Good evening. As a way of introduction this evening, I would like to turn to the Word of God, and I'd like to read three portions of the Gospel of Matthew, which have some relevance to our theme this evening and to the work of the Canadian Lord's Day Association. So I'd have, if we could first turn in our Bibles to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. And we will begin with the 13th verse through the 20th verse. Matthew 5, and following that, Matthew 12, a few verses, and then the last verses of Matthew from Matthew 28. Beginning in Matthew 5, verse 13, ye are the salt of the earth. But if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto them that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, The same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. And now we turn to Matthew chapter 12 and the first verses of this chapter. Matthew 12. At that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn, and his disciples were unhungered and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did when he was in hunger, and they that were with him? How that he entered into the house of God, and did eat the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless? But I say unto you that in this place is one greater than the temple. But if he had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day. And when he was departed thence, he went into the synagogue. And behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him saying, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days that they might accuse him? And he said unto them, what man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep? And if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore, it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath day. Then said he to the man, stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth, and it was restored whole, like as the other. And then we move to the last verses of the Gospel of Matthew, verse 18, where the 11 disciples were brought into a mountain with Jesus before he left them, and they worshiped him. And here in verse 18, and Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Just a few thoughts on these opening verses that we can draw our attention to. First of all, we see the calling of the church to be salt. and to be a light and not to hide the precious truth and the precious light that the Lord gives to his church. And then Christ in the Sermon on the Mount confirms that he has not come to destroy the law. or to reverse what was spoken by the prophets before him, but rather to fulfill them. And I think this is relevant to the Lord's Day also. The Christian Sabbath is a fulfillment of the Old Testament Sabbath in that Christ is risen. And we see this in, Matthew chapter 12 in these verses Christ is speaking against the Pharisees who were legalistic in their keeping of the law and rather he teaches them that they are to do well on the Sabbath day. And the permissible works of the Sabbath are laid out in this chapter. Actually, we can see them quickly in verse 1. We have works of necessity. The disciples were hungry, and they were able to eat from the fields as they traveled. They were unhungered. A second permissible work is given, one of piety in verse 5. where the priests were to carry out their tasks, and this was not a profanation or a profaning of the Sabbath day, but those works in the temple, as in the preaching of the gospel, permissible works, and Christ has shown that this work is appropriate for the Sabbath. And thirdly, we have works of emergency. And verse 11, when the sheep falls into the pit on the Sabbath day, it must be taken out of that pit. And there's an example that we are to do what is urgent and necessary at that time. And then finally, we have an example of healing on the Sabbath day, a work of mercy where this man is healed. Now, these are just a few words that I thought to, as an opening scripture, to show the context when we come to you to speak tonight about the work of the Canadian Lord's Day Association. So in introduction I have first I want to mention I feel very privileged to be able to speak here tonight and thank Pastor Backhorst for reaching out to us. and we as an association have been over the last 35 years trying to promote this work and it's certainly a joy when we hear that a new congregation has discovered some of our literature and has a desire to know more. So I had been invited on behalf of our council to come to an auxiliary meeting that is to be held on Thursday evening in the southern Alberta area and I thought since I have to fly through Calgary it was certainly possible for me to be here this evening to speak with you about some of the work that we do. Now, in your introductory letter, Pastor, you asked that we would speak about the day of Christ's resurrection and its sanctity and its necessity for all people, and I thought that was a beautiful encapsulation of the work that we are called to do in the magazines that have been shared with you and have brought some additional ones. Anyone who does not have a copy of our magazine and also the diary that we distribute, I encourage you afterwards to pick one up. But before we speak about the Sabbath more fully, I just want to point out in the front cover of our magazine, we have a little bit of information about who we are as an organization. And before I speak further, I thought to briefly touch on our basis. First of all, our Trinitarian and actually our statements of belief and our basis have been largely inherited from the UK. The United Kingdom and Great Britain has has had an active Lord's Day association for several hundred years. In 1831, the organization that was called the Lord's Day Observance Society began, and it was in the same time period that the Trinitarian Bible Society began. And I think that these two organizations are a handmaid to one another, and certainly we would be the junior partner. But the work that we do is really supporting the distribution of God's Word and the teaching of God's Word. So the doctrines here that we hold to are very similar to those of the Trinitarian Bible Society, if you're familiar with them. The deity of Christ, which was being attacked in the 1830s, is defined here as an important foundation, the virgin birth. the truthfulness of all Christ's words and his all-sufficiency in atoning vicarious death upon Calvary for sin, his bodily resurrection, ascension, and coming again. The third point of our basis as an organization is the inspiration of the Word of God. And we believe that the Lord has preserved His Word in the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament. And the inspired Word of God is therefore true and divinely authoritative. has God's sufficient revelation in all matters of doctrine and practice. The authorized King James Version is being used by this society in all of our literature and materials. The fourth point of our basis is the belief that all men have sinned and come short of the glory of God and the necessity of the new birth by the work of the Holy Spirit in those who become the children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Our fifth point, the belief in the divine authority and perpetual obligation of the Christian Sabbath, or Lord's Day, and conviction of the necessity of all effectual assertion, observance, and defense of the Lord's Day rest, must be on this basis." So the perpetual And finally, the belief that in asserting the obligation of the Lord's Day, the gospel of the grace of God through Jesus Christ should be proclaimed. Now, our organization actually is somewhat more recent. We have just marked in this issue of our magazine 35 years. In 2021, we reached that milestone. The organization came about after the Lord's Day Act in Canada was repealed in 1985, and we came together in 1986. especially out of concern for Presbyterian and Reformed churches that still held to the sanctity of the Christian Sabbath, and the regret that the Lord's Day Alliance of Canada had changed its name and its goals to be People for Sunday, and sadly it wasn't that long after that that I believe they abandoned them altogether, but that was a transition that they made. Now the Lords Day Alliance did have a rich history, especially in the early 1900s and they were largely responsible for bringing about the Lord's Day Act in 1916 and bringing together French Canada at that time, the Roman Catholic influence, and the Protestant influence across Canada. But we felt when our society was founded that it was important to hold to the biblical teachings of the Sabbath and to the Christian Sabbath. And therefore, a new organization was formed. And since that time, we have published almost 80 editions of the To Keep It Holy magazine. and which is our quarterly or maybe every three months we're trying to get back on a more regular schedule. There were a few years that we didn't publish a sufficient number. And actually, and I'll tell some more of that a little later, but something that has grown significantly in our distribution and promoting of the Lord's Day, we began 25 years ago in 1996, distributing a small scripture diary, which highlights the Lord's Day. And that has grown to be a large and significant work here in Canada. The purpose of the Lord's Day Association is the promoting of the sanctity of the Lord's Day and the extension of his kingdom. So there are two prongs to that. And tonight I would like to just focus on three words that are related to our work and to the Lord's Day. The first of these is remember. The second, keep. and the third, teach. We know from the fourth commandment as we read it in Exodus 20, remember the Sabbath day. This is the only one of the ten commandments that includes that word remember. And there is certainly need for us to be reminded each time again. Now the word is pointing us back, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Remember the rest day. And that brings us back to Genesis chapter one and two, where God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth, and at the end of chapter one, and God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day, And then in chapter two begins, thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them. And on the seventh day, God ended his work, which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work, which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his work, which God created and made. Now, we believe that not only did God rest the seventh day, but those who worshiped God continued to observe the seventh day. And we see this even before the giving of the law in Exodus, the book of Exodus. We all know about the manna that was provided for them. And in chapter 16, we are told how that the manna was to be gathered six days. And on the sixth day, a double portion was to be collected for the Sabbath. and that on the Sabbath there would be no manna. And this was also to teach them and us also how we are to rest from our daily work on the Sabbath day and to prepare ourselves for the Sabbath in having things in order in our families and homes. Now in the commandment itself, in Exodus 20, we are reminded of creation. We read in the command, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, 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 thine ox, sorry, thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. So we have here a reminder of the six days of creation and the seventh day of rest. And in chapter 31 of Exodus, we also are told of the sign of the covenant. Verse 17 and 18, wherefore, Exodus 31, wherefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever, for in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God. And we also have another aspect of remembrance given to us in the giving of the law at the end of Moses' wilderness journey before he departed and was taken from the children of Israel. We are told in Deuteronomy 5, keep the Sabbath day. And this reference is instructing us also about remembrance. And in the last part, and remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and a stretched out arm. Therefore, the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath." So here we are remembering God's deliverance out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of slavery and bondage. And we're also remembering God's wondrous works, not only of creation, but also of deliverance and salvation for the children of Israel. We also are instructed about the law more generally in the book of Deuteronomy. And there we see an instruction of relevance. There is a blessing in the keeping of the law and a curse if they would not obey the law. And so we have here in the keeping of the Sabbath day, those that honor me, I will honor, the Lord says. And we read it in Nehemiah also, an example, and maybe we could turn to that passage. If you look in Nehemiah 13, Nehemiah sees that the for aching of the Sabbath day was the cause of God's judgments that came upon them. We read in verse 17, that then I contended with the nobles of Judah and said unto them, what evil thing is this that ye do and profane the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers thus and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon this city? Yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath day. And maybe this is something for us to reflect on in our own time also. When we have troubles and difficulties, is the Lord visiting us also for our sin? And certainly the breaking of the Sabbath day is something that is grievous in the Lord's sight. And when we have troubles, we can point to our elected officials and we can point to our fellow citizens and always find fault with others. But I think each of us can look to our own sin also with regards to the Sabbath day. Now, there's a third aspect of remembrance that is of great significance. For 4,000 years, the church of the Old Testament remembered creation and the redemption out of Egypt. But in the New Testament, we see the church is remembering the resurrection, and the resurrection of Christ is not…maybe if we turn to John 20 for a moment to see this transition. John 20, the gospel of John. We see that on the first day of the week, Christ rose in the beginning of this chapter, but we see also how the Lord visited the disciples in verse 19. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst. And then we read after eight days again, in verse 26, that as the disciples were within, and Thomas with them, then came Jesus, the door being shut, and stood in the midst. We know also from the book of Acts and from the epistles that the disciples came together to break bread, and Paul preached to them. We also are told that they gathered together, laid up for the poor, and they kept that together on the first day of the week. And then we read in Revelations chapter 1 where John makes a direct reference to the Lord's day where he was in the Spirit. Revelations 1 verse 10. and I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet." And it is for this reason that the early Christian church continued to gather on the first day and in our own in our own countries, in the Western world, the Sabbath was being kept. Not only in Britain, as we mentioned, in the Netherlands and the other Protestant countries especially, in the United States, throughout the country, the Sabbath day was kept. But it was also true here in Canada, the early settlers of Canada. Many of them were very devout keepers of the Sabbath. And the church spires and the evidence of older church buildings across the country speak to the Sabbath-keeping of our land. One statistic I can give you, in 1945, at the end of World War II, Statistics Canada at that time had reported 65% of Canadians attended church. every week, and that decreased rapidly. By the 1980s, that dropped to approximately 25%, and now we have a very small number who are regular attenders at the worship on the Lord's Day. I think this is one thing that when we are called each Sabbath to remember, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, remember the rest of creation, but also remember what our country once was. And as Christians, we are called to be unashamed of that precious heritage also in the midst of our country. And so we see how The work does not become easier as those who keep the Sabbath seem to diminish, yet we certainly can remember the blessed heritage that we have in this regard. The second word that I thought to draw attention to is the word keep. When we are called to keep the Sabbath, the word keep means to hold on to. And the Sabbath day is certainly something that we must hold on to or we will lose it. We see this in many churches and in many families where once the Sabbath day was kept, many countries, and gradually this has been lost. We read a word of instruction with regards to the keeping of the Sabbath day in Isaiah 58, a very clear example of how we are to observe and to keep the Sabbath day. Isaiah 58, verses 13 and 14. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable, and shalt honor him, and not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Now this is a message the keeping of the Sabbath day is so necessary for us personally and I think in these days of rapid communications, the technology's changing. I think each one of us needs the Lord's Day more than ever before. And I think it's important for us to prepare for the Sabbath day and also in our families to set aside that time for the family devotions, family worship. but also the attending of the preaching of the word and gathering with his people, but also in our own homes to study and to meditate and to read and to rest from our labors. As the Lord's Day Association, we have also been especially trying to reach out to churches, and we do a wider mailing list of new churches from time to time. We distribute 3,500 copies of our To Keep It Holy magazine, and that's only a very small number and therefore if there are churches that anyone knows that may be especially inclined to support this work we would welcome any suggestions. The keeping of the Sabbath day is also a message for employers and we see this in the law that in the command itself that We are to ensure that those who work for us, we are not to do any work, nor our son, nor daughter, our manservant, our maidservant, even our cattle or the stranger within our gates is to be given that day of rest and to refrain from it. And as employers, there are so many devices and so many temptations in all different occupations to break the Sabbath. And as we read about works of necessity, there certainly are those that need to take place, but I think we have to guard the keeping of the Sabbath day for worship and for the study of the Word and for our spiritual needs so that we are kept in balance as the Lord has ordained in giving the Sabbath in creation already. It's also something for our countries and for our municipal and local politicians. Canada for hundreds of years kept the Sabbath day and now sadly in just a few years we have opened our stores and we have made it a day of business and entertainment. Such a loss cannot be quickly undone and certainly it is right for us to speak out and to try to address our leaders about their responsibility. You know, there's a word that my mother often quoted as a young boy, and I thought of it as I was preparing a few thoughts here about the Lord's Day. It's from Numbers chapter 32. This is when the children of Israel were being called to go into the promised land, and there were some of the tribes who desired that their wives and their children and their old men would stay in the fenced cities, and that they promised to go and fight. And Joshua there, in chapter 32, verse 23, he holds them to their promise and says, if you have committed to this, that they must go in and help their brethren to conquer the land, but that word most solemn here in verse 23, be sure your sin will find you out. If they would not do as they were commanded and as they had promised and as they had committed, they must be sure their sin will find them out. And this is a message that is most solemn also and most relevant to Canada and to the Western world in general, where we have once kept the Sabbath day and been an example of Sabbath-keeping for the whole world and where we have turned our backs entirely on it. It's most solemn. You know, it's John G. Peyton, we had a quote of his some years ago when he visited Toronto. He was so struck with the Sabbath-keeping that he found in this large city. He said of all the cities that he had visited in the world, he was a missionary in the New Hebrides, and he went around collecting funds for his mission. He was especially impressed that the windows of the large department stores, especially Timothy Eaton had a very large store, Eaton's, there's an Eaton's Center in Toronto still today, but all the blinds were closed so that they would not pose a distraction to those who are walking to church on the Sabbath. and there were laws against any type of entertainment, even in the parks, gathering in the parks and not using it in the way that they should. Now, today it's being mocked, but certainly there was a peace and a rest and a blessing which that generation enjoyed and we have reaped much of the riches of that generation even to this very day. So keeping the Sabbath day is something that we must all give special attention to. And finally, as our opening passage pointed us to, we are called to teach. In the Old Testament, we heard already in Deuteronomy 6 that the parents were to teach their children diligently. But we also read when Christ has given His church and the disciples their commission that they are to Because all power is given unto Christ in heaven and upon earth, that they are to go and teach all nations. And what were they to teach? All things whatsoever I have commanded you. And there is a word for us we can't say that Christ is no longer relevant, or the Sabbath is no longer relevant, or the word is no longer relevant, for he is most plainly and solemnly declared also to Canada and to all of us, lo, I am with you always. And to his church, that is a word of comfort. Though we be small, though we be a despised minority, And though we feel that it seems hopeless to continue in advocating and encouraging our fellow man to keep the Sabbath, we must be encouraged that the Lord has reminded us here, while he has given us this instruction, that all power is given unto him in heaven and upon earth, and he is with his church always. You know, there's another remarkable thing for us to consider, the people of Antioch, the Christians that were there. You know, we had a minister from Scotland come some years ago to speak at one of our annual meetings, probably 20 years ago. And he said, how did, why did the people of Antioch call them Christians? He says, there they were first called Christians. They saw something. They saw something in the witness of these people. And what was it that they saw? Well, how did they know they weren't Jews? Well, the Jews keep the seventh day. The Christians would have been gathering like Paul did on the first day in remembrance that the Lord has risen indeed. as the early church continued to do. Now, they were also employees, and they must have asked their boss maybe if they could if they could have the first day so that they could attend these services, so that they could gather with them. But that minister pointed out to us that it's likely the Sabbath day was one of the key things that would have identified them in this big city as unique and distinct from the heathens that did not keep the Sabbath, and from the Jews who kept the Jewish Sabbath. You know, there's a very worthy saying that our actions speak louder than our words. What do our neighbors see of us on the Sabbath day? And what do our children see of us on the Sabbath day? Is there a delighting in the Sabbath day? Robert Murray McChain has a beautiful little tract on I love the Lord's day, and that delighting in the Sabbath day should be evident. Parallel to the commission that Christ gave to his church in Matthew, which we read with you, we have also in Luke chapter 24, The reference to rising the third day, and this is at the end of the gospel of Luke. In verse 46, we read, and he said unto them, thus it is written. And we know how he had taught the travelers to Emmaus and then how he gathered with the disciples. He showed them his hands and his feet. And he opened their understanding. And then verse 46, thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. And the doctrine of the resurrection is central to the New Testament. Therein is the life of the church in the resurrection of Christ. And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem. Our task is not complete. It must go to all nations. You know, I did some studies recently on the Word of God, and still there are approximately 3,000 languages without the Word of God in their native tongue. And you know that there is still Approximately one and a half billion people estimated that do not have the Word of God. How we must treasure the Word of God in English. But there are still so many without the Word of God. So this command is still ongoing. The Word of God is promised will go to all nations. He will be the king of all the nations of the earth. But we must teach also, and with that, the word of, the day of the Lord, the keeping of the Lord's day, and hear this word, and ye are witnesses of these things. What does it mean to be a witness? Have we been a witness with the disciples of the sufferings of Christ? Have we been a witness of the resurrection of Christ? And there is a church that may say by faith that they have beheld him who suffered, who died, but also who is risen and who is at the right hand of God the Father. And by faith, the church may see and know that this is not fancy. This is the word as applied by the Spirit to the church. You know, the Westminster Confession of Faith has the foundation of the Christian faith in Scriptures. But we can have great appreciation of the Scriptures in the letter of the Word, but how do we know with the greatest certainty the truth and the power of the Word, it is only by the Holy Spirit applying that Word to our hearts. And if the Holy Spirit reveals Christ as the risen Savior, then we should be, it should be evident that there is a joy in this day, a joy in this Savior, and a joy in sharing that gospel message with all those who are yet in darkness. And actually, I bring this before I have a few other anecdotes to the last chapter of the Word of God, where we read about the river of water. Revelations chapter 22, there's one final relevant word about the call to teach, to teach this instruction about the Lord's day. It's not just only the Lord's day, but all the word of God and the gospel. In the closing of scripture, the first verse, we read about a river of pure a pure river of water of life. And if you read the commentators, that is referring to the gospel, the pure gospel, clear as crystal. But then we read in verse 17, And the spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth say, come. And let him that is a thirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely. And that word let is the one that I would like to draw our attention to. When the gospel and the truth of the word of God is not being sent forth, we are The Christian church is guilty of withholding it. And there is a desire that this gospel message go forth till the last day. And we know that the time comes quickly that Christ will appear again. And then all doubts and all lack of certainty will be removed. But in the meantime, we are called to be diligent in our task. I'd like to share a few quotes of things that I've brought along. Another anecdote, I'm borrowing, by the way, from speakers who have shared their messages with us. Pastors come and speak for us every year at our annual meetings, and we've had a wealth of instruction on this topic, and I always enjoy these messages. First, I have here a page. One of the ministers from Free Presbyterian Church, but not of Ireland, but I think originating but from Scotland, came and spoke for us some years ago. And while he was preparing his talk, he was staying at a home, one of our supporters, and He took a book off the shelf and opening it, it was bound copies of the Presbyterian, which was from Westminster, Philadelphia. And the date of the magazine that he opened to at a random was October 30, 1924. And there was a short little article entitled, The Keystone of the Law. And it has a powerful message about the Lord's day. Let me read it for you. The fourth commandment is the keystone of the Decalogue of the law. The first three commandments refer exclusively to our duty and relation to God and constitute the first side of the arch. The last six commandments refer exclusively to our duty to man and constitute the other side of the arch. So we have an arch, three commandments, the first three, the last six. And then the fourth commandment deals with our duty to God and our duty to man. and is slipped in between the two sides as a keystone. This is significant as to the importance of a strict observance of the fourth commandment. If the keystone is destroyed or weakened, the whole arch collapses. This is proven to be true in all history with regard to the relation of the fourth commandment to the whole law. For this reason, the observance of the Sabbath becomes a sign of moral integrity and stability of any people. God has plainly declared, moreover, also I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them. This fact of the Sabbath is a sign that has been verified in all history. While the Jews were faithful to the Sabbath, their life was orderly and upright, both towards God and man. When they became contaminated with heathenism and desecrated the Sabbath, their whole moral and religious life degenerated and resulted in their being carried away captive. On their return, one of the marks of revived religious and moral life was the strict observance of the Sabbath. Again, they fell away through supplanting the command of God with their own opinion about the Sabbath. And again, they sank into hypocrisy and formalism. And again, their city and nation fell and has never been revived. Great Britain, in contrast with the continent of Europe, honored the Sabbath, and they produced a people and a government which was blessed itself and carried a blessing to all parts of the earth. Recently, Britain has declined in her regard of the sanctity, and this is, of course, 100 years ago already, of the Sabbath, and today she is disturbed, if not threatened, with internal dissension and with international distrust. The continental Sabbath was a term used everywhere to signify the slack observance of the Sabbath in Europe. And now look at the upheavals in religion, morals, and politics that continent is passing through with no uncertainty as to the character of the issue. And then he mentions about America, which was settled also by those who kept the Sabbath. And in departing from the Sabbath, he attributes much of the lawlessness in the cities and quotes a certain judge here. And he concludes with the example that America had fallen into great sin in every regard. And then the last paragraph, the fourth commandment provides time and opportunity and association for the study of religion and morality. In destroying the Sabbath, these are taken away and this is removing the keystone and causes the collapse of duty to God and duty to man. And that's that day of worship, which binds together, and where we all need to be drawn in worship, but we also need that rest from our toil and labors, and we need to be strengthened. And then I see a few children that are also with us tonight and I'm just going to share one short little story and recommend a book that I just came across, been published this past year. It's called The Day God Made, Anecdotes of Sabbath Keeping. Highly recommend it. It's a Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland publication, and they've compiled short stories about the keeping of the Sabbath and divided it into four different or five different themes. A Day of Blessing, Sabbath Breakers Reproved, I Will Honor Them, They That Despise Me Will Be Lightly Esteemed, and Sabbath Work. Just one example I thought relevant for us as I was flying over this wide expanse of prairie desolation, looking out the window of the plane this afternoon, I thought of this story and I thought just to share this. James Evans was known as the Apostle of the North. I have to find his book. It's got to be somewhere available online. But he was a 19th century missionary, originating, I believe, from Scotland, who was missionary to the native Indians here in northern, in the north of western Canada. He was particularly working among those involved with the fur trade. and along the Saskatchewan River, where the fork of the river is, he had his post. And he tells in his biography or autobiography, which is entitled, I believe, The Apostle of the North, that when the native groups were traveling north, the members from his own mission had been taught to keep the Sabbath day. they appealed to the fur trading company that they would be permitted to keep the Sabbath day. And they were given an exemption, they would be tried to see, a test to see if this was okay. And he tells how that they went north for three or four weeks to get the furs and bring them back again. and the first week they set out with great great strength, and they're paddling down the river. And, of course, there's a race for the different groups of Indians. And the Sabbath-keeping Indians, as they approached the Sabbath day, were given new strength in knowing that the Sabbath day was coming. So they inched just ahead of the other groups. And they set up their camp, and they kept the Sabbath day. Well, it wasn't an hour or two later, and those that, after they set up their camp, that the others came by and paddled past them. And, of course, they went on on the Sabbath day. But the group who were from the missionary, they kept the Sabbath day, and early on Monday morning set out again And by Thursday or Friday, they had regained and they were already caught up to those who did not keep the Sabbath day. And in fact, while they battled back and forth, they overtook them. It wasn't until the end, near the end of the Sabbath day, that the other parties of the natives actually reached. And they went, I think, about 10 miles, he said, further, and then they stopped. But they were exhausted and tired. And the Sabbath-keeping Indians, early Monday morning, first thing, they got in their canoes, and they passed the other Indians, and they went north to their post, and they arrived, I believe, 10 days in advance. Well, no, maybe it was five days in advance at the end of the post, and then they went back, and they got back to their camp 10 days ahead of the other Indians. They rested and they were able to go off to York Factory with their furs to do the further trading. And some of the Indians who had not kept the Sabbath day were actually physically exhausted and done when they returned 10 days later. And none of them were ready to go forward to the trading ships on the bay. Just a simple example of how we need that one day of rest and that it will allow us to do more work and better work if we follow God's wise plan. Well, thank you for your attention about these thoughts here on the Lord's Day. I hope you have found this helpful. I would just like to briefly now say a few things, and I'll try and keep this brief, and then I'll open it to the questions, about the work that we do as an association. First of all, our association began at a time when Sunday shopping was just being introduced. And one of the things that we were very busy with in the first years was writing letters and attending government meetings. Especially in the province of Ontario, we had public meetings where they would gather the opinions of everyone. And there was an opportunity to witness for the Lord and for His day. I know in my own town, the grocery store owner came to town and was going to open his store. And we went to visit with him. And actually, you know, he was very warm in receiving us. And, you know, he said to me, actually, I just met him this past week on the street with his son, who's now the owner of our store. And thankfully, in our village in Norwich, the stores are still closed on the Lord's Day. But he met me there. But he looked at me somewhat ashamed, but he said, you know, when I was a boy, I grew up with my Scottish parents on the dairy farm, and we always did the minimum work on the Lord's Day. And he said the headquarters of the Foodland grocery chain were pressuring them to open on the Lord's Day, so he had to make a special case to his management, and they did grant it. First, there were two stores in the whole province that were allowed, and I think now for probably 20 years, there's only one store in that chain, and we also have a few other chains. So it can make a difference, although it helps if there's a larger number of Christians living in one area. We also went to our town council. appealed to them you know the stores have been closed for 200 years 176 years I think and and should we be allowing it to happen and that that time the liquor stores needed a special permission to be opened and we brought petitions it it was helpful that's some of the work we have done sadly they've They snuck in and opened the stores without us even noticing, most of us not driving past them, and that's gone ahead. But our town itself is closed, but the liquor store is open, sadly. That was one of the things we did, public hearings, tracts. We distributed tracts about the Lord's Day and our magazine has continued to be provided. One thing that I share with you is this diary. There's a special focus on the Lord's Day every week, a larger space for the Lord's Day. And this was being given out in the U.K. and they had requested it of the British Lord's Day Observance Society, and so we started to purchase them in the 1990s, early 90s, and shipped them over to Canada. And the demand rose, and there were, I think there was a demand for 600 of them, and it ended up costing us I think it was about $4 or $5 per copy to get them over and then they came late from England. So one of our council members said, why don't we print these ourselves? And we started in 1996 with 2,000 copies. Soon the demand of its own accord for the prison inmates grew to 10,000, 50,000, 70,000. This year we have distributed the 80,000 and they are gone and the council just this past week said that we should print more. So we're trying to determine how many more and we have to do a complete survey but all of our diaries are spoken for and there's about 5,000 more that are ordered. So for some reason there's been an increasing demand right now. which we are encouraged with. We also were able to open this up into the United States, which is a much larger market. Last year they were up to 65,000, a small group from the West in the U.S. It's called the U.S. Prison Diary Ministry. Sadly, they ran short on funds. It's something we can pray about. And we offered to pay for more, but they held back at 40,000 diaries. And so, there's been a decrease there. But we see a potential, should the Lord open that door further, that up to a million copies could be distributed. Looking at the size of the population and the intense desire for the inmates to receive them. The real blessing of them is that they can keep notes in them, and they're not allowed to receive many things. All the prisons have chaplains assigned to them, and though many of them see themselves or profess to be Christians, some of them not, They don't always have clear instruction to provide, but they do like to receive these from us. And so this has been a remarkable open door for us. And with that, the Trinitarian Bible Society has had an increase in demand from the prisons, actually almost all the Bibles they give out. And I understand there are thousands of Bibles that are being ordered through through this ministry. In addition to that, we have developed three Bible correspondence courses. And the first course has 25 lessons of introduction to Christian doctrine. And there's a small note in the front of the diary for prison inmates if they want a correspondence course. This past December, we sent 1,200 introductory packages which were ordered. This is an area that needs work. One of the things, as a volunteer organization, we've depended just on people donating their time. And manning the automated phone system and corresponding with over 400 chaplains all takes time and organization. If we did our job better, there would be huge potential for growth in the prison ministry. And one thing we do have is 175 lessons. The second course is a more in-depth course based largely on the Heidelberg Catechism. There's 50 lessons. And the third course, which we are now using, is from Acts to There's 89 lessons, and they're basically Bible study guides, which, if any of you are interested in them, they will soon be available on our website. There's being an update done on the website. And finally, we've had contacts from other countries. Two of our pastors who worked with us, Reverend Cranendonk and Reverend Bilkus, both went to the Philippines to support the request. Reverend Ebenezer Nombre came across one of these magazines when he was in America, at a seminary, and he wrote to us and asked if he could start the Lord's Day Observance Society of the Philippines. I've just been finding out more about their work. They have grown now. They are a Presbyterian and Reformed churches and they have I think 22 churches now. This has all grown in largely in the last 10 years and been helped by the support we gave them. So these are things unrelated to our work. and yet they are directly related, but they have come to us and we feel the doors have opened and we're thankful that we've been able to do that. That brings me to the conclusion, I think, and I welcome any questions from the floor. Does anyone have a question? Yes. I remember that back in 1985, when people were going to do the work on Sunday. And that was a big deal. And I knew it wasn't going to turn out. Well, that is what God says, that there is a blessing in keeping his law. And there's a judgment in not keeping his law. And especially if we, all sin is grievous, and that's why we need to teach all men. and send forth the Word of God. But when we sin against a better knowledge, our guilt is intensified. And yeah, the mockery actually is one of our great sins as well. I mentioned Toronto the Good. the keeping of the Sabbath day, but they mock with Sabbatarianism and they mock with the strict observance of the law. But yeah, we know that with the Lord there is forgiveness and it ought to be our daily prayer that there be revival and that there would be a turning back to the Lord. It has happened in times past that, and we see that we need to be convicted of our sin also with regards to the Lord's day. But on the positive side, there is no greater blessing than to be in the way of keeping the Sabbath day in the way that the Lord has given it. And I think you might be able to experience that also when you gather on the Lord's Day. Thank you. Any other questions? Yes. Well, I may be not the very best person to answer that, but as much as I can, it was one of the reasons I read the portion that we did here at the beginning, because often, even just the mention of a Lord's Day observance society, for some people, even for Christians, some of them might think this is a legalistic, holier-than-thou effort to show that we are better and that, And being precise, in particular, majoring on minors rather than majoring on majors. How do we answer that? Well, first of all, the major, if I would say, what is the, to major on the major, what can be of greater significance than the Lord Jesus Christ, if we understand the gospel right and the word of God right? I think we have the example Christ has given himself. He was under the law. He was under also the Old Testament law, which was done away, we know, with the ceremonial laws with regards to the meets and the keeping of holy days and so on. Now, Yeah, how do we say that, I think one of the things that we have to focus on here is also the positives, though, of keeping the Lord's Day. And it's not something where we are to be the judge of others. And I think the example we have of Christ here, to do good on the Sabbath day. And I think all of us need to examine ourselves. We all fall short of keeping the Lord's day. And the spirituality of the law ought to humble us and ought to bring us in more need for that atoning atonement that is in Christ. And that for it's only through him who has kept the law perfectly that And yet we are called to obey and to walk in his ways. And it is one of the Ten Commandments. If we put it beside, you know, we could argue about whether it's good to keep the Sixth Commandment, thou shalt not kill, or thou shalt not steal, or any of the other commandments. But I think with the keeping of the Lord's Day here, we're encouraged to a life that is focused on worship, or a life that's focused on worship, on the word, and here it's also encouraged in the fourth commandment to work. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work. It is a very positive message, and while especially on the Lord's day we worship, and especially on the Lord's day we are to be in remembrance and in the word, And we have a great work on the Lord's Day, but we are to be six days of the week. Every day is to be, in a certain sense, a Sabbath dedicated unto the Lord. And yet he has given us this day in creation. He rested and he's given us that example that we may focus on the spiritual things that are so necessary for us. I think, again, our actions can speak louder than our words, though. And if other Christians will see us keeping the Sabbath day and calling them, come with us, and we will show thee good in that way, we can probably do more good than trying to find fault with them directly. I would welcome Reverend Brackhorst to comment on this as well. We have ten ways to love our Lord. And there is one more expression in our lives, an expression of love toward Him. So why would a professor believe they are not going to live their Lord in another way? And in their case, if they do not keep this, then it is an opportunity to love our Lord. to express that love more and to spend more time with the Saviour, according to His will. So it's a means of grace as well, even under the commandments. It's a means of grace in and of itself, yes, but it is also a place where we gather in public worship at the means of grace. are very ignorant of it. In general, evangelicalism has almost nine commandments, and it might just be eight sometimes, or seven, depending on how they feel. But it's not legalism, because we're not trying to bribe the Lord to forgive our sins or accept us. I'm not saying much more than you've already said to me, and I'll keep it there because It's been very, very informative. We've definitely got our release worth, or more so because we haven't paid him. So I'd like to thank, and the attentive teaching we've also received regarding the Sabbath and those anecdotes. And I have seen that book advertised for children. And so we might order some copies on behalf of the congregation. It's good to change our position and we'll stand to sing Psalm 100, please. Psalm 100. So let us sing Psalm 100, please. O people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice. Him serve with mirth, his praise foretell. Come ye before him and rejoice. Know that the Lord is God indeed. Without our aid he did We are His block, He doth us be, And for His sheep He doth us feed. than his gaze with praise. Approach with joy his courts unto Praise God and bless His name always, for it is He means so to do. For where the Lord our God is good, His mercy is for ever. His truth at all times, early, soon, And shall from age to age endure. Standing for the prayers, please. Our Heavenly Father, we do thank Thee by word. Thou hast said, Thou shalt not forsake this, and bring ourselves together as a manner of service, and exhort one another all the more as we see the day approaching. And we believe we see the day approaching. And we thank Thee. We have a place to go. We hear that word preached in truth and in fullness. Bless Reverend Baptist. Bless us to hear it. And bless that we would be a blessing to one another, and that we would especially be a blessing to Thee, that Thy Word would live in us of Thy good pleasure. We thank you for the message we heard tonight. We pray that those blessed, this Lord's State Society, that those indeed prosper and provide for all the needs. And the prison ministry in particular, we pray that those provide all the needs for that portion. And we thank you for everything in the name of our most wonderful and glorious author and finisher of our faith, our God, who is also our master, our brother, and our very dearest and best friend. Most glorious God, we do give Thee thanks this evening that Thy Word has been opened unto us, that Thy voice has been heard from the Word of Scripture, that Thou hast been pleased to bring Thy servants safely all the way to Alberta, that the name and the day and the glory of Christ has been brought forth and made clear to us that He did not come to destroy, but to fulfill the law of God. And we thank the Lord for the interest shown in various congregations and believers from across the city this evening. And we thank Thee for all that we've heard, that we've heard much, and we are grateful. Lord, it has been a feast, a banquet of truth about the Lord and His Sabbath. We thank Thee, Lord, that we have a day, a day set apart for the public and private worship of the one true and living God, that the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Creator, as we understand in Exodus 20, but also from Deuteronomy 5, that He is the Deliverer, the Redeemer of God's elect. And so, Lord, we do pray for Thy blessing to rest and to remain upon Mr. Highcoop and upon the association and that blessed work they do. And we thank the Lord for their two-pronged approach, as it were, bringing the gospel and bringing the Lord's day. Lord, that it's not one without the other, but both, and that is a glorious thing to hear. And so, Lord, give that blessing and give traveling mercies for us all, especially for Mr. Highcoop and his further work in these next few days. And Lord, we do pray Have mercy upon this apostate land, under thy hand of judgment, and rightly so. But Lord, we do pray for thee to send the work of revival, to blow thy spirit across this nation once again, to convict and to convert many, O God, for it is only thy work. And we pray, O Lord, send forth more laborers into thy harvest field, into this harvest field here. Deliver us, O Lord, from the evil, in places of authority. Restrain them, O Lord, have mercy upon their souls also, and hear us. Help us, O Lord, to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Lord, that it will be a day of delight, a day that we can say it is thy day, but it is also my day. O Lord, we pray for help and for precious grace from above. in Jesus' name. Amen. Receive the benediction as we close our meeting this evening. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen.