June 1, 2020
FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:
THE SABBATH POINTS TO NATURE AND NATURE POINTS TO THE CREATOR
“All things were created by the Son of God. ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God….All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.’ John 1:1-3,KJV.
“And since the Sabbath is a MEMORIAL of the work of creation, it is a TOKEN of the love and power of Christ. The Sabbath calls our attention to nature, and brings us into communion with the Creator. In the song of the birds, the sighing of the trees, and the music of the sea, we may hear His VOICE who talked with Adam in Eden in the cool of the day.
“And as we behold His power in nature we find COMFORT, for the Word that created all things is that which SPEAKS LIFE to the soul. He ‘who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.’ 2 Cor. 4:6.
“It was this thought that awoke the song,—-“Thou, Lord,has made me glad through Thy WORK; I will triumph in the WORKS of Thy hands. O Lord, how GREAT ARE THY WORKS! And Thy THOUGHTS are very deep.’ Ps. 92:4,5.
“And the Holy Spirit through the gospel-prophet Isaiah declares: ‘To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare Him?….Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you FROM THE BEGINNING? Have you not understood FROM THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH? It is He that sits upon the CIRCLE of the earth [is is a round, not ‘flat earth’], and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in.”
“To whom will you like Me, or shall I be equal [to]? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who has CREATED all these things, that brings out their host by numbers: He calls them all by NAMES by the greatness of His might, for that He is STRONG IN POWER; NOT ONE FALLETH.
“Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakers, O Israel, My way is hidden from the Lord, and my judgement is passed over from my God?
“Has thou not known? Has thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the CREATOR of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary?…. He gives POWER to the FAINT; and to them that have no might He INCREASES strength’ FEAR THOU NOT; for I am with thee: be NOT DISMAYED; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee: yea, I will UPHOLD thee with the right hand of MY RIGHTEOUSNESS.’
“Look unto Me, and be ye SAVED, all the ends of the earth: for I AM GOD, and THERE IS NO ONE ELSE.”
“This is the message WRITTEN in NATURE, which the SABBATH is appointed to KEEP IN MEMORY. When the Lord bade Israel hallow His Sabbaths, He said, ‘they shall be a SIGN between Me and you, that you may KNOW that I am Jehovah your God.’” Isa. 40:18-29; 41:10; 45:22; Eze.20:20.” E.G.White, Desire of Ages, pp. 281-283.
True Sabbath-keepers know who the Creator is by studying creation, not evolution, nature, not the works and ‘creations’ of finite mortals. Thus they have the faith of Jesus and the peace that passeth understanding in their hearts. This is what the the world does not have and “by their fruits you shall know them.” Look at what is happening around us! NMF