THE
SEVENTH DAY SABBATH
TO THE
READER
The
substance of the following pages, was first published in The Hope of
Israel, Feb. 28, 1845. Believing however as I
do, the subject contained in this little Tract, to be of great importance,
and wishing to do what I can, to present this
truth to the true children of God; I deem it my duty to publish it in the
present form, and an enlargement, that it may have as wide a
circulation as possible. That the blessing of
God may attend it, is the prayer of the AUTHOR. March, 1845.
A FEW
QUESTIONS FOR THE READER TO ANSWER, BEFORE READING THE FOLLOWING
PAGES.-- What authority have you in the Old or New Testament, to
keep any day as a Sabbath, or day of rest: Do
you find any command in the New Testament? If not, why do you not observe
the day that is appointed in the 4th
Commandment?
Has the
day ever been changed? If so, when and where? Please point to the chapter
and verse. When you was a child, did not your
parents and others who taught you to keep Sunday holy, direct you to
the Fourth Commandment as authority for keeping it thus? Did you
ever think of the inconsistency? The Commandment
says the seventh day, and you taught to keep the first.
How could
you reprove a person for working, or doing anything else on Sunday, or
first day of the week, as the same law which
makes it wrong to work, etc., on Gods holy day, commands of the seventh
day, instead of the first?
THE
SABBATH
TO THE
SAINTS SCATTERED ABROAD.
Believing
it important for us to have the truth on all subjects, and especially
those connected with the immediate coming of
Christ, I would present a few thoughts on the Sabbath; not for
controversy, but for the consideration of the
true Israel, who are looking for the promise, and speedy redemption.
The
remarks of Bro. Miller in this Lecture on the great Sabbath, I like very
well, because I believe they are true. In
speaking of the Sabbath he says,-- Its being contained in the ten
commandments, written by the finger of God, on
both tables of the testimony, graven on stone, [See Exodus 34:28,
Deuteronomy 4:13 & 10:4] to be a sign forever, [Exodus 31:17,
Ezekiel 20:12] and a perpetual covenant, proves,
in my opinion, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that it is as binding upon
the Christian church as upon the Jewish, and in
the same manner, and for the same reason. Life and views, p. 157.
[I hope all will pay particular attention to these remarks of Br.
Miller, and also my references at the bottom of
the page.]
Again he
says, p. 160, in speaking of the Sabbath as a sign, It is a sign, because
God has given it to us expressly for that
purpose. See our text: To be a sign between me and them. i.e. between
God and the children of Israel. Now another
question will evidently arise: Who are the children of Israel? I answer,
while the first covenant was standing, they were the children of
Jacob, descendents of the twelve tribes;-- but
that covenant they broke: see Leviticus 26:2,15 also Deuteronomy 31:10-16.
This covenant was broken as Moses had foretold.
Then Jesus Christ brought in a new covenant which continued the sign of
the Sabbath, and prepared another people, by
writing his law upon their hearts. These now are the true Israel;
for the changing of the subjects never did, nor ever can change the
moral law of God.
Therefore
Paul argues the circumcision of the heart, and
says that they are not all Israel which are of Israel, neither
because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children; but,
in Isaac shall thy seed be called; i.e. the
which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God;
but the children of the promise are counted for
the seed. Now if the children of God are the true Israel, and if the
Sabbath was given as a sign forever, and a
perpetual covenant, I ask, how can it be abolished while there is one
Israelite remaining to claim the promise?
You have
evidently noticed, that all the difficulties on the Sabbath question among
Christians have arisen from the foolish, judaizing notion, that
Israel meant only the literal Jew. But when we
understand Israel to mean the people of God, the difficulties, every man
must acknowledge, all vanish at once. I say, and
believe I am supported by the Bible, that the moral law was never given to
the Jews as a people exclusively, but they
were for a season the keepers of it in charge. And through them the law,
oracles and testimony, have been handed down to us. See Pauls
clear reasoning in Romans, 2d, 3d, and 4th
chapters, on this point.
Then says
the objector, we are under the same obligation to keep the Sabbaths of
weeks, month, and years, as the Jews were. No,
sir; you will observe that these were not included in the Ten
Commandments; they were attachments, added by reason of
transgression, until the seed should come, to
whom the promise of one eternal day or Sabbath of rest, was made.
Therefore there remains a keeping of Sabbath to
the people of God. Only one kind of Sabbath was given to Adam, and only
one remains for us: see Hosea 2:11: I will
cause all her mirth to cease, her feast-days, her new moons, and her
Sabbaths and all her solemn feasts. All the
Jewish Sabbaths did cease, when Christ nailed them to his cross.
Colossians 2:14-17. Blotting out the hand
writing of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and
took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled
pricipalities and powers, he made a show of them
openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat
or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of
the new moon, or the Sabbath-days; which are a shadow of things to come;
but the body is of Christ. These were properly
called Jewish Sabbaths. osea says, her Sabbaths. But the
Sabbath of
which we are speaking, God calls my Sabbath. Here is a clear distinction
between the creation Sabbath and the ceremonial.
[I hope all will notice the distinction Bro. M. makes between the Jewish
Sabbath, and Gods Sabbath; it is evidently true.] The one is
perpetual; the others were merely shadows of
good things to come, and are limited in Christ. The Sabbath which remains
is to be kept on the first day of every week, as
a perpetual sign, that when Christ shall have finished the work of
redemption, we shall enter into that rest which
remains for the people of God, which will be an eternal rest.
The
sentiments expressed in the above extract, I believe to be true, except
the closing part where it is said the Sabbath
which remains is to be kept on the first day of every week, as a perpetual
sign, etc. Now, I ask, how can this be? If we
keep the first day as a sign, I do not see how we can have our thousand
years rest in the new earth, till the eighth
thousand years, as the first day would be the eighth, reckoning in
successive order from creation. But we all as advent believers,
have, and so still expect our rest in the
seventh thousand years. Therefore I think we should keep the seventh day
as a sign, according to the commandment.
I know the
reasons which are given in favor of keeping the first day, and they once
satisfied me, but fail to do so now, after a thorough examination
of the subject. It is said that the resurrection
of Christ, and his often meeting his disciples on the first day of the
week together with the practice of the Apostles,
are sufficient reasons for observing the first day of the week. In regard
to the resurrection of Christ being on the first
day of the week, I will not deny, though some may think it needs
proof. Respecting Christs often meeting his disciples on the first
day, I think we have no positive proof that he
ever met with them on this day but once when they were assembled for
worship, and this we find in John 20:19. In
Matthew all that is said about this is, Behold he goes before you into
Galilee; there shall you see him, etc. Matthew
28:7. Mark says, he appeared unto two of them as they went into the
country, and afterward unto the eleven as they
sat at meat, etc. Mark 16:12-14.
Luke
expresses it about the same as Mark. Luke
24:13-15, 30, 33, and 36. John appears to be a little more definite and
says, Then the same day at evening, being the
first day [Let all notice that wherever the phrase, first day of the
week occurs in the New Testament, the word day
is in italics showing that it is not in the original, but supplied by the
Translators.] of the week, when the doors were shut where the
disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews,
came Jesus, and stood in the midst, etc. John 20:19. In the 26th verse he
says, And after eight days, etc. Not the
eighth day after, as it ought to be, had Christ met with him the next
first day.
In the
21st chapter, 1-3 verses we find that he met
them again at the sea of Tiberius where the disciples were trying to
catch fish. We see therefore, that Christ appeared to the disciples
while they were going into the country as
they sat at meat and when they were fishing, but only once when they
were assembled for worship, unless their sitting
at meat, or together--as the margin reads, be considered a meeting of
worship.
In
relation to the practice of the apostles, there is but one meeting of the
disciples on the first day of the week,
mentioned in the New Testament, and that is in Acts 20:7. But there are
many meetings recorded, which they held on the
Sabbath.
I know 1
Corinthians 16:2 is considered proof respecting the first day; but when
examined, I think it proves the contrary. It
says, Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in
store as God hath prospered him, etc. The
expression lay by him in store, I think plainly implies that they were
at home, rather than at meeting. Rev 1:10, is the only other place
that can be construed to favor the first day.
John says, I was in the spirit on the Lords day.--Now, who knows
whether he meant the first or the seventh day? I
think the latter, because it is called the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,
but the first, is nowhere called so!
In regard
to the Sabbath, Christ says, The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.
Not a Sabbath, but the Sabbath. He says also,
The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
Mark 2:27, 28. He does not say, the Sabbath was made for the Jews,
and a Sabbath for the Gentiles, but THE Sabbath
was made for man.--All mankind. Some may think that our first day, is in
reality the seventh, but this is settled when we
examine Matthew 28:1, and Luke 23:56, & 24:1, where a plain
distinction is made between the two days. Matthew says, In the end
of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the
first day of the week, etc. Luke says, And rested the Sabbath day
according to the commandment. Now upon the first
day of the week, very early in the morning, etc.
After
having examined the ancient custom in relation to the first day, we will
now see what it was in regard to the seventh or
Sabbath. The first passage I will notice, is the one just quoted in Luke
23:56--And they returned and prepared spices and ointments, and rested
the Sabbath day according to the commandment.
Mark this: And rested the Sabbath day, ACCORDING TO THE COMMANDMENT.
Acts
13:42, says, And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the
Gentiles [Many say that the Jews only, observed
the Sabbath; but this passage and others also, show us clearly, that the
Gentiles observed the Sabbath. See Acts 18:4, on
this point] besought that these words might be preached to them
the next Sabbath. Verse 44, And the next Sabbath-day came almost
the whole city together, to hear the word of
God. Acts 16:13, And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river
side, where prayer was wont to be made. Chap.
17:2 And Paul as his manner was; went in unto them, & three Sabbath-days
reasoned with them out of the scriptures. This says as his manner
was. 28:4, And he reasoned in the synagogue
every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and Greeks. This is every Sabbath.
11th verse, And he continued there a year and
six months.
Now if it
was Pauls manner to reason in the synagogue
EVERY Sabbath, he must have in this place, observed seventy-eight
Sabbaths. It is evident that Christ had his eye
on the observance of Sabbath, as late certainly as AD 70, when Jerusalem
was destroyed when he said: Pray you that your
flight be not in winter, neither on the Sabbath-day. Matthew 24:20. But
if this tribulation spoken of, has reference
to the Papal persecution, as many believe, then they were directed
in the observance of the Sabbath, to a much later period. Paul in
Hebrews 4:4, says, For he spoke in a certain
place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day
from all his works. Not the first, but the
seventh day.
A few
facts now, to show what those have to acknowledge who keep the first day.
In the Encyclopedia of Religious knowledge,
Article, Sabbath - we read, The Sabbath was appointed at the
creation of the world, and sanctified, or set apart for holy
purposes, for man, for all men, and therefore
for Christians; since there was never any repeal of the original
institution. To this we add, that if the moral
law be the law of Christians, then is the Sabbath as explicitly enjoined
upon them as upon the Jews. But that the moral
law is our law, as well as the law of the Jews, all but Antinomians must
acknowledge; and few, we suppose, will be
inclined to run into the fearful mazes of that error, in order to support
lax notions as to the obligation of the Sabbath.
Into which, however, they must be plunged, if they deny the law of the
Ten Commandments to be binding.
In the
Address to the Lords day Convention, held in Baltimore in 1844, of
which John Quincy Adams was President, we find
this remark in recommending the observance of the Christian Sabbath: It
is the law of God, co-equal with creation. It is
one of the selected few of the Ten Commandments, that brief
but comprehensive expression of His will.
By these
extracts, we see that the fourth commandment is acknowledged to be now
binding upon us. Oh! that men were consistent.
Reader, will you be? God grant that you may. On the title page of the
Second Advent Library, No. 38, written by S. Bliss, on The
Chronology of the Bible, etc., we read thus:
One day
is with the Lord as a thousand years. St. Peter.
The seventh Day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. Exodus 20:10.
I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them. Ezekiel
20:12. Which are a shadow of things to come.
St. Paul. See what an acknowledgement this is,
by Br. Bliss!
A word now
in relation to history. As far as I have been able to examine, during the
last six months, since I became convicted on
this point, I find the following to be true. The disciples evidently kept
the first day of the week as a festival, in
commemoration of the resurrection of Christ, but never as the Sabbath. A
controversy however commenced toward the close of the first century
to see whether both days should be kept, or only
one; and if one should be given up, which one, the first day, or the
seventh. This controversy increased century
after century till A. D. 603, when Pope Gregory passed a law abolishing
the seventh day Sabbath, and establishing the
first day. [Baronius Councils, 603.]
Eusebius
says of Constantine, That he commanded, through all the Roman Empire,
that the first day of the week should be
observed as a Sabbath day. [Eusebius Life of Constantine, Book 4th,
Chapter 17,18.] The Parliament of England met
on Sundays till the time of Richard II. [ Bampfields Enq. page
116.] The first law of England made for keeping Sunday, was in the
time of Edward VI, about 1470. In Bishop Elys
book, written 1635, he says, in St. Jeromes days, the devout Christians,
did work on the first day of the week.
And John
Calvin, in his Institution of the Christian Religion, page 128, says,
The Fathers put in the place of the Sabbath the
day we call Sunday. Mark this! The Old Fathers did it! Not the God of
heaven! Whom will we obey?
Thus we
see Dan. 7:25 fulfilled, the little horn changing times and laws.
Therefore it appears to me that all who keep the
first day of the week for the Sabbath are Popes Sunday Keepers! and
GODS
SABBATH
BREAKERS!!!
Truth is
what I am after, and if I had but one day on this earth to spend, I would
give up error for truth, as soon as I could see
it. May the Lord give us wisdom, and help us to keep all his commandments
that we may have right to the tree of life. Rev. 22:14.
Yours,
daily looking, and patiently waiting for that blessed hope and glorious
appearing of the great God, and our Savior Jesus
Christ.
SUPPLEMENT.
The word
Sabbath, signifies REST: that of Sunday, so called because it was
dedicated to the Sun, by the heathen nations in
the north of Europe. Idolatry we see in this, then.
The word
Sunday, never occurs in the Bible, and in no instance is the word Sabbath
applied to the first day of the week, but always
refers to the seventh day. It is said that the same portion of time which
constituted the seventh day from creation, could not be observed in
all parts of the earth, on account of the
different degrees of latitude and longitude.
The
objection, however, amounts to nothing in my land, as the Sun must rise on
this continent at the same time as at the
creation of the world. Therefore, though the Sun may rise at a different
time in Palestine from what it does here, yet it
will make no difference in the time of our beginning the Sabbath.
The evening and the morning were the first day. Therefore, we
should begin the Sabbath on Friday evening, and
end on Saturday evening.
The
question is frequently asked, whether it would not be best now, as the
practice of keeping the first day has become so
general, to continue to observe it, although it is not the true Sabbath,
as a change of days would make it so difficult
to manage our worldly affairs--go to meeting, etc., etc.? This question
may be easily answered by asking another,
namely: Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto men
more than God, judge you.
I know by
experience that there are some difficulties in the way of keeping Gods
Sabbath. But what of that? This wicked world
have always opposed the truth, and those who practice it, and they always
will. But for one, I had rather obey God, and have his approbation
here, and finally enjoy the blessings of the new
earth--though all men hate me--than to have the good opinion of men here,
and perish at last. Or in other words, and in
the language of another, I had rather go to Heaven alone, than to Hell,
with the multitude. And as we have every reason
to be daily looking for the Lord to come and call us to judgment,
may the reader and the writer, KEEP ALL THE COMMANDS OF GOD, THAT
WE MAY BE READY FOR THAT DAY. AMEN.