“THE SABBATH OF THE LORD THY GOD.”
By B. L. Howe
To-day there is a sound of a “going” among the religious people of the world, over the Sabbath question. There is a controversy abroad, God and his Sabbath on the one hand and the nations of the earth and the first-day sabbath on the other. Why should this question come to the front all over the world just at this time?—Because the next great event in the world’s history is the second coming of Christ, and he would find a loyal people awaiting him. More than two thousand years ago the Lord said there would be a people “laying hold” on his Sabbath, the seventh day, when his coming was near. Isa. 56: 1–7; Heb. 9: 28. For twelve hundred and sixty years, from A. D. 538 to 1798, the law of God was given into the hands of an enemy. The Sabbath of the Lord was nearly buried under the traditions of men; but— “Truth crushed to earth shall rise again,
The eternal years of God are hers;
But Error, wounded, writhes in pain,
And dies amid his worshipers.”
So, altho men have “let go” of God’s Sabbath, there are many loyal ones among them who will yet “lay hold on it.” His special blessing is here pronounced upon all who not only lay hold upon the Sabbath but keep it and do not pollute it. The stranger, the Gentile, is included in this blessing if he will consent to be “grafted in.” Isa. 56: 6, and Rom. 11: 17–21. The religious world has to-day come to a crisis. Every man must decide whether he will worship (yield obedience to) the Creator, or bow down to the opposing power that has been set up, which men say must be worshiped. In times of great crisis in things of God, the majority have chosen the wrong side. Noah preached one hundred and twenty years (Gen. 6: 3), and only eight heeded the warning, but his work condemned the world; and “as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Calling Noah names and ridiculing the warning which he gave them from God, could not save them when the flood came. In the days of Christ the majority of the church were against him, and finally decided that he must die. It is not safe to trust majorities in things of God. Christ 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. The work of every follower of Christ is to hold forth “the Word of life.” Phil. 2: 16. “We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.” 2 Cor. 4: 5. Man may talk, but God’s Word is to the believer the end of all controversy, in matters of worship. True Sabbath-keeping is an act of faith. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Rom. 10: 17. If the first-day sabbath is of divine origin, the Word of God must speak concerning it. If the Word of God says nothing of its sacredness, it is an institution of man not God. God calls the seventh day “My holy day.” He rested upon the seventh day. It was his rest day, therefore he called it his Sabbath (rest day). John, the beloved disciple, says, “He that saith he abideth in him [Christ] ought himself also so to walk, even as he [Christ] walked.” 1 John 2: 6. If we walk as Christ did, we will surely keep the Sabbath which he ordained and observed. Christ is the head over all things to the church, which is his body. Eph. 1: 22, 23. If the Head keeps the Sabbath according to the law, the body, the church, certainly must do the same, as the Head is the governing power, and by the word which the Head speaks all are to be judged in the last day. John 12: 48.