"And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, 'Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,'" (verse Acts 4: 25). This is not the only time that under severe threat of repercussion for doing God's will that allusion to the Sabbath is either clearly mentioned or implied - it's being the official biblical expression of allegiance to God (Ex. 20. 8-11).
In Matthew 24: 20 Jesus in warning His followers of the impending destruction of Jerusalem instructed them to head to the hills as soon as certain conditions developed. But in running, He encouraged them, "But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day." Some commentators suggest that because the gates of the city would be closed on Sabbath, it would be very inconvenient to have to run on the Sabbath. Importantly however, this passage does indicate that the Sabbath would still be in vogue after the resurrection of Jesus. A lesson to be extracted here though is that to somehow escape the fires of persecution, it should never require the breaking down the "gates" of the Sabbath.
Then the first message of the three angels' messages of Revelation 14 is one that is pitched in the midst of two other messages that allude to great tension and pressure on God's faithful followers: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people/ Saying with a loud voice, 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," (verses 6, 7).
When loyalty and allegiance are called into question - let's remember He who made all things.
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