Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-04-16
THE sABRATH DAY
AND KEEP IT HOLY.~


Brcaker-PhOnOgrap synopsis OF
the Sermon.
Rev. A. j. Baird, of the First Cumber-
land Presbyterian church, delivered SER
mon, Sunday morning, on Sabbath break
ing. The discourse was preceded by col
lection in aid of foreign missions and an
announcement that he had been requested
to postpone the delivery of the sermon on
account of the unpropitiousneSs of the
weather and the fact that not all his con-
gregaticn and others, under the circum-
stances, would come out to hear it. But
he thought that those who did come out to
! hear it, under the circumstances, were the
ones who ought not to be disappointed.
He then selected as his text the first part of
the fourth commandment: sRemember the
Sabbath day and keep 1t holy. Six days
thou shalt labor and do all thy work, but
the seventh 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 OK, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cat
! tie, nor the stranger that is within thy
gates" "Now," he said, sin the discus
sion of this subject / don't want to be I'M
derstood as using any railery towards any
| individual. don't think it Is worth while
to shoot at all when the shooting is over a
mans head and not at him. Shooting at
the mark is what l propose to do to-day.
| The definition of the word Sabbath is sim
| ply to rest, Its second definition is to rest
! from our work and ordinary VOcations.
take 1t, therefore, that we understand the
meaning of the word fully. l will remark
i'll the first place that the object Of the Sab
bath is to recognize God, to remind us Of
! Him, of our relations to Him and of His
| right to rule over US, and it is our duty to
recognize and serve Him; and the Sabbath
is for the purpose of keeping this continu-
ally before our minds. Now when we take
| this up it would seem that this was all that
was necessary to make us all observe
| the Sabbath. But it seems it is not.
| Who can tell what the condition
of this country religlously would be
without Sabbath for year, l tell you
| frankly don't believe any man can serve
God without faithfully observing the Sab
bath. The observance of the Sabbath day
! is essential to the service of God by His
creatures. We are not only sinful and
wicked, but we are inclined to become so
deeply engaged In our own affairs as to be-
come forgetful of the Sabbath. Then it
suddenly comes to remind us of our duty to
| God, and to fix our thoughts upon the
| highest things we can be concerned in; and
for that reason God ordained that one
| seventh part of our time should be set apart
as reminder for that purpose. 1t is true
He designed US to worship Him every day,
! but He intended the Sabbath to be devoted
exclusively to Him. If it was not for the
Sabbath we would run wild over our sec
ular interests and forget God and our rela-
| tons to Him. Second, the reminder is
more perfect by devoting the Sabbath di-
rectly to the worship of God. If it were a
day of rest, and rest only, to lounge about,
| it would not be 50 effectual. That is a
mistaken idea that it is a day of rest, and
therefore must sleep. 1t is a long way
| from being day of idleness. 1t is a day
| of work, Gods work, not our work. It is
day to be busy, busy as you can be, with
| your mind exclusively upon Gods enter
prizes, the spiritual enterprises of His wor-
ship. Third, it offers us an opportunity to
show our respect for God. What good does
it do us, this rainy morning, to leave our
| homes and come up to this place of worship?
| Chose precious home readers of the Bible
| perfectly understand.) The very fact
that we are on our way to the house of
God is compliment to God among wicked
men. Let us all stay at home, and what
would become of your churches? The law
of God is not to be construed to our ac-
commodation. One of the sins upon us is
simply that. The Roman Catholic Church
beats us entirely in the regularity and faith
fulness of attendance by the congregations.
You may say: "Oh, well, they don't know
what they are doing" but there they are,
even before sunrise. l like to see it. | tell
you you may criticise them as much as you
please, but there is an anthem in that Wor-
ship and in that devotion. St. Peters, in
Rome, is an anthem TO God, or else it would
not have been erected. The Sabbath day is
blessing to those under our control. 1t
prevents us from abusing them. No man
has right to abridge it. No man can but
Unlawfully claim he has a right to abridge
the commandment, or construe it to suit
himself. With the dawn of the Sabbath
day all are free. Even the cattle in the
fields are freed from labor. Then let the
commandment be kept, and all worship
God. There is an American General who
thought he ought to fight his battles on
Sunday, and he did, and he was Just as noted
for being whipped as succeeding. No mill
tary man, no matter who he may be, has
right to violate this commandment and desc
crate the Sabbath. Let me call your atten-
ton briefly to the history of the Sabbath.
The question arises if there was any Sab
bath day before the giving of this command
ment to Moses. The Sabbath day is like a
great wall before our inclinatiOns. 1t is not
true that there was no Sabbath day before
bo nd raaoho Al,
illustration that this is so is given in the
creation itself; God rested from his work on
the seventh day. There is the Sabbath.
All that Moses did was to call the attention
of the Jews to the Importance of observing
it. Remember the Sabbath day and keep
it holy" Do you suppose God would have
commanded the Jews to remember and
observe what did not exist? Now ques-
ton arises as to which is the Sabbath day
the seventh day of the week or the first
The Christians made the change. They
observe the first instead of the seventh day
because Christ told his disciples that the
first day of the week was his day. Now
this brings us directly to the point before
us: "Who shall keep the SABBATH" We
answer: "All men are under the law of
God" "Who, then, had a right to Violate
it?' s'Nobody." "Who has a right to
set it aside?" "No one at all" Not only
shall we observe it ourselves bit We shall
see to it that those under our control OBJ
serve it also; our children, our servants, the
stranger who tarries with us; and our cattle;
they, also, shall observe it, by resting for
their laDOrs. Now comes up an interest
ing question: 'Have we a right to
construe the commandment to meet our own
convenience; a right to construe it to meet
our own necessities. In discussing this
matter we are not discussing one of person
al interests, convenience, taste and the like,
but matter simply Of divine law; and it is
as high as Heaven and as solemn as the
throne of God. L will not rest this question
here. will say that no man can violate the
Sabbath day and at the same time meet all
the provisions of the law of God, bis rela-
tions to God, and discharge all his duties to
God. God has seen1it TO lay down rule.
If we observe it our conduct will meet his
appreciation, and we will prosper; if we
don't we will not prosper. No man may
therefore expect to violate the Sabbath and
still be blessed. Now let us take a close
view of this matter. We see how the Sab
bath ought to be kept by us all; that those
who have employment must lay it aside