THE LORD’S DAY BOOKLET



I am 83 years old. Seeing the decline in Christianity over eight decades, I feel a duty to warn Christians about what I think God expects from them. Many Christians today think that God is here to serve them. But when I grew up, people believed that God created them to glorify him and enjoy him forever. The Ten Commandments gives us the guidelines to do that.

I truly believe that if we all focus on the fourth commandment, that the Lord will heal our land and bring revival. I wrote this booklet to show from the Bible why I believe this.

Q. What is required in the fourth commandment?

A. The fourth commandment requires the keeping holy to God one whole day in seven. To be a Sabbath to himself.

Q. Which day of the seven has God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?

A. Before the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; And the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.

Q. How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?

A. The Sabbath is to be sanctified by the holy resting all the day (Exodus 20:8,10), even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days, (Exodus 16:25- 28; Nehemiah 13:15-22); and spending the whole time in public and private exercises of God’s worship (Luke 4:16; Acts 20:7; Psalm 92 (A Song for the Sabbath day); Isaiah 66:23); except so much as is taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.

These questions are taken from the Baptist Catechism as presented by the Charleston Association, 1813. I have included them to ensure that this discussion on keeping the Sabbath day holy is based on the Bible and the Catechisms.

Christians used to believe that the first day of the week was the Lord’s Day. All work was supposed to be done in six days and Sunday should be a day of rest and worship. See the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XXI.

I think that God is tired of it. I expect that either the return of Jesus Christ is about to happen, or maybe God will punish us by having the pandemic be serious enough that those who want to get rid of all Christian influence will take control of our country, and all true Christians will be persecuted.

But it is my hope and prayer that God will cause all who call themselves Christians to “humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways. Then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land.”

My prayer is also that all Christians will go back to believing that the whole Bible, including that the first 11 chapters of Genesis, is actual history. If Adam was not created by God as a perfectly righteous person, able to please God, then the plan of salvation makes no sense.

I believe that the Lord commands all people to keep the Lord’s Day. All who have been redeemed by Jesus' death on the cross have that added reason to refrain from work on the Lord’s Day. We should worship Him each Lord’s Day out of love for God, because He saved us and we truly love Him.

The apostle John heard the Lord say about the church in Ephesus: “Yet, I hold this against you: you have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen. Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. He who has ears let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 2:4,5,7.

I believe this applies just as well to the church today.

“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely forgive.” Isaiah 55:6-7.

14 – THE LORD IS A JEALOUS AND AVENGING GOD

“The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; The Lord will not leave guilty unpunished.” Nahum 1:2a, 3b

1656 years after God created the earth, it was written: “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” Genesis 6:11-13.

In obedience to God, Noah spent 125 years building an ark that saved Noah and his family. God sent the great flood, and the water was on the earth for 150 days. See Genesis 6-8. Then God promised never to destroy the earth with a flood again. See Genesis 9:11-17.

However, human nature being flawed, people's behavior again became detestable. “But mark this: there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

Since 1962 we have allowed prayer and Bible reading to be removed from schools. Creation is no longer taught there. Since 1973 we have allowed women to have their unborn babies killed. Fewer and fewer people are being married before they start living together.

2 – LET THERE BE PEACE ON EARTH

I woke up this morning. My wife was still asleep so I went across the hall to my office to get dressed. I was putting on my socks and the words of this song came to mind:

“Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

With God as our Father, brothers all are we.

Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.”

Three days before this, Joe Biden had been inaugurated as President of what used to be the United States of America. One of the main campaign pledges of Democrats running for office during the 2020 election season was that they wanted to unify the nation. An article in The Epoch Times newspaper (Jan. 6-12, 2021) says that over the eight terms, former Representative Daniel Lipinski. Democrat from Illinois, saw the number of pro-life Democrats in the House of Representatives dwindle from about 60 to two to none. The campaign of Joe Biden was financed by people that hate God and God’s laws. I believe that during Joe Biden’s presidency Christians will be persecuted. The way that socialist countries bring unity to their countries is to kill all Christians.

The United States used to be one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. The United States needs a revival if it is to survive as a free country. Only God can make America great again.

America was once great because the majority of the citizens were Christians that lived like Christians should live, by obeying the TEN COMMANDMENTS and worshiping God on the Lord’s Day. It is time for all Christians to make sure that they are living the way God’s word tells them to live.

Join us at and let’s make the Lord’s Day great again.

3 – THE WAY I READ THE BIBLE

The way I read the Bible, I believe that God is the eternal, all powerful, all knowing, everywhere-present God. I read that the one true God is one eternal being, but that one being is active as three persons. God is infinite while humans are finite. That is, humans are limited while God is limitless. There are many things about God we cannot understand, so we have to realize that God is much more than we are able to comprehend.

Thinking about the 2020 world pandemic, maybe God is trying to tell us something. Our God is an awesome God. He created humans for the purpose of glorifying and enjoying Him forever. His glory can be seen in His creation. Then sin came into the world, so Jesus needed to save us. But people are not walking in salvation. Here are some verses that I think explain this problem.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” Romans 1:18-20.

Here is how I explain what is happening. From eternity, the three Persons of the Trinity have existed in perfect unity and perfect harmony. Revelation 4:11 says, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power.” For God to receive the glory and honor He deserves and desires, He had to create beings that were somewhat like Himself. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27. “And the Lord God formed the man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed in his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7.

God created humans so that He could have fellowship with them. And so that they could worship Him because He had made this perfect wonderful world for them. Well, then came the tree of the “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ferocious wolves.” Matthew 7:15. The first false prophet, Satan, tempted Adam and Eve by saying, “Did God really say?” Genesis 3:1.

At the beginning of the 20th century, many educators were beginning to doubt that God had created the earth in six days. As this doubt became popular, respect for God diminished and everyone became his own judge of what is true. This is why we see such division in the country. This has caused the minds of Christians to be darkened. They have exchanged the truth of God for a lie.

Many nonbelievers gained positions in education and government. As a result, this unbelief spilled over into higher education, even of Christians who were not ready to combat this. Christians desiring advancement in education were restricted by their belief in creation. If God is not believed to be our creator, then His commandments become much less important.

It appears to me, because many Christians have so little respect for the Ten Commandments in general and especially the fourth commandment, that God has caused the Democrats to win the national election of 2020 (the presidency and both houses of Congress). Now we will become the godless socialist country that Democrats want it to be. “A man who is stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed without any remedy.” Proverbs 29:1.

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

By watching the evening news on TV, we can see that this is happening to the people of our country. What can we do to change this?

abundance of things possessed. Along with it, a gradual but ever-increasing emphasis on sex and violence in TV programming. Due to those, many of us don’t realize that our god is now materialism and hedonism. We think we are still Christians. Thus when I talk about needing to get back to worshiping the Lord on His Day, few want to pay attention.

There was war in heaven, and now it has come down to earth, but God’s people don’t care. They find too much pleasure enjoying what the other side has to offer on Sunday evening. They chose television rather than going to church to hear teachings about all that Jesus wants them to obey.

13 – DO NOT BE DECEIVED, GOD IS NOT MOCKED

“A man reaps what he sows. The person that sows to please his sinful nature, will from that sinful nature reap destruction. The person that sows to please the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” Galatians 6:7-8.

Christians in the USA don’t realize that there is a (spiritual) war going on and their side is losing. And they will soon be completely lost if they don’t realize it and join the fight against Satan and his hosts.

When Adam and Eve fell in sin, God came and said, “And God said to the serpent, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers. He will crush your head, you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15.

This is the first time God told us that He would send a Savior. Satan has been fighting against Christ and His church ever since.

“There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against that dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough. He was hurled to earth and his angels with him.” Revelation 12:7-9.

knowledge of good and evil, and the serpent, and the ground being cursed, and the garments that God made for them from the first animals that died. Take time to read about this in Genesis 3:1-24. It points forward to the death of Christ on the cross.

There was only one way to save the creation that God had created. All the descendants of Adam were and are sinful at birth; see Romans 3:10-18. The second person of the Trinity, Jesus, had to come to earth as a human being; see Luke 1:26-38. Jesus died on the cross to satisfy the required wrath of perfect God against the sins of the imperfect human race. The third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, has to change the hearts of all those that God has decided to save. Then they can confess their sins and receive forgiveness; see Ephesians 1.

After Jesus completed His work on earth, He ascended to heaven and is preparing room for all of those who believe in Him. He told his disciples that He will someday come back to earth and judge all who are still alive. All the dead will be raised and all will be judged. To those that are saved, he will say, “Enter the joy of your Lord.” To those who are not saved, he will say, “Cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.” See Matthew 25:14-30.

By the year 1550 the Bible had been translated into the languages of the people of Europe and Great Britain. And a great revival happened, because the people could read the Bible for themselves in their own language. This revival lasted about 300 years, until Charles Darwin wrote his book on the Origin of the Species. By 1930, the theory of evolution was finding its way into theological seminaries, and people began to doubt what the Bible teaches.

The failure to believe that the first 11 chapters of Genesis are actual history is one of the main reasons for the decline of Christianity in America. Man was created in the image of God, and able to perfectly glorify God and enjoy God forever. If Adam had not fallen into sin, then there would have been no need for a Savior. If Genesis 1 through 11 are not a record of actual history, there is no gospel. If there is no need for a Savior, then there is no need for a church.

4 – GOD’S ONE PLAN OF SALVATION

There are those who think God has a plan of salvation for the Jews, and that the New Testament church’s religion for Christianity is different from that. However I believe that, before Christ came to earth, people were saved by believing He would come and save them, and we now know that He did come and save us.

I believe that what God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai is basically the same as what was given to Adam and his descendants verbally. I think the following scriptures support that.

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:14-16

I believe that God has one plan of salvation for all. The following scripture is God’s first promise of a Savior. “So the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, and more than any beast of the field; on your belly you shall go. And you shall eat dust the rest of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:14-15.

“Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin and clothed them.” Genesis 3:21. For God to make tunics of skin for Adam and Eve, an animal or animals would have to be killed. I am certain that God would have explained to Adam and Eve that, just as the animal shed its blood in order for Adam and Eve to have their nakedness covered, so the future Savior would shed His blood to pay for all of those who would be saved.

Nehemiah 13:15-22); and spending the whole time in public and private exercises of God’s worship (Luke 4:16; Acts 20:7; Psalm 92 (A Song for the Sabbath day); Isaiah 66:23); except so much as is taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.

Q. What is forbidden in the fourth commandment?

A. The fourth commandment forbids the omission or careless performance of the duties required, and profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which in itself is sinful, by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about worldly employments or recreations.

These questions and answers were copied from a catechism I found on the Internet. It is the Baptist Catechism as presented by the Charleston Association, 1813.

For my entire lifetime, I have been blessed to attend churches where they had two sermons each Lord's Day. One is based on either a catechism principle or a confession, which explains what God's word teaches. The other is from the Bible pertaining to living the Christian life. But during my lifetime, churches have increasingly failed to teach their members how to live to please God. Let's look at some examples.

For 1900 years people thought that God meant it when he said, “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” Sunday is the Lord's Day, a day of rest in New Testament times. During World War II, women found out that they could work and make money. Before World War II, people knew that what Jesus said in Luke 12:15 was true. “Watch out, be on your guard against all kinds of greed: a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Then in the 1950s there was this wonderful invention where you could not only hear but also be entertained by what you saw. In the 1960s we had the hippies. With their rejection of religion, they didn’t go away. They went to college, and took their unbelief into the entertainment field, into public education, into government, and I believe into the church as well.

We have continually been exposed to the endless cycle of commercials telling everyone that life does consist in the

2 Chronicles 7:14b says: “Then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and heal their land.”

This prayer should be answered by God because of these verses. “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” John 14:13-14.

Let us live by the fourth commandment to give God the honor and glory that He deserves. Let us pray regularly for forgiveness and healing. Then He will heal our land.

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only.” James 1:22.

12 – HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

Great nations rise and fall. Is the USA now being added to the list? It was founded on Christian principles. Here is one: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.”

That Christian principle was believed by a majority of US citizens for about 186 years. It was backed up by well-known catechism principles. These included keeping the Sabbath Day holy.

Q. What is required in the fourth commandment?

A. The fourth commandment requires the keeping holy to God one whole day in seven. To be a Sabbath to himself.

Q. Which day of the seven has God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?

A. Before the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; And the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.

Q. How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?

A. The Sabbath is to be sanctified by the holy resting all the day (Exodus 20:8,10), even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days, (Exodus 16:25-28;

“And the Lord God Commanded the man saying, 'Of every tree of the Garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.'”  Genesis 2:16-17.  

“…and of the herb of the field you may eat.” Genesis 3:18.

“And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of fruit from the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.” Genesis 4:3-5.

Read the instructions of the Lord in Leviticus 3 about offering the fat of the lamb with the peace offering. Abel knew that in order for God to have respect for his offering, it had to be a lamb that would show that he was believing the promise of God. God would send His Son, the lamb, who would shed His blood to be the Savior. This would indicate that Cain and Abel knew how God wanted to be worshiped. Remember that the meat of this offering was not eaten, as it was with the Passover meal.

We don’t know when Cain killed Abel, but they were born as babies, and grew up. In Genesis 4:9-15, God’s conversation with Cain is recorded. So we do know that God did have conversations with people. However, I don’t recall any other conversations with Adam after he was driven out of the Garden of Eden. I would think that God would have informed the people about how He expected them to live and how He wanted to be worshiped.

“And Adam knew his wife again and she bore a son and called his name Seth. For God has appointed another seed instead of Abel, who Cain killed. And to Seth also a son was born; and he named him Enoch. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.”

   

Genesis 5 tells us about Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenen, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, and Lamech.

“After he begat Methuselah, Enoch lived and walked with God three hundred and sixty five years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty five years. And Enoch walked with God and he was not, because God took him.”  Genesis 5:21, 24.

For Enoch to walk with God well enough that he would be taken right to heaven, he and others must have had instruction as to what was pleasing to God. I would think this would surely include the Ten Commandments.

When God told Noah to build the ark, God said, “You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; to each of animal that are unclean, male and female; also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of the earth.”  Genesis 7:2-3. 

So at the time of Noah, clean and unclean animals existed.

“Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.” Genesis 8: 20-21.

So Noah knew which animals were clean, and which animals were suitable for an offering to God.

“Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To you I will give this land. And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.”  Genesis 12:7.

“This is my covenant which you shall keep between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised.”  Genesis 17:10.

“Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham!' And Abraham said 'Here I am.' God said, 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I have told you.' So Abraham rose early in the morning and settled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt Is the church you attend still believing what was taught in 1650, or do you think that what people believed then was incorrect?

I believe that what has happened was predicted in 2 Timothy 4:3-4. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. But according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers. And they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”

“If my people will turn from their wicked ways.” 2 Chronicles 7:14a. Wicked means evil or morally wrong.

God's Bible says in Revelation 4:11, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for you have created all things. And by your will they exist and were created.” I would say that, in God’s sight, being wicked is not obeying the Ten Commandments.

The first commandment mentioned in the Bible is the fourth commandment. God says in Genesis 1:31 and 2:1-3: “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

“Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.  Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”

Genesis 1:27 says: “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

God created all things to receive glory and honor. God set an example for us showing us that He expects us to set aside one day each week to show Him the glory and honor that He commands us to do in the fourth commandment.

that most people in the USA are worshiping a false god. In 2013, 2 Chronicles 7:14 was quite popular. People prayed and God gave us President Trump. He did his best to Make America Great Again. Had it been possible, he would have been successful. But the original reason the United States became great is because the people believed in the God of the Bible, and God blessed the USA. When this country was founded, the people were worshiping the true God, the God of the Bible. Today they are not.

Why would churches hold two services on Sunday? Let us look into the background of this, with an eye to keeping the Sabbath holy.

As a result of the Protestant Reformation, the Bible was translated into the languages that people could read for themselves. From 1643 to 1646, 110 ministers and ruling elders from England, Scotland, and Ireland assembled. They wrote the Westminster Confession and the Larger and Shorter Westminster Catechisms.

The first question of the Larger and Shorter Catechisms is:

Q1. “What is the chief end of man?” Today we would ask,

“What was God’s purpose for creating humans?”

A1. “To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

How can you do this? One way is addressed by this verse: “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 5:13-14a.

Another way you can do this is to examine the church that you attend. Is the purpose of the worship service to bring glory to God? Or is the goal of the service to be entertaining to those in attendance so that more people will be interested in coming?

If one of the purposes of worship is to enjoy God forever, why do you only worship Him once each Lord’s day? If your purpose for being alive is to bring glory to God, and you believe you were created for that purpose, and that Jesus died on the cross to make it possible for you to do it, why aren’t you worshiping more than once each Lord’s day?

offering, and rose and went to the place God had told him.” Genesis 22:1-3.

“But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, 'My father!' And he said 'Here I am, my son.' Then he said, 'Look, the fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?'  And Abraham said, 'My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering.' So the two of them went together. Then they came to the place which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called him from heaven and said 'Abraham, Abraham!' So he said, 'Here I am.'  And He said 'Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.' Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.” Genesis 22:7-13.

To me this shows that Abraham believed that God would restore Isaac to life again, if he did kill him and offer him to God. Also the words “God Himself will provide a lamb for the burnt offering” was a prophecy about Jesus Christ.

Only one Savior for all times.

The Ten Commandments for all times.

5 – THE ORIGIN OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Exodus 19 says, “Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that the people in the camp trembled. And then the Lord spoke these words, saying, 'I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage.'”

Then God gave the Ten Commandments.

This is the only time that I remember the Bible saying that the Lord God came down to earth and talked directly to a multitude of people. Deuteronomy 5:22 says, “These are the words the Lord spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. And then He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.”

The Ten Commandments are entirely separate from the law of Moses, which God gave to Moses to instruct the children of Israel how to worship God until Jesus came. Those instructions are recorded in Leviticus and Numbers. The Ten Commandments are recorded in Exodus and Deuteronomy. I am convinced that the Ten Commandments are God’s rules for all of God’s people for all times.

Moses restated the Ten Commandments for the children of Israel, just prior to their entering into the land of Canaan in Deuteronomy 6:4-5. In Mark 12:28-30, when a scribe asked Jesus which was the first and foremost commandment of all, Jesus answered with the quote from Moses found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” To me this says the Ten Commandments are the one great commandment.

In John 14:15, Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep My commandments.” In John 10:30, Jesus said. “I and the Father are one.” I believe that God intends for us to keep the Ten Commandments.

6 – IS THE SABBATH FOR BOTH TESTAMENTS?

There is a verse that is used by some Christians that say that they no longer have to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

Colossians 2:16-17: “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or in regard to a religious festival, or New Moon, or a Sabbath day.”

10 – ARE YOU ONE OF GOD’S PEOPLE?

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14.

If my people, who are called by my name: I believe that your Son Jesus Christ came to earth to live a perfectly obedient life on earth. He then died on the cross so that I won’t have to spend eternity in hell like I deserve, but instead will spend eternity in heaven with you.

Will humble themselves: I am a sinner who deserves your punishment.

And pray: I am praying for myself and for our country that you will save us from destruction.

And seek my face:  I will study what the Bible says about you so I learn to love you for who you are.

And turn from their wicked ways: Lord, I ask that in your mercy you will show me and all the people of the USA that your Ten Commandments are for all times, and that we must, out of gratitude, try to come as close to keeping your commandments as possible.

Then will I hear from heaven: Please hear your people praying.

And heal their land:  Please, Lord, make it possible that our land may be healed, so that you may again receive all the glory and honor that you deserve.

11 – IS YOUR GOD THE TRUE GOD?

The God of the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 7:14 that if His people will turn from their wicked ways, He will heal their land. I believe

The people who founded Pella, Iowa, where I live, came to America so that they could worship God in the way that He teaches His people to worship. They believed in and taught their children the Heidelberg Catechism. This is basically the same faith taught in the Westminster Confession and Catechism.

The first question and answer in the Heidelberg Catechism is:

Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?

A. That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul,

both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus

Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His

precious blood, and has set me free from the power of

the devil.

The first question of the Westminster Catechism is:

Q. What is the chief end of man?

A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God,

and to enjoy him forever. 

Fellow Christian, do you believe that God created us for the purpose of glorifying God and enjoying Him forever? Do you believe that, after Jesus Christ has saved you from going to hell for eternity, you now belong, in body and soul, life and death, to your faithful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Do you believe that He wants you to live by the Ten Commandments? We discuss them in the next chapter.

Can your God heal our land?

God is punishing the USA because of our failure to do our best to keep God’s commandments, which we should be doing out of gratitude to Him for saving our souls from hell. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God promised the Israelites that, when He would send a plague on their land, if they would turn from their wicked ways, then He would hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

We must keep the word Sabbath in context. Here is why that verse begins with “Therefore.” The previous text says because “God made us alive with Christ, He forgave all our sins and the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all your sins, having canceled the WRITTEN CODE, with its REGULATIONS, that was against us.”

The Ten Commandments do not have WRITTEN CODES or REGULATIONS like the law of Moses does. The Ten Commandments are entirely separate from the Law of Moses. That is why Jesus said “not the smallest letter nor least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law.” The fact that the Ten Commandments were given both verbally and in writing on tablets of stone by the Lord God himself should show that they are unchanging. But in case you think that is not evidence enough, Colossians 2 is talking about Christian liberty. Acts 15 tells about the Council at Jerusalem. This was to address the question posed in Acts 15:5, “Then some of the believers that belonged to the party of Pharisees stood up and said, 'The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.'” I want to interject here what Paul says in Romans 14:1-3, “accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man that eats everything must not look down on him that does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn him who does.”

Note that the question of Christian liberty only applies to disputable matters. I would say that the Sabbath commandment has received so much attention, and rightly so because it came directly from God Himself, that there is no way that it would be considered a disputable matter.

The Ten Commandments have never been part of the Law of Moses. So a Sabbath day in the context of verse 16 must mean some other day of rest, not the Sabbath day of the fourth commandment.

Note that in Colossians 2:17 it says a Sabbath day, or a Sabbath, or sabbaths. When Jesus said “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” It says “the Sabbath,” referring to the one in the fourth commandment. In Mark 2:27 it is “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”

That Sabbath day must be kept holy.

7 – THE SABBATH WAS MADE FOR MAN

It is very difficult to prove a point to someone who has believed something else for a long time and popular opinion agrees with them. I think that when the New Testament was written, no one doubted that all ten commandments came directly from God and should be obeyed. One example is the story of the Pharisees criticizing the disciples of Jesus.

“Now it happened that He went through the grain fields on the Sabbath: and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Him, 'Lord, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath.'” Mark 2:23-24.

However, Jesus knew that what they did was lawful according to the Old Testament. “When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain.” Deuteronomy 23:25.

So you see that the Pharisees had added to God’s law. Deeds of necessity and mercy were permitted on the Sabbath in the Old Testament and are also permitted in the New Testament.

“The Sabbath was made for man.” Remember why God created man: “To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” God allows man six days each week to labor and do all our work.

God knows that, without a day set aside for us to learn how to glorify God, we will not learn how to enjoy Him. You can see by what has happened in the USA when the Lord’s Day is neglected. Remember the Sabbath day.

8 – THE FIRST QUESTION

The first question of the Heidelberg Catechism is: What is your only comfort in life and in death?

The answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and in death,

am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ, who with His precious blood has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from the power of the Devil, and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, wherefore by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me heartily willing and ready, henceforth, to live for Him.

If all of that is true, how long will God tolerate our disobedience? He allows us six days a week to live in the world, yet we will not obey Him when He asks us set aside one day each week to glorify and enjoy Him.

If you don't enjoy Him, stop and think. Maybe you don't really know Him.

9 – ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?

Are you a Christian?

I believe that the whole Bible is God’s word for us today, and that Christians today are now God’s people. God’s people can trust that the promises that He gave to the Israelites are also meant for Christians today.

In 2 Kings 23, the Bible tells about Israel’s failure to turn away from worshiping false gods. 2 Kings 25 tells about the destruction of the Temple, the Israelites being carried into captivity.

In the past 100 years, the people of the United States have been turning away from worshiping God and are now worshiping money, earthly pleasure, and themselves.

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THE LORD’S DAY BOOKLET

by Charles L. Rus

Available from



Explaining why I believe restoring

The Lord’s Day

will bring revival to the U. S. A.

1 - The Baptist Catechism.

2 - Let There Be Peace On Earth.

3 - The Way I Read The Bible.

4 - God’s One Plan Of Salvation.

5 - The Origin of the Ten Commandments.

6 - Is The Sabbath For Both Testaments?

7 - The Sabbath Was Made for Man.

8 - The First Question.

9 - Are You A Christian?

10 - Are You One of God’s People?

11 - Is Your God the True God?

12 - History Repeats Itself.

13 - Do Not be Deceived - God is Not Mocked.

14 - The Lord Is A Jealous And Avenging God.

1 – THE BAPTIST CATECHISM

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