Review and Herald, Vol. 45, No. 6. (2/4/1875)

Review and Herald

Feb 4, 1875

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 4, 1875

MORALITY OF THE SABBATH AND ITS IMPORTANCE.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

VIII. The fact that God himself has associated the Sabbath with the moral precepts affords conclusive proof that it is a moral institution.

Fallen man has one document which came directly from the living God himself, and that is the ten commandments. God came down personally upon Mount Sinai, amidst thunderings and lightnings and most terrible majesty, and there, in the hearing of the whole nation, he spoke from Heaven, with his own voice, his moral law of ten commandments.

Webster, in defining the moral law, says that it is “summarily contained in the ten commandments.” When God spoke this law, his voice shook the earth; Heb. 12:26; not simply the land of Canaan,—indicating that this was the law for all nations in all the earth. With his own divine finger he then engraved it in the imperishable stone; Ex. 31:18; here again indicating that this law was as imperishable and as enduring as the solid rock. It was then deposited in the ark, under the shekinah, in the holy of holies.

No other part of the Bible, no other law of God, was ever given in such a solemn manner. Why was this? This question our opponents have never been able to answer. Nine of these ten commandments are universally acknowledged to be moral in their nature, and of perpetual and universal application , applying through all ages, and to all nations. Look at them. 1. You shall have no other gods. 2. You shall not make and worship an image. 3. You shall not profane God’s name. 5. Honor your parents. 6. Do not kill. 7. Do not commit adultery. 8. Do not steal. 9. Do not lie. 10. Do not covet.

Reader, are not these commandments all moral and as enduring as truth itself? There is not a shadowy or ceremonial precept in the whole ten, except it be the Sabbath. Now we ask the reader, If the Sabbath was, unlike the other nine precepts, a mere ceremonial institution, why did God place it in the moral law? Why did he not put it where it belonged, with those precepts which are confessedly only types and shadows? Shall we impugn God’s wisdom to sustain our theories? Would God mar an otherwise perfect moral law? God’s own action gives the lie to that baseless theory. It is a true saying that a man is known by the company he keeps. Now look at the Sabbath. God, who knew its character, has placed it right in the midst of a strictly moral neighborhood. It has three perfectly moral neighbors on one side, and six on the other. We do claim that this important fact shows that the all-wise God has put his stamp upon the Sabbath as a moral institution. What God has joined together let no man put asunder.

IX. The Sabbath precept guards the right of property the same as the eighth commandment does; and, hence, like that, is moral.

All admit that the eighth commandment, “Thou shalt not steal,” is a moral commandment. Why? Because it guards the right of property. You shall not take and appropriate to your own use that which belongs to another. The Creator, who is the author of everything, has divided time into weeks of seven days each. All these days were the Lord’s; but he in his benevolence and goodness, has given six of them to man to be properly used in his own necessary business, but the seventh day, God’s rest-day, he has reserved to himself. The fourth precept is given to guard this Sabbath day. It forbids us to appropriate to our own use that which belongs to another, viz., to God. The right of property, then, is recognized in this commandment the same as in the eighth commandment; and, hence, if one is moral, then the other is also for the same reason.

To illustrate: A wealthy man has seven apple trees all bearing. He has a poor neighbor living near him. He takes him into the orchard and tells him to freely use of the fruit of the first six trees; but the seventh one he forbids him to touch, as that he has reserved for a special purpose to himself. This would be a very generous act on the part of the rich man. Now how ungrateful and wicked it would be on the part of the poor man to use not only the fruit from the six trees, but to take that of the seventh also. It would be a grossly immoral act.

Just so God has given us six days which we can freely use in an honorable manner; but the seventh day belongs to God. Thus the Lord says by the mouth of Isaiah: “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy-day,” &c. Chap. 58:13. Again, the Lord says, “Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep.” Ex. 31:13. And so the fourth commandment says, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Ex. 20:10. It is not our day, our time, nor our property. It belongs to God.

And the fourth commandment is given to guard the Lord’s right to this day. Another prophet exclaims, “Will a man rob God? But ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.” Mal. 3:8, 9. God had reserved to himself one-tenth of all their increase. This belonged to him. Thus he says, “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord.” Lev. 27:30. But the people had taken these tithes which belonged to the Lord and had used them for their own benefit. In doing this they had “robbed God.” Then a man can rob the Lord.

If this was true in the above case, with how much greater force can it be said that a man robs God who every week takes God’s holy day and appropriates it to his own worldly purposes! Verily, he is guilty of stealing. A little reflection will show that the same motive which leads a man to steal from his neighbor also leads him to break the Sabbath. He covets his neighbor’s property that he may use it for his own selfish purposes; so he takes it without his consent. So a man covets God’s holy day that he may use it in his own worldly business or pleasure. Hence he proceeds to appropriate that sacred time to his own purposes. A man who knowingly appropriates God’s Sabbath to his own use is robbing God, and thus violating the very highest principle of morality. If it is wrong to rob our neighbor who is our equal, how much more wicked it is to rob God, our Creator! The same moral principle, then, is involved in the Sabbath precept that is in the precept against theft; and therefore it is moral for the same reason.

X. Marriage is a moral institution. The Sabbath institution being made at the same time, by the same authority, for the same persons, and in a similar manner, is also moral for the same reason.

Notice the origin of the marriage institution. 1. Adam was created; but there was no marriage institution yet, nor any moral obligation upon Adam touching it. 2. Eve was made; but still there was no marriage institution. 3. Eve was given to Adam to be his wife. Now marriage obligation first existed. It was made by the direct and positive appointment of God. So of the Sabbath. 1. God created the heavens and the earth; but there was no Sabbath yet. 2. God rested on the seventh day; but yet there was no institution of the Sabbath. 3. God blessed and sanctified (set apart to a holy use) the rest-day, and then Sabbath obligation existed.

To deny the morality of the Sabbath institution because it rests upon the appointment of God, is to deny the morality of the marriage institution; for it rests upon the same authority. If one is moral, the other is also. Indeed, there is a striking similarity in the Bible record touching these two institutions. 1. God himself instituted marriage; so he did the Sabbath. 2. Marriage was instituted before the fall; so was the Sabbath. 3. Paul says: “The woman (was made) for the man,” 1 Cor. 11:9; and Jesus says: “The Sabbath was made for man.” Mark 2:27. 4. The apostle says: “Marriage is honorable,” Heb. 13:4; and the Lord exhorts all to call the Sabbath “honorable.” Isa. 58:13. These two are the only institutions which the Lord has ever called honorable—an honorable pre-eminence. 5. The husband is called the “lord” of the wife. 1 Pet. 3:9; and so the Son of man is called the “Lord” of the Sabbath. Mark 2:28. As the husband loves and cherishes the wife, so the Lord loves and protects his Sabbath. 6. As God has put in the moral law a precept guarding the sacredness of the marriage institution, so he has put in the same law a commandment guarding the sacredness of the Sabbatic institution.

The Jews, having perverted both these institutions, questioned Christ concerning the nature of each of them. His answer in each case was similar. In relation to marriage his answer, in substance, was this: In the beginning God made one man and one woman, designing that they two should be one flesh. The marriage institution, therefore, was designed to unite but two persons, and this union should be sacred, permanent, and for man’s good. Matt. 19:3–9. Touching the Sabbath, his argument was this: God made the Sabbath. Thus he goes back to Eden, the origin of the Sabbath; for that was when the Sabbath was made. Then he says it was made for man. Being made for man before he fell it must be a merciful institution, of which fact the Jews had lost sight. Thus Jesus traces both institutions back to their origin in Eden. Both rest upon on a similar basis, and both are equally moral.

XI. The Sabbath precept, like all moral precepts, applies equally well to all nations, in all countries, and at all times.

All moral laws are of universal application. They are not restricted to one nation, or to one country, nor do they change with circumstances. But, on the other hand, merely ceremonial precepts are, from their very nature, restricted in their application to certain persons, times, and places. Here, again, we find evidence of the morality of the Sabbath. As we have shown already, God instituted the Sabbath at creation in Eden before the fall. From this fact several important conclusions necessarily follow:

1. It is not a type. Types were given after the fall to shadow forth redemption; but the Sabbath points back to creation, not forward to redemption. See Ex. 20:8.

2. The Sabbath being given in the Edenic state indicates that it was designed to be a perpetual institution. Hence we read that when the curse shall be removed from this old earth, and the new-earth state shall be brought in, then the Sabbath will still be observed, and that forever. Isa. 66:22, 23.

3. It is not a Jewish Sabbath. The simple fact that it was given at creation, twenty-three hundred years before a Jew was born, proves this.

A Jew is a descendant of Judah, one of the twelve tribes. But Judah himself was not born till nearly twenty-three hundred years after creation. Hence it is absurd to call it a Jewish institution. It is never so called in the Bible, but it is ever designated as God’s holy Sabbath.

The Sabbath was given to Adam, who was the representative head of the whole human race, the father of all men and all nations. Acts 17:26. In giving it to him, God thereby gave it to man as a race; hence Christ says truly, “The Sabbath was made for man.” Mark 2:27. He does not say it was made for the Jew man, nor for the Gentile man, nor for the Christian man; nor does he limit it in any manner; but he puts it on the broad basis that it was made for man. It is a rule in grammar that a noun, unlimited by an adjective, is to be taken in its broadest sense, as, “Man is mortal,” meaning all men, the race. So in this case, Christ does not limit it to one class of men, but says that it was made for “man,” that is, the race.

In this language he points us back to the time when the Sabbath was made, and says that it was made for man. When was the Sabbath made? It was made at creation. God rested on the seventh day, blessed it, and sanctified it. This is how and when it was made. For whom was it made? Christ’s language is definite. It “was made for man.” Being given to Adam, the father of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews, it was thus given to all nations; for Paul says that God “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.” Acts 17:26.

A careful examination of the commandment will show that it is equally applicable to all nations in all ages. Read it carefully: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Cannot Gentiles do that as well as the Jews? Can we not do it as well in America as in Asia?

“Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work.” Is not that enough for any man to work in any country, or in any nation? Can the Gentiles endure to work more days than the Jews? Have we not already shown that all men do need a day of rest after six of labor?

“But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Is not the seventh day God’s rest-day now as truly as it was then? Does it not remain a fact now that God did rest upon the seventh day; and as long as this continues to be a fact, will it not be true that the seventh day is God’s rest-day? Certainly.

“In it thou shalt not do any work.” We need a day of rest and worship now as much as then, the Gentiles as much as the Jews. “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.” Do not all these relations exist now among all nations? Do they not all have sons and daughters, servants and cattle? Certainly.

“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is.” Is it not just as true now as it was then that God created all things in six days and rested the seventh day? Does not this remain a fact now?

“Wherefore [that is, for this reason] the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Why did the Lord bless the Sabbath day and hallow it? Because that in it he had rested from all his work.

As we have shown, the Lord set apart the seventh day as a memorial of creation. Who should observe that memorial? All who are interested in creation. Verily, are not the Gentiles as much interested in the work of creation as the Jews ever were? As Paul significantly asks, “Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also.” Rom. 3:29. Was it not, then, true that God created the Gentiles as well as the Jews; and did not the Gentiles inhabit the earth which he there created? Are they not constantly enjoying the blessings which he there made for man? Certainly. Then why should they not be as interested to commemorate this great work as were the Jews?

In short, there is not a single idea in the fourth commandment but what applies equally well to all nations, in all countries, and at all times. Did the Jews need a day of rest? So do the Gentiles. Did the Jews need a day for religious worship? So do the Gentiles. The Jews kept the seventh day to commemorate creation. So should the Gentiles.

D. M. CANRIGHT.

“BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR, AND KNOCK.”

By Lydia H. Myers

At the door of thy heart I am knocking, I wait for a voice from within, That shall bid me, as rightful possessor, Bind and cast out the strong man of sin.

I have stood, I have watched, I have waited, Till my locks with the dews are all wet; My spirit with thine has been pleading, But no answer is given as yet.

There was in the past a blest season When thy hand drew aside the great bar, And I verily thought I might enter, For the door, as it were, stood ajar.

But too quickly came earth’s fleeting pleasures, With all their pretense of a claim, And the half-opened door fast rebounding Was closed on thy Saviour again.

I have opened my storehouse of blessing, And poured my rich treasures on thee; Home, talents, and friends thou’rt possessing, But what art thou giving to me?

’Tis the morning of life, and thy pathway With bright fragrant roses is strewn; The sun of thy morning ascending, With promise is gilding thy noon.

But many a sun rising brightly Ere noon is with clouds overspread, And earth’s fairest flowers are fading, And soon must lie withered and dead.

Will it pay thee, my child, to be gathering These dry, withered leaves in that day When the harvest its sheaves will be yielding, And the reapers go singing away?

Will it pay thee to bury the talent That I to thy keeping have given, While others with increase are bringing Theirs back to the safe bank of Heaven?

I could go from the door at thy bidding, But in love and in mercy I wait, If perchance thou wilt yield me an entrance Ere for thee it is written, “Too late.”

—LYDIA H. MYERS, in Christian Press.

Why Not Greater Progress.

By R. F. Cotterill

THERE evidently is progress in the reception of the doctrines of hygienic living; but why is it not greater? One would suppose that as men love life and enjoyment, and would avoid sickness and death, that there would be a spirit of anxious inquiry into any system of teaching which is devoted to the subject of securing health on the most sure and easy terms. But it is not so with the masses; and why not?

One great reason is that the mind is so filled with other objects, such as amassing wealth, aspiring to honors, or seeking for pleasures, that there remains no time to inquire into that without which wealth is vain, and honors and pleasures not to be enjoyed. In the giddy whirl of business and excitement, the first requisite is something to arrest the attention; and it would seem that “trichina horrors,” and sudden deaths after a night of feasting, would serve this purpose; and they do awaken some. A certain writer says, “We have come to know that the man who dies of ‘heart disease,’ after ‘eating a hearty supper,’ and going to bed well, would have come down all right in the morning, if he had had no supper,” &c. Such things should awaken inquiry; and they do in the minds of some. And the evident failure of drugs to cure disease, should cause men to inquire whether there is not a better way.

Another requisite is faith in that which commends itself to reason. The arguments in favor of pure air, food, and drink, demand credence from every intelligent mind; and that it is better not to take as food that which is not food and can do nothing toward building up the physical system, such as condiments of almost every kind, and which must necessarily tax the vital powers in expelling them from the system, no rational mind can in candor deny; but still there is a great want of that faith which puts in practice the theory to which the judgment is obliged to consent. In health reform, as in pure religion, the great want is a faith that not merely assents to the truth, but puts it in practice. Those who have faith enough to practice the teachings of health reform will reap the benefits, and be able to bear a telling testimony to others who would learn the truth.

Numerous obstacles impede the progress of health reform; but they should not discourage those who would labor for suffering humanity. If all are not converted, some will be; and the benefit to the few will be beyond computation. A great amount of good will be done, and a great amount of suffering avoided. And the philanthropic labor in the cause will certainly be rewarded with the consciousness of having been exerted in a good cause, and in securing an immense good to a portion of the race.

Courage, then, friends of reform! your labor will not be in vain. Let us press the subject and secure the attention. Repeat and re-repeat the convincing arguments, and thus inspire faith sufficient to induce a test of the theory by reducing it to practice. Convince men by a candid appeal to reason that they need something, and that that something will be of inestimable benefit. Much will be thus accomplished; and the satisfaction of having labored for the benefit of our fellows will, of itself, be a great reward.

R. F. COTTERILL.

Secret Faults.

By D. Downer

“CLEANSE thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins.” Ps. 19: 12, 13.

The above is the recorded prayer of David. He prayed to be kept from the very sins which were most likely to ruin his hope. Self-righteousness arises partly from pride, and partly from ignorance of the law of God. Men now seem to know but little of God's law; consequently they are not aware of the stern severity of the law, or they would have wiser notions. Let a man understand that the law deals with secret thoughts as well as outward acts, and self-righteousness will shrivel into nothing. Now David had seen God's law and praised it. After having considered its excellency, he utters this thought, “Who can understand his errors?” Then he prays, “Cleanse thou me from secret faults.”

The sins that we confess are like the farmer's small samples which he takes to market when he has left a granary full at home. We have but very few sins, that we see and confess compared with those that are hid from others, and unknown to us. Sin is sin, whether we see it or not. How often are we astonished to see how far some have gone in appearance, and yet have had so little soundness of heart. To those who sin secretly, and yet make a profession—who break God's commands in the dark, and wear a mask of goodness in the light; to those who shut the door and commit wickedness within, may God speak to you and make you pray this prayer, “Cleanse thou me from secret faults.”

Who is to be detested more than an empty pretender? People who would be shocked to see a drunkard in the ditch, are often indulging in some secret habits no less disgusting in the sight of God. It may be some other vice, but pretender, you are foolish to one moment harbor that thistle that will soon seed your entire heart, and ruin you. Dig deep as you will—try to conceal that secret sin, and the day of God will prove your foolish attempt to cover it. That pet sin is seen of God, and is photographed in Heaven. How foolish men are to think of sinning in secret!

This world is like a glass hive. God looks down and sees our works. Oh! it were enough to curb us from every sin if we truly realized these words, “Thou God seest me.” Stop thief, stop slanderer, stop tattler. Stop! God sees you now. Oh! swearer, liar, don't you know that Heaven's diary will reveal all the sins of your life. If I could know every secret thought of the reader's heart, every secret act, many would sooner give their lives, than have it published in this column. How you or I would plead, Tell of my outward acts—of them I am not ashamed; but do not tell of my thoughts and secret actions. I ask you then, in the name of my Master, to clean the black record of the past, and join with David in the prayer, “Cleanse thou me from secret faults.” Oh! leave secret sins. Yes; secret now, but one day it will be advertised on the walls of Heaven.

But there is misery in secret sin. The man professing religion, and living in iniquity is of all men most miserable. Like the mouse in the parlor, running out now and then to pick up crumbs, such men run out now and then to sin, and how fearful they are of being found out; with cunning they gloss over their sins; adding deception to deception that they may not be discovered. Let us not profess to be the Lord's, and spend our lives in the service of the devil. If we are going to serve God, let us do it, out and out. Hypocrisy and secret sins have cut the very sinews of the church of God. Above all, let us beware of committing acts that we must conceal. Secret sins bring fevered eyes, and sleepless nights. We cannot have boldness in the day of Judgment, if secret sins be found on our record. The fox followed by hungry hounds with open mouths, is more happy than a man followed by his sins.

Little sins ruin us. One thistle would in time seed the whole world—one sin cherished will ruin us. That drunkard took his first drink secretly—next, he drank in the street. Says my young friend, I will read this lascivious book, only this; I can hide it if any one comes. You will yet keep that book in your library. Oh! says one, I can drink one glass, and no more. I can go so far, and no farther. I am a strong-minded man. Yes; but there will be many strong-minded men damned. When you first sinned, the cold sweat stood on your brow; the second time, a sly, mean look; the third time, you felt a little uneasiness; finally, you enjoyed it. We would not trust ourselves in sin. If we do, the best of us will only be as straws in a whirlwind, or as chips on the falls of Niagara.

Many professed Christians harbor secret sins. They say, It is only a little sin. Little foxes spoil the vines. Little sins, like a little pebble in the shoe, will lame the traveler on the road to Heaven, and he never can make the journey with them. One dead fly spoils the dish. When will we learn that one little sin indulged in will ruin us? Let us pause and count the cost. There is your lust to be given up—your pride, your stubbornness, your self-will. God help us, as a people, to give up all for Christ. Soon Jesus is coming to take vengeance on sin and sinners. There will not then be an infidel denying Christ. No; the prayer will be, Rocks and mountains, fall on us. Sinner, where will you be in that day? Come out of your hiding place unmasked. Come out of that black chamber of sin. It is now or never with us—turn or burn. Your conscience tells you it is true.

Secondly, “Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins.” It is true that under the Jewish economy atonement was made for all sins of ignorance but not those of presumption. A man has premeditated murder in his heart for months. His conscience has cried out, Murder, but willfully he proceeds to commit the deed. His sin is greater than that of the man who kills in self-defense. When a man is warned of God, by friends and by the Bible, and knows his sins, what presumption to continue in them. What will God do with men who are willfully breaking his commandments after he has given them light? But they stick to creeds, and dishonor God. Is it not sinning presumptuously to wait one more day before putting away sin? You presume you will live; but to-morrow you may have lived out your allotted time, and die in sin, full of good resolutions. But it is acts that weigh in the moral scales of Heaven.

David, the good man, prayed to be kept back from presumptuous sins, and we are in no less danger than he. Paul says, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Do Christians need warning against such sins as these? Yes. The highest saint may sin the lowest sin, unless kept by divine grace. Experienced Christian, boast not of steadfastness. You may trip and fall yet unless you cry, “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.” Job might have said, I never will curse the day of my birth; but he lived to do it. Of all the sins we meet, those most to be dreaded are—or will be—the sins of secrecy and presumption. Let us make this a year of self-searching and loosing from idols. Let us love one another more, and no longer have hypocrisy woven into our faith or works. Let us work like unto men who are waiting for their soon-coming Lord.

D. DOWNER.

Avon, Wis., Jan. 8, 1875.

Sensible and Suggestive.—

The London Dietetic Reformer quotes the following graphic sketch drawn by the Baboo Protap Chunder Mozoomdar, of Calcutta, at a meeting at Exeter Hall, London:—

“I am a Hindoo. I come from the banks of the sacred river Ganges. My forefathers were peaceful and progressive men. When they were hungry, they did not kill the beasts of the wilderness or the fowls of the air, but they satisfied their hunger with herbs and fruits; and when they were thirsty they didn’t open large casks of brandy, but quenched their thirst from the simple streams of our rivers. But the nations of the West have introduced into our land those two mighty powers of modern civilization—grog and gunpowder. Before the god of gunpowder the physical liberties of my countrymen have made an unconditional surrender; before the terrible god of alcohol, the moral nature of my countrymen is now about to be offered as a sacrifice. For this state of things who is responsible? I am ready to accord to your people credit—great credit—for the noble reforms and the nobler civilization which you have introduced among us, but I am the last man to withhold from you the discredit of the modern and Western evils which you have introduced along with that of civilization.”—Health Reformer.

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