Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Evolutionists tell us that we are highly developed animals. But animals are not spiritual beings. Christ tells us that "God is Spirit" (John 4:24). Does that mean that He is only a shadow or a cloud, that He is not real? By no means. The only real things are those that are spiritual--all material things can be wiped out in a moment by fire, flood, or nuclear bombs. "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body" (1 Cor. 15:44). Only spiritual things will endure for all eternity.
Since God is Spirit, the rest that He took after creating the heavens and the earth was a spiritual rest. It wasn't that He was physically tired, for "the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary" (Isa. 40:28). Creation was not a physical work; it was spiritual. God spoke, and it was.
Therefore, to keep God's Sabbath, or rest, is to enjoy a spiritual rest. While it is true that we are not to continue our daily physical labor on that holy day, it is also true that without spiritual rest there is no Sabbath-keeping.
If the Sabbath were intended only to provide physical rest, then it would be reasonable for earthly governments to make laws requiring people to keep it. (Some want the government to make such laws, forcing people to keep another day, especially Sunday.) But since the Sabbath is a spiritual rest, no one can be forced to keep it. "Spiritual" pertains to God alone, who is Spirit. Only the Spirit of God can give such rest. And He is not subject to courts of law or parliaments.
God does not use compulsion, and He has authorized no man, church, or government to use it in His place. Compulsion or force in religious matters is evidence that the religion being enforced is a false one. It is an acknowledgement that it has no power to motivate the human heart. Christ says that He will "draw all men" to Him; but He never tries to force them. He is a Good Shepherd; a shepherd never drives his sheep!
The Sabbath is the seal of a new creature in Christ, one who is united with Him by faith. Born a creature of the dust, He is now a newly born member of the heavenly family. The Sabbath is therefore the "seal of God" which is placed upon "the foreheads" of God's servants in these last days (Rev. 7:1-4). It came from Paradise and marks those who are destined to live eternally in Paradise. As they assemble through eternity from Sabbath to Sabbath, they will "sing for joy" because of what their Savior has done for them (Rev. 5:12):
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches
and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!
--Robert J. Wieland
From: The True Sabbath, undated.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."
