Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 1
September 1, 1949
NUMBER 17, PAGE 5-6a

Dangers Of Appointed Days

Wallace W. Thompson

Man did not make the minutes. He does not own time. The days, every one, belong to God. I am interested in a study of appointed days man has arranged. In matters religious, the Bible is our guide. The New Testament is our law or regulation. The days of Judaism are gone. We live in the era of Christianity. The Sabbath is gone as a day of worship. The monthly feast days are no longer commanded. The yearly feast days of the Jews mean nothing to Christianity. The years of release, the seventh day and the Jubilee, have lost their meaning. The cross of Christ became the melting medium of their abolition. The law is lifeless, its commandments impotent. Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, "Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain." (Gal 4:10). They were days of fleshly feasting. There is no "confidence in the flesh". (Phil. 3:3) Relations of the flesh are counted as "dung". (Phil 3:8) Divine arrangements and appointments are necessary. Pure worship is threatened by human traditions. Special days are set apart, and some of us "like a parrot" fall in line without meditation. We propose to notice a few of the days that are fastening their influences upon us.

Dedication Day

Nearly every church with a new building wants to dedicate it., Brethren are having these days all over the country. Some brethren have been meeting in their new building over six months, and still feel they must dedicate the building. They select a preacher and he preaches a "dedication day discourse." I have often wondered how one of these sermons would sound. Does the sermon dedicate the building? Well, they have had several sermons already. Does the preacher dedicate it? They have had a preacher all along. Do the members dedicate it? No, they have had members all along. One would think that just humbly serving the Lord as he has directed would set apart any building. God "dwelleth not in temples made with hands." Some brethren have nearly gone idolatrous over vast church edifices. Christianity cannot be put in "temples." The very fact that the church meets in a specific building sets it apart as the place of meeting. Let us cease looking toward Sodom.

Days Of Anniversary

God has never commanded days of this nature. The Bible is silent concerning them. It is feared that days of celebration mixed in with the Lord's day causes some to worship amiss; they don't know whether they are worshipping God or the church building. Grant the day of completion is a great day; so is the day when the debt is dissolved. But the event that occurred on the first day of the week over nineteen hundred years is greater than all other days and events. The day when one's sins are forever washed away is a day of rejoicing, but we cannot afford to set it aside as a day of worship and service. It is sinful to mix the human with the Divine. As Israel was commanded not to "mix seed" we ought not to mix human and Divine appointments. They cannot be observed at the same time properly. The Lord's day superseded the Jewish Sabbath. The New Covenant superseded the Old Covenant. God's appointments ought to supercede human arrangements.

Homecoming Days

These are days of human design. The Bible establishes no precedent to so act. True, we ought to have a church home, there is no such thing as "membership at large." But, the church is our home no matter where we are, if we are faithful If this is true, and who will deny it, no congregation from which we move has the to call itself a "home for us." Membership goes with the individual There is no such thing as "absentee membership." A member does not live in one town and hold membership in another a hundred miles away. In matters of government the church is no larger than the local congregation. One congregation cannot reach out and discipline members in another. Some of these "homecomings" ought to be called "funerals." Why? Nearly all the members have moved elsewhere... Why cannot people stay away from the idea of a "mother church"?

Vesper Services

Are you surprised that some congregations have advertised their evening services as "Vesper Service"? Well, these are times of surprise when people do the queerest things. Vesper, refers to Venus the evening star. To refer to a service as Vesper Service is just about idolatry. Why not go all the way, recite the "vesper Psalms" and repeat the "Collect" according to the "Apostolic Constitutions" of the Catholic Church? In some churches the worship is accompanied with mechanical music. A thing that smacks of idolatry is not to be considered fleetingly. Can you imaging the Lord and the apostles referring to their work and worship as "Our Vesper Service"? It is just as scriptural to have a "Candle-light Service." Some of the brethren may start buying and using candles to make the service "more impressive," ugh! Human teachings have not been completely exploited by some. There is no way to know what crack-pot idea will come next. One thing is certain, many will come that we must deal with.

Maundy Thursday

The Thursday before so-called "Good Friday" is the day under consideration. The Bible is silent on the observance of such a day. Therefore, it is of human origin and design. The old custom began in England hundreds of years ago. The idea was for kings and queens to wash as many feet of the poor as they were years old, and provide clothing for them. The old ceremony is obsolete. Giving to the poor is a prevailing practice on the day. For justification of the day John 13:34 is alluded to. The scripture says, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." Note: The commandment was "a new commandment." The command to wash another's feet had been stated in John 13:14, 15. The new commandment was to "love one another." It is possible to wash another's feet and not love him. But it is impossible to love one another and not fulfill the new commandment. Many denominations observe this day. We have given some of its history. The reader can easily discern whether it is from Jehovah or man.

Other Days

Easter is a skeleton of Rome. Some of our supposedly "Big preachers" have been known to take part in the "sunrise services" of Paganism. Others among us preach "Mother's Day Sermons." Mothers are wonderful beings, but godly mothers care not to be worshipped on the Lord's day or any other day. Along the same line there are "Father's Day Sermons." No godly father cares to be placed alongside Christ and remembered in connection with the greatest sacrifice ever made. I thank God for the noble, faithful life and teachings of my father and mother. Not once was I left in doubt as to my duty. It was always God and the church first, and in matters of worship God and the church only. Underneath these days of human design is a veiled thrust to undermine the importance of Christ and the church, to break down the value of the life of Christ. Catholics start most of these days. They have a day to reverence their spiritual mother (?) August 15, called the "Assumption of Mary" when, they say, "she arose from the dead and ascended to heaven." It is little wonder the Holy Spirit gave grim warning of the apostasy of ungodly men. Jehovah must grow weary with all the conditions and innovations of man. Some day He will call a halt to provisional arrangements. Things transit will end. Let us spend our days in devoted praise, worship and adoration. He will reward us!