Don't Live in the Past
by David L. Taylor
It is never wise to live in the past. There are indeed some uses of our
past which are helpful, which bring blessing. We should remember our
past, lost conditions to keep us humble and faithful. We should
remember past mercies, that we may have confidence in new needs and
trials in the future. We should remember past conflicts, that there may
be stars in our sky when night comes again.
But while there are those
true uses of memory, we should guard against living in the past. We
should draw our life's inspirations not from memory, but from hope; not
from what is gone but from what is yet to come. Forgetting the things
which are behind, we should reach forward unto those things which are before.
Everyone of us made mistakes last year, everyone of us, if we could
recant on words spoken, deeds done, deeds left undone, decisions made.
We are at the dawn of a new year. Ahead there may be similar pitfalls,
along with some unexpected wonderful joys---all in the measure in thich
God apportions them to us.
Today is the perfect day to discard the
mistakes and confess the sins of the past year with the realization that
a confessed sin is a forgiven and forgotten sin in the eyes of God. Let
go of all the failures of the past year. Set your eyes on the months
ahead with anticipation. Do as Jesus did when he "steadfastly set his
face to go to Jerusalem"--no looking back.
Treasure last year's victories..Forgive last year's sins and
disappointments;
Scriptures:
"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press
on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me
heavenward in Christ Jesus" -- Philippians 3:13-14
"Behond, I make all things new." -- Revelation 21:5
God's Holy Day
Seven Studies on the Sabbath Truth
By Lester G. Osborn
And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. -Genesis
2:3
Lesson Seven
A DOZEN COMMON EXCUSES
We have covered, rather sketchily, the Biblical basis for the
Sabbath. We saw in the Creation account that God set aside the seventh day as the Sabbath.
We also learned that the Fourth Commandment specified that the seventh day was the one to
be kept holy, and that Jesus and His followers observed the seventh day, as did Paul and
the New Testament Church.
To review, we will consider a dozen common excuses, advanced by
Christians today, for not keeping the Sabbath. Although the seventh day is the Sabbath of
the Bible, the majority of Christians today observe the first day of the week, not the
seventh. Will these excuses hold water?
1. "It's Jewish."
So are the other nine Commandments. So is the Bible. So was
Jesus Christ. More than that, salvation is of the Jews. Shall we discard all of them?
But is the Sabbath Jewish? It existed prior to the Jewish nation
being organized at Sinai. It also antedates the Hebrew people by centuries. What
nationality was Adam? None! He was man, the head of the race. Jesus said, "The
Sabbath was made for man."
Besides, other people who existed long before the Hebrews knew
and observed the Sabbath.
"The fourth commandment was based not on some-thing done
for Israel in particular, but on something done at the creation of the world. This is
important, for with it stands or falls the general validity of the commandments for all
mankind." -Vos.
If this claim is true that the Sabbath was given to the Jews,
and the Jews only, at Sinal-then there is no Sabbath for the Gentile world. And yet God
established it in the beginning of time for the benefit of mankind.
2. "The Majority Keep Sunday."
"I don't want to be different." Since when did
majority make things right? The majority of the world is pagan. The majority of
Christendom is Roman Catholic. Christ's call is to separation. The Bible says, "Come
out from them and be separate" (2 Corinthians 6:17); "Enter through the narrow gate" (Matthew 7:13); "Do
not conform any longer to the pattern of this world" (Romans 12:2).
3. "The Fourth Commandment Means One Day in -Seven."
"It makes no difference which day I keep, just so I keep it
right." "The principle was universal, the seventh was Jewish."
But... the Fourth Commandment says the seventh. Not only
is the definite article used, but the Hebrew has a little word, "eth," which is
the sign of the definite and direct object. In Genesis 2:3, it is
"God blessed ['eth'] the seventh day and made ['eth'] it holy." In Exodus 20:8, it is
"Remember ['eth'] the Sabbath day," and in verse 11, "the Lord blessed
['eth'] the Sabbath day." Verse 10 has the definite article: "day the
seventh."
This defines the Sabbath as the seventh day of the week, dated
from Creation. The seventh day was made holy and blessed with God's presence. Just as God
formed man out of "the dust of the ground," He formed the Sabbath out of the
seventh day.
4. "The Calendar Has Been Changed Several Times."
"We don't know which is the seventh day."
We can trace it back to Jesus, who certainly knew which day was
the seventh. God showed the seventh day in the wilderness by the miracles of the manna. We
need not go beyond that.
The Jews are very exact in their chronology, and their calendar
shows the same seventh day as ours-the weeks coincide.
True, the calendar has been changed-from the Julian to the
Gregorian in 1582-and in England, in 1752. But it was simply the date, the day of the
month, which was changed and not the order of the days of the week. The weekly
cycle has never been broken.
5. "Cross the Pacific Going West and You Lose a
Day."
So, if twins traveled around the world in opposite directions,
when they came back to the starting point, there would be two days difference in their
ages. In other words, according to this reasoning, they would no longer be twins.
The loss of a day at the International Date Line makes no
difference in civil and business dates. Those who claim a definite first day for worship
have no difficulty knowing when it is.
The fallacy of this argument is that the Sabbath is not the
seventh day of man, but of the earth. Days travel around the earth from east to west. It
is like getting on a train at different points. People are in the Sabbath when it is with
them.
6. "The Sabbath Was Done Away With."
"Christ is our Sabbath." -Yes, but that does not do
away with the weekly day of rest and worship.
"Jesus fulfilled the law."-True, but fulfill does not
mean to end. (See Matthew
4:14; Romans 13:10; Galatians 5:14; 6:2.)
"Paul teaches that the law, including the Sabbath, was done
away with."-But in the passages usually quoted, "law" means the ceremonial
system, not moral principles. The "days" and "sabbaths" referred to
are the festival and ceremonial days, not the weekly day of rest and worship.
7. "We Keep the Day of Christ's Resurrection."
"Sunday is a new institution." -But the Sunday
Resurrection cannot be proven.
The record tells only of the discovery of the empty tomb. In Matthew 28:1, we are
told that the tomb was empty "in the end of the sabbath" (KJV)-literally,
"late on the sabbath day." Even if the Resurrection had been on Sunday, there is
no command or example for observing it. Our celebration of the Resurrection is in baptism
(see Romans 6:3-4).
"The sacredness of the Sabbath has been transferred to
Sunday." This idea arose during the English Reformation. It might hold if: Jesus rose
on the first day; if the Sabbath commandment was abolished; if the Apostles and New
Testament Church observed it; and if Christ sanctioned it. But these "ifs" never
occurred.
8. "Jesus Appeared to His Disciples on the First
Day."
It was only natural that Jesus should go to His followers to
bring them hope and courage to replace their gloom and despair.
Jesus appeared to them on other days, also. His appearance in
John 21 was not on the first day. Acts 1:3 says, "He appeared to them over a period of forty
days." There is no significance to this claim unless every one of Jesus' appearances
was on the first day. Even then we would wonder.
9. "The New Testament Church Kept Sunday."
This is not true. Only two specific first-day gatherings are
mentioned. One is recorded in the Gospels and deals with the discovery of the
Resurrection. The other is mentioned in Acts and involves a worship service that was
actually held on "Saturday night."
Paul preached on the Sabbath, "as was his custom."
Although there are repeated references to meetings on the Sabbath, there is not even a hint
of Sunday sacredness.
10. "I Can't Make a Living and Keep the
Sabbath."
What sort of a God do you believe in? Would He, who is all
goodness, ask you to do the impossible? Where is your faith? If God demands, He will
enable.
Why not steal to make a living? The God who wrote, "You
shall not steal," is the same one who wrote on the same tables of stone,
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy."
11. "Great Bible Teachers and Ministers
Teach
it Is Right."
Does that make it right? See Hosea 10:13; 1 Corinthians
1:25-27; Proverbs 19:27. The question is not what man says, no matter how
earnest and educated, but "What does Scripture say?"
12. "I Can Render a Greater Service by Keeping
the
Day the Rest Do."
"Think about how many more people I can reach, and how much
greater my influence will be." That might be true, in a sense. However, when God
commands, it is for us to obey, and leave the results to Him.
Conclusion
Excuses, boiled down, in almost every case mean:
"I don't want to." Excuses are just props to bolster a
practice which we do not wish to change.
We must realize that the Sabbath law is on a par with the laws
against murder, adultery, and the rest. To break the Sabbath is just as grievous a sin as
stealing, adultery, or murder. It is startling, too, to see how God ranks Sabbath
desecration with dishonoring parents, murder, lewdness, idolatry, and child sacrifice.
(See Ezekiel 22:7-9;
23:37-38).
"Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the
matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God
will bring every deed into judgment" (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
Hear the heartbreak and pleading in God's voice as He says, "Oh, that their
hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go
well with them" (Deuteronomy
5:29).
reprinted from-
www.7thdaybaptistchurch.org
WHERE IS THE PERFECTION?
by Gary Simpson
Romans 5 :1 to
5
(Contemporary
English Version)
By faith we have been made
acceptable to God. And now, because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we live at peace
with God.
2Christ has also introduced us to
God's undeserved kindness on which we take our stand. So we are happy, as we
look forward to sharing in the glory of God. 3But that's not all! We gladly suffer,
because we know that suffering helps us to endure. 4And endurance builds character, which
gives us a hope
5that will never disappoint us. All of
this happens because God has given us the Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with
his love.
Sin starts us quarreling with God. The quarrel makes us hate God, so we need to be reconciled to God. Jesus's death for our sins reconciles us to God. That is a fancy way of saying God finds us acceptable. We are found acceptable, without doing anything.
It is a perversion of God's character to
think the Messiah's death for humanity makes God love us. F.F. Bruce makes the
point that God's love does not change. It is impossible for God to love us more!
All that changes is the relationship. Be glad of that. Any God that can be
bought is a cheap God, not a God worth worshipping.
Jesus introduces us to God's kindness. He
"ushers us into the presence of God." Blind, sick and weak, we are lead into the
presence of the Lord. There we find grace, not vengeance. Standing close to God,
we look at ourselves and find we are changed, no longer criminals. We stand
before God, our dignity and honor secure. And there is no need to fear God,
because we stand before Him with dignity and honor.
The word translated introduced also means a
harbor, a haven. That is where ships come, a harbor. Without the protective
harbor we find in Jesus, we would be in trouble. We would be thrown about by
storms, because we would be left to our own efforts. Trusting God, having faith
in the Lord does what works of the law cannot do. Trusting the Lord gives us
peace.
John Calvin describes it as peace of
conscience. Those that live lives dedicated to sin do not have this peace,
because their vices make them drunk. Legalists cannot have peace, as their peace
is as stable as the quicksand of their ability to resist temptations.
This peace is not a quickly changing
emotion. It is a state of being. Instead of being at war with God, we are at
peace. There is no longer hostility between you and God. From that state of
peace with God, comes emotional peace. But we are in a state of peace, not
warring with God, even when we feel a little discouraged, because we blew
it.
We are able to have hope, even in the face
of troubles, difficulties. Verse 5 says our hope will never disappoint us. That
literally means our hope will not shame or embarrass us. We are confident,
because a god that would pour out His love on a cross is the kind of god that
will not let us down. Our hope is well founded and well grounded, when it rests
on Jesus.
You may be wondering how being acceptable to
God produces peace and hope? Perhaps, an adapted short story will
help.
Rabbi Krohn tells the story about a boy that
attended a Jewish school for learning-disabled children. The story is shortened
and adapted.
The school held a fun-raising dinner. The
father of a child praised the school. Then he cried, "Where is the perfection in
my son, Shaya? Everything that God does is done with perfection. But my child
cannot understand as other children . . . Where is God's perfection?
Everybody was stunned by the father's
agony.
Then he told the following story about his
son.
One Sunday, his father came to the Torah
school. Some of Shaya's classmates were playing baseball. Shaya asked his father
to help him play in the game.
Shaya was not athletic. His father knew the
boys would not want Shaya on their team. But he also knew playing would give
Shaya a sense of belonging. Shaya's father approached one of the boys on the
field and asked, "Do you think my Shaya could play?"
The boy looked to his teammates for
guidance. Getting none, he said, "We are losing by 6 runs. It is the
8th inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try
to put him up to bat in the 9th inning."
Shaya put on a glove and played. His team
came up to bat. Fortunes changed. Shaya's team scored a few runs and was only
behind by 2. The bottom of the 9th inning - Shaya was supposed to bat next.
Would the team let Shaya bat and lose the game?
They actually put Shaya up to bat. That
takes courage. Everybody knew there was no chance. Shaya did not even know how
to hold a bat.
The pitcher moved close. The first pitch
came. Shaya swung and missed. A teammate stepped forward. He held the bat with
Shaya. The pitcher moved forward and threw a very slow pitch. Together, they
swung the bat and hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up
the ball. He could easily throw the ball to first base. Shaya would have been
out and the game over. The pitcher threw way over first baseman. Everybody
yelled, "Run to first! Run!"
Shaya had never run fast before. Wide-eyed,
he ran down the baseline. By the time he got to first base, the right fielder
had the ball. He knew what the pitcher had done. So he threw the ball high and
far over the third baseman. Everybody yelled, "Run to second! Run!"
Shaya ran to second. As he reached second,
the runners ahead of him got home. A player on the opposing side told him to run
to third. As Shaya rounded third base, the boys from both teams were yelling,
"Run home!" As he stepped on home plate, the boys from both teams lifted him on
their shoulders and made him the hero of the game, because he won the game for
his team.
With tears rolling down his cheeks Shaya's
father said, "That day those 18 boys reached their level of perfection. They
showed that it is not only those who are talented that should be recognized, but
also those who have less talent. They too are human beings, they too have
feelings and emotions, they too are people, they too want to feel
important."
Children with learning disabilities have low
self-esteem. They often think they are stupid. I think Shaya was never the same.
I suspect the game changed him.
At Calvary, God demonstrated His perfection.
He took the untalented, the sin tainted, the imperfect - humanity - and treated
us as if we were perfect, flawless.
Feel discouraged by the constant cycle of
sin and remorse, sin and remorse? Remember Shaya. At Calvary, Jesus held the bat
for us and through us, struck the ball out of the stadium. Then He yelled,
"Run!" When we got home, He paraded us as champions. And we've been changed,
forever changed. Now our goal is to reach out and touch others that feel
isolated, alienated and rejected, to lead them by the hand to the presence of
the Lord, where they can be accepted.
-reprinted from Gary's Sabbath Site
There was once a spider who lived in a cornfield. He was a big spider and
he had spun a beautiful web between the corn stalks. He got fat eating all
the bugs that would get caught in his web. He liked his home and planned
to stay there for the rest of his life.
One day the spider caught a little bug in his web, and just as the spider
was about to eat him, the bug said, "If you let me go I will tell you
something important that will save your life." The spider paused for a
moment and listened because he was amused. "You better get out of this
cornfield," the little bug said, "The harvest is coming!"
The spider smiled and said, "What is this harvest you are talking about? I
think you are just telling me a story." But the little bug said, "Oh no,
it is true. The owner of this field is coming to harvest it soon. All the
stalks will be knocked down and the corn will be gathered up. You will be
killed by the giant machines if you stay here."
The spider said, "I don't believe in harvests and giant machines that
knock down corn stalks. How can you prove this?" The little bug
continued, "Just look at the corn. See how it is planted in rows? It
proves this field was created by an intelligent designer." The spider
laughed and mockingly said, "This field has evolved and has nothing to do
with a creator. Corn always grows that way." The bug went on to
explain, "Oh no. This field belongs to the owner who planted it, and the
harvest is coming soon." The spider grinned and said to the little bug, "I
don't believe you," and then the spider ate the little bug for lunch.
A few days later, the spider was laughing about the story the little bug
had told him. He thought to himself, "A harvest! What a silly idea. I have
lived here all of my life and nothing has ever disturbed me. I have been
here since these stalks were just a foot off the ground, and I'll be here
for the rest of my life, because nothing is ever going to change in this
field. Life is good, and I have it made."
The next day was a beautiful sunny day in the cornfield. The sky above was
clear and there was no wind at all. That afternoon as the spider was about
to take a nap, he noticed some thick dusty clouds moving toward him. He
could hear the roar of a great engine and he said to himself, "I wonder
what that could be?" -Author Unknown
