The True Sabbath

I'm having some interesting spiritual discussions with a semi-new guy at work. If it seems that I tend to have a lot of them, perhaps it's because I often listen to Christian radio or CDs, and if they peak his interest, he asks me questions. The discussions often grow from there. This particular gentleman has a couple of doctrinal issues however, that he just can't seem to let go of. Of late, he has been talking to me about the fourth commandment, and why we as Christians, just aren't being obedient in that area.

I kind of shrug this stuff off with him, because I have taken the time to explain this stuff to him more than once, but his response is usually, "I just don't see it that way." That's fine, but he keeps returning to the subject. When I understand something, I tend to try to let the Bible explain things for me. When that doesn't work, I sometimes try to use illustrations of one kind or another. In this case, it is a simple thing, and I feel that what is beneath all of this is some sort of works endeavor on his part that he just can't get past. If that sounds judgmental, I only say it because he hinted at it himself. He told me that even though he attends a local Baptist church, that he feels that the Seventh-day Adventist church has some things right that mainstream Christianity doesn't.

It is interesting that he would say this, because I worked with a retired Seventh-day Adventist pastor for a year, and he was happy to tell me anything about what he believed, and he was quite frank. I have studied on my own as well, and unfortunately, if a particular Seventh-day Adventist church is holding to church "visionary" Ellen G. White's teachings, they are most likely fallen into cultism.

Seventh-day Adventism has some very distinctive doctrines. I would venture that the foremost errant doctrine they adhere to is what is known by them as "The Investigative Judgment." The kindest thing I can say about this doctrinal concept is that it is unbiblical. This gets a little bit convoluted, so bear with me. The forerunners of the Seventh-day Adventist church were the "Millerites", or followers of William Miller, a former Baptist minister who had a rather mistaken interpretation of Daniel 8:14, which reads, "And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." For some reason, Mr. Miller converted the "days" to years, and by assuming that the prophecy was given in 457 B.C., he stated that Jesus would come back on a day between the dates of March 21st, 1843 and March 21st, 1844. I'm not sure why. The Seventh-day Adventist movement grew from this foundation, even though Mr. Miller died four years later, his failed interpretation being dubbed, "The Great Disappointment."

Ellen G. White, was a young, steadfast "Millerite" who went on to marry an Adventist pastor named James White. They were later taken with a Seventh-day Baptist tract which showed them the holiness and sacredness of the Sabbath, and they began to observe Saturday as the Sabbath. It was in April, 1847, that Ellen claimed to have had a vision. She said that she had seen the Heavenly sanctuary, and in it prominently she saw the fourth commandment with a halo around it. In her thinking, this cemented the fourth as the most important of the Ten Commandments. Ellen said that when she gave a message, that it was revealed to her as, "the precious rays of light shining from the throne."

Unfortunately, the Seventh-day Adventist church decided that instead of coming back to earth in 1844, (as William Miller predicted), that Jesus entered the heavenly "Holy of Holies," to start reviewing the works of every believer who has ever lived. The purpose of this scrutiny is to find out how faithful they all were to the commandments of God. "Sins that have not been repented of and forsaken will not be pardoned and blotted out of the books of record, but will stand to witness against the sinner." *Ellen G. White, "The Great Controversy" Someone once handed that book to my mother. I told her it was not a book to waste any time on and that it was full of errors. This is one of them.

According to Ellen G. White, "All need a knowledge of the position (in the heavenly Holy of Holies) and work (investigative judgment) of their great High Priest. Otherwise it will be impossible for them to exercise the faith which is essential at this time or to occupy the position which God designs for them to fill." Like I said, this doctrine is just not biblical, and that's as nice as I can be about it. It is extended from a failed prediction, which was based on a mistaken interpretation of Daniel 8:14. It is the worst kind of eisegetical mistake. Believers will never go through a judgment of their works to determine if they will actually be saved. The gospel is all about how we are saved by grace, through faith, as a total gift from God that has nothing whatsoever to do with any work of our own.

The second (some would argue the first, because it is reflected in the name) mistaken doctrine of the Seventh-day Adventist church is Sabbatarianism. They observe the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as the Sabbath day. Ellen G. White accused the "pope" of changing the "greatest commandment in the Decalogue and thus make himself equal with God....." *Ellen G. White, "Early Writings".

Calling the fourth commandment the greatest commandment is in direct biblical contradiction to what the Savior Himself said. When asked, He of course said that the greatest commandment is, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." Matthew 22:37-38. Mrs. White even believed that keeping the Sabbath was a condition for salvation. "I saw that the holy Sabbath is, and will be, the separating wall between the true Israel of God, and unbelievers." *Ellen G. White, "Early Writings".

The truth is, Sabbath-keeping was given to the Jewish people by God. Jesus wrote the New Covenant on our hearts, as the Law of Moses was nailed to the Cross. The fourth commandment was never prescribed for the church, and He never commanded us to observe "a Sabbath day." Why? Because Jesus is our Sabbath, and we are to remember Him every second, and walk in and observe and worship His goodness and holiness.

As the church began to grow, gentile believers were added to the ranks. Just which laws from Judaism the gentiles would have to obey became a serious issue for debate among the church leadership. Must gentile converts become circumcised? It was important enough an issue to cause the church to convene its very first council in Acts 15. James then said, "19 Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, 20 but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood." If it was a condition of salvation, why is it not mentioned here, by the leader of the Jerusalem church? This especially, if it was the most important of all the commandments?

Paul said in Romans 14, that we as believers have the freedom in Jesus to give spiritual significance to any day, or not to. He also said that we do not have the freedom to condemn those who give spiritual significance to the day they choose. Condemning those who gather to worship on Sunday is something the Seventh-day Adventists have no biblical right to do.

I cannot see Ellen G. White, given her writings, and these rather bizarre doctrines as being a legitimate source of teaching, much less an authoritative one. So, when my co-worker told my boss that he thinks it's unbiblical that we have fellowship and worship on Sundays, I pretty much blow it off.

He says it's a big deal to him, but is that a true statement? If it is, then why doesn't he do it? I once heard Paul Harvey say, "If you don't live it, you don't believe it." There are many people who would find it hard to agree with that. "Just because I don't go to church doesn't mean I don't believe in going to church." What does it mean then? "Just because I don't worship Jesus doesn't mean I don't believe in worshipping Jesus." What exactly does it mean then?

I don't know if Hebrews, Chapter Four is the definitive chapter on what the Sabbath is truly all about, but it is the best passage I can think of to explain it.

1 Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.
2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.
3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said,“AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH,THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST,”although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.
4 For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS”;
5 and again in this passage, “THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.”
6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience,
7 He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before,“TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS.”
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.
9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.
11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.
Hebrews 4:1-11

When we come to believe in Jesus, repenting of our dead works, and trusting in Him for our salvation, we have entered into a truly complete, spiritually eternal Sabbath rest. We don't rest one day of the week in tribute to God by ceasing our physical works. Our rest is in a person, who did all the work for us, by dying on the cross in our place. Our Sabbath rest is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We are at rest in His redeeming grace and love for us. I guess I can't explain it any better than that.