The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-05-08
The Fourth Commandment.
SERMON BY REV. H. WADDELL PRATT.

the Christian will be anxious to carry II
out, not because 1t Is commanded, but
being q christian means that Gods will
and his will are the same on every matter
and his only concern will be that some
thing may prevent giving God all that Is
possible OF his time. O.,
Let us study the fourth commandment
more In detail.
We notice first that the Sabbath was
founded on definite, divine command
AS to what was meant there cannot be the
slightest doubt. It came with the same
authority las the command to keep the
Passover or to circumcise the child.
Again, the particular day to be kept as
the Sabbath was authoritatively determin-
ed bysGod himself. It was the seventh
day. The Scripture never calls. any day
the Sabbath In connection with the fourth
commandment but tne seventh. For a
Jew to keep the first day would have been
presumptious.
Third, It is expressly declared what Is the
purpose Of the Sabbath. 1t was q memo
rial Of Gods finished work Of creation (Ex
2O) and Of the deliverance Of Israel from
bondage in Egypt Deut. g.
Fourth, the manner In which 1t was to
be observed is clearly stated. One re-
auirement alone was made. No work for
a man .or his family or his animals. IT
forbade work. It did not forbid recrea,
ton. AS matter OF fact the Jews used it
for recreation. They paid visits from
house to house, and spent much OF the day
In social enjoyments. One instance OF
this is prominently mentioned in the case
Of our Lord. On his way to Jerusalem
lust five days before he was crncified, he
was entertained at big dinner party, as
we would say, at the home OF Martha and
Mary and Lazarus. Since He was cruel.
fed on Wednesday, this occurred on Sat.
the day, on Friday evening, the first part
OF the Sabbath.
In the writings Of Augustine we find
him censuring .the Jews for dancing, on
the Sabbath. He said that they had bet
ter plow than dance. Now whatever we
may say about dancing as 9 moral ques-
tion, It Is certain that the law did not for
bid dancing, bnt did forbid blowing.
have no doubt that II the pious Jew In
Palestine In the time OF Samuel:had known
the same development Of sports as we
have today, he would have put no obstacle
In the way ofFhis boys having game OF
baseball, or tennis, or other recreations,
80 long as no work was done, on the Sab
bath day.
The passage in Isaiah SO 1914 in which
yon will notice the word pleasure is used
has no reference whatever to what we call
the pleasures or amusements Of today.
It Is generally agreed by scholars that 1t
relates to business, work, daily occupa-
tions throughout.
Nothing is said in the Old Testament
about special worship on the Sabbath daily.
The priests In the temple continued to OF
fer the daily sacrifices. But 1t was not 9
day for worship. 1t was simply q day OF
rest. The word means cessation, rest
There was but one place to worship
That was the temple at Jerusalem. The
people went up there to, the feasts. They
were required to do this at least three
times a year. But the weekly Sabbath
had no requirement for Worship. We
have no idoubt that the pious 1sraelite
time in thought about God, In instructing
the children. In telling his family what 1t
was that the Sabbath stood for. 1t was
Gods way Of securing for the successive
generations the knowledge Of his wonderful
dealings with his people. But provided
he did no work, no priest or other relig.
ious officer had any right to call him to &C.
count for not worshipping.
The use Of the word ''holy'' has no doubt
led to much confusion In this connection.
The word ordinarily means "set apart
Anything set apart wasiholy. The dishes
vessels OF the tabernacle were "holy," be-
cause set apart. and yet thev had no NOR
al character. The priests were holy
Ellis sons, for instance, were holy, though
they were men Of very bad character.
"Holy" is used In the sense OF pure, ,sclean,
also. But this Is derived meaning not the
q nation set apart from all others, yet In
the time Of Mannasseh, it was anything
but holy, In the sense Of righteous. The
tribe OF Levi was "holy," being
set apart from all the others,
but 1T was anything but holy In the
time OF Micah. The priests were "holy,
set apart from the families Of Levi, but
they were anything but pure In the time
Of Christ. The high priest was "holy," set
apart, but Caiaphas or Annas was any
thing but good.
The temple building was "holy," set
apart, within this the inner court was
"hoIy," set apart FROM the rest, and still
further within was the 'holy OF holies.
set apart from the inner court. Inc flrst
fruits we're "holy'' set apart for God, the
firstIines of ;the cattle were "holy," the
1.-THE was "holy." all set apart for God.
So the seventh day, the Sabbath was holy y
set apart. The seventh year was holy,
the land must then rest. And the forty
ninth and fiftieth years, the fiftieth being
theiyear OF jubilee, were sabbatlc years,
"holy" set apart to Cod. :,
All these requirements were intended to
teach Israel that God claimed the earth,
the people, their property and everything
as his own. The Sabbath was great es,,
sential OF this system which God planned
for teaching great spiritual truths. -
It Is no wonder then that the penalty
a. ,.elo nd
severe. It was the one commandment
that kept before the people every week
Gods claim upon them. 50 just as the
high priest had to die II he went into the
Most Holy Place on any other day than
than the great day Of AtOnement, so the
Israelite must die II he worked on the Sab
bath day.
Except for this commandment, the ma
jority OF the people would not have thought
of God. But the entire cessasion from
work each week kept Him constantly in
mind.
It was a singulary benificent institution.
The agricultural life OF Israel did not
compare in It's trials and hardships with
present work and distress In labor. They
had no sweatshops, mo long night hours,
no crowded tenements, But they had to
work, and man and beast became tired and
the Sabbath was welcome at the end OF six
days. It was a perpetual witness OF some
thing better and thus stirred In the Israel
ite those hopes which have drawn men
Godward throughout the ages. Slaves
and animals were greatly blessed by 1t,
securing as it did for them In those days
that which would never have been theirs
and that which no other nation afforded.
I have no doubt that this cessation of
work was an offense to the covetOus then
avan as now Amos tell us Amos 8 :5) that