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IX.
Sabbath
Chapter 102
:
Sabbath Reform
1. WHAT kind of worship
does Christ say results from doctrines based on
the commandments of men?
"But in vain they do worship Me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
Matt. 15:9.
2. What commandment did
Christ say the Pharisees had made void by their
teaching?
"For God commanded, saying, Honor
thy father and mother. . . . But ye say,
Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother,
It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be
profited by me; and honor not his father or his
mother, he shall be free." Verses 4-6.
3. What was the result
of their course?
"Thus have ye made the commandment
of God of none effect by your tradition."
Verse 6.
NOTE.-By a gift or dedication of property to
the temple service, they taught that a man
might be freed from the duties enjoined by
the fifth commandment.
4. What question did
the disciples soon afterward ask Christ?
"Knowest Thou that the Pharisees
were offended, after they heard this
saying?" Verse 12.
5. What answer did the
Saviour make?
"But He answered and said, Every
plant, which My Heavenly Father hath not
planted, shall be rooted up." Verse 13.
NOTE.-What is true of the fifth commandment
is true of every other commandment. If
through tradition men set aside any other of
God's commandments, the words of Christ to
the Pharisees are equally applicable to
them. They are guilty of making void the
commandment of God, and of instituting vain
worship.
6. When, and by whom,
was the Sabbath "planted "?
"For in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them
is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the
Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it."
Ex. 20:11.
7. Who claims to have
planted the Sunday institution?
"Question.-
Has
the [Catholic] church power to make any
alterations in the commandments of God?
"Answer.-
. . . Instead of the seventh day, and other
festivals appointed by the old law, the church
has prescribed the Sundays and holy days to be
set apart for God's worship; and these we are
now obliged to keep in consequence of God's
commandment, instead of the ancient Sabbath."-
"Catholic Christian Instructed," by the Rt. Rev.
Dr. Challoner, page 211.
NOTE.-"We Catholics, then, have precisely
the same authority for "keeping Sunday holy,
instead of Saturday, as we have for every
other article of our creed; namely, the
authority of 'the church of the
living God, the pillar and ground of the
truth' (I Tim. 3:15); whereas, you who are
Protestants have really no authority for it
whatever; for there is no authority for
it in the Bible, and you will not allow
that there can be authority for it
anywhere else. Both you and we do, in fact,
follow tradition in this matter; but
we follow it, believing it to be a
part of God's word, and the church to be its
divinely appointed guardian and interpreter;
you follow it, denouncing it all the
time as a fallible and treacherous guide,
which often 'makes the commandment of God of
none effect.'"- "Clifton Tracts," Vol.
IV, article "A Question for All Bible
Christians," page 15.
8. When is final
salvation to be brought to God's people?
"Who are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation ready to be
revealed in the last time." 1 Peter 1:5.
9. When God's salvation
is near to come, upon whom does He
pronounce a blessing?
"Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do
justice: for My salvation is near to come, and
My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is
the man that doeth this, and the son of man that
layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from
polluting it, and keepeth his hand from
doing any evil." Isa. 56:1,2.
10. Is this promised
blessing confined to anyone class?
"Also the sons of the STRANGER
that join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him,
and to love the name of the Lord, to be His
servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath
from polluting it, and taketh hold of My
covenant; even them will I bring to My holy
mountain, and make them joyful in My house of
prayer." Verses 6, 7.
NOTE.-It is evident from these scriptures
that in the last day, when men are waiting
for the Saviour to appear, there will be a
call for those who really love the Lord to
separate themselves from the world, to
observe the Lord's true Sabbath, and to
depart from all evil.
11. What does God tell
His ministers to do at this time?
"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up
thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people
their transgression, and the house of Jacob
their sins." Isa. 58:1.
12. What message of
Sabbath reform does He send?
"If thou turn away thy foot from
the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy
day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the
holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor
Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine
own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then
shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I
will cause thee to ride upon the high places of
the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of
Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it." Verses 13,14.
NOTE.-The Sabbath of Jehovah is not now, by
the majority even of professed Christians,
called holy and honorable. By many it is
stigmatized as "Jewish." The Lord foresaw
how this would be in this age, and inspired
the prophet to write as he did. "If thou
turn away thy foot from the Sabbath."
This is a strong expression, indicating that
many would be trampling upon God's day, and
doing their own pleasure upon it, instead of
seeking God, and honoring Him by keeping the
Sabbath holy.
13. What will those be
called who engage in this reformation?
"And thou shalt be called, The
repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to
dwell in." Verse 12.
14. What does another
prophet say professed teachers among God's
people have done?
"Her priests have violated My law,
and have profaned Mine holy things: they
have put no difference between the holy and
profane; neither have they shown difference
between the unclean and the clean, and have
hid their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am
profaned among them." Eze. 22:26.
15. What have they done
to maintain their theories?
"And her prophets have daubed them
with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and
divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith
the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken."
Verse 28.
NOTES.-Untempered mortar is that which is
improperly worked, and will not therefore
hold together or stand the test. Thus it is
with the reasons advanced for keeping Sunday
instead of the Bible Sabbath, the seventh
day. They are not only unsound and untenable
in themselves, but are utterly inconsistent,
contradictory, and destructive one of the
other, among themselves. They are like the
witnesses employed by the Jewish leaders to
condemn Christ. Of these the record says:
"The chief priests and all the council
sought for witness against Jesus to put Him
to death; and found none. For many bare
false witness against Him, but their
witness agreed not together." Mark
14:55,56. The lack of agreement among them
was evidence in itself of the falsity
of their testimony. In nothing, perhaps, is
a lack of agreement better illustrated than
in the reasons assigned for Sunday-keeping.
Note the following:-
One says the Sabbath has been changed from
the seventh to the first day of the week.
Another says that the Sabbath commandment
requires only one day of rest after six of
labor, and hence there has been no
change.
Some reason that all ought to keep Sunday,
because although, as they affirm, God did
not appoint a particular day, yet
agreement is necessary; and to have any
or every day a sabbath would be equal to no
sabbath at all.
Others, to avoid the claims of God's law,
assert that the Sabbath precept is one of
those ordinances which was against us,
contrary to us blotted out, and nailed to
the cross. Still, they admit that a day
of rest and convocation is necessary, and
therefore the day of Christ's resurrection,
they say, has been chosen.
Another class say they believe it is
impossible to know which is the seventh
day, although they have no difficulty in
ascertaining which is the first.
Some are so bold even as to declare that
Sunday is the original seventh day.
Others, with equal certainty say that those
who keep the seventh day are endeavoring to
be justified by the law, and are
fallen from grace.
Another class, with more liberal views, say
they believe that every one should be fully
persuaded in his own mind, whether he keep
this day, or that, or none at all.
Still again, as if having found the great
desideratum or missing link in the argument,
men credited with even more than ordinary
intelligence, will sometimes declare that it
is impossible to keep the seventh day on
a round and rolling earth; and yet,
strange to say, they find no difficulty in
keeping Sunday anywhere, and believe
that this day should be observed the
world over!
Lastly, and more terrible and presumptuous
than all the rest, some, like Herod of old
in slaying all the children of Bethlehem in
order to make sure of killing Christ, have
gone so far as to teach that all ten
commandments have been abolished, in
order to avoid the duty enjoined in the
fourth. But as in the case of Herod,
God's Anointed escaped the murderous blow of
this wicked king, so in the judgment such
will have to meet God over His broken law,
and will find that the Sabbath precept
stands there unchanged with the rest.
Said Christ, "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: but
whosoever shall do and teach them, the same
shall be called great in the kingdom of
heaven" Matt. 5:19.
16. What does the Lord
say will become of this wall thus daubed with
untempered mortar?
"Say unto them which daub it with
untempered mortar, that it shall fall:
there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye,
O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy
wind shall rend it." Eze. 13:11.
17. When are these
hailstones to fall?
"Hast thou entered into the treasures
of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures
of the hail, which I have reserved against the
time of trouble, against the day of battle and
war?" Job 28:22,23.
18. Under which of the
seven last plagues will this hail fall?
"And the seventh angel poured
out his vial into the air; . . . and the cities
of the nations fell: . . . and every island fled
away, and the mountains were not found. And
there fell upon men a great hail out of
heaven, every stone about the weight of a
talent." Rev. 16:17-21.
19. In order to prepare
His people for that terrible time, what does God
expect His ministers to do?
"Ye have not gone up into the gaps,
neither made up the hedge for the house
of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of
the Lord." Eze. 13:5.
20. Instead of trying
to close up this breach made in God's law [the
loss of the Sabbath], and so make up the hedge,
what have they done?
"They have seen vanity and lying
divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the
Lord hath not sent them: and they have made
others to hope that they would confirm the
word." Verse 6.
21. During these
closing scenes, what message is God sending to
the world to turn men from false worship to the
worship of the true and living God?
"Fear God, and give glory to Him; for
the hour of His judgment is come: and worship
Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea,
and the fountains of waters. . . . Babylon is
fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she
made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath
of her fornication. . . . If any man worship the
beast and his image, and receive his mark in his
forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink
of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured
out without mixture into the cup of His
indignation." Rev. 14:7-10.
NOTE.-This is the last gospel message to be
sent to the world before the Lord comes.
Under it will be developed two classes of
people, one having the mark of the beast
(the Papacy) , and the other keeping the
commandments of God, and having His seal,
the Sabbath of the fourth commandment.
22. What, besides
attending and taking part in religious services
(Luke 4:16), did Christ do on the Sabbath day?
"Who went about doing good."
Acts 10:38. See Matt. 8:14-17; 12:1-15; Mark
2:23-28; 3:1-6; Luke 6:1-11; 13:11-17; 14:1-6;
John 5:1-18; 9:1-41.
NOTE.-When we come to study the life of
Christ, we find that He did not make the
Sabbath a day of idleness, nor even a day
confined wholly to public and private
worship, but one of active service in
blessing others. On this day especially He
went about doing good, ministering to the
sick, and bringing relief to those long
bound by Satan. Luke 13:15,16; John 5:5,6.
And as He is our pattern in all things, we,
too, like Him, should seek to make the
Sabbath a day for helping and blessing
others. To loose the bands of wickedness,
undo the heavy burdens, deal bread to the
hungry, clothe the naked, and let the
oppressed go free, is the fast which God has
chosen, and the Sabbath-keeping most
acceptable to Him. Isa. 58:1-12. In this
kind of work and ministry there is room for
a world-wide Sabbath reform.
BROTHER! up to the breach
For God's freedom and truth;
Let us act as we teach,
With the wisdom of age,
and the vigor of youth.
Heed not their cannon-balls;
Ask not who stands or falls;
Grasp the sword of the Lord,
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