The Sabbath in Denmark.
By John Matteson
It appears from "the Danish Evangelist," that the Sabbath question is also being agitated in Denmark. I. Kobner, a Jew by birth, but now a prominent man in the Baptist church, is trying to defend the tottering Sunday institution. He first establishes the ancient Sabbath, and then endeavors to change the day. This he argues from, first, The resurrection of Christ. Second, Heb. iv. Third, Ps. cxviii. Fourth, God creating light on the first day. Fifth, The feast of tabernacles. Lev. xxiii, 36. Sixth, Christ meeting with the disciples, &c. He says, "A rest-day, after six days of labor, was the original divine institution. But this, the Devil desires to shake, that he may rob us of the Sabbath. Therefore, he commences like an angel of light, like a pious Devil, to put an awful stress on the seventh day." (Wonder whether it is the Lord or the Devil, that puts such stress on the first day.) The following good points are then made: "The written word of God must alone decide in all questions of doctrine and practice. But this decision will only be in proportion as the law of God is written in the heart. So long as the heart secretly loves money and profit more than the Sabbath, all argument will be in vain. But he who desires a Sabbath, can easily understand that God gave such to man, when he created him. The Sabbath, therefore, belongs to the pure and divine state in which creation commenced. This we cannot argue too strong. When the earth was formed, the Sabbath was instituted, and not till the earth passes away, will the Sabbath cease. Well might God have taken away from us this precious gift when sin and the curse came into the world, and it is a wonder that the Sabbath was not lost at the fall. But the greatness of God's mercy preserved it. And if Satan and sin could not rob us of the Sabbath, how could the Saviour of the world, . . . who gave his life for us, . . . rob us of the Sabbath? This is the greatest impossibility. Before the coming of the Lord, God confirmed the continuance of the Sabbath, in the eternal, moral law. . . . 'Remember the Sabbath-day!' we are told in the midst of those ten holy words, which express the unchangeable will of the everlasting God. This will of God, . . . is not done away by Christ. We must love God and our neighbor, not according to human ordinances and feelings, but in harmony with the divine precepts contained in the ten commandments. Now if we take away one precept of the divine law, then the other nine must also fail. If it is lawful to labor on every day of the seven, then it is also lawful to worship idols, take the name of God in vain, commit adultery, and steal. But if it is meet for the child of God to walk in the will of his heavenly Father, then he will not try to overturn any of his precepts, much less the oldest one."