Bible Readings for the Home Circle Part 122

As Given By Jehovah As Changed By Man I I Thou shalt have no other G.o.ds I am the Lord thy G.o.d: thou shalt before me. not have strange G.o.ds before Me.

II Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy G.o.d am a jealous G.o.d, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.

III II Thou shalt not take the name of Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy G.o.d in vain; for the the Lord thy G.o.d in vain.

Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.

IV III Remember the Sabbath day, to keep Remember that thou keep holy the it holy. Six days shalt thou Sabbath day.

labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy G.o.d: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 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.

V IV Honor thy father and thy mother: Honor thy father and thy mother.

that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy G.o.d giveth thee.

VI V Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not kill.

VII VI Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

VIII VII Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not steal.

IX VIII Thou shalt not bear false witness Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. against thy neighbor.

X IX Thou shalt not covet thy Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not neighbor's wife.

covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man servant, nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his a.s.s, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.

X Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.

Ex. 20:3-17. Butler's Catechism, page 28.

The Change Of The Sabbath

[Ill.u.s.tration.]

Changing The Law. "He shall think to change the times and the law." Dan.

7:25, R. V.

1. Of what is the Sabbath commandment a part?

The law of G.o.d. See Ex. 20:8-11.

2. What, according to prophecy, was to be Christ's att.i.tude toward the law?

"The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness' sake; _He will magnify the law, and make it honorable_." Isa. 42:21.

3. In His first recorded discourse, what did Christ say of the law?

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." Matt. 5:17.

4. How enduring did He say the law is?

"For verily I say unto you. Till heaven and earth pa.s.s, one jot or one t.i.ttle shall in no wise pa.s.s from the law, till all be fulfilled." Verse 18.

5. What did He say of those who should break one of the least of G.o.d's commandments, and teach men so to do?

"Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, _he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven_." Verse 19.

NOTE.-From this it is evident that the entire code of ten commandments is binding in the Christian dispensation, and that Christ had no thought of changing any of them. One of these commands the observance of the seventh day as the Sabbath. But the practise of most Christians is different; they keep the first day of the week instead, many of them believing that Christ changed the Sabbath. But, from His own words, we see that He came for no such purpose. The responsibility for this change must therefore be looked for elsewhere.

6. What did G.o.d, through the prophet Daniel, say the power represented by the "little horn" would think to do?

"And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High: and _he shall think to change the times and the law_." Dan. 7:25, R. V.

NOTE.-For a full explanation of this symbol, see readings on "The Kingdom and Work of Antichrist" and "The Vicar of Christ," pages 218, 224.

7. What did the apostle Paul say the "man of sin" would do?

"For that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; _who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called G.o.d, or that is wors.h.i.+ped_." 2 Thess. 2:3, 4.

NOTE.-There is only one way by which any power could exalt itself above G.o.d, and that is by a.s.suming to change the law of G.o.d, and to require obedience to its own law instead of G.o.d's law.

8. What power has claimed authority to change the law of G.o.d?

The Papacy.

9. What part of the law of G.o.d especially has the Papacy thought to change?

The fourth commandment.

NOTES.-"They [the Catholics] allege the Sabbath changed into Sunday, the Lord's day, contrary to the decalogue, as it appears; neither is there any example more boasted of than the changing of the Sabbath day. Great, say they, is the power and authority of the church, since it dispensed with one of the ten commandments."-_Augsburg Confession, Art. XXVIII._

"It [the Roman Catholic Church] has _reversed_ the fourth commandment, doing away with the Sabbath of G.o.d's Word, and inst.i.tuting Sunday as a holy day."-_N. Summerbell, in __"__History of the Christians,__"__ page 418._

10. Why did G.o.d command Israel to hallow the Sabbath?

"And hallow My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, _that ye may know that I am the Lord your G.o.d_." Eze. 20:20.

NOTE.-As the Sabbath was given that man might keep G.o.d in mind as Creator, it can be readily seen that a power endeavoring to exalt itself above G.o.d would first try to cover up or remove that which calls man's special attention to his Creator. This could be done in no other way so effectually as by setting aside G.o.d's memorial-the seventh-day Sabbath. To this work of the Papacy Daniel had reference when he said, "And he shall ... think to change _times_ and _laws_." Dan. 7:25.

11. Does the Papacy acknowledge that it has changed the Sabbath?

It does.

NOTE.-"_Question._-How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?

"_Answer._-By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feast days commanded by the same church."-_"__Abridgment of Christian Doctrine,__"__ by Rev. Henry Tuberville, D. D., of Douay College, France (1649), page 58._