Test 34: Appeal to the Reader

A Personal Word

You have now examined 33 tests addressing the Sabbath question. The evidence has been presented systematically, fairly, and comprehensively. Before the final verdict is rendered, this test offers a personal appeal.

• What This Investigation Has Established

From the Old Testament

1. God created the Sabbath at the beginning — blessing and sanctifying the seventh day before sin, before Israel, before any covenant (Genesis 2:2-3)

1. God spoke the Sabbath command Himself — the only law spoken by God's own voice to an assembled people (Exodus 20:1)

1. God wrote the Sabbath command Himself — inscribing it with His own finger on stone (Exodus 31:18)

1. God called the Sabbath His sign — the mark of the relationship between Him and His people (Exodus 31:13; Ezekiel 20:12)

From Christ's Ministry

1. Jesus kept the Sabbath as His custom — the Son of God observed the seventh day throughout His life (Luke 4:16)

1. Jesus taught the Sabbath's purpose — "made for man" — universal, not limited to Israel (Mark 2:27)

1. Jesus clarified Sabbath observance — distinguishing the commandment from human additions

1. Jesus expected future Sabbath observance — even 40 years after the cross (Matthew 24:20)

From the Apostolic Era

1. The apostles kept the Sabbath — Paul observed it "as his manner was" (Acts 17:2)

1. Gentiles were taught on the Sabbath — not redirected to Sunday (Acts 13:42-44)

1. The apostles upheld the law — "we establish the law" (Romans 3:31)

1. No apostle ever changed the Sabbath — complete silence on any transfer

From Prophecy

1. The remnant keeps the commandments — God's end-time people are identified by commandment-keeping (Revelation 14:12)

1. The Sabbath continues eternally — "from sabbath to sabbath" all flesh will worship (Isaiah 66:23)

From the Opponent

1. The Catholic Church admits — "You will not find a single line authorizing Sunday" (Cardinal Gibbons)

• What You Have Not Found

In 33 tests covering the entire Bible, you have not found:

• A single verse commanding Sunday observance
• A single verse abolishing the Sabbath
• A single verse transferring sanctity from Saturday to Sunday
• A single apostle teaching that the day was changed
• A single explanation of why or when a change occurred

The silence is deafening.

• The Question Before You

The evidence is clear. The question now is: What will you do with it?

This is not merely an academic question. It concerns:

• Your relationship with God — Will you obey what He has commanded?
• Your understanding of truth — Will you follow Scripture or tradition?
• Your preparation for the end times — Revelation identifies the remnant by commandment-keeping
• Your eternal destiny — "Blessed are they that do his commandments" (Revelation 22:14)

• The Objections Answered

Perhaps you are thinking:

"But I've always kept Sunday..."

So did millions before the Reformation keep unbiblical traditions. The Reformers' principle was sola scriptura — Scripture alone. When they discovered truths buried under tradition, they followed Scripture regardless of custom.

Acts 17:30 — "The times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent."

What was done in ignorance is one thing. What is done in knowledge is another.

"But my church keeps Sunday..."

The question is not what your church does, but what Scripture teaches. Many sincere Christians in many churches observe Sunday. But sincerity does not make error into truth.

Matthew 15:3 — "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?"

"But it would be difficult to change..."

Yes, it may be. Following Christ has always involved cost. But the difficulty of obedience does not excuse disobedience.

Matthew 16:24 — "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."

"But does it really matter which day?"

God specified the day. "The seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God" (Exodus 20:10). We do not get to decide that "any day" will do when God has specified one.

Isaiah 55:8-9 — "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD."

• The Invitation

This investigation began as a legal inquiry. It ends as a spiritual invitation. God invites you to:

1. Acknowledge the truth — The evidence is overwhelming
2. Accept His Sabbath as a gift — "The sabbath was made for man" (Mark 2:27)
3. Enter His rest — "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God" (Hebrews 4:9)
4. Join His remnant — Those who "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14:12)

• The Promise

Isaiah 58:13-14 — "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, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it."

The Sabbath is not a burden — it is a delight. It is not legalism — it is love expressed in obedience. It is not optional — it is a command. But it is also a gift, a blessing, and a sign of belonging to God.

• The Prayer

May the God who spoke from Sinai, who rested on the seventh day, who kept the Sabbath in human flesh, and who calls His people to commandment-keeping — may He give you courage to follow truth wherever it leads.

John 14:15 — "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

Revelation 22:14 — "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."