The Sabbath-related objections are becoming less substantial (to put it mildly) as we near the end of that section, and my sense is that we should move on to the next section, which is about the Millerite roots of Seventh-day Adventism and our views about the Second Advent. Accordingly, I’m combining the last 8 objections related to Sabbath-keeping.
Objection 48: Seventh-day Adventists say that everyone who keeps Sunday has the mark of the beast. Such a teaching places under God's condemnation all other Christian people and dooms forever all Sunday-keeping Christians who died before Seventh-day Adventists began to preach.
Seventh day Adventists do not say that everyone who keeps Sunday has the mark of the beast. We do not place anyone, dead or alive, under condemnation. Note this authoritative statement from the writings of the best recognized of Adventist writers, Ellen G. White:
“Christians of past generations observed the Sunday, supposing that in so doing they were keeping the Bible Sabbath: and there are now true Christians in every church, not excepting the Roman Catholic Communion, who honestly believe that Sunday is the Sabbath of divine appointment. God accepts their sincerity of purpose and their integrity before Him. But when Sunday observance shall he enforced by law, and the world shall be enlightened concerning the obligation of the true Sabbath, then whoever shall transgress the command of God, to obey a precept which has no higher authority than that of Rome, will thereby honor popery above God. He is paying homage to Rome, and to the power which enforces the institution ordained by Rome. He is worshiping the beast and his image. As men then reject the institution which God has declared to be the sign of His authority, and honor in its stead that which Rome has shown as the token of her supremacy, they will thereby accept the sign of allegiance to Rome 'the mark of the beast.' And it is not until the issue is thus plainly set before the people, and they are brought to choose between the commandments of God and the commandments of men, that those who continue in transgression will receive 'the mark of the beast.’”— The Great Controversy, p. 449.
Take this further word from the pen of Mrs. White:
“No one has yet received the mark of the beast. The testing time has not yet come. There are true Christians in every church, not excepting the Roman Catholic communion. None are condemned until they have had the light and have seen the obligation of the fourth commandment. But when the decree shall go forth enforcing the counterfeit Sabbath, and the loud cry of the third angel shall warn men against the worship of the beast and his image, the line will be clearly drawn between the false and the true. Then those who still continue in transgression will receive the mark of the beast.” — Evangelism, pp. 234-35.
Paul said to the ancient, idolatrous Athenians, “The times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men every where to repent.” Acts 17:30. It is not what we do ignorantly that brings God's condemnation, but what we do willfully after we have a clear knowledge of the truth. “Therefore to him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin.” James 4:17.
God sent the Advent movement into the world, not to condemn the world, but to preach the truth. We have no desire to judge any man, as judgment belongs to God. In view of this fact it is not an accurate statement of our position to say that we hold that a person cannot be saved unless he keeps the seventh day Sabbath.
Objection 49: I don't believe that a God of love would keep men out of heaven just because of a day. I think Seventh-day Adventists put too much emphasis on a certain day that should be kept holy.
Scripture teaches us that God can be very particular about many things, very much including the Sabbath. In the theocracy of ancient Israel, God prescribed the death penalty for those who intentionally and rebelliously violated the Sabbath. (Ex. 31:14-15) This penalty was executed on a Sabbath breaker on at least one occasion. (Num. 15:32-36) This was not something that Moses dreamed up; no, God directly ordered that the penalty should be carried out:
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.’ So, as the Lord commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died.”
A case in which God Himself executed judgment was that of Nadab and Abihu, who brought “strange fire” into the sanctuary, and were immediately killed. (Lev. 10:1-7) “There went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. (Lev. 10:2) Aaron was forbidden to mourn for his two dead sons in the customary way of disheveling his appearance and tearing his clothes. (Lev. 10:6)
Nadab and Abihu failed to distinguish between the sacred and the profane, and profaned what God had set aside to be sacred and holy. How remarkable is the parallel to the Sabbath! The Fourth Commandment is intended to mark out a very distinct difference between the Sabbath, as a sacred, hallowed day, and the other six days of the week: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."
Another case of God Himself executing immediate punishment is that of Uzzah. Those set apart to transport the tabernacle when disassembled, the Kohathites, were forbidden to touch the furniture of the sanctuary, including the ark (Num. 4:15). But centuries later, during the time of King David, when the ark was being moved over rough ground in an ox cart, the oxen stumbled and Uzzah put his hand on the ark “to steady it.” (2 Sam. 6:6-7). Uzzah’s sin was presumption; he presumed to touch something sacred, something that God had set apart as holy, that he was not authorized to touch. Those who urge Christians to disregard the Fourth Commandment are guilty of similar presumption; presuming to profane that which God Himself made holy.
Is God less particular today than in former years? “I am the Lord, I change not,” he tells us (Mal. 3:6). Is He not the same yesterday, today, and forever? (Heb. 13:8) And was not this history written down for our admonition, upon whom the end of the ages has come? (1 Cor. 10:11)
Scripture informs us that the destruction of Solomon's Temple and the Babylonian captivity were divine judgment for the desecration of the Sabbath. (Jer. 17:21-27; Neh. 13:17-18; Eze. 22:26)
The objector who breezily declares that, “a God of love would never keep men out of heaven just because of a day” exhibits appalling ignorance of the Scriptures. If God sent His chosen people into captivity for their disregard of the Sabbath, how unreasonable, how absurd, to think He will admit us to heaven if we willfully disregard that holy day, and teach others to do likewise.
Objection 50: The Sabbath cannot save anyone. Why not preach Christ instead?
We do preach Christ, and if we love Christ, we will keep His commandments, one of which is to honor his Sabbath day. (John 14:15) Salvation in Jesus Christ means walking in obedience to his commandments, indeed to all the light God gives us concerning how we should live. The Christian walk is one of sanctification, which means growing in the Grace of God and receiving His imparted righteousness. The Bible says that “the path of the just is as the shining light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day.” (Prov. 4:18).
Being a Christian does not mean merely believing in Christ Jesus as your savior, and nothing more; it means growing in righteousness, grace, and obedience. You do not stop at faith; rather you “add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” (2 Peter 1:5-7) So long as we continue to walk in the light and add graces and Christian practices as they are revealed by that light, we grow in grace, and continue on the road to heaven.
When we willfully refuse to go forward along the path because some divine command is unwanted, we reject Heaven's light. When we do this, we jeopardize our hope of salvation. Of the Jews who refused to accept the light that Christ brought, He declared, “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin.” John 15:22.
The Christian missionaries of the various denominations preach Christ crucified, presenting the love of God and the atoning sacrifice of Christ. They preach to natives who have, perhaps without a twinge of conscience, been violating the whole range of the Ten Commandments. As the natives are touched by God's Spirit and express their sincere desire to accept Christ's proffered salvation, what do the missionaries do? They explain that Christ offers them salvation as a free gift, but that if they desire to be true children of God, they will walk in the path that God has revealed.
The missionaries probably add:
Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Cor. 6:9-11.
The missionaries will say to them, as Paul said to the Ephesians: “Let him that stole steal no more.” Eph. 4:28. And it isn’t just theft that the follower of Christ must turn away from, but idolatry, murder, adultery, lying, Sabbath-profaning, etc.
This, in substance, is what missionaries of all denominations preach as they bring men to God. But we have never heard anyone charge that they are thus substituting obedience to the law for the grace of Christ. Why, then, should Adventists be accused of substituting Sabbath-keeping for the grace of Christ, simply because our appeal to men to walk by grace in the way of truth includes a presentation of all Ten Commandments?
The reason why some men do not want to hear the Sabbath preached is not that it is contrary to preaching Christ but that it troubles their consciences, and they feel condemned before God as violators of His law. It is not the preaching that is wrong, but their lives.
Objection 51: I have the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit has given me to understand that I do not have to keep the Sabbath.
This statement reflects the teaching of a certain denomination that believes it possesses the gift of the Holy Spirit in a special way, different from other Christians. The members believe themselves guided by the Holy Spirit, very directly and personally, in matters of doctrine.
Now, it is true that the Bible says much about the presence of the Spirit in the lives of Christians, but it also warns against the presence of another kind of spirit that will lead men away from truth. The mere fact that one is possessed by a supernatural power does not prove that that power is the Holy Spirit of God.
The Bible instructs us to “try the spirits” (1 John 4:1). It does not say we should try a Bible doctrine by the spirits, but that we should try the spirits by the Bible:
“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isa. 8:20.
Was not the Bible inspired by the Holy Spirit?:
“For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21)
It is beyond question that the Holy Spirit inspired the Bible writers, and God does not contradict Himself. He will not inspire the Bible writers to write one thing, and then tell you to do something different. So if you claim to have a spirit that is telling you something other than what the Bible says, that spirit does not belong to the kingdom of light but to the kingdom of darkness.
A spirit sent from God does not diverge from God's Word. Said Christ to His disciples,
“When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come." John 16:13.
This is telling us that Spirit of God brings to the believer only what He has heard in the courts of heaven, and violation of any of God's commandments is never advocated in heaven (that is, not since the day that Satan and his evil spirits were cast out).
We read that one of the duties of the Spirit of God is to “convict the world of sin” (Verse 8) and sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4). But the spirit the objector presents to us here is not convicting us of our sin but condoning our sin by telling us we may transgress one of the commandments—the Fourth Commandment.
What the objector has is not the Holy Spirit but a demon, from which the objector should immediately pray for deliverance. The Sabbath was established at the creation by God Himself; it is not on trial. Rather, try the spirits!
Objection 52: We should keep all days holy in the Christian dispensation. But inasmuch as the law of the land has marked out a certain day, Sunday, as the particular day of rest, we should obey the law of the land, and keep Sunday.
First, there is nothing in the Scriptures that indicates that all days are alike holy in the Christian dispensation. We know that it was Christ’s custom to attend the synagogue on Sabbath. (Luke 4:16). The apostles left no instructions telling us that all days were now to be considered equally holy; certainly nothing that could possibly countermand the Fourth Commandment, telling us to,
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Ex. 20:8-11.
Second, it has long been the custom within Christendom to observe a weekend consisting of two rest days, two non-working days, Saturday and Sunday. Hence, it is not, at the present time, necessary to observe only Sunday in order to obey the law of the land; Saturday works just as well, insofar as the civil authorities are concerned.
Why would it ever become necessary to disobey the law in order to keep Sabbath and not Sunday? Would it not be only because Sunday advocates have worked zealously to elevate Sunday, and have enshrined their views in law?
So we see that the objector is at war with himself: he posits that all days are equally holy, but at the same time he posits a legal environment that fanatical Sunday-keepers have imposed because they do not consider all days equally holy. In the event we find ourselves in a situation where worshiping on Sunday has been made mandatory, our duty is clear: “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29.
Objection 53: If Saturday is the right Sabbath, why do not more leading men believe it? If what you preach about the Sabbath is true, why wasn't it discovered before?
Christianity itself was once considered new and strange. When Christ rebuked an evil spirit, commanding it to come out of a man, the people, “were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? What new doctrine is this?” (Mark 1:27). When Paul came to Athens and began to preach Christianity, the people inquired, “May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou spoke, is?” (Acts 17:19). Various other passages might be given, showing that the teachings of Christianity were considered new and strange.
Come down to the time of the Reformation in the sixteenth century, where we find that the most common argument against the Reformers was that their teachings were new. “If what you Reformers say is true, how is it that these doctrines were not discovered before?” But did such charges against Christ and the apostles and the Reformers prove that their teachings were not of God?
No. Doctrines must be judged by a different standard, not their seeming newness, or strangeness. Doctrines must be judged only by the revealed truth in the word of God. When Christ or His disciples were confronted with the charge of “newness”, they always denied it, declaring that they preached “none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come.” Acts 26:22.
And when the same charge was made against the Reformers, they proceeded to show from the Bible that the doctrines they preached were not new but very ancient. And, further, they could show that all down through the centuries there had been a few faithful children of God who had known and preached these doctrines.
Along with Christ, the disciples, and the Reformers, we Seventh-day Adventists affirm that the Sabbath doctrine is not new; it is as old as creation, and has been known and kept by a few godly believers throughout all the centuries. Granted, the Sabbath truth was almost completely suppressed for centuries, and did not burst forth again until relatively modern times. But we can say the same thing about righteousness by faith—it was almost wholly lost for more than a thousand years, until Martin Luther brought it again into great prominence in the sixteenth century.
Now a word as to why more “1eading men” do not believe this Sabbath truth. What of the leading men in the days of Christ? Who does not know that it was the common people, not the Pharisees, who heard Christ gladly; that His disciples were ordinary people, such as fishermen? And who does not know that the learned men, the members of he Sanhedrin, endeavored to argue people out of accepting Christ by inquiring, “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?” John 7:48.
Paul notes that it wasn’t the “leading men” who accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ and spread it throughout the civilized world, “Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.” 1 Cor. 1:26. And speaking of Paul, who was a scholar and a member of the Sanhedrin, look what extraordinary measures God was put to in order to recruit Paul to the gospel! (Acts 9) In Luther's day, many of the leading men, the dignitaries of the church, were trying to capture Martin Luther and burn him at the stake, as they had done to Hus and so many others before him.
Objection 54: If I should keep the Sabbath, all my friends and neighbors would ridicule me.
First, you might be surprised at how little attention your friends and neighbors are paying to you. Typically, they are wrapped up in their own lives, trials, concerns, and pleasures, and have but little time to spend worrying about others. As my grandmother used to say, “they ain’t studyin’ you.”
Second, the kind of friends you want are those who will appreciate you for being guided by conscience and conviction based upon your reading of God’s word. Decent people, people of high morals and refined character, will admire your conscientious submission to your understanding of the Bible, even if they do not share your conviction.
Third, those who would ridicule you are not the kind of people you want for friends. The Bible had much to say on this subject:
“Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’” 1 Cor. 15:33
“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” Prov. 13:20
“Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge.” Prov. 14:7
“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Prov. 18:24
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” 2 Cor. 6:14.
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers . . .” Psalm 1:1
The Bible does not attempt to hide the fact that those who obey God will often suffer reproach in this life, and often it will come from those who are closest to them. Said Christ:
"Suppose you that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: for from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law." Luke 12:51-53.
The secret of becoming immune to the ridicule of friends, neighbors, and even family members is to have confidence in the recompense of the reward (Heb. 10:35-36) and to fix your eyes on that “better country”:
“They desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city." (Heb. 11:16)
Objection 55: If I keep the seventh day Sabbath, I won't he able to make a living.
This objection betrays a lack of faith that is unbecoming to the Christian. Here is an opportunity to trust God, indeed to test Him. What does God say of entrusting just ten percent of your income to him?:
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” Mal. 3:10
The one who tithes is putting but ten percent (10%) of his income in God’s hands, whereas the Sabbath-keeper is entrusting God with his entire ability to earn a living. But if God will “throw open the floodgates of heaven” to the man who returns a mere ten percent, how carefully and lovingly will He look after the one who risks all for obedience’ sake?
“If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matt. 6:30-33.
And David wrote,
“I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.” Psalm 37:25.
God still lives, and loves those who show their love for Him by obeying His commandments. Why not have faith in Him, and believe that He will enable you to make a living if you keep the Sabbath?
There are many thousands of men and women throughout the world who have displayed just that sort of obedience and trust in God, and have stepped out in faith to keep the Sabbath. And has God failed them? He has not. True, some of them have had their faith tested for a time before they were able to find employment as Sabbath keepers. But they have not starved. The testimony of millions of Sabbath keepers disproves completely the objection we are here examining.