CHRIST AND THE SABBATH by W. W. Prescott

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 19, 1893

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 32.

CHRIST AND THE SABBATH.*

By W. W. Prescott

(Continued.)

BUT have we nothing further to tell us of God? It is true that the heavens, that every created thing that we see, testifies to us of the everlasting power and the divinity of God, but have we nothing which is a further sign to us of the power of God in redemption?—Indeed we have. It is very interesting to notice that there have been set up at different times signs to remind the people of God's dealings, as, for instance, when the people came through Jordan by the hand of God, Joshua set up a pillar as a memorial of the power of God in dividing the waters, that they might go through on dry land.

THE MEMORIAL OF GOD'S POWER.

We have also a sign of the power of God pledged to us for redemption. That sign God himself has set up as a reminder to all the human family that they might remember him, that they might remember his power, that they might remember that his creative power has been pledged for salvation. This sign is as old as the exhibition of the power, and it is worth while to notice that this sign is referred to again and again as a continual reminder of the power of God. Let me read three or four scriptures that will bring these things together, that we may see this fact.

In the first chapter of Genesis we have a record of the creative power of God as manifested through Jesus Christ. At the close of the work we read, beginning with the first verse of the second chapter: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made. And he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made." Remember that it was Christ through whom this power was manifested. Remember, therefore, that it was Christ who rested, and by whom this blessing was pronounced upon this day. Turning over now to the time when Christ spoke to the people from Mount Sinai, and when he rehearsed in their presence the ten commandments, we find this statement concerning this same day: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it."

But who was it that created all things?—It was Christ. Who was it that rested at the close of the creative work?—It was Christ. Who was it that pronounced the blessing upon this day?—It was Christ. Who was it that rehearsed this fact at Sinai, and gave as a reason for the rest that he created the heaven and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh?—It was Christ. Who was it, then, that pronounced a blessing upon the day, and hallowed it, and sanctified it?—It was Christ. And for what purpose was it?—It was as a reminder of the power of God manifested through Christ in creation, that we might be comforted, that we might be encouraged, as we remember that the same power which wrought through Christ in the creation of the heaven and the earth is pledged to work through Christ for our re-creation. It is to point out in a more definite way than we learn from the material universe the redemptive work of Christ.

I want it to appear very plainly, as it does in the Scriptures, that the Sabbath idea is to reveal Christ to the world, Christ in creation, and so Christ in redemption. It is for this reason that the Saviour said, in Mark 2: 28, "Therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath day." Most certainly, because it was his day. So most appropriate it is that, in Rev. 1: 10, John says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day." Most appropriate. A day which is to remind us of the creative work of Christ, of the rest of Christ, of the power of Christ in re-creation, that is, in redemption. I want to bring out, as fully as the time will permit, the fact that the Sabbath idea, the Sabbath institution, is to point Christ out to us, to reveal his power to us, and is designed to be an encouragement to every believer in Christ.

SPIRITUAL REST.

I want you to notice now what was done to this day. The record in the second chapter of Genesis, which is the first mention that we have of the Sabbath, says, "He rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made." It is apparent to your minds at once that the Creator of the ends of the earth, who never wearies, and who never is faint, did not rest on that first seventh day because he had wearied himself in the work of creation. Said Christ to the woman of Samaria, "God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." God being spirit, his rest must be spiritual rest. And that is a matter of no small importance, because we overlook the whole idea of the Sabbath when we take it to mean a day of physical rest. Who rested on that day?—Christ, who was the agent in creation, rested on that day. Because he was tired?—Not in that sense. It was a spiritual rest. He rested and was refreshed. He took delight in viewing the works which he had made. That was the rest. Sabbath means rest, and from the very nature of the institution of the Sabbath, it means spiritual rest. Now I want you to see the practical application of that idea. If physical rest is the only idea of the Sabbath, man can rest on one day just as well as another. He can do more; he can divide up his rest during the several days of the week, and he can rest three or four hours each day, as may suit him. He may rest rainy days and work sunshiny days if he pleases, if physical rest is the only idea of the Sabbath.

Let it be understood that refraining from work is not Sabbath keeping. It may be Sunday keeping; it may be Saturday keeping; it may be Friday keeping; it may be Monday keeping, but it is not Sabbath keeping. It is not Sabbath keeping, because the idea of the Sabbath is spiritual rest. And in no other way can the Sabbath be kept than as a spiritual rest. You will therefore see at once that all theories of Sabbath keeping which rest upon the idea of physical recuperation, are good for nothing. It is true that man can enforce abstinence from labor, but he cannot enforce Sabbath keeping. A man may be forced to refrain from physical work; he may be kept in idleness, but no one can enforce Sabbath keeping. It is a spiritual thing entirely. You will also see the consequences that grow out of this, and that is that all human devices, all human power to compel rest, with the idea of keeping the Sabbath, are all wrong.

I hope we may see, before we finish the study of this subject, that many a man who has tried to keep the Sabbath, has been unable to keep it; that many a man who has longed to keep the Sabbath, has not kept it. He has refrained from work on the Sabbath day, but he has not kept the Sabbath. I hope we may see plainly why, before we finish this study. Think of the impossibility, nay, more, think of the wickedness, of trying to compel a man to do what he himself cannot do if he wants to, trying to compel a man to do that which he himself has tried to do, perhaps for years, and has been unable to do. There must be something more than human power, there must be the power of God in Sabbath keeping. We will see that more plainly as we go on.

THE SABBATH BLESSING.

Let us now follow out further the steps in Sabbath making, that we may see the steps in Sabbath keeping. The Lord blessed that day, and it became a rest day for man, a day for spiritual rest. The Lord blessed the seventh day, sanctified the seventh day, hallowed the seventh day. We read in Gen. 12: 2 concerning Abram: "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing." The blessing of God put upon any person or any thing is for the purpose of making that person or that thing a blessing to someone else. That is always so; that is always so in your Christian experience and in mine. The blessing that God gives to us is not exclusively for us, but he designs that, in blessing us, we shall be a blessing to others. Just so when he

blessed the seventh day, he designed that the seventh day should be a blessing to others. Wherever Abram went, he was a blessing to the people with whom he was associated. In exactly the same way wherever the Sabbath comes it is a blessing to those who know the Sabbath. Those who were acquainted with Abram were blessed because of their acquaintance with him, because God had blessed him to make him a blessing to others. Those who are acquainted with the Sabbath which God has blessed, share in a blessing because God made it a blessing by putting his blessing upon it. It is true that God's blessing is upon us, and upon time all the time. But it is just as true that there is an added blessing upon that portion of time. To illustrate in this way: All the people of the earth were being blessed of God in Abram's time; but upon Abram God in a special manner put a blessing to make him a blessing to others. Just so every day of the week is blessed of God, but the seventh day has an added blessing; the seventh day has a double blessing.

Now let us see of what that blessing consists. The very idea of Sabbath is rest. That is the very meaning of the term. Read now in Exodus, thirty-third chapter. Moses requested of the Lord that he would not send him and the people up unless he went with them. So the Lord says, fourteenth verse, "My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest." Who was it that went with the children of Israel?—"And they drank of that spiritual rock that went with them, and that rock was Christ." Whose presence was it, then, that was to give them rest?—It was the presence of Christ. With this agree the words of Christ himself in Matt. 11: 28: "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." It does not make any difference when it is, whether it be before the first advent of Christ or since that time, the presence of Christ gives rest. That is the promise, "I will give you rest." My presence shall go with you and give you rest, and that is the Sabbath idea, rest. It is Christ's presence which gives rest that constitutes the very idea of Sabbath keeping. It was the presence of Christ in the day that was the special blessing of the day. It is the presence of Christ in the Sabbath that makes it a Sabbath day, a rest day, that is, spiritual rest. When the Saviour invited those to come to him that were weary and heavy laden and he would give them rest, he did not mean simply physical rest, he meant that they could rest in him. But it is impossible to rest in the Lord unless the Lord rests in us.

But go a little further. Not only is it stated that he rested on that day, and blessed that day, and made it a rest day for man, a time for spiritual refreshing, but it is said that he hallowed the day; that is, he made that day holy. The very thing that made it a Sabbath, hallowed it, made it holy. And two or three scriptures very familiar will show this plainly. Refer again to the experience of Moses at the burning bush; when the Lord called to him out of the bush he said, "Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." The day before that time the ground around that bush was not particularly holy ground. It is true that God is everywhere; it is true that his blessing is everywhere, and it is true, in that general sense, that everything is holy as belonging to the Lord, but that particular portion of the earth was no more holy the day before that occurrence than any other particular portion, but just as soon as Christ revealed himself there, as we have already learned that it was Christ at the burning bush, that place became holy because of his presence. So the other event to which I called your attention, in Joshua, the fifth chapter, when the prince of the host of the Lord appeared to Joshua, he said: "Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy." It seems likely that that was a place where Joshua retired for secret prayer. It is more than likely that he had visited this place before, and no such word had come to him, but here was the personal presence of the Prince of the host of the Lord; Christ himself was there, and the presence of Christ made that ground holy, and Joshua was commanded to loose the shoe from off his foot, because it was holy or hallowed ground. Peter says, in speaking of the transfiguration, the record of which we have in 2 Peter 1: 18, "And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount." The mount of transfiguration was called holy, because Christ in his divinity was manifested there. We have a very marked illustration of this at the time when the law was rehearsed by Christ on Mount Sinai.

CHRIST THE LAWGIVER.

It was Christ who came down to proclaim anew precepts that had long before been known to the people. Bounds were placed about the mount, and the people could not pass beyond them. That mount previous to that time was not specially distinguished from other mountains in that neighborhood, but when the Lord himself, Jesus Christ, the agent in creation, the agent in redemption, was to come down there in person, was to proclaim anew to the world the law of God by his own voice, his presence there made that mount holy. The mount was bounded off by lines that separated it from the other parts of the surrounding country. There was no particular difference between that portion of the country and other portions surrounding it, except this, that on that particular mount Jesus Christ himself descended in person, and his presence made that mount holy. If anyone stepped beyond the boundary into that mount, made holy by the presence of Christ, it was certain death to him. Here was a particular portion of the country, entirely separate and distinct from the adjacent country. Men could walk about as usual, but when they came to that boundary they must stop. That was in a special way God's land. To step over the line was to step upon holy ground.

Now, just as the presence of Christ at the burning bush made the ground holy, just as the presence of Christ with Joshua made the ground holy, just as the presence of Christ on Mount Sinai made that ground holy, so the presence of Christ, which constitutes the seventh day a rest day, which makes it a Sabbath, a spiritual rest, makes that day holy. And, just as there was a particular portion of the ground made holy in all these other cases, just so there was a particular portion of time made holy. The children of Israel could go about their own pursuits; they could walk about as usual outside of that boundary, but the one who treated that mount, thus marked off, the same as he treated other portions of the surrounding country, paid as the penalty his life.

It is none the less true to-day that the presence of Jesus Christ has made holy a particular portion of time. It is none the less true that man may go about as usual, may attend to his usual avocations on six days of the week, but when he comes to that boundary line which marks off the time that Christ has made holy by his own presence in it, if he knowingly steps over that line and treats that time just as he treats the other time, he does it at the risk of his own life.

It is the presence of Christ that makes holy, and his presence has been put into a particular portion of time in a special manner, and that portion of time has been bounded off, separate and distinct from other portions of time. When the children of Israel came up to the boundary of Sinai, they knew it. God did not leave them in ignorance of the boundary line between the common and the sacred. God has not left us in ignorance. He has appointed means that we may know when we come up to that portion of time which he has made holy by his own presence in it, and by his own blessing upon it. But just as the presence of Christ at Sinai made that mount holy, just as his presence in the Sabbath makes the Sabbath holy, just so the presence of Christ in the individual makes him holy. I said that the Sabbath was designed continually as a reminder of the work of God through Christ in redemption. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. We are commanded, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." But we cannot make ourselves holy. There is one thing that always makes holy, and that is the presence of Jesus Christ. When Christ dwells in our hearts by faith, we are made holy by his presence.

(To be continued.)