Talk—Al Cantrell
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I was thinking this morning of days and pacifically 2 days that's mentioned in Scripture, but I'm thinking of the verse first of all in I believe in the Psalms. This is the day that the Lord hath made. Let us be glad and rejoice there in.
That's talking basically about the Millennium, but I think in our lives we can apply it in each day of our life. And this morning I got up and I didn't think I woke anyone up, but they said they I got up at 4:00. But when I got up this morning, the birds were singing, just as beautiful as it could be. Everything was quiet and peaceful.
There was still a glimmer of some stars and you know, it's wonderful to look around.
And see God's handiwork, God's creation, what he has done down here, and it makes us just well up in our hearts and praise. There's a song that I often think of in the morning when morning gills the skies, my heart awakening cries.
May Jesus Christ be praised because was my Savior that created all these things that we see by Him. Were all things created that are created.
And so it really causes my my heart to lift up to him each morning when I look out and see a sunrise and see a beautiful day.
And I this morning, if we could open up our scriptures, the Word of God to Genesis, the 1St chapter, and we're going to read.
Some verses here.
I always feel that it's more of the word of God is more important than what I can say about it or that anyone can say about it. So let's listen to the Word of God as we would read it here, and we'll just begin at the first verse. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form and void and darkness upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, let there be light, and there was light.
And God saw the light that it was good. Now notice this, and I think we'll see it each time as we go through here. Each day of the creation. God saw the light, and it was good. It was good. And God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let the divide the waters.
From the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters from under the firmament, from the waters which were above the firmament that were so. And God called Ephraim of heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together in one place, and let the dry land of here, And it was so. And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering together of the waters called.
As he sees.
And God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the sea bring forth grass, and the herb yielding seed, and the fruit trees yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth. And it was so. And the earth brought forth grass and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the three yielding fruit whose seed was in itself after his kind. And God saw that it was good, and the evening and the morning.
Were the third day and God said let there be lights and from them to heaven to divide the day from the night.
And let them be for signs, and for season, and for days, and for years, and yet them, And let them be for lights in the firmament of heavens, to give light upon the earth. And it was so. And God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, And he made the stars also.
And God set them in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth, and the rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good, and the evening and the morning were the 4th day. And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowls that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
And God created the great whales and every living creature that moveth.
Which the waters brought forth abundantly after their kind, and every wing foul after his kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the sea, and let the fowls multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the 5th day. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creatures after his kind cattle and creeping things.
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Beasts of the Earth after his kind. And it was so.
And God made the beasts of the earth after his kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind. And God saw it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him.
Male and female created he them and God bless them and said unto them, Be fruitful.
And multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air.
And over every living thing that moveth upon the face of the earth, upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which is a fruit of the tree yielding seed to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, into every fowl of the air, into everything that creepeth upon the earth, therein there there is life.
I have given every greener for meat. And it was so. And God saw everything that he hath made, and behold, it was good, and the evening and the morning.
Were the 6th day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and the host of them. And on the 7th day God ended his word which He hath made, and he rested on the 7th day from all His work which He hath made. And God blessed the 7th day, and sanctified it, because that in it.
He hath rested from all his work which God had made.
Well, this is one of the days I'm going to mention the 7th day.
This is this day that that God rested from all his work of creation and as we've noted through here every day.
He said it is good. His whole creation was good. It was good until the time that sin came in, and then sin ruined that goodness, and then God had to work again to the begin the work of redemption which He accomplished.
The Lord Jesus accomplished on Calvary's cross.
But here we have a day and we have it in another portion in Exodus. It calls it the Sabbath. Now many people have this day mixed up with today and many people out in the world and many believers say, well, the Sabbath that's.
The stay here.
But is it now? No, it's not. It's the 7th day of the week.
The last day of the week that the Lord rested during that day, and I think as a child.
I grew up.
In a in a gas station, you might say that we lived in our residence was in the back part of the gas station and my dad worked 363 days of the year.
He only observed 2 days and that was Thanksgiving and Christmas. That's the only days he ever closed the gas station. So as a child.
For the first four years that we lived in that gas station.
Sunday was a day that we got the Sunday school, we got the funny papers and I could read the funny papers and I didn't have to go to school that day.
But then there came a day that one of my friends asked me to go to Sunday school with him and I was on on Sunday. And so that day become a little bit more special to me because it was a day that I would go to Sunday school.
And as I learn more about the Bible and about God and his love to me and and the things of the Lord, I found out that.
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There was a day that Christians met together to worship God.
They met together in the church that I went to. They met together to preach the gospel, to have Sunday school.
And that's more right. And so it was a, it became a special day to me, but it wasn't the Sabbath day. It wasn't a Sabbath day because the Sabbath day was of another dispensation, another dispensation completely than what we're in. We're in the dispensation of grace.
The Sabbath day would give you restrictions.
The day that we have today, the first day of the week, or we call the world, calls it Sunday, but we would prefer to call it the Lords day.
It has privilege.
The Sabbath day.
They caught a man that was gathering sticks.
He was doing work during the Sabbath day and he was not, it tells us in the law.
Well, maybe we could turn to Exodus.
This is the 20th chapter.
And this is what the law tells you about the Sabbath.
20th chapter and the eighth verse. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shall thou lay, six days shall thou labor, and do all thy work. But in the 7th day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt do, shall not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughters, nor thy maidservant, nor thy.
Manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor are they cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gate, for in six days.
The Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them is and rested the 7th day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Well, there was a man later on the Exodus, he was caught gathering 6 on the Sabbath day. And what was to be done with him? He would just be stoned. He was to be stoned.
That's sad, isn't it? That's what the law would bring before us, but the Lord say would bring before us grace. We have the privilege of gathering here this morning.
And worshiping the Lord and Christians in many places have the privilege of gathering and worshipping the Lord on the Lord's day. Now why do we do it on the first day of the week? Why don't we do it on the South Dakota? Well, one of the things we find an axe. The 20th chapter. There are some foreigners here today and I remember.
Mr. Fournier, Mr. George Fournier, that was in our meeting for years.
He used to very often he would get up on Lord's Day morning and he would read this verse in Acts chapter 20 and the seventh verse and upon the first day of the week when the disciples came to break bread.
On the first day of the week, when the disciples came to break bread, Paul preached unto them, and ready to depart on the Morrow, and continued his speech on to midnight. And so we have from the Scriptures here what was the practice of the early disciples. They gathered together on the Lord's Day, the first day of the week.
And.
And so they gathered what here it says to break bread, to remember the Lord Jesus and his death. What a privilege that is. And there's always two things that and we're going to talk about those two things about the Lord's Day, the breaking of bread this morning and also his resurrection, because that's the two things that the first day of the week.
Reminds me of is we remember the Lord and his death on the first day of the week.
We should also remind us about His resurrection because it was the first day of the week that the Lord rose from the grave.
In system I was in a Baptist Church.
And like I had mentioned earlier, the Lord's Day was the day.
To preach the gospel, to have Sunday school and how fellowship one with another. But we never broke Britain, the Lord said. But the practice of the early disciples was to remember the Lord on the Lord's day and the breaking of bread.
We would break bread, maybe.
Once every quarter. Once every three months.
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When all the disciples here apparently.
Came together to remember the Lord each day, each Lord's day. Now people would say in the world, they would say, well, well, then it becomes too common. It becomes too much of A practice.
Instead of something very special.
But even once every three months, it can become just common, our practice, unless our heart is really into it.
Now we turn to let's turn to a verse in Revelation.
Revelation on the 1St chapter and we'll find another mention of the Lord's Day chapter one and verse 10. And this is the the apostle John.
And maybe we could read the nine first just to get the thought here. I, John, who also am your brother and companion, and tribulation in the Kingdom and the patience of the Lord of Jesus Christ was in the island that is called Patnist for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. And I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day.
And heard behind me a great voice, as it was a trumpet. And then he received this prophecy. But what was he? He was in the Spirit on the Lords day.
Now you know, when we come together to remember the Lord Jesus and His death, do we come together in the Spirit?
Are are we coming together in the flesh? Are we just coming?
You know, this is something that we should, you know, ask ourselves before we sit down to remember the Lord.
And we should prepare ourselves because it's a very special time because we turn back to the Gospel of Luke. Let's turn to the gospel of Luke and we'll see what the Lord Jesus.
Thinks about.
This remembrance that we remember each Lords Day morning.
22nd chapter.
And we could begin at the 14th verse. And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the 12 apostles with him. And he said unto them with desire.
This was the Lord's desire with desire have I desired to eat this Passover with you, before I suffer. For I say unto you, I will not anymore eat thereof until be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves, by saying to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God shall come. And he took the bread, and gave thanks, and break it, and gave it unto them, saying.
This is my body which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Maine also likewise also the cup after supper saying this cup is a New Testament in my blood which is shed for you. And so the Lord Jesus, there was desire that he had.
To.
Eat of this bread and drink of this cup.
He said with desire, have I desired. And so I often ask my question myself. This question.
Am I just going to the breaking of bread because it's habit?
Or is there a real desire because when we go there.
We find here that in this chapter the Lord was with His disciples. When we go there to remember the Lord and His death, He has promised that where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. And so the Lord is here when we remember Him and His death on Lord's Day morning. So there should be a desire.
There should be a real desire of our hearts.
Of my heart to remember each large day morning. And I should be like the apostle John. I should be in the Spirit on the Lord's day.
So I can lift up my voice with praise and worship to Him that deserves all our worship and praise. He deserves it because He's the Creator. But He deserves it how much more because He's our Redeemer.
Because the Lord Jesus.
He who created all things came down and became a man like you and I.
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In all ways, yet without sin. And he went to Calvary's cross and suffered for our sins, and died there for us.
And what does he asked us to do?
He says Remember Me, Remember Me.
Do in remembrance of me.
A very simple act.
He asks of you and I.
He doesn't say don't do this, don't do that. No, he's not saying that. It's just a simple act of remembering the Lord Jesus in his death and Lord say morning.
Was his desire and should be our desire. Let's turn to another familiar scripture and 1St Corinthians 11Th chapter oftimes. This is read at the breaking of bread like this one in in Luke 11Th chapter of First Corinthians.
And the 23rd verse, the apostle Paul, he says, For I have received of the Lord, that which I which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night.
In which he was betrayed tuck bread and when he had given thanks he break it and said take eat, this is my body.
Which is broken for you, This do in remembrance of Maine. After the same manner also he tucked the cup, and when he had sucked, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do ye as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me.
For as often she eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lords death till he come.
Therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. But here again, this is what the apostle Paul had received of the Lord.
It wasn't of the apostle Paul, but it was of the Lord. The Lord gave him this.
Take E.
This is my body, you know, and it causes to think. When we see that loaf and see it broken, how the Lord Jesus died on Calvary Cross, we think there of his suffering.
His sufferings under the hand of man and they were really terrible sufferings, but how much more they were under the hands of God when he suffered for your sins and for mine? Because just think of it, my sins would have sent me to to an eternal hell and he suffered there in those three hours.
Of agony for an eternity.
Of punishment for my sins, and for yours. And so when we see that blood, that loaf broken, it would cause us to remember him and his death.
And we would thank to how that he was obedient to his Father and all things.
How he pleased his father and all well in all ways.
The father said this is my beloved son.
And so again may I say, our hearts should well up and praise and worship to Him on large day morning. And then we see here the cup.
It says this cup.
Is a New Testament in my blood. This do as often you drink it in remembrance of me. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. And the Lord Jesus, he shed his precious blood.
For you and for me.
And so.
Ought we not stop one day of the week, 1 morning and be in the spirit as John was in the spirit on the Lord's day and do the simple thing of remembering him? Because we get so busy with the things of this life through the week and sometimes we forget. Sometimes we forget all that the Lord has done for us. And so it's it's nice that the Lord.
An hour that we can sit down and remember him very simply. Now I'd like to turn to, I said. The Lords day reminds me of two things.
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Remembering in his death in the morning.
On Lord's Day morning, although we don't know in the olden days whether it was in the morning or not because.
Some of these believers were were slaves. It might have been in the evening, it might have been whenever they could have got off.
Their work.
Because you know, we usually work a 40 hour week when we do. I don't work anymore. I'm retired so I don't worship 40 hour week. Although some some weeks I work more than a 40 hour week. But that's for myself. But we're busy almost every minute of the day. But still it's not all work. But people years ago they had to work seven days a week a lot of the times.
Even to put food on the table.
To be able to eat. And so I'm sure these early Christians, maybe it wasn't Lord's Day morning, maybe they had to work for their master and Lord say morning.
But there was a time provided the Lord provided the time for them that they might remember him. And it's a wonderful thing in this country that we live and in other countries that the Lord has saw fit to set aside the Lords day as a non working day in most cases.
And so there's nothing as far as work that would hinder us, and most of the things that would hinder us from doing it would be things that we would seek for our own pleasure. The Lord Jesus never sought his own pleasure. Do we seek our own pleasure? One?
One hour of the week.
But anyway to go on, our time is rapidly going by.
Umm, resurrection. It causes me to think about the Lord's resurrection because it's the first day of the week.
That's when the Lord rose from the dead.
And maybe we could look in the Gospels.
Just briefly of some of the scriptures here that tells us about the Lord's resurrection.
Matthew, let's just begin and justice quickly look at in all four Gospels.
Because each one that's a little bit different tells us a little bit different things.
28th chapter of Matthew The last chapter of Matthew in the end of the Sabbath as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week. Again, it's talking about the first day of the week.
The Lord say came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre, and behold there was a great earthquake. For the Angel Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and set upon it. And his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the Angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not he, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen as he said.
Come see the place where the Lord lay. OK, and let's go on to Mark.
Mark the 16th chapter.
First verse.
And when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary the Mother of Jesus, Mary of James and Salome, had brought sweet spices, that they might come and annoy him. And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came to the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And when they looked, they saw the stone was rolled away for this very great And entering into the sepulchre they saw.
Man sitting on the right hand, clothed in the long white garment. And they were frightened. And he said unto them, Be not frightened. Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified. He is risen, He is not here. Behold the place where they lay him. But go your way, and tell His disciples and Peter that He goeth before you into Galilee, and there shall ye see him, as He said unto you. And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre. For.
Trembled and were amazed. Neither said they anything, did he man, for they were afraid. Now let's go to Luke, and we'll see a little bit.
Different perspective on the Lords resurrection.
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Luke 24 now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, and each each case now emphasizes it. It's the first day of the week. It's not the Sabbath, but it's the first day of the week.
Very early in the morning they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre, and they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And that came to pass, as they were perplexed thereabout. Behold, two men stood by them, and shining garments, And they were afraid, and bowed themselves, bowed down their faces to the earth. And they said unto them.
Seek ye the living among the dead. He is not here.
He is risen. Remember how they spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered in the hands of sinful men, and be crucified. And the third day rise again. And remember, the Lord came down and became a man, and how did he raise from the dead? He rose as a man, and He's in heaven now as a man.
At God's right hand.
And let's look down in this chapter to confirm that he was a real man when he rose.
33rd verse. This tells us more proofs of the Lord's resurrection.
33rd verse of the 24th chapter. Luke. And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the 11 gathered together, and then that were with them, saying, The Lord is risen deed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told them what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in the breaking of bread. This is talking about the two that went to Emmaus, and the Lord appeared to them on the in the way, and as.
He thus spake Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and said unto them, Peace.
Be unto you. That's a wonderful message, a wonderful thought that we could expound on, but we don't have time this morning. That message is to you too, this day. But they were terrified in the terrified, terrified and frightened. And suppose that they had seen the spirit. And that's what some people say, Oh, he just rose as the spirit just rose.
But no, he bodily arose from the dead. Death could not hold him.
It tells us in the Scripture that the Father raised him, the Spirit raised him, and He raised Himself.
And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled, And why do thoughts rise up in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet. It is I myself Handle me and see. For His Spirit hath not flesh and bone, as you see me have. And when He had thus spoken, He showed them his hands and his feet, and while they.
Yet and while and they yet believe not, for joy and wonder he said unto them.
Have you hear any meat? And they gave him a piece of boiled fish and a honeycomb, and he took it, and then eat before before them, and so they they could touch him and feel him.
And he ate this fish and honeycomb before them. He was a real man that rose from the dead.
My Savior, he overcame the grave. He overcame death. Now let's turn on to to Luke. I need to John. Excuse me, John. The 20th chapter. Now, this morning I told you, I got up at 4:00. I think it was probably 4:00 that Mary got up. At least it was before daylight.
Might have been earlier than that because her heart.
Was there with the Lord, she wanted to be with the one she loved, and that was the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's a wonderful thing. On Lords Day morning I quoted that verse where two or three are gathered together in my name. There am I in the midst.
You know, Mary had the love to be with her Savior, to be with the Lord. She wanted to be there. And so she came there while it was still dark early in the morning, which you know.
It's sometimes kind of hard for me to get up all day in the morning, but but there was nothing going to keep her in bed if she went to bed that night.
She was there.
Very early in the morning, while Yojet dart unto the sepulchre and see if the stone taken away. And then we we know how that she came back to Simon and told him that they've taken the Lord out of the sepulchre. We know not where they've laid him. And then Simon and the other disciple, who was probably John, they come back to the sepulchre, and they find exactly as as Mary had told them.
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Now the 11Th verse. But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping. And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre, and seeing 2 angels in white setting, one at the head and the other at the feet, were the body of Jesus had laid. And they say unto her, woman, Why weep the sound? And she saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had.
Thus said, she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing.
And knew not that it was Jesus. And Jesus saith under her woman, Why weep a sound whom seek a sow? And she's supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne them hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. And Jesus said unto her, Mary, And she turned herself.
And said unto him, Saith unto him, Raboni, which is the same master, Jesus said unto her, Touch me not, for I'm not yet ascended my Father, but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend.
Unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God and your God.
And so.
He appeared here to marry. She had that desire to be with her Lord.
And she got a message that the other disciples didn't get this wonderful message that tells them and tells you and tells me that.
The Father of the Lord Jesus.
God the Father is now my Father.
And Lord Jesus says here to my God.
And So what a relationship were brought into, were brought into and this is a new day and a new relationship that we've been brought in to the Lord.
And so this morning as we remember the Lord and his death.
I would hope that each one here that knows the Lord Jesus as her Savior.
Would have that desire to remember him this morning. And if you haven't asked for your place that the Lord at the table, why haven't you?
The Lord desired.
To eat that Passover.
He's here in the midst. He desires for you to remember Him.
Is it your desire?
I would hope that if each one of our desires could we sing a song as we close.
245.