MAN is a forgetful creature, and yet he can remember if he will. And because man is prone to forget, God has used devices to aid and refresh his memory. "God created the heaven and the earth." God is the origin of creation. So weighty a truth ought not to be in danger of forgetfulness; but the very fact that a memorial has been given, shows that there is danger that it will be forgotten. And to forget it is to forget God. The Sabbath is the memorial by which God would have kept in mind what He has done for man, and, therefore, what He is to man. That man is prone to forget all this, is clearly shown by the fact that even with a memorial, some deny a divine origin to creation, and others are inclined to explain away all that would be worthy of divinity by substituting a humanly easier way. A noted scientist, for example, who claims the name of Christian, asserts that higher forms of life are derived from lower forms, and the old notion—mark the words, "old notion"—of a special creation is exploded once and forever. But so long as the Sabbath remains, some will remember that of which it is a reminder, and will believe in the special creation of God. Truly the Sabbath is needed as a safe bulwark against those sophisms which would remove God as the real Creator of the heaven and the earth. "God created the heaven and the earth." Nature itself voices forth the truth of this text. Nature manifests its divine origin. Whether we look at the dewdrop on some wayside plant, or gaze enraptured at the stars in the depths of heaven, we see revealed mysteries too deep for the mind of man. In the humble calyx of a flower or the shining glory of the skies, we see harmonies of color and splendors of light that no art of man can other than faintly suggest. The constitution of matter can not be adequately explained. The transfer of energy is as yet only guessed at. Gravitation, in its causal and essential nature, is a baffling mystery. Life is a perfect riddle. Through the microscope, we see the infinite in the perfection of the minute. Through the telescope, we see the infinite in the perfection of the immeasurably ponderous and great. In the constancy of nature's work, in the harmonious working of all her complex parts, in the adaptions of means to the end, in conformity to type, in subjection of lower to higher,—in manifold ways, nature voices the truth of revelation that God is the origin of creation. The work testifies of the Worker. But nature must be read in order to teach of the Creator. And not all are students of nature in any large sense. Not all men are scientific. Some are deficient in the lore of nature and science. And because it would be so, God instituted the Sabbath as a memorial. God has never left the knowledge of Himself dependent upon a man's scientific attainments. The record of creation itself, which is the first great chapter in all science, is so given in the pages of the Scriptures that it may be understood by even a child. This is true of all God's revelation. Even those scriptures which at one stroke illumine the most profound science, can be understood in their great and blessed essentials by even the simple-minded. When the Word speaks of worlds, suns, stars, or the depths of space, the appeal is made to every man who reads, be he wise or less wise in the things of science. If, then, a man be never so ignorant of science, provided he intelligently observe the Sabbath of God, he has in that the great key to all scientific knowledge whatsoever. Observing that day, he has therein the great knowledge that will illumine all other knowledge. No man can long observe piously the day that memorializes creation, without becoming intelligent with reference to that creation. At the very first, he learns that the Sabbath commemorates the creative work. He knows at the start that God made all things. He has the alpha and omega of all science; and in time, by the aid of the Sabbath knowledge, he can build in all the rest. And whatever of truth he learns with reference to the creation, the Sabbath will continue to be to him a memorial of all that he has thus learned. And eternally it will call God to mind. And not only will it call God to mind, but it will call Him to mind as the Creator, as the One of all power. Thus it will be realized that God, who made and cares for all things, has pledged His power to His creatures for their preservation and happiness. Then, when a man hears the word to Abraham, "I am the almighty God; walk before Me, and be thou perfect," he will realize that the might is the pledge and assurance of the perfection. And thus comes the word of Christ to all disciples in any age, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations . . . and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Knowing these things, a man may not only sing but know that "the hand that bears creation up can guard His children well." In the deepest fibers of his soul there sounds a harmony of trust. "The God who rules on high,
And all the earth surveys,—
Who rides upon the stormy sky,
And calms the roaring seas,—
This awful God is his,
His Father from above;
Who sendeth down His heavenly powers
To keep him by His love." And thus, with the prophet of old, he cries out in exultant faith, "Ah Lord God! behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee." Jer. 32: 17.5If such a man knows anything of science or nature, he knows more of God than of either. He has more faith in the Creator than he has in creation. He sees in creation the evidences of God's power, but trusts the God of that power. He knows how great God is, since He "hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance." Isa. 40: 12. He knows that it is this Mighty One who brings out the host of heaven in mathematical order, that calls them all by names by the greatness of His might; and that because He is strong in power, not one fails. Isa. 40: 26. He knows, too, that heaven and earth may pass away in obedience to the word of that Mighty One, but that His Word will not pass away. Luke 16: 17. He feels that all things are within the control of Him who made and upholds all things; and amidst the seeming crash of worlds, he can look up and say: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, tho the earth be removed, and tho the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; tho the waters thereof roar and be troubled, tho the mountains shake with the swelling thereof." It is thus that the intelligent, pious Sabbath observer must regard the Creator of all things. God is all this to him because He made and preserves all things. And the Sabbath, being a memorial of God's creative and beneficent work, is to such a man the sign of all that God is to him. Thus viewed, the Sabbath becomes an intensely religious thing; for it constantly applies the great truths of God and His power to the heart and conscience of man. And man, as he observes the day, testifies that he trusts in that power which made all things. He shows that he believes, with Christ, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from God's mouth. In the Sabbath he has first of all accepted the principle that the word of God gave existence to the world; and by its observance, he now further shows that he is consistent enough to believe that the word, if obeyed, can still give him life. Thus to him the Sabbath is an effectual bar against all forms of infidelity whatsoever. It teaches him the correct idea of God. And it teaches him the correct idea of nature. And furthermore, it teaches him the right idea of God in nature. Teaching him the right idea of God, it teaches him true religion. Teaching him the right idea of creation, it teaches him true science. And teaching him the right idea of God in nature, it teaches him true and sound philosophy. Therefore the Sabbath becomes to man the handmaid of all religion, science, and philosophy. Whatever God is and whatever nature is, of that the Sabbath is a memorial and a sign. And as we observe it, it will be a constant reminder of all that these things are to us, and a testimony of what we have experienced. Thus the Sabbath becomes a means by which to apply the knowledge of God to the soul. It becomes a school-teacher. It stands like a pillar to mark the true road into that knowledge that saves, for it teaches the right knowledge of God, which is life eternal.