Closing on the Sabbath
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which we are enjoined to observe the Sabbath day, for, as is distinctly
stated in the thirty-first chapter of Exodus, the observance of the Sab-
bath is a sign between God and His people. “Verily My Sabbaths
ye shall keep,” He declares; “for it is a sign between Me and you
throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that
doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy
unto you.... It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever:
for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh
day He rested, and was refreshed.”
We are to heed a “thus saith the Lord,” even though by our obedi-
ence we cause great inconvenience to those who have no respect for
the Sabbath. On one hand we have man’s supposed necessities; on the
other, God’s commands. Which have the greatest weight with us?
In our sanitariums, the family of patients, with the physicians,
nurses, and helpers, must be fed upon the Sabbath, as any other family,
with as little labor as possible. But our restaurants should not be
opened on the Sabbath. Let the workers be assured that they will have
this day for the worship of God. The closed doors on the Sabbath
stamp the restaurant as a memorial for God, a memorial which declares
that the seventh day is the Sabbath and that on it no unnecessary work
is to be done.
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I have been instructed that one of the principal reasons why hy-
gienic restaurants and treatment rooms should be established in the
centers of large cities is that by this means the attention of leading
men will be called to the third angel’s message. Noticing that these
restaurants are conducted in a way altogether different from the way
in which ordinary restaurants are conducted, men of intelligence will
begin to inquire into the reasons for the difference in business methods
and will investigate the principles that lead us to serve superior food.
Thus they will be led to a knowledge of the message for this time.
When thinking men find that our restaurants are closed on the
Sabbath, they will make inquiries in regard to the principles that lead
us to close our doors on Saturday. In answering their questions we
shall have opportunity to acquaint them with the reasons for our faith.
We can give them copies of our periodicals and tracts, so that they may
be able to understand the difference between “him that serveth God
and him that serveth Him not.”