Chapter XXI: Part IX: The Sabbath (3)

“Although almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, refuse to do this.”—_Socrates’s __“__Ecclesiastical History,__”__ book 5, chap. 22._

23. What day was observed in the dark ages by some of the Waldenses?

“They kept the Sabbath day, observed the ordinance of baptism according to the primitive church, instructed their children in the articles of the Christian faith and the commandments of God.”—_Jones’s __“__Church History,__”__ Vol. II, chap. 5, sec. 4._

24. Who among the early Reformers raised this question of Sabbath observance?

“Carlstadt held to the divine authority of the Sabbath from the Old Testament.”—_“__Life of Luther,__”__ by Dr. Barnes Sears, page 402._

25. What did Luther say of Carlstadt’s Sabbath views?

“Indeed, if Carlstadt were to write further about the Sabbath, Sunday would have to give way, and the Sabbath—that is to say, Saturday—must be kept holy.”—_Luther, Against the Celestial Prophets, quoted in __“__Life of Martin Luther in Pictures,__”__ page 147._

26. What claim is now made by the Roman Church concerning the change of the Sabbath to Sunday?

“_Question._—Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?

“_Answer._—Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her,—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.”—_“__Doctrinal Catechism,__”__ by Rev. Stephen Keenan, page 174._

NOTE.—Through want of sufficient light and investigation, and
because of the efforts of some who opposed the Sabbath during the
Reformation, Sunday was brought from Catholicism into the
Protestant church, and is now cherished as an institution of the
Lord. It is clear, however, that it is none of His planting, but
rather the work and result of apostasy. But a message is now going
forth to revive the truth on this point, and calling for a genuine
reformation upon it. See pages 251-263, and next reading.

Sabbath Reform

The House Of Prayer. "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from
doing thy pleasure on My holy day." Isa. 58:13.

1. What kind of worship does Christ say results from doctrines based on the commandments of men?

“_But in vain they do worship Me_, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Matt. 15:9.

2. What commandment did Christ say the Pharisees had made void by their teaching?

“For _God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother_.... But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; and honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free.” Verses 4-6.

3. What was the result of their course?

“Thus have ye _made the commandment of God of none effect_ by your tradition.” Verse 6.

NOTE.—By a gift or dedication of property to the temple service,
they taught that a man might be freed from the duties enjoined by
the fifth commandment.

4. What question did the disciples soon afterward ask Christ?

“_Knowest Thou that the Pharisees were offended_, after they heard this saying?” Verse 12.

5. What answer did the Saviour make?

“But He answered and said, _Every plant, which My Heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up_.” Verse 13.

NOTE.—What is true of the fifth commandment is true of every other
commandment. If through tradition men set aside any other of God’s
commandments, the words of Christ to the Pharisees are equally
applicable to them. They are guilty of making void the commandment
of God, and of instituting vain worship.

6. When, and by whom, was the Sabbath “planted”?

“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_.” Ex. 20:11.

7. Who claims to have planted the Sunday institution?

“_Question._—Has _the [Catholic] church_ power to make any alterations in the commandments of God?

“_Answer._—... Instead of the seventh day, and other festivals appointed by the old law, the church has prescribed the Sundays and holy days to be set apart for God’s worship; and these we are now obliged to keep in consequence of God’s commandment, instead of the ancient Sabbath.”—_“__Catholic Christian Instructed,__”__ by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Challoner, page 211._

NOTE.—“We Catholics, then, have precisely the same authority for
keeping Sunday holy, instead of Saturday, as we have for every
other article of our creed; namely, the authority of ‘_the church_
of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth’ (1 Tim.
3:15); whereas, you who are Protestants have really no authority
for it whatever; for _there is no authority for it in the Bible_,
and you will not allow that there _can be_ authority for it
anywhere else. Both you and we do, in fact, follow _tradition_ in
this matter; but _we_ follow it, believing it to be a part of
God’s word, and the church to be its divinely appointed guardian
and interpreter; _you_ follow it, denouncing it all the time as a
fallible and treacherous guide, which often ‘makes the commandment
of God of none effect.’ ”—_“__Clifton Tracts,__”__ Vol. IV,
article __“__A Question for All Bible Christians,__”__ page 15._

For further quotations on this, see pages 441, 444, 455, 456.

8. When is final salvation to be brought to God’s people?

“Who are kept by the power of God through faith _unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time_.” 1 Peter 1:5.

9. When God’s salvation is _near to come_, upon whom does He pronounce a blessing?

“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.” Isa. 56:1, 2.

10. Is this promised blessing confined to any one class?

“_Also the sons of the_ STRANGER that join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, _every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it_, and taketh hold of My covenant; _even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer_.” Verses 6, 7.

NOTE.—It is evident from these scriptures that in the last day,
when men are waiting for the Saviour to appear, there will be a
call for those who really love the Lord to separate themselves
from the world, to observe the Lord’s true Sabbath, and to depart
from all evil.

11. What does God tell His ministers to do at this time?

“_Cry aloud, spare not_, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and _show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins_.” Isa. 58:1.

12. What message of Sabbath reform does He send?

“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.” Verses 13, 14.

NOTE.—The Sabbath of Jehovah is not now, by the majority even of
professed Christians, called holy and honorable. By many it is
stigmatized as “Jewish.” The Lord foresaw how this would be in
this age, and inspired the prophet to write as he did. “_If thou
turn away thy foot from the Sabbath._” This is a strong
expression, indicating that many would be trampling upon God’s
day, and doing their own pleasure upon it, instead of seeking God,
and honoring Him by keeping the Sabbath holy.

13. What will those be called who engage in this reformation?

“And thou shalt be called, _The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in_.” Verse 12.

14. What does another prophet say professed teachers among God’s people have done?

“Her priests have _violated My law_, and have _profaned Mine holy things_: they have _put no difference between the holy and profane_; neither have they shown difference between the unclean and the clean, _and have hid their eyes from My Sabbaths_, and I am profaned among them.” Eze. 22:26.

15. What have they done to maintain their theories?

“And her prophets have _daubed them with untempered mortar_, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, _Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken_.” Verse 28.

NOTES.—Untempered mortar is that which is improperly worked, and
will not therefore hold together or stand the test. Thus it is
with the reasons advanced for keeping Sunday instead of the Bible
Sabbath, the seventh day. They are not only unsound and untenable
in themselves, but are utterly inconsistent, contradictory, and
destructive one of the other, among themselves. They are like the
witnesses employed by the Jewish leaders to condemn Christ. Of
these the record says: “The chief priests and all the council
sought for witness against Jesus to put Him to death; and found
none. For many bare _false witness_ against Him, but _their
witness agreed not together_.” Mark 14:55, 56. The lack of
_agreement_ among them was evidence in itself of the _falsity_ of
their testimony. In nothing, perhaps, is a lack of agreement
better illustrated than in the reasons assigned for
Sunday-keeping. Note the following:—

One says the Sabbath has been _changed_ from the seventh to the
first day of the week.

Another says that the Sabbath commandment requires only one day of
rest after six of labor, and hence _there has been no change_.

Some reason that all ought to keep Sunday, because although, as
they affirm, God did not appoint a _particular_ day, yet
_agreement_ is necessary; and to have any or every day a sabbath
would be equal to no sabbath at all.

Others, to avoid the claims of God’s law, assert that the Sabbath
precept is one of those ordinances which was _against us, contrary
to us, blotted out, and nailed to the cross_. Still, they admit
that a day of rest and convocation is necessary, and therefore the
day of Christ’s resurrection, they say, has been chosen.

Another class say they believe it is impossible to know which is
the _seventh day_, although they have no difficulty in
ascertaining which is the _first_.

Some are so bold even as to declare that _Sunday is the original
seventh day_.

Others, with equal certainty, say that those who keep the seventh
day are endeavoring to be _justified by the law_, and are _fallen
from grace_.

Another class, with more liberal views, say they believe that
every one should be fully persuaded in his own mind, whether he
keep this day, or that, or none at all.

Still again, as if having found the great desideratum or missing
link in the argument, men credited with even more than ordinary
intelligence, will sometimes declare that it is _impossible to
keep the seventh day on a round and rolling earth_; and yet,
strange to say, they find no difficulty in keeping _Sunday
anywhere_, and believe that this day should be observed _the world
over_!

Lastly, and more terrible and presumptuous than all the rest,
some, like Herod of old in slaying all the children of Bethlehem
in order to make sure of killing Christ, have gone so far as to
teach that _all ten commandments have been abolished_, in order to
avoid the duty enjoined in the _fourth_. But as in the case of
Herod, God’s Anointed escaped the murderous blow of this wicked
king, so in the judgment such will have to meet God over His
broken law, and will find that the Sabbath precept stands there
unchanged with the rest.

Said Christ, “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least
commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least
in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them,
the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt.
5:19.

16. What does the Lord say will become of this wall thus daubed with untempered mortar?

“Say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that _it shall fall_: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, _O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it_.” Eze. 13:11.

17. When are these hailstones to fall?

“Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen _the treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war_?” Job 38:22, 23.

18. Under which of the seven last plagues will this hail fall?

“And _the seventh angel_ poured out his vial into the air; ... and the cities of the nations fell: ... and every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men _a great hail_ out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent.” Rev. 16:17-21.

19. In order to prepare His people for that terrible time, what does God expect His ministers to do?

“Ye have not _gone up into the gaps_, neither _made up the hedge_ for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.” Eze. 13:5.

20. Instead of trying to close up this breach made in God’s law [the loss of the Sabbath], and so make up the hedge, what have they done?

“They have seen vanity and lying divination, _saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them_: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.” Verse 6.

21. During these closing scenes, what message is God sending to the world to turn men from false worship to the worship of the true and living God?

“Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.... Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.... If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation.” Rev. 14:7-10.

NOTE.—This is the last gospel message to be sent to the world
before the Lord comes. Under it will be developed two classes of
people, one having the mark of the beast (the Papacy), and the
other keeping the commandments of God, and having His seal, the
Sabbath of the fourth commandment. See readings on pages 259, 446.

22. What, besides attending and taking part in religious services (Luke 4:16), did Christ do on the Sabbath day?

“Who _went about doing good_.” Acts 10:38. See Matt. 8:14-17; 12:1-15; Mark 2:23-28; 3:1-6; Luke 6:1-11; 13:11-17; 14:1-6; John 5:1-18; 9:1-41.

NOTE.—When we come to study the life of Christ, we find that He
did not make the Sabbath a day of idleness, nor even a day
confined wholly to public and private worship, but one of active
service in blessing others. On this day especially He went about
doing good, ministering to the sick, and bringing relief to those
long bound by Satan. Luke 13:15, 16; John 5:5, 6. And as He is our
pattern in all things, we, too, like Him, should seek to make the
Sabbath a day for helping and blessing others. To loose the bands
of wickedness, undo the heavy burdens, deal bread to the hungry,
clothe the naked, and let the oppressed go free, is the fast which
God has chosen, and the Sabbath-keeping most acceptable to Him.
Isa. 58:1-12. In this kind of work and ministry there is room for
a world-wide Sabbath reform.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

Brother! up to the breach
For God’s freedom and truth;
Let us act as we teach,
With the wisdom of age, and the vigor of youth.
Heed not their cannon-balls;
Ask not who stands or falls;
Grasp the sword of the Lord,
And—Forward!