FIFTY REASONS FOR SABBATH OBSERVANCE.
By D. T. Bourdeau
Seventh. We observe the Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day, because the most faithful followers of Jesus Christ—the last at the cross and the first at the sepulchre, including the mother of Jesus—observed it after the Crucifixion. “And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Luke 23:56; John 19:25, etc. Are we not justified in doing what these holy women had seen their Master do, and what they themselves did? Eighth. We observe it because Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, delighted in it, according to the inward man, the new man, Christ, which had been formed in him at conversion. Of the law, of which the Sabbath formed an essential part, Paul says, “I delight in the law of God after the inward man.” Rom. 7:22. Read, also, Eph. 4:22–24; Col. 3:9, 10; 1:27; Rom. 6:6, etc. That which is true of a thing—of a royal, divine law—is true of all its parts. Ninth. We observe it because Paul and his companions made it their regular day of public worship, whether among the Jews or among the Gentiles. “And when the Jews were gone out of the synagog, 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. “And on the Sabbath we went out of the city [Philippi, of Macedonia] by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made, and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.” Acts 16:12. Lydia and her family were converted, and the nucleus of the Philippian church was formed. “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them [in the synagog at Thessalonica], and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures. . . . And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.” Acts 17:2–4. And thus the church at Thessalonica was formed. “And he [Paul] reasoned in the synagog [at Corinth, and his example was as sacred as it would have been outside of the synagog] every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.” Acts 18:4. And he remained at Corinth “a year and six months, teaching the Word of God” (verse 11); and the church of Corinth, composed principally of Gentiles10who had been idolaters (1 Cor. 12:2), was founded. In the light of the irrefutable truth that the Sabbath precept is still obligatory, is it not manifest that by this precept God, as definitely, as imperatively, commands us to sanctify the day of His rest, His blessed and holy day, as He did His chosen people, when He proclaimed His law with a voice that shook the earth? And, in the light of this same truth, is there not, in favor of the Sabbath, special weight to the fact that Christ, as our Exemplar, and the primitive church walking in His footsteps, observed the Sabbath? And is it not very inconsistent to represent that the apostles made the Sabbath their regular day of public worship only to accommodate the Jews? It is adding to the Word of God in the sense of making it say that which is false. It is putting this divine Word in contradiction with itself. This manner of teaching helps to turn souls away from one of these commandments that will remain firm and obligatory while heaven and earth exist, even throughout the ages of eternity. Matt. 5:17, 18, etc. To see how God views it, read again carefully Deut. 4:2; 12:32; Prov. 30:5, 6; Rev. 22:18, 19. Tenth. We observe it because God, in proclaiming the law of Ten Commandments, thus shows that, if we love Him, we shall keep His commandments: “And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.” Ex. 20:6. And the beloved apostle speaks in the same sense, when he says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” 1 John 5:3. Eleventh. We observe it because “whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law,” of which the Sabbath is a part; and “sin is the transgression of the law,” and we do not wish to displease God by transgressing any of His precepts. 1 John 3:4; Rom. 3:22; 7:7; James 2:8-12, etc. Twelfth. We observe it, because holiness is conformity to the law of Ten Commandments, and we would be found walking in the way of holiness. Encouraging His chosen children to obey His law, when about to proclaim it, God said, “Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be . . . a holy nation.” Ex. 19:5, 6. Here “My voice” and “My covenant” mean the Ten Commandments. See Deut. 4:12, 13, etc. Thirteenth. We observe it because the law, in the bosom of which it is found, is spiritual, holy, just, and good. “For we know that the law is spiritual.” “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” Rom. 7:14, 12. Fourteenth. We observe it because the apostle James, speaking to Christians concerning the law in which the Sabbath appears in relief, says, among other things, “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well. . . . For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:8-10. “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” James 1:25.