“Then Jeroboam … took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them (the people), it is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan” (I Kings 12:25-29). The great sin of Jeroboam, for which he was afterward judged, was to make the religion of Israel convenient. Fearful that he might lose the northern ten tribes again to the House of David he devised a plan of substitute religion with two places of easy access; one he established in Bethel the other in Dan. God had established one central location of worship, which was Jerusalem. He also established, through the laws of ceremony, the method and mode of that worship; with its object the coming Messiah (Jesus Christ). To violate this was a breach of those laws. We have in this inspired history an illustration of much of what we see in man’s substitute religion today. The fourth commandment, “Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy,” is yet of great significance. The spiritual implication, which of it being a type of the believer’s rest in Christ, is certainly fulfilled in one’s coming to faith in Christ. Yet the first day of the week, the Christian Sabbath is vital to the worship of God; it is still THE LORD’S DAY! I believe that according to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, the whole day should be given in devotion to God. It’s a day consecrated by God for saints to come apart from the world of labor and activities (recreation and entertainments) to restore and revitalize the soul through fellowship in Bible study, preaching, praying and singing of hymns. The New Testament Church so practiced this that it was key to its effect and influence upon the world. There is a “Jeroboamian” attempt in man-made religion to create religious conveniences, such as “contemporary Saturday evening worship” for those who can’t make the Sunday service. The modern Baptists are offering something like the early mass of the Roman Catholic. This kind of religion might do well to live by, but not to die by. The religion of Jesus Christ demands greater commitment, it demands total commitment. “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s shall save it.” The text calls people to unreserved commitment and loyalty to Jesus Christ and His gospel. The two (Christ and the Gospel) are inseparable. To commit to Christ and the TRUTH concerning Him is not convenient. It will cost you everything, if need be your life also. The gospel of Jesus Christ will not promote the peace and harmony that the humanitarians whine about from the majority of pulpits across the land. Why do I say that? Because Christ Himself made such a prediction, “Think not that I am come to send peace on the earth: I came not to send peace but a sword…” “A man’s foes shall be those of his own household.” The testimony of Jesus Christ is put no better by human pen than that of Isaac Watts, “Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease.” The tragedy of this awful perversion of the Christian faith that we experience today is that vast numbers are led to think that what they are believing and practicing will land them On Fair Canaan’s Coast, when in fact it makes them two fold more the child of hell than they were before.
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