Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

us."evening,"morning."Why A Sabbath Evening Preaching Service?By B. M. Dobbin, D.D.It is a questionfrequently asked in these days,not only in cities where many churches are dark onSabbath night, but in small towns as well. Everywhere one finds church members not bold enough,perhaps, to speak against an evening service on theLord's day, but their actions are louder than words.Of course not all who stay away are against theservice. There are many good Christians who, forvarious reasons, cannot attend church at night.Some because of ill health or advanced years are notstrong enough for more than one service a day, andmorning is the time they can most easily attend.There are some who live far away and are too poorto pay transportation charges twice a day. There arefamilies in which little children make it inadvisable,at least, for both parents to go at night.At certain seasons a farmer's chores may makeit difficult. There are young chickens to be looked after at that hour, and before fly sprays were so common it was almost impossible in fly time to milkearly. Yet even such hindrances can often be surmounted if there be the will. A farm family sixmiles out in mid-summer sometimes let their milkinggo until after they had returned from eveningpreaching. That certainly took Christian grace todress up, go to church, come home, change to workclothes, toil and sweat and then clean upthe night.again forSome church members all Sabbath afternoon areengaged in active religious work, teaching in mission Sabbath schools, visiting the sick, or bringingthe gospel message to inmates of jails, workhouses,county farms and the like. They cannot be blamedwhen evening comes for desiring a little rest andtime for private study and devotion.Perhaps a third of any morning church audiencehas good and sufficient reasons for not being backat night. We should be careful about judging. It is amatter for each Christian to settle with his conscience.,But as a watch needs sometimes to be cleaned andregulated in order to be dependable, so with conscience. Christians need to be reminded that sincethe time that Paul preached that Sabbath evening inTroas, when the young man Eutychus fell into adeep sleep and then fell from the third loft and wastaken up dead, most Protestant churches have heldpreaching services on Sabbath night.The Bible does not say, in so many words, thatchurches should have both morning and evening worship on the Lord's day. It does not say that everyable bodied Christian should attend church twice onthe Sabbath. But through the centuries the Churchhas found it well to preach the Word both morningand evening of the Lord's day.For one thing the Sabbath does not end whentwelve hours of that day have passed. The FourthCommandment does not read, "Remember the Sabbath forenoon to keep it holy." God reserves oneseventh,not one-fourteenth of our time, for Himself.It is the day, not its morning hours which is to bekept holy.54The evening service is a wonderful help in thisregard to any one who is able to attend. What betterway to bring the Lord's day to a close than to witness for Him by seeking the house of prayer ; by oncemore worshiping Him in song and hiding His Wordin one's heart that one sin not against Him? Thesethings may be done in the home, but is that the waythe majority of church members spend their Sabbathevenings when they do not go to Church?It is noticable, also, that where Christian parents who could go twice a day fail to do so, considering attendance at one service sufficient, their children on growing up often decide that even one service per week is too much and are regular in theirattendance only by being there every Easter. Slimevening attendance in time affects that of the morning.A fair proportion of its membership out at nightmakes for a growingchurch. When non-professorsare invited to attend they frequently promise tocome out "someseldom- "someNon-churchgoers are not used to getting up in timeon Sabbath for going to morning worship. They liketo lie a-bed, to take their time to their chores, tobrowse through the Sunday paper. But by eveningthey are rested, they have exhausted home amusements and are willing to try an evening at church asa novelty.But suppose Mr. Non-churchgoer or Mrs. Nonchurchgoer,or both of them, come in the eveningand find a mere handful of persons present. Are theylikely to return ? or is it any wonder if they do not ?Next Sabbath morning as the crowd passes outto the street after the benediction, perhaps Mrs.Faithful remarks to Mrs. Once-a-day, "What a fineattendance and what a helpful sermon Mr. Pastorgave Mrs. Once-a-day replies, "Yes, but do younotice we don't get any out-siders? There are myneighbors the Non-churches. I try so hard to getthem to come, but they just like to lie a-bed Sabbathmorning, don't you know. They haven't had thebringing up we had."Some church members able to attend eveningpreaching may find more profit, as far as they areconcerned, in doing something else ; but "none of usliveth to himself." "Ye shall be witnesses unto Me,"said Jesus. Some may not be able fluently to talk toothers about Him, but they can, at least by their example, encourage others to seek the house of Godwhere the way of redemption is made known.Eveningchurch attendance is one of the bestways of upholding a pastor's hands. A good serviceat night sends him into the work of the week fullof zeal and courage ; but a slim audience, when manymight be there, cools him off like being in a refrigerator. It is several days before he can again get up asweat.There is need for a Sabbath eveningservice.There is need of it being well attended. No Christianshould absent himself unless he feels his Lord approves his reason for doing so.United Presbyterian, Used by permission.THE COVENANTER WITNESS