God's Worship Involved in the Sabbath Question
God's Worship Involved in the Sabbath Question
Speakers at Lafayette Theater Meeting Set Forth the Denomination's Claims Before Large Audience—Allegiance to the Almighty First Importance—Address by W. W. Prescott and Others THE wide-spread agitation of the Sabbath question which has grown out of the present Sunday bills now before Congress, and the proposed campaign on the part of the Protestant clergy of Washington for “better Sabbath observance” at the capital of the nation, together with the “Open Letter” from the Seventh-day Adventist ministers of the city in response, has led to the holding of a series of Sunday night meetings by the latter in the Lafayette Opera House. The first of these was held last evening. There was a large attendance to listen to the two addresses, which were delivered by Mr. W. W. Prescott and Mr. Luther Warren, evangelists of the denomination. The contention of the Seventh-day Adventists in the matter of Sabbath-keeping is not, as might at first appear, the mere keeping of a day, but allegiance to God. There were several songs during the meeting by a quartet composed of Messrs. J. S. Washburn, R. A. Leslie, W. A. Colcord, and Harold Cobban. After a prayer by Mr. Warren, Mr. Prescott spoke on the subject of “God's Sabbath, the Papal Sabbath, and the18American Sunday in History and Prophecy.” He said in part:— The word of the Lord to this generation is the message of the old prophets: “The great day of the Lord is near; it is near and hasteth greatly.” “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” In preparation for this event there must be a wonderful working of the creative power of God through Jesus Christ to purify from sin. This is complete redemption—the new creation. The sign of this creating and redeeming power is the original Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day of the week, the memorial of the original creation through the eternal Word and the pledge of the new creation through the same Word made flesh. The Sabbath was instituted at creation, recognized by a series of miracles before the giving of the law at Sinai, and mentioned in the law as a thing already known (“Remember the Sabbath day”). If Israel had observed the Sabbath, they would have been delivered from overthrow by their enemies. Christ Kept the Seventh Day Christ kept the seventh-day Sabbath in fulfilling the law. The apostles kept the seventh-day Sabbath, as is shown in the record of Paul's Sabbath-keeping. The Sabbath was kept during the Dark Ages by those who refused to acknowledge the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church. A return to the original Sabbath of the Lord in the last days is a distinct subject of prophecy. The work of the papacy in assuming to take the place of God and in thinking to change his law has been foretold in three special prophecies. Dan. 7: 23-25; 2 Thess. 2: 1-7; Rev. 13: 1-8. Through the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, sustained by the imperial decrees, the observance of Sunday in the place of the seventh-day Sabbath was authorized by law, and enforced by a canon of the Council of Laodicea, in the fourth century. The Roman Catholic Church admits that it has changed the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the week, and declares that “the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the church.” In this last generation, after the message of the true Sabbath of the Lord has been fully proclaimed, and its significance has been clearly made known to the people, the observance of Sunday at the command of the papacy, instead of the observance of the true Sabbath at the command of the Lord, will be the acceptance of the mark of the power of the papacy, “the mark of the beast,” and a sign of apostasy from God. The foundation of Protestantism was laid by the adoption of the famous Protest of Spires, April 19, 1529. It says: “There is no sure doctrine but such as is conformable to the Word of God,” and “the Lord forbids the teaching of any other doctrine.” Inasmuch as it is generally admitted that there is no command of Scripture for the observance of Sunday, it is clear that those who wish to stand upon the true Protestant platform ought to repudiate this institution of the papacy just as heartily as Luther repudiated the selling of indulgences on the same authority. The American Sunday has no place in genuine Protestantism. The attempt to enforce the observance of Sunday by law will lead to persecution in these days, just as it did in the earlier centuries. The Spanish Inquisition is the logical outcome of enforced Sunday laws. The speaker urged all present to accept the redemption that is in Christ Jesus through the working of the mighty power of God to recreate man in the image of God, to yield obedience to God and his law, and to be prepared to meet the Lord in peace when he shall come with power and great glory. Message From the Almighty Mr. Warren made an address in which he spoke of the importance of the observation of the proper day as a day of rest and worship. He pointed out that the great majority of the world have always rejected the messages of God when these have been given to them, and claimed that the Adventists are now giving to the people a message from God. In this connection he spoke of how every one rejected Noah's warning of the coming flood. The only great question, said Mr. Warren, is the obedience to God's law. He pointed out how Abel brought for sacrifice a lamb as commanded by God, but Cain brought an offering of fruit, which was not acceptable to God. He said that there are many conscientious Christians observing Sunday as the Lord's day, and that “God winks at the trampling upon his law when this is done in ignorance, but that the people will not be now winked at in their disobedience of God's law, as their disobedience is being pointed out to them.” In closing he stated that we must obey God's law whether we see the reason for it or not. The Adventists will hold another public meeting at the Lafayette Theater next Sunday evening at half-past seven o'clock, when the subject discussed will be “The Great Controversy between Christ and Satan.”