But note the fourth commandment. Why a seventh part of time? That doesn't stem automatically from the nature of life. I've seen some of the worst storms on the seventh day that I have ever seen. It doesn't appear that the day is especially sacred. The sun doesn't seem to shine any differently then. The earth rotates on it's axis the same on that day as on any other. I can't find anything in nature or in life that suggests that the seventh day is the Sabbath. Whay should I worship on that day? It isn't part of the fabric of life. But then, why should God ask man to eat of one tree and not of another? Because the highest act of moral decision is to relate to another person for the person's sake, and not for anything tangentail to the relationship.
Well, what do we get out of it? God! He says, "I'll meet you in space and time. I'm going to make myself especially availbale to you.." And remember, it was extremely important in the Gaden of Eden because, when He set the day up, God had to be careful not to monopolize man's time. If He should restrict Satan's access to man, completely dominate man's time, Satan would say, "You don't give him a chance. He doesn't know what the options of life are." That's why the angels didn't need the Sabbath, but man did.
If man is going to acquainted with God and is going to think of himself as something more than just a gardener, he must find that life exists for fellowship. That is why so many marriages fall apart, because people take each other for granted. They cease to have dates, to emphasize fellowship just for it's own sake. It is the essence of life, and rather than being amoral, the commandment states the foundation of morality. "Will you serve me just because youlove me?" Those individuals who have never seen the difference between the Sabbath as a day and the Sabbath as an experience miss something.
"The subject of the sanctuary and the investigative judgment should be clearly understood by the people of God. All need a knowledge for themselves of the position and work of the Great High Priest. Otherwise, it will be impossible for them to exercise the faith that is essential at this time or to occupy the position that God designs them to fill" (GC 488).
Do you know what the mission of the Seventh-day Adventists is? Not just to preach a day but to proclaim a Person and to help people understand wherein the issues lie. And I know of nothing designed better to meet that need then a correct understanding of the seventh day Sabbath and the moral issue which it involves. As we begin to sense the nature of the Sabbath experience and of morality and then reflect on what Christ is doing in His sanctuary to vindicate His name, we can understand why Christ must be able to say, "Here are the people that have the moral quality I have been looking for ever since the Garden of Eden." At a time in history when the supreme moral quality must receive focus, the Sabbath becomes instrumental in exhibiting such integrity. It will seem pointless to serve God on the point of the Sabbath unless we see the nature of the loyalty that He requires and which is necessary for the developement of our morality.
The seal of God invovles the character of God. We have a name written in our foreheads. The mark of the beast reflects the character of Satan. It stands in oppostion to God. Humanity will exhibit both characters before the universe - those who have the seal of God and those who have the mark of Satan - the sheep nad the goats. Only at the historical moment that the Sabbath becomes a means of revealing and developing Christ-like morality can we speak of it as a seal. And I think we have done the world a great disservice by presenting the doctrine without proper qualification. God will not permit it to become a test until people have an opportunity to really see wherein the issue lies. He waits for the witnesses who will reveal the real issue in both doctrines and life. To do so we must know the Lord of the Sabbath. But maybe we don't really know Him. Perhaps we fear what He is doing to our world in the investigative judgment. If we cannot feel safe with Him during the climax of earth's history, how can we witness for him? Perhaps that fear makes our Sabbath doctrine appear cold and mechanical artificial in religious experience. The means designed to clarify the nature of the issues and to reveal the character of God has become a way of distorting it. The Sabbath becomes a form and God a threat.
As a youngster I grew up in a neighborhood of boys mostly about my age. Every opportunity we had we played football.One of the big problems we faced was to make an even match for two teams, and we could never quite pull it off. So we deciding the weaker team had the option of calling upon Bob. Bob was the only boy in our neighborhood who was older, faster, and bigger. The weaker team always got Bob. I used to enjoy being on the weaker team because we had him. We usaully pemitted Bob to pass and block, but never allowed him to carry the ball, and sometimes we didn't even let him pass and block. All he could do at such times was to call signals, to fire us with his own enthusiaism, and to set up plays. When Bob was on our side, we always played better because we played harder, because we were more confident. It gave us great security to know that he was on our team.
We have been taught that nothing is more important in life than to be on God's side. I would like to suggest that it is equally vital for us to realize that He's on our side.
