A) FIRST LET US ESTABLISH.

B) CONTINUING.

C) HOW TO SPEND YOUR PREPARATION DAY.

D) STATE OF THE DEAD AND THE SABBATH.

 

 

A) FIRST LET US ESTABLISH

 

 

“It means eternal salvation to keep the Sabbath holy unto the Lord.”  6T:356.4; CCh:264.4; ML:287.6.

 

“Those who wish to be blest and approved of the Lord in this world, and who expect to finally be saved, and have right to the tree of life, must keep the Sabbath holy.  They should pray daily for grace and wisdom to keep from polluting it in any way.  Isaiah says:  ‘Every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My Covenant; even them will I bring to My holy mountain.’ “  YI, February 1, 1853 paragraph 1. 

 

 

B) CONTINUING

 

“God has been teaching me that we are not to dwell upon the differences which weaken the Church.  He prescribes a remedy for strife.  By keeping His Sabbath holy we are to show that we are His people.  His Word declares the Sabbath to be a sign by which to distinguish the Commandment-keeping people.  Thus God’s people are to preserve among them a knowledge of Him as their Creator.  Those who keep the Law of God will be one with Him in the great controversy commenced in Heaven between Satan and God.  Disloyalty to God means contention and strife against the principles of God’s Law.”  2SM:160.1; 1NL:22.

 

“In order to keep the Sabbath holy, it is not necessary that we enclose ourselves in walls, shut away from the beautiful scenes of nature and from the free, invigorating air of heaven.  We should in no case allow burdens and business transactions to divert our minds upon the Sabbath of the Lord, which He has sanctified.  We should not allow our minds to dwell upon things of a worldly character even.  But the mind cannot be refreshed, enlivened, and elevated by being confined nearly all the Sabbath hours within walls, listening to long sermons and tedious, formal prayers.  The Sabbath of the Lord is put to a wrong use if thus celebrated.  The object for which it was instituted is not attained.  The Sabbath was made for man, to be a blessing to him by calling his mind from secular labor to contemplate the goodness and glory of God.  It is necessary that the people of God assemble to talk of Him, to interchange thoughts and ideas in regard to the truths contained in His Word, and to devote a portion of time to appropriate prayer.  But these seasons, even upon the Sabbath, should not be made tedious by their length and lack of interest. {2T:583.1}

 

“During a portion of the day, all should have an opportunity to be out of doors.  How can children receive a more correct knowledge of God, and their minds be better impressed, than in spending a portion of their time out of doors, not in play, but in company with their parents?  Let their young minds be associated with God in the beautiful scenery of nature, let their attention be called to the tokens of His love to man in {584}

 

“His created works, and they will be attracted and interested.  They will not be in danger of associating the character of God with everything that is stern and severe; but as they view the beautiful things which He has created for the happiness of man, they will be led to regard Him as a tender, Loving Father.  They will see that His prohibitions and injunctions are not made merely to show His power and authority, but that He has the happiness of His children in view.  As the character of God puts on the aspect of love, benevolence, beauty, and attraction, they are drawn to love Him.  You can direct their minds to the lovely birds making the air musical with their happy songs, to the spires of grass, and the gloriously tinted flowers in their perfection perfuming the air.  All these proclaim the Love and skill of the heavenly Artist, and show forth the glory of God.”  2T:583.1-584.2.  

 

“The Sabbath is a pledge given by God to man -- a sign of the relation existing between the Creator and His created beings.  By observing the memorial of the creation of the world in six days and the rest of the Creator on the seventh day, by keeping the Sabbath holy, according to His directions, the Israelites were to declare to the world their loyalty to the only true and living God, the Sovereign of the universe.”  3SM:256.1.  

 

“By observing the Sabbath day wherein God rested, the knowledge of God would be preserved.  It is a ‘sign between Me and you that ye may know that I Am the Lord that doth sanctify you.’  Those who keep the Sabbath holy as the Lord has specified, reveal that they are His peculiar people, and that He Who [86]

 

“made the heavens and the earth is their God.”  5MR:85-86; Ms 139, 1903, pp. 7, 8; “The Message in Revelation,” typed October 23, 1903.

 

“We are to render implicit obedience to the Commandments of God.  Let us remember that by keeping the Sabbath holy, we are honoring God.  And those that honor Him, He will honor.”  5MR:123.3; Letter 66, 1900, pp. 3, 4; To “Dear Brother Baker,” May 2, 1900.  

 

 

C) HOW TO SPEND YOUR PREPARATION DAY

 

 

“There was something to be done in preparing the Heaven-sent bread for the children of Israel.  The Lord told them that this work must be done on Friday, the preparation day.  This was a test to them.  God desired to see whether or not they would keep the Sabbath holy.”  6T:354.4.

 

“Before the Sabbath begins, the mind as well as the body should be withdrawn from worldly business.  God has set His Sabbath at the end of the six working days, that men may stop and consider what they have gained during the week in preparation for the pure kingdom which admits no transgressor.  We should each Sabbath reckon with our souls to see whether the week that has ended has brought spiritual gain or loss. {6T:356.3}

 

“It means eternal salvation to keep the Sabbath holy unto the Lord.”  6T:356.3-356.4.

 

“The Sabbath is a pledge given by God to man, -- a sign of the relation existing between the Creator and His created beings.  By observing the memorial of the creation of the world in six days and the rest of the Creator on the seventh day, by keeping the Sabbath holy, according to His directions, the Israelites were to declare to the world their loyalty to the only true and Living God, the Sovereign of the universe.”  8MR:99.3.

 

“The Lord gave me His Spirit on that occasion and sent home the Word spoken.  Those who will honor the Lord in keeping His Sabbath holy will be blessed of the Lord.  There is not more than one in one hundred who do honor to God in keeping His Sabbath from polluting it.  The Word of God is not practiced by thousands who profess to be Christians.  The looseness of the habits and practices in observing the Sabbath has become a customary thing.  God help us to see that great blessings are enfolded in the observance of the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment.  The human agent cannot afford to lose these blessings by dishonoring God in their loose habits and practices.  This is a day of meditation and of closely examining our own spiritual condition before God.  ‘Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.’  On that day have no loose, cheap, common talk. {21MR 295.1}

 

“It is God’s day, sanctified by Himself and made holy, and should be treated as a holy day.  If God condescends to speak to man out of His Holy Word, should we not have sanctified ears to hear and hearts to perceive?  His Words are entitled to be heard and received with reverence, faith, and submission.  We have the Word of God.  Let us make that Book our companion on the Sabbath.”  21MR:295.1-295.2.

 

“The manna was as coriander seed and the color of bdellium.  And the people went about and gathered it, and ground it in the mills or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it.  Thus there was something to be done in the preparation even of the Heaven-sent bread for the children of Israel.  This was a test for them.  God desired to see whether or not they would keep the Sabbath holy.  The Lord told the children of Israel that this work must be done on the preparation day, Friday.  On that day they were to bake that which they would bake, and seethe that they would seethe.”  BEcho, February 13, 1899 paragraph 2; LUH, March 31, 1909, paragraph 1.

 

“Those who discuss business matters and lay plans on the Sabbath, are regarded of God as though they engaged in the actual transaction of business.  To keep the Sabbath holy, we should not even allow our minds to dwell upon things of a worldly character.”  CCh:269.3; HS:218.1.

 

“No other institution which was committed to the Jews tended so fully to distinguish them from surrounding nations as did the Sabbath.  God designed that its observance should designate them as His worshipers.  It was to be a token of their separation from idolatry, and their connection with the true God.  But in order to keep the Sabbath holy, men must themselves be holy.  Through faith they must become partakers of the righteousness of Christ.”  DA:283.3.

 

“[181] Before entering the Promised Land, the Israelites were [182] admonished by Moses to ‘keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it.’ {Deuteronomy 5:12}.  The Lord designed that by a faithful observance of the Sabbath Command, Israel should continually be reminded of their accountability to Him as their Creator and their Redeemer.  While they should keep the Sabbath in the proper spirit, idolatry could not exist; but should the claims of this precept of the Decalogue be set aside as no longer binding, the Creator would be forgotten and men would worship other gods.”  PK:181-182.

 

“God has given men six days wherein to labor, and He requires that their own work be done in the six working days.  Acts of necessity and mercy are permitted on the Sabbath, the sick and suffering are at all times to be cared for; but unnecessary labor is to be strictly avoided.”  PP:307.

 

“To keep the Sabbath holy, we should not even allow our minds to dwell upon things of a worldly character.  Yet it is not necessary that we shut ourselves away from nature, and deprive ourselves of the free, invigorating air of heaven.  The Sabbath was made to be a blessing to man, by calling his mind from secular labor to contemplate the goodness and glory of God.  It is necessary that the people of God assemble statedly for His worship, to interchange thoughts in regard to the truths of His Word, and to devote a portion of time to prayer.  But these seasons, even upon the Sabbath, should not be made tedious by their length and lack of interest.  During a portion of the day, all should have an opportunity to be out-of-doors.”  ST, May 20, 1886 paragraph 10.

 

“In order to keep the Sabbath holy, it is not necessary that we inclose ourselves in walls, shut away from the beautiful scenes of nature, and also deprive ourselves of the free, invigorating air of heaven.  We should in no case allow burdens and business transactions to divert our minds upon the Sabbath of the Lord which he has sanctified.  We should not allow even our minds to dwell upon things of a worldly character.  The mind cannot be refreshed, enlivened, and elevated, by being confined nearly all the Sabbath hours within walls, listening to long sermons and tedious, formal prayers.  The Sabbath of the Lord has been put to a wrong use, if thus celebrated.  The object is not attained for which the Sabbath was instituted.  The Sabbath was made for man, to be a blessing to him, by calling his mind from secular labor, to contemplate the goodness and glory of God.  It is necessary that the people of God assemble to talk of Him, to interchange thoughts and ideas in regard to the truths contained in the Word of God, and to devote a portion of time to appropriate prayer.  But these seasons, even upon the Sabbath, should not be made tedious by their length and lack of interest.  During a portion of the day, all should have an opportunity to be out of doors.”  RH, May 30, 1871 paragraph 2.

 

“The Sabbath should be made so interesting to our families that its weekly return will be hailed with joy.  In no better way can parents exalt and honor the Sabbath than to devise means to impart proper instruction to their families, and to interest them in spiritual things, giving them correct views of the character of God, and what He requires of us, in order to perfect Christian characters and to attain to eternal life.  Parents, make the Sabbath a delight, that your children shall look forward to it, and have a welcome in their hearts for it.”  RH, May 30, 1871.

 

“About eight o’clock on Friday evening we reached Boston. There was no train that night to take us out to Groveland {for “camp-meeting}, but we took the first train in the morning.”  RH, September 6, 1877.

 

NOTE:  Apparently if you are doing God’s Will then it is accepted to travel on the Sabbath.

 

“God gave the Sabbath to His people to be a continual sign of His Love and mercy and of their obedience.  As He rested on this day and was refreshed {EDITOR ADDITION?}, so He desired His people to rest and be refreshed.  It was to be a constant reminder to them that they were included in His covenant of grace.  Throughout your generations, He said, the Sabbath is to be My sign, My pledge, to you that I Am the Lord that doth sanctify you, that I have chosen you and set you apart as My peculiar people.  And as you keep the Sabbath holy, you will bear testimony to the nations of the earth that you are My chosen people.”  RH, October 28, 1902 paragraph 3; SW, January 8, 1907 paragraph 3.

 

“Dear children, are you as careful as you should be in keeping the Sabbath?  You have something to do besides laying aside your work and amusements on that day.  If you, on that day, lay plans of what you will do when the Sabbath is past, or talk of your work, amusements and clothes, you pollute the Sabbath.  The Prophet has in another chapter told us how to keep the Sabbath from polluting it, and nothing short of doing as he has pointed out will be keeping the Sabbath holy.  He says: {Isa. 58:13 quoted}.”  YI, February 1, 1853 paragraph 2.

 

 

D) STATE OF THE DEAD AND THE SABBATH

 

 

“Satan will have power to bring before us the appearance of forms purporting to be our relatives or friends now sleeping in Jesus.  It will be made to appear as if these friends were present; the words that they uttered while here, with which we were familiar, will be spoken, and the same tone of voice that they had while living will fall upon the ear.  All this is to deceive the saints and ensnare them into the belief of this delusion. [EW:87.1]

 

“I saw that the saints must get a thorough understanding of present truth, which they will be obliged to maintain from the Scriptures.  They must understand the state of the dead; for the spirits of devils will yet appear to them, professing to be beloved friends and relatives, who will declare to them that the Sabbath has been changed, also other unscriptural doctrines.”  EW:87.1-87.2.

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