The Handbook of the Sabbath

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Another conclusion which results from the facts which have been mentioned is that men have no rights to anything but those which God gives them. Their rights are derived and dependent. Without information from the Giver, they would never know fully what these rights are. This information He has given in the Bible; all of which “is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It shows them what to believe, wherein they are wrong, and how to return to that which is right. It instructs them in what is right in feeling and conduct towards God, themselves, and their fellow men; and it sets before them the highest motives to do it. It is the voice of God to the soul, testifying words by which it may be enlightened, sanctified, and saved.

For this reason every person should own a copy and search it daily as the Word of God, with earnest supplication for the teaching of His Spirit.

They will then also know their rights, learn the way to exercise them to the mutual good of all, and be disposed to take that way. And they will know that the right to work seven days in a week is not one of them. That right God never gave. That right no man ever had. That right no man can get. Human governments cannot give it. It was never given to them. They do not possess it. They cannot obtain it, nor can they bestow it upon others.

Then will all men know, too, that if any one, in the government or out of the government, takes seven days each week for secular business and gain, he does it wholly without right.

For such purposes the Sabbath was not made or given to man. It is not his. And an honest man will not knowingly take what is not his. He will be content with that which belongs to him, and will conscientiously abstain from taking more. The Sabbath, for secular business and gain, belongs to no man, and no honest man, who knows this, will take it. This should be understood by all.

As the Bible and the knowledge of facts are disseminated, and the will of God made known, it will be understood through the length and breadth of the country, and throughout the world. Honest men, who know the truth in regard to the Sabbath, will act accordingly. They are doing it to a great extent now. The manner in which men treat the Sabbath is developing their character, and showing whether they are content with the periods of labor which belong to them, or are disposed to take more. If they are intelligently disposed to take more, they are not, at heart, honest men.

To six days, for secular business, men have a right. God has given it. “Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work.” Why must men do all their work in six days of the week? Because there are no more days in which to work. God never made but six working days. He never gave any more. No man has any more.

Yet another day is added to every week. To that, also, every man has a right for the purpose for which it was made. He has a right to remember that, at such a time, it will come, and to order all his worldly concerns in such a manner as to be prepared for it. When it comes, he has a right to keep it holy to the Lord; not as a day of worldly business, but as a day of rest, and of special devotion to the worship of God and to the spiritual good of men. This is the right of the poor, as really as of the rich; of servants, as well as of masters. All have a right to labor six days in a week, because God has given it. All have a right to rest one day in seven, because God has given that. His command is, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy….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” (Exodus 20:8,10). All men have a right, and it is their duty to obey Him.

This right does not come from men. It comes from God. Like the right to live, to see the sun, and breathe the air, it vests in humanity, and is inalienable. No human government gave it, and no human government, without deep injustice, can take it away.

Though government is an ordinance of God, and magistrates are His ministers, designed to be a terror to evil doers and a praise to them that do well, yet it was not instituted to give rights, but to guard them, to protect men in the enjoyment of them, and in the proper application of them to the concerns of this life. The right to keep the Sabbath lies back of human government, and rests on the same foundation with government itself; namely, the revealed will of God, and the wants of the human family.

There is not a laborer on the canal, or railroad, in the manufacturing plant or workshop, or in any department of worldly business, who has not a right, when the Sabbath comes, to keep it holy to the Lord, to worship Him, and promote the spiritual good of men.

The crew of a vessel in one of our harbors was once ordered by the captain to labor on the Sabbath in preparation for a voyage. They refused, assigning as a reason their right to rest on the Sabbath while in the harbor, and to attend to the appropriate duties of that day. The captain dismissed them and attempted to procure another crew. He applied to numbers, who refused. He then met an old sailor, and asked him if he would ship. He said, “No!” “Why not?” said the captain. “Because,” said the sailor, “the man who will rob the Almighty of His day, I should be afraid, would, if he could, rob me of my wages.” The captain could not find a crew, and on Monday was glad to take the old one. They engaged again and showed by their conduct that the keeping of the Sabbath had fitted them the better for the duties of the week.

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