Paradise; [211:7] and the precept
enjoining its remembrance, being a portion of the Decalogue, [212:1] is
of perpetual obligation. Hence, instead of regarding it as a merely
Jewish institution, Christ declares that it "was made for MAN," [212:2]
or, in other words, that it was designed for the benefit of the whole
human family. Instead of anticipating its extinction along with the
ceremonial law, He speaks of its existence after the downfal of
Jerusalem. When He announces the calamities connected with the ruin of
the holy city, He instructs His followers to pray that the urgency of
the catastrophe may not deprive them of the comfort of the ordinances of
the sacred rest. "Pray ye," said he, "that your flight be not in the
winter, _neither on the Sabbath-day_." [212:3] And the prophet Isaiah,
when describing the ingathering of the Gentiles and the glory of the
Church in the times of the gospel, mentions the keeping of the Sabbath
as characteristic of the children of God. "The sons of the stranger,"
says he, "that join themselves to the Lord to serve him, and to love the
name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one _that keepeth the
Sabbath from polluting it,_ and taketh hold of my covenant--even them I
will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of
prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted
upon mine altar: [212:4] for mine house shall be called an house of
prayer _for all people._" [212:5]

But when Jesus declared that "the Son of Man is Lord also of the
Sabbath," [212:6] He unquestionably asserted His right to alter the
circumstantials of its observance. He accordingly abolished its
ceremonial worship, gave it a new name, and changed the day of its
celebration. He signalised the first day of the week by then appearing
once and again to His disciples after His resurrection, [212:7] and by
that Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit [213:1] which marks the
commencement of a new era in the history of redemption. As the Lord's
day was consecrated to the Lord's service, [213:2] the disciples did not
now neglect the assembling of themselves together; [213:3] and the
apostle commanded them at this holy season to set apart a portion of
their gains for religious purposes. [213:4] It was most fitting that the
first day of the week should be thus distinguished under the new
economy; for the deliverance of the Church is a more illustrious
achievement than the formation of the world;