Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · Mar 7, 1854
THE SABBATH SINCE THE REFORMATION
WITH the commencement of the Reformation, a new spirit of religious inquiry was awakened. Nearly every item of Christian practice was brought under review, and not dismissed until either approved or rejected. Among the subjects for discussion we find the Sabbath early introduced and thoroughly examined. There were different views then maintained by different classes of Reformers, which deserve particular notice.
One class of Reformers there was, who, dwelling alone on the sufficiency of faith, and the freeness of the Gospel, trembled at the thought of imposing rules upon men, and seemed to fear the term law. These declared, that the law of the Sabbath was abolished; that Sunday was no Sabbath, only a festival of the church, which had been appointed and might be altered at her pleasure. That we may not be thought in error here, as well as to give a full understanding of the opinions of that time, we will present the assertions of some of these men.
Bishop Cranmer's Catechism, A. D. 1548, says, "The Jews were commanded in the Old Testament to keep the Sabbath-day, and they observed it every seventh day, called the Sabbath, or Saturday; but we Christian men are not bound to such commandments in Moses' law, and therefore we now keep no more the Sabbath, or Saturday, as the Jews did, but we observe the Sunday, and some other days, as the magistrates do judge convenient."
William Tindal says, in his answer to More, chap. 25: "We be lords over the Sabbath, and may change it into Monday, or any other day, as we see need; or may make every tenth day holy-day, only if we see cause why; we may make two every week, if it were expedient, and one not enough to teach the people. Neither was there any cause to change it from the Saturday, other than to put a difference between us and the Jews, and lest we should become servants to the day after their superstition."
There was another class among the disputants about the Sabbath, who endeavored, by strict adherence to the Scriptures, to escape the difficulties and inconsistencies into which others had been led. They contended for the early institution of the Sabbath, for its morality and perpetuity, as inferred from its being placed in the Decalogue, and for the seventh day of the week as an essential and necessary part of the commandment. Theophilus Brabourne, in 1628, says: "1. The fourth commandment of the Decalogue is a divine precept, simply and entirely moral, containing nothing legally ceremonial, in whole or in part, and therefore the weekly observation thereof ought to be perpetual, and to continue in full force and virtue to the world's end. 2. The Saturday, or seventh day of the week, ought to be an everlasting holy-day in the Christian church, and the religious observation of this day obligeth Christians under the Gospel, as it did the Jews before the coming of Christ. 3. The Sunday, or Lord's day, is an ordinary working day; and it is superstition and will-worship to make the same the Sabbath of the fourth commandment." These opinions were vindicated by Brabourne in two volumes which appeared, one in 1628, and the other in 1632.
To these volumes might be added others, which appeared soon after, and to the results of which, living witnesses have testified from that day to this.
It is believed that there have been Christians in every age who have kept holy the seventh day. During the first three centuries of the Christian Church, the Sabbath seems to have been almost universally kept. It was kept generally in the Eastern Church for six hundred years. And from that time onward to the present, frequent traces of Sabbath-keepers may be found, either in the history of individuals, or in the acts of Councils against those who kept it. These notices extend to the time of the Reformation; and are as frequent as are the references to the first day of the week under the title of Lord's day.
In Germany, according to Ross' "Picture of all Religions," observers of the seventh-day as the Sabbath were common in the sixteenth century, their numbers being such as to lead to organization, and attract attention. A number of these formed a church and emigrated to America in the early settlement of the country. There were Sabbath-keepers in Transylvania about the same time, among whom was Francis Davids, first chaplain to the Court of Sigismund, the prince of that kingdom, and afterwards superintendent of all the Transylvanian churches. In France, also, there were Christians of this class, among whom was M. de la Roque, who wrote in defense of the Sabbath, against Bossuet, the Catholic Bishop of Meaux. But it is difficult to determine to what extent this day was observed in those countries.
In England we find Sabbath-keepers very early. Dr. Chambers says, "They arose in England in the sixteenth century;" from which we understand that they then became a distinct denomination in that kingdom. They increased considerably in the seventeenth century; and we find that towards the close of that century there were eleven flourishing churches in different parts of that country. Among those who held this view were some men of distinction. Theophilus Brabourne was called before the Court of High Commission, in 1632, for having written and published books vindicating the claims of the seventh day. One Traske was about the same time examined in the Starr Chamber, where a long discussion on the subject seems to have been held. Nearly thirty years after this, John James, preacher to a Sabbath-keeping congregation in the east of London, was executed in a barbarous manner, upon a variety of charges, among which was his keeping of the Sabbath. Twenty years later still, Francis Bampfield died in Newgate, a martyr to non-conformity—especially as one who could not conform in the matter of the Sabbath. It is needless to mention more names, or to speak particularly of Edward, Joseph, Dr. Joseph, and Dr. Samuel Stennett, John Maulden, Robert Cornthwaite, and others, who have written and suffered in proof of their attachment to this truth.
But the Sabbath met with great opposition in England, being assailed, both from the pulpit and the press, by those who were attached to the established church. Many men of learning and talent engaged in the discussion, on both sides of the question. It is evident that the opposers of reform felt the difficulty of defending themselves against the strength of talent and scripture brought to bear in favor of the seventh day. The civil powers attempted to check the progress of all Dissenters by means of the famous Conventicle Act. By that law, passed in 1664, it was provided, that if any person, above sixteen years of age, was present at any meeting of worship different from the Church of England, where there were five persons more than the household, for the first offense he should be imprisoned three months, or pay five pounds; for the second, the penalty was doubled; and for the third he should be banished to America, or pay one hundred pounds sterling. This act was renewed in 1669, and, in addition to the former penalties, made the person preaching liable to pay a fine of twenty pounds; and the same penalty was imposed upon any person suffering a meeting to be held in his house. Justices of the Peace were empowered to enter such houses, and seize such persons; and they were fined one hundred pounds if they neglected doing so. These acts were exceedingly harassing to those who observed the Sabbath. Many of their distinguished ministers were taken from their flocks and confined in prison, some of whom sunk under their sufferings. These persecutions not only prevented those who kept the Sabbath, from assembling, but deterred some who embraced their opinions from uniting with them, and discouraged others from investigating the subject. At present the Sabbath is not as extensively observed in England as formerly. But the extent of Sabbath-keeping cannot be determined by the number and magnitude of the churches, either there or in other countries. For many persons live in the observance of the seventh day and remain members of churches which assemble on the first day; and a still greater number acknowledge its correctness, who conform to the more popular custom of keeping the first day.50At what time the Sabbath became the subject of attention in America we cannot definitely say. The intolerance of the first settlers of New England was unfavorable to the Sabbath. The poor Christian who may have been banished to this country for its observance could find no refuge among the Pilgrim Fathers. The laws of Rhode Island were more tolerant than those of some other States, and observers of the Sabbath first made their appearance at Newport in 1671.
The cause of the Sabbath has gradually gained ground in this country from that period; but it has found much to oppose its progress, even in Rhode Island. It was in opposition to the general practice of Christians, on which account an odium was put upon it, and those who have kept the Sabbath have been reproached with Judaizing, and classed with Jews. Besides this, they have ever been subjected to great inconvenience in their occupations, especially in cities and towns.
The common English version of the Bible has been found in many instances a sufficient means of converting men to the truth. Churches observing the Sabbath have been formed in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, and in most of the Western States, embracing, as is supposed, a population of forty or fifty thousand.—Am. Sab. Tract, No. 4.
THE GLORY OF HEAVEN.
By Annie R. Smith
BY ANNIE R. SMITH.
BEYOND this shadowy vale of tears
There is a better land,
Where all the good of earth at last
Shall reign—a tearless band.
What most with rapture fills my soul,
Of all its glories rare,
And bids me long to go and dwell
Within its mansions fair?
Is it that round the fadeless brows,
The starry crowns entwine?
In robes of pure and dazzling white,
The forms of beauty shine?
That we shall tune the golden lyres,
O'er the celestial plains,
Where notes of sorrow never blend
With those sweet, seraph strains?
Is it that darkness never clouds
That bright eternal day?
That pain and sickness enters not
To waste the frame away?
That cheerless grief hath never there
The heart's deep fountains stirred?
The parting hand is never given
The farewell never heard?
Is it that fields of living green
Are decked with fragrant flowers,
That bloom in one perennial Spring
In Eden's happy bowers?
The calm repose from weary toil
From anxious care and fear?
That we shall meet again the loved,
Who shared our trials here?
Tis not the harp the robe the crown,
The morn that hath no night,
The home that hath no severed ties,
The rose without the blight,
The rest that cares may never break,
The joy that knows no pain,
The meeting round the radiant throne,
Eternally to reign.
But he who all our sorrows here,
And groaned upon the tree,
Who trod the thorny path below,
And tasted death for me,
Who for us, sinners, bled and died,
That we such bliss might share—
The LAMB on Calvary crucified,
It is that—he is there!
THE SEVENTH DAY-SABBATH NOT ABOLISHED.
By J. B. Frisbie
BY J. B. FRISBIE.
“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.
This is the only commandment that begins with the word remember. Why is this? Because in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, &c. and rested the seventh day and blessed it; and it appears that they had forgotten this day. This commandment refers to Gen. ii, 1-3. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 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. Ex. xx, 20. And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God. Jer. x, 1-12; Rom. i, 19, 20.
Acts xvii, 23. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, (or gods that ye worshipped, margin,) I found an altar with this inscription, To the unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you. Verse 24, God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands.
THE SABBATH LAW IS THE GREATEST OF THE TEN,
Because it is the only commandment by which we can know and remember God, that we may love and serve him in Spirit and in truth. God is to be known through the works of creation, and remembered by keeping his holy Sabbath. Thus, we may keep the greatest commandment in the book of the law, Matt. xxii, 36-38; Deut. vi, v. Love to God. 1 John, v, 3. For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments. How can we love him unless we know him? And how can we know him unless we keep his holy Sabbath. Eze. xx, 20. When Paul made known the unknown God to the Athenians he referred them back to creation, to the God that made the world. Acts xvii, 23; xiv, 15. It cannot be possible, that the only commandment that God ever gave in honor of his holy name, should be abolished. Upon the fourth commandment rests the true obedience of the first, second and third; for not one of these can be kept as they should be, without the knowledge of the true God, which is to be gained by the knowledge of the fourth.
THE SABBATH GOD.
After we know and remember God, by keeping his holy Sabbath, then the Bible will teach of his personality and dwelling place. Man is in the image and likeness of God. Gen. i, 26. And God said, Let us (speaking to his son) make man in our image, after our likeness. Chap. ii, 7. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: and man became a living soul. Gen. ix, 6; 1 Cor. xi, 7; James iii, 9. That which was made in the image and likeness of God was made of the dust of the ground called man.
This is known to be the true sense from other testimonies that may be given from the Bible. Jesus was in the form of a man and the express image of his Father's person.
Phil. ii, 6-8. Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. 2 Cor. iv, 4. And being formed in fashion as a man, &c. Col. i, 15. Who is the image of the invisible God. Heb. i, 3. The Son; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person. In this sense could Jesus say to Philip in truth, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” John xiv, 9. Some seem to suppose it argues against the personality of God, because he is a Spirit, and say that he is without body, or parts. John iv, 24. God is a Spirit. Heb. i, 7. Who maketh his angels spirits. Who would pretend to say that angels have no bodies or parts because they are spirits. None the less is God a spiritual being having body and parts as we may learn by his having a dwelling place and because he has and may be seen. Ex. xxxiii, 23. And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen. Matt. v, 8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Heb. xii, 14. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Matt. xviii, 10. That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. Matt. vi, 6. After this manner therefore pray ye, Our Father which art in heaven, &c. John vi, 38. For I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. Chap. xvi, 28. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again I leave the world, and go to the Father.
Does not God say he fills immensity of space? We answer, No. Ps. cxxxix, 7, 8. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there, &c. God by his Spirit may fill heaven and earth, &c. Some confound God with his Spirit, which makes confusion. Ps. xi, 4. The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, &c. Hab. ii, 20; Ps. cii, 19. For he hath looked down from the height of his Sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth. 1 Pet. iii, 12. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers, &c. Ps. lxxx, 1. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. Ps. xcix, 1; Isa. xxxvii, 16.
John xiv, 2. In my Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. Rev. xxi, 2-5; Heb. xi, 6. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, &c. This testimony we deem highly important at this time, to know that there is a God. We have no doubt that if our eyes could be opened in vision, or see as angels see, we should see God in heaven sitting on his throne, and is present to all that exists, however distant from him in his creation.
THE SUNDAY GOD.
We will make a few extracts, that the reader may see the broad contrast between the God of the Bible brought to light through Sabbath-keeping, and the god in the dark through Sunday-keeping. Catholic Catechism Abridged by the Rt. Rev. John Dubois, Bishop of New York. Page 5. Ques. Where is God? Ans. God is everywhere. Q. Does God see and know all things? A. Yes, he does know and see all things. Q. Has God any body? A. No; God has no body, he is a pure Spirit. Q. Are there more Gods than one? A. No; there is but one God. Q. Are there more persons than one in God? A. Yes; in God there are three persons. Q. Which are they? A. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Q. Are there not three Gods? A. No; the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, are all but one and the same God.
The first article of the Methodist Religion, p. 8. There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom and goodness: the maker and preserver of all things, visible and invisible. And in unity of this God-head, there are three persons of one substance, power and eternity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
In this article like the Catholic doctrine, we are taught that there are three persons of one substance, power and eternity making in all one living and true God, everlasting without body or parts. But in all this we are not told what became of the body of Jesus who had a body when he ascended, who went to God who “is everywhere” or nowhere. Doxology.
“To God the Father, God the Son,
God the Spirit, three in one.”
Again.
“Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze,
Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees.
Lives through all life, extends through all extent,
Spreads undivided and operates unspent.”—Pope.
These ideas well accord with those heathen philosophers. One says, “That water was the principle of all things, and that God is that intelligence, by whom all things are formed out of water.” Another, “That air is God, that it is produced, that it is immense and infinite,” &c. A third, “That God is a soul diffused throughout all beings of nature,” &c. Some, who had the idea of a pure Spirit. Last of all, “That God is an eternal substance.”
These extracts are taken from Rollin's History, Vol. II, pp. 597-8, published by Harpers. We should rather mistrust that the Sunday god came from the same source that Sunday-keeping did. “Sunday was a name given by the heathens to the first day of the week, because it was the day on which they worshiped the sun.”—Union Bible Dictionary. Afterward modified by the Roman Catholic Church, in the form we now find it taught through the land.
It is very natural to suppose when the Pope set himself up to be God in the temple of God, [2 Thess. ii, 4] that he should have a day sanctified to his worship. This he has done.—Douay Catechism, p. 59. Q. What is the best means to sanctify Sunday? A. By hearing mass, &c. Thus saying mass is for the priest to gabble over Latin, drink some wine, and give the people a wafer to eat.
But God sanctified his day because he had rested on it. Another day for a very different purpose. Gen. ii, 3.
In days before the moral fall of Babylon God directed the minds of his honest children right in their prayers, whatever they might think at other times, but now since the apostasy the mind reaches to no god but to the people only, there are many prayers to men we know by their effect and eloquence. We are truly thankful to our heavenly Father that he has led our minds from such folly, to know, and remember his holy name by keeping his holy day that we might love, serve and worthily glorify him through our great High Priest in the heavenly Sanctuary in this day of atonement.
DESTINY OF THOSE WHO FORGET GOD.
Ps. ix, 17. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. Ps. l, 22; Isa. li, 13; John xvii, 3; 2 Thess. i, 7. The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God.
The Sabbath was kept the same after the crucifixion as before, which is good evidence that it was not abolished or changed. First Proof. Before Christ's crucifixion. Acts xv, 21. For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day. Acts xiii, 27. The voice of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath day.51
This does not look much as some tell us that those who kept the Sabbath in old times did not go out of their houses on the Sabbath. For it is certain they could not have heard the Books of Moses and the prophets read in their meeting-houses if they did not go out of their own houses on that day.
Matt. xii, 5; Num. xxviii, 9; Lev. xxiii, 3. Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation, &c. This was “a sacred meeting of multitudes for the solemn worship of God, on the Sabbath,” an “assembly.” Mark i, 21. And they went into Capernaum: and straightway on the Sabbath-day he (Jesus) entered into the synagogue and taught. Mark vi, 2; Luke iv, 16. And he (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. Verse 31. Matt. xii, 12. Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days. That is, not contrary to the Sabbath law. Jesus says, [John xv, 10] I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love, “Who knew no sin.” “Without sin.” 1 Pet. ii, 22. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. 1 John iii, 4. For sin is the transgression of the law. So Jesus kept the Sabbath.
2d Proof. Christians kept the Sabbath the same after Christ was crucified as before. Luke xxiii, 56. “And they rested the Sabbath-day according to the commandment,” after the crucifixion. Acts xi, 26. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Acts xiii, 14, 15, 42-44. Paul and his company came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath-day, and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking of them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God? (Then Christians, to be sure.) And the next Sabbath-day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. Here was a very favorable opportunity for Paul to have told those religious proselytes who were in the grace of God. Come together on the morrow and we will preach to you; on the first day of the week; for that is the Christian Sabbath; or, if the Sabbath had been abolished, to have told them, Why wait until the next Sabbath; as all days are alike with us Christians. But no, they must wait until the next regular preaching day came around; for we think Paul had not heard of the change. Acts xvii, 2. And Paul as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures.
Acts xviii, 3, 4, 11. And because he was of the same craft, he (Paul) abode with them, and wrought: (six days:) for by their occupation they were tent-makers. And Paul reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. And he continued there a year and six months teaching the word of God among them. Here it appears that Paul worked six days in the week, and preached every Sabbath, and continued seventy-eight Sabbaths. This is all-sufficient for apostolic example to all who are not blinded by tradition so as to see not, and drunken with the wine of the old mother of harlots so as to understand not, and deaf against the truth that they will not hear.
After such an array of proof for Sabbath-keeping set by the apostle Paul and Christians up to A. D. 55, some 24 years after the crucifixion, we will now give one and the only example, how Paul kept the first day of the week, at Troas. Acts xx, 7, 8. “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.” Now I believe the record, that they did break bread after midnight, our Saturday night being their first day of the week, so in the morning at day break Paul departed on his journey and traveled all day, our Sunday.
CHANGE OF DAY.
This is every solitary example I know of in the New Testament for keeping Sunday for Sabbath. All can have the privilege of keeping the day after such an example if they choose; but we dare not do it at the peril of being found sinners in the day of judgment, after the light has come. Suppose the Apostle had preached on the first day of the week, and broke bread Monday morning the second day of the week, would this have changed the Sabbath of the fourth commandment? Surely not; for God himself could not have changed the day, and have made the first the seventh, much less the Apostle, who was but a man. If the congress of the United States should pass a law that the fifth day of July was the fourth, that would not make it so. Neither if God himself should make a law that the first day of the week was the seventh, that would not and could not be. The original Sabbath was known by Jesus when on earth. Since that, we have the example of the Jews all over the world keeping our Saturday for their Sabbath according to the commandment. And it matters not how much time has been lost by Church or State, the Jews have kept the seventh in regular succession to the present time. This is a point that is rarely denied until we press home the duty of keeping the Sabbath. See table of time in your Bible-Society Bibles: 1st day of the week, Sunday; 7th, or Sabbath, Saturday. Justin Edwards in his Sabbath Manual, argues a change of day. This is acknowledged by all the churches in the land. They do not pretend to be keeping what they call the old Jewish Sabbath that existed 2500 years before a Jew lived?
Is Sabbath-breaking a sin? If so, why did not the apostle Paul condemn it as such.
If breaking any one of the other nine commands be a sin, then the Sabbath law is no less so, unless it has been abolished. That it has not been, and cannot be by God or man, we intend to prove. Some may say, I keep a day now, a seventh part of time. That is not what God requires in his law. Not a seventh part of time, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord. God says we shall not add nor diminish from his law; but in this we have to do both: first, strike out the, and put in a; then strike out day and add part; strike out Sabbath and add time. Now if we have liberty to mutilate this holy law in this way, we might with the same propriety strike out not, this little word, out of the other commandments and then steal, kill, commit adultery, bear false witness or what not. This would not be changing God's other laws any more than it would to change his Sabbath, then rob God of his holy day and trample it down with impunity. But the fact is, the seventh-part of time theory is not the law; for God calls it my holy day, and there is but one day in the week that can be thus called. Therefore a seventh part of time is any time that any one may choose; and that which is any time is no time: it is like to-morrow: it never comes.
Furthermore Paul condemned Sabbath-breaking by examples in abundance that we have given. He also condemned Sabbath-breaking as a sin, by teaching the commands of God and that the wages of sin is death; therefore he condemns Sabbath-breaking as much as any other sin in the Bible.
Those who would not keep the Sabbath upon the original command, would not if it was stated at full length in the New Testament before and after the cross. If it was repeated before the cross, the quibbler would say, that it was abolished at the cross, and it would be expected that it would be taught and kept then by Jesus and his disciples. If it was after the cross then they might say that Paul circumcised Timothy and purified Greeks in the temple after these rites were abolished and were nothing; and that it was nothing more than they should expect that Paul should teach the old Jewish Sabbath; for he had not got over his old Jewish notions and prejudices. So if any one is determined to disbelieve, he will, do what we may for him; and the Bible will be insufficient for his salvation. For if he is disposed, he can wrest, cavil and quibble around the plainest matters of truth in the world.
Some are willing to admit that the seventh-day Sabbath is binding, if it can be made out that the first day is the seventh; if not, it must be abolished. We are willing to admit that all feast day sabbaths were abolished as such, but not the Lord's Rest-day: that existed more than 2500 years before these feast days were in being, or a Jew either. If the seventh-day Sabbath occasionally became a feast day and then was abolished as a sabbath feast day, this would not alter or change it as the Lord's holy Rest-day; for that would remain as before. 1. The Sabbath is to be kept in remembrance of creation. Ex. xx, 11. 2. The Passover in remembrance of Israel's deliverance out of Egypt. Ex. xii, 14. The Lord's supper in remembrance of Christ's death. 1 Cor. xi, 23-26. 4. Baptism to commemorate Christ's burial and resurrection. Rom. vi, 4.
Coming Events.
By Editor
THE world is a theatre. Its vicissitudes are so many scenes in the great drama of its history, presenting as they are exhibited, new phases of human folly, and developing the great fact, that there is one mightier than the mightiest, who conducts the whole, and who will overrule all events for his glory, and the consummate good of those who trust in him. What intelligence but one of unerring wisdom could have controlled the fires of human infatuation, or quenched the burning volcanoes of dreadful strife, which have so often poured forth their fury with terrific madness?—What hand but Omnipotence could have sustained the pillars of earth, or guided the destinies of this mundane system, while its brightest sun has been darkened by the foulest deeds, and its sweetest joy been mingled in the cup of woe! Who can look upon the past, and not have confidence for the future? And though the darkness may grow thick, and human foresight cease to discern the "coming events"—yet in the "lamp of Life"—the word of God, the future is marked with divine precision. We may err in relation to it—but God will bring it to pass; and hoary time shall not expire until the last fatal tragedy is enacted—or the last crowning event consummated. These reflections are induced, by what is now transpiring in the Old world. We think we may safely say there never was a time when events demanded a closer scrutiny than now. The condition of Europe, (and in fact the world,) indicates a momentous crisis. We live in mysterious and critical times. The revolutionary outbursts of 1848 shook the earth, and overturned some of the firmest thrones. That period was succeeded by an epoch, which has only prepared us for another, more dreadful than the former, because of its nearer approximation to the end. Every system has had its trial—Rome with her vile impieties and revolting superstitions, has had her day, and now the time of her end is at hand—her destiny is written in mourning, and lamentation and woe. What has the reign of infidelity been, but a reign of terror?—its history is written in the annals of the French Revolution. The popular voice may shout democracy, and clamor for equal rights. But what is liberty with the fetters still binding—what is freedom to those, whom the Son of God has not made free. Popery had its trial, and humanity was crushed. Infidelity in all its phases is only a blot on the page of history. Democracy may come to the rescue, but in vain—the human mind is not fitted for it; and the only hope of the world are those manifestations of God's government, which He will develope in his own way, time and manner. For those we now look. We will not at present hazard an opinion on what will transpire—let age and long experience speak. But on some things we may be permitted to remark—The chords of political power are bursting asunder, and the masses are breaking loose from earthly restraint. A new order of things must be introduced, for society in its present organization has become insane. In this perhaps we exceed the bounds of youthful modesty, but we feel impelled to give utterance to sentiments which we have learned from the Gospel. Whether the events to52transpire, be the universal spread of inspired truth, or the mightier manifestations of the judgment day, we cannot determine; but of one thing we are certain:—"Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed." Let the results be as they may—Christians have a duty. *
If ever there was a time when those at ease in Zion needed to fear the woe of God, it is now. O where are the Christians that can lay up their treasures on earth, while the Bridegroom tarrieth—while the Judge is at the door! The work of an age seems crowded into a day, and the whitened harvest field calls for labor of every kind. Zion's watchmen have no time to slumber now. "What of the night?" is the inquiry on every side. The stewards of God—to whom have been committed the Lord's treasures, should wisely disburse their Lord's money. Not a gift in the church but may be judiciously employed to the glory of God. In conclusion: if the world stands we want a better world—a world governed and controlled by the motives and graces of the gospel—a world hallowed by the influences of the truth, and stamped with the image of God. If time ceases, and the manifestations of the last day should burst upon us with terrific grandeur, we need to be prepared, and we are not without a startling admonition from the lips of him who spake as man never spake, and which has been borne to us above the madness and fury of eighteen centuries—"OCCUPY TILL I COME."—Religious Intelligencer.