Gods Sabbath

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E NTERING INTO G OD ’ S S ABBATH R EST

rested in the perfect confidence that the Master Architect knew exactly what He was doing, that everything was under His at tention and care, and that Christ was working in perfect harmo ny with His Father. Under these conditions, nothing could go wrong. All the disciples had to do was follow Christ’s instruc tions, while awaiting in joyful anticipation the perfect outwork ing of God’s plans. But instead, they placed their confidence and trust in their own plans and abilities to solve problems.

Are We like the Disciples?

This is still the problem for many people today. Our own mis conceptions of God’s plans lead us to trust self instead of leaving everything in His capable hands. In His Word, we read of the close, sweet fellowship of true Christian life and we may have even experienced this at times. We may earnestly seek to enter in to the joy of this on-going peace, regardless of what happens to us, but despite our sincere prayers, the desired result is not achieved. Our peace deserts us when we most need it at times of tempta tion. This is a trial to our faith, for we can see no reason why the promise should fail us, and like the disciples, we are tempted to murmur against God in our hearts, while tending to trust still more to our own works. If we do so, this leads to further separa tion from Christ with even less possibility of true fellowship. We need to see that only when we understand, trust and practice the principles of Sabbath rest, can we enter into sweet communion with Christ and receive His constant peace in our hearts. When we do accept and obey Sabbath rest principles, we find that this effectively unites us with other believers who have the same faith, while separating us from those who do not. This divi sion is inevitable, for the two groups stand on opposite sides of the great controversy, and can never be reconciled, although people within them may change their understanding and allegiance. Our place in that titanic struggle is determined by the procedures we follow in seeking to build either God’s or our own kingdom. Because the disciples failed to learn those principles of Sab bath rest while Christ was with them, He walked very much alone. He could find true communion with none of the twelve