By Rev. JOHN COLQUHOUN.
IT may be truly said that the religious life of a generation may be gauged by its attitude to the Sabbath Day, for where that day is scripturally observed, vital godliness is very evident, but where the observance of it is neglected there is a corresponding degeneracy into having a name to live while dead. Thus we may safely conclude that in our own generation religion must be at a very low ebb. The majority of people having become “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God,” not being content with worshipping at the shrine of pleasure for six days of the week which God has given us for our own works, have turned covetous eyes and stretched unholy hands to the day which He has reserved for Himself, while those in authority have set a bad example by secularising that day, in introducing things which are neither works of necessity nor mercy, thus throwing away a precious gift which God in His infinite mercy gave to man for his temporal and spiritual good. The Rev. John Willison, of Dundee, in speaking of the ends for which God appointed a weekly Sabbath, puts the matter very clearly when he says, “He appointed the Sabbath for the benefit of His creatures, and particularly in compassion to fallen man; for He saw man’s heart would be so glued to the world, so drenched in sensuality, that, were he left to himself, he would not allow one day in a month, nay, in a year, for divine worship; but would have drudged himself, his servants, and beasts, even to death, in pursuit of worldly things, without caring for anything that is better. Wherefore a merciful God hath strictly commanded man to rest one day in every week from all worldly concerns, that thereby he might, in a manner, be laid under a necessity to care for his soul, and the things of another world; and in the meantime, the poor toiled beasts, as well as men’s bodies, might have some rest and ease, for their preservation and support.”
During past years, in the summer months, our battleships when visiting certain ports were opened to visitors on the Sabbath. Crowds came from far and near on that day, and apart altogether from their sin in desecrating God’s holy day, they revealed by their behaviour in other respects, that the greater number of them were not of the most respectable of our citizens. Our authorities are verily guilty of a great sin in thus affording opportunities to men and women to openly insult the God of Heaven who has said, “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.” Since then our battleships have been called to sterner work than being inspected by the crowd, and alas! some of them with many of the gallant men who manned them have since found a watery grave. In this we have many reasons for reading the judgments of God upon us for our national sins against His holy law.
On Sabbath, 3rd September of last year, this nation declared war on Germany. As far as we have been able to ascertain this is the first time that Britain has issued a declaration of war on a Sabbath Day, and it is a clear indication of the direction in which we are drifting. With the declaration of war new forms of Sabbath desecration have appeared. Members of the Cabinet and others are often broad-casting messages to the nation and giving statements on the progress of the war on that day, and thus affording to hundreds of thousands of our country-men fresh opportunities for Sabbath desecration by listening-in to these broadcasts. The wireless programmes of the B.B.C. for Sabbath, which were never noted for their religious tone, have since the war broke out, gone from bad to worse, and now, include on that day, commentaries of football matches played on Sabbath between French and British army teams, showing that there is here a sad commentary on how indifferent our poor soldiers, who are facing the enemy, are to the things which belong to their eternal salvation; and also, that those who are responsible for these programmes are, not only irreligious, but seem to be utterly destitute of a sense of the fitness of things. In connection with these matters we would recommend to the Synod to advise our people not to make any use whatever of the wireless on Sabbath not only in connection with secular matters, but for the more plausible excuse of listening to so-called religious services.
When war broke out and many left our large cities for places that were comparatively safer, while many who remained were momentarily solemnised by being brought face to face with the horrors of war, the theatres and cinemas were hard hit financially. The result was that a cry of distress was raised by those who had their money invested in these concerns, and every effort was made, directly and indirectly, to bring the nation back to its giddy pleasures. To some of us it was more than a mere coincidence that in a short time a request was received by the Home Office, from the War Office, that all cinemas and theatres in Great Britain should be opened on the Sabbath for the entertainment of our troops, and it was suggested that an Order in Council should be made to procure the changes. As a Committee, we sent a strong protest, a copy of which appeared in the December issue of the Free Presbyterian Magazine, to the Prime Minister, to several members of the Cabinet, and to many of the Scottish Members of Parliament. Sympathetic letters were received from the Members for Inverness-shire and the Outer Isles. Replies from others were more or less formal, while a copy sent to Mr. Atlee was not even acknowledged. Since then an Order in Council has been passed sanctioning the opening of cinemas on Sabbath but it does not apply to Scotland. It, however, applies to England in face of a petition against it, signed by 15,407. In this our rulers have involved the King, his Ministers, and the people at large in an act of gross national sin against God, thereby helping considerably to fill up the cup of God’s wrath, of which we have already begun to drink. Further, although this Order in Council does not apply to Scotland it is the means of putting strong temptation in the way of many of the young men of Scotland who are in military training centres in England.
Another triumph for the Devil’s kingdom in connection with Sabbath desecration is to be found in the promoting of concerts on the Lord’s Day in Glasgow. The motto of that city used to be “Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of the Word,” but Glasgow today has a Lord Provost who belongs to a Church to which the “preaching of the Word” is anathema, and who is doing his utmost to make Glasgow break away from what made it flourish in the past. We need not be surprised to find such a man an outstanding advocate of Sabbath concerts, and a champion of all the anti-Sabbatarian forces in Scotland. Among these anti-Sabbatarian forces, sad to say, may be classed the Glasgow Presbytery of the Church of Scotland. In “The Bulletin” for 23rd November, 1939, a report may be seen of that Court’s endeavour to make Sabbath evenings brighter for “the men of the Services and their girl friends” and for young people of all ages. How was it to be done? The answer may be supplied in the words of the Rev. W. J. Baxter of the Presbytery’s National Service Committee, as reported in “The Bulletin.” “The black-out at first prevented us from doing anything because of the rigorous restrictions. These have been relaxed and the canteens are our first effort to tackle the problem. We hope to have them running soon, and concerts will be a feature.” Strange to say these ministers who appear to be so anxious to help young men and women have the Sabbath evening service in the most of their churches cancelled. Is it an admission that they are more at home in entertaining than in preaching? Thus we find the Church of Scotland, instead of endeavouring to stem the tide of Sabbath desecration, helping it on as if it were determined to be in the front rank of those who are the enemies of the Sabbath, and in this way proving itself to be, not the Church of Christ but a synagogue of Satan.
After the commencement of the war it was found necessary that men who were doing A.R.P. work should get some training in connection with their duties. This afforded another excuse to secularise the Lord’s Day under the plea that it was necessary work, and that men were not free from their other works except on the Lord’s Day. The hollowness of this plea is very apparent when one considers that the very men who are apparently so patriotic that they must desecrate the Lord’s Day in order to get some training, spend their weekly half-holiday in idleness, amusements, and, in some cases, drunkenness. Thus serving neither the King of Kings, nor King George VI., but the Prince of the power of the air. A most flagrant instance of this unnecessary A.R.P. work is to be seen in the case of Glasgow in connection with the distribution of gas masks for children, when Sabbath was appointed as the day for fitting children between three and five years of age with respirators, as if those in authority were determined to bring the children with them in their mad work of running on the thick bosses of the Almighty’s bucklers.
Another feature of Sabbath desecration which has become very prevalent is the moving of troops from one part of the country to another on that day. One aspect of this, which is particularly offensive, is the case of young men, home on leave in the Highlands, having to leave their homes on Saturday morning, thus having to travel on Sabbath in order to be at their training centres in England by the time their leave expires. Instances have been brought to the notice of your Committee, where some of these young men, willing to sacrifice part of their leave from a conscientious regard for the Fourth Commandment, made arrangements for leaving their homes on the Friday, but found on arriving at the nearest railway that they would not be permitted to travel except on the day appointed. As a Committee we sent a strong protest to the Commanding Officer of the men involved, to the Secretary for War, and to other responsible authorities. No reply was received except one from the Director of Movements, in which he professed to appreciate our scruples, and then went on to point out “that the railways are severely taxed especially in winter by heavy civil as well as military traffic during the week,” making this a plea of necessity for military movements on the Lord’s Day, and expressing the hope that we would understand that this is a “war necessity.” We have, however, failed, in our travels on the railway since the war began, to see the trains so crowded as to give any colour to the above quoted statement. This pleading of a “war necessity” is a matter concerning which a warning should be issued to our members and adherents, for one finds that in some quarters where travelling on Sabbath was looked upon with horror, it is now considered allowable seeing it is a time of war, and especially if it suits the convenience of members of the family who are in training centres near their homes, and who, when getting off for an occasional week-end, have to be back on Sabbath night. Let us remember that the God of the Sabbath is the Unchangeable One, and that in His sight neither war nor our own convenience will justify our transgression of the Fourth Commandment.
Other forms of Sabbath desecration, which have been of long standing, such as the fixing by the shipping companies of the sailing dates of their boats for Sabbath, or late on Saturday evening, in order to be on the sea on Sabbath, and printing and issuing of newspapers on that day, are on the increase. In connection with that it would be well to remind our office-bearers, members and adherents, of the recommendation of the Synod some years ago that they would not patronise newspapers issued on Monday on account of the fact that these are printed on Sabbath. We think that heads of families should see to it that their God-given authority should be exercised in order that this recommendation be carried out.
During the year various governing bodies have made applications to the authorities having jurisdiction over them, to increase the amount of entertainments on Sabbath. One notable instance being the application of the Gourock Town Council to the Justices of the Peace for the County of Renfrew for permission to promote concerts and band performances in the Cragburn Pavilion on the Lord’s Day. After a lengthy debate it was agreed by 12 votes to 8 that the application be not granted. It was a step in the right direction although the margin was too narrow for one’s comfort.
From the foregoing report we see but a little of the Sabbath desecration which has come over our native land like a flood. There is, on the other hand, so little effort put forth to stem this flood that one is ready to fear that ere long we shall have no Sabbath at all. The press, while pouring out a copious flood of literature on every conceivable subject, issues next to nothing on this most important matter, and even societies which profess to have their existence for the advancement of religion, are, as a rule, silent on Sabbath observance. One exception may be pointed out in the case of the Sovereign Grace Union, London, which occasionally issues pamphlets on the Sabbath question; a recent one being distributed is a second edition of a lecture entitled, “The Medical Aspect of Sabbath Observance,” by Professor D. MacCallum Blair, M.B., Ch.B., of Glasgow University. Much could be done in this direction in an effort to stem the tide of evil.
In closing this report we may relate a note from the godly Rev. Lachlan Mackenzie, Locharrow, when one day he was preaching on the Fourth Commandment. In the middle of his sermon he stopped for a few seconds and then said, “I hear the Sabbath shouting murder! murder! But I hear the Lord of the Sabbath say, ‘Have patience, Sabbath, have patience. I will be avenged on thy murderers.’ Let Sabbath breakers in our day beware. God has His own time for bringing them to an account.