The Sabbath

I attend a non demoninational fellowship in England, and attend church on Sundays.

I watched this video on youtube and would please like to know some thoughts, backed up by scripture. I don't consider myself to have great insight or biblical knowledge. Right or wrong I couldn't find myself disagreeing with what was said. Although I'm not sure it was fair to publicly denounce another preacher/teacher.

Here is the link if anybody has time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pePXZ-DPbk

Regards,
Neil

hi, there is no argument on the sabbath .fri.sundown to sat sundown.jimp
Jesus is our sabbath rest.

Thanks for replies. I'm just a bit curious about this.

Sabbath was given to man by God to do god's work. Man shall do his work(will) 6 days a week and on 7th day he will do God's work and rest in peace with him. But the Jews took it by letter and obstrained from doing any work on Sabbath. Jesus showed them the true meaning by healing men on sabbath purposely. Jesus showed them that Sabbath was given to do God's work.

In new covenant we have the spirit of Jesus(holy spirit) living in us who will direct us to do God's will all 7 days a week. Hence we do not need to keep just one day for doing God's work which is a Lower standard than doing it all 7 days.

Anyone who is asking us to follow sabbath is therefore living in old covenant which is a lower standard.

Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin death. Keeping the law can never pay the penalty for sin. It was never meant to. Only Christ' sacrifice can do that. The purpose of the law is to tell us how to live and treat one another and it defines sin.
1 John 3:4
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

Jesus kept the law and we are to imitate Christ. You can't do a very good imitation of Christ if you are continually breaking his commandments. The Sabbath is one of those commands. I don't want to go into which day is the Sabbath but I will say that there are blessings built into the keeping of any of God's commandments. It is easy to see the blessings of keeping the Sabbath; a closeness to God and our brethren, time set aside to get into His word and being exposed to the gifts of the spirit dispersed through out the congregation just to name a few.

Jesus said that where two or more are gathered in his name he would be there also. Since that is the case it is our presence together in His name that makes the time Holy.

James

sree, sabbath means rest.6 days to do Gods work and your own.1 day of rest.that is what the Jews did and do .they do not even drive on the sabbath they are not to sweat on the sabbath.jimp

But the bible begs to defer from you. You are quoting what the Jews understood about sabbath which is wrong. They took it as a letter and did not see the spirit behind it. That is why they blamed Jesus for healing on sabbath. If sabbath means rest then Jesus broke it and hence he is a sinner. Praise god he did not command sabbath for that purpose.

Exodus 35:2-
For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a sabbath of complete rest to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 "You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the sabbath day."

God wanted them to rest from their work and keep a day holy in fellowship with him. But in new covenant he we have fellowship with God all the time hence every day is a sabbath for true Christians.

sre, of course! but the sabbath is a jewish term for jews writen by jews from the God of the jews so i am giving the jewish spin to the sabbath.it is not intended for the gentile world. this is the topic of the blog.jimp

Jesus Christ declared Himself to be the LORD of the Sabbath (Matthew 12, Mark 2, Luke 6). The sabbath exists and Jesus showed how to observe the sabbath in the spirit of the law and not to become trapped by the letter of the law. Jesus set the day apart by healing on that day and by completing his redemptive work by rising from the dead on the new Christian sabbath of the first day of the week on Sunday. We do well to follow the example of Jesus and set the day apart for remarkable service to God and man. Jesus is LORD of the Sabbath. The sabbath was made for mankind because we need the change of pace and time for worship and time for God.

It is a wonderful blessing to be able to devote one whole day to worship, fellowship, prayer, Bible Study and Christian service. What true believer would not love to be able to give more than one day to such pursuits but who cannot be grateful for the one day? Why would anyone want to work and follow worldly pursuits for more than six days? Worldly pursuits are a necessity on other days as we sweat to earn our daily bread but it is a delight to enjoy the LORD's Day without such pursuits. People hear the Word of God and become heirs of salvation on the sabbath day more than any day of the week. The sabbath is a means of grace.

The Apostle John was "in the spirit on the LORD's Day" (Revelation 1:10) when he was writing the Book of Revelation. The LORD's Day was part of the practices of the first century churches.

The early disciples met regularly on the first day of the week.

\t"And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them… " (Acts 20:7)

The day of worship and fellowship on the LORD's Day is a foretaste of the way that the Redeemed will use their time in the eternal state. Then, we will enjoy eternal rest from earthly labors and eternal worship and fellowship but only then.

Jesus affirmed each of the 10 commandments. Let us not be guilty of taking away from what God has commanded. Jesus is LORD of the sabbath and we do well to follow his example and make it to be a day that is set apart and different than the other days. Call the sabbath a delight. If we love the LORD, we delight to do his will and dedicate our time to Him in ways that most or all cannot do every day.

sre, of course! but the sabbath is a jewish term for jews writen by jews from the God of the jews so i am giving the jewish spin to the sabbath.it is not intended for the gentile world. this is the topic of the blog.jimp

I respect your view there are many who have similar views. i am not saying it is wrong. But I just cannot agree as the scripture says the gentiles keep the spirit of law written in their hearts by the Holy Spirit and their conscience bearing witness. We do not need a law as a school master to control us as we have a renewed heart which will condemn or defend us.

Romans 2:14:-For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

I personally believe that every scripture is written for both Jews and gentiles. We cannot pick and choose which scripture is for Jew and which is for gentile, simply because God has not given us the authority to do so. In contrast the scripture condemns those who take even the least of command out of God's word and commands others to follow the same.
In new Covenant everyone follows the spirit of the external laws and not the exact letter. Since the spirit of the Sabbath is to fellowship with God which we get via Jesus Christ (John 17), we follow sabbath every day in our life.

I was following that same discussion on two other forums, where basically every possible aspect of it was mentioned, and found this specific remark by one of the posters of great help:

Hebrews 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

"For the most of the chapter it is not talking about the seventh day Sabbath, but rather entering the rest of God that will come when the Kingdom of God is established, but, verse 9 uses a word that is entirely different from the katapausis used in the other verses. The word used here is Sabbatismos and does mean the seventh day Sabbath and refers back to verse 4."

Personally I haven't seen any mind changed on that subject regardless if discussed over 10 or 25 pages, so generally i keep it with: He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. (Revelation 22:11)

However, while reading scriptures myself these verses got my attention previously:

Gen 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
Gen 2:2 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.
Gen 2:3 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.

So anyone living on this same earth would be able to appreciate anything God sanctified. Unless you are thaught he only sanctified it for the Jews but not for Americans.

To the Jews, or in a wider sense "To His people" God explained something regarding relationship and sanctification, as to the "reason why" of that day, and how to discern and know who does the sanctifying. That sign is a mark of orienation given by God, when people are confused about questions of "which god" and their own imaginations.

Ezek 20:12 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.

Ezek 20:20 And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be
a sign between me and you, that ye may know
that I am the LORD your God.

Isaiah 66:15  For, behold, the LORD will come with fire,
and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury,
and his rebuke with flames of fire.

For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh:
and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens
behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination,
and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.

For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come,
that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see
my glory.

"They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves" that's an interesting one, takes a while to think that through regarding its implications....self-help groups with humanistic approaches but religious terms comes to mind, or man-made doctrines, but for the moment, how does the story starting in Genesis end? Does God still keep that day sanctified through the ages, or will we still practise man-made holidays with christian terms in the future after the return of Jesus?

And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another,
and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship
before me, saith the LORD.

And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men
that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die,
neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
Isaiah 66:23-24

It looks very much like Babylon is the one that is falling, not God's sabbaths.

Romans 2:28-29 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

There is an outward appearance of the law in the flesh.

There is and inward appearance of the Law which is the fulfilled Law Himself, birthed in the believer that we might worship in spirit with the inward being, which is, "Christ in you the hope of glory."

There is an outward Sabbath in the Flesh and there is an inward Sabbath of the Heart, which is Christ, He is our Sabbath in the Spirit that we now attain to, Christ our True Spirit Sabbath that we walk in His Rest, 24-7.

The True Sabbath and the Lord of the Sabbath is in us, he is a true Jew Who's Heart is now the Heart, Mind and Spirit of Christ in us, our circumcission being of the Heart of Christ in us, the old heart cut away, that we may walk in the true Spirit of the Sabbath Himself, not in the outward appearance of the Law of the Sabbath. Do you want to test in the Law of the Sabbath and Commandments or be fulfilled in the Spirit of the Sabbath and Commandments and enter His Rest, because of faith, believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He is birthed in us and we are new creatures in Christ the offspring of God, son's being raised up by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to live in the Father's House forever.

In Christ: Phillip

The answer to those who demand a legal Sabbath observance for New Testament Christians is found in Jesus' words in Matthew 12:

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath." But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,' you would not have condemned the innocent."

Let's follow Jesus' logic:
1) The mercy of feeding David and his men was more important than a cermonial law.
2) The priest can break the Sabbath for the sake of temple service and yet remain innocent.

So, if mercy is greater than a cermonial law and a cermonial law was greater than the Sabbath then it follows logically that mercy is also greater than the Sabbath.

A > B and B > C therefore A > C.

Some laws are referred to as moral laws becuase they represent God's nature and are unchanging and binding upon all men for all time. The ceremonial laws and civil laws were not binding for all time and God has liberty to change their use according to His plan. (Note, God Himself does not change, He only changes HOW he relates to His people.) This should be plain to see by the fact that Christians do not offer blood sacrifices on an altar.

If we have two moral laws in conflict we are all in serious trouble! Could you imagine one command to serve the One true God and then another command to serve as many gods as you please? How absurd! We never see this contradiction in the Bible. (Thankfully!) We do, however, see an examples in David of a cermonial law bein usurped without judgment, chastisement, etc. (This is why we conclude that cermonial laws are not binding on all men at all times since God Himself saw fit to show that mercy is more important.)

So, a moral law can never be repealed, usurped, etc with God's approval. We do see cermonial laws being usurped with God's approval. We also see the Sabbath being usurped by a ceremonial law with God's approval. From this, we can conclude that God Himself considers the Sabbath to have some element of a ceremonial aspect to it. In other words, it is not 100% moral like serving only one God, abstaining from idolatry, etc.

If the Sabbath is, in part, a ceremonial law, it is not binding on all men at all times and The Lord of the Sabbath can change the administration of that law as He sees fit. By declaring that He desires mercy and not sacrifice, Jesus was declaring that a legal observance of the Sabbath was no longer required.

Because Jesus rose on the first day of the week (John 20:1), the early Christians began to gather on that day (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2). Now, nearly 2000 years later, most professing Christians maintain that tradition.

Grace and peace,
Matthew

A parallel passage to Matthew 12:3-8 is Mark 2:23-28. There this phrase is also recorded (Mark 2:27) when the Lord Jesus Christ said:

>> The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.

Ceremonies have changed over the centuries but the nature of mankind is unchanged since Adam. Man still needs the sabbath. The day was set apart for man because man needed it. If you don't set apart time for the sabbath but let that time be given to other purposes when else will you have time that you need for God and for his purposes? The sabbath is a blessing for mankind and we are less well off if we neglect it.

In Exodus 16, God set apart the sabbath in the way that manna was to be gathered and this was before the law was given (Exodus 20).

The sabbath was made for man when man was made (Genesis 2).

At the time of creation, God blessed the sabbath day and sanctified it. At no time has this stopped. The Lord's Day continued to be observed by the first century church and the Apostle John when he was writing the Book of Revelation. We do well to continue to observe and enjoy the sabbaths that God made for man. God has blessed and sanctified the sabbaths without interruption through all the centuries of mankind.

Universally, across the world, even followers of other religions and even proclaimed atheists are often seen to observe the blessing of setting apart one day in seven.

Bearmaster, thanks for the reply. Please allow me to continue.

The days was changed. The Old Testament sabbath of the seventh day was replaced by the Christian Lord’s Day on the first day of the week. The Sabbath commemorated creation; the Lord’s Day commemorates Christ’s resurrection and completed work of redemption. The Lord’s Day replaced the Sabbath but it is still one day in seven.

As Paul’s third missionary journey was approaching its end, Paul purposed to be in Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost (Acts 20:16). So, Paul was then an observer of the day of Pentecost after he wrote his epistle to the Galatians.

Around the same time (Acts 20:7), Paul had joined the Christians at Troas, who gathered on the first day of the week to break bread, and he preached and broke bread with them.

Decades after Paul was beheaded at Rome, the Apostle John observed that he was “in the spirit on the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10), so John was an observer of the Lord’s Day as the New Testament canon was being closed.

Under the Old Testament, feasts like the Feast of Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles were sabbaths that were observed in addition to the seventh day of the week. Yes, these feasts have changed.

When revival comes to the Body of Christ, we should expect that people will give themselves to God in a revived way. They will give the first part of their time (and the first part of their money) to God in a revived way. When revival comes, as it was for the church at Troas (Acts 20:7) and for the Apostles Paul and John, the first day of the week will show itself even more to be a blessed and sanctified day.

turn - "... these feasts have changed."

only in the mind of pagan christians and babylonian christians. Not in God's actual reality.

I already quoted Isaiah 66:23 regarding the weekly sabbaths that clarify that Jesus was and is the Creator and His sabbaths are and will stay His creation and seperate items from His person also in the future. This is Millenium scripture, read the full context to see that it isn't about past history, and here is another bit of millenium scripture:

Zechariah 14:16  And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

This is Jesus the King being worshiped in person in Jerusalem by every one that is left of all the nations, past Armageddon time.