The 19th day of October, 1896, is the time set for the Circuit Court of Rutherford County, to be held at Murfreesboro, Tenn. During the session B. A. Philpott, a Tennessean by birth, and a worthy member of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, is to be tried for “nuisance,” the gist of his offense being Sunday labor.
It is charged that such labor, namely, labor done on Sunday, is immoral; but as the labor differs in no respect from labor on other days, it can be regarded as immoral only because the doing of it on Sunday is supposed to be irreligious.
We inquire, did the primitive Christians know that there was no command from God for Sunday observance? This is well answered by the following quotation from a Sunday-keeper: “The primitive Christians did all manner of work upon the Lord’s day [Sunday], even in the times of persecution, when they are the strictest observers of all the divine commandments; but in this they knew there was none.”—Bishop Jeremy Taylor.
This answer to the above question leads to the asking of another. Why should not the primitive Christians do all manner of work upon Sunday inasmuch as they knew that there was no divine command forbidding it? They ought, and they did just right in so doing. There is nothing now from God to prevent any person from doing differently. And no man is commanded differently unless it be by Church, State, or national Sunday laws—and these can only do so by abridging the rights of citizens. A God-fearing man will not violate a command of God in order to keep a command of the Church or of the State.
In all matters pertaining to religion individuals should acknowledge no sovereign but God. They should recognize no other power. God’s code of laws must be obeyed, even if for so doing one should be thrust into the fiery furnace, or the den of lions. The rendering of obedience to God rather than man has resulted in making millions of martyrs. Christ gave commission to his apostles to go forth and preach the gospel, but he did not invest them with civil or military power. They went out with “the sword of the Spirit,” the word, and God gave them complete victories.
But suppose the disciples had gotten hold of the civil power, and had compelled men to submit to the precepts of the gospel, of what value would such obedience have been? If men had been compelled to accept the doctrines of Christianity, how much would their faith have been worth so far as salvation is concerned? Their forced obedience and faith would not have had a particle of salvation in it. If they would submit to force they would thereby become hypocrites, and if they would not yield to force the ultimate end would have been martyrdom.
It is the will of God that men should act freely as to whether they will accept or reject his only begotten Son, whom he so graciously has given to save the lost. The Father loved us, and in love gave the best gift of heaven. No act which man may do has any moral excellence unless it springs from love of God. We should first know that we are right and then we should let nothing deter us from doing right. This is the way the primitive Church acted. They did just as a people ought to do to-day, and just as a people will do who know that no command from God forbids Sunday labor when they care more for God than for man; more for the commandments of God than for the commandments of men; more for heavenly things than for earthly things; more for eternal life than for this transient, temporal life.
What we want is, men of the primitive Christian type now—men who fear not to declare the whole council of God, who are willing to lay down their lives for the truth which they teach and obey. Men who will defend the institutions, doctrines and commandments of God; defend them unto death, not by the civil power, but by the eternal Spirit of God. Such men are needed now, and we can thank God and take courage, because we know that he will supply the demand for these liberty-loving and God-fearing men. It is the grandest sight in the world to see men loyal to God, standing in noble, unyielding defense of God’s despised and down-trodden truth. We need men to stand as did Stephen. He boldly declared the truth, while his face shone with the glory of heaven. His fierce and enraged enemies were so exasperated that they gnashed their teeth as though they would devour him. And what had he been doing? Only standing in defense of the truth of God. With earnestness he had made an application to them of that truth and they were incensed at the thought.
Thank God, that men are being raised up now to present the despised Sabbath of Jehovah to God’s professed Sunday-keeping Protestants, who are violators of this holy precept; but some of these will no more endure this close practical teaching than did the murderers of Stephen. Still it is glorious to have the Spirit of Stephen, that is, to have the Spirit of God. Nothing can glorify Christ in greater measure than this very thing. The death of Stephen has preached louder than his life. That love has touched many a hard-hearted sinner, has melted his heart, and won him to Christ. Let this same Spirit control us and we will be loyal to God and yield cheerful obedience to the commands of God’s royal law. This law which extends to the entire human race, and which all have transgressed, Christ has magnified and made honorable. But Christ never employed civil power to enforce Christianity. To do so would be contrary to the gospel. And yet in most countries the Church is united with the State and dependent upon it for support. Wherever the Church has been united with the State, both have become corrupted. The Church should be free and separate from the State. She is dependent for support and success, not on the power of the State, but on the word and Spirit of God. Every alliance of the Church with the State has been degrading, polluting, and every way injurious; and this will always be the result of such a union. The observer of the Biblical Sabbath will never ask for the sword of the civil magistrate to prevent any one from profaning it, for God has spoken, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” and the violators of this precept will answer to him. But the man-made sabbath has always sought protection from the civil power, and men are persecuted to-day because of these unjust, unscriptural Sunday laws. In the last fifteen years not fewer than one hundred Seventh-day Adventists have been deprived of their rights as American citizens by these unscriptural and unconstitutional laws.
Now comes the case of Bro. B. A. Philpott; a Christian must now appear before the Circuit Court for obeying God in doing what God has commanded him to do on the first day of the week. May he obey God rather than men.
In everything that pertains to religion, man ought to acknowledge no sovereign but God, no code of laws but such as are found in the Scriptures. The Church and the State are independent bodies, and which God has never intended should be united. One ought not to meddle with the affairs of the other. The Christian should be allowed to express his feelings and opinions with the most complete freedom, and with no fear of being brought to account and of being punished by the civil power.
When Christ sent forth his disciples to preach the gospel, he did not invest them with civil power. They were not to use the sword. He committed to them his word, and the preaching of this accompanied by the Holy Spirit was what gave success.
Life and liberty are the natural rights of all men. On this very principle the Constitution of the United States was founded. Every step taken in religious legislation since has been unconstitutional. State and national Sunday laws are a violation of this principle.