No fault can ever be found with any of the Reformers because they did not see the true Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment.
No one of the Reformers can even be charged with inconsistency in this. It would be inconsistent for anybody to require or to expect that in their circumstances they should see everything.
They were awakened in the deep darkness of the papal night. They were awakened by a great light, it is true: and that light was the true Light.
Yet even then they could not be expected to see everything. They could not see everything at once, and could not live long enough to see all.
But they did see the fundamental truths. They did see the principles in which everything is embraced; in which lies all that should ever follow.
And they were perfectly consistent in those principles. Indeed it is marvelous how clearly and fully they distinguished the divine principles, and with what perfect precision in these principles they held the straight course.
Those wonderful men never can be too highly honored for what they did. It is not too much to say that without The Reformation the world could not have lived till now.
But it is not true honor to the Reformers for those who have come after to see only what they saw and they saw it and to hold only what they held and as they held it.
For people to dwell in, and have the full benefit of all the light that broke upon the world by the Reformers, and not see more than they saw is to see less than they saw: is to be less than they were: and is to dishonor instead of to honor them.
The light of God every shines "more and more" onward "unto the perfect day." And those who come after must stand in all the light that shone before, and also in the "more" that shines because of that which has shone before.
The Reformers are not in any wise to be held at fault for not seeing the true Sabbath. But when their successors came in as heirs of The Reformation, and Rome picked up that very truth of the Sabbath and brought it home to them, and spread it out before their eyes, and laid it down at their feet, then these were decidedly and guiltily inconsistent not to follow up the fundamental principles of The Reformation in the acceptance of that truth.
And when that has ever been continued by Rome, and in the progress of The Reformation has been repeated by others over and over, these today are still more inconsistent with the Spirit of Truth, they still more dishonor the Reformers and deny The Reformation, when they refuse to accept God's Sabbath and honor Him and The Reformation by the observance of it.
Every principle of The Reformation demands the recognition and observance of the Sabbath of the Lord.
The Sabbath of the Lord is the complement of each principle of The Reformation and of all of them together. Whereas by each and every principle of The Reformation the Sunday is excluded.
Take for instance the principle of "The Word of God." There is the Word of God for the Sabbath. There is no word of God for the Sunday.
Take the principle of "The whole Word of God." The whole Word of God from beginning to end is for the Sabbath. From beginning to end there is no word of God for the Sunday.
Take the principle of "Nothing but the Word of God." With nothing but the Word of God the Sabbath stands in its full glory and majesty. With nothing but the word of God the Sunday has no standing at all.
Take the principle of Righteousness by faith: "By the obedience of One shall many be made righteous." It is only by the obedience of Christ that any soul can ever be made righteous with the righteousness of God.
There is obedience of Christ His whole lifetime in Sabbath observance, to make every soul righteous in that. And so Sabbath-keeping can be, and it is, altogether of the works of God and of the righteousness of God which is by faith.
There is no obedience of Christ in Sunday observance, ever to make any soul righteous in that. And so Sunday observance has to be, and it is, altogether of man's own works and never can be of faith.
Therefore Sunday observance never can be of The Reformation nor of Christianity; while on every principle Sabbath observance is required by The Reformation and Christianity.
Take the principle that All duty is commanded: and no man can do more than duty.
Sunday observance is nowhere commanded. To do it is to do more than duty.
To be able to do more than duty in what is not commanded would enable a man to balance up on his failures to do in all things what is commanded, and so to save himself.
And this is precisely the doctrine of Sunday observance. Read again the words of Pope Gregory on page 320. And there is exactly where Sunday observance belongs, and not with The Reformation nor with Christianity.
Take the principle of the exposure of Antichrist. The Word of God in the prophecy relating to that power gives as one of its chief features that "he should think to change the Law" of the Most High. And the whole career of the development and reign of the papacy presents as one of its chief features the change of that precept of the Law touching the Sabbath: changing it from God's thought to man's: putting the day of the man of sin, in the place of the day of the God of righteousness.
The plain record is that for more than sixteen hundred years there was carried on continuously and persistently by the great antagonist of God the set purpose to put away from the knowledge of men the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment. That itself is evidence that in the Sabbath of the Lord there is truth that is of the greatest value.
What then is the Sabbath of the Lord? what does it mean to men? what is its meaning to the universe?
The word "Sabbath" is Hebrew, and signifies rest. As "the Sabbath of the Lord thy God" it is rest of the Lord they God.
Therefore the Sabbath is God's rest, not man's. It is God's rest for man: not man's rest for himself. To keep the Sabbath is to find and to keep God's rest.
God is only Spirit. His rest is only spiritual. To keep the Sabbath is to find and to keep spiritual rest on the Sabbath day.
God is only "the eternal God." His rest is only eternal rest. In the Sabbath day for man, God has put His own rest which is eternal to be to man in time the foretaste and earnest of God's rest in eternity that waits for man, and to revive and cheer man on the way through this world to "the world to come."
Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man." Mark 2:27.
Strictly and literally what Jesus said is this: "The Sabbath was made for the man."
The phrase "the man" is the exact translation in Greek and English of the Hebrew word "Adam."
This is confirmed beyond all possibility of question by a comparison of the Septuagint, the King James, and the Revised, versions of Genesis 1:27 to 5:2.
In the Hebrew there the word Adam is used twenty-five times. The Septuagint continues the word Adam eighteen times, translates it "the man" six times, and "man" once.
The King James version continues the word "Adam" thirteen times, translates it "the man" eight times, and "man" four times: with margin, "Adam" once, and "man" once.
The Revised version continues the word "Adam" only three times, translates it "the man" eighteen times, and "man" four times: with margin, "Adam" once, and "man" once.
This makes it plain that the phrase "the man" is strictly and preferably the translation of the word "Adam."
Therefore, what Jesus said in Mark 2:27 is, "The Sabbath was made for Adam."
And it was made for "Adam--the man"--while he was yet God's man: "the man" of God's "eternal purpose" concerning mankind and the world.
This "eternal purpose" was "purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Eph. 3:11. And thus Christ was the Surety of that purpose, that it should be accomplished.
Therefore when the first Adam failed and threw all away, it was only the effecting of the original purpose when Christ took that Adam's place, and Himself, as "the last Adam," carried through the eternal purpose that was invested in the first Adam.
When the first Adam failed, he ceased to be "the man" of the eternal purpose. He was no more the true Adam, and never will be.
When Christ as "the last Adam" took the place that had been vacated by the first Adam, He then became "the man" of the eternal purpose. And thus He became the only true Adam that is or ever will be.
The Sabbath was made for the Adam of God's eternal purpose. It was made for that Adam while he was yet in God's eternal purpose. Therefore the Sabbath is inseparably of God's eternal purpose, and so is an eternal institution.
The Sabbath was made for the Adam of God's eternal purpose. Both in the surety and in the fact, Christ is that Adam. Therefore the Sabbath was made for Christ, and is as eternal as is He in the effecting of that purpose.
The Adam for whom as God's man the Sabbath was made was the head and fountain of the mankind who in God's eternal purpose should be the inhabitants of this earth.
Christ only, as "the last Adam," is the One who as God's man is in surety and in fact the Head and Fountain of the mankind who in God's purpose shall inhabit this earth.
Therefore the Sabbath was made for Christ, and in Him for all who in that eternal purpose will be His: that is, for all Christians.
Accordingly, in Christ, and in Him only, is to be found the Sabbath of the Lord as it is in the truth of God's thought and purpose.
The life of Jesus is the Way for all mankind, and the Way of all Christians.
It is the life of Jesus that saves sinners. Rom. 5:10. It is the life of Jesus that is to be manifested in Christians: even "in our mortal flesh" while we are in this body. 2 Cor. 4:10, Gal. 2:20; Col. 1:27; Rom. 5:19.
The Sabbath of the Lord, in the very truth of it, and in the perfect truth of the keeping of it, is essentially a part of the life of Jesus. For Jesus kept the Sabbath during His whole life on earth.
Therefore the Sabbath and the keeping of it belongs essentially in the life of every Christian. The life of Jesus in the Christian never can be perfected without the Sabbath in the keeping of it.
Without this, the life of the believer is unlike the life of Jesus. And wherein any life is unlike the life of Jesus, just to that extent it comes short of being the true Christian life.
This forever fixes it that the Sabbath of the Lord is the only true day of rest, or of worship, or of refraining from labor for Christians.
It is written: "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.
It is a sign by which "ye may know." It is therefore a way to knowledge. It is a means of finding knowledge from God: and thus it is a means of revelation, from God and of God.
That one thing alone, even if that were all there were of the Sabbath, would be enough to make it of infinite worth and eternal standing.
But that is not all. For note:
It is not a sign between me and you, only that I am, but "that ye may know that I am."
It is not a sign only that I am the Lord, but "that ye may know that I am the Lord."
It is not a sign only that I am the Lord your God, but "that ye may know that I am the Lord your God."
The Sabbath, therefore, to him who hallows it, is a sign by which he knows God by personal acquaintance.
But "no man knoweth . . . the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." Matt. 11:27.
When no one knows God except as He is revealed in Christ; and when the Sabbath is a sign by which he who hallows it may know that the Lord is his God; then it follows that the certain truth of that Scripture is just this: "Hallow my Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between Me an you, that ye may know that I, as I am revealed in Christ Jesus the Lord, am the Lord your God."
And this is life eternal that they might know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." And so the Sabbath of the Lord is the God-given sign by which may be found the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ whom He hath sent, that is the very certainty of life eternal.
For when the Sabbath is "a sign" that he who hallows it may know that the Lord as revealed in Christ is his God, then it is certain that in the Sabbath He has put the reflection, the impress, of Himself as He is revealed in Christ to the believer in Him.
What then is the Lord thy God, and what the manifestation of Him, to man, in the Sabbath of the Lord as made for and given to man, as a sign by which he may know that the Lord is his God?
First of all He is Creator: for if there had been no creation there never could have been any Sabbath. The Creator manifested in creation is the first and fundamental essential to there being the Sabbath--and rest--of the Lord thy God. And so the Sabbath is the reminder, the memorial, of the Creator in His Creation.
Next, in the Sabbath He is Rest: for, "God did rest the seventh day from all His works;" and "the seventh day is the rest of the Lord thy God." Heb. 4: 4.
Next, in the Sabbath, He is Blessing: for "God blessed the seventh day," "for the man."
Next, in the Sabbath He is Holiness: for "the Lord hallowed"--made holy--the Sabbath day." "Call the Sabbath . . . the holy of the Lord." Isa. 58:13.
Next, in the Sabbath He is Sanctification: for He "sanctified"--set apart to Himself for purposes of holiness--the seventh day, which is the Sabbath. And is "a sign . . . that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them."--Eze. 20:12.
All of that from God, and God as all of that, is in the Sabbath as made for the man. And it took all of that to make it the Sabbath for man.
Therefore, in the Sabbath of the Lord thy God there is the impress, the revelation, of Himself to man as
his Creator, his Rest, his Blessing, his Holiness, his Sanctification.
And all of that is exactly what He is in Christ to the believer in Him: and in exactly that order.
The first of all things that God is in Christ to anybody or anything is Creator: for "without Him was not anything made that was made."
But sin undid all of that. And now what is God in Christ first of all to the sinner who believes in Him?
First of all in Christ to the sinner who believes in Him, as in the Sabbath to him who hallows it, God is Creator: for "We are His workmanship, CREATED in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Eph. 2:10.
Next, in Christ to the believer as in the Sabbath to him who hallows it, God is Rest: for "We which have believed DO enter into REST;" and "he that is entered into His REST, hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His." Heb. 4:3, 10.
The sinner, longing to cease from the short-coming--the sin--of his own works and to "do better," has labored hard and long to do the good that he knows, and so to find rest of heart, soul, and spirit, in good works accomplished: but all in vain. And in discouragement he cries out, "O! wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death?" Rom. 7:14-24.
To every such soul the divine answer is: "I thank God there is deliverance through Jesus Christ our Lord," who says to all, "Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
The sinner accepts the heavenly invitation, and believes on Him. Instantly the divine power of the creative Spirit creates him anew in Christ Jesus unto the very works of God--the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all before ordained that we should walk in, but which we all missed and turned to our own way and works of our own righteousness which are only the filthy rags of sin.
And through entering into the works of God in Christ, the believer enters into the rest of God in Christ.
And thus the first and fundamental essential to God's rest in Christ, is God's work of the new creation in Christ.
If there be no new creation in Christ, there can be no rest in Christ. But thank the Lord there is ever God's new creation for every soul; for He is the same yesterday and today and forever.
And the believer hath ceased from his own works, by entering, through God's new CREATION in Christ, into God's good works of the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ--which He hath them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
And so, to the believer in Jesus, the Sabbath--the rest-- of the Lord thy God is the reminder, the memorial, of the Creator in His CREATION of us in Christ Jesus unto God's good works through which alone we have God's blessed rest.
Next, in Christ to the believer, as in the Sabbath to him who hallows it , God is Blessing: for he "hath BLESSED us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." And "God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to BLESS you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." Eph. 1:3; Acts 3:26.
The blessing of God in Christ to the believer, is not only is saving him from the sins that he has committed; but in turning him away from committing sin: turning his back upon it: turning him away so that he goes now in the opposite direction--in the way of righteousness instead of in the way of sin.
And this has been always the purpose and the power of God's blessing, as manifested in Christ in His blessed day. This is made plain and certain in His word concerning the Sanctuary and its ministration: for He says that His purpose in that, is, "to finish transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in EVERLASTING righteousness." Dan. 9:24.
"God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities" to just that glorious extent:
that in your life transgression is FINISHED, so that there is no more of it there:
that in your life an end of sins is MADE, so that you are done with it; that in your life reconciliation--atonement-- for iniquity is accomplished, so that you are free from it all;
And that, in your life, "everlasting righteousness" is brought in, to abide and reign there.
That is the blessing that God is in Christ to the believer in Jesus; and that is just the meaning of the blessing that God is in the Sabbath, to him who, through the faith of Christ and in the Spirit of God, hallows the Sabbath.
Next, in Christ to the believer, as in the Sabbath to him who hallows it, God is Holiness: for when in His blessing to us by His Son Jesus, He has finished transgression, and made an end of sins, and made reconciliation for iniquity, in our lives, and has brought in everlasting righteousness to abide and reign there, this is "unto HOLINESS."
Next, in Christ to the believer, as in the Sabbath to him who hallows it, God is Sanctification: for to the preacher of the gospel, he says: "I send thee to open their eyes to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may obtain forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them that are SANCTIFIED by faith that is in Me."
And so, in the revelation of God in the Sabbath to man, and in the revelation of God in Christ to man, there stands this perfect parallel:
In the Sabbath He is--In Christ He is--
Creator, Blessing, Creator, Holiness, Rest, Holiness, Rest, Sanctification. Blessing, Sanctification.
And in perfect demonstration this certifies--
that, in the Sabbath of the Lord, God has put the very reflection and impress of Himself as He is revealed in Christ;
that, only in the faith of Christ is the Sabbath of the Lord truly and fully found, and only in the Sabbath of the Lord as it is in Spirit and in truth is Christ truly and fully found;
and that, thus each is the complement of the other forevermore, in the faith of Christians and in their knowledge and service and worship of the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent.
The "shew-bread" in the sanctuary was literally the "bread of the presence" and signified the "Presence," with God's people, of that true "Bread of God" which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. John 6:33-35, 48-51.
That bread of the Presence in the sanctuary was renewed fresh-baked at the beginning of each succeeding Sabbath day. This was the revelation of the mighty truth that at the beginning of each succeeding Sabbath day the Presence of Christ the true Bread is renewed in fresh and living experience to every true worshiper who hallows the Sabbath. Ex. 33:14.
"Keep My Sabbaths, and reverence My Sanctuary: I am the Lord." Lev. 19:30.
That is what the Sabbath is, and that is what the keeping of the Sabbath is, and what it means.
And "there remaineth" THIS "keeping of a Sabbath to the people of God."
For it stands written: "There remaineth therefore a rest-- keeping of a Sabbath [margin], a Sabbath rest [Rev. Ver. ]- -to the people of God." Heb. 4:9.
This keeping of Sabbath that remaineth, this Sabbath that remaineth to be kept, is the Sabbath of "the seventh day." V. 4.
It is the same day in which God rested when He finished His works at the foundation of the world; and that has remained ever since for mankind to enter into. Vs. 3-6.
It was there for the first Adam to enter into, but he failed to enter into it.
It remained for Israel to enter into, when they were brought out of Egypt in God's purpose to fulfill His oath to Abraham. Heb. 3:7-11, 16-19; Ex. 6:3-8; 15:13, 17; Ps. 81:13-15; Gen. 50:24, 25; Ex. 13:19.
Israel failed to enter into it then, and it remained for them to enter into in the days of Solomon when God would fulfill His oath to David. Heb. 4:6, 7; Ps. 95:7-11; 72: 1- 17; 1 Kings 10:1, 24; Ps. 89:19-37.
Again Israel failed to enter into it, even Solomon himself taking the lead away from God. 1 kings 10:26; 11:1-13; Deut. 17:16, 17. But still that rest of God, that keeping of a Sabbath, "remained to the people of God."
Then came the Lord Jesus, "the man" of God's eternal purpose, "the last Adam," "the Seed of Abraham," and "the Son of David." And He did not fail.
He entered into God's rest in the keeping of the Sabbath, which from the foundation of the world had remained for that purpose, and he entered into God's rest in "the world to come," of which God's rest in the Sabbath is the beginning and foretaste.
And He showed the way, He consecrated the way, He is the Way, into God's rest in this world, and through God's rest in this world into God's rest in "the world to come."
And that is the established and the consecrated and the unfailing Way into and in God's rest here and hereafter forevermore.
And that blessed rest--that holy, that consecrated, "keeping of a Sabbath"--still "remaineth to the people of God."
And all the time from the foundation of the world to the end of the world, it is first God's rest in the Sabbath of the Lord into which men are to enter through faith on Christ and in which we are to abide as the foretaste and earnest of God's rest in the land of promise--"the world to come."
For, the way that men will use God's rest given to them through Christ in the Sabbath, is the test and proof of just how they would use God's rest that is promised to them in the world to come, if that were now given to them.
In entering into this rest we cease from our own works "as God did from His." In ceasing from His own works "God did rest the seventh day." In ceasing from our own works we can not do it "as God did" without doing it as He did and "rest the seventh day."
Not to cease from our works on the seventh day "as God did from His," but to cease some other day, is not to do "as God did"; but is to do as somebody else did. And that is to enter neither God's works nor God's rest; but is to enter into both the works and the rest of some one who is neither God nor of God; but who would put himself in the place of God and pass himself off for God.
By the plain Word of God, therefore, "there remaineth the keeping of a Sabbath to the people of God"; and this Sabbath is "the seventh day" on which "God did rest from all His works."
What then is the keeping of the Sabbath? The life of Jesus is the answer to this question.
"His custom was" to go to the place of assembly of the worshipers of God. "Custom" is "the frequent repetition of the same act or thing." The Sabbath is the day of the worship of God. Isa. 66:23.
He declared the true principle of Sabbath-keeping to be "mercy, and not sacrifice." Matt. 12:7. Whatever contravenes mercy, whether to man or to beast, and makes the Sabbath a burdensome or sacrificial thing, is Sabbathbreaking and not Sabbath-keeping.
Whatever is done on the Sabbath day in mercy and kindness to man or beast that is in need, or that is done in the worship and service of God according to His word, is Sabbath-keeping. Matt. 12:3-13.
Accordingly, to the scandal and indignation of the Pharisees, Jesus made the Sabbath especially a day of healing and blessing. Luke 6:6-10; 13:10-17; 14:1-6; John 5:5-16; 7:23, 24; 9:13-16; 34-38.
Therefore, according to the Scriptures and the Life and Spirit of Jesus, the keeping of the Sabbath that "remaineth to the people of God," and that can be kept only by the people of God, and no other, means this:
To cease from our own works and all that is our own.
To hallow the Sabbath.
To meet God in Christ anew by faith. To meet Him in His
Creative power and His
Renewing grace, in His
Rest, in His
Blessing of turning us from sin to His
Everlasting righteousness, unto
Holiness, and
Sanctification.
To worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
To go to the assembly of worshipers.
In mercy to do good to the needy, to the distressed, to the sick and the helpless, of man or beast.
The consequence of the life and teaching of Jesus as to the Sabbath and the keeping of it, is manifest in the lives of Christians all through the New Testament after His death and resurrection and ascension.
The first thing that occurred in the life of believers in Him, after His death, was the keeping of "the Sabbath day according to the Commandment." Luke 23:55, 56.
Thus the first thing that occurred after the finishing of Creation, was God's resting on the seventh day; and the first thing the occurred after Jesus declared "It is finished" in Redemption, was the resting on the seventh day of the truest believers in Him: the blessed women "who were last at the cross and first at the tomb."
That was in A. D. 33. Then in A. D. 45 it was the Sabbath day when Paul and Barnabas preached to the Gentiles at Antioch in Pisidia. Acts 13:42-49.
In A. D. 53 it was the Sabbath day when Paul and Silas and their company at Philippi went to the place of worship outside the city. Acts 16:12-15.
In A. D. 53 again it was the Sabbath day when Paul preached at Thessalonica as his custom was: that is, the frequent repetition of the same act or thing. Acts 17:1-4.
In A. D. 54 it was the Sabbath day when Paul preached at Corinth, still, like his divine Master, in the frequent repetition of the same act or thing. Acts 18:4, 9-11.
In A. D. 64 it was the Sabbath day--God's rest of the seventh day--that Paul set down in the plain Word of Inspiration as the Sabbath the keeping of which "remaineth to the people of God." Heb. 4:4, 5, 9.
And since this Sabbath day was the only regular day of assembly ever known to the Hebrews, it would again be impressed upon them in the instruction "not to forsake the assembling of themselves together." Heb. 10:25.
In A. D. 67 it was the Sabbath day which Jesus required His disciples to keep in remembrance when should come the time of their flight from Judea. Matt. 24:20.
In A. D. 96 it was the Sabbath day--the Lord's holy day-- when John was "in the Spirit" on the Isle of Patmos and received the Revelation of Jesus Christ for all time. Rev. 1:10; Isa. 58:13.
In A. D. 100-120 it was the Sabbath day when the epistle of Ignatius said, "Let every one of you keep the Sabbath." "And after the observance of the Sabbath let every friend of Christ keep the Lord's day."
It is true that by many eminent scholars this writing of the supposed Ignatius is held to be a forgery. But as evidence on this question it matters not whether it be a forgery or not. Its value and weight as evidence rests in the record as such, and not upon who might be the person who wrote it.
It was written by some one who was interested in exalting Sunday as "the queen and chief of all the days."
If it be genuinely of the real Ignatius it proves that the Sabbath was being observed by those whom he would have to receive the Sunday as this "queen and chief"; and that the observance of the Sabbath was so fixed in their Christian life that he did not so much as even hint at any such thing as their accepting the Sunday in place of the Sabbath, but actually directed that "every one of you keep the Sabbath," and "after the observance of the Sabbath" then keep the Sunday "as a festival," etc.
If it be a forgery, then it certifies that "the observance of the Sabbath" was so universal and so fixed in the Christian life of the time, that even a rascal in the very practice of his chicanery could not dare to question it or to offer Sunday as a substitute for it; but only to offer the Sunday as an additional day.
And than this there could not be stronger evidence that "the observance of the Sabbath" was a settled and universal practice in the Christian life: even among those who had "lost their first love," and who to some extent had fallen away from the pure truth of the Gospel.
In the two hundred years of the "Apostolic Constitutions," to 326, it was the Sabbath in the authoritative "discipline" of the rising false Catholic church.
In the time of Athanasius, to 373, it was the Sabbath; for he said, "We assemble on Saturday, not that we are affected with Judaism, but only to worship Jesus the Lord of the Sabbath."
It was the Sabbath in 364 when the Council of Laodicea put a curse on those who would keep it, and yet had still to recognize the fact of its observance.
It was the Sabbath in 416 when Pope Leo "the Great" likewise must recognize the fact of its observance, but would turn it to "a fast day" while Sunday was made to be "a most festive day."
It was "the Sabbath of every week" in 439 when Socrates must bear witness hat "almost all churches throughout the world" observed it, but that "Alexandria and Rome have ceased to do this."
Note that these had "ceased to do this." They could not have "ceased to do" what they had never done. This shows that even in those cities they had formerly done "this" as in the time of Leo, 416; but since then they had "ceased" to do it.
It was the Sabbath in 460 when Sozomen must record that "The people of Constantinople and everywhere assemble together on the Sabbath . . . which custom is never observed at Rome or at Alexandria."
It was "the Sabbath day" in 602 when Pope Gregory "the Great" denounced as "preachers of Antichrist" those who taught its observance.
It was the Sabbath among the Briton Christians 596-664, and then was still so with those who withdrew to the Isle of Iona and to Ireland rather than to submit to the laws commanding and enforcing Sunday observance.
It was the Sabbath in 791 when the Council of Friuli witnessed to its observance still, even though only by "our rustics."
It was the Sabbath in 858-867 when it was still observed to such an extent that Pope Nicholas I found it necessary to denounce its observance as "the doctrine of Antichrist."
In 1069 it was still "the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment" in Scotland when Queen Margaret's "newest Roman type" of religion must crush it out.
Thus it is the Sabbath from the beginning to the end of the Bible; from the finishing of Creation to the finishing of the written Revelation; and was still so among Christians for more than a thousand years after the Bible was closed.
It was the Sabbath in the life of Jesus; in the lives of Christians throughout the New Testament; in the lives of those who to the best of their ability would be Christians against the power of Rome, for nearly eight hundred years; and in the lives of Christians who were outside the jurisdiction of Rome and beyond her power, for more than a thousand years.
For more than a thousand years after the ascension of Christ, everywhere the Sabbath was originally observed by the Christians in all countries, and even in the cities of Alexandria and Rome.
In Rome and Alexandria, spiritual Babylon and Egypt, the observance of the Sabbath first "ceased" among Christians, and then from there this cessation was gradually spread as the power of Rome grew. Wherever that power came, and to the extent that it could be exerted, the observance of the Sabbath was caused to cease and to be crushed out.
But it never was completely obliterated. Always there have been faithful and true witnesses for God against Rome. And there always will be.
All the power of federation and confederation of both Rome and Puritanism could not stop it; and now all the power of federation of Rome and the Federal Council combined, and with all the power of all the nations in their hands, cannot cause it to cease.
By the whole record on this question it is certain that both the papacy and the Federal Council of Churches have assumed prerogative and have exercised authority to change the Law of the Most High, from His thought and word to their own. And they both deny the right of any one to observe that Law as the Most High Himself has spoken it and written it.
And than in this it were impossible for even them more fully to manifest the spirit of independence of God and of exaltation above Him.
It is a principle in governmental procedure, recognized in law, and regarded in history, that for a subordinate community to re-enact, especially with changes, a law made by the supreme authority for the government of the subordinate community, is "tantamount to a declaration of independence."
In illustration, a fact from history may help to appreciate the infinite principle here involved. In 1698, as now, Ireland was a possession of Britain. The English colonists in Ireland were the ruling power there, and had a parliament--Lords and Commons--of their own: a sort of home rule.
This local parliament, "the Irish Lords and Commons, had presumed not only to re-enact an English act passed expressly for the purpose of binding them, but to re-enact it with alternations. The alterations were indeed small; but the alteration even of a letter was tantamount to a declaration of independence.
"The colony in Ireland was emphatically a dependency, not merely by the common law of the realm, but by the nature of things. It was absurd to claim independence for a community which could not cease to be dependent without ceasing to exist." [1]
It is in view of this very principle that the word of God in Matt. 5:17-19 and Dan. 7:25 was spoken and stands written.
Therefore, on this question of Sabbath or Sunday as the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment of the Law of the Most High, the real issue is the simple but mighty one of
Loyalty to God, or Independence of God.
And in this time of the finishing of all, according to God's eternal purpose, in the finishing of the Mystery of God, His own divine sign of His finished work, the Holy Sabbath, will arise and live, and will be known and worn as the distinguishing badge of all those who, against all the power and deception of the ultimate Antichrist, will be loyal and true to God alone in His Creative power and in His Redeeming grace as revived for the world in The Reformation preparatory to the great day of the glorious Presentation at the finishing of the Mystery of God.
Now, in this final time of entering into God's rest in eternity, there remaineth the keeping of the Sabbath to the people of God.
And now it will live as in the beginning when it "was made for the man"; as it lived in the redeeming when it was kept by "the Man"; and as it will live in the eternity of "the world to come" where it belongs: when "from one Sabbath to another all flesh come to worship before Me saith the Lord." Isa. 66:23.
And thus by loving kindness of the Gracious God, by the High-priestly intercession of the Divine Christ, by the gentle pleading and persuasion of the Holy Spirit, and by the pure principles of the Word of God, there is brought to the conscience and laid upon the conviction of every soul the ever blessed choice of The Reformation against Rome.
Note:
1. Macaulay's "History of England," chap. xxiii, par. 62. p. 248, Para. 6, [LESSREF].