This is the second installment of my reply to Mr. Scott Fogg, a Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA), who posted a well-appreciated comment on my article titled, “The Church Of The Bible: The Only 100% True Church.”
Dear Scott,
I noticed in your reply that you falsely accused the Church of God of not holding fast to Jesus’ preaching and teachings by largely ignoring the fourth commandment, which is the keeping of the Sabbath. That’s why you are concluded that we are not 100% upholding the truth of God’s teaching. I am sorry to say that you are wrong. If we are not keeping the seventh-day Sabbath, it’s not because we are ignoring one of God’s own commandments, as you say. You even cited Matthew 5:18, which I quote hereunder —
(17) “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. (18) “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
You were erroneously carried by the misinterpretation of these verses by the leaders of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. When the Lord Jesus Christ said that He “is come not to destroy the laws and the prophets, but to fulfill,” authorities of the SDAC recklessly interpreted that the “laws” and the “prophets” meant by the Lord are the Ten Commandments; but this is not so!
To give you some background, our Lord Jesus Christ came to earth to fulfill the “laws” and the “prophets” intended exclusively for Him by God the Father.
(Hebrews 10:7) “Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.”
Note the phrase, “written of me,” meaning, the will of God for Him to accomplish. Does it mean the Ten Commandments?
(Luke 24:44) “And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.”
Note again that He is going to fulfill those that were written in the Law of Moses, in the prophets, and in the psalms concerning Him.
Why not the Ten Commandments? Because the Ten Commandments were not meant for Christ!
(I Timothy 1:9-11) “Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.”
Consider that the Ten Commandments were not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient! Jesus Christ is righteous and obedient.
(Hebrews 5:8) “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered…”
He is obedient because He fulfilled all the laws and the prophecies written concerning His person and exclusively for Him. SDAC argues that the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the Ten Commandments and observed the seventh-day Sabbath by going to the synagogues on the Sabbath day. But, did He enter the synagogue on the Sabbath day to keep it?
(Luke 4:16-19) “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
(Luke 4:28-30) “And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way…”
If you look closely, Brother Scott, He went into the synagogue, not to keep the seventh-day Sabbath, but to preach the Gospel (not the 10 commandments); and when the Sabbath-keepers heard His preaching, they rose up against Him, wanting to destroy Him. Why would Sabbath-keepers destroy a fellow Sabbath-keeper? We do not only apply logic here, but verses to prove that Jesus Christ did not keep the Sabbath being kept by the Jews.
(John 5:18) “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.”
After all, He is not under obligation to keep the Sabbath nor to follow the Ten Commandments that are meant for the “lawless” and not for a righteous person like Him. Why do I say that He is not under obligation to keep the seventh-day Sabbath?
(Mark 2:27-28) “And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.”
Notice that He is Lord, also, of the Sabbath. The Lord is not under the Sabbath, but the Sabbath is under Him. The verse said that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
Sabbath made for man = The Israelites (Deuteronomy 5:15)
Not man for the Sabbath = Meaning not all men are obliged to keep the Sabbath
The Son of Man = Lord of the Sabbath = Not under the Sabbath
Nowhere in the book of Acts (that discloses the activities of the first-century Christian Church) can you find a verse written wherein the disciples congregated to keep the Sabbath. The Apostle Paul is recorded to have entered the synagogue every Sabbath to persuade the Sabbath-keepers, and as a result, they opposed him and blasphemed. Again, why will a Sabbath-keeper be opposed by a fellow Sabbath-keeper?
(Acts 18:4, 6) “And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks…”
“And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.”
Records in the Gospel inform us of the truth that the disciples did not keep the seventh-day Sabbath.
(Matthew 12:1-2) “At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were hungry, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.”
You must remember that it is prohibited for Sabbath-keepers to do any work on the seventh day. That is why the disciples and the Apostles were charged by the Jews for not keeping their Sabbath.
It is not lawful to kindle fire on The Sabbath.
(Exodus 35:3) “Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.”
Can you imagine the Apostles eating corn, raw? It is very evident that they broke the Sabbath because they understood that it was not for them.
There is a holy day for Christians — unlike the day regarded holy by the Israelites. The Apostle Paul spoke of it to former seventh-day Sabbath keepers who were converted to Christianity.
(Hebrews 4:4, 8) “For He spoke in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: ” And God rested the seventh day from all His works.”
“For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.”
Note that God first spoke of the seventh day in Verse 7, which, Joshua, leading the Israelites to the Promised Land, administered unto them; but in Verse 8, he spoke of another day, meaning, other than the seventh day. Paul gave us his basis for this ‘another’ day. He mentioned the Psalms of David.
(Hebrew 4:7) “He again marks out a certain day, saying in David, “Today, “(after so long a time). Even as it is said, “Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”
This day of rest is what ‘remaineth’ for the people of God in the New Testament.
(Hebrews 4:9) “So then there remains a rest to the people of God.”
Notice meticulously the terms being used by Paul —
- another day
- certain day
- a rest or a Sabbath
Definitely, these terms do not mean the seventh-day Sabbath. There are so many seventh days in a year. The New Testament mentions of a certain day (singular), another day (singular), a rest (singular).
What is this day?
It is mentioned in the Psalms of David, according to Paul.
(Psalms 118:20-24) “This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter. I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
This is a Day with a voice! "If you hear His voice, harden not your hearts," the verse said. This Day is the gate into which the righteous will enter. It is the stone which became the headstone of the corner. "This is the Day that the Lord hath made (emphasis mine)."
This Day is Jesus Christ: the true Sabbath or rest for Christians.
(Matthew 11:28-29) “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
Regardless of the literal day Christians congregate the Day that the Lord had made is with them. Christ is with them. Peace is with them. They are in God’s rest or Sabbath.
(Matthew 18:20) “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Where the spirit of Christ is, there is peace; there is rest; there is Sabbath.
(John 14:27) “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Where there’s no peace, there’s no rest, but where there’s peace there is genuine rest or Sabbath.
Brother Scott, I hope and pray that you and I may rest in peace — in the real Sabbath of the Lord. Remember, the Lord Jesus is the Lord, also, of the Sabbath or ‘rest.’
God bless,
EFS