I am reading The Promised Messiah by Elder Bruce R.
McConkie and am gaining depth in my understanding of many of the principles and
doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was recently reading his section
about how the Sabbath bears witness of Christ. He explains that Sabbath worship
“identifies the Lord’s people” because “the saints of God rest form their
labors and pay their devotions to the Most High on his holy Sabbath.” He then
explains that “true religion” always calls for a Sabbath – “one day in seven be
devoted exclusively to worshiping the Father in Spirit and in truth.” This is
because “men’s hears will never be centered on the things of the Spirit sufficiently
to assure them of salvation.”
Elder McConkie states that the “law
of the Sabbath is so basic, so fundamental” that it is the fourth of the Ten
Commandments. The first three commandments are about worshiping God and showing
reverence to His name.
“The fourth gives us the Sabbath
day as the weekly occasion on which we perfect our worship and put ourselves in
tune to the full with Him by whom all things are. It is in no sense an exaggeration nor does it
overstate the fact one whit to say that any
person who keeps the Sabbath, according to the revealed pattern, will be saved
in the celestial kingdom. The Sabbath is a day of worship. … True worship
includes keeping the commandments, and those who devote their Sabbaths to true
and proper worship obtain the encouragement that leads to full obedience” (page
391; emphasis added).
Even though I have attempted to
keep the Sabbath holy for many years, I am trying harder now because of the
emphasis made recently by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. Elder Russell M. Nelson’s counsel to “make the Sabbath a delight” means
much more to me today – after reading this statement from Elder McConkie – than
it did previously.
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