HOW THE SABBATH WAS MADE

When and by whom was the Sabbath made? 

        Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.  And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day God ended his work  which he had made;  and  he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made." Genesis 2"1,2. 

What is the reason for keeping the Sabbath day holy? 

       "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 20:11. 

What is the reason for keeping the Sabbath day holy?

        "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 20:11. 

         Note.---The Sabbath is the memorial of creation.  God designed that through keeping it man should forever remember Him as teh true and living God, the Creation of all things. 

         On the perpetuity of the Sabbath command, Wesley declared, "Six days shalt thou do all manner of work.  But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.'  it is not thine, but God's day.  He claims it for his own.  He always did claim it for his own, even from the beginning of the world.  'In six days the Lord blessed the Sabbath -day and hallowed it.'  He hallowed it; that is, he made it holy; he reserved it for his own service.   He appointed, that as long as the sun or the moon, the heavens and the earth, should endure, the children of men should spend this day in the worship of him who 'gave them life and breath and all things.'"--- John Wesley, "A  Word to a Sabbath-Breaker," in Works, Vol. 11(1830 ed.) pp. 164-166.

Did Christ have anything to do with creation and the making of the Sabbath?

          "All things were made by him;  and without him was not anything made that was made." John 1:3, (See also Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2.)

          Note.---Christ was the active agent in creation.  God rested on the seventh day from the work of creation; therefore, Christ must have rested on the seventh day with the Father.  Consequently, it is His rest day as well as the Father's.

After resting on the seventh day, what did God do?

         "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God crated and made." Genesis 2:3. 

          Note.---By three distinct acts, then, was the Sabbath made: God rested on it; He blessed it; He  sanctified it, Sanctify means" to make sacred or holy."

MAN AND THE SABBATH

For whom did Christ say the Sabbath was made?

         "And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath."  Mark 2:27. 

          Note.---Man here means "mankind." God instituted the Sabbath to be a source of benefit and blessing to the human family.

        "Jesus says: 'The Sabbath was made for man;' and the necessary inference is that from the beginning man knew the primary uses of the day, and received the benefits which it was designed to impart...:

        Before the giving of the law from Sinai the obligation of the Sabbath was understood." --J. J. Taylor (Baptist), The Sabbatic Question (Revell, 1914 ed.), pp. 20-24. 

         Regarding the perpetuity of the Sabbath commandment.  Moody wrote, "I honestly believe that this commandment is jut a binding to-day as it ever was.  I have talked with men who have said that it has been abrogated, but they have never been able to point to any place in the Bible where God repealed it.  When Christ was on earth, He did nothing to set it aside; He freed it from the traces under which the scribes and Pharisees had put it, and gave it its true place. 'The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.'  It is just as practicable and as necessary for men today as it ever was--- in fact, more than ever, because we live in such an intense age. 

          "The sabbath was binding in Eden, and it has been in force ever since.  This forth commandment begins with the word 'remember,' showing that the sabbath already existed when God wrote this law on the tables of stone at Sinai.  How can men claim that  this one commandment has been done away with when they will admit that the other nine are still binding? ---D.L. Moody, Wanting and Wanting (1898 ed.) pp. 46,47. 

When did God bless and sanctify the seventh day? 

         "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.  And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he HAD rested from all his work which God created and made."  Genesis 2:2, 3. 

          Note.---"If we had no other passage than this of Genesis 2:3, there would e 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 know 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."---- John Peter Lange, A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, on Genesis 2:3, Vol. 1, p. 198.

THE SABBATH TEST IN ISRAEL 

What does the Sabbath commandment require?

          "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days shalt thou labour, 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 cattle, nor they stranger that is within thy gates."  Exodus 20:8-10. 

         Note.---Luther says, on Exodus 16:4, 22-30; "Hence you can see that the Sabbath was before the law of Moses came, and has existed from the beginning of the world.  Especially have the devout, who have preserved the true faith, met together and called upon God on this day." --- translated from Auslegung des Alten Testaments (Commentary on the Old Testament), in Sammtliche Schriften (Collected Writings), edited by J. G. Walch, Vol. 3, col 950. 

How did God prove Israel in the wilderness?

         "I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them whether they will walk in my law, or no." Exodus 16:4. 

On which day was double portion of manna gathered?

          "And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man." Verse 22. 

What did Moses say to the rulers?

          Note.---"2.  The Sabbath is indispensable to man, being promotive of his highest good, physically, intellectually, socially, spiritually, and eternally.  Hence its observance is connected with the best of promises, and its violation with the severest penalties.  Exod. xxxiii, 12 xxxi, 12-18; Neh. xiii, 15-22; Isa. 1vi, 2-7; 1viii, 13-14; Jer.xvii, 21-27; Ezekxx, 12, 13; xxii, 26-31.  Its sanctity was very distinctly marked in the gathering of the manna.  Exod xvi, 22-30.

          "3.  The original law of the Sabbath was renewed and made a prominent part of the moral law, or ten commandments, given through Moses at Sinai Exod. xx, 8-11." ---Amos Binney and Daniel Steele, Binney's Theological Compend Improved (1902 ed.). p.170.  

What did some of the people do on the seventh day?

         "It came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none." Verse 27. 

How did God reproved their disobedience? 

        "And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws"? Verse 28. 

Why was twice as much manna given on the sixth day? 

         "See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day." Verse29. 

How, then did the Lord test the people?

       Over the keeping of the Sabbath. 

        Note.---Thus we see that the Sabbath commandment  was a part of God's law before this law spoken from Sinai, for this incident occurred before Israel came to Sinai.

       "As presented to us in the Scriptures the Sabbath was not he invention of any religious fonder.  It was not  at first part of any system of religion, but an entirely independent institution.  Very definitely it is presented in Genesis as the very first institution, inaugurated by the Creator himself.  It was purely religious, wholly mora, wholly spiritual.  It had no prescribed ceremonies, no sacramentarian significance.  It required  nopriest, no litury.  It was for man as God's creature, steward and friend."  W.O Carver, Sabbath Observance, p. 41, Copyright, 1940, by the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.  Used by permission. 

Reason for Sabbathkeeping

THE SABBATH AND THE TRUE GOD

How is the true God distinguished from all false gods?

          "The Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and everlasting king...The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.  He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion." Jeremiah 10:10-12. 

How did Paul describe God to the idolatrous Athenians? 

         "Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you God that made the world and all things therein." Acts 17:23, 24. 

What did the apostles say to the idolaters at Lystra?

         "Turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the se, and all things that re therein." Acts 14:15.  (See also Revelation 10:6; 14:6,7.)

What reason is given to the fourth commandments for keeping the Sabbath day holy?

         "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day."   Exodus 20:11. 

         Note.---The Sabbath is the great memorial of the creative power of the true and living God.  God's design in making the Sabbath was that man might never forget Him, the Creator of all things. 

        "The week, with its Sabbath, is an artificial device.  The reason for it is found only in the Old Testament Scriptures.  Here it is always associated with revelation from God....

         "Religious ideas and practices among all peoples, in varying degree, have been associated with all the time decisions which men have adapted.  But it connection only with the week is religion obviously the explanation of its origin, and the week only is uniformly attributed to command of God.  The week exists because of the Sabbath.  It is historically and scientifically true that the Sabbath was made by God."---W.O. Carver, Sabbath Observance, pp. 34, 35. Copyright, 1940, by the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.  Used by permission. 

        When we remember that millions of the world's inhabitants today are idolaters, and that since the Fall, idolatry, with its train of 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 ca better appreciate the value of the Sabbath institution, and of sabbathkeeping. 

What is the Sabbath to those who keep it holy?

        "And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am Lord your God." Ezekiel 20:20. 

          Note.---"The observance of the Sabbath connects man with the origin of his race, with the six days' creation, and with the Creator Himself... The Sabbath thus becomes a sign by which the believers in a historical Revelation are distinguished from those who have allowed these great facts to fade from their remembrance  (Exodus 31:13)....The observance of the Sabbath, then, becomes the characteristic of those who cherish the recollections of the origin of their race, and who worship God not merely as Elohim, the Everlasting Almighty, but as Jehovah, the historical God, the Creator, who has reveled Himself to man from the dawn of his existence as the God of love and afterwards of mercy and grace, of promise and performance." --- James G. Murphy. 

How important is it what we know God?

        "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent," John 17:3. 

Is there any danger of God's people forgetting Him?

         "Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes." Deuteronomy 8:11. 

SANCTIFICATION AND DELIVERANCE

What other reason is given for keeping the Sabbath?

         "Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout you generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. 

         Note.---To sanctify is to make holy, or to set apart for a 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 1 Corinthians 1:30 we are told the Christ is made unto us "sanctification": and in Ephesians 2:10 it is said that "we are his workmanship, created in 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 that sinner and makes him whole.

What special reason did Israel have for Sabbathkeeping?

          "And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm; therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee keep the sabbath day." Deuteronomy 5:15. 

          Note.---In their bondage the Israelites had to some extent lost the knowledge of God, and departed from His precepts.  In consequence of the oppression, especially the rigorous exactions made upon them by the Pharaoh of the Exodus, Sabbath observance was doubtless extremely difficult if not entirely impossible.  Deliverance from this oppression was therefore an additional reason for their keeping the Sabbath.  Since Egyptian bondage is illustrative of the bondage of sin, everyone who has been delivered from sin may regard himself as having the same reason for keeping the Sabbath as had the Israelites  who were released from Egyptian bondage. 

What does the psalmist say was the reason why God brought His people out of Egypt and placed them in Canaan?

          "He brought forth his people...: and gave them the lands of the heathen...:that they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws." Psalm 105:43-45

          Note.---Their deliverance from Egyptian bondage was a reason for the keeping not only of the fourht commandments but of every precept of God's law.  This is indicated by the 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," prefacing "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:2,3. (See also Leviticus 19:35-37; Deuteronomy 10:19; 15:12-15; 24:17, 18.) Likewise, God calls everyone who, through Christ, has been delivered from the bondage of sin, to keep not only the Sabbath but every precept of His holy law.  "Blessed is the man that deoth 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." Isaiah 56:2. 

PERSONAL REST AND PUBLIC WORSHIP 

What is the meaning of the world "sabbath"?

REST.

         Note.---Previous to the Fall. God designed that man's time should be occupied with pleasant, invigoration labor.  (Genesis 2:15.) Wearisome toil came in consequence of sin.  (Genesis 3:17-19.)  Since the Fall the Sabbath may bring physical rest to both man and best of burden (Exodus 23:12), but physical rest was not its original and primary design or purpose.  Cessation from the ordinary labors of the week was ordained, not because these are sinful in themselves, but that man might have a frequently recurring period for contemplation of the Creator and His works. 

Was the Sabbath intended as a day of public worship?

        "Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, and holy convocation." Leviticus 23:3. 

        Note.---A convocation is an assembly of people. 

Manner of Observing the Sabbath

KEEPING HOLY WHAT GOD MADE HOLY

What is first commanded in the Sabbath commandment? 

          "Remember the sabbath day." Exodus 20:8

Which day is the Sabbath?

         "The seventh day is the sabbath." Verse 10.

For what purpose are we to remember the Sabbath day?

          Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." Verse 8.

          Note.---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 remind us 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, through the Sabbath itself can be kept, or observed , only upon the seventh day, for "the seventh day is the sabbath." 

Who made the Sabbath day holy? 

         "Wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."  Verse 11. 

         Note.---God made the Sabbath day holy; are to keep it holy. 

What is it that makes a thing holy?

          God's presence in it, (See Exodus 3:5; 29:43-46; Joshua 5:13-15. 

To keep the Sabbath day holy, what must we recognize?

          God's presence in the day, His blessing upon it, and His sanctification of it. 

When, according to the Bible, does the Sabbath begin?

          "And the evening  and the morning were the first day." "And the evening and the morning were the second day," etc. (See Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19,23, 31.) "From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath." Leviticus 23:32.

        Note.---The reference in Leviticus is to the Day of Atonement See Leviticus 23:27); however, a comparison with Mark 1:32 shows that the same regulation was followed for the seventh-day Sbbath. 

         One advantage of keeping the Sabbath according to the Bible method of reckoning the day from sunset to sunset, rather than the Roman reckoning, 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, whereas by the latter, he  is asleep when the day begins and ends.  Sunset is a great natural sign for marking the division of time into days.

PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL REST

What labor is to be don through the week?

         "Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work." Exodus 20:9.

Is any of this kind of work to be done on the Sabbath?

        "In it thou shalt not do any work." Verse 10. 

         Note.---If the Sabbath is to be kept "holy," mere physical rest one day in seven cannot be the great object of the Sabbath instruction. 

The does the Lord, through the prophet Isaiah, indicate what is true Sabbathkeeiping? 

         "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 honour him, not doing thine own ways, nr finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt though delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with thee heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."  Isaiah 58: 13, 14. 

        Note.---"As the Jews departed from God, and failed to make the righteousness of Christ their own by faith, the Sabbath lost its significance to them.  Satan was seeking to exalt himself and to draw men away from Christ, and he worked to pervert the Sabbath, because it is the sigh of the power of Christ.  The Jewish leaders accomplished the will of Satan by surrounding God's rest day with burdensome requirements.  In the days of Christ the Sabbath had become so perverted that its observance reflected the character of selfish and arbitrary men rather that the character of the loving heavenly Father.  The rabbis virtually represented God as giving laws which it was impossible for men to obey.  They led the people to look upon God as a tyrant, and to think that the observance of the Sabbath, as He required it, made men hard -hearted and cruel.  It was the work of Christ to clear away these misconceptions.  Although the rabbis followed Him with merciless hostility, He did not even appear to conform to their requirements, but went straight forward, keeping the Sabbath according to the law of God."--- E. G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 283, 284.

What is the character of God, and how only can He be truly worshiped?

        "God is Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." John 4:24.  

          Note.---This is one reason why the attempt to produced Sabbath keeping by human Sabbath laws is altogether out of place.  Such laws can never produce true Sabbathkeeping, for that is spiritual, and must be of the mind and from the heart, and not perfunctory, mechanical, or of force.

What is one thing of which the Sabbath is a sign?

         "That it is God who sanctifies His people, or makes them holy (See Exodus 20:12.)

What does the psalm for "the sabbath day" suggest as proper themes for Sabbath thought and action?

        "It is good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High; to shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.  For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work; I will triumph in the works of thy hand. O Lord, how great are thy words and thy thoughts are very deep." Psalm 92:1-5. 

What do the work of God declare?

         "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.  Day unot day uttereth speech, and nigh unto night sheweth.  There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heart."  Psalm 19:1-3. 

        Note.---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 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. 

What evidence is thee that the Sabbath was designed to be a day for public worship?

         "Six days shall be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation." Leviticus 23:3. 

         Note.-- Convocation means "a calling together," a meeting.

What was Christ's custom on the Sabbath day?

        "And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read." Luke 4:16.

What else did Jesus do on the Sabbath?

        "And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes." John 9:14. 

         Note.---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 of the Sabbath.  

In what words did He justify acts of mercy on the Sabbath?

         "Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days." Matthew 12:12.

         Note.---Note 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."

PREPARING FOR THE SABBATH

What is the day on which to prepare for the Sabbath?

         "And that day [the sixth day] was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on." Luke 23:54.  (See also Exodus 16:22, 23.)

          Note.---In order to keep the Sabbath day holy, it must be remember all though 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.  

How did the Israelites in the wilderness on the sixth day prepare for the Sabbath?

        "On the sixth day they gathered twice as much." Exodus 16:22. 

         Note.---The Sabbath should be the happiest day of all the week.  "The Sabbath is not intended to be a period of useless inactivity.  The law forbids secular labor on the rest day of the Lord; the toil that gains a livelihood must cease; no labor for worldly pleasure or profit is lawful upon that day; but as God ceased His labor of creating, and rested upon the Sabbath and blessed it, so man is to leave the occupations of his daily life, and devote those sacred hours to healthful rest, to worship, and to holy deeds."---E. G. White. The Desire of Ages, p. 207. 

         The children can be taught the stories of creation and redemption, and taken out amid the handiworks of God to commune with Him through nature, Preparation for the Sabbath, therefore, is essential to its proper observance. 

         In making the Sabbath, God rested upon, blessed, and sanctified the day. (Exodus 20:11.)  Whoever, then, keeps the Sabbath aright, my expect that there will come into his life God's rest, blessing, and sanitization. 

Christ and the Sabbath

MAKER AND KEEPER OF THE SABBATH

Of what did Christ say the Son of man is Lord?

        "The son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day." Matthew 12:8.  (See also Mark 2:28.)

Who made the Sabbath?

         "All things were made by him [Christ, the World]." John 1:3.

          Note.---Christ was the creative agent (See page 123.)

Did Christ, while on earth , keep the Sabbath?

         "As his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read." Luke 4:16. 

DEBATE ON HOW TO KEEP THE SABBATH

Although Lord, Maker, and an observer of the Sabbath, how was He watched and spied upon on this day? 

          "And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him." Luke 6:7. 

How did Christ meet their false ideas of Sabbathkeeping?

          "Then said Jesus,...Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?" Verse 9. 

How did they manifest their displeasure at His healing the man with withered hand on the Sabbath? 

         "And they filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus." Verse 11. "And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel..., how they might destroy him."  Mark 3:6.

         Note.---Although the miracle Christ performed had given evidence that He was from God, they were angry because He had shown their views of Sabbathkeepign to be wrong.  Wounded pride, obstinacy, and malice, therefore, combined to fill them with madness; and they went out  immediately and held counsel with the Herodians---their political enemies---for the purpose of accomplishing His death. 

Because Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath day and told him to take up his bed and walk, what did the Jews do?

          "Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day." John 5: 16. 

         Note.---It is noteworthy not the least for the malice that finally caused His crucifixions was engendered over this very question of Sabbath observance.  Christ did not keep the Sabbath according to their ideas, and so they sought to kill Him.  Many today cherish this same spirit.   Because some do not agree with their ideas of the Sabbath, or Sabbath observance, they seek to persecute and oppress them--- seek laws, and alliances with political powers to compel respect for their own views.  

How did Jesus answer them? 

         "But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." Verse 17. 

         Note.---The ordinary operations of nature, as manifested in God's almighty, upholding, beneficent, and healing power, go on the Sabbath.  To cooperate  with God and nature in the work of healing on the Sabbath cannot, therefore be out of harmony with God's Sabbath law. 

What effect did this answer have upon the Jews? 

          "Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him." Verse 18. 

Because the disciples plucked a few heads of grain on the Sabbath day to satisfy hunger, what did the Pharisees say?

         "And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?" Mark 2:24. 

What was Christ's reply?

         "And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did when he hade need, and was an hungered, he, and they that were with him? how he...did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?  and he said unto them. The sabbath was made for man, and not if man for the sabbath.  Verse 25-27. 

What was said Christ's healing a woman one Sabbath?

         "The ruler of the synagogue answered,...There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day." Luke 13:14. 

What was Christ's answer?

         "Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? and ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?" Verse 15, 16. 

What effect did Christ's answers have upon the people?

        "All his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. " Verse17. 

How did Christ justify acts of mercy on the Sabbath?

          "What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lifte it out?  How much then is a man better than a sheep?  Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days."   Matthew 12:11, 12, (See also Luke 14"5,6.)

           Note.---"Jesus observed the Sabbath Day of his own people.  It was his custom to worship in the synagogues on the Sabbath Day.  After he entered the Sabbath Day, but according to his own individual and spiritual insight and interpretation.  Even when Sabbath observance  was made one of the chief grounds of bitter antagonism to him by the Pharisees he continued his recognition of the Sabbath and utter no word that can properly be construed as lacking in deep reverence.  Apparently, he expected that his followers would continue to hold and inculcate the spirit of the historic Sabbath."---W. O. Carver,  Sabbath Observance, p. 25.  (Copyright, 1940, by the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.  Used by permission.)

What dispute did Christ's miracles cause?

          "Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day.  Others said, How can man that is  a sinner do such miracles?" John 9:16. 

          Note.--By these miracles God was setting the seal of His approval to Chris's views and teachings respecting the Sabbath and to His manner of observing it, thus condemning the narrow and false views of the Pharisees.  Hence the division. 

JESUS MAGNIFIES THE SABBATH

According to Isaiah, what was Christ to do with the law? 

          "He will magnify the law, and make it honorable." Isaiah 42:21. 

          Note.---In nothing, perhaps, was this more strikingly fulfilled than in the matter of Sabbath observance.  By their numerous traditional 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 restored the Sabbath to its proper place as a day of worship, of contemplation of God, a day for doing acts of charity and mercy.  Thus He magnified it and made it honorable.  One of the most prominent features of Christ's ministry was this work of Sabbath reformer.  Christ did not abolish or change the Sabbath; but He did rescue it from the rubbish of tradition, false ideas, and superstitions by which it had been degraded.  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 and will-being of both man and best. 

In view of the coming destruction and desolation of the city of Jerusalem, for what did Christ tell His disciples to pray? 

          "But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day." Matthew 24:20. 

           Note.---"Christ is here speaking of the flight of the apostles and other Christians out of Jerusalem and Judea, just before their final destructions, as is manifest by the whole context, and especially by the 16th verse:  "Then let them which be in Judea flee unto the mountains.'  But the final destruction of Jerusalem was after the dissolution of the Jewish constitution, and after the Christian dispensation was fully set up.  Yet it is plainly implied in these words of the Lord, that even then Christians  were bound to a strict observations of the Sabbath."---Jonathan Edwards, Works (reprint of Worcester ed., 1844-1848). Vol. 4, pp. 621, 622. 

            "The Great Teacher never intimated that the Sabbath was a ceremonial ordinance to cease with the Mosaic ritual....Instead of anticipating its extinction along with the ceremonial law, He speaks of its existence after the downfall of Jerusalem.  [See Matthew 24:20.]---W.D. Killen (Irish Presbyterian); The Ancient Church (1883 ed.), p. 188.     

The Change of the Sabbath

THE SABBATH AND THE LAW

Of what is the Sabbath commandment a part?

          The law of God.  (See Exodus 20:8-11). 

In His most famous sermon, what did Christ say of the law?

         "Thinks not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I an not come to destroy, but to fulfill."  Matthew 5:17. 

         Note.---"He [Christ] fulfilled the moral law by obeying, by obeying, by bringing out its fullness of meaning, by showing its intense spirtuality, and He established it on a surer basis than ever as the eternal law of righteousness.  He fulfilled the ceremonial and typical law, not only by conforming to its requirements, but by realizing its spiritual significance.  He filled up the shadowy outlines of the types, and, thus furl filled, they pass away, and it is no longer necessary for us to observe the Passover or slay the daily lamb: we have the substance in Christ."---The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p.1847. 

How enduring did He say the law is?

         "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."  Verse 18. 

What did He say of those who should break one of the least of God's commandments and teach men so to do?

         "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." Verse 19. 

What did He say of those who should break one of he least of God's commandments and teach men so to do?

        "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall called the least in the kingdom of heaven." Verse 19.

         Note.---From this it is evident that all ten commandments are 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 most Christians keep the first day of the week instead. 

       It is a remarkable and regrettable fact that while most Christians regard the decalogue as a whole as being of personal and perpetual obligation, so many should make the fourth commandment and exception.  It is the most complete and comprehensive of them all and, unlike the rest, is expressed both positively and negatively." ---W. C. Procter, in Moody Institute Monthly, December, 1933, p. 160. 

         Many believe 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. 

         Those who believe that Jesus changed the Sabbath base it only on a supposition: 

         "Jesus, after his resurrection, changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week; thus showing his authority as Lord even of the Sabbath....

         "When Jesus gave instructions for this change we are not told, but very likely during the time he Spake to his apostles of the things pertaining to his kingdom.  Acts i, 3.  This is probably one of the many unrecorded things which Jesus did.  John xx, 30; xxi, 25."---Amos Binney and Daniel Steele (Methodist), Binney's Theological Compend Improved, p. 171. 

What did He say of those who should break one of the least of God's commandments and teach men so to do?

         "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." Verse 19. 

What did He say of those who should break one of he least of God's commandments and teach men so to do?

        "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall called the least in the kingdom of heaven." Verse 19.

         Note.---From this it is evident that all ten commandments are 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 most Christians keep the first day of the week instead. 

       It is a remarkable and regrettable fact that while most Christians regard the decalogue as a whole as being of personal and perpetual obligation, so many should make the fourth commandment and exception.  It is the most complete and comprehensive of them all and, unlike the rest, is expressed both positively and negatively." ---W. C. Procter, in Moody Institute Monthly, December, 1933, p. 160. 

         Many believe 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. 

         Those who believe that Jesus changed the Sabbath base it only on a supposition: 

         "Jesus, after his resurrection, changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week; thus showing his authority as Lord even of the Sabbath....

         "When Jesus gave instructions for this change we are not told, but very likely during the time he Spake to his apostles of the things pertaining to his kingdom.  Acts i, 3.  This is probably one of the many unrecorded things which Jesus did.  John xx, 30; xxi, 25."---Amos Binney and Daniel Steele (Methodist), Binney's Theological Compend Improved, p. 171. 

BIBLE PREDICTS ATTEMPTED CHANGE 

What did God, through the prophet Daniel, say the power represented by the "Little horn" would think to do? 

         "He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and shall think to change the times and the law." Daniel 7:25, R. S. V.

What did the Apostle Paul say the "man of sin" would do?

          "For that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped." 2 Thessalonians 2: 3, 4. 

          Note.---An effective way by which a power could exalt itself above God would be by assuming to change the law of God, and by requiring obedience to its own law instead of God's law. 

PAPAL POWER ACKNOWLEDGE THIS ACT

What power has claimed authority to change God's law? 

          The Papacy. 

         Note.---"The pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even divine laws... The pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man, but of god, and he acts as vicegerent of God upon earth."---Translated from Lucius Ferraris, Promta Bibliotheca (Ready Library), "Papa," at. 2. 

What part of the law of God has the Papacy though to change? 

         The fourth commandment. 

         Note.---"They [the Catholics] allege the change of the Sabbath into the Lord's day, contrary, as it seemeth, to the Decalogue; and they have no example more in their mouths than the change of the Sabbath.  They will needs have the Church's power to be very great, because it hath dispensed with a precept of the Decalogue." ---The Augsburg Confession (Lutheran), Part 2, art, 7, in Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom  (Harper), Vol. 3, p. 64.

          "It [the Roman Catholic Church] reversed the Fourth Commandments by doing away with the Sabbath of God's world, and instituting Sunday as a holiday." ---N. Summerbell, History of the Christian Church (1837), p. 415. 

Why did God command Israel to hallow the Sabbath? 

        "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: 11. 

         Note.---As the Sabbath was given that man might keep God in mind as Creator, it an be readily seen that a power endeavoring to exalt itself above God could do this in o 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." Daniel 7:25. 

Does the Papacy acknowledge changing the Sabbath? 

         It does. 

         Note.---The Catechismus romanus was commanded by the Council of Trent and published by the Vatican Press, by order of Pope Pius V. in 1566.  This catechism for priest says: "It pleased the church of God, that the religious celebration of the Sabbath day should be transferred to 'the Lord's day."'--- Catechism of the Council of Trent (Donovan's translation, 1867), part 3, chap. 4, p. 345.  The same, in slightly different wording, is in the McHugh and Callan translation (1937 ed.), p. 402.

          "Ques.---How prove you that the Chruch hath power to command feasts and holydays? 

          "Ans.---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 fests commanded by the same Church,"---Henry Tuberville, An Abridgmetn of the christan Doctrine(1833 approbation), p. 58. (Same statement in Manual of Christian Doctrine, ed. by Daniel Ferris [1916 ed.], p. 67.]

          "Quess.---Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festival 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."--- Stephen Keenan,...A Doctrinal Catechism (3d ed.). p. 174. 

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

        "1.  Is Saturday the 7th day according to the Bible & the 10 Commandments.

         "I answer yes.

        "2.  Is Sunday the first day of the week & did the Church change the 7th day----Saturday---for Sunday, the 1st day:

         "I answer yes

         "3.  Did Christ change the day?

         "I answer no! Faithfully yours. 

         "J. Card. Gibbons"

----Gibbon's autograph letter.

        "Ques.---Which is the Sabbath day"

        "Ans.---Saturday is the Sabbath day.

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

        "Ans.---We do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? 

         "Ans.---We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday because of Catholic Church transferred  the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday," --- Peter Geiermann, The Covert's Catholic Doctrine (1946 ed.). p. 50. Geiermann received the "apostolic blessing" of Pope Pius X on his labors, January 25, 1910.