Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1878-05-16
&eadiua fur the $abbath,
CONDUCTED By .-
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
rOnginal.J
THE SABBATH.

establishing from the Scriptures the divine
origin of the Sabbath, it seems necessary tina
something be said concerning the manner II
which the Sabbath is to be observed. Thi
seems to be required by the peculiar circum
stances of the times 1t must be manifest tt
every one that the standard of Sabbath OBJ
servance was either once too high, or it is Al
present too low. 1t is readily admitted tha
we are apt to laud and extol the ancients and
disparage those of the present. We are apt
also, to mistake form for fact; appearance fol
reality. Making all due allowance for this
weak point in human nature, it still is true
unless we are greatly mistaken, that the
Lords day is not, at present, observed as II
should be; nor even as i. was observed by
our fathers.
If we are allowed to judge of mems mo-
tives by their acts, and of their notions Of the
sacredness of the Sabbath by the manner in
which multitudes keep the day, we are forced
to conclude that they regard it as kind oi
holiday, and that they have no higher mo
tive in observing the day, than that they may
rest their bodies and relax their minds.
Itshould be remembered that theday is to be
devoted to the Lord. To set one day in seven
apart as day of simple rest or relaxation
from the tolls of life, is not to observe the day
to the Lord. No one will be so silly as to
advocate such notion. Hence, while cessa
ton from worldly labor is absolutely necessa.
ry, under all ordinary circumstances, to the
proper observance of the Sabbath, it is by no
means the primary idea of observing the
Lords day. The physical advantages, both
to man and beast, of day of rest, are no
doubt very great; but these advantages form
no part of the proper observance of the Sab
bath. Ifso, then the jaded mule observes the
Sabbath and keeps it holy unto the Lord, as
we'll as his master. Such an idea is most ab
surd. The Sabbath was not made for the ir-
rational brutes, but for man.
When God created man, he gave him two
laws. These were the Sabbath law and the
law of marriage Our Saviour repeated these
laws in the following words: "Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and
thou shalt love thy neighbor as thysef.
Matthew, xxi 37-59. In both laws, God
asserts his sovereignty. The Sabbath was in
sttuted that man might have visible means
by which to acknowledge God as the maker,
preserver, and redeemer of all flesh and the
marriage relationship was instituted that man
might have visible means of testifying that
he respected the rights Of his felow-m
These two institutions come down to US from
before the fall. They are older than sin.
They are all that we possess as relics of the
garden of Paradise
The observance of the Sabbath is, or is
certainly designed to be, an acknowledgment
of God as our maker, as our preserver, and
as our redeemer. By the Christian, the day
is to be observed in commemoration of Sa
viour, delivered for our transgressions and
raised again for our justification" The res
direction day is the Christian Sabbath.
Such being the design of the Sabbath, we
are at no great difficulty in determining how
the day is to observed. 1t is, in no sense,
holiday. 1t is not designed to be devoted t.
our profit, pleasure or recreation. 1t is not
our day, but the Lords day; and is to be so
observed that the declarative honor and glo
ry Of God, our Saviour, may be manifested,
and our spiritual natures developed The
idea of rest does not apply to it, only so far
as reference is had to our worldly business.
Instead of the day being spent in absolute
rest, it is to be devoted to the worship of God
in the various ways prescribed in his word.
The day is to be spent in enlightening our
minds and in cultivatng our hearts.
Some persons spend the Sabbath in paying
social visits, and in partaking of sumptuous
dinners; others spend it in strolling about
over their farms and in devising plans for the
week others consume the day in silly con.
versation; some of the more sluggish waste
the day in sleeping; and those of the more
proaigate spend it in fishing or in depredating
upon their neighbors' orchards.
Correct notions of propriety, to say moth.
ing of the instructions of the Scriptures, are
sufficient to admonish US that in none of the
various ways indicated, can the Sabbath be
observed as day kept holy to the Lord our
God. No worldly amusemepts are allowable
on the Sabbath, and no worldly labors ex-
cept those of necessity and mercy. We can.
not serve God and ourselves at the same time,
any more than we can serve God and man.
mon. Because an act, deed or word is right
and proper, innocent and allowable, on Sec
ular day, it does not follow that it is so on
the Lords day. God gives US six days in
which to do our own work but he commands
US to devote the Sabbath to his service, and
his service only.
The rigid rules which God gave the Jews
of old, to direct them in the manner in which
they should observe the Sabbath, are still
binding. They have never been revoked.
They never will be revoked so long as there is
believer to serve God, and a sinner to be
saved on earth. When this period arrives,
an endless Sabbath will begin to the righteous.
Heaven is said to be the Sabbath which re-.
mains to the people of God. Hebrews iv g..
This enables the poet, when describing the
blessedness of heaven, to say,
"There Sabbaths have no end.'
In hell there never was any Sabbath, there
is none there now, and there never will be
any. There is no rest-no Ssbbath-to the
wicked. They are like the troubled sea when
it cannot rest-whose waters cast up mire and