translated into our own languages. The King James Bible of today is based on the Textus Receptus, the received text, and is a valuable book that comes to us from those who laid down their lives for the Word of God. It is from the underground groups too, that we have the basic principles of democracy, with provision for individual choice and rights and freedom of worship. As a result of their work, however we may choose to worship—on Sabbath or on a Sunday, we can do it freely.
The Sabbath question re-emerged in the 1800’s. The ‘church in the wilderness’ re-surfaced. What caused the re-examination of the Sabbath? The questioning about the seventh day Sabbath came about as a result of the study of prophecy. Now, in the light of prophecy concerning last day events, the moral importance of the Sabbath was truly seen as well as the religious liberty aspects, for prophecy had revealed the spiritual meaning of the Sabbath, not merely its historical veracity. The Sabbath now had an especially forceful context, for the prophetic emphasis now transcended the issue of freedom to worship according to conscience.
Religious liberty will always remain a vital part of Sabbath worship, but the prophetic context of the Sabbath gives it a far deeper significance. Religious liberty looks at the rights of mankind. The Sabbath in its prophetic context, however, looks at the rightful allegiance that is owed to God from His creatures. This allegiance and gratitude for the blessings of life can be expressed only in obedience to the fourth or Sabbath commandment. It is this commandment that gives us His name, His signature if you like, or His official seal of office, and shows that for all living creatures, His rule is supreme in the heaven and the earth. The Sabbath is a gift from God to us to link us with Him in a beneficent way; it is given as a blessing of rest and peace for His creation. It is through obedience to the Sabbath that He links us to Himself. The Sabbath is a lesson of faith as we learn to trust that He means what He says about blessings. It has to be experienced to discover this delight. The Sabbath, too, is a lesson of self-denial, as we give one seventh of our time back to Him; this in turn will take from us our desire to please ourselves, always doing what we want. As we give to God, He gives us far more love and pleasure and well being in return.
In the Sabbath there is to be found a weekly re-creation for tired bodies and jaded minds.
At the end of the working week we are exhausted even if we have not done very much. This is because our bodies work on a six day cycle with a seventh day built in as a time to stop and rest.
Rhythmically, the body’s time of stopping has been discovered to be Friday nights. Sabbath keepers kneel in prayer and link themselves to God for twenty-four hours to find refreshment and refuelling. Truly the Sabbath