But it will be said, if Christ did not institute them, He has not strictly forbidden them, and therefore it is right we should hold such meetings. But stop, has not Christ told us how to pray, and in what place? If He has said, When thou prayest enter into thy closet and shut to the door, and pray to thy Father in heaven, are we to say, Yes, Lord, we will do this, and then we will go and pray as and where we please? I have heard ministers say to their churches, that they should come to the prayer meeting right from the closet. Now, they had Scripture, and a direct command for the one, but no authority for the other. It is a simple question; there need be no controversy on the subject. Does Christ teach his disciples to pray publicly or privately?

As to stated family prayer, by one or more members, we have no command from the Lord, and consequently have nothing to say. If we follow the precepts and examples of the New Testament strictly, in the spirit and letter, we shall find no defects in the teachings or practical results.

With these brief remarks on this doctrine and duty, we submit the subject to the candid reader for his further investigation, hóping that he will not be deceived and mistake this duty, or neglect to pray and hold communion with his God.

THE SABBATH.

The Sabbath is a holy and religious institution, that belongs to the Christian system, and must not be overlooked in our presentation and defense of the teachings of God's word. It matters not how plain a doctrine or truth may be expressed and repeated in the Bible, man has sought out many inventions, and is not content till he has stamped

his own depraved impress upon it, and given it a bent and meaning to suit his own traditions and evil genius.

There is no law that was ever issued from the divine Lawgiver, and written on the tables of inspiration, plainer to be understood, and more clearly defined, than that of the Sabbath. And yet there is none about which there has been more controversy in the Christian church, and more want of union and conformity in its observance, than this simple injunction.

The whole institution rests upon the same principle that God observed and acted upon in his work of creation, when he made the world and all things therein. How did God arrive at the number seven, and the seventh day? By counting each working day. He worked six days, and then he stopped and kept the seventh, and hallowed it, as an holy day of rest. What was the principle and law then? Plainly this work six days, and then stop and rest, and keep the seventh day as a Sabbath, doing no work therein. Gen. 2: 2. And on the seventh day God ended, his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his works which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his works which God created and made.

Because it says, On the seventh day God ended his work, we are not to conclude that He worked on any part of the seventh day; for in the first verse we are told, at the close of the six days' work, The heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. Again, He rested, blessed, and sanctified the seventh day-all of it, not a part, and did no work therein. His work ended where the seventh began, and the seventh began where the sixth day ended.

God would now, after the fall, as man was obliged to labor to earn his bread, have him observe the same rule, viz. work six days and then rest on the Sabbath. would have man observe this rule for his own good.

God

He

would need one day of rest, after six days of hard toil. Hence, says Christ, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. This, then, is the law, let me repeat: work six days, the next will be the seventh, and on this day suspend your work, and rest from your accustomed labor; it was made for you, and set apart, and is blessed to your use. This is the principle and law upon which the Sabbath is founded. You get at your seventh day by the same rule that God obtained his, viz.: by working six days. The next day is the seventh, counting from the first of your working days. It makes no difference when or where you begin to work. The seventh day is only to be observed as a day of rest from your accustomed labor the six days previous. God has not established the Sabbath day upon any other principle of law, neither can it be done. Hence the law reads, 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, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it. It is beyond dispute, then, that the Lord ended his work with six days, and did no work on the seventh. We see also that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.

Man's physical nature requires one day of rest, after six of labor; and the experience of mankind has fully tested the wisdom and importance of this law. The six days labor establishes the law and necessity of the seventh day as a Sabbath, or day of rest. Man would never had a Sabbath, or needed one, if it were not for his subjection to labor. The day, in and of itself, is no better than other days. There is nothing in the rising and setting of the

sun on this day, or in the weather, the heat and cold, the storm and sunshine, and the general phenomena of nature, to indicate or to distinguish it from other days. Man is only, after the example of God, to count off his six days. of labor, and then keep the next, which is the seventh, as a day of rest. The seventh day is connected with the six days of labor-of man's labor, not of God's.

Some have troubled themselves much about the seventh day, to know which day it was, reckoning from the creation, and the day on which God rested. Now, we have nothing to do with this. This is not the law. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work-that is, all that you can, and are permitted to do, previous to the seventh, and you may know which the seventh is, if you have counted your six days of labor. Unless man works six days, he has not a seventh day of rest, and no rule of getting at a Sabbath. You cannot have a seventh-day Sabbath without six days of labor previously; and hence, where the law of the seventh day, or Sabbath, is given, there you will find your six days' labor connected with it.

Six days may work be done : but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest-it is holy unto you, and unto the Lord, because He has sanctified it, or set it apart for man's use and particular benefit. Whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among the people. Exod. 31: 15. Also 35: 2. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. How plain the law. We are to have no concern about anything, only to observe and work six days and keep the next, which is the seventh, as a day of rest, and in obedience to the Divine command. Lev. 23: 3. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation, ye shall do no work therein it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.

A convocation is an assembly of a church, or councila meeting for religious worship-so that we are not only to cease our labor on the seventh day, but to keep it in holy convocation, or religious assembly and worship. See also Deut. 5: 13. I have quoted from the statutes suffi cient to make the law familiar and plainly understood, and there need be no misunderstanding. It is plainly our duty, and in accordance with God's established law, that we shall keep every seventh day as a Sabbath of rest from all ser vile work, and convene expressly for His worship.

It is not whether we keep Saturday or Sunday, or any other day as our Sabbath, but do we keep the day following our six days of labor, as the Sabbath-that is the law. What if we call this the first day of our week in our calendar, is it not the seventh, counting from our first day of labor? If so it is enough; we answer precisely the law. Those who keep Saturday as their Sabbath, must com mence their working day on our Sunday. Their Sabbath, however, is no more correct or acceptable to God than those who commence their working days on our Monday. Both keep the law, because both keep the seventh day counting from the first day's labor.

I have said that it was impossible to found the law upon any other principle than this. If there was a certain twenty-four hours, which we call a day, that was to be observed without any reference to our six days' labor, and that God had named the seventh day, we must have some knowledge of the geographical point where this time begins and is to be reckoned from, as it would differ from all other parts of the world. If God should begin with the line at Palestine, it would differ more than seven hours with the time at New York, and more than twelve hours at the Sandwich Islands, &c., so that it would be impos sible for all nations to have the same working days, and same twenty-four hours as a Sabbath, all at the same time.