Page images
PDF
EPUB

How to be kept.

Ex. 31. 13. Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore: for it is holy unto you. Every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done, but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath-day he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.

Ex. 34. 21. Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing-time, and in harvest thou shalt rest.

Ex. 35. 3. Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.

Lev. 23. 3. Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, a holy convocation: ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.

Lev. 26. 2. Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

Num. 15. 32. And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath-day. 35. And the Lord said unto Moses, the man shall be surely put to death.

Dt. 5. 12. Keep the sabbath-day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. Six days thou shalt labor, and do all thy work; But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy man-servant and thy maid

How to be kept.

servant may rest as wellas thou. 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.

Jer. 17. 21. 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; Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath-day, as I commanded your fathers. 27.

Ezk. 44. 24. And they shall keep my laws and my statutes, in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

Mat. 24. 20. But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath-day.

Lk. 23. 56. And rested the sabbath-day, according to the commandment.

585. What works may be done on the sabbath?

Mat. 12. 1. At that time Jesus went on the sabbathday through the corn, and his disciples were a hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath-day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did when he was a hungered, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shew-bread- -Or how that on the sabbath-days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? 11. What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath-day, will he not lay hold on it, a nd lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath-days. Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored. Mk. 2. 23 -28. Lk. 6. 1—10.

Pomises to keeping it.

Mk. 3. 4. And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath-days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?

Lk. 13. 11. And behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath-day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath-day. The Lord then answered him and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath-day? And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed.

Jn. 5. 8. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath-day; it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. 16. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath-day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

586. Has God made promises to those who keep the sabbath?

Is. 56. 2. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. 6. Every one that keepeth the sabbath

Threatenings to sabbath breakers.

from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burut offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar. Is. 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 honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Jer. 17.24. And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath-day, but hallow the sabbath-day, to do no work therein; Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever.

587. What is said respecting sabbath-breakers?

Ex. 35. 2. Whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death

Num. 15. 32. And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath-day. 35. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses.

Neh. 13. 15. In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine-presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought in

Is the day changed?

to Jerusalem on the sabbath-day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals. There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath-day? Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath. 19.-22.

Jer. 17. 27. If ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath-day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath-day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and it shall not be quenched.

Ezk. 20. 20. Hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God, Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish mine anger against them in the wilderness.

Ezk. 22. 26. Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 31. Therefore, have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath.

588. Is there reason to believe that the sabbath has been changed by divine authority from the seventh day of the week, as having been a memorial of creation, to the first day, as a memorial of redemption?

1. The resurrection of Christ.

Mk. 16. 9. Now when Jesus was risen early, the

« PreviousContinue »