A Letter to the Disciples of the Lord
By Roswell F. Cottrell
[The following letter was published some time since in Tract form, but as there are many who have of late embraced the truth who have never seen it, they will be interested in perusing it.] A Letter to the Disciples of the Lord.
DEAR BRETHREN:—The subject on which I address you is truly important. It is a subject involving a part of our duty to God—a subject on which all lovers of the truth should be agreed. Either myself or you are in the habit, through ignorance, of sinning against our Creator every week we live. It was long held, that the seventh day of the week was the Sabbath, from the creation of the world to the resurrection of Christ; after which the first day was the Sabbath to the end of the world. At length the advocates of this doctrine discovered that it could not be maintained from the scriptures. What was to be done? To return to the Bible Sabbath, would be too humiliating; and all christendom would be against them. Could they abandon their favorite Sunday? By no means! Well what was the result? A First-day Sabbath could not be found between the two lids of the Bible. What could be done to save this darling offspring of human invention? What did they do? They just dropped the name, Sabbath, and christened the pet, Lord's Day, and now observe the same thing in the same way, abstaining from labor and doing the same things they formerly did on the so called "Christian Sabbath," but the name is changed! It puts me in mind of an anecdote I have heard. It was said of the Catholics, that in their proselyting among Pagans, they found, in a certain place, a people who worshiped a goddess of the name of Minerva. The Catholics persuaded them to expunge the name, Minerva, and inscribe that of the Virgin Mary. So they became good Catholics, worshiping the same image, but by another name! I need not make the application. Brethren, I write not to condemn you, but it is the hope that you may be convinced of your error, and that God may be honored by your turning to the truth, which has stimulated me to this undertaking. Hear me, then, while I examine the Scriptures on this subject. FOR WHOM WAS THE SABBATH MADE?
For the Jews, do you say? Stop a moment.—Our blessed Saviour, who never spoke amiss, and who meant all that he said, declares that "the Sabbath was made for man."—Mark ii, 27. The word man in this passage is not qualified or restricted in any way; consequently it means mankind, or the human race. Now, brethren, be careful that you do not call the Sabbath the Jewish Sabbath, for Christ has told you better. If the Sabbath was made for man, it must, of necessity, be made at a time sufficiently early, that the first man of the race might enjoy it. Accordingly Jehovah has informed us that he made the world in six days, and rested on the seventh, and that he blessed and sanctified it. Now do not cavil because there is no commandment on record before it was given on Sinai. Jehovah has told us when it was made, and Christ has told us for whom it was made. Brethren, the conclusion is irresistible to my mind, that the Sabbath was made for us, or, that the Lord, inadvertently, said more than he meant! Again, if the Sabbath was made for man, it is, undoubtedly, of some use and benefit to him. How then can it be classed with the "hand-writing of ordinances which was against us, which was contrary to us?" No requirement of Jehovah was ever against us, unless it was caused by sin. It was against us to see the innocent lamb bleed away his life, figuratively in our stead; it was contrary to our feelings of benevolence and justice. This was caused by sin. But before sin was, was the Sabbath.