A COMMON view of the question of securing Sabbath observance is expressed in the following from the Outlook of April 24:—
“The question of Sunday observance is by no means a simple one. There are elements in the problem which make it difficult of solution. It is, perhaps, more difficult in this country than in any other because the population is so heterogeneous. In the old New England days Puritan ideals could be realized because the people were all of one class. The same may be said of Scotland. But our population is composed of representatives of many nationalities and of various phases of faith. Simple justice seems to make it imperative that the preferences of differing people should be recognized. How liberty may be granted and yet the Lord’s Day preserved is a question not easy to answer.”
All this applies to Sunday observance; but none of the facts set forth in this quotation interfere with the securing of Sabbath observance, for the simple reason that Sabbath observance is a part of the Christian life, which is secured through faith in Christ; and it makes no difference how heterogenous the population is, they are all alike susceptible to the grace of God. Nor do the “preferences” of the people affect the question; for when a person is a Christian, he will prefer to keep the Sabbath in just the way that God has commanded.
From the gospel standpoint, there can be no possible antagonism between liberty and the keeping of the Sabbath; for the Sabbath commandment is a part of the “perfect law of liberty” itself. See James 2:11, 12. “How liberty may be granted and the Lord’s day preserved” is therefore a question which can never arise under the provisions of the gospel. God is the author of both liberty and the Lord’s day, and he has fixed their relation to each other; and the only thing that his creatures here need to do is to leave the matter just as he has arranged it.
If men would only do this, it would save them a world of trouble.