THIRTY-NINTH. We observe it because it is written: "And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently harken unto Me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of the city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work therein; then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever." Jer. 17 : 24, 25. God adds that if they profane the Sabbath Jerusalem shall be destroyed. Verse 27.
God wanted Jerusalem to exist forever; but that this might be, the Jews must observe the Sabbath. And God fixes no limits to this observance of the Sabbath, as to the epoch during which He wanted to continue. He does not say that Jerusalem shall be inhabited forever, if the Jews observe the Sabbath for a time, and then profane it as much as they please. No; the duration of the period during which He wants them to observe the Sabbath is the same as that during which He wants Jerusalem to exist; and that period is indicated by the expression "forever." Therefore God wanted the Jews to sanctify the Sabbath "forever," and He has not changed His will on this point. He wants the Jews to sanctify the Sabbath in 1905 and hereafter. And as the Sabbath is obligatory on the Gentiles as well as on the Jews, He wants the same thing with regard to the Gentiles. Therefore we observe the Sabbath.
If the Jews had really sanctified the Sabbath day until the present time, thus manifesting their gratitude toward their Creator, giving Him their supreme affection, they would have recognized the Author of the Sabbath, our Lord Jesus Christ, as the promised Messiah, and would have received his instructions on the proper manner of observing the Sabbath. They would not have been so anxious to accuse Him falsely of profaning the Sabbath to have an excuse for putting Him to death (Luke 6 : 7, etc.); the blame of His crucifixion would never have rested upon them; and Jerusalem, formerly the renowned city of the whole earth, would exist to-day with more than its ancient glory, having been and being still the great center of evangelization for the whole world.
Fortieth. We observe it because by the grace of God we are the children of Israel, in the primitive, evangelical sense of that expression (Gen. 32 : 24-30; John 1 : 47; Rom. 9 : 6; Gal. 6 : 16), and it is written: "It [the Sabbath] is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed." Ex. 31 : 17.
Forty-first. We observe it in view of the fact that if we sanctify it as it should be sanctified,—making it a spiritual rest, and answering to its object as a memorial, consecrating it wholly unto the Lord, as such,—we shall keep all the precepts of the divine law. The Sabbath precept is eminently the precept of love and gratitude. It is the only precept of the ten that reveals to us the important truth that the God of the Decalogue is the God who created all things, that to Him we owe our existence, and that He has done more for us than all other beings in the universe. This truth involves the obligation to love God supremely, and if we love Him thus, we shall observe all the precepts of the divine law as fast as we understand them.
Forty-second. We observe it because it is a sign between God and us, that we may know that He is the Lord who sanctifies us. Ex. 31 : 13: "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." Here, as in other passages, the expression "the children of Israel," embraces not only the Jews who believe in Jesus Christ, but also the Gentiles who exercise salutary faith in the Lord. For such the Sabbath is not only the sign by which they can know who is the true God, but also that the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, sanctifies them. Now this can not be said of the descendants of Israel who know not by experience what sanctification is. Therefore those referred to as children of Israel are such as believe in Jesus Christ, outside of whom there is no sanctification for sinners. Our observance of the Sabbath is a sure means of determining to what point we are advanced in sanctification. It is God who sanctifies, and it is God also who gives us His grace to sanctify or observe the day of His rest, and the progress we make in the observance of this holy day.