HOW TO OBTAIN A BLESSING FROM THE SABBATH.
By A. W. Judson
IN Mark 2:27, 28, we read that "the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath; therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath." The Son of Man is our Lord, because He created us, and He is Lord of the Sabbath, because He created it; for in John 1:3 we read that "all things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made." He is not only the creator of this world and all things that are therein, but "by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him and for Him." Col. 1:16. When God created the Sabbath He placed His blessing in it; for we read in Gen. 2:3 that "God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." Nowhere in the Bible is it said that He ever placed His blessing in any other day. No man can dig gold out of a mine in which there is no gold, and it is certainly just as true that no one can receive the Sabbath blessing from a day in which such blessing never has been placed. As the Lord made the Sabbath, and placed His blessing in it for man, that is, for Adam, it belongs to all of his posterity; so that whosoever will seek it in the right way will find it. But how can we receive the blessing that the Lord has placed in the Sabbath? We often hear people say, If I lived in a community where everybody kept the seventh day, I would keep it. But they could not obtain the blessing that way; for, instead of seeking to obtain a blessing from the Sabbath, they would be seeking a blessing for being like the people around them. And, in seeking to be like the people around them, they would not be seeking to be like the One who said, "Follow Me;" for when we take our eyes off the true Pattern to follow any man, even tho he be a Christian, he will, through the weakness of the flesh, be likely to make mistakes and lead us away from God. When our Saviour created the Sabbath, He was a spiritual Being, so the blessing that He placed in it was a spiritual blessing. Then all those who seek for that blessing must worship Him in spirit and in truth, on the day which He has blessed. Merely refraining from work on that day will not bring the blessing; "but if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raiseth up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you." Rom. 8:11. In Matt. 12:10-13; Luke 13:10-13; 14:1-5; John 9:14; and in other places, we are told just how our Saviour kept the Sabbath after He became the Son of Man; and if the Spirit of God dwell in us, it will cause us to keep the Sabbath according to His example. Then we will delight ourselves in the Lord, according to Isa. 58:14. Then we will understand the truth of the statements found in Eze. 20:12, 20 and Ex. 31:13, 17, that the Sabbath is a sign between God and His people, that we may know that He is the Lord, our God, and that as His power created all things, it is sufficient to recreate us, and make us new creatures in Christ Jesus. Dear reader, will you not believe His promise (Matt. 7:7), "Seek, and ye shall find," and then seek for His blessing in the Sabbath according to His Word, and accept it, and know by it that the God you worship is the One that created the heavens and the earth? Then you will have peace and joy that you can not obtain in any other way.