The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-11-10

o'0ly Ou1uS S<I1liy udS, III ltSell, Cue
seeds of decay Governments, like those
of Greece and Rome, may exist for ages,
and dazzle mankind with science, litera-
ture, and prowess in arms, but bye. and
bye every terrestrial summit must be
reached, and nothing remains but to de-
scend. For the religions and govern
ments not appointed of God, take on in
birth, the element of destruction. There
is no remedy for these evils, " in all our
labor which we have done under the sun
except in a heavenly salt-in divine
light which earth does not supply
Christianity, and Christianity alone, in
its superhuman spirit and authoritative
ordinances, furnishes the principle of pre-
servation, while it unfolds to mans intel
lectual and spiritual vision a horizon
broader than the ages. And wherever
the genius of the gospel pervades ma
ton, there is, and will be, no stand still,
but the same voice must be heard from
century to century, saying, "Speak to
my people that they go forward. -.
But it is in this view that Christianity,
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT as it is, cannot afford
to dispense with its memorial day-the
Sabbath. AT this point, infdelity and
sensual craving, calculate shrewdly. For
If the people, In their blindness, can be
persuaded to surrender the sacred day of
rest, then the purposes of unbelief and
worldly folly are, in large part, accom-
plished. For if the Sabbath disappears,
the pulpit will quickly follow, and with
the voices of Gods ambassadors silenced,
the cross and redemption can speedily be
forgotten. Only close the sanctuary, let
the faithful cease to go to the house of
God in company, allow children to grow
to manhood untaught in the Sabbath
School, give over persons of every age
and class to imagination and license, and
how soon shall the harvest of ruin be
ripe2
Let it be added that man is a complex
being. He possesses soul as we'll as BODY.
The spirit within can be fearfully biased
IN the direction of the carnal, selfish, dew
lllsh. Habit is not only master but an
absolute tyrant. And if the creature,
without lntermission, trades or revels,
with no seventh day to break the chase
or the spell, then the disposition rapidly
grows covetous, grasping, licentious, and
cold. Developed wholly in one direction,
WIN NJ SOAOCulllS luAuGLCSS 10 counter
act, the heart hardens into stone.
Nor can it be pleaded that the aboli-
ton of the Sabbath would add to a peo-
pies wealth. The supply of most articles
at present is In excess of the demand, and
under these circumstances, to add an
other to the working days of the week,
would be to deprive the poor of their
rest, to lessen opportunities for comfort,
cleanliness, and health-to dismiss un-
counted laborers by reason of the fact
that the necessity for Sunday clothes"
had ceased, and, in the end, the result
(of multitudes out of employ and eager
to be hired) could not fail to be that the
wages of the working man of every grade
would be reduced to the minimum. Let
the laborer, the man who tolls for daily
bread, above all others, cling to the Sab
bath iI'
Twenty-Five years ago, two persons
with families, focks, herds, etc., crossed
the plains One observed the Sabbath,
the other disregarded it. To the violater
of Gods commandment there came sick
ness and detention and losses. His ven
ture, in every aspect, was failure, while
the journey and speculations of the man
who remembered the Sabbath day to
keep it holy, were crowned with success.
The Sabbath IS mine" saith the Lord
Almighty.
If necessity ever existed for a Sabbath,
that necessity has never ceased, or even
been diminished And under what dis
pensation or in what circumstances did
the creature, more than at the present,
need "a seventh day?" When has the
human body called more loudly for a
season of rest than in these times of rush
and business, taxing strength to the ut
most? And at what period did the i'm
mortal part ever demand an hour for
worship more than in this day when the
great heart of the world seems to be alb
sorbed in vast schemes of gain and lust.
Yea, when unbelief, with untold subtle
ties and falsehoods, is busy at the very
sources of mans spiritual life Well may
we heed the voice from Eden, combining
with that of Sinai and the cross, saying,
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it
holy
To observe the Sabbath rightly is, in
the first place, to cease from the ordinary
concerns of the week. With some, for in
stance, it is a custom to make the Sab
bath a day Of feasting But how I'M
/ II r