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Third Angel’s Message
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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.” “The sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord,
to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants,
every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold
of my covenant; even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and
make them joyful in my house of prayer.” [
Isaiah 56:1, 2, 6, 7
.]
These words apply in the Christian age, as is shown by the con-
text: “The Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet
will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.”
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[
Isaiah 56:8
.] Here is foreshadowed the gathering in of the Gentiles
by the gospel. And upon those who then honor the Sabbath, a bless-
ing is pronounced. Thus the obligation of the fourth commandment
extends past the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, to
the time when his servants should preach to all nations the message
of glad tidings.
The Lord commands by the same prophet, “Bind up the testi-
mony, seal the law among my disciples.” [
Isaiah 8:16
.] The seal of
God’s law is found in the fourth commandment. This only, of all the
ten, brings to view both the name and the title of the Lawgiver. It
declares him to be the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and thus
shows his claim to reverence and worship above all others. Aside
from this precept, there is nothing in the decalogue to show by whose
authority the law is given. When the Sabbath was changed by the
papal power, the seal was taken from the law. The disciples of Jesus
are called upon to restore it, by exalting the Sabbath of the fourth
commandment to its rightful position as the Creator’s memorial and
the sign of his authority.
“To the law and to the testimony.” While conflicting doctrines
and theories abound, the law of God is the one unerring standard to
which all opinions, doctrines, and theories are to be brought. Says
the prophet, “If they speak not according to this word, it is because
there is no light in them.” [
Isaiah 8:20
.]
Again, the command is given, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy
voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and
the house of Jacob their sins.” It is not the wicked world, but those
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whom the Lord designates as “my people,” that are to be reproved