The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1943-10-15


GOLDEN TExT-And he said unto them,
The sabbath was made for man, and not
man for the sabbath.-Mark 2:27.
The sabbath was essentially day
of rest and worship; hence the prin-
ciples which surrounded it and di-
rected its life may be applied to our
day of rest, which is the first day Of
the week-the Lords day.
That word ''rest'' sounds little
strange in this busy world Of ours,
and yet it is an important one. II
means quiet for the struggling one,
calm for the troubled, repose for
the weary, tranquility for the dis
turbed, cessation of labor for the
worn-out one.
God in His infinite wisdom saw
that without rest man would soon
destroy himself, and He made pro-
vision for one day in seven when
labor should cease and man should
be free for that recreation of soul
and body which should fit him for
the labor of the week.
Our lesson answers two important
questions about our rest day, name
ly, Why ? and How?
L. Why We Keep Day Of Rest
(Exod. 20:8-11; lisa. 1918, 14).
The chief reason is that God COM
mands it. One day out of seven is
for our recreation by rest and wor-
ship. That should be sufficient to
cause His people to remember" the
day ''to keep it holy"
Doubtless it is true that essential
war work and related activities must
be carried on, even on Sunday. God
did not forbid works of necessity.
But even though there is this need,
who will deny that many use Sunday
for work that is not essential-an
countless others devote it to goddess
pleasure.
Notice that the day of rest was
to be not only for the family, but
also for servants and for visitors.
The employer who unnecessarily OPP
crates his factory or office on Sum
day violates this commandment.
Note also that the man who is to
rest on the seventh day is supposed
to work on the six days.
The precept of Exodus 20 is en-
forced by the promise of Isaiah So.
The man who delights in keeping
Gods commandment regarding the
day of rest, will find that God de-
lights in and ilonors him. Both men
and nations have found this to be
true.
ii. How We Keep Day of Rest
mark 2:23-3:6).
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 observ.
ance of the sabbath (Which was in-
tended to be a day of rest and glad
ness) in such a mass of technical
''thou shalt nots" that it was day
of fear. They had a false outward
profession of worship and had en-
tirely missed the true spirituality Of
Gods law, a fact which drew upon
their heads the anger and rebuke of
our Lord.
The two incidents in this portion
of our lesson reveal that under the
cloak of earnestly observing the law
of the sabbath, the Pharisees were
actually covering their own hypoc-
risy and their hatred for Christ.
The accusations against the disci-
pies because they had taken and
eaten grain was not on the ground
that they had stolen, for the law
(Deut. 23:25) guaranteed that right
to the one who passed through his
neighbours field. The Pharisees con-
tended, however, that the disciples
had worked on the sabbath in pick
ing 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. 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 something to con-
denim.
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 Cike healing the withered
arm) is ever out of place on the
day' of rest.
A word of caution is needed, for
some have sought to interpret this
Scripture as providing biblical
ground for doing all sorts Of things
on their day of rest. That day is for
mans good, not for his destruction.
His greatest good is served by rest,