The Bible Sabbath in the Christian Era
By T.
IN previous articles, we have seen that there is no authority whatever for the statement often made that "the Sabbath was changed by Christ and the apostles." It would be something more like the truth to say that an attempt was made to change the Sabbath, without Christ, by the early apostasy. The apostasy, and not the apostles, is responsible. It should be considered first that practically all of the early apostolic church were converts from the Jewish nation. They were literal Israelites, as well as converts to Christianity. Christ Himself, according to the flesh, was of the tribe of Judah, and was therefore a Jew of the Jews. The apostles were Jews. The three thousand converted on the Day of Pentecost, as well as the five thousand who were converted at the preaching of Peter when the lame man was healed, were citizens of the Israelitish nation. It was not till after the conversion of the apostle Paul that the early church learned, by revelation and by the study of the Scriptures, that it was God's plan to have the gospel preached to every nation. The "middle wall of partition" was to give way, and all the world was to have the benefits of salvation. This had ever been the Lord's plan, but the Jews had perverted it, and had come to believe, as churches have believed and taught since, that they were the only "elect of God." The facts, then, show that the Christian church was established among the Jews, by those who had been converted to Christ from Judaism. The first three years of its most ardent and warm-hearted work was within the Jewish nation and for the Jewish nation. Christianity made a great split in the Jewish church, and the controversy ran strong and high. The apostles and this early church went forward fearlessly to proclaim the gospel of Christ. They had power in their work, and the earnestness of devout minds and a living experience led them to urge the gospel upon all they met. This stirred the Jews to do all in their power to combat the Christians. They were watching for every little thing that they could bring forward to create prejudice against the followers of Christ. On a certain occasion, they employed the orator Tertullus to accuse Paul and his fellow Christians before the Roman governor Felix. All that this shrewd and eloquent lawyer could find to bring against Paul is stated in the following language: "We have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes: who also hath gone about to profane the temple: whom we took, and would have judged according to our law. But the chief captain Lysias came upon us, and with great violence took him away out of our hands, commanding his accusers to come unto thee: by examining of whom thyself mayest take knowledge of all these things, whereof we accuse him. And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so." Acts 24: 5-9. There is no charge, in this scripture, that Paul had been openly setting at defiance one of the Ten Commandments. And the Jews in that time, as the record in the Gospels abundantly attests, had hedged the Sabbath commandment about with numerous restrictions, so that if there had been any disrespect shown to the day, it would have raised a great clamor among those Jews who were so anxious to find something against the early church. But we have positive testimony from Paul himself that there was no difficulty over the observance of the law which contained the Sabbath commandment, for in his reply to the orator Tertullus he said: "They neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogs, nor in the city: neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: and have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men." Acts 24:12-16. Paul believed all things written in the law and in the prophets. And of the things written the discussion arose over the resurrection, and not over the Sabbath. If the Jews in that time, who were such sticklers for the outward observance of the Sabbath, could have found some of the early Christians teaching that the institution had been done away or changed, there would have been no end to the persecutions that would have been inflicted because of that thing. The same Paul who made the foregoing speech before Felix, said on another occasion: "But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches. Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God." 1 Cor. 7:17-19. The Twentieth Century New Testament renders verse 19 of the above: "Circumcision is nothing; the want of it is nothing; but to keep the commandments of God is everything." Circumcision was one of the established rites of the Old Testament dispensation, and we find plenty of controversy over that question in the early church. The first general conference of Christians was called to consider the rites that had served their purpose in the old dispensation, and that were not to be brought over into the new. The fifteenth chapter of Acts makes it clear that circumcision was prominent among the things they met to consider. Now if there had been any hint that the Sabbath was to have been changed or done away, there would have been plenty of evidence of the controversy. These are facts that should be conclusive and convincing. But we have shown, in previous articles, that the prophecies foretold that a power would arise that would think himself able to change the times and the laws of the Most High. And Paul, in his instruction to the elders of Ephesus, makes it clear where this power should arise. He says: "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." Acts 20:28-30.5 An apostasy was to arise within the church itself. Of your own selves shall men arise, who shall speak perverse things, to draw disciples to themselves. Such is the teaching of the great missionary apostle to the Gentile world. And this apostasy was already beginning to manifest itself while Paul was still living; for we read from his pen: "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only He who now letteth will let, until He be taken out of the way." 2 Thess. 2:3-7. In Paul's day, this mystery of iniquity, this man of sin, was already working right in the church itself. And as we follow the history of the church, we find that the apostles who were taught by Christ in person had scarcely passed from their active labors, until ambitious bishops arose in many of the churches located in the leading cities of the gospel world, who departed from the pure teaching of Christ, and began to set up standards and doctrines of their own. This teaching soon split the young church into various discordant sects. The Nazarenes held to the pure teaching of the Word of God. Other sects, prominent among which was the Gnostics, taught that they had a purer doctrine than that of the apostles; and when these Gnostic doctrines were shown to be in contradiction to the plain word of the Bible, they conveniently set the Bible aside by saying that there was a "spiritual meaning" that they must take, and not what the words themselves said. The Jews soon became a very much hated and despised people because they had crucified Christ. And this hatred was finally carried to the point of discarding the Sabbath of Jehovah because the Jews observed that day. Instead of Jehovah's Sabbath, they instituted the observance of the first day of the week, without any warrant whatever, and in open disregard of the plain law of Jehovah. The two institutions were observed side by side for centuries, the custom in different parts of the world being different upon the subject. Around this observance of the Sabbath, discussions and persecutions raged for centuries. There were ever those who believed the plain teaching of the Word of God, and who adhered to the observance of the true Sabbath of Jehovah. But the connected history of these observers of the Bible Sabbath must be gathered largely from the writings of those who were fighting them, and of this class of matter there is an abundance. God has not been without stanch defenders of His Sabbath day as the memorial of His creative power. And the arguments, all through the centuries, that have been used against its observance, have been practically the same as the arguments that are used to-day. The defenders of Sunday and the opponents of the Bible Sabbath have had to admit in every century that they have no Bible text to support their claim. All that they have is tradition, and the notion that they have a right to improve on God's plan as expressed in His law. They have ever been compelled to admit that so far as the Bible is concerned, it speaks of no weekly Sabbath aside from the seventh day of the week. God gave a Sabbath, and gave a reason for giving it. He has never changed it nor abolished it. The Bible is so clear upon the subject, that men in all ages have seen it from the teaching of the Word alone. And while there has been a strong controversy over the question in the past, the greatest controversy over the subject remains for the immediate future. Some will say that we ought not to make such a fuss over the mere observance of a day. But the question involves our loyalty to God.