Thus says the Lord: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" --Jeremiah 6:16

 

15 November, 2007 - by Chad   comments: (0) Resource Spotlight   J.C. Ryle on Church Attendance and the Means of Grace Part 3. In this last post in the series we come to the thing that Christians seem to have more aversion to than anything else in this day. Ryle is going to discuss the necessity of Sabbath keeping. The fourth commandment still stands and will until heaven and earth pass. In my opinion the last paragraph is of particular importance. Let me name here another point which is closely connected with this subject. Let nothing ever tempt you to become a sabbath-breaker. I press this on your attention. Make conscience of giving all your sabbath to God. A spirit of disregard for this holy day is growing up amongst us with fearful rapidity, and not least among young men. Sunday traveling by railway and steam boats, Sunday visiting, Sunday excursions, are becoming every year are becoming more common than they were, and are doing infinite harm to souls. Young men, be jealous on this point. Whether you live in town or country, take up a decided line; resolve not to profane your sabbath. Let not the plausible argument of "needful relaxation for your body"- let not the example of all around you- let not the invitation of companions with whom you may be thrown- let not none of these things move you to depart from this settled rule that God's day shall be given to God. Once give over caring for the Sabbath, and in the end you will give over caring for your soul. The steps which lead to this conclusion are easy and regular. Begin with not honoring God's day you will soon not honor God's house; cease to honor God's house , and you will soon cease to honor God's book; cease to honor God's book, and by and by you will give God no honor at all. Let a man lay the foundation of having no sabbath and I am never surprised if he finished with the top-stone of no God. It is a remarkable saying of Judge Hale( Sir Matthew Hale 1609-1676, Lord Chief Justice of His Majesty's Court of King's Bench), "Of all the persons who were convicted of capital crimes while he was upon the bench, he found only a few who would not confess upon inquiry, that they began their career of wickedness by a neglect of the Sabbath". Young men, you may be thrown among companions who forget the honor of the Lord's Day; but resolve, by God's help, that you will always remember to keep it holy. Honor it by regular attendance at some place place where the gospel is preached. Settle down under a faithful ministry, and once settled, let your place in church never be empty. Believe me, you will find a special blessing following you: 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: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.(Isa 58:13-14) And one thing is very certain-your feelings about the Sabbath will always be a test and criterion of your fitness for heaven. Sabbaths are a foretaste and fragment of heaven. The man who finds them a burden, not a privilege, may be sure that his heart stands in need of a mighty change. Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.1017          Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism