Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-20
CHRISTIAN -HNDEAvOR HOUR
Conducted u aracs LivinsstOa Han.
Er February II.

stralghtway on the Sabbath DAY ne entered
into the synagogue, and taught.
%. And they were astonished at his doc
trine: for he taught them as one that had
authority, and not as the scribes.
%. And there was in their synagogue q
| man with an unclean spirit; and he cried
out,
"a. Saying, Let us alone; what have we
to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth
art thou come to destroy us? know thee
who thou art, the Holy One of God.
%. And Jesus febuked him, saying, Hold
thy peace, and come out of him.
26. And when the unclean spirit had torn
him, and cried with loud voice, he came
out of him.
81. And they were all amazed insomuch
that they questioned among themselves;
saying, What thing is this? What new doc
trine is this? For with authority COM
mandeth he even the unclean spirits, and
they do obey him.
| %. And Immediately his fame spread
| abroad throughout all the region round
| about Galilee.
| %. And forthwith, when they were come
| out of the synagogue, they entered into the
house of Simon and Andrew, with James
| and John.
| 80. But Simons wife's mother lay sick of
fever, and anon they tell him of her.
| 81. And he came and took her by the
| the fever left her, and she ministered unto
! them.
| 80. And at even, when the sun did set,
| they brought unto him all that were dis
| eased, and them that were possessed with
| devils.
| 80. And all the city was gathered to-
gether at the door.
"a. And he healed many that were sick
Of divers diseases, and cast out many
devils; and suffered not the devils to speak.
because they knew him.
The only phase of the Sabbath question
that seems to have taken strong and APP
pealing hold on the average Christian mind
is that the Sabbath was made for man and
not man for the Sabbath And that has
come to mean that the day was meant for
good Christian saints to take an entire rest
from whatever pressing cares the circum-
stances OF life have put upon them. That
there is any particular spiritual good to be
derived from it which they must make as
great an effort to get to themselves as they
put forth on week day for the temporal
benefits they receive does not seem to occur
to them.
There is much discussion of whether it is
right to do thus and so on the Sabbath or
not, and many good people differ widely,
so that every man must decide those things
for himself But into the midst of all theses
discussions it is a relief to remember that
our Example, our Master, Jesus Christ,
spent SabbathS on earth, and has left us
His life to copy. We can ask ourselves If
in doubt at any time about what it is right
to do on the Sabbath, What would Jesus
DOR What did Jesus do?
When Charles Sheldon's well-read book,
what Would Jesus Do?' came out, there
were not wanting critics who said hat it
was foolish sentence to cause so great a
stir; that people could not possibly tell all
these ages since, what Jesus would do II he
were placed in our positions But surely.
here, on this Sunday question we have true
testimony as to what He would do by the
facts of what He did.
. In the first place, he went to church.
He was not at home and he might have
had the excuse many of us have when we
are on vacation. that nobody knows us
and we are tired and are really under no
obligation to go If He had been In NaZa-
reth of course He would have been expected
to go to church, but in the Capernaum it
was somewhat different. Besides, He was
establishing His own kingdom, and even His
disciples would have thought it all right
if He refused to mingle with the Jews.
Next He went to the synagogue.
He did not take the trolley or train to
the other end of Capernaum in search of
the greatest orator Capernaum could pro-
duce, nor did He refuse to go to the syn
agogue because of their GOODNESS and hard
ness of heart and because their religion
was all of forms and ceremonies. He went
into the synag ogue at hand because 1t was
Gods recognized temple, where He had es-
tablished meeting place for His people
And when He got there He did not take
a back seat and slip out as soon as serv-
ice was over, without a word to let any
one know He belonged to God. He took
His part. A wonderful part it was. He
taught: and great a doctrine that all
were astonished. You and / might have
courage to speak in a strange meeting if
we had SO great things to tell. But have
we not? Here is lesson for us when we
are in church where we do not feel at
home. Let take hold and do what we
can. We may not preach perhaps, nor even
teach, but some way will be given us to
CHI ry6a low he T.ar6 nd
timony will count
Then Jesus cast out the unclean spirits
on the Sabbath day. How many of us ever
tried to do that?
There is the unclean spirit of pride We
sail into church with fine new hat or
cloak ard we look our poorer neighbors
over and forget to shake hands graciously
because we are ON the lookout for one more
great than ourselves to whom we wish to
speak.
We have neighbor who is very touchy
and Will not go to church because no one
has invited her, or because some one ia g
made her feel uncomfortable the last time
she went. How many times have we gone
to her and coaXed her to come with us and
won her in little ways until she was forced
TO yield that selfish spirit and come to
Gods house?
And when we get home from church and
81. at the dinner table. there cometh the
unclean spirit of criticism. We tell what
an ugly gown Mrs. Smith wore and show
the minister talks through his nose, and
repeat a bit of gossip about some young
girl, and laugh at the way the choir be-
have. Is 1T any wonder that the children
| IL there be any at our table grow I'D with
this spirit of uncleanness seven times worse
than their elders have had it?
And then how many people Jesus healed
| Oh the Sabbath! How many comforts
could we have brought to weary souls last
Sabbath? And did we? How many sick
people did we think to send a message or
flower something good to eat. with
| word quoted from the sermon? Wouldn't
| 1t be good work on the Sabbath to get Il
bit of help that has helped us and rass it
on to some one who is shut in? This might
be done by running in for moment to
bring them the cheer. by writing note.
| Not the kind of note one would write on
| week day. A real Sabbath note that would
| help to heal sick SOUL
| Then we might say something about
Jesus not suffering the devils to speak
| He would derive no glory from such a
source Are we always careful that our
| praise shall be spoken from no devil s
mouth?
We must be sure not to misuse the Sab
| bath in our zeal to do good. remembering
| first the sacredness of the day rather than
| the necessity for more deeds.
Applied Truth.
he husr-