Sabbath Quotes

SABBATH DAY QUOTES -- 1:

Teachings of Presidents of the Church--BRIGHAM YOUNG, p. 145:

On the day after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, President Brigham Young spoke briefly to the pioneer camp concerning observance of the Sabbath. With a wilderness to tame, crops to be planted, and other pressing work of the time, he "informed the brethren...they must not work on Sunday, that (if they did) they would lose five times as much as they would gain by it, and they must not hunt or fish on that day." He remarked that "there would be a meeting every Sabbath in this place or wherever we stop" (WWJ, 25 July 1847).

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"By forsaking our field for a season, to gather together to worship our God, I can assure you that our crops will be better than they would be if we were to spend all our time in our fields. We may water and plant and toil, but we should never forget that it is God who gives the increase; and by meeting together, our health and spirits will be better, we will look better, and the things of this world will increase around us more, and we will know better how to enjoy them." (DBY, 167)

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"We should observe (the Sabbath) for our own temporal good and spiritual welfare. When we see a farmer in such a hurry, that he has to attend to his harvest, and to haying, fence-making, or to gathering his cattle on the Sabbath day, as far as I am concerned, I count him weak in the faith. He has lost the spirit of his religion, more or less. Six days are enough for us to work (see Exodus 20:9-11), and if we wish to play, play within the six days; if we wish to go on excursions, take one of those six days, but on the seventh day, come to the place of worship." (DBY, 165)

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"Instead of suffering our labors to occupy the Sabbath,...we should do as little as possible; if it is necessary to cook food, do so; but even if that could be dispensed with, it would be better. As to keeping the Sabbath according to the Mosaic law, indeed, I do not; for it would be almost beyond my power. Still, under the new covenant, we should remember to preserve holy one day in the week as a day of rest--as a memorial of the rest of the Lord and the rest of the Saints; also for our

temporal advantage, for it is instituted for the express purpose of benefiting man. It is written in this book (the Bible), that the Sabbath was made for man. It is a blessing to him. As little labor as possible should be done upon that day; it should be set apart as a day of rest, to assemble together in the place appointed, according to the revelation (see D&C 59:10-12), confessing our sins, bringing our tithes and offerings, and presenting ourselves before the Lord." (DBY, 164)

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"Now, remember, my brethren, those who go skating, buggy riding, or on excursions on the Sabbath day--and there is a great deal of this practiced--are weak in the faith. Gradually, little by little, little by little, the spirit of their religion leaks out of their hearts and their affections, and by and by they begin to see faults in their brethren, faults in the doctrines of the Church, faults in the organization, and at last they leave the Kingdom of God and go to destruction. I really wish you would remember this, and tell it to your neighbors." (DBY, 165)

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"Whether we are poor or rich, if we neglect our prayers and our sacrament meetings, we neglect the Spirit of the Lord, and a spirit of darkness comes over us." (DBY, 170)

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"We are under the necessity of assembling here from Sabbath to Sabbath, and in Ward meetings, ...to teach, talk, pray, sing, and exhort. What for? To keep us in remembrance of our God and our holy religion. Is this custom necessary? Yes; because we are so liable to forget--so

prone to wander, that we need to have the Gospel sounded in our ears as much as once, twice, or thrice a week, or, behold, we will turn again to our idols." (DBY, 165)

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"The Lord has planted within us a divinity; and that divine immortal spirit requires to be fed. Will earthly food answer for that purpose? No; it will only keep this body alive as long as the spirit stays with it, which gives us an opportunity of doing good. That divinity within us needs food from the Fountain from which it emanated. It is not of the earth, earthy, but is from heaven. Principles of eternal life, of God and godliness, will alone feel the immortal capacity of man and give true

satisfaction." (DBY, 165)

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"If any of you feel that there is no life in your meetings, as I occasionally hear some of the brethren say, then it becomes your duty to go and instill life into that meeting, and do your part to produce an increase of the Spirit and power of God in the meetings in your locality." (DBY, 170)

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"I will take the liberty of suggesting to my brethren who address the congregation that our sermons should be short, and if they are not filled with life and spirit let them be shorter, for we have not time at this Conference to let all the Elders who speak preach a long sermon, but we have time to say a few words in bearing testimony, to give a few words of counsel to encourage the Saints, to strengthen the weak, to endeavor to confirm those who are wavering, and so forward

the Kingdom of God." (DBY, 167)

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Harold B. Lee, Improvement Era, December 1970, p. 104:

"I am sure we were all impressed when Brother Eldred G. Smith said in his address that it shouldn't be necessary to make laws to persuade the Latter-day Saints to keep the Sabbath day holy. If the body of the

priesthood -- if you 150,000 members of the priesthood who are in these various gathering places -- would resolve here and now that neither you nor your families will hereafter patronize any business that is open on Sunday, it wouldn't be long until they would close their businesses on Sunday. You would wield such a force and power that you would dry up the businesses that are making their Sunday opening profitable. They are only catering to the needs of the people who are demanding Sunday service. You think about it, you brethren."

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“There is no need for people to shop and desecrate the Sabbath day by buying groceries. That is not the time to buy groceries. You have six days of the week and you all have a refrigerator. You do not have to shop on Sunday. Do not buy furniture on Sunday, buy it the other days of the week. You will not lose anything if you do your shopping the other days and do not do it on Sunday. Let this day be a day of meditation, of reading the scripture, of talking with your families, and of dwelling on the things of God. If you do so you will be blessed.”

----Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley,
Jordan Utah South Regional Conference, March 2, 1997.

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KEEPING THE SABBATH DAY HOLY, by Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, May, 72 p. 4

"Our spiritual natures, needing spiritual food, shrink and die without it. Physical deterioration also results.

"Students should study their school subjects during the week and keep the Sabbath sacred.

President George Albert Smith said, "..that much of the sorrow and distress that is afficting and will continue to afflict mankind is traceable to the fact that they have ignored God's admonition to keep the Sabbath day holy." (Conf. Oct. 1935)

What are the consequences of obedience to this divine law? Spiritually it will help us "keep ourselves unspotted from the world." Temporally, the fulness of the earth" will be ours. All this is possible if we cheerfully keep this divine law.

(lots more in article)

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President Spencer W. Kimball, Oct. Gen. Conf., 1979, Nov. Ensign, p. 4:

"Brethren and sisters, once again I call to our attention the fourth commandment given by the Lord to Moses on Mount Sinai...Let us observe it strictly in our homes and in our families. Let us refrain from all unnecessary labors. Sunday is not a day for hunting or fishing, nor for swimming, picnicking, boating, or engaging in any other sports."

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President James E. Faust:

"Over a lifetime of observation, I have noticed that the farmer who observes the Sabbath day seems to get more done on his farm than he would if he worked seven days. The mechanic will be able to turn out more and better products in six days than in seven. The doctor, the lawyer, the dentist, or the scientist will accomplish more by trying to rest on the Sabbath than if he tries to utilize every day of the week for his professional work. I would counsel all students, if they can, to arrange their schedules so that they do not study on the Sabbath. If students and other seekers after truth will do this, their minds will be quickened and the infinite Spirit will lead them to the verities they wish to learn. This is because God has hallowed his day and blessed it as a perpetual covenant of faithfulness."

(Finding Light in a Dark World, 1995, p. 112).

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President Ezra Taft Benson:

"I don't believe that it is possible to keep our spirituality on a high plane by spending our Sabbaths on the beach, on the golf course, in the mountains, or in our own homes reading newspapers and looking at television. When the Lord said, 'And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer', that is exactly what He meant. We must have spiritual food.

"Of course you can live a pretty good life out on the golf course on Sunday. But you don't build your spirituality. Probably you could worship the Lord out there, but the fact is you don't do it as you don't worship Him down on the beach. But if you go to the house of the Lord you will worship Him. If you attend to your prayers in your home with your family you will worship Him. And your spirituality will be raised. The spiritual food which your body requires will be provided and you will be much more apt to have this joy."

(The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 439)

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President Gordon B. Hinckley:

"I wish I had the power to convert this whole Church to the observance of the Sabbath. I know our people would be more richly blessed of the Lord if they would walk in faithfulness in the observance
of the Sabbath."

Ensign, May 1996, p. 10

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President George Albert Smith declared the following in a much quieter and more reverent day than our own:

"The Sabbath has become the play-day of this great nation--the day set apart by thousands to violate the commandment that God gave long, long ago, and I am persuaded that much of the sorrow and distress that is afflicting and will continue to inflict mankind is traceable to the fact that they have ignored his admonition to keep the Sabbath day holy."

Oct. Gen. Conf. 1935

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President Spencer W. Kimball:

"I again would urge upon all Saints everywhere a more strict observance of the Sabbath day. The Lord's holy day is fast losing its sacred significance throughout the world, at least our world. More and more, man destroys the Sabbath's sacred purposes in pursuit of wealth, pleasure, recreation, and the worship of false and material gods."

Gen. Conf. Oct. 1978

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Elder Mark E. Petersen:

"...our observance or nonobservance of the Sabbath is an unerring measure of our attitude toward the Lord personally and toward his suffering in Gethsemane, his death on the cross, and his resurrection from the dead. It is a sign of whether we are Christians in very deed, or whether our conversion is so shallow that commemoration of his atoning sacrifice means little or nothing to us."

Gen. Conf. April 1975, Ensign, May, p. 49

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End of lst 20 Sabbath Quotes. More at: Sabbath Quotes - 2