FREE METHODIST JUSTIFICATION FOR SUNDAY.
By L. A. S.
We note in the Free Methodist, of Chicago, the following attempt at justifying the observance of Sunday:— “In contrast to the Mosaic dispensation, in which six days of labor were followed by the Sabbath as a day of rest, the day of rest comes first in the Christian dispensation, and the days of labor follow. This contrast has its counterpart in the type of religious experience characteristic of the two dispensations. The old covenant was one of works, and under it men labored in pursuit of rest. The new economy is peculiarly one of grace, in which soul rest, realized through faith, is the starting-point, and works follow as a consequence. The Jews labored, and then entered upon their Sabbath. We enter upon our Sabbath first, and are then refreshed and prepared to labor. And only such as have entered into the Sabbath rest of deliverance from sin's galling service are prepared to do effective service in the interest of Christ's kingdom.” This sounds plausible, but the worst error often appears plausible. Going deeper than the surface appearance, we find at once that it is wholly unscriptural. For men who sought to gain the promised rest through a “covenant of works” never obtained it, either in the Mosaic dispensation or in any other. A “covenant of works” was never ordained of God, and never could lead to any spiritual blessing. Neither are men prepared now to labor for the Lord in any different way from that by which God's servants were prepared under the “old dispensation.” Faith was as necessary in the work of God anciently as it is to-day, and works followed faith as inevitably then as they do now. He whom the Scriptures hold up as the father of the faithful was Abraham, who lived even before Moses; and at the best, people of this age can only be counted as Abraham's children in the Christian faith. Rom. 4: 1-25; Gal. 3: 6-9. The rest which is gained by faith was promised to those whom Moses led out of Egypt, and it was through their lack of faith that they failed to obtain it. “For some, when they had heard, did provoke; howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was He grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware He that they should not enter into His rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” Heb. 3: 15-18. Therefore, because they who might have entered into the promised rest, did not do so because of their unbelief, “Again, He limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To-day, after so long a time; as it is said, To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” It is the same rest now that was set before those who lived under the Mosaic dispensation, and is to be obtained by us in the same way in which they might have obtained it. And we are exhorted, “Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest.” Heb. 4: 11. We must first “labor” to obtain that spiritual rest now, just as truly as people had to labor for it in the time of Moses. The Sabbath came when creation was finished; and it was the rest of God, an emblem of the heavenly rest to come. Only by faith in Christ can it be properly observed. By faith there is a new creation, and the believer is again made perfect in Christ. There is no need of a new Sabbath, nor any chance for one; for by faith the believer enters into the rest of the Lord, and no Sabbath but the Sabbath of the Lord, ordained to crown a new and perfect creation, would be appropriate for him. There are many plausible reasons for keeping Sunday, but not one that is Scriptural. L. A. S.