The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1918-01-24
INTERNATIONAL.
SUNlEYS0lOOL
LESSON
Dy u. o. SELLERS. Acting Director OF
the Sunday School Course of the Moody
Bible Institute, Chicago)
Copyright 1917, Western Newspaper Union
LESSON FOR DECEMBER 16
NEHEMIAH ENFoRcES THE LAW
OF THE SABBATH.
LESSON TEXT-NebemIob 1a:15-2s


bath Day to keep It holy.-Exod. 2O:S
Nehemiah remained In Jerusalem
twelve years, from b. G. 44i to B. g
432. He was then recalled and was
In Persia some years, perhaps five ol
seven, but returned about b. G. 425
the year Artaxerxes died, for we know
that he returned by permission Of that
king. Therefore, the date Of this les
son would be sometime In the summer
Or early autumn of 426 or 427 Il. O..
I6 or 18 years following last Sundays
lesson.
In the section, w. 1914, we see that
the gifts for the house of God and
the Levltes, who led in worship, had
been neglected. Whenever the house
Of God and It's service of worship Is
neglected, we may expect that the Sab
bath day and the worship of God will
also soon fall into contempt. Ezra has
dropped out OF our history without a
hint as TO his end. He may have re-
turned TO Babylon, seeing that his
work was completed, or have been te.
called by the king. Perhaps he brought
pack information to Nehemiah at the
Persian court, OF the declension which
had already started In the city Of Jeru-
salem. Three times in this chapter
the word remember" Is emphasized.
Perhaps that offers q suggestion as to
our outline.
I. Remember" ". 14) the Neglect
Of Gods House. wv. 1-14). The neg
lect of Gods house grew up out of the
lncursion Of heathenism into Jewish
.lfe. Nehemiah realized that TIE pur-
lty Of the race depended upon absolute
separation from the mixed multitude.
". 81. Nehemiah also confronted the
difficulty Of having priest ,(vv. 4, o.,
who had defiled himself and also desc
Grated the temple, and finally the por-
ton for the support Of the priest and
the temple worship had been withheld.
". 10Y. This was the state of things
with which Nehemiah had to contend.
II. Remember" ". 12) the Sab
bath Day. (vv. I5-22). rIehemlah's
next and most difficult reform was re-
gardlng the fourth commandment. He
Of once set about to learn the facts |;
then relates what he saw ". 15). The
record also tells how he testified
against them In that they were selling
merchandise on the Sabbath day. lie
contenGed with the mobiles that they
had done evil on the Sabbath day. ".
10. He testified against them that
the merchants and sellers OF ware had
lodged about and within Jerusalem.
(vv. 20, Ply. The root of the trouble
with Judah was that they forgot Gods
word and followed the devices and de-
sires of their own hearts. The Jewish
Sabbath In Its outward form on the
exact day Of the week is not binding
upon Gentle Christians (Col. 2 :16, lD.
II was given to Israel as a people,
Ueut. 5:l, y, as memorial Of their
dellverance out of the land of Egypt
and the house of bondage. Deut. 5;O.
The Christian, by the death Of Christ.
Is made dead to the letter of the law
of Moses, (Deut. 7:4), but the prin-
clpJe of the Sabbath Is older than even
the law of Moses and Is as binding
upon the Christian believer as are the
many other principles which underlle
the Mosaic law. In Its exact form, the
seventh day, the observance of the
Sabbath belongs to the old order and
not to the Christian order. Christ, who
rose from the dead (Rom. 7:4), rose
on the first day Of the week, and we,
ns Joined to Christ, are not under OBJ.
legations to the Mosaic law, but to
Christ. Therefore, the Lords day, the
resurrection day, the first day Of the
week, tRev. 1:10; John 21 20; 1:19-
26; Acts 27), is the day Of privilege.
not of obligation aud Is more sacred
to us than the Sabbath day Of these
Jews. The Jews In Nehemlah's time
showed their contempt Of the Lords
day by making 1t a day Of profit, hence
this exhortatlon which we see set forth
In this section. This should be warn
Ing and an exhortation to us in these
days of secularized Sabbath.
~. "Remember" ". 29) the Holy
Priesthood. wv. 8-31. In this section
we see that the priesthood had even
defiled themselves with women, and
again this Nehemiah entered UPON a
cleansing process, wv. 30-3D. The use
Of this word remember" in verses IA,
% and 20 gives strong emphasis to the
three cardinal sins against which Ne
hemiah was battling.
w. Summary: AS In Nehemiah's
time, SO now, Sabbath desecratlon Is
the surest road to national ruin, and a
large proportion Of our present calam-
lty can be traced to growing lrrever-
ence for the Lords day. Jesus swept
away tho cobwebs Of Sabbath irrever-
ence, but did not tear down the house.
He kept the principle, but removed the
barnacles with which the Pharisees
and Jews had encumbered 1t. Jesus
taught that the Sabbath was made for
man and not man for the Sabbath,
Mark . :27, 2S), and he set himself as
an example in this regard, for he is
Lord of that day as well as the other
days Of the week.
The Sabbath is a day Of rest and II
observed, workmen without exception
will produce more than Is possible If II
Is not observed. Recent confirmation
Of this principle can be found In the
report of the British ministry of NUM-
tlons. To observe the Sabbath or any
other divinely ordained principle tends
to prosperity Il Tim. 4:S).
The chief value of the Sabbath, how
ever, is in connection with the wor.