In 1853, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA boldly declared, “A church without the Sabbath is apostate; a people who habitually desecrate this divine institution have abandoned one of the grand foundations of social order and political freedom.” Cited by Thomas Peck, The Works of Thomas Peck (1895; repr., Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1999), 1:195. Whatever you think about this statement, part of the reasoning behind it is that the world is predominantly dependent upon the means of grace that are exercised on the Sabbath for its knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and a church that denies the Sabbath day is implicitly rejecting the covenant of grace, of which the Sabbath is a sign. Imagine the violent reaction that would arise if a statement such as this one were even mentioned at the General Assembly of one of the major American Presbyterian denominations today! This shows how far the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction with respect to the church’s attitude toward Sabbath-keeping.

Ryan M. McGraw, The Day of Worship Reassessing the Christian Life in Light of the Sabbath, 22.