called the least in the kingdom of heaven : but whosoever shall do and teach them , the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven ," Matthew 5:17-19 . It is a fact generally admitted by Protestants that the Scriptures give no authority for the change of the Sabbath . This is plainly stated in publications issued by the American Tract Society and the American Sunday School Union . One of these works acknowledges " the complete silence of the New Testament so far as any explicit command for the Sabbath [ Sunday , the first day of the week ] or definite rules for its observance are concerned ." --George Elliott , The Abiding Sabbath , page 184 .
Another says : " Up to the time of Christ ' s death , no change had been made in the day ;" and , " so far as the record shows , they [ the apostles ] did not . . . give any explicit command enjoining the abandonment of the seventh-day Sabbath , and its observance on the first day of the week ." --A. E . Waffle , The Lord ' s Day , pages 186-188 . Roman Catholics acknowledge that the change of the Sabbath was made by their church , and declare that Protestants by observing the Sunday are recognizing her power . In the Catholic Catechism of Christian Religion , in answer to a question as to the day to be observed in obedience to the fourth commandment , this statement is made : " During the old law , Saturday was the day sanctified ; but the church , instructed by Jesus Christ , and directed by the Spirit of God , has substituted Sunday for Saturday ; so now we sanctify the first , not the seventh day . Sunday means , and now is , the day of the Lord ."
As the sign of the authority of the Catholic Church , papist writers cite " the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday , which Protestants allow of ; . . . because by keeping Sunday , they acknowledge the church ' s power to ordain feasts , and to command them under sin ." -- Henry Tuberville , An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine , page 58 . What then is the change of the Sabbath , but the sign , or mark , of the authority of the Roman Church-- " the mark of the beast "?
The Roman Church has not relinquished her claim to supremacy ; and when the world and the Protestant churches accept a sabbath of her creating , while they reject the Bible Sabbath , they virtually admit this assumption . They may claim the authority of tradition and of the Fathers for the change ; but in so doing they ignore the very principle which separates them from Rome--that " the Bible , and the Bible only , is the religion of Protestants ." The papist can see that they are deceiving themselves , willingly closing their eyes to the facts in the case . As the movement for Sunday enforcement gains favor , he rejoices , feeling assured that it will eventually bring the whole Protestant world under the banner of Rome .
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