History of the Sabbath
By J.N. Andrews
Chapter 11: The Sabbath During the Ministry of the Apostles
The knowledge of God preserved in the family of Abraham—The call of the Gentiles—The new covenant puts the law of God into the heart of each Christian—The new covenant has a temple in heaven; and an ark containing the great original of that law which was in the ark upon earth; and before that ark, a priest, whose offering can take away sin—The Old and New Testaments compared—The human family in all ages amenable to the law of God—The good olive-tree shows the intimate relation between the church of the New Testament and the Hebrew church—The apostolic church observed the Sabbath—Examination of Acts 13—The assembly of the apostles at Jerusalem—Sabbatarian origin of the church at Philippi—Of the church of the Thessalonians—Of the church of Corinth—The churches in Judea and in many cases among the Gentiles began with Sabbath-keepers—Examination of I Corinthians 16:1,2—Self-contradiction of Dr. Edwards—Paul at Troas—Examination of Romans 14:1-6—Flight of the disciples from Judea—The Sabbath of the Bible at the close of the first century.
We have now traced the Sabbath through the period of its special connection with the family of Abraham. The termination of the seventy weeks brings us to the call of the Gentiles, and to their admission to equal privileges with the Hebrew race. We have seen that with God there was no injustice in conferring special blessings upon the Hebrews, and at the same time leaving the Gentiles to their own chosen ways.1 Twice had he given the human family, as a whole, the most ample means of grace that their age of the world admitted, and each time did it result in the almost total apostasy of mankind. Then God selected as his heritage the family of Abraham, his friend, and by means of that family preserved in the earth the knowledge of his law, his Sabbath, and himself, until the coming of the great Messiah. During his ministry the Messiah solemnly affirmed the perpetuity of his Father's law, enjoining obedience even to its least commandment;2 at his death he broke down the middle wall of partition3 by which the Hebrews had been so long preserved as a separate people in the earth; and when about to ascent into heaven, he commanded his disciples to go into all the work, and preach the gospel to every creature, teaching them to observe all things which he had commanded them.4 With the expiration of the seventieth week, the apostles entered upon the execution of this great commission to the Gentiles.5 Several facts of deep interest should be here noticed:—
1. The new covenant, or testament, dates from the death of the Redeemer. In accordance with the prediction of Jeremiah, it began with the Hebrews alone, and was confined exclusively to them until the expiration of the seventieth week. Then the Gentiles were admitted to a full participation with the Hebrews in its blessings, being no longer aliens and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints.6 God entered into covenant this time with his people as individuals and not as a nation. The promises of this covenant embrace two points of great interest: That God will put his law into the hearts of his people; and that he will forgive their sins. These promises being made six hundred years before the birth of Christ, there can be no question relative to what was meant by the law of God. It was the law of God then in existence that should be put into the heart of each new-covenant saint. The new covenant, then, is based upon the perpetuity of the law of God; it does not abrogate that law, but takes away sin, the transgression of the law from the heart, and puts the law of God in its place.7 The perpetuity of each precept of the moral law lies, therefore at the very foundation of the new covenant.
2. As the first covenant had a sanctuary, and within that sanctuary an ark containing the law of God in ten commandments,8 and had also a priesthood to minister before that ark, to make atonement for the sins of men,9 even thus it is with the new covenant. Instead of the tabernacle erected by Moses as the pattern of the true, the new covenant has the greater and more perfect tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man—the temple of God in heaven.10 As the great central point in the earthly sanctuary was the ark containing that law which man had broken, even thus it is with the heavenly sanctuary. "The temple of God was open in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament."11 Our Lord Jesus Christ, as a great high priest, presents his own blood before the ark of God's testament in the temple in heaven. Respecting this object before which he ministers, let the following points be noted:—
1. The ark in the heavenly temple is not empty; it contains the testament of God; and hence it is the great center of the sanctuary above, as the ark of God's temple was the center of the sanctuary on earth.12
2. The death of the Redeemer for the sins of men, and his work as high priest before the ark in heaven, have direct reference to the fact that within that ark is the law which mankind has broken.
3. As the atonement and priesthood of Christ have reference to the law within that ark before which he ministers, it follows that this law existed and was transgressed before the Saviour came down to die for men.
4. And hence, the law contained in the ark above is not a law which originated in the New Testament; for it necessarily existed long anterior to it.
5. If, therefore, God has revealed this law to mankind, that revelation must be sought in the Old Testament; for while the New Testament makes many references to that law which caused the Saviour to lay down his life for sinful men, and even quotes from it, it never publishes a second edition, but cites us to the Old Testament for the original code.13
6. It follow, therefore, that this law is revealed, and that this revelation is to be found in the Old Testament.
7. In that volume will be found an account of (1.) The descent of the Holy one upon Mount Sinai; (2.) The proclamation of his law in ten commandments; (3.) The ten commandments written by the finger of God upon the two tables of stone; (4.) These tables placed beneath the mercy-seat in the ark of the earthly sanctuary.14
8. That this remarkable Old-Testament law which was shut up in the ark of the earthly sanctuary was identical with that in the ark in heaven, may be thus shown; (1.) The mercy-seat which was placed over the ten commandments was the place from which pardon was expected, the great central point in the work of atonement;15 (2.) The law beneath the mercy-seat was that which made the work of atonement necessary; (3.) There was no atonement that could take away sins, this being only a shadowy, or typical, atonement; (4.) but there was actual sin, and hence a real law which man had broken; (5.) There must, therefore, be an atonement that can take away sins; and that real atonement must pertain to that law which was broken, and respecting which an atonement had been shadowed forth;16 (6.) The ten commandments are thus set forth in the Old Testament as that law which demanded an atonement; while the fact is ever kept in view that those sacrifices there provided could not avail to take away sins;17 (7.) But the death of Jesus, as the antitype of those sacrifices, was designed to accomplish precisely what they shadowed forth, but which they could not effect, vis., to make atonement for the transgression of that law which was placed in the ark beneath the mercy-seat.18
We are thus brought to the conclusion that the law of God contained in the ark in heaven is identical with that law which was contained in the ark upon earth, and that both are identical with that law which the new covenant puts in the heart of each believer.19
The Old Testament, therefore, gives us the law of God, and pronounces it perfect; it also provides a typical atonement, but says it is inadequate to take away sins.20 Hence what was needed was not a new edition of the law of God; for that which was given already was perfect; but a real atonement, to take away the guilt of the transgressor. So the New Testament responds precisely to this want, providing a real atonement in the death and intercession of the Redeemer, but giving no new edition of the law of God,21 though it fails not to cite us to the perfect code given long before. But although the New Testament does not give a new edition of the law of God, it does show that the Christian dispensation has the great original of that law in the sanctuary in heaven.
9. We have seen that the new covenant places the law of God in the heart of each believer, and that the original of that law is preserved in the temple in heaven. That all mankind are amenable to the law of God, and that they ever have been, is clearly shown by Paul's epistle to the Romans. In the first chapter he traces the origin of idolatry to the willful apostasy of the Gentiles, which took place soon after the flood. In the second chapter he shows that although God gave them up to their own ways, and as a consequence left them without his written law, yet they were not left in utter darkness; for they had by nature the work of the law written in their heart; and dim as was this light, their salvation would be secured by living up to it, or their ruin accomplished by sinning against it. In the third chapter he shows what advantage the family of Abraham had in being taken as the heritage of God, while all other nations were left to their own ways. It was that the oracles of God, the written law, was given them in addition to that work of the law written in the heart, which they had by nature in common with the Gentiles. He then shows that they were no better than the Gentiles, because both classes were transgressors of the law. This he proves by quotations for the Old Testament. Then he shows that the law of God has jurisdiction over all mankind:—
"Now we know that what things so ever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."22
He then shows that the law cannot save the guilty, but must condemn them, and that justly. Next, he reveals the great fact that redemption through the death of Jesus is the only means by which God can justify those who seek pardon, and at the same time remain just himself. And finally he exclaims—
"Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law."23
It follows, therefore, that the law of God is unabolished; that the sentence of condemnation which it pronounces upon the guilty is as extensive as is the offer of pardon through the gospel; that its work exists in the hearts of men by nature, from which we may conclude that man in his uprightness possessed it in perfection, as is further proved by the fact that the new covenant, after delivering men from the condemnation of the law of God, puts that law perfectly into their hearts,. From all this it follows that the law of God is the great standard by which sin is shown,24 and hence the rule of life, by which all mankind, both Jews and Gentiles, should walk.
That the church in the present dispensation is really a continuation of the ancient Hebrew church, is shown by the illustration of the good olive-tree. That ancient church was God's olive-tree, and it has never been destroyed.25 Because of unbelief, some of its branches were broken off; but the proclamation of the gospel to the Gentiles does not create a new olive-tree; it only grafts into the good tree such of the Gentiles as believe, giving them a place among the original branches, that with them they may partake of its root and fatness. This olive-tree must date from the call of Abraham after the apostasy of the Gentiles, its trunk representing the patriarchs, beginning with the father of the faithful;26 its branches, the Hebrew people. The engrafting of the wild olive branches into the place of those branches which were broken off, represents the admission of the Gentiles to equal privileges with the Hebrews after the church, the original olive-tree, was a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation; the New-Testament church, the olive-tree after the engrafting of the Gentiles, is described in the same terms.27
When God gave up the Gentiles to apostasy, before the call of Abraham, he confounded their language, that they should not understand on another, and thus scattered them abroad upon the face of the earth. Standing over against this is the gift of tongues on the day of Pentecost, preparatory to the call of the Gentiles, and their engrafting into the good olive-tree.28
We have followed the Sabbath to the call of the Gentiles, and the opening events of the gospel dispensation. We find the law of God, of which the Sabbath is a part, to be that which made our Lord's death as an atoning sacrifice necessary; and the great original of that law to be in the ark above, before which our Lord ministers as high priest; while a copy of that law is by the new covenant written within the heart of each believer. It is seen, therefore, that the law of God is more intimately connected with the people of God since the death of the Redeemer than before that event.
That the apostolic church did sacredly regard the Sabbath, as well as all the other precepts of the moral law, admits of no doubt. The fact is proved by several considerations: 1. The early Christians were not accused of its violation by their most inveterate enemies; 2. They held sin to be the transgression of the law, and that the law was the great standard by which sin is shown, and that by which sin becomes exceeding sinful,29—points which are certainly very decisive evidence that the apostolic church did keep the fourth commandment; 3, The testimony of James relative to the ten commandments, that he who violates one of them becomes guilty of all, is another strong evidence that the primitive church did sacredly regard the whole law of God;30 but 4. Besides these facts, we have a peculiar guaranty that the Sabbath of the Lord was not forgotten by the apostolic church. The prayer which our Lord taught his disciples, that their flight from Judea should not be upon the Sabbath, was, as we have seen, designed to impress its sacredness deeply upon their minds, and must have secured that result.31 In the history of the primitive church we have several important references to the Sabbath. The first of these is as follows:—
"But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath-day and sat down."32
By invitation of the rulers of the synagogue, Paul delivered an extended address, proving that Jesus was the Christ. In the course of these remarks he used the following language:—
"For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath-day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him."33
When Paul's discourse was concluded, we read—
"And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.34 Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas; who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And the next Sabbath-day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God."35
These texts show, 1. That by the term Sabbath in the book of Acts is meant that day on which the Jewish people assembled in the synagogue to listen to the voices of the prophets; 2. That as this discourse was fourteen years after the resurrection of Christ, and the record of it by Luke was some thirty years after that event, hence it follows that the alleged change of the Sabbath at the resurrection of Christ had not, even after many years, come to the knowledge of either Luke or Paul; 3. That here was a remarkable opportunity to mention the change of the Sabbath, were it true that the Sabbath had been changed in honor of Christ's resurrection; for when Paul was asked to preach the same words the next Sabbath, he might have answered that the following day was now the proper day for divine worship; and Luke, in placing this incident upon record, could not well avoid the mention of this new day, had it been true that another day had become the Sabbath of the Lord; 4. That as this second meeting pertained almost wholly to Gentiles; it cannot be said in this case that Paul preached upon the Sabbath out of regard to the Jews; on the contrary, the narrative strongly indicates Paul's regard for the Sabbath as the proper day for divine worship; 5. Nor can it be denied that the Sabbath was well understood by the Gentiles in this city, and that they had some degree of regard for it, a fact which will be corroborated by other texts.
Several years after these things, the apostles assembled at Jerusalem to consider the question of circumcision.36 "Certain men which came down from Judea." Finding the Gentiles uncircumcised, had "taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses ye cannot be saved." Had they found the Gentiles neglecting the Sabbath, unquestionably this would have first called out their rebuke. It is indeed worthy of notice that no dispute at this time existed in the church relative to the observance of the Sabbath; for none was brought before this apostolic assembly. Yet had it been true that the change of the Sabbath was then advocated, or that Paul had taught the Gentiles to neglect the Sabbath, without doubt those who brought up the question of circumcision would have urged that of the Sabbath with even greater earnestness. That the law of Moses, the observance of which was under discussion in this assembly, is not the ten commandments, is evident from several decisive facts: 1. Because Peter calls the code under consideration a yoke which neither their fathers nor themselves were able to bear; whereas James expressly calls the royal law, which, on his own showing, embodies the ten commandments, a law of liberty; 2. Because this assembly did decide against the authority of the law of Moses; and yet James, who was a member of this body, some years afterward solemnly enjoined obedience to the commandments, affirming that he who violated one was guilty of all;37
3. Because the chief feature in the law of Moses, as here presented, was circumcision;38 but circumcision was not in the ten commandments; and were it true that the law of Moses included these commandments, circumcision would not in that case have been a chief feature of that law; 4. Finally, because the precepts still declared obligatory are not properly included in the ten commandments. These were, first, the prohibition of meats offered to idols; secondly, of blood; thirdly of things strangled; and fourthly, of fornication.39 All of these precepts may be often found in the books of Moses,40 and the first and last ones come under the second and seventh commandments respectively; but neither of these covers only a part of that which is forbidden in any commandment. It is evident, therefore, that the authority of the ten commandments was not under consideration in this assembly, and that their decision had no relation to those precepts; for if that were not the case, the apostles released the Gentiles from all obligation to eight of the ten commandments, and from the greater prohibitions contained in the other two.
It is evident that those greatly err who represent the Gentiles as released from the obligation of the Sabbath by this assembly. The question did not come before the apostles on this occasion—a strong proof that the Gentiles had not been taught to neglect the Sabbath, as they had to omit circumcision, which was the occasion of its being brought before the apostles at Jerusalem. Yet the Sabbath was referred to in this very assembly as an existing institution and that, too, in connection with the Gentile Christians. When James pronounced sentence upon the question, he used the following language:—
"Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God; but that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath-day."41
This last fact is given by James as a reason for the course proposed toward the brethren among the Gentiles. "For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath-day." From this it is apparent that the ancient custom of divine worship upon the Sabbath was not only preserved by the Jewish people, and carried with them into every city of the Gentiles, but that the Gentile Christians attended these meetings; for if they did not, the reason assigned by James would lose all its force, as having no application to this case. That they did attend them proves that the Sabbath was the day of divine worship with the Gentles churches.
That the ancient Sabbath of the Lord had neither been abrogated nor changed prior to this meeting of the apostles, is strongly attested by the nature of the dispute here adjusted. And the close of their assembly beheld the Bible Sabbath still sacredly enthroned within the citadel of the fourth commandment. After this, in a vision of the night, Paul was called to visit Macedonia. In obedience to this call, he came to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia. Thus Luke records the visit:—
"And we were in that city abiding certain days. And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a riverside, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul."42
This does not appear to have been a gathering of Jews, but of Gentiles, who, like Cornelius, were worshipers of the true God. Thus it is seen that the church of the Philippians originated with a pious assembly of the Sabbath-keeping Gentiles. And it is likely that Lydia and those employed by her in business, who were evidently observers of the Sabbath, were the means of introducing the gospel into their own city of Thyatire.
"Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of Jews. And Paul, as his manner was,43 went in unto them, and three Sabbath-days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.... . And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few."44
Such was the origin of the Thessalonian church. That it was an assembly of Sabbath-keepers at its beginning admits of no doubt; for besides the few Jews who received the gospel through the labors of Paul, there was a great multitude of devout Greeks; that is, of Gentiles, who had united themselves with the Jews in the worship of God upon the Sabbath. In the following words of Paul, addressed to them as a church of Christ, we have a strong proof of the fact that they continued to observe the Sabbath after their reception of the gospel:—
For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus."45
The churches in Judea, as we have seen, were observers of the Sabbath of the Lord. The first Thessalonian converts, before they received the gospel, were Sabbath-keepers; and when they became a Christian church, they took the churches in Judea as their proper examples. And this church was taken as a pattern by the churches of Macedonia and Achaia. In this number were included the churches of Philippi and Corinth. Paul writes to them:—
"And ye became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost; so that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place you faith to Godward is spread abroad."46
After these things, Paul came to Corinth. Here he first found Aquila and Priscilla.
"And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them and wrought; for by their occupation they were tent-makers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks."47
At this place, also, Paul found Gentiles as well as Jews in attendance upon the worship of God on the Sabbath. The first members of the church at Corinth were therefore observers of the Sabbath at the time they received the gospel; and, as we have seen, they followed the example of the Sabbath-keeping church of Thessalonica, who in turn patterned after the churches in Judea.
The first churches were founded in the land of Judea. All their members had from childhood been familiar with the law of God, and well understood the precept, "Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy." Besides this precept all these churches had a peculiar memento of the Sabbath. They knew from our Lord himself that the time was coming when they must all suddenly flee from that land; and in view of this fact they were to pray that the moment of their sudden flight might not be on the Sabbath—a prayer which was designed, as we have seen, to preserve the sacredness of the Sabbath. That the churches in Judea were composed of Sabbath-keeping members, therefore, admits of no doubt.
Of the churches founded outside the land of Judea, whose origin is given in the book of Acts, nearly all began with Jewish converts, who were Sabbath-keepers when they received the gospel. Among these the Gentile converts were engrafted. And it is worthy of notice that in a large number of cases, those Gentiles are termed "devout Greeks," "religious proselytes," persons that "worshiped God," that "feared God," and that "prayed to God always."48 These Gentiles, at the time of their conversion to the gospel, were, as we have seen, worshipers of God upon the Sabbath with the Jewish people. When James had proposed the kind of letter that should be addressed by the apostles to the Gentile converts, he assigned a reason for its adoption, the force of which can now be appreciated: "For Moses, " said he, "of old time hath in EVERY CITY them that preach him, being read in the Synagogue every Sabbath-day." The Sabbatarian character of the apostolic churches is thus clearly shown.
In a letter addressed to the Corinthians, about five years after they had received the gospel, Paul is supposed to contribute a fifth pillar to the first-day temple, as follows:—
"Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come."49
From this text it is argued in behalf of the first-day Sabbath, 1. That this was a public collection; 2. That hence the first day of the week was the day of public worship in the churches of Corinth and Galatia; 3. And that therefore the Sabbath had been changed to that day. Thus the change of the Sabbath is inferred from the public assemblies for divine worship on the first day at Corinth and Galatia; and the existence of these assemblies on that day is inferred from the public assemblies for divine worship on the first day at Corinth and Galatia; and the existence of these assemblies on that day is inferred from the words of Paul, "Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store."
But what do these words ordain? Only one answer can be returned: They ordain precisely the reverse of a public collection. Each one should lay by himself on each first day of the week, according as God had prospered him, that when Paul should arrive, they might have their bounty ready. Mr. J. W. Morton, late Presbyterian missionary to Hayti, bears the following testimony:—
"The whole question turns upon the meaning of the expression, 'by him;' and I marvel greatly how you can imagine that it means 'in the collection box of the congregation.' Greenfield, in his Lexicon, translates the Greek term, 'With one's self, i.e., at home.' Two Latin versions, the Vulgate and that of Castellio, render it 'apud se,' with one's self; at home. Three French translations, those of Martin, Osterwald, and DeSacy, 'chez soi,' at his own house; at home. The German of Luther, 'bei sich selbst,' by himself; at home. The Dutch, 'by hemselven,' same as the German. The Italian of Diodati, 'appresso di se,' in his own presence; at home. The Spanish of Felippe Scio, 'en su casa,' in his own house. The Portugese of Ferreira, 'para isso,' with himself. The Swedish, 'noer sig self,' near himself."50
Dr. Bloomfield thus comments on the original: "hap eavrw, 'by him.' French, chez lui, 'at home.'"51
The Douay Bible reads: "Let every one of you put apart with himself." Mr. Sawyer translates it: "Let each one of you lay aside by himself." Theodore Beza's Latin version gives it; "Apud se," i.e., at home. The Syriac reads: "Let every one of you lay aside and preserve at home."
It is true that an eminent first-day writer, Justin Edwards, D. D., in a labored effort to prove the change of the Sabbath, brings forward this text to show that Sunday was the day of religious worship with the early church. He says:—
"This laying by in store was NOT laying by AT HOME; for that would not prevent gatherings when he should come."52
Such is his language as a theologian upon whom has fallen the difficult task of proving the change of the Sabbath by the authority of the Scriptures. But in his Notes on the New Testament, in which he feels at liberty to speak the truth, he squarely contradicts his own language already quoted. Hear him:—
"Lay by him in store; AT HOME. That there be no gatherings; that their gifts might be ready when the apostle should come."53
Thus even Dr. Edwards confesses that the idea of a public collection is not found in this scripture. On the contrary, it appears that each individual, in obedience to this precept, would, at the opening of each new week, be found AT HOME laying aside something for the cause of God, according as his worldly affairs would warrant. The change of the Sabbath, as proved by this text, rests wholly upon an idea which Dr. Edwards confesses is not found in it. We have seen that the church at Corinth was a Sabbath-keeping church. It is evident that the change of the Sabbath could never have been suggested to them by this text.
This is the only scripture in which Paul even mentions the first day of the week. It was written nearly thirty years after the alleged change of the Sabbath. Yet Paul omits all title of sacredness, simply designating it as the first day of the week—a mane to which it was entitled as one of "the six working days."54 It is also worthy of notice that this is the only precept in the Bible in which the first day is even named; and that this precept says nothing relative to the sacredness of the day to which it pertains, even the duty which it enjoins being more appropriate to a secular than to a sacred day.
Soon after writing his first epistle to the Corinthians, Paul visited Troas. In the record of this visit occurs the last instance in which the first day of the week is mentioned in the New Testament:—
"And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days;55 where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted. And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there, intending to take in Paul; for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot."56
This scripture is supposed to furnish a sixth pillar for the first-day temple. The argument may be concisely stated thus: This testimony shows that the first day of the week was appropriated by the apostolic church to meetings for the breaking of bread in honor of Christ's resurrection upon that day; from which it is reasonable to conclude that this day had become the Christian Sabbath.
If this proposition could be established as an undoubted truth, the change of the Sabbath would not follow as a necessary conclusion; it would even then amount only to a plausible conjecture. The following facts will aid us in judging of the truthfulness of this argument for the change of the Sabbath: 1. This is the only instance of a religious meeting upon the first day of the week recorded in the New Testament; 2. No stress can be laid upon the expression, "when the disciples came together," as proving that the meetings for the purpose of breaking bread were held on each first day of the week; for there is nothing in the original answering to the word "when," the whole phrase being translated from three words, the perfect passive participle *******, "being assembled," and twv uavntwv, "the disciples," the sacred writers simply stating the gathering of the disciples on this occasion;57 3. The ordinance of breaking bread was not appointed to commemorate the resurrection of Christ, but to keep in memory his death upon the cross;58 therefore the act of breaking bread upon the first day of the week is not a commemoration of Christ's resurrection; 4. As the breaking of bread commemorates our Lord's crucifixion, and was instituted on the evening with which the crucifixion day began, when Jesus himself and all the apostles were present,59 it is evident that the day of the crucifixion presents greater claims to the celebration of this ordinance than does the day of the resurrection; 5. As our Lord designated no day for this ordinance, and as the apostolic church at Jerusalem is recorded to have celebrated it daily,60 it is evidently presumption to argue the change of the Sabbath from a single instance of its celebration upon the first day of the week; 6. This instance of breaking bread upon the first day was with evident reference to the immediate and final departure of Paul; for 7. It is a remarkable fact that this, the only instance of a religious meeting on the first day recorded in the New Testament, was a night meeting, which is proved by the fact that many lights were burning in the assembly, and that Paul preached till midnight; 8. From this follows the important consequence that this first-day meeting was upon Saturday night;61 because the days of the week being reckoned from evening to evening, and evening being at sunset,62 it is seen that the first day of the week begins Saturday night at sunset, and ends at sunset on Sunday; a night meeting, therefore, upon the first day of the week could be only upon Saturday night; 9. Paul, therefore preached until midnight on Saturday night; for the disciples held a night meeting at the close of the Sabbath, because he was to leave in the morning; then, being interrupted by the fall of the young man, he went down and healed him, then went up and attended to the breaking of bread; and at break of day, on Sunday morning, he departed; 10. Thus are we furnished with conclusive evidence that Paul and his companions resumed their journey toward Jerusalem on the morning of the first day of the week; they taking ship to Assos, and he going on foot (This fact is an incidental proof of Paul's regard for the Sabbath, in that he waited till it was past before resuming his journey; and it is a positive proof that he knew nothing of what in modern times is called the Christian Sabbath); 11. This narrative was written by Luke at least thirty years after the alleged change of the Sabbath. It is worthy of note that Luke omits all the titles of sacredness, simply designating the day in question as the first day of the week. This is in admirable keeping with the fact that in his Gospel, when recording the very event which is said to have changed the Sabbath, he not only omits the slightest hint of that fact, but designates the day itself by its secular title of "first day of the week," and at the same time calls the previous day the Sabbath according to the commandment.63
The same year that Paul visited Troas, he wrote as follows to the church at Rome:—
"Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things; another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth; for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up, for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another; another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks."64
These words have often been quoted to show that the observance of the fourth commandment is now a matter of indifference, each individual being at liberty to act his pleasure in the matter. So extraordinary a doctrine should be thoroughly tested before being adopted. For as it pleased God to ordain the Sabbath before the fall of man, and to give it a place in his code of ten commandments, thus making it a part of that law to which the great atonement relates; and as the Lord Jesus, during his ministry, spent much time in explaining its merciful design, and took care to provide against its desecration at the flight of his people from the land of Judea, which was ten years in the future when these words were written by Paul; and as the fourth commandment itself is expressly recognized after the crucifixion of Christ—if, under these circumstances, we could suppose it to be consistent with truth that the Most High should abrogate the Sabbath, we certainly should expect that abrogation to be stated in explicit language. Yet neither the Sabbath nor the fourth commandment are here named. That they are not referred to in this language of Paul, the following reasons will show:—
1. Such a view would make the observance of one of the ten commandments a matter of indifference; whereas James shows that to violate one of them is to transgress the whole;65 2. It directly contradicts what Paul had previously written in this epistle; for in treating of the law of ten commandments, he styles it holy, spiritual, just, and good, and states that sin—the transgression of the law—by the commandment becomes "EXCEEDING SINFUL;".66 3. Paul in the same epistle affirms the perpetuity of that law which caused our Lord to lay down his life for sinful men;67 which we have before seen was the ten commandments; 4. Paul in this case not only did not name the Sabbath and the fourth commandment, but certainly was not treating of the moral law; 5. The topic under consideration, which leads him to speak as he does of the days in question, was that of eating all kinds of food, or of refraining from certain things; 6. The fourth commandment did not stand associated with precepts of such a kind, but with moral laws exclusively;68 7. In the ceremonial law, associated with the precepts concerning meats, was a large number of festivals, entirely distinct from the Sabbath of the Lord;69 8. The church of Rome, which began probably with those Jews that were present from Rome on the day of Pentecost, had many Jewish members in its communion, as may be gathered from the epistle itself,70 and would therefore be deeply interested in the decision of this question relative to the ceremonial law; as the Jewish members would feel conscientious in observing its distinctions, while the Gentile members would have no such scruples; hence the admirable counsel of Paul exactly met the case of both classes; 9. Nor can the expression "every day" be claimed as decisive proof that the Sabbath of the Lord is included. At the very time when the Sabbath was formally committed to the Hebrews, just such expressions were used, although only the six working days were intended. Thus it was said: "The people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day;" and the narrative says, "They gathered it every morning." Yet when some of them went out to gather on the Sabbath, God said, "How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?"71 The Sabbath being a great truth, plainly stated, and many times repeated, it is manifest that Paul, in the expression "every day," speaks of the six working days, among which a distinction had existed precisely coeval with that respecting meats; and that he manifestly excepts that day which from the beginning God had reserved unto himself. Just as when Paul quotes and applies to Jesus the words of David, "All things are put under him," he adds: "It is manifest that he is excepted which did put all things under him."72 10. And lastly, in the words of John, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day,"73 written many years after this epistle of Paul's we have an absolute proof that in the gospel dispensation one day is still claimed by the Most High as his own.74
About ten years after this epistle was written, occurred the memorable flight of all the people of God that were in the land of Judea. It was not in the winter; for it occurred just after the Feast of Tabernacles, some time in October. And it was not upon the Sabbath; for Josephus, who speaks of the sudden withdrawal of the Roman army after it had, by encompassing the city, given the very signal for flight which our Lord promised his people, tells us that the Jews rushed out of the city in pursuit of the retreating Romans, which was at the very time when our Lord's injunction of instant flight became imperative upon the disciples. The historian does not intimate that the Jews thus pursued the Romans upon the Sabbath, although carefully notes the fact that a few days previous to this event they did, in their rage, utterly forget the Sabbath, and rush out to fight the Romans upon that day. These providential circumstances in the flight of the disciples being made dependent upon their asking such interposition at the hand of God, it is evident that the disciples did not forget the prayer which the Saviour taught them relative to this event; and that, as a consequence, the Sabbath of the Lord was not forgotten by them. And thus the Lord Jesus, in his tender care for his people, and in his watchful interest in behalf of the Sabbath, showed that he was alike the Lord of his people and the Lord of the Sabbath.75
Twenty-six years after the destruction of Jerusalem, the book of the Revelation was committed to the beloved disciple. It bears the following deeply interesting date as to place and time:—
"I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in THE ISLE that is called PATMOS, for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit ON THE LORD'S DAY, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying. I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last; and, What thou seest, write in a book."76
This book is dated on the isle of Patmos, and upon the Lord's day. The place, the day, and the individual have each real existence, and not merely a symbolical or mystical one. Thus John, almost at the close of the first century, and long after those texts were written which are not adduced to prove that no distinction in days exists, shows that the Lord's day has a real an existence as has the isle of Patmos, or as that the beloved disciple himself.
What day, then, is intended by this designation? Several answers have been returned to this question: 1. It is the gospel dispensation; 2. It is the day of Judgment; 3. It is the first day of the week; 4. It is the Sabbath of the Lord.
The first answer cannot be the true one; for it not only renders the day a mystical term, but it involves the absurdity of representing John as writing to Christians sixty-five years after the death of Christ, that the vision which he had just had was seen by him in the gospel dispensation; as though it were possible for them to be ignorant of the fact that if he had had a vision at all, he must have had it in the existing dispensation.
Nor can the second answer be admitted as the truth; for while it is true that John might have a vision CONCERNING the day of Judgment, it is impossible that he should have a vision ON that day, when it was yet future. If it be no more than an absurdity to represent John as dating his vision on the isle of Patmos, in the gospel dispensation, it becomes a positive untruth if he is made to say that he was in vision on Patmos on the day of Judgment.
The third answer, that the Lord's day is the first day of the week, is now almost universally received as the truth. The text under examination is brought forward with an air of triumph, as completing the temple of first-day sacredness, and proving beyond all doubt that that day is indeed the Christian Sabbath. Yet, as we have examined this temple with peculiar carefulness, we have discovered that the foundation on which it rests is a thing of the imagination only; and that the pillars by which it is supported exist only in the minds of those who worship at its shrine. It remains to be seen whether the dome which is supposed to be furnished by this text is more real than the pillars on which it rests.
That the first day of the week has no claim to the title of "Lord's day," the following facts will show: 1. As this text does not define the term "Lord's day," we must look elsewhere in the Bible for the evidence that shows the first day to be entitled to such a designation; 2. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Paul—the other sacred writers who mention the day—use no other designation for it than "first day of the week," a name to which it was entitled as one of the six working days; yet three of these writers mention it at the very time when it is said to have become the Lord's day, and two of them claimed that the Spirit of inspiration, by simply leading John to use the term "Lord's day,"—though he in no way connected the first day of the week therewith—did design to fix this as the proper title of the first day of the week, it is a remarkable fact that after John returned from the isle of Patmos, he wrote his Gospel;77 and in that Gospel he twice mentioned the first day of the week; yet in each of these instances where it is certain that the first day is intended, no other designation is used than plain "first day of the week,"—a most convincing proof that John did not regard the first day of the week as entitled to this name, or any other expressive of sacredness; 4. What still further decides the point against the first day of the week, is the fact that neither the Father nor the Son have ever claimed the first day in any higher sense than they have any other of the six days which were given to man for labor; 5. And what completes the chain of evidence against the claim of the first day to this title, is the fact that the testimony adduced by first-day advocates to prove that it has been adopted by the Most High in place of that day which he once claimed as his, is found upon examination to have no such meaning or intent. In setting aside the third answer, also, as not being in accordance with truth, the first day of the week may be properly dismissed with it, as having no claim to our regard as a scriptural institution.78
That the Lord's day is the Bible Sabbath admits of clear and certain proof. The argument stand thus: When God gave man six days of the week for labor, he expressly reserved for himself the seventh, on which he place his blessing in memory of his own act of resting upon that day, and thenceforward, through the Bible, has ever claimed it as his holy day. As he has never put away this sacred day and chosen another, the Sabbath of the Lord is still his holy day. These facts may be traced in the following scriptures. At the close of the Creator's rest, it is said:—
"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."79
After the children of Israel had reached the wilderness of Sin, Moses said to them on the seixth day:—
"To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord."80
In giving the ten commandments, the Lawgiver thus stated his claim to this day:—
"The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God;... for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; for the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, hallowed it."81
He gave to man the six days on which he himself had labored, and reserved as his own that day upon which he had rested from all his work. About eight hundred years after this, God spoke by Isaiah as follows:—
"if thou turn away they foot from THE SABBATH, from doing thy pleasure on MY HOLY DAY,...then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth."82
This testimony is perfectly explicit; the Lord's day is the ancient Sabbath of the Bible. The Lord Jesus puts forth the following claim:—
"The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath."83
Hence, whether it be the Father or the Son whose title is involved, the only day that can be called "the Lord's day" is the Sabbath of the great Creator.84 And here, at the close of the Bible history of the Sabbath, two facts of deep interest are presented: 1. That John expressly recognizes the existence of the Lord's day at the very close of the first century; 2. That it pleased the Lord of the Sabbath to place a signal honor upon his own day, in that he selected it as the one on which to give that revelation to John which himself alone had been worthy to receive from the Father.
Endnotes:1 See chapter 3.
2 Matthew 5:17-19.
3 Ephesians 2:13-16; Colossians 2:14-17
4 Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 16:15.
5 Daniel 9:24-27; Acts 9; 10; 11; 26:12-17; Romans 11:13.
6 I Corinthians 11:25; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:8-12; Daniel 9:27; Ephesians 2:11-12.
7 Matthew 5:17-19; I John 3:4, 5; Romans 4:15.
8 Hebrews 9:1-7; Exodus 25:1-21; Deuteronomy 10:4, 5; I Kings 8:9.
9 Hebrews 7 to 10; Leviticus 16.
10 Hebrews 8:1-5; 9:23,24.
11 Revelation 11:19.
12 Exodus 25:21, 22.
13 Romans 3:19-31; 5:8-12; 8:3, 4; 13:8-10; Galatians 3:13, 14, Ephesians 6:2, 3; James 2:8-12; I John 3:4, 5.
14 Exodus 19; 20; 24:12; 31:18; Deuteronomy 10.
15 Leviticus 16.
16 Romans 3:19-31; I John 3:4, 5.
17 Psalm 40:6-8; Hebrews 10.
18 Hebrews 9 and 10.
19 Jeremiah 31:33; Romans 8:3, 4; II Corinthians 3:3.
20 Psalm 19:7; James 1:25; Psalm 40.
21 Romans 5.
22 Romans 3:19.
23 Romans 3:31.
24 Romans 3:20; I John 3:4, 5; 2:1, 2.
25 Jeremiah 11:16; Romans 11:17-24.
26 Romans 4:16-18; Galatians 3:7-9.
27 Exodus 19:5,9; I Peter 2:9, 10.
28 Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-11.
29 Romans 7:12, 13.
30 James 2:8-12.
31 See chapter 10.
32 Acts 13:14.
33 Verse 27.
34 Dr. Bloomfield has the following not on this text: "The words, *******, are by many commentators supposed to mean 'on some intermediate week-day.' But that is refuted by verse 44, and the sense expressed in our common version is, no doubt, the true one. It is adopted by the best recent commentators, and confirmed by the ancient versions."—Greek Testament with English Notes, vol. 1, p. 521. Prof. Hackett has a similar note—Commentary on Acts, p. 233.
35 Acts 13:42-44.
36 Acts 15.
37 Acts 15:10, 28, 29; James 2:8-12.
38 Acts 15:1, 5.
39 Acts 15:29; 21:21, 25.
40 Exodus 34:15, 16; Numbers 25;2; Leviticus 17:13, 14; Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 3:17; Genesis 34; Leviticus 19:29.
41 Acts 15:19-21.
42 Acts 16:12-14.
43 Paul's manner is exemplified by the following tests, in all of which it would appear that the meetings in question were upon the Sabbath; Acts 13:5; 14:1; 17:10 17; 18:19; 19:8.
44 Acts 17:1-4.
45 I Thessalonians 2:14.
46 I Thessalonians 1:6-8.
47 Acts 18:3, 4.
48 Acts 10:2, 4, 7, 8, 30-35; 13:43; 14:1; 16:13-15; 17:4, 10-12.
49 I Corinthians 16:1,2.
50 Vindication of the True Sabbath, third edition, pp. 51, 52.
51 Greek Testament with English Notes, vol. 2, 173.
52 Sabbath Manual of the American Tract Society, p. 116.
53 Family Testament of the American Tract Society.
54 Ezekiel 46:1.
55 Prof. Hackett remarks on the length of this voyage: "The passage on the Apostle's first journey to Europe occupied two days only. See Acts 16:11. Adverse winds or calms would be liable, at any season of the year, to occasion this variation."—Commentary on Acts. P. 329. This shows how little ground there is to claim that Paul broke the Sabbath on this voyage. There was ample time to reach Troas before the Sabbath when he started from Phillipi, had not providential causes hindered.
56 Acts 20:6-13.
57 Prof. Whiting renders the phrase: "The disciples being assembled." And Sawyer has it: "We being assembled."
58 I Corinthians 11:23-26.
59 Matthew 26.
60 Acts 2:42-46.
61 This fact has been acknowledged by many first-day commentators. Prof Hackett gives the following on this text: "The Jews reckoned the day from evening to morning, and on that principle the evening of the first of the week would be our Saturday evening. If Luke reckoned so here, as many commentators suppose, the apostle then waited for the expiration of the Jewish Sabbath, and held his last religious service with the brethren at Troas at the beginning of the Christian Sabbath, i.e. on Saturday evening, and consequently resumed his journey on Sunday morning."—Commentary on Acts, pp. 329-330. But he endeavors to shield the first-day Sabbath from this fatal admission by suggesting that Luke probably reckoned time according to the pagan method, rather than by that which is ordained in the Scriptures!
Kitto, in noting the fact that this was an evening meeting, speaks thus: "It has from this last circumstance been inferred that the assembly commenced after sunset on the Sabbath, at which hour the first day of the week had commenced, according to the Jewish reckoning [Jahn's Bibl. Antiq., sec. 398], which would hardly agree with the idea of a commemoration of the resurrection."—Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature, article, Lord's day.
Prynne, whose testimony relative to redemption as an argument for the change of the Sabbath has been already quoted, thus states this point: "Because the text saith there were many lights in the upper room where they were gathered together, and that Paul preached from the time of their coming together till midnight,... .this meeting of the disciples at Troas, and Paul's preaching to them, began at evening. The sole doubt will be what evening this was... For my own part I conceive clearly that it was upon Saturday night, as we falsely call it, and not the coming Sunday night... Because St. Luke reports that it was upon the first day of the week when this meeting was;...therefore it must needs be on the Saturday, not on our Sunday evening, since the Sunday evening in St. Luke's and the Scripture account was no part of the first, but of the second day; the day ever beginning and ending at evening."
Prynne notices the objection drawn form the phrase, "ready to depart on the morrow," as indicating that this departure was not on the same day of the week with his night meeting. The substance of his answer is this: If the fact he kept in mind that the days of the week are reckoned from evening to evening, the following texts, in which, in the night, the morning is spoken of as the morrow, will show at once that another day of the week is not necessarily intended by the phrase in question. I Samuel 19:11; Esth. 2:14; Zephaniah 3:3; Acts 23:31, 32.—Dissertation on Lord's Day Sabbath, pp. 36-41, 1633.
62 See chapter 8.
63 Luke 23:56; 24:1.
64 Romans 14:1-6.
65 James 2:8-12.
66 Romans 7:12, 13; I John 3:4, 5.
67 Romans 3.
68 Exodus 20.
69 Leviticus 23 These are particularly enumerated in Colossians 2, as we have already noticed in chapter 7, and in the concluding part of chapter 10.
70 Acts 2:1-11; Romans 2:17; 4:1; 7:1.
71 Exodus 16:4, 21, 27, 28.
72 I Corinthians 15:27; Psalm 8.
73 Revelation 1:10.
74 To show that Paul regarded Sabbatic observance is dangerous, Galatians 4:10 is often quoted; notwithstanding, the same individuals claim that Romans 14 proves that it is a matter of perfect indifference; not seeing that this is to make Paul contradict himself. But if the connection be read from verses 8 to 11, it will be seen that the Galatians before their conversion were not Jews, but heathen; and that these days, months, times, and years were not those of the Levitical law, but those which they had regarded with superstitious reverence while they were heathens. Observe the stress which Paul lays upon the word "again" in verse 9. And how many that profess the religion of Christ at the present day superstitiously regard certain days as "lucky," or "unlucky" though such notions are derived only from heathen distinctions!
75 See chapter 10.
76 Revelation 1:9-11.
77 Dr. Bloomfield, though himself of different opinion, speaks thus of the views of others concerning the date of John's Gospel: "It has been the general sentiment, both of ancient and modern inquirers, that it was published about the close of the first century."? Greek Testament with English Notes, vol. 1, p. 328.
Morer says that John "penned his Gospel two years later than the Apocalypse, and after his return from Patmos, as St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and Eusebius affirm."—Dialogues on the Lord's Day. pp. 53, 54.
The Paragraph Bible of the London Religious Tract Society, in its preface to the book of John, speaks thus: "According to the general testimony of ancient writers, John wrote his Gospel at Ephesus, about the year 97."
In support of the same view, see also Religious Encyclopedia, Barnes's Notes (Gospels), Bible Dictionary, Cottage Bible, Domestic Bible, Mine Explored, Union Bible Dictionary, Comprehensive Bible, Dr. Hales, Horne, Nevins, Olshausen, etc.
78 The Encyclopedia Britannica, in its article concerning the Sabbath, undertakes to prove that the "religious observation of the first day of the week is of apostolical appointment." After citing and commenting upon all the passages that could be urged in proof of the point, it makes the following candid acknowledgement: "Still, however, it must be owned that these passages are not sufficient to prove the apostolical institution of the Lord's day, or even the actual observation of it."
The absence of all scriptural testimony relative to the change of the Sabbath, is accounted for by certain advocates of that theory, not by the frank admission that it never was changed by the Lord, but by quoting John 21:25, assuming the change of the Sabbath as an undoubted truth, but that it was left out of the Bible lest it should make that book too large! They think, therefore, that we should go to ecclesiastical history to learn this part of our duty, not seeing that, as the fourth commandment still stands in the Bible unrepealed and unchanged, to acknowledge that that change must be sustained wholly outside of the Bible is to acknowledge that first-day observance is a tradition which makes void the commandment of God. The following chapters of this work will, however, patiently examine the argument for first-day observance drawn from ecclesiastical history.
79 Genesis 2:3.
80 Exodus 16:23.
81 Exodus 20:8-11.
82 Isaiah 58:13, 14.
83 Mark 2:27, 28.
84 An able opponent of Sabbatic observance speaks as follows relative to the term "Lord's day" of Revelation 1:10: "If a current day was intended, the only day bearing this definition, in either the old or New Testaments, is Saturday, the seventh day of the week." W. B. Taylor, in the Obligation of the Sabbath. P. 296.
Next: Chapter 12: Early Apostasy in the Church
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