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4 (1053) T H E I
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SURRENDER.
'^ear L*>rd, my soul In penitence doth yield
"is stubborn will to thine eternal grace.
?1av nn? that mpnitpnon Ku norHnn coalorl
?wV f JK
Ondim these eyes that I may see thy /ace?
.Vlay not the vision of the former years
Illumine yet again the narrow way
That I may walk again as one who hears
Thy voice? Dear Lord, for this 1 pray.
The silence of my heart had turned the days
To bitterness. Thy hand was heavy then.
The blinding passdon of my earthward gaze
Fell like a curse on that I loved in vain,
And pleasures craven, embraced and held within
my arms.
Were coals of Are, then aBhes of remorse.
1 sought for life, and death, with subtle charms,
Beguiled my soul to sin?-death's hidden source.
Thy hand corrected me and snatched the wine
So deadly from my lips ere I had drained
The bitter dregs?Oh wondrous grace of Thine!
Oh love of God?would that I ne'er had stained
Thy likeness with the brew of evil thought,
Nor squandered so the grace which Thou had'st giv'n
As I forgot the blood with which 'twas bought,
By which, e'en now, I lift my .prayer to heav'n.
1 love Thee, Lord, because that love of Thine
Has followed me through all my wayward days.
And to thy love I would my all resign
And by thy love would measure all my ways.
Aly heart is thine. I seek no other goal
But that thy love should'st hll this mortal fratme.
Oh may thy Spirit free my longing soul
Of every want that praiseth not thy Name.
Whitesburg, Ky. ?S. E. Paxson.
change of the day of the
SABBATH.
J. S. T. MII.J_.IGAN, D. D- IN UNITED PRESBYTERIAN.
Without going into details, 1 notice thai
reasons for the change are: 1. it was possible.
2. The change was necessary. 3. Christ was
competent to the change. 4. The change was
predicted, in Psalm 118:22, we have that declaration
which has always been understood as
referring to Christ's consummation of redemption
work by a triumphant ascension to the
right hand of "the Majesty on high," to be
the crowned head of his Church after his resurrection
from the dead. Then in verse 24, a day
is spoken of as commemorating the work that
secured this crown of honor. The day is made
most estimable and memorable by effective doing
and terrible suffering, successfully completed,
and now to be eternally celebrated with
' " 1 ?- J? i.1 il%.i il,,.
giaaness ana joy. ino wuuaer, men, mat mo
Prophet Ezekiel 43:27, speaks of the old economy
as being closed by the introduction of a
new day for public religious services to be acceptably
rendered. In the tenth verse, the
prophet is directed to shew to "the House of
Israel" the character of the New Testament
Church and its ordinances, and its crowning
glory is in an "Eighth day" service that
would continue, and be accepted of the Master
himself, in addition to the gladness and
joy of his people spoken of in Psalm 118:24.
But it is in Psalm 95:7, as explained in Heb.,
chaps, 3 and 4, that we have the matter of the
change predicted beyond controversy. In
chap. 3: 14, believers are said to be "partakers
of Christ" and in the preceding and succeeding
verses the matter of a day of rest is spoken
of. That it is a day of rest which is alluded
xo in verse 14 is evident from verse 11, where
the exclusion of unbe-l&eving Jews from the
Canaan or Jewish Sabbath is spoken of, as is
most clear from verse 18. Then verse 15, as a
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE 8 4
headings
quotation from Psalm 95:7, is referred to as a
prediction of a ythird Sabbath rest in chap. 4. In
verse 1 this third rest is called "his rest." refer
ring to Christ of the fourteenth verse of the third
chapter as the antecedent of his. It ds therefore
Christ's Rest that we should not even
"seem to come short of" as we are warned in
verse 1. That a third iSabbath dispensation is
referred to, is made clear from verse 3, where
the Jewish iSabbath is distinguished from the
creation iSabbath by the expression of Divine
wrath against those who refused to enjoy the
Canaan rest in distinction from the creation
rest which had been appointed at the beginning,
and on the seventh day, as in verse 4.
Then this new rest, in distinction from both the
others, is predicted by David m Psalm 95:7
many years subsequent to the refusal of unbelieving
Israelites to enter the Canaan rest,
verse 7, and arguing in verse 3 that if Joshua
had given the final Sabbath, "David would
not have predicted another day" in the language,
"today if ye will hear his voice harden
not your hearts."
The Apostle then concludes that there was a
new (sabbatisnos) Sabbath keeping, or, sabbat
ism, for God's people in verse 9.
5. A change is recorded. In Matt. 28:1, two
things are recorded that are important. In the
first clause in the Green it is "Opse desabbartoon"
literally translated is "In the end of
Sabbaths." This has been largely understood
to mean that, strictly speaking, there would be
no more Sabbaths because the 'word is in the
plural. But the A. S. R. translates it "now
late on the Sabbath day" and violates the rule
by rendering the plural noun in the singular
and suppliyng the word day. And the InterliJ
1a. i I i i - ? r* i *
mar rcuuers 11- now xare on tne oaDDatn."
But if it is true, as I have shown, that there
had been two Sabbath dispensations preceding
Christ's resurrection, then by his fulfilment
of the law of them, they passed away and
necessity and opportunity were afforded for a
new or third dispensation. Then properly follows
the declaration, "As it began to dawn
'eta main sabbatoon' toward the one of Sabbaths,"
as literal rendering requires. Here
again the translators have violated rule by
translating the cardinal numeral, matin, by the
ordinal first, and the regular plural noun, Sabbatoon,
by the noun of multitude, or collective
noun week, which in both Greek and English
aL - _ i ' #,/N ' '
auuuiu i?; in ine singular, wnne " sabbatoon"
is again plural. This rule was known and observed
by the translators in Mark 16:9 and
Luke 18:12, where the term week is the rendering
of Sabbatoon, which is singular according
to rule. In all other places, all the versions violate
the rule and translate Sabbatoon week,
and insert the word day?which does not occur
in any of the seven passages in the Greek.
Tn such instances the numeral is to be understood
as a substantive and the proper literal
rendering?"toward the one of Sabhath's?
giving the new Sabbath the accusative force
r.t in.:. ?-? _ ? " - - - *
iii ??????. iiiiM view rennes me Claim of {Sabbatarians
that the day is never called Sabbath
by showing it is always called Sabbath, the
same as the seventh day in the Greek.
6. It was regarded as changed by the Apostles.
On its first recurrence we find the Apostles
assembled and Thomas with them, John
21:16. This was doubtless ip a commemorative
capacity, and in the hope of his presence, which
was granted. In Acts 20:7 it is recorded that
1
3 XJ T H [September 18, 1912
the disciples came together to break bread ou
"the first day," no doubt, sacramentally, and
l'aul preached to them, as was his custom, no
doubt. This day was also appointed for the
consecration of means to the financial support
of the cause as a most important service, 1 Cor.
16:2, which many consider an act of public
worship.
7. Their observance of it was blessed by the
Master. In John 20:19 it is stated that the
.1 * r X x !AL XL 1
same utiy nit: itiassier met wiiu ixieia, no aoubt
to assuage their grief. He pronounced peace
upon them, and gave them evidence of his identity
and resurrection. He also breathed on
them the Holy Spirit, and gave them high commission
and gifts. Then, as we have seen, after
eight days he again honors them with his
presence, removes the doubts of Thomas, and
sanctions their commemorative spirit.
The day of Pentecost, Acts 2:1, doubtless being
this new Sabbath, found "all with one accord,
in one place," and secured to them all
the best of gifts,?that of the Holy Spirit.
8. In Rom. 14:5, the recognition of the
change is justified. The full recognition of the
change was only gradually attained, and for
the time the sincere observance of the seventh
day was practiced and allowed; but so,
also, was that of the first day, and even of both
days. But it must be admitted that in this passage
the keeping of the first day was fairly
justified as honoring to the Lord, and a matter
of intelligent conviction. In the eight verse
our relation to the Lord and obligation to hira
is emphasized as warranting this with other
changes required by the New Economy.
0. In Collossiaus 2:19, the choice of the first
day is declared a right not to be yielded. In
the 14th verse the ordinance of the Old Economy
are declared "blotted out," "nailed to
the cross," or fulfilled by Christ's death. This
fact applied to the Sabbaths, as we have seen,
as expressed by the first clause of Matt. 28:1,
where it is said "Sabbaths are ended," referred
to both the Creation Sabbath and that of the
I n TT~"U A 1.1. _1
uews in ^ttuuaii, us Hiiuwu in neu. *?111 ciiuptciy
which we have considered. These Sabbaths being
both on the same seventh day, were fulfilled
in common by Christ's doing and dying,
which secured him lordship of the Sabbath day
and liberty to them.
10. In Heb. 4:1, the Apostle rises to the still
higher point of warning of the danger of seeming
to come short of an acceptance of Christ's
Sabbath. The term, "his rest," can have reference
to none other than Christ's rest, as the
antecedent of "his" is Christ in the 14th verso
e i a r% "lai* i ? -i ^
oi cnapier ?j, ana tnis, aisunguisnea irom
other rests spoken of in Heb. 4:3. That which
befell the unbelieving Israelites who refused to
enter Canaan and its rest, is presented as the
doom of those who refuse to accept Christ's
Sabbath; which indicates a lack of full faith in
Christ as Lord of the Sabbath day.
11. In Heb. 4:9, it is declared the reserved
inheritance of God's people. In other places
the term "rest" is the translation of the Greek
(katapausin), which expresses the more carnal
view of Sabbath keeping. In this verse it is
(Sabbathismos), which gives this a spiritual
character the other Sabbaths did not possess.
The bringing of the completed work of God's
salvation into Sabbath time and service is a
boon that cannot be over-estimated, and the
coronation of the universal Lord to make everything
work for the good of his children adds
zest to Sabbath privilege.
12. In Heb. 4:11, we have the kind invitation
and exhortation by the Apostle influenced
by the Spirit, which amounts to a divine command
to "Labor to enter into that rest," even
the Christ rest so clearly set forth in the form4