THE APOSTLES AND THE SABBATH.
By W. L. Iles
WE now pass from the four Gospels to the Acts of the Apostles. What is there said about the Sabbath of the Lord and the first day of the week? Says the apostle Paul: “Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.” 1 Tim. 1:16. Paul says to all who shall believe on Christ after him, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” 1 Cor. 11:1. Paul’s idea of perfection was Christ. He presented Christ as the complete and perfect man. “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” Eph. 4:13. “Lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings, and have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of Him that created him.” Col. 3:9, 10, R. V. We put on the new man at conversion. The new man is Christ. “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh.” The Lord Jesus Christ, or the new man, is being renewed in us. For a thing to be “renewed,” it must be made over again. It must be repeated again. This renewal only takes place unto knowledge. As our knowledge of Christ increases, just to that extent is Christ renewed in us. After conversion, we are new creatures; and as we grow, we grow up in Christ; and as Christ is the image of God, so we are renewed after the image of God. In all these texts it will be seen that Christ is set before the world as the only standard of perfection, and that same life of perfection is to appear, or be renewed, in us, unto our knowledge. Paul had a good knowledge of Christ, and so in him we behold Christ. Christ lived in him. Gal. 2:20. If Christ kept the law when upon earth, and the life of Christ was renewed in the life of Paul, then Paul kept the law, and the same can be said of the Sabbath. There are now many who are keeping Sunday, whom God accepts as his children, but when they see that the life of Christ is not being renewed in them, in the act of Sunday-keeping and Sabbath-breaking, they will take their feet from off God’s holy day. We now inquire, Did Paul follow Christ in Sabbath-keeping? “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.” Acts 17:2.7The congregation that heard Paul preach was composed of Jews and Greeks. Some of the Greeks believed (verse 4), and the Jews were filled with envy (verse 5). The Jews and Greeks met on the same day. At that time there was no dispute as to which day was the Sabbath. There were many pagans who recognized no Sabbath. If Jewish Christians kept the seventh day, and Gentile Christians kept the first day, there would have been trouble and controversy, even as we see now. The Sabbath day referred to is the seventh-day Sabbath. It was Paul’s “manner” to do upon the Sabbath day what it was Christ’s “custom” to do. Luke 4:16. “But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down.” Acts 13:14. “And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.” “And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the Word of God.” Acts 13:42, 44. Many suppose that Paul simply went to the synagogue on the Sabbath, because he could get a congregation of the Jews, and could preach to them. On this occasion there were present both Jews and Gentiles. When the Jews had gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles asked Paul to come back the next Sabbath and preach the same Word. Here is a recognition of the Sabbath by the Gentiles. The Sabbath referred to was the same one the Jews kept, and that was the seventh day. This narrative was written by inspiration, and is therefore the Word of God. God recognizes the Sabbath day in this dispensation, and so calls it. The events referred to above happened about fourteen years after Christ was crucified, and if at that time the Sabbath was recognized by Jews, Gentiles, apostles, and the Lord, we will do well to recognize it now. “And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.” Acts 16:13. This prayer-meeting was on the Sabbath day, and as the Sabbath is the seventh day, and Saturday is the seventh day, it was upon Saturday. There was present at this prayer-meeting a woman by the name of Lydia, who worshiped God. She believed in attending divine services on the Sabbath. “And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.” Acts 18:4. It will be noticed that the Scriptures very clearly indicate that the Jews and Gentiles all met on the same day. There is nothing to indicate that the Jews met on Saturday and the Gentiles on Sunday. Paul met with both Jews and Gentiles on the Sabbath. “And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together; and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.” Acts 28:17. The words that Paul uttered were addressed to the “chief of the Jews.” These Jews were very strict Saturday-keepers. They were so strict that they “sought to slay him,” because they thought he was a Sabbath-breaker. It was the custom of the Jewish fathers to keep the Sabbath. Paul, in the presence of the “chief Jews,” declares that he had “committed nothing against the custom of the fathers.” How could he make such a bold statement if he was keeping Sunday, and disregarding the Sabbath? If the Jews sought to “slay” Christ for healing a man on the Sabbath, what would they do with Paul if he made tents on the Sabbath day? It was Paul’s “custom” to follow the Jewish “custom” in recognizing the seventh-day Sabbath, and we follow the custom of Paul, and do after the “manner” of Christ by keeping the seventh day, and attending religious services. W. L. ILES.