SABBATH AGITATION IN VT.
By Daniel T. Bourdeau
Bro. Smith: There has been quite an excitement in this place of late on the subject of the Sabbath; and efforts have been made to establish Sunday-keeping on the ruins of the ancient Sabbath. But, blessed be God, the attempts which have been made to brace up tottering error have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the truth. Lectures in favor of Sunday-keeping have been reviewed, and several candid individuals have come to the conclusion that it is not prudent for ministers who profess to follow the Bible and judge their affirmations by God's word, to teach that the Bible enforces the observance of the first day of the week, and that we are not in duty bound to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. My object at this time is to notice the main positions that Eld. Silversteen took in a lecture which he gave in this place a fortnight ago on the change of the Sabbath. He introduced his subject as follows: “The particular time, and the amount of time depend upon the will of the Lawgiver. All will admit that the Sabbath has been changed. The change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week has been made by divine appointment. If this is not true, we are down.” We readily admit with Eld. S. that the Sabbath has been changed from the seventh to the first day of the week, but how has it been changed? The elder says, “by divine appointment.” If this is so, the will of God has had something to do with the change; and what God has willed in regard to institutions or commandments with which man is connected on this earth, must be revealed in the word of God; for “surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” Amos iii, 7. Now let us see what the elder advances in support of his doctrine. He says, “The change was prophesied in connection with the resurrection. Says the prophet, ‘The stone which the builders rejected is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice, and be glad in it.’ Ps. cxviii, 22-24. Fulfilled in Matt. xxi, 1-12; Acts iv, 11; 1 Peter ii, 4-7. This is the resurrection day. This is the day which the Lord hath made,” etc. Answer. Is Eld. S. sure of this? Where is his “thus saith the Lord,” to substantiate his position? Where does he find the resurrection day, or the seventh day? Not in this text. The Sabbath is not mentioned, much less the change. Therefore this prophecy proves nothing for Eld. S. Those texts in which the fulfillment of this prophecy is recorded do not say anything about the change of the Sabbath. Eld. S. “The original Sabbath was a monument which God reared up to commemorate the work of creation. The resurrection was a greater event than creation, and the Sabbath was changed to commemorate the resurrection. This did not change the monument, but it added to it.” Ans. Let us see if this did not change the monument: the original monument was composed of the following materials: First, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Second, “Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work.” Third, “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Now in order that we may commemorate the resurrection by keeping the first day of the week, we must have a monument composed of the following materials: First, Remember the resurrection day to keep it holy. Second, Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work; but the first day is the day in which Christ rose from the dead; in it thou shalt not do any work. Third, For the resurrection was a greater event than the creation: wherefore the Lord transferred the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week. We see at once that this monument differs from the first. It can be erected only on the ruins of the one “which God reared up.” But where is it said that we should remember the resurrection day to keep it holy? That we should labor six days and rest on the first? And that the Lord changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week, because the resurrection was a greater event than the creation? Not in the Bible; but in those traditions which make void the law of God. Eld. S. “The change can be proved by sacred history. This day began to be observed immediately after the resurrection. Proof, Jno. xx, 19. ‘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!’ This is the first meeting the disciples had after the resurrection. And from the 20th verse of the same chapter we learn that they met again the next Sunday.” Ans. Jno. xx, 19, informs us that “the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews;” but it does not say that they were commemorating Christ's resurrection, or keeping the Christian Sabbath. That the disciples had no idea of commemorating the resurrection of Christ at that time is evident from the fact that they did not then believe Christ had risen from the dead. Mark xvi. They were eating a common meal of victuals. Verse 14. Verse 20 informs us that Christ appeared unto his disciples again “after eight days.” Eld. S. says that this was the next Sunday. But how can he make it appear that the expression “after eight days” means just one week? Seven days after would bring us to the next Sunday. Eight days after would bring us to the next Monday. And “after eight days” would bring us several days this side of the next Sunday. Compare Jno. xx, 20, with Mark ix, 2, and Luke ix, 28. The disciples at that time had a common abode. Acts i, 13; Luke xx2, 12. The first time Christ met with his disciples he found them taking a meal of victuals; and the second time he met with them, they were “within,” or “in the house,” [French Trans.]; and he said, “Peace be unto you;” but he did not say a word about the change of the Sabbath. Eld. S. “The disciples met at Troas on the first day of the week to break bread, (just as we have done to-day). Paul preached a long discourse, and started on foot on his journey to Jerusalem. Like a good Christian198he commences to work on Monday. This is just what we do.” Acts xx, 7-13. Ans. I doubt whether Eld. S. and his people do as Paul did. What did Paul do? Says Eld. S., “He started on foot for his journey to Jerusalem on Monday.” But we do not believe it. Luke says, “There were many lights in the upper chamber where they were gathered together.” Hence this was an evening meeting. Again, this meeting was held on “the first day of the week;” and according to the Bible manner of reckoning time, the day commenced with the evening, or at sunset. See Gen. i; Neh. xiii, 19; Mark i, 32. Therefore this meeting was held on what is now called Saturday night. Paul preached all night; and Sunday morning he started on foot for his long journey to Jerusalem. Thus we see that Paul, “like a good Christian,” commences to work on Sunday. And let not Eld. S. and others flatter themselves that they do as Paul did, unless they imitate him in this respect. The disciples met “to break bread,” (not to keep the Christian Sabbath); and Christ has never said, Ye shall henceforth sanctify the day on which the disciples broke bread at Troas. Eld. S. “They used to assemble on that day, and take public contributions. Proof. 1 Cor. xvi, 1, 2.” Ans. Paul does not say anything in 1 Cor. xvi, 1, 2, about the disciples' meeting on the first day of the week; and he does not say a word about their taking public contributions on that day. He says, “Now concerning the collection (not the keeping of the first day) for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him.” The French translation reads, “Que . . . chacun de vous mette a part chez soi—Let every one of you lay by him at home.” Now to lay by him at home is one thing, and to meet in a public capacity and take public contributions, is quite another thing. Eld. S. “I will now give you the name of the day. Says John, ‘I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day!’ Rev. i, 10. Here we have it. The first day is the Lord's day.” Ans. John speaks of the Lord's day; but he does not say, the first day is the Lord's day. All we learn from this text is, that there is a day under this dispensation which belongs particularly to the Lord. Now which is the Lord's day? Says the Eternal, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Ex. xx, 10. And while the prophet was writing for the benefit of the repairers of the breach, those who would raise up the foundations of many generations, he penned down the following words: “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day.” Isa. lviii, 13. This is the day which the Lord reserved at creation; and Eld. S. has failed to prove that the Lord has ever blessed and sanctified any other day of the week. Therefore the day which John calls the Lord's day, is the seventh-day Sabbath. This is the day of which Christ styles himself the Lord when he says, “The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath day.” Mark ii, 28. Eld. S. “The Christians kept their own Sabbath (Sunday), and held meetings on the seventh day that they might have access to the Jews—only to meet with Jews.” Ans. The Bible never calls the first day of the week the Sabbath. Sabbath signifies rest. God rested from his work of creation on the seventh day, and thus the seventh day became God's Rest-day or Sabbath. We find that the followers of Christ “rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment” this side of the cross; but we do not find that they ever rested from their servile work the first day of the week. They held but one religious meeting on the first day—on what is now called Saturday night (Acts xx, 7, 8); it was customary for them to hold meetings on the Sabbath. See Acts xvii, 2, 3; xviii, 4, 11. The idea that the primitive Christians had no regard for the Sabbath “and held meetings on the seventh day only to meet with the Jews,” is not sustained by the Bible. It contradicts the plain testimony of the New Testament, which shows that they preached to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews on the seventh day, and that they remembered the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Luke xxiii, 56; Acts xiii, 42-45. Eld. S. “There was a class of religious teachers in the days of Paul who said that unless Christians were circumcised and kept the seventh day Sabbath they could not be saved. Paul corrected them by saying, ‘Let no man judge you in respect . . . of the sabbath days.’ This was the Jewish Sabbath.” (Let this assertion be remembered). Ans. 1. My Bible does not speak of a class who said, “Except ye be circumcised and keep the seventh day Sabbath ye cannot be saved.” Paul says, “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.” 1 Cor. vii, 19. 2. I admit that the sabbaths that Paul speaks of in Colossians were peculiar to the Jews; but I cannot believe that Paul refers to the seventh day Sabbath, for several reasons. 1st, Paul speaks of sabbaths which were “against us,” and “contrary to us;” but the seventh day Sabbath never was against us; and those who have understood its object, have ever felt like calling it “a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable.” Isa. lviii, 13. Says Christ, “The Sabbath was made for man.” Mark ii, 27. 2nd, Of the sabbaths brought to view in Colossians Paul says, “Which are (were, French Trans.) a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” But the seventh day Sabbath is not a shadow. Those shadows or types which shadowed forth Christ and his work, implied that man had sinned, and that a way was opened for man to obtain salvation. But man had not sinned when the Sabbath was made, and consequently did not need types or shadows to show that he was a sinner, and that a way was opened for him to be saved from his sins. 3d, The sabbaths of which Paul speaks were contained in those laws which were peculiar to the typical dispensation, and which Christ “nailed to his cross.” But the seventh-day Sabbath is the subject of those commandments which grow out of the relations we sustain to God and our fellow-men, and of which Christ speaks when he says, “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law,” &c. Matt. v, 17-20. Thus we see that the seventh-day Sabbath is still obligatory upon men, and that Paul does not refer to the Sabbath of the Lord, but to those annual sabbaths which originated with the Jews. The twenty-third chapter of Leviticus presents several annual sabbaths, associated with the feast days and new moons of the typical system: “besides the Sabbaths of the Lord.” Lev. xxiii, 37, 38. Eld. S. “The change can be proved by Ecclesiastical History. Says Mosheim, ‘All Christians were unanimous in setting apart the first day of the week on which the triumphant Saviour arose from the dead, for the solemn celebration of public worship. This pious custom, which was derived from the example of the church of Jerusalem, was founded upon the express appointment of the apostles, who consecrated that day to the same sacred purpose, and was observed universally throughout all Christian churches.’” Ans. History is not Bible, and should not be quoted to show us what God requires at our hand. Genuine History tells us how the church have lived; the Bible tells us how the church should live. We have seen that the fourth commandment is still binding upon man, that there is no precept in the Bible which enforces the observance of Sunday, and that the New Testament does not teach that Christ or his apostles ever kept the first day as the Christian Sabbath. Now if Mosheim is correct in stating that the custom of observing the first day of the week “was derived from the example of the church at Jerusalem”—and “was founded upon the express appointment of the apostles,” we must conclude that the primitive church taught and practiced a doctrine that is not contained in the Bible, and that the Bible is not a sufficient rule of faith. But who will adopt this conclusion? Those who take the Bible and the traditions of the church as their rule of faith. But there are many learned writers who contradict Mosheim. Among these we find Neander, the greatest of church historians. He says, “The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intention of the apostles to establish a divine command in this respect, far from them, and from the early apostolic church to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday. Perhaps at the end of the second century a false application of this kind had begun to take place.” Eld. S. “Some might refer to the edict of Constantine to show when Sunday-keeping was first established by law. But I can refer to a greater edict than that of Constantine. I speak of the fourth commandment. The Sabbath was made at creation, and was kept by our first parents in the garden of Eden.” Ans. Yes, the fourth commandment is “a greater edict than that of Constantine;” and I am glad to know that the elder believes that the Sabbath law is still in force. But how can he reconcile the idea that the “Sabbath was made at creation,” with the idea that the Sabbath is “Jewish?” How can he make it appear that the fourth commandment enjoins the observance of Sunday? If the Sabbath law establishes Sunday-keeping, does not the elder keep the original Sabbath? and has he not labored in vain in trying to prove that the Sabbath has been changed from the seventh to the first day of the week? But the elder knows, or should know, that he cannot obey the fourth commandment by keeping Sunday. The fourth commandment enforces the observance of a particular day. God rested on a particular day; he blessed and sanctified a particular day; and he commanded to keep the particular day on which he rested, and which he blessed and sanctified at creation. Without the particular day the institution of the Sabbath cannot exist. “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work.” Ex. xx, 10. My prayer is that the honest may see the inconsistencies of those who oppose the truth, and that they may adhere to the word of God which will judge us in the last day, and which will stand when the doctrines and traditions of men shall vanish away. As long as we stand within the circumference of the Bible, we are on sure ground; but the moment we adopt the opinions of men, or the commandments of any church as a part of our rule of faith, we are in danger of being carried away by every wind of doctrine.