The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1879-02-26
For TIE CENTRAL PREsBYTERIAN.
sABBATICAL DECADE.

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which finds expression in the words of Dr.
Chalmers as recorded by hiS biographer and
son.in lsw, Dr.. Hanna: at is favorite
speculation of mine, says DR.. Chalmers, that
if spared to sixty, We then enter on the sew
enth decade of human life; and that this if
possible should be turned into the Sabbath
of our earthly pilgrimage, and spent sabbath.
cally as if on the shore of an eternal world,
or in the outer courts as it we're of the tenn
pie that is above-the tabernacle in heaven"
How pleasant the thought conveyed in
these words, and how ready the response
from the bosom of every Christian to the
wish they indicate II would be sweet in.
deed to look forward to the last years Of life
spent in holy rest, in sacred quiet from
which sll turmoil and anxiety and exhausting
labor should be excluded, and the heart
abide in communion with God and an un-
doubling anticipation of an eternal rest--a
time in which the soul shall be in perfect
calm under the eye of heaven and placidly
reflect the glories it contem plates
But however seemingly appropriate such
close to the life of good man, it is an end
not to be expected even by the best of our
race. Upon every field of earth and upon
every leaf of the book of Time may be read
the inscription, "this is not your rest" The
rest ordained for US lies beyond the spiritual
Jordan, the river of Death.
Accordingly if such sabbatical decade as
this was the rest for which the soul of the
excellent Chalmers painted, his hopes were
doomed to signal disappointment. No pOr-
ton of his active and noble life was so mark
ed by toll, by COL fict, by labors which none
but the man of giant strength could undergo,
and by sufferiDgs which none but the man Of
keeness sensibiIity could adequately appre
ciate, as the seven years CT the sabbatcal
decade, with the last Of which his life was to
terminate. These years were to witness the
tearing asunder of the Church which he
loved with tenderness and reverence of
son to his mother they were to witness
estrsp cement from friends long and dearly
loved; and last, but perhaps not least, they
were to behold the launching of the ecclesi
astical bark, to which he had committed him,
self and his fortunes, on that sea of Volunta
ryism, which he had 80 often denounced as
treacherOus and uncertain.
But whilst We have no right to expect any
future period Of life to be free from labor or
from sorrow, surely it is not too much to say
that the seventh decade ought to be per-
vaded by the spirit of the Sabbath, When
it is reached, our ideas of the nature of the
heavenly rest ought to have grown distinct
and satisfactory. Our thoughts should 60
out more frequently towards our heavenly
home, we should talk more of heaven and it's
sacred joys, We should anticipate Oftener and
with greater affection the communion of
saints with their Lord and with each other.
If entered on the seventh decade, We are fast
nearing home and We ought to become COM
parstively Indifferent to temporal evil or
good in the blessed hope of presently min
Cling in the scenes aud in the society of
heaven. Appropriately addressed, as they
may be, to all Christians, to the sexegena-
risn the words of the apostle come with Pc
culiar emphasis: "The time is short. 1t
remaineth, that both they that have wives,
be as though they had none; and they that
weep as though they wept not; and they
that rejoice as though they rejoiced not; and
they that buy as though they possessed not;
and they that use this world as not abusing
it. For the fashion of this world passeth
away"
Nor should We forget that in this decade,
as in those that have gone before, there is
need of ceaseless watChfulness, lest We fall
into sin and SO lose the hoped for crown.
It might seem indeed that when, after a
consistent religious profession of many years,
man has attained the age of sixty, he might
feel secure from The commission at least of
beinous trsngressons. But it is not so.-
Scripture records the grievous fall of more
than one distinguished saint who seemed to
have passed almost beyond the reach of peril.
In our own day terrible examples of like
kind have brought shame and horror and dis
may to Gods faithful people. So frequent
have been such cases as to awaken the gus
piciop, that old age is peculiarly liable to
catastrophes of this sort. However this may
be-, certain it is that it brings no exemption
from danger. How dreadful the mere pos
sibilty Of the occurrence of such an event,
almost at the close Of long life, hitherto
bonored and useful
Sometimes We are startled by the tidingS
of the destruction of noble ship almost in
sight of her desired haven. The voyage
perhaps had been long and prosperous. She
has traversed msny seas, and passed without
serious injury through many perl8; her pas
sengera have separated and gone to rest with
parting words Of mutual graduation at the
assurance of seeing home with the first dawn
of day. But suddenly in the midst of the
night flames break out-aames kindled by a
careless spark, sud ship and cargo and pas
sengers perish together. This is horrible
enough, but not SO unspeakably dreadful as
the ruin temporal, and perhaps eternal, of
one, who long the object of confidence and