The Sabbath by H. A. St. John

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Aug 9, 1883

The Sabbath.

By H. A. St. John

BY ELD. H. A. ST. JOHN.

TEXT: "And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27.

The words of our text are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. No discount should ever be made upon his words, as he was a teacher sent from God in a higher sense than any before or since. "He spake as never man spake." We should ever bow with humble submission to his instructions, knowing that he always uttered only pure, simple, and unadulterated truth.

We will devote our attention on this occasion mainly to a consideration of one declaration in the text; namely, "The Sabbath was made for man." The Sabbath being something that was made, as our Saviour asserts, the following questions with relation to it are pertinent:—

By Whom was it made?
When was it made?
Of what was it made?
How was it made?
Was it easy to make?
For whom was it made? and—
For what purpose?

If we were speaking of a structure made by man, each of the above questions could be intelligently answered by the maker, or by some one having full knowledge thereof. For example, take a house. We behold a beautiful mansion, and inquire, By whom was it made? Answer, By Mr. David Brown. When was it made? Answer, In 1876. What was it made out of? Answer, Pine, walnut, iron, etc. How was it made? Answer, First step, excavation of cellar and gathering together of materials; second step, laying the foundation; third step, rearing the walls, and inclosing the building; fourth step, finishing the interior. Was it easy to make? The most casual observer would not hesitate to say that everywhere upon this mansion are to be seen evidences of very skillful workmanship. For whom was it made? Answer, For man. For what purpose? Answer, For a dwelling-house.

Let us now examine the Sabbath in the light of these questions. We are confident that the sacred volume of inspiration will furnish us with very clear and explicit answers to all of our reasonable inquiries.

1. By whom was the Sabbath made?

In answer to this question we have only to refer you to Gen. 2 : 2, 3, and Ex. 20 : 6-11. Here we have the most explicit testimony that the Sabbath was made by the Almighty. If you were informed that Mr. A. erected a certain house, you would say at once, "It is a poor job," and why? Because you know he is wanting in skill. If informed that Mr. B. did the work without seeing it, you say at once, "It is well done." Why? Because you know him to be a finished and skillful workman. The Sabbath was made by the all-wise Architect and Builder of the universe, who had associated with him his only beloved Son. See 1 John 1:3; Col. 1:16; 1 Cor. 8:6; Heb. 1:2. This enables us to pronounce it a work of the highest character in every particular.

2. When was it made?

Again we find a very explicit answer to our question in the blessed volume. By reference to Gen. 2:2, 3, we learn that at the close of creation week God rested from all his work on the seventh day, and then blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it. In working six days, the Lord made the preparation for the erection of a Sabbath. In resting the seventh day, he laid the foundation for the Sabbatic institution, and all this was in the beginning of our world. Now if it be true, as some teachers would have us believe, that the Sabbath was not finished till the exode, it would represent the all-wise God as laying the foundation for an institution at creation, and then leaving it for about twenty-five hundred years without the superstructure. Such folly may often be truly chargeable upon mortal, finite man, but should never be affirmed of our Heavenly Father. How much better to answer the inquiry according to the most obvious sense of the Scriptures, by saying that the Sabbath was made at creation!

3. Of what was it made?

How plain and direct is the answer of God to this question! In the fourth commandment of the decalogue, God's moral law, we find the following words, which were spoken by the Lord from Sinai, and written with his own finger on tables of stone: "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it." Ex. 20:11. See also Gen. 2:2, 3. Here we have the most positive testimony from the highest authority in the universe, that the Sabbath was made out of the seventh day. Suppose a friend of yours in the watch-making business should send you by the hand of another a beautiful watch. By letter he informs you that Mr. A. is made bearer to you of a beautiful and valuable pure gold watch, which he hopes you will accept as a keepsake from a true friend. Mr. A. arrives, and hands you a watch. Upon examination you discover that it is partly gold and partly brass. You pass it back to Mr. A. saying, "Sir, this is not the watch my honored friend sent me; this is partly brass, whereas I have his faithful word that the watch he sent me was made of pure gold." He then hands you another. You find this one to be all of brass. Almost indignant, you hand this back, saying, "Sir, you are seeking to pass a counterfeit upon me. This one is all of a baser metal. I will not receive it." He then hands you a beautiful and valuable watch made of pure gold, and you accept it gladly, as it answers the description your friend gave you. Now if you were assured that there was no other gold watch in the world except the one your friend made for you, you would know that you had the right one.

Now if any one should offer you a Sabbath made partly of the first day, and partly of the seventh day, you should reject it as not the one God has made for you, as God's Sabbath was not made out of two days. If you should be offered a Sabbath made wholly of the first day, you ought to reject it instantly as a counterfeit, made entirely of baser metal; for there is not one particle of the seventh day in the first day, and God's Sabbath, given to man as a sacred keepsake, is made wholly of the seventh day. And when you are assured that God made the only seventh-day Sabbath the world ever had, in accepting that, you know that you have the right one. Remember, then, that God's Sabbath is made out of the seventh day.

4. How was it made?

What was the mode of procedure? In the erection of a building, as before noticed, there is an order of procedure: 1. Getting ready to build. Thus the Lord prepared to erect the Sabbath institution by making the heavens and earth, the sea and all that in them is in six days. 2. Laying the foundation. God laid the foundation for the Sabbath by his rest from the work of creation, on the seventh day. 3. Rearing the walls and inclosing the building. Answering to this God blessed the seventh day. 4. Finishing the interior. So God gave the finishing touch to the Sabbatic institution by sanctifying the seventh day. Then how was the Sabbath made? Answer. By the work of God in creating all things in six days, his resting on the seventh day, then his blessing and sanctifying it. Ex. 20:11.

5. Was it easy to make?

We are not to suppose the task of making a Sabbath a difficult one for the infinite God. Perhaps it would not be proper to speak of any thing that God does as easy or difficult for him; nor is it in this sense that we ask the question. But it needs no proof that God does many things that would be very difficult for man to do, and very many things that it is utterly impossible for man to do. What one man will do with ease, another man performs with difficulty. What one man does easily, another cannot possibly do at all,—it is beyond the reach of his wisdom, skill, or power. Now let us see about the task of making the Sabbath. You say, "Any one may work six days." Very true, they might, although it should be remembered that they would fall infinitely short of doing what the Lord did in the six days of creation. You say, "Any one could rest on a seventh day after working six." Very true. You inquire, "Could not any one bless the day upon which he had rested?" Very doubtful, indeed. We have not reached the final act of the making of a Sabbath, but even here we find something almost, if not entirely, beyond the power of man to perform. And then, should we admit that man could bless a day, what an infinite difference between the blessing of finite man, and the blessing of the infinite Creator!

But we now come to the last and crowning act of Jehovah in making the Sabbath. In Ex. 20:11, we are informed with reference to the seventh day that God "hallowed it." Thus we see that God has made the seventh day holy. To make anything holy is a task far removed from the power of man. As Protestants we do not believe that even the pope of Rome can make anything holy. I think any sane man will admit that it is beyond the power of even all men combined to make anything holy. This being true, then what becomes of the oft-repeated assertion that "it makes no difference which day we keep if we only keep it holy." As God only can make a day holy, it would be utterly impossible for me or any one else to keep the first day of the week holy, for God never made it holy. The first day of the week never has been kept holy, nor can it ever be, unless God should hereafter hallow it. There is only one day in the week that any one can keep holy and that is the one which God has made holy, namely, the seventh day. Any other day offered us as a Sabbath must therefore be imperfect, a counterfeit, lacking this essential stamp of divinity. A day that has not thus been made holy by divine authority is as far from being a complete Sabbath as an organ would be of being a complete musical instrument without the reeds. There are the case and keys, but the essential part, the reeds, is lacking. God does not say, "Remember the Sabbath day and make it holy." No, no! He very well knew that that would be an impossible task for man. But he does say, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." God made it holy, man should keep it holy. God has instructed us in his law how to keep the Sabbath holy, and this all should cheerfully do. Obedience is better than sacrifice.

(To be Concluded.)

The Sabbath.*

The Sabbath.