If we were sure which day of the week is
'T'he Lord’s Day
OW the Scriptures clearly
teach that the Sabbath is the
Lord's day and that the Sab-
bath falls on the seventh day
and not the first day. ‘The
Lord definitely claims to be
Lord of the Sabbath. He does
not claim to be Lord of Sunday. He
states nowhere that Christians should so
regard Sunday. When John the Revela-
tor declares: ‘I was in the Spirit on the
Lord’s day’ (Revelation 1: 10), he does
not say this was Sunday. He simply says
on “the Lord’s day,”’and the only Lord’s
day known to Scripture is the seventh-
day Sabbath. If the first day is so recog-
nized in the Bible, we have never been
able to find the text. The Bible is silent
on this matter.
There is not the slightest hint in the
Bible that the first day of the week
should be regarded as the Lord's day,
but the Scriptures abound with declara-
tions that the Sabbath is the Lord’s day.
Thus we read: “If thou turn away thy
foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy
pleasure on My holy day.” Isaiah 58: 13.
Again: “The Son of man is Lord also of
the Sabbath.” Mark 2:28. And again:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it
holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do
all thy work: but the seventh day is the
Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Exodus
20: 8-10.
E WISH to .call attention to a
remarkable statement by the
Rev. FE. T. Hiscock, the author of the
“Baptist Church Manual’’: “‘There was
and is a commandment to ‘keep holy the
Sabbath day’ but that Sabbath dav was
not Sunday. It will, however, be readily
said, and with some show of triumph,
that the Sabbath was transferred from
the seventh to the first day of the week,
with all its duties, privileges, and sanc-
tions. Earnestly desiring information on
this subject, which I have studied for
many years, I ask, Where can the record
of such a transaction be found? Not in
the New Testament —absolutely not.
There is no Scriptural evidence of the
change of the Sabbath institution from
the seventh to the first day of the week.
I wish to say that this Sabbath question,
in this aspect of it, is in my judgment
the gravest and most perplexing question
connected with Christian institutions
which at present claims attention from
Christian people.”’— From an address
before a Baptist ministers’ meeting in
New York City, as reported in the *“ Ex-
aminer,” of November 16, 1893.
Here Dr. Hiscock boldly declares
before a meeting of Baptist ministers
PAGE TWENTY-FOUR
that there is no Scripture for Sunday
observance. Now if this be true — and
it is — then we inquire: Where then, is
the authority for stating that Sunday is
the Lord’s day? If it is not based upon
Bible authority, what other authority
may Christians recognize?
UT why is the Sabbath, and not
Sunday, called the Lord's day?
Because Christ is its author. He was the
mediator between God and all His
works of creation. He was the maker,
not only of the universe, but of the earth
and all things therein. Note the follow-
ing: “But unto the Son He saith, Thy
throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a
scepter of righteousness is the scepter of
Thy kingdom. . . . And, Thou, Lord, in
the beginning hast laid the foundation of
the earth; and the heavens are the works
of Thine hands.” Hebrews 1:8, 10.
Again we read; “In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. The same
was in the beginning with God. All
things were made by Him; and without
Him was not anything made that was
made.” John 1: 1-3.
In these verses it is expressly declared
that the Son of God, or the “Word,”
is the one who made all things, and that
without Him was not anything made that
was made. In Colossians 1: 12-17, we
are informed that this included all things
‘“that are in heaven, and that are in
earth, visible and invisible, whether
they be thrones, or dominions, or princi-
palities, or powers: all things were
created by Him, and for Him; and He
is before all things, and by Him all
things consist.”
Now, if Christ be the Creator of the
earth and all things, then He is the one
who made the seventh day Sabbath as
recorded in Genesis 2: 1-3. ‘That one who
did the work, of course, did the resting.
And this one was the Son of God, called
the “Word,” who, 4000 years later,
“was made flesh and dwelt among us.”
John 1:14. Jesus Christ, therefore, is
the author of the Sabbath, and hence
the seventh-day Sabbath is the “Chris-
tian Sabbath” or “Lord’s Day.’”” Thus
He declares that ‘““the Son of man is
Lord also of the Sabbath.” Mark 2: 28.
Not only so, but it was Jesus Christ
who spoke the ten-commandment law
from the summit of Sinai and who
accompanied the children of Israel in
all their wanderings through the wilder-
ness. He is the mediator between God
and man. God the Father speaks only
through Him. The Father has never
spoken to man directly, but only
Would all of us keep it?
By William H. Branson
through the Son: “No man hath seen
God at any time; the only-begotten Son,
which is in the bosom of the Father,
He hath declared Him.” John 1:18.
Paul clearly states in 1 Corinthians
10: 1-4 that those who were led by Moses
“drank of that spiritual rock that fol-
lowed them: and that rock was Christ.”
Later when Christ was upon earth in
the flesh He spoke again from a moun-
tain. In Matthew the fifth chapter, we
have His first recorded sermon, and in
this, in the beginning of His earthly
ministry, He made it clear that no
alteration was to be made in the law
that He had given to Adam and spoken
from Mount Sinai.
“Think not,” said He, “that I am
come to destroy the law.” He knew that
people might draw a wrong conclusion
concerning this matter, so He proceeded
to place a safeguard against such an
error at the very outset. ‘‘For verily I
say unto you, Till heaven and earth
pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no
wise pass from the law, till all be ful-
filled. Whosoever therefore shall break
one of these least commandments, and
shall teach men so, he shall be called the
least in the kingdom of heaven: but who-
soever shall do and teach them, the
same shall be called great in the kingdom
of heaven.” Matthew 5:18, 19.
This then settles the question for all
time. Christ did not destroy the law.
As long as heaven and earth remain, not
a jot or tittle will pass from it. Those
who break even one of the least com-
mandments, and teach others to do
likewise, are considered by the God of
heaven as “the least’ of all people upon
earth, for the transgression of this law
is sin. But those who do and teach them
are counted as ‘‘great.”
OME may say, Why did not Christ en-
join the ten commandments in the
New Testament if Christians were ex-
pected to keep them? I reply that in the
foregoing statements He clearly stated
that every jot and tittle of this law would
remain as long as heaven and earth
endured, and that He had not come to
destroy it, and this settled the matter.
He here reaffirmed it in its entiretv by
this one statement. He was its author;
He had written it with His own finger;
He had commanded it with His own
lips; and now He declares it w..! remain
forever. Thus the moral law, which
included the seventh day Sabbath, re-
mained in full force in the Christian
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