ANSWERS TO EXCUSES FOR NOT KEEPING THE SEVENTH DAY by Dudley Marvin Canright

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jul 4, 1878

ANSWERS TO EXCUSES FOR NOT KEEPING THE SEVENTH DAY.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

(Concluded.)

TEXT : “And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.” Luke 14:18-20.

SIXTH EXCUSE—If everybody would keep the Sabbath, I would. This is a very common excuse. We hear it on every hand. Let us look at it a moment. When a person says this, he admits that the seventh day ought to be kept, because we ought not to keep the Sabbath, even if everybody else did, unless it were right. But, on the other hand, if the seventh day is the Sabbath, is God's holy day, then it is our duty to obey it if there is not another man in the world who does. It will be no excuse for us that the multitude have gone the other way. Indeed, we know very well that the mass have always gone the wrong road. It is only the few, the little handful, that have been right. Jesus said, "Fear not, little flock." The Lord has never had the multitude on his side in this world, and he never will.

Again, Jesus says, “Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Matt. 7:13, 14. What a warning there is in this text for men who are relying on this flimsy excuse: “If everybody would keep the Sabbath, I would!” Will you then go to destruction because the mass do? Do you think you will be justified in trampling on God's law because everybody else does? Can you go hand in hand with the world, and still have the favor of God, and be a pilgrim and stranger on earth? Hear the words of the Master: “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” John 15:18-20.

Did Jesus go with the multitude? Did he say, If everybody would obey God, I would? No. He had the faith and courage to go against the current, and do right, though it brought the opposition and persecution of the world upon him. Then he says to us, “Take up your cross, and follow me.” Noah obeyed God when all the world went the other way. Lot served God in Sodom when the whole city were opposed to him. Elijah stood up for the truth alone, all alone, when there were 450 prophets against him. 1 Kings 18. My brother or sister, be careful how you risk your soul on this rotten foundation. If you don't mean to obey God, say so; but don't rest on such flimsy excuses as these.

SEVENTH EXCUSE—If my family would not oppose me I would keep the Sabbath. How many are resting on this excuse! But will this weigh anything with the Lord? Will it stand the test of the judgment? Will it really excuse us before God? This is not a new evasion of duty. It is as old as the race; and the Lord himself has answered it time and again in the past, and always with a severe rebuke. Listen to the words of Jesus: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I am not come to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” Matt. 10:34-37.

The dearest relation in life, even, must not stand between us and our duty to God. Neither father nor mother, neither brother nor sister, or not even wife nor children, must be allowed to hinder us from obeying God. God is the author of our being. He has made everything we have. We owe all to him. Hence the first and highest duty we have is to our God. Parents, companions, or children, have infinitely less claims upon us than our God. So the Lord will not justify us in disobeying him, to please anybody.

“I cannot keep the Sabbath unless my husband does, or unless father and mother do.” Oh! yes, you can. Thousands have done it, and are doing it every week. What they have done you can do. You are not responsible for what others do. Obey God yourself. Do up your work on Friday, so far as your own work is concerned. When the Sabbath day comes, you can rest. If others will work on that day, they, not you, will be held accountable. Besides, if you will obey God, this will be the very means which God will choose to bring your family into the truth. Set them the example; keep it before them; talk it to them; and pray for them. God will make you the instrument for saving the rest.

Do you not love you parents, your companions, your children? Can you not make the sacrifice for them? Start yourself, then, and that will lead them to the Lord. Indeed, in nine cases out of ten, some one member of the family has to start first. My experience has been, that if we can get one member of the family to keep the Sabbath, in the course of a few months, or years, at the most, we are almost sure of the balance of the family. They may be indifferent on the start, or even oppose you; but there is a mighty power in the truth. After awhile, they will begin to soften; and finally come and thank you with the deepest gratitude for leading them into the truth.

EIGHTH EXCUSE—If we keep the seventh day we shall lose our influence. Sometimes people argue as foolishly as this. Perhaps they belong to some popular church. They may have wealthy friends, or something like that. The Sabbath day is very unpopular. People will laugh at them. They may be turned out of the Sunday-school. They think they will be looked down upon by society generally. So they try to make themselves believe that they can do more good for the Lord by staying where they are. What a foolish objection! Do you really think you can honor God more by disobeying him than you can by obeying him? What is your influence worth if it is all on the wrong side?

The Lord's time has come for light upon the holy Sabbath to be given. Thousands of others are struggling hard to bring about this reform. They are giving of their money, their time, and all their influence to carry this blessed work along. God is in this work. His time has come to have the world aroused upon this subject. Every one of us should work in harmony with God. If we have an ounce of influence it should be thrown on this side.

But if I keep still, retain my place in the church, and quietly work for the Sabbath, can't I do more to advance the cause of the Sabbath than I could to come right out openly? No, my friend; that is a snare of the devil. How much would Christ and the apostles have accomplished in that way? Absolutely nothing. The more boldly and publicly we take our stand for the truth, the greater influence it throws in favor of it. This is God's way of arousing a perishing world and a sleeping church. Let us wake up, and make a noise, and let everybody know where we stand. Nothing but selfishness is at the bottom of this excuse. It is begotten of a desire to shield self and avoid the cross. It will not weigh the heft of a feather with God.

NINTH EXCUSE—We cannot reform the world on the Sabbath question any way. Well, who expects that you can? And what if you cannot? The Bible does not contemplate the conversion of the world. It promises only to gather a few faithful souls out of the great mass, one here and one there. We can reform one person, at least, and that is a good deal. That person is ourself. God does not hold us responsible to reform the world; but does hold us responsible to obey him ourself, and leave him to judge the rest. How foolish and wicked it would have been for Noah to have reasoned in that manner! When God told him to build the ark, and warn the world, he might truthfully have said there was no hope of converting the world, or of building an ark large enough to contain them all. But was that any reason why he should not do all he could towards it? why he should not obey God himself?

Look at all the history of the past. It has only been a few, one here and a dozen there, that have obeyed the Lord at any time. But the Lord doesn't excuse us on that account. If there is but one person in all the world, who sees the light of the Sabbath, it is his duty to obey it. All reforms have to begin with individuals. Somebody had to come out and start the work, or it never would have started. Reformations never begin with multitudes.

My brother, this is a poor excuse, like all the rest. The advice of the Lord Jesus to Peter is applicable to your case. Peter was very anxious about what his brother John was going to do. The Lord said to him, “What is that to thee? Follow thou me.” John 21:22. This was excellent advice. Attend to your own soul, your own duty, and let the Lord take care of those who will not obey.

TENTH EXCUSE—We must be cautious, and not move too fast. Very true. It is right that we should study the subject carefully, till we are reasonably satisfied as to what is the truth in the case; but we must not put off investigation, and avoid being convinced. We must search the Scriptures, and inform ourselves as soon as we can. But this excuse is often made by those who admit that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and ought to be kept. Admitting all this, still they argue that it is not right to move too fast. But can a person move too quickly in obeying God? Can a person stop sinning too suddenly? No. The moment a man is satisfied the seventh day is the Sabbath, just that moment he ought to prepare to observe it. The example of David is worthy to be followed in this respect. He says, “I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.” Ps. 119:60. That is just what we ought to do. David made haste, he says. He went right about it; he began immediately. He did not wait for anything. He says, “I delayed not to keep thy commandments.” The Lord help you to act in the same spirit.

And the great apostle says of himself, when he was convicted of duty, “Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.” Gal. 1:16. God blessed both these men in acting as they did. We should follow their example. It is dangerous to delay. The spirit of conviction may leave us; the light may depart from us. In neglecting to obey God as soon as we see our duty, we place ourselves upon the enemy's ground. We invite him to tempt us. We listen to his plausible objections and various excuses. Before we are aware of it, we are under his power, and have decided against the truth and the Lord. Don't delay this matter another day. Decide now that you will obey God.

ELEVENTH EXCUSE—If we do right in everything else, can we not be saved without keeping the Sabbath? This question is frequently asked by those who profess to be Christians, and admit themselves satisfied that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and ought to be kept. But can they not be saved without keeping it? It is astonishing that a disciple of Christ should ever indulge in such evasions. What does it really mean? Simply this: Will not the Lord make an exception in my case, and excuse me from obeying him because it is not convenient? It is simply the pleading of the carnal heart, to evade lifting the cross.

But the Lord has answered this very plainly in the Bible. Hear what he says, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” Jas. 2:10. Is not that plain enough? Is not the Sabbath one point of the law? But the words of Jesus are still stronger, “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.” Matt. 5:19. I don't know how the Lord could have answered this excuse more explicitly. If so, perhaps this scripture will settle it: “And that servant which knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.” Luke 12:47. Do you not know your Master's will? Can you, then, neglect doing it without receiving stripes?

To the same effect James says, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” James 4:17. Many more scriptures bearing upon this same point might be quoted. No, my brother or sister; when the Lord has shown you the light upon the Sabbath commandment, you can no more break the Sabbath, and be saved, than you can break any other commandment, or evade any other duty, and be saved. If the spirit of disobedience is cherished in our hearts, it will shut us out of heaven, no matter what developes it, the Sabbath or any other commandment.

TWELFTH EXCUSE—I want to be sure that I shall hold out before I begin. This excuse, like all the rest, is a mere trap of the devil, to hold men in sin, and prevent them from making a start for the kingdom. See how senseless it is really. You want to be sure you will hold out before you begin. Well, how can you be sure of that? You may wait ten years—you may wait till you are three score and ten; will you then be sure that you will hold out if you start? Certainly not. If you hang upon this excuse you will never start at all. Even the apostle Paul, after he had labored many years, feared that even then he should fall away and be lost. We shall find it a battle and a struggle all the way through. We must make an effort and begin sometime. What would you say of a sick man who would refuse to be cured because he was not certain he would remain well if he should be healed?

Suppose you were never to sow your field till you were certain you would get a crop. Suppose you should never undertake any business till you were certain you would succeed. When would you begin? Did you ever think that you have to begin everything without the certainty of finishing it? When you start for your shop in the morning, you are not sure you will get there. When you sit down to eat your dinner, you are not sure you will get through. When you commence to read a book, you are not certain you will get through with it. Shall you ask more, then, in the cause of God than in anything else? Do not insult the Lord, then, and good common sense, by offering these excuses any more. Begin at once with a strong determination to hold out, and then trust in the Lord to help you.

THIRTEENTH EXCUSE—It is no use for me to keep the Sabbath, till I keep the other commandments. So unconverted men often say; but it is not the truth. It is best for them to begin to observe the Sabbath, whatever they may be doing otherwise. There must be a first step taken toward the right.

You may as well begin with the Sabbath as anywhere else. Keeping one commandment will be a large step toward keeping another. You must begin somewhere. If the Sabbath impresses you most forcibly of anything, take right hold of it, even if you are not a praying man, or even if you have not made up your mind to be a Christian.

Would you argue that it would not be best for you to cease lying till you had kept the other commandments? That would be a foolish way to reason. No; if you see the Sabbath plainly, begin with that. You will find that it will help you greatly toward breaking off other sins. During fourteen years of labor I have seen hundreds of profane, ungodly men begin the observance of the Sabbath, even before they had begun to pray, or had even quit swearing. In nineteen cases out of twenty, these men soon make other reforms, and in a short time become Christians. There is something purifying and refining in keeping the Sabbath of the Lord. It brings a man nearer to God, and makes him feel the wickedness of other sins. Therefore we advise every one to commence the observance of the Sabbath, whether they are Christians or not, confidently believing that it will lead to the keeping of all the other commandments.

Reader, in your own heart you know that all these objections are simply the efforts of the carnal mind to evade the truth. They are nothing but excuses, and poor ones at that. They will have no weight in the judgment. The Bible condemns them, one and all. Don't risk your soul upon them. Let us obey God promptly, cheerfully, and strictly, just as his word directs; then we shall not need to try to shield ourselves with vain excuses.

D. M. CANRIGHT.