The Sabbath

They tell us the fourth command,
    Containing the Sabbath decree.
Is abolished in every land,
    And all from its yoke are free;
If, to solve these queries we ask,
    When, where and how was it done?
They commence the difficult task,
    But leave it where they begun!

They tell us the onward roll
    Of Time has such changes wrought,
That none, from Pole to Pole,
    Can find the true day sought;
But how (it looks very strange!)
    Can this, they unwittingly name,
All other dates disarrange,
    And not affect Sunday the same!

They tell us that Christ set apart
    The day that he rose from the dead,
But yet, if we serve him in heart,
    We may choose any other instead;
And then, in the very face
    Of this, they evadingly say,
Why! You’ll surely fall from grace,
    If you keep the seventh day!

They tell us, to answer their ends,
    That the D.D.’s are all on their side—
Thus Pilate and Herod made friends,
    The law of God to deride;
But when they so loudly prate,
    If from Error’s chain they’re free,
Why is it that when they debate,
    No two of them can agree?

How long shall the Priests bear sway,
    And the mass go on in the wake,
A counterfeit creed to obey,
    Such conflicting positions take.
Could we but remove the cross
    From many, willingly blind,
They’d not be at all at a loss
    The genuine coin to find!

But Truth, in its beauty, will shine
    In spite of traditions vain,
That have hidden a precept divine,
    Through Papacy’s wicked reign.
Though Protestants oft rehearse:
    “The Bible is our rule alone”—
Their actions speak the reverse!
    While this Pagan relic they own.

This poem deals very well with most of the standard arguments that professing Protestants make against the seventh-day Sabbath of the Ten Commandment law.

If it weren’t for the fourth commandment, most Protestants wouldn’t have confused legalism with law-keeping. But in order to get around this “inconvenient truth,” long elaborate arguments, and huge treatises must be written to try and explain how the Law does not apply to Christians.

But the Law defines what sin and righteousness are, and that definition has not changed with time. The Law, including the Sabbath commandment, was designed to “bring us unto Christ” (Galatians 3:24). It will still do that for those who submit to its ministry.

The Sabbath, therefore, is only meaningful if it brings us to Christ. The Jews kept a “sabbath,” but most of them did not come to Christ. Therefore, they did not have the Sabbath of the Law, but one of their own devising. This is where many sabbath-keeping groups err. We must not only rest on the seventh day, but Christ’s voice must be heard, both individually, and in our meetings.

This means there must be a living experience of Christ’s power to save from sin, and a living message of present truth with ministers of God’s appointment, who build upon the foundation of the truths already laid down, and continue advancing in truth unto the perfect day. When these elements are in place, all arguments against the Sabbath are futile and vain.

For more on this topic, please read The Three Sabbaths.

Tags: Law, Righteousness, Sabbath