One of the czars of
Russia, walking in
his park one day,
came upon a sentry
standing before a
patch of weeds. The
czar asked him what
he was doing there.
The sentry did not
know. All he could
say was that he had
been ordered to his
post of duty by the
captain of the
guard. The czar then
sent his aid to ask
the captain of the
guard. But the
captain could only
say that the
regulations had
called for a sentry
at that particular
spot. His curiosity
had been aroused.
The czar ordered an
investigation. But
no living man at the
court could remember
the time when there
had not been a
sentry at that post,
and none could say
why he was there, or
what he was
guarding.
Finally, the
archives were opened
and after a long
search the mystery
was solved. The
records showed that
Catherine the Great
had once planted a
rose bush in that
plot of ground and a
sentry had been put
there to see that no
one trampled upon
it. The rose bush
died, but no one
thought to cancel
the order, and so
for many years the
spot where the rose
bush had once been
was watched by men
who did not know
what they were
watching. It became
a tradition. They
really did not know
why they were there.
They were just
there.
Do you know that we
have many religious
teachers today
standing guard over
doctrines and
practices, the
origin of which they
do not know, and
they are certainly
not rooted in the
Scriptures. Simply a
tradition. They
think they are
guarding some sacred
plant of truth, when
in reality they are
standing guard over
some weed of error.
This brings us to
our first text
today, found in
Matthew the 15th
chapter, verse 13:
“Every plant, which
my heavenly Father
hath not planted,
shall be rooted up.”
That is to say,
every religious
doctrine and
practice which is
not rooted in the
Holy Scriptures will
in the end be
destroyed. And if
you want to stand
among the victorious
ones in the end of
time then anchor
your faith in the
doctrines and
practices that God
Himself has planted.
How can we know
truth? There is only
one way, and that is
to study carefully
this book that God
has given to us.
When it comes to
something so
important to
salvation certainly
no Christian should
depend upon the
sayings of another
man. He will not
follow tradition but
will search
diligently what God
has to say to him
through the Bible.
Today we present the
Bible text man has
forgotten—the text
God said to
remember. In Exodus
20 we find the ten
divine precepts of
our Creator. These
Ten Commandments
govern man’s
relationship to his
God and to his
fellow men. We seem
to have little
difficulty in
interpreting the
first commandment
which says, “Thou
shalt have no other
gods before me;” or
the second or the
third that reminds
us not to take the
name of the Lord our
God in vain; or the
fifth that tells us
to honor our father
and mother; the
sixth, that reminds
us not to kill; the
seventh, not to
commit adultery; the
eighth, not to
steal; the ninth,
not to bear false
witness; or the
tenth, not to covet.
All Christians
everywhere testify
to the necessity of
abiding by the
principles of these
divine commands of
God. All are of
equal importance. In
James 2:10-12 we
read: ‘’For
whosoever shall keep
the whole law, and
yet offend in one
point, he is guilty
of all. For he that
said, Do not commit
adultery, said also,
Do not kill. Now if
thou commit no
adultery, yet if
thou kill, thou art
become a
transgressor of the
law. So speak ye,
and so do, as they
that shall be judged
by the law of
liberty.’’
So all of these Ten
Commandments are of
equal importance.
Let us be mindful
that these Ten
Commandments are
unchangeable,
unalterable. In
Malachi 3:6 we
are told: “For I am
the Lord, I change
not.” And in
Psalms 89:34 we
read: “My covenant
will I not break,
nor alter the thing
that is gone out of
my lips.” Surely if
the Lord Himself
testifies that His
law is unchangeable,
that He Himself
would not alter it,
then we as mere men
dare not tamper with
this divine
constitution of the
government of God.
In fact, the Lord
commands us in
Deuteronomy 4:2
“Ye shall not add
unto the word which
I command you,
neither shall ye
diminish ought from
it, that ye may keep
the commandments of
the Lord your God
which I command
you.”
Among the Ten
Commandments we find
the forgotten Bible
text, the very one
God asked us to
remember. Notice
again, if you will,
Exodus 20, read
verses 8 through 11:
“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.’’
Notice that this
commandment is
prefaced with the
word
“remember”—”don’t
forget this one.’’
Could it be the Lord
knew that of all His
ten divine precepts
this would be the
one most forgotten
by all? And so He
said, “Remember the
sabbath day to keep
it holy.” Here the
Lord makes crystal
clear the day which
He made holy as the
Sabbath day. Notice
verses 10 and 11
where He says: “But
the seventh day is
the sabbath of the
Lord thy
God...rested the
seventh day:
wherefore the Lord
blessed the sabbath
day, and hallowed
it.” And so as we
remember the Sabbath
day to keep it holy,
we must remember
also which day the
Lord set apart as
His holy day. That
was the seventh day
of the week, or
Saturday, as we know
it today.
Notice that this
Sabbath commandment,
along with the rest
of the commandments
was given through
Moses in written
form 2,000 years
after creation. But
the Sabbath itself
goes back to
creation itself. In
Genesis 2:1-3 we
read: ‘’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.’’ There are some
who think that the
teaching of a
seventh-day Sabbath
is something new,
but in actuality it
is the oldest
institution known to
man, for it dates
back to creation
week itself, just as
does the institution
of marriage. It is
interesting to note,
too, that the
seventh day Sabbath
is not a Jewish day,
for it was given
2,000 years before
there was a Jew.
Indeed, Jesus said
in
Mark 2:27, “the
sabbath was made for
man”—not for the Jew
only, but for man.
Now, what was the
purpose of the
Sabbath? Why was it
given in the very
beginning of time?
“It is a sign
between me and the
children of Israel
for ever: for in six
days the Lord made
heaven and earth,
and on the seventh
day he rested, and
was refreshed.”
Exodus 31:17.
Here we recognize
that the Sabbath, if
kept by Christians,
is a sign that they
believe it was God
who created the
world in six days
and rested on the
seventh. In
Exodus 20:11 the
same reason for the
Sabbath was
given—”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.”
The Sabbath, then,
becomes a memorial
of creation, a sign
or a symbol of the
great creative power
of God. The Stars
and Stripes, the
red, white and blue
flag, stands today
as a symbol of the
great nation of
America. It is
indeed a privilege
for every
red-blooded American
to salute and pledge
allegiance to the
flag. None of us
would stand by idly
and see the Stars
and Stripes dragged
in the mud. Dare we,
then, fellow
Christians, see the
symbol of God’s
eternal government
torn away from its
moorings and dragged
in the mud of
tradition?
Jesus is surely our
example in all
things. We will
follow Him then in
this matter of
Sabbath observance,
for Jesus was a
Sabbathkeeper. “And
he came to Nazareth,
where he had been
brought up: and, as
his custom was, he
went into the
synagogue on the
sabbath day, and
stood up for to
read.”
Luke 4:16. Yes,
it was the custom,
the practice, of
Jesus to observe the
sacred, holy Sabbath
day. In
John 15:10 Jesus
testified: ‘’I have
kept my Father’s
commandments.” In
Matthew 15:9 He
says: “In vain they
do worship me,
teaching for
doctrines the
commandments of
men.” The seventh
day Sabbath stands
today as a
commandment of God.
The first day of the
week, or
Sunday-keeping,
stands today only
upon the traditions
of men.
Multitudes of
Christians today
believe that there
must be some good
reason why
Sunday-keeping has
replaced
Sabbathkeeping; some
reason why the first
day of the week is
kept today instead
of the Old Testament
Sabbath. But the
Bible is silent upon
such a change.
Did the apostles
keep the Sabbath?
The followers of
Jesus, after
beholding the body
of Christ in the
sepulcher, “returned
and prepared spices
and ointments; and
rested the sabbath
day according to the
commandment.”
Luke 23:56.
There is no record
anywhere in the New
Testament indicating
that the disciples
or followers of
Jesus honored any
other day as the
sacred Sabbath of
the Lord.
In the book of Acts
we find repeated
references to the
Sabbath long after
the resurrection of
Jesus. In
Acts 13:14 we
read: “But when they
departed from Perga,
they came to Antioch
in Pisidia, and went
into the synagogue
on the sabbath day,
and sat down.” In
verse 42: “And when
the Jews were gone
out of the
synagogue, the
Gentiles besought
that these words
might be preached to
them the next
Sabbath.” And in
verse 44: “And the
next sabbath day
came almost the
whole city together
to hear the word of
God.’’ As Paul
continued his
missionary journeys,
he continued to
honor the seventh
day Sabbath. In
Acts 16:13 we
read: “And on the
sabbath we went out
of the city by a
river side, where
prayer was wont to
be made; and we sat
down, and spake unto
the women which
resorted thither.”
Also in
Acts 17:2: “And
Paul, as his manner
was, went in unto
them, and three
sabbath days
reasoned with them
out of the
scriptures.”
Yes, it was the
custom of Paul, as
it was of Christ, to
observe the Sabbath
commandment. “And he
reasoned in the
synagogue every
sabbath, and
persuaded the Jews
and the Greeks” (in
the city of Corinth,
Greece),
Acts 18:4. He
continued there for
a year and six
months (verse 11).
and every Sabbath he
was found in the
church with the
people.
The Apostle Paul, as
he himself testified
in
Acts 24:14, that
he, “believing all
things which are
written in the law
and in the prophets”
kept this
commandment. It was
he who taught that
the keeping of the
law which was holy,
just and good was
not a means of
salvation, but a
result of salvation,
an evidence that the
love of Christ had
entered one’s heart.
As one who loved His
Lord, Paul, like all
the apostles,
continued to follow
in the footsteps of
Jesus in obedience
to the commandments
of God. There is
absolutely no text
in the Bible from
Genesis to
Revelation
indicating that a
new Sabbath should
be substituted for
the old. In fact,
there are only eight
texts in the New
Testament which
mention the first
day of the week.
Surely if there was
to be a change from
the seventh to the
first day, it would
have to be mentioned
in one of these
eight verses.
Why, then, do many
keep Sunday, you
ask? Well, because
they were taught to;
because their
mothers and fathers
did, and their
grandfathers,
perhaps, before
them; because they
had thought it must
be in the Bible;
because you thought
there must be some
good reason for it.
But as we put the
first day, Sunday,
to the test of Bible
truth, we find it
must fall, with all
the other
traditional
teachings of mankind
which came into the
church during the
Dark Ages. But in
these last days, in
fulfillment of Bible
prophecy, the true
Sabbath is again to
be revealed as part
of the great
reformatory movement
to take place before
Jesus returns.
In
Isaiah 58:12,
13 we are told
of the great
reformation which
specifies the
revival of the true
Sabbath. ‘’And they
that shall be of
thee shall build the
old waste places:
thou shalt raise up
the foundations of
many generations;
and thou shalt be
called, The repairer
of the breach, The
restorer of paths to
dwell in. 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.’’ To those
who accept this
last-day revival of
the true Sabbath,
the promise is given
in verse 14: “Then
shalt thou delight
thyself in the
Lord.” What a day of
delight it becomes
when the true
Sabbath, the seventh
day of the week, is
again accepted and
honored as the Holy
of the Lord.
The Bible also
teaches that the
Sabbath will be kept
in heaven. “For as
the new heavens and
the new earth, which
I will make, shall
remain before me,
saith the Lord, so
shall your seed and
your name remain.
And it shall come to
pass, that from one
new moon to another,
and from one sabbath
to another, shall
all flesh come to
worship before me,
saith the Lord.’’
Isaiah 66:22,
23. What a
privilege it will be
to gather around the
great white throne
in the kingdom of
glory each
seventh-day Sabbath
to worship our Maker
and our Saviour!
- Sunday Tradition,
Joe Crews Radio
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