The Lord's Sabbath Definite.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
"THE great majority of Christians believe that the fourth commandment only requires the observance of one day in seven, and that it leaves the children of God at liberty to select the day, and they accordingly accept the first instead of the seventh day, because tradition and the habit of the church have hallowed it."—Christian Union.
We quote these words simply because they do express the belief of the "great majority of Christians," and therefore in what we say it may not seem that we are beating the air. We wish to call attention to the fourth commandment, and to the popular belief concerning it, in such a way that all who desire truth may be able to discern it. 1. What reason have the great majority of Christians, or any class of people, whether few or many, to believe that the fourth commandment requires the observance of one day in seven, and not a definitely specified day? Is not the commandment plain enough in its declarations and injunctions? Let us read it and see. "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." Literally it reads, "Remember the day of the Sabbath." That certainly carries the idea of definiteness. Our attention is called not to "the Sabbath institution," but to "the Sabbath day." It is "the Sabbath day," indicating that there is only one, just as we say the Lord, for while there be "lords many," to us "there is but one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things." Different people may have Sabbaths of their own, but the Bible knows but one Sabbath. Having indicated that there is but one Sabbath, and that it is a definite day, the commandment goes on to tell what day the Sabbath is. "Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work." Here is definiteness. The Sabbath is "the seventh day." Note that it is not said, nor are we warranted in saying that the Sabbath comes, or did come, on the seventh day, but that the Sabbath is the seventh day. The seventh day and the Sabbath are inseparable. When God said, "Remember the Sabbath day," it was the same as though he said, "Remember the seventh day." And after it has been stated that "the seventh day is the Sabbath," when it is said that "God blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it," we know that God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it. This point is made emphatic in Gen. 2:3, to which the commandment refers: "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." If any one thinks there is any doubt as to which day of the week the seventh day is, in him consult the almanac, the dictionary, or the first man he may meet on the street. Ask your neighbor some Sunday morning, "What day of the week is to-day?" and without an instant's hesitation he will answer, "The first." Read the extract at the beginning of this article, where it is said that "the great majority of Christians" observe the first day of the week instead of the seventh; and knowing585that "the day called Sunday" is the popular day of "rest and recreation," you can have no trouble in counting and determining which is the seventh day. That there may be no possibility for doubt, we will state another point, which has often been noted. The crucifixion of Christ, as is generally conceded, was on Friday; the record says, "And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on." Luke 23:54. "And the women . . . followed after, and beheld the sepulcher, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher." Luke 23:55, 56; 24:1. No first-day advocate ever dreams that these events did not occur in order on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; all concede that the day on which the women rested was the seventh day of the week, because it immediately preceded the first day of the week. Therefore it is as clear as a mathematical demonstration that the fourth commandment declares the seventh day of the week to be the Sabbath. Now then, we ask, What right have "the great majority of Christians" to believe that the commandment requires simply one-seventh portion of our time, and not rest on a definite day? What right has anybody to so believe? None whatever. There is no excuse for such a belief on the part of one who can read the commandment. 2. Suppose that the commandment did leave it optional with us, as to which day we would observe, what would be the result? Nothing but confusion. If the commandment does not specify any day to be observed, then one person has as much liberty of choice as another. If it were so, then no man would have any right to reprove another for differing with him. Every man would be a law unto himself. It is a fact, however, that the majority of people do not believe that the commandment leaves to individuals the choice of selecting the day upon which they will rest; if they did so believe, they would exercise their right, and there would not be the uniformity which we now see. If there is uniformity of practice, some one must be recognized as competent to declare which day must be observed. This leads directly to popery, and it is a fact that Roman Catholics are the only Sunday-keepers whose practice is consistent with their profession. Given these two things, indefiniteness in the commandment, and the desirability of uniformity of practice, and a pope is an absolute necessity. For ourselves we will accept no pope, nor the dogmas of a pope, and the commandment does not lay us under any such necessity. It is as plain and definite as Infinite Wisdom could make it. 3. The people have accepted the first day, "because tradition and the habit of the church have hallowed it." And that is indeed all the hallowing that the first day of the week has ever received, and that is just none at all. Can the custom or decision of any man determine the sacredness of a day? No. Can the custom and decision of two men hallow the day? No; and so all will say. Then the question arises, How many men does it take to reverse the decrees of God, and make wrong right? If in comparison with God the inhabitants of the earth "are as grasshoppers" (Isa. 40:22), and all "the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance," yea, even as "less than nothing, and vanity" (verses 15, 17), then the custom and decision of a majority of the people of the earth, or even of all of them, are of themselves of no more account than the custom and decision of a single man. Man is sinful; he cannot hallow anything. Even if he were perfect, his power to hallow anything would be no greater. The mightiest angel in Heaven could not hallow any day which God had not hallowed. "God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God." Ps. 62:11. The "tradition and the habit of the church," when contrary to the word of God, are of no more consequence than the tradition and habit of infidels or pagans. Compare the two days. Of the seventh day of the week it is said that "God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it." The most that can be said of the first day of the week, is that "tradition and the habit of the church have hallowed it." God hallowed the seventh; man "hallowed" the first. Reader, which will you choose? Whom will you obey? "Choose you this day whom ye will serve;" whether the Lord Jehovah, or the apostate church of Rome. May God help you to remember that under all circumstances "we ought to obey God rather than men."