Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1893-03-03
SABBATH KEEPING.
LESSON <. FIRST QUARTER, INTER.
NATIONAL SERlEs, MARCH 9.

DRY Verses, II, 1s-Golden Text, Ex.
Xxx, documentary by the Rev. ID. NJ.
stearns.
This chapter gives an account of the dis
cipline of Nehemiah in separating from
Israel the mixed multitude, and in cleans
ing Israel fl ON all strangers with whom |
they had become entangled by marriage |
Oversees 3, 30). II tells also of the discipline |
in reference to Sabbath Dissertation, which |
is our special lesson for the day; but before
taking this up consider the dangers of be-
ing entangled and hindered by mixed |
multitude. When Israel left Egypt IA COM |
pany Of that kind went with them, and |
caused them much trouble lex. xii, 49,
Mum. xi, ~. Much trouble in the church |
today arises from the people who are half
and half-the worldly church members |
who are neither one thing nor the other.
II any think that the restoration under |
Zerubbabel and the reformation of Ezra
and Nehemiah fulfilled the prophecies con-
corning restoration, let them compare Isa |
xiv, 1-3, with Neh. tx, SO, 81. If any think
that we are now i'm the millennial age, or
that the church with her present zeal will
bring that age let them he honest enough
to believe what is written, and they will
surely see that the Lord Himself must
come for Israe's restoration and to intro
duce the millennial age Fps eli, 16; Acts
iii, 1920.
Is. I'm those day saw in Judah some
treading wine presses on the Sabbath"
Then he enumerates their other deeds of
Sabbath breaking and says that he testi
fed against them. The Sabbath was insti-
tuted in Eden before ever sin entered this
world, and when God wrote with His finger
the Ten Commandments on two tablets of
stone He said, Remember the Sabbath
day" That man should give unto God
oneseventh of his time is a law from the
beginning and of perpetual obligation.
IS. 'There dwet men of Tyre Also who
sold on the Sabbath unto the children of
Judah, and in Jerusalem" God gives
His laws to His children because vhey are
His children. He gave no laws to Israel
until He had redeemed them from Egypt.
No man can be saved by the deeds of the
law, but only by the grace of God, but be-
! ing saved through Jesus Christ, who is the
end of the law for righteousness to every
one that believeth, it is then and only
then, that the righteousness of the law
can be fulfilled in us who walk not after
the flesh, but after the Spirit (Rom. iii, 90
"a; X 4; viii, ~, Those who know not
| God know no Sabbath, but the people of
Judah should have shown the men of Tyre
that they kept holy the Sabbath because
of their God. There can be no trade with
no buyers, and unless the people of Jeru-
salem had bought the men of Tyre had
not sold
H. "Then | contended with the mobiles of
Judah and said unto them, What evil
thing is this that We do and profane the
Sabbath day." In verse II we read that
He contended with them because they had
forsaken the house of God. The house of
God was Israel's center, and the laws of
God their especial delight, if they were
Israelites indeed; but they were prone to
forsake His house and despise His word
Oh Chron. xxxvi, l6), and for this they went
to Babylon. Now that they have returned
from captivity and left their idols their
hearts still wander from God and His laws.
And so it was long after, in the days of
Malachi, when they robbed God in tithes
and offerings and said that it was vain to
serve God (Mal. iii, s, 14).
Is. did not our fathers thus? Yet We
bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning
the Sabbath" Although Judgment had
overtaken their fathers, yet they continue
in the same sins, for not until the Ethio-
plan can change his skin and the leopard
his spots can those do good who are accus-
toned to do evil DER. xiii 23). IAN empty
man will get understanding when wild
ass colt is born a man" Job XII, 12, r. ",
margin). Nothing will make man what
he ought to be, but a new heart a birth
from above, and this is new creation ac-
complished by the word and the spirit of
God. 1t is the gift of God Ezek. xxxvi,
26), and nothing can deprive one of it but
refusal to receive
10. "And some of my servants set | at
the gates, that there should be no burden
brought in Oh the Sabbath day." There is
such thing rs compelling law breakers to
be obedient, and if our city rulers had the
spirit of Nehemiah there would not be the
Sabbath Dissertation which is increasingly
and alarmingly prevalent in all our cities.
God will hold our rulers responsible for all
that they can prevent of evil and do not
But to be personal, there are such COM
mands as these for believers LET us lay
aside every weight and the sin which doth
so easily beset u.s." Let us cleanse our
selves from all filthness of the flesh and
spirit" Put off the old man, with his
deeds" (Heb. xii, l; III Cor vii, l; Col ill.,
81. And these we are bound to obey if we
would know in our daily life ANYTHING of
the meaning of true Sabbath rest.
20. $50 the merchants and sellers of all
kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem
once or twice" The perseverance of the
doors of evil ought to put to shame the fol-
lowers of Jesus. Those who desire to do
away with the Sabbath are ofttimes more
united and persevering than those who
bear the name of Jesus and ought to stand
for His holy day. Oh, to be filled with
the Spirit of God and have at heart the in
terests of His kingdom
81. From that time forth came they no
more Oh the Sabbath" He testified against
them and threatened to lay hands on them;
then they saw that he meant it, and de-
sisted. We live in the Nineteenth century,
in the most advanced period of the worlds
history, but where are the Nehemiahs, and
the Daniels, and the men who have at
heart above all things the honor and glory
of Godf To come again to the topic of a
little while ago-the Sabbath is the soul
of a believer-we will not know it I'M
til we stand as decidedly against every be-
setting sin and every phase of the self life