This choice is also confirmed, some say, by the fact that Paul gives no instruction, rebuke, or command concerning the Sabbath, only as it is included in the law of God. Many a discussion with antinomians leaves even honest seekers bewildered. Therefore, we as Seventh-day Adventist workers should leave no doubt in the minds of people as to their obligation to keep the ten commandments. To do this, we must leave the writings of Paul and turn to other New Testament writers for greater clarity on the subject. The foundation of our message is outlined in the reform messages of the books of Daniel and the Revelation ; and these two books give a clear understanding of the exalted nature of the commandments of God.
It is left to the seer of Patmos to emphasize the perpetuity of the Sabbath. He wrote that he was "in the Spirit on the Lord's Day," and wrote this about thirty years after Paul's martyrdom. Therefore, since John, the beloved disciple, was preserved for some thirty years after Paul's day, it is evident that his writings are of greater value in point of time. 'He sets out, under the guidance of the Spirit, to correct current error. There can be no question that John strikes heavily against antinomianism.
It was while John was in the Spirit on the "Lord's day," that he saw the ark of God's testament in heaven. (See Revelation II :19 ; 15:5.) Thus the commandments of God are exalted before the apostle's vision. These Scriptures refute the teaching that the decalogue was abolished at the cross sixty years before. They do more than this, they show which day is the Lord's day—it is the seventh day, commanded in the law deposited in the ark. After the vision of the ark of the testament, John was shown that God's remnant people would keep the commandments of God. (See Revelation 12 :17; 14:12; 22 :14.) But this is not all, for in his epistles he writes much more on commandment keeping. 'One old Christian, who accepted the Sabbath after fifty years of Sunday observance in nominal Protestant churches, once remarked, "The epistles of John are full of love and commandment keeping."
It was Mrs. E. G. White's vision of the law of God exalted in heaven, which attracted her attention to the Sabbath and dispelled her doubts on Sabbathkeeping. I have read practically everything ever written by our writers on the law and the Sabbath, and I have scarcely seen a word on Sabbathkeeping taken from this great text, Revelation 11:19, in which John says he saw the ark of God's testament in heaven. But it appears to be, from the following standpoints, a strong argument for Sabbath observance.
1. It proves that the cross did not abolish the ten commandments.
2. It proves that the "Lord's Day" is the day defined in the fourth commandment as the "Sabbath of the Lord."
3. It proves that the commandments observed by the remnant are the ten commandments.
4. It proves that sin, which is the transgression of the law, is the transgression of the law John saw in heaven. (See I John 3:4.)
5. It supplements and enhances the Sabbath arguments of Daniel 7:25.
The many references to commandment keeping in John's writings indicate that there were in his day controversies regarding the necessity for obedience to God's law. Then, as now, Paul's writings were wrested (2 Peter 3:16) to justify violation of God's law. It is evident that John was directed by the Spirit to, bear a firm testimony on commandment keeping.
By the rule of arrangement of strong arguments, the conclusion should set forth in emphasis the things most important. Hence it is manifest that the great object of the gospel is to empower men to keep and to obey God's commandments—His unchangeable law.
I have witnessed good results produced by emphasizing Revelation 11:19. There is no doubt that this text greatly influenced Mrs. E. G. White and helped her to see the importance of Sabbath observance.
