The Seventh-Day Sabbath—Is It Still Binding?
By O. E. Jones
By a careful reading of the scriptures which mention the first day of the week, we find that there is not a word of proof found in them for a change in the Sabbath from the seventh day of the week to the first day of the week. "In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher." Matt. 28: 1. "And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him. And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun." Mark 16:1, 2. "Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven devils." Mark 16: 9. "Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them." Luke 24:1. "The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher." John 20:1. "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." John 20:19. The above are all the texts that mention the first day in the four Gospels. All refer to the same day, the resurrection day. They speak of the women's going early to the sepulcher, and of Jesus' appearing to His disciples in the evening at their place of abode (See Acts 1: 13), convincing them of His resurrection; but they contain not the slightest proof for a change of the Sabbath. "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight." Acts 20: 7. This scripture is entirely silent in reference to any change in the Sabbath. The breaking of bread upon a certain day does not prove it to be a Sabbath. We read that Christ instituted the Lord's Supper on the night of His betrayal, which was Thursday night. In reading verses 6 to 14, we find that the breaking of bread took place early in the day. Paul preached till midnight; and sometime between that and daybreak, he broke bread. When it came day (Sunday morning), he proceeded on his journey toward Jerusalem, going afoot to Assos, a distance of about twenty miles; which proves clearly that Paul and his companions did not regard the first day of the week as sacred time. "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come." 1 Cor. 16: 2. This text says nothing about a change of the Sabbath. Setting apart, each week, a part of that which they had received of the Lord, for those who were in need at Jerusalem, was an individual work, and was the first matter to be attended to each week. The text reads, "Let every one of you lay by him in store." This shows the first day to be common time. The foregoing are all the scriptures in the New Testament that mention the first day of the week; and they are silent concerning a change in the Sabbath, either in precept or example. Neither do they give to the first day of the week any sacred title whatsoever. But how does the New Testament deal with the seventh-day Sabbath on this side of the crucifixion of Christ? We read of Christ's followers next day after the crucifixion that they rested, "and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23: 56. In foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem, Jesus said, "But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day." Matt. 24: 20. So according to Christ's own words the Sabbath would continue down to the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place in A.D. 70, about forty years this side of the crucifixion. And the writer of the Acts, in recording events which took place about thirty years this side of the crucifixion, speaks of the seventh-day Sabbath as a continuing institution. Notice the following: "But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagog on the Sabbath day, and sat down." Acts 13: 14. "And when the Jews were gone out of the synagog, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath." Verse 42. "And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the Word of God." Verse 44. "And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a riverside, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither." Acts 16: 13. "And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures." Acts 17: 2. "And he reasoned in the synagog every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks." Acts 18: 4. The weekly Sabbath is mentioned fifty-nine times in the New Testament, and everywhere it is spoken of as a continuing institution, precisely the same since the crucifixion as before the crucifixion. There is no difference. The Lord calls the Sabbath "My holy day" (Isa. 58: 13); and the revelator says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day." Rev. 1: 10. This was about A.D. 96, sixty-three years this side of the crucifixion. The seventh-day Sabbath continues the same as when it was made, nearly six thousand years ago. And the very fact that it continues to exist, is in itself a positive proof that it is still binding. The fact that the Sabbath still exists, is a proof that the seventh day is still holy; and the seventh day's being holy, makes it binding. And in those who profess better things, yet knowingly desecrate the Sabbath, making no difference between the holy and the common, God is dishonored. Of some it is written, "They have put no difference between the holy and profane, . . . and have hid their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them." Eze. 22: 26. Again the Lord says, "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord." Isa. 58: 13, 14.
O. E. JONES.
Hastings, Nebr.