p. 5 | THE SABBATH by John E. Moore

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 14, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 15.

THE SABBATH.

By John E. Moore

JESUS CHRIST should be man's infallible guide in Sabbath-keeping as in everything else. Jesus faithfully observed the seventh-day Sabbath.

There was no conflict between Christ and the Jews as to the observance of the particular day. It is true that the Jewish people had covered up the Sabbath with such rigorous exactions that it could scarcely be kept without violating some of these traditions, and Christ, in throwing off these unnecessary restrictions, taught what true Sabbath-keeping really was. He said unto them, “Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.” Matt. 12:12. The great Teacher exemplified His teaching by healing the sick, the maimed, and the blind, on the Sabbath day.

Christ not only faithfully observed the seventh-day Sabbath, but He pointed out its sacredness for years after His resurrection. In speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, He said to His disciples, “But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” Matt. 24:20. This prophecy was fulfilled in A.D. 70, which was nearly forty years after Christ’s resurrection. If the Sabbath was sacred in the year A.D. 70, it can be no less so to-day. This being true, the seventh-day Sabbath is confirmed in the new covenant as the Sabbath of the Lord our God.

The apostle Paul says if a covenant be confirmed, tho it be but a man’s covenant, it can not be disannulled or anything added thereto. (See Gal. 3:15.) The new covenant was confirmed when Christ died upon the cross of Calvary. “For this cause He is the Mediator of the new testament [covenant]. . . . For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead; otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.” Heb. 9:15-17. If a covenant confirmed by man is of such inviolability, what shall we reasonably conclude relative to the sacredness and immutability of the new covenant, ratified by the blood of Christ. “In the teachings of Christ the principles of the new covenant were laid down; its ordinances, of baptism, humility, and communion, were all given. The law had been affirmed in both teaching and example to the time of the cross. The seventh-day Sabbath was taught by Christ and kept by Him till He died. Not one word, however, did He speak, not one act did He perform, which showed any other day to be holy. Nor did He predict holiness for any other day in the future. At His death the covenant was sealed. His last will and testament was then confirmed. Nothing could be taken from it. Nothing could be added. The new covenant confirms the seventh-day Sabbath, and no other.

The new covenant reaches down to the end of time, and all can have an interest in the blood of the everlasting covenant by meeting the conditions stipulated in it. Therefore it behooves all Christians to be consistent followers of Christ, not only in one thing, but in all things. The blessed Master has furnished us with a perfect example in Sabbath-keeping, and He observed the seventh day as the Sabbath. Would it not be better in the outcome for us all to follow “the Lord of the Sabbath” in Sabbath-keeping as well as in other things? “But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected; hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.” 1 John 2:5, 6.

JOHN E. MOORE.

Holdingford, Minn.