Proper Sabbath Observance
By L. A. S.
SABBATH-KEEPING, like every other performance of duty toward God, must be “according to the commandment.” We are admonished to “remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” To keep the Sabbath holy is to preserve it just as God made it, a day of rest and spiritual delight. It is to preserve the Sabbath whole, to refrain from any act which would mar it; for “holy” means whole. A thing is whole, in God’s sight, only when it is perfect. A thing is imperfect only because some of its wholeness has been lost. On this point of proper Sabbath observance the United Presbyterian says:— It will be admitted on all sides that there must be some ultimate authority which is to govern us in our relation to this day. That authority must be from one of two sources, either the civil or the divine law. To permit every man to be a law unto himself, and decide how the day is to be observed, gives us a condition of anarchy instead of order. The civil law may be in line with the divine law, and when it is, the authority of the divine is then simply re-enforced by statutory law; but where the enactments of the state are silent or in contravention of the divine, then we must obey God rather than men. The resting on the Sabbath must be “according to the commandment.” When the state undertakes to legislate in regard to Sabbath observance, it specifies a list of acts which will be deemed illegal, and another list which will be considered lawful. For example, the Sunday law of Ontario provides that to sell or purchase “goods, chattels, or other personal property, or any real estate, or to carry on or transact any business,” or employ any other person to do the same, is illegal; but it is lawful to sell drugs or medicines; receive, transmit, or deliver messages; convey travelers or mails to their destination; make repairs to machinery in certain cases; run certain trains which are en route when the “Lord’s day” begins, etc. This legislation is promoted by the “Lord’s Day Alliance,” for the purpose of preserving the day which is held to be the Christian sabbath. The state Sunday laws in the United States are of similar nature, but differ from each other in their lists of legal and illegal acts. In this respect each law is contradictory to the others, and the whole mass of these man-made “Sabbath” laws represents what the United Presbyterian calls “a condition of anarchy instead of order.” Many acts which are allowed in state “Sabbath” laws would be unlawful of performance on the Sabbath day according to the statements of the fourth commandment. An act which may be no violation of the state “Sabbath” law may be altogether contrary to the Sabbath law of God. “Where the enactments of the state are . . . in contravention of the divine, then we ought to obey God rather than men,” says the United Presbyterian. It ought to be clear to all who have compared man-made “Sabbath” laws with the divine law that state laws regulating religious observances are in contravention of God’s law, and that the only proper Sabbath observance is that which is “according to the commandment.” Why should Christian people, who profess to recognize this truth, plead for state enactments to preserve holy the Sabbath day, when they confess that the only proper Sabbath-keeping is that which is according to the commandment of God?