The Vegan Lifestyle

Why is the keeping of the seventh-day sabbath very important to all? Why did God command the stoning to death those who would desecrate the seventh-day sabbath (Exodus 31:14, 15)?

“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” (Psalms 103:8). He does not punish without a cause. In fact, God has no pleasure in the death of him who dies (Ezekiel 18:32), even in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:23).

What then is the reason why God commanded the stoning to death of the Israelite who desecrated His seventh-day sabbath (Numbers 15:32-36)? What is so very important in the seventh-day sabbath that demands the death of its desecrator?

The keeping of seventh-day sabbath holy is the fourth commandment given by God to all. In this commandment is forever embodied the Seal of God – the sign of His authority. Like most official seals of earthly rulers, the fourth commandment bears the name of the ruler, the LORD; His official position, Creator (made), and His dominion, the heaven and the earth, the sea, and all that in them is.

I will include here the full text of the fourth commandment for the benefit of those who have not read it completely because some Bible translators had it shortened to hide the truth about the seventh-day sabbath. This is how it is exactly written in Exodus chapter 20:

8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.  9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:  10 But  the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it (Exodus 20:8-11).

Let these words of the fourth commandment of God settle all doubts and questions about the seventh-day sabbath. If we still perversely cling to our bigoted ideas about sabbath keeping, let these words of the fourth commandment be a witness against us during the judgment day!

Most people, including Christians,  say that the keeping of  the sabbath is no longer binding. They try to condone their sin by saying that the sabbath was only given to the Jews.

Abraham, from whom the Jews descended, appeared only on this planet Earth two thousand years after the institution of the seventh-day sabbath at the end of Creation. The command to keep the sabbath holy is not exclusive to the Jews only, but for all. It enjoins “…the stranger that is within thy gates” to keep it holy. These strangers are not Jews. Granted that these strangers are Jews, we still have to consider the words “…nor thy cattle…” If the cattle are to rest, shall not the strangers, and all men regardless of whether they are Jews or not keep the seventh-day sabbath also?

Indeed the command to keep the sabbath holy is for all men. Our Lord Jesus Christ said that “…the sabbath was made for man…” (Mark 2:27). The word “man” is here used to mean mankind as a whole; not for one race alone, but for all men.

What about Colossians 2:14? It says that the law was already blotted out and nailed to the cross at Calvary. So, there’s no more need to keep it.

Do we really honestly believe in our hearts that God blotted out His law? If it is true, then we are now free to kill, to commit adultery, to steal, and to covet. But it isn’t! We all know that to kill is a sin. If it is a sin, then there is a law. Because there can be no sin without a law to transgress. For sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4).

So that we may know what was blotted out and nailed on the cross of Christ at Calvary, let us read Colossians 2:14 again. “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross…“

It does not say here that the law was blotted out, but the “…handwriting of ordinances that was against us…” It is not  speaking of the moral law or the Ten Commandments, but of the ordinances which were given to the Levite priests who ministered at the temple, and to the Jews who worshiped there.

This handwriting of ordinances is the Levitical law that regulated the priestly duties of the Levites concerning animal sacrifices and offerings at the earthly sanctuary. This is the law of priesthood that was changed (Hebrews 7:12) and disannuled (Hebrews 7:18) at the cross of Christ in Calvary.

How about Colossians 2:16, 17? Does it not say clearly that the sabbath days are only a shadow of things to come? Is this not a proof that sabbath keeping has already been abolished because of the redemptive work of Christ?

Let us  read Colossians 2:16, 17 carefully and understand its context. “16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holiday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.“

These verses are not against the keeping of the weekly sabbath.  In fact, it warns the Colossians not to allow false teachers (Colossians 2:18-23) to judge them in food, drinks, holidays, new moon, and sabbath days.

These sabbath days mentioned in Colossians 2:16 refer to the seven annual Levitical sabbaths of the Jewish festivals (Leviticus 23:4-37). These sabbaths fall on any ordinary days of the week, though sometimes they coincide with the weekly seventh-day sabbath wherein they are called as high sabbaths. These are the sabbath days that were abolished and nailed to the cross at Calvary.

But the weekly seventh-day sabbath is different from and not included in the annual sabbaths of Jewish festivals (Leviticus 23:38). It is not a shadow of Christ’s redemptive work at the cross of Calvary. Why? Because the Plan of Redemption was made in the Council of Heaven only after the fall of Adam and Eve which happened long after the seventh-day sabbath was instituted by God after Creation.

The purpose of Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection was to redeem man from sin. There was no need of redemption right after Creation because Adam and Eve were still perfect in their sinless nature by then. Therefore the seventh-day sabbath, which was instituted by God right after Creation (Genesis 2:1-3), cannot be a shadow of Christ’s redemptive work at the cross of Calvary.

Some people argue that there is no more need to keep the seventh-day sabbath because the Lord Jesus Christ said that there are now only two great commandments: to love the LORD thy God, and to love thy neighbors as thyself (Matthew 22:36-40).

Actually,  these verses do not say that only two commandments are now binding. The Lord summarizes the moral law into two great commandments. These two commandments are not new and different from the ten commandments. The first great commandment to love the LORD our God is the summary of the first 4 commandments which is our duty towards God, and the second great commandment is the summary of the second 6 commandments which is our duty towards our neighbor. Nowhere does it say here that there are now only two commandments left for us to keep. Otherwise, the moral law won’t be called the Ten Commandments anymore.

Why should the Lord Jesus, when he prophesied about the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of  the Temple in 70 A.D. by the Roman soldiers under Titus, warned the Jews to take care that their flight may not be on the sabbath if he intended to abolish the sabbath at the cross of Calvary (Matthew 24:20)?

This is the proof that the sabbath was not abolished and nailed to the cross at Calvary. For why should the Lord Himself warn the Jews not to desecrate the holy sabbath even during a very perilous time which would happen 40 years after His resurrection?

The seventh-day sabbath was not nailed to the cross of Christ at Calvary. It is still binding today as it was during the time of the apostles and the early Christians (Acts 13:14, 27, 42,44, 16:13). The Apostle Paul kept the sabbath faithfully as his manner was (Acts 17:2, 18:4) until his death in 64 or 65 A.D.

And why should God pleads with us today, after so long a time, to hear his voice (Hebrews 4:7), and enjoins us to strive diligently with zeal to enter his sabbath rest (Hebrews 4:11), if the sabbath is no longer binding? That we may know the perpetuity of the keeping of the seventh-day sabbath, let us read Isaiah chapter 66 verses 22 and 23. 22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. 23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD”.

So, what is the real reason why God commanded to stone to death the desecrators of the sabbath? Is the desecration of the sabbath a grievous offense to warrant the death of its transgressor? Why can’t I keep the sabbath on another day such as Thursday, Friday or Sunday? Does it really matter to God that I keep the sabbath on the seventh day or Saturday?

The real reason of divine retribution is God’s love and mercy. When Adam and Eve fell into sin, God drove them out from the garden of Eden, and the Cherubims and a flaming sword guarded the tree of life so that man may not eat of its fruit and become an immortal sinner with all the sufferings and afflictions of the curse of sin (Genesis 3:22-24).

“…The LORD God is merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth…” (Exodus 34:6), but He “...will by no means clear the guilty...” (Exodus 34:7). Every sin has its consequence, and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

A law that acquits a criminal is a wicked law. But the law of God is holy and just (Romans 7:12). The law of the LORD is perfect (Psalms 19:7). There is no wickedness in it to acquit or condone a criminal. And because of this, a just punishment is meted for every transgression of the law, thus the command to stone to death the desecrators of the sabbath, though God is not willing that anybody should perish (2 Peter 3:9).

The commandments of God are righteousness (Psalms 119:172). The law is the righteousness of God (Isaiah 51:6,7) – the very transcript of His character.  Forever, the word of the LORD is settled in heaven (Psalms 119:89). Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled (Matthew 5:17,18).

Indeed the law of God is immutable. In his mercy and love for man, and to show his justice to all, God paid very dearly to redeem man from sin: the shedding of the blood and offering of his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ at the cross of Calvary! God could have easily forgotten or set aside the requirements of His law, but God is not wicked to bend the law in order to acquit the guilty. So, in his mercy and justice, he freely offered his Son as a ransom for all.

The desecration of the seventh-day sabbath is a grievous offense against God. It is the very reason why God permitted the total dispersion of the ten tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel during their Assyrian captivity, and the captivity of the Jews of the southern kingdom of Judah for 70 years in Babylon (Nehemiah 12:17, 18).

Why can’t I keep any day of the week for sabbath? Why do Muslims keep it on Friday, and the Roman Catholics on Sunday? Does it really matter to God that I keep the sabbath on the seventh day?

The sabbath day of rest is God’s appointment with us on the seventh day (Exodus 20:10). We did not make this appointment ourselves, so that we can easily cancel it when we have pressing matters to attend to, or change it if we do not like it, or forget it when we have hectic schedules to spare a time. We will surely totally miss it if we don’t keep it on the seventh day as God appointed it. And we forfeit the manifold blessings that God showers upon those who  faithfully keep it.

The Muslims worship Allah on Friday, but in the Qur’an they are strictly commanded to faithfully keep the sabbath holy or suffer the curses of desecrating it by being turned into apes or swine (Q2:65, 66, Q4:47, 48, 154, Q7:163, Q16:124). The Roman Catholics and most of the Protestants are keeping the sabbath on Sunday. This keeping of the sabbath on Sunday is not biblical. There is not a single verse in the whole Bible authorizing Sunday as the sabbath day. Sunday worship has no sanctity in it whatsoever. It is Satan’s invention to bring millions upon millions of souls to hell.

Sunday worship is of pagan origin. During the days of the Roman Empire, the pagans worshiped the sun on Sunday. One of them, Emperor Constantine was a worshiper of Sol Invictus, the venerable sun god. He was a valiant soldier who attributed his final victories to a mid-day vision of a cross, a Chi-Rho symbol made of the Greek capital letters chi and rho for Christus or Christ with the inscriptions “In this sign, you will conquer“. Constantine restored the religious tolerance which was totally banned during the Great Persecution years in the reign of Diocletian by issuing the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D.

Contanstine liberated Rome from Maxentius and his armies, and he became a friend and supporter of the bishop of Rome. He was converted (?) to Christianity in 313 A.D., and many of his pagan followers go to church on Saturday, though all of them, including the emperor himself, still worshiped the sun on Sunday. So, during those days, the people worshiped on Saturdays and Sundays.

The Jews has always been a problem to the Roman Empire because of rebellions and other persistent nasty problems in Palestine during those days. The rebellions of the Jews against Rome in 70 A.D. and in 135 A.D. have greatly ignited the animosity of the Romans against the Jews. The Romans and the people in the empire hated the Jews as rebels and criminals.

There was also a conflict between the Jews and the early Christians during those days. The Jews insisted that the new converts to Christianity follow strictly the Jewish traditions such as circumcision and other rituals. Because of these, the Romans and most people of the empire, including the early Christians hated the Jews, and started separating themselves from them and from anything that has something to do with the Jews.

The early Christians were faithful keepers of the seventh-day sabbath. According to a 5th century historian, Socrates Scholasticus, almost all churches throughout the world celebrated the sacred mysteries on the sabbath every week during those days, except in Alexandria and Rome where the Christians ceased to do this because of ancient traditions. The Romans and the early Christians, in order to avoid the stigma of the Jews, started to worship on Sunday instead on Saturday to avoid “Judaizing”.

This was favorable for the emperor and his pagan followers. So, on March 7, 321 A.D., Constantine decreed that Sunday, the first day of the week be observed as a civic day of rest from ordinary work and business. But the ecclesiastical law obliging the faithful to attend Mass and to abstain from servile work on Sunday was officially decreed in 336 A.D. at the Council of Laodicea. The Roman Catholic Church, by Canon 29 of this synod, officially outlawed the keeping of the seventh-day sabbath and finally transferred its solemnity from Saturday to Sunday by decreeing that “Christians should not  ’judaize‘ by resting on the sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord’s Day…”

Sunday is not the Lord’s Day as stated in Canon 29 of the Council of Laodicea. The LORD has always chosen the seventh day as “…the sabbath of the LORD thy God…” (Exodus 20:10), and He is the Lord of the sabbath (Matthew 12:8, Mark 2:28). The Lord’s day that is spoken of in Revelation 1:10 is the seventh-day sabbath of the LORD as He has always rightly claimed it. There is not a single Bible verse to support the claim of the Roman Catholic Church that Sunday is the Lord’s day.

Is not Sunday the real seventh day? Was not the sequence of the week days altered during the change of calendar from Julian to the Gregorian?

Sunday is not the seventh day of the week. From the very first day when the Julian calendar started to be used in 45 B.C., the seventh day of the week has always been Saturday. There is no record in all history that shows that Sunday has once been the seventh-day of the week, nor hint that the sequence of the week days had been altered during the change from Julian to Gregorian calendar.

The change from Julian to the Gregorian calendar did not alter the sequence of the week days. The Julian calendar which was issued by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. was 11 minutes and 10 seconds too long. This extra time accumulated through the years until on the 16th century, it became 10 days longer than the solar year.

This Julian calendar was invented more than 40 years before Christ came to earth in flesh. It was the calendar used during the time of our Lord Jesus when He was teaching in the synagogue on the sabbath days as His custom was (Luke 4:16). Nowhere in the Bible can we read that our Lord Jesus Christ ever questioned the correct position of Saturday as the seventh day of the week.

The Julian calendar continued to be in use until the later part of the 16th century, when it posed a problem for the Roman Catholic Church. The vernal equinox came on March 11, 1582, 10 days earlier than it did at the time of the Council of Nice in 325 A.D. The Roman Catholic Church always reckon the observance of Easter relative to the appearance of the vernal equinox in March 21, thus the big problem. So, on March 1, 1582, Pope Gregory XIII published his bull Inter gravissimas annulling 10 days from the Julian calendar to correct this error.

The calendar reform commission of 1575, with one of its leading members, Christopher Clavius, the German mathematician and astronomer, worked out a solution by making a slight modification to the original calculation made by the Italian astronomer, Aloysius Lilius. On October 5, 1582 (Friday), by the authority of the pope, the above commission corrected the error of the Julian calendar by removing 10 days from it. October 5, 1582 became October 15, 1582 in the Gregorian calendar. The date was changed from October 5 to October 15, but the day, Friday was not changed.

Why is the keeping of the seventh-day sabbath very important to all? What is in the sabbath that God should repeatedly enjoin all people to keep it holy throughout all generations? (Exodus 31:16). Will it benefit man if he keeps the sabbath faithfully?

The law of God is the will of God, and the will of God is for our own good. The omnipotent God has no need of anything in order to be more holy, more kind, more just, and be more good to his creatures. The law of God is all for our well being alone.

“And God spake all these words, saying, … Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image...” (Exodus 20:1, 3, 4). He did not command but spoke the words to empower us not to have other gods, and not to make any graven image. The word of God is alive and powerful (Hebrews 4:12). “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light (Genesis 1:3). That is how powerful the word of God is! God spoke and the light appeared instantaneously!

Truly the commandments of God are not burdensome, if only we can believe and have faith in it. God will empower us, through the Holy Spirit, to obey his commands. There are a lot of benefits that we can gain in faithfully obeying the commandments of God. The fifth commandment has a promise of blessing: “Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” (Exodus 20:12)

All commandments of God are good for all of us. The fourth commandment, the keeping of the seventh-day sabbath has many health benefits for all of us both physically, mentally, and spiritually. The promised blessings of keeping the sabbath are many. God blessed the man “… that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it…” (Isaiah 56:2), and promised to bring to his kingdom the eunuchs, the sons of strangers, and “...every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it...” (Isaiah 56:3-7).

Another promised blessing of keeping the sabbath holy is to “…delight in the LORD...” (Isaiah 58:13,14). Many professed Christians do not like to read and search the Word of God, and have no quality worship time nor a regular personal communion with God through prayer because they do not delight in the LORD and in all spiritual things about Him.

Th LORD will sanctify us or separate us as holy when we faithfully keep the sabbath day holy (Exodus 31:13, Ezekiel 20:12). Keeping faithfully the sabbath day will separate us from the world and from the alluring things therein that may easily dazzle us and snare us into the quicksand of sin.  It will protect us from worldly compromises and secular materialism which may heavily pull us down and hinder our translation to heaven when the LORD comes.

The greatest blessing that God gives to the faithful keepers of the seventh-day sabbath is eternal life – a life of eternal bliss in the kingdom of God. When we faithfully keep the seventh-day sabbath, we shall truly know the LORD (Ezekiel 20:20), and knowing the LORD is eternal life (John 17:3).

The above blessings promised by God to the faithful keepers of the sabbath day are for the benefit of the mind and spirit. There are physical blessings also that can be gained from the faithful keeping of the seventh-day sabbath. Besides the physical rest and the peace of mind that we get when we keep the seventh-day sabbath, there are still other health benefits that are mostly unknown to man.

Chronobiologists have discovered a pervasive mysterious seven-day cycle or rhythm that permeates the whole universe. This mysterious seven-day cycle that is inherent in animals and plants is entirely independent from the environmental cycles of the sun, moon and stars. It is not governed by the phases of the moon, nor by the rotation of the Earth around its axis or its revolution around the sun, nor by any planetary or stellar influence upon it.

This biological clock that is ticking in every cell of our body is the only major rhythm of human activity that is completely beyond the influence of external nature, and it rests on mathematical regularity alone. Scientists believe that this seven-day cycle arose and started ticking in all living things millions of years before the calendar week was invented. This inner time structure was the basis that determined our hour, day, week, month, and year. And the seven-day week is totally synchronized with this seven-day cycle. Scientists cannot explain why. Surely God made this seven-day cycle and turned it on at the very start of Creation.

What an omniscient God! He created a biological clock of seven-day cycle or rhythm that is beyond the manipulation of man. God knows very well that man will try to change the time and the sequence of the week days in order to make Sunday as the seventh day. That is why God repeatedly commanded all to “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy…” (Exodus 20:8). God knows that people will forget His seventh-day sabbath, and worship Satan on Sunday.

People may forget and keep the sabbath on another day because of Satan’s deception, or intentionally keep it on Sunday or on other days of the week, but they cannot destroy this seven-day cycle that permanently marks the real position of the weekly seventh-day sabbath. They won’t succeed because the seventh day is intricately woven in this seven-day cycle that cannot be manipulated nor tinkered with. The seventh-day sabbath is not founded on man’s religion or culture nor on human history but on the indestructible seven-day cycle which God sets in motion at the beginning of time. The seventh day will always be Saturday, and the observance of the seventh-day sabbath will forever be on this day.

Now, why should God command to stone to death the desecrators of the seventh-day sabbath? Because desecrating the sabbath is the same as killing yourself. Non-observance and desecration of the seventh-day sabbath will not only cause the second death of the soul in the lake of fire, but will also bring a real physical death when we abuse our body by tampering the harmonious seven-day rhythm within our body.

This seven-day cycle governs all biological functions in our body. It is pervasively embedded in every cell of our body.  This seven-day cycle or rhythm has been found in the fluctuations of heart beat, blood pressure, body temperature, acid content in blood, red blood cells, urine chemistry and volume, female breast temperature, the ratio of two important neurotransmitters, norepinephrine and epinephrine, and the rise and fall of stress-coping hormone, cortisol. I believe that this seven-day cycle also governs the defense and healing mechanism of our body, the immune system.

It would be for our good that we keep the seventh-day sabbath holy. If we are not synchronized with the seven-day cycle or rhythm, by not resting on the seventh day, our body will become weak and sickly. It is very important that we stop all our secular labors and rest on the seventh day so that we will be refreshed and rejuvenated to be able to do our work during the other days of the week.

We are the holy temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in us. God will destroy us when we defile His temple (1 Corinthians 3:16) by abusing it when we do not give it the needful physical, mental and spiritual rest on the seventh day.

Our soul is very precious to the LORD. The wealth of the whole world cannot buy it (Mark 8:36). Let us swallow our pride and discard the dogmas which will destroy our soul in hell. These traditions which our forefathers have handed down to us have no biblical foundation but have their origin from pagan rituals. Let us “… Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” (Revelation 14:7).

Let us strive diligently with zeal to enter this rest on the seventh day (Hebrews 4:11), and earnestly remember the seventh-day sabbath to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8), that we may have the best of health to serve God and our fellowmen.

Is Creation a theory? Do you really believe as most people do that it is a theory? What is your proof that Creation is a theory?

What is a theory? Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary, 6th edition, defines theory as “a formal set of ideas that is intended to explain why something happens or exists”, (italics are mine for emphasis). Indeed a theory is only an idea or a hypothesis that has still to be proven whether it is true or false. A theory does not necessarily connotes, much more denotes a truth in it. As an idea, it is a product of the mind, and the human mind is limited and fallible and has a greater tendency to commit error.

A theory is an idea, a hypothesis that can be equated to a guess. A hypothesis, according to the above-cited dictionary, is “an idea or explanation of something that is based on a few known facts but that has not yet been proved to be true or correct” (italics are mine for emphasis).

I am saddened and indignant hearing people and ministers of Protestant and other Christian churches, and even some pastors of the true remnant church of God, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, who ought to be the strongest defenders of the faith, defensively arguing and dangerously tinkering with the blasphemous idea that Creation is a theory, and putting it altogether on the same level with the devil’s Theory of Evolution.

Creation is not a theory. It is not an idea created by men. It is an absolute truth which God Himself told Moses at Mount Sinai during his 40 days fast (Exodus 24: 15-18). Do you really think that God, who was very meticulous in instructing Moses the details of every furniture, furnishings, vessels, and all other things for the tabernacle such as their dimensions, color, materials, and the specific names of designers of these furniture and furnishings (Exodus chapters 25 up to 31) would intentionally leave out the most important details of Creation? Mrs. Ellen G. White wrote in Patriarchs and Prophets, page 251 that under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Moses wrote the book of Genesis. For this reason, Creation is not a story concocted by men nor a theory or an idea of man’s imagination. It is an absolute truth from the Creator Himself, the LORD God Almighty that created all things in this universe.

A theory needs to be proven true or correct to be accepted as a theory. It remains a theory even after it has been  proven correct because a theory will always remain subject for further investigation. It will always have a limited truth in it, because a theory, as all of them are, is tested and proven through an experiment that is usually done in a closed system, i.e. limited in scope. For it is an impossible task to experiment a concept or an idea in an open system with hundreds of variables, parameters and factors to be included in it for thorough investigation.

This is the very reason why some theories fail. They are always done in very limited closed systems with only few variables being considered. And as such, a theory that has been proven correct is only applicable in that specific closed system where it has been done. Most of the time, a theory, though proven true or correct, is not applicable in other systems. And its being proven correct does not necessarily mean that it is already infallible. It can still be proven wrong in another time or superseded by another theory. And even if it remains unscathed after so many rigorous tests, it will still remain as a theory or a hypothesis – a  guess that will always be a subject for further verification. Because a theory is not an absolute truth. That is why we see horrible disasters in space program, and other major accidents brought about by erroneous theories in science and technology.

A theory, whether proven true or correct is always relative. It can be relative in time, in space, and even in our beliefs. In time because it can become obsolete as time goes by; in space because it cannot be applicable in hyper space like Mathematics though flaunted as an “exact science”, and in our own beliefs, because of our obstinacy to run with wrong notions and bigoted ideas about a certain theory no matter how bad it is.

A theory begins as an idea or concept until proven correct by an experiment or series of experiments. As an idea, it is limited and arbitrary, and might be flawed from its very beginning.  There is also a built-in error in the results of almost all experiments. Most researchers and scientist are worried about the accuracy of the results of their experiments because of the discovery that the results of most experiments are greatly influenced by the thoughts of the people conducting the experiment. This is indeed a big problem, considering that even if the experimenters will consciously inhibit their thoughts from affecting the result of their experiment, their subconscious mind will always affect the result of their experiment because it will forever be beyond their control. This is their biggest problem: how to completely isolate their thoughts from their experiment in order not to influence its outcome.

Creation on the other hand is not relative. It remains true everywhere and forever. Men, in their imagination and conceited belief may consider it relative, but it does change the fact that Creation is an absolute truth. Gnostics, philosophers, free thinkers, evolutionists, and atheist may not believe in it, but their unbelief does not make Creation a lie. Creation will always be an absolute truth whether one believes in it or not because God has spoken it so.

Some theories have stood the test of time such as Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. But their remaining correct up to this time does  not make them infallible so as to exclude them from further investigation. As stated above, theories are ideas only. They are the figment of fallible human mind. Besides, all theories are tested in closed systems that are limited in scope, hence their being inapplicable in other systems. And the biggest problem of all is the pervasive negative influence of the experimenters’ thoughts on their experiments. Therefore, there is always an inherent flaw in a theory which disqualifies it of being called as an absolute truth. It will always remain as a hypothesis or a guess.

Other theories have yet to be proven correct such as the Unified Field Theory proposed by Heisenberg. This theory, if proven correct, could be the key that would unlock the mystery of instantaneous space-time travel – a stargate to the galaxies and to the outer fringes of the universe . I read a book which says that the 16 very-hard-to-understand differential equations for the above theory have already been scribbled by Albert Einstein, unfortunately, not in their proper order, and only one or two have understood it then. This theory hypothesizes that the three fundamental forces in Nature: electricity, magnetism, and gravity are closely related to each other, and the precise manipulation of these  forces could make space-time travel possible. Some experiments on superconductivity and magnetic levitation have already been done successfully, and only God knows when will be man’s first venture outside the universe.

And there is a theory that has been the subject of hot debates throughout the world for so many years: the Theory of Evolution. This theory is being taught at various schools in America, Europe, and other parts of the globe to the moral degeneration of our children, and to the obliteration of God in their mind. Like most theories, the Theory of Evolution is a hypothesis or a guess. It is Charles Darwin’s own opinion about the beginning of species on this planet Earth. He believed that man evolved from a one-celled organism by natural selection. This theory is in complete contradiction to what God said about Creation. Could it be that Darwin was greatly influenced by his atheist grandfather?

The above theory has stood the test of time not because it is true or correct, but because of the obstinate pride and the sheer perversity of some zealous proponents to cling on it as true regardless of its many flaws and lack of evidence. This theory cannot be true because it presents facts that are contrary to what God said. It makes God a liar. It is either God or Darwin is telling a lie. But we know that God is true and holy – it is impossible for God to tell a lie (Hebrews 6:18). If God is telling the truth, then Darwin is surely telling a lie, and his Theory of Evolution is completely false!

There are many reasons why Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is not true. First, God said that He created man in His own image (Genesis 1:26, 27). He did not create man to evolve from monkeys, much more from one-celled organism. To say that man evolved from monkeys is tantamount to saying that God is a monkey because man was created in the image of God. What a blasphemy!

Man and the creatures that were created by God cannot evolve from other lower creatures because God created them “…after their kind…” (Genesis 1:21, 24, 25). It would be very impossible for man to evolve from one-celled organism by natural selection because the human body is “…fearfully and wonderfully made...” (Psalms 139:14) of various irreducible complex parts such as the DNA at the nucleus in every cell of the body, the brain, the ears, the heart, and the eyes. These irreducible complexities are composed of various interacting parts that all individually contribute to the basic functions of the system to exist as a whole. The removal of any of these parts can completely halt or stop the functioning of these systems. And these irreducibly complex systems are not produced directly by continuously improving the initial function, or by slight successive modifications (David J. Carlson, Why Christ?, pp 51-60), thus the total impossibility of the Theory of Evolution!

The very glaring deception of this specious theory is its promise to present a “missing link” which after more than a hundred years has not been found nor presented to prove this theory. Up to now, they are still looking for this hypothetical missing link, and people are so naive and so gullible to be still waiting for something that does not exist.

There is no missing link as the proponents of the Theory of Evolution would have us believe. All missing links presented so far by the adherents of this theory such as the Java Man, the Piltdown Man, the Nebraska Man, Lucy, and others were all hoaxes. If there is an iota of truth in this Theory of Evolution, the Earth would literally be flooded with millions of “transitional intermediates”, such as half fish-half bird, half horse-half man, or half snake-half man. The fact that we do not see these intermediates walking on the surface of this planet Earth nor see any fossil of them is enough reason to completely discard and junk for good this Darwin’s preposterous notion of natural selection.

Creation is not a theory. It is an absolute truth that originated from God Himself. There should be no question about this. Darwin cannot be more truthful than God. If Darwin contradicts what God said, then Darwin is a liar, and his Theory of Evolution is totally wrong!

To believe that Creation is a theory is to doubt the very existence of God. To believe in the Theory of Evolution is to believe that there is no God. Because if everything in  this universe came into being through evolution, then there is no Creation. If there is no Creation, then there is no Creator. And if there is no Creator, then there is no God.

This is the greatest deception of Satan, the arch-enemy of our soul. Millions of souls are being snared into this insidious deception without even knowing it. It is Satan’s studied intention to completely erase God in our mind. He created the Theory of Evolution and the spurious sabbath (Sunday) so that we will permanently forget God in our life. Our only safe recourse is to keep holy God’s appointed day of rest – the seventh-day sabbath or Saturday. This seventh-day sabbath is the memorial of Creation. Our merciful God is giving us another day, Today, and is pleading to all of us through His Holy Spirit that we harden not our hearts when we hear his voice (Hebrews 3:7,8, 15) so that we may not have this evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God (Hebrews 3: 12). God enjoins everybody to strive diligently with zeal to enter His rest by keeping this seventh-day sabbath holy (Hebrews 4:11).

Truly there is still a need for the true people of God to faithfully keep the seventh-day sabbath holy (Hebrews 4:9). This keeping of the seventh-day sabbath is for our sanctification (Exodus 31:13, Ezekiel 20:12) in preparation for an eternal life in Heaven. Even in the new heavens and the new earth, we shall still be keeping the seventh-day sabbath forever (Isaiah 66:23). It will do us good to heed the Word of God and to faithfully keep the seventh-day sabbath holy so that we may not incur the same divine retribution that befell on the Israelites during their 40 years wandering in the wilderness where more than a million of them were decimated by God’s wrath because of their disobedience brought about by  their unbelief in the living God (Hebrews 3:16-19).

Creation is an absolute truth. There is a Creation and a Creator who created all things in this universe. The existence of God is an absolute truth beyond refutation. God is more real than our existence. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork” (Psalms 19:1). These myriad handiwork of God declare everyday of His existence through all the earth, and there is no tongue or language where their voice is not heard (Psalms 19:2,3).

God is more real than the visible things that we see around us. History is replete with recorded authoritative accounts of people such as Flavius Josephus, Cornelius Tacitus, Seutonius, Lucian of Samosata, Plinius Secundus, Tertulian, Thallus, Justin Martyr, Phlegon, and others who wrote of the undeniable truth that our Lord Jesus Christ really existed in human history; that He was crucified on the cross at Calvary, and rose again from the dead on the third day (Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands A Verdict, vol. 1, pp 81-85).

Let us not be deceived by the sophistry of the Theory of Evolution. This devil’s instrument will greatly influence us to depart from the living God so that we will ignorantly pay homage to the spurious sabbath, Sunday, and be guilty of idolatry by worshiping Satan on this day. Sunday worship is Satan’s invention in direct opposition to God and His authority. The true sabbath which God commanded to be kept holy by all is the seventh-day sabbath or Saturday (Exodus 20:10). Sunday, the first day of the week, has not an iota of sanctity in it whatsoever. Satan wants to be worshiped as god, and he deceives people to keep Sunday holy and to rest on this first day of the week. How foolish and ridiculous for people to rest on the first day of the week, when they have not even started to do their work yet!

God commands all to earnestly remember the seventh-day Sabbath to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8-11) that we may know the LORD (Ezekiel 20:20), and delight in the LORD (Isaiah 58:14) who created us (Genesis 1:27). By keeping this day of rest holy and making it honorable, God will restore in us the memory of Creation, and we shall always be reminded of our loving Creator, the LORD God Almighty, who is the Owner and the Sustainer of our lives.

We live in a Seventh-Day Adventist community. Most of our neighbors are Seventh-day Adventists, and they are very good neighbors to be with. We learned from them not only the spiritual things about God but the healthy lifestyle as well.

Way back in 1996, we bought a lot in this community. It was a little bit cheaper then. We constructed our house on September, and by January 1997, we started to live here until now.

My wife and I like the place very much. Our home is abundantly supplied with cool fresh air throughout the day. It faces the east, where tall trees from a nearby academy  supply the fresh air every day even during summer.

Besides the good location, the place is very conducive for the study of our children. The academy is near to our home – we are just a few meters away behind its concrete fences. My daughter and her classmates just take a walk when going to school, and there is no need to take a ride.

We like our neighbors too. They are Seventh-Day Adventists who faithfully keep the seventh-day sabbath. We like their worship time everyday. We could hear beautiful melodious songs from our neighbors as they worship every morning.  It is very nice listening  to praise songs and hymns – it lifts up our soul to God! In the evening, they have their worship too. We could hear the whole family sing songs of praise to the Lord, and  see them kneel together in prayer.

Our neighbors are kind and helpful too. Whenever we have problem, whether spiritual or financial, they are ever ready to help us. They would serenade us at dawn whenever one member of our family celebrates his or her birthday. What a  joy and happiness to be serenaded on our natal day!

Every Friday afternoon, at 2 p.m., our Seventh-Day Adventist neighbors stop from all their secular works.  It is their Day of Preparation for the holy sabbath. As soon as the sun sets on Friday, they stop from all their works to keep the sabbath holy. During Friday nights, at 7:30 up to 8:30 in the evening, they go to church to worship and pray. The following day, Saturday, they go to church again to worship the Lord throughout the day until the  end of the sabbath hours when the sun has fully set. They are sabbath keepers, and they are called Seventh-Day Adventists because they keep the seventh-day sabbath, which is Saturday, and are waiting for the Second Advent or coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

These are the beautiful traits of our neighbors that have win us over to Seventh-Day Adventism. Their way of worship, and their healthy lifestyle are  the best presence evangelism that effectively  converted us. So, in August 1999, after completing the required Bible studies, we were baptized – the whole family: me, my wife, and the children, including my mother-in-law. And by God’s amazing grace, we have remained faithful Seventh-Day Adventists up to this day.

It is always best to obey God. Whether we believe in God or not, we will always be greatly benefited when we obey his commandments.

God has no need of anything from us. It does not change him a bit whether we obey or not. It does not diminish his power and holiness.

It is obvious that God did not implement his ten commandments for his benefit. It is solely for the benefit of man that God instituted his moral laws. With these, man can attain lasting peace and happiness.

Some people see God as a strict disciplinarian. They do not like the idea of God commanding them not to do this and that. They believe they are free, and nobody should tell them what to do or what not to do.

This is because we consider the ten moral laws as commandments. Exodus 20 verse  1 says “And God spake all these words, saying, …” It is very clear that these are words of God, and “he spake”, and not “he commanded”.

We hate being commanded to do a thing, and we do not obey especially if it is hard for us to do. That is a natural human attitude: we want to be free from duties, and we want easy life.

Let us change our belief about God. He is a God of love and mercy. His loving kindness and tender mercy endure forever. He is a loving Father who always wants the best for his children. He will not surely burden us with commandments that are very hard for us to follow. What kind of father is it that heap heavy burdens on his children? If you cannot do it to your children, how could you expect a very loving and merciful God to do it? Are you more loving and more merciful than our heavenly Father?

When God spoke the words, he enables and empowers us to do them. There is an inherent power in the word of God. When God said “Let there be light…”, light appeared from nowhere at an instant. There was no finding and waiting – it came from his word as he spoke it.

The same power was inherent in his words when he spoke his moral laws to the Israelites at the foot of Mt. Sinai, and that power is still present in his words today. When God said “Thou shalt have no other gods before me…”, he empowers us not to be idolaters. When he said “Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy”, he empowers our mind to remember it always; he gives you the means, time and strength to keep it, and he give you his Holy Spirit to keep it holy. When God said “Thou shalt not kill”, he made us loving and merciful persons and  enables us to forgive not only our neighbors but our enemies as well.

You might not believe in this. But I dare you:  surrender your life to God, believe in his word by faith, and you will see the result. You must believe. To believe is to see.

Let us not talk about spiritual blessings that God showers on us when we believe his words for we do not see them directly until they manifest in physical forms or conditions. Let us speak of good tangible things that God give us whenever we obey his words.

Let us take our body as an example. In the very beginning, God chose the best diet for us: fruits, grains, nut and vegetable. When men started eating flesh meats, their frontal lobes were destroyed and lost their conscience and spirituality. They became more animalistic and started devouring each other. Being unspiritual, they forgot the moral values spoken to them by God, and they wallowed in the quagmire of  sin, and has not been able to get get out from it until now. Their indulgence and intemperance in meat eating brought upon them untold miseries and afflictions from uncurable diseases that are only known in our modern time.

Refusal to keep the sabbath day can weaken our body and endangers it to a host of illnesses and diseases. Latest findings in chronobiology confirms the strong undestructible link between the perfect functioning of the human body with sabbath keeping. Inherent in the human body, that governs the immune system, and the myriads of functions of the organs in the body, is a biological clock that precisely follows a seven-day cycle known as circaseptan. Heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, waking and sleeping cycle, hormonal production, healing processes, and all metabolic processes in the body are governed by this seven-day cycle. When we desynchronize ourselves with this cycle, we bring upon ourselves unbearable maladies.

No wonder, God instituted the seventh day as a day of rest. Some Christians have their sabbath on Sunday. But Sunday is not the seventh day of the week – it is the first day. You are not synchronized with the seven-day cycle when you keep your sabbath on Sundays, and this will tamper with the normal functioning of your immune system, and other metabolic processes in the body.

God promised to bless those who keep the seventh-day sabbath holy. The physical and the material blessing are evidently manifold, much more the spiritual blessings if we can only open our spiritual eyes to see them.

Have you heard about Seventh Day Adventists’ healthy lifestyle? Have you read about the results of studies done in Norway, Sweden, California, and other parts of the world on the healthy lifestyle of Seventh Day Adventists?

You might have heard or read about these  studies, and you are interested to know the healthy lifestyle of  Seventh Day Adventists.

In a study done on 34,192 Seventh Day Adventists in California from 1976 up to 1986,  it was found out that Seventh Day Adventists have longer lifespan compared to non-Adventists. This could be attributable to their healthy lifestyle.

Seventh Day Adventists, like most Christians believe that the body is the holy temple of God. As such, they refrain from all intoxicating drinks, coffee, tobacco, sea foods, and other unclean food such as pork that may defile it.

Some Seventh Day Adventists follow a strict health diet. More are vegetarians, and abstain from eating flesh meats of animals including fish. Some are total vegetarians, but others are lacto-ovo vegetarians, consuming some eggs and milk sometimes.

The healthy lifestyle of Seventh Day Adventists is not in diet alone. Their healthy lifestyle includes the balanced relationship of the 4 aspects of life: physical, mental, social, and spiritual. They believe that to be truly healthy a man must be healthy physically, mentally, socially,  and spiritually.

Seventh Day Adventists practice vegetarianism. They have regular physical exercise under the sun every morning, and practice sanitary hygiene. They visit the sick and help the needy in the community, and encourage and tell them of God’s amazing love for all.

Seventh Day Adventists have their daily devotional worship every morning and every night by singing praises to the LORD and studying the Holy Bible. They go to church to worship every Wednesday night, Friday night, and during the whole day of Saturday. The secret of their health is in their resting from their secular labors and keeping the seventh day sabbath holy on Saturday.

A vegan lifestyle is the best and most healthful in life. A vegan lifestyle is a life free from ailments, diseases, and sufferings. A vegan lifestyle is a life of zest, joy and happiness. A vegan lifestyle is a life of peace, full of hope of a brighter tomorrow and fully assured of God’s daily providence.

A vegan lifestyle is indeed the most ideal life for us all. Would you like to know and follow this vegan lifestyle?

What is a vegan lifestyle?

A vegan lifestyle is, first and foremost, a life lived according to will of God. God created us all, and we only borrowed our lives from him. As owner of our lives, God deserves our respect and love.

What is the will of God?

In 3 John verse 2, it says, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” God wills that we all be healthy. And how can we be healthy?

To be healthy, we need to follow a vegan lifestyle. In the beginning, God provided us our original diet consisting of fruits, grains, nuts, and vegetables. God originally designed us as vegetarians. We were not created like the carnivorous animals that thrive on animal flesh.

After the Great Flood, when Earth’s vegetation was destroyed, men started to eat flesh meats. Diseases appeared on the surface of the Earth; afflictions and sufferings followed. Men became wicked, and iniquities abounded. Moral values degraded, and men gradually lost their spirituality.

In our modern time, millions are dying everyday because of diseases, accidents, and brutality that are being done under the sun. This is the curse of the law that God forewarned which will happen to men if they continue violating his law.

Is the law a curse? No! The law is holy and honorable. The law did not bring in the curse, but men’s transgression of the law has brought the curse upon them.

What shall we do to be spared of this curse of the law?

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Many people do not realize the importance of sabbath-keeping. Most treat the sabbath like any ordinary day. To most people, sabbath-keeping is exclusive for the Jews only, and non-Jews are not required to keep it.

The sabbath was instituted by God right after the Creation. God finished his works on the seventh day and rested from his works on that day. He blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.

In the Ten Commandments, specifically in the fourth, God commanded man to remember the sabbath day  to keep it holy. In this commandment, God specified that  the seventh day is the sabbath.

The word sabbath is translated from a Hebrew word which means “rest”. People chose upon themselves on what day to rest. They say it does not matter what day they rest -Saturday or Sunday, it does not matter.

Yes, people are free to choose on what day to rest. For example, if a man is tired on a certain day, he surely is free to rest on that day. No one can prevent him to do that. All needs rest to regain lost energy, and that is everybody’s  prerogative to choose on what day to rest. What I am trying to say is that a man may rest on a Monday, or on any day or on any hour of the day when he is tired to refresh himself, but the ‘rest’ spoken of as the sabbath is another thing. It is a weekly rest. God created the sabbath for man. As its creator, he is the owner of it, and he has all the prerogatives to select on what day it should be. And he specified that  the seventh day is the sabbath, and no one in this whole world has the least authority to change it to another day. It is permanent – it cannot be altered.God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Think about it:  if God changed his word, people will be confused. And God cannot convict any man of sin because  he is double-minded. But God is not double-minded. God is not a God of confusion; he is a God of order. So, the seventh day, whether people believe it or not, is the true sabbath.

What is the seventh day? Is it Sunday or Saturday?

In most dictionaries and encyclopedias, Saturday is rightly listed as the seventh day. Sunday is the first day of the week.

How can we be sure that Saturday is indeed the seventh day of the week? Was it not altered somewhere? How can we be sure that the Saturday today is  the same Saturday two thousand years ago?

The change from Julian calendar to Gregorian calendar did not change the sequence of the days of the week. It was purely a change in date – a dropping of 10 days from Julian calendar to synchronize it with the solar year or planetary year. The Julian calendar is exactly 365 .25 days – 11 minutes and 10 seconds longer than the solar year, which is precisely 365.242199 days  only. This ‘excess’ in Julian calendar accumulated through the years, until in 1582 when the vernal equinox occured on March 11 – ten days ahead of the actual date. It was a very glaring error because the Roman Catholic church and the whole Christian world reckon the date of Easter Sunday and the Holy Week in general on vernal equinox, which normally falls on March 21. To correct this error,  Gregory XIII issued a  papal bull, and  he decreed that  the error be corrected that year. An  A German Jesuit mathematician, Christopher Clavius, worked out a solution by modifying the original calculation made by an Italian astronomer, Luigi Lilio Ghira or aka Aloysius Lilius, and finally on October 5, 1582, the  correction was carried out by dropping 10 days from the Julian calendar. In this correction, October 5, 1582, which was a Friday, became October 15, 1582. So the dates October 5 up to October 14 literally did not exist in Julian calendar – they were dropped off to synchronize the Julian calendar with the solar year.  So the Gregorian calendar started in October 15, 1582. It was primarily intended to correct the accumulated inaccuracies of the Julian calendar. The sequence of the days of the week were not changed. It remained intact as in the Julian calendar. The Julian calendar was the calendar used during Christ’s time. It was implemented in 46 B.C., long before Jesus Christ came to this planet Earth in flesh. This was the calendar used by the Jews in their observance of the weekly seventh-day sabbath, and other festivals.

You may then aask, “Who changed the seventh-day sabbath from Saturday to Sunday?” It is a long story, and we do not have enough space to discuss it here. History books and encyclopedias are full of documented accounts of how the change was carried out, and by whose authority it was done.

What benefits will we get if we keep the seventh-day sabbath? And what is the consequence if we do not keep it?

God promised a lot of blessings to those who faithfully keep the seventh-day sabbath holy. And those who refuse to keep it will suffer the consequence in hell. But for those who love the Lord, they will inherit eternal life of joy and happiness in new heaven and new Earth.