The Proper Observance of the Sabbath

Notes

1. God requires of us to be holy, righteous, perfect, keepers of His holy, righteous, perfect law. While we cannot of ourselves meet His requirements, there is that power in the very requirements themselves which will enable us to become and do all that God commands if we will but yield to do it. The Revised Version of 1 Peter 1:16 reads, "Ye shall be holy; for I am holy." God is able to make us all that He requires us to be. This He does by putting into us His own presence. 1 Cor. 1:17-19; Rom. 8:9.

2. God made the Sabbath holy in the beginning in the same way He makes us holy, in the same way He made Mount Sinai holy, by putting His own presence within the day in a special sense.

3. The Lord does not lay down hard and fast rules in His word concerning all the details of life. He lays down clear and positive commands concerning our duty. He lays down broad and far-reaching principles, and oftentimes specific examples to illustrate the principle. He has done this as regards Sabbath observance. It was made for man, not to be a day of absolute physical rest, not to be a burden, but a day of spiritual delight, of communion with God, of labor for Him. Preparation for our needs the day before will give us the sacred hours for spiritual growth and meditation upon God and His works. It is as important now as it was in the days of ancient Israel that we should bake and seethe (boil) for the Sabbath on the day previous. This is illustrative of other duties. This does not mean, however, that cooking is not sometimes justified. God will have mercy and not sacrifice. The feeble often need warm food. The sick sometimes demand special food and care. The little ones need milk. Let the controlling question of each one be as regards himself, not his neighbor, "What will glorify God?"

4. By "thy pleasure" is meant the pleasure of the worldly minded. Such are to take their feet from the Sabbath,—turn from dishonoring it. The Christian, however, delights in it, as he delights in all God's law. Ps. 1:2; 119:47. He has found delight in an indwelling Saviour, and the regenerated heart finds added delight in the Sabbath, in which that same Saviour dwells.

5. In the example of our Lord we find a true interpretation, an object lesson of the law of the Sabbath. He did not seek His own pleasure or his own profit, but that of others. He attended the public assemblies and listened to or read the word of God. He sought God for the strength He needed. He justified His disciples whom the Jews condemned for supplying their needs by rubbing out the wheat in their hands. He ministered to the sick and afflicted; He spoke words of comfort and instruction to the longing soul. Such should be our mission.

6. As we do not know how the Sabbath should be observed as we ought to know, how important it is that we seek Him in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, that He may make us wise to know! And when should we do this? All through the week we should remember the Sabbath, in order that we may keep it holy when it comes, and plan our work, our business, our associations, accordingly. We should seek Him especially at the beginning of the Sabbath. If we are alone in honoring God's day, let us draw apart with the Master for a season. If we have companions, associates, seek God with them. If our family is all united, let us gather around the family altar and repeat some passage from the word of life, or read from its sacred page, repeating the fourth commandment in unison, and then seek God for His Sabbath blessing. Give the children a part. Let the irritated feelings, worn nerves, be soothed by the Spirit of the Master, and let each minister blessings to the others. In thus seeking God we will know how to put a difference between the clean and unclean, between the holy and profane. Eze. 22:26.

7. The Sabbath day should bring us double blessing. The priests, who represented the whole people, ate the bread of God's presence on the Sabbath day. They therefore partook more largely of His presence. They received a portion which they did not upon other days. This is what the Sabbath should be to us. We should have the blessing of God's presence in the heart on all days; we should have the added blessing of the Sabbath on that day. Thus would we be lifted to a higher spiritual plane each week; and as God never bestows one spiritual grace that He does not wish us to retain, and which He will enable us to keep, so the next Sabbath would lift us to a still higher plane of spiritual life. Thus would every Sabbath be a stepping-stone to lift us nearer God.