THE SABBATH OF THE LORD.
By M. C. W.
IN past articles it has been conclusively shown that the Sabbath originated at creation; that it was the blessed and sanctified rest-day of the Creator; that it was made for the whole race; that it is in no sense Jewish any more than any other moral precept; that it was kept by the holy men of the patriarchal dispensation; that its character was emphasized as moral and immutable by being spoken with nine other moral precepts, and written on tables of enduring stone, by God himself; that it is in no sense typical or shadowy, but a memorial of God’s creative power and love. It has been shown that the law of which it is a part is perfect and complete in itself; that it was honored and magnified by Christ; that “one jot or tittle should in no wise pass from the law” till eternity should end; that therefore no change could take place in any precept of that law; that the apostles and early Christians honored the law, and the Sabbath; that it was lost to the church not through faithfulness to God, but through the great apostate system, the Papacy; and that the Scriptures predict a reform upon the law and Sabbath in these our days, just before Christ appears. All these are facts; while, on the other hand, there is no support whatever for Sunday in the Scriptures. It is an institution wholly human, a part of that tradition the keeping of which makes void the commandment of God. A prophecy of Rev. 14 was considered last week. We wish to here notice some predictions in “the gospel prophet.” Isaiah, chapter 56, presents a prophecy of the closing years of probation, when God’s “salvation is near to come” and his “righteousness to be revealed.” God’s righteousness, his holy law (Isa. 56:6, 7), as before shown, will be heralded to the world just before Christ comes (Rev. 14:6-14); and that coming will bring redemption. 1 Thess. 4:16. And when that coming is at hand, his salvation is near, or, what is the same thing, his redemption draws nigh. Luke 21:25-28. See also Ps. 50:3-6. The prophet continues: “Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.” Isa. 56:2. Then, that no Gentile may say that it is a Jewish institution, God makes a promise to strangers, or those who are not of Israel, if they will only take hold of his covenant and keep the Sabbath. Verse 6. The last part of the chapter is a condemnation of the false shepherds of the last days. In the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah, is another message of reform. It is connected with the fifty-ninth chapter, both relating to the time when Christ is about to put on the garments of vengeance and come to redeem his people. Chapter 59:17-20. The message is to the professed people of God, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression.” Chapter 58:1. Yet they are seemingly unconscious216of it. They seek God daily just as though they were doing righteousness, or keeping all his commandments. They seek God and fast for his blessing. But they do not seek him aright; they do not put away their sins; they do not seek the old paths. Jer. 6:16. But among the professed church of God are ever found those who will heed the warning of the Lord and turn from transgression. This is what the prophet says of that class which will heed this message:— “And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.” Isa. 58:12-14. This is the closing work of the gospel of Christ (Rev. 14:6, 7), the restoration of the old paths, the building up of the testimony, the sealing of God’s law among his disciples. Isa. 8:16, 17. Those who heed this message will seek out “the old paths” and “the good way,” and will “walk therein;” they will turn their feet from his holy Sabbath; they will honor him by keeping all of his commandments, and the faith of Jesus.” One more text, and we close this series of articles. The Sabbath ends not with probation; it is not for a fallen world alone; it is a blessing throughout the eternal years of the earth restored:— “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon [month] to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.” Isa. 66:22, 23. The message of Isa. 58 and 59 and Rev. 14 are being given to the world. For over forty years men who have come from all denominations, from every walk of life, have, by searching God’s word, seen the light of his truth, the light of his law, the light of his gospel, and they have been compelled by honest convictions and force of evidence to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Possessing the Spirit of Christ, they have been compelled to give this message to others, till truth has girdled the world. As men have borne this message into unknown parts, they have found that God has gone out before them. Others taught by God’s word and Spirit alone are found who have come to the same conclusion. On the other hand, Sunday, the child of Paganism and the Papacy, is being pushed forward, not by Scripture proof or the Spirit of God, but by strong human organizations, Protestant and Papal combined, who are seeking to intrench it in the strong citadel of State civil law, in order to compel its observance by all. We earnestly hope that our many readers may not be influenced by the sophistry of men to support or adhere to an institution which is opposed in letter and spirit to the holy law of God, which Christ died to honor and maintain. “Let no man deceive you with vain words.” God’s law cannot be abolished; it is as enduring as his throne. Its principles are the reflect of his character. Upon it his Government is based. In its very nature it is unchangeable. The “man of sin,” mighty in earth, has thought to change it, but it is only for a time. The time of Papal darkness and tradition is almost over. Long time has it existed. “How long, O Lord, how long?” arose again and again through the long and dreary centuries of Papal rule and ruin from dying martyrs and persecuted saints. But God remembered his people. Light came from the monk’s cell, from the soldier’s camp fire, from the scholar’s study, from the peasant’s cot,—from the open Bible the light flashed forth. All Europe was illuminated. The powers of evil could not stay the work. Thousands poured out their blood upon the altar of truth and light. It did not quench but fed the flame. It was the beginning of the Reformation from Pagan and Papal error. That Reformation is not yet ended. One of its last reforms is the restoration of God’s ancient Sabbath. “The old paths” are to be relaid; “the foundations of many generations” are to be built up; the “breach” in God’s law is to be restored. The remnant church will be found keeping all of the commandments of God as well as all the faith of Jesus. Reader, will you be among that number? Build over against your own house. Turn to the old ways laid down in the word of God. Protestant, you stand on the Bible in principle, stand on it in practice. It will not pay to be deceived; “God is not mocked.” Break from the superstitious fetters of an apostate church, and turn to the pure truths of the word of God. If you do this ere the last threefold message shall have done its work, you will be numbered among those of whom it is said, “Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Precious Sabbath! thou hast survived the wreck of nations, the turmoil of time, and the storms of ages. Thou didst first come from thy Creator fair and pure, not knowing the stain of sin. The beauties of a sinless Eden were about thee. No noisy strife, no clash of words, no oath profane, no din of labor, no sinful speech, broke upon the sacred stillness at thy birth in the Paradise of God. Thou wast consecrated by the rest of thy Creator, the happy songs of sinless ones, the glad praises of a sinless world. Thou hast seen the rebellion of the race, the curse of sin, the track of the serpent, the rise and fall of nations, the sufferings of thine Author. Thou, too, hast suffered from the hand of the enemy, been trodden under foot like thy divine Lord, wounded in the house of thy friends, crucified between two thieves. But thou shalt come forth again clad in eternal beauty. The coronet of immortality will be placed on thy brow. Thou shalt dwell forevermore in the earth made new—in the Paradise of God restored. Thou hast seen Eden lost; thou shalt witness it restored, nevermore to be marred by the blight of sin, but reflecting eternally the goodness and glory of thine Author and Preserver. Be thou still our friend. Speak to us of God the Father, of God the Son,—Creator and Redeemer. Tell us of the glorious home before sin entered, of the love of God in giving that home. Cheer us with the promise of glorious rest by and by, when weary toil will be over, when the riches of grace ripen into the riches of glory, when the earth shall be filled with that glory as waters cover the sea, when the Lord God our Father shall dwell with his people, when tears shall be wiped from all faces, when there shall be no more death, when we shall “see the King in his beauty.” And then from month to month shall the redeemed meet in joyous festival in the city of God to partake of the fruit of “life’s fair tree.” From Sabbath to Sabbath will they meet in Zion’s walls to bathe in the refulgent glory emanating from the Creator, and learn deeper, broader, higher, more satisfying lessons of the greatness and goodness of Him who washed them from their sins in His own blood. Like a rainbow arch the Sabbath spans the chasm made by sin; one end of the bow resting in Eden, fresh from the hand of Omnipotence, the other end, in Eden restored, while all through the dark valley of death, light from above has cleft the gloom and revealed to the faithful of all ages the perfect law and Sabbath of the Lord. “Sweet day of rest!
With God’s best gifts so richly blessed;
The verdant spot where all is dreary—
The fountain where the faint and weary
May drink, and wander on refreshed—
Sweet day of rest!”