The Morris County chronicle., 1903-04-17
CHRISTIAN ENDEAvOR,

Topic For the Week Beginning April
19-Comment by Rev. S. II. Doyle.
Topic.-The sacred Sabbath.-Matt. xiii
and 49,
The Lords day is one of the great
facts of Christendom. Account for it,;
explain it. 1t is an effect; give us the
cause. To do this brings us face to
face with Jesus Christ and the resur-
rection. On that day all Christendom
is at rest. Mills, factories and stores
are closed. Why so different from 9th
er days? This is twentieth century
fact worthy of meditation.
The Sabbath is one of the oldest in
stitutions. When the Decalogue was
written, it simply referred to and con
firmed an established institution, Re
member the Sabbath day to keep it ho-
ly."
Why was the day Of rest and worship
changed from the seventh day of the
week to the first?
The seventh day Sabbath shared the
sepulcher of Christ, but not His fesur-
rection. One was the Sabbath of ma
ture, the other the Sabbath of grace;
one was the Sabbath of rejected, cru
cited and buried Christ, the other the
Sabbath of a risen and exalted Lord;
one was the Creators Sabbath, the 9TH
er the Redeemer's Sabbath, The first
day of the week Sabbath is one of the
strongest proofs of Christ's resurrec-
ton The disciples of Jesus had been
bigoted Sabbatarians. They would have
died to defend the seventh day Sab
bath. Suddenly they change and by
silent revolution accept the Christian
or first day of the week Sabbath. Some
mighty influence must have been ex-
erted. Why did they change? They
tell us that it was because Christ rose
from the dead on the first day of the
week. He appeared to them again and
again ON the first day of the week and
breathed on them the Spirit. The as
cension and Pentecost occurred on the
first day of the week. They must have
understood Christ to teach by all this
that the first day of the week was to
be henceforth their holy day. Intui-
lively they abrogated the seventh day
of the week and accepted the first day
as the Christian Sabbath. The Sabbath
we use is witness of Christ's resur-
rection and will remain the day of wor-
ship until the end of the world.
The day is to be kept holy and free
from secular employment.
1. Because God commands it. This
day was not smuggled into our calen-
dar by crafty church" as some other
holy days have been, NOR is it sus-
tanned by designing priests" God
made the Sabbath for man.
2 Because Christianity demands it.
If you remove the Sabbath or secular
ize it, then the Bible becomes a sealed
book, the gospel ceases to be pro-
claimed, churches are closed, mission
doors shut, the people cease to wor-
ship, and the world returns to heathen-
ism.
8. Because mans constitution de-
mands one day in seven for rest. Aside
from the gift of Gods beloved Son,
heaven never bestowed greater bless
bath of rest. People who can rest
when they please may not appreciate
it, but the great mass of humanity are
in the ceaseless grind of toll. Remove
this day of rest, and life becomes a
desert without an oasis. The Sabbath
of rest is the workingman's inalien-
able heaven born right, and no human
institution has right to take it from
him.
In America secularism is threaten
ing the holy day. If saloons and candy
and cigar shops are permitted to re-
main open on the Sabbath, why have
not all stores the same right? If news
papers, steamships electric and steam
cars are allowed to operate on the Sab
bath, why not the mills and factories,
the mines and farms? If secularism
continues, as it likely will, man will be
forced to labor seven days in the week,
with no day of rest, and the nation
will surely deteriorate. Continental
Europe has no Sabbath, and look at her
mental and moral degradation. All
Christians should sustain the sacred
ness of the Sabbath by word and by
life.
BIBLE READINGS.
Elk. Xxx, S-11; XXI, 1917; Lev. xix,
80; Neh. xiii, 1921; lisa. lviii, 1914;
John Xxx, 10, %; Mark ii, 1928;
Matt. xii, 1912; Luke xiii, 14-16; Matt.
xvii, l. Acts XXX, Z; Cor. Ky, 3; Tit.