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so full of mules. ‘The mules are worked in the mines through the week,’ replied the boy, ‘and they are brought up into the light on Sunday to keep them from going blind.’ Sunday answers the same purpose with men. A blind, dead, tired body and a blind, dead, starved soul are the results of Sundays ill spent.” “Hon. W. J. Bryan was one of our pub lic men who, in his world-wide travels, had made himself known as a Sabbath keeping and temperance man. He recent ly declined a dinner to be given in his honor on the Sabbath day, saying: ‘I am sorry, but it’s Sunday, and I go to church. Won’t you go with me?’ Such a man does much to raise the Christian standard wherever he goes. Happy would it be for our nation if all our public men were actuated by such principles.” July 15. The Honest Man. Ps, 24:1-6. July 16. Law-Keepers. 1 Pet. 4:15. July 17. Jesus’ Submission. Matt. 17:24- 27. July 18. “Give unto Caesar.” Matt. 22:15- 22 . July 19. The Upright Man. Ps. 37:37. July 20. Noble Citizenship. Ps. 82:1-8. —o— C hoice N uggets A Christian’s Creed and Political Plat form: ' 1. I believe in the divine personality of God, Christ and the Holy Spirit, as taught in the Bible. 2. As a Christian! my supreme alle giance is due to God through Jesus Christ His Son, as the' Holy Spirit teaches in the inspired Holy Scriptures. 3; As a Christian, I am not to give al legiance'- to anyone usurping the place and authority of Christ. In all things Christ is ;to have the preeminence. Col. 1:18. . £ r-:.; _ j _ l _ p 4. As a Christian, it is my duty to be a good, patriotic citizen of my country, obeying all its' laws unless they contravene the laws of God. 5: As a Christian; it is my duty to practice temperance,, or self-control, in all things, abstaining from jeverythingsinjur ious, and exercising moderation in things proper and wholesome. . 6.. As a: Christian citizen, it is my duty to' vote- at elections unless providentially hindered, and to register my will at the ballot box in favor of whaf is true; right and'beneficial to the nation, and against what is.false, wrong and injurious to the nation’s welfare and prosperity. 7. As a Christian citizen, it is my duty to cast my ballot against any foe of. lib- erty,. progress and true civilization, and against the nullification- of the Constitu tion or laws of the United States. 8. As a. Christian citizen, I must, give account in the day of judgment for my exercise, or neglect to exercise, my right of suffrage at elections. Christians are to live and act righteously and religious ly, doing whatever they do from the soul, as unto the Lord, and not unto. man. Col. 3:23. Remember when you. grow up, yoU will be the same kind of man' as you are a boy. July 21, 1929 Everyday C itizenship Rom. 13:3, 7-10; Ps. 15:1-5 D aily R eadings •
With süch changes it is utterly impossible to ascertain with any degree of certainty God’s original calendar. When we come into the New Testa ment, the first reference to the Sabbath made by Jesus Christ is that He is Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8). It is most significant to note that when our Lord came with the Gospel for all nations he reaffirmed the moral principles of all of the commandments with the exception of the fourth. Although we are plainly taught that we are no longer in bondage to the Mosaic Sabbaths (Col. 2:14-17; Gal. 4:9-11), the great Sabbath principle is preserved to the Christian as a blessed privilege in com memoration of our Lord’s glorious resur rection on the first day of the week. While the observance of the first day is not compulsory, it is a privilege for the Church to enjoy. It is not only necessary to the spiritual growth of believers but the physical good of man also. The wisdom of carrying on secular work but six days in the week has been scientifically demonstrated. In each gen eration there are some ambitious men who seek to disprove this ancient truth and who think that if they can crowd an extra day’s work into each week they will make that much more progress than their fellows. Statistics unquestionably show that they are wrong. Dr. E. G. Martin of the Harvard Medical School selected a group of students and by test ing their reaction time by means of elec tric currents, he gathered some inter esting facts. The tests ‘were continued through a period of eight weeks, and they showed that the sensitiveness of the men was in every instance more acute on Mon day and that it sank steadily from day to day, reaching its lowest point on Sat urday. The results proved that the repose of a single night following a day of toil does not afford complete restoration of the impaired nervous tissues, and that the longer period furnished by the Sunday recess gives, under ordinary conditions, the longer time needed for the expulsion of the accumulated fatigue products and the recovery of efficiency. For further material on the study of this subject see the International Sunday School Lesson comments for March 17, in the February issue of this magazine, page 91. “The Bank of England has a list of twenty; questions which are presented for answer to every man, young or old, who applies for a situation in the bank. And the first question is, ‘How do you spend your Sundays?’ If the person is able to answer truthfully that he attends church regularly, no o t h e r question is asked. Those who go to the house of God regu larly to worship have impressed upon them truth, and an influence which is the greatest power to fit a man to resist temptation. Character is what is to be de pended on in responsible positions. Char acter is what counts, and there are influ ences for its upbuilding and safeguarding in the Church that are greater than any other influences—by as much as God is greater than man.” A world without a Sabbath; would be like a man without a smile, like a summer without flowers, and like a homestead without a garden. It is the joyous day of the whole week.— Beecher. “A man passing some mines in Pennsyl vania asked a little boy why the field was
July 14, 1929 T he C h ristian Sunday—W h a t I t Is For And Why Luke 4:16-22 D aily R eadings July 8. The First Sunday. John 20:19-23. July 9. Sunday for Worship. Heb. 10 : 24, 25. July 10. For Exhortation. Acts 20:7. July 11. For Soul Culture. Ps. 1 :l-6. July 12. Lest We Forget. Isa. 58:5-10. July 13. For Rest. Exod. 20:8-11. —o— T ho u g hts on t h e T opic On the topic assigned for our study to day it will be well for us to consider carefully the difference between, the Sab bath of the Old Testament and the Chris tian Sabbath, or Lord’s Day, of the New Testament. The Old Testament Sabbath is alto gether a Jewish institution given by God to His chosen people Israel through His servant Moses. The particular purpose for which this law was given' was in com memoration of their deliverance from Egypt (Deut. 5:13-15; Ex. 20:1-2;; 31: 13, 16-17; Ezek. 20:12). There is no' in timation in these passages 'that Jehovah instituted the Sabbath in memory of créa tion. The statement of Exodus 20:11 re fers to the law of one day of rest follow ing six days of labor, a plan which God wisely designed for all of His people. The Sabbath coiiimand does not say, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God off- Satur day.” It does say that there shall be six days of labor followed' by a seventh day of rest (Ex. 20:9-10). It is not a certain portion of time which God has set aside for worship of Him, but the dedication of a certain proportion of man’s time, which was to be one-seventh. If God in tended the fourth commandment to be universally observed throughout the world, it would have been necessary for Him to make careful appointments as to the exact time to be observed, arranging the time schedule around the world so that all would know when His Sabbath began and ended. The weekly Sabbath of the Israelites was one of a series of Sabbaths, such as the Sabbath of weeks, of months, of years, of Sabbath years, all of which were ceremonial in character. It is inter esting to notice that it is only within the last hundred years that the day line has been fixed where it now is, and there is a movement now on foot to make a further change in our calendar by having the same number of days in each month.
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