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Review and Herald, Vol. 37, No. 6.

OUR FAITH AND HOPE;

Review and Herald

Jan 24, 1871

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 24, 1871

OUR FAITH AND HOPE;

By James White

Or, Reasons Why We Believe as We Do.

NUMBER SIX.—SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

BY ELDER JAMES WHITE.
“What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?”—DISCIPLES.
“When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.”—JESUS. Matt. 24: 3, 33.

THE FINAL SEPARATION.

Verses 40, 41. “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.” This language was designed to illustrate the final separation of the righteous and the wicked. Many husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, will then part, never to meet again.

THOSE WHO WATCH WILL KNOW THE TIME.

Verses 42–44. “Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore, be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh.”
The day and hour of Christ’s second coming are not revealed in the Scriptures. Neither is the year in which this glorious event is to take place pointed out. No one of the prophetic periods reaches to the second coming of Christ. The sanctuary is to be cleansed at the end of the 2300 days, and Daniel is to stand in his lot at the end of the 1335 days. But that these events occur before the second appearing of Christ, is susceptible of the clearest proof. Both these prophetic periods terminated in 1844. But we cannot give a defense of our position in regard to these periods in this work.
The time from the end of the prophetic periods to the coming of Christ is emphatically the waiting, watching time. Those who watch, as our Lord commands, will know the time. No man will make it known; for it is not revealed to man in the Scriptures. Angels will not make it known, though they may minister to, and communicate with, the children of men. Neither will the Son. But the Father will make it known when he speaks again from Heaven. He once spake the ten commandments in the hearing of the people. His voice then shook the earth. When he speaks again, the heavens and earth will both shake. Says Paul: “Whose voice then shook the earth; but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.” Heb. 12: 26. “The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake.” Joel 3: 16.
Probably there is no prophecy that better describes the present state of unbelief in the world in regard to the second advent, caused partly by fanatical time-movements, than the following: “Son of Man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? Tell them, therefore, Thus saith the Lord God: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision. For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I am the Lord; I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged; for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God.” Eze. 12: 22–25. The burden of this prophecy is time; therefore, the word here mentioned that the Lord will speak, will be the time.
Rev. 3: 3, is also to the point: “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” Those who do not watch will not know the hour. Those who watch will know the hour.
The present watching condition is clearly defined in 1 Thess. 5: 1–4: “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”
The present watching, waiting position requires much faith and patience. Says Paul, “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God [in proclaiming the coming of Christ], ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Heb. 10: 35–39.
Says James, “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; establish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” Chap. 5: 7, 8.
The present position and present duty of God’s people are defined in Rev. 14: 12: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

THE FAITHFUL AND WISE SERVANT.

Verses 45–47. “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods.”
In this figure, Christ is represented as the lord of the household of faith (see Mark 13: 35; Heb. 3: 6), leaving his house, and committing the work of caring for his church to his servants. A blessing is promised those servants who are faithfully discharging their duty when their Lord comes. They are to feed the flock of God, over whom the Holy Ghost hath made them overseers. Acts 20: 28. They must preach the word. 2 Tim. 4: 2. They should watch for souls as they that must give account. Heb. 13: 17. They will not only give meat to the household, but they will give it in due season. They will preach the present truth. Their last work, before the return of their Master, will be to proclaim his coming, and to teach the necessary preparation. They will sacrifice the society and blessings of home, and go everywhere preaching the word, suffering fatigue of body and burden of spirit. But such will have great reward in the kingdom of God. “Who is that faithful and wise servant?” Where shall we find him? Ans. He is faithfully and wisely attending to the interests of the household of faith.
1. He is faithful. As a faithful watchman, he will give timely warning when he sees the sword coming. His work just before the end is seen in the following scriptures: Joel 2: 1: “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” Isa. 58: 1: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” 2 Tim. 4: 1–5: “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”
2. He is wise. “He that winneth souls, is wise.” He must be wise. He will expose error, then hold forth the truth in its harmony and beauty, and thus win men to the truth. When it becomes his duty to “reprove and rebuke,” it will be at a proper time and place, and then with all “long-suffering and doctrine.” He will study to show himself “approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Tim. 2: 15.

THE EVIL SERVANT.

Verses 48–51. “But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of; and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” What the evil servant says and does, shows most clearly the position and work of the faithful and wise servant. Why the evil servant says, “My Lord delayeth his coming,” is because the faithful servant is proclaiming the coming of his Lord. Why the evil servant smites the faithful servant, is because he teaches the speedy coming of his Lord. The faithful servant, true to his commission to preach the “gospel of the kingdom” to a fallen church and a scoffing world, toils on, and the evil servant smites on. One is laying up treasure in Heaven, and is preparing to go home to his eternal reward, while the other is calling down upon his head the displeasure of the high and holy One, and is getting ready to receive the unmingled cup of the fury of the Lord. The faithful servant is turning some, at least, to righteousness, to shine forever as stars in his crown of glory, while the evil servant pursues his downward course and work of death, making the bitter cup of woe which awaits him, still more bitter. But the separating day is coming. The Lord will come, and cut asunder the evil servant, and appoint him his portion with the lost. In the general wailing and gnashing of teeth, with hypocrites he will receive the portion due him for his works.
Read the doom of the false shepherds, the ministers of the last generation, who come up to the day of the Lord with their garments all stained over with the blood of souls. They now cry, Peace and safety, and their flocks confide in them. They stand between us and the people, and turn away the arrow of truth. But their day is coming, dreadful beyond description. Thus saith the Lord: “Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard; for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture. And the peaceable habitations are cut down, because of the fierce anger of the Lord.” Jer. 25: 34–37.

CHARITY

By Editor

There is a way more excellent, so traced the sacred pen, Than e'en to share the precious gifts which God vouchsafes to man; It is to draw for every act our motive from above, And make our whole of mortal life a holocaust of love.
For though the mind with all the wealth of human love expand, Though e'en an angel's glowing words we hold at our command, If in each thought and word expressed, no charity abound, 'Twill but be like the tinkling brass, the cymbal's hollow sound.
And though all knowledge we possessed, all mysteries could prove, Had faith to bid the rugged mount to yonder sea remove, If charity dwell not within, the all-inspiring power, We are but cyphers in the scale, the beings of an hour.
And though our goods we freely give to meet the sufferer's need, And yield our bodies to the stake, the fiery flame to feed, If charity prompt not these acts, so fair to human sight, It profits nothing in His eyes who reads the heart aright.
For charity is but the name for every heavenly grace; With human weakness long she bears, to anger ne'er gives place. Her features fair with kindness glow, no envy stirs her breast, Nor e'er by boastful acts or words is inward pride expressed.
She ever seeketh others' good, regardless of her own, She thinks no evil, speaks no ill, by act, or look, or tone. Not in iniquity, but truth, doth she her comfort take, And bears, believes, endures, and hopes, all things, for Jesus' sake.
Hail, holy Charity! bright daughter of the skies! An angel from the ruins of our once fair paradise, Still lingering with our fallen race to point our feet above, And show us what a Heaven will be, where all is wrought in love.
In the dark places of the earth thy footsteps may we trace, By fruitful fields and verdant plains where once were desert wastes. The orphan rises up with joy thy coming steps to bless, And widows, smiling through their tears, their grateful thanks express.
To clothe the naked, feed the poor, bestowing joy for pain, To bring relief to those who long in suffering have lain, To cause the sad, despondent heart to sing aloud for joy— These are thy works, sweet Charity, thy holy, blest employ.
We welcome thee, O Heavenly grace; be thou our constant guide, Let thy sweet spirit in our hearts forevermore abide, Help us to scatter deeds of love in all the paths we tread; For blessing thus our fellow-men, we honor Christ our head. —Ed.

The Torn Tract.

LEIGH RICHMOND, in walking up a hill, to relieve the horses of the coach in which he was traveling, distributed several tracts to such persons as he chanced to meet. One was received and torn in two, and thrown upon the ground.
“See how your tract is treated; there is one, at least, quite lost!”
“I am not so sure of that,” said Mr. Richmond; “at any rate, the husbandman sows not the less that some of the seeds may be trodden down.”
Reaching the top of the hill, and turning round to view the scenery, they saw that the wind had carried the torn tract over into the field among the haymakers, and that one of them was reading it to the others. The devil had done his work imperfectly, as the two parts of the tract were held together by a thread; and in hindering one man from reading it, he had introduced it to a whole company. The reader of the tract was led to reflection and prayer, and became an earnest Christian and tract distributor. Three others soon became diligent laborers in the Master's vineyard.
Pass the tracts along; they will not be lost!

ALL EQUAL HERE.—

It is related of the Duke of Wellington, that once when he remained to “take sacrament” at his parish church, a very poor old man had gone up the opposite aisle, and reaching the communion rail, knelt down by the side of the duke. Some one—a pew-owner probably—came and touched the poor man on the shoulder, and whispered him to move further away, or rise, and wait until the duke had received the bread and wine. But the eagle eye and quick ear of the great commander caught the meaning of that touch and whisper. He clasped the old man’s hand, and held him, to prevent his rising, and in a reverential under-tone, but most distinctly, said, “Do not move—we are all equal here.”

A Handful of Common-Sense

A HANDFUL of common-sense is worth a bushel of learning.

The Sabbath.

By S. Summerbell

“The Sabbath was made for man.” Mark 2: 27.
I. WHAT IS THE SABBATH?
II. DESIGN OF THE SABBATH.
III. HISTORY OF THE SABBATH.
IV. OBJECTIONS TO THE SABBATH.
I. The Sabbath is a heavenly day, appointed by our God for rest from earthly toil. The Sabbath is a day of Heaven, on earth; a day appointed by our good Father for all his children to rest, and be refreshed; a day when the weary may forget his toil, and the anxious his care; when the miser will look up from his gold, and all nations come before the Lord; a day saved from the curse of sin because reserved before sin, ever reminding us of life in Paradise. It is a day appointed of God from the very beginning; a day hallowed, and sanctified, and blessed; for the observance of which we have the example of the great Jehovah himself. It is called the Sabbath of the Lord our God; God’s holy day; the Lord’s day; for the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath-day. It is a part of religion peculiar in that it does not suppose sin. Other commandments command righteousness or forbid transgression; but this was given before sin, and supposes holiness. It is in the spirit of a father calling his children around him to rest and be “refreshed.” Ex. 23: 12.
The first Sabbath-keeper was God himself. It was kept by man before sin. It is a day belonging to no peculiar creed, or age, or race, but as universal as Heaven’s care over its children. It is to man an earnest of his heavenly home, a part of Heaven struck off to earth, not to be desecrated by earthly toil, and to be reserved from the moral wreck to come. After the fall it was a souvenir of Eden, and an emblem of Heaven; not of the church—“For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. There remaineth, therefore, a rest to the people of God. Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief”—but of Heaven above, where all is light, and all is love. Of this, the Sabbath worship in the church is an emblem, where we sing:
“I have been there, and still would go— ’Tis like a little Heaven below; At once they sing, at once they pray— They hear of Heaven, and learn the way!”

II. DESIGN OF THE SABBATH.

The Sabbath is a day of rest for all; “in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.” When all our race, and even the burden-bearing brute, may be refreshed. Ex. 23: 12. It is needed for the great, that they may rest from care; and for the small, that they may learn the ways of God. It is needed for the student, that his mind may relax, and for the ignorant, that their minds may be replenished. It is good for the covetous, that custom may drive him from absorbing care; and it is good for the dependent, that they be sometimes free. It is demanded by our physical nature, and by our moral, spiritual, and social nature; for resuscitation, cultivation, purification, and salvation. It is not only a day of rest, but it is a day of devotion. We are to sanctify the day, and hallow it; to bear no burden, but to “hearken unto the Lord.” It was made for man, to meet a need as universal as toil, rest, or devotion. It was made for man, when it was made. But how can it benefit man? Only by its observance; therefore it was observed from the beginning. The law of the Sabbath supposes known existing laws before the laws of Sinai; a law not for Jews or for Gentiles, as such, but for all. That all may rest, all worship, and all be blessed. The rich and poor; the bond and free; the weak and the strong; the weary and the refreshed; that all may come to God, all be blessed that come.

III. HISTORY OF THE SABBATH.

In Exodus 16: 28, God, in reproving Sabbath-breakers, says: “How long refuse ye to keep my LAWS?” This “How long?” proves that these Sabbath laws had long been known in the most ancient church during the patriarchal ages. Accordingly we find it said: Abraham will command his children to keep the way of the Lord; and Abraham did obey God’s voice, his commandments, and his LAWS, Gen. 18: 19; 26: 5. And we know that the way of the Lord as shown in the beginning was to rest on the seventh day. The interval from Adam to Abraham was spanned by the lives of two men, Methuselah and Shem. Methuselah lived 243 years during the time of Adam, dying the year of the flood, when Shem was 97 years old. Shem lived till Abraham was 150 years old, consequently two men could communicate from the lips of Adam, words concerning the first Sabbath, and the great Creator’s example, down to generations living in the days of Abraham. Abraham himself traveled in Egypt, where legends of the Sabbath yet exist. On a scroll, found in Egypt, written on papyrus in hieroglyphics 4600 years ago, are these words:—
“THE GOVERNMENT IS MINE, WHO AM THE PRINCE, THE LORD OF THE FESTIVE ASSEMBLIES OF THE MOST HOLY WHO HAVE ORDERED THE SOLAR YEARS, WHO HAVE COMMANDED THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK, AND THE CELEBRATION OF THE NEW MOON AT OR THE CITY OF THE SUN.”
One of the first laws of Constantine the Great, concerning religion, commands rest on the day sanctified to the sun. Although this is not the seventh; yet it is a seventh day, and we readily see by the law that it was no new thing.
“Just as it seemed most improper that the day of the sun, noted by its worship, should be occupied by contending disputes and injurious quarrels of parties, so (it seemed) agreeable and delightful that the sacrifices which are greatest, be paid upon that day; and, therefore, upon the festival day all have liberty of emancipating and manumitting, and besides these things, business is not prohibited.”
Nearly all the ancient nations, Persians and Assyrians, Hindoos and Chinese, as well as Egyptians, had their week of seven days. Our names of the days are derived from the old Saxon, Druid, and Scandinavian nations, and are the names of their gods; as, Sun’s day, Moon’s day, Tuisco’s day, Odin’s day, Thor’s day, Freá’s or Freaga’s day, Saturn’s day. Sunday, dies solis, was dedicated to the sun among the Romans, long before it was adopted by the Christians. Homer, the Grecian poet, speaks of the Sabbath thus: “Afterward came the seventh, the sacred day.” Hesiod speaks also of the seventh, as “the sacred day.” It was no new thing when placed in the decalogue, but something remembered: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” This day had been observed from the beginning.

Sabbath under the Law.

When God instituted a national church, the Sabbath, as in Eden, held a prominent place. It was set in the midst of the moral code, as a gem amid jewels. It stands in the advance surrounded by laws which pale the light of advancing ages, and defy the criticism of the skeptic; laws which stand to-day as the constitution of the civilized world. The fourth commandment in these immortal laws, reads: “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,” etc. The greatest possible sacredness is attached to the day. The promises, many of them, rest upon it, as though it included all good. “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight—not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.” If we “profane the Sabbath day,” God will bring all this evil upon us.
The Sabbath stands prominent in the gospel. No other day is so frequently named. Jesus himself, who first preached the gospel, introduced it on the Sabbath day. After his baptism and temptation, he returned to Galilee, and went into the synagogue, as his custom was, and read: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel.” Luke 4: 1–18. Soon after this, we read in Mark 6: 2: “But when the Sabbath was come, he began to teach in the synagogue.” When he was accused of violating the Sabbath, he did not say that its obligation had ceased, but proclaimed its sanctity, saying that he himself was “Lord of the Sabbath day,” and that “the Sabbath was made for man.” Mark 2: 27, 28. He also proved that he had done no more to violate the day than the most scrupulous Sabbath-keeper would do. Had he healed a woman? They would pull a beast out of a ditch on the Sabbath day. Had his disciples plucked the standing grain? David, and those with him, ate the show-bread. Not one word did he say to lessen the sanctity, or to destroy the obligations, of the Sabbath. When speaking of the distant future, he anticipated its existence, when he said, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, “Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” Indeed, the prophet Isaiah speaks of it as still to be existing when the new heavens and the new earth shall appear. Isa. 66: 22, 23.

Custom of Jesus and his Apostles.

Luke says, 4: 16, 18, that Jesus, “as his custom was, went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read.” This custom was followed by his disciples. We read, Acts 17: 2: “Paul, as his manner was, preached on the Sabbath day.” When the great Creator had finished the work of the first great week, he rested on the Sabbath; and so Jesus, when his great work was accomplished, rested in the tomb on the seventh day. The disciples continued the example to the end.
After his death, the women prepared spices to anoint the body, but rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Coming to the sepulcher, they resume their work on the first day of the week. Thus the true disciple is ever seeking the sepulcher; ever resuming his work; and ever announcing a living Saviour on the first day of the week.
The Manner of the Apostles at Antioch.—“Paul preached on the Sabbath day; and the Gentiles besought him to preach the next Sabbath day, and on the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.” The Gentiles did not ask him to preach the next day, nor did he make an appointment; but for the next Sabbath day. Acts 13: 14, 42, 44.
The Manner of the Apostles at Philippi.—On the Sabbath day they went out to the river side, where prayer was wont to be made, and preached—and Lydia was converted. Acts 16: 13.
The Manner of Paul at Thessalonica.—Paul, as his manner was, preached on the Sabbath day, continuing there and preaching three Sabbath days. Acts 17: 2.
The Manner of Paul at Corinth.—Paul reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath day for “one year and six months,” or more than seventy Sabbath days. Acts 18: 4, 11.
The Custom and Manner of the Apostles.—Such was the manner of Jesus, and such the custom of his apostles. The assumption that Jesus abrogated, changed, or did away, the day, is gratuitous, and without any warrant in the word of God, and well-instructed ministers know better.

IV. OBJECTIONS TO THE SABBATH.

The objections to the Sabbath are, firstly, that the law is done away; yet no believer in the Bible believes that the law is done away; secondly, that “every day is alike;” but no Christian believes that, literally, every day is alike. That is, the objections brought against the Sabbath by believers are none of them believed by believers. No minister will say to his congregation, use every day alike. There is no difference in the sight of God. Work on the first day, or rest on the seventh day, or work all days. No minister will say it. The weakness of such objections strengthens the argument for the Sabbath. Do you ask, Did not Christ come to do away the law? He says that he did not! The law is against sin. By the law is the knowledge of sin.
Did Christ do away with the law against idolatry, profanity, murder, adultery, theft, falsehood, covetousness, and commanding the worship of God, the Sabbath, and our duty to our parents? Did he? Yet these are the laws of the decalogue where the Sabbath is placed. If Christ did away with these laws to establish the gospel, it was a fruitless work; for where there is no law there is no transgression; and, therefore, no gospel is needed. But would Christ do away, or would any good man want him to do away for one moment, the law against murder, or any of these laws, so that there could be one moment when a man might deny God, steal, or kill, without sin? Then the Sabbath is of a law far older than the decalogue, as we have shown, and therefore could not be done away because it were done away. But these laws could not be done away at all. They are not Jewish, but general, and far more essential to our happiness than to God’s glory. They are not the arbitrary enactments of oppression; but a father’s careful provision for his children, not only essential to our happiness, but to our existence, and could only be done away by a great wrong. Please to read the decalogue, and tell us which of the commandments you would do away.

What did Christ do away?

Christ did away with those laws which were peculiar to the Hebrew State Church. The ceremonial law; the law concerning the priesthood, and sacrifices, and meats, and drinks; and Christ delivers those who trust in him from all the penalties of the law which were against us. But the Sabbath was not against us, but for us.
“Day of all the days the best, Emblem of eternal rest.”
Can we know the day? Yes; if we can know any day. If we can tell which is the first day, we can tell which is the seventh. If we know when Saturday comes, we can tell when Sunday comes. God ordained the Sabbath in Eden for our race. It was re-ordained on Sinai, in the darkness, the thunders, and the clouds; and it cannot be done away by less authority than that which gave it. The blessings of the Sabbath are innumerable. Like an ever-repeated voice from Heaven, it weekly calls hundreds of millions of weary toilers to rest. Toil, but for this merciful provision, would have no rest. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
It gives one day out of seven for rest, for refreshment, for purification, for social enjoyment, for cultivation, for education in religion, for moral reform, for worship. Blessed be God’s holy name. It provides a standing opportunity for the preaching of the gospel, the reading of God’s holy word, the instruction of children, and the ministration of good works. It is a standing monument of the goodness of God and the truth of revelation.
Christians should be punctual in the observance of the Sabbath. They should avoid all unnecessary toil. Such provision for the table should be made the day previous as will require the least labor on the Sabbath. They should not visit, to make the day a holiday, and cause others to labor. They should not permit others to keep them from the house of God. John Quincy Adams always went to church on the Sabbath, politely inviting his company, but never remaining away on their account. I make it a practice to close my house at church time; all visitors being expected to go to church, or to go away, unless they are unwell. Christians should avoid worldly conversation, gossip, and foolish jesting, especially on the Sabbath day. On this day, parents should rest, pray, read the Scriptures, instruct the family, or do such other things as are for the glory of God or the good of men. No gentleman, or lady, much less Christians of intelligence or propriety, will thrust themselves upon a family so as to cause them to entertain company, cook, or otherwise prevent the rest and quiet of the few hours which the Sabbath would otherwise secure to them. Ministers who go abroad to preach should be very careful of their deportment on the Sabbath. They should not only be careful to do no harm, but they should be careful to do good. In families they should be sober and devotional, and, if opportunity offers, instruct the children, and try to win them to Christ.—S. SUMMERBELL, D. D., in Christian Pulpit.

The Law of Kindness; or, The Old Woman's Railway Signal.

By Elihu Burritt

The most effective working force in the world in which we live is the law of kindness. For it is the only moral force that operates with the same effect upon mankind, beastkind, and bird-kind. From time immemorial, music has wonderfully affected all beings, reasoning or unreasoning, that have ears to hear. The prettiest idea and simile of ancient literature relate to Orpheus playing his lyre to animals listening in intoxicated silence to its strains. Well, kindness is the spontaneous music of good-will to men and beasts. And both listen to it with their hearts instead of their ears; and the hearts of both are affected by it in the same way, if not to the same degree. Volumes might be written filled with beautiful illustrations of its effects upon both. The music of kindness has not only the power to charm, but to transform both the savage heart of man and beast; and on this harp the smallest fingers in the world may play Heaven's sweetest tunes on earth.
Some time ago we read of an incident that will serve as an illustration of this beautiful law. It was substantially to this effect: A poor, coarse-featured old woman lived on the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, where it passes through a wild, unpeopled district of Western Virginia. She was a widow, with only one daughter, living with her in a log hut, near a deep, precipitous gorge, crossed by the railway bridge. Here they contrived to support themselves by raising and selling poultry and eggs, adding berries in their season, and other little articles for the market. She had to make a long, weary walk of many miles to a town where she could sell her basket of produce. The railway passed by her cabin to this town; but the ride would cost too much of the profits of her small sales, so she trudged on generally to the market on foot. The conductor came finally to notice her walking by the side of the line or between the rails; and, being a good-natured, benevolent man, he would often give her a ride to and fro without charge. The engine-men and brakemen were also good to the old woman, and felt they were not wronging the interests of the railway company by giving her these free rides. And soon an accident occurred that proved that they were quite right in this view of the matter.
In the wild month of March, the rain descended and the mountains sent down their rolling, roaring torrents of melted snow and ice into this gorge near the old woman's hut. The flood arose with the darkness of the night, until she heard the crash of the railway bridge, as it was swept from its buttments, and dashed its broken timbers against the craggy sides of the precipice on either side. It was nearly midnight. The rain fell in a flood, and the darkness was deep and howling with the storm. In another half-hour the express train would be due. What could she do to warn it against the awful destruction it was approaching? She had hardly a whole tallow-candle in her house; and no light she could make of tallow or oil, if she had it, would live a moment in that tempest of wind and rain. Not a moment was to be lost; and her thought was equal to the moment. She cut the cord of her only bedstead, and shouldered the dry posts, side-pieces, and head-piece. Her daughter followed her with their two wooden chairs. Up the steep embankment they climbed, and piled all their household furniture upon the line a few rods before the black, awful chasm, gurgling with the roaring flood. The distant rumbling of the train came upon them just as they had fired the well-dried combustibles. The pile blazed up into the night, throwing its red, swaling, booming light a long way up the track. In fifteen minutes it would begin to wane, and she could not revive it with green, wet wood. The thunder of the train grew louder. It was within five miles of the fire. Would they see it in time? They might not put on the brakes soon enough. Awful thought! She tore her red flannel gown from her in a moment, and, tying it to the end of a stick, ran up the track, waving it in both hands, while her daughter swung round her head a blazing chair-post a little before. The lives of a hundred unconscious passengers hung on the issue of the next minute. The ground trembled at the old woman's feet. The great, red eye of the engine burst upon her as it came round a curve. Like as a huge, sharp-sighted lion coming suddenly upon a fire, it sent forth a thrilling roar, that filled all the wild heights and ravines around. The train was at full speed; but the brakemen wrestled at their leverage with all the strength of desperation. The wheels ground along on the heated rails slower and slower, until the engine stopped at the decaying fire. It still blazed enough to show them the beetling edge of the black abyss into which the train and all its passengers would have plunged, and into a death and destruction too horrible to think of, had it not been for the old woman's signal. They did not stop to thank her first for the deliverance. The conductor knelt down by the side of the engine; the engine-driver and the brakemen came and knelt down by him; all the passengers came and knelt down by them; and there, in the expiring light of the burnt-out pile, in the rain and the wind, they thanked God for the salvation of their lives. All in a line the kneelers and prayers sent up into the dark heavens such a midnight voice of thanksgiving as seldom, if ever, ascended from the earth to Him who seeth in darkness as well as in the secret.
Kindness is the music of good-will to men; and on this harp the smallest fingers may play Heaven's sweetest tunes on earth.—ELIHU BURRITT, in Manufacturer and Builder.
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