Ascribing to the Lord the glory due to His Name is as
relevant today as it was in the Old Testament. The only difference is that of
application, in the Old Testament it was according to the letter of the law and
the command was “You shall,” but in our new dispensation it is in accordance to the spirit and the application is, “if
you love Me keep My commandments.” And so we have been admonished saying,“One person esteems
one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully
convinced in his own mind: He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord;
and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it” (Romans 14:5-6).
We must however not be ignorant or ignore the fact that,
it is only to the children of Israel has God revealed Himself and His way of life. For thus says the Lord; “Ask now concerning the days that are past, which
were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from
one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened,
or anything like it has been heard. Did any people ever hear the voice of God
speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard and live?’
“Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation
from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a
mighty hand and an out stretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all
that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was
shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; there is none other
besides Him.’
“Out of heaven he let you hear His voice that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire and you heard His words out
of the midst of the fire.” Therefore, “Know this day, and consider it in your
heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath:
there is no other (Deuteronomy
4:32-36, 39).
It is therefore advisable that Gentiles do not isolate
themselves from the feasts of the Lord and learn to glorify the Lord together
with His people. For thus says the apostle Paul; “Receive one another, just as
Christ also received us to the glory of God. Now I say that Jesus Christ has
become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the
promises made to the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His
mercy, as it is written: for this reason I will confess to you among the
gentiles, and sing to your name.” And again he says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles with
His people! And again: Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!” (Romans 15:7-11)
The festivals were ordained by God as days of holy
convocations so that both Jews and Gentiles can come and appear before Him to
rejoice and worship. When Gentiles disregards and hold in contempt the days
which God has sanctified, and ordained as days of holy convocations, and choose
to come before Him on days He has not ordained as holy convocations, they are
provoking the Lord to jealousy.
For thus says the Lord; “When you come to appear before
Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample my courts? Bring no more
futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the
Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies – I cannot endure iniquity and the
sacred meeting. Your new moon and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are
a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them, when you spread out your hands, I
will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear,
your hands are full of blood” (Isaiah 1:12-15).
The things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to
demons and not to God, and therefore Christians are admonished saying; “I do
not want you to have fellowship with demons, you cannot drink the cup of the
Lord (which is the main objective of Christian fellowship), and the cup of
demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons. Or
do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? (1 Corinthians 10:20-22).
Therefore, a visible outward sign in identifying the
church of God is that of ascribing to the Lord the glory due to His name by
observing His Sabbaths which are all memorials and should be commemorated and
celebrated in thanksgiving for what the Lord did for humanity on that
particular day.
With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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