The Sabbath is from God.
By Thomas Alexander
SOME men speak as if the Sabbath were merely a human institution—as if man gave it to man—What man gave it? by what authority? and when? Who were the good men who gave a boon so great to their fellows; and why has history lost their names? If it could be proved that man made himself, then would there be some likelihood of his having also made the Sabbath, and much else besides; for there is abundant corroborative evidence that He who made man, also made man's world, and man's Sabbath. When we are told that in the beginning God rested on the seventh day, and blessed it, and set it apart, and when we find traces of it in the oldest historical records of the world down to the giving of the Law on Sinai; when we can trace it from that day down to this; when we find voices from the works, answering to the voices from the word of God, and all corresponding to our every day experience; and when, in the face of all this evidence, we are met by nothing but vague assertions and rambling statements, we cannot resist the conclusion that the Sabbath is from God. The Sabbath was made for man as a Sabbath; not as a day of labor, but as a day of rest. So soon as it ceases to be Sabbath, it ceases to be—turned to any other purpose than that for which He that made it designed it, it is no longer made by him for man; it is no longer fit for man nor good for man. The law written on the two tables of stone is also written in our natures. In the keeping it, as individuals, and so as families, and as a nation, there is great reward. God not only blessed the day, but he blesses them that hallow it. Let each of us, therefore, as he would see God in peace, keep holy the Sabbath day, according to the commandment. This we can do in any assembly other than "the great congregation." It is not by going in great crowds to hear sounds, and see sights, that we can hallow the Sabbath day. It is not thus we can worship the "God of nature" and bring him glory. And when God gets no glory, man gets no good. Our true good and God's highest glory are one.—Chelsea Tracts. "The Sabbath," by Thomas Alexander.