Scriptural Thought:

“Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.” [Isaiah 58:12,13.]

1. Institution of the Sabbath

Christ, being the active agent in creation, must have rested on the seventh day with the Father. It is therefore His rest day as well as the Father's.

It was not made for the Jews alone. The Jews derive their name from Judah, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, from whom they are descended. The Sabbath was made more than two thousand years before there was a Jew. When Paul says, "Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man" (1 Cor. 11:9), we understand him to mean that marriage was ordained of God for all men. So likewise with the Sabbath. It was made for the race.

God blessed and sanctified the seventh day then future, answering to the day on which He had just rested. The acts of blessing and sanctifying involve the idea of a future use of those things which are blessed and sanctified. Past time cannot be used. It is gone forever.

The blessing and sanctification of the day, therefore, must have related to the future — to all the future seventh days. In Joel 1: 14 we read: "Sanctify [i. e.1 appoint] ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord." Wherever used in the Bible, the word sanctify means to appoint, to proclaim, or to set apart, as in the margin of Joshua 20: 7; 2 Kings 10:20, 21; Zeph. 1: 7. So when the Sabbath was sanctified, as the last act by which it was made for man, an appointment, or proclamation, of the Sabbath was given. See Ex. 19:23.

"If we had no other passage than this of Gen. 2: 3, there would be no difficulty in deducing from it a precept for the universal observance of a Sabbath, or seventh day, to be devoted to God as holy time, by all of that race for whom the earth and its nature were specially prepared. The first men must have known it. The words He hallowed it can have no meaning otherwise. They would be a blank unless in reference to some who were required to keep it holy."— Lange's Commentary, Vol. I, page 197

2. God's Memorial

Memorial: "Anything intended to preserve the memory of a person or event; something which serves to keep some person.

This, the Passover, was a periodical memorial, to be observed on the fourteenth day of the first month of each year, the day on which the Israelites were delivered from Egyptian bondage, and its celebration was to be, with the seven days' feast of unleavened bread following and connected with it, in commemoration of that event. See Ex. 13:3-9.

It is manifest that if the object of the Sabbath was to keep God as the Creator in mind, and it had been faithfully kept from the first, there would not now be a heathen or an idolater on the face of the earth.

There is a deep significance to this scripture not apparent to those unacquainted with the facts. In Egypt, through oppression and idolatrous surroundings, the keeping of the Sabbath had become not only almost obsolete, but well-nigh impossible. See reading on "Reasons for Sabbath-Keeping," page 421, under questions 9 and 10. Their deliverance from bondage was in order that they might keep God's law (Ps. 105 : 43-45), and particularly the Sabbath, the great seal, sign, and memorial-institution of the law. The recollection of their bondage and oppressed condition in Egypt was to be an additional incentive for keeping the Sabbath in the land of freedom. The Sabbath, therefore, besides being a memorial of creation, was to be to them a memorial of their deliverance from bondage, and of the great power of God as manifested in this deliverance. And as Egypt stands as a symbol of the condition of every one in the world under the slavery of sin, so the Sabbath is to be kept by every saved soul as a memorial of the deliverance from this slavery by the mighty power of God through Christ.

Sanctification is a work of redemption,— of making holy sinful or unholy beings. Like the work of creation itself, this requires creative power. See Ps. 51:10; John 3: 3, 6; Eph. 2: 10. And as the Sabbath is the appropriate sign or memorial of the creative power of God wherever displayed, whether in creation, deliverance from human bondage, or deliverance from the slavery of sin, it is to be kept as a sign of the work of sanctification. This will be one great reason for the saints' keeping it throughout eternity. It will remind them not only of their own creation and the creation of the universe, but also of their redemption.

Then, as the Sabbath is a sign or memorial of sanctification, and as Christ is the one through whom the work of sanctification is accomplished, the Sabbath is a sign or memorial of what Christ is to the believer. Through the Sabbath, therefore, God designed that the believer and Christ should be very closely linked together.

The Sabbath, which is the memorial of God's creative power, will never cease to exist. When this sinful state of things shall give way to the sinless new earth, the fact upon which the Sabbath institution is based will still remain; and those who shall be permitted to live in the new earth will still commemorate the creative power of God, while singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Rev. 15:3. See Rev. 22: 1, 2.

3. Reasons for Sabbath-Keeping

The Sabbath is the great memorial of creation and of God's creative power, a constant reminder of the true and living God. God's design in making the Sabbath, and in commanding that it be kept holy, was that man might never forget Him, the Creator of all things. "The original Sabbath being a perpetual memorial of God, the Creator calling man to imitate God in the observance of the same, man could not keep the original Sabbath and forget God."—,Prof. E. W. Thomas, M. A., in Herald of Gospel Liberty, June 19, 1890.

When we remember that two-thirds of the world's inhabitants today are idolaters, and that since the fall, idolatry, with its train of associated and resultant evils, has ever been a prevailing sin, and then think that the observance of the Sabbath, as God ordained it, would have prevented all this, we can better appreciate the value of the Sabbath institution, and the importance of Sabbath-keeping.

To sanctify is to make holy, or to set apart for holy use. The sanctification, or making holy, of sinful beings, can be wrought only by the creative power of God through Christ by the Holy Spirit. In 1Cor. 1:30 we are told that Christ is made unto us "sanctification;" and in Eph. 2: 10 it is said that "we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works." The Sabbath, therefore, is a sign of sanctification, and thus of what Christ is to the believer because it is a reminder of the creative power of God as manifested in the work of regeneration. It is the sign of the power of God, therefore, in both creation and redemption. To the believer, it is the evidence, or sign, that he knows the true God, who, through Christ, created all things, and who, through Christ, redeems the sinner and makes him whole.

In their bondage, the Israelites had to some extent lost the knowledge of God, and departed from His precepts. The Sabbath came to be greatly disregarded by them; and in consequence of the oppression of the Pharaohs, especially the Pharaoh of the exodus, as witnessed by the rigorous exactions made upon them by this latter king through their taskmasters, its observance was made apparently impossible. See Ex. 5: 1-19. The special point, both of reform and of conflict, just preceding their deliverance from bondage, was over the matter of Sabbath observance. Moses and Aaron had shown them that obedience to God was the first condition of deliverance. Their efforts to restore the observance of the Sabbath among the Israelites had come to the notice of Pharaoh; hence his accusation against them, "Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let [hinder] the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. . . . Behold, the people of the land are many, and ye make them rest [Heb., Shabbath] from their burdens." Ex. 5: 4, 5. Deliverance from this oppression was indeed, therefore, an additional and special reason for their keeping the Sabbath. But Egypt and Egyptian bondage simply represent sin and the bondage of sin. See Rev. 11:8• Hosea 11:1; Matt. 2:15; Zech. 10:10. Everyone, therefore, who has been delivered from sin has the same reason for keeping the Sabbath as had the Israelites who were released from Egyptian bondage.

Their deliverance from Egyptian bondage was a reason for the keeping not only of the fourth commandment, but, of every precept of God's law. This is indicated by the preface or preamble to the law as given on Sinai: "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me," etc. Ex. 20:2, 3. See also Lev. 19: 35-37; Deut. 10:19; 15: 12-15; 24: 17, 18. Likewise, every one who, through Christ, has been delivered from the bondage of sin, God calls to obedience, not only in the matter of Sabbath-keeping, but to every precept of His holy law. "Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil." Isa. 56:2.

Previous to the fall, God designed that man's time should be occupied with pleasant, invigorating, but not wearisome labor. Gen. 2:15. Laborious, wearisome toil came in consequence of sin. Gen. 3:17-19. While under the fall the Sabbath, therefore, may bring physical rest to both man and the beasts of burden (Ex. 23: 12) in a way not originally intended, physical rest was not its original and primary design or purpose. Cessation from the ordinary labors and occupations of the week was ordained, not because these are wrong or sinful in themselves, but that man might have an appointed time and a frequently recurring period for the contemplation of the Creator and His works. Under the gospel, the Sabbath is a sign of spiritual rest and freedom from sin. So we read, "For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His." Heb. 4: 10.

4. Manner of Observing the Sabbath

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." Exo:20:8.

All through the week we are to "remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." This means that all our plans are to be laid and all our business adjusted with reference to the Sabbath, the object of which is to help us to keep in mind the truth that God is the creator of all things.

This is just as essential to spiritual growth during the six working days as upon the Sabbath itself. We are to remember that day, also, that when it comes we may not be tempted by circumstances of our own creating to treat it, or any part of it, as secular, or common time. Thus the Sabbath commandment is to be obeyed every day, though the Sabbath itself can be kept, or observed, only upon the seventh day, for "the seventh day is the Sabbath."

One great advantage of keeping the Sabbath according to the Bible method of reckoning the day, that is, from sunset to sunset, over keeping it according to the Roman reckoning, or from midnight to midnight, is that by the former one is awake to welcome and to bid adieu to the day when it comes and goes, while by the latter he is asleep when the day

begins and ends. God's ways are always best. The setting of the sun is a great natural sign for marking the division of time into days.

"Whether the Sabbath becomes a delight or a burden depends upon the spirit with which a man meets it. Indeed, the spirit of the man settles the question as to the benefits to come from any duty he may perform. One man cannot understand why his neighbor should prefer the park or the ball ground to the church, simply because his spirit is different. He has cultivated the higher nature until he loves spiritual things above all others, and to him the Sabbath is indeed a delight. It comes to his weary soul as a reminder of God, and brings him nearer to heaven in heart and mind than does any other day."— Sabbath Recorder, Dec. 12, 1910.

This is one reason why the attempt to produce Sabbath keeping by human Sabbath laws is altogether out of place. Such laws can never produce true Sabbath-keeping, for that is spiritual, and must be of the mind and from the heart, and not perfunctory, mechanical, nor of force, God designed that the Sabbath should direct the minds of men to His created works, and through these to Him, the Creator. Nature itself speaks to our senses, telling us that there is a God, the Creator and Supreme Ruler of the universe. The Sabbath, ever pointing to God through nature, was designed to keep the Creator constantly in mind.

The proper keeping of it, therefore, must naturally tend to prevent idolatry, atheism, agnosticism, infidelity, irreligion, and irreverence; and, being promotive of the knowledge and fear of God, must of necessity be a deterrent to sin. In this may its value and importance be seen.

A large share of Christ's ministry consisted of miracles and acts of mercy performed for the relief of suffering humanity; and not a few of these were done on the Sabbath. On this day, as on other days, He "went about doing good." See next reading.

Not a little of Christ's earthly ministry was devoted to uplifting the Sabbath, and showing the beneficent character of the Sabbath institution. It was not meant to be a day of sorrow, austerity, or gloom: Disinterested works of love and mercy toward man or beast are always in place on the Sabbath. Lawful means "according to law."

In order to keep the Sabbath day holy, it must be remembered all through the week; and on the sixth day, or the day just before the Sabbath, special preparation should be made to be ready to welcome and observe the day when it comes.

The Sabbath should not be a day of either ordinary labor, idleness, or amusement, but one of rest, reflection, holy joy, worship, and helpfulness. It should be the happiest, the brightest, and the best of all the week. Such it should be made for young and old. Very early the children can be taught the stories of creation and redemption, and taken out amid the handiworks of God and taught to see Him and to commune with Him through nature. Preparation for the Sabbath, therefore, is an essential to its proper observance. God's blessing is upon the first moments of the Sabbath as well as upon the last; and, as far as possible, everything should be got in readiness so that the entire day may be devoted to God and humanity in the manner indicated.

In making the Sabbath, God rested upon, blessed, and sanctified the day. Ex. 20: 11. Whoever, then, keeps the Sabbath aright, may expect that there will be brought into his life God's rest, blessing, and sanctification.

5. Christ and the Sabbath

They were angry because, notwithstanding the fact that by the miracle performed Christ had given evidence that He was from God, He had shown no respect for their views of Sabbath-keeping, but, on the contrary, had shown these to be wrong. Wounded pride, obstinacy, and malice, therefore, combined to fill them with madness; and they went out immediately and held council with the Herodians,— their political enemies with whom they disagreed in the matter of paying tribute to a foreign power,— for the purpose of accomplishing His death.

It is a fact worthy of note that over the question of proper Sabbath observance the Jews not only persecuted Jesus, but first took counsel to kill Him. Not the least of the malice which finally culminated in His crucifixion, was engendered over this very question of Sabbath observance. Christ did not keep the Sabbath according to their ideas of Sabbath-keeping, and so they sought to kill Him. And they are not alone. Many today are cherishing this same spirit. Because some do not agree with their ideas regarding the Sabbath, or Sabbath observance, they seek to persecute and oppress them,— seek laws, and alliances with political powers, to compel respect for their views.

The ordinary operations of nature, as manifested in God's almighty, upholding, beneficent, and healing power, go on on the Sabbath the same as on other days; and to cooperate with God and nature in the work of healing, relieving, and restoring on the Sabbath, cannot, therefore, be out of harmony with God's will, nor a violation of His Sabbath law.

The working of these wonderful, beneficent, and gracious miracles on the Sabbath was an. evidence that Christ was from God, and that His views of Sabbath-keeping were right. By these miracles, God was setting the seal of His approval to Christ's views and teachings respecting the Sabbath, and to His manner of observing it, and thus condemning the narrow and false views of the Pharisees. Hence the division.

In nothing, perhaps, was this more strikingly fulfilled than in the matter of Sabbath observance. By their traditions, numerous regulations, and senseless restrictions the Jews had made the Sabbath a burden, and anything but a delight. Christ removed all these, and by His life and teachings put the Sabbath back in its proper place and setting, as a day of worship and beneficence, a day for doing acts of charity and mercy, as well as engaging in contemplation of God and in acts of devotion. Thus He magnified it and made it honorable. One of the most prominent features of Christ's whole ministry was this great work of Sabbath reform. Christ did not abolish the Sabbath, nor change the Sabbath; but He did rescue it from the rubbish of tradition, the false ideas, and the superstitions with which it had been buried, and by which it had been degraded and turned aside from the channel of blessing and practical service to man designed by its Maker. The Pharisees had placed the institution above man, and against man. Christ reversed the order, and said, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." He showed that it was to minister to the happiness, the comfort, and the well-being of both man and beast.

Christ's experience with the Jews, the chosen and professed people of God at that time, respecting the Sabbath is but a type of what, according to prophecy, is to occur in the last days. Already it is beginning to find its parallel in the movement to enforce Sunday observance by law. See readings on pages 271, 484, 488.

6. The Sabbath in the New Testament

According to the New Testament, therefore, the Sabbath had passed when the first day of the week began.

The destruction of Jerusalem under Titus occurred in the spring and summer of 70 A. D. The flight of the Christians took place three and one-half years earlier, or late in October, 66 A. D., following the arrival and sudden withdrawal of Cestius and his army. See pages 313, 314.

"They came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures." Acts 17: 1, 2.

It was Paul's manner, as it was Christ's custom (Luke 4: 16), to attend religious services on the Sabbath.

While this text does not definitely prove that the apostle held seventy-eight Sabbath meetings in Corinth, it does show conclusively that it was his custom to observe that day by devoting it to religious purposes. The careful student will not fail to note that the statement of Acts 18:4, that he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, applies only to the comparatively brief period of time during which he was permitted the use of the synagogue. But the history of the apostle's work as recorded in the book of Acts fully warrants us in believing that wherever he was, the apostle Paul utilized to the full every opportunity to pursue his gospel work on the Sabbath. The same is true, not only of the apostles, but of all Christians during the first three centuries of the Christian era.

From beginning to end, the Bible recognizes but one weekly Sabbath,— the day upon which God rested in the beginning; which was made known to Israel at Sinai (Neh. 9: 13, 14); was observed by Christ and His apostles; and is to be kept by the redeemed in the world to come. Isa. 66:22, 23.

The terms Sabbath, Sabbaths, and Sabbath days occur sixty times in the New Testament, and in every case but one refer to the seventh day. In Col. 2: 16, 17, reference is made to the annual sabbaths connected with the three annual feasts observed by Israel before the first advent of Christ.

The first day of the week is mentioned but eight times in the New Testament, six of which are found in the four Gospels, and refer to the day on which Christ arose from the dead. See Matt. 28: 1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24: 1; John 20: 1, 19. The other two (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2) refer to the only religious meeting held on the first day of the week after the ascension, in apostolic times, recorded in the New Testament, and to a systematic accounting and laying by in-store at home on that day for the poor saints in Judea and Jerusalem. It is evident, therefore, that the Sabbath of the New Testament is the same as the Sabbath of the Old Testament, and that there is nothing in the New Testament setting aside the seventh-day Sabbath and putting the twit day of the week in its place;

The Law of God AS GIVEN BY JEHOVAH

l

Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

II

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep my commandments.

lll

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.

IV

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy 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.

V

Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

VI

Thou shalt not kill.

VII

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

VIII

Thou shalt not steal.

IX

Thou shalt not bear false Witness against thy neighbor.

X

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt, not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. (Ex. 20: 3-17.)

AS CHANGED BY MAN

I am the Lord thy God: thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.

II

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

III

Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.

IV

Honor thy father and thy mother.

V

Thou shalt not kill.

VI

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

VII

Thou shalt not steal.

VIII

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

IX

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.

X

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.

(Butler's Catechism, page 28.)

7. The Change of the Sabbath

From this it is evident that the entire code of ten commandments is binding in the Christian dispensation, and 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 practise of most Christians is different; they keep the first day of the week instead, many of them believing that Christ changed the Sabbath. But, from His own words, we see that He came for no such purpose. The responsibility for this change must therefore be looked for elsewhere.

There is only one way by which any power could exalt itself above God, and that is by assuming to change the law of God and to require obedience to its own law instead of God's law.

"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. XXVIII.

"It [the Roman Catholic 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.

As the Sabbath was given that man might keep God in mind as Creator, it can be readily seen that a power endeavoring to exalt itself above God would first try to cover up or remove that which calls man's special attention to his Creator. This could be done in no other way so effectually as by setting aside God's memorial—the seventh-day Sabbath. To this work of the Papacy Daniel had reference when he said, "And he shall . . think to change times and laws." Dan. 7:25.

"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 feast days commanded by the same church. '—" Abridgment of Christian Doctrine," by Rev. Henry Tuberville, D. D., of Douay College, France (1649), page 58.

"Ques.— Have you any other way of proving that the church has the power to institute festivals of precept?

" Ans.—Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her,— 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."—" A Doctrinal Catechism," by Rev. Stephen Keenan, page 174.

"The Catholic Church of its own infallible authority created Sunday a holy day to take the place of the Sabbath of the old law."— Kansas City Catholic, Feb. 9, 1893.

"The Catholic Church,. . • . by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday."— Catholic Mirror, official organ of Cardinal Gibbons, Sept. 23, 1893.

"Ques.— Which is the Sabbath day?

"Ans.— Saturday is the Sabbath day.

"Ques.— Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?

"Ans.— We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (A. D. 336), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday."—" The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine," by Rev. Peter Geiermann, C. SS. R., page 50, third edition, 1913, a work which received the "apostolic blessing" of Pope Pius X, Jan. 25, 1910. What was done at the Council of Laodicea was but one of the steps by which the change of the Sabbath was effected. See under questions 17-21. The date usually given for this council is 364 A. D.

"You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify."— Cardinal Gibbons, in "The Faith, of Our Fathers," edition 1892, page 111.

"Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles. . . . From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first."— Catholic Press (Sydney, Australia), Aug. 25, 1900.

"Is there no express commandment for observing the first day of the week as Sabbath, instead of the seventh day?— None whatever. Neither Christ, nor His apostles, nor the first Christians celebrated the first day of the week instead of the seventh as the Sabbath."— New York Weekly Tribune, May 24, 1900.

"The Scriptures nowhere call the first day of the week the Sabbath. . . . There is no Scriptural authority for so doing, nor of course any Scriptural obligation."— The Watchman (Baptist).

"The observance of the first instead of the seventh day rests on the testimony of the church, and the church alone."— Hobart Church Newt (Episcopalian), July 2, 1894.

For additional testimonies, see reading on page 454.

" The Christian church made no formal, but a gradual and almost unconscious transference of the one day to the other."—"The Voice From Sinai," by Archdeacon F. W. Farrar, page 167. This of itself is evidence that there was no divine command for the change of the Sabbath. For many centuries. In fact, its observance has never wholly ceased in the Christian church.

Mr. Morer, a learned clergyman of the Church of England, says: "The primitive Christians had a great veneration for the Sabbath, and spent the day in devotion and sermons. And it is not to be doubted that they derived this practice from the apostles themselves."—"Dialogues on the Lord's Day," page 189. Prof. E. Brentwood, of Gresham College, London (Episcopal), says: "The Sabbath was religiously observed in the Eastern church three hundred years and more after our Saviour's passion."—"A Learned Treatise of the Sabbath," page 77.

Lyman Coleman, a careful and candid historian, says: "Down even to the fifth century the observance of the Jewish Sabbath was continued in the Christian church, but with a rigor and solemnity gradually diminishing until it was wholly discontinued."—"Ancient Christianity Exemplified," chap. 26, sec. 2.

The historian Socrates, who wrote about the middle of the fifth century, says: "Almost all the churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, refuse to do this." —"Ecclesiastical History," book 5, chap. 22. Sozomen, another historian of the same period, writes: "The people of Constantinople, and of several other cities, assemble together on the Sabbath as well as on the next day; which custom is never observed at Rome."—"Ecclesiastical History," book 7, chap. 19.

All this would have been inconceivable and impossible had there been a divine command given for the change of the Sabbath. The last two quotations also show that Rome led in the apostasy and in the change of the Sabbath.

"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 (venerabili die Solis), with an exception in favor of those engaged in agricultural labor."— Encyclopedia Britannica, ninth edition, article "Sunday."

"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, article "Sabbath."

"Unquestionably the first law, either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the Sabbatical observance of that day is known to have been ordained, is the edict of Constantine, 321 A. D. — Chambers's Encyclopedia, article "Sabbath."

This edict, issued by Constantine, under whom the Christian church and the Roman state were first united, in a manner supplied the lack of a divine command for Sunday observance, and may be considered the original Sunday law, and the model after which all Sunday laws since then have been patterned. It was one of the important steps in bringing about and establishing the change of the Sabbath.

8. The Seal of God and the Mark of Apostasy

What are you doing, brethren, in the great work of preparation? Those who are uniting with the world, are receiving the worldly mold, and preparing for the mark of the beast. Those who are distrustful of self, who are humbling themselves before God and purifying their souls by obeying the truth,--these are receiving the heavenly mold, and preparing for the seal of God in their foreheads. When the decree goes forth, and the stamp is impressed, their character will remain pure and spotless for eternity. {CET 191.1}

The Sabbath the Point of Issue

The Sabbath question is to be the issue in the great final conflict in which all the world will act a part. Men have honored Satan's principles above the principles that rule in the heavens. They have accepted the spurious sabbath, which Satan has exalted as the sign of his authority. But God has set His seal upon His royal requirement. Each sabbath institution bears the name of its author, an ineffaceable mark that shows the authority of each. It is our work to lead the people to understand this. We are to show them that it is of vital consequence whether they bear the mark of God's kingdom or the mark of the kingdom of rebellion, for they acknowledge themselves subjects of the kingdom whose mark they bear. God has called us to uplift the standard of His downtrodden Sabbath. {CCh 334.6}

When Seal of God Is Refused

If the light of truth has been presented to you, revealing the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and showing that there is no foundation in the Word of God for Sunday observance, and yet you still cling to the false sabbath, refusing to keep holy the Sabbath which God calls "My holy day," you receive the mark of the beast. When does this take place? When you obey the decree that commands you to cease from labor on Sunday and worship God, while you know that there is not a word in the Bible showing Sunday to be other than a common working day, you consent to receive the mark of the beast, and refuse the seal of God.--Review and Herald, July 13, 1897. {Ev 235.2}

9. The Lord's Day

It was on the Sabbath that the Lord of glory appeared to the exiled apostle. The Sabbath was as sacredly observed by John on Patmos as when he was preaching to the people in the towns and cities of Judea. He claimed as his own the precious promises that had been given regarding that day. "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day," John writes, "and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. . . . And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks One like unto the Son of man." Revelation 1:10-13. {AA 581.4}

Heed First Word of the Fourth Commandment.

"Remember" is placed at the very first of the Fourth Commandment. Parents, you need to remember the Sabbath day yourselves to keep it holy. And if you do this, you are giving the proper instruction to your children; they will reverence God's holy day. . . . Christian education is needed in your homes. All through the week keep the Lord's holy Sabbath in view, for that day is to be devoted to the service of God. It is a day when the hands are to rest from worldly employment, when the soul's needs are to receive especial attention. {CG 527.3}

10. Walking as He Walked

Bible religion is not a garment which can be put on and taken off at pleasure. It is an all-pervading influence, which leads us to be patient, self-denying followers of Christ, doing as He did, walking as He walked. . . . {AG 248.2}

Walking as Christ Walked.--Those who walk even as Christ walked, who are patient, gentle, kind, meek and lowly in heart, those who yoke up with Christ and lift His burdens, who yearn for souls as He yearned for them--these will enter into the joy of their Lord. They will see with Christ the travail of His soul, and be satisfied. Heaven will triumph, for the vacancies made in heaven by the fall of Satan and his angels will be filled by the redeemed of the Lord (RH May 29, 1900). {7BC 949.2}

The Imitation of Christ.--True religion is the imitation of Christ. Those who follow Christ will deny self, take up the cross, and walk in His footsteps. Following Christ means obedience to all His commandments. No soldier can be said to follow his commander unless he obeys orders. Christ is our model. To copy Jesus, full of love and tenderness and compassion, will require that we draw near to Him daily. O how God has been dishonored by His professed representatives (Letter 31a, 1894)! {7BC 949.3}

11. The Sabbath in History

History will repeat itself. In this age the great test will be upon the point of Sabbath observance. . . . A rival sabbath is exalted, as was the great golden image in the plain of Dura. Leaders claiming to be Christians will call upon the world to observe the spurious sabbath that they have made. All who refuse will be put under oppressive laws. This is the mystery of iniquity, the devising of satanic agencies, carried into effect by the man of sin. . . . {CTr 178.5}

We are living in a momentous period in this earth’s history. The great conflict is just before us. . . . The man of sin has worked with a marvelous perseverance to exalt a spurious sabbath, and the disloyal Protestant world has wondered after the beast and has called obedience to the Sabbath instituted by Jehovah disloyalty to the laws of the nations. Kingdoms have confederated to sustain a false sabbath institution, which has not a word of authority in the oracles of God. . . . {CTr 328.4}

The Sabbath was given to all humankind to commemorate the work of creation. The great Jehovah, when He had laid the foundations of the earth, when He had dressed the whole world in its garb of beauty, and created all the wonders of the land and the sea, instituted the Sabbath day and made it holy. . . . God sanctified and blessed the day in which He had rested from all His wondrous work. And this Sabbath, sanctified of God, was to be kept for a perpetual covenant. It was a memorial that was to stand from age to age, till the close of earth’s history. . . . {CTr 355.2}

12. Sabbath Reform

The Sabbath Opens With the Family at Worship.-- Before the setting of the sun, let the members of the family assemble to read God's Word, to sing and pray. There is need of reform here, for many have been remiss. We need to confess to God and to one another. We should begin anew to make special arrangements that every member of the family may be prepared to honor the day which God has blessed and sanctified. {CG 529.1}

God's remnant people, standing before the world as reformers, are to show that the law of God is the foundation of all enduring reform and that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is to stand as a memorial of creation, a constant reminder of the power of God. In clear, distinct lines they are to present the necessity of obedience to all the precepts of the Decalogue. Constrained by the love of Christ, they are to co-operate with Him in building up the waste places. They are to be repairers of the breach, restorers of paths to dwell in. {CC 269.4}

Far more sacredness is attached to the Sabbath than is given it by many professed Sabbathkeepers. The Lord has been greatly dishonored by those who have not kept the Sabbath according to the commandment, either in the letter or in the spirit. He calls for a reform in the observance of the Sabbath. {CCh 263.6}

Before the setting of the sun let the members of the family assemble to read God's word, to sing and pray. There is need of reform here, for many have been remiss. We need to confess to God and to one another. We should begin anew to make special arrangements that every member of the family may be prepared to honor the day which God has blessed and sanctified. {CCh 264.1}

God designed that the Sabbath should direct the minds of men to His created works, and through these to Him, the Creator. Nature itself speaks to our senses, telling us that there is a God, the Creator and Supreme Ruler of the universe. The Sabbath, ever pointing to God through nature, was designed to keep the Creator constantly in mind. The proper keeping of it, therefore, must naturally tend to prevent idolatry, atheism, agnosticism, infidelity, irreligion, and irreverence; and, being promotive of the knowledge and fear of God, must of necessity be a deterrent to sin. In this may its value and importance be seen. The Sabbath should not be a day of either ordinary labor, idleness, or amusement, but one of rest, reflection, holy joy, worship, and helpfulness. It should be the happiest, the brightest, and the best of all the week. Such it should be made for young and old. Very early the children can be taught the stories of creation and redemption, and taken out amid the handiworks of God and taught to see Him and to commune with Him through nature. Preparation for the Sabbath, therefore, is essential to its proper observance. God's blessing is upon the first moments of the Sabbath as well as upon the last; and, as far as possible, everything should be got in readiness so that the entire day may be devoted to God and humanity in the manner indicated. In making the Sabbath, God rested upon, blessed, and sanctified the day. Ex. 20: 11. Whoever, then, keeps the Sabbath aright, may expect

Some years ago the late Dr. William Mead Jones, of London, published a "Chart of the Week," showing the style of the weekly cycle and the designations of the different days of the week in one hundred and sixty different languages. This chart shows very vividly that the seven-day period, or week, was known from the most ancient times, and that in no fewer than one hundred and eight of these languages the seventh days designated as the Sabbath, or holy, day. The following is from this chart: — English The seventh day The Sabbath

Hebrew Shabbath Sabbath

Greek Sabbaton Sabbath

Latin Sabbatum Sabbath

Arabic Assabt The Sabbath

Persian Shambin Sabbath

Armenian Shapat Sabbath

Turkish Yomessabt Day the Sabbath

Abyssinian Sanbat Sabbath

Russian Subbota Sabbath

Polish Sobota Sabbath

Hindustani Shamba Sabbath

Malay Ari-Sabtu Day Sabbath

Afghan Shamba Sabbath

German Samstag Sabbath

Prussian Sabatico Sabbath

French Samedi Sabbath day

Italian Sabbato Sabbath

Spanish Sabado Sabbath

Portuguese Sabbado Sabbath

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The Sabbath {BRH pp. 415-463}

1. WHEN and by whom was the Sabbath made? Gen. 2:1, 2.

Ans. ____________________________

2. Did Christ have anything to do with creation and the making of the Sabbath? John 1:3. See also Eph. 3:9; Col. 1: 16; Heb. 1: 2.

Ans. ____________________________

3. What does the Sabbath commandment require? Ex. 20: 8-10.

Ans. ____________________________

4. How did God prove Israel in the wilderness? Ex. 16:4.

Ans. ____________________________

5. WHAT is to endure throughout all generations? Ps. 135: 13.

Ans. ____________________________

6. What was another memorial instituted to commemorate another signal of providence in behalf of the Israelites? Ex. 12: 14.

Ans. ____________________________

7. Does God design that His great work of creating the heavens and the earth shall be remembered? Ps. 111:2-4.

Ans. ____________________________

8. How long was the Sabbath to be a sign of the true God? Ex. 31:17.

Ans. ____________________________

9. What besides creation were Israel to remember when they kept the Sabbath? Deut. 5: 15.

Ans. ____________________________

10. Through whom do we have sanctification? 1 Cor. 1: 30.

Ans. ____________________________

11. What statement of the redeemed shows that they will remember God's creative power? Rev. 4: 11

Ans. ____________________________

12. How often will they congregate to worship the Lord? Isa. 66: 22, 23.

Ans. ____________________________

13. When Paul wished to preach the true God to the idolatrous Athenians, how did he describe Him? Acts 17: 23, 24.

Ans. ____________________________

14. How important is it that we know God? John 17: 3.

Ans. ____________________________

15. What other reason is given for keeping the Sabbath? Ex. 31: 13.

Ans. ____________________________

16. What does the psalmist say was the reason why God brought His people out of Egypt, and placed them in Canaan? Ps.105: 43-45.

Ans. ____________________________

17. Was the Sabbath intended as a day for public worship? Lev. 23: 3.

Ans. ____________________________

18. Does the New Testament teach the same duty? Heb. 10:24, 25.

Ans. ____________________________

19. Will the Sabbath be observed as a day of worship in the new earth? Isa. 66:22, 23.

Ans. ____________________________

20. What is it that makes a thing holy? Ex. 3:5; 29:43 46; Joshua 5:13-15.

Ans. ____________________________

21. When, according to the Bible, does the Sabbath begin? Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31.

Ans. ____________________________

22. How does the Lord, through the prophet Isaiah, indicate what is true Sabbath-keeping? Isa. 58: 13, 14.

Ans. ____________________________

23. What is the character of God, and how only can He be truly worshiped? John 4: 24.

Ans. ____________________________

24. What do the works of God declare? Ps. 19: 1-3.

Ans. ____________________________

25. What example did Christ set in Sabbath observance? Luke 4: 16.

Ans. ____________________________

Prepared by:

Education Department

GADSDA, Visayan Division, Philippines

Zone 6, Sitio Lonoy, Kananga, Leyte