Show DISCOURSE ON SABBATH MV DAY by pres S norman lee from station at salt lake sunday evening it I 1 were to answer the question which ot of all the revealed principles of the gospel of 0 christ Is the most important I 1 should say it there Is any margin of 0 discrimination it Is the one which requires that we keep the sabbath day holy its immediate effects may not be so apparent but the final results are vital indeed it has been stressed in the laws of god from the time of 0 the creation down to the present day each succeeding dispensation receiving specific instructions to cherish this day and keep it sacred in the judgments of moses a breach of the law ot of the sabbath was punishable by death read the following from numbers chapter to verses and while the children of israel were in the wilderness they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day and they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto I 1 moses and aaron and unto all the congregation and they put him in ward because it was not declared what should be done to him and the lord said unto moses the man shall surely be put to death all the congregation shall otone him with stones without the camp and all the congregation brought him without the camp and stoned him with stones and he died as the lord commanded moses the law as administered by moses in the wilderness would be harsh under different circumstances but the people had been in bondage to the egyptians they and their fathers for years they had no doubt been kept in ignorance and treated like beasts of burden until they were reduced to a level where refinement had practically disappeared it a firm and capable administrator of 0 the statutes to bring them up to a condition where the higher law would appeal to them in a higher civilization the law ot of the sabbath would have its place but its appeal would be to the spiritual rather than the temporal sense to keep the sabbath day holy is one ot of the ten commandments which the world even today accepts as a measure 0 of righteousness six days shall thou labor and do all thy work but the seventh is the sabbath of the lord thy god in it thou not do any work thou nor thy son nor thy daugh dangle ter thy manservant nor thy maidservant nor thy cattle nor thy stranger that la is within thy gates tor for in six days the lord ford made heaven and earth the sea and all that in them theia is and rested the seventh day wherefore the lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it ex 20 8 11 the reference to this action of the lord is that set forth in the first and second chapters of genesis which reads as follows and god saw everything that he had made and behold it was very good and the evenin gand the morning were the sixth day thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them and on the seventh day god ended all his work which he had made and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made and god blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it lie he had rested from all his work wor k which god created and made there must have been great significance in this action since god made such a point of 0 it the particular reasons are not set out hut but surely it is important when we consider that it was given prominence as the final act in the creation when the children of israel had been delivered eli vered from egypt they were commanded keep the sabbath to sanctity sanctify it as the lord god hath com banded thee six days shall thou labor and do all thy work but the seventh lay day Is the sabbath of the lord thy god in it thou shall not do any work thou nor thy son nor thy daughter nor thy manservant man nor thy maidservant bof thine ox nor thine ass nor any of thy cattle nor thy stranger that is 13 within thy gates that thy manservant and thy maidservant liaf may rest as well as thou and remember that thou wast a servant in the land of egypt and that the lord thy god brought thee out thence thru chrit a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm therefore the lord thy god commanded thee to keep the sabbath day beut deut 15 it Is true that tho the lord has not at any time that is recorded in history gone into great detail to make clear why the observance ot of one day in seven as a day of rest is so important por tant but the wisdom of it from a physical standpoint is not lacking in the knowledge of the day numerous demonstrations have been conducted which prove quite thoroughly that tor for both man mail and beast there is virtue in in it to those who acknowledge the omniscience of god it should be accepted without question observed on faith when god POrn commands mands every christian should obey living by faith until the full light of day shall make it clear for pow ow we see through a glass darkly but then face to face now I 1 know in part but then shall I 1 know even aa as I 1 am known 1 cor 1512 on this point the latter day saints have had the word of the lord renewed to them in language more explicit than is to ho be found anywhere in the ancient scriptures which leaves continued on page two DISCOURSE ON Y continued from first page them with less excuse than any other people for falling failing in this his vital pie but I 1 nm am concerns el over the fact that the latter day saints oven even as other people exhibit such wholesale disregard tor for the lords day it seems to me that they are missing a meeting with the lord a meeting that is ot of prime importance and touches every point of a christians life latter day I 1 saints surely ought to be impressed in view of 0 the explicit word of 0 revelation on this point referred to let us read the law as given in modern times regarding this important principle thou ehalt offer a sacrifice unto the lord thy god in righteousness even that of a broken heart and contrite spirit and that thou more mora fully keep thyself unspotted from th the world thou shall go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day tor for verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors and to pay thy devotions unto the most high nevertheless thy thi vows shall ie be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times but remember that on this the lords day thou offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto un the most high confessing thy sins unto thy brethren and before the lord AND ON THIS DAY THOU SALT DO NONE OTHER THING only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy tasting fasting may be perfect or in other words that thy joy way may be full verily this is fasting and prayer or in other words rejoicing and prayer and inasmuch as s ye do these things with thanks givs ing with cheerful hearts and coulten ances not with much laughter for this is si sin n but with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance verily I 1 say that inasmuch as e do this THE OF THE EARTH IS YOURS the beasts of the field and the fowls fowl of the air and that which clim beth upon the trees and walseth upon the earth yea and the herb and the good things which cometh of the earth whether tor for food or for or raiment or tor for houses or tor for barns or tor for orchards or for gardens or for vineyards yea all things that cometh of the earth in the season thereof are made tor for the benefit and the use of man mail both to please the eye and to gladden the heart yea for or food and for or raiment for or taste and for or smell to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul D C sec 19 it its s a significant thing that this law of 0 spiritual growth and strength should be followed by a promise of temporal blessings men usually are induced to the sabbath with no greater purpose than to increase their incomes hoping thus to accumulate more of this worlds goods than they could do by working six days those who do this show that they have little faith in the promise of the lord ford that if they do these things namely keep the sabbath day holy the falness of the earth is theirs it amounts to a cau confession ot or Ne weakness akness a lack of faith in the lord I 1 would be afraid of 0 money earned by my own desire on the sabbath afraid that it would prove a curse instead of a blessing we hesitate to accept money that is thel theIr fruits of unrighteousness calling it tainted but willingly accept money that has come thru tour our own deliberate breach of 0 a holy law consistency thou art a we deceive ourselves more and more that certain things are necessary to be done on the sabbath sabbat we travel more on sundays than on other days making it necessary for a greater number of 0 people to work to accommodate us in that re in england they traveled ae less ss numbers ot of regular trains were taken off on sundays so 1 tb their crews might have the benefit of the sabbath drug stores are expected to keep open on sundays on the plea that medicines must be bought on that day as nell ivell as any other but in england they managed very well without keeping open shop confectionery stores remal remain rl open now on demand 0 of the people for or this convenience I 1 am told that some of our grocery stores now open for or a part of 0 tho day and even some clothing stores in the hope ot of cap capturing turin g additional trade at the rate this encroachment croach ment is growing the sabbath as a day of ne rest will soon disappear from the cities and the farming arming communities muni ties are not far behind farmers who are supposed to be their own bosses work on sunday to gather a crop of 0 hay because the weather is threatening having little faith that god can make up to them any losses they work on sundays to get their beets in before they may freeze some justify themselves in this because jesus said it Is lawful to do well on the sabbath and it came to pass as lie he went into the house of one of the chief pharisees Pharis ees to eat bread on the sabbath day that they watched him and behold there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy and jesus answering ans vering unto the lawyers and pharisees Pharis ees saying Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day and they held their peace arid and he took him and healed him and let litin him go and answered them saying which of you shall hall s have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit and will not straightway pull him out ou on the sabbath day ruke luke 11 1 15 1 5 the reference here is plainly to the doing of good the relief relict of sut sui faring and not to the making of money it if there is any work that might be justified on the sabbath it Is the harvesting of our elberta peach crop the peaches ripen oil at once and must be shipped within a few days it has been taken for granted that when the harvesting is commenced it must continue without stop until completed but last year one of our biggest peach growers vers decided otherwise he was a presiding officer in a ward and felt that lie he should be an example to the people ile he was in the thick 0 of the work when saturday night came but stave instructions to the pickers that their services would not be required until monday morning he says that i when he checked up the work on mon alon 1 day night he found to his surprise and gratification that the two days results were equal to any other three days ot of the season when he settled his tithing that tall fall lie he said to the bishop it seems a large surn sum for me to pay but I 1 awo owe it he had honored a vital commandment and the fullness of the earth was his is greater abundance because of it and also he was happy his conscience was clear there is a growing tendency in the world to set aside the sabbath as EL a day of pleasure and it is taking great hold of 0 the latter day saints they make excuse that their time Is not their own they must work six days to earn their living and they need recreation they look forward to sunday as a day off in which to go BO driving hunting fishing and what not little realizing that it if the whole world took this view of the matter there would be no sabbath but every day would be a working day it is coming to that very rapidly now when it is completely so then those who brought it about will realize that they have a pit for themselves there will literally be no rest powerful agencies are lending their support to the effort to break down the sacred barriers that have until recently formed a safeguard to this holy institution motion picture distria distributors u engage the ablest writers and speakers in behalf of a commercialized sabbath and because this sort of enterprise ter prise pays big dividends in cash many of those who should be teachers or of holiness actually allies or of unrighteousness community amusement associations soster foster ball games I 1 races and all kinds of sports lured byl by big box office receipts the professed christians among them forget the lord has promised the wealth ot of the world in return for a proper observance of this day seek yo ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you if some of us who are not now in our youth feel that the morality of the world Is slipping and that the evil effects of it are engulfing even our isolation we at least have warrant tor for our complaints I 1 can remember when sunday amusements in salt lake city were taboo now they are introduced and flourishing even in the small towns and there seems to be no power to combat them the youth clamor tor for them and the parents follow the line of least resistance and acquiesce under the threat that they the youth will get in their automobiles and drive to the nearest large town where they can find the amusement they crave think of the argument of religiously trained parents that it is better to bring these things to their own homes than it is to have the children threaten to go away to find them it is a fallacious argument and at the same time a confession of failure on the part of the parents to teach wholesome respect for the sabbath and consequently wholesome morality early enough in their homes we have as a community been slipping even in the QUALITY of our teaching of the sabbath I 1 have recently read a man who says in the days ot of my youth my parents referred to the lords lord s day as the sabbath we called it sunday and our children refer to it as the weekend week end the crime wave over which the best bes t people are loudly lamenting is largely accounted tor for in this tact fact A recent survey ot of one state indiana which Is probably representative shows that not more than per cent of 0 the youth are receiving any religious training it if we add to that the number who are receiving such perfunctory training as they may get in an hour on sunday followed by attendance at ball games picture shows or dances or joyriding the percentage who do receive adequate training is rapidly approaching the vanishing point I 1 mention the latter day saints word of wisdom this is a code coda of health given by revelation through which it is possible to make the body aill immune inin iune to contagious diseases and all manner of sickness it if observed faithfully it would make 0 of its devotees the healthiest most resistant of physical beings against the inroads of those ailments that weaken and shorten life in the sabbath day all christianity has a word of wisdom of the spirit there is virtue in it over and above the mere showing of obedience be to a divine command there is an actual gathe gathering and garnering of sart strength n th with which to combat the evils of the day and without which there is no moral rudder it is the means mean of creating in the mind a clear vision of right and wrong with strength to choose aud and abide in the right it la Is the connecting link between conscience and morality which seem to be so generally divorced in mere unsupported intellectuality an affection of tho the skin shin is evide evidence ce of imn imi i purity deeper down the physician will say that the blood |