The Sabbath of the New Covenant

God, who wrote the Bible for our salvation, warned against adding to or subtracting from His words at the conclusion of Revelation; this allows us to understand how much authority the word of God has. To receive God’s promise of salvation, we should cherish each and every word of the Bible without missing a single verse.

There are many regulations in the New Covenant: the Passover, the Sabbath, the feasts, the veil, and baptism. Among the regulations of the New Covenant, let us study about God’s will through the Sabbath.

The Sabbath Was Established at the Creation

The Sabbath is the commemoration day of the Creator, which originated from the day God rested after He created all things in the very beginning. This is why we remember God the Creator on this day. In Genesis 1, God carried out the work of creation for six days, and in Genesis 2, God put a special meaning in the Sabbath by resting on the seventh day after completing the work of creation.

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Ge 2:1–3

Some people regard the Sabbath as a law only for the Old Testament. However, this is not the case: God blessed the Sabbath and made it holy at the creation of the world before the Old Testament law was given. God established the Sabbath and distinguished it from other days because it contains a blessing essential for our salvation.

The Sabbath, which was established at the Creation, was codified in the time of Moses. God explained in detail about the Sabbath when declaring the Ten Commandments—the law of the Old Testament.

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Ex 20:8–11

God Himself proclaimed, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” The Sabbath is a command established by God, not a man-made rule devised by Satan. God commanded His people to remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy and gave them His laws, decrees, and regulations.

It is written in the Law of Moses that a person who desecrates the Sabbath must be put to death. In the Old Testament, the Sabbath was an absolute law resulting in death for anyone who desecrated it (Ex 31:12–17). God made the laws of the Old Testament very stringent in order to teach that salvation can never be granted to the souls who are disobedient.

The Sabbath Observed by Jesus

After the Sabbath was codified, it was celebrated for a long time of 1,500 years, and in the New Testament, it was continuously observed as the Sabbath of the New Covenant. The Sabbath must never be changed or abolished because Jesus Himself set the example of keeping it.

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: . . . Lk 4:16–21

As was His custom, Jesus kept the Sabbath day. Since the Sabbath is an absolute command of God that must be kept, Jesus set the example of observing it for the disciples.

The Sabbath was kept in the Old Testament and was continuously observed in the time of Jesus. The difference between the Sabbath of the Old Testament and the Sabbath of the New Testament was in the manner of worship. In the Old Testament, the Sabbath was kept by sacrificing animals. In the New Testament, however, God’s people worship in spirit and in truth, by lifting up praise and prayers, through the precious blood of Christ who is the reality of the animal sacrifices.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Mt 5:17

The Sabbath of the Old Testament was observed with the blood of animal sacrifice. This was a representation and a copy of Christ who was to come to the earth. A copy by itself is incomplete because it is not the reality; the Sabbath established by Christ, who is the reality, is the true Sabbath of the New Covenant that can serve as a sign for entering the true rest. Jesus said that He did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.

The fulfilled law of the Sabbath refers to the Sabbath of the New Covenant. Whoever keeps the New Covenant Sabbath receives grace through the precious blood of Christ, not by the blood of animals. The order of worship and sacrifice was made complete through the New Covenant. Therefore, the seventh day which God appointed as the Sabbath was continuously commemorated.

The Sabbath Observed by the Apostles

Nowadays, churches rationalize their doctrine of Sunday worship by using the following insistences: “The Sabbath was only an Old Testament law,” “There is no need for the Sabbath after the Cross,” and, “Since Jesus was resurrected on Sunday, the Sabbath was changed to Sunday.” They make excuse after excuse to rationalize their actions while disregarding God’s command. However, even after Jesus’ crucifixion, the Sabbath was continually observed by the apostles and the saints of the early Church.

It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. Lk 23:54–56

In the above passage, we can clearly see that the Sabbath continued to be observed even after the Cross. Let us look at the practices of the apostles after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.

. . . And we stayed there several days. On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. Ac 16:11–13

. . . As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he said. Ac 17:1–3

As was their custom, the apostles continued to keep the Sabbath even after Jesus’ ascension. The Apostle Paul was no exception. After leaving Judaism, which he had followed zealously, Paul accepted the truth of the New Covenant. Without hesitation, he threw away any teaching that was not given by God or was unrelated to salvation, considering it as rubbish. Why, then, did Paul continue to observe the law of the Sabbath? Paul explained that he followed the examples and teachings of Christ, saying, “I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you” (1 Co 11:1, 23). He kept the Sabbath, following Jesus’ example, too.

The Sabbath Must Be Observed Until the End of the Age

The Sabbath that was established at the time of Creation is an important law of God, which was observed from the time of Moses to the time of Jesus and even after Jesus’ Crucifixion through the Apostolic Age. Let us see until when the Sabbath must be observed.

“Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” Mt 24:20–22

“There will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now.” This prophecy is about what will take place at the end of the age. If the Sabbath no longer needed to be observed after the Cross, Jesus would not have mentioned the Sabbath when prophesying about the last days. Jesus taught that the Sabbath must be remembered and kept holy even in the last age, by saying, “Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.”

In God’s commandments, there are blessings and meanings that we must remember. That’s why God earnestly asked us to never forget His commandment of the Sabbath until the end of the age. The Sabbath of the New Covenant is a command of God that must never be changed, but continue to be observed until the last day.

God’s People Keep the Sabbath of the New Covenant

Since the people who keep the Sabbath of the New Covenant become the holy people of God, the devil has devised falsehoods to hinder it. By abolishing the set times and the laws of God, he has been alienating many souls from God.

. . . He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. . . . Da 7:23–25

The Bible prophesied that the devil would speak against the Most High and change God’s set times and laws. According to this prophecy, the evil forces of Satan changed the day of worship from the seventh-day Sabbath to the first day of the week. Then, can those who follow the law of Satan receive salvation?

There are numerous Christians and churches, like the sand by the sea, who claim to be God’s people. However, on Judgment Day, God will clearly distinguish His people from those who are not, and only those who have His law in their hearts will be saved.

“Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your hearts: Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults.” Isa 51:7

“The time is coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Jer 31:31–33

Indeed, the people of God have the law of the New Covenant in their hearts. Setting aside all the others, let us now try focusing on the matter of the Sabbath only. God established this day at the time of Creation, and it was codified in the days of Moses. In the New Testament times, Jesus continued to keep the Sabbath, and the apostles also held fast to this command even after the Crucifixion. He taught us to remember this day until the end of the age by telling us to pray that our flight would not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.

Those who are truly God’s people must follow His law. God said that those who have His law in their hearts are His beloved people who will be saved. Even through the Sabbath alone, we can realize that we are surely God’s children. As the people of Zion, we should take pride in this fact and give eternal praise and glory to God our Father and our Heavenly Mother—the New Jerusalem, who have written the law of the New Covenant on our hearts.

The Sabbath of the New Covenant Is God’s Will and the Way to Heaven

God has clearly taught that the Sabbath is a law that must be observed even until the end of the age. So, whoever desires to go to Heaven must keep the Sabbath.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Mt 7:21

Which is the will of our Father, Sabbath worship or Sunday worship? It is, without a doubt, Sabbath worship. Since Jesus already knew that the Sabbath would be changed by the devil, He said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Mt 7:13–14). He also clearly warned us, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Mt 7:15).

To put it simply, the Sabbath is like a road sign that guides us on our journey to the Kingdom of God. God taught in detail the way to go to His kingdom. We should attend the church that baptizes people in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, keeps the Sabbath, and believes in Jesus’ new name—the name of the Holy Spirit. We need to confirm that we have come to Zion where God’s appointed feasts are celebrated—the church where God the Father and God the Mother dwell. Only then can we meet the qualifications to enter the eternal Kingdom of Heaven.

Many people in the world believe in God, but they do not search for the way to Heaven. If the path they are walking is a wrong path according to the teachings of the Bible, they should stop following that path. Nevertheless, they stubbornly insist on following their own way. If there are any poor souls like this around us, let us clearly teach them the will of Father. In this way, let us guide them to forsake their wicked ways, quickly come out of Babylon and return to God (Isa 55:6–7; Rev 18:1–4). I hope that everyone will do the will of the Father and go to Heaven together.

Now, the people of Zion are flying into the arms of our Heavenly Mother—the New Jerusalem—one after another, like doves to their nests. During this time, we need to engrave God’s laws and decrees in our hearts again and keep them in all circumstances. Those who have God’s laws in their hearts are the people who belong to God. I earnestly ask all our brothers and sisters in Zion to keep the New Covenant—the law of truth—and proclaim it, so we can all go to the eternal Kingdom of Heaven together.