04-The Holy Sabbath

04 THE HOLY SABBATH

Text “And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it. ’ ’ Genesis 2:3 a; “ The Sabbath was made for man.” Mark 2:27. The present and compelling need of every generation is a sense of the presence of God. To uncover in the heart of man his native longing for God, and to make him conscious of the divine imminence, is the chief responsibility of the minister of the Gospel. It is his office to discover the means of divine grace that have been provided, and to administer them in the fear of the Lord and for the cure of souls. His source book of divine revelation is the Bible. From it he draws inspiration, and by its teachings his own feet are guided. In his work of rescuing men from the -thraldom of sin and leading them out into the saving light of truth, the minister finds in the word of God both his polestar and his power.

One of the institutions provided for the blessing of man, as revealed in Holy Writ, is the Sabbath. The significance of the Sabbath in the revelation of God to man, and its place in man’s worship of God, are matters which can not escape the conscientious student of the word. The Sabbath is the culminating and crowning work of God in creating a world inhabitable by man. According to the author of the first creation story as recorded in Genesis, the earth was not made fit for the abode of man when all creature comforts had been provided, but only when the presence of God had been assured, through the symbolism of a holy day. The Sabbath played an important part in the development of the Hebrew religion, which gave birth to Jesus, and which was the bud that blossomed into Christianity.

There were husks of the old religion which fell away on account of the bursting life of the new, but one of the petals which compose the flower of Christianity, and hold its fragrance of heavenly incense, is the Holy Sabbath. Because of the place which the Sabbath occupies in the “Word of God, because it is a needed symbolism of the presence of God in the world, and typifies and promotes the worship-life of men, and because it is a neglected truth, necessary to the full enjoyment of the life of obedience and faith, I challenge our young people to become ministers of a whole Gospel and messengers of Sabbath truth..There will be those who will say you are magnifying the importance of an indifferent matter. But nothing that develops obedience or promotes piety can be considered unimportant. He must certainly be considered a superficial character who would lightly pass judgment upon the relative importance of various phases of God-ordained truth. The question can never be that of the Sabbath as against some more vital truth. The Sabbath rightly held and properly observed promotes spirituality and is the friend of all truth. The Sabbath is more fundamental to the life of the church, and bears a closer relation to vital godliness, than most Christians think. Because of its fundamental place in advancing the Kingdom of Christ, and in promoting the Christian life, there is a call for ministers who understand its character and appreciate its value, not only to teach Sabbath truth, but to be living witnesses of the spiritual value of Sabbath-keeping. I do not mean men with a “holier than thou” attitude. I mean men filled with the Holy Spirit, and who are more sensible of the presence of God in the world on account of his holy time-symbol, the blessed Sabbath day. The Sabbath may be held in such a way as to come between men and God. It may become an object of worship rather than a means of worship and its observance partake of a form of idolatry. This was the case with the Pharisees. In a similar fashion many Christians today bow down before the bread of the Holy Supper, and worship the material representation of the Son of God. No doubt the minute and formal rules of the Pharisees in respect to the Sabbath influenced the church in its gradual forsaking of the Sabbath. But the Sabbath of the Pharisees was a late development, growing out of that period of Jewish history which produced no sacred writing and gave birth to no prophet. Jesus to whom was given all authority in heaven and upon earth, and who spoke not as the Pharisees, went back to the original purpose of the Sabbath, which he said was made for man. The Master’s Sabbath-keeping was in harmony with the highest conception of the prophets of old, who recognized its ethical character, and by his spirit and attitude he gave it the stamp of a Christian institution which increased its power to promote the spiritual life of men. The call for young men who shall become heralds of Sabbath truth, is a challenge to those who have experienced the joy of Sabbath-keeping, and who realize and appreciate the place the Sabbath has taken in the spiritual life of the race. The call is not to the narrow-minded or the bigot. It is not to him who thinks he is sounding the full harmony of divine revelation when in fact he is but picking one string in the orchestra of spiritual truth. However, the lack of appreciation of Sabbath truth on the part of so many who minister in the church does emphasize the call for Sabbath advocates..

God’s holy Sabbath, trodden upon and neglected, needs preachers who are broad in their sympathies and devoted to truth, and who are deeply conscious of the world’s need of the vitalizing influence of the sacred seventh day of scripture, the Sabbath of Christ. In order that such men may be found, or be forthcoming, it will be necessary for our young men, and all of us, to take a new inventory of the spiritual assets of the race. The paucity of the church’s life, and its impotency in the presence of the world’s need, give us pause and lead us to consider the reasons for the church’s failure, in order if possible to restore her power and revive her glory. Many things will need correcting, but there is no doubt but what the failure of the church to recognize the Sabbath of Jehovah and of his Christ has impoverished its life and drained its power.

Shakespeare invokes blessings upon him who first invented sleep. “Sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care. ’ ’ The night follows the day of labor, when the body is rested and the mind refreshed for the renewed activities of another day. I do not mean to say that the Sabbath was made for sleep, either at home or in church. The provision of the night time for such use precludes that necessity. But there is a striking analogy between the provision of Providence for physical rest, and the appointment and sanctifying of a definite and particular time for spiritual recuperation and renewal. Soldiers say that shell shock its produced only when they do not know the shell is coming. If one hears the whine of the shell his nervous system prepares for the explosion. The Sabbath with its worship and with its call to the consideration of the things of the spirit, prepares the soul for the shell shock of the week’s experience in the work of life. It provides the weekly mountain top of transfiguration, when the Master is seen in radiant glory, the law of God is revealed, and the prophets sanction and inspire our worship. This service the Sabbath renders because it is an institution of divine appointment and has a sacred character. A seventh day of rest, worked out upon the basis of our physical requirements and appointed by the authority of men, could but have a salutary influence upon society. But the crowning glory of the Sabath of the Bible is its holy character. It has been made sacred by divine appointment, by the place it occupies in revelation and by the holy uses to which it was put in the ministry of Jesus. Leaders are needed who themselves are followers of Jesus, and who can lead the people along the highway of holiness. On this highroad of life the Sabbath is at once a way-marker and a milepost. It is a guide to the weary pilgrim, and it provides him at regular stages of the journey with a prepared and sheltered place for rest and spiritual refreshment. The world, weary and sin-sick, needs nothing more than it needs to feel the presence and power of a benevolent and righteous God. It is imperative that every means divinely appointed shall be used to bring to bear upon a waiting world the truth that God lives and cares for men. He who holds the Sabbath to be a regular and frequent expression of the Father’s love brings to his ministry a spiritual asset and a means of grace not known to him who ignores this vital truth.

Men, busy and preoccupied with the necessary burdens of life, need frequent and somewhat obvious reminders of God’s interest in them. But reminders meaningful and able to command a growing appreciation and to contribute increasing spiritual satisfaction. The weekly Sabbath, ordained of God, and holy, is a means at hand for this high service. Priests of God and ministers of his word are needed to break this Sabbath-bread to a waiting and hungry world. On the other hand, also, true spiritual Sabbath-keeping is an expression of love to God, and becomes a mode of worship and a method of praise. Where men walk not in their own ways and think not their own thoughts on God’s holy day, but reserve the Sabbath for thoughts of God, and for sdcial worship and spiritual ministry for others, the Sabbath becomes a buttress to character and a means of spiritual growth. Ministers are needed to lead men into a new appreciation and a proper use of this heaven-ordained means of grace. The specific task before the preacher of Sabbath truth is two-fold;^ to stimulate and strengthen a Sabbath conscience in those who profess Sabbath principles and who now observe the day, and to be evangels of the Sabbath message to a Sabbathless world. There is no question but what a more intelligent, thoughtful, and careful regard for the Sabbath day, and use of its holy hours, would promote piety, increase godliness, and make our churches powers in a world service. Pastors are greatly needed who can inspire our people with a new sense of privilege as Sabbathkeepers, and to a renewed and intelligent loyalty; and who can lead the churches into a fuller life and a larger service. And these pastors, these ministers for whom the call is sounding out in unmistakable urgency, must be men capable of meeting the world with their message of Sabbath truth. During the last ten or twelve years the Protestant churches of America have made great progress in co-operative service in many lines. But the very work done in co-operation with others has strengthened each individual denomination.

Today some of “the early leaders in securing the co-operation of the churches are taking less interest in such service and are devoting themselves to the question of the union of the denominations. One would be rash to undertake to prophesy regarding the question of church union. No doubt there are shoals ahead. A union of churches can not stand on a base built by compromise of truth. Unity of spirit and co-operation in service there may be even when fundamental matters of faith and practice prevent organic union. To these principles Seventh Day Baptists are committed, not only by action of Conference, but by their long history of such co-operative service. But they hold the Sabbath to be an essential part of divine revelation and its observance necessary to true Christian obedience. Larger opportunities will accompany the elimination of minor denominational differences. This neglected but vital truth of the Bible and Christianity, no longer overshadowed by mere forms of worship or methods of organization, will then, have its chance in the Christian church. Level headed men are needed, men of character and learning, who are loyal to the Kingdom and devoted to truth, to stand in the ways of men and hold aloft the blazing torch of Sabbath truth. May the young men from our Sabbath-keeping homes and churches who have convictions on this question, hear the challenge and heed the call of God. The call is for ministers generous in spirit, but unshaken in their convictions; consistent preachers of the Word of God, to proclaim, if not to a united church, to a less prejudiced and more open-minded church, a neglected truth. The situation demands, and the opportunity calls for men who have the courage of the reformer and the devotion of the saint of Paul’s type, to preach the Gospel of salvation to men and to carry the message of Sabbath blessing to the Christian church and to the world.

“And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it. ’ ’

“The Sabbath was made for man.”