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Chapter
90
Change of the
Sabbath
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According to the prophet,
what was to be Christ's attitude toward His Father's law?
"The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness' sake; He will
magnify the law, and make it honorable." Isa. 42:21.
How much of the law did
He uphold?
"For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or
one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."
Matt. 5:18.
How were those to be
regarded who should break one of these commandments?
"Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and
shall teach men so, he shall be least in the kingdom of heaven."
Matt. 5:19.
How much of the law did
Christ say is suspended on the two great commandments of love?
"On these two commandments hang ALL the law and the prophets."
Matt. 22:40.
NOTE. - The entire
code of ten commandments is clearly binding on Christians. From the above texts
we learn that Christ had no thought of changing any of them. One of these
commands the observance of the seventh day as the Sabbath. But the
practice of most Christians is different; they keep the first day of the week
instead, many of them believing that Christ changed the Sabbath. But we see from
His own words that He has not attempted such a work.
What is said of the power
represented by the "little horn?"
"And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear
out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws."
Dan. 7:25.
What power claims
authority to change God's law?
The Roman Church.
What part of the law has
this power thought to change?
The fourth commandment.
NOTE. - "They
[the Catholics] allege the Sabbath changed into Sunday, the Lord's Day, contrary
to the Decalogue, as it appears; neither is there any example more boasted of
than the changing of the Sabbath day. Great, say they, is the power and
authority of the Church, since it dispensed with one of the ten
commandments." Augsburg Confession, art. 28.
"It [the Roman Church] has reversed the fourth commandment, doing away with
the Sabbath of God's word, and instituting Sunday as a holy day."
N. Summerbell, in History of the Christians, page 418.
Who first enjoined Sunday
keeping by law?
Constantine the Great.
NOTE. - "The
earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty is a
constitution of Constantine in 321 A.D., enacting that all courts of justice,
inhabitants of towns, and workshops were to be at rest on Sunday (venerable day
of the sun), with an exception in favor of those engaged in agricultural
labor." Encyclopedia Britannica, art. Sunday, ninth edition, 1887.
"Constantine the Great made a law for the whole empire (321 A.D.) that
Sunday should be kept as a day of rest in all cities and towns; but he allowed
the country people to follow their work." Encyclopedia Americana, art.
Sabbath.
What did Constantine's
law require?
"Let all the judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades
rest on the venerable day of the sun; but let those who are situated in the
country, freely and at full liberty attend to the business of agriculture;
because it often happens that no other day is so fit for sowing corn and
planting vines; lest the critical moment being let slip, men should lose the
commodities granted by Heaven." Translated from the original edict in
Latin, now in Harvard College.
NOTE. - It will be
noticed that in this edict no sacred title is given to the day to be observed;
it is called simply the "venerable day of the sun," and was enforced
only as such. Constantine, like his ancestors, was a worshiper of the sun. The
first day of the week had for ages been dedicated to that worship, and from that
fact retains the name Sunday. See Webster. But on acknowledging
Christ, Constantine refused to surrender the venerable day of the sun, and
brought it into Christianity with him, and thus it was handed down to the
Christian church.
When and by what
authority was Sunday first enjoined upon Christians as the Lord's day?
Prynne says: "The seventh-day Sabbath was... solemnized by Christ, the
apostles, and primitive Christians, till the Laodicean Council did, in a manner,
quite abolish the observation of it... The Council of Laodicea [364 A.D.]...
first settled the observation of the Lord's day." Dissertation on the
Lord's Day Sabbath, page 162, 1633.
What did this council
decree about the Sabbath?
"Because Christians ought not to Judaize, and to rest in the Sabbath,
but to work in that day... Wherefore if they shall be found to Judaize, let them
be accursed from Christ." Ibid, pages 33, 34. The foregoing are Protestant
testimonies.
But do Catholics
themselves acknowledge their meddling with the Sabbath Commandment?
They do.
"Question. - How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and
holy days?
"Answer. - By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which
Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping
Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same
church." Abridgement of Christian Doctrine, page 58.
"Question. - Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to
institute festivals of precept?
"Answer. - Had she not such power, she could not have substituted the
observance of Sunday, the first day of the week for the observance of Saturday,
the seventh day, a change for which there is no scriptural authority." Doctrinal
Catechism, page 351.
To whom do people really
pay homage?
"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his
servants ye are to whom ye obey?" Rom. 6: 16.
What kind of worship does
the Saviour call that which is not according to God's commandments?
"But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men." Matt. 15:9.
What was the difference
between Elijah's faith, and that of the other prophets of his day?
"Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet
of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men." 1
Kings 18:22.
Who was the Baal of the
heathen Hebrews?
"Baal, or Bel, the principal god of the Phoenicians, Chaldeans, and
Carthaginians, is regarded as a personification of the sun... The worship of
Baal prevailed among the Jews in the time of the prophet Elijah and
earlier," Johnson's Universal Cyclopedia, art, Baal.
What appeal did Elijah
make to the people?
"How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow
him, "but if Baal, then follow him." 1 Kings 18:21.
NOTE. - If one
becomes a servant to whoever he obeys, and he obeys the dictates of the Roman
Church, knowing them to be such, would he not, in the sight of Heaven, be
regarded as a servant of that church instead of a servant of God? How
appropriate, then, are the words of Elijah (with a slight change) to those who
learn the origin of Sunday observance: "How long halt ye between two
opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him; but if the Roman Church, follow
it."
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