The Seventh-day Sabbath is God's sanctuary in time. Given at the dawn of this earth's history, commemorating the completed work of creation and God resting on the Seventh-day, it forever testifies of the world being created in seven days and serves as the "sign" of true following in the last days. The following quotes will encourage you in your keeping of the Sabbath.—Dan
Exodus 20:8-11 (KJV) 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."
The question is often asked, “What difference does it make which day we keep for the Sabbath?” But it does make a difference; for the same principle is involved as was involved in Adam’s case. He was put to the same test. For he was to prove by obedience his loyalty to God or by disobedience to forfeit the right to the tree of life. Satan presented this same specious question. What difference does it make whether you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or of any other tree of the garden? Adam’s sin consisted in doing the thing the Lord had forbidden him to do, and this opened the flood gates of woe on our world. ... “As by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” {ST April 17, 1893, par. 9}"
"The Sabbath is a golden clasp that unites God and His people."—Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 351.6
Exodus 20:11 "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."
John 1:3 "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."
"What is the reason given for the institution of the Sabbath?—Because in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Sabbath is designed to call our attention to the Creator. It is his memorial. But we have already learned that it was Jesus Christ through whom God created the heaven and the earth; therefore it was Jesus Christ who rested on the seventh day. It was Jesus Christ who blessed the seventh day; it was Jesus Christ who hallowed the seventh day; it was Jesus Christ who sanctified the seventh day; and the purpose of this day thus blessed, thus hallowed, thus sanctified, is to call the attention of men everywhere to the Creator. But the Creator is Jesus Christ. The purpose, therefore, of all created things to which our attention is thus called by the Sabbath, is that we may understand the power and the divinity of Jesus Christ."—W. W. Prescott, Christ and the Sabbath.
"Here is our test which God has made, and He will fulfill His word, if human agents will show their love to God in keeping all His commandments. If they reverence the Sabbath, which is engraved on the first table of stone, they will keep the first three commandments, and the last six will reveal the duty of man to his fellow man; for the Sabbath sign is the covenant between God and man. It is the golden clasp which unites man to God in supreme obedience and reverence, and which unites man to his fellow man.—Manuscript 45, 1900. (“What Is the Chaff to the Wheat?” typed July 26, 1900.)—Manuscript Releases, vol. 5, p. 89.1
"In the time of the end every divine institution is to be
restored. The breach made in the law at the time the Sabbath
was changed by man, is to be repaired. God's remnant
people, standing before the world as reformers, are to show
that the law of God is the foundation of all enduring
reform and that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment
is to stand as a memorial of creation, a constant reminder
of the power of God. In clear, distinct lines they are to
present the necessity of obedience to all the precepts of the
Decalogue. Constrained by the love of Christ, they are to
co-operate with Him in building up the waste places. They
are to be repairers of the breach, restorers of paths to dwell
in. {PK 678}
"The Sabbath is mentioned among things which are to be remembered, and not to pass out of our minds. It is endeared to God as a memorial of His creative works. It is the prince of days, bearing the holy signet of Jehovah. He sanctified and blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart for man to keep holy in respect to Himself." {Lt35a-1877.22}
"If Satan can so deceive human minds as to change the day God has pronounced blessed and holy, then there is no sacred day. The Lord’s memorial is of no value, for it ceases to be a memorial that He is the Creator of the world, its Lord and Sovereign." {Ms43b-1891.11}
"The Sabbath draws a separating line between us and the world, not faintly, but in plain, distinct colors. To those who have received the light of this truth, the Sabbath is a test; it is not a human requirement, but God’s test. It is what will distinguish between those who serve God and those who serve Him not; and upon this point will come the last great conflict between truth and error. All who profess to keep God’s law should stand united in the sacred observance of His holy Sabbath." {HP 150.2}
2 Corinthians 13:5 "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith...."
"Those who will honor the Lord in keeping His Sabbath holy will be blessed of the Lord. There is not more than one in one hundred who do honor to God in keeping His Sabbath from polluting it. The Word of God is not practiced by thousands who profess to be Christians. The looseness of the habits and practices in observing the Sabbath has become a customary thing. God help us to see that great blessings are enfolded in the observance of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. The human agent cannot afford to lose these blessings by dishonoring God in their loose habits and practices. This is a day of meditation and of closely examining our own spiritual condition before God. “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.” On that day have no loose, cheap, common talk." { 21MR 295.1 }
Isaiah 58:13 "If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."
"Great blessings are enfolded in the observance of the Sabbath, and God desires that the Sabbath day shall be to us a day of joy. There was joy at the institution of the Sabbath. God looked with satisfaction upon the work of His hands. All things that He had made He pronounced “very good.” Genesis 1:31. Heaven and earth were filled with rejoicing. “The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Job 38:7. Though sin has entered the world to mar His perfect work, God still gives to us the Sabbath as a witness that One omnipotent, infinite in goodness and mercy, created all things. Our heavenly Father desires through the observance of the Sabbath to preserve among men a knowledge of Himself. He desires that the Sabbath shall direct our minds to Him as the true and living God, and that through knowing Him we may have life and peace." { 6T 349.1}
Exodus 31:16 "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed."
"When the Lord delivered His people Israel from Egypt and committed to them His law, He taught them that by the observance of the Sabbath they were to be distinguished from idolaters. It was this that made the distinction between those who acknowledge the sovereignty of God and those who refuse to accept Him as their Creator and King. “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever,” the Lord said. “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.” Exodus 31:17, 16. { 6T 349.2} As the Sabbath was the sign that distinguished Israel when they came out of Egypt to enter the earthly Canaan, so it is the sign that now distinguishes God’s people as they come out from the world to enter the heavenly rest. The Sabbath is a sign of the relationship existing between God and His people, a sign that they honor His law. It distinguishes between His loyal subjects and transgressors." { 6T 349.3}
Exodus 31:13 "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you."
"The Sabbath given to the world as the sign of God as the Creator is also the sign of Him as the Sanctifier. The power that created all things is the power that re-creates the soul in His own likeness. To those who keep holy the Sabbath day it is the sign of sanctification. True sanctification is harmony with God, oneness with Him in character. It is received through obedience to those principles that are the transcript of His character. And the Sabbath is the sign of obedience. He who from the heart obeys the fourth commandment will obey the whole law. He is sanctified through obedience." { 6T 350.1}
Exodus 31:16 "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant."
"To us as to Israel the Sabbath is given “for a perpetual covenant.” To those who reverence His holy day the Sabbath is a sign that God recognizes them as His chosen people. It is a pledge that He will fulfill to them His covenant. Every soul who accepts the sign of God’s government places himself under the divine, everlasting covenant. He fastens himself to the golden chain of obedience, every link of which is a promise." { 6T 350.2}
Numbers 6:23 "Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, 24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: 25 The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. 27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them."
"The fourth commandment alone of all the ten contains the seal of the great Lawgiver, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Those who obey this commandment take upon themselves His name, and all the blessings it involves are theirs. ”The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel saying unto them," { 6T 350.3} “The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put My Name upon the children of Israel; And I will bless them." Numbers 6:22-27." { 6T 351.1}
Exodus 31:13 "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you."
"The Sabbath is the sign, not merely of the power of God manifested through Jesus Christ in the creation of the heaven and the earth, but it is also the sign of that power which saves—the sign of that power which redeems. And when we recognize the memorial which God himself has set up as the sign of that power in Jesus Christ, we thereby acknowledge that we believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ, and that we believe in the power of God through Jesus Christ unto salvation; that he who created us is also our Redeemer, and that our confidence and our trust for salvation are in the God of the heavens and the earth; who reveals himself to the world in Jesus Christ only."—W. W. Prescott, Christ and the Sabbath
Ezekiel 20:20 "And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God."
"The Sabbath draws a separating line between us and the world, not faintly, but in plain, distinct colors. To those who have received the light of this truth, the Sabbath is a test; it is not a human requirement, but God’s test. It is what will distinguish between those who serve God and those who serve Him not; and upon this point will come the last great conflict between truth and error. All who profess to keep God’s law should stand united in the sacred observance of His holy Sabbath." {Ms3-1885}
Isa. 58:13 "call the sabbath a delight...."
"All heaven was represented to me as beholding and watching upon the Sabbath those who acknowledge the claims of the fourth commandment and are observing the Sabbath. Angels were marking their interest in, and high regard for, this divine institution. Those who sanctified the Lord God in their hearts by a strictly devotional frame of mind, and who sought to improve the sacred hours in keeping the Sabbath to the best of their ability, and to honor God by calling the Sabbath a delight,—these the angels were specially blessing with light and health, and special strength was given them. But, on the other hand, the angels were turning from those who failed to appreciate the sacredness of God’s sanctified day, and were removing from them their light and their strength. I saw them overshadowed with a cloud, desponding, and frequently sad. They felt a lack of the Spirit of God.—Testimonies for the Church 2:702." – {GW92 209.1}
Mark 6:31 "And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat."
"In genuine Sabbath-keeping there will be an entire cessation from unnecessary physical work; but that is not in itself Sabbath-keeping. The reason why we cease from labor on the seventh day, the Sabbath of our Lord Jesus Christ, is that we may be at liberty to contemplate God as manifested to us in Jesus Christ. And the resting from physical labor is an outward sign of the fact that we have ceased from sin. “For we which have believed do enter into rest,” and “he that hath entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works as God did from his.”
Exodus 31:16 "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed."
"The Word has made the statement, “I am the Lord that do sanctify you” if you observe the Sabbath. This is the only true sanctification in the Scriptures—that which comes from God because of obedience to His commandments" {Lt8-1898}
Exodus 20:11 "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."
"The Sabbath day was a special occasion on which the people of the Lord were celebrating the memorial of His creation; that on the Sabbath the Lord was in the assembly to bless and sanctify, and if they have faith in the Lord every Sabbath would be a day when His people in a special manner will be blessed in their acts of obedience in keeping the commandments of God. The sacred hours are to be employed in conversation that is holy." {Lt8-1898}
Unless indicated otherwise, these quotations come from the writings of Ellen G. White