VINDICATION OF THE TRUE SABBATH.
By J. W. Morton
[IN the following able treatise on the divine appointment of the Sabbath of the Bible, the writer makes use of an argument or two which we might not employ. Yet we can commend it to the readers of the SIGNS, especially to those who have been, and still are, misinformed in regard to a very plain, important, and ancient institution of Jehovah. And we do this the more earnestly as we are assured that the reader will find in the personal narrative of its author a noble instance of self-sacrifice and devotion to the truth for the truth's sake.] On the 21st of April, 1849, I set sail, with my family, from Port-au-Prince, bidding farewell to Hayti and her children, whom, perhaps, we shall never see again in this vale of tears. We arrived at Boston, all in good health, on the first Sabbath in May. On the evening of Tuesday, May 22, the Synod was convened in Philadelphia; and the next morning I appeared and took my seat with the other members. In the afternoon of the same day, Rev. David Scott stated to the Synod, that I had made known a change of views in relation to the Sabbath, and moved that a committee of three be appointed, to confer with me and report what further action should be taken in the case. While this motion was pending, I stated in substance that, as I was alone in the Synod of more than sixty members, without a single man to plead my cause, I thought I had a right to demand that the proceedings should be instituted in strict accordance with the letter of the law. I was here interrupted by the moderator, who, having informed me that I had no right to dictate to the court the method of proceeding with its own business, peremptorily ordered me to take my seat. I obeyed, of course, though I could not see what dictation there was in demanding a legal trial, according to the printed rules of the Synod. The motion was carried, and the committee appointed. Next morning, May 24, I had a conference of half an hour with this committee, and at noon, another, that lasted about the same time. Their principal object seemed to be to ascertain whether I was ready to recant, and to submit to censure for my past errors. I assured them, that while I had not the slightest wish to withdraw from the communion of the Reformed Presbyterian church, I adhered to every word in my circular, and must continue to do so, till convinced of error by the infallible Scriptures. The committee quoted several texts, and advised me to read several authors, after which our conference closed. In the afternoon they presented their report recommending that the following libel be preferred against me by the Synod:— "**LIBEL PREFERRED AGAINST J. W. MORTON.
"Whereas, denying that the first day of the week is the day on which the Christian Sabbath should be kept, is a heinous sin and scandal, contrary to the word of God, and the profession of the Reformed Presbyterian church, founded thereon (Acts 20:7), "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread," &c.; Shorter Catechism, "From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath, and the first day of the week ever since to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath." Yet true it is, that you, Rev. J. W. Morton, are guilty of the scandal above stated, in so far as you, the said J. W. Morton, at Port-au-Prince, Hayti, 17th of January, 1849, did publish a circular, in which you oppugned and denied that the first day of the week is the Christian Sabbath, which being found relevant and proved against you, you ought to be proceeded against by the censures of the Lord's house.
"By order of the Synod. [A true copy.]
"[Signed.] JOHN WALLACE, Ass't Clerk." After some discussion, the above libel was decided to be relevant, and the clerk was directed to serve a copy on me, with citation to appear for trial the next day, afternoon. I went to my lodgings that evening with a heavy heart. I was convinced from the spirit of determined opposition that had been manifested by many of the brethren, when the libel was under consideration, that the majority had already determined that I should not be permitted to "speak for myself." True, I knew very well that the apostle Paul had once enjoyed this liberty, through the cool civility of a Roman governor, and afterward through that of a Greek king; but I knew just as well, that Felix and Agrippa were heathens, while my brethren were Christians; and that the dignity of a court, composed of "worms of the dust," has been much better understood, since the famous "Diet of Worms," than ever before. Still I could not forbear asking myself, Why is there now such bitter opposition to an institution that was once the delight of both God and man? Why do men hate with such perfect hatred what Jehovah made, and blessed, and sanctified, before sin had entered into the world? Why should this daughter of Innocence be spurned from every door, and loaded with a damning reproach of Judaism, while her twin sister, Marriage, sucks the breast and is dandled upon the knees of Orthodoxy? Why should I be ranked with thieves and murderers, for believing that "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord my God"? Bitter were the tears that flowed, and more bitter still was the reflection that "when I wept that was to my reproach." I was hedged in round about, and what could I do? I could only exclaim with the "sweet singer of Israel," "Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of Hosts, be ashamed for my sake; let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children. For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me." Never shall I forget the sensation experienced while the last sentence was passing through my mind: "And the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me." I know not how often, during that night, I repeated these words, and compared them with the exhortation of the apostle: "Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach." These were the comforts, that, "in the multitude of my thoughts within me," then delighted my soul. I was then about to go forth "without the camp;" and it was indeed refreshing in that hour of trial to believe that I was bearing a portion of the same burden that had once bowed down the "Man of sorrows." My trial came on the afternoon of May 25. The following extracts from the published Minutes of Synod is, I believe, a correct, and sufficiently full, account of the final issue; only it makes no mention of the fact that I protested against the proceedings, and appealed to the head of the church, for reasons to be given afterward. Why this fact was not recorded, I have not been able to ascertain. EXTRACT FROM MINUTES OF SYNOD. Order of the day, viz., the case of Mr. Morton, called for. The libel was then read by the clerk; when Mr. Morton having, in reply to the moderator, answered that he was prepared for the trial, the substance of the libel was again stated in his hearing. Mr. Morton was then called upon according to the rule provided for in such cases, either to confess the charge, or put himself upon his trial. Mr. Morton in return acknowledged that he had denied that the day commonly called the Christian Sabbath is so by divine appointment, and then proceeded to plead the irrelevancy of the charge by endeavoring to prove the perpetuity of the law for the observance of the seventh day. While so doing, he was arrested by the moderator, who informed him that the charge contained in the libel was such that Mr. Morton could only prove its irrelevancy to censure by proving that the appropriation of the first day of the week, known as the Christian Sabbath, to secular employments, or teaching so to do, is not relevant to censure, which attempt the moderator would consider disorderly, and would not allow. From this decision J. M. Wilson appealed, when the moderator's decision was unanimously sustained. Upon this Mr. Morton declined the authority of the court. Resolved, That Mr. Morton's appointment as missionary to Hayti be revoked. Resolved, That, inasmuch as Mr. Morton has now publicly declined the authority of this court, he be suspended from the exercise of the Christian ministry, and from the privileges of the Reformed Presbyterian church. The moderator then publicly pronounced the sentence of suspension on Mr. Morton, agreeably to the above resolution. Not long afterward I presented to the moderator the following Reasons of Protest and Appeal, with the request that he would allow them to be laid before the court, which he utterly refused to do. REASONS OF PROTEST AND APPEAL. I do respectfully protest against the action of Synod in my case, on the 24th of the present month, and appeal therefrom to the Lord Jesus Christ, the King and Head of the church, for the following reasons:— 1st. Because I was not allowed to prove the irrelevancy of the charge made against me, by an appeal to the Bible, "the only rule of faith and manners." 2d. Because I believe that the statements, on the subject of the Sabbath, set forth in our subordinate Standards, are inconsistent with one another, and in part contrary to the word of God; yet it was by these unscriptural portions that I was tried and condemned. Brethren, I entertain no hard feelings toward you. My daily prayer to God is, that you may be saved and led into all truth. I did hope that you would hear and consider the claims of the Lord's holy Sabbath, when presented in a mild and affectionate manner. But either I have failed to present the question with sufficient tenderness, or you have determined to avoid all discussions in regard to it. It grieves me to the soul to bid you farewell. Both God and man will bear witness, in the day of final reckoning, that you have trampled down, by the resistless force of an overwhelming majority, one who was endeavoring, with both hands, to hold up the standard of the great covenant God of our fathers. But though for the present cast down, I am not dismayed. The Sabbath of the Lord God is a richer treasure than the richest you can either give or take away. "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me; he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness." Brethren, I shall meet you before the judgment-seat of Christ, on that day when he shall come "with ten thousand of his saints." "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, amen." J. W. MORTON.
Philadelphia, May 29, 1849. I did believe, and believe yet, that, had I been sustained by twenty ministers, and as many congregations, I should have had leave to defend myself to my heart's content. But it was very evident to the Synod that I stood alone. They knew that I could do them no harm by fomenting discord; and—may I not add?—they knew that I was not the man to be found employed in such work. The only loss they could sustain in cutting me off, with all my adherents, was that of two adults, and as many little children. Indeed, many of the members seemed to regret the trouble far more than the necessity of executing the law; and one aged father has remarked to me since, that till then he never witnessed a trial before a church court in which there was not one atom of mercy. Now is there not a reason for all this? Unquestionably there is. The loose and unpresbyterial doctrine, that a majority has a right to determine what is, and what is not, truth, and that the greater the majority in favor of any dogma, the more firmly its truth is established, has leavened, sadly and extensively, even the Reformed Presbyterian church. This is the reason why one who represents a lean minority cannot be heard even in defense of ecclesiastical life. The majority have said that the first day is the Sabbath, and who dare call in question the assertion? A man may be denounced as a covenant-breaker; yet because he belongs to a small minority, he may not attempt to prove his innocence of the crime. Thus the right of the minority to vindicate themselves from the Scriptures, in defense of which many of the old Covenanters bled, is practically denied by their descendants. "O Lord, how long?" Brethren, are you really so wedded to this majority principle? Know, then, that God is a majority; and that those that are with me are more than those that are with you. God's testimony is worth more than that of all men. What though millions have affirmed that the seventh day is not the Sabbath? He has left us this imperishable testimony: "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." And this is the testimony of the greatest majority that ever gave utterance to truth. But God hath not left himself without other witnesses. Where are those myriads of angels who were present when "the Sabbath was made for man"? Where are those "morning stars" who "sang together," and those "sons of God" who "shouted for joy" when our Father "laid the foundations of the earth"? They are not now present with us it is true, to bear their testimony; but they will be present when you and I shall appear before the judgment seat of Christ, to hear the decision of this controversy. And do you think that you will then dare, on the authority of what is said in Acts 20:7, to lift up your hands and swear "by him that liveth forever and ever," that the Sabbath has been "changed into the first day of the week"—and that, too, in presence of those who saw the foundations of the ancient Sabbath, like those of the earth itself, laid and balanced upon God's eternal decree, and inwrought with the very stones of the "everlasting hills"? No! No!! The Sabbath was one of those pillars of the ancient earth which Christ, the Mediator, seized with the hand of his omnipotence, and bore up, when "the earth and all its inhabitants" were sinking into nothing. I repeat it—and who dare gainsay it?—the Lord of hosts is an overwhelming majority. But this is not all. There is, indeed, no greater witness than these; but there is other witness. Look into your hearts, ye children of God, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and you will find recorded there: "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work." "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts." Here there is not the least hint of any exception. The same moral law that was written "with the finger of God" on tables of stone, is now written "by the Spirit of the living God" on the fleshly tables of your hearts. Yes, brethren, turn your eyes inward, and you will read, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work." If you say, We have sought this law but find it not—O brethren, you have not "sought it carefully with tears." It is hidden among the rubbish, and you will never find it till that be removed. But I speak what I do know, when I assure you that it is recorded there; and in the day of the Lord Jesus, if not sooner, you will find it there. O Lord, "open thou our eyes, that we may behold wondrous things out of thy law."