Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Feb. 15/55

Contributor - Rev. A. A. Schermer

Title - Sunday- A Holy Day or A Holiday?

Topic - Sabbath Day

The day which God created for man's benefit has often come into the spotlight of debate and heated discussion. We do not wish to open any. issue, but we will endeavor to evaluate that day in the light of its original purpose. We prefer to let the day stand as it is, and let it have the name as it is best known unto us. The varied names are known: Sabbath, The Seventh Day, The Rest Day, The First Day, The Lord's Day, Sunday, etc. The Seventh and the First Day have the Divine sanction. God the Creator rested on the Seventh Day. God, the Son arose from the grave on the First Day of the week. As Christians we hallow that day in memory of our Lord's resurrection from the dead, an earnest of our immortality through faith in His completed redemptive work.

Today, more and more factors are endeavoring to destroy the sanctity of the Sunday, which has for I more than 19 centuries been recognized by Christian believers as the Lord's Day. In various cities in the U.S.A. certain large business establishments have been putting full-page advertisements in newspapers announcing Sunday Sales. Last October Philadelphia's leading department stores stunned the churchgoing public by announcing that they would receive Sunday telephone orders from 1.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. Among them was the famous Wanamaker Store, whose founder was exceedingly active in the work 'of the Lord's Day Alliance of the United States and Pennsylvania. During his lifetime he was a firm believer in Sunday for the church. Now those who have been the recipients of his genius and merchandising ability take the business of the store that bears his name and violate his strong Christian convictions regarding Sunday.

There is also a strong tendency to use the Lord's day for sports and amusements; to encourage business transactions, and promote Political propaganda, in all of the western hemisphere. Many of Adolph Hitler's political battles were debated and decided on the Lord's Day. God did not put His approval on that action. Again today, in many parts of the world there are strong trends toward promoting Political Rallies, Political Conferences, and Political Speeches on the Lord's Day. The Christian Church must bestir itself and speak against these trends with all the power it can employ. It should support the existing organizations such as the Lord's Day Alliance, and others who have faithfully and valiantly contended for the sanctity of the Lord's Day.

The words of the prophet Isaiah may properly be reviewed and considered in these days. Isa. 58:13 - 14: "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." The truth is made clear that the man who finds delight in God, and His day, and His law, will please God and secure the blessing of God.

The things we do on the Lord's Day will make or break the real purpose of the day. It is first of all a Family day. The family should attend the established worship services as a unit and sit together in the pew. Seated in the pew, the parents with the children quietly and briefly bow the head, close the eyes and ask God for a blessing upon the worship service and upon themselves, and also claim the promise of the Lord: "Behold I and the children whom the Lord hath given me . . . (Isa. 8 :18a). We worship on the Lord's Day in the Lord's House to receive food for our soul. The physical man is usually well cared for, but what about the inner man? In the worship service there is food for all. And the spiritual food for the children and young people is supplemented in the provision of the Sunday School where the Bible truths can be better presented according to the age and capacity of the child. The child should not be excluded from the worship service. Parents can do much to make the worship service a pleasant and proper exercise.

The Lord's Day is a glad and joyous day when we remember the privileges and opportunities of the day. God gives us six days for ourselves. He is asking us to give Him one day in seven. It is through God's mercy that we are privileged to live upon this wonderful world and enjoy its benefits. On this Divinely ordained Rest Day, we, the creatures of His hand,

may bring our homage and due respect and reverence to the Almighty God and our loving Heavenly Father. With mutual feeling and common interests fellow Christians band together and assemble in a common place to praise God for His goodness, His blessings, His mercies, His saving and keeping power, and pray that His blessing may continue upon them.

To use the Lord's Day for Church attendance and Godly activity, is a most wholesome activity for man. It is not a matter of man's relation to man; but a relation between man and his Creator, and his Savior. He owes such a devotion and service to God, the Source and Fountain-head of all his blessings. He is a debtor to God. All he has, and all he is, and all he posseses he has received from God. On the Lord's Day he may also worship and honor God with the fruits of his labors and with the increase of his substance. The Lord's Day offers an opportunity for cheerful giving, and the bringing of offerings and gifts to the House of the Lord. These God will use for His own honor and glory. His commission to us to go to work in His vineyard, or to go to the uttermost parts of the earth to bring the Gospel of good news to all creatures must somehow be met. Some are endowed with special talent to meet those assignments, others are endowed with talents and abilities to promote means for the support and extension of the Lord's work in the community, in other parts of the land or in foreign lands. The Lord accepts our worship on His day in His house, and also instructs us to bring our tithes and offerings into His house (Mal. 3 : 10). With these the Lord will promote the extension of His kingdom.

When we go to the house of a friend we expect to, meet that friend and to enjoy fellowship with him. Many people use the Lord's Day for fellowship with their friends, but forget the Friend Who is most worthy of their loyalty. Abraham was the friend of God. If God also be our Friend then we should go to His House. We do not go to seek if there be a God; we shall go there to rejoice in our God. We shall enjoy His fellowship; we shall listen to His message; we shall behold the beauty of the Lord; and we shall come with a spirit of inquiry to know more about God, about Christ the Savior and about the wonders of our Salvation.

The day of the Lord is for man. The Lord's house is a focal point for man's attention and interest. To receive the greatest benefit from the Lord's Day we must meet certain conditions in personal preparation. That we venerate the solemnities of the day; enjoy the hallowed retirement of the restful sanctuary, and respect the formalities of public worship, these all require proper preparation on our part.

a. That we come prepared to hear the message. That body, heart and mind be properly prepared. Too often the message of God's Word leaves the individual unimpressed. To attend the worship service to be seen of others, or to see others, will not stimulate spiritual uplift. Proper preparation begins on Saturday afternoon and evening. Proper preparations will make the Lord's Day restful and delightful. Most of the food can be made ready on Saturday also the Sunday clothing can be readied for the morrow; time should be found for reading and meditating upon the Word; and early retiring for restful sleep will do much to prepare the body, heart and mind for proper worship on the Lord's Day. The vicious custom of making Saturday night a time for indulgence in worldly amusements contaminates the mind, defiles the soul, and wearies the body to the extent that Sunday morning finds many unfit for the worship of a holy and righteous God. Nor is the mind ready to receive the message that comes from the Word of God bathed in prayerful preparation and prayerfully delivered through the gracious help and influences of the Holy Spirit.

b. We must come to worship on the Lord's Day with undivided attention. There are tremendously important disclosures in the gospel for our edification. These truths are assigned to be preached an taught. They are assigned to be heard and understood and to be effective and must be put into action. It is a word that is more important than comes from the lips of a judge who speaks to the guilty criminal. The accused listens hopefully and expectantly for a word of Sovereign clemency. Surely our interest and concern should be far more sincere and earnest. There is reason to be jolted, jarred, stirred when we can visualize what it means to be "a sinner in the hands of an angry God." We thank God that He loves the sinner, but He is angry with sin. And the sinner who refuses to forsake his sin incurs the wrath of God.

c. We must come to worship on the Lord's Day with the purpose of hearing the word with self-application. There are so many that hear words, sing, and say prayers, but there is no impression. No effort to practise what is presented. Too often we are eagleeyed in observing the deficiencies in others, but we are very reluctant to acknowledge the faults chargeable against ourselves. Many make the day of the Lord a day of merchandise; carrying that merchandise into and from the House of the Lord. We take things along in our hearts that do not belong there. We are listless listeners. We go to church to avoid the criticism of being non-religious, or to avoid unpleasant questions about being absent. Many take their business problems and amusement and pleasures to church. Their hearts are not in tune with the message from the Word of God. Some become sermon tasters and find a measure of pleasure in weighing the preacher in the balance. And not a few settle back in their pews with the air of a judge at an oratorical contest, judging the diction, delivery and decorum of the preacher, and missing the heart of the message that is being brought to sinners and saints. To these things and many others the Lord of the Sabbath says: "Take these things hence."

May the Lord's Day be a joyous one, when the heart declares: "How amiable are Thy tabernacles, o Lord of hosts: my soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God." Psa. 84 :1, 2. With such a spirit in our hearts, the question of attendance at the worship services will not be a burden to be endured, but a joy and a pleasure.

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