The apostle Peter opens his second epistle with a powerful message about the process of developing a Christlike character. We often call it “Peter’s ladder”:

“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins” (2 Peter 1:3–9, emphasis added).

According to this passage, when we really know Christ, every tool needed for a victorious Christian life is provided to us through the divine power of God. But if the fruit of our life is not revealing the process of sanctification, it means we have just plainly forgotten about the grace extended to us in Christ’s forgiveness! Have you forgotten that you have been forgiven? It seems that many of us have. Yes, we may believe the theory of it; we may know the technicality of it, but too often we fail to appreciate fully the tremendous value of it!

It is the pure in heart that see the evidence of God. “Blessed are the pure in heart—now; not, Blessed will be the pure in heart.”1

“The pure in heart see God in a new and endearing relation, as their Redeemer; and while they discern the purity and loveliness of His character, they long to reflect His image. They see Him as a Father longing to embrace a repenting son, and their hearts are filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

“The pure in heart discern the Creator in the works of His mighty hand, in the things of beauty that comprise the universe. In His written word they read in clearer lines the revelation of His mercy, His goodness, and His grace. The truths that are hidden from the wise and prudent are revealed to babes. The beauty and preciousness of truth, which are undiscerned by the worldly-wise, are constantly unfolding to those who have a trusting, childlike desire to know and to do the will of God. We discern the truth by becoming, ourselves, partakers of the divine nature.

“The pure in heart live as in the visible presence of God during the time He apportions them in this world.”2

If we are not keeping fresh and keen in our memory the innocence and joy of that “first love” experience when we first realized that we have a Saviour who will forgive every sin we confess, then we are also not growing in sanctification. If that is the case, then we are not becoming more Christlike—more holy—in character. And if we are not becoming holy in actual daily life, then we cannot really be keeping the Sabbath very holy. Regardless of what may be professed, such are not Sabbathkeepers.

Just think: If you were to ask a mechanic who is working with grease to handle a white paper—yet keep it clean—he will not be able to do it, unless he would first wash his hands. Likewise, it is only a clean, holy people that will truly be able to keep the Sabbath holy—not merely attend religious meetings on Saturday—but rather to actually keep the seventh day holy according to the commandment.

“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: 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” (Isaiah 58:13, 14, emphasis added).

The first word in the fourth commandment is, “Remember.” This commandment—this magnificent promise—will be obeyed by people who have in the forefront of their minds to keep God’s day holy because they love to be with their Lord; they cherish His divine presence.

“Had the Sabbath been universally kept, man’s thoughts and affections would have been led to the Creator as the object of reverence and worship, and there would never have been an idolater, an atheist, or an infidel.”3 In other words, every week, the memory of everyone would have been nudged to think of God. But because of the alluring enticements of sin, it was not convenient to do so any longer. Does the same temptation come to us today—to settle for being thoughtlessly casual Saturday churchgoers instead of real Sabbathkeepers?

What causes us to forget the most important things we should be remembering? Distractions. Vanities of vanities. The wise man explained, “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions” (Ecclesiastes 7:29).

“Satan invents unnumbered schemes to occupy our minds, that they may not dwell upon the very work with which we ought to be best acquainted. The archdeceiver hates the great truths that bring to view an atoning sacrifice and an all-powerful mediator. He knows that with him everything depends on his diverting minds from Jesus and His truth.”4

“Many think it a sufficient excuse for the grossest errors to plead forgetfulness. But do they not, as well as others, possess intellectual faculties? Then they should discipline their minds to be retentive. It is a sin to forget, a sin to be negligent. If you form a habit of negligence, you may neglect your own soul’s salvation and at last find that you are unready for the kingdom of God.”5

“Many care only to skim the surface. They do not think deep and become master of their duties. They feel ready to grasp the highest round of the ladder without the trouble of climbing up step after step. We are pained at heart as we compare the work coming forth from their hands with God’s righteous standard of faithfulness which God alone can accept. There is a painful defect, a remissness, a superficial gloss, a wanting in solidity and in intelligent knowledge and carefulness and thoroughness. . . .

“Men must get hold conscientiously and feel that they are doing the work of God. . . . They will be constant to principle. They will do their work, not to secure a great name or great wages, not for the purpose of weaving self into all their works, and of appearing to be somebody in the world, but to be right in everything in the sight of God.”6

“ ‘Strive,’ said Jesus, ‘to enter in at the strait gate’ (Luke 13:24). The way of the believer is marked out by God above the ladder. All his endeavors will be in vain if he has not virtue of character, a practical knowledge of Christ through obedience to all His requirements. Those who have faith must be careful to show their faith by their works.”7

Like all the other commandments in the Decalogue, the third commandment is also a promise. If we truly know Christ as it is our privilege to know Him, we will not be taking the name of the Lord in vain. The thought and utterance of His name (and character) will not be handled as a light or trivial matter. As believers in the three angels’ messages, we have seen how the people of the world misuse the Creator’s name with swearing, curse words, and expletives. Thankfully, when dedicating their life to Christ, most new believers early recognize the need to purge their vocabulary from such inappropriate speech.

But what about the next step? How might we, too—living as we are in the Laodicean era, likewise be guilty of taking the name of the Lord in vain—perhaps in a more subtle way?

“It is common for men and women to speak of themselves as Christians whose whole claim lies in the assuming of the name. They do not reveal that they are partakers of the divine nature. They do not reveal love for Jesus or for religious things. As far as their words and their spirit and their character are concerned, no one would suspect they were Christians. Their assent to the truth has no virtue. This counts for nothing in the sight of God.”8

“True faith works by love and purifies the soul. Truth is an active, working principle, molding heart and life so that there is a constant upward movement, climbing the ladder Jacob saw, to the Lord above the ladder. In every step of climbing, the will is obtaining a new spring of action. The moral tone is becoming more like the mind and character of Christ.”9

“The corruption of the world is seeking to steal our senses; all the unholy influences on every side are working to hold us to a low, earthly level—blinding our sensibilities, degrading our desires, enfeebling our conscience, and crippling our religious faculties by urging us to give sway to the lower nature. Corruptions around us find corruptions within. Each works upon the other.

“To draw us away from all this is the precious ladder. The eye is attracted to God above the ladder. The invitation comes from the glory above it, Come up higher. The heart is attracted. Steps are taken in advance, one after another. Higher and still higher we ascend. At every step the attraction becomes greater. Higher, holier ambitions take possession of the soul. The guilt of the past life is left behind. We dare not look down the ladder at those things which long poisoned the springs of true happiness and kindled remorse, weakened and depraved the will, and repressed every better impulse. The eye is steadfastly fixed, with grateful, trembling emotion, upon God above the ladder. Christ is the ladder. We lay hold on Christ, climbing up by Christ, resolving to return, broken, contrite, subdued, to the Father above the ladder. The offers of God’s mercy, of living connection with God, of grace multiplied as we advance step by step, make the distance from earth more apparent.”10

“No one can love God supremely and transgress one of His commandments. The heart softened and subdued with the beauty of Christ’s character and bridled by the pure and lofty rules which He has given us will put into practice what it has learned of love and will follow Jesus forthwith in humble obedience. The living power of faith will reveal itself in loving acts.”11

“To make our calling and election sure is to follow the Bible plan to closely examine ourselves, to make strict inquiry whether we are indeed converted, whether our minds are drawn out after God and heavenly things, our wills renewed, our whole souls changed. To make our calling and election sure requires far greater diligence than many are giving to this important matter.”12

“The God of Heaven has multiplied warnings, entreaties, and instructions, that we may be prepared to stand in the time of the overwhelming destruction. We are not left in darkness. Those who meditate and act upon the instructions that God has given will cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit. They will keep in mind the command to ‘be diligent,’ to be holy in all their conversation and life.”13

The diligent followers of Christ will not take the knowledge of Him lightly—but rather will cherish His presence with deep appreciation for His sacrifice to redeem them. And such gratitude will manifest itself on a daily basis—and even more so on that weekly day the Lord has set aside as His own.

“When the Sabbath commences, we should place a guard upon ourselves, upon our acts and our words, lest we rob God by appropriating to our own use that time which is strictly the Lord’s. We should not do ourselves, nor suffer our children to do, any manner of our own work for a livelihood, or anything which could have been done on the six working days. Friday is the day of preparation. Time can then be devoted to making the necessary preparation for the Sabbath and to thinking and conversing about it. Nothing which will in the sight of Heaven be regarded as a violation of the holy Sabbath should be left unsaid or undone, to be said or done upon the Sabbath. God requires not only that we refrain from physical labor upon the Sabbath, but that the mind be disciplined to dwell upon sacred themes. The fourth commandment is virtually transgressed by conversing upon worldly things or by engaging in light and trifling conversation. Talking upon anything or everything which may come into the mind is speaking our own words. Every deviation from right brings us into bondage and condemnation. . . .

“You have frequently failed to ‘remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy;’ you have often forgotten, and have spoken your own words upon God’s sanctified day. You have been unguarded, and have upon the Sabbath joined with the unconsecrated in conversation upon the common topics of the day, such as gains and losses, stocks, crops, and provisions. In this your example injures your influence. You should reform.

“Those who are not fully converted to the truth frequently let their minds run freely upon worldly business, and, although they may rest from physical toil upon the Sabbath, their tongues speak out what is in their minds; hence these words concerning cattle, crops, losses, and gains. All this is Sabbath breaking. If the mind is running upon worldly matters, the tongue will reveal it; for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

“The example of ministers especially should be circumspect in this respect. Upon the Sabbath they should conscientiously restrict themselves to conversation upon religious themes—to present truth, present duty, the Christian’s hopes and fears, trials, conflicts, and afflictions; to overcoming at last, and the reward to be received.

“Ministers of Jesus should stand as reprovers to those who fail to remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. They should kindly and solemnly reprove those who engage in worldly conversation upon the Sabbath and at the same time claim to be Sabbathkeepers. They should encourage devotion to God upon His holy day.

“None should feel at liberty to spend sanctified time in an unprofitable manner. It is displeasing to God for Sabbathkeepers to sleep during much of the Sabbath. They dishonor their Creator in so doing, and, by their example, say that the six days are too precious for them to spend in resting. They must make money, although it be by robbing themselves of needed sleep, which they make up by sleeping away holy time. They then excuse themselves by saying: ‘The Sabbath was given for a day of rest. I will not deprive myself of rest to attend meeting, for I need rest.’ Such make a wrong use of the sanctified day. They should, upon that day especially, interest their families in its observance and assemble at the house of prayer with the few or with the many, as the case may be. They should devote their time and energies to spiritual exercises, that the divine influence resting upon the Sabbath may attend them through the week. Of all the days in the week, none are so favorable for devotional thoughts and feelings as the Sabbath.

“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.”14

“Those who discuss business matters and lay plans on the Sabbath are regarded by God as though engaged in the actual transaction of business. To keep the Sabbath holy, we should not even allow our minds to dwell upon things of a worldly character.”15

“All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits. Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established” (Proverbs 16:2, 3).

May the Lord help us never to take His name, character, and calling in vain—and truly to rest on “the sabbath day according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56)!