SUNDAY OBSERVANCE T the time of Christ, the original purpose of and the ordained manner of observing the Jewish Sabbath-the day set apart by Jehovah as a recurring period of rest for His children on earth— had become generally misunderstood. Christ, by word and by example, endeavoured to revive the true meaning of the day and to restore its observance to accord with its original purpose. He swept aside all the forms, rubrics, rules, and customs which had grown up so thickly about the observance of the day as to hide its true import, and in revealing its real significance He was supposed to be destroying the distinctiveness of the day and to be abrogating the Sabbath altogether. As observed by the Jews, the Sabbath was a day in which there was entire cessation from work, even though the work might be of the nature of social service. It had become a festival entirely negative in character, and its observance had become so hedged about with "thou shalt not" rules, that the natural activities of man on that day were narrowed, restricted, and hampered, in every possible way. Instead of the Sabbath proving a divine benefit to man, it had become, through the teachings of the rabbis, a day of revolting bondage. No more heed was given to Christ's teachings on Sabbath observance than was paid to His invitation to the Hebrew race to become citizens of the "Kingdom of heaven"; and when He died on the cross the old Hebrew dispensation, with its laws, rules, and customs, applicable solely to that people, came to an end, and, on the first day of the week, when He arose from the dead, the new era of Christianity was born. It is a significant fact that during the forty days which intervened between Christ's resurrection and His ascension, He made five appearances to His disciples, each appearance being on the first day of the week. It is also significant that on each occasion He found the disciples gathered together on that day.' In the Acts of the Apostles and in the writings of the Church Fathers the fact is recorded that, after Christ's ascension, the early Christians regularly assembled on the first day of the week to celebrate the anniversary of the day on which the Saviour rose from the dead and on which He subsequently appeared unto them to give His final instructions before departing for His heavenly home. The peculiar designation, the "Lord's day," as applied to the first day of the week, is indicative of the purpose of the early Christians to consecrate that day as a memorial to their Master, instead ' Mark xvi., 9, 10; Matt. xxviii., 8-10; Mark xvi., 12; Luke xxiv., 34; Luke xxiv., 36–43. of retaining the Jewish Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, for their formal weekly day of rejoicing over the resurrection of Christ from the tomb. Though there is nothing on record to show that Christ set apart the first day of the week as a time for special spiritual enrichment and soul culture, yet the substitution of the first day of the week for the Jewish Sabbath must have had apostolic sanction and approval, else it would not have become the settled, undisputed custom of the early Christians, and have been adopted, without question or criticism, throughout Christendom during the centuries which have rolled by since Christ ascended into heaven. A new day having arisen out of the ashes of the old Hebrew Sabbath and been dedicated as a special season to commemorate the risen Lord, what were Christ's teachings as to how the day should be observed? During His earthly ministry, Christ engaged in many controversies with the Jews concerning Sabbath observance, wherein He laid down the following two principles, which radically differed from those in force in Judea at that time: First: That it is right to do such work on the Sabbath as is necessary to sustain and upbuild life. It was on the Sabbath that Christ and His disciples "plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rub |