Christ The Word. "He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered." Ps.
111:4.
1. What is to endure throughout all generations?
"Thy name, O Lord, endureth forever; and _Thy memorial, O Lord; throughout all generations_." Ps. 135:13.
_Memorial_: "Anything intended to preserve the memory of a person or event; something which serves to keep some person or thing in remembrance, as a monument or a practise."-_Webster._
2. What ill.u.s.tration of this is given in the Bible?
"And _these stones shall be for a memorial_ unto the children of Israel forever." Joshua 4:7.
3. What were these stones to commemorate?
"And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?
then _ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land_." Verses 21, 22.
NOTE.-These stones were to be a standing memorial, or reminder, of Israel"s coming dry-shod over the Jordan.
4. What was another memorial inst.i.tuted to commemorate another signal providence in behalf of the Israelites?
"And _this day shall be unto you for a memorial_; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever." Ex. 12:14.
NOTE.-This, the Pa.s.sover, was a _periodical_ memorial, to be observed on the fourteenth day of the first month of each year, the day on which the Israelites were delivered from Egyptian bondage, and its celebration was to be, with the seven days" feast of unleavened bread following and connected with it, in commemoration of that event. See Ex. 13:3-9.
5. Does G.o.d design that His great work of creating the heavens and the earth shall be remembered?
"The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is honorable and glorious: and His righteousness endureth forever. _He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered._" Ps. 111:2-4.
6. What has He commanded men to observe in memory of this great work?
"_Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy_; ... for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it."
Ex. 20:8-11.
7. Of what was this memorial to be a sign?
"And hallow My Sabbaths; and they shall be _a sign_ between Me and you, _that ye may know that I am the Lord your G.o.d_." Eze. 20:20.
8. How long was the Sabbath to be a sign of the true G.o.d?
"_It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever_: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed." Ex. 31:17.
NOTE.-It is manifest that if the object of the Sabbath was to keep G.o.d as the Creator in mind, and it had been faithfully kept from the first, there would not now be a heathen or an idolater on the face of the earth.
9. What besides creation were Israel to remember when they kept the Sabbath?
"_And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy G.o.d brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched-out arm_: therefore the Lord thy G.o.d commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day." Deut. 5:15.
NOTE.-There is a deep significance to this scripture not apparent to those unacquainted with the facts. In Egypt, through oppression and idolatrous surroundings, the keeping of the Sabbath had become not only almost obsolete, but well-nigh impossible. See reading on "Reasons for Sabbath-Keeping," under questions 9 and 10, page 423.
Their deliverance from bondage was in order that they might keep G.o.d"s law (Ps. 105:43-45), and particularly the Sabbath, the great seal, sign, and memorial-inst.i.tution of the law. The recollection of their bondage and oppressed condition in Egypt was to be an additional incentive for keeping the Sabbath in the land of freedom. The Sabbath, therefore, besides being a memorial of creation, was to be to them a memorial of their deliverance from bondage, and of the great power of G.o.d as manifested in this deliverance. And as Egypt stands as a symbol of the condition of every one in the world under the slavery of sin, so the Sabbath is to be kept by every saved soul as a memorial of the deliverance from this slavery by the mighty power of G.o.d through Christ.
10. Of what else does G.o.d say He gave the Sabbath to His people to be a sign, or reminder?
"Moreover also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be _a sign_ between Me and them, _that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them_." Eze.
20:12.
NOTE.-Sanctification is a work of redemption,-of making holy sinful or unholy beings. Like the work of creation itself, this requires creative power. See Ps. 51:10; John 3:3, 6; Eph. 2:10.
And as the Sabbath is the appropriate sign or memorial of the creative power of G.o.d wherever displayed, whether in creation, deliverance from human bondage, or deliverance from the slavery of sin, it is to be kept as a sign of the work of sanctification.
This will be one great reason for the saints" keeping it throughout eternity. It will remind them not only of their own creation and the creation of the universe, but also of their redemption.
11. Through whom do we have sanctification?
"But of Him are ye in _Christ Jesus_, who of G.o.d is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and _sanctification_, and redemption." 1 Cor. 1:30.
NOTE.-Then, as the Sabbath is a sign or memorial of sanctification, and as Christ is the one through whom the work of sanctification is accomplished, the Sabbath is a sign or memorial of what Christ is to the believer. Through the Sabbath, therefore, G.o.d designed that the believer and Christ should be very closely linked together.
12. What statement of the redeemed shows that they will remember G.o.d"s creative power?
"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: _for Thou hast created all things_, and for Thy pleasure they are and were _created_." Rev. 4:11.
13. How often will they congregate to worship the Lord?
"For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pa.s.s, that _from one new moon to another_, and _from one Sabbath to another_, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord." Isa. 66:22, 23.
NOTE.-The Sabbath, which is the memorial of G.o.d"s creative power, will never cease to exist. When this sinful state of things shall give way to the sinless new earth, the fact upon which the Sabbath inst.i.tution is based will still remain; and those who shall be permitted to live in the new earth will still commemorate the creative power of G.o.d, while singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Rev. 15:3. See Rev. 22:1, 2.
Reasons For Sabbath-Keeping
[Ill.u.s.tration.]