TO THOSE THAT PROFANE THE LORD’S DAY.
By the Rev. MATTHEW HENRY.
THE Lord’s Day was appointed to be an earnest and sign of our everlasting rest—the rest that remains for the people of God. It is intended to mind us of Heaven, to fit us for heaven, and to give some comfortable pledges and foretastes of the joys and glories of that blessed state to all those who have their conversation in heaven and their affections set upon things above. These are the days of heaven; and if heaven be an everlasting Sabbath, surely Sabbath is a heaven upon earth. In them the tabernacle of God is with men; and have you no value for eternal life, sirs—no concern about it? Is heaven nothing to you, as not worth the thinking of? Do you indeed despise that pleasant land, and prefer Egypt and garlic and onions, before Canaan’s milk and honey; and a mess of pottage before such a birthright and the privileges of it? Your profanation and contempt of the Lord’s Day plainly saith you do so, and according to your choice you shall have your lot—so shall your doom be. You say you hope to be saved, but what ground have you for that hope while you plainly show that you neglect this great salvation by your neglect to commemorate Christ’s resurrection, by which it was wrought out, and your neglect to improve the means of grace, by which you are prepared for it? If you had indeed any good hope of eternal life, you would not think much to spend one day in seven in the joyful contemplation of it, and in getting yourself ready for it. You say you hope to go to heaven, but what pleasure can you take in the expectation of an everlasting Sabbath, and of the employments and enjoyments of that world, when you are so soon weary of these short Sabbaths, which are types of that, and are ready to say, “When will they be gone?” What pleasure can it be to you to be for ever with the Lord, to whom it is a pain and a penance to be an hour or two with Him now? What happiness will it be to you to dwell in His house and to be still praising him in heaven, who, by your goodwill, would never be praising Him on earth, but grudge the few minutes that are so employed? Heaven will not be heaven to a Sabbath-breaker, for there is no idle company, no vain sports, no foolish mirth or unprofitable chat there, and these are his delights now, which he prefers before communion with God, which is both the work and bliss of that world. All that shall go to heaven hereafter begin their heaven now. As in other things, so particularly in their cheerful conscientious observance of the Lord’s day; and now lay all this together, and tell me if there be not a great deal of reason why you should keep holy the Sabbath day, call it a delight, holy of the Lord, and therefore truly honourable, and why you should therefore honour and sanctify Him on that day—not doing your own ways, but His; not finding your own pleasure, but aiming to please God; not speaking your own words as on other days, but speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Isa. lviii. 13. Can the entanglement of custom, company, carnal pleasure, or worldly profit be more powerful with you than all those sacred cords and bonds? Can the pleasing of a customer, the obliging of a friend, much less the gratifying of a base lust, balance the displeasing of God, the dishonouring of Christ and the wronging of your own souls? I beseech you consider it seriously and be wise for yourselves.
After these considerations which I have urged—surely I need not insist upon any other—I am confident the reigning love of God in your hearts, and a deep and serious concern about your precious souls and their eternal welfare, will furnish you with consideration sufficient to oblige you to as much strictness and care in the sanctification of the Lord’s day as the Word of God requires; and as it is necessary to answer the intentions of the institution, and more than this we do not insist on, think much of that of the Pharisees, which though blasphemously misapplied to our Saviour, was grounded upon a great truth. “This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day.” John ix. 16. Will it be to any purpose to suggest this further consideration to you—that the way to prosper in your affairs all the week and to have the blessing of God upon you in them is to make conscience of the Lord’s day. That truly great and good man the Lord Chief-Justice Hales writes it very solemnly to his children—”I have found by a strict and diligent observation that a due observance of the duties of the Lord’s day hath ever had joined to it a blessing upon the rest of my time, and the week that hath been so begun hath been blessed and prosperous to me; and, on the other side, when I have been negligent of the duties of this day, the rest of the week hath been unsuccessful and unhappy to my own secular employment the week following. This I write (saith he) not lightly or inconsiderately, but upon long and sound observation and experience.”
Shall I mind you how much it will be for your credit with all wise and good people?—”Them that honour God He will honour.” Shall I tell you with what comfort you may lie down at night in the close of a Sabbath, after you have carefully done the work of the day in it?—”Yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.” Especially, think how sweet and easy your reflection upon well-spent Sabbaths will be when you come to die, and with what pleasure you will then look forward upon the everlasting Sabbath you hope to keep within the veil. Wonder not that I am thus earnest with you in this matter. I see how much depends upon it, and I persuade as one that desires and hopes to prevail with you. Let me not be disappointed—as you tender the glory of your Creator, the honour of your Redeemer, and your own comfort and happiness in both worlds, I beseech you, remember the Sabbath day—the Christian Sabbath—to keep it holy. Most certainly true that saying is which I have somewhere met with—that the stream of all religion runs either deep or shallow, according as the banks of the Sabbath are kept up or neglected.
A Lily Gathered: Kenneth Douglas, Halkirk.
THERE died at Church Street, Halkirk, Caithness, on the 7th January, 1903, a little boy named Kenneth Douglas. He was in the ninth year of his age, having completed his eighth year on the 29th of the July preceding his death. His illness began when he was a little over four years old, and he continued delicate for the remaining years of his life. He was never strong enough to attend school, though sometimes he moved slowly out of doors. His trouble, which took the form of dropsy, prevented him from joining in the usual games enjoyed by children at his age, but he seemed as happy as any of them, and his face wore a warm, kindly smile, with an unusually intelligent expression. He was subdued and patient in his suffering, and very respectful to his elders. His attitude at worship was most reverential, and he much appreciated the visits of praying persons, and would remark on their exercises after they left. He liked the stories of the Bible in preference to all others, and anyone who would read them to him. Though suffering himself he did not forget others in a like case, and his tender consideration for them, and anxiety about them, were quite remarkable in a child.
It is perhaps difficult to say the exact time when the Holy Spirit began to deal with Kenneth, but he gave clear signs of having undergone a saving change before he died. His conscience was made tender, and he showed much reverence for the law of God. He dreaded the noise of the train which passes on the evening of the Lord’s Day, and used to say that God would be angry on account of this Sabbath desecration. One day, feeling sick and troubled, he asked that a story should be read to him. Being questioned if he would like to have one of the ordinary children’s tales, he replied, “No; I am done with these. Read to me the story of Jesus Christ, who was crucified between two thieves.” At another time, after hearing a Psalm read, he remarked, “What depths are in that Psalm!” When in great pain one night, he said, “I hope I’m not cross. If I am, it’s because I’m suffering. But why shouldn’t I suffer? He suffered Himself” (meaning the Saviour).
Just before he died, he sang, clearly and loudly, the 23rd Psalm, giving out line by line, though he had not been in the habit of singing before then. The little children about the doors regarded Kenneth Douglas as a good boy, and his death was felt keenly by them, and left on them more than an ordinary impression.
His remains were buried in Halkirk Churchyard amid showers of falling snow. There he sleeps in Jesus till the Resurrection.
G. S.