p. 1 | Review and Herald, Vol. 43, No. 21. (5/5/1874)

Review and Herald

May 5, 1874

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 5, 1874

THE SABBATH AND THE LAW IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.

By John Nevins Andrews

BY ELD. J. N. ANDREWS.

Text: “And they returned and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath-day according to the commandment.” Luke 23:56.

This text records the most remarkable instance of sabbatic observance in the Bible. The Lord of the Sabbath had tasted death for sinful man. He had offered up his life as a sin-offering to the majesty of that law which was placed beneath the mercy-seat. The holy women followed our Lord from his crucifixion to his burial. As the preparation day was just expiring, and the Sabbath about to commence, our Lord was quickly placed in the sepulcher. Luke 23:53, 54; John 19:41, 42. But this burial did not satisfy them. They returned from the sepulcher, and prepared spices and ointments for the body of Christ. But before they could use them the Sabbath commenced. Now observe their action. It was easy to plead that the Sabbath was not so important as the Lord of the Sabbath; that, though the Sabbath had arrived, the Lord of the Sabbath had still stronger claims upon them than had that institution; or, that whatever they might do in the work of anointing him would be suitable work for the Sabbath. But they did nothing of the kind. They thought the best method of honoring the Lord of the Sabbath was by properly observing the Sabbath itself. And so they laid aside their work, when that work was only acts of reverence and affection for Christ, and they rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. And Luke, writing a considerable number of years after this, inspired by the Spirit of God, places this on record as a noble act of obedience to God. This act of these godly women was in strict accord with the events of Calvary. It was not the law that was slain by Christ, but Christ that was slain by the law. So, when the Son of God lay under the power of death, slain by that law of which the Sabbath is a tenth part, it was fitting that the arrival of the Sabbath should be recognized, even though it was the body of the crucified Redeemer that was the occasion of the labor, and that the law of God should be then and there honored in the observance of the Sabbath day according to the commandment.

The Sabbath of the Lord was honored by the life of Christ, but still more manifestly in his death and burial. In his teaching and his example he took the utmost pains to establish the fact that the Sabbath was a suitable day for acts of mercy; and that such deeds, performed even in behalf of dumb beasts, were lawful upon the Sabbath. But now observe the lesson at the funeral of the Son of God. His teaching concerning merciful works on the Sabbath was absolutely demanded by the prevalent errors of the Jewish doctors; but there was danger that this might be perverted by that class of teachers who go to the opposite extreme, and deny the sanctity of the rest-day of the Lord. The record of his burial teaches a lesson as expressive of the sacredness of the Sabbath as does the crucifixion of the sacredness of the law. When Christ stood with our sins upon him, either the law must give way or Christ must die. We know very well the law did not give way. Now, at the burial of Christ, the Sabbath of the Lord stands directly in the way of certain acts of love and tenderness in behalf of the dead body of God’s dear Son! Observe, these were not acts of mercy, like those which our Lord approved in behalf of suffering men and animals, for the dear Saviour was sleeping in death; nor were they acts of necessity to give him a decent burial, for this, though done in haste, had been performed tenderly and with great expense, by Joseph of Arimathea, and by Nicodemus. He was wrapped in fine linen, and with a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about one hundred pounds’ weight; and a linen napkin was bound about his head. John 19:38-40; 20:5-7; Matt. 27:59, 60; Mark 15:45, 46; Luke 23:53.

But these faithful women, out of tender regard for the honor of Christ, desired to prepare his body more perfectly for its rest in the grave. In the midst of their preparation, the hour of the Sabbath was marked by the going down of the sun. And observe the expressive language of the Holy Spirit: They “rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Here is a remarkable exposition of the fourth commandment. If we place this in connection with our Lord’s teaching and example relative to the Sabbath, we have the following facts:—

1. It is lawful, i. e., according to the law, to do well on the Sabbath. But the deeds to be wrought are acts of worship toward God the Creator, like assembling at the house of God and reading and expounding his word, or listening to it with serious attention; and also the work of the priests, or acts of mercy in behalf of the distressed, whether they be men or animals. Luke 4:15, 16; Matt. 12:10-12; Luke 14:1-5.

2. But it is not lawful, i. e., not “according to the commandment,” to perform unnecessarily even such work as the anointing of the body of Christ, that he might in the most honorable manner be yielded up to the power of death. The Sabbath is a memorial of God’s rest from the work of creation. The Lord of the Sabbath is best honored by obedience on our part to the commandment which requires us to rest in memory of God’s rest.

The crucifixion of Christ attested the majesty of the law; the resurrection of Christ attested his personal innocence. Gal. 3:13; Rom. 4:25. The law survived the death of Him who became its sin-offering. The fourth commandment is solemnly recognized the day after the crucifixion, and its sacredness is revealed to us by the most remarkable example of its observance in the whole Bible. Nor is this to be met by saying that this was simply the act of a few women, and therefore of no real consequence. Even were this all that there is to it, the fact that these women were most intimately acquainted with the teaching of Christ proves that Jesus had never given them to understand that the Sabbath was a day of little consequence. But it is not the mere act of these pious women. Luke, writing by inspiration, places their example on record as something done in obedience to the fourth commandment. And certainly nothing could so attest the sacredness of the sabbatic institution as does this peculiar act of obedience, indorsed as it is by the Spirit of inspiration, many years after the resurrection of Christ.

One other truth should be brought out from this text. Here it is: The women who thus observed the Sabbath kept the very day which God ordained in Eden. For we learn that they kept the day ordained in the commandment; and that the following day was the first day of the week. Luke 23:56; 24:1; Mark 16:1, 2. They did, therefore, in keeping the seventh day of the fourth commandment, observe by that very act the seventh day of the New-Testament week. But the day ordained in the fourth commandment is the day hallowed in memory of the Creator’s rest. Ex. 20:11. And that we may not be in doubt that this identical day was known to Israel at the time of the giving of the law, the providence of God in sending the manna six days and then withholding it on the seventh, and the testimony of God himself that the manna ceased on that day because it was the Sabbath, both bear an unequivocal witness, and clearly settle this important point. Ex. 16:22, 23. And thus we may state the fact that the day following the crucifixion of Christ, his most faithful disciples observed the day ordained in the commandment, which day the commandment itself identifies as the one hallowed by God in Eden. It is certain, therefore, that the Spirit of God bears testimony to the knowledge of the true seventh day at the time of Christ’s crucifixion, even as the providence of God bears testimony to the knowledge of that day at the fall of the manna.

In our Lord’s last discourse from the Mount of Olives, in which he gives his disciples an outline of events from that time to the day of Judgment, he brings in the Sabbath in a manner to commend it to their peculiar care. Thus he says:—

“When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand), then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains; let him which is on the house-top not come down to take anything out of his house; neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” Matt. 24:15-20.

Our Lord did thus make the Sabbath a subject of prayer on the part of his people, for the period of nearly forty years after his crucifixion. Whenever the people of God in the land of Judea, during that whole time, should bow before God in prayer, they would be reminded of the Sabbath. It is to be observed that our Lord does not say, “Let them which be in Jerusalem flee into the mountains,” but, “Let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains.” This shows how great an error those commit who assert that our Lord taught his disciples this prayer because that the gates of Jerusalem would be shut on that day, rendering their flight impossible. The words of Christ relate to the whole land of Judea. So it is very evident that the shutting of the gates of Jerusalem could affect, at most, only a very small number of the people of God who were concerned in this flight. But let us consider the case of those who were actually in Jerusalem at that time. Josephus, in the second book of the Jewish war, chapter xix, informs us of the fulfillment of the sign given by our Lord. Cestius, the Roman commander, encompassed the city with his army, and, “had he continued the siege a little longer, had certainly taken the city.” But “he recalled his soldiers from the place and . . . retired from the city without any reason in the world.” Here was our Lord’s promised token by which the disciples were to understand that the moment of flight had arrived. And how evident that it was the hand of God which caused the Roman general, as soon as he had given the Saviour’s token, to withdraw from the city “without any reason in the world.” And now the disciples must flee without a moment’s delay. Let us admire the providence of God which opened their way in manifest answer to prayer. First we have the case of those disciples who were in the country of Judea. Josephus informs us that at this time, when Cestius marched upon Jerusalem, he found the country destitute of men; because as the law of Moses required, all the males were assembled at Jerusalem to keep the feast of tabernacles. Deut. 16:16. Thus it is manifest that the people of God throughout the land of Palestine had no Jewish enemies to hinder their flight, even had it been upon the Sabbath.

And now let us see how it was with those who were in the city of Jerusalem itself. We find in the statement of Josephus the most convincing proof that, had they had occasion to flee upon the Sabbath, the circumstances were such that they might have done it on that day with as little hindrance from the Jews as could their brethren in the country. Josephus gives us the remarkable information that, when Cestius was some six or seven miles distant from Jerusalem, on his way to attack the city, the Jews went out on the seventh day to fight him, “although the Sabbath was the day to which they had the greatest regard.” Certainly, the disciples could have fled out of Jerusalem when that “multitude went in a sudden and disorderly manner to the fight,” had they been disposed so to do on that Sabbath day. It was but a few days after this that Cestius, having fairly encompassed the city, and thus given the Saviour’s token for his disciples’ flight, did, “without any reason in the world,” raise the siege and suddenly retreat. And we are told by Josephus (Jewish War, book ii, chapter xix) that no sooner did the Jews perceive this unexpected retreat of the Roman army than they ran after them, “and destroyed a considerable number of both their horsemen and footmen.” This was the moment of flight for the disciples. It is perfectly evident that, had this retreat of Cestius occurred on the Sabbath, the Jews would have pursued him on that day; for only a few days before, they went out fifty furlongs, to attack him on the Sabbath. When the gates of the city were opened for the disorderly mob to rush forth after the army of Cestius, it was the hour for the disciples to flee. They could then do it unperceived by the wicked men of their nation, who now neither feared God, nor regarded man.

It is, therefore, perfectly evident that had this occurred upon the Sabbath, they could have fled on that day, even from Jerusalem itself. These facts do plainly prove that the interpretation given to our Lord’s command respecting prayer that their flight should not happen upon the Sabbath, to the effect that this was because their enemies would not allow them to flee that day, is entirely false. Had that been the sense of his words, it would have been much more in accordance with the course of things that actually transpired, had he taught them to pray that their enemies might not be so situated as to hinder their flight on that day. For the circumstances show that they were not, and that, if they had no conscientious regard for the day themselves, they could have fled on that day without difficulty. It follows, therefore, that the Lord of the Sabbath uttered these words out of sacred regard for the Sabbath, even as he joined

with it in the same prayer, out of tender regard to his people, the petition that their flight should not be in the winter. And joining these in a prayer that they used some forty years, it taught them a lesson they could never forget. His tender love for his people could not but kindle in their breasts the same love for him, their Saviour and Redeemer; and his sacred regard for the rest-day hallowed in Eden to commemorate the work of the Creator, could not but inspire in the minds of his people the same reverence for that day.

Here, then, is the Sabbath of the Lord sacredly regarded by the Son of God and by his disciples as late as the destruction of Jerusalem, in the year of our Lord 70. And thus we have in the New Testament, not only a distinct recognition of the fourth commandment after the crucifixion of Jesus, and with it such a lesson respecting its sacredness as we cannot well forget, but we have also a precept from Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath, that does, in a most effectual manner, show how sacred was this day in his esteem. He had bidden his disciples flee for life the moment his signal should appear, and lest that flight should happen upon the Sabbath, he taught them to offer prayer to God for the interposition of his providence to prevent it. And, certainly, this forty years’ lesson was admirably adapted to impress the sacredness of the day upon the first generation of the Christian church, and to transmit that sacredness to the latest age of that church.

Soon after the commencement of our Lord’s ministry, we read of his visit to Nazareth. Luke makes the following record of the visit: “And 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. As this was just after the commencement of our Lord’s ministry, the expression respecting his attendance upon the synagogue that it was “as his custom was,” must have reference to the fact that it had been his custom previous to the commencement of his ministry, i. e., from childhood up, to attend regularly the worship of God in the synagogue on the Sabbath. We see also that after becoming himself a public laborer in his great mission to save lost men, he still continued this course of action, leaving us here, as in every other part of his obedient life, an example that we should follow his steps. What a wonderful lesson is this! Here is a hint given us of his life of active obedience, as well as of lowly humility, during the thirty years that preceded his public ministry.

And what a lesson does this teach us respecting our Lord’s example in wicked Nazareth! The true worshipers of God in that city were few. John 1:46. But there was one who had a standing custom to attend the house of God upon the Sabbath. The weather might be rainy; or it might be otherwise unpleasant; the heat might be excessive; he might be weary with the toil of six days in the lowly family of the carpenter; but he did not remain at home for rain, or heat, or dust, or weariness. The Sabbath was not his day for sleep. The people of Nazareth knew very well that, whoever might be absent from the synagogue, Jesus, whether in childhood, youth, or manhood, would be there. And why was this? Not, by any means, because there was so much there for him to learn. Even at twelve years of age, he could instruct the Jewish doctors. Luke 2:42-47. He was there to show proper respect for the Sabbath; he was there to help maintain the worship of God; he was there to set an example for others to follow. And so when he became a public laborer, as the great prophet like unto Moses, he followed this same custom of his earlier life. He had no occasion to visit the synagogue that he might find hearers, nor to select the Sabbath as his day of preaching because on no other day could he call out the people. Far from this; vast multitudes thronged him day after day. But he did by this custom proclaim his sacred regard for the Sabbath, and for the worship of the Most High.

When our Lord entered upon his ministry he found the Sabbath loaded down with a vast multitude of rigorous and burdensome traditions that rendered it a yoke of bondage to its observers. If the Sabbath had been only a carnal ordinance, imposed on them till the time of reformation, our Lord would have made short work with the whole thing. But the Sabbath was not to be destroyed by his death, and much of his life must therefore be given to the correction of those errors by which Satan had utterly perverted its design.

As the Jews had come to hold that every act by way of healing the sick was entirely unlawful on the Sabbath, the Saviour took great pains to correct this false notion, and to show that it exactly accorded with the design of the Sabbath to perform deeds of mercy to the afflicted on that day. Thus, our Lord vindicated the act of the disciples in eating the ears of corn on the Sabbath when they were hungry; he justified himself for healing the man with the withered hand; also the blind man; and the woman that was bowed down with infirmity thirty-eight years. Matt. 12:1-13; John 9:1-20; Luke 13:11-17; John 5:1-20; 7:21-24. Certainly, these were acts exactly adapted to the sabbatic institution.

Had our Lord refrained from relieving the sick because it was the Sabbath, then surely it might be said that the Sabbath was a yoke of bondage; and that it was not something made for man’s good, but something for the good of which man was made. In one of these cases, however, our Lord bade the man he healed to take up his bed, and walk. If this had been a bed, such as we thus designate at the present day, we might well regard this as a violation of the law of the Sabbath. But when we learn that this was nothing more than a blanket or rug on which he lay by the pool, we see that the case is entirely different. So, also, in the case of the blind man. Jesus moistened clay with spittle, and anointed his eyes, and bade him go to the pool of Siloam and wash them. John 9:6, 7. To state these cases is to refute the charges founded on them. They are of equal weight with his alleged violation of the Sabbath in allowing his disciples in their hunger to eat of the ears of corn. None of these acts were done in a careless or irreverent manner. All of them had the relief of the suffering, and the honor of God, in view.

Jesus did not violate the Sabbath. Or, to speak more strictly the perfect truth, our Lord kept all the commandments of God and taught men so to do. He testified that he had kept his Father’s commandments. John 15:10. Sin is the transgression of the law; but in Christ there is no sin. 1 John 3:4, 5. He taught the immutability of every jot and tittle of the moral law. He solemnly warned men not to break the commandments, and to teach men so. He promised that those who do and teach them shall be highly honored in the kingdom of God. Matt. 5:17-19. The Son of God had his Father’s law in his heart. Ps. 40:8. All who are saved by him will have that same law in their hearts also. Jer. 31:33; Luke 22:20; Heb. 8:10. Nor is this all. The New-Testament church are to fulfill the righteousness of the law; i. e., the right doing ordained in the law. Rom. 8:1-7. Such a church will assuredly obey the fourth commandment.

The Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day. Matt. 12:8. It is no disgrace to the Sabbath that Jesus is its Lord. Indeed, it is no dishonor to the Son of God to be the Lord of the Sabbath. The expression, “Lord even of the Sabbath day,” does certainly imply that it is a very high honor to be Lord of the Sabbath. Nor does it signify that because he is its Lord, he is therefore to destroy it. The very opposite is implied. He “died and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.” Rom. 14:9. These are his people; and he did all this that he might be their Lord, and thus give them eternal life. As the Lord of the Sabbath, he was the right one to determine what was, and what was not, proper upon the Sabbath. And the very fact that he was engaged with the Father in the creation shows that he was also concerned with him in ordaining the Sabbath. It is, therefore, with the strictest reason that he claims to be Lord of that institution which God calls “my holy day,” “the holy of the Lord” and “honorable.”

The Sabbath is not an institution unknown to the New Testament, nor is it one peculiar to the New Testament. That book treats it as an existing institution; just as it alludes to the heavens and the earth as something in existence from ancient days. The Lord of the New-Testament church is the Lord of the Sabbath. He honored it in his life by setting aside, as its Lord, the burdensome traditions by which it was encumbered. He honored it by performing on that day a very large portion of his works of mercy for the distressed. He honored it by teaching his disciples to pray that it should not become necessary for them to flee on that day, some forty years after his death. He honored it by his custom of devout attendance upon the synagogue on that day, from early life till the close of his work. He honored the Sabbath, and himself also, by claiming to be EVEN its Lord. He honored the Sabbath when he, the Lord of the Sabbath, lay in death; and those who had known him most intimately, and understood his teaching most perfectly, desisted from a work of love and reverence for him, not absolutely necessary, that they might rest the Sabbath day according to the commandment.

The book of Acts contains an inspired history of the first generation of the Christian church. It makes several important references to the Sabbath. Thus we read that Paul, having preached in the Jewish synagogue at Antioch on the Sabbath, when the congregation was broken up, was entreated by the multitude that these same words might be preached to them the next Sabbath day. And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God; and the hand of God was with his servants. Acts 13:14, 27, 42-44. It is evident, therefore, that the day which was hallowed by the Jews was, some fifteen years after the death of Christ, still known as the Sabbath. That Paul not only preached to the Jews on that day, but that he preached also, on the following Sabbath, to the Gentiles, and that at their own request, is strong proof that the apostles regarded the ancient Sabbath as the most suitable day for divine worship; and, also, that even the Gentiles of Antioch had some regard for the day. Paul was not compelled to use the Sabbath for this second meeting, for he was dealing with Gentiles; he did use it, however, which is a strong proof of his regard for the day, and even that the people of Antioch also had, to some extent, regard for the Sabbath.

When the council assembled at Jerusalem to consider the question of circumcision, it is evident that the question of the Sabbath did not cause any difference of opinion at all. It was a trouble to certain ones that the Gentiles did not observe circumcision. Acts 15:1-5.

Had they been neglecters, also, of the Sabbath, most certainly that fact would have been mentioned, for it could not but create even greater disturbance than the neglect of circumcision. And when the apostle James gives sentence in the council, he makes an important statement respecting the Sabbath. He says: “For Moses hath of OLD TIME, IN EVERY CITY them that preach him, being read in the synagogues EVERY SABBATH DAY.” Acts 15:21. He assigns this as a reason why the points named by him, and no others, should be inserted in the letter of instruction to the Gentiles. It is evident that the Jews, in their dispersion, had carried the Sabbath with them into every city of the Gentiles, and that the Gentile Christians were, even before their conversion, acquainted with the Sabbath, and were still receiving the benefit of this Sabbath instruction from the books of Moses.

When Paul arrived at Philippi to preach Christ, his labors began with a small company of devout Gentiles, mostly women, who were wont to assemble for prayer, upon the Sabbath, by the river side. The first convert was a Grecian woman named Lydia, of the city of Thyatira. Acts 16:12-15. With this company of Sabbath-keepers began the Philippian church. Next, the apostle “came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.” Acts 17:1, 2. This was Paul’s “manner,” even as it was the “custom” of Jesus. Luke 4:16. We never read of his having a similar custom respecting any other day of the week. As the result of his preaching, “some” of the Jews, “and of the devout Greeks, a great multitude, and of the chief women, not a few,” became obedient to the faith. These “devout Greeks” were men, who not only feared the true God, but kept his commandments. And thus we see that the Thessalonian church also began with a company of Sabbath-keepers, part of whom were Jews, but the most, devout Gentiles.

The origin of the Corinthian church is very similar to that of the church of Thessalonica. We learn that Paul came to Corinth, and finding Aquila and Priscilla, he came unto them, “and because he was of the same craft, he abode with them and wrought; for, by their occupation, they were tentmakers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.” Acts 18:1-4. Here, as at Corinth, some of the Jews and Greeks who thus worshiped God in the synagogue were the first converts to the gospel. And this church also began, not merely from the labors of a man who kept the commandments of God, but with those who were already the worshipers of God upon his sacred day. This was Paul’s manner in every place. He began with the Jews who feared God, and with whom, in every case, there appears to have been associated devout Gentiles, and with this kind of converts laid the foundation of his churches. It is certainly worthy of notice that the day observed by the Jews is over called the Sabbath by Luke, who writes by the Spirit of inspiration some thirty years after the abrogation of the Sabbath, as some say; or, at that time after its change, as say others.

We can judge how Paul preached respecting the law of God by what he has written respecting it in his epistles. He represents the whole world as condemned by the law, and every mouth shut by it. Rom. 3:19.

He tells us that by the law is the knowledge of sin. Verse 20. So that when he wished to instruct men as to the nature of sin, he opened to them the law of God. He shows how men, thus condemned, can be pardoned, and yet God maintain his justice as represented in his law. It is through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus that God can be just, and yet justify the sinner who believes in Jesus. Verses 23-26. And thus he states the immutability of the law in the strongest language: “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Rom. 3:31.

Paul held to the abrogation of the ceremonial law, with its numerous sabbaths, new moons, and feast days (compare Eph. 2:14, 15; Col. 2:14-17; Lev. 23:4-44); but he did sacredly maintain the moral law of God as the unchangeable rule of right.

The language of James is a most convincing testimony to the perpetual obligation of the ten commandments: “If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well; but if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” James 2:8-12. There can be no mistake that what James calls the royal law is still in full force, and that this law embodies the ten commandments. It is also certain that to violate one of those commandments makes us guilty of violating the whole law of God. So long, therefore, as this code of moral laws endures, so long will the Sabbath of the Lord remain. It is a part of that code which shall stand fast until heaven and earth shall pass away.

The last book of the Bible was given upon the Lord’s day. Rev. 1:10. It is a revelation made by Christ to John. As none but the Lord of the Sabbath was counted worthy by God, the Father, to receive this book to give to man (compare Rev. 1:1; 5:1-7), so he chose as the most suitable day to give this to man that day which the Bible designates as his. As only one such day is revealed in the Bible (Gen. 2:1-3; Ex. 20:8-11; Isa. 58:13; Mark 2:28), we may be certain, not only that such a day existed at the close of the first century of the Christian church, but that this is the very day hallowed by the Father and the Son in the beginning, and jointly recognized in the Scriptures as theirs.

UNDER THY WINGS.

Under Thy wings, my God, Close by thy side, Safe from the “windy storm,” Joyful I hide. Oft thou hast called me, Now while the cloud I see, Swiftly I run to thee, Close to thy side.

Under Thy wings, my God, Loved ones abide, Whom thou hast called to walk, Closer thy side. Brood softly over me, Glory I may not see, Keep every sin from me, While by thy side.

Under Thy wings, my God, Safely to hide, Gather thy “little ones” Close to thy side— Side wounded sore for me, Bleeding and bruised I see— Cover, O, cover me, Close by thy side.—Sel.

One Word and I Am Done

“Papa, I think you told a fib in the pulpit to-day,” said a little son of a clergyman.

“Why, my son, what do you mean?” asked the father.

“You said,” continued the child, “‘One word and I am done.’ Then you went on and said a great many words. The people expected you’d leave off, ’cause you promised them; but you didn’t, and kept on preaching a long while after the time was up.”

Stumbling-blocks.

A GREAT many people, in these days, complain most bitterly of stumbling-blocks. You ask them why they do not get religion, they tell you they see so many who profess religion, and do not live it. Jesus says, “What is that to thee? Follow thou me.” “Oh! yes, but they are stumbling-blocks.” Well, if you know they are stumbling-blocks then you need not stumble over them. You would call a man a fool that would go along a path in broad daylight, with his eyes open, and tumble over a stone that he saw and knew lay in his path; but he is not as foolish as the man who tumbles over what he knows will throw him down to eternal darkness and despair.

There are but two ways for people to go. All are going one way or the other. One is the broad way; it leads to death; the other is the narrow one, and it leads to life.

The broad way is full of stumbling-blocks. Satan has got them scattered all along the way, and he has so blinded the eyes of those who go in that way, that they cannot see the real stumbling-blocks. Satan might rightly be termed highway commissioner of the broad way. He has pit-holes all along the way, by which to plunge souls into perdition, and plenty of pathmasters to lay stumbling-blocks right in front of the holes, and lead poor, blind souls right up to the places, and they tumble over, and down they go! Those that perish in this way are inexcusable, because that now and then a ray of light breaks in upon them, and shows them the danger they are in.

But they close their eyes against the light, and plunge into the darkness. Satan advances his subjects as fast as possible; he makes them all pathmasters as soon as they are properly drilled. Every one who holds out inducements to souls to gain pleasures from the world, or from any source aside from that which God has pointed out in his word, is the devil’s pathmaster. The preacher who preaches an easier way to get to Heaven than the royal road of the cross is the devil’s pathmaster. The man who teaches that it is impossible to come up to the standard of Bible experience is the devil’s pathmaster. The man who teaches that freemasonry is superior to the Christian religion is the devil’s pathmaster. The man who teaches that there is no harm in social amusements, such as picnics, sociables, oyster suppers, etc., is the devil’s pathmaster. Every one who is not clearly saved in God is helping on the terrible work of damning souls. Their influence, time, talents and means, all combine in this terrible work of getting souls to hell. Dear, unsaved man, you may be unconscious of the fact, but it is a terrible truth, that you who complain so much about stumbling-blocks are exerting an influence that is damning the souls of others. Oh, what a fearful responsibility rests upon every human being!

Dear reader, are you lending a hand in this terrible work? If so, stop and think before you go another step. Lay down the weapons of your rebellious warfare. Cease to fight against the King of Heaven. Turn your back upon the broad way, and set your face as a flint toward Mount Zion. You will find that the way to Mount Zion is a narrow way, and only a few to go with you, but there are no stumbling-blocks in the way; it is perfectly clear and clean. It is a highway cast up for the redeemed of the Lord to walk in. No lion’s whelp hath ever trod it, no vulture’s eye hath ever seen it. None that keep this way ever stumble and fall. The light from the eternal world shines all along the way, and dispels every shadow of darkness. God has anointed the eyes of those who walk in this way with eye-salve, and the scales have fallen off, and they see every man clearly. God infuses new life into those who go this way; even the most aged can mount up on wings as eagles, run and not get weary, walk and not faint. None that walk in this way carry any burdens. No need of any hard tack here, for they get fresh supplies of bread as often as they need it fresh from the bakery of Heaven. No matter if they pass through a desert, manna falls from heaven, and water bursts from the rocks.—Free Methodist.

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