Folly and Wickedness of the Neglect and Abuse of the Lord’s Day By DR. R. A."TORREY ,
T HE Sabbath was made for man.”— Mark 2:27. “ I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day.” —Rev. 1:10. One o f God’s greatest and most gracious gifts to man is that o f the Sabbath. It was' “made for man,” a wondrous gift of love. The opportunities o f the Sabbath appreciated and improved mean immeasur able blessing for body, soul and spirit, for time and eternity. The opportunities of the Sabbath despised and neglected mean an immeasurable curse for body, soul and spirit for the individual, the family, and the state, for time and eternity. The way in which men, women and children, even pro fessedly Ghristian men and women and young people are misusing the Lord’s day in Los Angeles (and in other cities as well) is doing more mischief ,and working more evil than all the saloons, and places of infamy in the city. If the men and women o f this city regarded and used the Lord’s day aS they ought the saloons and other institutions of evil would soon cease to be. I. “ The Sabbath was made for m an / ’ i. e., it was made in man’s interest. It was made because man needed it. It was made to meet certain deep and important needs o f human nature. It was the gift o f a wise and loving Father, who looked down upon man, saw what his deepest needs were, and provided this day to meet them. . God never provided more wisely and tenderly for man than in giving man this day. What needs in our nature was it meant to meet? 1. First and lowest, yet important, man’s physical need. j It has been proven scientifically that man needs one day’s rest in seven. It was proven by careful scientific observation in France some years ago, that beginning his work on Monday morning a man fan down phys
ically from the point with which he started Monday morning, to a certain point by the close o f the day’s work. By Monday night’s rest he came back to a certain point, but not to the point from which he began to run down Monday morning. By Tuesday’s work he ran to a still lower point physically than that reached Monday night. By Tues day night’s rest he came back to a certain point," but, not to as high a point physically as that he occupied Tuesday morning, and so on through the week until at the begin ning o f Sunday morning, after Saturday night’s rest he was at a point considerably lower than that he occupied when he began his work Monday morning, but by one day’s rest he was brought back to the original starting point. By this and similar exper iments it is proven that no man or- woman can work Continuously seven successive days without serious physical deterioration. As surely as a man needs nightly sleep he needs a weekly day o f rest. It matters not whether he toils with his hands or toils with his brain, he needs rest by discontin uing his usual form o f occupation. In France in the days o f the French Revolu tion an attempt was made to do away'with anything that was distinctively Christian, so the seventh day o f rest was given up, but the results were soxserious that it was felt a rest day must be had, and so a rest day was appointed one day in ten, but that also failed. One day in seven fo r rest is what man needs for the highest physical development. The one who does not take rest one day in seven does himself, and therefore God to whom he belongs, a griev ous wrong. The one who keeps others front the rest does them aVx- < , a rong. He is a mean, low-lix ed robber, robbing his fellow man o f a gracious, love gift from God. W e groan over the wrongs done the Armenians by the Turks, and we do well
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