Wednesday: Sabbath and the Last Days
Read 2 Peter 3:3-7.
Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com
Compare the description of the last day scoffers with our contemporary society. What do the scoffers deny, and why?
The scoffers claim that nature has continued on without interruption, a claim known among scientists as “uniformitarianism.” This is equivalent to denying that miracles occur. This claim is then used to deny that the Lord is going to come as He promised.
Notice, though, how Peter links their denial of the second coming of Christ with their denial of the Creation account (plus the Flood, as well). Denial of one leads to denial of the others!
Read Revelation 14:6, 7. Amidst the doubts and caviling of the scoffers, what message will be proclaimed with heavenly power?
The scoffers are wrong. Judgment is coming, and we are called to worship the One who “created the heavens and the earth, the seas” and everything else. This is Creation language. The text alludes to Exodus 20:11 and points out the significance of Creation and Sabbath in the end times. As the Sabbath symbolizes the biblical story of Creation and Redemption, so rejection of the Creation story leads to rejection of the seventh-day Sabbath and to the establishment of a man-made substitute. The result, indicated in Revelation 14:8-10, is spiritual fornication and separation from God.
God is calling people to worship Him as the Creator, and nowhere in the Bible do we find anything that points so fully to Him as the Creator as does the seventh-day Sabbath. It is no wonder, then, that we see the Sabbath, the original sign of God as Creator as being pivotal in the last days.
Think it through: how does a rejection of a literal six-day Creation weaken the importance of the seventh-day Sabbath? And if our understanding of the seventh-day Sabbath is weakened, why adhere to it when persecution comes?
(0)
Indeed, the true Sabbath is the sign and seal of God the Creator.
If God is the Creator, then sin in our universe is the great destroyer-it is the continuing Entropy in our universe-and the exact opposite force to God's restorative power-and that is why it is the natural course of the world to forget the Sabbath, even though it is obvious that the world needs it more badly than ever before
I have come to the realisation that the sabbath is so pivotal to our christian walk and why so? Because its a call to holiness. In 1 Pet 1v16,17 God calls us to be holy as He is holy. I am convinced we cannot keep the sabbath holy unless we are holy. This means on a daily basis we are to live our live s relying on the Strong One for strength. Depending wholly on Him to keep us from faliing. As He sustains us through the week when the sabbath comes we are better able to take time out to reflect on His goodness, contemplating His works, and praising Him for the work of sanctification in our lives. We cannot keep the sabbath holy in its fullness without daily walking with God all week long. May we partake of the privilege of a forever friendship with God. John 15v13.
Chris - you are right on the mark with your comments! You have to abide with the Lord everyday, receiving the infilling of His holy spirit. It's not just a once a week thing...Thank you.
The signs are there which are showing that Jesus is coming but scoffers dont see that.
At the end of time, it is the sabbath issue that will draw a line between true worshipers and false worshipers. While God's people keeps the true sabbath(Saturday-the 7th Day of the week), the other group keeps the counterfeit sabbath( Sunday - the 1st day of the week) established by the beast(Rev 14:9-112). At the same time true sabbath is the mark of God while false sabbath is the mark of the beast.
It is now very important that all sons and daughters of God to prayerfully read the prophesies of Daniel and Revelation. While reading and understanding the prophesies is vital, we should not forget that it is written "...be doers of the word and not hearers". We should build on the solid rock of Jesus Christ by doing His will as He did the will of His Father.
Seventh day Adventists we are faced with a challenge of over emphasis of the sabbath matter leaving other matters undone. Our greatest challenge is to live the gospel we preach and cease from committing sin! Woe unto us if we get lost with all the truth entrusted to us!
God help us walk in the light!
I have always thought that the Sabbath commandment was the most powerful commandment of all the ten primarily because it points to the reason why we are to worship God; not because of what He will do if we don't but rather because he is our creator and owner and therefore greater than we are. Revelation 14:7 to me only confirms my beliefs for in that verse not only are we reminded that God created us but that he is also the judge. If we also consider Deut 5:15 then the commandment also relates to God as our redeemer. All of this makes Jesus, who is God, "the author and finisher of our faith" (Heb. 12:2 NKJV) and everything in between. But in my opinion that is not the only reason why the Sabbath holds the status it does.
The other reasons have to do with its relationship to the other commandments. While the first three commandments have to do with our relationship to God and the last six our relationship to each other, the fourth commandment has to do with both. For that reason it has been called the hinge because the other commandments seem to orbit around the fourth.
Not only is it central in theme but also is approximately in the center of the commandments in the Hebrew text. Therefore its position, both physically and thematically, establishes it as a central point among the Ten Commandments.
Am blessed by this comment. Bless the Lord for the heart of the commandments is the sabbath indeed. Thank you!
Sabbath is God's true sign
How the sabbath deals with the last day?Those who worship the Lord faithfully shall inherit the land that Jesus Christ has promised about.The sabbath is the seal of GOD as we know, a time is coming that those who keep the Sabbath would be tormented. God need us to worship him not any other day but the Sabbath because in it he rested from all that he made. He will judge the world with righteous and just,meaning there would be no consideration in judgement.Brethren,this is the time we need to live by the word that is the Bible.We need to search for the truth for it shall attend to us.The Bible is the only book that contain the truth and talk about God as the Creator.Sabbath was made by God the creator and He says we should worship Him in it. What are we doing now,the choice is in your hand,make a decision with Jesus Christ.
As for industrial products trade-mark(stamp) represent officially of the manufacturer, as well as to God, sabbath represent His sign of completeness as a creator.
It will all come down to WORSHIP. The 3 Angels are seen in Rev. proclaiming the final warning message to worship HIM who made the Heavens and the earth and the fountains of waters. The Seventh Day Sabbath is given by God as a day for man to come away and WORSHIP Him whom, all good and perfect things that exist came from. Satan has been counterfeiting all God's truths, and deceiving many in thinking that we are worshiping God by keeping the counterfeit (1st day sabbath) but in actuality, is the worship of himself (Satan). So the 7thDay Sabbath is a vital distinctive sign of God's true followers in the Last Days. UNITE WITH CHRIST DAILY, FOR OUR ONLY HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE IS FOUND IN CHRIST JESUS. CHEERS!!!
Yes, Jay, that's what it's all about -- Worship! That's how the Three Angels' messages are introduced.
It's about worshipping God, whose special sign is the seventh-day Sabbath or worshipping human inventions, religious or otherwise, including the false first-day Sabbath.
Given the prophetic end-time scenario, do you think it's possible that Sunday, the first-day "Sabbath," generally recognized as the mark of a man-made religion, could be the seventh-day Sabbath anywhere in the world?
The enemy will be very suttle and cunning in the last final hours of earth's history. It's no doubt Satan will attempt to impose the name SUNDAY on the 7thDay of the week in the calendar in some countries of the world to perplex and confuse the Sabbath Truth. By the power of God by the Holy Spirit we cannot be deceived and the number of the day cannot be changed or altered. Science fail to find a base for the weekly cycle. I believe that God is still in full control of every affairs of world and the whole universe and God will permit Satan to a certain extent in his work of deception. We must cling totally to the guidance of the Holy Spirit for our success, especially in the final moments of this GREAT CONTROVERSY. Unite with Christ daily for the victory we need. Happy Sabbath.