Middletown transcript., 1899-07-22
EPWoRTH LEAGUE.
lkopic For the Week Beginning July
23, sHonoring the Lords Day"
Text, EK. Xxx, S-11j Rev. 4, 10.

81 was in the Spirit on the Lords
day."
There is no moral quality in time OF
places. Holiness is a quality Of personal
character. It arises from the recogni-
tion Of moral obligations and the dispo-
sition to faithfully observe them. The
person who turns from evil with abhor-
renee Of feeling and adheres to truth
and goodness with joyous loyalty pos
sesses holiness Of heart. II, now, be
carries out this impulse to purity in
his actions and words, he becomes holy
in life.
To know the right and to maintain
the heart life in constant obedience to
God and keep all acts of mind and body
in subsection to His law, one must have
times for quiet thinking. He must
search the Book which contains the law
and promises. Time is needed to think
over the past, recalling what has been
said and done, what has been thought
and felt, and compare all with the rules
laid down in the Bible for our guidance.
This cannot be done in the midst of
noise and confusion. Even in family
worship it cannot be fully accomplished.
Consultation with others will clear up
many points on which we have doubts,
but nothing else can replace private
meditation on Gods word and our own
condition and conduct. No life can long
be maintained on right lines which does
mot have these quiet times Of self exam
ination and divine upbuilding.
1t is wise to have special time devoted
to this retirement and worship. Such
times become holy because Of the quail
ity impaired to them by the person.
The same time may to another be mere
ly secular or unholy. 30 Of places; 1t Is
well to have particular place where
one meets God in a peculiar and special
manner. Such places are made holy by
the fact Of personal use for this purpose.
To another one the place has no mark
to distinguish 1t from any other place.
Holiness is In the heart and life Of the
man. Places and times are holy only as
he uses them to draw closer to God.
To him who has eyes and ears to see
and hear all times and all places are
filed with Gods presence and glory and
he hears God constantly and feels His
presence continually, and so all days are
Sabbath and all spots are sanctuary.
The needs Of physical existence oblige
days Of toll for food, shelter and cloth
ing. If all days had to be spent in la
Dor, it would dwarf If 1t did not de-
stroy the soul powers Body, brain and
soul need rest from the dull round Of
work. We must rest or die. One of the
most wonderful facts disclosed in the
history Of the race is that those people
who have kept one day in seven sacred
from secular toll and devoted to the
worship of God have not only become
stronger and richer and purer in moral
and religious life, but have also in
worldly possessions accumulated far
more than those who have worked all
days alike. Remember the Sabbath
day to keep it holy" should be woven
into the constitution Of every boy and
girl in this land until 1t can no more
be lost to sight and no more violated in
practice than the scarlet bands can be
left out Of the flag without destroying 1t.
How do you use the Sabbath daysf
Do you make them holy days to keep
you into broader, deeper, purer life or
as holidays to dissipate thought and
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