Father Miller also gives his reasons for the change, in his lecture on the great Sabbath: "One is Christ's resurrection and his often meeting with his disciplesafterwardson that day. This, with the example of the Apostles, is strong evidence that the proper creation Sabbath to man, came on the first day of the week." His proof is this: "Adam must have rested on the first day of his life, and thus you will see that to Adam it was the first day of the week, for it would not be reasonable to suppose that Adam began to reckon time before he was created." He certainly could not be able to work six days before the first Sabbath. And thus with the second Adam; the first day of the week he arose and lived. And we find by thebibleand by history, that the first day of the week "was ever afterwards observed as a day of worship." Now I say there is no more truth in these assertions, than there is in those I have already quoted. There is not one passage in the bible to show that Christ met with his disciples on the first day of the week after the day of his resurrection, nor that the first day of the week wasever afterwardsobserved as a day of worship; save only in one instance, and that shall be noticed in its place. And it seems to me if Adam could not reckon time only from his creation then by the same rule no other man could reckon time before his birth, and by this showing Christ could not reckon his time until after his resurrection. It is painful to me to expose the errors of one whom I have so long venerated, and still love for the flood of light he has given the world in respect to the Second Advent of our Saviour; but God's word must be vindicated if we have to cut off a right arm, "there is nothing true but truth!" I pray God to forgive him in joining the great multitude of Advent believers, to sound the retreat back beyond thetarryingtime, just when the virgins had gained a glorious victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil! Go back from this to the slumbering quarters now; nothing but treachery to our Master's cause ever dictated such a course! I never can be made to believe that our glorious Commander designed that we should leave our sacrifices smoking on the altar of God, in the midst of the enemies' land, but rather that we should be pushing onward from victory to victory, until we are established in the Capital ofHiskingdom. Would it have been expedient or a mark of courage in General Taylor, after he had conquered the Mexican army on the 9th May last, to have retreated back to the capital of the U. States, to place himself and army on thebroad platformof liberty, andcommence to travel the ground over again for the purpose of pursuing and overcoming his vanquished foe? No! Every person of common sense knows that such a course would have overwhelmed him and all his followers with unutterable disgrace, no matter how unrighteous the contest. Not so with this, for our cause is one of the most glorious, tho' it be the most trying that ever the sun shone upon since God placed it in the heavens. Onward and victory, then, are our watchwords, and no retreating back to, or beyond the cry atMidnight! But to the subject. Did our Saviour ever meet with his disciples on the first day of the week after the evening of the day of his resurrection? The xxi. ch. John says "they went a fishing, and while there Jesus appeared unto them." In the 14th v. he says, "This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples after that he was risen from the dead." Now turn to 1 Cor. xv: 4-7: Paul's testimony is, 'that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve, after that of above five hundred brethren at once, and then of James, then of all the Apostles.' These are all that are specified, up to his going into heaven. Now pray tell me if you can, where these men got their information respecting the frequent meetings on the first day of the week. The bible says no such thing. But let us pursue the subject and look at the third text, "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him instore, as God has prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come." Now please turn back to Dr. Dodridge's authority, he says the argument is too obvious to need any illustration, that the money was put into common stock, and that this was the religious observance of the first day of the week. Now whoever will read the first six verses of this chapter, and compare them with Rom. xv: 26-33, will see that Paul's design was to collect some money for the poor saints at Jerusalem, and their laying it by them in store until he came that way; for it plainly implies that they were at home, for no one could understand that you had money lying by you in store, if it was in common stock or in other hands. Again, see Acts xviii: 4, 11. Paul preaching every Sabbath day, at this very time, for eighteen months, to these very same Corinthians, bids them farewell, to go up to the feast at Jerusalem, 21 v. By reading to xxi. ch. 17 v. you have his history until he arrives there. Now I ask, if Dr. Dodridge's clear illustration can or will be relied on, when Luke clearly teaches that Paul'smannerwas, and that he did always preach to them on the Sabbath, which, of course,was the Seventh day, and not the first day of the week. Fourth text, John says: I was in the spirit on the Lord's day. Here Dr. D. concludes with the generality of christian writers on this subject that this strongly infers the extraordinary regard paid to the first day of the week, as solemnly consecrated to Christ, &c. If the scripture any where called this the Lord's day, there might be some reason to believe their statements, but the seventh day Sabbath is called the Lord's day. See Exod. xx: 10.
Mr. Fisher, in speaking of the late Harrisburg convention of 1844-45, says, "The most spirited debate that occurred at the assembly was to fix a proper name for the first day of the week, whether it should be calledSabbath, theChristianSabbath orLord'sday. The reason for this dispute was, that there was no authority for calling the first day of the week by either one of these names. To pretend that that command was fixed and unchangeable, and yet to alter it to please the fancy of man, is in itself ridiculous. It is hardly possible in the nature of man, that a class of society should be receiving pay for their services and not be influenced thereby:—in the nature of things they will avoid such doctrines as are repugnant to them that give them bread."
Now we come to the fifth and last, and only one spoken of in all the New Testament, for a meeting on the first day of the week. Luke says, "Upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them,ready to depart on the morrow: and continued his speech until midnight." Acts xx: 7. Now by following the scripture mode of computing time, from 6 o'clock in the evening to 6 o'clock in the morning, as has been shown, Paul to commence on the beginning of the first day would begin on what we call Saturday evening at 6 o'clock, and preach till midnight. After that he restores to life the young man, then breaks bread and talked till the break of day, which would be Sunday morning. Then he commenced his journey for Jerusalem and travelled and sailed all day Sunday, the first day of the week, and two other days in succession. xx: 11-15. Now it seems to me, if Paul did teach or keep the first day of the week for the Sabbath or a holy day, he violated the sanctity of it to all intents and purposes, without giving one single reason for it; all the proof presented here is a night meeting. Please see the quotation from the British Quarterly Review. But let us look at it the way in whichwecompute time: I think it will be fair to premise, that about midnight was the middle ofPaul's meeting; at any rate there is but one midnight to a twenty-four hour day. We say that Sunday, the first day of the week, does not commence until 12 o'clock Saturday night. Then it is very clear, if he is preaching on the first day till midnight, according to our reckoning it must be on Sunday night, and his celebrating the Lord's supper after midnight would make it that he broke bread onMonday, the second day, and that the day time on Sunday is not included, unless he had continued his speech through the day till midnight. Now the text says that on the first day of the week they came together to break bread. Toprove that they did break bread on that day, we must take the mode in which the Jews computed time, and allow the first day of the week to begin at 6 o'clock on Saturday evening, and to follow Paul's example, pay no regard to the first day, after daylight, but to travel, &c. Ifourmode of time is taken, they broke bread on the second day, and that would destroy the meaning of the text. Here then, in this text, is theonlyargument that can be adduced in the scriptures of divine truth, for achange of the perpetual seventh daySabbath of the Lord our God to the first day of the week.
Now I'll venture the assertion, that there is no law or commandment recorded in the bible, that God has held so sacred among men, as the keeping of His Sabbath. Where then, I ask, is the living man that dare stand before God and declare that here is the change for the church of God to keep the first instead of the seventh day of the week for the Sabbath. If it could be proved that Paul preached here all of the first day, the only inference that could be drawn, would be, to break bread on that day!
There is one more point worthy of our attention, that is, the teaching and example of Jesus. I have been told by one that is looked up to as a strong believer in the second coming of the Lord this fall, that Jesus broke the Sabbath. Jesus says, I have kept my Father's commandments. It is said that he 'broke the Sabbath,' because he allowed his disciples to pluck the corn and eat it on that day, and the Pharisees condemned them. He says, "If ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned theguiltless." Then they were notguilty. See Deut. xxiii: 25. He immediately cites them to David and his men, shewing that it was lawful and right when hungry, even to eat the shoe bread that belonged only to the priests, and told them that he was Lord of the Sabbath day. Here he shows too, that he was with hisdisciples passing to the synagogue to teach; they ask him if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath day. He asks them if they had a sheep fall into the ditch on the Sabbath, if they would not haul him out? How much better then is a man than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days; and immediately healed the man with a withered hand. Matt. xii: 1-13. On another Sabbath day, while he was teaching, he healed a woman that had been bound of satan eighteen years, and when the ruler of the synagogue began to find fault, he called him a hypocrite, and said "doth not each one of you on the Sabbath day loose his ox or his ass from the stall and lead him away to watering; and all his adversaries wereashamed." Luke xiii: 10-17. The xiv. chapter of Luke is quoted to prove that he broke the Sabbath because he went into the Pharisees house with many others on the Sabbath day to eat bread. Here he saw a man with the dropsy and he asked them if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath day. 'And they held their peace and he took him and healed him,' and asked them 'which of them having an ox or an ass fall into the pit, would not straitway pull him out on the Sabbath day; and they could not answer him again.' 1-6 v. And 'he continued to teach them, by showing them when they made a feast to call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and then they should be blessed.' Read the chapter, and you will readily see that he took this occasion, as the most befitting, to teach them by parables, what their duty was at weddings and feasts, in the same manner as he taught them in their synagogues.
There is still another passage, and I believe the only one, to which reference has been made, (except where he opened the eyes of a man that was born blind,) for proof that he broke the Sabbath. It is recorded in John v: 5-17. Here Jesus found a man that had been sick thirty-eight years, by the pool of Bethesda, 'he saith unto him rise, take up thy bed and walk,—therefore did they persecute Jesus and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day.' 16 v. 'But Jesus answered them, my Father worketh hitherto and I work.' If they did not work every hour and moment of time, it would be impossible for man to exist: Here undoubtedly he had reference to these and other acts of necessity and mercy; but the great sin for which professors in this enlightened age charge the Saviour with in this transaction, is, in directing the man to take up his bed, contrary to law. It is clear the peoplewere forbidden to carry burthens on the Sabbath day, as in Jer. xvii: 21, 22, but by reading the 24th v. in connection with Neh. xiii: 15-22, we learn that this prohibition related to what was lawful for them to do on the other six days of the week, viz. merchandise and trading. See proof, Neh. x: 31: also unlawful, as in Amos viii: 5. We need not, nor we cannot misunderstand the fourth commandment, taken in connection with the other nine, they were simple and pure written by the finger of God; but in the days of our Saviour it had become heavily laden with Jewish traditions, hence when Jesus appeals to them whether it is lawful to do good and to heal on the Sabbath days, their mouths are closed because they cannot contradict him from the law nor the prophets. The Saviour no where interferes with them in their most rigid observance of the day; but when they find fault with him for performing his miracles of mercy on that day, he tells them they have broken the law; and in another place, "If a man on the Sabbath day receive circumcision without breaking the law of Moses, are ye angry at me because I have made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day?" He then says, "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." vii: 23, 24. Did he break the Sabbath? Now the law requires that the beasts shall rest; but what is the practice of many of those who are the most strict in keeping Sunday for the Sabbath. Sick, or well, ministers or laymen, do they not ride back and forth to meeting? Again, is it right and lawful to carry forth our dead on the Sabbath? or carry the communion service back and forth. The Apostle says, 'believe and be baptized.' Suppose this should be on the Sabbath and we were some distance from the water, would any one interfere with us if we carried our change of apparel with us and back again, or have we in so doing transgressed the law; if we have, it is high time we made a full stop. Jesus undoubtedly had good reasons for directing the sick man to take up his bed and walk, but I cannot learn that he justified any one else in carrying their bed on the Sabbath, unless in a case of necessity and mercy, such as he cited them to, as watering their cattle, and pulling them out of the ditch, and eating when hungry, and being healed when sick. Be it also remembered that when the Sanhedrim tried him they did not condemn him, as in the other cases cited; so in this, they failed for want of scripture testimony. He was the Lord of the Sabbath, and the law of ceremonies were now aboutto cease forever, the ten commandments with the keeping of the Sabbath therefore were to be stripped of these ceremonies and all of their traditions, and left as pure to be written on the hearts of the Gentiles as when first written on tables of stone, therefore Jesus taught that it was right to do good on the Sabbath day, and whoever follows his example and teaching will keep the seventh day Sabbath holy and acceptable to God. They will also judge righteous judgement, and not according to appearance.
There is but one Christian Sabbath named, or established in the bible, and that individual, whoever he is, that undertakes to abolish or change it, is thereal Sabbath breaker. Remember that the keeping the commandments is the only safe guide through the gates into the city.
My friends and neighbors, and especially my family, know that I have for more than twenty years, strictly endeavored to keep the first day of the week for the Sabbath, and I can say that I did it in all good conscience before God, on the ocean, and in foreign countries as well as my own, until about sixteen months since I read an article published in the Hope of Israel, by a worthy brother, T. M. Preble, of Nashua, which when I read and compared with the bible, convinced me that there never had been any change. Therefore the seventh day was the Sabbath, and God required me as well as him to keep it holy. Many things now troubled my mind as to how I could make this great change, family, friends, and brethren and, but this one passage of Scripture was, and always will be as clear as a sunbeam. "What is that to thee: follow thou me." In a few days my mind was made up to begin to keep the fourth commandment, and I bless God for the clear light he has shed upon my mind in answer to prayer and a thorough examination of the scriptures on this great subject. Contrary views did, after a little, shake my position some, but I feel now that there is no argument nor sophistry that can becloud my mind again this side of the gates of the Holy City. Brother Marsh, who no doubt thinks, and perhaps thousands besides, that his paper is what it purports to be, THE VOICE OF TRUTH, takes the ground with the infidel that there is no Sabbath. Brother S. S. Snow, of New York, late editor of the Jubilee Standard, publishes to the world that he is the Elijah, preceding the advent of our Saviour, restoring all things: (the seventh day Sabbath must be one of the all things,) and yet he takes the same ground with Br. Marsh, that the Sabbathis forever abolished. As the seventh day Sabbath is a real prophecy, a picture (and not a shadow like the Jewish Sabbaths,) of the thing typified which is to come, I cannot see how those who believe in the change or abolition of the type, can have any confidence to look to God for the great antetype, the Sabbath of rest, to come to them.
Brother J. B. Cook has written a short piece in his excellent paper, the ADVENT TESTIMONY. It was pointed and good, but too short; and as brother Preble's Tract now before me, did not embrace the arguments which have been presented since he published it, it appeared to me that something was called for in this time of falling back from this great subject. I therefore present this book, hoping at least, that it will help to strengthen and save all honest souls seeking after truth.
A word respecting the History.At the close of the first century a controversy arose, whether both days should be kept or only one, which continued until the reign of Constantine the Great. By his laws, made in A. D. 321, it was decreed for the future that Sunday should be kept a day of rest in all the cities and towns; but he allowed the country people to follow husbandry. History further informs us that Constantine murdered his two sisters husbands and son, and his own familiar friend, that same year, and the year before boiled his wife in a cauldron of oil.—The controversy still continued down to A. D. 603, when Pope Gregory passed a law abolishing the seventh day Sabbath, and establishing the first day of the week. See Baronius Councils, 603. Barnfield's Eng. page 116, states that the Parliament of England met on Sundays till the time of Richard II. The first law of England made for keeping of Sunday, was in the time of Edward IV. about 1470. As these two books are not within my reach, I have extracted from T. M. Preble's tract on the Sabbath. Mr. Fisher says, it was Dr. Bound one of the rigid puritans, who applied the nameSabbathto the first day of the week, about the year 1795. "The word Sunday is not found in the bible," it derived its name from the heathen nations of the North, because the day was dedicated to the sun. Neither is the Sabbath applied to the first day any more than it is to the sixth day of the week. While Daniel beheld the little horn, (popery) he said, among other things, he wouldthinkto change times and laws. Now this could not mean of men, because it ever has been the prerogative of absolute rulers like himself, to changemanmade laws. Then to make the prophecy harmonize with the scripture, he must have meant times and laws established by God, because he might think and pass decrees as he has done, but he, nor all the universe could ever change God's times and laws. Jesus says that "times and seasons were in the power of the father." The Sabbath is the most important law which God ever instituted. "How long refuse ye to keep my commandments, and my laws, see for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath." Exod. xvi: 28, 29. Then it's clear from the history, that this is in part what Daniel meant. Now the second advent believers have professed all confidence in his visions: why then doubt this. Whoever feels disposed to defend and sustain the decrees of that "blasphemous" power, and especially Pope Gregory and the great Constantine, the murderer, shown to be themoralreformer in this work of changing the Sabbath, are welcome to their principles and feelings. I detest these acts, in common with all others which have emanated from these ten and one horned powers. The Revelations show us clearly that they were originated by the devil. If you say this history is not true then you are bound to refute it. If you cannot, you are as much in duty bound to believe it as any other history, even, that George Washington died in 1799! If the bible argument, and testimony from history are to be relied on as evidence, then it is as clear as a sunbeam that the seventh day Sabbath is a perpetual sign, and is as binding upon man as it ever was. But we are told we must keep the first day of the week for the Sabbath as an ordinance to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus. I for one had rather believe Paul. See Rom. vi: 3-5; Gal. iii: 27; Col. ii: 12.
A word more respecting time. See31stpage. Here I have shown that the sun in the centre, regulates all time for the earth—fifty-two weeks to the year, one hundred and sixty-eight hours to the week, the seventh of which is twenty-four hours. Jesus says there are but twelve hours in the day, (from sunrise to sunset.) Then twelve hours night to make a twenty-four hour day, you see, must always begin at a certain period of time. No matter then whether the sun sets with us at eight in summer or 4 o'clk in winter. Now by this, and this is the scripture rule, days and weeks can, and most probably are, kept at the North and South polar regions. What an absurdity to believe that God does exonerate our fathers and brothers fromkeeping his Sabbath while they are in these polar regions, fishing for seals and whales, should it be with them either all day or all night. If they have lost their reckoning of days and weeks, because there was, or was not any sun six months of the time, how could they learn what day of the week it was when they see the sun setting at 6 o'clock on the equator, if bound home from the South? By referring to Luke, xxiii ch. 55, 56, and xxiv: 1, we see that the people in Palestine had kept the days and weeks right from the creation; since which time, astronomers teach us that not even fifteen minutes have been lost. God does not require us to be any more exact in keeping time, than what we may or have learned from the above rules, but I am told there is a difference in time of twenty-four hours to the mariner that circumnavigates the globe. That, being true, is known to them, but it alters no time on the earth or sea.
But, says one, I should like to keep the Sabbath intime, just as Jesus did. Then you must live in Palestine, where their day begins seven hours earlier than ours; and yet it is at 6 o'clock in the evening the same period, though not the same by the sun, in which we begin our day. Let me illustrate: our earth, something in the form of an orange, is whirling over every twenty-four hours. It measures three hundred and sixty degrees, or about twenty-one thousand six hundred miles round, in the manner you would pass a string round an orange. Now divide this three hundred and sixty degrees by the twenty-four hour day, and the result is fifteen degrees, or nine hundred miles. Then every fifteen degrees we travel or sail eastward, the sun rises and sets one hour earlier in the period of the twenty-four hours: therefore those who live in Palestine, one hundred and seven degrees east of us, begins and closes the day seven hours earlier, so in proportion all the way round the globe, the sun always stationary! Then the Sabbath begins precisely at 6 o'clock on Friday evening, every where on this globe, and ends at the same period on what we call Saturday evening. God says 'every thing on its day,' 'from even unto even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath;' 'the evening and the morning was the first day.' He is an exact time keeper! I say then, in the name of all that is holy, heavenly and true, and as immortality is above all price, let us see to it that we are found fearing God and keeping hisCommandments, for this, we are taught, 'is the whole duty of man.' The proof is positive that the seventh day Sabbath is included in the commandments.
Bro. Marsh says, "Keeping the Sabbath is embraced in this covenant. Deut. v: 1-6, made with the children of Israel at Horeb. It was not made with their Fathers (the Patriarchs) but with us, even us, who are all ofus here alive this day. v. 3. This testimony firstnegative, he made it not with our Fathers, and thenpositivewithus, is conclusive. Not a single proof can be presented from either the old or new testament, that it was instituted for any other people or nation." Now it is clear and positive that if the Sabbath is not binding on any other people than the Jews, by the same rule not one of the commandments is binding on any other people, who dare take such infidel ground? Was not the second covenant written on the hearts of the Gentile, even the law of Commandments? which Paul says 'is Holy, just and good.' Thirty years after the crucifixion he directs the Ephesians to the keeping the fifth commandment, that they may live long on theearthnot the land of Canaan. vi: 2, 3. Did not God say that Abraham kept his commandments, statutes, and laws? This embraced the Sabbath for circumcision, and the Sabbath were then the only laws, or statutes, or commandments written. The fourth commandment was given two thousand years before Abraham was born! Is not the stranger and all within their gates included in the covenant to keep the Sabbath? See Exod. xx: 10. And did not God require them to keep THE Sabbath before he made this covenant with them in Horeb? See Exod. xvi: 27-30. Does not Isaiah say that God will bless theman, and thesonofman, and thesonsof thestranger, that keep THE Sabbath? These certainly mean the Gentiles. lvi: 2-3, 6-7. Also, in the lviii. ch. 13, 14, the promise is to all that keep the Sabbath. To what people didtheSabbath belong at the destruction of Jerusalem, nearly forty years after the crucifixion? Matt. xxiv: 20. The Gentiles certainly were embraced in the covenant by this time! Why was it Paul's manner always to preach on the seventh day Sabbath to Jews and Gentiles?
By what authority do you call the seventh day Sabbath, the Jewish Sabbath? The bible says it is the Sabbath of theLord our God! And Jesus said that he was the 'Lord of the Sabbath day.' He moreover told the Jews that the Sabbath was made for MAN! Where do you draw the distinguishing line, to show which is and which is not MAN between thenatural seed of Abrahamand the Gentiles? "Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of theGentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also!" Then Paul says 'there is no difference,' and that 'there is no respect of persons with God.' Is it not clear, then, that the Sabbath was made for Adam and his posterity, the whole family ofman? How very fearful you are that God's people should keep the bible Sabbath! You say, 'let us be cautious, lest we disinherit ourselves by seeking the inheritance under the wrong covenant.' Your meaning is, not to seek to keep the Sabbath covenant, but the one made to Abraham. If you can tell us what precept there is in the Abrahamic covenant that we must now keep to besaved, that is not embraced in the one given at Mount Sinai, then we will endeavor to keep that too, with the Sabbath of the Lord our God. If the Sabbath, as you say, is abolished, why do you, JOSEPH MARSH, continue to call the first day of the week the Sabbath. See V. T., 15th July. If you profess to utter the VOICE OF TRUTH from the bible, do be consistent, and also willing thatother papers, besides yours and the Advent Herald, should give the present truth to the flock of God. I say let it go with lightning speed, every way, as does the political news by the electric telegraph. If the whole law and the prophets hang on the commandments, and by keeping them we enter into life, how will you, or I, enter in if we do not 'keep the commandments.' See Exod. xvi: 28-30. Jesus says, "therefore whosoever shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom," &c. "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." Amen!
In the xxxi. ch. of Exod., God says, "Wherefore the children ofIsraelshall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for aperpetualcovenant; it is asignbetween me and the children ofIsraelforever." 16, 17 v.Who are the true Israelites?Answer, God's people. Hear Paul: "Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also; from uncircumcision throughfaith." Rom. iii: 29, 30. God gave his re-enacted commandment or covenant to the natural Jew in B. C. 1491. They broke this covenant, as he told Moses they would, for which God partially destroyed and dispersed them; God then brought in a new covenant which continued the sign of the Sabbath, which was confirmed by Jesus and his Apostle about 1525 years from the first. See Heb. viii: 8, 10, 13; Rom. ii: 13. Their breaking the first covenant never coulddestroy the commandments of God. Therefore this new, or second covenant, made with the house ofIsrael, Heb. viii: 10 v. (not the natural Jew only,) is indelibly written upon the heart. Now every child takes the name of his parents. Let us see what the angel Gabriel says to Mary concerning her son: "The Lord God will give him the throne of DavidhisFather, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever." Luke i: 31, 33.
Now the prophecy: "There shall come a star out ofJacoband a sceptre shall rise out ofIsrael." Num. Now 1735 years before Jesus was born, God changed Jacob's name toIsrael, because he prevailed with him. This then is the family name for all who overcome, or prevail. God gave this name to his spiritual child, namely,Israel. Then Jesus will 'reign over the house ofIsraelforever.' This must include all that are saved in the everlasting kingdom. Further, Joseph was the natural son of Jacob orIsrael. In his prophetic view and dying testimony to his children, he says, Joseph is a fruitful bough, fromthence is the shepherdthe stone ofIsrael. Gen. xlix: 22-34. Then this Shepherd (Jesus) is a descendant, and is of the house ofIsrael. Does he not say that he is the Shepherd of the Sheep,—what, of the Jews only? No, but also of the Gentile, 'for the promise is not through the law (of ceremonies) but thro' the righteousness offaith.' Rom. iv: 13. Micah says, 'They shall smite the Judge ofIsrael, thatistobetherulerinIsrael. v: 1, 2. Now Jesus never was aJudgenorRulerinIsrael. This, then, is a prophecy in the future, that he will judge, and be the Ruler over the whole house ofIsrael. All the family, both natural Jew and Gentile, will assume the family name, thewhole Israelof God. The angel Gabriel's message, then, is clear; David is the Father of Jesus, according to the flesh, and Jacob, or rather Israel his Father, and Jesus reigns over the house of Israel forever. Paul says, 'He is not a Jew which is one outwardly, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly.' Rom. ii. 'There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, (or Gentile) for they are not allIsraelwhich are ofIsrael, neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children.' Why? Because the children of the promise, of Isaac (is the true seed.) ix. and x. ch. To the Gallatinns he says, 'Now to Abraham (the Grandfather of Israel) and his seed were the promises made; not to many, but as of one and to thy seed, which is CHRIST—then says, there is neither Jew nor Greek—but one in Christ Jesus, and ifye be Christ then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.' iii. 'And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the ISRAEL of God.' vi. This, then, is the name of the whole family in heaven; Christ is God's only Son and lawful heir; none but the true seed can be joint heirs with Christ in the covenant made with Abraham. Ezekiel's prophecy in xxxvii. chapter, God says 'he will bring up out of theirgravesthewhole house of Israel,' 'and I'll put my spirit in you and ye shalllive.' 12-14. If God here means any other than the spiritualIsrael, then Universalism is true—for thewholehouse of natural Israel did not die in faith; if the wicked Jews are to be raised and live before God, then willallthe wicked! For God is no respecter of persons: 'And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctifyIsraelwhen my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forever more.' 28 v. Here, then, we prove, that the dead and living saints are the wholeIsraelof God, and the Covenant and Sign is binding on them into the gates of the holy city. Rev. xx: 14.
Page3.When was the Sabbath instituted?Here we have endeavored to show when, and how it continued until its re-enactment on Mount Sinai.
Page9.Has the Sabbath been abolished since the seventh day of creation? If so, when, and where is the proof?Here we believe we have adduced incontestible proof from the scriptures; from the two separate codes of laws given, viz: the first on tables of stone, called by God prophets, Jesus, and his Apostle. 3. The commandments of God. 2d code, the Book of Moses, as written from the mouth of God, the book of ceremonies, combining ecclesiastical and civil law, which Paul shows was nailed to the cross with alltheir Sabbathsascarnal commandments, because their feasts commenced and ended with a Sabbath. See Lev. xxiii.
Please read from16thpage onward, how Jesus and the Apostle make the distinction.
Page27.Was the seventh day Sabbath ever changed? If so, when, and for what reason?Here we find, by examining the proofs set forth by those who favor and insist upon the change, that there is not one passage of scripture in the bible to sustain it, but to the contrary, that Jesus kept it and gave directions about it at the destruction of Jerusalem. Paul also, and other Apostles taught how we were to keep the commandments.
Transcriber's NotesPage 2 is blank in the original. The page number is not visible.This is an old text. As such, spelling is often inconsistent. Spelling has been left as in the original with one exception. The following typographical error has been corrected:page 30: so is[original has ts] it with President HumphreyThe following puntuation corrections have been made to the text.page 1: but the keeping the commandments of God."[ending quotation mark missing in scan]page 4: mycommandments, mystatutesand mylaws."[ending quotation mark missing in scan]page 6: children of Israelforever."[ending quotation mark missing in scan]page 10: [quotation mark missing in original]"For it seemed goodpage 11: school of Tyranus.[original has extraneous quotation mark]page 14: third part of a shekel"[quotation mark missing in original] (to pay for) "the burntofferingspage 16: children of Israel in Mount Sinai;"[quotation mark missing in original]page 20: not under thelawbut under grace.[period missing in original]"page 21: the commandment is charity,"[quotation mark missing in original]page 22: "Touch not, taste not, handle not.[original has comma]"page 22: a better hope did."[quotation mark missing in original]page 30: argument he had before presented.[period missing in original]page 30: "[quotation mark missing in original]it was so at that timepage 30: "[quotation mark missing in original]it might be provedpage 34: before he was created."[quotation mark missing in original]page 38: Luke xiii: 10-17.[original has comma]page 41: the ADVENT TESTIMONY.[original has comma]page 42: [original has extraneous quotation mark]Jesus says there are but twelve hourspage 44: [original has extraneous quotation mark]This testimony firstnegativepage 45: under the wrong covenant.'[quotation mark missing in original]page 46: norRulerinIsrael.[period missing in original]page 46: ix.[original has comma] and x. ch.page 46: Rom. ii.[original has Rom,ii.]
Page 2 is blank in the original. The page number is not visible.
This is an old text. As such, spelling is often inconsistent. Spelling has been left as in the original with one exception. The following typographical error has been corrected:
page 30: so is[original has ts] it with President Humphrey
page 30: so is[original has ts] it with President Humphrey
The following puntuation corrections have been made to the text.
page 1: but the keeping the commandments of God."[ending quotation mark missing in scan]page 4: mycommandments, mystatutesand mylaws."[ending quotation mark missing in scan]page 6: children of Israelforever."[ending quotation mark missing in scan]page 10: [quotation mark missing in original]"For it seemed goodpage 11: school of Tyranus.[original has extraneous quotation mark]page 14: third part of a shekel"[quotation mark missing in original] (to pay for) "the burntofferingspage 16: children of Israel in Mount Sinai;"[quotation mark missing in original]page 20: not under thelawbut under grace.[period missing in original]"page 21: the commandment is charity,"[quotation mark missing in original]page 22: "Touch not, taste not, handle not.[original has comma]"page 22: a better hope did."[quotation mark missing in original]page 30: argument he had before presented.[period missing in original]page 30: "[quotation mark missing in original]it was so at that timepage 30: "[quotation mark missing in original]it might be provedpage 34: before he was created."[quotation mark missing in original]page 38: Luke xiii: 10-17.[original has comma]page 41: the ADVENT TESTIMONY.[original has comma]page 42: [original has extraneous quotation mark]Jesus says there are but twelve hourspage 44: [original has extraneous quotation mark]This testimony firstnegativepage 45: under the wrong covenant.'[quotation mark missing in original]page 46: norRulerinIsrael.[period missing in original]page 46: ix.[original has comma] and x. ch.page 46: Rom. ii.[original has Rom,ii.]
page 1: but the keeping the commandments of God."[ending quotation mark missing in scan]
page 4: mycommandments, mystatutesand mylaws."[ending quotation mark missing in scan]
page 6: children of Israelforever."[ending quotation mark missing in scan]
page 10: [quotation mark missing in original]"For it seemed good
page 11: school of Tyranus.[original has extraneous quotation mark]
page 14: third part of a shekel"[quotation mark missing in original] (to pay for) "the burntofferings
page 16: children of Israel in Mount Sinai;"[quotation mark missing in original]
page 20: not under thelawbut under grace.[period missing in original]"
page 21: the commandment is charity,"[quotation mark missing in original]
page 22: "Touch not, taste not, handle not.[original has comma]"
page 22: a better hope did."[quotation mark missing in original]
page 30: argument he had before presented.[period missing in original]
page 30: "[quotation mark missing in original]it was so at that time
page 30: "[quotation mark missing in original]it might be proved
page 34: before he was created."[quotation mark missing in original]
page 38: Luke xiii: 10-17.[original has comma]
page 41: the ADVENT TESTIMONY.[original has comma]
page 42: [original has extraneous quotation mark]Jesus says there are but twelve hours
page 44: [original has extraneous quotation mark]This testimony firstnegative
page 45: under the wrong covenant.'[quotation mark missing in original]
page 46: norRulerinIsrael.[period missing in original]
page 46: ix.[original has comma] and x. ch.
page 46: Rom. ii.[original has Rom,ii.]