SABBATH REMEMBERING by W. E. Cornell

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 5, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 44.

SABBATH REMEMBERING.

By W. E. Cornell

BY W. E. CORNELL.

WHEN the work of creation was finished, the great Author looked over it all and pronounced it "very good." It was perfect. It challenged the admiration of all heaven, so much so, that the morning stars sang together and all the angelic hosts shouted for joy. Nothing was made in vain, but everything had its divinely appointed place in contributing to the well-being of man.

The Sabbath was no exception to this rule. Christ declares that it was made for man (Mark 2:27), and the fact that it was specially blessed of God (Gen. 2:3) conclusively proves that it was designed to be a blessing to man. When Abram was asked to leave his home, and go into a land unknown to him, he was comforted by the divine promise, "I will bless thee, . . . and thou shalt be a blessing." This shows that when God bestows his blessing, it is that it may be reflected.

The command from the mount was, "Remember the Sabbath day." Re—again; memorare—to bring to remembrance. The Sabbath was instituted as a weekly memorial of the great creative work and of its Author. Sabbath remembering, as it was originally designed, could have but one result—it would lead the mind up through nature to nature's God, and thus idolatry could never have been possible. What a wise provision!

Somehow, it seems as tho through all the ages it has been the studied effort of the great arch-enemy to blind the eyes of even God's most zealous followers as to the real nature of true Sabbath-keeping. Instead of its being a blessing, it came to be loaded down with superstitions, ceremonies and grievous requirements, which made it a burden rather than a delight. Christ, the Author of the Sabbath, had much to say about proper Sabbath observance when he was here upon earth, and much of his teachings cut so squarely across the conventional ideas of his people that he was again and again openly charged with Sabbath breaking—a crime punishable with death. Of the prevailing sentiments, we read in connection with the account of his healing the impotent man (John 5:16): "And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day." And again, when the eyes of the man blind from his birth were opened, the Pharisees declared: "This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day." John 9:16. But Christ taught that it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath, and by precept and example stripped the day of the meaningless ceremonies with which it was surrounded, and made it stand out as it really was designed to be, a blessing and not a burden to mankind.

True Sabbath remembering comes from the heart. It is spontaneous. During all the week we are to look forward to that blessed day with delight, just as a typical young American does to the day of the celebration of our national independence. It is a time when we cease to do our own pleasure or think our own thoughts, but out of the abundance of the heart praise Him who has showered upon us the manifold blessings that we enjoy. It is always proper on the Sabbath day to do disinterested works of mercy toward both man and beast. The Sabbath, as no other day, affords an opportunity to parents of inspiring in their children a love and reverence for God; indeed, to the child of God the Sabbath is a "delight," "holy of the Lord" and "honorable."

Des Moines, Iowa.