Hawaii Holomua, Volume III, Number 140, 16 June 1894 — THE SABBITH. [ARTICLE]

THE SABBITH.

— I The Progressire Memoiiala ai the Sabbalh » A Sermon by Bishop I Willis. '• K«,*rnember tLat tboa vaat » in the lami of Eg>'pt. aad that the LnrJ tb_v Go<f bronght thee cat theace throagh a migbty hanil and ky a stretched out arm; theref<ire the Lord tby God eomj manded thee to keep tbe Sabbath 5 : d«y.” Deut, V. 15. La-t Sunday, I poiuted out tbat the obligation imposed on mank ud by tbe Fonrtb Commaudinent tbe duty of giving to God a **renth of our time. •*Six days sh:»It tbon Iabour, but the > seventh tbou shalt rest." I showed i yoa tbut Seventb d «y is not neceesarily tbe Seventh day of tbe week; that for any one to say that the Seventh day mn*t be Satunl.iv, and ean only be Satnr day, is to be iike one, wiio, having leurnt the Key of C. on {tbe piano, maiiitains tbat B is tbe seventli note of the scale, and tbat uo otber note ean be the seventh note. But as ia munie the seventh uote cbanges accordi ing to the key in uhieh you play. but yet is ahvays subject to a p»rticular law, so the Seventh day to be kept bolv has falleu on d fferent days nnder different disI pensations; Sat«rday bavingbeeu tbe «la\* of rest aoder the Jewish Covenant, while SunJay is the Christiau Sabbath, or the LorJ’s i This evening I suppose to trnce withyouthereasonof tbechaoges, anJ in so Joing we shall see the ' progressive character of the memi orials attached to the Jay of rest i at snccessive perioJs of the 1 worlJ’s history. I'irst of all it is to be noticed | that THE 0KI01N (»F WEEK8 is to be traced to the Divine Institutiou of the Sabbath. If God i had not given mau the Sabbath, . time would never baVb been broken up into those periods, we eall weeks. Munkmd eonkl not i bave learnt this division of time ; from nature. M m learnt the year by observing the return of the ; i sun to the sime position in the heavens after, as was supposed ! in primitive titues, a journey thrcngh the signs of the Zodiac. From now moon to new moon gave the month. 13.it nature has no ; snbdirisioQ of tbe month into weeks. Perhsps you ask, is not tbe week a natnral subdivision of a mooQ into quarters? A week, j however. is uot a qoarter of a moon. There are 29i days iu a iunaiiou, not 28 Still it might be said, thongh not an accamte division, it is the nearest subdivisiju obtainabIe, seven beiug | the largest number that will go four times into 29J. To this the answer is—From time immemor- ’ ial every nation under heaven has kept ye.irs and montbs, bot not weeks. The observance o( the week has beeu by uo means universal. Though observed &mong ; the primitive uations of the eartb, it ha*i no piaee in tbe theGreeksand the Romans. It is uuknown to the Chinese. It is ■ ouly of late years that it has been introdaced iuio Japao. Tbe Hawaiians w ith a name for everv dav in the monih h.td no kn >wlW edge of the week, until mission- j aries eame from Boston, and sadiy uiixed them ap by piving them • week whieh is neither Cbristiau uor Jewish. For oalling the second day of tbo week Poakahi, aud the seventh Pmoho, tbey caased |tho ! Lord s Day, whieh they called LapuU, to be regarded as tbe seveoth. It will now be clear to voa that ■ i the week bas a dilferent origin to 1 the year aud moath. Its origin is tbe obligation to keep even* Seventh day a» a day o( rest, whieh was part of the Law writ- j teo on the heart of man at the creation. Remeruber tbat there 1 was vo vriUtH U »»c for the first i 1 twenty-fivo centaries of the: ' wor!d’s bistory. when the Txx | { Woki*s— the Deka Loooi (Deca- , 1 iogu«^—wore writteo wtlh ihe Fmger of Qod on Two Tables ol 1 Stone Bat all that Ume man waa ] aot without law. The Spirit

th»t Ood bro»tbed unto bim. whieh lifted bim above tbe rest of tbe creatir n va» īn fortoed of the Dmne Will to whieh he most be obed:ent Tbe dotv of I keeping ho!v erery Soreath Jay | vaa as clearly written on bis eooj science, as tbe obligation to respect tbe liie and wife and proj perty and cba -actfer of b« neighj boar, as !aid 3own after»ards in i the 6tfa, 7th, Stb,and 9;h Commandments. For the ten Coroiuandments t re Iinks in one ehain, sectioos of one Law, from j whieh onf c »i not be iaken withj out detriment of the n ho!e. I hope tha. I have now maile it clenr that 'va shouid not have have had weeka exeept for the institation of ihe Sabbatb. lt will tbeu be seen lbat tne observanee of the S.«bbatb does not I arise ont of ary inherent sanctity ! attacbed to oi.e particular »lay oi i tbe week. but that the seu>e of obligation \vr:tten on the Luman Leart tbat eveiy 8eventh ilay sliouId be a day of sacred rest is the origin of v.eeks. That sero>e was intiuiatelv bonud ap \vith tlie knowledge divinely revealed that G«h1 tnade the etrth <>n whieh ; HiaO was ulacod iu six days, alul bad r«*sted ou t!ie Seveuth. For j tweuty-five ceuturies there was ; uo irrit(en v'or-l to tell him this. It wa.s part of tbe iunale sen.se of | Di vine tliing' he bruught with him into the w >rld. If we camu>t agree with oar po«t \Vordswortli, :u his beauti ul ode on Intimations of Iiumortaliiv. tliat* “The Sonl th«t h» with na, onrlife's St«r, Hath ha.l elsewhere its āeUiin;." We eau fully concur in his eoneluaion: — “Not iu eu: re forgetfuluess, .\mi uot iu ntter u.iktilness, But clon is of g'ory tlo we ouuie From ōo<l. Vho is onr home: • • % • • • ‘The youth, who i!;uly farther from the east Must travel, still is N«tnre’s Priest, Aml by the visk>n splendid Is on his way attended; At leugth the Mau ppeceives it die awsy Aud facle imo tlie light of eowmon day.’ j Has not tbi: heen the history of munkind. As be travelled further aud f irther from Para- j dise, tbe ong nal writing on his heart lieeame nore aud more indistinct, till ie was nuahle to decipber it, aial it was necessary 1 for tbe wntten Law of Sinai to save him from forgelfulness of j the original Iiaw of conscience. It was the res:ilt of tbe heavenly light that sboi.e in Par.idise tbat a seventh day rest was observed in patriarchal tiraes as a Divinely appointed MEMOWAI. OP CREATION, a perpetual remainder that in six tlays, God bad tuade heaven aml e:»rth, and bj.d rested on the Seventh. Aud when tbe Ten Commandmeuts were finall}' given from iionnt Siuai. there was incorporated witb the eom-l mand to keep the Sabbatb tbe gronnd of its icstitution, so inseparable ia tl.e ob!igation of tbe j Subbatb from the Memorial of Creation; ”Fur, in six days the Lobd made heaven and earth, the ! sea and all that in them is. eud rested theSevfnth day: wherefore ( tbe Lord b!essed the Sabba(h day, ; aud hallowed it, (£xodas XX. 11).” You will notice that in the Funrtb Commandment as written iu the Twentieth Chapter ; of Exotlus, it is tbe Sabbaih dajf, i not any particular day of the ; week that the Lord blessed. All throogh tbe patriarcbai timesit is | highly probable tbat the Sabbath , had been kept on tbe first day I of tbe week. For, wheo human I history is tra>*ed to iis f nntain bead, we find >ts startmg poiot to | bave beeu at tbe clo.se of tbe ; Sixth day of creation, so tbat tbe first rising snn tbat ever. greeted Luman eyes was on tfac ‘ morning of tLe d«v whieh God | blessed and s,.nctified, ”because iu it God rested from ail Hisj work whieh God orented and ’ raade.” Brt. wbetber the Sabbatb was the first day, or tbe the Seveutb day of the week, in prediluvian «ud, in patriarcbal times. it was the abiding wiineaa to a belief in God, Wbo, in the beginning ereated beaven and earth, and a neemonal tbat in six iaya Vhe work ->f creation was eompteted, and that on tbe Seventb ]rod rested rom tke work of ereation. II. But witb tbe begiuaingo( Ihe natioual lite of tbe J«wish people, as tbe ohoeen people ol God, whom Qe faad brougbt omt

— s-lu . js xw= '• [ Egvpt, a ne# rneaaing tn t given to tbe Sabbatfa. It »aa t tieoceforth to bo A 3tEJfORlAL 0F THK EEOE3I?TIOS OF I5IIAEL r , - Eg> pt- I ne«d not re m ii! tliat their Hedemption from pt . wa * tbe grounJ on whieh G>1 . cUimed theix obedience to F.;s j Law (Exodos XX. 2). Now cox* paro tbe Fonrtb Commandmt ct . as >t tsp;ven in £xodos with ; L>rm ia whieh Moses rebearseti īt on the biaks of tbe Jordan ii Deateronom_v V. 16. There !rmits the ground of the insti'.n* > ti°o of the Sabbath >.i . tbe tabies of stone, and givet- » j new r«asoa for its observ »m t. I "And remember that thoa was ; . » . Servant in the Und of £gvpt, a 1 1 1 . that the Lord tbv God br:agiit' tbee ont tbeuce through a rc ght • Laud and bv a stretcbed oat ar.a; r tbertfore the Lord tby G>1 comraaaded thee to keep Ij>| , Sttbbatb dav.” I I It is pUin, then, that the leoiemberance of that wonderfa! deliveranae from Egyptian l on jage was thenceforth bonnti u> with the Subb»th dav. Tnere 5» go >d reas->n fnr thinking tfc»ij with the Exod!»s a chango wn m:ide in tbe day of tbe werk on : whieh the Sibbath was kept, t‘m ; new order being deterrnined bv i tue Gift of tho Maoua. It is iiapossfbie to trace the order of tb« days of the week as Christetdcui received thera from the Je'v« further baok thau the Exodns. j The first recorded Sabbath n 1 Jewish history is thut ruention ‘d | in Ilie account of tho Manna u Exod«s XVI. The hand of G< tl : is clearly to be seen in deter r ni i- i ing tlie new order of the ve< k j aud t!ie position of the Sabbat i. | Now eaii w« discern anv j Providentiul reason whv tlm! day on whieh the Manna beg: u to fa!l, should have ever after| beea the first day of tho 1 ! week, and the Sabbath ha -»ij fallen on Saturday? From j. | Christain point of view it is cer- j tainly worthy of uotice that tb i; j day, ou whieh after the Besnr-! rectiou the disciples camt> t> 1 gether to bre<k bread sboaki i h tve heen the duy on whieh G» e» first gave His people in tfcf wilderuess bread from he»= ven Hut why should Satarday ha’e heen mude the Sabbath? Was it an accideut as being thefeeven!l J day since the manna bfgai-’ 1 Snrely not. It is not difficult to ; fiad the reason. Tbe Bible ie very particular in giving ns the i exact date on whieh the m inur. I, was first gathered. The Childn l , of īsrael arrived at the wikleme*. j?f Sin on the 15th day of thc second month. The next moni < ing, the 16th, the nianna appea >-! 1 ed. It fell for six consec'iti”6 < days. aud the first Sabbath w.is j ] Satard»y tbe 22nd. Now, if yt t i coant backwards, the previo»ui j ’ Saturday wonkl faave been tl e ( lōth, 8th, and lst of the secord j i month. and tho 2lth and 17di >1 1 the first mooth, Nisan. Yoo will;' remember tbat it was on the 14tL • ] of N:san that tbe firstborn of ti.< ] Egyptians were slain, and tl:c ' < chikiren of Israel, after eatirg'| ( the p8seover in haste, started t i I ( their fligbt, and gnided by the i i pilUr of fireencamped at Snoco!h i ( on the morning of the 18t». j j Acconling to tbe sacred namti -t ( there were tbree encampmentsb} |-i fore tl»e shore ot the Bed Sea w.is i j reached. Josephns. the Jewkt ( bistorian. says that it was on tkr j < tuird day that they encamped i'. i j Baalzepbon. By Jewish reckon- 1 ing that wonld be the 16th. We ( bave already seen tbat tbe l7 fc ' was Satorday. We may tfaerefore ( fix witfa tolerab!e cert»inty tko 1 nigbt of Friday tbe 16th tbat is. < the first 12 honrs of Satarda/. 2 tbe I7tb, (tha Jewish day begiu |« ning at 6 p. m ), as the Ume )i 1 1 the passage of the Bed Sea. Bj j ( fore day!ight the captives o: ! i Pharaob redeemed by the migh:y | < faand of God, who faad maie f. | ( w»y in tbe sea for this ransomtxl 1 U> paaa over, stood safe on tke i Arabian shore, “and the sea »«- i tarsed to hia »trengtb when the I morningappeared. Aod the Ler 1, 1 overthrew tfae £gyptians in tke midst of tbe sea.’ ’ W hnt a | ] d*y of th »nkfal reet that SaU r-11 dir most b«been afier tke to U « and terrt>« they faad undergo i« i amee the night of ihe passivcr. < Doee aot tfaat explain wby Sat- ] »faoald have beeg (B&fked i

? > ij out to be ;be S«bbttth dij cnder the Jewisb Corerunt. u the weeklr naemonal of tbstr Redemption from Egrpt? DelĪTered on thet A*r forerer fr"*rn tbe brtckkilosof Egrpt. aad the t »sk m»sters. aad toil vbīcb kn«.v u<> 1 intemU of rest. how con!d tber ! as God's freedaien depriTe tueir dansenrant3. and tbeir nsilser vant3. &nd tbe stranger. aad taeir cattie of their God-giren rigbt of rest on tbat day on whi.'h 'b>l deliTere«l them from l>otd.»ge ■*tfarongb a mighty hacd aiul * stretclied ont arat.’' As » mea»ori.al of rederation from the hoose , of bondage, it was au e>serti!tl j part of lbe coramand »s g;ven; ia Deateronomj, “that tay manserTants and ra.Hidservat.:s iua\ reat as well as thoa” We bave now seen tbat wl;ilst in the predilQTiHn and (uitriarrhal j ages tbe Sabb itli bad b*en only a memorial of Crfat>on. it becnme noder the Jewish dispensation m memorial also of Re>lempti~n from I Egyptian bondage. 111. TVe now eome to tbc Cbristian dispensatiou. And ?irst mark the resemblance l»etweeu the work of tbe Kevlemption of’ mankind by the death of :he Son of God, and the work of Creation On the 6th day, man was created It is on tbe 6th day also thit he is redeemed by tbe De.itb of Cbrist. Again tbo SeTe:itL d ty is tbe day of Divine rest. On that day the Redeemer rested in the grave. And on the f' rM lay. of the tttek Ile rose again, le*ding captivity captive, havjng woa for tl;e whole race of ulnn a triumpb of whieh the deliverai.ee «f Israel ■ from Phamoh was bnt a typeand sbadow. Woold it not be strange 1 if Chrislians had gone oa keeping tbe weekly rairaorial : of tbe redbmptior, of ( Israel, and had neglected to ’ commemonte their own r-»der.ip- 1 tion from the power of t-in aml 1 Satan. As the tnemorial of a J < great deliverance from hnuian '■ tyranny, tho Jewish Sabbith waS • appointed to be kept on S »tarday, * but onr Christian Sabl>ath is \ * kept ou Sanday, the first J iy of ; the week, to be the weekly

MEMOKIAL OF TIIE RFDEMITIO.N OF ALL MAXKIND, | of their deliverence from Satan’s l bondage,throughthe R’surrection of Jesus Christ from the dead on the first day of the week. But, it is said, we do not find j any order in the New Te'tament to chango the d«y. Ai.d wbereever we meet with any raeution of tbe Sabbath day iu t!.e Acts of the Apostles. it is not Snn,lay. : but the Jewish Sabbath that is meant. Of coarse it is. on what, other day wonld St. Paol have foand large congregiti >ns of Jews iu the synagogaes to whom he eoukl preach the Gospel. Asj for auy order to change theday,j we dō uot look for it. The Gospels aud Acts of the Apos;les are historie3, not 13ooks ol Laws, What we do find in the Xew Testament is this; Tuat our BIessed Lord was present witli

His as3emb)ed Apostles oa the evening of the D.iy of R?>iUrrec-i tion, whieh w'as the First day of the week. That a wholo weuk w>iR allowe»! to |>«s.s invlading tbe Sabbath, before He »gnin «p l>eared irt the midst of tiieiuonj tbe following First d«r of thej week. That again, seven weok= after the Day of Resnrrec!ion,the disciples **were all with oue aocord in one plaee,” on the morning of the First day of the week, when in tongues of fire tle Holy Ghost was ontponretl upon tbem. Tbat whilst it was nator«I that the first belierers, baving been brongbt up in io Judtism, should contiuue to keep Saturday as the Sabbatb, whilst tbe tenopJe ms sti)I standing. tbe First day of ihe week was the day “oa whieh tua di&ciples c.itne togethcr tu break bre*d,” tbat is. to ee!ebrate the Ho)y Commonion in Commeraoration of the De*th aod Resnrrection of our Lord. And in the lifetime of the Apostl«. the Fiist day of tho week had receired the name of tbe Lord’s day, (Ber. i. 10). lt is plain, lberefore, i.'om ihe| Se«r Te»Uoieat, thnt inm tfcei ftrst foandation of the ChnrcbJ w*?r« nol satisned QHiTely. to keep tho anuicy*ury oI the Ra6nrreetion ou E«eier D*y, bnt. aa nnder the o!d Corennot tbe weekhe q| the

• £xc>das bu.l bcen k?*pt, *o. as f«r ■ as they were ah!e, tbey kept an E.4sler D»y in o-ery »eek, nieei- [ ingoatbefir»i cl»y o( tho week ( for lbe cetebr»tion of thut aervico rhicb tbe Lonl bt J mst;t jtOvl to i 1»e obeerrecl as tba memorTkI of Uim antil His C3miag ag.un. It • »ras not in the natore of things th.it tbe Je wlsh Sabb-itb sbouIJ onee pass away. Bronght ap i nJer the Jewisb law the fin»t i» tsc:pies woulJ not at onee see | tbeir w.iy to tr.i isfer the obliyi- : tions of the F »arth ConmiaJi iaent from tbe o?d 3abbath to the • i'irst d»y of tbe week on whieh ;they caet for C »rist!aa worship. JJul *s conrerts wen» bmosLt m i n *;n»ra tho he«tlen uaiione. the |i cesti,in woaM ari.se. whieh d«y hrer. they to kfep. TbeJad*is:ng pwrt) . who w inted to iinpc>se ihe whole lawcf M.»ses on the Gentiles, woale n«lnr«iiv urge th J the old S il bath be ret«ine\l. i Itut what had the Gentiles to Jo tj keep the menor : aI of the Ex<dos. whieh w,ts but a shsJow of tae reality wrorght for uU m'inUn<t by the Kesnrrection of il hrist. There w ?re s >uie preach[ers in t!>e e:ir!y Church who ! t iO' ghl tb«t b th divs alionM be ; kept, «nd eallei. npon the eiuIoyers of labour to gire th,?ir | slares a boliday l»oth ou S itur day aiul Su.ml.iy. Cut this waa asking too mueh l>v I>;vin • eo;unand, the Sons of toii hare a nght to oae d y in seven. but cot to two. Fiually, tho F.rst dny of the week was est ibliahed by tho general cousent of the Chnrch,as the dt»y of rcst aud religious worsbi| of Christen<Iom. If anjr_tell yon liHt the change c{ t!ie S«bbuth fn»ui SHtnrdav to Snndav was U!.sde by Coustant’ne; yon reay assnre such tliat tuey are eutirel/ mist »ken. It vhs iu the re»gii of C »nstautina Im f erial Legisl ition firat eame ia tocK.se Uw coartsand tbeairos on thnt dny of the week whieh tbe Clu»rch gnide<I by tho Holy Spirit had aet apart aa the {. hristian Subba h in menaory of t.io Itesucrectio i of Christ from t 16 dead.

Yon \rill nn>r perc<?ivQ tLe grand catholicity of t• iiuemori il t»mt cua«esooi Chri.sti.in S.»hb »tb to bo kej>f on th*' ti. day of the week. aud how j;»tiaitely greater i is than tliat liieli oansed tba | Sabbatb to bo k?pt on Sitarday jl y the Jews To tbem it was a memoiial of cr-»atiou, an.l the ‘ r?demptiou of t ieir fatbcri frora i t.ie boaso of bor.dago. But to u.s I oor Christi«n 8 bb.»th, while rejaminingtt memoii.l of creation, j i- tbe memorial e f the redemption jot ail mi»nkind bv t ! ie Da;»t!i *ij j I.esurrection of tlie Inc.rnate Sou t>f God, of ictory \vouover tiie arch Eneray of men, and tbe i Eingdom of H»»aven oj>ene<l to all j believers. Thus the keepiug of I I le first day of t!ie weok as tho ; eiemonal of oa:‘ Il‘,*deinption is ! intimately b >un 1 up wit!i th«t iaherit.»iice iuoorruptiblo and I undefi!ed, and that f .detli nit | away, to the ho >e of whieh we ! bave been bogollen ng»in by the Ke-\nrrection ofes;rs Cbrist from tne .le.ul ii.P. t I 2 i

?sotice to tiie l-*ublic. T'ie umW* r**spectf;illy g've« noi ce t;nt. coin-itencing *«th ne*t MONUAY, JUNE l5th, t ier will bfgin l'»e comp:l.»li »n of s ne w tntde dire i*!rv fir the 1§l tmL«. 81 ta.-»ny inf»-riur an«> ua* rel ab!e pahlie-iliona ol thia kind t.«ving b»-ea toist» d upoa tbe publ e, iu»*ke9 it itDperative that a dir *ctory conUiuit.g accur .le aud rdub:« inf.fno.iti n be la-a^-l. th»ro-gh!y »cq iair.ted nilh tne needa ».{ the pe.ple iq ihia n-ep-el. we nak the aopp >rl and o->)prratiuB of tb< merchinU <»f Honoluin and peraor.s throngh iat t.ie ls!anda. C. S BP.ADF0RD, J. J C'.AY.