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THE SABBATH

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 12, 1877

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 50, No. 3.

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THE SABBATH.

The following is a synopsis of a sermon delivered by Eld. I. Sanborn on the camp-ground at Portage, Wis., Sunday, June 17, and published in the Chicago Times of the 18th:—
TEXT: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27.
These are the words of Jesus, the Son of God, who spake as never man spake. The Father recognizes his right to teach in these words: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him.” A prophet long before spoke of him in this language, “A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, . . . him shall ye hear in all things.” Jesus came in fulfillment of this, and we hear him say, “If a man love me, he will keep my words, and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.” Thus we see Christ came not as a lawgiver, but as a teacher of his Father’s law.
His words come to us clothed with great authority. He was the divine Son of God and commissioned by his Father to teach to fallen man the principles of a holy life. The prophet Isaiah in foretelling his work said that he should magnify the law and make it honorable. And in his inaugural address, delivered on the mount, while stating the principles of his government, he gives his policy in regard to the law of God—the ten commandments. He says, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” And then he makes its observance honorable by adding, “Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven.” Thus we see that to break the law is dishonorable, but to keep it is honorable in the sight of Heaven.
He then proceeded to magnify the law; that is, to elucidate its principles and show their application. He took up the smallest, the sixth, which says, “Thou shalt not kill.” Short in its construction and narrowed down by Jewish tradition to a simple restraint from the overt act of shedding blood, this appeared to be a small commandment; but, according to the words of the Saviour, it extends until it reaches the thoughts and intents of the heart. “But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”
Other principles of the same law were magnified in the same manner, showing that their holy precepts have a spiritual application and take cognizance of the inmost secrets of our minds, and seek to bring all into subjection to his law. In another place, Jesus says, “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than one tittle of the law to fail.”
Thus he established the immutability of the law, in the bosom of which we find the Sabbath precept.
But it is not our design to controvert to-day the position taken by many that the Sabbath was among the Jewish festivals and abrogated with them. I am speaking rather to those Christians who acknowledge the institution of the Sabbath and cherish its sacred influence.
But we wish to call in question the practice of the great mass of Christendom in treading under foot the day which God set apart at the beginning, and in its stead observing the first day of the week. First, we ask, What is the reason which gave rise to the institution? and the only answer which Inspiration gives is that it was to be a memorial of the work of creation, a recognition of the fact that God is a great Creator. The reason that it was fixed by the Lord upon a certain day of the week, the seventh, is because God himself rested upon this day; and not only that, but he also blessed and sanctified it or set it apart for a sacred use. We inquire, Is that reason good now? Yes. Is it still a fact that God wrought six days, and, after resting upon the seventh day, blessed and hallowed it? Certainly. Then we ask, Can the purpose of God in giving the Sabbath be answered by the observance of any other day than the seventh? And to this we say emphatically, No.
The position so often taken that the Sabbath was changed by the Saviour and the apostles is utterly without foundation in the word of God. We challenge the world to show a single instance in which Christ or one of his apostles rested upon the first day of the week or told any one to do so. There is no scriptural authority for such a change. The example of Christ and the apostles is in favor of the Sabbath of the Lord, which was at that time observed by the people of God.
We read of the women at the sepulcher that they, on the preparation day, prepared spices and ointments, and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Then early upon the first day of the week they proceeded to a work which they would not perform upon the Sabbath. The gospel by St. John is said to have been written A.D. 98, and in this book the two days are respectively called the “Sabbath” and “first day of the week.” Here the Bible leaves us with a universal testimony in favor of the Sabbath of creation. And looking down the pages of history to A.D. 321, we find an edict issued by Constantine in favor of the observance of the “venerable day of the sun,” recommending that the townspeople rest on that day which from remote ages had by heathen worshipers been held sacred to that luminary. There are faint traces of its observance as a feast day before this time during the third century, but this is the first authority which can be produced for its observance. After this, however, as heathenism and Christianity approached each other, a strong antipathy to the Jews sprang up, and the result was the gradual adoption of the observance of Sunday and a corresponding relaxation of the claims of the Sabbath.
From the catechism of the papal church we make the following extracts:—
“Q. What warrant have you for keeping the Sunday preferable to the ancient Sabbath, which was Saturday? A. We have for it the authority of the Catholic Church and apostolic tradition.”
“Q. Does the Scripture anywhere command the Sunday to be kept for the Sabbath? A. It commands us to hear the church, but the Scripture does not in particular mention this change of the Sabbath.”
This in few words expresses the matter. The papist, believing as he does in the right of the church to change the Sabbath, is more consistent than others who deny this right.
We recommend the subject as one well worthy of consideration, for it is not a slight thing to disregard any precept of the Almighty God.