The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-05-08

common day, and it Is the first that We
observe as q religious festival.
g. The Sabbath day was memorial of
creation and deliverance from Egypt. The
day first commentaries the resurrec-
tion OF our Lord from the dead. ,t...
4. The Israeite kept the Sabbath per-
fectly when he did no work himself, nor
allowed those subject to him to work. It
was for. rest, not for worship. The first
day Is d day which we have for worship,
prayer, service and meditation.
s. The penalty for not keeping the Sab
bath was death. There Is not a sugges-
tion in the New Testament that we are
guilty for violating the first day Of the
week. ....
The only similarity between them con-
sists in the fact that both recur every sew
en- daysIand both contain the principle
that one seventh Of time should be set
apart from the rest In every other re-
spect they are in contrast. .
For some time after the Christian era
began, the Jewish Christians continued to
observe the Sabbath. To say how long Is
difficult because we have no inspired rec
ords on the subject. 8.
It equally difficult to determine when
Christians began to observe the first day
as day Of rest as well as worship. After
the Resurrection, when any day Is spec
tian life, it is the first day Of the week. 1t
is clear from the New Testament that they
came together on that day to ''break
break" ..s
How it came about that the first day was
selected Is easily seen. Christ had found
ed His Church. It was not enough simply
for man to be allied to Christ In per-
sonal relation. By virtue Of this, he be-
came connected with his. fellow men. They
became one body In Christ. These rela-
tionships required expression. Time was
necessary for this. It Is not hard to see
why the first day Was selected by the in
spired apostles. This was the day when
Christ rose and redemption, was achieved.
1t was the day Of his appearance to the dis
eiples. It was the day Of the baptism OF
the Spirit at Penteeost. Naturally, even II
not'guided by inspiration or receiving
direct command, the early Christians
would have selected this day. The Sab
bath day was the day to them of dead
Christ. To. observe the Sabbath would have
have amounted to denial of his resurrec-
ton. It would have been teaching the lie
that the Pharisees manufactured and
which their followers. have even In this day
revived, that the body, the physical body
grave. But they knew that his body, the
same one which he had before death, did
rise. So they chose to use the first day.
AS far as we can find out In the New
Testament, the apostles did mot command
Christians to- rest on that, day. The only
command In the New Testament relative
to the first day Is one which is wilfnlly and
habitually violated by nine tenths Of pro-
Tossing Christians, namely, upon the
first day Of the week, let each oneJ Of you
lay by him in store as God hath prospered
him." It seems lprobable that for 8 long
lime the first day was not observed as a
day iof rest When Christians became
more numerous and more powerful In the
cure the first day from intrusion, so that
they might shave' 1t for worship. By the
time Of Constantine they had reached such
power that the government made laws to
secure the day as q day in which men
might be free to worship, and they did
this by limiting the work OF that day
The laws Of the State did notthen and can.
not rightly say that we shall now do this
or that. But they can say, we must re-
frain from work II the majority are bene-
fitted thereby. But the matter Of rest was
a secondary consideration for the Chris
tian on the first day.
The contrast therefore Is striking. The
Sabbath was made primarily for rest. It
and the building Of the synagogues that it
was used by the Jews for worship. Be-
fore the captivity, the temple was the
place Of worship. After the captivity, they
used the Sabbath as the day of worship,
not because commanded, but because the
Sabbath law gave them leisure that day.
The worship was an accident, not the real
object Of the day. ..-.'..
On the other hand, The Lords Day, the
first day was used primarily for worship
and religious activity. After while 1t
came to be. used also as day Of rest. But
rest was the accident, and worship was tn
chief use Of the day.
It Is seen therefore that theSabbath was
matter Of law, the Lords Day is a matter Of
privilege. When therefore one asks what
he may or may not do on the Lords day,
he Is raising question that the Christian
should not ask at all. If one is real
Christian, II one has been born again and
Is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, not simply
church member but q member Of the Lord
Jesus Christ, he will want all the time pos
sible to devote to the worship and service
Of God. He will therefore use all proper
means to secure the first day of the week
free from all sorts Of intrusions that he
may have at least one seventh of his time
for spiritual matters. But he will not
stop There. He will take Wednesday
night as many true Christians dos and he
will welcome the custom which is growing
Of closing business at noon on Saturday,
in order that the Lords Day may be still
better protected. But it will be for the
Christian not matter Of legal obligation,
but Of glorious privilege. OF course il a
man is not Christian, II he has not been
born again, he is still under the law, not
under grace, and what we have been say
ing does not apply to him. AS far as can
is not Christian Is under legal obligation
to keep Ethe seventh day Sabbath. The
Christian is not under the law. The nee
essary inference Is that Is not a Christian
Is under the law and the seventh day Sab
bath OF rest is part Of the law, and hence
the unbeliever Is certainly under this COM
mandment.
Up 10 this point, we havenot spoken Of
day Of rest as social, political institu-
tion. God bears two relations to tho
world. AS manifested in Christ He is our
Redeemer and the founder Of asupernatur-
al organization, The Church. Aslthe moral
governor Of the universe, and OF this
world in particular He founded the natural
organization, the State. The State, under
the Almighty as its moral governor, has
the right to enact laws for the best inter-
ests Of its people. What are the best, it
determines from revelation and provi-
dence. Experience plays large part.
Now it Is scientific fact as well as re-
vealed fact that man needs one day Of rest
in seven. So for it's physical well being,
for itsIintellectual we'll being and especial
ly to counteract the terribly strenuous life