Sabbath-breaking a Leading Sin.
By President Hopkins
THERE is a peculiarity in the law of the Sabbath, as a test of simple obedience, and of a temper generally right toward the Divine government. For obedience to the other commandments, reason may be found in the obvious interests of society and of the individual; but this is so far from being the case with the Sabbath, that of all the Ten Commandments, this is the only one concerning which the question has been raised, whether it was moral or positive. This is not because the connection between the violation of this law and its results is less certain, but that it is less immediate and obvious. Its sanctions do not come directly, as when one puts his hand into the fire; but they come according to another general method in God's natural government, remotely, as in the effects upon the social fabric, of intemperance, of licentiousness, or revenge. Of these, individual instances may seem slight, and alarm on account of them may be mocked at; yet through them there will gradually steal in a moral malaria that will poison and blast everything noble. Thus it is more especially with the Sabbath. God has infallibly linked cause and effect here; he has plainly revealed that connection; yet the chain itself which binds them together is often concealed, or revealed only to the eye of faith. Hence it is that Sabbath-breaking is what has been called a leading sin; it is the point at which men naturally break away from God; and when that is fully done, nothing can restrain them from any crime but the absence of temptation or the fear of detection. Under these circumstances, let an individual devote the Sabbath to religious duties, public and private, honoring God and delighting himself in him, and he will show that regard to the principle of duty, as such, which will make him a good citizen—a pillar of strength to free institutions. He who thus walks humbly with his God, will do justly and love mercy.
—President Hopkins.