Sunday Laws and the Sabbath
The fourth precept of God's law commands the sanctification of the seventh day of the week. This day was sanctified by the Creator when he set it apart from the other days of the week by resting on it and blessing it. This sanctification men are required to recognize and maintain; they are to set this day apart from the other days of the week. It is impossible to observe the Sabbath commandment without resting on the seventh day. It is equally impossible to observe it without regarding the other days of the week as working days. No person can observe the Sabbath and observe any other day of the week at the same time. If any other day is observed, the Sabbath fails to be set apart from that day, distinguished from it, as the day of rest. This is where Sunday laws come in conflict with the law of God. If they do not command the observance of Sunday as the Christian sabbath,—if they enjoin it merely as a day of rest,—they nevertheless prevent the sanctification of the seventh day by breaking down the distinction between it and all other days of the week, fixed by the Creator. No person can keep Sunday and at the same time sanctify, or set apart, the seventh day as the weekly day of rest. Sunday legislation might just as well enjoin work on the seventh day of the week as rest upon the first day. The one would no more break down the sanctity of the Sabbath than does the other.