[What else does God say about the sabbath?]

Galatians 4:9,10 condemns the observance of "days, months, times, and years." These were usually observed with the idea of gaining FAVOUR with God.

Colossians 2:16,17 plainly states that the believer in Christ is NOT to be judged with respect to a SABBATH DAY.

Romans 14:5 declares that when the believer is "Persuaded in their own mind" he may esteem all days alike. Hence, ALL days should be full of devotion toward God. Is is 7/7 and not i/7.

The term Christian Sabbath is a MISNOMER. The 1st day of the week has been celebrated since the Lord's resurrection. It is representative of the NEW CREATION realities and is a true sabbath, since we can now REST from our own works in order to please God. Our sabbath REST is because we can now trust completely in His finished work.

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You are mistaken in your belief that the sabbath day has changed and should not be honored because the bible clearly states that this is not so.

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"
Jesus was saying that he made the Sabbath for us a day where we rest by leaving the troubles of the week behind and putting our full focus on him. Exodus:20:8-10 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:"But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates"  

What else does God say about the sabbath?
Exodus 31:16,17: Wherefore the children of Isreal shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Isreal for ever:for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed"

Eze. 20:12: "Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them"

Eze.:20:20:"And hollow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God"


Did God warn against the impending change of the Sabbath in the bible?
Isa 59:12-14: And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places:thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the savvath a delight, the hold of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure,nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt though delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the eath, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it"

Isaiah 56:1,2 "Thus saith the Lord, keep ye judgement, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. 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"

Dan 7:25 "And he shall speak great words against the most high, and shall wear out the saints of the most high, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into this hand until a time and times and the divinding of time"

What does the new testament say about the Sabbath?

Luke 4:16: "So he [Jesus] 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 to read."

There is no mention of Sunday being the day of worship in the bible so where did it come from?

Jesus birth or ressurection did not change the sabbath.Matt. 5:17-19: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 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. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and each them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

Even in death Jesus kept the Sabbath. He died on Friday night and resurrected on Sunday. He "rested" through Sabbath. Matt 28:1-7: Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold , there was a great eathquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. His counternance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women. "Do not be afriad, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here for he is risen, as he said.Come and see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and indeed he is going before you into Galilee; there you will see him, Behold I have told you"

Sunday was orginally a pagan day of worship where the sun god was celebrated. Because many sun worshipers were coming into the early church, pagan and christian practices were mixed. It became a practice to worship on Saturday and Sunday. It wasn't until later that Sunday worship was widely popularized. According to the encyclopedia britannica {11th edition] pg 95) "the earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty is a constitution of Constantine in A.D. 321, enacting that all courts of justice, inhitants of towns, and workshops were to be at rest on Sunday."

This is taken from "A History of the Christian Councils" by Charles Joseph Hefele":  Canon 29 of the council of laodicea states "Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday, but shall work on that day; but the Lord's day they shall especially honour, and; as being christians shall. if possible. do no work on that day. If. however. they are found Judaizing they shall be shut out from Christ. "

2 Thess 2:3,4 "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God"
By changing God's law man attempts to be God.

Ellen White is not a self-claimed prophet. She did state that she recieved visions from God. The insights that she wrote about from her visions is proof to many that her visions were real. (especially with her limited education). Many who judge her or refute her have not read any of her works or known anything about her life story. Like I said before she has always refered back to the bible in her works and they provide a better understanding of the bible. She is the one who brought focus back to the Sabbath and promoted a healthy lifestyle. She never tried to take credit for any insight she made but gave all the glory to God. If you really want to know about Ellen G. White and her role in the SDA church you can go to: http://www.whiteestate.org/about/egwbio.asp  

[The bible compares death to sleep.]

This is hell--or a foretaste of hell, where we are now.

Jer 10:12

12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.




Isa 11:9

9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.



Ps 47:7

7 For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.

1 Chron 16:31

31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The LORD reigneth.


Ps 67:2

2 That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.


Ps 83:18

18 That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.

Gen 1:31

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.


Ps 96:1
96:1 O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.



Ps 119:119

119 Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.

Yes the earth was made by God in perfection but sin destroyed that perfection. Earth will be the site of destruction. Before I discuss why I would like to encourage to read the bible and to look up  all the biblical references I will give you for yourself and not just take what I say.  I believe that you can always learn something new from the bible everytime you read it. It is also a good idea to pray before opening God's Word. I am using the New King James Version.  

Sheol is a hebrew word that has been translated into three words: grave, pit, hell. There are a lot of misconceptions about heaven and hell and the state of the dead that I will touch on.  

The first misconception is that there is a  currently burning hell and that those that die go straight to heaven or hell. Ecclesiastics 9:5. "The living know that they will die. But the dead know nothing."  

The bible compares death to sleep.
John 11: 11-12 states : "These things he said, and after that he said to them. Our friends Lazarus sleeps. but I go that I may wake him up . Then his disciples said. :Lord if he sleeps he will get well. However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that he was speaking about taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him. "
Jesus used sleep to emphasize the point that the dead will know nothing until their resurrection in his 2nd coming.  At which point it will be as if awakening from sleep because they will not know of the time that has passed.


Many people use Eccl. 12:7: "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it" to support the claim that the spirit a thinking entity immediately preceding death lives on to go to heaven or hell.

In the beginning of time when God created Adam and Eve he breathed into their dust made bodies the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). Without this breath or in other words "spirit" their is no life here or anywhere else. Psalms 146:3,4: "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." Everything is reverted to its original state. No breath, no body equals no life.  

So When will  judgement be dealt?
John Matthew 13:40, "Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire at the end of this age." The tares represent evil, wicked, sin. Jesus specifically stated that they would be destroyed in the end of the world.

Another example can be found in Matthew 14:27 :For the son of man will come in the glory of his father with his angels, then he will reward each according to his works."

Luke 14:14. "And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just."

2 Peter 2:9: The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgement to be punished"

Unlike popular belief the judgement is a step by step process that will not be dealt all at once.
1 Thessalonians 4:16,17: "For the Lord himself shall descend  from heaven and with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then  we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord"

When the righteous ascend to heaven it will not be in a secret rapture.
Rev. 1-7: Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen"

What happends after the righteous ascend to heaven?Revelations 20:...then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not recieved  his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned  with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with his a thousand years....now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison.....and fire came down from God our of heaven and decoured them. The devil who decieved them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophets are. and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.....and I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things that were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found in the Book of life was cast into the lake of fire. "  (you should read the whole chapter).

According to scripture (the passages above) earth is the sight of damnation therefore earth will become "hell" after the 2nd Coming and other occurances stated in the bible.
The idea that the dead go straight to heaven and hell is etched in Greek mythology not biblical references.
 
Will the fire burn eternally?
Kacey asked how can anyone in heaven be happy knowing that their love one's are burning eternally? And would God be so cruel as to inflict eternal suffering?  The vindictive  and wrathful vision persented by man of God is the reason why many people have turned away from God. I agree that that state of death from the fire is only thing that's eternal. Why? because God does not take pleasure in our pain. 2Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not willing that any should perish but
that all should come to repentance". The fire is not eternal it will burn until there is nothing left to burn.
Here are some Biblical examples that depict this:
Malachi 4:3 : "And you shall tread down the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet"  

The fire shall devour them (it doesn't say 'keep on' devouring
them).....Psalm 21:9.
Evil doers will be cut off.....Psalm 37:9.
The wicked will not be.....Psalm 37:10.
The wicked shall perish.....Psalm 37:20.
They shall consume away.....Psalm 37:20.
They shall be cut off.....Psalm 37:22.
The wicked shall be slain.....Psalm 62:3.
The wicked will he destroy.....Psalm 145:20.
The wicked are reserved to the day of judgment.....Job 21:30.
They will be burned  up......Malachi 4:1.
The wicked shall be as stubble.....Malachi 34:1.
It shall leave them neither root nor branch.....Malachi 4:1.
They shall be ashes under foot.....Malachi 4:3.
Turning Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, making them an example to the ungodly..... 2Peter 2:6.
As fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them..... Revelation
20:9.

In Jude 7 Sodom and Gomorrah were burned with an "everlasting fire". Also in Isaiah 34:10- the phrase burning forever and ever is also used in regards to the land of Idumea. You must agree that neither fire is burning today.

What happends after the earth and all evil is destroyed?
Revelations 21:1" Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea, Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying." Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, now crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away" Amen  
 
 

[Did God warn against the impending change of the Sabbath in the bible?]

I know that my mom became an SDA a few years back.
What little she speaks of her religion is very legalistic.

I don't know what you mean by legalistic. SDA's choose not to ignore important teachings in the Old Testament such as following all of the 10 commandments ( Exodus 20) and instructions on diet (Leviticus 11). Do you think that it's a coincidence that the only commandment that states "remember" is forgetten or ignored (Exodus 20:8-10)? I don't believe that works alone will guarantee anyone a spot in heaven.  It is true that God's love is unconditional. Also that accepting the gift he gave us on the cross is part of salvation. However, the best way to show love is by actions right. By following his teachings or what I call his instruction manual (the bible) we are showing the love we have for him. Words are meaningless without actions to support those words.

Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man.

Why do you follow the works of Ellen G. White?

The full text is found in 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"
 Jesus was saying that he made the Sabbath for us a day where we rest by leaving the troubles of the week behind and putting our full focus on him. Exodus:20:8-10 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:"But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates"  

What else does God say about the sabbath?
 
Exodus 31:16,17: Wherefore the children of Isreal shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Isreal for ever:for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed"

Eze. 20:12: "Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them"

Eze.:20:20:"And hollow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God"


Did God warn against the impending change of the Sabbath in the bible?
 Isa 59:12-14: And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places:thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the savvath a delight, the hold of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure,nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt though delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the eath, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it"

Isaiah 56:1,2 "Thus saith the Lord, keep ye judgement, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. 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"

Dan 7:25 "And he shall speak great words against the most high, and shall wear out the saints of the most high, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into this hand until a time and times and the divinding of time"

What does the new testament say about the Sabbath?

Luke 4:16: "So he [Jesus] 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 to read."

There is no mention of Sunday being the day of worship in the bible so where did it come from?

Jesus birth or ressurection did not change the sabbath.Matt. 5:17-19: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 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. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and each them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

 Even in death Jesus kept the Sabbath. He died on Friday night and resurrected on Sunday. He "rested" through Sabbath. Matt 28:1-7: Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold , there was a great eathquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. His counternance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women. "Do not be afriad, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here for he is risen, as he said.Come and see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and indeed he is going before you into Galilee; there you will see him, Behold I have told you"

Sunday was orginally a pagan day of worship where the sun god was celebrated. Because many sun worshipers were coming into the early church, pagan and christian practices were mixed. It became a practice to worship on Saturday and Sunday. It wasn't until later that Sunday worship was widely popularized. According to the encyclopedia britannica {11th edition] pg 95) "the earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty is a constitution of Constantine in A.D. 321, enacting that all courts of justice, inhitants of towns, and workshops were to be at rest on Sunday."

This is taken from "A History of the Christian Councils" by Charles Joseph Hefele":  Canon 29 of the council of laodicea states "Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday, but shall work on that day; but the Lord's day they shall especially honour, and; as being christians shall. if possible. do no work on that day. If. however. they are found Judaizing they shall be shut out from Christ. "

2 Thess 2:3,4 "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God"
By changing God's law man attempts to be God.



To answer your question about Ellen White.  Ellen White's works are in no way held in higher accord then the bible by SDA's. Reading her works are by no means a prerequisite to being SDA or christian. They are books of commentary that use the bible as references. Only to be used as means to better understand the bible. Also it shows us how to apply the word to the present day (without adding or removing any biblical law). She is simple an author and founder of our church and has never claimed to be more than that.

 

I know that my mom became an SDA a few years back.
What little she speaks of her religion is very legalistic.

I don't know what you mean by legalistic. SDA's choose not to ignore important teachings in the Old Testament such as following all of the 10 commandments ( Exodus 20) and instructions on diet (Leviticus 11). Do you think that it's a coincidence that the only commandment that states "remember" is forgetten or ignored (Exodus 20:8-10)? I don't believe that works alone will guarantee anyone a spot in heaven.  It is true that God's love is unconditional. Also that accepting the gift he gave us on the cross is part of salvation. However, the best way to show love is by actions right. By following his teachings or what I call his instruction manual (the bible) we are showing the love we have for him. Words are meaningless without actions to support those words.

cult

The thing that binds all christian denominations is the belief that Jesus is the son of God and our lord and Savior which is an SDA belief. So before you start throwing out accusations you better be able to back them up. Because I can back up all beliefs of SDA's beliefs with biblical references. The Bible is my guide and I refuse to accept "theological" teachings invented by mankind.

The Seventh-Day Adventist church is an established christian denomination not a cult. Anyone who says differently is misinformed. The church worships on Saturday in accordance with the 10 commandment teaching that the 7th day is the Sabbath. It is true that most SDA's practice a healthy lifestyle with either vegetarian or semi-vegetarian diet and also obstain from alcohol, smoking  and caffeine. Here is the official website of the SDA church:        www.adventist.org