The writing of this book is an outgrowth of a series of radio sermons preached in the early part of the year 1959. In all of my ministry I have never seen such interest manifested in this part of the Bible. The response by phone, by mail, and by personal contact was beyond expectation.

Large numbers from the radio audience have requested these messages be put in book form so they would be privileged to have them for further study. With this pressure of demand in addition to a definite leading from God: I have compiled this series of sermons just as I preached them.

The thrill of joy that went surging through my soul as I unfolded this portion of the plan of God is beyond describing. The presence of God was so real. This experience and knowledge spread to untold thousands in our listening audience, resulting in many being enlightened, comforted, and settled in their Christian experience and faith for this life and the life to come.

The objective of this book is to set forth the full truth of God in a helpful manner. This is a part of the Bible sadly neglected by many. It is hard to believe this to be true, especially when it contains the very heart of the whole of God’s plan. So much confusion and darkness which prevails in the religious world, is serving to rob untold numbers of the grandeur and of the glory provided for every individual in the plan of the Lord.

There is an urgent need for a treatise on this subject. With great effort I have endeavored to thoroughly set forth in a clear concise manner the true plan and purpose of God through the ages. While earnestly attempting to intelligently, consistently, and scripturally answer many questions sent in by our listening audience, consideration has been given to the current thinking of some religious bodies of our day.

It is not my intention to wound, hurt, or to unchristianize anyone, but rather to send forth a guiding light, and a helping hand to honest, sincere truth seeking hearts. Since it is a fact there is so much confusion, misconstrued opinions and much deception on and about this portion of the Bible, it gives me great pleasure to send forth this book with the hope that it will be the light and comfort needed by many.

As you travel the distance, walk the depths, and peruse through the contents, may the Holy Spirit be with you in a special way, and grant unto all a revelation of God’s full plan and a reception of power to scale the heights in His glorious truth that saves and keeps unto the end.
Yours in Christ,
Lawrence J. Chesnut, B.Th. D.D.

Chapter 1
There was no Pre-Mosaic Sabbath

The term Sabbath means rest. The scripture states: “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” (Ex. 31:15). At a glance one can see the Sabbath Day spoken of here is the seventh day, and the rest referred to only pertains to the temporal and physical. Pre-Mosaic means before the time of Moses. There was no day kept as a rest-day until the Exodus, which began in 1498 B. C. The term Exodus means a going forth, or departure, as of a multitude, from a place or country. The meaning from the Bible is the leaving of Egypt by the Children, under the leadership of Moses, for the promised land, which was Canaan. This began as stated in 1498 B. C. which was at least 2500 years after the creation.

The first mention we have in the Bible of the Sabbath as a rest-day enjoined upon man was at least 2500 years after the creation. This account is given in Ex. 16:23–30, “And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake today, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.

“And Moses said, Eat that today; for today is a sabbath unto the Lord: today ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day”.

The “covenant” (meaning a contract between God and man) that contained the Sabbath Commandment was not given to the people God before the Exodus. For a detailed account read Deut. 5:1–22 Space will not permit these scriptures to be given in full, however, reference will be made to a few of them to show the place and beginning of the covenant that contained the Sabbath Day Commandment. “And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.

“The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount (meaning Mt. Sinai) out of the midst of the fire” (Deut. 5:1–4).

From these scriptures it is clear the covenant containing the Ten Commandments, which included the Sabbath Day, was given to the children of Israel in Horeb. This covenant was not made with our fathers, or any one prior to that day, “but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day,” stated Moses. From the foregoing it is clear God made known the Sabbath, to Israel in the wilderness. This was more than 2,500 years after the creation, while Israel was on the journey from Egypt to Canaan.

To further confirm this fact let us go to Neh. 9:13–14. “Thou camest down also upon Mt. Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: and madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant.”

As you study carefully the facts, keep in mind the book of Genesis was not written at the time of Creation, but 2,500 years after, and not until the law, in which the seventh-day Sabbath had been enjoined upon the Children of Israel, had been given on Sinai. Moses, in writing the history of Creation, says that “God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made” (Gen. 2:3). You can at once see that the sanctifying of the day took place at a later date than God’s rest. The day was not sanctified until God delivered it to Israel on Sinai, which as has been shown was more than 2,500 years after creation (Neh. 9:13–14). Noted scholars of centuries past sum it up in these words: “Enoch and all the rest … neither observed Sabbaths, nor any other rites, seeing that Moses enjoined such observances. For if there was no need of circumcision before Abraham, or of the observance of the Sabbath, of feasts and sacrifices, before Moses, no more need is there of them now.” “They began with Moses” (Justin Martyr). “Abraham without circumcision, and without observing the Sabbath believed in God” (Ireneus). “They (the Pre-Mosaic saints) did not observe the Sabbath, neither do we” (Tertullian).

Chapter 2
The Mosaic Sabbath

The Mosaic Sabbath is to be understood as part of the Ten Commandments as given by the Lord to Moses at Sinai. It was the observance of every seventh day. “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: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates” (Ex. 20:8–10). The seventh-day Sabbath was given to, and enjoined upon the Jewish nation alone, and the few Gentile proselytes who came within their gates. Scripture will now be given to prove the foregoing statements to be true.

“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 manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as 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 (Israel) to keep the sabbath day” (Deut. 5:14–15).

Note carefully this scripture, “He showed his word unto Jacob, his statutes and judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they (nations other than Israel) have not known them” (Psa. 147:19–20).

What The Law Saith

“What things soever the law (Mosaic) saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped …” (Rom. 3:19). It has been shown by the Bible that no one but literal Israel in the Old Testament was to be under the Ten-Commandment Mosaic Law. The Gentiles had not the law, henceforth, were never under it. “For when the Gentiles, which have not law (Mosaic), do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves” (Rom. 2:l4).

Christians are not under the Ten-Commandment Mosaic Law. “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law (Mosaic), but under grace? God forbid” (Rom. 6:15). Paul in writing to the Roman Christians made it plain they were not under the Mosaic Law, but under the law of grace, which is the New Covenant as recorded in the New Testament.

In writing to the Galatian Christians, Paul under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, gave this message: “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ … for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Gal. 2:16). “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith” (Gal. 3:11). “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law: ye are fallen from grace” (Gal. 5:4). These scriptures make it clear, to be saved one must look to Christ, the New Covenant, rather than the Old Covenant, the Ten-Commandment Law.

The Mosaic Law was simply a sign between God, and ancient Israel. “And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, 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.… Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant” (Ex. 31:12–16). “And remember that thou (ancient Israel) 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 (Israel) to keep the sabbath day” (Deut. 5:15).

The term “it is a sign” means it is a type, which must continue in force till the antitype comes. It was a sign of a future spiritual rest and blessedness, therefore the observance of it must be kept up until Christ the Messiah would come and bring true rest of the soul. The literal, seventh day temporal rest of the physical body, under the Mosaic sabbath, prefigures the seven days a week of spiritual rest to the soul of the Christian when Christ would come and bring in a better covenant.

It (Mosaic Sabbath) belonged to the “shadow of good things to come.” Note the scripture, “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect” (Heb. 10:1). Which is the better, the shadow, or the real thing? One would quickly say, the shadow hath no substance, it is only a picture of the true beyond it. The law is only a picture of the real which God has prepared beyond its (the law’s) reign. The pie is always better than its shadow. You can look at the picture and die, but when you partake of the true you receive life, and live.

Further confirmation of the law of Moses as being only a shadow of better things to come, and having its fulfillment in Christ is set forth in the book of Colossians. “And you (Christians), being (formerly) dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened (made alive) together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances (ceremonial) that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way (abolished it), nailing it to his (Christ’s) cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days; Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ” (Col. 2:13–17). These texts set forth the fact the entire law of Moses, with all of its ceremonies, was fulfilled and abolished, when Christ died on the cross. The law was a thrilling picture of the real spiritual substance every Christian receives in Christ, the New Covenant.

The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments compose the “old” and “first covenant” given on Sinai. Portions of the Bible have already been given setting forth this truth, but to refresh our minds some scriptures will be considered, which will prove beneficial in understanding the proper interpretation later.

It was said of Moses: “And he was there (on Mt. Sinai) with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments” (Ex. 34:28). “And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stones” (Deut. 4:13).

The Old Mosaic Law spoken of here which contained the Sabbath Commandment is now abolished. For proof let us go to the Word of God, the Bible. “Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory (a comparison to illustrate a truth): for these are the two covenants; the one from the Mount Sinai (Mosaic), which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

“But Jerusalem (New Covenant) which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

“But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman (Old Covenant) and her son (children of Mosaic law): for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman (children of the New Covenant). So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman (Old Covenant), but of the free (children of New Covenant) (Gal. 4:21–31).

After considering the simple truth set forth in this reading, no one should attempt to parallel the Ten-Commandment Old Covenant Law, with the New Covenant dispensation of grace. The Old Covenant was glorious in the time God intended for it to be in force, but it was only a schoolmaster to bring to Christ. A schoolmaster is not the true teacher, but one who went about and gathered up students and transported them to the teacher. This thought, which will be considered in more detail later, gives the whole purpose of the Old Covenant. It will be well here to view the picture as given in the book of Hebrews. “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant (Mosaic) had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second (New Covenant).

“For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old (Old Mosaic Covenant) is ready to vanish away” (Hebrews 8:6–13).

The entire book of Hebrews is a beautiful picture of purpose and place of the Old and New Covenant. Space will not allow to go through all of it but shall we notice another text. “Then said he (Christ), Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He (Christ) taketh away the first (Old Covenant), that he may establish the second (New Covenant). By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:9–10). More of this truth is wonderfully explained in 2 Cor. 3:3–18. Take time to read and thoroughly study this scripture. Much good will come to you. For further clarity, and before we go into the Christian Sabbath, or rest, we will review just a little. It will sharpen our thinking and place us in a better position for comparing the two covenants.

In Gal. 4:21–31 the two covenants are brought to view. The first proceeds from Sinai and “gendereth to bondage”; the second is associated with “Jerusalem which is above … the mother of us all.” They therefore represent the two great systems by which God has governed his people on earth: first, by the law system, which originated at Sinai; second, by the gospel, which came through Christ.

These two covenants are represented by the Apostle Paul as the mother of God’s people, prefigured by the two wives of Abraham. Hagar, the bondmaid, represents the law system, and her son Ishmael signifies the Jewish Nation, the “children” of the covenant. Sarah, the free wife, represents the gospel system, and Isaac, her son, signifies all true believers in Christ, who are “children”, not “of the bondwoman, but of the free.”

These systems are not to continue side by side, but the one is the successor of the other, in the Father’s favor. The law system, with all its “children” (Hagar and Ishmael) being rejected for the true gospel system (Sarah and Isaac). “Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” We, of the gospel dispensation, as Isaac was, are the Children of Promise.

Chapter 3
The Christian Sabbath, or Rest

The Christian Sabbath, or rest, is not the observance of any particular day. “But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, months, and times, and years” (Gal. 4:9–11). This teaches that to observe days, times, and months, as they did back under the Mosaic Law, would be going again into bondage.

No certain day is to be esteemed above another. “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” (Rom. 14:5). “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon or of the sabbath days” (Col. 2:16). From the foregoing, one can at a glance see God does not sanction man claiming certain days are to be more holy than others. Every day to the Christian is a holy day.

Sabbath, A Spiritual Rest

The Christian Sabbath was prophesied as a spiritual rest; a rest of the soul that was to come through Jesus Christ. “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious” (Isa. 11:10). This is a prophecy of the coming of Christ and His plan of salvation, the glorious experience of rest to the soul.

Christ taught that the Christian Sabbath is a rest of the soul. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. 11:28–29).

This is the Sabbath Rest that now remains for the people of God since the Mosaic Law Sabbath was abolished. “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest (soul rest), he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his” (Heb. 4:9–10). The Christian Sabbath is entered into by faith. “For we which have believed do enter into rest …” (Heb. 4:3). This rest does not come because of a certain ceremonial observance, but by the soul making connection with its Creator by faith. Praise our God forever for this glorious experience of soul rest enjoyed by all Christians, experiencing the full plan of salvation as purchased by the blood of Christ.

Chapter 4
The Mosaic Sabbath and the Christian Sabbath Compared

The first (Mosaic) was a rest of the body. “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations, upon the sabbath day (Deut. 35:2–3). This was strictly one day of bodily rest. No work of any degree or kind could be done. The second (Christian, or New Testament Sabbath) is a rest of the soul. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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,” says Jesus (Matt. 11:28–29). God’s plan of creating day and night was for man to work in the day and rest his body at night. This would give daily rest to the body rather than one day out of seven. His New Testament plan is for all believers to experience rest of the soul twenty-four hours out of every day, seven days a week. This far exceeds the rest of one day in seven for the body as commanded under the Mosaic Law. The first covenant (Mosaic) enjoined but one day in seven, the seventh, to be kept holy. “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall thou labour, 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, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates” (Ex. 20:8–10).

The second (New Covenant) enjoins that every day be kept holy. “That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies (devil) might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life” (Luke 1:74–75).

Abstaining from manual labor constituted a holy day to the Jews. Performing manual labor made the day unholy to them. “Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: everyone 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” (Ex 31:14). More detail is given on this point in Deut. 5:12–14.

Performing manual labor, or abstaining from labor, does not make a day holy, or unholy to us under the gospel dispensation. “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 (observeth) the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks” (Rom. 14:5–6). By abstaining from sin and living holy lives we keep every day holy. Living in sin men make all their days unholy. In the first, they abstain from manual labor; in the second, we cease from sinful labor, or works. “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his” (Heb. 4:10.)

By performing any manual labor they broke the sabbath, and suffered physical death, as the penalty (Ex. 31:14). By indulging in sinful works we lose our sweet soul rest, and incur spiritual death. The blessings of the former were but temporal; the blessings of the latter are eternal. The former (Old Covenant) was but a type of the latter (New Covenant) (Col. 2:16–17; Heb. 4:10).

Chapter 5
The Better Covenant

The New Covenant was established by Jesus Christ. “By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament” (Heb. 7:22). “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises” (Heb. 8:6). In every respect this New Covenant through Christ is better than the old one.

1. It “was established upon better promises.” The Mosaic Covenant was based upon those promises in the original Abrahamic Covenant, which pertained to the literal Israel, hence was limited, and national, whereas, the “better covenant” is based upon those promises in the Abrahamic Covenant which have universal import, meeting their fulfillment in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

2. It has a better mediator. “The law was given by Moses” (John 1:17); whereas, Jesus is “the mediator of the New covenant” (Heb. 12:24).

3. It has a better priesthood. The priests of the law were fallible men, who “were not suffered to continue by reason of death” (Heb. 7:23). Jesus is our high priest, “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens” (Heb. 7:26), “he continueth ever”, … having “an unchangeable priesthood” (Heb. 7:24).

4. It has a better sanctuary. “The first Covenant had … a worldly sanctuary” (Heb. 9:1). The New Covenant sanctuary, temple, or house of God is his spiritual Church (I Peter 2:5; Heb. 3:6; I Tim. 3:15; Eph. 2:19–22).

5. It has a better sacrifice. Instead of the “blood of bulls and of goats” (Heb. 9:13), which “can never take away sins” (Heb. 10:11), the New Covenant was sealed with the blood of Christ, which is able to “purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb. 9:14).

The two covenants are also contrasted by Paul in 2 Cor. 3:3–14. Here the first covenant (which “was glorious” in its time) is described as the “Old Testament,” “tables of stone,” “the ministration of death,” the “letter” which “killeth,” “the ministration of condemnation” which was “done away” and “abolished.” The second covenant of which Paul was an able minister is the “New Testament,” “the Spirit,” “the glory that excelleth,” that which “remaineth,” and is “written in the fleshly tables of the heart.”

Chapter 6
The Example of the Early Church

The example of the early Church of the New Testament was to assemble together for public worship on the first day of the week. “And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them” (Luke 24:33). “And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you” (Luke 24:36).

These happenings occurred on the first day of the week, following the morning the Lord was resurrected, which was during the early morning hours, just before the break of day, upon the first day of the week.

The Apostle John also gives an account of the disciples gathering in public assembly. “And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, peace be unto you” (John 20:26).

The record given in the book of Acts makes it clear the early morning disciples, with Paul, met in Troas for public worship upon the first day of the week, not the seventh. “And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days.

“And upon the first (not seventh) day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight” (Acts 20:6–7). The first day of the week was observed, as the day the Christians came together for public worship, by the Church of God at Corinth, and the Churches of Galatia.

“Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come” (I Cor. 16:1–2).

The first day of the week was called the “Lord’s day” in honor of the resurrection. “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet” (Rev. 1:10).

We Christians of today follow the example of the early Church, and set apart the first day of the week (Sunday), as a day of worship and spiritual devotion.

Chapter 7
Hard Questions for Seventh-Day Sabbath Keepers

If you are a seventh day law believer, I wish to call your attention to some scriptural facts you are up against. If you will be strictly honest, I believe you will, upon thoroughly considering and weighing the facts as presented in the following questions and statements, acknowledge that it is impossible to give a Biblical answer in the light of Seventh Day Sabbath Law. Go slow, study carefully, compare honestly and unbiasly with the Bible, and, it is believed, you will understand the teaching as set forth in this book to be strictly Biblical throughout. Note prayerfully the following questions and Scriptures.

1. If Christians are required to keep the seventh day, why do you depart from your dwelling on that day, seeing those to whom the law was given were plainly commanded not to do? “See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day” ( Ex. 16:29). According to this text a seventh day sabbath keeper cannot leave his dwelling on the seventh day. It would have been impossible for him to meet in a public worship service and still be a Mosaic Law keeper. For one to leave his house for any reason would be a violation of the Sabbath Law. In the New Testament the Lord commands His people, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together (public service), as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Heb. 10:25). Compare this New Covenant Law of Christ with the Sabbath Law of the Old Covenant and at a glance you will see a serious cross, and conflict. Christ commands His people to assemble for public worship. The seventh day law commands one not to leave his dwelling on the Sabbath Day. This proves that it is scripturally impossible for them to run side by side in God’s plan. One must give way for the other. Which law do you think is for us today, and the one you prefer to believe? The New Testament Law of Christ, of course.

2. If you keep one Sabbath—the seventh day—, why not keep them all, the seventh year, and the year of jubilee? Who authorized you, or anyone else to make a distinction in favor of the seventh day? The same law that set forth one, required keeping them all. Read Lev. 25:1–22. Since the Mosaic Law commanded the keeping of all where, or how, could one be a law keeper and eliminate any one of them? Who could scripturally say he was a seventh day law keeper, and not keep them all? These are good sensible questions? What is your answer? To make a distinction, would be grossly erroneous according to the law.

3. If Christians are required to keep the Sabbath, how are they going to live in cold climates? “And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the Lord hath commanded, that ye should do them. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Ye shall kindle no fire, throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day” (Ex. 35:1–3). Since the law would not permit the kindling of a fire on the Sabbath, how would one be able to live in extreme cold weather without some fire for warmth? Is God so unkind as to want all Christians to be without warmth, one day a week, regardless of the weather? How many who say they keep the seventh day practice this command of God? These questions are not to wound, but to make you think. If this scripture is to be practiced today, only those living in warm climates could abide by the law and still live.

4. As considered formerly, to violate the Sabbath Day law would mean physical death. Let us think together some more. Is it the duty of Christians to put to death those who desecrate the seventh day (Num. 15:32–35)? If yes, who will be the public executioner? If no, what will you do with the law (Ex. 35:2)? The law states in another place, “Thou shalt not kill.” Can one be a law-keeper, and not kill; and can one be and kill? By this you can quickly see what a conflict one would be in when trying to believe something not scriptural, and that is impossible to practice. The laws of our land would not permit the seventh day law to be practiced in its entirety, nor will genuine Christians want it to be. If it is in force now, to leave any part undone would mean to be guilty of all. If one does not practice all of it, he has no right to practice any of it. If all of it is not for us today, none of it is. The law of Christ for us today is complete, and needs nothing inferior to give it the necessary completion.

If you say the penalties are abolished, how are you going to answer this? The same passages that you use to prove the penalties were abolished established beyond the shadow of a doubt that the law, too, is abolished. If you admit that the penalties are still in force, and they are if the law is in force, there is not a seventh day law keeper on the face of the earth who can escape the vengeance of the broken law.

5. If Christians are under obligation to observe the seventh day, why did Jesus declare that all law and prophecy hang on love instead of the Sabbath, seeing the command to keep it is the one on which you hang your eternal destiny (Matt. 22:34–40, Rom. 13:8–10)?

6. Why did Jesus not require the young ruler to keep the Sabbath when enumerating the commandments, if it was so necessary (Matt. 19:16–20; Mark 10:17–22; Luke 18:18–24)?

7. If Christians are to keep the law of Moses—the Sabbath—why did the apostles, and elders, who met at Jerusalem, leave it out of their address to the Churches (Acts 15:1–29)? In some respects this case finds a parallel in some theories of today.

Judaizing teachers had gone forth, declaring to the brethren they could not be saved, unless they would submit to circumcision and keep the law of Moses. The Apostles said, “We have no such commandment.”

8. If Christians are required to keep the Sabbath, how are we to account for the open violation of the law by Jesus Christ, who is our example, unless by saying that the power that made the law can take it away (Matt. 12:1–8; John 7:22–23)?

9. If you keep the Sabbath because, as you think, it was kept before the law of Moses, why do you not practice circumcision, seeing it is plainly commanded in these ages (Gen. 17:1–4; Gal. 5:1.6)?

10. When did patriarch, prophet, or apostle, or anyone else, command any Gentile to keep the law of Moses? This cannot be proven, for it was never commanded in the scripture.

11. Paul said that the “ministration of death,” written and “engraven in stone,” (Ex. 20:1–17; 31:18; 32:15–16; 34:1–28), was “done away” (2 Cor. 3:1.18). When, where, and by whom was it brought back in force? Name the day, the age, the authority, and give proof from the Bible. If the seventh day Sabbath doctrine is true, the great apostle of the Gentiles stands convicted of a grave mistake.

12. If the early Christians kept the Sabbath Day, why did they break bread on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7)?

13. If the Christians are to keep the Sabbath Day, how do you account for the fact that the Apostles preached the gospel to the ones in Jerusalem and Samaria, to Cornelius the Gentile, and to many others without commanding a single individual to keep it? Did they, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, fail to properly instruct their converts (Acts 2:1–47; 8:1–40; 10:1–48; 16:1–40)? No, the reason for not preaching it—divine authority revealed to them—was because the Sabbath had been abolished with the coming of Christ; therefore, they were called to preach God’s existing plan, and not something non-existent.

14. Can you prove that the day you keep is really the seventh day, or Sabbath, coming down in regular succession from the day on which God rested? If not, your day is no better than any other day. Admitting for argument’s sake, that the commandment is in force and that the fourth commandment (Sabbath Day) is binding upon the whole human race, you will affirm that it is possible for all men to keep the same day? If so, how do you explain the fact that a traveler who starts out to go around the earth gains, say, if going east, one hour for every thousand miles traveled. How far would he go before he lost the count? One can see he would inevitably be behind, or in advance.

Further, how do you explain the fact that far away toward the extremes of the earth (we are told), traveling from the equator, there are periods of six months night and six months day from age to age? From this we can see it is a geographical impossibility for all men to keep the same day and the law was only intended for one people, one country, and one age.

15. There are many more scriptures and things that could be considered, but let us bring to a close these thoughts by asking some more personal questions of those who will be reading this book, who believe in the seventh day Sabbath Law.

Do you keep the Sabbath Day? Do you? Do you rest, or put in the day promulgating your doctrine? Do you not eat food on that day prepared by work on a fire kindled in violation of the law (Ex. 20:8–11; 35:1–3)?

Do you offer the burnt offering required by the law (Num. 28:3–10)? Do you remain in your house during the Sabbath Day? If you do not keep the day according to the law, you do not keep it at all. If you admit that any part of the law concerning the Sabbath is done away, you are driven to the inevitable, and irresistible conclusion, that it is all done away. If you deny that any part of it is done away, you condemn yourself for you do not keep it. “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). Which way will you take?

Chapter 8
The Origin and Worship of the Synagogue

While perusing through the contents of this book there is the possibility of various questions, thoughts and scriptures, which tend to confuse, or temporarily to puzzle, making their appearance in the mind. I feel it valuable to set forth some facts on the more common obstacles, especially, for the benefit of those who have been traditionalized in the seventh day Sabbath Law doctrine.

The Mosaic Law Sabbath, with its strictness, would not permit the Israelites to leave their places on the Sabbath (forbidding them the privilege of regular Sabbath public worship); therefore, a problem presents itself to some when reading in the New Testament where Jesus and others went to the synagogue as was their custom on the Sabbath and partook of its worship (Luke 4:16–19). Knowing the Mosaic Law did not permit leaving one’s dwelling on the Sabbath for public worship, then seeing Jesus and some of his followers going to the synagogue on the Sabbath give good reason for some thought which requires an answer.

Synagogue

Synagogue denotes either a congregation of the Jews, a Jewish house of worship, or more generally, Judaism as contrasted with Christianity. Synagogues are believed to have been started during the Babylonian captivity in the 500’s B. C. The law of Moses was given to Israel in 1491 B. C. Hence, Israel worshiped according to the Ten-Commandment Law nearly 1000 years before the inauguration of the synagogue, and synagogue worship.

There can be no doubt but that the synagogue, Ezra’s main work, grew up with the temple, and developed from it. By the time of the fall of the temple, synagogues were well established. At the time of Jesus there were synagogues wherever the Jews settled. In the early days synagogues served as a place of study, a place where the law was read on the Sabbath (Acts 15:21), and a place of religious instruction. It also served as a place for law courts of the Jews. Furthermore, it was the place where the Jewish children received the first rudiments of such education as they had, principally instruction in the law and other scriptures. In the time of Jesus every synagogue probably had its school and every boy began there his education. The fact Jesus was of the house and lineage of David, and a Jew by birth, sheds much light on the reason he went to the synagogue and observed its custom until he became of age and began his earthly ministry. It was their law and custom for Jewish parents with their children, to go to the synagogue for the purposes set forth. Thus, Jesus lived and grew as a boy following the course of normal procedure of Jewish children, excepting the special time he confounded the Doctors and Teachers of the law with his divine knowledge and wisdom while in the Temple in Jerusalem at the age of twelve.

When Jesus began his earthly ministry he is not found embracing, nor upholding the Mosaic Law, but rather he is found, according to the Jews, breaking time and again what they called the law.

Jesus exemplified this by going “On the sabbath day through the corn” field, “and his disciples were an hungred, 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” (Matt. 12:1–2).

An account is given where he healed a withered right hand of a man on the sabbath. “And it came to pass also on another Sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered. “And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?” (Luke 6:6–9). “And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes” (John 9:14). Again, and again the Bible gives incidents where Jesus broke what the Jews call the Mosaic Sabbath Law.

To accuse Jesus of keeping, and perpetuating, the Ten-Commandment (Mosaic) Law after he began his early ministry is absurd, and erroneous teaching. Jesus makes this statement, “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it” (Luke 16:16). Furthermore, the scripture teaches the law (Mosaic) with all of its ordinances and days was nailed to and ended at the cross (Col. 2:14–17).

Chapter 9
Various “Laws” Considered

Seventh-Day bodies admit that something was done away when Christ was crucified, but insist that it was only animal sacrifices, incense, etc. They teach that there were two laws given on Mt. Sinai: that God gave one, and that Moses gave another; that the one given by the Lord was written on tables of stone which was durable and still in force today; and that the law given by Moses was written in a book and was abolished by Christ. They further assume that the law of God contained no moral obligations, and that the law of Moses consisted of ceremonial duties. They make a distinction where there is no difference. These distinctions are not taught in the Bible, but are assumed by seventh-day Sabbath keepers.

The Law of God, and The Law of Moses

The Bible teaches that they are one and the same law, and uses the expressions interchangeably: “This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses …” (Ezra 7:6). The same chapter says, “Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of Heaven …” (Ezra 7:12).

These expressions are also used interchangeably in Neh. 8:1, “And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel.” Continuing in this Chapter in verse 8 we read, “So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.”

To teach that Moses gave the law of Moses, not God, and that God gave the law of God would be in serious conflict with Bible facts. The Bible teaches that God gave the law of Moses already considered in Ezra 7:6. This same Bible also states that Moses gave the law of God: “And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses” (2 Chron. 34:14). This proves that to teach that God gave the “law of God” and that Moses gave the “law of Moses” and that they are two separate laws would not be according to facts as given in the Bible. There was only one law given. What Moses gave was by God’s authority. God made “known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant” (Neh. 9:14). To take the position that animal sacrifices, incense, etc. were in the law of Moses, that they were abolished when Jesus was crucified, and that “the law of God” written on “tables of stone” did not contain the animal sacrifices, incense, etc. would be completely out of line with the scriptural record. The Bible teaches that animal sacrifices were in the law of God. “He appointed also the king’s portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit for the morning and the evening burnt offerings for the sabbath, and for the new moons, and for the set feast, as it is written in the law of the Lord” (2 Chron. 31:3). “And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons” (Luke 2:24). There is a question in order here. Can the law of God be changed or done away? If not, as some would have us believe, then animal sacrifices are still binding. The truth is, God abolished the Sabbath with the same authority he did animal sacrifice. The law had to be changed. “For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law” (Heb. 7:12). Christ took away the first (Old Covenant, Ten-Commandment, Sabbath Law) that he might establish the second (New Covenant) (Heb. 10:9–10). The “law of the Lord” and the “law of Moses” are the same law, revealing at a glance it would not be scriptural to contend part was done away at Christ’s coming, and the rest binding so long as the world stands, when it is clear that the whole law was fulfilled and terminated in Christ. It is very inconsistent and badly misconstruing the scripture to attempt a distinction between the “law of the Lord” and the “law of Moses”. God had a law for Adam, Cain and Abel, Noah, and others who lived before Moses was born, but it was not the Ten Commandments. It was given after the Children of Israel came out of Egyptian bondage (Ex. 20:1–17).

The Moral Obligation

Some thought should be given to the contention that the Sabbath is a moral obligation. Jesus says, “… The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27).

The intended meaning Jesus would have understood is that the ordinances of religion should be regulated according to their end, which is the honor of God, and the salvation of men. It is the property of true religion to contain nothing in it but what is beneficial to man.

The change of the Jewish (Mosaic Sabbath) into the Christian, called the “Lord’s day” (Rev. 1:10) shows that Christ is not only the Lord, but the truth and completion of it. Christ is Lord of the Sabbath, being himself the personal Sabbath (soul-rest).

To say the Sabbath (Mosaic) is a moral obligation would not be stating the truth. Proper understanding of what is a moral obligation will be enlightening. Moral obligations are right within themselves. Religious duties are right only because God commands them. The Sabbath was made right and binding on the Jews only because God commanded it (Ex. 20:8). Moral obligations relate to our fellowman. Religious duties relate to God.

Failure to keep the Sabbath violates no moral law. Men would never have known to keep the Sabbath if God had not commanded it. Furthermore, worship is a religious duty and not a moral obligation.

Even the morals of the Ten Commandments are below the standards of Christianity. “Thou shalt not kill.” This command does not condemn hate. “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer …” (I John 3:15). According to the law of Moses, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” This command does not condemn lust. The new law under Jesus does. “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matt. 5:28).

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” This command does not forbid false witness for a neighbor, nor to a neighbor. The new law says, “And all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone …” (Rev. 21:8). One may ask, “If I live up to the Ten Commandments, will I be saved?” The answer is, no. The standard of grace in Christ is far better and a much higher plane of living.

The Sabbath, A Sign

The Sabbath was a sign between God and the children of Israel. No other nation, or people—“Speak thou also unto the Children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye (Israel) shall keep: For it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations …” (Ex. 31:13). “It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever …” (Ex. 31:17).

Sabbath, A Memorial

The Sabbath was a memorial of the deliverance of the Children of Israel from Egypt. “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 a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God command thee to keep the Sabbath day” (Deut. 5:15).

God has never in any age commanded a Gentile, as such, to keep the Sabbath. The Sabbath had a national significance to the Israelites and Israelites only. It celebrated their deliverance from bondage. “Therefore” (for this reason) God commanded the Children of Israel to keep the Sabbath Day.

The Sabbath is first mentioned in Ex. 16:23, and this is after the Children of Israel came out of Egypt. As they got to the foot of the mount the Sabbath is made known. It is evident that they had not been keeping the Sabbath because the day before, Moses said, “Tomorrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: …” The next day he said: “Today is a sabbath unto the Lord.” This was just a short time before the Sabbath was made one of the Ten Commandments. When they were told to “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy,” it does not mean that they had been observing it from creation; but as they reached the foot of the Mount at the giving of the manna the Sabbath had been made known. Horeb and Sinai are often used interchangeably. Horeb is a range of mountains; Sinai is a peak in this range.

Nehemiah says that God came down upon Mount Sinai and made the Sabbath known. He had never given it before. The word is not found in all the book of Genesis. Moses lived and wrote 2500 years after creation. God rested on the seventh day. Twenty-five hundred years thereafter God set it apart as a memorial of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt because in it He had rested. There is neither command, example, nor penalty concerning Sabbath observance during the Patriarchal dispensation which embraced the first 2500 years of the history of man.

During the next 1500 years, from Sinai till the new law went into force, we find the command, example, and penalty concerning Sabbath observance. From the time the Church was established A. D. 33 until the last verse of the book of Revelation, there is not one command in the New Testament for Christians to observe the Sabbath. Neither is there one penalty for not doing it.
The Sabbath Abolished

Christians are commanded not to observe the Sabbath. “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” (Col. 2:14). “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: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ” (Col. 2:16–17).

Since Christ nailed the old law to the cross; therefore, let no one judge you in observing these things named—including the Sabbath. Sabbath observance was a religious requirement, made holy by commandment, and never was a moral obligation. Therefore, it is properly classed here with the ordinances. The Sabbath was a type or shadow. Those who try to keep it are clinging to a shadow.

Chapter 10
Arguments for Sabbath-Keeping Answered

a. The Sabbath is spoken of as being perpetual (Ex. 31:16). How could a perpetual Sabbath cease?

Answer—The same way that the perpetual temple service (I Kings 9:3). The word “perpetually” is used here to denote the span of temple worship. The literal temple was a type of the spiritual temple, The New Testament Church. Hence, when the spiritual, the greater came, and was established by Jesus Christ, the old, the lesser was discarded, and done away. In Ex. 30:8 the perpetual incense is spoken of. It is evident the Old (the type) had its fulfillment in the New (the antitype); therefore it (the Old) ceased.

b. “Jesus kept the Sabbath” we are told. He also kept the passover, and the rest of the law. Jesus was born under the law (Gal. 4:4) and lived under the law. When He died, He nailed it to the cross (Col. 2:14–17). c. “Paul kept the Sabbath” some say.

Why then did the Jews persecute him? Paul preached on the Sabbath in the synagogue because it was an opportunity. Of him it was said, “This man persuadeth men to worship contrary to the law” (Acts 18:13). From this it does not appear he was a Mosaic Law keeper. Had he lived by the law of Moses they would not have accused him.

d. Some say, “If the Ten Commandments are abolished, then men can steal, lie, commit adultery, worship other gods, etc. and not be censured or punished.” Answer—Certainly not! All sin is condemned in the New Testament. Not just certain sins, but all sin.

e. Here is a very popular argument with those who stressed the keeping of the Sabbath Day Law. “The Catholics changed the Sabbath.” This statement is not true. Here is proof that it cannot possibly be true. The law was changed, “For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law” (Heb. 7:12). The law was changed before a Catholic Church ever existed. During the days of the Apostles, the early Christians were taught to worship on the first day of the week, “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread …” (Acts 20:7). “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him …” (1 Cor. 16:2).

They were taught not to keep the Sabbath (Col. 2:16) as we have already considered. Christ changed the day of worship, not the Catholics. “Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first (Old Covenant), that he may establish the second (New Covenant). By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:9–10). (See also Heb. 10:22–28). The contention that the Catholics changed the Sabbath is not a valid argument for disregarding the Scriptural facts as set forth in the Bible.

Christians of today meet upon the first day (Sunday) of the week for public worship, and a special day of devotion to God, in commemoration of the resurrection of Christ which occurred upon the first day of the week. Jesus being nailed to the cross ended the old, his resurrection is the beginning of the New.

The ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was the bringing in of a new era, a new day, a new and better covenant. His resurrection ushered in the brightest happening ever known. This great epoch making day was the beginning of a new week. What glory filled all hearts as they gathered together to tell the story of the resurrection and redemptive power of the Lord. In commemoration of and in honor of this blessed occasion, Christians today followed the example of the disciples in the New Testament, and meet as they did upon the first day (Sunday) of the week for a special day of public worship.

f. One often hears a statement like this, “Jesus came not to destroy the law.” He came to fulfill. He said, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matt. 5:18). How long was the Mosaic Law to continue, “Till all be fulfilled.” When it was fulfilled then it did pass away. The question—Did Jesus fulfill it? On the cross he said, “It is finished.” After His resurrection, Jesus said, he had fulfilled the law, the prophets, and the psalms. “And he (Jesus) said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you … that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me” (Luke 24:44). The law had passed and all things were fulfilled in Christ.

g. We now pass to another argument. “We are to live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” The commands to build the Ark, offer animal sacrifices, burn incense, and practice circumcision all proceeded from the mouth of God. Are we to live by these commands? Commandments of God in the patriarchal and Mosaic ages are not binding on Christians of today. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds” (Heb. 1:1–2).

We must now hear Christ. “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him” (Matt. 17:5). “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18).


Conclusion

After the resurrection Jesus gave the terms of pardon for the New Will or Testament “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15–16). “And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46–47). Men must hear the gospel, believe it, repent of their sins, give themselves wholly to Christ, have faith in Him, and obey his entire will. This plan of redemption is new. It is different to that of the old law.

Now under Christ we have a new plan of salvation, a new covenant, sealed by the new blood, the blood of Christ, a new name, a new method of worship, and a new day of worship—the first day of the week (Acts 20:7, I Cor. 16:2).

Remember that in all the instruction to Christians in the New Testament there is not one command for Christians to keep the Sabbath; but we are commanded not to do it (Col. 2:16).

May the God of heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ, through His Holy Spirit bless this truth to the present and eternal good of all is our prayer.

Yours in Christ,
Lawrence J. Chesnut, B.Th. D.D.