How To Stand Your Ground. Part [18] 12/10/2023 Evening thought)

Exodus 16:23 And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which you will bake to day, and seethe that you will seethe; and that which remains over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. 25 And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the Lord: today you shall not find it in the field.

[Patriarchs & Prophets pp 408] Soon after the return into the wilderness, an instance of Sabbath violation occurred, under circumstances that rendered it a case of peculiar guilt. The Lord's announcement that He would disinherit Israel had roused a spirit of rebellion. One of the people, angry at being excluded from Canaan, and determined to show his defiance of God's law, ventured upon the open transgression of the fourth commandment by going out to gather sticks upon the Sabbath.

During the sojourn in the wilderness the kindling of fires upon the seventh day had been strictly prohibited. The prohibition was not to extend to the land of Canaan, where the severity of the climate would often render fires a necessity; but in the wilderness, fire was not needed for warmth. The act of this man was a willful and deliberate violation of the fourth commandment—a sin, not of thoughtlessness or ignorance, but of presumption.

If the sun were to set at midnight, some will still be found rushing at the last minute to enter into God’s haven of rest and therefore whether it be six O’clock or 12:00 midnight when the sun sets the law of God doesn’t change. If one is threatened with firing for not working on the sacred hours, the results should be left in God’s hands. And there are tools and remedies available through our own network, to try and mitigate such instances if the saint in question decides to go that route.

Exodus 16:27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. 28 And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse you to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!

How To Stand Your Ground. Part [17] 12/08/2023 (Morning thought)

Proverbs 23:20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: 21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

Again, when it’s time to stand your ground on those occasions of social drinking, the Christian must not be pliable. If alcohol is being served on some festive occasion, and the Christian is prompted to indulge, for the sake of friendship, let a clearcut answer be given in favor of the truth, and the prompters will in most cases be reconciled to your firm principles.

Standing your ground also pertains to issues on the proper observance of the Sabbath, for there will be times when pressure will be brought against those who choose to honor God, by keeping holy the 7th day of the week. When employers might need work done urgently, they may attempt to get the Christian to violate his or her conscience, by working on the sacred hours just this once.

And it may seem unreasonable if the Christian in question doesn’t buckle under the load of pressure. The Christian in such circumstances must be able to stand their ground, and leave the results in God’s hands. Every year when daylight saving time comes around, and the hours are shortened there’s always that one thing that has to get done, or else. What we have all discovered over the years is that there can never be enough hours in the working day.

Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 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.

May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!