Famous Christian Sabbath Observers

D.L. Moody

In another blog of mine, called The Four Tallest Homes in Heaven (see here), I told of a conservative Presbyterian Pastor from Korea, named Yong Park, who was taken to Heaven and Hell when he died tragically in 1987. He was shown why some saints are richly rewarded in Heaven.  These included those saints with the four tallest homes in heaven, two of whom are John Wesley and D.L. Moody.  Both of these men labored tirelessly for the Lord in preaching the gospel to their generations in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries respectively.

As I mentioned in my blog called The Lord's Day (see here), about keeping Sundays holy, both John Wesley and D.L. Moody believed and taught that we should keep the Sabbath, according to the fourth commandment.  You can read Wesley's position on the Sabbath (see here), as well as Moody's (see his view on the Fourth Commandment here). And they both believed that the Christian Sabbath is on Sundays, not Saturdays (see my blog about that here), which was their constant practice.

There were many famous servants of the Lord down through history, who kept the Christian Sabbath very strictly on Sundays.  Among those were brother David Wilkerson; Matthew Henry, the humble, beloved pastor whose expository commentary of the Bible has blessed millions down through the centuries; Albert Barnes, the American theologian who wrote the popular Bible commentary by that name; Lottie Moon, the famous missionary to China; Jonathan Edwards, the American revivalist preacher, philosopher, and theologian; Mary Slessor, the Scottish missionary to Nigeria; and William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army.

However, today I would like to highlight one of them, and share an excerpt from a book, called The Shorter Life of D.L. Moody, regarding his deathbed experience. It was glorious!

"When D. L. Moody, the American evangelist, was dying, his son was at his bedside and heard him say in slow and measured words, 'Earth recedes: heaven opens before me.' His son’s impulse was to arouse him from what he thought was a dream. 'No, this is no dream, Will,' he said. 'It is beautiful!…If this is death, it is sweet!…God is calling me and I must go.'

"Later he exclaimed, 'This is my triumph; this is my coronation day! I have been looking forward to it for years.' Then his face lit up, and he said joyfully, 'Dwight! Irene! I see the children’s faces!' referring to his two grandchildren, whom God had taken home within the past year. Again he said later, 'This is my coronation day! It’s glorious!'"

There is much more to his coronation day testimony that's worth reading, and it's all posted on the Moody Library website in The Shorter Life of D. L. Moody (see here), "Coronation Day" Chapter XXII on page 111.  I encourage you to read the whole testimony!

There is a stark contrast between the horrible and terrifying death of the wicked, and the sweet and peaceful death of the righteous. Moody enjoyed such a glorious coronation day, because he knew Jesus Christ as his Savior and spent his life in obedience to the Lord's commandments, serving Him.  He was ready for the end of his earthly life.  And the fact that he and Welsey have two of the four tallest homes is heaven is directly connected with the way they lived their lives on earth in service to the King.

My friend, please make very sure you are ready, because we all have an appointment we will definitely not miss, which is our appointed day to die, and we have no idea when that will be. Please don't ignore the Lord's commandment to keep the Sabbath holy.

Author's Note: I also recommend reading David Wilkerson's message, Honoring the Sabbath, which I discovered after writing this article. I also encourage you to read Albert Barnes' commentary on Romans 14:5, particularly the section called "Every day alike", as well as his commentary on Revelation 1:10, particularly the section called "On the Lord’s day". 

If you enjoyed this message, you may also be interested in the other posts on this blog, available through the Home page, especially Resting from Work and Christian Sabbath is Sunday, not Saturday. Also see Seventh-day Adventist Heresies.

You can also find my complete collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.

Photo credit: D.L. Moody photo from Sermon Index.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.