Installment fourteen

On our last entry we left Captain Mann determined to have a talk with
Mr. Mitchell again to clarify many unanswered questions.
___________________________________________________
Installment fourteen:

It was no idle resolution which Captain Mann formed when he determined
to go again to Mr. Mitchell to get to the bottom of some of the matters that
were troubling him.
Captain Mann was a very busy fellow with a huge ship and thousands of
passengers and crew members under his care, nevertheless, Captain Mann
was concerned about his passengers and crew, and many a soul was blessed
by his kind concern. Never before, however, had he been so stirred by any
question, personal or otherwise, as by this which had arisen over the
experience of Harold Wilson. At every hour of the day it pressed in upon
his mind, and he sought every opportunity to investigate and pray about
it. In fact, it had brought a crisis to his life.
For many years he had set aside as sacred a small portion of each day for
Bible reading and prayer. The next afternoon, the hour for personal
devotion having come, as he was about to enter his stateroom, he met Mr.
Mitchell. This was the time, he reasoned, to carry out his purpose; and
the two were soon seated and engaged in conversation.
"Mr. Mitchell," said the captain, "do you believe in the binding moral
obligation of the Ten Commandments?"
"Yes, Captain, I most certainly do."
"Do you endorse the idea that the Bible as a whole is the authoritative
word of God, given by inspiration as our guide?"

"Most assuredly. There is no other safe position to take. No man who
allows himself to discount any portion of that book can meet the attacks
of the atheist or the infidel."
"Pardon me, doctor, but may I ask then, pointedly, how you harmonize
this view with your statement that we had better ignore the question of
the Sabbath and go on quietly keeping Sunday, though admitting there
is no Bible foundation for doing so? It seems to me you play fast and loose."

"Well, captain, when I say that I believe in the binding moral obligations
of the Ten Commandments, I must except the fourth, for this is not moral
in the same sense as are the other nine. The claims of the Sabbath
commandment are satisfied just as fully by setting aside the first day of
the week just as the seventh. The time feature of the fourth commandment
is not exactly moral."

"Mitchell," said the captain very earnestly, "do you mean to tell me that
concrete terms such as 'The seventh-day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy
God: in it thou shalt not do any work,' are not necessarily moral? Has
God no power to incorporate moral principle in the specific and limiting
word 'seventh'? "Let me illustrate my point. I have under me a large
force of men manning this vessel. For the safety of all aboard, I am
required to hold frequent fire drills, and I issue orders to the engineer
to blow the fire whistle at twelve o'clock sharp Tuesday noon. Having
done this, I arrange all my plans accordingly, making everything fit
into a particular minute. Supremely important is that minute to me,
to my crew, to my passengers, and to my company. And that engineer
is under solemn contract to carry out my instructions, whether or not
my reasons are known or understood. In such case, you are bound to
admit that a moral obligation is binding upon an inferior to obey his
superior. You could not even hint that the engineer or anyone else may
reasonably decide that some other minute will fulfill my purpose. The
fourth commandment is the commandment, of all the ten, most vitally
charged with a moral principle, because of its specific time element.
You see, men differ over such matters as to what constitutes a lie, or
what is comprehended in hatred, or what is profanity; but they simply
cannot argue over the meaning of such term as 'seventh.' Why, Mitchell,
I was taught this by my mother; and all my life I have found in the
Sabbath comandment my strong fortress of absolute integrity. It has
been righteousness expressed in figures; and figures are not very often
found lying. Of course I have always believed that when Jesus came He
changed the day of rest from the seventh to the first. This did not trouble
me, for I believed that He who set apart the seventh day in olden time as
a day of worship and rest, had a right to sanctify and bless the first day of
the week in later time, just as I would have a rigth to change an appoinment
from noon on Tuesday to noon on Wednesday. But you are the first to tell
me that no moral value attaches to the matter of time. You are the first
minister to put forth the idea that the fourth commandment is an exception,
and that in a sense is unmoral. The whole Bible is inspired, yet you permit
your human reasoningto nullify a portion of the only words directly spoken
by God himself to the human ear. Again I beg your pardon, but let me
suggest this query: If, as you say, the Bible is the authoritative word of
God; if the Ten Commandments are unchangeably binding in their moral
claims; if neither Jesus nor His apostles made a change in the day of the
Sabbath; if the observance of Sunday rests only on early custom - if all
these things be true, then are you and I not under solemn covenant
obligation to keep the fourth commandment? Mitchell, I did not accept
your counsel of yesterday; and when I met the young man last evening,
I was constrained to acknowledge myself mistaken. No man who recognizes
that his soul is at stake in this great life game will ever knowingly do evil
that good may come. I am still hoping to get hold of evidence that at the
cross a new era was introduced, and that since that time the followers of
Christ, under the new covenant, are to honor 'the Lord's day,' the day of
the resurrection. But mark this: If I find that in this, too, I have been
mistaken, and that the Bible is silent concerning a change of the time of
the Sabbath, I shall gladly and with all my heart take up my cross anew
and keep the Sabbath."
___________________________________________
To be continued....