Holding Fast to the Present Truth by J. B.; Charlotte S. Bezzo

Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · Nov 8, 1853

Holding Fast to the Present Truth

By J. B.; Charlotte S. Bezzo

From Bro. & Sr. Bezzo.

DEAR BRO. WHITE:—We are still holding fast to the truth, and endeavoring to learn the doctrines of the Bible as fast as we can. We take great pleasure in searching the Word of God, in which there are such hidden stores of knowledge, and we rejoice in the prospect of the soon coming of Christ; when the saints' blessed hope will be realized. Our confidence in the truth of our position grows stronger every day, as the fulfillment of prophecy unfolds itself to our view, and as we see the message of the third angel rising, and beginning to go with power. We trust we feel the importance of living in all holy conversation and godliness, while we are looking for and hasting unto the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. 2 Peter iii, 11, 12.

When we look back upon our past lives, and see the ignorance we were in, in regard to the doctrines of the Bible, and the persecuting spirit we possessed, we feel that great praise and adoration are due to our God for bringing us to the marvelous light of the gospel. We never before have felt that longing after holiness of heart, and that desire for entire consecration that we have since we embraced the present truth. May the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make us all perfect in every good work, to do his will, working in us that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Heb. xiii, 20, 21.

It is painful to witness the perfidiousness of the course taken by those who oppose the "Sabbath of the Lord." We will here give you the outlines of a sermon delivered here in the evening following last First-day, on the subject of the Sabbath, by the Rev. John Patchin, graduate from Oberlin College, Ohio. His starting point was, "The will of God should be the great Rule of our lives." We think you may judge of the confidence he placed in the Bible, in proving the change of the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the week, from the fact that he brought much history, but forgot to bring his Bible. He went on to say that if the Sabbath has been changed, it is the will of God, and if we have satisfactory evidence that the First day is the Sabbath, no matter, said he, how we get the evidence, whether by revelation, or history, it is sufficient to prove that the Sabbath has been changed. He next proceeded to show the error that Bro. Andrews had fallen into, on page 4 of "the Refutation of the claims of Sunday-keeping", (for, that work had been handed to him some two months previous, by the writer;) in concluding that the three principles there laid down, were all that was necessary to disprove the authority for the change of the Sabbath. He volunteers to correct the error by adding a fourth principle, viz., (I will give his own words,) "that it was necessary that God should give us evidence of it being his will to change the Sabbath." He now inquires for scripture evidence in favor of the first day being the Sabbath, and quotes Col. ii, 16, and objects to the ground taken, "that it could not mean the seventh day on account of its being in the plural number," and quotes Matt. xii, 1, 2, 5, 8, 10-12, and Luke vi, 2, to prove that both numbers are applied to the seventh day.—This point established, he proceeds to show that "sabbath days" in the text must mean the seventh day, from the fact that the holy day there mentioned included all the Jewish feast days, and that the word, Sabbaths, when mentioned in the New Testament, always meant the seventh day; but we think it probable that he had not read Lev. xxiii, and Hosea ii, 11, or he certainly could have seen differently. We were obliged to smile when we saw the two positions taken by him right in succession. The first was that the Sabbath was a shadow of things to come, and that it was to be observed no longer than until Christ, who is the body, should nail it to the cross, (for no other ground can be taken by those who say that the "sabbath-days" in Col. ii, 16, refer to the Lord's Sabbath.) The second position was that "the Sabbath is a type of the Christian's Rest" and he quoted Heb. iv, 4, to sustain it. His next point is, that in the days of the apostles, the seventh day was called the Sabbath, and the first day, the Lord's day, and quotes largely from history, showing that the early Christians kept the first day; also, Rev. i, 10, to prove this position.

He next asserts that the Sabbath was a Jewish institution, and quotes Rom. xiv, 1-5, to prove it. He next quotes Barnabas' epistle in favor of the first day, but does not mention what Eusebius, Dr. Milnor, and Mosheim, say with respect to it. He next quotes from Eusebius to show that Christ changed the Sabbath, and that the Jews rejected it. He next declares that there is no evidence whatever in any writer, that the first Christians did not keep the first day. Lastly, he asserts that the Apostle told the Corinthians to take up a collection on the first day, [1 Cor. xvi, 2,] and then quotes 1 Cor. xi, 2, to show that Paul had ordained it. Now in summing up, we see that this learned Divine in undertaking to prove the change of the Sabbath, has taken four different positions, each antagonistic to the other three: first, the Sabbath has been changed; and quotes history to prove that it was the will of the Lord; second, that the Sabbath was abolished at the cross; and quotes Col. ii, 16, to prove that; third, the Sabbath is a type of the Christian's rest; and quotes Heb. iv, 4, to prove that; fourth, it is a Jewish institution, and we may keep it or let it alone, just as we see fit; and quotes Rom. xiv, 1-5, to prove that. Well did Isaiah say, "The leaders of this people cause them to err, and they that are led of them are destroyed." Isa. ix, 16.—This is the first time we ever knew or heard of an educated man undertaking to prove the will of the Lord by history instead of the Word of the Lord. "In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Mark vii, 7.

Yours in hope, J. B. & CHARLOTTE S. BEZZO.