ADDRESS TO A FRIEND by H. C. Crumb

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 7, 1858

ADDRESS TO A FRIEND.

By H. C. Crumb

BY H. C. CRUMB. (Concluded.)

But the objector says, John said that he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and First-day is the Lord's day, hence it must be the Sabbath-day. I would ask, Where in the Bible is the first day called the Lord's day, in distinction from the other days of the week? Nowhere. Is any one day called the Lord's day in distinction from the other days of the week? Yes. God calls the Sabbath his holy day. Isa. lviii, 13. "To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord." Ex. xvi, 23. "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Ex. xx, 10. "And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." Gen. ii, 3. In other words, he made a Sabbath of it, and said Christ, "The Sabbath was made for man." Mark ii, 27. "Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." Mark ii, 28. From these facts we may know which day is the Lord's day. The seventh day, the Sabbath-day. And those that use these scriptures, [Acts xx, 7; 1 Cor. xvi, 1, 2; Rev. i, 10,] or any other scripture to prove Sunday the Sabbath, do they not wrest them from their true meaning? and is there not danger of their wresting them unto their own destruction? 2 Pet. iii, 16.

I would here refer the reader to 2 Tim. iv, 16. Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine, &c. 2 Tim. iii, 16, 17. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine," &c., that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Now can Sunday-keeping be called a good work, when we are not taught it in the word of God? Do not those who teach that God's law is done away, or that the Sabbath has been changed, or that First-day has been instituted, handle the word of God deceitfully? Let us renounce this, and by manifestation of the truth, commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. 2 Cor. iv, 2.

Now let us see if Christ and the apostles kept the first day, or the Sabbath. Jesus said that he kept his Father's commandments. John xv, 10. And one of them required the keeping of the Sabbath. Jesus came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, and as his custom was he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath-day, and stood up for to read. This is declared to be Christ's custom. Luke iv, 16. And Jesus came to Capernaum and taught them on the Sabbath-days. And we believe that was his custom; for so Luke testifies in chap. iv, 16, as quoted above. Did the apostles follow Christ in this practice? Well, the apostles have told us to follow them as much as they followed Christ. Acts xvii, 2. And Paul, as his manner (custom) was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath-days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures. But we have no account of his telling them that the Sabbath was done away, or about its being changed, although Paul has told that he had not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God. Acts xx, 27. And Paul came to Corinth where he reasoned every Sabbath for a year and six months. Acts xviii, 1-11.

In Acts xiii, 14, we have the account of Paul's preaching at Antioch on the Sabbath-day, both to the Jews and Gentiles. Which day is the Sabbath-day? God says, The seventh day. What say you? Verse 42. "And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. What a good opportunity for Paul to have told them that they need not wait until the next Sabbath; (Jewish Sabbath;) to-morrow is the Christian Sabbath; come then, and if the Jews will not let us have the synagogue we can go out by the river-side where prayer is wont to be made. Yet Paul did not tell them so. Would it not have been profitable for them to know that the Sabbath had been changed? Yet, after this, Paul tells us in Acts xx, 20, that he had kept back nothing that was profitable unto them; hence Paul did not consider it profitable for them, neither for you; if he had he would have written it for our instruction.

Can any one believe that Paul taught publicly,

and from house to house, that the first day was the Sabbath, and we know nothing about it? But says one, Paul preached publicly and from house to house repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. But what did Paul tell them to repent of? Sin. What is sin? The transgression of the law. Whose law? God's law. And is not the fourth commandment a part of God's law? And if we have broken it, let us repent of it, forsake our sin of breaking a holy law, which is just and good, and yield obedience to it.

But to return to Acts xiii, 44. And the next Sabbath-day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. I wish people were as anxious to hear the word of God now as they were then. Read verse 46 of Acts xiii, and ask yourself the question, Do I not put the word of God from me when I reject his holy Sabbath?

But it is urged, the apostles preached on the Sabbath for the sake of preaching in the synagogue. But in Acts xvi, 12, 13, we see that Paul, when he came to Philippi, the chief city in Macedonia, abode there certain days. And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river-side where prayer was wont to be made. Here they did not meet on the Sabbath for the sake of meeting in the synagogue, neither are we informed that that was their object in meeting on the Sabbath at any time, or in any place; and what right have we to infer any such thing from any scripture? Are we safe in refusing to keep God's Sabbath on the pretence that we are following the example of the apostles in keeping Sunday, from anything that can rightly be inferred from the Scriptures? Most certainly not.

Read Acts 28, 17. Here Paul says to the chief of the Jews, that he had done nothing against the people, or customs of their fathers. Did Paul speak the truth here? I believe that he did. Do you believe that Paul neglected to keep the Sabbath? If he had neglected to keep the Sabbath would that not have been something against the customs of their fathers?

Again: If Paul had kept the first day would that not have been something against the customs of their fathers? Most certainly it would.

1 Pet. iii, 15. Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. I would ask you what hope you have of heaven in disobeying any one of God's commandments, even the fourth command, which requires you to keep his holy seventh-day Sabbath. Does it strengthen your hope of heaven any to keep First day? If it does, just look and see if you have got a well-grounded hope. See if it is built on the word of God.

Again: Do we not corrupt the word of God when we make it teach his holy Sabbath done away, and a First-day Sabbath instituted? O let us be like Paul who said that he was not as many who corrupt the word of God. 2 Cor. ii, 17. Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?

And now we have examined the New Testament and we cannot find that either Christ or the apostles kept the first day for the Sabbath, or that they neglected to keep God's Sabbath, or that they taught us that God's law of ten commandments is done away, or any one of them, or that the Sabbath has been changed; and if you were to come to Christ, and ask him why he and his disciples transgressed the tradition of the fathers in not keeping the first day of the week for the Sabbath, would not Christ say unto you, Why do ye transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? for God commanded, saying, "Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy." The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, &c. But ye say whosoever will keep Sunday (First-day) shall be free from the law. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Please read Matt. xv; and is not this in accordance with the language of the first six verses? Read also verses 7-9, 13. Did God plant this First-day keeping? If he did, can it not be shown? If he did not plant it, and Christ's words be true, it will be rooted up. See to it that you are not rooted up with it; for Christ will send his angels to gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity; and iniquity is the transgression of God's law. Matt. xiii, 41; 1 John iii, 4.

De Ruyter, N. Y.