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One hundred and Six Important Facts

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Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jul 18, 1878

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 4, No. 27.

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One hundred and Six Important Facts.

FORTY-ONE FACTS CONCERNING THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK.

1. THE first thing recorded in the Bible is work that was done by the Creator on the first day of the week. Gen. 1:1-5.
2. God commands us to work upon it. Ex. 20:8-11.
3. Hence he forbids us to keep it.
4. None of the patriarchs kept it.
5. None of the prophets kept it.
6. Christ did not keep it during his whole life.
7. The apostles worked upon it during the same time.
8. It is called a working day. Eze. 46:1.
9. God never rested upon it.
10. Christ never rested upon it.
11. There is no record that the apostles ever rested upon it.
12. God never blessed it.
13. Christ never blessed it.
14. It was never blessed by any divine authority.
15. It was never sanctified.
16. No law was ever given to keep it; hence, it is no sin or transgression to work upon it. 1 John 3:4; Rom. 4:15.
17. The New Testament nowhere forbids work to be done upon it.
18. No penalty is given for its violation.
19. No blessing is promised for its observance.
20. It is never called the Christian Sabbath.
21. It is never called the Sabbath at all.
22. It is never called the Lord's day.
23. It is never called a rest-day.
24. No sacred title whatever is applied to it.
25. It is simply called “first-day of the week” wherever mentioned.
26. Jesus never mentioned it in any way.
27. It is never said that the Sabbath was changed from the seventh to the first day.
28. If you keep it, “Who hath required this at your hands?” Isa. 1:12.
29. It is only mentioned eight times in the New Testament. Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2.
30. And six of these eight texts all refer to the same first day.
31. No regulation is given as to how it should be observed.
32. Paul required Christians to do secular business upon it. 1 Cor. 16:2.
33. Only one religious meeting upon that day is recorded. Acts 20:5-13.
34. And this was only an evening meeting.
35. It is not said that the disciples ever had a meeting on it before.
36. It is not intimated that they ever did afterward.
37. It is not said that it was their custom to meet on that day.
38. There is no requirement to meet and break bread on that day.
39. There is only one case where it was done. Acts 20:7.
40. That was done in the night, after midnight. Acts 20:7-11.
41. Paul has given us the “apostolic example” of traveling during all the daylight of that day. Acts 20:11-14.

SIXTY-FIVE FACTS CONCERNING THE SABBATH.

1. The great God rested on the seventh day. Ex. 31:17.
2. The Creator has blessed the seventh day. Ex. 20:11.
3. The Lord has sanctified the seventh day. Gen. 2:3.
4. It was made the Sabbath day in Eden. Gen. 2:1-3.
5. It was made before the fall of man. Gen. 2:1-3.
6. Types and shadows pointing to the cross were not instituted till after the fall; hence, the Sabbath is not a type.
7. The Sabbath points back to creation, not forward to the cross; and therefore it is not a type.
8. It is a memorial or sign of creation. Ex. 31:17.
9. Gentiles and Christians need this memorial now as much as did Adam or the Jews.
10. The Sabbath was made for man. Mark 2:27.
11. It was given to Adam, the head of the human race. Gen. 2:1-3.
12. Hence, through him, as the representative, to all nations. Acts 17:26.
13. It was made 2300 years before there was a Jew; hence it is not Jewish. A Jew is the descendant of Judah, who was born 2300 years after the creation. Gen. 29:35.
14. It differed from all other holy days in that it was founded on God's own acts, while no others were. Ex. 20:11.
15. Sabbath means rest. The seventh day is called the Sabbath, or rest, day of the Lord; because the Lord rested upon the seventh day. But the day upon which God rested must ever remain his rest, or Sabbath day; hence the seventh day, and no other, is still the Sabbath day of the Lord.
16. All the facts and reasons upon which the Sabbath was founded at first still exist. See Ex. 20:11; Gen. 2:1-3.
17. It was a part of God's law before Sinai. Ex. 16:4, 27-29.
18. If the Sabbath had been lost, God pointed it out by four notable miracles wrought every week for forty years. See Ex. 16.
19. Sabbath violation was one of the sins for which Israel was excluded from entering the promised land. Eze. 20:13-24.
20. It was commanded by God's voice from heaven. Deut. 4:12, 13.
21. That command was written by the finger of God. Ex. 31:18.
22. It was engraved in stone. Deut. 5:22.
23. It was deposited in the ark in the most holy place. Deut. 10:1-5.
24. In all these particulars, it was honored above all other holy days.
25. God placed it in the moral law. Ex. 20:1-17.
26. God forbade work upon it, even in the most hurrying time. Ex. 34:21.
27. The Sabbath given to the Jews was the same day which God gave to Adam. Compare Ex. 20:8-11 with Gen. 2:1-3.
28. God promised that Jerusalem should stand forever if Israel would keep it. Jer. 17:24, 25.
29. He sent the Jews into captivity for breaking it. Neh. 13:18.
30. He destroyed Jerusalem for its violation. Jer. 17:27.
31. He has pronounced a blessing upon the Gentiles who will keep it. Isa. 56:6.
32. God has promised to bless any man who will keep it. Isa. 56:2.
33. The Lord requires us to call it honorable. Isa. 58:13.
34. It is a sign of the living God. Ex. 31:17.
35. By keeping it, we may know that we are sanctified. Eze. 20:12.
36. It was kept by the patriarchs. Compare Ex. 16:4, 27-29; Gen. 26:5, &c.
37. All the holy prophets kept it, as all admit.
38. The Father himself kept it. Gen. 2:1-3.
39. The Son of God kept it. Luke 4:16; John 15:10.
40. He was its Lord to honor and protect it as a husband his wife. Compare Mark 2:27 with 1 Pet. 3:6.
41. He vindicated it as a merciful institution. Matt. 12:7, 8.
42. He recognized the law of the Sabbath as binding in the New Testament. Matt. 12:12.
43. He carefully taught how it ought to be kept. Matt. 12:1-13.
44. He instructed his disciples to observe it at least forty years after the resurrection. Matt. 24:20.
45. The holy women carefully kept it after the crucifixion. Luke 23:56.
46. Matthew and Mark after the resurrection call it “the Sabbath.” Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1.
47. Fourteen years after the resurrection, by the inspiration of God, it is called “the Sabbath day.” Acts 13:14.
48. Paul calls it the “Sabbath day” in A. D. 44. Acts 13:27.
49. At the same date, Luke terms it “the Sabbath” day. Acts 13:44.
50. Converted Christian Gentiles called it the Sabbath day. Acts 13:42, 43.
51. James, in a great Christian assembly, called it the Sabbath in A. D. 46. Acts 15:21.
52. The Gentiles (or Greeks) kept it as well as the Jews. Acts 17:1-4.
53. Paul held prayer-meetings upon it. Acts 16:13.
54. He read the Scriptures upon it. Acts 17:2, 3.
55. He preached upon it many times. Acts 13:14-41, 44-46; 16:13, 14; 17:2; 18:4.
56. There is no mention of any dispute between Jews and Christians about the Sabbath; hence, both kept the same day.
57. There is no Bible record that any Christian ever worked upon it.
58. God has never given permission for anyone to work upon it.
59. There is no record that God has ever removed his blessing or sanctification from it.
60. It is not once said that it has been abolished.
61. It is mentioned in the New Testament 59 times as the Sabbath day, and always with the same respect as in the Old Testament.
62. It is called “the Lord's day.” Rev. 1:10. Compare Ex. 20:8-11; Isa. 58:13; Mark 2:28.
63. It is a part of that law which is binding in the gospel. Matt. 5:17-19; James 2:8-12.
64. It is to be restored after it has been trodden down for “many generations.” Isa. 58:12, 13.
65. Finally, it will be kept forever in the new earth. Isa. 66:22, 23.