Thursday, July 5, 2012

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.

6 comments:

  1. Interesting read pt1 you missed where Paul references the Sabbath last day of the week 64 times. Then you verify where man made the change. You forgot that God never changed any commandments. The 4th commandmenT God said honor and remember. Man says forget ito do it my way. Jesus said if you disobey the least of these you disobey them all. So show me just 1 verse where God said opps I got the days wrong let's change things. With supporting sunday the you are giving satan everything he wants. Disorder confusion. The 10 commandments don't exist any more or is it just 9 of them.

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    1. Earl, I am not going to debate with you about which day of the week is the Lord's Day. Since the earliest days of the church, immediately following the resurrection, the Church has been meeting for worship on the first day of the week. Moreover, all the people mentioned in this article kept Sunday's holy as the New Covenant Sabbath, and that includes Wesley. Please see his notes on Ex 20:8.

      If you are open minded, teachable, and interested, I suggest you read my article called Resting from Work, especially the section called "Remembering the Sabbath and Keeping it Holy." http://workinggodsway.blogspot.com/2011/07/resting-from-work.html

      I also suggest reading the following articles of mine:

      1. Led by the Spirit
      http://spiritofthelordgod.blogspot.com/2016/09/led-by-spirit.html

      2. Christian Sabbath is Sunday not Saturday. http://workinggodsway.blogspot.hu/2012/06/christian-sabbath-is-sunday-not.html

      I also recommend this excellent article by Dr. Stephen Flick that quotes early Christian writers to prove that Sunday was recognized by the apostles as the Lord's Day from the earliest days of the Church (Rev 1:10; 1 Cor 16:2; Ac 20:7-8).

      https://christianheritagefellowship.com/lords-day-early-christianity/

      I will not be debating this with you, so if you still disagree, then please keep it between yourself and God.

      God bless.

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  2. Len, I would suggest that you pray and search the scriptures as God leads you in His truth... The seventh day Sabbath is God's holy day. He never changes, He wrote it in stone. Only man changes. We should be following God, not mans teaching. May God bless you in your search for truth in His word. We are accountable for what we teach to others.

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    1. Dear Grace, the Scripture says that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, & not in the old way of the written code (Rom 7:6). Of course, we must obey God's commandments, however, remember that "you are not under the law, but under grace." (Rom 6:14).

      Early Jewish Christians like Paul were in the synagogue on the seventh day preaching Christ, but met for worship in the temple courts & in their homes (Ac 2:46) on the first day of the week (Ac 20:7-8; 1 Cor 16:2). John was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day (Rev 1:10).

      The Christians sited in my article above lived during the 21st, 20th, 19th, 18th, & 17th centuries, & they all continued as the apostles did to celebrate on the first day of the week, a practice dating all the way back to the first century. The Church Fathers said the church met together on the first day of the week during their era following the first century. People like Polycarp, who was a disciple of the apostle John, were following in the footsteps of the apostles, so they would have kept the same practices for worship gatherings. To insist that this unbroken practice among the disciples of Christ for over 2,000 years has been sinful is preposterous.

      Isaiah prophesied: "Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths & convocations— I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. Your New Moon feasts & your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them." (Is 1:13-14).

      This passage is quoted in an early writing known as the Epistle of Barnabas, not to be confused with the heretical Gospel of Barnabas. The main concern of this epistle's author seemed to be the influence of Judaizing on Christians. While this epistle is not considered part of the inspired canon of Scripture, it is ancient literature believed to be written between the late first century & early second century. In that epistle, the author quotes the above passage from Isaiah 1, & cites it as the reason that Christians do not observe the Jewish Sabbath on the seventh day. He states: " Wherefore also we keep the eighth day for rejoicing, in the which also Jesus rose from the dead, & having been manifested ascended into the heavens. " (Barnabas 15:8)

      That was not a practice the author learned from a 4th century Roman Emperor, who had not even been born yet. That practice was copied from example of the apostles themselves. I suggest reading the following articles that will explain everything very clearly to you:

      http://workinggodsway.blogspot.com/2017/03/wesleys-sunday-sabbath-keeping.html

      http://workinggodsway.blogspot.hu/2012/06/christian-sabbath-is-sunday-not.html

      http://spiritofthelordgod.blogspot.com/2016/09/led-by-spirit.html

      If after reading these articles & the Scriptures you still think the way you do, then I have nothing further to discuss with you. Those who teach that God is only pleased with Saturday Sabbath observance are the ones in danger, because they do not have the backing of Scripture or the apostles. Some of them like the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) churches insist that Sunday worship is the mark of the beast, which is not only absurd but heretical. In teaching this way, they condemn all Sunday worshipers in this age & all the way back to the first century, including the apostles, simply for worshiping on Sundays rather than Saturday. Furthermore, their effort to convince Sunday worshipers to observe the seventh day Sabbath is in vain, since the Scripture says in Rev 14:9-11 that those who take the mark of the beast are doomed & cannot be saved. Please do your research.

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  3. Yes i been extremely confused. I came accross alot of articles that claim that sabbath is the Saturday and those who choose Sunday are in danger. Its so confusing. After reading all this I have mixed feelings because I just want to do what is right in the lords eyes. I will admit that it caused me to start observing saturday as the sabbath but now im just so confused

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    1. Well, confusion is not of God. He has given you a spirit of love, power, and a sound mind. Let me encourage you to read these articles of mine:

      http://workinggodsway.blogspot.hu/2012/06/christian-sabbath-is-sunday-not.html

      http://workinggodsway.blogspot.com/2012/01/keeping-sundays-holy.html

      http://workinggodsway.blogspot.com/2011/07/resting-from-work.html

      http://workinggodsway.blogspot.com/2017/03/wesleys-sunday-sabbath-keeping.html

      God bless you.

      Delete

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