The Clearness of Sabbath Truth
It would seem as the Lord had taken particular pains to place the obligation to observe His Sabbath beyond all reasonable questioning. In the first place, He gives a definite Sabbath command. He tells us the day upon which the Sabbath is to be observed. He tells us of the reason for observing the Sabbath, and tells us how to observe it. And having given this explicit direction concerning the Sabbath, He makes no mention of any other day. You ask the Bible which day is the Sabbath, and it answers promptly, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Ex. 20:10. You ask the Bible why God gave the Sabbath, and it promptly says, “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth; . . . wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Ex. 20:11. Then the reason He assigns for giving His Sabbath is that He created this earth in six days, and has given us this weekly memorial of His greatness as manifested in creative power. If you ask the Bible for the manner of observing the Sabbath, it just as promptly answers, “In it thou shalt not do any work”; and through the prophet Isaiah we are told: “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isa. 58:13, 14. If we ask the good Book in regard to the law of which the Sabbath commandment is a part, we have the Master's own words, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets.” Matt. 5:17. But when we come to asking the same Book for any authority for Sunday observance, it is absolutely silent. Nowhere do we find a text which says that the first day of the week is the Christian Sabbath. Nowhere do we find a statement that either Christ or the apostles have changed the Sabbath. The Bible is absolutely and completely silent upon the question of a divine law for Sunday keeping. If we are to take the Bible for our guide, it should not require long to decide which day of the week we should observe as the Sabbath. We can not render obedience to God by offering Him a substitute for that which He has so plainly commanded.