p. 126 | WHO CAN OBEY THEM? by James White

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 18, 1880

WHO CAN OBEY THEM?

By James White

TWICE the Lord solemnly enjoined upon Israel, the following requirement: “Ye shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary; I am the Lord.” Lev. 19:30; 26:2. This was spoken to Israel at a time when the world was given up to idolatry, and the Lord had separated them from the rest of mankind as his people, and made them the depositaries of his truth. Under these circumstances, it must be evident that whatever instructions the Lord gave them, as his people, independent of their particular situation, and the typical nature of their dispensation, are equally applicable to his people everywhere, and in all time. But these directions did not grow out of the fact that the children of Israel were for a time sojourners in the wilderness, nor out of the typical nature of their religious services. They were given to them simply as his people, and the reason upon which they are based is declared to be, because he was their Lord. None, therefore, who profess to be the people of the Lord, can claim exemption from this injunction, on the ground of a change of dispensation, or a variation of circumstances; for it is not dependent upon any of these things. The Lord once enjoined upon his people certain things, on conditions independent of all local circumstances, or the variations of time and place; and this injunction must still rest upon those who claim to be the people of the Lord, or who claim him as their God. He is not so fickle as to enjoin upon one age the observance and reverence of certain things, on the ground of his own glory, and then permit another age to dishonor and trample them under foot. Hence the injunction, “Ye shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary,” is still binding upon the people of God.

We may argue the perpetuity of this requirement on other ground: thus, so long as an institution exists, all laws and instructions relating thereto, which are not local and temporary in their nature, exist also; but we need enter into no argument with the readers of this paper, to show that the Sabbath still exists, demanding our strict and sincere observance, and that this dispensation has a sanctuary, the glorious anti-type above, which should be reverenced by all the people.

Here, then, are two objects which the Lord sets before us as peculiarly dear and precious to him. They are his own, “my Sabbaths, my sanctuary.” He would have us, for his sake, respect and love them.

But who can do this? Pass your eye over christendom and see how the enemy has worked to mar the divine plans and harmony in this respect. What class of people with the present system of belief, can keep the Sabbath and reverence the sanctuary?

The greater portion of the people we behold keeping Sunday, an institution which is not the Sabbath of the Lord, and cannot be observed in obedience to the fourth commandment. These certainly cannot, without changing the day of their observance, heed the injunction which says, Ye shall keep my Sabbaths.

We behold another class, who do not believe there is any Sabbath; the Sabbath has been done away, abolished, nailed to the cross. They certainly cannot be fulfilling the requirement to keep the Lord’s Sabbath.

Still worse, if possible, is it in regard to the sanctuary. That holy dwelling-place of God has for ages been lost from sight entirely. People generally have no idea of any such object. And when brought before the mind, enforced with all the plain declarations of the apostle Paul on the subject in the book of Hebrews, they can with difficulty be made to see it, while the majority utterly refuse to believe in the existence of any such place. Can they reverence the sanctuary who do not believe in its existence?

Nevertheless, there is a class who can heed this plain requirement of the Lord—a class who can keep the Sabbath, and reverence the sanctuary—a class who believe in the Sabbath in all its immutability and holiness, and in the sanctuary in all its glory—and that class is Seventh-day Adventists.

The present truth produces harmony in every part of the word of God. None who believe in that find any commands to which they are prevented by their theory from yielding obedience. We can keep them just as we find them. Do we sufficiently value such a truth? Do we regard with sufficient interest the two great objects that shine like stars of the first magnitude in this glorious constellation? The Sabbath and the sanctuary! Let us keep the one and reverence the other.

J. W.