Isaiah refers to the Sabbath as a pledge of divine favor. "If thou call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord and shalt honor it, not doing thine own ways; I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father."
Ezekiel, a prophet of the captivity, older than Daniel and faithful even unto death, refers four times to the pollution of the Sabbath as one of the principal causes of the captivity. "The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them. But the house of Israel walked not in my statutes, and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would greatly pour out my fury upon them to consume them and scatter them among the heathen."
Abraham Lincoln very truly observed, "As we keep or break the Sabbath day, we nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope by which man rises."
Washington and Lincoln, apart from what they did, were great men. The divine element of a God given character belonged to each. Goodness is the basis of greatness, and greatness is character; the ability and willingness to serve.
All unite in repeating the fourth commandment.
THE DESIGN. It can be ornamented with a gilt cross and decorated with evergreen festoons pendant over the ends. Bouquets of the same color can be laid at the corresponding angles.
THE CROSS. "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."—Paul.
The children bringing bouquets can be supplied with short exercises like the following.
I bring these flowers: Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
These beautiful flowers I bring,
A grateful offering to my king.