horrible pit, nor do they know the gladness of singing the new song. They have never felt the anguish of crucifixion with Christ, nor the birth pangs of the better life. They have never rid themselves of their conceited emptiness, nor come to God and his word that they might be filled. Having never known their own weakness and insufficiency, they have failed to gain the everlasting strength of God.
Our Lord, who loves us, seeks to win us from such shallow emptiness of spirit, and to bring us to be partakers of his own glorious life, and enable us to comprehend with all saints the height and depth and length and breadth of the love of God, which passeth knowledge.—Christian Worker.
THE BLIND MAN HEALED.
By Mrs. E. G. White
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
"And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
In the question the disciples asked Jesus, they showed that they thought all disease and suffering the result of sin. This is indeed truth, but Jesus showed that it was an error to suppose that everyone who was a great sufferer was also a great sinner. While he corrected their errors, he spat upon the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation, Sent," and he went his way, and came seeing. Jesus answered the question the disciples put to him in a practical way, and in the way he usually answered questions put to him from curiosity. The disciples were not called upon to discuss the question of who had sinned or not sinned, but to understand the power of God, his mercy and compassion, in giving sight to the blind. It was that all might be convinced that there was no healing virtue in the clay or in the pool wherein he was sent to wash, but that virtue was in Christ.
Although the Pharisees quibbled at and misrepresented his words, yet they made no attempt to give credit to the clay or to the waters of Siloam. They could but be astonished at the wonderful work which he had done, yet they were more than ever filled with hatred; for this was a most convincing argument that he was the Son of God. They could not controvert this testimony, and the miracle could not be hid. The neighbors of the young man, and those who knew before of his blindness, said, "Is not this he that sat and begged? Some said, This is he; others said, He is like him; but he said, I am he."
The friends and neighbors of the young man who had been healed looked upon him with doubt; for when his eyes were opened, his countenance had been changed and brightened, and made him appear like another man. From one to another the question was passed, "Is it he?" And some said, "It is like him;" but he who had received the great blessing settled the controversy by saying, "I am he." He then told them of Jesus, and by what means Jesus had healed him, and they inquired, "Where is he?" He said, "I know not." They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind. And it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes. Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, "He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see." Therefore said some of the Pharisees, "This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day." Others said, "How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them."
The Pharisees thought that they could make a decided impression against Jesus by charging him with breaking the Sabbath, upon which they had heaped traditions and exactions. They knew not that it was He who had made the Sabbath, who knew all its obligations, who had healed the blind man. They appeared wonderfully zealous for the observance of the Sabbath, and yet were planning murder on the very day that they professed to guard with their exactions. They regarded themselves as guardians of the Sabbath, and thought themselves capable of interpreting the principles of the fourth commandment, and in their interpretation declared that, by the bestowal of the blessing of healing, the commandment had been transgressed. This they did because they were anxious to find some way in which to condemn Jesus. They put their construction upon the law, misapplied and misinterpreted it, in order to make Jesus out to be a sinner, and therefore not the Messiah. Many were greatly moved, and convicted that this man who opened the eyes of the blind, was more than a common man. In answer to the charge that Jesus was a sinner, because he kept not the Sabbath day, they said, "How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?"
Through this great miracle the power of the Lord Jehovah was made manifest. The work done upon the blind man spoke to their senses and told them that One mightier than a common man was there. Could One that was divine break the Sabbath? They appealed again to the blind man, "What sayest thou of Him, that He hath opened thine eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet." The Pharisees then asserted that he had not been born blind and then received his sight. They called for his parents, and asked, saying: "Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?" His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not; he is of age; ask him; he shall speak for himself."
There was the man himself, declaring that he had been the blind man, and had had his sight restored; but the Pharisees had been taking advanced steps in prejudice and hatred of Christ, and no sign or miracle would be acknowledged by them as evidence of his Messiahship. They would rather deny the evidences of their own senses than admit that they were mistaken, and that their teaching was wrong, so powerful is prejudice, so distorting is Pharisical righteousness. Here were fallen men, who yet persisted in walking away from the light, yet they claimed to sit in Moses' seat, and were professedly the wisest of man, expounders of the law of God. In their exactions and distinctions they bound heavy burdens upon others, and covered up the commandments of God with the traditions and commandments of men.
The Pharisees had one hope left, and that was to intimidate the parents of him who had received his sight. With apparent sincerity they asked the parents, "How doth he now see?" The parents trembled, for they knew what would be the consequences of confessing Christ. The great work wrought for their son had awakened conviction in their hearts, and they answered: "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not; he is of age; ask him; he shall speak for himself." They shifted all responsibility from themselves to their son, for they dared not openly confess Christ. "These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him."
The dilemma in which the Pharisees were placed, their questioning prejudice, their unbelief in the facts of the case, were opening the eyes of the multitude, and especially the eyes of the common people. The mighty healer had frequently wrought his miracles in the open street, and his work was always of a character to relieve mankind of woe and suffering. The question that agitated the minds of many was, Would God do such mighty works through one that was an imposter, a deceiver, as the Pharisees insisted that Jesus was? The controversy was becoming very earnest on both sides. Those who were convinced by the miracles, claimed that Christ was the Son of God, and this growing conviction in the minds of the people greatly annoyed the Pharisees. There were two decided parties. "There was a division among them." Unable to agree among themselves, the Pharisees again appealed to the man who was born blind. They thought that they could deceive this man, who had been blind and was uneducated, by their perversions and reasonings. But to their question as to what he thought of Him who had restored his sight, he firmly and boldly replied, "He is a prophet."
The Pharisees see that they are giving publicity to the work that has been done by Jesus, for the multitude is increasing. They cannot deny the miracle. What can they say or do to counteract the effect of Jesus' work? The blind man is filled with joy and gratitude, and beholds the wondrous things of nature, and is filled with intense delight at the beauty of earth and sky. He freely recites his experience, and though they cannot deceive or mislead him, yet they determine to do the talking, and say, "Give God the praise; we know791that this man is a sinner." Do not ever say again that this man gave you sight; God has done it. The blind man answered and said, "Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not; one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." Then they questioned again: "What did He to thee? how opened He thine eyes?" With many words they tried to deceive him, and confuse his senses, so that he might think he was deluded. Satan and his evil angels were on the side of the Pharisees, and united their energies and subtlety with man's reasonings in order to counteract the influence of Christ. They blunted the convictions that were deepening in many minds; for angels of God were also on the ground to strengthen the blind man who had had his sight restored.
The Pharisees made apparent their prejudice and unbelief. They did not realize that they had to deal with anyone stronger than the uneducated man who had been born blind; but this was not true. Divine light shone into the chambers of his soul, and as these hypocrites tried to make him disbelieve, God helped him to show by the vigor and pointedness of his replies that he was not to be ensnared, and they could not pervert and misconstrue his experience. "He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear; wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be His disciples?" Then they reviled him, and said, "Thou art His disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. We know that God spake unto Moses; as for this fellow, we know not from whence He is."
The Lord Jesus knew the ordeal through which the man for whom he had worked this miracle was passing, and gave him grace and utterance, so that he became a witness for Christ. And he answered the Pharisees: "Why herein is a marvelous thing, that ye know not from whence He is, and yet He hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners; but if any man be a worshiper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, He could do nothing." The blind man, who now could see, looked upon the wonders of creation, and would he turn from his Restorer to gain the favor of those who sought to entangle him in his talk, or heap ridicule upon him? He felt able to withstand their influence. The Pharisees saw that they could not by their reasonings pervert the man's experience, and they were astonished and held their peace, spellbound, before his pointed, determined words. For a few moments there was silence. The frowning priests and Pharisees gathered about them their robes, as though they feared contamination from contact with him. They shook off the dust of their feet against him, and treated him with derision and contempt, hurling their denunciations against him: "Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us?" And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" He answered and said, "Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?" And Jesus said unto him, "Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee." And he said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped him. The believer on Jesus was cast out of the synagogue, but was received into union with Jesus Christ.
MY ROCK.
By The Rev. Dwight Williams
BY THE REV. DWIGHT WILLIAMS.
“He is my Rock,”
Whereon I stand secure,
From which, once smitten, flows a fountain pure,
Where, storm caught in the way, I turn to hide
Among the rifts, while tempests sweep outside;
And here I build where floods are all in vain;
The surges roll, but house and rock remain;
’Neath vine and palm
I sing my thankful psalm.
“He is my Rock,”
And in the height thereof
I have the mastery; I stand above,
And hold with ease the key of my defense
Behind the breastwork of Omnipotence;
My weapons gather swiftness as they fall
To head my foes if they would scale the wall;
Safe only where
I stand in instant prayer.
“He is my Rock,”
Above the damp miasm,
And lifted far above the danger chasm,
The vital wafture of the upper air
Seems like the breath of heaven, and like a stair
The vista opens upward, till I see
By faith the “Rock of Ages,” where for me,
In love confessed,
Shall be my home and rest.
—Christian Advocate.
HOW TO GET HAPPINESS.
By Frank C. Kelley
THE Creator so constituted the human mind that, after hearing the evidence, it cannot avoid forming a conclusion. The object of evidence or testimony is to establish a fact. The fact, when once established, cannot be changed, except by changing the evidence.
By hearing the evidence the conclusion is formed. And right here man's true self is exercised, and this is the right to choose. Evidence establishes the fact. Evidence drives the mind to a conclusion. The right to choose being exercised, the true man is revealed to the physical eye by the acts of the body; to the mental eye the character reveals him. To accept or reject the fact does not change it. The change is in the individual and not in the fact. To accept is faith; to reject is unbelief; and the act of doing is the works which always follow.
Christ suffered for us in the flesh. He chose to suffer, because it was the mind of God that in so doing he could save man. He chose, and by choosing showed his faith in God.
1 Peter 4:1 says, "Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind," that is, with the mind of Christ, whose mind was the mind of God, the Father. The mind that was in Christ, which mind he chose, led him to die. The same mind in the heart of man also leads him to die. But is it the body of man that dies when armed with the mind of God?—No; it is not the body, but the fleshly, carnal mind. In the exercise of the right to choose, that right says to the lusts and desires of the flesh, "You are not the rulers here." That "right," armed with the mind of God, appeals to God to uphold it in its kingdom, by helping it to maintain its freedom to choose.
In the beginning God gave to man, as well as to angels, the power to choose, and by the use of it show their loyalty to him and his government. Man, while in the Garden of Eden, was in God, and God in him. Not that God was not in the world outside of Eden as well, but when man chose to obey the voice of the serpent (Satan), he stepped out of God, he by choice separated himself from God, and was, therefore, in the world without God and without hope. Just as Paul says:
"That at that time ye were without Christ, . . . having no hope, and without God in the world." Eph. 2:12.
The mind of God towards man is that he may be saved. Therefore, he sent his Son into the world, that man by choosing him might be brought back into God, and God into man, as at the beginning.
Now for God to compel man to accept his Son as his Saviour would be to destroy the right to choose, and to take away this right man would cease to be man. He might live, he might have power to transact business, in fact, possess every other faculty he now has, still he would no longer possess an individuality. Therefore God says, "Come now, and let us reason together." "Put me in remembrance; let us plead together; declare thou, that thou mayest be justified." "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." "The Spirit and the bride say, Come." "Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come."8Come, come, is God's invitation to man. Come, let us talk over the differences that exist between us. No matter how many, or how great your sins may be, come anyway. "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." Yes, just listen, "for mine own sake" will I do it. "From all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." And as evidence that God will do all that he has promised, he sent his Son into the world, that man by faith in him might be restored to his union with God. Therefore it follows that man, in order to reach God, must choose him, but before he will choose, he must hear the evidence which establishes the fact that God means what he says, and has sent his Son to this world so that man could be brought back into God. This evidence when heard causes him to form a conclusion, but this is not enough. He must now choose, and he cannot avoid it. To accept Christ, and God through Christ, means that self must die. Man's will must be lost, entirely lost. But to be lost to self is to be found in God. What can he do?—He can simply choose. That he can do, and that is all he ever can do. That is his part, a continual choosing. God does the rest, yet gives the credit to the individual, simply because he chooses God. This is true liberty, and is only found in obedience to God.
We will, or choose, to do an act; that act repeated forms a habit. Habit, when formed, binds the will, or the power to choose. It binds the power that created it, and thereby destroys man's free moral agency, thus making him a slave, a bound man. Satan promised man more liberty than God gave him. Man chose to accept Satan's promise, only to find himself powerless to do any longer as he wished. A moment's thought will show that anything, or power of whatsoever kind, that forces, or in any manner hinders the full and free exercise of the right of choice, is not from God, for God accepts only the free choice.
Christ by his death burst the bands that Satan had placed upon man's right to choose, and once more has given man a chance to exercise all the powers given him originally.
Christ says to every individual: You are free. I have redeemed you. I have paid the price to set you at liberty. You are free. All that you have to do is to choose to accept your freedom. Reader, arise, and take your rights. Why let Satan have rule over you? You are free. Christ says that you are, and that makes it so. Just exercise your right to choose, and choose God; that is your part; he then will do the rest. He will fulfill Eze. 36:25-27 to you.
By choosing God's will you arm yourself with the mind of God, which mind Christ had, and had it because he chose to have it. That mind led him (Christ) to suffer and die for mankind, the just for the unjust. But in choosing God's way Christ emptied himself of himself, and then, armed with the mind of God, he could say, as he always did, "I came not to do my will, but the will of Him that sent me." So it must be with us. By choosing him we turn self out of self. We step, by choosing him, back into the same relation to God that man had before he sinned, with the exception that our bodies are not as yet restored; and our work is to bring them into harmony with God. This is done by refusing to permit the desires of the flesh to rule over the right of choice, or will power. We are to govern the body, the affections, and all the desires of the mind. We can do this only by a constant choosing of God.
Here, we believe, is the secret of the Christian's happy life,—"a living choice of God." Under temptation and trial, in sunshine and storm, it enables us to say, "It is all for the best," for God says, "All things work together for good to them that love God." I am his, and he is mine. My Father, my God, my All. What is left, reader, for us but joy, peace, and gladness? Where is the sting in sorrow?—Gone. Oh, let us praise the Lord for his wonderful love!
MY OWN WAY.
"To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."
For many first-day people know
The Scriptures do most plainly show
The seventh is the Sabbath day,
Yet are not willing to obey.
It goes so hard against the grain,
They hope the Lord will not complain;
At least he'll not send me to hell
If I keep Sunday pretty well.
I'll make it up some other way,
But pray do let me keep first day;
Who keep the seventh are so few
It seems to me 'twill never do.
I'll serve the Lord with all my might,
Do anything besides that's right;
I'll go exhort, I'll preach and pray,
But only let me keep first day.
I think I can do much more good
Than otherwise I ever could,
If God would let me disobey
That law about the seventh day;
It makes no odds, as I can see,
If one is kept as it ought to be.
And now the prospect looks so bright,
I think I'll risk it, wrong or right.
—Selected.
KANSAS CITY SUNDAY-CLOSING ORDER.
By W. E. Cornell
BY W. E. CORNELL.
ATTENTION was called some time since to the effort of the Retail Grocers' Association of Kansas City, Missouri, to make operative what has for years been a dead letter, the Sunday-closing ordinance of the city, and, as a result of their months of continued effort in this direction, Sunday, the 1st inst., the proprietors of groceries as well as the butchers of the city observed "the sabbath." A week or so since the association held a meeting, at which, by invitation, a large number of butchers were present, and they were asked to join the Sunday-closing crusade. After hearing the pros and cons, the butchers took a vote on the question, and there were 72 to 2 in favor of sustaining the grocers. There are about 350 retail grocers and not far from 100 meat markets in the city, and these, with scarcely an exception, all closed their doors according to agreement.
It is said that there is no zeal like religious zeal, and in the matter of Sunday closing it is manifested in its usual manner. Fearing that some might be disposed to not regard the Sunday-closing order, four of the Grocers' Association were sworn in as deputy constables, and spent the entire day going from place to place seeking those who were violators of the law; and, in addition to this, the clerks of the various stores were also requested to inform on their employers if there was any disposition to disregard the law. The prosecuting attorney has assured the association that the law is on their side, and says that he will prosecute all violators of it.
Thus all over the land, and in fact from all parts of the world, come reports of this insatiable desire of a certain class to secure compulsory observance of Sunday, and he must be blind indeed who cannot see in it the germ of all that made the Inquisition of the Dark Ages.