SACRAMENT.

While Christ to day shows us his hands and his feet, let us show him ours, a living sacrifice, a reasonable service. These hands which partake of His body and blood, how holy they ought to be! They may be full of prosperity in business; they may give and receive the grasp of new friendships and love; some may be given in marriage. They may receive from God the richest blessing ever laid in them, all purchased, be it remembered, by those hands which were nailed to the tree. May we be able at the next communion season to show Christ our hands and our feet with joy and peace as now He shows us His. Some of these hands, now united in love, may be unclasped by death, maybe folded upon the bosom for the long sleep, and as they brought nothing into this world, carry nothing out. 

The Special Promise of the Fourth Commandment. (Pasche)

"Honor thy father and mother; which is the first command­ ment with promise, that it may be well with thee and thou mayest live long on the earth." Ephesians. 6:2-3.

To make the path of duty over against parents and superiors easy and pleasant, God adds a promise, saying: “that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord, thy God, giveth thee.” We see that according to the exact wording this promise was given to the Jews and therefore was only a temporary promise. But its meaning and application appertains to all men of all times, and therefore this promise is changed in the New Testament; it now reads: “that it may be well with thee and thou mayest live long on the earth.” This promise of God ought indeed to encourage us and give us hearts that will melt with pleasure and love to­ ward those whom we should honor according to the Fourth Com­ mandment.

He who despises this gracious promise of God and does not obey his parents deprives himself of a great blessing, and it surely will not be well with him in the end. Woe to him that heeds neither the divine command nor the divine promise! Disobedient and rebellious Absalom, hanging with his hair enmeshed in the boughs of an oak-tree, with Joab’s three darts in his heart, is a warning example.

Let us strive, with God’s help, to obey His Fourth Command­ ment, so that we shall receive the promise He has added to it. 

DEEPER STUDY (from 'Devotions on the The Ten Commandments' to consider during Lent by Bishop Jerry L. Ogles

Commandment IV

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 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: 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.” (Exodus 20:8-11)

Many Bible scholars today seem to believe that God’s issuance of the Ten Commandments was the mo-

ment of institution of the Holy Sabbath. I disagree for it is mentioned in Genesis: “Thus the heavens and

the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he

had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the

seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and

made.” (Genesis 2:1-3) Again it was observed in Egypt as well in the wilderness Journey prior to Sinai:

“And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sab-

bath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which

remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.” (Exodus 16:23) and “So the people rested on the seventh day.” (Exodus 16:30) 

    Though the Sabbath was not instituted at Sinai, it was, indeed, codified into the Table of the Law.

It is important to note that God begins this Commandment with the word, remember. It is important be-

cause God does not want us to forget, or take for granted, this serious Commandment. He tells us to re-

member the Sabbath for He knows that we will be inclined to disregard it. You may feel that you are

keeping the Sabbath today, but you may not be. Is Sunday the Sabbath Day? No, it is the first day of the

week. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week which the Spanish calendar still depicts as Sábado.

Sunday, by consensus, was set aside by the early church as an appropriate day to set aside to formally

worship the Lord, but it is not the Sabbath described in the fourth Commandment. The Hebrew Sabbath

began at sundown Friday evening and continued till sundown on Saturday. It is intriguing to know that

Jesus was laid in the Garden Tomb precisely at the beginning of Sabbath, and had already arisen before

light of day on Sunday (see John 20:1). So we do not know the precise moment that Christ broke the

bonds of death and rose from the grave. It could have been 4 A.M. or it could even have been at sun-

down on Saturday – the end of the Sabbath. One thing we do know is this: Christ kept that Sabbath Day

in the rest of death in the Tomb!

There have been numerous and voluminous works written to show that the Hebrew Sabbath was

changed from Saturday to Sunday, but all such attempts fall far short of success. The Sabbath was not

changed and still remains inviolate today for Christians. I realize that you are probably thinking that I am

proposing that we must still observe the strict observance on a Seventh Day Sabbath – no, I am not;

however, I believe that Christ became our Passover when He died a substitutionary death for us on the

brow of Calvary: “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened.

For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:” (1 Corinthians 5:7) In the same sense, I believe that21

Christ became our Sabbath (Rest). Can we do any good works apart from Christ working in and

through us? No, we are incapable of such works.

None of our Christian labors are ours, but belong to Christ working in our members. “Neither yield ye

your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those

that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” (Romans

6:13) “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians

2:13) The only works we can take credit for are those of sin and disobedience, for the carnal man is

unable to please God. “Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a

time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus had given them

rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the

people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God

did from his.” (Hebrews 4:7-10)

The Greek word for rest in the above verse is ( or Sabbatismos (sab-bat-is-mos') which

means, ‘keeping Sabbath.’ In my own personal opinion, I understand the Sabbath not to have been

abrogated by Christ, but rather made more stringent. Not only do we keep one day in seven as Sab-

bath, but seven days in seven, for Christ is our eternal Sabbath. All that we do, think, and value is

centered on the Lord Jesus Christ, if we are devout and serious Christians. Our labors are His labors,

and we have that rest promised by God in Christ.

Though Christ has become our Sabbath rest in God, our physical bodies are not immune to weariness

and exhaustion. Therefore, the one day in seven principle for physical rest remains needful for the

mortal body. Governments from China to France, from Soviet Russia to Nazi Germany, have at-

tempted eliminate any day of rest at all in the week, but to no avail. The Sabbath Day was not only a

spiritual rest granted to ancient Israel, but a physical rest given to all mankind in God’s natural laws.

Our keeping of God’s Sabbath today is to allow Christ to labor in and through our members. If we

step back and allow Christ to work in us, we will discover that we have the attributes of the great Ea-

gle. We will not grow weary in good works because those good works came not of our labors but of

Christ. “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator

of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He

giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths

shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall

renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and

they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31)22

in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in

the sanctuary.” (Psalm 63:1-2) We will seek His face early – even before we prepare food for the

belly, we will seek to satisfy the void in the heart.

And not only will our search for God and glorying in Him be in the daylight hours, but also the dark

nights of the soul: “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise

thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night

watches.” (Psalms 63:5-6) There are far too many of us who take a flippant view of our duties, and

love, for God. We believe that we can depend only upon a weekly sermon and reading of the Gospel

and we are set for a week of forgetfulness in the world. Really? No, we need the daily bread of the

Word, of prayer, and of dependence upon our Creator It is by His power and discretion that we receive

the next breath of life (did we labor for it?). And it is from His gracious will that our heart performs

the very next beat. None of the basic functions of life come as a result of our labor, but from God. He

continues those labors of His in maintaining our lives day by day, seven days a week. He is truly our

Sabbath Rest in every way.

There is no man to enforce the Sabbath. It is God who commanded it. His Voice thundered it from the

Smokey Heights of Sinai. That same Voice also thundered again on the Mount of Transfiguration:

“...This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard

it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise,

and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus

only.” (Matthew 17:5-8) Arise, be not afraid. The Law of God is no longer written on Tables of Stone,

but by Love upon the sinews of our hearts – written, not with pick and hammer, but by the Blood of

the Lord Jesus Christ!

 DAILY READINGS IN LIFE OF CHRIST - J.R. Miller

December 4. Self-Sacrifice

"And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.." Luke 23:35

It was because He would save others — that He could not save Himself. The soldier in the battle cannot save himself — and save his country. The mother cannot spare herself — and save her child. Jesus could have saved Himself — but what would have been the fate of sinners?

Three little children wandered from home one afternoon. Evening found them playing by the sea-shore. It grew suddenly dark and cold, and they could not return. In the morning they were found, the two youngest sleeping warm and safe under covering of garments and sea-weeds, and little Mary, the elder, lying cold and dead, with her arms yet full of sea-weeds. She had taken off nearly all her own warm clothing to cover the younger children, and then carried grass and sea-weeds to pile upon them, until she died in her loving devotion. She did not save herself — because she would save the little ones entrusted to her care.

During a plague in Marseilles, the physicians decided that nothing could be done to save the people — unless a plague victim could be dissected, and the nature of the disease thus learned. But who would do such a perilous work? One physician arose and said that he would do it. Saying his farewell to his family he entered the hospital, made the dissection, wrote out the results, and in a few hours was dead. But now the physicians could treat the disease, and the plague was stayed.

These incidents illustrate Christ's devotion to death for sinners. Sinful men could not be saved — unless someone would suffer and die in their place — and Jesus became the atoning sacrifice for sins. In one sense He could have saved Himself — but then the world would have been lost. His death was voluntary. He gave His life for the sheep. We are saved — because He saved not Himself.

 

 

COME UYNTO ME

 The Christians Are the Pillars of a Nation (Pasche)

We know that all things work together for good to them that love God. Romans 8:28.

True Christians honor the magistrates and hold them in love and esteem. We honor them even in our public services by men­ tioning them in our general prayer every Sunday.

The Christians, furthermore, conform to the laws and never take part in a revolt. They also scrupulously pay the taxes im­ posed upon them and do their part as citizens to promote the general welfare of the State. They seek the peace of the nation. They spread the glad tidings of the Gospel of Christ, who is the Fountain of great blessings. Above,all, they endeavor to bring up their children as pious, God-fearing men and women, who, when­ ever their country’s call places them into public offices, will render a conscientious performance of their duties and an honest adminis­ tration of public affairs. For is it not true that that State and that city is best provided for whose citizens are actuated by Christian principles? Government has in Christians the best support as regards true morality, for they are the very sap and marrow of all true moral influence. Moreover, by their good example, Chris­ tians prompt the children of this world to display more natural uprightness and faithfulness in the performance of those things which their government demands of them.

The Christians are indeed the cause of all divine blessings showered upon a nation. If they do what is right, they can bring about so much, that the nation throughout which they are, as it were, strewed as salt does not become corrupt or ruined. The Christians are the pillars of a nation. They are the props and foundation of the state. They are the dam which keeps back the water of divine wrath. Take, for example, the citizens of Sodom. God agreed not to destroy the place if ten righteous people were found in it. The large city of Nineveh was spared by God because its inhabitants repented upon hearing Jonah. Whenever, there­ fore, a nation has been severely punished on account of its sins, it was because it lacked true Christians who stayed the punishing hand of God.

Prayer.

Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank Thee that through theagency of parents and masters Thou dost even now, toward the evening of the world, maintain government, order, and peace on earth, and we beseech Thee graciously to guide and govern these Thy representatives that they may walk in Thy ways and wisely and properly fulfil the duties incumbent upon them for the welfare of all citizens. Teach us to honor those in authority, Thy minis­ ters to us for good, and enable us by Thy Holy Spirit to submit ourselves to every lawful ordinance of men for Thy sake. Amen.