Tracts on the Sabbath

by Unknown

Obj. But the church had their gatherings upon the first day of the week, by which it appears that it was the day that they met together upon. 1 Cor. 16:2.

Ans. The words are these, 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. Here is no proof of their meeting together, but rather the contrary, every one was to lay by him in store as God had prospered him; no public gathering, but private laying up. But because the Apostle saith, in the close of the verse, that there be no gatherings when I come, therefore it is thought the Scripture can not be so understood, because it would not prevent gatherings. But is this fair, when a text of Scripture stands alone, to put such a sense upon it as doth contradict the very letter of it—when it saith, let every one of you lay by him in store, then to say the meaning is to have public gatherings and but one store? And would not the end of the Apostle be fully answered, namely, to have no gatherings, if each of them did lay by in store, as God had prospered them in the world, ready against the Apostle came, they knowing of his coming? And when he came, was it not as easy to carry it with them to him, as for us to carry our Bibles to a meeting; and what need would there be then of gatherings? And this way of giving would not be pharisee-like, but according to the words of Christ, in Matt. 6:1-4, Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them; otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. But when thou doest thine alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth; that thine alms may be in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly.

Obj. But John was in the spirit on the Lord's day, (and had the various revelations upon it,) which is conceived to be the first day of the week. Rev. 1:10.

Ans. It is true, John was in the spirit on the Lord's day. But the question will be, what day that was. If any particular one of the seven, it must have been the Sabbath, for no other day is so called but that. God calls it his holy day in Isa. 58:13, and Christ saith he is Lord even of the Sabbath day. And if so, then it is his day, for he is Lord of it, and that by way of eminence; not, as some would have it, to show that he is Lord of every day, but as it is the Sabbath; for so it is said the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day. So that this notion that the Lord's day is the first day, is merely taken up on trust one from another, without one word of Scripture to prove it.

Obj. But it will be yet objected, by those that are for no Sabbath, in the words of the Apostle in Col. 2:16, 17, Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy-day, or of the new-moon, or of the Sabbath-days, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ; whence it is concluded that the Sabbath was but a shadow, and none are to be judged for not observing it.

Ans. There were holy-days and Sabbaths besides the seventh-day Sabbath, or the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, for so it is called in the commandment, as doth appear in Lev. 23:39. Now, because it is implied by the words of the Apostle, that Sabbaths were shadows, to be done away by the body of Christ, doth it therefore follow that all Sabbaths were so, any more than the words of the Apostle that men shall be saved, prove that all men shall be saved? And if we consider the verses before, it will plainly appear, that the Apostle was not speaking of any of the ten commandments. In verse 15, the Apostle is speaking to the Gentiles, showing how they were dead in sins, and in the uncircumcision of their flesh, but are now quickened by Christ, and all their trespasses forgiven them. In verse 14, he shows what farther benefit they had by the death of Christ, Blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances, which was against us, and contrary to us, he took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and the Scripture on which the objection is founded hath its dependence upon that which comes in with, Therefore let no man judge you in meats, and drinks, &c.; as though the Apostle had said, Forasmuch as Christ hath blotted out and nailed to his cross those ordinances which are against the Gentiles, you are not to be judged for the non-performance of them. Now the ten commandments were never against the Gentiles, nor contrary to them; for the same Apostle saith the matter of them was written in their hearts, as was said before, and they did by nature the things contained in them, and therefore they were not contrary to them. But circumcision and other ordinances stood as a wall against the Gentiles, which Christ broke down, by taking them out of the way and nailing them to the cross, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. Eph. 2:15. So that it is clear, that the Apostle is speaking of such commandments as were contained in ordinances, and not those commandments that were eminently distinguished from ordinances; but those ordinances which were against the Gentiles, and made them and the Jews two, as did drinks, new-moons, holy-days, and Sabbath-days, Christ by his blood having taken these away, hath made them one. That the ten commandments should be struck at, there is no cover in this Scripture for, or that the Sabbath should only be taken from them and nailed to the cross with new-moons, meats, and other shadows and ordinances which were against man. But Christ saith, The Sabbath was made for man. So that in this place there is no proof for the abrogation of this command of God. But for a more full answer see my other book.

Obj. How is it that the Apostle saith, in Rom. 14:5, 6, that one man esteemeth one day above another, another esteemeth every day alike, and yet he does not reprove either of them?

Ans. I make no doubt but if the controversy here alluded to had been about the Sabbath, whether it were to be observed or not, it would have been plainly expressed, and not passed over so slightly. But the Apostle is speaking of indifferent things, which men were not to be judged for their doing or not doing, and not of commandments. Because it is said that some esteem every day alike, therefore some conclude that this takes away the Sabbath day; but we must compare Scripture with Scripture, adopt such a sense as may bring them into harmony, and sometimes explain general terms by restrictive Scriptures. For instance, Christ says to his disciples, Go preach the gospel to every creature; we must understand it to mean to every creature that is in a condition to hear the gospel. The Apostle saith, that every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused. But some are poison, and are to be refused. So is every day alike, that is, every working day, which God hath made alike; but the seventh day he hath sanctified and made a Sabbath of rest, and so not like the others. This interpretation is according to that Scripture in Exod. 16:4, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day; and in verse 12, They gathered every morning every man according to his eating, yet on the Sabbath day there was none to gather. And in our common speech it is so; we call the six days every day. Men say, we work every day, or we travel so far every day, when they mean only the six days that they count working days. So the Apostle, speaking to them that kept the Sabbath, speaks in the same language, and we have no ground to think otherwise; for there is no Scripture that we find before this that hath any seeming dislike against the observation of the Sabbath, but the contrary.

Obj. Ye observe days, and years, and times, and months; I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain. Gal. 4:10, 11.

Ans. This cannot be understood that the Apostle here strikes at the mere observation of days, a thing of such dangerous consequence, for he would not have them judged that observed one day above another. In Rom, 14:5, 6, and in this place, he himself judges these as persons that had so far degenerated, that he was afraid he had bestowed upon them labor in vain; but it is manifest that these Galatians were gone back to circumcision, and so were debtors to the whole law, seeking justification thereby. Gal. 5:2-4. So they observed days and years, according to the law that was a shadow of good things to come, solemnizing the days, and months, and years, with those things that were appointed for them, as burnt-offerings, meat-offerings, the waving of the sheaf, the Passover, and Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the like, as may be seen at large in Lev. 23:8-11; for they could not be said to observe times, and months and years, according to the law, except they did such service. And this gave the Apostle just ground to fear that he had bestowed on them labor in vain. But to imagine that to observe the Sabbath according to the commandment, or to observe a day voluntarily to the Lord, is so dangerous, is contrary both to Scripture and reason.