Blessings of Sabbath Observance
By Clarence Santee
THE Sabbath is one of the two institutions in this earth of ours that have come down to us from the other side of the bonds of sin. The Sabbath, and marriage, were given in Eden. It was Christ who laid the foundation of the Sabbath by resting from His great and inconceivable work of creation. We are sure that Christ had a part in the work that, when completed, called for a Sabbath, because the Scriptures declare, "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not." John 1:10. Again, speaking of God, we read, "Who created all things by Jesus Christ." Eph. 3:9. There can be no stronger statement than that found in Heb. 1:1, 2. There is one more question that may confuse some person as we consider Christ in the blessings of the Sabbath. In Gen. 1:1, it is stated that "God created the heaven and the earth." If God created these things, how can it be said that Christ created them? Answer: Christ inherits the names of His Father. "Being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." Heb. 1:4. Speaking of the One who shall take the throne of David (Isa. 9:6, 7; Luke 1:31, 32), we read, "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Christ then, is called God; and He was the active agent in creating "all things." He who created all things, rested "from all His work which He had made." Gen. 2:2. This rest "from all His work" made it His rest day, or "Sabbath day," as Sabbath means rest. He therefore says, "The Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath." Mark 2:28. This, then, is one of the blessings of Sabbath observance, to know that we are following "in His steps." He also "blessed the Sabbath day." Ex. 20:11, last part; Gen. 2:3. Christ blessing the Sabbath day made it His "blessed" rest day. The blessing of Christ, in the Sabbath, rests upon all who, following "in His steps," enter into His rest. In resting with Him a man must cease "from his own works, as God [Christ] did from His." Heb. 4:10. There has been a serious failure to receive the blessing of Sabbath observance, by seeing in the Sabbath merely a physical rest from the strain of the week. We have heard speakers give statistics, hoping to prove that there is a financial gain to the Sabbath-keeper, because of his physical ability to accomplish more after the rest. We believe the blessing of the Sabbath can never be shared by the man who is looking for the physical rest, that he may be stronger to labor in days to come. The question of physical weariness or condition in any way, comes not into the Sabbath rest. Christ gave the example of true Sabbath-keeping. If we get the blessing of that rest, it must be by entering "into His rest." It becomes then a question of importance to know the nature of that rest, or, it is evident that we can not enter into it. He did not rest because of weariness. "Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?" Isa. 40:28. If weariness did not cause the rest, there must have been some object, or design, toward which to look, as the recurring Sabbaths should come to His creatures. Christ, who made the Sabbath, said, "The Sabbath was made for man." Mark 2:27. The blessing is for man. Christ gave the Sabbath that man might know Him. "Moreover also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Eze. 20:12. "And hallow My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God." Verse 20. How different this from the idea of the Sabbath being given for physical rest. The physical is renewed in the Sabbath only as it responds to the quickened and renewed mind which contemplates in this "sign," this pledge of the Lord, the glad and blessed assurance that He who finished the work of creation, will also perform a complete work in itself. Paul testifies of this when he says, "Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." Phil. 1:6. So, while here, surrounded by cares, perplexities, doubts, until the heart is almost overwhelmed, the Sabbath returns, and with it the remembrance that this blessed institution, which came from no human hand, still points to Him as the Lord, unwearied, "upholding all things by the word of His power," who "giveth power to the faint," and who gives the pledge of the power of the universe to the weakest of His creatures that, resting in Him, they shall prevail. These are some of the blessings of true Sabbath observance. But there are more. To-day, the great mass of mankind have forgotten the true God. They have no conception of Christ. They are idolaters, worshiping the creature instead of the Creator. They turn to the sun, the moon, the stars, to the creatures of this earth, for help. Paul, speaking by the Spirit of God, says this idol worship is simply the worship of devils. 1 Cor. 10:19, 20. Against all this flood of darkness, the Sabbath has been upreared, an everlasting memorial of the true God who "made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is." No man can forget God until He forgets the true design of the Sabbath. The Sabbath points to the God of a finished creation. "He rested and was refreshed." He contemplated with restful satisfaction His finished work. Then, as we enter into His rest, our souls are linked more closely with Him who upholds it all. Are we tempted to worship the sun, the Sabbath points to Him who made the sun. Do we turn to the moon, it points to Him who decreed the moon "to rule the night." Do we turn to the stars, they also are servants dependent upon that "word" which called them into existence. The Sabbath, the everlasting sign of the true Creator, kept with Him who made it, and who alone is to be seen in it, will be a tie that can not be severed by foes, nor the combined powers of darkness, binding the creature to his Creator. The Sabbath finds its power, its fortress, in Christ within by faith, in the depths of the heart. Its peace, its calm, no outward confusion can disturb. One may, it is true, keep its hours, and yet, not find the Sabbath of rest. The Jews clamored for the Sabbath while plotting the death of Him who made it. They had a Sabbath with no Christ in it. But separate the object for its observance,—to "know" Him as "Creator," "Redeemer," "the Lord that sanctify" you,—from the hours that compose the Sabbath, and it becomes an empty husk, from which the grain has been taken. Those who rest their Sabbath observance upon the decrees of men, will find outward conditions continually crossing their Sabbath calm, and will be led to seek civil power to enforce quiet, that they may have rest. Those who receive the Sabbath from the Lord,—the knowledge of Christ as the great power of all, creating anew the image of Christ in the soul, will have no need for the puny arm of flesh. The power of God is theirs; the sign of His acceptance is in the depths of the heart, and this is a field where man's tribune, or armed hosts, are powerless to invade.