Christ And The Sabbath

Christ And The SabbathIllustration.Healing On The Sabbath Day. "Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days." Matt. 12:12.1. Of what did Christ say the Son of man is Lord?“The Son of man is Lord evenof the Sabbath day.”Matt. 12:8. See also Mark 2:28.2. Who made the Sabbath?“All things were madeby Him[Christ, the Word]; and without Him was not anything made that was made.”John 1:3.3. Did Christ, while on earth, keep the Sabbath?“As His custom was,He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read.”Luke 4:16.4. Although Lord, Maker, and an observer of the Sabbath, how was He watched and spied upon by the scribes and Pharisees on this day?“And the scribes and Pharisees watched Him,whether He would heal on the Sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against Him.”Luke 6:7.5. With what question did Christ meet their false ideas and reasonings regarding Sabbath-keeping?[pg 431]“Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing;Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?”Verse 9.6. How did they manifest their displeasure at His healing the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath?“And they werefilled with madness; andcommuned one with another what they might do to Jesus.”Verse 11.“And the Pharisees went forth, and straightwaytook counsel with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.”Mark 3:6.Note.—They were angry because, notwithstanding the fact that by the miracle performed Christ had given evidence that He was from God, He had shown no respect fortheir views of Sabbath-keeping, but, on the contrary, had shown these to bewrong. Wounded pride, obstinacy, and malice, therefore, combined to fill them withmadness; and they went out immediately and held council with the Herodians,—their political enemies with whom they disagreed in the matter of paying tribute to a foreign power,—for the purpose of accomplishing His death.7. Because Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath day, and told him to take up his bed and walk, what did the Jews do?“Therefore did the Jewspersecute Jesus, andsought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day.”John 5:16.Note.—It is a fact worthy of note that over the question of proper Sabbath observance the Jews not onlypersecutedJesus, butfirst took counsel to kill Him. Not the least of the malice which finally culminated in His crucifixion, was engendered over this very question of Sabbath observance. Christ did not keep the Sabbath according to their ideas of Sabbath-keeping, and so they sought to kill Him. And they are not alone. Many today are cherishing this same spirit. Because some do not agree with their ideas regarding the Sabbath, or Sabbath observance, they seek to persecute and oppress them,—seek laws, and alliances with political powers, to compel respect for their views.8. How did Jesus answer them?“But Jesus answered them,My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.”Verse 17.Note.—The ordinary operations of nature, as manifested in God's almighty, upholding, beneficent, and healing power, go on on the Sabbath the same as on other days; and to cooperate with God and nature in the work of healing, relieving, and restoring on the Sabbath, cannot, therefore, be out of harmony with God's will, nor a violation of His Sabbath law.9. What effect did this answer have upon the Jews?“Therefore the Jewssought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath [i.e., in their estimation], but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.”Verse 18.[pg 432]10. Because the disciples plucked a few ears of corn on the Sabbath day to satisfy hunger, what accusation did the Pharisee make against them to Christ?“And the Pharisees said unto Him,Behold, why do they on the Sabbath day that which is not lawful?”Mark 2:24.11. What was Christ's reply?“And He said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungered, he, and they that were with him? how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the showbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? And He said unto them,The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”Verses 25-27.12. Because of Christ's healing a woman of an infirmity on the Sabbath, what did the ruler of a certain synagogue say?“And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day, and said unto the people,There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”Luke 13:14.13. How did Christ answer him?“The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? and ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?”Verses 15, 16.14. What effect did Christ's answers have upon the people?“And when He had said these things,all His adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.”Verse 17.15. By what method of reasoning did Christ justify acts of mercy on the Sabbath day?“Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day? And they could not answer Him again to these things.”Luke 14:5, 6.“What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.”Matt. 12:11, 12.[pg 433]Illustration.Healing Impotent Man On The Sabbath. "Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day." John 5:16.[pg 434]16. Into what perplexity did Christ's working of miracles on the Sabbath throw the Pharisees?“Therefore said some of the Pharisees,This man is not of God, because He keepeth not the Sabbath day. Others said,How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?Andthere was a division among them.”John 9:16.Note.—The working of these wonderful, beneficent, and gracious miracles on the Sabbath was an evidence that Christ was from God, and that His views of Sabbath-keeping were right. By these miracles God was setting the seal of His approval to Christ's views and teachings respecting the Sabbath, and to His manner of observing it, and thus condemning the narrow and false views of the Pharisees. Hence the division.17. According to Isaiah, what was Christ to do with the law?“He willmagnifythe law, andmake it honorable.”Isa. 42:21.Notes.—In nothing, perhaps, was this more strikingly fulfilled than in the matter of Sabbath observance. By their traditions, numerous regulations, and senseless restrictions the Jews had made the Sabbath a burden, and anything but a delight. Christ removed all these, and by His life and teachings put the Sabbath back in its proper place and setting, as a day of worship and beneficence, a day for doing acts of charity and mercy, as well as engaging in contemplation of God and in acts of devotion. Thus He magnified it and made it honorable. One of the most prominent features of Christ's whole ministry was this great work ofSabbath reform. Christ did notabolishthe Sabbath, norchangethe Sabbath; but He did rescue it from the rubbish of tradition, the false ideas, and the superstitions with which it had been buried, and by which it had been degraded and turned aside from the channel of blessing and practical service to man designed by its Maker. The Pharisees had placed the institutionaboveman, andagainstman. Christ reversed the order, and said,“The Sabbath was madefor man, and not manfor the Sabbath.”He showed that it was to minister to the happiness, the comfort, and the well-being of both man and beast.Because of the false ideas which the Jews held concerning the Sabbath and its observance, and the conflict which Christ had with them in consequence, many of the professed followers of Christ a little later were led into the error of rejecting the Sabbath itself as Jewish, and, without any divine command or Scripture warrant, to substitute another day in its place.18. Knowing that the unbelieving Jews would still cling to their false ideas respecting the Sabbath, and that flight from Jerusalem and Judea on that day would be attended with difficulty, for what, in view of the coming destruction and desolation of the city and people, did Christ tell His disciples to pray?“But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter,neither on the Sabbath day.”Matt. 24:20.Note.—Christ's experience with the Jews, the chosen and professed people of God at that time, respecting the Sabbath is but a type of what, according to prophecy, is to occur in the last days. Already it is beginning to find its parallel in the movement to enforce Sunday observance by law. See readings on pages271,484,488.[pg 435]The Sabbath In The New TestamentIllustration.Paul On The Way To Assos. "And they ... rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23:56.1. According to the New Testament, what day immediately precedes the first day of the week?“In the end ofthe Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week.”Matt. 28:1.Note.—According to the New Testament, therefore, the Sabbath had passed when the first day of the week began.2. After the crucifixion, what day was kept by the women who followed Jesus?“And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; andrested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.”Luke 23:56.3. What day is the Sabbath,“according to the commandment”?“Butthe seventh day is the Sabbathof the Lord thy God.”Ex. 20:10.4. What was Christ's custom respecting the Sabbath?“And He 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.”Luke 4:16.5. In what instruction to His disciples did Christ recognize the existence of the Sabbath long after His ascension?“But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter,neither on the Sabbath day.”Matt. 24:20.[pg 436]Note.—The destruction of Jerusalem under Titus occurred in the spring and summer of 70a.d.The flight of the Christians took place three and one-half years earlier, or late in October, 66a.d., following the arrival and sudden withdrawal of Cestius and his army. See pages313,314.6. On what day did the Jews meet for worship?“Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues everySabbath day.”Acts 15:21.7. On what day did Paul and Barnabas preach at Antioch?“They came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue onthe Sabbath day.”Acts 13:14.8. When did the Gentiles request that Paul should repeat the sermon he had preached at Antioch on the Sabbath?“And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to themthe next Sabbath.”Verse 42.9. On what day did Paul and his companions preach to the devout women at Philippi?“Andon the Sabbathwe went out of the city by a riverside, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.”Acts 16:13.10. What was Paul's manner respecting the Sabbath?“They came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul,as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.”Acts 17:1, 2.Note.—It was Paul's manner, as it was Christ's custom (Luke 4:16), to attend religious services on the Sabbath.11. How did the apostle spend the working days of the week when at Corinth?“After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; and found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; ... and because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, andwrought: for by their occupation they weretent-makers.”Acts 18:1-3. See Eze. 46:1.12. What did he do on the Sabbath days?“Andhe reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.”Acts 18:4.13. How long did he continue this work there?[pg 437]“And he continued therea year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.”Verse 11.Note.—Here, then, were seventy-eight Sabbaths on which Paul preached in one city. The record further says that he worked at his trade, and we may justly infer that Paul worked at tent-making just as many Sundays as he preached Sabbaths. If to these seventy-eight Sabbaths we add the three he spent at Thessalonica, the one at Philippi, and the two at Antioch, we have a record of eighty-four Sabbaths on which the apostle held religious services, while, so far as the record shows, he held only one meeting on the first day of the week, and that a night meeting, immediately following the Sabbath. See Acts 20. Evidently Sunday was not the Sabbath in Paul's day.14. On what day was John in the Spirit?“I was in the Spiriton the Lord's day.”Rev. 1:10.15. Who is Lord of the Sabbath?“The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.”Mark 2:28.16. What, through the prophet Isaiah, does the Lord call the Sabbath?“If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure onMy holy day.”Isa. 58:13.17. Why does the Lord call the Sabbath His day?“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, andrested the seventh day: wherefore the Lordblessedthe Sabbath day, andhallowedit.”Ex. 20:11.18. Through whom did God create the world?“God ... hath in these last days spoken unto us byHis Son, ... by whom also He made the worlds.”Heb. 1:1, 2.Notes.—From beginning to end, the Bible recognizes but one weekly Sabbath,—the day upon which God rested in the beginning; which was made known to Israel at Sinai (Neh. 9:13, 14); was observed by Christ and His apostles; and is to be kept by the redeemed in the world to come. Isa. 66:22, 23.The terms Sabbath, Sabbaths, and Sabbath days occur sixty times in the New Testament, and in every case but one refer to the seventh day. In Col. 2:16, 17, reference is made to the annual sabbaths connected with the three annual feasts observed by Israel before the first advent of Christ.The first day of the week is mentioned but eight times in the New Testament, six of which are found in the four Gospels, and refer to the day on which Christ arose from the dead. See Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19. The other two (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2) refer to the only religious meeting held on the first day of the week after the ascension, in apostolic times, recorded in the New Testament, and to a systematic accounting and laying by in store at home on that day for the poor saints in Judea and Jerusalem.It is evident, therefore, that the Sabbath of the New Testament is the same as the Sabbath of the Old Testament, and that there is nothing in the New Testament setting aside the seventh-day Sabbath, and putting the first day of the week in its place.[pg 438]The Law of GodAs Given By JehovahAs Changed By ManIIThou shalt have no other gods before me.I am the Lord thy God: thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.IIThou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.IIIIIThou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.IVIIIRemember 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.Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.VIVHonor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.Honor thy father and thy mother.VIVThou shalt not kill.Thou shalt not kill.VIIVIThou shalt not commit adultery.Thou shalt not commit adultery.VIIIVIIThou shalt not steal.Thou shalt not steal.IXVIIIThou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.XIXThou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man servant, nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.XThou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.Ex. 20:3-17.Butler's Catechism, page 28.[pg 439]The Change Of The SabbathIllustration.Changing The Law. "He shall think to change the times and the law." Dan. 7:25, R. V.1. Of what is the Sabbath commandment a part?The law of God. See Ex. 20:8-11.2. What, according to prophecy, was to be Christ's attitude toward the law?“The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness' sake;He will magnify the law, and make it honorable.”Isa. 42:21.3. In His first recorded discourse, what did Christ say of the law?“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”Matt. 5:17.4. How enduring did He say the law is?“For verily I say unto you. Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”Verse 18.5. What did He say of those who should break one of the least of God's commandments, and teach men so to do?“Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so,he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.”Verse 19.Note.—From this it is evident that the entire code of ten commandments is binding in the Christian dispensation, and that Christ had no[pg 440]thought of changing any of them. One of these commands the observance of the seventh day as the Sabbath. But the practise of most Christians is different; they keep the first day of the week instead, many of them believing that Christ changed the Sabbath. But, from His own words, we see that He came for no such purpose. The responsibility for this change must therefore be looked for elsewhere.6. What did God, through the prophet Daniel, say the power represented by the“little horn”would think to do?“And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High: andhe shall think to change the times and the law.”Dan. 7:25, R. V.Note.—For a full explanation of this symbol, see readings on“The Kingdom and Work of Antichrist”and“The Vicar of Christ,”pages218,224.7. What did the apostle Paul say the“man of sin”would do?“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, or that is worshiped.”2 Thess. 2:3, 4.Note.—There is only one way by which any power could exalt itself above God, and that is by assuming to change the law of God, and to require obedience to its own law instead of God's law.8. What power has claimed authority to change the law of God?The Papacy.9. What part of the law of God especially has the Papacy thought to change?The fourth commandment.Notes.—“They [the Catholics] allege the Sabbath changed into Sunday, the Lord's day, contrary to the decalogue, as it appears; neither is there any example more boasted of than the changing of the Sabbath day. Great, say they, is the power and authority of the church, since it dispensed with one of the ten commandments.”—Augsburg Confession, Art. XXVIII.“It [the Roman Catholic Church] hasreversedthe fourth commandment, doing away with the Sabbath of God's Word, and instituting Sunday as a holy day.”—N. Summerbell, in“History of the Christians,”page 418.10. Why did God command Israel to hallow the Sabbath?“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.”Eze. 20:20.Note.—As the Sabbath was given that man might keep God in mind as Creator, it can be readily seen that a power endeavoring to exalt itself above God would first try to cover up or remove that which calls man's special attention to his Creator. This could be done in no other way so[pg 441]effectually as by setting aside God's memorial—the seventh-day Sabbath. To this work of the Papacy Daniel had reference when he said,“And he shall ... think to changetimesandlaws.”Dan. 7:25.11. Does the Papacy acknowledge that it has changed the Sabbath?It does.Note.—“Question.—How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?“Answer.—By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feast days commanded by the same church.”—“Abridgment of Christian Doctrine,”by Rev. Henry Tuberville, D. D., of Douay College, France (1649), page 58.“Ques.—Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?“Ans.—Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her,—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.”—“A Doctrinal Catechism,”by Rev. Stephen Keenan, page 174.“The Catholic Church of its own infallible authority created Sunday a holy day to take the place of the Sabbath of the old law.”—Kansas City Catholic, Feb. 9, 1893.“The Catholic Church, ... by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.”—Catholic Mirror, official organ of Cardinal Gibbons, Sept. 23, 1893.“Ques.—Which is the Sabbath day?“Ans.—Saturday is the Sabbath day.“Ques.—Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?“Ans.—We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (a.d.336), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.”—“The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine,”by Rev. Peter Geiermann, C. SS. R., page 50, third edition, 1913, a work which received the“apostolic blessing”of Pope Pius X, Jan. 25, 1910.What was done at the Council of Laodicea was but one of the steps by which the change of the Sabbath was effected. See under questions 17-21. The date usually given for this council is 364a.d.12. Do Catholic authorities acknowledge that there is no command in the Bible for the sanctification of Sunday?They do.Note.—“You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.”—Cardinal Gibbons, in“The Faith of Our Fathers,”edition 1892, page 111.“Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles.... From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first.”—Catholic Press (Sydney, Australia), Aug. 25, 1900.[pg 442]13. Do Protestant writers acknowledge the same?They do.Note.—“Is there no express commandment for observing the first day of the week as Sabbath, instead of the seventh day?—None whatever. Neither Christ, nor His apostles, nor the first Christians celebrated the first day of the week instead of the seventh as the Sabbath.”—New York Weekly Tribune, May 24, 1900.“The Scriptures nowhere call the first day of the week the Sabbath.... There is no Scriptural authority for so doing, nor of course any Scriptural obligation.”—The Watchman (Baptist).“The observance of the first instead of the seventh day rests on the testimony of the church, and the churchalone.”—Hobart Church News (Episcopalian), July 2, 1894.For additional testimonies, see reading on page454.14. How did this change in observance of days come about, suddenly or gradually?Gradually.Notes.—“The Christian church made no formal, but a gradual and almost unconscious transference of the one day to the other.”—“The Voice From Sinai,”by Archdeacon F. W. Farrar, page 167.This of itself is evidence that there was no divine command for the change of the Sabbath.15. For how long a time was the seventh-day Sabbath observed in the Christian church?For many centuries. In fact, its observance has never wholly ceased in the Christian church.Notes.—Mr. Morer, a learned clergyman of the Church of England, says:“The primitive Christians had a great veneration for the Sabbath, and spent the day in devotion and sermons. And it is not to be doubted that they derived this practise from the apostles themselves.”—“Dialogues on the Lord's Day,”page 189.Prof. E. Brerwood, of Gresham College, London (Episcopal), says:“The Sabbath was religiously observed in the Eastern church three hundred years and more after our Saviour's passion.”—“Learned Treatise of the Sabbath,”page 77.Lyman Coleman, a careful and candid historian, says:“Down even to the fifth century the observance of the Jewish Sabbath was continued in the Christian church, but with a rigor and solemnity gradually diminishing until it was wholly discontinued.”—“Ancient Christianity Exemplified,”chap. 26, sec. 2.The historian Socrates, who wrote about the middle of the fifth century, says:“Almost all the churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, refuse to do this.”—“Ecclesiastical History,”book 5, chap. 22.Sozomen, another historian of the same period, writes:“The people of Constantinople, and of several other cities, assemble together on the Sabbath as well as on the next day; which custom is never observed at Rome.”—“Ecclesiastical History,”book 7, chap. 19.[pg 443]All this would have been inconceivable and impossible had there been a divine command given for the change of the Sabbath. The last two quotations also show that Rome led in the apostasy and in the change of the Sabbath.16. What striking testimony is borne by Neander, the noted church historian, regarding the origin of the Sunday sabbath?“Opposition to Judaism introduced the particular festival of Sunday very early, indeed, into the place of the Sabbath.... The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a divine command in this respect, far from them, and from the early apostolic church, to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday. Perhaps at the end of the second century a false application of this kind had begun to take place; for men appear by that time to have considered laboring on Sunday as a sin.”—Neander's“Church History”Rose's translation, page 186.17. Who first enjoined Sunday-keeping by law?Constantine the Great.Notes.—“The earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty is a constitution of Constantine in 321a.d., enacting that all courts of justice, inhabitants of towns, and workshops were to be at rest on Sunday (venerabili die Solis), with an exception in favor of those engaged in agricultural labor.”—Encyclopedia Britannica, ninth edition, article“Sunday.”“Constantine the Great made a law for the whole empire (321a.d.) that Sunday should be kept as a day of rest in all cities and towns; but he allowed the country people to follow their work.”—Encyclopedia Americana, article“Sabbath.”“Unquestionably the first law, either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the Sabbatical observance of that day is known to have been ordained, is the edict of Constantine, 321a.d.”—Chambers's Encyclopedia, article“Sabbath.”18. What did Constantine's law require?“Let all the judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades rest on the venerable day of the sun; but let those who are situated in the country, freely and at full liberty, attend to the business of agriculture; because it often happens that no other day is so fit for sowing corn and planting vines; lest the critical moment being let slip, men should lose the commodities granted by heaven.”—Edict of March 7, 321a.d., Corpus Juris Civilis Cod., lib. 3, tit. 12, 3.Note.—This edict, issued by Constantine, under whom the Christian church and the Roman state were first united, in a manner supplied the lack of a divine command for Sunday observance, and may be considered the original Sunday law, and the model after which all Sunday laws since then have been patterned. It was one of the important steps in bringing about and establishing the change of the Sabbath.[pg 444]19. What testimony does Eusebius (270-338), a noted bishop of the church, a flatterer of Constantine, and the reputed father of ecclesiastical history, bear upon this subject?“All things whatsoever that it was duty to do on the Sabbath, thesewehave transferred to the Lord's day.”—“Commentary on the Psalms,”Cox's“Sabbath Literature”Vol. I, page 361.Note.—The change of the Sabbath was the result of the combined efforts of church and state, and it was centuries before it was fully accomplished.20. When and by what church council was the observance of the seventh day forbidden, and Sunday observance enjoined?“The seventh-day Sabbath was ... solemnized by Christ, the apostles, and primitive Christians, tillthe Laodicean Councildid, in a manner, quite abolish the observation of it. ... The Council of Laodicea [a.d.364] ... first settled the observation of the Lord's day.”—Prynne's“Dissertation on the Lord's Day Sabbath,”page 163.21. What did this council, in its twenty-ninth canon, decree concerning the Sabbath and Christians who continued to observe it?“Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday [Sabbath], but shall work on that day.... If, however, they are found Judaizing,they shall be shut out from Christ.”—Hefele's“History of the Councils of the Church,”Vol. II, page 316.Notes.—Some of the further steps taken by church and state authorities in bringing about this change may be noted as follows:—“In 386, under Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius, it was decreed that all litigation and business should cease [on Sunday]....“Among the doctrines laid down in a letter of Pope Innocent I, written in the last year of his papacy (416), is that Saturday should be observed as a fast-day....“In 425, under Theodosius the Younger, abstinence from theatricals and the circus [on Sunday] was enjoined....“In 538, at a council at Orleans, ... it was ordained that everything previously permitted on Sunday should still be lawful; but that work at the plow, or in the vineyard, and cutting, reaping, threshing, tilling, and hedging should be abstained from, that people might more conveniently attend church....“About 590 Pope Gregory, in a letter to the Roman people, denounced as the prophets of Antichrist those who maintained that work ought not to be done on the seventh day.”—“Law of Sunday”by James T. Ringgold, pages 265-267.The last paragraph of the foregoing quotation indicates that even as late as 590a.d.there were those in the church who observed and who taught the observance of the Bible Sabbath, the seventh day.22. What determines whose servants we are?[pg 445]“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey,his servants ye are to whom ye obey?”Rom. 6:16.23. When tempted to bow down and worship Satan, what reply did Christ make?“Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, andHim only shalt thou serve.”Matt. 4:10, 11.24. What do Catholics say of the observance of Sunday by Protestants?“It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to the Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Thusthe observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church.”—“Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today,”by Mgr. Segur, page 213.25. What kind of worship does the Saviour call that which is not according to God's commandments?“Butin vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrinesthe commandments of men.”Matt. 15:9.26. When Israel had apostatized, and were almost universally worshiping Baal, what appeal did Elijah make to them?“How long halt ye between two opinions?if the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him.”1 Kings 18:21.Note.—In times of ignorance God winks at that which otherwise would be sin; but when light comes He commands men everywhere to repent. Acts 17:30. The period during which the saints, times, and the law of God were to be in the hands of the Papacy has expired (Dan. 7:25); the true light on the Sabbath question is now shining; and God is sending a message to the world, calling upon men to fear and worship Him, and to return to the observance of His holy rest day, the seventh-day Sabbath. Rev. 14:6-12; Isa. 56:1; 58:1, 12-14. See pages259,446,463,547.Who is on the Lord's sideAlways true?There's a right and wrong side,Where stand you?Thousands on the wrong sideChoose to stand,Still 'tis not the strong side,True and grand.Come and join the Lord's side:Ask you why?—'Tis the only safe sideBy and by.F. E. Belden.[pg 446]

Illustration.Healing On The Sabbath Day. "Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days." Matt. 12:12.

Healing On The Sabbath Day. "Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days." Matt. 12:12.

1. Of what did Christ say the Son of man is Lord?

“The Son of man is Lord evenof the Sabbath day.”Matt. 12:8. See also Mark 2:28.

2. Who made the Sabbath?

“All things were madeby Him[Christ, the Word]; and without Him was not anything made that was made.”John 1:3.

3. Did Christ, while on earth, keep the Sabbath?

“As His custom was,He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read.”Luke 4:16.

4. Although Lord, Maker, and an observer of the Sabbath, how was He watched and spied upon by the scribes and Pharisees on this day?

“And the scribes and Pharisees watched Him,whether He would heal on the Sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against Him.”Luke 6:7.

5. With what question did Christ meet their false ideas and reasonings regarding Sabbath-keeping?

“Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing;Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?”Verse 9.

6. How did they manifest their displeasure at His healing the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath?

“And they werefilled with madness; andcommuned one with another what they might do to Jesus.”Verse 11.“And the Pharisees went forth, and straightwaytook counsel with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.”Mark 3:6.

Note.—They were angry because, notwithstanding the fact that by the miracle performed Christ had given evidence that He was from God, He had shown no respect fortheir views of Sabbath-keeping, but, on the contrary, had shown these to bewrong. Wounded pride, obstinacy, and malice, therefore, combined to fill them withmadness; and they went out immediately and held council with the Herodians,—their political enemies with whom they disagreed in the matter of paying tribute to a foreign power,—for the purpose of accomplishing His death.

7. Because Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath day, and told him to take up his bed and walk, what did the Jews do?

“Therefore did the Jewspersecute Jesus, andsought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day.”John 5:16.

Note.—It is a fact worthy of note that over the question of proper Sabbath observance the Jews not onlypersecutedJesus, butfirst took counsel to kill Him. Not the least of the malice which finally culminated in His crucifixion, was engendered over this very question of Sabbath observance. Christ did not keep the Sabbath according to their ideas of Sabbath-keeping, and so they sought to kill Him. And they are not alone. Many today are cherishing this same spirit. Because some do not agree with their ideas regarding the Sabbath, or Sabbath observance, they seek to persecute and oppress them,—seek laws, and alliances with political powers, to compel respect for their views.

8. How did Jesus answer them?

“But Jesus answered them,My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.”Verse 17.

Note.—The ordinary operations of nature, as manifested in God's almighty, upholding, beneficent, and healing power, go on on the Sabbath the same as on other days; and to cooperate with God and nature in the work of healing, relieving, and restoring on the Sabbath, cannot, therefore, be out of harmony with God's will, nor a violation of His Sabbath law.

9. What effect did this answer have upon the Jews?

“Therefore the Jewssought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath [i.e., in their estimation], but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.”Verse 18.

10. Because the disciples plucked a few ears of corn on the Sabbath day to satisfy hunger, what accusation did the Pharisee make against them to Christ?

“And the Pharisees said unto Him,Behold, why do they on the Sabbath day that which is not lawful?”Mark 2:24.

11. What was Christ's reply?

“And He said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungered, he, and they that were with him? how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the showbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? And He said unto them,The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”Verses 25-27.

12. Because of Christ's healing a woman of an infirmity on the Sabbath, what did the ruler of a certain synagogue say?

“And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day, and said unto the people,There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”Luke 13:14.

13. How did Christ answer him?

“The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? and ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?”Verses 15, 16.

14. What effect did Christ's answers have upon the people?

“And when He had said these things,all His adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.”Verse 17.

15. By what method of reasoning did Christ justify acts of mercy on the Sabbath day?

“Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day? And they could not answer Him again to these things.”Luke 14:5, 6.“What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.”Matt. 12:11, 12.

Illustration.Healing Impotent Man On The Sabbath. "Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day." John 5:16.

Healing Impotent Man On The Sabbath. "Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day." John 5:16.

16. Into what perplexity did Christ's working of miracles on the Sabbath throw the Pharisees?

“Therefore said some of the Pharisees,This man is not of God, because He keepeth not the Sabbath day. Others said,How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?Andthere was a division among them.”John 9:16.

Note.—The working of these wonderful, beneficent, and gracious miracles on the Sabbath was an evidence that Christ was from God, and that His views of Sabbath-keeping were right. By these miracles God was setting the seal of His approval to Christ's views and teachings respecting the Sabbath, and to His manner of observing it, and thus condemning the narrow and false views of the Pharisees. Hence the division.

17. According to Isaiah, what was Christ to do with the law?

“He willmagnifythe law, andmake it honorable.”Isa. 42:21.

Notes.—In nothing, perhaps, was this more strikingly fulfilled than in the matter of Sabbath observance. By their traditions, numerous regulations, and senseless restrictions the Jews had made the Sabbath a burden, and anything but a delight. Christ removed all these, and by His life and teachings put the Sabbath back in its proper place and setting, as a day of worship and beneficence, a day for doing acts of charity and mercy, as well as engaging in contemplation of God and in acts of devotion. Thus He magnified it and made it honorable. One of the most prominent features of Christ's whole ministry was this great work ofSabbath reform. Christ did notabolishthe Sabbath, norchangethe Sabbath; but He did rescue it from the rubbish of tradition, the false ideas, and the superstitions with which it had been buried, and by which it had been degraded and turned aside from the channel of blessing and practical service to man designed by its Maker. The Pharisees had placed the institutionaboveman, andagainstman. Christ reversed the order, and said,“The Sabbath was madefor man, and not manfor the Sabbath.”He showed that it was to minister to the happiness, the comfort, and the well-being of both man and beast.Because of the false ideas which the Jews held concerning the Sabbath and its observance, and the conflict which Christ had with them in consequence, many of the professed followers of Christ a little later were led into the error of rejecting the Sabbath itself as Jewish, and, without any divine command or Scripture warrant, to substitute another day in its place.

Because of the false ideas which the Jews held concerning the Sabbath and its observance, and the conflict which Christ had with them in consequence, many of the professed followers of Christ a little later were led into the error of rejecting the Sabbath itself as Jewish, and, without any divine command or Scripture warrant, to substitute another day in its place.

18. Knowing that the unbelieving Jews would still cling to their false ideas respecting the Sabbath, and that flight from Jerusalem and Judea on that day would be attended with difficulty, for what, in view of the coming destruction and desolation of the city and people, did Christ tell His disciples to pray?

“But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter,neither on the Sabbath day.”Matt. 24:20.

Note.—Christ's experience with the Jews, the chosen and professed people of God at that time, respecting the Sabbath is but a type of what, according to prophecy, is to occur in the last days. Already it is beginning to find its parallel in the movement to enforce Sunday observance by law. See readings on pages271,484,488.

The Sabbath In The New TestamentIllustration.Paul On The Way To Assos. "And they ... rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23:56.1. According to the New Testament, what day immediately precedes the first day of the week?“In the end ofthe Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week.”Matt. 28:1.Note.—According to the New Testament, therefore, the Sabbath had passed when the first day of the week began.2. After the crucifixion, what day was kept by the women who followed Jesus?“And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; andrested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.”Luke 23:56.3. What day is the Sabbath,“according to the commandment”?“Butthe seventh day is the Sabbathof the Lord thy God.”Ex. 20:10.4. What was Christ's custom respecting the Sabbath?“And He 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.”Luke 4:16.5. In what instruction to His disciples did Christ recognize the existence of the Sabbath long after His ascension?“But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter,neither on the Sabbath day.”Matt. 24:20.[pg 436]Note.—The destruction of Jerusalem under Titus occurred in the spring and summer of 70a.d.The flight of the Christians took place three and one-half years earlier, or late in October, 66a.d., following the arrival and sudden withdrawal of Cestius and his army. See pages313,314.6. On what day did the Jews meet for worship?“Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues everySabbath day.”Acts 15:21.7. On what day did Paul and Barnabas preach at Antioch?“They came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue onthe Sabbath day.”Acts 13:14.8. When did the Gentiles request that Paul should repeat the sermon he had preached at Antioch on the Sabbath?“And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to themthe next Sabbath.”Verse 42.9. On what day did Paul and his companions preach to the devout women at Philippi?“Andon the Sabbathwe went out of the city by a riverside, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.”Acts 16:13.10. What was Paul's manner respecting the Sabbath?“They came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul,as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.”Acts 17:1, 2.Note.—It was Paul's manner, as it was Christ's custom (Luke 4:16), to attend religious services on the Sabbath.11. How did the apostle spend the working days of the week when at Corinth?“After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; and found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; ... and because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, andwrought: for by their occupation they weretent-makers.”Acts 18:1-3. See Eze. 46:1.12. What did he do on the Sabbath days?“Andhe reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.”Acts 18:4.13. How long did he continue this work there?[pg 437]“And he continued therea year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.”Verse 11.Note.—Here, then, were seventy-eight Sabbaths on which Paul preached in one city. The record further says that he worked at his trade, and we may justly infer that Paul worked at tent-making just as many Sundays as he preached Sabbaths. If to these seventy-eight Sabbaths we add the three he spent at Thessalonica, the one at Philippi, and the two at Antioch, we have a record of eighty-four Sabbaths on which the apostle held religious services, while, so far as the record shows, he held only one meeting on the first day of the week, and that a night meeting, immediately following the Sabbath. See Acts 20. Evidently Sunday was not the Sabbath in Paul's day.14. On what day was John in the Spirit?“I was in the Spiriton the Lord's day.”Rev. 1:10.15. Who is Lord of the Sabbath?“The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.”Mark 2:28.16. What, through the prophet Isaiah, does the Lord call the Sabbath?“If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure onMy holy day.”Isa. 58:13.17. Why does the Lord call the Sabbath His day?“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, andrested the seventh day: wherefore the Lordblessedthe Sabbath day, andhallowedit.”Ex. 20:11.18. Through whom did God create the world?“God ... hath in these last days spoken unto us byHis Son, ... by whom also He made the worlds.”Heb. 1:1, 2.Notes.—From beginning to end, the Bible recognizes but one weekly Sabbath,—the day upon which God rested in the beginning; which was made known to Israel at Sinai (Neh. 9:13, 14); was observed by Christ and His apostles; and is to be kept by the redeemed in the world to come. Isa. 66:22, 23.The terms Sabbath, Sabbaths, and Sabbath days occur sixty times in the New Testament, and in every case but one refer to the seventh day. In Col. 2:16, 17, reference is made to the annual sabbaths connected with the three annual feasts observed by Israel before the first advent of Christ.The first day of the week is mentioned but eight times in the New Testament, six of which are found in the four Gospels, and refer to the day on which Christ arose from the dead. See Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19. The other two (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2) refer to the only religious meeting held on the first day of the week after the ascension, in apostolic times, recorded in the New Testament, and to a systematic accounting and laying by in store at home on that day for the poor saints in Judea and Jerusalem.It is evident, therefore, that the Sabbath of the New Testament is the same as the Sabbath of the Old Testament, and that there is nothing in the New Testament setting aside the seventh-day Sabbath, and putting the first day of the week in its place.

Illustration.Paul On The Way To Assos. "And they ... rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23:56.

Paul On The Way To Assos. "And they ... rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23:56.

1. According to the New Testament, what day immediately precedes the first day of the week?

“In the end ofthe Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week.”Matt. 28:1.

Note.—According to the New Testament, therefore, the Sabbath had passed when the first day of the week began.

2. After the crucifixion, what day was kept by the women who followed Jesus?

“And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; andrested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.”Luke 23:56.

3. What day is the Sabbath,“according to the commandment”?

“Butthe seventh day is the Sabbathof the Lord thy God.”Ex. 20:10.

4. What was Christ's custom respecting the Sabbath?

“And He 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.”Luke 4:16.

5. In what instruction to His disciples did Christ recognize the existence of the Sabbath long after His ascension?

“But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter,neither on the Sabbath day.”Matt. 24:20.

Note.—The destruction of Jerusalem under Titus occurred in the spring and summer of 70a.d.The flight of the Christians took place three and one-half years earlier, or late in October, 66a.d., following the arrival and sudden withdrawal of Cestius and his army. See pages313,314.

6. On what day did the Jews meet for worship?

“Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues everySabbath day.”Acts 15:21.

7. On what day did Paul and Barnabas preach at Antioch?

“They came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue onthe Sabbath day.”Acts 13:14.

8. When did the Gentiles request that Paul should repeat the sermon he had preached at Antioch on the Sabbath?

“And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to themthe next Sabbath.”Verse 42.

9. On what day did Paul and his companions preach to the devout women at Philippi?

“Andon the Sabbathwe went out of the city by a riverside, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.”Acts 16:13.

10. What was Paul's manner respecting the Sabbath?

“They came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul,as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.”Acts 17:1, 2.

Note.—It was Paul's manner, as it was Christ's custom (Luke 4:16), to attend religious services on the Sabbath.

11. How did the apostle spend the working days of the week when at Corinth?

“After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; and found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; ... and because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, andwrought: for by their occupation they weretent-makers.”Acts 18:1-3. See Eze. 46:1.

12. What did he do on the Sabbath days?

“Andhe reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.”Acts 18:4.

13. How long did he continue this work there?

“And he continued therea year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.”Verse 11.

Note.—Here, then, were seventy-eight Sabbaths on which Paul preached in one city. The record further says that he worked at his trade, and we may justly infer that Paul worked at tent-making just as many Sundays as he preached Sabbaths. If to these seventy-eight Sabbaths we add the three he spent at Thessalonica, the one at Philippi, and the two at Antioch, we have a record of eighty-four Sabbaths on which the apostle held religious services, while, so far as the record shows, he held only one meeting on the first day of the week, and that a night meeting, immediately following the Sabbath. See Acts 20. Evidently Sunday was not the Sabbath in Paul's day.

14. On what day was John in the Spirit?

“I was in the Spiriton the Lord's day.”Rev. 1:10.

15. Who is Lord of the Sabbath?

“The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.”Mark 2:28.

16. What, through the prophet Isaiah, does the Lord call the Sabbath?

“If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure onMy holy day.”Isa. 58:13.

17. Why does the Lord call the Sabbath His day?

“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, andrested the seventh day: wherefore the Lordblessedthe Sabbath day, andhallowedit.”Ex. 20:11.

18. Through whom did God create the world?

“God ... hath in these last days spoken unto us byHis Son, ... by whom also He made the worlds.”Heb. 1:1, 2.

Notes.—From beginning to end, the Bible recognizes but one weekly Sabbath,—the day upon which God rested in the beginning; which was made known to Israel at Sinai (Neh. 9:13, 14); was observed by Christ and His apostles; and is to be kept by the redeemed in the world to come. Isa. 66:22, 23.The terms Sabbath, Sabbaths, and Sabbath days occur sixty times in the New Testament, and in every case but one refer to the seventh day. In Col. 2:16, 17, reference is made to the annual sabbaths connected with the three annual feasts observed by Israel before the first advent of Christ.The first day of the week is mentioned but eight times in the New Testament, six of which are found in the four Gospels, and refer to the day on which Christ arose from the dead. See Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19. The other two (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2) refer to the only religious meeting held on the first day of the week after the ascension, in apostolic times, recorded in the New Testament, and to a systematic accounting and laying by in store at home on that day for the poor saints in Judea and Jerusalem.It is evident, therefore, that the Sabbath of the New Testament is the same as the Sabbath of the Old Testament, and that there is nothing in the New Testament setting aside the seventh-day Sabbath, and putting the first day of the week in its place.

The terms Sabbath, Sabbaths, and Sabbath days occur sixty times in the New Testament, and in every case but one refer to the seventh day. In Col. 2:16, 17, reference is made to the annual sabbaths connected with the three annual feasts observed by Israel before the first advent of Christ.

The first day of the week is mentioned but eight times in the New Testament, six of which are found in the four Gospels, and refer to the day on which Christ arose from the dead. See Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19. The other two (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2) refer to the only religious meeting held on the first day of the week after the ascension, in apostolic times, recorded in the New Testament, and to a systematic accounting and laying by in store at home on that day for the poor saints in Judea and Jerusalem.

It is evident, therefore, that the Sabbath of the New Testament is the same as the Sabbath of the Old Testament, and that there is nothing in the New Testament setting aside the seventh-day Sabbath, and putting the first day of the week in its place.

The Law of GodAs Given By JehovahAs Changed By ManIIThou shalt have no other gods before me.I am the Lord thy God: thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.IIThou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.IIIIIThou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.IVIIIRemember 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.Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.VIVHonor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.Honor thy father and thy mother.VIVThou shalt not kill.Thou shalt not kill.VIIVIThou shalt not commit adultery.Thou shalt not commit adultery.VIIIVIIThou shalt not steal.Thou shalt not steal.IXVIIIThou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.XIXThou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man servant, nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.XThou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.Ex. 20:3-17.Butler's Catechism, page 28.

The Change Of The SabbathIllustration.Changing The Law. "He shall think to change the times and the law." Dan. 7:25, R. V.1. Of what is the Sabbath commandment a part?The law of God. See Ex. 20:8-11.2. What, according to prophecy, was to be Christ's attitude toward the law?“The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness' sake;He will magnify the law, and make it honorable.”Isa. 42:21.3. In His first recorded discourse, what did Christ say of the law?“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”Matt. 5:17.4. How enduring did He say the law is?“For verily I say unto you. Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”Verse 18.5. What did He say of those who should break one of the least of God's commandments, and teach men so to do?“Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so,he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.”Verse 19.Note.—From this it is evident that the entire code of ten commandments is binding in the Christian dispensation, and that Christ had no[pg 440]thought of changing any of them. One of these commands the observance of the seventh day as the Sabbath. But the practise of most Christians is different; they keep the first day of the week instead, many of them believing that Christ changed the Sabbath. But, from His own words, we see that He came for no such purpose. The responsibility for this change must therefore be looked for elsewhere.6. What did God, through the prophet Daniel, say the power represented by the“little horn”would think to do?“And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High: andhe shall think to change the times and the law.”Dan. 7:25, R. V.Note.—For a full explanation of this symbol, see readings on“The Kingdom and Work of Antichrist”and“The Vicar of Christ,”pages218,224.7. What did the apostle Paul say the“man of sin”would do?“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, or that is worshiped.”2 Thess. 2:3, 4.Note.—There is only one way by which any power could exalt itself above God, and that is by assuming to change the law of God, and to require obedience to its own law instead of God's law.8. What power has claimed authority to change the law of God?The Papacy.9. What part of the law of God especially has the Papacy thought to change?The fourth commandment.Notes.—“They [the Catholics] allege the Sabbath changed into Sunday, the Lord's day, contrary to the decalogue, as it appears; neither is there any example more boasted of than the changing of the Sabbath day. Great, say they, is the power and authority of the church, since it dispensed with one of the ten commandments.”—Augsburg Confession, Art. XXVIII.“It [the Roman Catholic Church] hasreversedthe fourth commandment, doing away with the Sabbath of God's Word, and instituting Sunday as a holy day.”—N. Summerbell, in“History of the Christians,”page 418.10. Why did God command Israel to hallow the Sabbath?“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.”Eze. 20:20.Note.—As the Sabbath was given that man might keep God in mind as Creator, it can be readily seen that a power endeavoring to exalt itself above God would first try to cover up or remove that which calls man's special attention to his Creator. This could be done in no other way so[pg 441]effectually as by setting aside God's memorial—the seventh-day Sabbath. To this work of the Papacy Daniel had reference when he said,“And he shall ... think to changetimesandlaws.”Dan. 7:25.11. Does the Papacy acknowledge that it has changed the Sabbath?It does.Note.—“Question.—How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?“Answer.—By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feast days commanded by the same church.”—“Abridgment of Christian Doctrine,”by Rev. Henry Tuberville, D. D., of Douay College, France (1649), page 58.“Ques.—Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?“Ans.—Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her,—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.”—“A Doctrinal Catechism,”by Rev. Stephen Keenan, page 174.“The Catholic Church of its own infallible authority created Sunday a holy day to take the place of the Sabbath of the old law.”—Kansas City Catholic, Feb. 9, 1893.“The Catholic Church, ... by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.”—Catholic Mirror, official organ of Cardinal Gibbons, Sept. 23, 1893.“Ques.—Which is the Sabbath day?“Ans.—Saturday is the Sabbath day.“Ques.—Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?“Ans.—We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (a.d.336), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.”—“The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine,”by Rev. Peter Geiermann, C. SS. R., page 50, third edition, 1913, a work which received the“apostolic blessing”of Pope Pius X, Jan. 25, 1910.What was done at the Council of Laodicea was but one of the steps by which the change of the Sabbath was effected. See under questions 17-21. The date usually given for this council is 364a.d.12. Do Catholic authorities acknowledge that there is no command in the Bible for the sanctification of Sunday?They do.Note.—“You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.”—Cardinal Gibbons, in“The Faith of Our Fathers,”edition 1892, page 111.“Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles.... From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first.”—Catholic Press (Sydney, Australia), Aug. 25, 1900.[pg 442]13. Do Protestant writers acknowledge the same?They do.Note.—“Is there no express commandment for observing the first day of the week as Sabbath, instead of the seventh day?—None whatever. Neither Christ, nor His apostles, nor the first Christians celebrated the first day of the week instead of the seventh as the Sabbath.”—New York Weekly Tribune, May 24, 1900.“The Scriptures nowhere call the first day of the week the Sabbath.... There is no Scriptural authority for so doing, nor of course any Scriptural obligation.”—The Watchman (Baptist).“The observance of the first instead of the seventh day rests on the testimony of the church, and the churchalone.”—Hobart Church News (Episcopalian), July 2, 1894.For additional testimonies, see reading on page454.14. How did this change in observance of days come about, suddenly or gradually?Gradually.Notes.—“The Christian church made no formal, but a gradual and almost unconscious transference of the one day to the other.”—“The Voice From Sinai,”by Archdeacon F. W. Farrar, page 167.This of itself is evidence that there was no divine command for the change of the Sabbath.15. For how long a time was the seventh-day Sabbath observed in the Christian church?For many centuries. In fact, its observance has never wholly ceased in the Christian church.Notes.—Mr. Morer, a learned clergyman of the Church of England, says:“The primitive Christians had a great veneration for the Sabbath, and spent the day in devotion and sermons. And it is not to be doubted that they derived this practise from the apostles themselves.”—“Dialogues on the Lord's Day,”page 189.Prof. E. Brerwood, of Gresham College, London (Episcopal), says:“The Sabbath was religiously observed in the Eastern church three hundred years and more after our Saviour's passion.”—“Learned Treatise of the Sabbath,”page 77.Lyman Coleman, a careful and candid historian, says:“Down even to the fifth century the observance of the Jewish Sabbath was continued in the Christian church, but with a rigor and solemnity gradually diminishing until it was wholly discontinued.”—“Ancient Christianity Exemplified,”chap. 26, sec. 2.The historian Socrates, who wrote about the middle of the fifth century, says:“Almost all the churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, refuse to do this.”—“Ecclesiastical History,”book 5, chap. 22.Sozomen, another historian of the same period, writes:“The people of Constantinople, and of several other cities, assemble together on the Sabbath as well as on the next day; which custom is never observed at Rome.”—“Ecclesiastical History,”book 7, chap. 19.[pg 443]All this would have been inconceivable and impossible had there been a divine command given for the change of the Sabbath. The last two quotations also show that Rome led in the apostasy and in the change of the Sabbath.16. What striking testimony is borne by Neander, the noted church historian, regarding the origin of the Sunday sabbath?“Opposition to Judaism introduced the particular festival of Sunday very early, indeed, into the place of the Sabbath.... The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a divine command in this respect, far from them, and from the early apostolic church, to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday. Perhaps at the end of the second century a false application of this kind had begun to take place; for men appear by that time to have considered laboring on Sunday as a sin.”—Neander's“Church History”Rose's translation, page 186.17. Who first enjoined Sunday-keeping by law?Constantine the Great.Notes.—“The earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty is a constitution of Constantine in 321a.d., enacting that all courts of justice, inhabitants of towns, and workshops were to be at rest on Sunday (venerabili die Solis), with an exception in favor of those engaged in agricultural labor.”—Encyclopedia Britannica, ninth edition, article“Sunday.”“Constantine the Great made a law for the whole empire (321a.d.) that Sunday should be kept as a day of rest in all cities and towns; but he allowed the country people to follow their work.”—Encyclopedia Americana, article“Sabbath.”“Unquestionably the first law, either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the Sabbatical observance of that day is known to have been ordained, is the edict of Constantine, 321a.d.”—Chambers's Encyclopedia, article“Sabbath.”18. What did Constantine's law require?“Let all the judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades rest on the venerable day of the sun; but let those who are situated in the country, freely and at full liberty, attend to the business of agriculture; because it often happens that no other day is so fit for sowing corn and planting vines; lest the critical moment being let slip, men should lose the commodities granted by heaven.”—Edict of March 7, 321a.d., Corpus Juris Civilis Cod., lib. 3, tit. 12, 3.Note.—This edict, issued by Constantine, under whom the Christian church and the Roman state were first united, in a manner supplied the lack of a divine command for Sunday observance, and may be considered the original Sunday law, and the model after which all Sunday laws since then have been patterned. It was one of the important steps in bringing about and establishing the change of the Sabbath.[pg 444]19. What testimony does Eusebius (270-338), a noted bishop of the church, a flatterer of Constantine, and the reputed father of ecclesiastical history, bear upon this subject?“All things whatsoever that it was duty to do on the Sabbath, thesewehave transferred to the Lord's day.”—“Commentary on the Psalms,”Cox's“Sabbath Literature”Vol. I, page 361.Note.—The change of the Sabbath was the result of the combined efforts of church and state, and it was centuries before it was fully accomplished.20. When and by what church council was the observance of the seventh day forbidden, and Sunday observance enjoined?“The seventh-day Sabbath was ... solemnized by Christ, the apostles, and primitive Christians, tillthe Laodicean Councildid, in a manner, quite abolish the observation of it. ... The Council of Laodicea [a.d.364] ... first settled the observation of the Lord's day.”—Prynne's“Dissertation on the Lord's Day Sabbath,”page 163.21. What did this council, in its twenty-ninth canon, decree concerning the Sabbath and Christians who continued to observe it?“Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday [Sabbath], but shall work on that day.... If, however, they are found Judaizing,they shall be shut out from Christ.”—Hefele's“History of the Councils of the Church,”Vol. II, page 316.Notes.—Some of the further steps taken by church and state authorities in bringing about this change may be noted as follows:—“In 386, under Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius, it was decreed that all litigation and business should cease [on Sunday]....“Among the doctrines laid down in a letter of Pope Innocent I, written in the last year of his papacy (416), is that Saturday should be observed as a fast-day....“In 425, under Theodosius the Younger, abstinence from theatricals and the circus [on Sunday] was enjoined....“In 538, at a council at Orleans, ... it was ordained that everything previously permitted on Sunday should still be lawful; but that work at the plow, or in the vineyard, and cutting, reaping, threshing, tilling, and hedging should be abstained from, that people might more conveniently attend church....“About 590 Pope Gregory, in a letter to the Roman people, denounced as the prophets of Antichrist those who maintained that work ought not to be done on the seventh day.”—“Law of Sunday”by James T. Ringgold, pages 265-267.The last paragraph of the foregoing quotation indicates that even as late as 590a.d.there were those in the church who observed and who taught the observance of the Bible Sabbath, the seventh day.22. What determines whose servants we are?[pg 445]“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey,his servants ye are to whom ye obey?”Rom. 6:16.23. When tempted to bow down and worship Satan, what reply did Christ make?“Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, andHim only shalt thou serve.”Matt. 4:10, 11.24. What do Catholics say of the observance of Sunday by Protestants?“It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to the Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Thusthe observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church.”—“Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today,”by Mgr. Segur, page 213.25. What kind of worship does the Saviour call that which is not according to God's commandments?“Butin vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrinesthe commandments of men.”Matt. 15:9.26. When Israel had apostatized, and were almost universally worshiping Baal, what appeal did Elijah make to them?“How long halt ye between two opinions?if the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him.”1 Kings 18:21.Note.—In times of ignorance God winks at that which otherwise would be sin; but when light comes He commands men everywhere to repent. Acts 17:30. The period during which the saints, times, and the law of God were to be in the hands of the Papacy has expired (Dan. 7:25); the true light on the Sabbath question is now shining; and God is sending a message to the world, calling upon men to fear and worship Him, and to return to the observance of His holy rest day, the seventh-day Sabbath. Rev. 14:6-12; Isa. 56:1; 58:1, 12-14. See pages259,446,463,547.Who is on the Lord's sideAlways true?There's a right and wrong side,Where stand you?Thousands on the wrong sideChoose to stand,Still 'tis not the strong side,True and grand.Come and join the Lord's side:Ask you why?—'Tis the only safe sideBy and by.F. E. Belden.

Illustration.Changing The Law. "He shall think to change the times and the law." Dan. 7:25, R. V.

Changing The Law. "He shall think to change the times and the law." Dan. 7:25, R. V.

1. Of what is the Sabbath commandment a part?

The law of God. See Ex. 20:8-11.

2. What, according to prophecy, was to be Christ's attitude toward the law?

“The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness' sake;He will magnify the law, and make it honorable.”Isa. 42:21.

3. In His first recorded discourse, what did Christ say of the law?

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”Matt. 5:17.

4. How enduring did He say the law is?

“For verily I say unto you. Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”Verse 18.

5. What did He say of those who should break one of the least of God's commandments, and teach men so to do?

“Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so,he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.”Verse 19.

Note.—From this it is evident that the entire code of ten commandments is binding in the Christian dispensation, and that Christ had no[pg 440]thought of changing any of them. One of these commands the observance of the seventh day as the Sabbath. But the practise of most Christians is different; they keep the first day of the week instead, many of them believing that Christ changed the Sabbath. But, from His own words, we see that He came for no such purpose. The responsibility for this change must therefore be looked for elsewhere.

6. What did God, through the prophet Daniel, say the power represented by the“little horn”would think to do?

“And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High: andhe shall think to change the times and the law.”Dan. 7:25, R. V.

Note.—For a full explanation of this symbol, see readings on“The Kingdom and Work of Antichrist”and“The Vicar of Christ,”pages218,224.

7. What did the apostle Paul say the“man of sin”would do?

“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, or that is worshiped.”2 Thess. 2:3, 4.

Note.—There is only one way by which any power could exalt itself above God, and that is by assuming to change the law of God, and to require obedience to its own law instead of God's law.

8. What power has claimed authority to change the law of God?

The Papacy.

9. What part of the law of God especially has the Papacy thought to change?

The fourth commandment.

Notes.—“They [the Catholics] allege the Sabbath changed into Sunday, the Lord's day, contrary to the decalogue, as it appears; neither is there any example more boasted of than the changing of the Sabbath day. Great, say they, is the power and authority of the church, since it dispensed with one of the ten commandments.”—Augsburg Confession, Art. XXVIII.“It [the Roman Catholic Church] hasreversedthe fourth commandment, doing away with the Sabbath of God's Word, and instituting Sunday as a holy day.”—N. Summerbell, in“History of the Christians,”page 418.

“It [the Roman Catholic Church] hasreversedthe fourth commandment, doing away with the Sabbath of God's Word, and instituting Sunday as a holy day.”—N. Summerbell, in“History of the Christians,”page 418.

10. Why did God command Israel to hallow the Sabbath?

“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.”Eze. 20:20.

Note.—As the Sabbath was given that man might keep God in mind as Creator, it can be readily seen that a power endeavoring to exalt itself above God would first try to cover up or remove that which calls man's special attention to his Creator. This could be done in no other way so[pg 441]effectually as by setting aside God's memorial—the seventh-day Sabbath. To this work of the Papacy Daniel had reference when he said,“And he shall ... think to changetimesandlaws.”Dan. 7:25.

11. Does the Papacy acknowledge that it has changed the Sabbath?

It does.

Note.—“Question.—How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?“Answer.—By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feast days commanded by the same church.”—“Abridgment of Christian Doctrine,”by Rev. Henry Tuberville, D. D., of Douay College, France (1649), page 58.“Ques.—Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?“Ans.—Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her,—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.”—“A Doctrinal Catechism,”by Rev. Stephen Keenan, page 174.“The Catholic Church of its own infallible authority created Sunday a holy day to take the place of the Sabbath of the old law.”—Kansas City Catholic, Feb. 9, 1893.“The Catholic Church, ... by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.”—Catholic Mirror, official organ of Cardinal Gibbons, Sept. 23, 1893.“Ques.—Which is the Sabbath day?“Ans.—Saturday is the Sabbath day.“Ques.—Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?“Ans.—We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (a.d.336), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.”—“The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine,”by Rev. Peter Geiermann, C. SS. R., page 50, third edition, 1913, a work which received the“apostolic blessing”of Pope Pius X, Jan. 25, 1910.What was done at the Council of Laodicea was but one of the steps by which the change of the Sabbath was effected. See under questions 17-21. The date usually given for this council is 364a.d.

Note.—“Question.—How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?

“Answer.—By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feast days commanded by the same church.”—“Abridgment of Christian Doctrine,”by Rev. Henry Tuberville, D. D., of Douay College, France (1649), page 58.

“Ques.—Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?

“Ans.—Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her,—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.”—“A Doctrinal Catechism,”by Rev. Stephen Keenan, page 174.

“The Catholic Church of its own infallible authority created Sunday a holy day to take the place of the Sabbath of the old law.”—Kansas City Catholic, Feb. 9, 1893.

“The Catholic Church, ... by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.”—Catholic Mirror, official organ of Cardinal Gibbons, Sept. 23, 1893.

“Ques.—Which is the Sabbath day?

“Ans.—Saturday is the Sabbath day.

“Ques.—Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?

“Ans.—We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (a.d.336), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.”—“The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine,”by Rev. Peter Geiermann, C. SS. R., page 50, third edition, 1913, a work which received the“apostolic blessing”of Pope Pius X, Jan. 25, 1910.

What was done at the Council of Laodicea was but one of the steps by which the change of the Sabbath was effected. See under questions 17-21. The date usually given for this council is 364a.d.

12. Do Catholic authorities acknowledge that there is no command in the Bible for the sanctification of Sunday?

They do.

Note.—“You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.”—Cardinal Gibbons, in“The Faith of Our Fathers,”edition 1892, page 111.“Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles.... From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first.”—Catholic Press (Sydney, Australia), Aug. 25, 1900.

“Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles.... From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first.”—Catholic Press (Sydney, Australia), Aug. 25, 1900.

13. Do Protestant writers acknowledge the same?

They do.

Note.—“Is there no express commandment for observing the first day of the week as Sabbath, instead of the seventh day?—None whatever. Neither Christ, nor His apostles, nor the first Christians celebrated the first day of the week instead of the seventh as the Sabbath.”—New York Weekly Tribune, May 24, 1900.“The Scriptures nowhere call the first day of the week the Sabbath.... There is no Scriptural authority for so doing, nor of course any Scriptural obligation.”—The Watchman (Baptist).“The observance of the first instead of the seventh day rests on the testimony of the church, and the churchalone.”—Hobart Church News (Episcopalian), July 2, 1894.For additional testimonies, see reading on page454.

“The Scriptures nowhere call the first day of the week the Sabbath.... There is no Scriptural authority for so doing, nor of course any Scriptural obligation.”—The Watchman (Baptist).

“The observance of the first instead of the seventh day rests on the testimony of the church, and the churchalone.”—Hobart Church News (Episcopalian), July 2, 1894.

For additional testimonies, see reading on page454.

14. How did this change in observance of days come about, suddenly or gradually?

Gradually.

Notes.—“The Christian church made no formal, but a gradual and almost unconscious transference of the one day to the other.”—“The Voice From Sinai,”by Archdeacon F. W. Farrar, page 167.This of itself is evidence that there was no divine command for the change of the Sabbath.

Notes.—“The Christian church made no formal, but a gradual and almost unconscious transference of the one day to the other.”—“The Voice From Sinai,”by Archdeacon F. W. Farrar, page 167.

This of itself is evidence that there was no divine command for the change of the Sabbath.

15. For how long a time was the seventh-day Sabbath observed in the Christian church?

For many centuries. In fact, its observance has never wholly ceased in the Christian church.

Notes.—Mr. Morer, a learned clergyman of the Church of England, says:“The primitive Christians had a great veneration for the Sabbath, and spent the day in devotion and sermons. And it is not to be doubted that they derived this practise from the apostles themselves.”—“Dialogues on the Lord's Day,”page 189.Prof. E. Brerwood, of Gresham College, London (Episcopal), says:“The Sabbath was religiously observed in the Eastern church three hundred years and more after our Saviour's passion.”—“Learned Treatise of the Sabbath,”page 77.Lyman Coleman, a careful and candid historian, says:“Down even to the fifth century the observance of the Jewish Sabbath was continued in the Christian church, but with a rigor and solemnity gradually diminishing until it was wholly discontinued.”—“Ancient Christianity Exemplified,”chap. 26, sec. 2.The historian Socrates, who wrote about the middle of the fifth century, says:“Almost all the churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, refuse to do this.”—“Ecclesiastical History,”book 5, chap. 22.Sozomen, another historian of the same period, writes:“The people of Constantinople, and of several other cities, assemble together on the Sabbath as well as on the next day; which custom is never observed at Rome.”—“Ecclesiastical History,”book 7, chap. 19.[pg 443]All this would have been inconceivable and impossible had there been a divine command given for the change of the Sabbath. The last two quotations also show that Rome led in the apostasy and in the change of the Sabbath.

Prof. E. Brerwood, of Gresham College, London (Episcopal), says:“The Sabbath was religiously observed in the Eastern church three hundred years and more after our Saviour's passion.”—“Learned Treatise of the Sabbath,”page 77.

Lyman Coleman, a careful and candid historian, says:“Down even to the fifth century the observance of the Jewish Sabbath was continued in the Christian church, but with a rigor and solemnity gradually diminishing until it was wholly discontinued.”—“Ancient Christianity Exemplified,”chap. 26, sec. 2.

The historian Socrates, who wrote about the middle of the fifth century, says:“Almost all the churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, refuse to do this.”—“Ecclesiastical History,”book 5, chap. 22.

Sozomen, another historian of the same period, writes:“The people of Constantinople, and of several other cities, assemble together on the Sabbath as well as on the next day; which custom is never observed at Rome.”—“Ecclesiastical History,”book 7, chap. 19.

All this would have been inconceivable and impossible had there been a divine command given for the change of the Sabbath. The last two quotations also show that Rome led in the apostasy and in the change of the Sabbath.

16. What striking testimony is borne by Neander, the noted church historian, regarding the origin of the Sunday sabbath?

“Opposition to Judaism introduced the particular festival of Sunday very early, indeed, into the place of the Sabbath.... The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a divine command in this respect, far from them, and from the early apostolic church, to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday. Perhaps at the end of the second century a false application of this kind had begun to take place; for men appear by that time to have considered laboring on Sunday as a sin.”—Neander's“Church History”Rose's translation, page 186.

17. Who first enjoined Sunday-keeping by law?

Constantine the Great.

Notes.—“The earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty is a constitution of Constantine in 321a.d., enacting that all courts of justice, inhabitants of towns, and workshops were to be at rest on Sunday (venerabili die Solis), with an exception in favor of those engaged in agricultural labor.”—Encyclopedia Britannica, ninth edition, article“Sunday.”“Constantine the Great made a law for the whole empire (321a.d.) that Sunday should be kept as a day of rest in all cities and towns; but he allowed the country people to follow their work.”—Encyclopedia Americana, article“Sabbath.”“Unquestionably the first law, either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the Sabbatical observance of that day is known to have been ordained, is the edict of Constantine, 321a.d.”—Chambers's Encyclopedia, article“Sabbath.”

“Constantine the Great made a law for the whole empire (321a.d.) that Sunday should be kept as a day of rest in all cities and towns; but he allowed the country people to follow their work.”—Encyclopedia Americana, article“Sabbath.”

“Unquestionably the first law, either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the Sabbatical observance of that day is known to have been ordained, is the edict of Constantine, 321a.d.”—Chambers's Encyclopedia, article“Sabbath.”

18. What did Constantine's law require?

“Let all the judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades rest on the venerable day of the sun; but let those who are situated in the country, freely and at full liberty, attend to the business of agriculture; because it often happens that no other day is so fit for sowing corn and planting vines; lest the critical moment being let slip, men should lose the commodities granted by heaven.”—Edict of March 7, 321a.d., Corpus Juris Civilis Cod., lib. 3, tit. 12, 3.

Note.—This edict, issued by Constantine, under whom the Christian church and the Roman state were first united, in a manner supplied the lack of a divine command for Sunday observance, and may be considered the original Sunday law, and the model after which all Sunday laws since then have been patterned. It was one of the important steps in bringing about and establishing the change of the Sabbath.

19. What testimony does Eusebius (270-338), a noted bishop of the church, a flatterer of Constantine, and the reputed father of ecclesiastical history, bear upon this subject?

“All things whatsoever that it was duty to do on the Sabbath, thesewehave transferred to the Lord's day.”—“Commentary on the Psalms,”Cox's“Sabbath Literature”Vol. I, page 361.

Note.—The change of the Sabbath was the result of the combined efforts of church and state, and it was centuries before it was fully accomplished.

20. When and by what church council was the observance of the seventh day forbidden, and Sunday observance enjoined?

“The seventh-day Sabbath was ... solemnized by Christ, the apostles, and primitive Christians, tillthe Laodicean Councildid, in a manner, quite abolish the observation of it. ... The Council of Laodicea [a.d.364] ... first settled the observation of the Lord's day.”—Prynne's“Dissertation on the Lord's Day Sabbath,”page 163.

21. What did this council, in its twenty-ninth canon, decree concerning the Sabbath and Christians who continued to observe it?

“Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday [Sabbath], but shall work on that day.... If, however, they are found Judaizing,they shall be shut out from Christ.”—Hefele's“History of the Councils of the Church,”Vol. II, page 316.

Notes.—Some of the further steps taken by church and state authorities in bringing about this change may be noted as follows:—“In 386, under Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius, it was decreed that all litigation and business should cease [on Sunday]....“Among the doctrines laid down in a letter of Pope Innocent I, written in the last year of his papacy (416), is that Saturday should be observed as a fast-day....“In 425, under Theodosius the Younger, abstinence from theatricals and the circus [on Sunday] was enjoined....“In 538, at a council at Orleans, ... it was ordained that everything previously permitted on Sunday should still be lawful; but that work at the plow, or in the vineyard, and cutting, reaping, threshing, tilling, and hedging should be abstained from, that people might more conveniently attend church....“About 590 Pope Gregory, in a letter to the Roman people, denounced as the prophets of Antichrist those who maintained that work ought not to be done on the seventh day.”—“Law of Sunday”by James T. Ringgold, pages 265-267.The last paragraph of the foregoing quotation indicates that even as late as 590a.d.there were those in the church who observed and who taught the observance of the Bible Sabbath, the seventh day.

Notes.—Some of the further steps taken by church and state authorities in bringing about this change may be noted as follows:—

“In 386, under Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius, it was decreed that all litigation and business should cease [on Sunday]....

“Among the doctrines laid down in a letter of Pope Innocent I, written in the last year of his papacy (416), is that Saturday should be observed as a fast-day....

“In 425, under Theodosius the Younger, abstinence from theatricals and the circus [on Sunday] was enjoined....

“In 538, at a council at Orleans, ... it was ordained that everything previously permitted on Sunday should still be lawful; but that work at the plow, or in the vineyard, and cutting, reaping, threshing, tilling, and hedging should be abstained from, that people might more conveniently attend church....

“About 590 Pope Gregory, in a letter to the Roman people, denounced as the prophets of Antichrist those who maintained that work ought not to be done on the seventh day.”—“Law of Sunday”by James T. Ringgold, pages 265-267.

The last paragraph of the foregoing quotation indicates that even as late as 590a.d.there were those in the church who observed and who taught the observance of the Bible Sabbath, the seventh day.

22. What determines whose servants we are?

“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey,his servants ye are to whom ye obey?”Rom. 6:16.

23. When tempted to bow down and worship Satan, what reply did Christ make?

“Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, andHim only shalt thou serve.”Matt. 4:10, 11.

24. What do Catholics say of the observance of Sunday by Protestants?

“It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to the Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Thusthe observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church.”—“Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today,”by Mgr. Segur, page 213.

25. What kind of worship does the Saviour call that which is not according to God's commandments?

“Butin vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrinesthe commandments of men.”Matt. 15:9.

26. When Israel had apostatized, and were almost universally worshiping Baal, what appeal did Elijah make to them?

“How long halt ye between two opinions?if the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him.”1 Kings 18:21.

Note.—In times of ignorance God winks at that which otherwise would be sin; but when light comes He commands men everywhere to repent. Acts 17:30. The period during which the saints, times, and the law of God were to be in the hands of the Papacy has expired (Dan. 7:25); the true light on the Sabbath question is now shining; and God is sending a message to the world, calling upon men to fear and worship Him, and to return to the observance of His holy rest day, the seventh-day Sabbath. Rev. 14:6-12; Isa. 56:1; 58:1, 12-14. See pages259,446,463,547.

Who is on the Lord's sideAlways true?There's a right and wrong side,Where stand you?Thousands on the wrong sideChoose to stand,Still 'tis not the strong side,True and grand.Come and join the Lord's side:Ask you why?—'Tis the only safe sideBy and by.F. E. Belden.

Who is on the Lord's sideAlways true?There's a right and wrong side,Where stand you?

Who is on the Lord's side

Always true?

There's a right and wrong side,

Where stand you?

Thousands on the wrong sideChoose to stand,Still 'tis not the strong side,True and grand.

Thousands on the wrong side

Choose to stand,

Still 'tis not the strong side,

True and grand.

Come and join the Lord's side:Ask you why?—'Tis the only safe sideBy and by.F. E. Belden.

Come and join the Lord's side:

Ask you why?—

'Tis the only safe side

By and by.

F. E. Belden.

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