Seventh-day Adventist Church is Christian - not a cult

[BobRyan]

For me to call SDA a cult is inappropriate but I do feel that word Sect is a fitting description.

My reasoning for this is that I have seen the gospel conveyed to great effect by members and this is what matters most. I am not SDA, I hope you don't mind my comment.

Paul says that Christianity was called a "sect" of Judaism.

So you make a good point.

But that could probably be said about all denominations in one sense or another.

 

[BobRyan]

What I do not understand is why people do things on the Sabbath that would cause others to have to work.

I agree with not going out to eat or going to a store on Sabbath since God's commandment actually says not to make people work for you on Sabbath.

 

[BobRyan]

Feeling that we had at least a little in common with them, we mentioned that we also kept the Sabbath as a day of rest. "Ah, that is interesting," replied the priest (or other official). "Tell me, if you go camping, will you light a fire to cook your food?" "Yes, we replied." "Well, then you aren't really keeping the Sabbath."

I agree that to the extent we can - we should be willing to have cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch etc in a case where a lot of work would have to be done to have a meal.

But I also don't compare the old method of getting a fire going at the time of Israel - vs the flip of a switch today - as being the same thing.

I have thought about this incident many times, and I think it speaks to the heart of what bothers other Protestants about our Sabbath

I don't think it gets very close at all when it comes to why non-Sabbath keeping Christians object to keeping the Sabbath themselves.

From what I have seen...

1. Most of them don't care if you keep the Sabbath. You are free to do it if you like a far as most of them are concerned.
2. Most of them agree that Christ was raised on resurrection Sunday - just as we also affirm. Meaning that we ALL agree that Saturday is the 7th day Sabbath of the Bible in Jesus' day. Some may not have put 2+2 together on this point - but when you show them they seldom object to this fact either.

3. Most of them do not know that the "Baptist Confession of Faith" sectn 19, "The Westminster Confession of Faith" sectn 19, and also D.L. Moody , R.C. Sproul and many others affirm that all TEN of the Ten Commandments are included in the moral law of God written on the heart under the New Covenant of Jer 31:31-33 and Heb 8. Those documents argue for editing the Sabbath commandment to point it to Sunday at some point after the cross.

4. Most people agree that they are keeping Sunday in memorial of Christ's resurrection and that this has so much greater importance than the Sabbath of the Ten Commandments - so that it just makes more sense to keep Sunday at least as a day for going to church.

Exactly WHAT are you doing? Are you trying to keep all the Mosaic regulations put up about the Sabbath?

That is a good point.

A common idea is that of all the Ten commandments - only the Sabbath commandment is ceremonial and is just for Jews , the rest is moral law for all of us.

No matter that Jesus said in Mark 2:27 that the Sabbath was made for mankind, not mankind made for the Sabbath.
And no matter that Is 66:23 says that in the New Earth - for all eternity after the cross - "from Sabbath to Sabbath shall all mankind come before Me to worship".
No matter that it is gentiles in the Synagogue in Acts 13 asking for more gospel preaching to be scheduled for them - "the next Sabbath" - it is not the Jews asking for that.

As an adult, I rely on Jesus stating that "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."

good point.

 

[Diamond72]

I agree with not going out to eat or going to a store on Sabbath since God's commandment actually says not to make people work for you on Sabbath.

They use to have blue laws where it was not legal to work on Sunday.

 

[BobRyan]

And that means that if I lets say go to Sunday and Saturday to church, is that wrong then I do that also Sunday? Does God really look about the day, so that means u never sing or worship or pray on Sunday? Coz that is from evil?

For a few years - I used to attend a Southern Baptist church next door to my home - every Sunday, but I have always gone to church on Sabbath as a Seventh-day Adventist.

The Bible does not say "do not go to church on week-day-1" and it is not say "do not pray or have worship on week-day-1". There is nothing wrong with going to church on Sunday.

But doing so - is not complying with the Sabbath commandment which is a separate issue.

 

[BobRyan]

They use to have blue laws where it was not legal to work on Sunday.

Yeah that is true.

Adventist eschatology predicts that all of that is coming back only with a twist to it not unlike what happened in Europe at one time.

 

[Semper-Fi]

The Bible does not say "do not go to church on week-day-1"

I thought the commandment to work 6 days a week ,
was just as much of a command as keeping the Sabbath day holy.

 

[BobRyan]

I thought the commandment to work 6 days a week ,
was just as much of a command as keeping the Sabbath day holy.

Many people go shopping and do other sorts of secular activity on days where they also spend an hour in church. All that is fine, if the day has not been "sanctified" by God - "set apart for holy use".

But even if someone says that in addition to observing the Bible Sabbath they wish to devote some other day for worship (as God also had people doing in Lev 23 for certain of the annual holy feast days), not a problem for those who want to be in line with God's Word in that regard.

But Gal 4 forbids observing pagan days, and God does not allow us to "not work on all days" since Paul said "if someone will not work, neither let him eat".