Transcript Document
A Dying Queen’s Last Prayer Queen Elizabeth I Queen Elizabeth I “All my possessions for a moment of time.” Jeremy Rifkin “It is ironic that in a culture so committed to saving time we feel increasingly deprived of the very thing we value.” (Time Wars) Robert Schrank “There is now a supercomputer that operates at a trillionth of a second. What’s a trillionth of a second? Time is being eaten up by all these new inventions. Even leisure is done on schedule. Robert Schrank Golfing is done on schedule. My son is on the run all the time. I ask him, ‘Are you having fun?’ He says, ‘...I don’t know.’” God’s 2nd Greatest Gift The gift of Himself in time Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Day One—v 3, 5 “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. . . . God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.” Day Two—v. 6, 8 “Then God said, ‘Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.’. . . And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.” Day Three—v. 9, 13 “Then God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear’; and it was so. . . . So the evening and the morning were the third day.” Day Four—v 14, 19 “Then God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years.’ . . . So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.” Day Five—v 20, 23 “Then God said, ‘Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.’ . . . So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.” Day Six—v 24, 26 “Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind’; and it was so. . . . Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, Day Six—v 24, 26 according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’” Genesis 1:31 “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” God is a Being questing for friends. Genesis 2:1-3 “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. Genesis 2:1-3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” Three Divine Acts 1. God “blessed” the Sabbath. Three Divine Acts 1. God “blessed” the Sabbath. 2. God “sanctified” the Sabbath. Three Divine Acts 1. God “blessed” the Sabbath. 2. God “sanctified” the Sabbath. 3. God “rested” on the Sabbath. John Kellman “Every time the Sabbath came round, while it would of necessity bring before the minds of [humanity] the glory of God’s wisdom, power, and goodness, as manifested in His works of creation, John Kellman it would bring still more prominently before [our] minds, and present in special splendour and attractiveness, the crowning glory of His love, manifested in His coming so very near to [us] in friendship . . . as man’s glorious Friend.” (in God Meets Man 16, 17) Exodus 31:18 “And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.” Exodus 20:8-11 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. Exodus 20:8-11 In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. Exodus 20:8-11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11— “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Sigve Tonstad “The call to remember the day goes beyond concern for the day as such; it cannot be severed from the memory that is intrinsic to the day. At the deepest level the entire commandment has a narratival character: the Sabbath (The Lost Meaning of the Seventh Day 102) tells a story.” Benno Jacob “Neither Sabbath rest nor the working week could have been accorded any higher honor than for God to serve as the example of both.” (in Tonstad 102) 50,000,000 Americans Journal of Adolescent Health “One quarter of the participants reported having one or more symptoms of insomnia, such as trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, every night.” (Newsweek 4-7-08 p 10) “Those with chronic insomnia were five times more likely to think their mental health was poor, three times as likely to have health problems and trouble at school, and twice as likely to use alcohol and drugs like marijuana and cocaine.” (Ibid) “Remember My Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Sigve Tonstad “The Sabbath has the power to overturn distorted priorities. In the biblical perspective the Sabbath interrupts the routine of clock time and the obligation of work by calling all creation to a day of rest Sigve Tonstad according to the great clock of nature. As daylight fades every Friday evening . . . the Sabbath breaks the cycle of business and the struggle for subsistence. Sigve Tonstad At the setting of the sun, clock time yields to Creation time in order to respond to a higher summons, mediated by the clock of Creation. Sigve Tonstad Human priorities, set by the clock and the necessity of working, come face to face with God’s generous provision.” (The Lost Meaning of the Seventh Day 382) “Remember My Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Luke 4:16 “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.” Colossians 1:16, 17 “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. Colossians 1:16, 17 All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” Luke 23:52-56 and 24:1 “This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. Luke 23:52-56 and 24:1 That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near. And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Luke 23:52-56 and 24:1 Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. Luke 23:52-56 and 24:1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.” Acts 20:7 “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.” “First day” Acts 20:7 “Saturday night” (New English Bible) “Saturday evening” (Jerusalem Bible, footnote, Catholic, and Today’s English Version) I Corinthians 16:2 “On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.” Acts 17:2 “Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures.” The seventh-day Sabbath is the Lord’s Day. Isaiah 58:13 “. . . turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable . . .” Isaiah 66:22-23 “‘For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,’ says the LORD, ‘So shall your descendants and your name remain. Isaiah 66:22-23 And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,’ says the LORD.” The seventh-day Sabbath will remain the Creator’s gift to the human race forever. Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” “Come to Me, and I will give you rest.” “You have given me life twice, and I thank You!” Don’t miss tomorrow evening’s lecture “When History Played a Trick on Us”