How Shall We Find the Sabbath of Profit?

HOW SHALL WE FIND THE SABBATH OF PROFIT? BY COL. R. M. BRYCE THOMAS.

[The author is a gentleman of education and great experience, a re- tired officer of the British army, whose present residence is London. He spent the summer of 1901 in Salt Lake City, Utah. In view of the approaching summer season when outdoor recreation, excursions, and pleasure-seeking in general, are largely indulged in, and that, we are sorry to say, by many upon the Sabbath day, the article is specially timely as a warning to the young people to avoid Sabbath desecration, and also as serving to teach them the necessity of observing the day acceptably to God and advantageously to themselves. Editors.]

We live for money by day and pleasure by night. I have no fear in saying that, at the present rate at which we are living, in fifty years we will have no Sabbath." Rev. Lorrimer, New York. At a Church conference at Runcorn, Cheshire, yesterday, the Rev. H. B. Blogg, Vicar of Frodsham, created a sensation by advocating football and cricket for young people on Sunday afternoons. He main- tained that it was better they should be playing healthy, manly games than loafing about smoking pernicious cigarettes. For men, he would encourage golf, without boy caddies, on the understanding that they attended morning service. He preferred the Continental Sunday to our own, and urged his fellow-clergy not to be afraid of introducing it. Daily Telegraph, Feb. 26, 1902. And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath; Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath. — (Mark 2: 27, 28.)

The manner in which so many people, professedly belonging to one or other of the various denominations of worshipers in Chris- tendom, appear to make use of the Sabbath day for almost any purpose other than that of the public worship of Jehovah, is a very

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noticeable feature of modern times; and one is naturally led to question whether this fact is due to ignorance on their part of the important and merciful design of that day of rest, or to some other cause. Is it possible that they suppose that, when God commanded one day in seven exempted from the usual to be labors of life, he intended it to be kept merely as a day of recrea- tion and merriment for his children upon the earth? Do they not know, or have they forgotten that, when he appointed one day in seven fo,r a day of rest, he hallowed it, thus setting it apart for sacred purposes? The Sabbath is a very old institution, for we find in the inspired records that, even from the earliest periods, the Patri- archs and other men of God both taught and practiced a respect for that day, as well as a strict observance of it. As far back in the past as the time referred to in Exodus 16, we find how this day was commanded to be kept. In the 26th verse of that chap- ter we read, "Six days ye shall gather it (manna); but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, there shall be none." And again in Deut. 5 : "Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify 12, et seq: it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee: six days thou shalt

labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates; that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou." In these days there is a tendency to infer that our present conditions, and the surroundings of our lives, have become so altered since the time when God ordered the Sabbath to be kept holy, that the obligations of that day are no longer binding upon us in the same way, and to the same extent as formerly; and it is not un- frequently urged that, in as much as people are compelled to work hard throughout the week, they naturally require recreation and enjoyments on the only day on which they are not constrained to labor. Such an argument may at first sight appear reasonable enough, but it will scarcely, I think, bear close investigation, because, while it is admittedly the case that many of the circum- stances by which people are surrounded differ from those of an-

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cient times, the fact of men having to work hard during six days out of seven is nothing new at all. From the time when the law of the Sabbath was first given, and all along the line of history since then, men have always had to work hard for six days, and yet the Lord has never ceased to demand from them a strict observance of the Sabbath day. No people in modern times are obliged, I believe, to work harder than had the Israelites to do while in Egyptian bondage, when their cruel taskmasters, with whip in hand, compelled them to make brick without supplying them with straw; and yet these children of Israel were never per- mitted by God to consider that the obligations of the Sabbath were either annulled, or in any degree relaxed. Had, however, any such changes taken place in men's circum.- stances, as would have warranted a relaxation of the strict observ- ance of the Sabbath day, is it reasonable to suppose that our Father, who is just, intelligent, and omniscient-, would have per- mitted his previous instructions to keep that day holy, to remain an absolute law unto men upon the earth? We find from a study of God's dealings with his people that, whenever changed circum- stances called for any alterations in his demands upon them, he invariably revealed the same, and gave to them fresh laws more suited and adapted to their new conditions. We know of no such revelation, and those who advocate a relaxation in the observance of the day of rest, are unable to point to any new instructions on the subject. Surely, if the wise and merciful Father has not seen the necessity of modifying his requirements in this respect, man can have no right whatever, either to make such modifications him- self, or to justify any annulling, or partial annulling, of the stand- ing law of his God on the part of others. It would seem as if either the real object and purpose of the institution of the day of rest can never have been properly under- stood by those who utilize the Sabbath for the purposes of their own self-gratification and pleasure, or else, if understood, such object and purpose have been altogether disregarded. Our Lord informed us that it was not man who was made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for man; consequently that day must have been instituted for his special advantage: and it naturally follows that, if our advantage is of any interest to ourselves, (and to whom is it

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not?) we ought to be glad to learn something, both of the pur- pose for which the Sabbath was ordained, and also of the manner in which we can observe it with the greatest profit to ourselves. In our examination into this subject, however, let us keep before our minds the fact that he, who gave man the Sabbath for his good, is the "Eternal God," and that he has always "eternal ends" in view, in his dealings with his children upon the earth, consequently, it would be both unavailing and improper on our part to enter upon a consideration of such deahngs, without reference to those same "eternal ends." In order that we may find our earthly Sabbaths of profit to us, we must ascertain (1) the signification of the word "Sabbath;" (2) the purpose for which that day was instituted; and (3) the way in which we may keep it acceptably to God, and advantageously to ourselves. The word is a Hebrew one denoting "cessation" or "rest," and the Sabbath was primarily instituted to commemorate God's rest from his creative labors. In Exodus 20: 8-11, we read that God, having completed his work of creation in six days, rested on the seventh day and hallowed it, (probably in order to preserve the memory of his creation) and he therefore commanded that, after six days of work, his children on earth should also cease from all labor on the seventh day, and remember to keep that day holy by setting it apart to his worship. There are some who would seem to think that this command was given by God to his peculiar people the Jews only, and that it did not apply to the surrounding nations; but it is evident that such could not have been the case, because, through his inspired prophet Isaiah, he offers a blessing on the man, and the son of man, who keep the Sabbath from polluting it; and this blessing is to apply not only to the Israelite, but also to the sons of the stranger who join them- selves to the Lord to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord. (Isaiah 56: 1-8). By a reference to Exodus 16: 29, and to Ezekiel 20: 12, we learn something of the purpose of the institution of the Sabbath; namely, that it was a gift made by God to man; and Ezekiel tells us that it was to be a sign between God and his people, that they might know that he was the Lord that sanctified them. From

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these and other texts of Scripture, it is evident that the Sabbath was appointed for man's rest from the cares and anxieties of life, in order to give him opportunities of serving his Maker, becoming acquainted with his character and attributes, applying himself to

prayer and meditation, and seeking the consolations of religion by a study of the precious truths of God's holy word. Had not God commanded his children to cease from labor by resting therefrom on the Sabbath day, the opportunities now en- joyed of searching into, and obtaining a knowledge of, things per- taining to his eternal happiness, would have been lost to man; for if even now, with the advantage of a day of rest from worldly cares once each week, the things pertaining to his future salvation are so frequently disregarded, what would have been his condition had no Sabbaths existed for his benefit, and what sort of a prepa- ration would this world have been for that which is to come? The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath; because man was created first, and the Sabbath was given to him afterwards for his good; and, if properly observed, will tend greatly to his welfare both here and hereafter; while, if neglected or profaned, it cannot but operate in the direction of his condemna- tion; because the opportunities which these Sabbaths afford him for improvement are very great, when we consider that, in the course of one year, man has given to him a clear fifty-two days for his spiritual upbuilding and advancement; or, in other words, he has a full year every seven years, and seven complete years in a lifetime of just upon fifty years; and thus he has very frequent opportunities indeed of utilizing all these many means of grace, which God has placed within his reach, to enable him to secure for himself the beatitudes of the Heavenly Kingdom. Who then can ever be in a position hereafter to offer excuses, by pleading want of time or opportunities, however busy and full of labors one's life may have been upon the earth? There is a marked analogy existing in several respects between the spirit and the body, and the former demands just as much care and sustenance to maintain it in a condition of health and strength, as the latter; and thus arises the necessity of our having one day in every seven allowed to us for the upbuilding of our spiritual lives, free from the toils and anxieties and labor which accompany and surround us during the

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-other six. The Sabbath, therefore, is a loving provision made by God for his children upon the earth; and, inasmuch as we are in possession of intelligence, and have been blessed with a perfect freedom of choice and action, we shall assuredly have to render to God an account, both of our observance and of our disregard, of this holy day of rest. It remains for us now to consider how we may best observe these Sabbaths, which, if profitably utilized and enjoyed here, will fit us for the more perfect and exalted Sabbath of rest that remains for the people of God. Let us remember that he who claimed to be "The Lord of the Sabbath," had a perfect right to direct how the day should be observed, and it therefore becomes necessary for us to turn to his teachings for our instructions on this point. From a study of the Scriptures, we learn that the Jews, at the time when our Savior was upon the earth, were very rigid observers of the strict letter of the law which had been given to them by Moses (a law that commanded them to abstain from all kinds of work on the Sabbath day — (Exodus 20: 10; 35: 2-3; Numbers 15: 32-36); while at the same time the true spirit of that law they quite overlooked, rendering their religion thereby a mere form of outward observances, for which our Lord condemned them on more than one occasion. For instance, we read in Luke 13: 11-17, that a ruler of one of the Jewish synagogues found fault with Christ's supposed breach of the Sabbath, because on that day he performed a miracle of healing upon a woman who had been bowed down for eighteen years with a spirit of infirmity. Our Lord's answer to him was, "Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? and ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?" On another occasion, the Pharisees accused our Lord's disciples of profaning the Sabbath, because, when hungry, they plucked the ears of corn as they walked through the cornfield on that day; saying, "Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day." In reply, our Lord pointed out that there were occasions in which man's needs might justify a breach of the strict letter of the law; and he illustrated this truth by a reference to the case of

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David, who, when fleeing with his companions from the wrath of Saul, came weary and hungry to the house of God at Nob, and obtained from Ahimelech the high priest the shewbread to eat, which it was not lawful for any but the priests to partake of (see I Samuel 21: 1-6). He also called to their remembrance the fact that on the Sabbath day the priests in the temple broke the strict letter of the law, and yet were held blameless, doing work which itwould have been unlawful for any others to do, namely killing, preparing, and burning the beasts, which were offered up in sacri- fice upon the altars of God's holy house. It is, therefore, evident that, in certain cases of necessity, ceremonial observances may be set aside without guilt, and further that, for good and reasonable convenience, the strict letter of the law need not necessarily bind men (a principle that all laws properly admit of) ; and it was on such grounds that our Savior held his disciples blameless for plucking the ears of corn on the Sabbath day. It was also on the Sabbath day that our Lord healed a man with a withered hand- St. Matthew tells us that the Jews put to him the question, whether it was lawful to perform this work of healing on that day, to which he replied by pointing out that there was not one among his questioners who would not lay hold of a sheep which had fallen into a pit on the Sabbath day, and lift it out; and he added these words, "How much then is a man better than a sheep? wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days." (Matthew 12: 9-11). These instances fully exemplify the spiritual truth, that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath, by ex- hibiting to us that, inasmuch as our Heavenly Father desires our welfare in all things, and has framed his laws for our good, every- thing that pertains to our true well-being must be as lawful on the Sabbath day as on any other; but with all this, we should ever keep in mind the main purpose of the Sabbath, and avoid devoting it to our self-interests and our pleasures, and even to the otherwise necessary labors of life. All works of sympathy, usefulness, and love, become lawful, notwithstanding that they may partly interfere with the appointed rest of the Sabbath; such for instance as teach- ing in Sunday schools, instructing children and those who are ignorant, visiting and assisting the widow, the fatherless, the

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afflicted, the poor, and the needy. Such as these are acts of true mercy and righteousness, which are far more acceptable to our Father, than all the merely external compliances with the duties of religion: and we are taught in such passages of Scripture as the following, that God delights more in the inward spirit of benevo- lence and charity, than in the bare outward observances of the law: "To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice." (Proverbs 21 3). : "For I desired mercy and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." (HoseaG: 6). "Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." (I Samuel 15: 22).

These texts seem to indicate clearly, that all our sacrifices and religious duties without love and obedience are powerless, if not hypocritical. It would, of course, be impossible for any one to lay down explicit rules as to what one may or may not do lawfully on the Sabbath day, but if it is our real and earnest desire to observe that day in a manner pleasing to our Father, it ought not to be difficult to bring ourselves into harmony with his mind and will on the sub- ject; always remembering to ask him for that wisdom, which St. James informed us he would invariably give liberally, and without upbraiding, provided we asked for it in faith, nothing wavering. All acts of benevolence, love, goodness, and usefulness are lawful upon the Sabbath day, even should they take us away for a time from prayer, the study and contemplation of the Scriptures, and other objects for which that day was instituted: but it is certainly opposed, both to the letter and to the spirit of God's commandment, to devote the Sabbath, in any measure, to amusements, entertain- ments, or other purposes which may distract us from the object for which we have received this incalculable gift of the Sabbath day; namely, to assist us, in these our earthly pilgrimages, to find the "Eternal City" beyond. It has been said by a well-known writer (Dr. Sumner, formerly

Bishop of Chester) that there was no surer test of the spiritual state than the degree of esteem in which the Sabbath was held; and I think there can be no doubt of the correctness of that view, because we find that God blesses those who keep the Sabbath, and