CHAPTER IV.
Fourth Reason.
My fourth reason for believing this proposition is, That God has never blessed and sanctified any day of the week but the seventh.
In sustaining this reason, as I occupy negative ground, I shall simply defend it against your usual scripture arguments in defense of your favorite doctrine, that God blessed and sanctified the first day of the week, in commemoration of the resurrection of Christ.
In arguing this doctrine, you do not pretend to offer positive, but only inferential proof. You quote certain texts, and say, Hence we infer that the first day of the week is the Sabbath. Now, as there are many possible, and even plausible, inferences, that are not necessarily true, I intend to be governed, in the examination of your scripture proofs, by the following rule of interpretation:—
"The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from scripture."
Brethren, I intend, with God's help, to show that, according to the above rule, which you admit to be correct, all your inferences in favor of a first-day Sabbath are unnecessary, and some of them wholly inadmissible.
YOUR FIRST PROOF.
Hebrews 4:9, 10—"There remaineth, therefore, a rest (sabbatism) to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his."
Your premises consist of four assertions:—First, That the rest, or sabbatism, that remaineth, is something different from the ancient Sabbath. Second, That the person who "hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his," is the Lord Jesus Christ. These two assertions I most cheerfully admit. Third, That Christ entered into his rest on the day of his resurrection. Fourth, That the sabbatism of God's people is enjoyed in this life. These last two assertions I utterly deny.
Your inference is, That the first day of every week, that being the day of the week on which Christ rose, is the sabbatism of God's people. Of course, if I prove that the last two assertions are false, your inference will be shown to be inadmissible.