Show SATURDAY AND SUNDAY which la Is the sabbath during this dispensation BY J jmj M 8 the question whether saturday the seventh day ot of the week or sunday the first day ought to be observed as our sabbath baa lately made some stir among the christians of the world the so called seventh day adventists headed beaded I 1 believe by an old lady who claims to have visions leave na e within the last thirty years or so made the question abort of casus belli und and hurled the accusation cusa tion against their fellow 11 sects that they all are members of the vrest preat apocalyptic beast because they keep sunday holy instead of saturday these people claim to have the third and last angelic message to the world rev xiv 9 11 which message according to their representation of it is that men shall keep saturday holy as the preparation tor for the coming of the son of god and they have advertised their little business quite heavily in some quarters dig distributing tracts i pamphlets periodicals and pictures of every description As a consequence quite a number of even in our own community have commenced to ask which lit is the Sati sabbath bath saturday or sunday THE JEWISH SABBATH during the mosaic dispensation the seventh day dav of the week was appointed to be the sabbath on this part odthe of the qui question estion there can be no difference of opinion the reason why god on mount sinai set this day apart as a sabbath moses gives in the following words and god blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his bis work which god created and made gen geir ii 3 see also ex il 11 israel should rest on the seventh day in commemoration of the completion of gods work in the creation what this consecration of the seventh day meant to israel must most be gathered from the law no work could be done on the sabbath not even a fire be made and capia capital punishment followed the violation of this law on the seventh day there shall be to YO yon U a hy day a sabbath of rest to the lord whosoever boeth work therein shall be put to death ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day ex 35 i 2 3 S the distance a jew was permitted to travel during duriac the sabbath day is also marked very clearly this distance was called a sabbath days lourney journey act 1 12 and was 2 2000 cibitis cubits a 11 fittie at less than an english h mile ai it was the space between the tabernacle and the extreme point of the camp while the people traveled through the wilderness der ness it is remarkable that the jewish people darlng during their spiritual decline clung clang most v vigorously I 1 to all outward ordinances the outward observance of the sabbath among the rest at the time of our lord the people were 0 spiritually in a most deplorable condition F i yet we are that the pharisees Pharis ees and still more the ne essences sese nees would not touch any work on the sabbath day they would not even move a veasel or perform the most necessary offices of life OUR SAVIOR 0 ON N THE SABBATH such were t the h e id ideas sall 0 of I 1 t the h e sabbath which confronted our savior when he came in the flesh and it seems that one important part of his mission was to correct the erroneous ideis ideas that es ex isted for although he did not come to destroy but to fulfill the law we flud find that he be by his acts as well as by his teach ines puts the sabbath question in an entirely new light the following co passages w explain toe the position ot of our savior rt towards ewards the mosaic sabbath ll 11 at th that ti time me jesus went on the sabbath da lay y th through rat ug h the corn and his hia disciples were hungry and began to pluck pinch the ears cars of corn and to eat but when the pharisees Pharis ees saw it they said unto him behold bechom thy dia di eigles caples do that which is ia not lawful ko to do upon the sabbath day to this from a mosaic point of view very creaso reasonable our lord gives the following remarkable reply I 1 the sabbath was made tor for mun man and not man tor for the sabbath therefore mae son of man is lord also of the sabbath matt xii 1 12 mark il ii 1 27 17 the tea teaching coing conveyed here our savior always illustrated by his works As or instance the jews therefore said unto him that was cured it is the sabbath day it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed but he be answered them he that made me who lethe same said unto me take up thy bed and walk therefore the jews id persecute jesus and sought to slay elay him because lie he did these things ion on the sabbath da day y B but u t jesus answered them amy my father w lh hitherto and I 1 wort work etc john v io is 18 comp vii 22 2223 23 and it was sabbath day when jesus ma made de the clay and aad opened his bis the blind mans eyes therefore said some of the pharisees Pharis ees this man is not U of god because he be keeneth Itee peth not the sabbath day john johnal ix 1416 14 16 these quotations are very instructive we see that benevolence was one prominent romi nent feature of our lords sabbath sabbat days ile he kept them holy serving servin g G god 0 by y serving gods children not by a seeking ee k ag his is own pleasure or com comfort info rt F Furtner art r ince since the son of man Is the L lord or 4 also over ver the sabbath he can of course by the mouth of his inspired servants rive give such instructions to hib hia people concerning this day as shall be suitable under all conditions and circumstances during all times this we must bear in mind in order to have a right understanding of this question OUR lords DAY As long as the jewish state existed aud and the beautiful Hero dlan temple lifted its golden spires towards the sky tie the christians in palestine seem to h have ave kept the seventh day of the week holy in common with the jews this was very natural on that day only the jews gathered tor for worship and ancl the christian missionaries had to seek the people at t air places of gathering the precincts of the temple and the synagogues but in no place in the acts or the epistles do we find that the christians kept the seventh day as a sabbath in the strict mosaic meaning of the word but we discover in several places laces that the first day of the week had been set sec apart as aday of gathering to for r the christian churches and upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to bt break eak broad bread paul preached unto them acts aces 7 corn com I 1 cor xvi 2 this day the first of the week is called in the new testament Te Tes lament the lords day while the seventh day is the sabbath the sabbath is never in the bible called the lords day hence it is evident that john on patmos celebrated the first day of the week tor for we read 1 I was in the spirit on OB the lords day and on thia day he had those v isi ons and cevela like a light hazeldeen have hav eldeen been shining through the longs long dark night of the 8 reason why hy the first day of the week has been called the lords day to is very obvious on that day our lord broke the fetters of the grave and rose triumphant this was the day upon which heso to speak rested from his work of redemption and atonement as god in the beginning had rested crift the work of creation on this day jesus revealed himself to td rib his disciples after the resurrection ur then the same day at evening being the first day ot ol the week when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the jews came jesus and stood in their midst john 20 19 and after eight days again his disciples were within then came jesus john 20 26 THE CHANGE it is impossible to read the new testament carefully without noticing that a great change has taken place ein tn the christian dispensation with regard to the sabbath gu question estien the wor worship of f god is enjoined upon men in this dispensation p sensation ensa tion just as much ad and d on the same grounds as in the mosaic dispensation but the importance of days seems to be less during the a apostolic ll 11 to lie age iva paul u speaks of the mosaic ceremonial law of which the sabbath ordinance was a part very plainly he calls it the ministration of death written and engraved graven en raven in stones atones I 1 the ministration of condemnation and that which esdone is done away see 2 cor ill 7 11 speaking of the galatians how bow they observed days the same apostle exclaims 1 I ara am afraid of you lest I 1 hive bestowed upon you labor in vain gal 1 v 10 11 also the were ca cautioned against the ale alc notions concerning days I 1 let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of a holy day or of the ne new moon or of th the e sabbath day da which are a shadow of f things to come ba but the body I 1 is cht christ 11 col iii 16 17 thus it will be seen that the idea of sabbath as hold held by the jews at the time of christ found no room in ia the apostolic teachings and it could not the jewish sabbath was if anything a 0 at all a national festival J in commemoration of the creation and above all of the deliverance from rapt egypt the christian system could have no room for anything that was 1 purely national because it was a message in which all nations ki tongues and people were equally interested hence leoyle while e every leaf 0 of the writings of the apostles contain injunctions to all men to worship god ecial any special day tor for such worship is hardly touched upon beyond showing us that the first christians chose the lords day in reference preference to the sabbath as their nay day of gathering THE SAINTS SABBATH the latter day saints have not been left in doubt about what god requires of them in this particular I 1 think there is no doubt that the prophet joseph and the saints gathered sa around him in zion in jackson conaty missouri in the year 1831 used to keep the first day of th week as their sabbath to this day therefore and to no other the follows following ug revelation must refer and settle the question beyond controversy and that thou more fully keep thyself unspotted fro from th the D e world thou go to the house of prayer y er and offer up thy sacraments upon ray my holy day tor for verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors and to pay thy devotions to the most high nevertheless thy vows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times but remember that on this the loi ds day thou offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the most ligh high confessing thy sins unto thy brethren and before the lord and on this day thou do none other thing only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy lasting may be perfect or in other words that thy joy may be full verily this is tasting fasting anta and pray eror in other words rejoicing and rayer prayer 11 book of doe doc and tit cov 4 av 8 sec lix 9 lt prominent inthIs in this beautiful revelation are the following points 1 the first day ot of toe the week the lords day is the sabbath of the saints 2 this day must be given to devotion rest and noly joy and 3 that this sabbath is given lor for the spiritual perfection of the saints let those who sleep the their 1 ir sabbaths sab baths away or waste them in worldly pleasures or pollute them by a mixed service vice of god and the devil remember that in so doing they contemptuously throwaway throw away one of gods most precious gif sifts ta to them a gift latea intended ded for our salvation and let those who thus show contempt for gods gifts never hope to gain his favor for they never will except they repent |