THE "CHRISTIAN ALLIANCE" ON THE SABBATH.
By Editor
THE Christian Alliance of some time ago, the editor of which is the Rev. A. B. Simpson, so earnest in missionary work and faith healing, had the following:— "The Sabbath Question.—We receive many communications respecting the Sabbath question, and a good many of our friends have given us more scriptural references than we have time to read on this subject. We have read them all, we believe, on former occasions. Meanwhile, we would be glad to ask them a question. "When we were in China, a few months ago, we found that the American sabbath was Monday there. Now, the question is, Which was the true Sabbath? "And another question is, Is there any absolute time demanded or even possible, according to physical and geographical laws? Is it not simply one day in seven that the Lord requires, that day being the seventh in the Old Testament, and the first in the New? "And yet one question more, Is this question as important as the question of the world's evangelization, and the unity of the people of God in promoting it and hasting the Lord's return, and the one eternal Sabbath for which the ages are waiting?" There are two things in the above which may be worthy of notice, (1) the matter of the day, and (2) the importance of the question. 1. Mr. Simpson must know that no "American" sabbath was any other day anywhere else. He must also know that starting from China and traveling westward to America, he will find himself in perfect harmony with all the people in the count of the days of the week. He must know that among intelligent men there has been no question as to whether Saturday was the seventh day of the Jews, kept for long centuries both before and after Christ. He must know that the first day of the week is Sunday, and is conceded to be such by all authority of note. And Mr. Simpson must further know that there is no question as regards the identity of these days of the week in all Christendom. Sunday keepers or Sabbath keepers have no difficulty in observing the respective days in any country of the world. The question is not one of "physical or geographical laws." Such reasoning would deny the incarnation of the Son of God and the regeneration and resurrection of man. It is a question of God's law, and that law declares that "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." God rested on a definite day, blessed a definite day, set apart a definite day, and for forty years by a threefold miracle, weekly repeated, showed that no other day could be the Sabbath. Jesus Christ said that one jot or tittle could not be changed. Mr. Simpson must know all this, and know that to change the law to the first day of the week would demand the change of jots and tittles. 2. The importance of the question. The relative importance of God's commands it is not for mortals to judge. The Sabbath question when rightly understood is a very part of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and its last message to the world to prepare a people for our Lord's coming. Over and over again has the Spirit of God in both the Old and New Testaments brought this great fact before us. The Sabbath is a great test of loyalty to God, the center around which the forces which make for righteousness are gathering. The false sabbath, now shown in its true colors by both Protestants and Catholics, by its friends confessedly dependent on the powers of earth for its support, is the gathering ensign of the hosts of apostasy. It is the Sabbath of the Lord our God, the true Lord's day, or it is the Sunday of heathen tradition, Sunday sustained by human law. God is the author of the first; what of its opposite and counterfeit? Faith does not question God's commands or Christ's example. Has God said it? That is sufficient. Eve thought the forbidden fruit was not a question of importance. Saul thought it made little difference whether God's commands were obeyed or not. Naaman thought that the dipping in Jordan was nonsense. Nadab and Abihu concluded that strange fire was as good as the fire of God. Will the servants of Christ hide their eyes from God's Sabbaths and put no difference between the holy and profane? See Eze. 22:26–31; compare with Eze. 13:4–11. The evangelization of the world is important, because God has commanded it, and souls are perishing. The true servants of God are burdened for it. But Satan is also at work. Buddhism, Mohammedanism, and Roman Catholicism are his agencies to press forward the work of the gospel of darkness, professedly of peace. The question is, Shall we bear God's message, or the message of darkness? Are we bearing a message for past generations, or the one God would have borne now? These questions are answered in God's word. Will not Mr. Simpson and his colaborers take the word? "Ye are my friends," says Christ, "if ye do whatsoever I have commanded you." Faith does not judge between the things of God; it rests on God's word.