A CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER UPON THE SABBATH QUESTION by Dudley Marvin Canright

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 24, 1878

A CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER UPON THE SABBATH QUESTION.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

Mr. ——, a very candid, able, and popular Congregationalist minister of Niagara Falls, has read Eld. Andrews' History of the Sabbath, and some of our other works. He lately preached upon the subject. The following is reported by one of his hearers:—

“It was my privilege to listen to Mr. —— last Sunday morning in his own church at Niagara Falls, upon the subject of the Sabbath. His object was to impress his hearers with the importance of a stricter Sunday observance, but his discourse was a just vindication of the true Sabbath. He took for his text: ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.’ After giving the ‘evidence supplied by reason and experience in behalf of this sacred institution,’ he gave what he termed its ‘best support and best defense’ from the Sacred Scriptures, as follows:—

“‘The Sabbath was instituted primarily as a memorial of the creative wisdom and power of God. Its original design was to turn the thoughts of men toward the supreme architect of the universe, and to remind them of the beneficent “Author of lights, with whom there is no variableness neither shadow of turning.” It was not designed for a country, but for the world; not for a nation, but for the race; not for an era or limited period, but for all time. The Sabbath did not originate in the mount, when the decalogue was written by the finger of God on the two tables of stone. Its observance did not begin then; but the command for its perpetual observance was then formulated and placed among the imperishable records of God’s word. It constituted no part of the peculiar Mosaic economy; it was in no sense typical and shadowy; it was of the very substance of immutable truth. The Sabbath was not a distinctive Jewish ordinance, local in its application, and temporary in its nature and purpose. It was designed to teach all men the important truth that God created the heavens and the earth, and that their first duty is to honor and obey him.

“‘When the old dispensation passed away, the moral law remained unchanged. Each command of the decalogue is in full force to-day. Each, from its very nature, must of necessity endure. They all stand or fall together. If the command, “Thou shalt not steal” or “Thou shalt not kill” is still clothed with the authority of Heaven, so is the command, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Its nature and design, as revealed in the holy word, involves the idea of its perpetual obligation.

“‘It was appointed as creation’s memorial; and to the end of time, with their self-sufficient pride, men will need to be frequently reminded of the infinite power of God. It was appointed for the preservation of the knowledge of the true God. Its loss would be a lapse into idolatry and superstition. It was appointed to induce, at stated times, a change in the current of human thought by the interposition of spiritual aspirations and heavenly hopes. It was appointed that God might be honored and men blessed in the special service of a pure, spiritual worship. It was appointed as a peaceful day of rest, in which man might recuperate his weary powers of body, mind, and soul. The necessities in which the Sabbath originated are co-eval with mankind, and while these necessities exist, the Sabbath will endure.

“‘No, my brethren, the law of the Sabbath is not a dead letter on the statute book of God. It survived the catastrophe of Eden. It was not lost in the captivity of Babylon. It was not destroyed in the destruction of the Jewish nation. It lives to-day in the bosom of Christianity. As a divine example it has come to us from the very beginning; as a divine precept it has come to us in the imperishable records of Sinai. And its immortal spirit, freed from the bondage of the letter, has come to us from the open grave of our risen Lord.

“‘The Sabbath is a kindly thought of God toward men. It is a token of our Father’s love. It is a heavenly inheritance. It is a holy resting-place along the highway of human life. It involves the dearest interests of Christian hearts, and conserves the welfare of universal man. It is the enacting clause in the law of Christian ethics, and its spirit is the motive power which moves the noiseless machinery of the church of God. The Sabbath exerts its salutary influence in behalf of health, happiness, usefulness, and Heaven. It is the friend of prosperity, morality, and religion. Its observance is the crowning glory of the best civilization. These facts, which are clearly taught by reason and experience, are rendered a thousand-fold more emphatic by the plain teaching of the Old Testament and the New.’”

“The foregoing is an extract from the middle of the discourse. To its close it in no way opposed the keeping of the seventh day, nor did it present one argument in favor of the change of days.”

Evidently Mr. —— is convinced that the seventh day is really binding now, and that there is no Bible authority for first-day observance. We are glad he has the courage to teach the truth. We hope in the near future he may see his way clear to take his stand definitely upon it.

D. M. Canright.