Fourth vital component of true worship

 

4.      Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name

The way one ascribes to the Lord the glory due to His name is by observing His Sabbaths. For thus says the Lord; “You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord”. It is for a fact that there is no other God but One; but it is also the fact that, other nations have their own gods; and therefore, we have been instructed saying; “there is no other God but one.  For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live” (Leviticus 19:30; 26:2; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6).

Now the only way one makes a clear distinction between worshiping the one true God, and the one Lord Jesus Christ from the many other so called gods and lords, is by observing His Sabbaths, which glorifies Him as the Lord, and ascribes to Him the glory due to His name. For this is what the angel (messenger) with the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people has been instructed to say; "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water" (Revelation 14:6-7).

 Now the way the One who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water instructed us to worship Him is as follows:-

·         Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20: 9-11).

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people” (Exodus 31:13-14)..

Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them...I am the Lord your God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God” (Ezekiel 20:12, 19-20).

 " If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken" (Isaiah 58: 13-14).

“For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me," says the Lord, "So shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the Lord” (Isaiah 66:22-23).

Appearing before the Lord on days other than the Lord's Sabbaths is an abomination, 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 Moons 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).

And to ignore them, is profanity. For thus says the Lord; “Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them” (Ezekiel 22:26).

No wonder Jesus Christ said; “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath." And remember that, Gentiles are to glorify God with His people, because, “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!" And again, Isaiah says: "There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope.” Therefore, the instructions given to the children of Israel are applicable to the Gentiles as well (Romans 15:8-12).

Now, what is the rationale for the Sabbaths! How do they ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name? The rationale for the Lord's Sabbaths is that they commemorate significant events which the Lord performed for the salvation of man.

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To be continued, stay tuned

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph