SOMETIME since, we received a letter which began as follows: "Dear Brother, kindly inform me if you are endeavoring to keep holy the seventh day of each week? and what reference can you give from Scripture that excuses any from obedience to the Fourth Commandment?

"The idea is, I have been endeavoring to leave off labor on Sunday, which is generally called the Lord's day, but I see no satisfactory authority for calling Sunday the Lord's day," etc.

The above are very important questions, in view of the fact that thousands in these days are being led by Judaising teachers, back to the seventh-day Sabbath keeping, some even going so far as to make their salvation depend upon it. This is doubtless encouraged by the fact that even godly Christians who are well instructed in other truths, seem to be in ignorance and bondage on this question.

Let us then search the Scriptures, and endeavor to "rightly divide" them on this point. (II Tim. 2:15)

FIRST then, let us look at Col. 2:16-17:

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath DAYS: (the word DAYS in the King James' Version is in italics which denotes that it is not in the original), which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

The word "therefore" at the beginning of verse 16 connects it with what has gone before, and we find by looking back to verse 14,

Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross.

Therefore let no man judge you in respect to the Sabbath or any holy day. Why? Because these are shadows of things to come, and we have the substance now, so have no need for the shadow. "The body is Christ's" (Revised Version). This one Scripture it seems to us is sufficient to show that the Fourth Commandment is not now binding on the Christian.

But now let us turn to a divine commentary on thei Sabbath, ( Heb. 4:9):

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God, or "keeping of the Sabbath," as the margin reads, or a "Sabbath rest" (R.V.).!

This verse is generally applied to the future, as it is in the future tense, but I think if we examine the context we will find it is a present thing. The Apostle is speaking in this and in the previous chapter of the Hebrews, bringing to their remembrance that God had promised them rest in the land, which they failed to obtain through unbelief.

Again, He limited a certain day, saying in David, Today, after so long a time; as it is said. Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus had given them rest, then would He not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God (Heb. 4:7-9).

The argument here is that God wanted to lead them into rest through Joshua, but they did not get it because of their unbelief, So David speaks of a rest that is yet future in his day, but it is present now to the people of God, and how is it obtained.? Verse 3:

WE WHICH HAVE! BELIEVED DO ENTER INTO REST, or commence to keep Sabbath.

Christ is the antitype of| the Old Testament Sabbath. He is God's resting place and mine, and all the time I am walking by faith in Him, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday, I am keeping Sabbath, I am remembering the Sabbath day to keep it holy. I do not break the Sabbath by blacking my boots or riding in a street car, on Saturday or Sunday, but I do break it if I doubt my Saviour or His Word, or the efficacy of His precious blood on Monday, Tuesday or any other day.

Twenty-five years ago when I trusted in Him I began to keep Sabbath and it is my privilege to rest in Him three hundred and sixty-five days of each year.

This is the day the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it (Ps. 118:24).

The verse just quoted is evidently prophetic of the Lord Jesus as the antitypical Sabbath, the rest of the sinner. Verse 20 is prophetic of Him as the Door, (John 10; 9), the Way to God, (John 14:6). Verse 22 as the Stone rejected by the builders, (Matt. 21:42). The Foundation for the sinner to build on, (I Cor. 3:11). The inspired heading of the ninety-second Psalm says it s "A Psalm or Song for the Sabbath day." Verse 4 of this Psalm says,

For Thou Lord hast made me glad through Thy work; I will triumph in the works of Thy hands.

The Fourth Commandment says,

Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work.

Spiritually speaking a man had no right to rest or keep Sabbath until all of his work was done; in other words, until he had kept all of God's commandments, which we know he never did, as David by the Spirit says.

It is time for Thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void Thy law (Ps. 119:126).

In such a case how blessed to know that another has done it for us. To be able to sing this song for the Sabbath day,

FOR THOU LORD HAST MADE ME GLAD THROUGH THY WORK; I WILL TRIUMPH IN THE WORK OF THY HANDS.

The Pharisees were continually finding fault with our Lord because He did not keep the Sabbath. (Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-11; 13:10-17)

There is a remarkable expression in this connection in John 5:17. The Lord had cured an impotent man on the Sabbath, and what was worse had told him to take up his bed and walk. This was very shocking to the Jews, and they persecuted and sought to slay Him "because He had done these things on the Sabbath day." But Jesus answered, "My Father worketh hitherto and I work." As much as to say, "You have been pretending to keep Sabbath, but My Father and I have not." God created all things in six days and finished the work and pronounced it all very good and rested the seventh day; but the rest was of short duration for Him; sin came in and broke His creation rest. Then doubtless Father, Son and Holy Spirit went to work on redemption and there was no rest for Them until the way back to God had been opened for poor fallen man. So at the end of thousands of years, the body was prepared for the God-provided Lamb and "this Man after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down on the right hand of God." There is rest again for God and there is rest for me. The way is again opened back to the very presence of God, "By the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way," and Jesus says to you and to me:

Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28).

This then is how a sinner finds rest without works, by simply believing in Jesus. He is born again by the Spirit and Word of God, but he is created in Christ Jesus unto good works (Eph. 2:10). So the saint finds rest after he is saved, by obeying the Word of the Lord:

Take My yoke upon you. and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls (Matt. 11:29).

HEBREWS 4:10 says, "He that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from, his own works, as God did from His." Notice that it is present possession in both the third and tenth verses, and this tenth verse says that if we are resting in Him we have ceased from our own works. That is, ceased from our own works as a means of salvation or an aid to keeping saved. If I keep one day above another or do anything else as an aid to my salvation it is a plain sign that I have not fully entered into "His rest." This is what Paul by the Holy Spirit calls "the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage. Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain" (Gal. 6:4-11). This going back to law is what Scripture calls falling from grace. In these days if a professing Christian falls into sin of any kind they say, "He is fallen from grace." But that is not the Scriptural use of the term.

Christ is become of no effect unto you, WHOSOEVER OF YOU ARE JUSTIFIED BY THE LAW; ye are fallen from grace (Gal. 5:4).

So the Sabbatarian is fallen from grace.

The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come we are no longer under a schoolmaster (Gal. 3:24-25).

So after we have learned our lesson from the schoolmaster; that we are lost, ruined helpless, hopeless sinners our mouth stopped, and have pleaded guilty before God, then we are fit subjects for His grace: then we are where God can reveal His son to us, where He can have mercy on us, through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Where He can open our devil-blinded eyes, and reveal to us "that Christ died for our sins," yea. He brings it closer, and we are able to say with the Apostle, "Who loved me and gave Himself for me (Gal. 2:20). And now the sinner finds rest and is "no longer under the schoolmaster," no longer under the law "which was done away in Christ" (II Cor. 3:7-14). And now praise and worship begins for the first time to ascend to God. We see for the first time, that it is, "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us" (Titus 3:5). We sing for the first time, "Thou Lord hast made me glad through thy work; I will triumph in the work of Thy hands." For the first time we cease from our own works as a means of salvation, and begin, through the energy of the new life imparted to us by the Holy Spirit, to work for Him who worked for us.

WE ALSO believe with our questioner quoted at the beginning of this tract, that "There is no satisfactory reason for calling Sunday the Lord's day." The only Scripture used to support this, is Rev. 1:10. "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day," which is asserted by some to mean the first day of the week.

A friend who was distributing bills announcing Gospel Meetings on "Lord's day" was asked by a Sabbatarian what day he meant by that, was it Saturday or Sunday? The friend answered that Sunday was the Lord's day. The questioner said, "Was not Saturday the seventh day, the Sabbath?" This was admitted. He was then referred by the Sabbatarian to the words of our Lord (Luke 6:5),

The Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath.

So he triumphantly asserted, "Saturday is the Lord's day." And we submit he had at least as good proof for his theory as my friend had for his. In the face of so much Scripture that can be cited to show that the Lord has not enjoined any particular day on His people in this dispensation it surely seems unbecoming to dogmatize on it. Some think that the phrase, "Lord's day" refers to the day of the Lord, which is yet in the future, where the Lord will manifestly take control of the affairs of the world again, and that John was in it in prophetic vision. We read of the Lord's day in Luke 17:24:

For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part of heaven; so shall also the Son of Man be in His day.

This whole dispensation is "man's day." See II Cor. 4:3, margin. This is the time when man is getting his fling, and we believe it to be utterly unscriptural for the Lord's people to be laboring to enact laws to compel unsaved men to observe Sunday. It is putting them in a false! position; there are multitudes of unsaved Church members who think they are helping their chances for heaven by going to Church and keeping what they call the Sabbath, and looking with compassion on the Sabbath breaker. But we are sure it would be more pleasing to God for an unsaved one to be out walking (in Sunday than taking the communion. If it were true that the keeping of the first day of the week was enjoined on Christians, the unsaved would have no part nor lot in the matter. They cannot please God by keeping Saturday, Sunday or any other day, or by anything that they can do.

They that art in the flesh cannot please God (Rom. 8:8).

For whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Rom. 14:23).

The Sabbath in the Old Testament was not given to the nations, and there is no authority in the Scriptures for enjoining it on unsaved ones now. And we submit that it is against all New Testament teachings that the Lord would be satisfied for me, His child, to have one day for Him and six for myself. I know there are many of the Lord's children who are in bondage through wrong teachings concerning this.

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 (Rom. 14:5-6).

We do not see how anyone can consistently dogmatize on the sacredness of the day in the face of such scriptures.

There is an interesting addition to the received text of Luke 6:1-5 in one of the ancient versions of the Greek New Testament, in what is called the "Beza" Manuscript, where the Lord and His disciples plucked the ears of corn on the Sabbath and were rebuked, as usual, for breaking the Sabbath. After telling of the unlawful thing that David did when himself and followers were hungered, in eating the shewbread, He makes the statement quoted above, 'The Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath." The "Beza" M. S. has this interesting addition between the fifth and sixth verses, 'And on the same day seeing a man at work on the Sabbath, He said him, "Man if thou knowest what thou art doing, blessed art thou; but if thou knowest not, thou art accursed and a transgressor of the Law" (Variorum Bible). This is thought by some eminent scholars to be a genuine tradition of our Lord. Whether this may be so or not, we believe it is according to truth, and is in accord with Romans 14:22-23.

BUT WE are thankful to the Lord, and to the powers that be, that we have one day in seven in which we can rest from toil, and it is a blessed thing for our souls and bodies. But although the Lord has not enjoined it on us, yet we believe it is well pleasing to Him for His people to set apart one day each week for Him, for prayer, meditation and assembling ourselves for worship, teaching and preaching the Gospel to the perishing. And we should be exceedingly grieved, of what we have said in this tract should lead any of God's people in any measure to relax their setting apart the day for Himself. We think that any spiritual Christian will not need any command to observe it, but it will be his meat and drink to do it. It reminds us of the objection we have often met from carnal Christians and mere professors against remembering the Lord in the breaking of bread every first day of each week. They say there is no command to do it, and why should we? You might ask that young mother who is so constantly kissing that dating baby of hers, "Why do you do that.? you cannot find any command in the Bible for kissing that baby so often." She would say, "I do it because I love to, I don't need any command to do it. I would need rather a command before I would refrain from kissing it."

And what a heartless thing for one redeemed through the precious blood of Jesus, to say, "Well He says, This do for a remembrance of Me, but He doesn't say how often, so if I do it once in six months or a year it will be often enough." But to one with the love of Christ constraining him, when he reads that, "The first day of the week the disciples came together to break bread" (Acts 20:7), although this is not a command to keep the first day, nor to remember the Lord each first day of the week, such an one will do it, not because he is commanded to, but because he loves to do it. And in the nature of things in thus remembering the Lord there would be no command as to how often. And in keeping this day for Him it would also be a thing for the heart, we keep the feast and we keep the day, like the mother kisses the baby, because we love to do it.

And we find the early Christians did so gather, on the first day of the week (John 20:19-26; Acts 20:7; I Cor. 16:2), but we look in vain for any command to do it. But we are no more in bondage on Sunday unless we refrain lest we should stumble a weak brother, than Monday. And we see no more authority for making Sunday binding as the Lord's day, than we do for Saturday as the Sabbath.

It is not by observing days or refraining from observing them, by eating meat or refraining from eating that we walk well pleasing to God, but by walking in love, by putting off the old man and putting on the new — not by keeping holy days, but by cultivating holiness of heart and conscience. We keep holy the Sabbath day when We:

Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him" (Psalm 37:7).

THE OLD Testament Scriptures concerning the Sabbath have blessed typical teachings to us if we understand that Christ is the antitypical Sabbath, and that it is our privilege and responsibility to be keeping the New Testament Sabbath at all times. Read Isaiah 58:13:

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, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words.

Not doing thine own ways, but "doing the will of God from the heart" (Eph. 6:6). Not finding thine own pleasure, but seeking to please Him, Who loved us and gave Himself for us. Nor speaking thine own words, but "let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord" (Col. 3:16).

Again we read in Jeremiah 17:21-22:

Thus saith the Lord, Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem, (which would mean carrying to or from the Lord's table), neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day.

This is one of the ways God's people are continually breaking the Sabbath, carrying burdens instead of casting them on the Lord.

Casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you (I Pet. 5:7).

Read again Deuteronomy 5:15:

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 to keep the Sabbath Day.

Pharoah is a type of Satan, and Egypt is a type of his realm; it is called the iron furnace (Deut. 4:20). There was no Sabbath keeping, no rest, but the last of the taskmaster in Egypt. And so it is now; there is no Sabbath, no rest for the slaves of Satan, the unsaved; here or hereafter.

The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace saith my God to the wicked (Isaiah 57:20-21).

That is how it is now. And for the future it will be the "iron furnace," "prepared for the devil and his angels" where "the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day or night' (Rev. 14:11). But God's people who have been delivered from the power of Satan, by the mighty hand of God, who "have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Col. 1:14), therefore they are commanded to keep the Sabbath day. When? Three hundred and sixty-five days in the year, those who have found rest to their souls through the precious blood, should "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy:'' "This is" the day the Lord hath made we will rejoice and be glad in it" (Ps. 118:24).

Peace, perfect peace in this dark world of sin?
     The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.
Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties press'd?
     To do the will of Jesus — this is rest.
Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows surging round?
     On Jesus' bosom naught but calm is found.
Peace, perfect peace, with loved ones far away?
     In Jesus' keeping we are safe, and they.
Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown?
     Jesus we know;; and He is on the throne.
Peace, perfect peace, death shadowing us and ours?
     Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers.
It is enough: earth's struggles soon shall cease!
     And Jesus call us to heaven's perfect peace.