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DUTY OF WORSHIP.
Let us understand, however, the proper interpre
tation of this rest day. It is a rest in worship. It
is ias much a. violation of this commandment not to
worship, as it is to work. Had you thought of it?
You men and women who are so captious about the
Sabbath day that you do no work at all, when at the
same time you heed not the commandment to worship
God. The fact is, the way to rest is to work. So
many people have a mistaken idea about rest. I
used to spend my vacations resting from all kinds of
service. I would go back worse than when I left.
Mow, when I wish to rest I change work, change
scenery, change association, change lines of thought.
Instead of seeking the mountains to lie up and
sleep, I seek some crowded metropolis where I preach
and labor. In doing this I rind that the change of
environment brings physical rest. So about the
Sabbath. We cease our physical labor and spend
the day in the Master’s work and worship. That
brings rest to the body and strength to the soul.
CHRIST AND THE SABBATH.
But we cannot expound this commandment further
without considering the question of the change from
the seventh day to the first. Why has the church
observed the first day of the week instead of the
seventh as commanded by Moses? This has been
a great puzzle to many, but I am frank to say, that
I never found any trouble in dealing with it myself.
Jesus says, “The Sabbath was made for man and
not man for the Sabbath.” So the Son of Man is
Lord even of the Sabbath.” We know that Christ’s
coming is the fulfillment of the law. He is master of
the whole situation. We turn our eyes to Him to
learn how we are to observe all things, even the
commandments.
As Lord of the Sabbath, we find Him observing
the first day instead of the seventh. He rose from
the dead on the first day of the week. He appeared
five times to His disciples on the first day of the
week; and does not appear again for six days. The
next time He appears to them is on the first day of
the week. The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, the
first day of the week. Paul preached at Troas and
broke bread on the first day of the week. He wrote
the. Corinthian churches, “Lay aside of your sub
stance on the first day of the week.” John was “in
the spirit on the Lord’s day,” which was the first
day of the week. It is one of the strongest proofs
of the resurrection that the first day of the week
naturally became the day of observance. ‘‘ On the
first day of the week naturally our minds go back,
not to Moses, but to Christ; to the covenant of
blood rather than the covenant of works."
THE SABBATH FOR MAN.
Again, look at the statement of Christ, “The
Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the
Sabbath.” First, man needs the Sabbath as a day
of physical rest. Physicians, physiologists, political
economists, and all students of history agree upon
this point. Dr. Draper, the eminent physiologist,
says: “Out of numberless blessings conferred on
our race by the church, physiology may select one
—it is the institution of the Sabbath day. The con
stitution of the brain is such that it must have its
time of repose, likewise the lungs, the eyes, and the
body itself need this day of change—of rest. ” Lord
Macaulay his great speech before the House of
Commons on the “Ten Hour Bill,” among other
things, said: “We are not poorer, but richer, be
cause we have for many ages rested from our labor
one day in seven. That day is not lost. While in
dustry is suspended, while the plow lies in the fur
row, while the exchange is silent, while no smoke
ascends from the factory, a process is going on
quite as important to the wealth of our people as
any process that is performed on more busy days.”
History stands out today prominently censuring the
violations of this commandment.
France, during her atheistical revolution, abolished
the weekly Sabbath and substituted one day in ten,
but the result was so disastrous that in spite of
her atheism she returned to one day in seven. I was
talking with a prominent business man some days
ago who said he had observed that everything he
©ver planned on the Lord’s day came to naught,
The Golden Age for October 1, 1908.
sooner or later. I know a railroad superintendent
who will not work his men on the Lord’s day. The
only trains run over his road are those which cany
mail.
At a prominent railroad meeting in the South some
years ago, it was a common remark that although
this man’s road had every disadvantage, yet it was
the most prosperous of all represented. His men
were happy and bright, and their work was done
with a swiftness and joy such as could not be found
among the men of other roads.
SABBATH LEGISLATION.
This biings us, of course, to the question of Sab
bath legislation. Has the country a right to legis
late concerning this matter? Most assuredly it has,
Not. however, as a religious day, but purely from
the standpoint of humanity. One of the greatest
needs of our present day is the securing of such men
to make laws as will guarantee the eternal protec
tion of this day of rest. I know of no greater need;
I know of nothing that so threatens the downfall of
our country as the present tendency to break down
the Lord’s day.
In our city, which is far ahead of most cities of
its size in Sabbath observance, this tendency is be
coming very marked. Great railroad offices and bus
iness institutions of other kinds are requiring then
clerks to work on the Sabbath.
The street cars are getting up all kinds of side
shows, so-called sacred concerts, and a thousand
other devil traps to enrich their coffers by the dese
cration of the Sabbath.
THE SUNDAY PAPER.
Take the modern Sunday newspaper. I know of
no greater menace to the Sabbath than the Sunday
paper. They work all the week to make a special
attraction out of the Sunday paper.
Business men, officers in churches, get up their
finest advertisements for the Sunday paper. They
might just as well hire a boy to paint the town.
Church members, and I am sorry to say, many of
them preachers, Sunday school superintendents and
teachers, think nothing of buying and reading the
Sunday paper. It is a sin before God and His aw
ful curse will yet be felt in condemnation of this
reckless disregard of the sacredness of His day.
No wonder many of you people don’t enjoy your Bi
bles on the Lord’s day. No wonder you sleep while
the pastor tries to expound the Word of God. Your
minds and hearts are filled with the slime of the
week, which is spread out in great sensational head
lines in your Sunday morning paper.
All of this you gulp down before coming to church
or attempting to read your Bible. God knows, lam
ashamed of any member of my church who reads his
Sunday morning paper before he comes to the house
of God. You ought to be disciplined, and would be,
perhaps, if more faithful deacons could be found
who are not guilty of the same practice.
Again, look at the desecration of this day by the
housekeeper. In many sections, and with many
people, it is used as a day of feasting. When I first
came to Atlanta I was besieged almost to death by
invitations to dine here and there with members of
my church on the Lord’s day. I positively refused
and stated that I would consider it an insult, both
to me and to the Lord, for such invitations to be
extended unless there was some good reason for it.
The Lord’s day was never intended for such pur
poses. Oh, that we could learn the blessings in store
for a people who righteously observe His day.
MORAL AND SPIRITUAL NEEDS.
This, after all, is the great purpose of the Sab
bath. It is that we may worship and be strength
ened morally and spiritually for the conflicts of life.
Listen to the blessed old prophet: “If thou turn
away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy
pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a de
light, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt
honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding
thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words;
then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord and L will
cause thee to ride upon the high places of the
earth.”
How much in keeping with this prophecy are the
words of Sir Matthew Hale:
“A Sabbath well spent
Brings a week of content,
V\ ith joy for the toils of tomorrow.
A Sabbath profaned,
W hatsoe’er may be gained.
Is a sure forerunner of sorrow.”
there is no use to talk about building up a spirit
ual church in its truest sense, until we settle down in
favor of a rigid maintenance of the sacredness of
God’s day. So long as men are at liberty to disre
gard. the Lord s day they feel at liberty to violate
any other commandment. License here means lib
erty everywhere.
And I am not speaking here of gross violations of
the Lord s day. Naturally we all would refrain from
anything of that kind. What Christian people need
is a Spirit-taught conscience. When they have this
they will themselves naturally refrain from anything
that stands in the way of an institution so vital to
the lite of the church and the kingdom of Christ.
Os course, if the ox gets in the ditch, Christ has giv
en us the liberty to use His day to pull him out.
But no man would think of being- allowed the priv
ilege of spending a week putting the ox in the ditch
that he mig'ht pull him out on Sunday. It is just
as much a violation of this commandment to put off
till Sunday writing a letter or doing anything else
during the week because we are too busy as it would
be to write a letter during the week and put off
some of the things we are engaged in to be done on
Sunday. It is in no sense a day of convenience, and
God will not hold him guiltless who uses it as such.
Nou men and women of the church, hear me, when
I make an appeal to you not to desecrate this sacred
day! 1 hink ot the prayer, “Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”
How often we pray it and yet, how little we think
of what it means! Can we imagine the will of God
being done in a community with the Sunday news
paper, and church members reading it and business
men advertising their specialties in it? Can we
imagine His kingdom coming among a people that
use His day as a convenience that they may serve
their own lusts, while He Himself is crowded out ?
1 his pattern prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ, oh,
how it is disregarded! Men pray it and then by their
conduct in one way or another prevent its answer.
What of the will of God in the home where the
wife is kept over the stove preparing- a warm dinner
for an exacting husband ? What of the servant who
is kept in the home preparing the feast while the
family rides in the carriage to the sanctuary to wor
ship? How are we going to face these things when
we face God? And yet. there is not one of us that
can escape the judgment. God has His eye upon us.
He knows not only the gross violations of His law,
but even the most minute. It is the principle that
He passes .judgment upon.
I cannot close this line of thought without refer
ring to the benefit of the Sabbath to the family.
M hat a gracious privilege when all things are right
ly directed! When father comes home Saturday
night and retires for rest feeling that the week of
labor is discharged, and that tomorrow he can min
gle and worship with those of his household. It is
a beautiful sight, nothing to my mind surpasses it,
father and mother, and little ones around the fam
ily breakfast board with an open Bible to read God’s
Word and pray on the Sabbath morning. Then to
hear the bright conversation, and to see the happy
faces —father, mother and children together re
joicing in this day of opportunity. Then to see them
as they mov<? together to the church where Sunday
school and preaching furnishes them with the op
portunity of worship. Oh, to me it is a foretaste of
heaven! See to it, fathers and mothers, that the
devil does not rob you of this sweet, beautiful, de
lightful exercise. It will not be long before the
great Sabbath cl Rest will dawn. Your last day’s
labor will have been finished; and you will open your
eyes in another world. Oh, let us try to so live and
labor that when that morning shall breag we will
all be around tl»e family board in that upper and
better world.
