The Truth Found

I. WHAT DOES GOD’S WORD TEACH CONCERNING THE SABBATH?

We should remember that the Author of the Bible is the Supreme Ruler of the universe; therefore the teachings of the Bible define our obligation to the highest authority. In it we are taught that, TFNOS 44.6

1. God made the world in six days. TFNOS 45.1

2. He rested on the seventh day. TFNOS 45.2

3. He blessed, sanctified, or hallowed, the seventh day. TFNOS 45.3

4. He commanded that the seventh day be kept holy. TFNOS 45.4

These are declarations of the word not to be denied, nor doubted. Let us examine them separately. TFNOS 45.5

It is a fact that God made the world in six days, also that he rested the seventh day; and these declarations will forever remain facts. They can never, in the untold ages of eternity, be any less truths than on the day when God finished his work and rested. God’s rest, or Sabbath, was on the seventh day, and the seventh can never cease to be the Sabbath, or rest-day, of God, even as it can never cease to be a fact that God rested on the seventh day. From these declarations we draw the following TFNOS 45.6

CONCLUSION:—The Sabbath institution is based on fixed and unalterable facts, which, from their bearing, must be removed in order to remove, abolish, or change, the Sabbath; which is, of course, impossible. TFNOS 45.7

In the account of the creation week, we are told that God made the world in six days, therefore he did not rest on any other day than the seventh; and as it will always remain a fact that he rested on the seventh day, so it can never become a fact that he rested on any other day. Hence, as the seventh day can never cease to be the rest-day, or Sabbath, of the Lord, so no other day can ever become his rest-day, or Sabbath; from which facts we draw another TFNOS 45.8

CONCLUSION:—The Sabbath institution is unalterably fixed to the seventh day. TFNOS 46.1

God blessed and hallowed the seventh day; and it cannot cease to be a fact that he blessed and hallowed the seventh day, so it must remain a sanctified day, unless it can be shown to be also a fact that God has removed or withdrawn the sanctity from it. But the fact of its having been sanctified is a plainly revealed truth—an express declaration of the infallible word. It is also plainly declared in the word that God has removed the blessing and sanctity from the seventh day? It is not. And there is not a passage from which even an inference to that effect could be drawn; but were there such a passage, the inference would not be admissible, inasmuch as an inference cannot destroy a plain declaration. From these truths, I expect all to concur in the following TFNOS 46.2

CONCLUSION:—The seventh day is still the blessed, hallowed, sanctified, rest-day of Jehovah. TFNOS 46.3

When God rested the seventh day, it became his Sabbath; he sanctified it, and it was thenceforth his holy Sabbath; and the commandment was given to keep it holy. TFNOS 46.4

Here we have presented another fact; and it will always remain a fact that God commanded the observance of the seventh day. Will the obligation to keep it holy also remain as long as the fact remains that God so commanded? It surely will unless it can be shown to be equally a fact that he has annulled or revoked the commandment. But the fact that its observance was commanded, is very plainly revealed in the word. Does the word of God also plainly state that the commandment has been repealed? It does not; but its repeal has been inferred from certain texts which certainly do not state in plain terms that it has been repealed, nor do they contain anything resembling a repeal. But the commandment is a plainly expressed precept, and the inference is therefore inadmissible. And the inference is not only unnecessary, but in opposition to many scriptures showing the perpetuity of the law. TFNOS 46.5

It will be admitted that commandments or laws, as they impose obligation, should be most definitely and clearly stated. Any ambiguity or vagueness of expression in a law is inexcusable, necessarily leading to confusion and injustice. And it is just as necessary to a correct understanding of the obligation we are under to the lawgiver that the repeal, or amendment, of a law should be plainly stated, as that the original enactment should be. The commandment enforcing the observance of the seventh day, like the other parts of God’s law, is as definitely and clearly expressed as language can be made to express ideas. But no repeal can be produced. Hence we can have no hesitation in adopting the following TFNOS 47.1

CONCLUSION:—The requirement to remember the seventh day, or Sabbath, to keep it holy, is still binding on man, as are the other precepts of God’s holy law. TFNOS 47.2

Isaiah 56:2—Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. TFNOS 47.3