Sabbath Keeping and Righteousness
By Wm. Cottrell
BRO. SMITH: We often hear important facts spoken by those who do not know the whole truth. A few weeks ago I was present at a meeting in our district school-house, held by a Disciple minister. His text was in Mark xvi, 15, 16. While contending for the validity of baptism, he asserted that it was necessary for persons to keep all God's commandments in order to be saved, and to become righteous before God. To which I gave my assent by a nod of the head. He told us that he would give us one or two examples of righteous character. He then referred us to Zacharias and Elizabeth, who, said he, “were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” The individual then must keep all God's commandments, not a part of them, if he would become righteous before God. And in keeping all God's commandments, we must undoubtedly keep the fourth also; for it is a part of his great moral law. Query, How can we keep all of them and reject the fourth? We cannot. The argument by the minister was, that it would require the same things now to constitute a man righteous before God that it did then. Well, this is all true. I call upon all persons who oppose God's holy Sabbath, to point out one example in the whole Bible of a man or woman that was acknowledged to be righteous, who were not Sabbath-keepers. They are compelled to confess that there are none. Query. How can a man or woman love God and not keep all his commandments? “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous.” 1 John v, 3. Is not the fourth commandment, that says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” one of God's commandments? Most assuredly it is. Then how can we love God and not keep the holy Sabbath day? a day that Jesus says was “made for man.” Mark ii, 27.43What ingratitude upon our part to reject that, which our kind Father made especially for us. Virtually, we say to God, we know that thy son Jesus said that thou hast made the Sabbath for us; but we will not keep it; but we are willing to keep that day that was commanded by the Man of Sin. May the Lord help us to act rationally; and if we do, we shall keep all the commandments of God, Sabbath, and all. In hope of a blessed immortality at the resurrection.
Wm. Cottrell.
Bowersville, O.