Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1880-11-04
From the Interior.
The Sabbath Made for MAN.

From the Interior.
Thc Sabbath Made for NHaM.
In this uxiomatio utterance of our Lord
we have a truth Of deep significance, and
one also of the utmost practical Importance
at tie present time. Because the Sabbath
is made for man, and not m.n for the
Sabbath, thousands in our day claim the
liberty of ncglcctiug, diehonoring, perycr-
ting, or subvcrting it, if they choose. No
single saying of Jesus Christ has ever
been more shamcfuly misintcrprcted aud
abused than this law of the Sabbath has
been by the abettors Of Sabbath desccra-
tinn. Tho Sabbath is Gods grand ordi-
nuuco appointed for the good Of man, to be
a day OF rest for his body and his soul.
This is its meaning on the very face of it.
AS understood by our modern Solons of the
secular press and the bccr-saloon, it means
that man may make the Sabbath either a
day of work and business toll, or day of
unrestraincd license and rcvclry in every
species Of amusement and sensuous sratiii-
cation. We eau scarcely conceive of any
thing more outrageous and b!aaphcmous
than tho manner in which this beneficent
institute Of the Son of God has been taken
up By the recent Sabbath breake,s and their
allies, and made to uphold those assent blagcs
Of the saloon and the bee. garden aud the
dancc-house, which have done so much
to obliterato tho sacred day in all our great
cities, and which arc bccoming more and
more tho disgrace Of our civilization.
If the Sabbath was made, that is appoin
ted, for man, most clearly it was so made
by him who is the Lord Of the Sabbath,
Jesus Christ the Son Of God And if it
WAS ordained for man and him, then Ger
tainiy it is 10 be used by man in the in.
tcntion of its great Founder 1t is sound
maxim, that the design of the iawgivcr
intcrprets the law. 1t is to be used for
the bcnciiccnt and sacred purposes which
he has designated in his holy word; and no,
to be prevented in to day of toll on tho
one hand, or the nero pleasure seeking,
riotous living, dcbauchcry, and drunken
ness, on the other. Can any man in his
senses believe that this sacred day was ever
ordained by Christ for tho purpose of
being used as mere holiday of merry
making, as it is now used in all tho great
cities of our land, at the saloons gardens,
picnics, and Sunday theatres! 1t would
be an insult to any Bible readers
intelligence, and a blasphcmy against the
Saviour Of tho world, to say that hc ever
made or could make such u Sabbath for
man. Yet this precisely is tho sort of
Sabbath this Sunday ofthe beer garden and
the saloon, which the conductors of our
public presses in Clioaogo and other cities,
tell the people lrom day to day Jesus Christ
made when he made the Sabbath for man.
Every intelligent reader of tic Bible
knows that in the idea of the Sabbath, as
instituted in Eden and ordained by Christ
there is first rest from toll both Of the
body and tho mind, and secondly, rest
of the soul in the contemplation aud
worship of God. Man needs rest for his
wearicd powers after the six days labor,
and equally he needs tho higher rest Of
divine worship for the soul. The Sabbath
uf the New Teastamcnt is rest, and it is
sacred rest This twofold character is its
great distinction. 1t is fraught with ines
tlmablc blessings to man, and it is diyiney
adapted to the laborlng, toling, restless
millions OF all races and conditions, first,
because it is day of sacred rcst--rcst
from the cares of business, aud rest from
the excitements of animal pleasure. 10
change this character of the day is to
change its whole bencficent intention.
All experience shows that just proportion
as mon turn the Sabbath into a day of
ordinary secular business, or into holiday
of amusement and animal indulgence, they
have destroyed the Sabbath and defeated
it's grand purposes of good. They have
takcn heavens universal antdote for tho
evils, of ccasclcss toll, and turn it into
curse.
This is what tho men of our times arc
doing with the Sabbath now in all of our
great oitics. Somo of them aro doing it
blindly, not knowing what they do, not
knowing that they are subvcrting one Of
tho most benefcent institutes for tho toll
ing millions God ever ordained. And
some are doing it wiIfuly, knowing that
they are fighting against God and tho
plainest prccepts Of his word. May at our
leading journalists, who arc thus opposing
tho Sabbath and misleading tho people,
know that their arguments are sophistioal