The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-02-07
HOW TO SPEND SABBATH
REV. {. \. SIMS CONSIDERS THIS AS
A PRACTICAL QUESTION.
President Swain. of State University
Lectures at the Y. VI. G. A.--Oth-
err Sunday Services.

How to Spend Sunday" was the topic of
the discourse at the Meridian-street NJ E.
Church last night The pastor, Rev &. n.
Sims. chose his text from the words, Re
member the Sabbath day to keep it holy
and The Sabbath was made for man" The
pastor said i'm part:
The question of how to spend Sunday is
practical one to every person who desires
10 preserve a blameless and high morality,
aS Wen as TO those who recognize the obli-
cations of Christianity 1t must be conced-
ca tnat the tendency of the times is to make
Inc sunday less holy, and more a holiday.
Inc excursions, the games, the places of
amusement, the places of refreshment, open
Inat day, invite to diversion and to the dis
regard of the divine command to keep it
molly Furthermore, growing business inter-
eStS crowd upon its hours and make inroadS
upon Its rest. Still further, there follows
upon this unreligious of the day a Sc
quence of waste and dissipation. of vice and
crime unpleasant to contemplate. The old
strictly religious Sabbath observance is
tEEssrywhere relaxed, ana the tendency in
this direction has not spent itself / search
Tonight for safe and reasonable position
on the question.
THE Bible encircles and permeates the
day with religious feeling and precepts. Re
member the Sabbath day TO keep it holy is
Its fundamental law. It's rest, it's worship.
IT'S conduct, must be under constant sense
that 1T is a holy day. The best morality,
which Is so largely reinforced by religion,
viii seeek for such use of the day as will
build up respect for law, increase intelli-
gence, and quicken the pureSt impulses and
habits. The Sabbath was made for man.
God intended it to befriend his best interests
and develop his best possibilities, to increase
the JOY and sacreGness of his home, to rest
his muscles, to reinvgorate his nerves, to
Increase his intelligence and quicken his so
cial nature, to reinforce him for the duties
and labors of the intervening days of toll,
and to strengthen his resistance to tempta-
ton. There should be fewer men incapaci-
tated for work by reason Of dissipation and
excess on Monday than on any other day
ha of Q11o lcil w
dItion exists. How should the day be spent
in order to get the best immediate and per-
manent returns from it?
1T should be permeated with the thought
that it is peculiarly holy unto the Lord. If
the duties of the week have been eXacting
and exhausting, take an extra hour in the
morning. above the average of other days,
for physical rest, and when you arise thank
God that He has given you this freedom
from the hard requirements of the world 5
demands upon you. When you arise, array
yourself in the attire BETTING leisure and
social life. and thank God that He has
freed you that day from the garments
which proclaim your bondage to toll. Give
some good part of an hour to careful
thoughtful reading of the Bible. 1t will be
speak to you out of His word. Then give
some minutes to reviewing your life, re-
faults and failures, and then offer earnest
and honest prayer. All this will tend 10
keep the day at its best, and save you from
the power of evil appetite and habit. After
the intervening care-free hour find your
way to the place of religious worship and
the Sunday school. The songs, the sermon,
the prayers the associations of the place,
the reading of Gods word and the social
greetings which follow the service will
stimulate your mind and refine your taste,
and you will reach your home more rested
and invigorated than if you had given the
morning to dull and heavy slumber. There
will be hours of the afternoon for meeting
friends in beautiful social intercourse,
whose keynote will be the sense of the
sacredness of the day. There will be the
opportunity of reading some thoughtful
book or paper which will increase your
for some friendly letters to distant loved
ones. These duties observed, the other
hours will naturally fall into harmonious
occupation or recreation, and God will have
been consciously near you all the time.
The walk abroad, the beauty of sky and
landscape, all proper recreation will be be-
coming Sabbath rest and pleasure.
when such day is past all the purposes
of rest will have been accomplished, and
you will come to the new week S toll with
renewed strength and spirits. Nor will a
day thus spent be dull day. 1T will have
a joy all it's own, and it will confer bless
ings of incalculable value. It will have eS-
capped the drudgery of reading business let
tiers and making business plans. 1t Will
have saved from the extravagances and ex-
hauSting WEAKNESS of the Sunday games
and excursions. To people of limited means
it will have brought satisfying and mex
pensive pleasures, and will leave them more
means for the needed supplies of the COM
ing week. Public order will be better.
Young people will be safer in character and
associations. There will be no sense of q
day of harsh restrictions and weary hours.
The Sabbath will become a heaven-sent
boon to the poor, to the overworked, to the
home circle. and all will rejoice in its ben
efactions. Public morals will improve the
public conscience will be strengthened, and
all interests, public and private, Will be
safer. If you give the day to these higher
uses every interest will be more sacredly
guarded and every life will be enriched.