Gods Sabbath

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E NTERING INTO G OD ’ S S ABBATH R EST

conscience; but the minds of men were fixed, sealed against the entrance of light, because they had decided it was a dan gerous error removing the ‘old landmarks’ when it was not moving a peg of the old landmarks, but they had perverted ideas of what constituted the old landmarks.” Counsels to Writers and Editors , 30. What was the basic problem in 1888? Why did those well meaning, dedicated, industrious people who professed great love for God and who had made large sacrifices in support of what they believed to be the Lord’s work, act in direct contradiction to God’s will when it was so clearly and audibly expressed through both prophet and messengers? The basic issue at Minneapolis was over who should be the re al head of the church. For decades, God’s people, then formed in to the Seventh-day Adventist church, had refused to respond to the warnings that they were slipping into the Laodicean condi tion, and had built up a tremendous program of their own works. They were working after the manner of Abram and Sarai when, in their efforts to fulfill God’s promise themselves, they brought forth the child Ishmael. Just as God finally came to Abraham and advised him that His covenant would never be with Ishmael, so, in 1888, the mes sage informed the Adventists that they had to sacrifice their own works and turn to God’s instead. But this required large faith, and in their unbelief, they spurned God’s loving appeal and rejected the message. Thus for the sixth time, the people of God came short of the promise of a finished work. 3. In the days of Ezra and Nehemiah 4. In the time of the apostolic church 5. In the advent awakening circa 1844 6. At the revival of the message in 1888 through Waggoner and Jones 7. In the 1950s when the gospel message again was preached and the Sabbath Rest Advent Church arose under F.T. Wright’s leadership 1. The Israelites in Canaan 2. In David’s time