Show THE LORDS DAY VS trie THE JEWISH SABBATH Is saturday the seventh day ot of the week or sunday the first day of the week the christian sabbath this among the various questions the elders have to 10 meet in the world has been the cause of much controversy and one which thousands of people cling to with unrelenting tenacity realizing the want of convenient literature among our elders on this particular question I 1 de ter mined to write a little on the sol su which I 1 trust may be beneficial to s in preparing them to meet issues b broo gNP to bear against the lords day hyam and not desiring ta ft credit I 1 do not merit it is only just proper to say that I 1 have frequently frequez the thought of others to my own convenience when I 1 felt fla was appropriate that god always desired his people to observe a day of rest every day in commemoration of the day dauw we rested from his labors of the creation 1 shoddy there can be no doubt but that it be on any particular day is not prove by the scriptures until the law was through moses to the children of and lor for their guidance only there were other sabbaths Sab baths they were bihm commanded to keep read exidas io 10 ii and leviticus xiv 14 1 4 tt if simply because it was given to the israelites as a command it is is binding on ws then why do our seventh day friends im insist upon the year again it the laws given to the children w J israel are binding upon christians then the penalty of breaking those laws are j equally binding the penalty of break 3 ing the sabbath was death numae xv 32 36 do the seventh day friends i advocate the penalty for nonobservance nonobservance if not why not if not binding now nei neither theris is the law christ found the followers col 01 the tb mosaic ritual oppressed almost to suffocation by the load of formulas placed upon them he was censured for fornoff dat observing the sabbath as the pharisees Pharis ees aw interpreted the law fhe jews persecuted and even sought to slay jesus for healing the sick on the sabbath john 5 16 he cr crowned 0 d his protest against a sterile form formalism a by enunciating the principle that the sabbath was made for man and not man for the sabbath mark 2 27 the sabbath commemorated l the natural or physical creation creati OR exodus 20 2011 H 31 17 also the exodus or of israel from egyptian bondage deul 5 15 the typical redemption by noting the change of the paschal supper to the lords supper and the apostle observing it on sunday we readily comprehend the significance of the typical redemption As the old sabbath commemorated the natural creation so Sund sunday aywas was the festival ot of the new creation a perfect redemption through jesus christ the former is a type and prophecy ot of the latter while the latter is the antitype anti type and fulfillment of the former and a promise of eternal rest the old testament law was but a covering or shaft which concealed the kernel of the gospel that reached its perfect grow growth a 1 I jesus christ the jewish sabbath wai was desecrated by the rejection of the son f of god and his humiliation in the tombs and made a day of mourning from its ruins came the new sabbath with the e coming forth of the first fruits of the new creation from the grave of the old with the latter day saints the observance of this day is a blessed privilege a gift of god a day of refreshing with the lord and each other in it the temporary form of the ancient sabbatical institution was consumed christ became the end of the taw law by fulfilling V it the day which best answers to pauls system of doctrines is sunday tte the direct derivation of this festive day is jes esus us christ the living centre of the A J xo all things are delivered unto of 01 my y father matt I 1 1127 paul he christ is is our peace who made lade both one and hath broken a the middle wall of partition beus n abolishing the enmity and the in his flesh for through him we have access by one spirit unto the ier er and are fellow citizens with the ts and id the household of god 2 A Christ being a jew observed the day or saturday the jewish t jesus came to fulfill the law be explicitly informed the jews he was lord ol of the sabbath rk k also that the sabbath was e lot lor man and not man for the sab 1 mark to jesus was given all power in heaven and in earth fatt 2818 and god hath put all lings gs under his feet and gave him lesus esus to be head over all things to the hach ch s eph 1 22 and he christ st that is entered into his rest he aso hath bath ceased from his own works as ngoi did irom from his heb 4 10 god did rea from all his works on the lse day and in this place again t garst when n he had finished his work to give t them m a day of rest as his father acad d it if they shall enter into his rest heba eb 4 4 5 for if jesu had given I 1 efem em rest then would he not afterward 3 have bave spoken of another day there rek At aineth therefore a rest for the peopled people lof E for he be that is entered into his 1 rest fest he also hath ceased from his own works as god did from his let us labor therefore ther elore to enter into that rest 2 I 1 heb 4 8 11 the truth ot of the matter a is as shown in the above passages that jagod U god hallowed and sit set apart a day of ast est when deceased He ceased from all his labors so jesus set apart the day on which he I 1 s finished his labors to be commemorated by his followers as a day of rest god finished his labors on the seventh day and tested rested jesus finished his labors and was resurrected the first day of the week and rested on that day and all who get rest in jesus will rest on that lay day heb 4 8 for he was to rest on the day ay he completed his labors just as god did from his As god ushered in the ahe mosaic dispensation with the seventh day sabbath so christ ushered in the gospel dispensation with the first day sabbath and after christs resurrection and alfid the church was organized we never hear of the apostles preaching the observance of the jewish sabbath to in some form or other christ reen re en acted all the ten commandments given t through h mg h M moses oses except the one pertaining ii I 1 to t the he sabbath he fulfilled and did d A away with the law introducing a wore more excellent way re enacting all the woral moral laws the jewish sabbath is no more binding upon us now than sacrifices or circumcision one is as touch a law to us as the other the seventh day friends try to shoulder the responsibility of the first day sabbath upon the roman catholics but history teaches us that during the first century after the resurrection of christ the christians observed the first day of the week as the lords day but that some of the jewish converts worshiped on the seventh as well as the first also that while the memory of jesus was fresh enthusiasm ran high and they wor daily we learn by reading that ht they the early abris continued daily with one accord ahe e temple emp and broke bread from 0 house to house and acts 19 8 9 that paul di disputed buted daily and persuaded the things concerning the kingdom of god but with this the believers united from the first the special consecration of one day in the week to the worship of god and thus even when the daily meetings could not be uniformly kept up they devoted at least the seventh part of their lifetime lile time exclusively to the immortal soul the jewish christians as already remarked adhered to the old testament sabbath especially in palestine but with it they celebrated also the first day of the week in memory of the saviors resurrection s history of the apostolic church page further on the same page he says the gentile christians for whom the ceremonial law had no authority distinguished in this way only the first day ot of me week as the day of the completion of the new creation however in some single jewish christian communities muni ties in the east the jewish sabbath was retained for a long time eusebius 1 bai in 27 paul reproved the people for turning again to the weak and beggarly elements whereunto they desire again to be in bondage observing days and months and times and years gal 4 9 io when the falness of the time was come god sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the ot of sons gal 4 45 4 5 and be no more a servant but a son and an heir of god through jesus 21 with certain ity we can infer the apostolic origin of the christian sab bath by bv adding the unequivocal testimony of tradition of the latter part of the first and the forepart of the second centuries with the several passages of the new testament for at that time sunday the lords day was universally observed by the church ora aset one of the christian writers of that time expressed himself in this manner christians celebrate no longer the sab bath but the lords day on which their life arose to them by him we learn in the history of the first century that there are notwithstanding certain laws whose authority and obligation were universal and indispensable among christians and of these we shall here give a brief account all christians were unanimous in setting apart the first day of the week on which the triumphant savior arose from the dead tor for the solemn celebration of public worship this pious cu custom which was derived from the example of the church at jerusalem was founded upon the express appointment of the apostles who consecrated that day to the same sacred purpose and was observed universally ver sally throughout the christian churches as appears from the united testimony of the most credible writers the seventh day of the week was also observed as a festival not by the christians in general but by such churches only as were principally composed oi of jewish converts mosheim book i part 2 chapter 4 verse 4 the same writer says of the second century in these times the sacrament of the lords supper was celebrated for the most part on sundays and that their meetings were held on the first day of the week and in these sacred mee meetings they celebrated the lords supper erand and feasts of charity A D justine martyr said and on the ay day called sunday all who live in cities or in the country g ither gither together in one place and the memo ires of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read as long as time permits permit then when the reader has ceased the president verbally instructs and exhorts to the imi initiation Lation of those good things then we all rise together and pray and as we said before when our prayer is ended bread and wine and water are brought and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings according to his ability and the people assent saying amen sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly because it is the first day on which god having wrought a change in the darkness and matt ermade the world and jesus christ our savior on the same day rose from the dead apol i 1 67 6 7 neander an early church historian says while it was usual to unite on sundays in one general assembly yet each individual part of the church met together daily in rooms which lay most convenient to it Ne anders history of the church page loi A D ignatius said those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope no longer observing the sabbath but living in the observance of i the lords day on which also our life has s sprung again by him and his death epistle to the Magne chapter 9 Short form the epistle of barnabus A D we keep the eighth day with joyfulness the day also on which jesus rose from the dead chapt 15 A D we passed this holy lords day in which we read your letter from the constant reading of which we shall be able to draw admonition 11 epistle to romans eusebius H E iv 23 A D Barde on one day the first of the week we assemble ourselves together A D clement of alexandria I 1 he in fulfillment of the precept according to the gospel keeps the lords day St bk 7 chapt 12 A D Tor if we devote sunday to rejoicing from a far dif terent reason than sun worship we vve have some resemblance to those ot of you who devote devoie the day of saturn to ease and luxury though they too go far away from jew ish ways of which indeed they are ignorant apol apo sect 16 toe the same writer also says we neither accord with the jews in their peculiarities in regard to food nor in their sacred days apol sect 21 A D origen we ourselves are accustomed to observe certain days as tor for example the lords day the preparation pa ration the passover or the pentecost I 1 P cotera celium book 8 chapter 22 it seems to me that the history and tradition given thoroughly shows that the sacredness of worshiping on sunday was observed by the saints of the first and second centuries again the first sunday edict was not passed until A D by the two consuls crispus and constantine Constanti showing there was no sun day legislation until after afier the proper day was thoroughly esta established bUshed by the followers of christ it is absolutely beyond my apprehension to suppose that so important wl an i institution as the lords day could have supplanted the old testament sabbath and be universally observed by the whole of christendom in so short a time without divine sanction and the support of the apostles the first clear trace we meet of the sunday celebration is found in acts 20 7 from which we learn that the christians assembled for mutual edification and administering the lords supper this verse loes does not infer that the disciples had assembled together on special occasion icon but that they came together according to their general practice to break bread that being the time of their eucharist ch arist celebration we learn from the text that paul waited at troas until that particular day arrived the first day of the ahe week that he be might have sufficient time to explain things pertaining to the kin kingdom dom of god then we learn by bv reading cor 16 2 that paul by special request recommended the saints to lay by their charitable contributions upon tip first day of f the week that being the bobst test appropriate time that there be no gatherings when he arrived for he be wanted everything in re diness from the verse we learn that he had given the same order to the churches of galatia the apostles evangelized evangeli zed the jews on saturday but we have no account ot of christian assemblies on that day after the resurrection for public worship P converted jews were polemical for they thought christians should worship on the seventh as well as the first day but there is no record on any controversy contro vesy in the early church about keeping the lords loidl 4 day paul preached in the synagogues on the old sabbath I 1 he became as a jew to gain the jews a and ad without law to gain those wit without bout law though he labored under the law ot christ when necessary he ob served the jewish rites such conformity being allowed him that the jews might not be driven from christianity but be gradually won over from an abrogated ritual in pei perfect feet consistency with these concessions he taught that the mosaic ceremonies were virtually displaced and gradually regard for the old sabbath died out olit while the new one rose peacefully to this was in in direct ot of bible intimations and for i centuries the lords day was the only recognized sabbath Ezel ezekiel ciel says eze 43 2627 26 27 seven days shall they judge the altar andi andl purge it and consecrate themselves and when these days are expired it shall be that upon the ithe eighth dagand so forward the priest n e sto shall make offerings etc while hile sacrifices commemorated certain evento they were also typical of something to come and as the sacrifice sacrifice offerings were typical of the great fice ot of our savior so the first day of bread the pentecostal penta costal feast and the waving ot of the sheaf of the first |