CHAPTER XI.
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 1 Cor. 16:1, 2—Self-contradiction of Dr. Edwards—Paul at Troas—Examination of Rom. 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 especial 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 especial blessings upon the Hebrews, and at the same time leaving the Gentiles to their own chosen ways.[334] 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;[335] at his death he broke down that middle wall of partition[336] by which the Hebrews had so long been preserved a separate people in the earth; and when about to ascend into Heaven commanded his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature; teaching them to observe all things which he had commanded them.[337] With the expiration of the seventieth week, the apostles enter upon the execution of this great commission to the Gentiles.[338] Several facts of deep interest should here be 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.[339] 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: (1) That God will put his law into the hearts of his people. (2) 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.[340] 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,[341] and had also a priesthood to minister before that ark, to make atonement for the sins of men,[342] even thus is it 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.[343] 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 opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament.”[344] 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 testament was the center of the sanctuary on earth.[345]
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 have 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.