6. In all these things he disregarded the precepts and theories of the Pharisees, but in no case did he vary one iota from the plain directions in the Fourth Commandment. II. The Teachings of Jesus Concerning the Sabbath. In order to understand the words of Jesus in regard to the Sabbath we must see clearly the circumstances in which they were spoken.

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The Ten Commandments were a chief means of keeping the Jews separate from the heathen with their idolatries and immoralities. Of these commandments the one that made the most visible separation was the keeping of the Sabbath. In the exile, and among those who were dispersed among the nations ever after, the Sabbath was kept. Dr. Hastings in his Bible Dictionary tells us that "the keeping of the sabbath became the special sign that distinguished Jew from Gentile, and the sabbath, combined with the synagogue (an institution that grew up during the exile), played a large part in saving Israel from absorption in heathendom. After the return these two institutions, the sabbath and the synagogue, were the main bulwarks of Judaism, and two of the leading factors that made Israel the people of the law." No institution was held in higher reverence. The Pharisees in their efforts to uphold and magnify this great bulwark of their nation, gradually accumulated a great body of decisions as to what could and could not be done on the Sabbath. They lost the spirit in the letter. 'Any one who desires to see what a divine institution may become in the hands of spiritually unsympathetic men has only to study the rules for sabbath observance contained in the Talmud. There are two treatises in particular which, although they belong to the century subsequent to our Lord's ministry, may fairly enough be regarded as reflecting the habits of thought and the practices of the spiritual guides of Israel with whom he came in contact." Hastings. The rules of Sabbath observance were so numerous that one could not turn around without breaking several of them." "As our Lord reminds his hearers (Luke 13:15), it was allowable to loose an ox or an ass from the stall and lead it out to the water; but by a refinement of ingenuity it was forbidden to draw water and carry it in a pail to a beast, although the water might be poured into a trough for the animal to come and drink of its own accord." The reader will find an immense number of ridiculous ways of breaking the Sabbath in Edersheim's Life of Christ, Appendix, xvii.

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"It was seriously argued that to walk upon the grass with nailed shoes was a violation of the Sabbath, because it was a kind of threshing, and to catch a flea upon one's person was a violation, because it was a kind of hunting; and it was gravely debated whether one might eat a fresh egg on the first day of the week, since, in the order of nature, it had probably been prepared by the hen on the seventh." "To break the Sabbath, rather than suffer hunger for a few hours, was guilt worthy of stoning. Was it not their boast that Jews were known over the world by their readiness to die rather than break the holy day? Every one had stories of grand fidelity to it." The result was a slavery to forms and details, but a loss of the very spirit of the Sabbath day. The stress was on externals. They tried to establish rules to guide conduct in every detail.

Now Jesus' teaching conformed to his example. He in no degree abolished the Sabbath, or disregarded the Fourth Commandment. It is absurd to imagine that the Son of God would abolish from his laws a command that he continues to write in the very nature of man.

What Jesus taught was the true interpretation of the Sabbath law. He rescued it from the false interpretations put upon it; from being a mere form to being a spirit and a life. Jesus swept away the cobwebs, he did not tear down the house. He only removed the rubbish with which the Pharisees had encumbered it; and he left it a day of freedom, of joy, of peace. He tore down the scaffolding, that the house itself might be more convenient and beautiful to live in. Jesus would keep the jewel, but wash away the dirt which had accumulated upon it, and dimmed or destroyed its radiance. He swept away the evils that had grown upon the law from without, from man's additions. They had made the Sabbath law like the sea-god Glaucus in Plato's illustration. The god had been so long in the sea that seaweeds, and barnacles, and shell-fish had grown all over him so thickly that they almost concealed his true nature.

It

1. Jesus taught that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27, 28.) It was made for the whole of man, and for all men. So that the Son of man, representing the human interest in the Sabbath question, is Lord also of the Sabbath. is very dear to him; he has such ownership of it that he cannot desecrate what is so precious. He cares vastly more for it than the Pharisees did or could.

2. Jesus taught (Mark 2: 23-26) a lesson concerning the Sabbath, from King David, whom they revered. "David, fleeing from Saul (1 Sam. 21:1-6), went into the Temple

with his little band and asked bread of the priest; who, when there was no common bread found, gave David and his young men the hallowed 'shewbread' which 'is not lawful to eat but for the priests.' The priest gave them this bread in defiance of the letter of the ceremonial law, because there was a higher law present which made it necessary for him to feed the hungry. Better break the letter of a hundred ceremonial laws than that a child of God should go hungry in a time of need like this." Showing that there were higher laws than the mere letter or form, that sometimes work would accomplish the purpose of the Sabbath better than outward obedience to its usual law, as in the case of the ox and the ass that had fallen into a pit; and the case of those who serve in the Temple and Synagogue to aid in the worship, and enable great numbers to keep the Sabbath in the best and most helpful way.

"As if

3. Jesus taught certain lessons in connection with the release of the woman who was incurably bowed together, but was now made straight on the Sabbath. (Luke 13: 10–16.) The ruler of the synagogue was moved with indignation, that Jesus on the Sabbath and right in the synagogue should interrupt the service by such an act. Let people come on other days to be healed, and not do secular work on Sabbath days. But Jesus might not be there on other days. He was moving on toward Jerusalem. Jesus, too, was moved with righteous indignation, and said "Hypocrites!" the reception of divine grace were Sabbath breaking toil!" As if an act of mercy which led the woman to glorify God, and doubtless also most of the worshippers, and which expressed the very spirit of religion, was a desecration of the synagogue! The Pharisee's objection contradicted his own rules and conduct. "It was meanly indirect because, while it was aimed at Jesus, the implied notion that it was a crime to allow one's self to be healed on the Sabbath day, springs from an abyss of Pharisaic falsity which could hardly have been conceived. It was the underhand ignorance and insolence, as well as the gross insincerity of the remark, which called forth a reproof exceptionally severe.' - Farrar. The Pharisees made an exception to their Sabbath rules. Doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, a child of the covenant on which your whole nation is founded, whom Satan, the great adversary of your nation, the leader of the whole kingdom of evil, your deadly enemy, hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day! There was no answer to this; and all the multitude of the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. Thus Jesus taught that deeds of mercy and kindness and love, to man or to beast, to body and to soul, are peculiarly expressive of the Sabbath spirit. "It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath days" (Mark 3:4), and that is the best good which while it helps the body and the mind, leads the soul up toward God, as was the case in the healing of the body by Jesus.

III. Underlying Principles for the Guidance of Modern Life. It is not wise even if it were possible to try to make any set of rules concerning how to keep the Sabbath, for circumstances vary so much that no rules can apply to all occasions. Jesus made no rules, but stated principles in accordance with which we can guide our conduct. And this method, which was Jesus' usual one, is far the best for us, because it is a continual training and education, a series of judgments and decisions; and this keeps from mere ceremonial righteousness without its spirit.

First Principle. The Sabbath as a Day of Rest. 1. Rest, physical and mental, is necessary once in seven days, for the best health and power of our bodies. God's laws are not arbitrary. Every law of the Decalogue finds its reason in the well-being of men. The fourth commandment was written on our bodies from the beginning. "The Sabbath was made for man." A great accumulation of facts prove this truth. See Gilfillan's The Sabbath, Am. Tract Soc.

The great

2. The Sabbath was ordained not for one man, or a few, but for all men. wheels of business must stop one day in seven, or they would crush the best part of life out of the majority of men. Hence the state laws come in rightly and forbid Sunday' labor. They ordain Sunday rest days. They have nothing to do directly with religion. Each man may use his rest days as he chooses. But to those who would oppress others by keeping them at "Ixion's grindstone's ceaseless toil," the Law says, "Thou shalt Even in those employments which seem necessary to go on every day, employers are more and more agreeing, and the Law is more and more demanding, that if not Sunday, some one day each week shall be released from daily toil.

not.

3. It naturally follows that what is good for us is good for others, and that we should not impose on others the necessity of working on the rest days, except in cases necessary

for the general welfare of the family and society. But in every case the law should compel society to give those necessarily at work on Sunday, one day of rest in seven. 4. Rest does not mean inaction, but such activities as upbuild man mentally, spiritually, and physically. That rest is wrongly conceived that uses any one of these at the expense of the other two.

The Second Principle is THAT THE SABBATH SHOULD NOT ONLY BE KEPT HOLY, SACRED, FROM THE INROADS OF DAILY LABOR AND ITS Hordes of CarES, BUT SHOULD BE KEPT SACRED TO THE HIGHER NATURE OF MAN.

1. The higher nature, the soul-life, is vastly more important than the physical life, and this rest from labor gives the needed opportunity.

2. Keeping the Sabbath holy gives more real rest than holiday and pleasure-seeking and worldly amusement or idleness can possibly give. It bestows new life, freshness of spirit, inspiration, and uplift.

3. It may be made to do for the adult what the school does for the child. The study of the Bible, the highest literature in existence; thinking on the various subjects it teaches, the highest themes; and applying them to daily life and to the questions of the day, become a liberal education. They will educate a man more than his whole college course, though that course will greatly enhance its value. The study of the highest themes, the social discussion of them in the Sabbath school, the instruction from the pulpit, the expression of religious truth in the prayer meeting, give an ordinary person more mental training in the course of his life than all his school days give. A boy will average 10 years of school 8 months in the year, or 1750 days. A man of 70 years has, since his tenth year, had 3135 Sabbath days, almost twice as many days as he had schooling. The Sabbath rightly used is the greatest institution for learning and culture and soul growth the world has ever known.

4. It gives the finest and largest opportunity for putting into practice the religious lessons he has learned, to go about doing good, to help the sick, the needy, to comfort the afflicted, to lift up the fallen, to teach the young, visit the fatherless and the widow. "It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath," even as Jesus did.

5. It gives an opportunity for family religion, and giving a religious atmosphere to the family, which accomplishes more than direct advice, though wise advice and home instruction and example do much toward creating that helpful atmosphere.

6. It enables every one to see his conduct, his business, and all the concerns of life in a new and heavenly light. Parents ought to do all they can to make the Sabbath and religion as attractive as possible to their children. It should be to them the most choice and attractive day in the week, a delight at home, a joy in the public service and Sunday school.

The Third Principle, SOCIAL RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. 1. "Marcus Aurelius used to say that what was not good for the hive was not good for the bee. Men call this pagan

philosophy, but it is sound sense put into a small package." We may reverse the form and note that what is good for the bee, is good for the hive, and the hive has a richness which no one bee alone can reach. No person can be as good and useful alone as he can in connection with others. There is an inspiration and vision in worshipping together that few can attain by sitting at home and reading even the best books. Twice fifty worshippers are more than a hundred.

2. We need instruction in the religious life, and most of all inspiration to go forth and practise it. Religion would soon die out without public worship.

A good, inspiring, uplifting, instructive sermon is as really worship as singing or prayer. 3. The Sunday school finds its opportunity through public worship. It is a glorious opportunity for the members of the church to teach. The teacher gains so much for his own Christian life, and has such a precious opportunity to help the young, that every member of the church who can should plead for the privilege of teaching a class. 4. The whole nation needs the religious Sabbath as much as the individual. need to intensify the moral and religious forces of the nation.

5. The Religious Sabbath well kept is

Best for man's earthly life,

Best for his future life,

Best for his character,

Best for his usefulness,
Best for his happiness,
Best for his home,
Best for his country.

We

ILLUSTRATION. "There is a myth concerning an old painter, that by a happy chance he compounded one day a certain mordant, which, colorless itself, possessed the power of heightening every color with which it was mixed. By the help of his discovery, from being a commonplace artist, he rose to the position of a noted master. His works were

renowned for the marvellous brilliancy of their tints. On his canvas was produced, in exactest hue, the waving emerald of the forest, the silver gleam of the river, the swimming light of the sunset, and the infinite azure of the sky. Everywhere and always the charm of the picture was due to that colorless nurse of color, which, by its strange alchemy, transfigured the crudeness and coarseness of the common tint." That is what the Sabbath does for the pictures of our common lives. Dr. Gregg, in Facts that Call for Faith.

LESSONS BY THE WAY.-Luke 13: 18-35.

PRINT Luke 13: 18-30. COMMIT vs. 18, 19.

GOLDEN TEXT.- Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. - MATT. 7:21.

Christ weeping over Jerusalem, by East- M.D., LL.D., is a remarkable book by one lake.*

THE LESSON IN LITERATURE.

The Gulick Brothers, The Growth of the Kingdom of God (Pilgrim Press, 50 cts.), is very fine.

Edward Everett Hale's Ten Times One is Ten.

Dennis' Christian Missions and Social Progress.

Gate"; Guthrie's Sermons," Laying hold of
Eternal Life."

Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales, "Jason's
Search for the Golden Fleece."

The New Era by Josiah Strong.

U.S. Census Report on Religious Bodies. Hartshorn's World-wide Sunday School Work (85 Broad St., Boston) is the best on

Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, "The Wicket Sunday school progress.

18. 1

Then said he,
He said therefore,
resemble
liken

unto shall I
19. It is like

own

Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereit ?

unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast
garden; and it grew,
and

into his
the lodged in the branches thereof.

air heaven

of it.

waxed became

a

great tree;

and the

fowls birds

1 Matt. 13:31; Mark 4:30.

of

Jesus at this time had been engaged in his ministry for three years; and some of his disciples had been with him more or less for the same length of time. He had taught them about his kingdom, had promised them that they should have part in it. He had spoken to them of his death as not so far distant.

It was natural therefore that they should be wondering in their own minds, when the kingdom was coming. They could not see it. Almost everything seemed to be nearly the same as it had been. Where is the kingdom?

"Oh, where is the sea?' the fishes cried,

As they swam the crystal clearness through, 'We've heard from of old of the ocean's tide,

And we long to look on the waters blue.
The wise ones speak of the infinite sea;
Oh, who can tell us if such there be?"

There was danger that they would be discouraged and lose their faith. They were so few, so weak, so helpless in the midst of the vast Roman Empire.

Jesus therefore explains the situation, and in parables opens their eyes to see the invisible truth as God opened the eyes of Elisha's servant, to "see the helpers God has sent."

The method of growth, the method of the hidden spreading of truth from person to person, and the necessary, unchangeable condition of entering the kingdom, enlightens their minds, and strengthens their faith.

I. The Growth of the Kingdom of God Illustrated by the Growth of a Mustard Seed, vs. 18, 19. THE PARABLE. Jesus begins with a question, in order to call attention to his teaching, Unto what is the Kingdom of God like?

The Kingdom of God is (1) within the individual, and (2) in the world, as a kingdom distinct from the world, but there to transform it. But the principles of its growth are the same in both.

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19. It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, as Matthew states, "is the least of all seeds." Not the least of all seeds which botanists know, but the smallest of the seeds the people daily used; and the smallest of these in contrast with the plant which grows from it. "Small as a mustard seed was a Jewish proverb." 'Stanley is inclined to follow Royle and others in identifying it with Salvadora Persica, called in the East Khardel, the very word used in the Syriac version to translate the Greek word for 'Mustard.' It is said to grow around the lake of Gennesareth, and to attain the height of twenty-five feet in favorable circumstances.". Int. Crit. Com. The Talmud states that Rabbi Simeon said, "A stalk of mustard was in my field into which I was wont to climb as men are wont to climb into a fig tree." Hence it was natural to speak of the mustard plant as great, so large that the fowls (birds) of the air lodged in the branches of it. Edersheim and Tristram contend for the Sinapis Nigra, black mustard. And this even in Europe sometimes reaches twelve feet. Int. Crit. Com.

This seed a man took and cast into his garden. The garden into which the Lord cast his seed was Israel, whom he had been preparing for many centuries to receive the seed. It could not have grown and flourished amid the moral thistles and thorns of any other nation in the then world.