The Command to Remember the Sabbath Day

My dear brethren and sisters : It is my privilege in standing before you to present a very old doctrine and one that has come down through the ages, but one that has not been very well observed and is not being observed today. To fortify my position I am going to present my authority. ¶

The Command to Remember the Sabbath Day

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work. ¶

But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates : ¶

For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. ¶

That is the law, a law that was pronounced by Moses, but it is much older, it was in existence from the beginning of the earth. ¶

The Land to Observe the Sabbath

Again, the Sabbath for the land was to be observed as well as for man, and also for the beasts. You will find that recorded in the 25th chapter of Leviticus. ¶

Again, failure to observe this law would bring suffering, the people would be scattered, and the land would then observe its Sabbath. You will find that in Leviticus 26th chapter. ¶

The Lord says : And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you; and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. ¶

Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. ¶

As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest : because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it. (Leviticus 26.) ¶

Thus saith the Lord, keep ye judgment, and do justice; for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. ¶

Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. (Isaiah, 56:1-2.) ¶

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. (Isaiah, 58:13-14.) ¶

Thus saith the Lord : take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem ; ¶

Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. ¶

But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction. ¶

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But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; than will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched. (Jeremiah, 17:21-27.) ¶

Thus saith the Lord God : In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the Lord your God ; ¶

In that day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands ; ¶

Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt : I am the Lord your God. ¶

But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me ; they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt ; then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. ¶

But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt. ¶

Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. ¶

And I gave them my statutes, and showed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them. ¶

Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they may know that I am the Lord that sanctify them. (Ezekiel, 20:5-12.) ¶

Friday. October 7 ¶

First Da- ¶

I have a good many more passages of scripture here, but I am not going to take time to read more from the Bible, for this will suffice. ¶

The Counsel of Latter-day Leaders

On the 25th day of July, 1847, the day after the pioneers entered this valley, it being the Sabbath day a meeting was held, President Brigham Young spoke to the assembly as follows: ¶

He told the brethren that they must not work on Sunday; that they would lose five times as much as they would gain by it. None were to hunt on that day ; and there should not any man dwell among us who would not observe these rules. They might go and dwell where they pleased, but should not dwell with us. ¶

The same day President Heber C. Kimball, first counselor in the Presidency said : ¶

I advise you to keep the sabbath day holy, whether others do or not. If you wish to go hunting or to see the country, seek a week day for that purpose. Do not let us get giddy and light-minded, as the Nephites did of old, but strive to work righteousness in the beginning. ¶

And on other occasions these brethren spoke on this subject. Again from President Brigham Young, this time at a conference of the Church, April 7, 1850: ¶

There is not the first man who has gained by laboring on the sabbath day; necessity does not drive a man to do it, no such thing, but it is their own dispositions, and the spirit that is in them. There is no more necessity to go to the canyons or to hunt your cattle on the sabbath day, you might as well plow. But some feel that they cannot spare the time on a week day. We have tried it in traveling since we left Nauvoo, and not one time having traveled on that day have we gained by it, but we have lost a day or two the next week to pay for it. What is the harm? It proves that we treat lightly the rules of the God of Nature — the God we serve. The God that organized the elements knows that we can endure. He said to man, When you have labored six days, rest one. To refresh your bodies ; let your horses and cattle rest ; your men and women, let them rest * * * Now you gain nothing by transforming the ordinances of nature to your own desires. Let them all rest, and when the earth has brought forth six years let it rest the seventh. You will not make anything by transgressing any rule of the God of nature. ¶

Much has been said by the brethren in the day in which we live. I have a quotation here from President Joseph F. Smith that I want to read to you, mainly because it has never been put in print. I copied it from a letter that he wrote to one of his daughters who was out in the mission field : ¶

All things should be done with prudence and in moderation — [and then he quotes from the book of Exodus, and comments, as follows] : This is the command. It is binding upon all. There are sound religious reasons for it and physiological reasons not less sound. Indeed it is a physiological as well as a divine law. Those who heed it will reap the reward of obedience to divine law, and enjoy the benefits of the physical law. It is not less needful to the human being than sleep — although not so speedily felt. No one can live without sleep, neither can anyone survive long without rest. The result of sleep is no more potential to prologation of life than the sabbath rest, although we may survive longer without the latter than the former, speaking from a physical point of view. From a spiritual point of view the wilful violation of the law of sabbath rest is as deadly to moral growth and faith, as is the sleepless eye to the mortal being. But the great point is, God has said it ! and not for his own but for man's well being; he therefore should obey. If he does not he will have to abide the consequences both temporal and spiritual to himself. ¶

Again : ¶

For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the most high. (Doctrine and Covenants 59:10.) ¶

We learn to do by doing. Never can we learn to do by not doing. One who closely shuts his eyes, is more blind than those who are blind indeed. The things of God are discovered by the Spirit of God, not by the spirit of man or of the world. Those who seek shall find, and to those who knock at the door it shall be opened, and those who ask shall receive, and not otherwise. He that has the spirit discerns by the spirit and loves the works of the spirit, for they give delight and joy. Who gives himself to good works finds beauty and reward in them ; and he who sows to the wind will reap the whirlwind. Not now, perhaps, for that which we sow must first take root, then spring forth and leaf and then bear fruit. The fruit will be after the kind of it sown seed. We learn a principle by coming in close contact with and studying it, and admitting it into our minds and hearts. There is no house that was not built, no tree that did not grow, no knowledge that was not or is not acquired. But truth is eternal — it was not created or made, it is as a precious gem. It lies hidden from us and we must find it, and apply it, and make it ours. ¶

To those who love human pleasures and pursue them, the duties of life, the essential parts of life, are irksome, dry, pleasureless, seemingly valueless. But their pleasures will fade away, and their joys will perish and leave them but the ashes of their treasure, with hopeless regrets. "Honor the sabbath day and keep it holy," and you will know more about it. ¶

This letter was written May 10, 1897. ¶

At the October General Conference in 1912, President Smith said : ¶

"Thou shalt honor the sabbath day and keep it holy." Do we do it? Is it necessary to do it? It is absolutely necessary to do so in order that we may be in harmony with God's law and commandments, and whenever we transgress that law or that commandment we are guilty of transgressing the law of God. And what will be the result if we continue? Our children will follow in our footsteps, they will dishonor the command of God to keep one day holy in seven, and will lose the spirit of obedience to the laws of God and his requirements, just as the father will lose it if he continues to violate the commandments. ¶

Present Day Customs Decried

Now, I am going to be bold enough to say something. In the Monday newspaper I found this : ¶

The fifty-eighth annual exhibit of the Utah State Fair association — popularly known as the state fair — proved a magnet Sunday to draw thousands of visitors and home folks to the exposition grounds. ¶

Apparently anxious to get a close-up of the production picture presented in the thousands of exhibits displayed in the score of fair departments, men, women, and children kept the turnstiles clicking from early morning until late at night. The stream of visitors from 3 p. m. to early evening indicated a close-to-record Sunday crowd. ¶

That was the Sabbath day. Judges of horses, cattle, sheep and swine predicted that it would require additional days in which to pick the winners, and so on. ¶

In that same issue the same day another report said : ¶

Stunt and exhibition flying, accompanied by educational explanations, Sunday, graphically demonstrated progress in air transportation to a crowd of 10,000 assembled at Salt Lake City's municipal airport. ¶

The program, including a talk by Governor Henry H. Blood, marked the opening day ceremonies locally of National Air Travel week and set in motion a daily round of events calling attention to speed and safety of plane travel. ¶

Particularly attracting attention of the huge crowd were the antics of three United Air Lines army birdmen, who put their ships through rolls, loops, and dives and brought gasps from watchers. ¶

Now, this is not the only evil ; there are many others, but time will not permit me to speak of them. Brethren and sisters, where are we going? I think it is a disgrace to the State of Utah, the home of the Latter-day Saints, the home of Brigham Young, who gave the counsel the day after we came into this valley that we should observe the Sabbath day, and now today the authorities in State and city and village everywhere throw the doors open for the violation of the word of God. How many of us were guilty of being there ? We have got to repent and turn from this evil lest the same troubles come upon us that came upon old Israel, as I have read them to you. ¶

Time will not permit me to say more. May the Lord bless the Latter-day Saints, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. ¶