"WELL, what have you discovered, Mr. Rogers, about the change of the Sabbath to the first day of the week?" asked Mr. Summers, as the three friends met once more for their weekly Bible study.

"I have several texts," replied Mr. Rogers. "At first I began to be afraid I had undertaken too much; there didn’t seem to be as many statements in the New Testament about the first day of the week as I had thought, and what there was did not seem to help me much. In fact, I was a bit disappointed with the result of my investigation, and I had to ask somebody else to help me. But I think I have got it all right now. The apostles undoubtedly kept the first day of the week in honor of Christ’s resurrection, and He taught them to do so by repeatedly meeting with them on that day."

"Very well," said Mr. Summers. "Let us begin with Christ’s instruction, then. Where is it recorded that He taught the disciples to observe the first day?"

"Why," answered Mr. Rogers, "there is no definite statement that the disciples were to observe the first day. They kept it in honor of the resurrection of their Lord."

"Did He ask them to do so?" Mr. Summers inquired.

"That isn’t recorded," admitted Mr. Rogers.

"Well, is it recorded anywhere that the disciples kept the first day of the week in honor of the resurrection?" asked Mr. Summers.

"Not in so many words," was the answer, "but we can infer it from their frequent meetings on that day."

"Wait a moment," said Mr. Summers. "Do you mean to tell me that you are going to set up a mere inference against the fourth commandment? You have the Word of God for the seventh day, and for the first day you confess that you have no definite command of Christ, and no definite statement by the apostles, only an inference, and that drawn, not by an inspired writer, but by uninspired men."

"But let me give you the texts," replied Mr. Rogers. "When you put them all together, I think they furnish a good reason for keeping the first day of the week."

"Very well; give us the texts," answered Mr. Summers.

"First, then," said Mr. Rogers, "I will deal with Christ’s meetings with His disciples on the first day of the week. All of the evangelists speak of these. Matthew does so in the last chapter of his gospel, which begins: ‘In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.’ That is one text referring to the first day of the week."

"You notice, of course," put in Mr. Summers, "that the first day is not the Sabbath, but quite distinct from it, in the mind of Matthew."

"But that was before the resurrection," said Mr. Roger$, "when they still regarded the seventh day as the Sabbath."

"You must remember, however," said Mr. Summers, "that the gospels were not written till many years after the resurrection. By the time they were written, the evangelists would certainly know all about the change of the Sabbath, if such a change had indeed taken place, and in writing their accounts of the resurrection the evangelists would naturally be led to make some comment on the new standing of the first day of the week. Yet Matthew, writing at least ten years after the resurrection, calls it simply the first day of the week, and gives the old sacred title of ‘Sabbath’ to the seventh day of the week. Is it not evident that Matthew, when he wrote, still regarded the seventh day as the Sabbath and the first day as an ordinary day of the week? And unless the evangelists say something about a change of the Sabbath, how is anybody to know that there had been a change?"

"I admit that Matthew does not say anything in favor of the first day of the week. But Mark says more about it," continued Mr. Rogers.

"In his last chapter he speaks of it twice. Once in the second verse: ‘And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun."

"I suppose," Mr. Barker remarked, "Mr. Summers will say again that Mark is careful to give the seventh day its old title of honor, while he gives none ,to the first day, for I see that the first verse begins: ‘And when the Sabbath was past."

"But," said Mr. Rogers, "Mark brings in the first day again in the ninth verse. ‘Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene.’ Why are we told twice that it was the first day of the week if it was not the intention that we should honor the first day as the day of the resurrection?"

"It is easily understood why the details connected with the resurrection are given so minutely," said Mr. Summers. "The resurrection was one of the great events on which the faith of the church was to be founded. It was the great subject of the witness of the apostles, and the facts must therefore be plainly and fully declared. But it is the resurrection itself, not the first day of the week, that is to be made much of. Besides, if you read on you will see that the disciples were not meeting with Christ on that first day because they believed in His resurrection. Verse eleven says of those who heard Mary’s testimony that they believed not. Then He appeared in another form to two as they walked, and they told it to the rest, but still the rest would not believe. ‘Afterward He appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief.’ Then they were not meeting for worship on that day, and neither Matthew nor Mark speaks of any subsequent meeting on the first day of the week. Can you show us, Mr. Rogers, a single statement in the gospels of Matthew or Mark that the first day is made holy, or that Christians are to observe it? Is there any evidence in their writings that either of them ever heard of any such change?"

"No," replied Mr. Rogers. "I must admit there isn’t."

"Well, if there is any foundation at all in the gospels for any such idea as a change of the Sabbath," remarked Mr. Summers, "you ought to be able to find it in Luke’s account. In his preface he seems to have set before himself, as ‘having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first,’ the task of supplying what other ‘eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word’ had omitted. So if there had been a change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week, and Matthew and Mark had omitted to mention it, Luke would supply what is lacking."

"I have only one text in Luke’s gospel," answered Mr. Rogers, "the first verse of the twenty-fourth chapter: ‘Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared.’ It does not seem to add anything to what we read in the two previous gospels, so I suppose you will not admit that this proves anything for the first day of the week."

"On the contrary," said Mr. Summers, "it proves a good deal. When a gospel is written for the express purpose of informing people fully on all points that other writers have passed over, and that gospel passes over the first day of the week without referring to any sacredness about it, it is good proof that there is no sacredness to mention."

"Perhaps," suggests Mr. Barker, "Luke’s mind was too full of the subject of the resurrection to stop and refer to the new standing of the first day of the week. That might not have been the best place to speak of it."

"Well, if all the Bible writers pass over the matter in the same way, who is to know anything about Sunday sacredness?" asked Mr. Summers. "If the first day of the week is to be kept in honor of the resurrection, surely the chapters which describe the resurrection on the first day are a good place to speak of the new institution. But Luke’s mind was not too full of the resurrection to stop and comment on the sacredness of the Sabbath. He writes: ‘And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.’ Just think a moment. Here was Luke writing about the resurrection several years after it happened. Two days have to be mentioned in his narrative, the Sabbath day and the first. According to the common idea that the Sabbath had been changed, Luke, at the time of writing, would be an observer of the first day of the week, regarding it as a sacred day. Yet he passes over that day without a word about its importance, or value, or sacredness, and speaks of the Sabbath as the day required to be kept by divine commandment. Which of the two, seventh or first, is the sacred" day in the mind of Luke when he writes his gospel?"

"You are wrecking my argument," said Mr. Rogers. "But I was not relying much on those texts in the gospels. I did not see much in them myself."

"It seems to me," said Mr. Summers, "that there is a good deal in them, but it is all dead against Sunday sacredness. However, I want to hear your other texts."

"John’s gospel seems more favorable," said Mr. Rogers. "He mentions the first day twice. Once in the first verse of the twentieth chapter, which says: ‘The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher.’ That adds nothing to the texts we have already read, but verse nineteen shows that the disciples had a meeting on that same day, and verse twenty six shows that they had another meeting a week later, also on the first day of the week. These facts surely indicate that they recognized the first day of the week as a day for holding their meetings, and the circumstance that Jesus met with them on these occasions indicates that He approved of the arrangement. This is regarded, I am told, as the origin of Sunday observance in the Christian Church."

"Then it is an exceedingly doubtful origin," remarked Mr. Summers, "for you have founded it on some very questionable statements. You speak of the meetings of the disciples, but they lived together, so that they did not need to be specially convened in order to be present when Jesus appeared to them. On the occasion of their meeting Jesus on the first day of the week they were assembled, not for worship, but for fear of the Jews. On another occasion when Jesus appeared to them, they were fishing in the Sea of Tiberias, so that was evidently not a sacred day with them. Indeed, there is no evidence that Jesus ever met with His disciples on a first day after the day of His resurrection."

"What about this statement, then, asked Mr. Rogers, "that ‘after eight days again His disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus,’ in verse twenty-six?"

"The statement is plain enough," answered Mr. Summers. "‘After eight days’ would bring us to Monday, at least, so that this verse cannot be quoted as evidence of a meeting on the first day. If John wanted us to understand that the meeting ‘after eight days’ was on the first day of the week, it was a very simple matter for him to say so. Even if it could be proved that ‘after eight days’ meant a week, and brought us round again to the first day of the week, the expression is so vague that we may be perfectly sure the writer who employed it had no desire to impress our minds with the sacredness or preeminence of that day mentioned. The most reasonable conclusion is that John meant what he wrote, after eight days, not after seven days."

"Well," said Mr. Rogers, "those are all the texts I can find in the four gospels that refer to the first day of the week. There are six of them altogether. As I said at the beginning, I was rather disappointed at not reading more about the first day in the New Testament, but when I found there were eight references to the first’ day, I thought that all of them, taken together, would surely be sufficient to settle the point. The first six do not seem to help much, but the last two are by far the strongest."

"We only want to know the truth," said Mr. Summers, "so if your two remaining texts, or even one of them, teaches us to regard the Sunday as a sacred day, we must bow to the authority of the Word."

"Well, turn to the twentieth of Acts," said Mr. Rogers, "and there you will find that it was a common practice in the early church to observe the first day of the week as a sacred day."

"Which verse contains the statement?" asked Mr. Summers.

"The seventh," answered Mr. Rogers. "I will read it. ‘And upon the first 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.’ What more do you want in the way of proof that the apostles kept the first day of the week?"

"But are you not reading into the text a great deal more than it contains?" asked Mr. Summers. "You speak of the apostles’ observing the first day of the week as a sacred day. I do not see any expression that supports this idea. Do you?"

"Why, the disciples came together on that day to break bread," answered Mr. Rogers: "Isn’t that sufficient?"

"No," said Mr. Summers. "When the Lord instituted the Supper He never said anything about its being eaten on a holy day. The apostles seem to have broken bread daily, according to Acts, chapter two, verse forty-six: ‘And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.’ Why not reason from this verse that every day was a sacred day? The argument would be just as sound as the one you draw from the twentieth of Acts. You do not think that every day on which a religious service is held thereby becomes sacred, do you?"

"No, of course not," answered Mr. Rogers, "but this verse indicates that it was the regular thing for the early church to break bread on the first day of the week."

"I don’t see any statement to that effect," replied Mr. Summers. "There is not a word inserted to say that it was according to custom, or that the day was sacred. There is a very minute account of the visit, telling who was with Paul, whence each came, whither the party was going, by what route, how some went before to Troas, how the rest sailed away from Philippi, and when they sailed, how many days it took them to go to Troas, how many days they spent there, and then, naming the day of the week, it gives a minute account of the proceedings of that day. It is hard to see how more facts could have been crowded into a few verses; yet for all this minute detail of statement, the writer omits to say anything about the first day of the week being sacred, or a day observed in any way by the early church. On the other hand, his minute details do establish very dearly that this meeting to break bread on the eve of Paul’s departure has nothing whatever to do with Sunday."

"What! Do you mean to say you are going to turn my strongest text against me?" said Mr. Rogers.

"I only want to get at the truth," answered Mr. Summers. "You know, of course, that the Bible day was not reckoned like ours, from midnight to midnight, but by the setting of the sun. The evening and the morning, measured from sunset to sunset, constituted the Bible day."

"Yes," answered Mr. Barker, "I believe that is right."

"In other words," continued Mr. Summers, "the first day of’ the week began at sunset on what we call Saturday evening, and ended at sunset on what we call Sunday evening. Luke is the writer of the Acts, and we know from the gospel written by him that he followed the Bible reckoning. When Christ was taken down from the cross, he says: ‘The Sabbath drew on.’ Now the point to be considered is this, did the disciples come together to break bread on the Saturday-evening part of the first day of the week, or when?"

"Is there anything in the account to show?" asked Mr. Rogers.

"Yes. The narrative is quite full, as we have already noted," answered Mr. Summers. "It speaks of Paul’s preaching until midnight, and of many lights in the upper chamber where they were gathered together. So it was the dark part of the first day of the week, and the meeting was prolonged until the light part of the day came. But the dark part of the first day of the week answered to our Saturday evening, so that even if we admit that the breaking of bread made the occasion sacred, we have only proved that Saturday evening is sacred time. Do you observe Saturday evening as a sacred portion of time, Mr. Rogers?"

"No," was the reply; "nor does anyone else."

"Then notice what happened on Sunday morning, at break of day," continued Mr. Summers. "The party proceeds on its way. Part go by ship and sail to Assos; Paul decides to walk across country to that place. All you can get for Sunday out of this chapter is the fact that the apostle Paul uses it as a day for traveling. You can’t condemn Sunday traveling out of the Scriptures."

"Well, you don’t leave much Sunday sacredness in the twentieth of Acts," remarked Mr. Rogers.

"There never was any in it," replied Mr. Summers. "I thought for years there was, but when I set this passage against the rest of the Bible, to try to make out a case for Sunday as against the Sabbath, I soon discovered that the Bible does not contradict itself. The very passages that, at first, seem to be difficulties often contain striking confirmation of the truths taught in other portions."

"My last text," said Mr. Rogers, "is found in the first epistle to the Corinthians, chapter sixteen, verses one and two: ‘Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do you. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God has prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.’ This seems to be another evidence that the first day was held in high regard in the early church, and it must have been a day when they met together, or Paul would not have given instruction about taking up a collection on that day."

"Are you not reading too much into the text?" asked Mr. Summers.

"How am l?" inquired Mr. Rogers. "I should like to hear what you have to say about this passage, Mr. Summers."

"Would it not be better," answered that gentleman, "to let the text speak for itself? But I would suggest that you first note what the text does not say. For instance, I do not find that this passage confers any more honor upon the first day than the other texts we have read, and you will remember that all of them, with striking unanimity, refrain from crediting the first day with any vestige of sacredness or any title to observance as a day of rest. Can you, Mr. Rogers, point to a single expression in this passage that indicates that the first day is a holy day?"

"No," was the answer, "unless the fact that the Christian churches met upon it shows that they regarded it as a sacred day."

"But there again," said Mr. Summers, "I see nothing in the passage to indicate that the Christians of Galatia or Corinth did meet on the first day of the week. Do you?"

"How could they take up collections if they did not meet together?" asked Mr. Rogers.

"But there is nothing in the text about taking up collections on the first day of the week," said Mr. Summers. "The words of the apostle are: ‘Let every one of you lay by him in store.’ Suppose I suggested to you the importance of laying by you in store some provision for your old age, what would you think I meant?"

"Why, of course, I should think you were advising me to save, a little money, and not spend everything I earned," was the reply.

"Well," replied Mr. Summers, "is not that the obvious meaning of the apostle? He bids them to lay by some of their means in store, so that when he pays them his promised visit, every one will be prepared to make a contribution to the fund, and there will be no need then to agitate the matter. But the laying up is to be ‘by him,’ each man preparing by himself for his own offering. If the apostles had used only the expression ‘by him,’ it would have been quite plain that he was not referring to a public collection, but when he goes on to say ‘in store,’ that makes his meaning doubly plain. ‘Let every one of you lay by him in store’ contains no suggestion of a public collection.

Where, then, is your assembly on the first day of the week, Mr. Rogers?"

"I confess, the text does not support the idea of a meeting on the first day when you examine it closely," replied Mr. Rogers. "But I found this text given as one of the proofs of the change of the Sabbath, and so I put it down. I thought surely eight texts would be sufficient to prove the point, even though they did not explicitly say that the Sabbath was changed."

"One text would be enough," replied Mr. Summers, "if it actually stated that the first day took the place of the seventh as a sacred day, but in the absence of a direct statement it does not advance matters to quote eight texts, or eight hundred. It is our duty to examine carefully what the Scriptures actually say, and not accept heedlessly what they are reported to say. No court will accept evidence at second hand when the witnesses are present to give their own testimony. We must let the Scriptures speak for themselves. I think we shall generally find that they are well able to do so."

"Suppose you tell us, then, what you find in this passage," suggested Mr. Rogers.

"Willingly," replied Mr. Summers. "We have already noted that it does not say anything about Sunday sacredness. Then does it throw any light at all on Paul’s view of the first day of the week? I think it does. With him the first day is evidently a day for going into figures to ascertain how the Lord has prospered you. It is a day for book-keeping, for business investigation, for handling money. Corinth was a great city, a busy seaport. Some of the Christians were perhaps merchants--certainly, in the course of time, some would be-and to find out how they were prospering financially might easily be for many of these a business of some magnitude, not arrived at by a simple calculation. Paul evidently saw nothing out of place in a business man’s being in his counting-house, examining his affairs, on the first day of the week. So, you see, while we find nothing in this text enjoining meetings on the first day, we do find, on the other hand, something very much like an enjoining of attention to business on the first day. In the twentieth chapter of Acts we saw Paul traveling on the Sunday; here we find him giving counsel that means Sunday trading, with shops and offices open, on the first day of the week."

"But why should Paul tell the Christians to attend to this matter on the first day of the week?" asked Mr. Rogers.

"He doesn’t give the reason," replied Mr. Summers. "Probably he felt that such a gift as he enjoins would be a right beginning of the week’s work. Certainly it seems like a sound business principle that a man should know how he was prospering before he began the work of a new week. God always expected His people anciently to know where they stood in matters affecting money, for He asked them to pay the tenth of their increase to Him. Paul had been trained along these lines, and this may have been why he would have the Christians begin their weekly round with a suitable offering to God, who was the source of whatever prosperity they enjoyed."

"There is one text," said Mr. Barker, "which I thought Mr. Rogers would bring forward, and that is the tenth verse of the first of Revelation: ‘I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.’ I find that this text is quoted as a proof for Sunday observance, and I must confess that I had always regarded it in the same light myself. But, according to what you have shown us, the apostles were not observers of the first day of the week, and, of course, in that case they would not- be likely to term it ‘the Lord’s day.’ I should be glad if you could prove clearly which is the Lord’s day, Mr. Summers."

"The reason I did not give this text, too," said Mr. Rogers, "was because I thought the other texts showed that the day had been changed, and this one simply gave the new name to the new Sabbath."

"In other words, you took it for granted that the first day was the Lord’s day," answered Mr. Summers.

"That is what most people do, of course. They see ‘Lord’s day’ everywhere applied to Sunday, and when they see ‘Lord’s day’ in the Revelation, they at once conclude that the two days are identical. But we must take our stand in the first century, not in the twentieth, when we consider the term ‘Lord’s day’ as used by John. The question is: What did it mean for him? And when we have answered that, question we have learned what it ought to mean to us."

"Well, what did, John mean by the ‘Lord’s day’?" asked Mr. Rogers.

"That we can learn, certainly, from the Scriptures," was the answer. It cannot have been the first day of the week, for although the first day is mentioned eight times, it is never spoken of as the Lord’s day. On the other hand, the seventh day of the week is again and again spoken of as the Lord’s day. ‘The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,’ says the commandment. ‘My holy day,’ God calls it through Isaiah. And Jesus Himself says: ‘The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.’ Now when the Lord Himself declares His lordship of the Sabbath, it is very plain which is the Lord’s day. Thus the evidence that the Sabbath is the Lord’s day is as positive as anyone can ask, while there is not a tittle of evidence that Jesus, or the Father, ever laid claim to the first day of the week."

"I wonder why John should say ‘Lord’s day’ instead of ‘Sabbath,’ if he meant the seventh day of the week?" queried Mr. Rogers.

"Was not the Revelation written at the end of the first century," asked Mr. Barker, "and may not the church have begun to honor the first day by’ that time, calling it the ‘Lord’s day’ instead of the first day?"

"But," replied Mr. Summers, "John’s gospel was written after the Revelation, and in that gospel he speaks twice of the first day of the week without calling it the Lord’s day or hinting at its sacredness. No, it is true that near the end of the second century we find men speaking of the Sunday as the Lord’s day, but there is no evidence in the Bible that this was done in the time of the apostles. And in reply to Mr. Rogers’ question, why John should employ the words ‘Lord’s day’ when speaking of the Sabbath, can you give any reason why he should not?"

"I can’t think of any," admitted Mr. Rogers.

"Well," continued Mr. Summers, "I can think of two good reasons, at least, why the apostle John should use the term ‘Lord’s day’ for the Sabbath, First, the Sabbath was the memorial of the Creator, but when John looked back at the creation it was Christ that he saw there at work. Read us what he says in the beginning of his gospel, Mr. Barker."

Turning to the first chapter of John’s gospel, Mr. Barker read these words: "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."

"Now," said Mr. Summers, "remembering that the Word was Christ, as we plainly see from verse fourteen, you can easily understand why John connects Christ with the creation and with the hallowed rest of the seventh day. To him, his Lord was the Maker of earth and sea, and of the Sabbath, and He who was Creator was made flesh, and became man’s Redeemer. To John, the Sabbath was a commemoration of Christ’s whole work for him, and a sign of his rest in Christ’s completed work. Again, in his first epistle John speaks of Christ as ‘that which was from the beginning.’ Seeing Christ, with God, in all the past, John feels a new attraction in the Sabbath as coming to him from the Lord Jesus Christ. That which was Jehovah’s day to the people of old becomes also the ‘Lord’s day’ to the members of the church of Christ."

"You don’t think, then," said Mr. Barker, "that it is fitting that a new day should be observed in honor of Christ since He has come?"

"Why should it be so?" asked Mr. Summers. "Are not the Son and the Father one? Can we honor the Son except as we honor the Father? We may be very sure that Christ will be better honored by our obeying His Father’s commandments than by our breaking them on the plea of doing honor to the Son. But there is a second reason I was going to give you why the apostle should call the Sabbath the ‘Lord’s day,’ and then we must close our study for tonight. For nearly forty years of his life, from the ascension of Jesus to the destruction of Jerusalem, John, in obedience to the word of Christ, had prayed that when the Christians were compelled to flee from Jerusalem, their flight might not be on the Sabbath. How could he help having the Savior closely associated in his mind with the sacred day? Must not the example and precept of Christ concerning the Sabbath have been continually before him, and when, on lonely Patmos, the Sabbath hours were brightened with the vision of Jesus in His glory, was it not most natural that John should speak of the Sabbath as the Lord’s day?"

oooOOOooo 　

"WELL," said Mr. Summers, as the three friends met once more in his sitting-room for their weekly study of the Bible, "what are we to take up tonight? Are you convinced yet that Sunday is not the Bible Sabbath, Mr. Rogers?"

"Yes, I can see well enough that the fourth commandment has nothing to do with Sunday," replied Mr. Rogers. "But, I have been talking the question over with one of my friends, and he has sent me several little books on the subject. I haven’t read them all yet, but I am beginning to doubt whether the law has not been done away with, and the Sabbath along with it."

"I hope you will be very careful indeed how you allow your mind to be led in that direction," said Mr. Summers. "Try every position by the Word of God. Remember Christ’s injunction to His disciples about praying that their flight from Jerusalem might not be on the Sabbath.

Remember, too, that John speaks of a Lord’s day in the Revelation, and remember Isaiah’s prophecy about the continuance of the Sabbath for ever in the new earth. These are solid facts. Do not let human reasoning carry you away from the truths revealed in God’s Word."

"But the books I have been reading give plenty of texts to back up their arguments," said Mr. Rogers. "How is anybody to know what is truth?"

"The Lord has promised to lead us," put in Mr. Barker, "if we are determined to do His will. The Savior has said: ‘If any man wills to do His will, he shall know of the doctrine.’ I have been studying into this matter very carefully for the past week or two, and it seems to me quite clear that we have gone astray in leaving the commandment of God and obeying the tradition of men. I can see nothing for it but to confess the error, now that I recognize it, and go back by God’s help to the path of obedience to His Word. I tried at first to think that it was a matter of small importance, and that I need not bother my head about it, but the more I read the Bible to see what was truth, and the more I prayed about it, the more it came home to me that I was being tested by this truth which has come to me. I felt that I could not go on as before, professing to be a disciple, if I refused to walk in the light that had come to me. Then I would think of all the ministers and congregations that were observing Sunday, and how audacious it would seem for me to differ from them all in this matter, but while I was thinking like this one evening, I looked up and read the text over my kitchen fire-place: ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ So I made up my mind that I would obey the Lord, if I was the only one to do so."

"What," said Mr. Rogers, "do you mean to say you are not going to the shop on Saturday? What do you think the firm will say to you?"

"I shall know more about that by tomorrow," said Mr. Barker. "But I think I know what the Lord will say, for I have His own Word to tell me."

"It seems suicidal to me," exclaimed Mr. Rogers, "for a man to run the risk of losing his job in times like these for the sake of keeping the right Sabbath."

"Have you thought," asked Mr. Summers, "that it may be even more suicidal for a man to turn away from God’s Word to walk in the path of disobedience? What does the Bible say is the wages of sin, Mr. Rogers?"

"Death," was the answer.

"Well, if a man works for such wages, is not his service one prolonged suicide?" asked Mr. Summers. "But I do not believe that Mr. Barker will come to any real harm by obeying God’s will. You know we have found in the past that God’s Word, earnestly examined, answers a good many questions, and it is just as satisfactory a guide when a man gets into an extremity like this."

"Will it tell a man where to find a job when he gets out of work?" asked Mr. Rogers, with a rather defiant expression.

"Yes, it will," answered Mr. Summers, "if he is willing to work; it tells him where he can be taken on for life, at a living wage, with a pension on a still higher scale to follow."

"Well, I wouldn’t mind risking my present place for a job like that," said Mr. Rogers. "But are you making fun of me?"

"No, indeed, I am not," answered Mr. Summers. "I am telling you what you will find in the Bible, if you are willing to enter the service. Shall we look at Christ’s own words? You will find them in the sixth of Matthew: ‘Seek you first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ What things shall be added, Mr. Barker?"

"Food, drink, clothing, and all things that your heavenly Father knows you have need of," quietly answered Mr. Barker.

"Then you see," said Mr. Summers, "if a man will seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, in other words, seek to be ever found in the path of obedience by faith, God guarantees all necessary things to him."

"Where is the pension you spoke of?" inquired Mr. Rogers.

"That is the kingdom," answered Mr. Summers. "Isn’t a kingdom a good pension? And we know the kingdom will be possessed for ever. Whoever seeks first the kingdom, gets that, and gets all he needs in this world in addition. So you see, Mr. Rogers, if Mr. Barker closes with this offer of Christ’s, he is always sure of the necessities of life, without anxiety on his part, and in addition he receives a kingdom as his reward. What guarantees have you to set against this to show the superior advantages you enjoy if you do not keep the Lord’s Sabbath?"

"Our firm doesn’t guarantee anything," said Mr. Rogers.

"Well, then, is Mr. Barker’s course so very suicidal after all?" asked Mr. Summers.

"Well," said Mr. Rogers, "if I was my own master, I don’t know but what I would keep the seventh day myself."

"In other words," said Mr. Summers, "if you could see your way clear, and did not have to exercise faith in God for your support, you would venture?"

"I suppose you might put it that way," assented Mr. Rogers. "Well, then," said Mr. Summers, "that would not be keeping the Sabbath at all."

"And why not, pray?" asked Mr. Rogers in surprise.

"Because," was the answer, "Sabbath-keeping means resting in the Lord. If you were to keep the Sabbath because you happened to have money in the bank, you would be resting in the bank deposit, not in the Lord. If the bank became shaky, your rest would be troubled, and if the bank suspended payment, away would go all your peace of mind. Whereas the man who truly keeps the Sabbath cannot be disturbed. He rests in the living God, and as long as God endures, the rest also remains."

"I don’t quite understand," said Mr. Rogers, "why keeping the Sabbath should mean that kind of rest."

"The commandment itself makes the matter plain," said Mr. Summers, "and the whole teaching of the Bible is in agreement. We are to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Why? ‘For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.’ What did God accomplish in six days? Why, He made earth and sea and sky and birds and fishes and all vegetation and the animals and man. That is the power He has. How can I say to Him who made me: ‘I am afraid to rest on the seventh day, lest I starve’? Fancy a human being looking up to the great God that made him and feeds him, as well as countless millions more, and being afraid to put confidence in Him for his own few little wants. When we remember who it is that asks us to keep the Sabbath, what can we do but obey Him, and let our minds rest in the conviction that He is well able to take care of us. Even if all the people in the world were arrayed against us for obeying Him, we could still rest in the Creator’s power, because He is greater than all. None could exist a moment but for Him."

"I think I can see the point," said Mr. Barker. "We are to keep the Sabbath in honor of the Creator, and we do not honor Him as the Creator when we fear the men whom He made as much as or more than we fear Him."

"That is it exactly," replied Mr. Summers.

"You almost persuade me," said Mr. Rogers, with smile. "Indeed, if you could tell me where I could get work and keep the Sabbath I believe I would make up my mind at once. You certainly have the Scriptures on your side, and I feel prepared to join you and Mr. Barker in keeping the Sabbath just as soon as I can find a situation where I can do so. Of course, you know of plenty such."

"No, I do not," said Mr. Summers. "And you may think it strange, but if I did I should not tell you of any before you had taken the plunge."

"Why not, pray?" asked Mr. Rogers, in surprise.

"I should be afraid of doing you an injury," answered Mr. Summers.

"However could your telling me of a situation where I could keep the Sabbath be an injury to me?" inquired Mr. Rogers, with an air of still greater surprise.

"Let me explain what I mean," said Mr. Summers. "Suppose you learn today of a job where you can keep the Sabbath just as well as not; you accept it, and begin to observe the seventh day. So far so good. But suppose next month, or some time in the future, the job comes to an end, and you cannot see any other work in sight where you can continue to keep the Sabbath, what then?"

"I don’t know what I should do then," said Mr. Rogers.

"Exactly," answered Mr. Summers. "It would then be an uncertainty whether you would be an observer of the Bible Sabbath or not. But can’t you see that the same uncertainty would really attach to you all the while you were in the new job? You would be thinking of yourself as a Christian who was determined to follow the Lord fully, and perhaps others would be thinking the same of you, and possibly wondering in their own minds whether they ought not to be following your example. Then would come the crash. You would lose your job, and find out that it was the job, and not the Lord, that you had been building on all the time, and perhaps in the hour of trial you would conclude in despair that it was impossible to keep the Sabbath, and would drop it. Then what would the people who had been watching you think of the whole matter? Wouldn’t they decide to stay as they were?"

"I don’t believe I should give up like that if I once started," said Mr. Rogers.

"But how can you tell," asked Mr. Summers, "unless you settle the whole question to begin with? Then you will know where you stand, and you never will know till you do. Suppose you make up your mind, in any event, whether you live or starve, to observe the Bible Sabbath. You trust in the living God. He gave you the situation, and if that one disappears He can give you another. Even if you have to pray in dead earnest, ‘Give us this day our daily bread,’ you can trust your Father to send the answer. So, whatever comes, you have no distress of mind about whether you ought to keep the Sabbath or not. You have decided that it is God’s will, and all you have to do is to look to God to give you what you need. Then if people watch you they will learn something, for they will see a man faithful to God, and God faithful to His promise. If you pass through a severe trial of your faith, you will be just as well off, for since God lives and His promise cannot fail, a man is just as secure who gets his supplies daily from God as the man who gets a whole year’s supplies at once. You believe that, don’t you, Mr. Rogers?"

"Why, yes, of course," was the answer, "but I would sooner have the supplies come in a quantity, so that I could have something by me all the time."

"Naturally we all feel that way," said Mr. Summers. "But if a man begins to walk in the light as fast as he sees it, he sometimes has to drop the things he used to rely upon, and deal more directly with God, and perhaps he has to ask for help a little oftener. That’s my experience, at least. And now, perhaps, you understand why I said I might do you an injury by telling you of a job where you could keep the Sabbath before you had made up your mind that, live or die, you would obey God’s commandment. The Lord sends us this light, in part at least, as a test of our faith, to find out how much we do really trust in Him. It is a good thing for us to know just where we are, and if we have not been actually putting our whole confidence in the Lord, but have been in reality building on some other foundation, and then through some severe lesson we do learn to put our confidence in the living God for even what we eat and wear, it makes a wonderful change in our lives. After that God becomes real to us. Then we have a God as we never had before. A man can make no more blessed discovery than to find out by personal experience that God lives and answers the requests of His children. The Sabbath test comes to you and gives you an opportunity to find out by experience that God can take care of you when you have nothing else to depend on. If I cheat you out of that wonderful experience by helping you to make it merely a matter of passing from one job to another, I am doing you an actual injury. Some time or other you would have to learn the lesson, and now is the best time to learn it. Until you do learn it you haven’t any idea of what it means to be God’s child. Trusting Him for ‘temporal things will give a deeper reality to all your Christian experience."

"It seems to me, though," said Mr. Rogers, "that this Sabbath question will make it very hard to be a Christian. You won’t get many people converted with an obstacle like that staring them in the face."

"You must remember," said Mr. Summers, "that it is not God who has made the difficulty, but those who have departed from His commandment. That is one result of wrong-doing: it always make a return to the right path more difficult. But we shall not make it any easier by continuing to tread the way of transgression. The longer we walk in disobedience, the harder it will be for us to retrace our steps and get into the right road."

"Well, it looks to me quite hard enough now," said Mr. Rogers, gloomily; "hard enough to keep anyone back."

"I have often wondered why it was," said Mr. Barker, "that it should be so easy for people to be Christians in this age of the world, when it was so difficult in past centuries. You can hardly find in all the history of the church, until a hundred years ago, a time of peace and quietness, when all were free to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. Now I find that to truly follow the Lord, even in the days of seeming peace, brings a severe enough test to the believer. But I am sure that it is better so. Adversity was always a blessing in disguise to the church of Christ."

"That may be," said Mr. Rogers, "but give me the time of peace."

"You would like to be a strong Christian, wouldn’t you, Mr. Rogers?" asked Mr. Summers.

"Why, yes, of course," was the answer.

"Well, don’t forget how strength comes. How did you get that strong right arm of yours?"

"By twelve years of hard work," said Mr. Rogers.

"Just so," replied Mr. Summers. "Now suppose when you started life you had made up your mind to avoid everything that meant labor and weariness. Would your muscles have grown hard in such a life?"

"No," answered Mr. Rogers.

"But now you are well-developed, and able to do a man’s work in the world. And," continued. Mr. Summers, "don’t you think God is better pleased to see you strong and vigorous than He would be to see you puny and feeble? And isn’t He just as anxious to see you strong spiritually? And won’t spiritual strength come by work and effort and endurance? How can you have strong faith if your faith has no trials to develop it? Abraham was tested severely, and so were all the Bible heroes, but the discipline made them strong in faith, until they were able to accomplish mighty deeds by their faith in God. Study carefully over this matter, Mr. Rogers, and don’t forget to seek guidance from the Lord. Remember that we are in Christ’s school, and that the way to make a true success of this life is to learn well the lessons He sets us here. Come again next week, and we will study the subject further if you desire."

oooOOOooo