Happy Sabbath To All: Today’s Testimony
They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…(Rev 12:11, NIV)
Every week there is a special day, set apart, sanctified, and blessed by God for anyone who desires truth, and to do whatever God says. (John 7:17-18, ERV)
Its called The Sabbath.
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. (Exodus 20:11)
Therefore, when I say “Happy Sabbath” to people, I mostly mean that I wish them well, I wish them all the best that Jesus has to give.
I have often thought of the Sabbath as His crowning act of creation. Therefore, for me, it is a case of resting in His love on this special day, which by the way is not called “the law of Moses.” The commandment is specific and tells us it is
“The Sabbath of The Lord thy God.” (Exodus 20:10-11)
Let us rest in His “everlasting love.
Let us rest in the love of Him who has each one of us “engraved on the palms of His hands.” His nail-scarred hands. The hands that created the Sabbath, also made the tree that was used to make the cross where he was crucified. Let us rest in that love. (Eph 2:13)
I recently made a new friend in the town where I live. He was just some dude I met along the days journeys a couple of days ago. We had some Bible discussion for several hours. He just had this amazing thirst to know whatever he could learn about Jesus. It was so refreshing to share testimonies and scripture with him. At one point he told me that he prayed to Jesus the other day, and he said in his prayer:
“My Jesus, you have been so good to me even before I was saved. (Rom 5:8) What can I do for you now, my Lord?”
My friend told me that God answered him as follows:
“Nothing. Just go tell others what I have done.” (Luke 7:22, Luke 4:18-19, Mat 11:5, Mat 28:10, etc)
As with every Sabbath, this is a special day where I can praise God. I sometimes learn more from the people I study with than what I try to teach them. We spent hours sharing testimonies and scripture. My new friend also shared with me about sheep and goats. We were discussing about the part in the Bible where Jesus separates the sheep from the goats. (Mat 25:33) I said to him
“I have always wondered why Jesus put the “sheep” on His right, and the “goats” on His left. Any thoughts on that?”
My friend replied “yes,” and then he announced proudly:
“right is the opposite of wrong!”
Well my friend has sheep on his farm and we shared a good chuckle as I exclaimed
“so thats why you have sheep!”
At this point, my friend shared a powerful testimony:
“I caught my first fish 2 weeks after I was saved.” (see Mark 1:17)
At first I had no idea what he meant. And then as his story unfolded he told me this:
Two weeks after I was saved, my wife woke me up in the middle of the night and said with tears:
“I want to give my heart to Jesus”
Friends, have you caught your first “fish” yet?
What an “infallible proof” (Acts 1:3) this testimony was/is for the following scripture:
“Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved—you and all who live in your house.” (Acts 16:31)
My friends, God has a church. It is not the great cathedral, neither is it the national establishment, neither is it the various denominations; it is the people who love God and keep His commandments.
“Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).
Where Christ is even among the humble few, this is Christ’s church, for the presence of the High and Holy One who inhabits eternity can alone constitute a church.
In summary, belonging to a specific denomination does not give anyone religious privilege or “authority”) for one reason being that the Bible says ALL authority has been given to Jesus. (Mat 28:18) Certain churches who claim to have THAT authority have wreaked more ruin and disaster on our poor earth than anyone, anywhere, anytime.
In preaching the doctrine of the second advent back in the 1800s, a Christian by the name of, William Miller, and his associates, had labored with the sole purpose of arousing people to a preparation for the coming judgment in Bible prophecy. They had sought to awaken professors of religion to the true hope of the church and to their need of a deeper Christian experience. They labored also to awaken the unconverted to the urgent need of immediate repentance and conversion to God.
“They made no attempt to convert people to a sect or party in any religion. Hence they labored among all parties and sects, without interfering with their organization or discipline.” {GC 375.1}
“In all my labors,” said Miller, “I never had the desire or thought to establish any separate interest from that of existing denominations, or to benefit one at the expense of another. I thought to benefit all. Supposing that all Christians would rejoice in the prospect of Christ’s coming, and that those who could not see as I did would not love any the less those who should embrace this doctrine, I did not conceive there would ever be any necessity for separate meetings. My whole object was a desire to convert souls to God, to notify the world of a coming judgment, and to induce my fellow men to make that preparation of heart which will enable them to meet their God in peace. The great majority of those who were converted under my labors united with the various existing churches.”–Bliss, page 328. {GC 375.2}
Jesus calls us to LET our light shine. Meaning that we already have it. (Isa 60:1)
We just have to “let it.” (Mat 5:16)