The Holt County sentinel., 1899-11-03
THE SABBATH.
It's Origin, Dangers From Breaking
it and Rewards for Keeping It.


Sermon by Rev. Henry 4. Sawyers
ID. d., before the Holt county Missouri
Endeayorers in the court house in Ore
gon, Mo-, on Sabbath morning Octobe
18th, 1889.
Text Isaiah 5S-l3-l4. If thou turi
away thy foot from the Sabbath from
doing thy pleasure on my holy day, anc
l call the Sabbath delight, the hol,
OF the Lord, honorable; and shalt homo
him, not doing thine own ways, nor find
ing thine own pleasure, nor speaking
thine own words; then shalt thou de
light thysef in the Lord, and | vii
cause thee to ride upon the high place:
Of the earth, and feed thee with tn,
heritage Of Jacob, thy father for tn.
mouth Of the Lord hath spoken it.
This makes the third time it has faIler
to me to preach the sermon before the
Endeavorers of Holt county. 1t is al
ways a pleasure to render such service
Our chief wish is that the Master may
use US for your profit. As Christians
and especially as young Christians you
have many questions to consider One
of these questions is that of the Sabbath
and it has occurred to me that it might
be as profitable for US this morning to
turn our thought to that as to any other
one thing.
1t is well known fact acknowledged
~ .oaIy every Christian convention in
our country that the regard for Sabbath
is growing less from year to year. 1t is
becoming more and more holiday, a
day given to idleness, pleasures, travel,
visiting and social amusements. The
trend of the present would indicate that
by and by, If not checked, We would
have thrust upon US the Sabbath of
Continental Europe.
Because of this outlook the Chris
tian people have become concerned about
the future and have set about to devise
some means to prevent such result.
Great effort has been made during the
past few } ears to harmonize their views
on the Sabbath question and it has re-
suited in the formation of the American
Sabbath Union. The object of this uni
on is to preserve the American Sabbath
as a day of rest and worship. Their un-
tied effort is already being felt. They
will cause new departure in Sabbath
legislation and 50 certain is this that
the enemy Of the Christian Sabbath feels
it to he necessary to be up in arms in
opposition. The enemies of this Chris
tan Union are sending out literature
everywhere opposing their object, and it
is not matter OF surprise when We con-
slider the efforts which the Christian
people are causing to be pushed to Sc
cure national legislation in favor of Sab
bath observance.
This effort really marks an important
epoch in the history of the Sabbath ques-
tion.
Since the foundation OF the Republic,
including colonial times, all Sabbath
legislation has been local. 1t has been
confined 10 colonies, states and lesser
municipalities each making its own laws.
The Sabbath laws in the different states
conflicting has in part caused existing
legislation imperative. To remedy this
state of things, effort is being made to
introduce national legislation which
shall not simply supplement state and
municipal legislation but shall compel
abstinence from secular labor and busi-
ness, except in cases of necessity and
mercy.
Back of this effort is the wisdom and
word of God and especially such por
tions of his word as have in them the
sentiment of the text.
Isaiah spoke the words Of the text
more than $500 years ago and in them
are two things.
1st. The law of the Sabbath.
I'd. The results of its observance.
For six days the wheels of business
and of lawful pleasures may revolve but
on the seventh they are to be stilled.
Factories are to be quiet, machine shops
silent, steam cars in the yards, stores
and shops to be shut, newspaper offices
to be closed-both man and beast are to
be given rest on the Christian Sabbath.
Son and daughter, man servant and
maid servant are to be given rest in the
public and private worship of the Sab
bath.
The demands of the Sabbath are i'm
perative. The fact that God blessed the
seventh day and sanctfied it as soon as
he had created man shows that it was
day set apart for holy uses for the human
race. He afterward soIemnly reminded
the Hebrews of this day and how it
should be observed. i'm giving the law on
Mt. Sinai.
God with his own finger wrote on one
of the tables OF stone Remember the
Sabbath day to keep it holy" Six days
shalt thou labor, and do all thy work;
but the seventh day is the Sabbath OF
the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not
do any work. thou. nor thy son, nor thy
daughter, thy man servant. nor thy
maid servant, nor thy cattle ror thy
stranger that is within thy gates: for in
six days the Lord made heaven and
earth and sea and all that in them is
and rested the seventh day: wherefore
the Lord Blessed the Sabbath day, and
hallowed it."
1t is not likely that the place this COM
mandment holds in the moral law and
the attention given It has any particular
significance and yet it will not be i'm
proper to note the following observa-
tions. This Commandment holds the
central place in the moral law. There
ARE in my Bible % lines embracing the
lIst 1..3 and 2rd Commandments then