Miller’s Works, vol. 1. Views of the Prophecies and Prophetic Chronology

I. WE SHALL INQUIRE WHETHER THE SEVENTH OR THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK OUGHT TO BE KEPT AS A SABBATH

I say the first; for two reasons. One is Christ’s resurrection, and his often meeting with his disciples afterwards on that day. This, with the example of the apostles, is strong evidence that the proper creation sabbath to man came on the first day of the week. For Adam must have rested on the first day after his creation, he being the last work of God, and then God rested. Adam must have rested on the first day of his life, and thus you will see that to Adam it was the first day of the week; for it would not be reasonable to suppose that Adam began to reckon time before he was created. He certainly could not be able to work six days before the first sabbath. And thus with the second Adam; the first day of the week he arose and lived. And we find by the Bible and by history, that the first day of the week was ever afterwards observed as a day of worship. MWV1 158.1

Again; another reason I give is, that the sabbath is a sign of the rest which remains for the people of God. And to me it is very evident that this rest must be after the resurrection of the saints, and not before; and of course the saints’ rest will be the beginning of time in the new heavens and new earth, as the creation sabbath was the beginning of time with Adam. For Adam rested with God after He had finished his work; so, in the new creation, the church will rest with her Head when he has finished his work and made all things new. To Christ it will be the seventh day; for he will have been six thousand years creating his bride; that is, to the time she is perfected, and pronounced good, or sanctified, as it is said in our text; but to man in his perfect state it will be the first day. Now those who believe in a temporal millennium, or the seventh thousand years, wherein Christ will do more work than he has in six thousand years before, are very inconsistent with the Bible and themselves. They are inconsistent with the Bible; for that says, “Six days shalt thou do thy work; but the seventh is a day of rest, holy to the LORD.” Can any one believe that Christ in his work will not keep his Father’s law? No, not one jot or tittle of that law shall fail, which was written by the finger of God upon the two tables of testimony. But be not ignorant, brethren, that one day with the LORD is as a thousand years with you, and a thousand years with you is one day with the LORD. You think Christ is slack concerning this law of the sabbath, because he has thus worked almost six thousand years. You think he will always be working to redeem sinners. True, he is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. This is the reason why Christ has chosen the longest days, as given in the Scriptures, for his working days. And, Oh! sinner, do you know that the last hour of the sixth day is almost run out, and you have not come to repentance yet? But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night; for when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape. MWV1 158.2

Who says peace and safety? Must I be plain with you, my friend? Yes, yes, I must, or I shall meet my Master’s frown. Of this class are all those who tell men that they need not look for that day of rest until Christ converts the whole world; for certainly, if the world were converted, it would be no harm to say peace and safety. For all men to be Christians, and live as such too, I think would make peace and safety, truly. Those, then, cry peace and safety, who say all men will be converted before that day. Those, too, who believe all mankind will enter into that rest, and preach this doctrine to sinners, are deceiving souls, and will meet with destruction. Those who cry peace and safety, either by saying that “my Lord delays his coming,” or that all men will be saved, without any reference to their character in this life, are both alike deceiving souls. MWV1 159.1

Again; those who believe in a temporal millennium ought to keep the seventh day of the week, instead of the first, to be consistent with themselves; for there must be a similarity between our sabbath and the day of rest, or it is not a sign! “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.” Do you understand the argument, my dear reader? I say the sabbath, with God, was the seventh day; but with man, it was the first day, as is evident by the account of the creation; for the sabbath was the first day which man enjoyed in time: even so the sabbath is the seventh day with the Lord, with Christ; but with the church in the new creation it will be the first day. Creation opened to man by a sabbath; so will eternity open to man by a sabbath. As man began time with a sabbath, so also will man, in the new creation, begin eternity by the keeping of a sabbath; for it is a “sign,” says our text. Thus, the first day of the week is a sabbath for man. I will now, MWV1 160.1