p. 7 | A GREAT DISCOVERY by J. A. OPPY

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 8, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 14.

“A GREAT DISCOVERY.”

By J. A. OPPY

“And there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before.” Eccl. 1:9, 10. By this it is evident that there is nothing new to be discovered, the discovery of a thing may be new, but the thing itself, or, if preferred, the principle of it, is old—as old as the plan of the universe. To illustrate: The principle of the triangle was in existence before it was discovered by man. The same is true of the science of chemistry, botany, astronomy, navigation, light, heat, motion, radiation, and of all the sciences and arts; above all existence, around it all, and beneath it all, and through it all, whether animal, vegetable, mineral, or Spirit, this great basic principle is firmly laid, established in fact and in truth, by the Master of the universe. Any discovery, therefore, which is not a discovery of

fact, founded in truth, is not worthy the name of discovery, either great or small.

“A great discovery” is claimed by the Rev. Gamble (Methodist) of the Kansas Conference. What is it?—Why, that the first day of the week and not the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord and of the Bible. Now what is the fact founded, in the truth of the God of the Bible? “He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” Rev. 3:22. Now the sword of the Spirit is the “Word of God.” Eph. 6:17. Well, what does the “Word of God” say about the Sabbath?—“But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Ex. 20:10. Who will hear this?—Only those who have “ears” to hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. It is not what the churches as such say to the churches. Listen! “But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God”—not was or has been, or will be—but is NOW—this very day. Ever since God made the Sabbath, from the beginning, all down through the ages, to every one to whom the Sabbath fact has ever come, it has come in the present tense, just as it comes to you and me now, “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Therefore any discovery of the Sabbath must, of absolute necessity, discover it as it is and not as it is not.

To discover a thing as it is not, is no discovery at all. It is but disordered imagination—a fraud, a fiction, and not a fact. Apply this rule of Bible fact to the “great discovery” of the Christian Endeavorer through the Rev. Mr. Gamble, and what becomes of the Sunday sabbath? There is not one single text, line, or word between the lids of the Bible that commands, or even hints, that the first day of the week is a Sabbath, ever has been, or ever will be. Then on what is this “great discovery” founded? We submit to the candid reader that it stands only on fiction. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” 2 Tim. 3:1. These “last days” will be full of peril to the churches. And why so? “And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 2 Tim. 4:4. In 2 Peter 1:16 the apostle speaks of “cunningly devised fables.” And how do you know but this “great discovery” is one? Look at that sliding scale, by which, at the will of the manipulator, the Sabbath is made to appear on any and all days of the week? Is it not a sort of sleight-of-hand performance—a “cunningly devised” thing? Witness the cunning set forth in the following quotation from the Endeavorer: “The first day of the week was the day which immediately followed the single or double weekly sabbath.” We are told by them that a double weekly sabbath is a week with two sabbaths in it. Is not that a cunning device? Who ever saw a week with eight days in it, or a week with two sabbaths? Where would we find a sabbath for the following week, or, if you prefer, for the week preceding, the eight-day week? One or the other of these weeks could have but six days, and who ever saw a week of only six days? Dear reader, when you have examined carefully the tangled threads of this “great discovery” web, you must certainly pronounce it to be a “cunningly devised fable.”

“Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy; his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire; and his breath as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity; and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.” Isa. 30:27, 28. These verses introduce the second coming of our dear Lord, and the terrible consequences that immediately follow, and also the terrible wickedness of the leaders of the people. Their cruel deceptive power is spoken of as a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to sin. This “great discovery” bridle is now being buckled onto the heads of the people, and its strong iron curb is being fastened in their jaws. Poor blind humanity will run into error fast enough without being saddled and bridled and ridden into ruin.

“The Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 were written by Moses before he went up into the mountain to get the tables.” So says the Endeavorer, but what says God? Listen: “And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there; and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.” Ex. 24:12. Dear reader, to which will you submit, the pull of the bridle or the truth of the Bible? Jesus says: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27. Dear wandering sheep, do you know the voice of the Master? If so you will not follow the voice of a stranger. “And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers.” John 10:5. Rev. Gamble tells the sheep, through the Endeavorer, that God did not write the Ten Commandments, but Moses wrote them. This sounds like the voice of a stranger. Will you follow it? “To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Hark! “And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire; ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude, only ye heard a voice. And he [God] declared unto you his [God’s] covenant, which he [God] commanded you to perform, even ten [not nine or none as some teach] commandments; and he [God] wrote them upon two tables of stone.” Deut. 4:12, 13. This is the voice of God, and he has commanded us to keep the Ten Commandments, and the fourth one says: “But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.”

Dear sheep, beware of the voice of strangers. Follow the tender Shepherd on and upward, and at last he will lead you through the pearly portals of the sheepfold above—the golden city of God.

“Saturday is not mentioned in the Scriptures,” so says the Endeavorer. What is the force of this logic? It is this. “Saturday is not mentioned in the Scriptures,” therefore Saturday, or the seventh day, is not the Sabbath of the Bible. Apply this logic to the Sunday sabbath. Sunday is not mentioned in the Scriptures, therefore Sunday is not the Sabbath. The logic is as strong against the man-made Sunday sabbath as it is against the God-made, or Bible, Sabbath. Logic that proves too much proves nothing. Will the Endeavorer stand by its own logic? If so the “great discovery” is a “cunningly devised fable.” We are wholly indebted to the pagans for the names of the days: Sunday—dies solis—day of the sun; Monday—moon’s day—day of the moon; Tuesday—from the god Tuscan; Wednesday—from the god Woden; Thursday—from the god Thor; Saturday from the god Saturn. Eaton, Colorado. J. A. OPPY.