THE SABBATH REFORM MOVEMENT

ACTS 3:1

A. THE SABBATH REFORM MOVEMENT
  1. Pertinent questions by our Sunday keeping friends:
    1. "If the keeping of the seventh day of the week is obligatory of Christians, why was such an obligation not emphasized by the great Reformers?"
    2. "Why did Paul not command believers in so many words, 'if ye fail to keep the seventh day Sabbath, ye are lost'?"
    3. "If the Reformers were led by the Holy Spirit, why did they ignore the Sabbath?"
  2. These and similar questions have been brought to my attention on many occasions:
    1. They are asked in the assumption that the supposed silence of the Reformers is proof that the seventh day Sabbath is not a moral obligation to the Christian believers.
    2. That the assumed silence of Paul is further evidence against the Sabbath concept.
B. FACTS IGNORED, OVERLOOKED, BY OUR SUNDAY KEEPING FRIENDS
  1. That the Reformation, as guided by the Holy Spirit, is:
    1. Progressive - Acts 3:19-21
    2. It is cognizant of man's limitation to recognize and accept light and truth - John 16:12; Luke 18:34; 24:25
  2. That the path of the just is as a shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day: Prov. 4:18
  3. That twelve hundred and sixty years of darkness cannot be dispelled in the minds and lives of the people in a short time or through the preaching of a few men:
    1. Human beings do not possess the capacity or willingness to accept light all at once.
    2. God, in mercy and long-suffering, adjusts His program to our comprehension.
C. THE SABBATH REFORM MOVEMENT BASED UPON BIBLE PROPHECY
  1. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, assures us:
    1. That Christ will not come the second time until complete restitution has been made of all things spoken by God since the world began - Acts 3:19-21
    2. James seems to allude to the same work of restoration - Acts 15:15-18
  2. The Prophet Isaiah speaks about the Sabbath reform movement:
    1. In Isa. 56:1-7
    2. Isa. 58:1-14
  3. Four prophetic facts stand out in the above two chapters:
    1. Special emphasis is placed upon the proper keeping of the Sabbath of the Lord - Compare Isa. 56:1-3 with chapter 58:13
    2. The keeping of the Bible Sabbath is spoken of as "repairing the breach" - Isa. 58:12
    3. That indicates that someone had made a breach in the law of God - Compare the Ten Commandments as written in Ex. 20:1-17 with the law as changed by the Church of Rome - Dan. 7:25; Ps. 94:20
    4. This breach is brought to God's people's attention through the Sabbath Reform Movement today. Upwards of over one hundred thousand people take off their foot from God's holy day every year in all the world.
  4. Both our Lord and the apostles did not only keep the true Bible Sabbath but they gave strong emphasis to its loving observance:
    1. Compare Luke 4:16 with Matt. 12:8; Mark 2:27, 28; Luke 6:5; Matt. 24:20
    2. Compare Rom. 3:31 with Acts 13:42-44; 16:13; 17:1-9; 18:1-6; Rev. 22:14


Design © John Bryant 2011