Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/48

 The Sabbath. With  the  creation  of  man,  God’s  plan  of  creation was completed,  and  the  great  work  of  His  creative  love  was  crowned; for man  is  the  most  perfect  of  visible  creatures. Then God  rested, and appointed  the  seventh  day  for  man’s  rest  in  Him. On the  Sabbath, man was  to  contemplate  the  wonders  of  creation,  and  the  preservation and government  of  the  world,  and  to  praise  and  thank  God. On this account the  seventh  day  is  also  called  “the  Lord’s  day”,  i.  e.  the  day set apart  for  the  service  and  worship  of  God. On this  day  we  ought to put  aside  all  worldly  business,  and  think  only  of  our  souls  and  their welfare, for  in  God  alone  can  our  souls  find  peace  and  rest. The commandment to  keep  holy  the  Sabbath  is  the  oldest  commandment that there  is. Ever since  the  world  has  stood  as  it  is,  this  commandment has  stood  with  it. The very  fact  that  the  sacred  writer  represents God as  working  a week,  makes  Him  our  pattern  and  example,  and  implies a commandment  for  us  to  do  the  same. The law  was  thus  given by God  at  the  creation  of  the  world,  and  hence  it  is  that  among  all, even heathen  nations  we  find  one  day  of  rest  observed  in  the  week. It is  a great  impiety  to  desecrate  God’s  day.

The Nature  of  God.  God  is  described  as  a Spirit,  existing  from all eternity,  having  life  in  Himself  and  being  the  cause  of  all  created life; an  omnipotent  Spirit  who  by  the  sole  act  of  His  will  gives  existence and  life  to  His  creatures. God the  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth is one  God,  not  two  or  three. In the  Old  Testament  it  was  above  all necessary to  inculcate  this  unity  of  God. The people  of  Israel  were not yet  ripe  to  learn  the  full  truth  of  one  God  in  three  persons. But, all the  same,  in  several  passages  of  the  Old  Testament  it  is,  as  it  were, hinted that  there  are  more  persons  than  one  in  God,  e.  g.  in  the  first part of  the  history  of  the  creation:  “The  Spirit  of  God  moved  over the waters.”

The Wisdom  of  God.  Holy  Scripture,  or,  in  other  words,  the  Holy Ghost, says  explicitly  that  all  that  God  made  was  very  good. Shortsighted man should  not,  therefore,  be  audacious  enough  to  criticise God’s work. Almighty God  made  everything  to  fulfil  the  end  for  which He destined  it. The whole  of  creation  testifies  to  the  wisdom  of  God, but I will  call  your  attention  only  to  one  or  two  instances. Rivers and streams, many  of  which  are  of  considerable  breadth,  are  ceaselessly flowing into  the  sea,  carrying  into  it,  even  in  one  single  day,  a tremendous volume  of  water. This goes  on  all  the  year  round,  and  has  been going on  for  thousands  of  years,  and  yet  the  sea  does  not  overflow! How is  this? God has  so  made  it  that  as  much  water  is  incessantly rising into  the  air  from  the  sea  as  is  being  poured  into  it. But how is it,  then,  that  the  streams  and  rivers  do  not  dry  up ? Whence comes that volume  of  water  which  they  are  continuously  pouring  into  the  sea? The mists  and  clouds  which  rise  from  the  sea  are  driven  over  the  land by the  wind,  and  fall  back  on  the  earth  in  the  form  of  either  dew, fog, rain  or  snow. This moisture  collects  in  the  ground  and  forms