The conviction was urged upon them that they had ignorantly transgressed this precept by disregarding the Creator ' s rest day . They began to examine the reasons for observing the first day of the week instead of the day which God had sanctified . They could find no evidence in the Scriptures that the fourth commandment had been abolished , or that the Sabbath had been changed ; the blessing which first hallowed the seventh day had never been removed . They had been honestly seeking to know and to do God ' s will ; now , as they saw themselves transgressors of His law , sorrow filled their hearts , and they manifested their loyalty to God by keeping His Sabbath holy .
Many and earnest were the efforts made to overthrow their faith . None could fail to see that if the earthly sanctuary was a figure or pattern of the heavenly , the law deposited in the ark on earth was an exact transcript of the law in the ark in heaven ; and that an acceptance of the truth concerning the heavenly sanctuary involved an acknowledgment of the claims of God ' s law and the obligation of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment . Here was the secret of the bitter and determined opposition to the harmonious exposition of the Scriptures that revealed the ministration of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary . Men sought to close the door which God had opened , and to open the door which He had closed . But " He that openeth , and no man shutteth ; and shutteth , and no man openeth ," had declared : " Behold , I have set before thee an open door , and no man can shut it ." Revelation 3:7 , 8 . Christ had opened the door , or ministration , of the most holy place , light was shining from that open door of the sanctuary in heaven , and the fourth commandment was shown to be included in the law which is there enshrined ; what God had established , no man could overthrow .
Those who had accepted the light concerning the mediation of Christ and the perpetuity of the law of God found that these were the truths presented in Revelation 14 . The messages of this chapter constitute a threefold warning ( See Appendix ) which is to prepare the inhabitants of the earth for the Lord ' s second coming . The announcement , " The hour of His judgment is come ," points to the closing work of Christ ' s ministration for the salvation of men . It heralds a truth which must be proclaimed until the Saviour ' s intercession shall cease and He shall return to the earth to take His people to Himself . The work of judgment which began in 1844 must continue until the cases of all are decided , both of the living and the dead ; hence it will extend to the close of human probation .
That men may be prepared to stand in the judgment , the message commands them to " fear God , and give glory to Him ," " and worship Him that made heaven , and earth , and the sea , and the fountains of waters ." The result of an acceptance of these messages is given in the word : " Here are they that keep the commandments of God , and the faith of Jesus ." In order to be prepared for the judgment , it is necessary that men should keep the law of God . That law will be the standard of character in the judgment . The apostle Paul declares : " As many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law , . . . in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ ." And he says that " the doers of the law shall be justified ." Romans 2:12-16 . Faith is essential in order to the
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