The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-06-12
THE CHRISTIAN
AND THE

The sermon herewith printed was
preached IN the Abbeville Presbyterian
Church on May ), 1912, and is the sequel to
that published heretofore III this paper.
1t seeks to present the attitude Christians
should maintain towards that portion of
their time which they should dedicate
solely to religious service. The sermon
has been furnished at the request of the
editors Of this paper, who have kindly
consented to publish it at the solicitation
of many who heard it delivered.
This is the day which the Lord hath
made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psa. lis :24.
On last Sunday morning we preached
on the subject Of the Sabbath, the
seventh day of the week, and sought
to present the truth on this matter us
found in the Bible. Practically all that we
said concerned the seventh day of the
week, ordinarily called by us Saturday, but
which with Scriptural propriety we might
call the Sabbath, and not Saturday. The
Lords Day, that is the first day OF the
the week, which we call Sunday, was spok-
en- of only incidentally. What we say to-
day will concern chiefly the Lords Day,
though the Sabbath will be mentioned
when necessary in order to clear the
minds of many of evident confusion that
exists there Oh this subject.
The first mention of the Lords Day by
name in the Bible is in the 1lSth Psalm:
This is the day which the Lord hath
made; we will rejoice and be glad III it.
In the 18th chapter of Mark, after Christ
had spoken the parable against the Jews
OF the vineyard and the murder of the son
of the owner, he asked them, Have We
never read, the stone which the builders
rejected is become the head of the corner.
This is the Lords doing; it is marvellous
in our eyes" 1t is an exact quotation OF
the two verses preceding our text. The
stone is Christ, as all know. The builders
are the Jews. The stone refused is Christ
rejected by the Jews. The stone raised to
the headstone is Christ raised from the
dead after his rejection. The marvellous
doing is the resurrection This day.
spoken OF in the text is the day of Gods
marvellous doing, that is, the resurrection
of Christ from the dead. The day OF the
marvellous doing is therefore the day of
the resurrection. The resurrection day is
therefore the day the Lord made, and be-
cause he made it, it is His in a special
sense, and should be called the Lords Day.
Now, since the resurrection occurred on
the first day Of the week, it follows OF ne
cesSity that the first day is the Lords
day. The PsalmiSt, speaking by the Spirit,
saws that those who love the Lord will eS-
TEEN this day above all other days in the
week.
Though this is the first mention Dynamo
of the day i'll the Bible, it is referred to in
Lev. % :l0-11. In connection with the feast
of firSt-fruitS a sheep was to be brought to
the priest and on the day after the Sab
bath, that is the first day of the week, he
was to wave it, which act was accomplish
ed by lifting it up before the Lord. TAX
ing this in connection with / Cor. 1920,
"Now is Christ risen from the dead and
become the first fruits we see that it
foreshadowed the resurrection, and as
Christ rose from the dead on the first day
of the week, We find anticipated in Le-
v~iticus, as well as prophecied in the
Psalms, the resurrection of Christ, and the
day declared to be the Lords Day as
plainly as words car declare.
The only other place in which the Lords
day is specifically mentioned is Rev. ITO.
In this passage therei is nothing to indicate
which day in seven it was. But in many
places in the New Testament We find that
the disciples came together on the first
day of the week, and whatever stated
times there were for worship or service for
God, the first day GEMS to have been the
one most used. But there is no specific
command anywhere in the Bible making
the first day of the week a day OF legal Oh
legation, as the seventh day of the week
was under the dispensatlon OF law.
The Christian would then like to know,
has God made known His will with ref
erence TO the use of time, as He