The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1938-02-10
Lesson for February Is
CONSERVING THE SABBATH
FOR MAN

LESSON TEXT-Mark 2:23-3:6.
GOLDEN TEXT-And He said unto them,
the Sabbath was made for man-Mark 2:27.
PRIMARY TOPIC-God's Holy Day.
JUNIOR TOPIC-Gods Holy Day.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOPIC
What Shall 1 Do on Sunday?
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC
Using the Sabbath for the Whole Man.
ga mans soul is in a bad state
when he begins to regard man-made
rites and ceremonies as things of
superior Importance and exalts
them above the preaching of the
gospel. 1t is a symptom of spiritual
disease. There is mischief within.
1t is too often the recourse of an
uneasy conscience No wonder
st. Paul said to the Galatians, 'Ye
observe days, and months, and
times, and years. 1 am afraid of
you, lest I have bestowed on you la
Dor in vain " These are the COM
ments of John Charles Ryle, Lord
Bishop of Liverpool, on the lesson
of today.
The Journalists of Christ's day, the
.Pharisees, had overlooked the heart
of Gods law and the holy living
which it was intended to produce,
and had bound up even the OBJ
servance of the Sabbath (Which was
intended to be a day of rest and
gladness) in such a mass of tech
nical "thou shalt nots' that it was
a day of fear. They had false
outward profession of worship and
had entirely missed the true spir-
ituality of Gods law, a fact which
drew upon their heads the anger
and rebuke of our Lord.
While we as Christians do not OBJ
serve the Jewish Sabbath, there are
principles of doctrine and life bound
up in this lesson concerning the Sab
bath which we may with profit ap-
ply to our day of rest-the first day
of the week-the resurrection day,
often called 'the Lords Day."
1. False Spirituality Unmasked.
The two incidents in our lesson
reveal that under the cloak of ear
.nestly observing the law of the Sab
bath the Pharisees we're actually
covering their own hypocrisy and
their hatred for Christ.
The accusations against the dis
ciples because they had taken and
eaten grain was not on the ground
that they had stolen, for the law
(Deut. 1929 guaranteed that right
to the one who had passed through
his neighbours field. They contend
ed, however, that the disciples had
worked on the Sabbath in picking
and hulling the grain.
The healing of the man with the
withered arm revealed that back of
their protested concern for the Sab
bath was a real hatred for Christ.
1t is an appalling thing that in the
house of worship on the very Sab
bath day these men, outwardly so
religious, were plotting against our
Lord. ''They watched him. and
even so the enemies of the cross
watch us who are his followers.
ii. True Spirituality Defined.
Jesus cuts across human hypoc-
risy and hatred to declare that the
true keeping of the Sabbath is to do
the work of God. No work of neces-
sity (like plucking the grain) or of
mercy Qike healing the withered
arm) is ever out of place on the day
of rest.
How shall we know what we may
do on the Lords Day? Two guild
ing principles appear in our lesson.
(1) Know and follow Gods Word.
Note the use that Jesus made of it
in verses Is and 26. No man will
misuse the Sabbath or the Lord S
Day who understands Gods Word
and obeys it. (2) Live in accord
ance with the spirit of the Lord
Jesus. When tradition stood in the
way of the best interests of man,
He broke with tradition. If He could
do good on the Sabbath He did it.
A word of caution is needed, for
some have sought to interpret this
lesson as providing biblical ground
for doing all sorts of things on their
day of rest That day is for man S
good, not for his destruction. His
greatest good is served by rest, wor-
ship, spiritual development, Chris
tan fellowship, and the doing of
deeds of necessity and mercy.
iii. Righteous Indignation Mani
tested.
Our Lord rightly showed His holy
anger ". 81 against his hardheart-
ed critics. He was the Holy One
who did not permit His anger to go
beyond it's proper expression. Man,
it must be confessed, seldom is able
to control and direct even his
righteous indignation. But there is
such thing as being angry without
sin (Eph. 4:26), and one could some
times wish that Gods children could
be moved to holy anger against all
sin and unrighteousness.