The following letter is signed by several persons, who are evidently in earnest; and as their case is so practical we publish it, long as it is, in order that many others may benefit by it.
We, among others, are workers in the iron, steel, and tin works of X. We think it very wrong of your agent coming around here selling the Present Truth on Sunday, as there are six days in the week to do this kind of work instead of doing it on Sunday, and it is breaking the Sabbath.
We told your agent this; but he says Sunday is not the Sabbath; and, as it happened, we were working on the Sunday too; and he asked us what right we had to be working there on the Sunday, and at the same time condemning him for selling the papers on Sunday.
In answer to that, we told him our work was a work of necessity, and his was not; that we were obliged and compelled to do it, and that if we refused to do it on Sunday we should lose our job, and that would mean losing our bread and butter.
Your agent then told us there was not one law for us and another for him, but that "sin is the transgression of law" just as much for us men working in the works on Sunday as for him or any other man, and that God did not compel us to work here, and that we were not free men, much less Christian men, but slaves, if we let our masters force us to do wrong. He said it was our duty and privilege as Christians to obey God in every particular, and to trust Him for food and everything else, and that if we did not do this we were walking by sight, and not by faith.
You seem to answer all sorts of questions in your paper, and we should be grateful to you if you would take up this subject in all its different bearings, especially that relating to Sunday not being the seventh day, and this being a work of necessity, and what your agent said about there not being one law for us and another for him.
This is the sort of letters and questions that we like to receive. It gives us pleasure to answer straightforward, honest questions, from men who have a good conscience, and who wish to have it instructed. As usual, in our "Private Corner," our talk will be personal and confidential.
You say that there are six days in which to do such work as selling Present Truth, instead of on Sunday. There is where you are mistaken; there are not six days, beside Sunday, in which to sell this paper, because: "The seventh day is the Sabbath," (Exodus 20:10) and in it the agents must rest from all their work; not because we say so, but because they feel constrained to obey God's law.
It would be inconsistent, would it not, for men to sell papers on the very day which those papers teach is the Sabbath of the Lord our God? But of course you do not yet see that Sunday is not the seventh day, and so not "the Sabbath day according to the commandment." (Luke 23:56)
Perhaps that should be the first thing for us to consider.
Is Sunday the Seventh Day?
Your letter intimates that you recognize the truth that "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord." (Exodus 20:10)
You know that the seventh day ought to be kept, by some, at least; but you are laboring under the impression that Sunday is the seventh day. This is an erroneous impression, as you will admit when the truth is presented to you.
Ask the first clergyman you meet, or any minister of any denomination, why people keep Sunday. Ask the same question of every Sunday-keeper you meet. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred you will be told that it is in honor of Christ's resurrection, because He rose from the dead on that day. But the Scriptures tell us that Jesus rose from the dead on "the first day of the week." (Mark 16:9)
Read the following portion, describing what took place after Joseph laid the body of Jesus, and took it down from the cross and laid it in his own sepulcher: "And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with Him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how His body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." (Luke 23:54-56) "Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus." (Luke 24:1-3)
The Sabbath Day according to the Commandment
Here three days are brought to view in connection. The first was "the preparation," the day before the Sabbath. That was the day of the crucifixion. The second was the Sabbath, which was drawing on when Jesus was laid in the tomb; for the Sabbath begins Friday evening at sunset.
By the way, it might be mentioned that in the keeping of "Good Friday," for which of course there is not the slightest authority, both Churchmen and Nonconformists show their recognition of the fact that Jesus was crucified on Friday.
The next day, as the Scripture tells us, was "the Sabbath day according to the commandment;" and the third day was "the first day of the week," on which Jesus rose from the dead, according to His word, that He should "rise again the third day." (Matthew 20:19; Mark 10:34; Luke 18:33) So we see that "the Sabbath according to the commandment," immediately follows Friday, and comes between it and the first day of the week. Thus it is evident that the day commonly called Saturday is the seventh day of the week, and so is the Sabbath of the Lord.
This is an important point, for it contains the whole case for anybody who holds to the Fourth Commandment. Therefore we are justified in fixing it a little more certainly still.
It is a known fact that the majority of professed Christians hold to Sunday, while the body of the Jews, and many Christians, keep the day before. Now we do not intend to draw any argument from the practice of men, but only to show how impossible it is that the original Sabbath could ever have been lost, and how sure we may be as to which day is the seventh day in regular succession from the one which God blessed and sanctified at creation. (See Genesis 2:1-3)
Passing by the centuries between creation and the giving of the law on Sinai, we find there the same reason given for the Sabbath that is stated in Genesis 2:1-3. Compare the Fourth Commandment, Exodus 20:8-11, doubtless you can repeat it from memory. It is certain that the day then commanded was identical with the one sanctified at creation.
Moreover, by a series of daily miracles, with a special one at the close of the week, continuing for forty years, God made it impossible for anybody to mistake the day of the Sabbath, or to keep any other day in comfort, and the one which He commanded. (Exodus 16:16-31)
We glance down the centuries, and we find that the Jews were frequently reproved for Sabbath-breaking, and were finally carried captive to Babylon, because they would not keep God's holy day. (See Jeremiah 17:19-27 and 2 Chronicles 36:14-21) Consequently we know that the Jews well knew which day was the Sabbath.
A few hundred years later "we see Jesus," (Hebrews 2:9) the Word made flesh, dwelling in Judea and Galilee, associating with the Jews every day, and worshiping with them in their synagogues on the Sabbath day. (Matthew 12:9, Mark 1:21, etc.) He recognized the day which they outwardly kept as the Sabbath, and declared himself to be its Lord. (Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5) He came from God, and therefore He knew the truth. He was the Truth. (John 14:6) Therefore we know that the day which the Jews kept, formally, in the days of Jesus, was the Sabbath according to the commandment--the seventh day.
Now for the last step in the proof. Even in the days of Christ there were Jews living in every country under heaven, and they came to Jerusalem to worship at least once a year. If any Jew had lost his reckoning the mistake would instantly have been apparent when he met with his brethren. But from whatever quarter of the world the multitudes came, all were keeping the same day. This shows again that the day was not lost; for it would be impossible for millions of people in different parts of the world all to make the same mistake in the reckoning of days and at the same time.
Furthermore, only a few years after the crucifixion of Christ, Jerusalem was destroyed, the temple was laid in ruins, never again to be rebuilt, and the Jews were permanently scattered to every land. Yet to this day, in every part of the world we find Jews, and they are everywhere, they are all keeping the same day. There is never any question among them wherever they meet, as to which day is the Sabbath, or who has it, for all are in perfect harmony. From this we know that the Jews still keep the same day that their forefathers did in the days of Jesus of Nazareth, and which He recognized has the Sabbath day.
Therefore also we know beyond the possibility of the shadow of a doubt that the day which the Jews now profess to keep is the seventh day in regular succession from the one which God rested upon and blessed and sanctified at the close of the creation week. And here is the unchangeable law: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor, and to all your work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your 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." (Exodus 20:8-11)
What Excuse
We have God's law, not one jot or tittle of which can fail, telling us to keep the seventh day, and giving the reason why; and we know which day is the seventh day, "the Sabbath according to the commandment." It only remains for each one to ask himself, "Why am I not obeying this law? What excuse can I render for not keeping it? And will excuses avail in the Judgment? Shall I feel like offering them then? and if not, how dare I solace myself with them now?"
Sin is Transgression of Law
It is indeed true that: "Sin is the transgression of the law." (1 John 3:4)
Therefore it is a sin not to keep God's Sabbath day. It is also true that: "Where no law is there is no transgression." (Romans 4:15)
Nowhere in the Bible can there be found even the remotest hint of a law commanding rest on the first of the week-Sunday. Therefore it is not a sin for anybody to do any kind of legitimate work on Sunday.
Of course every Christian will be as courteous and as mindful of the feelings of others on Sunday as on any other day of the week, and will not do anything needlessly to annoy or disturb them. But anything that it is right to do on any day in the week it is perfectly right to do on Sunday. It is no sin to sell papers on Sunday, nor is it a sin to work in a factory on that day. Why not? Because that day is not the Sabbath day.
Only One Law
I know of no other law. I do not find any modification of the commandment making an exception of those who labor in foundries, factories, etc. And there is no reason why there should be; for God is the God of the poor, and His Gospel is preached especially to the poor. The Sabbath is the friend of the poor man above all others; for the one who needs the most is always the one who receives most from God; and the Sabbath reveals God as Creator and Provider,--as the One with power to give us life not only for a few days or years, but for eternity; the One who supplies all our needs, because He creates all things. "In Him we live and move, and have our being." (Acts 17:28)
The Sabbath means to us, and is, absolute rest in God. It gives knowledge of the truth that the man without a farthing, who has implicit, unshakable trust in God, is richer than the millionaire who disregards His law. We cannot live a moment without God; every breath comes from Him; it is He that gives us power to get wealth even to the slightest extent; therefore it is most reasonable to believe that we have a better hope of life in His service than out of it.
God's Service is Freedom And God's service is freedom. "He that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's free man." (1 Corinthians 7:22) "Jesus said to those which believed on Him, If you continue in my Word, then are you my disciples indeed; And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32)
He who knows the Lord as his Master can never be brought into bondage to any man. For, "No man can serve two masters; for either you will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon." (Matthew 6:24)
If you are the servants of God, then you are not the servants of man, and your daily work will be done, not to please either your employers or yourself, but God. "Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: And whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for you serve the Lord Christ." (Colossians 3:22-24)
The work of the Gospel is to turn men "from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God;" (Acts 26:18) to deliver them from fear of death, (Hebrews 2:14-15) and to make them free from sin's dominion. (Romans 6:14) This is the condition of a follower of Christ--the Christian. Now does it seem reasonable that a man who has this freedom should be compelled by some other man to do something against his will and conscience? Is it possible for one who knows the freedom that Christ gives to be so bound. What do you think?
Losing Life for the Truth's Sake
"Well, shall I run the risk of losing my job, and so my bread and butter, in order to keep the Sabbath."
I do not know. You might lose your job through keeping the Sabbath, and you might not. Jesus says, "what is that to you? follow me." (John 21:22)
Our sole business is to seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; it is God's business to look after our life and our living. Even if we should die through adherence to the truth, what of that? We think that it is a noble thing to die for the truth--when we sit by the cozy fire and read about the martyrs of other days; but has God no need of martyrs now? Why should it be thought so much more terrible to die for the truth than to die for one's country, as so many thousands do?
Do you know what the Scriptures call a man who procures food for himself at the expense of the truth? They do not call him a Christian. Listen: "Follow ... holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; ... Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright." (Hebrews 12:14-16)
Jesus says: "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Matthew 16:25-26)
Don't you think, then, that the wisest and safest plan is to leave your life, your body and your soul, in the Lord's keeping?
Works of Necessity
But you say that there are certain "works of necessity," which it must certainly be lawful to perform, even on the Lord's Sabbath day. Yes, there are; but those works do not embrace anything whatever that is "necessary" only because man's desire for gain makes it so.
The example of Christ is our guide here as elsewhere. He did works on the Sabbath day, not because He was compelled to, in order to satisfy somebody else's desire for gain, or to "earn His living," but because His love for suffering humanity drew Him to them. He did them, not because He was compelled, but because He was free.
The "works of necessity," which are lawful on the Sabbath day are those which the love of God--not love of self--constrains us to do, namely, to relieve the suffering and the afflicted. Christ's example shows us that a work of necessity is something which one does for another, without hope of reward, and without thought of self; and He says: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." (Matthew 16:24)
Will you do it?--Present Truth, February 20, 1902.