Inspirational Quotes
The Sabbath
Reverence Invites Revelation
Boyd K. Packer
October 1991
1.
When we return for Sunday meetings, the music,
dress, and conduct should be appropriate for worship. Foyers are built into our
chapels to allow for the greeting and chatter that are typical of people who
love one another. However, when we step into the chapel, we must!—each of us
must—watch ourselves lest we be guilty of intruding when someone is struggling
to feel delicate spiritual communications.
The Lord Expects Us To Follow
The Commandments
Spencer W. Kimball
April 1977
2. Numerous
times have we quoted:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
“Six days shalt thou labour, 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 thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is
within thy gates:
“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and
all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the
sabbath day, and hallowed it.” (Ex. 20:8–11.)
But
today numerous of the people of this land spend the Sabbath working, devoting
the day to the beaches, to entertainment, to shows, to their weekly purchases.
The Lord’s Day
James E. Faust
October 1991
3. My brothers and
sisters and friends, for some time I have pondered what I might speak about
today. I seem to have been led in my thinking by a concern that so many in our
generation are missing great blessings by not honoring the Lord’s day.
4. I
confess that as a young boy, Sunday was not my favorite day. Grandfather shut
down the action. We didn’t have any transportation. We couldn’t drive the car.
He wouldn’t even let us start the motor. We couldn’t ride the horses, or the
steers, or the sheep. It was the Sabbath, and by commandment, the animals also
needed rest. We walked to Church and everywhere else we wanted to go. I can
honestly say that we observed both the spirit and the letter of Sabbath
worship.
By
today’s standards, perhaps Grandfather’s interpretation of Sabbath day
activities seems extreme, but something wonderful has been lost in our lives.
To this day, I have been pondering to try to understand fully what has slipped
away. Part of it was knowing that I was well on the Lord’s side of the line.
Another part was the feeling that Satan’s influence was farther away. Mostly it
was the reinforcement received by the spiritual power which was generated. We
had the rich feeling that the spiritual “fulness of the earth” (D&C 59:16)
was ours, as promised by the Lord in section 59 of the Doctrine and
Covenants.
5. Ever since Adam’s day
the divine law of the Sabbath has been emphasized repeatedly over the centuries
more than any other commandment. This long emphasis alone is an indication of
its importance.
6. Why has God asked us
to honor the Sabbath day? The reasons I think are at least threefold. The first
has to do with the physical need for rest and renewing. Obviously God, who
created us, would know more than we do of the limits of our physical and
nervous energy and strength.
The second reason is, in my opinion, of far greater
significance. It has to do with the need for regeneration and the strengthening
of our spiritual being. God knows that, left completely to our own devices
without regular reminders of our spiritual needs, many would degenerate into
the preoccupation of satisfying earthly desires and appetites. This need for
physical, mental, and spiritual regeneration is met in large measure by
faithful observance of the Sabbath day.
The
third reason may be the most important of the three. It has to do with
obedience to commandments as an expression of our love for God. Blessed are
those who need no reasons other than their love for the Savior to keep his
commandments. The response of Adam to the angel who asked Adam why he made a
sacrifice unto the Lord is a model for all. Responded Adam, “I know not, save
the Lord commanded me.” (Moses 5:6.)
7. In
this day of increasing access to and preoccupation with materialism, there is a
sure protection for ourselves and our children against the plagues of our day.
The key to that sure protection surprisingly can be found in Sabbath
observance: “And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the
world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my
holy day.” (D&C 59:9.)
8, What
is worthy or unworthy on the Sabbath day will have to be judged by each of us
by trying to be honest with the Lord. On the Sabbath day we should do what we
have to do and what we ought to do in an attitude of worshipfulness and then
limit our other activities. I wish to testify unequivocally concerning the
blessings of Sabbath day worship in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
The
Miracle Of Forgiveness
Spencer
W. Kimball
9. “The Sabbath is a holy day in which to do
worthy and holy things. Abstinence from work and recreation is important but
insufficient. The Sabbath calls for constructive thoughts and acts, and if one
merely lounges about doing nothing on the Sabbath, he is breaking it. To
observe it, one will be on his knees in prayer, preparing lessons, studying the
gospel, meditating, visiting the ill and distressed, sleeping, reading
wholesome material, and attending all the meetings of that day to which he is
expected. To fail to do these proper things is a transgression on the omission
side.”
The
Sabbath And The Sacrament
L.
Tom Perry
April
2011
10. Let your family be filled with love
as you honor the Sabbath all day long and experience its spiritual blessings
throughout the week.
11.
As we consider the pattern of the Sabbath and the sacrament in
our own lives, there appear to be three things the Lord requires of us: first,
to keep ourselves unspotted from the world; second, to go to the house of
prayer and offer up our sacraments; and third, to rest from our labors.
12.
I believe He also desires us to dress appropriately. Our youth
may think the old saying “Sunday best” is outdated. Still, we know that when
Sunday dress deteriorates to everyday attire, attitudes and actions follow. Of
course, it may not be necessary for our children to wear formal Sunday attire
until the sun goes down. However, by the clothing we encourage them to wear and
the activities we plan, we help them prepare for the sacrament and enjoy its
blessings throughout the day.
13.
Brothers and sisters, in the latter days the adversary succeeds
when we relax our commitment to the Savior, ignore His teachings in the New
Testament and other scripture, and cease to follow Him. Parents, now is the
time to teach our children to be examples of the believers by attending
sacrament meeting. When Sunday morning arrives, help them to be well rested,
properly dressed, and spiritually prepared to partake of the emblems of the
sacrament and receive the enlightening, edifying, ennobling power of the Holy Ghost. Let your family be filled with love as you honor
the Sabbath all day long and experience its spiritual blessings throughout the
week. Invite your sons and daughters to “arise and shine forth” by keeping the
Sabbath day holy, that “[their] light may be a standard for the nations.”16
14. Let
us prepare and conduct ourselves on the Sabbath in a manner that will call down
the blessings promised us upon ourselves and our families
Never
Alone
Thomas
S. Monson
April
1991
15. This Sabbath day has
been designated as a day of thanksgiving, a day of gratitude—even a day of prayer. We pause,
we ponder, we reflect on the blessings an all-wise Heavenly Father has bestowed
upon us, His children, by bringing peace to the battlefield of war and comfort
to the hearts of so many in this wonderful world where we live and which we
call home.
16.
