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Review and Herald, Vol. 34, No. 26.

OUR FAITH AND HOPE;

Review and Herald

Dec 21, 1869

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 21, 1869

OUR FAITH AND HOPE;

By James White

Or, Reasons Why We Believe as We Do.

NUMBER FIVE.—TIME OF THE END.

BY ELDER JAMES WHITE.
“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” Dan. xii, 4.
The time of the end, noted in the text, is not the end itself. It is evidently a period of time just prior to the end. In the time of the end, many would run to and fro, and knowledge upon the grand subject before the prophet’s mind would be increased.
The words of the book, named in the text, are undoubtedly the prophecy of Daniel, the several chains of which reach down to the close of all earthly kingdoms at the second coming of Christ.
Shut up the words, and seal the book. Prophecy is history in advance. To the prophets themselves their own prophecies could afford but little light, the prophetic scenery spread out before them being the history of the future. The apostle, speaking of the prophecies relative to the plan of salvation, embracing the sufferings of Christ at his first advent, and also the glory that should follow at his second advent, says:
“Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.” 1 Pet. i, 10–12.
The prophecies relative to the first advent of Christ, were not an especial light to the prophets in their day. But they were the great light of the believing about the time of their fulfillment. From the very nature of the case, they were, in a degree at least, shut up until about that time. So with those prophecies which relate to the second advent. They were not designed for the especial benefit of the prophets, the apostles, the martyrs, or the reformers; but for those who should live in the time of the end. The book was to be shut up and sealed until that period of time should arrive called the time of the end. What then?
Many shall run to and fro. Whether this be fulfilled in turning and searching to and fro in the Scriptures for light upon the subject of the fulfillment of prophecy, and of the end, or by men called of God to the work, traveling to and fro with the message from God to the people upon this subject, the fulfillment is evident. Both have been done within the last half century as never before.
Duffield on Prophecy, p. 373, says:
“The word translated, run to and fro, is metaphorically used to denote investigation, close, diligent, accurate observation—just as the eyes of the Lord are said to run to and fro. The reference is not to missionary exertions in particular, but to the study of the Scriptures, especially the sealed book of prophecy.”
Clarke says:
“Many shall run to and fro. Many shall endeavor to search out the scenes; and knowledge shall be increased by these means. This seems to be the meaning of this verse, though another has been put upon it; viz., ‘Many shall run to and fro preaching the gospel of Christ, and therefore religious knowledge and true wisdom shall be increased.’ This is true in itself; but it is not the meaning of the prophet’s words.”
Matthew Henry says:
“They shall read it over and over, shall meditate upon it; they shall discourse of it, talk it over, sift out the meaning of it, and thus knowledge shall be increased.”
Gill says:
“Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased; that is, towards the end of the time appointed, many shall be stirred up to inquire into these things delivered in this book, and will spare no pains nor cost to get a knowledge of them; will read and study the Scriptures, and meditate on them; compare one passage with another, spiritual things with spiritual, in order to obtain the mind of Christ; will carefully peruse the writings of such, who have lived before them, who have attempted any thing of this kind; and will go far and near to converse with persons that have any understanding of such things; and by such means, with the blessing of God upon them, the knowledge of this book of prophecy will be increased, and things will appear plainer and clearer, the nearer the accomplishment of them is; and especially when prophecy and facts can be compared; and not only this kind of knowledge, but knowledge of all spiritual things, of all evangelical truths, and doctrines, will be abundantly enlarged at this time.”
And knowledge shall be increased. This does not mean general knowledge; but the words must be limited to the subject presented to Daniel. The book of Daniel contains chains of prophecy which reach down to the end of earthly kingdoms, and to the Judgment scenes. Chapters xi and xii are one chain, reaching down to the time when Michael shall stand up, the time of trouble such as never was, and the resurrection of many. Chap. xii, 1, 2. In verse 6, one says to “the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?” Mark this: The end of the wonders are the scenes connected with Christ’s second coming. In the next verse the answer is given by the man clothed in linen, with a most solemn oath, with both hands raised to heaven. But says Daniel: “And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?” Verse 8.
The prophet here makes earnest inquiries relative to the scenes connected with the second advent. Read the angel’s reply:
“And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” Verse 9.
The prophecy of Daniel, which points distinctly to the period of the second advent, was closed up, and sealed, till the time of the end. What then? In verse 4, Daniel was told that in the time of the end many should run to and fro, and knowledge should be increased. This relates to the theoretical part of the work. But in verse 10, the angel’s answer to the earnest inquiry of the prophet, relates to the work of preparation, and the results of the great Second Advent movement. He says: “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”
Here are two classes, the wicked and the wise. The wise are those who are being purified and made white. Their wisdom is in the things of God, and the kingdom of Heaven. They understand by the opening prophecies the events which terminate the wonders shown to the prophet. They see these things clearly, believe, prepare, and rejoice in the blessed hope.
Here we should be impressed with the practical bearing of the Second Advent faith and hope. The truly wise, those who are being purified, and made white, and tried, understand. They will listen to the voice of warning, and will be instructed, and will understand that the day of the Lord is coming, and hasteneth greatly. They will be waiting and watching, and will be ready when the Lord shall come. Of these Paul speaks: “And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Heb. ix, 28. Or, as Peter exhorts: “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” 2 Peter iii, 14. Again, “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness.” Verse 11.
But the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand. They do not seek for the spirit of truth. They are led by the spirit of error. They doubt, scoff, and mark their course of rebellion against the truth of God by doing wickedly. God pity the blind sinner.
The two classes, one in faith waiting and watching, and ready for the coming of the day of the Lord, the other in unbelief and darkness, and unready for that event, and the destiny of both, are thus definitely described by Paul:
“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thess. v, 1–9.
That there is a period of time in which the church is especially to look for the second coming of Christ, is evident. Many, however, take the ground that it was right for the early Christians to look for Christ’s second coming in their day, that it has been scriptural for the followers of Christ ever since to expect his coming in their day, and that nothing more, in this respect, is required of the church at this time.
It is true that some of the early church received the idea that Christ would come in their day. And it is evident that the Thessalonian church thus believed from the fact that St. Paul, in his second epistle to them, corrects this error.
He says: “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that Man of Sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God.” 2 Thess. ii, 1–4.
From this testimony we conclude that there were those who had taught the Thessalonians to expect the second advent in their day. But Paul exhorts them not to be troubled with this idea, and warns them against being deceived by it. He then states that the day of Christ will not come, except there come a falling away first, and that Man of Sin [the papacy] be revealed. He points the church of Christ over the period of the apostasy, and 1260 years of papal supremacy, down into the eighteenth century, and guards all the way with his warning against being deceived with the idea that Christ might come during that period. And why did his warning cease there? Answer: At that point, the time of the end commenced, when the prophecy of Daniel was to be unsealed, knowledge on the subject of Christ’s coming was to be increased, and many run to and fro.
What a beautiful harmony in the testimonies of the angel and of Paul. The angel says to Daniel, “The words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” Paul says to his brethren, “That day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that Man of Sin be revealed.” The apostle’s warning reaches down to the time of the end, where the words were to be unsealed, and no further. This plainly shows that the last half century has been the period for the subject of the second advent to be brought out, and this the only time that the church of Christ could scripturally look for the coming of the Lord.

[T. M. PREBLE'S TRACT.]

“A TRACT, Showing that the Seventh Day Should be Observed as the Sabbath, instead of the First Day, ‘According to the Commandment.’ By T. M. Preble. Nashua: printed by Murray & Kimball, 1845.
“‘Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. 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, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 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.’ Ex. xx, 8–11.
“‘TO THE READER. The substance of the following pages was first published in The Hope of Israel, Feb. 28, 1845.
“‘Believing, however, as I do, the subject contained in this little tract to be of great importance, and wishing to do what I can to present this truth to the true children of God, I deem it my duty to publish it in the present form with an enlargement, that it may have as wide a circulation as possible.
“‘That the blessing of God may attend it, is the prayer of the AUTHOR. “‘March, 1845.
“‘A Few Questions for the Reader to Answer before Reading the Following Pages.—What authority have you in the Old or New Testament, to keep any day as a Sabbath, or day of rest?
“‘Do you find any command in the New Testament? If not, why do you not observe the day that is appointed in the fourth commandment?
“‘Has the day ever been changed? if so, when and where? Please point to the chapter and verse.
“‘When you was a child, did not your parents and others who taught you to keep ‘Sunday holy,’ direct you to the ‘fourth commandment’ as authority for keeping it thus? Did you ever think of the inconsistency? The commandment says the seventh day, and you taught to keep the first.
“‘How could you reprove a person for working, or doing anything else on Sunday, or first day of the week, as the same law which makes it wrong to work, &c., on ‘God’s holy day,’ commands the observance of the seventh day instead of the first?

“THE SABBATH.

“‘TO THE SAINTS SCATTERED ABROAD.
“‘BELIEVING it important for us to have the truth on all subjects, and especially those connected with the immediate coming of Christ, I would present a few thoughts on the Sabbath, not for controversy, but for the consideration of the true ‘Israel,’ who are looking for the ‘promise’ and speedy ‘redemption.’
“‘The remarks of Bro. Miller in his ‘Lecture on the great Sabbath,’ I like very well, because I believe they are true. In speaking of the Sabbath he says: ‘Its being contained in the ten commands, written by the finger of God, on both tables of the testimony, graven on stone, to be a sign forever, and a perpetual covenant, proves, in my opinion, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that it is as binding upon the Christian church as upon the Jewish, and in the same manner, and for the same reason.’ Life and Views, p. 157.
“‘I hope all will pay particular attention to these remarks of Bro. Miller, and also my references at the bottom of the page.’
“‘Again he says, p. 160, in speaking of the Sabbath as a sign, ‘It is a sign, because God has given it to us expressly for that purpose.’ See our text, ‘To be a sign between me and them,’ i. e., between God and the children of Israel. Now another question will evidently arise: Who are the children of Israel? I answer, While the first covenant was standing, they were the children of Jacob, descendants of the twelve tribes; but that covenant they broke. See Jer. xxvi, 2, 15, also, Deut. xxxi, 10–16. This covenant was broken as Moses had foretold. Then Jesus Christ brought in a new covenant which continued the sign of the Sabbath, and prepared another people, by writing his law upon their hearts. These now are the true Israel; for the changing of the subjects never did, nor ever can, change the moral law of God. Therefore Paul argues the circumcision of the heart, and says that ‘they are not all Israel which are of Israel, neither because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children; but in Isaac shall thy seed be called;’ i. e., they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.’ Now if the children of God are the true Israel, and if the Sabbath was given as a sign forever, and a perpetual covenant, I ask, How can it be abolished while there is one Israelite remaining to claim the promise? You have evidently noticed that all the difficulties on the Sabbath question among Christians have arisen from the foolish, judaizing notion, that Israel meant only the literal Jew. But when we understand Israel to mean the people of God, the difficulties, every man must acknowledge, all vanish at once. I say, and I believe I am supported by the Bible, that the moral law was never given to the Jews as a people exclusively, but they were for a season the keepers of it in charge. And through them the law, oracles, and testimony have been handed down to us. See Paul’s clear reasoning, in Romans, 2d, 3d, and 4th chapters, on this point. Then, says the objector, we are under the same obligation to keep the sabbaths of weeks, months, and years, as the Jews were. No, sir; you will observe that these were not included in the decalogue; they were attachments, added by reason of transgression, until the seed should come, to whom the promise of one eternal day or Sabbath of rest was made. ‘Therefore there remaineth a keeping of Sabbath to the people of God.’ Only one kind of Sabbath was given to Adam, and only one remains for us: see Hosea ii, 11: ‘I will cause all her mirth to cease, her feast-days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and her solemn feasts.’ All the Jewish sabbaths did cease, when Christ nailed them to his cross. Col. ii, 14–17. ‘Blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat,or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath-days; which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.’ These were properly called Jewish sabbaths. Hosea says, ‘Her sabbaths.’ But the Sabbath of which we are speaking, God calls, ‘My Sabbaths.’ Here is a clear distinction between the creation Sabbath and the ceremonial. The one is perpetual; the others were merely shadows of good things to come, and are limited in Christ. The Sabbath which remains is to be kept on the first day of every week, as a perpetual sign, that, when Christ shall have finished the work of redemption, we shall enter into that rest which remains for the people of God, which will be an eternal rest.
“‘The sentiments expressed in the above extract, I believe to be true, except the closing part where it is said, ‘The Sabbath which remains is to be kept on the first day of every week, as a perpetual sign,’ &c. Now, I ask, how can this be? If we keep the first day as ‘a sign,’ I do not see how we can have our thousand years’ rest in the new earth, till the eighth thousand years, as the first day would be the eighth, reckoning in successive order from creation. But we all as Advent believers have, and do still expect our rest in the seventh thousand years. Therefore I think we should keep the ‘seventh day’ as ‘a sign,’ according to the commandment.’ I know the reasons which are given in favor of keeping the first day, and they once satisfied me, but fail to do it now, after a thorough examination of the subject. It is said that the resurrection of Christ—and his often meeting his disciples on the first day of the week—together with the practice of the apostles, are sufficient reasons for observing the first day of the week. In regard to the resurrection of Christ being on the first day of the week, I will not deny, though some may think it needs proof. Respecting Christ’s often meeting his disciples on the first day, I think we have no positive proof that he ever met with them on this day but once when they were assembled for worship, and this we find in John xx, 19. In Matt. all that is said about it is, ‘Behold he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him,’ &c. Matt. xxviii, 7. Mark says, ‘he appeared unto two of them as they went into the country, and afterward unto the eleven as they sat at meat,’ &c. Mark xvi, 12–14. Luke expresses it about the same as Mark. Luke xxiv, 13–15, 30, 33, and 36. John appears to be a little more definite and says, ‘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,’ &c., John xx, 19. In the 25th verse he says, ‘And after eight days,’ &c. Not the eighth day after, as it ought to be, had Christ met with them the next first day. In the 21st chapter, 1–3 verses we find that he met them again at the sea of Tiberias where the disciples were trying to catch fish. We see therefore, that Christ appeared to the disciples while they were ‘going into the country’—‘as they sat at meat’—and when they were ‘fishing,’ but only once when they were assembled for worship, unless their sitting at meat, or together—as the margin reads, be considered a meeting of worship.
“‘In relation to the practice of the apostles, there is but one meeting of the disciples on the first day of the week, mentioned in the New Testament, and that is in Acts xx, 7. But there are many meetings recorded, which they held on the Sabbath.
“‘I know 1 Cor. xvi, 2, is considered proof respecting the first day; but when examined, I think it proves the contrary. It says, ‘Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him,’ &c. The expression ‘lay by him in store,’ I think plainly implies that they were at home, rather than at meeting. Rev. i, 10, is the only other place that can be construed to favor the first day.—John says, ‘I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.’ Now, who knows whether he meant the first or the seventh day? I think the latter, because it is called ‘the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,’ but the first, is nowhere called so!!
“‘In regard to the Sabbath, Christ says, ‘The Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath.’ Not a Sabbath, but the Sabbath. He says also, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.’ Mark ii, 27, 28. He does not say the Sabbath was made for the Jews, and a Sabbath for the Gentiles, but ‘THE Sabbath was made for man’—all mankind. Some may think that our first day is in reality the seventh, but this is settled when we examine Matt. xxviii, 1, and Luke xxiii, 56, and xxiv, 1, where a plain distinction is made between the two days. Matt. says, ‘In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week,’ &c. Luke says, ‘And rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning,’ &c.
“‘After having examined the ancient custom in relation to the first day, we will now see what it was in regard to the seventh or Sabbath. The first passage I will notice, is the one just quoted in Luke xxiii, 56: ‘And they returned and prepared spices and ointments, and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.’ Mark this: ‘And rested the Sabbath day ACCORDING TO THE COMMANDMENT. Acts xiii, 42, says, ‘And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.’ Verse 44: ‘And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together, to hear the word of God. Acts xvi, 13: ‘And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made.’ Chap. xvii, 2. ‘And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.’ This says, ‘as his manner was.’ xviii, 4: ‘And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. This is every Sabbath.’ 11th verse: ‘And he continued there a year and six months.’ Now if it was Paul’s ‘manner’ to reason in the synagogue ‘EVERY Sabbath,’ he must have, in this place, observed seventy-eight Sabbaths. It is evident that Christ had his eye on the observance of the Sabbath, as late, certainly, as A. D. 70, when Jerusalem was destroyed, when he said, ‘Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.’ Matt. xxiv, 20. But if this ‘tribulation’ spoken of has reference to the ‘Papal persecution,’ as many believe, then they were directed in the observance of the Sabbath, to a much later period. Paul, in Heb. iv, 4, says, ‘For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works,’ &c.—not the first, but the seventh day.
“‘A few facts now, to show what those have to acknowledge who keep the first day.
“‘In the ‘Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge,’ Article, Sabbath—we read, ‘The Sabbath was appointed at the creation of the world, and sanctified, or set apart for holy purpose, ‘for man,’ for all men, and therefore for Christians; since there was never any repeal of the original institution. To this we add, that if the moral law be the law of Christians, then is the Sabbath as explicitly enjoined upon them as upon the Jews. But that the moral law is our law, as well as the law of the Jews, all but Antinomians must acknowledge; and few, we suppose will be inclined to run into the fearful mazes of that error, in order to support lax notions as to the obligation of the Sabbath; into which, however, they must be plunged, if they deny the law of the decalogue to be binding.’
“‘In the address to the ‘Lord’s Day Convention,’ holden in Baltimore in 1844,—of which John Quincy Adams was president,—we find this remark in recommending the observance of the Christian Sabbath: ‘It is a law of God, co-eval with creation. It is one of the selected few of the ten commandments, that brief but comprehensive expression of his will.’
“‘By these extracts, we see that the fourth commandment is acknowledged to be now binding upon us. Oh! that men were consistent. Reader, will you be? God grant that you may.
“‘On the title page of the ‘Second Advent Library, No. xxxviii,’ written ‘By S. Bliss,’ on ‘The Chronology of the Bible,’ &c., we read thus:
“‘One day is with the Lord as a thousand years.’ St. Peter.
“‘The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.’ Ex. xx, 10.
“‘I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them.’ Eze. xx, 12.
“‘Which are a shadow of things to come.’ St. Paul.
“‘See what an acknowledgement this is, by Bro. Bliss!
“‘A word now in relation to the history. As far as I have been able to examine, during the last six months, since I became convicted on this point, I find the following to be true. The disciples evidently kept the first day of the week as a festival, in commemoration of the resurrection of Christ, but never as the Sabbath. A controversy however commenced toward the close of the first century to see whether both days should be kept, or only one; and if one should be given up, which one, the first day, or the seventh. This controversy increased century after century till A. D. 603, when Pope Gregory passed a law abolishing the seventh-day Sabbath, and establishing the first day.
“‘Eusebius says of Constantine, ‘That he commanded, through all the Roman empire, that the first day of the week should be observed as a Sabbath.’ ‘The Parliament of England met on Sundays till the time of Richard II.’ ‘The first law of England made for the keeping of Sunday, was in the time of Edward IV., about 1470.’ In Bishop Ely’s book, written in 1635, he says, ‘In St. Jerome’s days, the devoutest Christians did work on the first day of the week.’
“‘And John Calvin, in his ‘Institution of the Christian Religion,’ page 128, says, ‘The old fathers put in the place of the Sabbath the day we call Sunday.’ Mark this! The old fathers did it! Not the God of Heaven!! Whom will we obey?
“‘Thus we see Dan. vii, 25, fulfilled, the ‘little horn’ changing ‘times and laws.’ Therefore it appears to me that all who keep the first day of the week for ‘the Sabbath,’ are Pope’s Sunday keepers!! and GOD’S SABBATH BREAKERS!!!
“‘TRUTH is what I am after, and if I had but one day on this earth to spend, I would give up error for truth, as soon as I could see it. May the Lord give us wisdom, and help us to keep all ‘his commandments, that we may have right to the tree of life.’ Rev. xxii, 14.
“‘Yours, daily looking, and patiently waiting, ‘for that blessed hope and precious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ.’

“SUPPLEMENT.

“‘The word Sabbath, signifies REST. That of Sunday, is so called because it was dedicated to the sun, by the heathen nations in the north of Europe.
“‘Idolatry we see in this, then.
“‘The word Sunday never occurs in the Bible, and in no instance is the word Sabbath applied to the first day of the week, but always refers to the seventh day.
“‘It is said that the same portion of time which constitutes the seventh day from creation, could not be observed in all parts of the earth, on account of the different degrees of latitude and longitude.
“‘The objection, however, amounts to nothing in my mind, as the sun must rise on this continent at the same time as at the creation of the world. Therefore, though the sun may rise at a different time in Palestine from what it does here, yet it will make no difference in the time of our beginning the Sabbath. ‘The evening and the morning were the first day.’ Therefore, we should begin the Sabbath on Friday evening, and end on Saturday evening.
“‘The question is frequently asked, whether it would not be best now, as the practice of keeping the first day has become so general, to continue to observe it, although it is not the true Sabbath, as a change of days would make it so difficult to manage our worldly affairs—go to meeting, &c., &c.?
“‘This question may be easily answered by asking another, namely: ‘Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto men more than unto God, judge ye.’
“‘I know by experience that there are some difficulties in the way of keeping God’s Sabbath. But what of that? This wicked world has always opposed the truth, and those who practice it, and they always will. But for one, I had rather obey God, and have his approbation here, and finally enjoy the blessings of the new earth—though all men hate me—than to have the good opinion of men here, and perish at last. Or in other words, and in the language of another, ‘I had rather go to Heaven alone, than to hell, with the multitude.’ And as we have every reason to be daily looking for the Lord to come and call us to Judgment, may the reader and the writer KEEP ALL THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, THAT WE MAY BE READY FOR THAT DAY. AMEN.”

T. M. PREBLE ON THE TRUE SABBATH.

By James White

In the “History of the Sabbath,” pp. 387-8, is the following:
“The attention of Adventists was called to the Sabbath question by an essay on the subject from T. M. Preble, dated Feb. 13, 1845. After showing the claims of the Bible Sabbath, and the fact that it was changed to Sunday by the great apostasy, he remarks:
“Thus we see Dan. vii, 25 fulfilled, the little horn changing ‘times and laws.’ Therefore it appears to me that all who keep the first day for the Sabbath, are Pope’s Sunday keepers, and God’s Sabbath breakers.”
Many have felt a strong desire to see the article of Eld. Preble; and we this week take pleasure in gratifying them by publishing it entire. We copy as we have it in a small 12-page tract, giving title page, preface, &c., that all may see just what it was that first awakened interest among Adventists on this interesting subject.
Whatever the influences may have been to draw Eld. Preble away from the truth he once taught, whatever the motive that actuated him to turn away from the light which once he prized so highly, we shall ever accord to him a due measure of respect and sympathy as being, under Providence, the instrument of opening the eyes of some to the precious light of the commandment of God. And we cannot—our charity will not suffer us to—place the low estimate on his former experience that himself places on it in his more recent writings against the Sabbath. Therein he says:
“The Lord forgive me the error of my head which led me to fall ‘from grace’ in thus going back so far as to try for three years to be ‘justified by the deeds of the law,’ by keeping the seventh-day Sabbath.”
We think he wrote the above without due consideration, and has done himself injustice thereby. We cannot believe that any one will fall from the grace of a compassionate God by a mere error of the head; a result so serious is only arrived at by the way of a governing error of the heart. And this we do not believe was the case with Eld. Preble. Those acquainted with him at that time witnessed to the Christian spirit breathed in his writings and shown forth in his labors; and they can but deeply regret that with a change of views he has so far suffered another spirit to control him as to manifest harsh and bitter feelings against those who adhere to the truth he once loved.
Again, we think Eld. Preble was either greatly mistaken in himself, or has spoken very inconsiderately, in saying that he was trying for three years to be “justified by the deeds of the law.” He who seeks justification by his own works is seeking to establish his own righteousness instead of the righteousness of God. This is the character of the Pharisee, and such we do not think Eld. Preble was. The law is not made void through faith, Rom. iii, 31, and if the keeping of the Sabbath be a duty to God, as Eld. Preble now holds and teaches, we cannot see that it is more self-righteous to keep the day that God commanded than to keep a day never commanded. The former is obedience—the highest form of devotion; the latter is will-worship—a thing of self-righteousness only, and never acceptable to God. Col. ii, 18; Isa. i, 12; Matt. xv, 9.
Our readers will not be surprised that his article was defective in some respects as an argument; we should rather be surprised that it was so free from defects, considering the time at, and circumstances under, which it was written. And let us unite in heartfelt thanksgiving to God that some who first became interested by means of this little tract have more thoroughly studied the word of God, and still rejoice in the still-increasing light of ‘the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.’ Rev. xiv, 12.
J. H. W.
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