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The Desire of Ages
thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.”
Psalm 100:2-4
. And of
all who keep “the Sabbath from polluting it,” the Lord declares, “Even
them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My
house of prayer.”
Isaiah 56:6, 7
.
“Wherefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” These
words are full of instruction and comfort. Because the Sabbath was
made for man, it is the Lord’s day. It belongs to Christ. For “all things
were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was
made.”
John 1:3
. Since He made all things, He made the Sabbath.
By Him it was set apart as a memorial of the work of creation. It
points to Him as both the Creator and the Sanctifier. It declares that He
who created all things in heaven and in earth, and by whom all things
hold together, is the head of the church, and that by His power we are
reconciled to God. For, speaking of Israel, He said, “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,”—make them holy.
Ezekiel 20:12
.
Then the Sabbath is a sign of Christ’s power to make us holy. And it
is given to all whom Christ makes holy. As a sign of His sanctifying
power, the Sabbath is given to all who through Christ become a part
of the Israel of God.
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And the Lord says, “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath,
from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a
delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; ... then shalt thou delight
thyself in the Lord.”
Isaiah 58:13, 14
. To all who receive the Sabbath
as a sign of Christ’s creative and redeeming power, it will be a delight.
Seeing Christ in it, they delight themselves in Him. The Sabbath points
them to the works of creation as an evidence of His mighty power in
redemption. While it calls to mind the lost peace of Eden, it tells of
peace restored through the Saviour. And every object in nature repeats
His invitation, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28
.
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