The Man with the Book; or, The Bible Among the People.Weylland, John Matthias
History
The Man with the Book; or, The Bible Among the People.
Weylland, John Matthias
City missions; London City Mission
To labour or employ labour on the Lord's day, unless for purposes of
necessity or mercy, is sinful; as the command is, "Remember the Sabbath
day to keep it holy," and "Thou shalt reverence my Sabbaths." It is a
breach of the moral law for mere pleasure to use any kind of vehicle on
"the day which the Lord has made," and given for rest and worship. Poor
James, like thousands of his class, was injured also by the criminal
carelessness of professed Christians. These Sunday riders do spiritual
and eternal damage to public servants, as well as temporal wrong, for--
"Evil is wrought by want of thought,
As well as want of heart."
That _Crape on the Whip_ told the oft-repeated fact that the body of the
Sunday worker rests earlier in the grave through loss of the Sabbath
rest. The Maker of our frame has declared cessation from labour during
a seventh portion of our time to be necessary to its health and vigour.
The son of toil by hand or brain, who by loss of, or misuse of, the rest
day so graciously given, impairs or fails to restore his strength, thus
does injury to himself and others.
That _Crape on the Whip_ assumed the force of a call to the Church,
urging to self-denial and to active effort. Shall public servants slave
on for our convenience, with no man to care for their souls? Let
Christian men who are brought into friendly contact with them answer
"No," by telling them of a Saviour's mercy. Let workers in the Lord's
vineyard seek opportunity to instruct them, while making effort to
lessen their hours of toil. Numerous as they are, they are only part of
a class, including cabmen, railway servants, and others who suffer the
moral degradation of Sabbath slavery. Their helpers, for instance the
men who take charge of the horses, are the hardest-worked men in
England. From early morning until late at night, all the year round they
toil on. One of them remarked, "Cursed already, unceasing labour, and
life used up early." A City Missionary, in a yard he visits, has
arranged for eleven of these to join him on the Sabbath in an old
omnibus which stands in a corner of the yard. It was once licensed to
carry twelve inside. He there conducts a little service with them. Then
again there are servants of the Redeemer who make constant effort to
bring the life-giving power of Christ's religion to bear upon these
Sabbath outcasts. Let us be partakers in their struggles and joys until
the victory is gained; until freedom for those who cry because of the
oppressor is secured; until no conscience is troubled by _Crape on the
Whip_ indicating that souls which were sabbathless and uncared for had,
_without_ preparation, entered the presence of God.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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