Sunday the teaching was about the Sabbath and the fact that the keeping of the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments. According to our Reverend Rob, we may as well call it the 9 Commandments because this one has definitely fallen by the wayside. Even Christians get offended if you tell them they are not supposed to go shopping or play Golf on a Sunday. Nowadays, some people – unbelievers – refer to it as the 10 Offences.
A parent teaches the child the way to go in life and in just the same way God has laid the teaching foundation for us. The Creator of the Universe and beyond, could have created the World in six seconds, nano seconds, whatever; but he chose to create the earth use a seven day cycle. On the 7th day, He saw that everything was very good and ….. “BLESSED the day and made it HOLY …”
That is just how important God deemed the 7th day of rest to be and he already then, commanded that this day be a day of rest. Ja, well, no fine…. We tell our kids that it’s for their own good but do they listen?
God made us and the designer knows what is good for us and what is bad. The Bible is our manual and if we love God, we read the manual and as a further act of love, we should obey its instructions. When God speaks, the Angels obey instantly and without question, they know that this is the Holy and Only God speaking and because they love him, they do not hesitate for a moment to do his bidding
However, man has a desperately wicked heart and definitely thinks he can do it better. It is said that ….. that was OK in the old days, now in this modern time things are different. Oh, really! So now we have Human Rights, Animal Rights, all kinds of rights only God has no more say nor any rights.
To not obey a law, is to be in rebellion and if you are in rebellion concerning the Sabbath, you must examine your heart and repent. The one promise made in the Bible, is that God will judge those who do not keep his commands and bless those who do.
We often say or hear it said that we simply do not have any time left to do all the things we need to do and we wonder what happened? Well, this morning, during the Sermon it dawned on me that we have broken the Commandment concerning the Sabbath and that is why we no longer have enough time! Just as God promises in Malachi that if he is not honoured, he will send a curse – He also promises in his Word:
Isaiah 58:13 If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honourable, and if you honour it …….14 then you will find your joy in the Lord and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land ……..
So now in my book it follows that if God promises to honour his Word and pour out his blessings on those who keep his Commandments – concerning time …. We will suddenly find that we have enough time and energy to do all we need to so, plus with some to spare since we keep the Sabbath!!
And we think laws were made to be broken? Ever tried to break the law of gravity? Just so, God’s laws are good for us and if we break them, judgement will come.
Of course, we really should know that we are extremely privileged to have the freedom to go to Church, to read the Bible, fellowship openly and worship God. Many, many others in most nations of the World do not have this privilege and as Rob said recently, visiting Chinese Christians remarked about the empty churches and promised to pray for us for persecution so that we may appreciate and worship God more!
They recently opened a new casino quite near to us and the parking lot is very full both day and night including on Sundays. The way Rob sees it, and I found this eerily apt, is that there are more cars in the casino parking lot on a Sunday night than there are cars in the parking lot of all the local churches – he suggests that “losers pay for casinos.”
The motivating force behind most everything in life is ……. Wait for it …… surprise, surprise ….. MONEY. That is why it is okay, we live in modern times, to have shopping centres open on Sundays. God’s Commandment : Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days ……. not do any work, neither you, nor ……” In fact God says, NO ONE is to work on the Sabbath. So then who is running and serving in the shops and what about caddy’s and such likes at the golf course?
Well, that does it for me! Definitely no more shopping on the Sabbath – not even if I run out of bread or anything else.
Now of course many defend breaking the Sabbath by saying that it is not commanded in the New Testament and quoting Jesus from Mark 2:27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
Absolutely true, God made it for man to rest, recharge batteries and to honour and worship him.
Now that brings us to Church. It is said “I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.” Well, Rob says, “I don’t have to drive a bus to be a bus-driver?”
It really is a simply matter, when you have really been saved and you are not in rebellion which you must address, you will actually want to go to church, read the Bible, fellowship with others and talk to God (pray).
Psalm 116:12-19 : ….in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord ….
