| Is
keeping the Sabbath (Sunday for Christians) part of the 21st
century church?
Which is the fourth
commandment?
The fourth commandment is,
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor,
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.
Where did time come from?
A. Time is a product of
creation. In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
B. Time began with the
first day. 3 And
God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And
God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the
light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light
Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and
the morning were the first day. (Genesis 1:3-5)
Where did the idea of a
Sabbath day come from?
A. God celebrated
creation with the first weekly Sabbath and in the process claimed
time for Himself. 1 Thus the heavens and the
earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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. 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. (Genesis 2:1-3)
B. God used Sabbath in
many contexts. [Sabbath refers to cessation or rest and is
used for day, monthly new moon, annual day of atonement, seventh
year, and jubilee year. All the Sabbath cycles of the Bible point to
God’s creating, sustaining, and restoring grace for His people. ]
Does God still require
believers to observe the Sabbath?
A. The Bible reveals
that Sabbath keeping is a moral duty and lists it in the Ten
Commandments before murder, adultery, and theft. 8 Remember
the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt
thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 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: 11 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. (Exodus 20:8_11)
What are the two places in
the Old Testament we can find a complete list of the Ten
Commandments?
Are the Ten Commandments
still valid?
Other than God said so, why
should we keep the Sabbath?
A. God promised a
marvelous blessing for those who would become Sabbath keepers. 2
Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man
that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting
it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. 3 Neither
let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD,
speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people:
neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. 4 For
thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths,
and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; 5
Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my
walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I
will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. 6
Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the
LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be
his servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting
it, and taketh hold of my covenant; 7 Even them will
I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of
prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be
accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of
prayer for all people. (Isaiah 56:2-7)
B. When we keep the
Sabbath we testify that God’s grace makes us free and holy like
our Lord. 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.
(Ezekiel 20:12) and 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. (Ezekiel 20:20) We
keep the Sabbath because Jesus bought us on the cross.
C. God Demands Delight in
the Sabbath! Jeremiah
used Sabbath keeping to clarify the distinction between God’s
people and the world’s people. 24 And it
shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith
the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on
the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work therein;
25 Then
shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes
sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on
horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever.
26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah,
and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin,
and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south,
bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and
incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the
LORD. 27 But if ye will not hearken unto me to
hallow the Sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering
in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then will I
kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the
palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched. (Jeremiah
17:24-27)
D. When people come to
Christ we stop thinking like hopeless strangers and become
expectant. 13 If thou turn away thy foot from the
Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the
Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and
shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine
own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 14 Then
shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to
ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the
heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken
it. (Isaiah 58:13-14)
E. The world does all it
can to eliminate the distinction between holy and unholy which the
Sabbath illustrates. Her priests have violated my law,
and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference
between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed
difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their
eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. (Ezekiel
22:26) Profane means to make ordinary in the sense that an
unskilled worker does not understand the materials and methods which
enable the master workman to accomplish his work. [We defy
the devil when we struggle with the world by resting in Jesus.]
F. Resting from
providing for ourselves is a testimony of confidence in the promises
of Jesus. 24 No man can serve
two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the
other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye
cannot serve God and mammon. 25 Therefore I say unto you,
Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye
shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not
the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither
do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father
feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which
of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of
the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29
And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore,
if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to
morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O
ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take
no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink?
or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all
these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father
knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But
seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all
these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take
therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take
thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof. (Matthew 6:24-34)
Have you changed how you
think about the Sabbath? How? Why?
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