The Coolidge examiner., 1938-02-10
L,nbropea H SUNDAY
Uniform c~,r~0r
-:-LESSON = :
BY REV. HAROLD L. LUNDQUIST.
Dean of the Moody Bible Institute
of Chicago.
q Western Newspaper Union.
Lesson for February Is
CONSERVING THE SABBATH
EnR 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-God's Holy Day.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOP
IC-What Shall Do on Sunday
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOP
HC-Using the Sabbath for the Whole
Man.
"A mans soul is In 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 It is a symptom Of spiritual
disease. There is mischief within.
It 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. / am afraid OF
you, lest have bestowed on you Ia
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 day Of rest and
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, 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"
I. 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 were 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. %: 25) guaranteed that right
to the one who passed through
his neighbor's 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 professed concern for the Sab
bath was a real hatred for Christ.
It 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.
They are not concerned that the
man with the withered arm, or with
the withered soul may be helped,
but only that they may find some
thing to condemn. And even now
their descendants are sitting in the
pews of our churches. May God
convict them of their sin!
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 Qike plucking the grain) or OF
mercy Oike 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.
Cd 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..
He declares that the Sabbath is un-
der his control, and He says that it
was made for mans good.
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 mans S
good, not for his destruction. His
greatest good is served by rest. wor-
ship, spiritual development, Chris
tian fellowship, and the doing OF
deeds of necessity and mercy. The
desecration of the Lords Day in our
time is a serious matter. Let us
not contribute to its deterioration.
America needs Sunday as day OF
rest and worship.
III. Righteous Indignation Mani
tested.
Our Lord rightly showed His holy
anger (v. 50 against his hardheart-