The Complete Testimony of the Fathers of the First Three Centuries Concerning the Sabbath and First DayAndrews, John Nevins
Religion
The Complete Testimony of the Fathers of the First Three Centuries Concerning the Sabbath and First Day
Andrews, John Nevins
Sabbath; Seventh-Day Adventists; Sunday
"Further, also, it is written concerning the Sabbath in the
decalogue which [the Lord] spoke, face to face, to Moses on Mount
Sinai, 'And sanctify ye the Sabbath of the Lord with clean hands
and a pure heart.' And he says in another place, 'If my sons keep
the Sabbath, then will I cause my mercy to rest upon them.' The
Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of the creation [thus]: 'And
God made in six days the works of his hands, and made an end on
the seventh day, and rested on it, and sanctified it.' Attend, my
children, to the meaning of this expression, 'He finished in six
days.' This implieth that the Lord will finish all things in six
thousand years, for a day is with him a thousand years. And he
himself testifieth, saying, 'Behold to-day will be as a thousand
years.' Therefore, my children, in six days, that is, in six
thousand years, all things will be finished. 'And he rested on the
seventh day.' This meaneth: when his Son, coming [again], shall
destroy the time of the wicked man, and judge the ungodly, and
change the sun, and the moon, and the stars, then shall he truly
rest on the seventh day. Moreover, he says, 'Thou shalt sanctify it
with pure hands and a pure heart.' If, therefore, any one can now
sanctify the day which God hath sanctified, except he is pure in
heart in all things, we are deceived. Behold, therefore: certainly
then one properly resting sanctifies it, when we ourselves,
having received the promise, wickedness no longer existing, and
all things having been made new by the Lord, shall be able to
work righteousness. Then we shall be able to sanctify it, having
been first sanctified ourselves. Further, he says to them, 'Your
new moons and your Sabbaths I cannot endure.' Ye perceive how he
speaks: Your present Sabbaths are not acceptable to me, but that is
which I have made [namely this], when, giving rest to all things,
I shall make a beginning of the eighth day, that is, a beginning
of another world. Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day with
joyfulness, the day, also, on which Jesus rose again from the dead.
And when he had manifested himself, he ascended into the heavens."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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