The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1903-10-10


In H02 20, distorted by the re
strictions which tn
.7Fs -. Scribes and Phari
sees had places
upon il. His effort was to denver III
day from its unbearable exactions AM
make IL, as God intended, a real day o
rest. The cold Journalism OF the lette
Of the law had killed the freedom OF I'M
Spirit Of God in His relations to the day
Jesus at once struck at the root OF I'M
matter when He declared: "The SAP
bath was made for man, and not man lo'
the Sabbath" This statement was Sc
radically opposed to the Jewish IDEA OF
the Sabbath as to arouse the bitteres'
opposition. The Scribes and Pharisees
in their zeal for form and ceremony had
deified the Sabbath and made 1t some
thing for man to worship and serve
Jesus corrected this error by declaring
that God had made the Sabbath day &c
serve the needs of man. Here, then. VIZ
have the first and fundamental doctrine
in regard to the Sabbath day, or the day
OF rest. The other great truth. as
Jesus went on to declare 1t, was that He
was Lord of the Sabbath. He was not
TO be crowded out of the day as God
His Father, had been, for they had
SO filled the day with burdensome re-
strictions and obligations that 1t had
become n religion of cold and lifeless
forms and exactions. And not only was
He Lord of the Sabbath day. but the law
of that day was one Of positive and &C
tive goodness. 1T is lawful to do good
on the Sabbath" Here, then. we have
before US the fundamentals Of the Sab
bath day question: The Sabbath made
for man. Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath,
and the law Of the Sabbath. do good. .
WI HEN Jesus was on earth and en-
w deavCEing 20 restore TO its righttul
functions the day Of rest which God had
established fl was the extreme of cere-
moliaI Restrictions and exaetions " hich
robbed The day OF It's true spirit and pGr-
pose, 5GL to-day the psrtuiun has
swung clear 60 the oCker side and re
iEG ;SiI Il.sranG Of the P1zrT-aaical type
OF S1z+ay We have the ~ut3e-open'
SUNDAY. TIE Sit1,.Iy Nss1 tEhs-al views
inGinsTez-s 20 G,7,.z eIa5zs. and love
of pleasure prETzzL IEE1szi O. the bur
den Of stern religions sxze-ions. there
Is distractng and denorzlizsng free
dom in every department in life The
laziness and ease which keep from
church on Sunday morning; the Sunday
newspaper. the reading Of which rele-
gates the Bible 10 the dusty shelf; the
feasting and social functions: the pleas
ure outings. which take the whole or
part Of the day: the rush Of trains and
business; the din and pound of the work
shop. Instead Of the prescribed Sab
baths day journey Of our Lords day
which the hypocritical Pharisees would
not allow to be overstepped even to
minister to suffering and needy crea-
ture. we have the bicycle or automobile
run; the long street-car ride to visit
distant friends; the picnic in the park
or the country. In Jesus day God was
crowded out of the Sabbath day by mans
superficial zeal in religious things: to-
day, God is crowded out of the rest day
by mans utter forgetfulness or partial
forgetfulness of Gods claims upon him
and his seeking the things and pleas
ures of the world, so that there is inst
as much need of effort to redeem tho
blessed rest day from the error and evil
which crowd 1t as there was when
Jesus faced His bigoted critics and de-
clared that the Sabbath was made for
man. that He was Lord of the Sabbath.
and that the law which was to govern
the day was that of doing good. and the
same fundamental facts in regard To the
weekly rest day which have existed s,rco
the foundation of the world. when Cod
rested on the seventh day and hallowed
1t, exist to-day.
HE fact that the Christian world
observes the first day of the week
instead OF the seventh as prescribed by
the Mosaic law does not I'm the least
alter the great underlying purposes
and obligations OF the day. We have
not space here to develop the arpu-
ment that man. physically and spir-
itually. needs one day in seven for
rest. 1t Is not necessary for ma tn
recall how with the passing of the
Jewish dispensation in the rejection
and crucifxion Of Christ and His
resurrection upon the first day OF the
week and the establishment Of the
church OF the Gospel dispensation
upon the day Of Pentecost. the Jewish
Sabbath ceased to be observed by the
Christians. who In its stead observed
Sunday, or the first day of the week.
But whether the seventh-day Sab
bath OF the Jews or the frst-day Sum
day OF the Christians, they both rest
upon founSstion principles which are
identical. and unchanged and un-
changeable. The day of rest was made
for man. OF that day Christ is still
Lord and great Exemplar. The one
great obligation of that day is that
Of doing good. II Is not our purpose
to discuss the question of whether the
seventh cay or the first day should be
observed. nor Is 1t our purpose tc