Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

NATIONAL REFORM NUMBERBIBLE LESSONS FOR THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 27, 1955bvetunterwitnessVOLUME LV, NO. 19 TOPEKA, KANSAS, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1955of God's DayRev. Ronald W. Francis in "JOY AND LIGHT""I would suggest in the first place that The nonobservanceof the Lord's Day is robbery. Malachi3 :8, "Will a man rob God ?" You can apply that toyour Christian Sabbath if it is God's Day. It belongsto Him, God has set it apart for Himself. The manor the woman who does not give God that day in thefullest sense is robbing God, therefore one of thesins of Sabbath breaking is robbery.The non-observance of the Lord's Day is alsodisobedience. We have the Ten Commandments andalongside the commandments not to steal and not tokill is the commandment to "Remember the Sabbath.Day to keep it holy," and men seem to think thatthey can disobey that one Command. Those of us whoknow God know His Word, know that God has notonly set apart that one day for Himself, but He hascommanded that it be kept holy.The non-observance of the Lord's Day is alsofolly. Our Lord Jesus Christ said "The Sabbath wasmade for man and not man for the Sabbath." Isn'tit strange that this verse has been used for thecomfort of the guilty conscience! God has given youthis Day, He has given it to you for your good, Heknows you need it; therefore, God in His grace andHis love has given you His holy Day. It is sin andfolly to take that day and to misuse it and,as itwere, throw it back into God's face.Lastly, the non-observance of the Lord's Day isclearly sacrilege and desecration. The Bible is particularly clear on this point. When anything is sanctified (qodesh), set apart for God, God's judgmentis upon those who desecrate those holy things. In theaccount of the fall of Jericho (Joshua 6 and 7) wefind that everything in the city was to be sanctifiedor consecrated unto the Lord, but Achan decided totake the holy thingand misappropriate it to his ownends, and you know the terrible judgment that followed because he took that which was peculiarlyGod's. Uzzah put out his hand to steady the ark andhe touched the holy thing and he was struck dead(2 Sam. 6). I believe God sent His judgment in theseinstances to show man that these things which areholy are to be observed as holy and with the utmostreverence and grace on the part of those who comeinto contact with them. That which is holy, whentreated with disrespect, brings God's judgment down.In Daniel 5 we read of Belshazzar and of the writingon the wall ; I suggest that the supreme sin of Belshazzar which brought down the judgment of Godwas that of desecration and sacrilege. He took thevessels which had been consecrated and set apart forthe service of the living God and he desecrated themdeliberately.This Day is God's Day. He has consecrated itand set it apart for Himself, thus imparting to it aparticular holiness and sanctity which is quite inapplicable to the other days of the week. We as anation are desecrating that holy Day and we need topray that God in His long-suffering, will convict andbring about such a change of heart on the part ofour people, our leaders and our nation as a whole,that His judgment may not fall upon us, as undoubtedly it deserves to do."Adapted from "A VicarAND LIGHT" July-September, 1955.Testifies,""JOY